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Severus hated most Gryffindors, it was a given, he’s in Slytherin and his worst enemies are in Gryffindor, so the hate for those four idiots spread to almost every other Gryffindor. Lily was the only exception.
Lily, who has been his best friend since he was 9, Lily who has always shown kindness, Lily who is inviting him to a study group.
Severus said yes, of course, he couldn’t tell Lily ‘no’ if his life depended on it. And she assured him that it would be primarily Ravenclaws and a few of her closest friends and that Potter and Black would be in detention.
Severus walked into the library beside her, nodding along with her animated re-telling of something that happened in one of her classes. He sat across from her, and no one really bothered to acknowledge him, a few Ravenclaw girls nodded at him, but most ignored him. There were only two other Gryffindors, it was McKinnon and McDonald, they were Lily’s friends, so Severus tried to be cordial with them, but didn’t put much more effort. Everyone was quietly studying, a few people breaking the quiet to ask for help or to exchange notes. Then, a flurry of movement came towards the table.
“‘M so sorry I’m late, Peter got stuck to one of the chairs.” Lupin waved to them, and everyone waved and smiled back, Severus tensed, Lily had said that Potter and Black wouldn’t be here, he should have known that meant one of the others would come. “Oh, Snape, hey.” Lupin blinked at him as he sat down, right next to Severus.
“Lupin.” Severus nodded. As much as he wanted to get up and run back to the dungeons, or throw insults at him, he would remain civil, for Lily.
“Oh, Remus, thank god you’re here, I need help with the Transfiguration stuff, you explain it so much better than Lils.” McDonald said, and suddenly Lupin was helping people. The only thing he didn’t seem to help with was potions, and with good reason, Severus has seen some of his potions, and they were disgustingly wrong.
While everyone asked Lupin for help, no one seemed to think to ask Severus for help with potions, a few were complaining about the class, and Severus would open his mouth to offer help, only to be cut off by more complaining. It grated on Severus, he was right here, and most everyone knew he was the top student in Potions.
The study group only lasted another hour, and Lily walked with him back to the dungeons. She was talking about Lupin.
“And did you see his neck?” Severus did, it was hard to miss, the man was wearing a loose muggle t-shirt, and his neck was almost totally red, blue and purple. Not to mention his raspy voice. “I swear, he has a secret hookup or something. Me and the girls have bets going on about it.” Lily continued rambling, Severus usually loved hearing her talk, but he’d just sat through an hour of Lupin Hero Worship.
“Hey, Lily, I’m feeling pretty tired, so I’m going to head to my dorm. Goodnight.” Severus said. Lily frowned but waved him away.
It’s not that Severus really held anything against Lupin, he’d never really done anything to personally hurt him, just the general pranks on Slytherins (and the other houses every so often) that his group was known for, but he was also notoriously known to be one of Black’s closest friends, who Severus did have an issue with.
Severus walked into the common room, trying to get to his dorm as fast as possible. Despite what Potter and Black seem to think, Severus does not run Slytherin, how could he, a ‘filthy half-blood’ possibly be able to tell these people what to do? Unfortunately, one of the older years seemed to be in a bad mood.
Mulciber caught sight of Severus trying to walk upstairs and called out to him.
“Oi, Halfy, why don’t you come down here?” He called, and Severus froze up, he knew that if he went down there, he would be hexed, but if he ignored him, he’d end up with a whole gang trying their hardest to ‘teach him his place.’
Severus walked back down the stairs.
Mulciber picked up his wand and started lazily hexing him, Severus didn’t dare try to dodge or block them. He walked away with burning muscles and a few sluggishly bleeding cuts, all things he could treat himself. He holed himself up in his room, healing his cuts and downing a few potions he brewed himself, pulling out a needle and thread to fix any tears. He’d learnt how to sew before he’d met Lily, Tobias didn’t much care if he tore clothes.
⛤⛤⛤
Remus knew people were staring, he also knew why. They thought he’d fucked someone last night, they thought his mangled neck was from a secret girlfriend or a random hookup.
They all forgot yesterday was a full moon.
The wolf had gotten angry and tried to attack Padfoot, so Prongs had stepped in, knocking him down and holding him down with his antlers. His neck had almost been broken, but Poppy had managed to get the worst of the damage healed, all that was left were rapidly healing bruises.
