Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling and various companies. Any others belong to myself. This is written for entertainment purposes only, not for financial gain. No copyright infringement intended. Also, there's a brief mention of Christian Slater. He belongs to himself.

Note: This chapter contains references to slash. If it offends you, I'm sorry. But you've been warned; don't come crying that you've been traumatized if you read further.

Enjoy!

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Old Habits

Chapter 6

She'd forgotten the smell of his bed.

But falling onto it, fumbling frantically with belts and robes and buttons, hungry lips rediscovering sensitive flesh, the scents—musk, a bit of sulphur, lavender?, and leather—filled her head with wanton desire.

The evening had started innocently enough in front of the fire. Severus had had the house elves bring up his favorite red wine from the cellars and they shared a glass comfortably. They both knew where the night was headed. The thought of it made Celeste chuckle though a mouthful of wine.

Severus watched her with puzzled amusement. "And what, pray tell, could possibly be so funny? Two adults enjoying each others' company?"

It made her laugh out loud. "It's funny because! Because I'm sitting here pretending I don't just want to drag you to your bed, and because I think you're pretending the same thing. Because we'd both rather be acting like hormone-crazed teenagers, but we feel like we need to act civilized!"

She broke into harder laughter. Her glass threatened to spill the remaining wine from it. Severus carefully took it from her.

He stood up. "Well, come along then," he instructed, offering a hand.

"Wha—?" she replied, wiping tears from her eyes. She took his hand; he pulled her up against him. "Where are we going?"

"To the bed, of course. We can behave like adolescents, but we can also be refined enough to not stain our backs on this horrible couch."

Celeste snorted in laughter again, even as he lead her to his bedroom.

She stopped laughing when he kissed her passionately. It was an electric touch, and her mood shifted immediately from giddy to carnal. He felt it too, and the wild undressing began, and suddenly she was plunged into the overwhelming scent of him.

And now after, the smell of sweat and sex predominated. Swaddled together, sated, they drifted between sleep and awake. Celeste pressed so close to him he felt her eyelashes brush his chest as she blinked.

"Gods, I've missed you," he murmured into her hair.

She lifted her head to smile at him. "I bet you say that to all the girls."

"No."

"Hmm," she disagreed, rested her head again.

"That was eloquent. Is that what you say to all the boys?"

"Only the special ones."

Severus pinched her lightly. "The special ones?" he joked. "Who might they be? I'll need names, love."

"Why?"

"So I can hunt them down, of course."

"You won't be able to do much magical damage without the American Ministry deporting you."

"These men—they're Muggles?"

She nodded. He felt her smile against him. Silence for a moment.

"Well?" he insisted.

"Well what?"

"Their names, please."

She sighed, but not in an annoyed way. "There haven't been many, Big Bad. The most memorable was Christian Slater."

Severus gave a slight shrug to indicate he didn't know the name.

"He's a Muggle actor. Good looking. He reminds me of you, a bit. He was fun."

"That's past tense. You aren't seeing him now?"

"Nope. I couldn't bring myself to tell him I'm a witch. I honestly don't know how people in a Muggle relationship hide it. Or don't hide it, for that matter. And I doubt he'd have understood anyway."

The spark that felt a bit like jealousy was extinguished in Severus's chest. He squeezed her tighter and kissed her forehead. They didn't speak for awhile, comfortably. Finally Celeste broke the silence, asking,

"And what about you, Big Bad? How many women have you laid since I've been gone?"

"The Americans have made you crude."

"Don't change the subject!" she warned, and bit his chest.

"Crude and bitey," he declared.

She laughed and nipped him again, harder.

"Ow! All right, Celeste, you asked. Since we've been apart, I've not had a woman."

Celeste looked up at him with narrowed eyes, obviously not believing him.

Severus repeated, "Truly. I've not shared my bed with a woman."

"Hmm," she said again, still studying him. "I find that very hard to believe."

As she watched him, though, she noticed he had a difficult time keeping eye contact with her. Putting two and two together she slyly rephrased her question.

"Okay then. How many people have you laid since I've been gone?"

He started guiltily.

"Aha!" she exclaimed. Celeste immediately jammed a finger into his side, causing him to spasm. It had been a long time since they'd been together, but she still knew which spots made him ticklish.

Severus, to his own chagrin, howled involuntarily with laughter. "Stop it! Stop it right now, Celeste!" he demanded between gasps.

"Tell me who you've slept with!" she demanded equally. "Come on, tell me!"

She was taking too much pleasure from this torture, Severus thought to himself. He was helpless under her fingers, even as he struggled to fight her off and get away. Finally, with his sides aching and his throat raw, he wrestled her hands off of him. He held her wrists tightly, catching his breath.

"Oh, fine," pouted Celeste. "I'm sorry I tickled you."

"So am I."

She gave him a dirty look and settled back into his chest. Reluctantly, expecting a trick (she'd pretended to be done and attacked him again when his guard let down, several times), Severus hugged her again. He listened to her breathe, and felt her relax gradually, easing closer to sleep.

It surprised him how quickly they'd felt comfortable together again, he mused. Most women would have, at the very least, refused to even speak to him again. Celeste acted as though her feelings ran as deep as ever for him. And what of his own feelings? If their positions had been reversed, would he have so easily bedded her again? Would he even have been civil to her?

Severus didn't want to delve that deep into his psyche tonight.

She deserved her answer. But he didn't know how she'd react, and so waited until he felt she was nearly asleep.

"Lupin," he whispered almost inaudibly.

"Lupin? Remus Lupin?" she said clearly. He'd forgotten she was as good at faking sleep as she was at tickling.

Severus nodded self-consciously.

"You slept with Remus Lupin." This wasn't a question.

"Yes. While he taught here, I had a brief affair with Remus Lupin."

Celeste shifted until she looked directly at him. Her face was unreadable. "That's what I thought you said."

She fell silent. His guilt grew as he waited. He had never admitted his association with Remus was so intimate to anyone; he had convinced the entire staff and most of the students that he despised the well-liked professor. They knew he concocted Remus's monthly potion as a favor to Dumbledore. No one had suspected that he had a physical relationship with the lycanthrope.

"So . . ." Celeste pondered slowly. Severus closed his eyes to shut out the disgust he imagined on her face. "You slept with Remus Lupin. Had sex with Remus Lupin. One of the Gryffindor Marauders, who made life hell for you at school. The same Remus Lupin, whom, I believe, is a full-fledged werewolf."

None of her statements were questions. Severus could only nod a quick, ashamed agreement.

"So you really were trying to become a werewolf. To make Little Red Riding Hood true."

Startled, he dared open his eyes. Celeste was smiling fondly at him.

"Did he bite you?"

"No," he answered.

"Did you want him to?"

The playfulness in her voice caused him to blush. It made her laugh, and that made him realize she didn't mind. Severus couldn't believe it, but grinned.

"You did, didn't you!" she teased. When he still didn't answer, she surprised him with a kiss. "That 'big bad' stuff took root in your brain!"

Celeste laughed again.

He was finally able to find his voice again. "I've missed you, love. You're unbelievable."

"So're you," she answered before he hugged her tightly.

After she had truly fallen asleep next to him, Severus thought about her reply. He didn't think she meant it as deeply as he had.