Dark Side Challenge: Fic: 'Love Potion'
Title: Love Potion Author: Jules Noctambule Pairings: RL/SB; RL/SS (implied) Rating: R Warnings: None I can really think of, actually -- someone correct me if I'm wrong! Notes: Short and probably not as dark as should be expected.
They met as planned in a disused storeroom of the museum where Remus was working for the moment. It was an easy place to meet, far away from the demands of regular life and the all too frequent reminders that their hold on the war had begun to erode. There was talk that Lily and James might have to go into hiding soon, something Remus preferred not to think about. Instead, he though about the baby and whether he should save up for the stuffed dragon Lily had admired or the toy broom James had to be dissuaded from buying for himself.
He asked Sirius, who was making himself comfortable atop an empty box.
‘Definitely the dragon,’ he said after a moment’s thought. ‘It would make Lily happy.’
‘Not that you asked me here to talk about baby toys, of course,’ Remus admitted, sliding his hands into the pockets of his gabardine trousers. ‘So why did you ask me? And why all the cloak-and-dagger with a note under my door? It isn’t as if we’re a secret anymore or anything.’
Sirius looked away, his dark eyes unrevealing. ‘That has nothing to do with it. It’s. . . .’ He stood up with a sigh and paced the narrow room, frowning. ‘I’m not really sure how to say it, Remus.’
He felt the beginning of a knot in his stomach. ‘Say what?’
‘They don’t trust you.’ He spat it out all at once like a mouthful of something distasteful.
The knot relaxed. No one was dead today and he wasn’t having a break-up in some dusty, forgotten corner of a basement. ‘Who doesn’t?’
‘Molly and some of the others; I heard them talking with Dumbledore after the last Order meeting. It’s because you’re a werewolf. They think you’ll switch sides because Voldemort‘s promising acceptance.’
This was nothing new to Remus; if anything, he wasn’t used to being trusted. ‘They think the same of you because of your family.’
‘With my family, I can’t blame them.’ He glanced at Remus, his face curious. ‘There’s more, though.’
‘Such as?’
‘They want you kept out of the loop as far as certain information, like where James and Lily will be hiding.’
‘James would never hear of such a thing,’ Remus scoffed.
‘He was there, with them. He didn’t object.’
The words were like a slap. All those years of support, all those years of friendship; surely, that hadn’t been a lie. ‘No. . .not James. He’d -- he’d never --’ Just as he felt his eyes start to dampen, Remus found himself in a tight embrace.
‘I didn’t want to hurt you,’ Sirius whispered, his breath warm against Remus’ cheek. ‘I couldn’t not tell you, though, and let you go on being mislead. You know I care for you, right? You know I how much I love you.’
‘I know. You know I love you, too.’
‘Then let’s forget about this. We’ll act like nothing’s happened.’ He kissed him first on the cheek and then on the lips, slowly and deliberately.
Typical Sirius -- tempering the bad news with the promise of sex. Remus smiled despite himself. ‘My lunch break is almost over, you know.’
‘I can’t let you go back to work unhappy, can I?’
‘I suppose you can’t,’ Remus agreed, leaning back to let his roving hands move lower.
The Polyjuice wore off much faster than he’d expected.
It had been ridiculously easy, really; handsome and alluring though he might be, Lupin was also awfully gullible. Sowing the seeds of doubt had been child’s play.
Emptying the rest of the bottle down a nearby drain, Severus made a note to try some experiments to see if it was a weak batch or if the chemicals released during orgasm had an effect on the potion‘s performance. After all, he had plenty of opportunity to test it now.
Tucking the hairs he’d managed to remove from Lupin into an envelope and stowing it away in his pocket for safe keeping, Severus mulled over the possibilities. Would it be better to take the potion himself or have a partner take on Lupin’s form for the duration? Or perhaps both; it wasn’t as if he would have much of a chance at the experience otherwise, much to his regret. No, he'd ruined that opportunity years ago, and his foolishness had sent Lupin right into Black's arms.
Playing back their encounter in his head helped Severus quash the growing feeling of anger brought on by his reflections; just hearing Lupin gasp endearments had been so satisfying. He’d have to thank Pettigrew at some point, since he’d been the one to suggest Severus for the task and procured a few hairs from Black. He could have used Potter, but as luck had it, Black had arrived at Pettigrew’s flat first.
‘Never thought I’d be happy to have him around,’ Severus said aloud, patting the pocket that held the envelope. The evening ahead held much promise.