InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Whip it good!"

Severus Snape is not amused (severusnape) wrote in the_recruitment,
@ 2012-02-21 22:05:00

Entry tags:

! 02/1977, ! complete, ! thread, char: remus lupin, char: severus snape

Who: Remus & Severus
What: Begrudgingly partnered over a potion and subsequent interactions
Where: Potions classroom
When: Wednesday the 22^nd of February, morning Potions class
Status: Incomplete
Rating: G/PG

Just as every other session before this one, Severus found the assigned potion easy to brew, if not even a little boring. However, being forced to partner one of his least favourite people in the entire bloody school seemed to make the whole class drag on. It was ridiculous having to work with the werewolf that had very nearly ended his life not long ago, and despite his alleged 'kind demeanour' or other such rubbish, he wasn't keen on talking to the other boy if he didn't need to.

As soon as the potion was up on the blackboard, Severus wordlessly bustled about, getting the necessary ingredients from cupboards and drawers. He made it a point to stand as far away from Lupin as possible, rifling through his book to find the annotations that he'd already made to the Euphoria-Enducing Elixir. Muttering to himself about shoddy directions in an equally shoddy book, he pulled a sprig of peppermint from his personal supply within his satchel, which he'd protected from thievery with a flesh-eating hex.

Now prepared with all of the ingredients the pair would need, Severus grudgingly looked up toward his partner, giving him a barely masked look of dislike. "Well, get on with your half of the work. I'll finish it up in case you botch anything."

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thewolfen
2012-02-22 11:17 am UTC (link)

As uncomfortable as it probably was for Severus to be working with him, Remus was not exactly tickled to be paired up with the Slytherin either. He'd never really been one to pick at him the way James and Sirius did, but he knew he was just as guilty for always turning a blind eye to his best mates' antics. Karma had won out in Snape's favor, though. While Remus had been the one who unintentionally tried to kill him, Severus was the one with the power now. Dumbledore might have sworn him to silence, but that didn't mean his presence wasn't intimidating for Remus. He didn't know Severus, which meant there was no way for him to really know what the other boy would do with that information -- especially once they finished school and Dumbledore's orders were relenquished.

He couldn't think about that now. If he let his mind wander like that, he'd get distracted and mess up the assignment. Remus lifted a brow when his partner gave him an order. Well, then. "Certainly," he replied calmly, and started to chop the ingredients as stated in the book. Potions was his weakest subject; he rationalized it was because of his heightened sense of smell, which made some of the work almost intolerable for him. "I'll try to make it easy for you."

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severusnape
2012-02-24 01:31 pm UTC (link)

Luckily for him, or perhaps unluckily, he realised that the power was in his hands, quite literally. As he stared down at his own tattered book, he huffed and shoved aside his partner's copy, taking the knife without warning and showing him the proper way to do it.

"Look here Lupin, I intend to get top marks for this potion, so just watch. I don't have time for incompetencies." Perhaps he'd been a bit gruffer than strictly necessary, but just being near Remus was making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He gathered up his courage and aimed an impatient look at his partner before quickly snapping his dark gaze back down, finishing up the cutting almost as fast as he could wave his wand. It helped having a lot of practise.

"There, now just use this text and you won't blow the entire cauldron up." He left his textbook propped up on the table, with all of its annotations crammed all over the page.

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thewolfen
2012-02-27 04:21 am UTC (link)

Much of the power was in Snape's hands. He knew the very thing about Remus that if others knew, it could cause him to have to leave the school and ruin him for the rest of his life. He wouldn't have even blamed Severus if he was to tell someone. After being nearly killed, Remus couldn't possibly hold any ill will toward Severus should he tell his secret. The only power Remus had over him was fear. His heightened senses, for whatever reason, could tell that Severus was afraid of him. Well, he was afraid of the wolf. He couldn't relish in that. It actually shamed him more than anything else.

His eyebrow rose as he was scolded by the other boy about his less than perfect chopping skills, but he knew that Severus was superior to him in the art of Potion making. He would defer to his instructions because he too wanted to get top marks. "Thank you for the aid," he said, calmly. He looked at the text book, and was immediately drawn to all the tiny notes taken in the margins. He had to squint to make out most of what was written there. "You did all this yourself?" He asked, as he looked it over.

