Friends and Enemies

Friends and Enemies

"But I don't want him to stay!"

Lupin sighed. This was going to be even more difficult than he had anticipated.

"This is my house and he is my friend, Severus," he said quietly but firmly. He was kneeling on the floor in front of a tall, pale black-haired man who was seated on the sofa. The sofa, like the rest of the room, was tatty and old. Feathers pocked out of the cushions, the small coffee table was covered in years-old stains, and the rug seemed to be a last ambassador of nineteen-thirties design that should belong in an antiques store, not on the floor of a young man's living room. Despite ancient and barely-held together furniture, the place was neat. Extremely neat. The many books, thin paper backs and large leather-bound tomes alike, were stored on the shelves in alphabetical order. The ornaments, sparse but important, were arranged with love and orderliness, and not a speck of dust dared settle on the mantle-place or picture frames.

The man on the sofa, who did not mind the place in the slightest, winced. There was a nasty gash down his arm and Lupin was trying, whilst Snape wriggled and complained, to clean it.

"Look, will you please hold still?" he snapped, grabbing Snape's arm more roughly than was strictly necessary and continuing to apply the foul smelling ointment.

"Sorry," Snape said, trying hard not to sneer, but failing miserably. Lupin smiled at the reaction, and though he attempted to hide it by letting his slightly overlong hair fall over his eyes, he didn't think Snape was fooled. Nevertheless, Snape held still as he was instructed and watched as Lupin worked swiftly but carefully on the wound, gentle fingers smoothing the salve over Snape's arm with care and attention.

"How did you get this anyway?" The werewolf looked up, his amber eyes worried and his forehead creased in a frown.

It was Snape's turn to sigh.

"It's a long story. Nothing serious, just Death Eater stuff." Lupin looked down quickly. Snape, sensing that a familiar discussion was about to take place, reached out and lifted Lupin's face so that their eyes met. His chin felt slightly coarse beneath Snape's hand, a comforting reminder that it was nearing the end of the day - a day which had been, for Snape, long and difficult - but he was in pleasant company. "Don't worry," he whispered. "It's been hard this past week. Voldemort doesn't know whom to trust, but I think I've convinced him." He smiled smugly. "I am a very good Legilimens." Lupin smiled faintly, but Snape's face turned serious again. "I just don't want to talk about it sometimes. I need somewhere where I can come and forget about it."

Lupin nodded, not needing to say that he understood and that he would be there for him when Snape needed to talk.

Snape smiled down at the man in front of him, the man who hadn't given up on him despite everything that had happened to them. Servant to impulse, he leaned down and kissed him. Lupin's mouth opened readily and Snape's tongue explored it hungrily. He pulled the man towards him and Lupin, the ointment dropping carelessly from his hand, allowed himself to be drawn into a passionate embrace.

It was a loud bang from upstairs that interrupted the couple, robes half undone and clear evidence that they were both enjoying themselves. Snape snarled and looked up angrily at the ceiling. Lupin smiled slightly at him and, taking the discarded ointment that was now jammed underneath Snape's left thigh, finished his tending of the wound, made worse by the fervour, and quickly bandaged it.

Snape was still mumbling obscenities at the first floor when Lupin had finished and was busy re-buttoning his robes.

"I don't see why he has to stay!" Snape declared, glaring at Lupin. The werewolf rocked back on his heels, taking the strain off his knees, and looked sombrely at Snape.

"You know perfectly well. Sirius is on the run and he needs somewhere to stay until a permanent headquarters can be established."

"So he can hide there?" Snape asked nastily, casting another disapproving look at the ceiling. Lupin pursed his lips in a way that reminded Snape fleetingly of Molly Weasley.

"Sirius has done much already. Not that you haven't!" Lupin injected when Snape opened his mouth to retort. "The situation is just difficult for him at the moment." He fixed the potions master with a stern gaze. "I want you to be civil to him whilst he's here. Not nice, just civil. Otherwise, you can sleep at your house until he leaves."

"Why am I the one who is getting shoved out into the cold?" Snape demanded heatedly.

"I am not shoving you out, Severus," Lupin replied calmly. "I just want you to understand that Sirius will be staying as long as he needs to, whatever you think. He's my friend, Severus."

"But I'm your boyfriend!" Snape stated.

Lupin smiled impishly at him. "I know you are. You don't have to remind me of that." A pleasurable shiver shot up Snape's spine as Lupin leaned in, an exciting twinkle in his eyes.

