sev_ensnared_mirror | Going to Grimmauld Place

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remus

Going to Grimmauld Place

After an unexpectedly but still frustratingly futile discussion with Dumbledore, Severus found himself with an armful of documents and maps, meant for Lupin.

The simple fact that he was going to Diagon Alley to stock up on some of the rarer items in his stock should not be reason enough for Dumbledore to simply assume it would be no bother at all to make a small detour to Grimmauld Place, and hand these files over to Lupin for further examination.

He wasn't a bloody messenger boy.

Dumbledore merely looked over the rim of his glasses at that remark and told Severus to please give his warmest regards to Lupin, accompanied with one of those obnoxiously knowing looks. He was sure the old wizard knew somehow, about Lupin's small visit and the almost polite conversation they'd had. And true to form, Dumbledore would most probably mistake it for something it wasn't. Old fool.

With a snort he left the headmasters office and shrunk the files on his way down the stairs. An owl would have been sufficient, but no... it had to be him. As if he had so much time, he could waste it on dallying about like this.

After making his purchases at Slug and Jiggers, he apparated directly to Grimmauld Place, taking a moment to look at the foreboding structure before he went to the door to knock. He could have flooed, but he really didn't enjoy travelling in such a manner. Now he could only wait and see if Lupin was there at all.

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Remus grunted and fluttered his eyelashes when he heard the insistent knocking on the front door.

He'd fallen asleep on the couch in the sitting room again. It was the most exciting thing to happen to him so far that day.

Sighing, he dragged himself to the front door, scratching his arse for a moment before looking through the peephole.

What was Snape doing here?

He knew he must look like crap. Hair sticking up, rumpled. He'd forgotton to shave, too, he realised. Oh well. Nothing for it. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his head, then opened the door and gestured Snape in.

"'Lo, Severus," he managed a bit sleepily. He really wished he slept enough at night, then he'd not do things like this in the daytime.

Severus looked for a moment at Lupin, who looked very untidy and very tired. What was the man doing all the time, since he let himself slip up like that?

"Should I say good morning, Lupin?" He remarked, not without a hint of humour in his voice as he stepped past the man and into the house. Sleeping in the afternoon could of course indicate that Lupin had been active in some manner during the night. The question was then, what had kept Lupin up?

"No, no, just...Napping. It's so thrilling around here, sometimes I need a break from all the excitement. Otherwise I'd just overload, you know?"

He made for the kitchen.

"Tea?"

He wondered what Severus was doing here. Surely not just a social call?

Somewhat entertained by Lupin's light sarcasm, Severus followed behind Lupin into the kitchen, pulled out the small pile of papers and put them on the table. He then enlarged them to their original and quite impressive size.

"Thank you, tea would be nice." He sat down and looked over at Lupin. "If that wouldn't overwhelm you in its fascinating array of intricate actions." Why was he playing along with the man's attempt at humour?

Remus laughed lightly.

"No, I think I can handle it. I do thank you for your concern, though."

He got the water going. He preferred to make tea the old fashioned way.

Remus leaned against the counter and glanced at the papers.

More paperwork?

"Oh, please say those aren't for me?"

"Oh, I can assure you those are for you. With kind regards from Dumbledore. He also wanted a report within the next three or four days, if possible." He assumed Lupin fully knew that Dumbledore generally viewed anything within the realm of possible, unless some force of nature intervened.

Severus wasn't even sure that fully impacted the wizards assessment of possibilities. At all.

"That should keep you sufficiently entertained, I'd say."

"I can't believe I spent all those years at Hogwarts just to end up a fucking secretary," he muttered, in a bad humor all of a sudden.

This place really was getting to him; his moods tended to swing faster than he could keep track of, nowadays.

He nodded, though. Of course, he would do it. It was his job to do it.

"I'm sure it will be very entertaining."

he turned back to the stove and watched the tea kettle for a moment.

Well, that was a fast turn of moods. Severus arched an eyebrow faintly in surprise. Of course, the man had just been asleep and might not relish the fact that he'd woken up to what looked like 3-4 days of intense work and also faced with Severus Snape of all.

"Well, we all do things we didn't expect to be doing when we were at school." Severus commented dryly. Being a messenger boy had not been part of his future then.

Of course, being a spy hadn't either. Or a teacher for that matter.

"I know."

But maybe if it weren't for you I'd still be teaching...

That was unfair, Remus knew. It had been his own carelessness that had doomed that, and no one else's fault. It didn't matter what he'd seen on the map; forgetting his potion was inexcusable.

The tea kettle whistled and he poured the water into the mugs, then set the tea in to steep.

He turned and leaned against the counter again.

"Did you volunteer to bring these by, or were you cruelly conscripted?"

"I would say it was partially a mutual effort, since I foolishly informed the Headmaster of my other business here in London. He took that as an offer, of course." Severus snorted softly. He should have known better, having spent the greater part of his life within the reach and influence of said Headmaster.

That suddenly had him question his own motivations of telling Dumbledore that he was going to London.

"Well, at least you'll get some tea out of the deal. Not that my tea is worth the trip, or anything, but it's all I can give, really."

Remus can think of other things he could give, but he didn't think Severus would appreciate it if he crawled under the table and...

