Blight

Chapter Two


Men may scoff, and men may pray, but they pay every pleasure with a pain. ~William
Henley



Sirius sighed against the desk as he heard the light chatter that signified another class was about to begin. He'd already taught two classes, the first at a disgustingly early time of eight o'clock. This was his last class before lunch and he wanted nothing more than for it to be over. The first two classes were second and third year, and were consequently not very hard to teach, but this class was seventh years and required some attention and effort. The disturbing events of the night before coupled with the unfortunate side effects of imbibing alcohol, had put him in a foul mood, and there was nothing he wanted more than to go back to his room and sleep. He pined for sleep and it's comforting thoughtlessness. He didn't want to think about anything, especially the things he'd done the night before, yet that was all he thought about. No matter how busy he was, at times battling imps and fighting cren ren at the same time, his thoughts were still on the night before, on Snape. There he'd finally worked up the nerve to at least admit to himself who had been occupying his thoughts all day. His memory of the night before was disturbingly clear, with none of the blessed blanks that sometimes accompanied a night of drinking. No, he remembered every second. He remembered clearly the feel of being buried deep inside of him, and the look on Snape's face when he came. He raised his head slightly from the desk and banged it downward against it a few times. He couldn't believe that he'd had sex with Snape. Something in his life he'd been sure he'd never see, and never want to see, was the look on Severus Snape's face when he came. And yet, he couldn't get the image out of his mind, head tilted back mouth slightly open, eyelids fluttering slowly, the unguarded emotion swirling in them arousing a dangerous need inside of him to see it again, to cause it again. He had at first tried to console himself in the morning by reasoning that he wasn't attracted to Snape, it was just a combination of alcohol and his recent sexual drought. But that didn't explain why he was aroused by the thought of what he'd done with Snape and what he'd like to do. His fixed opinion of Snape as an irritating bastard who, if there were any justice in the world, would be blown up by an errant potions student, was now irrevocably changed. Snape was now an arousing irritating bastard who, if there were any justice in the world, would be blowing him right now, instead of yelling at some errant student, which was probably what he was doing. At this disturbing thought, Sirius once again banged his head lightly against the desk. He was startled when he heard someone very close say his name.

"Sirius."

He looked up to see Harry standing in front of his desk.

"I mean, Professor Black."

He smiled in spite of himself, no matter how deep into depression or sadness he fell, the sight of Harry always cheered him up. Harry was the one thing in his life that was precious to him. "Yes, Mr. Potter?," he said with a smile.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You looked like you were sleeping."

"I just had a late night last night."
"Oh, I know you did," Harry said with a secretive smile that had Sirius's eyes widening. He couldn't know could he?

"I'm feeling fine just so you know, I guess I can just hold my liquor better than you," Harry said impishly.

Sirius let out a relieved breath, followed by a forced laugh. Of course Harry was only talking about them drinking together, he'd forgotten about that in light of the other more spectacularly memorable events of last night.

"Why I haven't any idea of what you could be speaking about. I would certainly never drink with a student. Now get back to your desk. I have a class to teach."

Harry smiled and started to turn back toward his desk, but was stopped by Sirius's hand on his arm. He turned back and was startled at the look on his godfather's face. When he saw that Sirius wasn't looking at his face but had fixated on his neck, where his shirt had shifted to reveal a small tip of bruised skin, his face paled.

Sirius reached his finger out and slowly pulled the shirt down a few more inches, revealing teeth marks. "Harry," he said slowly enunciating each word," where did you get that bite on your neck."

"Bite?" Harry asked, laughing nervously and shrugging his shoulders so the mark was covered. "I don't have a bite. I just um.. well..I fell last night and.."

"Harry do not lie to me. I know what a bite looks like." In fact the bite looked disturbingly like the one he'd put on Snape's neck last night. Snape's words ran once more through his head, as they'd been doing since he'd seen Harry's neck. "it seems he does have his uses." "That bastard. I'm going to kill him," he said quietly to himself, as Harry paled further. "Harry go back to your seat and send Hermione up here." Harry started to protest but stopped at the look on Sirius's face. The second that Hermione reached the desk, she knew something was wrong. "Hermione I need you to watch the class while I go do something, can you do that for me?"

"Of course.

He stood up suddenly drawing the attention of all the students. "Seeing as this is my first year teaching you, I'm not sure of everything you've been taught, so the assignment for today is to write down everything you've learned in this class in the last six years. I have some urgent business to attend to and Ms. Granger will be keeping an eye on you all while I am gone. I wouldn't like to give detentions on the first day, but I will." His gaze swept the classroom meeting several pairs of eyes to make sure his message was sinking in. "I want you to treat Ms. Granger with the same respect you would treat me, Is that understood?"

There was a chorus of yes's along with nodding heads. Satisfied that everything was taken care of, he quickly exited the classroom, the look on his face causing the students who glimpsed it to hurry to their work.

