1975-1976: The Shrieking Shack

As soon as he stepped in the long corridor that led to the different compartments, he was snatched by Mulciber, and dragged to sit with the rest of his dormmates, Rosier, Rosier's classmate Carl Greengrass, and a Ravenclaw girl in their year that seemed to be unable to let go of the latter's sleeve.

Despite being seated in a different wagon entirely, Potter managed to pass by their compartment twice — once searching for Lily, and a second time shoving a snitch in the Slytherins' faces, and claiming that this year the Quidditch Cup would be red.

Severus didn't care about that second part in the slightest, but it annoyed him that he could hear the girls' exclamations from the neighbouring compartments as Potter passed by them, swaggering as though he'd just earned a place in the national team. They were going to get what was coming for them, he and Lupin both.

Classes began busier than usual, and classwork seemed to have doubled from previous years 'in preparation for the upcoming exams'. Potions aside for obvious reasons, Herbology was by far the most tense of their classes for the simple reason it was held with a mixed group of Slytherins and Ravenclaws. Chareen MacDougle's father had died in the Leaky Cauldron attack, and every single person from her House seemed to hold the fifth-year Slytherins somehow personally responsible. To her credit, Sprout did try to keep some order in her classes, but the task was nigh impossible, so Snape for one didn't hold her accountable. Evidently, not quite all details had reached the muggle press. A few weeks into the term, Snape was acutely aware that at least six witches and wizards had lost their lives that night. For what reason, no-one could tell, though the conspiracy theories were countless.

September faded into October, and the Hogsmeade visit came sooner than anyone had expected. Snape had invited Lily to go with him, but she had declined, for she'd already promised her dormmates to join them. Seuthes gritted his teeth as he noticed that the group surrounding her had grown from the Gryffindor fifth-year girls to the Gryffindor fifth-years. Potter was tossing a sickle in his hand — a temporary substitute of his snitch —, while Black must have been telling Mary MacDonald some far-fetched tale, for she was giggling at his every sentence. Lupin and Pettigrew were trying to fit in with the group, but their attempts were far from successful.

Not wishing to see any more of that group, he ushered Avery and Mulciber to move faster, but when they invited him to sit with them at the Three Broomsticks, he declined hurriedly, and went straight into the Hog's Head.

He'd never been here before. Well, true, he'd never been anywhere in Hogsmeade, but he'd had some expectations of the town that were, on the whole, met. Here, however, they were not. He had never expected that Lucius Malfoy would set foot in a place like this — filthy, gloomy, and looking more like a place for bandit gatherings than anything else.

Despite the dim lighting in the room, he soon managed to locate the person he was looking for — Malfoy was one of the few people whose head was not in any way covered. With him sat Narcissa, and two black-clad people he didn't recognise.

"Over here, Snape," Malfoy waved at him just in case, and waited until the boy had settled on the seat opposite of him.

Seuthes looked nervously around the table. The people next to him both had curly black hair, seemed to be in their 20s, and there was something familiar about both of them, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Severus, meet Bellatrix and Rodolphus," said the blond boy.

Now that he had their names, it was much easier to figure out why they had seemed familiar without him ever meeting them before. Rodolphus was Lestrange's brother, and — Well, Seuthes reasoned, he must be Lestrange too — and he'd heard tales of Bellatrix's time at Hogwarts, so he knew that her last name was Black. So she was either Black's — Sirius Black's — sister, or she was Narcissa's. Knowing of her mental episodes, it made more sense that she be Black's, but judging by the current company, it seemed more likely that the honour was Narcissa's.

Leaving for now his speculations on the side, he focused back on the conversation.

Lestrange was looking at him, leaning a bit over the table so that he had direct eye contact with him despite Bellatrix sitting between them. "I've heard some things about you, half-breed. You know, I could've used a Potions tutor myself." The man chuckled gruffly. Meanwhile Bellatrix was looking at Seuthes as though he were a stain on her sole.

"Have you thought about what you'd like to do after you graduate?" asked Lestrange. "It is your fifth year, isn't it?"

