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Remus climbed the stairs of Grimmauld Place for what he hoped was almost the last time. Not even Dumbledore was certain how his Fidelius Charm would interact with whatever spells the Blacks had put on the property generations ago to ensure its proper inheritance, so the Order was moving its headquarters. At least, that was the reason Dumbledore had given; Remus privately suspected that it was not the only impetus for the move. It would be...better for everyone's morale.
Remus only wished they could have done it a few months earlier. Sirius would have been less miserable away from this damned house, and maybe he wouldn't have-
Remus shook his head sharply. There was no point in wishing for what might have been but wasn't, and he needed to find Severus. The man was as curious as ten cats, so he was probably poking through the piles of stuff Remus had carried into the drawing room to be destroyed or stored elsewhere.
Remus knew the house needed to be cleared out before they left it, but it had been a tedious and rather strenuous job. He suspected Dumbledore had put him in charge of the cleaning to keep him busy, and he was grateful in a way for the distraction, but thank Merlin he was almost done with it.
He opened the drawing room door and saw that his guess had been correct - Severus was inside, standing by the writing desk, looking down at the jars and bottles jamming its surface. Remus's mouth quirked. He should have known Severus would be drawn to the collection of ancient potion ingredients Remus had found upstairs.
Severus looked over his shoulder, and an unidentifiable expression, not far from a wince, crossed his face when he saw Remus in the doorway. "Lupin," he said flatly.
"Find anything interesting?" Remus asked pleasantly, crossing to the desk to see exactly what had captured the other man's interest. Severus had both hands wrapped around a large marble jar, but he made no move to open it while Remus was watching. "What's in it?"
Severus's lips thinned. "I haven't opened it yet," he snapped.
Remus glanced down at the jar expectantly, and Severus snarled, "And I don't need you hovering over me when I do!"
Remus shrugged and walked over to the small stack of books he'd set aside for himself. Tucking them under one arm, he started for the door, then realized Severus, still bent slightly over the desk, was watching his progress through the room by twisting awkwardly to look over his shoulder again.
Eyes narrowing, Remus put his books next to the door and deliberately circled Severus, watching his face flush with annoyance as he craned his neck to keep Remus in sight - still without letting go of the jar. Whatever was in there, it must be extremely precious, or-
"Severus? Are you...stuck?" Remus asked incredulously.
Severus glared, then grated, "Yes." Remus waited, and Severus continued reluctantly, "There appears to be a very strong adhesive of some sort on the outside of this jar. Now, if you would be so kind, a simple Evanesco should suffice."
Remus frowned at the jar. "There was nothing on it when I carried it down here. Are you certain..." He trailed off, remembering how he had thrown Fred and George out of the room that morning after they concocted something that exploded and left the house reeking of cherries and sulfur for hours. "Er, someone must have spilled something," he said weakly.
"Evanesco, Lupin!" Severus said insistently.
Remus reached for his wand, then let his hand fall back to his side. Severus scowled, and Remus smiled slowly.
"No, not just yet, I don't think. There are things I’ve wanted to say to you for almost twenty years now, and I think this time you'll have to listen."
Severus emitted a wordless sound of fury and began struggling to pull his hands off the jar. Remus realized the thing must be attached to the massive desk as well as to Severus's hands, so Severus was indeed stuck. He leaned one hip casually against the desk and waited calmly until Severus got tired of pulling on his hands and throwing his weight against the desk without managing to shift it and subsided, panting and glaring.
Remus looked Severus in the eye, so he could see the truth of what Remus was saying if he only wanted to. "I didn't know what Sirius planned to do that night, Severus. If I had, I would have told you to stay away. I thought we were becoming friends-"
Severus snorted. "Friends? One ill-advised, hasty grope in the Restricted Section didn't make us friends, Lupin."
And it had, Remus remembered, been a hasty grope indeed. Hasty, and unskilled, and unexpected - Severus had barely said three words together to him before the day in the library when he suddenly kissed him and burrowed his hand determinedly into Remus's robes while Remus was still gaping in shock. It hadn’t taken long for Remus to respond and reciprocate, though, and the results had been rather messy and very satisfying for both of them.
