Disclaimer: I think everybody knows by now that I don't own any of the
characters in this story and that I don't earn any money with this.
8 Halloween aftermath
He stormed up the staircase, taking two steps at once. When he reached his flat, he opened the door so violently that it crashed into the wall and slammed shut out of its own accord behind him. The desperate wizard ripped the clothes from his body, flinging them around carelessly while he went along the corridor through the kitchen into his living room until the only piece left of his wardrobe were his boxers. There he opened the door to the balcony to let the cold night air in. He had the vague idea that he would be able to calm down by cooling his body with the chill which came in through the door. Having done that, he let himself sink down on the floor next to an armchair and leaned against its back, devoid of all energy.
He tried to calm his breathing. Get a grip on yourself, focus, Severus, no need to react like that, he kept telling himself. They are only muggles. Friendly muggles who have no idea who you are or who you have been. They may find you a bit odd, but who isn't a bit strange, from time to time? But it didn't help. The cold air which was drifting in, causing the curtains to move slightly, only made him shiver. You are a fool, Severus Snape, a hopeless loser. Other people go to parties and even if they are bored to death, they don't become that desperate. It was very likely, despite Severus felt observed all the time he was with people, that they probably found him pretty boring and therefore didn't take much notice of him. So there shouldn't be a reason for him to worry.
Or was there? The very fact that he knew he shouldn't worry only made him more miserable. Severus felt a lump in his throat which would soon lead to tears welling up inside him. A feeling he dreaded and had much practice in suppressing. Crouching behind the armchair he hugged his knees and pressed his face fiercely against them. By breathing in and out deeply, he managed to avoid crying, but he wasn't able to suppress his shuddering.
He only began to calm down a bit after he had resorted to his most effective means of getting him to focus despite any feelings he might have, be it fear or anger. For Severus that usually meant memorizing complex potions recipies. In doing this, he did not only name ingredients, but pictured the whole process in his mind, including all the preparations, the actual brewing with adding and stirring and correct timing. As usual, it helped distracting him from his actual feelings for a while. But he also began to feel very tired.
Despite the complicated potion he was brewing virtually at the moment - and he had taken care that it wasn't the wolfsbane potion for the obvious reason - pictures began to form in his mind. Pictures of memories, he could do without, especially now, when he was feeling so down.
---
He was standing at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hogwarts was in ruins, the last tower was about to crumble and a bright fire could be seen where once the library had been. A lot of wizards were running around, shouting. Some could be seen lying on the ground, motionless, but one could not tell if they were dead or alive. Luckily, they had been able to evacuate most of the students in time, because he had been able to give Dumbledore a warning.
The lake was steaming as if it was boiling. The arms of the giant squid could be seen drifting lifeless on the surface. Severus wasn't able to identify the faces of single wizards as they were strangely blurred. The more he tried to see a familiar face, the more he squinted his eyes, the more blurred they became.
Then he heard a rythmic thumping behind him, quickly coming nearer. He turned slowly, very slowly. He wasn't able to move any quicker as he seemed to be glued to the earth. Then he saw what he had already known was coming behind him. The wolf was approaching very fast and it was huge. The fur was a brownish grey and its eyes were glowing in a strange orange colour.
Severus felt a lump of ice falling into his stomach. His arms became numb, his legs seemed to be made of lead and rooted to the spot. Running from the animal was no option anyway, but he also wasn't able to defend himself otherwise. He couldn't even draw his wand from his sleeve. He simply stood, awaiting the inevitable.
When the wolf jumped at him, baring its teeth and sprinkling its saliva into the wizard's face, Severus screamed and woke up, still sitting in the position he had fallen asleep.
He was soaked in sweat, shivering violently because of the open balcony door and sheer terror. His heart was hammering madly and he panted. He still wasn't able to move out of this uncomfortable position. He was so cold that he couldn't stop his teeth from chattering. After a few minutes, though, he finally managed to force himself to get up. Stiffly and slowly he first went to the open door to close it, but was hardly ably to move the handle. Then he stalked into the direction of the kitchen. He should be used to that kind of terrifying dreams, as it was only one in a long row of nightmares he usually had of Remus Lupin. Well, he didn't know if it was the otherwise very friendly wizard, it could be any werewolf, couldn't it? He didn't exactly know how Remus looked in his wolf's form, but who else should it be, after the initial trauma in the Shrieking Shack all those years ago.
