Disclaimer: I do not own anything in here. It belongs to the almighty rich people.
Warning: Mmm… Slash.
And this chapter goes out to my English professors, who make me never want to write again. Heh, if only they knew that I had an over twenty thousand word bit of slash… 'Why yes, ma'am, I've spent ages on a story. What kind of story you ask? Oh, it's a fan fiction, of the Harry Potter variety. Which pairing, you ask? Well, it's actually two forty year old men. Why yes, I am *insert age here*. Ma'am, why are you on the floor? Ma'am, why are you clawing at your eyes and ears? Oh.'
Muah ha. Take Selke, not enough caffeine, a horrible cold/bronchitis, lack of sleep and a play list including Placebo, Johnny Cash, Anti-Flag, Reaching For Kate, and SoaD, and you get some weird stuff.
Okay, I'm down now. On with the chappie.
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Chapter 15: Enigmatic
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Severus mumbled lightly at the cauldron in front of him, the thick green liquid sputtering quietly over the fire. He poured in a dash of powdered spiders legs.
"Spiders… check." He stirred the mixture for precisely thirty seconds before adding nine drops of essence of toadstool. "Hmm, toadstool… Check."
"Pst… Severus, was it ten or eleven chopped up cloves?" Remus asked, turning around in his chair to face the onyx haired Slytherin.
"If you add either amount, you'll ruin your potion and probably end up in a matchbox over your parent's fireplace." Severus smirked (for a Slytherin would surely never give a true smile), pointing down at his notes with a lithe finger. "It was ten chopped willow bulbs."
"Oh." Lupin smiled shyly.
"Are you sure that you don't need glasses?" Severus teased, winking slightly and ignoring the glare coming from the other student at Lupin's table.
"Ha ha, Severus… I do not need glasses." Remus argued, his eyes twinkling with humor. Severus gave him a mock glare. They'd been working together outside of class for several months, and their newly found bond was beginning to show in class. "I kind of got distracted when Professor Watson was giving us the directions."
"Which pretty girl was it this time?" Sirius asked Remus, causing the boy to blush slightly. Sirius smiled, patting the young lycanthrope on the back.
He turned to Severus, his smile dropping as quickly as it had turned up. "We've got it from here."
"Sure you do…" Severus turned away from them, talking quietly to his own potions partner. He handed him a wooden ladle and a glass vial. "Alright, Dominic, the potion should be just about done. Hold the vial tightly, and I'll pour it in with the pipette."
"Then why'd you give me the spoon, Snape? Trying to make me look stupid?" Dominic asked, his voice slightly strained.
"Oh shove it, Dom. I gave you the 'spoon', as you called it, to keep your hands full, so you don't fidget while I pour a boiling liquid into a small hole." Severus explained, pouring out the fluid, a healing potion for serious wounds, into the vial. "Pouring a scalding hot potion, even if it is a healing bit, would do more than a little damage to your epidermis."
"I wouldn't use big words with that oaf, Snape… I'm surprised he knows the meaning of the word 'go.'" Sirius turned around in his seat, snickering. "It's probably due to all of that pure blood inbreeding in Slytherin."
"Oh, stuff it, you clod." Dominic flipped him off under the table, behind the professor's back. "It's not my fault I can't keep still… Doesn't mean I'm stupid."
"Now what's important is that you believe that." Sirius sneered, turning back to his own potion. Remus turned to the other boys, an apologetic look on his red tinged face.
Severus shrugged his thin shoulders, turning back to Dominic, who continued muttering curses and swears beneath his breath.
"…stupid bloody prat…dumb damned Gryffindors…gonna show him one of these days…"
Severus couldn't hold back the low chuckle at the angry red that appeared on the back of Sirius's neck and the angry words from his housemate.
"What's so funny, you little nancy boy?" Sirius swung around, his blue eyes flashing in barely contained rage.
Severus snorted. "You."
