Five Sickles - a Snily fanfiction (English Version)

The cunning Gryffindor

"They know.", sighed Severus, who had leaned his head against the door of the classroom. For minutes he was standing in the same place and listened.
"What do you mean?", Remus mumbled who was only half-awake.
Tired, he rubbed his eyes.
"Do you hear that?", asked Severus and Remus thought that the Slytherin might not have heard him. Remus jumped down from the teacher’s desk, on which he had just taken a short nap, and pressed his ear against the door.
It was absolutely quiet.
"I don’t hear anything, Snape", Remus whispered and shrugged his shoulders.
"And that’s the point. Normally the corridors would be full of students now, because classes are over.", said Severus.
Remus nodded slowly.
It was so dark by now that both students had to cast the Wand-Lighting Charm.
"So you mean that they have found James and Peter and probably told all the students to stay in their common rooms.", Remus muttered, thinking back to the hideous bloodbath in the corridor, which made him shudder. Surely he would never get the horrible images of James' mutilated body out of his mind.
"I'm sure they'll be counting the students. When they notice we're missing, it's crystal clear we have something to do with it.", Severus whispered as quietly as he could, as if he feared someone was spying on him on the other side of the door.
He sank to the ground and buried his hands in his pale face in frustration.
Remus sat down on the floor as well. He considered giving Severus a hug for a moment, but decided not to do it.
It was scary how quiet it was in Hogwarts. No steps, no voices, and even the crazy laughter of Peeves the poltergeist didn’t echo through the hallways as usual.
"Do you know him? The Half-Blood Prince?", asked Remus after some time to break the unpleasant silence.
Severus raised his head and looked up with his black eyes.
Remus' green eyes sparkled curiously in the flickering light of his wand.
"Why do you want to know that, Lupin?", Severus growled and did not seem to be pleased with the question.
"You are obsessed with a book that belongs not to you but to the Half-Blood Prince. Is there a reason for that?", asked Lupin and smiled softly because he didn't want to start a fight.
Severus' face turned angry.
"That’s none of your business! Just give it back to me as soon as possible if you want to see Potter alive!", Severus hissed and his hand had clenched to a fist.
Remus moved back a bit. He repeated the sentence in his head to find out if Severus wanted to tell him something subliminally.
"I just don’t understand why you don’t use your own book. As far as I know, every student has the same copy of the book.", Remus said quietly and moved back a bit again.
"No, this book is different. It contains spells, curses and countercurses that no one else knows about. That is why the book is so special and must not fall into the wrong hands. The curse I cast on Potter was one from the book.", Severus whispered.
Remus frowned.
"But why were you able to perform an unknown curse when only the Half-Blood Prince knows it?"
Severus felt himself sweating all over his body. He hastily searched for an excuse.
"He, um- He taught me some of his curses", Severus stuttered, hoping his face had not turned too red.
Remus looked him deep in the eyes, as if he wasn’t sure if Severus was really telling the truth.
"So you really know him?", asked Remus.
Severus grinned softly. He successfully tricked Remus his lie.
"Yes, of course I know the Half-Blood Prince.", said Severus and faked a little laugh.
He now had to stay careful with what he was going to say to not get himself exposed.
"Unbelievable! And who is it? Black? Malfoy? Do I even know the person?", asked Remus and grabed the sleeves of his cloak in excitement.
"I'm sorry but I can't tell you that.", Severus replied dryly.
"Oh come on, you can trust me, Snape. We're friends now, aren't we?", Remus whined, starting to pout a little.
"I'm not sure.", Severus stammered shyly, looking into the disappointed face of his counterpart. Remus huffed in annoyance and crossed his arms.
"I'll give you the book back, Snape. But only if you tell me who the Half-Blood Prince is. Deal?", Remus asked, offering Severus his hand.
Hesitantly, Severus stared at Remus' hand.
He was in a terrible situation. It felt like a hurricane was inside of his head.
If he would agree to the deal and would get his book back, Remus would find out that none other than Severus himself was the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.
And the chance that James would find out about his secret too was high. Way too high.
If he would reject the pact, his hard work of creating spells, curses and countercurses would be lost. Besides,the book would cause huge damage if it would fall into wrong hands. Severus would also get blame for James' death and it would probably haunt him for the rest of his life.
"Where is the book right now?", Severus asked sharply, still staring at the hand in front of him.
Remus said nothing for a few seconds.
Was this a trap? After all, Severus was a Slytherin. And Slytherins were known to be insidious and cunning.
"It's in my Common Room, why?", Remus replied suspiciously, raising an eyebrow as if he wasn't sure what Severus was supposed to do with that information.
He regretted saying that sentence when Severus' black eyes began to sparkle dangerously.
It had been a trap.
"Thank you, Lupin", said Severus, nervously biting his lower lip. With his shaking hand he pointed his wand directed at Remus, who sat in front of him confused. Severus did not want to destroy the trust and friendship between him and Remus. But right now, he had to set his priorities. And nothing was more important to Severus than his book, which was somewhere in the Gryffindor CommonRoom.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
A light grey mist of light shot from Severus' wand and hit Remus directly in his scarred face. Remus fell on his back and remained still.
His skin had now taken on a grayish tone. His arms were tightly attached to his torso. Only Remus' green eyes flashed in panic.
"Please forgive me, Lupin.", whispered Severus, who was more than aware of his guilt and what he had done. Remus' eyes tracked every movement of Severus as he leaned down to him. He then gently ripped out a brown hair of Remus.
Severus slipped his hand into the inside of his cloak and pulled out a small bottle in which a dark grey liquid shimmered. Polyjuice Potion. He gently loosened the cap of the flask and let Remus' hair fall into the thick liquid. Within seconds, the potion started to bubble.
Severus placed his lips on the edge of the flask and swallowed the entire potion. The potion had a bitter taste and Severus shivered in disgust.
After a few moments, his skin started to burn terribly. Severus looked down to his hands. He gnashed his teeth as he could feel and see how his bones began to shift under the skin. The painful process was finally over after less than a minute.
He let out a sigh of relief.

