Ugh finally I wrote the next chapter...Bellatrix kept me up for days talking about her plans. So please do enjoy and please review! Reviews make me ever so happy! :D
God make the pain stop…please just let me get through the day.
Severus leaned heavily on the wall next to him. Sweat beaded down his pale face, he was flushed and his breathing was coming in painful rasps. Another pulse of pain hit him, almost toppling him over.
Please just a little longer.
He clutched the cloth of his coat across his chest, his hands shaking. The inside of his head felt as if something was beating, it pulsed with pain and caused his vision to blur.
No, stay strong Severus! Stay strong!
The world went dark and he let go of the wall, collapsing to the floor with a thud.
W-why?
And the darkness consumed him.
James sat in class, tapping his fingers along the desk uneasily.
Something isn't right
His stomach churned and his heart pounded wildly in his chest. It had been almost twenty minutes now and still, Severus hadn't showed up to class. Lucius even noticed his absence, he sat in his seat twirling his quill with an annoyed look on his face.
Where the hell is he?
Professor McGonagall continued her lesson, ignoring Severus's absence. James wasn't paying attention, his thoughts swimming with worry of what could of happened to him.
Severus continued to get hurt, and the wounds got more and more suspicious each time, the excuses as well.
"Oh another potion mishap"
"Some twit ran me over with his broom while practicing it outside."
"The stairs changed as soon as I reached the top and I fell."
"James don't worry I'm fine."
He shook his head, unease clawing at him from the inside. It just didn't make any sense, none of it did. Severus was clumsy, and sure he got hurt allot, and made mistakes, and god seemed to like torturing him on occasion. But it was the wounds themselves that seemed suspicious. They were always in the same place, around his hands, on his face, around his neck, and he always limped as if something was wrong with his legs as well.
Was someone abusing him?
This was the first time the thought had crossed his mind. In the past he was always the one torturing the pale Slytherin, he and the rest of the Marauders. Whether it be turning his hair pink, hanging him upside down, humiliating him in front of his classmates, or pushing him down the stairs on occasion (not to high though, he didn't want to risk killing him).
Severus had always had a habit of people not liking him, mostly because of him and the Marauders of course. But things have changed now, no one saw him torturing Severus again.
Could there really be a chance that someone was hurting him?
He immediately turned to look at Lucius. The blonde Slytherin did start taking a new liking to Severus, although he had assumed they had gone their separate ways a long time ago. He was getting help from Severus to study, but would Severus look so scared just by looking at him?
His suspicions began rising as more and more thoughts swirled in his mind. He started getting hurt after he began tutoring Lucius. He now sat with Lucius in class. And he had always felt a strange presence following him, was it Lucius?
"Someone please help!" A young ravenclaw girl pushed the doors of the classroom open, snapping James out of his thoughts.
"What ever is the matter with you child?" Professor McGonagall questioned, raising a brow. All the students turned in their seats and stared at the girl, confusion on their faces.
"Please Professor you have to help him! He's not moving!" She wailed, tears streaming down her face.
"Calm down little one." Professor McGonagall approached her, placing a hand on her shaking shoulders. "Tell me, what's wrong. Who's hurt?"
James tensed, he searched around the room in panic. Relief washed over him when he spotted Remus. The young werewolf collapsed on occasion due to his poor health. But he's here, so who could of collapsed?
Oh no
"Come on child spit it out! Who's hurt?" Professor McGonagall demanded.
Please no.
The ravenclaw girl gripped the Professors sleeve.
Don't say it, don't say his name!
"S-Severus Snape."
His heart sank and he was out of his seat in an instant.
"James slow down!" Sirius shouted. Both Remus and Sirius shot out of their seats as soon as James took off, running after him at full speed trying desperately to catch up to him. "James!"
James ignored their shouts, slamming into the infirmary doors. He ignored the shocked faces of the nurses and kept on running, searching around desperately.
Sev!
Nurses were crowded around a bed at the far back of the room, shouting to one another.
"Come on get more water, his fever is getting worse!"
"I need another rag over here!
"Someone get me some new bandages!"
James pushed past the nurses and stared at the figure currently lying in the bed, his jaw dropped.
Severus's features were grim, he was paler than usual, black circles rimming under his eyes. They were shut tightly in pain, his breathing was rapid and shallow. A weak cry escaped his lips as he gripped the sheets for dear life.
