a/n: Afternoon all, new chapter with some more drama. Enjoy.
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Remus practically glided back into the kitchen. Sirius watched him pass from the corner of his eye and fought down a gag as Snape whooshed through and banged out of the house without so much as a glare.
"You alright, Sirius?"
"Eh?" Black swung his head around and blinked at Harry. The youth smiled a little and nudged his glasses up his nose.
"You look a little sick…"
"Fine," Sirius shook his head and motioned back to the open books across the table.
Remus leaned in past Sirius' shoulder, the hard line of his chest pressed against Sirius' back. The animagus found it oddly difficult to breath properly for a moment.
"What are you two looking at anyway?" Remus rasped.
"Old photos of Hogwarts," Ron grinned, pointing out another photo of James Potter.
"Oh, lovely," Lupin muttered, still leaning across Sirius.
Black rolled his head and glanced up at Remus, he could just see the line of flush at the wolf's collar, and couldn't help a slow, creeping grin.
Grabbing a nearby book, Sirius thumbed through it and paused. "Here, Moony, isn't that prefect badge shiny on your breast pocket?"
Remus chuffed out a laugh—a husk of knowing roughening the edge—as he leaned down to look better. Sirius could feel the steady thump of Lupin's heart against his back and subtly leaned back.
The boys on the opposite side of the table were oblivious to the mild flirtation, Remus certainly was not. Whisky voice low and scratching, warm palm on one shoulder, hard, lean line of torso pressed against the other; Sirius had to resist the temptation of rubbing the side of his face against Remus' arm.
"I'm not surprised," chirruped Hermione, passing behind and into the kitchen with Molly in tow.
Startled, Remus and Sirius jumped apart like they had been caught at something far naughtier. Remus flushed deeply and excused himself to the pantry, making a show of looking through several biscuit tins.
Molly gave them both a curious look but did not seem to know what was happening.
"Arthur and Bill should be stopping by for dinner," She smiled happily and hummed her way to the sink of pans.
Remus popped out of the pantry with a tin in either hand and half a chocolate cookie dangling from his lips. "Bill? When did he come back?"
"Two nights ago," Ron replied offhandedly, still chittering away with Harry over the old Hogwart's book.
Molly rolled her eyes but nodded confirmation. "He's looking into some charms for Gringotts. Terribly boring stuff, he claims. I'm just glad to see him back for a visit." She smiled over her shoulder and roughly wiped her hands on her apron.
"Honestly Remus," She chastised gently, walking quickly toward him and tugging the biscuit from his lips. "For the state you're in, you should be eating far better than half a sleeve of cookies."
She plucked the cookies from his hands and steered him back toward the table.
Remus smiled and sat down where she pointed. Sirius smiled back and slithered his long legs toward the far chair, locking his ankles and drawing Remus closer by inches. The lycan squeaked as the chair jerked forward and scowled at Sirius as the animagus laughed heartily.
The children laughed too, though unsure of what was so funny.
"I'll be glad to see them," Remus muttered, not so subtly changing the topic of his poor eating habits. "For now, I think I should have a lie down."
Harry glanced up in worry, not so subtly searching his ex-professor's face.
"I'm fine," Remus assured, attempting to stand and glowering at Sirius as the animagus tried his best to keep him tucked to the table.
Sirius grinned, not the least bit put off.
Remus smirked suddenly, and it was so like Snape that Sirius felt a thrill of excitement in his stomach with an equal flush of nausea. Before he had time to narrow his eyes in suspicion, a heeled shoe pressed solidly into his groin. He tried to covertly slide his chair backward out of Lupin's reach, but the wolf had leaned forward in his shock and gripped the arm of his chair tightly.
"I don't remember this, Sirius… perhaps you can refresh my memory." Remus cocked his head to the right and smiled with complete innocence.
"Moony…" Sirius croaked, trying to swallow with his dry mouth.
"Wow!" Ron leaned across the table. The Hogwart's yearbook spread open to a page of collages. "What is it Sirius?"
The animagus struggled to look down at it for more than a second, whenever his gaze strayed from Remus, the wolf would press his toes in and turn his foot just so.
"Go on," Remus laughed lightly, "the children are curious too…"
There was a challenge written on Remus' face, a hard edge to his smile and an amber glint in his gaze that made the tightening of his pants harder to bear. Drawing a steadying breath, Sirius set his jaw and turned his face down.
