* * * * * * * * * * *

Remus still wasn't quite himself. It always took him a few days to really feel up to snuff after a full moon. His friends knew this and so they left him alone to try to quietly catch up on the classwork he'd missed. Good grades were critical to Remus, and although he got in nearly as much mischief as the others it was never at the expense of his schoolwork.

He looked up from his Arithmancy textbook, stretching a little, when he spotted a familiar black head approaching down one of the long aisles. He smiled a little. "Hello, Severus," he said in a hushed voice.

Severus stopped in his tracks, looking around suspiciously. There was Lupin, but in his experience the Gryffindors were never alone. Although, he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Potter or Black in the library. He was sure that Lupin was winding him up, though. Why would the other boy say hello to *him*? He nodded quickly and began to walk past, making sure his gaze didn't linger too long.

"Severus, wait a moment," Remus said quietly, standing and starting after him. "I... I was wondering if... If you could help me. I missed Potions class the other day, and I can't quite work out the homework on my own." It was an excuse, but a good one.

Snape's brow furrowed, but he stopped and turned to face Remus. "Couldn't one of your *friends* help you?" he said, wishing he didn't sound so whiny. But he didn't trust any of the Gryffindors, especially ones who were friends of Potter and Black. They'd made his life a living hell lately. But then again, he'd brought it on himself, mostly. If he could just leave them alone, not follow them around... if he could just stop thinking of Remus...

"You know Sirius is hopeless at Potions and James is off at Quidditch practice." He looked at him hopefully. "If you're busy, it's all right. I just thought... You're better at Potions than anyone. But don't worry about it. Maybe I'll see Lily later and get her notes." He shrugged, but smiled affably.

With another furtive glance around, Snape set his books on the table and slid into the chair opposite Remus. "All right, I'll try to help," he said, trying not to sound eager. An excuse to look at Remus for more than a moment, without those Neanderthals hanging around? He couldn't pass it up. He'd had a crush on the boy for at least a year.

Remus smiled at him. "Thanks," he said quietly, keeping an eye out for the librarian. He showed Severus how far he'd gotten on his essay. "Don't laugh at me, all right? Some of us just weren't cut out for this particular discipline."

Severus scanned the parchment critically, and relaxed a little. He knew Potions. Probably better then the professor. He pointed out a few things that Remus had gotten wrong, and made a couple of suggestions. He looked up, and suddenly realised how close the two of them were sitting. He blushed a little and moved back.

Remus frowned at his parchment as he scribbled out the things he'd gotten wrong. "Oh course," he said, clearly irritated with himself. "I should have read the chapter again before I started." He looked up from his paper, his eyes meeting Severus' dark ones. "Thank you. Is this part all right, then?" he asked, leaning close again and pointing out the last paragraph.

Severus thought that the whole library could surely hear his heart pounding when Remus leaned so close. He cursed his traitorous body; he had no control over it at all. Ever since he'd been aware of it, he knew he liked boys and only boys. And when he'd seen Remus again after his revelation, he suddenly knew *which* boy it was he liked. "Y-yes," he finally managed to stammer, his palms sweaty. "It's g-good."

Remus smiled warmly at him. "Oh well... High praise from someone as gifted as you." He leaned back a little. "How do you think you did on the Transfig exam yesterday?" he asked, wanting to extend their conversation just a little longer. He felt a certain responsibility for how badly James and Sirius treated him. He felt like he should make up for it a little.

Snape licked his lips nervously. Potions he could handle, but casual conversation? He should be enjoying this, but it felt like agony. "I think I did all right," he ventured. "Though my teacup still looked a bit like a turtle. Professor McGonagall frowned at it." He realised that he should probably ask Remus a question too. "How do you think you did?" He felt himself relaxing a little. When he got back to the safety of the Slytherin dorms, he could replay the conversation for hours.

"That's my second best subject after Defence. If only I was half so good at Potions. Anyway, I think I aced it." Severus was always perfectly nice to him when they were alone. "Were you studying? Or were you getting a book for fun?" he asked.

Severus glanced down at the books in front of him. "A bit of both, really," he said softly, a little embarrassed. "I'm doing some Potions research." He was also recording everything he could find out about improving the standard Potions recipes, some of which were ancient.

Remus smiled more broadly. "Not just a good subject then. More like a calling, is it? I wish I was that enthusiastic about a subject. You probably know as much as Professor Slughorn."

Severus couldn't help the contemptuous snort that he gave at that. He covered his mouth and looked around. "I know more," he said softly, shy but with an undercurrent of conviction. The way Remus was smiling at him made him feel... good.

"Do you indeed? Well, hopefully I'll catch you the library every time I'm struggling through homework, then. You know, maybe you should tutor people," he suggested.

"No one would want me to tutor them," Severus said, looking away. He couldn't even believe Remus would want to be seen talking to him.

