Snape is so adorable when he's jealous. Really, he is. Not convinced? Read the next chapter to convince yourself. Again, please r & r. Suggestions, Flattery, Flames, doesn't matter as long as I get those reviews J

****************************************************************

Chapter 9

A few moments before Snape barged in.

Lierin opened the dairy and furrowed her eyebrows when she remembered she had never taken it from the library. She leafed through the book without really reading the pages. It really was kind of a dumb story about a beast, a grim, something about suns and moons and whatnot. She stopped reading altogether when she noticed Remus' pensive mood.

"Remus? Is something wrong?" asked Lierin and she looked puzzled at the note he was holding in his hands when she remembered it was a loose page from the dairy.

"No, I don't think so. Do you have any idea what this could mean? Here, have a look." Remus handed Lierin the note. There were only a few words written on it and when Lierin took a closer look, she noticed it was part of what was once a short poem, written by four different hands. She read the poem with furrowed eyebrows and the puzzled look reappeared in her eyes. Then she started to laugh and she read out loud:

.................... released from blame

..................... freed from shame

...................... merged in one

..................... ...... come together

.......................... token

........................... broken

"Sounds like a students poem to me. Maybe he or she thought it was worthless and tore it apart."

"No, it happened when Peeves came in, I can't find the other half though. I'd like to know what was on the other half."

"Why Remus, I didn't know you were interested in your students' poems. Hoping one of them might be addressed to you?"

Remus chuckled and waved that assumption away.

"Of course not you little romantic fool. By the way, these are not words a student would use in a love poem."

"Oh, and why not? Maybe it's from a student who cheated on his girlfriend and is now trying to make it up to her. Or maybe she thinks he cheated on her and it's really not true and he's trying to convince her otherwise."

Remus looked at the remnants of the poem.

"It could be a possibility."

Suddenly a twinkle appeared in his eye and he waved the foreboding feeling away as paranoia. He dropped to his knees and solemnly he grabbed Lierin's hand.

"Oh darling, patiently I'm awaiting the day I'm released from blame. I can't bear it no longer, I must be freed from shame. Oh darling, remember the summer nights and how we were merged in one. Remember, my sweet and let once again our hearts come together. Please let my undying love be your token. Never, no never again shall your heart be broken!"

Lierin could feel a chuckle coming up and looking at Remus she knew he was about the laugh as well but before they could make a sound the door flew open again and in came Snape with billowing robes and a particularly sour look on his face. For once his eyes were wide open and they only seemed to accentuate his heartless soul. His already thin lips were pursed into an even thinner line and his nostrils were quivering like those of a nervous horse. The smiles died on their lips as Remus and Lierin shot a worried look at each other.

For some reason, Snape was beside himself with anger. Not that it was unusual for Snape to be angry about something, but this time he exceeded himself.

"My, my, my. The lovebirds have confessed their love to one another!" said Snape with a voice full of venom. Bright spots were flashing in front of his eyes and he opened his mouth again to make a snide remark but he couldn't. His hands were clenched to fists and he breathed heavily. He knew he was making a spectacle of himself, nothing was going on but an irrational anger had taken control of him and there was nothing he could do to preserve his reputation as the cold and reserved Potions Master. He was beside himself.

"Disgusting! I really thought you to be wiser than making bed with a wolf! Don't think I'll sit back and do nothing when you confront me with your unwanted display of misplaced affections. I'm going to take this to the Headmaster! Such immature behavior in the hospital wing!"

When Snape finally made eye contact with Lierin, he found out by this time he wasn't the only one who was angry. He had offended Lierin by calling her lover a wolf. Did she know he was a werewolf? If she did, this proved she did care for the wolf and a sharp pain of regret cut through him like a knife. A feeling he ignored and which he pretended to never have felt.

"Watch it Severus! What is it to you anyway? Why do you care whether Remus and I are together or not! You, the one and only person who's not interested in love and affection and probably the only one who'd never be able to receive that kind of love anyway. Don't tell me you've changed your mind. Don't tell me you're jealous!"

"Jealous? Of that dirty old wolf? Spare me! I'm not interested in your affection or anything from you whatsoever. It's disgusting and disgraceful and I'd never lower myself in such a way to distastefully ..."

"Severus, would you please calm down?" tried Remus, "This isn't what it looks like..."

"Hold your tongue, wolf! I think this is exactly what it looks like! And I'm going to take this to Dumbledore!"

This time Remus got angry as well. Normally the long-suffering Remus wasn't the person to jump into a fight, but he had his limits and Snape had just exceeded one.

"Well, well, well. What a surprise. You always were like that, always snooping around, putting your abnormally long nose in affairs that didn't concern you, always trying to find something against us that could get us expelled. Yes, you're still the greasy, jealous git you always have been. You always were jealous of James, Peter, me and.... and....."