Snape was in the process of informing one of his students of his complete idiocy, as he'd been doing off and on all day, when Sirius burst through the door. Snape raised an eyebrow at this melodramatic entrance, and he was hard pressed to hold back a chuckle when Sirius said," We need to talk. In the hall. Now."

But his amusement faded when he looked into Sirius's hate fi eye eyes and felt something besides the usual loathing. He felt..attraction. He'd been berating himself all morning, for his actions the night before. He'd been disgusted in school with the way that everyone wanted Sirius, and he'd sworn that he'd never be like the rest. He'd never had a problem until now, as the overwhelming hatred he felt for Black had made any such feelings impossible, and he hated that it had changed. He hated the feelings that were filling him, as he looked at the man who stood in front of him. Feelings of self hatred and hatred towards Black overwhelmed him and he forgot that he was in a class full of students, talking to another Professor, he forgot everything in the face of the hatred burning in Black's eye's, a hatred that paled in comparison to the chaos burning inside of him. "Honestly Black, I know that you're an imbecile and probably still crazy from your stay in Azkaban," a gasp from the students at this, and a hardening of expression on Sirius's part,"but even your muddled brain should be able to comprehend that I am in the middle of a class at the moment." He cocked his head slightly narrowing his eyes. "Come to think of it aren't you supposed to be teaching a class right now? I can't wait to tell the Headmaster that I was right all along, and you're the same irresponsible reprobate that you were in school, and should be in a kennel rather than a classroom."

Sirius took a deep breath and said calmly, and very slowly."You will join me in the hall, right now, or I will say everything in front of your students. I'm sure they'd all be fascinated to hear your 'private' business." The students perked up looking interested and Snape drew in a sharp breath. If there was one thing he valued it was his privacy. The thought of Sirius telling his students his business pushed Snape to a whole new level of rage, and he knew he had to get out of the view of his students before he lost control. He turned to his students. "It alt all of you to finish your potion's and if they are not to my satisfaction when I return, you will spend the night in detention perfecting them, is that understood?"

There was much head shaking but no verbal affirmations, the students were to scared to speak, and hurriedly began working on their potions.

When he reached the hall, Snape took a deep breath to calm himself, before turning to Sirius. "Who do you think...," was all he got out before Sirius slammed him against the wall.

"I want to know what the hell you did to my godson last night," he spat out through gritted teeth his face inches from Snape's.

Snape frowned for a moment, wondering what in the hell Sirius was talking about, but after a moment he began to remember. He couldn't believe he'd accosted a student, and Harry Potter at that. Alcohol really was an evil, evil thing. Still he wasn't about to apologize, even if he was guilty, and right now, with Sirius mouth a breath away from his, the last thing he wanted was to talk. "It's a little hard to describe these kind of things, a demonstration is really the only way to communicate it effectively." He crushed their mouths together, at the same time pressing their bodies firmly together, forgetting that they were in the hall in plain view of anyone that should walk by. Wether by hatred or lust, Sirius always seemed to make him forget.

Sirius started to pull back as Snape's lips touched his, but stopped as the other man drew their bodies together. His anger towards Snape hadn't lessened but now their was lust to match, the two feelings mingled together in a deliciously heady combination. Snape bit down on Sirius's lip, and their tongues plunged into each other's mouths, twisting violently against each other, in a game for dominance that neither was winning. Sirius's hand tangled in Snape's raven hair gripping it tightly and forcing Snape's head back, his hand burrowing through layers of robes desperate to find bare skin.

Snape who didn't have the obstacle that Sirius did, of an infuriating amount of fabric, had quickly reached through Sirius's robes tugging his shirt out of the waistband of trousers, and was now running his hand along Sirius's stomach in a way that made Sirius jerk.

A noise at the end of the hall, caused them to break apart violently, and as they stood looking at each other both breathing heavily, the students who had made the noise turned the corner. At the sight of the two teachers, whose hatred for each other was well known, the students immediately turned back around. As curious as they might be, they wouldn't chance Snape's wrath to assuage it. There was no sound in the hall for several minutes as the two stared at each other. Finally Sirius regained his senses, and his anger. "This isn't finished. I want to know what you did to Harry."

"Fine. Meet me in my rooms tonight at eight o'clock."

Sirius's only answer was an angry glare, as he turned and stalked off in the direction of his class.

As Snape watched the other man's powerful strides, he was reminded of the taunt muscled thighs, they way they'd stretched and rippled as Sirius had pounded into him. Snape felt himself harden and slammed his fist against the wall. He reentered his classroom with such a scowl that he caused more than one student to drop what they were doing. His resounding bellow and the abject terror on the students faces, appeased his anger somewhat. But he was still furious with himself for his reaction to Sirius, and he was saving a good portion of his rage for tonight. These feelings he had simply wouldn't do. And he was going to do something about it.