"Go on. Why not? If it could get them a better grade they would. *I* certainly would if I had any means to pay you." He knew Severus was unpopular. The other boy was rather an outcast. Something about that appealed to Remus. He could relate to it.

Severus looked down. Remus must know that nearly everyone, his house mates included, thought he was odd and creepy. He didn't really want to explain. "I'm not very good at explaining things," he said softly.

Remus couldn't stand to see anyone looking so miserable. He reached across the table and put his hand over Severus' reassuringly. "Nonsense. You've explained things to me quite clearly." But he could see he was making him uncomfortable. "Anyway, it was just a stray thought. I'm sure you've got better things to do than try to teach potions to a bunch of dunderheads." He withdrew his hand slowly.

Severus felt frozen to the spot. Someone had touched him. *Remus* had touched him. His heart was hammering and his mouth was dry and he was suddenly, ragingly hard. "I... I don't mind helping *you*," he said, already missing the touch.

"I've no way to repay you, though. I wouldn't want to take advantage of you, and I'm sure you're just as good at Defence as I am, and probably as good at Transfiguration, too." He smiled again, though. "Thanks, though. I appreciate the offer."

"You... you don't have to pay me," Severus said haltingly. "It... it would be good practice. For me." Not to mention the fact that he'd get to see Remus.

Remus looked uncertain. "Seriously? Practice for what, though? Are you considering teaching?" he asked.

Severus shrugged. "My mother says it's a respectable field," he explained. "That I could always get a job." He looked up at Remus, eyes a little hopeful. That he wouldn't be laughed at.

"That's true. I just thought you'd want to go into research or something, as much as you know about it. I've thought about maybe teaching, too. Not Potions, though. Obviously," he said, giving a little self-deprecating grin.

Severus smiled a little. "Really? What would you teach? Transfiguration?" He looked around. "I kind of hoped... to teach at Hogwarts someday," he confided.

"I think I'd like to teach Defence, or maybe Care of Magical Creatures. I don't know, though. But I'm sure you'd make a great teacher. And if you really want to practice on me, I would be more than grateful for the help."

Smile widening a bit, Severus realised this was the happiest he'd been in ages. "I'd like that," he said. He felt an odd flutter in his stomach when Remus looked at him and he had to look down.

Remus realized that Severus really had a nice smile. He wished he understood how they all got off on such awful footing, and why Severus represented everything dark and evil to his three best friends. "Brilliant. Then I've got a hope of getting a Potions NEWT next year. When do you want to start?" he asked.

"Um... I don't really do much but study, so..." Severus looked embarrassed. "Any time, really." He didn't have a social life, not that he wanted one.

"Oh. Well... I've got prefect duty on Mondays and Wednesdays and Sundays, but I'm usually free the rest of the time." He wondered if Severus had any friends at all in Slytherin. He'd never really seen him spending any time with anyone.

"How about... Tuesdays?" Severus asked hopefully. "And maybe we should meet here. You know..." He trailed off. Certainly Remus wouldn't want anyone to know he was associating with Snape.

Remus didn't read anything into the choice of venue. "You know, what?" he asked.

Severus blinked at the other boy. He would have thought it was obvious. "So um... no one will know. That I'm tutoring you." He could just imagine what Potter and Black would have to say. Strange how he thought of them by their last names but Remus by his first.

Remus frowned a little. "Look, I don't mean to be intentionally dense or anything, but is there some reason you don't want them to know?" If anything, he thought James and Sirius might leave off Snape a little more if they knew. It seemed to be a win-win situation all around.

Frowning, Severus felt a little annoyed. "Because I didn't think your *friends* would take kindly to the fact," he snapped, trying to push away the feeling. He didn't want to ruin this.

Remus backed off a little at Severus' tone. "It doesn't bother me, but if you'd rather meet in secret, that's fine," he said, his own tone slightly less friendly than before. "Here or the Great Hall or the Potions classroom... wherever you prefer is fine with me. Or if you don't really want to, that's fine, too." He wasn't proud of the way his friends acted, but he could understand it somewhat.

The coldness in Remus' tone reminded Severus that he was a Gryffindor, no matter how nice he seemed to be. He wasn't going to lose this opportunity, though. "I think meeting here is best," he said, softening his tone a little. "Though if we need it, we can also use the Potions classroom if we need to practice."

"All right. Tuesday after dinner then?" he asked, smiling a little again. He also understood why Severus would be cagey about things. Perhaps Remus hadn't done anything to him directly, but he had certainly looked the other way once or twice when rules were being broken to Severus' detriment.

Severus nodded, and decided he'd pushed his luck enough tonight. He stood, gathering his books, and said, "See you then." Then, because he didn't trust himself any longer, he turned to go.

