Summary: Severus gets a 'letter', the teenagers find out some interesting information, and Sherlock Snape starts his first mystery.
Disclaimer: Hi, I'm a woman whose name is J.K Rowling, I'm a million dollar author of one of the biggest series of my time, British, and I'm lying.
!A/N!: I'm Back! I'm so sorry for not updating in….3 weeks? I've had a hectic month, with very little muse. I haven't really written in a while, so I sat down and got this down so I can get my story underway. Sorry about the delay, and I'll try to have the next chapter up very soon.
Now for the pleasantries and incessant babble. Ha ha. (rolls eyes). I'm reading a very good book! It's a Stephen King novel, Bag of Bones. Pretty damn scary, but pretty damn good. Check it out!
Thank You…
amura, Thanks a lot, your reviews are always appreciated! (throws a hug).
hipa, …..Thanks………that was kind of weird….lol.
Chep, I highly doubt your even reading this but still. I'd like to thank you for giving my story 100 and praising it, that means a lot. (grins). However, I was a little confused with the whole "I don't like 'Homo-pairings' as you so eloquently put it" thing. If you don't like SLASH, then why'd you read my story in the first place? How can you find something you don't like good? Or do you just think it's good writing? That was, in all, honesty, the strangest review I have ever, and probably will ever receive. My hat's off to you, have a box of cookies.
MajinSakuko, Drum roll please! How are you today? LoL. I always appreciate your reviews, you know that. You are my prize cookie taker. Erm…if that made sense….
You'd make a grey sleeping shirt? Okay….Right….lol. I can't sew either. Tried once, but hell, I couldn't even make a bandanna. (growls). But I wouldn't know how hard it is…I sleep in plain out pajama bottoms and a pajama top. They're actually quiet ugly. They're orange. I'd buy some good ones if I had the money, but I don't, so my mother is getting me a pair for Christmas by my request. God…I feel like a little kid….you wouldn't know I'm nineteen….
I always perceived Snape as very vain.
GOD! I AM NOT INTO BESTIALITY!!! ICK!!! (shudders)…I did not mean it that way…(shudders again). Ugh. That's so gross. I meant it to be cutesy, you know, like a pet dog or something. It was not supposed to be an intimate work of slander. Whoopsie. I wonder how many other people took that the wrong way….should have left that out…or worded it differently….
Snarry? Heh heh. I like it. LoL. The word, not the thing.
I may find the time to put in a 'Remus jumps Severus' scene somewhere. (grins maniacally). You know, I've heard that expression a lot. The 'all the sweet guys are taken, gay or over the big sea.' Only, the version I heard was 'All the sweet guys are either married, gay or dead.'. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go in a corner and laugh maliciously at all the heterosexual women of the world! Muahahahaaaaaa! Oh, the wonders of being gay….LOL.
I agree, there are lots of stories where you do need a dictionary. I get through about one chapter of those things and have to stop. I hate bad grammar. Especially when it's spoken out loud. A lot of people around here say "I didn't do nothing!" or "So and so as gone and tooken my whatever" only, more specific. Makes me cringe.
Now, to your review to 'Dig My Grave'.:
Okay…..Right. OH well. I like DracoxSev. (shrugs) I like H/D, so I'll check out the recommendation, Thanks for the tip! Oh, an by the way……(grins maniacally) I think it was BOTH that said "I love you". lol.
cdkobasiuk, Thanks for your review, and keep 'em coming! LOL.
Theladyprimrose, Thank you, I guess. I'm not sure whether or not you like my story, but thanks for the hint/correction. I suppose though, really, as I am not using the song as a 'Beatles Song', but as a subject of my story, that I can use Mother Mary as the Virgin Mary, and not Paul's mother. Thanks. Plus, I suppose, it could really mean both, couldn't it?
On with, Sherlock Snape!
Chapter Twelve: Little Kiddies Notice.
It was a dismal day; the sun was hidden behind the clouds so only a yellow-white blotch of mist appeared to light the way, like a beacon cast down from it's glory. The trees (oaks, maples, saplings, and all the kinds you usually find in Scotland) were windblown and tilted in ways they hadn't been before today, their feathered branches reaching out like fingers to grasp something to keep itself still. There was no rain today. Just wind and a heavy drop in temperature. Wind at the water made it churn, tossing it's contents onto the land beside it, and spray mist into the air.
And it didn't look as if it would be clearing any time soon.
Of course, this dreary, dull weather was one of the main causes for all the late sleepers and good morning scowls. It was the first Saturday of term, first free day to do what you wanted, play a game of Quidditch, take a stroll in the afternoon by the lake. But of course, no one could. Not unless they wanted to get blown around and chilled to the bone.
However, even through all this 'gloom and doom', there were still a few happy faces that smiled at the nonexistent sun and got up to embrace the day. Wind, what wind?
One of these people, too cheery for his own good, was Remus Lupin.
He was in just too good a mood from the night before to let a little cloud cover and breeze crash his spirits. He got up, showered, dressed, and headed down to Breakfast bright and early. Earlier then anyone else.
