Chapter 4: Setting Things In Motion

Lily was back in the Common Room when Remus and James returned to Gryffindor Tower. She was curled up in the same corner she'd been in before, books scattered around her. Most likely, she was doing last minute revisions of her summer schoolwork. Lily was a hard worker as well as naturally gifted.

Remembering how she thought of James, Remus stopped him a few feet away. It was best if he approached her first. James nodded, understanding his train of thought without words, though he stopped close enough to hear them.

"Lily." Remus closed the distance as she looked up. "Summer assignments?"

"Yes. I finished most of them, but I only had my textbooks at home, and the materials in the Library are much more comprehensive."

"Indeed. I checked out several texts after the Welcoming Feast myself." He looked at the books she had stacked on one corner. "Potions? Did you find out what the seventh use of bicorn horn is? I couldn't find any reference to it."

"I didn't either. I'm still looking. It may be something that's supposed to be obvious, but...I'm not nearly as good at this as..." She stopped, looking uncomfortable.

"As Severus?" Remus finished the sentence. "He is quite the genius at Potions, isn't he?"

"He is. He used to help me some, when I asked him, but..."

"But you think he won't now?" Lily colored, and Remus took that as his opening. "I think he will, if you approach the matter correctly. Speaking of which...you recall I said this morning that I was looking into certain aspects of Severus's life?" Lily nodded. "You helped me clarify some things, and I've found some other things out. I'd like to share them with you. And I'd like to ask for your help."

"My help?" Lily blinked at him.

"Yes. I think...you may be the only person Severus has any sort of genuine attachment to. I think, if there is any way to help him, it will be with you, or not at all. And as badly as he has been hurt, it will be very difficult."

"Then...it's true? He's been..." She bit her lip.

"He has been badly hurt. I won't say more here." He indicated the Common Room. "However, if you'd be willing to adjourn to a more private setting..."

"Yeah. It's getting a bit too noisy to study here. I was thinking of going to my Prefect Rooms anyway." Lily stood and started gathering up her books. Remus rose to help her.

Once all her supplies were packed away, Remus stopped her. "There's...there's another person involved that I think we should bring with us."

Lily frowned. "Who?"

"Me." James stepped forward.

Lily's eyes hardened. "You? Why should I have anything to do with you, Potter?"

"Because I want to help." James scowled, then swiped a hand through his messy hair. "Look, I know what you think of me. And thanks to Remus, I know what I've done to Snape. I've been a complete arse, a troll, an utter git. Call me a right bastard if you want. But I never wanted to be like them...like those pricks who want to join the Dark Lord. And Remus was right when he told us that we have been acting an awful lot like them."

"I should say so. Hexing someone just because they exist is exactly the kind of thing Avery or Wilkes or Rosier might do." Lily glared at him.

"I know that now. And I want...I want to make it right. But Snape'd never believe it of me, probably not even if I took an Unbreakable Vow that it was true. Still...I can't just leave things like this." James shivered. "If you'd seen him yesterday...even Sirius was shocked."

Lily stood still a long moment. Then finally, she nodded sharply. "Fine. You can come. But one pass at me, one inappropriate comment, and I'll hex you unconscious and leave you in the hall, Potter."

"Fair enough." James nodded.

Lily stepped around him. James shared a quick glance with Remus, then fell into step beside him as they followed the red-haired girl.

Lily's prefect rooms were closer to Gryffindor Tower than Remus's. Remus and James followed her down a short hallway and up a set of 20 stairs, then behind a portrait of a matronly woman that Remus didn't know the name of. Lily slipped into a separate room to drop her books, then returned to the main room. "All right, tell me what you've discovered."

Remus nodded. "Well, you mentioned that he was poor, and that his parents fought, and that's part of it. But the rest of it..." He gave her a quick summary of his observations about Severus's home life, about the Tenebris Inferno, and what they'd guessed or confirmed about his life at Hogwarts. By the time he was done, Lily had tears in her eyes.

Remus guided her to a chair by the fire. "You understand now, why we want to help him?"

