The Pharaoh's Pact

Snape began to operate. He first tended to the marks on the caretaker's face as best he could before applying himself to reciting a long incantation, forming complicated symbols with the tip of his wand that Sirius tried to memorize before finally giving up. Too bad he would never be a great wizard. He would settle for being a good friend.

Sirius turned his back on the Slytherin to focus on Remus. He hadn't moved an inch since his arrival and it was hard to see if he had regained some color due to the lack of lighting. Only a deep scratch on his right cheek was visible. Probably the work of Azazel. Fucking cat.

Concerned, Sirius gently picked Remus up in his arms before lifting him off the ground and bringing him back against his chest. Remus was so light it was scary. It had taken him years to get to a stable weight and in just two months he must have lost ten pounds. Pomfrey had already warned him that if he got too skinny, he might not be able to take certain treatments, but even so, Remus was getting thinner day after day. The way his cheekbones were beginning to peek out from under his pale skin reminded him of the sculptures of the deceased that adorned the Black family tombs. With his hollow cheeks and parted lips, Remus looked dead already.

A metallic sound resounded and Sirius looked up, gently lowering Remus back to the floor, searching for Azazel through the darkness. The black cat had poked his head out from behind the shield, back arched, ready to pounce but changed his mind when Sirius took a step in his direction. Azazel was known to seek out his master or teachers by meowing crazily whenever a student broke the rules. Sirius doubted he could alert anyone in the middle of the night, but after what they'd just put Filch through, Azazel was quite capable of camping outside the Headmaster's office until the wee hours of the morning and then guiding him back to them, pointing in their direction like a hound. Besides, whatever he did, that was surely what would happen. Even if Filch had lost his memory, the horrible creature that acted as his cat would continue to harass them and the teachers would start to suspect something...

"Tell me, do memory alteration spells work on animals?"

Snape raised an eyebrow at his question, his deep black eyes glaring at him curiously. "Why? It's just a cat."

"What do you mean it's just a cat? Don't you know what Azazel is capable of?"

Snape raised his shoulders in a small, stiff shrug, his neck brace impeding his movements, clearly unconcerned. "I've heard that sometimes he follows the students to get the caretaker's attention."

"Are you kidding? He doesn't just follow them. He stalks them! He hunts them down screaming like hell until the entire school staff notices. And they all know that when a student is followed by Azazel it's because they screwed up! This cat is like a cursed mark. Once it sticks to you, it's over. It's a first-class snitch!"

Snape blinked in disbelief. "I never had a problem with him."

Sirius had the urge to tell him that it was because he was also a first-class snitch but barely restrained himself.

"Well, now you have one. And a big one at that. So I'll ask you again, does your thing work with animals?"

Snape looked up at the armor the cat was hiding behind, seeming to think before wincing nervously. "Well, it should work, yes. I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"Give me my wand," Sirius said with an outstretched hand, "I'll bring it to you."

"You need a wand to handle a cat?" asked Snape in a disbelieving tone.

"I need a wand to manage this cat," replied Sirius, "In the meantime, I'm entrusting Remus to you. Take care of him."

Never in his life had he thought he'd ever say that to Snape, let alone drop Remus in his lap. But then again, he hadn't imagined having to catch the caretaker's cat in the middle of the night while hints of alcohol still rattled his skull either. His life was surprising. Never in a good way, unfortunately.

He walked slowly toward Azazel's hideout. Snape lit up the hallway, but it was hard to make out the cat's coat in the darkness. He seemed to have cowered behind the shield.

"Azazel. Come here... Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

It was a lie. Azazel seemed to know it too as he answered with a menacing growl and Sirius finally caught a glimpse of his large yellow eyes glowing between the metal leggings of the armor. The animal gave him a murderous look and raised his tail, ready to defend himself. Sirius had to catch him or hit him with a Stunning Spell before he pounced. It was all about speed.

"Don't even think about escaping. It's over!"

