Blue Moon
Chapter 8 of 31
quaffswinegailyLove and the 'M' word.
ReviewedBlue Moon
Disclaimer: Ms Rowling owns them all.
Severus stumbled gracelessly as his feet hit the ground. He lurched and reached out his hand for support, catching hold of the iron bars of Hogwarts’ main gate. Nausea swirled in the pit of his stomach. Mademoiselle Bien-Aimée was already several feet away and running towards the school.
“Hurry, Severus,” Charmaine called to him. “I’m late.”
Ignoring his rising nausea, he caught up with her, with easy, loping strides as she jogged up the hill.
“Late, for what?”
“For Remus.”
She shoved the shrunken box of samples into his hand when they reached the castle. Hurriedly explaining how to bypass the Whomping Willow, she urged him to take the potions ingredients to the lab as quickly as possible before joining her down the tunnel under the old tree. Severus shot off on his errand, while Mlle Bien-Aimée ran to meet Lupin.
Trotting down the path to the big willow, Snape tried to figure out what happened when he touched the Potions mistress. Each time he came in contact with her skin, he experienced the same tingling sensation, and his senses were overwhelmed by a glow of calming warmth. Even if he didn't touch her, when he got close enough to smell her, Charmaine’s honeyed scent subtly entered his subconscious. He was hit with a sudden moment of clarity.
“Oh Merlin! I fancy my professor.” He groaned, slowing his pace. And I tried to kiss her. Shit, I really stuffed that up. She must think I’m a right dork. And what about Lily? Lily will kill me. She has always been the one for me. What do I do now?
“I’ll talk to her.”
Carefully, he negotiated the tree’s raging limbs without injury. He shuffled, crouched over, down the dank, earthen tunnel. Making for the dim light at the tunnel’s end, he heard raised voices. He stopped just outside the half-open door, listening.
“You left me alone.” Lupin snarled.
“I’m here now, Remus. I was just a bit late.”
“You were with Snape, weren’t you?” he growled. “I can smell him on you.”
“You know I was. I won’t deny it.”
“You told me you would look after me and wouldn’t leave me alone. You said you loved me.” Lupin whined.
Severus heard a long sigh.
“I do love you, Remus. I will care for you for as long as I can.”
Clamping his hand over his mouth, Severus stifled a gasp. He turned away from the door and ran half-crouched, back down the corridor and out into the fresh air. He flung himself onto the damp grass.
She loved Remus. How had he missed that? What an idiot he had been. Severus slammed his palm on the ground and shook his head.
Inside the shack, Charmaine shut Remus into his barred enclosure.
“Stop giving me grief, you mangy cur,” she chided him, teasingly. “You always get so grumpy at this stage. Every month it’s the same. I’ve already explained how things are. I love you to death, you daft werewolf, but only as a friend. You know I’ll stick with you. I was sent to look after you, and young Severus, for as long as I can.”
Sighing wearily, she slid down the wall and sat on the floor watching Remus. “I wish Severus had come tonight. I could have done with his company through this vigil.”
She winced when Lupin howled in pain. Though the transformations were easier with the improved Wolfsbane, it was still hard to watch. How much harder it must be for Remus to bear. She cursed his old friends who had reneged on their youthful promises of help.
Meanwhile, on the lawn outside, Severus heard the rising howls and covered his ears to block them out. With his hands still clamped to the sides of his head, he rose and walked, with long angry strides, down to the lakeshore, planning to spend some quiet time alone with his thoughts. He had to figure out what was going on. Finding an empty bench, he sat down. Elbows on knees, head in hands, glowering out over the water, his mood reflected by the sullen loch.
A sharp tap on his shoulder startled him.
“What are you doing here, Snivellus?”
“Nothing.”
“Exactly! Shift. We need this bench.”
“I was here first, Pettigrew.”
“James has a romantic, moonlight rendezvous with Lily arranged. Shove off!”
Snape stood up to face the Gryffindor bullies, but they already had their wands drawn and rapidly hoisted him into the air by his undies.
“Put me down,” he yelled as his knickers wedged up his bum.
“I don’t think so.”
“Potter, you need to stop this now.”
“Stop what?”
“You are only pursuing Lily to get at me.”
“You could be right,” James agreed. “Don’t get in a flap, though. I’ve come to find her flaming beauty quite attractive, despite her lack of breeding.”
“Potter, you are such a hypocrite. You called her a Mudblood.” Snape swung to and fro, trying to get his feet back in contact with the ground.
“Sorry, what was that you said?”
“You said—” He took a breath and tried to turn round in the air. “—Lily Evans is a Mudblood.” He swung back round, and his heart plummeted as Lily’s shocked face appeared amid the other Gryffindor’s.
“Lily!”
Her eyes filled with tears and she shook her head. “How could you? I loved you, Severus.”
Behind her, James Potter smirked and took hold of her shoulders. “Forget him, my gilded Lily,” he murmured in her ear. “He’s no good.”
James turned her around and, taking a hand, drew her away towards the castle.
“No! Lily!” Severus shouted after them.
Black and Pettigrew ended their spells abruptly, sending Severus crashing to the ground. Running away laughing, they left him on the lakeshore.
