Room Mates

FOR DK.

1979-


Severus Snape listened to the soft sounds of nature around him, and the brush of the tall grass against the skinny legs of his black jeans. The heels of his boots sank a bit into the soft soil as he walked amongst the gravestones of the memorial of the trials in Salem, MA. The area was small, and his dark eyes took in the names upon the gray and melancholy grave markers. He was looking for a certain one, so weathered that only a few letter were readable upon it. This one did not mark a resting place; it was an entrance. Severus knelt and tapped the gravestone in a specific pattern with his finger, and he was granted entrance into the magical world, more specifically to the gate of the university he would be attending.

In England, there wasn't a form of higher education for wizardry--one was considered educated and ready for work after sitting for their N.E.W.T. exams. A few other countries boasted old and selective universities, and Severus had applied and been accepted to many of them. He was a lover of knowledge, and after too many unpleasant years in his home country--both Muggle and Magical versions--he had decided he wanted to go somewhere else, away from everything he knew and try to start out new. He had narrowed his choices to university in Salem or Transylvania. The latter had a top notch program of study of the Dark Arts which had made Severus' mind up for him almost immediately, though he later changed it. He knew his interest in the area would never wane completely, but knowing himself to well he decided immersing himself in the dark arts such as that program would require would be a bad idea. He had once in his young life been very close to joining ranks with a very dark and powerful wizard, but had pulled himself back from the brink of that decision before it was too late. He did not trust himself, however, not to be lulled back should he narrow his focus too much, and if he had attended Transylvania with its world-renowned dark arts program, he would never, ever come back from the depths.

So, Severus found himself checking in at the front gates, and muttering the password given to all the freshmen. He entered the campus keeping watch from beneath long strands of his lank black hair, dark eyes constantly alert, his thin frame moving stealthily. He took in the various buildings and their signs, marking them to his excellent memory. He finally made his way to the dorm building of the small college. It was a large brick structure with a colonial style about it. The wide stone steps led upwards to a large wooden door, flanked on each side by two guard-like columns. Severus slipped inside, being sure to make himself quiet and as unnoticed as possible. He found his way through the four-story building. His room number was located on the top floor. He found the door and spoke the password for it. It opened up onto a small room with bunk beds, two desks, two dressers, and a small bathroom. He sat his worn book bag and a small, beat-up suitcase onto the bottom bunk, deciding to claim it as his own since he had been the first to arrive. The bottom bunk just seemed more private. He closed the door behind him, and then noticed a notice board on the back of the door. Words appeared on it magically with a pop of festive confetti and the message flashed in school colors.


Snape stared at that sign, blinking a few times, and once even rubbing his eyes sure that he was mistaken. He had traveled across an ocean to get away from the past, and still it followed him. What were the chances that any of his old school mates would be here, even more ridiculous--to be his very room mate.

Severus hexed the notice board. It melted off the door and onto the floor, giving off a foul, burned smell. He muttered expletives under his breath. This was just fucking unreal. Severus slammed the door closed, and began to put his things away in one of the dressers, scowling fit to kill.

The boat ride across wasn't something that Remus was looking forward to doing again. In fact he had to plan it just so so that none of the trip fell during the full moon. Something that after a thorough accounting of the ships traveling schedule only happened just a few days before term. As the boat bumped into the shore he grabbed his tattered suitcase and disembarked; looking around the small wharf side town and smiling to the few people that smiled and bid him welcome.

In his pocket sat an acceptance letter to one of the premier universities in the Wizarding world and one that held no prejudices to his particular problem. In fact when they'd found out they'd been delighted and had even extended a full ride scholarship to him. They'd said something about wanting to improve the wizard/werewolf relations. At first Remus had done nothing but stare at the letters; surely there was some sort of catch, some sort of hidden agenda. But the more they spoke through owls the more it became apparent that they in fact were accepting of him.

That week he'd broken the news to Sirius and James, sighing as they tried to raise every argument in the book as to why he should tell them to bugger off and just stay in England. Slowly and thoroughly he'd shot down their objections; finally stating that he'd do much more or the Order if he could find other like minded wizards across the globe to help in the time of need that the Order had been put in place for--because certainly the Dark Lord wasn't going to stop at just conquering England.

Reluctantly they'd agreed and had thrown him one large going away party which it'd taken him nearly two days to recover and about made him miss his boat. Still he'd managed to drag himself away and close himself in his tiny cabin and now he was standing on American soil listening to the nasally accent of those around him. Once or twice he'd been bumped into and he smiled and apologized, earning him a few admiring looks from the women that over heard him.

Once more Remus glanced down at his directions and headed towards the secret entrance. As he wandered slowly, looking around like the cliche tourist he let his mind ramble; wondering about the others that would be attending and hoping that he'd find another set of people as open minded as Sirius, James and Peter had been. They'd been his staple in Hogwarts and they'd helped him more than they realized.

After a few minutes of searching for the right stone he tapped the required amount of times and after a quick look around stepped through the portal; coming out into a lovely campus quad. The grass of the quad was perfectly maintained and he nodded to those that passed; wondering idly if the school had a wheezing old janitor like Flich--and laughing when he reasoned that no one had a caretaker like Flich.

At the other end of the quad stood the gates and he murmured the password that his paperwork contained and after being allowed entrance he started to slowly amble towards his dorm; still waiting for the cruel joke to fall and to be escorted off the premises by laughing guards. When he reached the large cozy looking building he looked up and smiled, the building was welcoming and he couldn't wait to get in. A few wizards and witches passed him and nodded with a smile as he made his way up to his room, looking at the unassuming door with a mixture of dread and awakening adventure.

