Warnings: Slash (i.e. male/male pairings) If this bothers you, do not read. (If you do read, don't complain to me. I warned you.)

Title: Waltz for the Moon: New Moon
Pairings: RL/SB, RL/SS
Spoilers: PoA, eventually. One miniscule, almost completely unnoticeable spoiler for FB
Notes: Ulric the Oddball and angst make an odd combination. This section turned out rather lighter than I expected. Unless my subconscious decides to mess with me further, the rest should be darker.
Disclaimer: If they were mine, I wouldn't have to worry about student loans.
Feedback: Always appreciated. Flames will be used to keep my feet warm at night.

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Severus Snape was watching Remus Lupin.

No- Severus Snape was _studying_ Remus Lupin, studying him as if he were a particularly complex potion, or an intricate hex, or- Sirius's line of thought broke down at that point; other than potions and hexes, he had no idea of what the Slytherin fifth-year thought about in his spare time. Nor did he care, except insofar as the potions and hexes- jinxes and curses, too, now that he thought of it- tended to be tested on James and himself. He understood that, as he and James (well, mostly him, but James held up his end when the other Slytherins got involved) used Snape to test out new and interesting derivations of charms, jinxes, and recently, transfigurations. Sirius still prided himself on transfiguring Snape's hat into a coiled serpent. It figured that the slimy git would like snakes, though... he should have realized that. At least his transfiguration was improving. All that extra time spent on the Project, no doubt. Sirius bit down on his quill and forced himself back to his supremely uninteresting Arithmancy reading. It had to be his imagination.

Less than a minute later, he looked up. Snape was still staring fixedly at Remus, his own books lying forgotten in front of him. Concentration broken, he nudged James, sitting next to him and taking up more than his fair share of the table with his Divination books. "Is it just me, or is Snape staring at Remus?"

James, distracted, glanced over to where Remus sat tutoring Peter, and then over to Snape's corner. "Could be. He might be staring at Peter, though."

"Don't be ridiculous. He's clearly focusing on Remus. I haven't seen him blink once."

The other boy shrugged. "If you insist. You're the resident expert on Snape-watching."

Sirius snorted, but didn't raise to the bait. Then, as James was settling back to his Divination: "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why is he staring at Remus like that? I don't like it."

"You've never liked anything about Snape- why start now?" James toyed with his glasses for a moment. "Maybe he's plotting something."

That was normal Slytherin behavior, but... "Not against Remus. He usually stays out of our fights."

"_Our_ fights?"

"Yes, Mr. Too-Noble-To-Hex-Someone-(even a Slytherin)-From-Behind Prefect. Our fights."

James grinned and didn't press the point. "Well, maybe he needs tutoring. Everyone knows that Remus is tops in Defense against the Dark Arts."

"_Snape_? Ask a _Gryffindor_ for help? Have you been at Hagrid's secret stash again?"

"Not since the last time you talked me into it. It was hard enough explaining the blue spots and furry ears to Madame Pomfrey once- even your ingenuity would be challenged by a second time." James sighed. "Look, it's probably nothing. Snape's probably daydreaming of, of- I don't know, what he'd do with an unlimited supply of gillyweed, or inventing a potion that selectively turns Gryffindors into flying purple prawns, and Remus just happens to be in his line of sight."

Sirius bit down on his quill again, thinking. "You don't think that he _suspects_, do you?"

"Suspects? Suspects Remus?"

"Yeah. You know how he's always sneaking around after us-"

"-hoping to get us expelled-"

"-and Peter said that Snape had seen Madame Pomfrey taking him out to the Shack last month. D'you think he's put it together? He knows that Remus is, well, sick pretty often- he used to comment on it all the time." He smirked. "At least until I transfigured his mashed potatoes into bubotuber pus."

It was James's turn to chew on his quill. "I don't think so. Snape's pretty traditional when it comes to magical creatures. He doesn't even trust centaurs, and you remember the stink he made when he found out about Hagrid. Dumbledore had to come down pretty hard on him to shut him up before it made the Daily Prophet. If he even suspected Remus, he wouldn't be staring at him- he'd either be cowering under his bed, or he'd be broadcasting the news to the entire school. If enough people complained to the board of governors, Dumbledore might be forced to expel Remus as a... a hazard. But he's not. He's just sitting there and staring. He's probably asleep with his eyes open or something."

"I suppose," Sirius said, unconvinced.

James returned to his Divination, but Sirius, his own work forgotten, watched Snape watching Remus. Remus wasn't doing anything especially note-worthy, just tutoring Peter, as he often did. No reason for Snape to be interested in Peter's scholastic issues. It could just as easily have been James or himself helping Peter... except that James, despite his other talents, was terrible at explanations and tended to start in the middle and work both forwards and backwards at once, and Sirius, able to grasp new ideas the first time around (when he bothered), simply didn't have the patience to deal with confusion. After all, if you didn't get it the first time, how could going over it a second or third or tenth time make any difference?

