(no subject)
The ‘C’ Section. ... That just sounds awful, sorry. Anyone for title ideas?
Cake
Author: Minx
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Remus Lupin
Summary: Lupin eats dessert. Smut. (Lost Feeling Story Arc)
Quote:
He smiled under the caressing hand. He knew a yes when he heard one. He pulled up the covers with a wave of his hand and curled around the other man. On the verge of sleep, he gave a tentative sniff. The unfamiliar, unexpected tang of /hope/ filled him again. Briefly, he let himself savor the emotion he had never thought to experience again, even second-hand. His last thought before sleep overtook him was of ways he could persuade the house-elves to serve that chocolate cake more frequently.
Care and Feeding
Author: Canis M.
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, James Potter/Lily Evans
Summary: Shortly before Sirius and Remus leave Hogwarts, certain proposals are made. Certain answers are given.
Quote:
Everything stopped for him: breath, heart, blood, thought. Not because Sirius was teasing, but because he wasn't, and could still sound so offhand. Sometimes that was worse. Especially now, it was worse. Remus tried to match his lightness, but it was a strain. "Funny," he said, "I don't recall you ever proposing."
"Oh, come on, Moony." Breath, hot and doggy on his neck, smelling of champagne. Bottles of it. "I told you last summer, remember? I told you I was serious. I AM serious." Sirius chuckled, clearly pleased anew with the battered old pun. "It's universally agreed."
Casualties of War
Author: hansbekhart
Rating: R
Warning(s): Character death, implied torture, implied rape, imagery.
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, Remus Lupin/Severus Snape
Summary: When the second war begins, Remus Lupin and Draco Malfoy are its first casualties. (It’s very chaptered, so look at the bottom. My favourite fanfic.)
Quote:
Sirius hasn’t come for him so Sirius must be dead. It is the only thing he allows himself to think about. He hasn’t been rescued, so Sirius was dead. It is a simple equation that doesn’t include any other people from the Order. He doesn’t want to think about why he hasn’t been rescued. He doesn’t want to think about what has happened in the last three weeks, what has happened to Severus and Harry and Hermoine and all the Weaselys and Hogwarts. For all he knows, it could have been Severus, masked and anonymous, hurling curses at him last night.
Caught!
Author: Hikari
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Summary: The boys try to find some privacy in the dorms over the holidays, but with James and Peter also staying behind, things don't work out quite the way they wanted to…
Quote:
“Honestly, Peter! If you weren’t so damned slow in the mornings, we could have already been outside by now! Moony and Padfoot are already gone!”
Eyes flying wide open, Remus sat up in shock, dumping Sirius to the cold stone floor. With a yelp, the dark haired boy twisted back into a sitting position, rubbing his rear. Hastily the other boy yanked his shirt back down over his chest and ran his fingers through slightly sweaty hair. Sirius looked nothing less than peeved as he straightened his own shirt muttering something about Remus not knowing how to treat a hot piece of ass.
Caught in the Act
Author: casirafics
Rating: NC-17
Warning(s): Exhibitionism.
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Summary: Sirius seduces Remus in a rather public place, promising they won't be caught -- except Remus quickly discovers the loophole in Sirius' privacy charm.
Quote:
The blow pinning Remus to the wall was solid, swift, and knocked the breath from his lungs, and when he could open his eyes again, the man who'd done it was smiling.
Remus stared at him, feeling the young man's fingers clutch his shoulders tighter, watching his chest heave... and then Remus' gaze drifted up to meet the shocking blue eyes trained directly on him.
"We are," Remus gasped, "in the Great H--"
Before he could finish the word, Sirius was kissing him.
Caught in the Act
Author: anise_anise
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s):Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: Smut.
Quote:
“I’ll just… “ James sputtered hoarsely, “wait. Outside… er… over… yeah…” He turned and ran into the doorjamb face first, stumbled back, tripped and half fell, half ran from the room.
Sirius dissolved in fits of laughter, falling forward onto his mortified lover.
“I hate you,” Remus mumbled into his hands.
Caught with Their Pants Down
Author: musesfool
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black, OC/Remus Lupin, OC/Sirius Black, OC/Peter Pettigrew, James Potter/Lily Evans
Summary: Lily sets the Marauders up with her friends for dinner, and one does something a bit shocking.
Quote:
"And bigger," James added smugly.
"You are not," Sirius began, but Lily cut him off.
"We can get out a ruler if you like, but either way, shut up and take off your trousers."
"I can see why you like her," Sirius said to James, long fingers moving quickly over the buttons on his shirt. James smirked.
Cenotaph
Author: jabez_fics
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: No one understands as Remus does how alive Sirius is.
Quote:
Remus unfurls the old maps. Maps drawn in Sirius' hand, woven with the spells familiar to every one of the Marauders - maps made for the Order, to navigate Death Eater territory, identifying each individual in casting range. Azkaban hadn't taken this from him, it appears, because each of the spells are perfect - Remus tests them out with his own wand, reconfigures them, sees only his own name on the house's map. (Strange, Remus thinks. Sirius is gone, but I'm the ghost.)
Centre of Gravity
Author: vissy
Rating: NC-17
Warning(s): Het?
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, James Potter/Lily Evans, Sirius Black/Lily Evans, James Potter/Sirius Black
Summary: James wouldn’t ever cheat on Lily, nor Sirius on Remus, but if they were present…
Quote:
"Oh, well, we're all family here," said James, as if it was perfectly understandable. "Bloody hell, it's chilly. Three in the bed and the new bloke says..."
"Roll over, roll over?" Sirius sing-songed.
"Was going to suggest you haul your fat arses, but whatever."
Changes
Author: leogryffin
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Remus Lupin
Summary: New take on cliché: Spell gone awry.
Quote:
"He didn't speak up in his own defense, so we assume he did, indeed commit atrocities either in his own name or in Voldemort's."
"Minerva," I whispered. "The bloody stubborn goat. He wouldn't."
