"Snape!" He did not expect that of all the people in Hogwarts, it would be their worst enemy who would be the first to find out his darkest secret. He would be expelled. Did he already tell someone? Of course, he must have! At least the whole of Slytherin would know by now. Probably the whole school come tomorrow and Remus would have to leave. And that was what looked like the best-case scenario- expulsion! He did not even want to imagine the worst. It was all over now.

"Judging by your panic, you guessed that I know about your affiliation to Lycanthropy. Not that I wasn't being quite straightforward in my note." Severus was never one to beat around the bush.

"How..?"

"How did I find out? Please, it was glaringly obvious to those who wish to see. Falling sick on every full moon, losing classes after, and then appearing with new scars and new excuses every single time. Quite pathetic really." He replied as if he were bored.

"Did you tell anyone?" at this point Remus was only holding on to the final threads of fate.

"No, not yet at least. Although how this scenario would go moving forward would depend on you", he said.

"Please..I…what would you have me do?" Remus was on the verge of tears, barely holding up he asked desperately.

"Perhaps we should take this inside." Severus raised his wand and muttered a levitation spell to lift a small rock and touch the base of the Whomping Willow, and continued walking through the passage that led into the Shrieking Shack.

Remus was shocked. Snape not only knew of his werewolf status but also knew about the Shack. Not wanting to make the situation worse, he quietly followed him into the Shack.

Once inside, he sat down on a battered sofa and asked Remus to do the same. Remus was shaking in fear but he obeyed without uttering a single word.

"This is where you make your transformations, yes?"

"Yes"

Seeing Lupin trembling in fear gave Severus an odd satisfaction. This was Lupin, he deserved it for all he and his friends had done.

"Let's come to an understanding Lupin. A deal, if you will. I haven't revealed this finding to anyone yet and I will keep your little secret. If I feel generous, I may even help you ease these- transformations, and in return, you will do exactly as I tell you to do. Do we understand each other?"

"Please, I'll do anything. Please don't tell anyone" The tears wouldn't stop flowing down his face.

"You will keep your friends in check and out of my way. Should I ask you to administer a potion, you will do so without question. You will obey me to the dot and should you deviate an inch from my instructions, you can be sure that the information regarding your condition will become public in a matter of minutes and expulsion will be the least of your worries. Do I make myself clear?" he said with an air of finality.

"Yes. I understand.

"This discussion will remain between the two of us. You will not involve the headmaster or anyone for that matter or our deal is off the table. If you try to make a single move against me I will personally make sure that your life is destroyed beyond recognition."

"Yes. I understand. I'll do as you say and I won't tell anyone." Remus pleaded.

Remus Lupin looked like a wreck. His face had gone pale and streaks of tears covered his face. He was shaking miserably. Suddenly Severus felt a pang of guilt stab at his heart. It was true that he had hated the werewolf, but Lupin wasn't nearly as bad as his dunderheaded friends. He was a coward who could not stand up against said friends but he never took part in the worst of their endeavors.

Lupin had suffered the curse of Lycanthropy since he was a child and yet remained kind till the end. He had tried to help Severus in the past and had been among the very few to believe him in the Order. But when he had stupidly forgotten his potion and tried to hurt Potter and his friends on the full moon, that was where Severus had drawn the line and exposed him as a werewolf.

"Stop crying. Lupin. I will not harm you unless you give me a reason to do so. I will stay true to my word. As long as we have an understanding, you have nothing to worry about." He said kindly. Or as kindly as Severus Snape could.

Remus did not know what to think. Should he be grateful or should he be more worried? But whatever it was, Snape said he would keep his secret for now. And the situation was completely out of his hands. He had no other option but to trust Snape.

"Thank you"

"It is quite late, we should get back to the castle. We can resume our discussion some other time", with that Severus got up and waited for Lupin to follow. After reaching the castle, he told Lupin to get back to his dormitory and went his way.

