caitirin (caitirin) wrote in axial_tilt, @ 2008-03-13 21:02:00 |
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Current mood: | accomplished |
Gift for WisdomEagle
Title: Remus's Delicate Condition
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Remus, Sirius, James, and a tiny bit of Peter
Rating: PG for language and some innuendo
Words: 1920
author: caitirin
Summary: Remus discloses a personal secret to Sirius who vows to help, once he's done being a prat first.
Notes: For WisdomEagle in the axial_tilt exchange 2008. Thanks to elaby for the beta read and for um... moral support :)
"I'm a werewolf." Remus said as he grabbed his bag and walked away from the table.
Sirius jumped up and headed after him. "Yeah, sure, and I'm the next Grindelwald. And the tooth fairy." Sirius gave Remus a playful shove. "Seriously. Where do you go once a month? I'd say you have the curse but even you're not that girly!" Sirius laughed.
"Screw you, Sirius. Everything's a joke with you, isn't it? Would it kill you to be serious for one second?" Remus said turning his back on Sirius.
"I'm Sirius every minute of every day." Sirius said with a maddenning grin.
What Remus did next Sirius couldn't have seen coming in a thousand years. He punched Sirius in the face.
Sirius was caught so off guard that it knocked him on his butt. "...the hell?"
Remus turned on his heel and walked away into Hogwarts castle.
Sirius stared after him in disbelief. "What the hell was his problem?" Sirius rubbed his jaw. Remus hit way harder than he would have thought such a skinny git would have been able to do. It didn't add up. Remus couldn't have been telling the truth, could he?
Sirius picked up his school books and stuffed them back in his bag. If he didn't hurry he'd be late for Transfiguration. McGonnagall would murder him if he was late again. He ran in the direction that Remus had gone.
Remus wouldn't so much as look at him in Transfiguration, and hadn't even saved a place for him. He'd gone and sat right up front with that idiot Lockhart kid, a bigger nancy he'd never met.
Sirius threw Remus a dirty look, which Remus didn't see, since he wouldn't turn around. James slid in next to Sirius just in time. McGonnagall gave them both a stern look and started class.
Once they were working on trying to transfigure owls into footstools James leaned in. "You and Remus having some lover's quarrel or what?" He grinned mischeviously.
"You only wish, poufter, then you could get some action. I know all that moon eye-ing over Lily is just a ruse." Sirius sneered as his owl suddenly swelled up and started looking vaguely chintz-like.
"You musta said something. He's got his nose stuck right up, pulling the whole 'perfect prefect' act again. He's never going to let us get away with sneaking out tonight if you don't get him to stop being so mad." James warned him.
"I trust that my class is not interfering with your social agendas, Black... Potter." McGonnall was suddenly bearing down on them, looking over her glasses down at them both with an unamused frown.
"We were just discussing... err..." James started.
"Just finish with your owl, Potter. It's looking in a rather sad state." She said as she walked over to assist another student.
"Fine. I'll talk to him. He was being really moody earlier. I was just having a bit of a joke with him." Sirius said somewhat sulkily.
///
"Remus-" Sirius ran up the steps taking two at a time. "REMUS, hang on a mo, will you? Look, I want to talk to you."
Remus stopped, only really because the staircase had chosen that moment to swing around and he'd fall to his death if he didn't stop. He turned and looked down at Sirius who was bent over catching his breath.
"Geh, you'd think you were in Slytherin the way you just slip off when a person is trying to find you." Sirius grabbed his arm.
"What do you want, Sirius?" Remus sounded tired.
"Look I just..." Sirius frowned at him. "You can't be serious about that. Werewolves are-"
"Vicious, blood-thirty, killing machines. A menace to the wizarding world, child killers. Yes. Thanks. I know that." Remus said.
"Well I was going to say hairy, which you're really not except for that messy head of yours. I mean, for Merlin's sake, you don't even have any chest hair." Sirius said rolling his eyes.
"Been closely examining my chest a lot lately, Sirius?" Remus said with the air of a very patient but annoyed parent.
"What? That's not the point-" Sirius started.
"I only ask because then maybe you'd have noticed all the scarring and the scrapes and cuts. Where do you think those come from? Maybe you just think that prefects self-flagellate in our spare time." He narrowed his eyes.
"What?" Sirus stared at Remus. He grabbed Remus's arm. He pushed back the sleeve.
"What are you doing-" Remus felt himself falling against Sirius.
"They're new... you're not kidding... are you?" Sirius didn't let go of Remus's arm.
Remus looked away. "You think I'd make something like this up?"
Sirius let go of his arm.
Remus pushed his sleeve back down. "It's bad enough without you being such a bastard about my being gone. You think I like it? I should never have let you copy my notes. I wish I hadn't. You and James are always trying to get me in trouble. At least Peter isn't always trying to get us all expelled."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Sirius said.
Remus shook his head, Sirius actually looked crestfallen. "Oh gee, maybe because most people reach for their wands instantly or grab their children and run screaming when they hear those words. It's not like werewolves are top of the pops or something."
