Potions and Snitches
Snape and Harry Gen Fanfiction Archive

Author's Chapter Notes:
WARNING: Tension, talk of murder.
Memory

Severus pulled away from the abused teen and kneeled in front of him, not caring in the least that he was still half naked. He reached up a hand and brushed Draco’s too long blonde tresses out of his eyes, gasping as he saw the bruising and cuts littering the Slytherin’s visage. His usually lively gray eyes were dull and sunken in, tinged with purple and green from the healing bruises from old black-eyes.

“Draco, say something, anything,” Severus pleaded in a whisper, fearing for the boy’s sanity. Where had he been, who had he been with, what had they done to him? The second Severus found out, he’d be on a mission to find them – and kill them.

Draco blinked slowly at his godfather, feeling two other sets of eyes staring at him. He gulped down the dryness in his throat, wishing he could crawl under a rock and die, away from the prying eyes. “I’m tired, Severus…” he whispered, his voice hoarse and shaky.

Severus tried to push away the lump that formed in his throat with a sudden upsurge of emotion. He stood up and steered Draco over to the bed he had vacated, pushing the teen into a sitting position. Severus sat down beside Draco and draped an arm over his shoulders, feeling extremely over-protective.

“Severus, the boy refuses to tell me where he’s been, and who he’s been with. I figured I would let you try to get him to speak before taking drastic measures. I’ll give him time to rest and get over the shock, but I will need to know at some point,” Dumbledore said as he swept his long beard over his shoulder.

Severus glared slightly at the Headmaster, instinctively pulling Draco closer to him. “Has he been checked over for injuries at all, and have they been healed? Did you take his well-being into consideration for even a second before you started interrogating him?” Severus snapped irritably.

Dumbledore frowned at his Potions Professor, feeling the waves of undulated anger flowing steadily from the man. “I checked him over myself. He has a fair bit of bruising and some minor cuts, but he was otherwise unscathed. I healed the few bruises bad enough to warrant healing before I started to try and speak with him. I am no fool, Severus. How could you ever think I would not take the safety of one of my students seriously?”

“You didn’t take the safety of one of your past students seriously, so forgive me if I feel you couldn’t give a damn either way. Draco stays here. I’ll let you know if and when he feels ready to speak with you,” Severus said shortly, his jaw set and his eyes flashing dangerously. Dumbledore had some nerve, trying to act the concerned grandfather. The old bat was using Draco just like he used everyone else.

Dumbledore frowned sadly and nodded slowly at the Potions Master before sweeping back into the bedroom and leaving through the floo, not bothering to say a word because he knew it would do him no good.

Harry shifted uncomfortably amongst the broken china and spilt tea. He pulled out his wand and cleared away the mess, trying to distract himself from the situation.

“Are you supposed to be using magic, Harry?” Remus asked. That had been at least the fifth time he’d seen the teen use magic so far. Surely the Restrictions on Underage Magic still applied; Harry was barely sixteen.

Harry blushed but nodded nonchalantly. “Snape gave me permission to use magic because of the amount of danger I’m in, as well as helping him out more quickly and easily. The Ministry isn’t any the wiser; it could just as easily be Snape performing all the magic.”

Severus had tuned Harry and Remus out and was focusing all of his attention on the broken boy cradled in the crook of his arm. He was shaking slightly and his skin was cold to the touch. “I think maybe you should get some rest for now. After you’re rested we can see about healing the rest of those bruises and cuts and try to get you eating and drinking normally again. Does that sound alright?” Severus asked the wounded Slytherin in a gentle whisper that was so unlike his usual drawl.

Draco nodded as he leaned heavily against his Head of House, his head starting to pound again as whatever Dumbledore had given him began to wear off. “Can you give me Dreamless Sleep, Severus? I won’t be able to sleep on my own...”

Severus nodded and pulled out his mother’s wand, summoning a bottle of the Sleeping potion from his potions lab. “Of course I can. Drink the whole thing. You should be out for quite a few hours; it will help you regain your strength.”

“Thank you,” Draco whispered as he knocked down the potion and allowed Snape to lay him down on the bed, pulling his mucked up old trainers off and covering him with the blankets. Draco didn’t care that Harry and Remus were still in the room as he let the blackness at the edges of his vision take him over at last.

