Chapter 6: A Nighttime Stroll
"What do you mean you're not going through with it?" Sirius bellowed.
James and Peter looked up from their game of Exploding Snap just as it went off in the cubby boy's face. They laughed and began to set it up once again.
Sirius turned his annoyance back on Remus. "You ask me, no, beg me to ask Snape to meet his secret admirer tonight and, Merlin help me, I did it! I sounded like a bloody idiot in front of him! You should have seen the way he looked at me. Like I was a troll or something. Do you know how hard it is to convince him that him that I'm not a complete dunderhead? And now I may as well have a big, spiky T written across my forehead."
Remus retreated further into his four-poster bed. "I know and I'm really, really sorry, Pad, but I just can't go. He'll think I'm such a fool. Please, you can tell him that I'm sorry, but don't let him know that it was me. He'll never want to speak to me again."
"I may never want to speak to you again!" Sirius hissed.
It had been three days since the fiasco at the Three Broomsticks and Sirius still could not get the image of Severus and Diggory walking back to the castle together. He had served the first detention on Monday evening with the Slytherin, and although Severus had said nothing he was obviously in a more jovial mood. Or at least he wasn't being as great of his snarky self as usual. It made Sirius wish more than ever that he were back on the Quidditch team so that Dunstran Diggory would be sure to meet with a rogue bludger at the match. Accidentally, of course.
"Are you a Gryffindor or not?" said Sirius. "Where's that legendary courage the Sorting Hat thought you had enough of to earn a place in this House?" He sat down next to his friend and slapped him on the knee. "You've spent months pouting over this guy, and now that you finally have your big moment you're planning to do a runner? That's bollocks."
"Look at me!" Remus cried. "Hand me down robes, not even the second hand kind, and scars all over my face and body! And every time he gets close to me I trip or set something on fire. What could he possibly see in me?"
"Exactly what the rest of us do, mate. A great guy worth knowing. Give him a change. Snape's not as thick as I once thought. He… well, he has a way of surprising you."
"Then there's Diggory." That same dark burning crept into Remus' eyes making them glow gold. His hair bristled and his teeth looked much sharper than they were a moment ago. "They're probably together right now… meeting up in some secluded corridor, embracing… snogging…. I want to bite him! I-I want to tear into him, to hurt!"
Sirius was looking uncomfortable, especially since he didn't know which him Remus was talking about. But now he was cursed with the image of Severus in the said deserted corridor kissing Diggory, which, unbidden, transformed into himself kissing Severus instead. Remus shifted and he was forced to abandon his guilty daydream.
"Do you think Severus likes him back?" Remus asked.
"What? Oh… er…."
"Exactly! Diggory can have any bloke in school he wants like that." He snapped his fingers for emphasis. "What chance does a freak like me have? And the full moon's on the way."
"Not for a while yet. You're still fine, Moony. Go down there tonight. Talk to him. Take him for a walk by the lake. Anything would be better than this not knowing. If he says no, well then, we tried. Go put on your best lip gloss and—" He received a pillow straight in the conk.
A half hour more of convincing wasted, and Sirius cursed as he made his way down through the corridors under James' invisibility cloak. He used the Marauders Map to steer clear of the patrolling prefects and any professors in the corridors. A tiny blip marked "Severus Snape" was pacing in the courtyard. Sirius darted down the spiral staircase and made his way around the Great Hall until he slipped out the less used servant's entrance.
From there could see Snape waiting in the far side of the yard. The moonlight made his dark hair shine and his pale skin glow even brighter. The Slytherin looked so much like a fallen angel that Sirius felt his breath hitch in his chest. How had he never noticed how handsome the other boy was?
Snape was probably creaming his robes thinking that pretty-boy Diggory was going to show up any moment, Sirius told himself. The two of them would probably chat about magical theories and books all night, and Snape would be enthralled by a worthy conversation with his intellectual equal. And how Diggory would thrill at the feel of Severus' soft hair in his Quidditch-toughened hands. Which he ought to thank him, Sirius, for actually. He hadn't bothered to notice Severus before the makeover. No one had. Perhaps Severus had had a point about vain fools who thought that looks were everything.
It pained him to think that Severus wanted someone else, Diggory, or Tiberius, or even bloody Cresswell! He'd prefer it was Remus, who had actually liked Severus from the start. And yet—
Sirius frowned. What a bitter pill it was to realize that he was crushing on his best friend's crush. Anger prickling the edges of his chest, he took the cloak off.
Snape suddenly noticed the figure that seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Black," he said.
"Snape," Sirius answered and walked over to the Slytherin. "Listen, the reason why I'm here right now is to tell you that your secret admirer can't make it tonight." It came out harsher than he had intended.
"Is that so?" Snape closed the final few steps between them. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow insolently. "Isn't that a pity?"
"Yeah." Snape was a bit taller than he was and so close now that Sirius could feel the heat from the other boy's body. Sirius found he was shivering but not from the cold. "Uh, he wanted to be here, but something suddenly came up and…. Well, better luck next time, right? I'll just be going then."
"Black," Snape cut him off. "What's got your wand in a knot?"
"Maybe you should ask ol' Diggory!" Sirius spat. Had he really said it out loud?
"What does he have to do with this?"
"You know bloody well what he has to do with this!"
"If I wanted to have a discussion with a babbling idiot, Black, I could have chosen nearly anyone from Gryffindor. Do you think there's anyway for you to tell me what's wrong without you pitching a fit like a pre-pubescent girl?"
