Title: Surviving the Night
Author: purpleatheist (cobbsc@ncssm.edu mailto:cobbsc@ncssm.edu)
Rating: R
Fandom: Harry Potter
Keywords/Pairing: SLASH, sirius/remus, physical child abuse
Author's Notes: This is my first posted slash fic. Please, criticize me. The more you do, the better I'll get. Feel free to
flame, I need the entertainment.



I stood outside the door, listening before I knocked. It was a habit of mine, to try to gather information about the person
I was visiting, especially if I'd never been to their home. It was strange, perhaps, that I'd never been to Toven's home. I
was working with him, after all. Of course, now I was living with him. It had turned out he was renting out a suite in his
house, and offered it to me discounted. "Boys, be still. My partner should be here any moment. We will make a good
impression. Remus! Stand straight and quit scowling. You're worse than the twins for God's sake! You're 16, now
bloody well act like it!" I knocked. Toven answered the door nearly instantly. He was short of stature, but seemed to
project an unconscious vision of a larger size. His hair was a dusty blond color, cut short and neatly parted on the side.

"Welcome, Jastin, it's excellent to have you visit. These are my sons, Arne, Corey, and Remus. Boys, Dr. Jastin Marks."
I shook hands with each of them in turn. The two younger boys were identical twins and strongly resembled their father. The
elder one, Remus, still looked nothing like the rest of the family. He was already taller than his father, and extremely slight. His
hair was dark and unruly, covering one eye. His features were sharp, but surprisingly elegant. I imagined he had quite a
following of the female persuasion. His dark, piercing gaze drilled into mine as he shook my hand with a firm grip. All in all, this
boy intrigued me. "You're probably tired. Remus, show Dr. Marks up to his room."

"Yes, sir," was the quiet answer, and he motioned me to follow him. "This is your room. There's a private bathroom off
of it. It's pretty secluded. My room's next door, but I'm quiet and everyone else is on the other side. You shouldn't be bothered."

"Thank you, Remus." I made it a point to smile warmly.

He seemed unused to praise, because he nodded and retreated into his room. Some time later, I knocked on his door,
looking for a towel.

"Come in."

He was laying on his bed wearing headphones to a muggle CD player beside his bed. "What're you listening to?"

"Muggle music. My dad hates it, but I'm rather fond of some of them. Right now I'm listening to Elton John. He's-"

"Believe it or not, I do know who he is. I work with muggle children. I know magic healing arts, but by all accounts I'm
really a muggle doctor. Strange circumstances."

He laughed. "I bet! And dad is letting you stay in the house? He gets pissed whenever he catches me with the CDs."
The boy absently pushed his hair out of his face and I noticed a dark bruise decorated the eye previously covered.

"I was wondering if you had a towel. There aren't any in my bathroom."

He slipped off the headphones and slid off the bed, but I caught his wince of pain and the movement. He quickly hid it,
though, and disappeared into his bathroom. He handed me two towels. "I'm sorry, I forgot to do that."

"Not to worry. Thank you." I left him to his music and returned for a shower and some sleep.


A cry woke me in the middle of the night. The moon, nearly full, shone brightly in my window. I shook my head to clear
it and realized the noise was from the room next to mine. I quietly pushed the door open to see the teen asleep, mumbling between
cries and thrashing. Used to nightmares, being a pediatrician, I went quickly to his side and shook him gently. "Remus! Remus,
it's ok. Wake up." He did, suddenly, immediately recoiling and moving as far away from me as possible. I could see the sweat
glistening on his forehead; his hair was matted down. "Hey, relax. It's just Dr. Marks. You're ok."

He slowly did relax as his eyes decided to focus on me. "I - I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's all right. I understand. Are you ok, though? That was a pretty vicious nightmare. It might be better to talk about it."

"I don't really remember much," he lied feebly. I wasn't going to push, though. I had a long day ahead, and I should
return for the three hours of sleep left to me.

"Well, ok. Try to sleep more, then. G'night."

"Dr. Marks?" His voice softly called as I was nearly out the door. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."


I didn't get back to the house until very late the next night. The house was dark, and I was careful to be extremely quiet.
I paused outside Remus' door, though, when I noticed the light still on and voices from inside. I listened.

"God, Remus, you look horrible."

"Thank you. I really appreciate your observations."

"But look at that!"

"Well, that's why you're here, isn't it? To make it feel better."

"Fathers aren't supposed to do that to their sons."

