Chapter 16: The Discovery at the Shrieking Shack

Lily soon received a reply from Petunia by Halloween. She was thrilled at the news that Dumbledore changed his tune and agreed to help Petunia learn some magic once they all reached adulthood. Lily and Severus celebrated the news and Petunia's enthusiastic letter at the Halloween feast, and with Quincey's help, using a plastic container he brought with him from his Muggle home, sent Petunia and their parents some scrumptious pumpkin cake and pie.

As November came in, nearly all the leaves were gone from the trees and the weather grew much colder. Rose and Trevor wrote to Lily saying Petunia's acceptance had made her all the more determined to strive through her education with as much effort as possible. Lily was very happy.

Remus, on the other hand, was far from happy. Of course, Lily didn't know why, but Severus anonymously did. Remus was getting very ill again, and was due to transform in the Shrieking Shack once again on the second of the month. Lessons were fortunately not meant to start again until the 6th which left Remus enough time to recover and not miss any classes, and therefore be less noticed to go missing.

James Potter and Peter Pettigrew remained the outcasts with the former's continuous obsession to expose Severus as a Voldemort supporter, as well as to reveal Remus' secret behind his illness and frequent disappearances from lessons.

Sirius was becoming more and more friendly with Remus, and seemed to have estranged from Potter completely. However, he was still reluctant to fully join with Severus' social group. Deep down, he missed Potter. He was his first friend upon leaving the House of Black to start his education. But he was too stubborn to let Potter's outburst go, at least for the time being. Severus did not complain. He still felt awkward around Sirius and couldn't see him as being a good friend in the foreseeable future.

On the second of November itself, it was a Thursday, but after the celebrations of Halloween, the lessons were cancelled that week for a treat, and a ruse by Dumbledore to divert suspicion from Remus' absences. Lily was visibly disappointed at this, because like Petunia, she wanted to work hard and be as successful as possible.

Nevertheless, she and Severus had more time together as a result. They both finished their homework quickly to have plenty of free time together, along with Mary, Quincey and Remus, until he decided to go home because of his illness.

"I hope he gets well soon. This is getting silly." said Mary.

"He can't help it." defended Lily.

"Seems odd he keeps getting ill like this though." said Marlene McKinnon.

"What are you looking at, Marlene?" asked her best friend, Rebecca Castle.

Marlene blushed and Lily followed her gaze, seeing Sirius. He was looking toward where Remus just left through the portrait hole.

"You still think he's cute then?" teased Mary.

"Uh, yeeeah!" said Marlene in an obvious way.

Lily, Mary and Rebecca chuckled and proceeded to tease Marlene, dismissing Remus' illness from their minds for that day.

Sirius wasn't dismissing it though. He was worried for his friend and he was starting to get suspicious. He noticed that for the third month in a row, Remus became mysteriously ill, and his friend was still cagey in divulging what this unknown disease was, or indeed what the symptoms were, aside from looking so pale and weak. He wanted to know more, and so when Remus left and the other Gryffindors seemed focused on each other in casual and care-free conversation, Sirius slipped away and through the portrait hole.

As Sirius exited and left down the staircase, despite the Fat Lady's protestations, he suddenly felt something pull on his arm. He looked round, drawing his wand, but there was seemingly nothing there. Nevertheless, he felt something gripping his arm, then he heard a voice right next to him.

"Keep still, Sirius. McGonagall is with Lupin just below us!" the voice hissed.

Sirius knew that voice.

"James?!"

James' head swiftly made itself visible. He was wearing his family's Invisibility Cloak.

"Get under here!" hissed James and he pulled Sirius with him under the Cloak.

"What are you doing here?" asked Sirius in a whisper. "And where the hell did you get this?" He fondled the Cloak with fascination.

"It's my father's. He handed it down to me when I first came here." explained James quietly. "I'm here so I can find out what Lupin is up to."

"You're spying on him?" asked Sirius crossly.

