Disclaimer: The people, place and situations surrounding the story are not
mine. Sturgis Podmore's personality and history (the little I put in) is,
but he' is actually mentioned in the 5th book, like one, for anyone who was
wondering.
Summary: "...we now have to dance around a deranged werewolf who might off himself at any moment...", Remus isn't dealing well with the aftermath of OotP, Severus doesn't deal well with life. RL/SS.
Warning: OotP spoilers and some suicide themes. This is a slash fic, meaning m/m relationships, don't like it, don't read it. I put this as PG- 13, but there is swearing, so it might even be R, dunno.
A/N: Thanks to all that reviewed! WOOT! I love you guys!
Chapter 1: SOFT
Snape tore up the stairs and through the halls, searching for some refuge from the others and himself. He came to the study and threw himself into an armchair in front of the cold hearth. He liked the dark damp silence of the room, it reminded him of his own quarters just a level above the dungeons of Hogwarts.
Sitting in the darkness his rage slowly dissipated, it was replaced by a great sadness that always resided somewhere within the death eater's mind. He sighed audibly, a wave of guilt washed over him. Who was he to regard Lupin in such a manner; the man had a bloody good reason for feeling the way he did. Hadn't Snape himself loathed Lupin for being so cheery all the time considering how shitty Lupin's life had become? Lupin was so alone and lost.
'Just like you', said a tiny voice within his head. Severus could feel his eyes welling up.
"Bloody hell," he yelled into the darkness. Severus Snape did NOT cry, 'oh no' said the same tiny voice as hot liquid tears traced their way down his cold gaunt cheeks.
**** Remus wandered aimlessly after leaving the company of others. He rather enjoyed the attention they'd FINALLY paid towards him. Though he felt somewhat embarrassed regarding his actions. They probably thought he was crazy, Remus smiled, he probably was. He leaned against the wall of the hallway, and slumped to the floor. Silently sipping his tea, clearing his mind of everything. Slowly his insane demeanour and thoughts gave way to those of a worn lonely man. He had to stop letting the wolf side take over him in his times of grief.
Long after his tea was gone he sat in silence, he heard sounds from below, the meeting was ending. Fear of having to face them caused Remus to get to his feet hastily. He looked around to try and situate himself. He was in the hallway off the study, perfect, he could hide there until they left, or those who were staying the night were in their rooms.
***** Snape was so deep within his own ravine he didn't notice the door of the study creep open and a skinny wane figure slip through.
*****
Remus' eyes were still clouded by tears threatening to fall; he could barely make out the furniture of the room. He moved towards the sofa at the back of the room beside the bookcase, far behind the armchair that faced the fireplace. 'The sofa was Padfoot's favourite place to "read"', Remus choked and found it hard to breath for a moment.
He noticed the feeling of someone or something else within the room, 'Probably just the memory of Sirius,' he rationalized. He couldn't smell much through his sensitive nose, then again it was completely stuffed up from a night of crying. He slinked over to couch and curled up into a tight ball on it, whimpering slightly as he started to drift off into yet another fitful sleep.
***** Snape sat up in alarm a couple of hours later, his eyes widely searching his surroundings for the imposing Death Eater that had been about to strike him. He sighed with relief when he realized where he was.
'Just another dream', he thought as he glanced up at the old wooden clock on the mantel.
'Damn, too late for me to travel home. I'll have to just sleep here'. He shuttered at the thought. He stiffly got up, scanning the room; he turned around and saw the couch. He would sleep there, no use trying to find a bedroom this late at night. Making his way towards the couch he noticed it moved slightly, breathing. He took out his wand and approached the lump on the couch, it look distinctly human.
"Lumos," he said softly and looked into the face of his old school mate. Snape jumped back in surprise. What in god's name was Lupin doing there. Snape took a closer look; Lupin was more pathetic and awfully more worn then usual, especially curled up like a puppy.
'A scruffy cute puppy' Snape thought, the comprehension of this dawned on him and he choaked, '....NO, an evil man-eating werewolf,' Snape started to back away. Remus sat up straight, eyes still closed.
"No," Remus mumbled desperately. Snape jumped, he must have woken him up.
'Damn', Snape swore quietly, he was in no mood to deal with the insane wolf man now.
"Don't Sirius," Remus called urgently.
"What?" Snape whispered and he took a closer look, Lupin was sleep talking.
"Stay here Padfoot, we'll go after Harry," Remus said in an angry voice.
