A Patient Wolf

"A gentleman is simply a patient wolf."

-Walter Bower

Once Remus was finished with his meal, he had a very frustrating game of twenty questions with Severus. Though he was never a particularly verbose man, Remus found not being able to talk at all unbelievably frustrating. The fact that he was also distracted by the intense way Severus was studying him didn't help matters any.

"Right then," Severus said through clenched teeth, "Let's try it again and I shall make every endeavor to keep my questions simple. Was there anything different about when you changed into the wolf at the start of the full moon?"

Remus tilted his head at the Potions master for a puzzled moment. There had been a small difference, but he wasn't sure it was even important. In fact, at the time he had wondered if he's imagined it. It had seemed as if the change was slightly less painful than before. However, that might not have been more than a usual variation. Some times the change was just more difficult than others and he had never worked out why that was so. Eventually, he shook his head "no."

"Was there any difference during the full moon?"

Again, a negative shake of his head.

"Was there anything odd after the full moon...apart from the obvious?" Severus drawled with a small smirk of amusement.

Remus' only answer was an exaggerated roll of his eyes.

"Right. I'll have to run some tests and I'll need a sample of your blood...don't give me that look you great baby...you'll barely feel it. It will take me some time to test it, and do some research. Try to amuse yourself as best you can."

For the next week, it was almost as if the busy Potions master and the recovering werewolf were slowly changing places. While Remus grew steadily stronger and healthier, Severus grew tired and drawn. It was little wonder that the man was tired. Severus woke early each morning to run various tests on Remus before going out to teach all day. The man researched Remus' condition in dusty tomes and ancient scrolls during class breaks and skipped meals. The evenings were filled with either more research or the hopeful brewing of various ineffective attempts at solving the problem. By the end of the week, the usually energetic Potions professor was a shadow of his normal self. When Remus slipped back into the sitting room from a trip outside for some bladder relief, he was horrified to see the state Severus was in.

Severus sat at his desk, his head lying against the blotter, his hands fisted so tightly in his hair that Remus feared he would tear it out. Though that was shocking enough, it was nothing compared to the despair the werewolf felt when he realized the normally unflappable man was silently crying. It was more than he could take; with a strangled yelp, Remus turned and fled the dungeons. Almost senseless with heartbreak, Remus never heard his name called, never heard the booted feet chasing after him. The wolf took him over, and all he knew was he wanted to flee...to flee from the man who cried on his behalf...to flee from himself...to flee from what his life had become. Finding the stairs he climbed up, turned and climbed again. The unnoticed sound of pounding boot heels diminished as he outpaced his two legged pursuer.

Reaching the top, he could climb no more. Rushing through an open doorway, Remus skidded to a halt as he found himself suddenly outside. He was on the Astronomy Tower. As he paused to catch his panting breath, he studied its low walls. They were high enough to keep a wizard from accidentally tumbling to their death, but not so high that they would keep a determined wolf inside. His thought whirled as he studied the wall before him.

I will not live like this. I will not live a beast. Severus has practically killed himself looking for a solution...it's obvious he cannot find one. I will not let him live like this. He's better off... I'm better off...

Abruptly making a decision, Remus flew into movement before he could change his mind. Barely having started his sprint toward the wall, Remus was shocked to find himself tackled roughly from behind. The wizard and the wolf rolled, tumbling over each other as they fell to the ground. When they came to a stop, Remus found himself sprawled over a panting, exhausted Severus. Severus held him tightly, long fingered hands fisted in Remus' fur, his face buried in the soft fur of Remus' neck. Remus suddenly realized the body he was on was trembling violently, but whether it was from exhaustion or emotion he could not tell. Either way, it was painfully obvious that Severus had realized what he was about to do, and it was equally obvious how much it had upset the normally surly wizard.

Severus said not a word, he just lay there, breathing raggedly and clutching the werewolf to his chest. Though he squeezed his eyes tightly shut, silent tears slipped out, running down his pale cheeks and into the wolf's fur. Whining, Remus nosed at Severus' face, licking him softly, lapping at the salty tears, wishing he had voice to sound the multitude of things he so wanted to tell the man trembling beneath him. He continued licking at the face that was precious to him as he made soft, huffing, comforting sounds deep in his wolfish throat.

Eventually, the upset and embarrassed man found comfort in complaining, which made the wolf sprawled across his chest grin.

Drawing his head back to look Remus in the eye, Severus snapped, "For Merlin's sake, would you stop that infernal licking? Some dangerous creature of the night you've turned out to be...you're worse than Fang. I swear sometimes that you're all tongue."

All the better to lick you with. Remus took the new position of Severus' head as an opportunity to lap eagerly at the Potion Masters throat. Severus could not contain a short gasp of surprise, even as he snapped at the werewolf again to stop. Remus complied with a wolfish sigh, contenting himself with nuzzling his nose behind Severus' ear. The breathless man and wolf lay there for a while longer. Unclenching his fingers from Remus' coat, Severus' hands trailed unconsciously up and down the fur of Remus' back. At last, he wound his fingers through Remus' ruff and dragged the wolf's head back far enough that he could look him in the eye.