Changing Moon
Author: Spydre
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Remus Lupin
Summary: Severus Snape makes Remus Lupin an amazing offer that will change the werewolf’s life forever.
Quote:
That assertion proved irresistible. “You’ve insisted that I saved your life, Severus,” he reminded me. “Are you claiming to have some means of saving mine?”
“More accurately I’m stating that I have the means of preserving your life. I’ve discovered the cure for lycanthropy.”
Not a sound escaped his lips, but Lupin’s eyes grew huge with astonishment and he silently mouthed the unspoken question: “Cure?”
I gave him a curt nod. “I see that you are interested in my clearing my indebtedness to you after all,” I continued with what I hoped, in vain, was sufficient sarcasm to silence any further comments until I could state my case.
Charm the Bottle
Author: longleggedgit
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black, James Potter/Lily Evans
Summary: The Marauders play a game.
Quote:
Sirius Black was many things, Remus decided, but never subtle. Once again he was being pinned down by Sirius’s weight and forced into a rather brutal kiss, and this made him wonder just how he had let himself be dragged into such a stupid, juvenile Muggle game. Honestly. Spin the Bottle. They couldn’t even think up a creative name for it, or at least something more accurate, like, say, Rape the Lycanthrope.
Just how long could Sirius go on kissing, anyway?
Choice
Author: Seeker
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Severus Snape
Summary: Severus thinks of his choices.
Quote:
"Oh, that was only our own Professor Lupin," Snape said clearly, pitching his voice effortlessly to carry directly to the Slytherin table a few feet in front of them. As expected, Malfoy and his cronies sat up straight and turned toward him, gossip hounds at his command. "Forgot his potion last night. Not a smart move for a werewolf."
McGonagall, two down from him, gasped, and he saw her fingers clench in a fist on the table. Not at Lupin. At Snape, for countermanding Dumbledore's direct order. Idly, Snape watched Malfoy turn and begin to spread the poison, his pale face gleaming with excitement. One place past McGonagall's, a fork clattered against a plate. A chair scraped. Snape kept his eyes on the Slytherin table as Lupin walked behind him, on his way out the door. No doubt on his way to Dumbledore, to resign, then further to his rooms. To pack.
He smelled of wet leaves and deep forest. He made no sound.
Snape carefully laid his cutlery beside his plate and folded his hands in his lap, appetite gone, scowl firmly in place. It was for the best. Dumbledore had made his choice. Lupin had made his.
Snape had made his choice, as well.
Christmas 1977
Author: thistlefics
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: Remus and Sirius look for a separate peace.
Quote:
“We’ll be together after school is over. I promise. We’ll get jobs. We’ll get a nice flat--”
“You said you liked this one.” Sirius sounded slightly aggrieved.
Remus rolled his eyes. “Your fridge hums…”
“…but on key…”
“…your mirror whistles at me every time I walk by…”
“--well, I told it to do that.”
Christmas By Numbers
Author: Alvira
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black, James Potter/Lily Evans
Summary: It's the Marauders' last Christmas at Hogwarts, and naturally Sirius is going to make sure it goes off with a bang. Unless Remus manages to keep him from turning metaphor into reality.
Quote:
It was an excellent plan, he had to admit, and one which he thought the rest of Gryffindor might actually enjoy, as opposed to just surviving. Moreover, it was the perfect opportunity to sneak Lily something that would finally convince her that he was one of the good guys. As it stood, she seemed to regard him as one step down from the lovechild of Frankenstein and Attila the Hun. And he had no idea why.
...Of course, there was the matter of the charm that'd turned her hair pink for a month in first year...and the soup he'd spilled on her new robes in second year...and all the times in class when he'd broken something or cursed something or exploded something, and she'd ended up covered in slime or dirt or bubbling pustules...or the hundreds of occasions on which she'd caught him taunting Snape...or that class last year when he'd accidentally ripped her skirt so that it split clean in half...
...But he'd only been trying to get her to notice him, so he really didn't deserve to be cold-shouldered like that. Padfoot agreed, too - although Moony refused to say anything…
Christmas on the Dai Llewellyn Ward
Author: Emily Anne
Rating: PG
Summary: It’s the happiest day of the year, and the bleakest time of his life, until a complete stranger reaches out to him.
Quote:
"Look," Bran said irritably, "if you've just come over here to spout more trite platitudes at me, you're wasting your breath. I've heard it and I'm not interested." He turned away from Remus once more and began prodding with his fork at his now cold stuffing.
"Let me guess," Remus said, easing back into his chair. "The Healers have been telling you that everything will be fine, it's not as painful as you think, you'll be able to handle it, and you'll have no problems leading a normal life."
"Sums it up."
"They're lying."
Civilised
Author: copperbadge
Rating: PG
Summary: Lupin gives up his bed freely enough, because sometimes you have to make sacrifices to be human.
Quote:
Remus Lupin took an amazing number of people to his bed, all things considered.
Not that he ever slept with them. Or, with a waggle of the eyebrows, slept with them. But the house at 12 Grimmauld Place had no shortage of damaged souls who needed a gentle word, needed hands that already knew grief.
Cliché Number Five
Author: lupercali
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, James Potter/Remus Lupin, James Potter/Lily Evans
Summary: Snape implements his plan.
Quote:
Peter whimpered from across the room. "Oh, James. Sirius is going to kill you so much."
James growled, and dropped Remus' wrist as if it were a hot coal, staring in horrified awe at his friend, still splayed like a burlesque figure across his sheets. Stupidly enough, the only things that would cross his mind was how very lovely Remus' thighs were and how his entire life was flashing before his eyes in anticipation of Sirius' reaction.
Remus peeked from underneath his forearm, with a slightly impatient lilt to a ridiculous affected, almost-girlishly high voice, he asked, "Is there anything wrong -- "
Sirius threw open the dormitory door, robes flapping, beaming and saying, "Remus!"
