Severus was running frantically. He'd already been running for what seemed like hours, and even his augmented lungs were burning uncomfortably.

THERE! It was the main entrance. If he could just make it out of the doors and just touch the moonlight, then he'd be rejuvenated and all fatigue would fade. If he could just make it…

Just… almost… there… "AGH!"

He was tackled to the ground mere inches from the tantalizingly open doors with teasing rays of waning moonlight just beyond his fingertips.

Severus swore loudly, but the body above him just chuckled. "Language Severus… and what am I forgetting? Oh yeah… TAG! NO TAG BACKS!"

And Sirius was off again, whooping and laughing, leaving a colorfully swearing, though slightly amused Severus.

They were playing Hogwarts-Tag, a game that was both exhilarating and dangerous. Not only did you have to find and chase the players across the castle at night, but you also had to avoid teachers patrolling, Filch lurking, and ghosts tattling (but Peeves was pretty cool). The person who was 'it' at 3am had to be 'it' next time; same with any person caught by the teachers (after detention was served, of course).

Oh yeah, and the winner was the happy owner of one invisibility cloak for a weekend, to do whatever they so wished. The winner was the one who went the whole night without being tagged.

So far, although they'd only played a dozen times, Severus had already won three of those. Yes, the Marauders (well, original Marauders, since Severus was now an official member of the pack) knew all the secret passageways of the castle- though Severus was quickly learning- but Severus could run for almost two hours straight without feeling the burn… and that was in human form.

The only way that Severus could be caught was by Sirius in dog form; or rather, as Padfoot. And it royally sucked.

As Severus picked himself up, grumbling and wiping the dirt off his second hand robes, he took a moment to examine how much his life had changed these past weeks.

Sirius had become a sort of best friend/surrogate brother to Severus. Once prompted, Sirius' upbringing revealed a knowledge of Dark Arts that greatly rivaled Severus' own; and it was fun to engage in debate and sometimes-arguments without resorting to fists. Sirius was completely playful, sometimes insightful, occasionally serious, and always loyal.

Remus was even more fiercely loyal than Sirius; and at least twice as protective. He was intelligent, wise, kind, and often shrewd and blunt. But the estrangement from his wolf often caused problems between him and connected, we-are-one Severus/Ryu. Severus was waiting until he was sure that this was real- not a dream or an elaborate hoax, or worse, a cruel and viciously vindictive prank- before he discussed with Remus about what Ryu told him… and what Remus' self-destructive life-style would lead to.

Peter was, well… Peter. As strange and weak and pathetic as usual. Severus guessed that they only kept the sad little creature around as a constant target of easy-pranks and jokes; and someone to boost their egos with his endless, almost sycophantic adoration. His only redeeming quality, in Severus' mind, was that, surprisingly enough, Peter was an amazing artist. Not many knew, because not many cared, but Severus had stared transfixed the first time he'd been introduced to the Gryffindor dormitories in the middle of the night. Sketches of winged dragons, fighting hippogryphs, grazing unicorns were surrounded by doodles of snowbells in the winter, the whomping willow at peace, sun sparkling off of the great lake. Sometimes the sketches had extended to the walls, and nearly every surface was covered in used, new, or half-full sketchpads.

As for James… deep-soulful-sigh James… well, he was another thing entirely. He was the caring one, the encouraging one, the one who dissolved arguments before they'd hardly began. He'd insisted on buying Severus new robes and supplies by mail-owl, instead of his awful second-hand ones that he'd had to personally scrap and scrape for. And when Severus had tried to reject them, his pride already bruised, James had just pointed out that he'd done the same for Remus, and if he could truss up a one werewolf and forcefully measure him against his will, then he could do it again. That, coupled with Ryu's stupid pleased purring that their mate was buying them gifts, kept him from protesting any more.

Not even Evans, who'd developed an unhealthy obsession with James and a sudden, semi-expected hatred and revulsion for Severus, could dampen the nearly euphoric mood that had overtaken him recently.

As a matter of fact, Evans seemed to be the only one Severus had problems with anymore. It wasn't known what Remus did, but all it had taken was one private talk with the Slytherins and they were more than happy to leave Severus alone. Even sometimes going out of their way to avoid him at all. Sometimes Lucius would come and talk to him, but he'd always been distantly polite and aloof, and sometimes kind, not outright hostile and nearly abusive as the rest of the Slytherins. But these talks would never last too long, and the blond would eventually make his way to Narcissa and her sister, Bellabitch; the most-popular, widely known slut in the school.

But back to Evans. Severus was greatly confused and, if he could admit it to himself, a little hurt that she'd treat him like that. They used to be good friends growing up, to the point that she'd chosen him over her stuck-up, prude, cruel sister. But still, her sister. Severus couldn't really pinpoint when she'd changed, when he'd stopped trusting and confiding in her; he just knew that he did.

And it had become only too apparent when the Marauders had began taunting him with things that only Lily could have known… things never were quite the same after that.