Immediately the press of foot to crotch found new depth. Sirius had to suffer a moment of silence and pretend he was in deep thought before he could find enough breath to speak.
"Those were taken when we won the House Cup our fifth year." He paused to cough and clear his throat. Remus made an 'Oh' or remembrance and leaned further into the table, devious foot sliding to the floor while the hand at the chair's arm slid unseen into Sirius' lap. Five sets of eyes were trained on the jovial photos… while one set squeezed shut.
"Is that James there in that dog-pile of Gryffindors?" Remus pointed at a photo with one hand, while the other tapped a staccato rhythm against the zip of Sirius' jeans.
Sirius tried to plead mercy with his gaze. Remus was leaning on his free hand, chin in his palm and eyes narrowed in grinning amusement. "You were seeing that Ravenclaw girl at the time weren't you Pads?"
"I don't remember." Sirius breathed, sliding his hand from the table. "I think there's more on the next page." He pushed the book toward the boys who greedily lept on it and turned pages with vigor.
Sirius attempted to grab hold of Remus hand, but strong fingers enveloped his first and pinned it tight to against his crotch. The animagus scowled and shifted in his seat but couldn't escape the heat and grip of the wolf.
"I think I'll pop up to bed now," Remus said lightly, fingers flexing against the seam of his jeans. "Enjoy your visit." He turned to the rest of the room, "If you'll all excuse me."
"Have a good rest, Remus," Molly smiled, "There'll be dinner left here for you when you get up."
"Thank you." Remus nodded, running his thumbnail along the length of the bulge in Sirius' jeans before he stood and escaped up the stairs.
Sirius grunted, glaring at Remus' retreating back. He would have to do some serious man-handling to that wolf at a later time for some nasty payback… preferably when Tonks and Kingsley stopped by again.
"Sirius?"
"Yea, Harry," the animagus blinked and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The youth gave him a curious look and started to speak but Sirius stood and rushed from the room before he could say anything. "Just a sec…"
Ron and Harry shared a shrug and dove back into Hogwarts's history while one escaped convict bit his thumb to stifle a growl from the bathroom down the hall.
…oOo…
As the afternoon wore on, the children wound up in the den – thanks to Hermione's insistence – to work on their Transfiguration homework. Molly was just setting the windows scrubbing as Sirius mused, idly flipping through the yearbook in front of him.
"Molly," he paused, running his thumb across one eyebrow, wincing as he rubbed against a bruise. The Weasley matriarch turned her attention and leaned interestedly against the counter when Sirius placed a silencing charm on the doorway.
"Yeeees, Sirius?" She smiled politely and sat opposite him, waving a tin of cookies from the cabinet.
"What did you mean earlier?" Sirius waved a hand irritably to fill the space in the question.
Molly thought a moment, mouth forming an 'o' of recollection. "You mean about you… and Severus?"
Sirus made a face and frowned at the open book. Several pictures were laughing and grinning at each other. He scowled and slammed the book shut in retaliation.
"Would you believe woman's intuition?" Molly grinned and waved him off. "Alright, let me think a moment…"
Two cookies and half a cup of cold coffee later, Molly leaned back in her seat and fixed Sirius with a steady gaze. "Sirius, when you sat here, face dripping," she allowed herself a small giggle, "we had been talking about Remus and Severus. But you got a nervous, twitchy, excited sort of look on your face. Sort of like the time Ron did his first side-long apparition with his father… Now, I've seen my share of love-lorn looks, and yours wasn't as blatant as some, but it was the look of a man who had come to some sort of realization—even if you weren't consciously aware of it."
"But that doesn't say it was about Snape. Why couldn't it have been about Moony?" Sirius stole a cookie from the tin, breaking it into crumbles.
"Oh Sirius," Molly sighed softly and rested a hand over his, stilling the cookie massacre and getting the man's full attention. "When have you ever been shy and uncertain about Remus? He is one of your oldest and dearest friends. You think of his feelings—most of the time—before you act, but you have always, always been frank with him. Besides, man, you practically danced up those basement stairs not long ago with Remus's hand clutched in yours."
Sirius smiled briefly. "I'd nearly forgotten about that."
"So it had to be Severus," Molly continued quietly. "Because there has never been anything easy between the two of you. Since you were both children you've fought tooth and nail—most of the stories I've heard from you, mind."
