The Smell of Ink
Chapter 7: The Smell of Ink
Remus Lupin-
Remus Lupin sat in charms class, his head resting on his folded arms as he waited for class to begin. While charms was one of Remus' favorite classes, he could barely concentrate so close to the full moon. Students filed in here and there and the professor already sat at his desk, ready to begin. He felt dreadful. His head ached fiercely. His skin itched so badly that he wanted to scratch and can only stop himself because if he did scratch it would draw attention to him. His senses were heightened; most of all his sense of smell was incredibly hypersensitive. That was how he smelled the ink.
Hogwarts was full of ink. Every student and professor used an inkwell to write with. It would have seemed strange if there hadn't been any smell of ink in the school. However, this was like a flood of scent. It drew closer. Remus sniffed and turned towards the direction the smell came from – the door. Remus stared at the door. Even with his friends sitting behind him, messing around, he stared at the door. Ink mixed with another, unfamiliar, scent came closer.
When the door opened, Remus was surprised to see Snape, looking at sour as ever and reeking of ink. They'd all presumed that he was still in the hospital wing from the previous night, but he looked healthy enough, except for a limp. Remus was confused. The person standing in the doorway looked like Snape, but the person didn't smell a bit like him. Another sniff confirmed it. Snape’s scent had entirely changed.
James said, loudly, "Look who decided to show."
Professor Halford, the charms professor, looked less amused than James and it was no wonder. Snape was the one person who was never late to class. He was normally there ahead of everyone else, reading through his text book when everyone else was strolling in. To see him standing in the doorway after class had begun was unbelievable.
Snape glared at them through his normal curtain of stringy hair with a particularly nasty sneer. His eyes slowly traveled around the room, pausing only a moment when they fell on each of the Marauders. "Well… a warm welcome. I'm flattered."
"What's wrong?" Sirius called out from just behind Remus. "Forgot where class is?"
Snape's hand clenched at his side and his eyes narrowed. "No." Snape inhaled deeply through his oversized nose. He smirked as he let out the breath. "I had to work myself up to being in the same room as you. The smell… well, it gets to me."
Sirius growled and began shouting insults, but was told to be silent by Professor Halford who tapped his fingers irritably on the work table. "Mister Snape, where have you been?"
"Detained," Snape answered, sharply.
"And why might that be?"
Snape raised his chin a little and managed to look as if he were looking down at Professor Halford even though he was shorter. "Because apparently someone thought stealing my wand would be amusing and I still can’t find it." He shot a murderous glare at Sirius, then shifted it to James. "I couldn't say for certain who, but…"
"Hey!" James slapped his palms onto the table and he jumped to his feet. "We didn't take anything!"
Snape cocked his head to the side. "I never accused you. Guilty conscious?"
James looked ready to spit. "You lying…"
"Enough!" Professor Halford shouted. "Mister Snape, take your seat. Pay as close attention as you can, you'll still be expected to know this even if you have conveniently lost your wand. Mister Potter, no more outbursts. We won't have accusations flying. You two can take it up with your heads of house."
James huffed and loudly fell back into his seat and Sirius started to whisper in his ear. Snape slunk by, going to his customary seat in the back row - well away from where James and Sirius sat - and fell silent. The lesson went normally after that though it did seem odd not to have Snape perfectly performing every exercise Professor Halford set them to. He simply watched everyone or kept his eyes on his text book.
"It's creepy." Remus heard James whisper to Sirius. Sometimes they forgot that Remus could hear so well due to his condition. "He's just… staring. You didn't take his wand, did you?"
"How could I? You know he keeps it in that bag and he guards that like it's a treasure. I'll bet he hasn't lost it at all. He's just being lazy. Who would want it?"
"Someone who wanted to cause trouble. That's why I thought you'd taken it."
While they whispered, Remus had been puzzling. He was fairly smart, he knew, and most things he could find a sensible explanation for. Why Snape should smell like a gallon of ink escaped him, however. The scent of ink was almost overpowering. Even stranger was that it wasn't the same ink that Hogwarts supplied to its students. Perhaps Snape had gotten it as a gift or he'd bought it at the last Hogsmead weekend. It smelled like Snape had been bathing in it.
While that was a possible explanation, it didn’t explain the other mystery.
Remus took another sniff of the air and frowned. Beneath the smell of ink there was something else. The base smell, the scent that belonged to Snape alone, was different. No one could change their base scent. At least, it was very hard to do. Even with potions - which Snape admittedly excelled at - it was almost impossible to change a person's base scent. More to the point, no one really bothered with the potion. It took weeks to brew and who would they want to hide their scent from? A nosy werewolf boy? There just wasn't a reason to waste all that time and effort. Snape didn't even know Remus was a werewolf.