Sirius who had never been on time in his thirty-six years, knocked on Snape's door at precisely eight o'clock. For a minute or two there was no answer, and just as Sirius had raised his hand to knock again, the door was opened by a smiling Snape. As Sirius nevenever seen a smile on Snape's face before, he was somewhat shocked, and stayed with his hand raised for a moment. When he finally regained his senses and realized he still had his hand raised, he quickly drew it to his side. Snape gave no sign that he'd noticed Sirius's lengthy pause. "Come in Black, this is no kind of business foe hae hall." He turned and walked to a small table, upon which sat two glasses and a bottle of amber-colored liquid that could only be Firewhiskey. When Sirius saw the cozy little setting, he had no doubt just what kind of business Snape was talking about. Well if that's what Snape thought was going to happen Sirius was going to have to disabuse him of that notion. He was determined that there would no more of the.. incidents like last night and this morning. "What in the hell is this?" he asked gesturing toward the Firewhiskey.

"What? Can't two Professors share a drink?" he asked, or rather attempted to ask, innocently. But it was physically impossible for Snape's face to form any expression even vaguely related to innce.nce.

"No, we can't," he answered shortly. "I came to find out what you did to Harry, and then beat you to a bloody pulp. Sharing a friendly drink didn't figure in to my plans."

"An unfriendly drink then? Between enemies? It would only be fair to let me fortify myself with a drink before I'm beaten to a bloody pulp. And no self respecting Englishman would let a man drink alone."

"I'm Irish."

"Even better." When Sirius still made no move toward the table, Snape mind raced for a way to get him to drink. "Come now, Sirius, we've sharech mch more intimate things than a drink in the last few days."

Sirius's face took on an angry flush, and he had difficulty speaking for a moment, when he did the words were bitten off. "We will not speak of that. And it will not happen again."

"We are in agreement on that at least." Snape filled the two glasses and sat at the table. "Now, let's get on with this discussion, so we have no more interruptions of my classes."

Sirius sat down warily, tapping his fingers against the table nervously. His rage had carried him down here in a fine state, but now that he was here alone in Snape's rooms, his anger was softly drowning in a sea of nerves and anticipation. Suddenly all he wanted was to be away from Snape. From the temptation. But he'd come here for a reason. "I want to know what you did to Harry."

Snape took a slow sip from his glass, watching Sirius over the edge. "I was drunk and on my way to your rooms, thinking of how I hated and despised you, and planning to somehow rid Hogwarts of you, when I bumped into Harry. Everyone knows how you dote on the boy. So I gave him a little kiss and a bite, because I knew you would see it and be furious. And that's all there is to it," he finished knocking back his glass.

"I want you to stay away from him. If I ever..."

"Yes, yes," Snape interrupted. "I have no intention of bothering the boy. My hatred of you and need to hurt you was my sootivotivation. And I think I've come up with a solution."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"You leaving Hogwarts."

Sirius laughed and picked up his drink, draining it. "I hate to ruin this no doubt elaborate and detailed fantasy you have, but I'm not leaving Hogwarts."

Snape didn't answer he just smiled at him in a way that made Sirius's blood run cold. He looked down at the glass and he knew. His face paled as he let the glass fall to the floor. "What did you do to me?"

Snape rose from the table, quickly taking out his wand and saying a spell to bind Sirius to the chair. He cocked his head and looked at him in amusement for a moment. "I didn't poison you if that's what you're thinking. It's only veritasserum."

"Only.. only. How dare you? That's illegal. The sentence is fifteen years. What the hell were you thinking?"

"It's only fifteen years if your caught, and I assure you I won't be. And I was thinking that I need to get you out of Hogwarts before one of us ends up in Azkaban for murder," he said as he sat back down in the chair, taking another drink from his glass.

Sirius stopped his struggling, becoming utterly still."As you so politely pointed out to your class earlier, I've been in Azkaban for murder."

Snape shifted in his seat, slightly uncomfortable at his faux pas, and the look in Sirius's eyes. "Yes, well. All the more reason for you to not want to go back. Now enoughh thh this. I'm the one asking the questions here." He looked at Sirius a moment, trying to think of what question to ask, something to make sure it was working." Who were you sleeping with at the end of seventh year?" Snape watched as Sirius tried to fight the potion. He'd been quite shocked when just months before graduation as he was walking through the woods, he'd seen Sirius having sex with his best friend's girlfriend.

"Lily," Sirius spat out unwillingly, hatred is eis eyes.

"Why?" Snape asked before he could stop himself. He'd always wondered why. James and Sirius had always seemed so close. Even with Sirius reputation back in school, he'd still never expected to find him with Lily.

"Because I loved her."

Snape watched a sadness mingle in with the anger in Sirius's eyes and decided to get to the questions he'd intended to ask. "What would make you leave Hogwarts right now?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Why not? What's so special about Hogwarts?" He asked his voice tinged with exasperation. He'd hoped that the one question would be all that he'd need. Apparently he was just going to have to ask what his deepest secret was and use that as blackmail to get him to leave. How crass.

"Harry."

Snape let out an undignified snort. "And what's so special about Harry?," he said more to himself than Sirius.


"He's my son."

AN: Dum dum dum dum...