"Most likely research," replied Snape, and that was the end of his thinking of a career. He still had three years after all, though the man was correct that he'd need to choose NEWTs at the end of this one.

"Ah, yes, that spell you invented. Someone mentioned it.. I've never heard of a student capable of that — safe for the Dark Lord, of course."

"Voldemort invented—"

"Do not say the Dark Lord's name!" Bellatrix cut him off, then twisted her mouth into a creepy grin. "Yes, of course he invented spells. He is the most powerful wizard the world has seen since Merlin, more powerful than that fool Dumbledore." In the silence that followed that declaration, she added, "Though, obviously, you don't necessarily need to be powerful to invent a spell. If a half-breed can do it, it can't be that difficult, now can it? What spell is it you came up with anyway?"

Seuthes didn't hear much of the insulting words since his mind was still on the fact that people knew he had created a spell. He'd only used it once in a confrontation with Pettigrew, and there hadn't been that many witnesses. Besides, how could they know he hadn't just read about it somewhere?

"I think it should be classified as a jinx," he said slowly. "Langlock. It prevents you from speaking, so it works great against nitwits who can't do nonverbals."

"Well, show us." Bellatrix lifted her hands as though it was obvious that that was what they were expecting of him. "See, Cissy here can't wait to be your test subject."

"Would you stop?" Narcissa, who had been dead silent until now, was glaring daggers at her sister.

"I just thought it would be a good opportunity for you to be of some use to the cause. You're almost as bad as cousin Sirius." Though completely in the dark about 'the cause', and confused by the strange dynamics between the two sisters, Seuthes appreciated the jibe against Sirius Black. Maybe this Bellatrix character wasn't that bad after all. "Rodolphus, dear, it appears it would have to be you."

Lestrange was about to protest, when he noticed the pointed look on his fiancée's face. Bellatrix then nodded her head toward him, an instruction for Seuthes to demonstrate his spell.

"Here?"

"And where would you suggest? Perhaps we should go and present our fight to dear McGonagall?"

Snape still thought fighting inside the inn would be frowned upon and they were likely to be thrown out, but was too embarrassed to press it further. Lifting his wand, he pointed it at the black-haired man, and said, "Langlock!"

Lestrange winced as the jinx hit him, then mumbled something unintelligible that Seuthes took as a sign to undo the spell, and cast a Finite Incantatem.

"We have an offer for you," said Malfoy, leaning slightly toward the younger boy. "If we can make sure you were the one who invented the spell, we will offer you a job as a researcher, how does that sound to you?"

"Make sure?"

"See, we can't check every book with curses to see if one of them contains your jinx," explained Rodolphus, grateful that his tongue could now move freely around his mouth. "What we can do is give you a very specific task to see if you can complete it."

Seuthes nodded slowly, at the same time curious and suspicious about the whole thing. "What task?"

"We thought it should be something fun and the— we were told this one shouldn't be too difficult. We want you to create a spell that lifts the target by their ankle."

"Like Leviosa?"

Malfoy fixed Bellatrix with a nasty look, one that clearly read 'I told you so', then turned to Snape with a smile, "Exactly."

After a few minutes of banter between the four graduates with remarks to things Seuthes did not understand, Malfoy escorted him out of the inn, and bid him goodbye.

The students were required to be at the main square at five o'clock to be escorted back to the castle. Since it was still before three, Snape set in the direction of the Three Broomsticks in the hopes that he would find a familiar face. The familiar face he encountered, however, wasn't the one he'd been hoping for.

He was halfway there, when out of the blue Black appeared in front of him. "Sucking up to Malfoy, huh, Snape?"

Seuthes spun around frantically, expecting to have stepped in a trap, and searching for the three missing Gryffindors. They, however, were nowhere to be seen.

"Scared, Snivellus? Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I just wanted to share with you some friendly advice."

"Has the netherworld turned to ice?"

Black snorted loudly, and stepped closer. "Stay away from my brother because Malfoy won't be able to help you when we go back to the castle."

With that, he spun around, and disappeared in one of the alleyways.

October 20th. Severus checked the lunar calendar again, just in case, but there was no mistake. It was today. He slipped out of his bed, and crept toward the common room. There was a prefect guarding the door, but if he could distract him...

