Chapter Three

Life as an ice cube is a lonely one; a pathetic existence determined by the occasional meltdown, only to freeze back up again. Remus Lupin was an ice cube. A contrived block of solid water that leaked cold air and icy vibes. Like great, heaping exhaustive fumes of loneliness that threatened the happy nature of all those surrounding him. At least, the few misguided souls who actually got close enough to the werewolf to choke on his epidemical exhaust. It was a small, ever dwindling number kept only by one constant, Sirius Black. Who was this Black character anyway? Damned if Remus knew. Lover? Friend? Bastard? The truth was, he was all of the above on most occasions. But Remus could say this about his best friend, he was always there. Most of the time that was a good thing, but sometimes it wasn't. Times like right now.

"Sirius you have to leave. I'm expecting company really soon," Remus said, practically begging at Sirius' feet. Sirius, who remained planted on Remus' couch, merely yawned at his panicky friend.

"Don't expect me to be bum-rushed out of a good shag until you tell me who it is you're having over, Moony."

"Ugh," somehow Remus could find no better way to express his agitation than to make the apparent groaning noises and pull at his hair with timorous fists. "Errrrrrr! Sirius! Get! Get!"

"Get? Are you actually shooing me out of your room?"

"Yes, Sirius. I am literally shooing you," he swatted at his dark haired friend, "out of my room. Honestly mate. Go bother Harry and Hermione or-" Remus realized his mistake. "Ah. Right. Sorry that was an impulsive thing to say, Pads."

An odd silence stirred uncomfortably between the two men. Then, Sirius stood up and without a word, he walked out, closing the door softly behind him.

"Dammit, Remus you sodding idiot. Fuck!" Remus could have kicked himself for the unintentional comment but thought against it. His legs were usually banged up enough with the turn of every moon without having to help out with the process himself. Besides, kicking oneself is probably easier said than done. No bother. He would apologize to Sirius first thing in the morning. Or right after his erm…date?

Right, he thought, recollecting his thoughts. He had booted Sirius out for a reason after all. One didn't just boot Sirius Black out unless he had a pretty damn good reason. In Remus' case, his reason was very damn good. Not to mention tall, blonde, and…knocking on his door right at that second.

Remus rushed to the door and cracked it open. "Hi."

"Hello. Thank you for having me," said the very delectable Draco Malfoy, stepping though the open door Remus held for him. Remus breathed in his scent as he passed. There was that pleasing smell again. Cocoa and fire whiskey. He let it fill his nose for a brief, blissful moment before remembering that, in order to live, one must eventually exhale.

Back on earth, Draco was sitting politely on Remus' sofa. He looked amusingly out of place in the boring room. Somehow, he seemed to glow even more significantly against the dusty bookcases holding rows of books beyond books. Remus chided his curious vexation of the fact that Draco looked better in his living space than he did, but he figured Draco had that affect everywhere he went, not unlike his father. Remus found a space beside Draco to sit, not too close, though not far enough away so that, if Draco wanted to, say, put his hand on Remus' thigh, it wouldn't be too unreasonable a stretch.

"I'm glad you came by."

"Glad you asked me, to be honest. I'm afraid I have a way of being too forward with people I find attractive." Draco kept his eyes on Remus. "But if I want something, I get it." When Remus raised his eyebrows, Draco added, "usually."

"I take it then, that you find me attractive?" Remus silently scolded his insecurities that always enjoyed popping out at the worst possible times. Draco scoffed, though not unpleasantly.

"I do…find you very attractive. Though I would have figured you'd known that for a while now." Draco calculated in his head. "Or at least, what? Three days?" They both laughed and Draco eased himself back on the sofa a little more. Remus relaxed to see that Draco was relaxed. This whole thing was still very strange.

"I agree. It's strange for me too," Draco said and Remus wished for the second time that evening that he could kick himself for letting his last comment be said aloud.

"Erm…I didn't mean to say that last bit, actually. But now that it's…up in the air, perhaps we should discuss it?"