Snape approached yet again, and tried coaxing the distraught man back to a silent sleep, careful not to wake him fully. Snape sat down on the couch and gently forced the werewolf to lie back down. Lupin became silent and his breathing returned to normal. Snape only realized then that Lupin had his robes grasped tightly in his hands.
"Damn," Snape swore under his breath. How was he going to get out of this one? He tried to stand up, after removing Remus' hands. Remus' stirred. Snape stopped, the movement stopped and Snape backed away from the couch again.
Remus turned his head towards him and cried out, " No don't go, Padfoot, I need you," and tears started to form under his closed eyes. Snape sighed and sat back down and coaxed the man into a comfortable silence yet again. Snape leaned on the armrest. Fucking Bloody Perfect. He tired to sleep despite the man lying on his lap, once again clutching the sleeves of his robe.
"Bloody Perfect," Snape muttered again, before falling into a much-deserved sleep.
****
The sun's rays were just peeking through the shutters of the study's windows, when the stooped figure of Albus Dumbledore, poked his head into the room. Having stayed the night to ensure Remus' safety, he'd become worried when he hadn't found Remus in his room in the morning. Seeing the two sleeping figures on the couch, his eyes twinkled, the annoying way they do.
"Finally," he whispered to the darkness.
He looked once more at the pair and left the room with a small smile on his face.
****
Remus turned his head slightly to avoid the sun's light, and snuggled closer to the warm body next to him. He opened his eyes a little and looked at the black robed arm that was draped across his side.
Remus gasped in surprise, 'Sirius?' he thought. No, Sirius was dead and one of them was always gone by morning if anything ever happened between them, which it rarely had. 'Who?' He shifted to try and look at the face of the person he currently half lay on. He couldn't get a full view of the face because it was hidden behind greasy black hair, but he caught a glimpse of the person's pale gaunt cheeks. They were both fully clothes, which eliminated the idea of it having been a one night stand, this had been Lupin's first idea. Plus he never brought anyone to the Black mansion out of respect for Sirius.
'Wait!?!?' Said a shocked voice inside his head. Remus turned his equally surprised face towards the man.
He thought hard, '...Black robes, greasy hair, pale scary cheeks, holy fuck!' The man shifted with Remus' movement and his fears were confirmed, SEVERUS SNAPE!
Remus yelped and sat up in surprise, he started to topple off the couch. Snape was woken by the sound and instinctly reached to catch Lupin before he fell. Remus righted himself and shook off Snape's hand. Snape stared at him in disbelief.
"Lupin?!?" Snape demanded.
"Severus," he hissed in reply, "What the fuck are you doing here?" he asked forgoing his usual politeness, given the situation and recent events that left him mourning.
"Me?" Snape cried, "What are you doing here, werewolf?" he spat.
Remus sneered, " If you haven't noticed I happen to live here."
"Really?" Snape asked sarcastically, "I meant here on the couch with...me!"
"I don't bloody know, I woke up and you were there. I didn't know you found me so irresistible Sevvie," He said mockingly. Remus knew perfectly well that Snape had been teased in school a many times for having too much of an unhealthy obsession with Remus Lupin, but Snape always denied ever liking guys.
Snape glared and was about to reply with one of his usual comments when the memories of the night before came flooding back, "Shit," he said, "I remember."
Remus, "Well?"
"I feel no need to explain myself to you Lupin. But if it will put you at ease, nothing of the sort happened. I was merely in the armchair over there thinking, some truly evil plots I might add and I fell asleep." He explained
Remus waited patiently for him to continue.
"I woke up to you screaming to Black in the middle of the night," he said disgustingly. Remus' face pained at the name. "And I tried to make you shut up," Snape said coldly, "When I finally did, I couldn't leave because you bloody well attached yourself to my arm. I was in no mood to deal with a depressed, deranged werewolf a little over a week from the full moon. So I said fuck this and went to sleep."
Remus looked at him suspiciously, he betrayed none of the hurt or embarrassment he was feeling inside. Remus finally got up and headed for the door, but before he was half across the room, Snape leaped up and grabbed his am, jerking Remus around to face him.
"What?" Remus growled.
"Don't go bloody telling people I got a bloody soft side, the shock alone may kill poor Potter and that wouldn't do," Snape hissed.
"Don't worry, I won't, because you don't have a fucking soft side, Albus probably put something in your bloody tea," Remus replied.
