Barking up the wrong tree
The next afternoon Remus stood at precisely five minutes to three o'clock in front of the heavy wooden door behind which he knew Severus private laboratory to be. He had never been inside the rooms in the rather out-of-the way Serpens Tower. Of course he knew the students laboratories in the dungeons where the walls were heavy enough to withstand the occasional exploding cauldron and a permanent cool kept the room temperature bearable even with ten fires burning beneath the cauldrons, but Severus private laboratories were decidedly off limits. And currently probably less comfortable.
Serpens Tower didn't have the benefit of coolness the dungeons had. The summer heat had crawled into the tower easily, and it was just as hot there as in any other part of the castle. For a brief moment Remus wondered why the couldn't use the students laboratories, but on the other hand he would have felt like a thirteen-year-old student again, and he wasn't sure whether that would be an advantage.
But then he had done his homework. Only hours after Severus had thrown the book into his lap he had settled down at his desk, opened up a fresh notebook, and worked his way through the first two chapters as he had been ordered to do. It wasn't an easy or pleasant read, but at least Mr. Cibinensis had a knack for explaining things in a way that Remus understood them easily. He had read and taken notes until night fell, and continued the next morning without fail. Now his notebook was covered with remarks about safety procedures, basic information on cauldrons sizes, materials and tools, temperature recommendations and carefully drawn diagrams. He wasn't a master yet, but he had done his job well.
Now Severus had to do his.
But it wasn't three yet, and Remus waited patiently. In his mind he saw the bubbling cauldron over a carefully controlled flame, saw himself slowly but steadily mastering the art, the first werewolf ever to brew -
But his train of thoughts was brutally interrupted by the opening door.
"Why aren't you simply knocking?"
Severus leaned in the door frame, dressed as it seemed to be his habit during his time off in a tattered lab robe, underneath thin black linen trousers and the same sturdy boots. He didn't wait for an answer, shook his head disapprovingly, and moved back into the room.
Remus gulped down a reply and followed him suit.
He had never been in any kind of laboratory after his time in Hogwarts had been over, and the student laboratories didn't quite make the cut for being proper ones. But now the room in front of Remus decidedly was a proper laboratory, although it didn't look the way Remus had imagined it.
It was mostly empty. There weren't the rows of stacked vials and bottles, cylinders and cauldrons he had expected. Not a single dead animal in thick liquid was in sight, no cobwebs, no mysterious bookshelf. Instead it was a large room, with empty white walls and a single door leading into what probably was a storage room. Large windows gave way to a beautiful view over the grounds, sunlight brightening the room and providing natural light to work in.
There were two large work tables, both covered with various utensils used for potion making. A third one was pushed against as wall and served as a makeshift desk, holding a stack of notebooks in various degrees of use from almost new to badly damaged. The few books lying on the desk seemed to be in much better condition, and pencils were everywhere, indicating that someone had the habit of misplacing them frequently. There was a single large bookcase on the wall behind the makeshift-desk, filled half with labeled vials and half with books. Between the leather-bound magical books Remus spied a fair amount of books coming from Muggle publishers, and a rough glance revealed them to deal mostly with subjects like Chemistry and Pharmacy. He was surprised, but there was no time to think about that further.
Without extending a greeting or any kind of introduction Severus pointed towards one of the two working tables.
"Do not touch anything. This is your table, and I want you far away from everything else you see in this room. Almost everything here is volatile or toxic, and if you poison yourself I will not hear the end of it from Albus. Clear?"
Remus nodded, trying to smile. If everything in this room was highly volatile or toxic same could be said for its owner, who most of the time ticked both boxes easily.
"Good. Do you have a lab coat?"
A lab coat? He was a teacher, not a mad scientist.
"No, of course not."
Already visibly annoyed Severus sighed. Then he turned around, crossed the room and for a short moment vanished through the door in the back. On his return he carried two vials that he deposited on his own work table while he passed it, and a new lab coat.
