Disclaimer: See Ch.1
A/N: Ohh, reviews!! Wow, I'm impressed. OC fics nearly NEVER get reviews. Thanky Thanky!!
~*Lycurgus*~
Chapter 3: How do you know?
Remus just couldn't sleep. He had tried every imaginable place in his chambers, but he just simply couldn't get his wolf body to settle.
This had eventually lead to boredom. Which had eventually lead to some of the most bizzare and inane forms of entertainment a werewolf could come up with.
Papers were scattered all over the floor. The oriental carpet had been pulled up to make a mini tunnel system which ran around the legs of the long table. The copper waste paper basket had been squashed after being a rolling pouncing target. The pillows and blankets on the large bed had been arranged into an elaborate wolf-shaped bed. And there was at least one bathroom towel that had been ripped to shreds.
Remus sat on the couch in front of the dark fireplace with a huff. He snorted to himself, remarking that once you started pretending that your tail was that of another wolf's and then chasing it you had finally fallen off the deep end. More like belly-flopped off the deep end... right onto a slab of granite.
Because of such, it was no surprise that the loud scratching at the door immediately caught Remus's interest.
Nudging the door open a crack with his nose, Remus was suddenly staring into a pair of familiar ice blue eyes.
With an elated bark he jumped backwards, leaving room for Arudinna to enter the room.
She barked softly back at him, amused at his behavior. She glanced around the room and then proceeded to glare at Remus.
He laughed, as only a wolf could, almost a cough of a bark, and then shrugged his shoulders and shook his fur. Arduinna rolled her eyes and approached Remus, nuzzling the bottom of his jaw softly.
He wasn't any taller than she was, only bigger, his chest more barrel like where she was more sleek and streamlined. His fur was the same tawny brown color of his hair, the grey coming out around his muzzle and in some of the tips of his fur.
Remus returned the gesture, nuzzling her cheek and whining happily. For a moment Arduinna just stared at him, smiling with her eyes and then bounded off further into the room, looking back over her shoulder to make sure Remus was chasing her.
They played for hours and hours, pouncing and wrestling and rolling upon the messy chamber floor. They even dozed off for a short period of time, curled up together in the rearranged bedsheets.
But as the sun began to filter through the tall windows in Remus's rooms Arduinna made her way to the door and out of the room.
Remus had looked at her questioningly, but had not prevented her from leaving; just looking sad as she left him alone once more.
Arduinna returned the next two nights and they played for hours, but each morning she left to return from whence she came.
Once the full moon had passed and both werewolves were once again in their human forms, Remus decided that the first thing to do was question Arduinna about where she transformed and why she could not stay with him during the day.
It was around noon when he made his way up to the library, finally convincing himself that asking was not intruding upon her privacy and that the likelyhood that it had something to do with Snape was slim-to-none.
But there was still a chance.
Damn that chance.
Remus walked into the library to find both Arduinna and Snape standing pressed side-by-side, huddled over and ancient, dusty tome.
One of Arduinna's fingers traced the lines as both of them read, and when she stopped Severus wrote noted down on the parchment next to the book. Both had an intense look of concentration on their faces, and neither seemed to notice that their bodies were pressed quite close together.
"Hey, Ard." Remus said, pulling out a chair on the opposite side of the table and jolting the pair out of their studying. "What's up?"
She smiled at him sweetly, unphased, while Snape looked panicked for a fraction of a nanosecond and then completely composed and uninterested in Remus's presence. "We're doing some research. My friends over in Austria had this book owled to me this morning. It's quite amazing. Some of the oldest recorded instances of potions being made to counteract lycanthropy. Wizards around the time of the Romans... like B.C. 400ish. Its amazing." Her enthusiasm was blatantly evident in her brightly shining eyes.
Remus smiled, amused at her happiness with a simple book. "I was wondering... you up for a break about now? Want to grab some lunch?" He leaned back in the chair, casual as could be, meanwhile watching every interaction between Snape and Arudinna.
She looked to Severus and he nodded once, placing a scrape of parchment to save the page they were at and closing the book. "I'll just organize these notes." He said, gathering the scattered sheets of parchment together. "Don't be gone long though, we have alot of data to go through." Severus glanced at Remus once, a pointed look in his eyes, before he returned to the parchment in front of him.
