FIC: Aftermaths, Part 67

[geri_chan]

Title: Aftermaths, Part 67
Rating: NC-17 overall, but most chapters are closer to PG-13
Pairing: Snape/Lupin, Theodore/Blaise, and a few other minor pairings
Word count: ~8,050
Warning: AU; written pre-HBP
Author's notes: {} Indicates character's unspoken thoughts
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Sequel to: Always, Summer Vacation, For Old Time's Sake, Three's a Crowd, Return of the Raven, Phoenix Reborn, Phoenix Rising
Summary: Aric and Draco face the music (and an angry Snape) after their drinking bout; Lupin confronts Lukas about Draco.

Part 66 (Previous chapters can be found under the aftermaths tag.)

***

Snape did not leave things to chance, but sent Howlers to Aric and Draco to make sure they woke up on time. Draco woke with a start and jumped out of bed as Snape's voice shouted, "I expect to see you in my office in five minutes, Malfoy!" Then Draco groaned and clutched at his head to keep it from splitting open.

A short time later, he realized that it only felt like someone was hammering on his skull and it hadn't really cracked open, but that didn't make it any less painful. One dubious benefit of the hammering was that it distracted him from his sore nose and the fact that his mouth tasted like something had crawled in there and died last night. Then it dawned on him that he now only had four minutes to make it to Snape's office. He quickly washed his face, brushed his teeth, and pulled on his robes, wincing as each movement caused the pounding in his head to increase.

Aric emerged from his room as Draco stepped into the hallway; Draco noted with some satisfaction that Aric looked nearly as bad as Draco felt: he had a black eye, a swollen lip, and was looking a little green around the gills (figuratively speaking). "This is all your fault, Dietrich," Draco accused.

"No one told you to follow me last night," Aric retorted. "Come on, we're gonna be late."

They hurried to Snape's office, but apparently not fast enough, because Snape bellowed, "You're late!"

Both boys clutched at their heads. "Please don't shout, Professor," Draco whimpered.

"I will do as I damn well please, Malfoy!" Snape shouted, sending another surge of pain through Draco's head.

Lupin leaned over and whispered to Snape, "Yes, but you want them to be able to understand what you're saying, Severus."

Snape glowered at the boys, but said in a normal voice, "Sit down."

The pounding in Draco's head subsided to a dull throbbing, and he carefully eased himself down into a chair. Aric followed suit, moving as slowly and carefully as Draco did.

Snape lectured them at length about the stupidity of their actions and what a disgrace they were to their House. They mumbled "Yes, Professor" at appropriate intervals, wincing every time Snape lost control of his temper and raised his voice. Behind his back, Lupin gave them amused and sympathetic smiles. By the time Snape was done with his lecture, Draco's head hurt so much that he wished someone would just cut it off.

"We should wrap this up soon, Severus," Lupin said in a soft, gentle voice, as if deliberately being careful of Draco's headache, and Draco was so grateful to him that he could have kissed the werewolf. "It's almost time for breakfast."

Draco groaned; the very thought of food made him sick, and probably the only thing that stopped him from throwing up was the fact that there was nothing left in his stomach to throw up.

Lupin grinned and Snape balefully told him, "If he throws up in here, you're cleaning it up, Lupin."

Draco took it all back; the werewolf was as evil as Snape. He was like a Slytherin in Gryffindor colors. He wondered if the Gryffindors realized that they'd had a traitor in their ranks all these years.

But maybe he still had a little Gryffindor softness left in him, because he said, "Perhaps we should give them a hangover potion, Severus?"

Any faint spark of hope Draco felt was quickly extinguished when Snape smiled maliciously. "No," the Potions Master declared heartlessly. "No hangover potion for these two, and they will attend all their classes today as usual." The two boys groaned in unison. Snape sighed regretfully, "It's a pity that they don't have Physical Defense class today."

Draco was very, very grateful for that. Trying to fight with a hangover would probably be sheer torture.

"Although," Snape said speculatively, "maybe I could send them to Diggory for their detention." Draco and Aric groaned again.

"Actually," Lupin said cheerfully, "I was thinking of asking Lukas to help us with their detention." His expression turned serious and he gave the two boys a thoughtful look. "Yes, I think that they should serve their detention together at the clinic."

Snape looked disappointed. "That wasn't quite what I had in mind, Lupin. Besides, it hasn't proven to be much of a deterrent for Dietrich."

"Yes, I realize that it would be much more fun for you to let Lukas beat them up--er, I mean, spar with them," Lupin said placatingly, "but they're shorthanded at the clinic and Haruko is worried that Takeshi is working too hard. Draco and Aric could at least help him brew his healing potions and the Wolfsbane Potion."

"Mr. Kimura was a good Potions student," Snape said reluctantly. "Very well, you can let these two miscreants help him out for a few days, I suppose."

