I'm still betaing my own blithering work. I still don't own the property of J. K. R, and she hasn't made any offers for the rights to my stuff, so there. Uhm… From here on in things will get rather, ah, odd. You are now entering the part that is mostly mine. (this a link to one of Sunna's pics like I promised http:// www .side7. com /cgi-bin /S7SDB /DisplayImg .pl? INO=249849)
Chapter Fifteen:
The walk to Lupin's room was not nearly long enough to calm him. As he approached the charmed wall panel he slowed his pace and took several 'calming' breathes.
A few seconds after the barely audible chime had sounded Snape remembered that Lupin would not have had time to reach the dungeons yet, let alone his new quarters.
By the time Lupin arrived he had finished pacing and was leaning against the wall beside the door.
"I have a new theory to try, but if it doesn't work I need time to make your usual. So drop your stuff and lets get going." He announced without looking up.
"Thanks, my day was terrible, and you are in desperate need of a shower," Lupin shot back wrinkling his sensitive nose.
Lupin sighed and closed his eyes; they had come to a tenuous understanding before he had left the school. Basically it went, Snape did his job and Lupin drank or ate or inhaled whatever he was given. But Snape's rather brutal bedside manner was difficult to handle this close to the full moon.
As he brushed past he noticed that Snape stilled for the moment that it took him to give his password and enter his room.
'He is so messed up!' Lupin fumed. 'Why should he get so tense about being near to me? He's been treating me for two years now. And why is it that I expect him to act normal when HE IS SO MESSED UP?!' but it did bug him, 'You'd think he'd be more comfortable with my being a Werewolf. It's like he's getting more, oh I don't know, freaky? As time, goes, by…' An idea came to him, 'I should go to the library and look up exactly what PMR does to a person, this might be a symptom. Nah,' he snorted rejecting the thought, 'he's always been this way.'
After storming around his living room for several minutes he set the piles of uncorrected work he had been carrying, on his table. Changing to a well-worn robe he sighed, 'No sense in ruining one of the good ones.' With a last glance at the scrolls, 'I won't be able to get to them till, well maybe Friday.' He moved to the door. Pushing it open he glanced down for an instant-
"Get your work," Snape quietly spoke into his ear.
With a yelp Lupin jerked back, "What?!"
Snape had not moved from his place beside the door and as it opened he had meant to merely stop Lupin before he had closed it. 'What is he so jumpy about?'
*We are way too close!* Snape looked away and took more slow deep breathes, *Not a good idea. The air in the corridor is so still that Lupin's scent is going to make me choke, * he reflexively licked his lips.
"Don't do that," Lupin nearly shouted, once his heart was back in his chest, "and what's with the heavy breathing?"
"Just get your work and let's get out of here," he ground between his teeth.
"My work why? I won't be able to correct any of the papers until I'm rested again."
Looking up at the ceiling Snape pulled an acidic grin, "I am qualified to teach Defense, even if no one cares. The Headmaster assigned you these rooms for more than just their aesthetic value. He wanted to make sure that I could, fill the gap." Turning back to Lupin he attempted a more civil tone, "Could we please hurry along now?"
With a nod he headed back into his living room and gathered up the scrolls he had just put down. Back in the hall he made as though to hand them to Snape. But Snape turned and headed in the direction of the lab with out a glance at Lupin.
"What's the rush? It's only three thirty the sun won't set for hours."
"I am glad to find that the inhibitor I worked so hard on has given you enough relief from the effects of the moon that you were able to attend to your class. But I would appreciate your not asking anymore stupid questions." He did not sound glad or appreciative.
Lupin held his tongue until they got to Snape's private lab.
When they entered Snape motioned toward a long table that was pushed against the left-hand wall, "Put those over there, and get on the slab."
Placing the scrolls on the table as asked Lupin took a moment to look around at the now familiar contents of the room. Each wall had at least one table running along it, and several wall sconces had been strategically placed above them. The tables in the middle of the room gave it the feel of a large maze and the air was almost cold enough to show his breath. Open parchments and experiments in mid-completion were on every available surface, except one. The Slab, as Snape referred to it, was a sort of examining table with extras. Channels running the entire length funneled fluids toward a drain at the foot, and adjustable restraints were set at head, chest, wrist, thigh, and ankle.
As he removed his robe Lupin shuddered remembering the first time he had been strapped down. To be at another's complete mercy was bad, the fact that it was Snape made it infinitely worse. With only his boxers on goosebumps pricked over his skin.
Lying on the freezing cold metal table, staring up at the lights, he shivered again.
Snape had been gathering things and arranging them on wheeled trays, but he heard the hitch in Lupin's breath, "The inhibitor should wear off soon, I'll start after it's out of your system." He pushed the trays into position beside the reclining figure. Looking down into the amber eyes of his patient/guinea pig Snape hesitated.
Lupin watched as Snape prepared some of the instruments, vials, and potions that he would need. He was slightly confused when Snape halted in the midst of his work and more so as he found himself staring into twin pools of infinite black. It was just a flicker, hardly there before it was gone, but for a split second he felt as though he were looking into the eyes of a stranger.
Chapter Sixteen:
Coming back to himself Snape glanced up at the clock, "It's nearly four, at five-thirty I need to get Black and smuggle him down here." Picking up a stethoscope he turned back to Lupin. "Breathe normally." After checking heart, lungs, and blood pressure, all with Muggle tools, he placed a thermometer under Lupin's tongue; "I'm going to have to set up an I.J. and an A.J. on you so get up and move around. I can't have you getting twitchy on me."