" -- Master?" Remus finished innocently.
Peter hit the deck.
Clockwise
Author: switchknife
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Summary: Smut.
Quote:
'You're incorrigible,' Remus laughs, stopping it with a quick hand of his own--and Sirius stares down at it reproachfully, deciding to check if his mind is capable of speech again.
'Sound like McGonagall,' he manages, and is proud that it's almost a complete sentence. Even if his voice is rather hoarse.
Close
Author: cmere1
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Summary: Sirius just doesn't want to go to class.
Quote:
“Sirius, stop it. We have to go, we’ve already missed breakfast and I refuse to be late to class.”
“Just let me…”
Coffee and Cigarettes
Author: musesfool
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: Sirius hopes he's doing the right thing.
Quote:
Remus pushes those long fingers through his greying hair, and his eyes are so very tired when he looks at Sirius, but they hold a hint of softness now.
"Give my regards to James and Lily and Harry," he says finally, pushing away from the wall and shoving his hands into his pockets, shoulders hunching against the chill.
That jacket can't be warm enough, Sirius thinks, and he almost offers his, remembers wanting to give Remus his money back, and knows how badly it would go now.
So all he says is, "I will," as he watches Remus walk away for what may be the last time.
Coffee and Tea
Author: violet_quill
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Remus Lupin
Summary: Severus doesn’t like to spend his birthdays alone anymore.
Quote:
"You?" I spit. "You've always been surrounded by friends. Potter and that brood of his are around here all the time just to see you. And even in school, you..." My voice trails off.
"Ah, remembering now, are you?" he asks, the words laced with disgust. "You'll have to excuse me, Severus, if I don't pity you in finding every other human being in the world beneath your friendship, when I am only forty years old and every one of my best friends is dead."
Coffee at Midnight
Author: juliefortune
Rating: PG
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black, James Potter/Lily Evans
Summary: After “that fateful night”, Remus gets a call from one of Lily’s mates who wants to know what happened.
Quote:
Cass suddenly gave him a look so full of understanding and comprehension that he felt naked under its force.
"Lily told you," he said, realizing. "About -- "
"You and Sirius." She saved him from the awkward pause by being brisk about it. Sighing and shaking her head. "Yeah. Oh, fucking hell, and pardon me, but fuck, Remus. Is there anything you didn't just bury?"
It was such an insightful thing -- such a mercy, strangely -- that he couldn't quite get his breath under the weight of it. Thank Merlin for the heavy anchoring force of the coffee cup in his hand, the mundane buzz of voices in the background.
"No," he said, and realized it was true. "There's nothing left, really."
Come With Me
Author: musesfool
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: Sirius leads and Remus follows.
Quote:
Come with me, Sirius says, and Remus follows, always. Down dark stone and earth corridors, through woods and grass and water and sky.
Coming Home
Author: musesfool
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: Remus likes coming home after a hard day's work.
Quote:
After almost a year of living together -- choosing to live together, not just being tossed into a dormitory together by a crazy magic hat -- Remus still comes home every day worried that it's all been a dream, that not only won't Sirius be there, waiting for him, but that they've never been friends at all, that it's all been some hallucination or cosmic joke.
Compellation
Author: cruisedirector
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Severus Snape
Summary: Lupin likes the way Snape says his name.
Quote:
"I apologize for my tardiness. You may blame your little Gryffindor pet, Miss Granger, who insisted on pelting me with questions while I was trying to put a stopper in this potion and leave Hogwarts." Dark eyes sweep over my perspiring face, down my body leaning forward to seize the bottle, and Snape taunts, "Eager, Lupin?"
Concerning Flying Lessons, Snuffboxes, and One Hundred Galleons
Author: Mary Borsellino
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black, James Potter/Lily Evans
Summary: One teaches the other to fly.
Quote:
"Wasn't your bed anyway, you were in with Moony again. Someone's going to get cluey if you never leave your sheets in a mess anymore."
Sirius snorted. "What, the house elves? They're all right, they like me because I let them eat whatever food gets left in my pockets. They won't spread gossip about where I sleep."
"I hope it is sleep that you two are doing behind the bed-curtains, mind. At least when Peter and I are in the room," James said in a reprimanding tone that sounded disturbingly like Professor McGonagall. Sirius's responding grin was, aptly enough, rather wolfish. James threw a handful of grass at him.
Confidence
Author: cruisedirector
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Remus Lupin
Summary: What if you had no choice but to tell your lover everything?
Quote:
"Severus. Look at me." The dark-haired wizard glances over, yet again Remus senses reluctance. It is unlike Severus to resist such a request at such a time, alone in the room together, so close to bedtime; Remus is careful with his choice of words, making certain not to phrase it as an order that might be misinterpreted. "Do you want to tell me what's troubling you?"
Conjunction
Author: casirafics
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: Remus really needs to study.
Quote:
"If we both fail this exam tomorrow," Remus said, as lightly as possible. "I know precisely who to hex for it."
"Hexing? Just because you can't resist my charms? You need to learn better preemptive defense, Moony." One hand suddenly slipped away, and Remus realized it was because Sirius had raised his wand; the bedcurtains all fell shut at once, and he heard Sirius cast a real charm, this one to silence the space they occupied.
"Then again," Sirius continued, his voice suddenly intense, "I'm not sure either of us would want you to resist, would we?"
Consequences
Author: _immortalis
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: There are consequences to fighting and living.
Quote:
Remus had met Someone. Normally, this was a topic of much speculation and many long and vulgar discussions. But Remus had decided not to tell Sirius, mostly because Someone was very different than his other Someones in that Someone was a bloke. Remus hadn’t known how Sirius would have reacted if he had found a strange man in his kitchen (an area Sirius was surprisingly territorial over) making waffles and tea for two. So he had spent most nights at Oliver’s flat rather than his own. The only nights he spent in his own flat were full moons.
