Re: James | Remus
Leave it to Padfoot to be able t draw the most natural heavy sigh from Remus when he was barely able to move. "Yeah, I know. I'm worried about him, James. But, I don't think he's ready to let me close again." Not that Remus wouldn't keep trying. But, there was only so much he could do when Sirius was intent on flitting around, pretending nothing was wrong, letting himself be taken advantage of by Duke, and in general avoiding any hint of a serious conversation.
"Congratulations." Tiredly beaming, he squeezed James' wrist, since it wasn't possible to give his friend the hug he wanted to at that moment. He'd come back to the rest of the conversation in a moment. This was more important, this proof of their second chances. "I'm happy for you. Harry and Pads know, I presume?" He'd thought he'd sensed something different about Lily, but he hadn't been sure, yet. "How'd they take it?"
Turning his head to stare at the ceiling, he took a moment to collect his thoughts regarding the rest of what James had said. "I'm scared, too," he admitted at last. "I just got all of you back. I've found something with Regulus I never thought to experience in my life. I have a chance to really help make the world a better place for others like me as well as a host of others that have been marginalized by magical society. I'm not ready to leave all this and I know it's a real possibility." Looking back at James, he smiled. "But, while I know you don't like him or trust him," -- and Remus knew the whys; they would have that discussion someday, but not right then, -- "I have faith in Regulus' ability to find a cure. He will. We're going to be all right because he won't settle for anything less."
He tapped his finger lightly on James' skin. "As for the rest, we're getting a second chance, yes. But, nowhere was it written that second chances mean no more adversity. Trolls, murder birds, insane castles your kid might have helped enchant, that's just life, Prongs. It would be nice if it let us breathe a bit between crises, but admit it. You'd be bored out of your mind if the only thing there was to do was live a steady stream of days full of nothing but domestic bliss," he teased. "You can't fix life, James. You can only find ways to help the people you love deal with what gets thrown at us. And you're already doing that. You're here talking to me in the middle of the night. You'll be there to remind Harry that avian genocide is nothing more than a coping mechanism, not a solution. You can help Jamie and Roxanne learn how to deal with love and loss because even in peacetimes, people get sick, injured, even die, and you can be there for them. And when you need to, you go lean on Lily, you come talk to me or Pads, because you don't have to do it all alone, either."
Smiling softly, he squeezed James' wrist once more. "That is how you feel about it, Prongs. You want to forgive him and hex his bollocks off in equal measure. You can't expect to have a simple emotional reaction to a complicated situation. And it will take a long time to sort it all out. You can also choose your path. You can choose to forgive him, for your own sake. It's not easy and I'm not saying it will automatically fix everything. But, in the end, it all comes down to choices. We all made stupid choices, all four of us, that led us to where we are now. We can choose trust and friendship or we can choose to hold onto the pain and fear that tore us apart. When our loved ones needed protecting, though, all four of us came together in trust for that moment. That has to mean something, doesn't it?"