Second Chances

TITLE: Second Chances

AUTHOR: Lady Sirius

PAIRING: SB/RL

RATING: NC17

FEEDBACK: darklove_zorg@yahoo.com

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


DEDICATION: To my glorious, talented, wondrous and everlastingly sexy
inspiration - Gary Oldman. And it is also dedicated to my good friend
Kitty - she is the Remus to my Sirius in our rpgs, and has inspired me
to write about their love.

Chapter Three - A Serious Case of Deja Vu

When Severus Snape had been given the task of taking the wolfsbane
personally to Lupin at Grimmauld Place, the potions master had put up
a big surly stink, as usual. But that had been a well-rehearsed
facade, for on the inside he was actually gleeful that he was going
back there sooner than he had hoped. Not that he cared about seeing
Lupin, of course. He had never forgiven the werewolf for nearly
killing him all those years ago, and his resentment toward him had
never changed. And not that he would admit to anyone else the real
reason that he looked forward to his infrequent visits to the new
headquarters of the Order. Not even to himself would he confess that
it was Sirius Black he looked for, Sirius he longed to see.

Snape caring about Sirius? Now that was a very queer turn of events
indeed.

It must have begun when they were teens - when Sirius was easily the
handsomest boy at Hogwarts, and had most of the student population
panting after him. Not that he paid them any heed. Especially not
the painfully awkward and shy Severus Snape, who on top of everything
else was a Slytherin and anathema to the high-spirited athletic young
Gryffindor. Not that Snape had ever expected to have a chance with
someone that beautiful. But it wasn\'t until the night that he almost
died at the hands of Sirius\' lycanthropic friend that he discovered the
nature of their true relationship, which gave him added impetus to
hate Remus even more. And later to rejoice over Remus\' heartache at
the deaths of James and Lily and Sirius\' imprisonment in Azkaban.
Snape knew of course that Sirius was innocent but would he breathe a
word to Lupin, to ease the pain he felt over what he perceived as his
lover\'s betrayal? No, not he - for twelve long years he kept it to
himself, until the convict\'s escape from the infamous prison, when it
became known to all that he was innocent. And now he was back - and
in enforced hiding at Grimmauld Place. Where Snape was being forced
to go from time to time, through no apparent will of his own.

The last time he had come here he noted with some satisfaction that
Sirius had looked like a shell of his former self - not only was he
still very thin, a mere shadow of what he once was, but he seemed to
have taken to drinking heavily and his lovely dark hair fell in
tangled clumps about his still-handsome face, the eyes bloodshot and
bleary. And Remus seemed even more withdrawn and quiet than usual.
Which satisfied something deep in the recesses of the potions master\'s
selfish heart.

Snape\'s heart beat faster as he pushed open the door to Grimmauld
Place, having no patience to wait and see if he rang the bell would
Kreacher ever find his way to the door. He badly wanted to see Black,
even if he was a drunken mess. There was still something about him,
even in this less than approachable state, that drew Severus to him.
He didn\'t know if he would ever say anything to him, feel him out to
see if there were anything there for him - test the waters, so to
speak. Just seeing him would satisfy Snape for the moment, anyway.
But as soon he entered the house, he knew something was different,
something intangible, inexplicable. The house seemed quieter,
somehow, more at peace. And unless his nose deceived him, there was
something baking in the kitchen, something fruity.

And when he walked into the kitchen he knew. Not that it wasn\'t
obvious from their body language alone, but he could easily smell
their scents all over one another, like dogs in heat. Disgusting, it
was - obviously they had gone back to the old days and the old ways
and were fucking each other - again. Sirius sat on the floor between
Remus\' legs at the kitchen table, as the werewolf carefully brushed
out his long dark hair - no longer a tangled snarl, but a lustrous
mass of curls that made Snape ache to look at them, wishing he could
touch them the way that the wolf was - and for this he hated Remus
even more.

Remus looked up from his task, smiled at Snape gently. He knew why he
was there, and he was grateful for his presence. He could sense that
the other man was perturbed, but then when wasn\'t he? He had never
known a time when Snape wasn\'t unhappy over something. \"Morning,
Severus,\" he greeted him.

