Chapter Nine – Discovering
Disclaimer: Nothing in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter belongs to me. Nothing. I think I'm going to cry now…
"Professor?" I asked, rifling through parchment on his desk.
"Hmm?" He responded, looking up from a first year's scraggly essay.
"Does anyone else know about your…er…"
"Lycanthropy," he said firmly. It was Wednesday night, around eight o'clock. I had meant to do work, but I brought a pile of books to Professor Lupin's office and took my customary position on top of his desk instead.
"Yes, your…lycanthropy," I sighed.
"All of the staff knows," he said, glancing up at me. "Many of them already knew because they were told when I was a student here. Some of the newer ones, however, weren't so pleased."
"You mean, they didn't like you being a…a…" I said, fumbling for the words.
"Werewolf."
"Werewolf," I repeated, the words feeling foreign on my lips.
"Precisely," he said. "Especially a certain black-haired Potions master."
"Snape," I murmured. "But he makes you the wolfsbane potion?"
"Begrudgingly," Lupin said, putting down the papers and leaning back in his chair. "Dumbledore asked him to, and he really couldn't say no, could he? But he was furious. Snape and I…we go far back. I was never mean to him, but I certainly didn't help him, either."
"What do you mean?" I asked, intrigued in this little bit of Lupin's past.
He began what sounded like an interesting story. "My parents thought I would never be able to go to Hogwarts because of my condition. When Dumbledore became headmaster before my first year and let me in, my parents were thrilled. I was happy, but I was afraid I would always be alone. I felt like no one would ever be able to connect with me. But then I met three other Gryffindors in my year, and we became inseparable. We called ourselves the Marauders. It was me, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, Harry Potter's father, and…Blake, can I tell you a secret?"
"Professor, nothing could possibly surprise me anymore," I said.
He chuckled and said, "Right. Well, the fourth member of the Marauders was Sirius Black." I gasped, but Lupin continued quickly. "We became very close, but I didn't tell them I was a werewolf. I was afraid they would desert me if they ever found out. I was barely in the group anyway. James and Sirius were handsome, charming, funny, not the best students, but incredibly witty and clever. Peter was…well, he was rather pathetic, and I think James and Sirius just took pity on him. But I…I was quiet and bookish. For some reason, they accepted me. Like I said, James and Sirius were very clever. Even though I told them my mother was sick and I had to go home to visit her, they tracked my absences. And they guessed. And they guessed correctly. But to my surprise, they didn't leave me…they wanted help me. They decided to become Animagi, Peter with help from the other two. If they were animals, I would feel less of a need to attack humans. Before they became Animagi, each full moon was terrible. I wasn't around anyone, so I bit and scratched myself to just get a taste of blood, a taste of flesh, even though it was my own."
"But where did you go?" I interrupted. "You couldn't stay in the castle, could you?"
"Well, you know the Shrieking Shack? It isn't as haunted as you think," he laughed bleakly. "And the secret entrance to the Shack, the Whomping Willow, was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. But when my friends could change – James into a stag, Sirius into a dog, and Peter into a rat – the full moon was something we could look forward to. We had some crazy nights, the only nights I was ever crazy. We would run wild in Hogsmeade. Looking back now, it scares me how careless I was, what could have happened. But we didn't care. We were young, and Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs just wanted to have some fun."
Lupin had a dreamy, far-off look in his eye, lost in his memories. Gazing at him, I could almost see the teenage werewolf in his now pale and tired face. I inched closer to him and breathed, "Wow. But, what does this have to do with Snape?"
"The Marauders were also notorious pranksters. Our favorite victim was a greasy and pallid Slytherin in our year: Severus Snivellus Snape. At first, I tried to get my friends to lay off him…I felt bad. But in my fourth year, Snape spread a rumor that I was…different. And not what you would think. He said I was…gosh, this is so embarrassing."
"It's okay," I cooed. "You can tell me."
Lupin blushed and said, "He said that I was in love with Sirius. You see, I never dated girls when I was at school, so Snape decided that I was gay."
