Wolf Moon
When Albus Dumbledore hires a young, magic-less, werewolf to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts everyone assumes the old goat has finally lost his marbles. But the young werewolf and what he knows may just be the key to helping Harry Potter win the war. Not HBP or DH compliant. Dumbledore bashing, Weasley bashing.
A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the affiliated characters. But Briscoe is mine. And I don't share. And yes, he is that damn sexy. I'm reposting this chapter because I didn't know what else to do. For those interested, there is a poll up and running on my profile to decided Severus' animagus form. Take a look!
"English."
"Singing."
Thoughts/dreams/memories.
Chapter 6
After dinner Kat met Firenze in a small garden walled in by tall hedges. Both the hedges and the garden seemed a b it neglected and overgrown, odd for such a well-kept place as Hogwarts.
The palomino centaur smiled at the young woman and gestured to an old stone bench for her to sit. "Welcome, little mountain cat."
Kat blinked and titled her head. "How did you know that?"
His warm blue eyes sparked. "The walls have ears and lips."
The young woman smirked and seated herself, placing her sketch pad on her lap, pulling her favorite pencil from behind her right ear. "What made you decide to help the headmaster?"
The centaur frowned. "I did not do it for him."
"You didn't?" She flipped to a clean page and began to rapidly sketch faint lines to create the centaur's shape and build.
"No." He shook his head. Blue eyes studied the young woman as his flaxen tail lazily flicked back and forth.
The sat in silence for a few moments before Firenze began to sing low and soft, in a language she did not recognize, but was calming to listen to none the less.
Darkness crept in around them until fairy lights of different colors burst into life around them. Kat looked up, studying the lights with the awe and fascination of a child. "Beautiful."
Firenze smiled and nodded. "Fairy lights don't often come out around humans. You must be special."
How odd that those words should be repeated again in such a short period of time. This time Kat kept her normal response to herself, silently amused.
Just a short time later, they parted ways. Kat made the long trip up to the rooms she shared with her mate, studying the halls as she passed.
Most of the paintings were asleep, though some greeted her as she passed. The suits of armor saluted as she walked by, causing her to blush.
By the time she returned Briscoe was asleep. She set her sketch pad on the side table before undressing and climbing into bed, kissing her mate's cheek before snuggling into his warmth.
Upon the page was Firenze, as realistic as he could be, his eyes shining in the glow of dozens of fairy lights. If one was awake to look, they would have seen his full lips shift into a small smile.
(Time Skip)
Kat stared blankly out at the see of students. Too early… need sleep.
Remus, who sat on the woman's left side, studied her, concerned. "Are you all right?" He winced when her head hit the table with a 'thud'.
Briscoe smirked from behind his coffee. He glanced to his left, chuckling at his mate. "She's not a morning person."
Remus quirked an eyebrow. "Really, what gave you that idea?"
The younger lycan chuckled and took another drink from his coffee cup. "She'll be all right in a little bit. Just give her time to wake up."
The young woman lifted her head and glanced around. "Insane people get up at this hour in the morning. I wanna go back to bed."
Briscoe shook his head. "Sorry, kitten, you promised to help me teach class today."
Kat scowled and folded her arms on the table, resting her chin on them. "Can't we both go back to bed? I'd much rather spend the day in bed with you learning new things." She grinned, a soft light coming to her eyes. Briscoe merely rolled his eyes.
Remus spluttered, choking on his tea. When the attention of a few teachers and students turned to him his face turned a brilliant crimson color.
Briscoe laughed, causing the older male to turn a deeper shade of red. Kat giggled into her arms, too keep the man from feeling so bad.
"Not funny." The older werewolf hissed, wiping off the front of his robes with a napkin.
After breakfast, Kat and Briscoe walked arm in arm to his classroom. Many a student watched the couple walk past in more than a small amount of interest. They chose to ignore the looks, even though it bothered the female.
Kat plopped herself down in Briscoe's chair, propping her booted feet on his desk, right over his lesson plans.
The lycan scowled and shoved her feet back off, causing her to yelp in surprise and nearly topple backwards in the chair. "What the fuck was that for?!"
"Do you know how long it took me to come up with those lesson plans?" Briscoe straightened the pages.
"Too long." Kat smirked, until her mate popped her with the stack of papers. "Hey, watch it mutt!"
"Or what?"
"Or I'll-"
She never got the chance to respond as the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff first years began to tramp into their first ever Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. They're so little.
