Descend - Wolfstar + Marauders

Tipping Point

Remus sipped slowly on his tea, focusing on the sensation of warmth as it seeped down his aching throat, spreading into his upset stomach. Harry babbled lightly in his play pen, grasping happily at the colorful mobile above him. Lily sipped her own tea, comfortable in the silent moment that proceeded what she knew would be a difficult conversation. A necessary one, but difficult all the same.

She knew if Remus had it his way the silence would be broken only for the sake of friendly chatter. Stories of Harry’s latest developments, a solemn commiseration over the state of the war but not of their own parts in it. Lily wanted that, to simply be. She wanted as much as the battered, scarred man in front of her to deal only in platitudes and peace. Unfortunately, now was not the time to indulge that particular fantasy. Remus had made that much clear when he had called Lily from a muggle jail, more exhausted than she had ever heard him, requesting a bail out.

Of course she couldn’t actually go herself and Remus had been very insistent that she not contact Sirius, Peter, or any of the others. Lily, much to her frustration, had been forced to ask her sister for help. She hated to give Petunia the smug satisfaction of thinking she associated herself with ‘criminal degenerates’, but Remus had sounded so desperate (pathetic even) that she sucked it up. On the condition that he come straight to her home upon release. He reluctantly agreed to her terms, though only after she assured him James would be at work all day, his final week before being remanded to the house indefinitely alongside her and Harry.

So there they were, sipping tea. It had been half an hour and Remus had not said a word. He wasn’t going to make this easy for her, then.

“So why did you call me, anyway, since you knew I couldn’t come?” asked Lily, starting with an easier question.

Remus shifted uncomfortably on the couch. His hands trembled, struggling to grip onto his cup. He wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“You’re muggle born. I would’ve had to explain the whole fuc-” he looked at Harry who was finally getting big enough that they wanted to clean up their language around him. “The whole bloody legal system to any of the others before they could even start to help. Not to mention you’re the only one who owns a phone.” A slight pause. “You’re the only one I could stand to know.”

“Okay,” Lily responded, a little touched by his trust in her. “Okay, so now for the big question. Why were you there?”

The truth is, she knew full well why he was there. The officer had told Petunia when she went to bail him out, who had then gleefully passed on the gossip to her sister while Remus had showered off the filth of the jail cell (“Honestly, Lily, it would have broken our parents hearts to see you involved with the likes of him!”) She also knew Remus had managed to avoid charges, thankfully, as the arresting officer had taken pity at the sight of his extensive scarring, assuming that whatever he’d been through to cause it probably warranted some kind of downward spiral.

She knew. She just needed to hear him admit it.

“Lily I… I don’t know what you want from me.”

“How about the truth?”

He let out a deep sigh and set down his tea, the cup clanking lightly on the surface of the coffee table.

“A police officer found some… illegal substances on my person. It really wasn’t a big deal Lily. Just a stupid misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding? Remus, the reason they were so easily able to find those ‘substances’ is because you were passed out in a park in the middle of the day. With everything that’s happening, do you even comprehend the kind of risk you face by allowing yourself to be that vulnerable?”