He went into the kitchen and put the kettle on, then into the bedroom to get one of his nightshirts, preferably one of the grey warm ones. To add to his comfort, he also chose a pair of thick woollen socks. Back in the kitchen he produced the strongest hot chocolate he had ever brewed.
A few minutes later he was in bed, holding the steaming mug, sipping carefully at the hot sweet beverage. After a while, the shivering had ceased, and he felt much better. When he had finished the chocolate, switching off the light on his bedstand, rolling over and snuggling into the sheets was only a matter of seconds. Sleep came soon afterwards. Half asleep, he wondered what people needed sleeping potions for, as hot chocolate did work so well with him. Well, maybe it only worked when you had loads of stress beforehand.
--------
The next morning found him standing at the sink scrubbing furiously at the mug to clean it from the sticky remains of chocolate. This tedious work was beginning to irritate him, but otherwise, he was in a relatively good mood.
Today, Harry would give him more details about his spying task, certainly something to look forward to and to keep his idle mind busy.
After having finished breakfast, he hurried out of his flat, but was again stopped by Mrs. Forrester who was seeing Philipp to school.
'Oh. Morning, Mr. Snape. Are you better this morning?'
'Morning. Huh, me? Oh, yes. Thank you for your concern. Hot chocolate, you know, works wonders. That, loads of fresh air and a good long sleep.'
'Hot chocolate? Interesting. Maybe I should try that next time I have my migraine.'
'Yes. It's certainly worth a try. See you.' And off he was. He doubted if Mrs. Forrester would like to sit in her underwear near the open balcony door for hours when she had a migraine, so he had left out details about the 'fresh air' bit. Also, his sleep hadn't been exactly long last night, but sufficient to give him the energy to show up at work.
-----
Harry hadn't been in his office when Severus had arrived at the appointed time. A house elf had given him the promised list of suspicious people. The former Potions master had been a bit disappointed about the auror's absence. He had been under the impression that the task he was supposed to do was of some importance for Harry, and now he had delegated something as important as a list of suspects to a house elf. Well, maybe, Severus thought, maybe I am expecting too much already. Remember, he told himself, you are only a registrar and a part time spy for watching some people, nothing more.
He was half-way back to the registry when he felt the sudden urge to use a bathroom. There was one near, so he directed his steps towards the said facility. He had only just entered when he remembered that this was an ordinary bathroom, which meant it was designed for wizards and that he wouldn't be able to use anything. No tab or flush in this room would work without magic.
Annoyed, he was about to leave, when a sound which emanated from one of the cubicles caused him to hesitate. Somebody was obviously sick, as Severus could guess easily from the kind of sound and the smell of vomit. He contemplated for a second or so what to do. He had the strong desire to run from the place, the stench rising a nausea in him as well. His sense of smell, once an indispensable tool for his former profession as a potion maker, hadn't left him when he had lost his magic. Clearly a disadvantage in this situation. But somebody was obviously in distress and probably in need of help.
He approached the cubicle where he supposed the person to be, trying not to breeze trough his nose.
'Hallo there? Have you got any problems?' Instead of an answer, only more retching could be heard. As if the person was trying to turn his insides out.
'Can I be of any help?' There was no way. He had to get in and look what the matter was.
He found that the door to the cubicle wasn't locked, as if the man had known that he would have to be rescued. When Severus opened it, he gasped at what he was seeing. It wasn't difficult for him to recognize the owner of the blonde hair with the grey streaks who was kneeling in front of the toilet.
'What on earth ... are You doing here?'
'I thought that was quite obvious, Severus,' Remus, who was finally able to speak, answered, his voice very low. He was still hanging over the bowl, his arms clinging to the seat. He didn't turn round. 'We generally call it a full moon hangover,' the werewolf whispered, shuddering. He couldn't say anything else, as a new wave of nausea forced him into convulsions over the toilet bowl.
Severus pulled a face. He was torn between beeing disgusted and feeling pity for Remus. Other people had to get drunk the night before to be in such a state the next morning, and this man didn't have a choice.
'Come on. Stop it, Remus, or there won't be anything left of you. Wait, I'll help you out of here.'
He didn't wait for an answer, but put his arms under Remus' shoulders and pulled him up. But it wasn't as easy as that. The violent vomiting had weakend the werewolf so much that his knees hardly supported him. Severus half dragged Remus out of the cubicle and had to carry nearly all of the man's weight.
'Well, what I meant, was, what are you doing up here in the Ministry on a morning after the full moon, when you should be down in the dungeons or at home to recover? Also, I wonder, aren't they providing you with a relief potion in the morning? You know, something like the one I sometimes gave you when you were teaching at Hogwarts.'
