RUNNING WITH WOLVES remus lupin

O32. 𝐀 𝐕𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄

𝐓 𝐇 𝐈 𝐑 𝐓 𝐘 - 𝐓 𝐖 𝐎

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

WITH ELODIE AWAY FOR THE SUMMER, Remus leaves the castle grounds. For no other reason than to keep his sanity. Not that he felt that he had any left. Moony was kicking his arse for "failing" his mate. So for the summer months, he decides to go to one of the only people he would ever honestly talk to. One Sirius Black.

Who Remus thought had practically murdered two of his best friends. Then everything turned out to be backward and upside down. Remus found himself only seconds away from taking the life of the real traitor, and his old best friend, Peter Pettigrew.

"Peter," Remus whispered bitterly. Who could've guessed that Peter was a supporter of Voldemort? He was timid, but still a Marauder. And he was in Gryffindor house, a dark wizard that had come out of Gryffindor was unheard of. But, in times of war, things change. Everyone was accusing everyone of being a dark wizard in those times. It was ridiculous.

After the whole "incident," Dumbledore, who obviously knew from the beginning, decided to place Sirius at his former home under the protection of the order, which was, of course, 12 Grimmauld Place-much to Sirius's complaint, despite their somewhat strange reconnection. Remus knew Sirius wouldn't turn him away. So that's where he's been.

"I've not done ANYTHING for a whole day. Not going to strain a single muscle," Sirius proclaimed loudly, stretching his body lazily on one of the comfortable couches in the sitting room. It was Sunday morning, just after breakfast.

"That's what you get for falling asleep on one of these couches," Remus replies from the big armchair next to the couch.

"Oh yeah..." said Sirius, frowning as if thinking hard. "But we were getting caught up. That's worth an uncomfortable night of sleep, don't you think?" he asked, doing his best to sound earnest.

Remus smiles.

"I missed you too, old friend." He says softly.

"So tell me, you lazy old fart, what's going on with you and that girl?" Sirius asked while eyeing him with curiosity.

Remus then cringes and sighs. He was hoping this conversation would never come up. The reason he's here is to take his mind off Elodie. Not that it works. But he's been avoiding this conversation. He stays silent, mulling over how he'll answer.

Sirius's face then gains a more serious look. "Come on, Moony. You still can't keep secrets from me... what's so special about her?" Suddenly Remus breaks, "It's a mess, Padfoot, a complete mess." He sinks into the chair, rubbing his hand over his face and then through his hair. "Shit, Rem, what happened?"

"She's my mate," Remus says softly, not looking at his old friend. Then the room is silent before, "What?! Moony you told us that stuff was fake."

"Well, I lied alright! Besides, I never thought I'd find mine Pads." He says the last few words softly. Both of the men are silent before Sirius says, "Not even with me, Rem?" Remus sighs sadly and sits back to look at his best friend. "When I found out, I wanted it to be you- I hoped it was you... but I've never felt this way before. It might be just the bond or moony making me feel this way. But I can't ignore this. Ignore her. No matter what we had."

"I still love you Remi, perhaps I always will..." Sirius trails off, not looking at the other man. "But you're right, it's been a long time. We've both been through a lot, and if she's what you need I'll support you." Sirius says softly before grinning wildly. "Now enough with this sappy stuff, and tell me how it all happened you old dog."

Remus chuckles at his best friend, then begins to retell the events of that day.

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄

A little filler chapter to catch up with Remus...