The rest of the class went peacefully, but after it was over James and Sirius showed that they hadn't forgotten Snape's insinuated accusation. Professor Halford escaped into his office by a small door in the corner of the room as soon as he ended his lecture. Snape hurried to leave class, as was normal for him, but as he moved closer to the door he was hit by a spell.
Sirius hit Snape with the spell. It struck Snape square in the back and sent him off his feet, hurdling through the air until he struck a wall. He hit with a terrible thud and slid limply to the floor where he landed in a heap, his body draped over his book bag. He didn't get up. Remus feared that his friends had gone too far. There was blood running from Snape's mouth and a terrible bruise already forming on the side of his face.
No one spoke, they all watched in horrified fascination until Snape moaned and his eyes crept open. One-by-one, every student left the room without a glance at Snape until only Snape and the Marauders were left.
Sirius grinned. "Don't accuse us of stealing, again." He and James left the room with Peter trailing eagerly behind James. "Come on, Moony."
"You go on," Remus told him. "I'll catch up."
The classroom emptied quickly until it was just Remus, staring at Snape, and Snape, still bleeding. He should help. It was the right thing to do. Even if Snape was stupid enough to goad James on when he must have realized what would happen. It had been three years. Snape HAD to know what would happen when he irritated those two. It was his own fault that he'd been hurt.
‘I couldn't have stopped them, anyway. It happened so quickly. They'd have just hunted him down later. Better that it happen now and not in some dark hall late at night.’ Even as he tried to convince himself, Remus felt like being sick. ‘He wouldn't want pity even if I offered it. He wouldn't want help. He's never asked for it.’ But Remus couldn't shake the guilt. ‘I wonder if anyone's ever offered to help.’
He realized, very suddenly, that Snape was watching him. Remus felt frozen, half-expecting Snape to throw a curse at him, wand or no. He wouldn't have been surprised if Snape surged to his feet and started spitting swears.
Instead, Snape didn't move at all. "Are you planning to just stare?"
There was acid in that tone. It was that voice that made everyone want to strangle him or, at least, knock him down a little. He was so proud of himself. So sure that he was right about everything. His confidence would have been annoying in a professor. In a boy their own age, it was unforgivable.
Remus wished he had some of that confidence. "No. I'm planning to go to runes." Remus finished collecting his books and papers and shoved them into his bag. "You should go to the hospital wing."
"Why?"
The question took Remus off guard. "You're bleeding."
"So? Why are you pretending concern?"
Remus stiffened. "I'm not pretending anything. Look at you! You could have serious injuries."
Snape looked like he would laugh and Remus flushed, shamed without Snape having to say anything. It wasn't the first time Snape had gotten serious injuries as a result of the Marauders. It likely wouldn't be the last time. Remus had never done anything to stop his friends. He had stood in the background and watched and when it was over, Remus had followed James and Sirius away. The same way he always had.
‘I have to. They're my friends. If they were angry with me… Sirius is hot-tempered. He might tell in a fit of anger. He might let it slip that I'm a werewolf.’ Remus had faith that Sirius wouldn't do it on purpose, but Sirius was thoughtless. He did so many things without thinking. ‘I can't lose them. If I did, I'd really be alone and I don't think I could handle it.’ He stared at Snape's dark eyes. ‘I couldn't stand to be as alone as he is.’
Snape pushed himself up until he was sitting. "I suppose your conscience is bothering you. Funny. I didn't think a lowly creature such as myself deserved a Gryffindor's compassion." He paused and looked thoughtful. "Tell me, what did I do to earn your friend's attention?"
Remus frowned. "You're Slytherin."
Snape got to his feet and wiped the blood away from his mouth with the sleeve of his robe. "What do you think I'm going to do? Destroy the school because I'm Slytherin?"
"Who knows? Slytherins will do anything to get what they want." Everyone knew one couldn't trust Slytherins. They were sly and underhanded. Everyone knew it.
Snape said nothing, but turned and left the room.
After he'd gone Remus sniffed the air, again. Ink.
Sasuke-
Interesting to note that the students apparently judged each other on the House they belonged to. Sasuke wondered if it was a general belief or just the opinion of Lupin-san that Slytherins were heartless. It could, of course, be the truth - however unlikely that seemed. If all Slytherins were untrustworthy, then they would be a large security risk to the school and should be noted.