With an audible gulp he placed his hand on the door and pushed, stopping and looking confused with it didn't open. After a moment of panic he remembered with a laugh that a password was needed and he combed through the paperwork that held the password and with a deep breath he called it out, watching as the door swung open easily. However the sight on the other side of the door, took his breath as easily as it'd been sucked in and it whooshed out in one single word.

"Severus?" This can't be happening...it's not real.....I'm dreaming.

Severus looked up from the last article of clothing he was folding. His expression was one of annoyance, his thick black brows slanted downwards with a slight crease between them, his thin lips set in a frown. His black eyes were piercing.

"No, Lupin. I am the Queen. Feel free to address me as 'your majesty'." He said in a quiet, cold voice. He put the folded shirt into the open drawer, and then closed it. "I suppose you have other pet names you'd prefer to call me." Severus crossed his arms over his chest. "Or should we just skip the formalities, and carry on with my impending doom? After all, your long journey must've left you famished, and there's no hero..." Snape spat the word, referring to Potter. "...to nick your dinner this time around. I assume none of the other Golden Gryffindors have come along with you, seeing as how the three of them wouldn't have enough brain cells combined to be accepted into university."

Remus took a deep breath, swallowing down the shame of an accident that had nearly cost the man in front him as well as he himself their lives. With a tight smile however he bowed and murmured mockingly. "Your Majesty."

He let the wording hang in the air before placing his bag on the top bunk seeing as how Severus had already claimed the bottom one. His paperwork had stated that once he'd deposited his things he'd have to meet with the dean to discuss his special needs.

Remus didn't have much so with one wave of his wand his clothes moved into the other dresser and he placed the few books he owned on to one desk. The anger emanating from Severus was enough to make the room oppressive so with only a murmured parting statement he left the room; hurrying to his meeting and trying to think of a way to make this year survivable.

As he walked he turned things over in his mind; he didn't begrudge Severus his anger. It was rightly earned and if he'd been in the others shoes he'd more than likely react the same way. But Severus refused to believe that he'd not been in on the prank and after so much ill between them Remus just let him think what he wanted. Nothing would change Severus's mind anyways.

The walk turned out not to be a long one and he sat nervously in the deans office, his eyes wandering the pictures on the walls. Finally though he was called in a round cheeked witch stood up, extending her hand to him.

"Mr. Lupin. Dean Bannesworth. It an honor to meet you."

Remus nodded and took a seat when she motioned for him to sit.

"As you know most schools don't accept those with the affliction from which you suffer, but here we believe that all walks of life deserve the same chance at academic achievement. There are other wolves on campus and we take the utmost care to keep them comfortable during their pesky time of the month. You have your own room ready for the time and if you want you may tour them later."

Remus smiled and cleared his throat. "Thank you Dean Bannesworth. It means alot to me to have this chance."

"I'm sure you'll make us proud during your time here Mr. Lupin. If you need anything at all don't be afraid to come ask."

They exchanged a few more pleasantries before Remus left the office and he headed back across the quad he sighed, he'd meant to ask about changing rooms but it had slipped his mind. His stomach growling however steered him towards the cafeteria and he made the mental note to see Dean Bannesworth later about the issue.

Severus flopped onto the bottom bunk, brooding. All he wanted was to escape the things that tormented him, and they just continued to follow him. It wasn't only Remus, Remus was a physical manifestation, but Severus still tortured himself a lot over a certain mistake he had made. He was lonely and he missed her; his best friend, and the love of his miserable life.

He got up and paced, quietly admonishing himself for wallowing once again. He didn't like the tendency he had to do so and had been trying hard to work on resisting it. He saw it as a weakness, and any weakness he felt should be weeded out of his life. He didn't want to be stuck in self-pity.

Severus took out a stack of battered books he had bought used for his classes, piled them on his desk, opened the first one, and began reading it intensely, scribbling notes into the margins in his tight, tiny script. He lost himself in his studying, not wanting to think right now about what it meant now that Remus was here with him.

With a full stomach Remus started back toward the dorm, not wanting to face Severus with the mood the dark haired man was in, but at the same time wanting to curl up and take a nap. A yawn decided his fate and he let himself into the building, stopping and trading a few words with some of the other freshmen that were milling about in the lobby.

His eyes started to get heavy and bade the group of boys goodbye, agreeing to go out with them so they could show him around. He lets himself into the room and takes one look at Severus studying and quietly moves over to the bed and crawls into his bunk, pulling the gold and scarlet crocheted blanket that James' mum had made him up over him and snuggling into his pillow.

As tired as he was he couldn't help but situate himself so that he could look at the dark haired man without looking obvious. He studied Severus's profile; the hair was just as lank, though from this light it didn't look as greasy as it did in School; his nose still as large but the posture was completely different. It was as if someone had replaced Severus, the cowering seated posture that he'd seen all the time at school was gone, in it's place was a quiet authority that held Remus's attention.

Normally he would have tried to make conversation, but the cold greeting from Severus earlier stilled his tongue and he let out a soft sigh before rolling over to face the wall. University life was supposed to be a time of new beginnings, but so far the past was proving too hard to get past. As his eyes closed he hoped that they'd be able to come to some sort of truce; even if it was just Severus ignoring him when he was in the room all the time.

