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FIC: A Sort of Fairytale, Part 3
Sorry, still not done, but here is the next chapter! I hope to have it wrapped up in another chapter or two--I never expected this to grow into such an epic!
Title: A Sort of Fairytale, Part 3
Author:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
geri_chan
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Snape/Lupin
Word count: ~5270
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part. Characters belong to J.K. Rowling, except for Death, who belongs to Neil Gaiman.
Author's notes: Canon compliant up to HBP, more or less, but I made up my own ending to the series, although I borrowed a few crucial elements from DH. I borrowed the character Death from Neil Gaiman's Sandman series; she also appears in my story The Revenant. You don't need to be familiar with the Sandman comics/graphic novels in order to follow this story, although I've thrown in a few little in-jokes for Gaiman fans.
Summary: Written for the Trading Places challenge on![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
lupin_snape, based on karasu_hime's lovely artwork. Sirius enters Remus's and Severus's dreams in an attempt to reconcile them.
Part 1, Part 2
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Death had told Sirius that he could influence people's thoughts while they were sleeping, so he slipped into Remus's room that night after his friend went to bed. Sirius gazed dubiously at his wand and muttered, "For once, will you do something right?" He hesitantly shook it over Remus's head, and a shower of glittering sparks fell from it, and the scenery around him seemed to blur...
And he found himself standing beside the lake outside the castle. Remus sat on the shore, skipping stones across the water's surface, but there was no gray in his hair and no lines on his face; he appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen years old.
Ah, so I must be inside his dream, which means that the stupid wand did work this time, Sirius thought. He glanced down at himself, half-expecting to find that he had turned into a teenager, too, but he was still wearing the torn blue robe, and still holding the silly star-tipped wand, and...he tentatively flexed his wings and felt them flutter. Yes, they were still there, too, damn it!
"Padfoot?" Remus asked in a startled voice, his eyes widening as he caught sight of Sirius. His mouth opened and closed several times without making a sound, then he doubled over as he burst into laughter.
"Nice way to greet your dead friend, Moony," Sirius said sourly, as he sat down on the grass beside Remus. "I thought you might shed a few tears, maybe hug me and say, 'It's so nice to see you again, Sirius'--but no, you just sit there laughing your head off."
Remus was laughing so hard that he was clutching at his stomach and tears were streaming down his face. "I-I'm s-sorry, Sirius," he gasped. "But you look so ridiculous in that get-up! What are you supposed to be, anyway, a fairy godmother?"
"A fairy godfather," Sirius replied, mustering all the dignity he could manage, which under the circumstances, was not much. "I'm here to grant your fondest wish."
That set off another round of laughter, and Sirius had to wait another a few minutes for Remus to get himself under control.
"Ah, thank you, Padfoot," Remus said, still chuckling as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "I really needed a good laugh!"
"So glad to oblige," Sirius said sarcastically.
"Sorry," Remus said, although he was still grinning from ear to ear. Actually, it was nice to see Moony smiling again, when he'd been so miserable for...well, pretty much since Sirius had died, and probably long before that.
Since he'd broken Remus and Snape up with his little "prank," Sirius admitted to himself with a little sigh of resignation.
"But I guess that's why I'm dreaming of you now," Remus was saying. "Because this must be a dream since you're dead in real life, right? I was feeling down, and I needed a friend to cheer me up. Though I'm not sure why I'd dream of you dressed up like a fairy godmother."
"Godfather!"
"I'll have to do some research into dream symbology when I wake up," Remus mused, ignoring him. "Or maybe tonight's dinner just didn't agree with me. The curry was a little spicy..."
"This is a dream, but you aren't imagining me!" Sirius told him. "I've been sent here by Death! You see, I messed up things between you and Snape, and now I can't move on until I set things right and help you guys get back together."
"Okay, now I know I must be dreaming," Remus said, blinking in surprise. "The real Sirius would never be trying to get me and Severus together."
"Look, this isn't a dream," Sirius tried to persuade his friend. "Well, it is, but I'm real. I can't communicate with living people except through dreams. Anyway, what Death told me is--"
"Death?" Remus interrupted. "As in the personification of death...skeletal man clad in black robes, carrying a scythe? That Death?"
"Yes, except that Death is actually a woman," Sirius replied. "A cute goth girl with a rather nasty sense of humor." He scowled, motioning at himself. "Which is how I ended up like this."
"I see," Remus said doubtfully, as if he didn't see at all. "But why would Death care whether Severus and I are together or not?"
"Because she's a pervert," Sirius said sourly. "And because she claims that you and Snape are supposed to be lifemates."
"There's no such thing as lifemates," Remus said, although he looked a little wistful. "Things like that only exist in fairy tales."
"Hello!" Sirius said, waving his arms in an exaggeratedly large motion to catch Remus's attention. "See yours truly here? Sometimes fairy tales do come true!"
"Not this one," Remus said quietly, despair lining his face, and suddenly it was the adult Remus sitting next to him, looking gray and haggard. "Even if we are lifemates, Severus hates me. He'll never forgive me for that prank."
He shot a resentful look at Sirius, who hung his head and mumbled, "I'm sorry."
Remus's anger dissipated, and he sighed, running his fingers through his hair distractedly. "Actually, it's not just that, or at least, I don't think so. He felt like I betrayed him because I didn't tell him the truth about myself."
"But you had to keep it secret," Sirius argued. "You weren't allowed to tell anyone that you were a werewolf."
"But I told you three about it," Remus said with a sad smile. "Only after you found out on your own, of course, but still...I shared my secret with you and not with him, and he'll never forgive me for it. I suppose in a way, I can't really blame him. I didn't trust him to still care about me if he knew I was a werewolf, and I didn't trust him when it appeared that he had killed Albus. I immediately believed the worst of him when I should have known better."
"But Moony, everyone was supposed to believe he was a traitor," Sirius pointed out. "That was the whole point of their little scheme, after all."
"But I'm not everyone," Remus said. "I loved him. I still do. Even if things looked bad, even if everyone else turned against him, I should still have had faith in him. I'm not sure I can forgive myself for that, so why should Severus?"
"But he loves you, Moony," Sirius said, he hoped with more confidence than he felt. "Death said you guys were meant to be together! You can't give up now; you have to keep trying to get through to him! I'll help you!"
"Forgive me, Sirius, but I don't think that Severus would be likely to listen to you," Remus said skeptically. "Even if you were real and not a figment of my imagination."
"I am not a figment of your imagination, you stubborn git!" Sirius shouted, beginning to get a little annoyed with his friend. "I told you, Death sent me here to make up for my mistakes! I'm stuck in Limbo and I can't move on to the afterlife until I set things right!"
