So here's chapter two! Thank you so much to the people who reviewed and followed and added this to their favorites! You have no idea how much it means to me, it literally made my week; I couldn't stop smiling when I got the alerts.

Anyway, some information on this chapter; the italics are a flashback. It's mostly a flashback, with a little bit of Sirius/Remus (nothing explicit) at the end.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: slash, child abuse, hints at sexual abuse of a father to a son (again, nothing explicit), and some language

Thanks for reading!


Remus cringed back against the wall as the sound of a vase smashing on the wooden floor broke through the stale, silent air of the small house.

"REMUS!" a deep voice bellowed through the hallways, and Remus could have sworn the noise made the whole house shake, the same way it made his thin body shake.

He cowered closer to the wall, pushing himself into the corner in a desperate attempt to make himself smaller in the vain hope that his father won't find him.

He suddenly felt hands dig into the front of his shirt and yank him out of the corner. He flinched, instinctively covering his face with his hands and trying to pull away.

He was surprised when instead of hitting him, the hands pulled him close and he found himself pressed protectively against someone's chest. He breathed in and immediately recognized the scent of cigarettes and cheap soap that he associated with his older brother.

"C'mon, Remus," Romulus muttered, his mouth close to Remus's ear so their father wouldn't hear him. "Get to the basement. Lock the door."

"What about you?" Remus gripped Romulus tightly as his brother half dragged him towards the kitchen where the door to the basement was swung halfway open.

"I'll be fine," Romulus smiled reassuringly, but Remus didn't buy his brother's comforting words the way he used to when he was younger. He saw the fear behind Romulus's bravado, and he knew that his brother wouldn't be fine if he was left out here with their angry father. He still had a nasty bruise on his cheek and a scab on his lip where it had been split open by John Lupin's wedding ring last week. He knew Romulus wanted to protect him, but the reality was that his brother was returning to Hogwarts at the end of winter holidays that Saturday, and Remus would be on his own again until summer holidays. "Now, go, Remus!"

He shoved Remus towards the door, and Remus gripped the brass knob to stay upright. He turned to try to talk to his brother, to convince him to come with him where they could be locked safely in the basement together, where their dad couldn't get them and Remus wouldn't have to cower against the door and listen to his brother try to suppress cries of pain as his body was thrown around the room by their furious father.

"I don't think so," a voice growled in Remus's ear and a rough hand was wrapped around his collar, yanking him away from the door and sending him into the corner of the kitchen table. His stomach caught the worst of the blow, and it wouldn't have been as painful as it was if he hadn't broken four of his ribs during the Moon four days ago. He felt them shift inside him at the impact and his small, ten year old body dropped to the floor in a heap as he wrapped his arms around his middle and curled up in pain. His breath came in short, jagged gasps and he prayed that blow hadn't shifted his ribs to jab at any important internal organs.

"God, Remus…" Romulus watched his brother try to get his breath back with a feeling of crippling guilt that twisted his stomach. Remus's chest was heaving and he was hunched over so his thick hair obscured his face from Romulus's view. Romulus moved between the smaller boy and John. "Leave him alone, Dad. He's hurt."

"Oh, he's hurt," John repeated mockingly, rolling his eyes and shoving Romulus's chest roughly. Romulus stumbled back a step, but regained his footing and pushed Remus further behind him. He could feel Remus's slim fingers curl around his belt. Remus's breathing wasn't as labored as it had been, and he seemed to have more control over his intake of air, Romulus noted to his relief. John sneered at them, his dark eyes glinting with disgust. "I'm not having any pity for the little freak; he brought it on himself when he was turned into this monster."

Remus flinched imperceptibly at the harsh words and dropped his gaze to the floor.

"You're not a monster," Romulus said softly, not looking at Remus, keeping his eyes firmly on their dad, and squeezed Remus's hand tightly. He took a deep breath. "Did you need us for something, Dad?" He prayed for their dad to just get this over with and not drag it out any longer than necessary.

"I got a phone call today," John began casually after a few moments of silence. His gaze shifted to his younger son. "And I wasn't very happy about what the person who called had to say to me."

Remus shuffled uncomfortably and tried to recall what he'd done that could have warranted a phone call that had upset his father. He came up with nothing.

"Seems your History teacher is rather concerned with some of your bruises, Remus," Dad growled, stalking towards his sons. Romulus's eyes widened and he tried to move himself and Remus out of the way, but their father managed to get a grip on him before he could escape. He easily shoved the teenager out of his way, sending him sprawling to the floor, and grabbed the front of Remus's shirt, yanking the younger boy closer to him. "What did you tell him?"

