Chapter 1
The teacher's lounge was a surprisingly cozy room, one that had something for everyone, whether it was a book, a mug, a poster or a chair. So much so that even the Professors that kept to themselves the most (such as Professor Snape) visited from time to time. It had been Professor McGonagall's idea to turn an old supply closet into this room, to give the Professors a place to bond, share, and to lighten the load that teaching, no matter how fulfilling, certainly carried.
Remus decided to head to the teachers' lounge for a cup of coffe and some chocolate. He thought he'd passed by Peeves but chose to ignore him before he'd reached the painting in which a badger, a snake, an eagle and a lion were all playing together. He smiled and watched them for a moment, before coughing to gain their attention. They stilled and listened to him as he recited the password.
"Tough day?" Severus's head sprung up to find Remus Lupin rummaging through a cupboard, probably looking for chocolate. "Was I asleep?" He asked in a raspy voice. His back and neck hurt from being in an uncomfortable position for so long, so he tried stretching. "You were snoring." He answered, finding his secret stash and going to sit in the armchair in front of him with a cup of coffee. "I don't snore, Lupin." He remarked, taking the coffee from his hands. "Hey! That was- *sigh* I'll just make another one, I guess. Why were you sleeping here in the middle of the day?" Severus figured he should probably answer his question after having taken his coffe. "There's so much Slytherin drama that I need to keep up with and try to keep the students from murdering each other, not to mention all the OWL practice tests to correct. Plus, my own personal shit." Remus blinked in surprise, expecting silence or an uncalled for snarky remark instead of an actual answer. "That... sounds like a lot. Do you want to talk about it?" "No, I need to get back to my office and prepare the lesson plans for this week. But if you see a big, shabby black dog, warn him." "What dog?" Asked Remus, feigning a look of innocent confusion. Severus took another slow sip from his cup and raised an eyebrow at him, making him crack a smile and roll his eyes. "What did he do?" Severus took another sip of coffe and pretended not to have heard the question. They stayed in complete silence for a few minutes until Remus finally spoke. "I need to ask him, don't I?" "Yes." Answered Severus, as if he were clearly stating the obvious, setting down his empty cup and getting up from the chair, turning to leave. "Severus-" called Remus. He stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around. "I really am sorry." "You should be." He said bitterly before walking out.
Remus sighed. He'd been trying to apologize for what they'd done to him since the beginning of his first year teaching here. He really was sorry, more than he could express in words, but... Severus didn't seem to believe him. Who could blame him? Definitely not Remus. At least they could have a somewhat normal conversation, and that wasn't something you did with your sworn enemies, right? At least, he hoped.