The Boy With Black Eyes

Aconite

*IN THIS CHAPTER NOX HAS HER FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH FENRIR GREYBACK. TRIGGERS INCLUDE BLOOD, GUTS, VIOLENCE AND EXPLOITATION. IF THESE SITUATION SMAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE OR TRIGGER YOU, THIS IS YOUR WARNING*

"Nox, you have to take it."

"It's disgusting. Isn't there a way to make it taste better?"

"It can't be that bad." Severus pressed a goblet into her hands, a bluish steam rising off the rim before cascading down the edge of the cup. Leaning over, she sniffed at it trepidly and made a face. The girl gulped, before pinching her nose and throwing the Wolfsbane back like a large shot, trying her damnedest not to retch and spew it all over the brewing rooms at Hogwarts. "See?"

"Come here and kiss me, then you'll see it tastes like licking a Hippogriff's backside." Her tired amber eyes lit up as she stalked toward him, rounding several cauldrons, over where she and Remus been trying to brew Felix Felicus for almost two weeks in order to impress Slughorn into giving them their NEWT grade early. The date for the Advanced Potions Exam fell in the early hours of the morning after the full moon.

Severus lifted his hands with a half-smile, backing up slowly, careful not to trip over anything or accidentally set the robes he wore to protect his clothes on fire. "I'll pass. There's enough monkshood on your lips to knock me on my back for about an hour."

A cheeky smile, and she prowled toward him, her lips tinted a light blue like she was cold. They were tingling rather sharply, in a way they did after she'd spent a rather quiet hour snogging Sev while they cuddled in his bed, behind closed curtain. "Maybe that's exactly where I want you."

An arched eyebrow and a curled lip were his only answers before he lunged forward, gripped her around her waist and plopped her on a table just behind him. She sat with her knees on his hips, with him leaning over to put a cashmere whisper in her ear. "One of these days, you are going to stop teasing me...because I will not be able to resist your feminine charms." One of his hands smoothed over her hip, then over the curve of her arse to her thigh. "Vixen."

A small cough had them separating, Nox leaning back into the table, Severus standing up straight and fixing the brewing robes to they sat a little bit better on his shoulders. Remus stood in the doorway, looking even more tired than Nox was, his greenish eyes already moving more toward yellow, especially around his pupils. He crossed the floor to the cauldron that was letting off small silver bubbles that were gathering in a growing pile on the floor before popping with the sound of soft tinkling bells. They should have been a robins-egg-blue, but Slughorn re-assured them it was no fault of theirs.

Nox called over to him, picking up the goblet that she'd dropped when she was done. "Rem, Severus made more Wolfsbane."

A look of relief crossed his face, and Remus turned away from their potion to dip the goblet into the still-bubbling cauldron, and like a practised pro, threw back the wolfsbane like he was doing tequila shots. A shudder ran across his face, even up his spine, before he checked his watch and with a tired smile, drew Nox back to the cauldron so they could attempt to follow a badly translated recipe without blowing their faces off.

Severus turned back to one of the three cauldrons he was babysitting, watching the duo out of the corner of his eye, ready to help or correct rapidly if it was needed. Lupin would hear scorn and disdain, but Nox would hear the long, soft croon to his voice, reminding her of the promise he'd made, tracing fingers over her hip.

**********

It was different this time. Instead of arriving in front of the Dark Lord in agony, she walked up with her head clear and the pain lessened, before morphing into the black creature with tufted ears, sitting at the left hand of her Master, looking out on a sea of silver masks that watched attentively, as the man with red eyes looked out over them. It was late in May, as the windows at his back were open to the light breeze blowing off the English moors.