'We're having a party?'

"Oh God!" Severus suddenly yelled, startling everyone. They obviously couldn't hear what the Slytherin was hearing.

Severus looked down at Remus, seeing that his eyes were slowly shutting again. Though from the mind link, he could tell the other was very much awake, and very much still his Remus. His thoughts were a little different, though Severus assumed that was because he was in wolf form.

'I thought I had killed you and you were only sleeping,' Severus let his thought voice gently whisper, his voice showing just how much he cared for Remus and how much he had worried. Severus couldn't help thinking of everything that had happened after the mind link stopped, giving Remus a front-row seat to his conversations with Potter, Black, and Peter. Severus flushed.

'I had to tell them the truth, how else could I have explained this away?'

'Don't care. Mine. You are mine,' Remus's quiet voice said, sounding very possessive, not at all shy and timid like the Remus he knew. Severus wondered if this was the animal in him that made him act so possessive, and speaking of being possessive, Remus stood up and looked at his three friends.

They stared back, seeming wary if the potion would continue to work. Remus growled at his mates.

'Mine.' He barked, and Severus felt a smirk rising to his lips when Black and Potter jumped back and grabbed their wands. He wasn't worried about the wands. They would never have the nerve to hex Remus, not that any hex would penetrate his thick skin.

"Bloody hell, Snape, I knew your potion wouldn't work!" Black yelled. "Never thought I'd die at the hand... paw of my best mate."

Laughing, Severus patted Remus on the head, laughing even harder when the wolf made some sort of purring sound. The only reason he had laughed louder was because Black and Potter's mouths had fallen to the ground.

"I assure you my potion worked." Severus felt a thrill at seeing them so confused.

Just as he said that, Remus growled again, the sound deeper in his throat. Black and Potter had tentatively started to come closer again and it was obvious to Severus that they didn't understand why their friend who was supposedly in his right mind, was growling at them.

Finally taking pity on them, Severus admitted, "he's protecting me. Uh, as far as I can guess his wolf instincts tell him to keep danger away from me." Severus snorted.

'They are no danger to me though, Remus. Annoying, sure, but no real danger and I could take them both if I had to.'

'Severus…' It felt like Remus was struggling to push the instinct back. 'Sorry... wow I have my mind, but the wolf is still there, always there.' Remus sounded embarrassed by his behavior, making Severus frown. He knelt and wrapped his arms around Remus's neck.

"You don't have to tell me sorry," Remus heard Severus gently whisper into his ear. He knew that if he were in his human form he would be smiling, as it were, he was giving off his best wolfy grin that he could manage. His golden eyes landed on the eyes of his best mate.

Sirius was looking at him with such confusion and hurt. Remus could smell the pain his friend was going through because of his actions, though if they were because he had feelings for Severus, or because he had growled at him, Remus did not know.

Remus pulled out of Severus's arms and slowly walked over to Sirius. He looked up at him and whined deeply in the back of his throat, before lowering his head to the ground and putting his paw over his eyes. He whimpered again, almost sounding like he was crying for his friend's forgiveness and understanding.

Sirius stared down at Remus, feeling oddly choked up at the sight of his friend in such distress and he knew he and James, though mostly he, were the reason for his distress.

Dropping down at Remus's side, Sirius touched him on the head, making him remove his paw so that he could see his eyes. "You should have told me you were into blokes when you figured it out," he grinned, his eyes showing how much he cared for his friend. "I could have set you up with..."

Remus whimpered. "Okay, okay, I get it. Sorry... but do you really like him?" He whispered so that only Remus could hear him.

Remus stood up to his full height, looking right into Sirius's eyes. As awkward as it was, he nodded his head and his eyes seemed to be saying something that Sirius couldn't quite read, though judging by the loud thud of Severus falling to the ground, he had heard what Remus was trying to say.

Peter walked over to the fallen teenager, bending down to look at his face. The rat glanced back at his friends, "He fainted."

A gut-wrenching whine escaped Remus, the werewolf pulling away from Sirius and going to Severus's side. He bent his head down and nudged against the other's shoulder. He whimpered, trying again, though Severus did not open his eyes.

"What did you say, Remus?" James had to ask. What in the world would make Severus Snape faint like that?

Remus's only answer was another whimper and strangely enough, it sounded as if he were telling the Slytherin he was sorry.

'I'm sorry. I'm sorry! Please wake up. I-I wasn't thinking, well I was, obviously since you heard that, but... Godric, I'm sorry.' Remus licked Severus's cheek. 'I'm sorry if I freaked you out.'

'I'm not freaked out and I most certainly did not pass out... I tripped.'

Remus made a happy bark, watching Severus open his dark eyes.

'Remus...was it only the wolf in you that made you say that?'

If werewolves could flush, Remus would be blushing more than he had ever blushed before, though instead he lowered his head and hid his eyes. 'No Severus. Peter was right, we are fated to be together. I know it's only been a couple of months since we've been friends and all... but I…'

'I understand Remus, let's wait until after the full moon to talk about it.'

