Summary: Portraits and Hufflepuffs.
A/N: This chapter is pretty much a filler. I had a plot bunny and a need to let our guys have some fun before the next chapter which will be Halloween and the full moon- and the first Hogsmeade weekend and the return of Sirius to the picture.

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They were created by JK Rowling. I'm just borrowing them for a little while and I don't make a penny off of this.

Rating: M

CHAPTER 6

Jane Shears, the designer and original seamstress responsible for the current version of the Hogwarts uniform, sat serenely in her portrait overlooking the rose garden. The former student of Hufflepuff was darning robes for Professor Sophia Douglas, her portrait neighbour.

"Severus was quite creative last night, I must say," the former Arithmancy teacher blushed. "He's quite limber, isn't he?

"Oh yes, that he certainly is!" giggled Jane.

The ladies were among a group of seven portrait dwellers who had a bird's eye view of the rose garden. For centuries the voyeurs had enjoyed the nocturnal activities of various students and staff- hey when you live in a portrait for centuries, I dare you not to take your entertainment where you can get it.

These last couple of weeks had been particularly entertaining. Professors Snape and Lupin were intense lovers and they didn't seem to care that they were being observed. In fact it sometimes seemed as though they compensated for the secrecy of their relationship by flaunting their love making in front of the portraits. When rose garden view resident Sir Angus Argyle had dared to congratulate Snape on successfully bringing his lover to orgasm an admirable three times the night before, the usually dour professor had merely smirked and nodded. For the balance of that entire day the Potions Master had walked their hall with a smug expression, his mood only ruined by a Longbottom special which ended with four students being sent to the hospital wing and the lab being under quarantine for the rest of the day.

"It's not that I'm not grateful for the excitement that they share with us," Jane sighed, "but I really do think it's time they took it to the next level, don't you?"

Professor Douglas shrugged as she helped to thread a needle, "Who's to say they haven't?"

"He is. Why, I asked Professor Snape just this morning who prefers to top in their relationship because I remember that back when they were students here they never went that far but he always topped with young Regulus. However my cousin Amanda, we meet during the summer holidays at our portraits in the family home you see, well she also lives at the Tir Na Nog, that inn in Preston near Blackpool, and she says," Jane lowered her voice in that way the best gossips do, "that Professor Lupin stayed with a lover there for about a month a few years back… and he always tops!"

The professor gasped gleefully. "You don't say!"

Jane grinned, taking the needle from her friend. "So of course I didn't tell the poor boy why I asked but I asked him which one topped first- I have a bet with old Argyle you see- and Snape said they hadn't gone that far yet. Well not in such simple words... you know how he is, that Snape, but I understood," she nodded as though agreeing with herself. "Such a pretty blush he has too."

"No," her friend looked scandalized. "Oh my, well I do hope they'll do something about it tonight! And here too if possible. They need to hurry up about it though, it'll be a full moon soon and that other young man is a werewolf, I've heard."

"Hmm," the seamstress nodded absently as she knotted the thread. "In my day wizards and magical creatures regularly mated, you know. Then for centuries no self respecting wizard would date a werewolf. It's still so, I think, but it's nice to see those two ignore the prejudice, isn't it?"

"Yes," said the other, putting her mended robes back on, "they do make quite an adorable couple- Dark and Snarky and Subtle and Sweet." She returned to her portrait, a distracted look on her face as she smiled about the romance of it all. Suddenly she returned to her friend, her shocked look complete with bulging eyes and gaping mouth. "You made SEVERUS SNAPE blush?!"

***

Severus panted, his hands clinging to his lover's graying hair as he was deep throated. Fuck! Lupin was really talented. He struggled to think about his plans for tonight. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to go further with Remus but after several lovers over the years, he was surprised to realize that Lupin contrary to his childish qualms, Remus' cum was actually sweet. He now enjoyed devouring the thick cock and since the other man also enjoyed sucking him, they were almost competitive in their need to out-satisfy one another which left no energy for fucking.

However that nosey biddy in the painting had asked him about their sex life and, though he really felt it was none of her business, he was still determined to take Remus tonight, right here, where those peeping toms could see. The nerve of them! Fuck, how did the man manage to do that thing with his tongue?

"Stop!" he shouted desperately, his eyes squeezed shut.

