The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part Two

Sunset at Fingal's Cave

Severus Snape was halfway down the stairs of St. Mungo's when he got a funny feeling in his gut. He stopped on the stairwell, hand on the bannister, knees bent between two steps, and had this sudden urge to run - not walk, but run - back to the room.

He turned around.

He was almost back to the floor Regulus's room was on when he heard the tell-tale crack of a disapparation on the next landing above him, though he hadn't heard any thoughts -- it had to be Regulus, he realized, or he would've heard the thoughts of the person there.

The knot in his stomach grew and he hurried, nearly tripping on the next flight of steps, finding the empty landing as he'd expected, and into the corridor. "Excuse me," he pushed around a couple trolleys and the mediwitches pushing them, and he strained, listening, sifting through the minds he was hearing, pushing outward to find Lily's even as he ran down the corridor toward the room.

Confusion struck him - it was James Potter's mind, not hers, but he knew if one was feeling it then she would be, too, and for the first time he actively listened to James's mind as he tried to sort out why he was confused, why they were there --

Snape burst into the room and found both Lily and James frozen in place in their chairs.

"Finite incantantum," he waved his wand first at Lily, and then at James.

James had a splitting headache, and he said so the moment he could move. He couldn't remember why he couldn't move, but it was rather good to get to move again, and he felt stiff as he stretched to crack his neck and back.

Lily was beside him doing precisely the same thing.

"Evans?" he asked.

"My stars," she groaned.

"Evans? Are you alright?"

"Am I alright? We're in bloody Mungo's - are you alright?"

"Aren't we here for you?"

"I - for me? No? I'm not hurt? I don't think. Are you hurt?"

James did a quick mental inventory of all his limbs. "I'm not."

"Then why are we at St. Mungo's?"

"Dunno," James said. He sat forward and looked at the empty bed before them. He looked around, disoriented. Something deep in his stomach twist as his eyes landed on Severus Snape in the doorway.

Lily's voice was trembling, "Severus?"

"What did you do?" James demanded, staring at Severus, "What did you do to us?"

"Where did Regulus go?" Severus asked, looking at Lily, completely ignoring James,

"Regulus?" Lily's confusion only heightened. "Is he hurt? Is he why we're here?" Lily asked.

"Regulus," James hissed. "Regulus, he must've been here." He looked at Severus, "That's what you're doing here. You're - you're helping him somehow?"

"I was, but I don't know what he's doing now," Severus answered straightly, his worry over Regulus Black driving him to civility with the one man that he never dreamed he would have civility with.

"Fenrir Greyback bit him," Snape answered. "Yes, that's why you're here."

Lily gasped, "Greyback? Oh my stars. On the moon? Is he a werewolf?"

"No," Severus answered. "But Greyback is hunting him, and that's what I came to warn him of, and it... appears Regulus may have decided to --" To what? To face the Dark Lord? No, that didn't seem right. What was he doing?