Dear readers,
Hello and thank you again for all your feedback and crit! I really intended to work on 'Algolagnia' today, so naturally I wrote ten pages of 'Cats and Dogs' instead. My track record at divination makes Trelawney look like a winner!
MsInvisFem: Here is a little action for you!
Excessivelyperky: Oh, yes, there is definitely some exotic blood in Snape's makeup. All Siamese are temperamental little autocrats, I had one that ran my life for seventeen years!
Rivanknight: I have a yahoogroup that will let you know whenever I update the Pensieve – I post my new stuff at FF.net and my site at the same time. That way you can also check on some of the other fic that I'm hosting, too. :)
Tina: Just wait until the next installment!
Alana Roseguard: Thank you! I've tried very hard not to fall into the Mary Sue trap, I'm very happy to have succeeded. :)
Griffon: Catnip… hmmm… evil grin
Now, on with the tale, and please let me know what you think!
Sincerely,
Chaos
~
Like Cats and Dogs
Chapter 11
~
"Those
dunderheads! Those prejudiced, ignorant, doctrinaire, degreed idiots! They
haven't used their heads for anything but cracking walnuts since the day they
graduated!"
Severus agreed with every word, adding a fervent 'YOW!' when Emily paused for breath. She was doing quite a job of venting both their spleens. Felinese had its attractions, Severus had called Shand all manner of names and insulted his parentage for five generations, but hearing Emily exercise her excellent and varied vocabulary was soothing.
"How the hell do you stand it? How can you even look at those self-satisfied, anal-retentive copyists! An original idea or innovative thought would blow their heads wide open!"
"Yow!" Like one of Longbottom's cauldrons.
"Now I understand why you could be such a bastard, if I had to deal with those fatuous, smarmy thick-wits for ten months a year, I'd have my bits in a perpetual twist, too!"
"Y-" Now just one bloody minute!
"Now, that was a pre-existing condition, Professor." Lupin moved as quietly as a wolf and had apparently been listening for some time.
Yes, caused initially by exposure to Gryffindors! The thought came out as hisses and spits.
The werewolf's eyes glinted gold with amusement, but he said nothing. Severus felt his nose tickled by some scent and opened his mouth to sense it better.
"You're noticing more scents? You already had the most refined sense of smell I've ever known. I think you ought to know that some of your enhanced senses might well stay with you once you're back to human form." Lupin squatted and looked Severus right in the eye. "Part of you stays human in your animal form, but part of your human form will always be feline now."
Severus digested this with some astonishment and wished that he had listened when this had come up in school! Severus knew his own talent had been latent - Minerva had offered him a chance to develop it when he was a fifth-year, but by then potions were his raison d'etre.
Yet another thing to add to the list of 'should haves.' That list was about as long as it's opposite, 'should have never.'
With a wistful expression, Lupin extended a finger and gently stroked a spot between Severus' ears. For a second, Severus almost rubbed in return… but…
LUPIN! With a yowl and a splay-clawed swat, Severus sent the werewolf backing off. Red-edged fury danced in his gaze and he took a step, only to hear a deep, rolling growl to one side.
The Dog.
~
Awake and bored, he waited for Remus to return from the staff meeting, but as the sun marched across the sky, Sirius became concerned. As lunch approached, his appetite increased along with his curiosity, and Sirius went out the Border Collie sized door to see what was keeping Remus. The halls were still and quiet, but Sirius imagined that he could feel the anticipation in the air, a vibration in the ancient stones.
Tomorrow night the castle would be filled with students, a whole new class of first years would take their places with their new Houses. So it had been for a thousand years, and so he hoped wit would be for a thousand more.
The sound of someone spouting off caught his ear. It sounded like that Ravenclaw girl was in a taking and venting her displeasure. Obnoxious yows interspersed her rant, so it would seem that Snape was with her. It would appear that the staff meeting was out.