"Oh, I see," Remus said coldly. "You're not really here to help me, are you? You're only doing this because it benefits you. Maybe you are the real Sirius after all, because you're just as self-centered as he was!"
"Moony!" Sirius protested in a wounded voice. "How can you say that? Look, I know I made some mistakes in the past, but--"
"Go away, Sirius," Remus said, turning his back on him. "Some things cannot be mended no matter how sorry you are, and this is one of them. I've already put Severus through enough pain. I won't add to that by forcing myself on him when I'm no longer wanted."
"Isn't it really yourself that you're trying to protect?" Sirius retorted. "It's not to protect Snape, it's because you're scared of being rejected again! You're a Gryffindor, Moony--I thought you were braver than that!"
Remus flinched, and his head turned back to face Sirius for a moment, his face filled with shock and anger and guilt, and the landscape dissolved around them...
And Sirius found himself back in Remus's bedroom, as his friend sat bolt upright in bed.
Remus glanced around, looking a little wild-eyed, then said shakily, "It was just a dream." And then in a firmer voice, he added, "Of course that's all it was! Of course Sirius wouldn't come back from the dead, and even if he did, he certainly wouldn't be trying to play matchmaker for me and Severus!" He rubbed his stomach and sighed ruefully. "I guess in the future, I shouldn't eat spicy food so close to bedtime. I think I'll go down to the kitchen and get a glass of warm milk..."
Remus threw a robe on over his pajamas and left the room, and Sirius shook his head in disgust. Damn Moony for being so stubborn! And how could Moony accuse him of being selfish, when he was doing all this for Moony's sake? Well, okay, he had wanted to escape from the waiting room, but that was incidental.
Sirius sighed. His motivation was partly selfish, he finally admitted to himself, but now that he'd seen how much Remus was suffering, he really did want to help him.
If he couldn't get through to his best friend, he wasn't likely to have better luck with Snape, but since he couldn't think of a better plan, he headed down to the Potions Master's dungeon quarters, where Snape lay snoring quietly in his bed.
"Well, let's try this again," Sirius said, waving his wand...
Curiously, he found himself standing near the lake again, a little farther back on the shore this time. Snape sat under a tree reading a book, but he seemed to be having trouble concentrating, because he kept flipping back and forth through the pages in a restless manner, too quickly to have actually read anything, unless he happened to be a speed reader. Finally, he set the book aside with a sigh, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a little wooden carving of a coiled serpent, turning it over and over with his fingers while he stared at it broodingly.
Sirius had never seen the statuette before, but he recognized Moony's work easily enough. Remus was clever with his hands and had done many little carvings for his friends as birthday and Christmas presents, since he usually didn't have enough money to buy gifts. Sirius had a little wooden dog that he treasured, a carving Remus had made of his animagus form; Remus had also made a stag for James and a rat for Peter. He must have made the snake for Snape, back before Sirius had broken them up.
That thought reminded him of his duty, so he walked up to Snape and cleared his throat.
Snape instantly dropped the carving and jumped to his feet, pulling his wand out of his pocket. "Black!" he snarled, but as he got a good look at Sirius, his expression changed from angry to bewildered, and he repeated in a more uncertain tone, "Black...?"
"Yes, it's me," Sirius sighed resignedly. "Go ahead and laugh--get it out of your system. I know how stupid I look."
"Oh, of course--this must be a dream," Snape said, sounding relieved to have figured out what was going on. "You're dead, after all, so we couldn't possibly be having this conversation in real life. You could be a ghost, I suppose, but..." Snape snickered. "I can't imagine why you would come back in that silly fairy godmother outfit."
"I'm a fairy godfather, dammit!" Sirius said crossly, which only caused Snape to laugh more heartily this time.
Then the Potions Master frowned. "But why would I be dreaming about Black dressed up in a fairy costume? I admit, I would enjoy seeing him humiliated, but I've never imagined it taking quite this form." His frown grew deeper, a furrowed line creasing his forehead. "It must be the curry; I knew it tasted a little off. I swear, if those house-elves have given me food poisoning, I'll render them into potion ingredients!"
"Relax, Snape," Sirius told him. "It's not the curry, so don't take it out on those poor house-elves. I have been sent here by Death to right the wrongs that I committed in my youth."
"What on earth are you blathering on about, Black?" Snape asked irritably. "Run back off to fairyland or dreamland, or wherever it is that you came from, and leave me alone. It's been quite peaceful without you around for the past two years, and I prefer to keep it that way."
"Listen up, you slimy bastard, I'm here to help you!" Sirius barked.
"Now I know I must be dreaming," Snape scoffed. "The real Sirius Black wouldn't deign to piss on me if I were on fire."
Sirius recalled thinking the very same thing, and was tempted to agree, but the thought of an unhappy Moony--and a vengeful Death--caused him to grit his teeth and explain the same thing he had to Remus, that the two of them were lifemates and he was supposed to help the two of them get back together.
"So you see, it wasn't Moony's fault at all," Sirius finished. "He didn't know about the prank. I was afraid that you were getting too close to him, and I was afraid you might hurt him, because I couldn't imagine that you--that a Slytherin could really fall in love with a Gryffindor. So I thought I'd scare you away by showing you that Remus was a werewolf. He knew absolutely nothing about it. So go ahead and hate me--punch me or hex me if that'll make you feel better." He spread his arms wide, offering himself up as a target. "But stop taking it out on Remus. He really does love you; he's never stopped loving you, even after all these years. So stop being so stubborn and get back together with him, will you? He thinks that you hate him, so he's afraid to make the first move."
"That's no surprise," Snape sneered. "He's always been a coward."
"Haven't you been listening to me?" Sirius demanded. "How many times do I have to tell you, Remus didn't know about the prank! He wasn't trying to kill you!"
"I know that!" Snape snapped, to Sirius's complete surprise.
"But then, why...?"
"Why won't I forgive him?" Snape finished. "Because that incident showed me his true colors. I can forgive him for almost killing me or turning me into a Dark Creature. What I can't forgive is that he betrayed me!"
"But I don't understand," Sirius said. "How did he betray you? You just said you knew he wasn't in on my prank!"
"First, he didn't tell me about his lycanthropy," Snape replied in a quiet and bitter voice. "That would be understandable, except that he considered you and your little friends worthy of sharing his secret, but not me. And the second reason is that he remained friends with you and Potter and the rat, even after you tried to kill me."