After Poppy had healed him, he rushed to get dressed and make it to the study group he’d promised Lily he’d go to, and then while he was up there Peter ended up getting stuck to a chair. Once he finally made it there, he saw that Snape was there.
It was both surprising and not, usually, Snape would avoid anything that could have the Marauders stumbling across him, but he was also close friends with Lily, who had organised the whole thing.
Remus ended up helping almost everyone with different classes, they all said his notes were easy to understand, and the only thing they never asked him about was potions since he was notoriously horrible in that class. But there were still complaints about the class going around, and a few times Remus saw Snape try to butt in, presumably to help, but was cut off by someone else. It made no sense, he was known for being great at potions, so why weren’t any of them asking him?
Later that night, Remus didn’t see Snape at dinner, and Lily was looking a little worried.
⛤⛤⛤
Severus continued to go to the study groups, at Lily’s institance. It truly wasn’t so bad, Lupin wasn’t always there, and Potter and Black hadn’t come by so far. The only downside was everyone ignored him. They never asked him for help, never offered to exchange notes, and all around acted like he wasn’t there. The only person that spoke to him was Lupin, and it was always a simple greeting and nothing else. Even Lily stopped talking when they got there.
One afternoon, when Lupin wasn’t there, almost everyone had abandoned studying for gossip. Everyone was trading new things they’d learnt (excluding Severus, of course) most of it was about new or imploding relationships, then Lily piped up,
“I found out Remus likes blokes, it’s totally changed that betting pool.” After that, the conversation shifted, but Severus stopped paying attention. She said it so casually like it was a meaningless piece of gossip that could be traded to hear about the newest Hufflepuff cheater. Did Lupin even tell her that? Was it even true? Did Lupin give her permission to tell others?
Severus had figured out he was gay a while ago but had avoided telling anyone or even acting on it to avoid any bad reactions. He was already a poor, half-blood Slytherin without a mother, he didn’t need to give anyone any more reasons to attack him, but he’d been planning on telling Lily, her being his closest (only) friend and all, but now, hearing her tell strangers unprompted? He started rethinking that.
The next time they met up, Lupin was there.
“Hey Snape, good to see you.” Lupin smiled at him, his usual greeting, Severus nodded,
“Nice to see you too, Lupin.” Severus’ usual reply, everything going normally, until,
“Oh! Remus, is it true you fancy blokes?” A Ravenclaw girl asked, Lupin stiffened, oh no.
“Georgia! You can’t just ask him that!” Lily hissed, Lupin looked at her for a second, before realisation bled into his eyes.
“Lily told you?” Nods went around the table, Lupin now looked resigned. Severus may be heartless and hate all Gryffindors with a passion, but no one deserves that.
After that session, Severus crept away from Lily, not hard since she was distracted by someone, and approached Lupin.
“Lupin.” Severus greeted, Lupin sighed,
“Snape.” He replied, Severus, frowned.
“Lily shouldn’t have told everyone about your love life. No one deserves that.” Severus hadn’t planned this, and therefore his ‘comforting speech’ was falling flat, sounding more like facts instead of trying to console someone. Still, Lupin blinked, shocked.
“Uh, thanks. I would, um, appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone else, I know it’ll probably be everywhere by tomorrow, but it would help.” Severus nodded, he would never, his own matching secret meant too much to him, and he imagined it meant the same to Lupin.
Lupin was right, by breakfast the next morning, there were whispers rippling through the castle about Remus Lupin Liking Men. His friends didn’t seem to care, which was both good and bad, they weren’t cutting him off and joining the gossip, but they also weren’t protecting Lupin from all the hateful words spat at him.
⛤⛤⛤
Remus shouldn’t be angry at Lily, she didn’t mean any harm, and she’d even apologised to him. But still, she had betrayed his trust. He had told her that thinking she could keep a secret, but now it was public knowledge. That day, Remus decided he couldn’t tell her about the Werewolf problem. James had protested but had ultimately agreed that Remus chose who knew.
