Boys Will Be Bugs

Chapter 118: Emmeline

Remus had to talk to his dad. That was only inevitable, since he couldn't just disappear off into the countryside without his dad's knowledge, regardless of how little his dad seemed to care what Remus was up to nowadays. Remus was expecting his dad to understand, considering he was working for Dumbledore too (doing what, Remus still didn't know, but that was neither here nor there) and besides, it had been a while since Remus had properly checked up on his dad at all. He'd barely been home since Christmas, and that was nearly a year ago now.

When he did finally return, the house seemed okay. It was cleaner that it had been during the throes of Lyall's depression, neater and more reminiscent of the old days when Lyall was uptight and particular about everything around him. As much as Remus was worried about his dad working for this so-called Order of the Phoenix, he couldn't deny that it had revitalised him in a way that nothing else had been able to. The same could be said for Remus too, another reason why his dad should have been okay with Remus taking up Dumbledore's offer. Yet, as it turned out, he wasn't. In fact, it somehow turned into the biggest argument they'd ever had, and considering they were both very hot-headed people, this was nothing short of an achievement.

Lyall didn't want Remus to go. He didn't want Remus to give up on his studies for some stupid, worthless mission.

"It's not worthless!" Remus insisted. "I need to do this!" The two were standing in the middle of the living room, after having previously been sitting amiably on the sofa together with a cup of tea in hand. Remus had broached the subject fairly soon after he had arrived home, and it wasn't long before the cups of tea lay cold and forgotten on the coffee table. The absence of coasters led to them slowly beginning to stain the wooden surface.

"You're sixteen," replied Lyall gruffly. "What you need to do is focus on your NEWTs and finish school."

"Oh yeah, and then what? I use my qualifications to not get a job?"

"At least you'll have the option—"

"I never had the option, this is my only option."

"To go gallivanting around with other werewolves? It's dangerous, Remus." Remus glared at him.

"It's no more dangerous than hanging out with my friends."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Oh why is that so difficult to believe, because all other werewolves are monsters to you?" Lyall raised his eyes to the ceiling as if this conversation were nothing more than an inconvenience to him, which did nothing to quell Remus's anger.

"Of course I don't think that, Remus, but you still don't know any of them. One of them could turn out to be worse than Greyback for all you know."

"I'll take that risk."

"Well, I don't want you taking it."

"I don't care what you want, I do things without you all the time and you can't stop me. You don't care anyway." Lyall crossed his arms to his chest.

"The fact that you're talking to me exactly like some moody teenager is already proof that you're not mature enough to do something like that."

"Oh, piss off," muttered Remus, but he caught his dad's eyes flash with anger, and for a moment he felt like a scared kid about to be told off. He shrunk back slightly.

"Remus, you may have decided to give up on the rest of your life, but that does not mean you can just go around disrespecting me. I'm still your father."

"Are you?!" Remus shouted. "Because I've barely seen you since mum died, and even before then you didn't give a shit about where I was or what I was doing."