‘Malfoy-san said others would be jealous when I meet these people he wants me to meet. He obviously doesn't want school authorities to know what he is planning. I'll have to find out what he's planning. It can't be just Slytherins who are untrustworthy. Gryffindors attack Snape regularly, from what I've heard. I'll have to find out about the other two Houses as well as the professors.’
So far, he didn't think much about the charms professor. Sasuke knew he'd hit the wall hard. He'd only been able to keep all those little bottles in the pockets of Snape-san's robes from breaking by catching himself with putting up his hands to cushion the blow when he struck the wall. Even if the charms professor hadn't heard Sasuke hit the wall - and Sasuke was sure he must have - he should have been more alert to danger, more aware of what his students were doing, if the school's headmaster was afraid of an impending attack.
Sasuke's next class, herbology, was out at the greenhouses. It was snowing again when Sasuke left the school. Sasuke was thankful for the cold. It seeped into the tight boots he wore and numbed the burn on the bottom of his foot.
He had to dig in Snape-san's book bag for gloves and a scarf and was, once again, amazed by it. He would have to get a bag like Snape-san's. It was impossibly big on the inside and seemed to hold everything Snape-san owned. There were books, scrolls, inkwells, quills, clothes and many, many small bottles like the ones Sasuke currently carried in the cloak.
By the time he arrived at the greenhouse the rest of the students were crowded around a long center table where many potted plants were waiting for them. It was a class that the Slytherins had with Ravenclaws. It was also the class that had Sasuke wondering what Snape-san had done to make himself universally loathed. Gryffindors glaring at him, he understood. Snape-san had clearly made enemies with the leaders of that House. Slytherins scowling at him, Sasuke could understand. Snape-san didn't fit in with them with the exception of Malfoy-san's dubious attentions. But Ravenclaws? What had Snape-san done to earn those foul glowers?
As soon as he entered the greenhouse, Sasuke found out. One of the Ravenclaws, a sharp featured girl, strode up to him and poked a finger at his chest. "You've got one chance. Admit it."
Sasuke had no clue what she was talking about. "Why should I?"
The girl's lips pressed together. "Don't think you're so clever. We all know you cheated on the herbology exam. You're an idiot with plants. The whole school knows it. You cheated, somehow. It's the only way you could get such a high mark."
"Well," Sasuke drawled. "Either that, or I studied."
It seemed that Slytherins stood up for each other in public. Snape found that he was suddenly surrounded by other Slytherins, all of them glaring at the girl and the other, angry, Ravenclaws. No one said a thing, but the Ravenclaw girl moved away to a group of her housemates and began whispering together. Occasionally, they would look at Sasuke, then whisper again.
‘Blatant plotting. Iruka-sensei would have failed them.’
The class had barely begun before Sasuke was aware that the girl who'd spoken to him was watching him. He went about his work trimming some plant called a Fireweed. It was a beautiful flower, Sasuke thought. Long green leaves trimmed in red with orange blossoms here and there. The plants gave off heat, a comfort in the cold weather, but the herbology professor warned them that the plants were also flammable. To keep them from spontaneously bursting into flame, they had to be kept trimmed.
"Be careful with your work," Professor Shell told everyone before they'd begun trimming. "Fireweed needs to be treated gently. Even when trimmed, they aren't quite stable."
All through the class, Sasuke knew he was being watched. While students walked around the greenhouse getting this or that, the Ravenclaw girl who'd confronted Sasuke kept a close eye on him.
After nearly an hour, someone passing by grabbed Sasuke's arm. When he turned to them something splashed onto his face.
It was cold as ice, then burned. He could feel it seeping into his eyes like liquid fire.
"What is it? Mister Snape, what's wrong?"
Sasuke could hear Professor Shell's voice, but covered his face with his gloved hands. He clenched his teeth to stop from yelling, but it hurt. The pain was incredible.
"Mister Snape, look at me."
All of a sudden, the pain increased. It was like having razor blades cutting at his eyes. Sasuke let out a groan, but managed to control himself. Hunched over he slid his arms over his face to hide his eyes. When he opened his eyes to look at the ground, Sasuke saw nothing but white. A thick white fog covered his vision like paint. 'Blind. I'm blind.' Cold fear spread over him. Without his eyes Sasuke knew he was worthless. He couldn't do missions without his sight. What if the stuff had destroyed more than his ordinary vision? What if it had ruined the precious Sharigan? ‘They've taken my eyes.’
Hands took hold of his shoulders and shook him. "Mister Snape, stop it this minute! Look at me!"