Snape nodded arrogantly and glided past Remus and out the door.
"Bloody Perfect," Remus swore under his breath and followed Severus out but turned up the stairs towards his rooms to clean up.
***** Snape stormed into the kitchen after a short stop at the levy. He poured a cup of coffee and sat down heavily on one of the chairs, interrupting Mrs.Weasley and Dumbledore's discussion. The two, along with Moody, Podmore and Mr.Weasley had stayed the night.
"Good morning Severus," Molly said brightly.
She received an incoherent grunt in response.
"I trust you slept well?" Dumbledore asked what would have been an innocent question if it hadn't been for the knowing gleam in his damn twinkling eyes. Snape looked up sharply, sending a meaningful glare his way. Molly shook her head and resumed her discussion with Dumbledore about Dragonsteeth or something.
Podmore and Moody came down the stairs together a couple minuets later. And Remus shortly after with more pleasantries then Snape and what would have been deemed more like his usual Lupin-ness. Sturgis attempted some kind of conversation with the man but Lupin excused himself after grabbing his cup of coffee, returning to his rooms to wallow. Apparently keeping a cheery face in front of the others to divert attention had taken more out of him then he'd realized.
***** After Snape had flooed back to Hogwarts he started to feel much more like himself, too bad it was Saturday, he would have loved to take some points off his least favourite house. That was still possible but searching out Griffindors was not high on his list of things to do. He still couldn't understand what had gotten into him, comforting that bloody werewolf. Werewolf...dammit, he had to finish the bloody potion for him. It worked most effectively if taken about a week before the transformation. Lupin would be there tomorrow to pick up the potion. How he didn't want to see that man, especially after last night, he needed a Butterbeer. After finishing the potion, he decided to make an appearance at lunch; maybe he could take some points. He glided through the hallways, glaring at all the students, taking points from the three other houses. He wasn't pissed off enough to take points from his own house, but he was fairly close.
He took a seat next to Dumbledore after being motioned by the man to do so. He stared intently at his place, waiting for the meal to start. The noise was starting to get unbearable; maybe he shouldn't have come up after all.
"Severus," Dumbledore leaned over to talk to him, "Remus will be here to receive his potion tomorrow is that not correct?"
Snape mumbled a yes in reply.
"Poor boy," Dumbledore said with a sigh, "I think he should stay for a couple days after he collects the potion" He looked towards a depressed Harry Potter who was outside the laughing world of his fellow housemates, it was a week into the new school year, and having his friends around had helped the boy but he was still quite depressed. "I think Mr. Potter would greatly appreciate some comfort after recent events with Mr....Black."
"Um...Albus, why are you telling ME this?" Snape asked suspiciously.
"Well you'll be seeing Remus, so I thought you could tell him of my invite, he can come to me for rooms." Dumbledore said with a twinkle, as usual.
"If I must," Snape said grudgingly, feeling somewhat like a child being told to take his younger brother to the park. But in truth he'd even do that if Dumbledore asked.
Snape finished his meal quickly and rushed out of the Great Hall, he couldn't stand the disgusting cheeriness of the hall, after the sadness that had surrounded everyone last night. He really wanted to go to the Three Broomsticks for a drink but he had to monitor the stupid hallways after supper.
***** "Ron," came a nervous female voice, "Where are you?"
"Right her 'Mione, scare you?" Ron smiled, as he slipped from under the cloak, "Got the cloak, let's go get Harry and we'll go to Hagrid's" Ron continued ignoring Hermione's miffed look.
"Why didn't he come with you?" Hermione asked as she scrambled out of bed fully clothed.
"He was kind of distant, I was hoping you could get him out of the room, I was never good at this kind of stuff," Ron rouged slightly and followed Hermione out of the dorms as she rolled her eyes.
They crossed the common room quietly and sneaked into the boy's dorm room.
"Come on Harry," Hermione called as they approached his bed, "Hagrid's got some yummy rock hard cakes waiting for us."
"I don't know if this is a good idea..." Harry replied emotionlessly.
"That's it, I can't stand to see you like this, come on a nice evening out will make you feel a little better," Ron said and motioned to Hermione. They dragged Harry out towards Hagrid's hut.
*****
Snape heard voices around the corner as he was returning from his duties. He could make out three distinct voices, great the Golden Trio; he'd love to get them caught. He listened, eavesdropping, a bad habit of his.
*****
"Oh Harry, it's okay to cry we won't think any less of you," Hermione said comfortingly, "No one did when Ron cried."
