Severus felt a headache coming through as he woke up, looking around and finding himself in the infirmary. He turned his head to the table next to the bed to find a note from Madam Pomfrey, urging him to drink an energising potion. He did, pursing his lips at the foul taste.
He turned his head when he heard the sound of flushing. The person leaving the bathroom was Sirius Black. He was adorned by a hospital gown, his hair back to its clean state, yet his skin was still pale and he had bags underneath his eyes.
Their eyes locked together for a moment. Then a smile broke up on Blacks face. He walked to Severus' bed.
"Who would have thought that the first face I'd see, minus Poppy is that of the handsome Severus Snape." He said, sending Severus a devilish grin.
Severus could not bring himself to laugh along with him. He once again did something that made him wonder if he was touch starved. Why else would he hold Blacks hand and pull Black closer? Why else would he be feeling Blacks face to assert that its him, not an illusion. Severus must be touch starved. And all kinds of starved because of what he said next.
"I'm sorry Bl-- Sirius, I shouldn't have told you to leave. Maybe if you stayed we could have avoided all the things that happened to you." Severus said in a very low voice.
Blacks already stiffened face produced a frown.
"Severus, you know how relentless that creature is right? You've experienced it, do you really think it would have given up on capturing me?" Sirius said, raising a brow at Severus.
Severus could not counter that. What Sirius said was true, that creature -- no monster is cruel.
So Severus asked him another question, "What did it want from you?"
"It wanted to 'punish' me. Apparently I shouldn't have any relations that I have now with you, are you sure that you haven't broken someone's heart because that thing sounded like an angry ex."
His breath hitched. James was right. He was the cause of all these problems. Even if Sirius spoke in a joking manner, even if he tried to comfort Severus, the truth of the matter is that people are getting hurt because of him. 'So much for a quiet year' he thought.
Footsteps fell on his ears and soon McGonagall, Dumbledore, James and Remus emerged from behind the curtain.
"Well, good morning dear boys, you seem to be getting along well," said Dumbledore.
Grinning, Sirius hopped onto Severus' bed at the same time.
"Why yes Headmaster, I had to comfort my Juliet you see, he cannot live without me," he said, swinging his arm around Severus, pulling him closer.
The Headmaster chuckled, McGonagall smiled, Remus giggled while James glowered.
"Back to business boys, Mr Snape, I have to commend you for your skills in spells, albeit you did something reckless. I believe it will not repeat itself in the future. Isn't that right my boy?"
Severus nodded.
"We believe the creature attacking you is an infestation of negative emotional mass. As in, a parasite that usually gains its strength from the trauma, grief and hatred brewed by its victims. It becomes stronger if both the victim and perpetrator are in close vicinity. They often leave the victims of such emotions be when they stop having large amounts of negative emotions. Its very rare for them to attack the people whose emotions they fed on. This one must be really powerful," Dumbledore said, solemnly.
"So you mean to say that, its been gaining power from our negative emotions?" Severus asked.
"You're its main source of energy Mr Snape, the other boys are more like reserves for when you're running low on energy you see," Dumbledore replied.
Severus slumped into the arms of Black, what in the name of Merlin was going on? His emotions festered an evil creature without his knowledge, for goodness sake!
"How does one destroy it?" He asked Dumbledore, after sulking briefly.
Dumbledore glanced at McGonagall, she walked to the edge of the bed and sat there. She outstretched her hand and placed it on his knee.
"Severus dear, we're going to need your help to end it, because it can only be destroyed by you. You'll need to face it alone," She said.
"All Albus can do is try and apply a veil on you while we find a way to train you." She continued.
Overwhelmed, his head felt muddy. He could not believe what was happening to him. It still felt surreal. He hugged the nearest thing in his vicinity, which happened to be Blacks waist and Severus snuggled into the croak of his neck.
He wanted to cry. He felt someone stroking his back.
"It'll all be over soon, you just have to face it," He heard Black say softly.
Severus sighed and looked at McGonagall, "I'll do it."
^_^^_^^_^
"Prongs! What the hell was that?" Sirius asked his friend, as they stood in their dorm.
"What was what?" His friend retorted.
"Your attitude to Severus mate! That was uncalled for!" He replied, throwing his hands up in exasperation.
Hissing, Prongs replied, "No it wasn't. Snapes bad news. That's all he's ever been. Bad! And all I did was tell him that. Why don't you and Moony see that? Ever since he's come into our lives we've been suffering!"
Taking a deep breath, Sirius paused.
"That's where you're wrong mate. We're the bad ones. We're the ones that ruined his life from the start. Honestly, none of this would have happened if we left him alone."
Continuing, he asked, "You wanna know what that beast did to me?"
"This is what it said," as he told them what occured after being captured.
"Let it me show you what that puny bastard thought of you," it said.
The dark room in which he was chained changed. It morphed into the courtyard he was all too familiar with. Around him stood the Marauders, including himself. Not too far away, at the heart of the circle stood Severus. Back hunched and hugging his books-- he was covered in warts and was soaking wet. This was a memory, something that happened in the past.
He heard Severus' voice, "I hope these buffoons fall off a cliff. Why do they keep on attacking me? Sadistic bastards. All they're really good at is being hypocrites."