Briscoe snorted softly as if hearing his mate's thoughts. "If everyone will please line up at the back of the room." The class did as they were told and he went through the same procedure as from his class from the day before. Each Ravenclaw was paired up with a Hufflepuff, except for one little blonde girl a Hufflepuff, being the odd number eleven.
"Now, my name is Briscoe Field, this is my mate Kat Freeman, she will be assisting me with classes from time to time." Kat wiggled her fingers in a slight wave, causing the class to giggle, and Briscoe to roll his eyes. "Anyways, I shall be teaching you how to defend yourself, not just magically but physically."
Kat could feel a headache coming on already, she knew it was gonna be a long day.
"At the start of each class, if you were assigned any extra work, you will turn it into the tray on my desk. After that we will do half an hour of exercise, and then we will review what we learned the last class and then well will cover any new material. Any questions so far?" Briscoe shoved his hands into the pockets of his black slacks.
The students were oddly quiet, and it was making both of the adults nervous.
"Well, then. Why don't we begin by you all introducing yourselves?"
And so the day went until dinner, only broken up by lunch, which had been a boring affair.
Kat was helping Briscoe straighten and lock up the class room before they would both head down to dinner. He had been keeping an eye on her; she had been oddly quiet all day. "Is something the matter, kitten?"
"Huh?" She glanced up from picking up a few scrap pieces of parchment that had been left on the floor. "Oh, no, just thinking."
"About what?" He locked his lesson plans into his desk.
Kat titled her head thoughtfully. "I was thinking about asking Snape to teach me potions."
The lycan's face turned a brilliant shade of red within a matter of seconds. "No, absolutely not!"
"Excuse me?" There was a soft edge to her voce as she narrowed her eyes at her mate. "Did you just tell me no?"
Briscoe frowned. "You heard me." He was trying to find away to take the edge off what he said without backing down. "I just don't trust him and I don't want anything to happen to you."
Kat relaxed slightly, partially calmed. "I know that. But I want to learn potions and Remus told me he's the best." She shrugged slightly. "Besides, it's not like he can do anything to me here."
The lycan frowned slightly. "Fine."
The were-cat quirked an eyebrow.
"Whatever makes you happy." The male added quickly, not wanting to get into a fight with his mate.
At dinner, Remus, Briscoe, and Kat were grouped at the far end of the teacher's table, in that order. It just happened by chance, or luck, that Severus was sitting on Kat's left.
Briscoe and Remus were talking about what the older werewolf would be teaching them after dinner the next night; Kat was only listening with half an ear.
The young woman turned to Severus. "Excuse me."
He turned to her, his eyebrow quirked, and a less venomous expression on his face than was customary. "Yes?"
"I've been recently informed that you are the best Potions Master." She brushed a stray lock of hair from her face.
"Yes." He wasn't bragging.
"Would you be willing to teach me?"
Severus' other eyebrow moved to rest at his hairline with the second. "And why would I want to give up my precious free time to teach you when I already have to deal with those dunderheads?" He asked nodding towards the sea of students.
"Because I actually want to learn." Kat shrugged slightly. "But if you don't want to, I could always ask someone else."
Severus's brow furrowed in thought. His long fingers stroked at his lips. "Very well. Meet me at my private lab after dinner. It's the portrait of the first Potions Master of Hogwarts."
Kat smirked. A test already? "You mean Salazar Slytherin?" She asked just loud enough for him to hear.
"Indeed." There was less sarcasm than would normally be present in his voice.
Snape left shortly after. Kat trailed, after informing her mate where she was going. Remus had looked beyond surprised, while Briscoe merely frowned and informed her to be careful.
Kat stood before the portrait of Salazar Slytherin, her hands on her hips, frowning. The man hadn't given her a password or anything.
Slytherin merely watched her, amusement dancing in bright green eyes. His sleek raven colored hair was drawn back in a tail and he wore well tailored robes of black and silver. He sat, gracefully mind you, on a tall stool at a large wooden work table. At the moment there were no potions brewing.
Kat tilted her head and studied him. He looked oddly familiar, she just couldn't place it at the moment. Slytherin smirked as if reading her thoughts.
With a sigh, Kat slouched slightly. "Master Slytherin, would you be so kind as to inform Mr. Snape that I have arrived?"
Salazar slowly rose from his stool, with a slightly mocking bow, he purred. "It would be my pleasure, milady."
"Thank you." She bowed her head slightly.