"Yes..." Lily exhaled a shaky breath. "He never…he never told me...about his mother. I knew she was a witch, but..." She swiped angrily at her tears. "How could someone do that to a child? Their own child?"

"I couldn't say." Remus shook his head, keeping his voice low and soothing. "Bitterness, hatred, madness...perhaps even a twisted sense of love, if she thinks she is giving him the power to protect himself. Without knowing his mother, I wouldn't know what might drive her. But you understand now, what I meant when I said that he is trapped, and that he has been suffering for a long time, and much worse than anyone realized?"

"And you were hurting him too." The words were low, but angry and aching. Remus had only that much warning before Lily launched herself out of her chair, eyes wide and furious, and her wand pointed straight at James. "You…you...ever since the train our First Year, you've been tormenting him, calling him foul names, hexing him for no reason. You...you foul, loathsome...bully! You bastard!"

James didn't move, didn't make any effort to defend himself, not even when she marched up and jabbed her wand into his sternum. "Yeah. I did. I was a pompous git. We all were." He looked away from the furious green eyes. "I don't blame you if you want to hex the shite out of me. He was your friend, and maybe he wouldn't have said what he did to you, if I hadn't been threatening him like that."

Lily eyes were glimmering with tears, then she seemed to collapse in on herself. "I called him names. I insulted him. I knew he tried to keep his things clean, that they were just old, but I...and then I refused to forgive him..." Anything else she might have said dissolved into quiet weeping.

Remus stepped forward and crouched beside her as she sank to the floor. "We have all made mistakes. Even Severus made a mistake that day, though his was far from the worst. We can't change that now. All we can do is try to help him and see if it can be mended."

She looked up at him, face blotchy. "But what if it's too late?"

"I don't know. But I don't think it is. Yesterday…he could have hexed us. He didn't. I can only surmise why, but Sirius mentioned that his brother told him that Severus has often dispelled some of the ritual's force before he faces us. I think, perhaps, he knew something could go worse, could go wrong, and acted to prevent it. For both his sake and ours. And that tells me that there is something left of the boy you were friends with. Something we can save." Remus took out a handkerchief and dampened it, then handed it to her. "I don't think it will be easy. Severus is very wounded, and there's a lot of bad blood between all of us. But I think, if we all make an effort, and if we remember that he is hurt and scared and that it will take time...I think we can bring him back."

Lily nodded. "What...should we ask the teachers to help?"

Remus shook his head. "Severus has made it clear he does not trust them. I suspect they have failed him, if only in not preventing what we have done."

Lily swallowed hard. "What do we do?"

"First? I think that, if he'll let you, you should renew your friendship with Severus. He needs you. And I think, if you apologize sincerely remain persistent, that he'll let you." Remus paused. "I don't know what form it takes, but I think...I think he loves you. You may be the only person he truly does care for."

"I...I suppose. But...what about you?"

"Well first off...we'll stop targeting him. We've already agreed to that. We're working on what else we can do."

"I've got one idea. We need to prank some other people in the Castle." James spoke up. "Nothing bad, just little things."

Lily scowled at him. "Why?"

"To make it clear that we've sworn off him specifically. And that we've stopped with pranks that are harmful. He might not pay attention to it first, but I'll wager he'll realize sooner or later that he's safe. And if we could somehow get retaliation on anyone who does hurt him...even better. Anonymous at first, of course. We'll wait until he connects it all on his own. If he's half as smart as the Slytherins think he is, he'll cotton on soon enough."

Remus considered that. "It does make sense. Perhaps you might confine your pranks to Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw. Anywhere but Slytherin. There are a few in that House who deserve it, but better to leave them alone for now."

"We can do that." James nodded. "And...I've another idea." He flushed. "Mum always packs me a trunk full of clothes. And I can owl her for more, if I have a reason. Severus and I are nearly the same height. Can you do that trick again, with the handwriting? We can leave some robes for him that are new, make like they're from Prefect Attwater."