But Severus' lips weren't moving.
"These are his thoughts, only you can hear them." The voice from before answered.
Sirius focused at trying to recall why they were pranking Severus to begin with. Then it hit him. Because Snape bested him and Prongs at Transfiguration. He noticed the audience that had started to grow around them. It must have been humiliating for Severus. That's what the Marauders wanted. To humiliate him. Sirius' past self knew that McGonagall never made a mistake when grading, she goes over the paper thrice before concluding that the grades are fair.
So the only reason they attacked him was to scare him off. It worked, Severus never got a grade greater than average in Transfiguration.
Pulling out his wand, his past self pointed it at Severus, "Don't ever try to do what you did today you cheating snake! There's no way that you could have bested Prongs and I. Not possible!"
Then the memory faded. Leaving a sour taste in Sirius' mouth. Was he that villainous? How pathetic.
In the next memory, Severus was rushing down the hallway.
Hearing Severus' thoughts once more, he followed.
"Bloody idiots that call themselves the Marauders. All they know is to bother me. Have no life. Obsessed with girls too. Makes me wonder why those girls even give them attention. Are they also sadists? Why else won't the Marauders leave me alone? I don't even like Lily!"
He stopped as soon as Severus did. His past self in front of Severus and giving him a devious smirk.
"Well, well Snivey. I didn't expect to catch you here."
He heard Severus' thoughts again, "Splendid! While I run away from Potter I run into his watchdog, how great!"
This made Sirius snort. He was a dog. Just not Prongs'.
Apparently, his past self must have sensed Severus' dissatisfaction since his face instantly turned sour.
"Aren't you happy to see me?" He asked, threateningly,
"Look Black, I'm not looking for trouble okay. Your friend is with Lily, I'm not ruining their time together."
His past self smiled cruelly, and then he said something that made Sirius want to beat himself up.
"Your existence itself is an eyesore Snape."
He remembered the encounter. Sirius had been rejected by a girl and he happened to meet Severus in the hallway, so he used him to vent his anger.
Suddenly, Sirius did not want to continue watching. He knew what was coming next.
His past self jinxed Severus relentlessly. And Sirius heard as Severus wished for him to have the same level of humiliation, because he knew he couldn't do much since most teachers would turn a blind eye to it.
"You hear that? He absolutely hates your guts. You're in the right though. He's ruined everything for you hasn't he?" The voice laughed.
Freezing, Sirius reflected. What had Snape done that made him deserve such treatment? He stole Lily? She was never James' to begin with and at the rate those two are going, she will never be James' lover. He was sorted in Slytherin? Many people were sorted into Slytherin in their year and many more will be sorted there. He did not look the most well off? So did Remus. So what justified their past actions?
Nothing. They've been bullies from the start. Hypocrites that thought of themselves as better than others.
This hypocritical mindset almost caused for Severus' death. If only Prongs did not get there in time, Severus would have been torn to shreds. And it was all his fault. He realised as he clutched his chest in pain.
Thank Merlin none of that came to fruition or else he would not know how to live with himself.
The realisation he had is what kept him going when the creature tortured him with methods that Severus had read about in history books. It felt like Sirius' retribution. That's what kept him sane, he was given a chance to right his wrongs and he sure as hell won't let it slide.
Sirius was heaving at the end of the explanation. He glared at Prongs.
"That's why you're wrong Prongs, he may be flawed but we started this. He's going through a shit load more then we are. That I'm certain of, so I'm sticking through till the end."
Stalking out of he room, he slammed the door shut.
^_^^_^^_^
James kicked the tree in front of him. It's been a week. Moony was giving him the silent treatment and Padfoot avoided him like a plague.
"What'd that poor tree ever do to you Potter?" He heard the sweet voice of his future wife -- Lily.
She looked as beautiful as ever.
"What's got you all riled up?" She asked. Sitting besides his books.
He joined her and smirked, " Is that care that I'm sensing Evans? I knew you love me."
She swatted his arm.
She cleared her throat. "I heard what happened to Black. Is he better now?"
James' face screwed up, "Oh yeah he's doing fine. We had a row recently though."
"What was it about?" She asked.
"Snape," He replied, without thinking.
She did not reply. That reminded him that she was not on good terms with Snape.
"Sorry about that," He said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"No. It's okay. I'm over it now."
He breathed sigh of relief.
"Yeah so, I was telling him how bad Snape is for us-- as company you know. He won't listen, even Moony won't listen. They believe that he's going through worse."
Lily hummed, "I wouldn't recommend them being around him either. I could try speaking to them if you'd like."
This made James furrow his brows. Just like that she went with him? She did not defend Snape? She knew Snape longer than they all did yet she agreed with James so easily? Hell! Even Padfoot, the most stubborn person he knows defended Snape. How quaint.
Author's Note : Hi lovelies! Okay, to explain the delay in updates is that my tablet, which I use to write this story was cracked, and it took a while before it went for repairs, I'm so sorry for the wait! Also, what would you guys like to see as the end relationship dynamic? Would you like one end ship? e.g JamesxSeverus OR Would you like a polyamorous relationship amongst all the boys? OR A harem type of thing, in which all the boys only date Severus? OR None of them end up with him? Oh! Almost forgot. Stay safe, comment and vote!