Sasuke shook off the professor and staggered away, only to bump into the table. "Leave me alone! Don't touch me!" But the hands grabbed at him again and Sasuke struggled not to hurt the professor. ‘They'll see. The Sharigan might be visible. I can't tell! If they see the Sharigan they'll know I'm not Snape-san. The mission will be failed. My last chance… gone…’
"Someone call madam Ratian." Professor Shell sounded irritated more than anything. "Mister Snape, if you'd only let me look we could see what damage is done. Mister Louis, what were you doing with Vulcan Tears, anyway? I was saving that for Professor Slughorn."
"Sorry, sir. I thought it was just a jar of water for the Fireweed. It was an accident. Kelp tripped me."
"I did not!"
Sasuke ignored the argument and slid his hands protectively over his eyes. If only he knew whether or not the Sharigan was visible! He had to get away. He had to stop the pain!
There were whispers and laughs in the background. They were laughing at him. Everyone was laughing. Everyone was laughing.
Sasuke twisted away from Professor Shell and ran. He ran into the table, then into people, and finally was stumbled by the cold, glass wall of the greenhouse.
"Not so high and mighty now!"
"Look at him! That'll teach him not to cheat."
"Looks like he's drunk!"
And they laughed. It was almost deafening.
The pain lanced deep into his brain, it made Sasuke dizzy and unsteady. Sasuke kept one hand covering his eyes, protecting them from further harm, and reached one hand out. Cool glass under his fingertips. Sasuke made a fist and smashed the glass. It fell like rain, a sharp sound as it fell to the ground.
The laughter turned to yelling but Sasuke didn't listen. He kicked and broke more glass before something - a spell - took hold of him. The spell was shouted out and Sasuke found himself paralyzed with one hand over his eyes and one leg raised, poised to kick again at the glass wall.
"Causing trouble again, Mister Snape?" Madam Ratian asked, sharply. He heard her shoes tapping on the floor, getting closer and closer to him. "I told you to keep out of trouble. And causing all this mess! What were you thinking? Now, just hold still and stop this senseless panicking. I'll have you sorted out in no time." There was another spell and Sasuke could move, but Madam Ratian's voice sounded as if she were right in front of him.
He wiggled and squirmed away from her hands trying to pry his hand away from his eyes.
There was a crash and sudden heat seemed to explode from behind him.
"The Fireweed!" Professor Shell shouted. "Fire! Everyone out!" The hands at Sasuke's arm were gone. He heard people running and screams of fear.
It gave Sasuke the time he needed to burst through the glass wall. He felt the glass slice his cheeks and arms, but it was a pale pain compared to the blades that seemed to be jabbing into his eyes.
Sasuke ran. He ran clumsily, slipping on the snow and falling, but he ran as far from the noise of the fire and the screaming students as he could get.
There was silence from one direction and a cold wind from the other. 'Likely,' Sasuke thought, 'the wind is blowing over the lake.' The forest would be a shield against the wind.
So he ran towards the direction the wind was not coming from, hoping that he would find the forest. When Sasuke fell for the second time; it sent a shock of pain through the side of his head where he'd been earlier slammed against the wall of the charms classroom. He couldn't stand the pain in his eyes any longer and paused long enough to take handfuls of snow and press them against his eyes. The pain dulled, but didn't vanish. Again, Sasuke put snow to his eyes and, again, the pain lessened.
The shouts of the students and the angry crackling of fire were far behind, but Sasuke got to his feet and started running, again. He ran until he ran into waiting arms that wrapped around him and held him still when he tensed to fight.
"Stop it!" Tenten snapped. "Don't fight me. You're safe. We're in the forest, now. What happened?"
"Someone put a liquid in my eyes. I can't see anything." He finally took his hands away from his face and Tenten gasped. "What is it?"
"Your eyes. They're white." Tenten pulled his arm. "Let's get you back to base. Gai-sensei will know what to do."
"No!" Sasuke pulled his arm sharply away, but stumbled over the stump of a tree and landed on his knees. "I want Kakashi-sensei!"
"Don't be stubborn," Tenten scolded. "Those people will come looking for you soon. They'll think an injured student is lost in this forest and you left footprints bold enough for even one of them to follow. We have to go, now."
"I know." Sasuke pushed himself to his feet. "I can do this alone."
"Let me do my job, Uchiha," Tenten told him, flatly. She took his arm again and pulled. "I won't hurt you, you know. Who do you think started that fire? A thrown kunai was enough to knock over one of those flammable plants. Now, let's go."
To be continued…