Understandings (M) Part 4

[Aljana]

All right, here's the final installment.

As soon as Snape saw the boy disappear from the room he sneezed violently into his handkerchief. “heh..Heiissshhh!” When his vision cleared he gathered his work on the desk and made his way to his private quarters. As he changed out of his robes into his night clothes (black silk boxers and green silk nightshirt) he thought back to a time during his days as a student that Potter had unknowingly reminded him of.

Severus sat huddled on the cold ground in the bushes behind the Shrieking Shack listening to the voices from within. “What a great night! I’m glad the weather is starting to warm up.” “Speak for yourself Prongs, my paws nearly froze!” Severus recognized Sirius Black’s voice. James Potter replied, “Well at least the snow is gone. We don‘t have to worry about losing Wormtail in a drift!” Then Severus heard the weary voice of Remus Lupin. “Hey guys, thanks for coming out with me. It makes it easier, really.” “Moony, you know we’ll always be here for you. Besides, it’s a blast.” The answer came from Sirius before Peter Pettigrew broke in, “Hey, how could we pass up the chance to sneak out of the castle and go running around the countryside with you? But we better get back up there for breakfast or we’ll get caught.”

Severus listened as they exchanged goodbyes and promises to catch up with Remus later and then he watched as three of the Gryffindor boys made their way back towards the school. He had been curious for ages about where they were sneaking off to and what they were doing every month in the middle of the night. He had discovered them sneaking around months ago by accident when he was doing his own sneaking around inside the castle. So last night he had followed them out of the school and into Hogsmeade and eventually to the Shrieking Shack. He hid in the bushes as they went inside the hovel and a few minutes later he drew in a sharp breath as a werewolf, a huge black dog, a stag, and a large rat bounded out of the doorway. Severus was terrified they would sense him there but the group seemed to caught up in their own games to notice him hiding nearby. After roughhousing on the lawn for a while they took off across the moors.

Severus waited a bit then cautiously crept up to the shack. He peered inside. It was empty. So, that had been them, Severus thought. They were Animagi! He went into the shack and looked around. It was just one room. There wasn’t much in it, a bed against the far wall with ragged covers, and a chair.

Still curious, Severus went back outside and settled himself in the cover of some bushes to wait for the group to return. For a while he thought about what he could do with his newly found information. Halfway through the night he found himself nodding off despite the cold. Although the snow had melted the temperature was still well below comfortable. He was startled awake at dawn by the sound of padded feet and light hooves gallivanting about. He peered around the corner of the building to see the dog and wolf wrestling while the stag leaped around them and the rat scurried to and fro trying not to get trampled. As the moon slipped below the horizon the wolf began to change back into a skinny boy in tattered clothing. The other boys made their own transformations back into human form and the whole group tumbled into the shack laughing and shoving each other.

Severus waited for the trio to disappear then he quietly got up. He was stiff from sitting on the ground all night and he was freezing. He noted this as he shivered. And his nose was running. He absentmindedly wiped it on the sleeve of his robe as he peered in a crack in the boarded up window of the shack. Remus was lying on the bed with the worn blankets bundled around himself. Severus was suddenly aware of an urgent need to sneeze. He tried to hold it back but as that quickly failed he did his best to stifle it. It came out as a sharp, “Hxshhht!” He leaned against the wall scarcely breathing, hoping Remus hadn’t heard him. His hopes were dashed a few seconds later as he heard soft footsteps coming around the shack. He was motionless as he heard the footsteps halt as if the person was surveying the area. To his dismay it was this moment the tickle in his nose came back fiercely. He scrunched his nose up hoping it would pass but it didn’t. He buried his nose in his shoulder and let out a muffled, “Hhssmph!” He kept his eyes closed with the wild idea that if he couldn’t see Remus, Remus wouldn’t see him. Then he heard a rustle of branches and Remus’ voice, “Severus? What are you doing here?”

