Moving On

Investigating

"Ugh! I can't find anything!" Remus groaned. He wondered what could be attacking Severus. He refused to believe that his friend was going crazy. That could never happen, Severus was too strong for that. 

James came back to their table looking troubled, "What happened?" Remus asked. 

"I just overheard two Slytherins. Snape has not left his room since yesterday. Padfoots' brother has been begging him to come out of the room, but Snape won't budge. They can't even unlock the door with Alohamora."  James said, rubbing in between his eyes, Remus was shocked by how much James has displayed his care for Severus. He appeared to be extremely bothered by this, well, more than Remus expected him to be. 

He smiled, he thinks he knows what was causing James' feelings of care, they were the same ones that plagued his mind. Remus knows that he cares for Severus as more than a friend, and he thinks James does too. Too bad, because by the time James realizes it Remus would have snatched Severus. 

"You care for him, don't you?" Remus teased. 

"Well of course I do! The idiot's probably not eating, starving himself to death. And the Slytherin dorms are in the dungeon, so he has to be freezing too!" James replied, almost naturally.   

This left Remus shocked. Did James not realize how far in it he was?

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" James asked. 

Remus shook his head, "Nothing. How do you see Severus?" 

"Well, sometimes he's harsh, but I know that he's not a bad person, and he seems to care for those around him, even if he doesn't like them much," James said, smiling slightly. 

"I hope that he and I will be friends at some point, not just strangers trying to make it work," James said, with a sad smile.

Remus smiled, hearing his friend's feelings for Severus were quite cute. James has developed a crush on Severus, even if James does not realize it himself.  

He then had an idea, a terrible idea, but an idea nonetheless. 

"What if we snuck into the Slytherin Common Room?" Remus said, turning to James. 

He had just recalled a spell Severus taught him, one that unlocks doors, and although he was not certain that it would work. He wanted to give it a try. 

James' eyes widened and his jaw dropped, "Are you the one that just said that? Who are you and what have you done to Moony?" He said. 

Remus rolled his eyes, "Listen! You have the Invisibility Cloak, and we have the Marauders map, we could easily sneak into the Slytherin Common Room! Now that I think about it, why have we never tried that before?"  

James stared at him, with his jaw still hanging. 

He grinned soon after though, "That's a brilliant idea Moony! We can force Snape out of his room when we get there!" 

Remus smiled, "Great, we'll go there after dinner." 

^_^^_^^_^

"You want to sneak into the Slytherin Common Room! No way!" Padfoot said in wonder. 

James nodded, feeling very proud. 

"Moony, you have to let me join you, please," Padfoot begged for the thousandth time.  

"Fine," Moony agreed, "But you don't do anything." 

Padfoot nodded his head like an obedient puppy, grinning widely. 

^_^^_^^_^

"Prongs, you just stepped on my foot!" Sirius whispered. 

"No I didn't," admonished James and Remus had to hold himself back from hitting them at the back of their heads, he resorted to hushing them instead. 

They had been hunting down the room in which Severus locked himself up for a solid fifteen minutes while squeezed under the Invisibility Cloak and Remus was ready to give up for the night. When as if sent by the Universe, Regulus Black briskly walked up to the last room in the hallway, Remus quickly forced the blubbering idiots behind him to pursue the young Black. 

They followed him and stopped in hearing range. 

"Severus! Open the door, please! I'm worried about you, don't you understand that!" Regulus Black vehemently said as he banged at the door. The boy received no answer and continued his efforts for a good ten minutes before he gave up. 

Sirius was getting agitated the more his brother asked Severus to come out. At his brother and Severus, so Remus was relieved when the youngest Black left. 

He quickly whipped out his wand and uttered the counter charm that Severus taught him and watched with bated breath for the door to open. He sighed out of relief when the door swung open with a click of the lock. 

He led the way into the room, followed by James and then Sirius. They removed the cloak. 

They quietly made it through the room to find Severus curled up on his bed in a fetal position. He was dressed in a baby blue t-shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants, his hair was stuck to his face as it was let down. His skin was paler than usual and he was shivering and twitching as if having a terrible nightmare.

After assuring that the door behind him was closed, Remus stretched out his hand and softly shook Severus, "Severus, wake up." 

Severus jerked up and stared at Remus wide-eyed for a moment, his breathing shallow and rapid. 

"Hey, it's me, Remus. You're okay Severus. You're awake." 

Severus suddenly rushed to him and fervently touched his face, "Oh Remus. You're okay, you're alive. I had this terrible nightmare you see, and you died, McGonagall died, Regulus died. Even Potter and Black died. They're okay too right?" 

"Yeah, Severus, we're all okay. Don't worry about us, James and Sirius are here with me." Remus comforted. He had never seen Severus this shaken before, even when the Marauders bullied him, he only ever truly showed fear when they hung him upside down and when Remus almost killed him as a werewolf. 

"They are?" Severus said, glancing up at him and then quickly searching the room for the two boys. When he saw James he hastily rushed to him -- almost like a mad man. 

"Potter! Black! You're both alive, you are alive, right?" He said, as if in a daze, while touching both James and Sirius' cheeks. 

"Tell me you're alive you buffoons,"  Severus said, urgently. 

"We're alive, Snape," James said on behalf of Sirius and himself.

"That's good, that's good," Severus said, drowsily. 

Severus turned around and started walking toward Remus before suddenly falling back, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. 

"Severus!' Remus yelled, whilst James yelled, "Snape," simultaneously.

James and Sirius moved in unison on both sides of Severus and caught him before he hit the ground. 

Author's Note:  Hey guys, so I had been busy with my exams for the past three weeks so I was too preoccupied to write. Our holidays have finally begun so maybe I'll be able to update this story more often(no promises though as I have a terrible habit of getting sidetracked from my original schedule).  I hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to vote, comment(I read all of them by the way, so keep them coming) and stay safe. Also, I wrote this late.