Disclaimer: Just own the plot.

Review Responses:

Crystal – Glad you were amused, thanks for reviewing!

lilyqueen777 – I didn't know the Monkeys did a song called Shades of Grey. I just really liked the title, it was unfortunately not my idea but the idea of my very brilliant friend honestiago. I'm glad I made you smile and improved your day, writing all this improved mine! You liked the Narcissa stories? I'm so pleased, I think I do remember you reviewing, they were the first thing I posted so I'm especially attached to them. They may have made you cry but at least I gave her a happy ending! Thanks for reviewing!

Ilmare2 – Remus/Severus is one of my favorite pairings too, though as I'm writing the story that might already be obvious I suppose. I can't stand those fics that rush people into things! Rest assured they will take a long time to develop a true friendship. Severus has some very formidable defenses in place but Remus is as you say slowly breaking through them. I'm quite flattered you reviewed actually because I'm a huge fan of some of your stories about Severus! Thanks for reviewing!

Lisa – Thank you for telling me Snape isn't out of character. I too love Remus/Severus stories but sadly so many portray Severus or Remus for that matter as being out of character to the way I see him. Thanks for the review!

BekaJWP – I love writing all the banter, it's so much fun and there's a lot more to come! Thanks for reviewing!

Luna PL – Rowling was bad to kill Siri, though my love of him diminished slightly after reading the Snape's worst memory chapter, then again I hated them all except for Snape himself after reading that one! I have forgiven Siri to a degree though and Remus almost entirely and I do miss Sirius. However, you are right in that with him being gone it makes things more likely to happen between Remus and Severus. Certainly does in this chapter anyway! Believe me I will keep working, I never abandon fics, it's too irritating when other people do it! Thanks for the review!

Kira – Thank you for the complementary review!

Shades of Grey

Remus' Thoughts

Emphasis

Chapter 3

The warm feeling that seeing Severus in an almost friendly capacity had given him helped Remus through dealing with the Order and the ever- exuberant Weasley family. It had been over a week since he had last seen Severus, however he couldn't prevent himself reflecting very much on something Severus had said. Why did he suddenly have a desire to keep apologising to the man, anyone would think he actually liked him. Of course he did really, despite their fighting, despite Severus losing him the one good job he'd ever had, he had a strange liking for the other man. Still the inability to get him out of his thoughts was a little unusual, particularly combined with the strange feeling just being in the same room as the other man gave him. A strange and slightly unnerving idea suddenly occurred to him, he was exhibiting all the symptoms of developing feelings for Severus. He cared for him, tried to please him, was pained to see him unhappy, could not stop thinking about him and that strange feeling was definitely suspect. And I do think he's very attractive.

Remus frowned slightly, realising that he certainly did care for the other man. Well Severus wouldn't be too amused by that I don't think. It was true, the idea of telling Severus was laughable; the man would most likely kill him, or simply laugh in his face. He found himself wondering though if it wouldn't be possible to subtly sound out how Severus felt. Not that I'm going to, I've got enough to deal with without adding him to the mix. Of course there was the complication that he very much wanted to add Severus to the mix of issues he already had on his plate.

Harry had written back and was at least well but he had not even asked to come and stay with the Weasleys and Remus knew that his letter to Ron had been much the same, expressing no interest in leaving Privet Drive. Remus couldn't blame him, after all at least the Dursleys didn't try to talk about Sirius, at least that house didn't contain memories of him everywhere. Harry had asked how Remus was doing and had commented that he sounded falsely cheerful, saying that he didn't require Remus to put on a front to try to make him feel better. Harry, the front's to make me feel better not you, Remus thought ruefully.

Memories of Sirius were inescapable in Grimmauld Place. Everything reminded Remus of him, not least of all the portrait who had consistently refused to shut up and was proclaiming he had got what he deserved. Kreacher had thankfully disappeared again, presumably to the Malfoys', and had not returned; Remus was half pleased he didn't have to see him and half sorry he wouldn't get to grant the elf's greatest wish by mounting his head on the wall. It was hard somehow to feel any sympathy with the creature anymore and he felt that if Hermione breathed just one word about house elf rights that summer he'd begin to understand just why Severus couldn't stand her.

