Wolfstar Oneshots

Housewarming Gift

Words: 987

Description: This chapter takes place in a little homophobic town in the 1980s. It will contain offensive actions so beware.

Story:

For the record, neither of them liked the town very much. It was a small, terribly narrow minded town on the outskirts of London. But they tried to make the most of their situation, as they were on a tight budget and their cottage was the only place they could afford. 

Remus preferred that they stay out of the public eye because he knew very well what people could do when they felt like their views were being threatened, but Sirius didn't share the same sentiments. 

His life motto was 'fuck everybody else'. Which was great and all, but Remus still had to deal with the consequences. 

Remus and Sirius put a lot of love and work into that cottage. They spent a solid week cleaning it up and decorating with the help of James and Lily. But they couldn't be there all the time because they were busy with their own lives and their three year old son, Harry. 

They made their space into one that they could call home and that was enough for them. As long as they were with each other, than they were happy. 

It was their eighth anniversary of dating. It was hard to believe, really. They'd been together since fifth year, 1975 and it was already 1983. They packed a delightful meal in a picnic blanket and grabbed a few blankets and they hopped on Sirius's motorbike and he flew them somewhere secret and beautiful and they stayed out for awhile. They left the house giddy, holding hands and sharing kisses.

Long after they'd finished their food, Sirius had wrapped the blanket around Remus's shoulders and pointed out constellations to him. Remus knew them already, he'd studied astronomy in school, but he liked it when Sirius got excited when he talked about the stars.

It was late when the two of them were driving through the clouds. Sirius mistook the smoke as a cloud at first, more in denial than anything. His heart sunk deeper and deeper the closer they got to their lovely little cottage. 

Sirius could feel the ache in his throat as his eyes welled up with tears. "Remus," he croaked. 

"Hm?" Remus asked, lifting his head. He'd been asleep against Sirius's back for the majority of the ride and Sirius hated that he had to wake him up with news like this. 

Sirius landed the motorbike a little ways away from the cottage and they got off, walking to their cottage slowly. 

All of the windows were broken, smashed in. The flowers Remus had worked so hard on were trampled and the front lawn was littered with the cut blooms. The door and walls were covered in all colors of spray paint, graffiti of the worst, most insulting kind. And the windows glowed from the fire raging inside.

Sirius turned to see Remus's face pale, the reality of the situation settling into his eyes. And the tears came and he choked on a sob, stumbling forward. 

Sirius panicked, scrambling to hold Remus back. The strength left Remus rather suddenly and he collapsed into Sirius's arms, sobbing. Sirius felt like he should be doing the same but he didn't know what to do with himself at that moment, only that he had to be there for Remus as their home was destroyed in front of them.

Sirius felt something hard hit his back and he instinctively shielded Remus. There was a crowd of angry muggles behind them that Sirius hadn't initially noticed and one of them had thrown a crushed beer can at him. Sirius considered his options. If there weren't any muggles around, they could've used magic to try and put out the fire and see what they could salvage, but that obviously wasn't an option at the moment. And the muggles seemed quite intent on protesting their existence and not leaving until they were gone for good. 

So Sirius made a tough decision and grabbed Remus's hand and pulled him to his feet, ushering him back to the motorbike. The wreckage that was once his motorbike almost made Sirius start crying finally. They hadn't been away from it for more than ten minutes and it was tipped over sideways, scratched and dented, and covered in graffiti. 

Sirius pulled Remus along with him out of sight and apparated to Godric's Hollow. Remus was a mess, sobbing uncontrollably and swaying on his feet. He collapsed again right there in the Potter's driveway and Sirius fell quickly to his knees, hugging Remus to his chest, unsure how he could help him. 

The front door swung open and Lily Potter flew down the front steps to meet them. Her face held an expression of worry and she knelt next to the two men, fussing over them and trying to find out what was wrong but neither could speak. 

"James!" Lily called into the house. 

James appeared at the door, "What's the matter, love?" He asked before seeing for himself his two best friends in shambles at his doorstep. 

They worked together to get the two in the house and settled on the couch. Harry watched silently from the living room floor where he had been playing with his toys. 

James knelt in front of them, trying to get a clear answer out of Sirius. Lily dug in James's pocket to grab his handkerchief to wipe Remus's tears, while simultaneously using her wand to levitate the tea kettle onto the stove. 

"Honey, can you tell us what's wrong?" Lily asked soothingly, holding Remus's hands in both of hers. 

"O-our h-home. It's g-g-gone," Remus stuttered, choking on his cries.

Lily sat back and covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh Merlin. Oh great Godric."

James looked to Sirius for confirmation and Sirius could only nod.

It hadn't been the housewarming gift they had in mind.