Hey look, another chapter.

Continuing on in the festival of dialogue starring characters we all know and love/put up with. The world would be a different place If I'd written the books, to be sure.

(as and aside: I'm pretty sure I'm incredibly warm blooded or something. It was 13 degrees C today, and I almost melted into a puddle.)

xxx-xxx

Flourish and Blotts was busy, as was usual for the time of year, and the Marauders and Co quickly dispersed into the clamour of Hogwarts students and their haggard parents. Severus made for a mostly abandoned area where the Arithmancy books were kept.

Double checking his list and the thick text to make sure he got the right one, Severus continued on to the Potions section. Then Defence against the Dark Arts, and finally Ancient Runes, before joining Sirius in the Transfiguration section.

His boyfriend's eyes went wide when he saw the pile of textbooks and required reading.

"How many NEWTs are you taking? Ten?" He asked.

Severus smiled, "only four."

"Merlin, I'm taking two." Sirius said. "I think James had you beat though," motioning to the bespectacled Gryffindor coming up to them. He did have an impressive amount of books in his arms.

James huffed, "Transfiguration, DADA, History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures, and Charms. Guess which one is my slack off course."

"Five NEWTs, that's pretty impressive, Potter."

"Yeah, well, just being a good role model for the kiddies like any good Head Boy, Snape." James smirked, "plus, it'll come in handy when I apply to the Aurors."

"of course."

Sirius laughed, "you know, I never gave much thought to what I was going to do after school ended... Guess I'll have to get a job, now that I have no wealth to inherit." He turned to Severus, "what about you, Sev?"

Severus shrugged. "I've thought about teaching, but Hogwarts doesn't hire right out of school, I could probably get a job in some shop 'til then."

"What about writing?" Sirius asked once James went off to buy his books before his arms fell off from the weight.

"What?"

"like, textbooks or something. I may or may not have peeked into your notebooks while you were in the toilet one time or another. You really seem to know what you're doing."

Severus snorted, derailing the tall teenager for a second. Sirius smiled.

"I'm serious, you'd be good at it."

"I'm glad you approve of how I spend my time, a topic which you betrayed my privacy to discover, but honestly, who would take me seriously?"

"I would," Sirius said, "besides, you as a Professor? Think of the children, Severus."

"The dunderheads need proper discipline if they're going to learn anything. Headmaster Dumbledore is far too forgiving," Severus grumbled.

"Hmm, Professor," Sirius faux-moaned, looking down into Severus' eyes. "Did you want to see me after class, sir?"

His throat felt thick. Severus swallowed down whatever words that had been on the tip of his tongue in favour of flushed cheeks and a pregnant silence. He watched as Sirius' cheeks grew red, but his eyes never strayed from Severus'.

Finally one of them cleared their throats, and suggested they go purchase their textbooks.

They met the others outside, and fell into step with one another on the way to the Leaky Cauldron. There were a great deal more people milling around then there had been in the morning. Shop workers on their lunch break, and late rising Hogwarts students scrambling in search of supplies.

On the other side of the brick wall that separated Diagon Alley from Muggle London, the Leaky Cauldron was comfortably busy. Squeezing between two tables, one occupied by a young couple who both had vibrant ginger hair with two equally ginger young boys, and a cooing baby, the other taken up by a huge man hunched over his pie and beer. They found an empty table in one of the darker corners to put down their stuff. Potter and Lupin took everyone's orders as well as the money for those meals, and went up to the bar to order.

Beneath the table, Severus found Sirius' hand and clasped it, earning a squeeze from the other boy.

"Okay, so, how did this start?" Pettigrew asked, motioning between the Slytherin and Sirius.

"I dunno," Sirius shrugged. "I just looked at this greasy git one day, and everything was different." His eyes trained in on Severus, and he smiled shyly.

Severus returned the smile, letting the insulting name brush past him. He bathed on almost a daily basis, and was by no means greasy. His potions hobby was what gave his hair the sheen. Besides, he was certain Sirius wasn't being serious, after all, he made it seem like he loved Severus' hair for all he knotted his fingers in it when they snogged.

"Tell me how you did it, would you?"

