One Last Chance

The holidays were approaching and there was an excitement about the castle as Thanksgiving Break would begin in about three days time. For the first time since the war had started, the children were allowed to go home to spend the holiday with their families if they chose to do so. He, of course, would be staying at the castle. Harry and Draco were staying as well as neither of them had a home or a family to go to. He had no idea what Remus was doing, but he assumed that he would stay as well.

In truth, he was less than excited. Dreadful was the best word to describe his feelings about the third Thursday of the month. He hated the holidays. He had absolutely nothing at all to be thankful for and he rarely received gifts at Christmastime either. The night before each event were normally spent alone in his quarters with a bottle of Odgens strongest Firewhiskey. At least, that had been the routine for the past seventeen years or so.

The rest of the staff had grown used to this and had even learned not to bother him on these occasions. Albus had always been there to scrape him off of the floor on Thanksgiving morning and then again on Christmas and even on Valentine's Day once every few years.

The old man would always scold him for a good ten minutes before summoning a potion to sober him up and cure the hangover that would come afterwards. He would then tuck him in bed and watch over him for a few hours before practically forcing him to come to dinner.

It annoyed him to no end in the moment, but a few days after the fact he would realize how grateful he was to have a father figure in his life. How grateful he was to have someone, anyone, who cared if he lived to see the next day or not. But there would be nobody to pick him up off the floor this year, just as there had been nobody last year.

He grimaced as he recalled last Christmas Eve. He had gotten drunker than any other year. Part of it was because he assumed it would be his last and part of it was because he had begun to think about Albus and gotten upset, consuming compious amounts of alcohol in order to numb his pain.

Lucius had arrived around eight o'clock on Christmas morning to deliver his gift to him. He didn't know all of the details, as he was so drunk that he couldn't remember a single thing, but he had apparently been sitting on the stone cold floor, sobbing hysterically and slicing his right forearm with a large silver blade.

Severus was extremely grateful that Lucius had been the one to find him and care for him. Any other Death Eater would have taken advantage of him in his weakened moment and would have been able to pry information out of him, as he was in absolutely no state to block anybody out of his mind.

He knew that his friend would never do something like that to him, though. People thought they knew who the man was, but they really had no idea. Sure, he was extremely wealthy and stuck up and thought he was better than everybody else and felt as if his Pureblood status made him royalty. He was arrogant and rude and intimidating and had a mean temper, but he was just as evil as a furry little bunny rabbit.

He had even admitted to Severus one night that he had only returned to the Dark Lords side out of fear, not out of loyalty. He had realized in the Dark Lords absence that what they had been doing was not acceptable and that the man whom he had followed, even worshipped at one point, was a mad-man who would stop at nothing to have complete and total power over the entire world, Magical and Muggle.

Narcissa felt the same way. She had only ever become a Death Eater because Lucius had pressured her into it and she was young and stupid and would have given up everything for love at that moment in time. She had known that this life was not right for her from the moment it began and Severus knew that she would do it all over differently if she could.

While nobody else ever expected that two of the Dark Lords most loyal followers would rather be anywhere else, Severus always noticed it. He was different like that, always noticing the little things about people that nobody else ever seemed to pick up on.

He would notice it when the two would grip hands underneath the table to bring the other comfort during the long Death Eater meetings at Malfoy Manor. He would notice it when Narcissa would sit up straight and grip Draco's shoulder tightly when the Dark Lord would address her son.

He would notice the thinning of both of their lips and their paling faces as they were forced to torture or kill innocent beings. He had noticed just how fake their smiles were the night that Draco was branded with the Dark Mark.

At the party that followed the new inductions, he had stumbled upon the two in the garden together while going on a walk to escape the festivities. He had made eye contact with Lucius as he held his crying wife in his arms, seeing just how much this was tearing their life apart.

They truly were good people underneath the surface and he vowed to at least try to get them out of Azkaban as soon as possible, but he could make no guarantees. It would be nearly impossible to prove their good naturedness.

It was a particularly chilly Saturday morning and all Severus wanted to do was lay in his bed and sleep the day away. His wish could not be granted, though. He had been forced into helping Remus chaperone todays Hogsmeade trip.

