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Enraptured	By : Reikon Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 1789 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Enraptured
- 2-Kingsley's thoughts
- 1
- 2
Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one.

AN: Once again, this is in response to
mydracomalfoy�s request. For details and the link to the challenge, please got
back to the beginning of the first chapter. Now that we�re all clear on that,
it�s time to get to the much-anticipated second chapter of Enraptured. I
apologize for the wait, really, but I lost my way and had to find it with the
release of HBP. Enjoy!

Er, *mild* spoiler here, like the mention
of the names of Snape�s parents. If you haven�t read it, it probably won�t
affect you � unless you have a keen sense for deductive reasoning.

Chapter 2

Author: Reikon

Kingsley knew he had to talk to Snape at
some point or another, to try and make amends for what he�d done, even if what
he�d done was for Snape�s personal benefit and gratification. He also knew that
he would try to demand an apology, even though it was futile to desire or ask
for such a thing. He cursed the man�s stubbornness.

Perhaps he should clean up the potion, he
thought, feeling somewhat miserable. He glanced over at the cauldron, which had
since ceased steaming and bubbling. It was now a purplish, slightly gelatinous
mixture that looked somewhat poisonous. Upon closer inspection, he also
realized it smelled a little like wildflowers.

Better clean that up, then.

He spent the afternoon cleaning, wondering
about Snape; if he had cooled down, if he would ever forgive Kingsley, et
cetera, et cetera� He regretted not going after him immediately, and yet at the
same time he was quite relieved he didn�t. Following an irate Snape might only
lead to more lashing, more angry outbursts, and Kingsley feeling a little less
than self-confident afterwards. The only reason he really regretted not
following him was because though Snape was never one to be dealt with when
angry, and though angry often, he was also the kind of man who needed the
outbursts to fly out of him. It was a personal release, Kingsley had realized,
for all of the negative things that had happened to him in his past.

He knew how much negative that was. Tobias
Snape was not a man to be reasoned with when angry either; a trait Severus had
gained from his father. It was one of the few things he had given his son that
didn�t involve bruising or bleeding.

Snape had always been reluctant to discuss
the matter of his parents, always snapping at Kingsley when he attempted to
pry, and then either changing the subject to something drastically different or
leaving Kingsley behind to momentarily (and somewhat moronically) inquire as to
why he was viewing Snape�s retreating backside. But Kingsley was smarter than
Snape gave him credit for. It was quite easy for him to research Snape�s
parents and speak to Eileen Prince�s former friends and deduce what had
happened. All of them concluded, separately, that Eileen was a nice girl;
always kept her promises and never without something good to say. According to
them, the Snapes� marriage was seemingly blissful, and then once their son was
born, Eileen seemed to create a weak shell around herself in which she gained
minimal comfort. She seemed almost reclusive; always hiding bruises when
questioned, passing them off as nothing and refusing to answer pointed
questions about her husband and their home life. She displayed classic signs of
having experienced spousal abuse. They offered to get her help, but she often
frantically declined, desperately pushing forward the blatantly false
justification that her staying with Tobias was so that young Severus could at
least have a father.

Then when Severus had grown up a little,
contact between Eileen and her friends stopped, and they hadn�t heard from her
since. Kingsley, upon hearing this news about tragic Eileen, wondered if Snape
had inherited any of his mother�s characteristics, because as far as he could
tell, he hadn�t. Now, Tobias Snape was renowned for his temper and lack of
self-control. Kingsley was moderately grateful Snape had managed to acquire
only one of the two lesser traits. His temper was just as bad, but his
self-control more than made up for that.

Kingsley sighed as he scraped out the
bottom of Snape�s cauldron. The botched potion he had put into crystal phials
for a use that was to be determined later. Perhaps it was soap; it certainly
smelled something like it. In any case, he would hide the phials in the inner
pocket of his robes so the Order could not see. Their observations might lead
to questions about what had happened to have caused the mishap, which might
somehow unearth the news that Snape was �friendlier� with Kingsley than he
normally was. Denial, of course, was something Snape was probably going to
attempt if cornered about it, and Kingsley knew that if that was the case, he
would have to play along.

It was imperative, at least for Severus,
that the relationship between him and Kingsley remain a secret. Kingsley wasn�t
sure why it was so important to him, but he had come up with several different
theories as to why, being careful to avoid voicing the theory that was, most
probably, the correct one. It just seemed that speaking it aloud made it
tangible, and Kingsley didn�t want that.

A better theory was that perhaps Severus
did not want to put himself or Kingsley in any danger by admitting to being in
a relationship with him. If Lord Voldemort ever caught wind that one of his
higher Death Eaters was snogging an Order member, either Snape would be killed
or Kingsley would somehow have found himself used against Snape and in turn
used against the Order. The result would definitely be unpleasant for those who
sought to do good in the world. Snape was just as important to the Order as
Dumbledore, and if he was ever forced into actually performing an act for
Voldemort without �accidentally� screwing up for once, it could be devastating,
as Snape was skilled many things besides potion-making. He was quite adept as
spell casting, and it was quite hard for anybody to prod his mind. The man
could shut himself down and build up his defences within mere seconds.