Maybe….just maybe….he would catch the other early riser he knew there….just maybe…
Severus awoke to the sound of clawed feet scratching at his window. He groggily pushed himself into a sitting position in bed and turned around--his neck snapped in the process, causing him to wince. There was an ordinary barn owl sitting on the window ledge, tapping it's foot impatiently on his window. Tied to it's leg, however, was a not-so-ordinary looking letter.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and walked clumsily over to the window. He opened up the pane and let the bird fly in. It settled onto a bedpost at the foot of his bed and stuck out it's leg, wiggling it around a bit as if to draw it's quarry's attention to its delivery.
But Severus didn't need a waving owl leg to have his attention drawn to this particular delivery.
He untied the leather throng around his leg and barely watched as the bird flew out of his window. He absentmindedly shut the glass pane, before sitting down on the bed and holding the letter timidly between to outstretched palms. The envelope was black, with the edges donned in green, blue, scarlet, and gold lines. The flap was sealed with a gray wax emblem. The seal was the most intricate one Severus had ever seen. His own, personal wax seal, consisted of forest green wax with the letters 'SS' overlapping each other. This one, however, bore several different overlapping letters. The ones farthest in the background spelled out 'DEU'. Overlapping this was a large letter 'V', which was adorned with a small, but splendid, crown hanging off of the left top corner. The right hand stalk of the 'V' was adorned with a thin snake that curled around it and poked it's head up past the top corner and stuck it's forked tongue out to taste the edge of the emblem.
He knew this seal.
Great, just great.
This is exactly what he needed at 7 o'clock in the morning.
He had once sent a letter to some unsuspecting victims in such an envelope, with such a seal. The 'DEU' stood for 'Death Eater Union', and what the 'V' stood for? That was obvious. Voldemort. He drew his wand out form under his pillow and cast several identification charms on the letter to make sure it didn't contain anything that could be harmful, or dangerous. Having identified it in the clear, he opened the seal and pulled out a piece of (normal) parchment. He had opened it to the blank side, so he flipped it over and--gasped.
This side did not contain any writing, as a letter was known to do. Instead, it bore a single picture, hand drawn in red ink. It was an eye. A large eye. It was long, and thin, with no eyelashes, and seemed to be almost sunken in on the paper into itself, as it might have been on the actual owner's face. It had a long, thin iris, like a cat in one of those Hallowe'en stories, or a snake. The iris had been coloured in in the red ink, and the pupil of the same shape (but a little smaller) was in black, the only black in the entire picture.
The eye belonged to Voldemort.
The message, as Severus figured, stood in place for the words, "I'm watching you."
Severus quickly ripped up the paper and disintegrated it with his wand. He would speak of this to no one, not even Dumbledore. He would fight his own battles. He didn't want anyone worrying about him. Even though nobody except maybe Dumbledore would worry about him.
Well…maybe Remus…
Severus shivered, and grinned despite himself. Remus couldn't know, because not only would Remus worry about him, but he would worry about Remus and what the reckless Gryffindor might do. It was blatantly obvious to Severus now that Remus cared for him, and it was probably the same vice versa. The brief touches of hands and shy smiles determined that for him. Why the Werewolf gave him butterflies was beyond him. He was acting like some thirteen year-old Hufflepuff school-girl, and that irked him to no end.
He could only hope that Remus was suffering as much as he was.
He got dressed, pulled on his boots, and walked briskly out of his chambers and down the many corridors to the Great Hall, looking every now and then behind him, as if to make sure that no red-inked eyes were following behind him in the shadows.
Maybe….just maybe…he would meet the other early riser he knew there…..
Later that day, at breakfast, two man sat conversing at the Head Table eating their third helpings of cold omelets, and ignoring the numbness of their butts from sitting there for so long. Time sure flies with good conversation. Most of the students had gravitated down by now, and kept casting the enthusiastic Potions Master and Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor queer looks.
This was a first.
The most curious looks, however, were that of four Gryffindor students. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. Eventually, they started whispering together about why their favourite and most hated professors were talking to each other as though were best friends. Hermione, however, simply smiled at them, before beaming at the two men. She wasn't stupid. She could tell the truth behind it by the shy smiles and gleaming eyes.
She turned to the others and laughed when she heard Ron say in a dramatic stage whisper, "Maybe Snape's got Lupin under a spell….or something…"
They turned at the sound of her laugh and Ron frowned. "What is it Hermione?"
"Don't you guys see?"
They stared blankly at her. Hermione sighed impatiently and tried to explain. "Look at them! Notice how shy they are? How they're acting? Just like we were…"
The others didn't catch on, except for Harry, who blanched. "But Remus isn't gay…" A pregnant pause. "Is he?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. Ginny was grinning, and her hands came up to rest flat on the table before her as she leaned forward conspiratorially for the effect. "I say we find out."
"How?" Ron this time, looking at Ginny oddly.
Harry was now grinning too. "What do you think the Marauders map and an invisibility cloak is for?"
"Ever get the feeling you're being watched?"
"Occasionally."
"Well I'm getting that right now."
"Lycanthropes….pathetic…"
"Hey! I'm serious!"
"So am I."
