Severus walked around the campus with a pep in his step, his head held high and a chip on his shoulder. Nothing could ruin his mood now that he had expelled some of the built up sexual tension. His friends cheered and pat his back or shook his hand when he came back to the dorm. They sang 'For he's a jolly good fellow' and Mulciber had hand made a small piece of paper that had 'Man Card' written on it as a joke. When he told them they didn't go all the way but instead had done other things he wasn't going to tell them, Mulciber snatched the card back.
Juliet's friends squealed and tried to get her to tell them everything when she got back to her dorm. She told them the same thing Severus told his friends, that they didn't go all the way, but it was none of their business. In classes or around the castle Severus would give her a knowing smirk or whisper in her ear about that night in the Room of Requirement, and she would blush madly. He loved making her squirm and fidget around when they were in public, she would usually smack his arm without any anger in it and tell him to tell her more.
Remus smelled her before he saw her, another perk of Lycanthropy he acquired. Before Severus' birthday, she smelled of vanilla, parchment, and natural teenage hormones. Now she smelled like pure sex, and it was driving him crazy. Sure there was a lot of that in the castle, they were teenagers for Merlin's sake, but it was her scent that made the wolf in him want to follow the trail. It spurred something in him he hadn't felt before, and he didn't know how to cope.
It didn't help that the full moon was so close either, it's when he could hardly think human and went more off of instinct. He'd yet to tell his friends, and they were getting suspicious to the point where they followed him on the map once. If it weren't for Headmaster Dumbledore for interfering and sending them back to their dorms, he might have been caught. He was dragging out this lie for a solid six years now and knew his time was running out before they caught on. Since they made that Marauders Map he knew it was only time before it all came crashing down around him.
He needed Juliet's help because he didn't know how to tell his friends and hoped she would help him. He found her alone in the Library and took the opportunity to speak with her. "Okay, you were right." He said as he sat down next to her.
'Well I know that but about what exactly?' she smirked and wiggled her brows at him.
He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "About telling my friends about… you know."
She put down her star chart and scowled at him. 'You haven't told them yet?!'
"Didn't I just say that?" he hissed.
'Don't get smart with me!'
"You're right. I'm sorry." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know what to do."
'What if you tell them one at a time? That way they can help and support you in telling the others.' She shrugged and picked up her chart again, holding it over her head and twisting it. She hadn't gotten any farther on her project than the time she set the whole thing on fire.
"But which one?" he asked and looked up at her chart with her, leaning in to get a better look.
"I don't know your friends, Remus. You do. Pick the one that seems the most reasonable and open-minded." She whispered and twisted the map around again then set it down to pick up her quill.
"Well… I guess Sirius is the most mature-"
She blew raspberries with her tongue and made a face.
"Okay, that probably wasn't the best word to use when describing him. He's the most… open minded?" he finished with a question.
She laughed and put her hand to her forehead and leaned on the table with that elbow. "Really?"
"I'm not here to defend him or anything, I'm here for help. What the hell do I say?" he groaned.
She bit her lip and looked up to the rafters in thought. 'Why don't you tell him… the truth.'
He scowled at her and sat up straight. "Oh is that all?" he said sarcastically with narrowed eyes.
'Start from the beginning. Tell me. Come on, let's practice. I'm Sirius, I love Quidditch, long walks around the lake, breaking girls hearts and wearing enough cologne for three boys.' She sat up and flicked her hair back in a Sirius mannerism.
Remus snorted and started to laugh. Madame Pince shh'd him from her desk by the door. He waved in apology and turned back to Juliet. She waved her hand for him to continue. "Oh, you were serious."
'Yes, I'm serious Sirius.' She put on a fake frown and scrunched her face as best she could.
"Ahem. Alright… Sirius… Mate… can you stop making that face at least? Thanks. Uh… it started when I was a kid…" Remus went on in a shaking voice.
Juliet stopped him and corrected some things for him to say instead to make it less traumatic for them. He could fill them in on the gory details later when they asked those questions.