"All right. I will start," Draco cleared his throat consciously, scooted himself closer to Remus, and placed that soft hand on his thigh, causing small shakes of pleasure to shoot up Remus' leg. "Remus. You were my teacher when I was a third year. You, like many, believed me to be as insatiable as my father and with right cause. Harry Potter saved my life and killed Lord Voldemort three months ago. He saved my life and in doing so, lost his own. I've started over. I've started over and I can't think of anyone else I would rather have accompany me in the process. You're sexy and you're strong and…you've got these scars that I keep noticing and they drive me a little crazy, to tell the truth. I know you're twice my age and I'm half yours but it doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother you. And it really, really doesn't bother me."

Remus blinked. Funny how Draco always said things that caused Remus Lupin to lose his ability to form actual words.

"In case you're wondering, the scars drive me crazy in a good way."

Remus traced one of the scars across his face with his fingertips and grinned. "That's good." Draco squeezed Remus' thigh and moved his hand further up. "That's good, as well." Remus bent his head back against the couch, relaxing beneath Draco's touch. He'd almost forgotten how shaky those hands had been that first day, when Remus had been naked and Draco had placed a hand on his shoulder because now, Draco's hands were caressing every inch of him, and they weren't shaky at all. They were stimulating. Draco was stimulating. Remus grabbed Draco's face and pulled him into a violent kiss. They both opened their mouths to it, letting their teeth clank and their tongues explore the unfamiliar territory.

After a few minutes of unrelinquished snogging, Draco's hands began to move more freely. He slipped one hand up the back of Remus' shirt and moved his other even further up Remus' thigh. He deliberately skipped over the growing bulge in Remus' pants and began to toil with the buttons and zipper instead. Remus stopped him.

"Don't."

The sudden break from each other's mouths gave Draco a bit of a dizzy feeling. "Don't what?"

"I'm sorry. This isn't right. You're so young. I can't."

"Do not malign me Remus," Draco said, instantly enraged. "Don't you even dare."

"I wasn't," Remus said quietly. By this point, Draco had moved away from him on the couch and was smoothing his blonde hair back irately. "Draco,"

"I'm sorry, Professor. I don't know what I was thinking," Draco said, standing up from the couch. Remus stood up as well.

"I do and there's absolutely no reason to call me professor. Now, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you but I have good reason to stop-

"You have one reason Professor and his name is Sirius Black." Draco stormed out of the room. Remus let him go.

After a few chugs of wine and a change of attire (a soft brown sweater vest), Remus left his Hogwarts chamber and headed down the hall, searching for his friend. He would find Sirius, stammer some form of an acceptable apology, and buy them both drinks at The Three Broomsticks. Remus was halfway down the hallway when he heard a small cry. He stopped in his place and was sure that if he had been in his werewolf form, his ears would have quirked back in suspicion. He stood for a moment and just listened. There were no signs of danger in the air and he didn't hear anything else strange…where had the noise come from? Remus turned to his left where a nearly headless translucent gentleman greeted him.

"Hallo Professor Lupin. How do you do this fine evening?"

"Erm, just great Sir Nick, thanks very much. And…and yourself?"

"Excellent, excellent. Though I am quite concerned about something. Could you perhaps be of assistance to me for a moment Professor?"

"Certainly. What's the trouble exactly?"

The ghost motioned down the hall. Remus looked past him (through him, actually) and saw that Nick was pointing at the girl's bathroom.

"The w.c. giving you problems, eh?"

"No, sir. There are people in there who are breaking some very serious rules I'm afraid," the ghost laughed and Remus had to hide his revulsion as the head bent grotesquely back on his shoulders. "Hehe…serious…do you get it?"

"Erm, right. So do you want me to check it out then?" The ghost nodded fervently at Remus, who had already begun his way back down the hallway. Sirius could wait a few more minutes to be comforted.