And then, when the Marauders had hung him upside down and shown his underpants (they'd already apologized most profusely for that and had been his slaves for the week in retribution) Lily had yelled about how odd it was that a half-blood in the pure-blood house was wearing muggle underpants. It was then that he'd called her Mudblood, and it was then that the abuse from his house increased ten-fold.

But, ever since he'd become part of the pack, James had stopped pursuing Evans. And while that seemed to have pissed Evans off to know end, it caused the wolf in Severus to hum in happiness and smugness. And speaking of James…

Severus gave off a wolfish grin and took off towards the corner that James' scent was coming from. He heard a yelp and a curse, and James was pelting up the stairs and to the second floor corridor; obviously he was trying to escape to the Gryffindor common room, and Severus realized with a curse that they'd changed the password today- as they always did on the first Monday of the month- and he didn't know it. He'd have to catch his little Prongs before then, or he'd lose the hunt.

And werewolves never lose a hunt.

Then, several things happened in quick succession.

James took off up the steps, turned the corner, went left again, and then…

WHAM!

RIIIIIIIIP!

"SHIT!"

Yes, Severus had managed to catch James- or more like tackle him to the ground in a truly Sirius-like manner- but he'd also managed to snag one of the large Gryffindor banners hanging on the wall and ripped it from its hangings with a loud tear. The resulting curse-riddled roll and tumble caused them to become well and truly entangled within the hideously red and gold fabric.

But Severus was, most definitely, not complaining.

Because Severus found himself on top of James, straddling him, with his body firmly bound to him and their lips only centimeters apart. Severus couldn't seem to find his ever-sharp voice, and James seemed to be suffering from the same problem.

Sparkling sky-blue eyes met mesmerizing, captivating emerald-onyx. Their breaths mingled, and every inhale sent their bodies rubbing along their entire lengths. Severus inhaled, and nearly came just from the amazing, tantalizing scent of his mate. James must have seen something in Severus' eyes, because his breath hitched and he leaned upwards, invitation clear in the parting of his lips and his half-closed eyes.

Severus' breath hitched, unable to truly believe that this was happening, before he took full advantage, swooping forwards and claiming those petal-soft, cupid-bow lips in a rough, fiery, passionate kiss off lust and passion and eternal devotement.

James groan/whimpered in his throat, and Severus felt an answering moan rumble from his chest. He could feel James' shudder at the pure wolf in his voice along his entire body; and there was no way James couldn't feel Severus' rock-hard cock, pressed as tightly together as they were. And it was with shock and Severus shifted and felt James' answering hardness.

There, in the Hogwarts corridor, in the middle of the night, wrapped in a Gryffindor banner, the snake and the lion rutted blindly through their clothes, mouths connected, swallowing each other's moans and groans eagerly, like men starved their whole lives.

Severus, who barely retained more presence of mind than James, fumbled for his wand and vanished the tapestry. James' brief moan of disappointment as Severus was no longer pressed to tightly against him morphed into a choked half-shout as Severus lifted his robe and ripped open the button and zipper on his jeans; calloused, long-fingered hand meeting hard, hot flesh.

As Severus worked on James with one hand, the other was working frantically on his own trousers. Finally, growling in frustration (earning another shudder and moan of arousal from James) Severus just grabbed his wand and vanished his own jeans and pants in one wordless wave.

When the two hard, leaking cocks met, a guttural groan was torn from both boys' throats. And when Severus' hand wrapped around both shafts and started pumping furiously, James shoved his fist in his mouth to stifle his scream of pleasure. Severus was quick to move that hand aside, replacing it with his lips, shoving his tongue down James' throat and being met by an equally enthusiastic, wet appendage.

James moved one hand and buried it into Severus' long, soft locks, raking his nails across his scalp and gripping Severus' arse frantically with the other, urging him on with his voice and motions.

It prompted another growl from Severus that echoed down James' throat, and James could only whimper in response. Severus tightened his fist and pumped faster, removing his mouth from James' and moving to his ear, nipping and biting and licking nearly frantically.

"Let me hear you." Severus' voice rumbled. "Don't muffle any of those gorgeous sounds."

As if he was only waiting for permission, James wailed as his impending orgasm washed over him, making every nerve-ending tingle with the waiting explosion. He just needed… one… little… thing…

"Come." Severus growled, deep and guttural, and that was all it took for James to scream his climax to the empty corridor, cum exploding from his wet and slick cock in long white ropes. Severus continued pumping until every drop had been milked from James' shrinking cock, and James' eyes slid shut with the force of his orgasm and the lasting aftershocks.

He heard the wet slapping sound of skin on skin, and opened his eyes to see Severus looming over him, soft, slightly curly hair draped across his face, brow furrowed in concentration, and hand working furiously on his red, leaking, gorgeous cock.

James watched in fascination as Severus' balls drew up, and Severus was howling, and coming, painting James' chest as he surged forward and bit James' shoulder roughly, breaking skin and marking him; and startling another powerful, unexpected orgasm from James.