Ron blushed, "We loved him too Harry, maybe not as much as you but we're here for you," Ron added.
"Thanks guys, I just can't believe, he's, he's....gone" Harry said helplessly, it had taken him the whole summer to realize that he was gone and wouldn't be coming back. He had been almost happy coming back to Hogwarts, which had made him feel guilty and sad all over again. It hurt.
"It's so fucking unfair," Harry shouted in exasperation. Hermione and Ron started at his outburst; Harry had been quiet most of the time. "Everyone I love dies, you guys should run while you can before the bloody Harry Potter gets us all killed."
His other 2/3's gasped. Hermione was the first to recover, "Never Harry, we'll never leave, we were there from the stone to the veil and we'll always be there."
"Yah," Ron added his sentiments, "Don't worry mate, we've attached ourselves to you and we an't going anywhere....like a fungus, like the kind Percy had on his..." Hermione silenced him with a glare. Harry smiled at his best friends; they rounded the corner and ran into Snape.
The cloak, the trio and Snape all fell to the floor. Snape stood up furious, he'd became so interested in their conversation he hadn't paid attention to where they were, he stood up, ready to rain down his wrath. But before he could he looked straight into Harry's puffy, red rimmed, green eyes, Lily Evans' eyes. The eyes that had stopped Potter's pranks in 7th year. He couldn't cause any more pain, damn his soft side, damn Remus' sad puppy dog eyes, the other night.
"Potter, Weasley, Granger," he sneered, hiding his weakness.
Ron shook, Hermione stammered a "Sir?" but instead of the defiant stare one would usually receive from a Potter, there was a listless, unfazed look. Snape broke within.
"I advise next time you keep your voices down lest you wake the whole castle," he spat.
He received looks of disbelief from Ron and Hermione.
"Well?" He demanded, " be off with you, and stop wasting my time," Snape brushed past the surprised trio, cloak billowing.
Upon reaching his rooms, Snape slumped into a chair in front of the fire, poured himself a much needed glass of brandy, damn he was getting soft.
*****
A/N: hey, what'd you think? I hope Snape wasn't too OOC! Review PLEASE! Next chapter: Snape, Lupin, drinking, ugly duvets and other such fun things. Oh and no one ask about Percy's "fungus" you don't wanna know! :)
Summary: "...we now have to dance around a deranged werewolf who might off himself at any moment...", Remus isn't dealing well with the aftermath of OotP, Severus doesn't deal well with life. RL/SS.
Warning: OotP spoilers and some suicide themes. This is a slash fic, meaning m/m relationships, don't like it, don't read it. I put this as PG- 13, but there is swearing, so it might even be R, dunno.
A/N: Thanks to all that reviewed! WOOT! I love you guys!
Chapter 1: SOFT
Snape tore up the stairs and through the halls, searching for some refuge from the others and himself. He came to the study and threw himself into an armchair in front of the cold hearth. He liked the dark damp silence of the room, it reminded him of his own quarters just a level above the dungeons of Hogwarts.
Sitting in the darkness his rage slowly dissipated, it was replaced by a great sadness that always resided somewhere within the death eater's mind. He sighed audibly, a wave of guilt washed over him. Who was he to regard Lupin in such a manner; the man had a bloody good reason for feeling the way he did. Hadn't Snape himself loathed Lupin for being so cheery all the time considering how shitty Lupin's life had become? Lupin was so alone and lost.
'Just like you', said a tiny voice within his head. Severus could feel his eyes welling up.
"Bloody hell," he yelled into the darkness. Severus Snape did NOT cry, 'oh no' said the same tiny voice as hot liquid tears traced their way down his cold gaunt cheeks.
**** Remus wandered aimlessly after leaving the company of others. He rather enjoyed the attention they'd FINALLY paid towards him. Though he felt somewhat embarrassed regarding his actions. They probably thought he was crazy, Remus smiled, he probably was. He leaned against the wall of the hallway, and slumped to the floor. Silently sipping his tea, clearing his mind of everything. Slowly his insane demeanour and thoughts gave way to those of a worn lonely man. He had to stop letting the wolf side take over him in his times of grief.
Long after his tea was gone he sat in silence, he heard sounds from below, the meeting was ending. Fear of having to face them caused Remus to get to his feet hastily. He looked around to try and situate himself. He was in the hallway off the study, perfect, he could hide there until they left, or those who were staying the night were in their rooms.
