"Are you going to drink the damned potion or not, Lupin? I haven't got all night."

"Dumbledore doesn't even know about this, does he?"

"About my discovery, yes, he knows. About me actually giving you the potion tonight, no."

Remus hesitated another moment, staring at the goblet in his hands.

"Had I intended to poison you, I assure you that it would have been accomplished with greater subtlety."

"I want to know why you're doing this. If it's not by Dumbledore's order, why would you help me? What's in it for you?"

"Drink that, and I'll tell you."

Remus drank. He had very little to lose. And if Snape was right, this could change everything.

----------

"As I have reported to the Order, I have recently had a good bit of unsupervised access to the Brotherhood's archives, attempting to find some curatives that might relieve the more... unpleasant... side-effects of the Dark Lord's resurrection. In one of the scrolls on ailments of the blood, I found an obscure reference to what appeared to be a temporary cure for werewolves. My initial assumption was that it was most probably referring to a precursor to the modern Wolfsbane. I thought it might be of interest nonetheless. However, once I was able to locate and translate the original text, I realized that I had found something far more valuable."

"And it's just been... hidden from the world, all this time?"

"It wasn't ever meant to be shared - remember the sort of wizards we are talking about, Lupin. According to the reference I found, this potion was developed to cure one particular member of the Brotherhood's inner circle over a thousand years ago - who was, of course, not interested in allowing his condition become widely known. Then the information was just stored away among the Brotherhood's papers and forgotten. In fact, considering the age and origin of this potion, I'm surprised it was ever written down at all. It's possible that it may have been used to... conceal the occasional infected member over the years, but in general, healing magics are not what the Brotherhood's library is renowned for. I doubt anyone's even looked for it."

"You'd think they'd have tried to use it to control the werewolf population - the new infections, anyway."

"An entirely too humane solution to the problem for their tastes, I should think. They probably preferred to simply kill known werewolves - at least those not well-connected enough for them to consider offering a cure. In any case, the Brotherhood has never been inclined to share knowledge. And the medieval leadership was particularly paranoid about outsiders - beyond the usual wards, the texts themselves from that era are written so that critical elements of the magic are missing. Even if someone outside the Brotherhood were to have come across this and somehow managed to break through all of the warding without getting himself killed, it would still have been useless without some extremely arcane knowledge of potions and Dark Magic."

"Which you happen to have."

Snape smirked. "Indeed."

"So you were able to re-create the potion. But how can you be certain of the results?"

"The blood and tissue samples I took from you a few months ago were not merely for more tests on the effects of Wolfsbane – I needed them for preliminary tests on the new potion, before I could be certain of its effects on a living subject."

"And you think it will work?"

"Would I be sitting in a room with you waiting for the full moon to rise if I were not fully confident?"

"But you didn't tell Dumbledore you were giving it to me. Does that mean that he thinks it's not ready?"

"It means he thought that there were more important uses of my time than pursuing this. I disagreed, and continued work without his sanction. The potential benefit was simply too great."

"You're telling me -- to be able to have a normal life. That would be... Gods. I don't even want to let myself hope for that."

"You should understand that this will not be an actual cure, per se - not even a temporary one. The lycanthropy will still be in your blood. You'll still have most of your secondary symptoms, such as the allergy to silver."

"But the actual transformation into wolf form will be suppressed entirely?"

"Yes - for a period of twelve moon cycles. After that, you will require another dose of the potion."

"It's still more than I ever dared to hope for. But you still haven't told me what's in it for you. We've never been friends, Severus - I know better than to think this was done out of kindness."

"Certainly not."

"Then, why?"

"Because I have a vested interest in seeing the Dark Lord defeated."

"I wasn't aware that you had such a high opinion of my abilities."

"Don't flatter yourself, Lupin. This isn't about you. This is about my responsibility to the students of Hogwarts."

"I don't follow."

"They will not be spared in the coming war because of their youth and inexperience. It is imperative that they be prepared to fight. Which means that they will need a qualified and trustworthy Defense instructor."

"And you think that should be you?"

"I know it should be me. But the person whose opinion on the matter counts does not agree."

"You think this is the way to convince him?"

"I'm through trying to convince him. Oh, I applied again of course, mostly out of habit. But my list of shortcomings in Dumbledore's eyes is as long as ever. Add to that the failed Occlumency lessons with Potter, and I must assume that my application will receive even less consideration than usual."