Sirius tapped his nose, "can't, sorry. Trade secret."

"Oh, bugger you." Pettigrew muttered.

Lupin and Potter joined them back at the table shortly after, carrying a beer, two exploding lemonades, and three empty mugs. Sirius took the beer, and Pettigrew took an exploding lemonade. James popped the lid off of his lemonade, and Lupin put the mugs in front of himself, Lily and Severus.

Pettigrew's lemonade fizzed as he twisted the pop top with all his might. Severus saw James gave his telltale smirk, and suddenly there was a loud bang as everyone at the table was sprayed with exploding lemonade.

"Shit!" Pettigrew muttered. Having got the worst of the spray, he was soaked. Quickly excusing himself, the small teen scurried off to the loo.

Lupin leaned into the table. "so, I hear things have died down a bit on your end."

Lily nodded, "it's pretty calm. We haven't heard much of anything from the Aurors, but,"

"You can never be too careful," Lupin finished. "It's for the best, you never know with those sorts." They all knew he spoke from experience.

"I've been thinking of getting Severus' and my parents to go on holiday. Somewhere nice, of course. Just, away from any trouble in case it decides to come knocking," Lily explained.

"I think we should go away," James said in hushed tones. "To draw the line of fire away from Spinner's End. There's a fair amount of Muggles who could get hurt if He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named's followers come after us while we're still there."

"Your parents could visit Petunia and Vernon," Severus suggested.

"What about your parents, Sev?" Sirius looked genuinely concerned.

Severus honestly didn't know if or where his parents liked to spend time outside of the home. His father didn't like much of anything, besides the television, and his mother had been a housewife for most of her life. "I don't know, Mum hasn't seen her family in forever, and Father... Well, he would fend off those bastards off magic or no."

His last comment earned him laughter from those who knew Tobias Snape.

"Why are we laughing?" Pettigrew asked, having returned from the toilets. He looked less like a drowned rat, with his clothes magicked dry, and his face freshly washed.

"I was about to ask everyone to my house for the rest of the summer, since you've so graciously taken over our spare room." Lupin said, "I don't believe my parents have ever met Lily. Or Severus for that matter."

"I don't see why-" Severus started.

"I'm all for it, just so long as we schedule a night-time run," James said, raising one eyebrow.

"Across the moor? That does sound nice," Sirius joined in.

"I'm just going to ignore that second idea, but I'd have to ask my mum about going down to.. Remus, where do you live?" Lily asked.

"Ilkley," Lupin said. "and I look forward to that run."

xxx-xxx

Sirius spent the return trip the way he spent the trip to Diagon Alley, head resting on Severus' shoulder like it belonged there, arms wrapped snugly around his waist, and a full stomach. His boyfriend's scent mingled with the late afternoon air as they weaved through the cloud cover. He felt content.

He'd offered to fly the broom back initially, but the finicky old thing had other ideas. Not five minutes in, Sirius lost control, the broom veering into Lily and James. James was a ways behind them now, for Lily's sake. She'd gotten quite the shock. Sirius could only imagine how much worse the crash would have been if they hadn't dropped their books at the Owlry to be flown over separately.

"This is nice," Sirius whispered softly into but boyfriend's ear.

"Everything's 'nice' today," Severus pointed out.

"I wouldn't mind if it was like this all the time."

"You'd be bored within the hour if everything was nice all the time."

"I would not," Sirius muttered, leaning further forward and pressing his lips to Severus' cheek. "Not with you anyway."

"Stop saying things like that. It makes me want to strangle and coddle you at the same time."

Sirius didn't have time to respond. James pulled up beside them with a gust of wind. His and Lily's eyes wide with fear. James' hair was wilder than usual, like it had been fried.

"I don't suppose you have your signal on you, do you Severus?"

"No, it's on my desk. Why-"

"No time for explanations. They're coming. The Death Eaters, they're coming."

xxx-xxx

Finally, some action!

I had a thought. At the end of this, would anyone like it if I posted some deleted scenes? Since I've been writing this story off and on, I've collected a few ways this story might have gone.

Also, reminder of the poll still up on my profile. Vote on what my next project will be!