Did I saw it would take me a couple days to write this? I lied. (Bad me!) I spent the afternoon working on it and didn't balance my checkbook like I planned to do. This chapter has some humor in it because things were getting a little too angst-y for me. :-) I was actually laughing when I wrote part of it. :-) I think you'll know which part I am talking about. And, there's a part that is rather hot, if I do say so myself. Whew! (Fans self with hand) I love writing this story!!!

Elkebaby, you are so on the money. :-) Mon2, thanks for the continuing support. I hope I don't disappoint with the Snape/Remus interaction – it will be in the next chapter. AffectedMangoO, I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I worked very hard on it because of your comments. :-)

Chapter 31 – Quality Time

Cassius had gone to work the next day and Remus was wandering into the sitting room when he suddenly thought about Clara. He needed someone to talk to about all the stuff he had learned recently. Someone who was only his friend. He quickly owled her at the Ministry, asking her if she'd want to come over for lunch the following day. She responded immediately that she would love to.

That night, Remus and Cassius spent some time looking at old school pictures together. They talked about The Marauders, Lily, Harry and Owen. Afterwards they watched a movie and snuggled on the couch. Remus was very glad he'd asked for more time off.

Remus and Clara had finished eating lunch, having talked about her job, his job, mutual acquaintances from Hogwarts, and where they had each grown up.

"You know it takes me a while to warm up to people, when I meet someone new." Clara commented as she poured herself another cup of tea.

"Me too." Remus nodded.

"But you and I have only known each other a week."

"Is that all?" Remus felt surprised but he knew it was true.

"And I feel like we've been friends forever." Clara smiled warmly. "So, what did you really want to talk about?"

Remus smiled and started to talk.

"Wow. I never knew." Clara sat, her cup of tea still in her hand. She'd picked it up when Remus had started telling her about the letter from Lucius and the conversations with Dumbledore, Tabby and Stevens. The cup had stayed there, halfway to her mouth, as she listened. "Most of us thought he'd done a memory charm wrong."

"Really?"

"Well, my first year, he was in the hospital wing most of the time. I remember seeing him there when I broke my arm on Halloween, I'd been practicing riding my broom. I'd never seen him in the hallways before and he had all his books and everything in the ward, like he lived there. When he became Prefect, he was fine, like nothing had happened. No one stayed out after curfew when he was Head Boy, he just had to look at you and arch that eyebrow and you went running." Clara gave a little laugh. "But you didn't know?"

"No. I remember him a little from school, because he was on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, but that's it."

"And…you didn't find out until now. About Owen as well?"

"Yes."

"Did you just want to vent or did you want some advice?"

"Advice, please." Remus stirred some sugar into his cup. "And the venting was good too."

Clara finally took a sip of tea as she thought for a moment. "Must have been maddening to realize you didn't know about a big part of Cassius's life."

"That's an understatement." Remus said wryly.

"You did tell him you were mad, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Good. Because…" Clara shook her head, stopping herself.

"Because what?" Remus asked. "Please, Clara, I know we don't know each other all that well, but you said we're friends. I need a friend, an honest friend."

She smiled. "I just…just…You have so much power when you're a werewolf, it's like you give it all up when you're in your human form. You need to realize you don't have to hide your power." Clara looked at him thoughtfully. "You let Cassius be in control a lot of the time. Like you did with James and Sirius." Clara mumbled the last sentence. "You can't be non-confrontational all the time. People will still like you even if you don't always let them have their way."

"I…" Remus had been going to protest the statements but he couldn't. "You're right. I'd never thought about it that way. I am getting better, though."

"I'm glad to hear that. I had to learn to not avoid confrontations too. So, I have wise advice." Clara nodded sagely.

"Really? What?"

"Remember that you're a Gryffindor so you must have courage inside somewhere."

"Good advice." Remus grinned. "Only works for Gryffindors though."

"No one's perfect." Clara made a face at him. "And now… I brought crème brulee for dessert." Clara reached for the covered pan and moved it in front of them both. "It's the only thing I really know how to bake well."

Remus smiled as he picked up his spoon and cracked into the burnt sugar top. "I'm glad we're friends."

"Me too."

Cassius and Remus were sitting on the couch in front of the fire in the sitting room after dinner that night. They'd just started talking about Snape.

"It'd be hilarious if you started flirting with him. He probably wouldn't know what to do. He's never dated anyone, that I know of. And he's never had sex."

"I don't even want to know how you know that."

"Draco wrote me that he asked him about something one of other boys had said and that Snape's face got all red and he stammered and ordered Draco to go to the library to look it up and stop pestering him."

"He could have just been embarrassed. The 'facts of life' speech is hard for some adults. Like Lucius giving you that book instead of talking to you."

"That book is a great book."

"It's pornographic!" Remus had been shown it when they'd been dating for almost a year because it included some ways to be intimate without penetration. He'd been shocked by all the pictures in it. It was like a wizard version of the Kama Sutra, with all sorts of different pairings included.

"I know – it's brilliant." Cassius grinned.

"It's not the type of thing you give a fourteen year old!"

"And how did your parents tell you about the facts of life?"

"My father sat me down, when I was eleven before I went to Hogwarts. He told me how men and women make babies, how some women love women and some men love men. Then he said that I always needed to remember that I was a werewolf. Because werewolves mate for life and so sex isn't something to be taken lightly." Cassius's voice joined his for the last few words.

"You really memorized that last part, didn't you." Cassius laughed.

"So did you, apparently."