A half-hearted growl. "Well, I still feel like I'm being watched."
"Maybe you have eyes on the back of your head."
"Severus!"
Severus grinned at the worried Remus as they sat at the far end of the deserted library. There were more then one way to research on helpful ingredients for the potion, and the Restricted Section was proving to be not too bad of a source. It was after hours, so they had come here just in time for all the 'little kiddies' to have gone off to bed. Well, most of them, but they didn't know that.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were standing, squashed and uncomfortable beneath the invisibility cloak, only five feet away. They were watching the two men's every move for any sign of any attraction. So far, they didn't have much. Just a few shy smiles and touches of hands, but they didn't prove anything. The only fact they actually did uncover was that Remus and Severus were working together on some sort of potion. Harry had been a little hurt on discovery, claiming that it wasn't fair that Remus had never told him. However, he had quickly regained his bearings, but was still a little miffed.
They were soon ready to give up, as Ron, Harry, and Ginny were falling asleep. Hermione was the only one left who was really focused. She scanned every single movement no matter how small, and catalogued every thing they did. She had always been good and locking things to memory like that.
As they decided it was time to go back to the dormitories (Hermione, albeit, reluctantly) something happened. Remus had gotten up earlier to put a book back, and was now returning with another. Meanwhile, Severus had gotten up to return one as well, and with both of their noses pointed to the books, neither noticed they were on the same collision course.
BANG.
The books went flying, and Severus tipped backwards, losing his bearings. A split second later, Remus' arms and come around him and lifted him up. This wasn't the first time such a thing had happened. 'Hopefully it won't be the last…' Remus found himself thinking.
Both men were frozen on the spot, and Remus couldn't move his eyes from Severus' face. The four teenagers were standing, slack jawed and wide-eyed a few feet away. Remus' eyes closed a fraction and his head tilted down ever so slightly. Severus was rigid in his arms, and was desperately hoping for something to happen. He was torn between wanting that something to be being kissed, or dropped hard on the floor.
"R-Remus?"
Remus' eyes snapped open and he realized just what was happening. "Shit." He said suddenly. Remus readjusted Severus so that he was standing straight before releasing him and hurriedly checking his watch, keeping away from eye contact. "Oh, well, would you look at that! It's pretty late, and I'm tired. Guess we'll call it quits for tonight!"
Severus rolled his eyes, but his chest felt like an invisible hand was pressing it down, and his mouth tasted like iron. "Remus, wait…" He said, his voice hinted by desperation.
Remus' eyes jotted up to his and rested there for a second. He was tense, but his arms soon relaxed that were holding the books he'd just collected to take back to his quarters, and his shoulders didn't seem so rigid. "I'm sorry, Severus." He gave a weak smile, before he turned and walked out of the Restricted Section.
Severus stood there, the hand on his chest pushing him back, listening to Remus' fading footsteps, until he could hear them no longer. "Great." He finally said in a hoarse whisper to the supposedly empty Library. "Just Great."
He gathered his things and exited to his chambers as well.
Hermione turned to the others, still beneath the Cloak. She was wearing a very smug expression. "Is that evidence enough for you?"
Remus felt like crying. No, he felt like sobbing. The kind of sobs that make your whole body wrack and chest heave like it can't get enough air. He was lying in bed, books strewn around it, and the covers kicked off. The French doors where open, letting in a cool breeze that was doing very little to cool down Remus' steamed body.
He felt cold all over, and every five seconds or so, he would shudder with the pressure of it all. He had wanted to kiss Severus, he knew. Hell, he had wanted to shove him to the floor and rip his clothes off. Well, maybe not in the Library. He almost had, too. He knew that. Severus knew that. Nothing ever seemed to go his way.
He kept chanting in his head, 'It's just a silly attraction, just a silly attraction….'
But even in the dark, at one o'clock in the morning, and when he was half asleep and falling fast, he knew he was lying. He had promised himself to not fall foe the Potions Master, to not go beyond the line of simply admiring.
The Werewolf was never really good at keeping promises. Especially to himself.
Severus was lying in bed, with the covers pulled up to his neck and staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, without actually seeing it. He had spent a while thinking of Remus, and playing the scene out in his head over and over again, but soon his thoughts had turned unbidden to the letter. Or threat.
He knew that Voldemort was watching him, and he knew that he must have found out about Severus' loyalty to the Light, but he didn't know how. He didn't know how he had discovered this, and who was doing his dirty work. There were not very many more Death Eaters who could get into the school without being noticed. What about a student?
Draco Malfoy was the only good candidate, as Blaise Zabini was now under the care of Dumbledore after having refused to take the Dark Mark. But would Voldemort trust Draco in such an important thing? No, probably not. Despite the fact that his father was Head Honcho Death Eater Lucius Malfoy, he was still a child, and not out of school. He probably never got the Dark Mark branded on his arm yet.
Besides, the Dark Lord would have trusted that idiot Pettigrew to such an important job, before he chose student. Even one with qualities of the next Dark Lord in making. He decided he would have to do something about it, do a little digging of his own. Spy on a spy.
Sherlock Snape was on the move.