Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. J.K. Rowling owns all the characters and plotlines that brought the characters to this point where I can write this. J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and all related characters, plotlines, and objects.
This story contains and will further contain slash (Severus/Remus, Harry/Draco). If this offends you, please use the back button and leave. Thank you.
"Severus?" Professor Dumbledore asked, turning to the man beside him. "Severus. Remus is in his room. No one's spoken to him since the transformation last night. Could you go check on him briefly?"
Snape sighed, "Of course. I'll check on him right away." Not that I have a choice, he thought. He ran a hand through his greasy dark hair. "I'll speak with you later, Professor." Dumbledore merely nodded, his mind clearly somewhere else.
Snape rolled his eyes as he approached the door to Remus Lupin's room. This new Headquarters for the Order was rather hard to navigate, not that it was difficult to figure out which room was whose. Each person living in the Headquarters had their own room, and each person picked a symbol to go on their door.
"How original." Snape muttered to himself. "A moon. For a werewolf. Couldn't be a bit more creative, huh, Moony?" He knocked on the door softly, but when he received no answer, opened the door himself. Snape stepped inside and saw a body wrapped in a cocoon of a blanket. He turned and shut the door, not wishing for anyone to see Lupin like this, or to see himself waking Lupin up.
Snape approached the bed. "Lupin. Lupin. Get up." He pulled back the covers and saw scratches and scars all across Lupin's face. "My god… Remus."
Remus looked up from his cocoon of blankets. "I…"
"My god, Remus. What happened to you? Did you take the potion I left you?" Snape asked, gently sitting down on the bed.
"I did take it… but the wolf… he knew Sirius was…" Remus whispered.
What a fool I am! "I should have known… The first moon since Black was… oh, god. Remus, I'm sorry. I'm so foolish."
"The wolf blames me." Remus said.
Snape gently untangled the bedclothes from around Remus. Remus's chest was bare and covered in scratches and bruises. "Oh… Remus. Let me make a healing potion, please."
"No… no. I'm fine. They're just scratches. Nothing really bad. Just – "
Snape cut him off. "The wolf doesn't understand what happened. It wasn't your fault. Do you think it's your fault?"
"If I'd gotten there before that… that awful woman…" Remus's eyes were full of tears.
"It was not your fault. You could not have prevented what happened. The fault lies solely with Bellatrix Lestrange," Snape said immediately.
"I… I miss him so much." Remus said, tears dangerously close to slipping from his eyes. "I never was able to say goodbye, or – God… I can't do this, Severus."
Severus caught sight of a large gash on Remus's back. "The wolf did that?" he asked, indicating the wound.
"To punish me, I suppose." Remus said, wryly.
Severus leaned over and, on a whim, hugged Remus. Remus didn't move for a second, and then he hugged Severus.
"It's going to be alright. It's not your fault. You didn't kill him. You couldn't have prevented his death. Lestrange killed him, and if it happened, then it's part of a bigger plan." Severus soothed. "Cry for him. You haven't yet, have you?"
Remus wept, hiding his injured face in Severus's neck. "It's all my fault! I didn't get to him in time!"
"No. It's no one's fault but Lestrange's and Voldemort's." Severus whispered, in a voice nothing like his usual one. "I promise you. It's not your fault."
Remus nodded a little, cuddling closer to Severus. Severus moved Remus into his lap, making it easier to hold him.
"Remus, please. Let me take you to the Hogwarts infirmary. Madame Pomfrey will fix you up in a minute. Please." Severus insisted.
Remus shook his head. "No…"
"Do you want to eat? Dumbledore brought three of the house-elves from Hogwarts."
"Please, if you'll join me." Remus said, wiping at his eyes. "God, I'm a mess."
"You're mourning. You're supposed to be a mess." Severus said. "Of course I'll join you." He helped Remus stand. Remus grabbed a shirt from his trunk, which was hardly unpacked, and pulled the shirt on. The two headed down towards the kitchen of the building.
On the way down, Remus and Severus passed by a room that held a Muggle thing called an "entertainment system". Severus had no use for it, but Harry enjoyed it, as did Ron and Arthur Weasley. It made Hermione feel more at home during the school breaks she spent at the new Headquarters.
Currently, the "entertainment system" was being used by the two people curled together on the couch. One had messy black hair, and the other had neat blonde hair. Remus stopped Severus and they watched Harry and Draco watching a muggle movie, something Severus recalled as a version of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," only this was a modern version. The messy, dark-haired head moved onto the shoulder of the blonde one. That made even Severus Snape smile.
Remus watched the young lovers on the couch for a few more minutes, and then Remus led Severus to the kitchen. "I'm so glad for them."
"I'm so proud of Draco." Severus said, getting a bowl of soup from a house-elf. "He stood up to his father."
"If that boy didn't get out of that house…" Remus trailed off.
"You don't have to say it. I know. He wrote to me just in time." Severus said, staring into his bowl of soup. "His father is furious. Every time I see him, I can barely control myself. I feel an urge to mar his perfect appearance."
"He makes me ill." Remus supplied.
"You and everyone else." Severus said, with a slight laugh.
Footsteps were coming down the stairs. Harry and Draco appeared at the foot of the stairway, their eyes red-rimmed and their arms around each other's waist. "That's such a sad movie. I wish I – " Harry stopped short, seeing Remus and Severus sitting with each other, calmly.
"That is a rather depressing story. I wish you'd pick something a bit more humorous." Severus said, a small smile on his face. "Make yourselves laugh, not cry."
Remus laughed, looking at the expressions on both Harry and Draco's faces. "Care to join us for dinner?"
"Actually, we've already eaten." Draco said. Harry looked at him in shock.
"No we haven – ouch!" Harry said, as he received an elbow in the side. "Oh, oh, yes, we have." Draco rolled his eyes and pulled Harry back up the stairs.
"Shut up stupid!" Draco hissed. "They like each other. It's like a mini-date or something. Let them snog in peace!"
Severus's jaw dropped. Remus turned red. "Do you then? Do you like me?" Severus asked the man next to him.
"Well… yes. Do you like me then?" Remus asked.
"Yes," Severus blushed.
Remus leaned over and kissed Severus on the cheek. "I'm chaperoning the children at Diagon Alley tomorrow, to go shopping for school supplies. Would you like to come with me? I'm just going to let them go off together and have them meet me later. I'd be very bored alone…"
"Is that a date?" Severus asked, amused.
"Yes." Remus said, confidently.
"All right. Diagon Alley it is, then."