"Shorten it so it fits you, but do it later. Albus helpfully pointed out that you're expected to attend dinner tonight, so there isn't much time. Did you read the book?"
Trying to listen and nod at the same time Remus placed the lab coat on a chair he found near his own work table. If Severus owned actual new clean lab coats, why did he wear the old ratty one? But once more Remus didn't really have time to follow this trail of thought further.
"Yes, of course. It was very interesting, I took notes. Though I have to mention that your book is in an appalling condition, really. Two pages fell out, there's nothing I could do."
He suspected a temper tantrum, but Severus merely shrugged.
"It has done its duty, and loose pages can be fixed again. The copy is old, as you probably already realized. I couldn't give you the newer one, I use it for reference."
With a few steps he moved towards the work table prepared for Remus, who followed and for the first time took inventory of what was on that table.
And it was a disappointing to see that there wasn't much. Where was his cauldron? Fire place? Spoons? All he saw was a wooden board for cutting, a rather impressive knife, an empty bowl and another one filled with yellow coloured tubers.
"As I said, this table is yours. I will need it again once this is finally over, so don't blow it up. Or anything here. When was the last time you had anything to do with potions?"
Remus placed himself behind the table, looked at the wooden board and tried to remember the exact date.
"School, I guess. Ah, no, I made a cough potion two years ago. Worked nicely, if you ask me. Nobody died."
For a short moment Severus looked tired, but he rearranged his face quickly and nodded curtly.
"So we have to start from the very beginning."
He took a position opposite of Remus, crossed his arms in front of his chest and needed only three sentences before his voice slipped with practiced ease into teaching-mode. Remus tried his best not to grin and listened carefully.
"Well. You know the very basics of potion making: What kind of ingredients you will need, where you can find them, when the best time for harvest is, when to add them into a cauldron, and how to stir. That's what you learn in school. But it's only the very bottom of everything. What school does not teach are the really important elements of Alchemy: how ingredients are cut, what moonphase is good for selecting herbs, how a potions smells during stages of the heating process, which cauldron material transports magic best, and most importantly how magic is added to the process and which dosage is needed. The last point is crucial, as the added magic makes or breaks the potions' potency."
He gestured to the bookcase behind his shoulders.
"Most of these things are written down somewhere, you can find them and learn them that way. That is the easy part. But something else is much more important, and that is the controlled addition of magic during the brewing process. In school you learn that a potion is potent because the ingredients are powerful. That isn't false, but it isn't true at the same time. Basic potions do indeed work that way, and school teaching never goes beyond that, so it does make sense to let students belive it. But potent potions need magic, and in that way they depend on the master making them just as much as on their ingredients. Every potions retains a small amount of the magic from the person who made it, and by that you can trace a potion back to its master rather easily."
That was a lot of information in a short span of time, and somehow Remus felt as if he was supposed to take notes.
"You can trace a potion back to its maker? How does that work?"
Apparently that was a good question.
"There's a varying degree of smoke colour, for example."
He turned around, walked over to his own work table and picked up the two vials he had brought in from the storage room earlier. On his way back he also took a small wooden frame with two clean test-tubes. Uncorking the vials he let a few drops of each potion drip into a fresh test-tube. Then he snapped his fingers, and the small green flame Remus already knew appeared above his thumb.
One after another he held both test tubes into the green flame, each for a few seconds only, and returned them into the small wooden frame. Seconds later thin smoke started to rise. And indeed the smoke differed: although from both tubes black smoke was rising one contained beautiful golden shimmer while the other was laced with dark green streaks.
Fascinated Remus stared, double checking the both vials indeed contained the same purple potion.
"Dreamless Sleep Potion. As you can see both have been made by a different master. The golden smoke indicates that the potion is from Basilius Valentinus, the green smoke means that I made it."
As the potion cooled down the smoke died away.