"James and Peter weren't in on it," Sirius protested. "It was only me!"
"Fine, it was only you," Snape said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "He still forgave you, even after you tried to kill me, even though he would have been imprisoned or executed himself if your little 'prank' had succeeded. He showed himself for what he truly was, a sniveling little coward who would lick the boots of the 'popular' Gryffindors just to keep on their good side." Snape glared at Sirius with pure hatred and jealousy in his black eyes, and the bitterness in his voice honed it to a knife-sharp edge that Sirius could almost feel cutting through him. "He proved that I would always come in a poor second to his dear Marauders, so tell me again why I should take him back."
"He was just a kid then, damn it!" Sirius said angrily. "He was young and scared of losing the only friends he had! He's not the only one who made mistakes when he was young--remember, you joined the Death Eaters, so get off your goddamned pedestal, Snape!"
"Yes, I did, Black," Snape spat. "And I've done my best to atone for that! I played spy for two decades, enduring contempt from both sides, and the Cruciatus whenever the Dark Lord was in a bad mood, and I protected the Potter brat even though he seemed to be doing his best to get himself killed even without the Dark Lord's help! What did you ever do but sit in that moldy house all day whining about how unfair life is while other people did all the work?!"
"You sanctimonious son of a bitch!" Sirius shouted, grabbing Snape by the front of his robes and shaking him. "Why, I ought to--"
"What?" Snape retorted, but in a voice that was surprisingly hollow and empty. "Hex me? Kill me? Go ahead. You already took from me the only person that I ever cared about. There is nothing more you can do to me that is worse than that."
Sirius's fingers slowly released their hold on Snape's robes. "You...really mean that, don't you?" he asked in amazement. "You really do love Remus."
"You always were rather slow, Black," Snape said contemptuously. "I thought you said you already knew that."
"Well, that's what Death told me, but I didn't really believe it," Sirius admitted. "But if you love him, and now you know that he loves you, why won't you forgive him?"
"Because he's still a faithless coward," Snape said bitterly. "When I helped Dumbledore fake his death, Lupin immediately believed that I betrayed the Order. He..." Snape's voice cracked with pain for a moment before he regained control of himself. "He didn't even have a moment's doubt," Snape said harshly, "didn't even stop to question my apparent guilt. And he immediately threw himself into the arms of that wretched pink-haired wench."
"I think it was more the other way around," Sirius interjected. "She was the one throwing herself at him."
"At least she had an excuse for her actions!" Snape shouted. "She was under an Imperius Curse, but Lupin wasn't! He proved that whenever things get rough, he'll abandon me for the first Gryffindor who comes along!"
"Actually, Tonks was a Hufflepuff."
"I don't care!" Snape screamed, his voice filled with rage and anguish. "What's worse is that he wasn't even really attracted to her; he was just afraid of losing his friends--again! Nothing has changed since we were sixteen, Black! I'll always be second to you...to them."
"Snape," Sirius said desperately, "it's not like that, I swear! He feels terrible about doubting you. He blames himself even more than you do! Please..." It hurt to force that word out of his mouth, to set aside his pride and grovel before his childhood enemy this way, but he was struck by an overwhelming feeling that this was a wrong that he needed to right. Death had already told him that, but up until now, it had only been words. Now he knew how deeply he'd scarred Moony--and yes, Snape, too--and he knew that he would never be worthy of resting peacefully in the afterlife until he healed the wounds that he had caused.
"Please forgive him," Sirius begged. "He really does love you, and he won't make those mistakes again. For Merlin's sake, he announced to practically the entire wizarding world that he's gay!"
"But not that he loves me," Snape said bitterly. "He's still ashamed to be seen with greasy old Snivellus. I may have been foolish enough to accept that when I was a schoolboy, but I'm no longer interested in being anyone's dirty little secret."
"It's not like that, you stubborn git!" Sirius shouted. "If you would just listen--"
"Get out of my dream, Black!" Snape shouted. "And go back to the grave, where you belong!"
The dreamscape suddenly shattered, and Sirius was back in Snape's bedroom. Snape was sitting up in bed, panting and dripping with sweat.
"Goddamn bloody Sirius Black, of all people, haunting my dreams," Snape muttered under his breath as he got up and went to the bathroom to search through potion bottles in the medicine cabinet with shaking hands, until he found one labeled "Dreamless Sleep". "And dressed as a fairy godmother! I'll give those house-elves a piece of my mind in the morning! Whose bloody idea was it to put curry on the menu, anyway...?"
Sirius exited Snape's quarters and found Nick waiting for him in the hallway. The ghost took one look at his face and said sympathetically, "It didn't go well, I see."
"No, it didn't," Sirius said, scowling as he crossed his arms over his chest. "They both thought I was a dream conjured up by indigestion."
"Would it help if I told them that you're real?" Nick asked. "They can't see or hear you, but I can communicate with them. Perhaps I could function as a translator of sorts. Although to be honest, I don't really fancy trying to argue with Snape about why he should take back his childhood sweetheart; his temper is worse than the Baron's. But still, if it's for the sake of true love..."
It was a tempting idea, to give his responsibility over to Nick, but Sirius sighed and shook his head. "I appreciate your offer, Nick, but I was the one who caused the problem in the first place, so I think that I'm the one who has to fix things. Besides, even if they believed that I was real, I'm not sure it would make a difference. They both spoke their minds pretty freely to me tonight, even Snape. He actually admitted that he does love Remus. Maybe it's because he thought I was only a dream that he didn't try to hide his secrets from me. Anyway, Remus is too scared of rejection to tell Snape how he feels, and Snape is too bitter to forgive Remus for not having faith in him." He sighed again. "And for always seeming to put his friends first. Snape feels like he's always come in second, and maybe he's right, in a way. It's partly my fault, mine and James. We hated the Slytherins when we were kids, so Remus was afraid to tell us that he'd fallen in love with one."
"It's so tragic, like Romeo and Juliet," Nick sighed.
"Well, I'm hoping that this won't end in a double suicide," Sirius said glumly. "Although I'm tempted to kill them both myself for being so damned stubborn. Not that I'd actually hurt Moony, of course, even if this stupid wand could actually cast a real hex. Wait a minute...Romeo and Juliet..."
"The Montagues and Capulets," Nick elaborated. "Two young lovers, torn apart by feuding families..."
"Yes, yes, I know how the story goes," Sirius said impatiently. "Nick, you've given me a brilliant idea!"
"I have?" the ghost asked, looking puzzled but pleased. "But I thought you said you didn't want this to end in a double suicide."