The name "Kimura" evoked a vague recollection of a quiet, unassuming Ravenclaw boy that Draco had never taken much notice of. Draco couldn't even remember the boy's face, but his potion-brewing skills must have been quite impressive for Snape to actually praise him. If Draco's head hadn't hurt so much, he would probably have felt jealous, but right now, it just didn't seem to be worth the effort.

"Thank you, Severus," Lupin said. "I'll take them down to the clinic after classes today, and I'll ask Lukas to come along and help me supervise them."

That comment got Draco's attention as he suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be mad at Diggory. He jerked his head up, ignoring the sudden stab of pain, and shouted, "I'm not working with that werewolf!"

Snape leaned forward, a dangerous look in his black eyes, and snapped, "You will do whatever I tell you to do, Mr. Malfoy!"

"I will not," Draco said through gritted teeth. "I don't care if you expel me."

"Don't tempt me, Malfoy!" Snape snarled.

"What is your problem with Master Diggory, Malfoy?" Aric demanded. "You were saying something last night about him staining your family honor."

"Shut up, Dietrich!"

"Make me, Malfoy!"

Snape opened his mouth to shout, but Lupin quickly stepped forward and said sternly, "You two are in quite enough trouble as it is, don't you think? Do you want to be in detention till you graduate?" The boys subsided into sullen silence, slouching down in their chairs. Lupin hesitated, then said, "Go to breakfast, Aric. I'll talk to you later." Aric got up and left the office, and Draco rose to follow him, but Lupin firmly grasped his shoulder to stop him. "Not you, Draco. I want to talk to you."

Draco wrenched free from Lupin, even though the effort started up the pounding in his head again. "I have nothing to say to you!"

"Why are you angry at Lukas?" Lupin persisted. "Up until recently, he was one of your favorite teachers."

"I never liked him that much," Draco snapped, "and anyway, it's none of your business!"

Snape's eyes narrowed in thought, and he said nothing, just leaned back and traced his lips with one finger as he watched Lupin circle around Draco like a wolf stalking its prey.

"That fight with Ron in Physical Defense class," Lupin continued. "It wasn't about Ron at all, was it? It was about Lukas."

Draco nervously tried to back away from Lupin, but the werewolf kept circling around him, cutting off his avenue of escape. "You have been behaving strangely ever since your last trip to Hogsmeade, Draco," Snape said from behind his desk. "Everyone thought that you had a fight with Miss Avery, but that's not true, is it? Something happened between you and Diggory."

"That's why Serafina wouldn't talk about the incident," Lupin said, picking up where Snape left off. "She said some things I didn't understand that are beginning to make sense now. She said that you were not mad at her but at someone else, and she wouldn't tell us who that someone else was. I thought at the time that she was protecting your privacy, but she was also protecting Lukas's, wasn't she?"

"If you think you're so smart, go ask the werewolf!" Draco shouted, a sudden sense of panic making his heart beat faster, distracting him from his pounding headache. Why was he so scared about them finding out the truth? It wasn't like Lupin and Snape would look down on Narcissa for sleeping with a werewolf. But he was suddenly terrified at the thought of his secret being revealed.

Lupin and Snape exchanged a knowing look. "Perhaps I will," Snape said, his voice hardening, but his anger was not directed towards Draco this time. "I think that Master Diggory has not been completely forthcoming with us, and if so, I shall have words with him."

"Draco," Lupin said in a very gentle voice, "please tell us why you're angry at Lukas. You don't have to hide it any longer." Draco shook his head frantically.

"Well then," Snape said, "let me take a guess. Does it have something to do with Narcissa?"

The expression on Draco's face must have given him away, because Snape and Lupin exchanged another look and nodded at each other. "I'm a fool for not seeing it sooner," Snape said, looking a little annoyed, "but I never pay much attention to the gossip of the Slytherin girls. My mother would have known better. But I did recently overhear some of them speculating about whether Diggory had a girlfriend; they were talking about hearing some kind of rumor that he was meeting a woman after his court dates in London. I didn't give it much thought at the time; I don't care about Diggory's lovelife, but..."

"Is Lukas seeing Narcissa?" Lupin asked gently. "Is that why you're so mad at him?"

Draco should deny it, tell them that they were crazy, but he found himself whispering, "How did you guess?" He felt strangely relieved to finally have it out in the open, as if a burden had been lifted from him.

Lupin and Snape smiled at each other, still looking concerned, but also a little amused. "Er...during the Yule Ball," Lupin said, "when Severus was chasing couples out of the rose bushes..."

"I stumbled across one couple who were not students," Snape finished.

"It was going on as far back as that?!" Draco exclaimed, horrified by the sudden image that sprung up in his head of his mother and Diggory making out in the rose bushes. He shook his head to try to shake the image out of his mind, then groaned and clutched at his skull. He'd almost forgotten about his hangover, but it suddenly and unequivocally reasserted its presence.

"They claimed that it was a brief moment of insanity, and they both seemed horrified by what they'd done," Lupin said, still smiling. "I never thought that anything more would come of it, although I thought it was a pity that they were letting their prejudices ruin what might be a perfectly good relationship."

