Author's Note: I do not own Harry Potter or any affiliated characters et cetera.

Severus woke up with a splitting headache and an arm wrapped securely around his waist. He tried to turn his head to see to whom the arm belonged, but found the simple movement was beyond him. He managed to summon a hangover potion, but only just, and had to wait a moment before he was actually capable of taking it. Once the potion kicked in he was better able to ascertain his situation. He confirmed he was in his own bed, judging from the sunlight coming through the curtains it was late afternoon, and his and his accomplice's clothes were scattered everywhere.

He thought back to the night before. He'd been coerced into attending the gala celebrating the fifth anniversary of The Dark Lord's defeat. He'd lost a bet with Minerva and being unable to prove she'd cheated had accepted his defeat with as little grace as he could get away with. Severus had spent as much of the night as possible by the bar. He wasn't generally given over to drinking, but he didn't think he could get away with bringing his pipe. Now he wished he'd tried, smoking never left him feeling so ill. He also didn't end up in bed with random people. Severus usually avoided one offs as they had a tendency to be more trouble than they were worth, particularly if you couldn't even remember. Especially if you couldn't remember as that usually implied you'd drunk enough to lower your standards considerably.

Carefully he turned to see who he had brought home and was stunned to find himself confronted with the sleeping form of Remus Lupin. Severus tensed up as Lupin tightened his hold, pressing his erection into Severus's thigh. Thankfully the Marauder did not actually wake. Outwardly Severus remained absolutely still, inwardly his mind raced as he worked out how best to extricate himself. He rolled his eyes as the man snuggled even closer to him, sighing as he settled.

He gently tried to pry Lupin's arm from his person and was surprised when the man actually growled at him. Without thought or hesitation Severus made calming noises and mumbled promises to come back. It caught him up short, but as it did the trick he didn't question it too much. He escaped to the bathroom wondering if his soreness was due to the booze or his bed partner. He was sore in all the right places, so he could only assume it was Lupin's doing, for some reason that did not bother Severus as much as he thought it would.

He stepped into the shower hoping the hot water would soothe his muscles and help him clear his mind. If nothing else he had to figure out how to get Lupin out of his home without a fuss. Normally he would try to score at least one more shag, no point in not getting everything he could out of a situation, but with Lupin there was simply too much between them for Severus to risk leading the man on. Heaven forbid the possibility that the wolf might wish to talk about it. The last thing he needed was Remus thinking that the previous night meant something.

"But what if it did?" Severus quickly pushed the thought away. Clearly he was not as sober as he thought he was. "But what will Lupin think about this?"

As he thought about it more he realized that he had no idea how Lupin was going to react to waking up in Severus's bed. Certainly they were on better terms than they'd ever been, but five years of civility turned amiable acquaintance was not enough to erase twenty odd years of animosity and if Lupin regretted last night more than Severus? What if Lupin was sneaking out of his room right now while he was in the shower? The thought should have filled Severus with relief, instead he was inexplicably saddened by the thought of Remus leaving.

Frustrated by his contrary thoughts he turned off the water and got out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around his waist he took his place at the sink to shave and brush his teeth. He cleared the steam from the mirror and instantly froze. There on his neck, opposite the scar Nagini had left him, was a bite mark. It looked hideous and painful, but Severus felt nothing save a paralyzing fear.

Suddenly Lupin burst through the door wand at the ready and completely naked. Severus registered this but remained frozen, transfixed by the bite. Lupin had bitten him. He felt, more than saw Remus slightly relax behind him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, clearly worried. Severus was unable to answer. There were too many thoughts running through his head. He was vaguely aware of Lupin approaching him from behind. "Seve..."

Severus looked up at Lupin's reflection in the mirror. Lupin who was also transfixed by the bite. Lupin who looked even more horrified than Severus felt. Severus found that he had to physically stop himself from comforting the man. That reaction snapped Snape out of his stupor and he finally turned around.

"What the bloody hell did you do to me?" Severus yelled, advancing on him. Then Lupin did something Severus never would have predicted; he passed out cold. Severus caught him easily and carried him back to bed. He wondered at this new compulsion of his to care for a man that had possibly taken advantage of and obviously assaulted him. A man who should be begging for his life, not being carried to Severus's bed bridal style. Then it hit him.