Swing his legs over the edge Lupin quickly sat up. Raising an eyebrow he tried to question the new terms.
"Do you feel the inhib. wearing off?" Snape glanced at him before turning to check a Muggle medical device that Lupin could not identify.
Nodding an affirmative Lupin bit back on his rising temper. Once the four longest minutes of his day went by, he handed the thermometer back to Snape without looking at it. Standing beside the table, now with nothing to do, Lupin watched every move made by Snape. He winced as fifteen-centimeter long needles were brought out, and felt queasy when Snape loaded them onto the tray beside the slab-
'Slab? Why does he call it a slab?' about to ask he stopped, 'At five-thirty he gets Serius, and then at six he takes more Plasti-juice. If I wait till then I might get an answer instead of a scowl.' "What are those for?" he nervously indicated the needles.
Pulling several packets of what looked like very thin tubing out of an under the counter cupboard Snape looked up, "What? The needles?" Then remembering Lupin's fear of anything even remotely resembling a needle he rolled his eyes, "Phobic," he muttered under his breath, fully aware that Lupin's already acute senses were only heightening as the night drew near.
"I'm not Phobic," he knew Snape was aware of his unease around needles, and hated the fact that Snape knew so many of his weaknesses. "If I was, the Boggart in my class would look like one of those," he pointed at the tray, which was now loaded with needles, sealed packages of fine tubing, alcohol wipes, and several other Muggle things that he did not want to be able to identify.
"Put your right arm on the slab." Snape slid on a pair of latex-free rubber gloves and opened an alcohol wipe, "I'm starting am I.V. so you should probably close your eyes."
Lupin's fast shallow breathes and the sheen of sweat on his brow combined with an accelerated heart rate belied his rather pathetic attempt to seem calm. The IV went in smoothly and a bag of saline was started on a slow drip. After hanging the bag from one of the hooks that were set in the ceiling above the slab Snape again told Lupin to move around and pulled off his gloves.
"How am I supposed to move anywhere with a tube in my wrist?" he groused.
Not looking up from the machine he was tinkering with, Snape distractedly answered, "First of all it's called a 'line' and secondly I don't need you to run around the room, jogging in place would be fine." Satisfied with the readouts from the box he stepped up to Lupin's side.
"Here," Snape suddenly grabbed Lupin's right hand and forced it to a spot on Lupin's thigh. "Do you feel the muscles here?" He pressed Lupin's hand against his flesh. "Now if you could relax for a minute," he chided, "you would feel the muscles go soft."
It took a great deal of effort, but he was able to relax his leg and feel the loosening of his muscles. "Ok, but did you have to show me that? " he demanded through clenched teeth. 'I already knew that much about muscles, and did you have to touch me?!'
With a smirk Snape moved their interlocked hands a little higher on Lupin's thigh, "Now feel here. You need to press hard to feel the sub-layers of muscle," he squeezed Lupin's hand tighter. "Do you feel that twitching?"
"Yes," wincing Lupin nodded, waiting for more information. He was surprised when Snape jerked his hand away and walked to the other side of the room.
Leaning forward placing his palms against one of the shiny metal counters Snape spoke, "The twitching is caused by an excess of adrenaline in your system," he spoke at the wall. "Excess adrenaline is what dogs are burning when they move in their sleep. You'll feel better if you can get rid of it." With his back to the confused werewolf Snape knew he sounded unnerved.
He heard the slow rhythm that Lupin's feet beat on the stone floor, but it came from a distance and was not relevant to him.
'That was so stupid!'
* I know! *
'I mean what possessed you to touch him?'
*I decided to answer his question. I just wanted to answer his question.*
'Sure, and-'
~
After a half-hour of jogging in place Lupin was too tired to care what was wrong with Snape, 'It's not like he has ever been normal. Even when we were kids he was creepy. But how long has he been on the Plasti-juice? Could he have been taking it since then?' he wondered for the second time.
With the inhibitor nearly gone from his system he was feeling more tired than usual. On the plus side however, after jogging for so long the room did not feel as cold.
Panting slightly he rested against the central table and quickly glancing away from the I. V. in his forearm remembered the odd terms Snape had used earlier, "What are an eye jay and an a jay?" He looked over to the corner Snape had ended up sitting with his back to.
With a slight shake of his head Snape looked as though he were just being reminded that Lupin was there.
'PMR is not supposed to have any psychological side effects, but he is acting weird even for him.' Lupin was becoming concerned.
"It is almost five-o'clock I should head out soon." He stood and avoided Lupin's rather pointed attempts at eye contact, 'It will be hard enough to meet him at the old well house. I can't believe that I've got to find a way to get Black past the agent at the gate too.'
*Don't forget the fact that Lupin probably thinks you were hitting on him, the way you seized-up after that little episode back in the hall, and again a minute ago… with your hand… on his thigh...*
"I thought you said you would be leaving at five-thirty," Lupin hesitantly voiced.
"Things came up, it'll take longer than I thought," Snape snarled back.
Shaking his head again and picking up his robe from the tableside stool he had thrown it over, he almost-laughed, "An I.J. and an A.J. are two large IV lines that go in either side of your neck. Your jugular is the only vein that I know I can hit once you've shifted." At Lupin's worried look he smirked again, "I wasn't trained in veterinary medicine. I've had to get what I can from books. When you shift you change mentally, chemically, and physiologically. Getting the major points down, and keeping my job, hasn't left much time for a detailed study of werewolf anatomy."
As he left the stunned, and more than slightly unsettled Were Wolf in his lab he made one final comment, "I'll be back before six, you should try and sleep," and with that he closed the door.