Rating:
PG
House:
The Dark Arts
Characters:
Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs Severus Snape
Genres:
Drama General
Era:
1970-1981 (Including Marauders at Hogwarts)
Spoilers:
Order of the Phoenix
Stats:
Published: 11/13/2006
Updated: 11/13/2006
Words: 3,712
Chapters: 1
Hits: 590

A Slightly Rude Stare

origamiangel

Story Summary:
A little revenge gets massively out of hand...one version of the events of the night Sirius tried to kill Snape...

Chapter 01

Posted:
11/13/2006
Hits:
590


THUD! The dorm room door banged open

'Right!' yelled James Potter as he stormed into the room. 'Right!'

Sirius looked up from his comic, slightly bemused. 'Right?'

James glared at him. 'New mission, Padfoot. I want that...that toadying, twisted, greasy little sniveling git in traction.'

'Oh yeah, what's he done now?' Sirius asked, knowing full well to whom James was referring.

'He saw me playing with that Snitch I nicked from the last game and dobbed me in! Can you believe it? What a little fink! Cost me a hundred points!' James seethed.

Grinning, Sirius replied, 'Don't worry, Prongs, leave it with me.'

*****

Sirius got his chance for payback on his way to Charms the next afternoon.

Coming up the corridor from the opposite direction was Snape, nose buried in a book, apparently oblivious. Not wanting to startle Snape into attacking him, Sirius cleared his throat very quietly. At the noise, Snape looked up and gave a sneer when he saw who it was. Before Sirius could act, Snape pulled out his wand.

'Prolix!' he cried, jabbing his wand sharply in Sirius's direction. With a cry of shock, Sirius collapsed to the floor as his legs gave way as the Jelly-legs Jinx made contact. 'That wasn't nice!' he said, annoyed. Snape took off down the corridor.

Resisting the temptation to fire off a counter-curse, Sirius tried to stand up, but found his legs wouldn't support him. 'Hey, Snivelly!' he called after Snape. 'Snivelly, wait, I've got something to tell you. Snivellus!'
Snape had almost gone. With obvious effort, Sirius dredged up some manners. 'Hey, Severus, wait! It's important!' This time when Snape didn't stop, Sirius produced his trump card. 'It's about where Lupin goes every month, Severus!'

Snape ground to a halt, just beside the main staircase. He turned around, glaring suspiciously at Sirius.

'Come on,' pleaded Sirius. 'I haven't attacked you, just let me up.'

Still glaring, Snape pointed his wand at Sirius. Sirius felt the strength come back into his legs, and jumped up.

'You've always wanted to know where he wanders off to every month? Well, I can tell you,' he said.

'And why would you do that?' sneered Snape.

'Well,' said Sirius, looking slightly sheepish, 'in the interests of...of friendship.'

Snape gave a derisive snort.

'Look,' Sirius said. 'We're too old for all that rubbish now, don't you think? It's about time we grew up. So what do you say? Truce?' He held out his hand.

Sirius glared at it, and didn't take it. 'Yeah, sure, Black, that's exactly what this is. And I turn around and find myself face to face with the floorboards. Come off it!' he snarled, and turned to go.

The temptation to fire off a jinx at Snape's back was extremely strong, and Sirius's hand was already on his wand when he remembered why he was here.

'Look, I'm just trying to be nice here, Severus, but you not making it very easy! Do you want to know where Lupin goes or not?'

Snape stopped again, this time on the third step. He stomped back to Sirius, and sneered at him. 'Well?' he said. 'Where?'

Suppressing a grin, Sirius gave a shifty-eyed look up the corridor, and lead conspiratorially in towards Snape.

'You know that Whomping Willow they planted here a few years ago?' Snape just looked at him. 'Well, there's a knot in the middle of the trunk, on the east side. If you get a long stick and push it, the tree'll stop moving and you can get passed.'

'And?'

'Well, that's where he goes.'

'Into a tree,' Snape said in disbelief.

'No, into a tunnel,' Sirius said slightly impatiently. 'Follow the tunnel and you'll find Lupin.'

'And what am I supposed to do with that information?'

