Disclaimer:  All characters represented here-in do not belong to me.  They're JKR's.

Warning:  Slash.

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Chapter 17: Fell In Love With A Boy

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Severus woke with a start, a scream escaping his lips as he sat up straight in a blind panic.  He hissed at the pain on his stomach and looked down to see blood seeping through bandages on his stomach.

"Mr. Snape!  Calm down and lay back down, this instant."  The voice of Madame Pomfrey called out, rushing over to him.  Severus did as she asked, his eyes darting about the room, an edge of fear to his features.  She examined his torso, clucking her tongue.  "It seems as if you've torn open your stitches."

"There was a werewolf.  In the tunnel.  A werewolf in the tunnel.  Where's the wolf?"  Severus asked in a rush, his voice quiet, his eyes still flittering around the room.  "How did I get out?  Potter?  He should have killed me…"

"Who should have killed you?  Mr. Potter?"

"The werewolf.  He should've killed Potter, too."  Memories flashed through Severus's head, rushing about as if in traffic.  "Remus gave me a note, to meet him down there.  Why would he want me killed?  How did he know that there was going to be a werewolf down there?"

"Mr. Black sent you down to meet a fully developed werewolf?"  Madame Pomfrey lifted her eyebrow.  Severus couldn't tell whether she believed him or not.  "Why would he do that?"

"The bastard has it in for me!"

"Language, Mr. Snape."  Pomfrey finished examining Severus.  "Headmaster Dumbledore will be down in a moment to have a talk with you…"

"I'm the one getting the talk?  I'm the one who was almost killed!"

"Oh, shut it, Snape, you little drama queen."  James entered the room, Sirius in tow.  "You were not almost killed…  We knew what we were doing."

Severus just sat in silence, glaring at the duo for several minutes before Dumbledore appeared. 

"Mr. Snape, it appears that we have a bit of a situation on our hands…"  Dumbledore summoned a chair and sat down next to Severus's bed.  He held out a small bag of lemon drops, offering Severus one.  The boy simply glared at the man until he began speaking again.  "You've discovered a closely guarded secret.  The werewolf in the tunnel was one of your fellow students."

"You let that beast into a school full of children?!"  Snape snarled, sitting up quickly, ignoring the tearing pain from his abdomen.  "What kind of a bloody school are you running here?!"

"I couldn't very well deny Mr. Lupin an education, now could I?"

Severus felt his head swimming as he fell back onto his pillow, a heavy feeling in his chest.  "That…was Remus?"

"Yes."  Dumbledore took up one of his lemon drops, popping it into his mouth.  The glimmer in his eyes was slightly dimmer than normal.  "This must be kept a secret.  If it is found out that Hogwarts is 'harboring' a werewolf, parents would pull their children from the school, or the school may even be shut down by the Ministry.  They could have Mr. Lupin branded for life, or even killed.  Is that what you'd want?"

"Bloody right, that's what the little bastard wants…"  Sirius muttered under his breath, standing against the wall by James.  Dumbledore turned to the two boys, rare anger showing on his face.  The boys stood taller, their faces slightly scrunched up in fear.  "That will be enough out of you.

"Mr. Potter, you will serve detention with Hagrid for the next two weeks.  Report to him after dinner starting tomorrow night…  And Mr. Black…  You will be serving detention with Mr. Filch for the next month."  Sirius had the gall to look indignant before a look from Dumbledore put him in his place.  Dumbledore turned back to Severus.  "Mr. Snape, you will be serving one week of detention with Professor McGonagall."

"What?!  I was the one nearly killed."

"You also were out past curfew, exploring around in places that you shouldn't have been lurking."

Severus huffed, turning away from Dumbledore as he spoke.  "Mr.'s Black and Potter, you can return to your dormitories.  It's quite late; I believe you should get some sleep while you can."  He turned to Snape as the two boys exited the room.  "You, too, Mr. Snape…  You do not have to report to class tomorrow, but if Madame Pomfrey believes you're healthy enough, you may start your detentions."

Dumbledore stood up, sending his chair back to wherever he had summoned it from.  He turned back to Severus.  "I expect that you will keep this incident to yourself?"

"And what am I supposed to tell people?"  Severus sneered, gesturing to the blood seeping through his bandages.

"If you are asked, you went for a walk and stumbled upon the Forbidden Forest."