'...'course they give us that. It's only ...' Remus groaned and his knees buckled. Severus had to support him fully now.
'Your are supposed to rest, otherwise it won't help. I know,' Severus finished the sentence for him and pulled him up again, trying to get him nearer to one of the washbasins.
'Oh please, no lecture Severus. Not right now. I know I should be resting,' he whispered. He now seemed to get a grip on himself. He was still a bit shaky, but standing out of his own accord. 'And would you mind not to shout, please. I have a splitting headache.' he pleaded.
Severus knew that werewolves had enhanced senses, no matter if they were in their wolf's form or not. It was probably quite painful when you had a headache that was more than a migraine than anything else, when you had such sensitive hearing abilites. Severus hadn't shouted, of course, but he still lowered his voice a bit more when he answered.
'I am not going to lecture you. Who do you think I am? I have dealt with a lot of sick children while I was Head of Slytherin House. I suggest you clean yourself up a bit, but I won't be much of a help, as this is a magical bathroom.'
'Right.' Remus had had his eyes closed shut during this conversation to prevent any light from triggering a real migraine. He was still keeping them closed while he fingered for his wand in his left sleeve and when he had found it, directed it in the general direction of the washbasins. Doing magic when you were ill was never a good idea, as your magical abilities were always related to your current physical condition. As a consequence, Severus and Remus received a shower from all directions for a few seconds before Remus finally opened his eyes and was able to focus enough to make one tab work properly.
'Uhm. Sorry,' Remus murmured.
'Never mind,' Severus sighed, wiping the water from his face.
While Remus was washing his face and rinsing his mouth, Severus stood close by to prevent the wizard from falling should he collapse again.
'Now then,' Severus began when Remus had finished the procedure, 'what am I going to do with you? You will hardly be in a state to apparate home. Have you got a sofa in you office?'
'No. Have you?' Remus asked.
'No. That would be too obvious, wouldn't it. Well, I remember a first aid room further down this corridor. Would it be okay for you, if I brought you there? And I could look for one of the Ministry's mediwizards to see you.'
'Oh no. That's not necessary, Severus. The first aid room will do.'
Remus did a few steps in the direction of the door. When Severus saw that the werewolf was still swaying unsteadily, he followed him, put an arm around him and led him out of the bathroom.
When they had reached the first aid room, Severus helped him onto a narrow couch. While Remus was trying to find a comfortable position, Severus went over to the window to open it and let some fresh air in the stuffy room. Having done that, he started to search something to cover the werewolf. He finally found what he was looking for in a chest. While he was rummaging, Remus suddenly started to speak again.
'I forgot to ask about your party yesterday. How was it?'
Severus went over to him and covered him with the two blankets he had found.
'You had better not asked, Remus. You were right, of course. It was a desaster.' While he was speaking he turned away from the wizard on the couch and went over to the window again. 'I think I made a complete fool of myself, but they didn't notice. Damn, I felt so depressed afterwards ...'
He turned around to see the werewolf's reaction, already regretting that he had told the wizard so much about his feelings. Something he usually never did. But he needn't have worried. Remus Lupin was fast asleep already.
Severus sighed, approaching him. He looked so peaceful in his sleep (well, all people normally look like that in this state). Not that he wasn't like that when he was awake. Although a fierce fighter when it came to defending himself and others, especially against the dark arts, he usually was all amiable, polite and helpful beyond his own good. It was the beast in him that frightened Severus so much. Hard to believe that it was the same man, who had nearly once killed him and was visiting him in his nightmares every full moon.
Before he left, the former Potions master checked the sleeping werewolf's pulse, found it to be regular, and went out, closing the door quietly behind him.
------------
A/N:
Sue Falkenkralle: Did I promise action? There will be some in the central chapter, and I hope you won't find it too dramatic then. As for cooking. I am glad I tricked you there. I do cook for myself, but I would never have the patience to do long complicated recipies. Where would be the time to write fanfiction? I just thought it would be fitting for Severus. For myself, for relaxing, I go running. Actually, that wouldn't be bad for Severus in his situation, but there is no way I could imagine him in running tights (even if they would be black) and sneakers participating in a marathon (hilarious idea :-) well, If you should know a fanfic where he is made running, tell me).
LinZE: Well, if you insist, I could invite Minerva to another party, would that be alright for you?
