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The Rumor


Whispers went through the castle. Like most rumors, as it travelled, it slowly got distorted and blown far out of the realm of the truth...

“James Potter’s hurt.”

“Susan saw him out on the grounds… bleeding all over, bruised up and down his arms…”

“Rushed to the hospital wing.”

“They say he’s really bad off, barely recognizable.”

“Me uncle died of injuries lesser’n the ones Potter’s got!”

“They say he could die.”

“James Potter’s dying in the hospital wing.”

“May be dead already.”




Lily Evans pulled away from Severus Snape, catching her breath. They were hiding in an empty broom closet they’d found just down the hall from Gryffindor common room. They’d just returned from lunch - they’d each gotten food from their house tables and snuck it off to an empty classroom and now Severus had walked Lily back to the safety of her common room, and they’d taken a bit of a detour. Lily stared up at Severus, her green eyes still a bit foggy, and a dopey smile on her face. She ran her hands over his shoulders, “Oh Sev, you’re just so incredible… You’re so brilliant… I’m so lucky that you’re in my life…” she’d said the words possibly a hundred times, her mouth curled into the same smile she wore now.

Severus enjoyed the compliments. He’d longed to hear them from her for so long that he almost didn’t mind that they were being paid at the cost of the love potion. Almost. His stomach ached a bit with guilt each time he looked at her emerald eyes, which, under the influence of amortentia, had a slightly duller shade.

It’s not forever, he told himself, It’s only until she’s learned to love me and then I’ll take her off the potion once she doesn’t need it anymore…

“...sooo brilliant,” she whispered, running her fingers along his jaw. She kissed him softly on the cheek. “And so handsome, too. I must be the luckiest girl in all of Hogwarts to have you as my boyfriend.” She circled her arms about him and pulled him tightly to her, nestling her head against his chest.

He breathed her scent deeply.

Although he could’ve stayed there all day with her, he knew he needed to go. There was to be an emergency meeting for the Knights of Walpurgis in the Slytherin common room that evening and he needed to get down there ahead of time to do some homework for Slughorn before it started. So he carefully kissed her forehead and held her out at arm’s length.

“I love you, Lily Evans,” he told her.

She flushed and giggled - like she always did when he said it - but she didn’t say it back.

Then they’d said goodbye - and Lily had cried a bit over him leaving, she hated it when he left her because she felt funny and empty inside and she didn’t like it. He gave her a raspberry soda as a gift to make her feel better, told her to drink it later, while she was doing her studies, and he kissed her and left. Lily carried her raspberry soda back to the common room, dragging her feet, missing him so, so much and wishing he’d come back. He didn’t, though, and she made it to the portrait hole.

“Snargleluff pod,” she said with a sigh.

The Fat Lady opened up and Lily walked inside.

Annalee McKinnon was sobbing by the fire, McKenna Alliston beside her. Half the girls of Gryffindor house were in tears all about the common room. Frank Longbottom sat in a chair looking pale, and Carly Shaw was kneeling on the floor next to the couch, holding Andy Woodhouse’s hand in a comforting manner.

Lily looked about. “What are you lot so glum about?” she asked, feeling pretty glum herself, “You look as if somebody’s died.”

“Oh no, you haven’t heard!” cried Annalee, and her tears redoubled.

“Heard what?” Lily asked.

“About James Potter,” replied Frank.

A very funny feeling indeed blossomed in Lily. It was as though the hollow feeling she had inside over Severus Snape leaving had deepened into a bottomless pit somewhere in her stomach. “What about James Potter?” she asked numbly.

“He’s died,” whispered Carly, “In the hospital wing.”

Lily felt as though she’d been struck very hard in the side of the head. She stumbled backwards, covering her mouth. “What?” she gasped. “Says who?”

“It’s all over the castle,” said McKenna.

“Everyone knows about it,” added Annalee. “How have you not have heard?”

Lily shook her head, and she turned, quickly, blindly running as tears filled her eyes. She had to see it for herself in order to believe it. She wrenched open the portrait hole door and ran down the corridor, her trainers slapping the carpet hard. As she ran, she tried to tell herself to calm down - she wasn’t sure why it felt as though the entire world was falling apart. After all - it was just James Potter. The most annoying boy she had ever met, the biggest bully in all of Gryffindor. What a horrid ego he had - and that stupid, idiot grin and that awful habit of winking at her... But he was James Potter, and it was his stupid, idiot grin and horrible ego and awful habit of winking at her that had her worried for him for reasons she couldn’t explain.

Lily reached the hospital wing in what had to have been a record time, running into the ward shouting, “Where is he? He’s not really dead, is he? They say he’s dead!”

Four sets of confused eyes turned to look at her from around the first two beds in the ward. “Who’s dead?” James asked, looking concerned from the closest bed.

Lily stared at him - blinking at the bruises that lined his arms. Pomfrey had already healed up the scrapes and cuts but the bruising would take a bit longer. She’s wrapped some more of those bandages with the blue goopy stuff around his chest so that his torso looked like a mummy. But he was sitting up, and on his lap was a tray table with a half-finished game of Go Fish upon it, cards fanned out in his hand and Peter’s hand - who sat on the end of his bed by his feet.