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severusnape
2012-02-27 04:44 am UTC (link)

"No, I had my mummy do it for me," he snapped, and immediately felt guilty. He didn't know why, but it didn't seem right to get so snarky with Lupin. He'd never been outright rude or had played pranks on him... but he didn't stop any of it, either. Severus felt his lip curling at the memories before he forced himself to calm down, just standing aside to let his partner continue. After a moment of silence, he tried a different angle, testing out the waters.

"...you're welcome. Just, well, don't ruin this. My week's been less than stellar and I need something to go right." Severus was shocked at himself for saying those words. He didn't intend to be blathering his problems to the bloody werewolf during a Potions less, although he didn't quite hate himself for it. He shot a warning glance at Lupin, silently telling him not to make too much of this or he'd get testier than he already was.

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thewolfen
2012-02-28 12:23 am UTC (link)

Remus had never really been one to participate in the pranks that his best mates often pulled on the Slytherin, but he'd also never done anything to stop them from doing it, either. It was cowardly, and Remus knew that. But he'd never claimed to be a selfless person. In fact, the only claim he made on himself was that he was bad, deep down; he was a monster. Surely, Severus would agree with that assessment.

"It's not my intention to ruin things for you, Snape," he said. He started to follow the directions written for him, finding it easier to understand (though more difficult to decipher from the handwriting). "Sounds as though it's been a rough week for a lot of people."

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severusnape
2012-02-28 12:30 am UTC (link)

He found himself listening to what his partner had to say, taking it all in and narrowing his eyes as he watched Lupin working on the potion. Something seemed amiss about that statement and Severus was nothing if not curious.

"You are, of course, referring to your cursed band of... friends, I'm sure." Severus tried not to slip and call them mindless gits or anything of the like, genuinely interested in what had been going on with Black. Lucius had already as much as admitted to messing with his mind, but Severus still had his suspicions about the group of Marauders that he wouldn't deny himself the answers to, if Lupin would be willing to share.

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thewolfen
2012-02-28 12:37 am UTC (link)

Remus nodded. He probably shouldn't have said anything. Silence was probably best for both of them, but he sort of felt he owed it to Severus to be a little more than civil to him. After trying to kill him (inadvertantly), and knowing Severus knew more about him than most and had to be trusted to keep that knowledge a secret, Remus didn't think it'd do him any favors to be impolite.

"Yes, them," he said. "Things haven't been right since the Valentine's Day Ball. Something happened, and it's been.. very trying for all of us ever since." He knew he was being vague, but it wasn't as if any of this was easy. Snape wasn't exactly the posterchild of warmth and compassion. He also didn't think Sirius would appreciate him spilling his situation to his mortal enemy. Though, really, Remus would be surprised if Severus didn't know what he was talking about, being in Slytherin and all.

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severusnape
2012-02-28 12:43 am UTC (link)

Dark eyes swept over Lupin as he spoke, taking in the little details of his face and posture, ticking off all of the little nuances in his mind. He didn't seem to want to give up more details, so Severus took up the reigns and divulged perhaps a bit more than he should be saying as well. As much as he hated to be too near the werewolf, he found himself leaning just a bit closer and lowering his voice to slightly above a whisper.

"Spare me the routine, Lupin. I know what happened, and it isn't as though it's a bloody secret in Slytherin. Malfoy is hardly one to keep his mouth shut about his 'triumphs', you know."

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thewolfen
2012-02-28 12:49 am UTC (link)

"That's not what I'm talking about," he said quickly; a knee-jerk reaction he couldn't help but say in a voice that was a bit harsh for someone like him who rarely raised his tone. But this was Sirius. He couldn't help but be on edge about it.

"I know what Malfoy did to him physically. Everybody knows about that," he said, as much as he wished that wasn't true. But there it was. He'd acknowledged it out loud and it left a horrible taste in his mouth. "But something else happened too. Something's wrong with him and I don't know how to fix it." He was actually closer to being at his wits end about it than he even realized, now that he was actually verbalizing it.

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severusnape
2012-02-28 12:58 am UTC (link)

That was the reaction he was looking for. Severus latched onto it and exploited it for all it was worth; suddenly, it didn't matter that this was about Sirius bloody Black or the cursed werewolf or anything else that he normally loathed. Now it was about his interests and what he might gain. If he inadvertently helped Lupin to understand the situation a little better, he wouldn't care either way.

