Disclaimer: These characters belong to J.K. Rowling
Sirius was bored. Remus was at a job interview, and when he'd tried to contact James and Peter they were both busy. He hadn't really seen much for Peter at all lately, though he guessed Peter was pretty busy with his new job.
He sighed, and turned on the telly-vision that Remus had suggested they get. Just after he did so, there was a knock on the door. Sirius got off the couch and made his way over to the door, opening it to see Dorea.
"Sirius! It's so good to see you! Can I come in?" she asked.
"Er… sure… it's not very… well…" Sirius said, stepping aside so Dorea could come in.
"It's much tidier than I expected it would be. I suppose Remus is keeping you in line?" Dorea asked.
"In line? Are you kidding? No, Remus just cleans up after me," Sirius said. Dorea nodded as she walked through into the kitchen, and Sirius realised that she had food with her.
"We do feed ourselves," Sirius added.
"Oh, I'm sure you do, dear, but I've missed you and I wanted to cook for you," Dorea said.
"You don't even cook normally," Sirius pointed out.
"Sometimes I do, and I thought perhaps you and Remus needed a good homemade meal. Where is Remus?" Dorea asked.
"Job interview," Sirius said as he sat down at the table. Dorea smiled.
"Oh, good, good for him," Dorea said as she started looking through the cupboards for pots and pans, "When is he expected back?" Sirius shrugged.
"I'm not sure, before dinner is all I know," Sirius said.
"I'll make enough for him too, then," Dorea said, "How have you been, Sirius?" Sirius shrugged again.
"Alright," Sirius said.
"You're happy with Remus?" Dorea asked. Sirius looked up at her, and smiled, nodding.
"Very."
"Good. As long as you're happy, dear," Dorea said.
"I'm glad you think so," Sirius said. Dorea turned around, and then walked over to Sirius, pulling him into a hug.
"Charlus will come around, Sirius. Just wait. He cares about you very much," Dorea said, "He'll see that you're happy and it will be fine."
"How can he see that I'm happy when Remus can't go anywhere near the house?" Sirius said, "I appreciate everything you've done for me, but let's be honest here, I'm not really family. I don't have one, and he doesn't have to accept me or Remus as we are." Dorea let go of Sirius and hit the back of his head.
"Of course your family, Sirius," Dorea chided, "You've been family for years, especially since the Blacks disowned you."
"I appreciate the thought, but no, I'm not. Not really," Sirius said. Dorea shook her head.
"You know Charlus and I care for you like a son. You are our son. No matter what, you're part of this family, and Remus is too, now, no matter what Charlus thinks," Dorea said. Sirius didn't say anything as he watched Dorea busy herself with cooking.
After a few minutes he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked around to see Remus smiling down at him. He leaned back, and Remus leaned down and pressed his lips against Sirius'.
"How was the interview?" Sirius asked.
"I'm not very hopeful," Remus said as Dorea turned around and smiled at Remus.
"Hello, Remus!" Dorea said cheerfully, "I hope you don't mind that I'm cooking for the two of you, I felt that you probably needed a good homemade meal, and I've missed Sirius, he wasn't there last Sunday." Remus smiled, though it was a little strained as he brushed his hand against the back of Sirius' neck.
"That sounds very nice, Mrs Potter," Remus said quietly.
"Don't be silly, call me Dorea, you're part of the family now," Dorea said.
"Am I?" asked Remus, mildly amused.
"My husband can be thick-headed, but of course you are," Dorea said, "How have you been anyway, Remus?" Remus hesitated, not entirely sure what to say to Dorea. He had stayed with the Potters for a couple of weeks the past few summers, but now everything had changed. He played a little with Sirius' hair while he cast around for something to say.
"I, er… I've been good," Remus finally said lamely.
"Where was your job interview today?" DOrea asked as she pointed her wand at the knife and it started chopping up the carrots.
"Flourish and Blotts," Remus said, finally sitting down next to Sirius.
"Really? I would've thought you'd go work for the Ministry or somewhere. I was surprised to learn you weren't going to go into Auror training like James and Sirius. You're so clever, Remus," Dorea said.
"The Ministry won't have me," Remus said uneasily, "I'm not – I'm not suitable to most jobs."
"Only because of others' prejudice," Sirius said angrily.
"Prejudice?" Dorea asked, confused. Remus gave Sirius a sharp look, and he shrugged apologetically.
"Nothing," Sirius said. Dorea turned again, looking at the two of them.
"You boys have always kept a secret, and it has something to do with Remus. When I find out about the two of you I thought the secret was that Remus was queer, but obviously it isn't," Dorea said. Remus looked at Sirius again, and shook his head.
"We can't tell you," Sirius said, "Things are already bad enough right now."
"If it affects Remus' ability to get a job then maybe I can help!" Dorea exclaimed.
"You can't help," Remus said, "There is nothing that can be done."
"Are you sure?"
"Believe me, there's nothing," Remus said, and he sighed, looking over at Sirius. Maybe they should tell her, she'd been accepting of Remus and Sirius' relationship. Dorea looked at Remus with concern.
"Well, it's a good thing you have Sirius to look after you," Dorea said kindly. Remus grimaced.
"I'd really rather that I could look after myself, but as that isn't a likely option, I suppose it is lucky," Remus said. Dorea looked concerned.
