Title: Things We Need
Author: elfflame
Characters: Severus/Regulus/Remus
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: anal play, threesome
Kinks chosen: Frottage, Sex Magic, threesome
Word Count: 3625
Summary: Severus wants Remus’s help regaining something he never really had.
For: scribbulus_ink
Author's notes: McKay’s request:
Pairing(s): Severus/Remus/Regulus
I wish for the following kinks: rimming, frottage, threesome,
I'd prefer to see: any
I would rather not see: scat, necro, blood play, breath play, water sports, death
Prompt: Severus wants to bring Regulus back; Remus helps, and they have to tie him to the mortal world by carnal means.
Sorry that I couldn’t work in the rimming, but I just couldn’t manage it. I hope you enjoy this.
Big thank yous to my Betas, littlecup and amberry for all their help and listening to me whine.



“Don’t even think about mentioning it, Severus,” Remus growled when he saw the look on the other man’s face. All they’d done since Severus had found the book was fight.

Since the end of the war, the two men had come to terms. All their old friends and cohorts had died, and the younger generation had no real need for them aside from their skills as teachers, what with sorting out the ruins of the Wizarding world and pairing off to have a new generation. So they’d found themselves teaching together once more, and what had once been animosity had faded into apathy, then friendly camaraderie, and then into something more. It hadn’t been a romance by any stretch of the imagination, but it was comfortable.

Their growing friendliness had made it easier to make do in a world where each of them felt more alone than ever. But now, since finding this book, Severus wanted to change the rules. With it, he had explained to Remus that he was sure he could bring Regulus back. Severus’s obsession over the younger Black brother was something the two men had discussed at length, but never had Remus considered that he might lose him to a dead man.

Unfortunately, the same was not true of Sirius. The spell required some sort of earthly remains. That left Sirius right out, as Grimmauld Place had been cleaned of all its possessions and sold. There simply was nothing left.

It was more than Remus could bear to think about. After all, if Severus had Regulus to be with, where would that leave him? So he had point-blank refused. Severus had not been pleased. Apparently, the spell required two to retrieve the lost soul, and he had assumed that Remus would be as accommodating as always.

The first time they had “discussed” it, they had actually come to blows. After that, Severus had been more subtle in his attempts: bribery, cajoling and logic; even flat-out pleading. All had failed. Severus’s attempts had fallen on deaf ears, and Remus didn’t see himself budging any time soon. So any time he thought Severus was about to bring up the subject, he did his best to cut him off. Like now.

Severus looked at him mulishly. “You have no idea what I was about to say, Lupin. Perhaps I was simply going to suggest that we take lunch together this afternoon.”

“And were you?” Remus asked, an eyebrow raised.

Even before Severus answered, the scowl on his face told Remus the answer. “No.”

“There is just one thing I don’t understand in all this, Severus. If it were Sirius this spell could bring back, you would never have agreed, would you? So why is it you expect the same from me?”

There was a long moment of sullen silence before Severus answered. “This is different, Lupin. You know that. I never felt anything but contempt for the elder Black brother, while you and Regulus…” Severus let the sentence dangle, and Remus couldn’t quite keep the astonishment from his face.

“You…know about…” He’d never told Severus because he had not been as attached to Regulus as he’d later become to Sirius, and he knew just how Severus felt about the younger of the Black brothers. He hadn’t wanted to cause an argument.

“We might not have been lovers, Lupin, but we were still friends. Of course I knew. I saw it on his face every time you passed by with his brother and Potter.”

Remus drew in a deep breath. “It still changes nothing, Severus. You’ll have Regulus, and…”

“It does. He is free to chose who he wishes after, as far as I am concerned. I only wish the chance to…convince him to choose me.” He let out a soft snort. “Though it is far more likely that he will choose you; he always was fascinated by you. Likely he will take one look at you and not even see me,” he said sourly.

“Then why…?”

“Because I must.” It was the most emotion Remus had ever heard from the man, and he wished he could do something, anything to reassure him.

But there was only one thing he could do. “Fine. I’ll do it. When?”

He’d never seen Severus looking more hopeful in the near-fifty years he’d known the other man. “Let me prepare things. I should be ready by this weekend.”

“So quickly?” Remus asked, alarmed.

“Believe me, if I could, I would have things ready this evening. I will see you soon, Lupin.” And with that, Severus swept from the room, obviously already planning everything he would need to accomplish in the coming days.

On Friday evening, after a full week with only minimal contact between the two of them, one of the school owls appeared at Remus’s window. The note was simple, written in a spiky, slanted script that Remus recognized as Severus’s.

Tomorrow. After curfew. My rooms.