Sirius looked out the window, where the huge silvery moon already hung low in the sky. 'Lupin is going out tonight. Madam Pomfrey always takes him. You watch from the castle, then when Madam Pomfrey comes out of the tree, you go down. Simple,' he added, watching Snape carefully.

Snape considered him for a minute. Then he gave a thin smile. 'We'll see about you, Black,' and walked down the stairs.

Unable to suppress his glee, Sirius let out a chuckle and skipped off to class, to the bemusement of a couple of passing first years.

'So I'll see you lot tonight?' Remus said as he came down the stairs. They were in the common room getting ready to go down to dinner.

'We'll be there with bells on,' Peter said happily.

'Or four legs and fur,' muttered Sirius quietly as two students walked past.

'So we know the plan then? A quick trip into Hogsmeade then back to the school?'

James nodded. 'I'll leave everything out for us before we all come down.'

The portrait slid back and Madam Pomfrey entered. 'Ready, Mr Lupin?' she asked.

Remus sighed. 'Yeah, I'm just coming.' He turned to his friends. 'After dinner then?' he asked as low as possible.

Sirius nodded. 'As usual.' Then, louder, 'Cheerio then, Moony! Turn one for us!' he called as Remus and Madam Pomfrey left.

James nudged him. 'You shouldn't say that with Pomfrey there. She might catch on. So, are we off to dinner?'

Sirius shook his head. 'We're going outside, now.'

James looked surprised. 'Now? It's barely dark.'

'And we can't miss dinner,' Peter said anxiously. 'Someone's bound to guess what we're up to.'

'No they aren't! Don't be ridiculous,' Sirius said impatiently. 'Now come on, this is going to be good. Prongs, get the cloak; Peter and I'll be outside.'

James nodded, giving Sirius a questioning look. Sirius just grinned. 'It'll be good. Just wait.'

Beneath the Invisibility Cloak, James, Sirius and Peter stood behind some bushes at the entrance to the castle.

'What are we waiting for?' hissed James.

Sirius scanned the grounds. 'There!' he said suddenly.

Sneaking across the grounds from the back of the castle was Snape.

'What!' James said loudly in surprise. 'What's he doing here?'

'Ssh!' Sirius nudged his friend. We'll follow in a sec.'

James stared as Snape made his way to the Whomping Willow. 'He's not going in there,' he said in disbelief. 'He wouldn't go in there.'

Peter was hopping up and down anxiously. 'He knows, he knows!' he moaned. 'We're all going to get in trouble.'

'Stop your whingeing,' Sirius said impatiently. 'Come on, where's the stick?' he muttered to himself. 'Ah yes! I knew even he could remember that!'

James turned to Sirius. 'What did you say to him Sirius? Did you do this?'

Sirius grinned delightedly when Snape prodded the knot in the tree. Immediately the Willow's branches fell to its sides, and an opening appeared low to the ground. 'Success!' he cried, a little too loudly.

James opened his mouth in shock. 'What the hell does he think he's doing? Sirius, what did you do?'

'Well, he wanted to know where Moony went, and I thought it would be nice if we, you know...extended the hand of friendship?' he laughed. Peter gave an uncertain chuckle. Sirius's grin fell, however, when he caught sight of James's face.

'Sirius, you moron, he'll be killed!!' James said angrily, and before Sirius could stop him, James threw back the cloak and bolted for the tree.

"James, wait!' Sirius called, concerned.

'Oh no, oh no, oh no!' wailed Peter. 'We're going to be in so much trouble!'

'Will you shut up!' cried Sirius in frustration. 'I'm going after James,' he said, but no sooner had the words left his mouth than Snape appeared at the foot of the tree, yelling his head off. To Sirius's horror, the castle door behind them banged open, and Professor Dumbledore and Professor Tweed were marching across the grounds.

'Oh no!' whispered Sirius this time. 'Look, I'm going to get James, you wai-'

'No!' interrupted Peter, you'll get caught! Why? Just leave him!'

'I can't do that, you idiot!' hissed Sirius angrily. 'Look, Snape's going to say what he saw down there, and he's going to say James went in after him! If Dumbledore goes in, and James is there as an Animagus, what kind of trouble do you think we'll be in then?'

'But-'

'Shut up and listen, okay, Wormtail? You transform and wait here for me. I'll take the cloak and get James. Don't worry,' he added, his voice softening. 'Just wait here, we'll be fine.'

