Keep Quiet, Or I Will Make You
8th October 1976;
Wednesday Night:
Severus Snape rushed towards the castle, uncaring about the voice of Potter (His Saviour) calling from behind him. He ran as fast as he could, knowing that prefects would be walking around.
He did it. Sure, it scared and scarred him, but he finally got dirt on the Marauders. He could get rid of one of them - the fucking werewolf. Who had thought that it was a good idea to allow such a beast to enter this school?! Had it not been for Potter, Snape thought in disgust, I would have been dead.
He entered the castle and looked around, trying to figure out how to get to a prefect without alerting Filch and his squirmy cat. He went towards the Slytherin dormitory, hoping to run across a prefect from his own house. Then the two of them could go and tell not only the rest of the Slytherins - putting a permanent target on the back of that werewolf - but the teachers as well. Maybe they could all gang up and beat the werewolf before he would undoubtably be expelled and possibly locked up. Severus grinned at the thought of that - his revenge was just so close.
He would be the first to admit that the persons he would truly like revenge on would be Potter and Black - and what greater way to torture them than by beating and expelling their closest friend? They should think about it this way, Severus was saving them - it was not good to keep the company of werewolves.
Severus spotted 2 prefects up ahead, one of them in a Slytherin robe and the other in a Ravenclaw. At least it wasn't another Gryffindor. Severus ran towards them, whisper-shouting them to stop. Luckily for him, they heard him and turned around.
Regulus Arcturus Black. He came face to face with the younger - proper - heir to the house of Black.
Perfect.
It was no secret that Sirius Black had gotten disowned by the house of Black during this summer vacation. Regulus Black was awarded the title of the heir to the throne of the Noble House of Black. His parents constantly boasted about their younger - better - son. Regulus's and Sirius's relationship was strained since the beginning of Hogwarts, and after the disgrace was disowned, the two snapped at each other. Sirius spewed hateful words to Regulus, who returned it tenfolds. Regulus always seemed to hate the Marauders, and Severus could not think of a better prefect to reveal this information to.
"What could you possibly be doing out, Snape? Do you want Slytherin House to lose points?" Regulus commented as soon as he saw Snape, which was then followed by a giggle from the Ravenclaw Prefect, Pandora Rosier. The two were close, everyone knew that.
"Its your brother!"
"And what about him?" Regulus's face scrunched in disgust at the thought of his brother.
"He- He's protecting a fucking werewolf! That boy next to him, Lupin, he's a fucking werewolf!"
Regulus'a and Pandora's face turned serious. Good, Severus thought, They're paying attention.
"Your disgrace of a brother tricked me into going to the Whomping Willow, where the werewolf was. I saw that it was Lupin before he changed and that beast tried to claw at me!"
"And?" Regulus asked, his tone serious. Snape mistook it for interest.
"Don't you see? We can get rid of a fucking werewolf from this school and hurt your brother in the process as well! We could get a few other Slytherins like Muliciber to beat the shit out of the werewolf before he is expelled and make Black watch!"
When Regulus and Pandora had not spoken for a few seconds after, Severus thought that he had convinced the two to join his cause.
How very wrong he was.
Regulus sighed before quickly brandishing his wand and shooting a body-bind hex towards Snape before he could react.
"What are you doing?!" Snape yelled as he tried to move around. He couldn't. He was on the ground moving like a fish on land. He looked up at the two before the gravity of the situation set in. The two were not on his side, they were trying to figure out what all Severus saw and what he planned to do before coming up with a decision on how to deal with him. Judging by their faces, they did come up with a decision - none that would be in Snape's fortune.
"Had you just gotten some little insignificant blackmail material on Sirius, I would have entertained you. Heck, I would have joined you as we made fun of Sirius together. However, what you are about to do cannot happen. While I have no motive to like or hate Lupin, I will not allow you to taint his future."
Regulus bent down, moving closer to Severus, "I do apologise that my short-tempered idiot of a brother was about to put you in danger, but I will not allow you to destroy a student's life solely because they are a werewolf."
"He's a beast! An INSANE BEAST that would tear apart anyone!" Severus tried to plead his case.
Regulus just simply smirked. But that smirk sent shivers down Severus's spine. "And I am a member of the House of Black - known infamously for our insanity. Tell me, who made you feel more fear - a werewolf, or me?"
You, Severus thought. Because while he could have won against Lupin had he ran into someone else who hated werewolves, there was no way he could win against the person in front of him, someone who's family was well known for practicing dark and torturous magic that not many even knew. "You would protect a beast?" Severus once again tried to plead his case.
Regulus hummed, "A beast? Perhaps. Still much more preferable than helping you."
Regulus suddenly got up and looked towards his prefect partner. Severus turned to face her and was shocked to see the icy glare directed at him from the normally cheerful person.
"Unfortunately I am not very well versed in mind altering or mind erasing spells, but Dora here is." Regulus turned to Pandora, "Will you take the honour?" He asked with a note of humour in his voice. He knew she would, of course, he knew her very well. Pandora brought out her wand and aimed it directly at Severus's forehead. "This will sting just a little" was what she said before all Snape could see was white.
Then... nothing.
********
9th October 1976;
Thursday Morning:
James woke up early to grab the clothes on Remus's bed that he had kept the night before leaving to the Whomping Willow. He changed his own clothes and put the Remus's in a bag before walking down the hall and out of the castle - early enough that no teacher or student would see him. Every month the 3 Marauders would take turns to bring their werewolf back to the castle after he transformed back, grabbing some clothes and accompanying him to the hospital wing so that Madam Pomfrey could help ease the pain for Remus. Thankfully, it was James' turn. He was worried about what would happen after.