He heard Remus' voice and hesitated. If Snape was anywhere in the vicinity…
No. He was the Dog around here and that Cat had better watch his step. Sirius tried to curl his lip in a snarl and snorted in disgust as his tail wagged instead.
Bloody Dumbledore. Couldn't have stuck me with something dignified like an Alsatian or Wolfhound! No. Had to give me this… this!
Rounding the corner into the gallery, Sirius saw Remus reach out a finger to stroke The Cat. To stroke Snape!
At the swipe of claws and a yowl made Sirius see red. That bastard attacked Moony! The growl that rolled out of his chest felt like a wave. Snape's answering call sounded like an air raid siren.
"Fons gelidus!"
Whatever mayhem was intended vanished as searing cold blasted through Sirius. Whisp's yowl turned to something that sounded very much like 'Brrrr!'
Remus had his wand out and an expression like a gathering storm to match his scent. "Now look, you prats, Emily and I have had just about all the foolishness that any two people can stand. One more hiss or growl out of you two and you'll think I've dumped you off for a swim with the polar bears."
Emily muttered something about actually doing it and pity the poor bears.
He and Severus eyed each other, then turned their backs and attempted to ignore each other to death. There would be another time.
~
Remus sighed and thought about how he seemed to be doing a good bit of that lately.
Emily nodded agreement and sighed, "Prats."
Against all expectation, Remus found himself liking this young woman. Granted, he had met her under the worst possible circumstances, but she was actually… nice. A warm, real, unstudied nice. Sirius gave him a sour eye, he could not scent as well as Remus, but he knew damn well that Remus had a peripheral attraction.
Hmm. What will happen if I push this button? Let's find out.
"Professor… Emily, I don't think I'd care to take luncheon with the rest of the staff. Would you like to join me at the Three Broomsticks for sandwiches and butterbeer?"
"Throw in a bit of Rosemerta's omniberry trifle and you've got yourself a girl."
"FFFT! ROWWWWWWWL!" Severus' tail was bushed out to Christmas tree-like proportions and his back arched.
Sirius added, "WROOF! WOOFWOOFWOOF!"
"Meet me in the Great Hall… say about twenty minutes?"
"Yooowwrrrr! Yooowwwrrrr!"
"WOOF! WOOFWOOFWOOFWROOF! WROOOF!"
"Make it thirty… Remus?"
"HOOOWWWWWWLLLLL!"
"MREOOOWRFFFTHSSSFT!"
"See you then, Emily."
~
As Lupin and Emily headed to their respective staircases, Severus stared at The Dog, who looked as shocked as Severus felt.
"Woof?"
"Meow?"
How inadequate for expressing his opinion on this twisted little event! Giving The Dog a look that he hoped was both promise and threat, Seveus went off after Miss Mayborne with a determined stride.
What was the girl thinking?
Was the girl thinking?
If she was thinking, what was the girl thinking with?
While Severus had no idea of the specific arrangements between Emily Mayborne and Artemisia Malfoy, he was quite certain that they did not involve extracurricular activities with werewolves! He had heard… certain things about the two of them since graduation – quite outside their exceptional professional achievements. Emily was bisexual; Severus had known that since… well… since. Artemisia was – to all evidence and rumour - not. How they managed to accommodate Emily's desires and maintain an evidently healthy, loving, stable, and supportive relationship was really none of his business.
For all Severus knew, Artemisia Malfoy had given her partner a 'hunting license' and a kiss goodbye at the Floo.
Could Emily actually find Remus Lupin attractive? Severus paused, considering. Remus was looking significantly healthier lately, but even so, the strain of transformation was evident. It gave him a fragile, needy quality that seemed to bring out the nurturing instinct in women and men alike.
Not on my watch! Severus went stomping down the hall, mentally composing a devastating interdiction until he remembered that he couldn't talk!
When he reached his rooms, he could hear the shower running.
Shower? For what reason did she need a shower? What was she doing to do that would take half an hour to accomplish?
