Chapter 4

Three nights later Lupin lay in bed in the sitting room cursing the foolishness of two young people he'd never met. Kelhyne and Trescothick had barely lasted forty-eight hours before being found together at the top of the Astronomy Tower after curfew. Filch had discovered them but, that initial unpleasantness aside, Snape reported somewhat gleefully that he'd never seen the two students look happier. There were rumours they'd be picked as Head Boy and Girl in their final year at school. When Snape broke the news the previous night Lupin had taken it in good grace but now at 3 o'clock in the morning he was beginning to weary of the sitting room. He'd half hoped that Snape might relent and take the shift anyway, or at least keep him company but it seemed the Potions Master planned to take full enjoyment of his win. Twelve hours was a long time to spend in a dowdy sitting room watching someone who contributed nothing to the conversation. Turning over he wished for sleep.

"Remus! Lupin! Wake up if you want breakfast." Lupin opened his eyes to see grim dawn light threatening to come through the curtains and a black figure looming over him. His heart pounded and he felt a wrench as he was torn from sleep. He was about to reach for his wand and fight off his attackers when his brain caught up with his instincts. Death Eaters wouldn't offer him breakfast. "Oh, Severus, it's you."

"Who else would it be?"

"I er... you panicked me. What time is it?"

"Not nice to be roused suddenly, is it? Gone seven. I've brought some food from the kitchens. Given the length of your shift I thought coffee and pastries might go down well."

"Oh yes, thank you Severus." Lupin got to his feet and transfigured his bed back into the squat armchair again. Snape was unscrewing a coffee flask and the smell of Jamaican Blue wafted through the air. Lupin salivated, the coffee at headquarters was nothing compared to this. The Hogwarts elves had prepared a hamper with fresh baked croissants, butter and home-made jams, pain au chocolate, Greek yoghurt, honey and summer fruits. After examining the patient for any sign of change Snape drew up another chair and a low table for the breakfast. "Did you get a proper night's sleep?" Lupin yawned.

"I don't tend to need as much sleep as other wizards and witches but, yes, I was asleep by midnight. I may have a tiring day so am grateful you could take my shift last night."

"What's going on?"

"Kelhyne and Trescothick had a shouting match in the Great Hall last night. Filius told me this morning. He seemed quite upset by it, I always thought the head of Ravenclaw would be more skilled at using the head than the heart..."

"Filius has always cared deeply about his students. Minerva said he was distressed to hear about Isolde."

"That as may be, the point is that though my analysis of my students' emotional turmoil was correct Kelhyne and Trescothick did not find true love. Breakfast is some recompense to you and fortification for me against what is certain to be a trying day in the dungeon." Both men ate in silence for a while. Halfway through his second croissant Lupin realised he'd been diverted from his subject. A row between two students would hardly count as a difficult day for Severus. "What else is going on?"

Snape looked up sharply from his coffee and couldn't disguise the apprehension that passed across his face. "There is a meeting of Death Eaters tonight, the Dark Lord will be present. I have to give him my report."

"How will it go over do you think?"

Snape furrowed his brow, "Hard to say. There should be enough gold among the glitter to satisfy him but he has developed a penchant for testing my loyalty." Snape swallowed thickly and looked away, "He likes to make me beg for mercy."

Lupin felt sick. "When it starts, could you not beg sooner, before you are at breaking point?"

The Potions Master shook his head in some irritation, frustrated that he was being given that pitying look again. "Of course not. If the Dark Lord thinks me weak I will be no use to him, another Pettigrew. I must resist for as long as possible. Thanks to the Order I have had plenty of practice." he finished viciously.

"This isn't right, we can't-"

"Grow up Lupin. This is war. I knew what would be asked of me. I do not need your concern, or your pity." Snape stood up gathering his cloak around him. "I may be late this evening." With that he hurried from the room leaving the detritus of breakfast in his wake. Lupin felt a fool. He had managed to convince himself that things were back like they were two years before. But Voldemort was flesh and blood now and Snape was a double agent. The werewolf was suddenly fearful.

At 2 o'clock on the dot Snape entered the sitting room. He looked like a human punchbag, two black eyes, cuts across his face, a skull that had clearly been hit repeatedly against something hard. Blood flew from a nostril and his jaw hung at a funny angle. He staggered into the little room and curled over, retching again and again. He dragged his left leg behind him as though it couldn't take any weight. Lupin had seen Snape hurt before but now he seemed physically diminished, hunched over and shaking from his ordeal. Snape tried to speak but his throat was raw from his screams. Lupin pushed him into the armchair and used his wand to bring the emergency medical kit to him. As Snape slid into unconsciousness the werewolf worked frenetically applying Skele-Gro to the professor's leg and jaw, a relaxant potion, a wound-cleaning potion, a burn-healing paste and a bruise-healing paste in quick succession. During a period of wakefulness when Snape tried to speak Lupin took advantage of the Potions Master's open mouth to pop some fever fudge in. He had by this time turned the armchair into a bed and hastily removed Snape's clothes in order to make sure his wounds were addressed.

Remus was shocked to see a body which looked very much like his own. Lupin's torso and arms were covered in scars, the most obvious of which was the ugly bite mark on his shoulder where he had been attacked as a child. During every transformation until the development of the Wolfsbane he had bitten and scratched himself all night, tearing at his flesh and drawing blood. It was only the self-same affliction that allowed him to heal so rapidly meaning he was ready with the coming of the full moon to do the same damage to himself all over again. One of the side advantages of the Wolfsbane was that he was starting to forget what his own blood smelt like.

Snape was naturally pale, a consequence perhaps of his time underground, but it was hard to see his natural colouring among the florid purples, greens, yellows and blacks of the bruises and blows he had received. Someone had used 'Sectumsempra' against him, there were thin but deep slashes across his chest and arms. Lupin thought that kind of irony would appeal to Lucius Malfoy. Snape was now unconscious again, a lucky thing given his tendency to value his pride over his health. Now that he had managed to staunch the worst of the bleeding and had used the same 'Haemocorpus' spell to replenish Snape's lost reserves of blood Lupin went to work more carefully, checking the professor's anatomy for hidden dislocations and broken bones. Remus had grown skilled at potions and spells to promote healing and growth, after all he had had to when transforming alone. He worked for two hours, summoning a cauldron and ingredients from the kitchen and brewing his own sleeping draught and healing potion. He fetched pillows and a warm blanket from his room and, he thought, surveying his handiwork, had done a pretty good job. Now it was time to see what the new patient thought. Using his wand he incanted "Homenum Revelio" and Snape's eyes snapped awake. "How are you feeling?"

"Death would be welcome."

"Nonsense, you're a survivor. Where can you feel pain?"

"Everywhere, idiot. I have been Crucio'd."

"Not just that it seems. The Crucio doesn't leave physical injury."

"The Dark Lord was in good humour. He allowed some of the others to have their fun."

"I have patched you up as best I can. What more can I do for you?"

"Nothing. Th-thank you Remus. I am not sure I would have been able to tend to myself."

"Think nothing of it." Snape was already passing into sleep and Lupin transfigured a chair into a camp bed. But, as he closed his eyes all he could see was Severus' ravaged torso.