"He's a thirty-three year old man, but he's acting like a petulant child that didn't get his way," You ranted, pacing up and down in front of Remus's desk. "How the hell am I suppose to fix what's wrong if he won't tell me?"

It had been a week and a half since your spectacular fight with Severus and you were ready to maim, crush, and kill him until you stopped seeing red.

Most of Hogwarts seem to sense what was going on. Students had been leaving his classrooms with tears and so many docked points that it didn't look like there was going to be a House winner this year.

You were doing a better job at not taking out your frustration and anger on your students, but you couldn't help avoid eating in the Great Hall. Hey, you were an adult, you knew how to pick your battle.

"Do you really want my advice?" Remus asked, sitting casually on his desk. You whirled to face him, impatiently pushing away the strands of your hair.

"Yes!" You paused, your shoulders slumping. You sighed and hopped on his desk, placing your head on his shoulder. "I don't know what good it would do Remus. That man is hard to read on a good day."

Remus placed a comforting arm around your shoulder.

As the smell of books, wood, and cocoa reached you and soothed your wounded feelings, you couldn't help feel so lucky to know a friend like Remus Lupin.

You had met him on the outskirts of a Wizard village in Nice, arguing in terrible broken French with a vendor. He had been super close at being hexed and arrested until you swooped in and saved him. The rest was history.

"[Y/N], I think this particular problem is an affliction we all go through," He said with a smirk. You looked up at him. "He's jealous."

You paused for a second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

"Of what?" You exclaimed, ripping yourself away from him to continue your pacing. Severus Snape didn't do jealousy. Anger, rage, humor, bitterness, sure. But Jealousy?

Remus shrugged. "He doesn't seem to like me hanging around you."

"So I'm basically a toy to him?" You demanded, your hands on your hips. "Something no kid in his class can play with because the toy is his property."

He smiled amusedly at you. "I think he values you more than a silly toy."

You scoffed, making your second turned around his room. No matter how hard your brain was working, you still couldn't compute this. It just didn't make any sense.

"If it makes you feel better, he did the same thing with his best friend."

You froze.

"Lily," You said softly. Of course, Remus caught it.

"You know about Lily?"

You nodded jerkily. You knew the whole tragic saga of Severus and Lily's friendship. You also knew what the implications were.

"I-I think I'm going to go grade some papers now," You stammered, stumbling towards his door. "Thanks for the help, Rem."

The door closed before you could hear his reply.

You stood in front of your mirror, staring critically at yourself. You were a decent-looking woman, in willowy black dress robes that fufill the school's requirement, but did nothing for her figure. How could you even compete with the ghost of Lily Evans?

"Remus is absolutely bonkers," You sighed, tucking a strand of hair away from your face.

"Dear, any man would be lucky to have you." The mirror cooed. You smiled slightly.

You didn't know how to approach this topic with the Potions Professor. You didn't often have heart-to-heart conversations with him. Severus always preferring to talk about new discoveries in both Wizard and Muggle culture, the lives of the other professor, or anything else he found amusing.

Lily had been a fluke of luck that had been helped along with lots and lots of fire whiskey and the warmth of your quarters.

This would be one of those times.

You could easily use the bottle of rum you had been saving for a special occasion, but you didn't want to have this conversation drunk. You wanted to be sober and remember everything in case it was true.

You scoffed.

You checked the clock on your night stand. It was eight. Severus should be in the Potions classroom, grading.

You took a couple of deep calming breaths. "You could do this. He's your friend. Just don't act like a total Gryffindor."

You repeated that a dozen times in your head as you walked towards the dungeons. You smiled politely as some Hufflepuff greeted you.

Maybe you should act like a Hufflepuff!

You stopped in front of the giant wooden door, knowing without a doubt that the wards had notified him. Taking one last deep breath, you gathered your courage and knocked.

"Enter."

Your eyes immediately fell on Harry Potter in the center of the room, scrubbing cauldrons with a toothbrush. He gave you a pleading look.

"Potter, eyes on the cauldron," snapped Severus from behind his desk. "What can I do for you, Professor [L/N]?"

"I was wondering if I could speak with you for a moment," You glanced over at the young boy.

"Then speak."

You stared at his perfectly blank face.

"I don't think you would like Mister Potter knowing about our personal business."

Severus contemplated it for a moment or at least pretended to, and stood. He gestured to the door behind his office.

You flashed a polite smile towards the Gryffindor and followed through the doorway into his office.

Severus shut the door behind you. "Well?"

"I miss you," you blurted out. You could feel your heart hammering at spilling something so close to your heart. "I don't like this distance Severus."

He didn't even react. "Pomona and Lupin, I'm sure, are keeping you highly entertained."

"But they're not you!"

You wanted to swallow down the desperation that had spilled from your voice. You had never spoken like that to anyone. Of course, it would be Severus to make you act like some lovesick fool.

Lovesick fool. You bit back a gasp.

His sigh broke into your panic in time to allow you to see him approach you, your robes almost touching.

"Forgive me," He said softly. You gazed up at him in wonder. Could it be that easy?

"Already done," you said equally as soft.

It was a couple of seconds of just staring at each other in complete contentment before Severus realized and broke away first.

"Well, I have to resume my supervision of Potter's detention." He said, guiding you towards the door with a warm hand against your back. "Thursday as always then?"

You smiled up at him, for once acknowledging the giddy feeling that spread across your chest whenever he paid attention to you. "Thursday."

You stopped the door from opening all the way, your mind shouting at you in different direction.

With a deep breath, you stood on your tippy toes, your other hand using his shoulder as support, and brushed your lips against his.

"I'm glad to have you back Severus." You said, settling back down on the ground with a silly smile.