The man disappeared from the painting. It opened only a moment later.
Severus Snape studied the woman. "Well you've made quite the impression on Salazar." He shifted to the side to allow the woman entrance.
"What do you mean?" She turned to face him as soon as she was out of the way.
"He never leaves his painting upon request." Severus walked over to an empty worktable the sat along the far wall directly across from the door. He picked up a book and handed it to Kat. "Here."
She took it, reading the cover. "A first year potions book?"
A snort drew both of their attentions to a large painting hanging above the table where they stood. Salazar was sitting in a cushy black leather wing backed chair, studying the young woman in amusement.
She chose to ignore the long dead man.
Severus rolled his eyes. "To start you at the top would be both foolish and dangerous. We shall start from the beginning and gauge your ability from there." He flipped open the book to the first potion.
Kat read, first the description of the weakest calming draught, then the ingredients and then the instructions. Severus was secretly pleased by this. "So it's a bit like cooking then? Chopping, dicing, mincing, stirring. A fair bit more difficult and dangerous to be sure."
Obsidian eyes took on a new light as he studied the young woman. Perhaps this won't be so bad. "You cook then?"
Nodding, Kat skimmed over the page again. "Yes I cooked most of Briscoe's and my meals. Before we came here at least."
Severus frowned at the mention of the young werewolf.
Kat pointed to the ingredients list. "What's the difference between boomslang skin and boomslang hide?"
Severus blinked and glanced at the page. "The skin is still soft and supple, where as the hide had been stretched and dried it, giving it a more leather like quality."
"Why use both?" She set the book, still open to the correct page, down on the table.
"The skin has different properties than the hide. The hide also helps counteract the absorbent nature of the skin."
"Ah." She nodded thoughtfully.
Severus quietly began to gather what they would need to create the potion. If it turned out well he would bottle all of it and take it up to Poppy, she was running low.
Kat carefully began to work on the potion, taking her time to do it correctly, while Severus stood off to the side watching.
He watched the way her hands instinctively seemed to know what to do, and the look of concentration that furrowed her brow.
He glanced up at Salazar, who was watching the woman intently. Seemingly pleased with how well she was doing. Why is he so interested in her? The other Potions Master glanced at Severus and smirked.
Kat finished the potion in short order and watched apprehensively as Severus studied the color and consistency.
It was nearly the perfect shade of blue and the same consistency as water, as it should be. "Not bad, Miss Freeman."
"Kat, please."
Severus nodded slightly. "Very well. I suppose you may call me Severus." The inflection on you led Kat to believe he would not appreciate if her mate called him by his first name as well.
"You perfected the Wolfs bane potion, didn't you?"
If Severus was surprised by the abrupt change of subject, he didn't show it. Though, he was trying to recover from mental whiplash. "Yes."
"If it's no bother, can I be here the next time you brew it?" Kat closed the book and picked it up.
Severus studied the woman. "If you progress as well as I believe that you might, you may be able to help me brew it."
Kat beamed, startling both potions masters. "Really?"
Severus nodded slowly. "Indeed."
The young woman studied Severus quietly for a moment, unnerving the man. Though he hid it well. "Why are you so lonely?"
Severus scowled and his eyebrows bunched together, deepening the furrows in his forehead. "I don't believe that is any of your business."
Kat sighed and nodded slightly. He didn't deny it as I expected he would. "Sorry, you're right." She held the book close to her chest. "If you ever need to get away from the bumblebee, come by Briscoe's and my rooms. It's free there."
His brow furrowed deeper. "It's getting late, perhaps you should leave."
Kat turned and headed to the door, which opened on its own. She paused, not looking over her shoulder. "You should join us for the full moon. I'm sure your other half would enjoy it."
In his anger and confusion he knocked the calming draught to the floor, though Kat was no longer there to see it. He scowled at the mess and stood clenching and unclenching his fists. Why are you so lonely? It continued to echo around his head, taunting him.
Salazar studied his favorite ward silently for a few moments. There is more to this young pair than meets the eye.
I'm so sorry about the long wait. But I've started working again and then I've been suffering from horrible writer's block… on the stories I have going already anyways.
The idea for another story has been plaguing me recently. But I want to finish at least one of my other stories before I start it.
I hope this chapter makes up for some of the wait. And for those of you who think Remus will end up with Briscoe and Kat *cackles* I have a BIG surprise for you within the next few chapters… *ducks a flying barrage of sharp pointy object
