Title: Just Another Saturday Night (Part 1) Rating: R this part Pairing: Lupin/Snape Word Count: 1,247
Challenge: Retrofest ‘09
Prompt: 52. PoA: Remus leaves the castle every Saturday night unless it's the full moon. Snape, suspicious of Remus, follows him, but finds more than he bargained for. NC17 appreciated but not necessary.
Disclaimer: If they were mine I wouldn’t have killed them off! Really was that necessary? Warnings: Unbeta’d. Apologies as always.
Notes: This will probably be in three or four parts.
Severus slunk in the shadows as he awaited his quarry. He had the most ridiculous sense of déjà vu. Perhaps, not so ridiculous since twenty years ago he had been doing the very same thing. Following the Marauders to learn their secrets, now there was only one of them. The one whose secrets he thought that he already knew. He glanced up the stairway again and was startled to see Lupin almost halfway down them.
Remus’ boots were silent on the stone steps, even the chains wrapping the instep didn’t rattle. Besides the boots all Severus could make out from his vantage point were a pair of dark trousers and Lupin’s usual shabby brown robes. The silence was slightly unnerving. He remained motionless until Lupin was out the doors; the he slipped noiselessly out a dozen paces behind.
When Remus reached the Apparation point he slipped out of his robe and transfigured it into a well-worn brown leather jacket. They were going somewhere where Muggle. Lupin disappeared silently a second later, and Severus cast a tracing spell. He vanished as well.
Severus attempted to get his bearings. He watched Lupin striding purposefully away. A red double-decker bus appeared around a corner. They were in London. Severus returned his attention to the matter at hand. After a couple of blocks Remus took a turn into an alleyway. Three buildings down, he slipped into a backdoor. Severus kept his distance as he assessed the situation. There wasn't much in the way of escape routes; of course, he could always Apparate away. What could be the worst he might find?The spineless werewolf plotting something inane withhis mad Azkaban escapee friend. Severus turned the door handle, it didn't budge.
A tiny window slid open. Severus could see an eye and a nose. The voice that he heard was coarse and deep. "Go round the front, Mac. Pay your cover and buy your two drinks."
Severus stiffened. "My friend just went through." He stated firmly.
"Don't care if your boyfriend is back here. You need to go through the front."
"He's not….I never.." was all Severus got out.
The door flung open and a man half a head taller and four times as wide confronted Severus. "Round front or I'm callin' Old Bill!"
Severus could have stunned the man or cast any one of a dozen different spells, but he was supposed to be spying not causing a scene.
"Well?" The burly man asked. "What he won't dance for you at home?"
"Fuck off!" Severus tossed over his shoulder as he stalked away. Dance?
Severus made his way to the front of the building. Le Bonhomme the sign declared. It was all fairy lights and neon. There was a plethora of women pouring into the entrance. He garnered more than a few looks as he stood in the shadow of the building. Then he heard someone twitter 'idiot thinks its Halloween.' Severus had been so flustered by the man at the back he hadn’t cast a notice-me-not charm; he did so immediately.
When the crowd thinned a little, he moved toward the entrance ducking inside while the bouncer flirted with a few of the women patrons. The notice-me-not charm had held. He stayed along the back wall of the room looking for an unoccupied table; he chose the one furthest from the entertainment. The room filled almost to capacity before someone stepped into the void at the front of the room. A large voice boomed from the rather small man as he welcomed them and told a few jokes before listing the entertainment for the evening. They were to be treated to astronauts and cowboys and after the intermission Bobbies and Vikings concluding with a surprise act. Severus watched the topless waiters slid between the tables, looking for signs of Lupin. What else could the man possibly be doing in this place besides waiting tables, except perhaps something janitorial? Once the entertainment began and everyone else was occupied he would have a look around.
The lights dimmed and the music rose. It was club music designed to make people want to dance, drink and talk far too loudly. Severus wished he had brought some Muggle currency so he could purchase a drink or the two required. If he sat here much longer he was most definitely going to need the alcohol. The music changed. There was still a thumping bass, but the melody such as it was reminded him of a Muggle glam-rocker from his adolescence. A bright flash of light brought the ‘astronauts’ into view.
They were dressed in silver jumpsuits with matching helmets. Their dance was choreographed and they all kept to the same movements, their hips and shoulders swayed suggestively. Around him women cheered and whistled, one woman screaming ‘take it all off’. In a moment the would-be astronauts brought their hands to their long zippers, and lowered them slowly as they continued to dance. They shimmied out of the suits and wore only their helmets and tiny bikini pants, also in silver. One woman ran onto the dance floor brandishing some Pound notes and stuffed them into the sides of the dancers’ pants.
Severus loosened the top button of his shirt. He hadn’t expected this. The men’s bodies were perfect, truly, even the one in the front who sported a few scars on his chest and legs. Not that Severus would notice appealing men, never; he shifted a little in his seat. The helmets came off next, with each of the men shook their hair out as it fell to their respective shoulders. Severus gasped and for a moment couldn’t breathe. Lupin!
The clapping and cheering around him faded into the background. Lupin was dancing in practically nothing. The dancers rocked their way toward the patrons. Women and a few men shook their money and watched as the dancers stuffed it into their tiny, barely cover-me pouches. Severus knew what came next, once the cash flow dwindled. The entertainers moved back and what was left of their costumes fell to the ground. He should have looked away, but he couldn’t. His throat was dry as parchment. Merlin, Lupin was hung and he absolutely did not need to know that!
Severus only hesitated a moment before he Apparated out. When he arrived at the Apparation point outside Hogwarts, he turned toward Hogsmeade and the Three Broomsticks. He needed a Firewhisky or three and his wayward cock needed to get itself under control. After two drinks he began to think and think some more. He had not expected what he found. A half-dozen questions filled his mind. How long? Why? Where did he learn to dance? Did he have sex for money? Was the body a glamour charm? These were not productive questions.
He, now, knew what Remus did on Saturday nights; at least it appeared that he did. Finding Sirius Black tonight would have been akin to hitting two birds with one stone. Oddly, tonight had brought Severus more questions than answers. Where was Black? His friend had been out in the open at the club, and Black had been no where in sight. Not that he would have noticed after Lupin stripped, he thought much to his chagrin. Just because the pup had not been there this time, did not mean he would not be there another. Severus was just going to have to follow Lupin again and find the answers to all of his questions.