FICLET: Unpent

[bronze_ribbons]

So, Friday afternoon, I realized I needed to put all fic-writing on hold until August, because all my projects are treading treacle right now and taking umpteen times longer than I would like for me to polish them up and/or off, and for all of my jokes about Miss Lydgate-ing my poster, I really would like to finish assembling "Placetne" without cutting into my sleep and socializing options.

I decided to start Saturday morning by answering a few emails and comments before settling down to work. This included responding to pixychelle's clarification that, with her "hermaphrodite!slave!"I must rape you"!Werewolf!Severus!BDSM!happy-ending!kitchen-sink!" plotbunny of DOOM, "werewolf was supposed to be a modifier of Severus." To which my response was a fairly detailed variation of "oh well, nope, not for me."

You know what happened next, of course.

Back in the early 90s, I used to play an ikebana-inspired computer game called "Chrysanthemum" that kept luring me back for "one more round" again and again, even though it kept kicking my ass. This is not dissimilar to how I feel about this prompt (and, these days, about writing in general).

Earlier incarnations of this bunny:
Her Fair Tresses Seemly Binding
Bleeding to Conquer (last drabble in the set)
Answer

Title: Unpent
Pairings: Lupin/Snape, past Tonks/Lupin
Rating: Adult
Warning: Hermaphrodite!slave!"I must rape you"!Werewolf!Severus!BDSM!happy-ending!kitchen-sink!fic
Amplification of warning: Not a nice story. Nor is it fluffy, nor lyrical.
Wordcount: 1230-ish
A/N: For pixychelle. For the record, my brain still considers "werewolf!Severus" outside its limits -- but it insisted on chasing this hare anyway.



Watching her ex-boyfriend rinse the remains of Snape’s outfit in her kitchen sink, Tonks was struck anew by the harsh network of lines around his eyes and mouth. If Remus survives this regime, she thought, he’s going to look thirty years older than me by then. Not just the thirteen.

Aloud, she said, “Don’t worry about the fur. The pipes are overdue for a declogging spell as it is.”

Lupin rewarded her with a thin, cynical smile. “No. As long as Severus is my slave, he might as well do some of the dirty work. He is going to clean out the plumbing, and he’s going to clear it out the Muggle way.”

Tonks’s jaw dropped. “Remus…?”

Lupin sighed. “I do have limits, Tonks.” He squeezed out the suds from a stocking and then stretched it between his hands as if to make a slingshot. “There wouldn’t be fur in your sink if the git had taken off his clothes before his transformation, like I warned him to.”

Tonks’ lips twitched. “If it’s any consolation, the sight of a werewolf busting through the seams of a dress with spriggy bits left half the surveillance team, uh, permanently scarred.” Remus groaned and flung the wet stocking at her. “And the rest were wholly traumatised when you mounted him.”

Lupin’s smile vanished. “What the fuck were they expecting -- lycanthropic snuggliness? Wolfsbane lets me keep my mind, but nothing more. It’s not like alpha men manage their sexual urges with any finesse--”

Tonks held up a placating hand. “I know. I know.” Her lips lifted in spite of herself. “Truth be told, it made me miss old times. Just a bit.” Her smirk deepened. “In fact, I like thinking I’ve spoiled you. That it just won’t be a proper full moon for you anymore without some pussy -- whether it’s mine or Snape’s.”

Lupin shot her an outraged glare. “It-- oh, Godric.” He shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again, visibly resettling his expression into its usual mild façade.

Before he could speak, Tonks cut in. “You know, that unnerves me far more than you being a werewolf. How well you do that.”

Lupin turned back to the sink. “I do it just to annoy you, of course.” He looked back over his shoulder, a slow smile creeping over his face. “And it drives Severus crazy, too.”

Tonks paused, a realisation dawning. “You aren’t totally hating this, are you. Nor is he.”

Lupin leaned back against the edge of the sink. “Not entirely, no. Though neither of us deserves this -- at least, not like this. One day a month in a Ministry pen is still one day too often, no matter that they leave me be the rest of the time.”

“And Snape?”

“It could have been so much worse for him. Harry could have been outbid by, say, the Vances. Or he could have given Severus to someone who actually wanted a slave. Someone who would’ve forced him polish trunkloads of family silver, for instance.”