S~S~S~S

It was quiet now. Remus had Transfigured the armchair in the living room into another bed for Harry. He’d had to convince Snape to sleep in his own bed and not right beside Draco. Now they were alone in Snape’s bedroom, the deafening silence grating on Remus’ nerves. He felt antsy, like something was going to happen. What more could happen after this long day, Remus had no idea.

Severus was sitting on his bed, completely lost in thought as he tried to push his thoughts away from what could have been done to Draco. It was warm in his small room, especially with his old classmate sitting beside him and looking worried.

Remus leaned over and laid his hand on Severus’ shoulder, bringing the man back out of his reverie in which he stared blankly at the wall ahead of him. “Hey, you’re zoning out there.”

Severus blinked a few times as he savoured the comforting feeling of somebody willingly touching him, even it was just his shoulder. “Sorry. I’m just...I’m trying not to imagine all of the horrible things Draco must have been through. Like Dumbledore, I want to know what’s happened, but I know if I try to force it out of him it’ll just make it worse. I didn’t realize how much this would affect me.”

“If you consider him to be a son to you Severus, then of course this is going to affect you greatly. When I heard what had happened to Harry, Dumbledore was forced to stun me to keep me from running straight to him. Fatherly emotions are strange to have when you’ve never technically fathered a child before, I know, but with boys like Harry and Draco, it’s easy to fall into a protective role around them. It’s ok to feel like this, just don’t let it worry you to madness.” Remus tightened the hand on Severus’ shoulder for a second before pulling it away and standing up. “You need rest as well. You’re still not fully healed and ignoring your body’s need for rest will only make your healing time longer. Get some sleep and let me worry about keeping an eye on the boys, alright?”

Severus let out a long breath and nodded reluctantly, already missing the warmth of Remus’ calloused hand on his shoulder and his warmth beside him. He had the strongest urge to reach out his hand and pull Remus back to him. Without really thinking about the consequences, he followed the urge and grabbed Remus’ hand before he could walk away. “Remus...Stay, please,” Severus whispered, hating how pathetic he sounded. He’d never allowed anyone else to see him so weak before.

Remus felt his stomach do a flip as he felt Severus’ smooth hand in his own. He’d never seen or heard the Potions Master so very vulnerable as he was now, and he couldn’t deny the man the comfort he so craved. Remus sighed as he sat back down beside Severus, surprised when the man leaned against him and how easy it was to wrap an arm around him and pull him closer. He didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything at all.

Severus closed his eyes as the tightness in his chest started to unravel slowly, gaining strength from Remus’ closeness. He would never be so bold if he hadn’t been so upset at the time, but he didn’t really care now. Even someone as strong as him had a breaking point with trying to keep it all in, and the dam had finally broken on his heart. Severus laid his head comfortably on Remus’ shoulder as he leaned against the werewolf. “I hate feeling so damn helpless...”

“Don’t we all? I can honestly say I’ve never been glad to feel helpless. Besides, you’re not helpless, you’re scared; there is a difference,” Remus said quietly as he held Severus close to him. It was strange how it didn’t feel strange to be this close to the Potions Master. He was still in shock with the entire situation.

“Yeah, I guess I am...” Severus took a few more seconds to gather his thoughts before he sat up straight again and swept his long black hair out of his face. “I’m sorry; I shouldn’t be unloading all of this onto you. The full moon is tomorrow, correct? Have you thought about if you’re going to stay here for it or not?” Severus asked, trying to turn the conversation towards Remus and away from himself.

Remus frowned slightly; he had forgotten about the full moon for five glorious minutes. He hadn’t really thought about where he was going to be spending the full moon, to be quite honest. Moony was still awfully upset about being kept in Remus’ psyche by the Wolfsbane and being deprived of his Padfoot for the last two moons. “I guess I should probably go back to Headquarters for the night. I’ll have to stay in a different room though; smelling Sirius in my old room drives me crazy with the wolf’s senses.”

Severus frowned sympathetically as he lightly placed his hand on top of Remus’. “You really miss him, don’t you?”