Peter's lip was trembling, but he transformed, and Sirius took off towards the tree. A backwards glance told him he had about thirty seconds to get James before Dumbledore and Tweed came through.

He practically fell into the tunnel, dropping the cloak when it snagged on a root. He tugged it free. With a loud rip, he realised he'd torn a huge hole in it. Cursing himself angrily, he bolted the length of the tunnel. He reached the door to the Shrieking Shack, and pulled the cloak around himself, trying to cover up the hole.

'James!' he said, as loudly as he dared. He entered the room to find a huge stag trotting anxiously up and down the room. Lupin was crouched on the floor. His ears pricked up when Sirius entered the room and he sniffed the air suspiciously.

Deciding there was nothing for it but to risk it, Sirius spoke. 'James, we've got to get out of here! Dumbledore's going to be along any second and he's going to see you!'

The stag stared in the direction of Sirius' voice.

'Look, Dumbledore is outside, and Snape's just gone and probably told him everything. Dumbledore knows you're down here! You've got to go out!'

James hurried out the door, and transformed. Lupin the werewolf snarled when he saw him, and Sirius hurriedly left the room, bolting the door behind him.

'Dumbledore's not going to come down here, he knows Lupin's here!' James said in annoyance, as Sirius half-dragged him up the tunnel.

'Yeah, but he knows you're down here too, and there's no chance Dumbledore'd leave a student at the mercy of a werewolf! So unless you're going to sleep in the tunnel, you better come out, or are you going to tell him you're an Animagus?'

James looked hurt. 'This is your fault, Sirius. We're in so much trouble.'

'No we're not,' Sirius reassured him. 'Well, I am, but don't worry. I'll tell Dumbledore what happened. Now, quick, Wormtail and I are going back to the Tower. Just go along with Dumbledore, no doubt Snape'll say I was involved-'

'Which you were!'

'-And I'll be sent for.'

They reached the end of the tunnel in the nick of time. Sirius had to step back against the wall, holding tightly to the cloak, as Dumbledore's form filled the entrance.

'James Potter!' he cried, and with one mighty heave, pulled James up through the opening. Sirius saw his chance and dashed past them both. He stopped where Wormtail should have been, but -

'That stupid git!' he railed silently to himself. 'He's buggered off!'

'I told you they've got it in for me!' he heard Snape yelling at the top of his lungs. 'There's your proof! Great James Potter is no-'

'Mr Snape,' Dumbledore said firmly, but Tweed interrupted.

'What on earth do you two think you are doing?' she shrieked. 'Have you got a deathwish?! Potter, you know about Lupin's condition, you...' she trailed off, looking anxiously from Dumbledore to Snape to the tunnel in the tree.

A small contingent of students had gathered at the entrance to the castle and were anxiously trying to listen.

"I think,' Dumbledore said evenly, 'we should continue this in my office.'

'What about Black!? He should be punished!' snarled Snape. "This was a deliberate attempt on my life!'

'Well, we shall see about that. Professor Tweed, perhaps you'd best fetch Mr Black from his dormitory. And for good measure, Mr Pettigrew.'

Sirius heard no more. He bolted to the castle, taking the stairs three at a time all the way to the seventh floor. He burst into their dormitory, and immediately spied Peter. 'Wormtail, you sneaky little shit! I told you to wait for me!' he whispered angrily.

'I'm sorry,' cried Peter. 'I didn't want to get into trouble!'

'Well, it's too late for that now,' Sirius said. 'Pretend to be asleep. Tweed's coming, and we weren't down on the grounds just now.'

'But Sirius -'

'Whatever happens, just don't say anything!' he hissed.

There was an angry knock on the door, and Professor Tweed entered, looking furious. 'Right!' she cried, seizing Sirius and then Peter by the collars of their pyjamas. 'Get up, and downstairs the pair of you! Into the Headmaster's office!'

Realising that it would be foolish to play dumb, Sirius followed resignedly, shoved angrily along by Tweed. Peter hurried to keep up, looking miserable.

They reached Dumbledore's office, and Tweed barged straight in. 'Here they are Headmaster!'

James and Snape were already seated. Two chairs were between them: immediately filled by Sirius and Peter.