Miserable tears ran down Snape’s nose, dripping onto the ground as he pressed his forehead to the cold earth and wept, his fingers curling into the rough grass.
A/N: Sunny33 has done another great beta job.
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Latest 25 Reviews for A Man's Best Friend
353 Reviews | 7.7/10 Average
Damn so he came back cured of the love that he had,but stilled loved them as a friend.I am not sure I understand how he was cured from being dead...did he not really die cause of the Blaze? I loved the story,felt a little rushed at the end,but it was supposed to be a one shot right!! Great work thanks!
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Thanks for taking the time to read to the finish and review. I wrote this story three years ago, so perhaps would take more time on the ending now. Maybe one day I'll revisit it.
I think they could have been a triad. Do you ever write those stories? You would write a great one I know!
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
I haven't yet. Maybe one day.
i like the older Snape and I am sure Hermione does too!!Great story!
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
He matures rather well.
If he had lived would Lupin have been thier third? I would like to think so...I LOVE this story!!
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Perhaps... or maybe not...
i love the way you incorporate canon and fanon!!
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Thank you very much. I appreciate your reviews.
poor Severus and poor(Hermione?)
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Indeed.
I never liked Lily, a real friend would have forgiven!! I hate the fact Severus never recoved from her loss and went to his death alone on a dirty floor...Thank goodness for fan fiction!!
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Fan fiction just lets us explore other options.
i was not expecting the unicorn to hurt our Severus!! I think it is for the good in the long run!
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Here's hoping...
Hermione?
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Really?
Response from deedeebug95 (Reviewer)
Hahaha!
oMG, this really could have happened this way!! Poor Severus this is breaking my heart
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
It's certainly a possibility.
like the start of this!! How dare they shave Severus' hair!!
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
I know. Oily and lank though it may be at times, we do love his hair.
If the professor knew how the dance went, why would she not be prepared to be kissed by Severus? It seems odd that a professor would dance this dance with a student. Obviously she has some kind of magical sight that Severus can pick up on when he touches her. Legilimins? Could they have gotten away with a kiss on the cheek? She should chastise Snotter for trapping her and Severus and taunting him right in front of a teacher. I know I need to just buck and deal with the tragedy that is Silly Lily Evens the idiot girl who has no ability to judge character and Severus Snape. I still don't like it though. F the Gryffindors. I hates them all!
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
I'm sure they woudn't have let them go with just a kiss on the cheek.
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
I'm sure they woudn't have let them go with just a kiss on the cheek.
Lily is such a little airheaded dolt! She has no common sense! She knows Severus better than that! She should know he wouldn't say such a thing! And that Snotter deserves to be killed by Voldemort. The world is better off without his kind of riff raff. I know that sounds stinky, but I'm a fat, greyheaded, crotchety and cantankerous old broad so I get to say things like that.
"That little whiper snaper probably smokes dope like all them other little pimply faced reprobates! All those young people are are on dope, damn it!" 
That's the mood I'm in and it's late. So I'd better go to bed before I do or say anything else antisocial. 
If you knew the week I've been having you'd understand.
Some little wanker stole my car and got it impounded for driving with no licence and for possession. He also just happens to be married to my idiot, enabling daughter who makes excuses for the little A-hole. I have no idea who raised these damn kids of mine!
Just freeking kill me now before I ever have to live with with any of the ungrateful leeches. I'll have bed sores and a wet diaper all the time.
I could totally kick that drunk, skinny little ass of his if I wanted to, you know... he's a little putz and I weigh more than he does. All I have to do is knock him down and sit on his face until he suffocates. He just better hope I don't cough, sneeze or laugh while I'm at it! Oops! it's too late. There I went and said something else antisocial. Somebody make me go to bed! I have to work tomorrow so I can buy diapers and wipes for my spawn's babies.
If you have to have kids, for the love of god don't have girls! Drama Drama Drama! I'm just warning you now. Kids are over freeking rated.
It's time for sleeping pills. I can't believe how late it is and I'm still up bitching... 
Now you know why I read Harry Potter fan fiction. In my head magic is fixing everything right now and Snape thinks I am the sexiest thing he's ever seen!
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
I hope this manages to take you away from real life dramas, if only for a short time.
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
I hope this manages to take you away from real life dramas, if only for a short time.
What special gift does she have? Oooooo, I know! She must be a werewolf! No wait. She does't smell of dog. But maybe she just knows how to keep the smell away. Hmmmmm. Touching Snape's face would have been OK if he had been a 4th grader but, teenager? Does she uderstand teenage male hormone function? Or should I call it a disorder? Just kidding. When I was a girl I didn't know what not to do around boys. I don't think I got wise until my mid 30's. I'm thinking she must be at least that old, however or she wouldn't have been thinking the things she was thinking. Women at the bottom of the hill wouldn't notice such attributes. Interesting.
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Teenage male hormones... does anyone understand them?
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Teenage male hormones... does anyone understand them?
Hmmmm. She wants to let Severus know that Lupin is a Werewolf? I sincerely hope she isn't the one behind the prank that almost killed the young Severus.
