Disclaimer: Uh-huh, does it need to be said by now? checks with lawyers Damn. Alright, well, it's not mine and no matter how much I'm wishin', it never will be.

A/N: Here I go again. Still not very long (only about three and a half time longer then Flying) but I like it. Written for PA/Heather after her request (challenge? Demand?) on her livejournal for a slash fic with the line "You're strange, you know that? Beautiful and strange." Behold. Go forth and read:

Scars

Remus usually was the first to wake up, leaving him time to stretch, dress and think before he had to wake the others. But being alone always made him hurt himself, which made him exhausted. The previous night, Sirius and James had detention, and a rat couldn't hold off a wolf alone, so that was his current state- exhausted.

He didn't expect to wake up to murmurs. "He looks about five years old when he's sleeping that deeply." Sirius? he thought, recognizing the voice. What's he doing here?

"Mmhm. Think we should wake him?" And James too? What's going on?

"Nah, let 'im sleep. He needs it."

Remus smiled and rolled over, shifting onto his other side, making a noise in his throat to signal to the other two that he was awake. The unsteady floor of the shack creaked as he felt the two walk closer and then, surprisingly, lay down on either side of them.

"Good morning," he heard James say from behind him, the messy-haired boy's fingers gently tracing circles and stars on Remus' scared, tender back.

He felt Sirius' hand stroke his cheek gently, and opened his eyes to look into the grinning face of his other best friend and boyfriend (though James would deny that he fitted into the second category if the word was ever spoken out loud).

"Good morning to you both," Remus said with a smile.

"You look so peaceful when you sleep, beautiful prince," Sirius said gently. "What woke you up?"

A pleasant shiver went down Remus' spine at the words beautiful prince. "You're cutting it awfully close, I believe," he warned them, ignoring the question that he really couldn't answer. "What are you doing here?"

"We wanted to see you," James answered for them both.

Sirius handed over his clothes, which were surprisingly warm. "Here, why don't you get dressed?" he suggested, looking at how the young werewolf was huddled under the thin blanket on the floor. "It's cold in here, and you're not even on the bed."

Remus smiled gratefully and buried under the covers to dress, not wanting either boy to see the scars that crossed his pale body. After buttoning his jeans, he frowned and realized he was missing his shirt. One hand reached out to find it, but a loud gasp told him that might have been a mistake as his arm was caught. He poked his head out to see both of the other boys gaping at a large scar across his wrist. Oh no.

"What happened?" James' voice was gentle, but he was not requesting the information, he was demanding it.

Remus sighed. "It's nothing, it's not that bad, there's much worse-" He cut himself off at the horrified look on Sirius' face.

"Come out from there," he instructed, removing the blanket to show Remus' chest, crossed with scars both faded and new.

Sirius' face paled visibly, and James reached out one finger, gently tracing it along a scar that ran from Remus' right shoulder to just under the left side of his chest. "Why didn't you tell us?" The words weren't more then a whisper.

"It's nothing, it's not that bad," Remus protested weakly, but he was being pulled into a sitting position and a four-armed hug that crushed one side against Sirius' chest and the other against James'.

"Not that bad, my arse," Sirius said weakly. "Does this happen every time we're not here?" His eyes, for once, were serious and clouded with worry instead of dancing with merriment.

Remus nodded.

James turned him around so his back was pressed against the other boys' chest. "You should've let us know, you shouldn't have... Why did you hide it, Remus, love?" he asked, looking hurt and confused.

Remus looked over his shoulder, then at Sirius, who was facing him and looked scared. "I didn't want you to... I mean... I thought you would..." Reject me, he finished silently, but he didn't need to say it out loud.

"Never." The word came softly from both boys.

"We would never leave you, Remus," Sirius said firmly, kissing the scar on Remus' left wrist.

James seemed to be regaining both his sense of humor and his 'way with words', as some called it, the other two boys included. "You're strange, you know that?" he whispered, bending forward to kiss the half-moon scar that the original bit had faded into. Remus knew he didn't mean it as an insult. "Beautiful and strange."

"Would you feel better if we kissed every one of these scars?" Sirius said gently, moving his lips to another one on the arm.

Remus laughed. Only these two can make me smile and feel less pain on the morning after the full moons, he thought gratefully. "Do you have time before Madame Pomfrey arrives?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We can always finish tonight," James decided, leaning forward to kiss a new scar on his back.

Remus shivered at the gentle touches and thought that, maybe, his scars weren't as bad as he thought if they caused the two of them to touch him like this.