Heavy footsteps down the stairs announced the imminent arrival of the previously mentioned houseguest. Lupin grinned more broadly at Snape and placed a small peck on his cheek. With a grunt of effort he stood and stretched, rolling his neck this way and that to get out the kinks.

"Evening, Sirius," he said, smiling warmly as another man entered the room. Sirius still looked gaunt, his skin stretched tight over bony features, but his hair had been cut and groomed and those deep eyes had more life in them than Lupin had seen in the Shrieking Shack, over a year before.

"Moony," Sirius greeted cheerily. "I'm starving. Is there any grub?"

Lupin smiled and was about to respond when Snape, a nasty smile playing across his lips, cut in.

"Is that all you think about, Black, your own stomach?" he drawled. Sirius jumped and spun around to where Snape was sitting on the sofa. Since Sirius had been there, Snape had not, away on Death Eater business. Of course, Sirius knew all about Snape and Lupin - a relationship which disgusted him greatly, as he had told Lupin in no uncertain terms - and he had been warned that Snape may call by, but this did not make him anymore prepared to see his greatest nemesis, other than Peter Pettigrew, lounging on his best friend's sofa completely at home. "Don't you have any regard for other's privacy?"

"Severus," Lupin warned.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't see you there, Snape," Sirius replied in a falsely pleasant voice. "Please, don't let me stop you from leaving." Stepping aside, he indicated the door behind him and gave a little bow.

"Sirius," Lupin growled dangerously, but it seemed that neither man was paying any attention to him.

"I am not going anywhere, Black," Snape spat, rising slowly from his seat. Although tall and lean, he was by no means a weak man and standing before Sirius his whole stature cried out danger. "If you don't want to be near me, it is you that must leave."

Sirius planted his feet firmly apart, and clenched his fists by his sides. "Remus has said that I can stay as long as I want," he said, as if that settled the matter. Somewhere in Lupin's heart something responded to the confidence and pride in Sirius' voice but his mind, always the more logical of the two, screamed a warning that this statement, when coupled with Snape's stubbornness and, Lupin suspected, slight insecurity, could only lead to grave consequences.

Snape's lip curled. "But then Remus wants me to stay here as well. Now who do you think he wants more, the irritating ex-convict with poor hygiene habits... or me?" He didn't have to say what he was, Sirius knew perfectly well, and the fact that Snape, so unworthy of his friend, was mentioning this to him annoyed him more than anything else Snape had said so far.

But it seemed Sirius was not the only one annoyed by that last comment. He did not have time to form a retort before Lupin cut across him.

"Severus!" he said so sharply that Snape jumped and turned to stare at him. "I would appreciate it if you would desist haggling over me!" Lupin looked at him furiously and Snape could see Sirius smirking nastily at him over Lupin's shoulder. But then Lupin turned to Sirius also, mind triumphing over heart, sense over emotions. "At the moment I would like you both to leave. I don't want you around if you are going to talk about me as if I am not here." Both disgraced men, faces and ears slightly pink, mumbled a small apology, embarrassed that the other should see them doing this. A small silence followed, as Sirius, hands shoved deep in pockets, examined his shoelaces, and Snape picked at his sleeve distractedly. "Right," Lupin said stiffly. "Right. Dinner." And with that he walked out the room and into the kitchen without a look back at either man.

Dinner was a quiet affair. No one talked much, except to ask to be passed things and compliment Lupin on the meal, which he would accept with a stiff nod. Lupin spent a lot of the time shooting Snape angry looks, and every time he did so Sirius would smile smugly. Smarmy little git, Snape thought. He tried to make it better by running his leg up the inside of Lupin's but was rewarded with a sharp kick for his efforts. He stamped hard on Sirius' foot to make himself feel better, and was pleased to see him start and give their host a puzzled look.

Snape was never so pleased to finish his stewed plums and ice cream, but it seemed that Sirius wasn't going to give him the chance to speak to Lupin because as soon as the table was cleared, he dragged him into the front room to reminisce on the good old days at Hogwarts. This certainly wasn't something that Snape wanted to join in with, particularly as most of Sirius' pleasant memories probably involved humiliating him in some way. He was sure that Lupin wouldn't allow Sirius to be mean about him, but then Lupin was furious with Snape at the moment. Snape bit his lip. He didn't like falling out with Lupin, particularly if it was his own fault. He opened the door to the small, neat garden and stepped outside, breathing in the rich scents on the night air: marigolds, rosemary, clean air and green grass. The little cottage that Lupin lived in had to be one of Snape's favourite places on earth, other than Hogwarts. Often they would sit outside as dusk turned into night, enjoying the peace and quite that the place offered. When Lupin was talking to him, that is. Snape looked up into the sky and noted that the moon, a constant reminder of the curse that ruled Lupin's life, would be full in two weeks. He sighed and sat down on the veranda, closing his eyes, and waiting for Sirius to release Lupin.