Remus found himself smiling at the memory - until he remembered Sirius's reaction to seeing him with Severus afterward, flushed and disheveled, and what had happened the next night. There had been no more meetings in the library after that, and Severus had never spoken another word to him until they had been teaching at Hogwarts together. Even then, he had talked to Remus only grudgingly, and as infrequently as possible.
Despair at the futility of it all - why could Severus never let any of them move past the stupid mistakes they'd all made back then? - almost overwhelmed Remus, but he didn't dare let Severus see how much this old wound still bothered him. He knew all too well how mercilessly Severus could attack once he'd discovered a weakness.
So he struck first.
Sliding off the edge of the desk, he moved to stand behind Severus, so close that their bodies were almost touching. Although Severus didn't twist to try to keep him in sight this time, Remus could see the tension in his shoulders, and he went absolutely rigid when Remus brushed his hair aside and spoke quietly in his ear.
"How...interesting, that that incident should be the first thing to spring to your mind."
Severus inhaled sharply, but Remus didn't give him a chance to speak.
"I remember that grope quite fondly, as it happens. It's a pity you don't - or I would pull your head back and kiss you."
"Get me loose, Lupin!" Severus demanded. "Or go get someone who is capable of performing a routine charm like Evanes-"
"Then I would run my hands over your body," Remus interrupted ruthlessly, "to see if those billowing robes are as soft as they look. Then maybe I would unfasten them, just enough to slip my hand in and stroke you..."
"Lupin!"
There was a definite warning edge in Severus's voice, and Remus smiled and leaned in closer. Perhaps it was unkind to provoke Severus like this - not that Severus didn't deserve to be provoked sometimes - but having the power to do it was heady, revitalizing, proof that he mattered to someone. Even Severus's familiar scorn was preferable to the nothingness he’d felt since Sirius died.
"Tell me, Severus - do you still make that little whine in the back of your throat when you come?"
Remus could actually hear Severus's teeth grinding together before he snarled, "Isn't there something you should be doing other than annoying me, Lupin? Some bit of housecleaning, or some other such essential work for the Order?"
"You'll find I'm not as easy to bait as Sirius was," Remus said calmly. "Although you are quite right; there is something else I should be doing."
He backed slowly toward the door, and this time, Severus did twist around to look at him. Remus knew Severus would rather stay stuck to the desk all night than ask him for help. And indeed, Severus didn't say a word, even when Remus opened the door and backed into the corridor - but his fingers whitened on the jar when Remus drew his wand.
"And so do you, actually. I came up to tell you that Albus has arrived, and they're ready to start the meeting," Remus said calmly as Severus's face darkened with rage. Almost as an afterthought, as he scooped up his books and turned to leave, Remus murmured, "Evanesco."
Severus only caught up with him at the kitchen door, in time to hear him say to Dumbledore, "No, no problem at all. Severus had merely...become stuck examining some of the things I found upstairs."
Remus took his seat, smiling pleasantly, and ignored Severus's glower for the rest of the meeting.
Over the next few days, Remus finished clearing out Grimmauld Place. He hesitated over the jars of ancient ingredients, but in the end, after carefully Scourgifying the outside of each container, he boxed them to give to Severus. He presented the box to Severus after the Order's first meeting at its new headquarters, and although he hadn't really expected thanks, he was taken aback by the way Severus recoiled from the box, and by the venom in his voice when he said, "You won't humiliate me so easily this time, Lupin."
"What?" Remus said, looking down at the box in some bewilderment. "I just thought you might want these..."
"As a fond reminder of our time together?" Severus purred.
Remus blinked.
"Well, Lupin, you can-"
But what he could do Remus never learned, because Kingsley and Tonks burst through the door, arguing cheerfully, and Severus snatched the box out of his hands and left without another word.
After the Order's second meeting at the new headquarters, Remus made one more attempt. "Severus, I wasn't trying to humil-"
"I don't have time to listen to your feeble apologies, Lupin," Severus interrupted.
Remus's face hardened. "I wasn't actually apologizing, Severus. I was-"
"I also don't have time to waste delivering your potion this month," Severus cut in. "So since we are between terms and there are no students about, you will collect it yourself. Tomorrow at seven p.m."
"Er, at Hogwarts?" Remus asked. He hadn't been back to the school since he'd been forced to resign, and he didn't want to go now. "I'd rather not..." he began.
