Werewolves at Hogwarts

Chapter 18

The Yule log in the fireplace of the Great Hall burned brightly, the students left at school all gathered around drinking punch and playing charades under Professor McGonagall's stern eye. The twenty or so students were having fun, especially when Professor Carpenter took a turn to make his charade. Professor McGonagall turned a vivid shade of red as he made obscene postures, exclaiming "Professor Carpenter!" in shocked tones.

"What?" the usually staid man asked innocently, turning to face her.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Well, that's what you are supposed to guess, Minerva, that's why it's called charades."

Narrowing her eyes, Minerva checked the piece of paper in her hand and pursed her lips. "That is not how I would have portrayed it," she commented, subsiding.

"Is it 'Row, row, row your boat?'" a first year asked tentatively.

"Well done, Miss Greenwatch. Who is next?"

Remus put his head around the staff door that led into the Great Hall and watched the lively scene for a few moments. He caught Albus' eye before withdrawing and climbing the stairs past the gargoyle. As he reached the Headmaster's office, the door opened and Albus was already at his desk, tapping the teapot and putting out a plate of chocolate biscuits. Blinking, Remus entered and took the offered seat. "I'd love to know how you do that," he murmured as he accepted tea and took a biscuit.

Albus surveyed his slightly seedy looking DADA professor with a sympathetic eye. "Was it a very bad transformation?"

Puzzled, Remus cocked his head then grinned. "No, pretty good actually, but the Guinness was a killer. I went for a quiet beer with McCarthy yesterday, and we ended up sleeping it off in the pub. Never try to drink an old werewolf under the table, you will lose!"

"So, how was everyone?"

"Upset. People are still going missing left and right, without rhyme or reason, and more than we realised, it would seem. It's even harder as Hayborn wants to step down and retire and he had chosen Wind Biter as his successor. He conveys his gratitude, by the way, for dealing thoughtfully with Wind Biter's skin. He offered the position to me but I turned him down," Remus said, not meeting the headmaster's concerned blue gaze. "I could be the Alpha Prime, I'm sure and I would be accepted, but I like my life and I am not a politician. I prefer not to get mixed up in that sort of intrigue and back stabbing."

"I don't blame you, my boy. Remus, you are a good teacher and a wonderful man but you are simply not ruthless. Oh, I have seen you act as ruthlessly as any to serve the cause but it is not by nature, but through circumstances forcing you into that position. You are certainly not ruthless enough to do battle with the Ministry on an ongoing, relentless basis. Did you choose a successor?"

"We did. I just hope the packs will accept the choice. If they don't, I might have to take the post for a short while, until another candidate can be proposed."

"Ah, a female candidate, I take it? Wolves will follow a female, won't they?"

Remus glanced up surprised at the headmaster's quick grasp of the situation. "Wolves will but will werewolves? That is the real question. Oh Merlin, I am so glad the black beer has worn off a bit, I wouldn't have liked to say that line with a skinful." He chuckled and Albus joined in. "Well, that's about all my news. I had better go and get some sleep."

"Then you aren't going to stay up and see the New Year in?"

Smothering a yawn, Remus shook his head and smiled at the headmaster as he rose. "No, I rarely do that. I always find it happens whether I miss sleep or not. Happy New Year, Albus."

"Happy New Year, Remus - and good night," the Headmaster replied indulgently.

~~*~~

Entering his quarters, Remus was in the process of stripping off his robes when a velvet soft voice froze him in his tracks.

"The password the Headmaster gives you is generic. You are supposed to change it to something secure at the first opportunity."

Remus smiled as he turned and studied the figure sprawled in his armchair. "Why bother? 'Enter friend' is as good as any other password."

Severus snorted as he rose and glared down at the smaller man. "And if a student was to wander into your quarters and wreck any of your possessions what then?"

"And if a fellow teacher wanted to visit, what then?" he responded softly, moving closer to the tall, thin figure that did not move back.

