INSTEAD, james potter [1]

Chapter Thirty

"You really think I'm afraid of Lucius Malfoy?" It was as if Snape was telling joke and they kept getting even funnier and funnier. "He is nothing but a coward hiding behind greater men, just like yourself."

It was clear she had struck a nerve as he flinched, but then forced the cold mask on his face once again. "Doesn't mean we can't make life very difficult for you. I hear Bellatrix is making inquiries about you. Wouldn't want to disappoint her. That wouldn't be very pleasant, do you think?"

The blonde tried to contain herself, but she winced involuntarily. She didn't like that Snape knew about her sister's plans for her. "Is there no way that I can convince you to just get out of here?"

"Sure there is," he grinned expectantly. Lyra didn't like that grin, she wanted to punch it straight off his face. "Tell me exactly what's going and why you don't want me to find out. I'll be right back in bed then."

Lyra hesitated, and she did so quite obviously. Because she didn't know anything, all she knew was that they had lied to her about where they were going and if she let Snape get near them then somebody was going to get hurt. 

And as much as she disliked Snape, she knew he was a smart boy. And he could read her reaction easily, so he laughed loudly as if he heard the funniest joke in the world. "You don't know either."

Lyra didn't really know what else to do to stop him, but she had one last option. She hurried to grip into her robes, to grab her wand. But Snape was too fast, he had quickly grabbed her wand-arm, keeping it in a tight grip. "Don't even think about it." 

"Let go of me!" she demanded, trying to rip her arm away. Unfortunately, he was stronger than anybody would have guessed. Not that she was the strongest witch in the world either, but she thought he would have stood a chance. 

For a moment, Snape stood still and studied the shorter blonde as he tried to figure out what the hell he was going to do with her. He couldn't let her go and run to a Professor to stop him, and it would also give her the opportunity to grab her wand and force him to come back to his dorm.

He knew there was only one option, no matter how much he hated having Lyra around him. He would have to bring her with him to discover the Marauders' secrets, she must have been dying to know as well. 

So he kept his grin tight on her arm as he began pulling her along towards the nearby Whomping Willow. He didn't care how much she fought or struggled. Lyra Black was far from a priority of his. All he wanted was the truth, and hopefully to get the boys into trouble. Perhaps even expelled if he was lucky. 

Lyra hadn't ever told anybody, but she was terrified of the Whomping Willow. It was dangerous and would probably end up killing her if she got too close. Especially since Davey Gudgeon almost lost an eye to it three years ago. The worst part was how he bragged about surviving. 

They had all been banned from approaching it. Once she realized that Snape wanted to bring her to the tree, she started fighting even harder, which only made him more annoyed. "Let go off me! You're going to get us both killed!"

"Oh, shut up!" Snape groaned, annoyed. He was already regretting the fact that he didn't hex her and leave alone in the darkness in front of the castle. "You complain too much, you know that?"

"Oh, I can complain even more!" the blonde girl yelled, using her free hand to start hitting him, which didn't even hurt him. It just annoyed him even more. "What the hell? Dumbledore says we can't go near the Whomping Willow!"

Snape ignored her, as she kept saying reasons as to why they should go back. Quickly, they stood right in front of the tree. As if it could sense their presence, its branches started moving, preparing to take care of them.