Chapter 33 Tall Tales
Several hours later Severus found himself sitting next to Remus Lupin at a long wooden table in the main hall. The hall was crowded with people - warriors who had flooed in from the other fortresses in the Winter Land at a summons from Asgeir - and they were all feasting heartily before the great battle that was to commence the following day.
Though Harry looked exhausted, he was seated next to his godfather, listening in fascination to a story Sirius was telling a group of warriors about some exploit of his and James Potter's when they had both been Aurors so many years ago. Sirius was very much in his element - surrounded by lackeys who hung on his every word. Severus could still see the bright young man he had been back in Hogwarts - it seemed as if even all those years in Azkaban could not entirely diminish that light that had so enamored Remus Lupin.
Indeed the werewolf was watching the proceedings with gleaming eyes, his gaze never leaving Sirius' face though he was careful to school his expression into something less obvious than hero worship. Frankly Severus found the whole thing annoying - even Harry looked captivated by the Marauder and it made something that felt remarkably like jealousy burn inside Severus.
He turned his thoughts to the conversation they'd had with Harry earlier instead, his mind still focused on that stone. By his estimate it had to weigh between four and five thousand pounds - perhaps even more than that. And Harry assured them he'd lifted it with little difficulty. He had no doubt in his mind that Albus could do such a thing, or Flitwick. But both those men were masters of Charms. Harry was no master. He of course knew the boy was strong - they all knew that. But this was more than he had expected.
"Lupin," he interrupted the werewolf's romantic musings. "Could you lift that stone?" Lupin was better than him at charms - always had been. He'd been top of their class at Hogwarts in the subject.
Remus laughed softly under his breath. "Not even on a good day," he admitted, glancing over at him with an amused look in his eyes. "I've been thinking the same thing all evening. I once levitated a small Muggle automobile but it couldn't have been even half the weight of that stone and it took everything I had."
Severus found himself nodding in understanding - he'd lifted a number of heavy objects in his life, though not an automobile.
"I thought about saying something to Harry," Remus continued. "But if he said he did it, then I know he did, and I was afraid anything I might say would make him doubt himself tomorrow."
"I thought the same," Severus agreed, and suspected Sirius had stayed silent for the same reason. "How's your Patronus?"
"Adequate," Remus shrugged. "Not like Harry's, of course, but it will get the job done."
"And what about Black?" Severus questioned. "I've never seen him throw one before."
"Neither have I," Remus admitted. "But I trust him. If he says he can handle it, then I know he can."
Such faith. It was such a pathetically Gryffindor thing to say that Severus wanted to mock the man for it. But he thought of something a bit more cutting to say instead. "Well, judging by the way those women are eyeing him, I've no doubt Black will have all the happy memories he needs from tonight."
Remus whirled his head back toward his companion as if he'd been slapped, his amber gaze immediately seeking out the women in question. Indeed there were a group of young, rather well-endowed women watching the notorious outlaw, their eyes gleaming with a certain lustful hunger. But contrary to Severus' words, Black had not yet appeared to have noticed them. Remus, however, while giving Severus the predictable reaction he had been expecting, was not as ignorant as the Slytherin remembered.
"I'd say Sirius isn't the only one who's caught the eye of the local wildlife," he remarked somewhat cattily as he nodded his head toward a group of younger girls closer to Harry's age.
Severus eyes narrowed - the group of girls ranged from perhaps fourteen years of age to at least twenty and all of them were eyeing the young man rather hungrily. And while the girls of Hogwarts were rather reserved in their interactions with the boys their own age, Severus was very much aware of the fact that these girls, even the younger ones, had no such restraint. This society tended to live fast and hard and if Harry offered any sort of encouragement they would jump at the chance to share his bed this night. He also had no doubt that many of their mothers had given the girls fertility potions and urged them to lure one of the visiting men into their beds. Having a child with the Boy Who Lived or one of his companions would be considered a great blessing among such a group.
Severus threw a dark frown at the werewolf, who just glared right back. So the two of them were not so different; didn't mean they had to bond over the subject. And he certainly was not going to discuss his jealousy with a Gryffindor. His emotions were going to stay firmly where they had always been - buried.
While Sirius regaled the crowd of warriors with stories, Remus found himself spending most of the evening enduring the good-natured teasing of the warriors around him. Unlike his companions, Remus was an unknown quantity in this crowd. They all knew Harry Potter, and everyone had heard of Sirius Black and Severus Snape. They acknowledged those three men as superiors, and treated them with the respect due their stations, but they had no idea what to think of Remus Lupin. In the end they seemed to decide that he was little different from the rest of them, though worthy of respect by the company he kept. It opened Remus to a great deal more teasing than the others had to endure.