“I’m going to assume that is a rhetorical question, because you must obviously know the answer. It’s not just me, though; Moony misses Padfoot, as strange as that sounds. I must sound schizophrenic, talking about myself in the third person,” Remus said with a sad little chuckle. He turned Severus’ hand over and traced the smooth lines of his palm with his index finger, trying to memorize the textures and grooves he felt.

Severus smiled a genuine smile as he looked down at the scarred and worn hand gently touching his own. “No, you sound like a man who’s lost his lover in more ways than one. You’re not mad, you’re grieving.”

Remus stilled his hand as he looked at Severus, trying to get the man’s attention. When it worked, Remus took a second to think before leaning in and gently pressing his lips to Severus’. At first, Remus was sure that Severus wasn’t going to kiss him back, but after some encouragement from his lips, Severus began to return the pressure, snaking and hand up to rest on Remus’ scarred cheek.

Severus hadn’t kissed anyone in nearly twenty years; he wasn’t quite sure what he was doing. The feeling of Remus’ soft, wet lips against his made his heart race and the beginnings of arousal started in the pit of his stomach like a hot pool of molten lava. His thumb gently caressed the werewolf’s cheek as the kiss became more passionate.

Remus slid his tongue across Severus’ bottom lip, asking for entry. When he received his permission, he gently rubbed the muscle along Severus’, exploring the warm, cavernous space of the Potions Professor’s mouth. Remus felt every nerve in his body tingle as he heard a quiet, almost imperceptible moan from Severus and swallowed it hungrily with his kiss.

Severus’ head was spinning as he allowed Remus to kiss away his oxygen completely. Soon the need became too much, and he pulled away for air, though however reluctantly. His dark blue eyes met sparkling amber ones and for a few seconds, he became lost. That was when his senses caught up with his libido. Severus pulled away entirely and ran a shaking hand through his hair. “We can’t do this, Lupin...I can’t do this. I have two teenage boys in there that are depending on me to keep them safe; I can’t allow myself to become distracted.”

Remus smiled sadly at the stressed man and nodded. “I’m sorry, Severus. I shouldn’t have done it in the first place. Get some rest, you need it,” Remus said as he stood up from Severus’ bed and walked over to his own, toeing off his shoes and crawling under the covers. He had tried not to sound so disappointed, or look so put out, but he was afraid he’d failed spectacularly. He lay with his back facing Severus, unable to face the only other person he’d ever kissed besides Sirius.

Severus felt horribly guilty as he lay down in his own bed, his covers thrown over him haphazardly. Ever since the werewolf had saved his life, Severus had felt this tension with Remus. He had wanted that kiss, and he had indeed enjoyed it, but not only his fear of becoming too vulnerable, but his responsibility to keep Harry and Draco safe kept him from allowing himself what he wanted – someone to love.

“Goodnight, Remus...”

“‘Night, Severus.”

S~S~S~S

It was only three in the morning when Harry’s eyes snapped open. He could hear a soft whimper coming from somewhere to his left and it took his sleep laced mind a few minutes to realize it must be Draco. He sat up slowly and slipped his glasses back on, turning towards the dozing Slytherin. Under the faint chink of light shining through the living room window, Draco’s pale face was illuminated like the face of a stone angel. His blonde hair still managed to shine even in its wasted state, and the bruises and cuts littering his face were almost invisible.

Another soft whimper, but this time Draco rolled over, his scrunched up face fully visible to Harry now. He looked to be in pain, or maybe that was fear; Harry didn’t know. He’d never seen the expression on Malfoy’s face before; he didn’t know what pain or fear looked like on Draco.

“Mum...Please...Don’t hurt her...Please, Aunt Bella...Take me instead...”

Harry threw his covers off and hissed as his feet met the cold wooden floor. He carefully walked over to Draco’s bed and laid a hand on the Slytherin’s shoulder shaking him gently. “Draco, wake up. It’s just a dream...” Harry frowned even as he spoke those words. Snape had given the teen Dreamless Sleep, how on earth was he having a dream? Something boded ill, and it gave him the strong urge to get Snape or Remus, or both. Harry quickly made his way over to the bedroom door, giving it a sharp knock before opening it a crack. The room was dark except for the dying embers of the fire, and the two men were huddled up under their covers on their separate beds.

“Remus, Professor?” Harry called quietly, afraid to be hexed if he scared them awake.

