Chapter IV: In Which We Experience The 'Calm' Before The Storm

Remus Lupin.

They spent the first week at Dumbledore's Aunt's cottage in something akin to peaceful bliss.

Remus enjoyed the solitude and the soothing sounds of the forest. Sirius, as had become his habit ever since he returned to them from the Veil, spent most of his time as Padfoot, stretching his legs on the open land, chasing small rodents and other furry little animals.

Severus Snape had yet to arrive.

Which, of course, explained the peaceful bliss, Remus mused with a small chuckle. He was determined to enjoy it while it lasted. Experience told him that as soon as the Slytherin arrived he'd spend most of his time acting as a buffer between him and Sirius.

He'd made perfectly clear to both Sirius and Dumbledore though that he was quite prepared to lock the two men into the small cellar of the cottage until they both promised to behave like... well, maybe adults were too much to ask for but he was hoping for at least 'well-behaved toddlers'. Or, so help him Merlin, they could stay in the cellar until they died of starvation. Which, considering Sirius' and Severus' states of malnourishment, probably wouldn't take too long.

A shower of cold water quickly woke him from his morbid daydreaming and he growled loudly as he threw himself after his fast-footed friend with an 'aqua impeto' on his lips.

When the two men returned to the cottage two hours later they were both wet, muddy and Sirius legs were still a bit wobbly after having been hexed with Jelly Legs at two different occasions. They couldn't agree which one of them was the winner of their spontaneous duel but Remus went to sleep with a small smile on his lips thinking that they had both benefited from having some real fun.

That night he dreamt about a Gryffindor versus Slytherin waterfight with he, Sirius, James, Peter, McGonagall and Harry in one team and Snape, Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy, Rosier and Voldemort in the other. By the end of the dream Snape and Peter had changed houses though and Peter was wearing Slytherin green while Severus was sporting Gryffindor red.

He woke up feeling very strange indeed. Staring up at the ceiling he realised that there were only two days left before Snape would join him and Sirius. He gave the dog that slept in the foot-end of the huge bed a weary look. Sirius, or Padfoot as he usually thought of his friend as while the man was using his Animagus form, wasn't going to make things easy and neither was Sna... Severus.

Padfoot kicked out with a paw and whined softly in his sleep. Sitting up slowly so not to wake the dog, Remus patted the sleeping animal. Not even as a dog did Sirius seem to be fully protected against the nightmares that haunted his sleep. Remus wasn't quite sure what his friend dreamt of but he could easily imagine how the cruel Dementors, the cold, hopeless feeling of Azkaban and the grey dullness of the Veil mixed together would become a frightening landscape of horror.

"Schh," he whispered, pleased when the whimpering sounds slowly came to a halt. After a few minutes he curled up under the covers again, convinced that the nightmares were over for now.

Sirius wouldn't remember what had happened and with a little luck he'd forget about the sad whimpers himself by morning.

Turning around and burying his head in his pillows he tried to convince himself that his dream would turn out to be some weird kind of prediction which meant that the three of them would get along just fine.

Of course, he thought seconds before sleep claimed him, he had barely passed Divination.

Albus Dumbledore.

He hadn't really planned on supervising Severus while the other man packed his bags, but a short note from Remus about the Wolfsbane Potion made him realise that he had better keep an eye on what the Potions Master brought with him to the cottage. He wasn't, after all, sending the three young men away just to have Severus poison them all in a fit of anger, he thought to himself with a small, almost sad smile.

Sitting in one of the two rather uncomfortable leather chairs that were placed in front of the fireplace inside Severus' personal rooms he watched the tall, dark-clad man carefully fold what seemed to be an endless number of black robes before shrinking them to fit the small bag placed in the middle of the floor.

The silence in the room was not of the comfortable sort and Dumbledore felt a bit sad about that knowing that his Potions Master was more than a little bit upset with him. It couldn't be helped though and as long as the man stayed alive their friendship was a small price to pay. Not that he really thought that would happen; he liked to at least imagine that their strange relationship meant as much to Severus as it did to him.

"Are you taking any books with you?"

"No," came the rather unexpected answer.