***** Snape was so deep within his own ravine he didn't notice the door of the study creep open and a skinny wane figure slip through.
*****
Remus' eyes were still clouded by tears threatening to fall; he could barely make out the furniture of the room. He moved towards the sofa at the back of the room beside the bookcase, far behind the armchair that faced the fireplace. 'The sofa was Padfoot's favourite place to "read"', Remus choked and found it hard to breath for a moment.
He noticed the feeling of someone or something else within the room, 'Probably just the memory of Sirius,' he rationalized. He couldn't smell much through his sensitive nose, then again it was completely stuffed up from a night of crying. He slinked over to couch and curled up into a tight ball on it, whimpering slightly as he started to drift off into yet another fitful sleep.
***** Snape sat up in alarm a couple of hours later, his eyes widely searching his surroundings for the imposing Death Eater that had been about to strike him. He sighed with relief when he realized where he was.
'Just another dream', he thought as he glanced up at the old wooden clock on the mantel.
'Damn, too late for me to travel home. I'll have to just sleep here'. He shuttered at the thought. He stiffly got up, scanning the room; he turned around and saw the couch. He would sleep there, no use trying to find a bedroom this late at night. Making his way towards the couch he noticed it moved slightly, breathing. He took out his wand and approached the lump on the couch, it look distinctly human.
"Lumos," he said softly and looked into the face of his old school mate. Snape jumped back in surprise. What in god's name was Lupin doing there. Snape took a closer look; Lupin was more pathetic and awfully more worn then usual, especially curled up like a puppy.
'A scruffy cute puppy' Snape thought, the comprehension of this dawned on him and he choaked, '....NO, an evil man-eating werewolf,' Snape started to back away. Remus sat up straight, eyes still closed.
"No," Remus mumbled desperately. Snape jumped, he must have woken him up.
'Damn', Snape swore quietly, he was in no mood to deal with the insane wolf man now.
"Don't Sirius," Remus called urgently.
"What?" Snape whispered and he took a closer look, Lupin was sleep talking.
"Stay here Padfoot, we'll go after Harry," Remus said in an angry voice.
Snape approached yet again, and tried coaxing the distraught man back to a silent sleep, careful not to wake him fully. Snape sat down on the couch and gently forced the werewolf to lie back down. Lupin became silent and his breathing returned to normal. Snape only realized then that Lupin had his robes grasped tightly in his hands.
"Damn," Snape swore under his breath. How was he going to get out of this one? He tried to stand up, after removing Remus' hands. Remus' stirred. Snape stopped, the movement stopped and Snape backed away from the couch again.
Remus turned his head towards him and cried out, " No don't go, Padfoot, I need you," and tears started to form under his closed eyes. Snape sighed and sat back down and coaxed the man into a comfortable silence yet again. Snape leaned on the armrest. Fucking Bloody Perfect. He tired to sleep despite the man lying on his lap, once again clutching the sleeves of his robe.
"Bloody Perfect," Snape muttered again, before falling into a much-deserved sleep.
****
The sun's rays were just peeking through the shutters of the study's windows, when the stooped figure of Albus Dumbledore, poked his head into the room. Having stayed the night to ensure Remus' safety, he'd become worried when he hadn't found Remus in his room in the morning. Seeing the two sleeping figures on the couch, his eyes twinkled, the annoying way they do.
"Finally," he whispered to the darkness.
He looked once more at the pair and left the room with a small smile on his face.
****
Remus turned his head slightly to avoid the sun's light, and snuggled closer to the warm body next to him. He opened his eyes a little and looked at the black robed arm that was draped across his side.
Remus gasped in surprise, 'Sirius?' he thought. No, Sirius was dead and one of them was always gone by morning if anything ever happened between them, which it rarely had. 'Who?' He shifted to try and look at the face of the person he currently half lay on. He couldn't get a full view of the face because it was hidden behind greasy black hair, but he caught a glimpse of the person's pale gaunt cheeks. They were both fully clothes, which eliminated the idea of it having been a one night stand, this had been Lupin's first idea. Plus he never brought anyone to the Black mansion out of respect for Sirius.
'Wait!?!?' Said a shocked voice inside his head. Remus turned his equally surprised face towards the man.
He thought hard, '...Black robes, greasy hair, pale scary cheeks, holy fuck!' The man shifted with Remus' movement and his fears were confirmed, SEVERUS SNAPE!
