Down the Willow Hole
Summary: "Get off me, Potter!" "Oh, that's a jolly good way to treat someone who just saved your greasy arse from being werewolf supper AND fertilizer. You should be kissing my shoes!" Closing his eyes tightly, Severus groaned. How could things have gone so wrong?
Notes: Well, I'm venturing into unfamiliar territory here, but after watching the newest movie, I've been thrust back into the world of Harry Potter - hopefully, people enjoy it :)
I don't own Harry Potter, so if you could please not sue?
"I just don't understand this obsession of yours," Lily Evans whispered, creeping down the side of one of the ancient oak trees bordering Hogwart's lake. Peering up at her through his stringy black hair, Severus Snape rolled his eyes.
"It's not an obsession, Lily, it's simple curiosity," he retorted, glancing around quickly before jumping out of the tree, landing with a thump. Reaching up with both hands, he attempted to help Lily down as well. Scowling back at him, Lily jumped down on her own.
"I'd say that planning for a week and camping out in an oak tree for a half hour while everyone eats dinner, just for something you aren't even sure about is a fairly good indication of being obsessed," she snapped back, glancing longingly up at the castle.
"And tonight was my favourite, too," she sighed longingly, and Severus couldn't help the spasm of guilt, deep in his stomach. It wasn't fair that he'd asked Lily to come out here with him – not because he didn't want her to know the truth, oh no, but because if they got caught, Lily would be furious. Severus hated when Lily was mad – especially when she was mad at him, which was becoming more and more common these days. Well, hopefully this excursion would get him back in her good books.
"If you want, I could convince the house elves to bring you something..." Severus began, but trailed off as he spotted two figures walking briskly across the grass.
'Sev, what's–?" Lily began, but Severus shushed her excitedly.
"Look! It's Madame Pomfrey and Lupin, just like I told you!" he hissed, grinning triumphantly. Beside him, Lily let out a frustrated sigh.
"Severus, that's the route to Hogsmeade. She's taking him to the train. Remus told everyone his mum had a serious accident and is in St. Mungo's!" she growled, throwing her hands the air.
"Poor Remus was so upset, and all you can think about is this stupid theory of yours! Ugh, I can't stand you sometimes, Severus!" without another word Lily turned and sped away, long hair whipping in the wind. It was times like this that made her wonder why she hung around Severus Snape.
"Wait, Lily, come back! They're turning towards the Whomping Willow, not Hogsmeade! Come on Lily, you'll see that Lupin for what he really is! Lily, come back, please!"
Severus started to move towards her, but gave up when his pleas fell on deaf ears. Whipping around he closed his eyes, growing angrier by the second. Lily, his best friend, the one person he held above all others, was abandoning him. He'd been so close to revealing those four 'Marauders' as they called themselves! Spitting on the ground, he crossed his arms.
"Useless bunch of pompous wasters," he cursed, letting his hair fall in front of his eyes, brushing against his long nose.
"Wasters? You couldn't possibly be talking about me, could you Snivellus?" feeling the colour drain out of his face, Severus didn't dare look up. Instead, he drew his wand. As if things could have gotten any worse...
"Black. What're you doing here, getting ready to set your werewolf friend on the school?" he hissed at Sirius Black, who was sitting on a low branch of the same oak Severus had spent a half hour camped in. He looked confident as always, dark hair flying in the breeze. Severus didn't stop to wonder how he'd gotten there - Sirius Black had the unfortunate ability to be able to show up anywhere he wanted.
"Har har, Snivellus, you're a right riot you are. Look, I'm not in the mood to curse the grease out of your hair tonight, but I will do you one favour," Sirius replied, sounding much too casual. Still, Severus couldn't help but wonder what he was talking about...
"Go on," Severus demanded, standing up straight and crossing his arms, raising his head and looking down his nose at Sirius, as if he were some sort of bug. Sirius only grinned, dark eyes glinting.
"As shown by your failed attempt to snoop, you're evidently very curious as to where my good friend Remus gets to every month," he began, pulling out his wand and inspecting it in the light. The dark wood gleamed in the moonlight, making Severus's own shabby, second-hand wand pale in comparison.
"Evidently, you spend far too much time meddling in my business!" Severus retorted, hating himself for getting defensive. He wasn't doing anything wrong here – exposing Lupin would be the best thing he could do at Hogwarts! Lily would know that he was right all along, and that Potter's group was exactly what he said they were: lying, arrogant idiots, dangers to society...
