Turning Time (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

The List, pt. 2

Harry couldn’t tell whether or not Lily believed Severus had given up the Dark Arts. Harry told her he’d left them on the second day of school, and everyone had seen him harassed by his former friends. Even Regulus, whom Severus had mentored in the Dark Arts, helped with the pranks (if they could be counted as such).

Over the first weeks of school, Severus ate less, bathed less, and had to be reminded about homework. Twice a week, eventually out of habit, Harry and Raven had a meeting with Severus. They asked about each prank, they asked what he’d eaten, they asked if things were getting worse or better. At first, Severus refused to let them baby him, but as the month progressed, he was too tired to object.

The Marauders left him alone, partly because their job had been taken over, but mostly because they were in the final stages of making the Marauder’s Map. Harry spoke to James about the chance that his identity could be revealed when they were finished with the Map. The Map wasn’t fooled by Polyjuice Potion or Animagi, so it wouldn’t be fooled by the simple disguise charms Harry used. 

James was reluctant to help Harry, but after a few days’ tampering he changed “Harry Potter” to “Jacob Walker.” 

On the last week of September, Remus stayed up with Raven and Harry to wait for Severus to come back to the Gryffindor Tower. Raven and Remus caught up with each other about their summers, discussed the two classes they were chose to take: Divination and Care of Magical Creatures. Harry didn’t interrupt, since listening eased his nerves. He noticed they talked quietly, leaning close to each other, even though no one would be able to hear from upstairs. 

Raven, imitating Trelawney, was giving Remus a parody palm reading when Severus came in through the Portrait Hole. His hair was slicked back with sweat, his eyes were red-rimmed, and he looked as though he could collapse at any second. 

Harry leapt up and helped Severus to the couch before his legs had the chance to give out.

“What did they do?” Raven asked, a hand on Severus’ shoulder. 

His eyes fluttered open. “The Cruciatus Curse.” 

Remus looked to Harry to explain, then noticed Raven’s hand on Severus’ shoulder. 

Harry took a moment to get over his shock. “The Cruciatus Curse is one of three Unforgivable Curses. Remember what happened to Violetta? The Curse tortures whoever is subjected to it. I know someone—someone, er, on the Quidditch team, they’ve graduated now, whose parents were put under it. The torture drove them insane. They’re in St. Mungo’s now, but they won’t ever recover. Severus, how long did they do this to you?” 

Severus’ voice was dull, like he was hypnotized. “An hour.”

Harry’s breath caught in his throat. The only way Severus could’ve held onto his sanity for that amount of time would’ve been to use Occlumency. “Did they do anything else?” 

Severus hesitated, or had to gather his thoughts—it was hard to tell. His eyes were still on the lifeless fireplace. “No.” 

Raven rubbed Severus’ back, trying to get him to relax. She had the opposite effect—his body tensed and he squeezed his eyes shut. 

Raven took her hand away, confused. She must’ve wondered why he didn’t want to be touched. “Are you sure they didn’t do anything else? You can tell us.” 

Severus nodded. He opened his eyes again and finally regarded them. “They gave me the choice to end it.”

“To kill you?” 

“No, no, the pranks. One final show, mostly for the upperclassmen.” Some emotion was coming through his voice. He continued with a venomous, spiteful tone, “There were three rules for them, one for me. They told everyone there that I couldn’t end up dead, I couldn’t end up in Mungo’s, or in the Hospital Wing. The one rule for me was that I couldn’t get any of them in trouble.”