Remus released the cock with a loud slurping pop and knelt back. What had he done wrong?

Severus panted then opened his eyes. He felt ashamed at the look of upset and confused hurt in his lover's eyes. He pulled the other to him and kissed him deeply while stroking his back comfortingly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just didn't want to come as yet."

Remus chuckled, his heart beat slowing down. For a moment he'd been so worried. He pinched his lover's petite posterior. "Don't scare me like that!" he chuckled, groaning as his collarbone was once again nibbled on. Every night when he returned to his rooms he had a necklace of bite marks.

Severus gently led him to the configured bed. The dark haired man slid down between his legs and kissed his way south and began fingering his puckering hole. Remus threw his head back and arched his back as one long digit, presumably lubed by magical means, pressed in. Turning his body around, he returned the favour, continuing his oral ministrations. Spotting something glisten on the bed, he reached and discovered a small vial of a viscous fluid, no doubt the lube that was being used on him. He smiled around the cock and lubed his fingers. He was quite pleased to discover that Severus had evidently planned to do more tonight. He was relieved too because he had worried that they would never go any further. As students they had never tried penetration but now that he knew such pleasures, he was determined to fuck his lover through the mattress. He pressed a thick digit into the rosebud of his lover's ass and was surprised at the resultant reaction.

Severus froze his activities, the cock twitching in his slackened mouth. Remus had just breached him and he was so startled that he couldn't think far less react. It felt a little funny at first, then it hurt a bit as the finger pressed further. He attempted to suck again before his mouth went slack once more as the entire finger, now completely embedded within him, wiggled. "Fuck!" he cried out. His back arched and he tried to turn his head to see what was going on when his cheek brushed against the cock and reminded him of what he was supposed to be doing. How on earth was he to prep the man for sex if he kept distracting him this way? Didn't Remus realize he wanted to go all the way tonight?

He returned to the cock once more, his own finger pressing further in. "Remus, fuck, Merlin, fuck!" he cried, his body arching once more as the finger in him started massaging his prostate while his balls were suckled by the overly talented mouth. For a brief moment, jealousy raged through him- how had Remus learned all this and more importantly on whom. It's just a natural talent, you fool! You know he was brilliant the first time he ever sucked cock and it was your own cock he was sucking! Just lay back and relax already! The Voice chided.

Obeying completely, Severus turned on to his back, his feet instinctively lifting to Lupin's shoulders. Another finger joined the first soon thereafter and he threw his head back onto the sheets his fingers were clinging to desperately. "Gah! Remus! Remus, please! Ugh, fuck, fuck!"

"OK," Remus replied with a lust drunk chuckle, his voice a hoarser than usual from having the long cock in his throat. He lubed himself and settled Severus' ankles over his shoulders. He lined himself up with his lover and smiled at the dazed and unfocused look in the normally keen eyes. The usually scowling mouth opened with a gasp as he pressed in and then a grimace of pain caused the focus to suddenly return to the now rigid body. Was Severus still a virgin?

Trying to distract his lover from the pain, he quickly captured the open mouth in a deep kiss and fondled his testicles. It worked. Severus groaned in pleasure. Keeping his lover absorbed with a battle of tongues, he wordlessly summoned his wand. Shifting to nibble Severus' earlobes and neck, he whispered the words and flicked his wand, lubricating and stretching his lover. Severus gasped, his eyes wide in startled shock. He tried to speak but Remus decided to polish his tonsils instead. Although he knew on some level that he was the one being fucked into the mattress, he couldn't convince his brain to tell his hands to push the other man away. In fact his brain seemed to misunderstand and instead pulled his lover into another kiss.

Severus heard a whimper and hoped it wasn't him but although the spells had helped and he wasn't in pain, per se, there was a bit of uncomfortable pressure and a numb throb of pain as the thick cock press further into him. His neck arched and he cried out, "Re-, Remuh-, gah, mmm!"

Sucking on the exposed neck, Remus whispered with a small chuckle, "Relax love, you need to relax."

Trying to recall where he'd heard those words before distracted Severus. Yet before he could place the words, he heard himself begging his lover to move. Remus folded the long legs even more, allowing him to penetrate ever more deeply. Circe! Severus felt amazing. The tight passage squeezed his cock and he struggled to control his thrusts and keep the rhythm that was driving Severus wild. "Oh Sev, Sev you feel so damn good!" he cried out, his thrusts quickening.