"If I release you, do I have your word that you will come back with me to my rooms? No more of this foolishness?"

Remus looked down at the man beneath him seriously for a moment, before giving him a deliberate nod of his head.

Shaking Remus' head roughly, Severus' continued in gruff tones, "If you try something like this again, I swear I'll follow you...do you understand?"

Nodding again, as the wizard and the wolf untangled themselves and began the long journey down to the dungeons, Remus realized he understood very well. Severus hadn't meant that he would chase him up the stairs; he'd meant he would follow him over the wall. Remus padded softly behind the Potions master with an oddly lightened heart.

That night, Remus had another surprise in store. When Severus prepared for bed and Remus made himself comfortable on the couch as was his usual habit, he was shocked when a night-shirted Severus spoke sharply to him from the doorway that led into the bedroom.

"You can't possibly think that anything short of a wizard's oath would cause me to trust you out here alone after that stunt you pulled this evening?"

Dragging his eyes off the unexpected and delectable sight of the other wizard's bare legs, Remus tilted his head at Severus in puzzlement.

Pointing into the bedroom, Severus spoke in tones that brooked no argument, "In. Now." As Remus jumped off the sofa to brush past Severus and into the bedroom, Severus continued brusquely, "I sleep on the near side of the bed, I'm not about to alter my habits for the likes of you."

Grinning at the most unfriendly invitation into a man's bed he had ever received, Remus couldn't resist a bit of a tail wag as he jumped up onto the bed and deliberately sprawled on Severus' side.

"Budge over, you vermin infested imbecile," Severus growled. "And I'll thank you to keep your disgusting tongue to yourself."

Obediently rolling over to the far side, Remus waited impatiently while Severus murmured a few soft spells, banking the fire in the hearth and dousing the torches which lit the room. When the man at last got into bed and pulled the coverlet over both man and wolf, Remus wasted no time in pressing close to the wizard's side as he prepared to rest. His last, fuzzy memory...as he drifted off to sleep...was of a warm arm banding his chest and holding him close.

The following week began very much like the week previous. There were no more tearfully touching scenes and the overworked and irritable Potions master was as rude and surly as ever. There was one marked difference. Though the stubborn man would say no word about it, each night, after the man and the wolf had climbed into bed, Severus would shamelessly throw an arm over Remus' furry chest and hold him close.

When Remus woke Wednesday morning, Severus had already arisen. Groggily clambering out of the bed, Remus stumbled toward the lav where he planned to sneak a drink from the toilet. Though he had a perfectly good dish of water next to the sitting room's hearth, Remus had been slightly mortified to find that he preferred drinking out of the toilet. Dogs had the right of it; the water there was always both fresher and colder than that in his bowl. Trotting into the lav, Remus skidded to a sudden halt, the sight before him wiping the last traces of sleep from his suddenly alert mind.

A very naked, wet, and soapy Potions master was in the shower. There was no curtain or door...Severus obviously used a spell to keep the water from splashing out into the room. A spell which did nothing to hide Severus' body from a very surprised and interested werewolf. The man wasn't pretty; he'd never be anything near what most would call handsome. But Remus had never cared that the object of his affections would never be featured in Witch Weekly. Remus himself thought the black-eyed man looked good, and that was all that mattered to the werewolf. Remus had been taken aback merely by the sight of Severus' legs when he wore his nightshirt; to suddenly find himself confronted with all that naked flesh was like a feast after a famine.

Dark hair, weighted with water, brushed bare shoulders. The water ran, uninterrupted, down the wizard's back, splashing over the curve of his arse, making wet trails of the black hair that covered Severus' legs...trails which Remus wanted to follow with his tongue. Severus was tall, lanky limbed, lean to the point of skinniness, and absolutely glorious to the wolf which eyed him hungrily. Then Severus turned around. Remus had a quick glimpse of a lightly haired chest, the hair growing thicker and darker as it trailed down Severus' flat stomach to where it joined the thick nest of curls between the man's muscular thighs. With a strangled yelp, Remus whirled away. He ran through the bedroom, into the sitting room where he crawled beneath Severus' desk and hid his head under his front paws.

I'm a wolf. I'm a fucking wolf...with paws instead of hands and no reasonable way to take care of an erection so fucking hard I feel like I could drive it into the stone of this fucking floor.

Whining, Remus could not stop his hips from mindlessly humping against the floor in question for a moment, but the movement only worsened his problem while granting him no release. Briefly considering taking care of the problem with his mouth, Remus' human mind skittered away from that option--not to mention the fact that if Severus caught him at it, the sarcastic man would never let him hear the end of it. Remus' solitary torment was interrupted by the source of that torment pushing the desk chair aside so that he could peer at the werewolf with concern.

"Remus?"

Not uncovering his head, Remus growled.

"Remus, what's wrong?" Severus demanded more insistently.

Uncovering his head, Remus growled again, the look on his face could only be described as ravenous. Blanching, Severus took a stumbling step back, away from the hungry look which shown clearly from the werewolf's eyes.

"Remus?" he called again, this time in a tentative tone, as if he doubted who the creature which growled beneath his desk was.