He had blatantly refused multiple times, but his arse of a boyfriend had ignored his protests and informed Minerva that they would be perfectly happy to chaperone the little brats while they stuffed their faces with candy and snuck off to cause all sorts trouble in the village.

Said werewolf was currently attempting to shake him awake and he was pretending to be in a deep sleep, even throwing in a couple of snores every now and then. He was hoping Remus would say to hell with it and crawl into bed with him.

"Come here." He mumbled sleepily, blindly reaching forward and pulling Remus down onto the bed. He felt for his back and wrapped his arm around his waist tightly enough that he couldn't get back up and resume in torturing him.

Remus eventually stopped fighting him and just lay there. He knew his plan had worked as he wound their legs together and reached up to clasp their hands together. "Maybe we can sleep for just an hour." He mumbled after a moment of silence. Severus smirked into his back, knowing that he had just won this one.

"What are you smirking at?"

"Now I know how to win every single time I want something."

"Who said you won?" To prove his point, he unclasped their hands and attempted to pull his legs away.

Severus tightened his grip to prevent his legs from moving and buried his face in his back, still holding him tightly around the middle. He closed his eyes and inhaled the familiar scent of Remus's cologne.

They lay in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the feel of the others body. It had been a while since they had laid together in this way. Normally, the two just sat side by side on the couch. An arm wrapped around a waist or a foot on top of a foot was the extent of their cuddling.

He found that he could not go back to sleep now that he was fully awake. Remus, on the other hand, was fully asleep and happened to be snoring rather loudly at the moment. It was beginning to annoy him to no end, but he didn't want to stop lying beside his lover. Ever. They really had to do this more often because it was putting him in an unusually good mood.

The hour they had allowed themselves passed all too quickly and he reluctantly pulled away and began getting ready for the day. He popped a few pills and washed it down with a huge gulp of Firewhiskey to keep him at bay until he could shoot up later tonight. Once he had finished, he sat down on the edge of the bed and shook Remus awake.

"Get your lazy ass up, breakfast started twenty minutes ago."

Remus cracked his eyelids open and blinked tiredly. "Get your lazy ass back in bed, I don't care." He mumbled. Severus chuckled out loud as he realized how badly he was starting to rub off on Remus. He had taken on this new "I don't care, go to hell" attitude that resembled his own and he had heard him swear more in the past few weeks than in the entire time he had known him. It was rather amusing.

He sighed loudly and stood up. Remus smirked and closed his eyes again, obviously thinking that he had won this one. He let out a squeak of surprise as Severus grabbed his arm and literally dragged him out of the bed.

They finally looked presentable and were heading down to the Great Hall ten minutes later. He was so caught up in rambling to Remus about the new Potions book that he wished to purchase later today that he didn't even notice the way he was being gaped at, the way a few students stood up to get a good look at him, or the flash of a camera that came from the Gryffindor table.

It was not until he sat down that he became completely aware of the way people were looking at him half opened mouthed. For the first time in his entire seventeen years of teaching, he had worn something other than his billowing black robes in front of the students.

It wasn't anything spectacular, at all. Just jeans, a plain black sweater, a black overcoat, and an emerald scarf, but it was enough to have half of the room staring at him. In fact, his Slytherins, Harry, and Draco were the only ones not staring at him as they had all seen him dress like this and simply paid it no attention at all.

"What in Merlin's name are they all staring at?" Remus suddenly whispered from his left.

"Me."

"But… why?" Remus frowned.

Severus gestured his hand up and down his body. His eyes traveled up and down his body and he could have sworn he saw a certain hunger in his eyes, but he pushed this ridiculous thought into the back of his mind. There was nothing on his body that could produce those sorts of feelings from anybody. He had obviously imagined it.

"Who cares what they think? I think you look sexier when you're not hiding underneath all of those robes."

He felt the heat rising in his cheeks as he lowered his head downward and took a bite of his porridge. He never knew how to accept compliments, especially ones like that.

They finished eating and headed into the village with the rest of the students. It was extremely cold out and he shivered a little despite all of his layers. They walked side by side down the main road, keeping an eye on the students while window shopping at the same time.

After about twenty minutes, he was already cursing Remus in his head and to his face. He had already had to stop at least five students and give them a good scolding and it was only ten in the morning.

"They are going to have to pry my hands off of your dead body by the time this is over."

