Severus walked out a small, hidden door near the back of the castle. It led out to a patch of lawn that butted up to the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid's hut was about half a kilometer away should anything go wrong ? not that Hagrid was there, but it was a place to escape to should he need it.

Severus was not worried in the least. The students were long gone, Voldemort was dead, Harry Potter was finally graduated and out of his hair, and the rest of the castle was all but abandoned in favour of vacations. Even Flich had gone - albiet reluctantly - to the island with Mrs. Norris.

Severus, however, had decided to take advantage of the empty space of Hogwarts to have sex.

A lot of sex.

Wild, crazy, screaming, howling sex.

He had sex in the Great Hall, in the dungeons, a few times in Dumbledore's office, one on the Quidditch pitch, and twice in Gryffindor's common room.

Tonight he was not having sex. Tonight he was rummaging through branches at the edge of the Forbidden Forest trying to find a stick thick enough to toss around for a werewolf who sometimes forgot the strength of his jowls while chasing sticks.

The very same werewolf that was currently hanging around the door, whinging pitifully.

Severus straightened up, a stick that was about as thick as his wrist in one hand. He saw Moony hanging by the doorway, pawing at the ground.

"Come here, you old fool," Severus said, patting his thigh. "No one is going to bother us tonight. The castle is empty."

Moony pawed at the ground and whinged again before reluctantly trotting over to Severus, butting his head against Severus's hand until the other man scratched him behind the ears. With that, he sat down on the ground, his tail wagging expectantly, knowing what Severus had hidden behind his back.

Severus pulled the stick out from behind his back, "This? Oh, this is not for you. I merely thought it would be fun to hold it for awhile.

Moony whinged pitifully, reaching for the stick that Severus purposefully held just out of reach. He butted his head against Severus's thigh and panted up at him.

"Oh, well," Severus looked at the stick. "I suppose you do have more use for it than I."

And with that he threw the stick across the yard, the wolf up and chasing after it immediately, yelping happily. A moment later, Severus found himself playing tug-of-war for a very wet, slippery stick with a very large, happy werewolf.

The game went on for quite some time before Moony finally settled down to chew the stick to shreds. Severus sat on the grass and read a book, waiting for Moony to be done with his stick.

There was a sound off to the right that Severus barely heard, but Moony immediately sprang to his feet and bounded towards the forest, leaving his stick behind. Severus struggled to his feet and ran after him.

"Moony! Get back here!"

Severus found himself trying to follow a werewolf through the dense, dark forest, his wand in front of him offering a bit of light. They went deeper than Severus was entirely comfortable with. The centaurs still denied access to the forest to all humans except Dumbledore.

Moony barked once, letting Severus know where he was. Severus pushed himself through brambles and saw Moony hunched over something. He clutched the stitch in his side and walked over, his heart pounding.

"What is it?" Severus bent down and Moony shifted aside slightly. A werecub lay on the ground, whimpering in fear and pain. It had a gash on its side that was bleeding. "Moony."

Moony lifted his head, amber eyes bright in the dark forest. He chuffed and pushed Severus towards the cub. Severus held firm, "I cannot touch him. He will attack."

Moony chuffed again and licked Severus's hand a few times, making sure the cub was watching. The cub whimpered and lifted its small head, amber eyes peering at Severus.

"Oh yes, I'm sure he understands that I am not going to hurt him now," Severus said sarcastically, looking at the hurt cub again. He sighed when Moony pushed at him again. "Very well. I will try."

Severus knelt down next to the werecub and held his hand out. The cub looked warily at it, its nose working overtime as it was filled with Severus's scent. Moony chuffed encouragingly and the werecub made an answering noise, moving its head towards Severus's hand.

"Good," Severus said calmly, his heart still hammering in his chest. He knew the wolves could smell his fear, but he only hoped Moony's acceptance of him would keep the cub from attacking him. He tentatively touched the cub's head, feeling matted fur under his fingers. "I will not hurt you. I just wish to help you."

