title: lykanthrophobia
by: earthenkynder
rating: pg-13. this chapter has a bit more swearing in it, nothing too bad.
disclaimer: all these characters belong to the goddess j.k. rowling. if they were mine, i wouldn't be sharing them with you ;)
a/n: *GO CHECK THE FIRST CHAPTER!!!* i have added a prologue, which you will need to read. Other than that, the chapters are the same. remember, this will soon be slash, as this chapter is starting to show just a bit. any flames concerning this will be used to cook marshmallows. there is some rather odd behaviour in this chapter, which will be explained in the next one when i do Sev's POV.
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As the door clicked open and Severus walked in, Remus looked up from his pacing in front of the fireplace. Seeing who it was, Remus whimpered and rushed towards him. Seeing Snape's eyes widen and posture tense, seeing how he, too, whimpered, a sound so much like his own, seeing him take a step back and almost cower against the wall; it brought Remus up short, and he stopped about six feet from Severus, who had continued whimpering as Remus approached him. Now, as Remus stood in front of a trembling Snape, he whined pitifully, watching his old friend's eyes begin to tear up.
Remus was stricken with grief for what he had done to Severus, but a small part of him couldn't help musing at the situation. This is the most feared teacher there is, the scourge of Hogwarts. And here he is, trembling, crying, and cowering against the wall. Because of one man. Me. I did this to him. A new wave of whimpers escaped from Remus. To see Severus like this was terrifying, earth shattering, and wholly demoralizing. Even the greasy-haired, ill-tempered, quick-witted, ice cold, ex-Death Eater, and spy for Dumbledore, Severus Snape, could be reduced to this. Gods, what have I done?
Remus fell to his knees before Snape, and bowed his head so that it was almost touching the ground. His shaggy hair drooped forward and exposed the back of his neck. At this gesture, Severus's eyes dried, but Remus couldn't see it. Once he had left his head bowed for a moment, he slowly put his arms on the ground in front of him, and rolled onto his back. He stretched out, legs slightly spread. His stomach vulnerable, and his arms out to the sides, leaving his chest exposed. His head lay at Snape's feet, and he arched his neck, fully exposing the tender flesh. He had fully submitted to Snape, and he lay waiting for the punishment he knew he deserved. Seconds ticked by as he lay there, waiting, waiting… he hadn't even heard the other man move, and had to force himself not to start as he felt Snape's long hair brush against his face and collarbone. He could feel the other man's breath on his neck, and a moment later he felt Severus's teeth dig into the yielding flesh. Not viciously, but hard enough to draw blood. Remus's neck soon shone bright red, and Severus greedily licked at the actual bite once it was sealed, gently, almost tenderly, his saliva helping it heal faster. Remus still lay exposed on the floor when he felt Snape move away from him. Then suddenly two strong hands grabbed him by the lapels and hauled him up so that his feet no longer touched the ground, and shoved him up against the wall. Remus had remained blind throughout, but as the sharp stone of the wall dug into his back, and Severus's hot breath blew across his face, his eyes flew open. He had expected to see Snape's enraged and feral visage looming over him (for even when hoisted off his feet, he was still a good few inches shorter than Severus) but the face in front of his now was pained, full of so much anguish. Snape's teeth were bared in a horrible grimace as he tried not to whimper, and tears trickled down his face, despite the obvious effort to keep them in.
"Why?" Snape choked out, a sob breaking loose from him as Remus was reminded of a time so long ago, the last time he and Severus had been friends. "Why did it have to be me?"
Remus felt as though his heart was shattering.
Snape pressed him harder into the wall, his eyes wide, and the pupils dilated. "You bastard!" he hissed through clenched teeth. "You stupid son of a bitch!" Severus was shouting now, and as more obscenities poured from his mouth, he drew his hand back, and holding the other wolf with one hand, hit him across the face. Remus's head snapped to the side as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. The screaming and the physical abuse continued, and Remus made no move to stop it, despite the fact that his face was now a bloody mess. Finally the shouting stopped, and although the punches kept coming, they now lacked the power to do much more damage. Soon the weak punches stopped, too, and as Snape dropped Lupin to his feet, he collapsed against the other wolf and began sobbing and weeping and howling, until his sobs tapered off into whimpers. Lupin's arms had encircled him as soon as he was dropped, partially because he would have fallen otherwise, dizzy from the abuse, and partially because Severus's grief-wracked form was sobbing against him. He slowly stroked Severus's hair as Severus's fingers wound into his robes, grasping desperately at the worn fabric. And as Severus ran out of tears to shed, Remus lowered his head and gently licked the remaining tears off of Severus's face, his tongue playing over the contours of Snape's puffy eyes, high cheekbones, aquiline nose, and stern mouth. Once Remus finished, he pulled Severus's head down to rest on his shoulder, still stroking the man's dark hair. Snape's fingers unclenched from Remus's old robes, and hesitantly went around the smaller man's waist, as Remus's free hand wrapped around his. They stood like this for a very long time, until Snape uttered a single phrase.
"I'm scared."