Remus watched him walk away for a moment before returning to his Potions essay. He could tell that Severus didn't trust him, but he couldn't really blame him. He wasn't sure what it was about the other boy that drew him in. He ought to leave it alone, not get involved. Too many people knew him already. He'd survived so long by blending in to a crowd, rather than standing out. He shouldn't befriend anyone else. But he couldn't help himself. Severus just seemed... so alone. Just as Remus usually was, if it weren't for James, Sirius, and Peter.

* * * * * * * * * *

By Tuesday he was feeling good. Exceptionally good. It was still closer to the full moon than the new, and Remus felt the surge of energy that always brought with it. He was recovered from the transformation completely, but for a new scar, but not a bad one. At dinner he could hardly think of anything besides his upcoming appointment.

"You've been distracted all bloody day, Moony. I asked you if you thought the new beater seemed up to snuff," James said in annoyance, hating to repeat himself.

"Huh? Oh. He seemed a little weak, yeah. Good thing you dodge bludgers so well, eh?" He forced himself to look at James and smirk. "'Cept for that one time."

James colored a little. "I had an excuse for that, if you'll recall."

Sirius looked up from his food and snorted around a mouthful, "Yeah. And her name is Lily." He glanced down the table at the red-haired girl who was studiously ignoring them.

James glanced wistfully down the table. "Oh Evans. You really ought to just accept your fate." But then he shook his head and returned his attention to Remus. "But back to our little furry friend, here. What is it that's been distracting you, Remus? Has some lovely young lady smitten you at long last?" he asked, laughing at the look Sirius was giving him.

Remus paled. "No! I mean... nothing like that, no. I'm just preoccupied thinking about my grades." That wasn't the whole truth, but it was the spirit of it. Sort of.

"Your *grades*," laughed Sirius. "I think it's his grades that Moony thinks about when he's in his bed alone," he teased, making an unmistakable jerking off motion with his hand that earned him dirty looks from a few of the older girls.

Remus laughed a little and rolled his eyes. "I think you're projecting there, mate. Is sex all the two of you ever think about? My two best mates are nymphomaniacs, but oddly enough, neither of them are getting any, anyway."

Sirius and James traded looks and burst out into laughter.

* * * * * * * * * *

Across the room at the Slytherin table, Severus looked up at the raucous sounds coming from the Gryffindor side of the room, mouth twisted in disgust. So far today he'd been able to resist stealing glances over at Remus, but now he couldn't help himself. His idiot friends were practically rolling on the table laughing, but Remus was just smiling that enigmatic smile of his.

Remus wasn't looking. He wasn't. Not at anything in particular, anyway. But then his eyes happened to meet Severus' just for a moment. He was frowning, or maybe sneering, but then he frequently was. Remus, however, couldn't stop himself from smiling just a little.

Unfortunately, James happened to glance that way as well. "What's Snivellus staring at?" he said derisively.

Sirius' head snapped up at the mention of the Slytherin. "He's probably plotting another way to get us in trouble," he sneered, glaring daggers at the other boy. "Hey, we haven't pulled anything good on him in a while. What do you say? Any ideas worthy of the Marauders?"

When Severus noticed that the rest of the Gryffindors were looking over, he looked down again, bitterly. He was fooling himself if he thought Remus actually *liked* him.

Remus frowned at Sirius. "Oh give it a rest already, won't you? You're as obsessed with him as he is about us." He needed something better to distract his friends, though, and he wracked his brain. He tried to catch Lily's eye, because that would surely distract at least one of them.

"We're not obsessed," James protested. "Just a little bored, perhaps." He grinned over at Sirius. "Why, did you have something in mind?"

When Sirius and James had an idea in their heads, there was no stopping them. "Nothing concrete yet," Sirius mused, staring calculatingly at the Slytherins. "It has to be better than the last time. More humiliating. I don't suppose Snivellus ever comes to the Quidditch matches..."

James shrugged. "Dunno. I'm usually too busy to check out the crowd. Except for Evans, of course. I always find her," he grinned.

Remus had seen Severus at a match or two, but he wasn't going to volunteer that information. "Look, I'm going to leave the two of you to your plots. I've got some studying to do. I'll be in the library." He got up from the bench and adjusted his slightly worn, second-hand robes. "See you in the common room later." As he walked down the table towards the doors, he glanced over at Severus again, but the other boy wasn't looking anymore. Well, he'd see him soon enough.

Severus may not have been looking, but he knew when Remus left his friends to plot, presumably against him. His heart raced a little; they were meeting soon. He tried to chide himself on his foolishness, but his excitement was too great. He'd get to be alone with Remus again, and look his fill without being caught. He waited a few moments, then slipped out of the dining hall himself, heading for the dungeons. Black and Potter were still huddled together at the Gryffindor table, and didn't notice his departure.