"That actually took a load off my shoulders. Finally being able to tell someone. Thank you, Juliet. Seriously, thank you. But what if… what if they-"
'Then they aren't your friends, are they? Do you really want to be friends with people who can't accept you for you? I know you think this is a lonely life for you Remus, but it's not going to be. I swear it. You'll always have me.' She wasn't going to let him start thinking negative now that he was finally getting the courage to tell his friends. She knew the future, and she knew they would accept him and his lycanthropy, but she could very well come out and say it.
"I wish I could hug you. At least without getting set on fire or a black eye." He held his arms out for her to make the decision.
She smiled at him 'You know I can't Remus. What you can give me is some help on this damn project that you said you would help with.'
He grabbed her notebook and started to read through it all while she went back to her charts. After an hour he reached for her quill and began to write his own notes in it. "You're missing something in your equation."
'If you say human error I'll set you on fire myself.' She pointed her wand at him jokingly.
"I wouldn't dream of it." He smiled. "You're on the right track that the stars will be in the same position year after year but twenty-one years is a huge jump. You forget that we have a leap year." He pushed the notebook back over to her to see his new calculations.
She grabbed it and picked it up with wide eyes. "Son of a bitch…" she whispered.
"My mother is a saint, thank you very much." He joked.
She snatched the quill back from him and scribbled away under his own notes. Then he stood and helped her hold one of the star charts open while she measured with her protector, ruler and quill the new star positions. That's where Severus found her, well found them when he walked into the Library looking for her. He had gotten caught up with a project for his Apprenticeship and told her he would be gone most of their study period. He didn't think she would be using that time with Remus.
"See that? Polaris and Ursa Minor are WAY too close to each other now." Remus pointed the ruler to the two stars she had just quilled in.
'That's because you got Pollux over there in three spots.' She signed back while shaking her head.
"I tried to clear it up, but you ran out of ink remover." He said and held up a small empty bottle.
'You mean you used it all. It doesn't matter- everything else is right. I just need to finish the rest of this, it's almost time for-'
"For you to meet with Snape." He sneered like he always did when Severus was brought up in conversation.
'Yup.' She mouthed as she started to roll some of the charts that were dry. 'And you need to go tell him.'
"Can't you come with me?" he whined.
'No! This is your thing, he isn't going to believe it if I tell him.' She shook her finger at him and continued packing.
"What about after? Where will you be?" Remus started panicking.
'You know where I'll be.' She didn't even look up at him as she put the stopper on her ink bottle tightly.
"I wish you weren't with him…" Remus pouted and crossed his arms. "I can't ever see you."
'You see me all the time. What have we done for the last hour?'
"You know what I mean. I don't like the way he treats you, you deserve better." He leaned his hip against the table while he watched her pack. She had a ridiculous amount of charts that she tediously packed by hand and one by one.
'Oh yeah? Better how?' What do I deserve?' She gave him a knowing look.
She looked up past Remus and saw Severus making his way over to her with a none to happy face. She smiled and waved at him. Once she finished putting her things away, she slung her bag over her shoulder and plucked her ruler from Remus' hand. 'I'll see you in class tomorrow. Now go tell him.'
She met Severus in the center of the Library and greeted him with a hug and kiss. Remus watched on with longing eyes and muttered to himself. "You deserve a guy like me…"
When they left Severus had asked Juliet what Remus wanted, and she told him that it was just about her personal project he was helping her with. He had seen the things she was signing to him, and none of them looked like they were about her project, but he didn't ask her more about it. Instead, he wanted to skip dinner in the Great Hall and have her for a meal instead of in an empty classroom.
Throughout the week he had kept a watchful eye on Remus, especially how Juliet reacted towards the other boy. She would mouth words of encouragement to Remus and smile softly at him. He didn't like it one bit. Then he remembered the last time he had seen them interact with each other. He had been so caught up with his birthday and his own libido that he had nearly forgotten the small gift bag that Remus had given Juliet late that night. He was starting to connect the dots in his mind.
He saw them in front of the store during the Hogsmeade trip, when Remus had his arm around Juliet, then he heard him tell her he'd seen her lacy things, then he gave her the bag. The son of a bitch took his girlfriend shopping for intimates and bought them for her. Then she wore them for Severus! Did she wear them for Remus too? She never answered his question that night about her virginity, and now Severus' mind had red flags going up. He was going to kill Remus. The only one who spoiled his girlfriend and looked at her lingerie was HIM!