Remus had ventured into Sirius' room for the first time that morning; unsure of what to do with many of his things, the other Order members had simply left them as they were. His next of kin, with Andromeda having been kicked out of the family long ago, would probably be either Bellatrix Lestrange or Narcissa Malfoy and Remus doubted either of them were going to care much so he had begun to check Sirius' papers, looking for anything that would help the Order. However this had turned up very little and simply left Remus feeling more lonely and depressed than ever. He had however run across a bottle of Ogden's Best Firewhisky which Sirius had clearly been keeping for some unknown reason. Figuring that as none of his family except Tonks had even been to the house since his death and that he didn't feel it would be very responsible to let her have it, let alone Harry, Remus had liberated it. Now he poured a measure into a finely cut crystal glass. He raised the whisky in a silent toast, well here's to you Sirius, sorry for drinking your whisky but it's in a good cause!

Remus had never been a heavy drinker and after a couple of glasses he screwed the lid back on the bottle and decided that alcohol was not the cure. Besides anything else life was too short to spend it drinking yourself into oblivion. Life was too short for a lot of things. Including regrets. It was with this in mind that Remus determined that he was going to go and find Severus. He still wasn't going to tell him how he felt but he didn't think it could hurt to try and be friends and attempt to work out how the other man felt about him, apart from the blinding, all-consuming hatred that was.

XXXXXXX

On reaching the school Remus headed straight for the Potions classroom and sure enough Severus was there. He was bent over a cauldron, his ebony hair tucked back hastily behind his ears and a smear of something purple on his cheek. The man seemed oblivious to it though as he carefully measured and added ingredients to the brew, noting the changes as he went along. Remus was fascinated, he had never seen Severus looking so human and alive. He had forgotten the look of simple joy that tended to cross the man's face when a potion was in front of him.

He looks incredibly attractive when he concentrates like that; he's so intense. Severus glanced up suddenly, seeming to feel Remus' gaze. The werewolf felt his face grow warm as the potions master arched a dark eyebrow, "What are you doing? Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked with just slightly less hostility than usual but with a heavy dose of suspicion in his tone.

"Like what?" Remus asked innocently.

Severus frowned, "Never mind. What do you want?"

You. It's pretty simple really. Despite your toxic personality Severus I think I'm beginning to find you rather attractive.

"Well?" Severus asked impatiently.

Remus was momentarily confused, having lost track of where the conversation had left off. "Well what?"

"Have you got some kind of mental disorder?" the potions master sneered.

Remus remained confused, "What?"

"Remus, go away. You're giving me a headache."

"I was looking for you."

"Well now that you've found me you can go and look for something else." Severus turned back to his potion, clearly expecting Remus to leave.

Remus however couldn't resist pushing his luck and walked stealthily towards the other man to stand at his elbow.

Severus turned to pick up an ingredient and jumped at seeing Remus standing so close to him. "Are you still here?"

Remus looked around him and grinned, "Looks like it Severus."

The other man turned back to his potion, "Leave."

"Why?"

"I'm busy."

"But you'd probably tell me to leave even if you weren't busy," Remus objected.

"That's true," Severus muttered.

"So I may as well stay," Remus concluded.

"Is that canine logic?"

Remus grinned, "Maybe. What ingredient do you need?"

"Dog spleen."

"Ha ha," Remus responded sarcastically to what he supposed had been Severus' idea of a joke.

"I'm serious."

"Oh. Here you go." Remus allowed his hand to brush Severus' as he handed over the jar.

Severus paused for a moment before snapping, "Watch what you're doing."

"Sorry, I was too busy watching what you were doing."