"I could. Though I'll need to tell Jeremy at the next prefect meeting, so he knows what's going on if Severus confronts him." Remus shrugged. "Fortunately, the meeting is tonight, to review our beginning term duty schedules, so I'll tell him then."

Lily nodded. "Is there a way to get the House Elves to help? I mean, if what you've said about his condition is true...he probably needs to eat bland foods for a while, to get his strength back. And he'll need Nutrition Potions, and healing potions, and a few other things."

"Yeah. We can stop by the kitchens and talk to the Elves after we're done here. I didn't even think of that." James nodded.

"Books and supplies? We could owl for them, have them sent to Severus Snape by anonymous post. The school owls are all inconspicuous enough." Remus added his own suggestion.

James nodded again. "That's easy enough. I've got the Galleons for it, and even if we can't get them by owl post, we can pick everything up first Hogsmeade weekend and mail it from there."

Lily nodded. "I know what sort of things Severus prefers. He used to go shopping with us, to help my parents navigate Diagon Alley." She frowned. "But...what can we do about his parents? I mean, even if we can help him here, when he goes back over the summer hols..."

"That will be a problem." Remus grimaced. "I doubt we'll make enough progress that he'd accept an invitation from James or I. Sirius moved out of his house over this past summer."

"I live too close to his family. It wouldn't be safe. Not to mention... my sister Petunia can be fairly horrid, and she doesn't like magic. He doesn't need that kind of stress."

"I'd say look for a Slytherin family he could go with. But that...well, we might send him to someone safe, or we might send him straight to that Voldemort nut." James made a face.

Remus blinked. "Perhaps. But you know, you might be on to something. Even in Slytherin, they might not be all bad. If we could find someone neutral..."

"Or an apprenticeship." Lily interrupted him. "Sev...Severus used to talk about it, about moving out of his house and getting an apprenticeship after O. . He didn't this summer, but if we could find someone on his behalf…or I could help him apply, if we make up. In the Muggle world, we have summer internships for deserving students. If he could get something like that, he'd be away from his parents, and he'd be able to earn money to get his own things. That could be good for him. I know it bothers him, not having the money to buy new clothes and equipment and books."

"Yeah. He mentioned that." James winced. "Siri made a comment about his clothes, and he said his old man drank away the money to pay for new clothes."

"But Severus is an excellent Potions brewer and an accomplished spell-crafter. Either one of those, as long as his O.W.L scores reflect his talent, would earn him consideration." Remus spoke softly. "And if we can help him find someone who is not influenced toward the Dark Lord, then they might be able to become the mentor and guide he needs. If even half our suppositions are true, then he's had no positive role model in his life."

"That's probably true." Lily nodded. "My dad...he tried, a little, but Severus was always so wary of him."

"With good cause, if his own is using him as a ruddy punching bag." James scowled and kicked a chair leg. Then he stood, his lean frame twitching with restless energy. "I'm going to go take care of sending those owls. Remus, can you write the note while I alter some of my robes?"

"Of course." Remus unfolded himself from his seat. "Do you want to go to the kitchens, or shall I?"

"You go. The elves like you better." James grinned at Lily. "He's more polite than I am."

Lily stood up. "I can go with Remus, tell them what sort of things Severus might like, or might be good for him." She blushed. "I know some of his favorite foods, but I also know the sorts of things my mum feeds me when I'm not feeling well."

"Sounds good. I'll see you both later." James grinned, then ducked out of the room. Lily and Remus collected their things, then followed.

***ASiSF***

Following their meeting, Sirius made his way to the Infirmary for a stomach soothing potion. His mind was still whirling with everything he'd learned.

Severus Snape. Greasy-haired bad-tempered twat he might be, but everything else...he wasn't Dark. Not by choice. He was a lonely, tormented boy, just like Sirius had been before James. Before the Potters.

It wasn't a realization he wanted to face. He wanted to ignore it. But the evidence was right in front of his eyes, and denying it would not only make him a coward and a fool, it would also lose him his best friends. Almost had, if the way Moony had ripped into him the night before was any indication.

