[HP][SBSS]Somewhere In Times

Although it was the beginning of winter and it was in the countryside, the cold wind pierced the skin like cold needles through the gaps in the clothes, but Sirius Black was still sweating profusely after setting up the tent.At the end of the first day, they had walked through most of the forest, but they didn't find any traces. When it got dark, Sirius suggested to rest for one night and continue searching tomorrow.

"I'm running around, it's easy for you to sit here by yourself." Sirius sat down next to Snape, picked up the water bottle in front of him, and drank most of it in one gulp.

"If you don't move your muscles, Black, you're pretty much useless," Snape said, eyes fixed on a book lying on his lap.

"Then I'll take it as if you're thanking me." Sirius said, and then sneezed violently, his sweaty body was blown away by the wind, and he felt a chill.

"Incendio." Snape waved his wand and lit a pile of dead branches in front of the two of them. A cluster of flames started to blaze after a moment's jump, and the warm breath rushed to his face, taking away the sweat and coldness from Sirius' body.

"Hey, thanks," Sirius said to Snape, but the latter still didn't look at him, the firelight shone on his face, and Sirius saw the same slender eyelashes as in the graduation photo, now dyed golden yellow , and fanned from time to time.

Sirius suddenly felt extremely thirsty, grabbed the water bottle and drank again, until he drank all the water in the water bottle. "Is there anything to eat?" he asked, screwing on the kettle.

"In the package."

Sirius opened the package that had been cast with the Internal Expansion Charm, and rummaged through it carefully.

"What have you brought?" Sirius pulled away the inner expansion charmed package.

"bread."

"There's more, right?" Sirius pulled out a pocket and opened it, which contained several bags of dry bread that Snape usually had at home.

Snape turned his attention away from the book and looked at Sirius' face, who sensed his gaze and looked up - Sirius found Snape's expression strange, his lips parted, as if preparing to say something.However, Sirius waited for a long time, but did not see him speak.

"What do you want to say?" He stopped rummaging.

"It's nothing." Snape said quickly, he knew that Sirius Black couldn't live until tomorrow morning on bread alone, but he didn't ask himself what other food he had, but directly said what he was going to answer. "Only bread." He paused and said again.

"How could it be possible to only eat bread when traveling with Sirius Black?" Animagus smiled, and instantly turned into a black hound, turned around and ran into the jungle.A moment later he came back with two dead hares in his mouth.

The black dog tossed the two rabbits onto the dry grass in front of Snape, howled twice and returned to human form. "How is it?" he asked, looking smugly at Snape, who was still clutching his book.

"Compared to eating dog meat, it's not good enough," Snape commented, glancing at the rabbit.

Sirius wasn't angry - it wasn't the first time he had noticed this change in himself - he seemed to have lost his former ability to "pay back double for every nasty word Snape said", in fact, he found himself facing His mind went blank at Snape's habitual verbal attacks.In his memory, whenever he heard Snape say something full of sarcasm in the past, he could always find the loophole in the words at the first time, and then counterattack.Back then James was full of respect for his skill and encouraged Sirius to write a book in the future called "How to Conquer Severus Snape Verbally". He remembered that he was not satisfied with the title of the book at the time. Complete victory over Severus Snape" would be more appropriate.

Right now, though, he wasn't trying to fight back, and he couldn't even think of a loophole in Snape's taunt.He just quietly peeled off the rabbit's skin. In autumn, the rabbit's skin grew new fluff, which took him a lot of effort. Several times he almost forgot that he was now in human form and tried to chew with his teeth.Finally, he successfully removed the fur and guts of the two rabbits, skewered them on the branches and roasted them.

The firewood made a crackling sound. In the quiet night of the jungle, this cluster of bonfires was like a lotus flower blooming in the dark, and everything around it fell into a deeper black. Snape glanced at the people around him out of the corner of his eye - Sirius Black's face was illuminated by the flames, as if -

"Do you remember, being in Hogsmeade in fifth year?" Sirius' voice drifted into his ears at this moment, saying exactly what he was thinking, Snape's heart was shocked, but Pretending not to hear, still looking down at the book.

"That day, you went to the bathroom, and I locked the door outside," Sirius said to himself, "The door of the Pig's Head Bar cannot be opened with Alohomora, no one was there that night, unless a miracle happens, otherwise you can only You can't come out until the next morning."

