Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything pertaining to this wonderful universe. JK Rowling has that honour, and... add all the legal stuff. I'm not doing this for profit, or I wouldn't still be slaving away at my day job.

The Butterfly Effect

Chapter 1

It felt nice to lean back for a moment and relax. His back was aching, as it usually did these days, but today had been exceptionally awful. Remus sighed. He hadn't even made it to dinner that day because cleaning up his classroom after that disastrous fifth year class had taken so long, and he would have to endure an entire staff meeting before he could go down to the kitchen.

At least there were snacks on the table.

"Ah, Remus... I know this is going to sound strange, but I would put that back if I were you."

Remus blinked, his gaze shifting from the muffin in his hand to the worried face of tiny Professor Flitwick. The small teacher seemed wary; the tower of pillows on his chair (assembled so his face was above the tabletop) was trembling precariously. "What... the muffin?"

He eyed the treat with sudden caution. It looked inconspicuous enough, but Remus had learned the hard way not to be too trusting. His teaching career at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry had begun only two months ago, and he was still wary of the teachers' 'welcoming pranks'. Given, his particular background had enabled him to avoid most traps, but Rolanda Hooch had managed to make him talk in iambic pentameter for a whole day, and he wasn't keen on repeating the experience.

Even though the headmaster had complimented him quite nicely on his rhythm.

"Really, Remus. You might not want to eat that one."

The newest addition to the Hogwarts staff lowered his hand very, very carefully and placed the offending muffin on the table, watching it as if it might explode. "Is something wrong with it?"

Strangely enough Flitwick took a quick glance around before answering. "Well... not wrong in the direct sense of the word, but..."

"Lupin," a voice growled next to the werewolf's ear. Professor Flitwick let out a startled squeak and collapsed along with his pillows, landing hard on the floor.

Remus suppressed a shiver at the sensation of breath on his skin, for he knew the owner of that voice would have seen it as weakness. He merely sighed, contemplating the cards fate had dealt him. "Good evening, Severus," he replied in an attempt at civility.

Hogwarts' resident Potions Master took the seat next to Remus and inspected the muffin on the table with raised eyebrows. "I hope you didn't have your paws on that," he muttered, and grabbed the item in a movement so swift Remus almost missed it.

"Hey! That's mine!"

It made for a very disconcerting sight to watch a generous smile on Severus' face grow as he patted Remus' shoulder. The effect was marred only slightly by the fact that he wiped his hand on his trousers afterwards in a demonstrative gesture. "As you would know had you been here longer than a few months: The last muffin is mine." The eerie smile turned into his more usual malicious sneer as he added, "But I believe none of them think you'll last even one year, so maybe they thought it pointless to tell you."

Remus was thinking quickly, reminding himself of the promise he'd made at the beginning of the year. Dumbledore had been quite clear on his behaviour where Severus was concerned, and really, he was trying, he was, but the git had a way of getting under his skin that nobody else had.

Easy, Remus, he told himself. Rash action had brought his friends to early deaths and Azkaban, a fact which served as a fine example why Sirius had been wrong to laugh about his rationality –

Sirius. There was it again, the slight twinge in his heart whenever he thought of the name. He looked up again, meeting Severus' gaze, and noticed that the Slytherin was baiting him.

Thinking of Sirius made him stop to care about that.

"I've had enough of you, Snape! Will you ever stop acting as immature as a first year? Now hand over that muffin or face the consequences!"

Severus stood up so forcefully that his chair was knocked back and joined Professor Flitwick on the floor. "Are you threatening me, wolf?" At the time his own voice sounded rather like a snarl.

"What did you call me?" Remus sprung to his feet as well, barely noticing his wand was suddenly in his hand, pointing at his fellow teacher. "Take it back!"

"The hell I will!" Severus' own hand barely moved, but from one second to the next his own wand was trained on Remus. "You had no business taking that muffin!"

"Immature git!"

"I believe that is quite enough, boys."

