So it's shorter than the others, forgive me - but yay, an update. I should get another up this week, maybe more than one, but here's a little bit for now. As always, read, review, and I own the plot, and nothing more.

He groaned as he woke up in an unfamiliar environment. It was not his office, it was not Snape's dungeon, and it certainly wasn't inside. Leaves blanketed the floor, and tattered clothing around his half-naked form was dirty, brown from mud and red from –

Fuck.

"Shit," was all he said as he straightened up, assessing the damage. His senses, still heightened, realized that the blood was thankfully not a human's, but rather a stag's. Double-shit, he thought as he realized what that could have meant. But no – perhaps he had simply wandered too near the stag's family. That was more likely; he never hunted animals in his wolf form, at least, that he was aware of. That's when he recalled what was so important that he should not have woken up a mile from the castle.

The potion.

His blood.

The feast.

Oh Merlin. The students!

What had they done? Were they really stupid enough to try it on the first night students were ensconced safely back in Hogwarts? What had happened? He was upset at himself, and understandably so, but even more so at Snivellus. The man was supposed to put wards on essentially every door that led to the Great Hall in some way. And, knowing Hogwarts, this was probably nine out of ten doors that were in the dungeon. Knowing Snape, the man probably thought that his one powerful ward was enough. Snape calling Potter arrogant, well, that was like the pot calling the kettle back. Part of him, the paranoid part that was all too much like Sirius, was claiming that the prat had done it on purpose, but Remus knew Severus better than that. Although he certainly was formidable, greasy, and none too easy to actually get along with, Severus would never purposefully endanger students, even for a pet project of his.

Remus chuckled wearily at his dark humor, struggling to get to his feet. He was upset, and he was frightened that he might have done something to one of the students – he faintly recalled a very female, very human scream, but nothing more. He needed some humor, although he found very little in his situation. They should have gone to the Shrieking Shack; it would have been much better than the Potions labs, extensive as they were.

It was a long walk back to Hogwarts – at least a mile. Exhausted, slightly wounded, and with the realization that he probably frightened the students more than an angry Severus never could. Disillusioned youth was one thing to deal with, but he would also have to confront Dumbledore, Severus, and most likely, several irate parents before this was over. It seemed to him, however, that the Potions Master should get the brunt of the punishment though, but Remus was a fair, even-tempered person.

He still wondered how he managed to get past all the wards.

------------------------------------

"What?!" he exclaimed, having just put fresh clothes on – a loose cotton shirt and a pair of grey sweats, after all, it was a Saturday and classes did not start until Monday – and arrived at the Potions lab. "You mean to tell me that it slipped your mind to ward the doors."

"Yes."

"And the cage?"

"Indeed."

"Of all the half-witted things I had come to expect from you, Severus Snape, I had never expected this! You endangered countless students, yourself, and the faculty! Yet you have the nerve to be your normal sniveling self?" shouted the irked Remus Lupin. A feral light glinted in his eyes – it was too close to the full moon for him to be nearly rational.

"Yes. After you attacked Miss Granger –" and here a strangled gasp from Lupin – "do not worry, she is unharmed but for her dignity – Albus persuaded me to inform her of our project. For an insufferable know-it-all, she had some interesting thoughts on the matter." It was easy to switch into academic mode, very easy, especially after last night. This was what creeped some of the staff out more than his enigmatic personality – his ability to refrain from insulting nearly everyone when describing his research.

"I attacked Hermione?" choked Lupin, obviously not caring about the potion on that matter.

Severus sighed. "Yes, and you would have attacked the rest of the Hogwarts population had I not succeeded in lifting you in the air by your ankle, you pathetic creature. Stop pitying yourself. It's not becoming," he growled impatiently. It was clear that he was excited, but it was hard to say for the other man what he was excited about.

"I'm not pitying myself!"

"You are, and it is a sore sight on a grown man. Stop acting like Potter, Lupin. One of him is more than enough."

Lupin sighed, immediately quieting, although the way his mouth was contorted in an unbecoming sneer suggested that Snape better get on with it before he was throttled into a bloody pulp.

"Chocolate."

"Yes, thank you," Remus said, believing that it had been a generous offer from the usually stingy Severus.

"No, you imbecile. For the Potion – the properties of unsweetened chocolate might help stabilize it."

"Oh."

Remus appeared thoughtful – wasn't he supposed to be the intelligent one in the Marauders? Pettigrew was useless, Black the charmer, and Potter the head of the snake, but mousy Remus had always been in the background. Severus did not like the chances of the others' intelligence if this was the show of the DADA teacher's brains. Suddenly, unbidden, came Hermione's words: "…they would never have been able to do it without me." He wondered if it was the same for the Marauders. Was Lupin's knowledge what kept the prats out of trouble?

Severus suddenly resented the mousy man that was reminding him too much of a mousy girl at the moment.

"Chocolate?"

"Yes. Must I spell it out?"

"It could work."

All Severus did was nod, turn, and then speak vehemently. "I apologize for not warding the doors. It was entirely arrogant of me to think I could successfully keep a werewolf in an unwarded cage. Next time, bars will be silver-coated." He smirked, knowing that Lupin probably flinched. While silver was not deadly, it was repellent, and over time it could prove fatal if it reached the bloodstream and built up, much like mercury and lead.

"You wouldn't."

"It would keep you at bay, would it not? I have enough of your blood to brew a lifetime's worth of potions, if we are correct in our stipulations. Your lycanthropy is no longer needed, except for a smattering of tests. It will take time to brew the potion, though." Severus quieted, waiting for the man to say something, anything. When Remus did not, Severus dismissed him.

Remus went to find Hermione, or Dumbledore – whichever he rand into first.