InsaneJournal

A Bit of Light Reading

"No."

"You can't let the past interfere with the future. What kind of a life is that?"

"I can let the past do, or I can do with the past, whatever I bloody want."

"I brought a book." He held it up. "See?"

"Mm. I have always been rather astounded that you are so daft and yet so well-read."

"We don't have to talk, Severus," said Remus with a small smile. "I can read, and you can mark papers, or read something yourself, or even just sit there. We don't have to talk."

Severus paused for a moment to consider the situation.

"I will have you know, though, that if and when this door slams in my face again, I will indeed knock once more, and continue to knock, and eventually we will come face to face again."

"I could place a Silencing Charm. In fact, I think I will." He raised an eyebrow.

"That wouldn't do, though, Severus. You'd wonder if I was still there or not, and curiosity would get the best of you—as it always does."

"I could transform the door from wood into silver," he said, eyes glittering triumphantly at the deflated look this gave Remus.

"Yes, I suppose you could."

"Don't you have papers of your own to grade?"

"It's the second week of classes."

Snape looked at him for a moment, as if wondering why that meant anything at all.

"Too early for all that, in my opinion."

Severus nearly growled.

"Anyway, Severus, I have my book, and you have more than enough seating," he said, looking around the room over Severus's shoulder. "It may even lead to a friendship," he said, waggling a finger knowingly. He pushed past Snape. "Enough of these games, Severus. I'm already quite tired."

"Restless night on Monday, no doubt."

"No doubt. Lovely Wolfsbane, by the way. I've never felt better during a transformation, honestly," he said, seating himself, "In fact, I don't think it was that easy even when I had Jame—the others to spend it with me."

Snape just stood at the door for a moment before closing it and crossing his arms, staring Lupin down.

"Not too shabby," said Remus warmly.

"Like you would know the difference."

"Well, werewolfdom leads to a lack in hours of labor, and therefore little employment opportunity, and therefore no money. I do the best with what I have, though, Severus. We all do the best with what we have. Except, perhaps, Lucius Malfoy." He gave him a pointed look, then glancing at the picture on the mantle.

"Yes, I suppose you have a point. Ah, Lucius. I much prefer to entertain the rich and the beautiful."

"Don't we all." Remus cracked open his book.

"What exactly are you reading, Lupin?" Snape asked, leaning on the back of the chair Remus was sitting in, reading the book over his shoulder. "'The chilly air wafted over them as they lay naked on the glittering sand. "The full moon is coming soon, Al, my love," he said, soft, violet eyes looking up at the sky. "I suppose it is, my blossom," Alonzo sighed in return, wrapping Hubert in his arms tightly. "O Hugh, I worry about you so on such nights." "And I worry," said Hubert, "that you will one day open your eyes and see the monster within me, and nothing I will be able to say will convince you to stay." There was a catch in his throat and he chewed at his lip as if to excuse himself from saying anything further.' 'The monster within me'? What in the name of Arsenius Jigger are you reading?" He scoffed.

"We can't all be visited by the rich and beautiful, Severus," said Lupin softly. "Though I'm surprised that what I do in my free time suddenly seems to matter."

"Whoever wrote that, Lupin," he said honestly, "should be shot. Preferably with a silver bullet."

Lupin turned slightly to look up at him. "Oh?"

"Who even speaks in such a manner? It is very unrealistic."

"How would you know, Severus?" asked Lupin darkly. "Are you a gay werewolf?"

Severus gave a slight bow. "Good point, Lupin. And now you are going to explain why you are such an expert yourself?"

"No," said Lupin simply. "Now I am going to continue my poorly-written gay werewolf romantic novel in peace."

Snape sat back down in the chair behind the desk and continued grading essays.



Lupin returned a few weeks later, still reading Key to a Werewolf's Heart. After a while he became bored and tried to help Snape grade papers for grammar and spelling. Yawning with lunar fatigue, he excused himself after a while, though he left his book behind. Snape was too caught up reading Hermione's essay to notice it until the next evening, lying innocently in the chair Lupin had been occupying of late.