At the sound of this third voice both of the men spun around, the wands vanishing faster than they had been drawn. "Ah... good evening, Headmaster," Remus ventured, feeling rather sheepish getting caught like a schoolboy.

"It is not," Albus Dumbledore answered with a grave sigh and left his vantage point on the threshold, entering the room with slow steps. "What is this shouting about?"

None of the men present replied, causing the headmaster to sigh again. "Filius? Why don't you enlighten us?"

The tiny teacher's gaze darted around without focus. "Severus started it," he began, "and..."

"Did not!" Severus growled. "Headmaster, Remus insulted me."

"I asked Filius, Severus. Thank you." Dumbledore frowned, and knowing what a powerful wizard he was, it made for a scary sight.

This time Flitwick hesitated even longer. "It's. Ah, well. You see. Remus took the last muffin, sir."

For a moment Remus thought Dumbledore might shout, and the mere thought was enough to scare him witless. But then the Headmaster only heaved a long-suffering sigh and shook his head at Severus. "I believe we talked about that before, my boy. However, I find myself quite reluctant to repeat the lecture. At least nobody got hurt this time, did they?

Severus grumbled. "No," he snapped, and fell silent again.

"Nevertheless..." Both Severus and Remus jumped at that, and even Flitwick paled.

"H-Headmaster, really, I think it's enough now, isn't it? It won't happen again." Remus smiled uncertainly.

"I hope it won't." Dumbledore gave him a look that seemed to read his innermost thoughts. He drew his wand, causing Severus to groan.

"Oh no, you won't."

Dumbledore's gaze turned to Severus, which relieved Remus a great deal. "I will," he countered. "You never learn, do you?"

He began to wave his wand in a complicate motion, tracing patterns in the air in front of the two men. Remus found himself entranced by the movement, his eyes following the tip of the wand and the web of blue lines that began to glow where the old wizard painted lines in thin air. It was beautiful, magnificent, and almost involuntarily he made a step forward to examine the pattern closer to –

"Damn it, you fool, don't touch it!"

There was a hard grip on his wrist, and the trance was broken. Feeling slightly dazed Remus turned to look at Severus, whose eyes were scrunched shut. "What..."

Dumbledore spoke a single word, sounding very much like a command, and the mysterious web moved forward until it touched Remus' skin right where Severus still held his wrist. He shivered. It was hot and cold and everything in between, and he couldn't tell if the touch lasted for eternity or merely a heartbeat.

Then the glow faded. It took a while for the headmaster's words to filter through Remus' confusion. "Severus, you know this already, so don't look so sour. You brought it on yourself. I'm sorry, Remus, but you weren't on your best behaviour either. You and Severus are now bound to each other for a while. You won't be able to move far away from each other, and just as a warning – hurting the other wouldn't prove as satisfying as the thought might be now."

No. It couldn't be. Remus didn't hear what Dumbledore said next; he was too caught up in shock and denial. Unbidden his mind came up with an image of Severus and himself, both looking very old, shouting at each other over a breakfast table...

Much, much later he resolved to ask Madame Pomfrey if it was possible to be shocked out of a state of shock, or if he was a case for St. Mungo's closed ward.

"But – Headmaster – you can't..."

Severus next to him snorted. "Wolf got your tongue, Lupin?"

Fury served as a catalyst to drive the last remnants of Remus' daze away. "But Headmaster, what about classes?"

For the first time in this encounter the old wizard in front of them smiled, his eyes bright with merriness. "Oh, you will be able to teach one. Severus always applies for Defence Against the Dark Arts anyway, isn't that right, my boy? I will take your place in Potions for the time being. I'm sure I remember my teaching days..."

Remus blanched, but not quite as badly as Severus. The latter shook his head. "Dumbledore, you meddling old fool, if you so much as..."

"You'd better not finish that sentence, Severus," Remus whispered to his partner in crime, his wits gathered enough to act on his own and think again.