Remus sat up and blinked the sleep from his eyes, seeing Harry’s face poking through the cracked door. “Harry? Are you alright?”

Severus stirred as he heard Remus’ deep voice sound through the darkness. He pulled his wand out from under his pillow as he sat up, the blanket falling down his bare chest. “What’s going on?”

Harry moved all the way into the room, closing the door carefully behind him. “Draco’s talking and moaning in his sleep. It sounds like he’s having a nightmare, but he took Dreamless Sleep before he went to bed. I don’t get how that’s possible,” Harry explained in a rough whisper.

Severus and Remus exchanged an identical look of horrified realization. “He must have a Memory curse on him,” Severus said as he extracted himself from his bed and pulled his dressing gown over the sleep shorts he was wearing.

“Memory curse?” Harry asked, having not heard of such a thing before. Five years at Hogwarts and he was still astounded by the seemingly endless boundaries of Magic.

“When someone has been affected by a Memory curse, they must relive their worst memory in their sleep, despite Dreamless Sleep. Because it is not technically a ‘dream’, the curse can replay the memory without interference from the potion.” Remus explained all of this while looking for his wand, which happened to be under Snape’s bed for some reason.

Harry cringed as a shiver ran down his spine. It sounded almost like what he went through every time he was near a Dementor. “That’s horrible...Is there a counter-curse?”

“Not technically, no. But there is a way to make it stop,” Severus said as he opened the bedroom door and led the way back into the living room. “We have to remove the memory completely.”

Harry moved around to the other side of Draco’s bed and frowned. “You have to Obliviate him?”

“No, Harry, not Obliviate. Cursed memories cannot be destroyed while in the mind, but they can be removed. So the best way to end the curse is to extract the memory and store it, either in a pensieve or a special bottle made for storing memories. Once the memory is in a pensieve there is a way to exorcise the curse from it, but it takes very strong and advanced magic. The hard part is, we have to wake Draco up and have him willingly think of the memory in order to extract it from him,” said Remus as he pulled out his wand and summoned a small green vial in which memories could be magically stored and preserved.

Severus gently swept the Slytherin teen’s blonde locks away from his forehead. He hated that he had to wake Draco up, but the boy would only continue to relive the horrible memory every time he closed his eyes unless Severus removed it. “Draco...Wake up, Dragon,” Severus said quietly as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

Draco’s eyes flickered open, blinking slowly as he realized he wasn’t actually in the library at Malfoy Manor, but in his godfather’s cottage living room. He looked up into his godfather’s eyes and saw something he rarely saw in the man’s expression; worry. “Severus?”

Severus leaned down and placed a hand on the boy’s pale cheek. “Do you remember what you were...what you were dreaming just now, Draco?”

Draco nodded as he tiredly rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He did remember his dream, but he wasn’t sure if he was willing to divulge exactly what the dream was about. He had been reliving the scene every night since...well, since he had escaped his Aunt Bella’s clutches. No matter what he did, he saw his mother die over and over again, the warm blood spraying across his face, the taste of iron on his tongue as he screamed in horror. Draco turned his gaze from Snape and his eyes landed on bright green ones, which also held the strange emotion of worry. “Yes, unfortunately.”

Severus nearly smiled as he heard the shadow of his godson’s old personality in his response. He hoped beyond hope that Draco’s spirit would not be broken by this latest bump in the road, but he wondered if that was too much to ask of the broken teen. “Well, this wasn’t exactly a dream, Draco. You took Dreamless Sleep, so dreaming would have been impossible. Am I right in saying this dream has been occurring every night like clock-work?”

Draco frowned as he pulled his gaze away from Potter and looked back at Snape. He was right, he couldn’t have possibly been dreaming tonight with the potion in his system. “Yes, I have the same dream every night. Well, it’s more like a memory...”

“What is the memory of? Can you tell me, Draco? You see, the only way to stop you from reliving it every night is for you to bring it forward so that I can remove it. Can you do that for me?”

Draco had never heard his godfather speak so gently, so caring. It was a bit disconcerting, but a welcome change. Draco had been raised by hard, cold people with the slight exception of his mother, and he had to admit that being coddled felt much better than his up-bringing. Draco nodded fervently, wanting nothing more to never remember his mother’s murder again. “Yes, I want it gone. Do you...do you have to see it?” he asked his godfather.