For Merlin’s sake - Remus looked worse than James did, with the cut across his nose that oozed and glistened with ointment, unable to be magically healed like James’s cuts had been since it had been made by a werewolf’s bite. He was asleep, eyes closed and black from bruising. Sirius sat beside him on his bed, right at his hip, holding his hand.

Lily shook her head and backed away, out of the hospital wing, and ran off.

James looked around at the other three. “That girl’s insane.”

Sirius looked over at James, “And yet you can’t get enough.”

James shook his head, “It’s a bit of an addiction, it’s true.”

Sirius laughed.




Madam Pomfrey tried very hard to get the non-admitted Marauders to leave the hospital wing - especially when it came close to bedtime, but they flat out refused, and after several arguments with them, she’d finally given up, deciding it was more disturbing to keep arguing than it was to simply let them be - especially since Remus and James were the only two she was treating currently.

Remus didn’t wake up until after three o’clock in the morning. When he did, he found Sirius Black, asleep, sitting, balanced on a stool, his head on Remus’s stomach as a pillow, his hand grasping Remus’s tightly. In the next bed, James had scootched over to let Peter share the mattress and they’d each fallen asleep with an arm and a leg hanging off the edge of the mattress.

He shifted his weight, the cuts on his back sore. Madam Pomfrey had laid the bandages across his skin back there, as she’d done for James across his chest, but because Remus’s cuts were from the werewolf, they were harder to heal and less prone to the relief that James had felt from the miracle goop. Remus winced and groaned as he moved.

“Careful,” Sirius said groggily, waking up at the movement, “Careful, mate.”

Remus squeezed Sirius’s hand, gritting his teeth, and Sirius sat up and helped him move, pushing a pillow beneath him to help.

“Thanks,” Remus whispered.

Sirius nodded, “Of course.” He stared at Remus with watery eyes a moment, then hugged Remus’s hand to his cheek. “I’m so glad you’re alright, Rey. I was so bloody worried about you, you’ve got no idea.”

Remus felt a lump rise in his throat. “I was worried about you, too…”

“I wanted to come after you when you ran into the woods, but Dumbledore was there and - and of course he doesn’t know about Snuffles, so he kept me back from following after you. I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I’m so sorry, mate.”

Remus shook his head, “Don’t be sorry, I understand.”

Sirius still held Remus’s hand to his cheek. “Bloody hell, I dunno what I’d have done if you’d died,” he said thickly. “Gone mad, most like.”

“What do you mean gone mad?” Remus asked, smirking, “You’re already mad.”

“Shh,” Sirius said, “You’re the one who’s mad. Goodness, that werewolf of yours is a reckless beast! The way you leaped over me, facing Veigler’s wolf… Merlin’s beard, Rey. Talk about having madness within you! Blimey!”

Remus smiled.

Sirius stared at Remus for a long moment, their eyes locked.

Remus could hardly breathe. There was something there, something in the stare. He could feel it, heavy and thick, as though the stare had become a living thing itself, like it had a heartbeat and he had his hand on the pulse of it. He swallowed back emotions that were rising up in his throat and he could see Sirius doing the same and he wondered… Could Sirius be feeling the same palpable moment he was? All Remus wanted to do in all of the world at that moment was lean forward and kiss Sirius and thank him for everything he’d done and kiss him again. He wanted to run his fingers through Sirius’s hair.

He was just about to make the move forward when --

“Evans came up earlier,” Sirius said suddenly, looking away, breaking the stare.

Remus let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding.

For a moment, Remus was confused about why Sirius was telling him that, why he had such an amused, devilish grin plastered across his face, and then he remembered that he’d told Sirius last month that it’d been dreams about Evans that had… peaked his interest, so to speak. Now Sirius thought he was telling Remus something exciting, something pertaining to the supposed feelings Remus had for her.

If Sirius only knew.

For a moment, Remus considered telling him. It’s you, you bloody dog, he thought. But he didn’t.

“Did she?” Remus asked, voice constricted.

“Apparently there’s a rumor going about the castle that you were dead and she ran in here frantic as could be about it,” Sirius said, nodding.

Remus blinked in surprise, “They think I’m dead?” he asked, shocked.

“That’s what Frank Longbottom said. Well, he said that he’d heard it was James, but still. Lily obviously heard it was you.”

“They think James is dead, too?” Remus asked, confused, “Blimey, this castle’s got it in for us.”

Sirius grinned, “They’re probably having a party in the Slytherin common room as we speak.”

“Balloons and the lot,” Remus agreed.




However, the Slytherin common room was anything but a party. The Knights of Walpurgis were all gathered below the green orb of the ceiling. Anyone who didn’t pass more than a glance may have thought it was some sort of party, but really the subject matter was quite heavy. It was time that the Knights take up their responsibilities as followers of the Dark Lord at Hogwarts. That’s what the letter that Lord Voldemort had sent to Walden McNair - marked as though it were from his father in Kent.

There is a boy there who I need to have join us, a Gryffindor boy, the letter read, And you’re going to find a way to bring him to me.

Enclosed was also a new pack of tea leaves and the strict instructions to find a way to give them to Cassandra Vablatsky. Severus had lifted them to his nose when they were passed around. Hemlock. A shiver had gone through him - especially as McNair had taken the bag back and slipped it into his pocket, murmuring what an easy task it would be.

Severus Snape sat by the fire on the floor, hugging his knees, staring into the pale white-light flames.