"But the smoke itself was black, in both tubes. Is it always black?"
Severus shook his head and replaced the cork on the vials, collecting everything and returning the vials on his own work table. The test tubes went straight towards the sink.
"No. Only the smoke colour during the brewing process is inherent with the potion itself, later on it always indicates the maker. In this case both vials emit black smoke because Basilius Valentinus was my own master. Some tend to be far more creative. Hermes Trismegistos, for example, was a rather eccentric person and always had red smoke. One of his apprentices was a witch with a dry sense of humour, and her potions added blinking pink glitter into the red smoke, a rather ghastly yet unique combination."
While speaking Severus carefully disposed the few remaining drops of the potions, washed the test tubes vigorously and placed the on the sink to dry out. Then he returned to Remus.
"I will not waste time explaining fundamental principles of Alchemy to you. Read the book and ask questions as we proceed, there is no time for anything else. For whatever reason you have decided to brew wolfsbane, if you want to do it you need to be able to perform the actual task without errors. You will not receive the full recipe until later on, you wouldn't understand it now anyways. We have to start somewhere else."
Remus nodded. What Severus said made sense, of course, and it even seemed as if there was a plan Remus couldn't yet fully see.
"I'm fine with that. Where do we start?"
He felt the equivalent feeling of rolling up one's sleeves, just that he was wearing a faded T-shirt sporting the emblem of a Muggle Airline on the chest, an old freebie he had felt was perfect for the possibly stain-inducing task of brewing.
Severus seemed surprised at the sudden outburst of positivity.
"One always starts at the beginning."
He pointed to the wooden cutting board in front of them.
"This is a cutting board, rather obviously, made from ash wood. Ash is a fine wood, reacting to almost nothing, and thus is perfectly suited for a potion as sensitive as wolfsbane. The basic rules, learn them: no silver, no sugar, no blood, no essential oils. Did you understand that?"
As if Remus would ever handle a silver knife, really. But he nodded duly.
"Good. Wash your hands."
Swallowing whatever retort was on his tongue Remus obeyed. Back at the working table Severus pointed towards the rather impressive knife.
"One knife will do for today. Be careful, it is in a good condition and sharp. Use the lower part to peel, the full blade to cut."
Remus took the knife. It was heavy and well-balanced in his hand, obviously well-used and cared for. He pointed towards the bowl with the collection of tubers.
"And these are?"
Now Severus didn't even attempt to hide his grin.
"Aconitum tubers. One of the basic ingredients for wolfsbane, rather rare and difficult to find. Look them up tonight and memorize the information."
Listening carefully Remus eyed the tubers and decided to take one. To his surprise Severus didn't object, but instead gestured at the bowl for Remus to continue whatever he had planned. Picking up a medium-sized tuber Remus carefully weighted it in his hands. It felt very familiar in texture, weight and smell. Pausing he brought it closer to his face and sniffed. Then he grimaced.
"That's a potato, you git."
For a second he thought Severus would break out into full laughter. But in the very last minute he controlled himself and allowed only a broad, rather mischievous grin to appear on his face.
"Of course it is. Aconitum tubers are a pain in the ass to find, I spent the past two nights in the Forbidden Forest digging them up. And all that to let you muck them up with your untrained knife work? No. Potatoes have very similar properties, and you will learn everything you need by using them. Every hour one of the houseelves will come by and pick them up. I do belive there will be fried potatoes for dinner."
It was obvious that Severus really enjoyed this a bit too much. For a short second Remus wondered whether he would get the first word of a hex out, but chances were high that he'd be dead before he could even draw his wand. Biting his tongue he shook his head.
"You have a strange kind of humor, really."
Severus, still grinning, only crossed his arms in front of his chest again.
"General opinion says I don't have any. And now work."