'Thank you Professor Tweed,' Dumbledore said calmly. When she made no move to leave, he added, 'It might be best if you went back to bed. I can deal with these four.'

Shaking her head at the four students, she left without another word.

A long pause followed.

'Well,' Dumbledore said, the faintest trace of anger, and, was it disappointment? in his voice. 'What happened?'

Snape lunged into his story. 'They tried to kill me! Deliberately!! He,' he pointed furiously at Sirius, 'told me to go down there and then he,' this time at James, 'followed to make sure that the werewolf did the job!'

'Oh get out of it!' snarled Sirius. 'It's your own stupid fault for going down there in the first place!'

'That's enough,' Dumbledore said. 'Mr Potter, would you mind telling me what you did?'

With a worried look at Sirius, James thought. 'Well...It wasn't Lupin's fault,' he said finally.

'And it wasn't James' either,' Sirius said firmly. 'It's my fault. Snape's always been too nosy for his own good...' Snape made to say something, but Dumbledore silenced him with a hand. 'So I told him where Remus goes, and how to get there. It's his own stupid fault, he should've minded his own business!' he said heatedly. Then, more calmly, he said, 'James didn't know. He found out,' and here Sirius turned on Snape, 'and he went to save your worthless hide! You should be thanking him on bended knee!'

Snape glared ferociously at Sirius. 'You would say that, you dirty, rotten liar!'

'Enough!' Dumbledore said loudly.

'They need to be punished! Forget expelled, arrest them! They should be sent to prison!'

'That's enough Mr Snape!' he said. 'I'm appalled at all of you,' he said, with a pointed look at Snape.

Sirius and Snape sat fuming, shooting poisonous looks at each other. After a moment's silence, Dumbledore spoke again.

'Mr Pettigrew,' he said. Peter whimpered, looking terrified. 'It appears you had nothing to do with this, so you may return to your dormitory.' Without a backwards glance, Peter scurried from the room.

Dumbledore moved onto James. 'Mr Potter.' James sat up straighter, holding his breath. 'It was extremely foolish and dangerous, not to mention rule-breaking, of you, to go after Mr Snape. Out of bed, and out of bounds, at night. Upon finding out what was going on, you should have immediately informed a teacher, or myself.' James looked resolutely at Dumbledore, but didn't argue. 'However, it was noble of you to do what you did, and by all accounts you have no doubt saved Mr Snape's life...' Snape looked furious. Dumbledore however, focused on James. 'You must be punished nonetheless. A detention and twenty points from Gryffindor.' James didn't protest, privately feeling lucky to have gotten away with only that much. 'You may return to your dormitory,' Dumbledore added. 'I will give you the details of your detention later.'

Sighing with a mixture of relief and concern, James stood. For a moment, he looked at Sirius, who stared calmly back. Grimacing, James put a hand on Sirius shoulder, then left.

Dumbledore turned to Snape. 'Mr Snape. It was undeniably foolish for you to listen to Mr Black, not to mention you were also out of bounds, and out of bed at night.' Snape stared at the headmaster in disbelief. 'So, I'm afraid I have no choice but to give you a detention, as well, and-'

'What?!' Snape burst out angrily. 'I'm being punished?!? For what they did to me!! They. Tried. To. KILL ME!!!' he shouted.

'And fifty points from Slytherin,' Dumbledore finished calmly.

'WHAT?!?!'

'If you insist on protesting, I will have no choice but to upgrade your punishment to two detentions as well.'

Snape was white with fury. He opened his mouth, but made no sound.

'I must also impress upon you how terribly important it is that you do not reveal Mr Lupin's condition to anybody,' Dumbledore said seriously. Snape must have looked rebellious, because he felt the need to add, 'Should you do so, the consequences for you would be dire.'

Furiously, Snape shoved his chair back.

'May I have your word, Severus, that you won't.'

Snape glared angrily at Dumbledore. 'My word. Fine!' he snapped, and stormed from the room.

Sirius smirked, but it dropped from his face when he caught Dumbledore's eye.

'Sirius Black...' Dumbledore sighed. He stood up and went over to the window. Several uncomfortable minutes passed while Dumbledore stared out at the grounds, and Sirius scratched at the desk.

