Written for:

The Ultimate Battle Challenge - Prompt: Severus Snape.

The Ultimate Chocolate Frog Trading and Duelling Club - (Bronze): Hesper Starkey: Challenge: Incorporate a lunar event (full moon, new moon, eclipse etc) into your story.

Gringotts Prompt Bank - Marauder's Era - [10 point bonus]

September Event: Exhausted

Fortnightly Prompt Challenge: Include this dialogue in your story: 'I love you.' 'Me too.'

The Restricted Collection Challenge - 33. No het pairings

When a Bad Day Turns Good

It was only after seeing Severus Snape's retreating form did Sirius realise exactly what he had just done.

Severus watched the Gryffindors carefully. They were acting strange again.

They were quieter than usual - there were no whispers or talking of any kind. No noises, no suspicious smells, and no notes being passed between them. In fact, the four of them had their heads down as they worked.

Severus had noticed them acting in this manner for a long time now. At first he had assumed that they were planning a trick, but as time went on it was revealed that this wasn't the case. But he knew there was still something more - something bigger. He just didn't know what.

All Severus knew was that it revolved around Remus Lupin somehow.

The behaviour always coincided with Remus' tiredness and his disappearances from classes, but, try as he might, he couldn't seem to find out what it was. But he knew this month was his month.

He waited for Sirius Black to walk across the hallway on the fourth floor before executing his plan. With a whisper of a spell from the alcove which hid him, Sirius stopped in his tracks, looking around in confusion.

Severus slipped from the shadows and approached him. He pulled out a vial and used a dropper to get a drop of Veritaserum into Sirius' mouth as quickly as possible, before Sirius became more aware. It was a weak solution as the ingredients in Slughorn's stores weren't very potent, but it was better than nothing. Even if it wouldn't even last a minute.

"Black, is Lupin really visiting his mother?" Severus asked. He thought it best to check that first, otherwise any other questions would be pointless.

"No," Sirius replied.

"Where is he going then?"

"To the Shrieking Shack."

"The Shrieking Shack?" Severus repeated. "How do I get in there?" He was sure there wasn't an entry to it in Hogsmeade.

"There is a knot at the base of the Whomping Willow which freezes the tree and makes the tunnel accessible."

"And why does he go there?"

Sirius' mouth began to move, but he choked back the words that tried to escape his lips as a look of realisation crossed his face. Severus realised that Sirius wasn't going to tell him, and it would be silly to try the spell again as Sirius would be expecting it.

"What did you... "

But Severus had already turned and left, cloak billowing behind him. He had to get to the tree before Black and Potter stopped him.

...oOo...

Severus slipped through the shadows, heading towards the tree. There was no-one around, and he could see the Whomping Willow's branches thrashing about. He edged towards it, his eyes moving around, searching for a way to get to the knot at the base of the tree.

He found it easy to dodge the branches, dropping to the ground near the base of the tree and smacking his hand hard against the knot. For the first time, he was grateful for the years of practise of avoiding bullies as a child, dodging hits, and hands grabbing for him. Hogwarts was the same - Slytherins liked to hex and curse, and Severus was good with dodging and blocking.

The branches didn't leave a scratch on him. Severus looked around, spotting the tunnel quickly and slipping through before the branches began moving again.

He stepped into the tunnel, following the crudely carved stairs down underground. The tunnel felt cold, and he could hear things scuttling about. Severus stayed away from the edge of the tunnel; his wand drawn for light as he walked in the direction of Hogsmeade.

He couldn't think of a reason why Lupin would be in the Shrieking Shack, but he was going to be the one to find out - the Marauders could be doing something dangerous for all he knew.

Finally the damp tunnel gave way to more stairs, heading upwards, and he knew he was close. He slowly walked up the stairs, finding himself by a trap-door. He opened it and began to climb into the shack.

"Fuck," came a shout, and hands dragged him roughly back. The door was slammed shut, but not before he saw the wild creature snarling and growling as it ran towards where he had been standing.

Another couple of seconds and he would have been eaten.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" his saviour snapped, and Severus turned around, finding himself face to face with James Potter.

"What was that?" Severus shouted.

"Nothing... I don't know, it was..."

"It was Lupin," Severus whispered, quickly realising that it was the full moon. He had barely paid attention earlier, but it all clicked into place. All the times Lupin wasn't well, and the others were protective of him. Of course they knew.

He knew they were up to something dangerous. Lupin was dangerous. He had to tell the headmaster and get Lupin out of the school. Lupin could have killed him.

He rushed up the tunnel, ignoring Potter's voice going on about keeping secrets and begging him not to say anything.

"We can't have a wild animal in the school," Severus sneered, leaning out of the passage to hit the knot. James grabbed him, roughly spinning him around, and Severus reached for his wand.

"I just saved your life, I believe you understand what a life debt is and what it means between Wizards?" James whispered, his eyes hard. "You owe me your life, and for that, you will keep this a secret."

Severus pulled away from James Potter's grip, storming towards the castle. He knew exactly what it meant and was torn.

He grew up in a household that despised magic, and he embraced magic, because that's who he was. He was a Wizard - whatever good or bad came from it, that's what he was.

And he knew what a Wizard's debt meant. He owed his life to Potter and no matter how much he hated the idea, he had to repay his debt.

Potter could have asked for a lot worse. In fact, had he not asked for anything, Severus would have been bound to repay James in the same manner. Was this getting off easy?

...oOo...

"James," Sirius said, panting from running through the castle faster than he had ever moved in his life. "Snape knows. He knows how to get into the Willow. He's..."

He didn't finish the sentence, as James ran from the room, grabbing the cloak on his way. Sirius went to follow him, but a prefect not far from the Gryffindor Common Room spotted him.