Sirius snarled, on his feet and pounding at Severus's midsection before anyone managed to notice the inter-house altercation. Severus swore as he was knocked to the floor.
"Get off of my, you little bastard!" Severus grimaced, knocking Sirius off of him, sending him hard into the floor. He wiped at his nose with his sleeve, nauseous at the sight of blood on his arm. He growled, pouncing on the brawnier boy. "You little twit, what the hell is your soddin' problem?!"
"You're my problem!" Sirius punched Severus in the chest, shoving him against a table, sending the potion atop it to the ground with a resounding thud. The hot liquid spilled off of the side of the desk, pouring over Severus.
Severus yowled as it sizzled on his head and shoulders. Remus bolted over to him, a beat ahead of Professor Watson.
"Sev! Severus, are you okay?! Fuck, Sirius!" Remus yelled; both anger and worry clouded his normally calm voice.
"Five points from Gryffindor for language, Mr. Lupin. And the same goes for Mr.'s Snape and Dern." Professor Watson knelt down next to the two boys. She checked Severus's wounds before turning to Sirius. "And you, Mr. Black! Thirty points off and a detention, for fighting."
"What the-?!" Sirius bellowed, running a hand through his hair. "You've gotta be kiddin' me! He gets five freakin' points off and I get thirty AND a fucking detention?!"
"Make that two, Mr. Black. Not only did you start the fight, but you've badly hurt Mr. Snape in the process, who's done nothing to you." Professor Watson turned back to Severus, Remus, and Dominic. "Mr. Lupin, Mr. Dern, would you please help Severus to the infirmary?"
The two boys nodded, helping Severus to his feet. They walked out of the room, supporting the barely conscious student. Before they were out of sight, Remus turned back to Sirius, a glare set on his face.
"Mr. Black, you will report to Mr. Hagrid tonight and myself tomorrow." Professor Watson glowered at Sirius. "The next time you pick a fight in my class, or any other, you will be suspended. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, ma'am." Sirius nodded, returning to his seat. He glanced over to the table occupied by James and Peter. They sat with their hands covering their mouths, their eyes glittering with humor, their shoulders shook with held in laughter.
He flipped the two off before returning to his potion.
Sirius returned to the fifth year Gryffindor dormitory, swearing under his breath. James glanced up at him. "How was your detention?"
"I just spent two and a half hours mucking out the stalls. I'm tired, sweaty, and I smell, what do you think?"
"I think that a revenge prank on Snivelus is in order?" James eyes glowed with malice and mischief.
"Hell ya." Sirius plopped down onto his bed, turning towards Peter. "Where's Remmie?"
"Dunno. He wasn't at dinner, and he hasn't come back to the dorms." Peter looked up from his transfigurations text. "He's probably down in the hospital wing with Snape."
"Why would he stick around with Snivelus?" Sirius hissed, spitting.
James snorted.
"What?"
Peter giggled. "They're probably busy shagging."
"Oh shut it, you pervert." Sirius threw a pillow at Peter's face.
"Heh… So what about that prank, boys?" James asked.
"Hey, isn't tomorrow night a full moon?" Sirius asked, sitting up suddenly.
"Yeah…"
Sirius cackled. "I know how we can kill two birds with one stone… Get back at Snape and get him the hell away from Remus…"
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I wake up with Severus lying on my chest, snoring in that delightfully cute way of his. His eyes flitter behind his lids, reminding me of a dog dreaming, its legs twitching as if chasing an invisible rabbit.
I lean down and kiss him on the top of his head, petting his bed wild hair. He groans and opens his eyes slightly before hissing and closing them again.
"Turn off the light, Remus…" He mumbles, curling up to me and pulling the blanket up to his chest.
"Sorry, sweets, can't…" I smile down at him as he grumbles. "That's the sun."
"This is what we get for staying in your room. I like my nice, cool, dark dungeons."
"You forgot dank."
