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What’s Happened


“I’m glad you came with me,” Regulus whispered. He was leaning over Maryrose in the corner of Slughorn’s party, trying soooo bloody hard to be cool, even though every nerve ending in his whole body was singing. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve the smiling fates to allow him to end up with Maryrose agreeing to come along to Slughorn’s little get together, but whatever it was, he hoped to be able to repeat it a hundred times over. She looked dazzling in the faerie lights and he felt his stomach twist when he saw she’d changed her hair colour - the first time he’d seen her do it since James Potter had shattered her heart. “Your hair looks fantastic,” he whispered, “You… you’re happy, then? Since you can do it again?”

“Yeah,” Maryrose smiled shyly and she reached up and adjusted Regulus’s tie, “I’m pretty happy. Are you happy?”

“I’m bloody ecstatic.”

She laughed.

“For real. I doubt it’s physically possible to be happier than I am right now, Maryrose.”

She leaned forward and kissed his chin, right in the cleft below his lips and her nose caught his lip and he kissed it softly. Regulus felt as though he were intoxicated or having an out of body experience. It was the first time her lips had touched his skin and it set off a wave of emotions and feelings that he hadn’t been expecting, just coursing about through his veins like magical fire.

“You’re so ruddy adorable,” she whispered.

“Is that what I am?” he breathed, unable to get his brains working properly to answer her with something more clever.

That was when McGonagall had come in the room and the look on the professor’s face had sobered Regulus up right quick. The grim expression, the shaky voice… He looked across the room as Lily Evans got up from the spot where she was sitting with James Potter and left with the Professor and he felt a bit worried. She was one of Sirius’s friends - and Severus’s, too. Regulus looked at Maryrose. She looked concerned, too.

“Wonder what happened?” she whispered.

Regulus murmured, “Somebody must have died.”

Maryrose covered her mouth, “Oh… Poor Lily.”

Regulus nodded. “Yeah. Poor Lily…” He hesitated, then said, “I don’t want to go but I need to. I gotta go talk to Severus… She’s his friend, he’ll want to know. He’ll want to be there for her.”

Maryrose nodded.

Regulus hurried out of the party, leaving Maryrose. It killed him inside to do it, tear himself away from her with how pretty she looked and how well they were getting on… but his concern for Lily Evans - and even more so for Severus Snape - was so great that he couldn’t put it off. He ran down the hall and through the door to the Slytherin common room and, not seeing Snape about, he jogged up the steps to the fifth year dormitory and banged his fists on the door when he found it was locked. “Severus! Severus, please!”

Purposely, he left his mind as open as he could. It’s Lily. It’s Lily Evans. It’s Lily.

The door opened so quickly that Regulus nearly fell through it. Snape caught him. His eyes were flashing darkly. Regulus could tell the way Snape stared at him that he’d seen the projection of Lily Evans walking out of the Slug Club brunch with Professor McGonagall coming from Regulus’s mind. Severus pushed past Regulus and down the stairs, through the common room and out into the corridor, his robes billowing around him as he moved, practically running, set on getting to her.




James hung about Slughorn’s office a bit longer, never finishing the plate of food, but watching the doorway for Lily. She never came back and he ended up stuck in a conversation with Ludo Bagman, who was incredibly stupid, it turned out. Probably one too many bludgers to the head, thought James. When twenty minutes had gone by and Lily still hadn’t returned, James excused himself away and snuck out of the party, nervous, and he trotted up the stairs through the castle to the Transfiguration wing, where McGonagall’s office was.

James walked with his hands in his pockets until he reached the corridor and found Severus Snape sitting on the floor opposite the door of the office, staring up at it. Behind him, Sirius’s charmed suit of armor was singing away.

Jingle Bells, Regulus smells, Slytherins make me sick…

Severus looked up as James approached and they stared at one another a moment. Then James sat down on the floor, too, a few feet away from Severus, and he, too, stared at the door. Neither of them said a word.




Remus snuck out not too long after James, once he realized that James had left, too. He hastened upstairs to Gryffindor tower, pulling his tie off as he went, eager to see if James had gone back to the dorm, if he knew anything more about what had happened, but the moment he walked through the common room door, there was a great explosion and he was suddenly swept up so that he was standing on the ceiling, everything upside down in perspective. He held his arms out for balance and, staggering a moment, panic coursing through him as he tried to reorient himself and figure out how the hell he’d got up there - like gravity had been reversed!

The shout he’d let out had made several people in the room turn around in concern.

Then there was Sirius coming down the stairs in the most dramatic fashion he possibly could, taking long languid steps, a great smirking grin upon his face. Sirius waved his wand and his stereo came floating along behind him in the air, the song Wild Thing playing on the stereo and Remus’s face turned pinker than pink as all the other Gryffindors were smirking and laughing. Remus hung there, unable to move, and he looked up and saw his feet hovering above him…. And he realized what was happening.