"Really?" Albus tried to have a look at his friend's eyes but the curtain of unwashed hair made it bloody near impossible. Severus hid behind his hair as most people hid behind stone walls. He wondered, briefly, if the young man had done the same as a student. After searching his memory he found a picture of Severus sitting in his office as a young student. It convinced him that he had indeed. "Why not?"

"I've already read, re-read and memorised most of them," the Potions Master explained tiredly. "And if memory serve correctly you have books in the cottage?"

"Of course," he assured his friend. "Mostly fiction though."

Severus made a small face at that but, as had become his habit the past few weeks, he refrained from actually commenting. Albus tried to imagine Severus reading a Muggle love novel and felt the edges of his mouth try to turn upwards. Another look at the exhausted, sick-looking man in front of him quelled any urges to smile though and he sighed a little instead.

"What are you planning on doing then?" Albus pried gently, desperately wanting Severus to have plans for the future even if it was just to make the lives of poor Remus and Sirius miserable.

"I thought the plan was that I would be relaxing?"

"Of course." There was a short pause before Albus continued, "Do you plan to bring material to make potions?"

"No." Severus glared at him with an ugly frown on his face. "And if you're worrying about your precious Gryffindor werewolf I can assure you that I have made sure that he will have what he needs every full moon. Believe me, sir, I have no wish to come face to face with a werewolf ever again."

That was his Severus, Albus thought with a small grimace, going for maximum damage when hurt. The man had always reminded him of a cornered animal, although he doubted the Potions Master would appreciated the comparison.

"You're not packing any potions for... personal use?"

"What business of yours is that?"

Hot, angry eyes met his, challenging him. He took the challenge calmly and in the end black eyes turned away.

"My apologies, sir," Severus said stiffly before returning to his packing with jerking, ungraceful movements.

Albus concealed his smile behind his hand. It wasn't often that Severus apologised for anything.

After a quarter of an hour of silence - not quite as uncomfortable as before, though, now that words had actually been exchanged for the first time in days - the younger man marched off to his private lab just to return after hardly more than a few minutes with a dark wooden box that he, without a word of explanation, dropped in Albus' lap.

When he carefully opened the box he found several small vials and bottles carefully stored in different compartments. They were all labeled and he quickly realised what Severus expected him to do. Picking them up, one by one, he read the familiar, slightly angular script on the labels.

'Sleeping Draught', 'Pain-Stiller Potion; Strength Two', 'Pain-Stiller Potion; Strength Three', 'Dreamless Sleep Draught'... Nothing forbidden, nothing that if taken in the correct dosages was harmful. (Although the reasons for why Severus would have a need for such strong pain stillers made Albus even more heavy-hearted.)

He looked up at his friend who was standing over him, scowling darkly.

"Well..." Severus snapped. "Do they all get approved?"

The young man, not even forty after all, sounded so angry that something in Albus flared.

"I'm just worried about you," he said in an unusually sharp voice. "Surely you cannot fault me for that?"

"Hmmm," was the only answer Severus would offer him, but Albus supposed he would have to do with that. He couldn't really expect the Potions Master to apologise twice on the same night.

"I'm keeping you from getting some well-needed, much-deserved sleep," Albus mumbled half an hour later.

After having finished his packing the Potions Master had joined Albus by the fire and the two friends had shared a quiet moment just 'enjoying' each other's company. Or rather, Albus openly enjoyed Severu's company while the younger man scowled darkly at the fire; the only evidence that he wanted his friend there being the fact that he had yet to kick him out.

Them spending time together was, unfortunatly, not something that happened very often but Albus always enjoyed it when his young friend was in the mood for it. Although this time he couldn't help but wonder why now. Just a few days ago Severus had been too angry to speak with him and everyone knew that the Slytherin wasn't the 'forgive and forget' sort of man.

And as pleasant as the change was it worried him very much that the Potions Master was acting so very out of character.

As Severus didn't answer, Albus continued:

"As amusing as it must be to listen to the rantings and ramblings of a foolish old man you have many other, more important things on your mind. Undoubtedly you will need some sleep if you are to keep up with Remus and Sirius tomorrow."

Severus nodded his agreement but didn't grab the opportunity to complain about the two Gryffindors or to even send him away which just added to Albus' worries. He gave his friend a searching look. Severus looked just as he had the past couple of years, only maybe a bit paler and thinner. And maybe a bit more tired than usual too.

