Ch. 22: Harry Will Be So Proud

"You should probably go."

"I know," said the raspy voice of Oliver Wood. He sat up slowly, the wrinkled white sheet falling off his lightly tanned chest. "It's just that I'm not sure if I can move right now."

"Sorry," Remus said in a withered tone. "How is your back?"

Oliver shivered as he felt fingertips gently trace over the shallow fingernail marks criss-crossing his back. "It will heal."

"Sorry," Remus muttered again. "I didn't mean to… it's two days to the full moon. It wasn't a good idea for me to…"

"I wouldn't have come if I didn't think it was a good idea," Oliver said with a chuckle, sliding on his pants and rising from the bed. "It was a fairly good idea. I had a free weekend and you…"

"I tore you to pieces," Remus toned flatly. "I'm just frustrated. I'm…"

"Don't say 'sorry'. You feel a little better, right?"

Remus watched with glazed eyes as Oliver slowly dressed. "I can feel it creeping back in. For a while there I didn't feel anything and it felt good, but the wolf is coming back. I need Severus."

Oliver pulled on his trainers and tied them quickly. "I still don't understand why it's SNAPE. He's horrible. I hope he was better to you than he was to his students. I doubt it, seeing as I'm here and he's not."

Remus sat up slowly, pulling a dressing gown over his shoulders and climbing into some sleep trousers that had been discarded on the floor. "I don't blame him, I should have told him about Sirius, he didn't…"

"It shouldn't matter what relationships you have been in in the past," Oliver said with a hint of a snarl. "He's stupid to think that you were going to hold out until you found your mate. You shouldn't feel bad about having a life before him."

Remus padded over to the younger man and sighed. "I shouldn't, but I do. I wish that I didn't feel bad for being with Sirius, but I do."

Oliver stood back up and smiled weakly. "I don't know what to tell you. I don't know anything about love."

"So I hear from a certain Boy-Who-Lived," Remus said in a light tone. "He whined about you for ages."

Oliver rolled his eyes as he pulled open the bedroom door. "Yeah, until he shacked up with that…"

"With what, Wood?" Came a low, sneering voice from the doorway where Draco Malfoy was leaning against the door frame. "What am I, exactly?"

Oliver's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the obviously angry Slytherin. "W… were you eavesdropping, Malfoy?"

Draco arched an eyebrow and slowly uncrossed his arms. "I was on my way to the library, heard Harry's name, and decided to see what was going on, if it's all the same," Draco said, holding out his cane and pressing the end squarely on Oliver's chest.

Oliver held his ground. "It's not, actually," he said, eyeing Malfoy darkly despite the fact that he couldn't be seen. "I don't appreciate you listening in to our private conversations."

"Oliver, he was just…" Remus started, stepping forward just as Draco did the same.

"I don't appreciate you talking about Harry and I to the insane werewolf," Draco snarled, moving closer to Oliver and letting his cane fall back to the floor. "And I would like to know what I am, if you don't mind. You were interrupted."

Oliver's jaw muscled rippled as he clenched and unclenched his teeth. "You're an arrogant, snivelling, narcissistic, HANDICAPPED excuse for a boy. Is that what you were asking?"

"I don't think…" Remus began, but gave up. He knew that whatever he had to say would fall of deaf ears.

Draco smirked, taking one last step forward. "That was exactly what I was asking, thanks," he said in a chilling tone. "I do have to say, though, that I believe I inherited my narcissism from my mother."

"That's probably all you'll inherit," Oliver hissed. "I hear you've been disowned. No one wants you Malfoy, you need to realize that."

Draco tilted his head slightly and lifted a hand, sliding his fingertips from Oliver's hairline, down his nose, and finally resting on his lips. "What the fuck are you doing?" Oliver said, astounded.

Draco shrugged and said, "This," as he landed a firm punch on Oliver's mouth before backing away and snarling, "Don't you EVER talk about Harry again. You don't even deserve to say his name."

