"I can't work on your potions essay in here." Gathering up some scrolls and bookwork, Remus readied himself to leave.

James shrugged. "We're not that loud."

Remus raised an eyebrow at his friends who were currently in the loudest game of wizards' chess that had ever taken place in the Gryffindor common room… ever. "If you want to turn this in tomorrow morning, I need some quiet." He smiled at his friends and patted Sirius' arm as he left.

Once outside, he stowed his things in a darkened corner knowing no one was going to seal blank parchment or some old school books and began his late night journey. He had very little intention on doing any essays that night, and every intention of meeting up with his new 'boyfriend'.

Things had been going great for him and Severus so far. The sneaking around for secret snogs and snack times made every day that much more exiting, and the more time they spent together, the more he thought about Severus when they were apart.

He hurried down the corridor, Marauders map in hand. It was so easy to keep their meetings a secret with the map in his possession. All Lupin had to do was find Snape's floating name and then meet him wherever he happened to be. No notes needed to be passed, no making plans in the halls, just a little game of hide and seek.

He slunk through the night darkened halls, following the little trail of Severus on the map, but when their names converged, there was no Severus to be found. He stood under an awning that lead out to the quidditch field and saw no sign of the boy he had come so far to find. Then someone grabbed his patched, old jacket and pulled him backwards. A very familiar scent of potions and blood filled his nose and he laughed quietly into the sly kiss that crept over his shoulder.

"I found you." Remus whispered, laughing quietly and blushing… he still blushed every time they shared one of their sloppy and awkward kisses.

"I noticed. Pity there isn't a world version of that map, though I suppose it wouldn't be very conveniently sized at that point."

Remus chuckled. "No it wouldn't." He turned around in the other boy's arms and wrapped his own the boy's waist leaning in for another kiss. His heart fluttered a little more than he thought it should have and his mind got all fuzzy whenever they embraced. As far as he was concerned, there was only him and Snape and the warmth between them. It was everything he dreamed a relationship could be like and from the dopy smile that Snape was returning, it was obvious that he felt the same foolish, fuzzy feelings.

"Hey," Snape pushed their noses together in a sweet little nuzzle. "I brought you something."

"I don't need another potion all ready." Remus busied himself with twining an end of his scarf around his beau's neck, sharing even that little bit of warmth.

"It's not a potion." Then Snape summoned from his pocket a beautifully wrapped bar of chocolate.

Lupin opened it and smiled. "What's this for?"

Snape shrugged. "You said chocolate makes you feel better after you transform… so I thought I'd pick some up at Honeydukes for you."

"That's sweet. Thank you," He tucked the chocolate bar in his ropes hopping to save it till he needed it, "but you know you don't have to buy me things."

"I know."

Remus laughed and stole another kiss. He was always so quiet with his friends, it was liberating to be able to just be open up and be enthusiastic with Snape. "You know, this is all still pretty wet and awful."

Snape smiled, blushing a little at the criticism. "I thought it was getting better."

"Oh it's a lot better, but," he grinned and leaned their heads together rocking slightly, "I think we could definitely benefit from a lot more practice."

"Well, if you say so." Snape moved in closer to help Remus with his kissing technique, but something made him pull back and stare off. "Someone's coming." He slinked out of Lupin's scarf and took his hand to lead him away. "Come on." They went up the stairs to the auditorium seating and peered over the edge to see who had dared to interrupt their important practicing.

Far below them, James was leading a hesitant Lily out onto the field. Lupin couldn't make out what they were saying, but the fact that Lily had agreed to sneak out with Potter was surprising enough.

"Think your chum is going to give her a quick quidditch lesson?" Snape hissed in disgust.

"I… really doubt that's what he has in mind. He's supposed to be playing chess with Sirius right now." Remus could feel himself wincing at the fact that Lily was anywhere near James. That poor girl.

Snape glared down at the walking pair for a moment more before he turned away. "Would you like to go on a walk? I don't fancy sticking around here anymore."

"Sure." He took Snape's hand and ventured back down the steps and away from the quidditch field. "Um… Sev?"

"Yeah."

"Did you ever… fancy Lily?" He didn't know why he felt he needed to know, but the anger he saw in Severus' eyes when he saw her with James made him worry.

"What? Eew, no. Why would you even think that?"

"You get so… you don't seem to like them together." Then a thought dawned on him. "Did you… did you like James?"

Snape for a moment looked horrified, then ill, then he just laughed. "Hell no. Heeeeeeeeeellll no. No. No. That's, that's even worse. No. Look, I like guys. Lily was… family. I know it's my fault that she doesn't talk to me anymore, but we were fizzling out anyway." He walked a little longer in thought before he continued. "I guess, it hurts knowing that she's choosing the guy who went out of his way to torment me after I was out of the way… like, I never really mattered to her."

Lupin didn't have any good comforting words to give him, so he just held his hand a little tighter while they walked. "I'm sure… I'm sure that she didn't do it to spite you or anything like that. Lily is a decent person, James is just," he frowned, trying to find the right words, "he's just James. He doesn't take 'no' very easily."

"Yeah, I could tell."

But the tone in Snape's voice seemed to be aimed more at him then at James. "Whadaya mean?"

"Why are you doing his homework? Is he really that retarded that he can't do it himself?"

"No, and I'm not doing all his, I mean, what are you talking about?" He tried to look innocent, but it was obvious Snape could see right through him.

Snape smiled, feeling a small victory at being so observant. "You keep complaining about having a ton of papers to write, way more than anyone else gets assigned, and James only started getting O's on his work just recently."

"How would you know what grade James is getting?"

"I volunteered as an assistant for Slughorn a while ago."

Remus sighed at that. "So you've been helping to grade the papers?" He didn't want to get in trouble, though he didn't think that Snape would turn him in. "I'm trading him. He buys the ingredients for the wolfsbane and I do his papers. It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal? Your chum is a slacker, who wouldn't even be allowed in this school with his grades unless he kept taking advantage of people like you."

"He's not taking advantage of me. It's a fair trade for the ingredients."

"If you say so." Severus didn't want to fight, he didn't want to risk upsetting Lupin, so he gave up the argument and thought of something else to talk about. "You going home for the Christmas break?"

"Yeah. You?"

"No. I figured I'd have more fun running around the castle with no one else around. Maybe prank the other common rooms."

Lupin smiled. "Sounds fun."

"You should stay."

"I can't, my parents have already made Christmas plans with me."

"Then maybe… maybe I could go home with you?"

Remus looked a little pained. "No. My family is… well they have a hard time with me being… you know. And they don't know about me liking blokes." He shook his head. "Not that it's worse than being a werewolf or anything, but I just don't think that they could take me being any more of a freak than I already am."

"You're not a freak." Snape frowned very sternly.

"Yes I am." He looked at Snape dead in the eye. "Anyone who turns into a wolf once a month is by definition a freak."

Snape didn't look amused. "Then I guess I'm a freak too."

"Yup. That's us, just a couple of freaky gay guys." He smiled despite the fact that he was doomed to live his life out as a monster, but at least it was nice to know that he didn't have to be alone anymore. "You know, when school's over, we should move in together. Someplace near some woods or something. Someplace nice."

Snape felt the dumbest smile that had ever smiled in his life forming on his lips. Remus, his sweet and kindly Remus wanted to stay with him once they left school. They had only been together for a few weeks, hardly more than a month, but what Remus was proposing was practically marriage. Snape had been an outcast for his whole life and suddenly someone wanted him, and not just for a month, or a school term, but for a long term. Maybe even forever. "Yes," he whispered, and yanked the startled looking werewolf into a crushing kiss.