"No, you're right; we'll have to go with a play that has a happier ending," Sirius said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"A play?" Nick asked, sounding even more confused.
"Yes!" Sirius said, grinning. "We'll cast them as the romantic leads in a play! Beauty and the Beast, maybe? No, it would hurt Moony's feelings to be cast as the Beast, and Snape is certainly no Beauty. Maybe Cinderella? Yes, that's perfect! It'll give Snape the chance to play the put-upon martyr, although Remus does that pretty well, too. And Remus will play the handsome prince. Surely with the two of them reciting romantic lines at each other, they'll get into the spirit of things and fall in love all over again!"
"I don't wish to be a wet blanket, Sirius," Nick said doubtfully. "But how is this different from the flowers and pushing Professor Lupin into Professor Snape's arms?"
"It's completely different!" Sirius said huffily, a little annoyed at having his brilliant plan questioned. "They'll be forced to spend time in each other's company instead of running away. There will be all the rehearsals, and the actual performance..."
"But they're barely even speaking to each other," Nick pointed out. "How will you get them to agree to act in a play together?"
"Easy," Sirius replied confidently. "If it's an order from the Headmaster, they can't refuse, now can they?"
So Sirius made one more trip into someone's dreams--Dumbledore's, this time. He found the Headmaster sitting in a plush, comfortable looking armchair beside a roaring fireplace, happily knitting a woolly striped sock in several clashing colors.
"Hello, Sirius," he said cheerfully, not seeming at all taken aback by Sirius's presence or his unusual attire. "How nice to see you again! Have a seat by the fire, and join me in a cup of cocoa."
Another armchair instantly appeared, along with a mug of cocoa floating in midair. Sirius sat down, grabbed the mug, and took a sip from it. It tasted delicious, even though he was dead and didn't need to drink anything.
"Why aren't you surprised to see me, Albus?" he asked. "I'm dead, after all."
"My boy, haven't I always said that death is just the next adventure?" Dumbledore replied with a wink. "Besides, in dreams, anything can happen--like having a friendly chat with an old friend who just happens to be deceased."
"This is a dream, but you need to believe that I'm real, not just a figment of your imagination, or the result of too much spicy curry for dinner," Sirius said urgently.
"Of course this is a dream, but that doesn't mean that our conversation isn't real," Dumbledore said mildly. "And I thought the curry was rather mild. In fact, I was going to ask the house-elves to make it a little spicier next time."
"Never mind about the curry," Sirius said impatiently. "Although you may have to protect the house-elves from an angry Snape; he's the one who thought I was a curry-inspired nightmare."
Dumbledore chuckled. "I'm a little surprised to hear that you were visiting Severus in his dreams, Sirius, but I'm pleased that you're finally attempting to befriend him. It saddened me that the two of you were never able to resolve your differences before you died."
"Yes, well, I really messed up things when I was alive," Sirius said, flushing with shame, and once more, he told the story about how Death had sent him back to fix his mistake. He was getting rather tired of repeating himself, but at least Dumbledore seemed to be listening with interest and wasn't dismissing him out of hand. "I was angry at Death at first, but now I'm glad that she's given me a chance to set things right," Sirius finished. "Although I still think she went a little too far with this fairy godfather thing."
"Ah, so that explains your, ah, unusual costume," Dumbledore said with a smile. "I had wondered about that, but I thought it would be rude to question your taste in fashion."
"Of course I'd never dress like this on purpose!" Sirius said indignantly, then wondered if the old man was pulling his leg when Dumbledore chuckled again. "Anyway, I have a plan to get Remus and Snape back together."
"I would like to see the two of them be happy, but they are adults, Sirius," Dumbledore said gently. "They have the right to make their own choices, even though we might consider those choices unwise. You cannot force them to reconcile against their will."
"I'm not talking about casting an Imperius Curse on them," Sirius defended himself. "Although believe me, I'd be tempted to, if this stupid wand worked properly! I know we can't force them to get back together, but maybe if we helped establish a setting more conducive to romance..."
He explained his idea about casting them in the play, and Dumbledore thought it over as he continued to knit. "Well, I would have to use force, or at least my authority as Headmaster in order to get them to participate in this play..."
"That was a great speech you gave about choices, Albus, but I know that you're a manipulative old man at heart," Sirius retorted. "You arranged for Remus to teach here during Harry's third year, and you forced Snape to brew the Wolfsbane Potion for him. Weren't you trying to play matchmaker back then? You didn't seem at all surprised to learn that they were lifemates, so you must've already known that they have feelings for each other."
"You're more observant than I thought," Dumbledore said with an approving smile. "Perhaps death has improved your sense of perception. Yes, I was hoping that Remus and Severus would be able to set aside the past and start over again, but you saw how well my meddling turned out."
"Well, I guess that was partly my fault, too," Sirius admitted. "Snape was hostile to Moony, but he didn't completely lose it until he found us in the Shrieking Shack."
"Yes, I think Severus has always been jealous of your closeness to Remus," Dumbledore said, smiling sadly. "It's the same reason why he hated James so much, I think."
And maybe he had been a little jealous of Snape, too, Sirius finally realized. Not that he was attracted to Moony in the way that Snape was, of course, but Remus and James and Peter had been like brothers to him, especially after he had run away from home and been disowned by his parents. He had felt like they were beginning to drift apart, with James and Remus pursuing their own love interests and spending less time with the group. He'd been jealous of Lily, too, but at least she'd been a Gryffindor and hadn't objected--at least, not too much--to James hanging out with his friends. Sirius had been afraid that Snape would take Remus away and cut him off from the Marauders completely. He'd been afraid of losing his friend and brother, so he'd tried to drive Snape away and had instead ended up driving a wedge between himself and Remus, accomplishing the very thing that he had feared in the first place.
"Look, it can't hurt to put this play on, can it?" Sirius asked, feeling a bit less confident about his plan. "I mean, think of it as a morale-booster, not just a means to get the two of them back together. We won the war, but half the castle's still a wreck, and many of the students lost friends and family members. Maybe it would lift everyone's spirits to forget about reality for a little while and watch a lighthearted romantic play."
"Hmm, you do have a point, Sirius," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "The students have been dealing with things very well for the most part, but I think we could all benefit from a little entertainment to lift our spirits." He smiled, his eyes twinkling with a bit of mischief behind his half-moon glasses. "Well, Remus and Severus probably won't be too thrilled with the idea, but at least it will give them someone to resent besides each other. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend,' as the saying goes."
