Rating:: PG-13
House:: Astronomy Tower
Characters:: Remus Lupin Severus Snape
Genres:: Humor Drama
Era:: Multiple Eras
Spoilers:: Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix
Stats:: Published: 07/20/2003

Updated: 01/07/2004

Words: 11,000

Chapters: 6

Hits: 4,789

Howling Lesson

Mi

Story Summary:: It has been a bad summer. Now it is going to be /badder/. He'll have to confront his worst fears. He'll come eye to eye with the creatures that have been haunting him for thirty years... be afraid. Be very much afraid. It's time to meet - The Pack! SS/RL harmless slash.

Chapter 05

Chapter Summary:: Snape - Lupin - 52,43 werewolves - Polyjuice - chocolate - chili - smalltalk - romantic opinions - childhood memories - transformations ... and I really can't put all of this in a summary! This story continues my SS/RL series.

Posted:: 10/14/2003

Hits:: 614

Author's Note:: Yap betaed. Almost there!

Howling Lesson

Chapter 5

He's fifteen. Almost sixteen. And he hates James Potter. He hates all of them Marauders. They are everything he despises and everything he can't be. Won't be. Bad combination. He's going to pay them back. He's going to find out their secret. Tonight. They are hiding something underground. He sneaks through a tunnel that smells of earth and old things. Of course he isn't afraid. Slytherins aren't. And he's clever. Not very strong but he knows how to defend himself. He has his wand. He opens the door and listens carefully. There is not a single sound - and he knows that something is wrong. Then he sees the wolf. Huge. And it growls. He knows it's a werewolf and he knows he can stun it. Except that he can't. Because he can't move, he can't think, he can't run away. Its fur is grey and it glimmers in the moonlight like
... but he coulnd't have seen ... its teeth are bared and now he's scared like when he was a kid. He's going to hurt. He's going to die. Now. It jumps and thrusts him into the wall. He can't breathe, he tries to get up, he's pinned down by the creature's enormous paws. And claws. And they rip ... drag - James dragged him away ... and tear at his skin and deeper ... lucky, Master Snape ... He feels the pain in searing waves and feels teeth sinking into his shoulder. He feels fur, cool fur, as he brings up his hands and tries to push it away from him ... he'd been lucky, Dumbledore said ... but it's no use. It hurts ... lucky that Remus Lupin hadn't killed him ... it ... stops.

He still felt fur in his hands. But that wasn't part of the memory. And the sickness definitely wasn't either. His whole body ... didn't feel right. And his head. He opened his eyes. And this time he didn't just see the wolf, he was also lying half way on top of it, and instead of pushing it away - he was clinging to it.

He snapped his hands open and tried to ... get away. But this only made the pain worse - and the wolf move. It rose slowly to its feet, bringing Severus into a somewhat kneeling position in the process. He made a whiny sound, and bit his lips to stop it. He felt faintly ill. The wolf smoothly moved away from him, and the world started spinning when he lost the support. He slumped forward, his hands barely managing to hold him up, but after a few moments his heart stopped racing.

He fixed his eyes on the grass. The werewolf was going to attack. He realised that he was unarmed, injured and disoriented. And werewolves did such things. Only - he wasn't scared anymore. He knew he should be. But he felt ... he felt safe.

He looked up and met its eyes. Memories flashed back, up to the moment Remus had told him something about a wrong potion. After that, there had only been pain. He tried to make something of it. Whatever had happened, it couldn't have been good, could it? But somehow, right now - it didn't matter. It didn't matter because all he could do was stare at the wolf. Because ... seeing Remus like this was just breathtaking. The wolf stood rooted to the spot, returning his gaze. Severus made a faint attempt to get to his feet and the wolf backed away at once. "Don't -" he croaked, immediately frightened again. Not of an attack. But that Remus could leave him. The wolf stopped in its tracks and Severus fell back on the grass. "I'm all right," he added lamely. He sure as hell wasn't.

He looked down his body and found he was covered in blood and mud. He wiped away some of it and saw the cuts and scratches all over his chest and belly. And his back didn't feel much better. He couldn't have been attacked? He held out his arms. Lots of bruises - but no bites .... You just know that something hurt you because you remember the pain. And there are no physical signs to prove anything - no bruises, no scars, not a scratch, because your wounds have closed ... Well, lots of proof here. Thank you very much. But ... proof for what? He couldn't have been ... transformed, could he? Not for real.

"The potion," he said slowly, forcing his brain to work. But Polyjuice couldn't - he froze. The Wolfsbane Potion. If he'd really become a ... perhaps he hadn't been attacked. Perhaps he'd been the one who -

He sqinted at the wolf. There was an awful lot of blood on its fur too. But that didn't need to be ... he would never ... Severus stared so hard, his eyes began to hurt. And, as if in response, the wolf moved towards him, slowly, but without hesitation, until it was close enough to be touched.

