Perfect

49. Normal

Sirius was back to talking with Peter and James. It felt like he was getting his family back, like he actually was wanted again.

The only person still avoiding him was Remus, which was reasonable. So he did his best to avoid Remus as well. Only problem was them sharing a dorm.

He had been going to bed earlier, changed his showering schedule, changed his homework schedule, everything for him.

However, after a particularly muddy quidditch practice he had to shower in his dorm as all of the showers were taken in the locker room and he'd rather not wait.

That put him in the dorm right as Remus got back from a prefect meeting.

Sirius was just stepping out, he didn't have a shirt on and his hair was still soaking wet. The scars on his back were red and prominent as they got irritated with the hot water.

That was one of the worst things about his mother's scars, sometimes not even they knew how to heal them and they had to wait until she was tipsy one night for her to consider healing them.

Now that he was gone, he wasn't sure he would ever be able to heal them. If he went to Poppy, she would surely ask questions and then Minnie would ask questions.

He was letting them dry before he put his shirt on. He threw his shirt onto his bed and took a drink of the bottle of firewhisky he kept in the drawer to numb the pain.

He was so focused on the pain, he didn't even notice the door open. Remus walked in and all of the books fell from his hands, landing on the floor with an obvious thud. "Sirius?" He questioned with a saddened voice.

The boy whipped around, his eyes wide. He hurriedly grabbed his shirt, pulling it over his head, ignoring the sting. Remus ran up to him and pulled the shirt back off, which Sirius let him in surprise. "What are you doing?"

"Do you not see these?" The werewolf shouted.

Sirius nodded and snatched his shirt from the other boy's hands. "Yeah, I do, they're fine, they look worse than they are."

Remus scoffed, "you're kidding right? Sirius, you can't even move your arms!" Sirius shrugged and walked away before the marauder grabbed his arm. "I know you went home over the break, did your mom do this?"

Sirius didn't have the heart to answer, but his silence did for him and Remus looked away from his scars. His eyes stung as he tried not to cry. "I"m sorry, I shouldn't have let you leave, I should've made sure you went with James, it's my fault," Remus cried, putting his head in his hands.

Sirius looked at him shocked, "Remus, it's not your fault. You know how my mother is, it was bound to happen. I– I wanted it to happen." The boy looked up confused and heartbroken.

"What?"

"I hurt you. I deserved it, I deserve much worse. I stayed for a month, I should've stayed longer," Sirius spoke, his eyes were distant and his face paling. "I'm sorry. I know you might never forgive me, but I will spend the rest of my life trying to make up for it. I know you're mad, you can scream, you hit, you can throw things– Remus– Moony, I just want you back."

Remus walked over and took Sirius's left hand, "I'm not mad, I'm sad. It hurts, but it hurts not being around you. It hurts seeing you in pain, physically and mentally."

They both sat in silence for a few minutes, it felt like it was choking them and they were both trying desperately to get away from it.

"Hit me."

"No," he said in return. "You've been in enough pain. You've had these for over 2 months, Sirius, you need to get them checked out. You don't deserve to live in pain. I don't want you to." Remus tried to bring him in for a hug, but Sirius pushed him back.

He shook his head, his whole body trembling, "Hit me, hit me, HIT ME! I'M BEGGING YOU, HIT ME!"

"NO!" Remus shouted. "You are my friend! No matter what you've done, I will never punish you like your mother." Sirius broke down crying and Remus fell to the floor holding him. He started to cry as well.

They stayed there.

They hadn't been together in months and neither could bear to let go.

Remus felt relief, that he finally had his friend back, but he was angry. He held him so tight, fearing that if he let go, he would be back with his mother. His mother who would hurt him. Who would curse him and beat him. She wasn't a mother. She was a monster.

She was the one who deserved a punishment. She should've never had children.

Soon though, with Sirius in his arms, Remus fell asleep. When Peter and James eventually came into the room and saw them, they felt truly happy for the first time since Christmas. Because they knew, the Marauders were going to be okay.

~

Well, since the Marauders were okay again, obviously, it was time for pay back on the Slytherins. James had plenty of time to plan.

He was going to dump a bunch of slime and plastic snakes on them during the end of the year dance. Dumbledore had already announced it and it was set for mid May.

It was now coming up in April, which meant the last match for Slytherin. If they did well, they had a chance to win, if Hufflepuff beat them, they would never even get close.

~

The game with Hufflepuff was going well. It was hot and everyone was pouring sweat, but Slytherin was still up 50-0.

There was no doubt that they were going to win, it was just a matter of how long. With the heat though, people were starting to pass out.

The beater for the Puffs had already passed out and Den looked like he was going to. Theo glanced at him and called over Cassie. She flew over in a panic as Den's eyes rolled back. "GRAB BARTY!" She yelled and flew back to the Hufflepuff chasers who were taking this chance to score.

She shoved one of the chasers and grabbed the ball, quickly rushing back to their hoops where she threw the ball through the hoops and the keeper passed out.

"Why is it so fucking hot?" She yelled in frustration as Barty came out onto the field and was already drenched in sweat.

"MERLIN!" He complained before grabbing the quaffle and dodging two of the chasers and throwing towards their undefended hoops.

"Crouch on the field. In possession– coming up on Rogers– dodges– Elders– dodges again. SCORES. Slytherin up 70-30! Let's finish up this game, it's too bloody hot out here," Lupin said, fanning himself dramatically, making Peter laugh at him.

"Elders in possession, pass to Barnes, OH– bludger to the shoulder. Their reserves just joined the hoops, lets see if they can get a third one out to replace Barnes. Snake back with the Quaffle. Nott, goes left, fakes right, scores! 80-30. OH! OH! Carnell and Black have seen the snitch! DIVING! DIVING– HE"S CAUGHT IT! REGULUS BLACK HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH!"

Cassie couldn't believe it. She flew to the ground in surprise and Regulus ran up to her and they hugged. "WE WON!" He shouted and she was dumbfounded.

"WE WON!" She screamed back. "WE COULD WIN THE HOUSE CUP!" They celebrated for a few minutes before she walked over to the Hufflepuff team and shook hands with their captain.