"Move boy!" A nurse shoved him aside and placed a rag dripping with water upon Severus's head. Other nurses administered shots into his arm, causing Severus to cry out again. He struggled under the nurses, desperately trying to free himself from them.
"God damnit hold him down!" The nurses tried and failed, being pushed aside by Severus's flailing arms.
"Go away!" He screamed.
"He won't take the shots!" A nurse turned to James, anger flashing across her face.
"Help us hold him down!" Without thinking James jumped onto the bed, straddling himself on Severus's hips, he grabbed both his arms and held them down with a vice grip.
"Sev! Its ok it's me, calm down!" He shouted. Severus opened his eyes slowly, staring up at James with pure terror and pain.
"J-James, make it stop! Please!" Before James could respond Severus's eyes closed, his head falling limp to the side.
"Finally sedated him." James turned around, staring at the nurse holding the shot in her hand. "You can get off him now, thanks for the help." With shaking arms James complied, letting Severus go and moved off the bed.
"Alright everyone he should be fine now, good work." The nurses began shuffling away from Severus's bed, mumbling to one another.
"Wait!" James grabbed the arm of the nurse who had yelled at him earlier. "Please tell me what happened to him!" The nurse stared at James with narrowed eyes, pulling away from him with an angry sigh.
"He collapsed in the hallway, thats about all I know. When we brought him here he started to get a fever and went hysterical. He should be alright now but he needs time to rest. Also" She looked at James with a thoughtful expression. "While trying to figure out was wrong with him I noticed allot of wounds across his body, did something happen to him before he collapsed that I should know about?"
James heaved a heavy sigh, turning away from the Nurse's intense gaze. "H-he made a mistake on a potion he was working on. He also fell down some stairs, Severus is a really clumsy person." The nurse looked unconvinced but didn't say anything else.
"Alright then, we'll be sure to keep our eyes on him. You can relax though, he'll be fine as long as he gets plenty of rest. Thanks again for the help." She patted James's shoulder and turned away, passing Remus and Sirius on her way out.
Both boys had watched the whole event from a distance, their eyes still wide with fear and shock. James turned away from them and pulled up a chair next to Severus's bed, plopping down in it with a sigh. "What's happening to him" He murmured, burying his face in his hands.
Remus bit his lip, flickering his eyes from James to Severus. "I-I think I know what's happening to him." He blurted out. James removed his hands from his face, sitting up in his seat.
"You do? Well go on tell me!" He shouted. Remus flinched slightly but continued to speak.
"W-well so far it's only a suspicion, but I believe Lucius is harming in some way."
"Malfoy?" Asked Sirius, standing on the opposite side of Severus's bed. "What makes you think that?" Remus gulped and looked down at his feat.
"I…I've had my suspicions for awhile. I've seen the way Severus acts when he's around him. He always looks scared. Plus the wounds are suspicious as well, have you noticed he keeps getting hurt in the same place? Plus Lucius paying Severus to help him study, that has suspicion written all over it. Severus started getting hurt after he began tutoring him. Plus I confronted Lucius in the hallway about it and he…well he threatened me. He told me that I shouldn't get involved in other peoples business because I might get hurt."
James stared at Remus with wide eyes. I was right!
"Remus…I think your right. I was thinking the same thing today, but these are only suspicions. We don't have proof. I'm sure when Sev wakes up we'll ask him about it.'
"I don't think that's going to work." Said Sirius, crossing his arms over his chest. James raised a brow.
"What do you mean?" James asked. Sirius heaved a heavy sigh and stared at James thoughtfully.
"Think about it, if Sev really is getting hurt he would of gone to you a long time ago. Lucius is obviously holding something above Sev to make sure he doesn't tell anyone. Whatever that may be, there's no way of knowing. I believe we should try to get as much evidence as we can before we tell someone about this. I'm sure Sev really does want help, he just can't get it without paying a price."
The words settled into James slowly, he tried to take all of this new information in as best as he could. Moments of silence passed before he finally answered.
"Sirius, come with me." He stood from his chair and began walking away from Severus. "Remus please watch him, I'll be back soon." Remus nodded, watching James and Sirius go with worried eyes.
"Where are we going?" Asked Sirius. James stormed down the hallway, his fists clenched and eyes dark.
"To Dumbledore. I need some answers."