Part 4, Part 5
Title: A Sort of Fairytale, Part 3
Author:
geri_chanRating: PG-13
Pairing: Snape/Lupin
Word count: ~5270
Disclaimer: No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part. Characters belong to J.K. Rowling, except for Death, who belongs to Neil Gaiman.
Author's notes: Canon compliant up to HBP, more or less, but I made up my own ending to the series, although I borrowed a few crucial elements from DH. I borrowed the character Death from Neil Gaiman's Sandman series; she also appears in my story The Revenant. You don't need to be familiar with the Sandman comics/graphic novels in order to follow this story, although I've thrown in a few little in-jokes for Gaiman fans.
Summary: Written for the Trading Places challenge on
lupin_snape, based on karasu_hime's lovely artwork. Sirius enters Remus's and Severus's dreams in an attempt to reconcile them.
Part 1, Part 2
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Death had told Sirius that he could influence people's thoughts while they were sleeping, so he slipped into Remus's room that night after his friend went to bed. Sirius gazed dubiously at his wand and muttered, "For once, will you do something right?" He hesitantly shook it over Remus's head, and a shower of glittering sparks fell from it, and the scenery around him seemed to blur...
And he found himself standing beside the lake outside the castle. Remus sat on the shore, skipping stones across the water's surface, but there was no gray in his hair and no lines on his face; he appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen years old.
Ah, so I must be inside his dream, which means that the stupid wand did work this time, Sirius thought. He glanced down at himself, half-expecting to find that he had turned into a teenager, too, but he was still wearing the torn blue robe, and still holding the silly star-tipped wand, and...he tentatively flexed his wings and felt them flutter. Yes, they were still there, too, damn it!
"Padfoot?" Remus asked in a startled voice, his eyes widening as he caught sight of Sirius. His mouth opened and closed several times without making a sound, then he doubled over as he burst into laughter.
"Nice way to greet your dead friend, Moony," Sirius said sourly, as he sat down on the grass beside Remus. "I thought you might shed a few tears, maybe hug me and say, 'It's so nice to see you again, Sirius'--but no, you just sit there laughing your head off."
Remus was laughing so hard that he was clutching at his stomach and tears were streaming down his face. "I-I'm s-sorry, Sirius," he gasped. "But you look so ridiculous in that get-up! What are you supposed to be, anyway, a fairy godmother?"
"A fairy godfather," Sirius replied, mustering all the dignity he could manage, which under the circumstances, was not much. "I'm here to grant your fondest wish."
That set off another round of laughter, and Sirius had to wait another a few minutes for Remus to get himself under control.
"Ah, thank you, Padfoot," Remus said, still chuckling as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "I really needed a good laugh!"
"So glad to oblige," Sirius said sarcastically.
"Sorry," Remus said, although he was still grinning from ear to ear. Actually, it was nice to see Moony smiling again, when he'd been so miserable for...well, pretty much since Sirius had died, and probably long before that.
Since he'd broken Remus and Snape up with his little "prank," Sirius admitted to himself with a little sigh of resignation.
"But I guess that's why I'm dreaming of you now," Remus was saying. "Because this must be a dream since you're dead in real life, right? I was feeling down, and I needed a friend to cheer me up. Though I'm not sure why I'd dream of you dressed up like a fairy godmother."
"Godfather!"
"I'll have to do some research into dream symbology when I wake up," Remus mused, ignoring him. "Or maybe tonight's dinner just didn't agree with me. The curry was a little spicy..."
"This is a dream, but you aren't imagining me!" Sirius told him. "I've been sent here by Death! You see, I messed up things between you and Snape, and now I can't move on until I set things right and help you guys get back together."
"Okay, now I know I must be dreaming," Remus said, blinking in surprise. "The real Sirius would never be trying to get me and Severus together."
"Look, this isn't a dream," Sirius tried to persuade his friend. "Well, it is, but I'm real. I can't communicate with living people except through dreams. Anyway, what Death told me is--"
"Death?" Remus interrupted. "As in the personification of death...skeletal man clad in black robes, carrying a scythe? That Death?"
"Yes, except that Death is actually a woman," Sirius replied. "A cute goth girl with a rather nasty sense of humor." He scowled, motioning at himself. "Which is how I ended up like this."
"I see," Remus said doubtfully, as if he didn't see at all. "But why would Death care whether Severus and I are together or not?"
"Because she's a pervert," Sirius said sourly. "And because she claims that you and Snape are supposed to be lifemates."
"There's no such thing as lifemates," Remus said, although he looked a little wistful. "Things like that only exist in fairy tales."
"Hello!" Sirius said, waving his arms in an exaggeratedly large motion to catch Remus's attention. "See yours truly here? Sometimes fairy tales do come true!"
"Not this one," Remus said quietly, despair lining his face, and suddenly it was the adult Remus sitting next to him, looking gray and haggard. "Even if we are lifemates, Severus hates me. He'll never forgive me for that prank."
He shot a resentful look at Sirius, who hung his head and mumbled, "I'm sorry."
Remus's anger dissipated, and he sighed, running his fingers through his hair distractedly. "Actually, it's not just that, or at least, I don't think so. He felt like I betrayed him because I didn't tell him the truth about myself."
"But you had to keep it secret," Sirius argued. "You weren't allowed to tell anyone that you were a werewolf."
"But I told you three about it," Remus said with a sad smile. "Only after you found out on your own, of course, but still...I shared my secret with you and not with him, and he'll never forgive me for it. I suppose in a way, I can't really blame him. I didn't trust him to still care about me if he knew I was a werewolf, and I didn't trust him when it appeared that he had killed Albus. I immediately believed the worst of him when I should have known better."
"But Moony, everyone was supposed to believe he was a traitor," Sirius pointed out. "That was the whole point of their little scheme, after all."
"But I'm not everyone," Remus said. "I loved him. I still do. Even if things looked bad, even if everyone else turned against him, I should still have had faith in him. I'm not sure I can forgive myself for that, so why should Severus?"
"But he loves you, Moony," Sirius said, he hoped with more confidence than he felt. "Death said you guys were meant to be together! You can't give up now; you have to keep trying to get through to him! I'll help you!"
"Forgive me, Sirius, but I don't think that Severus would be likely to listen to you," Remus said skeptically. "Even if you were real and not a figment of my imagination."
"I am not a figment of your imagination, you stubborn git!" Sirius shouted, beginning to get a little annoyed with his friend. "I told you, Death sent me here to make up for my mistakes! I'm stuck in Limbo and I can't move on to the afterlife until I set things right!"
"Oh, I see," Remus said coldly. "You're not really here to help me, are you? You're only doing this because it benefits you. Maybe you are the real Sirius after all, because you're just as self-centered as he was!"
