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The Girl in my Arms	By : PotionMaster Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 3779 -:- 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.

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The Yule Ball

Remus threw the Floo Powder into the fire and returned to his room on autopilot, almost unable to believe what was happening to him. *Sweet dreams, indeed! * He thought. Even after such a brief encounter he was as hard as a rock, he wondered what a whole night with them would do to him. *They're going to kill me * he thought, laughing softly. *And I'll probably beg them to do it! * He undressed slowly and slipped into bed. He would do what Sev had suggested. He wouldn't make any decisions now but would wait and see how he felt in the morning after a good night's sleep.

Unfortunately, he complained to himself a couple of hours later, while that was all very well in theory, he couldn't get his brain to shut up long enough to let him sleep. Sighing, he got out of bed and wrapped his robe around himself. Ten minutes later, armed with a mug of hot chocolate from the kitchens, he curled up in his favourite chair in front of the fire and turned the offer over in his mind.

He wondered when it was that he had last had someone who truly cared about him. Probably the day before James and Lily's deaths, before the Marauders had been torn apart by Peter's treachery. Although if he were honest, he supposed, the cracks had started to show even before then. By the time they were snatched away from him his friends had already set up barriers between them. They hadn't even trusted him with the true identity of their secret keeper. He longed for someone he could trust unconditionally, someone who would feel the same way about him and although he had forgiven Sirius, part of him was unwilling to trust the man who had betrayed him t now now. For the first time when his temper had led to him nearly turning the 16 year-old Remus into a killer, and for the second time when he hadn't trusted him enough to know that Remus would have died for his friends as willingly as Sirius himself. That not one person but two could be offering him the kind of love he never expected to have was beyond even his dreams. And not just any two people, he thought. He loved Arabella for most of his life, first as the sister he had never had, and then later as a friend, an equal. Severus was a different matter. He couldn't say he had always loved him, hell for most of the time they had known one another he hadn't even liked him all that much, but that had all changed over the last few months. Thanks to Arabella he had been able to get to know the real Severus Snape. He knew that this was a rare privilege, granted to only a trusted few and felt honoured to have been included amongst that number. Gradually their relationship, which had at first been filtered through Arabella, had grown into a real friendship. That Severus could endure everything he had in the last 16 years was a testament to his fierce loyalty to, and protectiveness of his friends. That he had managed to stay sane while he did it said an awful lot more about his relationship with Arabella. Remus could not believe that they would be willing to share that with him, and therein lay the problem, he mused.

He could not believe it. Nothing in his life had ever been easy and to have everything he wanted offered to him on a plate seemed too simple. He feared that if he accepted this gift, it would somehow be snatched away from him at some point. The other problem was of course Sirius Black. Remus could only imagine how his friend would react when he found out, but he wasn't going to live his life for the other man. Thinking about it, he realised that the only thing that was stopping him from saying yes was his own fear of rejection. Was he really that cowardly? Would he really throw away today's happiness for fear of tomorrow's heartache? No, he decided. He would take the chance and to hell with the future. Live for today wasn't a bad motto in times of war, he thought. Having resolved the dilemma to his own satisfaction he returned to his bed in the hopes of catching a few hours sleep before morning.