"Well, aren't you?" asked James. He had Sirius there.

"I'm worried about him. You're going out of your way to make him look like he's up to no good!" he fumed.

"He clearly is." snapped James. "He's sneaking off when he's supposed to be ill."

"But didn't you just say that he was with McGonagall?" retorted Sirius. "She clearly is authorising him and allowing him to do this. For all we know, she's escorting him to the station to go back home. Now do you want to see what they're doing or not?"

For the first time since their fall out, the two of them agreed and slipped down the staircases carefully, in pursuit of the mysterious McGonagall and Remus as they made their way to the ground floor. There were still some students eating in the Great Hall, and they went past quickly, and to James and Sirius' notice, they were acting in a way that distinctly indicated they did not want to be seen.

"Suspicious much?" asked Potter.

Sirius had to admit this did look odd and was not steering things in Remus' favour, despite McGonagall being his apparent accomplice.

What the two of them didn't realize was that as Potter muttered those two words, they were overheard by a student exiting the Hall, prepared to head back to the Ravenclaw common room.

Severus paled. He had noticed it was full moon shortly, and he saw Remus being taken out of the castle by McGonagall. Then he heard the invisible speaker…and that could only mean one thing: that someone in the Entrance Hall was hiding under an Invisibility Cloak. James Potter, and as he was asking a rhetorical question to someone, most likely Peter Pettigrew.

He heard their quiet but noticeable footsteps following Remus and McGonagall into the grounds.

"Damn." he whispered hoarsely.

This hadn't happened in the previous universe. If anything, a similar incident occurred to him, much to his horror and humiliation. He knew that McGonagall would surely miss them, but then he would unless he sees them remove the Cloak at the entrance.

"Knowing Potter, he probably will before entering the Shack once McGonagall heads back inside."

On that note, Severus looked round and ensured that nobody saw him. He rushed into the grounds and took cover in the dark cover of the trees on the outskirts of the Forest. He couldn't see Potter, of course, but he saw McGonagall poking the root and the Whomping Willow stopped writhing. Then he saw Remus disappear into the hollow, and McGonagall paused before heading back to the castle.

Severus considered stopping her to warn her of the disaster that was about to take place, especially as the full moon was about to fully arise. But he knew that he could not stop her as Potter might not remove the Cloak, and as he was not supposed to know such a cloak was in Hogwarts, he would find it very difficult to prove his story to her. So, he knew that he had to do this alone, and he hated having to do so. One of the last things he wanted to do was go anywhere near Remus in his werewolf form, especially whilst not under the influence of the Wolfsbane Potion.

Severus waited until McGonagall disappeared into the castle. Then he saw what he expected to see, or to an extent anyway.

Potter removed the Cloak, and to Severus' surprise, it wasn't Pettigrew accompanying him, but Sirius. The Cloak was left outside the hollow entrance, rather like how Harry Potter did when trying to save his friend, Ron, which gave Severus an advantage in the ensuing confrontation with the alternate versions of Sirius and Remus.

Severus rushed over but the Willow began to lash again and a branch winded him. Luckily, he landed by the root and pressed it hard. The Willow became still once more and he ignored the pain he was in, grabbed the Cloak and dived into the hollow too. He ran as fast as he could, but the tunnel was getting narrower.

He daren't yell out a warning, just in case Remus had already transformed. But as he came round the corner in the twisted tunnel, he saw Potter and Sirius ahead. By now, they were at the point where the tunnel ended and the Shack became close to view.

Severus rushed to them and seized Sirius' arm.

"Prince!" gasped Sirius.

"What the hell are you doing here?" snapped Potter.

"Saving you two. We've got to get out of here, and for the love of Merlin: Keep. Your. Voices. Down!" replied Severus in a harsh whisper.

His authoritative tone seemed to sway Sirius into believing him, but Potter remained unconvinced.