Growling something rather unpleasant Remus took the first potato, weighed the knife again and as precisely as possible started to peel it. The last time someone had watched him peel a potato like a hawk had been when he was about five years old and learned how to handle a rather blunt little knife, and it had been his mother worrying for his fingers. Severus seemed to worry about something entirely different.
"Next time make sure you're more careful and don't lose to much flesh. Cutting techniques for Aconitum are easy, but I have to demonstrate you how it works."
Without commentary Remus handed knife and tuber over to Severus and moved to the side. With trained movements the potato was placed on the cutting board and Severus explained what he did while doing it.
"You keep the tuber to the cutting board with the right hand, balancing the knife with the left. One longitudinal cut" - the tuber fell apart - "and then cutting small slices off the two parts. You want them to be as thin as possible, as the tuber is supposed to dissolve later on in the potion."
With precise and fluid cuts the tuber fell apart. Remus watched carefully, registering the method, but also how Severus had obvious troubles with his injured wrist. But neither of them mentioned it. The first tuber went into the prepared bowl, and Remus took the knife back.
"Knives are traditionally handled with the left hand, by the way, but you can use your right. It's not like you will ever take an examination by the guild."
Remus changed the knife from his right to his left hand.
"I'm right handed, but I want to learn the proper way."
He wasn't sure, but it seemed as if there was a hint of appreciation in Severus' raised eyebrow. Quickly Remus peeled the next tuber. Placing it down on the cutting board he made the longitudinal cut, and the tried to chop the slices as thin as Severus had done. It didn't quite work out, though. And he was much slower.
"Wait. First, don't hurry. Cutting techniques take a long time to learn, it is about muscle memory. Cut slow, but don't use brute force. This knife is very sharp, you don't need strength from the wrist. It might also injure your hand. Use a rocking movement."
Remus tried again, but he didn't quite understand what Severus meant. He heard Severus sigh, and looked up.
"I thought it wouldn't work just by explaining, it hardly ever does. Let me explain it to you once more." He took two steps closer, and was suddenly very much in Remus' private space. Remus didn't move, needing a few seconds to understand what was happening.
"Listen. Alchemy is a rather physical science. Specific motions have to be felt to be understood correctly, muscle memory doesn't build itself from watching someone doing it. Can you cope with things like that?"
While Remus' brain was still computing what Severus really meant his head already nodded, and Severus, seemingly giving in to his fate, sighed again.
"Fine."
And without further ceremony he took a step directly behind Remus, placing both hands on Remus' hands holding knife and tuber, and like that being able to carefully guide him showed the cutting technique once more.
That might have been a good method for teaching specific movements, but Remus' mind was certainly somewhere different. Although Severus was hardly touching him the physical closeness was slightly overwhelming. Remus' nose easily picked up on the scent of wood and Earl Gray again, and his memory added opium, smoke and that velvet in Severus' voice. It didn't help that he could hear Severus' now very matter-of-fact voice far too close to his ear, and feel bony shoulders next to his own. Severus had the perfect height for that particular way of guiding movement, tall enough so he could easily look at the cutting board over Remus.
"Hold the tuber like this, and rock the knife back and forward without strength. Remember that movement."
Remus nodded, praying to whatever saint was the right one in his current situation that his ears wouldn't turn warm. Or that Severus would notice something else. Carefully controlling his breathing he tried to fix mind and gaze on the tuber and ignore the fact that Severus had awfully long fingers, and that they wrapped perfectly around his own. Even with the scratching bandage and ignoring the fact that his skin was strangely cold.
The tuber fell apart and Remus tried to smile.
Then Severus was gone and moved quickly around the table again so they were facing each other once more over the cutting board. Automatically Remus reached for the next tuber. He started to peel it again, somehow still feeling the touch of Severus' hands on his own. This was far more confusing than it was supposed to be. Severus saw his face, but to Remus' luck he interpreted it in a quite different way.