Walking down the halls was… An experience. There were mixed reactions from everyone (thank you, Queen and Bowie, Remus secretly thought.) Some were acting as though it was normal, not caring at all, a few girls had asked him gross questions (Do you take it up the bum? Do you need to wear condoms? Can I watch?) that made Remus’ skin crawl, but the majority, as Remus (and anyone, really) would have guessed, was disgusted. He’d been called every name he could think of, and a few of the more creative kids had come up with new ones. His friends were pretending nothing had happened, and that included pretending no one was calling him a ‘filthy faggot’ across the classroom. Remus couldn't blame them, he had asked them not to draw any more attention, and they probably couldn't hear most of what was being said, it was probably just his dumb werewolf hearing.
Eventually, it all grew too much, so Remus skipped class, told his friends some bullshit excuse about his wolf, and then went outside for a ciggy. He went to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, nothing in there scared him, he was the scariest thing in the damn Forest some days, but still close enough to the fields so he could sit in a patch of sunlight. He leant up against a tree and pulled out a slightly bent ciggy, lighting it with the tip of his wand. He took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and then slowly blew the smoke out, watching the grey smoke float up until he couldn’t see it.
“Those will kill you.” A voice comes from the left side of him, Remus looks over, Snape is sitting in a patch of sunlight, a few books spread around him, a cauldron bubbling away above a small fire.
“Probably.” Remus shrugs, Snape looks at him, opens his mouth, and then closes it. “You can say what you want.” Remus strides over and sits down across from Snape, putting his cigarette out.
“Why haven’t your friends been…doing anything?” Snape paused, as if to figure out how to phrase it, Remus shrugged.
“I asked them not to.” Snape got an odd look on his face, before the timer he must have had on his cauldron went off. Remus stayed silent as he added a diced-up root of some sort. “I have no idea how you’re so good at potions.” Remus sighs, watching the potion change colour, it looks like one of the potions Poppy gives him.
“I’m just good at it, and I enjoy it.” Snape shrugs.
“Think you could teach me? I’m shit at it.” Snape blinks, but nods slowly,
“I’m always at the study groups Lily sets up.” Remus grins, and Snape's lips twitch a little before they both hear voices. “Shit.” Snape curses, looking around. “Could you keep an eye on my potion? You don’t need to do anything, just please make sure they don’t tip it out.” Before Remus could answer, Snape was bolting deeper into the forest.
“Oi, Halfy! We know you’re here!” A boy called, his friends cackling, they stepped into view, “Oh, it’s just some random. Where in Merlin's name did that filthy fucker go!” The same boy growled, walking away again. Once Remus was sure they were gone, he called out for Snape.
“Snape, they’re gone.” He raised his voice, smelling that Snape was still close, and lo and behold, Snape stepped back out a moment later, wide eyes and his hair a little windswept from sprinting.
“Thank you.” He nodded, sitting back down and checking the potion.
“Why’re they looking for you?” Snape looks down, his shoulders bunching up,
“Avery failed an essay, so he’s in a bad mood.” Snape shrugged, mumbling, Remus blinked,
“I thought the Slytherins were all friends or something.” It was true, the Slytherins never attacked each other, or even publicly fought, even the half-bloods and muggle-borns.
“I’m a half-blood that’s friends with a Gryffindor muggle-born.” Snape shrugged. Well, that’s true, Remus thinks to himself.
They sat in silence for who knows how long, the only sounds being the bubbling cauldron and a few chirping birds. Eventually, Snape bottled the potion and waved Remus goodbye.
⛤⛤⛤
Severus finally got to teach someone potions. He was unreasonably excited about that, he never thought he would enjoy teaching, but the idea of it is filling him with excited nerves.
Severus walks into the library, Lupin is already there, sitting in his usual seat, right next to Severus’ seat.
“Snape, hey.” Lupin greeted, smiling up at him, Severus nodded and sat down.
“Lupin, good to see you.” Severus pulled out his potions book, a small notebook that had all of Severus’ updated potions in it. He still wrote in his textbooks, but this made it easier to read. He flipped it open. “What was it that you needed help with?”
“Uh, everything? When I said I was shit, I meant it, I barely understand what Slughorn is talking about half the time.” Severus sighed, flipping to the front, his 1st year notes.
Severus spent 15 minutes quietly walking Lupin through all his notes, answering questions and pointing out his changes to the recipes. Some of the girls were looking at them weirdly, but Lupin didn’t seem to notice and Severus paid them no mind.
“But see, I don’t get the difference, why would daffodil seeds make it all gross but the petals make it better?” Lupin asked Severus. He opened his mouth to explain the difference in the oils of the seed and petals, but was interrupted.
