As far as mums go, Remus' is pretty alright. She lets him take his plate into the front room and eat at the sofa if there's something particularly good on television, and usually joins him herself. Mum's a good person to watch telly with, too, he thinks as he takes a bite of chicken. She doesn't ask too many questions and pretends not to notice when the Daleks scare him. An advert comes on, Remus notices he is perched at the edge of the sofa, and he settles himself back into the cushions.
Mum makes a "Oh-how's-he-going-to-save-the-day-this-time" type of hmm, then turns to look at Remus. She frowns.
"Darling," she says, touching a purple bruise near his elbow, "How'd that happen?"
"I fell," he replies through a mouthful of sprouts.
"Really?"
"Yeah, mum."
"You're quite sure Gene didn't have anything to do with it? Mrs Harper told me you two haven't been getting along."
"Nah, I just fell down, that's all."
Mum pushes some of her yellow hair behind her ear and breathes out. "I'll put something on it if it's hurting you." Without seeming to really think about it, she smooths down his fringe with one hand. "Have you thought at all about what we talked about last week?"
"What?" Remus chases a sprout around his plate with his fork.
"About moving. Have you thought about it?"
"No."
"Well, I've found a very lovely place for us to look at. If you're ready to see it, of course. I don't want to rush you."
"Okay. I'd like to see it."
"Wonderful. We'll go this weekend. It's a flat. It's small, but it's very nice. The room that you would take has got a nice big window in it where you can sit and read. I'm sure you'll like it."
"Okay. That sounds nice."
The program comes back on. The two on the sofa immediately stop talking until the announcements come back again.
Mum shudders. Remus grins. "You were scared!"
"What? Of course I wasn't scared! That's just silly."
"Yeah you were! Yeah you were, you were scared!" He snickers. Mum is such a bad liar.
"Oh, shush! I'll bet you were too."
"No!"
Mum laughs, and Remus changes the subject. "Will I have to change schools?"
For a moment she looks surprised, then answers "Yes, I think you might have to. I'm sorry, love, it can't be helped."
He shrugs. "That's alright. That place is rubbish anyway."
They focus on their chicken and sprouts for a bit, then Remus decides to ask what he'd been wondering about for a long time. "Mum?"
"Yes?"
"I'm magic like Dad, right?"
"Yes, you are."
"He talk...He talks about school, though. A special school, for magic kids. Where he went."
She nods.
"Well...When do I go there, then?"
Her face doesn't change, but her eyes suddenly look very sad. "You won't be going there, darling. It wouldn't be the right place for you."
The bitter disappointment knots Remus' hands in his lap. She thinks he can't go to the magic school because she worries, like she always does, about his moons. "This is different, Mum. Dad's okay with it, isn't he?"
"I wish I could change it, Remus, but that school's not right for you. I'll make sure you learn everything you need to know here."
Disappointment, like so many bad emotions do, starts to turn into anger. "But...Why can't we just ask Dad? Just ask him about it when he comes back home. He'd be okay with my going, I know it."
Mum reaches over and winds her arms around him. Still upset, he attempts to wriggle away. "It's not a matter of my allowing you, I promise- if I could allow you to go, I would. But you don't have to worry about that, because I'll do everything I can to make sure you get a good education, alright?" She looks straight into his face. "Remus? Alright?"
The adverts ended a while ago. Remus begrudgingly answers "Alright."
She looks toward the screen but keeps her hold on her son. "We'll be fine, won't we? The two of us? We're always fine, huh?"
A little smile edges onto Remus' face. "Yeah," he says.
He watches aliens and heroes move on the telly and, before the episode is over, falls asleep in his mum's arms.