"So why now? Why him?" Sirius flinched and looked over his shoulder as one of the children ambled past, Ron on his way to the bathroom.
Molly shrugged her round shoulders and warmed her coffee with the tip of her wand. "Who knows for certain? You've been working along side him to help with Remus, perhaps now you've had the time to see the good in Severus… the good he'd be for Remus. I've been defending Severus to you for years, Sirius, and it's been sliding through your pretty little head and back out the other side. Now, it's all been shoved under your nose, day in and day out. Even that thick skull of yours can't protect itself from that much onslaught."
Sirius rolled his eyes and bit a cookie in half. He glanced over his shoulder as Ron went back by again and gingerly touched his left eye as it twanged. "So, what do I do about it?"
"Well now…" Molly idly curled a loose lock of hair around her fingers, sipping her coffee and staring past Sirius' shoulder. "I do believe the first step would be talking about it with Remus. He cares deeply for the both of you and his input would be helpful."
Sirius felt a rush of pink to his face in the prickle of heat in his cheeks. He cleared his throat and played with a bunch of his own hair. "The thing is Mol, Moony… he, uh… If he had his way, he wouldn't break us apart."
"Well then, you wouldn't have to worry about hurting your friendship then."
"No, you don't quite— he'd want us together," Sirius leaned across the table and lowered his voice, "all of us… together."
Molly looked confused at first with her brow deeply furrowed before her eyes widened. "Ooh! You mean, you and Severus… and Remus…"
"Yeah," Sirius nodded. "Are you suitably horrified?" He grinned. It was rare to catch Molly so off-guard.
"Not horrified," Molly chastised lightly, "but certainly surprised. I… how… does Severus realize all this?"
"I don't truthfully know," Sirius bit his cookie again and sighed, blowing crumbs across the table.
Molly scowled and brushed the shared mess from the tabletop. She stood and took her mug to the sink. "Well then, I believe you have some thinking to do. Can you make a relationship work with either of them apart? Then, think if you can do the same with them together. Love is complicated enough without adding another."
Sirius nodded and rested his forehead against the table. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing…"
Molly paused on the way out, bending to press a kiss to Sirius' head. "Welcome to the world of love, my dear." She patted his shoulder and crossed the hall to check on the children.
…oOo…
When Remus woke from his slumber, the house was quiet again. Molly and the children had long since gone and left a plate of dinner for him in the oven. The sky was dusky dark, but not yet reached the peak of the night hours. Sirius was no where to be seen.
Remus paused to grin around his fork. Sirius was sure to be planning something evil as payback for that afternoon. Remus could hardly wait… though he was sure others would be involved and he'd be red as a beet for most of it.
It would be worth it however. He wasn't sure exactly what had come over him, though the growing reality of being in a sandwich with two raven haired men certainly had helped.
Sirius really shouldn't have been that surprised. Remus was one of the Marauder's for a reason, after all.
It was too quiet in the house. The clock in the den ticked loudly across the first floor, practically chipping away at the walls of Remus' sanity. The meal was delicious, though with thoughts of the evenings coming events dropping his appetite until what little food he'd eaten sat like a stone.
The muscles and boney structure of Remus jaw tingled as the memory of last night's transformation irked him. Severus said he would return tonight, but only after nine… what the man had to do was beyond Remus, though he could scarily imagine it had to do with a dark forbidding circle of robed wizards and dark hexes.
It seems so much had happened over the span of a day. Leaps and bounds of distance had been crossed between the three of them. They had touched, kissed, shown affection… and those parts Remus had been a part of, he could only guess at what Severus and Sirius had done alone. Okay, so affection might have been a stretch.
The thought brought a brief smile to his face and quashed the anguished dread that rolled about in his head like a tumbleweed.
The clock chimed softly and stirred the thoughts up and shook them away—leaves scattered across a breeze. Remus frowned softly at the plate of cold food. Perhaps now was a good a time as any. Eight o'clock… how utterly fantastic.
He put away the remains of his dinner–too much to throw away—and pretended he wasn't doing it to stall for time. The table was bare and sterile, the dull ticking looming back in until Remus wished that Sirius would come hobbling in to break the tension.
"Enough of this," Lupin whispered, voice seeming too loud in the quiet.