Severus scowl grew as he continued to read. He heard Remus slip in quietly, and then felt Remus eyes staring at him. Remus probably thought he was being discrete, but Severus' life experience had taught him to be constantly on guard from a young age. He was very familiar with the feel of one staring at him. Severus didn't want to speak to Remus, and didn't want to let on that it was bothering him. He meant to play it cool and remain impassive and keep to his studying rather than allow Remus to goad him into a fit of temper. Remus had always been the quiet one out of the group of Gryffindor Gits, but that did not mean he was innocent at all. The more Severus thoughts drifted to those four, the darker his mood turned, and once again he found himself dwelling on the things he had tried to escape--but this time with a bubbling rage rather than sadness.

Severus laid his tattered quill down upon his desk, and turned to face Remus, his black eyes cold and full of writhing anger. His voice was very quiet when he spoke.

"You're staring. It can't be because you enjoy what you're looking at, so what, Remus? Are you quietly amusing yourself with me, thinking of all the fun times you and your mates had with me?"

Remus rolled back over and tilted his head to the side as he weighed his words. After a moment he spoke, his voice as quiet as Severus's had been.

"Actually my mates were the farthest thing from my mind. I was merely taking note of how you've seemed to come into your own Severus that's all. I was not amusing myself in the least." He sighed and sat up, hanging his legs over the side of the bed and resting his hands on the tattered knees of his pants. "Look, I'm not expecting us to suddenly become inseparable, or even speak all that much if at all. Lets just come to some sort of a truce. I won't bother you and you won't bother me. Does that sound like an accord you can agree too?"

The anger that rolling off of Severus was enough to make the wolf antsy and Remus fidgeted a bit as the wolf made it known that he wanted away from the confrontation. In order to calm himself down a bit Remus laid back down; resting on his stomach with his head laying on his hands.

"I'll let you get back to your studying Severus. I apologize for staring at you. It won't happen again."

Severus looked back to his book, his shoulders slumped slightly. Remus wanted a truce? Wasn't it a bit late for that?

"Lupin, I have a quick temper and a biting tongue, and I can't easily forget many things I rather would. I will try not to lash out at you, but I can not make promises that it won't ever happen. I'm not sure why I should take your feelings into account, as you and your lot never even had the decency to treat me as human. I came here to get away from the past, Lupin. I wanted to let go of all of those things but it seems the past insists upon haunting me. I will be as civil to you as I can, which may not be much. If what I have to say stings you a bit, or even hurts, then good. I won't play nice and easy with you simply because you want it--I have too much anger to spare any kindness for you." Severus sneered and ended sarcastically; "Forgive me."

He bent over his book once more, his long hair whispering as it fell and coiled against the pages. He didn't really feel like reading anymore but by Merlin's Beard he was going to continue reading--he wasn't going to let Lupin know that he had killed even that small pleasure for now.

Severus stayed quiet for hours, pretending to read and not. He began to draw small doodles in the margin of his books, though he wasn't any good at them. Severus thoughts were actually on Remus, wondering why he had come here. Just why couldn't he have been anywhere else? Snape new of his lycanthropy and logically, he assumed not many schools had been willing to take on such a monster. Severus damned himself for not choosing the school in Transylvania. If he had, he would be Lupin-free.

Just then, the door to their dorm crashed open and in spilled a large group of young wizards and witches. They were decked out in school colors wearing odd hats, feather boas, face-paint, all manner of craziness as they poured into the room, hooping and hollering about Freshman Night and "party". Snape whirled around and immediately hexed one of them at random. He was livid at the sudden invasion of privacy. This was college life? He would have to ward the door next time against dumbasses. The hex hit its poor recipient, whose eyes bulged and his mouth opened, spewing out wave after wave of tiny scuttling spiders.

Some of the witches began to scream, while other students began to zap at the flood of arachnids with their wands.

"Stop it, someone stop it!" Someone shouted, and others joined in. With a flick of his wand and unspoken words, Severus reversed the hex. The spiders disappeared, and the spewing student gave a couple of last coughs as the horrible vomiting subsided. The room went completely quiet, all eyes turned on Severus in shock.

"Next time, I would advise knocking." Severus said coolly.

"W-we...er...were just going round all the rooms gathering up the Freshies to go out and have a bit of fun, you know? Oi, was the hexing really necessary?" One of them spoke up, a boy with spiked blue hair.

Severus just glared in response. Some of the students had notice Lupin and were asking him if he wanted to come--ignoring Snape now.

"Ya'll wanna come an' have a drink with us?" A wizard with curly blond hair and a Southern drawl asked, smiling at Remus.

Remus had opened his mouth to respond to Severus, but he ended up staying quiet. After all all that the dark haired man had said had been truth. Even though Remus had often tried to stop the other three he hadn't been successful and if he had been in Severus's shoes he'd feel the same way.

When Severus turned back to his book Remus flipped over onto his back with one hand under his head and one leg bent so that the knee pointed at the ceiling. College was supposed to be a new beginning, but like always the past and what he was crept up on him and reminded him that no matter what he was always going to be underneath everyone notice; a cursed being that only just above the notice of house elves to most.

The slamming of the door caught him off guard and Remus sat up, his wand at the ready but he never got a chance to use it as Severus turned and hexed one of the unfortunate students that had invaded the room. He could only watch on horrified as spiders issued forth from the poor kid and his wand wavered in his hand--he wasn't too fond of the scuttling, twitching bugs--but thankfully Severus ended the spell and the kid didn't seem too worse for the wear.

