Like a Moth to Flame
Date: Friday, 7 October
Time: Late evening, long after Student Curfew
Place: Hogwarts, Lupin's quarters
Characters Involved: Lupin and Snape
Rating: No more than PG for whinging
( 'The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.' ~Carl Jung (1875 - 1961) )
Time: Late evening, long after Student Curfew
Place: Hogwarts, Lupin's quarters
Characters Involved: Lupin and Snape
Rating: No more than PG for whinging
( 'The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.' ~Carl Jung (1875 - 1961) )
There was no sting in the comment, though, and he was rather alarmed to find himself considering the severe character defect with something like fond indulgence, which was as distressing as it was shocking. Just because he fancied LUPIN did not give the entire House a pass!
Those uncomfortable musings were quickly forgotten as Lupin continued speaking, and his relaxed complaisance fell away as he swelled with indignation.
"What are you talking about? Who else would you trust to brew it?" he asked, clearly highly affronted. "You are being ridiculous! What is one more cauldron? That happens to be my area of expertise, Lupin."
He sat rigidly in his chair, looking like nothing so much as a cat someone had deliberately petted the wrong direction, so as to both annoy the cat and ruffle the fur. One might have almost expected him to start hissing and spitting at any moment.
As it was, he merely set his jaw mulishly and continued to glower across the board at his detractor.
"Ginevra and I have already worked it out that I will provide the Wolfsbane for her clients as needed and she will assist me with the brewing when the quantity comes to a point I cannot manage on my own. As a Healer, she is more than capable of brewing the potion. However, I assure you, half a dozen lycanthropes does not remotely tax my ability."
He refilled his glass and swigged from it grumpily. Was this Lupin's estimation of his talents??
"It's your move," he added sullenly, with a jab of a long, thin finger at the board.
Really, grown men should not pout. It is most unbecoming.
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Unbecoming was not the word Remus would have used to describe the expression on the other man's face. Endearing, adorable (if Remus was suicidal and asking to be hexed, at any rate), (much to his current discomfort) kissable even; but certainly never unbecoming -- at least, not when the pout was on Severus. Remus could honestly say he'd never noticed a pout on another man before. Had he noticed when some women pouted? Absolutely. Having 'Dora pout at him was almost guaranteed to bring a chuckle and earn her a friendly hug.
He wasn't supposed to be thinking such things like what he wanted to do as a result of Severus' pout -- not if he wanted to keep his own lips, the lower of which had found it's way once more between his teeth, as a permanent part of his facial features.
"I don't want to assume that just because you're providing the potion for us, you'll provide it for every werewolf who comes to me seeking this elusive protection they think I can provide."
Taking another mouthful of amber liquid, he swallowed it slowly, savoring the slight tingle as it dribbled down his throat while he tried to phrase his words so that Severus would take no further offense. As usual, he seemed to be able to find just the wrong thing to say and sour the mood between them. He was trying his damnedest to befriend the man and get past those barriers Severus liked to errect between himself and the world. But, it seemed like everytime he made a significant advance, it felt like he tripped over another trap.
At this rate, he'd be little more than a head and a heart byt the time he got through.
"I wouldn't trust anyone else, Severus. That's not the point." He ran a frustrated hand through is hair, as though the motion would stir his brain as well as the still damp strands. "We looked into alternatives during the war and they weren't pleasant. More than that, I know you're on our side, as it were. But, at the same time I don't want to take advantage of you or your generosity. I think you've had enough people take advantage of you already. I don't want to be amoung that number."
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Well.
That was quite all right, then. He hadn't been insulting Severus. He had been trying to protect Severus, in a way. That was entirely different. He couldn't recall if anyone had ever actively tried to defend him before, and he found the experience surprisingly tolerable.
Virtual 'ruffled fur' settled at once, as the pout became a rather self-satisfied smirk.
