RL with Remus

[why_so_me]

They day after the virus, Sirius was in the Gryffindor dormitory, curtains to his bed drawn. Inside, he was supposedly working on an essay that was due for Prof. Flitwick about Summoning Magic, and he did indeed have his books open and a quill scrawling across parchment. However, his handwriting had devolved into illegible blots of ink and long scratches that nearly tore through the page. Sirius barely seemed to notice.

He hadn't talked to Remus or James or Peter or really anyone since waking up that morning. It was plain he was in a terrible mood, but he refused to let anyone in on what had happened. Even alone in his room, he glared at the paper.

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[lycanthropy-101.livejournal.com]

Remus hoped that he was being comforting for his friend. Lord knows how many times Sirius did stuff like this for him, he just wanted to return the favor. The problem was that he wasn't exactly sure how. He'd not really done it before, after all. Sirius was usually pretty good at either keeping them all from knowing he was upset, or just not being upset.

"Okay, that's good," Remus said. It was good to know that Sirius wasn't as down on himself as Remus could get. Remus didn't think he could survive with a family like Sirius's, and thanked whatever gods he could think of that he didn't have Sirius's family, and that Sirius didn't have his issues. "They're still sort of alright with you being friends with James, though, right? I mean, the Potters are an old wizarding family and all, right? Or...do they have something against them now, too?"

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Sirius shook his head, chuckling without humor. "They say the Potters are blood traitors," he answered. "Since they're not, you know, in the same snobby circles as them. They don't like anybody that thinks differently than them, pureblood or not."

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Remus squeezes Sirius's shoulder. "Oh, Sirius. I'm sorry... I'm really sorry that your family's like that..." He wasn't sure what there was to say other than that. Remus was lucky that his family was supportive of his friends and everything he did, but. Remus was half-blood; his mother was a Muggle, and then with the whole werewolf thing... They had to be accepting, or Remus might not've been around today, having been bit so young.

"You know that...if you ever need to take a break, and James's not at home or available or anything...you know that you can come to my place, right? I know you've not really been there before, but. You know you're more than welcome there, right?"

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Sirius smiled a little bit. "Thanks," he said, sounding a little better at the thought of being able to escape from his home. "I'll probably take you up on that...I doubt I'll be there a week before we're all driving each other mad. ...I'd offer the same for you if you ever wanted to come over, except I'm not sure you'd want to meet my family."

[lycanthropy-101.livejournal.com]

"Sirius, I'd love to meet your family, just to give them a piece of my mind, if I could, and if I thought that that would do any of us any good whatsoever," Remus said, smiling at Sirius a little bit too. "I mean it, though. My parents would love it if you'd come. I've, uh. Well, I've never had friends over before, and all..."

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"Really? Never?" Sirius said, blinking a little. "Well, okay, now I'll definitely have to come over, to break your running streak. And see if your parents can give me any dirt about your nice-studious-voice-of-reason facade."

[lycanthropy-101.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I suppose you will have to come over, then. Convince them that I really do have friends and haven't just magicked you up from somewhere," Remus said, already planning to ask his parents about it. It was going to be a bit of an argument--they had a tendency to be a little over-protective of Remus, and...well. Remus hadn't told them that Sirius and the others know, so. That should be fun. But that argument would be worth it to have Sirius over for a while in the summer, it would be beyond worth it.

"I don't know what you're talking about, with this facade business, though," Remus said, with a smile. "I've always been the perfect gentleman, since the day I was born." Which was a downright lie, Remus knew. He was an absolutely miserable child the years leading up to his Hogwarts acceptance, because he was so sure that he'd never get in and then he'd have to spend the rest of his life as a recluse, which was difficult for a 9, 10-year-old to really handle well.

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"Well, now that you put it like that, I could always show up and try to convince them I'm some poor random bystander you kidnapped and brought home. Or a Transfigured house elf or something," Sirius teased. "And right, I forgot, you came into this earth having perfect manners and a knack for liking homework. You were probably born wearing a monocle."

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Remus shook his head at Sirius. He was glad to see the other boy feeling better--he was so comfortable with the joking around that he didn't notice his arm was still around Sirius's shoulders. "Despite what you might think, my parents would probably get me into a lot of trouble, if you actually succeeded in convincing them of that. They've seen photographs, though, Pads, so I don't think that's going to really work in your favor."

"And really, a monocle is a bit much, don't you think? I mean, I don't wear a monocle now, do I? Don't even wear eyeglasses. Unless you think that I've regressed and I used to be even more proper before meeting you hooligans," Remus teased.

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"I do think you were much more proper before you met us," Sirius answered, chuckling a tiny bit. "Anyone in their right mind would be a more proper and upstanding individual before spending too much time with us. I wouldn't be shocked if someone who had a halo on their head would have it drop to the ground after a Marauders' afternoon."

[lycanthropy-101.livejournal.com]

Remus smiles at Sirius. "I hope you three understand and appreciate just how difficult it is to be friends with you and still stay the responsible one, the voice of reason and all. If I wasn't so bloody scared of being kicked out of school if you go too over the top with something, then I'd probably be right along with you, in the thick of things." Hogwarts was Remus's one chance at a normal life, and he wasn't sure if his friends really understood that. They knew he was a werewolf, but he wasn't sure that they really understood what living a life as a werewolf was really going to be like, after it all.

"Really, though, Sirius. I. I would like it if you could come over during the summer. It...it gets rather lonely at my parents house, especially after I've gotten used to having you guys around all the time."

