InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "With you imma feel rich."

Severus Snape (potions_hbp) wrote in loremrpg,
@ 2011-04-29 02:44:00

Entry tags:

!incomplete, james potter, severus snape

Backdated 27 October
Characters: Severus Snape and James Potter
Setting: Hospital Wing Wednesday night after curfew
Content: possibly nsfw only because of the discussion of violence
Summary: Severus visits James in the Hospital Wing to shed some light on how James came to be laid up with little to no memory.

Severus lingered in the Slytherin Common Room after most of the students had gone to bed. The fire was down to a soft glow and Severus was sitting at the table closet to the fire pretending to study Ancient Runes while keeping an eye on a small group of slightly rambunctious third years. After a few cold glares from Severus the young students made their way to their dormitories. Waiting a few minutes to make sure the coast was clear, Severus quietly slipped out of the Common Room and up to the Entrance Hall. Severus was careful to take the least traveled corridors and stairways to get to the Hospital Wing without being seen. He had to duck into a hidden room behind a tapestry to avoid being seen by one of the prefects, but eventually made it to the Hospital Wing.

He hesitated before opening the door, slipping inside, and securing the door behind him. No immediate screeches meant that Madame Pomfrey had turned in for the night and that Severus and James would have privacy. Severus turned and quietly walked over to James' bed and sat in the chair close by. Here goes nothing.

"Potter...er...James, you awake? It's Severus."

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

stagswagger
2011-04-30 06:15 pm UTC (link)

James hadn't been expecting any visitors that night, save maybe Sirius and Lily, both of whom had become permanent fixtures in the hospital wing as of late. On occasion Remus and Peter dropped by after hours as well, but they were a bit more academically inclined than Sirius. That being said, they didn't skive off classes frequently, at least from what James had gleaned the past few days. Seeing as things were quieting down for the evening, what with Lily and Sirius back at the dorms to properly shower and restock on clothes, James finally allowed himself to relax again. Though he wasn't really tired in a literal sense, the boy had to admit he'd had enough of using his brain for the day. Pomfrey had been forcing every memory she possibly could upon him, insisting visitors come by the dozen to try to help him come around. The Marauders and Lily, meanwhile, were working with Pomfrey in an attempt to get James back into his dorm. The lack of say he had over his own affairs made him uneasy, but he didn't know yet exactly how the old James would have handled it. Rather than overreacting, or potentially risking acting contrary to his norm thus setting off red flags, James conceded. To Pomfrey it looked like nothing more than his own exhaustion, and that's precisely how he planned to keep it until he'd heard enough about himself to figure out how to behave properly. Every time he mucked up, he could see it all over Sirius' face. There was only so much of that a guy could take!

Having finally fallen asleep after staring at the same spot on the wall for fifteen minutes, James sunk into the world of his dreams. Though he didn't realize it, his mind was beginning to remember pieces of that night. Flashes of faces, his own fear when he realized someone was in danger, and the sting of every blow delivered by the Whomping Willow. He felt he was about to unravel more information when a voice from within his dream startled him. The boy's body jerked, his heart pounding as it tended to do when abruptly stirred from a deep sleep. It was then James realized he wasn't alone.

James sat up slowly as he shifted his body to face Severus. "Severus? From the journal, right?" he asked groggily, rubbing his eyes vigorously before removing his glasses from the bedside table and putting them on. The boy looked vaguely familiar, though James didn't want to inquire why. Chances are it was just someone who'd come to visit him earlier before he had a good enough head on his shoulders. He didn't want to risk believing falsely that his memory was returning to him. "You came," he finally added with a slight smile, hoping this meant the boy was ready to shed some light into the situation. "I see the tree didn't hurt you too bad," he added, giving the boy a once over before forcing a smile. At least that was one good thing that came from all of this. The people he'd been aiming to protect came out safe in the end, even despite the fact each had some minor injuries. James was the worse off from all he'd been told, and if that was the case, clearly his mission had succeeded, right?