Had Sirius been around during the days, he might have noticed things like muggle mail deliveries of flowers to “RJL,” or even furtive phone calls that Remus had always taken in his own room and never in the living room. But Sirius had always been gone during the days, either helping James with “dreadful marriage things” or over in France working on a very secret project.
He hadn’t told Remus about Jane because he had known that Remus would have lectured him for hours on end about how if he wasn’t going to get a job, he shouldn’t buy a sodding motorbike. But he had been unable to resist the chrome’s siren call and had bought her. He had rented a place to store her far away, making sure that Remus would never hear a word of it. Most days, he could have been found at the garage, tweaking charms on her or just polishing her. If Remus could have a secret, he had figured that he could, too.
Conspiracy Theory
Author: arionrhod
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Severus Snape
Summary: When Albus Dumbledore decides to play matchmaker, Severus and Remus decide to resist... together.
Quote:
Shaking his head, the werewolf grinned at his colleague. "The point is, Severus, that we go ahead and give him what he thinks he wants. We 'get together', as it were, so that Albus thinks he is clever and has manipulated us into a liaison. Then... we 'break up', claiming that it just didn't work out, that we're not, er, physically compatible or something, and he'll leave us alone."
The Potions Master blinked, startled. Of course, it should have occurred to him to do such a thing. He was the sneaky Slytherin, after all, wasn't he? Head of House, even. It was almost embarrassing for the former Gryffindor to have come up with the scheme. He felt that he needed to save a bit of face.
"I may be capable of playing a besotted lover, Lupin," he said drily, raising a dark, challenging brow. "However, I doubt that you could do so in a fashion that would fool Albus. Duplicity is hardly your strong point."
"Don't worry about me, Severus," Remus drawled, apparently unoffended. "I believe I can manage to be affectionate enough to make him believe it."
Copy of Report on Surprise Inspection of Case #14568
Author: Treemonisha
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Summary: Copy of a report filed at Office for Werewolf Support Services, Being Division, Ministry of Magic. (Part of First Night Series)
Quote:
We arrived at the house at a quarter after ten, to find the doors locked and no one about. Miss Felsted expressed her disappointment, thinking they must have gone out for the day. I knew better and pounded on the door and rang the bell until Remus finally dragged himself downstairs to stop us from making so much noise. Miss Felsted seemed rather put out with Remus’ confusion at our presence and his attempt to keep us on the stoop while he peeked out around the side of the door. She insisted that he let us into the house which he finally did. The sitting room was a little untidier than is normal but I think the thing that Remus had been trying to keep from her was that fact that all he was wearing was a button-down shirt (with half the buttons off) and a blue sock on his left foot.
However, once we were in, he was very polite. He invited us to sit down; first removing the black silk thong style panties, the motorcycle helmet and the leather chaps from the sofa; and asked hopefully if we would like some tea. I personally think he was hoping to put the water on to boil and run upstairs for a pair of pants but Miss Felsted refused for the both of us, so Remus perched on one of the chairs and tried to pull the shirt down over as much of his legs as could be managed.
With the same pig-headed determination that won and lost the empire, Miss Felsted began going through the items on the questionnaire. I think she hoped she would gain back a little of her dignity if she maintained her professionalism, besides it gave her something to look at besides the spectacular love-bite on Remus’ inner thigh.
Cream
Author: electricandroid
Rating: NC-17
Warning(s): Food fetish.
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Remus Lupin
Summary: Smut.
Quote:
Remus remembered the first time he had seen Severus after returning to Hogwarts. It was at breakfast, when a stained hand had reached across his plate, reaching for the cream. He had stared at the hand, mapping each vein, scar, and wrinkle, but the net result was the same. He slid the jug over to those fingers, careful not to make eye-contact; it was not as if Severus Snape was ever in the mood for common pleasantries from Remus. In his trance, Remus tipped the jug over, onto the table cloth, onto Severus' grasping hand.
"Merlin, Lupin! It is merely a jug of cream. Can you do nothing right?" Severus stood and made his way out of the room, wiping cream off his fingers.
Now succulent was not a word often applied to Severus Snape. Sparse was, sparse and straight, lean and lofty. It was… odd. One would have to look past their usual impression of Snape. The impression Remus had grown up with of a long, lanky boy. There was now a certain roundness that had not been there before, a slight curve where there was once a plane. Almost...delicious.
Cutting the Cord
Author: florahart
Rating: NC-17
Warning(s): Chan. (Harry’s sixteen).
Pairing(s): Harry Potter/Bill Weasley/Remus Lupin
Summary: Remus has been bonded, and is now ill and dying. Bill figures it out, and Harry is determined to save him. Smut.
Quote:
By the time Harry got to Order Headquarters in the summer after his fifth year, after his requisite stint with the Dursleys, Remus was already failing badly. No one, including the staff at St. Mungo's, understood why, and he wouldn't talk about it, but his hair was greying rapidly; his joints becoming truly arthritic and swollen in addition to the ongoing discomfort that came of years of transformations; even his eyesight failing, as Hermione noticed when he sat down to read in the library holding the text two inches from his nose. The Healers had said vaguely that perhaps he had contracted an ailment peculiar to aging werewolves, and even though Hermione had protested that thirty-six was not "aging," they had simply shrugged and said there was nothing they could do. She was still angry as she told him about it, and it had been a week.
Soon, Harry found himself sitting with the werewolf daily, reading to him when his eyesight became too poor, speaking loudly as his hearing began to go as well.
Finally, after even Snape had given up on finding a remedy, after Dumbledore had pulled Harry aside to make sure he understood his friend was dying (Harry's response to being pulled aside for that was negative and very much in keeping with his age), after Hermione and Ginny had ceased to be able to look at Remus without tears welling and, frankly, Harry thought he wasn't far behind, Molly wondered aloud if he'd been cursed somehow, in a way none of them were seeing.
Naturally, once the thought was hanging in the air it seemed only right to send a message to Bill. Just in case, she said to Harry. It couldn't hurt, and what if it could help?
