Four To The End (prev Shifting Lines) - Book One (Marauder Era)

Chapter Forty-Two - Christmas

Remus felt odd when they pulled up to their cottage. His mum maneuvered the car into the garage and almost as soon as they got out she hurried around to hug him again. He finally hugged back now that he didn't have to worry about anyone trying to introduce themselves to her. She took one of his bags, leading him into the house. His father was in the kitchen, lowering the newspaper he was reading so he could give his son a steady look.

"Hullo Dad," Remus said, feeling a bit weird. He was never that close to his father, not like with his mother. He realized in that moment his father only ever wrote to him twice during the autumn term. Actually, one of them was just the newspaper clipping with a warning so that probably didn't count; Hope had written all the letters.

"Hey there!" Lyall gave a half-smile and got up so he could squeeze Remus's shoulder. Remus smiled but was unable not to notice how awkward it all felt.

Hope seemed to notice too, looking desperately at her husband. Finally she stepped forward. "I've fixed your favorite meal for your homecoming," she said, rubbing Remus's back. She hadn't needed to say anything since the smell of steak filled the kitchen. "Why don't you take your things to your room, and wash your hands." She kissed the top of his head. Remus obeyed, dawdling a bit in the hall in case he overheard anything to explain his father's weirdness but his parents, who were well aware of his sensitive ears, remained silent. His father went back to the paper while his mother began humming happily as she worked on the food.

Remus went upstairs, dropping his bags on his bed. The first thing he did was pick up the stuffed animal sitting on his pillows. It was an old, raggedy sort of black dog that had been his companion since right after he was bitten. He had gotten him as a present for his first Christmas as a werewolf (he had had another stuffed animal before that, which his mother tried putting in the cellar with him on his first full moon. He had destroyed it beyond repair and cried for ages after). He gave Gwyllgi a hug, breathing in its familiar scent. Once that was taken care of, he took a look around the rest of his room. It wasn't very big but since he was the only occupant it felt less cramped than his dorm. Arthur was already there, sitting on the perch on his desk. Remus hurried over to give him a pet and accept a nuzzle. "Feels strange to be home," he said, fingers stroking along Arthur's head. "Doesn't feel... right..." He hadn't expected just under four months away changing this so much.

Dinner didn't alter the weirdness from his father while his mother was overly chipper, talking in a high voice, asking Remus all sorts of questions about school that Remus carefully answered, doing his best to tailor the stories to cut out his friends. His mother knew about the study group and questioned him intently about that.

"I don't really see them outside study group so I don't know much about them," Remus said with a shrug. This was probably the first real lie he ever spoke to his parents. He wasn't sure if he'd get away with it... except he did. His mother believed him, nodding approvingly.

That night it took ages for Remus to get to sleep. It sounded so quiet without everyone else around. With the sound absorption spells on our beds this is probably how it's usually gonna be anyway, he thought and then finally managed to drift off.

*

Home was lonely. Reading only distracted him so much though after a couple of days it snowed a bit so he spent some time outside making a snowman. That night Remus got his first letter. A black owl tapped angrily at his window until he opened it up, trying to ignore the sickly feeling inside he always got about his bedroom window at night (he wasn't sure why his window made him feel this way). The owl made a hissing sound and stuck its leg out, complaining as Remus untied the letter. The second he got it in his hands the owl flew off. All right then. Remus returned to his bed, examining the envelope. He didn't recognize the handwriting so it shocked him when he opened it to find it was from Sirius. Normally Sirius had gorgeous calligraphy-esque handwriting; this looked almost as bad as Remus's...