Snape remembered the scene at that time. In the fifth grade, he was emaciated due to excessive malnutrition, and it was winter, and the night was extremely cold. He yelled a few times, but no one answered outside, so he stopped talking and found a The most energy-saving posture is to curl up in a corner.He knew Sirius Black did it, and he could even imagine how the boy whose soul was as proud as his was now following the school procession back with a happy face.

However, what he didn't expect was that about two hours later, the door opened, and Snape, who had been sitting in the dark for a long time, couldn't get used to the fluorescent light of Lumos outside the door for a while, he squinted his eyes, and vaguely saw a person standing there—— He didn't need to see his face clearly to know that it was Sirius Black who had returned.

Another thing that Snape didn't expect was that the reason why Sirius Black would come back was not as he said, "I suddenly remembered it while I was walking" and "I was afraid of being locked up". In fact, after successfully displaying his prank talents, Sirius He was absent-minded all the way back to school, ignoring James' jokes, thinking about Snape, spending the long night in that dank place, almost struggling to move forward, and finally seeing the castle He ran back in a hurry.

The Pig's Head Bar was closed, and he was so impatient that he forgot to use his wand and smashed open the window with his fist, resulting in a bloody gash on his arm.They walked towards the school without saying a word, not realizing that the curfew was past when they almost arrived.They spent the same night around a campfire in the woods outside the school.

"Were you scared?" Sirius asked.

Snape didn't answer.

"Actually, I was very uneasy when I was on the road." After twenty years, Sirius Black finally expressed his true feelings back then. "I think my prank may have gone too far."

"I'm afraid it's not a prank," Snape said flatly. "I know you want me to die in it."

"You think so?!" Sirius was startled, and almost threw the half-cooked rabbit on the ground. "I never thought of letting you die...except for that time, when I learned you killed Dumbledore." He added, "And I'm not sure if I really wanted you dead that time, although at the Vada Kedavra is on my lips."

After a whole week, Snape had gotten used to his forgetting, he couldn't remember anything about Sirius Black since 1993, let alone the memory of seeing Sirius Black the night Dumbledore died, but He remembered the bonfire in fifth grade, and Sirius Black by the bonfire.In fact, there have been a few times when the two of them have been alone because of Sirius Black's pranks, such as the detention in the second grade.At this time, he would feel that he was in absolute danger—Sirius Black, who dared to hurt himself openly in public, was even more likely to intensify when he was alone.But he didn't do that, just like they did in the brig in second grade.This has always been a mystery to Snape: No matter how far apart they are, Sirius Black can always find him and play tricks on him, but when they are really alone, the teenager who usually makes his own troubles stop A malicious addition.

It was like the fifth grade. By the campfire, Sirius Black stared blankly at the flames. His face, which had begun to show maturity, was illuminated by the sharp edges and corners. He didn't say a word that night, and he was surprisingly quiet.

Except for a short, boring conversation—

"Snape, I think you're dying of cold."

"I'm not cold."

"Oh," Sirius put his hands on the buttons of his coat, "then—I won't lend you your coat, shall I?" A sly smile suddenly appeared on his face, as if he was waiting for the trembling Snape to beg him to Lend him your coat.

"No need," Snape said.

"Forget it, you can help me put it on." Sirius took off his coat.

"Help you?" Snape didn't answer, the cold wind blowing through his poor-quality cotton coat.

"Well, I'm too hot." Sirius raised one hand in mid-air, eyes on the campfire. "Don't get me wrong, I will never pity you."

Snape took the coat, the warmth spell wasn't strong enough to withstand the winter night, his hands were already shaking slightly.

"The night you killed Dumbledore, I nearly lost my mind." Sirius' words interrupted Snape's memory. Although he didn't know what happened to him, he suddenly wanted to tell Snape what he had thought.Since James passed away, he has seldom been able to speak his heart to others calmly, in detail, without any pride or pretense like now. "I saw you standing in front of the castle, all you wanted was to rush to you, the voice of Avada Kedavra echoed in my mind, as if I would read it out at any time, my mood was very complicated at that time." Sirius tilted his head , "Looking back now, maybe at that time, when I was so angry and desperate, I still couldn't fully believe that you really betrayed us."

A sentence seemed as light as a cicada's wings fluttering and a feather falling to the ground, but this understatement resounded like thunder in the hearts of the two agents who were still sitting upright.

He only knew Sirius Black's contempt and hatred, but he didn't know that the other party could still maintain trust and persistence in him despite such extreme negative emotions towards him.

"It's baked!" Sirius exclaimed suddenly, "What a success!" He took a bite. "Just right," Sirius said, holding the rabbit up in front of Snape.