The cub whinged and dropped its head back to the ground, watching warily as Severus's fingers went to the wound. He touched it tentatively and the cub snapped at him, careful of actually getting him though. Severus pulled his hand back and reached for his wand instead. Immediately the cub began to whimper in fear and tried to get away, his paws pushing against the ground ineffectually.

Moony stepped forward and licked the cub's snout encouragingly before turning to lick Severus again. The cub stopped struggling and Severus put his wand away.

"Moony, I cannot treat him if he will not let me touch him," Severus said, stroking the scruff around Moony's neck. Moony sat down heavily and made it obvious that he was not going anywhere until the cub was healed. "Tell him I will not hurt him then. Because he seems to think I will."

Moony lowered his head to the cub's and began to snuffle and snort, making little grumbling, growly sounds at the same time. The cub yipped back, little protesting sounds until Moony stopped making sounds. Severus raised an eyebrow when the cub lay back and stopped making noise.

"May I touch him now?"

Moony woofed encouragingly and Severus brought his hand to the cub's snout again, getting a sniff and a half-lick. That was good enough for him and he moved his hand to the wound again. It was hard to see how bad it was in the dim light, but there was quite a bit of blood matting the dark fur.

"I need to take him inside," Severus said calmly. "I cannot treat him out here."

Moony looked at Severus worriedly, his eyes speaking volumes. He turned back to the cub and made those same sounds as before, the cub answering in disheartened yips. Moony sat back after a moment and the cub lifted its head to watch Severus.

Severus carefully lifted the cub, aware that the cub was much too light and easy to carry. He cradled him against his chest, protecting the cub as best he could. The smell of blood was thick in the air as he looked towards Moony.

"Lead the way."

Moony woofed lowly, getting an answering woof from the cub. Satisfied the cub was safe, Moony began to make his way back out of the Forbidden Forest. Severus followed, stumbling every so often over a protruding root or stubborn bush.

A few minutes after they started walking, Severus realized the cub was pressing its head against Severus's chest, its eyes closed. Apparently he was trustworthy enough for the cub to nap in his arms. Something warmed inside of him and Severus hitched the cub closer to him, keeping pace behind Moony.

The edge of the forest was close by; Severus could see Hogwarts from where they were. The sound of crunching brush behind them made the fur rise along Moony's back as he turned to growl at whomever was approaching.

"Severus Snape."

Severus turned, the cub pulled as close to his chest as he could. Bane, one of the centaurs who strongly disliked their presence in the Forest, was glaring at him angrily. The centaur pawed at the ground, moving closer to him.

"We have told you before not to enter the For - " Bane stopped, his gaze falling to the cub in Severus's arms. He looked over at Moony who was standing very close to Severus, still growling. He stepped back. "Take your cub home, Severus, and be careful not to let him wander into the Forest again. Next time we will not be so forgiving of your transgressions."

Severus watched Bane disappear into the shadows of the Forest again. He let out a heavy breath, relief washing over him. Moony walked out of the Forest, Severus following with the cub in his arms.

Once they were back inside, Severus lay the sleeping cub on his and Remus's bed. He left Moony to watch over him before flooing to the Hospital wing to get bandages and salves to properly treat the cub.

When he returned, Moony was in bed with the cub, his large body wrapped around the cub's protectively. Severus scratched Moony behind the ears lightly, watching the wolf's tongue loll out of his mouth in content. The cub shifted and its amber eyes blinked up at them sleepily.

Severus chuckled and stopped petting Moony, "I believe we have work to do before you can go back to sleep, cub."

The cub yipped sleepily, yawning and showing off his small, pointy teeth. Severus began to clean him up and bandage the wound. It was deep, still bleeding a little, but he was able to take care of it properly now that they were not in the dark forest.

Later, Remus leaned against him heavily, watching as a tow-headed boy slept easily under the covers of the big bed. He couldn't be more than four, undernourished and obviously exhausted. Severus kissed Remus's forehead and helped him under the covers.

"Sleep," he said softly as Remus's eyes flickered shut. "I will keep an eye on our cub."

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