"Sternius!" he whispered, and waited patiently for the charm to do its work. Soon enough, the prefect sneezed loudly, then doubled over twice more, and was forced to go to the lavatory to clean himself up. Severus left the dungeons.

Not completely, but enough that only his head was poking above the staircase, just enough for him to spot the quartet, when they exited the castle. He didn't exactly spot them, as it were. Half an hour later the front gate opened and closed. So Severus followed suit. He could hear hushed voices coming from his left, and went in that direction, keeping his body firmly pressed against the stone walls so that the big columns would provide him with some cover. After a few metres the voices stopped.

"Going somewhere, Snivellus?" asked Potter's voice, though Potter wasn't there.

"I was going to ask you the same thing, Potter."

"Ah. But see, we have a prefect with us. Can you say the same? Remus, what do you think? Isn't that worth... hm, 20 points maybe? 25?"

"Prongs, really..." came the weak response.

"Oh, come on, it would only take you a minute."

A deep sigh followed, then the rustling of fabric, and Lupin appeared out of thin air, looking every bit like he was going to vomit any second now. "Snape... It's after curfew, and... you can't be here." He took a deep breath, and looked at the Slytherin with tired eyes. "10 points from Slytherin and you have to get back inside... Or I'll have to make it more."

Severus clenched his hands into fists, and stared at the other boy with such hatred and determination in his eyes, that Lupin winced slightly, and took a step backwards. More as an unspoken plea to follow his instructions than anything else, the spineless twit spoke, "Snape..."

Relaxing his fingers and balling them into fists again, Severus released a long shuddering breath, and still fuming turned toward the gates. As a snicker broke the silence, he spun around again, whipping his wand in front of him, and shouting "Densaugeo!". He only entered the castle when he heard the yelp of pain, and the string of curses that came out distorted through his victim's rapidly growing teeth. Severus only wished he'd been able to see the result of his work.

It was the day of the first Quidditch match of the year, and as usual Slytherin was going to play Gryffindor. Snape, personally, didn't understand what all the fuss was about, but at breakfast the entire Great Hall felt electrified, more so than usual.

"What's going on?" he asked Lily, as they made their way down the hill toward the pitch. He was going to a game for the first time in his life. Around them people were chanting "Gryffindors are harpoons" and the corresponding "Gryffindors are buffoons".

"It's the first time in a decade that Slytherin has a chance at winning the Cup since our Seeker graduated last year. Honestly, the boy they chose to fill in the position is probably worse than you even!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Severus asked, feigning having taken offence.

"It means in a match you'd be about as useful as a chocolate teapot, but he'd be even worse."

"Thank you so much for the placed confidence."

Lily faced him, grinning. "You're welcome, Sev. You know that as your best friend I have to support you in everything you do."

Severus was about to respond, when a shout interrupted him. "The hell are you doing, Snape! You don't want to be seen with the enemy!" He didn't see him in the crowd, but the voice was Avery's.

Lily's face fell. She followed his gaze to the group of Slytherins that was headed to the Eastern side of the pitch, then flicked her eyes to her own housemates, lining up at the West entrance.

"He's right," she said. "If I go with you, they'd eat me alive, and if you go with me, they'd eat you alive."

"Fucking cannibals," were Snape's last words before he went to join his housemates.

Severus' only knowledge of the game were the more basic rules, so when the game began and Madam Hooch released the Snitch, he focused only on the miniature golden ball flitting around the pitch, for he was fairly certain catching it was the point of the game. The Seekers, however, appeared to have lost sight of it the moment Hooch had set it free. When it rose above the clouds, Snape was forced to focus back on what he could see. He found the commentary of the match to be incredibly distracting, but at the same time it helped him understand what was going on. "—Slytherin with the Quaffle — amazing feint from Greengrass aaaand — Chaser James Potter of Gryffindor blocks the shot! — pass to Sanders and back to Potter — Potter with the Quaffle — amazing Bludger by Slytherin Beater Warrington, barely missed Potter's shoulder — GRYFFINDOR SCORE! Fantastic job by the harpoons!"

