Grasping the Obvious
by Unanon
Fandom: Harry Potter
Notes: Drabble written for a challenge from LiveJournal user 'fourthmoon' in which the following was requested: 'Snupin' and the line "Throw me down and shag me rotten."
Severus Snape was in a mood.
Every bloody month he was forced to make the most complicated bloody potion for that despicable bloody werewolf. Not only that, but he'd made the mistake of delivering the potion to Lupin personally the first month, and now it seemed a if the foolish lycanthrope expected him to hand-deliver the noxious remedy every single time. As if it wasn't bad enough that his far more important research was neglected in order to brew the vile mixture, now he was expected to play the part of errand boy as well.
"Loathesome creature," he mumbled to himself as he stalked up one of many flights of steps to reach Lupin's office. "Why must his insist on his quarters being so high?"
He was only slightly winded when he knocked at Lupin's door and was granted admittance. "Remember to drink it all," he reminded brusquely as he set the foul-smelling goblet on Lupin's desk, "it won't be effective if you don't."
"I won't forget." Lupin sat behind his desk, hands folded on the smooth wood before him. "Why don't you sit for a moment and have some tea while I drink it? It won't take too long."
The casual invitation took Severus aback. "Very well," he snarled, "but only if you're quick about it."
"It is best to get it over with swiftly," Lupin smiled. "I assure you, one does not want to actually savor this."
Severus sat in the most severely straight-backed chair in the room and watched, lips pinched, while Lupin produced a tin of biscuits with a few exaggerated flicks of his wand. "Such foolishness," he thought. "All swish and flick with no substance. Just look at how loosely he holds his wand. Sloppy."
"Do you prefer a green or herbal tea or will a black suffice?"
"Black." Severus answered steadily, his gaze still fixed on Lupin's hands.
"Oh good. I've always preferred black myself." Lupin replied candidly. With one final flourish he produced a piping teapot and exquisitely mismatched china. He poured tea into the cup with fewer chips and leaned across his desk.
Lupin's fingers seemed to stroke the back of Severus' hand as the cup was passed. It was the briefest touch, but Severus felt as if he'd been scorched; only decades of handling volatile substances in the lab kept him from dropping the saucer entirely.
Lupin seemed not to have noticed and continued to play the part of good host. "Care for a biscuit?" He offered the open tin.
"No thank you." Severus could still feel the imprint on his skin, the roughness of calluses.
"Sugar? Cream? Lemon?"
"No."
"Honey?"
Severus' cup rattled in its saucer. "What?!"
"Would you like some honey in your tea, Professor Snape?"
"Of course not." Severus grasped the handle of the cup tightly and a nick bit into his flesh. The werewolf's calm irritated him. "I dislike sweets."
Lupin settled back into his chair and drew the steaming goblet toward him. "Pity. I rather enjoy them myself. I do so wish sugar wouldn't make this potion useless."
Severus stared as Lupin's slender fingers curved around the goblet and began to trace the engraved runes. The lycanthrope's next words came to him as if through a fog.
"Not even chocolate?"
"Pardon?"
"I wondered whether your dislike of sweets includes chocolate." Lupin's took an experimental sip of the potion, grimaced, and began toying with the goblet once more. His fingers moved to the rim of the vessel and circled idly.
Severus' jaw went a little slack when a low, vibrating sound filled the room. "I never had chocolate or any other sweets as a child; I find them unpalatable."
Lupin's eyes met his thoughtfully for an uncomfortable moment before returning to the steaming potion. "I didn't know that," he murmured. He raised the goblet and downed the potion in a series of swift gulps, his Adam's apple bobbing grotesquely in his throat as he swallowed.
Severus shifted slightly in his chair and took an experimental sip of his own beverage. It had gone cold but he drank it anyway. Quite honestly, couldn't understand why he'd agreed to this ridiculous little tea party. He had been feeling off color already and his discomfort had only seemed to increase in the werewolf's presence. Snape eyed the empty teacup suspiciously for a moment, before his attention was diverted by Lupin's nicely shaped fingers slowly stroking the goblet's stem.
Oh.
Oh sod it, no.
"Throw me down and shag me rotten." He muttered.
Remus looked up from the goblet. "What was that Severus?" he asked mildly.
Snape stood up hurriedly, nearly overturning his chair in his haste. "I said there's something I've quite forgotten! I left a potion brewing in my laboratory and the timing is rather delicate." He turned with a sneer at the doorway. "You and your tea have kept me from my duties far too long, Lupin."
The werewolf only smiled his infuriating little smile, and Severus chose to ignore the quiet "Perhaps" as he pulled the door shut behind him.