A Tale of Two Men

TITLE: A Tale of Two Men

Author: Lady Sirius

Pairing: SB/SS

RATING: NC17

FEEDBACK: darklove_zorg@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Of course all rights belong to JK Rowling - I would claim Sirius if I could (but alas this is not meant to be!)

OOTP SPOILERS: Yes there are a few references, so don\'t read if you don\'t want to know.

DEDICATION: To my glorious, talented and wondrous inspiration - Gary Oldman


Chapter Thirteen On Pondering the Situation


\"Don\'t know why
There\'s no sun up in the sky
Stormy weather
Since my guy and I ain\'t together
Keeps raining all the time
Life is bare
Gloom and misery everywhere
Stormy weather
Just can\'t get my poor old self together
I\'m weary all the time
Every time
So weary all of the time
When he went away
The blues walked in and then they met me
If he stays away
That old rocking chair\'s bound to get me
All I do is pray
The lord above will let me
Just walk in that sun again
Can\'t go on
Everything I had is gone
Stormy weather
Since my guy and I ain\'t together
Keeps raining all the time
Keeps raining all of the time.\"
\"Stormy Weather\" by Frank Sinatra (with a few gender adjustments)

Severus Snape held the potion in his hand up to eye level, examined it critically, checking to see that the proper colour and clarity had been achieved. He shook the vial just a little, testing its viscosity. Finding it up to his usual impeccable standards, he pronounced it satisfactory and handed it to a waiting Remus Lupin.

\"Thank you, Severus.\"

Snape returned to his desk, leaned against it, arms folded stiffly across his chest, his expression impassive, his voice cool. \"Is he going to stay with you at the Whomping Willow then? During your time?\"

Lupin was baffled for a moment, before full understanding broke upon him. \"Sirius? Gods no, it\'s been years since he\'s done that - not since we were kids. Why would you think that?\"

Snape shrugged, made no reply, as if the matter were inconsequential to him, but inside he was seething with dark emotions.

The werewolf regarded him with sympathetic eyes. \"Severus...\" he said quietly, \"look at me.\"

Snape reluctantly raised his head, his dark angry eyes boring into the other\'s golden eyes, as if afraid of what he might find there.

\"Sirius doesn\'t feel that way about me, nor do I care about him that way. He\'s my oldest, dearest friend - we\'re the last of the Marauders, after all - but there is nothing else, I assure you. It\'s you he cares about, I know it. Believe me, you are the one for Sirius. You have brought about changes in him that I have never seen before - wonderful, marvelous changes. You\'re nothing but good for him - please don\'t doubt that.\"

Snape looked as if he were about to deny everything from habit, but capitulated instead, shaking his head while maintaining a stony gaze. \"Then he was a very strange way of showing it,\" he said softly.

\"What do you mean?\"

\"I mean that I never see him any more - he makes excuses to go back to Grimmauld Place for days on end. When he is here, he is always busy - with Harry, or you, or Dumbledore, or a million other things...\"

\"Does he think you\'re still angry with him because of our midnight romp?\"

They had returned to Hogwarts from Scotland several weeks ago, and nothing had been the same between Sirius and Snape ever since. Nothing had been said, but the night that Padfoot spent with Moony remained a poisonous secret between them, infecting their relationship.

\"Did he ever tell you why he went to you on that night, why he didn\'t turn to me if he had some sort of a problem?\" Snape countered with his own question.

\"No,\" Lupin confessed, \"although Merlin knows I\'ve tried to weasel it out of him. But he always looks at me with those dark looks that he knows how to give so well, and it\'s like talking to a rock!\"

\"I know what you mean!\" Snape signed heavily.

\"Don\'t give up on him, Snape, he\'ll come around. Azkaban did things to him, you know, awful things, and sometimes, well, sometimes he does things that I think even he doesn\'t understand. Those twelve years in that awful prison messed with his mind. It\'s a miracle he came out as well as he did. So, just hang in there, and be patient, and know that I am not a rival for his affections, and in fact I am cheering you on because I think you\'re the best thing that ever happened to Sirius!\"

\"Really?\" Snape looked up at Lupin, disbelieving, but flattered.

\"Really,\" Remus reassured him. Snape was glad of his words, but deep inside he wondered just where he actually stood with his temperamental lover.




The object of their discussion was even now leaving the secret house at #12 Grimmauld Place, about to make his daily prowl of the city of London. The truth of the matter was that he was doing no actual work on his ancestral home, but was using that as an excuse to hide out there. Which proves how desperate he was, since he was forced to hear the rantings and ravings of his deranged departed mother from her position in the unmovable painting permanently affixed to the wall there. And Sirius was desperate - desperately confused, his mind and heart in great turmoil and utter chaos - and for now he thought it better to spend his time here rather than at Hogwarts, where he was most likely the butt of everyone\'s jokes, most definitely at his expense.