The werewolf was far too distracted by his throbbing erection to realize that the other man was afraid he wanted to eat him...and not in a good way. The soft growl throbbed in his throat as he swept his gaze down Severus' chest to where a hastily wrapped towel covered the object of his recent fascination.

If I were myself, that towel would be off so fast...

As Remus stared at his towel covered cock, Severus belatedly realized the true source of the wolf's distraction. Skin that had blanched white with fear suddenly heated, spreading a flush which crept from his pale cheeks down the white column of his throat to disappear amongst the hairs on his chest. The tension in his body relaxed, and he was astonished to find himself weak at the knees.

"R-right then," he stammered. "I'll just...er...perhaps...I'd best go get dre..." His voice trailed off as he stumbled into the bedroom, shutting the door and leaning heavily against it until he felt steady enough to get dressed.

Both wizards later pretended the incident had never happened. Severus returned to study and students; eventually Remus' problem went away of its own accord. That night, in Severus' bed, if the Potions master held the wolf a little more tightly, no mention was ever made of it.

By Friday evening Remus was less pleasantly distracted by the nearness of the full moon. It would be full the next night and they seemed no nearer an answer than when they began. Remus had no idea how the moon would effect him in his present state. Severus had demanded that he take his Wolfsbane on schedule the week before, but neither wizard knew what to expect on the morrow. As Remus entered the open door of Severus' sitting room, the wolf was startled to see the other wizard once again collapsed over his desk. His head was on the blotter and Remus could see the man's shoulders shaking. Concerned, Remus strode over to the upset man, butting his head against Severus' side and making those soft, huffing noises deep in his throat.

When Severus lifted his head, Remus was completely gobsmacked to find that the normally dour man was laughing. Laughing harder at the all too human look of shock on the wolf's face, Severus ran a hand over his face as he tried to still his mirth long enough to speak.

"I know what happened," he finally managed. "I know what went wrong."

At Remus' insistent bark, he continued, more seriously, "It was my fault. I've been adjusting the potion, as you know. I'd already managed to make your recuperation time shorter and easier. I was trying to make the change itself less painful." With that statement, Severus burst into fresh giggles. At the wolf's look of astonishment, Severus explained his amusement. "Well, it did work! Just...er...not quite as I intended?"

Impatient with the man's amusement, Remus placed his front paws on Severus' desk, leaned toward the man, and growled gently. Severus grew immediately more serious, though he could not quite hide a relieved grin.

"Remus," he began as he looked into the wolf's eyes, "last weekend you took the normal Wolfsbane, not my new version. I don't think you will notice any difference when the moon rises tomorrow night. I am also fairly certain that when the moon sets, you will change normally, as you have always done."

Remus matched Severus' grin with one of his own as he leaned forward to lick the man's face enthusiastically. His grin widened as the man sputtered in protest.

Remus woke late Sunday morning. It took him the usual, disoriented moment to realize where he was. Turning his head, he saw that Severus was still sleeping soundly on the pillow next to him. The Potions master slept on his back, his lips slightly open as he snored gently, his hair fanned out over the pillowcase...its blackness a lovely contrast over the crisp whiteness of the cotton sheets. Unthinking, Remus reached a hand out to stroke a strand of that dark hair. His hand paused half way to its target. His hand. His beautiful, useful, human hand. With a happy grin, Remus took stock of his body, even going so far as taking a quick peek beneath the coverlet. Yes...all there and all decidedly human. Taking stock of how he felt, Remus stretched his muscles lightly. The ache of the change was there, though it was no where near as debilitating as it had once been before Severus' experiments had eased his change.

Enough self examination...I've got better things to do...

Raising up to lean over the man sleeping beside him, Remus reached a hand to slip it into the dark hair at Severus' temple. Stroking a pale cheek with the pad of his thumb, when Severus' eyes blinked open, Remus smiled down at him.

"Remus?"

"Good morning." The first words Remus had spoken in a month were low and husky. Bending down, Remus covered Severus' lips with his own. The lips beneath his own responded for the briefest of instants before Severus pushed Remus forcefully away.

"What the hell are you doing?" he sputtered in fury. "I don't want your damned gratitude!"

"Gratitude?" Remus asked blankly.

"Yes..." Severus muttered. "Stupid Gryffindor gratitude...just like all those blasted invitations." Effecting a ridiculously simpering voice, he continued, "Oh thank you Severus for helping me...won't you come out to lunch with me so that I can show you my appreciation. Well I don't want your thanks, I..." Severus' mouth snapped shut and he fell into stony silence while he continued glaring at Remus.

Bemused, Remus gathered his thoughts before he carefully spoke. "Severus, you're a Slytherin. Can you not see that my gratitude was a rather thinly veiled justification to hide the selfishness of what I truly wanted?"

"What...what did you want?" Severus said, his rage abruptly fled in the face of the tender look in the werewolf's eyes.

"You," Remus said simply as he once again began to lower his head toward Severus.

"What are you doing?" Severus said in breathless tones.

"I'm going to kiss you again," Remus replied calmly. "And I assure you that it is a completely selfish act."

"Oh...well...carry on, then."

Remus carried on.