Wizards & Therapies | An OC Wizarding World Fanfic

Time

Snape took great pride as he told the story of what happened in the Shack. From the way it was framed, it seemed as though Snape had come in at the right moment as Sirius seemingly had Remus convinced that his old friend was not the murderer of Lily and James Potter. Snape who was then rendered unconscious by Harry – Eliza had to prevent herself from being proud of the young boy for disarming an adult wizard – only for Snape to awake around the time that Remus turned into a werewolf.

It was like someone threw a bucket of cold water onto her. She felt nerves go numb at the thought that the children could have gotten hurt, but more about how Remus was going to feel once he was conscious again. Eliza wanted to scream. Instead, she kept her mouth shut and balled her hands into a fist.

"I alarmed Mr. Fudge, of course," Snape continued. "Black is unconscious and locked away."

"And Mr. Black is where exactly?" Dumbledore's voice was calm and did not betray any sign of emotion. There was no sign that he was ready to defend Sirius, as though she had never told Dumbledore what happened that night.

"Locked away," Snape gave an exact description. "He lured Mr. Potter to the lake where the Dementors tried to kiss Black as well as Harry!"

"Is he alright?" Eliza asked. How had they ended up at the Black Lake? Why had they tried to kiss Harry?

"I hope that concern is for Harry and not for that traitor," Snape warned. "Or else I might even question if you aren't involved as well."

"Severus," Dumbledore warned. Then, he turned it to Eliza.

"I'd like to take some time to speak with Mr. Black. I'm sure he is well injured – don't muggles have that convention that says that every human is entitled to first-aid, yes?"

"He murdered Lily, Albus!" Snape snapped. "What more do you want? He doesn't deserve pity."

"Justice," Eliza voiced. It was calmer than she expected as she cleared her throat. "Let him one moment of dignity, Severus"

"Your friend Remus can join him as well with dignity" Snape scowled. "He's on the school grounds you know. Running around as a wolf. He forgot to take his potion. I'm sure that also breaks some not well-known wizarding convention." Each word rang in her ears.

Eliza squeezed her eyes shut. She prayed that no one was out in the woods tonight and that none of the children were hurt. It had been going so well this year. Why out of all days now?

"You are despicable, you know that, Severus?" Eliza said slowly. "You wouldn't think to listen to what Sirius had to say?"

"He nearly killed me, if you haven't forgotten. You were there and yet you still have the audacity –"

"Severus, Eliza, I think we need to think about the matter at hand," there was a glint in Dumbledore's eyes. "Would you be so kind as to make arrangements with Fudge?"

"Certainly, Professor," Snape gave Eliza a stink eye before leaving, but he held his chin up and seemed to be quite proud of himself. Eliza swore that he was skipping down the corridors. Maybe it was because he was rubbing her the wrong way, but she felt like he was holding his chin up a little bit too much and had a spring in his step. She understood it. Sirius had been one of his tormentors. When someone whom you hated had reckoning coming, anyone would be happy about it. But it reached the point where it was blinding Snape.

"Hate can paralyse minds, don't you agree?" Dumbledore started."If things get out - And you know Severus - Remus is not safe here at Hogwarts and I can't do anything."

"I know."

They walked down the corridor and past many flights of stairs until they got to where they were needed. It was relatively quiet as Dumbledore unlocked the door and allowed Eliza inside. The figure who was cowered in the darkest area of the cylinder looked up and let out a hoarse cry upon the sight of Eliza. He reached out but then noticed Dumbledore standing behind her. Sirius dropped his hand, unsure of what was about to come.