Thanks for the reviews on the previous chapter! Glad you thought Tonks was a cutie XD
I hope you like this one :3
[See if you can catch the AVPM reference XD]
PASSAGE OF HESITANCE
Lost
The next week flew by, and Sirius was just glad to be away from everything. He was so glad it was taking his mind off of Regulus, because every time he thought of him, he felt like he was going to break down and cry.
He had Remus now, and that was wonderful. He felt happier than he'd ever been in his life, even though there was that lingering feeling of heart-break underneath that sometimes seeped it's way into his consciousness.
It was their last day staying at Andromeda's house, and Ted was already at work. Sirius was in the kitchen with Remus 'making breakfast', although Sirius' version of making breakfast was watching Remus make breakfast.
"This is easier than I'd have imagined," Sirius said. Remus turned around to face him, looking annoyed.
"You know, Sirius. You could help..."
"Nah. You look sexy when you cook. I'd rather just watch," Sirius said, smirking and dodging out of the way of the egg Remus flung at him. "Hey!" he said, as the egg cracked against the wall.
"Sirius, why don't you clean that up for me? Ah, there's a good pup," Remus said, grinning as Sirius rolled his eyes and nodded.
"So when did you get so good at cooking?" Sirius asked. Remus laughed.
"You haven't even tasted it yet. Believe me, you'll take back what you just said when you realise how terrible my food tastes."
"I'm sure it's as sexy as you," Sirius said with a wink.
"Food isn't sexy, Sirius," Remus said. "You sound like Peter."
"True," Sirius said, taking his breakfast off of Remus and sitting down at the table to eat it. "I'll wash the dishes for you if you want, babe. You don't have to do all of the work."
"Don't worry about it," Remus said, smiling and sitting down. "And don't blame me if the food tastes horrible."
"Who else will I blame?" Sirius asked, taking a bite and then grinning. "Lovely," he lied. Remus rolled his eyes, and started eating his breakfast.
"Me have beckfast?" asked Nymphadora, who was standing in the doorway in her pyjamas. Before they could answer, Andromeda walked in after her looking annoyed.
"Yeah sweetie. Uncle Sirius will get you some toast, won't you Sirius?" she asked, looking pleadingly at Sirius. "I'm really sorry, I have to run out to work for a bit. They usually don't ask me to work on weekdays because of Dora, but it's urgent. Would you guys mind looking after her for a bit?"
"Yeah, that's fine," Remus said, smiling at Nymphadora, who jumped up onto a chair at the table and sat down patiently waiting for her breakfast.
"Thank you!" Andromeda said. "You're life savers! I'll be back in a few hours, ok?"
"Yeah," Sirius said, smiling at her as she waved them goodbye and headed out of the house to work. Sirius turned to face Remus, with a grin.
"So," he said, rubbing his hands together. "Can you teach me how to make toast?"
##
Sirius was lying under a bed with the duvet hanging over the sides so that he couldn't be seen.
"UCKLE SIRIS! WEMUS! I COME FIND YOU!" called Nymphadora as she began her search for their fifth round of hide-and-seek. There was a sound of footsteps and Sirius put a hand over his mouth to cover the sound of his breathing.
Suddenly, the duvet was lifted and someone rolled under the bed with him. He was greeted with a large pair of amber eyes and he relaxed.
"I found you," Remus whispered, moving closer to him.
"Oh yes you did," Sirius replied, wrapping his arms around Remus and pulling closer.
"You smell nice," Remus said, and Sirius could see him smiling in the darkness. "Really nice."
"Thanks," Sirius laughed. "You always smell nice."
"FINDY FINDY FINDY!" Nymphadora said in a sing-song voice as she came into the room. Remus sniggered at her song and Sirius quickly put his hand over Remus' mouth.
"AND 1, 3, 2! I FINDY YOU!" she shouted, as she threw the duvet up and dropped down on the floor to peer at them.
"Damn," Sirius said, rolling out. "You're a very good finder."
"Yeah, she should be a Hufflepuff," Remus said, poking her and lifting her up onto the bed.
"A Huffpuff?" she asked, looking up at them curiously. Sirius nodded.