"Why then I would enter and wait for you until you came back. First you throw me out of your quarters then you give me your treasured first edition of 'Potions of the Mediaeval Era' by Morenetus Porivas for Christmas. I come to thank you, but you avoided me all Christmas - even though we are invited to the same reception - as well as turning into an elusive will-o-the-wisp in the intervening days. I was even more worried when your goblet was returned to me still a quarter full. You had already left the grounds before I could question you, but the Headmaster assured me you knew what you were doing. I wondered about that, and so I waited for you. You're late."

"You shouldn't have worried? I had some business with Hayborn that we needed to take care of before next full moon, so I stayed after the others left. Have you eaten yet? Perhaps the house-elves could be persuaded to deliver something more substantial than counter nibbles."

"'Counter nibbles'? You've been to a pub while I've been worrying myself sick about you?" Severus exploded furiously, grabbing the smaller man by the shoulders and giving him a good shake, or at least trying to.

Remus didn't budge an inch despite Severus' best efforts, smiling up at him with softly shining eyes. "You were worried about me! That's nice. Oh, do stop trying to shake me; you know it's not going to work." Reaching up, he simply slotted his hand under Severus' hair and cupped the back of his skull, pulling his head down and kissing his thin lips gently.

The strength in the werewolf's arm made it impossible to resist and Severus was not prepared to break his neck, instead, crushing the smaller man to him and holding his tightly. "Damn it Lupin, you make me crazy!" he muttered into the curve of Remus' neck. "Are you truly unhurt?"

"Truly," Remus reassured him as they stood wrapped in each other's arms before the fire. A flick of his wand made one of the armchairs into a two seater. He eased his genuinely shaken partner into the comfortable depths before seating himself too. "Sev, there are some things I have to do that necessitate I be a wild wolf. There's trouble in the werewolf clans, people being killed and skinned, and the Alpha Prime growing too old to dominate anymore. I am Beta Prime and, as I don't want to be forced to become Alpha Prime at the next full moon, we had to decide on a successor between us. That's all it was, politics and inter-pack rivalry. I didn't think you cared, so I didn't bother to explain myself before I left."

"And would you have explained if you'd known?" Severus asked cynically.

"Yes. You are my mate, of course I would have explained."

Severus felt his bottom jaw drop and stared at the blond man in surprise. Lupin came out with the most incredible statements and made them sound so logical and simple that it flabbergasted Severus. He shook his head slightly and snapped his teeth shut. "There you go again," he muttered, pulling the man closer to his side and dropping a kiss on the top of his greying honey blond curls.

Sighing in satisfaction, Remus snuggled down and laid his head on Severus' chest, wrapping an arm over his waist as they both stared into the slowly dying fire. Severus' long arm curved easily over his shoulder and down to rub small, absentminded circles at his waist. After an unmarked length of time, Severus stirred slightly and summoned a house-elf to bring food. The selection was a mixture of cheeses and fruit, some caviar and devils-on-horseback. In a very uncharacteristic way, Severus chose delicacies and fed Remus, the ballad and dance of flirtation and acceptance understood by both participants.

Nimble fingers undid buttons and casual movement shed robes until both were exploring skin, uninhibited by any manmade barriers. Severus knew the scars he found and traced delicately, knew the whorls and densities of hair patterns that moved as muscles flexed.

Remus traced the delicate layer of muscle that barely softened the narrow ribcage under his hands. Both experienced the other anew, but were as familiar with each others' bodies as their own.

They drifted to the four poster by common consent unspoken, leaving the world and its questions and difficulties behind as they shared each other in ways they had not for over six long years, and when the release of tension caused tears of sheer joy to fall, neither was entirely sure which of them shed the salty, bitter sweet drops.

"Happy New Year," Remus whispered as a distant clock struck the midnight hour. "Happy New Year, Sev."

"Happy New Year, Remy, may all your wishes come true."

"They have, my love, they have."

~~*~~

Severus dreamed, not a nightmare, but a scene steeped in torment and despair. He stood in a dingy room, in the Black Mansion, he realised, smelling faintly of hippogriff, and windows festooned with dirty cobwebs. Before him, wrapped close and tight in his arms, Remus stood with bowed head and tears sliding unheeded down his cheeks.

"I love you, Severus, and nothing is going to change that fact: not time, not neglect, not the interference of magic, or the casting of Occlumency. I have acknowledged you as my mate and no matter what happens between us, the bond is forged, nothing can break it."