"You said that to me every day practically when we were dating."

"Well, it's true. The first time a werewolf has sex, it will be driven to claim the partner as its mate." Remus's fingers automatically moved to touch the bite mark on Cassius's shoulder.

"Tell me something I don't know." He shivered as Remus's fingers stroked over the bite. "I…"

"What?"

"I like that you're a werewolf."

"Really?" Remus sat up so he could look at Cassius. "Because of all my gray hair, I suppose?"

"That's right. You've got a whole new bunch of it too."

"I do?" Remus's hands flew to his hair. He'd started graying when he was 19, he knew he shouldn't be vain about it but sometimes he couldn't help it. "Where?"

"Right here." Cassius's fingers threaded through a lock of hair near Remus's temple. "I like that we're bound together."

"Me too." Remus moved onto Cassius's lap and drew his face closer for a kiss. He rested his head on Cassius's shoulder and gazed towards the fire. "It's not so horribly bad being a werewolf since the wolfsbane potion was invented. And I've been able to find work lately, be accepted for what I am, make friends again."

Cassius kissed his forehead and they sat quietly, watching the fire.

The next evening was very similar. Cassius and Remus spent it together, enjoying their time together. Remus appreciated every moment with Cassius more since he knew how lonely he was at Hogwarts without his mate.

"I think Moody and Tabby need to get back together." Cassius said as he climbed into bed with Remus after checking all the wards on the house.

"You do." Remus put his bookmark into his book and set it on the nightstand.

"They still love each other." Cassius cuddled up next to Remus, laying his head on Remus's shoulder. "They need to be together again."

"And how do you propose to accomplish this task?"

"I don't know…I'll have to see if there are any books that can help me. And then I'll devise a cunning plan."

"Good luck with that." Remus patted Cassius's shoulder before sliding his hand down his mate's back and under his shirt.

"You're not going to help?"

"I'll help as much as I can, just let me know what to do once you've got it all figured out."

"Can you imagine them together…having sex?" Cassius asked slowly.

"Oh! No! No. No. NO!" Remus clapped his other hand over his eyes. "You are evil for putting any such image into my head."

"Do you think he takes his leg off for it?"

"Stop!" Remus yelled as he pushed Cassius off him. "Oh! Ugh!" Cassius's green eyes were sparkling with laughter. "

"And he's missing part of his tongue…poor Tabby. He's probably not that good at-."

"Stop! Cassius, stop!" Remus clapped his hands over his ears. "You'll be missing part of your tongue if you don't stop talking right NOW!"

"You wouldn't do that." Cassius kissed Remus's neck. "You like my tongue too much." The tongue in question swirled around Remus's ear causing him to shiver and press closer to Cassius. "You especially like it when my tongue does this." Cassius unbuttoned Remus's pajama top and traced over one of Remus's scars with his tongue. Remus's hands clenched in Cassius's hair as he gasped and arched up, seeking to get closer to the teasing, wet tongue as it moved across his chest to trace over another scar.

"You have scars that spell my name, you know that?" Cassius pulled Remus's pajama pants off.

"I do?" Remus was getting lost in a haze of desire as Cassius's warm hands stroked over his body.

"There's a 'C' here." Cassius's hot tongue traced over an arc on Remus's hip bone. "An 'A' here." The tongue traced over an upside down V on Remus's right thigh. "You have to imagine the cross bar." Cassius licked across between the two lines. "An 'S' here." Cassius licked three lines on Remus's ribs that looked like a backwards z. He moved back up Remus's body to look into Remus's eyes. "And on your back are two arcs that you can connect to make another 'S'."

"You're not going to lick them one too?" Remus's voice caught in his throat as fingers caressed his inner thigh.

"Turn over." The order was a husky whisper. Remus complied immediately, feeling himself trembling with arousal. Cassius's tongue licked an 'S' on his back under his left shoulder blade.

"Please, Cass." Remus whimpered. Cassius licked up Remus's spine and then traced over the bite mark on his shoulder. "Please."

"Please what?" Cassius brushed his lips against Remus's ear as he asked.

"You know."

"Lucky for you, I do know." He pulled Remus up onto his knees.

"Wait! I need to see you," Remus pleaded. Cassius let go of his hips so that Remus could turn over on to his back. He reached out his arms and pulled Cassius close. "Now, please."

New Year's Eve was a quiet evening because Cassius had to work the next day. Remus didn't care. He didn't like loud parties, even if they had been able to go to one together like Stevens and Clara had.

"You'll owl everyday. You promised." Remus wrapped his arms around Cassius's neck.

"Yes, Remus."

"And you'll take the potion Poppy made for us."

"I don't have to take that for three weeks, right?"

"Right. But you'll take when three weeks have gone by, right?"

"Yes, Remus."

"And if you have a panic attack, you'll try Tabby's potion?"

"Yes, Remus." Cassius was sounding more put upon with every response.

"And…" Remus thought hard. "You'll eat and everything."

"Yes, Remus."

"And you'll be safe, when you're on assignment."

"I'll be all right." Cassius kissed him. "You be safe too, please."

"I will be." Remus kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you too. I'll see you in three months."

"All right."

"You have to let me go, otherwise I can't Disapparate to the Ministry."

"Oh, sorry." Remus let his mate go reluctantly. "Wait, kiss me again."

Cassius pulled Remus into a kiss that made Remus's knees weak. He let Remus go and a second later he was gone.

Ok, umm…let's make it a challenge: six reviews and I'll update. Go on, you know you want to!