Post by Remus John Lupin on Sept 12, 2018 3:20:30 GMT
i will break the spell you put on me | |
everywhere i go, i am spellbound; you cannot have this control on me | |
2248 words  commentary Tag:Solo | Remus had convinced James to deliver a message to a certain greasy haired potions master, since he had essentially been grounded by the headmaster – banned from going to the dungeons himself. The message was short and sweet: Severus, I wish to speak to you. If it makes you feel any better, you can take my wand for the duration of the meeting. I will be in my office. Ever since he handed the note off to James, he had been pacing in his office, sometimes sitting to attempt to grade a piece of homework he had gotten back today in class. However, he was unable to focus on anything except whether Snape would accept the invitation or not. What if he didn’t show up and he was just wasting his time? He would surely show up – he offered his wand up to him. Severus wouldn’t miss an opportunity like that, would he? His hands were shaking at his side and he paced around his desk like a hamster on a wheel. He rubbed his hands together and tried taking deep breaths. Just when he was about to sit down once more, the door opened. Remus looked up like a deer in a pair of headlights and saw the illusory potions master standing in the doorway with a very unamused look. “Wand.” Severus held out his hand and Remus stared for a moment, trying to comprehend the single word. Quickly scrambling his wand out of his pocket, he handed it over to Snape with a curt nod. He straightened himself up and took in the potions master. This was the man who spent his weekends snogging his sister. There was a deep bubbling anger brewing beneath the surface in his mind, but he pushed it back. Just don’t think about it. “I don’t have all day, Lupin. What do you want?” “To talk.” Remus offered Severus a seat across his desk and then took his own seat. He offered him a glass of butterbeer, which was met with a raised eyebrow and a cautious sip. “If we keep fighting, the only thing we’ll end up doing is hurt Rose more than we have already.” “Obviously.” His voice was slow and deep as he regarded the werewolf before him. It was as if he had thought of that before or something. “I know I haven’t been the best – I’m sure you understand,” Remus continued, looking off to the side guiltily, “So that’s why I’m trying now. I do love Rose, so I’m trying for her…” There was a pregnant silence between the two, the air feeling awkward. “You –“ He pauses, as if trying to decide whether or not he should say something. “You should watch your sock drawer. A little bird told me Rose might try to check it.” Severus cocked an eyebrow. “Why would she care about my sock drawer?” “You know what they say. Don’t judge a man on the way he dresses, but on how he keeps his sock drawer,” Remus replied with a small smile, his face slightly red. He wasn’t sure exactly how Severus was taking this. He was always so hard to read. How could Rose stand this? He wasn’t smiling, or frowning, or showing any sort of reaction to what he was saying. It felt like he was talking to a wall. “Who says that?” “Me.” Another pregnant pause. Man, this guy was just really great at keeping a conversation going. Remus was trying, and while his social skills weren’t quite up to par, he needed something to use in order to keep this going. “If that’s all –“ “Hold on. There is – There are a couple more things I want to talk to you about.” “I sincerely hope, for your sake, that it is more important than Rose inspecting my sock drawer,” Severus said, his face still stone cold. “It is – it’s about Rose as well,” Remus replied nodding. Severus looked at him with an even look, those dark eyes studying him. What was he thinking? It was hard to tell – was he worried about what he was going to say? Was he excited? Confused? He gave away absolutely nothing in the way he regarded the werewolf, and honestly it was frustrating to Remus. “There’s something you deserve to know about her – she doesn’t even know about it herself.” “Go on.” Again, completely blank. There was a reason this guy was the master at Occlumency. “Well, her mother, my step-mother, Amelie she’s… well special,” Remus began carefully, trying to gauge any sort of reaction from Severus, but gaining absolutely no intel. “And, as it would happen, Rose is also special. Diluted, when compared to Amelie… Well, they have a power to seduce people around them – it’s likely why Rose has been… a popular choice to ask out, even if she had refused before.” There was still no reaction from Severus, though Remus could’ve sworn he saw just a glimpse of surprise in his eyes. “She feeds off that sort of stuff, gives her more energy. Given how diluted it is, it really doesn’t affect the person its used on but –“ Remus sighed and looked a bit off to the side, he didn’t like staring down a wall and telling him something so serious and having no reaction. “It’s just something you should keep in mind.” There was a long pause, but it didn’t feel quite as awkward as the other pauses. Remus looked back at Severus, who’s face had changed ever so slightly to one a little more pensive. “You have been worried all of this is… a product of her… other condition.” It was almost a question, but more of a statement, as if understanding a little more than he had before. Severus pulled out his slick black wand and waved it, casting his patronus. He wasn’t used to it himself, but when Remus saw the form it took, he stared for several moments. Swallowing Remus looked at Severus as the wolf disappeared and his mouth curled into a wolfish smile. “I didn’t realize you were in love with me.” Severus immediately looked at Remus with a look of almost… disgust mixed with amusement. Ah ha! He had cracked the mighty wall as if he were a Mongolian infiltrating China. “Oh come on, Sev, you didn’t have to make my sister like you to get to me, you know? You could’ve just asked.” Remus puckered his lips and then chuckled, regarding the potions master with a small smile. “I wouldn’t kiss you even if you were the last person on Earth,” Severus deadpanned looking him straight in the eye. Remus placed a hand