Chapter Seven
Head in hands, Remus sat on the edge of the bed, moaning slightly, "What the hell did we do last night?"
Sirius sat down next to him, putting a comforting arm around his shoulder's. "Got drunk," he replied intelligently.
"What on earth are you two doing up at this ungodly hour?" James grumbled from his bed as he fought with his curtains.
Sirius threw some hang-over potion at him before turning back to Remus, "It's not that bad…"
James yawned, rubbed his eyes, put his glasses on and frowned at Sirius, "What have you to done to your shoulder? Did Snape finally get you with those fangs of his?"
Remus squeezed his eyes tightly, "I marked him James."
.x0x.
Sat nibbling at toast, Peter wondered why the other Marauder's weren't down here with him, flashing their new tattoo.
Or tattoo's in Sirius' case. But Peter didn't quite know that yet.
He was staring at the doors when he noticed Maria head in, looking slightly down trodden. She looked up and noticed him watching, waving nervously, she walked over.
.x0x.
James frowned, looked at the bite mark and then back at Remus, "Pardon?"
"I- I marked him," Remus pointed to the large, swollen, bruised mark on Sirius' shoulder, "I've marked him."
Sirius was grinning, "At last."
James looked between them, his forehead creased into a frown, "Am I missing something here?"
Remus and Sirius nodded in unison, "I've being wanting to mark him for ages, that's why I tried to break up with him, remove temptation as it were, but Sirius is a stubborn git."
"…So what's this mean now?"
"I don't really know," Remus shrugged, "It just means that we're stuck together until we die, I think anyway."
"So if he dies will you die?" James asked slowly, his eyes narrowed.
Remus shook his head, "No. But if I die, he'll die."
Sensing the rising anger in James, Sirius interjected, "I want this James, I'm happy with this, yeah?"
"No. No! You're not Sirius anymore!" James said as he stood up, "Why didn't you tell Peter and I about this before anyway?"
"Because it was between Remus and myself, it was up to us! It wasn't your decision to make!" Sirius said angrily, gripping Remus' hand tightly, "Remus didn't want to do it, I was the one that told him to! That's what the ring is for!"
James took a step back, "Pardon?"
"I can't exactly bite him back and leave a mark that will last can I? The ring is like my mark on him." Sirius replied as Remus twisted said ring around his finger.
"I can't believe I did that… I shouldn't have done it…" Remus was whimpering quietly.
"Don't say that Rem, I wanted you to!"
"If people find out, they won't believe you when you say that; they'll think it's the bond talking!"
James was stood frozen, one hand on the door, his expression horrified.
"And will it be?"
Remus shook his head, "No. It shouldn't affect who you are in any shape or form, it just means I might get quite possessive at times - I think anyway, I don't really know."
Sirius smiled, "That I can live with; I've never seen you be possessive before." Remus groaned again. He was extremely pale and very close to passing out. Why couldn't Sirius just understand that it wasn't good?
James glowered at them, "Why did you let him Sirius?!"
Sirius bit his lip, "Because I wanted him to do it James! Look… just- just think that this is instead of marriage."
"How?! It's more binding than marriage for a start!"
Sirius sighed again, "I love him. He loves me. This just makes it more… more official. I'm his now and it's what I want… Please don't be difficult. "
James said nothing, just looked at them, "Oh fantastic, my best friend has been bitten by a monster and you expect me to just accept it?"
Remus stood up slowly, blood pounding in his ears, "…what?"
"I-" James stopped himself and took a step forward, "Oh but I forgot we don't call you that, not to your face at least."
It was all Remus cold do to stop himself from leaping at James.
"Prongs…!," Sirius started, his voice warning.
"No Sirius, let him speak, let him say what he wants."
James scoffed, "You actually think he loves you Sirius?! Werewolves, no, monsters aren't capable of love, not like us human beings anyway."
"James I know you're angry but this, this is ridiculous. I know you don't mean this -"
"Hell yeah I'm angry! You don't even know what you've done to him for godsake! Next thing you know he'll sprout fur and start eating raw meat."
"I haven't changed him!" Remus almost growled, "There's a difference between marking and changing you know!"
"Oh fuck off, you, you're nothing, nothing to me anymore!" Remus didn't move, didn't speak, just let the words wash over him. James took a deep breath, "I'd like very much to punch you right now."