"Fuck me, Remus, yes, oh, oh fuck me good! Fuck me hard," Severus demanded, grabbing the hips that plunged into him and encouraging them. "I can't… I'm going to- Remy!" he shouted as he came, his clenching muscles pulling the orgasm from his lover.

Remus recovered first. Realizing the almost impossible position he'd pressed the other man into, he massaged the hips as he lowered the bent legs and pulled out gently.

"Ungh," Severus grunted, suddenly feeling uncomfortably empty and ashamed. He turned away and buried his head into the pillows, the throbbing emptiness mocking him.

"Severus? Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Remus was very worried. He tried stroking Severus' arm in what he hoped was a comforting way but the other man wasn't having any of it. He shrugged Remus off roughly. "Severus, please, talk to me."

"And tell you what exactly? How great you are? How I loved it when you fucked me into the mattress like some weak little Hufflepuff?" he snarled in a voice both angry and scared.

Remus was momentarily confused but soon had a flash of inspiration. "Severus, don't be silly. Just because you enjoyed being fucked doesn't make you any less of a man or wizard."

"Oh really, so then why did you trick me into bottoming if it's such a noble position?"

"I did not mean to 'trick' you, Severus. I've just always topped, I didn't think-"

"No of course you didn't," Severus interrupted with a sneer.

"Severus," Remus said firmly and with a touch of anger, pulling the other man on to his back. He looked into the inky black eyes under the more than three quarter full moon. "Are you saying that if you had fucked me into the mattress you would have lost respect for me?"

"Of course not! Don't be stupid," Severus looked away, disguising his emotions in a scowl.

"So then why-" Remus sighed, "I didn't mean to offend you, Severus. I tell you what, from now on, you can top, every time if you'd prefer."

"Lucky me, I get to be pity fucker," he sulked. "No thanks, wolf, I don't want the consolation prize."

Remus felt his post-coital high evaporate. His heart seemed to shrivel in pain and he turned to leave.

Squeezing his eyes and mentally kicking himself, Severus pulled the other man back but he resisted. "Stay."

"Why?" Remus said, still trying to pull his arm back. "Why should I stay Severus? I don't think you want me here. Short of using a time-turner, there's nothing I can do to take back my mistake. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to mess up. I've tried to atone but you won't let me, so why should I stay?"

"Because I want you to," came the whispered confession. Severus took a deep breath to summon his courage. Looking up at his lover, he still felt terrified of what he knew he needed to say. He knelt on the bed so that he looked down at the other man. It made him feel more confident somehow. Still whispering, he continued to bare his soul, "I don't want you to go. I was ashamed because I gave in to you so willingly… and because I hate to lose and I had tried to beat you to it. I know that you weren't in a competition with me to see who could top but that doesn't make it any easier for me that I lost. I feel like a failure." Remus finally allowed himself to be pulled down. "I vowed a long time ago that I would never allow anyone to control me, that I would always be the dominant one in everything that I do. And yet, time and time again I find myself submitting to others, you know? I feel so weak. I am so weak. First Lily then the Dark Lord then Albus Dumbledore, there's always someone I have to answer to."

"We all have to answer to someone, sometime. It doesn't make you weak."

Severus raised a skeptical brow. Who did Albus and the Dark Lord have to answer to? But he didn't say so out loud.

"Severus," Remus pulled his lover beside him and spooned the other man. "You are a powerful wizard and a strong man. Very few other teachers can command the respect and well, fear that you can. Some students will start confessing all their sins just on your glare. You're a Potions Master, a leader in your field, a brilliant duelist- I could go on and on but I don't want to inflate your ego," he smirked, stroking his lover's angular face. "The point is, you're a leader in other aspects of your life and you've needed to be the strong one for so long, it's understandable if you enjoy the release of giving in.

And still, me topping earlier hardly means that you 'gave in'. Hell, you were a very bossy bottom! A very bossy, sexy, tight, hmm, I'm getting hard again…"

Severus rolled his eyes and pulled the arm, wrapping his warm lover around him even more, like a human blanket. "Impossible!" he huffed but there was no anger, only a mild hint of amusement. He moaned as Remus objected by rubbing the semi-hard prick against his arse. "Mmm, you feel good but I'm too tired. I need to rest," he yawned dramatically followed almost immediately by a real yawn.

