"Hmmm... That was...unusual." said Dumbledore, scratching his beard. "I will need to research the matter"
"Please, do, Headmaster. I too would like to know what the golden glow meant. As far as I know, the bond between the Godparent and their godchild is supposed to be silvery not golden..." said Severus.
"Yes, Headmaster, would you inform us too, if you were to discover what happened today with Harry?" said Lupin.
" I certainly will my dears, I certainly will. Now, however, duty calls, I'm afraid." said Dumbledore standing up.
"I need to return to Hogwarts."
"Yes, Headmaster, we understand." answered Sirius. "It was great having you over! Feel free to pop in when you like!"
" Ah, Sirius, I most surely will; in the meantime, try not to get up to too much mischief"
The Marauder only grinned in response.
"...or I will have to send Minerva to check on you" finished Dumbledore, smiling.
Sirius could only emit a chocked sound before Remus started howling with laughter. A few seconds after, even Severus snorted before beginning to laugh. The Potion Master was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face, and his whole body was shaking. Sirius could only gape more, while Remus, after he recovered from the shock, just started to laugh harder at the look on Padfoot's face.
"Now, I must really take my leave. Take care, boys" said Dumbledore. He opened the door, winked at Harry, and disappeared in the night.
"Ah, Headmaster! Wait for me!" said Severus, who stood up, after he had wiped his tears. He didn't want to stay longer than necessary with those two. The Headmaster, however, was long gone, and Severus' call went unheard by its intended target. Lupin and Black unfortunately did hear him.
"Why, Severus? Are you so eager to be rid of us?" said Remus with a light grin, that indicated he was teasing. "Yes, Severus, have we been bad hosts? Is that why you want to go?" continued Sirius, with a slightly pout.
"Errr... yes. I mean no! I mean..." Severus was now standing awkwardly at the centre of the living room, while the two Marauders were circling him.
"If we've been bad hosts we apologize...It wasn't our intention to offend you" said Lupin with a toothy, and vaguely wolfish, smile. "Yeah, Snape... You should really stay with us tonight" added Sirius.
"After all, the new Godfather spends the first night of his newfound role with his Godchild...And we wouldn't want to break the tradition, would we?" asked Sirius with his best sad puppy-eyed expression.
"N-no!...I mean yes! I mean..." Now Severus was thoroughly confused. What game were they playing at? Was he being threatened? And if so, why hadn't they tortured him before, when he had given them the possibility? Severus clutched his wand more tightly.
"Oh, look at that Padfoot! We're scaring him!" said Lupin, who had noticed Severus' movements. "But we just want to play, don't we, Moony?" Said Sirius.
"Of course, Pads" The pair continued to circle him, like a pack of wolves might do with their prey.
"Hmm...Hey, Snape, what if I give Lupin my wand? Will you stay then?" asked Sirius, with a slightly more friendly smile.
What the hell was going on? Black was being polite? Surely this must be a prank...Only one way to test that theory... "I guess I could stay..." started Severus.
Black whooped. Lupin smiled.
"...but only if you give your wand to me, Black." There. Surely Black would never surrender his wand to him. Not even for a prank...right?
"Hmmm...that's all right, then!" Black smiled and produced his wand, offering it to Severus handle first.
"Wait, what?" Severus looked at the wand, then at Black, then back at the wand that he was being given. He didn't understand.
"Why are you giving me your wand?" asked Severus. The whole thing was very suspicious.
"Because you asked, why else would I?" Now it was Sirius turn to be confused.
"So... you're not gonna prank me?"
"Hell no, Snape! If we wanted to prank you, we would have done it already!" answered Black. "To be fair, Sirius wanted to prank you before... you know... before you saved baby Prongs" said Lupin.
"Baby Prongs?" asked Severus. "Yeah that'd be Harry." Answered Lupin, while gazing softly at the child in question.
"Hey, Moony! You shouldn't have told him! Now he's going to think I've gone soft, just because he saved my Godson...!"
"Well, when Harry is concerned you are soft..." said Lupin.
"Hey! Don't listen to him, Snape. I'm very manly!" said Sirius waggling his eyebrows.
Severus coughed.
"...and quite furry" concluded Lupin with a chuckle.
"Ah ah. Very funny Moony."