He and Severus had never discussed the night that Padfoot spent with Moony, but it sat between them like the proverbial elephant. He also never mentioned what he had heard from Malfoy\'s lips, couldn\'t bear to bring the subject up - it was far too tender - and he decided that he needed to deal with it himself, in his own way. But the method which he chose for this was not a very sensible one, and his friends at Hogwarts would have been appalled if they knew - especially Harry, who loved him and worried about him so. And of course, Snape would be worried about him, and wouldn\'t appreciate the manner in which he chose to spend his time.

Sirius had taken to going into Knockturn Alley, that seedy dark place where proper wizards and witches feared to go, and sensible wizards and witches refused to go, and from which at one time Hagrid had plucked a misplaHarrHarry Potter when his floo trip had gone astray. When Sirius had heard this story, he had impressed upon Harry, (not that Hagrid and the Weasleys and everyone else hadn\'t already done so, many times) the necessity to avoid the place like the plague. Yet now here he was, haunting the very place which he had been so against.

There was a seedy little tavern there, known simply as The Den, frequented by those of low or no reputation, and liberally sprinkled with cheap floozies who leeched off of the men who hung out there in order to feed their various bad habits - whether they be drinkers, drug takers, hallucinogen freaks, or just sex addicts. None of these was any better than she should be, nor were the men.

Sirius liked the place because it was dark and private and because nobody knew him there. He entered the tavern, requested and received a pint of ale and a bottle of bourbon from the barkeep, and took his accustomed place at a booth in the far corner. Here he could keep an eye on everything, watch the traffic in and out, and keep a low profile himself. And drink himself into a mindnumbing stupor. Drink to the point where he didn\'t feel anything, didn\'t remember anything, often passing out in a sodden heap on the table until Dobby came to get him and take him back home. Dobby had been severely warned of the consequences of relaying any inkling of Sirius\' activities to the people at Hogwarts - particularly Harry and/or Snape - and the colourful house elf was sufficiently terrified of the idea of finding himself in the service of the Dark Lord, that he kept quiet in his fear.

Sirius sipped at his ale, knocked back the whiskey in shots, and tried to keep his thoughts from revolving about Severus Snape - but to no avail. He knew that his odd behaviour was confusing the potions master, probably causing him some pain, but he didn\'t know what to do about it. His own pain was too great to allow him consideration of someone else\'s, and he wasn\'t even dealing with that very effectively, and he knew it. But that didn\'t stop him from coming here and drinking himself into an unconscious state.

One of the regular bloozloozies, a buxom bleach blonde with a penchant for low scoop necklines that revealed her only assets, had taken to settling herself next to Sirius at times when other customers were scarce. She tried to engage him in conversation, and took no offense at the brusque manner in which he scarcely answered her interested questions. She had decided to herself a long time ago that she would take him on for nothing - he was so godawful attractive and he just radiated so much sex appeal that it made her blood boil. Sometimes she thought she saw a flicker of interest in his dark eyes, but she could never be sure, and she had actually gotten him so far as to make out with her. However, this was just before he passed out, so she couldn\'t be sure what his intentions were. But she did take advantage of his unconscious stat rea reach beneath the table and fondle his crotch, noting with interest that he also seemed to be fairly well hung, and she found herself wanting more than ever to feel him between her legs.

Today she saw him enter, and decided to end her conversation with an older wizard who was only interested in talking about the days before the coming of the Dark Lord - a subject which interested her not at all - and she waited until he had settled himself before approaching him, throwing out her ample chest and her best smile.

\"Hello, luv,\" she greeted him, sliding into the booth beside him, so close that their legs were touching. His only response was a noncommittal grunt.

\"You know, dearie, I been watchin\' you. Ever since you started comin\' in here. An\' I think there\'s somethin\' botherin\' you. Somethin\' real bad. You should talk about it, let me help you.\" She laid a concerned hand on top of his, but he shook it off irritably. \"I could help you, luv, I really could. I think I\'d be good for you, you know. You and me, we could be good togetha. We can go back to my place. Just the two of us. I\'d be real good to you, you know, really really good.\" She looked into his eyes hopefully, and for just a second Sirius thought about taking her up on her offer, losing himself in the soft female flesh which was there for the taking. He could plunge himself into her, prove to her and to the world that he was no one\'s bitch, he was Sirius Black - he was loved by everyone as a god on earth, a magnificent human being, sexy, handsome, incredibly alluring - yes, he could bang her good, not like he hadn\'t been with lots of women in his time, prove his masculinity, still the vicious tongues. But then he looked into her pale blue eyes, so hopeful and so vacant, and the image of Severus filled his mind - the darkly handsome potions master, his marvelous sense of humour, his excellent taste in everything, his completely sensual body, the way he smelled, felt, sounded, everything about the man that made Sirius love him.... With a great jolt, as if he had suddenly been struck by lightning, he jumped up from the table, his heart beating a mile a minute, his soul consumed with unbearable flames which threatened to destroy his very being.