Severus frowned as he patted Draco awkwardly on the shoulder. He didn’t know what exactly the memory was, but he knew it couldn’t possibly be pleasant. “Not right away, no, but in order for me to try to dispel the curse, I’ll have to view it eventually. Is that alright?”

“I guess, but you won’t want to watch it, Severus. Mother...you have no idea what they did to her...” Draco whispered, his voice cracking as the memory unwilling came to the surface again.

Severus had had the strong feeling that Narcissa’s murder was the memory that Draco was reliving. He shuddered at the thought. “I do know, Draco. It was I who found her afterwards and...was forced to move her for the Dark Lord. I’m so sorry, Draco. You have to believe that I would never have done it if I hadn’t been forced to – ”

“It’s alright, Severus. I know...I just...I want it gone. Can you take it, please?” Draco asked as he sat up and swept his dirty hair out of his eyes.

Severus nodded as he pulled out his mother’s wand and turned to face Draco more directly. “You know how to call forth a specific memory, yes? You have to try to remember every detail you possibly can. Tell me when you’re ready and I will remove it, alright?”

Draco nodded as he closed his eyes, bringing back all of the horrid images he witnessed that night. He remembered everything, even the way the blade glimmered as his Aunt Bella plunged it into his mother’s chest, the taste of the blood as it sprayed across his face and landed on his tongue. The way his chest ached as he sobbed, how his throat tore as he screamed. He remembered the cold, blank stare in his mother’s eyes as she breathed her last breath.

“Take it away...” Draco choked out as a tear rolled down his pale cheek.

Severus placed the tip of his wand to Draco’s temple and muttered a few Latin words before pulling it away, a long gossamer strand of silver trailing from the blonde tresses. He quickly dropped the memory into the green bottle that Remus held out to him, twisting the cap closed and placing it on the small table beside Draco’s bed. Severus reached over and wiped the tear from the Slytherin’s cheek. “It’s gone now, no need to cry, Dragon.”

Harry watched the tender moment with complete sympathy for the Slytherin. He knew what it was like to see and hear his mother being murdered. Though he had only been an infant when it had originally happened, Harry had relived the terrible moments numerous times every time he got near a Dementor. He knew what it was like, and he was very sorry for that fact.

S~S~S~S

After getting a few more hours of mostly restless sleep, the inhabitants of the Bristol cottage spent most of the day in silence, focusing on their own things and letting the others in the house have their privacy.

Remus, however, spent most of the day feeling like hell. He’d gone to Headquarters intending to stay there for his transformation, only to have Dumbledore tell him that he wasn’t allowed to use Headquarters for transformations anymore because it frightened the other Order members to know there was a werewolf in the house, whether it had Remus Lupin’s mind or not. Remus had promptly told Dumbledore what for and returned to Bristol, snapping irritably at Snape when he asked what had happened.

All the while, Severus was trying but failing to get Draco to speak to him about where he’d been. He’d push, be denied, then back off for a little while, then come right back again and try it all over. He was getting nowhere, and because he didn’t wish to distress his godson anymore, he gave up near dinner time.

Dinner was quiet and just a bit tense, everyone pushing their food around disinterestedly – everyone except Remus, who was cooped up in his and Snape’s room, curled under his blankets and preparing for his change. It was still a little while until sundown, but his body was aching so bad he could barely move for the pain.

A faint knock on the bedroom door proceeded Harry’s entering, tip-toeing as to not wake the dozing werewolf in case he was asleep. One look from Remus told him that he was fully awake, and not very happy because of it.

“Do you need anything, Remus? Are you hungry or thirsty or anything?” Harry asked in a quiet voice from the doorway. He’d been worried about Remus all day, not quite sure how to handle an ailing werewolf. He felt a pang in his heart as he longed for Sirius to appear and tell him what to do.

Remus shook his head slowly as he tried to smile at the worried teen. It wasn’t just the aching of the impending transformation that was affecting Remus, it was the aching of his heart to have Sirius beside him, holding him and telling him everything would be ok. He missed his lover so much he could hardly stand it, but he didn’t want everyone to think him weak. “Thank you, Harry, but I’m alright. It’s just the normal routine of things, I assure you.”