Remus wiped his face against his robes and headed to the common room. His friends were asleep and he was grateful for that. He quietly climbed into bed and drew his curtains closed. What would happen to him now? Would Snape blackmail him into doing something awful? What was the price that he would have to pay to maintain his secret? And, Snape had said something about taking some potions. Was he going to be tortured by something poisonous? Would Snape use him to take revenge for what happened between them? He cried silently until he fell asleep from exhaustion.

Severus snuck back into his dormitory and quietly lied down. He was exhausted but the moment he fell asleep, nightmares haunted him. No, they were not nightmares, they were his memories of death. Where there was nothing and he was no one. There was only unbearable nothingness that just wouldn't end.

The next morning Severus once again decided to take some time to think. He left early and took a stroll along the black lake. Last night he must have surely scared the poor werewolf. Perhaps he could have gone a little easy but what was done was done. He decided that he would have to make some drastic changes to avoid the past from recurring. His next big problem was the army of death eaters being raised in his own house. Most of these children did not even fully comprehend the meaning behind it all. They did not fully understand what war was. But what could he do about it?

He could not possibly attempt to change everyone and everything. He was not so arrogant to assume so. In fact, he had always been a follower, not a leader. There were two current leaders dictating the direction of this war. Albus Dumbledore and the Dark lord. The core issue of the war was the acceptance or lack thereof for the non-magic community and those with muggle connections. Even half-bloods who share a part of muggle blood were considered inferior. It was all about the superiority of the purebloods.

The dark lord had a muggle parent and was raised in the muggle world in an orphanage. This man was a half-blood whose original name was Tom Riddle, named after his muggle father. And he was the one who was ordering around pureblood wizards and ranting and raging war on the supremacy of purebloods when he hadn't been a part of the muggle world beyond his childhood orphanage. Albus Dumbledore was a pureblood wizard who probably never even lived among the muggles. Severus doubted how much he really knew about them. And Albus Dumbledore was fighting to protect these muggles and the muggleborns. And neither of these two leaders had a clue on how it really felt to have to live with muggles and purebloods and the real problems that a half blood like Severus had to face. It was ridiculous! They were leading a war on the basis of something they don't understand in the entirety! And the real victims were those who were caught up in the middle of it all.

He couldn't change the opinions of the whole of Wizarding Britain and his influence would be limited to Hogwarts at best. First and foremost, how could he make these children see reason? He needed allies. And he needed powerful allies in all four houses. Allies who could understand the truth and lead with courage and honour. Allies who could lead with loyalty.

Ironic, how these were the traits of the houses of Hogwarts. But how moral was this? To involve children and groom them for war when instead, they should be the ones protected. Was this fair? But again this had been the problem wasn't it? They had been children forced into war even before because life was never fair. And these children grew up fighting this war and made it more miserable for their own children forcing them into it as well.

It could not be helped. Some things just had to be done and he would have to find the best way to do them. This was the next step then. Identifying strong allies among the students who would have the courage, loyalty and integrity to lead. Those who were capable of trust and who could change others, for people could change because he was the prime example of this himself. But who would even listen to him right now? The dark lord and Dumbledore were both powerful wizards who were looked up to while he was a third year student who was looked down upon. He had to change the perception of these students towards him first.

In order to change people he had to change himself, otherwise he would not be heard. With these thoughts he headed back to get some breakfast in the great hall before heading to class.

Severus decided to spend his afternoon in the library. It was so peaceful to sit and read a book in silence. He had always thrived for knowledge even in his previous life and getting to do that once more made him feel truly blessed. His solitude was interrupted however when he found Lupin staring at him with an utterly failing attempt at subtlety. He looked around and saw that he was alone and without his troop of annoying Gryffindors.

The werewolf must have been shocked and dying with anxiety after their little chat last night. He remembered briefly to his embarrassment that when he came back from the dead and was thrown into this past, he had ended up crying on Lupin's shoulder. And Lupin must have delivered him to the infirmary. He was so relieved in that moment to see a familiar face and to be alive. All the past hostility did not matter in that moment. And Lupin had not brought up that incident at all to rub it in Severus' face and mock him.

