Disclaimer: please refer to previous chapters.

A/N: Well, hasn't it been a long time? I do realize that most of you will have given up on this fic by now. Nevertheless, I've decided to go on with it. I had originally written a different version of this chapter which didn't quite satisfy me. In the end I kept putting off re-writing it and, one thing leads to another, forgot about "Lovex". Well, I'm baaaack.

Chapter seven – "Make your bed, then unmake it."

Snape heard Lupin's footsteps heading for the door. He wasn't quite sure what to say. He realized that it would actually be preferable for them to spend some time alone and calm down, but there was still the curfew to take into account and Snape wasn't quite sure that he would ever see the student again if he let him get away. Under no circumstances was that acceptable, not when he had so much to gain from Lupin. But he hadn't a clue at how to prevent his leaving.

"Stop!" Snape barked.

Lupin, who was at the door, turned. He looked at Snape in disbelief. Surely the nutter wasn't about to call him back in some kind of a degenerated parody of a lover's quarrel. He was about to activate the door, when he remembered.

"Oh, right. The curfew" he acknowledged, with dread in his voice.

He faced Snape, who had had the decency to throw a towel from the bathroom adjacent to Narcissa's room around his waist. Remus looked down at his own clothes and noticed that he had put on the black caftan over his damaged clothes. He really would have got into big trouble if he had left now. Why, he probably wouldn't have lasted five minutes in the street before he got arrested for flouting the appearance code and then, he shuddered, they would have discovered the drugs and alcohol in his blood and Snape's DNA in his saliva. Yet, Remus couldn't bear not being able to leave.

"I'll wait in the hall. I'm certain that I won't be bothering anyone" said.

"Suit yourself " Snape said, in a tone that was the epitome of deadpan. And then, with a touch of regret in his voice:

"I apologize. This isn't what I'm used to."

Remus looked at his shoes. He felt shame more than anger now. It had been the drugs. Most certainly. How else could he explain his rash and repugnant behavior. He slowly raised his eyes to meet his host's, but Snape had gone, noiselessly. This annoyed Lupin somewhat. 'Why offer an apology and not wait to find out if it has been accepted?' he thought. He made his way to the door and it opened before he had time to exit the flat. There he stood face to face with a man with shockingly light eyes and hair. The man looked at him in utter surprise, first taking in his features and then his caftan.

"Severus! We need to talk!" shouted Lucius.

"Not now. Just leave them on Narcissa's box and bugger off."

"I don't think so" Lucius said, to Remus' shock, dragging the student with him into the kitchen. Snape sat there with a pack of cooling fluid on his forehead, pinching the bridge of his nose. His face was drawn and his eyes were half-closed, his whole body was tense. Upon seeing Lupin he managed a smirky grimace and drily said:

"Back so soon?"

"Look, I have nothing to do with your dealer, or with you for that matter. Tell him to let me go at once" Lupin shouted indignantly.

"Oh is that right? You're in further that you can fathom, my friend" said Lucius.

"Do unhand him, Lucius" Snape said tiredly. And then he added "Lupin, I'm afraid you must stay here until we've settled whatever is bothering Lucius, since it seems to concern you. Why don't you make yourself comfortable in Narcissa's room. Take an armchair from the sitting-room."

Realizing that he really had no other choice, Remus did as he was told. As he sat down next to the alabaster case, he noticed hand prints on the quartz top surface and the smudged traces left by Snape's skin only an hour ago. Proof of what they had been about to do. What had they been about to do? Remus shuddered at the thought. It would have been wrong altogether. Wrong gender, wrong place, wrong situation, wrong person, wrong everything. And yet, he had been the initiator.

Meanwhile Lucius was pacing in Snape's kitchen. Snape was calmly stirring water in a copper pot with a thermometer. The water had to be exactly 62.3 degrees Celsius for him to brew a perfect cup of matcha. He decided to ignore Lucius' nervousness until he said what was on his mind. The water reached the ideal temperature and Snape ladled out an amount of it into a small bowl. He then dropped in a little of the powdered green tea and whisked it in until it became frothy. He inhaled the bitter aroma of his brew and cautiously sipped at it. A wave of pleasure went through him: This was one of the most soothing remedies for an excess of alcohol and/or drugs that he knew.

"Severus, I can't believe you. You shouldn't be so calm. Don't tell me you didn't recognize that Lupin fellow" Lucius said. Snape just raised an eyebrow. After a while he said:

"The only thing that unnerves me is that you know him."

"You know that I use the stuff occasionally. I just didn't expect to see him here. Riddle can't possibly want…" and he stopped.

"To test him as well?" Snape tried. "You've just given away so much information. What's wrong with you? Have you been drinking?"

"You know I don't drink when I'm on my delivery route" Lucius said.

"In any case, I might have been more impressed by your foolish blabbering if I hadn't already suspected what you are hinting at."

Lucius stared at Snape. He wasn't sure exactly how much Snape knew. He was aware that Riddle had informed Snape about certain properties of Lovex, but he didn't seem to have explained the general plan they were the key part of. Even so, Snape's being smart may well have lessened the gravity of the breach of trust he had just committed towards Riddle. After all, not just anyone was supposed to have access to such dangerous information. The real error, Lucius realized, lay in his appraisal of the degree of trust that Riddle placed in Snape. 'That's right, squirm, you bigheaded git' Snape thought. 'You might have realized that I wasn't in Riddle's inner posse if you hadn't spent all that time talking about yourself or cars and prostitutes.'

"Lucius, I have everything under control" Snape finally said. "He's here by chance. I didn't seek him out, he found me. He doesn't know anything. Actually, I think he's more interested in Narcissa than me" he added.

"So he's not on Lovex?" Lucius asked.

"No."

"Then what is he doing here at this hour?" Lucius said, suspicion beginning to edge onto his face.

"That is none of your business. Now leave, you're intruding." Snape stated.

Lucius didn't comment, but didn't look very pleased. After all, he should have suspected that Snape was queer. It seemed obvious now. He shuddered and wondered if his dashing looks and irresistible charm were responsible for Snape's refusing to meet Sheila. 'Can't fault the man for having good taste' he thought, with a shrug.

"I'll, er, leave you two to it then" Lucius said.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Snape asked.

"I think I'll take this week's delivery of Lovex with me. Just to be sure that your friend doesn't take any by accident."

As he watched the door close after Lucius, Snape thought 'Well this makes matters complicated, doesn't it.' He went into Narcissa's room to find Lupin asleep in the armchair, his neck angled in a way that promised an ache when he woke up. Feeling certain that he would be able to face this problem much better after some rest, he went to his room, lay down on his bed amidst the tattered sheets and dropped into oblivion.