Chapter Three
The wolf delighted in its strength, and yet was angry at being locked inside. If only it could get out! Smell the night air, howl at the moon, hunt for prey! But it was trapped, and there was no prey.
Wait! – There was something; a scent, drifting in from under the floorboards. It was human. A human scent, warm and strong, and it was right below the wolf…
It began scraping at the floor with its razor-sharp claws, attempting to dig a hole so it could reach that warm human scent. Its fangs glinted in the moonlight coming in between the planks boarding up a window. The floorboards creaked and cracked.
An opening! Escape! Now he would find his prey! Now he would tear it apart! Soon –
"What the hell happened?" Remus hissed angrily at Sirius. "Would you mind telling me why I just spent half an hour trying to convince Dumbledore not to expel you?"
"Is he going to expel me?" Sirius looked worried.
"You know, I almost wish he would! How could you be so reckless?" Remus paced up and down the dormitory. "And, no, he's not expelling you. You just lost Gryffindor fifty points, though. I swear, if it hadn't been for James… Are you aware of what would have happened if he hadn't intervened? Snape could have been killed!"
"What a loss…" Sirius muttered under his breath, looking away.
Remus stopped pacing and glared at him. "Padfoot, I don't care what you think of him, but he does not deserve to die! You don't even know him, you've never taken the time to! Do you really want the death of an innocent person weighing on your conscience? On mine? If Prongs hadn't stopped him, I would have killed him. If you don't care about Snape, then at least pretend you give a damn about me! Why do you think I go down there once a month, to mess about? I go there so that I won't hurt anyone!"
Sirius bit his lip. "I didn't think of that…" he mumbled.
There were a few moments of silence. Remus ran a hand through his hair. The other hand was bandaged. Somehow he had managed to get a deep cut in it, which was not yet quite healed. He had deep shadows under his eyes, and had never felt so tired in his life. Having returned from the Shrieking Shack that morning, exhausted and bitter, he had immediately been sent to Dumbledore's office, where he had first been interrogated about whether he'd had anything to do with the incident, followed by a threat to have his Prefect's Badge removed unless he could keep his friends in check. He felt like he hadn't slept in weeks… Yet there was no time to sleep now. If he wanted to stay on top of his schoolwork he had better get cracking.
"I don't suppose you took any notes for me?" he asked Sirius. The latter cringed.
"Only in Defence," he mumbled. "I'm sorry, I forgot. You know I usually don't take notes…"
"What did we do in Potions?" Remus yawned, rubbing his eyes.
"An Elixir to Induce Euphoria," Sirius replied with a hopeful half-smile. "It was fun, really. I took some. Got completely high. Like being drunk minus the violent streak and the headaches."
Remus ignored the last part. "Euphoria…" he muttered. "It that one even part of the syllabus?"
"Well, it's in the book, and you know Slughorn. Takes it as it comes. Both Evans and Snape got extra points for it, of course. They were both excellent, as usual." Sirius sounded positively revolted at the very concept.
"Yeah…" said Remus absentmindedly, too tired to really care. "I need to go catch up on my studies. I'll need to borrow those Defence notes from you later."
He gathered up some schoolbooks and headed off to the library. It was raining today, so there were a lot of people catching up on their studies. The library was full, except for one seat at a small table where Severus Snape was sitting, hunched over Advanced Potion-Making once more, a stack of ancient, heavy leather-bound books next to it. The top one was open.
Reluctantly, Remus went over to him.
"Can I sit here?" he asked. Snape immediately closed his book before looking up.
"Oh, it's you," he said, his voice flat. "I suppose. Healthy again, I see?" He looked Remus up and down with some suspicion.
"Yeah," said Remus uncomfortably. He sat down in the empty seat. "So, what were you doing?" He glanced at the open library book. It displayed a page about various herbs and their properties in potions.
"Oh, just trying to find a way to improve the Elixir to Induce Euphoria," Snape explained. "I'm trying to actually make it useful. You know, less obvious. Here, look." He opened Advanced Potion-Making again and showed him a page. "I figure if I add some peppermint it might make it more subtle. Counter some of the less fortunate side-effects."
Remus leaned over to see more properly, and caught a whiff of a familiar scent. He had no idea where he had smelled it before, but it overpowered his senses. He drew a sharp, deep breath and closed his eyes, pulling away from Snape, and shuddered for a moment, grabbing hold of the table to steady himself. He could hear his blood rushing to his head.
"What's wrong?" asked Snape grabbing hold of his shoulder as Remus almost fell off his chair. His voice sounded very far away. Startled, Remus shook off the hand and opened his eyes, reality rushing back very quickly. His eyes met Snape's, and he shuddered again.
"I… It's nothing, I'm okay now," he lied, looking away. "Just a little dizzy. Still not quite healthy, I think."
He had the distinct feeling Snape didn't buy it, but the other let it lie. "You do look tired," he said. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small bottle filled with orange liquid. "Here," he said giving the bottle to Remus. "It's Invigoration Draught. I brewed a batch last week, it really helps with the studying."
Remus glanced at the bottle suspiciously before taking it. Pulling the stopper revealed a sweet and comfortable smell. Remus took a sip.
He at once felt much more awake. "Thanks," he said, returning the bottle with the rest of its contents to Snape. Snape said nothing and replaced the bottle back into his bag.
"So, what was it this time?" Snape asked, picking up his quill again.
"What?" Remus asked absentmindedly.
"Your illness," Snape clarified. "What was it? Common cold? Pneumonia? Dragon Pox?" He glanced at Remus. "Or perhaps you were just a bit moonstruck?" His voice was positively dripping with irony.
Remus blinked and looked at Snape. "No," he said slowly. "Nothing serious, I was just in a somewhat bad shape. Burnt out, if you will…"
"What about your hand?"
"I got scratched," Remus replied, looking away. "By a can that snuck up into our dormitory while I was ill."
Snape clearly didn't buy this either. "I suppose you heard that your friends tried to pull a prank on me, then?"
This time Remus snorted. "You could say that."
"Do you know what's down that tunnel?" Snape enquired conversationally. Remus shrugged.
"No, never been there," he lied. Then, to change the subject, "What's that potion?" He glanced at the open book.
"Draught of Peace, we brewed it last year," Snape replied. "Remember, for OWLs? You must have done decently enough, otherwise you wouldn't be in the NEWT class. Anyway, I'm experimenting with the amount of hellebore in it. I believe that if one ups the dosage of hellebore and adds lovage to the mix one can render the drinker temporarily insane instead. Of course, this is just a theory, and I can't test it on anyone."
Remus laughed then.
"What?" Snape raised an eyebrow.
"When you talk about Potions, it's like you're a completely different person," Remus remarked, smile still in place. "You sort of light up and actually seem like you care, for a change. You're usually just blank. No emotion. Certainly no spark, but when you're absorbed in something like this… Well, you're different."
Snape looked at him for a moment, and then looked back at his book again. "It's a hobby," he said.
Remus shook his head. "More of an obsession," he corrected. Then he got out his Transfiguration book, some parchment and a quill. "Can I borrow some ink, Severus?"
