Family Portrait

Once the Welcoming Feast was finished, and he and the other professors helped the prefects and Head Boy and Girl see the students off to their dorms, they all came to congregate in the professors' lounge. The professors were spread around on the room's leather-tufted sofas and armchairs, chatting about their summers with one another. Occasionally, one of them would rise to go to a wide desk set toward the back of the room and pour themselves a glass of wine from one of the several bottles Septima Vector had brought back from her holiday to France.

Remus was enjoying himself quite a bit, surprisingly. Everyone was very curious to hear what he had been doing since he graduated. The answer was not what he wanted, but Remus couldn't blame them for that. So, he told anecdotes of some of his better moments from the past decade and made sure to ask them about their lives. His mother once told him people loved to talk about themselves and Remus was finding she was right with every happy answer he received from his questions.

After a while, he found he needed a break. Remus excused himself and went to the desk with the wine. As he poured himself a glass, he noticed a dark figure approach out of the corner of his eye. Once his glass was full, he put down the bottle of wine and turned in the direction of the figure.

He blinked.

It was Severus Snape beside him. Remus was surprised the dour man had come near him all on his own. For the entirety of the feast, the other man had glared at Remus when he so much as glanced in Severus's direction. By the end of dinner, Remus made a quiet commitment to himself that if that was how Severus was going to be, he would do everything to avoid the surly man this year.

Remus had imagined it wouldn't be hard, given Severus's attitude, but apparently, he was wrong.

"Ah, hello, Severus," he murmured finally when it became apparent that while Severus was definitely engaging with him, he was not going to be the first to speak

Severus sneered. "Lupin."

"…Can I help you?" he asked when Severus said no more.

The other man's glower intensified into a scowl. "I wish you to know I will be keeping a close eye on you this year," he declared.

Remus resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Barely. "Of course," he replied in what he hoped was a neutral tone.

Severus stepped closer, entering his personal space. Remus tripped over himself to back away and spilled some of his glass of wine on his tweed cloak. "Shit!" he swore. Remus hoped he would be able to get it out later. He'd never been terribly good at cleaning charms.

"My sister and daughters will tell me if you dare to mistreat them. Do not believe you can threaten them into silence either, I will know," warned Severus, completely ignoring what he had done to Remus.

He gritted his teeth to bite back insults. How could Severus think he would bully children? By becoming a professor, he had promised to put them first, to encourage their growth as people, and protect them should the need arise.

Meeting black, devouring eyes, he hissed, "I would never mistreat them!"

Severus scoffed. "As you and your friends never mistreated me?" he demanded with a jeering smile.

Remus, unwanted, flushed. That was different. They had both been children then. Not to mention it wasn't all one-sided. "You gave as good as you got," he said. "Sometimes, you even kicked things off."

His eyes flashed. Pressing forward once more until they were nearly nose-to-nose, Severus snarled, "I. Will. Know."

"All right!" snapped Remus, falling back a step again. "All right," he repeated calmer as Severus continued to glare.

Finally, Severus let up on Remus. He nodded and turned away to leave. However, he'd only taken a step away from Remus before he looked over his shoulder at him with a stern frown. "See also you limit your time with Potter outside of the classroom," he told him. Expression turning distant, Severus said, "He has… More sense than one might expect from a child of James Potter." Expression sharpening, he scowled at Remus and declared, "I don't need a nostalgic fool like you to go and inflate his head with stories of your school days with his birth father."

Remus bristled. Who did Severus think he was? He didn't get to control him, who he could or could not speak to. He said as much to the other man. "You can't tell me who I can and cannot get to know. You're not the headmaster."

Severus's scowl intensified somehow as he proclaimed, "If you care about Harry's best interest, you will listen to me."

Remus found himself gaping as Severus decided to finally leave. He watched as the other man left the professors' lounge altogether. As he did, he murmured to himself, "Is that his convoluted way of saying he cares about him…?"

While Remus tried to puzzle out what kind of relationship Severus must have with Harry to be concerned about him, Aurora Sinistra came to the desk. She set her glass down and poured herself a fresh glass.

When finished, she turned to face him and took a sip from her glass. After she finished, the woman smirked and asked, "Threaten you, did he?"

Remus stared at her. She didn't look shocked or worried. In fact, Aurora seemed quite amused. He pursed his lips. He didn't understand why. What happened didn't feel like a laughing matter.

Severus had, in a sense, threatened him.

Aurora simply sighed at his confused look and explained, "Snape has made a habit of cornering new professors every year for a little 'chat' since his sister became a student." She took another sip of her wine and looked away from Remus as Poppy Pomfrey and Pomona Sprout burst into laughter. "I imagine he'll be keeping it up until his youngest has graduated," she remarked.

Remus felt himself relax slightly. So Severus's attack was not entirely personal. Not that it changed much at all, he supposed. Remus was certain Severus was still going to reign down Hell on him if he so much as looked oddly at his sister or daughters. Possibly if he had a chat about the weather with Harry outside the classroom too.

"Has he now?" he said.

Aurora nodded. "Oh yes," she replied. Her expression twisted and she said, "I'd say it's sweet how much he cares about his girls, but really it feels a little too chauvinist for my taste. I don't think he'd go half as strong on you new professors if he had sons instead."

Remus snorted. No, he knew that wasn't true. Severus threatened him on Harry's behalf too. "I think you'd be surprised," he muttered before taking a large swallow from his glass of wine.

The witch leaned closer, dark eyes flashing with interest. "Do tell," she practically purred.

He put down his nearly empty glass of wine and shook his head. Remus did not want to recount his encounter with Severus. Looking away, he stammered, "I… I am sorry Aurora, but I think I'm feeling a little knackered. The train ride and welcoming feast are more draining than I recall from my time as a student."

She pulled back, a slight air of disappointment about her. "If you say so," she replied with a sigh. Stepping away, she waved at him before wrapping both her hands around her glass of wine. "See you around, Remus," she said.

He nodded. "Have a good night, Aurora."

She flashed him a smile before going to join what looked to be a heated discussion between Charity Burbage and Filius Flitwick. Alone again, he exhaled regretfully to himself. Remus should have thought of another way to avoid discussing his conversation with Severus. It was too late now, however, so he made his way out of the lounge and into the corridor. As he walked in the direction of his quarters, he hoped Severus had gone to his own. Remus did not want to run into him if he were patrolling the castle tonight.

I've been chipping away at writing this for a while. After I finished Reminders, I wanted to revisit writing on the Snapes from Remus's pov. I thought it would be interesting to create a small collection of moments he has with them during his time as a professor.

So, now this exists.

How did you like his encounter with Severus?

Thank you very much for reading!