The Werewolf Prank

The tunnel seemed to go on forever, though Severus reminded himself that his caution and the low ceiling did nothing to speed things up. He longed to straighten up, just for a moment, and stretch his back, which was stiff and sore after an afternoon of digging holes in the frozen earth. His periodic checks of the tunnel's direction with the Point Me charm confirmed his impression that the tunnel traveled in more-or-less a straight line, in the general direction of Hogsmeade. He would likely be coming out somewhere in the environs of the village.

Then a flash of light interrupted Severus's thoughts. Instinctively he doused even the dim light of his wand tip, as he pressed against the earthen wall of the tunnel.

"Snape!" he heard Potter's voice shouting in the distance. "Stop! Come back!" Severus did not reply. Looking back, he could see the light moving closer.

"I know you're in there, Snape!" Potter yelled. "Turn back!"

So Potter knew he was there, did he, Snape thought with chagrin. It had been a set-up by Black all along, just as he had initially suspected. The memory of Potter coming after him in the library came back, suddenly. No wonder Black had interfered. Indeed, why hex him in the library when he could be lured out into this tunnel? He'd been an idiot to fall for it.

"Sod off, Potter!" Severus spat back. He was damned if he'd go meekly back to take whatever Potter and his gang were planning to dish out. In this tight space, two (or three, it would not do to forget Pettigrew) wands would have a decisive advantage. But outside, at the other end of the tunnel, there might be something that would afford Severus some cover.

Concealment was no longer an issue. Severus illuminated his wand's tip as he pushed away from the wall and started running, as fast as he could manage while bent over to avoid the low ceiling.

"Idiot!" yelled Potter. "Turn back! I told you, it's dangerous!"

Severus continued running, and a red bolt of light shot past him. So Potter thought to stun him from behind, did he? Turning, he shot a nonverbal Blasting Curse back at Potter. He was rewarded by a thud and a temporary silence.

Wary of a trick, he resumed running. No more spells flew his way, but as he glanced back periodically, he could see Potter's light once again following behind. Severus noted with satisfaction that he seemed to be keeping his lead, more or less.

As he turned back yet again to check on Potter's progress, he trod on a loose rock and lost his footing. Severus tried to stand back up, but his ankle would now not support his full weight. He cursed under his breath as he realized he had twisted it badly in falling.

Severus paused to consider his options, while listening for his opponents. He could see Potter gaining on him, now that he had stopped. However, if his guess of Hogsmeade as the destination was correct, he had to be very close, and he still enjoyed a considerable lead. Ignoring the pain of the twisted ankle as best he could, Severus continued on, leaning on the wall of the tunnel.

Potter was drawing close enough to see clearly now. Oddly, he seemed to be alone, though perhaps his companions had fallen behind. Severus noticed that the floor had started to slope upwards, suggesting the tunnel was rising up towards the exit. He might still make it out before Potter reached him.

The tunnel took a sharp turn. Leaning against the wall, Severus rounded the corner. What he saw made his blood run cold.

A dark figure filled the end of the tunnel, its eyes gleaming madly, foam and blood dripping from its fanged, gaping jaws. A werewolf, he realized instantly, as his brain catalogued the identifying features he had so completely described on his Defense O.W.L. the previous spring. Pointed snout, tufted tail ... this was insane.

With a snarling howl, the werewolf -- which had been, perhaps, just as surprised to find itself confronted by a wizard -- now launched itself down the tunnel. The summer spent shooting flies in his bedroom had paid off, Severus realized. His arm moved automatically in response, his wand describing a wide slashing motion, as his thoughts caught up and he cast a spell. Sectumsempra!

"REDUCTO!" Potter shouted at the same time, nearly bumping into Severus as he skidded around the corner. With a great crash, the entire ceiling of that section of tunnel came down. The werewolf fell to the ground, knocked out cold by a wooden beam that hit it on the head, and partially buried it in dirt and rocks. Severus, too, slipped and fell as the trailing edge of the avalanche hit him and knocked him off balance. He spared a glance for the werewolf, seeking to ascertain whether his spell had hit its target, but with all the debris between them it was impossible to tell.

"Get up!" Potter said urgently. "He'll come to any minute -- get up!"

Severus needed no urging. Werewolves were unusually resistant to both physical and magical damage. He pulled himself free of the rubble and stood, accepting a hand up from Potter.

The rain of debris had not done his ankle any good, he realized immediately, as he tried to place some weight on it. Even the staggering walk he had managed thus far seemed beyond him now. Doggedly, he placed his hand against the wall and tried to shuffle. Potter grabbed his wrist, and Severus fought to pull it free before realizing this was another attempt to help him. Without Potter's assistance, he was embarrassed to admit to himself, it would take him half the night to shuffle out of the tunnel. That was assuming that the effort did not make his ankle worse and the werewolf did not come after him.