Gryffindor's stands erupted in cheers, while the other three houses were either booing, or remained silent. It seemed that winning the Quidditch Cup four consecutive times didn't sit well with the rest of the student body.

The game went on, Gryffindor and Slytherin exchanging goals every ten minutes or so. The teams appeared to be equally matched, though Slytherin had a lead of 20 points. Then the stands erupted again, and it took a second for the commentator to realise what was happening. Slytherin's Seeker was after the Snitch and people were pointing at him, practically jumping up and down their seats.

A well-aimed Bludger forced the Seeker to dive, and he momentarily lost sight of the ball and by the time he found it again, it had practically thrown itself against Potter who, in all his stupidity, instead of catching it, swung his broom so that the handle hit the Snitch and sent it straight toward the Gryffindor Seeker.

The Gryffindors were on their feet, chanting loudly as the fourth-year boy raised his hand, two golden wings sticking out of his fist.

"It would've been a foul if he'd touched the Snitch," Lily explained as they headed toward the castle. Severus was in a particularly bad mood, for every single person who wasn't wearing a green scarf was head over heels with James Potter, the hero. He decided to go straight into his dormitory, lest he hear one more word about the stupid brat's 'incredible play'.

The rest of the term was spent mainly preparing for the OWL exams. Severus in particular was determined to get perfect scores in every single subject, including History of Magic. After all, it couldn't be that difficult, considering each of them would only have to prepare for half of the exams. And it would be the perfect thing to rub in Potter's face, for while the brat had a talent for Transfiguration and was decent enough with Potions, the same couldn't be said for the rest of his classes.

It wasn't that Snape put any effort in staying away from Regulus Black, but the latter must not have been following his older brother's advice, for he kept attending Snape's Potions classes, and Snape said nothing just to spite the Gryffindor goon.

In November Seuthes tried to do what Severus had failed to, by following Lupin and his escorts out of the castle, but his attempt was no more successful than his brother's had been. He decided to put his energy into something else.

"Hey, what the hell!" Severus yelped after his work had been so rudely interrupted

An exclamation which Avery repeated word for word when he too found himself hanging upside down in mid air.

"I don't know the countercurse, sorry," Seuthes said calmly, and started down the corridor.

"By Salazar, get me down right now!"

True to his word, Snape hadn't quite figured out the countercurse yet. Finite Incantatem worked well enough, but it left the victim falling to the ground head-first and that wasn't exactly ideal. In some cases at least. He conjured something that resembled a mattress underneath the other boy, then broke off the spell.

"You'll have to show me this one, Snape."

Soon enough, people hanging by their ankles could be found all around the castle. At first, it was mainly Gryffindors, but then some people started targeting Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw as well, and at some point Slytherins too fell victims of the curse. It took Hogwarts by storm — something the faculty was not the least bit pleased to find.

On the Saturday before the Christmas break, Severus found himself following his brother's footsteps on his way to the Hog's Head.

"Thought you were going with Evans, Prongs?" Pettigrew said. Potter had just caught up to the other three nitwits, and the four were now walking a few metres in front of their Slytherin nemesis.

"Don't you worry about it, Wormtail! She'll come around sooner or later, I don't want to press her."

A minute later they disappeared in the crowd headed toward Zonko's.

This time it was only Malfoy waiting for him at one of the tables in the far corner of the inn.

"Good to see you, Severus," he greeted, and pushed a goblet of mead toward him.

Severus only glanced at the alcohol, then averted his eyes to look at the older boy. "Malfoy."

"Oh, you can call me Lucius— now, I received word from you that you've managed to achieve your task? I hope it wasn't just a trick of my eyes because I've placed a substantial bet with Bella."

Snape's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "No... It wasn't— I mean, I did really make the spell."

"Well, that's just great news, isn't it? Of course, you'll have to show me first, otherwise dear Bellatrix might not be so inclined to uphold her end of the bargain."

"Am I to cast the spell on you?"

"Don't be absurd." Malfoy lifted his goblet, and took a long sip of mead. Still swallowing, he gestured in one swift motion toward the other tables. "Look how many people here are eager to help us."