Cake
Author: Minx
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Remus Lupin
Summary: Lupin eats dessert. Smut. (Lost Feeling Story Arc)
Quote:
He smiled under the caressing hand. He knew a yes when he heard one. He pulled up the covers with a wave of his hand and curled around the other man. On the verge of sleep, he gave a tentative sniff. The unfamiliar, unexpected tang of /hope/ filled him again. Briefly, he let himself savor the emotion he had never thought to experience again, even second-hand. His last thought before sleep overtook him was of ways he could persuade the house-elves to serve that chocolate cake more frequently.
Care and Feeding
Author: Canis M.
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, James Potter/Lily Evans
Summary: Shortly before Sirius and Remus leave Hogwarts, certain proposals are made. Certain answers are given.
Quote:
Everything stopped for him: breath, heart, blood, thought. Not because Sirius was teasing, but because he wasn't, and could still sound so offhand. Sometimes that was worse. Especially now, it was worse. Remus tried to match his lightness, but it was a strain. "Funny," he said, "I don't recall you ever proposing."
"Oh, come on, Moony." Breath, hot and doggy on his neck, smelling of champagne. Bottles of it. "I told you last summer, remember? I told you I was serious. I AM serious." Sirius chuckled, clearly pleased anew with the battered old pun. "It's universally agreed."
Casualties of War
Author: hansbekhart
Rating: R
Warning(s): Character death, implied torture, implied rape, imagery.
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, Remus Lupin/Severus Snape
Summary: When the second war begins, Remus Lupin and Draco Malfoy are its first casualties. (It’s very chaptered, so look at the bottom. My favourite fanfic.)
Quote:
Sirius hasn’t come for him so Sirius must be dead. It is the only thing he allows himself to think about. He hasn’t been rescued, so Sirius was dead. It is a simple equation that doesn’t include any other people from the Order. He doesn’t want to think about why he hasn’t been rescued. He doesn’t want to think about what has happened in the last three weeks, what has happened to Severus and Harry and Hermoine and all the Weaselys and Hogwarts. For all he knows, it could have been Severus, masked and anonymous, hurling curses at him last night.
Caught!
Author: Hikari
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Summary: The boys try to find some privacy in the dorms over the holidays, but with James and Peter also staying behind, things don't work out quite the way they wanted to…
Quote:
“Honestly, Peter! If you weren’t so damned slow in the mornings, we could have already been outside by now! Moony and Padfoot are already gone!”
Eyes flying wide open, Remus sat up in shock, dumping Sirius to the cold stone floor. With a yelp, the dark haired boy twisted back into a sitting position, rubbing his rear. Hastily the other boy yanked his shirt back down over his chest and ran his fingers through slightly sweaty hair. Sirius looked nothing less than peeved as he straightened his own shirt muttering something about Remus not knowing how to treat a hot piece of ass.
Caught in the Act
Author: casirafics
Rating: NC-17
Warning(s): Exhibitionism.
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Summary: Sirius seduces Remus in a rather public place, promising they won't be caught -- except Remus quickly discovers the loophole in Sirius' privacy charm.
Quote:
The blow pinning Remus to the wall was solid, swift, and knocked the breath from his lungs, and when he could open his eyes again, the man who'd done it was smiling.
Remus stared at him, feeling the young man's fingers clutch his shoulders tighter, watching his chest heave... and then Remus' gaze drifted up to meet the shocking blue eyes trained directly on him.
"We are," Remus gasped, "in the Great H--"
Before he could finish the word, Sirius was kissing him.
Caught in the Act
Author: anise_anise
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s):Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: Smut.
Quote:
“I’ll just… “ James sputtered hoarsely, “wait. Outside… er… over… yeah…” He turned and ran into the doorjamb face first, stumbled back, tripped and half fell, half ran from the room.
Sirius dissolved in fits of laughter, falling forward onto his mortified lover.
“I hate you,” Remus mumbled into his hands.
Caught with Their Pants Down
Author: musesfool
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black, OC/Remus Lupin, OC/Sirius Black, OC/Peter Pettigrew, James Potter/Lily Evans
Summary: Lily sets the Marauders up with her friends for dinner, and one does something a bit shocking.
Quote:
"And bigger," James added smugly.
"You are not," Sirius began, but Lily cut him off.
"We can get out a ruler if you like, but either way, shut up and take off your trousers."
"I can see why you like her," Sirius said to James, long fingers moving quickly over the buttons on his shirt. James smirked.
Cenotaph
Author: jabez_fics
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: No one understands as Remus does how alive Sirius is.
Quote:
Remus unfurls the old maps. Maps drawn in Sirius' hand, woven with the spells familiar to every one of the Marauders - maps made for the Order, to navigate Death Eater territory, identifying each individual in casting range. Azkaban hadn't taken this from him, it appears, because each of the spells are perfect - Remus tests them out with his own wand, reconfigures them, sees only his own name on the house's map. (Strange, Remus thinks. Sirius is gone, but I'm the ghost.)
Centre of Gravity
Author: vissy
Rating: NC-17
Warning(s): Het?
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, James Potter/Lily Evans, Sirius Black/Lily Evans, James Potter/Sirius Black
Summary: James wouldn’t ever cheat on Lily, nor Sirius on Remus, but if they were present…
Quote:
"Oh, well, we're all family here," said James, as if it was perfectly understandable. "Bloody hell, it's chilly. Three in the bed and the new bloke says..."
"Roll over, roll over?" Sirius sing-songed.
"Was going to suggest you haul your fat arses, but whatever."
Changes
Author: leogryffin
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Remus Lupin
Summary: New take on cliché: Spell gone awry.
Quote:
"He didn't speak up in his own defense, so we assume he did, indeed commit atrocities either in his own name or in Voldemort's."
"Minerva," I whispered. "The bloody stubborn goat. He wouldn't."
