It was freezing; snow lay in drifts in the alley where Remus sat. Rubbing his hands together and he wondered if he chanced lighting a fire. Hidden in an alley like this there was little chance of being discovered by unfriendly eyes, and plenty of fuel lying about. It wouldn't matter anyway if it got much colder- he'd die of exposure before you could say 'Avada Kedavra'. Besides, any Deatheater would take him to be just another homeless vagrant.
Which, he thought grimly as he collected scraps of newspaper, was exactly what he was these days.
He glanced up at the waxing moon. He had less than a week to find another place. If he survived that long. It was cold. He pulled out his wand, lit the paper with a murmured 'Incendio' and pulled his coat more tightly about him. Huddling as close to the fire as he dared, he drifted into a light slumber.
When he awoke a few hours later, it was to a cold dawn, stiff limbs and a wand tip barely an inch from his nose. He hissed his surprise, jerking his head back and cracking it against the icy bricks behind him.
There was a pause, then a familiar voice spoke.
"Lupin?"
Remus looked up to see an imperiously incredulous Severus Snape.
"Severus, what a—" he winced as his joints cracked, "pleasant surpise…" He brushed snow off of his shoulders.
Severus was not amused.
"Idiotic Gryffindor!" He hissed. "Sprawled in the open, totally defenseless-"
"Oh yes, I love risking my neck unnecessarily…" Remus had meant it to be sarcastic, but it came out as more of a snarl. This was not turning out to be a good morning.
Severus gave Remus one of his 'death glares', but it's effectiveness was cut in half by Severus' obvious exasperation.
"Get up," he snapped, pulling Remus to unsteady feet before trudging back down the alley.
"Where are you going?" Remus asked, trying to work movement into his frozen hands.
Severus tossed him a disdainful look. "Where are we going you mean. To my house, where you will burn that clothing, take your potion and stop being generally pathetic."
Remus looked up sharply, retort on the tip of his tongue before he realized what Severus had said. "You mean-"
Severus rolled his eyes. "Are you coming?" He said pointedly. It wasn't really a question.
Remus smiled in the dawn light and hurried to catch up with Severus, desperate to be warm again.