"I really don't think I should mess with any of them," said Severus as he took in their appearances. The ones that weren't two feet taller than him were either a foot broader, or looked as though he'd be their third murder victim for the day.

"Believe me, no-one would dare touch you while you're with me."

So it was that Severus incanted "Levicorpus" in his head, and then quickly followed it by "Finite Incantatem". Malfoy's presence wasn't required to save Snape's skin since no-one heard him utter a word, and his wand had been carefully hidden in his robe so that only the tip was poking out from underneath his sleeve. As Seuthes had explained, this particular spell worked better nonverbally since the wand movement was enough to channel the magic in the proper quantity and direction, so any sound would only disrupt its path. It was why most students failed to cast the curse properly.

"Stop staring," said Malfoy, and Severus realised he was still looking at the woman who had only now stopped frantically turning around to locate her attacker. "You'll have to explain what you did there."

"The incantation is 'Levicorpus'." Snape now extracted fully his wand, and demonstrated the wand movement.

Malfoy appeared impressed, and was even more so when Severus started complaining about the poor quality of the Potions books, and how there were better ways to brew most potions listed in there. Malfoy may have mentioned that he had connections with the Board of Governors.

Despite the break not starting until December 20th, Lupin mysteriously disappeared on December 18th, which was, coincidentally, the date of the full moon.

It was, perhaps, a result of the raging war outside that so few students remained at Hogwarts for the holidays. Snape couldn't say he minded in the slightest, it gave him the opportunity to actually rest after being forced to inhabit the same building as Potter, Black and their shadows for four months straight. It didn't give the twins a chance to take a break from schoolwork, however, although that was mainly Severus' fault. He'd given Seuthes explicit instructions that he was to read everything on Charms, Defence, Arithmancy and History of Magic he could find, while Severus would take the other four core subjects, and Runes.

Which meant that the break passed in a blink, and the rest of the student body was back in their dormitories before Snape had had time to take a breath.

On January 17th Seuthes had been long asleep in the trunk, when something started vibrating against his forearm, and he sprang from the mattress, and shook his hand violently until a piece of wood slipped from inside his sleeve, and clattered to the floor. Just now did the boy realise the wand was not only vibrating, but was also emitting a low sound that reminded him of a strange tune. He had never before seen it do anything like this, and for some unknown reason it scared him. The tune didn't stop until half an hour later, at which point Seuthes was finally able to drift back to sleep.

His worries came rushing back the following night. It was well past ten o'clock, the time when Severus would usually enter the trunk so that they could exchange memories, and there was still no sign of him. Seuthes grew only more concerned when ten turned to eleven, and then to twelve. The hand of the clock was mercilessly spinning, and he could do nothing but stare at it. Severus wouldn't come back until the wee hours of January 20th.

January 17th, 1976, the night of the full moon

Severus decided that it was the opening and closing of the door that always gave him away, so this time, instead of at the foot of the stairs, he waited for the four Gryffindors on the grounds.

When the gate finally opened to let a forworn Remus Lupin outside, not only was he uncharacteristically visible, he was accompanied by Madam Pomfrey. Severus watched them walk toward a big tree in the distance and then, when Pomfrey turned around and started back up the hill, quickly slid inside the castle to avoid being seen.

"Wanna know where they're going, Snivelly?"

It was Sirius Black, leaning against the railing of the marble staircase. Severus glared at him, but said nothing.

"If you promise to leave Reggie alone, I'll tell you. That's all I'm asking."

Snape narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but decided he had nothing to lose. He wasn't bothering Regulus anyway. "I'm not forcing him to do anything, Black. He decided to come to my lessons himself. Maybe he just finds my company more appealing than yours."

"Well then, make sure he stops going to these... lessons. You know, telling you won't be nearly as exciting as showing you, so why not go see for yourself? You've been trailing us for months like a lost puppy, it's been very entertaining. I find it only fair that I should return the favour."

There was a sound outside, announcing that Pomfrey had reached the gate, so Severus rushed to hide in the stairwell leading to the dungeons, while Black found cover behind a nearby statue. When the danger passed, the Gryffindor hopped down to the ground floor and stepped toward the Slytherin.

