Disclaimer: Not mine just borrowed for a fanfic

Authors note: Thanks to all the guests who reviewed!! In this chapter we'll have a bit more Severus and Remus bonding. I've decided that I will try and update once a week, although this may differ depending on life. In this fic the whomping willow incident hasn't occurred yet but Severus knows that he is a werewolf.

Hope you enjoy!

Snape's POV:

Lupins room was a moderate size and painted a light blue with big arched windows. Bookshelves lined the walls, full of a range of books, muggle and magic, logic and fairytales, history and futuristic and although he loathed to admit it, it was the kind of room that Severus himself would have liked. On the opposite side of the room was a camp bed that he assumed was for him, as well as a space cleared out in Lupin's wardrobe. This was all confirmed when the wolf muttered, "so this is for you, you can place all your stuff here," he gestured to the wardrobe, "and umm please do call me Remus." He was looking at Severus with what one could only describe as a kicked puppy look and cold and unfeeling as he was; he still found it difficult to sneer and reply "I think not."

He sighed.

"Look Severus…"

"Don't call me that wolf."

"Look Snape I know that we have had our differences but I think we should put that aside for now, we have the whole summer together so surely it's better to make peace." Ok so maybe there was some logic in that but honestly what did he expect sunshine and rainbows? Severus, by nature, was a creature of solitude and intellect and while, in the deepest depths of his mind, he knew that the wolf was probably quite intelligent he didn't appreciate the bloody cheerfulness that seemed to follow Gryffindors everywhere. "We may cease the siniping if you leave. Me. Alone." He didn't think that was quite what Lupin had in mind based on the crestfallen expression he was wearing. Oh well.

Dinner had consisted of bouts of silence, probing questions (Gryffindors simply didn't do subtly) and a rather delicious shepherds pie which was wolfed down, and no pun intended, by the household. When the whole ordeal was over Severus and Remus had retreated to their rooms and proceeded to sit in silence on their respective beds, Remus reading Treasure island and Severus scrawling complicated equations in his battered leather notebook. At the moment he was working on a new experimental potion of the healing variety, it was supposed to heal broken bones but without the added pain that skele-gro brought. He couldn't get the moonbeam juice and the leech entrails to react together properly and that was without even thinking about the dew drops, that seemed destined to irritate him. "What are you doing?" Merlin could he not have any peace.

"I'm writing in my diary about how unfair life is."

The wolf looked confused. "Really?"

"No you dunderhead I'm not a hormonal 14 year old girl. I'm working on a potion."

"Oh."

The wolf now sported an interested look, one that Severus definitely didn't like the look of. "What does it do." Merlin all he wanted was a little bit of peace, not days or even hours but just 30 minutes to himself was that so difficult?

"It's a healing potion for broken bones."

He looked very interested now.

"Like skele-gro?"

"Essentially but without the pain element."

He was coming over. Life was so very cruel.

"Wouldn't the moonbeam juice and the leech entrails react?" Must. Not. Loose. It.

"Yes…" he hissed, "that is the problem." Idiot.

"Why don't you balance it out with moss essence?" Oh. Not so much of an idiot then.

"That's an interesting idea but in order to test that I would have to see how the dew drops would react, I suppose if the hawthorn berries were reduced by 10 milligrams then the venom would balance out."

"Would you need an alkaline for all the acidic elements?"

"That's what the dried daisy heads are for." Although surprisingly there was no venom in his voice this time as he pointed out the wolf's mistake. "Though I suppose adding poppy seeds to level out the consistency would affect the amount of alkaline needed to balance out the acidic elements…"

They talked all night.

When Severus awoke it was 7:30 and in the hazy morning light he could just about make out Lupin stretched out on his bed and snoring softly. Their room was an absolute mess, potions books were sprayed out in every which way and several empty ink pots were strewn around the room. His notebook was squashed underneath his pillow and from his, admittedly limited viewpoint, he could see that several pages had been filled with scrawled notes and complicated equations. Silently he slipped out of the bed, mourning the loss of warmth as his feet hit the cold wooden floor. Lupin's heightened werewolf sense must have kicked in because he suddenly jerked awake and sleepily sat up, rubbing his eyes and then slowly emerging into awakeness. "Morning," he called to Severus, "what time is it?"