Remus' eyes widened as he watched Oliver bleed into his hand. "Draco, I don't think that was…"

"And YOU! What the bloody hell were you thinking? Harry's right when he said you've gone mental. WEASLEY is saner than you! Severus will come back eventually, he just has a flair for dramatics. He would leave you alone when you go all wolfy in two days! You are completely WONKY! I'm going to get the bloody door, because it happens to be ringing."

He took a deep breath and started again. "You get that bleeding wanker, in more than one way, I believe, out of this bloody house before anyone sees him. And, let me make it perfectly clear that he won't be coming back. Understood?"

Remus handed a handkerchief to Oliver and said, "Understood. Come on Oliver, I'll take you to the door."

"He's NOT going out that way," Draco insisted. "There is someone at the door and he'll be seen."

"It's probably Dumbledore," Remus said slowly. "He's the only other person besides Oliver who comes and goes through the front door. I'm sure it will be fine, that old man's overdue for a visit anyway. Come on Oliver, you should go."

Remus went to grab his arm but he jerked it away, muttering, "I can bloody walk on my own, thanks."

Remus rolled his eyes and instead positioned himself between Oliver and Draco, who were both still silently fuming and, in Oliver's case, bleeding.

Draco pressed on in the lead, whereas Remus slowed down, pulling Oliver into a pool of light to examine his busted and bleeding lip, cradling his face in his hands.

The tinkling of the doorbell sounded again, and Draco pulled open the door, fancying that he had the ability to guess who was at the door. "Professor Dumbledore?"

"I should hope not," came the oily voice of Severus Snape. "Unless I'm sorely mistaken."

"Shit," Draco said softly. "R… Remus, it's…"

"Coming," came Remus soft voice and he appeared from the hallway, dragging the still bleeding Oliver along with him. "Professor Dumbledore, I was st… oh… S… Severus."

Severus' face remained oddly impassive. He averted his eyes to the floor and said, "I've brought the fresh batch of potions for Draco and… and your Wolfsbane. R… remember to take it tomorrow morning, tomorrow night, and…"

"And the morning after," Remus finished breathlessly. "I remember."

"I'm just going to…" Oliver said thickly, wiping a bit of blood off his chin. "I'll see you later, Remus."

Remus nodded once and Oliver disappeared into the house, but not before sending one last glare at Draco.

Severus bent slowly and set down the black leather bag that Remus assumed contained all of the aforementioned potions. "They are all in there, labelled, so… I should…"

Remus crossed his arms. "I… I don't want you to go. Please don't go."

A weary sigh escaped the Potions Master's lips. "Remus, I don't think…"

"Please," Remus said again in a tone that suggested extreme pain. "I'm sorry."

"Don't ever be sorry," Severus said dryly. "I should be the one to apologize. I overreacted entirely. I should have never reacted the way I did. I… I didn't think that you would want me back after…"

"You're damn right you overreacted!" Draco exclaimed, tapping his cane on the ground for emphasis. "I'm sure you swirled around and pouted. You always do that."

Remus smiled and Severus looked completely annoyed. "Silence from you, Draco. And… this thing with Wood, it was because you had no other alternative. It was… that… or hurt yourself?"

Remus nodded slowly, not looking at Severus.

"He should have hurt himself, Wood is an arse," Draco muttered darkly. He got neither acknowledgement nor a response.

"It won't happen again?" Severus said pointedly.

Once again, Remus nodded.

"And you'll stop acting totally insane?" Draco added.

Remus smirked and nodded.

"I'll stay."

As suddenly as Remus' soul had been ripped apart it was back together again, and he launched himself onto Severus. Draco was mercifully glad and the teensiest bit annoyed that he didn't have eyesight.

"I'll just… go talk to Harry and tell him the… good news."

"That I'm back?" Severus said questioningly, wrapping an arm around Remus as the caramel-haired man burrowed his face into his chest.

"Of course not," Draco said with a snort. "That I punched Oliver Wood right in the face. I made him bleed. Harry will be so proud."

Thanks to brionyjae for the beta!