Severus held his breath. Then, without thinking, he carefully stretched out one hand, feeling the warm breath on his arm when he reached past the wolf's head. If he'd ever experienced a magical moment ... his hand stopped in midair. This was just silly.

"Professor Snape?"

He jerked his hand back instantly - and for a second it hurt. Like he'd just missed a chance that wouldn't come back. Then, he felt someone wrapping a cloak around his shoulders, and a face filled his vision. A face he thought he should know. It smiled.

"Here you are. Got you some clothes. Couldn't find your wand, though."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Flahery. You remember? Remus asked me to watch out for you at the convention. Well, if I'd known it would turn out like this ...! But, just take your time."

"Flahery. Of course I remember ... you twinkle too much."

"Ah, yes. That's me. Oh, my! Look at you. Can you walk? We should get you someplace safe ..."

Someplace safe
. He stumbled to his feet and Flahery kept him upright.

"... before Mr Malfoy wakes up."

He froze. "What?"

"Er. Perhaps you should ask questions later."

"I want to know what happened. To me, to ... what are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm not a werewolf. My wife is."

"What happened to Malfoy?"

"Oh, well, we had to Obliviate him."

Severus tried to laugh but it sounded more like a cough. "Sure. Because you could cast a memory charm on Lucius Malfoy."

"Well, perhaps not. Although someone never knows. But - he was slightly distracted by that time. Remus will explain everything to you later. We have to get you home and patch you up. My, my."

"I don't need someone to do that."

Flahery frowned. "Actually, we should get you to St. Mung-"

"Don't move." Lucius' voice cut clearly through the air.

Flahery froze instantly and Severus ducked stupidly, and ineffectively, behind him, somehow managing to look over the old man's shoulder. Lucius stood about fourty feet away, merely a shadow in the dark. "Flahery, listen," Severus hissed. "If Malfoy sees me, we're all ... in trouble. Can you Apparate us?" Flahery stiffened but did do nothing. Great.

"I know who you are," Lucius drawled, then paused for drama. "You think you are so clever, hiding behind your little friend so I wouldn't recognise you. But I do. And I say that's pathetic - Potter."

Severus gaped. "Which memory charm - exactly - did you use?" he hissed once more.

"Does it matter?" Flahery hissed back. "He thinks you're Harry Potter. Must have messed up my charm, after all, but ... that's good, right?"

"You tell me."

Lucius swung his wand in a wild gesture. "Say your prayers, Potter!"

"Oh."

Severus pushed Flahery to the ground. "Now wait - "

The wolf jumped.

"NO!"

The rest was drowned by multiple howls. Severus thought they came from behind, but he wasn't sure. The howling filled the air all around him. The sound made the hairs on his back of his neck stand up on end, and to his utter disbelieve he felt himself breathe in deeply, a howl forming in his throat. He bit it down. With much effort. He didn't even want to know. Come to think of it, what he actually wanted ... Remus. He spun around, or tried to, and saw the grey wolf sitting a few feet away from Lucius, seemingly tense and ready to pounce. The howling got louder and louder and then he saw them. Lots of them. He didn't count, but definitely there were too much for his liking. They broke out of the woods, closing in on Flahery, Malfoy and himself. Then, one by one, the howls died down, only to be replaced by a low growling. He knew they weren't going to harm him, but he started shaking nonetheless.

Lucius didn't look much better. He wheeled around frantically. "What are you doing? Call them back! Or I'll kill them!"

"You can't kill them all. Not before one gets you," Flahery said from somewhere down. "I - er, Albus Dumbledore - advise you to Apparate, before I let my faithful werewolves deal with you. And don't mess around with The Pack!" He was propped up on his elbows, obviously enjoying the act. "THAT'S -" Severus kicked him. "- all," Flahery finished.

Lucius was breathing heavily. "You ... you!"

"Your wand." Severus held his eyes fixed on Lucius, waving a trembling hand at Flahery. "Give me your wand."

Flahery fumbled complicatedly around the pockets of his robes and finally managed to come up with the right thing. Severus snatched it, and before Lucius had managed to stop goggling, did the charm.

"OBLIVIATE!"

***

He closed his eyes and wrapped the cloak tighter around his body. He was cold.

He also had a slight feeling of déjà vu, cursing Lucius. Sometime - he wouldn't get away with it so easily.

And he still didn't know why and what had happened, and he wished the wolves would go away. And he ... he heard Flahery talking to someone about Malfoy, and when he opend his eyes again, a girl approached him. She smiled uncertainly, holding up a bundle.

"I think that's what's left of your ... suit. Sorry. But I found your wand."

Severus took it and nodded. Did he really have to understand all this? Would he have to worry about the fact that everyone here seemed to know him? At least all the wolves were gone now. He tried to scan through the trees for Remus, and there was some movement, but it was hard to tell. He was so tired. A last, single howl had somehow got stuck in his head. And strangely - he didn't mind.

***