The curly haired wizard that had found his way over to Remus turned a brilliant smile on him and he found himself reciprocating it. The sound of his voice was pleasing to Remus's ears and as much as he wanted to he couldn't turn the blonde boy down.

"Well, I don't think that my mate here will be joining us. But I will surely come along. Although I don't believe I'll be drinking." The full moon wasn't too far away and he was feeling a bit more edgier than normal and he didn't want to be out of control of himself. "I'm...not feeling too well this eve." He held out his hand to the blonde boy with a shy smile. "My name is Remus Lupin. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Remus, mah name's Roy-Earl Rootwullup, but folks call me Buddy. An' this here's m'cousin Everett Rootwullup." Roy-Earl 'Buddy' wrapped his arm around a shorter guy, who was built stockier, but his resemblance to Buddy was striking, and seemed more brotherly than cousinly. "We's happier'n a pig in a poke ta meet ya'll Remus. We're gonna have a big ol' time tonight. If'n ya'll need anything ever, we're jus' up yonder." Buddy pointed towards the ceiling with a grin, showing Remus that he and Everett lived in the dorm directly overhead.

Severus frowned. The speech of the blond and the names out of his mouth sounded like something someone had vomited up. The accent was strong and served to make the bearer of it both highly annoying and unintelligent. The grins on the two blonds face made them look even more ridiculous, and Severus wondered how they had gotten in to the school in the first place. Merlin, and they lived just upstairs. Perfect, they'd probably be noisy while inbreeding with one another. Their speech just made his skin crawl, and he pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking that pigs lived in sties full of mud and shit, and what the bloody hell was a poke, and why would a pig be happy in it, and why wouldn't one be happier than a pig anyway?

Severus would have been happy crawling under his desk, away from the mass of people who had invaded his space. He was beginning to feel claustrophobic with all of them crammed into the tiny room, the idiot young men and women either watching Remus expectantly, or watching him fearfully. Were Americans really this rude and disturbingly idiotic? Severus gathered his books in a huff, and shoved past a couple of students and into the bathroom, where he slammed the door hard enough to make the doorknob fall off the other side. He tossed his books into the empty bathtub, his swearing and grumbling could be heard on the other side of the door, and then a muffled sounding 'reparo' as he waved his hand at the knob on the bathroom floor. The knob flew into place, and repaired itself. Severus flopped into the waterless bathtub, and pulled the shower curtain closed.

"Seems a right shame ya'll gut stuck with that feller." Everett commented, wincing when Snape slammed the bathroom door.

"Come on, let's go. Place we're takin' ya ain't too bad, but they ain't got nothin' like whut we got back home. Mama makes the beer herself, outta the bathtub."

"I didn't know til I come here that most people uses a bathtub fer washin', 'cause we used it fer booze!" Everrett laughed.

"Yup. If we wanted washin', we jus' went fer a swim in the swim-hole."

The two continued to chatter and the group moved out of the room, taking Remus with them and continuing on rowdily down the hall until they'd bothered every room on the Freshman floor and extracted as many willing party-goers as possible.

Severus sighed, and closed his eyes. He could hear the quiet once more, and knew he was alone. His long skinny legs were as stretched out as he could manage--one leg flung over the side of the tub. He watched as an ant trekked through the maze of tiles on the wall, and then smashed it with his boot. It reminded him of when he was very small, with no friends, he would sometimes hold conversations with the roaches that scampered over his bedroom floor. Other times, he would glare at one of the brown-shelled bugs until it caught fire, curled up on its back, legs drawn up, and died. His mother would look at him with an appreciative glimmer in the depths of her chasm-black eyes, without a smile, but still with approval at her dark and magical offspring.

His father on the other hand, would try for years and to no avail, to beat the 'weird shit' and 'bad attitude' out of the boy. Both things came naturally to Severus from a young age, and his father's nastiness and violence towards him only furthered the things that his father raged about in the first place, driving Severus to become darker and more hateful than ever.

After a bit of lying in the bathtub with a book over his head, Severus fell asleep. He woke a couple hours later, finding he was still by himself when he went back out into the room. After some pacing and debating, he decided he would take a peek out and see what was so much fun. He had been to pubs plenty of times as a child, to retrieve his father. He could have went to the Hogshead or the Three Broomsticks on Hogsmead trips during his adolescent years, but he had never excelled socially, and saw no point in taking himself to a pub just to sit in a dark corner by himself and spend the few galleons he had on a pint of something that tasted along the lines of piss.

Severus was however, a curious creature, and so at last he decided to just see what all these idiots were doing.

He found the bar near campus, and it was alive and rowdy with young people. The ruckus coming from inside almost turned Severus away immediately, but then he was pushed inside by a knot of people clustering in, and then pulled inward by the throng of idiots inside. It was noisy, hot, smelly, and generally horrible. The patrons were a mash of both Muggle and Wizard attire, all overly bright and guady as if a Muggle disco and a clothing line for gay wizards had both exploded in this place. Severus jerked and twitched at every body that bumped into him. He hardly had room to move, and people were grabbing at him, or near him, or maybe they were just flailing in general and in the process invading--no raping--his personal space. Someone shoved a drink at him, sloshing the liquid down the front of his clothes and infuriating him. Since he had some nice things now rather than second hand and patched, he was very anal about keeping his clothing nice, and now he reeked of cheap beer.