The gist of their joking seemed to be his choice of weapon. More than one man had comment on the size of the mace leaning up against the table by his chair. One brave soul had finally decided to test its weight himself - something Remus doubted they would have dared do with Severus or Sirius. The man, a blond, muscle-bound giant though perhaps no more than twenty-five years of age, lifted the heavy mace with both hands, grinning at his companions when he confirmed it weighed as much as they had guessed it did - far too much for someone like Remus to wield successfully.
"We'll get you another weapon, lad," the warrior grinned at Remus, despite the fact that Remus was at least a decade older than him. "My sister has a blade that would be about the right size for you." His words were met with laughter from the others.
Remus just smiled at the man and reached across to take the mace from him. He lifted the heavy weapon out of the warrior's grip with only one hand, tossing it briefly in the air as if it weighted no more than a dagger. "No thanks," he replied as he laid the mace once again beside him. "The mace suits me just fine."
The man's eyes had widened in amazement, and indeed several other warriors had leaned forward for a better look at him as if not believing he had done such a thing. Far from being angry or embarrassed the young warrior just grinned and sat down across from him, propping his arm up on the table. "You're stronger than you look. We must arm wrestle!"
While Remus just stared at the man in disbelief a dozen other men gathered around them, all seeming to think this was a grand idea. Of course he suspected in a society like this, arm wrestling likely passed for a form of entertainment. "You'd lose," he warned the man.
But the warrior just grinned harder. "Prove it."
And so while Sirius entertained one half of the crowd with wild stories, Remus found himself arm wrestling warrior after warrior, all wanting to test their strength against him. Surprisingly, despite losing one after another with seemingly no effort on Remus' part, none of them were deterred. Indeed several men came back more than once to try again. Remus found the whole thing perplexing.
Eventually they gave up and brought him food and drink for his effort, one man after another clapping him on the back as if they were now old friends. Bemused, he turned his attention to his companions instead, seeing that Sirius, Harry and Severus were now listening to Alrik retell the story of Harry's fight against the Dementors the night before. The warriors who had not heard the story were hanging on Alrik's every word, more than one man turning to stare at the now blushing Boy Who Lived when Alrik described Harry's Patronus as the 'Royal White Stag'.
These men, Remus had noticed, were given to metaphorical embellishment, but he found that description ringing oddly in his ears. It was aptly described - he had seen Prongs himself and knew how impressive he could be. But 'Royal White Stag' was a phrase Remus was certain he had read in a book somewhere. The memory however proved difficult to grasp.
Severus, he noticed, was listening to the story with a strange gleam in his eyes as well - as if he too had recognized something in the description. But perhaps he was just disturbed by the numerous young ladies who were determined to bring more food or drink for Harry the moment he so much touched something on his plate.
It was not the first time Remus had smelled jealousy or lust coming from Severus when he was focused on Harry. It might have worried him if he had not seen the way Severus had hugged Harry that afternoon in front of the castle, as if he'd been given his very life back in that moment. Severus might be more prone to the darker emotions in life, but it was obvious Harry brought out the lighter ones in him as well.
Against his bidding he found his gaze drifting back to Sirius. Time and time again he found himself unable to look away from the Marauder, the wolf in him so possessive of the man despite the fact that he had not taken him as a mate. The wolf did not seem to care. Truthfully, the man in him did not seem to care either. Despite the fact that he had exchanged no promises with Sirius, and had not encouraged his flirtations, he knew himself well enough to know that there was no one in this world for him but Sirius. The blue-eyed man had stolen his heart years ago when he he'd first seen him on their sorting day in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. Sirius had stolen his heart that day - and five years later when he and the others revealed they had become Animagus so that they could keep the werewolf company, he had quite effectively stolen Remus' soul.
But the Sirius of his youth had been flighty and fickle when it came to love, and Remus could not bear to risk their friendship simply because the wolf wanted his mate. He had spent his entire life denying the wolf; he would continue to do so.
Oh, but Severus words earlier that night had stung, and Remus had returned the barb just as sharply. Trouble was, Severus could be fairly certain that he could chase off all of Harry's young suitors this night. For all Harry's maturity, he did not think long or hard on romance the way other young men might. Certainly Ron Weasley spared more than a passing thought to the girls he knew - but Harry had seemed too haunted or perhaps too hunted to dwell overly long on such things.
But Remus had no such assurances. Indeed Sirius reveled in the attention he had attracted, playing up to the crowd that gathered around him. Even now he could hear him telling the women sitting beside him about one of his daring escapes from the Dementors out to hunt down the notorious outlaw. Harry's proclamation of Sirius' innocence had relegated Sirius Black to the status of Robin Hood. Even now Remus' overly sensitive hearing could hear several women bickering over who would bed Sirius this night. A young blond who reminded Remus uncomfortably of one of Sirius' old girlfriends appeared to be the forerunner in the fight. She was currently sitting beside the dark-haired man, gazing adoringly at his face. It was all Remus could do not to go over there and shove her away.
