This chapter is where the slight M rating comes in, lovelies, via a small sex scene- but nothing too explicit. Enjoy!
Kate and Remus left the Great Hall together after the welcoming feast, both of them full of good food and good wine. Remus laughed. "Not an enthusiastic welcome," he said mildly, referring to the smattering of applause he had received when Dumbledore had introduced him to the school, "but considering I never thought I'd have the chance to teach here, not bad."
Kate swiped at him playfully. "You'll be their favorite teacher in no time."
"Unless, of course, you are removed from your position," a cold voice said from the shadows. Professor Snape emerged, looking sour, his greasy black hair hanging in his face and contrasting horribly with his sallow skin.
"Severus," said Kate pleasantly. "I thought I saw you glaring at me over the roast chicken."
"It's quite bad enough that they allowed you to return," Snape said frostily to Remus. "But with Black on the loose? Who invited you?" He turned his black eyes to Kate.
Her eyes narrowed. "Back off, Snivelly. Dumbledore may think you've come back to our side, but I know what kind of man you are deep down."
"And what kind of man am I?" Snape asked sneeringly.
Remus interrupted the growing argument. "An esteemed colleague. It's been wonderful seeing you again, Severus, but we really must be getting to bed. Long day ahead of us."
Snape raised an eyebrow when he looked down and saw their fingers entwined. "I see," was all he said, but his tone made Kate shiver. Finally, he forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Good night." Snape swept away down the corridor, his large black robes billowing around him and reminding Kate of an overgrown bat.
When they were in their room, Remus turned to Kate. "Darling, I need you to put aside the childhood pettiness, if you can," he said softly. "Snape is a fellow professor now, and-"
Kate ignored him, sitting on a cloth-covered stool in front of an ornate gold-framed mirror to brush and plait her hair for the night. Picking up a hairbrush and running it through her brown tresses, she said over her shoulder, "Snape always has been and always will be a git."
Remus came up behind her and took the hairbrush. Kate surrendered it willingly, tipping her head back and enjoying the soothing ministrations as Remus brushed her hair. "Please, love?" he asked when he was finished. "For me?" He met her eyes in the mirror, and Kate gave in. Nodding, she said, "Oh, all right. I do an awful lot for you, you know."
"I know," Remus whispered, sweeping her hair aside with one hand and planting a warm kiss on her neck. "Will you do one more thing for me today?"
Kate closed her eyes, sighing. "And what would that be?"
Remus put his mouth beside her ear and said softly, "Let me love you."
Thursday morning came around, and Kate emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a fluffy white towel, her long dark hair dripping steadily on the old wooden floorboards. Turning the corner into Remus' office, she found him sitting at his desk, frowning at a piece of paper he held in his hand. "What is it, darling?" she asked, wringing her hair out in the sink and casting a Drying Spell on the damp strands.
"Hmm," was all Remus said.
Kate walked around behind the desk and crawled into his lap. "What's this you're working on?"
"Names for tomorrow," Remus replied absent-mindedly, stroking her bare thigh beneath the edge of the towel. "I'm trying to remember names and faces so I don't look a fool."
"You could never look a fool," Kate told him, placing wet kisses down the column of his throat.
He shook her off. "Do you remember Frank and Alice?" he asked suddenly.
Kate sat back, eyeing him warily. "The Longbottoms? How could I forget them?" She frowned, thinking. "They had a boy-"
"Neville," Remus sighed. "He's in Harry's year, Gryffindor." He handed her the piece of parchment containing photographs of each student, labeled carefully underneath in Remus' spidery handwriting. Pointing at a picture of a round-faced boy, he sighed. "Here."
As Kate examined the picture, Remus buried his head into her shoulder, her skin still damp and warm from her hot bath. "Poor boy," Kate murmured to herself, distracted by Remus nibbling on her earlobe. She turned to face him. "Are you terribly busy?"
Remus sighed and took the parchment back. "A boggart moved into the wardrobe in the Teacher's Lounge yesterday afternoon. I've asked Dumbledore to leave it for Harry's class this afternoon. I just hope Snape hasn't decided to change my lesson plan."
Kate dropped the towel and slithered across his lap so that she was straddling him in the chair. "I can help you forget all about Snape for a moment, if you like," she told him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Kate," he warned, annoyed. "I've got to go over this again. I've only got an hour."
"It'll only take a moment," she whispered, her lips millimeters away from his.
He met her eyes. "I'm going to be late," he protested, but didn't pull her hands away as she undid his trousers. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes as she moved in his lap. "Damn it, Kate."
She sighed and tossed her hair over her shoulder, and Remus stood, gripping her tightly under her thighs and laying her out on his desk. "Just once," he told her gruffly, rocking his hips against hers.
"Whatever you say, my love," she moaned.
Kate sat by Remus' right hand at the staff table during the Halloween feast. It was difficult to eat, as Remus insisted on holding her hand underneath the table. It was worth it; he was beaming, and for once he looked well-rested. Kate took a bite of steak and kidney pie, putting her fork down on the table and clapping loudly after Nearly Headless Nick did a re-enactment of his own botched beheading and bowed to the cheering crowd.
Kate ignored Snape's look of loathing from further down the table and leaned in to whisper in Remus' ear. "Harry looks as if he is enjoying himself. Maybe your little pep talk did him some good."
Remus glanced over at the Gryffindor table and nodded. "I hope so. I know he was disappointed in not being able to visit Hogsmeade."
Kate squeezed Remus' hand under the table. "Do you think it'll ever be safe for him to go out?"
Remus' lips set in a thin line. "I hope so," he said softly. "I hope so."
The feast drew to a close, and the students began filing out of the Great Hall. Kate said something in an undertone to Remus before hurrying after Harry and his friends. "Harry!" she called, catching up to them as they neared the Gryffindor common room. Harry, so like his father in appearance, turned to face her. He raised an eyebrow. "You're Professor Lupin's, um-"
"Friend," Kate finished for him with a wave of her hand. She brushed a loose tendril of hair behind her ear. "I just wanted to see how you were feeling. You know, since the train. Remus said you came by his office-"
"Why isn't anyone going in?" Ron interrupted impatiently, standing on tiptoe to try and see over the heads of the students in front of them. "The portrait looks like it's closed."
"Let me through please, I'm Head Boy." Percy Weasley elbowed his way importantly through the crowd. A sudden chill seemed to settle over the crowd. Remus appeared at Kate's side as Percy's words floated back to them. "Someone get Professor Dumbledore, quick." His voice was terse and strained.
Dumbledore swept through the crowd, the sea of students parting before him hastily. He paused in front of the portrait that concealed the entrance to Gryffindor tower. Kate leaned forward and squinted, trying to see over the headmaster's shoulder. When she finally saw what was going on, she gasped, her hand flying to her throat. The canvas of the portrait was slashed in large chunks, with strips hanging from the frame and littering the floor. The Fat Lady was gone.
Kate heard Remus' breath catch in his throat, and then he was hurrying forward to Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall on his heels.
Dumbledore turned to face them. "We need to find her," he said quietly.
"You'll be lucky!" Everyone looked up to see Peeves the Poltergeist floating above their heads, laughing to himself.
"Do you know who did this, Peeves?" Dumbledore asked in a low tone.
"Oh, yes, Professorhead," said Peeves. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." He grinned wickedly. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."
A shriek rent the air. Snape paled, and Remus spun around just in time to dash forward and catch Kate in his arms as she slumped to the floor. "She's fainted!" he cried.
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