"My mother?" Draco cried in outrage. "And the werewolf? Form a 'good relationship'?!"

"Why not?" Lupin asked lightly. "Lukas is a good man. He's a little gruff and ill-tempered, of course, but he's also brave and loyal and compassionate." He grinned at Snape. "Not unlike someone else I know."

"Please don't compare me to the werewolf, Lupin," Snape said, sounding insulted. Only he actually looked more embarrassed than insulted.

"I knew you wouldn't understand," Draco said sulkily.

"Understand what, Draco?" Lupin asked quietly. "That a werewolf is not a fit mate for a pureblood?"

Draco felt his face flush with shame. "I'm not...that is...I didn't mean you..."

"It's okay, Draco," Lupin said kindly. "I'm not angry. It must be hard for you to see your mother dating a man who isn't your father, whether he's a pureblood or a werewolf."

"They aren't dating!" Draco said, feeling the resentment returning. "They are--they were--sneaking around having an affair. Only 'affair' is too nice a word for it--meeting in a cheap room at an inn, even shagging on the shore of the lake near Hogsmeade, out in the open where anybody could have seen them! It doesn't surprise me to learn that the Professor caught them in the rose bushes together!"

Snape raised his eyebrows. "You saw your mother and Diggory...er..."

Draco blushed again. "Well, they did cast an obscurement spell," he admitted. "And we left before they started...uh...you know. But I saw enough."

"You and Serafina followed Lukas out of Hogsmeade on Valentine's Day, and saw him meet Narcissa by the lake," Lupin said. He seemed to be reasoning things out on his own rather than asking Draco a question, but Draco nodded anyway.

Lupin reached out and took Draco's hands in his. "Oh, Draco," he said, his blue eyes filled with empathy and concern, "why have you been suffering alone all this time? Why didn't you come talk to us about this?"

To his horror, Draco felt his eyes fill with tears. "Because...because you've got Theo and Dylan now," he found himself blurting out. "You don't need to waste your time listening to me whine." Draco wanted to pull away and run out of the room before he humiliated himself by bursting into tears. But Lupin grasped his hands more tightly, not enough to hurt, but enough so that he couldn't easily break Lupin's grip. Right; he had a werewolf's superior strength, of course. Lupin's gentle demeanor tended to make you forget that.

There was now guilt as well as concern in Lupin's eyes. "Draco," he said softly, "just because Theo and Dylan are a part of our family now doesn't mean that we don't care about you. We'll always have time to listen to you."

"Yeah, well, it seems like you've been pretty busy lately," Draco said in a surly voice, more to try and cover up the tears that kept threatening to spill than because he was angry at Lupin. He knew he wasn't really being fair; Lupin had tried to talk to him a couple of times, and Draco had brushed him off. Still, a small, spiteful part of him wanted to hurt the werewolf.

And Lupin did look hurt. Snape frowned, looking both angry and troubled. Although Snape frequently insulted Lupin in public, he tended to take umbrage when anyone else did it. "Malfoy--" Snape started to say in a stern voice.

But Lupin interrupted him. "I'm sorry, Draco," he said. "There's been a lot going on recently, and we have been busy. But I promise that if you ever tell us that you need help, or even just someone to talk to, we will make time for you from now on."

"I don't need your pity," Draco mumbled, looking down to avoid Lupin's compassionate gaze.

"It's not pity, Draco," Lupin protested. "We care about you--"

"Sure, sure, you care about all your students," Draco said dismissively, trying to affect an air of indifference. "Look, I don't need you to feel sorry for me. I'm a Slytherin; I can take care of myself. It's too bad that my dad screwed up everything for our family and cost us our status, but that's life. He made a big gamble, throwing in his lot with the Dark Lord, and he lost. It'll be tough, but I can regroup, work my way up through the ranks again."

"Draco--" Lupin said.

Draco turned towards Snape. "I'm not stupid," he said, a hint of bitterness creeping into his voice. "I know you only treated me like your favorite because you had to stay on my father's good side."

"Draco," Snape said hesitantly, coming around from behind the desk.

"And now he's dead," Draco continued, "so you don't need to bother pretending that things are still the same now. Really, Professor I understand."

"No," Lupin said in a quiet but firm voice, "you don't understand. Severus wasn't just looking after you to stay on Lucius's good side."

"Yeah, I know," Draco said bitterly. "He wanted to keep me from joining the Death Eaters. Well, no fear of that now, so you can stop worrying."

"Draco," Lupin said, his voice still kind but beginning to sound a little angry as well, "you don't understand how much Severus cares about you."

"Lupin, don't," Snape said, looking uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Lupin, of course, ignored him. "It wasn't just about political expediency," Lupin persisted. "You don't know how many sleepless nights he spent agonizing over whether he could save you."

"Lupin!" Snape snapped.