Laid out on the bed were fresh clothes – a pair of loose green cotton trousers and a long matching tunic in an Indian style. Why did she need to change? What was she doing?
Leaping to the bed, Severus glared at the clothes. The werewolf was going on about scent? Severus would give him something to keep his nose busy!
Flinging himself on the soft green cotton Severus began to roll on it, kneading at it with his paws, rubbing the corners of his mouth and chin on the fabric. Slowly, his scent began to be worked into the cloth that already smelled of Emily. The warm, earthy scent of the woman was soon woven with a sharp musky, spicy scent must be his own.
Rolling to a standing position, he decided to make his stance a little clearer. He rolled on her pillows, and cheek-marked the bedposts, finally tunneling under the covers to roll and rub all over the bedclothes so that his scent would be all over her body.
There! Hah! He lay under the covers, tired, but very pleased with himself.
Until he realized that not only had he left his scent all over Emily's, but her scent was now all over him.
He tunneled out of the covers, intent on a wash. Walking about smelling her all the time would drive him mad. Slithering out from under the covers, he dropped to the floor, and encountered a pair of knees.
A pretty pair of knees. That smelled good. Attached to someone wearing only a bath towel that was wrapped sarong-style.
Oh… shite.
~
It was, outside of Missy is a jealous snit, the most flagrant case of 'Mine!Mine!Mine!' that Emily had ever seen. Black cat hair was everywhere, her pillows were trampled and the bedclothes rumpled.
Emily was literally speechless. Unable to summon anything to say, she simply stared as a lump under the quilts tunneled to the edge and dropped to the floor in front of her.
Snape spent a very long time staring at her knees, his tail twitching madly.
Oh, this surpassed awkward! This was even worse than trying to forget that he… she… they had… almost… and she still… maybe he…
The blush was so violent that she thought she was glowing; even the soles of her feet might be pink from this one!
Slowly, Snape lifted his green eyes to Emily's, their gazes locked and Emily found herself counting her heartbeats. He was a cat, a stubborn, argumentative, stroppy cat! Even on two feet, the description fit him perfectly!
He was a stubborn, argumentative, stroppy cat who had as a man kissed her and touched her as no man ever had before or since.
She was a fool. Someone should slap her. Missy would just have a fit. "I have to get dressed." It came out more tentatively than she intended and she gave herself a mental slap. Cat. Cat. Not man. Cat!
Snape nodded and left, tail still twitching furiously.
~
Remus smiled as Emily came up the stairs from the dungeons, frowning slightly, broom in hand. "Is that a Firebolt?"
Her preoccupied expression vanished in a grin of pride. "It is. The newest sport model for distance and agility," she handed it to him and he cradled it reverently. "We – Acquisitors, I mean – disguise them when we're in the field, but in truly wild areas, they come in very handy."
"I can imagine. It seems your job is a little more dangerous than some might believe." He spoke lightly, but Remus wanted to ask about those scars. Quetzalcoatls were fucking dangerous, only a circle of highly adept dark wizards could control the semi-sentient creatures. If someone was mucking about with a new breed, it spoke of both daring and possible future danger.
"Contrary to the Ministry propaganda, we're not a bunch of glamourous little galleon-grubbers." The bitterness in her voice and the sharp hurt in her scent took him aback, "What we do is bloody dangerous, something the name-callers forget until they need Manticore skin, or a Maiden's Blood ruby from the caverns under Five Dragons Mountain, then they find us quick enough."
"I'm sorry." He was. How often had he heard the names, the insults, the slurs that were routinely applied to 'MacGuffin's Army?' "I know how you must feel." And he did. Above all else, Remus understood that being different - and being perceived as a potential danger, as well – hurt.
A warm smile bloomed on her face and lit her eyes, "Yes, I thought that you might, fratello del lupo."