Again Snape saw an opportunity to prove Remus' disloyalty.

"Why don't you say it Remus? Why don't you say his name? Or are you afraid your girlfriend might find out about your friendship with a convicted murderer and she might reject you? Why don't you be a man for once Remus and tell her you've been friends with Sirius Black!"

"You know very well Sirius wasn't always like that! Besides, our friendship ended when he betrayed Lily and James!"

"That's what you say, Remus! I warned Dumbledore about hiring you as the new teacher of Defence against the Dark Arts! I never trusted you and if Sirius does manage to get here, I'll know where to put the blame!"

"Oh do shut up Severus! Remus would never betray Dumbledore and you know it! You are just jealous of Remus because he got the job you wanted. Does it hurt badly? Knowing Dumbledore would choose a werewolf over you to fill the job? I bet it does and that's why you hate him so much!"

"I don't hate anybody for such a pathetic reason. If you want to know why I hate him so much, why don't you ask him? He knows all about it, how he and Sirius pulled a prank on me what nearly cost me my life if James Potter hadn't saved my life. Unfortunately so, I might add, for James was the worst one of all!"

"Severus I don't hate you, I never did. But you didn't make it easy for us not to hate you! I'm sorry for what I just said, I shouldn't have said those things. Look, we are all adults here, let's put this to a rest or else talk about it like civil people."

Snape looked at Remus who was obviously trying to soothe him and Lierin who was still seething with anger. Lierin, who used to be his student, whom he'd hated throughout her entire school career. Lierin who used to call him 'Professor Snape' because he was her teacher. Lierin whom he used to give detention when she had crossed the line again. Lierin who was now standing in front of him as his colleague so it was impossible for him to give her detention or deduct house points. Even though that was exactly what he wanted to do right now. So, Lierin was in love with a werewolf. Well, he knew just what to say to make her realise what she had got herself into. He forced himself to calm down. There was still a lot they needed to learn about Severus Snape and cruelty... and he was about to prove it. You didn't just get away with messing around with Snape without getting punished.

"How can we talk about this as civil people, when one of us is not even human!" said Snape brusquely before he turned around to leave the two lovers alone.

****************************************************************

"He declared her his love you say?" asked Dumbledore, clearly confused about Snape's accusations. Snape had kept his word and the next day, Saturday, he'd run straight off to tell Dumbledore.

"Yes Professor, in a most distasteful way by reminding her of a certain erotic summer night. What if students had been in the hospital wing? I myself find such behavior quite repulsive and immature, don't you agree Professor?" asked Snape, obviously hoping Remus and Lierin would get fired for this.

"Are you sure he declared her his love?" asked Dumbledore again.

Snape rolled his eyes and sighed quite aggravated.

"Yes Professor. He was reciting her poetry. It was -ehr- something about how someone blamed him and how he wanted to free himself from the shame, then came the part about those hot summer nights and how she should see his undying love as a token he'd never break her heart or something like that."

Dumbledore grew a little pale as he started to suspect something. Something he truly wished he'd be wrong about.

"He said that in those exact words?"

"Er - no, not exactly. But is that really important? They were in the hospital wing crawling all over each other!"

"Could you tell me the exact words Professor Lupin used in his poem, Severus?"

Snape went crimson red and he started to stutter in exasperation. He felt insulted the headmaster didn't seem to believe him, or worse, the headmaster didn't seem to find his words of any importance!

"Professor Dumbledore! Really! Do you think I'd want to remember a distasteful piece of poetry like that? What is it about that poem anyway? What does it matter how Remus said it? He said it, period!"

"Calm down Severus, calm down Severus, I'm not saying you're lying, I just want to know what Remus said. Just trust me when I say it's important to me."

"But shouldn't you reprimand them at least for..."

"Severus, please don't take this the wrong way, but what you saw might not have been entirely what you thought it to be. Now...the poem?"

Snape gritted his teeth. He felt terribly disappointed now that Remus and Lierin wouldn't get fired and he was humiliated to the bone now that Dumbledore wanted him to repeat that vulgar piece of poetry. Actually, he knew quite well there was nothing vulgar about it. But for some reason he was so very angry, he just didn't want to admit he was overreacting.

"Very well... Darling, patiently I'm awaiting the day I'm released from blame. I can bear it no longer, I must be freed from shame... This is ludicrous! "

"Go on, Severus," said Dumbledore, urging Severus to continue.

"Can't I just skip the next part?"

"No. Continue, if you please."

"Darlingrememberthesummernightsandhowweweremergedinone..."

"Severus, could you slow down just a little bit? I'm afraid I lost track."

"...Remember, my sweet and let once again our hearts come together. Please let my undying love be your token. Never, no never again shall your heart be broken!" Snape practically yelled the last few lines and he hoped Dumbledore would be satisfied.

