The Reunion of a Lifetime

Chapter Ten: Snape Finally Cracks

So, James mused cheerfully as he carefully rotated his tender wrists. This probably wasn't the best of situations. But it wasn't the worst either because hey! He was alive wasn't he?

"So how are you feeling, Padfoot?" he asked of his neighboring rack of bones.

"Horrible. My poor child is going to be raised without a father! Who is going to teach him how to ride a broom stick, or curse his enemies, or…" Sirius groaned mournfully. He wasn't even bothering with his hands that were painfully manacled to the dungeon wall. He preferred to not even acknowledge that he had wrists at all.

"What the-? You don't have children, Sirius!" James exclaimed glad to be concentrating on something other than the his situation (which definitely wasn't the best one as he'd concluded).

"You see? I don't even have children! Now they shall be forced to remain ghosts forever, haunting old highways, spooking their descendants…," Sirius trailed off as he began to think of names for his future children. Arabella would be glad to oblige, he decided. Pregnancy and birth couldn't possibly be as bad as they made out….

So… James' thought process continued. Let's look at this logically. My best friend has gone insane- well- with Sirius it was really only a matter of time. DRIP It isn't like I'm starving. They are keeping me alive because naturally James Potter is an important person! DRIP I have a good chance of living although when I get my hands on that traitorous, back stabbing, DRIP Damn it, that dripping is annoying DRIP That's really getting on my nerves DRIP I can't stand it anymore!

"WILL YOU KNOCK IT OFF?"

"Um…James? Are you feeling okay? Sirius Jr. is starting to get a little worried about you."

"Sirius, there is no Sirius Jr."

And so James Potter came to the deduction that being chained to the wall in a leaky dungeon where the enemy was ready to brain-wash him at any moment and his best friend was having delusions about ghost children that were non-existent was NOT the best place to be. At All.

Professor McGonagall sighed as Severus Snape stalked into her office. She had called him here for a meeting about the number of detentions he had been giving. A detention for smiling too brightly just wasn't acceptable- especially during a spring break.

"Are you sure you aren't having any problems in your…social life?" Professor McGonagall asked while privately thinking to herself that Severus didn't even have a social life.

"No McGonagall," Snape said in irritation. The open doorway let in the sound of someone singing in the hallway. Snape's face tightened in pain and he flung his hands over his ears. "IF YOU COULD ONLY GET THAT DAMN EVANS TO STOP SINGING!"

"Oh," McGonagall said with relief (she didn't relish the thought of hearing Snape's secrets. He had been bad enough while a student!). "Well then…I guess we can take care of that." She dismissed Snape from her office while busily booking time in her schedule for a chat with Lily Evans.

"DETENTION WITH FILCH TONIGHT!" Snape roared from the corridor.

Professor McGonagall moved up the appointment. It seemed she was going to have to have a chat with Miss Evans very soon.

Hogwarts was lucky to have very sunny weather that spring- the teachers gave this 'luck' a very different term. Because of this unexpectedly gorgeous weather, most teachers had trouble keeping their students inside; some even gave up teaching during class completely since their students were so distracted. One student even summoned his broom to the window one class and jumped out! (It must be said that this occurred in Professor Binn's classroom and the teacher didn't even notice but it still occurred!)

Therefore, vacation came as a great boon to everyone, especially the teachers. All the students left in Hogwarts turned out to the lawns and the lake where they could swim, tan, and play quidditch (the ideal life for a teenage wizard or witch). The leftover teachers were quite relieved to be done for a week or so. They looked forward to a lot of rest and recuperation but one professor made this quite impossible….

"Miss Evans," Professor McGonagall said walking into the Charms professor's classroom a day after her chat with Snape. "Might I have a word with you?

"

Lily, who had been in a state of undisguised bliss ever since the reunion, was packing up some of her belongings in the cheery room. Professor Flitwick was being rehired at the beginning of next year since Lily had found another job in Hogsmeade that she preferred (manager of the book shop). Flitwick wasn't very happy about his two year vacation being cut in half but Dumbledore had said he'd manage.

"Yes Professor?" Lily said as she politely climbed off her knees and dusted her robes. "Was there something you needed?"

"Yes, quite," McGonagall said checking to be sure there was no one else around. "To tell the truth, Lily, I've had a couple of complaints about your…constant happiness?"

"What?" Lily asked. Since when had it been a bad thing to be so wonderfully and gloriously in love?

"Well it's not really that," McGonagall hurriedly corrected herself, "as it is the way you've turned the Great Hall pink and there are balloons, flowers, and fairies all over the place. I'm not one to complain but after a couple of days the pink can give one a bit of a headache."

"Perhaps I did take the charms a little too far," Lily conceded with a smile. There could be nothing more dangerous than a Charm's professor in love, McGonagall decided to herself. Unless it was a Divination teacher like the awful Trelawny. She shuddered. Trelawny was just frightful! Wait, was Lily saying something?

"I'll get right to work on all the, the pinkness," Lily had said helpfully.

"Thank you, dear." McGonagall left the room rubbing her head as Lily began to hum. If James Potter was the one who was causing this, he'd better come quickly to take her away! This infatuation was getting out of hand!

At the moment, James was in no condition to take Lily away even if he'd wanted to, being locked in a hidden dungeon somewhere in Yugoslavia. Not to mention the fact that he didn't want to see any potential dates while his hair was matted and a little greasy ("Like Snape," he'd remarked glumly to Sirius who had still been healthy at the time).

By now, James had reached the pits of despair. Sirius, who had only seemed to be acting himself, turned out to have contracted a serious illness and was delirious half the time. James would have thought his friend's mumbled theories and blurry memories hysterical in a less threatening time but Sirius was on the other side of the dungeon and no amount of scraping, clawing, or pulling could get James free to check on him.

All in all, this was not a happy experience. James allowed himself to drift in and out of sleep and present in all his dreams was a red head with green eyes and a tub of grapes in which they would dance (reminiscent of Sirius and Arabella). But when he was awake, Lily was forgotten and James would worry- about Sirius, about Remus, and about Peter. If Sirius died, the Fabulous Foursome, the Magical Marauders, would be gone.