Lupin stared directly into Draco's eyes. "He wasn't just trying to keep the ranks of the Death Eaters from growing, Draco. He wanted to keep you from making the same mistakes that he and Dylan's father did. He didn't want to have to face you in battle someday and kill you, or watch you be killed or captured by the Order. He didn't want you to have to live with the guilt of becoming a murderer in the Dark Lord's name. He was putting his life at risk trying to save you, Draco. If you or your father had suspected something, if word had got back to Voldemort that Severus was a traitor, he would have been killed. And his death would not have been a quick and easy one; you know what the Dark Lord was like. The easiest and safest course of action would have been to never let his mask slip, to always play the part of the loyal Death Eater, to encourage you and the other Slytherins to become Death Eaters, too. But he tried his best to make you think, to make you doubt. He tried to show in subtle ways that he was not like the other Death Eaters. There were times when some of the other Order members got angry with him, saying that he was risking the outcome of the war on the lives of a few children--children who were probably already a lost cause. But he refused to let you be sacrificed for the greater good. We swore to each other that we would not let Voldemort have any of you, that we would save you all--you and Theo and Dylan and Sera and Vincent and Gregory."

Draco was struck speechless, and Lupin smiled tenderly. "Never doubt that we both love you, Draco."

Draco was filled with a combination of joy and grief. He knew now that Lupin and Snape really did care about him, but the knowledge was bittersweet. "Not as much as you love Theo and Dylan," he said, and burst into tears.

"Oh, Draco," Lupin said sadly, and held him while he wept, as if he were a little boy. Draco couldn't remember his father ever holding him that way; it had always been Narcissa who held and cuddled and comforted him as a child. Lucius had frowned upon most displays of emotion as distasteful and showing a lack of control.

In spite of that, Draco whispered, "I miss my dad," as he wept in Lupin's arms. And finally he realized that it wasn't really Snape and Lupin that he was mad at. Even if he became Snape's pet again, favored over all the other students, it would still not be enough. Because it was his father's love and approval that he really wanted, not Snape's and Lupin's, although in a way, he did. But no matter how much they loved him, they would never be able to replace his father in his heart. He was a little jealous of Theo and Dylan because Snape loved them best, but mostly he was jealous of them for having a father when he didn't.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Draco wept, and Lupin murmured, "Shh, it's all right, Draco." Snape hovered over them nervously, not touching Draco, but with his flowing black robes, his presence was like a shadow hanging over them. It should have been intimidating, but instead, Draco found it comforting.

After what seemed like hours, Draco finally stopped crying, not so much because he had stopped feeling miserable, but because his eyes and nose were sore and he didn't seem to have any tears left in his body. Lupin loosened his hold on Draco, who pulled away, wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his robe. Snape fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Draco, still looking uncomfortable. Draco wiped his face and blew his nose, then automatically started to hand the handkerchief back to Snape. The Potions Master eyed the sodden little bundle of cloth dubiously and said, "Keep it, Malfoy."

Lupin giggled and Draco managed a faint smile. Snape cleared his throat and said gruffly, "I am sorry, Draco, that we did not realize how troubled you were."

Draco stared at him in surprise; was Snape actually apologizing to him, and after the way he'd behaved? He flushed and looked down at his feet, mumbling, "It's not your job to worry about me."

"Actually, Draco, it is," Snape said coolly, "since I am your Head of House."

"We don't worry about you just because it's our job, Draco," Lupin said earnestly. "We worry about you because we care about you."

"We do want to help you, Draco," Snape said, then added in a slightly sarcastic voice, "although it would help us somewhat if you would tell us when something is wrong."

"Severus!" Lupin said, turning to glare at Snape.

"No, the Professor is right," Draco said, smiling a little. "I shouldn't expect you to read my mind." He paused, thinking of certain rumors he'd heard about Snape. "Er...should I?"

Snape grinned, the evil Potions Master grin that all the students were familiar with. "I am not normally in the habit of practicing Legilimency on my students or dosing them with Truth Potion. Sadly, the Headmaster frowns upon that sort of thing for some reason."

Draco noticed that he said that he was "not normally in the habit" of doing such things, not that he never did them at all. He was enough of a Slytherin to know that there was a distinct difference between the two, and regarded his teacher with a look of trepidation.

Snape looked more comfortable now, perhaps because he was on familiar ground, terrorizing a student. "And don't think that you'll be getting off easy, Mr. Malfoy," he warned. "Regardless of the reasons, you broke the rules and made a spectacle of yourself, and you will be punished. I'll indulge Lupin and let you and Mr. Dietrich serve part of your detention at the clinic, but don't think that you'll be getting off with a few hours of potion-brewing."

"Yes, sir," Draco said in a resigned voice. He should've known that the Potions Master's sympathy was limited. But in a weird way, he preferred the old, familiar Snape to the nicer one. It made him feel better, as if everything was still the same, even though it wasn't. "But...sir? Please don't make me serve my detention with Diggory--"

"Master Diggory," Snape corrected.

"With Master Diggory," Draco said meekly. "It would be rather awkward under the circumstances, don't you think?"