Sirius rushed at Azazel but the latter dodged him and attacked him back, biting his arm. Bloody cat. It wasn't like Sirius had anything else to do tonight! Remus was waiting in Snape's arms to be taken back to the infirmary, a far too bizarre situation that he had to end immediately!

Azazel wouldn't cooperate? Too bad for him!

"'Ah, you don't want to go see Snivelus, eh?", hissed Sirius through his teeth, "Fine! I'll take care of you myself! OBLIVIATE! "

A green light shot out of his wand and lit up the entire hallway for a brief moment before disappearing and Sirius wondered if he had succeeded. Behind the knight's armor, Azazel stood motionless, his wide eyes staring into space.

"Black, what have you done?" shouted Snape, clearly upset, "I told you to bring him to me!"

"I saved us some time," Sirius grumbled back, "I wasn't going to lose an arm trying to catch a fucking cat. We don't have time for that."

"But this is not a spell to be taken lightly! It goes straight to people's brains! You can kill them if you cast it wrong!"

Snape's remark drew a grimace from Sirius and he hurriedly leaned over to the animal to check on it. To his surprise, Azazel allowed himself to be approached and even hugged. His wide, astonished eyes looked into Sirius' face before looking around, still looking haggard. A strange buzzing sound made his body tremble. Yet he seemed calm.

"Is he alive?" asked Snape.

"He's alive, yes. Weird but alive. He's making a funny noise."

"Show me."

Sirius pulled Azazel close to Snape and the two listened to the animal.

"He's purring," Snape finally said in a jaded voice.

"He's purring? Oh, yes... He's purring, yes."

Well, now that Snape said it, it seemed obvious, but never would Sirius have believed that Azazel was capable of doing that. Purring. That was what normal cats did. Not underworld creatures like Azazel. Snape also seemed to have his doubts as he continued to watch the animal, waiting for some further reaction from him. Yet the cat merely squirmed in Sirius's arms, detailing the surroundings as if it were the first time in its life it had seen the corridors of the castle.

"Well," Snape resumed, "I don't know what you did to him exactly, but it looks like he's fine."

"Do you think I exorcised a demon he had inside him?"

"If so, you did a great job. From what you've told me if this cat is possessed, it's by Satan himself."

Azazel stirred a little more, showing his desire to be put down on the ground, and after a hesitation, Sirius released him. The animal landed on the cobblestones in an elegant leap. Ignoring Flich, who lay comatose a few feet away, he continued to observe the hallway with his big yellow eyes, moving away from the teenagers to sniff the feet of a statue. Sirius watched him in silence before blurting out to Snape:

"We agree that a cat can't act, right?"

"I don't think so," Snape replied thoughtfully, "He really seems to have changed. And if he's smart enough to fool us, well, I guess he deserves to win."

The two continued to stare at Azazel. After carefully inspecting the walls, the cat moved toward the grand staircase, his black hair melting into the darkness until he completely disappeared.

"He's gone now," Sirius said, still nervous that Azazel might be fooling them.

Snape sighed. "Anyway, we can't take him back with us to the infirmary. That would arouse suspicion. We'll have to trust you on this one."

And there it was, falling back on him, as always. All because he'd gotten mad at a cat... But hey, as much as it hurt him to admit it, Snape was right, he had to bet on his spell succeeding.

"Yeah... Shall we say everything is fine and get on with Remus?"

Clutching Remus tightly in his chair, Snape nodded his approval.

"We say that everything is fine and we take care of Remus."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Snape had insisted on casting a warming spell on Filch to keep him from getting sick, as well as a wake-up spell, which was supposed to bring the janitor back to consciousness in an hour or two, far more time than it would take to return to the infirmary. Then, after making sure Remus was settled and not in danger of slipping out of Snape's arms, Sirius had hurriedly pushed the wheelchair to Madam Pomfrey's chambers. The nurse had better be there. There was no way they were going to leave Remus in this condition any longer. If no one answered them, it would be Sirius himself who would go and get Dumbledore by the scruff of the neck and bring him back to the infirmary.

