All characters belong to J.K. Rowling except Vlad Comaneci who is 100% mine.

Dinner that evening was a tense affair. Mercifully, the sarcastic comments were kept to a bare minimum, but the tension could have been cut with a knife. Upon sitting down at the table, Sirius had made no attempt to hide the fact that he was checking the food over for traces of poison. Severus looked at him darkly. "If I wanted to poison you, Black, I'd have thought of a better way to do it than to put it in the meal that I'm eating too," he snapped.

Remus pointedly said nothing and began eating. Sirius watched him suspiciously for a few moments, obviously expecting to have to clean up his destroyed remains while Severus looked on in sadistic amusement. When he saw that Remus appeared to still be in one piece and Severus wasn't looking evilly satisfied, he grudgingly ate a mouthful.

"When are we going to meet this creature we're here to see, then, Lupin?" asked Severus, looking coldly at Remus.

"I'm not sure," admitted Remus, choosing to ignore the dig. There was enough hostility as it was without him adding to it. "Albus said we'd most likely hear from him first. If not, I'm sure we'll find him."

Severus looked more than a bit irritated. "You mean you have no idea how to get in contact with him?"

"That's what he said, Snape," Sirius growled. "He'll get in touch with us."

Severus sneered. "I was unaware that you needed a spokesperson, Lupin. Perhaps you could tell him to keep his idiotic comments to himself in future."

Remus sighed. This is not how I want to spend the next few weeks. "I'll ask around Brasov tomorrow."

Satisfied, Severus went back to his meal. A few minutes passed in deafening silence before Severus stood up.

"By the way, Lupin, I prepared the Wolfsbane Potion earlier. You'll need to take it tonight."

"Yes, I know." Only too well. "Thanks, Severus."

Snape nodded curtly and left the room. Sirius glared after him. "I don't trust him," he said flatly.

"Sirius, I know you two have had your differences, but you are on the same side, and surely the future of light magic is more important than some childhood prank?"

"He's the one who won't let that go," grumbled Sirius. "I don't trust him for entirely different reasons."

Remus groaned inwardly. He really didn't want to get involved in an anti-Severus tirade. "Well, I'll let you keep them to yourself."

They carried the dishes through to the kitchen where, with a flick of Remus's wand, they were sparklingly clean again. "You realise this means we're going to have to cook at some point, don't you?" he said, grinning at the expression that crossed Sirius's face as he put the plates away.

"Cook for him?"

"Yes. He cooked tonight. It's only fair, Padfoot."

"Since when do Slytherins play fair?" muttered Sirius. "I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be cooking a candlelit meal for Snape."

Remus laughed out loud at that. Me neither, Sirius. The only involvement that Sirius had had in Snape's meals in the past was the furtive addition of some powder or potion or other, with the sole idea of Slytherin humiliation in mind. Bubble potions and suchlike... "I take it your culinary skills haven't improved any, and I know mine haven't. I think if anyone's going to be poisoning anyone it will be us inadvertently poisoning him."

"Inadvertent or not, it'd cheer me up."

"Sirius," Remus said in his patented Professorial voice. "I forbid you to go putting anything...unseemly in Severus's food."

Sirius grinned. "Unseemly? Moi?"

"Vous."

Sirius laughed. "I won't, I won't. But, tell me, Prof. During your time as his fellow teacher did you happen to notice any food he really hated? Any horrible allergies...?"

Remus shook his head, amused. He was amazed that Sirius was able to joke as he used to. And if Snape-bashing was keeping him afloat, then...who was he to stop him? Not that he wanted to encourage more animosity, but he was more concerned for his friend's welfare than Severus's pride. "Not to my knowledge," he answered truthfully. "If you remember, though, he used to drink his own potions when we were at school. If he could manage those it isn't likely that food is going to upset his stomach much." Indeed, he had fond memories of watching a pint-sized Snape skulk, scowling into the Great Hall, or watching him walk into walls with apparently no idea of who or where he was. A particular favourite was a Rhyming Potion that he had made and drank to test it. Apparently he hadn't realised it was his potion that had been the cause of his bizarre poetry for the rest of the day and had decided to blame Sirius for it. A spat between the two that day had made for an extremely entertaining breakfast show.

Remus, Sirius, James and Peter sat in the Great Hall, eating breakfast and discussing the upcoming Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. James was just telling his friends about the latest flying formations when a harsh, tuneless howl rose over the noise.

"Black, you ridiculous fool! You'll be expelled from this school!"

The four boys had looked round to see Snape storming furiously towards them, seemingly unable to control the stream of rhyming words flying from his mouth in perfect rhythm.

"You've got some cheek, you Gryffindor freak! I challenge you to a duel!"

Sirius had looked utterly delighted, as thought all his Christmases had come at once. He got up and stood next to Snape, slinging a companionable arm over his shoulder. "Snapey, you're rhymes are just great!" he'd sung tonelessly, loudly enough to get the attention of the few people in the room who hadn't already been watching. "Why do you seem so irate? Sing us a song! Snapey, go on! Lucky I already ate!"