Remus simply rolled his eyes and laughed as they came to a stop in front of the Shrieking Shack. He was glad they were finally in a deserted area, but he was still freezing his arse off.

He sighed deeply and slipped his hands in his pockets, casting a glance over at Remus. For the first time, he noticed that he was only wearing a sweater and an extremely light jacket. His nose and cheeks were bright red from the cold. That idiot.

He moved slightly to the right until he was standing behind him. Severus reached up and removed his scarf from around his neck. He slipped it on him from behind, ignoring the way Remus jumped at the unexpected touch.

"You're going to catch pneumonia and die you imbecile." He muttered as he spun him around to tie the scarf and make sure it was covering his face and neck completely.

Once he was finished adjusting the scarf, he wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him close. Remus wound his arms around his neck.

"Not when your here to mollycoddle me, love." He leaned down to kiss him, but Severus pulled away and released him, ignoring the unfamiliar feeling in the pit of his stomach at Remus's words.

"I was not mollycoddling you. I was simply making sure you did not freeze to death."

"Whatever you say, Severus, whatever you say."

Severus playfully slapped his arm and the two began walking again, this time to the Three Broomsticks. It was, of course, completely packed with students and villagers. He kept his arm wrapped around Remus's waist as they walked in, not even thinking about it.

Things like this were starting to feel like the most natural thing in the world for him and he barely stopped to think twice about it. On the rare occasions that he did think twice about it, it scared him to no end.

They located a table in a corner and made a beeline for it before anybody else took it. Not that he would have any problem scaring the person who took it into giving it up, but he just didn't feel like tormenting innocent beings today.

Rosmerta came to take their orders and he, of course, ordered a Firewhiskey. Remus ordered a glass of white wine and the two leaned back in their seats, allowing the warmness of the shop to wash over them.

He took a sip of his drink before asking the question that had been on his mind for the past few days or so.

"So, what are your plans for Thanksgiving?"

He said as casually as possible, while he was secretly dying to know inside. He would never admit it, but he hoped that Remus would choose to stay at Hogwarts for the holiday.

This would be his first holiday actually having a significant other and he really wished for them to spend the day together, even if all they did was go eat dinner in the Great Hall with the rest of the staff and the remaining students.

"That's what I actually wanted to speak with you about. My mother is having a dinner at her house on Thanksgiving night. My entire family is going to be there and I'd really love to go, as I have not seen them in nearly a years time."

He tried to look as normal as possible, but he knew that his face had suddenly fell at the thought of Remus spending the holiday away from him. He should not have been stupid enough to believe that they were serious enough to spend the holidays together.

"Oh. I see." He finally said.

"She's really excited to meet you."

"Well, that's nice-wait! what?" His eyes widened to twice their normal size and he spat Firewhiskey all down his front as Remus's words sank in.

Remus smirked at him for a long moment, nodding his head up and down. "She is expecting us for lunch at noon on Thursday. We can stay there for a wile and then go eat dinner in the Great Hall. The boys are invited as well, if they wish to come. I did not want to speak to them about it before I informed you."

Severus nodded up and down weakley, too badly freaking out to do anything else, even protest. He was going to meet Remus's mother, his entire family. He had never met anybodys family before.

Okay, that was a lie, he had met Lily's parents tons of times, but this was when they were younger and the two were merely friends. He would be meeting Remus's mother as his...significant other. The thought nearly scared him to death.

The other mans smile faded and he leaned forward in his chair, suddenly dead serious. He suddenly got the feeling that he had done something extremely wrong, but what that was, he did not know.

"Do you even want to come? Because from the look on your face you'd rather do anything than spend Thanksgiving with me."

He really wanted to slap Remus in the side of the head as he realized what had brought on his sudden change of attitude. Of course he wanted to come! Was he that dense that he thought that he would have it any other way if he could help it? Apparently.

"Of course I want to come with you, you imbecile! It's just...I am...nervous." He admitted rather reluctantly. "I have never met anybodys parents before, or their family. And I mean, what if they all hate me!"

He said the last part in a more high pitched voice than intended and immediately winced at how childish and whiney he had just sounded.

Remus leaned back in his chair, smirking and practically twiddling his god damn thumbs.

"It's gonna be great. You'll see."