Bless the Beasts and the Children - 14. Chapter 14

Only two weeks into the semester, and Remus realized he was already hopeless at Potions. No matter how he tried, nothing he did worked right. He didn’t know if he was forgetting an essential ingredient—although he doubted it since he took meticulous notes on everything the teacher said—or he was not doing it exactly the way he should. The end result was generally a muddled mess. At least he hadn’t blown up anything, as other class members had. Not yet, anyway.

Remus sighed as he walked away from the Potions class. Bad enough the full moon was only two days away, and its growing presence was weighing heavily on his mind and body, but Sirius was being particularly secretive and close-mouthed, which was driving the insecure Remus crazy. Sirius had run off with James directly after class—again!—with some lame excuse about needing to confer about Quidditch, even though the first match of the year wasn’t until November. What were they up to? Remus had no clue, which only added to his growing depression.

Barely aware of where he was going, his mind on other things and his head down, Remus was taken by surprised when he accidentally bumped into another student. “I-I’m so sorry,” he stammered, looking up to find he’d collided with none other than Severus Snape.

Remus had known Severus ever since they’d both begun their studies at Hogwarts, five years ago, and had taken a number of classes with him during that time. Personally, he thought Snape was very intelligent, if standoffish, and a bit of a loner. But Remus couldn’t hold that against him, since he himself was hardly a social butterfly. He could appreciate and understand Snape’s reticence to mingle with other people, associating primarily with his own house, the Slytherins. Under other circumstances, Remus thought they could have been friends.

But that possibility had been permanently removed from the table thanks to his friendship with Sirius, especially once the two had begun to secretly date. Sirius hated Snape with an intensity which Remus found both unnecessary and inexplicable. He realized Sirius’ family were all Slytherins, and he was the first Black to be sorted into another house. That had to be awkward at family gatherings, but surely not an insurmountable problem. On the other hand, Remus knew Sirius’ family treated him badly, and he suspected it was worse than Sirius let on, although he did let things slip, and what Remus heard was horrific. But that was the Blacks and didn’t explain his hatred of Snape.

“You must have something on your mind,” Snape commented in his usual dry manner.

“Wh-why do you think that?” Remus frowned. Was he that easy to read? What did Snape know, or think he knew?

“Because I was standing still and you ran into me.”

That explained it, then. Remus’ cheeks heated, and without thinking, he blurted out, “I’m afraid I’m going to fail Potions!”

Snape seemed momentarily taken aback, as if this was a notion which was alien to him. “Isn’t it too soon for that?” he said. “Besides, I’m sure you’ll do fine. You’re hardly a dunce.” Although he didn’t say it aloud, Remus knew very well who he thought did fall into that category, but he wasn’t going to fight that particular fight. Not here and not now.

“Thanks,” he mumbled. There seemed nothing else to say. He’d have to study harder, that was all. Remus started to turn away, but Snape’s voice arrested him in mid-stride.

“I could help.”

What did he just say?

“Wh-what?”

“I could tutor you.”

Remus couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Severus Snape offering to help him? Remus knew he was brilliant in potions. The teacher had said so often enough, hadn’t he? But why would Snape want to help him? And did that even matter?

Remus knew he should reject the offer out of hand. Sirius wouldn’t like it, not one little bit. But a voice inside kept whispering that Sirius wasn’t there, he was up to something. Besides, it was just studying, nothing wrong with that. Remus had his future to think about, and he couldn’t graduate from Hogwarts if he didn’t pass all his classes. Including Potions.

“Okay,” Remus blurted out without thinking. He held his books tight against him, as if for protection, as he looked up at the tall Slytherin.

What Sirius didn’t know couldn’t hurt them, could it?

“Can we… that is, I mean…”

“Nobody needs to know,” Snape finished the unspoken thought. “I’ll be the soul of discretion.”

Remus nodded. “I appreciate that… Severus.”

Remus remembered that Snape and Lily were good friends. Snape couldn’t be as bad as Sirius made him out to be, surely? And it was kind of him to offer to help.

“Let’s start now, then,” Snape said.

Remus was momentarily taken aback. But then he realized Sirius was busy, and he didn’t know when he would see him again. Why not?

“I know a classroom where we can work uninterrupted,” Snape said. “I’ll meet you there.” He jotted a location on a slip of paper and handed it to Remus. “Five minutes,” he said, then slipped away before Remus could think of an appropriate reply.

Remus glanced at the slip, committing the location to memory before he destroyed it with a quick spell. Better safe than sorry. He just hoped that having Snape as a tutor would have the effect of strengthening his potions studies, and not come back to bite him in the ass.