"Of course," Severus said smoothly, "if you choose to not take your potion - well, that is your prerogative."
Remus sighed. "Right. I’ll be there."
Something like triumph flickered across Severus's face, and Remus thought he understood - this was revenge. He had been petty to Severus, and now Severus was exacting repayment in kind. Remus could hardly even blame him. Really, it was only remarkable that Severus had never used the Wolfsbane as leverage against him before this.
Severus swirled his traveling cloak around his shoulders and reiterated, "Seven o'clock, Lupin."
Remus arrived in Severus's dungeon promptly at seven the next night, and found that Severus did indeed look busy. He drank the contents of the smoking goblet that Severus shoved at him, shuddered at the taste, and made himself say, "Thank you for making the potion, Severus."
Severus grunted in response, then jerked his chin at a nearby table without taking his eyes off whatever he was dicing.
Remus looked in the direction indicated and saw a beaker of ice water, with a few delicate slices of lemon drifting on its surface. "Oh! Erm, thank you," he said, surprised by Severus’s unusual thoughtfulness.
Hopeful that the gesture signaled a thaw in their relationship, Remus set the empty goblet that had held the Wolfsbane on the table and reached for the water. The beaker was large and very full, and Remus's hands were always a bit shaky after he managed to choke down the potion - so he reached for the beaker with both hands, to steady it as he lifted it.
He realized his mistake immediately when he felt something sticky under his fingers and discovered he could neither take his hands away from the beaker nor pull it off the table.
He looked over his shoulder and saw Severus extinguishing the flames under the cauldron he had been stirring. "Stuck, Lupin?" Severus asked with a smirk.
Remus's mouth tightened, and he gave one more futile tug at the beaker as Severus moved to stand directly behind him, just as closely as Remus had stood behind Severus when he had been the one stuck.
Severus's breath stirred the hair over Remus's ear as he said silkily, "When you were teasing me a few days ago, surely you did not imagine that I would not retaliate?"
Actually, Remus realized, he hadn't thought very much about how Severus would react. It certainly hadn't occurred to him that Severus would do something like this. How long would Severus keep him here, before he tired of the game?
The taste of the potion was still foul in his mouth, and he looked longingly at the water - it was so close, but he didn't fancy getting his lips stuck too.
Severus's hand appeared suddenly in his field of vision, holding a thin glass tube.
"Suck," he commanded.
The innuendo, in these circumstances, was unmistakable, and Remus twitched as his skin suddenly seemed to become far more sensitive than usual, but he bent his head and drew several mouthfuls of deliciously cold water through the makeshift straw before Severus took it away.
"I found your little fantasy the other evening to be quite pedestrian," Severus said, before Remus had a chance to either thank him for the water or ask just what he was planning to do.
Remus, rather insulted, began, "Well, I-" but Severus ignored him and continued speaking.
"Completely lacking in imagination. If I had you helpless and at my mercy, Lupin, I would be far more creative, and much bolder. For instance, I wouldn't waste time kissing you or feeling your robes," Severus sneered. He leaned in so his mouth was next to Remus’s cheek. "I would simply strip them off you so I could feel your skin instead."
Remus shivered at the thought of Severus's long fingers running over his bare skin.
"Are you aroused, Lupin?" Severus said softly in his ear. "You would be. And I would drop to my knees in front of you and suck your cock into my mouth-"
Oh, Merlin, yes, he was definitely aroused now.
"-licking and sucking it, letting you thrust greedily into my mouth until you were almost ready to climax - and then I would let go."
Severus leaned across the table, and Remus's eyes fixed on a small metal ring as Severus pulled it off its stand and twirled it slowly in his fingers.
"I would take this ring from my distilling stand and slip it around your cock, and then I would shrink it tight around your shaft."
Remus flinched at the thought of cold metal closing around his inconvenient erection.
Severus turned the ring once more, letting it catch the light, before he put it down. "Are your nipples sensitive, Lupin?" he asked, passing the flat of one hand over the front of Remus's robes.
The gesture barely stirred the fabric against Remus's chest, but it was enough to make him gasp.
Severus's voice dropped to a rough whisper. "I would find out. I would lick my way along your hip bones and up your chest, and circle your nipple with my tongue. If you pressed into my mouth, I would bite gently-"
Remus was embarrassingly aware of how fast his breaths were coming.