\"Leave me alone, woman!\" he snarled, sweeping the glass of ale and the bottle of whiskey from the tabletop with a resounding crash which didn\'t faze the other occupants of the bar. This refuge was no longer a refuge at all, and he dashed madly out the door, not knowing where he was going, and not caring.


Remus knew when he saw the handwritten note sitting forlornly on his desk that it was probably a request for a meeting with him from Harry and Ron - and he was right. The two boys entered his office during a lull in their day, sitting quietly, Harry rubbing his scar thoughtfully. Lupin watched him sympathetically, wished he could do something to ease his pain.

\"Remus...\" he began hesitantly, \"I\'m...I\'m concerned....about, um, about...\"

\"About Sirius,\" Ron put in quickly.

\"Yes, about Sirius,\" Harry echoed. \"I think there\'s something wrong with him, and I don\'t know what to do about it.\"

\"Why do you say that, Harry?\" Lupin asked.

\"Well, it\'s hard to define, but he isn\'t acting like himself these days, not for a while now.\"

\"Since Scotland?\"

\"Yes, that\'s it. I think it started when we were in Scotland, but for the life of me I don\'t know what happened, and I can\'t get him to talk about it. He just scowls and changes the subject, like I was a child or something, or I wouldn\'t understand.\" Harry looked up at Lupin, and his green eyes reflected his worry. \"He\'s taken to making trips to Grimmauld Place again, and I know he doesn\'t need to, he doesn\'t even like it there. That\'s just an excuse for something, but I wish I knew what. Do you know of anything that happened to him there, something that\'s got him upset? Please tell me what you know, Remus!\"

Lupin sighed heavily, leaned forward, put a comforting hand on Harry\'s shoulder. \"I wish I knew, Harry. I wish I knew.\"

\"I know that you know about Sirius and Professor Snape...\" Harry began.

\"Yes, I know about them,\" Lupin admitted, \"as do you.\"

Harry nodded. \"When we\'re in Potions class, I get the strangest feeling that Snape is unhappy, too. He\'s too quiet - never yells at us any more.\"

\"Not even when I accidentally spilled the potion I was working on all over Draco Malfoy,\" Ron added, \"he just told me to clean it up and told Draco to get some clean robes.\"

\"And I never see them together at all,\" said Harry. \"They were so happy for a while there. Now it\'s like someone has burst their bubble. Have you talked to Professor Snape lately?\"

\"Yes I have,\" Lupin admitted, \"and you\'re right - he\'s unhappy about Sirius too. No one knows what is going on with him, not even Snape. He\'s being very secretive these days. Have you questioned Dobby about this? He\'s still there at the house with Sirius, isn\'t he?\"

\"Yes, but Dobby is being rather evasive. I think he\'s hiding something from me, but I don\'t know what.\"

Lupin looked thoughtful, pursed his lips as he considered something. At last, he said, \"I think you should talk to Molly.\"

\"Me mum? Why?\" Ron asked.

\"Well, she\'s his cousin, after all. Maybe she\'ll have some insight into what is happening with him. Since the end of the war, I noticed that they\'ve gotten closer. And it never hurts for a young man to talk to his mother about things, eh Ron? And you Harry - she\'s the closest thing to a mother you have.\"

\"I know,\" Harry said softly. \"What do you think, Ron?\"

\"I think it\'s a right proper good idea,\" Ron nodded his approval.

\"We can\'t ask Snape to floo out of his office, that would involve explaining about Sirius and everything, and I don\'t think he would appreciate it.\"

\"No, you\'re right about that,\" Lupin agreed. He looked from one boy to the other. \"Tell you what, lads, I\'ll stand guard outside the good professor\'s door while you do what you need to do. Chances are he won\'t be around, I think he has a class, but just in case... Are you game?\"

\"Yes!\" they both said.


Shortly afterwards they found themselves in the familiar surroundings of the Burrow. Molly Weasley was indeed at home, bustling about the kitchen, baking delicate wizard\'s cookies that were so fine that they melted like spun sugar on your tongue. When they had floo\'d in, she burst in to see what was going on and engulfed them both in her warm embrace, clucking at them like a mother hen.