"Then do it," Remus said quietly, "Hell knows I deserve it."
"No," James shook his head, "But I am going to see Dumbledore, I no longer want you anywhere near me."
"There's nothing he can do about it…" Remus shouted as the door snapped shut.
"So… I can write Remus and Sirius forever on my notebook without seeming like a girl now?" Sirius joked, trying to quell the grin that was threatening to rise.
Remus sank onto the bed next to him, trembling all over and trying to stop the tears that were threatening to spill.
"What will Dumbledore do?" Sirius asked eventually.
"Nothing, I think. At least… there's nothing that can be done," Remus sighed as he fell back onto the bed, "I'm such an idiot!"
"You're not, I'm happy with this Rem, I love you and this means everything to me!"
"Well I'm never drinking again regardless."
.x0x.
"Hi!," Peter squeaked breathlessly as Maria sat down next to him, "How're you?"
She smiled, "Much better thank-you."
They were sat side by side, munching companionably on toast and chatting about Quidditch when Peter saw James sprint into the hall.
"Shit!" he exclaimed as he flung himself under the table.
.x0x.
"Sir! Sir I need to talk to you!" James panted as he reached the staff table.
Professor Dumbledore smiled pleasantly, "Follow me James." Once in his office with James sat in front of him, Dumbledore started talking, "I presume this is about Mr Lupin and Mr Black?"
"Er - yes. How did you know?"
"When Mr Black applied for the permit, the Ministry deemed it fit to inform me, thinking I would expel Mr Lupin," Dumbledore replied conversationally.
"And aren't you going to?" James spat disgustedly, an image of the bloody, painful bite rose to mind.
"You're telling me to expel your best friend Mr Potter?"
"He's not my best friend anymore…"
"Tell me Mr Potter… How exactly has he changed?" Dumbledore pressed his fingertips lightly together, surveying James over them. His voice remained light with just an undercurrent of annoyance.
"Well… I don't know… I suppose… He's changed Sirius! Sirius isn't just Sirius anymore, he's Remus' Sirius now." James said sulkily.
"I expect, that if I were to expel Mr Lupin, that Mr Black would insist on leaving with him," Dumbledore said, "And I do not wish for that and I don't think you do either."
"But Remus has marked him! Sirius has a big bite mark on his shoulder and everything!" Jams insisted, angry that Dumbledore was siding with them.
"I am well aware of that Mr Potter; the centaurs saw them," Dumbledore replied coolly, "If you've come up here expecting me to expel them then you were much mistaken, I could expel all of you for being out of bounds last night and getting tattoo's when you're under-aged but I'm not going to. Now I suggest you go back to your friends and sort things out. From what I understand, Mr Lupin is not at all pleased with himself."
.x0x.
Pulling several books off shelves, James settled down at the Marauder's table.
.x0x.
"So when are you pranking Maria?" Remus asked, breaking the heavy silence that had fallen and trying very hard to avoid talking about, or even looking at that mark…
"Well… it was meant to be tomorrow but that was with James…" Sirius trailed off sadly.
"He'll come round Sirius, don't panic. You have to admit, it must've been a bit of a shock to the system to wake up and find your best friend has a bite mark that looks exactly like your werewolf friend's mark…"
"Your mark looks like this?" Sirius indicated his now swollen shoulder.
Remus nodded, pulling his t-shirt off his own shoulder and pointing to a silver scar.
"I thought it would look like a dog bite not a human bite," Sirius said, fingers tracing it lightly. "I've never noticed this before."
"It was a dog bite until I transformed for the first time. On a full moon it turns back into a werewolf bite though."
"Weird," Sirius muttered.
Remus nodded in agreement.
"So…"
"So…"
"I don't actually feel different at all," Sirius said.
"Neither do I. Might do once all the swelling and everything goes down," Remus suggested, "Is it painful? I am sorry…"
"Please stop saying sorry Remus, I think this is fantastic!" Sirius hugged him tightly.
