Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast

*

Questions and Answers

*

Sirius was just making his way down the corridor as he heard somebody calling for him. Turning around, he saw somebody he most certainly did not want to see. Snape was standing in the corridor, watching him with cold eyes.

"Snape," said Sirius coolly, sneering at the boy. "Get the Hell away from me."

"Black," replied the Slytherin levelly, walking almost lazily towards him. "Come on, you can listen to me for a while. A lot depends on it."

"What do you mean?" asked the Animagus, raising an eyebrow.

"I know what you did last night," replied Snape. "And I know why you did it."

Now, Sirius looked alarmed. He grasped the smaller boy's collar and lifted him to air. "What did you say, you little slimeball?" hissed the Gryffindor through clenched teeth.

"Careful, Black," replied Snape with a sneer. "Remember that I know your so-called little 'secret.'"

With a resigned sigh, Sirius let him down to the floor. "What do you want?" he asked, forcing himself to stay calm.

"You to listen to me." As Sirius turned to look at him, Snape continued, "Now, look at it this way. I was friends with Remus once, or at least as near friends as I've ever been with anyone. And even though he most probably doesn't even want to see me now after what I said to him, I don't want to see him as miserable as he is now."

"Fine," Sirius said, sighing a bit. "I'll listen."

"Good for you." Drawing a deep breath, Snape locked his eyes at Sirius's. "At first I want you to know that I had no part in this," he said. "I actually have some moral, contrary to what you think of me. However, not all Slytherins are the same way."

"Even one would be enough to shock me to death," muttered Sirius bitterly. He didn't trust Snape one bit, and thus had no reason to believe him. But he would listen.

"Fine. Be that way, then. Anyway, some Slytherins managed to slip a liquid form of the Imperius Curse into your pumpkin juice on dinner last night. It wasn't perfect -- they are truly incompetent potion brewers -- but successful enough. They couldn't see or hear through you, nor could they feel what you were doing -- I think you're happy to hear that -- but they could mess with your thoughts and make you act like they wanted."

"They made me rape Remus?" asked Sirius slowly.

"Exactly. Of course, they don't know that he's a werewolf. They just wanted you to get expelled, to break your little group of friends."

"Oh, good," sighed the Gryffindor. "So it wasn't just some odd kind of migraine causing me to go crazy. Big consolation, considering that all my friends hate me now, and especially Remus."

"Then tell him the truth," Snape advised coolly. "That way, he wouldn't hate you anymore."

"And how would he ever believe me?" asked Sirius disbelievingly.

"Maybe not in any way," replied Snape calmly, "but he will believe me. After all, what reason would I have for lying on your benefit?"

"None, I guess," sighed Sirius. Then, however, he frowned. "You said they couldn't hear what I heard, and that they didn't know that Remus is a werewolf," he reminded. "Then how did I say the things that fit to the situation?"

"They didn't really decide just what you said," explained the Slytherin. "Like I said, their potion was far from perfect. Pitiful, really. They merely summoned up your darker side, fed it with some fitting ideas, and let your mind take care of the rest by yourself."

"What?" asked the Animagus, horrified. "So -- so I might do that again?"

Snape sighed and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. "No," he replied. "It was your darker side, the one you have shut completely out of yourself. The part of you that would never be under normal circumstances. You will not rape Remus again -- unless they try to drug you again So, if you ever start feeling a headache after you've eaten or drunk something, go immediately to Madam Pomfrey. Or, preferably, come to me. I know the required antidote, and I won't pose awkward questions."

After only a short moment of consideration -- there weren't any real options, after all -- Sirius swallowed and nodded. "Okay," he said quietly. "I'll do that."

*

"You can't be fucking serious, Remus," James said, fuming. "You have no way of knowing that he's telling you the truth!"

"He has a witness," said the werewolf quietly. He knew it was true. Being a werewolf, he would have smelled if Sirius had tried to lie. Besides, they were lifemates now, and thus connected by the lifemate's bond, and he felt no malice coming to him through the bond.

Sirius was telling the truth, and so was Severus. Frankly, he was surprised that the Slytherin had voluntarily vouched for Sirius. After all, the Grim Animagus and his horrible prank had been the very reason why all correspondence between Severus and himself had been stopped.

Severus obviously didn't think that he could or should be forgiven for the things he had said to Remus. However, the werewolf didn't find it hard to seek the forgiveness from himself. And thus, not only Remus made up with Sirius again, but also with Severus.

James and Peter, however, didn't like this one bit. They weren't going to stop him, not wanting to upset him any more, but they certainly were going to keep a close eye on both Sirius and Severus.

Remus accepted that. After all, they were only concerned for him and wanted the best for him. However, he still hoped that they could trust at least Sirius.

"A witness, truly," snorted James. "His witness is Snape, Remus, for the sake of all that is magical! The worst of all Slytherins! How can you trust him even the little you trust Sirius?"

"Because I know he's telling the truth," replied Remus. He couldn't offer any better explanation. That had to do for James.

"You're a fool, Moony," sighed James. "You're a fool with a heart far too big for your own good. But if being foolish makes you happy, I guess I'll have to accept it."

"I wouldn't expect any more from you, Prongs," replied Remus. And honestly, he didn't.

Not that he didn't wish for more, of course.

*

"What's the matter with you and Black?" Lily asked from James, cocking her head on the side. "You're usually always talking all the time. And now I haven't seen you planning anything for at least three days!"

"We're not talking," James said bitterly. "Not at all." He took another piece of toast and tossed it in his mouth.

"A few days ago you were still the best friends," Lily pointed out. "What has happened since then?"

"I won't tell," James replied briefly. He turned to face his girlfriend. "Will you just let it drop, Lily?" he asked desperately. "I and Sirius are not talking, and neither are Peter and Sirius. And I'm certain we won't talk in the near future. That's all you need to know about the matter. Okay?"

"Okay," Lily said, with a bit puzzled look on her face. "But Remus is still talking with Black, right? So he isn't involved in this, no matter what it is." He glanced at the couple, who were sitting side by side. Every now and then Remus gave Sirius a gentle smile, and the black-haired teen replied by stroking lightly Remus's arm. James did his best not to sneer in disgust.

"In fact, he is," James said, sighing inwardly. Oh, Remus certainly was. "But you know Remus. He can't hold a grudge for more than ten minutes in maximum. It doesn't matter what Sirius does, he always forgives. Shit, if Sirius decided to kill half of the school, Remus would shoot him a disappointed gaze and then they'd start snogging."

"So true," Lily said with a little smile. They weren't even exaggerating, at least not much. Everyone in the Gryffindor Tower knew how often Sirius upset Remus with his foolish actions, as well as how Remus always gave him the well-deserved lecture and then gave in and kissed him after making him promise he'd never do that again.

'If she only knew just how horrible Sirius has been this time,' he thought sadly. 'And even then she wouldn't know just how terrible it was, because she doesn't know about Remus's Lycanthropy.' But Lily didn't know. And wouldn't know, for he'd keep his promise to Remus, no matter how painful it was. But if they'd ever find out that Sirius had hurt Remus again, they'd first beat him black and blue, and then go right to the Headmaster to tell everything.

Just then, he saw a Slytherin approaching their table. A very particular Slytherin at that. Snape walked to where Remus and Sirius sat, choosing to ignore the doubtful glares every Gryffindor was giving him, and leant forward to say something to the two Gryffindors. Remus nodded in response, smiling happily, while Sirius's nod was more wary but no less existent.

With a slight shudder, James turned his head away, oblivious to Lily's curious questions. For Remus's sake, he would bear this. But it was not easy.