"Here," Potter said impatiently, pulling Severus's arm around his shoulders and passing his own arm around Severus's waist.

Together, they staggered down slope and back into the main part of the tunnel, Severus leaning heavily on his companion for support. His face heated at the thought of his complete dependence on Potter. This would get out, somehow, Severus knew. With a sinking feeling, he realized he would never live it down.

As they put more distance between the werewolf and themselves, the initial shock and fear of the confrontation was beginning to wear off. In spite of himself, Severus felt a sneaking admiration of Potter's cold blood, which only made his humiliation worse. That Reductor Curse ... quick thinking, that.

Then Severus felt the hair on the back of his neck rise as a long, bloodcurdling howl echoed down the tunnel behind them. Severus turned his head and pointed his wand back to look. The werewolf was not yet in sight.

"A Stunner ... in the face ... hold him ... few minutes," Potter panted.

"Stupefy!" Severus shouted, pointing his wand at the darkness behind them. The werewolf howled again, sounding rather closer than before. Severus twisted further, and shot off a few more Stunners. He was rewarded for his efforts when the werewolf broke off mid-howl. Facing forward, he redoubled his effort to stagger along with Potter's assistance.

Clearly, the werewolf had not been seriously injured, he deduced. Potter's collapse of the tunnel must have thrown off his aim. Yet, Severus would have sworn his wand motion was in progress before Potter had ever come around the corner ... just how had Potter reacted so quickly?

He must have known there was a werewolf waiting, Severus realized. Yet, Madam Pomfrey had taken Lupin to this tunnel, that same afternoon. Surely, she knew?

The truth, the obvious truth, which only an idiot could have failed to comprehend the moment the werewolf appeared, burst upon him in an instant, and he stiffened with revulsion.

"Out ... soon!" Potter panted, pulling Severus to him again, as another howl echoed down the tunnel. Allowing Potter to drag him forward, he shot another series of Stunning Spells back at the werewolf. At Lupin, he reminded himself. As the echoes died down, he turned back, stumbling mechanically onwards as his mind raced.

The Perfect Prefect was a werewolf. The staff knew it; this was the reason for his occasional (regular! Severus chided himself for having missed it) disappearances, to isolate him during his transformations.

Black knew this. How could he not? He knew the secret of the Willow. He had deliberately told Severus that he and his friends went in to the secret passageway, hoping thus to lure Severus -- the conclusion was inescapable -- to his death.

Severus found he was shaking with rage, as yet another howl echoed behind them. Quickly he turned back and shot a stream of spells, listening for the cessation of Lupin's pursuit before returning to his thoughts.

Potter had been in on Black's plan, too. He had known Severus was in the tunnel, after all. Further, it was he who had loudly interrupted Black's snogging session at the library with the reminder they had to go meet Moony.

Moony. What a bloody idiot he had been. Moon-y.

Abruptly Potter ducked out from under Severus's arm, causing him to stumble and fall against the wall of the tunnel. They had reached the exit, he realized. Potter put his hands on his knees, his head bowed as he gasped for breath. Severus leaned against the far wall, waiting for Potter to catch his breath and climb out. He would have much preferred to do his recovering outside the passageway, but he was not going to exhibit any greater haste to leave than Potter did.

"Out," panted Potter, with an angry glare at Severus. Struck by the absurdity of arguing the point with Potter, Severus crawled back out of the tunnel. He bit back a cry as a branch struck him heavily across the shoulders and knocked him face-first into the snow. Hastily he scrambled to the knot and pressed it, before crawling away out of reach of the tree. As he sat in the snow, breathing heavily, he felt himself start to shake. With cold, with delayed fear, with exhaustion, he could not have said exactly.

Severus watched as Potter too crawled out and collapsed onto the ground a few feet away, gasping for breath. After a few moments, Potter shoveled some of the fresh snow onto his face and into his mouth and sat up, still breathing heavily. A sense of unreality came over Severus. The young man sitting near him in the snow had half-carried, half-dragged him out of the tunnel. Severus cringed at the thought. Yet that the very same evening, Potter had participated in a plan to arrange his death.

That Potter and Black despised him was no secret to him, or to anyone else at the school, he thought angrily. Yet he had believed, more fool he, that he had risked no worse than a fresh humiliation in taking Black's bait.

Accio stake! The stake he had left under the willow flew over to him with the speed of a thought. The upward sloping stretch of snow-covered ground between the Willow and the main entrance of the castle looked daunting, but borne on the tide of his rising anger, Severus never doubted that he could make it. Potter, he saw, had also gotten to his feet, and now approached him, hand extended.

Leaning heavily on the stake, Severus rose to his feet. Not trusting himself to speak -- for truly, he could find no words to convey the depth of his rage -- he spat on the snow in front of Potter before turning away to take a first tentative step up the hill. With a two-handed grip on the stake, he found he could keep the weight off his bad ankle.

