Author's Notes: I don't play Poker so…I have no idea if they are playing it correctly or not.

Poker Night

Clara dropped by Grimmauld Place after dinner one night in April to see Remus.

"Poker Night? That sounds very manly." Clara laughed. "Stevens will be so jealous, you'll have to tell us all about it."

"It does sound fun," Remus said mournfully, "But I'm going to go home, Hill will be here."

"So?"

"He's Cass's ex." Remus roared, clenching his hands into fists as he struggled with a surge of jealousy. The wolf was getting more possessive since he and Cassius were so often apart these days.

"Remus, you need to face the jealousy and deal with it. Like you made Cassius deal with his jealousy of Sirius."

"It's not the same." Remus's eyes were glowing golden now. Clara remembered it was the full moon the next night. "The wolf…"

"Am I going to have to give you a calming potion?" Clara put her hands on her hips and looked hard at Remus.

"No, I'm fine." A low, dangerous growl answered her.

"If you're going to pull this ridiculous werewolf possessive shit about Hill, I will force it down your throat. Cassius is yours, you know that. You deserve a fun night playing cards with the guys and I'm not going to let you ruin it by being irrational."

"I'm not being irrational." Remus snarled.

"Wow. Well. You've convinced me." Clara said sarcastically. She continued to stare at Remus until she noticed his shoulders slump slightly. "Darling, do you want to stay?"

"Yes… but I'll need a calming potion and I don't have any." The growl was still lacing Remus's words.

Clara pulled a small bottle out of the pocket of her robe. "I happened to bring you some, Tabby was worried you'd run out."

"Hi Clara." Sirius walked into the kitchen.

"Hi Sirius." Clara smiled as she poured some potion into a glass and handed it to Remus.

"You don't feel well, Remus?" Sirius asked as Remus gulped down the double dose.

"It's nothing, really." Remus smiled reassuringly as his voice began to sound more normal. Sirius glanced over at Clara who smiled brightly.

"I'm off. Don't want to get in the men's way!" Clara hugged Remus tightly. Pulling away, she continued, "Remember, I'm picking up Tabby at Hogwarts early tomorrow and bringing her back to Windy Corner for breakfast so I'll see you then. I love you."

"Love you too."

"I just remembered I have something to do." Hill said coolly. He and Tessen had arrived via floo a few minutes before.

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked with confusion. "What do you have to do?"

"None of your business." Hill started to reach for a handful of floo powder.

"Hill, could I talk to you?" Remus gestured towards the door. Hill followed cautiously. The minute they were outside the kitchen door, Hill spoke.

"Lupin, I didn't know you'd be here or I wouldn't have come. I thought … I know this is uncomfortable. I'm not going to stay."

"No, don't be silly."

"You're so polite." One corner of Hill's mouth quirked. "I know you don't like me. I understand."

"It's not that I don't like you." Remus said quickly. "I hardly know you. I told Cass not to be jealous about Sirius and I'm jealous about you and I need to not be. It's history."

"Ancient history." Hill nodded emphatically.

"Please stay. I'd like you to stay. Honestly."

Hill looked at him for a long moment. "All right. I will, as long as you tell me when you need me to leave."

"I will." Remus nodded.

Remus looked at his cards again and then asked Hill another question about the rules. Hill explained it patiently. Now he actually was talking a bit to Hill, Remus found he rather liked him, although he still got jealous when he thought of Cassius and Hill being together. Playing poker with the guys was fun. He was very glad Clara had 'made' him stay. He decided he'd buy her flowers tomorrow and send them to her office.

Cassius walked into the kitchen, noticing Hill, Tessen, Jack, Sirius and Remus sitting at the kitchen table, it'd been transfigured into a round table.

"Hello." Remus greeted Cassius with a smile.

"Hey, cousin, sit down and join the game." Sirius grinned.

"He can't join until this hand is finished." Jack said.

"How're you doing?" Cassius asked Remus.

"I haven't lost yet…but it's the first game."

"Huh." Cassius conjured a chair, Remus moved his chair closer to Sirius and Cassius sat between Hill and Remus. "I thought if you were doing badly you'd want to come to the movie."

"Nope, you and Stevens can have fun without me, just no Drunken Apparating please." Remus smiled.

"Sure. Who's turn is it?" Cassius asked, looking at Remus's cards.

"Your mate's." Tessen said, watching the two of them with open curiosity. Cassius was almost mute at work and rarely spoke to anyone, not even Remus, at Order meetings.

"You know how to play poker?" Jack asked with surprise. Cassius nodded. "Why didn't you ever join our game then?"

"I didn't want to spend an evening with you lot when I could spend it with Remus. Besides, Hill doesn't like me."

"True." Hill said dryly, as Cassius leaned over and looked at his cards. Remus noticed Hill tilted his hand so Cassius could look at the cards. "No helping Lupin." Hill said harshly.

"Aw, Cory, still sore about losing all those games to me?" Cassius grinned.

"Don't call me that. And you only won because you cheated." Hill scowled, his Glaswegian accent suddenly very clear.