(Reply to this) (Thread)

potions_hbp
2011-04-30 10:14 pm UTC (link)

Severus immediately felt guilty for waking the boy up, but he knew this was the only time they could meet face to face to discuss anything without being interrupted by anyone, particularly Lily and Sirius. Most likely James will ask Severus some questions that will bring up painful memories, but Severus feels he needs to look past that and fill James in on things since no one else will.

"Yes, sorry for waking you. I had to wait for my Common Room to clear out before I left, stupid third years." Severus let out a nervous chuckle. It was oddly comforting to see a genuine smile from James and not a mischievous grin. He touched the healing scrape on his cheek and smirked at James' comment. "You definitely got the worse end of it all. The few scrapes I have were from stopping the tree from finishing you off." Severus paused, not sure how to go about retelling the events of that night. It was odd knowing that he and James were enemies and yet here Severus was, the only one willing to answer James' inquiry.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

stagswagger
2011-05-01 07:31 pm UTC (link)

James could tell Severus didn't have much ease in his presence, though having had no recollection of former experiences with the boy, he wasn't sure if it was his normal state or otherwise. Still James gave a comforting smile, tossing his covers back to swing his feet over the side of the bed nearest to Severus. "No worries, mate. I'm just glad you came," he reiterated, having heard in the past his friends weren't the kindest toward Snape.

As Severus continued with his train of thought, James leaned his arms over his knees and hunched toward him as if to show he was invested. That was certainly part of the gesture, but he also wanted to relieve some of the tension in his lower back. His body was healing beautifully, but that didn't mean he still didn't have a ways to go. James' eyes shifted to the scrape on Severus' face as his fingers brushed against it. This was the first he'd heard of Severus snatching him out of death's grips, and frankly it concerned James that he hadn't heard it before now. Why would Sirius leave such things out? Then again, Sirius had been avoiding the topic as much as possible despite Pomfrey's suggestions to come clean about it with James.

"Can you tell me about what happened that night? Why you were there... what happened after you got there... Just everything you can think of?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

potions_hbp
2011-05-01 11:35 pm UTC (link)

Instinct took over in Severus and he reflexively scooted the chair back as James leaned closer to him. Severus blushed and quietly apologized for his rude behavior. He hadn't realized until this moment how badly James and Black had affected him over the past five years.

Severus looked to the floor and took a deep breath, letting it out in a slow sigh. "I'll tell you what I know, though I will say that Black can fill in the blanks at the beginning." He cleared his throat and brought his gaze up to James.

"After dinner I was studying in the Slytherin Common Room and decided to take a break. I walk up to the Entrance Hall from the dungeons when Black calls over to me. I try to ignore him but he keeps on and corners me, threatening. Then he tells me if I want to know what you lot are up to I should go to the Whomping Willow after unset. He told me there was a secret tunnel under the tree and that there was a way to freeze the tree without getting hit. After he backed off I strolled the grounds waiting for sunset. I hid behind one of the boulders in view of the Whomping Willow for a little while; waiting for you and Black to show up. I never saw him that night. A dog and some other small creature went up to the tree and knew how to get into the tunnel which was weird."

Severus ran a hand threw his hair to get it out of his face and cleared his throat again. Recounting the events of that night is a little more rough than he thought.

"I got past the tree after the dog went in and started going down the tunnel. After a few minutes I heard you calling after me, trying to convince me to go back out. Then the howling started, from farther down the tunnel. Scared the bloody piss out of me, I'll admit. We went back toward the entrance to the tunnel and you stuck your arm out to see if the tree had been frozen. You got whacked pretty good, then you just darted out. Before you could hit the knot on the tree it attacked and you grabbed onto the branch, swinging high in the air. It s-started shaking...you fell. I crawled out and the tree was distracted enough by you that it delayed in attacking me and I froze it after I got a couple of good scrapes." Severus stopped there, letting all of that information sink in. He'll answer any questions James has and then let him know how he got back up to the castle.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

stagswagger
2011-05-07 04:36 am UTC (link)

When Severus scooted back, James' look changed to one of deeper concern. It wasn't until the boy apologized that he considered the reason for the strange behavior. It probably had something to do with what Severus had told him earlier in his journal. Though he doubted he could ever be brutal to someone without reason, Severus' reaction to him suggested otherwise. He knew the boy couldn't be exaggerating anything at that point. He was truly uncomfortable around James. Forcing a smile, James gave a wave of his hand as if to say no apology was necessary, at least not from Severus. "I reckon I deserved that," he added, trying not to flinch from the weight of the former statement.