"Nothing, I didn't tell anyone anything," Remus choked, struggling in his father's grip as his ribs were jostled painfully. He looked over at his brother, who was watching with wide eyes from his spot on the floor.

He returned his gaze to his father's red face. "I don't know why he would say that, I didn't tell, I didn't…"

He couldn't say he hadn't been tempted to tell his kind, concerned teacher that his dad hurt him sometimes. There were some days where the words clawed up his throat, vying to slip off his tongue, and physically choked him, but he never let them escape his lips.

"When would he have seen them?" John demanded angrily. "What, Remus, are you taking your clothes off for him? Is that how you're passing that class, you stupid, worthless slut? You're just like your mother…"

Remus swallowed hard and tried to slide out of John's grip. "No, Dad, I'm not, I'm not…I haven't told anyone, I haven't…"

"You'd better not have," their dad snarled, slamming Remus back into the side of the counter. Remus gasped and instinctively tried to curl up to relieve the pain in his body, but his father's unrelenting grip wouldn't let him. His dad's knee made its way between his legs and effectively pinned him to the counter. "Do you know what would happen if you did?"

"Yes," Remus nodded fervently; he knew. His father had told him and Romulus many times what would happen in anyone found out about him being a werewolf or how either of them got their bruises.

"What would happen?" John demanded, pulling Remus closer and shoving him back against the counter roughly.

Remus gritted his teeth and gasped out the words, speaking fast as he rode out the new wave of pain. "We would get taken away and Romulus would get put in a foster home with people who would hurt him and I would get locked up in a lab and experimented on and probably killed and it would be all my fault because I deserve this."

"That's right," John's expression suddenly softened and one of his hands went to tenderly stroke Remus's cheek. Remus turned his face away and closed his eyes, trying to block out the feel of his father's hand on his skin. "Good boy. I don't like hurting you. I really don't. You believe me, don't you?" Remus nodded stiffly desperate to get away from the hand touching his face so softly. It burned his skin as much as a vicious slap would. "You just need to be taught. You need to learn right from wrong. You're so, so wrong, Remus. I just want to help fix you. I can't do that if you get taken away, can I?" Remus shook his head, squirming uncomfortably. John shoved his knee a little higher and Remus pushed himself up against the counter to move away from it.

John went on speaking quietly into Remus's ear, his whiskey scented breath ghosting over Remus's pale skin. "Your mother would want you to be right. Your mother would be so disappointed if you wouldn't let me help you."

He considered Remus for a moment, taking in the boy's rigid posture and obvious discomfort and pain. He gripped Remus's chin in his fingers and forced his son to look him in the eyes. "I love you."

Remus blinked and tried to look away, small, unconscious keening sounds forming on the back of his throat.

John slapped him, hard, and regained his grip on Remus's chin. "I said, I love you."

"I love you, too," Remus choked out, the words making him physically sick. His cheek was red where his father's hand had made contact. His stomach contracted and his eyes stung. He'd expected a beating. He could take a beating. His dad's mind games and sickeningly intimate words and touches were what really tore at his carefully maintained self-control.

John smiled at Remus, a twisted, rarely used expression that looked more like a facial twitch. His fingers carded through Remus's wavy gold hair. "I know."


"Remus!"

Remus shot up in bed, knocking his head into something hard and flailing out for his wand instinctively. He felt gentle hands on his wrist and chest and realized that he wasn't, if fact, a ten year old boy in his childhood home, but a grown man in bed with his partner in their small cottage in the woods. He flopped back on the sheets and rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the cobwebs of the nightmare that seemed to cling to his skin.

"Are you alright?" Sirius leaned over him and watched him with concern. He rubbed his forehead where Remus's head had slammed into his when he'd woken up, and winced.

Remus mumbled something incomprehensible and threw his arm over his eyes. His chest was still rising and falling too quickly for him to actually be calm. Sirius reached over and rubbed his stomach soothingly with one hand. He brought his other hand up to cup Remus's cheek.

Remus's arm dropped from his eyes and the look in his tortured hazel eyes made Sirius's stomach go cold. He brushed his thumb over Remus's cheekbone, wiping away a stray tear. Sirius could feel Remus's eyes studying his face carefully, memorizing his features like he was afraid Sirius would disappear.

Sirius finally spoke up softly after a few moments. "Are you alright, babe?"