“Why are you even here?” One of the girls, a Ravenclaw, asks, Lupin furrows his brows.
“We were invited by Lily? We want to study?” Lupin answers. Severus stays silent.
“Remus, you know you’re always welcome, but Lily isn’t even here today, so why’s he here?” Severus looks down at his hands, picking and his nails.
“He’s the best potions student in our year, probably the whole school. I would take advantage of him being here if I were you.” Lupin says slowly. Severus looks up and stares at him. No one’s ever stuck up for him but Lily.
“I’d rather fail potions than talk to him.” Lupin’s jaw twitches and he opens his mouth to reply, but Severus starts speaking.
“The oils in the seeds are different to the oils in the petals, you usually can’t switch them out because they react differently.” Lupin shoots a glare at the girl but dutifully listens.
⛤⛤⛤
Remus will be forever grateful to Snape now.
“That’s perfect Remus! We’ll make a potion master out of you yet!” Slughorn enthused. Remus shot a smile over his shoulder to Snape. It wasn’t perfect, but Slughorn always doted on him and his friends. It was a little weird, but it kept them passing.
Remus sat back in his seat, Sirius and James making jokes behind him, he wasn’t paying much attention.
Then a loud thud sounded, followed by laughter. Remus looked over and saw Snape, covered in his potion, his cauldron lying half-melted on the floor. James and Sirius were howling with laughter behind him, a few other people laughing along with them. Slughorn tutted and told Snape to go to the hospital wing, but Snape didn’t move.
“Snape? Snape, hey, you good?” Remus stood, walking to him. Snape's hands were shaking and splotchy. Remus got a good look at his face. “He’s choking!” He yelled, people started panicking, and Remus tried to figure out what was happening.
Slughorn told Remus to take Snape to the hospital wing, Remus silently thanked his werewolf strength as he hauled Snape up and started running.
Poppy said he’d suffered an allergic reaction, his friends had slipped some banana oil into Snape’s potion, making it explode and getting it all over Snape. Lily came in after class ended, a furious fire in her eyes. Poppy sent them both off to class, Herbology now.
“I am going to strangle Potter.” Lily fumed, Remus nodded. He felt the same, which was odd, Snape wasn’t his friend or anything.
⛤⛤⛤
Severus walks into the library, still a little tired from dealing with his stupid allergy. He sits down on the soft chair gratefully, Lily chattering to him at a mile a minute about how much she wants to scream at Potter for putting banana in his cauldron.
“Lily, it’s fine, it’s not like they knew I’m allergic.” Severus sighs, pulling out his books and a quill.
“They still shouldn’t have done it.” Lupin says, sitting next to him. Severus blinks.
“It’s not the first time they’ve put something in my cauldron and it won’t be the last.” Severus huffs. The two Gryffindors go quiet. “I do need a new cauldron though, I don’t think Slughorn will let me borrow any more.”
“You’ve been borrowing Slughorn's cauldrons?” Lupin asks, Severus nods and silently prays that Lily won’t say anything.
“Yeah, his family’s never been able to afford one.” Oh well, everyone already knows he’s poor.
“Oh.” Lupin blinks, “You can have mine, then.” Severus blinks.
“You’re giving me your cauldron?” Lupin nods, “But you won’t have one?”
“James owes me a favour anyways, and his dad has heaps.”
⛤⛤⛤
Snape takes him out into the Forbidden Forest a month after he started teaching him about potions. The weather was starting to turn colder and a few snowflakes had started to fall.
“Aren’t you afraid of the Forest? People say there are werewolves in here.” Remus jokes, a secretive smile on his face.
“It’s the middle of the day, no werewolves are about. Here, this is a good spot.” Snape dropped his bag to the ground, soon following it. Remus smiled and knelt slowly, knees sore from the cold. “Come on, you act like an old man.” Snape ends up dragging Remus down, setting a few sticks on fire and setting the cauldron up.
“So, what’re we making?” Remus asks, looking into Snape's bag.
“It’s one of my own potions, it stops bruising.” That makes Remus pause. Lily told him that they only make new potions and spells out of necessity. Which means Snape once needed something to stop bruising without going to Poppy.
“Alright. Let’s hope I don’t blow us up.”
“You won’t blow anything up while I’m here. Here, you start with this.” Snape pointed at his page, Remus nodded and started preparing the potion.