Remus was a good teacher; the material came easily to him, and he had a gift for patient (and endlessly varied) explanation. Sirius, diverted, watched Peter point out a passage and shrug, mouth quirking. Remus tilted his head to the side and tapped his lips with his quill before he sketched a quick diagram in the margin of Peter's book. Realization dawned, and Peter grinned, gesturing frantically as he demonstrated his new-found comprehension. Remus nodded, coffee-colored eyes faintly amused as Peter nearly swept his books to the floor with his sleeve. Nothing that Sirius hadn't seen dozens of times before. Maybe hundreds. Nothing new. Just interesting to watch. More interesting than Arithmancy, certainly.

Brown eyes, he noted, doodling idly on one of his Arithmancy tables. Brown, shadowed eyes and weariness tugging at the corners of his mouth. Must be about new moon, then. Remus hated the new moon almost as much as he dreaded the full moon- he said it was like being swaddled in thick woolen blankets and stuffed in a dark, airless closet. He liked to sleep through as much of it as possible, but it was hard when there was just so much to be done. OWLs were fast approaching, finals were looming, and anyone other than Remus would have been chronically behind from his monthly incapacitations. Bloody workaholic, Sirius thought fondly.

Across the library, Peter collected his books and stood, whispering something to Remus, who just smiled and shrugged noncommittally. James glanced up from his work as Peter approached.

"Any new insights on Transfiguration?" he asked, lowering his voice as a nearby Hufflepuff glared at him.

"Only that it would be a lot simpler if McGonagall hadn't assigned Ulric the Oddball's "Toward a Greater Understanding of the Importance of Preparation and Locale in the Proper Transfiguration; or Why Transfiguring a Common Cornish Pixie into a Niffler within the Confines of Gringotts is a Bad Idea and Should Only Be Attempted by Those Spell-Casters Who Do Not Care for the Current Arrangement of Their Limbs." Peter grimaced, and the other two shuddered.

"That may be the most wretched piece of garbage to have ever made it past peer-review," James said. "The endless digressions on his neighbor's attempts to stifle the creative process with wand, poison, and torch-wielding mob were understandable, I suppose, but 498 sonnets to his favorite Fwooper is a little excessive."

"And the sestina to his left big toe," Sirius added helpfully. "In Pig Latin. You can't forget that sestina. I've tried." He hesitated for a second, glancing across the room (still staring, damn his eyes), and James buried his head in his hands with a groan. "Peter, did you feel like you were being watched before?"

"Not really. Why?"

"Look at Snape. Don't _you_ think he looks suspicious- more suspicious than usual, I mean."

Peter glanced at the Slytherin and shrugged. "He's staring at Remus the same way that James stared at Lily before he finally asked her out. Same blank stare, same lack of blinking..." James's ears, only partially visible, went bright red. "Someone should warn Remus- it was bad enough when James started transfiguring cute little presents for her. What would Snape send? Dark potions in pretty blown-glass bottles? With ribbons?"

James swiped at Peter's head in annoyance, but Sirius, horrified, had already turned his attention back to Snape. Finally noticing the eyes upon him, Snape slowly turned to meet the Gryffindor's gaze- and Sirius almost flinched from the blatant challenge burning in the black eyes. Almost flinched, but he was Sirius Black and he never, ever backed down from a challenge. Especially not one from the great greasy git he had despised ever since their first meeting on the Hogwarts Express.

Peter and James left together, saying something about finding Lily, but Sirius barely noticed. Normally, he would have immediately gone to pester Moony, but today... he didn't know. He just wanted to watch.

A few uneventful minutes had passed when Snape abruptly gathered his books and stood, walking toward the exit- and Remus. Sirius nearly bit his quill in half. Was Severus Snape actually _blushing_?

Sirius's eyes narrowed as the Slytherin hovered for a breath at Remus's side, obviously unsure. Then, as he was about to walk past, Remus looked up from his book, showing no surprise at finding Snape next to him. Snape hesitated, and finally muttered something under his breath. Remus nodded and responded much too quietly for Sirius to overhear from across the library. They conversed for perhaps a minute before Snape left, robes flapping at his heels. His color, Sirius noted, was still up, and the look he shot Sirius was faintly... smug?

Sirius waited just long enough to be sure that the Slytherin was gone for good before leaping up and arriving at Remus's table in a flurry of papers. "What was _that_ all about?"

"Snape, you mean?" Remus asked, rearranging his notes. "He wanted to know if I had Gregory the Smarmy's book on the rise and fall of the dark arts out from the library. I told him that I'd be through with it in a few days."

Sirius blinked. Of all the things he might have expected, Gregory the Smarmy was not one of them. "Was that all?" he asked, incredulous.

"Yes. He needs it for a project of some sort, he said. Why?"

Sirius, confronted with a reasonable explanation, found himself at a loss for words. "Just that he was staring at you for a long time, and Peter said-" But looking at Remus, he realized that he didn't want Remus to know what Peter had said. No reason to bother _him_ with Peter's ridiculous ideas, really. It quite was enough for the rest of them to have nightmares about elegantly wrapped vials of Swelling Solution.

"And Peter said..." Remus prompted, looking at him expectantly.

"Just that it was suspicious," Sirius finished lamely. "You know how he gets sometimes. Want to go down for dinner?"

"Sure," Remus said, rolling up his open scroll and giving Sirius an odd look. "You do know that you have feathers in your teeth, don't you?"