He pictured the scene of the night prior and felt a phantom weight of Snape's hand on his shoulder, imagining the soft, empowering glow of Sirius' blue gaze and tried to center himself.
Deep breath in…
Deep breath out…
A soft stir of magic curled in his stomach, the stirrings of the wolf. Remus could practically smell the earthy musk of the wolf's scent and his blood rushed loudly through his ears as his heart pounded harsh inside his ribcage.
Panicked breath in…
Shaking breath out…
Remus tried to focus on his hands, forearms, toes, anything to transform and quickly. The magic that swirled heavy in his stomach didn't feel like it had before. There was menace to it, a dark current of cold water in a rising tide. It swallowed up his organs, freezing his insides until Remus began to recognize it for what it truly was.
It had been a long span of time—thank Severus and all those who worked on the Wolfsbane potion—since he had felt the darkness that clutched the edges of his vision. Somewhere in his mind, he felt his baser instincts vying for control of his conscious thoughts. He wanted to eat, to fuck, to taste blood.
Panic. Full-blown panic.
Cold sweat soaked through Remus' shirt and he tried to grasp hold of the magic and push it back down, to quell it and keep it locked away. Dark thoughts pushed through his mind, hunting down Sirius, bearing down on him and biting through his shoulder. The pinch of muscle would jump across his tongue until it was severed, hot and thick across his taste buds.
"No," Remus screwed his eyes shut, pushing the heels of his hands into the sockets until stars glared bright behind his eyelids.
The magic pushed, heavy against his soft skin. With eyes wide in horror, Remus stared down at himself and saw the start of transformation twitch his muscles. Part of him lurched in sick satisfaction, the rational side of his mind wanted to vomit.
"Sirius!" Remus barked, willing the beast away, it wasn't the full moon, it wasn't!
"SIRIUS!"
Remus bit his tongue as a howl threatened to rip from his throat and he caught a fleeting moment of relief at the panicked scrabbling from the upper floors that signaled Sirius' flight to his aid.
The muscle along his forearm bulged in grotesque height. Remus clawed at it, trying to force it down or tear it out, whatever had to happen to stop this Hell.
"Moony, what's wrong?" Sirius came to a skidding stop in the kitchen, ricocheting off of the door jam and practically spilling across the table to hold down Remus' arm.
"I did it wrong!" Remus shrieked, eyes hot with panic.
"What is it? Did what wrong?" Sirius tried his best to be calm and Remus focused on a large dust bunny that clung to the side of Sirius' head and felt a vague part of his mind wonder what he had been under to fetch it.
"Transforming! It hurts…" Remus gasped out, fingers clawing into the tabletop. He felt a nail crack deep into the quick and nearly sobbed at the small spark of relief it caused. "It's not the same, Pads… gods, what do I do?"
"I-I don't know!" Sirius watched Remus' face pale and the muscles in his friends face jumped, nervous ticks and twitches. The bone beneath his hands stretched, snapping cartilage and sinew. Remus bit his lip clean through and groaned deeply.
"Hang on, Remus," Sirius said sternly, sprinting across the hall to the den and throwing a fistful of floo powder into the dull fire. "Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Severus Snape's quarters!"
The fire flared high in stark green. Sirius thrust his head through the grate and howled into the room. "Severus?!" Nothing came back but his panicked voice. A small portrait over the hearth stirred and frowned, seeing nothing within the room. "Snape!"
Sirius withdrew from the flames, covered to the shoulders in soot and yanked at his hair in panic. He thrust back through and spoke in much less of a shriek. "Dobby!"
A second later a crack presented a curious house-elf looking around the empty room for the man who summoned him.
"Dobby!" Sirius barked, startling the poor elf so that he tripped over his pillowcase. "Dobby, please, you must tell Snape to come straight away!"
Dobby wrung his hands together, "Must tell Professor Snape, what, sir?"
Sirius thought quickly, "It's an emergency! Tell him… tell him something lupine has gotten loose." Sirius barked. He didn't wait for a response and withdrew from the flames again.
"Snape's out, Remus, what do you want me to do?"
Sirius ran though to the kitchen and felt his heart ram into his throat.
Blood smeared across Remus' face, pooling across the tabletop and ran in rivulets to the floor where it gathered in puddles nearly black. The lycan had his fingers curled into claws, digging the flesh from his bones in great hacking swings. The muscle of his forearm was beginning to shred and long deep gouges ran across his neck and part of his chest.
