you raise me up || harry potter

chapter 71

»»-----　song:　-----««

morning

from the movie
★the kindness of strangers ★

♢ ♢ ♢

"Jesus," Snape said, still rubbing his forehead as he hauled himself into the kitchen. "You know, I was really hoping last night was a bad dream and you wouldn't actually be here."

"Sorry to disappoint," Lupin said cheerfully-or as cheerfully as one can in the midst of a particularly dreadful hangover. He sat in a chair. "I'm still here, unfortunately. And by your own doing, might I add. Shall I help make breakfast?"

Just the thought of clanging pots, having to stand over the stove, and the full realization of the consequences of his drunken actions intensified both Snape's headache and nausea. And by the sound of it, the sink was leaking again. "Are you seriously able to stomach breakfast right now?"

Lupin shrugged. "I'm a werewolf. I'm always hungry. Hangovers are no obstacle."

"Figures," Snape said, but too nauseous to put any venom in the word. "I need coffee."

"Coffee would be nice," Lupin sighed.

"I don't feel like making any, though."

"You're a wizard."

"I have fluorescent lights, Lupin. I have electricity." This statement warranted no further questioning.

"We could go to that coffee shop; I saw it yesterday," Lupin suggested.

"You're telling me you can walk the full fifteen minutes there?"

"You don't have a car?"

"Yes, driving with a hangover is a splendid idea, Lupin, I always knew you were brilliant," Snape said, some of his sarcasm making a return. "And I suppose Apparition would be out of the question."

Lupin went slightly green at the thought. "Ah... don't even say the word."

The two of them sat at the kitchen table in silence for a moment. Snape was approximately seventy-eight percent certain that the only reason why they were having a very uncharacteristically civil interaction without the aid of alcohol was because of the hangover (read: why Snape specifically was being uncharacteristically civil), but he couldn't be sure.

"I feel like we're out of options," Lupin said.

"Hangover potion," Snape said suddenly, just remembering, and left the kitchen as he winced at the movement. He never had any personal use for it, and the last thing he would've wanted was to get rid of Tobias' hangover; it was the only thing that kept him in bed and out of the way. But he still had a stock from when underage drinking started becoming a bigger problem than it already was at Hogwarts (A problem which curiously coincided with the arrival of Fred and George Weasley as first years in 1989). In Snape's opinion, a good and proper hangover while trying to appear alert in class was the best punishment for that sort of misbehavior. He didn't care what those little bastards did on their weekends, but a bunch of hungover teens operating a cauldron was a recipe for disaster.

Hence the potion.

"Why," Lupin said, marveling at the empty bottle and the disappearance of his discomforts after he drank, "Am I surprised. What other nifty potions do you have hidden away?"

"Nothing that wouldn't curse you the second you touched the vial," Snape said, a bit nastily.

Lupin gave him a slightly alarmed look of questioning.