Remus actually stammered. "I… ah… I…"
"Even if I hadn't heard the rumors of a werewolf professor leaving Hogwarts, I'd have guessed anyway," she reached up and touched a finger to his face, just next to his eye. "The golden eye color is unique to werewolves, as is the refraction of light. You trim your eyebrows, but they are probably very bushy close to the full moon. Your teeth look sharper than the average, with the canines slightly elongated." Dropping her hand, she took one of his in a gentle grip and lifted it. "The hair on the backs of your hands is fine, but thick, and I would bet that you've got quite a bit of it elsewhere." Her fingers traced the back of his hand, following a trail of hair to his pinky. "The nails are thicker than normal, but are translucent, curved slightly and have a high sheen."
Remus was speechless with astonishment. Normally people avoided touching werewolves at all, thinking that even touch might transmit the pathogen.
"I've worked with werefolk before, Remus. Even called them friends." Emily did not let go of his hand as her eyes scanned his face. "Did you think I was as bigoted as those fools in the meeting? That I would have all these stupid prejudices about someone I don't even know? There are good and bad folk in every group. I judge by actions, not names."
"It seems I've done a little judging of my own." Remus was chagrined. As an Acquisitor with a Malfoy for a mate, Emily must have had a gut-full of being judged. "I'm sorry."
There was a very long pause and Remus began to wonder if he'd blown a possible friendship until Emily chuckled, "So, this means you're paying for lunch, then?"
Taking her
arm, he escorted her to the doors, "Are you quite sure that you're a
Ravenclaw?"
"I've been with Missy for too long; Slytherin rubs off." She took her
broom back from him at the top of the stairs, "I'll even fly us
down." Remus let go of the Firebolt with a wistful expression that made
her laugh. "Oh, I'll let you take her skydancing later, but surely you
don't think I'll ride behind on my own broom!"
Flinging a leg over, she scooted forward to let Remus settle behind her. "No, Emily, I'd never think that you would."
~
Sirius was steamed. It wasn't that he blamed Remus for being attracted, Mayborne was pretty – not stunning, but a nice garden-variety pretty. Nor could he blame Remus for not wanting to eat with people who might be saying one thing, but whose scents belied their words.
But they had left for lunch hours ago!
It was two hours to sunset and no sign of either one!
Letting himself out he made a round of the likely places that they might be. Classrooms. Workrooms. Library. Kitchen.
Nothing.
Slinking down the stairs to the dungeon, he sniffed about for Remus' scent, finally going to far as to take the side corridor to Snape's rooms.
Nothing.
Sirius barked softly at the door.
"Meow?" Snape cautiously poked his head out.
Worry-smell. Emily-smell. Those were topmost, but the other scents sorting out the other scents that Whisp was giving off might befuddle even Moony. Snape came the rest of the way out and gave himself a shake that jingled the silver bell on his collar, then set off down the passage.
Sirius followed, thinking that Remus' idea of calling him 'Balls' was a good one – and then nearly howling when he thought about the fact that he'd been looking at Whisp's bits!
Whisp darted occasional glances back at him, as though to make sure that Sirius was following - or because he didn't trust Sirius behind him.
They rechecked all the places that Sirius had thought of, and then went on to other places that were apparently well known to Snape. Sirius committed them to memory for future use.
Still no sign of Remus or the girl.
They ended up in one of the courtyards, where Snape leapt up on a fountain for a drink. Sirius just sat and panted, now beginning to worry on his own. What if something had happened to them? There were some many possible 'what ifs' that it was overwhelming to think of them!
Snape lifted his head so suddenly that he nearly lost his balance and fell into the fountain.
Sirius snorted, that would have cheered him a good bit! At the mental picture of Mad, Wet Cat, he snorted some more until Snape slapped a paw to his nose.
What the…!
He was about to teach that Cat a lesson and no mistake!