"Au contraire, Oh Greasy One, it's you who's meddling. But since I'm about to do you the favour of a lifetime, I'll ignore the insult. You were right when you were yelling – quite pathetically, I might add – after Evans. He is going into the Whomping Willow."
"Going into the Whomping Willow? Don't you mean around it?" Severus asked uncertainly, the grip on his wand relaxing slightly. Black certainly had his interest now.
"No, going into. Under it would be more precise. There's a tunnel underneath that leads to the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade," Sirius told him, speaking as if answering a question in class. Frowning, Severus lowered his wand hesitantly – for all he knew, Black had been waiting this whole time to unleash a particularly nasty hex on him.
"If that's even a little bit true, how are you supposed to get into said tunnel – the Whomping Willow would crush anyone stupid enough to try." 'So perhaps you should go test it out' Severus added in his head, but decided not to say anything. Black, no matter what his motives might be, was giving him a potential key to finding out if his theories were true. That, of course, meant Lily would believe him.
"There's a special knot on the tree trunk – you'll recognize it, it looks artificial – that, using a long enough stick, you can poke to freeze the tree," Sirius continued, offhanded now, as if he didn't really care what he was saying. Leaning forwards eagerly, Severus couldn't help but begin to grin. It didn't even matter that it was Sirius Black telling him this now - all that mattered was how close he was to revealing the Marauders.
"And at the end of the tunnel?" he asked excitedly, completely forgetting that Sirius existed for the sole purpose of making his life miserable. Putting his hands on his knees, Sirius grinned dangerously.
"You'll have to see," he said, winking. Without another word Severus took off at a run, thoughts of unmasking the Marauders and having Lily all to himself clogging his logic...
Leaning back on the branch, Sirius let out a whoop of laughter. Snivellus was actually going to do it! Wiping away the tears forming in his eyes, Sirius tried to imagine the look on the overgrown bat's face when he saw Lupin – if Sirius had timed it right, Sour-Grape Snape would be getting to the Shrieking Shack just as Moony's transformation would begin.
"I wish I could see it," Sirius sighed, leaning back and looking up at the stars. A warm belly full of roast beast and tart, Snivellus running towards the prank of a lifetime, and a clear night full of stars – Sirius felt complete.
"See what, pray tell?" opening one eye lazily, Sirius grinned down at his best friend, James Potter, who was walking towards him, running a hand through his hair to give it that wind-blown quality he was so famous for.
"Snivellus getting the surprise of a lifetime," he replied slyly, closing his eyes again. From the ground, James couldn't help but shiver. Sirius was his best mate, sure, but whenever he took on that tone of voice, something bad was about to happen.
"Surprise, Padfoot?" James repeated, leaning against the trunk of the tree. Above him, Sirius started to laugh.
"Let's just say Moony's getting one too many visitors tonight," he laughed, while James felt his whole body go cold. He hated Snivellus, but if Sirius was suggesting what he thought...
"Sirius, mate, you didn't tell him how to get in, did you?" James asked seriously, feeling his heart rate quicken. From years of experience, he knew that Remus would be transforming in just a few moments. If Severus were inside the tunnel, he'd be meeting a fully-grown werewolf.
"Sure did. Serves the little blighter right, always sneaking around, trying to see what we're up to...Prongs? Oi, James! Where're you going?" Sirius called, but it was no use. All he could see of James was his black cloak billowing out behind him as he ran, with the occasional flash of red and gold as his tie whipped out behind him, silver in the glow of the full moon.
Standing in the middle of the Shrieking Shack, Remus Lupin wrapped his arms around himself, shivering. Even though it was a warm summer evening, he felt as if someone had come and dipped him in ice water. Letting out a small sigh, he glanced out one of the cracks in the small, boarded up window.
The waiting, he decided, was the worst part of a Transformation. By now he knew exactly when it was due to start – but standing in the cramped, dusty room waiting for the moon to cast its unforgiving gaze was simply unbearable. Hopefully, James and the others would get to the Shack before he transformed – it was always more bearable with them there with him.
"Lupin! I knew it!" turning, Remus watched in horror and confusion as Severus Snape stuck his head through the trap door, face flushed, eyes glinting and grinning ear to ear.