There was that lip-biting and the hand through the hair again. Remus was unsettled. Why? Because he thought he had insulted Severus? Captivating as Severus was coming to find those little 'tells' of discomposure, he felt it was necessary to put the other man at ease again, lest the game be cut short out of misunderstanding.
"Very well, then. We are quite agreed. There ARE no other remotely acceptable alternatives," he almost purred.
Hmm. In spite of the fact he was almost preening, he had to admit (at least to himself) that was probably a bit of an exaggeration. There had to be at least a handful of competent brewers in the UK who were capable of brewing the thing. Severus' only point in his favour was his willingness to do so, without risk of revelations to the Ministry.
"I am not being generous, I am being devious. Thwarting the idiots at the Ministry of Magic in whatever manner possible - without ending up back in Azkaban, myself - is quite satisfactory. I will hear no more of this nonsense about 'taking advantage of' me. You are quite right - I've been used enough in my lifetime to be cautious of it occurring again."
Sending a knight after one of Lupin's unprotected pawns, he watched the carnage with a feral gleam in his eye before returning to the subject at-hand.
"When I begin to feel 'used', Lupin, you will be among the first to know. Until that time, I suggest you quit throwing imaginary obstacles in your way. You have access to Wolfsbane potion, which must be a decided advantage over anything Greyback can offer. Use it.
"I thought we had agreed, long ago, we were going to see the end of that fight, together? I would be a poor ally, indeed, were I to withhold valuable tools from the battle."
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Still, he knew better than to think this was all about thwarting the Ministry by aiding the werewolves. Severus might blather on about 'debts' and 'selfishness' and 'devious' all he liked. Remus was beginning to see enough evidence to the contrary in recent months that he could simply nod with a non-committal 'hm' and focus on the chess board between them. If nothing else, the fleeting image of Severus holding Wood's little girl seemed proof enough to Remus that Severus' softer side wasn't dead, just hiding behind the protective walls of snark and sarcasm Remus was constantly butting his head against in an effort to be the man's friend.
Of course, the fact only made the other man more attractive in Remus' eyes, which was haardly helping his campaign to get over that attraction.
"We did agree to that, yes." Not that it was any easier to get used to having an 'ally' willing to fight that battle with him than it was to get over his ill-fated attraction to that same ally. "And thank you. I do appreciate it, as I'm sure my fellow Alpha will."
Moving his bishop into position just behind Severus' lines in a maneuver that would also leave his queen free to invade at will, he sat back in the chair with a soft sigh. The Ministry, the packs, Hogwarts, Greyback...sometimes it was all just too much. Closing his eyes a moment, Remus thought that these little chats over cognac were probably the calmest things in his life these days -- and they were far too infrequent for that.
"To be honest, right now, that potion may be the only thing I can offer them."
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Seeing as how his own 'preference' seemed to be less about gender, or even sexual attraction, and more about being focused on anyone who might be both implicitly trustworthy and remotely nice to him, Severus was newly disgusted with his own rather pathetic case of somewhat obsessive fancy.
"You are being maudlin, I am sure," Severus said with a hint of a sulk in his voice as he pondered the chess board. The danger to his Queen had to be addressed; he was irritated with himself for leaving her vulnerable, so fell silent for a time to focus more on the game. Spotting what he believed to be a weakness in Lupin's defenses, he moved his Queen to safety while leaving her in position to support a more concerted attack.
It was getting time to win the bloody game (or not) so he could get out of here and mope about Lupin's budding love-affair on his own.
Severus raked the werewolf with a very deliberately appraising once-over, yet again, as much out of sadistic desire to punish the man by discomfiting him as another move in his pathetic, 'is there any way to get him to like ME', game.
"You are too modest, surely. SHE probably finds you have plenty to offer, potion or no," he said sarcastically.
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...well, he'd probably running screaming in the opposite direction after casting a few well-aimed hexes.
But, that didn't change the fact that Remus was now sputtering incoherently as he forced the burning liquid back down the correct pipe.