“So, what’re you doing for Christmas? I know Lil’s going back to her parents, are you going with her?” Remus asks, trying to start a conversation.
“I don’t celebrate Christmas, and I always stay here. The quiet gives me more time to brew.” Snape shrugs, Remus blinks.
“I’m staying here too, I’ll probably be too tired to do anything though,” Remus says, and then realises what he said. How does he explain he turns into a giant dog every full moon without saying he’s a werewolf?
“Are you sick or something?” Oh, thank you, Snape, Remus chants in his head.
“Uh, yeah, I’ve been sick since I was a kid, that‘s why I act like such an old man sometimes, stuffed up joints.” He even manages to not lie.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” Snape’s eyes are wide and he’s picking at his nails, he’s nervous.
“It’s okay, I don’t usually tell people.” Remus is doing a great job of not lying today.
⛤⛤⛤
“Why do you still call me Lupin? Surely we’re friends by now?” Lupin asks one day in the library.
“Why do you still call me Snape?” Lupin rolls his eyes.
“Okay, fair point. But seriously, will you call me my name?”
“Okay, Remus.” Severus draws out the name, and Remus chuckles, “But only if you call me Severus.”
“No, I’m going to call you cupcake.” Remus rolls his eyes, Severus flicks him.
⛤⛤⛤
“So, are you religious, or do you just not like Christmas?” Remus asks, passing the ciggy back to Severus. They’re outside, next to the Black Lake, which looks even more inky black in the moonlight. They bumped into each other while wandering the castle and decided to come outside for a smoke.
“I think my dad might be Jewish, but I’ve just never celebrated anything. Didn’t even do anything for my birthday until I met Lily.” Severus stares up at the smoke he’s just breathed out, watching it disperse in the breeze.
“Damn. I’ll have to make this birthday really cool then.” Remus jokes, Severus elbows him.
“You’re an idiot.” Severus says fondly. Something warm and fuzzy curls up in Remus’ chest.
⛤⛤⛤
Severus watched Remus closely. He had his sleeves rolled up and Severus could see his muscles moving with every cut he made. He watched the sweat drip down his face, watched as his pink tongue darted out to wet his lips.
This crush Severus had started harbouring for Remus was becoming bothersome. He’s not quite sure when it started, but he knew it wasn’t going away. It was horrible. No one had any idea he was gay, so he couldn’t complain to anyone, and he was too much of a coward to do anything himself.
“Severus. Sev. Sevvy. Cupcake!” Remus clapped his hands in front of Severus’ face, breaking him out of his thoughts.
“Sorry. I was thinking.” Severus felt his face go red. He chewed on his lip.
⛤⛤⛤
Remus stared at Severus, specifically his lips, which were getting redder as he chewed on the bottom one. He swallowed, looking back into his eyes, which wasn’t much better. His eyes were gorgeous, so dark they were nearly black, yet holding so much emotion in them.
Remus swayed closer unconsciously, and with how close they already were, that had them standing almost nose-to-nose. Severus let out a breath but didn’t move back. Remus knew his own breathing was coming out laboured. He opened his mouth to say something, he’s not quite sure what, but then Severus leans up, sealing their lips together. Remus melts into it, kissing back and winding his arms around Severus’ waist. He felt Severus’ hand on his cheek, the other fisted in his hair.
“I– holy shit– fuck! I’m so–” Severus pulled back, panting and wide-eyed. His hand was still in Remus’ hair. Remus squeezed his waist, making him squeak.
“What’re you sorry for?” Remus whispered, moving down so their faces were closer.
“I kissed you?” Severus says weakly, his voice ticking up at the end, making it sound like a question.
“Mhm.” Remus hums, finally leaning all the way down, kissing Severus again, feeling more than hearing Severus’ shocked gasp. “And I kissed you.” Remus pulled back, staring into Severus’ eyes, which were now blown wide.
The potion ends up boiling over, but they laugh about it and start kissing again.
⛤⛤⛤
Severus watched Remus worriedly. He’s been looking like shit all day, and Severus hasn’t been able to catch him away from his other friends to ask what was wrong. Black encouraged Remus to eat, and Severus grew even more worried.
He ended up giving up getting Remus alone, walking up to him after dinner.