"Did you see the tree?" At Severus' nod he continued, "There's a knot on the trunk you have to press, and it will let you go inside a tunnel. Just follow it. Ah, and you better use a stick or something, cuz that tree might try to knock your head off."

Whatever Black was trying to accomplish, he'd given Snape valuable information. Severus wasn't daft enough to believe there was nothing in for the other boy in this situation, but whatever it was, he couldn't see how it could be any better than him finally finding out where Lupin was going and what he was doing there. He could already see the scowl on Seuthes' face when he brought him the news that the brat was not a werewolf. After all, he stood by his claim that werewolves could not attend Hogwarts. It was very clearly stated in Hogwarts: A History.

For the second time that night Severus pushed open the front gate and crept outside. This time there would be no Potter, Black and Pettigrew to thwart his advances, and he headed confidently toward the tree. Halfway there, he paused to break a dry branch from another tree and then, instrument in hand, kept walking toward the place where Lupin disappeared every night of the full moon.

Despite having been given very clear instructions on what he was supposed to do, not once but a whole of five times one or another of the blasted thing's branches was only inches away from smashing him against the ground. At last, he managed to locate the knot, and as if by magic — actually, forget the 'if' — the tree froze, and Severus spotted a gap in the roots big enough to fit him inside. Carefully measuring his every step, he entered the tunnel.

It was a long and narrow passage, the ceiling was so low that Snape soon figured out it would be much easier if he crawled instead of walked. It seemed ages had passed, and he still could not make out the end. The nonexistent lighting did not help at all. Clutching his lit wand in one hand, Severus pushed his way forward.

And there it was, the light at the end of the tunnel. It seemed like a door had been cracked open. The corridor had become taller and wider, by now he was able to walk upright freely.

Suddenly, a loud bang sounded through the corridor. Something heavy crashed against the door, and it shook dangerously before it swayed open. Someone was shouting his name. A dark silhouette appeared in the doorframe. It was the size of a giant wolf, its long arms ended in sharp claws, its teeth were clutching a piece of wood, its head was vigorously spinning around, spit flying out of its mouth.

Severus stepped backwards but tripped and tumbled to the ground. His head hit the hard floor underneath. Something cut through the fabric of his robe and dug into his flesh. It hurt like hell. Then two strong arms grabbed his shoulders. Panic overrode him and he started thrashing in the werewolf's grip. This was not how he was supposed to go, this was not— Then everything went black and he knew no more.

January 17th, 1976, the night of the full moon

"Thank you, Edgar, I should think this will give us all something to ponder this next week," said Dumbledore as he rose from his chair. Edgar Bones nodded and went over to Moody to discuss something with him, while the rest of the Order members followed Dumbledore's example, and began to fasten their cloaks and one by one to apparate home.

A barn owl came in through the window and dropped an envelope at the Headmaster's feet, giving those that had not yet left a pause. Dumbledore picked it up, and turned it over in his hands. It was a letter from Hogwarts.

Professor Dumbledore,

Your presence is needed at Hogwarts. The matter is not urgent, but it would be best if you could come to the Hospital Wing as soon as it is convenient.

Matron Poppy Pomfrey

Dumbledore folded the letter, then waved a dismissive hand at the people that were still looking at him expectantly. "It is Hogwarts business, nothing for you to be concerned about," he said, and took his leave. Despite what he had said, the letter was in fact a very good cause for concern.

He apparated right in front of the gates separating the grounds from the rest of the world, and after casting a few charms to lower the wards, opened the gate, and with long strides made his way to the infirmary.

The scene that greeted him was wholly unexpected. Remus Lupin was in one of the hospital beds, which was to be expected considering the date. James Potter was sitting in a chair next to the bed, which was unusual, but not too much out of the ordinary. Dumbledore had long suspected that Remus' friends were not ignorant about his condition, and it was only logical that they would be concerned for his health. What was not expected was that Severus Snape would be lying on a bed on the far side from the other two boys, a bandage wrapped around his head, another one around his torso.