"For the love of Merlin's bastard, buggering, bloody, saggy, wrinkled, old left nutsack," Severus swore as he unceremoniously dropped Lupin on the bed. He looked down at his companion for the evening and sighed as he gave into the urge to check him over. It was apparent that the man was as well as could be expected given the events of the past eighteen hours or so. Severus decided to let him sleep it off and threw a blanket over him, he wanted time to think about this in peace. If the two of them had done what he thought they had, this one night stand was going to be a lot more complicated than he ever could have imagined.

Severus threw on a pair of old pyjama bottoms and made his way down stairs. He prepared a cup of tea and some breakfast, before settling into his favorite chair in the den and filling his pipe. As he smoked and ate, he sifted through what little he knew about the mating habits of werewolves. It wasn't much. Though he'd researched the creatures thoroughly after his first run in with 'Moony', mating habits hadn't been where his interests lay. The only thing of which he was reasonably certain was that Lycanthropes, much like actual wolves, mated for life.

Determined to learn more he pulled out his wand. "Accio books about werewolves," Severus said, causing ten books to fly his way and several stacks to fall. With a lazy flick of his wand he set the books he wanted to stack themselves neatly by his chair and righted the stacks he'd just disturbed. He scanned the titles of the new stack before picking one out and sitting back to read. With any luck Remus wouldn't wake until he'd had more time to wrap his head around this.

Several hours and many sandwiches later he had a much better handle on the situation. The bond heightened his attraction and awareness of Remus, even to the point of being able to connect with what Remus was feeling at any given time. Though he would feel more inclined to look after his mate's well being he would not, as some popular accounts would have you believe, become unquestioningly submissive to him. Indeed it seemed that the bond was a lot more fluid than was held to be the general view, adapting to the intentions and personalities of the bonders. In short the bond would be nothing more nor less than what he and Remus made of it.

He also learned that the bond could be rejected, of course the side effects were absolutely miserable. The initial shock alone was said to be physically painful and drove the few who attempted the rejection to go mad. Those who retained their sanity quickly fell into deep depressions, half of which ended in suicide. When all was said and done it wasn't much of an option and Severus quickly rejected the possibility.

What intrigued him the most, however, was the fact that the bond could only be formed with both parties' absolute consent. At some point in the night both he and Remus had made a conscious decision to spend the rest of their lives together. Severus Snape had essentially married Remus Lupin. Annoyingly cheerful, foolishly Gryffindor, overly affable, ridiculously modest Remus Lupin. Then again Remus was also intelligent, sensible, discreet, and well read. He never would have admitted it before the mating, but Severus had grown quite fond of the man and the time they spent together. He was also now ready to concede that the man was very attractive.(Severus would never admit to friendship, much less the crush he'd begun to develop.) Perhaps this wasn't the mistake he initially assumed.

oOoOo

Remus woke up several hours later with a splitting headache. He groaned as he thought about what happened earlier. He'd woken up in a blind panic, convinced Severus was in danger, and had charged into the man's bathroom. Then he saw the bite mark on Severus's neck, the bite mark he had made. He remembered Severus asking him a question, though he couldn't say what it was, and then nothing. Worse still, he had no idea how he ended up Severus's bed in the first place.

Fighting against the pain in his head he tried to remember the night before. He'd been kidnapped by Hermione and Ginny who forced him to attend the anniversary gala at The Ministry. George had rescued him from their clutches and the two of them had ended up at the bar. Then George had suggested a drinking game to pass the time and Remus had, by that point, been pissed enough to agree. After that it got foggy, very foggy.

"Well bugger all," Remus mumbled as he pulled himself out of bed. Slowly he gathered his clothes and began dressing. He had bitten Severus. That he hadn't simply been killed on the spot was a testament to how much the man had relaxed over the years. He was still a right snarky bastard, but he had let go of much of the anger that had plagued him in the past leaving a more relaxed and approachable Snape in his wake. It probably didn't hurt that Severus, like many veterans, had taken up smoking after the war.

All the same, he had bitten him. To Remus's mind that thought could not be stressed enough. A one night stand would have complicated their tentative friendship enough, but having done what he thought they had done took it way beyond complicated. Remus was disappointed that a drunken mistake, as Severus would no doubt see it, might ruin what could have turned into a wonderful friendship. The fact that Remus had already started to develop a bit of a crush on the man was only going to make it worse as the bond would only serve to make him more aggressive when it came to acting on his attraction.