Snape snarled something that could have been mistaken for a greeting
by an overly optimistic human being, but Lupin\'s acute hearing could
not deceive him as to his real words. However he let it pass, as he
concentrated on what he was doing, brushing Sirius\' hair until it
shone. He had gotten his lover to put on clean clothes for a change -
a soft blue buttondown shirt, and fawn cordurouys that accentuated his
cute butt - and he was looking quite delicious. Which he had been in
the process of whispering into Sirius\' ear when Snape\'s entrance put a
stop to all that. Although they made no effort to conceal the nature
of their true relationship. They didn\'t care any more who knew.

Sirius barely acknowledged Snape\'s presence. He felt the other man
glaring at him, but he didn\'t care. All that he cared about was that
Snape brought the wolfsbane for tonight\'s change. He had promised
Remy that he would stay with him tonight - first time for many years
that he would be able to help him through the change - and there was
no way he would let his beloved wolf down. In fact, he found it
amusing to go out of his way to make Snape uncomfortable. He leaned
back against Remus, pulling away from the brush and rubbing the back
of his head against his crotch. Remus merely laughed and gently
swatted him with the brush, pushing his head back into place, while
Snape continued to glare.

Snape bit his tongue as he felt himself being eaten up inside by the
green-eyed monster. Damn that Lupin all to hell anyway! Why couldn\'t
it be his cock that was being rubbed against so lovingly, why couldn\'t
he be the glitter in Sirius\' eyes? Turning away from the nauseating
sight, he reached into his robes, drew forth the coveted potion, and
set it on the kitchen table unceremoniously. \"I presume you still
want this?\" he asked sarcastically.

\"Of course, Severus, thank you for bringing it.\" Remus was his usual
polite self. But the wolf inside was beginning to snarl.

Snape knew that prudence and common sense both dictated his immediate
withdrawal - he should go now and not subject himself to any more of
this sickeningly sweet domesticated bliss before him. But he could
not quite tear himself away from Black\'s presence, hard as he might
try. He fought a brutal but swift internal war between his dual
natures, arguing over just this subject, and it was with a sigh of
relief that he turned to go....

..... almost to be knocked down the next instant by a colourful streak
of energy which burst past him and pounced upon Sirius, knocking him
out of Remus\' grasp and onto his back on the floor. Snape recovered
his balance and his equanimity, looking darkly at the partie-coloured
figure which was now giggling irrepressibly. As was Sirius. \"Try to
be more careful, Nymphadora,\" he snarled darkly, straightening his
robes.

\"Watch the N word, Sevvy!\" Tonks called back at him, \"you never know
what might happen to you.\" She shot him a dirty look before turning
her attention back to her cousin. \"Wotcher! You look almost human!\"
she greeted him. \"What\'s got into you?\" She shot an amused glance at
Remus, who merely grinned at her. \"Or should I say who?\" She sat on
Sirius\' chest, grabbing at his hair, and running her fingers through
the soft curls. \"Very nice, very nice indeed. You do good work,
Remus, cleaning this smelly old dog up. Couldn\'t have been easy, was
it?\"

\"No,\" Remus laughed, \"it wasn\'t. Of course Sirius never makes
anything easy, does he?\"

\"Hey, I\'m right here you know,\" Sirius objected, trying to push Tonks
off of him. \"Good gods woman, what have you been eating?\"

\"Ice cream,\" came the unperturbed reply. \"And lots of it.
Strawberry. And peach. You could use a little of that yourself, you
know. Put some meat back on those bones.\"

Sirius growled at her, dumping her unceremoniously onto the floor as
he got out from beneath her. Her only response was, \"Pfft!\" He rose
from the floor, brushing himself off. \"I take it you don\'t need
breakfast then, since apparently you\'re holding a reserve there as it
is.\"

\"Naw, I can eat,\" Tonks said, laughing. \"Whatcha got?\" She sniffed
appreciatively at the air. \"Do I smell blueberries? Wotcher!\"

\"Yes, blueberry muffins,\" Remus replied. \"You\'re welcome to join us,
of course, Tonks. You too, Severus. Sirius, be a love and get those
out of the oven will you? I think they should be ready.\" He leaned
his head back and Sirius leaned down, catching his lips in a kiss.
Tonks grinned, while Snape thought that he was going to be ill.
Sirius opened the oven door, and using his wand levitated the muffins
to the table.

