8 Hours

"You actually came," Remus said sliding into the seat beside the Slytherin in the library way in the back away from prying eyes, "And without James?"

"It wasn't easy, your best mate is annoyingly persistent and over protective." Severus said and Remus couldn't help but let out a soft snort. The raven looked up from the book he'd been reading and paused, "You came without Black."

"Sirius hasn't really… absorbed all of this. I thought it would be best if I came on my own." Remus said a bit sheepishly and Snape arched a brow at the werewolf before he spoke.

"In other words, Sirius Black is being Sirius Black and this conversation would go down better if you didn't constantly need to keep him on a leash?"

Remus wanted to get angry, but Snape was technically right. Instead the werewolf sighed.

"So, James told us about what happened between you two in the room of requirement. He said you were trapped in there for eight years."

"You don't believe him?"

"I just can't wrap my mind around it."

"Understandable. I assume you have questions." Snape shut his book and turned to the Gryffindor beside him, "I'm afraid I can't tell you why the room did what it did. I'm at a complete loss in that respect."

For a moment Remus was taken a back at how mature Snape seemed. Not that Snape hasn't always been a bit more restrained than most their age but he was still a teenager. He was quick to anger. But somehow now there's more behind his eyes. He took a deep breath.

"How long did it take for this to happen?"

"How long did it take for what to happen?"

"You and James. Frankly I never thought it would be possible for you two to even get along in a hundred years."

Severus' lips twitched in amusement, "Three years. Two years and ten months if you want to get technical about it."

"How?"

Snape looked away, "The first two years we were, barely civil and then… At first it was simply a case of loneliness, I think. It was just the two of us for so long that it somehow it just made sense. The first few months it was just physical, something to drown out the need for intimacy I suppose. And then I'm not sure. Like I said before your best mate is annoyingly persistent."

"A physical relationship wasn't enough for him?" Remus asked with a smile, "I can believe that. James has always been… romantic."

"Things just spun out of control from there." Snape said with a heavy sigh, "Three years turned into four and then five. In the seventh year I realised that I was pregnant."

Remus' eyes went wide, "Pregnant?"

The raven swallowed hard as he spoke, "It caught us both by surprise. I didn't even know I was capable of... but I had all the symptoms and we managed to make a monitor of sorts to see the foetus. That's when we really started working towards getting out of the room. We didn't want to raise the baby in such an isolated place. I mean what would happen once we died?"

Remus' mind was reeling but he still managed to get out one question, "Was it a boy or a girl?"

Snape shook his head, "We were hoping for a boy but we never got to find out. My water broke, I was going into labour. We were both panicking a bit, but we thought we'd prepared enough to deliver the baby by ourselves, that's when an earthquake suddenly hit and the walls suddenly started to crack and break apart." The raven raised his gaze and found the werewolf staring at him in confusion. Severus let out a sigh, "Everything we went through in there, none of it was real. It was all an illusion. Even the pregnancy. The room couldn't manifest an actual human child out of nowhere so when I went into labour-"

"The illusion ended." Remus said quietly, his eyes had widened in horror. Snape let out a soft snort.

"I went to go see Pomfrey the second week after we got out, she said that the only way that it would be possible for me to have a child is if I went on potions treatments that would make it possible, and even then the only way to give birth would be through caesarean. What happened in the room was impossible. None of it was real."

Remus felt a shiver of fear run down his spine. What the room did was horrifying. If it was capable of something like that… Remus now understands why the headmaster insisted on keeping the room a secret.

"It is what it is. We've left the room now and that's all that matters." Snape let out a soft sigh, "After we left, I thought that James would get over what happened. After all it was just the two of us for all those years. I thought that if he was around other people he'd lose interest, so I tried to move on. But again-"

"James is annoyingly persistent?" Remus finished for him and Snape's lips twitched up into a smile, "Infuriatingly romantic."

Remus nodded his head, "You seem happy together." Snape didn't say anything to that and Remus let out a soft sigh, "I think I could get used to this. If nothing else, this means that the animosity between us will stop. At least I hope it will, after what happened last year, I'd hoped that we'd be able to make amends."

"Last year?" The raven asked with an arched brow and Remus shook his head, "I suppose it's closer to nine years ago for you. The incident at the shack."