"There you are!", a voice called. Severus, who was now in the appearance of Remus Lupin and was wearning his Gryffindor uniform, winced. He looked around and caught sight of Lily. He quickly sealed the lock of the classroom he had just come from with a spell. After all, Remus was still on the floor, suffering from the Full Body-Bind Curse. But he would deal with Remus later. Severus quickly leaned against the wall to make sure he was not looking like being up to something.
His heart was beating faster than ever.
Severus didn't know if it was because he was now officially walking around Hogwarts as Remus Lupin, or because Lily Evans, the love of his life, had just come running towards him.
"H-Hello.", Severus stuttered, smiling shyly.
"What in Merlin's name are you doing here?", Lily exclaimed angrily, looking up at Severus with tears in her eyes. His smile disappeared.
What should he say? Should he give Lily a hug? Was he supposed to comfort Lily? Or would it be best if he just kept his mouth shut?
"I, um, I just. . . I wanted to. . . ", stuttered Severus, wishing he could just disappear to escape this awkward moment. He had never been so uncomfortable talking to Lily, even though he wasn't even in his own skin right now.
"Never mind.", Lily interrupted him impatiently, "You won't believe what happened! There's been a mysterious accident! Blood everywhere and James-"
Lily stopped talking as she spoke out her boyfriend's name. Tears ran over her rosy cheeks.
"Professor McGonagall came into the Common Room and she said no one is allowed to leave. She then took me to the Hospital Wing where I saw James. He was covered in deep cuts and wounds that wouldn't stop bleeding. It was horrible, Remus. So horrible.", Lily sobbed.
Severus thought about how Remus would act in such a situation. Lily looked at him with teary eyes, waiting for his reaction.
"Oh.", he finally said. Severus hadn't come up with anything better.