on his heart and pretends as though he had been shot, a dramatic look on his face. “You’ve wounded me!” Oh no, his wall was going back up. Remus knew what he had to do. He had to keep chipping at it as if he were one of those bosses in an RPG with a regenerating shield and health bar. But first, he had to get something serious out of the way. “Severus, ah, I hope you don’t mind me laying a few ground rules – nothing major, just… things that would help make me… more comfortable.” “You have no guarantee I will follow them. However, I will consider them. If only to make Rose happy.” Well at least there was that. There was no way he could deny the fact that Snape really cared for her – the patronus charm could not be tricked, but there was also the fact he wasn’t comfortable with any of this, even if his feelings were true. “I’d really like it if you kept the snogging when I’m around to a minimum,” Remus said. Severus stared at him with that damned blank look. What were you thinking Severus? “It isn’t as though we are running around looking for you just to kiss where you can see,” Severus replied. Remus knew that was mostly a precaution thing, but he understood what Snape meant. He meant ‘I would rather not snog in front of you either’. So it was a win-win. “If you sleep with my sister, I’ll kill you.” With that, Severus rose an eyebrow and looked at him almost surprised. It took several moments, with Severus seeming to consider dignifying that with a response or not, before he finally spoke, his voice low and careful. “I don’t believe it is any of your business what happens when we are alone.” “She’s my sister.” “I believe you have no room to judge. A little bird informed me that you solicited Miss Tonks for… inappropriate ‘fun’ on your first date,” Severus replied, a sinister sort of smile twisting on his face. Remus’s face turned a bright pink. Who told him that? He was sure Dora wouldn’t have told anyone about that – except maybe Rose – and then Rose told him. Oh Merlin. “I thought you were smarter than that, Severus,” Remus replied slowly, picking his words carefully, though his face was still a bright pink. “To believe the word through multiple sources without considering things might be distorted. I made sure she knew I couldn’t afford a room, that’s all. I only wanted to make sure her hopes hadn’t been raised too much.” Severus looked at Remus, down and then back up. “I don’t think anyone could have high hopes with someone like you.” Remus rolled his eyes and stood up. “Severus, I have a request to ask of you,” Remus said with a small bow of his head. “You say that as if this entire meeting wasn’t a request from you. To discuss more requests of me,” Severus stares at Remus, his face unmoving, though there was a slight upturn of the corners of his mouth. “Well yes, but this one is much different than the others. Could you follow me?” Remus requested. Severus considered this for a moment before he nodded, not even speaking the response. Remus swallowed and gestured to the door. Severus followed as Remus left his office, heading down the stairs, and out onto the grounds. There were many theories running through his head of what Remus was playing at, but he was too curious to just let this go. Of course, he had more important things to be doing – like his sister – but this, he hoped, would be worth his time. Remus stopped at the green houses, outside one of them, and gestured for Severus to crouch down with him. “Can you give me my wand back?” Severus quirked up an eyebrow and then pulled out the wand, handing it over. At least at this point he was fairly sure the guy wouldn’t attack him. Remus chuckled and looked through one of the windows to the greenhouse and pointed towards a plant in the corner. “I’m going to jinx that plant,” Remus explained, “And then you’ll see what’s going on.” Severus was somewhat confused as Remus raised his wand firing off the spell. Nothing seemed to change in the plant. Curious, Severus watched, waiting for whatever Remus was playing at – and then he saw Peter Pettigrew enter the greenhouse. Peter was helping Professor Sprout, after all. “The one in the corner right?” Peter pointed to the plant Remus had jinxed and Severus quickly looked at the werewolf. He didn’t drag him along for one of his pranks, did he? Suddenly there was a screech and Severus’s head turned just in time to see the plant turn into a puff of smoke and then materialize several birds. Peter had screeched and began to run, the birds chasing after him. Severus couldn’t help it, he let out a chuckle, hearing a roar of laughter from the werewolf near him. “See, Peter is afraid of birds. One day James told him that birds might mistake him for bread and try to eat him. He’s been afraid ever since.” Well, that was interesting to know – Severus would store that in the ‘for use later’ part of his brain, just in case he needed to bully information out of Pettigrew. “You know, you do look a lot friendlier when you smile. A little brighter than usual.” Severus looked at Remus with a curious look, his right eyebrow raising. “And why, pray tell, would I care about that?” “I mean, you don’t have to – it just… helps me understand what she sees in you. All I’ve ever seen is you angry or apathetic,” Remus replied with a small sigh, “It’s really given me a distorted view of you. It doesn’t help our relationship from school, or while you were on the other side, but -It makes me feel better that my sister is dating a human being and not a –“ Dalek. Except he wouldn’t understand that. Remus paused thinking of a better way to describe it. “Being of just hatred and anger.” Severus looked at him for a moment. He opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly there was a shout. “Remus John Lupin!” Oh no, it was Lily. Peter must have run to her in his fright and explained what happened – and somehow, she figured out it was him, and where he likely was hiding. She was smart like that. “Oh Merlin. Sorry, I have to run,” Remus quickly stood up, his eyes wide. He gave Severus a salute and quickly ran off, away from Lily, leaving Severus there, kneeling on the ground near the greenhouse, with a lot to think about. |
pyxis ★