"Ah." Snape nodded, "It's still hard to believe that you suffer under that particular condition."

Remus gave him a wry smile, "I'll take that as a compliment."

"You know, James and I were trapped in the room for so long I had a bit if time to study up on the werewolf curse. I even had some time to experiment with a few potions. But not having an actual werewolf at my disposal made my research a bit difficult." Snape said head cocking to the side as he spoke, "If you're serious about making up for last year's incident, then I'll accept your assistance with my research as an apology."

Remus blinked, "Really?"

Snape shrugged, "James seems to care for you very deeply, if nothing else this will give us the opportunity to at least attempt to learn to get along. I just need a few samples, information about the transformation process and your experiences during the full moon. I don't feel confident enough in my abilities to try experimentation on live subjects just yet."

"So," Remus paused looking down at his hands before he looked up again as he spoke, "You'd like for us to be friends?"

Snape gave a snort and shook his head, "Are all Gryffindors this preoccupied with friendship?" he got up from his seat and picked up his book as he let out a sigh, "Sure, we can try to be friends."

"Then we'll start over." Remus stood up as well and held out his hand and gave his best smile, "My name is Remus Lupin, it's nice to meet you."

Snape looked down at the hand before letting out a snort as he took it with a smile pulling at his lips, "Severus Snape."

Remus' smile brightened, "Soon to be Potter, I assume."

Severus rolled his eyes, "Please don't encourage him. For some reason he refuses to understand that we're technically still sixteen. That's too young for marriage."

"Not for a pureblood, most marriage contracts are signed by twelve. You don't want to marry James?"

A light flush coloured the raven's cheeks and he let out a sigh, "I never said that, but this is a second opportunity, to do it better this time around. It felt so rushed before. As if things were just happening. Why not take our time?"

Remus nodded, "I get it, so you're not engaged yet?"

Snape sighed again and raised his left hand to show the single gold band wrapped around his ring finger, "We've agreed to wait till graduation."

"He wore you down?"

"He's insufferably persistent. I swear if I didn't love him so much, I would've killed him by now."

Remus couldn't help but howl with laughter.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Its been two years since they were trapped in the room of requirement.

It was early morning and James was just about to get some breakfast when he paused by the kitchen door. He noticed it was open and looked outside only to blink when he saw Severus sitting up against a large willow tree a bit away from the house, reading a book. James walked out towards him, Snape didn't look up, though the Gryffindor was sure that he must have seen or at least heard him coming.

"Where did this come from?" he asked by way of greeting, nodding up to the tree.

"I asked for it." Severus glanced up at him, "You're up earlier than normal."

"Didn't get much sleep." James admitted as he sat down beside the Slytherin, "Why are you always up this early?"

"I like to keep a routine." Severus said without looking up and James frowned. "I don't see much need for that in here. We don't have classes, no assignments or tests."

"Speak for yourself Potter."

James lifted his head and arched a brow in question when he finally noticed the book the raven was reading.

"A textbook. You're studying?"

"You aren't?"

James shrugged, "I don't really see the point." The Gryffindor then lay back on the grass looking up into the tree's hanging branches, "Its been two years, you realise that we should've graduated from Hogwarts a month ago."

"Should I take that to mean that you won't be going back to school if we make it out of here?" Snape said as he turned the page on his book, "You realise that you don't qualify for auror training if you don't graduate from Hogwarts?"

James let out a sigh of frustration, "If we ever get out of here."

Severus looked over to the other, "Giving up so soon?"

"It's been two years. Why haven't you given up yet?"

"I have no intention of dying in here, let alone spending the rest of my life with you."

James rolled his eyes, "You could do much worse than me Snape."

"I doubt that."

"There is literally no one else in here with us."

"And yet, you still wouldn't stand a chance."

James gave a pout as he looked up at the Slytherin, but Severus didn't even bother glancing at him.

"What's your type?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm serious, what's your type?"

Snape lifted his head, looked the raven right in the eyes as he spoke.

"Not you."

James glared before looking away, took in a deep breath and he could hear the Slytherin turn the page on his book before he spoke.

"You're my type."

"Of course." Snape drawled in a bored tone and James turned his head to look at him.

"I'm serious you know."

"So slimy Slytherin Death Eater is what does it for you, then?"

"No. I like slim and petite."