Remus took a deep breath and nodded, his eyes tearing away from Sirius's face to stare at the ceiling. "Yeah…" his voice was hoarse and he cleared his throat. "Yes. I…just a…a nightmare."

Sirius pursed his lips into a bitter smile and reached over to wrap his arms around Remus. He pulled the man's slim body closer to his and Remus curled up against his side. Remus pillowed his head on the crook of Sirius's shoulder and nuzzled his nose against Sirius's shirt.

Sirius stroked Remus's back soothingly and kissed Remus's temple. "Was it about your brother?"

"No," Remus pressed his face into Sirius's shoulder further and sniffled. "I…Yes…Sort of. Mostly…mostly my dad."

Sirius's expression darkened at Remus's admission and he curled his arm around the man more tightly. Sirius hated Remus's father as much as he hated his own family, if not more (which was saying a lot, considering the amount of latent anger he'd harbored for the Blacks for years). Remus had always come back to school from summer and breaks with bruises on his body that he shrugged off as wounds from the full moon, but Sirius never bought it. Werewolves didn't leave bruises shaped like fingers.

"I swear to God I'll never let him touch you again," Sirius vowed lowly, his lips brushing Remus's soft hair. Remus shivered and Sirius drew the thick blankets tighter around them both. Remus's body was stiff, but Sirius could feel him slowly relaxing, the way he always did when he came back from a nightmare wrapped in Sirius's arms.

"I'm sorry I woke you," Remus muttered absentmindedly, staring at his own fingers and they curled into Sirius's shirt. Three of his fingers were crooked from where they'd been broken multiple times by his father.

Sirius let out a huff of sardonic laughter. "I can't believe you still feel bad about waking me up. I have my share of nightmares that you wake up for, too." Remus smiled a little and traced small circles on Sirius's chest with his finger. "Don't tell me you're not worried about him staying here."

"Of course I am," Remus snapped tiredly. "Sirius, I don't want to talk about it, okay? He's staying here."

"I know," Sirius backed off at once, feeling the irritation edge into Remus's body again. "I didn't mean that. I just…understandably, him writing and coming to visit is bound to bring up some memories."

Sirius thought that was the most diplomatic way he could put it when he mostly just wanted to hex Remus's brother into the next postal code, and he was relieved that Remus took it that way and relaxed again.

"He's my brother," Remus said slowly. "No matter what he did…he's my brother. It's not like…it's not like it was all bad. He read to me when I was little, he tucked me in at night, he bandaged me up after full moon for years…"

It was odd to hear the last instance after the other 'normal' childhood events Remus had listed, but Sirius was all too aware that bandaging wounds had been a normal part of Remus's childhood.

"I don't know…" Remus sighed deeply and rubbed his face. "I don't know how to feel about it."

"You don't have to know," Sirius muttered. "Just feel what you want. Don't shut me out. If you want him to leave, if you get uncomfortable, we can tell him to leave. It's completely up to you."

"Thank you," Remus rolled over and bent his head over Sirius's, placing a hand on his chest for support. The ends of his hair brushed Sirius's cheeks. "I appreciate your support in this. I know you don't like him, or trust him. It…means a lot that you'll shut your mouth for once and just go along with it."

"Thank you," Sirius wrinkled his nose and tilted his head. "I think."

Remus smiled a little, and Sirius was relieved to see that is was more warm and genuine than it had been. "Just take the compliment, you idiot."

Sirius smirked and pulled Remus back down next to him.

Remus nestled himself against his side again and let out a long breath. "Goodnight."

"Night, babe," Sirius replied softly.

Remus's eyes drifted shut, and Sirius was grateful. The poor man hadn't been sleeping well with the approaching moon, and any sleep he got was precious at this point.

Sirius stared at the cool silver light of the moon playing across the white ceiling, wishing sleep would come just as easily to him.


There it is! I hope you liked it. The story will probably be told with a lot of flashbacks, and focus on the affect Romulus has on the family Remus and Sirius have created, and what he did in the past that has Sirius so up-and-arms about him. Voldemort will feature, as well as some other canon characters. Romulus will show up next chapter, so *fingers crossed* people stay interested even though this was kind of a background chapter.

I'll update as soon as I can, but I work for the next five days, so it may not be as fast as this one was.

Shoot me a review if you have the time! I really appreciate them so much, and they give me something to look froward to when I come home from work! Questions, comments, suggestions, anything constructive would be amazing:)

Thanks for taking time to read this!