See first chapter for notes and warnings. This story will be approximately twenty chapters long.

Chapter Three

As Remus walked to the dungeons, for his meeting with Snape, he unconsciously straightened his tattered robes, and smoothed his hair, before realising just how ludicrous the attempt really was. The man already hated him - something that couldn't be denied - and his opinion was unlikely to be much improved by nice robes and neat hair. Not that Remus cared what Snape thought of him, of course. Reaching up, he deliberately disarrayed his hair again.

When he reached the door to Snape's office, he found that it was open, but he hesitated before entering. He was early, as usual. Nasty habit he'd picked up somewhere. Snape wouldn't be expecting him for another quarter hour, so Remus simply leaned against the door frame and waited to be noticed.

Snape was grading student scrolls - summer homework, perhaps- and he was bent low over the desk, quill in hand, muttering occasional disdainful comments as he scratched the quill across the pages. Remus took the opportunity to observe the man without being noticed. It was strange to see him without a look of total loathing on his face. For more years than he could remember, Snape had been staring at him with eyes filled with hatred.

With a jolt of something near surprise, he remembered that Snape had rather attractive eyes. Damn him and his eyes.

Time seemed to be passing even more slowly than usual. Four o'clock was certainly taking its own sweet time in arriving. Eventually Remus could curtail his impatience no longer and set out for the library. He was early, but he saw that Severus was already there and seemed to have gathered nearly every book on potions from the shelves. He was engrossed in one of the books, a thick dusty tome, and had not noticed Remus's arrival.

He stayed back and watched the other boy read for a few minutes, not wishing to disturb him. As Severus read, a stray strand of black hair fell limply into his eyes and he shook it away distractedly. His face was so grim and serious all the time. Remus couldn't help but wonder what he would look like if he smiled. Shaking his head, he pushed the thought away firmly.

He was here for help with potions, nothing more. Even if Severus were to be agreeable to...anything else, well, it would never work. For one thing, Remus had been in a relationship with Sirius for over a year now. "Though that hasn't exactly been going the way you would have thought," a traitorous voice in his head whispered. Sighing softly, he walked over to join Severus at the table.

"You're late," Severus said without looking up from the book he was reading.

"No, I'm not," Remus protested, checking the time. He saw that it was now ten minutes past four; he had apparently been standing in the shadows watching Severus read for longer than he had thought. "Oh. Damn," he murmured. "Sorry about that. It won't happen again."

Severus raised an eyebrow and gave him a disdainful look. "Indeed."

Remus picked up a book and flipped through it, hoping to distract him. "So...um. What should we start with?"

Severus plucked the book from his hands and handed him a sheet of parchment. "These are the potions that will be covered on the exam. You should look them up in these books," he said, pushing an exceptionally large stack of books in Remus's direction. "The information in these books is really much better than that contained in our text. If you have questions, you may ask." He paused a moment before continuing. "Though please, do at least try to find it in the books first. I do have work of my own that needs attention."

Remus eyed the books warily for a moment before sighing and taking the one on top. He considered asking for at least a hint as to which book might contain which potion, but Severus had already returned his attention to his own studies. Unenthusiastically, he consulted the list and began looking for the first potion.

They read in silence and Remus stole occasional surreptitious glances at Severus's face. He had never seen anyone so utterly engrossed in school work, not even any of the Ravenclaws. He wondered if Severus ever gave that kind of focus to a person, or if it was solely confined to knowledge. "You mean, would he ever focus on you like that," the insolent little voice in the back of his mind whispered. He shushed the voice firmly and pretended to study the potions text, but eventually his glances at Severus became longer and longer until the book in front of him was entirely forgotten.

Feeling Remus's eyes on him, Severus glanced up. "Unless there are potions ingredients written on my forehead," Severus said, "then I don't believe that you are taking your studies seriously." Strangely, his voice lacked its usual scornful tone, and the corner of his mouth twitched in what might have been a smile.

He pretended to inspect Severus's forehead closely for a moment before shaking his head seriously. "No. There're no potions ingredients there." The stray lock of hair had fallen into Severus's eyes again, and without thinking, Remus reached out to brush it aside. His fingertips seemed to tingle as they trailed across Severus's cheek.

It wasn't until Severus reached up to touch his hand that Remus realised he was lightly caressing his face. His eyes were questioning, but he did not try to pull away. Before he could consider it more carefully, Remus leaned across the table and kissed him lightly, fully expecting to be hexed for it. To his surprise, Severus returned the kiss.

It was nothing like the rough and demanding kisses that Remus had shared with Sirius. It was soft, rather hesitant, and on the whole really very nice. Remus felt Severus's hand sliding behind his neck, then tangling in his hair and pulling him closer as the kiss deepened and their breath quickened.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps behind them and jerked guiltily apart, straightening their robes. When they turned and looked, however, no one was there.

Remus watched Snape silently for what seemed an eternity. Just watching, and trying to push away the memories. He couldn't help but wonder what might have happened if events had gone differently. If he had taken the chance, and told Severus the truth, before it had been too late. Luckily he wasn't given much time to pursue that morbid line of thought. He must have been staring too hard, because Snape suddenly seemed to sense his presence.

His back stiffening, Snape pushed aside the scrolls and fixed Remus with a cool glare. "You're late," he snapped.

Remus smiled slowly at him. "No, actually, I was a bit early," he said cheerfully. "You just didn't notice. Are the essays really that interesting?" Snape's scowl only deepened, which made Remus's grin widen. If cheerfulness annoyed Snape that much, then Remus would make it a point to smile at him whenever he had the chance. Two could play at that game.

He pushed the door shut and leaned against the wall next to it. Snape gestured to an uncomfortable looking chair in front of his desk, but Remus shook his head and made no move to take it. "This will be quick; I don't want to waste our time. The potion," Remus said. "You can make it, yes? And you will bring it to me when I need it, yes?"

Snape nodded, but before he had a chance to speak, Remus pushed away from the wall and said, "Then I think that just about covers everything we need to discuss." He was suddenly anxious to leave. He had the door open, and was half way into the corridor when Snape rose from his desk and made as though to follow him.

"Lupin, wait," he said, his tone somewhat less harsh.

Remus turned slowly. "That will be Professor Lupin, if you please," he said in a voice as cold as Snape's usually was.

"Go then," Snape said with a sneer. "I have nothing more to say to you."