"Malfoys never cheat. They manipulate the situation to get what they want." Cassius recited solemnly.

"That's semantics." Hill and Remus spoke together then smiled ruefully at one another.

"Don't hate the player, hate the game," Cassius smirked, "Cory."

"I didn't know you had a nickname." Tessen said, watching Hill, Cassius and Remus like a three way tennis match.

"I don't. I hate it. So don't call me that." Hill said tersely.

"He says that but he secretly loooves it." Cassius said in a sing-song voice earning a glare from Hill.

"How can it be a nickname when it's got the exact same number of syllables as my name?" Hill demanded.

"Because it ends in an e sound." Cassius answered. "Cor-eeeee."

"You." Hill clenched his jaw. Remus could hear the teeth grinding.

"This is where he'd threaten to hex me normally, but you're here." Cassius said happily to Remus.

"Stop baiting him. Hill and I were getting along fine until you arrived." Remus said calmly, taking Cassius's hand in his and kissing it. Cassius opened his mouth to respond when Remus spoke again. "What time's the movie?" He asked as he looked down at his cards, debating what to do, tapping their clasped hands against his mouth as he thought.

"Stevens is coming here at 8:30, movie's at nine."

"I want to get rid of two cards, so that means I get two new ones, right?"

"Yeah." Cassius answered. Remus let go of Cassius's hand and tossed down two cards. Jack nodded in confirmation, dealing Remus two new cards.

"Cousin, you should play strip poker with Jack, it's fun."

"Strip Poker? What does that mean?" Sirius asked curiously.

"You lose clothing when you lose in the game. We used to play it in the dorms." Cassius answered.

"The more shit I find out about Ravenclaws, the more I suspect they aren't academically minded at all." Tessen shook his head. "You played that, Hill?"

"Yeah. Muggle cousins." Hill replied with a shrug.

"So…all those games you lost?" Sirius leaned forward.

"Yes, they were strip poker games and no, I didn't lose, Malfoy cheated."

"Manipulated to get what I wanted. Made it quicker to get my co– OW!" Cassius winced and rubbed his side where Hill had elbowed him sharply.

"Sorry, Lupin." Hill said politely.

"Quite all right, I expect you saved us all from hearing a rather rude comment." Remus nodded.

Tessen and Jack both snorted. Sirius stared and Corbin arched his eyebrow at Cassius as he tossed three cards down on the table. Jack dealt Hill three cards silently as Stevens walked into the kitchen.

"You're playing poker? Brilliant!" Stevens walked towards the table. "Hey, Corbin." Stevens smiled and Hill smiled back. It was the first time Remus had ever seen Hill smile and it lit up his face. He could see why Cassius had been attracted to him. And, Remus thought proudly to himself, he wasn't even jealous. Of course, that was probably because he was distracted by Cassius nuzzling his ear and whispering that he loved him.

"Hi Stevens. We play every Friday night."

"I'm free next Friday night." Stevens said pointedly. "And I don't cheat, like Cassie here." Stevens ruffled Cassius's hair causing Hill to laugh.

"Do you know everyone?" Corbin asked.

"I know Sirius and Jack, and I remember you from school but I don't think we ever talked."

"This is Liam Tessen. He's an auror too. This is Aloysius Stevens, he's a chaser for Chudley. Just don't call him by his first name. " Corbin introduced Stevens.

"Nice to meet you both. Ready then, kiddo?"

"Yeah." Cassius pushed back his chair from the table.

Remus leaned over quickly and kissed Cassius. "I love you."

"Love you too. You going home after?"

"Yes. I'll see you there."

"Bye!" Stevens and Cassius walked out of the kitchen.

Tessen looked down at his hand then asked for one card.

"So, next game…strip poker?" Sirius winked at Jack who flushed.

"No way." Remus and Hill again spoke at the same time.

"So, did Cass really cheat at Poker?" Remus asked during a break between games.

"He did." Hill smiled as he set his beer down. His accent had gotten stronger as the evening wore on. "Yeah. Owen and I, it was like we were proud when he cheated, you know? He had such a hard time remembering all the rules to a game, and so when he remembered the rules enough to actually know when he was breaking them, well, we couldn't get too mad."

"I understand that." Remus smiled.

"He's really gotten a lot better since you've been together."

"I thought you two never talked at work."

"We don't…I still keep my eye on him though." Hill stopped suddenly.

"Oh?" Remus prompted.

"Well… When we started Training, Owen was worried about Cassie's memory…what would happen if he messed up a hex or something. He made me promise I would look out for Cassie. So I did. There were several overnight training sessions, I had to make sure Cassie took his sleeping potion – without him finding out. And after Owen died…" Hill's blue eyes clouded over then he shook his head. "Then he got better – probably when you started dating."

"So…you still care about him?" The words were out of Remus's mouth before he thought about them.

"That's a loaded question, coming from you." Hill looked down at the bottle of beer in his hand. "Honestly, I care about him, because he was my first. But I don't think we were even friends. We're too much alike. We didn't talk about emotions. There were whole chunks of our relationship missing because we just wouldn't talk. So…it's mostly because I promised Owen."