"And what are we supposed to be running from? We Gryffindors are fearless!" he said stubbornly.

Severus didn't want to reveal Remus' secret, but he knew that if he was to save Potter from being either infected or killed, he had little say in the matter.

"I don't think being a brave Gryffindor will save an eleven-year-old first year student from being savaged by a werewolf, Potter!" he sneered quietly.

Potter's smug face dropped swiftly.

"A what?!"

"You heard him, James. Come on!" murmured Sirius.

Then they heard a terrible noise ahead. Remus was beginning to transform.

"Oh no." mumbled Severus. Quick!"

He wrapped the Cloak around the three of them, and Potter looked and saw the grotesque transformation from boy to wolf in the distance.

Severus and Sirius practically dragged the horror-struck Potter through the tunnel with all haste. The Cloak may have blinded them from the werewolf, but it could still smell them. They had to get out of the tunnel before it could scent them and follow them out into the grounds.

Fortunately, upon transformation, the werewolf was adjusting to its situation and was whining weakly, then it howled at the moon outside from without the closed-up house. It didn't pick up a scent, and by the time it was heard roaring and clawing up furniture, the three boys were far ahead and out of its heightened range of smell.

Severus and Sirius clambered out of the hollow, but in his haste, Potter slipped and fell. Removing the Cloak, Severus gripped him harshly by the scruff of his neck and with Sirius' help pulled him out of the entrance and they fled to the outskirts of the Forest.

Panting for breath, and close to hyperventilating upon the realization of how close they all came to certain doom, the boys collapsed against the trees.

"Prince!" panted Sirius harshly. "You saved our lives!"

Severus looked to them. Sirius was in awe, and Potter was looking at him in a shocked but quizzical way.

"Yes. I suppose so." replied Severus, as he regained his breath.

Potter still looked bewildered. "W...why?"

"Because…I'm not a…Slytherin nor…a Death Eater."

Potter was now looking at Severus as though he had just seen him for the first time, at long last.

"We have to get back to the castle." said Sirius.

"That yer do!" boomed a voice.

It was Hagrid. He was wielding a cross-bow looking pale beneath his beard. He too was panting in shock. It was clear for all three of them to see, that he had seen everything.

"Went to see a friend, and I come out the Forest to find you three heading into the Whomping Willow. And it was full moon an' all!" he said crossly. "I rushed to get me crossbow, fat lot of good it'd do me if the werewolf caught you whilst still inside the Shack. I can't fit in that hollow entrance. By the time I came back out, I saw you three running back here. What the devil were you thinking of? If you hadn't escaped, you realize that I would have had to risk killing young Mr Lupin?"

The three boys were silent. Sirius and Potter were too stunned at their actions to talk. Sirius had just discovered that his friend was a werewolf, and Potter was full of fear and remorse.

Severus knew what was coming next. He experienced it before, only this time, the tables were turned.

Hagrid confirmed his theory.

"To the castle. Stick with me." he said severely. "We're gonna pay a visit to Professor Dumbledore."

Only on the mention of his name did Severus realized what situation he had now placed himself in. He could be discovered for who and what he truly was by Dumbledore whilst under his interrogation. He didn't know if his Occlumency was any better than it used to be in his past life, but due to his lack of memory in basic magic, he doubted it. He would simply have to avoid eye contact with the Headmaster at all costs.

Hagrid escorted him, Sirius and James up to the castle and up to the second floor to the gargoyle entrance to Dumbledore's office.

"Hagrid?" McGonagall ran up, surprised to see the gamekeeper escorting three students to Dumbledore's office, two of which were her Gryffindors.

"Professor McGonagall." greeted Hagrid grimly. "I caught these three students entering and leaving the Whomping Willow passage."

McGonagall's face lost all colour. In a stiff and controlled voice, she said, "I'll take them from here, Hagrid. Could you go and get Professor Flitwick for me, please?"

Hagrid obeyed and went to find Flitwick.

