Under My Skin

Chapter 5

"Grace doesn't seem to want to even talk to me anymore," Ron sighed to Harry.

Harry smirked in return and replied, "Well, Ron, I guess you just don't have the charm you thought you had." Harry knew it was wrong of him to lie to Grace about Ron, but he liked Grace and didn't want her to get hurt by falling for Ron. He watched Ron pace his study as they were about to go to the Three Broomsticks with Remus Lupin. "Anyway, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, we're meeting him there?" Ron asked casually.

Harry nodded his head and the two men set off for Hogsmeade to meet Remus. They walked out of Hogwarts gates and Apparated right in front of the Three Broomsticks. They hurriedly entered the pub and looked around to find Remus. He was sitting at the bar near the door, smiling as people passed him. Harry heard Ron sigh as they moved toward the sandy-haired man. Remus turned around and caught a glimpse of them, before motioning them to join him. They obliged silently and sat down across from Remus.

"Well, how's the planning coming?" Remus began uneasily.

After a moment of silence from both boys, Harry replied, "Great. Ron doesn't really have anything to plan, but mine's been going okay. What about work at the university?"

"La Chel is very difficult to teach at. I get so stressed, sometimes. The Headmaster over there plans the syllabus, not the teachers, so half the time I have no clue what's going on in my own class. The students there think that just because they made it into the highest-paying university, they're all that. Load of bollocks, if you ask me."

Ron laughed silently and uncertainly. Harry noticed that he was acting very peculiar all of a sudden and he planned to get to the bottom of it eventually. Just then, a waitress came to their table and they each ordered a butterbeer. They sat around in silence, waiting for their drinks. Every now and then, Remus would mention something about a quidditch team doing well, and one of the boys would respond. Their drinks eventually arrived and they all downed half of it in one gulp.

Harry stared at his two favorite people in the world and he noticed they were still looking uncomfortable. "What the hell is going on?" he asked suddenly. The other men were startled at his outburst and looked around anywhere but each other. Harry chuckled, "Don't feign ignorance. You've been avoiding everything around you the whole time we've been here, both of you. Now, what's going on? Or will I have to hex it out of you?"

"This is none of your concern, Harry," Remus spoke in a harsh and cold tone. It offended Harry slightly but he held his ground.

"The hell it isn't! Why are you, all of a sudden, being so damn secretive? Ron, when's the last time you kept a secret from me?" he asked in wonder. This was definitely a shock as it had just dawned on him that they were indeed keeping a secret from him, and that never happened.

"I have to go," Remus stated in a monotone voice. He quickly got up from the booth, laid some money on the table, and exited the pub. Harry stared at Ron, whose ears were bright red, to the closing door Remus left out of. He did this back and forth for several moments, like he was watching a tennis match.

"Ronald Weasley," Harry started, "what the hell just happened?"

Ron made a disgusted face and replied, "Promise you won't tell anyone?"

Harry nodded his head uncertainly and beckoned for him to continue.

"Last weekend, I went to Grimmauld Place to visit Remus because I knew he was off from the university and I was pretty bored. We began talking and that led to...kissing...and that led to, well, you know. We had both been a bit tipsy from the whiskey we shared earlier. Remus and I promised each other we wouldn't tell a soul, but I knew I couldn't keep it in! Harry, I don't even know how it happened. One minute we were discussing quidditch, and the next, he was asking me what I wanted for damn breakfast! He promised things wouldn't get uncomfortable, but apparently he saw my uncertainty," Ron finished with a huff and a sigh. Everything was making sense to Harry now. The way Ron would speak of Remus feigning indifference every now and then and how he blushed and sighed when talking about Remus.

"So, you're gay?" he asked.

"No! I still like girls..." he groaned and laid his head on the table. It was possible that Ron was deeply confused about his sexual orientation. It could be that he was bisexual, although Harry never understood how someone could be that greedy as to have both sexes. Whatever Ron decided, he would be with him there through and through.

"Well, what are you going to do?" Harry prided.

Ron looked up confused and replied, "Absolutely nothing, except pretend it never happened! Harry, you and I are the studs of the wizarding world. What would people think if I was publicly gay!"

"Well, it would give the women and men a chance to be with studs, don't ya think?" Harry asked with a smirk. He then decided just to drop the conversation because he could tell Ron was becoming uncomfortable again. He sighed and moved onto the list of first years he had gone over earlier that day. That conversation lightened Ron up slightly.

Severus was confused throughout the weeks that went by. It had been two weeks since he had kissed Vasquez, and that had been his last time of even talking to her. They avoided each other as much as possible, but it was quite difficult as there was faculty meetings and Great Hall dinners both the professors had to attend. Grace tried her best to let it go and stay around Harry as much as possible and it was aggravating Severus down to his very core. He tried to dismiss the thoughts of jealously, but they kept coming back with each day he was not interacting with Vasquez.

Grace was having just as much trouble as he was. Severus could be seen with Aura Sinistra every now and then and a slight pang in her stomach was present every time she saw the two.

They ended up sitting next to each other at a faculty meeting that week. It was the most awful thing either of them had to go through. After the meeting, Severus was about to hurriedly leave, but Grace's small tan hand found it's way to the crook of his elbow and stopped him. She smiled at him and asked, "Can we talk?"

He nodded curtly and led her to the hall. "Miss Grace, I want to apologize for the other night in my lab. It was very rude of me to take advantage of you," Severus said quickly.

There was fire in her eyes at this statement. "Rude? Take advantage of me? Severus, what are you talking about? You know just as well as I do that we both enjoyed the kiss."

"You can't prove that," he replied in a cold tone.

"Oh yeah?" She grabbed the back of his neck with her left hand and pulled his face towards her. Their lips met in a fierce kiss once again and his hands began roaming till they came to rest on her lower back, pulling her till she was flush to him. She gasped and moaned as she felt his growing erection pushing against her stomach. Severus ran his tongue along her bottom lip begging for entrance and she happily obliged as he sucked her lip into his mouth, causing her to moan again.

The kiss was, unfortunately, stopped short by a loud clearing of the throat. The pair spun around and was met by a very twinkling Albus Dumbledore running his fingers through his long white beard.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Albus asked, chuckling, as Severus and Grace tried their best to conceal any proof of their kiss. They both straightened out their robes and Grace returned a lopsided grin to the Headmaster.

"Excuse me." She began to walk back to her rooms, but an arm twisted itself around her waist. It was Severus'.

"Headmaster," Severus said, adjourning Albus. He then steered Grace away from the hall and into a closet a little ways down. When he was sure there was no noise coming from outside, he hungrily forged his lips upon hers and was met with an equally hungry Grace. Hands were roaming everywhere; Severus' were now up the loose t-shirt she was wearing and onto her black silk bra. Her hands were underneath his shirt, roaming his soft back.

She moaned into his mouth and said between kisses in a husky voice, "We really can't do this."

Although in the dark, Grace could tell Severus was briefly pouting. "Fine," he replied coldly. He fixed his robes and was about to set off to sulk in his dungeons, but Grace quickly stood in front of him.

"Don't, that's not what I meant. One, I'm married. And two, I...don't know, just it isn't right at the moment," she replied in a saddened tone. Severus sulkily moved closer to her body and kissed her forehead.

He exited the closet, leaving a befuddled Grace behind.