Of The Serpent House

Remus was trying very hard not to panic as he cradled the limp bundle in his arms. For once, he was thankful for the extra strength and speed his curse granted him. Severus stirred weakly in his arm but failed to regain consciousness.

The pounding of his footsteps echoed impossibly loud through his ears while he raced towards the Hospital Wing. The corridors seemed like they would never end and the stairs took forever to move. He didn't realise that he was babbling

"Oh Merlin, Severus. Oh Merlin, please keep safe! You can't die! Think of your Slytherins!"

Madame Pomfrey answered the door clad in her nightgown wearily rubbing away the lingering sleepiness.

The moment she took in the scene, she snapped awake to full professional mode, quickly she motioned the trio towards a bunk by the window. "Remus, move him to the bed over there. What happened?"

"I'm not sure, he just fainted! He was fine while checking on his Slytherins after that..." Remus gave a helpless shrug after he gently placed Snape down on the bed.

"Faint? Did he loose colour before that? Any foaming at the mouth?"

Remus shook his head helplessly at the barrage of questions thrown his way and Pomfrey gave up getting answers from him returning her full attention to her patient.

Remus leaned back till he felt the wall behind him and placed a hand over his chest to calm his rapid beating heart. His mind was whirling with the possibilities.

Severus mentioned that Voldemort wasn't taken in by their ruse. So, the Dark Lord probably did the injury. Remus winced at the thought.

On hindsight, Remus realised that Severus must have been in shock. After all, it was unusual when he returned to check on his Slytherins first instead of going straight to Dumbledore as was what he normally did.

There was no blood-Remus would have smelled it if there was. The first Unforgivable? Most likely. Here Remus felt cold.

'What if, when he awoke, Severus would end up the way Frank Longbottom did. All the signs of intelligence gone leaving only madness and fear in the wake.'

The loss made more keen by his being a Slytherin-one of the House who values the quick wits of the mind more highly than any other House.

A shiver ran through Remus and he hurriedly drew himself away from the images that were bought to mind. It was then that he realised Madame Pomfrey was speaking to him. "He'll want to know. Could you please go fetch Albus, Remus?"

Dear Merlin! How could he have forgotten?! Albus! The old wizard would want to know. Remus swung around, preparing to Floo the Headmaster over the fireplace, and almost ran into the man himself. The appearance of said wizard almost shocked Remus out of his skin. An impulsive thought struck him. 'Perhaps what they say about Dumbledore knowing everything that happen in Hogwarts was true.'

Dumbledore was sober and looked every bit his age. Closing the distance between himself and Madame Pomfrey the old wizard enquired, "how is he? Poppy?"

"He seems fine, Albus, but I won't know till I've done a through examination. I'll be with you shortly."

Dumbledore nodded silently at that and left the mediwitch to her task. Turning now to Remus, he gave a small smile.

"Thank you for bringing him back Remus. Did you meet him at one of the secret passages?"

"What? No, he was in the Slytherin dorms"

The eyebrows of the old wizard rose dramatically and Remus wondered if he said something wrong.

"Sir? Is something wrong?"

"Oh no, nothing Remus. I was just surprise that's all. I had Hagrid kept watch at the entrance of the Forbidden Forest and some of the other members of staff were watching the main entranceways-They would have told me if Severus had returned. Since none of them did, I assumed he came in through a secret passageway. Through I admit I know of none that lead to the Slytherin dorms."

That reminded Remus of the strange figure he encountered. 'Could he have been a Death Eater? No, that wasn't right, a Death Eater would have worn a mask.'

He was about to voice this matter to Dumbledore but a sudden impulse that sounded like a wolf's growl to his mind ear, made him hesitate.

Then, to his own amazement, Remus heard himself close his mouth and smile wearily. "It's possible that only Severus knew about the passage, him being Head of Slytherin House and all."

Luckily for him Dumbledore appear too tired and worry to notice Remus's near slip. The old wizard turned back to regard Poppy working over her patient.

Behind him, Remus was apprehend at what he had just done- knowingly lie to Dumbledore over a possible security breach. He was about to broach the topic again when his inner voice spoke.

'What are you going to tell him? That a stranger Apparated into Hogwarts and out again? Don't be crazy, the wards prevent that-Dumbledore set them up himself! There wasn't even a pop to signal an Apparation. Did it REALLY happen even? Admit it, it didn't felt real. Plus it's the night after the full moon; you are tired and still feeling the effects of Diane's pull. The wolf can make you see things sometimes. The guy smelled of moonlight, Remus! Moonlight! Definitely the work of the old girl up there. So put a lid on it Moony, before the old man think you are crazy and call the nice men in white to cart you off to St Mungo.'

And again, following instinct, Remus listened to that inner voice and held his tongue on the matter. Thankfully, he didn't have long to muse on the subject when Poppy called them into the next room to discuss the Potion Master's condition.