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Remus was tempted to surround to gentle slumber coming down, his thoughts somewhat slow and drowsy. How he would love to be fast asleep right now; he couldn’t do his paperwork in this state anyway; but he always found himself unable to properly relax while his body took the shape of a wolf. He couldn’t help himself, it just felt wrong, even though the Moon tried its best to convince him that this is only natural, look how lively you can get — all wrong, everything simply disproportionate and misplaced with unclear borders. He couldn’t really tell where his limbs ended or how large he actually was. Not like he was eager to find out, though. Right now, as always, he was curled up on the floor, ignoring the Wolf, waiting for this all to pass.
Now that Remus had taken his potion, the Wolf was quieter, although still as willing to come back as ever. It whispered, desperately needing to succumb to the natural order, to answer the Moons calling, its shine seemingly not bothering to even dim by the curtains he definitely did spread over the windows. Was it supposed to be this pervasive? Remus honestly doubted. He had enough experience to know his senses couldn’t always be trusted.
At one point, there came footsteps. He recognised them instantly; he didn’t need his heightened sense of smell for that.
But what was Severus doing here? The whole castle was supposed to be asleep by now…
Snapes footsteps slowed down and finally came to a stop just before the door to Remus‘ cabinet — the very room in which Remus himself was hiding. He was suddenly wide awake. There was a beat — and then a quiet but stern Alohomora.
His whole body became tense – don’t panic, Moony – heart pounding painfully as the door unlocked itself and jumped open with a soft creak.
And there he was, Severus Snape, standing above him just on the verge of the room, right in the doorframe, neither his dark cloak nor the hallway‘s shadows hiding him well enough from his wolf eyes. He could see him clear as day, the human staring down at him with grim, gut-wrenching curiosity in his eyes and a wry smirk on his face.
„What a sight to behold,“ Snape said in a quiet, unseemly amused voice.
Lupin kept quiet.
There was a pause in which Snape took the time to inspect the creature in front of him, seemingly taking in every inch of his moon-lit build, head to twitching tail which was lost somewhere in the shadow underneath the desk.
„I came to see for myself the quality of the potion I brewed for you, Lupin,“ Snape said, then; „but I suppose I have managed my job quite sufficiently as otherwise, I would’ve been at least twice dead by now. Perhaps even thrice as I’m talking.“ His gaze was ice-cold. „You’d tear me to shreds.“
Remus didn’t believe him for a second. He wouldn’t have come here if he wasn’t sure it was safe. He saw what damage he could do, he saw the Wolf. Remus was sure Severus wouldn’t take the risk again. Besides, this was not his first Full Moon in the castle nor in the school grounds, not even this very year. They had already made sure the potion worked before the start of the school year, safely away in the Shrieking Shack. Minerva herself had already confirmed all was well.
Why is he here, then? Just to belittle me? To take his revenge?
Snape gave a little scoffing sound. He was leaning against the doorframe, now, smug as Remus had yet to meet him. Right now, Remus could clearly see him as the teacher thirteen-year-old students were afraid of confronting.
„I have come to see the results of my efforts, Lupin,“ Snape said, putting a strange force into the last word, „however, since I’m here, why not also take a look at the werewolf? I’ve always yearned to see it in… hm… another light. I suppose it does make a difference, to not see you from the position of a quarry, waiting to die… but from up above for once. Really makes one truly see you for what you really are.“
The Moon was calling him. Under the influence of the Wolfsbane Potion, a werewolf was relatively harmless to humans — but that didn’t mean the Wolf was gone. Remus could feel it, it saw through his eyes, the two sharing one heartbeat, it could see the prey. What was Snape trying to achieve? Make Remus snap, make him lose control? Awaken the Wolf?
A soft growl slipped out from Remus‘ throat. Snape smirked.
„Now we’re talking,“ he said, snidely. „Looks like the potion doesn’t grant you the honour of speech, now, does it? What a shame. How I would have loved to have a little chat with you. By the moon. How enticing would that have been.“
His eyes were piercing in the dark.
„Dates by the moon tend to be very romantic, I can imagine,“ he hissed, biting out every word.
Remus said nothing.
„What a truly abhorrent creature the werewolf is,“ Snape said out of a sudden. „I think you would agree with me, wouldn’t you, Lupin? Were you in the state to actually reply, of course. Who knows, maybe you don’t even understand a word I’m saying. I might be as well talking to an actual animal. Just look at you —“
Snape gasped sharply, taking a quick step back as Remus suddenly sprung to his feet, standing up to his full body frame in a matter of a second. Even though he was still on all fours, he was at least half Snape’s height, a solid force of beastly strength and danger. He made sure to not let a single sound slip out, not a growl, as well as any sign of his own surprise; for this, as he was well aware, was an act of impulse. He let himself get angered, he allowed himself to lose control over his emotions for a moment. His heart was pounding in his animal chest. Emotions running loose – wasn’t that just the Wolf? One more slip, and the consequences could be fatal.
In that moment, they were just standing there, Snape halfway out the door, pale against the black and visibly taken aback, the werewolf facing him seemingly ready to strike at any moment, ears desperately wanting to clinge back to his skull in recoil, his long tale drawn to his hind legs. There was a beat, and a second. And then – Snape smirked. He had the audacity to smirk.
„I see you still have some work to be done, professor,“ he said with an undertone of unusal tension in his voice. „I will leave you to it. It seems you need some time to… pacify yourself.“ He took a sharp breath, his face hardening into that of a pure disdain, his voice lowering in tone to form a mockery of intimacy. He spat his words out as if they were all equally important, as if to make sure Remus remembered every single one. „Whatever it was that made Dumbledore trust you, made him think you were not dangerous, it wasn’t enough to convince me. I still remember what you’re capable of. He didn’t even have the courage to meet his employee during the full moon, which I find ludicrously foolish.“ He shook his head, not taking his eyes of the werewolf for a second. „Oh, and Remus? I believe I have already told you what I think about all this playing pretend with you being a Hogwarts‘ teacher – but I’ll kindly say it again, as it seems you happened to have already forgotten: there is no place for monsters in school grounds. The beasts belong out.“
It was with these words that he left, his cloak covering him like just another shadow, the cabinet’s door slamming behind him wordlessly — leaving Remus to his thoughts, not even bothering with locking back up.