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There were several troublesome traits about lycanthropy that Remus hadn't told even James and Sirius.
The craving for raw meat. Susceptibility to fleas. Increased hair growth in unwanted places.
The sense of territory.
It wasn't something he could explain, not to James and Sirius. It was just Severus, after all - gaunt, ugly Severus, with his sallow skin and greasy hair, and obscene knowledge of the Dark Arts no decent wizard should have. Severus, whom James had singled out first and Sirius had picked up with him, and it wasn't as if Remus enjoyed bullying him or the like.
He wasn't like that.
He wasn't.
But whenever he caught a glimpse of him - alone, his head buried in a book or another - momentarily oblivious, his habitual prickly guard down, all Remus could think of was prey, his mouth almost tingling with it.
And werewolves, generally, didn't like sharing prey.
So when Sirius and James stood up to go after him, Remus kept his eyes on his book steadfastly, no longer comprehending a single word, his eyebrows furrowed faintly. He kept staring sightlessly at the book even as Severus' panting, choking, and gagging made his pulse quicken and the pit of his stomach tighten with something primal, something vicious, something illicit.
It was almost a relief when Lily intervened.
Remus admonished James and Sirius afterwards, like he was expected to. They laughed and went on as usual, like he expected them to.
And a year later, when Sirius told him he'd tipped Severus off about the Shrieking Shack, he almost told him he'd gone too far this time. But then he thought - he thought about nonsensical things; like the way Severus sounded when cornered, intermingled with memories of him in the women's clothes they'd jinxed onto him. But most of all, he thought about how it would be just the two of them; cornered, helpless, agitated Severus, up against a full-grown werewolf, with no James or Sirius near to distract him.
Remus gave an airy laugh before he could help it, and Sirius grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "Take a bite out of Snivellus for me, would you," he said.
It wasn't like it mattered.
It was just a joke after all.