He barely even heard the story he gave Madam Pomfrey, about having eaten something that didn't agree with him. He hardly tasted the potion she gave him, or registered the orders she delivered, about resting. He nodded in all the correct places, then went back to Gryffindor Tower, to his dorm, to collapse on his bed.

Severus Snape. Not a Dark bastard, but a boy his own age in need of the same help he'd needed when he'd fled to James earlier in the summer.

Well, he didn't want to share the Potters, and he didn't think Severus would agree to come even if he did. It'd be a long time before anything like that was even possible. He wasn't even sure they'd be on civil speaking terms by the end of the year.

Still, it got him thinking. Regulus had said something about Snape's mother. What was it?

She was a Prince. He hadn't paid that much attention to his mother's pureblood lineage lessons, except to curl his lip at the amount of inbreeding going on, but Prince...Regulus had acted like it was a well-known name. A well known family. Perhaps Severus had relatives in the wizarding world?

He wouldn't know. But James might. The Potters might be able to give him more information.

His thoughts were interrupted by James clattering into the room and tossing open his trunk. "Prongs? What's up?"

James tossed two sets of clothes, complete with underthings, shirts, trousers, socks and robes, onto his bed. Then he shut the trunk and began transfiguring parts of the uniform. Red was changed to green. Gold was changed to silver. The Gryffindor Lion was transformed into the Slytherin Serpent. Sirius sat up, watching. "Oi, Prongs..."

James looked up. "We're going to give Snape some new stuff. I've plenty, and my parents will replace anything I lose if I ask. Remus is going to deliver this stuff, with another of his notes. He'll be telling Attwater too." James folded the clothes into a bundle. "And we're going to lay off pranks against Slytherins, especially Snape. But we'll prank some other people. Hopefully he'll realize that we've sworn off him."

Sirius nodded. "Works. I told Regulus that we'd leave him alone if he told me what I wanted to know."

"Good to know." James dropped onto his bed. "Lily's going to try and reconnect with Snape. She and Remus have gone down to the kitchens to work on some other stuff."

Sirius folded himself into a more comfortable position. "You okay with that? I mean, it's Lily..."

"Yeah. I know. But...maybe it's better this way. I mean, I still want her to go out with me, you know, but...while we were talking about Snape, about how to help him...it's practically the first civil conversation she's ever had with me." James pulled a wry grin. "After she got done threatening to hex me, that is."

"As long as you're all right with it." Sirius paused. "I was thinking...your parents know a lot of old families, yeah?"

"Sure. The Potters know everyone. We're a well respected family." James shrugged. "Why?"

"You know anything about the Princes?"

"They're reclusive. Old family, almost as old as the Founders, I think. Rumor has it they're pretty set into pure-blood ways and all, but I've never met them. Why?"

"Because Regulus said Snape's mother was a Prince. That it was a family known their spell-work and Potions. If there's a way to contact them..."

"You think his mum hasn't been in contact with them?" James frowned.

"I don't know. But if she's really the type to use Dark Rituals on her son...it might be a dead end, but it might be they could help him out." Sirius met James eyes. "I know what it's like to be trapped in a bad home. I don't think Snape'd go with us, but if we could find someone else..."

"That's not a bad idea." James blinked. "We were talking about helping him get an apprenticeship for the summer. But family's better, if it's possible."

"As long as they aren't like my parents. Or his." His own parents had been fond of hexes, rather than rituals and beatings, but that didn't mean it hurt any less.

"Yeah. I'll send an owl to mum and ask her about it." James eyed the clothes, then his trunk, then sighed. "I guess we'd better look over our summer assignments. I expect the professors aren't going to slack off just because we passed our O. ."

"Not likely." Sirius grimaced. "You're taking Transfiguration still?"

"Yeah. And Potions, since I want to be an Auror. Plus Charms and Herbology and Defense. Thought about Care of Magical Creatures, but I asked McGonnagall, and she told me I'd do better to stick with Runes."