There was no signature, but it was unnecessary. He knew what it meant. Tomorrow, they would try to resurrect the brother of his long-dead lover. Tomorrow everything would change.

Remus wasn’t able to sleep that night. Every time he fell into a doze, the image of Sirius scowling down at him, or of Regulus clinging to him as Severus turned his back to them filled his mind, and he shook awake once more. He didn’t want to do this. Things were fine as they were. At least, he thought so. Why did they have to upset things this way?

He hadn’t even left his rooms that day, worried that he’d run screaming from the castle if he had the chance. He only began to get ready an hour before curfew. He wanted to look his best, if this worked, after all. Not that he wanted it to, but still… By the time came to go down to Severus’s rooms, he’d worked himself into a frenzy. It was all he could do to force himself to leave his own rooms and make his way down to Severus’s rooms.

When Severus opened the door, he took in Remus’s outfit with a snort. He’d prepared himself carefully, and worn his best robe, but obviously that wasn’t what had been expected. “We are hardly going on a night out, Lupin.” Severus ushered him in, and Remus was astonished to see that the man was wearing nothing more than a simple night robe.

Remus couldn’t help but blink at that. What sort of spell was this, anyway? Perhaps he should have asked to read the spell before he’d agreed. “You weren’t exactly explicit about what we’d be doing to bring him back, Severus.”

Severus’s face closed off even more than usual at that comment, and Remus couldn’t help but prod further. “Should I be worried? Are we about to abduct him from the Black vault?”

“Hardly. In here.” He lead Remus into his bedroom, which only made him even more apprehensive as to what they would be doing, and Remus saw the bed had been set up the way Severus liked when they had a long weekend planned. The sheets were the Egyptian cotton he’d probably gotten from Lucius many years before, the coverlet pulled to the foot of the bed for comfort once they were done. But there was a difference as well—shimmering in the air, there were visible wards enclosing the bed.

“Severus…what sort of spell is this?”

Severus simply didn’t have the sort of skin that colored easily. Which meant that the flush spreading across his cheeks as he turned away was a rather alarming sign to Remus. “Magocoitus.” It was more a mumble than anything else, but Remus caught it. It took him a few moments to interpret the words, though.

“Sex magic?” he asked, horrified.

“Would you rather I tried necromancy, Lupin?” Severus growled in response.

“And what role will I be filling in this little scenario, Severus? Sex magic rarely requires more than two.”

At that, Severus whirled on him. “And without you, there would only be one, Lupin. Do you understand? Without you, I cannot get to him.”

And that was the problem really. With him, Severus would retrieve Regulus, and Remus would be left alone, and without him, Severus would never be happy. His shoulders sagged. “Tell me what I will need to do, Severus.”

He could see the other man relax minutely at that. “Undress and move to the bed. I have one last thing to retrieve.” Severus left the room, and Remus began to remove his robe, feeling more awkward than the first time he’d woken in Severus’s rooms. This couldn’t possibly end well, but for his friend’s peace of mind, he had to try. When Severus returned, he was undressed and sitting rather stiffly on the bed, shooting wary glances at the wards that Severus had obviously spent all week casting.

“Good,” he said. “Here. Start massaging this into your skin. Get it everywhere.” Before Remus could ask what was in the jar he’d shoved at him, Severus had turned away, and was removing his robe. Remus couldn’t quite hold back the thrill of lust that shot through him at seeing Severus’s naked flesh, even through his nervous state.

He looked away to distract himself, twisting off the lid and dipping his fingers into the cool substance inside. It was softly spicy, and Remus hoped that there wasn’t anything too horrific in it, as he began to smooth it over his chest. Long, slender fingers closed around the jar, and then Severus was next to him. “We do not have all night, Lupin. The spell itself must reach climax before midnight.” His fingers joined Remus’s in smoothing the substance on his body.

“Climax?” Remus asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Not literally. One of us, whichever is better able to pull him back, must have made it to the spiritual plain to find him by then.”

“And you think that will be me?”

Severus was focusing on rubbing the substance into Remus’s thigh. “I have already put the substance on myself.”

“Right,” Remus said. He wasn’t so sure he believed that, but he wasn’t going to press at the moment.

It was only moments before Severus declared that Remus was “Ready enough” and took the jar from his hands, setting it on the bedside table. Remus watched him, curious what would happen now. The sight of Severus’s body, and the feel of those hands had been more than enough to arouse, but this wasn’t their usual Saturday evening together. He simply had no idea what to expect now.

There was a soft chuckle from Severus. “It is not as though I am about to torture you, Lupin. Lie back. I will begin the spell as soon as I feel we are both…open to the possibilities.”

