The Year of the Revolution II. The Discovery of Friendship

18. Abyss

Sev ate in the kitchens after his return from the Forest and spent the rest of the afternoon touring the castle again, consuming the last hours of calm. 'In the end, the stay has been so peaceful and fruitful that despite Lily's absence, I don't regret staying at all, it was even lucky to receive Malfoy's damn letter and be warned.'

Lily, on the other hand, couldn't wait to get there. This time she spent the trip with the girls, that yes, along with Cecile, with whom she finalized in whispers the details of the plan they had drawn up by correspondence.

They had agreed that the night Remus managed to get hold of the cloak and patrol the castle alone, agreeing with the other three before dinner, they would signal to Sev in the Great Hall. In that case, he would go directly to the Haven from there to avoid Potter following him, and would wait for hours for Lily to come back to her house, for everyone to lie down and sleep, and then she and Remus would go down to the fifth floor with the cloak.

The three of them would stay awake, each to their own, until half past five, at which time Remus would pick Lily up again to go home, with two and a half hours left to sleep until eight, which multiplied by three, equaled seven and a half.

But Sev, after receiving Malfoy's letter, had told them, without giving them the reason, that it was possible that the snakes were watching him too. They did not have cloaks, so he did not fear that they would follow him, although his absences would begin to be suspicious. Therefore, he asked Remus to do his best to find out if Potter would follow him and agree on a signal for that as well, so that he wouldn't have to leave home after dinner, and he would, just like Lily, when everyone was asleep.

For his part, Remus already knew, from Potter's comments during the journey to London on the Express, that he would be performing some maneuver in the Great Hall that first night back for the students, and they agreed to communicate on the return journey if Lupin found out what he was going to do. Unable to warn Sev, they decided that they should let Potter in first, followed by Sev shortly after, and immediately Remus and Cecile, and the last one, who would ideally sit with her back to the Slytherin table, Lily.

'A strategic choreography planned in detail against the haphazard movements of someone with little scruples but even less brains. If the quartet has meant physical combat four against one for me for years, well, actually, three and a quarter, now I can afford revenge through a mental combat with the same advantage, but on my part... And to think that it is the Gryffindors themselves my allies.'

Remus did, in fact, get information on the Express and a long time later, in order not to arouse suspicion, he went to the girls' compartment, made Cecile out and told her Potter's plan. He intended to sit in Lily's place in the Great Hall to know if she saw Snape from there, he would keep an eye on her and follow her in his cloak if she left before dinner was over.

Remus had also convinced the quartet that tonight, unless James needed it to follow Lily – which he already knew wouldn't happen, since she would be coming home with all the Gryffindors to bed after dinner – he would go out with the cloak, using as an excuse that this week he would begin to feel bad due to the proximity of the full moon, so the moment was propitious. They only needed to notify Sev.

So that night, by the arrival of the thestral-drawn carriages — invisible to all except Cecile, who had seen her grandmother die — they already knew that Potter was going to rush into the Great Hall first.

When Sev – who had remained hidden so that the glasses wouldn't see if he had already entered – passed in turn, he saw him sitting in Lily's place and then he did it a little distance from his usual place, so that some head shielded him from Potter, avoiding looking at him at all.