James kept his eyes fixed on Severus, only nodding when he agreed to try and fill the clueless boy in on everything he knew. He was already grateful for that much, and though Severus didn't admit it, James could tell reliving the night was certainly not something he wanted to do.

Once Severus got into the fine details, James figured out exactly why he didn't want to go there. Sirius had put the boy up to it all along. James was confused. It didn't seem like something his alleged best mate would do. Then again, maybe it did. James could hardly speak on Sirius' behalf at this point, having only met him days ago. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, considering that his friend would hate someone enough to endanger his life. Sure, Sirius seemed to act based upon the heat of the emotion on occasion. Of that much James was well aware by now. He'd stormed out of the hospital wing a time or two since James had woken up and had even managed to come back with a broken hand at one point after punching a wall. All that aside, James didn't think he was capable of potentially murdering someone.

The boy snapped out of his thoughts long enough to piece together what Severus truly saw when the dog and "small creature" had run past him. That had to be what Remus had told him about in his journal just yesterday, the animagi forms he referred to. James still didn't know what to make of that, but at least it made sense when put in perspective. Sirius turned up as a dog, Peter as a rat. Severus must've not been aware of their animagi, and Remus made it sound as if very few were. James knew better than to breach the trust of an alleged best friend, so he gave a reassuring nod as he watched Severus fidget.

The more the story continued, the more James was able to work through. The howling Severus had heard must've been Sirius or Remus, though he couldn't quite pick out which it would have been. Before he'd realized what was coming out of his mouth, James asked his question. "What moon phase was it that night?"

He ran a hand over the back of his neck and blew out a huff of hot air as he worked through his thoughts, finally shifting his eyes back to Severus' when the room went silent again. "I feel like I should apologise for that. Sounds like Sirius set you up. Don't reckon he thought it through too much, obviously." James motioned to himself to lighten the load a bit, smiling slightly before his face took on a more somber countenance again. "Then we walked up to hospital wing to get Pomfrey? And somewhere between point A and point B, I lost my sodding mind..."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

potions_hbp
2011-05-13 07:27 pm UTC (link)

Severus sensed James' confusion at Sirius' actions and understood only because James had been reintroduced to Sirius mere days prior to this conversation. Sirius no doubt had left out quite a bit of the past, most likely playing up the "brothers" pact and choosing to ignore the rest.

The wheels seemed to be turning in James' mind and Severus picked up on the fact that James was beginning to make sense of some things. Severus tucked that observance away for now but would pry James about it later. Just then James' question caught Severus off guard. What difference did it make what moon phase it was?

"Um, the moon was full. What does that have anything to do with-" something clicked in Severus' brain. One of the Marauders is a werewolf. That would explain the howling which definitely did not come from the dog.

Severus scoffed at James' apology. "Black rarely thinks anything through because he thinks with the wrong head." Severus tries to hide his smirk but it quickly vanishes from his face when James asks about getting to the hospital wing.

"No, not exactly. When I said you fell...it was more like you got thrown from about two stories high. I froze the tree in time so you wouldn't get completely obliterated. When I ran over, you were unconscious. The howling was getting closer so I basically dragged you to the castle. No one saw us that night except Madame Pomfrey." Severus purposefully left out the part about levitating James' body through the castle, he felt it wasn't that pertinent of a detail to be revealed. He scratched the back of his neck and gauged James' reaction.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

(Read comments) -