Title: Assumption
Author: Scribewraith (scribewraith at yahoo dot com)
Disclaimer: Not Mine, I'm just borrowing! JKR Owns...
Rating: NC-17
A/N: Yay PWP! Beta'd by Obake
Assumption: something taken for granted or accepted as true without proof; a supposition.
Challenge 101: One is very shy in bed. The other is tired of not knowing what his partner wants or likes.

Snape looked down at the potion bottle in his hand. It had been sitting on the kitchen bench, empty, next to the dishes from their meal. Remus liked to cook for him on the nights that he could get away from school. It was something they both enjoyed. The meals at Hogwarts could sometimes become a little noisy and he liked the break in his routine. Tonight Remus had cooked a pasta sauce with mushrooms and a hint of red wine. The wine itself was something he sometimes missed. They had talked about their work, the summer coming up and whether they should go somewhere together - all the other usual things. He had felt sated.

Standing here now, he wasn’t sure if he should be horrified by Remus’ audacity or impressed by the cunning and courage it would have taken to slip him a potion, any potion, let alone one with the effects that this one would have on him. But then, maybe it was already working and that was why he wasn’t as angry as he thought he should be.

* * *

Remus looked a little more nervous than usual tonight, Snape observed. It was barely there, but in Snape’s heightened condition everything seemed more noticeable. Like the way that the candlelight flickered across his lover’s not-so-smooth skin and lit up the slight glints of red in his lover’s hair. He sat down on the couch and pulled Remus into his arms. He couldn’t say it, but even just holding Remus always felt so good after having been alone for so long.

"I have something I need to tell you," Remus started to say. His voice was low and gravely, like a repressed growl.

"I know," Snape whispered. "We can talk about it later. Right now, I just want this." He didn’t want to think about the violation of his trust, or what drove Remus to it. He knew he was not forthcoming about a lot of his life, or what he wanted. He knew some of it was a protective mechanism, a defence against the world and all it had put him through, and some of it was just plain shyness.

He hadn’t had many lovers in his life, and none like Remus. They, like him, were of the dark, quick in the night, and in shadows. Remus was the light. He was more open than anyone else he’d been with, and more demanding, and forgiving.

Snape bent down and kissed the bare neck in front of him, gently and slowly. He’d never tried to mark the other man, but he wanted to. The potion made him. He grazed his teeth against the skin and then sucked. It felt good in his mouth, the pressure and the skin against his tongue. Remus growled, "uh, Severus."

"Shh," he said, pulling his mouth away and looking down at the spot on Remus’ neck. It was already bruising. He smiled and ran a finger along the skin, tracing the mark. "Do you want to go to bed?"

Remus sat up on the couch and turned to look at him. He looked surprised. "Are you sure?" When Snape nodded, Remus reached out a hand and helped him to his feet. "You never ask, you know. I know that you enjoy being with me, but you never ask."

"I don’t?" Snape asked, gently tugging at the hand still in his. "You're right. I'm sorry." He didn't know where this was coming from. He didn't apologise, even when he was wrong. It was probably another effect of the potion. It was, after all, supposed to loosen inhibitions.

He was dragging Remus into the bedroom, third door on the right, past the bathroom and the study and when they got there he turned to face Remus. He gently pushed him against the door, closing it in the process. Both of his hands pressed against the door, framing his lover, and he leaned in to take a kiss. He watched Remus' wide open eyes until their lips began to brush, and then his own shut in pleasure. He liked this. The moment when their tongues met, the soft pressure of their skin against each other, the way that Remus moaned, the way that he moaned, kissing. It was something he would spend hours doing if only the urges of their bodies didn't tend to overwhelm them.

Remus' hand was running its way under his shirt, long fingers touching his ribs and the scars on his back. His touch was soft and firm and never stayed too long on any one spot. Snape brought his hand down from the wall to rest on Remus' shoulder, still kissing, but now with the distraction of trying to take off his shoes. He was wearing boots, low on the ankle, so that they would slip easily off. He knew how their nights together ended, even if he never initiated the love-making himself.

He finally broke off the kiss in frustration, and stood back staring at the man in front of him, who was now panting and out of breath. Remus' lips were slightly bruised and his eyes were glowing with desire. Snape stepped back until he hit the bed, falling, and then he realised how much easier it would be to get his boots off now that he didn't have to worry about his balance.