\"What are you two doing here in the middle of a school day? Shouldn\'t you be in class? Is something wrong? Has Ron done something to get in trouble, Harry?\" They found it hard to stem her flow of words so that they could get their own words in edgewise, but calm her down they did, reassuring her that they were fine, and that they were not skipping class to be here, but that they didn\'t have all the time in the world either.

While eating the warm cookies, they explained about the situation with Sirius and their speculations that something was wrong with him. And their suspicions that it had something to do with his relationship with Professor Snape. Molly listened carefully, shaking her head as if she too had a bad feeling about things.

\"So it\'s Sirius and Snape is it?\" she murmured, \"that Sirius is a sly one, he is, never let on that he was seeing anyone, much less Snape. He knows that we have no problem with that, there\'s no reason to hide the relationship. We always understood about him and Lupin, after all. So there must be more to it than that.\" She took a bite of cookie, and sat in thought.

At that moment, they heard giggling from the other room. They looked up in apprehension as Fred and George Weasley popped their red heads around the corner.

\"What are you lot doing here?\" Ron asked.

\"Just popped in for some wizard\'s cookies,\" Fred replied.

\"And to talk to you two,\" George added.

\"Why us?\" Ron was suspicious.

\"To remind you of the bachelor party. You hadn\'t forgotten Draco\'s bachelor party had you?\"

Harry slapped his hand against his forehead. Yes, he had quite forgotten all about it, what with all his anxieties over Sirius. \"That IS coming up, isn\'t it?\"

\"Yes,\" the twins nodded solemnly in unison, \"and we are proudly hosting the event. You DO plan on being there, don\'t you?\"

\"Of course,\" Harry and Ron reassured them. \"At least I guess so. What with everything, I\'m not sure.... Maybe.... Oh, we\'ll be there,\" he hastily added as he saw the two red heads shoot them dark looks at the suggestion that Harry and Ron might not be there.

\"Did we hear you say something about Sirius Black and Professor Snape?\" George asked archly.

\"As in they are an item?\" Fred finished.

Harry and Ron hemmed and hawed.

\"You can\'t deny it, mate, we heard you before we came in - you said that they were having problems in their relationship, isn\'t that so?\"

The uncomfortable look on Harry\'s face belied any protest which he might make. The twins looked triumphantly at one another.

\"Ooooh!\" Fred squealed, rubbing his hands together in delight. \"Sirius Black is so awesome! He is SOOO hot, and SOOO sexy!\"

\"Quite delectable!\" George agreed with his brother. They exchanged knowing glances between themselves.

\"Don\'t talk about Sirius that way!\" Harry warned them, while Ron made a face and said,\"Ewwww!\"

\"Now, now, you two behave yourselves!\" Molly admonished them. \"You don\'t need to go getting involved in what doesn\'t concern you - you\'re likely to make it worse!\"

\"I highly resent the implication!\" Fred protested, throwing his freckled nose into the air with disdain, his actions mimicked by George. Then they broke out in fits of fresh giggling.

\"Mrs. Weasley, what do you think we can do to help Sirius?\" Harry asked concernedly, trying to ignore Fred and George.

\"Sirius knows about the bachelor party, doesn\'t he?\" Molly asked.

\"Sure. After all, he\'s walking Hermione down the aisle.\"

\"We invited him,\" Fred interjected.

\"And Snape is invited?\"

\"He\'s Draco Malfoy\'s best man,\" Ron replied.

\"We invited him too,\" George added.

\"Then perhaps we should just make sure that those two find a way to get together at that bachelor party and let nature take her course...\"

Harry and Ron looked at one another, and Harry found himself heaving a huge sigh of relief.

\"It sounds to me like they just need to get together in a neutral corner and work out whatever problems they\'re having - hash things out, don\'t you know?\"

\"Makes sense to me,\" Ron agreed.

\"Why don\'t you and Ron come up to our room, and we can give you other ideas about the situation?\" Fred suggested, and George seconded the notion eagerly.

Before the boys had a chance to respond, Molly Weasley put her foot down. \"No, no, no, they need to get back to school before they get into trouble for being here. You boys can play together some other time. Besides, you should get back to your shop, you have things to do yourselves, I\'m sure.\"

The twins grumbled, but in the end Molly had her way. Once they had all seen Harry and Ron off, Fred and George floo\'d back to their joke shop in Diagon Alley.

\"That Sirius Black is most exceedingly shaggable,\" Fred said.

\"Agreed,\" said George.

\"We could make him forget all about his problems, don\'t you think?\"

\"We could make him feel much better, brother,\" said George.

They looked at one another and smiled, in complete accord, as usual. This would certainly be a bachelor\'s party to remember!

************************************************

a/n: You are all invited to attend the bachelor party of Mr. Draco Malfoy! Dress is optional, and drinks will be provided! See what happens at these grand festivities in Chapter 14!