Boys Will Be Bugs

Chapter 13: Tobin

The holidays were nearly over, and the Lupin household was quiet. Remus hadn't said much since the incident with his father although Lyall had apologised. He had come into Remus's room the following morning and sat down on Remus's bed, looking rather guilty. He'd apologised for calling him Dahlia, and explained how he had just been angry and wasn't thinking about his words. He promised he'd never do it again, and asked if Remus could forgive him.

Remus knew he had no choice but to confirm that he did forgive him, but whether he actually did or not, Remus wasn't sure. It was too early to tell.

What he did notice, though, was Lyall being more lenient towards him, the way he'd been after Remus had first been bitten. He even took Remus someplace secluded where Remus could try out his new broomstick, which had been enjoyable overall, but the broom itself was now tainted with memories of "The Argument", so using it felt somewhat bittersweet. As for his parents, the two made an effort not to argue anymore, or at least not to argue around Remus, but this just meant ignored tension and fake laughter, pretending that everything was fine when they all knew full well that it wasn't. Remus didn't know which was worse, but one thing was for certain: he couldn't wait to return to school.

He missed New Year's Eve, since the last full moon of the holidays fell on the 31st, so he had to spend the following day and night recovering. This didn't give him a lot of time to prepare before they had to leave for King's Cross on the first of January. His mum did most of the packing while he slept, and they all piled into the car at an ungodly hour of the morning.

Remus didn't have a lot of time to say goodbye to his parents. Not only were they slightly late in the first place, but once he'd spotted his friends on the steam-filled platform of nine and three-quarters, he became much too distracted to stay put. His mother managed a fleeting kiss on his cheek, while his father pulled him into a slightly awkward hug, before Remus dragged his trunk up into the train and followed James and Sirius into an empty compartment.

Sirius was bouncing to talk about the notebook with Remus, and his descriptions of Alice in Wonderland's plot was almost drowned out by his own gratitude. He was thanking Remus in between discussions of the magical aspects in between explaining to James what he was on about in between asking what the difference between a writing desk and a raven actually was.

James on the other hand was equally excited to share about his trip to India, although he waited until Peter and Owain had caught up with them, before launching into stories of New Delhi and visiting the Lal Kila and the Qutub Minar.

"— which is this minaret, and it's hard to get to because it's so crowded and there are school children everywhere, see because there's a garden near it and they're all sitting there, but it's still amazing, because of all the giant pillars and there's a board behind each one telling you the significance of them—"

"Tell Remus about the Taj Mahal," interrupted Sirius, who had been corresponding with James for the entirety of the holidays, and so was already familiar with the stories, but eager to hear them again in person.

"Yeah, you know the Taj Mahal, right? Everyone knows it—" he didn't even wait for an answer. "It's got all these ponds around and all the bushes lining the path, so it's popular with muggle photographers, but I like all the drawings on the wall and the roof, they're all so beautiful and detailed..."

"It's sounds brilliant," said Remus, and the others nodded in agreement, asking questions here and there, which James was very happy to answer.

"When we grow up," James concluded. "I'm taking you all to India and I'm showing you everything."

***

Hogwarts looked just the same as ever, and there was something very comforting about this, at least for Remus, and probably for Sirius as well. It was a nice constant in the chaos of their lives.