Typically, Potter's method was two-on-one - his usual. Severus had been walking to the library alone after class as Remus had said he'd catch him up, so he was perfectly vulnerable to an ambush.

"Snape!"

Potter sounded positively jubilant.

"Yes, Potter?" Severus said tiredly.

Severus wasn't paying a huge amount of attention but Potter said something, there was a burst of white light and, all of a sudden, Severus was hit with a Stinging Jinx right in the face. His skin grew tight, swelling at an extremely fast rate and his eyes puffed up, causing him to cry out in pain. It was like having a violent allergic reaction; Severus could barely see. Instead, he peered through the slits left for his eyes, trying to discern what Potter was about to do next.

"Haha, how do you like that, Snape? This is justice - justice for what you've done."

"And what have I done?" Answered Severus, thankfully able to speak.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about, Snape."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Potter - you rarely do talk sense. I'm afraid it's all gibberish to me."

Potter made to speak again but Severus had had enough, casting Stupefy on the irritable boy. For a split second, Potter's mouth morphed into the words he'd been about to say, but then his mouth closed and he crumpled to the floor. There was a sudden rustle and Severus turned quickly, not eager to be jinxed again. You couldn't have one without the other, Severus thought, but Sirius Black already lay unconscious on the floor.

Severus looked up at Remus standing there, wand out.

"Regulus finally taught you non-verbal spells properly, then?"

"Yeah, he did," Remus said, slightly breathlessly. "Glad?"

"Immensely grateful," Severus replied, staring at Black's unconscious form.

"Your face looks a mess," Remus commented.

"Thanks, Rem. It's not as if my face being a swollen mess isn't extremely painful or anything," he replied sardonically.

"Sorry," Remus muttered. "Know how to fix it?"

"Of course."

He should've expected someone to attack from behind; that was the premise of an ambush, but Severus hadn't really considered any Hogwarts students as strong opponents. At that moment, Professor Flitwick turned the corner and assessed the situation.

"I expect there is a reason for this, Mr Snape," he said evenly, eyeing Severus' bulging face with both caution and concern.

Severus and Remus were, to his knowledge, fairly quiet pupils and Potter and Black, he knew for a fact, were most decidedly not.

"Yes, there is," Severus replied. "Potter attacked me and Remus here_"

"I stunned Black before he could hit Severus," interrupted Remus.

"Well," Flitwick said, tilting his head to the side, "I call that self-defence. Are you okay, Mr Snape?"

"I will be in a minute," Severus said, about to cast Finite Incantatem on his own face but Flitwick beat him to it.

The tiny professor waved his wand and Severus felt immediate relief as his face shrunk down to his usual size and the massive welt where he'd been struck faded.

"Thank you, Sir," he said, gratified.

As long as you're alright, Mr Snape, head back to your common room with Mr Lupin - I shall deal with these two."

They walked away, both rather relieved that Flitwick hadn't punished them.

"I wonder where Pettigrew was," Severus mused.

"I expect he was too much of a coward to take part," Remus commented.

"I'm sure he'll grow a spine at some point," Severus stated darkly.

*

Back in the common room, Severus encountered Nicholas.

"No," he said before Nicholas even said anything.

"What?" The other boy exclaimed, startled.

"Don't even think about hexing me, James Potter's already done that today."

"Merlin's Beard, can you read minds?" Questioned Edgar, who was settled in a nearby armchair. "Nicholas had this moment planned down to a tee."

"It is Wednesday," Severus countered edgily. 

"Alright, alright," Edgar said, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Don't bother with him - he's in a bad mood," advised Remus.

The other boys accepted this fact without question and moved into the corner of the room. Severus and Remus occupied Nicholas and Edgar's recently vacated chairs.

Severus steepled his fingers together; a position Remus attributed most to his friend thinking very deeply.

"What's going on in that big brain of yours, huh?" He asked.

Severus frowned.

"Why did Potter decide to attack me? What have I done to him?"

Remus thought for a moment.

"Nothing. Not this year at least. You knocked him out on the Hogwarts Express in our first year, though."

"Yes but nothing noticeably since then."

He looked up at Remus.

"What did he say? 'This is justice'?"

"I wasn't around the whole time but yes, I believe that's what he said. Isn't it a quote or something? He could've picked it up anywhere."

"Potter may not be the smartest tool in the shed but he's hardly going to go around quoting people. Someone said something to him and he translated it into Potter-speak. Someone told him 'attack Severus Snape' and he thought that it counted as justice."

Remus gave him a pitying look.

"You're reading too much into it."

"Am I?"

"Yes. Sleep on it - you'll find that it's Potter's usual rubbish in the morning."

Remus was quiet for a moment and then spoke again.

"I wonder what their punishment is."

Severus leant against the back of his chair and closed his eyes.

"I don't care but it'd better be good."

*****

A.N. James Potter gets the one up on Severus but all will be explained shortly! This chapter actually came out of nowhere, with me not expecting James and Sirius to be in it at all. Luckily, though, their presence fits in with the very loose plot I've concocted. xD

I'm starting to run out of people to dedicate chapters to but I'm dedicating this one to @Sturmtaenzerin , an excellent commenter when they remember to visit Wattpad. Thanks for all your comments in the past, present and, hopefully, future! :)

Thank you for reading and please comment!!!