Harry didn’t look convinced, but he nodded anyways as he turned to leave the room. He stopped and looked back at Remus, trying not to look at worried as he was. “Call me if you need anything, alright?” He waited until Remus nodded before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

Severus looked up from the Evening Prophet he had been skimming as Harry walked into the living room, looking quite miserable. “Is everything alright, Harry?” the Potions Master asked as he sat aside the newspaper.

Harry shrugged as he slumped down in the arm chair across from the couch. He watched Draco read for a few seconds before turning back to Snape. “I’m just worried about him, sir. I know he had come to depend a lot on Sirius during the full moon and he’s probably feeling terribly lonely without him. I just don’t know what to do to help, or if there’s even anything I can do.”

Severus nodded with a slight frown, knowing what Harry had said was true. His mind wandered to the tender, if not slightly awkward kiss he had shared with the werewolf. Severus had never been one for sentimentality, but that kiss...it was different.

“Maybe there’s a potion I can offer him to help him cope better. I’ll speak with him,” Severus said as he stood up and made his way into the bedroom he shared with the werewolf.

A soft snort could be heard from across the living room as Draco turned a page in his book. He’d been listening with half an ear while Severus and Harry talked about the werewolf. He’d been taught from a young age to always be aware of what was being said around you; it was just instinct to eavesdrop now.

“What are you snorting at?” Harry asked, trying not to sound snappy, nor too sympathetic to the Slytherin, though he still felt really bad for him.

“Oh, nothing...It’s just that werewolves can’t take any other potions while under the influence of Wolfsbane, and Severus knows it well,” Draco said in a carefully disinterested drawl. Though he had been kidnapped, tortured, and run through the mill, it didn’t change who he was. He was still Draco Malfoy: snarky, sarcastic, insufferable Slytherin to the core.

Harry frowned at Draco’s tone of voice. He sounded just like the bratty Slytherin he’d always been at school. “Maybe he just forgot, Malfoy. Not everything is a plot to undermine people, you know. There are such things as compassion and worry,” Harry snapped.

Draco openly laughed at this as he sat his book aside and sneered slightly at the too trusting Gryffindor. “Of course he didn’t forget, you prat. Severus Snape is the Potions Master of Great Britain and Scotland; he doesn’t make foolish mistakes. I bet he’s in there chatting the werewolf up, the sneaky bastard.”

Harry scoffed as he glared at Draco, his arms crossed over his chest. “Oh, that’s such bollocks! Chatting him up? Snape’s the straightest man on the planet! No, I take that back, Snape is asexual; it just doesn’t happen to him.”

Draco chuckled as he shook his head at Harry. “Oh, Potter, you’re just too innocent for your own good. Severus isn’t asexual; he’s a normal, sexually driven creature like all other men – gay or straight. Just because he’s not promiscuous does not mean he’s not getting any. He’s Head of Slytherin; we have more subtlety than you Gryffindors.”

Harry just shook his head, unwilling to believe in Draco’s lies. The Slytherin was probably just trying to rile him up, as usual. He grabbed Snape’s discarded Evening Prophet and immersed himself in the magical news as a distraction.

S~S~S~S

The door made a soft click as Severus closed it carefully behind him, noticing that the fire had died out and the room had grown quite cold. He moved over to the fireplace and pointed his wand at the still slightly smouldering logs behind the grate. “Incendio!

Remus rolled over as he heard the whispered spell and watched as the logs in the fireplace blazed warmly into life. He sat up slowly and propped himself against his pillows, running a hand through his messy golden locks. Severus was frowning at him, twirling his wand around as if deep in thought. “Thank you, Severus. It was starting to get a bit chilly in here.”

“You’re welcome. How are you feeling? The Wolfsbane should be taking most of the edge off the pain, though I can only imagine it’s quite unpleasant either way.”

Remus tried to smile but it ended up being more of a pained grimace as his muscles gave a strong twinge. “Yes, well spotted,” Remus said as he shifted to try to make himself more comfortable. He realized how rude he had sounded and had the decency to look sheepish. “I’m sorry; I don’t mean to be rude. I’m just not that pleasant of a person at the moment.” Remus frowned as Severus remained standing, seeming a bit restless. Was he making the man nervous?