"Ah. Well, I stuck to Care of Magical Creatures anyway. So we can swap notes, if you like."

"Sounds good to me." James grinned. "We'd better find Peter and get to work. I'll give Remus the clothes when we see him."

Sirius hopped off his bed. "Sure." He grabbed his books and parchment and followed James to the Common Room.

***ASiSF***

After visiting the kitchens, Remus spent the rest of the day working with the others. Things were still strained between them, but he had promised to continue doing homework with them. Besides, they'd all discovered long ago that their individual strengths worked well together.

Peter, as usual, had almost nothing done. James and Sirius had done their assignments, but only the minimum required, nowhere near the standard the professors would expect of prospective N.E.W.T students. The work occupied them all for the rest of they day, until it was time for Remus to go to the Prefect meeting. Lily went with him, as the female Sixth Year Prefect for Gryffindor.

Before they left, James gave him a bundle of clothes, which proved to be two complete outfits. Remus shrunk them down and took them with him.

The meeting lasted about an hour, detailing various patrol schedules, meeting schedules and so forth. Afterward, Remus found Jeremy. "Prefect Attwater, may I have a moment?"

Jeremy Attwater was an affable, friendly sort. "Sure Remus." He followed Remus over to an alcove. Lily would be watching to make sure they weren't disturbed. "What's on your mind?"

"I need a favor." Remus huffed out a sigh. "You know about how my friends had a thing about messing with the Slytherins, particularly one Severus Snape?"

"I do." Jeremy's expression turned troubled. "Honestly, I think it's a bit wrong of you. I wasn't by the Lake last year, but if I had been, I'd have given you all detentions and taken points for what happened."

"I wish someone had. I wish I had." Remus grimaced, feeling a blush of shame steal over his face. "What happened then was wrong, and I should have stopped it. But...yesterday, James and Siri cornered him again. Only...we found out some things about Severus. I can't speak about it, or rather I won't, but...he needs help. And we're going to be helping him, as much as we can. After what we found out...let's just say we've seen the error of our ways." He scrubbed a hand through his sandy hair.

"Well, I have to say I'm glad to hear it. But what's the favor?"

"Snape wouldn't accept help from us. But...you've a good reputation. So...yesterday, he wound up in a bad way. I took him to my prefect rooms, took care of him. I knew he'd be suspicious, so I wrote a note and forged your handwriting. I thought he might trust you, at least."

Jeremy frowned. "Well...I suppose it's all right. Although, forging a Senior Prefect's signature..."

"I know. Take points if you like. Double, because I've done it twice." Remus produced the note he'd written before the meeting. "I said I needed a favor, and what I wanted to ask...Can you take some stuff to my rooms, with this note? Leave it for him? And, if he asks about it, or...anything else, can you tell him that you've been helping him? Make it seem like you found him after he collapsed, tell him you've been doing everything."

"You don't want to take credit for it?"

"I can't. Snape...Severus...he'd rather die than accept anything from us. And he's got good reason for it." Remus shook his head. "I'll come clean to him, some day. But now isn't the time. Right now, it's more important for him to be helped than it is for him to trust me."

Jeremy blinked. "You really have changed your mind about the fellow, haven't you? What about your mates?"

"They have too. You'll see what I mean. Will you lend us a hand?"

Jeremy nodded. "I will. For the Snape boy, if nothing else."

"Thank you." Remus pulled out the packet of clothing. "This is the rest of what he needs, for now." He gave Attwater an overview of what they'd done so far, and their plans.

Jeremy listened to his explanations, then took the package, and the note containing the password to Remus's rooms. "I'll see he gets it. Although...a word of warning to you and your Marauder friends. I'll be watching this year. And if you step out of line with Snape, I'll go to Dumbledore and McGonnagall." Jeremy's expression turned hard.

"I'd expect nothing less." Remus nodded, then turned away and rejoined Lily.

They'd made a start. Now to see if their plans would play out.

Author's Note: So...the Marauders are on the move. Next up...Severus wakes up, and the world is a little different than he expected.