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"Then I'll come over," Sirius said, as if saying it simply made it so. His parents would try to stop him, but it wasn't like they could guard the fireplace and Floo powder twenty-four hours a day. "Probably lots, now that I know I can. And now you don't have to be lonely and I don't have to deal with my demonic relatives."

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Remus cocked his head at Sirius. Of course, he wanted Sirius to come over during the summer holidays; he wanted it more than anything. He knew that his own parents would have a few concerns, but he'd address them, he'd argue it level-headedly, and they'd come around and see things his way. The only question now would be if it would be okay for Sirius.

"Pads," Remus said cautiously. "I...wouldn't be getting you into trouble, having you come over to my place, would I? I mean... I know you don't really care what your family thinks anymore, but. I. I don't want to, you know. I don't want to get you into trouble, or anything..."

[why-so-me.livejournal.com]

Sirius shrugged. "Even if they don't like it, I'll get out anyway. 'S not like I wouldn't manage to get into any trouble if I was home all day anyway, at least this way I'm out of their hair," he said, his tone as casual as if Moony had asked for the weather. Getting into trouble with his parents wasn't exactly something he was unaccustomed to. "Don't worry about, Moony."

[lycanthropy-101.livejournal.com]

"Sirius..." Remus started again. He wasn't very good at keeping himself from thinking about bad things, especially not where his friends were concerned. He was beginning to think that he'd never stop worrying about them, ever. "You... I know your parents aren't the nicest people to you, and. And you don't exactly get along very well at all, but. They're...they're still alright to you, aren't they? I mean...you." God, this was difficult to ask, especially to ask a friend. "You aren't getting abused by them, are you? They're not violent about any of this, right...?"

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"What?" Sirius' eyebrows shot up, genuinely surprised by the question. "No, no, God no. I mean, Mum's smacked my hand a couple of times, but nothing like that. They're nasty as hell at my house, but it's nothing as bad as all that."

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Remus breathed a sigh of relief, not realizing how worried he was that his friend was being abused physically as well as emotionally until Sirius had reassured him that he wasn't. He clenched Sirius's shoulder in his arm, rubbing it reassuringly. "Okay, good. That's good. Because..." He swallowed. Why was he saying this? He didn't want to. He supposed he just needed to get it said, and there probably wasn't going to be another opportunity to say it.

"You know, if that ever starts, you should get out of there. Like, really get out of there. You could come to mine, or, well, I'm sure James would be all for you staying at his as well, and the Potters wouldn't mind. You. You know that we're here for you, yeah?" God, Remus was blushing a bit now.

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"Remus, don't...don't worry about that, okay?" Sirius said, a little bit alarmed that the question had been raised to start with. He knew things at his house were shitty, but he didn't think they were that bad, that his mum or dad would ever beat him for anything. "My parents are rotten, but it's not like that at my house, okay?"

With a small smile (especially since he could see Remus blushing), he said, "Thanks, though. For the offer."

[lycanthropy-101.livejournal.com]

Remus nodded, still blushing slightly. "Don't mention it. I mean, I'm sure if our situations were reversed, you'd do the same for me. Merlin knows, you'd probably have done it a long time ago, too, it wouldn't have taken you this long and you'd probably have done it in an entirely less awkward way, but. I'm not you, so. Here it is. Here...here we are."

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"Stop putting yourself down when you're being nice," Sirius said, arching an eyebrow at him, smiling a tiny little bit at the sight of Remus continuing to blush. "And I don't care if it's awkward or anything, I really do appreciate it. So...thanks."

[lycanthropy-101.livejournal.com]

Remus couldn't help but smile back a little bit at Sirius, grateful, so, so grateful to have the other boy as his friend. He knew that he was being a bit ridiculous, though, so he looked away. "Yes, well... I'm..." He caught sight of Sirius's Summoning Magic essay again, and his lips quirked. "I'm sure that you'd also probably appreciate a good proofread on what you've done of this essay so far as well." Remus knew for a fact not even having to look at it that Sirius's mind probably wasn't in the task when he'd written it so far, as it were.

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Sirius chuckled. "Oh, Moony, your focus is never far from homework," he teased, knowing full well his essay was probably a completely illegible mess. "Well, if you want to try and figure out what in Merlin's name I managed to write on my essay, you're welcome to."

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Remus slowly took his arm away from Sirius's shoulder, shifting a bit further away to grab the essay and trying not to be awkward about it. Or, well. More awkward about it than he already had been, no more awkward than usual. Remus looked at it briefly. "It's not so much that I want to, but more like I should help you salvage from this mess what you can so that you don't have to start over completely from scratch and be completely miserable about it later on. You've been miserable enough for one day--if I let you go on for much longer, you'll be stealing my fire, there."

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"So, in the future, when I want you to help me do my essays, I should just act as miserable as possible?" Sirius teased, slightly disappointed that Remus' arm had left his shoulder. "I'll have to remember that and use it to my full advantage."

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Remus sent Sirius a look. "You'd better not. If I start noticing you're just acting to get things out of me, you're going to have to start handing things that look like this in," he said, brandishing the essay in question, "and then where would your grades be?" Okay, so Sirius's grades wouldn't drop that much without him. But he still felt that he was making something of a difference, enough that Sirius should still feel like he needed him around. Because...Remus wanted to feel needed, and like he was worth all the trouble he knew being friends with him was.