Severus crossed his arms over his chest and smiled lightly at the werewolf. He wasn’t quite sure exactly why he had decided to speak with Remus, and now that he was in front of him, he was even less sure of why he was there. “Quite understandable, I won’t take it personally. Is there anything I can get you to make you more comfortable?” he asked as he moved over and sat down carefully on the edge of Remus’ bed.

A true smile finally played on Remus’ lips as he brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them, leaning his chin on his knee. “There’s not much to be done for it. You’ve done basically all that can be done by providing me with Wolfsbane. I just have to grin and bear the rest, unfortunately.” Remus stared at Severus for a few seconds before continuing in a much softer voice. “I really am grateful for the potion, Severus...You don’t know how wonderful it is to be able to keep my mind during the full moon.”

Severus shrugged with a gentle shake of his head. “I don’t mind making it for you, Remus. As much as I complained about it before, there was never a chance of me not making it for you. Not even Horrible Severus Snape would let you suffer a second longer than you had to,” Severus said with a slight grin. He was trying to lighten the mood, though on second thought, he might have made the tension worse.

Remus snorted in laughter, forgetting his sorrows for a few glorious minutes. “My hero,” he mocked with a smile, though he actually meant it quite seriously. He studied the Potions Master’s flushed cheeks and his dark eyes for a long time before he realized he thought Severus looked adorable when he was all flustered. Remus almost frowned as he remembered the kiss they had shared and Severus’ reaction to it. He couldn’t help but feel greatly disappointed. “Oh, and Severus?”

Severus looked up to meet Remus’ eyes with a questioning expression, his stomach squirming slightly by the gold reflected there. “Yes?”

“You’re not horrible at all.” Remus reached out a hand and gently placed it on top of Severus’, his calloused palm meeting a smooth, surprisingly delicate hand. He knew he probably shouldn’t have done it; he’d heard Severus’ objections loud and clear, but he just needed to feel something – someone – other than pain.

Severus looked down at the slightly larger hand covering his own and felt a tingle run up his arm and spread throughout his body. Though he would probably regret it later, Severus looked up into Remus’ eyes once more, then let his eyes travel to his lips. He hesitantly leaned forward, afraid to go all the way, but Remus took away all other options when he met him halfway and pressed his lips gently to Severus’.

Remus mouth opened slowly and coaxed Severus’ lips open with his tongue. He was vaguely aware of a hand running slowly through his hair as he wrapped his tongue around the one tentatively exploring his own mouth. He let out a soft moan against Severus’ lips as he tried to deepen the kiss.

Severus allowed himself to be thoroughly kissed for quite a few seconds before pulling away, his breath coming in sharp pants now. He leaned his forehead against Remus’, only aware now of his hand tangled in Remus’ thick golden locks. “We can’t do this, Remus...”

Remus frowned. He knew that was coming, but it didn’t make it any easier to hear. He let out a sigh as he slowly pulled away from Severus, an apologetic look in his eyes. “I know, I’m sorry...It won’t happen again,” Remus whispered, swallowing the painful lump in his throat.

Severus cocked his head to the side as he studied Remus’ disappointed expression. Why on earth would someone like Remus Lupin want to kiss him, anyways? He didn’t think he’d ever share this intimacy with anyone again, so why was he pushing the opportunity away when it presented itself? Sure, he was responsible for Harry and Draco now, but what did the future hold? His mind seemed to make itself up as he smiled shyly at the werewolf.

“No, I mean we can’t do this now; the sun is about to set. I should go now.”

Remus blinked a few times in shock before a smile spread slowly across his face. He nodded as he looked around at the small window and noticed the steadily darkening sky. “Yeah, you don’t want to see what comes next. You’re sleeping in there with the boys, right?” He waited for Severus to nod before leaning forward and stealing another quick kiss. “Ward and silence the room behind you. I don’t want to take any chances.”

Severus nodded as he stood up from the bed and headed towards the bedroom door. He turned and frowned slightly at the pale werewolf, who didn’t hide his look of discomfort in time. “Goodnight, Remus. I’ll come in to check on you first thing in the morning.”

“Thank you, Severus. Goodnight.”


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