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Severus stared down at the note that had been passed along to him by Marlene McKinnon. His eyebrows furrowed a bit until he saw the handwriting. Immediately, his heart soared as he opened the note. His elation upon seeing the note from Lily only grew when it said that she wanted to see him again.
Lily had written that she was sorry about their fight, and that she was finally accepting his apology for calling her a Mudblood.
Severus looked at the location and time that she wanted to meet before realizing it was only a few minutes away at the top of the Astronomy tower. He abandoned his spot in the corridor and hurried to his way to the bottom of the stairs leading up to the top of the highest tower in Hogwarts. He took the stairs two at a time until he came to the top. “Lily!” He called as arrived at the top floor. “Lily, I am so—” The boy cut himself off upon seeing none other than Remus Lupin.
Remus looked at Severus in surprise before giving a smile.
“What are you doing up here?” Severus snapped as he pulled out his wand, getting himself ready for an ambush.
“I got a letter that told me to come here at this time,” Remus explained quickly, “I'm really not going to hurt you or anything—”
Severus scoffed. “Like I can believe you.”
Remus winced. “I know my friends—”
“I'm not talking about your damn friends,” Severus said as his sneer grew. “I mean you.”
Remus remained silent for a moment before he asked suspiciously, “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, like you don't know where you go every night of the full moon,” Severus said as he gave Remus a look of disgust.
Remus's face fell, and his shoulders dropped. “You — you know?”
“How could I not?” Severus growled, “You tried attacking me.”
Remus inhaled sharply before panic flitted across his face. “But — but why were you doing out of the castle at night—”
Severus turned red in the face. “Why?! Maybe because your stupid little friends tricked me! Sirius told me to go down there, and I would have died if it weren't for his and Peter’s nefarious plan to make me owe James a life debt!”
Remus stared in horror for a moment before muttering, “They — they would never.”
Severus scoffed again. “You can deny it all you want, but I know about your lunar problem for a reason.”
Remus began to inhale and exhale at a rapid pace. “They — they wouldn't use me like that.”
Severus eyed Remus for a long moment before snorting in amusement. “I'm sure they wouldn't,” he said condescendingly before turning heel.
“Wait!” Remus exclaimed, “Why haven't you told anyone?!”
Severus paused, but he didn't answer.
“I mean, not that I'm not grateful, but why—”
“Because I know you didn't want to be used like that. No one does,” Severus replied, “But if your little friends—”
“We're not friends anymore,” Remus said right away.
“If your former friends ever try to do something like that again, I won't shut up about your secret,” Severus finished.
Remus swallowed thickly. “I can't control them.”
“That's not my problem,” Severus said before he began to storm down the stairs of the tower. He pointedly ignored how Remus began to have a panic attack behind him, and he pulled out the stupid letter that he believed had belonged to Lily. He tore up the parchment as he descended the stairs, and he left the pieces scattered in his wake. He refused to clean up his mess, and he went to his next class with a blazing anger in him that all but vanished by the time that the boring History of Magic class ended.
The next class for a select few sixth years was Double Potions.
Severus went to that class with significantly less enthusiasm than normal, still wiping the sleep from his eyes.
“And you fuckers—”
“Moony, you're being overdramatic,” Sirius interrupted.
Severus paused before he could round the corner.
“I'm overdramatic?” Remus repeated before asking in a significantly higher pitch, “Were you overdramatic when you ran away from home?”
“That's different,” Sirius snapped, “I could have died—”
“I could have been the reason someone else died,” Remus stressed. “Did you ever stop to think about that? What if — if I killed someone?”
Peter Pettigrew cut in. “It was just a prank—”
“Pranks aren't supposed to go as far as that!” Remus yelled furiously. “They aren't supposed to harm others! They — fuck, guys — they aren't supposed to involve four people constantly abusing one kid!”
“So what?! Do you regret this?! Do you want to not be a Marauder anymore?!” Sirius retorted.
“If being one of you means crossing the damn line, then I definitely don't want to be one of you!” Remus screamed.
Silence filled the hallway before Sirius said coldly, “Then, don't come crawling back when you regret standing alone.”