"What are you doing?" Sirius choked, unable to step further in at the look of raw hunger and horror that filled his friend's face.
"It wants you, Sirius," Remus gasped, digging his fingers deep into the tissue and growling. "I can't let it have you."
"Calm down, Moony," the animagus breathed, throat clenching against the bile that rose in his throat. He stepped into the room, skidding in a puddle of blood and caught his balance on the side of Remus' chair.
"Please don't touch me, Sirius," Remus whispered brokenly, tears suddenly bursting free and trailing down his face.
Fighting the urge to bolt, Sirius wrapped his arms tight around Remus chest and felt a dark boiling heat beneath his friend's skin.
Remus lurched in his hold, spinning away and knocking the chair to the floor. "Get out," he croaked, honey eyes glinting amber.
Sirius felt his knees buckle and couldn't stop himself from falling, even as he landed in a slick and felt the cold, thick wet of Remus' blood seeping into his jeans.
The fire in the den flared with a sudden and brilliant emerald that made both of their eyes sting.
"Remus?! Sirius?!" The loud, thundering baritone of Severus Snape crashed down on them like a fist through glass.
"Here!" Sirius practically sobbed out. Relief coated him to his toes and Snape streaked through the doorway, wand in hand and eyes two black coals on fire.
"Sirius—" the potions master gagged, eyes flickering between the two blood covered occupants of the kitchen.
"It's not mine," Sirius whispered, hauling himself painfully to his feet. "It's not mine," he repeated louder, clamping his arms tight around Remus as the lycan dug his fingers deep into his abused flesh again.
"You're lucky I'm early," Severus muttered, sounding far more put together than he looked. His hands shook as he pried Remus' hand away from the gaping tissue. Remus sagged and only Sirius' hold kept him upright.
"I'm sorry, Severus," Remus murmured.
"Shut up, Remus," the darker wizard frowned, voice flat. A short vial was plucked from one of the deep pockets of Severus' robes, the seal broken and shoved to Remus lips. "Swallow. Slowly…"
Remus obeyed, fingers curling and unfurling. The muscles along his neck and chest twitched, bunched and shifted silently beneath his skin. His eyes widened in panic as sleep and darkness pulled at him. "Sev'r's—"
"It's alright," Severus muttered, hands shaking as he set the empty vial on the table and wiped the blood from Remus' chin with the heel of one hand. "…alright."
He pulled a chair over and motioned toward it. Sirius slid Remus into it, keeping firm hold of the man as he slumped over.
Muttered words and wand flicks sent a smattering of vials and linens into the kitchen. Snape carefully took the ruined forearm in his hands and sneered. Several soft incantations, two drizzled potions and a wad of wrapped gauze left the arm mummified and bound, healing very slowly. Remus was practically catatonic, staring down at the work without so much as a whimper.
"I don't know what happened," Sirius interrupted the silence, wincing at how loud his voice was even to himself.
"Save it," Snape held up a hand, turning Remus' bruised face in his hands. He applied salve to the blackening marks and ran a healing finger across the bitten lip.
Sirius felt a hot boiling anger in his stomach. "I didn't do anything!"
"I know," Severus answered solemnly. Sirius waited for the barb but none came. Snape turned his steady gaze to him, no accusation, to regret, no anything to read there.
"Help me get him to bed," Snape said softly, gently levitating Remus. Sirius steered them upstairs, a hand on the unmarred part of Remus' chest, the other beneath his head.
Remus barely blinked as they stripped him and swaddled him in loose-fit pajamas and blankets.
"Pads?" He murmured, voice slurred. The muscles of his body had ceased to fight and it seemed that the dark part of his magic had wound itself back to hibernate. Sirius paused to smile weakly and transformed in an instant, curling his large fuzzy body tight against Remus' side. A twitch of Remus lips showed his pleasure at the accommodation and Snape didn't have the heart to make the filthy dog get down.
"Go to sleep," he told them both. Remus tried to grasp hold of Snape's hand but didn't have the power in him to do more than twitch his fingers.
Severus paused though and searched his face with dark, unreadable eyes. He sat silently in the nearby chair and drew it close, fingers curling around Remus'.
Feeling warm and comforted, Remus could hardly remember the panic of dark magic and drifted into a fogged sleep.
It was only Sirius who noticed when Severus grimaced and stood to leave minutes later.