Changing Moon
Author: Spydre
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Remus Lupin
Summary: Severus Snape makes Remus Lupin an amazing offer that will change the werewolf’s life forever.
Quote:
That assertion proved irresistible. “You’ve insisted that I saved your life, Severus,” he reminded me. “Are you claiming to have some means of saving mine?”
“More accurately I’m stating that I have the means of preserving your life. I’ve discovered the cure for lycanthropy.”
Not a sound escaped his lips, but Lupin’s eyes grew huge with astonishment and he silently mouthed the unspoken question: “Cure?”
I gave him a curt nod. “I see that you are interested in my clearing my indebtedness to you after all,” I continued with what I hoped, in vain, was sufficient sarcasm to silence any further comments until I could state my case.
Charm the Bottle
Author: longleggedgit
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black, James Potter/Lily Evans
Summary: The Marauders play a game.
Quote:
Sirius Black was many things, Remus decided, but never subtle. Once again he was being pinned down by Sirius’s weight and forced into a rather brutal kiss, and this made him wonder just how he had let himself be dragged into such a stupid, juvenile Muggle game. Honestly. Spin the Bottle. They couldn’t even think up a creative name for it, or at least something more accurate, like, say, Rape the Lycanthrope.
Just how long could Sirius go on kissing, anyway?
Choice
Author: Seeker
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Severus Snape
Summary: Severus thinks of his choices.
Quote:
"Oh, that was only our own Professor Lupin," Snape said clearly, pitching his voice effortlessly to carry directly to the Slytherin table a few feet in front of them. As expected, Malfoy and his cronies sat up straight and turned toward him, gossip hounds at his command. "Forgot his potion last night. Not a smart move for a werewolf."
McGonagall, two down from him, gasped, and he saw her fingers clench in a fist on the table. Not at Lupin. At Snape, for countermanding Dumbledore's direct order. Idly, Snape watched Malfoy turn and begin to spread the poison, his pale face gleaming with excitement. One place past McGonagall's, a fork clattered against a plate. A chair scraped. Snape kept his eyes on the Slytherin table as Lupin walked behind him, on his way out the door. No doubt on his way to Dumbledore, to resign, then further to his rooms. To pack.
He smelled of wet leaves and deep forest. He made no sound.
Snape carefully laid his cutlery beside his plate and folded his hands in his lap, appetite gone, scowl firmly in place. It was for the best. Dumbledore had made his choice. Lupin had made his.
Snape had made his choice, as well.
Christmas 1977
Author: thistlefics
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: Remus and Sirius look for a separate peace.
Quote:
“We’ll be together after school is over. I promise. We’ll get jobs. We’ll get a nice flat--”
“You said you liked this one.” Sirius sounded slightly aggrieved.
Remus rolled his eyes. “Your fridge hums…”
“…but on key…”
“…your mirror whistles at me every time I walk by…”
“--well, I told it to do that.”
Christmas By Numbers
Author: Alvira
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black, James Potter/Lily Evans
Summary: It's the Marauders' last Christmas at Hogwarts, and naturally Sirius is going to make sure it goes off with a bang. Unless Remus manages to keep him from turning metaphor into reality.
Quote:
It was an excellent plan, he had to admit, and one which he thought the rest of Gryffindor might actually enjoy, as opposed to just surviving. Moreover, it was the perfect opportunity to sneak Lily something that would finally convince her that he was one of the good guys. As it stood, she seemed to regard him as one step down from the lovechild of Frankenstein and Attila the Hun. And he had no idea why.
...Of course, there was the matter of the charm that'd turned her hair pink for a month in first year...and the soup he'd spilled on her new robes in second year...and all the times in class when he'd broken something or cursed something or exploded something, and she'd ended up covered in slime or dirt or bubbling pustules...or the hundreds of occasions on which she'd caught him taunting Snape...or that class last year when he'd accidentally ripped her skirt so that it split clean in half...
...But he'd only been trying to get her to notice him, so he really didn't deserve to be cold-shouldered like that. Padfoot agreed, too - although Moony refused to say anything…
Christmas on the Dai Llewellyn Ward
Author: Emily Anne
Rating: PG
Summary: It’s the happiest day of the year, and the bleakest time of his life, until a complete stranger reaches out to him.
Quote:
"Look," Bran said irritably, "if you've just come over here to spout more trite platitudes at me, you're wasting your breath. I've heard it and I'm not interested." He turned away from Remus once more and began prodding with his fork at his now cold stuffing.
"Let me guess," Remus said, easing back into his chair. "The Healers have been telling you that everything will be fine, it's not as painful as you think, you'll be able to handle it, and you'll have no problems leading a normal life."
"Sums it up."
"They're lying."
Civilised
Author: copperbadge
Rating: PG
Summary: Lupin gives up his bed freely enough, because sometimes you have to make sacrifices to be human.
Quote:
Remus Lupin took an amazing number of people to his bed, all things considered.
Not that he ever slept with them. Or, with a waggle of the eyebrows, slept with them. But the house at 12 Grimmauld Place had no shortage of damaged souls who needed a gentle word, needed hands that already knew grief.
Cliché Number Five
Author: lupercali
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, James Potter/Remus Lupin, James Potter/Lily Evans
Summary: Snape implements his plan.
Quote:
Peter whimpered from across the room. "Oh, James. Sirius is going to kill you so much."
James growled, and dropped Remus' wrist as if it were a hot coal, staring in horrified awe at his friend, still splayed like a burlesque figure across his sheets. Stupidly enough, the only things that would cross his mind was how very lovely Remus' thighs were and how his entire life was flashing before his eyes in anticipation of Sirius' reaction.
Remus peeked from underneath his forearm, with a slightly impatient lilt to a ridiculous affected, almost-girlishly high voice, he asked, "Is there anything wrong -- "
Sirius threw open the dormitory door, robes flapping, beaming and saying, "Remus!"
" -- Master?" Remus finished innocently.
Peter hit the deck.