"You're an unsufferable git!" Snape had screeched. "Nothing resembling wit! Take off this curse, or I'll do worse, so save me the time and DO IT!"

Remus, Peter and James had been crying with mirth. The expression on Snape's face was one of pure rage and Sirius was milking it for all it was worth. Remus had been astonished at how quickly Sirius was coming up with his rhymed replies. He'd always been a bright one.

"Now, now, young man, that's not nice," admonished Sirius loudly. "Now you've insulted me twice! Apologise now, I'll tell you how, a simple 'sorry' will suffice!"

"Professor, you should expel Black!" Snape had howled up at the teachers' table. "Lose this ridiculous hack! Make him go stay, far, far away, and make sure he never comes back!"

"Snapey, you oversized bat," warbled Sirius. "Let us have no more of that! Give us a tune, Snape, you buffoon, that's--"

The impromptu duet had ended when Snape had swung at a cackling Sirius, giving him a black eye. Sirius had been proud of that black eye, mostly because Snape had been given detention for it as well as having thirty points taken from Slytherin upon the discovery that his new-found love of poetry had been self-inflicted.

"Remus? Moooooony?"

"Hmmm? Oh, sorry," Remus said, seeing the odd look Sirius was giving him.

"What were you thinking about?" asked Sirius, looking half amused, half worried. "You were smiling to yourself."

"Oh, nothing much," he said, unable to suppress a smile.

"Okay." Sirius looked disbelieving but let it go. "Well, I was just asking if you knew what the werewolves around here do for the full moon?"

Good question. "No idea," Remus said thoughtfully. "They can't all have the Wolfsbane Potion. Who would be able to make that much of it?"

Sirius looked pensive. "What if they're in the forest there?" he asked, jerking his thumb towards the kitchen window through which they should see the dim outlines of trees swaying in the wind, "You'll be fine, I'll...probably be fine, but Snape won't. He's scared enough of you."

"Oh, I'd imagine Severus has plenty of silver on hand, should I have the sudden urge to eat him," Remus said dryly.

"I'm not worried, you understand," Sirius added hurriedly. "About him, anyway. But if they can smell him won't they try to get in here?"

"Well, maybe, assuming they are in the forest, but it's nothing a few strong locking charms won't prevent," answered Remus, hoping he was right. "I'd better go get the potion, actually. Don't want to forget again."

He started towards the door, but Sirius grabbed his arm. "Listen, I hope you aren't still beating yourself up over that. It worked out fine in the end."

Remus snorted. "Yes, it did. You're still a convict who's name causes fear second only to that of Voldemort, Harry's still living with Lily's awful sister and Peter's still on the lose, having just helped resurrect his old Master. You know, the one who caused all this in the first place..."

Sirius looked at him steadily. "I don't know how to make you believe me that no one thinks it's your fault. Hell, it never even occurred to me that it could be. You're the only one who thinks that."

Remus shook his head, not wanting to prolong the conversation. The fact that Sirius was being so forgiving, that he was so willing to forget that he had almost been given the Dementor's Kiss because of a stupid mistake made by his so-called 'friend', was eating him up. Hadn't he, Remus, been completely willing to believe that Sirius had indeed committed the crimes that had got him put into Azkaban in the first place? Had he even thought to question the Ministry's decision to lock him away? A brief few hours of disbelief, yes, but when he realised through the haze of misery and pain that Harry was now an orphan, he whole-heartedly agreed with their decision. He would have fed the key to a Manticore and thought nothing of it except a vague, grim satisfaction...

He sighed. "I'd best get the potion now, anyway, or I really will forget."

With that, he left the room. Sirius stared after his friend. Why was he so insistent that he was to blame? Remus had never come right out and said it in so many words, but Sirius knew what he was thinking. Remus had saved his life that night, though. If he hadn't been there, Snape would have brought him straight up to the Ministry, if not the Dementors, no questions asked. And Sirius would have been worse than dead without anyone ever finding out that he was innocent...

He resolved himself to make sure Moony knew he wasn't to blame, and with a sigh, continued putting the plates away.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"You cannot be thinking of leaving the house dressed like that, Lupin."

"Why not?" asked Remus, looking down at his robes.

"Well, forgive me if I managed to pick up the wrong end of the stick somewhere along the line, but I was under the impression that we were attempting inconspicuousness. Need I remind you that Black," Severus spat the name disgustedly, "is a world-famous Azkaban escapee? We're lucky he wasn't recognised yesterday."

"He won't be recognised here, Severus. This is a Muggle town, anyway. But you're right about the robes." With a flick of his wand the robes were gone and he was wearing trousers and a shirt.

Severus raised his eyebrows. "You're powers of logic astound me, Lupin. And what about Black? Is he accompanying you?"

To Severus's surprise, Remus started laughing. "Yes, he is. As a dog, of course."