Why would Dumbledore want the two boys to work together? Training them for something? Are you saying that the speech on the first day of potions isn't Severus Snape's original work?
I am very surprised he would use someone elses speech, but I guess if she turns out to be someone he truely admires I suppose he might use it to honor her. Maybe it caught his interest so well that it inspired him for life and he uses it hoping to inspire other young people the way he was. I guess we will find out. Black is such an arse! No wait, worse, he's a vulgar dick head.
I take it we won't be super attached to Sirius Black in this story. That's fine with me. I read for the love of Severus Snape and the love of Snape/Granger romance.
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Hopefully all will become clearer as the story moves on.
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Hopefully all will become clearer as the story moves on.
Bummer! They shaved his beautiful long black hair. Hasn't the poor man suffered enough assault to his dignity? I wonder why they let him out of Azkaban for the funeral? Is it to humiliate him? Is he out of Azkaban but under house arrest with guards? It must be shocking to Hermione to see Snape sobbing. I guess you'll tell us how he survived the war. An ausicious beginning!
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Thank you. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Thank you. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.
This has got to be one of the most gorgeous convoluted twisty exciting mind bending epic stories I've ever read!
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Thanks very much. I'm delighted you enjoyed this and appreciate you taking the time to leave a review.
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Thanks very much. I'm delighted you enjoyed this and appreciate you taking the time to leave a review.
I started reading this just before bed time, telling myself that I'd only read a chapter or two then off to bed... its now 5:30AM and I just finished! I just couldnt stop reading! I loved it. I really enjoyed every word! Great job and I look forward to reading more from you!
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
I'm absolutely delighted. Thank you very much. Now, go and get some sleep!
What a fun roller coaster! Thanks for posting it where we can read it.
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
You're most welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed it. And thanks for taking the time to stop and leave a review.
Charming story! I've definitely never read anything like it. I love the Portkey idea, and how the story flowed between the past and the present. Thanks.
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Thanks for reviewing. This was my first ever long fic. I hope you enjoyed it.
I'm not sure if I loved the story more or the A/N! Fabulous write;)
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Thanks very much. I really appreciate your review. A/N: must remember to give everyone squishy hugs for reviewing...
Thank you for a happy ending - Severus & Hermione wedded, and Remus brought back, as well as Remus finding another special person to love and share/continue a new life with! I can't believe you intended this first to be only a one shot - thank Merlin's Beard that you got carried away or we all would never have had this wonderful, creative adventure in our ff lives - big heartfelt thanks! Looking forward to more of your multi-chaptered works as well as all others!
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
It was a one shot, but the darned thing wouldn't lie down. Normally I struggle to string more than a couple of words together, so this was a bit of a one off. Thanks very much for your encouragement. Cheers, qwg
Ah-ah, Quaffie. I told you quite a few chapters back that you couldn't kill off Remus and you told me to get some new specs or something of that ilk because your prologue dictated that the lovely werewolf had shuffled off his mortal coil or pelt or whatever. Hmmmph. I'd like you to know lassie that I have 20-20 vision....and hindsight and can see through walls too. I enjoyed this ending but I secretly thought that Remus was going to end up with Harry. No??? Anyway thank you for a wonderful story. I have thoroughly enjoyed both Remus and Severus' and indeed our banter over the last few months and look forward to hearing from you again in the near future. Best wishes, Love Ali xxxxx.
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Fie on you, and your xray, 3D, perception... glasses... thingies. It was very tempting to set Remus up with Harry, or in a threesome, but Jo was looking a bit left out. And being a true Aussie sheila used to wrangling crocs and dingoes, I reckoned she'd be able to manage his scrawny, flea-bitten hide.And the bloomin' happy ending fairy took over...I'm away to sink into the slough of despond, or onto the couch, or anywhere out of this infernal summer heat. Thanks for all your edifying reviews.Cheers, qwg
So glad this was more than a one shot! I've loved every minute of it. I'm really loving this unicorn magic. You should explore it more in future stories. Beautifully written and one of my favorite fics.
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
I'm very glad you liked it. The story just kept expanding - in some part due to sunny33, who read the original, and never made a comment, but the look on her face just said 'crap ending, write some more' - so I did (but not exactly what she wanted).As for more unicorns - not sure if I trust the mutant horse much - we'll wait and see.Thanks for all your lovely reviews.Cheers, qwg
Yay for you! Your first long fic and it went out on top. This was an even better ending than expected. I have to have my happy ending, always, and I knew you would let Severus and Hermione end in that fashion, but I was so pleased to find that they were able to have their friend back, even if it was through a portrait. THEN, you went and did one better by bringing him back for real. I, for one, am pleased that this one-shot got carried away. Feel free to let that happen again ...
Response from quaffswinegaily (Author of A Man's Best Friend)
Darn! The happy ending fairy got a bit over exuberant, didn't she? I'll have to go and think up something evil she can't tamper with. I hope you enjoyed the read. Really, it shouldn't have worked - a story about a time travelling poisoner, a dead werewolf and a hard drinking wizard with memory defecit. What a load of tosh!Thanks for all your wonderful reviews, they are much appreciated.Cheers, qwg