"So, Snape, you staying or what? 'Cause I have to say, this position is mighty uncomfortable..." asked Sirius with his arm still extended in Snape's direction.
"Fine. I'm staying." said Severus before delicately taking Sirius' wand and pocketing it swiftly. He was praying this decision was the right one.
"Great!" said Lupin "I'd better prepare dinner in that case!" Lupin took Harry and placed him on the floor before conjuring a charmed snitch that would keep the toddler entertained for while. Of course the snitch was a bit bigger and softer than normal. It also moved much more slowly to allow the kid a chance to grab it.
"Pads don't scare him too much, otherwise Harry might have to with only one Godfather and guess what? It wouldn't be you..."
Sirius huffed. "Yeah, yeah, I get it Moony. I'll be a good boy. Now why don't you go and make dinner, like a good wife?" Severus coughed again.
Remus only said "You wish." Before he sent a stinging hex at Sirius and disappeared in the kitchen. Sirius yelped but didn't gave any other sing of having been hit.
"So...Snape..." Began Sirius, sitting on the couch. "Now that Moldyshorts..." Severus choked. "... is vanquished and all that shit, what are you gonna do?"
"Albus hired me to teach Potions at Hogwarts"
Sirius snorted. "You? Teach? Are you serious?"
"No, I'm Severus."
"..."
Suddenly the cottage became eerily silent.
"OH MY GOD. MOONY! DID YOU HEAR THAT?!"
"Yes, Sirius, I did." said Lupin, standing on the door that connected the living room to the kitchen.
"I request the initialization of protocol M31." Said Sirius excitedly.
"What is protocol M31?" Asked Severus.
"You are not qualified to know the answer." answered the two men in chorus.
"Moony?"
"Denied."
"But why?! Did you hear what he said?" whined Sirius.
"Yes, I did. However, a bad pun doesn't fulfill the requirements." Remus shrugged and went back to the kitchen.
"What requirements?" asked again Severus.
"The ones you must fulfill to become a Marauder, of course!"
"What?" spluttered Severus, collapsing on the couch on which Sirius was already seated.
Sirius, sensing his imminent explosion, sent a sound muffling spell Harry's way, so that the child would not get upset because of the sudden noise.
"Why the hell would I want to become a Marauder?!" bellowed Severus " And why the fuck would you want me to?!" That was the prank they had prepared! He had been right all along!
"Eh, easy Snape!" Sirius raised his hands in the universal sign of surrender. " I just thought, since you're Harry Godfather..."
"Go on..." said Severus, glaring at him. Lupin reappeared in the doorway. "Easy Pads, you're threading on thin ice now..."
"...errr" now it was Sirius' turn to squirm uncomfortably. "...that...uhm...you could...uhm..." Sirius was becoming increasingly embarrassed and wouldn't meet Severus' eyes. Remus sighed and came to his rescue.
"What Sirius meant was that, when Harry was born, the Marauders vowed to protect him with their lives, and, since you've already done that you fulfill one of the requirements to become a Marauder.
The others are, in order: that you must have the complete and utter trust of each Marauder; that in turn you must trust them completely; that you must be prepared to take one, or more, for the sake of the team; that you must help your fellow Marauders to... ahem... "score"; that you must be willing to help your fellow Marauders whenever and with whatever they might need; that you must refer to your fellow Marauders by their given nickname, when possible, and that you must have your chosen nickname; finally,there is something else which will remain secret fot the time being..."
"If the secret is that you're a werewolf, I already know." said Severus.
"Ehm, about that...I don't think I ever apologized... I was really an arse that day...I'm really sorry you had to go trough that, Snape" said Sirius passing a hand through his hairs.
"Well, you're still an arse..." Sirius sighed. "...but I suppose I can accept your apology" reluctantly admitted Severus. The smile Sirius gave him was blinding.
"It's not about my lycanthrophy, Severus, but we can't tell you until you agree to become a Marauder..."
"... if you want to, that is." Lupin hurried to add.
"I don't feel I can, at least for now..."
"Of course, we didn't want to pressure you or anything..." said Lupin " this dinner was just to get to know each other better."
"I know we apologized for how we treated you at school, but an apology isn't going to erase years of rivalry and hater, however stupid we were..." continued the werewolf.
"I appreciate your efforts." Said Severus stiffly.