It soon turned chilly and Snape made his way reluctantly into the house again. A warm glow of light came from underneath the door to the living room, through which he could hear Sirius laughing loudly at some joke or other. He pulled a face and walked into the kitchen where the dirty plates and glasses from that evening's dinner littered the sink. Pointing his wand at the mess and muttering a quick spell, the dishes began to clean themselves thoroughly, as Snape sat down heavily at the table watching them, feeling utterly depressed and very sorry for himself.

He continued to wait as the hour got later and later. The stars winked cheerfully in the mass of sky outside the kitchen window. Somewhere in the distance an owl cooed gleefully. At that moment Snape decided that the only explanation was that the whole world was out to make him feel worse and worse by every passing minute. Stupid stars. Stupid owl. Stupid Black. Just as Snape was half-heartedly planning clever and wonderful ways to get himself hurt so that Lupin would feel bad and hopefully blame Sirius, he heard the door to the sitting room open and Sirius' loud voice as he said a very drunk goodnight. He tramped up the stairs unsteadily and before long a door slammed somewhere above. Snape waited with baited breath until he heard Lupin leave the room and make his own much steadier way up the stairs. Extinguishing the candles in the kitchen and ensuring that all the crockery and cutlery was tidied away, Snape followed him.

When he entered the main bedroom, he saw Lupin standing in front of the mirror, picking critically at the greys in his hair. Snape walked over to him and hesitantly wrapped his arms around his waist, nuzzling his neck.

"I'm sorry," he murmured into his skin. Snape felt Lupin stiffen in his embrace, and then he sighed, not happily, and relaxed.

"I wish you wouldn't fight over me like that," Lupin whispered. There was just a faint hint of alcohol on his breath, but not enough for him to be drunk.

Snape laughed into his skin. "It's because I was defensive of you."

"No, it wasn't about me, Severus. It was about you. It was about you trying to get at Sirius." The harsh tone is his voice surprised Snape so that he looked up to meet his eyes in the mirror.

"I don't see you getting angry at Black!" Snape retorted heatedly.

"I don't expect any better from him, Severus," Lupin said coolly. "You, on the other hand, I do expect more from you and you were the one who was using me in you argument."

"I didn't mean to. He was annoying me," Snape mumbled into his neck. "Besides, he started it."

"I don't care who started it. The point is you made it worse."

Snape looked up to see Lupin staring at him in the mirror. "I'm sorry," he said, looking him right in those brilliant amber eyes. Something moved underneath him, some hidden emotion that Snape couldn't place.

"You feel threatened by Sirius," Lupin stated. "That's completely natural when someone you see as an alpha male comes and invades your territory." Snape was gawping at him in horror. How could Remus think that? And then he saw that his eyes were bright, laughing silently at him, wickedness etched in the small lines around his eyes and mouth.

Snape let out something between a huff and a groan and tightened his embrace on Lupin. "I really am sorry," he said.

"I know," Lupin barely managed, because Snape was now leaving a trail of light kisses up his neck and along his jaw. "Just don't do it again."

"I won't, I promise." Snape's breath was hot against his neck, his lips moving over his pulse as his spoke. He smiled as he watched Lupin in the mirror through the curtain of his eyelashes, waiting for him to do something, react to what Snape could see he was doing to him.

Lupin made an impatient noise and spun in Snape's hold, arms going around his waist and kissing him hard on the mouth, just as Snape began to laugh. His hand fought with the buckle on Snape's trousers whilst simultaneously trying to tug his shirt out of its neat arrangement. Snape already had Lupin's shirt half unbuttoned as Lupin pressed him down onto the bed with his warm mass of body.

It had, Snape thought as he finally released Lupin of his shirt and smoothed his hands over his shoulders and back, been an extremely taxing day, but at last he felt contented, safe and many other things that only Lupin could make him feel when he -- ohhh, when he did that.

Sirius, when he came barging into Lupin's room in the morning to ask to borrow some more toothpaste, could not honestly say he felt the same.

~ The End. For Now. ~