"I wish I'd known Owen."

"Ah, he was great. We stayed friends, even after I broke up with Cassie. You're like him…I mean…you make a good pair."

"If you're single, Cass loves playing matchmaker." Remus said lightly, picking up on the lonely tone in Hill's voice.

Hill laughed bitterly. "Found that out a little too late, didn't I."

Remus watched Hill's eyes fly over to look at Jack before he took a long drink.

After a few more games, Remus could feel the calming potion wearing off.

"I'm going to go home. It was fun though." Remus stood, yawning for effect.

"Join us anytime." Tessen said.

"Thanks." Remus turned to Hill. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Hill smiled.

"You have a good time tonight?" Cassius asked. He'd just gotten home from the movies. Remus was getting ready for bed.

"Yes. They're all very nice. You should talk to them more at work, they all like you a lot." Remus put toothpaste on his toothbrush, watching Cassius in the mirror.

"Sure." Cassius shrugged.

"Hill and I had a nice talk."

"Really? That's surprising." Cassius said sarcastically.

"Did you know he and Owen stayed friends?"

"Yeah. He's friends with Stevens too. I just never hang around when he's there. We don't get along."

"I saw that. You two are a lot alike." Remus set his toothbrush on the counter.

"You mad at me?" Cassius asked quietly. When he'd reached for his mate a moment ago, Remus had quickly moved out of his reach.

"No." Remus turned around and walked towards the door.

"Are you sure?" Cassius reached for him again.

"Yes." Remus sidestepped and walked across the hallway.

"Then…why aren't you letting me touch you?"

"Because…if you touch me…I don't have good control right now." Remus knew the calming potion had completely worn off now and he was holding on to his control by a thread. The wolf was clamoring to claim its mate, to re-affirm their bond. The anxiety of the past year had strongly affected the wolf and made him more possessive of his mate. Cassius's shoulder hadn't been fully healed since before Christmas, four months ago.

"Oh." Cassius shut the door behind him and leaned against it. Remus walked towards the fire, warming himself in front of it. "You didn't seem jealous of Corbin."

"Clara gave me a calming potion. It helped a lot."

"So you were jealous? You told me it was silly when I was jealous of Sirius because nothing can separate us."

"I know I did." Cassius's scent was making Remus dizzy.

"So it's silly of you to be jealous about Corbin."

"I know. I'm glad Clara made me stay. I like him."

"He never touched me like you touch me."

"I know. You're mine now." Remus's voice was a dark growl.

"I like it when you're possessive. You won't hurt me." Cassius whispered. Remus moved in a blur and grabbed Cassius's face pulling him down for a kiss. He moved to Cassius's neck and nipped him sharply. Cassius moaned. "Oh! Please." Cassius choked out a cry as Remus slammed him against the door.

"You're mine." The wolf growled, ripping open Cassius's shirt and latching his mouth onto the ring that glinted on Cassius's chest. "Mine." His fingers dug into Cassius's back, curling around the angles of the shoulder blades, pulling Cassius closer to him. He took a step back, gulping in air. "On bed. Naked. Now."

Cassius scrambled to get undressed and onto the bed as soon as possible. Remus's eyes were glowing, the full moon was less than twelve hours away and Remus could feel it pulling at him, sharpening his senses, making him ache for his mate. Cassius reached for Remus and Remus slammed his hands down on the bed causing the green eyes to widen in shock.

"Sorry." Remus pulled back, letting go of Cassius, trying to get the wolf under control.

"S'all right." Cassius said softly. "Claim me." Remus nudged his knees under Cassius's thighs and curled his hands around Cassius's wrists again, kissing Cassius's neck as he heard Cassius murmur a lubrication spell.

"Mine." Remus's vocabulary had narrowed down to the one word that was rushing through his blood. "Mine." He slid into Cassius as his fingers tightened. He could feel Cassius's pulse under his fingertips. "Mine."

"I love you." Cassius's eyes fluttered shut as Remus pressed his forehead against the magical writing on Cassius's collarbone. Remus lost the last vestiges of control and spiraled into a desire-colored haze.

He was awoken by Cassius shifting under him. Remus pried his fingers away from Cassius's wrists reluctantly and gathered Cassius in his arms, moving to rest his mate's head on his shoulder.

"You all right?" Remus asked, his voice shaky.

"Mmm. Think I'll have to call in sick to work." Cassius murmured against Remus's neck.

"Why?" Remus sat up, running panicked hands over Cassius's body. The only visible sign of damage was the blood trickled down from the bite mark on his shoulder. Remus leant forward without thought to lick up the blood. Cassius's fingers twined in the graying hair. Remus pulled away after turning the lick into several slow kisses. "You're all right?"

"Yeah. I thought we could just spend the day together." Cassius smiled gently. "After a few more hours of sleep."

"Sounds wonderful." Remus laid back down against Cassius and was lulled back to sleep by his mate's warmth.