"Petite?" Snape didn't even bother keeping the derision from his voice, James ignored him.

"I like smart."

"Didn't you date Lydia Brown? Yes, she was a wealth of knowledge, wasn't she?"

James glared, "I wasn't dating her for her potions marks."

"Then why were you dating her?"

"Not sure," James paused, looked up at into the tree's branches and swallowed hard, "She had black hair."

Severus paused, James didn't look but he could feel those dark eyes on him.

"She didn't really have as much resistance as I normally like either. You remember, Evans always had a bit of bite too but it was never quite-"

"Alright, I see where this is going so let me put a stop to it right now." Snape said cutting into James' sentence. The Gryffindor looked over to him just in time to see him close his book and set it on his lap. "It's just the two of us in here, you haven't seen a girl in more than two years and now because of what I assume is loneliness and a lack of attention, you've managed to convince yourself that you're developing some sort of attraction towards me so let me remind you." The raven took in a deep breath, "You and I are not now, nor have we ever been friends. You and your friends have treated me terribly since the moment we met and I'm honest enough to admit that I carry some responsibility for the animosity that's been festering between us as well. Just because we're stuck in here together for who knows how much longer, does not mean that any of that needs to change-"

"Snape-"

"You are not attracted to me, I'm not attracted to you so I think its best that you just keep quiet and we can pretend like this conversation never-"

Severus was cut off when he suddenly felt a pair of lips pressing against his own. Onyx eyes went wide with shock and the teen froze as he stared back at the other. James pulled back, his cheeks caught in a flush.

"Can I say something now?"

Severus didn't answer, he just stared back at the other and James took that as his cue to keep going.

"I know we've never gotten along before and I know that if we ever get out of here we probably won't be any closer to being friends than we were before we got stuck in here but," James took a deep breath as he shifted into his knees so he was a little more comfortable, his blush got darker, "Yeah, I've been feeling a little lonely and I was thinking that it wouldn't be so bad if we could, I don't know, at least be more civil with each other. Maybe take some comfort in each other."

"I don't need any comfort." Snape said shortly and James sighed.

"I do and this doesn't have to be a permanent thing. It's just until we get out of the room. Once we get out, we can pretend like none of this ever happened. I'll even pay you if you like-"

"I'm not a prostitute."

"I'm not saying you are."

Snape stared at him for a moment, "You can't be this desperate Potter."

"It's been more than two years, I mean, what if we really do end up being stuck in here forever?"

"We won't."

"But what if we are? Look I'm not asking you to be my boyfriend or anything but… I hear that tone in your voice when you talk about Rosier sometimes and I know you won't admit it but… Whatever it is that was going on between you two, are you telling me you really don't miss any of it?" James asked and Snape just stared back at him though he could see the Slytherin's jaw clench, "I could be whatever he was for you, just till we get out. If we ever get out…"

Snape's head gave a slight tilt, "And what would I need to be for you?"

"I sleep better when I have someone with me. And," James paused as he moved a bit closer Snape just watched him, "I miss having someone I can kiss whenever I want."

"And that's all you'll want?"

James paused again, "What do you want?"

Severus stared back at him for one moment of complete silence until he suddenly moved forward and pressed his lips against the other's. James stifled a yelp of surprise since he honestly hadn't expected the raven to actually do that but quickly moved passed the shock to kiss him back tilting his head and cupping Severus' jaw to deepen the kiss when the raven suddenly broke it. He took a deep breath and looked away, a light flush painted his cheeks and James couldn't help but think it suited the Slytherin.

"It's just a physical thing." Severus said, his voice surprisingly steady, "I'm not your boyfriend, we are not friends. This is all its going to be, understood?"

James nodded his head, looking a bit like an overeager puppy, "Yeah, that's- I can do that."

Severus shook his head with a soft sigh as he reached for his book, "Then you have a deal, Potter."

"Would you please call me James?"

"What on earth for?" Severus asked as he made to lean back against the tree and get comfortable again. James let out a sigh of frustration.

"You don't think it'll make our arrangement easier?"

"Not particularly no."

"Prat."

"I aim to please."

James huffed, looking at the other teen with a tilt of his head before he spoke, "Can we do something right now?"

Severus rolled his eyes and looked at the Gryffindor over his book, "And exactly what is it that you insist on doing right now?"