Without a word to Severus, Sirius or James, McGonagall spoke out: "Gobstopper."

The boys were led onto the spiral staircase first, followed by McGonagall, and with a shaking hand, she wrapped on the door.

"Enter."

McGonagall led the boys into the office. Sirius and James had never been here before and looked in awe at the many objects dedicated against the Dark Arts, as well as the many portraits of past Heads of Hogwarts and the beauteous Fawkes perched on his stand beside Dumbledore in his desk.

"Minerva, to what do I owe the pleasure of yourself and these three students?"

"This had best wait until Filius arrives, Albus." said McGonagall, though she had to slink into a chair. "The disgrace, the shock of it."

Dumbledore looked at the boys, but all three had their heads hung low. Two of them were bowing their heads in shame, the other was avoiding the Headmaster's gaze purposefully.

Professor Flitwick soon entered and looked at the assembled party. Hagrid followed behind, knowing he was likely to play witness.

"Now, perhaps you can explain to us all what is the matter, Minerva?" said Dumbledore patiently.

"Albus, all I can say is that I came across Hagrid with these…foolish boys." said McGonagall in a hoarse tone. "He says that he had seen them enter and then leave the passage leading to the house."

Dumbledore's kindly twinkle vanished altogether. He could scarcely believe that three first years would accomplish this foolish task. He looked to Hagrid.

"Your side, Hagrid?"

Hagrid said his end of the story, much like he had done to Severus, James and Sirius earlier. He then went on to assure Dumbledore, McGonagall and Flitwick that Remus did not escape onto the grounds in pursuit.

"Now, perhaps you three wish to explain yourselves." said Dumbledore sternly.

Sirius looked to James, and the latter spoke.

"I was curious of why Remus Lupin kept disappearing each month so far in term. I saw him in the corridors with Professor McGonagall…then Sirius saw me, and we decided to follow them together."

"I followed Remus when he came out of the common room." said Sirius sheepishly. "I was worried about him."

"Hold on." said a cold voice. It was the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black. "Are you a Black?"

"Yes?" replied Sirius.

"You're living in my house. I recognise you…what are you doing in that Gryffindor uniform? All Blacks have been in Slytherin!"

"Not me." said Sirius coldly.

Phineas Nigellus looked equally mutinous.

"Enough, Phineas." said Dumbledore impatiently. "Continue."

"Then we saw Professor McGonagall and Remus go toward that tree that attacks people, it stopped when one of them pressed on a knot in the root. We saw Remus go into the hollow and Professor McGonagall went back inside. By now, we were too curious, and we went into the passage." said James in an equally guilty voice of his own.

"And you, Mr Prince?" asked Professor Flitwick in a strict voice.

Severus noticed that neither of his companions had mentioned the Invisibility Cloak at this point, and he decided to go along with it. After all, he thought it might have its uses later.

"I saw Potter and Black go out the door as I was leaving the Great Hall." he explained. "I followed them, wondering why they were sneaking off. As I went out ahead of them, I saw Professor McGonagall and Remus go to that tree, a Whomping Willow, I think it is. I panicked, because I realized what they were heading into."

"Hold on, how did you know Mr Lupin was a werewolf?" asked McGonagall in a panicked voice. "Surely the silly boy didn't tell you?"

Severus knew this awkward question would arise, and now all eyes were on him. He hated the look of suspicion on Dumbledore's and Potter's faces.

"No, he didn't tell me. But when he disappeared for the second-time last month, I noticed the moon was full at around that time. I had my suspicions and checked the lunar chart in the library. I realized that if Remus disappeared with illness again on the second of November, I would be correct in my guess that he was a werewolf."

All eyes were on him, and he daren't look up.

"Carry on, Mr Prince." said Dumbledore.

