Warning: Slash.
Author's Note: I think this is it. I am pretty sure this is the last chapter, so don't hold your breaths for another one. I hope you all enjoyed it!
The Longest Journey
Chapter Nine
Enough. Severus had had enough of this. He tried very hard to will himself into his body, or at least into a lifetime close enough to his own. He felt himself steady, his eyes were flooded with light. He was sitting. He was in the school library, looking at a textbook. And he felt remarkably like himself.
"…getting late!"
"Hmmm?" Severus looked up. Something, he believed, had gone rather wrong. He was most certainly himself, but not the self he had left. He was fifteen again, sitting across the table from Remus Lupin. A very young, pale looking Remus Lupin.
"I…I made plans, you see…Severus I'm sorry, I'm going to have to cut this short." Remus gave him an apologetic smile. This was all vaguely familiar.
"Oh, well, if you've plans…" Severus gave an offhanded shrug.
"Well, I've nearly gotten it anyway." Remus gave a warm smile. "Shall we meet again this Friday, just to be certain?"
"Yes, I think that would be a good idea." Severus nodded. What was this….no. This couldn't be the scene he thought it was. Something was wrong. Something was *terribly* wrong.
"Good." Remus nodded eagerly, and Severus was aware of a sudden tense silence between them. The sort of tense silence he'd been experiencing over and over and over again, in various difference scenarios.
"Well….good night then." Severus said, looking up from beneath lowered lashes.
"Goodnight." Remus said, nodding and not moving. He suddenly leaned forward, brushing his lips very lightly against Severus'. "I'll see you Friday…" He mumbled, before running out of the room.
Severus sat in shocked silence. Yes, he knew this scene. He knew what was going to happen next. His sixteen year old self was staring down at his book, eyes not paying any attention to the words. He'd just been kissed for the first time, his mind was reeling.
In his fourth year, he'd been called upon to tutor Remus Lupin in Potions. The boy was rather lacking in the needed skills, and Severus had been assigned to him. They met twice a week in the library, for a good few months. And of course, something akin to feelings had begun to develop. Small glances, a hand on the arm…nothing too forward.
And then the kiss.
It hadn't been a very spectacular kiss. In fact it had been rather awkward and dry. But it had been a kiss, and it had been from Lupin.
Severus tensed. His fifteen year old self stared on, not knowing what was about to happen. This was…torture. And absolutely ridiculous.
"Hey. Snape."
Black. Coming up behind him, putting an arm about his shoulders in a conspiratorial manner.
"What do you want?" But Severus' voice lacked any bite. He was still stunned by the kiss.
"I have some information for you…"
He couldn't take it anymore. He *knew* what was going to happen. He was going to discover Lupin's little secret, and never speak to him again. It was not something he wished to relive. Bad enough to experience it once in a lifetime, but twice…
Shit.
He felt himself back in his own body with a jolt. He was tired and sore, and felt as though he'd just run a marathon. But hardly five minutes had passed since he began his endeavor.
Well. He wasn't entirely certain what to think now. Obviously his last little adventure cleared a few things up for him. A few rather uncomfortable things.
//Remus Lupin is *not* my soul mate.// It simply couldn't be. Severus rose, flexing his muscles. He needed something for the pain. Lord, but it hurt. He was never attempting anything of that nature ever again. He pulled a vial from one of his cabinets, and drank it down. It would kick in shortly.
Well. What now? Apparently he was destined to be with Lupin. Or not be, if what he had seen was any indication.
//Explains why I hated Black from the moment I saw him, at any rate…// Offensive brute, going out of his way to keep them apart. Ah well, it didn't matter anymore. Black was long gone, and Lupin…
Lupin was a few floors up, doing whatever it was he did in his free time. Picked fleas, most likely. And Severus knew that the werewolf was very much alone, at least in the romantic sense. But it didn't matter. He'd lost his chance, as he had quite clearly seen.
//I don't want him anyway.//
Of course, Severus didn't exactly want anyone. At least no one he knew. That was the reason he had done the ritual. But it had backfired, horribly.
When imagining his destined soul mate, he generally pictured a rather lean blond with good hair. And dark eyes. Someone who was quiet and reserved, and left him alone. But not all the time. Just most of the time. And didn't pester him with stupid questions. And who wasn't a werewolf.
He sighed, and sank back down into his chair. He had his answers now, nothing said he needed to act on it immediately. He would…consider his options. For as long as he felt comfortable doing so. Yes.
He had papers to grade and other things to do. Perhaps…
Perhaps he'd drop by Lupin's later, and ask the man by for a cup of tea…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~