"Go ahead, knock." He ordered Snape.

"Put your cloak back on properly first. I remind you that you're not supposed to be here."

Snape had said this in a nonchalant tone, his hand already resting on the knocker of the door that led to the nurse's quarters. Sirius pulled the cloak tighter around him before pulling the hood down over his head. Because of his large size, his feet were sticking out from under the fabric. He took a few steps back to hide his shoes in the darkness.

"It's done."

"Good. Shut up now. You don't want her to hear you."

Snape knocked several times on the door, waiting a few seconds between each new attempt, but no one opened it for them. No, it was impossible... Was the caretaker the only one there at night? Where was the nurse? Why didn't anyone answer them when they desperately needed help? He was the one who was going to end up knocking on the door, with strong kicks!

"No, but, seriously, nobody's there?"

"Stop talking, Black. You're not supposed to be here."

Snape was clearly running low on patience. Sirius didn't care.

"Yeah, well, the nurse is supposed to be there! And she's not answering!"

Seriously, after all they had been through, this was how it was going to end? Standing in front of a door like a bunch of idiots?

"If she doesn't answer in a second, I swear I'll break the door down!"

Snape rolled his eyes. "Black, what part of 'shut up' don't you understand? Stop yelling, please. If we get caught now, everything we did before will be for nothing. Besides, if she's really not here, what good would it do you to kick the door down?"

"To prove that she's not doing her fucking job! I'll find our stupid Headmaster and tell him there was no one there when Remus needed help!"

"You're really going to have to learn to control your emotions. And stop shaking your leg like that, I can see your shoe moving in the dark."

Sirius puffed out his cheeks like a kid at the Slytherin's remark. Snape's calmness annoyed him even more. He could say what he wanted, but if Madam Pomfrey didn't answer now, right now, he would go wake Dumbledore in his own bed by pulling him up by his beard.

Snape knocked again. In vain.

"No, that's it. That's the final straw!" exploded Sirius, "I'm going to go see Dumbledore!"

"Rah, just shut up!" Snape shouted back, "For the love of Merlin, God, whatever! Shut up! I'm tired of telling you that-"

"Ah! Mister Snape! Mister Lupin! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

The nurse's voice had echoed, not from the other side of the door, but from the very end of the corridor. Still dressed in her uniform, Madam Pomfrey rushed over to Snape and Remus, staring at them in turn, visibly exhausted with worry.

"I am so sorry! I had to accompany two students to St Mungo's for an appendicitis! And then there were those first years who had the terrible idea of drinking a swelling potion and ended up all fat as hot air balloons, stuck in their dorm rooms! Not to mention two students who cast animal transformation spells on each other during an argument! I had to chase two ferrets in a panic all over the Slytherin tower! I... Oh, I'm so sorry I left you alone! I should have sent someone to watch you while I was gone! I... By Merlin, what are you doing here? How is Mister Lupin? Is he conscious? I heard you talking!"

The panic in her voice brushed aside Sirius' anger like a wave. Madame Pomfrey seemed genuinely mortified by the situation. Poor woman, managing all the students in the castle couldn't have been easy. Then you only had to look at the way she held Remus' face in her hands to understand how much she liked him. She held him like a child. Like her child. Sirius didn't know if Madam Pomfrey was a mother -with her job, it seemed complicated- and sometimes he felt like she was using Remus to fill a void, caring for his friend as if he were a giant toddler. Still, he was reassured to know she was by his side...

"No. Lupin is unconscious. That was me... talking to myself…" Snape had muttered the last sentence through his teeth, obviously pissed, before taking a deep breath to try to keep his composure, "Madam Pomfrey, Lupin woke up in the middle of the night and had a paranoid attack. He took my wand and tried to convince me to go see Professor Dumbledore about an attack he had suffered earlier in the Forbidden Forest. Fortunately, he passed out before we could leave the infirmary. I called you, but when you didn't answer, I came here with him. I was afraid to leave him alone. He had trouble breathing."

