The Prank
Part I
Title: Prod the Knot
Word Count: 897
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Summary: (Missing Moment as outlined in Prisoner of Azkaban) Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me toward the Whomping Willow to Transform. Sirius thought it would be-er-amusing to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick and he’d be able to get in after me.
Written for the Beware the Ides of March challenge at fandomfusion
“Five galleons says he’s-”
The great oak doors cracked open and a draft of cool spring air fluttered in, interrupting Sirius’s conversation with James in the two-way mirror mid-wager. He stuffed the mirror into his pocket just as Pomfrey bustled inside. There was no time for Sirius to pull himself further into the little room off the entrance hall to avoid notice, so he casually maintained his position in its doorway.
“Good evening, ma’am,” he said as the nurse’s eye fell upon him.
“Good evening, Mr. Black,” she replied breathily, having just marched up the sloping lawns and the castle’s stone steps. “Ready for your detention?”
“Five minutes?” he bartered, raising his eyebrows hopefully. “I’ll be right up,” he hastened to add.
Pomfrey dipped her head to peer gently-but-sternly at him. “I’ll see you upstairs in five minutes then.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Sirius flashed a complaisant half-smile.
Pomfrey whisked past and began her ascent up the staircase, her footsteps echoing in the cavernous hall. When she reached the second landing, Sirius slipped his hand to his pocket, retrieved his mirror, and turned his back to the entry to finish his conversation with James.
James’s hazel eyes peered out of the glass, blinking.
Sirius dropped his voice to a murmur. “Pomfrey. Heading back upstairs. She must've just escorted Moony to the Willow. I told her I’d be right up.”
James nodded. Below the familiar thatch of black hair, his expression communicated lots of things which his voice didn’t, like ‘yeah, let’s get this over with’ and ‘all right, see you in a bit’ and maybe even ‘wish I had detention with Pomfers.’
“I’d better go,” sighed Sirius.
James’s mouth opened to reply just as Sirius heard the great oak doors creak open again. A breeze blew in, making the torch flames flicker in their brackets. Sirius’s head whipped around. “What the Snidget?” Who could it be this time? He stuffed the mirror back into his pocket.
The cloaked, insect-like figure of Severus Snape slipped surreptitiously through the gap. Upon catching sight of Sirius, his posture went rigid.
“What the hell were you doing outside, Snivellus?” Sirius’s eyes narrowed.
Snape’s face soured and his lip curled, but he lingered close to the door, as if calculating an escape.
“I went out for a little walk,” he mocked, eyes glittering dangerously from between shrouds of stringy black hair. “Or is Lupin the only one allowed to rove the grounds at this hour?”
Lupin? Had he seen-?
“At the full moon,” Snape purred.
“I warned you to stop lurking around after us, you greasy little Pogrebin!” Sirius spat. At once, he thrust a hand into his pocket, grasped the handle of his wand, and stepped forward. Snape’s own hand darted into his robes.
Suddenly, the clear, sharp voice of Madam Pomfrey rang out from the upper stairwell, startling the two boys to jump in retreat: “You two had better not be at it again, or I’ll have you both in detention! I will not tolerate DUELING!” She focused on the last word as if it were a sin.
Sirius thrust his nearly drawn wand back into his pocket. The matron loomed over the balustrade, cheeks sanguine.
“Um…” Sirius gave a shaky laugh. “Just practicing a little Defence, ma’am.” He forced a smile.
“Just defending myself against Black!” spluttered Snape simultaneously. “He nearly-”
“A likely story!" Madam Pomfrey’s cap tassel swung from back to front in agitation. “And it’s time for you to start your detention, Mr. Black,” she added firmly.
Normally, she showed the Gryffindor boys extra kindness for being friends to Remus, but on full moon nights, the increase in responsibilities seemed to tithe her patience.
“Yes, ma’am.” Sirius cast a fettered look at Madam Pomfrey, then a fiercely wary glance at Snape, who had already begun to hunker back into the shadows. Heavily, Sirius turned to go.
“Where does the hole under the Willow go?” Severus whispered after him, like a sting.
Sirius’s hackles rose like a dog facing an intruder. ‘Where does the hole under the Willow go?’ So the sneaky git had seen Remus with Pomfrey, then? Insides bared teeth. Sirius turned to regard Snape, whose eyes flickered with triumph, and Sirius was left without a doubt that he’d seen the two of them together.
“You wait, Black. I will find out. You-just-wait.” The greasy cur seemed nearly breathless with excitement.
Sirius’s veins pulsated. The two exchanged a loathsome glare while Madam Pomfrey stood waiting on the landing above. He’d been dogging them for months… trying to find them out. Perhaps it was time he got what he deserved?
Sirius lowered his voice. “Why don’t you go find a long stick, prod the knot on the trunk, and see for yourself-unless you’re too much of a coward, Snivelly.”
Severus stood stock still, the impact of the riddle sinking in. A smirk flickered across Sirius’s face.
Never in a million years would that little scab have been sorted Gryffindor. Imagine if even a trace of Moony’s howls reached his ears…
The thought drained away some of Sirius’s molten anger as he wheeled around and strode up the stairs. Glancing back from the first landing, he saw Snape deep in thought.
“You too, Mr. Snape,” Madam Pomfrey ushered impatiently. “Be gone with you now!” She shooed him off. “It’s time to report to your common room.”
-*-*-*-
Go to Part II
Attribution: Snape’s line “You-wait” is lifted right out of the scene in Snape’s Worst Memory/OotP. He seems hell-bent on revenge against these boys, no matter the week or year (or decade), so I used it here. And I owe the concept of Sirius's hackles to the incomparablehfleming8 . She produced it during a long-ago discussion of this scene with me.