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.
Puzzle: The Bishop Swap originally came to my attention in the computer game "The Seventh Guest" though I suspect they didn't invent it. Should you wish to play the puzzle yourself you can find it here: (http://www.pothoven.net/bishopPuzzle.html) Note that it is actually solvable in 36 moves, but don't expect to manage that without a lot of practice and/or a walk-through for the puzzle. I'd love to hear how you do on the puzzle should you decide to give it a whirl!
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. :)
Previously: “As incomprehensible as you seem to find the idea, Severus, I really would like to be counted amongst your friends.”
Dear, sweet Merlin, I do believe I broke Severus.
He just sat there, staring at me like I started spouting Mermish at him. I shouldn’t have pushed, I see that now. It was too much, too soon and now he’s going to, eventually, regain the plot and kick me out with orders to never so much as speak to him again.
“You want to be friends?!”
And so it begins. There will be dark mutterings about the presumptuousness of Gryffindors-
“Is that what all this was about?!”
-thinking they can just waltz into people’s lives, start making demands and everyone will fall over themselves to fulfill their every whim-
Severus started shaking.
-it is more than any sane person - wait a second...
Severus was laughing!
I tried to figure out how we had gotten from him being enraged that I’d dare express any desire to befriend him to him laughing incredulously, almost like he couldn’t help himself, and failed utterly. Apparently, I had missed the joke.
“You... you have... no idea-” Severus panted out between what looked like completely involuntary spasms of laughter, “-and I thought...!” He trailed off into more rusty sounding laughter for a time, slowly calming back down with only occasional peals escaping before he stopped entirely, smirking at me.
“I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
“You would if our positions were switched,” Severus replied cryptically, but kindly.
“So you aren’t mad?” I asked, still somewhat shocked by his response to a statement I’d expected to be less than welcome at best. Admittedly not the brightest reaction, but it did handily redirect Severus to the issue at hand.
“Should I be mad that you want me to call you by name because you appear to enjoy my company and wish to continue to do so?” Severus looked mildly puzzled by my question. Usually I would have expected a certain amount of condescension or at least teasing to accompany such a sentence, yet both were absent. Severus seemed every bit as unsure as I in that moment.
“No?” My confusion colored my tone which just seemed to entertain Severus more, though he managed not to break into a new bout of laughing.
“Is that a statement or a question?” Severus smirked at me.
“A statement, but I feel like I missed something.”
“That is because you did.” Did he really need to sound so smug about it?
“Do you care to share what the dim-witted Gryffindor missed this time?”
“Must I? You are rather entertaining when you are all discombobulated...” Severus trailed off teasingly before continuing, “Very well. You would understand perfectly if you had the slightest inkling of the various unsavory scenarios I’d concocted in my, apparently, over-active imagination to explain why you’d sought me out.”
“Oh.”
“Exactly.”
An oddly comfortable silence fell that we both were unwilling to break until the clock chimed, reminding us of the late hour.
“I should head home,” I offered weakly. I didn’t really want to go, even though we were both tired.
“You should.” Severus sounded as enthusiastic about that as I was.
“I hope you like the puzzle, it really is a favorite of mine.”
“I’m sure it shall be entertaining.”
I walked to the door, before turning to say, “sleep well, Severus.”
“Good night,” Severus said. Before the door closed I was nearly certain I heard him add my first name tentatively to his reply.
*****
Well, I was right after all. Lup-Remus couldn’t keep his secret for more than two visits. Though it was a toss up which would be more fun to untangle: Remus’ puzzle or the man himself. I’d gotten so used to ignoring him it was odd not to now. Yet each time I looked, really looked, I discovered a new piece of the puzzle.
Remus said he wanted to be friends. Was that really what all this was about? It struck me as a suitably Gryffindorish motivation, yet I wasn’t fully convinced it was the whole truth. Surely even the resident toothless werewolf wasn’t so desperate for friends that he didn’t have any better option than me.
As I turned things over in my head I began playing with Remus’ puzzle. With each move of the eight pieces across the board I began to realize the ingenious nature of this particular puzzle. It made you fight yourself to achieve your goal every step of the way. I was constantly moving one piece backwards for a chance, however slim, to progress another forwards in a rather elaborate dance. Deceptively challenging; I like it.
The more I turned Remus’ situation and assertion over in my mind the more plausible it became. The fact of the matter was there just weren’t many members of our generation that wasn’t dead, in prison for life. Most of those that fell in neither catagory had left to try and out-run the memories of the war. Not that running would do them any good; it is very hard to run from yourself.
Maybe Remus just wanted to not be stuck in the mentor role with his former students or the mentored role with his former teachers. I could understand that. Now that Potter and the rest of his age-mates were adults, and wasn’t that an unsettling thought, they were substantially less irritating. Though how much that was a factor of their age and how much was I wasn’t stuck dealing with them day in and day out was debatable. My colleagues were also much warmer towards me now that I wasn’t forced to distance myself and they no longer had reason to doubt me. Still, one did wish for conversation with people their own age at times.
For the moment it was the best explanation for Remus’ behavior I had, and right from the wolf’s own snout no less, so it was the explanation I was going with. I wouldn’t rule out any additional motivating factors just yet, but the one solution presented was plausible at least.
Realizing I was working more against myself than progressing through Remus’ puzzle, both the literal one and the metaphoric one, I decided it was time for bed. Both would be solved to my satisfaction in time, I just needed to put forth the time and the energy. I smirked to myself as my head hit my pillow. Remus wouldn’t know what hit him. To part ten