He shook himself a bit. No use going down that road of sordid thoughts, was there?

He set the teabags aside and brought the mugs to the table, then went back for milk and sugar.

Remus sat across from Snape, slouching in his chair. He could go back to sleep really. But, no, he had more work to do, now.

He poured a ridiculous amount of sugar into his tea and stirred it, then took a sip.

Severus idly watched Lupin adding sugar, basically drowning the tea in it. He wondered if that was where the man got most of his energy from. The nutritional value ... or staggering lack of same would explain Lupin's generally slightly haggard and exhausted appearance.

He sipped his own, after adding just a tiny bit to set off the true taste of the tea. It was good enough.

"Have you informed Potter yet of my decision?" He hadn't talked to Dumbledore about that just yet.

Remus noticed Snape watching him prepare his tea.

"What?" He couldn't help but ask. He knew people found the amount of sugar he put in disconcerting, but he had to ask, anyway.

"No, I wanted to go by in person to talk to him about it, but I haven't had the chance. If I don't go tomorrow, I'll just send an owl."

He sipped his tea and sighed.

"Aha. As long as he shows up at the appointed time." Severus couldn't really care less about how the boy was informed.

"Have you ever thought of leaving out the tea?" his voice was both amused and slightly sarcastic as he looked into Lupin's eyes, taking another sip.

Drink your tea, Severus. You're not here for idle chatter or the exchange of niceties.

Remus gazed back at him for a moment before smiling.

"No, it's too grainy on it's own."

He should look away, but he didn't.

"Ah yes, of course. That might prove too ... rough, even for you." Severus nodded lightly with a very faint smirk, noting that Lupin kept the eye contact for some reason.

He took another sip of hot tea, then leant slightly back in his seat. "I see you managed to apparate safely from Hogwarts last time... or did you use the floo?"

"Yes, even I have my limits, few as they may be."

He sipped his tea and sighed, smiling a little.

"I wandered down to Hogsmeade to get some fresh air for a while, then I Floo'd back here."

"Hm...Propably the wiser decision." Severus wondered lightly over Lupin's comment about limits and what meaning he should put into it.

He chose to view it literally, as in eating sugar pure wasn't something Lupin would be willing to do. Other connotations had no place here, no matter how intriguing they could be.

He put the mug down on the table, not looking away from Lupin "The wolfsbane will be finished on Wednesday." It was quite a leap in their conversation, if it could be labelled as such, but Lupin would know when he should be expecting a delivery.

Not that Severus truly doubted that the man knew perfectly well when he had to start the next batch.

Remus continued looking at Snape for a few long moments, then blinked.

"Oh, oh, yes. Alright. Wednesday. Shall I come fetch it, then?"

Dammit.

Remus didn't know why he found Snape so...Oddly compelling. But he couldn't deny he did, much to his consternation.

As if the man would ever look at me with anything more than mild distaste, in the best of times. And in the worst of times...

He'd not go there.

Lupin had clearly not paid attention for a while there, looking at Severus, seemingly almost... mesmerised until he snapped out of it.

Severus' eyebrows quirked slightly as he wondered about the reason. He couldn't find any. At least not a reason that would make sense, other than Lupin might be more tired than he'd thought.

He would not contemplate other possible explanations.

"Whatever suits you." Maybe Lupin wanted to get out of the house after all, and Severus had no intention of talking the man out of it, if that would save him the bother of going here.

"Right. Okay, then. I can do that."

He drank his tea, eyes averted.

"How's teaching going?"

What? Why had he asked that? Just a lame attempt to keep Snape here?

Now that was an odd question, coming from Lupin.

"Teaching goes as it always does. No students have as of yet managed to create real havoc though. A small wonder, I'd say." He doubted Lupin had a true interest and kept it at that.

Lupin might have averted his eyes for some reason, but Severus didn't as he leaned forward to take the mug again. The remaining tea had cooled down some, but the taste was still passable.

"Small wonder, yes."

He glanced to Snape, only to find him looking at him still. Remus found it strangely disconcerting.

He smiled weakly then looked away again.

A strange turn of events, watching Lupin look slightly... uncomfortable. There was no apparent reason, other than he might either be too tired or just wished to be alone and not in the company of the renowned surly Potions Master of Hogwarts.

Oh yes, he was well aware of how he was viewed by most and had no illusions that Lupin - in spite of his light and seemingly friendly teasing - thought otherwise.

"Well then. Enjoy Dumbledore's gift. I'm sure he has put a special effort into making it particularly interesting." light sarcasm entered his voice as he glanced at the stack of papers, then back at Lupin.

"Should you need assistence..." Was he offering help? Why on Earth would he do that? He didn't particularly relish the idea of trawling through endless information to pick out the tiny clues.

But once more, there it was. He had offered.

"Uhm..."

Remus wasn't sure if the offer was sincere or just Snape trying to be polite.

But he's never tried to be polite before...Ever, really.

"I...Help might be nice, but if you really have to go. I mean, I could make us dinner?"

Did I just offer to cook...For Snape?

It would seem he had, and he had no idea where the idea had come from, and he didn't really need the help, but for some reason he didn't want Snape to leave just yet.

"I'm sure you have better things to do, though," he said with a rather dejected sigh, anticipating rejection before he even got it.

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