Looking around as if he feared being seen, even in his own rooms, he picked up the book and opened it, eying the bright title page. Two wizards, presumably Hubert and Alonzo, sat on the porch of a small vacation house on the beach, looking content as they slept in each other's arms.

He couldn't help himself. He had no papers to grade, and Lupin had not yet shown up and probably, really, would not at all. It was the night of the full moon. "Alonzo" would be worried, thought Snape with a scoff, but he turned the pages to begin the story. He sat down in "Lupin's chair".

Alonzo and Hubert had been from a small village and had been schooled together. They were not particularly close, just acquaintances—until one fateful night. Hubert had been out late, trying to pick some flowers that he could give to his crush, Doreen, in the morning, by the light of the full moon, because some flowers, as Snape well knew, were best if picked then. But it all went horribly wrong when a werewolf bit him. Shocked, he began to cry and cry, until he thought he had no tears left.

"'Are you sure it was not a regular wolf, Hugh?'

Shaking, Hubert shrugged a helpless shrug, confused and very lost. He looked down at the seated Alonzo, sitting on the bed, and bit his lip until it felt numb.

'Then we will have to wait and see. Come lie down, won't you? Get some rest. Do not dwell on it.'"

And the next full moon, Alonzo found himself waiting from inside, watching to see if his friend—who he had bound to a tree—would really change or not. And, oh, he did. It was agony to hear, and, throwing the window open, he cast a desperate Silencing Spell. He covered his face with a hand.

Hubert was disowned and thrown out of town. No one felt safe with him around. He was seventeen. Alonzo, only slightly older, had a plan. They ran off together to his rich uncle's summer home without permission. But they ran into no trouble for simply being there. Alonzo practiced Binding Charms and Containment Spells as much as possible.

Although, all good things cast a shadow, and these good times produced a rather shocking one. Hubert made a kill. And after that he went into a wave of suicidal self-loathing. But Alonzo kept him strong. Severus Snape would deny it, but he found himself crying at one point. It was odd how much he suddenly felt he could relate to a werewolf.

The illustrations were bright and beautiful, even if a few were a big gory, and the ending of the book was sweet. Yes, sweet. He would admit it freely—alright, not freely, but in the right company. The two moved around a lot after the killing, never staying in one spot more than a month or so. When they finally got so old that they no longer desired such a hectic lifestyle, the two of them turned themselves in, Alonzo claiming he also had part. Kept in adjacent cells, they were hung next to each other, but they smiled, safe in the knowledge that Heaven did not discriminate against werewolves.

"Ah, there it is!" said Remus, and Snape jumped, looking guilty.

"Good, isn't it?" he said, voice a bit hoarse from the transformation of the night before.

Snape huffed and handed it back.

"The sex was good, at least, right?" he smiled a bit/

"So you are not a romantic so much as a pervert?" Snape smirked slightly.

"Oh, I'm much more perverted than this, Severus," he nearly purred. He shrunk the book and put it in his pocket. "Three Broomsticks? On me."

Why not? Snape shrugged and followed him. Free alcohol. Why should he complain?

"Hugh really warms your heart, doesn't he?"

"I was not aware I had one to warm."

Remus rolled his eyes and chuckled softly. "Well maybe the werewolf issue was a bit too foreign for someone like you to understand. I have some novels where it is the issue of homosexuality that is the real source of adversity for a couple. Or I also have romance books with threesomes, bondage, and even, dare I say it, bestiality."

Snape just stared at him.

"I told you I was a pervert," he said softly, laughing.

"Remus?"

"Yes?"

"May I—?"

"May you what, Severus?"

"May I perhaps borrow another?"

"I thought you'd never ask," said Remus with a cheeky grin. "Severus Snape," he said, leaning in closer, "I think I may just make you a pervert yet."