The Marauders: Year Four

The Grim

The Grim

Sirius spent the night at the inn in Hogsmeade with Bilius Weasley, who was afraid to be alone in case he died because of seeing The Grim. Part of Sirius considered telling Bilius that it'd been him, not the real Grim, just to calm him down, but he held back and simply stayed in the room while Bilius worried away the night, staring out the window, talking about all the great pranks he and Derek Bell had pulled off 'back in the day', as though they'd been at Hogwarts decades ago...

Sirius wondered if that's what it was like when you lost a best mate, if time sort of stood still on a clock and things sped up all around you, stuck in that moment. He shuddered to think of it.You'll never know what it's like, he promised himself, though he knew he didn't have the authority over life and death to promise such a thing. He just couldn't imagine a fate that was so cruel... But he knew if he ever did have to experience a thing like Bilius Weasley had done, that he'd at least want to have someone there who would listen to him talk and ramble through the night. He wanted to believe that, if fate was cruel enough to take away all he had that it might might be merciful enough to at least give him someone to listen to his pain.

And so he was that for Bilius Weasley.

But it had left him as emotionally drained as a boy of fourteen (nearly fifteen now) should ever be, and at sunrise, when Bilius had finally - finally fallen asleep, Sirius had staggered his way back to the Shrieking Shack. He had been hoping to find Remus there, but the Shack was empty. Of course, by then, Remus should've been long back to the castle. He was probably tucked up, safe in bed at the dormitory, Sirius told himself, and he'd thought how he wanted nothing more than to go back to Gryffindor Tower and transform into Snuffles and curl up next to Rey.

The thought of seeing Remus made him remember that the night had not been a complete failure, even though every possible thing that could've gone wrong with his plan had managed to go wrong (actually none of the rubbish that had gone on would've gone on at all if he hadn't have attempted it at all), but at least he'd realized that he was being foolish. Remus didn't have a boyfriend. But he was going to - Sirius; if he'd still have him.

As he walked through the tunnel in the dark, he imagined what it would be like to tell Remus how he felt. He pictured the long talk, sitting in chairs by the fire and maybe sipping some hot tea that would warm their bellies after the cold of the night with that nasty dusting of snow that was now half melted away. He imagined the face Rey would make and he wondered if maybe instead of in chairs by the fire with tea if he should maybe wake Remus up the moment he got there, shake his shoulder 'til his eyes popped open and just blurt it out and kiss him... He pictured the way Remus's eyes would widen with surprise and then narrow with suspicion and then melt with realization and it made him tingle to think of those honey-brown hazel eyes...

And suddenly he was to the lever and pulling himself out of the tunnel and running away from the violent tree, his heart racing with every step because each one of them was that much closer he was to changing everything.

Sirius reached the front doors and he shoved his way in and was shaking the last bits of snow from the collar of his leather jacket when he heard two voices explode in relieved exclamation. "MERLIN'S BEARD, THERE YOU ARE!" bellowed James, leaping into Sirius with a bone-crushing hug that nearly popped his eyes out with the strength of it.

"Finally!" The second voice was Lily Evans, who hovered a couple steps behind, watching as James reacted to Sirius's arrival with exuberance. Lily looked over Sirius's shoulder. "Where's Remus?" she asked.

Sirius looked up from James's excitement. "What do you mean where's Remus?" he asked, "Isn't he back here yet? It's after noon."

Lily shook her head, "No... No isn't he with you?"