Sharp Teeth

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A/N – Hello, good people! I give you the next chapter! Thoughts and blather and loveliness at the end would be very appreciated, if you will. Thank you so for reading and much love to you all! :D

Remus started violently and wheeled around to find himself face to face with a very haggard looking, very angry looking, Sirius Black.


Chapter Twelve


The flatness of Sirius's tone sent as much of a chill down Remus's spine as the anger in his face did. His eyes, usually light and carefree or smirking and laughing at Remus, were now just as flat as his tone; cold, hard, and very, very grey. He was holding his body in stiff lines, back tall and straight, hands folded behind him, and Remus might have laughed at the silly contrast the stance made to his bare chest and feet and paint-splattered sweats, if he hadn't been so suddenly and shockingly nervous.

"This is simply not acceptable, Remus."

Barty's voice slithered its way through his mind, repeating the sentence he'd said many times – far too many times. He'd always said it calmly, a tone that'd belied the iciness beneath it; the fury beneath it, and Remus swallowed heavily, his heart picking up speed in a distressing reaction that was both absurd and automatic. Pulling his bottom lip between his teeth, he quickly shuffled out of the room and cleared his throat, his hands burying themselves in his pockets.

"S-S-Sirius-s, um-m, I'm s-sorr-ry, I sh-shouldn't-t have… gone… I'll ju-just g-g-go."

The sharp planes of anger in Sirius's face didn't shift. "Do that," he said softly, head tilting just so, the aristocracy in the unconscious gesture not only much too familiar, but also making him seem colder. Unapproachable. Not at all like the person Remus was slowly beginning to know. Remus shivered and swallowed a second time, hoping to hell that it wasn't audible. "And maybe show some fucking respect for other people's privacy next time, yeah?"

"Y-yeah-h, of c-cours-se, sor-rr-y… s-s-orry, S-Siri-rius…"

When all his apology was met with was a frigid silence, Remus sucked in a tiny breath, dipped his head and beat a hasty retreat. He wasn't even aware where he was going until the shock of the cool night air make his pause briefly when it hit his burning cheeks. He blinked a couple of times, pulled his beanie down further over his ears, and began to walk.

Fuck. Fuck. What the hell was wrong with him? A sort of trembling, vibrating sensation struck up in his chest, made worse by the way his heart was careening against his ribcage, and Remus scowled down at the concrete, his face and neck prickling with heat, his mind shouting so many things that he was having trouble making sense of them. There was one thing he did understand, however. He'd made another mistake, hadn't he?

Why in the hell would he do something like that? Invade someone's privacy like that? Those paintings were obviously a private thing for Sirius, and he'd just barged right in like he owned the place… sweet Jesus. He was an idiot, he was useless! Why did he always do this? Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!

What if Sirius wanted him to move out? Where in the hell would he go?!

Had he just ruined one of the better things to happen to him in a long time?

With a low groan, Remus stopped in place, rubbed his hand over his mouth, then leant his head back to stare up at the sky, releasing a breath that shook. The full moon was huge, a bright, beautiful orb shining like a beacon above him, and he squeezed his eyes shut tight before forcing them open again, his long sigh rattling his lungs. His cell phone was in his hand when he took a seat at the bench six blocks from the flat, his tongue wetting absurdly dry lips.

It rang four times before he picked up.

"Moony, mate! Miss me already?"

Remus pressed his fingers into his eyes until they hurt, smudging his glasses. "Pete."

The pause the followed was significant. "What's wrong?"

Remus laughed at the question, the sound coming out half choked. He rubbed his knuckles over his sternum to try to dislodge the lump there. "Um. I th-think f-fucked up-p, Wormy. I think I fucked up-p re-really-y bad-d."

~0~

The deep freeze went on for three days. After rambling on to Peter for a good half an hour, trying to listen to his best mate and not panic, and being told on no uncertain terms to get his arse back to the flat and out of the cold city at night – "you live in bloody London proper now, Remus, you gotta take your safety more seriously!" – Remus headed home to see his flatmate's bedroom door firmly shut and some rock band he didn't recognise pumping out from behind it, the base shaking the walls. The music didn't stop for the three days Sirius didn't talk to him, and it was some of the most painfully awkward days Remus could remember experiencing.

He was acting like he wasn't even there. It was keeping Remus awake at night, the blatant pretending that he didn't exist, and Remus didn't know if he should try apologising again – not that he'd be able to anyway, there's no way the words would be intelligible – or just pack his bags and go.

There were two things stopping him from up and leaving, like it was becoming more and more clear to Remus that Sirius wanted him to do. The first was Minerva. He didn't think it wise to move her again when she was still healing, especially when he didn't know where he'd be going.