Snape had resumed his usual aplomb, staring the nurse straight in the eye. He was lying well, Sirius had to admit. Even though he had pushed him to the limit just before, Snape was still covering for him. He would have to talk to James about this. With what Snape had just done, it was all the Marauders who owed him a debt of gratitude...

"I'm truly sorry for what you've been through, Mister Snape! This is all my fault! I should never have left you alone! Come, we'll take you back to the infirmary!"

With a flick of her wand, Madam Pomfrey lifted Remus into the air and then grabbed Snape's chair to push him down the corridors, Remus floating behind them. Sirius slipped in with them. Remus was put back to bed, bewitched in a variety of ways, and then infused with a large bag containing a pearly liquid that Sirius watched curiously as the nurse now tended to Snape. He would have liked to ask her a thousand questions about the care that had just been given to his friend but his unauthorized presence in the hospital wing forced his silence. He wished Snape had asked her, but the latter was too exhausted to make conversation. He just lay back down in his bed with the help of the nurse, his eyes already half closed, carried away by fatigue.

"Could you give me something to make me sleep better? I'm sore all over... My skin is still burning."

"I'll get that for you right away. A painkiller potion and some tranquilizers. I'll redo your bandages tomorrow."

Snape tried to nod before grimacing in pain from his neck brace.

"Yes. Very well."

"By the way, tomorrow, and every day after that until I give you the all-clear, you will stay here. I don't want you to run away again, Mister Snape. Do you understand me?"

"I promise you I will not run away again."

"Perfect."

Madam Pomfrey had resumed her usual strict tone, but Sirius could see how worried she was about Snape's situation. He was a mess, admittedly. He might have to apologize one day for what he had done to him. That was if he could find a way to apologize without Snape turning on him and trying to rip his head off... Damn, he really was a little brat. Anyone could have known that his shitty joke was going to end badly. Anyone but him. He really had half a brain, it was not possible...

Sighing quietly, Sirius sat down on a bed at a distance from Snape and the nurse, waiting while she finished giving Snape his last treatments before she withdrew.

"There's a bell on your nightstand. If you need anything, just shake it and it will ring directly to my room. I'll be there, okay? I'm here now."

She had repeated this countless times before leaving the infirmary, Snape not even answering her at the end, just keeping his eyes closed as he lay on his bed.

When she finally left, Sirius jumped off the mattress and approached Remus. He seemed to be doing better since Madame Pomfrey's intervention. Well, he still hadn't regained consciousness, but his expression was more peaceful. With any luck, he would wake up tomorrow and Sirius would finally be able to explain what had happened in the Forbidden Forest.

Would Remus forgive him? What if he decided he didn't want to be his friend anymore after learning about this? What would Sirius do? What would his life become?

He would have deserved it, though...

He may have succeeded in his rescue mission, but it was with a defeated look on his face that Sirius pulled a bed across the infirmary to stick it next to Remus'. He thought for a moment about keeping his invisibility cloak on him, but finally took it off, folded it, and tucked it into the elastic of his pants. He was probably going to fall asleep and it was better if Madame Pomfrey didn't see only a pair of legs spread out on a bed the next day.

"If you start moving the whole infirmary, I swear I'll get up and bite you. Like your sick friend did to me."

Sirius turned his head toward Snape. The pillows the nurse had put under his back lifted him from the bed. With all his bandages, he looked like an old pharaoh that had just been brought back to life, emerging from its sarcophagus. The image drew a smile from Sirius and he did his best to hold it back.

Then the information Snape had just given him registered in his mind.

"Wait, Remus bit you?"

"With all his teeth, yes. He was like a madman. When I reached for my wand, he grabbed my calf. Good thing I had bandages on. He could have bitten me to blood."