Sirius returned to the dorm, his heart pounding. What had happened? How had Snape tricked him into telling?

How had he allowed Remus' secret to get out?

He dropped down onto Remus' bed, feeling the tears prickle at the back of his eyes. Remus would never forgive him for this.

...oOo...

"Sirius wouldn't have told him," Remus said, barely opening his eyes. The full moon had been one of the hardest since he had started at Hogwarts, though he forced himself to stay awake and manage through the aches and pains to resolve the problem.

"Sirius wouldn't," James agreed. "But Sirius knew where Snape was going. Do you think he could have let it slip?"

Remus slowly shook his head, trying to open his eyes. "Sirius would never do that," he murmured. "I think there's a lot more to this than we know. I'll handle it when I wake up."

His eyes closed again, and James and Peter shared a look. They headed out of the hospital wing, intent on finding Severus Snape. With the map, it didn't take long to find and disarm the Slytherin.

...oOo...

"You know, when I called in that life debt for you to keep the secret, I didn't consider how exactly you had worked out the way into the tunnel. Now I have a few questions."

"Black told me," Severus sneered from where he was pinned against the ceiling, his fingers desperately searching for some purchase. "Don't blame me because your friends can't keep a secret."

"No," James said, nodding to Peter. The spell faltered for a moment, allowing Severus the sensation that he was going to fall and hit the ground. "Sirius Black might be a lot of things, but he'd never willingly tell you."

"Looks like you can't trust your friends as well as you thought," Severus spat, glaring down at them.

"Peter," James said.

The spell was cancelled, with Severus plummeting to the floor, caught back in the levitation spell at the last second. The impact of the spell halting the fall made a bottle fall from Severus' robes.

James quickly grabbed the bottle, holding it up for examination. "What's this?"

James noticed the panic in the Slytherin's eyes at the sight of the potion. "Peter, if you will."

Severus was lowered and bound tightly. "So, what would happen if I gave you this potion?" James asked, smiling widely at the angry Slytherin. He approached Severus, opened the vial, and pulled the stopper to Severus' mouth. "Open up."

...oOo...

James, Peter, and Remus returned to the dorm room that evening, to find Sirius curled up on Remus' bed, his eyes red.

"Remus," Sirius began, jumping up from his spot. "I swear I don't know how he got me to talk about it. I would never betray you like that; you're one of the most important people in my life,and I love you and would never hurt you." He rushed over to Remus. "Please believe me, I'll find out what happened and I'll make this up to you somehow, I'll fix this, I swear on my magic that -"

"We know what happened," James interrupted. "Me and Peter went to find Snape. He confounded you on your way back to the dorm and gave you Veritaserum."

Sirius' eyes widened. "He did what?"

"He admitted it of course, once me and Peter found the bottle and decided to get him to try it out too."

"I don't blame you at all," Remus assured him, moving towards the comfortable looking bed. "You had no choice but to answer the questions." He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up at Sirius. "He's not going to tell anyone."

"Are you sure, because I could -" Sirius began.

"I pulled him out of the Shack, so he owes me a life debt," James said. "I called it in to keep Remus' secret."

"Besides, if he reveals that to anyone, it'll come out that he forced another student to take Veritaserum and that's against the law. He could be kicked out of school for that," Peter added.

Sirius took a deep breath, completely relieved by what he had just heard. "Brilliant," he murmured. "I thought you'd hate me."

"How can I hate you?" Remus asked, a shy smile on his lips. "Who else loves me?"

"Loves you?" Sirius spluttered, looking accusingly at James. "I... who said that? Who told you?"

"Hey, you were the one who said it," James replied, his arms folded and a smile on his face. "Just now when you were about to beg Remus' forgiveness. On that note... me and Peter are going to head down to the kitchens." He turned to Peter. "Do you want to get something to eat?"

Peter nodded. "Remus is probably starving, and Sirius has been in here all day. We should bring some back with us."

"Good idea," James said. He led the way from the room and Peter closed the door behind them, leaving Sirius and Remus alone.

"So... what happened? I mean, James got there in time?"

Remus nodded. "He did. He pulled Snape out just in time, but he saw me. He knows what I am now."

"I truly am sorry, I'm glad that James had the courage to -"

"Don't apologise," Remus whispered. "You didn't have a choice but to tell. I know you wouldn't have betrayed me, Sirius. It was a hard transformation, and it'll take longer to recover because the wolf smelt Snape and was more vicious than usual."

Sirius sat down next to Remus and leaned in, his fingers hovering near a deep scratch down Remus' face - one that would no doubt become a scar. "I'll look after you," he murmured, pulling his hand away.

There was a long pause, where the two teens watched each other nervously.

"Did you mean it... that you love me?" Remus asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I... yeah, but I don't want to make things weird if you don't see me like that," Sirius replied, carefully.

"Well, I wasn't expecting a love confession when I returned here," Remus teased. "But it's gone from a terrible day into a pretty good one after that." He took in the curious expression on Sirius' face. "What I'm trying to say is that I love you too, and I'd kiss you right now but I'm completely exhausted. Do you want to come and lay down with me for a bit?"

Sirius nodded his head as Remus climbed onto the bed. He carefully situating himself next to Remus, allowing Remus to cuddle into him.

"Remus," Sirius began softly, wanting to say the words properly. "I love you."

"Me too," Remus whispered, shifting closer to Sirius and holding him tighter, "but about you."

Sirius held his best friend tightly. He had been so worried about losing Remus, but the horrible event had done the opposite - it had brought them closer together.

And it wasn't long before Remus realised he had the energy to kiss Sirius after all.

Thanks to Firefly for betaing this (and for listening to me complain about this story).

Review Please :)