The second was Sirius himself.

Remus's flatmate looked horrible. He wasn't a big bloke to start off with, his body lean, musculature smooth and subtle, but now it actually looked like he'd lost weight. Remus spent most of the time walking on eggshells around the flat, trying to avoid Sirius as much as possible, and the man in question was making that easier by barely coming out of his room to begin with. When he did venture out, it was clear he hadn't changed out of what little clothes he'd been wearing when he'd caught Remus in his bedroom, let alone taken a shower. His hair was oily and lank, his stubble dark, scruffy and very unkempt, and the bags under his eyes looked like deep, purple bruises.

When had he slept last?

The worry was gradually beginning to nudge solidly against Remus's fears and anxiety, and he was just starting to think that maybe he needed to cross the invisible boundary and risk making Sirius angrier at him by invading his privacy again, when help arrived in the form of one James Potter. The bespectacled lad strode into the flat without preliminary on a Tuesday evening, startling Remus badly, who had been sneaking towards the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea and calling himself all sorts of fool for doing so, and headed straight for Sirius's bedroom, the door opening and closing with a bang and the music abruptly cutting off. Remus heard Sirius's pissy-sounding "Oi!" at the intrusion, then jumped again when a hand touched his arm.

"I'll put the jug on?" Lily suggested with a gentle smile. Remus nodded silently, his eyes going to bedroom door against his will. He winced when the music surged back to life, then smiled wanly at Lily as she pressed a steaming mug into his hand.

"It's a nice night. Want to sit out in it?"

Again, Remus's nod was silent. He followed Lily out onto the balcony and sat in the chair he customarily took, warming his hands around the cup and sipping cautiously. The amazon behind the flat was as mysteriously beautiful as ever, and Remus inhaled deeply and rested his head back, trying to let the stunning atmosphere sooth him like it usually did.

He almost jumped out of his chair when a loud bellow sounded over the music, a distinct and disconcerting crash following close behind.

"I made a mistake," he muttered, his eyes flicking to Lily sitting in Sirius's chair. The redhead's eyes cut away from the inside of the flat. She sighed, shaking her head.

"I doubt it, Remus. Sirius is… Sirius is just a bit upset at the moment. Please try not to take anything he says or does at the moment to heart."

Remus swallowed. "What's wr-wrong with h-him?" he asked before he could stop himself, cursing under his breath when Lily grimaced. It wasn't any of his business, was it? He wasn't part of this group, no matter how much he might want to be. He needed to get that through his head.

"It isn't my place to say," Lily answered quietly, sighing again, then sending him another gentle smile and reaching over to pat his hand. "Just try to remember that it isn't your fault, all right? Sirius feels too much at the best of times, and often reacts without thinking. He needs time to process after, often rather dramatically. James'll sort him out. He knows how to handle Sirius when he's like this."

And I don't, Remus thought, unable to help the way he started like a nervous cat when another crash echoed over the music. The thought was surprisingly depressing. He'd thought Sirius was his friend.

Shouldn't you be able to help your friends when they were having trouble? Shouldn't they be able to rely on you for that?

Some friend he was.

The music stopped again an hour later. Remus and Lily were on their second cuppa, Lily steadily munching her way through a bag of salt and vinegar crisps, when Sirius's bedroom door opened. Remus hurriedly looked away from Sirius's retreating back heading for the bathroom, then just as rapidly zipped his gaze away from James when he stepped out onto the balcony. James sighed and scrubbed at his face hard, wrapping Lily up in his arm when she went to him.

He looked like he'd been hit by a ten-tonne lorry.

"I think we'll be okay now," he said, voice quiet, leaning down to press a kiss to Lily's hair. Remus bit his lip and stared into his mug, refusing to meet his eyes when he felt James's gaze fall on him. "All right, mate?"

Shrugging halfheartedly, Remus threw back the last of his tea. "I'm fine," he mumbled, setting the mug down and getting to his feet. "If y-you'll ex-excuse me, I'm going t-to h-head to b-bed. You can s-see yourself-lf out?"

Not waiting for an answer, he edged his way past the embracing couple and practically ran for his room, the sound of the shower filling the empty silence the music had left in its wake as he changed into pyjamas. His head was a mess of thoughts; memories, regrets, self-deprecation, irritation at Sirius for making him feel this way and guilt for being irritated, all turning his mind into a boggy swamp of unwanted emotion. Burying himself under his covers, Remus closed his eyes. He honestly didn't know what to do with himself, the way he was feeling, or the situation.

This was supposed to be a new beginning. So why was he still so entrenched in the past?