\"Looks good!\" Tonks said. \"I\'ll take mine with vanilla ice cream,
please!\"

Sirius shook his head but gave it to her anyway. He gave one to
Remus, nuzzling him as he did so, until Remus was forced to remind him
in a whisper that they weren\'t alone, and he pulled up a chair next to
him and began to eat.

\"Severus? Aren\'t you having any?\" Remus asked politely, while Snape
imagined himself ripping off the werewolf\'s head and disemboweling the
body.

\"What? No, I\'m going,\" came Snape\'s muttered response. He turned to
go, his black robes billowing about him, but Tonk\'s voice stopped him
short.

\"Wotcher! Stay put, Sevvy! That\'s what I came to tell you! Albus
wants you to stay here til the Order meeting he\'s called for tomorrow
night.\"

Snape was clearly annoyed as he turned back about, his eyes narrowing
angrily. \"Stay here? Whatever for?\" he hissed. \"I see no earthly
reason for me to remain. I can always come back.\" But secretly he
was pleased, if for no other reason than he would be able to see
Sirius that much longer. Even if he did seem to have his head shoved
up the wolf\'s ass.

Tonks shrugged. \"Beats me. I just deliver the messages, I don\'t
write \'em.\" She dug into her muffin and ice cream concoction with
relish as she spoke.

\"I\'ll see that a room is made up for you,\" Remus spoke up. \"And
inform Kreacher that you\'ll stay to dinner as well. Tonks, I assume you\'re
staying too?\"

\"Sure,\" she mumbled around her muffin.

Sirius looked at Remus, a troubled expression on his face. Was it
really so wise to bring extra people into the house on this of all
nights? His lover returned his look reassuringly. \"Just two people,
love,\" he whispered, \"we will be fine.\" Although he had his own
misgivings, but he didn\'t wish to relay them to his nervous lover.
\"We can discuss the details later.\"

Tonks came up behind the two lovers, poking her head in between them.
\"What are we talking about?\" she asked in a loud stage whisper.

\"None of your beeswax,\" Sirius responded, putting his hand to her
forehead and pushing her out of the way, before kissing Remus warmly.

\"Ewwwwww, cooties!\" Tonks squealed with a grin, glancing at Snape. As
u, th, the potions master had a sour expression. Did that man never
smile, or find anything amusing?

Sirius decided that the quickest way to be with Remus was to
dispose of Snape first. \"I\'ll go find that miserable excuse of a
house elf and have him put Snape in one of the extra bedrooms. And
Tonks can have her usual room.\"

Tonks danced about her cousin in delight, before taking his cheeks in
her fingers and squishing up his mouth to resemble fish lips. \"You
are just too cute!\" she squealed. Remus did his best to hide his
smile behind his fingers, while Sirius scowled, shaking her off.

\"Any more of that, and you\'ll find yourself in the basement!\" he warned
her.

\"OOh, really, in the basement? I wouldn\'t mind that. You have a very
interesting cellar, cousin, full of all kinds of interesting things.
I\'m surprised you haven\'t stuck your mum\'s portrait down there,
actually.\"

\"Believe me, I would if I could,\" Sirius answered her. \"One of these
days I\'ll figure out how to break that stickum spell she applied, and
then she will be ancient history!\" He kissed Remus again for good
measure before bounding out of the room in search of the myogynistic
Kreacher.

Snape stood where he was, snarling at both Lupin and Tonks. He barely
tolerated the auror\'s presence, and he absolutely despised the
werewolf. Why was he even still standing here? No reason, he
answered his own question. \"I do not need anything special,\" he
snapped. \"I can do that myself!\" And he whirled away in the direction
he had last seen Black disappear.

