The last Sunday in every month - like clockwork, coffee was brewed, slippers donned and spectacles perched on the edge of a nose that sloped so sharply it seemed sheer will alone kept them from teetering off the edge.

The long, slim, crisp white envelopes were gathered from the temporary resting spot, the pigeon hole in the shared office, and a muggle calculator was retrieved from the potions lab.

Well this is what should have happened- had Severus Snape not been ill that month, and therefore dead to the world having been pumped full of Pepper-up potion and sleeping draught by his husbands. Sirius and Remus Snape has amused themselves that morning, once the worry had eased with the potions master's fever, by making as much noise as humanly possible to wake the sleeping man - going as far as to configure a drum from a nearby pillow, and beating it loudly while yelling muggle songs from their youth. That man was out.

Remus had decided they would let him sleep through the day, the night, and hopefully Severus would awaken well and refreshed the next day. In the meantime they would keep themselves amused and see to anything the other man usually tended to.

Which is how Sirius found himself staring at a muggle bank statement to an account he did not recognise. Opening all the bills as he had seen Severus do many times, he had divided them between house, grocery, unexpected and Sundry. In his absent mindedness, he hadn't clicked that the white envelope he held was thinner than the others, and was addressed to Master S Snape, rather than Mr.

He stared in confusion - this was an account apparently opened six months after they had been married, and had a substantial amount of money in it- with the last donation being made that very month. An account that had been opened for 12 years, and he had never seen it. He called Remus to the study.

In the bedroom, Remus was stroking his sleeping mate's cheek, reveling in the relief of finding it significantly cooler than it had been mere hours ago. "The wonders of modern magic" he thought. He glanced up as he heard Sirius calling for him, with a peck to Severus' cheek, he closed the door behind him and headed to the study.

Upon entering, he saw the ex-mauarder staring in shock at what appeared to be a bill.

"Sir-"

"Remy?" Sirius asked in an unsure voice. Immediately worry drenched the wolf's body.

"Pads? What's wrong?" In response, he was handed the page his husband had been staring at. "Wha-?"

"Read it" came the gruff reply. With a worried glance at the other man, he looked down at the page and scanned it quickly, unable to make sense of what the problem was.

"Siri, I don't-"

"He's been hiding money from us."

"Who has?"

Sirius gave him a look, "Snape" in an attempt to lighten the mood, Remus reminded his husband, that all 3 of them were Snapes. "Yea, well maybe one of us isn't sure about that any more."

"What?!" shouted Remus "Pads- I don't underst-"

"He has been hiding money from us Moony!"

"So!? You want to leave because he has a few thousand more than you knew? It's muggle Sterling anyway! It's practically knuts compared to what we have in the joint account. I can't believe you're this upset over money!"

Sirius sighed, "Dammit. Remus, this is a muggle account". With a "No shit look" shot at him from his smaller husband he, again sighed, and continued. "It's referred to as a tuck away account, because it is tucked away from your spouse or partner." Remus moved to sit on the chair that was in front of the large maple desk, he shrugged his shoulders in confusion. Sirius put his hands in his hair and muttered to himself. "Throughout history, women in unhappy or straight up abusive marriages could not leave. Especially if they had children. They had no money for themselves and usually had to rely on their husband - who would dictate the earnings and spending of the household. After the suffragette-"

At Remus's confused face he explained "muggle feminist thing, basically women were allowed to open bank accounts and get jobs finally…long story short, many young girls before marriage were encouraged to open these accounts and tuck away any spare change or money or earnings they could have. It meant if and when the marriage broke down, they were not left penniless and homeless." Realisation began to dawn on the werewolf's eyes.

"Siri-"

"Even after 15 years, he still has an escape route."

"Oh" came the soft reply.

"Yeah" sighed Sirius, as he moved to sit on the armchair that was backed against the wall, facing the desk. He put his head in his hands, feeling the tears in his eyes. "He never really loved us did he?"

"Wha-"

Sirius looked up "If he did, he wouldn't be making sure he could leave at a moment's notice."

Remus put the paper on the desk and shuffled the chair closer to were his husband had hunched over himself in the arm chair. "I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation Pads, maybe he forgot about it?"

Sirius stood up suddenly, "Moony - the last deposit was made 24 days ago - he no more forgot about it than he's forgotten how to brew. I knew it. I knew it. I have to go, I'll see you later."

"Wait S-" But the man had disapparated, leaving Remus alone in the study.

"Oh Sev love, what a mess." he muttered to himself.

Hours later, in the dead of night - it was thirst unlike he had ever felt that dragged Severus Snape from his peaceful slumber. Seconds passed before he was able to gain his bearings, and a quick "Tempus" showed him it was 4.37am, he had slept for over 24 hours. He turned his head to see his werewolf, lying asleep beside him as usual, fluffy socks and all. But it was the tear stained cheeks and the death grip on Sirius' pillow that had Severus concerned. He moved slowly to see if Padfoot could answer some questions, and found that end of the bed empty. "What the hell had happened?" he thought. He heard the floo downstairs come to life, and some voices. Slowly inching out of the bed, he grabbed his robe and headed to the living room. Upon entering he saw Ralf attempting, unsuccessfully to keep his drunk husband from re-entering the fireplace.

"Snape will kill me if I let you hurt yourself in the floo - come on Sirius!"

"He wouldn't give a shit, now let me go - I don't want to be here" slurred the animagus.

"Come now old boy, that's just the liquor talking" as he finally unfooted Sirius and got him on the settee.

"No, I want to be tucked away, out of sight out of mind"

Ralf rolled his eyes, and in doing so caught the potions master's gaze. He sighed and turned to the floo. "Night Sirius." and was gone through the still open channel.

Sirius attempted to stand up, and fell back on the settee. Twice more he tried, on his third attempt he made it to his feet and managed two steps before he lost his footing and fell to the ground. Upon hitting the ground he began to moan. Severus finally shook himself and walked to his husband. Whose moans had turned to cries. Just as he was about to make himself known, the crying man struggled to sit up and produced his wand. The potions master hesitated.

"Accio suitcase" wavered Sirus' voice. "Accio sobering potion" He downed the potion in one, unable to stop the grimace at the taste. Opening the small black suitcase that had appeared at his feet, he began his list. "Accio cloak, shoes, jeans, boxers, deodorant, toothbrush, wallet, keys." Severus moved back into the shadows to watch the proceedings as each item flew into the small suitcase. Finally it was zipped shut and laid beside the fire. Sirius stood up steadily, he looked at his hand, where the silver band lay and bit at the corner of his lip. He brushed tears from his eyes, before reaching for the ring to take it off.

"Don't you fucking dare." Sirius looked up in shock.