“Remus, are you okay? You look like shit.” Severus stood there, talking to Remus, in front of Potter and Black. He’ll be fine.
“Yeah, I’ll be okay, just gotta sleep it off.” Remus weakly offered. Severus bit his tongue, letting Remus’ other friends lead him to the hospital wing.
A few hours later, just before sunset, Black approached him in the library.
“So, Snivlly is on a first-name basis with our Moony now.” Black sneers, looking down at Severus. Severus starts picking at his nails.
“Why do you care, Black?” Severus sighs, too worried about Remus to start a fight.
“Because I don’t want Remus to get hurt by your sort.” Black snarled. Severus was taken aback. His sort?
“I have no intention of hurting Remus. My problems lie with you and Potter, not with him.” Severus stands, collecting his things.
“Prove it. Get past the Whomping Willow and take a look at what’s at the end of the tunnel under it.” Severus shakes his head.
“Fine, if it’ll make you feel better, but I don’t know how to get past the Willow.”
⛤⛤⛤
Remus goes through the tunnel, into the shack. James and Sirius will come after dark today, James wanted to send a letter to Lily and Sirius was probably going to flirt with a random girl. Remus doesn’t care much, he knows they’ll be there for him.
He trusts them.
⛤⛤⛤
Severus stretches out, pressing the knot Black told him to. It does actually stop the Willow from swinging wildly. He looks into the tunnel. It’s dark, the light from the full moon not reaching it. Oh well.
Severus climbs in. The dirt on the bottom is firm like it’s walked over regularly, but the dirt walls around him are still soft and damp. Severus casts a quiet lumos and walks forward, keeping an eye out for anything odd.
About halfway through the tunnel, Severus starts hearing animalistic noises. He feels his pulse speed up, but reminds himself that he’s safe, this is Hogwarts, he’ll be fine. He continues on, some light coming from the other end of the tunnel. He climbs through, seeing that he’s inside an old-looking house. He can hear scratching and growling upstairs.
He knows. He already knows, right here. But his curiosity pushes him forward. He pushes his hair out of his eyes and walks up the stairs.
Upstairs is totally empty, except for a single door. Severus takes a shaky breath, hoping against hope this is just a stupid prank. He pulls open the door.
In front of him is a large wolf, growling and scratching at the ground, eyes a bright yellow. It growls lowly. Severus is rooted in place. He can’t breathe for fear it would make the wolf attack him. The door slams shut behind him, he turns and tries to open it, but it’s locked tight. He’s locked in a room, with a werewolf.
The wolf lunges at him, teeth bared.
And licks his face.
Severus gasps, and then laughs, pushing the wolf’s face away and patting him.
“Remus?” He whispers. The wolf bobs its head up and down, like a nod. “You have a lot to explain to me in the morning,” Severus warns, before scratching the wolf's belly. It flops over and wags its tail, tongue lolling out.
After a while, Severus yawns. The wolf notices and starts trying to push him towards the rickety-looking bed. Severus smiles and climbs in, the wolf scrambling up to lie on his lap.
They fall asleep like that.
⛤⛤⛤
Remus wakes up feeling warm. The sun came through the window onto his back. He feels good, like he actually slept last night, and his joints don’t hurt as much as they usually do.
The soft thing he’s sleeping on moves, and he stiffens. Did he fall asleep on James? No, it doesn’t smell like James at all or Sirius. A hand cards through his hair, and he suddenly places the smell.
“Severus?” Remus shoots up, belatedly realising he’s naked and pulling a blanket over himself. “What are you doing here? Are you okay?” Remus starts pulling Severus’ clothes up, looking for any injuries.
“Remus, I’m fine. The worst you did was lick me.” Severus put a hand on Remus’ arm. Remus sagged in relief. That’s all that matters. Severus could leave him and tell everyone, but as long as he’s okay, Remus would be fine.
“Poppy will be here soon. I’ve uh, got to get dressed.” Remus felt himself go red. Severus stared at his chest, and then went red himself.
“Uh, yeah, sorry.” Severus mumbled, turning away from Remus. Remus got dressed faster than he ever has before.
“So, why and how are you here?” Remus sat down on the bed again. He couldn’t look at Severus’ face, a mix of embarrassment and anxiety causing him to look at the bedsheets.
