disclaimer: I am poor and lonely; i own no official hp characters (Chloe's mine cuz i made her up), just keep these rabid lawyers away form me...

The Simple Flame of a Candle

Chapter II

Thud. What the hell was that? Severus thought. He glanced at the clock on his bedside table. It read 3:17 a.m. Perhaps he had imagined the noise in paranoia.

Crash! Shit! he thought. That time he had definitely heard something, and his only assumption was the death eaters.

Without giving himself time for thought, he leapt out of bed and was dashing down the stairs, wand in hand.

Someone had indeed broken in, as he found Chloe talking to the man who had just crawled through the window, and apparently smashed a small table lamp. Severus watched silently from the stairs as the man picked himself up from the floor.

"What the hell are you doing here at this time of night?" Chloe insisted.

"It's not like I haven't been here this late before," the man replied gently, "or this early, for that matter..."

"Why the bloody hell didn't you just use the door?" Chloe replied, not allowing herself to stray off subject. "And where is your damn key?" A loud bark from outside interrupted her, and she opened the back door with a sigh, allowing a large black dog to enter. "Oh, get up," Chloe ordered, staring at the furry canine. Suddenly, the dog transformed into a man with shoulder-length black hair and soulful dark eyes.

"Remus, you had the key?" he said to the other man, who had shorter, ginger-colored hair. "We could have done this the easy way..."

"Sirius, when was the last time you did something the easy way?" Remus retorted with a small smile. "And, uh, I sort of forgot about the key," he said, removing the small bronze key from his pocket.

"It's a bit dark, wouldn't you say?" Chloe commented, and with a snap of her fingers, flames sprung up on the various candles around the room. "Care to join us, Severus?" He stood up from his crouched position, a look of shock on his face. How did she know he was there? He was behind her, and hadn't made a sound...

"Did you not realize that our dear Chloe is an empath?" Remus explained with a mild smile.

"I sensed your concern," she stated, turning around. "As you can see, the Order is keeping a good watch on you..."

"Yes, employing a watchdog, I see," Severus returned dryly, looking at Sirius with contempt.

"What, not happy to see us?" Sirius joked, sitting himself down on the fluffy couch, as Severus rested elegantly in the same armchair which Lucius Malfoy had been seated in earlier that night.

"You really shouldn't have come, Padfoot," Chloe sighed, plopping down next to him. "You're taking a risk I'd rather you didn't take..."

"But you're happy to see me," Sirius half-stated, half-asked, placing an arm around her shoulders.

"Yes, I'm happy to see you," she smiled. "And you," she said, beckoning Remus over and taking his hand.

"Why in Merlin's name are you here?" Severus butted in quite unceremoniously.

"Well, you didn't think the Order would simply abandon you, especially when things heated up, did you?" Remus questioned rhetorically with a small smile. "Dumbledore tipped us off to your predicament, and I was sent in hopes of preventing certain unsavory events from unfolding..." he paused glancing at his companion. "Padfoot made a extremely stupid decision in taking the risk of accompanying me..."

"You know I've always been a risk-taker, Moony," Sirius smirked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Yes, and you also always got caught," Chloe remarked rather dryly. Severus was sitting rather sullenly, obviously not having happy memories of the 'good old days'. Hardly ever got what he deserved, bloody bastard he thought.

"It's not healthy to keep all that anger bottled up inside, Severus," Chloe told him, her empathic senses alert. He returned with a look that was anything but amused. "Why don't I put on some tea," she suggested, standing up quickly. "We could all use a decent amount of caffeine at this hour..."

"I'll help," Remus offered.

"No, you stay and, er, supervise--I mean socialize," Chloe insisted awkwardly, then mouthed "Behave" to Sirius before exiting the room.

"So, how bout those Chudley Cannons..." Remus tried his best to stay optimistic. His two companions simply took a moment from glaring at each other to give him a look. Luckily, the gathering sipped tea quietly without an outburst between the old school enemies. And, luckily for Sirius and Remus, the house in which they currently found themselves had quite enough room for an overnight stay.

"Sirius, you're down the hall on the right, next to Severus," Chloe told him. Don't even think about arguing; you're lucky you are even staying here. Remus, you're across from the other two."

"Thank you, Chloe," he said politely, as always.

"Hey, where's your room, Kitten?" Sirius asked with a cocky grin.

"Don't be a smart ass, Padfoot," she warned. "It's the one by the stairs, if there's an emergency..." Sirius smiled. "If there's an emergency," she repeated, holding up a finger, but she had trouble hiding a small smile.

"Goodnight, Sev," Chloe said as the addressed slipped into his room.

"'Night, babe," Sirius said quietly, giving her a gracious and loving hug, along with a fond kiss on the cheek, before entering his assigned room.

"Chloe," Remus stepped closer to her, "thank you, so much." He smiled slightly. "It wasn't necessary for you to put us up for the night; it was very kind."

"Anything for my friends," she told him, embracing him gently. "Get some rest; I figure we can achieve a couple hours' sleep." Remus simply returned her embrace wholeheartedly. "You'll need your strength," she commented, and he gazed at her intently, very canine-like. "The full moon is not quite a week away," she said almost solemnly. "Go to bed," she ordered, placing a kiss on her best friend's cheek, and he slipped out of her arms and toward his room.

"Goodnight, Kitten," he said quietly, smiling softly.

"Goodnight," she returned, disappearing into her room.