\"Wotcher!\" Tonks shook her head, before pouncing on the werewolf and
hugging him tightly. \"It\'s about time you and that goofy cousin of
mine decided to get back together.\"

Remus blushed prettily. \"How could you possibly know? You were much
too young when Sirius was incarcerated to know about that sort of
thing.\"

Tonks looked about her, before finally whispering into Remus\' ear. \"I
found his bloody diary, that\'s how I found out.\"

Remus looked at her in surprise. \"Sirius kept a diary?\"

\"Yes, a very interesting one, if I do say so myself!\" Tonks chortled.

\"And you found it and read it? Didn\'t he have it charmed or
anything?\" Remus was surprised, not only that Sirius kept a diary,
but that he would have left it open for others to read. He could only
imagine the sort of things that were in it.

\"Of course he did, but he made the mistake of using some of the ones
he taught me!\" Tonks laughed. \"I guess he didn\'t figure on me
finding it. Course he didn\'t figure on being sent to Azkaban either.\"
Her face grew dark for a moment, even as her hair changed colour to
settle into a bright purple hue.

Remus frowned for a moment at the unpleasant thought, then pushed it
away. \"But he\'s back with us now, and that\'s what counts, isn\'t it?
So tell me, what was in the diary?\" He tried to sound nonchalant,
at the same time made a mental note to ask Sirius how explicit he had
gotten with his words before he killed him.

\"That\'s for me to know and you to find out!\" Tonks grinned at him, her
hair taking on a harsh magenta hue. With saffron streaks for good
measure.

In the meantime, Sirius couldn\'t find Kreacher - naturally, enough.
If he didn\'t want him, he would be underfoot. But having an actual
need for his presence almost guaranteed that he would disappear.
Sirius blustered in and out of a few of the bedrooms in search of the
irascible house elf, but with no luck. Coming out of the last one,
though, he ran directly into Snape and only the presence of mind of
the potions master kept fro from falling backwards. Snape grabbed at
Sirius\' arms and provided a counter balance which, rather than sending
him to the floor, propelled him forward into the surly man\'s arms.
And for just a moment he found himself being cradled in those arms,
before he jumped back as if he had been burned.

\"What the bloody hell?\" Sirius shouted at him.

\"Next time I\'ll just let you fall to the floor, Black!\" Snape snapped
at him, but inside he was still quivering from the contact with the
other man.

Sirius looked at him oddly, but he wasn\'t in the mood to analyse him
at this moment. He was too busy trying to get rid of him so he could
be alone with Remus. \"I\'m still looking for that misbegotten son of a
whore,\" he muttered, but Snape interrupted him impatiently.

\"It doesn\'t matter, just point me to a room, for God\'s sake, and you
two can go back to playing Wild Kingdom, or whatever it is you do!\"

Sirius\' eyes widened, and his already short temper snapped. \"What the
fuck?\" he snarled, advancing on Snape in a menacing manner, his wand
drawn and ready, when a sound behind him brought him up short.

\"Sirius!\" came Remus\' quiet voice, as the softspoken werewolf entered
the room, followed closely by Tonks, who whistled aloud at the sight.
\"Is there a problem here?\" He looked from one man to the other.

\"None, other than this jackanapes came barrelling into me like a bat
out of hell, and then had the audacity to get angry that I didn\'t let
him fall over!\" Snape growled.

Sirius glared at him for a moment, turning to Remus, his eyes
glittering as he attempted to hold his temper in check. \"It wasn\'t
that, Remus, it was the rude words he used!\" He glanced back at
Snape. \"Take this room and be damned!\" he growled, storming from the
room in a snit.

Remus stood there a moment longer, regarding Snape thoughtfully, before
following Sirius. Tonks walked up to Snape, grinning. \"Can\'t you two
ever play nice?\" she quipped. \"Wotcher!\"

\"No, and please get out of my room. Nymphadora!\" he added for
emphasis.