Snape glanced at the rabbit with the marks of Sirius' teeth. "I don't eat, I have canine disease," he said, still staring at the book.

"Stop pretending," Sirius said. "I know you haven't read it all the time, and you haven't turned a page for so long."

Snape jerked his head up and looked at Sirius, his cheeks burning inexplicably at being found reminiscing about his past.He closed the book angrily, and took the tempting looking rabbit.

Then, he had to admit, the taste was much better than bread.

Sirius Black ate rabbit meat so fast that Snape even suspected that he still had hound's teeth and superior biting ability in human form.Sirius had bitten off the last bone before he could eat half of it, and fell face up on the grass next to Snape.

Just like that "Bonfire Night" in fifth grade, Sirius lay on the grass, looked at Snape sitting beside him, and felt everything was very familiar.He turned his face to look at the night sky. There were no factories or tall buildings here. The sky was as clean as if it had just been washed by water, just like the one on top of Hogwarts.

He still read some of them.

"Do you know which star Sirius is?" he asked, his voice low.

"Yes." Snape replied simply.

"I don't believe it!" Sirius said with a smile, "Show me."

Snape frowned and looked at Sirius. Up to now, he felt that the Sirius in front of him was too different from the one he saw last time, which made him uncomfortable, so Snape decided to ignore it.

"Forget it, let me tell you." Sirius stood up, raised his head, put on a compassionate look, then took two steps forward, and sat down next to Snape, they were very close, Sirius' coat Already touched Snape's arm.

"Look." Sirius raised a finger to the night sky, and his voice became extremely gentle for a moment. "It's right there."

Snape raised his head and looked towards the sky. Following the direction of Sirius' finger, he saw the strangely bright star. Snape remembered that he had read the following in a book: Sirius is a star in the constellation Canis Major, about 8.6 light-years away from Earth.The name is derived from the Greek, meaning "hot", and it is the brightest star that can be observed from the earth so far.

The brightest one.

The sparks from the bonfire were like fireflies, and the jungle was so quiet that there was no wind. Snape turned his face slightly and looked at Sirius who was pointing to Sirius for him. They were too close, as if he could make Sirius' left Face touches his nose.It has always been like this, Sirius is like Sirius, no matter where it appears, there is a dazzling light, so dazzling that I dare not look directly at it.He was within reach now, and it made Snape want to move away.

Yet he did not do so.

The handsome face suddenly turned around and looked straight into his eyes. "are you cold?"

"Not cold." Snape replied quickly.

"By the way, you never returned my coat," Sirius said.

"Go back and pay you back," Snape said, looking away as memories of fifth grade flooded his mind again.

"It seems that the coat is very warm." Sirius smiled, picked up two leaves on the ground, turned his body at an angle, and let the two leaves cast a long and narrow shadow on the ground.

"Oh! Sirius, I'm so cold!" Sirius screeched, shaking a leaf in his hand.

"I'll lend you the coat if you ask me," Sirius said in his usual voice, shaking another leaf.

Snape was angrily aware that Sirius Black was using the shadow of two leaves to put on a ridiculously stupid play, adapted from that boring conversation in fifth grade.Except, Snape thought, none of the conversation was true, and Sirius didn't sound like his own at all.

"Please, please Sirius, you're so nice, lend me your coat!" Sirius shrieked, shaking the leaf that represented Snape.

"Then tell me, what's good about me?" said the leaf representing Sirius.

"You're handsome and kind, brave and smart!" said the high-pitched voice, and Snape wanted to rush forward to end the drama.

"Well, since you said so, I'll lend it to you kindly." The performance finally ended, and Sirius laughed, throwing the two leaves on the ground casually.

"It wasn't like that," Snape said through gritted teeth. "You asked me to put your coat on for you."

"Really?" Sirius turned around, "Obviously you begged me?" He intended to tease Snape, but couldn't help the smile on his face.

"No, I remember it very clearly."

As soon as the words fell, both of them fell silent. The smile on Sirius' face faded away. The word "remember" created a strange atmosphere between the two of them, reminding them inevitably of Snape's memory loss.

Snape put the unfinished rabbit on the grass. "I've had enough," he said, standing up and checking the protective charms around the tent. "Since you don't want to drink compound decoction all the time, you'd better carry it with you, just in case." After finishing speaking, he walked into the tent.

Sirius sat there in a daze, Snape's temperature still beside him.After a while, he stood up, extinguished the bonfire, and slipped into the tent.