"I still don't understand what any of that has to do with me."

"That is because you are especially dense. I shall spell it out for you, then: if this potion works, I will have made it possible for you to serve as the DADA professor at Hogwarts."

"But... you were the one who made sure I was let go?"

Snape looked away. "I... miscalculated. There were very good reasons for my actions at the time, which I should note that I do not regret. I thought you should pay for not telling us what you knew of Black's animagus form, and I thought you were a genuine danger to the students, since you seemed incapable of remembering your Wolfsbane. Moreover, I wanted you the Hell out of my space. But I cannot deny that many of the difficulties of the last couple of years might have been avoided had you remained at Hogwarts."

"You did this... so that Dumbledore can hire me back?"

"Not exactly. You are rather incidental. As I see it, I helped to create a weakness in our defenses, which has furthermore put the students of Hogwarts at greater risk. I am now doing what I can to rectify the situation – by putting a trusted, qualified person whom I am certain Dumbledore will approve - in a position to take the job."

"People will still know I'm a werewolf, Severus. Even if I don't transform. They're not just going to forget about that."

"That is precisely the reason that the secrecy around this potion suits us well. Even the Brotherhood has forgotten its existence. What we will achieve tonight is impossible as far as almost everyone alive is concerned. Remember also that very few people have actually ever seen you transform, and all save Pettigrew are on our side. For everyone else, your lycanthropy is hearsay. All we have to do is have you be seen publicly at full moon - setting up the situation so that it is clear that it isn't another Wizard using Polyjuice..."

"And I'll be given a clean bill of health."

"Exactly."

"But, the Death Eaters are sure to know something's up. Peter..."

Snape cut him off. "I'm sure the Death Eaters will be aware that you actually ARE a werewolf, but I think you over-estimate the extent to which the Dark Lord actually cares about what happens to you."

"I meant... If they know I must have been cured somehow, might they not be able to guess that the potion came from the Brotherhood's library? That would lead straight back to you, wouldn't it?"

"It might have done, if I were fool enough not to test the waters before proceeding. But as I'd guessed, they aren't particularly interested in the magics that aren't directly related to the war effort, or to the Dark Lord's preservation. Now, if your touching concern for my safety has been allayed - was I correct in assuming you'll take the job?"

"Severus, the one thing in the world I have wished most for, other than a cure, is the chance to teach again."

Snape smiled thinly. "So glad to be of service."

Remus smiled back. "I do appreciate that this is costing you, Severus. I wonder what your students would say, if they knew how much you actually care for them."

"Spare me your inane sentimentality, Lupin. My type of care is not something that those dunderheads will ever appreciate. Just take the bloody job, and do it well."

"Severus, I'm just... speechless."

"Good. I do hope that means you'll shut up."

----------

Remus looked out the window of the shack into the benign face of the full moon, grateful tears welling in his eyes. It was long moment before he found his voice.

"It worked. Severus - it actually worked."

"Apparently."

"Severus, this is just... I can't begin to..."

"Don't."

"Right. Well. I owe you."

Snape snorted, and swept out of the Shrieking Shack without another word.

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Remus had missed teaching, but he had not at all missed the interminable staff meetings. Dumbledore had droned on for the better part of an hour before finally getting to the announcement on the DADA post.

"Last year showed that this important position must be filled by someone who not only has an extensive knowledge of the subject matter and its application, but also someone who has a proven commitment to teaching and protecting the students of this school. I have chosen a candidate based on the strength of these qualifications, and chosen to overlook some... difficulties that had previously barred this person from consideration in the past."

Throughout Dumbeldore's little introduction, Severus sat with his arms folded tightly across his chest, glaring with fierce intensity at Remus. Remus could almost hear the thought Severus was sending his way - "You'd better be worth this, Lupin."

Remus smiled slightly and nodded back at him. He owed Severus a great debt. And poor though was, Remus Lupin always paid his debts. He made sure that he was looking Severus full in the face as Dumbledore finished making his announcement.

"Therefore, this year the Defense position will be taken by... Severus Snape."

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to be continued...

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Author's Note: Based on (yet another) idea that sprung from something I wrote for LeoGryffin's 30MinuteFics over on Live Journal. If these were my characters and I was making money off of them, I would owe her a cut of the proceeds. But as they aren't and I'm not, she has my thanks for the inspiration.