"Oh thank you Professor Lupin! You truly are an honorable addition to this faculty. I keep telling everyone about how lucky Hogwarts is to have a fine, decent teacher like you back."

Remus grinned sheepishly back at Sir Nick, relieved to see that his head was adjusted firmly on his shoulders. As he neared the bathroom door he heard another odd cry. "Did you hear that Sir Nick?" Remus turned around but the ghost was nowhere to be seen. Remus reached into his trouser pockets and pulled out his wand, holding it in front of him readily. Then, with one swift motion he kicked open the door and screamed. It would be better to say that he had yelped, yelled, or gasped (all in a tone of undeniable manliness) but he didn't do any of those things. Remus Lupin kicked open the bathroom door, saw the two interlocked figures with long dark hair, and screamed like a first year…girl.

"Bloody hell, Moony! I thought for a moment we were getting attacked by a banshee, you crazy git!" yelled Sirius Black, half laughing, half alarmed. Maybe even half embarrassed if it were possible to be three halves of something all at once.

"Sirius? Wha-wha-"

"Oh really Lupin, are you completely unable to form intelligible responses in my presence or have you merely taken upon the act of being an incompetent fool as some sort of social experiment for your third years? Neither which do I find extremely…impressive."

Remus gaped at the two men standing before him in the girls' bathroom. The girls' bathroom?

"Did you-are-I-what?"

"Moony, your face looks unattractive when you're confused out of your mind. Did you know that? It sort of contorts into this weird, grimace thing. Like you might like to eat me or something. Look! Look, Severus, do you see the face? Isn't it frightening? Doesn't it make you uncomfortable?"

"It does, rather."

"Shall we run away, do you think? Before he actually takes the eating us thing into consideration?"

"That shouldn't be necessary, Black. In case you haven't noticed, the man hasn't actually said anything since he, so rudely, barged in on us seconds ago. I am as perplexed as he, yet I have enough sense to verbally communicate with others through awkward occasions such as this one."

"This is very strange. I swear, he's usually much more satiable than this. I mean, you should see him drunk. He's quite a laugh. Chatterbox, this one."

"Hmm…I don't believe I wish to imagine the two of you drunk together."

"Oh well, erm…I am a very responsible drunk. On most occasions."

"Somehow I think you're lying through your teeth."

"You mean the teeth that were biting you earlier?"

"Really, Black."

"The teeth you were licking? Haha, it sounds weird, doesn't it? Severus Snape was licking my teeth. And I liked it."

"You always do, I am afraid."

"You're not afraid. You're infatuated beyond belief with me and don't pretend like you're not. I know you too bloody well."

"I assure you, you do not. As I am rather enjoying this little banter we are having in the girls' bathroom…Black, Lupin, I must be off. I have things to do, potions to brew."

"You're a dork," Sirius said. He kissed a rather smug looking Snape on the jaw and winked at Remus, who was still standing, flabbergasted, against the cool bathroom wall.

"Goodnight to you both. Oh Lupin, do close your mouth. You are drooling." With that, Snape left the bathroom and Remus wiped at his mouth with his sleeve.

"So that was strange, eh?"

Remus stared at Sirius, his expression completely impassive.

"Remus? Earth the Remus?" Sirius neared his friend cautiously. "Are you okay? Have you gone over the bend, at last?"

"Let…me…get…this straight," began Remus. "You and Snape were … in the girls' bathroom? And the noises I heard!"

"It's called snogging Remus. And why not do it in the girls' bathroom? No one uses this one but Myrtle anyway and isn't it loads less conspicuous this way? No one would expect us to be in here. We're boys, you see and," Sirius stopped talking because Remus had started to advance him from the opposite end of the bathroom.

"How long have you been fucking around with Snape, exactly?"

"It's none of your business."

"I'm your best mate! It's almost as much my business as it is your own."

"Is it? Okay then, who were you expecting over tonight?"

"That is none of your…oh." Remus sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Sirius, come back to my room and let me get you drunk, please. We have a lot of catching up to do, I'm afraid."