People Watching.

Chapter Thirty-Five.

Hermione screamed. Sirius leapt to his feet. Harry jumped as though he'd received a huge electric shock.
"I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow," said Snape, throwing the Cloak aside, careful to keep his wand pointing directly at Remus' chest. "Very useful, Potter, I thank you..."
Snape was slightly breathless, but his face was full of suppressed triumph. "You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?" he said, his eyes glittering. "I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along—"

"Remus!" (Y/n) groaned.

"And very lucky I did... lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight."

"Remus!"

"Severus—" Remus began, but Snape overrode him.

"I've told the headmaster again and again that you're helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout—"

"Severus, you're making a mistake," said Remus urgently. "You haven't heard everything— I can explain— Sirius is not here to kill Harry—"

"Two more of Azkaban tonight," said Snape, his eyes now gleaming frantically. "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this... He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin... a tame werewolf—"

"You fool," said Remus softly. "Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?"
BANG! Thin, snakelike cords burst from the end of Snape's wand and twisted themselves around Remus' mouth, wrists, and ankles; he overbalanced and fell to the floor, unable to move. With a roar of rage, Sirius started toward Snape, but Snape pointed his wand straight between Sirius' eyes.

"Give me a reason," he whispered. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will."
(Y/n) narrowed her eyes, not daring to bring attention to herself and her camera.
Sirius stopped dead. It would have been impossible to say which face showed more hatred.

Harry stood there, paralyzed, not knowing what to do or whom to believe. He glanced around at Ron, Hermione, and (Y/n). Ron looked just as confused as he did, still fighting to keep a hold on the struggling Scabbers. Hermione, however, took an uncertain step toward Snape and said, in a very breathless voice, "Professor Snape— it— it wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say, w-would it?"

"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school," Snape spat. "You, Potter, and Weasley are out-of-bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue."

"But if— if there was a mistake—"

"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted, looking suddenly quite deranged. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" A few sparks shout out of the end of his wand, which was still pointed at Sirius' face. Hermione fell silent.
"Vengeance is very sweet," Snape breathed at Sirius. "How I hoped I would be able to catch you..."

"The joke's on you again, Severus," Sirius snarled. "As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle—" he jerked his head at Ron "—I'll come quietly..."

"Up to the castle?" Snape said silkily. "I don't think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the dementors one we get out of the Willow. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black... pleased enough to give you a Kiss, I daresay..."

What little colour there was in Sirius' face left it.
"You— you've got to hear me out," he croaked. "The rat— look at the rat—"

But there was a mad glint in Snape's eyes that none of them had ever seen before. He seemed beyond reason.
"Come on, all of you," he said. He clicked his fingers and the ends of the cords that bound Remus flew to his hand. "I'll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the dementors will have a Kiss for him too—"
Before he knew what he was doing, Harry had crossed the room in three strides and blocked the door.
"Get out of the way, Potter, you're in enough trouble already," snarled Snape. "If I hadn't been here to save your skin—"