"Meowr!" Snape pushed harder with the paw, ears swiveling like little radar dishes, locking on something…
Sirius perked his own ears. What was…
Whisp was off like a shot! Into the gallery, down the corridor, into the main hall and out! Sirius didn't even think that Snape had used the stairs, and all Sirius could do was follow the speeding black blur across the lawns and hills toward the Quidditch pitch. That Cat could move!
There! There it was! Someone shouting and 'whoo-hoo'-ing high up in the air, rocketing around like an utter lunatic!
So intent was Sirius on the careening speck that he failed to notice that…"Merooowwwt! OOF!" … The Cat had stopped.
Sirius shook his head, ears flapping madly and picked himself off the grass. That Cat was a solid package!
Snape was getting to his feet, green eyes glinting with malevolence and back arching.
Sirius lowered his head, baring his teeth. Come on, then!
Shrill whistling broke the silence, "Go, Lupin! Beat back those Bludgers, boys, and chuck that Quaffle here! Ring that bell! Another goal! Go, Puddlemere!"
The murderous stares devolved into incredulity as Severus and Sirius walked onto the pitch. Emily lay on the grass, cheering Remus as he took laughing bows and blew kisses to an imaginary crowd.
"Now I know why you called it skydancing!" He circled in, and landed, still laughing as he dismounted. "What fun!"
"Just let me know when you want to borrow it and odds are that I'll let you."
Remus smiled and offered her a hand up, "Don't tempt me, or I'll be at your door every day." He pulled Emily's hand and she came rolling gracefully to her feet.
Far too close to Moony, in Sirius' green-tinged opinion and apparently to close for Snape's taste, as well!
"I had a great time, Emmy."
Emmy? He was calling her Emmy?!
"I did, too, Remus."
Whisp's tail did the bottle-brush imitation and his scent was pure…
JEALOUSY?! Severus was jealous?
Sirius sat down hard - he was now seriously confused.
Emily moved her hand to take back her broom, her hand resting on Remus'. "We'll have to do it again."
"Yes." A light breeze ruffled the grass on the pitch and Sirius could smell an entirely instinctive pheromonal response. Remus bent his head slightly as Emily tilted hers up.
No. Oh, no. He and Moony had never really said anything but they both liked women, too, and oh no but part of him wanted Remus for his…
Emily turned her head and pressed her lips to Remus' cheek. "Thank you, Remus," she whispered. Remus smiled, the tension evaporated into the lengthening shadows and Sirius nearly fell over in relief. Snape's bushed tail fell as if someone had cut its strings and the Cat literally wobbled on his feet.
"WOOF!" Enough of this. Sirius trotted forward and shoved between Remus and Emily, herding Remus away – all the while wagging his damned tail. Severus came stalking up, making annoyed noises and ostentatiously rubbing himself all over her calves.
"If you've no escort to the Governors' tea tomorrow, Emily… quit stepping on my feet, Toffee…"
"I'd be delighted, Remus. About… ouch! No biting! How about three-thirty? I have some fist-day lesson plans to go over in the morning."
"I'll… agh! Dammit, Dog! Are you trying to break my neck for me? I'll see you then."
"Pamiu! Get your teeth out of my pants leg! See you then, Remus, and good … stop that… night!"
~
"I never realized that you were the jealous type, Sirius." Remus called teasingly as he stepped out of the shower.
"Woof!"
Wrapping a thick fluffy towel around his hips, he took up another one and began to rub himself dry. Emily had been quite accurate in guessing about the distribution of body hair, the cheeky thing.
"Emily let me know that while she does not mind my attentions, she will not be following through. I made a very blatant offer, and she refused me very gently." Chivalrous was not usually a word applied to females, but Remus would apply it to Emily – he'd never had a pass turned aside so neatly.
A low whining grunt was Sirius' reply as he came into the bedroom and jumped on the bed with a defiant look.
"Look, bonehead. If you'd made yourself clear before this, I wouldn't have made the pass in the first place."
Sirius' big brown eyes managed to get even bigger and more soulful.