"S-Snape, what – how – you – how did you get in here?" he gasped, the shivering getting worse as he counted down in his head the seconds before the Transformation began. Still grinning madly, Severus pointed behind him.
"Sirius Black, that's how! Tipped me off about the knot in the tree – clever, I'll give you that, but you can't hide now. I know your secret!" he crowed, running a hand over his face, laughing manically. "Just wait until Lily finds out I was right all along..."
"S-Severus, you need to get out, or you'll be–!" Remus stopped sort, feeling that horrible, heavy shift deep inside of him. Stiffening, he glanced one more time at Severus, who had suddenly gone remarkably pale. And then, the wolf took over.
Severus stood rooted on the spot, watching in horror as Lupin transformed. They'd been shown videos of werewolf transformations in Defence Against the Dark Arts class, but it was nothing compared to the real thing. A small noise of absolute terror floated out of his mouth as Lupin steadily grew taller, more wolf like, until in the place of a sickly-looking 5th year boy, a full grown werewolf was standing right in front of him.
"R-Remus...?" Severus tried quietly, voice shaking. Turning its head slowly, the werewolf fixed him with a cold, yellow stare. It didn't recognize him as anything other than prey, and he let out a scream as it lunged forwards, mouth wide open. Looking up, Severus watched the glinting white teeth getting closer and closer – before someone grabbed one of his shaking hands and dragged him out of the room, the trapdoor slamming in the werewolf's face.
"Come on, he could still break down the trap door!" James Potter was yelling at him, trying to pull him along the small tunnel. Following wordlessly, Severus tried to stop from tripping as they ran across the uneven ground. Potter was squeezing his hand painfully, but he was too terrified to object.
Behind them, Severus could hear the snarling and howling as Remus scratched at the heavy trapdoor, and couldn't stop the loud sob of terror from tearing out of his mouth. James didn't seem to notice anything, focussing only on getting them out.
"W-we're going to die!" Severus gasped, not even trying to conceal the tears that were streaming down his pale cheeks. He'd almost been eaten by that foul beast, and any minute it would come back and finish the job!
"Not if I can help it!" James snarled back, letting out a relieved sigh as the entrance to the tunnel came into view. Together, they burst through the tunnel, doubling over and gasping for breath. Turning to face his rival, Severus opened his mouth to say something – before being hit square in the stomach by something solid and very, very angry. As he shot up into the air, Severus closed his eyes.
"HELP!" he screeched, the Whomping Willow writhing around him.
"Snape!" James screamed as the Whomping Willow picked the Slytherin up, shaking him violently. Crawling backwards James shot curses left and right, trying to avoid being caught himself. As soon as he was out of the tree's range, he shot his arm out, feeling his elbow crack painfully.
"ACIO SEVERUS!" he yelled, and the branch holding onto Severus blasted apart, sending him flying like a rocket at James. The two collided with a sound 'thump,' rolling a ways away. Sitting up, James coughed loudly, trying to get his breath back. Wincing, he poked himself in the chest – bruised ribs, he guessed.
"Ever think of taking off a few pounds, Sniv? Snape? Oi, Severus!" looking down at the boy beside him, James felt himself go pale. Severus was lying on the grass, paler than usual and with a large gash on his forehead, oozing blood. His eyes were closed. Heart thumping, James crawled forwards, dread filling him.
"Hey, come on Snivellus, you can't die now! Not after I stopped you from dying twice in one night!" he growled, leaning over and pressing his ear to the boy's chest, while putting another hand to his wrist – before sighing in relief. There was a heartbeat, rapid but strong, and his pulse felt fine.
"Ungmf..." looking up, James grinned as Severus's eyes opened slowly.
"Good, you're awake." Severus blinked a few times, trying to make sense of what was happening. He'd been with Lily...then Sirius showed up...something about the Shrieking Shack...and Remus! Opening his eyes fully, Severus remembered everything that had happened – going down the tunnel, seeing Remus transform, getting hit by the Whomping Willow...and Potter was holding his hand, his ear pressed to his chest.
"Get off me, Potter!" Severus growled, pushing him off of his chest. What was he trying to do, see how fast his heart was going after that horrible prank? Stopping dead, Severus felt his eyes widen. A prank – that was what Sirius had been doing when he told him how to get into the Willow. It was a prank.
