Lacerta Black -- James Potter --

8

trigger warnings: blood, broken bones, nonconsensual kissing. . . let me know if I missed any

He had a slight nagging feeling in the back of his mind as the three boys crept towards the Whomping Willow underneath the invisibility cloak. It was raining, thunder cracking, and lightning lighting up the night sky. It was making his hair frizz and Sirius whine. They were careful as they walked on the mud, not wanting to slip and expose their cover. 

They were only halfway when Sirius began to laugh uncontrollably. Peter eyed him strangely, "Let us in on the joke, eh?"

"Snape just entered the tree," he said through his giggles, running a hand through his hair. "He's in for a nasty surprise."

James stilled, immediately understanding what had happened. Sometimes, Sirius got out of hand. When they were in their first year, he cursed a group of Slytherins he'd grown up with so bad that they were in the hospital for a week. He didn't speak with him for almost a month and the Black never told him what they said.

"Sirius. . . please tell me you didn't," he didn't want to believe it. This was his brother. If he couldn't trust him then there was no one. 

"Oh, don't be like that," he waved it off, trying to get them moving again but the two stayed put. "What? C'mon Prongs, he deserved it. Don't you know what he did to Mary?"

It suddenly hit him what this meant. Remus would be transforming at any moment and Snape was already through the passageway in the tree. His eyes widened as he threw off the cloak and raced down the hill, slipping and falling on the mud. He rolled down, but he was quick to get right back up and continue his race. 

"GO GET DUMBLEDORE!" He yelled at the other two without looking back. 

The only pause he took was to freeze the branches before he darted through the hole. He stumbled over the roots, barely keeping himself from tripping as he climbed through the trapdoor. 

It was the shrieking shack, somewhere they'd been at least a dozen times. It was rickety and falling apart with boards on the window and holes in the floor. The walls were covered in cobwebs, dust, and claw marks. He ran up the stairs to get to the room Remus was transforming in, but it was too late. He couldn't turn into a stag without giving himself away.

A werewolf stood menacingly in front of Snape, who was pointing his wand at him. The Slytherin's mouth opened to shout a spell but he quickly yanked it from his hold. "What do you think you're doing?" Snape snarled. 

With no time to answer, as the wolf launched at them, James grabbed his arm and pushed him through the door. Hot breath hit the back of his neck as they ran down the hall. He was right on their tail, snarling as he launched towards them again though this time, he hit his target. 

Claws raked down his back as he stood at the top of the stairs, pushing him down. He hit Snape on his way and the two were a jumble of limbs as they fell. At the bottom, he felt his wrist crack under the weight of the Slytherin. He bit his tongue to stop himself from screaming, cradling his hand to his chest. James tried not to look at the protruding bone as he pushed himself up with his good hand.

Snape had a head start once more, reaching the trap door and falling through before James was even standing. He stumbled through the door, not bothering with the ladder as he dropped to the dirt floor. The Slytherin slammed it shut with a gasping breath.

All of his energy seemed to leave at once. His vision was spotting and turning black around the edges but he still attempted to sit up. Snape wasted no time in going back the way he came, surely to tell the entire school of his newfound knowledge. James went to yell at him, but was stopped by a fit of coughs that left splatters of blood on his hand.

Then everything went dark.

******

The entire school was gossiping by breakfast. Natalia, always one for the latest news, told them all the theories going around. "So, basically, Dumbledore was seen levitating a bloody James Potter from the Whomping Willow and guess who was following behind him? Severus Snape, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. Everyone's saying that Snape was messing around the tree when Potter pushed him away and got the full force of it, but he claims that it was all Lupin's fault but he won't elaborate."

"Is James alright?" Lacerta said immediately, unable to hide her concern. The full moon was the night before so it obviously had something to do with that, but she couldn't figure out why Snape would be there. 

"James?" she waggled her eyebrows. "But, yes, he's unconscious and there was talk about Saint Mungos for a while but Pomfrey's a saint. Of course she fixed him up."

Her first instinct was to go to the hospital wing and see them, but she didn't know if they'd want to see her after how cold she had been towards them. She picked at the skin touching her nails, making them bleed.

"Stop worrying about it, Lacey," Natalia gripped her arm. "He's a blood-traitor anyways."

She turned sharply, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, don't get your panties in a twist," she laughed.

"No," said Tonya, a half-blood, "I'd like to know what you meant by that."

"You guys are too sensitive," she rolled her eyes. "I have a study session to get too. You two should consider getting the sticks removed from your arses!"

"Lacerta," Snape showed up at their table with circles underneath his eyes. He was paler than she'd ever seen him. "I need to speak with you for a moment."

"Er -- I guess," she eyed him carefully, letting him lead her out of the Great Hall towards an empty corridor. 

"I need you to hear me out," he looked like he was going to take her hand before pulling it back. 

"Go on," she gestured with her hand. "I'm just a slutty blood-traitor anyways. Not like I have much to say."

He winced, "I didn't mean that. I was just trying to get them to leave you alone, but that's not important right now. Lupin's a werewolf and he tried to kill me last night. All four of them schemed it so that I would fall into their trap and get mauled by that -- that hideous beast."

"He's not a - a beast and if that were true, then why was James all bloody?"

"You're calling him James again?" he scoffed. 

"Does it matter?"

"Yes!" he raised his voice slightly. "The boy's practically in love with you and there are far better people out there for you. He tried to kill me!"

"He would never do that," she said, ignoring the part about him being in love with her because that was ridiculous. "I think you went snooping where you weren't supposed to and he intervened. Is that right?"

He froze for a moment, "You knew. You knew that Lupin was a monster. Since when?"

"He is not a monster, Snape. You are," she hissed. 

Lacerta went to leave, but he grabbed her arm to spin her around. She opened her mouth to say something but was interupted by a pair of lips on hers. Her brain stopped working for only a half of a second before she pulled away, his mouth following her to capture another kiss. His hands went to her waist to pull her closer as she turned her head. 

"Get the fuck off of me!" she shouted, her hands pushing on his chest. 

His brows were furrowed in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Her eyes widened, she took a large step back when he dropped his hands. "What's wrong? For one of the smartest people in this castle you sure are dumb."

Snape's hand reached out for her own, but she was quicker, slapping him so hard across the face that his head turned completely to the right. Lacerta wanted to hex him, punch him, kick him, and so much more, but her throat felt tight enough that she couldn't breath. She spat at his feet before waltzing towards the hospital wing.