"Oh yeah, a Hufflepuff," he said. "Just like your daddy."
She grinned and started giggling. "DADDY A HUFFPUFF!"
"Yeah that's right," Remus said. "And what's mummy?"
"BIG FATTY!" she said, giggling again and hiding her face with a pillow. Sirius burst out laughing.
"That's not nice! What is Uncle Sirius?" he asked. She peered up from the pillow.
"Uckle Sirius Giffy-dor," she said, patting him on the arm. Sirius winked.
"Yeah, Gryffindor. 'Cos I'm awesome. And what about Remus? What's he?"
She looked at Remus and giggled again. "Wemus handsome."
"Thanks Nymphie," Remus said, patting her on the head. "And what are you?"
"Me?" she asked. "Me a Huffpuff princess."
"Aw," Sirius said. "Yes you are."
"Uckle Sirius?" she said. Sirius looked at her questioningly.
"Yep?"
"Why you leave today?" she asked sadly.
"Because Uncle Sirius can't stay here forever," Sirius said softly. She frowned and looked down at the floor like she was going to cry.
"Why you no stay for ever n' ever?"
"Well," Sirius said, looking right into her eyes and smiling at her. "Uncle Sirius has to go back to school and learn."
"But Wemus clever," she said. "He teach you."
Remus laughed and shook his head. "No, unfortunately we can't Nymphie. We have to go back to school."
She looked between them and sighed. "I miss you."
"We'll miss you, too," Remus said, putting his arms out to give her a hug. She hugged him back, and then Sirius gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Don't worry though Nymphie," he said. "We promise to come and visit you whenever we can."
"Yay!" She said, grinning and jumping on the bed with her teddy bear in her hand. "Next time we get married Wemus."
Remus laughed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure."
##
"Well it's been lovely having you," Andromeda said as they were waiting by the fireplace to leave and go to Remus' house. "Really. It was great to see you again, Sirius, and really nice to meet you, Remus."
"Thanks for having me," Remus said, giving her a hug.
"Yeah. Thanks for putting up with me," Sirius said. She rolled her eyes and hugged him, too.
"I had to put Dora to bed," Andromeda said. "She was getting a bit upset you were leaving, so I thought it would be better you just go. You said goodbye to her, right?"
"Yeah," Sirius said, smiling. "She's a great kid. You should be proud."
Andromeda nodded, and handed them the floo powder. "Well, have a nice time. See you next time you come to visit."
"Bye," they said, as they were engulfed in green flames.
The next thing they saw was a small living room – slightly larger than the one at Andromeda's house, and a woman sitting in the corner reading a book. She looked up at them and smiled, placing her book on the table and running over to greet them.
"Hi!" she said, pulling Remus in for a hug and kissing him on the head. He came out of the hug with an extremely red face. Remus' mother then turned to Sirius and smiled at him.
"And you must be... Sirius?" she said. He nodded and she pulled him in for a hug too. "Well," she said. "It's late, so you should be going to bed boys. I've set up a spare bed in your room, Remus. Be nice and let Sirius have the bed. See you in the morning."
Remus lead Sirius upstairs, and neither of them spoke until they reached Remus' room where Sirius burst out laughing.
"Ickle Remus gets a kiss from his mummy," he said, receiving a punch in the arm by Remus.
"Shut up," he said, falling down on his bed. "And you can sleep with me, by the way."
"Sleep with you?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows. Remus rolled his eyes.
"You're so dirty minded," he said, grabbing Sirius' hand and pulling him down on the bed next to him.
"Aw Rem, I thought you really meant it," Sirius said with a pout.
"Keep dreaming, Siri," Remus said, leaning up and kissing him quickly, and then standing up and sighing. "My parents don't know. You know, about us."
"You haven't told them?" Sirius asked. He'd always thought Remus had told his parents. "Why not?"
"They uh... they've expressed their views on... gay people before," Remus said nervously. "I don't think they'll like it."
"Oh come on, Rem," Sirius said, standing up and grabbing hold of his hands. "They're your parents."
"Yeah, but-"
"-Remus. Please tell them. Please. For me," Sirius said, looking into his eyes and putting on his best 'puppy-dog' face.