"Moony!" Sirius protested in a wounded voice. "How can you say that? Look, I know I made some mistakes in the past, but--"
"Go away, Sirius," Remus said, turning his back on him. "Some things cannot be mended no matter how sorry you are, and this is one of them. I've already put Severus through enough pain. I won't add to that by forcing myself on him when I'm no longer wanted."
"Isn't it really yourself that you're trying to protect?" Sirius retorted. "It's not to protect Snape, it's because you're scared of being rejected again! You're a Gryffindor, Moony--I thought you were braver than that!"
Remus flinched, and his head turned back to face Sirius for a moment, his face filled with shock and anger and guilt, and the landscape dissolved around them...
And Sirius found himself back in Remus's bedroom, as his friend sat bolt upright in bed.
Remus glanced around, looking a little wild-eyed, then said shakily, "It was just a dream." And then in a firmer voice, he added, "Of course that's all it was! Of course Sirius wouldn't come back from the dead, and even if he did, he certainly wouldn't be trying to play matchmaker for me and Severus!" He rubbed his stomach and sighed ruefully. "I guess in the future, I shouldn't eat spicy food so close to bedtime. I think I'll go down to the kitchen and get a glass of warm milk..."
Remus threw a robe on over his pajamas and left the room, and Sirius shook his head in disgust. Damn Moony for being so stubborn! And how could Moony accuse him of being selfish, when he was doing all this for Moony's sake? Well, okay, he had wanted to escape from the waiting room, but that was incidental.
Sirius sighed. His motivation was partly selfish, he finally admitted to himself, but now that he'd seen how much Remus was suffering, he really did want to help him.
If he couldn't get through to his best friend, he wasn't likely to have better luck with Snape, but since he couldn't think of a better plan, he headed down to the Potions Master's dungeon quarters, where Snape lay snoring quietly in his bed.
"Well, let's try this again," Sirius said, waving his wand...
Curiously, he found himself standing near the lake again, a little farther back on the shore this time. Snape sat under a tree reading a book, but he seemed to be having trouble concentrating, because he kept flipping back and forth through the pages in a restless manner, too quickly to have actually read anything, unless he happened to be a speed reader. Finally, he set the book aside with a sigh, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a little wooden carving of a coiled serpent, turning it over and over with his fingers while he stared at it broodingly.
Sirius had never seen the statuette before, but he recognized Moony's work easily enough. Remus was clever with his hands and had done many little carvings for his friends as birthday and Christmas presents, since he usually didn't have enough money to buy gifts. Sirius had a little wooden dog that he treasured, a carving Remus had made of his animagus form; Remus had also made a stag for James and a rat for Peter. He must have made the snake for Snape, back before Sirius had broken them up.
That thought reminded him of his duty, so he walked up to Snape and cleared his throat.
Snape instantly dropped the carving and jumped to his feet, pulling his wand out of his pocket. "Black!" he snarled, but as he got a good look at Sirius, his expression changed from angry to bewildered, and he repeated in a more uncertain tone, "Black...?"
"Yes, it's me," Sirius sighed resignedly. "Go ahead and laugh--get it out of your system. I know how stupid I look."
"Oh, of course--this must be a dream," Snape said, sounding relieved to have figured out what was going on. "You're dead, after all, so we couldn't possibly be having this conversation in real life. You could be a ghost, I suppose, but..." Snape snickered. "I can't imagine why you would come back in that silly fairy godmother outfit."
"I'm a fairy godfather, dammit!" Sirius said crossly, which only caused Snape to laugh more heartily this time.
Then the Potions Master frowned. "But why would I be dreaming about Black dressed up in a fairy costume? I admit, I would enjoy seeing him humiliated, but I've never imagined it taking quite this form." His frown grew deeper, a furrowed line creasing his forehead. "It must be the curry; I knew it tasted a little off. I swear, if those house-elves have given me food poisoning, I'll render them into potion ingredients!"
"Relax, Snape," Sirius told him. "It's not the curry, so don't take it out on those poor house-elves. I have been sent here by Death to right the wrongs that I committed in my youth."
"What on earth are you blathering on about, Black?" Snape asked irritably. "Run back off to fairyland or dreamland, or wherever it is that you came from, and leave me alone. It's been quite peaceful without you around for the past two years, and I prefer to keep it that way."
"Listen up, you slimy bastard, I'm here to help you!" Sirius barked.
"Now I know I must be dreaming," Snape scoffed. "The real Sirius Black wouldn't deign to piss on me if I were on fire."
Sirius recalled thinking the very same thing, and was tempted to agree, but the thought of an unhappy Moony--and a vengeful Death--caused him to grit his teeth and explain the same thing he had to Remus, that the two of them were lifemates and he was supposed to help the two of them get back together.
"So you see, it wasn't Moony's fault at all," Sirius finished. "He didn't know about the prank. I was afraid that you were getting too close to him, and I was afraid you might hurt him, because I couldn't imagine that you--that a Slytherin could really fall in love with a Gryffindor. So I thought I'd scare you away by showing you that Remus was a werewolf. He knew absolutely nothing about it. So go ahead and hate me--punch me or hex me if that'll make you feel better." He spread his arms wide, offering himself up as a target. "But stop taking it out on Remus. He really does love you; he's never stopped loving you, even after all these years. So stop being so stubborn and get back together with him, will you? He thinks that you hate him, so he's afraid to make the first move."
"That's no surprise," Snape sneered. "He's always been a coward."
"Haven't you been listening to me?" Sirius demanded. "How many times do I have to tell you, Remus didn't know about the prank! He wasn't trying to kill you!"
"I know that!" Snape snapped, to Sirius's complete surprise.
"But then, why...?"
"Why won't I forgive him?" Snape finished. "Because that incident showed me his true colors. I can forgive him for almost killing me or turning me into a Dark Creature. What I can't forgive is that he betrayed me!"
"But I don't understand," Sirius said. "How did he betray you? You just said you knew he wasn't in on my prank!"
"First, he didn't tell me about his lycanthropy," Snape replied in a quiet and bitter voice. "That would be understandable, except that he considered you and your little friends worthy of sharing his secret, but not me. And the second reason is that he remained friends with you and Potter and the rat, even after you tried to kill me."
"James and Peter weren't in on it," Sirius protested. "It was only me!"