James crawled forward, took a hold of Snape's shoulder and urged him forward. Severus allowed it watching the other teen with a frown as James settled behind him with one leg on each of his sides before pulling the Slytherin back to rest against his chest. He tensed.

"What're you-"

"I just…" James wrapped his arms around the raven's waist and shut his eyes, "What're you reading anyway?"

Severus looked up at James with an arched brow, not sure what to make of his actions, feeling distinctly odd at the feeling of their bodies pressed together so tightly. He cleared his throat looked back down at his book and flipped through it to find the section he'd been reading earlier.

"Transfiguration, we should have started on animagus spells a year ago."

"Oh, well that's not so hard. I could teach you if you like."

"You, teach me?"

"Yeah." James shrugged only to roll his eyes at the look in the Slytherin's eyes, "Don't give me that look, you've seen my animagus form before, you know I can do it."

"That doesn't mean that you'd be capable of teaching me."

"Honestly though, what do you have to lose its not like we're going anywhere."

Severus sighed, brushing a lock of hair behind his ear, "Fine but if you even think about tricking me in some way, I'll-"

The raven was cut off when James suddenly leaned in and kissed him on the side of his head before giving a grin, "Then it's decided. We can start right after lunch."

"Why not right now?"

James didn't answer him, just pulled Severus back against his chest a little more and let his head rest against the tree and to his eyes. Severus looked back at him, lips pursing together in a tight line before he took a deep breath and tried to relax as he started reading again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Rosier! Where are you going?"

The blonde paused, looking back over his shoulder to find Potter standing right in front of Snape's door. Probably spending another night in the raven's room. Evan suppressed a growl of annoyance.

"None of your business."

He turned around to leave, but only made about halfway down the hall before his arm was grabbed and he looked back to find Potter frowning at him.

"It's late."

"And you're not my mother so back off." Evan said wrenching his arm out of the raven's grip James' jaw clenched.

"You're going to go see him, aren't you?"

Evan resisted the urge to flinch back instead he leaned in and snarled, "I said, back off."

James let out a sigh of frustration, "Severus said no, he isn't taking the mark. If he can say no then why can't you?"

Evan turned back to face him, for a brief moment speechless as he stared back, "I-"

"You don't have to do this, Sev wouldn't want you to."

And then Evan glared, "Yeah well, I don't have to answer to a half-blood now, do I."

"You're all he ever talked about." James blurted out as he took a step closer to the blonde, "Besides his mum, I couldn't get him to shut up about you. At first I thought he was just trying to annoy me but he really does care about you-"

"What's your point?"

"My point is that I love him, so whoever is important to him is important to me. I'm not letting you do this if I can stop it."

Evan scoffed as he took a step closer to the raven and sneered, "And exactly how are you going to stop me?"

"By force if I have to."

"You can't make me do anything."

"But Voldemort can?" Evan instinctively took a step back, James just pushed on, "What happened to Evan Rosier, the psychopath, the Slytherin who isn't scared of anyone not even Dumbledore. You're going to let Voldemort tame you? Turn you into one of his pets?"

"I'm no one's pet."

"So what then, a half-blood like Severus can refuse but the great Evan Rosier can't?"

"Go to hell." Rosier growled out as he turned to walk away only for James to stop him again.

"Look just-" The raven sighed, "One night. Your dark lord can wait one night, can't he? Just stay just for tonight, talk to Sev and if you still want to go through with this then I won't stop you and I'll make sure Severus stays out of your way."

Evan paused, "Really?"

"You don't think I'd ever let my fiancé go anywhere near a Death Eater, do you?" James said folding his arms over his chest, "I'm doing this for Severus, if he's going to lose a friend, then I'd like to give him the opportunity to try and keep them."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I'll tell Dumbledore about your plans and he'll deal with you himself."

Rosier paused, "What do I care what that old fart thinks of me?"

"I'd be more concerned with what will happen if the aurors are called in and find you with the mark on your arm. And you're splashed all over the next cover of the Prophet."

Evan couldn't stop his eyes from widening just a bit before his jaw clenched and he let out a hiss, "Fine."

James gave a nod before he turned around, "Well then, lets go. I don't want to keep Severus waiting."

Evan took in one more deep breath, looking back down the hall where Mulciber and Avery said that he should wait for them before turning back.