Remus yelped and sat up in surprise, he started to topple off the couch. Snape was woken by the sound and instinctly reached to catch Lupin before he fell. Remus righted himself and shook off Snape's hand. Snape stared at him in disbelief.
"Lupin?!?" Snape demanded.
"Severus," he hissed in reply, "What the fuck are you doing here?" he asked forgoing his usual politeness, given the situation and recent events that left him mourning.
"Me?" Snape cried, "What are you doing here, werewolf?" he spat.
Remus sneered, " If you haven't noticed I happen to live here."
"Really?" Snape asked sarcastically, "I meant here on the couch with...me!"
"I don't bloody know, I woke up and you were there. I didn't know you found me so irresistible Sevvie," He said mockingly. Remus knew perfectly well that Snape had been teased in school a many times for having too much of an unhealthy obsession with Remus Lupin, but Snape always denied ever liking guys.
Snape glared and was about to reply with one of his usual comments when the memories of the night before came flooding back, "Shit," he said, "I remember."
Remus, "Well?"
"I feel no need to explain myself to you Lupin. But if it will put you at ease, nothing of the sort happened. I was merely in the armchair over there thinking, some truly evil plots I might add and I fell asleep." He explained
Remus waited patiently for him to continue.
"I woke up to you screaming to Black in the middle of the night," he said disgustingly. Remus' face pained at the name. "And I tried to make you shut up," Snape said coldly, "When I finally did, I couldn't leave because you bloody well attached yourself to my arm. I was in no mood to deal with a depressed, deranged werewolf a little over a week from the full moon. So I said fuck this and went to sleep."
Remus looked at him suspiciously, he betrayed none of the hurt or embarrassment he was feeling inside. Remus finally got up and headed for the door, but before he was half across the room, Snape leaped up and grabbed his am, jerking Remus around to face him.
"What?" Remus growled.
"Don't go bloody telling people I got a bloody soft side, the shock alone may kill poor Potter and that wouldn't do," Snape hissed.
"Don't worry, I won't, because you don't have a fucking soft side, Albus probably put something in your bloody tea," Remus replied.
Snape nodded arrogantly and glided past Remus and out the door.
"Bloody Perfect," Remus swore under his breath and followed Severus out but turned up the stairs towards his rooms to clean up.
***** Snape stormed into the kitchen after a short stop at the levy. He poured a cup of coffee and sat down heavily on one of the chairs, interrupting Mrs.Weasley and Dumbledore's discussion. The two, along with Moody, Podmore and Mr.Weasley had stayed the night.
"Good morning Severus," Molly said brightly.
She received an incoherent grunt in response.
"I trust you slept well?" Dumbledore asked what would have been an innocent question if it hadn't been for the knowing gleam in his damn twinkling eyes. Snape looked up sharply, sending a meaningful glare his way. Molly shook her head and resumed her discussion with Dumbledore about Dragonsteeth or something.
Podmore and Moody came down the stairs together a couple minuets later. And Remus shortly after with more pleasantries then Snape and what would have been deemed more like his usual Lupin-ness. Sturgis attempted some kind of conversation with the man but Lupin excused himself after grabbing his cup of coffee, returning to his rooms to wallow. Apparently keeping a cheery face in front of the others to divert attention had taken more out of him then he'd realized.
***** After Snape had flooed back to Hogwarts he started to feel much more like himself, too bad it was Saturday, he would have loved to take some points off his least favourite house. That was still possible but searching out Griffindors was not high on his list of things to do. He still couldn't understand what had gotten into him, comforting that bloody werewolf. Werewolf...dammit, he had to finish the bloody potion for him. It worked most effectively if taken about a week before the transformation. Lupin would be there tomorrow to pick up the potion. How he didn't want to see that man, especially after last night, he needed a Butterbeer. After finishing the potion, he decided to make an appearance at lunch; maybe he could take some points. He glided through the hallways, glaring at all the students, taking points from the three other houses. He wasn't pissed off enough to take points from his own house, but he was fairly close.
He took a seat next to Dumbledore after being motioned by the man to do so. He stared intently at his place, waiting for the meal to start. The noise was starting to get unbearable; maybe he shouldn't have come up after all.
"Severus," Dumbledore leaned over to talk to him, "Remus will be here to receive his potion tomorrow is that not correct?"
Snape mumbled a yes in reply.