Severus looked up at the other boy but wasn’t quite sure how to answer him. Remus took a step back and said, “Well, you’d better come inside so we can talk.” Severus followed him inside the shack. He noted that after Remus’ initial shock at seeing him there he seemed to be pretty calm about the situation. “So why were you sitting outside the Shrieking Shack? And how long have you been there?” Remus asked him. Severus decided to tell him the truth since he didn’t seem particularly upset by his presence. “I followed James, Sirius, and Peter last night. I wanted to know where they were going. I saw you all transform.” Remus nodded, “You know if you try and tell anyone they won’t believe you. Fifth years doing the Animagus spell?” “You’re not an animagus. You’re a werewolf. They’d believe that.” Remus turned towards the window. “They might. What would you gain by telling on me?” Severus could see the other boy was scared. Out of the group of them Remus had always been the only one that didn’t really pick on him. Sure he went along with James and Sirius and Peter but he never did anything to Severus on his own. “I won’t tell anyone,” he said quietly. Remus turned back around and the two boys searched each others eyes. The moment was broken when Severus turned and sneezed wetly. “Eschoooo! Tcschooo!”

“Bless. Sounds like you caught a cold sitting out there all night. Here, get under the covers, you must be freezing,” Remus said pulling back the covers of the small bed. Severus looked at the bed and then back at Remus. “What about you? And what about school? I should get back…” “Don’t worry about school. I’ll take care of it. And we can both fit on the bed. That is, if you don’t mind?” Severus had climbed into the bed and Remus had laid down beside him. It was strangely comforting having someone else’s warmth beside him. He soon drifted off to sleep.

Severus awoke late in the day, he could tell by the light coming in the cracks of the shack. He looked around. He was alone. He wondered vaguely if it had all been a dream. He got up and made his way back to the school. On his way into the castle he passed the Gryffindor boys. James hailed him with, “Oh look! It’s Snivellus!” As usual Severus ignored them and kept walking but was stopped by an impending sneeze. He hated sneezing in front of people most of the time, and that was especially true in the case of this group. He couldn’t hold it back though so he stifled the pair of sneezes. They didn’t go unnoticed though as he continued down the hall. Sirius teased, “Aww, Does Snivellus have the sniffles?” His ears burned as he pushed past the group. As he passed Remus he thought he saw an apologetic look cross his face and then something was pressed into his hand. He continued down the hall as the group made their way laughing and joking in the other direction. He looked at what Remus had given him, a clean white handkerchief. He shook his head in wonder.

In Gryffindor Tower, Ron and Hermione pressed Harry for details of his detention. All he would say was, “It was Snape, you know. I had to scrub out cauldrons. I’m exhausted, I’m going to go up to bed.” After he left Ron looked at Hermione. “He sure was acting strange. What do you suppose happened?” Hermione shrugged, “I don’t suppose we’ll ever know. He didn’t seem interested in telling us what really went on tonight.”

In his private quarters Snape settled into bed with a cool cloth on his face. He sighed and wondered what the Potter boy would make of the evening’s strange encounter. Would he tell Weasley and Granger all about Professor Snape brought down by an allergy? Somehow he doubted it. Although the boy wasn’t actually related to Lupin he reminded Snape of him as much as of James. Perhaps that was the Lily in him. Anyway, he would take his own advice and forget the day had ever happened. He rolled over in bed and sneezed softly as he put out the light, “Hiiissh!”

[Empathic Mystery]

Mmm, absolutely delicious. Very well written, and true to the spirit of the books. Perhaps something a bit more... risque, next time?

~Me~

[Aljana]

Thanks to everyone for their kind feedback.

*jumps up and down clapping hands, "They like me! They like me!"*

I do have another in the works, and yes, it is "a bit more risque".

Aljana

[gothic rose]

I know that this is late feedback but I just had to complement you on this story. It is brilliantly written, and being an avid Alan Rickman and Severus Snape fan it was more then a pleasure to read.

There are really, in my opinion, too few sneezing Snape stories around.

[VampireLady]

I think so, too.

VERY DELICIOUS!!!

For me as aSnape Fan it is wonderful.

I want MORE!!!