The Challenge

The hardest thing about Remus coming to Hogwarts on full moon was
avoiding Harry and his friends.


He almost managed it; unfortunately he managed to coincide his arrival with
their last lesson – double potions.


The students were walking out of the dungeon as he was walking in.


The Gryffindors were very pleased to see him, and he did enjoy speaking
briefly to them, being rather cagey about his reasons for being there.


Harry, however, was more suspicious.


\"What\'s the real reason you are here, Remus?\"


\"To get my Wolfsbane potion, Harry. Professor Snape is unable to bring it
to me tonight, so I came here. Also, there are things I need to discuss
with the Headmaster.\" Remus was relieved. Not a single lie, and yet not
precisely the truth.


\"So you\'ll be here tomorrow morning?\"


\"Yes. I\'ve been offered a bed for the night. Tonight being what it is and
all.\"


\"Can you have breakfast with us.\"


\"I can\'t see why not. I can\'t be at dinner tonight, though, but breakfast
definitely. Save me bacon.\"


Harry suddenly threw his arms around Remus and hugged him tight. \"I miss
him, Remus. I miss him so much,\" he whispered.


Remus held him tight. \"I know, Harry. We all do. All you can do is hope
to see him again one day.\"


Harry, now comforted, disentangled himself from Remus\'s arms. \"Thank you,\" he said, and he darted off. Remus looked after him, wishing with all his heart that he could tell him the truth.


\"You know you can\'t,\" said a voice behind him.


\"Yes. But I can\'t help wishing I could. It would ease his sorrow.\"


\"At least he has learned. At least he is now making an effort to master
Occlumency.\"
"He "He has learned. But learned in a way I would never want him to.\"


\"Well, we are agreed about that at least.\" Snape took a deep breath. \"I\'ve arranged for dinner in my quarters for us both. I thought that you might not want to eat alone. And you should drink your potion before you eat anyway.\"


Lupin grimaced. \"Do you have any idea how filthy that stuff tastes?\"


\"Never having had to drink it, I have none whatsoever. However, given the
ingredients, I should imagits its taste being fairly revolting. Unfortunately, I cannot add anything to improve the taste without rendering
the potion either useless or dangerous.\"


\"Trust me, it\'s bad. Do I have to drink it before I eat? It tends to spoil the taste of anything else.\"


\"Sorry. Before food is best.\"


Remus looked at the other man. \"You\'re bloody enjoying this, aren\'t
you?\"


\"Well, now you mention it…\"


\"Arsehole.\"


\"Do we have to discuss your angst? Can\'t you just drink your potion, eat
your dinner, transform, and let me get on with my work?\"


Remus smiled to himself. So, Snape was going to make this difficult. But
Remus was determined – at least one kiss and a decent grope tonight. There
was no way on this earth he would let Sirius get ahead of him *here*.


\"Lead on. I\'m hungry enough not to worry about spoiling the taste of
dinner.\"


An hour later, Snape was surprised. He had never seen Remus eat just before he transformed, and was surprised at how voracious he was.


\"When do you think you\'ll transform?\"


\"I can feel the moon rising, and it\'s still an hour or two off. Don\'t let
me keep you, though. Do you have anything I could read? Anything not
potion-making related?\"


Snape waved to a low bookcase. \"Novels. But don\'t tell anybody. I\'d hate
people to think I enjoy a good novel.\"


\"Image?\"


\"Yes. Image. I don\'t have much else.\"


Remus crosoverover and placed a hand on his shoulder. \"You have more than
you think. Stop being so hard on yourself.\" He rested his head briefly
where his hand had rested, and then moved his hands to massage the tense
shoulders. \"By the way, what was it you refused to deliver from Sirius?\" he asked softly.


\"I don\'t want to discuss it, thank you very much.\" After an initial flinch,
he relaxed into the touch. \"That\'s nice.\"


\"You\'ve got to relax more. You know, I could do a better job if you would
remove your jacket and shirt.\"


\"Pardon?\"


\"I could give you a better massage if you took off your coat and shirt. I
can reach your muscles better.\"


\"Oh. I wasn\'t thinking, just now.\" Snape absently removed both coat and
shirt, and Remus grinned. He had seduced not only Sirius, but also a number of women this way. Nice to know it still worked. And he DID give a damn good massage.


His fingers worked the tense flesh. Snape really did need the massage –
even more than Remus wanted to seduce him. Oh well, there was always after moonset, and the weekend. But he was determined to get his kiss. His fingers moved down Snape\'s back, kneading, and Snape moaned softly. \"Feels good.\"


\"Relax. If you tense up I could hurt you. Look, lie down on the bed, and
I\'ll do this properly.\"


\"Properly?\"


\"I\'m actually a qualified Sports Masseur. One of the few jobs I managed to
hold.\"


\"Why did you stop?\"


\"They couldn\'t afford to keep paying me.\"


\"Ahh.\" Snape lay down on the bed, stretching out, and felt the mattress
move as Lupin sat next to him.


\"Now just lie there and let me work this particular form of magic.\"


Remus worked, enjoying using this skill, but enjoying more the fell of the
flesh beneath his hands. Daring, he bent over and pressed his lips to the
nape of Snape\'s neck. Snape started slightly, and Remus pressed him down.


He smoothed the palms of his hands over the other man\'s shoulder, his groin
tightening with desire. He watched Snape twitch and knew he was feeling the same desire.


Snape sat up suddenly, and Remus took his chance. He lent over and kissed
him, letting his lips roam freely, and teasing the other mouth open with his tongue. And, *Gods*, it felt good.


His arms wrapped around Severus, pulling him closer, and Snape responded,
his own arms pulling, his hands roaming,oingoing buttons of Remus\' shirt and slipping inside.


When Snape moved his head down to his nipple, Remus gasped. This was going
more swiftly than he expected, but he was not about to object.


He had a suspicion that Severus was a lot more experienced than he had
thought, and Remus looked forward to finding out more.


A second kiss consumed them with passion, and this time Remus allowed his
hand to press into Snape\'s groin, feeling the growing arousal there.


He decided that he might just win the game, when he felt the familiar pull
and wrenched himself backwards.


\"Oh Gods, Severus!\" was all he got out as he felt the change come over him.
He barely managed to get the rest of his clothing off before he transformed
fully, and sat there, looking at Snape who was sitting on the bed, his
trousers tented by his erection, lust still evident in his expression.


\"Lupin?\"


The wolf nodded and jumped onto the bed, curling up. Snape placed a hand on the grer, fr, finding it surprisingly soft and warm. He stroked and the
wolf gave a small whimper and licked Snape\'s other hand.


Snape hastily removed himself from the bed. He could not believe what he
had begun. He had wanted to fuck Remus Lupin. A werewolf. In fact, he
still wanted it. Badly.


He moved over to his armchair and, shakily, began to grade the essays he had brought to the room. And pitied the students – in his frustration and
confusion, he was grading particularly harshly. Who cared?


From the bed, the wolf watched him and waited. Remus Lupin was a very
patient man. He knew he was surpassed Sirius, now. Two kisses, both
enthusiastically returned, and a mutual grope. He wouldn\'t push his luck
tonight. There was always the weekend.