Him and I

chapter 1

"I swear Sirius if you don't cut that music out" James complained.

The two boys had just graduated and despite being best friends they both had different ways they wanted to spend their celebration. Sirius wanted for him and james to go explore somewhere together and live a little. However james only thought of the downfalls to that like; "how are we going to get the money" or "how do you plan on getting there". he thought it would just be a lot easier if they stayed in their area and just went out on the town.

"Sirius- its bloody 6 in the fucking morning" James groans holding a pillow over his face, muffling his loud voice.

"I won't stop until you at least hear my plan" sirius folds his arms looking up to the ceiling.

James's groans only grew louder before he eventually sat up straight and glared at Sirius.

"fine! fine! just turn that music off!" he grumbles seeing sirius sit up with a bright smile on his face.

"don't you think it'll be good for us james?? it'll be so much fun to get away for a while and be able to live a little whilst we're still young"

"we can still live by going out clubbing-" James starts before getting interrupted by sirius.

—

"No Lily! I'm not going" Remus sighed flicking the pages of his book.

Peter sat there whispering to Lily "I told you he wouldn't want to" he shrugs slightly seeing Lily get up.

Lily takes the book out of his hands and holds it behind her back. Remus gasped slightly, folding his arms.

"Give me my book." he rolls his eyes "Since you decided to take my cigarettes it's the only thing that calms me"

he holds his hand out flat asking for the book back.

"Just hear me out okay-" she begins.

—

"We can take your dad's car- and before you ask, i'm going to convince your dad to let me borrow it" Sirius says looking proudly at james.

James rolls his eyes, asking "and where exactly are you planning on us staying?"

"easy! i found this nice holiday home up to rent in this really cosy area in London" he starts but is interrupted by James's facial expressions.

"London! that's almost an 8 hour drive!" James complains and sirius rolls his eyes.

(( James and Sirius live in Edinburgh and Lily, Peter and Remus live in Glasgow all for school reasons ))

"stop complaining jamsie! we'll take a few breaks along the way and we'll arrive there in 2 days tops!" he says folding his arms.

"and where do you plan on getting the money?" james asks and sirius shrugs.

"i have that covered, i've been saving for months now! i have enough to pay for our stay" sirius replies with a bright and proud smile wiped across his face.

James sighs and glances over at his best friend "as long as we can make a compromise and go out to a bar whilst we're over there"

Sirius gasps and punches the air in excitement. "oh just you wait jamsie this is going to be the best trip of our lives!"

—

"Lily you know my dad will never let me go" remus sighs pulling his book back towards him.

"come on remus please! just leave him a note or something if its really going to end that badly" she says with a sigh as remus and peter make eye contact.

"It's also your hometown remus, it'll be nice to see some of your old pals" peter chirps up earning an awkward sigh from remus.

"this better be worth it-" Remus sighs out and pauses "i'll go if i can have my cigarettes back"

Lily rolls her eyes and takes the packet out of the drawer throwing them towards him. Remus catches them and gets up.

"there's no promising that my dad will say yes" Remus says with a shrug and then leaves the room leaving peter and lily to share excited glances with each other.

Remus takes a long walk home from Peter's house. He goes to take his keys out of his pocket before realising the door was already open. his dad was home. he opens the door and instantly inhales the stench of alcohol that filled the entire house. he shuts the door quietly behind him trying not to make a sound as he made his way to the kitchen, which was joined onto his living room.

he puts his keys on the side and glances over to the sofa to see his dad who looked to be passed out with a can of beer in his hand. he leans against the counter and takes a deepbreath before picking up the empty cans scattered around the bin from where his dad attempted to throw them away but missed. he stands still for a few seconds and sighs shaking his head. this won't work remus. he thought to himself before walking to the side of the sofa and glancing down at his sleeping dad.

"hey dad.." he whispers, earning a grumble in response.

"Lily wants to go away to London to celebrate our graduation- would you mind if i go with?" he fiddles with his fingers slightly waiting for a reply.

"as long as you don't bother me." his fathers drunken voice came.

he knew this would've been the only way to get his dad's permission. he hates being home as it is and knew if he asked his dad sober he would be hit on the spot. he slowly backs away from the sofa, a smile growing slightly on his face as he makes his way up the stairs to his room.

life at home wasnt always the best for remus, however it used to be. when his mother was alive he felt nothing but happiness but after she sadly passed, his father drank almost every night. his addiction increasingly got worse and so did his urge to hurt his own son. Remus would always turn up to school with multiple bruises or scars from past injuries his father was responsible for.

Remus couldn't quite explain the scar on his face. the one that his dad gave to him one night when remus tried to fight back and tell him that he had, had enough of the crap. he ended up having his face slammed multiple times against the corner of the table. that one stung like a b*tch.

Lily always suspected that these injuries weren't coming from remus falling off his bike or falling down his stairs but they never managed to get it out of Remus. his father was either always drinking or at work trying to get money for drinking but even then he had set chores for remus and if they weren't completed by the time he was home there were consequences.

peter was the only one who knew. even then he didn't know everything, only a few things. like the fact that his dad wasn't very nice. or the fact that sometimes he wouldn't be in school because he was helping him.

on top of school remus had to work and do house chores. his father never gave him any money to provide for himself so remus, from young tried his best to get as much money as he could.

people would always give him sympathy for having to work on top of the stress of school despite not knowing his situation. however remus didn't need their sympathy. after all, he was used to being on his own.