Four To The End (prev Shifting Lines) Book Three (Marauders Era)

Chapter Thirty-Two - James and Peter's Fight

Author's note: First of all CW for period accurate thoughts on mental health. Remus calls himself crazy/refers to some of his neurodivergent issues as craziness which I want to make clear I absolutely do not agree with or like, however it is most likely what he would have thought in this time period. Also internalized homophobia which I promise is going to be resolved somewhat soon!

Second of all I have made a decision about Sirius's story which is, unfortunately, to cancel it. I honestly had every intention to write it and was excited to but I barely have the ability to keep up with Shifting Lines at the moment. So what I am going to do is take the first chapter of Blackened Sky and add it to the one shots, and simply have a lot of one shots from Sirius's POV, especially of some of the scenes we want to see. Which does mean we can see scenes like his broken arm hopefully sooner than we otherwise would have. Sorry about this, but I want to do what is best for the story and for me. Also the one shots are not currently posted on  wattpad; I'll try to get them on here soon but in the meantime if you want to read them they're at DovahTobi on ArchiveOfOurOwn. I hope y'all understand, thank you!

-x-

Can't believe September is over.

Remus stood a few yards from the entrance of the Quidditch pitch, his hands in his pockets, his cheeks cold from the wind blowing against him. It was a grey sort of day, and he could smell the sharp turning of the leaves in the breeze.

It was hard to believe that it had been a month already, a month of school—it had been one of the toughest months of school he had dealt with, besides his first month and the month after the Marauders revealed they knew his secret. Maybe it was harder, it was a little difficult to tell sometimes.

Remus gave a huff when he heard the Quidditch team still talking. It sounded like James and Kirke might have been arguing. He hadn't gone to the practice, instead opting to sleep in a little. But now he was waiting for his friends and the practice was definitely running well past its time.

A moment later Sirius and Peter wandered through the entrance, both their cheeks rosy from the cold. Peter waved as they jogged over, explaining that yes, James and Kirke were arguing, and Bell was getting annoyed.

"Kirke accused James of showing off instead of doing his work," Sirius said, leaning against Remus from the side the wind was coming in from, providing him a bit of a shield.

And this is why this month has been so difficult, Remus thought, heat surging through his body from the hardly-there touch between their arms. He looked down at the ground, wondering how anyone dealt with these sorts of... feelings. Unless these feelings weren't like what others had. After all, they were wrong feelings—dirty, gross feelings—so maybe proper feelings that boys had for girls weren't quite so...

So...

"—consuming."

Remus's head jerked up. "What? Consuming what?"

Sirius and Peter both stared at him. "Costumes," Sirius said slowly. "I said costumes. James is already on about Halloween costumes."

Costumes. Not... right.

Remus took a few steps, trying to seem as casual as possible. He kicked at the ground, pretending like a small pebble was why he was moving away. "Oh, is—have—have you talked to Regulus again?"

Sirius looked absolutely baffled. "About costumes?"

"Tutoring."

Sirius laughed and reached out, tousling Remus's hair. "Where is your head today? We didn't stay up that late, and I know you got some sleep. You seem so out of it."