He shoved his way through the crowd, not caring who he knocked over, hurt, cursed at, or trod upon in the process. He was trying to get to the door, but people were pouring into the bar and so he was going in vain against the tide. At last he turned around and made his way towards the back--anywhere to get away--and found the restrooms. There was a line outside the woman's restroom. Many of the ladies looked a mess, in unattractive states of intoxication, and many wearing clothing that was too tight and hair that was so big it was frightening. Severus moved into the mens room, where the smell of alcohol and vomit was overwhelming. The walls were littered with writing of 'so and so forever' or 'this person is a slutty disease riddled cuntbag whore' or 'call blah-blah-blah for a night you won't forget'.

Severus thought he should just apparate back to the dorm. He didn't even know why he had bothered to come. Severus Snape was not made for such social interaction. He sat upon the dirty sink, and looked at his scowling, pallid reflection in the cracked, smudged mirror on the wall across from him. A couple of boys spilled into the restroom, laughing, clinging to each other. They ravaged each other in a corner, as if Severus hadn't been there at all, stumbled over towards the sinks disheveled and mussed, and then one wrestled a vial out of the pocket of his robe. He uncorked the top, and dumped a purple capsule into his partners palm, then one into his own, and then as if just noticing they weren't alone, he glanced through glazed and wild eyes at Snape.

The stranger offered Severus one of the purple capsules, and out of curiosity Severus accepted. The boys left the bathroom, falling and laughing all over one another. Severus examined the bit of purple in his hand. He had tried a few things before, having lived in a poor dump of a place where many people abused alcohol and drugs, simply to forget that they lived there--not to mention, he had been a teenager through the seventies, which were finally coming to a close--so he was not unfamiliar with drug use. He had not partaken regularly, with the exception of the summer after his 5th year, when he had wasted the days on anything he could get his hands on, often lowering himself in his depression to acts he horribly regretted, just to get something to relieve his mind of the pain which had possessed him so fully that summer.

Severus considered. Tomorrow was the first day of classes, and it would not do to be muddle-headed for them. However, he had potions he could take to calm his mind, and he had the gift of being able to learn without having to pay full attention in lectures. What the hell, why not.

Severus got down from the sink, and turned the tap on. He cupped one hand and watched the water fill his finger-bowl. It was rust tainted, just like back home in Spinners End. The water was always yucky, and the pipes would always clang and moan in the wall when one tried to turn on the tap. He swallowed the purple pill with the bit of water, and waited in the restroom until it began to take affect. He wondered curiously what it would do to him, as it did not look like anything he had tried before, and he assumed it was of wizard invention, not Muggle.

Soon Severus had forgot his social ineptness, his ill temper, and his need for others to remain well away from his personal space. He was back out into the fray, feeling hot, and alive, and crazy. He was itchy, and thirsty, and each brush of random person against his body as he pushed dizzily through the crowd of raving, twisting, contorting and throbbing bodies, sent a bolt zig-zagging across his nerve endings and gathering in his groin and deep in his belly. It felt good, and he didn't feel so tight-wound and prickly.

Someone shoved a drink at him, and he drank it down without coming up for air until it was finished. He didn't know what he had drank, but it was cold, wet, and wonderful, and made his throat feel afire for the next few minutes. He moved around the sea of people, drinking things, groping and being groped, his mind seeming to work too fast and too slow all at the same time.

He finally found a knot of people he recognized, though it took him awhile to realize that he knew them. They were some of the people who had crowded into the dorm earlier, in the middle of the circle were the two annoying blonds, and then he saw Remus. Remus was attractive, he thought, and not really for the first time. He had found Remus attractive during school too. Though James and Sirius tended to be the ones who were always fawned over, Severus had always thought it were Remus who was the most attractive.

Remus was also smart, and why he had wasted his time with the losers he kept company with at Hogwarts, Severus would never understand. He knew Remus was a werewolf, and he had on one occasion seen the wolf. It had never occurred to him that Remus was sexy, and that despite seeming mild-mannered and bookish, he probably had a streak in him that was dominant, beastly, aggressive, possessive, like a wolf. The thought of those things as he walked around the outside of the circle, coming closer to where Remus stood, really turned him on and he wondered why it had never occurred to him before.

His head was now crowded with pornographic material involving himself and Remus. He thought of Remus doing all sorts of things to him, and he thought of himself, being deliciously filthy for Remus. I wanna choke on yer cock, Severus thought, his mind-voice to himself spoke not in the proper manner he had developed, but in the speak of thick-accented, harsh-tongued, men who worked down in the mill and laid about at the pub and fucked whores in trashy alleys. He realized, with belated amusement, his face wet with sweat and hair stuck to it, that he had not thought that. He had said it aloud. Normally, he would have been mortified--but just now, his accidental confession to Remus Lupin made him grin darkly and his raven-colored eyes, through a wild glaze of purple-whatever-it-was that he had ingested, glinted with wicked desire.

Remus could only laugh at Roy-Earl and Everett. Playfulness they had in abundance but he could only watch on quietly as Severus locked himself away. With a sad sigh he turned to Roy-Earl, his smile this time a bit more sad.

"Severus is a very quiet man. I knew him in school...well we passed each other in school." He could blink though at the comment about the tub and the beer making that had gone on in it and instead of commenting back he just laughed.

He soon found himself being swept away in the crowd of party goers and he laughed as more freshmen got the scare of a lifetime as they bust in the rooms to free them for the night. Of course he tried to calm down the ones that had had the same response that Severus had and had even managed to set up a study group with a couple as Roy-Earl and Everett gathered up the ones that were a bit wilder.

