azure_rosa (azure_rosa) wrote in lupin_snape, @ 2011-10-04 18:50:00 |
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Entry tags: | project: a decade of ssrl |
The Answer Was Love
Title: The Answer Was Love
Summary: "This isn’t magic — it’s logic — a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven’t got an ounce of logic; they’d be stuck in here forever." What if Remus, who has being trying and failing to befriend Severus for several years, learned of Severus’ affinity for logic puzzles? What if after befriending him, he fell in love and decided that maybe the only way to Severus’ heart was through his brain?
Timeline: Post war, both lived, the Tonks train wreak never happened and thus no Teddy.
Pairings: Friendship and eventual Snape/Lupin Pre-slash so far, but it might eventually become full blown slash. Background Harry/Hermione.
Disclaimer: If you think any of these characters are mine please tell me what world you live in so I can move there posthaste! Also all of the puzzles in this story are real and actual logic puzzles that I have solved in various computer games with the obvious exception of the Rubik’s cube which I played in reality. None of the puzzles mentioned hereafter are my intellectual property and at the end I will give credit where credit is due for each in order of appearance.
Rating: pg?
Warnings/kinks: none yet unless mind games, both literal and metaphorical, count. Sneaky Remus, sneaky Severus, courtship, drama. Also I switch POV between the boys; hopefully it will be simple to tell whose head you’re in. This is a WIP, but I have most of the beginning and about half of the end done, I just need to do the middle and the very end. I suspect I will post a section a month without any real breaks as I've quite the backlog. :)
Author: azure_rosa
To part five
Friday finally arrived and I found myself looking forward to the end of the school day for an entirely different reason than the norm. Weekends had always been my favorite days; I finished up my marking Friday and then had two glorious, student-free days. Assuming of course that the little demons both in my house and out of it managed to behave themselves long enough for me to have some peace. This was, unfortunately, rare at best.
Suddenly I was looking forward to being social with someone, during my precious time off no less, a condition I had only minimal experience with. I couldn’t help but wonder when Lupin would drop the other shoe by either attempting to make me the butt of his jokes or reveal his ulterior motive for engaging me in the first place.
I caught myself half hoping Lupin was in fact sincere, but I suppressed that desire viciously. No point in getting my hopes up over nothing, besides, tonight he would likely reveal his motive for seeking me out. The puzzle of his sudden gambit for my attention would be solved and I would never spend the evening challenging and being challenged by Lupin again because he would have received what he wanted and would not return.
Why did that thought bring disappointment instead of satisfaction?
Puzzled by my reaction, I cleaned up after my last class of the day with mixed emotions. I was far too open to Lupin not having an ulterior motive, I had decided to tentatively give him the benefit of the doubt for the moment, but only until I had more data on which to base a conclusion. Why did I want him to not be angling for something? It was the most likely scenario after all and my wishes should not enter into my reasoning at any time. I learned the hard way that is how bad decisions are made.
I walked to the Great Hall filled with an odd mixture of curiosity and dread. Would Lupin even be there? And even if he was, what was he after? Would he even tell me the truth if I asked him? Seeing Lupin already at the High Table did little to soothe my concerns.
I settled into my usual seat which just so happened to be next to the one Lupin had added to the usual number. I found myself watching him out of the corner of my eye throughout the meal. I couldn’t say what I thought I might catch him doing, we were at the Head Table in front of nearly a thousand students after all, but I was sure I’d know it if I saw it. I had thought myself circumspect, but judging by Lupin nearly catching me at it several times I suspect he realized I was watching him.
We did not speak much, though Lupin did seem quite pleased to visit with his other former colleagues since I was not responding to his gambits as he seemed to wish. I’d almost convinced myself he’d stay behind when I left, but despite his obvious enjoyment of engaging my colleagues in small talk he followed me back to my rooms with a polite farewell and nary a complaint.
We settled into our respective chairs and fell into an uncomfortable silence. On one hand the lack of immediate comradery I remembered from last week was disappointing, but on the other, the atmosphere of awkwardness would be much more likely to make Remus confess his motive than one of friendly banter. With this in mind I sought to intensify Remus’ discomfort.
“Well?” I snapped impatiently, the start my sudden question garnered from my guest nearly drew a smirk from me, but I controlled myself.
“I beg your pardon Severus; I seem to have missed your question.” Remus was positively twitchy with nerves. Good. This particular mystery would no doubt be solved quickly.
“What do you want from me?”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow you.”
“You sought me out very deliberately last week, spent hours trying to get into my good graces, insisted on coming to see me again and then sit there like a mute lump when you finally do. So I ask again, what do you want from me?”
Remus blinked bemusedly at me for a few seconds as if he wasn’t quite sure how to respond to my outburst of irritability before he smiled slightly at me in a way I was not accustomed to and could not place.
“Severus, have I stumped you?”
I scoffed at the very idea, “hardly.”
“All right, what do you think I’m after then?”
“A favor of some sort no doubt, I would assume potion related as that is my primary area of expertise.”
At the dumbfounded look on his face I found myself continuing, “so what is it then? Have you some complaint about your potion? Or have you come seeking a solution to a more personal problem?”
Lupin’s expression did something truly bizarre in response to that insinuation. I thought I detected guilt, but there was something else mixed in. Embarrassment perhaps? Denial? Suddenly a rueful smile broke across his face.
“I guess I do want something from you after all. Here I was all prepared to deny it, but you are right in a twisted way.”
“You needn’t sound so surprised.”
“I’m not surprised you are right; I’m surprised it didn’t occur to me that it could be thought of that way.”
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“Are you going to share with the class or shall I guess?”
“You’ll enjoy guessing more than me telling you no doubt, so I choose that. Regardless, we haven’t tried to stump each other with puzzles yet and I do believe that was the point of my visit.”
“Was it? I was beginning to think the purpose was to annoy me with non-answers and non sequiturs.”
Lupin smiled at my half-hearted grumbling, “Merely an added bonus Severus. Shall we begin?”
To part seven