"Oh gods, I hope you don't mean that the way it sounds," he gasped. "Rhia Moon's Daughter used to mind me when my parents when I was very small. She's seen me in nappies for Merlin's sake!"
Drying the portion of the table and the chess board which had not been spared their own dousing with cognac as a result of Severus' statement, -- one pawn was still shaking out his frock -- he shook his head in amused denial.
"She was bitten just about a year before I was and had worked her way up to Alpha of the pack in that area before the first war. She calls me 'Alpha Pup' of all things!"
It was much easier to admit to that, something he had previously refused to allow be repeated anywhere near this man's vicinity, than to allow Severus to think there was anything of that sort possible between Remus and Rhia!!!
"And if you ever repeat that, or think to use the phrase yourself, you will find I am quite capable of hexing your bits off gleefully in payment."
So, he still didn't like the idea of Severus knowing that nickname.
He took Severus' knight just for good measure.
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What was it with this man and his collection of ridiculous 'nick-names'? Moony? Alpha-pup??
Still, at least this woman wasn't 'competition'.
"Understood," he replied with a grave nod. "You may be assured of my silence. I am rather fond of my 'bits' and would not wish to be parted from them at this juncture."
Leaning toward the chessboard to rest his elbows on his knees, he fell silent, pondering the game.
It was not a calculated move to bring himself physically closer to the other man.
"Besides, I would be forced to retaliate, and though you claim to have had done with the metamorphmagus, I am certain there is some nubile young thing out there just waiting for her chance to 'tame' Eligible Bachelor number seven. I dare say you'd rather not part with yours, either."
Lupin had been too hasty with the knight left out as sacrificial decoy, leaving Severus free to take Remus' bishop.
"Check."
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"Claim to have had done?" Remus laughed, shaking his head in amusement. "She broke things off with me because she could tell I was never going to love her the way she wanted. Trust me, there's more than a claim there. Although, perhaps if I were to part with mine, it would get those 'nubile young things' you believe are waiting for a chance off my back."
More accurately, maybe he could shake this unhealthy fixation he seemed to have developed on the man sitting opposite him. Remus wondered fleetingly what Severus would say if he told him who, exactly, he wanted to keep his bits for.
And, good gods could he stop thinking about either of their 'bits'?!
Flushing hotly at the rather bawdy turn of their conversation, regardless of the fact it had been his comment which instigated it, it took Remus a moment to realize his king was in danger.
Damn! How had he let that happen. Obviously this attraction was detrimental to his chess game as well as his thought processes. Studying the board a moment, he came to the conclusion his only way out was to castle, a move he had deliberately left available to himself as a coward's way out. Swapping his rook for his king with one hand, he downed the last swallow of cognac with the other.
"I think we've about exausted the topic of my non-existent love life," he rasped as the liquid burned it's trail down his throat.
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Overall, Severus was entirely satisfied with the course of the evening's events - in spite of the moody conversation about possible Ministry moves. There was clearly something about HIM which discomposed the other man, and for now, that was enough.
Severus was nothing if not patient and cautious.
He also believed strongly in the adage popular among actors and writers - 'leave them wanting more'. Had it been up to himself, alone, Severus might cheerfully have remained several hours longer - might even have deliberately ignored the fact that Lupin's discomposure had caused him to castle when Severus' knight was poised for just such a move - and drawn the game out.
Considering his own personality, and his tendency to irritate others as much as they irritated him, he decided this was definitely a time when an early retreat would work in his favour.
"Tsk tsk," he clicked his tongue, looking up at the werewolf through his fringe. "Not a very brave move for a Gryffindor," he drawled lazily.
Lupin's 'protective' move had effectively boxed in his king, making retreat impossible. Severus would finish the game, pack up his board, and leave while he was still 'ahead'.
Besides, he now had a lot to think about, and future planning to consider.
He moved his knight.
"Check mate."
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