It was ten minutes later that they regained consciousness, with Severus' face buried in James' shoulder, where he was absentmindedly licking the mark closed. Then, Severus was moving down, licking every last drop of cum- both his and Severus'- with a look of relish on his face, making James' spent cock twitch and grow in interest. By the time Severus finally reached James' cock, it was once again hard and leaking. Severus took James into his mouth, all the way down to his throat before humming, and it only took five minutes to bring James to mind-shattering, voice-cracking climax.

The last thing James heard was Severus' smug voice saying, "Tag. Feel free to tag back."

When he regained consciousness again, Severus had redressed the both of them- he'd had to transfigure a pair of pants (which were a tad tight) from his right sock since he'd vanished his pair. Severus was a brilliant red color, not looking at James, clearly worried of what James would think of him, if he'd abandon Severus and call him a freak for doing such a thing.

But he needn't have worried, since James took Severus' downcast face and turned it towards him, kissing those soft, often-acerbic lips tenderly, reveling in the brief sigh of relief that Severus emitted; expelling all the tension and worry from his body in that one breathe.

After a few more such tender, meaningful kisses, they finally regained awareness of their surroundings, and they both blushed before grinning, realizing what they'd done in the middle of the corridor.

But no shame.

"So…" Severus cleared his throat. "What are we now?"

James grinned and rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Severus, for someone with such a large, expansive vocabulary, you'd think you'd know what a boyfriend is."

Severus huffed and crossed his arms, but was unable to hide the broad grin that stretched across his too-often-dour features. James' breath caught. Severus was beautiful. He vowed to make sure that the dark, sarcastic, mysterious young man smiled more often, as often as possible.

Severus briefly looked worried. "What will we tell… will we tell… I mean, what will they say…"

James silenced his new boyfriend with a kiss. "We don't have to tell them anything until you're ready. And when you are, it won't matter what they say, since it's our lives, and our love, and none of their business."

Severus' breath hitched before he smiled again, albeit more shyly than before. "I… I love you too, James."

This time it was James' turn to smile blindingly, but when he leaned forward to reward his boyfriend with a passionate, heart-stopping kiss; Sirius, James, and Peter barreled down the corridor, panting harshly.

"C'mon… c'mon… Filch is… Filch is coming…" Sirius huffed, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. Peter had already bolted to the portrait, yelping the password and hopping in without a backwards look.

Remus reached forward to take hold of James and Severus to yank them off the floor, but his sensitive nose caught the scent of arousal sex cum, and he froze in shock, pupils dilated and mouth open in astonishment.

Severus and James blushed furiously, jumping up and grabbing both the frozen Remus and the confused, still-out-of-breath Sirius, and dragging them through the portrait hole after James yelled the password, "Bobutober Pus!"

The door shut on the echoing shouts of the twenty year old Filch as he raced down the corridor, seconds too late.

They ran up into their dormitory, still dragging Remus, and by this time Sirius had finally figured out that something was going on.

When they finally reached the beds, Severus grabbed Remus' shoulders and shook him roughly. But there was no response, just Remus staring straight forwards in shock. James waved his hand in front of his face, but still, nothing.

Sirius grinned. "Whatever you did, I think you broke him." Severus snickered and James laughed, while Peter just stared in confused shock.

Severus, after five more minutes of fruitless labor, just huffed and shrugged his shoulders at James. "We'll just have to wait for him to snap out of it. For now, let's just put him to bed."

James nodded before transfiguring Remus' clothes to pajamas covered in moons and wolves. Grinning, he led his unresponsive friend to his bed before tucking him in.

Sirius went to open his mouth to ask what was going on, but Severus shook his head. "We'll tell you when Remus comes around. We'd prefer to only have to say and explain it once."

Sirius didn't look to happy, but seeing the unbending look on Severus' face, gave up with poor grace with a disgruntled huff.

He hopped into his bed, not bothering with changing his clothes, and was snoring not five minutes later.

Peter just shrugged, not concerned, rolled over, and did the same.

Severus shook his head with an exasperated, fond smile at Sirius before transfiguring a blanket and laying on the floor, as was his usual custom.

"What are you doing?" James asked, genuinely confused.

Severus just raised his eyebrow and pointed to the blanket, before looking at the floor pointedly.

James rolled his eyes and huffed. "Well, obviously, but you shouldn't anymore. Aren't we together now? You can sleep with me in my bed."

Severus blushed, but just grinned and complied, inordinately pleased. He spooned behind James, purring happily, and pulled the blankets over them. James hummed happily and transfigured their pajamas on, before whispering a quiet Nox, turning off the lights, and setting his wand in reach on his nightstand.

"Night Severus." James mumbled; sleep already thick in his voice.

"Goodnight James. Love you, my mate." Severus answered, fondly kissing the back of James' neck. James just hummed in response and snuggled closer; and Severus was quick to follow his mate into the arms of Morpheus.

Three hours later, as the first rays of dawn were touching the night sky, Remus bolted up with a bark and a shout of "WHAT?"

He was hit with three pillows and a practice snitch with startling accuracy, while four voices shouted "SHUT UP AND GO TO SLEEP."

Remus spent the rest of the night sulking, unable to sleep for his impatience. Damn pack…