After about an hour or so they finally piled into a local pub--or as Everett had whispered in his ear, a Honky Tonk--and the night had started to past rapidly. Drink after drink had been past to him and Remus had politely turned them away, a fuzzy head this close to the moon was a bad thing. James and Sirius had found that one out when he'd tried jumped on them and spent the night licking at their faces and necks like an over friendly lap dog.

The noise was deafening but the atmosphere was contagious and Remus found himself loosening up a bit. It was something that James and Sirius had fostered him; he might prefer his books but when prodded in the right direction he could play the fool with the best of them. He sent some ever changing colored bubbles into the air and smiled as couple of the girls hung on his arm and begged him to talk--it seemed as if his accent made him ten times more attractive to them and a few of the blokes as well.

Roy-Earl finally managed to get one drink into him and he winced as it went down; Everett laughing and saying that it was nothing compared to what his Mama could make and when they came back from a visit he'd bring some of the 'good stuff--that white lightening' back with them and then they could really party.

A soft murmur from besides him had him looking over and arching his eyebrow when he seen Severus there looking like he'd been tossed into a shower his face was so wet. Concerned he turned and put his full attention to his dorm mate; moving a bit closer so he could lean in and talk to him without shouting over the music.

"Severus. Are you ok? Are you ill?"

His lips had accidentally brushed Severus's ear and he pulled away as his eyes searched Severus's face. The smell of alcohol mixed with sweat wafted up from Severus's clothes and he wrinkled his nose at the sour taste; of course the wolf didn't like the scent it represented out of control and the wolf hated to be out of control for any reason. Something else the wolf noticed was the tang of desire that had seemed to be clinging to Severus's skin and he leaned in again to sniff; just to make sure that he wasn't imagining it; before moving back again, this time his eyes more owlish.

He'd never in the years at Hogwarts attributed hormonal rutting with Severus; not that he didn't think the teen had been capable of feeling that desire but because Severus kept to himself and never shared anything with anyone. He was certain that the dark haired man must have had his own dalliances but unlike those that Remus had kept time with it wasn't so wide spread. However as Severus stood there smiling at him with his fathomless eyes the smell was rolling off of Severus in waves.

"Severus?"

Severus scratched at his pale arms a bit, and then at his chest, the fabric feeling uncomfortable, harsh, and itchy, like it was made of tough dead grasses rather than cotton. He tugged at the collar, which seemed too tight around his thin neck. He leaned closer to Remus, squinting at him through tumbles of oily dark hair, and nodding his head.

"Right, Sneverus'ape." He said, discombobulating and smashing his name up awkwardly. He seemed not to notice he had done so. His unfocused eyes were twitching uncharacteristically as they roamed over Lupin's face with desire. "Hotter'na witches cunt in 'ere." Severus said thickly, as trails of sweat dripped down his face, and off the end of his hooked nose. "Shouldgo ou'side, then." Snape explained, tugging Remus by his shirt first, and then his hand, which he gripped in his own which was slippery with perspiration, and continuously twitching.

He stumble-pulled Remus through the crowd of people, not at all sure of where he was going, only that he meant to end up outside. He shoved through the first door he found, which was to the womens restroom.

"Get OUT of here, you!" A girl fixing her make-up in the mirror shrieked at him, grabbed up a sequined purse, and smacked Severus round the head with it.

"Fuck off, twatrag." Severus hissed, and grabbed her purse, breaking the strap and tossing it towards the door.

"BITCH!" She screamed, and spat at him.

Severus didn't bother to wipe the spit out of his hair or off of his face. He pulled Remus into a stall, and warded the stall door. He waved his hand at Remus with an unspoken spell which made Remus sit down upon the toilet. Snape climbed onto Remus' lap, almost knocking them both over at first--the affects of the drug was seeming to make his perception and coordination a bit off...or perhaps it was because the sexy form of Remus on a dirty toilet was doubling and tripling in his vision. He blinked a few times, his face twitchy. He tried once more, mounting Lupin successfully this time, and kissing him hard on the mouth, swiping his tongue at Remus' lips sloppily. The simple act made him feel so alive--vibrating with an overabundance of energy and need. It was exhilarating and annoying all at once.

Remus stumbled and then squawked as he was pushed down by an invisible hand.

"Severus?"

Remus tried to break through whatever haze had settled on the dark haired man but he either didn't hear him or was bent on ignoring him. The kiss caught him off guard and Remus floundered, opening his mouth to protest but admitting Severus's tongue entry instead.

I don't know what's going on but Severus is going to blame me for it in the morning when he remembers.

Gently Remus put his hands on Severus's chest to push him away but the feel of Severus's tongue prodding and exploring his mouth turned the actions into a gripping action as the wolf started to make it's way to the surface.

The desire that Remus had smelt out on the bar floor was tripled and he broke the kiss to push his nose into the junction of Severus's shoulder and neck and inhaled; closing his eyes and nipping at the racing pulse he found there. In the back of his mind he was worried about Severus's twitchy behavior but the wolf was more curious about the man that was sitting on his lap and so plainly offering himself to him.

For a moment though Remus was able to get control of himself and he pulled away; smoothing the sweat stuck hair away from Severus's face. Something was wrong, Severus never let loose the rigid control he had on himself so this was something that was alarming.

"Severus?" Remus called lightly, stopping him when it seemed as if Severus was going to lean in and kiss him again. "Severus. What have you had to drink tonight?" Severus's hands started to wander and he drew in a shaky breath as he gathered both wrists into one of his hands and held them while the other held Severus's face still by the point of his chin. "Talk to me Severus, tell me everything you've had to drink tonight." Before I lose control of myself.