"I chased them down to the Willow, but Professor McGonagall was already gone, and I was too afraid to go back and warn her. I was hit by the Willow, but pressed the knot and went in after them. I grabbed them and told them to get out quickly, and then we heard Remus transform and we ran before the werewolf fully recovered from the change…it didn't see or smell us. We got out just in time."

"I saw him." mumbled James, tears beginning to slide down his cheeks. "He was in so much pain…I almost wanted to…"

"Yes, Mr Potter?" asked McGonagall.

"I almost wanted to be there by his side…to help him through it."

Everyone looked at James. He felt extremely remorseful for his suspicions and his actions. His actions nearly got him, his best friend and his rival killed. But his rival saved them, but nothing could be done for the poor boy he tried to suggest was a bad person, when in fact, he was in silent suffering for a disease he could not control.

Severus was very surprised. He had scarcely seen James Potter express such an emotion, except for his original version whom was dead in Heaven and more the wiser. He realized now why Remus and Sirius considered him such a good friend in his past lifetime. He now saw clearly that despite Remus' fears that if he stood up to his friends, they would betray him in turn and reveal his secret, he should never have worried.

"So, you had rescued these two from running into the werewolf and got them out safely." said Dumbledore quietly.

"I hope you realized how fortunate the three of you are." said McGonagall shakily. "Not many first-year students would cross the path of a werewolf and live to tell the tale, not to mention unscathed. Mr Potter, Mr Black. I will be taking ten points from each of you."

"As honourable as your actions were, Mr Prince, I cannot encourage such behaviour in future." said Flitwick. "I will take…five points from you, not ten. Consider that a reward of sorts for your heroism. You should have come to a teacher, I admit, but perhaps it was lucky that you didn't. From the sounds of it, the three of you only escaped narrowly."

The three boys nodded.

"Mr Potter, Mr Black. You shall each receive detention with Professor Slughorn in his dungeons, Monday evening." said Dumbledore. "No detention for Mr Prince. But I need to ask the three of you…not to tell anyone about Mr Lupin's condition. If anyone were to find out, he could be expelled or worse."

All three nodded. They now had a mutual common factor to maintain: Remus Lupin must not be exposed as a werewolf. He was their friend. Even James wanted to make amends with Remus.

"To your respective dormitories, immediately." said Dumbledore.

"In fact, we shall escort you." said McGonagall coldly.

Flitwick followed.

As Flitwick and Severus reached their floor heading to the common room, James paused before following Sirius and McGonagall.

"Prince."

Severus turned to James. He looked as cold to him as ever, but he saw that the same could not be said for James. He looked grateful, but conflicted for speech.

"…Thank you."

"Yes, thank you…Severus." added Sirius.

Severus was left staring into vacancy as the two Gryffindors re-joined McGonagall and headed up to their common room.

As Flitwick directed Severus to his common room and solved the riddle for him, Severus thought of all that had just occurred. He knew that Remus would be informed. He hoped that Remus would not be so drastically traumatised by the close shave. He was more vulnerable to emotion than he would have been the last time, as he was still only eleven. But he was going to assure his friend that he didn't think less of him in the least. Then he thought of James and Sirius' reaction to his saving them. He shook his head slowly. He still could not consider the two of them to be his friends, least of all, James.

He knew he was going to have to be civil with them, as they were going to be with him. It was going to take a lot of patience on his part.

I must sleep on it, he thought to himself, feeling exhausted.

Meanwhile, in his office, Dumbledore had just dismissed Hagrid. He was thinking quietly to himself about Severus Prince. He knew now there was more to the boy than meets the eye, and his convenient explanation of how he knew of Remus' condition only emphasised his own suspicions.

"I think I need a private word with Mr Prince." said Dumbledore to Fawkes. "And soon."

He made his way to his sleeping quarters, ignoring the protestations of Phineas Nigellus, complaining of how his distant descendant had brought shame on the name of Black.

(Here's Chapter 16. Chapter 17 may well be updated later this week. Here's hoping. Please read and review. Thank you.)