I held back a giggle as Lupin got out of his chair and sat next to me on his desk. "I'm not gay," he whispered, and he softly kissed me.
"I can see that," I said, breathless.
"Anyway, after that incident, I stopped caring about Severus. I never actually took part in the pranking, but I didn't stop them, either. I eventually forgave Severus, but it was too late. One day, Sirius thought it would be funny to tell Severus that if he went to the Whomping Willow and froze it on a full moon, he would find something very interesting. James heard about Sirius's fool-hardy plan, and saved Severus's neck at the last second. And Severus hated us for it, but hated James the most, because he was now indebted to him. And that concludes the story of Severus Snape and the Marauders," he finished, smiling sheepishly.
I rested my head on his shoulder and said, "So Snape still hates you because of what happened when you were in school?"
"That," Lupin said, "and the fact that mass-murderer Sirius Black has escaped, and Snape thinks that I am going to try to help him in the school."
"What?!" I cried out, facing him. "How could he think that? You would never do that!"
"I know," he said, smiling, "but thank you confirming it." He leaned over and kissed me again. After a moment, I pulled back.
I reached up to his collar and loosened his tie. "You know," I said, "I've never been crazy, either."
He kissed me again, and then said, "I don't know. This seems pretty insane to me." We stared at each other for a moment, when his office door suddenly flung open.
"Lupin, I have a little matter to discuss with – " Speak of the devil. Professor Snape stood in the doorway, a look that was part shock and part smugness on his face.
"Oh, Professor," I said quickly, "I should probably go…"
"She still calls you 'Professor?'" Snape sneered. "Kinky, are we, Lupin?"
Lupin and I both gasped loudly. "Professor Snape!" I cried out. "What are you – "
"Oh, do shove it, Miss Knightly," Snape said, "I know all about you two."
"What the hell do you mean?" Lupin said sharply.
"You know, Lupin," Snape jeered, "I never thought you went for women. Now I know that you just go for those twenty years younger than you."
"Severus…" Lupin said, a note of warning in his voice.
"Why, Miss Knightly," Snape continued, ignoring Lupin, "Are your marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts so low that you had to sleep with your werewolf of a professor to pass?"
"SNAPE!" Lupin leaped off his desk, yelling furiously. "We're not…We never…! She's my ASSISTANT!"
"Oh? And what does she assist you with, Lupin?" Snape said coolly. "This is great. I couldn't get you fired for being a werewolf, but I could certainly get you fired for this!"
"Severus. Please, just listen to me," Lupin breathed in slowly. "I'll admit it, we are a bit closer that the normal professor and student, but we have never…we would never…I would never take an advantage of her! Please, Severus, you have to believe me. Nothing has happened. Nothing."
The two men stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. "I'll let it slide, for now, Lupin. Only because I have no proof. But just wait until I do. Just wait," Snape hissed. He turned on his heel and left the office, black robes billowing. Lupin slammed the door behind him.
He turned around slowly, red-faced and hair hanging in his face. "Blake. Blake. I'm so sorry."
"Don't be," I said, getting off the desk and walking up to him. "None of this is your fault. It's all mine. You could lose your job for this! And it will be all my fault."
"Shh, don't say that," he said, pulling me into a hug. He pressed my head towards his chest so I could hear his heart beating softly. "It is not your fault. Do you think any of this would have happened if I didn't want it to? If I still don't want it to? Blake, I've never felt this way about anyone. Not even Sirius Black." He laughed softly.
"But what about Snape?" I said.
"What about him? He doesn't matter. All that matters to me is you."
A/N: Hey, did everyone forget about me?! I must admit, I wasn't too happy about the lack of reviews for the last chapter, so pick it up, people! I'm sorry if this chapter seems a little boring because you know all of it, but Blake doesn't, and I thought it was necessary. Hopefully the end makes up for it. ; ) So, please review. Tell me how I'm doing, and tell others about it too! Mad love to all my readers!