"Fine, fine Sev--Remus. Nuffing to drink maybefirewhiskey?" Severus wiggled anxiously in Remus lap, trying to focus his eyes onto Remus' eyes as Remus held his chin. He found that he could not, his eyes were darting everywhere, so he closed them. He continued to twitch and jerk, squirming as if physically unable to keep still. "Feel very, very good now. Hows 'bout I drink you, then."

Severus nuzzled against Remus throat and licked at the pulse, every sensation seeming to be magnified to him. He could feel Lupin's chest as he pressed himself close, Lupin's heart beating out of sync with his own which pattered away quickly. His teeth grazed Lupin's skin, his chest rising and falling against Lupin's chest with his breathing--as if he had just finished running.

"S-s-see? S-Severus is f-fine. Very fine, very good Remy." Severus laid Lupin's palm against his thin chest, briefly allowing Lupin to feel the racing tempo of his heartbeat, and then dragged Lupin's hand down his torso, the cotton of his shirt soaked through, to rest Lupins hand between his legs were evidence of his arousal was obvious.

Severus tilted his head back, his black hair clinging to his face, his graceful pale neck exposed, his eyes closed and mouth hung slightly open in an expression of pleasure. He pressed Lupin's hand more firmly against himself, uttering a small moan at the resulting feeling that made him shudder with desire. He quickly moved out of Remus' lap and onto the floor, forcing Remus' thighs apart and inserting himself there.

"Can make youfeelgoodtoo." Severus said, resting his head against Lupin's thigh trying to catch his breath.

Severus stroked at Remus' clothed crotch, toying with the button on his pants occasionally. He had no insecurities, fears, or doubts to hang him up, no awkward social skills to hold him back, no impenetrable exterior, icy barbs, or calculatingly closed off body language. The little purple thing he had swallowed had given him a freedom that he would not or could not give himself, and though he might regret it later and be embarrassed by his actions, he had no concept of that as he knelt and touched Lupin, in a dirty bathroom stall. In the moment he wanted everything he was doing and more, unbound, unwound, it felt wonderful.

Remus was in shock, not only with the way that Severus was acting but also with the fact that if it were any closer to the full moon that Severus wouldn't be in the position he was in currently, he'd be bent over the toilet and fucked soundly as he left his mark on him.

When Severus pressed his hand against his chest Remus faltered, something was wrong; very wrong. He gently put his hands on Severus's shoulders and pushes him back.

"Severus....why don't we go back to our room? Surely a bed would be softer than this hard floor on your knees.."

Even if it was a long shot Remus figured that Severus would rather have his embarrassment confined to their room rather than the public viewing of the ladies toilet.

"You can make me feel better in our room Severus....I don't want everyone to hear you scream."

The wolf didn't care if anyone heard but Remus was trying very hard not to give in to that side of himself.

Severus rocked back and forth on his knees while Remus spoke, twining his hair around his fingers and pulling some of the long strands out. He leaned forward and stroked Remus' fly some more, staring at it with lustful gaze.

"Don't want to wait." Severus answered, stubbornly and too wired by the drug to have patience enough to go somewhere else. His fingers worked on getting Remus' pants undone which seemed immensely harder than it should've been. He tensed, pausing when he heard people entering the bathroom. He ducked and peeked his head out from under the bathroom stall. Girlish screams irrupted, Severus jerked back, banging his head on the metal stall before pulling it back in.

"There's buncha narsty cunts bloody screamin' ou'there." Severus whispered, covering his ears with his hands. He chewed his lip for a moment. "Remus...where are we?"

Remus's heart was beating out of control as Severus's hands moved over him and he closed his eyes as screaming started. When Severus looked up at him he looked like a lost puppy and Remus couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"We're in the girls loo Severus. Not really the best place to do this." He reached out and lightly tucked a strand of hair behind Severus's ear. "Lets get out of here."

Remus's eyes raked over Severus and he seemed to be calming down; the sweaty pale pallor was evening out and Severus's breathing seemed to be evening out. Perhaps he could still get out of this without Severus thinking that he was behind it.

The girls were still screaming and the stall was cramped as he stood but he did and he held his hand out to Severus to help him up, smiling uncertainly.

"Come on Severus, I've had enough revelry for one night. I'm ready to go to bed. What about you?"

Severus reached out for Lupin's hand, missing it the first couple of times and grabbing around air. He finally got it, and struggled up to his feet. The room seemed to lurch for a moment, but then he was okay. He could still feel the affects of the drug, but not as strongly. He was a bit disappointed that Remus just wanted to get back and go to bed, and just put and end to what they were doing. He still wanted it, even the sense of disorientation beginning to settle in at the back of his mind could not wipe everything else out.

Severus tried to open the stall door, then remembered he had warded it. He couldn't in his current state however, remember how to take the wards down. He rammed the door once, throwing his meager body weight at it, but did nothing more than jar his shoulder. When that didn't work, he crawled out underneath the door, and wait for Remus as he stared into the cracked mirror on the wall, touching his reflection in the glass and poking at it, as if he had never seen a reflection before. The magical mirror spoke in a voice that sounded of too many cigs.

"Honey, you are trashed!" It claimed, and Severus glared.

"I am not trash, wanker!"

He poked at the reflection some more, and waited on Remus, set on groping at him some more on the way back to...wherever they had come from.

A frown settled on Severus's face and for a moment Remus thought that Severus had come back to his mind and was getting ready to lay into him. Instead the dark haired man crawled under the door and Remus took a moment to compose himself.

