THE OLIVE BRANCH
by The Goblet
Chapter 5 - Remus Goes Barmy
March 1976
Remus walked into his first Arithmency class, since the full moon. Peter didn't take Arithmency, instead opting studying Divination. Usually Sirius and Remus would sit together, while James tried his hardest to share a desk with the love of his life, Lily Evans. He usually didn't succeed in his quest, unless Professor Vector paired students to work together, and so sat mostly in the seat in front of Remus, talking loudly, and firing rolled up pieces of parchment, through a hollow quill at Snape, who sat in front of him.
Today, however, Remus was the first of the Marauders to arrive in the class, having left Sirius and James to use their boyish charms, to try and seduce Lily and her friend, Bonnie. Severus was already seated at his usual seat in the third row, having missed breakfast. He was bent, scribbling over his parchment, frantically trying to complete the assigned homework, before Professor Vector came to collect it.
Remus walked up to the Slytherin, and sat in the seat to his right, sharing the desk. He pulled out his homework, and his textbook, and began arranging his quill and ink, ready for the lesson.
Snape turned and looked at Remus as he sat down, but once it was evident that the Gryffindor was not going to jinx, hex or curse him, he continued his frantic scribbling.
Remus sat, looking around the room, waiting for the class to begin. It was still early, with the first period not starting for another five minutes. The two boys were the only students in the room, the other fifth years opting to enjoy the last few minutes before classes started socialising in the hall.
Snape let out a cry of frustration and threw down his quill. It was evident that he couldn't work out the homework problem. Remus carefully picked up the scroll and read through the workings. Snape had not copied out the question correctly; no wonder he couldn't resolve the problem. Picking up his quill, Remus made a small adjustment to the parchment and handed it back.
Remus watched as the dark-haired student picked up his quill and took out a fresh piece of parchment. Snape shot a tight smile at him, before he copied out the correct problem, and started on his homework.
Snape was still working when James and Sirius entered the room. Sirius sauntered in, one arm around Bonnie, the other carrying both their books. James followed, tagging closely behind Lily, shooting puppy dog eyes in her direction, as she effectively ignored him.
They both stopped dead, when they saw Remus sitting beside Snape, calmly watching him complete his homework.
That night, the Marauders took Remus to task about his friendliness to the greasy git. They told Peter who Remus had deemed worthy of his company during Arithmency. He was shocked and outraged, and immediately joined James and Sirius in berating the werewolf about his choice of study partner.
Remus was afraid that his friends would not want to have anything to do with him if he didn't agree with their way of thinking. He was a werewolf, and no one would want to be friends with him if they decided to tell the entire school his secret.
With that in mind, Remus told them that he was trying to keep Snape off their backs while they chatted up the girls. It was actually a good ploy, their 'single' friend was not around as a third wheel, and their arch-rival wasn't around to ruin their chances with the objects of their affections.
The Maurauders accepted this explanation, and actually applauded Remus for his quick thinking and obvious wisdom.
Remus, however, was confused. Why had he sat next to Snape in Arithmency that morning? The entire classroom had been empty when he arrived. Why had he chosen to sit next to the one student who hated him and his friends?
The next few weeks saw Remus spending more and more time with Snape. He didn't do it intentionally, but would find himself heading to the library when he knew the Slytherin was studying or partnered with him in Potions, and in Transfiguration. He sat next to him in Arithmency and Study of Ancient Runes. He found that even though Snape did not actively seek him out, when he was near him, the Slytherin was more relaxed when they were sitting together, rather than apart, in class.
Remus became increasingly protective of Snape. He wasn't sure why, but he had a great desire to make him happy and protect him from the world at large. He actively tried to stop the Marauder's from attacking Snape, turning their attention from the Slytherin, to perfecting a map of Hogwarts.
But one day he went too far. Much too far for both Snape and the Marauders not to notice the attention he was paying his mate. The fifth year combined Gryffindor/Slytherin Care of Magical Creatures class were studying Hippogriffs, when Snape clutched his stomach and swore under his breath. The nearest creature heard Snape's curse, and found it insulting. Lowering its head, it charged at the boy who, oblivious to his blunder, was standing in the middle of the grounds holding his abdomen.
Remus saw the Hippogriff about to maim the Slytherin, and stepped in front of it, taking the full force of its wrath.
When Remus regained consciousness, he found himself in the Hospital Wing, surrounded by the Marauders. They were livid. What had he been thinking when he stepped into the Hippogriff's path? James was upset that he put his life on the line for Snape, his mortal enemy. Sirius was all for rooting the creature on, and letting it kill Snape.
This was not the best choice of words.
Remus rose up out of the bed, his eyes cold and angry, and faced his friend. He was furious. How badly did Sirius hate Snape? Did he hate him enough to injure him? Did he hate him enough to maim him? Did he hate him enough to plan his murder? Did he hate him enough to make one of his friends murder him?
Oh yes, Remus knew all about that practical joke Sirius tried to pull on Snape. It wasn't too hard to figure out why Sirius was so puzzled as to how Snape escaped Moony in December.
Severely chided, the Marauders left Remus alone to calm down. They did not bring up his protectiveness for Snape again.
The school broke up for Easter at the end of March. While Remus headed home on the Hogwarts Express to visit with his parents, and both sets of grandparents for the holidays, Snape stayed at school.
Although Remus very much enjoyed his holiday, he found himself very uneasy. He could not relax. Every time he sat down to a meal, or looked at his school things, he thought of Snape. For some inane reason, he was worried for the boy. He couldn't figure out why.
The longer he was away from Hogwarts, the more uneasy he became. At the end of the week's vacation, he was itching to get back to school.
Dumbledore reached forward and picked up the plate of biscuits. He offered it first to Minerva and then to Remus, who declined.
Minerva sat forward in her chair. "You said earlier that you didn't know what was going on at first ," she stated. "When did you realise what was going on?"