"Fine, it was only you," Snape said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "He still forgave you, even after you tried to kill me, even though he would have been imprisoned or executed himself if your little 'prank' had succeeded. He showed himself for what he truly was, a sniveling little coward who would lick the boots of the 'popular' Gryffindors just to keep on their good side." Snape glared at Sirius with pure hatred and jealousy in his black eyes, and the bitterness in his voice honed it to a knife-sharp edge that Sirius could almost feel cutting through him. "He proved that I would always come in a poor second to his dear Marauders, so tell me again why I should take him back."
"He was just a kid then, damn it!" Sirius said angrily. "He was young and scared of losing the only friends he had! He's not the only one who made mistakes when he was young--remember, you joined the Death Eaters, so get off your goddamned pedestal, Snape!"
"Yes, I did, Black," Snape spat. "And I've done my best to atone for that! I played spy for two decades, enduring contempt from both sides, and the Cruciatus whenever the Dark Lord was in a bad mood, and I protected the Potter brat even though he seemed to be doing his best to get himself killed even without the Dark Lord's help! What did you ever do but sit in that moldy house all day whining about how unfair life is while other people did all the work?!"
"You sanctimonious son of a bitch!" Sirius shouted, grabbing Snape by the front of his robes and shaking him. "Why, I ought to--"
"What?" Snape retorted, but in a voice that was surprisingly hollow and empty. "Hex me? Kill me? Go ahead. You already took from me the only person that I ever cared about. There is nothing more you can do to me that is worse than that."
Sirius's fingers slowly released their hold on Snape's robes. "You...really mean that, don't you?" he asked in amazement. "You really do love Remus."
"You always were rather slow, Black," Snape said contemptuously. "I thought you said you already knew that."
"Well, that's what Death told me, but I didn't really believe it," Sirius admitted. "But if you love him, and now you know that he loves you, why won't you forgive him?"
"Because he's still a faithless coward," Snape said bitterly. "When I helped Dumbledore fake his death, Lupin immediately believed that I betrayed the Order. He..." Snape's voice cracked with pain for a moment before he regained control of himself. "He didn't even have a moment's doubt," Snape said harshly, "didn't even stop to question my apparent guilt. And he immediately threw himself into the arms of that wretched pink-haired wench."
"I think it was more the other way around," Sirius interjected. "She was the one throwing herself at him."
"At least she had an excuse for her actions!" Snape shouted. "She was under an Imperius Curse, but Lupin wasn't! He proved that whenever things get rough, he'll abandon me for the first Gryffindor who comes along!"
"Actually, Tonks was a Hufflepuff."
"I don't care!" Snape screamed, his voice filled with rage and anguish. "What's worse is that he wasn't even really attracted to her; he was just afraid of losing his friends--again! Nothing has changed since we were sixteen, Black! I'll always be second to you...to them."
"Snape," Sirius said desperately, "it's not like that, I swear! He feels terrible about doubting you. He blames himself even more than you do! Please..." It hurt to force that word out of his mouth, to set aside his pride and grovel before his childhood enemy this way, but he was struck by an overwhelming feeling that this was a wrong that he needed to right. Death had already told him that, but up until now, it had only been words. Now he knew how deeply he'd scarred Moony--and yes, Snape, too--and he knew that he would never be worthy of resting peacefully in the afterlife until he healed the wounds that he had caused.
"Please forgive him," Sirius begged. "He really does love you, and he won't make those mistakes again. For Merlin's sake, he announced to practically the entire wizarding world that he's gay!"
"But not that he loves me," Snape said bitterly. "He's still ashamed to be seen with greasy old Snivellus. I may have been foolish enough to accept that when I was a schoolboy, but I'm no longer interested in being anyone's dirty little secret."
"It's not like that, you stubborn git!" Sirius shouted. "If you would just listen--"
"Get out of my dream, Black!" Snape shouted. "And go back to the grave, where you belong!"
The dreamscape suddenly shattered, and Sirius was back in Snape's bedroom. Snape was sitting up in bed, panting and dripping with sweat.
"Goddamn bloody Sirius Black, of all people, haunting my dreams," Snape muttered under his breath as he got up and went to the bathroom to search through potion bottles in the medicine cabinet with shaking hands, until he found one labeled "Dreamless Sleep". "And dressed as a fairy godmother! I'll give those house-elves a piece of my mind in the morning! Whose bloody idea was it to put curry on the menu, anyway...?"
Sirius exited Snape's quarters and found Nick waiting for him in the hallway. The ghost took one look at his face and said sympathetically, "It didn't go well, I see."
"No, it didn't," Sirius said, scowling as he crossed his arms over his chest. "They both thought I was a dream conjured up by indigestion."
"Would it help if I told them that you're real?" Nick asked. "They can't see or hear you, but I can communicate with them. Perhaps I could function as a translator of sorts. Although to be honest, I don't really fancy trying to argue with Snape about why he should take back his childhood sweetheart; his temper is worse than the Baron's. But still, if it's for the sake of true love..."
It was a tempting idea, to give his responsibility over to Nick, but Sirius sighed and shook his head. "I appreciate your offer, Nick, but I was the one who caused the problem in the first place, so I think that I'm the one who has to fix things. Besides, even if they believed that I was real, I'm not sure it would make a difference. They both spoke their minds pretty freely to me tonight, even Snape. He actually admitted that he does love Remus. Maybe it's because he thought I was only a dream that he didn't try to hide his secrets from me. Anyway, Remus is too scared of rejection to tell Snape how he feels, and Snape is too bitter to forgive Remus for not having faith in him." He sighed again. "And for always seeming to put his friends first. Snape feels like he's always come in second, and maybe he's right, in a way. It's partly my fault, mine and James. We hated the Slytherins when we were kids, so Remus was afraid to tell us that he'd fallen in love with one."
"It's so tragic, like Romeo and Juliet," Nick sighed.
"Well, I'm hoping that this won't end in a double suicide," Sirius said glumly. "Although I'm tempted to kill them both myself for being so damned stubborn. Not that I'd actually hurt Moony, of course, even if this stupid wand could actually cast a real hex. Wait a minute...Romeo and Juliet..."
"The Montagues and Capulets," Nick elaborated. "Two young lovers, torn apart by feuding families..."
"Yes, yes, I know how the story goes," Sirius said impatiently. "Nick, you've given me a brilliant idea!"
"I have?" the ghost asked, looking puzzled but pleased. "But I thought you said you didn't want this to end in a double suicide."
"No, you're right; we'll have to go with a play that has a happier ending," Sirius said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"A play?" Nick asked, sounding even more confused.
