Background Hogwarts

Chapter Thirteen - Holidays (Remus & Sirius)

Remus stepped out of Hogwarts and apparated them to his house. "This place is nice. Your mum lives here?" Sirius asked. Remus looked up at the cottage. It looked like a tree trunk. The door was a pale blue with baby pink flowers trailing up the side of it. It had been that way since his father died. Remus found the colours odly comforting. He sniffed. "My mum's making shepherd's pie!" Without knocking he walked in and went to the kitchen. Sirius smiled to himself and made a mental note to cook for him sometime before following his boyfriend inside. "Mum, this is my boyfriend, Sirius. I went to school with him." Remus said proudly, putting his arm around Sirius. "Oh yes. He had a rough time at home so that other friend of yours James took him in. How is James' son?" She replied casually. "Yeah, that's right. He's great, just defeated Voldemort." Remus said. Sirius quietly left Remus and his mother to catch up and went to explore the house. There was a living room that almost looked like a den. Sirius smiled sadly as he imagined poor Remus curling up on the sofa during the days after a full moon, in a cocoon of blankets. He stepped into what looked like a library. It was small but had wall shelves that were ceiling high. Sirius looked at some of the titles and chuckled aloud at how Remus they were. A good portion of them were about werewolves; fairytales, fact, case studies, adventure books and a few where the werewolves find love. He walked upstairs and was met by a corridor with a couple of doors on both sides. All but one had labels on them. The first on the left read "Mum and Dad" in neat yet obviously young writing. The next door read "Remus" in neat swirly scribe. The first on the right read "Bathroom" in block capitals. Seemed manly. Then the blank door. Curious, Sirius pushed on it and it swung open. He walked in, it was an empty room with wooden walls and floors, there were scratch marks all over the door, walls and floor. There was a small skylight which was the only light source of the room. Sirius made another mental note to have a room like this at Grimauld place. It looked as though it helped. He went back downstairs to the kitchen. "Sirius, you're back." Mrs Lupin said. "Just in time for dinner." Sirius grinned and sat next to Remus at the table. He took his hand underneath the table and squeezed it.

After dinner, which was delicious, Remus and Sirius had chatted to Mrs Lupin for a while. A lot about what Remus was like when he was little and his father. Sirius knew he had died but wasn't sure how. He didn't ask. They eventually stood to leave. "We'll drop by tomorrow for some of my old things." Remus said. "OK," his mother said, hugging her son. "Love you." She kissed his cheek and whispered something that Remus chuckled at. Sirius couldn't hear what she had said. His boyfriend took his hand and Sirius apparated them to Grimauld place. "Where did you go before dinner?" Remus asked casually, settling on the sofa. Sirius snuggled in next to him and replied "I went exploring." Remus tensed slightly then relaxed. "Oh, cool. What did you find?" He asked attempting (and failing miserably) to be casual. "I found an empty room with a skylight and thought we should have one here." He replied. "I know how that looks but it's not what you think it- wait what?" Remus started then paused in shock. "If it helps you to be alone in an empty room on full moon, then that's how it will be. Just know, I will always be there when you need me." Sirius replied. Remus took his hands. "Really?" He asked hopefully. "Really." Sirius assured. Remus smiled ad kissed him slowly. Sirius kissed him back. He had meant every word that he had said. He wanted Remus to be as comfortable as possible. The place had a sad feel to it. But now, it had love inside it. Sirius thought it was high time the place got happier. "Moony, I want to cast a happiness charm on the house." He said, Remus grinned at him. "We can do it tomorrow." They stayed there in each other's arms until they fell asleep.

Remus fidgited in his sleep. He was having a nightmare. Sirius was sitting on the floor, facing away from him. "Talk to me padfoot." Remus said softly. "Go away. GET OUT! LEAVE! I HATE YOU AND WHAT YOU ARE!" Sirius replied in a hysterical voice. "Padfoot. I didn't mean to. I thought you accepted me!" "I did. You and him were the only family I had left. You killed him. Now I have no one. You killed my godson." Remus began to sweat in his sleep and shake violently. "Sirius please." He said, now in tears. "I will never look at you again. Get out of my house!" Remus jolted awake. He saw Sirius over him. Remus began panting ad Sirius just rubbed his arm comfortingly until his breathing steadied. "You wanna tell me about it?" He said quietly. Tears began to fall down Remus's cheeks. "What's wrong?" Sirius asked, full of worry. Remus shakily recounted the nightmare. When he was done Sirius pulled him into a hug and whispered "That's bullshit, I love you." into his ear. Remus let out a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding. They curled up together and went back to sleep.