Sirius rounded on him. "How long can you go on insulting me?"
"How long have you got?" Severus smirked.
Sirius grabbed hold of the other boy's arm. "I ought to pound you! It's all your fault anyway!"
"What is?"
"If you don't know, I'm not telling."
Severus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you don't sound like a pre-pubescent girl at all. Fascinating, as it is to witness your mind at work, it's also quite stupid. Black, you really are an idiot, and you're not going to trick me again." He pulled Sirius' head towards him and crushed their lips together.
Sirius was completely gob-smacked by the kiss at first. He wanted to protest, he wanted to think of his best friend Remus, but Snape's lips were warm and his hair soft in Sirius' hands. He moaned and parted his lips to the warm tongue seeking entrance. "Severus," he sighed, his arms wrapped around the boy and they kissed again. It was so right. So much better than any stupid daydream.
"Knew it was you," Severus whispered and smiled. "Small wonder you've been so difficult to figure out."
"You… you did? But how? I thought, after the other day, Diggory—"
"He's alright. Talks too much about Quidditch for me. Then there's been all your ridiculous behavior. Barking and strutting like a wild dog challenging a bear. Lucky you are not working for the Department of Mysteries; you'd practically sing your secrets for anyone to hear. England would be lost by the end of the week. I said you were an idiot. I didn't say that there wasn't a reason behind it. I began to suspect when you gave me those berries. If they had been from Dunstran you wouldn't have become so furious at the mention of his name. Then I was nearly convinced that I had been mistaken about you after that stunt in class. But you managed to surprise me again on Saturday."
"What was that?" Sirius dared to run his hands over Severus' back and was pleased to feel a shiver in response. "Was it that you were impressed by a man who was willing to purchase spider venom that costs 70 bloody galleons a pint for you?"
Severus shook his head. "No, it was in the Three Broomsticks when Potter was being such an ass. You took my hand."
"I-I did?"
"Under the table. You held my hand and suddenly I didn't care what Potter said."
"I didn't realize I had even done that. James was bang out of order. Hang on. If you didn't care about James then why did you go off with Diggory?"
"I thought you had noticed that I had a crush on you and had been making fun of me to your mates." He blushed. "I was a bit distraught, but you were so bleeding cowardly for a Gryffindor, I didn't know what to do. I figured that if I didn't make something happen it never would. You have no idea, Black. Sirius. No idea how long…."
The sound of his name inflamed Sirius like nothing he'd ever experienced before. He dove in for another kiss and was now grateful for how thin the material of Severus' coat was. He wrapped his fur cloak around them both as he moved to deepen the kiss.
They went for a stroll along the lake. They held hands, they talked, they teased one another, they kissed, and they sat under the dim moonlight and murmured words that made up for all their pointless bickering. Deep down Sirius knew he should be writhing with guilt, but he forced it away. He was too busy feeling happier than he could recall in his entire life.
xXx
It was nearly four in the morning when Sirius made it back to the tower. He had found it very difficult to say goodnight to Severus, but the Slytherin absolutely refused to miss his Arithmancy class. So after much snuggling Severus disappeared down into the Slytherin dungeons, only to reappear a moment later for a finale kiss goodnight. Several tries later and Sirius really did have to get back, with the promise to meet up that evening. He never thought the day would come when he, Sirius Black, would be looking forward to detention.
Sirius had managed to dodge Pringle, the caretaker, until he was standing just outside the portrait of a large woman in a pink taffeta dress.
"Back so late? Wicked boy," scolded the Fat Lady.
"Yes, and it's been a wonderful night!" Sirius exclaimed and gave her a peck on the mouth.
"Cheeky blighter!" she said, but he could see two spots of color on her face as she swung open.
Sirius crept into his room where he heard Peter's typical snoring. He yawned and kicked off his trainers.
"Pad?"
Sirius nearly jumped out of his skin. "Moony? That you? Merlin's balls! You nearly made me piss myself!"
"Sorry. Lumos." A faint ball of light appeared from Remus' wand tip.
"Have you been up all this time?"
"I couldn't sleep for worry. What happened? How did Severus take it?"
"Better than you might thing." Sirius hoped the faint light wouldn't pick up his crimson face.
"You didn't tell him about me, did you?"
"I swear to you, Moony, you're name never came up," he said in all honesty.
Remus sighed with relief and hugged Sirius tightly. "Thank you, Padfoot! You are the best friend a bloke could ever have! I think I'll be able to sleep now. G'night."
Sirius grunted and crawled into bed. He then berated himself horribly for betraying Moony, for lying to his friends, for going against his morals by falling for a Slythrein, and after all he'd done to separate himself from that side of his family, too. He wanted to hex himself with an Entrail-Expelling Curse, but frankly he didn't need the mess, or the reputation. Besides, he didn't know how to perform the spell anyway. He supposed Severus would know.
Once more he began to tell himself that he was the most worthless piece of slime, that he deserved to have red-hot iron shoes tied to his feet and that he would end up an unloved duffer like his uncle Alphard, old, alone and mad as a hatter.
Then he noticed that his cloak smelled of Severus and he lay there with the warm feel of those lips still ghosting across his own.
Sod the rest of it. Life was good.
xXx
A.N.: Anyone who knows The Brady Bunch will recognize Marsha's famous "something suddenly came up" line.
If you're not puking up marshmallow bunnies by now then you're made of stronger stuff than I thought. Beware! The fluff will not end yet, although obstacles are ahead for our Snack boys.