But Dumbledore said nothing, he just stared at Severus for a long time as if he'd never seen his protégé before and Snape felt quite uncomfortable under that scrutinizing look of his.

"Is anything wrong, Professor Dumbledore?" asked Snape.

"No, no. Nothing's wrong with me, thank you Severus... How are you and Professors Heartilly and Lupin getting along Severus? Tell me about them, if you please."

Snape watched the headmaster in shock. Had he gone mad?

"Well, what's there to tell? Obviously, Professor Lupin can't be trusted and Professor Heartilly, well... she's... She's just the same as always I guess - rash, bold, insolent - not quite fit to be a teacher."

"Really? I do believe she told me the same about you." said Dumbledore with a mild twinkle in his eyes.

"Really, did she now?" said Snape astonished at such impudence, "Well, if you must know how we are getting along, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Lupin tried to kill me in our school years and Professor Heartilly tried to boil me in her school days! Nothing has changed. They are still the same violent creatures and I think they both can't be trusted!"

An irrational anger spread it's poisonous tentacles inside Snape's heart and it poisoned him more and more with every word he said. Snape's face was twisted with anger and his anger was coursing in one direction. Remus Lupin! Snape couldn't explain this sudden burst of hateful feelings. And at the present time he didn't care. He didn't know why he hated Remus so much, even his hate for James Potter was nothing compared to this. He only knew he hated him because he was Remus. He was supposed to hate him. Remus had taken something away from him. He had kept someone from ... At that point his mind drew blank, so he stopped thinking but he kept hating. It was a hatred that was threatening to consume him but he didn't even notice. He didn't notice his face was distorted in a grim mask of anger. He didn't know he was making a caricature of himself. A stereotype dreadful looking, bullying teacher often drawn in muggle comics as ugly creatures with one leg already in their grave. Usually, his unattractive features where balanced with his regal, straight-backed appearance and his air of aloof self-control. At the moment, he possessed neither of those qualities. Dumbledore watched him with his characteristic blue, piercing eyes as his growing suspicions were gradually confirmed.

"I think I know enough. You can go now. Have a good day Severus."

With those words Dumbledore turned around to pet Fawkes, his pet phoenix, silently indicating to Snape the meeting was over. Snape shot him an angry glare but he brusquely turned around, causing his robes to flow around his ankles and he left Dumbledore's study.

He took off in a heavy pace and went in the direction of the hospital wing to return to his dungeons which lay a few corridors behind Madam Pomfrey's quarters. Lierin had just exited the hospital wing when Snape arrived. They stared each other in the eye. Lierin knowing he had gone to see Dumbledore and Snape knowing Lierin knew about it. With one of his best cold glares he examined her body from head to toe, snorted indignantly and left her standing. Lierin watched him disappear and she wished James hadn't saved him from Remus all those years ago. He deserved it to be eaten by a werewolf, the ugly little git.

****************************************************************

In the meantime, Dumbledore was sitting in his study, absentmindedly petting Fawkes until the proud bird flew away to sit on it's perch and feeling rather insulted it turned it's head away from Dumbledore. He sighed deeply and apologized to the bird.

"I'm sorry Fawkes. I didn't mean to neglect you so. I'm just thinking about how to correct my mistake. Unfortunately, Lierin wasn't able to read the entire poem. All might have been clear to her but now she must find her own way. There's nothing I can do anymore. Oh, how I'd hoped this would work. How I'd hoped she'd understand. Alas, no such luck. Well, I must try and find out whether she read Rowena's diary or not. Maybe, with a little nudge in the right direction she'll go try and find out on her own. I do hope she read that diary or I must make sure she receives it again. Oh, If I could just tell her what's going on."

Dumbledore sighed deeply and wearily and he stared out of his window from behind his desk. The sun was shining brightly. It really was a beautiful day. If it weren't for the clouds at the rim of the horizon, all was perfect. But the clouds moved closer. Was he really the only one who could see them? He sighed. Oh yes, he knew those clouds very well with their eerie green and purple swirls of mist. The clouds of past, present and future. Clouds; the only barrier between their world and a world in which they were nothing more but a fading memory. He could see them, he could see the clouds getting closer and that meant they were slowly running out of time. And the attack of the Dementors, not the Dementors guarding Hogwarts against Black - this world's Dementors, but the Dementors from past the barrier. They were here and that meant that the Voldemort outside the barrier had found out about the high magic spell. Now that he knew, he'd try anything to prevent the four keys from altering his world and this world's future.

But there was still hope. He had found two other keys, or so he hoped. No, not hoped, he knew he'd found them. The emotions between them were too strong. Like it was, like it would be, like it used to be. Lierin Heartilly, Remus Lupin and Severus Snape. They were three of the four keys. He was sure of it. But who was the fourth?