"No, Remus! I cannot take that burden to Voldemort; it would mean your death or worse, your capture!" He almost screamed in frustration, making another attempt to shake some sense, or at least some sense of self-preservation, into the stubborn werewolf."

"If my love is a burden then of course, you must shed it," Remus said grimly, resisting the taller man's attempts to shake him without any effort at all.

"No! You are determined to misinterpret everything I say. I love you, Remus John Lupin, but to love you is dangerous for you, and so I must give up the sheer joy of your love and abide without, until such times as Voldemort is defeated and we are allowed to live in peace without fear." Severus stepped back and drew himself to his full impressive height, drawing his robes about his thin form protectively.

Remus stared at him, and Severus knew what he saw, saw the light go out of flat black eyes, knew that anything they shared was being drawn into a compact ball and carefully tucked away for later like the treasures of a miser hidden from all human and non-human ken. A tiny note of keening broke from the werewolf's tightly gripped lips, a whine of pure, unadulterated loss and loneliness as his black clad, black wrapped lover turned away, and left him standing in the dirty room alone.

Severus mewled in his dream, utter loneliness taking his soul as he began the rituals of Occlumency, gathering the memories and joys of Remus and their shared love together into a single concept. It took a long and deep effort of will, longer and deeper than ever before, to package the memories in a way suitable to hide them under a random key word. Severus stayed in his trance for almost twenty four hours before he rose and settling his robes around him comfortably again, the wall built, the word set in stone.

The next few days were horrific and hectic, his Dark Mark burning bitterly, drawing the faithful, and Severus Snape, to the Dark Lord for what amounted to another long and almost fatal bout of Cruciatus curse, followed by political haranguing and more torture. Severus took more than his share, the Dark Lord insisting that he account for his missing month. Severus could not, no matter how he tried, there was just a missing period of time interspersed with flashes of Poppy Pomfrey tending his wounds and long periods of white recovery wards, meaningless staring at the walls.

Finally, the Dark Lord was satisfied and Severus was allowed to collapse again, Lucius Malfoy lifting him and Apparating him back to the Manor to be healed as best he could. Narcissa had also tried to penetrate the whiteness enveloping Severus' memory while he was vulnerable, but she was no more successful than her husband. Draco had played dutiful son to his parents while surreptitiously checking on his Godfather and his memory. Severus was open and clear, his memory there for all to read, no unexpected glitches or unexplained flutters, the perfect Death Eater. Severus had lost his key to his memories, the keyword driven away by torture and a fear of revealing itself, lost to everyone, including Severus Snape.

The anguish of his loss made him cry out, Remus jumping awake and petting the long dark hair aside to gently press his lips to the high, sallow forehead. "You're safe, Severus Love, you're safe here in my arms at Hogwarts," he murmured and smiled slightly as the wire tight tension slipped from his partner's muscles, and Severus snuggled back into the curve of Remus' chest.

~~*~~

Willani Shacklebolt drew her husband's head down and dropped a kiss on his wrinkled brow. "That frown has almost become permanent last year. Will it be there for the rest of this one too?" she asked gently.

Kingsley rolled over and laid his head in her lap with a discontented sigh. "If I can't solve this series of murders it probably will."

"The non-human murders you were investigating? It seems strange that your whole department can't find even one clue in connection with so many disappearances, very odd."

"Yes, very, very odd, so odd that I am beginning to suspect that someone in the department is involved with them up to their eyebrows."

"Who do you suspect?"

"Well, that's the problem, isn't it? The most obvious suspect is Ron Weasley as he is the main clearing house and collator of information for at least three departments. But I can't believe Ron would be involved in this sort of brutality, not after his stand in the SVW."

"Perhaps you need to talk to him quietly, try a little of your special Legilimens skills on him," Willani murmured stroking her husband's carefully shaved head with a wicked grin.

"Woman, how could you suggest such a thing?" he asked with theatrical shock then proceeded to tickle her into submission until their eldest daughter Mary told them to behave themselves in the long suffering tones teenagers seemed to reserve for their parents.