"I don't even know how to tell them... oh Sirius, stop with that face. You know it's irresistible," Remus complained. Sirius grinned and winked.
"Come on babe. I'll help you through it. I promise. Please," Sirius said, pouting. Remus sighed and nodded.
"Ok, Sirius," he said finally. "I hate you and your stupid puppy-dog face."
"You love it really," Sirius said.
"Unfortunately," Remus said, hugging Sirius and sighing into his chest. "Will you really help me through it?"
"Of course I will," Sirius said, running his fingers through Remus' hair and ruffling it. "Come on, let's get to bed. We can tell them in the morning."
Remus nodded and pulled away, smiling at him. "God, I love you."
"Who doesn't?" Sirius said with a huge grin. Needless to say, Remus gave him another punch in the arm.
##
Sirius literally dragged Remus downstairs in the morning, early, so that they could catch both of his parents before they went to work.
When they reached the kitchen, they were greeted by Remus' mum and dad, who were sitting at the kitchen table eating their breakfast.
"Morning boys," Remus' dad said, peering up over his newspaper. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah," Remus said, and Sirius could hear in his voice how nervous he was. He nudged him and gave him a meaningful look. Remus sighed. "Uh... mum, dad? Can I tell you something?"
"What is it, sweetie?" asked Remus' mum.
"Well... I... sorta... uh..." Remus looked up at Sirius pleadingly, and he nodded.
"Remus and I," Sirius said, trying to sound confident. "We... we're in love."
There was a deadly silence after his words and Sirius glanced sideways at Remus, who was staring at his parents with a look of worry on his face. Sirius looked at them, and pursed his lips. They didn't look happy. At all.
Finally, Remus broke the silence.
"Mum?" he said quietly. She closed her eyes and shook her head.
"What does this mean?" she asked, looking from Remus to Sirius. "You're gay, I presume?"
"Y-yes," Remus said. "Do you... a-are you ok with that?"
"Get out," Remus' father said coldly. Remus turned to face him with tears in his eyes.
"W-what?"
"You heard me!" He said, standing up so he was towering over them. "Get out!"
"But d-dad, please-"
"GET OUT OF MY FUCKING HOUSE!"
"No, please," Sirius said, standing in front of Remus. "Please don't do this to him. He's done nothing to deserve this."
"Don't you dare! YOU FUCKING FAGS! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO HIM? HOW DARE YOU INFECT HIM WITH YOUR DIRTY DISGUSTING DISEASE!" he shouted at Sirius. "YOU DID THIS TO HIM!"
"Really d-dad," Remus said. "It's not his fault!"
"John!" Remus' mother said suddenly. "Leave them. They aren't worth it. Boys, leave. Now."
"B-but mum... where am I supposed to go?" Remus asked, tears rolling down his cheeks. "You can't do this to me! I'm your son!"
"You," she said slowly and emotionlessly. "Are disgusting. Leave."
"D-d-don't you love me anymore?" Remus asked, and the way he said it almost broke Sirius' heart.
"How could we? After this," she replied. "Please just go. I don't want people like you in my house."
Remus stared at both of his parents for one last chance of redemption, but then sighed and turned around and walked out of the kitchen. Sirius chased after him.
"What are you doing?" he asked, grabbing him by the arm. "Aren't you going to try and reason with them?"
"I can't," Remus said. "They h-hate me."
"Remus-"
"- Just stop," Remus said, wiping a tear from his eyes. "Please? We both know it's true. Can we just go? I need to get away from them."
Sirius stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Let's go and grab our trunks, and we'll figure out what to do when we're out. Ok?"
Remus sniffed and nodded, following Sirius upstairs and packing up his things. Without another word to Remus' parents, they left the house and walked to the end of the street, where Remus dropped his trunk and fell into Sirius' arms, letting everything out.
Sirius felt like crying with him, but he had to be strong. He had to help him through this. He had honestly believed that Remus' parents would be accepting – after all, they accepted him being a werewolf and that was much worse.
He couldn't think of anything to say except "I'm so sorry. We'll figure this out, I promise we will."
Remus only replied by crying into his shoulder, and it broke Sirius' heart more and more with every tear.
###