Remus hadn't stopped staring at him and neither of them broke eye contact as they undressed, Snape quickly and Remus more slowly. Remus was taking his time with each button on his shirt, watching Snape as he pulled off his boots and socks, then the trousers and finally his own shirt. It was similar to the shirt he wore under his duelling robes, but with not quite so many tiny buttons. And for the first time in his life he felt the frustration that Remus must feel every time he unbuttoned it. Snape was in more of a hurry than Remus usually was. He wanted to be naked, and for Remus to be naked and on the bed.

Once he’d given up on trying to undo the buttons quickly, he began to methodically tackle each one. Remus was still in his jeans, as usual dressed more casually than he was, and he was smirking. Snape glared when he realised. "Why are you looking at me like that, Remus?"

"You're usually not this eager, Severus," he replied, still smirking. "It's nice." Remus finished shucking out of his trousers and stepped over the clothes on the ground to reach Snape sitting on the bed. "Here, I'll do that." Remus knocked his hands away from his buttons and slipped his finger under the top button, tapping it gently. Snape looked up at the man standing over him, carefully undressing him. He trusted him. That's why he didn't want to think too much about the potion that he'd been slipped.

When all of the buttons had been undone, Remus leaned down and kissed him again, peeling the shirt off and then pushing him back onto the bed. He reached his arms up around the neck and pulled, so that he was covered by his lover, body touching body. The sensation of kissing and skin was, well, pleasant. When the kiss broke apart he looked up at his lover and smiled.

"What are you grinning at?" Remus asked. Remus wasn't a small man and if Snape had been someone else he might have felt intimidated by the power and presence of his lover. Instead his smile slipped into an actual grin. He slid his hands up from Remus' waist were they had settled, causing him to squirm, and using the tiniest bit of force he flipped his lover onto his back. The sensation of skin and heat beneath him was luscious. "If I had known how you were going to react..." he started but Snape leaned down and kissed him, stopping anything else he might say.

"Don't," Snape whispered. He didn't want to talk about this now; he just wanted to be here. He reached for both of Remus' wrists at once. Holding them above Remus' head, he leaned down and kissed the supple mouth. He moved both wrists into one of his hands and leaned over to the table beside the bed where, somehow, they always laid their wands. He picked up his wand and pointed it at Remus' wrists. Ropes poured from the tip, most of them falling to the floor, but one caught Remus' hands where Snape was holding them against the bed head. Remus gasped.

"Are you sure about this?" Remus asked. Snape nodded, dropping his wand on the floor. He knew that Remus liked to be bound, and he liked to give him the release. But usually it was Remus who suggested, not him. Tonight he wanted to worship, to take control, to love the body and the man beneath him. He felt Remus' body relax under him. He smiled again and leant down pressing his mouth against his lover's supple lips. Before the kiss became deeper he pulled away enjoying the sight of Remus' neck stretching to follow him.

He brought his lips down to the stretch of the neck exposed beneath him and flicked his tongue out. It tasted of salt and sweat and Remus. He moaned. He trailed his tongue down from Remus' neck towards his nipples, shifting his own body as he went. Remus groaned. They didn't usually bite. It wasn't that it would hurt, but rather there were remnant fears on both their parts about what blood could carry. He gently grazed his teeth against the nipple again, and flicked his tongue. He brought his hand towards Remus' engorged penis and gently cupped his balls before tugging along the length, once. He wasn't a tease when it came to this kind of loving, but he knew that Remus liked the distraction of different sensations across his body. Normally, Remus would be blindfolded too, so that he could just focus on feeling, but tonight Snape wanted to be able to see the expressions flit across his eyes.

"Mmm," moaned Remus. "More." Snape pulled away from where he was licking Remus' nipples and smirked.

"More?" he asked. "More of what?" He slowly ran his tongue along Remus’ chest, dipping at the nipple and then trailing down towards Remus’ hips. "How about…" Snape gently grazed his teeth along the firm hip bone and Remus began to wriggle. Snape reached his hand up to cover Remus’ mouth before he could complain or beg him to stop. He ran his tongue along the skin tracing the bone and following the path that led Snape to the centre of Remus: his cock. His hand was still cradling Remus’ cock and as he brought his mouth around to swallow the head, he grasped firmly. Remus moaned.