"Oh, that's a jolly good way to treat someone who just saved your greasy arse from being werewolf supper AND fertilizer. You should be kissing my shoes!" James was blustering, but Severus wasn't paying attention.
Closing his eyes tightly, he fell back against the cool grass, still gasping for breath, ignoring the blood trickling into his eyes. Letting out a low groan, he rolled over. James was quiet at once, leaning over him with a worried look in his eye.
"A-are you alright?" he asked, suddenly hesitant, but Severus pushed him away, furious. A prank! Black had tried to kill him, just to get a laugh out of it – Potter and Lupin were both obviously in on it. Pulling at his hair, Severus tried to get away, get anywhere but there. He'd been used, toyed with, for the sake of their amusement – as always!
"I said get away from me, Potter! Go ahead, have your fun! But now I know Lupin's secret. I'll have the last laugh, finally!" he screeched, feeling slightly mad. He could still win – once Lily found out what those Marauders had done to him, she wouldn't have anything to do with them. And, he could get Lupin expelled!
"What are you talking about, Snivellus? Did the Willow hit you in the head too hard or something?" James snapped, feeling a little frightened. Severus had a dangerously gleeful look on his face, as if he'd just found a mountain of gold under his curtain of greasy hair.
"I win, Potter! Just wait 'till Dumbledore hears about this!" Severus shouted, trying to crawl towards the castle. Letting out a low groan, James put his face in his hands. Snape was going to spread Moony's secret all over school – his friend would be expelled for sure, and Lily Evans wouldn't look at him twice if she thought he had anything to do with this...
"I'm sorry, Mr. Snape, but what was that about me hearing something?" Ripping his hands away from his face, James watched in disbelief as Dumbledore strode towards them, looking vaguely curious. Trailing behind him was a very sullen-looking Sirius Black, followed by Madame Pomfrey.
Severus didn't waste a second, standing up as far as he could, and retelling his story with a certain breathlessness. James could only watch in horror as Severus spun a new tail – he had been out, minding his own business, when James and Sirius had told him that there was something very interesting at the end of the tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow. Then, right before Lupin, the werewolf, could get him, James pulled him back.
"It was terrible professor! Wether I live or die is a joke to them!" he exclaimed, while Sirius let out a snort.
"What you decide to do in that greasy little head of yours is all your own, Snivellus," he growled, but before anyone could attack the other Dumbledore started to chuckle.
"You're quite right, Mr. Snape, that is terrible. However, it seems to me that the only one who was in on the joke was Mr. Black, as he told me when he ran to my office earlier tonight. Poor Mr. Lupin seems too far gone from his mind at the moment to enjoy a prank, be it a matter of life and death or otherwise. It seems he was used just as much as you were," Dumbledore gestured sadly at the distant lights of Hogsmeade, where shrieks and howls reverberated quietly through the air. Turning to James, Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling. James got the distinct feeling of having been put under a microscope for examination.
"And I would also say that Mr. Potter was told of Mr. Black's prank after you left, and rushed off to save your life. Nearly at the cost of his own, I might add," James looked down, trying not to look too proud. Praise from the headmaster was not a common occurrence.
"B-but professor!" Severus gasped, face white with fury. How could even Dumbledore agree with Potter and his bunch over him? Obviously, Potter came and got him because he was too afraid to face the consequences if he'd died! Dumbledore looked down at him softly, almost pityingly.
"I think, Mr. Snape, that you ought to go to the infirmary, and then come up to my office. We'll all continue this chat there." Turning, Dumbledore started the journey back up to the castle. From where he was still sitting on the ground, Severus glared up at James and Sirius.
"I'll never forget this, and I promise that some day, I'll get you all back. I will have the last laugh," Severus hissed. He would make them pay, even if it killed him.
THE END
Well, getting them back DID almost kill him, even if it wasn't quite in the way Snape must have thought ;) Alright, perhaps that was a little more dramatic than what was actually supposed to happen - but I'll put my artistic license into use here. If anyone has any constructive criticism or comments, please don't hesitate - I love to hear what people think :) Oh, and for anyone who noticed - the insult Sirius uses, 'Sour-Grape Snape' was ripped off of a Very Potter Musical (which I don't own). If you haven't seen it, you really ought to, because it's hillarious :)
Caio,
StarsAndSparks