For a moment, Tonks glared at him. He was just so smug and
self-satisfied at times, she wanted to choke him. Thinking better of
that, she grabbed him by his robes and laid a big liplock on him,
catching him offguard. Before he had time to react, she ran out of
the room, giggling. Snape rolled his eyes, shutting and locking the
door with a wave of his wand.


Remus found Sirius grumpily laying downstairs in the sitting room on the settee. He came up behind his lover, putting his arms around his neck, and kissing his head softly. \"Now,now, love, don\'t let him upset you like this, he\'s not worth it.\"

\"Why does he have to be here now, of all times?\" Sirius bitched. \"Why tonight?\"

\"Ours not to question why, ours but to do as we\'re told,\" Remus replied lightly, coming around and sitting on the settee, after lifting Sirius\' thin legs first and resettling them across his lap. \"Why don\'t you and I discuss the change and not worry about Snape, shall we?\"

Sirius nodded, letting the anger flow from him in heated waves at the feel of his lover\'s hands laid lightly across his legs. Remus always had this effect on him - he calmed and soothed him when he was ruffled - he was the voice of reason to Sirius\' hotheaded ways, keeping him in check. He had kept him out of trouble many a time in their youth. And was apparently determined to keep doing so. But once a month Remus was Sirius\' to watch out for, and he didn\'t want to fail his lover now.

\"Since,\" Remus continued, \"you have put Severus into the room across the hall from ours, I don\'t think we should stay there tonight, do you?\"

Sirius groaned. He hadn\'t been paying attention to which room they were standing in when he yelled at Snape to take it. Of all the stupidities! But what was done was done. Remus was right,they couldn\'t do it there.

\"No, Remy, of course not,\" he sighed.

\"Don\'t fret, love, we can use the basement. No one ever goes down there anyway, do they? That\'ll be far enough away, and we can set silencing charms, so no one will be disturbed.\"

\"Yes, we can,\" Sirius replied, \"it\'s full of crap - half of which I\'m not sure I\'ve ever seen. But there is some furniture, I know - a sofa and a bed. I think we\'ll be comfortable for just one night, love.\"

Remus smiled softly as he stroked his lover\'s legs. \"Sirius, you know that I am perfectly capable of getting through this on my own. You don\'t have to be a watchdog for me, you know - no pun intended.\" He looked down as he spoke, keeping his voice light and even, but his heart was thumping loudly even as he made the offer.

Sirius sat up, scooting closer to his lover on the couch. He reached out and lifted Remus\' chin, looking deeply into his eyes as he did so. \"Remus John Lupin! Don\'t let me hear you say that again!\" he scolded him. \"We\'re in this together, just like we were before. And don\'t you forget that!\"

Remus smiled warmly at Sirius, having heard the words he longed to hear. \"I won\'t forget that,\" he promised softly.

Sirius pressed his lips against Remus\', felt the warm breath of his wolf on his mouth. Licked those inviting lips. Moaned into those luscious lips.

And heard a soft giggle in his ear.

Turning his head, he was presented with the sight of Tonks leaning her head on her arms on the back of the settee. \"Wotcher!\" she exclaimed. \"This is better than watching some of the students!\"

\"Don\'t you have something else to do?\" Sirius raised an eyebrow at his cousin.

\"Be nice, Sirius,\" Remus laughed.

\"Tonks, go bother Severus, Remus and I are trying to talk.\"

\"I can see that.\" Tonks laughed, but she did made no effort to move. \"Keep talking, don\'t mind me.\"

\"Yes,let\'s do keep talking,\" Remus said, a sly grin upon his lips. \"Let\'s talk about diaries, shall we?\"

Tonks rose suddenly, as if she had just remembered a pressing engagement. \"Um... I think I\'m going to leave you two alone now, catch you later!\" And as suddenly as she had appeared, she was gone, leaving a confused Sirius and an amused Remus.

Sirius narrowed his eyes as he began to realize what she had said. \"Tonks!\" he screamed after her. \"What have you been doing?\" He turned his eyes back to Remus, who was regarding him with bemusement glinting in his grey eyes.

\"So, Sirius, tell me about this diary of yours,\" he said, lifting an eyebrow, laughing as Sirius began to splutter.