"All right, all right! Maybe I should have guessed!" Remus tossed the towel onto a hook that grasped the cloth tightly. "I'll say this, though. She's firmly mated to that Malfoy of hers. They've been lovers since – if I'm doing the math right – they were both fifteen. Her 'Missy' is her world, and she misses her terribly." He snorted with amusement as he crossed the bedroom to the chest of drawers, "That's not even taking Severus' feelings into account. It's hard to make a pass at someone who's been scent-marked like that. He must have rolled in her clothes!"
With a canine shrug, Sirius shook his head so hard that his tags jingled. "Woof?"
"If you're asking why, I'm as much in the dark as you are, but what I scented from him was not a protective professor clucking over a talented chick." He hung the other towel over the back of a chair and rummaged for a pair of trolleys. "If I had to guess, I would say our buttoned up Potions Master and young Miss Mayborne had a moment that was NOT a detention - and neither of them have quite managed to let it go."
Sirius' face managed to convey disbelief - and a little disappointment as Remus dug out a pair and pulled them on.
"Now, am I forgiven?"
"Humph."
"Oh, come on! If you weren't so assbackwards about talking…"
"Woof!"
"Okay. Fine. But when you're back on two feet, we're going to have a long talk, if I have to knock you down and tie you up to manage it!"
~
Emily changed as soon as they reached Snape's rooms. Back in her jersey and shorts, she inspected the tiny holes in the ribbon that trimmed the cuffs of her trousers.
"There was no need for that!" She shook the clothing at Snape, now sitting on the bedside table and looking stern. "And quit looking at me as if you're about to give me detention! I knew what I was doing the whole time!"
"Yow myow mrip fft mrr now row meerow!"
"Reparo!" Folding the mended trousers over a hanger, she turned back to Snape, her hands fisted on her hips. "Look, I have not the first idea what you're trying to say, but let me make one thing perfectly clear to you. Not that it is any of your bloody business, but Missy and I have managed to find ways to keep our relationship healthy and happy for almost… for a very long time. One of those ways is that I never, ever bed any man that she has not approved of first. And I never will."
She held his gaze until he averted his eyes, ostensibly to wash his shoulder. "Mripyow," he muttered.
"If
that's 'sorry,' you're damned right that it's due." Walking to her
bookcase she perused the shelves. "Look, I know this is hard to
understand, but I need you to think about this. I had to let him make that pass
at me."
"YOW!"
"Don't interrupt. If I had preempted the pass, he would have had to try again, the next time a little more insistently. He's a man-wolf, professor, think what that means."
Emily knew what it meant, only because a female werewolf had very bluntly explained it to her. "You smell good, child. You smell happy, well-fed, healthy and ready to mate. Our kind respond to that more strongly than those who lack the wolf – bed one of us if you want, but make it on your own terms or learn the wolf from the inside out."
Emily had taken the words much to heart.
"Remus has been told by Dumbledore, his Alpha, that students are off limits. While I am fairly certain that Remus has a he-mate, there has been no she-mate for a very long time. Whatever else he senses, the wolf in him can smell me, and I am not a student." The words sunk in and Snape looked dumbstruck. "I had to turn him down on my own terms, and to do that, I had to let him make the offer."
Snape's look was distinctly assessing, but he had relaxed his posture. When she had first come into the room, it looked as if someone had rammed a stick up his arse. Emily took it as progress. She pulled a book of the shelf, one of her very favorites, and headed for the couch.
"I'm going to read for a bit, then turn in. I want to brew a few potions that you seem to use a lot of in class. At least the only thing that I have to worry about is that damned tea tomorrow." She paused in the doorway, "Join me? I think you'll like this one, it's by a cosmological arithmancy philosopher named Stephen Hawking."
"Mrrr?" Snape dashed by and took up a spot on the arm of the sofa.
Emily smiled as she settled in. "Mind me, now. No bossing about turning the pages."
~
TBC