Tonks shuddered. “Lucky for Snape, you happen to l--”

“No. Not yet. Not necessarily ever.”

Tonks looked pointedly at the mass of clothes in her sink. “So why are you here with his laundry?”

“Severus is still abed.”

“Some slave-driver you are.”

“Only when it’s merited. Or when we're under the guard of a pack of Aurors. Humiliation shatters him more than physical trauma ever could.”

Tonks winced. “You realise, don’t you, I wouldn’t…” She tried again, hating the pleading note that had crept into her voice. “I didn’t want to watch.”

Lupin snorted. “Why the hell not? Free sex shows while on duty, what wasn’t to like?” He turned back to the soggy heap of fabric and gave it a vicious punch. “Of all the Umbridgean scenarios I dreaded over the years, rutting into Snape in front of an audience--”

Tonks made an inarticulate noise of apology. Lupin did not turn around, but his voice softened a fraction. “Tonks. It is infinitely preferable to being dead.”

She buried her face in her hands. After a moment, Lupin continued, “Tonks. It will be all right. Why Severus chose to visit the camp--”

“The one thing he and I had in common, before his bits went girlie,” Tonks muttered. “Neither of us could stay away from you.”

Lupin whirled around, his face taut. “So that’s why he blames me for Bodolf Bleidd infecting him? And here I’d thought it was just simple habit: when in doubt, blame Lupin or a Potter.”

Or one of the Blacks, Tonks mentally added. He’ll never forgive me for dating the man he wanted…

She returned Remus’s stare, her eyes damp. “So what will you do, after the coup?” She refused to contemplate what would happen should Harry and Kingsley fail.

He shrugged, deliberately nonchalant. “There’s always the Shack. It at least offers privacy.”

Infuriating man. “What will you do with Snape?” she persisted. “Wands at dawn?”

“Tsk, Tonks. The International Ban on Duelling is still in effect.”

Utterly infuriating man. “Remus, he’ll never forgive you for this. Even though you had no way--”

“And I will never forgive him for Albus,” Lupin said. “Even though he had to do it.”

“So where will that leave you?” Tonks almost wailed. I can’t watch your back for the rest of your life!

“Alone,” Lupin calmly said. “Perhaps alone together.” He paused, a hint of helplessness flashing across his face. “You, of all people-- you’ve heard me in my sleep, yourself. It isn’t all Snape.”

“No,” said Tonks. “But fuck if I get what it is. You had me. You could have had Charlie. Instead, of all the people in the world, the love of your life--”

Lupin made a retching noise. “Tonks. This isn’t Bronte. Or Walter Scott, or Stevenson. Severus Snape -- clatty mad rocket.”

“Severus Snape, the love of your life,” Tonks insisted. “And you, his.”

“Make up your mind, girl! You want a romance, pick a damn formula! Once he’s free -- eternal troth or a blade in the back?”

“Once he’s free…?” Tonks repeated. “Harry doesn’t plan to free him, Remus.”

“I know,” Remus said. “Harry’s plans are immaterial.”

“Isn’t Snape still technically his property?”

“Technically, yes.” There was an odd inflection in Lupin’s voice. “This was technically a revenge.”

“So wouldn’t Harry’s plans-- Remus.” Tonks caught her breath. “If not an actual revenge … this was his gift to Snape?”

“Useful skill, Legilimency. Especially with a prisoner too weak to Occlude.”

“So -- before the trial, when Harry stormed through Snape’s mind…”

“He saw for himself what Albus had actually ordered--”

“Which turned him into star witness for the defence. But,” Tonks persisted, “he also saw you. And he couldn’t help seeing what Snape wanted with you…”

Lupin inclined his head, acknowledging her conclusions.

She placed her palms flat on top of her kitchen table, steadying herself before she gestured once again to the clothes in the sink. “What Snape wants with you…?”

Lupin’s eyes glinted. “The knickers will do for a gag, and the dress -- this fabric is nice. Once it’s clean and dry, I shall enjoy knotting it around his wrists and ankles.”

Tonks wasn’t sure whether she wanted more to squirm or to laugh. “It’ll be a much better look on him than the dress ever was,” she allowed.

“Yes,” Lupin said. “I think so too.”