“Black told me how to get through. I know I shouldn’t have come, I should’ve let you tell me.” Severus starts picking at his nails. Remus instinctively holds his hands to stop him.
“No, it’s not your fault, Sirius shouldn’t have told you how to get in. Merlin, I’m so sorry. I’m going to kill him.” Remus growled the last part, the wolf part of him still close to the surface. Severus blushed. Remus smiled and held his hands tightly. “Are we okay?” He asks quietly. Severus looks up.
“Yes, of course. Something like this wouldn’t change my opinion of you. I–” Severus quickly shut his mouth. Remus knew what he was going to say.
“Me too.” He whispers. Their foreheads fall together, and Severus is grinning.
“I’m coming in dear.” Poppy calls through the door.
⛤⛤⛤
“Really! I thought you’d have been smarter Mr Snape!” Pompfrey tutted, checking over both boys. Severus looked down at the ground, not picking his nails, but close to it.
“It is a miracle you managed to walk out alive, let alone unscathed. Tell me, Severus, what did you do?” Professor McGonagall looked at him over the rim of her glasses.
“I uh, I didn’t really do anything? I froze at the door, and then it shut behind me, and Remus tackled me. He really only licked my face.” Severus isn’t sure how he can explain it.
“And how did you get into the shack?” McGonagall asked, a single eyebrow raised. Severus picked at his nails.
“Sirius told him how to get past the Willow. ‘S not hard to figure out anything after that.” Remus spoke for him. Severus wasn’t planning to say anything about Black, but if Remus wanted to tell them, he couldn’t stop him.
“Really?” McGonagall asked, before turning and striding out of the hospital wing.
⛤⛤⛤
An hour later, Severus, Remus and Sirius were all called up to Dumbledore’s office. When they got there, they saw McGonagall and Poppy standing, with Dumbledore sitting between them. Sirius shows up a few moments after them, he opens his mouth to say something, but instead, he gapes at Severus.
“Gentlemen. Please, sit.” Dumbledore gestures to the chairs sitting in front of his desk. Severus stays standing while the other two take the available seats. “Now, I understand that Mr Snape was found in the Shrieking Shack with Mr Lupin and that they have confirmed it was you, Mr Black, that told Mr Snape how to get past the Whomping Willow and into the tunnel that leads into the Shack.” Dumbledore looks them all in the eye. Sirius looks down. “Is there anything you would like to say, Mr Black?”
“No, sir,” Sirius said weakly, looking over at Remus. “Are they both okay?” Remus knows what he’s actually asking. Was Severus turned?
“Yes, both came out unscathed, if a bit tired.” Poppy tells him. Sirius sags into his seat.
“Would either of you like to say something, Mr Lupin, Mr Snape?” Dumbledore asks. Remus shakes his head.
“Don’t expel him.” Severus quietly says, looking down and chewing on his lip. Remus stares at him. He knows Sirius would be gaping at Severus too.
“And why shouldn’t I?” Dumbledore asks. Sirius takes in a breath.
“It was my fault, too. I didn’t need to go through the Shack, I didn’t need to open the door, I didn’t need to do any of it. Black only told me how to get through, it was my own curiosity that put me in danger.” Remus has no idea why Severus is defending Sirius. Remus himself was royally pissed off at him, and that’s with years of friendship tying them together. Then again, that might be why. It’s not the first time Sirius has tried to hurt Severus, he had probably expected it.
“Hmm.” Dumbledore muses. “Well, it is up to you. If you feel Mr Black is fit to stay here, I will allow him to continue, but, if you truly feel unsafe, please, come to one of us.” Remus hears Severus’ soft snort. Severus has been reporting the bullying for years, and nothing has happened.
⛤⛤⛤
“Why would you do that?” Black asked once they were in the hallway outside Dumbledore’s office.
“You make Remus happy, and I am friends with your brother. It was not for you.” Severus answers. He knows Remus, he knows that Remus loves Black like a brother.
“Thank you.” Black struggles out, before walking briskly down the hallway, leaving him alone with Remus.
“I’m going to kick his arse when I get back to the dorms.” Remus muses, voice dangerously calm until he looks back at Severus. “Wanna go out for a smoke?” Severus smiled softly and nodded. They walked outside the castle to the greenhouses. They felt different, this big of a reveal couldn’t not change their relationship, but at least for Severus, it felt better, stronger. He hoped Remus felt the same.