Why We Fight

Part 36:
Strange Days
(Wednesday, November 13, 1996)

The animosity between Slytherins and Gryffindors has increased tenfold since the disappearance of Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger. Each side blamed the other. The Slytherins, who were well-known for their secretiveness, were even more paranoid; Pansy Parkinson seemed to jump at the slightest shadow.

It was shocking just how quiet the classes had become since Hermione had vanished. No bushy-haired brunette waving her arm in the air with the "pick me, pick me" intensity of a six-year-old who knew the answer. Lessons went by slower than before, teachers scanning the students for anyone who actually knew the answers to the questions posed.

Speaking of the teachers, quite a few of them were acting quite strange -- except Binns, of course -- whom, it seemed, hadn't really realized that his star pupils had disappeared. He'd often call them in class and was rather befuddled when neither of them responded. None of the students put together that the teachers who were acting so strange were the ones who had had the longest tenures at Hogwarts, but the teachers who seemed the oddest hadn't been teachers that long at Hogwarts.

Lupin seemed even more harried than he had before, had become an apparent chocoholic, and was sometimes quite forgetful. Defense Against the Dark Arts had become an almost-stressful environment for Harry and Ron. Lupin was running the classes ragged, taking out his frustrations on the students. It was supposed to be preparation against Voldemort and the Death Eaters, but it seemed like Lupin was working out his frustrations.

---

Severus Snape's pallid, long-fingered hands trembled around the potion he held: a black, steaming brew -- the bitter scent of which he utterly detested, not that the taste was much better. He moved the potion to his lips just as Remus Lupin took the empty seat next to him. The sudden movement caught the Potions professor by surprise, and he started. The potion dribbled down his front, and Snape let out a yelp as the scalding liquid soaked through his robes. He muttered a quick Evanesco and the liquid was gone.

Snape glared at Lupin and looked morosely at his now-nearly empty cup. He examined the shallow pool of coffee left over and drained it with a shudder as the caffeine attacked his system. The mug was magically refilled, and Severus downed this coffee as well. Ah, coffee, the only thing that was keeping him going any longer. Lupin examined the maniacal gleam in Snape's obsidian eyes with a trace of amusement. "You're an addict," the werewolf observed.

The coffee kept away sleep. No sleep kept away memories. No, no, it didn't. The memories still came...but sluggishly. Snape glared at Lupin, then groaned as another round of memories assailed him. "Blast," the man hissed.

"Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends. We're so glad you could attend. Come inside! Come inside!" Lupin murmured.

Snape scowled. "What is it with you and yours and lyrics?" he demanded.

Lupin shrugged. "We like music," he stated.

A slow smile curved Snape's thin lips. "Evans didn't."

Lupin bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing. "That was embarrassing on a level I didn't know existed."

"One of the better days of my life," Snape admitted.

"You really need to get yourself a life." The Potions professor scowled at the sandy-haired man. Severus pushed his lank, black locks out of his pale face.

---

From his vantage point at the Gryffindor table, Harry watched Snape and Lupin. He knew that they knew something, but he had no idea what it was. Something about the situation with Hermione just wasn't making any sense.