Hello again! Sorry about the shortness of my last chapter. I am still trying to place my characters as well as work on formatting. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Reviews are always welcomed.

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As always, all characters and canon belong to J.K. Rowling, any Obvious story deviation is mine.

Bound to You

Chapter 7

SSRL

Remus stood staring in the mirror at his reflection. It wasn't often that he ventured out into muggle London to meet someone and especially the area that Severus had mentioned. He studied the clothing that he was wearing and not for the first time wished that he had a few pounds or sickles put away in order to update his rather drab wardrobe. He often relied on his father's old robes to see him through his travels and jobs in Diagon Alley as well as whilst working at Hogwarts, but living as a muggle he relied on much of the clothing he had worn as a youth, corduroy pants and pull over jumpers in the winter and frayed jeans and old band t-shirts from the late seventies and eighties.

He had worked concerts during that time as part of security and many times along with a bit of cash, and some muggle liquor the band would throw him a few shirts for keeping them safely away from their fans. It wasn't a bad look but wasn't very comfortable for him at almost thirty four years old. So on that summer day in July, he threw on his least frayed pair of jeans and a greying Duran Duran T-shirt under a white button down.

He wasn't sure why exactly he was worried with how he looked. He was meeting Severus Snape today, anything that the dour man objected to; he would not hesitate to criticize. With one last fleeting look in the mirror he walked out of his house, reset his wards and as he reached the tree line near the edge of his property, he turned on the spot and disapparated to the alley way alongside the Leaky Cauldron.

Upon reaching his first destination he held out his wand and with a bang the Knight Bus appeared. After dealing with the pimply faced Stan Shunpike he sat on one of the swiveling beds and held on tightly until he reached Cokeworth.

Disembarking the bus he turned and looked around taking in the run down mill town. He remembered that Lily Potter had lived around this area and that she and Severus had grown up near here. He spotted the small pub that Severus had mentioned in his note and walked inside.

The interior was dark compared to the light outside and it took a minute to get his bearings. He knew that he wasn't late, but he also knew that Severus would be early. Upon that thought he looked around and spotted the dark haired man at one of the tables near the back of the pub facing the entrance but close to one of the windows. How he looked blew Remus away. His Jet black hair had been pulled back in to a low tail away from his face and he wore a pair of tattered black denims and a white t-shirt. The t-shirt had been covered by a gray button down shirt with the sleeves rolled three quarters of the way up his arm showing a light dusting of black hair. Taking a double take Remus let out a short huff of air unbelieving that this man was the same one that he had seen two weeks previous, buttoned up nearly to his eyebrows. Just then the man in question caught Remus's stare and raising one of the previous thought of eyebrows, motioned to the seat across from him at the table.

"Lupin" drawled Severus in the drawn out speech that Remus had known for over twenty years. "I was concerned you might have a problem finding this place, it's not exactly bustling London or even Diagon Alley."

"Severus, nice to see you, replied Remus, I had no trouble getting here. The Knight Bus was very accommodating; my only concern was arriving on time."

"Just barely made it, but it will do" replied Severus

Just then the waitress arrived to take their order," What can I do ya for this fine afternoon gentlemen?" asked the washed out blonde server eyeing up the two of them. She noticed the severe look of the dark haired man whom she had seen walking about town before, generally in the summertime and the sandy brown haired man with the jagged scars across his face and the tired eyes. Both were interesting looking in their own way and she wasn't above sharing if they were interested.

With a smirk to his lips Severus replied "I'll have a whiskey and so will my friend here."

At those words Remus's eyebrows rose and he looked questioningly towards Severus. As the waitress walked away Remus questioned, "What was that all about?"

With another smirk Severus replied "Our sweet lass waitress was wondering if we would like to share her favors."

If Remus had been drinking at that moment, he would have assuredly choked. As it was a blush made his way up from his chest to his cheeks and a little grin lit his lips.

Another raised brow of Severus' added to his blush as the waitress returned with their drinks and a bowl of pretzels for the table.

"Cheers" Remus said raising his glass to Severus whom also raised his glass with his sardonic smirk on his face, clinked it and drank it down in a single gulp, watching as Remus did the same, though with a slight watering of his eyes.

"Not quite the same smoothness of a firewhiskey, but the burn hits the same." remarked Snape with a small grin playing around his lips. Looking over at the waitress to order another round of drinks, he missed to shocked look on Remus's face.

Remus could not get over how much younger Severus had looked in that single moment and he was immensely glad that he had decided to meet with him that afternoon.

With lingering glances at the two of them the waitress returned with another shot of whiskey for both of them that they sat drinking quietly for a moment.

Severus knew that the silence was driving the Gryffindor Wolf mad but the Slytherin in him appreciated the fact that it would unnerve him a bit.

"So Lupin, have you heard from your little Kia lately? Any little additional words of wisdom she wanted to impart?" asked Snape quietly.

"My little Kia? I don't understand, I know no one by that name. I was puzzled when you referred to her in your letter." Replied Remus

"A shortened name for the little Know it All, otherwise known as Miss Granger." Said Snape

"Oh yes, now I get the reference. That really wasn't well done of you Severus, she was quite upset after that class. I overheard the Weasley boy and a few others agreeing with your character assumption in the halls as she passed them." admonished Remus.

"If she would stop showing off in every class, waving her infernal hand in the air, I might have a bit more patience with her. I've never seen someone so ruthlessly try to prove themselves in class." replied Snape.

"Are you sure that you've never seen it before Severus? asked Remus. I seem to recall another girl that felt that she needed to know everything and answer every question in class."

Recalling the bright haired muggleborn friend of his youth, Snape's face took on a hardened look. "If you are going to bring up ancient history, this will be a short meeting Lupin." Snape's voice took on a snarling quality, indicating that, that line of conversation should cease.

"Anyway, you should not have to worry about that this upcoming term Severus. That was actually something that we discussed prior to the end of term. She was unaware that there is no such thing as points for participation. She believed that by answering questions and assisting her classmates, that she was helping her grade. It is something that the muggle education system promotes to ensure that the students are paying attention in class and understanding the subject even if it doesn't translate to their testing grades. I just can't believe that I am the first teacher to broach the subject with her." finished Remus.

"Yes, well Dumbledore doesn't encourage sitting down with the muggleborn students and explaining the differences in the two worlds, at least if you are not their Head of House, and as I do not have any muggleborn students in my house, I have no experience there." Explained Snape.

"Understood, but in response to your question, I haven't heard from her in the last two weeks. She mentioned that she would be traveling to France with her family and inquired about Wizarding areas that she might visit, but other than that I haven't seen or spoken to her since that day in your office." replied Remus.

Looking over at Remus, Snape finished his drink and set the glass back upon the table before speaking again. "And that is where our conversation needs to begin Lupin. If you are finished with your drink it is time to leave before our delightful server arrives to proposition us, besides this is too exposed of a place to have that type of discussion."

"Of course Severus," replied Remus as he placed a few notes on the table to cover his drinks and Snape did the same along with a small tip for said waitress, they turned and walked out the door into the darkening evening.