"Yes!" Sirius said, grinning. "We'll cast them as the romantic leads in a play! Beauty and the Beast, maybe? No, it would hurt Moony's feelings to be cast as the Beast, and Snape is certainly no Beauty. Maybe Cinderella? Yes, that's perfect! It'll give Snape the chance to play the put-upon martyr, although Remus does that pretty well, too. And Remus will play the handsome prince. Surely with the two of them reciting romantic lines at each other, they'll get into the spirit of things and fall in love all over again!"
"I don't wish to be a wet blanket, Sirius," Nick said doubtfully. "But how is this different from the flowers and pushing Professor Lupin into Professor Snape's arms?"
"It's completely different!" Sirius said huffily, a little annoyed at having his brilliant plan questioned. "They'll be forced to spend time in each other's company instead of running away. There will be all the rehearsals, and the actual performance..."
"But they're barely even speaking to each other," Nick pointed out. "How will you get them to agree to act in a play together?"
"Easy," Sirius replied confidently. "If it's an order from the Headmaster, they can't refuse, now can they?"
So Sirius made one more trip into someone's dreams--Dumbledore's, this time. He found the Headmaster sitting in a plush, comfortable looking armchair beside a roaring fireplace, happily knitting a woolly striped sock in several clashing colors.
"Hello, Sirius," he said cheerfully, not seeming at all taken aback by Sirius's presence or his unusual attire. "How nice to see you again! Have a seat by the fire, and join me in a cup of cocoa."
Another armchair instantly appeared, along with a mug of cocoa floating in midair. Sirius sat down, grabbed the mug, and took a sip from it. It tasted delicious, even though he was dead and didn't need to drink anything.
"Why aren't you surprised to see me, Albus?" he asked. "I'm dead, after all."
"My boy, haven't I always said that death is just the next adventure?" Dumbledore replied with a wink. "Besides, in dreams, anything can happen--like having a friendly chat with an old friend who just happens to be deceased."
"This is a dream, but you need to believe that I'm real, not just a figment of your imagination, or the result of too much spicy curry for dinner," Sirius said urgently.
"Of course this is a dream, but that doesn't mean that our conversation isn't real," Dumbledore said mildly. "And I thought the curry was rather mild. In fact, I was going to ask the house-elves to make it a little spicier next time."
"Never mind about the curry," Sirius said impatiently. "Although you may have to protect the house-elves from an angry Snape; he's the one who thought I was a curry-inspired nightmare."
Dumbledore chuckled. "I'm a little surprised to hear that you were visiting Severus in his dreams, Sirius, but I'm pleased that you're finally attempting to befriend him. It saddened me that the two of you were never able to resolve your differences before you died."
"Yes, well, I really messed up things when I was alive," Sirius said, flushing with shame, and once more, he told the story about how Death had sent him back to fix his mistake. He was getting rather tired of repeating himself, but at least Dumbledore seemed to be listening with interest and wasn't dismissing him out of hand. "I was angry at Death at first, but now I'm glad that she's given me a chance to set things right," Sirius finished. "Although I still think she went a little too far with this fairy godfather thing."
"Ah, so that explains your, ah, unusual costume," Dumbledore said with a smile. "I had wondered about that, but I thought it would be rude to question your taste in fashion."
"Of course I'd never dress like this on purpose!" Sirius said indignantly, then wondered if the old man was pulling his leg when Dumbledore chuckled again. "Anyway, I have a plan to get Remus and Snape back together."
"I would like to see the two of them be happy, but they are adults, Sirius," Dumbledore said gently. "They have the right to make their own choices, even though we might consider those choices unwise. You cannot force them to reconcile against their will."
"I'm not talking about casting an Imperius Curse on them," Sirius defended himself. "Although believe me, I'd be tempted to, if this stupid wand worked properly! I know we can't force them to get back together, but maybe if we helped establish a setting more conducive to romance..."
He explained his idea about casting them in the play, and Dumbledore thought it over as he continued to knit. "Well, I would have to use force, or at least my authority as Headmaster in order to get them to participate in this play..."
"That was a great speech you gave about choices, Albus, but I know that you're a manipulative old man at heart," Sirius retorted. "You arranged for Remus to teach here during Harry's third year, and you forced Snape to brew the Wolfsbane Potion for him. Weren't you trying to play matchmaker back then? You didn't seem at all surprised to learn that they were lifemates, so you must've already known that they have feelings for each other."
"You're more observant than I thought," Dumbledore said with an approving smile. "Perhaps death has improved your sense of perception. Yes, I was hoping that Remus and Severus would be able to set aside the past and start over again, but you saw how well my meddling turned out."
"Well, I guess that was partly my fault, too," Sirius admitted. "Snape was hostile to Moony, but he didn't completely lose it until he found us in the Shrieking Shack."
"Yes, I think Severus has always been jealous of your closeness to Remus," Dumbledore said, smiling sadly. "It's the same reason why he hated James so much, I think."
And maybe he had been a little jealous of Snape, too, Sirius finally realized. Not that he was attracted to Moony in the way that Snape was, of course, but Remus and James and Peter had been like brothers to him, especially after he had run away from home and been disowned by his parents. He had felt like they were beginning to drift apart, with James and Remus pursuing their own love interests and spending less time with the group. He'd been jealous of Lily, too, but at least she'd been a Gryffindor and hadn't objected--at least, not too much--to James hanging out with his friends. Sirius had been afraid that Snape would take Remus away and cut him off from the Marauders completely. He'd been afraid of losing his friend and brother, so he'd tried to drive Snape away and had instead ended up driving a wedge between himself and Remus, accomplishing the very thing that he had feared in the first place.
"Look, it can't hurt to put this play on, can it?" Sirius asked, feeling a bit less confident about his plan. "I mean, think of it as a morale-booster, not just a means to get the two of them back together. We won the war, but half the castle's still a wreck, and many of the students lost friends and family members. Maybe it would lift everyone's spirits to forget about reality for a little while and watch a lighthearted romantic play."
"Hmm, you do have a point, Sirius," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "The students have been dealing with things very well for the most part, but I think we could all benefit from a little entertainment to lift our spirits." He smiled, his eyes twinkling with a bit of mischief behind his half-moon glasses. "Well, Remus and Severus probably won't be too thrilled with the idea, but at least it will give them someone to resent besides each other. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend,' as the saying goes."
Part 4, Part 5
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off the top of my head...
Beaky nose and sallow skin, all of it begging for a Princely kiss.
Oh, I strong and brave, scarred and furry at times, 'tis true
Will kiss this Sleeping Beauty, puckered ones shall caress the lips so blue
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Anyway, this is funny. I liked especially the little details (the carving, the curry, you know).
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