"Suit yourself!" Potter muttered angrily, as he strode up the hill past Severus. "It would serve you right if you slip and break your neck." This remark Severus now knew to be no less than Potter's honest opinion and heartfelt wish. Hearing it, he suddenly found the words that had earlier eluded him.

"Naturally, you would love that!" Severus spat at his back. "Far less trouble for you than my murder would have caused."

Potter spun around.

"What?" he asked sharply.

"You planned to kill me tonight!" Severus accused furiously.

"Don't be ridiculous," snapped Potter. It was a lame attempt at denial, Severus rather thought, not worthy of a response. He took a few awkward steps up the hill. Now that he had begun, though, the words seemed to spill out of their own accord. Potter, too, resumed climbing up towards the school.

"Ridiculous, am I? We'll see about that!" he said with a horrible smile, turning towards Potter.

"Ridiculous is right! If I wanted you dead, I would have left you in there," Potter protested.

"So you decided murdering me was not worth the trouble it might cause you and your friends!" Severus exclaimed. "For that small mercy, I suppose, you expect me to overlook the rest."

"No one was trying to murder you, you stupid prat!" Potter said heatedly.

"What would you call luring me into a werewolf's den, then?" Severus asked with a sneer.

"I'd call running into it at top speed after you'd been warned incredibly stupid!" Potter retorted.

"You call that a warning? Four words would have turned me right around, Potter," Severus said quietly.

"That was none of your business," James replied, glaring at Severus. He turned away ostentatiously.

"It is now," Severus responded heatedly. "Keeping it that way is what brought you out here, isn't it?"

Potter did not respond.

"No one should know Moony's secret, but the school could hardly cover up a werewolf attack," Severus added.

Potter continued upwards, apparently oblivious.

"I'll grant that you seem to have developed cold feet," Severus continued. "But not Black, apparently. That's why he's not here, isn't it?"

"I think the shock's addled your brains, Snivelly," James answered with a sneer. "This conversation is over."

Fine, thought Severus. Let's see Potter try to ignore him once they were back inside. Though Potter probably realized he couldn't himself, judging from the way he shuffled along, carefully not letting Severus fall too far behind. His breath was still somewhat labored, certainly, but Severus was certain Potter could have left him in the dust, had he wanted to. No, he was positioning himself to intervene once Severus had the opportunity to tell someone what Potter and Black had planned that evening.

Potter reached the heavy oak doors to the castle and opened one slowly as he walked in, keeping an eye on Severus as he followed him in. Potter crossed the entrance hall to the stairs, stopping at their foot ostensibly to wipe his sweaty hair off his brow, a process which occupied all the time it took Severus to catch up. They walked up the stairs together, an accomplishment made easier for Potter by the presence of a sturdy banister. Severus doubted he could have managed the stairs at all without it.

Suddenly, Sirius Black appeared above. Black was grinning. Severus glared at him, saving his breath for the moment he reached the landing. Lily Evans showed up on the landing next to Black, and his expression changed to a worried-looking frown. Naturally. He and Potter were doubtless going to insist on their innocence. Severus wondered fleetingly at Lily's presence, but his determination to confront Black, only heightened by Black's amusement, drove him upwards.

"What happened?" cried Lily, who was now following Black's gaze.

"You," Severus spat out, as he reached the landing behind Potter. "How disappointing this must be for you, Black. Your little plan seems to have failed."

"Huh?" said Black. An even more lame response than Potter's. It gave Severus confidence.

"You knew there was werewolf," said Severus, raising his voice slightly. "You were trying to kill me."

Severus was delighted to discover that Peeves, whom none of them had noticed, was bobbing overhead. The poltergeist started to screech "MURDER!" and "WEREWOLF!", his voice echoing loudly throughout the entrance hall. Lily gasped and stared at Black in shocked disbelief. Professor McGonagall, presumably alarmed by the racket, came charging out of her office and started shouting at Peeves.

When she had gotten rid of Peeves, McGonagall walked over to them. She looked pale.

"Explain," she commanded.

"Professor, Black was trying to kill me," Severus responded immediately.

"What?" yelped Black. "I was not!"

"He sent me after Lupin," Severus continued, talking over him.

"I didn't send you anywhere!" Black protested.

"When he knew all along Lupin was a --"

"Shut it, Snivellus!" Black and Potter shouted together.

"-- WEREWOLF!" Severus got out over their yelling.

"Quiet!" snapped McGonagall, looking even paler. Black, Potter, and Severus fell silent. "Potter, Snape, hospital wing -- Miss Evans, go get the headmaster -- Black, my office, now!"

"But I didn't --" Black began.

"NOW!" McGonagall said loudly, in a voice that brooked no opposition. Severus had never imagined the usually collected Transfiguration professor could get quite so angry.

Black stomped off in the direction of her office.

"Yes, Professor," said Severus, as he started for the hospital wing. Potter, he saw, set off after him.