Unfortunately his plans for cornering Arabella and Severus at some point the next day failed to stand up to contact with the enemy, otherwise known as the students. Judging by the noise they made and the chaos they left in their wake as they prepared for the evening's ball the students must have tripled in number Remus thought as his every attempt to get his friends, and soon to be lovers, alone was thwarted by excited children. By the time he retired to his rooms to change for the evening's festivities he was one huge ball of frustration. He'd scared a couple of first-years by snarling at them when they ran into him in one of the corridors; and had even docked points from some of the little horrors. *Okay * he thought, *Deep breaths, Remus. You can make it through the Ball without killing anyone, even Malfoy! * Satisfied that he had his temper under control, he exited his chambers and headed for the Great Hall. Arabella was already there when he arrived and he was taken aback by her appearance. Normally she had a tendency to dress down in an effort to blend into the background, probably a result of too many years as the tallest and skinniest kid in her class. Tonight, however, it seemed to Remus as if she had pulled out all the stops. She wore a floor-length, silver ball gown that emphasized her curves rather than her height. It was teamed with a deep blue silk wrap, thrown carelessly around her shoulders. Her hair, which she normally wore coiled tightly atop her head, had been left to fall around her like a cloud of golden silk. Remus was shocked when she turned around to see that it reached well beyond her waist. He hadn't realized quite how long it really was. He strode across the hall towards her, gracefully avoiding the crowds of children that were already starting to fill the room. When he reached her he took her hand and kissed it, much to the pleasure of a group of Gryffindors just entering the hall who saw the whole performance.

"I'm sure I'm not the first to say how enchanting you look this evening, Professor," he said, mindful of his audience.

=Thank you, kind sir, = she signed. =You look quite the gentleman yourself. Shall we? = She held out her hand and he led her onto the dance floor.

He didn't see Severus until quite late in the evening, not that he really expected the brooding Potions Master to be the life and soul of the party. He had spent most of the night at Arabella's side both in his role as interpreter and because he really couldn't think of anywhere he'd prefer to be, but he now made his way towards Snape, hoping to be able to catch a few moments alone with him. Unfortunately, he only identified the student to whom Severus was talking at the last moment. Draco Malfoy. Drat the boy, he seemed to have inherited his father's talent of always being exactly where you least wanted him to be.

"Professor," he nodded a greeting to Snape.

"Lupin," Severus sneered, the deliberate omission of any title a clear insult. "Did you choose to disturb me for any particular reason?"

Remus narrowed his eyes in annoyance. He knew the other man was only putting on an act for the benefit of his audience but that didn't make it any less irritating. "I merely intended to enquire as to whether you were having an enjoyable evening?" Remus said, forcing his tone to remain neutral.

"I was having an adequate time until something disturbed me." Snape said, laying just enough emphasis on the word 'thing' to leave no doubt in his listeners' minds to whom he was referring.

Remus managed to control his reaction enough that he didn't flinch at the unspoken statement that he was less than human. He knew that he hadn't fully kept his hurt from showing on his face when Snape's eyes showed a brief flicker of regret before resuming their earlier stony appearance

"I shan't detain you any longer then," he said turning to leave. As he did so he heard Draco make a remark to his ever-present sidekicks about the temerity of creatures like him thinking that they could mix with real wizards.

He rejoined Arabella, who saw at once that something was bothering him.

=Let's take a walk around the grounds, = she signed. =Check that none of our charges are up to anything they shouldn't be. = She slipped her hand through his arm and the two of them left the Great Hall, oblivious to the scene playing out on the far side of the room.

"Look at him, sniffing around the new DADA professor again. Honestly, it's disgusting. I mean I know she's a freak but you'd think she'd have more taste than to take up with an animal," Draco commented to Goyle.

"That is enough, Mr. Malfoy," the furious voice of his housemaster came from behind him. "You will show some respect for your Professors or you will spend every evening for a week in detention."

Draco cast a disgusted look at Snape before storming off, wisely keeping his mouth shut until he was out of earshot of the professor

Meanwhile, outside the castle, Remus and Arabella were conversing in sign language, ensuring that any student who might be outside wouldn't be able to overhear them.

=Oh, Remus. I'm so sorry, but you know he didn't mean it. He has to say things like that to keep up his cover. = Bella signed.

=I know it's just- I hate hearing Sev say things like that. I know in here that he doesn't mean it. = Remus said indicating is head. =But it still hurts in here. = He indicated his heart.

=Oh Remy. Come on, the Ball's due to finish in half an hour, let's go and curl up in front of the fire in Sev's rooms and wait for him to come back. I doubt we'll be missed and you can calm down before Sev sees how upset you are. He'll only brood if you don't. =

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The Girl in my Arms