"He just gets mad-"

"Oh, come on. He beats the shit out of you. There's no excuse."

"I won't be able to make it, Sirius."

"Oh yes you will. I'll be here this week. Then you've only got three more before we go back. You sure as hell will make
it. But you've got to do something about your father!"

"I can't, Sirius, I can't do anything! I just-"

"Hey, shhh. It's ok. We'll make it through the week. Just think about that. I'm here, babe, just relax."

"I've missed you."

"Me, too, Lupe. Come on, you need to sleep. Tomorrow night'll be tough."

"Ok." The light under the door vanished. "Sirius?"

"Mm?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too, babe. Sleep." I silently returned to my own room, but it was a long time before I slept.


The next morning, I awoke to Mr. Lupin calling his sons to breakfast. I heard the twins thunder down the stairs. I
dressed and left my room. Remus and his friend - or boyfriend - were in the doorway to their room. Kissing. They guiltily
pulled apart upon my arrival, but both knew I had been witness to their affections. There was an awkward silence, which I finally
broke. "Remus, won't you introduce me to your friend?"

"I'm Sirius Black," the friend said cheerily.

"Dr. Marks, you can't tell my dad. Please, please, don't say anything."

"I wouldn't, Remus. But you must do something for me."

"Anything."

"Let me help you tonight. And for the next three nights."

A look of horror passed between the two. "What are you talking about?"

I sighed. "Look, I'm animagi. I'm a hawk. I can help you out."

The other boy turned to me. "We've got it under control, thanks."

"Have it your way. But I'll follow you no matter what you say."

Sirius continued being the spokesperson. "Just don't get in the way. We've handled this for years; we'll do it again. Come
on, Remus, let's go eat."


I did indeed follow them by air, but they were right. They didn't need my help. With Sirius as animagi himself, they
remained well away from houses and farms, but I was glad I was there anyway. I watched them wearily creep back into their
room, and then I flew through my own window to change back and sleep. Yelling woke me the next morning.

"What the HELL do you think you're doing?"

"Dad - I'm sorry - you know it's a full moon! I was tired, I wasn't thinking, I wasn't-"

"Oh, so you're saying you're not gay? That the relationship between you and your friend here is completely platonic?"

"No…"

"So he is your boyfriend?"

"Yes!" The scream hurt my throat.

"Then get the hell out of that bed, you fucking faggot. Come here, now." I heard the rustle of bedding, then the sound of
skin on skin, but no acknowledgement of pain. "Come with me."

"Dad, please! I've been with him for a year!"

"I don't fucking care, Remus. I knew you were a fag from the start. I made it clear that there would be no such
behavior from any son of mine. And what do you do? You sleep with a boy under my roof! In my house! I will NOT tolerate
such blatant disregard to my rules! That is deviant and wrong. It's fucking SICK, Remus. Boys are not meant to kiss boys."
The tirade continued, but they had moved out of hearing range. I went next door to find Sirius sitting in the corner of the room,
wearing only a pair of sweat pants. His arms covered his lowered head and he was shaking slightly. I crouched beside him and
rested my hand on his back.

"Hey."

He looked up at me, eyes red. "Oh, god, what have I done? This is all my fault! He could kill him, damn it, he's that
angry! I didn't think, he was so tired, I just put him to bed and held him, just like we always do on these nights and I didn't
think…I didn't even think. This is all my fault, oh god…"

"Sirius, Sirius, listen. This is not your fault. You did what you could. His dad had to find out sometime. It'll be ok, you'll
see, he'll be ok. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Find someone! I don't know, but please do something!"

By the time I got back with some Ministry officials, the damage was done. They arrested Toven Lupin, but not before
finding his son lying unconscious in his own blood. The boy had a skull fracture, two broken bones in his right hand, three cracked
ribs and one completely broken that appeared to have punctured a lung. Blood leaked from wounds on his face, head, shoulder,
and knee. We immediately took him in to the hospital so the healers could work their magic, literally. To his credit, Sirius Black
didn't shed a tear, but if that particular look had been intended to kill, Toven Lupin would've fried right there. I stuck around and
answered questions. I didn't see any of the Lupins after that, but I heard from a friend that teaches at Hogwarts that Remus
healed well. I kind of wanted to see him again, coincidentally, because I'd just been 'offered' a position at that very school, to
keep an eye on the four known as Marauders. After all, just because I can't stomach child abuse doesn't mean I'm not allied on
the side of the 'enemy'.