"Poor boy," Dumbledore said with a sigh, "I think he should stay for a couple days after he collects the potion" He looked towards a depressed Harry Potter who was outside the laughing world of his fellow housemates, it was a week into the new school year, and having his friends around had helped the boy but he was still quite depressed. "I think Mr. Potter would greatly appreciate some comfort after recent events with Mr....Black."
"Um...Albus, why are you telling ME this?" Snape asked suspiciously.
"Well you'll be seeing Remus, so I thought you could tell him of my invite, he can come to me for rooms." Dumbledore said with a twinkle, as usual.
"If I must," Snape said grudgingly, feeling somewhat like a child being told to take his younger brother to the park. But in truth he'd even do that if Dumbledore asked.
Snape finished his meal quickly and rushed out of the Great Hall, he couldn't stand the disgusting cheeriness of the hall, after the sadness that had surrounded everyone last night. He really wanted to go to the Three Broomsticks for a drink but he had to monitor the stupid hallways after supper.
***** "Ron," came a nervous female voice, "Where are you?"
"Right her 'Mione, scare you?" Ron smiled, as he slipped from under the cloak, "Got the cloak, let's go get Harry and we'll go to Hagrid's" Ron continued ignoring Hermione's miffed look.
"Why didn't he come with you?" Hermione asked as she scrambled out of bed fully clothed.
"He was kind of distant, I was hoping you could get him out of the room, I was never good at this kind of stuff," Ron rouged slightly and followed Hermione out of the dorms as she rolled her eyes.
They crossed the common room quietly and sneaked into the boy's dorm room.
"Come on Harry," Hermione called as they approached his bed, "Hagrid's got some yummy rock hard cakes waiting for us."
"I don't know if this is a good idea..." Harry replied emotionlessly.
"That's it, I can't stand to see you like this, come on a nice evening out will make you feel a little better," Ron said and motioned to Hermione. They dragged Harry out towards Hagrid's hut.
*****
Snape heard voices around the corner as he was returning from his duties. He could make out three distinct voices, great the Golden Trio; he'd love to get them caught. He listened, eavesdropping, a bad habit of his.
*****
"Oh Harry, it's okay to cry we won't think any less of you," Hermione said comfortingly, "No one did when Ron cried."
Ron blushed, "We loved him too Harry, maybe not as much as you but we're here for you," Ron added.
"Thanks guys, I just can't believe, he's, he's....gone" Harry said helplessly, it had taken him the whole summer to realize that he was gone and wouldn't be coming back. He had been almost happy coming back to Hogwarts, which had made him feel guilty and sad all over again. It hurt.
"It's so fucking unfair," Harry shouted in exasperation. Hermione and Ron started at his outburst; Harry had been quiet most of the time. "Everyone I love dies, you guys should run while you can before the bloody Harry Potter gets us all killed."
His other 2/3's gasped. Hermione was the first to recover, "Never Harry, we'll never leave, we were there from the stone to the veil and we'll always be there."
"Yah," Ron added his sentiments, "Don't worry mate, we've attached ourselves to you and we an't going anywhere....like a fungus, like the kind Percy had on his..." Hermione silenced him with a glare. Harry smiled at his best friends; they rounded the corner and ran into Snape.
The cloak, the trio and Snape all fell to the floor. Snape stood up furious, he'd became so interested in their conversation he hadn't paid attention to where they were, he stood up, ready to rain down his wrath. But before he could he looked straight into Harry's puffy, red rimmed, green eyes, Lily Evans' eyes. The eyes that had stopped Potter's pranks in 7th year. He couldn't cause any more pain, damn his soft side, damn Remus' sad puppy dog eyes, the other night.
"Potter, Weasley, Granger," he sneered, hiding his weakness.
Ron shook, Hermione stammered a "Sir?" but instead of the defiant stare one would usually receive from a Potter, there was a listless, unfazed look. Snape broke within.
"I advise next time you keep your voices down lest you wake the whole castle," he spat.
He received looks of disbelief from Ron and Hermione.
"Well?" He demanded, " be off with you, and stop wasting my time," Snape brushed past the surprised trio, cloak billowing.
Upon reaching his rooms, Snape slumped into a chair in front of the fire, poured himself a much needed glass of brandy, damn he was getting soft.
*****
A/N: hey, what'd you think? I hope Snape wasn't too OOC! Review PLEASE! Next chapter: Snape, Lupin, drinking, ugly duvets and other such fun things. Oh and no one ask about Percy's "fungus" you don't wanna know! :)