"Headmaster, I'm glad you could make it so fast," Poppy approached him hurriedly from her office. "There has been an incident with Mr. Lupin and Mr. Snape, and... I suppose Potter here would be able to give you the full picture.

Dumbledore turned toward the boy in question, and raised his eyebrows. Potter looked at him apprehensively. He seemed conflicted before Poppy fixed him with an icy stare. "Mr Potter, if you refuse to brief the Headmaster as to what has occurred, I believe I know enough of the story to tell the tale myself."

At this, Potter sighed, and averted his eyes. "Snape... has been spying on us. I mean, we're not on very good terms, so clearly he meant us no good. He must have known that something was up with Remus because he's been following him every full moon. And tonight there was no-one to stop him..."

"Tut," interrupted Poppy, and gave the boy a pointed look.

Potter sighed again. "I... I was in my dormitory, and Sirius came in saying Snape had gone down the tunnel... So I rushed down the stairs, and then when I saw that the willow was frozen, I went after him. He hadn't reached the Shack yet, but he tripped, and I guess he hit his head."

"And Mr Lupin did not bite him?"

"No, sir."

Dumbledore blew out a relieved sigh. Potter was clearly distressed. "If all is well now," he glanced over at Poppy, who nodded in confirmation, "I suggest we retire to our beds tonight, and we shall discuss this again tomorrow. Mr Potter, you may stay here if you wish, or you can go to your dormitory, but I must insist that you do not discuss what has occurred tonight with anyone. I will expect the three of you, as well as Mr. Black, in my office as soon as Misters Snape and Lupin awake." He bid them goodbye, and retired to his own quarters.

Madam Pomfrey brought the four students early in the afternoon the following day. "Good afternoon, gentlemen," the Headmaster smiled at them, and beckoned them toward the four chairs in front of his desk. Remus appeared to be the most frightened of the lot, more so than Snape whose anger didn't leave much room for anything else. Potter still appeared to be in some sort of shock and Dumbledore was willing to bet his right arm that the boy himself wouldn't be able to explain what he was feeling if asked. Sirius Black's state was by far the most intriguing. He didn't appear to be in any way affected by the situation, and sat in his chair, chin raised high, anticipation in his eyes as though he was waiting for the start of a play.

The Headmaster waited for Poppy to leave, then turned toward Sirius. First things first, someone needed to fill in the gaps in Potter's story. "Mr Black, it appears that despite my age, I am still not all-knowing as my dear grandmother had promised I would become." There was the trademark twinkle in his eyes, and a matching twinkle appeared in Black's pair at his words. "So I would need you to explain how it is that you came to learn where Mr Snape was headed last night."

Before the boy could respond, Snape was on his feet. "He was the one—"

"Mr Snape—"

"—who sent me there! He was—"

"Mr Snape, I need you to calm down. You will be given a chance to explain the situation in a minute." The Slytherin did close his mouth, but he still looked as though he was ready to jump at any of the three other students, looming over them like a black shadow. "Please sit." Dumbledore smiled at him apologetically. The boy didn't sit.

"I will not— I will not sit next to this... next to this monster!" he yelled, and started pacing around the room.

Only now did Dumbledore notice that Snape had decided to sit in the rightmost chair and the other three children had thoughtlessly chosen to sit so that Remus sat immediately to his left.

"Mr Potter, if you will be so kind as to switch places with Mr Lupin?" he said. When the boys did as they were told, he once again invited Snape to sit.

"I prefer to stand."

The Headmaster sighed, then lifted his glasses to rub his eyes, and placed them back on again. "Very well. Mr Black, please answer."

"I saw him sneak out of the castle after Remus left with Pomfrey. He's done it before and nothing ever happened, so I thought nothing of it, and headed to my room. I was almost there, when I saw through the window that he was going in the tunnel, so I told James."

As Black spoke, Dumbledore's attention was solely on the Slytherin boy, whose usually pale face had turned the colour of a tomato. He had stopped pacing and was now gripping the back of his chair so tightly that Dumbledore worried he might break his fingers. Or the seat. Sirius explained how James had gone to the rescue, so he had gone to sleep, and in the morning had visited Remus in the Hospital Wing; then went silent. Lupin's expression hadn't changed much, but Potter looked as though he was trying to decide whether he should say whatever was on his mind or not. He must have decided on 'not'.