"I can reassure you that I'm not particular fond of physical closeness either. But the traditional teaching of Alchemy has always depended heavily on it, and I would venture the guess that it cannot be taught any other way. Because of this it is difficult to teach it in official institutions beyond a certain level. A traditional apprenticeship between a master and an apprentice is based on trust and a certain sense of intimacy. Physical proximity is a part of it and can hardly be avoided. I understand that you are not pleased, but right now I don't see a way around it. And you can trust me when I say that I've been looking for one."
His whole body language made that crystal clear. Remus needed a moment to find the best answer. For a second he contemplated telling Severus that he absolutely didn't mind physical interaction, although he'd prefer other places then a lab for that. Instead he just tried to smile reassuringly.
"No, I don't mind. I just wasn't aware of it. It's fine with me."
Severus wasn't completely convinced, but he just shrugged.
"If you say so. Then get to work. There are many potatoes in that bowl."
With that he turned around and wandered over to his makeshift desk where he sat down and pulled some books towards him. Completely ignoring Remus he picked up a pencil, and focused on a text. Watching him for a short moment Remus realized that he was left-handed - the pencil was dangerously balanced between his index and middle finger of the left hand.
Then he forced his concentration back on the bowl with potatoes.
Cutting and peeling, cutting and peeling - he soon found a routine. Working slowly at first he quickly realized how he had to handle the knife and tuber best, and his work gained momenutum. But the mountain of potatoes in the first bowl didn't shrink, and the other bowl didn't seem to get any fuller. The silence in the room helped him sinking deep into concentration. The only noises were the chopping sound of the knife on the wood, the soft fall of the peel and sometimes the sound of pages being turned or Severus' pencil scratching on paper.
Both men were deeply lost in their concentration and startled when a houseelf appeared in the lab with a soft "plopp". Severus' pencil dropped to the ground and rolled underneath the table.
The little creature took the bowl and looked at its content.
"Very good, Professor Lupin, very good potatoes!"
The creature's enthusiasm was real, but then it was gone as quickly as it has appeared.
"Very good!"
Remus enjoyed the praise, even if it came from a houseelf who cared for kitchen-style cut potatoes and not for potion-ready tubers. Severus looked up from his quest for the fugitive pencil.
"Take care that you keep your back straight while working. Shoulders down, otherwise you'll suffer severe back pain tonight."
Finally seeing his pencil he got up to pick it up from the ground. It was the first time Remus had seen him actually crouching down to collect something from the ground. The next tuber already in hand he couldn't help but comment.
"No magic?"
Straightening himself upright again with his pencil Severus shook his head.
"No unnecessary magic in the lab. Magical concentrations need to be kept low to ensure that every potion is only subjected to a precisely measured amount of it. Wolfsbane in particular. Thought you wouldn't need to learn that particular rule, granted you don't use wandless magic."
For a second Remus wondered if that was an insult, but Severus only returned to his desk and settled down to concentrate on his work again. Deciding to stay silent Remus did the same.
Time went by quickly. Remus fell back into his meditative state of mind quickly, letting his hands do the work while his mind was free to idle. He didn't know where the time had gone, but suddenly the sun was low and the enthusiastic houseelf had been back to collect the full bowl of cut potatoes three times. And then the bowl was empty and all the potatoes gone.
Remus felt his hands ache, realizing how tired his wrists really were and put the knife down. For the first time in about an hour he looked up from the wooden board.
Severus hadn't noticed anything. He was submerged in a stream of thought Remus couldn't even guess, eyes fixed to a page in his notebook. His face wore the same expression it had shown down in the dungeons when Remus had watched him calculate. The pencil still in his left hand he had put the fingertips of his right index finger to his lips. The cloud of concentration around him was almost tangible. Until Remus coughed, that was.
Startling Severus dropped the pencil again. This time it only fell onto the table, and he looked up.
"You are done?"
Remus nodded and showed the empty bowl. Severus pulled a small silver pocket watch from wherever he had kept it in his ratty lab robe. Checking the time and snapping it shut again he nodded.
