The Marauders: Year Six Part 2 #Wattys2017

Green Light Filled the Corridor

Green Light Filled The Corridor

"GIve me a reason to do it, Snivellus."

With Sirius's wand pressed into his jugular, it was quite hard to Snape to speak. "You wouldn't," Severus breathed, looking directly into Sirius's face as he said the words. A part of him sort of wanted Sirius to do it.

Sirius pressed the wand tighter. "Try me, Snape."

"If you weren't too coward to do it," Severus choked 'round the wand tip pressing to his throat, "You would have done it already."

Sirius's fist trembled. "Go on. Call me a coward again. I fucking dare you."

"Coward," whispered Severus.

Sirius's body jolted in reaction, turning to shove Severus Snape into the wall, knocking several books over from a table, as well as a funny potted plant, whose leaves instantly started to drag itself away rather frantically as Severus and Sirius nearly stepped upon it in their forray. Sirius pressed his forearm across Severus's throat, barring him to the wall. "I have the right mind to finish you off right here and now --"

Then Lily's voice came from behind the shelves, "Sirius." Sirius hesitated, glancing over his shoulder at the shelves she hid behind. He could see her eyes peering between book spines at him, imploringly. He scowled, then let Severus go, backing up, but keeping his wand trained on him. "What do you want?" he snarled.

Severus rubbed his throat as the feeling of Sirius shoving against it lifted and he stood upright. He glared at Sirius, then hastened to step 'round the shelves to see Lily. Shadows cast over the floor, across her face, and over James Potter's body as he lay there, struggling to breathe. Lily had one hand's fingers tangled with his, her other palm lay on his chest, right over his heart. She stared up at Severus Snape.

For a moment, Severus stared down at James. He felt sick at the sight of Lily's hand on his chest - chipped red nail polish as bright against it as the welts and cuts on his skin. To his credit - for a moment, however fleeting of one it was - Severus felt bad for what he'd done. In his head, he saw a flash of James standing over him in the darkness of the tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow, protecting him, arms outstretched to block the snarling werewolf...

James Potter had saved his life, there was no denying that.

And now it was time to return the favor.

"He's dying," Snape said.

Lily's eyes, already wide with tears, went even wider. "Don't say that!" she snapped, "It's your fault if he is, being as you're the one that sent him to the Dark Lord! After what he did for you last year..." Then her voice went ice-cold. "Or are you going to come up with some lie about how he blew up that dock himself and turned himself over to the Dark Lord?"

Severus didn't say anything.

Sirius's wand touched Severus's spine from behind as he crowded 'round the shelves. "And how are we to know you haven't called You Know Who already, right now, to have him come down here?" he demanded.

Severus hissed at the feeling of Sirius Black so close as he was, "I haven't."

"Then why are you here? Skulking about? Looking for us?" Sirius demanded, "Just haven't called him yet?"

"We're all looking for you. Every Death Eater in the castle's been summonsed to search for you. He knows you can't have gone far - you can't disapparate out of Durmstrang. You can disapparate here and there within the underground - up the fjord and around the castle, everything they've built here beneath the land - but you can't go above ground from here anyway except for one. You're trapped. You're trapped and every bloody Death Eater there is is on their way." Severus looked between Lily and Severus.