Dumbledore turned back to Sirius. 'Why would you do something like this?' he asked softly. Sirius couldn't answer.

'You do realise,' Dumbledore continued quietly, 'that what you have done could quite easily be construed as attempted murder.'

Sirius went white. 'Sir, I-' Dumbledore held up a hand. 'And had James not intervened, a more serious charge would likely be a certainty.' Dumbledore watched Sirius intently. 'However.'

Sirius saw a glimmer of light. He held his breath.

'However,' Dumbledore said, 'I cannot believe you, or any other student here, is capable of such a thing.' Sirius let out his breath, overwhelmed with relief. 'I'm inclined to believe it was a prank, an extremely nasty one at that, which you clearly did not think through. Do you realise the trouble you have caused? Firstly of course, the danger you exposed Mr Snape to. He could easily have been killed. And Mr Potter, who put himself at just as much risk to undo what you did. And did you stop to consider your friend Mr Lupin? What would have happened if he had found Severus and James, and injured or even killed them?'

Sirius felt his heart drop. No, he hadn't considered that. James would have been all right, but he doubted that Remus would have seen the lighter side if he had happened to maul Snape.

'Can you imagine the guilt Remus would have suffered? Not to mention, Severus's and James's families would have been unlikely to keep it quiet. Remus's condition would have been exposed, and he would have been subject to terrible prejudice. As it is, there is heavy reliance on Severus to keep quiet about it.'

Sirius glanced anxiously up at Dumbledore.

'I am sure Mr Snape will keep his word,' Dumbledore said. 'But you have done a terrible thing, Mr Black.'

Sirius was relieved Dumbledore had returned to surnames. It made it slightly less personal and more bearable.

'Do you think you should be expelled?' Dumbledore asked suddenly.

Sirius looked up in alarm. Thinking it probably wouldn't help his case if he started blaming Snape again, he said meekly, 'I'd really, really rather not, sir.'

Dumbledore looked intently at him. 'But expulsion would be a just punishment?'

Sirius looked pleadingly at Dumbledore.

'Very well. You will be suspended for a week. The work you miss will be made up in your own time. Also, a detention will be arranged every week for the rest of the term. You will not be permitted to leave the castle or its immediate grounds for the remainder of the year, including holidays if you choose to spend them here. This includes Hogsmeade and the Quidditch pitch. And one hundred points from Gryffindor.'

Nodding silently, Sirius stared at his hands.

'Your parents will be contacted of course, and I will ask them to be here in the morning to take you home. You may leave your school things here if you wish, though I recommend that you take the opportunity to do some intensive study, and perhaps some intensive self-analysis.

'You may return to your bed,' Dumbledore said finally.

Sirius stood and walked out into the corridor. Madam Tweed was waiting.

'Don't think to hang around here, boy!' she whispered furiously. 'Off to bed this instant!'

Sirius gave a slightly rude stare, and went upstairs. James was waiting in the dorm, awake.

'Sorry, mate, I would have waited, but Tweed, well, she was on me like that,' he said. He watched Sirius carefully. 'So how bad was it?'

Sirius sunk onto the bed. With a great sigh, he said hollowly, 'Week's suspension, detention till April, no Hogsmeade, no watching matches, and a hundred points.' He threw himself backwards on the bed. 'Not to mention, whatever my parents'll do to me.'

James looked sympathetically, but really, there wasn't anything much to say. Except, 'We'll get back at Snivellus for this, don't worry.'

Sirius gave James a look. 'It is his own dumb fault, the slimy, nosy, git. What a sook.' Sirius gave James a guilty look. 'Sorry for getting you into trouble, mate. I just thought it'd be a bit of a laugh. At Snivelly, you know.'

James grinned. 'Well, now that it's over, I can just see the funny side. Barely, though,' he added with a raised eyebrow.

'Snape's got a detention too, though. And fifty points, because he's such a back-chatting moron,' Sirius chuckled. 'Oh,' he said as a thought crossed his mind. 'Sorry mate,' he said grimacing. 'Chances are you'll be in detention together!'

James rolled his eyes tolerantly. 'I'll manage. Although come to think of it, Snape might need a bit of cheering up.' He gave a sly grin, 'Maybe you can help me practice Rictusempra.'