Snape frowned, but did not reject his request outright; he seemed to be thinking it over. Lupin said gently, "It is awkward, but you should take some time to get to know Lukas a little better. If he and your mother are going to be seeing each other--"

"They're not seeing each other anymore," Draco said flatly. "I confronted him, and he promised not to see her anymore. It's for her own good; he was just playing around with her, and she would be ostracized if anyone found out that she was sleeping with a werewolf." He stared at Lupin and Snape defiantly, knowing that he was indirectly insulting them both with his comments. His stomach felt like it was tying itself into a knot, his insides churning in a way that had nothing to do with his hangover. But he refused to back down, even if it made Snape and Lupin hate him.

"Draco, can't you please give Lukas a chance?" Lupin pleaded, but Snape shook his head slightly, and Lupin fell silent.

"You do not have a choice about how you will serve your detention or whom you will serve it with," Snape said sternly. "That is why it is called a punishment."

"Yes, sir," Draco said. He wasn't happy about it, but he was relieved that Snape didn't seem to be angry--at least, no angrier than he normally was with a misbehaving student.

"You will be suspended from Quidditch practice for another two weeks," Snape said, scowling at Draco. "Rather inconvenient timing, Mr. Malfoy, since the Headmaster has decided to let the Quidditch matches resume."

"Yes, sir," Draco said glumly. He wondered if Snape was going to have Dylan replace him as Captain and Seeker, temporarily at least, and possibly permanently.

"However," Snape continued, "it should not prove to be too much of a problem, since I have asked the Headmaster to move Slytherin's remaining matches to the end of the season. Since the attacks at the matches have always been against Slytherin, it seemed prudent to wait. Perhaps by then the Aurors will have figured out who was behind them."

"Yes, sir," Draco said with a sigh of relief.

"Go to breakfast, Mr. Malfoy," Snape ordered.

"Yes, sir," Draco said obediently, although the thought of eating anything was very unappealing at the moment.

Lupin smiled at him sympathetically, seeming to guess at his thoughts. "You should at least have a little tea, even if you can't eat anything, Draco. It might help settle your stomach, and you should...ah...replace the fluids that you've lost."

The fluids he'd lost by crying his eyes out and throwing up, Lupin was too polite to say. Draco nodded and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Mr. Malfoy?" Snape called out.

"Yes, sir?"

"You may not have a father, but you do have a mother who loves you and would risk her life for you. Don't forget that."

Snape's gaze was not angry, but steady and penetrating. His black eyes seemed to see deeper into Draco's soul than he was comfortable with, and he hastily said, "Yes, sir," and fled the room. Snape did not stop him.

***

"Severus, don't you think that we should talk to Draco about Lukas?" Lupin asked after Draco had gone.

Snape shook his head. "I know you'd like everyone to live happily ever after, Lupin, but it's too soon to push a new stepfather on Draco. He clearly didn't react well to finding them together; give him some time to adjust."

"It will be hard," Lupin said quietly. "He really loved Lucius, even if Lucius didn't deserve it. He wanted so badly to please his father. I know that he also resented Lucius, but--"

"In some ways, that only makes it harder for him to let go," Snape finished.

Lupin smiled sadly, not just for Draco, but also for Severus, who had never been able to resolve things with his father, either.

"Damn that werewolf," Snape said irritably, and it was obvious that he wasn't talking about Lupin. "If he'd said something to us, we could have stepped in and tried to help Draco before things got to this point." He scowled. "Then we'd only have had one drunken idiot up on the Astronomy Tower."

Lupin couldn't help but laugh in spite of his concern for Draco and Aric. "I don't think that Lukas likes to discuss his lovelife with other people."

Snape, however, did not find things in the least amusing. "He can sleep with whomever he wants, but if it affects one of my students, it becomes my business. He should have told us when Draco found out, and he most certainly should have told us what was behind Draco's attack on Weasley."

"Let me talk to him, Severus," Lupin said, deciding that it would probably be safer for everyone involved not to let the two alpha males butt heads.

"Fine," Snape growled, "but if he pulls another stunt like this again, I'm poisoning his Wolfsbane Potion."

"Not turning him into a toad or blasting him into a pile of ash?" Lupin joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Do I look stupid enough to confront a werewolf directly, Lupin?" Snape demanded, sounding insulted.

"No, love," Lupin said, kissing him lightly on the mouth. "Not unless the werewolf is me."

"Well, Diggory's a lot more dangerous than you are," Snape retorted. Then he grinned slyly. "Although you might want to check the potion before you drink it next month."

Lupin kissed him again. "I'm not afraid of you, Sev."

"That's because you're a Gryffindor, and Gryffindors are too stupid to be afraid when they should be," Snape said, but he kissed Lupin back, so Lupin decided to be generous and let him have the last word.

