If You Leave Me Now // Marauders

Chapter Nineteen

October 21st, 1976 
Before Sunrise

Things, they thought, couldn't possibly get any worse.

Prongs had taken a few deep slices to his shoulders, seeming to be from Moony's paws.

Padfoot had dislocated his shoulder, taken a few stabs from Prongs's antlers, and also had slices across his back.

Wormtail, predictably, had been too small to do much, so he had hidden in the bedroom inside of the shack.

Moony, still somewhere off in the forest, had tried to eat three of his friends, resulting in his own injuries.

Evangeline had sliced her hand open, but had also broken her ring finger when she punched Severus in the face.

Severus had a broken nose from the previously mentioned punch.

"What in Merlin did you do that for?" Severus nasally asked.

Evangeline, still breathing hard, replied, "Because you're a fucking idiot."

She pointed her wand at Severus's face, causing him to flinch violently.

"I have to fix your nose. You can't go to Pomfrey."

"And why not? They deserve to know what kind of monster lives in the castle with us!"

"They know, you idiot. Now let me fix your nose so you can leave."

This seemed to silence Severus, but he slowly lowered his hand and allowed her to fix his nose.

"Now get out of my sight. I'm sure this isn't over, but I can't bare the sight of you," Evangeline sighed, sitting down on the stone floor and looking out into the darkness.

"You're just going to sit there?"

"Yes."

"You're not afraid?"

"Whatever would I need to be afraid of?" Evangeline asked incredulously.

"There's a werewolf out there! And where did the other idiots go? Surely they're not still out there."

"Suddenly grow to care about others, Snape?" she sneered.

"He shouldn't have been allowed here in the first place."

"And why is that, Severus? Hmm? Because he was bitten as a child? Because in my book, he belongs here just as much as you do. Maybe even more. You may think he's a monster, but at least he hasn't designed curses to torture."

The air stilled around them as neither bothered to speak. Her muscles ached, and the feeling of dread still sat low in her stomach.

Her eyes never strayed from the line of trees as Severus began to hastily walk back in the direction of the dungeons.

"Oh, and Severus?"

He turned to look at the girl, question in his eyes.

"You owe me a life debt for tonight. You'd do well to remember."

October 21st, 1976
45 minutes after sunrise

As soon as she was certain that enough time had passed, she pulled herself up with what strength she had left and rushed back to the shack. The staircase had splotches of blood decorating the stairs, coupled with the remnants of the broken bedroom door. Flying up the stairs, the first thing that she noticed is that Remus had made it back to the bedroom.