For all the others: thank you so much for your reviews. Really makes me happy when I find them first thing in the morning before I start work.
8 Halloween aftermath
He stormed up the staircase, taking two steps at once. When he reached his flat, he opened the door so violently that it crashed into the wall and slammed shut out of its own accord behind him. The desperate wizard ripped the clothes from his body, flinging them around carelessly while he went along the corridor through the kitchen into his living room until the only piece left of his wardrobe were his boxers. There he opened the door to the balcony to let the cold night air in. He had the vague idea that he would be able to calm down by cooling his body with the chill which came in through the door. Having done that, he let himself sink down on the floor next to an armchair and leaned against its back, devoid of all energy.
He tried to calm his breathing. Get a grip on yourself, focus, Severus, no need to react like that, he kept telling himself. They are only muggles. Friendly muggles who have no idea who you are or who you have been. They may find you a bit odd, but who isn't a bit strange, from time to time? But it didn't help. The cold air which was drifting in, causing the curtains to move slightly, only made him shiver. You are a fool, Severus Snape, a hopeless loser. Other people go to parties and even if they are bored to death, they don't become that desperate. It was very likely, despite Severus felt observed all the time he was with people, that they probably found him pretty boring and therefore didn't take much notice of him. So there shouldn't be a reason for him to worry.
Or was there? The very fact that he knew he shouldn't worry only made him more miserable. Severus felt a lump in his throat which would soon lead to tears welling up inside him. A feeling he dreaded and had much practice in suppressing. Crouching behind the armchair he hugged his knees and pressed his face fiercely against them. By breathing in and out deeply, he managed to avoid crying, but he wasn't able to suppress his shuddering.
He only began to calm down a bit after he had resorted to his most effective means of getting him to focus despite any feelings he might have, be it fear or anger. For Severus that usually meant memorizing complex potions recipies. In doing this, he did not only name ingredients, but pictured the whole process in his mind, including all the preparations, the actual brewing with adding and stirring and correct timing. As usual, it helped distracting him from his actual feelings for a while. But he also began to feel very tired.
Despite the complicated potion he was brewing virtually at the moment - and he had taken care that it wasn't the wolfsbane potion for the obvious reason - pictures began to form in his mind. Pictures of memories, he could do without, especially now, when he was feeling so down.
---
He was standing at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hogwarts was in ruins, the last tower was about to crumble and a bright fire could be seen where once the library had been. A lot of wizards were running around, shouting. Some could be seen lying on the ground, motionless, but one could not tell if they were dead or alive. Luckily, they had been able to evacuate most of the students in time, because he had been able to give Dumbledore a warning.
The lake was steaming as if it was boiling. The arms of the giant squid could be seen drifting lifeless on the surface. Severus wasn't able to identify the faces of single wizards as they were strangely blurred. The more he tried to see a familiar face, the more he squinted his eyes, the more blurred they became.
Then he heard a rythmic thumping behind him, quickly coming nearer. He turned slowly, very slowly. He wasn't able to move any quicker as he seemed to be glued to the earth. Then he saw what he had already known was coming behind him. The wolf was approaching very fast and it was huge. The fur was a brownish grey and its eyes were glowing in a strange orange colour.
Severus felt a lump of ice falling into his stomach. His arms became numb, his legs seemed to be made of lead and rooted to the spot. Running from the animal was no option anyway, but he also wasn't able to defend himself otherwise. He couldn't even draw his wand from his sleeve. He simply stood, awaiting the inevitable.
When the wolf jumped at him, baring its teeth and sprinkling its saliva into the wizard's face, Severus screamed and woke up, still sitting in the position he had fallen asleep.
He was soaked in sweat, shivering violently because of the open balcony door and sheer terror. His heart was hammering madly and he panted. He still wasn't able to move out of this uncomfortable position. He was so cold that he couldn't stop his teeth from chattering. After a few minutes, though, he finally managed to force himself to get up. Stiffly and slowly he first went to the open door to close it, but was hardly ably to move the handle. Then he stalked into the direction of the kitchen. He should be used to that kind of terrifying dreams, as it was only one in a long row of nightmares he usually had of Remus Lupin. Well, he didn't know if it was the otherwise very friendly wizard, it could be any werewolf, couldn't it? He didn't exactly know how Remus looked in his wolf's form, but who else should it be, after the initial trauma in the Shrieking Shack all those years ago.
He went into the kitchen and put the kettle on, then into the bedroom to get one of his nightshirts, preferably one of the grey warm ones. To add to his comfort, he also chose a pair of thick woollen socks. Back in the kitchen he produced the strongest hot chocolate he had ever brewed.