Snape liked giving head. It was a way that he could lavish attention on Remus and still not feel like he was giving too much away. With the potion coursing through his blood he felt he could enjoy the feel of his tongue against the skin, and the warmth and pulse in his fist, without the consideration that it was the way that he usually distracted Remus from his own desires. He slipped his tongue along the shaft and flicked under the edge of the cock. He looked up at Remus’ face, shuttered in pleasure. "Lick me," he commanded, thrusting his fingers into Remus’ mouth. He in turn moaned as he felt Remus suck and lick between his fingers. Snape felt Remus’ whole body shiver in response. He pulled his hand away from Remus’ mouth and reached down to his own cock.

It felt so good to be able to touch Remus like this, both of their bodies humming with tension. He wanted to complete this, to take them both over the edge. Without thinking he stopped stroking himself and, whispering Lubricus, brought his now wet fingers to the edge of Remus’ hole. He slipped them in, gently thrusting in time with his tongue, enjoying the sounds that Remus was making. He could feel him pulling at the bonds, wanting to wind his fingers in Snape’s hair as he usually did when he was just about to come. Snape pulled back, and kneeled. He lifted Remus, supporting him as he slowly entered his body, his own cock still wet from the earlier whispered spell. He slipped in and they both groaned. He paused as he waited for their bodies to adjust to their closeness. Slowly he began thrusting, his hands supporting Remus’ hips and Remus’ cock hitting his chest as they thrust. He leaned forward and kissed Remus, tongue thrusting in a counterpoint to his body, pausing only to whisper the word that would unbind Remus from the bed. Remus followed his body with the kiss, angling them until each thrust was bringing them the most pleasure it could. Remus’ hand wound its way down his chest, running softly past his nipples and down the fine layer of hair on his belly. He felt Remus’ fingers on his chest as he grasped his own cock and fell back, out of their kiss, onto the bed.

"I’m going to…" Remus groaned as he began stroking himself.

"Me too," Snape replied, before moving both of his hands onto the bed on either side of Remus’ hips and beginning to thrust harder.

They both came. Remus first, his semen splattering both of their chests, and then Snape as he watched his lover’s face. Snape pulled himself out of his lover and crawled up the bed, collapsing with his face on the other’s shoulder.

"Can’t move."

Remus grinned and reached out to touch his wand to whisper a cleaning spell.

"Me either, lover." He shifted onto his side and wrapped himself around Snape, snuggling on top of the covers. They both drifted to sleep.

* * *

Sometime during the night they had managed to crawl under the covers. Snape woke up to a warm but empty bed. From the open door he could hear the sounds of Lupin cooking in the kitchen. He was singing along to some song playing on the wireless. Snape thought he recognised it as one of the tortured sounds he had heard from the Slytherin common room last term. Throwing the covers off, he got up and out of the bed. His trousers and shirt were nowhere to be seen on the floor, but a spare outfit was lying neatly folded over a chair.

Remus had been up for a while, then.

He found him in the kitchen laying out the table with all their usual breakfast foods. Snape reached around Remus and picked up a piece of toast

"Good morning." He kissed Remus on the cheek.

"I’ll be through in a second." Remus grinned. "The Prophet’s on the bench behind you if you want to read it this morning." Remus continued putting the breakfast plates out and returned to the stove where a kettle was brewing with tea. "I didn’t see anything that interesting. No news about Harry’s sojourn in Africa. And they’ve been reporting every detail. I wonder how he gets any work done?"

Snape and Remus had long ago come to an agreement on the subject of Harry Potter. Remus would blithely tell him every detail about his pseudo-God son’s life, and Snape would glare but not reply. They were both happy this way.

Snape turned and took the newspaper from the bench, accidentally knocking and breaking the bottle that had been resting underneath it. He glanced down at it as he reached for his wand to repair whatever he had broken and noticed the potion bottle from last night. He sighed, and repaired it, picking it up and placing it on the table in front of him. He’d forgotten about it in the repeated pattern of the mornings they had when he was lucky enough to wake up beside Remus.

Remus brought the tea over and poured him a cup, leaving it black without sugar, as he liked it. He added milk and three sugars to his own cup. It was an indulgence he allowed himself. "Urgh, I don’t know how you can drink it like that," Remus said as he sat down, kettle placed on a mat on the table.