"7:30" he replied shortly, unfamiliar with the feeling of just general comradiness that was currently swimming in the air. "Oh" replied Lupin before burrowing back under the covers. Severus had always been an early riser and a late sleeper, mainly functioning on coffee and the potion he had invented purely for that purpose - to keep awake. For him 7:30 was a late start and so with that in mind he got changed into his worn jeans and long sleeved black shirt and grabbed his book before making the long trek downstairs. In the kitchen sat Charlie Lupin, reading the prophet and nursing a steaming cup of coffee. He nodded in acknowledgement towards the man before making a beeline towards the jug of heavenly caffeine. "Good morning Severus did you sleep well?"

"Yes thank you," he replied, "do you mind," he questioned, guestering to the coffee pot.

"No go ahead I've made enough for an army, Remus hates the stuff but me and my wife practically live of it." Severus made to sit down on one of the rickety wooden chairs, "I know the feeling," he stated drily before delving into the scrawled and clearly sleep deprived notes that he and Lupin had made last night. Surprisingly they had made some progress and grudgingly he had to admit that it had been nice to talk to someone about his experiments. Most of the Slythernins didn't care unless it benefited them or caused harm to another witch or wizard. However Severus knew that although he had enjoyed last night it wouldn't continue, the moment the 4 bloody Gryffindors were reunited he would once again become a target. He must have been completely immersed in these thoughts because by the time he looked up again, when the wolf walked in it was 8 o'clock and his once piping hot coffee had gone stone cold. With a grumble he waved his hand over his mug (casting a warming charm) and clutched his hands closer to the warm liquid, oblivious to the looks he was getting from the rest of the family. "Severus was that wandless magic," gaped Remus, "we haven't started learning that, I've only just begun to do wordless and that's with a lot of practice and concentration." Oops. He forgot that no one knew of his power but in his caffeine-less haze he had forgotten and had just done wandless magic automatically. Damn. "I umm…" Mr Lupin was staring at him, a piercing gaze that was almost impossible to break away from, he could feel his heart rate pick up and in a fit of panic he stood up and ran out the house.

He made it all of 10 metres.

"Severus wait, we just want to talk," panted Lupin.

"Get away from me!" he yelled, panicked and all sense of composer lost. Then, realising there was no way out of the impending conversion, he took a deep breath and strengthened his occlumency shields. "There is nothing to talk about," he hissed in what he hoped was an even voice. From the looks that he was getting he could safely assume that he had failed. Mr Lupin raised an eyebrow and Severus' resolve began to weaken. "This is nothing that concerns you," he finally managed to get out, tearing his eyes away from the two wizards in front of him. "Severus there is nothing to be ashamed about, we just want to know how powerful you are and why it hasn't been mentioned before," gently implored the older man. The floor had suddenly become very interesting as the silence continued to choke him, wrapping its tendrils round his throat until he found it hard to breath. "Severus calm down, you have to breath," Lupin sounded rather panicked he thought dreamily as the edges of his vision blurred. Was that him hyperventilating? All of a sudden he swayed and the floor loomed closer to his face as all went black.

Lupins POV:

Remus watched in awe as the teenager in front of him casually waved his hand over his coffee and heated it up as if it was nothing. Non verbal magic was hard and wandless almost impossible for most wizards their age yet Snape had not only done non verbal magic but wandless too. He knew that he was staring and felt that he owed the confused boy an explanation. "Severus that was wandless magic we haven't started learning that I've only just begun to do wordless anda that's with a lot of practice and concentration." Within a second the calm and relaxed look on his face was gone and in its place sat an expression of horror, heightened by the paleness of his face and panicked black eyes. "I umm…" And then he did something that Remus could have never expected. He bolted. Snape had always been a scrawny fellow and the two wizards caught up to him with ease, Remus' werewolf senses allowing him to be faster than his father who was behind him. "Severus, wait we just want to talk," he puffed, grabbing a hold of his arm. As Snape yelled for him to let go a change came over him, his breathing became more calm and deliberate while his face became a blank mask again, how on earth did he do that? "There is nothing to talk about," he said, however his voice was nowhere near as calm as his face. They stood in an intense silence and his father began to speak, reassuring him in a calming tone however this had no effect on Severus and his breathing began to pick up. "Severus calm down you have to breathe," he found himself saying but the boy was too panicked now and with a graceful movement he collapsed towards the floor.