***

Breakfast had already started by the time Lupin and Snape made it to the Great Hall. Draco and Aric both were subdued and looked...well, like two boys suffering a hangover, actually. James and Sirius and Peter had looked much the same after their night of drinking back in fourth year, minus the cuts and bruises, of course. Lupin had been with them, but as he had not liked the taste of the liquor, he had not drunk as much as the others, and besides, his monthly transformations had made him reluctant to willingly lose control of himself. But to avoid being called a spoilsport, he had pretended to drink from the bottle as they passed it around, and soon his friends had been too drunk to notice that he wasn't really drinking. He had still received detention along with the other three, though. The memory brought a smile to his face now, although it hadn't been very funny at the time. He still remembered McGonagall frowning at him and saying quietly, "I'm very disappointed in you, Mr. Lupin," which had been worse than being yelled at.

Lupin sighed a little as he remembered less pleasant times at Hogwarts--all the times that his friends had played pranks on Severus. He had been surprised when Dumbledore had made him a prefect in fifth year; the drinking incident should have proven that he was not much good at keeping his friends out of trouble.

Well, at least Sirius had matured, Lupin consoled himself. Branwen and McGonagall were talking to each other across the table, and from the way Branwen was laughing and McGonagall was sighing and rolling her eyes, they were probably discussing the Marauders. McGonagall noticed Lupin watching them, and gave him an ironic smile, confirming his suspicions.

Lukas seemed a little nervous, probably because Snape kept giving him baleful looks, and he left the table with unusual haste. But Lupin hurried after him with the determination of a wolf on the hunt. "Lukas! I need to talk to you!"

"We'll be late for class," Lukas said, not looking back.

"I know about you and Narcissa!" Lupin cried.

Lukas stopped in his tracks and swiveled around, his face pale. "Keep your voice down!" he hissed, then grabbed Lupin and dragged him down a little-used side corridor, away from the halls that the students and teachers usually traversed on their way to class. "How did you find out?" he growled.

"How do you think?" Lupin retorted. "Draco let it slip to us this morning. Did you really think he would be able to keep such a secret to himself forever? Why didn't you tell us what happened, Lukas?"

"Because it's none of your business, Lupin!" Lukas snapped.

"Severus considers it very much his business when one of his Slytherins is affected," Lupin said firmly. "He was very upset that you have not been honest with us, and you're lucky that it's me confronting you right now instead of him."

Lukas looked defensive, but also a little guilty. "I know that Draco was angry when he found out, but I thought that he'd be all right once I broke it off with Narcissa."

Lupin was beginning to get a little angry himself, so it was probably a good thing that Severus wasn't here, considering his lover's temper. "Lukas, Draco beat Ron badly enough to put him in the hospital wing, he's alienated all his friends, and last night he went out and got drunk and got into a fight with Aric. Does that sound to you like he's 'all right'?"

"No," mumbled Lukas, hanging his head.

"I can understand that you didn't want word getting around the school about your affair, but surely you could at least have trusted Severus and me," Lupin said. "We're your friends, and Severus is Draco's Head of House. We could have helped him through this."

Lukas shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't take the chance that you might tell Narcissa what happened."

"Well, of course we would talk to her!" Lupin said. "Draco is her son, after all, and--wait a minute. Narcissa doesn't know about any of this?"

"I thought Draco told you what happened," Lukas said, looking a little confused.

"He told us that he saw you by the lake with Narcissa and that's why he's been so upset lately, but he didn't give us all the details," Lupin replied.

"I promised to break it off with Narcissa if he didn't tell her that he knew about us," Lukas said. "That was the bargain we made."

"How could you make such a bargain?" Lupin demanded. "She's his mother, she has the right to know--"

"No!" shouted Lukas. "She doesn't need to know! Things are already strained enough between them as it is, with her having killed his father."

"But--" Lupin protested.

"You can't tell her anything about this, Remus," Lukas said urgently. "I mean it! Draco will get over this in time. He might hate me for the rest of his life, but as long as it keeps him from turning against Narcissa, I can live with it. Losing her son would destroy her."

"It's tearing Draco apart!" Lupin argued.

"But you and Severus can help him with that now," Lukas pointed out. "You're right, I should have told you. I'm sorry. If Narcissa finds out that Draco knows about us, she'll only feel guilty and ashamed. What good will that do?"

"How do you think she must feel now," Lupin shot back, "not knowing why you've broken up with her? What excuse did you give her? Or did you bother to tell her anything at all?"

Lukas sneered at him. "There was nothing more than sex between us, Lupin; it's no big deal. I told her the truth, that we should stop seeing each other before someone found out and her precious pureblood reputation got besmirched."

"Don't give me that, Lukas," Lupin said, looking his friend directly in the eyes. "You don't go through such lengths to protect someone you don't care about. If there was nothing more than sex between you, if you despised her as much as you pretend to, you wouldn't care about her feelings. You wouldn't care if Draco turned against her. I heard you howl during the full moon, Lukas. You were mourning the loss of your mate."

"Then you should know better than to get between a wolf and its mate, Lupin," Lukas growled.

"You're doing the exact same thing that Severus did years ago, and it's wrong!" Lupin said angrily. "Severus loved me, but he pretended that he hated me in order to protect me. He knew that I would be in danger if the Death Eaters knew that I was his lover, so he pushed me away from him. But he didn't have the right to make that decision for me. It should have been my choice to take the risk or not. And I would have taken any risk to be with him! You are doing the same thing to Narcissa, treating her as if she were a child or an incompetent."