"I'll be back in about a half hour, okay?" Arduinna looked to Severus but he didn't look up, only nodded.
She frowned slightly but left the table, motioning for Remus to follow her.
They walked in silence for a number of corridors until Remus got up the gall to speak. "Ard, I also wanted to talk to you. About the past couple nights."
Inside, Arduinna's heart jumped, but nothing phased her outward composure. "Where I go to transform, eh?" She smirked at him. When Remus didn't answer she just continued, voice a bit less bright than before, almost wary. "Severus watches me transform and keeps tabs on my behavior during the days, running tests and things. We're trying to get as much data on every aspect of the transformation as possible. It really is amazing the progress we've made in such a short time. I couldn't have done it without him, he's an amazing man."
Remus stiffened a bit at this and put the pieces of her words together. "He watches you...?" Remus couldn't get himself to vocalize the rest of his thought.
Arduinna smiled as she opened the door to the kitchens, smirking again at her friend, knowing that he would first be disconcerted about the fact that you must transform nude. "Yes." She almost giggled. "It is for research. It is not as if I am sleeping with him, so calm down Remus." She glared at him playfully.
Remus blushed brightly and sat at a small table, giving an order to a house elf. "I just... I haven't had a good history with him. I haven't been able to trust him with my secrets and so I'm wary with you giving up yours."
Arduinna nodded knowingly, sipping a goblet of pumpkin juice. "I've heard bits of your history." She leaned back in her chair and looked Remus up and down appraisingly. "Truly, I was amazed when I realized what had happened between you two and then the fact that he had still agreed to work with me. Mind you, I didn't know about what had happened when I initially contacted him, but I offered to find someone else once I knew of what had happened. He refused, saying he was already to dedicated to the work and he wasn't about to give up on something this scientifically monumental because of a phobia." She shrugged. "I didn't, and still don't, completely buy that. But your guess is as good as mine on why he agreed."
Remus just stared at Arduinna, eyes deep and reflecting a mixture of emotions Arduinna did not recognize. "Perhaps he fancies you."
With this Arduinna burst into giggles, nearly choking on her sandwich. "You have to be kidding me!? Severus? Me?" Any other words were consumed by her laughter.
Remus just crossed his arms in front of him. "I was in school with him for seven years and then I have worked with him in the Order for awhile now. The way he looks at you, acts around you, allows you to get close to him... that is not the Severus Snape I have ever even heard of existing."
Arduinna became silent, a small smile upon her face as she pondered something Remus was not privy to. Her expression darkened slightly as she met Remus's eyes once more. "Perhaps." She ran a hand through her long silver and white hair. "But that could get in the way of our work, as well as he should know, so I doubt he act on it. Maybe after all this is over..."
Remus's eyes went wide and he stared at her. "Are you saying that you'd...? With Snape?!?" He gritted his teeth, one fist balling under the table.
Wait a moment... Remus's mind backed up for a second. What was this reaction? So what if Snape and Ard got together in the future, its not like that concerns you at all... right?
"Like I said before," Arduinna's voice brought him back to reality. "He is an amazing man. With a nice body to boot." She winked across the table.
Although thought not possible, Remus's eyes went wider. And then he clamped his hand over his eyes. "Things I don't want to see. Things I don't want to know about. Things I don't want to know how you know about."
Arduinna just laughed at his behavior. He was acting quite strange though, even for Remus. Maybe this thing between him and Severus ran deeper than she thought, for how could one incident create such a lack of trust.
Her expression turned serious. "What really happened between you two? Why do you seem to hate him so much?"
Remus's hand dropped from his face and his expression immediately went cold. For a moment he just stared at his friend, a common occurrance already in this conversation, but then he shrugged. "I don't hate him..." He sighed. "He was Slytherin, I and all my friends were Gryffindors. He was a constant target for Sirius and James during our school days. And I never did anything to stop them. And then the whole shrieking shack incident." Remus sighed again, a bit heavier. "He has no reason to trust me." He paused, as if looking for the right words to continue. "As for my own opinion... as I said before, I haven't been able to trust him with my secrets. And I know that Dumbledore trusts him whole heartedly, but he was and still is a Death Eater, even if he's only a spy now. I just... I can never let something like that pass."