"In time for dinner. I think the potatoes might be already fried."
Against his will Remus smiled.
"I'll leave then?"
Severus snorted and stood up.
"You won't. Who works has to clean, golden rule. And no magic, if you remember."
He was supposed to do what? Washing up? But there were spells for that, very efficient ones, and -
But Severus facial expression told Remus that he wouldn't be using any spell anytime soon. At least not in that lab. Giving in to his fate Remus carried the knife and cutting board to the sink. Severus in the meantime picked up a large brown glass bottle from the shelf.
"Use that instead of water."
The liquid was clear, softer then water, and felt strange. Carefully Remus sniffed his wet fingertips, a habit Sirius found disgusting but Severus strangely seemed to agree with.
"What is that? It doesn't smell like anything."
Severus nodded. "Because it has no smell. It's called Nihilio, a completely neutral liquid. Doesn't leave any traces, but cleans everything from equipment - fibers, particles, everything. A potion is easily spoiled by remains from other works, and Nihilio helps to prevent that. Even if we used spells in the lab it wouldn't work that well. Remember, Alchemy is a manual craft. Has always been, will always be."
Finally everything was clean, dry and stored where it belonged. For a short moment Remus still lingered, but then he picked the new lab coat up and walked over to the door. Severus had settled down at his desk once more.
"I'll see you at dinner, then?"
Looking up again Severus twirled the pencil between his fingertips.
"Probably not. Tomorrow, same time."
And Remus was dismissed.
Not an hour later he joined the other residing inhabitants of the castle at the table in the orchard. Hogwart's population seemed to shrink every day. It was the height of summer and most members of faculty were gone for vacation now. Only Minerva McGonagall, Pomona Sprout, Poppy Pomfrey and of course Albus Dumbledore remained. Sirius was gone to sniff out Privet Drive, quite literally, and Hagrid was looking for dragons somewhere in Norway. He had invited Remus to come along, but had quickly accepted Remus' polite refusal. The table seemed strangely big for so small a party, even more so since Severus' chair remained empty and Pomona was still in the greenhouses, though she had promised to join them later on.
So it was Remus who told the story of his first potions lesson in years, and coaxing laughter from his listeners described how difficult it was to cut potatoes just right. Albus in particular seemed to enjoy hearing all about Severus' teaching methods.
"Yes, he's right. To you it might seem strange, but a good potions master needs to know the basic principles by heart. And cutting techniques are so important! These days they are often neglected. But Severus had a good master in Basilius, he still learned them the old-fashioned proper way."
Poppy looked up from her salad.
"Basilius? Basilius Valentinus? Really?"
Albus nodded and Poppy was visibly impressed.
"I never knew Valentinus taught our Severus. That explains a lot, of course."
Remus and Minerva exchanged a glance and shrugged simultaneously. Albus explained willingly.
"Basilius Valentinus was one of the "Wise Five", a group of five incredibly old potions masters, legendary even while they were alive. Nicholas Famel was one of them, too. But while Nicholas was loved wide and far Basilius was, well, brilliant and very difficult. He hated taking apprentices, and tortured every single one he took on. Rumour had it he had only four in his whole life, Severus being the last one. He claimed to only ever take an apprentice in when they could match his intellect, quite a feat if you ask me."
Poppy nodded fiercely.
"He was specialized on healing potions and invented many of them. I read many of his works while training at St. Mungo's. How did Severus get him to take him on? And wasn't he far too young?"
Albus didn't try to hide his grin.
"Oh yes, he was very young. Rumour has it that they dueled, and Severus won. Nobody knows for sure, though. They were the perfect pair, precise, highly skilled, and with quite a temper. They had the most impressive shouting matches, even in public, throwing obscenities at each other in four languages simultaneously. Basilius loved to cuss his apprentices out in an old byzantine dialect, but Severus has the dirtiest latin I've heard, it was quite entertaining. They were always good for a scene. But when they actually worked together it was delightful to see and their combined efforts provided many spectacular results. When Basilius was killed Severus was devastated."