"And you expect people to believe that?"

"You will make them believe it, Mr. Snape.  Mr. Lupin has struggled to keep his secret in this school, and you will not ruin him, do you understand me?"  Dumbledore's eyes flashed in anger.

"Yes, sir."

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It's hard to believe that Severus has only been gone for three days.  It seems like so much longer.  I've dallied about his rooms, playing chess and checkers against myself, and enough games of solitaire that I ended up getting frustrated and throwing the bloody cards in the fire.

I go to Dumbledore at least twice a day, to see if he's heard from Severus.

He hasn't. 

After a while, I need to get out of Hogwarts, and decide to take Harry out to lunch.  I haven't seen the boy in what seems like ages.  And what with Sirius's death and his being stuck back at Privet Drive, I'm sure he hasn't been happy lately.

That's why I'm surprised when I arrive at his door and he opens it, smiling. 

"Hello, Remus.  How've you been?"

I peek into the house before answering.  "I…Alright.  Where are your aunt and uncle?  And Dudley?"

"Uncle Vernon is at work and Aunt Petunia is off visiting some friend or other.  Dudley's off with his little 'gang.'"  Harry laughs slightly as he says the word 'gang.'  It's good to see that he can still laugh after everything that's happened.

"So, up for some lunch?  Anything good around here?"

Harry shrugs.  "I wouldn't know.  Vernon and Petunia have never taken me out to eat before.  They'd usually drop me with Mrs. Figg for a few hours while they let Dudley stuff his face with sweets and bacon."

I can't help but chuckle at the visual.  We take off walking down the street, in silence at first.

"I heard an interesting rumor the other day."  Harry says, as we're nearly a block away from his house.

"Oh?"  I stop walking and turn to him.  Curiosity burns in his eyes.

"Yeah…  What's going on between you and Snape?"

I nearly choke on my own spit.  "What do you mean?"

Harry laughs.  "I mean…  I know you're with him.  I just want to hear you admit it."

"How…?  What do you…?"

"You learn a lot when you're best friends with a Weasley."  Harry chuckles.  "Especially when their brother's have spy devices…  Ron overheard you two talking at an Order meeting, and wrote to me.  He says you two were talking nice…"

"Well, you get to know people when you work closely with them…  That doesn't automatically mean that you're shagging them."

"Meaning it's none of my business?"  Harry starts walking again, quicker this time.  It takes a moment for me to catch up to him.

"Meaning I don't know what's going on between us…  I know that I care about him.  And that he cares about me.  But it's not safe for it to be public knowledge…  Not with Lucius still prowling around Severus."  I feel a snarl rising up in my throat as I spit out Lucius' name.  Harry gives me a look that tells me that I said too much.

"Snape and Malfoy?!"  Harry's voice squeaks slightly at that, and his eyes bug out.

"Don't tell anyone."  I say quickly.  "Severus would skin me alive and rub me with rock salt if he knew that I said anything."

"I won't say anything, don't worry.  It's just an interesting visual."  Harry shoves his hands in the pockets of his jeans.  "Very light and dark, yin and yang.  Very 'Star Wars.'"

"What's 'Star Wars'?"  I ask in genuine confusion.

"Sorry, I forgot…  It's an old movie.  'Use the force' and all that.  I'll have to make you watch it sometime."  Harry laughs.  "I snuck downstairs during one of Dudley's 'slumber parties' when I was younger and watched from behind the couch…"

We finally reach a suitable restaurant and sit down, and glance at the menus.  Harry looks at the prices, a little worried.  "Don't worry…  I've got a bit to spare."

"Alright."  We order our food before speaking again.  "So…When did this thing with Snape start?"

"Awhile ago…  Not too long after Sirius…"  I take a deep breath, seeing the pain flash across Harry's face.  "It's been a while…  About a month and a half, two."

"Does he make you happy?"

I think for a moment before answering.  "Yeah.  He does."

"Good.  If he hurts you, I'll force feed him rattlesnakes, just to let you know." 

I chuckle before looking up at Harry's face.  There's no humor there.

"Thank you, Harry."

A/N: I apologize for the wait.  No real excuses this time…  But I stayed up late to finish this chapter, and I have to be up in less than five hours.  So I'm just going to go to bed now.  : ) 

I apologize for any errors.  I'm tired and just want to get this posted.