Hogwarts, 1977-1978 (Marauders Era/Jily Fanfic)

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

-

{Severus}

The figure lying on the ground suddenly opens her mouth and screams.
"SHIT!" Mulciber yells, grabbing me by the robes and slamming me into the wall, "I THOUGHT YOU PUT THE SILENCING CHARM ON HER!" He yells at me, spit flying into my face.
"I DID!" I bellow back; the McKinnon girl screaming uncontrollably.
"GUYS! QUICK!" Avery yells, he beckons us into a small black cabinet, a few feet away.
Mulciber, Yaxley and I all run into it, pulling the door shut; McKinnon's screams still echoing throughout the castle.
I feel a sudden dizziness and we are all thrown foreword out of the cupboard and into...
"Where the hell are we?" I mutter.
"Borgin and Burkes..?" Yaxley says, pointing to the sign.
The place is thankfully deserted; I look at the cabinet we came out of, which is identical to the other one, "It must be some sort of Vanishing Cabinet," I say, looking at it incredulously.
"Whoa," Avery says.
Mulciber turns to me, "What the hell, Snape?!" He hisses, "Why did she start screaming?!"
"I don't know!" I say defensively, "She wasn't screaming before, maybe the necklace was too damn strong!"
"We gotta get rid of it," Avery whispers, ending the argument.
Using his wand, he holds up the beautiful ornate necklace, "It's evidence that will link us to McKinnon."
"Well then leave it here," Yaxley mutters.
"I'm not leaving this thing here, it's a family heirloom and worth a fortune!"
Using my wand I take the necklace off him and throw it carelessly on too the desk.
"Watch it!" Avery snaps.
Being careful not to touch the necklace, I jump over the counter and look underneath it, and find bags and bags of galleons.
"Wow these guys really need better security," I say as I pick up a bag of galleons, which is so heavy that it must be a thousand at least. I hand it over the desk to Avery, who stumbles under the weight.
"Okay," he says, "Let's go."
We climb back into the cabinet and I am shaken with that same feeling of dizziness.
"Are we there?" Yaxley whispers to Mulciber.
"Yes," he whispers, opening the door slightly, "It's clear let's go,"
We creep out of the cabinet into the dark abandoned corridor.
"Wait," I say, "We need to destroy the cabinet, in case someone connects the necklace to the cabinet."
"No one's going to do that. Let's go!" Avery says.
But I turn and point my wand at it, "Reducto."
Nothing happens.
"Snape, c'mon!"
"Sectumsepra!" Slashes appear on the cabinet.
"Snape! Hurry!"
I run away back to the common room, the sound of Rose's screams still ringing in my ears.

-

{Marlene}

The scream is so loud, so long and so drawn-out that it echoes throughout the castle and stops my heart.
"Shit," Sirius mutters, "What is that?"
My mouth is dry and my face pale, "It's Rose."
"What?!"
"Sirius, it's Rose! That's Rose!" My breathing is rapid and tears have sprung into my eyes.
"Okay, okay, Marls it's okay, let's go find her," he says, standing up and grabbing our wands off the table.
I take mine, nodding, wiping my eyes and gathering my wits, "Let's go."
We rush through the corridors, following Rose's tortured screams.
Other students are appearing, looking terrified. Professors hurry to find the source of the screams, while restraining the other students.
People mutter, craning their necks over the professors, desperate to see what is going on.
We run past all of them, following the echoing scream. Finally we reach a corridor that is completely blocked off by a stone guard.
I can hear the screaming, it's coming from within there.
I crane my neck, looking over the guard. I see McGonagall, Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey all crowded round a small blonde girl, who is twitching and writhing with every shriek.
"ROSE!" I scream, the tears back in my eyes and streaming down my face, "ROSE! ROSIE!!"
Sirius takes hold of my hand, squeezing it tight.
At the sound of our voices, McGonagall looks up and walks briskly over to us, "Marlene, Sirius," she says gravely, "This isn't a good time. Go to my office and I will explain everything in a couple of minutes."
"No! I know that's Rose! Let us in!" I demand.
"Very well," she says, and at her command the guard lifts his arms and Sirius and I run towards Rose.
I drop to my knees, leaning next to her.
Her eyes are wide, and darting around in panic, she is still screaming and shaking.
"Rose!" I sob, placing my hands on her cheeks. The second I do this, she stops moving, stops screaming and her eyes fall shut.
"Rose? Rose!!!"
Sirius pulls me up, "Marls, Marls! It's okay," he says soothingly.
"Have I killed her?" I ask, terrified; looking down at her limp body.
"No, she is merely unconscious," Dumbledore says, "she must've recognised your touch and realised she was okay."
"What," I murmur, not really listening, stroking Rose's hair, which is wet with sweat.
Madam Pomfrey puts her into a stretcher and I follow her with Sirius, Dumbledore and McGonagall to the Hospital Wing.
She lies Rose in a bed and I watch as she gives Rose numerous potions and runs her wand over her, whispering and muttering spells.
I sit next to Rose's bed, clutching Sirius's hand so tight, I know he is wincing in pain, but he doesn't say anything.
It is an hour or so later when Lily and James rush into the hospital wing. I stand up and fall straight into Lily's arms. She hugs me tightly, whispering into my ear, "Oh Marls, I am so sorry."
"We only just heard," James says, giving me a hug after Lily, "and Nicole wanted to come down but McGonagall aid she'd have to wait till morning." Nicole is Rose's best friend, also a Gryffindor second year.
I nod shakily, and sit down back in my seat. Sirius hugs both Lil and James, before sitting down next to me. Lily and James sit opposite us, "She's going to be okay," Lily whispers.
"Thanks Lil," I say quietly, my eyes still on Rose.
We all sit there through the night; the other three drifting in and out of sleep, but I am always awake, watching Rose, even when Pomfrey tells me to sleep.
But I shake my head stubbornly, and Pomfrey sighs, "A sleep-deprived sister, isn't going to be much help when she wakes up."
"So she is going to wake up?" I ask hopefully.
"I'm doing all I can dear,"
I smile and nod and try not to cry.