A few minutes later he was in bed, holding the steaming mug, sipping carefully at the hot sweet beverage. After a while, the shivering had ceased, and he felt much better. When he had finished the chocolate, switching off the light on his bedstand, rolling over and snuggling into the sheets was only a matter of seconds. Sleep came soon afterwards. Half asleep, he wondered what people needed sleeping potions for, as hot chocolate did work so well with him. Well, maybe it only worked when you had loads of stress beforehand.
--------
The next morning found him standing at the sink scrubbing furiously at the mug to clean it from the sticky remains of chocolate. This tedious work was beginning to irritate him, but otherwise, he was in a relatively good mood.
Today, Harry would give him more details about his spying task, certainly something to look forward to and to keep his idle mind busy.
After having finished breakfast, he hurried out of his flat, but was again stopped by Mrs. Forrester who was seeing Philipp to school.
'Oh. Morning, Mr. Snape. Are you better this morning?'
'Morning. Huh, me? Oh, yes. Thank you for your concern. Hot chocolate, you know, works wonders. That, loads of fresh air and a good long sleep.'
'Hot chocolate? Interesting. Maybe I should try that next time I have my migraine.'
'Yes. It's certainly worth a try. See you.' And off he was. He doubted if Mrs. Forrester would like to sit in her underwear near the open balcony door for hours when she had a migraine, so he had left out details about the 'fresh air' bit. Also, his sleep hadn't been exactly long last night, but sufficient to give him the energy to show up at work.
-----
Harry hadn't been in his office when Severus had arrived at the appointed time. A house elf had given him the promised list of suspicious people. The former Potions master had been a bit disappointed about the auror's absence. He had been under the impression that the task he was supposed to do was of some importance for Harry, and now he had delegated something as important as a list of suspects to a house elf. Well, maybe, Severus thought, maybe I am expecting too much already. Remember, he told himself, you are only a registrar and a part time spy for watching some people, nothing more.
He was half-way back to the registry when he felt the sudden urge to use a bathroom. There was one near, so he directed his steps towards the said facility. He had only just entered when he remembered that this was an ordinary bathroom, which meant it was designed for wizards and that he wouldn't be able to use anything. No tab or flush in this room would work without magic.
Annoyed, he was about to leave, when a sound which emanated from one of the cubicles caused him to hesitate. Somebody was obviously sick, as Severus could guess easily from the kind of sound and the smell of vomit. He contemplated for a second or so what to do. He had the strong desire to run from the place, the stench rising a nausea in him as well. His sense of smell, once an indispensable tool for his former profession as a potion maker, hadn't left him when he had lost his magic. Clearly a disadvantage in this situation. But somebody was obviously in distress and probably in need of help.
He approached the cubicle where he supposed the person to be, trying not to breeze trough his nose.
'Hallo there? Have you got any problems?' Instead of an answer, only more retching could be heard. As if the person was trying to turn his insides out.
'Can I be of any help?' There was no way. He had to get in and look what the matter was.
He found that the door to the cubicle wasn't locked, as if the man had known that he would have to be rescued. When Severus opened it, he gasped at what he was seeing. It wasn't difficult for him to recognize the owner of the blonde hair with the grey streaks who was kneeling in front of the toilet.
'What on earth ... are You doing here?'
'I thought that was quite obvious, Severus,' Remus, who was finally able to speak, answered, his voice very low. He was still hanging over the bowl, his arms clinging to the seat. He didn't turn round. 'We generally call it a full moon hangover,' the werewolf whispered, shuddering. He couldn't say anything else, as a new wave of nausea forced him into convulsions over the toilet bowl.
Severus pulled a face. He was torn between beeing disgusted and feeling pity for Remus. Other people had to get drunk the night before to be in such a state the next morning, and this man didn't have a choice.
'Come on. Stop it, Remus, or there won't be anything left of you. Wait, I'll help you out of here.'
He didn't wait for an answer, but put his arms under Remus' shoulders and pulled him up. But it wasn't as easy as that. The violent vomiting had weakend the werewolf so much that his knees hardly supported him. Severus half dragged Remus out of the cubicle and had to carry nearly all of the man's weight.
'Well, what I meant, was, what are you doing up here in the Ministry on a morning after the full moon, when you should be down in the dungeons or at home to recover? Also, I wonder, aren't they providing you with a relief potion in the morning? You know, something like the one I sometimes gave you when you were teaching at Hogwarts.'