Clockwise
Author: switchknife
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Summary: Smut.
Quote:
'You're incorrigible,' Remus laughs, stopping it with a quick hand of his own--and Sirius stares down at it reproachfully, deciding to check if his mind is capable of speech again.
'Sound like McGonagall,' he manages, and is proud that it's almost a complete sentence. Even if his voice is rather hoarse.
Close
Author: cmere1
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Summary: Sirius just doesn't want to go to class.
Quote:
“Sirius, stop it. We have to go, we’ve already missed breakfast and I refuse to be late to class.”
“Just let me…”
Coffee and Cigarettes
Author: musesfool
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: Sirius hopes he's doing the right thing.
Quote:
Remus pushes those long fingers through his greying hair, and his eyes are so very tired when he looks at Sirius, but they hold a hint of softness now.
"Give my regards to James and Lily and Harry," he says finally, pushing away from the wall and shoving his hands into his pockets, shoulders hunching against the chill.
That jacket can't be warm enough, Sirius thinks, and he almost offers his, remembers wanting to give Remus his money back, and knows how badly it would go now.
So all he says is, "I will," as he watches Remus walk away for what may be the last time.
Coffee and Tea
Author: violet_quill
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Remus Lupin
Summary: Severus doesn’t like to spend his birthdays alone anymore.
Quote:
"You?" I spit. "You've always been surrounded by friends. Potter and that brood of his are around here all the time just to see you. And even in school, you..." My voice trails off.
"Ah, remembering now, are you?" he asks, the words laced with disgust. "You'll have to excuse me, Severus, if I don't pity you in finding every other human being in the world beneath your friendship, when I am only forty years old and every one of my best friends is dead."
Coffee at Midnight
Author: juliefortune
Rating: PG
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black, James Potter/Lily Evans
Summary: After “that fateful night”, Remus gets a call from one of Lily’s mates who wants to know what happened.
Quote:
Cass suddenly gave him a look so full of understanding and comprehension that he felt naked under its force.
"Lily told you," he said, realizing. "About -- "
"You and Sirius." She saved him from the awkward pause by being brisk about it. Sighing and shaking her head. "Yeah. Oh, fucking hell, and pardon me, but fuck, Remus. Is there anything you didn't just bury?"
It was such an insightful thing -- such a mercy, strangely -- that he couldn't quite get his breath under the weight of it. Thank Merlin for the heavy anchoring force of the coffee cup in his hand, the mundane buzz of voices in the background.
"No," he said, and realized it was true. "There's nothing left, really."
Come With Me
Author: musesfool
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: Sirius leads and Remus follows.
Quote:
Come with me, Sirius says, and Remus follows, always. Down dark stone and earth corridors, through woods and grass and water and sky.
Coming Home
Author: musesfool
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: Remus likes coming home after a hard day's work.
Quote:
After almost a year of living together -- choosing to live together, not just being tossed into a dormitory together by a crazy magic hat -- Remus still comes home every day worried that it's all been a dream, that not only won't Sirius be there, waiting for him, but that they've never been friends at all, that it's all been some hallucination or cosmic joke.
Compellation
Author: cruisedirector
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Severus Snape
Summary: Lupin likes the way Snape says his name.
Quote:
"I apologize for my tardiness. You may blame your little Gryffindor pet, Miss Granger, who insisted on pelting me with questions while I was trying to put a stopper in this potion and leave Hogwarts." Dark eyes sweep over my perspiring face, down my body leaning forward to seize the bottle, and Snape taunts, "Eager, Lupin?"
Concerning Flying Lessons, Snuffboxes, and One Hundred Galleons
Author: Mary Borsellino
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black, James Potter/Lily Evans
Summary: One teaches the other to fly.
Quote:
"Wasn't your bed anyway, you were in with Moony again. Someone's going to get cluey if you never leave your sheets in a mess anymore."
Sirius snorted. "What, the house elves? They're all right, they like me because I let them eat whatever food gets left in my pockets. They won't spread gossip about where I sleep."
"I hope it is sleep that you two are doing behind the bed-curtains, mind. At least when Peter and I are in the room," James said in a reprimanding tone that sounded disturbingly like Professor McGonagall. Sirius's responding grin was, aptly enough, rather wolfish. James threw a handful of grass at him.
Confidence
Author: cruisedirector
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Remus Lupin
Summary: What if you had no choice but to tell your lover everything?
Quote:
"Severus. Look at me." The dark-haired wizard glances over, yet again Remus senses reluctance. It is unlike Severus to resist such a request at such a time, alone in the room together, so close to bedtime; Remus is careful with his choice of words, making certain not to phrase it as an order that might be misinterpreted. "Do you want to tell me what's troubling you?"
Conjunction
Author: casirafics
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: Remus really needs to study.
Quote:
"If we both fail this exam tomorrow," Remus said, as lightly as possible. "I know precisely who to hex for it."
"Hexing? Just because you can't resist my charms? You need to learn better preemptive defense, Moony." One hand suddenly slipped away, and Remus realized it was because Sirius had raised his wand; the bedcurtains all fell shut at once, and he heard Sirius cast a real charm, this one to silence the space they occupied.
"Then again," Sirius continued, his voice suddenly intense, "I'm not sure either of us would want you to resist, would we?"
Consequences
Author: _immortalis
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Sirius Black
Summary: There are consequences to fighting and living.
Quote:
Remus had met Someone. Normally, this was a topic of much speculation and many long and vulgar discussions. But Remus had decided not to tell Sirius, mostly because Someone was very different than his other Someones in that Someone was a bloke. Remus hadn’t known how Sirius would have reacted if he had found a strange man in his kitchen (an area Sirius was surprisingly territorial over) making waffles and tea for two. So he had spent most nights at Oliver’s flat rather than his own. The only nights he spent in his own flat were full moons.