"It would kill her if she lost Draco!" Lukas insisted.

"Draco and Narcissa are stronger than you think," Lupin argued. "They'll work through this together. Draco might get angry at her, but he loves his mother too much to turn against her."

"I can't take that risk," Lukas said adamantly.

"If Narcissa agrees that you should end your relationship, fine, but it's not your right to make that decision alone!" Lupin shouted. While he was upset about the way Lukas was treating Narcissa, he also knew that his own feelings about himself and Severus were fueling his anger. "Please don't make the same mistakes that Severus and I did. Do you really want to look back with regret twenty years from now and see all the time you wasted, all the years you could have spent together?"

Lukas lost control of himself and lunged forward, grabbing Lupin by the front of his robes and pushing him up against the wall. He bared his teeth and snarled, "She is MY mate and you will not interfere, Lupin! If you tell Narcissa about any of this, I swear by all the gods I will kill you!"

His yellow-green eyes were filled with rage, more animal than human at the moment. Lupin could feel Lukas's breath hot on his face, could see his exposed fangs, much smaller and shorter in his human form than his wolf form, of course, but Lupin had no doubt that Lukas could and would tear his throat out if he thought Lupin was a threat to his mate. Lukas played the pureblood game well, and was able to look and act the part of a pureblood Lord, as he had proven during the course of his trial. But now Lupin was forcibly reminded that it was only a thin veneer covering his true wolfish nature. For over twenty years, Lukas had been more wolf than human, and Lupin had nearly forgotten that. He was suddenly acutely aware that his life was in danger, threatened by other werewolf's instinct to protect his mate. Of course, if Lukas killed Lupin, Severus would probably kill him in turn, but Lupin would still be dead. And Lukas was not thinking logically enough to foresee that future threat. Even if he could, that still might not stop him, as overwhelmed as he was by his inner wolf at present.

Lupin felt his own inner wolf responding to the threat; it wanted to expose its throat, signaling submission to the stronger wolf. But he retained enough of his humanity to fight that urge, feeling like it would somehow be a betrayal of Severus. The act of submission had become an intimate part of their lovemaking, and perhaps it was silly, but he would feel almost as if he were cheating on Severus if he submitted to someone else. It didn't matter that there was nothing sexual going on between himself and Lukas, or that Severus would never know about it if Lupin didn't tell him; Lupin would know, and deep in his heart he would feel guilty.

So he did not tilt his head back, although his sense of self-preservation was screaming at him to. But he did allow himself to whimper and whine, giving in to the wolf's fear without any shame.

That was enough to make Lukas draw back a little, and although he was still breathing heavily, that glow of rage in his eyes seemed to dim just a little. "I promise I won't say anything to Narcissa," Lupin whispered.

Lukas relaxed, loosening his grasp on Lupin's robes, and suddenly he was human again. Well, almost. "Remember your promise, Lupin," he growled. "And remember what I'll do to you if you break it." Then he turned and stalked off without waiting for Lupin to reply.

Lupin remained there, leaning against the wall as he tried to catch his breath, waiting for the fear to subside and his racing heartbeat to resume a normal pace. Finally, although his legs still felt a bit wobbly, he pushed himself away from the wall and headed to class.

Snape stopped by between classes to see him. "How did your talk with Diggory go?" he asked.

Lupin had decided not to tell him about Lukas's threat, because his lover was as insanely protective as any werewolf, and he was afraid that Severus really might poison Lukas as he had threatened. In fact, if Severus lost his temper, Lupin didn't trust him not to attack Lukas immediately, no matter what he said about it not being safe to directly confront a werewolf.

So Lupin behaved like any good Slytherin would, and told the literal truth without revealing what he wanted to hide. "Lukas apologized for not confiding in us. He was afraid we might tell Narcissa, and he wants to shield her from Draco's anger."

"She doesn't know?" Snape asked in surprise.

"No, and he very adamantly insists that she not be told," Lupin replied. "He broke up with Narcissa, although he didn't tell her why, in order to avoid coming between her and Draco. He says it will destroy her if she loses her son."

Snape raised his eyebrows. "He sounds very protective. This wasn't just some casual fling, then."

Lupin shook his head. "No, his wolf has recognized Narcissa as its mate. He loves her, and he's stubbornly determined to protect her."

Snape smiled wryly. "I remember how well it went over when I tried to protect you."

Lupin sighed. "I told him that he was making a mistake, but he refused to listen."

"Should we tell Narcissa?" Snape asked.

"I think it might do more harm than good right now," Lupin said carefully. "Let's try to work on Draco first. If we can ease his hostility towards Lukas slightly, then maybe Lukas will reconsider."

"Good luck," Snape said skeptically. "Are you really sure it's a good idea to force Draco to serve his detention with Diggory?"