"-harder if you moaned."
Remus couldn’t help watching as Severus pulled a pair of tiny clamps off another stand.
"Then I would snap one of these on your nipple, and twist it, just a little, to watch you squirm. And then I would do it all again on the other side."
The clamps made a tiny snapping sound as Severus let them close. Remus shifted uncomfortably, trying without success to settle his throbbing cock into a more comfortable position. "Severus, I-"
"Do you see this cauldron, Lupin?" Severus ran one finger around the rim of a tiny silver cauldron, hanging from a fine, split chain. "I would unhook it, and slip the chain off its stand." Severus suited his action to his words and held up the chain, a Y of gleaming links that fell across Remus’s chest from his nipples to his groin. "I would fasten one end to each clamp, and the third to the ring on your cock. And then I would pull your head back and take your mouth in a kiss, swallowing your moans when the chain pulled hard on your nipples as I arched you back."
Remus made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat and tried to keep his hips still.
Severus let the chain fall into a glittering heap on the table, and reached for a small mortar and pestle.
"I would have been making a salve for Pomfrey, and the pestle would still be slick with it."
He held up a slender pestle, about the width of two fingers. Something oily glistened on its surface.
"I would spread your arse open with one hand, and with the other I would slide this pestle into you, working it in and out, slowly, until you were panting and desperate for more stimulation."
Remus was desperate for more stimulation now.
"Then I would push it all the way in, and twist it a little. And next I would enlarge it - not too much, just enough to make you gasp, just enough that I could be certain it would not slide out when I let go of it."
Remus felt Severus step backward, away from him.
"I would leave it-"
Remus barely choked back a whimper - yes, now was when Severus would leave him, and laugh and say his revenge was complete...
"-and take your cock in my mouth again. Just the tip, this time, and I would hold your hips so you could not thrust into my mouth. I would make you stand there and wait, while I ran my tongue around and over the head of your cock while you moaned and twitched, until just that was almost enough to make you come."
"Severus..."
"But I still wouldn't permit it. I would stand, and open my robes and spread some of the salve on my own cock. I would make you watch, Lupin, while I fisted it slowly, until the salve coated it."
Remus could imagine Severus’s cock sliding through those stained fingers all too clearly.
"And then I would pull out the pestle, and drive into you in one hard thrust, so I could hear your cry echo off the walls. Then I would fuck you slowly, Lupin, very slowly, until you were humping the edge of the table, desperate to feel my hand on your cock."
God, yes, just like he was doing now, rubbing mindlessly against the wood and slate in front of him. Remus moaned helplessly. "Severus - please, yes..."
Severus's voice in his ear was rough and low. "When I couldn't stand it anymore, I would drive into so hard you could feel it in your throat, Lupin - over and over, until I finally touched your cock and you came and came with my hand stroking you, spurting all over the table in spite of the ring tightening around your cock..."
Severus's hand closed around him, squeezing and pulling, and with a hoarse cry Remus came in his clothes.
He sagged over the table, breathless, still clutching the beaker.
Severus took a step away.
Remus looked up and saw a flash of uncertainty on Severus's face before his expression shuttered and he turned away, busying himself with the stuff he had been dicing when Remus arrived. His movements were quick and jerky, and his back was tense.
As Remus caught his breath, he realized suddenly that Severus was uneasy because things had somehow not turned out quite the way he had expected, and felt less uncertain himself. He straightened and said, "That was...an interesting means of reprisal, Severus." Trying to ignore the squishy mess in his pants, he asked, "So, er, could you unstick my hands now?"
Severus's sneer was less convincing than usual as he performed an Evanesco to release Remus, and he seemed at an uncharacteristic loss for words.
"Will you...deliver the potion tomorrow, or do you want me to come here again?" Remus blushed as Severus's raised eyebrow brought his unintentional pun home. "I mean..."
"I will deliver it, Lupin. I certainly don't care to have you come here again," Severus said coldly. "Now, if you will get out of my way, I can get back to work."
"Of course, Severus. I will see you tomorrow," Remus said politely, hiding his smile from Severus until he was safely out in the corridor.
Severus would be delivering the potion tomorrow - and a day was plenty of time for Remus to plan a suitable vengeance of his own.
For once he could hardly wait until it was time to take his potion again.