“As if I could regret staying alone when the other option is being a tool in murder,” Remus spat back before turning and stomping off.
The bell announcing the beginning of class rang, and Severus all but sprinted the rest of the way to the classroom in the dungeons where Double Potions was held. He slipped in the back and took his usual spot as Slughorn was magicking careful instructions onto the blackboard.
Sirius and James soon slipped in and went to their usual spot.
Remus, who was also in the class, pointedly ignored the two.
Lily noticed the exchange, or rather lack thereof, and she glanced between the three with a furrowed brow. She leaned over and muttered something to Remus, who replied just as softly. At once, Lily nudged Remus with a frown.
Severus knew that look, and he knew that she was getting upset.
Remus just shook his head stubbornly.
Lily rolled her eyes to the heavens before a crumbled piece of parchment landed on the table that she and Remus shared, courtesy of Sirius. She picked up the parchment and unrolled it while glancing toward Slughorn, who was still none the wiser about what was going on in his class. She then glanced down at the note, paused, and immediately after turned as red as her hair, anger clearly flooding her mind.
Slughorn chose that moment to finally turn around, and he watched as Lily picked up her pewter cauldron and threw it at Sirius’s head.
Sirius yelped loudly as he ducked under the table, narrowly avoiding being hit by the cauldron. “Are you trying to bloody kill me?!”
“If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead already,” Lily snapped angrily.
“Miss Evans!” Slughorn exclaimed. “What is the meaning of this?!”
“He just threw this disgusting note at me!” Lily replied as he held out the parchment toward Slughorn.
He waved his wand, and the note quickly flew into his hand. His eyebrows furrowed as he frowned deeply. “Mr. Black, you and I will be going to the headmaster’s office once this class is over.”
“But—”
“Enough,” Slughorn interrupted firmly, “Don't interrupt this class further.”
Sirius scowled deeply, but remained silent.
Slughorn folded up the parchment and slipped it into his jacket’s pocket.
Severus wondered what the note was about, especially if it made Lily so furious, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he focused on perfecting the process of making the same potion as the rest of the class.
Time passed by quickly, just as it always had in Double Potions, and soon everyone was dismissed.
As Severus left the classroom behind, he couldn't help but notice the way Lily tried to follow after Remus. He watched as Remus rushed up the stairs from the dungeons to the rest of the castle, and he bypassed the Great Hall entirely.
Remus instead ascended the marble staircase, giving everyone a clear indicator that he would be skipping dinner.
Severus quickly dismissed the observation, and he entered the Great Hall to sit at the Slytherin table.
At the Gryffindor table, Lily sat right next to James and Peter. She glared at the two as she spoke with a deathly calm voice that made Peter squirm in his seat.
Sirius didn't show up until halfway through dinner, and by that time, James looked ashamed and Peter was ready to cry.
Severus figured he should have confronted Remus about his friends sooner, especially if it would have gotten that damn group broken up just a bit earlier in time. He was honestly quite satisfied as he left the Great Hall behind, heading down to the dungeons. His satisfaction remained until Slughorn stepped into the Slytherin common room and requested him. The boy followed Slughorn out of the domain of the snakes, and he went to the office of the headmaster of Hogwarts.
There was Remus, his group of three friends, Lily, and Dumbledore.
Slughorn ushered Severus inside, and the group gathered around Dumbledore’s desk.
“Now that everyone is here, I must confess that I am quite disappointed in you all,” Dumbledore said as he gazed down at the group of children over his glasses.
Sirius looked downright mutinous. “But sir—”
Dumbledore held up a hand, and the Black fell silent. The old man then lowered his hand and said, “It has come to my attention that you all know about Mr. Lupin’s lunar cycle.”
No one spoke for a moment.
Then, Dumbledore sighed. “You shouldn't be so hostile toward each other. Each of you will now have to bear this secret and keep it close to your chests.”
“Like Snivellus can be trusted,” Sirius scoffed.
“At least he can tell me to my face when others are using me,” Remus retorted without missing a beat.
Sirius looked ready to hex Remus. “He—”
“Enough!” Lily demanded loudly. “What the hell happened between you all?!”
“Miss Evans!” The Slytherin Head of House exclaimed.
