Disclaimer: The world and characters of Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling. None of this intellectual property belongs to me.
Written for Round Three of the Choice Pairings Competition at HPFC. Thanks so much to Someone AKA Me for betaing!
It starts to unravel in February.
They've woven the threads (the lies) so tightly that with just a twang of a strand, the whole thing will snap. But Remus smiles as easily as he lies while Sirius broods (in that very Black way), and they sway, shake, shiver, but don't break.
"It's nothing," Remus says (againandagainandagain) – they're just friends, always have been, and it'll never be anything more (but it already is).
And to Sirius, he murmurs words of comfort mingled with things like "wrong" and "just one more day" and "please don't leave me" and all the while he reminds himself this is nothing, just a dalliance, just a fling, and the mess of lies get thicker.
James is oblivious, of course, and Peter may be suspicious but he keeps it to himself (there's a true friend). And no one else – their yearmates, his parents – has any clue.
Well, until March.
Their glances, subtle touches, fleeting looks? Not as subtle as they thought, it turns out. And it's nothing (a comment, a whisper, a murmur – "We don't do that in the Wizarding World, not that-") but Sirius takes it like a slap in the face.
He grabs a thread and yanks.
And Remus is left spinning (roundandroundandround) and the unwoven lies tangle in his throat.
"What happened to us?" James says, hands tugging desperately in his hair, and when even James notices something's wrong there has to be something terribly wrong. But Sirius is brooding, and silent, and so very Black, and Peter is quiet, and Remus is very, very lost, so nothing changes and the free fall continues.
Remus meets a girl (lots of girls, to be honest) but although he can weave lies for himself just as easily as for anyone else, he can't make himself believe them.
And at the end of the year, all he can do is try to draw the threads around him for something, anything, to cover the raw hurt when Sirius looks at him with those dull eyes, unfeeling eyes (Black eyes).
"Have a good summer," Remus says as the four step off the train.
Sirius glances back at him and there's a flash – just a glint – of the old Sirius, but then it's gone.
"You too," he says, and walks away.
To my readers - as always, thanks for reading and remember that I adore reviews.
Also, I'm judging the Royal Games Competition at HPFC. There are different categories you can enter, so no matter what you write there should be something for you. :)