Boys Will Be Bugs

Chapter 116: Betrayal

Something had happened last night. Remus didn't immediately find out what it was, in fact, last night had been just as much of a blur as any other. The Shack hadn't changed since the last time Remus had occupied it, and all he remembered was the vague feeling of claustrophobia that seeped out of the walls and underneath his skin, making him lash out at the flimsy, wooden structure around him. Remus rubbed the back of his neck to relieve his cramped up muscles and picked up his cane. His head was swimming and as usual, he could barely keep his eyes open. He was expecting to head straight to the Hospital Wing and rest up for the remainder of the day, but he was stopped at the entrance of the Whomping Willow. James was sitting there, and as soon as he spotted Remus, he stood up with an almost stricken look on his face. Even in Remus's vaguely delirious state, he could tell that something was wrong. He had never seen such a grave expression on James's face before, and it was clear he had been waiting up for a while, given the fact that he was still in his pyjamas. He was also alone, which did nothing to ease Remus's nerves.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked, his voice cracking slightly. He really did need to rest, and he was practically leaning his whole weight onto his cane. James fiddled with the sleeves of his pyjama shirt and bit his lip. "James?"

"Sirius is sorry," he blurted out. "He really is, he didn't mean to, he... he was drunk or something." Remus stepped forward.

"What on Earth are you talking about?" A sense of dread settled in the pit of Remus's stomach, and for the first time in a while, he didn't feel tired at all. James squeezed his eyes shut as if bracing himself for the bad news.

"He... told Snape to go to the Shrieking Shack last night," James slowly admitted. "I don't know why, maybe to get him back or something, but..." Remus didn't hear the rest of what James was saying. What sounded like water rushed through his ears, drowning out everything else as his mind refused to believe what it was hearing. Sirius had told Snape? Why the hell had he done that? He knew how dangerous it was for anyone to know about Remus's wolf form, especially Snape.

Remus couldn't wrap his mind around it. Everything was wrong, everything was so wrong, and he couldn't understand what Sirius had even been thinking. How could he just betray him like that?

"Did he see?" asked Remus suddenly, cutting off whatever James had been babbling about.

"What?"

"Did Snape see?" Remus stared at him intensely. The only thing that mattered at that moment was whether or not Snape knew. He could deal with Sirius later. Thankfully, James shook his head.

"He suspects that there's something in the Shack, but I got to him before he reached it."

"You did?" James nodded.

"Sirius told me what he did, and I grabbed Snape before he got to the Shack." Remus leant against the tree, pushing his fringe out of his eyes as he tried to comprehend the gravity of the situation. He could have asked more questions, interrogated James on exactly what had happened, but no... he needed to find Sirius. He had never felt more awake in his life, anger and betrayal coursing through his veins like adrenaline, and he didn't even look back as he marched away from the tree. James may have been calling after him, but he didn't hear. Blood gushed through his ears, a roaring sound that filled the entire perimeter around him.

What the fuck had Sirius done? After everything they had been through, after everything Remus had been through, how could he suddenly treat the full moon so callously, so naively, throwing Remus's wolf form under the bus for some stupid fucking revenge? Remus barely even noticed the journey towards the common room; all he felt were his fingernails digging into the palms of his hands and the steady 'thud thud thud' of his cane on the wooden floor.