He finished dressing, letting his thoughts circle as they would resigned to the fact that he would make no headway in his state. The headache had subsided, but he still felt undeniably hungover which was not conducive to wrapping his head around waking up mated to his childhood nemesis. He dreaded having to face Severus again, especially now he knew what he'd done. It was unforgivable and Remus had no idea what to say. There was no way to apologise for this. Sighing in resignation he headed downstairs.

He found Severus in the kitchen cooking. He stopped in the doorway transfixed by how graceful Severus's movements were. The fact that the man wasn't wearing a shirt didn't hurt either. Remus found himself studying the man in a way he'd never previously been able. Severus would never be handsome but he had a nice body, an even nicer ass, and without the perpetual scowl actually looked quite striking. Then there were those hands. It was all Remus could do not to jump him right there. So powerful was the urge that he found himself shaking from his restraint.

"I was beginning to get worried," Severus said without turning around, startling Remus.

"How did you know I was there?" Remus asked as he took a seat at the table hoping the physical barrier would make it easier to hold himself in check. Severus put a plate in front of him before pointing to the bite on his neck. Remus cringed.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt."

"Severus..."

"I was also a spy for twenty years. You don't survive that without knowing how to sense someone behind you," Severus said joining him at the table with his own plate. "Eat first. We can talk after."

Remus was about to object when his stomach let out a loud growl. Realising he hadn't eaten in twenty four hours he complied. Severus was just as good at cooking as he was at potions and Remus savored each bite. He himself was complete pants at it and would miss the home cooked meals. Add that to the list of reasons he would be sad to lose Severus.

They ate in silence and Remus was struck with how awkward it wasn't. Severus simply acted as if this was any other visit. Once again he found himself wondering what it would be like to spend the rest of his life with Severus. The more he thought about it, the more appealing it became making it even harder to keep himself from reaching out and touching him. In order to stop himself he mentally ran through the many reasons Severus would not want to spend the rest of his life with him.

"So," Remus awkwardly began.

"Why don't we retire to the den?" Severus drawled, sending their dishes to the sink to wash themselves.

"You're taking this better than I would have imagined," Remus said, following Severus into the den.

"I'm not the man I used to be," said Severus sitting down on his favorite chair.

"So I've noticed," replied Remus who was doing his best to resist the urge to reach out and touch Severus. Instead he picked up the book laying on the table next to his chair. Not surprisingly it was about Lycanthropy. "I see you've been doing some research."

"It seemed prudent."

"Learn anything interesting?" What Remus really wanted to know was if Severus had learned that they could reject the bond. He knew it was a possibility, but the side effects were said to be damn near unbearable. Just the idea of leaving Severus's house left Remus feeling hollow.

"I suppose that would depend on what you define as interesting," Severus responded as he loaded his pipe. He offered it to Remus who hesitated before accepting. He sat down on the settee across from Severus before taking a hit. As he exhaled he held the pipe out to Severus who surprised him by joining him on the settee. As Severus took the pipe he caressed Remus's fingers with his own. Even such simple contact was enough to give Remus an instant erection.

"So what do you consider interesting, Remus?" he asked before leaning back and taking a hit. Immediately he offered the pipe again and Remus readily took it. He was definitely going to need it to have this conversation. He took a hit before responding.

"If we wanted to, we could reject the bond," he said as dispassionately as he could muster, passing the pipe back to Severus.

"We could," he agreed before taking another hit and placing the pipe on the table. "What do you think about that?"

"I understand that it would be horrible, but if that's what you want, I will respect your wishes. I know I'm not your ideal candidate for life partner," Remus said. Severus was sitting closer than necessary and it was severely testing Remus's control.

"Indeed," Severus said, leaning back again and putting his arm across the back of the settee. "Then again, it's been a long time since I've considered the idea of having a 'life partner' as you termed it. I'm not sure I would know what my ideal would be anymore."

"I think that's the most honest thing you've ever said to me," Remus responded, allowing himself to relax against the back of the couch doing his best to avoid contact with Severus's arm.

"I've had more time to reflect on our situation than you have. At some point during the night I trusted you enough to essentially marry you," Severus said. "I figure honesty is a must if we're going to make this work."

Remus looked at him sharply. Severus couldn't be suggesting what Remus thought he was suggesting.

"Are you actually willing to consider accepting the bond?" Remus asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes."

"I don't understand."