The Intriguing Secret Of Severus Snape, Slytherin And Potions Master

It was one of those days that Professor Remus Lupin really, REALLY needed his Wolfsbane Potion. He felt queer and the fleas seemed more and more attracted by him. So, naturally, he went to the source of the Potion, since the source didn't come to him.

Scratching his ear with one of his feet, he knocked on the door to the Potions Master's office, and heard an affirmative, 'Come in,' from the other side.

Snape was busy in his office, and he looked as if he was in a rush, since he greeted Lupin on the very doorstep.

'What can I do for you, Lupin?' enquired the Potions Master, trying to block Lupin's view into the office.

'I would like to have my Potion, Professor,' said Lupin, trying to see round Snape.

'Oh, I see,' said Snape, and he tried to say more, but he was interrupted by someone behind him, calling, 'Master, I'm a bit uncomfortable, could I please sit in a different position?'

Snape turned firstly pale, then deep red, and sharply turned around on his heels. 'What had I asked you?' he roared to someone, who, as Lupin now saw, was a student, obviously very uncomfortably bound to a chair. 'I told you to HOLD YOUR TONGUE!!!'

'Hello, Patrick,' said Lupin, waving friendly at the bound student. Snape now rounded back on Lupin.

'You keep yourself out of this!' he hissed at him.

'Naturally,' replied Lupin airily. 'Now, my Potion.'

'Yes, yes.' Snape snapped his fingers and the leather straps around the boy's naked body fell to the floor. 'You can go,' he said to the student, who quickly picked up his clothes and left.

'I'll get it, you stay here,' Snape told Lupin, and he went into a smaller room to the left.

Lupin waited. A minute. Two minutes. Five minutes. Ten minutes. What took the alleged Master so long? Lupin (being naturally curious like a child) couldn't take it any longer, and took a peek into the storage room into which the Potions Master had disappeared.

It appeared the Master kept another person tied to a chair; Lupin couldn't quite see who, as the Master's slightly billowing black robes hid the captivated person's head.

Only as the Master moved into another position, Lupin saw who it was. His jaw dropped. He knew that person! But - it had been the last person he'd expected in such Masterly treatment! Nevertheless, it seemed rude not to greet them.

'Hello, Headmaster,' said Lupin, raising his hand to wave feebly.