Dumbledore waved off Slughorn’s appalled exclamation. “That would be nice to know.”
Sirius looked incredibly sour as he started, “It was just a prank—”
“You sent Snape down to the whomping willow on the night of the full moon, knowing that I was there and a danger!” Remus yelled furiously.
“You did what?!” Lily exclaimed in horror.
“James saved Snivellus,” Peter hastily said.
“And I now owe Potter a Life Debt for it,” Severus sneered.
“And — and you never told me?” Lily asked as she gave Severus a wounded look.
“I was told to keep the incident secret,” Severus said as he shot a glance at Dumbledore.
“Good job you did there,” Sirius grumbled. “Now, everyone here knows.”
“You should have told Lupin when it happened in our fifth year,” Severus replied coldly.
“Severus, is that what causes you to change?” Lily asked, horror creeping across her face. “Is that why you were so tense and snapped at me?”
Severus replied. “Yes, it is.”
Lily took in a shaky breath before muttering, “While I don't forgive you for calling me that horrible name, I do forgive you for snapping at me. I — I didn't understand what you went through.” She then turned to Sirius with furious green eyes and said, “You shouldn't have done such an awful thing to Severus. I don't care if you guys hate each other, that was beyond disgusting. The same goes for you, Peter. And James, why didn't you stop Severus before he had to owe you a life debt?”
James sighed. “Look, I didn't know until it was too late for that. By the time I saved Severus, Remus…” The Potter trailed off as he glanced at Remus, who was staring back at him in horror. “I didn't want you to end up being hunted down by the Ministry. I figured that, if Severus tried anything to get you killed, I could just use that Life Debt he owes me to silence him.”
“Maybe — maybe I deserved that,” Remus muttered as he looked down at his own hands with an overwhelming amount of guilt. “I could have—”
“But you didn't!” James interrupted loudly, “You didn't know any better! It was just that wolf—”
“I am that wolf!” Remus yelled as he threw his arms into the air. “We're the same!”
“Your minds aren't the same!” James shouted. “You don't know what's happening on the night of the full moon! You can't even remember what happened on the night of the full moon even if you wanted to! You should know that because you've admitted it!”
Remus looked ready to cry. “But — but I still could have—”
“You aren't like Greyback, Remus,” James said gently. “You don't have a cruel bone in your body. It's always you who stands against us when we try to prank Snape, and you're the one who helps out others more than anyone else.”
Remus's bottom lip trembled before he looked at Severus. His tear-filled eyes then hardened, and he glared back at James. “Maybe you think that way, but others don't feel the same.”
Lily looked at Severus, as did most of the others in the room. “Sev…”
Severus was immediately offended. “But Lupin—”
“Remus really didn't know,” Lily said gently, “Werewolves don't keep their human minds when they transform. There have been studies on it, and I could point out several different books that prove it.”
Severus hesitated for a moment before crossing his arms. “Lupin didn't know he was being used. I get that. But some others did.”
“Yes, and those three will probably regret their dumb decisions for the rest of their lives ,” Lily stated. “So why not just forgive Remus and continue hating the other three?”
Severus broke like a twig after a solid two seconds of staring into Lily’s brilliant green eyes. “Fine.”
Lily turned toward the werewolf. “And Remus, you should forgive yourself. You didn't know.”
Remus looked significantly less willing to forgive himself, but he nodded nonetheless.
“How did you find out?” Severus asked Lily.
“Because I can read between the lines, Severus,” Lily replied with a roll of her eyes, her hands on her hips.
“In any case,” Dumbledore finally interjected as he clasped his hands together, “I believe it is time for you all to return to your common rooms for the night. It's almost curfew. I will let the prefects leave first for their rounds.”
The group of children glanced at each other before nodding.
Lily and Remus took their leave, though they did so hesitantly.
“If you could escort Mr. Snape down to the Slytherin common room, that would be appreciated,” Dumbledore requested of Slughorn.
“Of course,” Slughorn replied.
As Severus left the office behind with Slughorn, he hoped that he could repair his friendship somewhat with Lily. Surely, he was taking a step in the right direction with the truth being out in the open.