Sirius had bragged to James the night before about his latest "prank" on Snape. James had no time to berate Sirius for his stupidity as he realised that Severus would be close to the Whomping Willow by then. James had rushed, praying to Merlin that he was not too late.
He was.
He watched as Moony tried to rip apart the frightened Severus who barely dodged it. James hurriedly grabbed Severus's arm before rushing them both out of the house - leaving the werewolf back there and entering the safety of the forest outside.
Just as James knelt to catch his breath, Severus shook his hand out of James' grip and rushed to the castle. James tried to follow to stop him from inevitably revealing what he saw, but when he reached the castle, he could not spot Severus.
He could only assume the worst.
James walked towards the Whomping Willow, nervous about what he would have to say to Remus. This could very well be the deciding factor to expel Remus, even if he rarely got caught pranking and had great grades. Discrimination against werewolves, regardless of their age, was high - especially in the UK. If he could, he did not mind taking the blame no matter the punishments. He was sure his parents would not mind taking in Remus if needed, he doubted Remus's lycanthropy would make his parents love Remus any less.
All too soon, he reached the Whomping Willow and entered the room where one of his closest friend sat down. The scars were more than enough to show how painful that night had been.
James mustered a smile, he did not want to worry Remus yet.
"Morning Moony!" James said as he handed the clothes to Remus. Remus nodded in acknowledgment as he slowly put on the clothes - still in pain no doubt. When he put on his shoes, James held his arm out so that he could support Remus as they walked to the hospital wing. James was not sure how to bring up what happened last night, but luckily (or unluckily) Remus brought it up:
"You know, Prongs, when I turn... My memories get distorted. I don't remember everything that happens, but I do remember some things. I do remember Snape there, last night, I remember Moony wanting to slash him, and I remember you there getting him out."
James was silent, knowing that Remus was not done, that he would ask about it.
"Why- Why did Snape know where I was?" His voice sounded so hurt, so betrayed. James could feel Remus's body shake and it was clear that Remus was trying his hardest to control his emotions. It hurt James, but he knew he had to tell the truth. The dreadful realisation sat in the pit of James's stomach.
The Marauders would never be the same again.
"Can we" James said, quivering, "Can we talk about it after Madam Pomfrey checks over you first?"
Remus could only manage to nod.
They reached the hospital wing with barely anyone noticing them. Madam Pomfrey, as usual, checked over Remus and became a mother hen. She could see that something made it worse than usual last night so she forced him to rest on the bed after she fed him som healing potions. She brought out some balm that would help with the scars and covered all his new scars with it. She made him change to the usual hospital gown and took the clothes he wore to give to the elves so that they could wash out the blood from it.
"I'll send breakfast up with the elves - Remus you have to stay here for the rest of the day. Mr Potter make sure to go to your first class; there's a late pass for you on my desk if needed." And then Madam Pomfrey left to go to the hall for breakfast.
The tension returned tenfold as soon as she left. James took a seat near Remus, slowly breathing in and out to calm himself. Remus deserved to know what happened, he could not keep it in. The elves zapped in soon with food and zapped back out. They ate in silent, but really neither could stomach the food, just moved it around on the plate.
"Prongs?" Remus asked. He needed to know.
"Last night, Sirius and I - we were, you know, a bit pissed from the detention. Sirius had been in a bad mood for a while. When we reached the dorm, Sirius was still bitter but cracked a smile. I asked him about it and he told me that, at the very least, a prank he worked on would happen soon. I was a bit annoyed that Sirius went pranking on his own but I asked him what he did that would happen in the dead of night. He - Sirius - he told me. That he saw Snape spying on him or something and... and fed him information about how and when to enter the Whomping Willow. He thought that he could give Snape a good scare or something..."
Remus was silent as he processed all this information.
"Sirius.... did this?" His voice sounded so small and scared, it broke James's heart. Betrayal was so evident on his face - the shock of the truth broke Remus, he could not hold in his tears.
"He didn't mean to - You know Sirius, he never thinks! He really should not be allowed to prank. Sirius - he - if he knew how badly this would effect you he would have never gone through with it. He was just so angry at Snape. He-"
"Enough" Remus said, "Just.. please stop."
James kept silent, staring at his food like it was the most interesting thing in this room. After a short while, Remus spoke up;
"There's more.. isn't there." He stated.
James nodded and took a deep breath, "When I dragged Snape out, he - he looked so frightened and angry that he just ran off. I tried to chase him, to stop him, but I couldn't see him at all when I entered the castle. It's possible that he saw you before you transformed.... and that he would have told someone."
"That's it then.. My life is over. Snape would have told some Slytherins and no doubt they are plotting something. He would have told some teachers maybe. I could be expelled, possibly arrested, and- and that is only if he and his friends don't kill me."
James could not even deny this possibility.
"We'll protect you. I am sure Madam Pomfrey would not mind if you stay here longer till we sort this out. Dumbledore could protect you and we- the three of us can make sure that they don't tell anyone."
"No - no I think you have done enough."
The emptiness in his voice scared James.
"James, leave. Please."
"But-"
"No buts. Please. Just leave. I should have never told any of you about my lycanthropy."
"Remus - please - we can-"
"LEAVE"
James was stunned at the volume.
"Just leave." He said quietly. James could only comply, ignoring the tears welling up in his eyes.
Remus spent the rest of the day crying and wondering what was about to happen to him.