-

{Lily}

I wake as light shifts in through the windows, and I find myself with my head on James's shoulder. I move away, careful not to wake him.
We had agreed last night to put whatever was going on between us (which was increasingly awkward since I had kissed him and ran off) aside for Marlene's sake.
"Did you sleep at all?" I ask Marlene, who is still awake, Sirius's sleeping head on her shoulder.
Marlene shakes her head.
"You need to sleep, Marls," I tell her.

"I can't Lil, I just can't. Not till I know if Rose is going to be okay."
"She will be,"
Marlene looks up at me, "She fucking better be. I don't know how to live without her."
Once both James and Sirius are awake, James and I do a breakfast run, grabbing a large plate of toast for ourselves, Marlene and Sirius. When we come back to the Hospital we find that our seats have been taken by two of Rose's friends, Nicole and Jessie.
We pull up two more chairs and pass the toast around. No one says much, we just all sit there, munching on the occasional bit of toast.
But soon Madam Pomfrey comes over, and tells us all to go off to class, except Marlene if she really wants to stay. We all stand to leave, but Marlene pulls Sirius back down, insisting that he stays with her.
In class and in the corridors everyone, and I mean everyone is talking about the attack on 'the little McKinnon girl'.
As we're walking to recess after Charms, I spot him.
Severus. And I know he's guilty, I can see it on his face.
Screaming, I shove him into a wall and knee him in the balls before anyone can react.
"YOU FUCKING JERK!" I yell, punching him as hard as I can on the nose, as Remus and Alice pull me back, "Let GO of me!" I snap at them.
"What is going on?!" McGonagall calls in her piercing voice, "Snape! Evans!" She says, when she spots Severus slumped against the wall, wiping the blood off his face, and me struggling angrily with Remus and Alice.
"Snape, run along to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey will fix you up," McGonagall helps Severus up and he runs away, glaring at me as he turns a corner, "As for you Evans!" She practically shrieks, "Did you do this?"
Alice and Remus let go of my robes when Severus turns the corner, "He did it! He's the one who tortured Rose, Professor!" I yell at her.
McGonagall looks so stern that I am scared she might slap me right across the face; everyone in the corridor is listening completely quiet. "My office! NOW!" She tells me.
I follow her into her office, which is not far away and sit down in the chair in front of her desk, "What on earth has gotten into you, Evans?! You can not just make accusations like that without any evidence! And in front of all those people! For goodness sake, you are our Head Girl! People look up to you!"
"Professor, he did it! He tortured Rose, I know it!" I say defiantly.
"Do you have any proof?"
"Well.... no, but he did it!"
"Fifty points from Gryffindor! And a week's worth of detention!" She tells me sternly.
"Fifty?! You should be taking a billion points from him and chucking him and his friends in Azkaban!"
"Evans!"
"But what if Rose never wakes up?! He might've killed her!"
"EVANS! That is enough! I do not want you blaming anyone for what has happened to Rose, until you have some proof. And then I want you to come to me privately and not yell it on a corridor filled with students!" McGonagall tells me with a tone of finality.
"But Prof-" I argue.
"No buts!" She interrupts me, "Now leave, and never ever let me find you muggle duelling with someone else ever again!"
"Sorry Professor," I say meekly, leaving her office.