Not for the first time Albus wished there had been a another option to teaching Severus the art of Occlumency. The young wizard had been hard enough to read without those skills.

"Do I have something on my face?"

The object of his intense scrutiny gave him an irritated look and Albus shook his head before casually asking;

"Are you having trouble sleeping?"

He knew that the young man was an insomniac and rather prone to nightmares when he actually got some sleep but, as he'd seen evidence of earlier, the man had a rather large collection of sleeping aids.

"Aren't I always?"

There was no self-pity in the words, just calm acceptance and Albus nodded.

"But your potions...?"

"They are working just fine. However the stronger sleeping aids all tend to be either addictive or their effects lessen with daily use and you end having to drink enormous amounts of the potion for it to work properly."

"Ah... no point in falling asleep just to wake up a few minutes later in desperate need of the lavatory, huh?"

A small shadow of a smile graced the otherwise so grim face and Albus smiled back broadly.

"Exactly."

"So you haven't been taking any potions? For how long?"

"Two weeks tomorrow. I'll need to stay off them for yet another two weeks." Severus sighed and Albus could see the self-disgust in his eyes. "I've always tried to follow a certain schedule but, well... I don't need to tell you how hectic the past few months have been. I'm afraid I allowed myself to... indulge."

His students might find it a bit hard to believe but Albus knew that as hard as Severus was on other people he was even harder on himself. The Potions Master hated mistakes and cock ups, especially if he was responsible for them himself.

"I don't think anyone would blame you for that," he told his friend in his most convincing, soothing voice even though he was sure that his friend wouldn't believe him. "Considering the circumstances it is most understandable that you would... slip."

There was a long pause as Severus refused to answer.

"So it's been two weeks since you last got to enjoy the benefits of a good night's sleep?" Albus said after a few moments. "And two more before you can take any sleeping aids again?"

"A good night's sleep?" Severus smiled thinly. "That was so much more than two weeks ago. Actually I was probably still sleeping surrounded with plush animals when that happened last."

Now that, Albus thought while allowing a small smile to escape, was a picture that was equally sweet as it was highly disturbing. He had to force himself not to ask just what sort of 'plush animals' the stern man had owned as a child and which one had been the 'can not be parted from, absolutely necessary if to be able to fall asleep' toy.

Predicting Severus' reaction should he ever ask, he quickly pushed those thoughts out of his mind. He then gave his Potion Master yet another searching look before making up his mind.

"Very well then," Albus said and rose from the chair, determination making him stand taller than usual. Severus gazed up at him with an eyebrow quizzically raised. "Come with me, please."

"Excuse me?"

"I said, come with me." He quickly marched off to the door before turning around, motioning for Severus to join him. "You're but a human being, young man, and you need your sleep just as much as the rest of us mortals. Since you're obviously unable to get it on a natural way and potions aren't an option right now I suppose I will have to make sure you get it myself."

"What are you talking about, Albus?"

"You'll see," Albus promised.

Arafel2, Eizoku, padfoots-one-and-ONLY, me, lillinfields, and lovgoo: Wow, thank you :) I don't think I've ever woken up to find so many alerts from in my mailbox. You all made my day, that's for sure.

sna: I'm glad you like her :) I was a bit worried that she'd be too much like a female version of Dumbledore but I think me and my betas have made sure that she'll end up being a character in her own right.

tall oaks: Love the detailed feedback! And I'm glad you've picked up on the tension between Sirius and Remus. I've tried not to make it too obvious because... well, hm. Better not spoil my own story :) And btw, thanks for the feedback you've given at !

Athena Keating-Thomas: You're quite right, you know. (About the schizophrenia vs. MPD) I'll have to change that asap. Thank you for taking the time to point it out! And, of course, for the rest of your feedback :)

Jemma Blackwell: The question was: how long will it take before Remus says, "talk to me Sirius"? Uhm... as it looks right now, a few chapters after chapter sixteen. I have to build up the tension/angst first! ;)

Lilith11: Hehe, yes, I agree with you on that one :) I hope you liked this chapter as much as - or preferably more than - the other ones :D

If I've forgotten anyone: my apologizes.

Next chapter should be up in about a week. It's a Snape-centered interlude. Angsty and awkward. You'll either love it or hate it :)