Remus’s eyes widened.

Sirius crossed over to him and ran his hands into Remus’s hair as he hung there all upside down. Sirius stared into his eyes. “You wanted me to sweep you off your feet, Moonshine.”

“You take everything so bleeding literally,” accused Remus - but he was grinning

Sirius bent down and he kissed Remus’s face gently. “I love you.”

Remus’s heart melted to mush and they kissed each other upside down while the first years whooped and clapped across the room.

Ollie glanced over at Wally, then quickly turned back to Sirius and Remus.

The kiss was a good long one, and Remus reached up and put his hands up-side down on Sirius’s face, relishing the feeling of him… It was so good that Sirius, distracted by the kiss, lost control of the magic that was holding Remus up and Remus fell from the ceiling with a great thump. “Oh shit! So sorry!” Sirius cried.




Severus had his eyes closed. James thought he might be asleep or something. He cleared his throat and Severus opened one eye to glance over at him a moment, then closed them again. James moved, looking at his trainers, which he shuffled across the carpet. He sniffed. Severus looked over, “Will you… please... be quiet? I am trying to find out what’s going on.”

“You’re sitting in the corridor with me, how are you supposed to know what’s going on?” James asked, snarky.

Severus’s jaw set and he glared at James a moment, then said, “Mind your own bleeding business, Potter.” He turned back to the office door.

“Are we even sure she’s in here? Did you see them go in? Maybe McGonagall took her to the Headmaster’s office - or maybe they went --”

Severus glared. “No I did not see them go in, I made an educated guess and I am trying to find out what happened and where she is. Now -- if you will please shut your mouth, I can get on with my constructive assistance.”

James shut up.

Severus closed his eyes again and rubbed his temples.

James watched him, hugging his knees.

Could be anywhere in the castle, really, and here we are, assuming the most obvious place… Wonder what’s wrong… Hope it’s ok… Maybe just a bad grade. But then again, Evans never gets bad grades… McGonagall looked nervous. I’m nervous. Wonder what Snape’s doing? Look at him over there. Greasy headed git. Thinks he’s doing some sort of fancy spell work I reckon. Snape-Snape-Severus-Snape! At this, Severus looked over at him as James was sing-songing the little melody - a sort of mocking child attitude to him. James was smirking. Snape-Snape-Severus-Snape!

“You must desist that,” demanded Severus.

“I’m not doing anything, you idiot,” James said outloud.

“Well stop thinking.”

James hesitated, then laughed. “You can’t stop thinking. The moment you think about stopping thinking ot stop thinking you’re thinking again and --”

“I SWEAR TO MERLIN POTTER, IF YOU DON’T BLOODY STOP IT, I’LL HEX YOU! BETWEEN YOU AND THIS RIDICULOUS SONG THAT BLOODY ARMOR IS SINGING --” (“Voldemort can suck my…” the suit of armor intoned) “-- I AM TRYING TO TAKE CARE OF LILY EVANS -- THIS IS THE ONE TIME YOU SHOULD BE CAPABLE OF STOPPING BEING AN INSUFFERABLE LITTLE ---”

Suddenly the doorway opened and McGonagall stood in the frame. “What in the name of Godric Gryffindor is all of the shouting about?”

James looked up at her and leaped to his feet - Severus Snape followed. “Where’s Lily? Is she alright? What’s happened?” they both asked the questions at once, then glanced at one another in surprise.

McGonagall’s eyes clouded at this and she sighed, “Both of you need to run along to your dormitories. There will be an announcement at dinner. For now, you need to be doing something constructive.”

James caught McGonagall’s hand, “Professor - please -”

Severus closed his eyes and a horrific image filled it - fresh out of the brain of Professor McGonagall, there was the horrible sound of Lily Evan’s echoing screams - cries that erupted from her very toes, guttural, horrible shouts (“No! NO! Not my Daddy. Please not my Daddy. You’re lying, Professor!!! You’re lying, you must be lying! Please! Tell the truth!!”) - and Severus tensed, looking up at McGonagall.

“Was it the Dark Lord that got him?” he asked.

Professor McGonagall looked over at Severus in surprise.

“Got who? What’s happened?” James’s eyes swung from Severus to McGonagall in a panic. “What happened?” He felt sick as it welled up in him that he already knew, the realization that one of Lily’s worst fears, one of the things she’d cried to her stag about, what happening.

“There’s been -- been an attack,” McGonagall said thickly, "And ... it seems Miss. Evans's father is... has been killed."

James covered his face.

Severus closed his eyes.

“Where is she?” James choked from behind his hand, “I need to see her.”

“She’s left the school. She will not be returning until after the holiday.”

James felt like he was standing in quicksand.

Severus looked over at James as a flashing image of the Yule Ball he’d pictured for such a short time instantly shattered in his mind, the bits of which were falling like rain over his thoughts.