"I do," he said slowly before straightening up and letting a smirk play on his lips. Holding the power felt good and he wasn't about to let it fizzle out before he'd gotten a firm grip on it. "If you're so worried about your precious mate, you might be hard pressed to find a better way to go about fixing the situation without my help." It was said so confidently that he was even surprised at how good it made him feel to hold this over Black.

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thewolfen
2012-02-28 01:10 am UTC (link)

Remus shot Severus a look and held it for a few seconds. He knew? If he knew how to help him, then he knew what was wrong, and to know what was wrong meant he knew what Lucius Malfoy did to Sirius. Was he in on it? Remus' mind was racing faster than a hummingbird's wings.

"You know what happened to him?" He asked, trying to keep his composure. His patience, his calm demeanor, were both being put to the test. "Severus, please. I'm already in debt to you for the rest of my life. Do you really need to hold this over me, too?"

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severusnape
2012-02-28 01:21 am UTC (link)

"I didn't say that I know what happened beyond what I've heard, just that I know how to fix it," Severus snapped, turning away from Lupin and looking down at the progress of their potion. He noticed that throughout the tense conversation, very little was getting done, so he went about drawing things over to his side and working on the steps as though he'd had the directions memorised; likely quite true.

He let Lupin's last question linger in the air, enjoying the crackle of tension that was building, some part of him hoping to see Lupin break under it. Unfortunately, he quickly looked over at his partner to see the strain on his face, and damn it all, he actually felt guilty again. With a long suffering sigh, he turned back to the potion and continued working to mask the deeper meaning of the words that he was about to speak.

"All I can tell you is that you need to bring Black to a secluded area, away from prying eyes, and let me do my work with him. I hate the idea of getting too close to that dunderhead, but if it means that I get to lord this over him, too, then I don't mind that too much."

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thewolfen
2012-02-28 01:36 am UTC (link)

Remus listened, but he was still pretty upset about the whole thing. If Severus didn't know what happened, then how was he going to be able to fix him? And what was this about doing 'work' on Sirius? He didn't know if he could trust the Slytherin, and it was going to take a hell of a lot more than what Severus just offered up for him to be able to convince Sirius to trust him. It would've been hard enough before any of this to convince Sirius to go anywhere alone with Severus, but now?

He shook his head. "No, you've got to tell me more than that. He'll never agree to something like that unless you tell me what you plan to do." Even then, it would be like pulling teeth to get Sirius to agree to letting Snape help him. "Or tell me what it is and I'll learn how to do it. And you can keep holding anything you want over me."

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severusnape
2012-02-28 02:07 am UTC (link)

"I don't have to tell you anything," Severus all but hissed in indignation. He lowered his voice and looked about to make sure that no one was eavesdropping before forcing himself to lean closer again.

"You can't possibly learn what I know; don't make me laugh, Lupin. It's too complex and I don't fancy myself a very good teacher." Eyes narrowed and he spat the next:

"If he doesn't want to find a solution, then tell him to rot in Hades for all I care."

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thewolfen
2012-02-28 04:17 pm UTC (link)

It offended him when Severus called whatever it was he knew to be 'too complex' for him to learn. Remus wasn't one to be prideful, but it was basically common knowledge that he was extraordinarily smart. ...Perhaps just not as naturally when it came to Potions. Nevertheless, even then, he just had to work a little harder to grasp the concept. What could be too complex to learn?

But this wasn't the time to be arrogant. If taking a few insults from Snape meant Sirius could be helped, he'd let the Slytherin mudsling him all day.

"He does want a solution. And if you can help him, whatever your reasons, I would be grateful to you. He.. might be.. too." He shook his head, knowing Sirius was never going to go for this. "But I have to know what it is. After whatever it is he's gone through, I know he won't just trust anyone blindly without knowing what's going to be done to him. At least give me your word that you won't hurt him."

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severusnape
2012-02-29 11:57 am UTC (link)

Standing up a bit at the werewolf's words, he watched him carefully before returning to the potion, stirring carefully according to memory. It turned into a lovely lavender before shifting into a fragrant sky blue.

"I would give you my word if you let me do what I need to. Knowing you and your ilk, you'll likely try to intervene, and that I will not deal with." Severus shot an accusatory look at Lupin quickly before returning to the potion.

"It shouldn't be harmful, in any case. Apparently whatever was already done to him is far worse than anything I might do."

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