Had Sirius been around during the days, he might have noticed things like muggle mail deliveries of flowers to “RJL,” or even furtive phone calls that Remus had always taken in his own room and never in the living room. But Sirius had always been gone during the days, either helping James with “dreadful marriage things” or over in France working on a very secret project.
He hadn’t told Remus about Jane because he had known that Remus would have lectured him for hours on end about how if he wasn’t going to get a job, he shouldn’t buy a sodding motorbike. But he had been unable to resist the chrome’s siren call and had bought her. He had rented a place to store her far away, making sure that Remus would never hear a word of it. Most days, he could have been found at the garage, tweaking charms on her or just polishing her. If Remus could have a secret, he had figured that he could, too.
Conspiracy Theory
Author: arionrhod
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Remus Lupin/Severus Snape
Summary: When Albus Dumbledore decides to play matchmaker, Severus and Remus decide to resist... together.
Quote:
Shaking his head, the werewolf grinned at his colleague. "The point is, Severus, that we go ahead and give him what he thinks he wants. We 'get together', as it were, so that Albus thinks he is clever and has manipulated us into a liaison. Then... we 'break up', claiming that it just didn't work out, that we're not, er, physically compatible or something, and he'll leave us alone."
The Potions Master blinked, startled. Of course, it should have occurred to him to do such a thing. He was the sneaky Slytherin, after all, wasn't he? Head of House, even. It was almost embarrassing for the former Gryffindor to have come up with the scheme. He felt that he needed to save a bit of face.
"I may be capable of playing a besotted lover, Lupin," he said drily, raising a dark, challenging brow. "However, I doubt that you could do so in a fashion that would fool Albus. Duplicity is hardly your strong point."
"Don't worry about me, Severus," Remus drawled, apparently unoffended. "I believe I can manage to be affectionate enough to make him believe it."
Copy of Report on Surprise Inspection of Case #14568
Author: Treemonisha
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Summary: Copy of a report filed at Office for Werewolf Support Services, Being Division, Ministry of Magic. (Part of First Night Series)
Quote:
We arrived at the house at a quarter after ten, to find the doors locked and no one about. Miss Felsted expressed her disappointment, thinking they must have gone out for the day. I knew better and pounded on the door and rang the bell until Remus finally dragged himself downstairs to stop us from making so much noise. Miss Felsted seemed rather put out with Remus’ confusion at our presence and his attempt to keep us on the stoop while he peeked out around the side of the door. She insisted that he let us into the house which he finally did. The sitting room was a little untidier than is normal but I think the thing that Remus had been trying to keep from her was that fact that all he was wearing was a button-down shirt (with half the buttons off) and a blue sock on his left foot.
However, once we were in, he was very polite. He invited us to sit down; first removing the black silk thong style panties, the motorcycle helmet and the leather chaps from the sofa; and asked hopefully if we would like some tea. I personally think he was hoping to put the water on to boil and run upstairs for a pair of pants but Miss Felsted refused for the both of us, so Remus perched on one of the chairs and tried to pull the shirt down over as much of his legs as could be managed.
With the same pig-headed determination that won and lost the empire, Miss Felsted began going through the items on the questionnaire. I think she hoped she would gain back a little of her dignity if she maintained her professionalism, besides it gave her something to look at besides the spectacular love-bite on Remus’ inner thigh.
Cream
Author: electricandroid
Rating: NC-17
Warning(s): Food fetish.
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Remus Lupin
Summary: Smut.
Quote:
Remus remembered the first time he had seen Severus after returning to Hogwarts. It was at breakfast, when a stained hand had reached across his plate, reaching for the cream. He had stared at the hand, mapping each vein, scar, and wrinkle, but the net result was the same. He slid the jug over to those fingers, careful not to make eye-contact; it was not as if Severus Snape was ever in the mood for common pleasantries from Remus. In his trance, Remus tipped the jug over, onto the table cloth, onto Severus' grasping hand.
"Merlin, Lupin! It is merely a jug of cream. Can you do nothing right?" Severus stood and made his way out of the room, wiping cream off his fingers.
Now succulent was not a word often applied to Severus Snape. Sparse was, sparse and straight, lean and lofty. It was… odd. One would have to look past their usual impression of Snape. The impression Remus had grown up with of a long, lanky boy. There was now a certain roundness that had not been there before, a slight curve where there was once a plane. Almost...delicious.
Cutting the Cord
Author: florahart
Rating: NC-17
Warning(s): Chan. (Harry’s sixteen).
Pairing(s): Harry Potter/Bill Weasley/Remus Lupin
Summary: Remus has been bonded, and is now ill and dying. Bill figures it out, and Harry is determined to save him. Smut.
Quote:
By the time Harry got to Order Headquarters in the summer after his fifth year, after his requisite stint with the Dursleys, Remus was already failing badly. No one, including the staff at St. Mungo's, understood why, and he wouldn't talk about it, but his hair was greying rapidly; his joints becoming truly arthritic and swollen in addition to the ongoing discomfort that came of years of transformations; even his eyesight failing, as Hermione noticed when he sat down to read in the library holding the text two inches from his nose. The Healers had said vaguely that perhaps he had contracted an ailment peculiar to aging werewolves, and even though Hermione had protested that thirty-six was not "aging," they had simply shrugged and said there was nothing they could do. She was still angry as she told him about it, and it had been a week.
Soon, Harry found himself sitting with the werewolf daily, reading to him when his eyesight became too poor, speaking loudly as his hearing began to go as well.
Finally, after even Snape had given up on finding a remedy, after Dumbledore had pulled Harry aside to make sure he understood his friend was dying (Harry's response to being pulled aside for that was negative and very much in keeping with his age), after Hermione and Ginny had ceased to be able to look at Remus without tears welling and, frankly, Harry thought he wasn't far behind, Molly wondered aloud if he'd been cursed somehow, in a way none of them were seeing.
Naturally, once the thought was hanging in the air it seemed only right to send a message to Bill. Just in case, she said to Harry. It couldn't hurt, and what if it could help?