"I... I'm sorry. He's not normally like that. He must've been out of his mind." Sirius's voice drifted off with that last statement, unable to fathom his friend acting in such a way.

It really wasn't like Remus to be so violent. Could it be dangerous? Could the bite of a werewolf, even an untransformed one, have any effect? The question crossed Sirius' mind, but he suspected that if he mentioned it to Remus, he would immediately end the conversation. Remus had never really told them about his illness. The only reason he, James, and Peter had found out about it was because they had wanted to surprise him one night in the infirmary and had seen Madam Pomfrey take him out of the castle to the secret entrance at the foot of the Whomping Willow. Remus had received a full interrogation after that. But even though he no longer hid his symptoms or his fatigue from them, he never talked about his illness itself.

"I promise I won't make any more noise. I'm moving next to Remus."

"Are you planning to spend the night here?"

"Yes. I'll tell Madam Pomfrey that I came in early this morning because I couldn't sleep. She knows me. She'll understand."

"Hm."

There was a slight silence before Snape resumed in a low voice. "Is it possible that before I go to sleep, I might finally get to the end of this story?"

"What do you mean?"

"Who is Greyback? What happened in the forbidden forest? What is Remus suffering from?"

Sirius tensed in his bed. Granted, he'd just had a rather intense night with Snape, but even after what he'd done for them, that information was still far too sensitive...

"I can't tell you."

"Well, come on…" Snape huffed.

"No, really." Sirius replied, "All you need to know is that what happened in the forest was my fault. I... I screwed up. I screwed up a lot today... First, I made a stupid joke, and then this..."

Shit, was he really going to talk about his guilt for everything that had happened today with Snape himself?

"I don't get it." Snape resumed, "You played a stupid joke on Lupin and it terrorized him? Is that it? But this Greyback, he exists, right? Is he really a werewolf who wanted to kill Remus?"

Sirius lifted his head a little in his bed and exchanged a quiet glance with Snape. Shit, Remus had told Snape all this? James, Peter and himself had to pester Remus with questions for months and months to learn that!

What was he supposed to say now? He couldn't just give away Remus' secret!

"I... No... It's not that he doesn't exist..." Sirius began in a hesitant voice. He was trying to come up with a suitable lie but with the night he had just spent he was getting seriously tired and it was difficult for him to improvise, "It's that his father had a problem with him. You know, he works at the Ministry as a ghost hunter... He fought him but it traumatized Remus. Apparently, it was very violent. And I, like an idiot, made a joke of it... I didn't think it through, as usual...".

A new silence filled the infirmary, thicker this time. Snape stared at Sirius with his large black eyes before looking at the sheets of his bed, seeming to think about what he had just said, before simply blurting out:

"It's good that you admit that your head is hopelessly empty."

Sirius gave a mirthless laugh. "You can't imagine, there's even an echo..."

Snape clicked his tongue. "I'd like to laugh about it, but, considering the situation it's put us in, I don't even want to anymore..."

"I'm really sorry about that... And about what happened earlier, too... I mean, it wasn't fair what happened to you. You didn't deserve it..."

It was terrible, the big knot he felt in his stomach when he said all that. Sirius felt like he had swallowed a stone. Would Snape eventually understand that he was the one responsible for the accident? He doubted it. Snape was far too focused on Remus. Yet Sirius almost wanted him to guess, just so he could finally let go of everything that was on his mind.

"Are you talking about potions class or the fact that your dear friend Potter pushed me off the second-floor railing?"

Wait, what?

Sirius straightened up in his bed, his eyes wide as he stared at Snape. "What? Sorry? What did he do?"

The Slytherin sighed.

"So you didn't know that. Why do you think I have a neck brace and a corset? Because of the fire? No. It was your asshole friend who fought with me on the stairs when I was already pretty messed up. He flipped me off the railing. All because Lily was there and he couldn't stand Mulciber putting him in his place in front of her. I should point out that he was the one who attacked us first. We just wanted him to get his books out of the way. I knew it was suspicious to see him carrying books around... Honestly, I'm tempted to press charges. I almost died. I suspect the Potters must have an army of lawyers on their side, but I think I have some new support on mine."