He took a deep breath, regretting it when the scent of Severus's desire flooded his brain again and the wolf chose that moment to make itself known. With little prodding he rammed the door and it flew open, slamming against the cubical next it.

He watched Severus poke the mirror and before he could stop or put the wolf back into it's place he pushed Severus over the sink, nipping at his neck.

"Come on, there's a room calling our name." He growled as he bit down hard on Severus's neck.

In the back of his mind Remus was scowling and trying to exert power over his wolfish side but failing as the wolf fought him off in the need to taste the desire that Severus was feeling.

Severus followed Remus out of the din, back through the writhing bodies that seemed like a wave, the noise that prickled like static at his ears and skin, the colors that seemed fuzzy and thrumming.

"What's he took?" Roy-Earl asked, looking concerned at Severus as Sev and Remus brushed by, and the boy with blue-spiked hair pulled out a vial the same as the guy in the restroom had given Severus earlier.

"Here!" The blue-hair called over the noise, waving the bottle at Roy-Earl and Remus in offering, as the purple tablets clinked inside and bounced magically, eager it seemed to get out of the vial. Someone else grabbed it out of his hand and disappeared into the crowd with them. "Hey! Those are MINE!" The blue-haired wizard wove off through the crowd to try and reclaim what was his.

Severus and Remus soon found themselves outside in the dark night, the cool air felt amazing against Severus' heated skin.

"Let's just apparate." He said, and before Remus could answer, he attempted to do so but only made it across the street, and into a puddle in the middle of the street where he lay wet, dirty, and laughing up at the sky which transformed into starry shapes that chased each other across the sky.

A couple of drunken guys stumbled over each other laughing, and one of them stopped, hiked his robes up, and let go with an arc of urine that rained down upon Severus in his puddle. It took Severus a moment to comprehend, and when he did he aimed a very nasty hex at the pisser, only it missed and hit the other guy, who screamed and grabbed at his crotch which had burst into blue flames.

"Help!" The drunk with the flaming crotch shrieked, and his friend stood there laughing. The guy on fire tried a spray of water from the tip of his wand to subdue the flames, but it did nothing. Severus would have to cast the counter-hex to make it stop but at the moment he was having too much fun watching the misery that he had caused.

"Piss on me." Severus muttered, as the boy continued hollering for help...which drew the attention of a uniformed wizard, who brandished a nightstick with an orb of light at the end.

"What's going on here!" The officer shouted.

Remus waved his hands at Severus, hissing at him to put it out. He turned to the officer and offered his best smile, motioning to Severus.

"My friend has had a little too much to drink and I'm trying to take him back to the dorm. He tripped and fell and those men started to piss on him. He was defending himself. Just let me take him back home and put him to bed."

He looked back at Severus and narrowed his eyes, hoping that Severus got the hint and extinguished the flames. All he needed was his first night at College to end with being put in jail. A look up in the sky showed that the moon was getting fuller and it sent a wild shiver through him as the wolf laughed in the back of his mind. Soon. It promised before sinking back down.

Severus pointed at the flaming crotch, and spoke the counter-curse. It took him three tries to get it correctly.

"I'm sooo sorry Constable Ham. I mean Pig. I mean er...Constable Sir or...whatever it is you're called here."

The officer glared at Severus.

"Damn Limey, you think you're clever? Drunken fool. You kids would do well to stay out of the clubs and joints. Nothing but trouble." He moved closer to Remus, sniffing deeply, his eyes glinting yellowy for a moment. He glanced up to the moon, then back to Lupin, giving him a knowing look. "I ought to run you both in, but I know certain fellows..." He looked pointedly at Remus. "Don't do well to be caged up in a cell. I understand, but next time, you might not find a man to be as understanding. I'll escort the two of you back."

The officer walked Remus and Severus back to the dorm. Severus tried hard to keep in line, but he found himself reaching out now and then to grope at Remus, sometimes getting Remus and other times missing him. The Officer left them off at the gates to campus.

Severus couldn't remember the password to their door, but was glad that Remus did. He tumbled inside, pulling off one of his boots.

"Shower..." Severus said, wrinkling his nose at the smell of himself-sweat, alcohol, piss, dirt. "Come with, Lupin." Severus went into the bathroom, shedding his shirt along the way. He turned the shower on before realizing his books were still piled into the bathtub. He tossed them out, and then climbed into the shower and under the spray, having forgotten to take his pants off.

Remus felt himself stiffen as he was sniffed, the wolf coming up and taking command for a moment. The officer was a lycan too, and he swallowed down the urge to bare his teeth at him and instead nodded his thanks, mumbling slightly.

He fought off Severus's wandering hands and nodded his thanks to officer when they reached the dorms, reigning in the wolf's need to show who the alpha was going to be. With a wavering smile he hurried up to their room, watching in amusement as Severus fought with the door. He let it happen for a minute or two before taking pity on Severus and opening the door.

He blinked at the order but couldn't help but follow, smiling to himself as Severus jumped into the shower in his pants. He leaned against the door jam with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Don't you think you should take your pants off Severus? You'll feel cleaner with out them."

"Pa...pants?"

Severus looked down, his hair sopping wet, his torso dripping water and the sparse black hairs on his chest clinging to the skin. A trail of the same black hairs also wove down in a fuzzy line from his navel, and disappeared beneath the band of his pants. Severus toyed with the button for a moment, and then look back up at Remus, a slow and naughty smirk appearing.

"How 'bout you take 'em off for me?"