His father was there in a flash, sweeping Snape up in a single movement. He hovered anxiously around him as his father laid the boy onto the blue sofa, surprised by how small and vulnerable Severus looked in that moment. With the scowling and cutting remarks it was quite hard to remember that he was still a child, a small one at that. Suddenly there was a groan and obsidian black eyes snapped open, darting around the room before laying to rest on his face. "Lupin… what happened?" How to explain this. "You, well you kind of fainted," he stated awkwardly. Judging by the red flush that was creeping up the boy's face he had remembered what had happened. "I apologise for that, I was..." he trailed off. Merlin what was it with Snape and apologies? He'd always been the epitome of angry and unrepentant. His dad felt the need to cut in now, Remus had almost forgotten that he was there. "Severus could you tell me what happened? We just wanted to talk," he leaned closer, his face a picture of calm, "I'm very impressed with your power and I just wanted to talk to you about it." Snape was clearly conflicted and Remus felt that it was time to add his view of the situation. "Severus I was just amazed with what you did, I never knew you were so amazing at charms!" This was the wrong thing to say.

"Well I had to be somewhat above average to fend off the four of you." Oh. Shame swelled in him, it had always been four against one and now that Remus thought about it Severus often gave as good as he got and that had to be hard, four against one, he could barely fight one on one let alone think about 4 other opponents. His father looked at him with a disapproving gaze, "yes well Severus Remus has been suitably punished for what occurred last year."

"Good," murmured the boy, "but really there is nothing much to track about, I just happen to be good at wandless and non verbal magic."

"And none of the teachers ever noticed?" Pressed his dad.

"I never showed them, you don't show anyone what your strengths are so if there is ever a day you need to use them the opponent is taken by surprise. Basic survival skills," he shrugged. He could see why the boy had been placed in Slytherin, the survival mentality and the distrust of his fellow wizards, not to mention the planning ahead and escape plans that were no doubt swimming around his head. "Well your skill is amazing Severus," his father spoke softly, breaking the silence that had settled. "Now why didn't you and Remus find something to do?"

The rest of the day passed in a somewhat comfortable haze of homework, reading and a trip to the local village. Isolated though they were the local village was about a half an hour walk, although he prefered to bike. The village was quaint and consisted of several small shops and houses (his favourite being the ice cream shop - Daisies) that were surrounded by fields and woods. He had thoroughly enjoyed the trip and thought that Severus had to. The boys had biked to the town and wandered around, Severus looking around in barely concealed excitement and black eyes sparkling with glee. Remus had to admit that he was surprised to see him navigate the muggle world with ease. It was easy to forget that the boy was a half blood what with the whole Slytherin death eater thing. Currently the two were back in Remus' room discussing muggle literature and debating the merits of Shakespeare. He was under the impression that Shakespeare was a pessimistic writer whose work was difficult and hard to decipher however Severus apparently loved his work and was currently monologuing animatedly. "The use of language and the characters are by far the best… Lupin are you listening to me?" He was propelled out of his daydream.

"Yes sorry, but Severus please do call me Remus. I feel as if it's only right now that we're going to be spending the summer together." He knew his brown eyes were wide and almost pleading but he couldn't bring himself to care. Grudging the boy agreed, "I suppose it's only proper," he reasoned, as if trying to rational the politeness (and maybe even friendship) between the two. Sighing in what he supposed was relief Remus smiled and added cheekily "the feared child of Slytherin making friends with the Gryffindor prefect what has become of the world?"

"Yes," stated Severus dryly, "what indeed."