"Yes, I think if they're forced to spend some time together--oh, dammit. I never got a chance to ask Lukas about the detention." Of course, Lukas had not been in a particularly receptive mood at the time. "Well, I'll ask him later," Lupin sighed, resigning himself to cornering the wolf in his den, so to speak.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Lupin," Lukas said when Lupin caught him in his classroom as he was about to leave for lunch; he seemed to have calmed down considerably. "You can put the kids to work at the clinic if you want, but I don't see why I have to be there."

"You're a good influence on Aric," Lupin cajoled. "He respects you, and he's going through a difficult time right now." He explained about the marriage alliance.

"All right, but why send Malfoy along?" Lukas asked. "You know he hates me."

"Well, for one thing, I thought if he and Aric spent some time together they might become friends. They were drinking together last night, after all."

"Didn't they wind up brawling?" Lukas asked skeptically.

"Well, when I was in school, it seemed that drinking and brawling together proved to be a bonding experience for some of my housemates," Lupin said optimistically. "And if nothing else, they can commiserate together about their detention."

"Ah yes," Lukas said, smiling a little. "Nothing like a mutual enemy to bring people together, and Snape fills that role nicely."

"And for another thing," Lupin continued, "I think it might help Draco to spend some time with you, to see you in a different setting."

Lukas snorted. "I doubt that seeing me at the clinic will suddenly turn me into a more appealing potential stepfather. I warned you, Lupin, do not meddle in my life."

"I've agreed to keep your secret," Lupin said stubbornly. "You can do this one favor for me in return."

"Are you blackmailing me, Lupin?" Lukas asked, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"I am asking you for a favor, as a friend, to help a student," Lupin replied, standing his ground. "Draco's already been told that he will serve his detention at the clinic with Aric, accompanied by you and me. He isn't happy about it, but he's accepted it. It will lessen my authority and Severus's if you back out now. And besides, you can't avoid him completely, Lukas. You still have to see each other during class, after all."

"Oh, very well," Lukas agreed grudgingly. "But next time ask my permission before you rope me into these things."

Lupin smiled with relief. "Thank you, Lukas. Oh, and by the way--Draco and Aric were brawling over you, you know."

"What?"

"We could hear them shouting as we came up the stairs. I didn't catch all of it, but it seemed like Draco was threatening to attack you, to defend his mother's honor, I assume, and Aric was trying to stop him." Lupin grinned. "He seemed quite protective of you."

"Idiot brats," Lukas said, rolling his eyes, but the corners of his mouth turned up a little. "I don't need Aric to defend me; I could take Malfoy with one hand tied behind my back. With no use of magic."

"If I didn't know that you were perfectly capable of doing exactly that, I would say that you were being cocky, Lukas," Lupin said, glad that things seemed to have returned to normal between them.

"I'm just stating a fact, Lupin," Lukas retorted.

They headed to the Great Hall together, and after a short silence, Lukas said hesitantly, "Er...Remus?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry about what happened this morning," the werewolf leader said awkwardly. "But I meant what I said."

"I understand," Lupin replied. "I am a wolf, too. I would kill to protect my mate and cubs, if necessary. But I still think that you've made the wrong choice. I think you will regret it later."

"I have many regrets in my life, Lupin," Lukas said with a humorless smile. "What's one more?"

"You love her," Lupin said softly.

Lukas bristled, and it seemed for a moment that he would try to deny it. Then he sighed wearily and said, "Yes, Merlin help me, I do. But love isn't always enough, Lupin. Even if Draco wasn't a problem, I don't think that it would work out between us. I don't think that she could get over her pureblood upbringing. It isn't just me that she would have to accept, but also my pack. They are my family, and I would never abandon them."

Lupin had to admit that it was difficult to picture Narcissa presiding over a pack of werewolves, although the thought of a pack of wolves running around Malfoy Manor was rather amusing. Not that Lupin had ever been inside Malfoy Manor, but he imagined that it probably looked a great deal like Snape Manor, in terms of size and grandeur. Strangely enough, he could picture Lady Selima bringing a pack of werewolves to heel. He imagined her getting furious about them shedding fur on the carpet, and he could just picture Selima's icy glare causing the wolves to roll over and tuck their tails between their legs in fear.

"You never know, Lukas," Lupin said aloud.

"Don't interfere, Lupin," Lukas growled.

"I promised you that I wouldn't," Lupin reminded him. "Even if it was given under duress, I would never break my word."

"Sorry," Lukas muttered, having the grace to look a little shamefaced. Then he smiled ruefully. "Am I going to have worry about your mate poisoning my Wolfsbane Potion?" He laughed at Lupin's startled expression. "Well, he is very protective of you--rather like a wolf himself, and it would be the most obvious way to get rid of me. He is a Slytherin and a Potions Master, after all."

Lupin laughed. "You and Severus think alike, but don't worry, Lukas. I didn't tell him about our little argument this morning."

"Nevertheless, maybe I'll get my potion from Takeshi for the next few months, just to be on the safe side," Lukas said.

Part 68