Arduinna nodded knowingly, his reaction to Severus's Dark ties being just as she would have expected. There was a long silence as Arduinna contemplated how to respond fairly. "I just think..." She took a deep breath. "He has changed much since you knew him in school, since he made the mistake of taking the Mark. You both have changed much. Perhaps you should try and see him as he is now, for who he is now. You know that my respect is not given to people lightly, and I respect Severus from the bottom of my heart."
Remus crossed his arms and snorted. "Like he'd ever be willing..."
Arduinna cut him off. "Are you willing?" Her stare was deep and penetrating.
Remus stared back at her, knowing full well that a refusal would mean them not speaking for at least two days. After a good silence he let out a sigh and tried to shrug casually. "Sure."
Arduinna gave him a calculating gaze, trying to discern how serious he was, but finding no serious faults, she continued forward. "Perhaps the three of us could have dinner together. Tomorrow evening in my chambers?"
Remus smiled. "That works for me. But just where ARE your chambers?"
"You know how to get to Severus's rooms?" Arduinna smiled at the quirk in Remus's eyebrow. "Instead of making a right at the tapestry with the mother Earth Dragon and her nest, make a left and I'm the only door all the way at the end." She smiled wider as Remus visibly relaxed.
"Is 7:30 good for you?" Remus asked, watching Arduinna rise and straighten her robes.
"Sure. I'll be there. And hopefully so will Severus." She stopped and smirked. "Well, he'll be there if he knows what's good for him." She winked at Remus and left the kitchens.
Remus just sighed and shook his head, knowing full well that Snape would be there if Arduinna was asking him.
Back in the library, Severus was about half way through his meticulous organizing when Arduinna returned, a wide grin on her face and a spring in her step.
Severus just looked at her with one dark eyebrow raised high. "Do I want to know why you're in such a good mood?"
Arduinna sat down with a ruffle of her robes and turned to Severus, still smiling widely. "I'm sure you do. You're coming to dinner tomorrow in my chambers at 7:30."
He looked at her, head cocked to the side slightly and obviously confused. "I am, am I? This is not something amazing, what's the catch?"
Arduinna's smile got wider. "Remus is coming as well. I think you two need to sit down and get to know one another anew." At Severus's cold glare she became serious. "You've both changed alot since your school days." Severus just continued to glare at her. "Come on. And he can be useful to the research. I know there are different reactions with a natural born werewolf and a made one." Severus kept glaring. Arduinna pulled out her last gun. "Pleeeeeeease." She put her hand on his arm and but on a respectable begging face.
Severus's glare softened and he let out a long sigh. "The things you put me through..."
Arduinna let out a small squeak of happiness and wrapped her arms about Severus's shoulders, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks!!"
Severus stared at her as she pulled away, expression startled and wary as just a hint of a blush came to his face.
She looked at him curiously, noticing the change in his emotions, and immediately hearing Remus's words in her head. *Perhaps he fancies you.*
But before she could analyze him any further his face was composed once more, revealing no stray or unchecked emotion. Arduinna looked at him with concern, sliding her hand down his arm to rest of top of his hand. "Look, you don't really have to come tomorrow night if you don't want to. I just thought that he could help with the research." She paused and scanned Severus's expression, but getting nothing. "And I wanted my only two friends here to get along."
Severus looked down at her hand over his and then back to her. "He would be helpful to the research. I just..."
Arduinna sighed at his apprehension. She took his hand in both of her and brought it down onto her lap, Severus watching her actions with glassy eyes. She stared at his hand a moment, stroking it softly, and then looked up to him, speaking barely above a whisper. "And yet you are not afraid of me." She paused, tilting her head to the side slightly. "You know the power of the Wolfsbane potion. And you know that Remus was not at fault all those years ago. I do not understand why you are still afraid."
Severus just kept silent, letting her hold his hand for awhile before taking it back and opening the old tome in front of them. "We should get back to work."
Arduinna watched him pull out quills and clean parchment once more, holding back the urge to sigh once more. Without a word they returned to sifting through the new information and compiling the useful data.