Dumbledore merely chuckled. "Good thinking there, Remus," he commented. "Now, I suggest the two of you get acquainted. Merlin knows you need to have a good, long talk. I'm sure we can handle one staff meeting without your valuable input."

Before either of them could get a word in Severus and Remus found themselves outside of the staff room, looking at the door which was closed in their faces. As if on cue they turned to glare at each other.

"This is all your fault, Lupin," Severus snapped.

"Is it? Who decided to behave like a hyper six-year-old?"

"Who took the last muffin?"

Remus found himself doubting reality at that comment. However, he recovered quickly, his analytical mind sitting up to pay attention. "Be that as it may..."

"So you admit it's your fault?"

"I'll do no such thing!"

Both men threw venomous glances at each other, and Remus didn't fail to notice that Severus' hand was curled in the distinct pose it took him to draw his wand.

"I had to stand up and say something. You were insulting me!"

Remus growled. "It isn't that hard to insult your big, inflated ego!"

The two men jumped as the door to the staff room opened with a creak. Surprisingly enough it wasn't Dumbledore, but a very nervous looking Flitwick on the doorstep. "Er, he – he says..." He looked back into the room, paled some more behind his beard, and glanced at the two fighting men again. "He kindly asks you to take your discussion somewhere else, as – er... the, the volume is distracting some members of staff. Er. Thank you. Very kindly so."

The door shut again.

After a moment of stunned silence Remus sighed and rubbed his eyes. "This punishment is insane," he muttered.

"Better get used to Dumbledore's methods," Severus supplied, his glee slightly curious seeing as he, too, was caught up in said methods. "The man is insane." He glanced at the closed door, obviously wondering if the meddling fool in question was listening in to the conversation.

Remus sighed. It had been a long day, and by current appearances it would become even longer. "Well, I suggest we head to my quarters for the night. We should try to find out how close we have to stick together."

"Three metres," came the prompt reply. "And why your quarters? I believe my rooms are quite sufficient."

"I have a guest room," Remus regarded the other teacher coolly. "And how would you know so much about Dumbledore's spell?"

That seemed to shut up the Potions teacher, at least for the amount of time it took Remus to turn around and head for his rooms.

"Reduced to sleeping in a wolf's den," Severus said bitterly. "I pray to God you don't shed, Lupin." But despite his words he followed Remus down the corridor.

Remus had the distinct feeling that his life was doomed. Really, maybe he should have listened to Professor Trelawney at the beginning of the year when she'd told him that nothing but grief awaited him within the halls of Hogwarts. She must have foreseen a dark, not-so-handsome stranger in his future.

He was currently sitting on the edge of the couch in his living room, trying to decide if 'uncomfortable' or 'surreal' was the right word to describe the scene. Severus had said nothing since they'd reached his quarters, but his face spoke volumes. The Potions master was still inspecting the room, circling the couch in the perimeter the spell allowed, and made no move to even acknowledge Remus' presence.

Maybe the board of governors wasn't so far off and Dumbledore had indeed lost his marbles. It was a sad day, Remus mused, when he had to agree with the likes of Lucius Malfoy.

"Have you given the topic of sleeping arrangements any thought?"

Severus' voice startled Remus out of his thoughts. He glanced at the tall man still pacing the invisible boundaries of his cage. "Of course," he said, managing to keep much of his indignation out of his tone, "the guest room is over there... oh."

"Right. 'Oh' seems to be accurate." Severus looked at the door to the second bedroom which was definitely more than three metres away from the one to where Remus slept.

The werewolf argued with himself for a moment. And yet, there seemed to be no other way. "It might be possible to move a second bed into my room."

It was hardly possible anyone could feel more disgusted than he did at the time, but Severus' expression gave testament to the fact that it was.

"Severus!"

No answer.

"Severus, for god's sake, wake up!"

A sudden silence. Then, a grumbled "what do you want, Lupin?"

"You snore."

A pause. "I certainly don't."

"Do too!"

"Keep quiet, wolf. Some of us are trying to sleep here."