"What?!" Severus held up a hand, "On second thoughts just be quiet, I don't want to know."

Remus gave the man a small smirk, which apparently was too much for Severus to take. He 'accidentally' knocked a jar of dragon's blood down the front of the werewolf's robes.

"Oh clumsy me, you'll have to go and change now," Severus sneered.

"I could just take care of it with a spell."

"Just go away before I take care of you with a spell!"

"And what spell did you have in mind?"

Severus decided he didn't like where this conversation was heading. "The killing curse, now get out of my potions lab or I might decide I need another dog spleen in this potion!"

"Now, now, Severus, you wouldn't want to do anything you might come to regret."

"You're right," Severus had adopted a dangerously quiet tone, "Why use the killing curse when I have potions that are untraceable and therefore won't land me in Azkaban?"

"I'm going to start looking at that wolfsbane potion much more suspiciously in future."

"Lupin, if you're not on the other side of that door in the next thirty seconds then you won't have a future."

"Alright," Remus put on a mock offended expression, "I can take a hint."

"No, you can't."

"Might as well stay then, sounds like you expect me to."

Severus made a low noise from the back of his throat and gestured with his wand, "I don't know what you've drunk but I suggest you go and calm down. Now get out of my sight!"

Remus laughed and left the room without another word leaving a deeply confused and bewildered Severus Snape behind him.

XXXXXXX

Arriving back at Grimmauld Place Remus retreated to his room, the euphoria of the alcohol was beginning to wear off and he had the nasty feeling his behaviour towards Severus had been a little out of character and possibly rather unwelcome. He sat for a while gathering his thoughts and drinking a large cup of black coffee, he winced at the bitter taste but forced it down in order to at least be able to get his thoughts in some sort of order.

This is not the way to deal with things, I can't just throw myself at Severus because I've suddenly decided life is too short! I don't even know how he feels about me, aside from the bitter and intense hatred. Then again Sirius always used to say there was a fine line between love and hate. Remus snorted suddenly, advice from Sirius, particularly where romance was involved, had always been best taken with a pinch of salt. Not that Remus could see him encouraging his friend to make a play for Severus Snape of all people. He chuckled wryly, Sirius must be turning in his grave.

It was getting a little easier to think about Sirius, it still hurt like hell but now instead of focusing on the vacuum inside that the loss of all three of his oldest friends had caused he was able to think about the good times they'd shared. I suppose this is what they refer to as the healing process. And in his own way, Severus had helped with that. He had opened up old wounds that had never really healed and, little as Remus had enjoyed hearing it, the reminder that his friends had on occasions been less than pleasant to some people seemed to have helped. It did no good to put Sirius and James on a pedestal, besides anything else that was the very last thing Sirius would have wanted; James might have been another story, Remus thought with a chuckle, he was capable of being a little arrogant. Not that Sirius wasn't. Remembering a more human side of them enabled Remus to realise what he'd really lost. Somehow knowing that they'd been less than perfect made it more painful to lose them but he knew that if he was to move on, and he had to for Harry's sake, then these things needed to be dealt with.

And I think they are being, maybe I should send Severus a Thank You card.

Remus smiled at the image of the look of distaste that would undoubtedly cross Severus' face if he were to find out he'd actually helped the werewolf, particularly after the events of that afternoon.

Despite his odd behaviour though, Remus decided Severus didn't seem to mind too much when he called to see him and determined that he would do so again soon. If only to ensure the man was still speaking to him.

XXXXXXX

A/N: Try not to hate me but the next chapter's going to be a little late I'm afraid! I normally update on the Monday of every week but next week it'll be the Thursday at the earliest but I'll try to ensure it's no later than Friday. The version I have of the chapter on disk is missing part of it for some reason so I need to wait until I get home from university and can get to the copy on my computer hard disk. So sorry that you'll have to wait but it's only a few extra days and after that there should be no more late updates as all my exams will be over.

If you wanted to show me you weren't cross at the wait you could always review! :o)