"I don’t know how you can drink it like that," Snape returned. Remus picked up a slice of toast and started buttering it. "Remus, we need to talk."

"Yes, I know. But you said last night you knew all about it. Albus is pretty secretive, so I thought he would have left it to me to tell you about it."

"Dumbledore knows?" Snape raised his eyebrow. That was a surprise. He knew that Albus knew about their relationship, and thought it was a good thing. But Snape was a little shocked that he would interfere with them in such an intimate way. It might explain, though, how Remus had got the potion.

"Of course. It was his idea. I wasn’t sure how you would take it you know, and then, last night. That was pretty amazing." Remus grinned. He took a bite of his toast and placed the rest onto a plate. Eggs next, Snape thought. Remus reached across to the plate with the fried eggs and bacon on it, lifting two sunny fried eggs onto his plate. The rest of the eggs were done until the yolks had gone solid, the way Snape liked them.

"It’s all right, I understand I’m not the easiest to approach and I don’t always make it easy for you to find out what I think." Snape reached out his hand and took Remus’ hand in his own. "I…" This was still pretty hard to say. He wasn’t sure if he ever had, but if Remus had been this desperate, maybe he needed to make more of an effort. He looked up and caught Remus’ gaze with his own. "I love you. We can work everything else out."

Remus blinked. "Severus, I… I love you, too. You mean the world to me. That’s why when Albus offered me the DADA position again, I said yes."

"DADA position," Snape repeated. "But I thought…" Snape paused. "I’m ecstatic about the position, you deserve it. And it means we’ll be able to spend more time together." Snape reached over and pulled Remus into his arms, squeezing him gently. Leaving his arm around Remus’ shoulder, he resumed his breakfast. "So, why the potion?" he asked.

"Potion, Severus?" Remus questioned.

Snape held up the bottle he had rescued earlier. "I found it by dinner last night, but didn’t want to say anything. I can understand your frustration. I try hard to be open with you, but it’s nearly an ingrown trait of mine."

"But that’s not mine. Harry asked me if I could get you to look at it. Turns out somebody had tried to slip it to him while he was at a party. He wouldn’t tell me who, but he was concerned enough to get me to ask you about it. I was going to ask you this morning before you left. You thought I…?" Remus growled. "I would never give you a potion or harm you in any way! How could you think I would?"

Snape blinked. He hadn’t thought that Remus would be angry about being found out, but then he had never thought that Remus hadn’t done it. "It’s a fairly harmless potion, Remus. You wouldn’t have been hurting me. And I don’t think that you are stupid enough to have given me a potion that you, of all people, didn’t know all the effects of." He was still holding Remus’ hand, and he looked down at it as he softly continued. "I didn’t think that you had done anything wrong by giving me the potion. I thought I’d driven you to it. I was impressed."

"Impressed?" Remus asked.

"Yes, I don’t think many people could have gotten something, potion or artefact, that close to me without my knowing about it. And no one else would have been able to actually complete their mission. I should have noticed that something had happened straight away." Snape didn’t want to look up in case the werewolf was still angry with him.

"Severus, what does the potion do?"

"It reduces inhibitions, particularly in a lover. Until it leaves the system, the recipient will be more willing to follow through on their desires, their impulses. Like I did last night."

"I didn’t slip you the potion. But I’m glad you thought I did. Last night was pretty spectacular, and if that’s what it takes to get you to take control like that, maybe I should get you to brew us some more." Remus’ grin was the first thing Snape noticed when he looked back up. "Guess I better warn Harry then."

"I’m really glad you’re taking the job, Remus. You’re the best one for it." Snape let go of Remus’ hand and picked up his cup of tea. He took a sip, enjoying the sweetness as it slipped down his throat. "Did he offer you rooms? Near Gryffindor?"

"Um, we didn’t discuss it." It was Remus’ turn to look away. "I kind of assumed..."

"That you would move in with me." Snape finished. "A bit presumptuous. You know how I like my space."

"Um, yes." Remus said. "I guess I should talk to Albus about some other rooms."

"Of course, if you offered to make me dinner more often, I could probably grow used to your company." Remus looked up and smiled.

END.