Sirius couldn't think of anything to say to him. His eyes went blank as he tried to absorb the information Snape had just given him. Sirius could easily verify the truth by talking to James or Lily, so Snape had no interest in lying to him. Yet the situation seemed incredible to him. James couldn't be that stupid! Was that... Was that why he had acted so strangely when Sirius had come to see him?

"No, but... He... He actually did that? I... When did it happen? I am truly sorry! I'm sure he didn't do it intentionally! I-"

"I don't care about your apology," interrupted Snape, "I want it to stop. It may not have been Potter's intention, but I almost died there. Knowing the Headmaster's love for jerks like you, I suspect that even if he gets punished, it will end there. I understand, why defend students from modest backgrounds when you can protect the moneybags who give the school a good name..." He had said this with such bitterness that it took him a few seconds to collect himself, "Anyway, with what I just did for you last night, I think I now have some arguments in my favor. So, what I propose is that from now on, you and your little friends leave me alone. You don't talk to me, you don't look at me, you don't even think about me. I'll do the same and we'll keep ignoring each other until we finish our studies. No, in fact, we'll do it like that until we die. In exchange, I'll avoid giving away what happened last night and the fact that Remus Lupin is a werewolf."

Sirius felt his breath catch at his last sentence, staring at Snape with a bewildered expression. The answer seemed to satisfy the Slytherin and he chuckled to himself.

"Perfect. Thank you for confirming my suspicions. I can confirm, your head is really empty. A little advice for the future: when you lie, don't make up stories on the spot, hesitating with each of your sentences. At worst, just say it's none of my business."

"But I didn't lie!" shouted Sirius. Panic had pushed him out of bed and he was now walking towards Snape. Oh, and to think he had felt sorry for him just before! Maybe Snape really deserved what was happening to him after all! That fucking viper! "I... Oh, Snape, I swear, if you tell even one person about this, I..."

"You're not going to do anything at all." the Slytherin replied calmly. "Let me put it to you this way: you leave me alone, and I leave you alone. It's as simple as that."

Sirius paused to stare at Snape who was smirking through his teeth.

"It's still disgusting to threaten a guy who's sick," Sirius resumed, "You have no idea what he must be going through."

Snape became more serious again. "No, I have no idea what he must be going through. And I have no desire to sacrifice Lupin. I imagine that if I said so, some of the parents of the students would lobby for him to go. After what he did to me, I would agree with them. But I could see that Lupin was not in his normal state. Plus, I'm sure Dumbledore has a whole scheme in place for full moon nights..."

"He does, yes!" Sirius hurriedly stated, "Remus is in no danger, nor one to anyone else. Everything is under control!"

"Everything is under control except when you play pranks on him that cause him to set fire to the forest and then attack me in the middle of the night."

Sirius' heart sank at that remark. Bastard. He was right in the end, but it still hurt…

"It wasn't a joke. It's more complicated than that."

"Then what was it?"

"None of your business."

The corners of Snape's mouth lifted slightly.

"Surprisingly, you're a fast learner. I thought you were slow-witted... So, this deal, does it work for you?"

Sirius bit his upper lip as he tried to remain as cool as possible with Snape, refusing to get angry in front of him again. He knew that would please him far too much.

"It works for me, yes."

"Then let's shake hands. Deal."

Snape held out his bandaged hand toward him, and Sirius was overcome with the urge to crush his fingers before finally giving up. Snape could be devious but if what he told him about James was true, he had a good reason to blackmail them. Besides, from what Sirius had seen tonight, he was capable of holding his tongue when it suited him.

Anyway, it wasn't like he had much of a choice, right?

His large hand came to close over Snape's.

"Deal."