Demus Oneshots

999

WARNING: Death, blood, crying

Brrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrring-brrring! Brrrrrrrr-

"Ro, Ro, I got it, I got it!" Remus snapped, elbowing his brother in the face in order to get the phone. He picked up the receiver. "Hello, Winston Residence," he put on his best Phone Voice, "this is Remus speaking."

There was a choked breath from the other end of the line. "Rem?" Janus sounded like he was crying. Remus clutched the receiver with both hands, his customer-service smile dropping.

"Janus?" Remus glanced around at Roman. He shot him a look that meant 'this is serious. Skedaddle'. Roman did.

"Jan, what's wrong?"

"I-" Janus cut himself off with a breathy sob. "I can't tell you right now. Please, I need you over here. Please."

Remus didn't think he'd ever run so fast. The edge of his T-shirt had come untucked from his jeans and one of his laces had unfastened itself. There were sirens faintly playing in the background. Still, he ran.

He ran through the wood, up the dirt path, all bathed in bright orange from the setting sun. The garden fence was easy enough to unlock but he wasn't going to risk it if Janus' dad was about. The bolt squeaked.

Jump over the fence. Run up the garden. Back door was always unlocked until Mr Dagger went to sleep. Get in that way.

To Remus' surprise, the back door was already stood ajar when he got there. His chest was burning but he didn't take a second to catch his breath.

"Janus?!" He asked, bursting into the house.

Janus whipped around. With the sun behind him, it was hard to see but his shirt looked like it was stained with something dark. And there was something clutched in his left hand.

"Rem!" Janus lept over something and ran over to Remus, tackling him in a hug. Janus had always been slightly shorter and now he buried his face in Remus' neck. Remus could feel him sobbing into the collar of his T-shirt.

"Jan, Jan, what's wrong? What is it?" Janus shook his head and clutched tightly at Remus' shirt. "Is it your dad?"

Janus nodded.

Remus swallowed. Molten anger burned through a little of the panic in his chest. Whatever Janus' dad had done, he was going to pay for making Janus cry. Remus didn't care that he was half the size of Mr Dagger, he'd beat him within an inch of his life.

"I didn't mean to do it!" Janus whimpered. "You've got to believe me, Rem, I didn't mean to!"

"Hey, hey," Remus tried to make his voice soothing but he was really worried now, "Jan, what is it? What didn't you mean to do?"

Janus sniffed and stepped back. Now Remus could see him better, his heart dropped like a stone.

It was a broken bottle clutched in Janus' hand.

It was blood staining Janus' shirt.

The sharp edges of the bottle were stained with blood too.

"Jan?" Remus asked slowly, taking it all in. "What did you do?"

Janus shook his head, more tears welling up in his eyes. "I really didn't mean to. I didn't- I- I-" A small hiccup cut him off, more tears slipping out of his eyes and down his cheeks. He swallowed.

"He hit her." He said simply. "Hard. He hit her really hard and they were on the stairs and she fell and... and-" Janus dropped his head forward, crying even harder now.

Remus took a breath and stepped towards Janus. Carefully, he pulled the broken bottle from Janus' hand and placed it on the dining table. He tilted Janus' face up, cupping his cheek and brushing his hair away.

"Jan, what happened?" He asked quietly. Janus bit the inside of his lip.

"Rem, she's dead."

Venus.

"She's dead?" Remus repeated. Janus nodded, more tears leaking from his eyes.

"He hit her and she fell and she broke her neck and he didn't even care." Janus' words were speeding up. He was getting louder too. "He didn't even care, he just stepped over her and started yelling at me that I should've taken more care of my little sister. That she's missing and it's all my fault and then I asked him what he meant and he showed me. He showed me her, lying at the bottom the stairs. A bruise was still forming where he'd hit her!"

Remus stared at Janus, open mouthed. He knew Mr Dagger was an awful person but this...

"I wasn't thinking." Janus continued shakily. "You have to believe me, Rem, I wasn't thinking. I couldn't think. She was just lying there and I... I started yelling. Screaming at him. I think I called him a murderer. I think I was reaching the phone but he slapped me and I grabbed something else and..." Janus hung his head, tears dripping off the edge of his nose. "I didn't know it was a bottle. I didn't mean to hit him that hard. But it shattered and he was bleeding and the blood went everywhere as he went down and..." Janus took a shaky breath. "I think he's dead. I- I killed him."

"Jan..." Remus couldn't find the words. How could you find the words to 'my secret boyfriend just admitted to murder'? So, he just hugged him close.

He wanted to promise things. He wanted to promise it would all be alright, that Janus was going to get out of this okay, that they were going to get out of this okay. But Janus was smart, he already knew that anything Remus would try and say was a lie.

"We need to call an ambulance." Remus muttered to him. "If they can revive him-"

"We can't!" Janus protested, pulling away from Remus. He leaned against the table and rubbed his eyes. "I can't do time again, Remus! My record's bad as it is. And this... Rem, I'll get death row."

"You won't." Remus promised. This, at least, was true. It'd been banned seven years ago.

"But I'll still never see you again." Janus clapped a hand over his mouth and just sort of crumpled. He sank to his knees and curled his head into his chest. "They'll kill me in there, Rem. They'll kick me to death."

"Jan, Jan, Jan, you're still a kid." Remus knelt down beside Janus and lifted his head up. "You won't get hurt. I promise you-"

"You don't know that."

"Look, if we call an ambulance, they might be able to revive him. That'll get you less years. And- And if you claim self-defence, you'll get even less." Janus shook his head. "And if you do go to prison, I won't stop campaigning and appealing until you're released."

Janus shook his head again. "I'm sorry." He whispered, his voice hoarse. "I shouldn't have brought you into this. I'm sorry."

"Jan, listen to me. I can't promise you anything but I swear to you, you are going to get through this." Remus promised. "And I will be right on the other side when you have."

"Promise?" Janus asked, wiping his nose. Remus nodded.

"I promise you, Jan."

Janus just kept shaking his head. He stood up and wiped his eyes quickly. "You'd better leave." He said. "They'll want you for questioning otherwise."

"Who'll-" That was when Remus heard it. The faint sirens in the distance had grown louder.

Janus tried for a pained smile. "See you on the other side, I guess."

I have never written something so angsty in all my life. I love it.
Bye,
Blaize