'...'course they give us that. It's only ...' Remus groaned and his knees buckled. Severus had to support him fully now.
'Your are supposed to rest, otherwise it won't help. I know,' Severus finished the sentence for him and pulled him up again, trying to get him nearer to one of the washbasins.
'Oh please, no lecture Severus. Not right now. I know I should be resting,' he whispered. He now seemed to get a grip on himself. He was still a bit shaky, but standing out of his own accord. 'And would you mind not to shout, please. I have a splitting headache.' he pleaded.
Severus knew that werewolves had enhanced senses, no matter if they were in their wolf's form or not. It was probably quite painful when you had a headache that was more than a migraine than anything else, when you had such sensitive hearing abilites. Severus hadn't shouted, of course, but he still lowered his voice a bit more when he answered.
'I am not going to lecture you. Who do you think I am? I have dealt with a lot of sick children while I was Head of Slytherin House. I suggest you clean yourself up a bit, but I won't be much of a help, as this is a magical bathroom.'
'Right.' Remus had had his eyes closed shut during this conversation to prevent any light from triggering a real migraine. He was still keeping them closed while he fingered for his wand in his left sleeve and when he had found it, directed it in the general direction of the washbasins. Doing magic when you were ill was never a good idea, as your magical abilities were always related to your current physical condition. As a consequence, Severus and Remus received a shower from all directions for a few seconds before Remus finally opened his eyes and was able to focus enough to make one tab work properly.
'Uhm. Sorry,' Remus murmured.
'Never mind,' Severus sighed, wiping the water from his face.
While Remus was washing his face and rinsing his mouth, Severus stood close by to prevent the wizard from falling should he collapse again.
'Now then,' Severus began when Remus had finished the procedure, 'what am I going to do with you? You will hardly be in a state to apparate home. Have you got a sofa in you office?'
'No. Have you?' Remus asked.
'No. That would be too obvious, wouldn't it. Well, I remember a first aid room further down this corridor. Would it be okay for you, if I brought you there? And I could look for one of the Ministry's mediwizards to see you.'
'Oh no. That's not necessary, Severus. The first aid room will do.'
Remus did a few steps in the direction of the door. When Severus saw that the werewolf was still swaying unsteadily, he followed him, put an arm around him and led him out of the bathroom.
When they had reached the first aid room, Severus helped him onto a narrow couch. While Remus was trying to find a comfortable position, Severus went over to the window to open it and let some fresh air in the stuffy room. Having done that, he started to search something to cover the werewolf. He finally found what he was looking for in a chest. While he was rummaging, Remus suddenly started to speak again.
'I forgot to ask about your party yesterday. How was it?'
Severus went over to him and covered him with the two blankets he had found.
'You had better not asked, Remus. You were right, of course. It was a desaster.' While he was speaking he turned away from the wizard on the couch and went over to the window again. 'I think I made a complete fool of myself, but they didn't notice. Damn, I felt so depressed afterwards ...'
He turned around to see the werewolf's reaction, already regretting that he had told the wizard so much about his feelings. Something he usually never did. But he needn't have worried. Remus Lupin was fast asleep already.
Severus sighed, approaching him. He looked so peaceful in his sleep (well, all people normally look like that in this state). Not that he wasn't like that when he was awake. Although a fierce fighter when it came to defending himself and others, especially against the dark arts, he usually was all amiable, polite and helpful beyond his own good. It was the beast in him that frightened Severus so much. Hard to believe that it was the same man, who had nearly once killed him and was visiting him in his nightmares every full moon.
Before he left, the former Potions master checked the sleeping werewolf's pulse, found it to be regular, and went out, closing the door quietly behind him.
------------
A/N:
Sue Falkenkralle: Did I promise action? There will be some in the central chapter, and I hope you won't find it too dramatic then. As for cooking. I am glad I tricked you there. I do cook for myself, but I would never have the patience to do long complicated recipies. Where would be the time to write fanfiction? I just thought it would be fitting for Severus. For myself, for relaxing, I go running. Actually, that wouldn't be bad for Severus in his situation, but there is no way I could imagine him in running tights (even if they would be black) and sneakers participating in a marathon (hilarious idea :-) well, If you should know a fanfic where he is made running, tell me).
LinZE: Well, if you insist, I could invite Minerva to another party, would that be alright for you?
For all the others: thank you so much for your reviews. Really makes me happy when I find them first thing in the morning before I start work.