"Yeah, but we're not most people, Remus. We're you're mates. We'd understand."
"Oh sure, you and James are just the most kind and understanding souls around. I was supposed to believe you wouldn't just hang me upside down like you do to Sniv-Severus?" Remus turned away and and wished the damn stairs would move. He was tired of having this conversation.
"You're nothing like Snivellus. And you're our friend, Remus. If you'd just said something I wouldn't have made fun of you so much. When are you going to know that you can trust me? Snivellus acts like he's so much better than the rest of us low-lifes." Sirus said trying to get in front of Remus so he could look him in the face.
"As opposed to me," Remus said. "Who just is worse than the rest of you."
"That's bollocks and you know it!" Sirius hauled Remus around to face him. "You're worth ten of Snivellus. Easy."
Remus sighed. "You're the only one who thinks so."
"That's total crap too. Dumbledore obviously thinks you're worth it, or else you wouldn't be here, would you?" Sirus said.
Remus didn't know what to say to that.
"So what can we do to help?" Sirus asked.
"What? There's nothing you can do. There's nothing anyone can do. I just go off on my own when... it happens and then I'm not dangerous to anyone but myself." Remus said. "There's no cure, you know."
"Don't tell me there's nothing I can do for my best mate when he's never been in more need of some help in his whole pathetic life. Or else I WILL dangle you upside down and let the whole damn world see your tatty knickers." Sirus said.
"Well unless you can figure out some way to keep me from turning into a monster, which even Dumbledore can't do, so I very much doubt that you can, then you're shit out of luck. So just leave off bothering me about it. It's bad enough without having to talk about it all the time too."
The stairs finally moved again. Remus shook off Sirius's grip and walked to the common room.
Sirius frowned. There was no way he was going to leave things like that.
///
It had taken a lot of work, that much was for sure. He had to borrow James's invisibility cloak to get into the restricted section of the library. And then on top of that there was all that reading.
///
"Come on Sirius, let's go muck about on the Quidditch field." James said, grabbing his broom and gloves.
"Maybe later." Sirius said somewhat wistfully. "I've just got something I want to do first.
James shrugged. "Didn't think you were that worried about the Transfiguration exam... suit yourself." He headed off.
Sirius sat down in big chair by the fire in the common room. He opened the book he was studying.
Remus, who was watching across the room, hadn't really spoken with James or Sirius since he'd argued with Sirius on the stairs. Sirius actually studying? There was something going on. He was going to find out.
Several hours later, Sirius had fallen asleep in the chair and his book was resting against his chest. Normally someone asleep like that in the common room was bound to be a victim of practical jokes of all kinds. But the rest of Gryffindor knew better than to try to put one over on Sirius Black. Sirius was exceptionally devious at getting you back. So Sirius slept undisturbed.
Remus crept over and lifted the book off Sirius ever so carefully. He looked down at the pages Sirius had been reading.
Animagi: hidden forms for wizards
Remus raised an eyebrow. "Animagi?" He whispered.
"Yeah, animagi." Sirius said. Aparently not sleeping so soundly anymore.
"That's ridiculous. It's stupidly difficult to try to teach yourself this. You'll never be able to-" Remus started to shake his head.
"Shut up, Remus." Sirius said.
Remus stared at him, shocked.
"I said I was going to help you. And I am. So are James and Peter. Only I'm going to figure it out first so I can teach them both. You won't hurt us if we're animals. This way we can keep you from getting hurt."
"Sirius, it's too dangerous. I can't let you do this!" Remus said. "A hundred things could go wrong, a thousand!"
"Going to try to stop me?" Sirius stood up, taking the book. "Like to see you try."
"I... I could take house points from all of you." Remus said weakly.
"Yeah I can see that. Mates trying to help deluded friend, definitely a cause for point deduction." Sirius closed the book. "I'm not going to let you suffer alone, Remus. You can either accept that, or you can fight me every step of the way, which would be stupid, and ultimately pointless."
Remus looked down. He put his hand over his eyes. "There's really no stopping you, is there?"
Sirius smiled widely. "Not a chance."
Remus sighed and Sirius saw a slight smile at the corners of his mouth. "Fine, give me that book. It's probably got too many big words for your neandertal brain to understand."
Sirius beamed. "Well, yeah, there were a few. I was going to make Peter look them up for us. But if you help we'll probably have the whole thing licked in no time."
"You know you have to register if you become an animagi. That's the law." Remus said as he pulled another chair over by the fire.
"You deal with the big words and you let me deal with that part." Sirius said.
"That's what I'm afraid of. You're not big on rule following." Remus said with a wry smile.
"Worry wart. Fine. You can eat me if I don't, Moony."
"What did you call me?" Remus looked at him sideways.
"Moony, y'know. After your condition."
Remus looked a little bit wounded.
"You're always making moon eyes at me. Everyone knows it. Don't deny it! You want me. And I have to say, who could blame you-"
Remus punched him again.