He also envisioned that perhaps because of
Severus� childhood at Hogwarts, with James and Sirius being the occasional
prats they were (gods rest their souls), Severus could not take much more
joking or teasing at his expense. Admitting that Kingsley was fucking him might
guarantee his anger to increase as the jeers and taunts most seemingly would.
He would not only be forced to endure the teasing that he was a bottomer, but
that he also somehow stooped low enough (for a supposedly evil person, that is)
to allow himself to be �manipulated� by an auror. It was a situation that might
kill Snape�s pride in himself. Kingsley also went even further and supposed
that Severus might take it even worse if the jeers were directed at Kingsley
and not at Severus. If Kingsley was accused of having bad taste and judgment of
character, and questioned repeatedly on the subject of his attraction to Snape,
the subject at hand might shut himself down permanently so as not to hear what
Kingsley�s possible replies to such questions might be, in case they were
anything but positive.

The theory that was probably true, however,
was not one Kingsley favoured. Every time it crossed his mind, he felt himself
grow sick and would lose his appetite for quite a while.

He had thought, on several separate
occasions, that perhaps the reason Severus Snape was so anxious to keep himself
as far away from Kingsley as possible was because, in truth, he was
embarrassed. He was embarrassed at having Kingsley for a lover, and would do
anything and everything to keep everyone else from knowing the truth.

Kingsley hated that this was very likely
the path of thinking Severus took. He didn�t like thinking that perhaps Severus
was a little more conscious of other people�s thoughts than he cared to admit.
He didn�t like thinking that perhaps Severus Snape thought there was something
wrong with Kingsley himself, like the auror had �Damaged Goods� branded on his
forehead by magic, and wanted as little to do with him publicly as possible.

Kingsley felt slightly used. Every time he
thought this through, his mind kept racing to the bitter question: �If he has
no problems with me in private, why does he go out of his way to avoid me in
public?�

Unrequited love was a most painful thing to
experience, Kingsley knew, but he could live with it. Even if he didn�t like
it, he would be able to go on.

What he couldn�t handle was being used.

He was very certain, at least in the
beginning, that Snape could not possibly be using him. Even now, he had firm
doubts that Snape would ever do something deliberately to make him a pawn, but
in recent weeks, with the battle with Voldemort coming closer, it seemed more
and more likely. Perhaps Kingsley could just chalk it up to a lack of sleep and
general paranoia because of Voldemort�s threat, but perhaps he was onto
something. Either way, he had to talk to Snape sometime today.

He put Snape�s cauldron in the sink in the
basement, filled it with hot water to let it soak, and decided to go upstairs
with a vow that he would come back and finish his little clean-up job. He had
gotten halfway up the basement stairs before remembering that he had yet to
pocket the odd potion. There were six small glass phials, each filled to within
a millimetre of its capacity. He sighed agitatedly. He would find a use for the
potion later.

He entered the foyer of Twelve Grimmauld
Place only to discover it was virtually empty. He knew several Order members
had gone out earlier to fetch Harry and his friends for the holidays, but that
couldn�t possibly have been what was taking them so long.

The worst scenario crossed his mind first,
naturally. He pictured Harry�s head bobbing helplessly inside a large glass
jar, his face permanently contorted in a scream that was a mixture of anger and
fear. Voldemort, of course, would have it displayed as soon as you walked into
his humble abode�

He quickly shook the image from his head,
though the unpleasant anxiety that had begun to grow as a result stayed. As he
walked to the den, he forced himself to think about a harmless scenario. With
some measure of difficulty, he imagined Harry and Tonks and Ron laughing in
Honeydukes, trying to choose what kinds of candy to bring back for the Order�s
sampling.

He was startled out of his reverie when he
attempted to sit down on an armchair and heard a strangled cry beneath him.
Instantly thinking he was under attack, he leapt a few feet away to safety and
turned to face his attacker, his wand drawn out and pointed in the direction of
the offending piece of furniture.

He was quite surprised to find Remus
sitting there, looking startled and confused, his hazel eyes wide and regarding
Kingsley with incredulity first, then amusement. It appeared he had been
napping.

�Dear gods, I�m sorry Remus,� Kingsley
replaced his wand in his pocket and stepped forward with a stifled laugh. �I
almost sat on you.�

Remus stretched himself out and allowed a
measure of mirth to twinkle in his eyes. �Indeed,� he replied, smiling. �You
are forgiven.�

Kingsley sat on the couch perpendicular to
the armchair and regarded Lupin curiously. The man looked tired as of late, and
he suspected that the werewolf curse had very little to do with it. Lupin had
lived with the curse for many years now; it was highly unlikely that it was
affecting him so greatly. Though he dare not voice his suspicions, he felt he
knew the real reason.

He wasn�t blind. Several times in the past
he had come across Sirius and Remus together, either sharing a quiet snog by
the fireplace when they thought no one was aware, and on a few occasions he
would catch them going at it in Sirius� bedroom. The older Black brother always
had a habit of forgetting to fully close doors. A silencing charm he could do
almost wandless, but for some reason he could not remember to close doors.

