Written for Round 2 of the QLFC. I am the captain of the Wimbourne Wasps. Round prompt was Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid. Big thanks to everyone who helped me out by going over this and suggesting ideas!

Grimmauld Place was quiet when he stepped through the door, taking care to step as lightly as possible to keep Walburga from beginning her shouting, but he could smell garlic and rosemary being cooked, which meant there were definitely people there. He started down the long hallway, looking at the walls as he did nearly every time he was there, imagining what it had looked like in its glory days. With the wallpaper peeling off, cobwebs in the corners too high for any of the Order to reach easily, and the soft click of his boots where the carpet was worn down the thinnest, it was hard to picture.

He'd heard tell of it enough to know that the appearance was deceptive of that truth - and if anyone knew about how things weren't always how they seemed, wasn't it himself? Lost in thought, he nearly knocked over the troll leg umbrella stand and cursed under his breath. That was the last thing he wanted to do tonight.

"Ah, I thought that might be--" A head had poked out of the dining room at the soft thumping sound of the umbrella stand being set upright again. "Oh. It's only you, Snivellus."

"A disappointment to be sure." He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Whoever you're hoping for will be along when they have the time."

"She always is, unlike present company. Finally deem it necessary to make a report?"

He stepped past Sirius without further comment and made his way down to the stone staircase at the end of the hallway, eager to grab a cuppa. The night was going to be a long one.

The kitchen was one of Severus's favorite places at headquarters; though less ornate than the rest of the house, it was large, complete with a sizable fireplace at one end that was perfect to sit and read by. There were iron pots and pans hanging above the center of the wooden table from the ceiling above the wooden table and more on the stove.

"Severus!" Molly Weasley turned away from the pot she had been looking into for a moment when she heard him come in. "I didn't know you were coming round! Dumbledore didn't say anything about it. If you've got a report, you can leave it on the table if you'd like. He said he'll be by in the morning."

"No report today, Molly." He leaned a hip against the counter. "I've just come down for tea."

The witch set about making it for him, humming softly as she stirred something in a pot with one hand and pushed sugar toward him with the other. He had protested her kindness when the Order had first begun meeting but now…. Well, it was hard to turn down her simple favor. Skipping the dinners she made was marginally easier, though he often wished he'd accepted after he was gone.

"Alright, Severus. Should have steeped by now." Molly handed him a cup and spoon, set the milk out for him, and moved her full attention back to her cooking.

"Thank you," he murmured to her, stirring milk and sugar into the tea.

There was a snicker from the doorway. "Surprised you're not going for something stronger."

"I didn't need anything more until now." He moved to the table, to the seat closest to the fire, and sat to wait for whoever was to accompany him tonight.

"Right. Have to keep your wits about you, don't you?" Sirius's tone was mocking. "We can't trust you tailing Death Eaters regardless; wouldn't want you to confuse the sides after all."

"And we can trust you? I've seen how your unplanned family reunions go, Black." Severus drawled before taking a drink of his tea. "I'm the perfect candidate for tailing them; if one of you dunderheads gets caught, you're not coming back."

Sirius stalked closer. "And you being with one of us just ensures we do get caught while you slither away on that trail of grease you leave behind!"

"Quiet, Black." Severus's voice had gone soft; he was all too aware of the sounds of Molly's cooking in the background, of the way her shoulders tensed at his dropped tone. For her sake, he wished Sirius had stayed upstairs. "It most assuredly isn't yourself you have to worry about. Although, if it were you, it would be sorely tempting…"

Just as Sirius opened his mouth to reply, a throat cleared. Both men looked to the doorway where Remus now stood. "It's a good thing you're not going then, Padfoot."

"I see now why Dumbledore likes to send two of us for this." Remus yawned and Severus looked over at him, a brow raised slightly. "It's not in case anything happens with one of them; it's to keep each other awake."

He felt his mouth twitch. "Certainly."

"I can't imagine doing this alone most nights." Remus turned to face him better on the bench they were sitting at.

"Lucky for you that you don't have to, then." Severus's tone was hard. Bitter.

They both knew that they were talking about more than their assignment and fell back into an uneasy silence, each lost in their own thoughts as they watched for movement from the house before them.

"Severus?"

There was a gentle hand on his shoulder, a soft voice beside him. He opened his eyes wearily. How was this night still not over?

"I've brought us some coffee." Remus gave his shoulder a little squeeze before moving to sit again, cups in hand as he settled back. "You looked like you could use it."

"Thank you." He rubbed a hand over his face before taking the cup offered to him. "Bloody long week."

"Cheers to that." Remus took a drink and Severus tried to hide it as he glanced over. "Tonks was--"

"We don't all need to hear about your proclivities, Lupin."

"I…wasn't going to say that." Remus's face flushed. "Nothing - not that it should matter to anyone - has happened between us. I wouldn't do that to her. She's too good for me; I don't deserve her."

"Then how about a man just as damaged? Would you deserve him?" Severus stiffened as soon as the words left his mouth and held his cup at arm's length, eying it suspiciously from the corner of his eye as he faced Remus. His heart hammered in his chest and he could feel anger at himself simmering, the prickle of embarrassment spreading too, but there was no going back from this.

He didn't dare breath. Didn't dare hope. Ages of longing for something, for someone, didn't come down to moments like this. They didn't stay neat or easy, tied up with ribbon. They were messy and rough, uncontained and unpredictable.

"I might."

"I'm sorry." He felt his own cheeks heating and his grip on his cup becoming uncomfortable as sweat broke out on his palms. "I shouldn't have said...that."

"Don't be sorry. I've heard worse from Sirius." Remus chuckled for a moment and then cleared his throat. "And I think you should have said it anyway."

Severus scoffed and set his cup down. Folding his arms across his chest, he looked away, thinking of what to tell Dumbledore when he asked for a different partner for the next night of tailing. He didn't notice Remus shift closer to him, not until he felt a slight bump on his shoulder and a hand slip beneath his chin to gently pull him back the other way.

"I don't normally do this but..." Remus bit his lip for a moment. "Someone needs to."

And as they kissed, Severus couldn't help but think of what it could be like to be part of that world.