Remus chuckled.

"So, next time, I top?"

"Yes Severus, next time you can top," Remus' grin turned into a chuckle as he realized Severus had already fallen asleep. He was amazed at the trust in him Severus' confession had shown. Their relationship was still riddled with problems- their unspoken list of unspeakable topics was longer than ever- no Lily, no Marauders, no Regulus, nothing before 1982 or Harry Potter seemed to be a safe topic. They chatted about students, debated about the Dark Arts and its defences, and many superficial topics. Yet they still knew very little of value about each other. Kissing the exposed shoulder in front of him, he settled in behind his lover and looked up at the nearly full moon. This time around, Severus knew he was a werewolf and he'd continued with their relationship anyway. He felt that Severus cared about him and the confession earlier showed him that Severus was not as strong and confident as he'd always imagined. The confident unflappable façade was just that- a mask that Severus wore for the world. Lily had once told him that it was all a front and, in his own way, Severus had confessed the same by naming himself the Mr. Hyde of their relationship though he'd been too young to realize it.

With a yawn he joined his lover in slumber, his mind trying to balance the scales. On one hand, the man who loved him and trusted him enough to admit to a certain amount of insecurity and one the other, the man who refused to publicly acknowledge their relationship, belittled him both in public and to a lesser extent in private and who, most importantly of all, was afraid of the werewolf in him. He didn't know when it would happen but Gryffindor help him, he vowed that soon he would show Severus that the wolf was nothing more than his Hyde side. He wanted to love both sides of Severus, he only hoped the man could love both sides of him.

***

"So, a bottom, eh?" Jane Shears smirked as Professor Snape made his way along her corridor.

He scowled but did not respond though his steps slowed.

"You know, I was a Hufflepuff. It's not so bad being a Hufflepuff you know. In fact, if your shouts and screams are anything to go by, I rather think you enjoyed the huffing and puffing quite a bit."

Severus retraced his steps and stood in front of the portrait. The other portraits froze so that they almost appeared to be non-magical paintings. The seven rose garden voyeurs held their collective breaths- or whatever paintings do- the nervous clicking of Jane's knitting needles the only sound in the hall.

Enjoying that he clearly had their attention, Severus was considering his next words carefully when a nervous voice chirped, "Is it true that our Jane made you blush yesterday?"

Severus turned with a glower but was once again interrupted, "Yes, it's true," Jane smirked, "Sev the HuffingPuffer blushes far prettier than Snape the Slytherin, don't you dear?"

Turning back, Severus was mortified to note Tino Escribo and her friend Ashley Skyraa staring at him with gaping mouths.

"Oh Merlin and Morgana! Isn't that Professor Snape talking to the portraits and…" Skyraa squinted as though doubting her eyes, "blushing?"

Tino nodded, equally terrified. "Yes," she whispered loudly, nodding emphatically. "Um, Professor Snape, sir, are you alright? Shall- shall I call Madam Pomfrey, sir?"

Pulling himself together, Severus prepared to launch into the Gryffindors- always more brawn that brains that lot.

"I'm quite certain Professor Snape is just fine. Run along to your common room girls, it's getting late." Professor Lupin smiled kindly and the girls gratefully escaped the rant they'd seen coming. "Now, now, my lords, ladies and gentlemen of the Rose Garden view. If you tease Severus like that, he might be disinclined to fuck me blind in the garden in a few nights. Is that what you want?" he asked in a quiet and reasonable voice, licking the éclair in his hand and struggling not to smirk as his lover's eyes followed his tongue in a mesmerized daze.

"Sorry Professor Snape," replied the chorus as Lupin led his lover away.

Watching the retreating backs, Sir Argyle crossed over to Jane's portrait, sullenly handing her a painted candle from his portrait.

The former Slytherin sulked, "I can't believe he's under the spell of a bloody Gryffindor."

"Cheer up old man," Professor Douglas chuckled. "You may yet win back your candle after the full moon. I have a feeling that Severus gives as good as he gets."

Loud laughter filled the hall scaring away two students who had just settled into the rose garden for a quick groping session. "Awww!" the chorused cried.

A/N - Thank you for reading, please review!