He felt pity for the werewolf and felt guilty for treating him the way he had to. Perhaps he should be the better man and put this hostility behind. He looked straight at Lupin whose eyes went wide with fear. Severus gestured for him to come sit next to him.

Remus Lupin got up slowly and waked towards Severus Snape ad sat down next to him. Severus looked at him and saw that Lupin's hands were shaking again.

"Are your friends here?" he asked.

"No, I'm here alone" fear was evident even in his voice.

Severus looked at him and regarded him carefully. How should he go about dealing with Lupin? He didn't have any allies and apart from Lily, pretty much everyone hated Severus or barely tolerated him. He briefly remembered that in the past, even Minerva was led to believe that Severus was a traitor. No one knew his true motifs and he wanted to keep it that way but how did that end? He was murdered by the dark lord anyway and Harry Potter may have been dead for all he knew. Did he face everything alone and suffer for nothing? The thought pained him deeply. He hated the Marauders but he could tolerate Lupin. Hell, maybe he could tolerate anyone at this point after everything he had been through. Of course there was no use in revealing everything but it would be nice to have someone to talk to when Lily got on with her own life and he was left to deal with his. He could play some intricate game and make Lupin do whatever he asked of him but he didn't want to.

He took out a parchment and a quill from his bag and scribbled a question and passed it discreetly to Lupin.

"How much do you hate me Lupin?" Remus was shocked. He didn't know what Snape was playing at. So he decided to go along since he didn't really have a choice.

"I don't hate you", he wrote and passed it back to Severus.

"I don't appreciate lies" he wrote and passed it back.

Lupin didn't know what to do. Was this Snape's idea of a joke?

"I can't say we are friends or anything and I cannot say I like you much but I don't hate you Snape", he wrote.

"Would you like to?"

"Would I like to hate you?"

Now Remus was losing his head. He couldn't understand what Snape was trying to do. He was trying to look at what Snape was scribbling now when he suddenly pushed the parchment to Remus.

"No you dunderhead! I'm asking if you would like to be my friend."

Remus was stunned! What the hell was happening? Snape suddenly wants to be friends? With Remus? After knowing that he's a werewolf? What was he trying to get from all this? What exactly was he trying to do? But Remus didn't really have a choice here, he had to go along with whatever Snape was playing at.

"Yes, I would like that" he managed to scribble.

"Don't worry I'm not forcing you into anything. You have a choice. I know we have hated each other for a long time now and I'm aware that it would be difficult to put aside our differences so easily. I'm offering to be friends because I'm tired of hating you. Should you refuse, we can go back to the same conditions we talked about last night and I will keep your secret as long as you follow my instructions. I won't ask much from you in that case. Only that you take a potion in my presence before the full moons which will help your condition".

Remus couldn't believe what Snape was saying! Could he really trust Snape? Was this a trap or was he actually being Sincere? Just what the hell was Snape playing at? Suddenly he remembered the day Snape fainted in the middle of the hallway. He seemed to have been through something painful and ended up crying on his shoulder. Remus had to take him to the infirmary. That was not like Snape at all. Maybe, just maybe, Snape was being Sincere? Maybe he was changing? He thought it through and decided that if Snape was really being sincere and he was trying to help Remus, then he should extend his hand as well.

"I would like it very much if we could be friends" he wrote and passed him the parchment.

"Okay then. Stop worrying and go away. You're disturbing me."

Remus smiled. Severus Snape just asked him to be friends and the first thing he says right after, is "ok, go away now". Well Snape was never the epitome of niceties now, was he? He'd take what he could get and frankly if all this was real and not some sick joke, then Remus got very lucky. He could have been exposed and expelled and maybe even worse. So instead of pushing his new found luck, he decided to do as he was told and offered a smile before leaving.

After dinner, Severus went to the common room and sat down to observe the students around them. He was saddened to see the state of the Slytherin house which was nothing like when he was in charge. He felt so useless. He hadn't done much since he was reborn. He was only wasting his time attending classes meant for children so he could be close to Lily.