"Oh, shush." Severus's sleep filled glare doesn't pack its usual punch. The stare that sends students into fits just makes me laugh. "Oh, you try having a good glare when you've been awake for thirty seconds. It takes at least three cups of black coffee to get the glare up to its full strength."
"Well, then, we should get you some caffeine." I sit up and pull away from him, my arm asleep from his lying on it. He rolls over and hides his head beneath a pillow.
"You get caffeine. I'll sleep."
"You're really not a morning person, are you?"
He pulls the pillow from his face. "How'd you guess?"
I wink. "Call me psychic."
Severus groans and sits up. "I'll be in my rooms. I need a shower."
"You can take one here, you know… I won't bite."
It's his turn to wink now. "That's what I'm afraid of."
He stands up shakily and walks over to the fireplace, taking his wand off of the mantle before walking over to me. He kisses me lightly before pulling away, squeezing my hand affectionately. "Want to head into Hogsmead later? I need to pick up some supplies."
"Why not?" He laughs hoarsely and apparates to his rooms.
Severus grimaces as we step out of the Apothocary, holding his hand over his eyes, squinting in the sudden bright light. He turns and waves to the man behind the counter, an ancient looking man that I'm certain is a vampire.
"I've known him for years… This is the only apothecary that I'll go to." Severus digs through his bags as we walk, pulling the receipt from a smaller one and placing it in his wallet. "The prices are slightly higher, but the quality can't be beat."
I lace my fingers with his, my grip light as a feather. I expect him to pull away from me, but he doesn't. (He's never been one to show affection for anyone or thing in public… It just goes against the grain of his nature, like a cat befriending a bird.) I pull him into a used book shop with a smile, and lead him deep into the towering stacks, searching for one book in particular.
"Remus, what-?" I stop him before he can finish his sentence.
"Found it." I take my hand away from his and pull a small, red leather bound book down from the shelf, handing it to him. "I saw that in here ages ago. Completely forgot about it. I only now remembered when you mentioned it the other day."
"Remus… This is a first edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein! I must be dreaming…" I brush a hand against his cheek, pulling him from his state of reverie. He thumbs through the book, his eyes glazed over.
"I never would've guessed you as being the horror type, Severus."
"Blame my mum." He says shortly, not in anger but excitement. I love seeing him happy. It's a shame I see it so rarely. "She read this to my sister and me years ago. We would sit by the fire… I was hardly more than seven or eight… Sera and I would sit with her and sip on hot cocoa…"
"You miss them a lot, don't you?" I ask, feeling stupid even doing so. I don't know what I would do, even now, if my mother or sister passed away, not to mention both.
"Of course… I was very close to Sera, even with the age difference. To lose both her and my mother at the same time… I'm surprised I coped as well as I did." He walks over to the register, paying for the book quickly, barely looking the shop's owner in the eye, so in our own world. He barks a harsh laugh once we leave the shop, a swear leaving his lips. "Actually, I didn't cope. I just went and joined up with a mad man. I don't know if that's coping, as much as being a bitter young man with nothing more than vengeance on his mind."
"I'm sorry that I brought it up, Severus." I lean over and take his hand in mine again. I attempt to change the subject, my heart beating oddly fast. "Would you like to get some lunch?"
"Sure. As good as the food is at Hogwarts, it does get old after a time…" He stops and looks contemplative for a moment. A smile graces his face. "What would you say to a picnic?"
"I think that a picnic sounds lovely."
___
Blah… Reviews are good. Sorry it's so short. I'll get into the picnic next time. I even had a nice little outline I wanted to follow… I just got distracted by the fact that I'm tired and it's around 2000 words. Yeah, when did a 2000 word chapter get to feel so damned short?
Oh, who wants to read about the actual Shrieking Shack incident, or should I move on? I was planning on continuing the flashback, but I think I'll let my loyal readers weigh in on it, or if it's getting old.