Unable to come up with a response, Remus just nodded, then lay back, looking up at Severus. He hadn’t felt quite this awkward about sex since he’d been a teenager, being seduced by his best friend and wondering what his reaction would be when he found out who he’d been seeing. Unfortunately, Sirius had thought Remus had been with someone else, and the punishment he’d come up with had only ended less than disastrously because of James. He’d never bothered to explain himself to Sirius after that. He found he couldn’t even feel too guilty after that, though he had eventually forgiven Sirius his “retaliation.” In a way, thinking of that only made what was going to happen now feel more awkward.

Still, it was easy enough to respond when Severus moved over him and began to kiss him, his hands still moving over his body. Whatever else one might say about Severus Snape, he was an excellent lover. Enough to make one forget that the world might be coming to an end, were it to do so. Remus could tell he had decided that that was the best way to get what he wanted tonight was to do just that. He seemed to be putting a bit of extra effort into making Remus writhe for him in a way no one else had ever managed.

He didn’t even notice when Severus began to chant. It was just there suddenly, the dark, rich incomprehensible words wrapping around them, pulling at him as Severus’s fingers pressed into him, and pulling a groan from him. He worked his lips down that enticing neck, sucking on a spot that he knew made the man melt, but the fingers and the voice faltered not at all. Then he felt something pull at him, and he felt himself…open…for lack of a better term, in a way he never had before.

He was still in the bed with Severus, but he was also elsewhere. The sound of Severus’s chanting voice and the feel of his skin kept him anchored to the real world. He looked around himself, astonished. He’d never seen anything quite like it. It wasn’t the way he’d always pictured “heaven,” with angels and harps and fluffy clouds, but almost dream-like. Every movement seemed more fluid than he remembered. And there, just a few feet away…

“Regulus.” The dark head lifted from a large book, and grey eyes focused on him.

“Can I help…” The grey eyes widened in astonishment. “Remus? But…”

Remus didn’t give him time to finish the sentence. “I don’t know how he’s managed it, but it’s worked. Come back with me. Please?” Suddenly, this was no longer just for Severus. He’d missed this face. Not just Sirius’s. Regulus had always been more fine-boned than his elder brother. And he’d always been more sedate, more controlled as well. He’d missed that difference. He’d missed Regulus. He just hadn’t realized it until this very moment. “Be with us.” He held out his hand.

Regulus blinked at him for a moment, confused, then his face went blank for a moment. When he focused on Remus once more, he smiled. “He is clever, isn’t he?” He took the hand. “Yes. I’ll come. I want to see the world now that it has been saved.”

Remus helped him to his feet, then drew him into a kiss. He didn’t know why he knew what to do. He just did. “Hold on to me,” he said softly.

Regulus nodded, his arms going tightly around Remus’s waist. “Take me home.”

No thought was required. Within moments, Remus was stretched out on Severus’s bed once more, but this time, it was not just Severus with him on the bed. Regulus was stretched out atop him, entirely nude. Remus couldn’t quite remember if he’d been wearing clothes when he’d first seen him, but he couldn’t really think, what with Severus’s dark voice wrapped around them, and the pleasantly heavy weight of Regulus weighing him down and slick lips pressed against his own.

Severus’s fingers were still driving him mad, but Regulus’s mouth was keeping him too distracted now to complain, and his hands moved down the surprisingly still-familiar body, seeking out all the spots he recalled that drove the other man wild.

Soon Regulus was grinding against him, and he broke away from their kiss with a moan as their cocks pressed together, hot and heavy with need. He felt the younger man shift above him with a gasp, and the movement of his hips stilled for a moment. He looked over his shoulder to see Severus behind Regulus. He was still chanting, his eyes burning with need and his shoulders moving as his fingers moved inside Remus. It was obvious he had begun to finger Regulus as well from the way the younger man began to grind even more desperately against him.

Something was building within Remus. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew time was running short. Apparently Severus could feel it as well, for he shifted to his knees between their legs, his fingers pulled from both of them and drawing two simultaneous groans, but then Regulus was kissing him and rubbing into him again, and the need to be filled was gone, lost in a wash of new sensation and need.

Severus was leaning over Regulus’s back, and though Remus couldn’t feel it, he knew Severus was pressing inside him. The younger man was shivering, and Remus held him close, gentling him through the pain of the physical, something that had likely been long forgotten. Once inside him, Severus stilled, and Remus could hear that his voice was growing hoarse, now. Whatever it was they were building, it needed to finish, and it needed to finish soon. Remus’s hand moved between his own body and Regulus’s, taking their cocks in his grasp and began to stroke. He was on fire. They were on fire, the heat of their cocks burning into his palm. Regulus began moving against him, and Severus began to move as well, the three of them groaning in unison.