Even if he hadn�t caught them in these
obvious displays of affection, it was still quite blatant. The look Sirius gave
Remus every time the latter brushed against him or unknowingly touched his hand
was a dead giveaway. Even Remus� faint blush when Sirius made lewd comments in
general, and the glances he stole whenever Sirius wore something particularly fetching
were obvious signs.

Kingsley never had the intelligence that
Remus had, but he was as observant as the next person. He knew, as did
everybody else, that Remus felt withered inside at the loss of his best friend
and lover. The only person who seemed oblivious, or tried to seem so, was
Remus. Kingsley suspected he was just being �Remusy� again; pretending
everything is all right even when everything is far from it.

He must have been staring at Remus quite a
while. Remus tilted his head to the side, a worried expression on his face.
�Are you bothered by something, Kingsley?� he asked rather pleasantly, but with
a touch of concern addling his voice.

Kingsley blinked a few times and shook his
head, a small grin appearing on his face. �No, but thank you Remus. I was just
thinking� about something��

�Anything you�d like to get off your
chest?�

�Well, actually�� Kingsley hesitated
momentarily, and he instantly regretted doing so. He knew his actions could be
interpreted if someone keen enough � like Remus, for example � were to sit down
and try. �No,� he responded finally, sounding a bit choked as if he had forced
himself to speak it. �No, it�s quite all right. I can get things sorted out
myself.�

Remus nodded knowingly, and already
Kingsley could tell he was trying to figure out what was going on inside
Kingsley�s head. Remus didn�t need to be a skilled Legilimens in order to
figure out what one was thinking of. All it took was a few seconds and the
skill to read even the slightest muscle twitch.

To Kingsley�s immense satisfaction, Remus
smiled, leaned back in his chair and folded his hands neatly in his lap. �It�s
a beautiful day out,� he said with a touch of amusement in his voice. He didn�t
seem to have suspected anything in particular, as far as Kingsley knew. Then
Remus raised an eyebrow and gave Kingsley a look that made the auror shudder.
It was at certain times, like this one, that Remus would unknowingly appear
more wolfish in manner and appearance than usual. It was unnerving.

Kingsley tried not at appear bothered; it
wasn�t technically Remus� fault. �I had no idea,� he replied simply, smiling.
He made to look at the window, but Remus� voice drew him back to look at his
face.

�Well, you were cooped up in the basement
making a potion with Severus, who happens to be as meticulous in potion-making
as he is in covering up his tracks as a spy,� Remus pointed out, a jovial grin
on his face. After a few seconds, he added, �He can be a hard man to please.�

Not really, Kingsley though with a touch of
bitter amusement. �He�s not that bad,� he said half-heartedly, with a weak
shrug.

�I suppose, once you learn how not to get
on his bad side,� Remus joked lightly.

Kingsley sighed. �Believe me, I�ve been
there many times.�

�I can only imagine,� Remus said, his voice
hinting at something Kingsley wasn�t so sure he should be hinting at, before he
quickly changed the subject. �So were you two successful in crafting the potion
Dumbledore requested?�

�Er� well, I think I said something to
offend Severus,� Kingsley said carefully, slowly, not wanting to mention the
botched potion. �And he came storming up here. We never finished.�

�Well, you two had best hurry and complete
it. The potion is supposed to be ready in three days.�

Kingsley looked momentarily sheepish. �I
hate to admit it, but I didn�t really do any of the work. It was all Severus.�

Remus chuckled. �I expected as much. He
dislikes interference.�

Kingsley suddenly had an idea. �Yes, he
does,� he agreed. He made sure to sound less excited than he felt. �He dislikes
it so much he never even told me what potion he was brewing.�

�Well,� Remus started. �From what I
understand it was a quite complex potion. I think it was called� the Aegis
brew. Rather original, I think,� Remus added with a slight grin. �I believe
it�s something Severus himself has developed in recent years.� He stretched
himself out once again. �Well, I certainly hope the two of you can come to
terms and work on the potion again. Dumbledore�s plan, whatever his plan turns
out to be, will probably require the completion of that potion.� He rose from
his chair and made his way to the entrance of the den. He turned around. �I
know he�s difficult to get along with, but please. It�s for the Order.�

Remus left briskly, although his demeanour
was anything but rushed as he exited the room. He listened to the footsteps
which retreated to the highest landing; the landing with Sirius� room. There
was a moment of brief wonder before something went off in Kingsley�s head.
Kingsley had completely forgotten to ask about whether or not Harry had arrived
safely. For an auror whose sole purpose according to the Order was to protect
Harry, he wasn�t doing a very good job. But� since Lupin didn�t seem very
agitated about anything other than the usual, he had to assume everything was
okay.

His mind wandered back to the werewolf. He
wondered about the conversation he had just had with Lupin. Surely Lupin didn�t
realize�

It had never occurred to him that Lupin was
toying with him to ease his own curiosity. The questions he was asking, the way
he said things� Lupin never showed any signs of being manipulative. Kingsley
had to give him credit for that, at the very least. The werewolf was sneakier
than he let on.

It was probably because of Sirius and
James.

He looked out the window. It was raining.
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Enraptured