Minerva put down her wine glass.
"He was killed? How did that happen?"
The smile from Albus' face vanished.
"Well. It's not really official knowledge, you see. I guess I'm not supposed to tell you. But, well. Basilius was one of Tom Riddle's first victims. Nobody knows why, there were no traces left. They blew up his whole house, all that was left was a gleaming skull in the night sky. Happened only weeks after Severus had taken the master examination and moved out, most curious thing."
The relaxed atmosphere seemed to tense up. Pensively Poppy sipped on her wine.
"Did they interrogate him?"
Albus sighed.
"What do you think? Of course. Severus was the prime suspect, but he had good alibis, me being one of them. They declared him innocent soon. He doesn't speak of it. But he took it hard. I remember seeing Severus at his own father's funeral and he didn't bat an eye. But when Tom Riddle came for Basilius - I guess he never forgave Tom for that. But that's the past, and let's not dwell on these things. Remus, I hope you'll provide us with more wonderful dinner ingredients soon!"
Everybody smiled, and raising they wine glasses they toasted to that. The dark cloud of the past vanished as quickly as it had come.
Their happy conversation soon resumed, and enjoying the dinner and wine time went by quickly. The sun was already gone, and it was almost completely dark when Pomona Sprout appeared at the table. The large candles created a sphere of light around them, flickering in the dark.
Pomona was greeted enthusiastically, pulled her chair out and reached for the salad bowl while Minerva filled her wine glass with deep red burgundy.
"Forgive me for being late, I have so much work. Everything seems to grow so quickly in summer, it's insane. And then it's suddenly brown and dead, one has to watch the greenhouses like a hawk."
Chatting she picked up her fork and started to eat.
"By the way, do we know who's leaving the cigarette buds lying around by the Great Portal?"
She stopped, chewing on a carrot and threw a glance around the table.
"Well, I was just wondering. Does anyone here smoke?"
Remus had a faint idea, remembering a cigarette glowing in the dark, balanced between pale long fingers. Minerva shrugged. "Sirius Black does, right? But he hasn't been around the past days."
Albus shook his head disapprovingly.
"I don't think anyone here - well, maybe - Remus, do you have any idea?"
Surprised Remus shook his head and swallowed the olive he had chewed.
"No. I certainly don't smoke. And I haven't seen Sirius with a cigarette in ages."
To buy himself time he picked his own glass up, sipping on the velvety wine.
"I never meant to imply that it was you, Remus. It rather seems that Severus has picked up one of his bad habits again."
He wrinkled his nose, visibly not enjoying the idea.
"Severus is a smoker? Seriously?"
Minerva was surprised, shaking her head.
"And have you heard, they say he's a Death Eater."
The comment came as a soft whisper out of the darkness surrounding the table, smooth silk sliding down Remus' senses, tempting and dangerous. Then Severus appeared in the candlelight, standing directly behind Albus' chair. Nonchalantly he leaned down on Albus shoulders with his elbows, his wrists and long hands dangling leisurely, the right wrist covered with the already worn bandage, between the fingers of his left hands a fresh cigarette. Directly above his wrist, illuminated by the candle light were black lines burnt into pale skin - the Dark Mark, ugly and very visible.
"Dramatic entrances have always been your thing, haven't they?"
Albus didn't seem surprised at all, and the sudden proximity to his personal spy didn't bother him. With a rather fatherly disapproving facial expression he took the cigarette from Severus' long fingers and it vanished in his hands.
"Old habits die hard."
Albus shook his head slightly, and it seemed to Remus as if he was examining the Dark Mark on Severus' wrist. Then he carefully took both of Severus' hands and pushed him away. For a short second Remus thought he had seen Albus' thumb pressing against the dark lines in Severus' skin and how the spy flinched at the touch. But he could be wrong, it could have been the candlelight. The flickering of the burning candles was unsteady, treacherous.