Severus didn't bother asking what the insipid joke was. Undoubtedly something extremely idiotic and extremely Gryffinor. He found out, though, when Sirius wandered into the kitchen with a cheerful "Morning!" for Remus and a dark look for Severus. Remus smiled and held up a cheerful red collar. Severus looked at the look of disgust on Sirius's face and found himself fighting to keep looking disdainful. Ah. Well, it's no less than he deserves. Damn menace should be kept on a leash all the time.

The rain lashed against the windows, and a strong wind howled. All in all, a thoroughly miserable day. It was, in fact, rather fitting of Severus's mood, although he did suspect that bright, cheerful sunshine would worsen it further. On the contrary, though, the place was wet and grey, making Brasov in the distance look even more like a ghost town that it had the day before.

Sirius looked at Severus. "Are you coming?" The look of distaste on his face was almost enough to make Severus say yes, but the urge passed quickly enough.

"No, Black, I'm not. I'm staying here in case the creature turns up on the doorstep." With a cold look at the two other men, he turned and swept away.

Severus stomped up the stairs. He planned to do a bit more research into defence against werewolves. If he was to be stuck in a house with one with a colony of them in the area, he refused to be unprepared. Albus has outdone himself this time, he thought sourly as he walked upstairs. He had found something of interest in the extensive library at the top of the house the night before. The Caveo Lupus charm supposedly issued a small jet of liquid silver from the caster's wand. It was just briefly mentioned in one of the books he had found, however, so he wasn't sure of the exact incantation, or, indeed, if it even really existed.

Severus would never have admitted it out loud, but he sincerely hoped Lupin was around when Comaneci did put in an appearance. Not only was he one of his kind, but he had an annoying ability to put people at ease. That, Severus had to admit, was not one of his own strongest suits. Added to the fact that the monsters put him on edge, and therefore made him irritable, the meeting with Comaneci probably wouldn't be overly successful without Lupin nearby.

As he settled down at a small table in the library with a pile of ancient, dusty tomes, he heard the front door slam downstairs. Good, he thought, lighting a single candle. He could get some peace for his research without those irritating canines getting in the way.

He read through the books for hours. Some of them were positively ancient. There were ones in obscure languages that he had never seen before (odd-looking, flowing, cursive scripts, jagged prints...) and ones that he knew to have gone out of use milleniums ago and couldn't read. The pages were faded and yellowed with age in many, and in some had gone brittle enough to break if not handled with extreme care. The shelves upon shelves of books, parchments and scrolls hid secrets that he didn't doubt hadn't been read in centuries. Books on the arcane arts were in abundance in this candle-lit treasure-trove of knowledge and information, and he found a good number of spells and potions that had been the stuff of rumours when he was a child.

Severus was always at his most relaxed when he was either making a potion or researching, and he jumped when the doorbell rang. It took him a while to place just what the jarring ding-dong sound was. It could barely be heard above the miserable weather outside. Annoyed at the interruption, he picked up his wand and went downstairs, lighting candles on the way to counter the growing darkness. He got to the front door and stood up straight, dignified, then pulled it open.

On the doorstep stood a tall man with black hair pulled back into a slick ponytail. His skin was pale and he was thin and angular looking. His prominent cheekbones were set of by a long, pointed nose. His thin lips pressed together as the ice-blue eyes took in Severus's expression of suspicion. He wore a set of black robes, quite different to Severus's own. "Expelliarmus!" he snapped, and Severus was unable to stop his wand flying from his own hand into that of the stranger before him.

Then the man pointed his own wand directly at a completely unarmed Severus's face.

Sorry that one took so long. I've been busy with exams! I should really apologise because that was an awful chapter and I'm well aware of it. Sorry (again)! But it was getting quite long (for me, anyway) and I thought I'd leave it there. The next one's underway, though!

SR1918 - I wasn't sure about that bit! I thought that seeing as he wasn't there before the Gryffindors for their first DADA class, and he arrives after Harry for the first Anti-Dementor lesson, he was usually running about 5 minutes behind everyone else - bit like me, really! Only I'm closer to 5 hours...never mind! Kanzer - Sirius will have his moment. But I'm saying no more...! Louise - yep, he's a man of many talents, is Snapey! I know most people like to write Sirius as being an awful cook, but I thought Remus would be pretty bad, too, because he says in PoA he isn't much of a potion brewer. So he can't cook for the same reason that Snape can! If that makes sense... Anon - thanks! I love writing Snape, but Remus and Sirius are tricky. themidnightangel - he is, isn't he? And everyone thinks he's the quiet one...! naughtynat - thanks! I'm being ridiculously slow with them, but never mind... Reva Ayanami - Snapey's quite the gourmet chef, you know! There are more insults coming! Anon - thank you! daniz - they're just going to have to learn to get on, and I'll leave them in that house together until they do!

BTW, to get the Bubble Potions reference, you can find out what that's all about in The House Championship: The Underhand Way. Just a bit of shameless advertising...!

Please review!

Bobbi xx