Unexpected

Unexpected

*

Revelations

*

It was near dawn already as Remus slipped back to the dormitory. Humming quietly to himself, he started to undress, preparing himself for the few hours of sleep he'd still get before having to go to the breakfast.

"Not so fast," said suddenly a strict voice behind him. Remus froze, then turned slowly around. James, Peter, and Sirius, whom he'd thought to be fast asleep, sat in their beds, obviously wide awake. And, regarding to the fact that they were in full clothes under their covers, they hadn't slept, either.

"Er... Guys? Why are you still awake?" he asked meekly, hoping with all his heart that they did not know where he'd been.

"Do you honestly think I could sleep after what I saw?" Sirius asked, looking much paler than usually.

"Saw?" echoed Remus. Then he, too, paled at first, and then blushed furiously. "You didn't see - did you -"

"Did I see you and Snape?" suggested Sirius with a disgusted tone. "Well, unfortunately for me, I did. Merlin, I truly saw something." The horrified expression on his face gave Remus a rather good idea of what that "something" had been, and he blushed even more. Groaning, the young werewolf hid his face in his hands.

"How could you, Remus?" asked James, sounding almost desperate. "Okay, you like boys, fine. No problem with that. But how could you fall as low as bedding Snape? He's hardly a human being!"

Now, however, Remus's ashamement turned into pure fury. "You have no right to talk like that!" he snapped angrily. "Severus is most definitely a human, more so than I am!"

"Is that what he's been telling you?" asked Sirius, sounding even more disgusted than before. "That you're less a human than he is, only because you're a werewolf?"

"No! Instead, he's treating me like a human even though I'm a werewolf. He doesn't think that I'm just a tool for getting rid of his enemies!"

At least Sirius had the decency to look ashamed at that. Then he said defensively, "I didn't do it to get rid of Snape. I just wanted to scare him so that he'd leave you alone!"

"Really?" smirked Remus dryly. "You messed it really badly, then. We'd hardly even talked before the incident, but after that, he sought me out. So, in fact, I have you to thank for the fact that I and Severus are together."

Sirius gaped at him, his expression turning to pure horror. "I - you -" he stammered, seemingly unable to form a coherent sentence.

"That's correct. You're a pretty good matchmaker, Sirius. The same evening as I was released from the Infirmary, Severus came to me and apologized to me for the way he'd been treating me."

"Woah, wait a minute," Peter said. "Did you just say that Snape apologized to you?"

Remus nodded. "Which is more than you've done," he mentioned then with more than a bit accusing tone.

"I'm not apologizing to that greasy git!" exclaimed Sirius fiercely. "And you're not going to be around him anymore!"

"That's not a thing for you to decide about," Remus said sharply. "I love Severus, and I'm not giving him up for anything - not even for you."

Now his friends' eyes widened. "You're not serious," James whispered in disbelief.

"Oh, but I am," the young werewolf snapped. "A friendly advice, my dear Marauders. You are my friends, and I love you as such. But I love Severus much more, and in a very different way. So don't make me choose between him and you three, because you wouldn't like the outcome of that decision." With this said, he grabbed his school bag, then stormed out of the dormitory, completely ignoring the fact that it still wasn't even near the dawn. From the way he slammed the door shut, the other boys knew that they wouldn't see him before breakfast, if even then.

*

Severus Snape left his dormitory early, as usual. He'd only got a couple of hours of sleep, but he didn't mind - the mere thought of Remus was enough to keep him well awake.

He was on his way to the Great Hall as somebody grabbed his wrist and pulled him into a nearby side corridor. Coming face to face with his lover, Severus opened his mouth to a greeting, but snapped it shut as he saw the pale face.

"Sev," Remus said hastily, "they know about us. Hell, they saw us!"

"Your friends?" asked Severus, frozen on his place. If the damned Gryffindors had abandoned Remus because of him, he'd kill them. He'd kill them, no matter what consequences.

"Yes," Remus replied, nodding. "They said horrible things about you... That I shouldn't be with you."

"And you said?" demanded Severus, his heart sinking. He'd always known that it would come to this - that Remus's friends would pull the werewolf away from him.

"I told them that if I had to choose between them and you, I would pick you," the werewolf told calmly. "Then I stormed out before they could say anything else."

Severus's jaw dropped. "You said that to them - for me?" he asked in surprise and astonishment. All this time, he'd been wholly prepared to be left alone because of the other Marauders, like they called themselves.

Smiling weakly, Remus nodded again. "I love them all like you love a friend," he said, "but I love you even more." With this, he wrapped his arms around the Slytherin's slim waist.

"I'll stand with you, no matter what they'll do," promised Severus, still dumbfounded by the surprised revelation. He loved Remus, that was true. And no matter what, he'd repay his love for the sacrifice Remus had done for him.

"No matter what?" echoed Remus. "What if they tell everyone about us?"

Even this didn't make Severus hesitate for a moment. "Even if they do that, I'll be with you," he said firmly.

"Good," Remus whispered. Then, with a very quiet voice, "I love you, Sev..." Before he could answer, the werewolf had tangled his fingers into his hair, pulled his head down, and sealed his mouth with a fierce kiss.

*

Marcus Ront was slowly walking towards the Great Hall from breakfast as he heard some suspicious sounds coming from a side corridor. Curious to see whomever was making out in such a public place, he peered into the corridor. What he saw made him freeze, all colour vanishing from his face.

Severus Snape stood in the corridor with Remus Lupin. Lupin's shirt was open, Snape's hands caressing his sides underneath. Lupin also had his hands in suspicious places; one was innocently enough tangled in the jet-black hair, but the other was up to the wrist snaked somewhere below Snape's waistband. Both were completely oblivious to the world around them, their mouths joined together.

Without thinking twice, Marcus spun around and started running, shouting loudly, "Snape is bedding Lupin! SNAPE IS BEDDING LUPIN!"

*

Remus and Severus broke apart, both slightly flushed. "Shit," they said in unison.

"So," said Remus then. "I guess we are out to the open now." He started to button his shirt up, his fingers nervously fumbling with the tiny buttons.

Severus drew a long, calming breath, then started helping his lover to manage his clothing. "I'm going to keep my promise," he whispered into Remus's slightly pointy ear, his lips lightly brushing the soft earlobe.

Remus didn't say anything in response, merely nodded. Taking his school bag to his other hand, he put the other into Severus's hand. "Ready to face the world?" asked the werewolf quietly.

"Always with you, love," Severus replied, then braced himself, and started leading their way towards the Great Hall.