Sliding into his chair Severus called the wine bottle to him and poured himself a glass of wine. Leaning back he concentrated on the fully bodied wine for a second.
"How do we come to enjoy the pleasure of your company? I see you do have plans?"
Minerva's question focused the whole table's attention on Severus even more. But he didn't seem to mind, simply continuing to sip his wine. It gave them all enough time to stare him down. He had changed since Remus had seen him last in the lab, and it was hard to miss that he wore mugglestyle clothing. Dark denim and a black shirt, made out of what seemed to be very fine lightweight cotton, black, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and two buttons opened casually. And if there was one thing that could distract Remus from his thoughts it was a well-fitting pair of jeans on good legs. Damn.
"Indeed, I'll be gone in a few minutes."
Albus took the chance.
"So while you're gracing us with your presence - why did you start smoking again?"
Severus rolled his eyes and leaned back even further in his chair, with a pose equivalent to an annoyed slouching teenager. Remus tried not to stare. Or grin.
"And you need to know that why?"
Albus clicked his tongue.
"You know exactly why. Basilius would smack some sense into you. A master doesn't smoke."
Grinning into his wine glass Severus shook his head.
"He wouldn't smack sense into me, as you put it, he would kill me, skin me and then use the hide for a dark spell or two. Lucky for me he resides in his private part of hell, and he'll have to wait with that until I can join him there. Anything else?"
But Albus wasn't done.
"Don't be smart, you know what I mean. You know exactly what cigarettes do to your sense of smell, and you also know - but why am I telling you that, you should know better."
Now it was obvious that Severus didn't approve of Albus' intervention into his private matters. Frowning he put down his almost empty wine glass. The remaining occupants of the table watched the exchange, and Remus was fascinated by the sudden dynamic he had never been aware of before.
"I do know that, thank you for the reminder. I will contemplate it on my way. Apologies for interrupting your dinner conversation."
With that rather recalcitrant remark Severus got up, pushed his chair back, nodded at nobody in particular and left the table. Within seconds he was out of the space lit by the candlelight, and vanished in the darkness. Albus tried visibly not to yell, but his voice was stern and carried far nevertheless.
"Where are you going?"
A few steps beyond the table a tiny green flame flickered, and seconds later the red dot of a cigarette glowed in the dark, disappearing into the distance quickly.
"Off to drink, smoke, pillage and plunder!"
Severus sounded as if he was inches away from a temper tantrum, but then the red dot vanished in the distance and he was gone.
Albus wasn't amused, but Minerva smiled and patted his hand.
"I know you don't want to hear it, but he's actually an adult and can do whatever he wants."
Sighing Albus reassembled his features into his eternal smile.
"Yes, I do know. But I guess I will never not worry about Severus. You see, it comes natural."
Still smiling Minerva nodded.
"I know, Albus, I know. We all worry. It's our job, I think."
The conversation quickly returned to its former ease, but Remus listened only with half an ear. He hadn't been aware of the strange dynamic between Albus and Severus, who never spoke in public or interacted in any other way during the term. Everybody knew that Albus trusted his spy, and the same was true the other way around. But even during order meetings they kept their distance. It was strange to suddenly see that they seemed to share a connection that enabled them to banter and bicker with practiced ease and just the right amount of annoyance any good relationship needed.
Picking up his wine glass and handing it over to Poppy for a refill Remus smiled. His shoulders were a bit sore and his wrists reminded him of all the chopping he had done that day, but all together he was quite impressed with todays' developments. Things were going to be exciting, that was for sure. Especially if Severus would wear that particular pair of jeans again.
Raising his glass Remus clinked it against Poppy's, and smiled.
(c) Fayet - 10/9/2014 (cleaned 8/9/2015)