Regulus, unused to the physical world after so long, was the first to succumb. He shuddered against Remus with a sharp cry, his hands clutching at Remus’s shoulders. The heat of his climax was enough to draw Remus over the edge as well, and he too cried out, his head falling back, his hips pressing up against Regulus’s. Even through the tremors of his climax, he could feel Regulus’s hips being pressed down against his as Severus continued to thrust. It was another moment before his words reached a ringing crescendo, then his body stiffened as his words died away, and he slumped against Regulus’s back. All the wind was driven from Remus at that, and he groaned, gasping for breath.

After a moment, Severus pulled gently away, and reached for something at the side of the bed, handing them each a damp cloth, before turning to look at Regulus. Remus watched him as he wiped himself down, wondering what was going through the other man’s head.

It was Regulus who spoke first, though. “Remus…what is…that?” Remus looked down at where the other man was pointing, and saw a small mark on his chest. It was too even and regular to be a speck of dirt, but he found himself rubbing at it for a moment before shaking his head.

“I don’t know.” He tilted his head as he looked at the other man, realizing that Regulus had a similar mark, and turned to Severus, an eyebrow raised. “Severus?” But Severus was still paying no attention to him. He’d thought the man just distracted because of what they had just done, but now… “What have you done?”

“I am uncertain what you mean, Lupin,” he responded stiffly. “Surely you understood the purpose of this exercise…and that it seems to have succeeded?”

“I understood the purpose, Severus, but I somehow get the feeling you might have left something out.” Severus was definitely avoiding his eyes now, Remus was sure of it. “What are these marks?” And now that he looked, he realized that Severus had a mark as well. Whatever they were, it obviously had something to do with the spell Severus had cast.

“I have no idea what you mean, Lupin.” Severus tried to slip from the bed, but Regulus caught his arm.

“If you don’t tell him, Severus, I will.”

Severus turned to glower at him. “You seemed as surprised by the mark as he. What makes you think I know anything?”

“Because you are avoiding the subject, Severus,” Remus responded quietly. Whatever it was, it had Severus very worried, and Remus couldn’t quite understand why.

“I answered your question.”

With a sigh, Remus began to rub at his temples to ward off a headache. “No, you quite distinctly avoided it. Now, had you said something like, ‘I don’t know,’ I might have believed you. But you didn’t. Either tell me, or Regulus will, but I will find out.”

Severus grimaced, then glowered at Regulus. “He doesn’t know.”

“You forget where I was, Severus. Knowing works differently there. It’s fading, but I still recall what you were doing. The question is, why are you afraid to tell him?”

“That is—”

Regulus grinned as he interrupted him. “None of my business? Wrong. You made it my business when you decided to do this, Severus.”

Whatever was going on confused Remus to no end. Surely the reason they’d done all this was to bring Regulus back. Wasn’t it? “Severus?” The man was still refusing to meet his eyes. “What is he talking about?”

Dark eyes finally met his, Severus’s lips pulled back in a grimace. “I did not think you would ever agree if it meant you might end up…” His eyes shot to Regulus, then back to Remus. “…Bound to me.”

Bound? “What?” He had to have misheard, right?

But Regulus was shaking his head. “Severus…” he said, warningly.

“It’s true,” Severus snarled at him.

“But not the whole truth, is it? Just like you never bothered to try when you had the chance with me before. How do you think this will end if you can’t tell him?”

“Tell me what? Severus?”

With a huff, and a last glower at Regulus, Severus turned fully to Remus. “The bond only happens when there is feeling on both sides.” There was a long pause, and Remus thought he was going to stop there, but then Regulus cleared his throat, and he continued. “I thought this way at least one of us could be happy. I did not know…how attached you had grown.”

It wasn’t something Remus could grasp all at once, but he did his best. “So…the three of us are…bonded to each other?”

Severus snorted, and Remus knew he’d obviously missed the obvious. It was Regulus who answered, though. “In the simplest terms, yes. If you’re willing.”

“I have a choice?” It was confusing, and yet Remus couldn’t keep himself from hoping.

“There is no compulsion to it,” Severus answered. “If you do not wish it, the connection will fade. In time.”

Regulus leaned forward and took Remus’s hand. “But you do, don’t you?” he asked. Regulus had always been as idealistic as his brother. Just about different beliefs.

Remus looked from Severus to Regulus, then back again before answering. “I do. Or I would never have agreed, Severus.”

The rigid features softened, and a long-fingered hand covered his and Regulus’s. None of it had been expected, but together, maybe the three of them could be happy.