When he saw the girl slide her hand onto Sirius' thigh, he felt his proverbial hackles rise and found himself gripping his goblet hard enough to dent the metal.
The girl made no secret of her intentions, and though she whispered her words to Sirius, Remus could hear her clearly. "Do you want some company tonight?"
All Sirius had to do was smile and the bargain would be set. Remus could do nothing at all to stop it. And perhaps it was shameful of him to even begrudge Sirius this thing - though Severus' words had been meant to sting, there had been some truth in them. Remus of all people knew what torment it would be for Sirius to face those Dementors tomorrow. How could he begrudge Sirius the memories he might need to get through the battle?
He found himself unable to look up, but equally unable to shut his ears as he waited for Sirius' answer.
"I'm sorry, my lady," he heard Sirius' gentle voice. "My heart belongs to an other."
Remus looked up in shock, his gaze taking in the sight before him. Sirius had not, it seemed, noticed his scrutiny. Nor had the women, though several of them sighed at the romantic nature of Sirius' declaration. The blond however was not deterred and Remus' eyes narrowed as he saw her slender hand sliding higher up Sirius' thigh as if seeking out proof he was not uninterested. "It is not your heart I'm after," the girl told him.
Sirius grabbed the girl's wandering hand, putting it aside before it could reach its intended destination. He flashed the girl and those around her a winning smile. "With my heart went my ability to separate such things. Thank you, but I must decline."
If anything, his words made the girls sigh again, more enamored than before. Indeed, Remus found his own heart pounding in his chest. Did Sirius know he was watching, or were his word genuine? And perhaps it was the height of arrogance to assume Sirius might be referring to him. Perhaps he merely did not care for any of those on offer and was looking for an easy way to let them down.
But a quick glance at the girls left him doubting that last idea - the women were beautiful, and there were certainly plenty to choose from. For that matter if Sirius preferred other company this night there were men enough to chose from as well - more than one was eyeing the man hungrily enough. Or perhaps that it was just that Sirius did not feel comfortable leaving Harry unguarded this night - though surely he knew Severus would not let Harry out of his sight? Unless it was Severus he did not trust?
Remus' heart was still pounding, and now so was his head. He had never dated, never played the games other men played with casual lovers and flirtations. He did not know how to deal with the emotions he was feeling, and the one person he would normally go to talk to about such turmoil was the very person causing all of it.
And then there was the wolf inside him, growling in anger and telling him he was being foolish. Telling him simply that Sirius was his and he should take him and be done with it. The wolf had no conflict and sometimes Remus envied its simplicity.
"Remus?" he looked up from his musing to see that Sirius, Harry and Severus were all waiting for him, obviously ready to retire for the night.
Quickly he bid his own companions goodnight, grabbed up his mace and went to join them. An older woman was waiting to lead them to chambers for the night and as they left the Hall more than one disappointed gaze stared after them. Severus, Remus noticed, put a proprietary hand on Harry's shoulder and steered him from the room, pausing only briefly to glare back at some of the younger women who had been watching his bond-mate.
Remus found himself falling into step beside Sirius. "Arm wrestling?" Sirius murmured under his breath, and Remus threw him a glare, noting the smirk of amusement on the man's face.
"Wasn't my idea," he insisted. "They wouldn't leave me alone. Several of them came back more than once."
"Gave them an excuse to touch you, didn't it," Sirius told him, and Remus heard something odd in his voice which caused him to look more closely at his companion. Though Sirius' mouth was still smiling, there was a gleam in his eyes that wasn't precisely amusement.
"What?" he asked in confusion.
Sirius just shrugged carelessly, though the tension in his body spoke of something less casual. "Surely you noticed the attention you were attracting? I thought that blond was going to carry you off."
For one confusing moment Remus tried to picture the blond woman who had been touching Sirius' leg trying to carry him off. And then it hit him that Sirius was in fact referring to the young blond warrior who had been playing with his mace. And the odd look in Sirius' eyes suddenly made sense. Sirius Black was jealous! Amazement flooded through Remus' body. It was inconceivable.
But judging by the look in Sirius' gaze - a wary and somewhat worried look that Remus had a hard time comprehending - the man was expecting some sort of response from him. Or perhaps hoping for some sort of response that Remus was uncertain how to deliver.
"I. . ." he wanted to say something romantic and beautiful like the thing Sirius had said to that girl, something that might make Sirius' heart pound for an entirely different reason. But for once words utterly failed him and he was left with only the simple truth. "I hadn't noticed," he admitted, disappointed in himself that he could not find something more assuring to say.
And miraculous, the truth seemed to be exactly what Sirius wanted, for he flashed Remus a blinding smile. "Yeah," he grinned. "I kind of figured." And when he slipped his arm around Remus' waist and pulled him into his side, Remus did nothing to stop him.