.x0x. They twisted through the dark forest, Remus laughing as he pulled Sirius along. He stumbled, falling over a log and pulled Sirius down with him. They started kissing sloppily, Remus allowing the wolf to watch out for danger. His brain fogged by the alcohol, he began stripping, ignoring Sirius' inquiries. Laying back down, he pulled Sirius on top of him, kissing the animagus soundly. Breathless, Sirius pulled away, "I still think you should mark me…" he teased lightly. "So do I." Remus agreed, "I could do it right now. The forest is quite appropriate actually." Sirius nodded enthusiastically, "Do it then." He kissed Remus' neck softly, "For me." Remus moaned loudly, shattering the silence of the night. He flipped them over so he was on top and bent his head to Sirius' exposed collar bone. Feeling the warm weight of the Firewhiskey in his stomach he licked his lips… He opened his mouth…. And bit down on the warm skin…
Remus woke with a start, sweating and breathing heavily he slipped out of bed.
Leaning his head against the cool glass, he tried to calm his thoughts.
"Shit."
.x0x.
"James?" Remus whispered as he slipped inside the dark library. "James are you here?" He headed over to the Marauder's table, pulling the cloak off his sleeping friend. "James wake up!"
James woke with a start, "Remus?"
"Yeah I'm here, what on earth are you doing up at this time?"
James blinked down at the books he'd been using as a pillow, "Research - I think."
"About what?"
"You."
"Oh."
James shut the book, sighing, "Look, I may have over reacted earlier and I am sorry, I was just…. shocked. I thought you'd turned him at first for some reason."
Remus sat down next to him, "I told Sirius that. You do realise that no matter how much Sirius begged me I never intended to mark him. We -no, I had a little too much last night. It's entirely my fault and if I could, I'd go back and stop myself doing it."
"Sirius is pretty happy though."
Remus nodded, "Yeah, but for how long? He's interested in me at the moment but when he grows bored with me he's not going to be able to just break up with me…"
James patted his arm gently, "He won't grow bored of you Rem, he loves you."
"He's only human…"
"What about you, what if you grow bored?"
"Well, I'm not human as you -oh-so-kindly- pointed out…The fact the wolf singled him out to be marked shows that I won't." Remus pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes, "I feel so bad about it all!"
James smiled sadly, "Sorry. Guess I didn't help much?"
"It was to be expected. I only wish we'd told you earlier so you could've dissuaded Sirius."
"Doubt I'd have managed, you know what he's like," James glanced around the dark library, squinting down at his watch, "What you doing here anyway?"
"I - er - I had a dream of sorts… woke up, realised you were gone and came looking for you," Remus replied. "So I heard you and Sirius are pranking tomorrow?"
"If it's okay with you?"
Remus nodded, "Yeah… As much as I disagree with revenge I think I need the distraction. People have a habit of using my lycanoprothy as my weak point, they don't seem to realise I have others. And it get's quite tiring."
"I can imagine. The thing is, the only thing that really seems to bother you is werewolf comments, everything else seems to float straight past you. I wasn't thinking clearly and I am sorry," James told him sheepishly.
Remus patted his arm, "Don't worry about it, after having Sirius scream at me that I'm not good enough to lick his boots, friends making comments doesn't hurt quite as much any more."
"You know that ring?" James nodded at the golden band suddenly, clearly ncomfortable with the conversation, "Sirius told me it was to convince you that he loves you."
Remus laughed shortly, "It is in a way. We should really be getting back."
Nodding, James gathered up his books, "You might be interested in some of these; they have a lot about marking from a variety of creatures."
"I'll have to read them if I get chance."
"Mm. Dumbledore knew about it all you know, he said something about a permit?" After briefly explaining, James' expression cleared, "Ahh. Sounds like Sirius."
Remus yawned, shivering as they passed close to a ghost. "And now I think it's time for sleep. Tomorrow… tomorrow I will have to tell my parents. Oh the joy."
Not entirely happy with this chapter. Next one is better, I think anyway. Update has taken ages as I've had coursework. One week of school left and then that's it for six weeks, so hopefully I'll be able to update quicker and get this story finsihed and concentrate on WPA.
Anything in paticular anybody wants to see happen next chapter?
Review xD
(Oh and I know how OOC James seemed but I dunno, I wanted him to be shocked and hurt and confused and feeling betrayed. Plus it's fun in a twisted way to have Remus getting used to being called monster by people he loves.)