Peter looked back and forth between Remus and Severus, his hands twisting up his shirt, almost like a nervous habit. "A-are you okay?" he asked Severus meekly, remembering his odd kindness when he had been in his rat form.

Severus smirked at Peter, though there was no hostility in his eyes as there might have been at one point because Peter was friends with the insufferable Potter and Black. "I'm Fine."

'This one is giving me the impression that he is going to start following me around... Severus Snape fan club, no doubt.'

'You're so full of yourself, but if he does start a fan club, I get to be president of it.'

"I am better than fine," Severus said. He pulled himself off the ground. "Sharing a mind with Remus Lupin... changes everything," he said in the softest of voices, seemingly meant for his ears only.

"How are your friends taking it?" Severus asked as he walked into the hospital wing to visit Remus. The werewolf's eyes seemed to light up at the sight of Severus, making the teenager flush. Out of respect for Remus, he had let his friends visit him first. They had been with him for a couple of hours at least. Severus was relieved it was finally his turn to see the person he was falling for faster than the speed of light.

"Peter is completely over the moon about it, pun intended," Remus laughed. He sounded like he was in pain from the transformation. Severus was sad the potion didn't stop all the pain. "What did you do to make him like you so suddenly?"

Severus rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not sure, honestly. Back then when I was so worried about you, I snapped and told them I knew who they were and I called Peter by his name, and the next thing I knew, the rat was riding on my shoulder. And I think I speak rat because I swear I knew what he was saying."

Remus grinned. "You don't even think about it now, you just call him by his name as if you always did. Aww... you like him, don't you? Admit it, something changed and now you like him, or at least respect him enough to call him by his name."

"Are you saying that is why he likes me? Cause I called him by his name? He thinks I like him?" Severus asked, though he soon got it. When he called Peter by his name, the boy felt respected, maybe even special because Severus called him by his first name, while he still called Remus's other friends by their last names.

"Yes, but I wouldn't advise calling James and Sirius by their first names and expect them to join the Severus fan club. Peter is... he's one of my good friends, but he's much more timid than the rest of us, even me. A small gesture and he'll take it to heart and start worshiping you. He idolizes James."

"Hah, no offense toward your taste in friends, I don't think I want to be buddy buddy with Black or Potter anytime soon," He said, though he smiled softly after. "I'll tolerate them for you, but you can't get angry if they start something first and I kick their arses."

'If they try to pull anything now…' Remus let his thoughts trail off. He gave the other a sheepish grin. "If they start something they shouldn't, then I give you permission to kick their arses, but can you try not to terribly hurt them?"

Severus almost snorted, before he quickly thought better of that. "Yeah, yeah, fine, but only because I know you love them." He shook his head. "Typical Gryffindor..." He was teasing now.

"Hey!" Remus pouted. "They've been my mates since year one and I do love them, so it's only natural that I don't want them hurt."

Remus slightly lowered his gaze, continuing to look at Severus through his long eyelashes. Severus seemed to be studying him and it was embarrassing. After a few minutes passed of no shared thoughts mingling together, Remus couldn't take the silence any longer.

"What?" He asked, self-consciously.

Standing up, Severus walked over to the edge of Remus's bed. Tentatively, he reached out and touched Remus on the shoulder. His nightshirt was slightly slipping, showing off his delicate skin, his scars standing out.

"Nothing," Severus murmured. He sat down next to Remus, careful not to hurt him. He knew that Remus's mind had stayed sane, but the transformations hurt very much. "I was just thinking... you didn't hear what I thought?"

When Remus shook his head, Severus smiled. "Thank goodness for small favors then," he teased.

'Thank goodness the mind link isn't as strong when we're close.' It was weird that it worked that way.

With a slight shiver, Remus's eyes fluttered to the hand gently brushing over the scars on his shoulder. He blushed, feeling ashamed about how ugly he was. Though from the way Severus was looking at him, and the way he was touching gently, Remus was having a hard time truly believing that he was ugly, at least in Severus's eyes. That only made him blush deeper but for other reasons.

"Severus... that isn't fair," He said with a grin. "You can't mention it and then not tell me."

"Well," Severus scowled lightly, not liking the way he felt so embarrassed. "I was..." he stopped, before shaking his head. "No, it's too embarrassing and silly," he finally grumbled.

"I feel like an idiot..." He turned away from Remus, wishing he could hide the blush on his cheeks. When a hand reached out, gently curling around his own, Severus felt his heart jump up to his throat. He swallowed hard, before chancing a look back at Remus. The werewolf was smiling at him, his eyes urging him to go on.

"Remus..." Severus sighed.

"I know," Remus said softly. "I don't need the mind link to know what you mean." He leaned up, gasping lightly in pain, though he ignored any discomfort as he put his arms around Severus's neck. He gently held him and before he could even blink, Severus was holding him back.

"I don't exactly think I'm the greatest catch either, Severus." He could tell, even without hearing Severus's thoughts, that the teenager was wondering why Remus would pick him out of all the others he could have chosen from.

"That isn't true, Remus, you're everything." Severus leaned up and kissed him on the forehead.