"Thank you, Mr Black. Mr Snape?"

Snape released a long shuddering breath to calm his nerves, and ran a hand through his hair. At last, he lifted his eyes, and steadily met Dumbledore's inquisitive ones. "Everything he just said is a lie."

"No, it's not, you—"

"Mr Black, please don't interrupt."

It took half a minute for Snape to finally break off the glaring match he and Sirius had been locked in. "I was headed for the dungeons. Black stopped me... He told me he would show me where the wolf was going every month. He told me how to get into the tunnel and to keep following it."

Dumbledore pinched the bridge of his nose, then looked at each of the boys in turn. Black now looked almost as furious as Snape was. Lupin's face was horror-stricken, and Potter just looked resigned. He stopped his gaze on the Slytherin. "So you went in the tunnel and then... what do you remember?"

"Yes, I wanted to make sure I wasn't sharing a classroom with a Dark creature," Snape spat. Lupin and Potter were both too out of it to hear what he was saying. Black was the only one who went to protest, but quieted at the Headmaster's raised hand. Snape went on. "I crawled through that tunnel and then saw it..." He took a deep calming breath. "That thing has no place in this school—"

"Please reserve your judgement for now—"

"I thought it'd got to me. I guess it must've been Potter after all."

The room went silent as Dumbledore pondered what to make of this situation. Two of the boys looked as though their souls had just been sucked out of their bodies. The other two were fuming, barely stopping themselves from exploding, and the old wizard was fairly certain that he would be able to boil eggs on their heads if only he tried.

So Remus Lupin's secret was no longer a secret. He had trusted his dormmates would be sensible enough not to share it with anyone, but could he trust Snape? Especially in the boy's current state... He looked ready to do anything in his power to ruin both Remus and Black, and even, for some reason, Potter who had saved his life. Dumbledore couldn't blame him, of course. The Slytherin had barely escaped in one piece, it was understandable that he would hate the world, and especially the people who had gotten him into this situation. But it would also mean that he would have to find a less gentle way to make sure Snape told no-one of what had occurred.

He couldn't afford to bring the Blacks' wrath upon the school. The Black name was one that with itself brought a lot of privileges and influence. He could not afford to tarnish the school's reputation, not now that it was the safest place in the country there was, the place where children could be kept away from the horrors of the war. For the same reason he couldn't afford to have people knowing there was a werewolf at the castle. Remus was harmless, harmless so long as no-one knew of his existence and went after him. Madam Pomfrey personally made sure that he be escorted to the willow, be it by herself or Potter with his Invisibility Cloak. And the worst had already passed, for Dumbledore was certain no-one but Severus Snape would ever follow them. If people learnt that there was a werewolf at Hogwarts, many of them would undoubtedly take their kids out of the school, out in the open where instead of a single werewolf whose condition was controlled, there would be dozens of werewolves looking for blood.

Dumbledore placed his hands on the desk, and turned toward the students in front of him. "I will ask that only Mr Snape remain here, and the rest of you wait outside."

Begrudgingly, the Gryffindors left the room, and Snape finally took a seat. "I have a request to make of you," said Dumbledore wearily, and when that got no response, continued, "I need to ask that what has occurred last night remain between you and me, and that you do not share it with anyone including friends and family."

The Slytherin's eyebrows shot upwards, then narrowed dangerously. "Why would I do that?"

For the third time in an hour Albus Dumbledore sighed heavily, regretting deeply that either of the boys had been put in this situation. "Because otherwise I will be forced to expel you."

-

AN to address ladyofnite's comment: Thank you so much for the kind words! The name Seuthes comes from a line of Thracian rulers. It isn't associated with anything other than the Odrysian Kingdom, but I always thought it sounded like a magical name (and similar to Severus), so I borrowed it. It's pronounced differently in different languages, but the way I say it is [Sevtes, which is why his nickname is Sev. I hope this helps