"Are you sure there's nothing that I could-"
"I'm a werewolf," Remus cut Dorea off, "What does that tell you." He instantly covered his mouth. He hadn't been planning on saying that, he still hadn't made up his mind… Sirius reached out and put an arm around Remus, and Dorea looked at Remus in shock.
"You – what?" she asked.
"Oh, Merlin, I've never actually told anyone that before, they guessed," Remus said, jerking his head towards Sirius, "I'm so careful… oh Merlin…"
"Remus, calm down," Sirius said, kissing his cheek, "Dorea, you have to listen to me. Remus is always careful at the full moon, he always does all he can to prevent himself from hurting anyone."
"If I hurt someone I wouldn't be able to live with myself," Remus murmured.
"No, of course you wouldn't… oh, Remus, I'm so… I'm just shocked. I'm not… Sirius and James have good judgment, they wouldn't…" Dorea trailed off, not able to get her thoughts out of her mouth. Remus understood what she was saying, regardless.
"Thank you," he said softly, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't… Well, he already doesn't like me." Remus said. Dorea nodded, knowing that Remus was talking about Charlus.
"I won't tell anyone," Dorea promised. Remus smiled gratefully and he leaned against Sirius' shoulder, and Sirius brushed some of Remus' hair aside and pressing a kiss on his forehead.
Sirius woke up and moved over to Remus, pulling the blanket over him and kissing his forehead. The night before has been a full moon, and they had gone to an abandoned shed in the middle of nowhere that James had secured and reinforced so that Moony couldn't get out.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw James sit up.
"You should get him home," James said, yawning, "He'll need sleep in a bed rather than on the ground." Sirius nodded as James unlocked the door to let them out. Sirius picked up Remus and walked out the door.
"I'll see you later," James said, before his disapparated. Sirius made sure to hold on tight to Remus as he disapparated into the living room of their flat. He went into the bedroom and placed Remus on the bed, kissing his forehead again. He made sure the blanket was securely covering Remus and left eh room, and started to make a cup of tea, not sure when Remus would be awake, and knowing he'd want it when he did. He also took a bar of chocolate, and went back into the bedroom, placing the cup of tea and chocolate on the bedside table, putting a warming charm on the tea so it would be warm when Remus woke.
"Padfoot," Remus murmured, his eyes slightly open. Sirius brushed his hand against Remus' cheek.
"Sleep, Moony," Sirius said softly. Remus closed his eyes again, reaching up and taking Sirius' hand.
"Mmm, Padfoot," Remus murmured. Sirius smiled as he looked down at Remus, and kissed him softly on the lips.
"Love you. There's tea if you need it," he whispered onto Remus' lips. Remus rolled over onto his side, and Sirius slid down so he lay next to Remus. He lay there for a few moments, until Lily came in, her wand ready.
"Hey, Lils," Sirius said as Lily moved quietly over to the bed. Lily smiled at him.
"Remus? Remus, I'm here to heal any injuries from last night," she said quietly. Remus made no reply, and Sirius knew he'd gone back to sleep.
"I think he's fine, he'll just be sore for a while," Sirius said. Lily nodded, but she passed her wand over Remus anyway. She reached into the bag she had brought and placed a potion next to Remus' tea.
"I've made this for him, Madam Pomfrey showed me how to make it, it should help," Lily said. Sirius smiled gratefully.
"Good thing you're good at potions," Sirius said.
"You and James are good at potions too. Only Remus is terrible," Lily said with a smile. Sirius laughed as he thought of the many times Remus had blown his cauldron up before he gave up Potions after the O.W.L.s.
"You're the best. Thank you, Lily," Sirius said, "Good thing you're training to be a Healer, it's not always going to be this easy." Lily nodded.
"Do you need me to do anything? I can cook or something?" Lily asked. Sirius shook his head.
"No, don't worry about it. I can look after Moony," Sirius said. Lily nodded and started to walk out of the bedroom when she and Sirius heard a knock at their door. Lily and Sirius glanced at each other, and Lily went to open the door.
"Oh, hi, Dorea!" Sirius could hear Lily say.
"Hello, Lily, dear, are you here for poor Remus? I thought I'd bring some food over to help him regain his strength. Where's Sirius?" Dorea asked.
"In the bedroom."
Sirius got off the bed and walked into the living room.
"Dorea," Sirius said, nodding at her, "You didn't have to bring anything, Remus is probably going to spend the whole day sleeping."
"Well, he'll need to eat, I want to make sure it's good, wholesome food," Dorea said.
"Thank you," Sirius said, not sure what else he could say. Dorea smiled, and walked through to the kitchen, taking containers out of her bag and placing them on the bench.
"This is… this is too much food," Sirius said.
"Don't be silly, of course it isn't," Dorea said, "If you don't eat it all today then it will keep for a few days."
"Dorea…"
"Let me do this for you and Remus, Sirius," Dorea said, walking over to Sirius and patting his cheek. Sirius nodded, not knowing what else he could say. He did appreciate what Dorea was doing, but he felt bad for taking this food. He had to remind himself it was for Remus.
"I'm sure Remus will appreciate it," Lily said, seeing that Sirius was at a loss for words, "But I was just heading off, Dorea, and I wanted to ask your opinion about flowers for the wedding?" Sirius shot Lily a grateful look, and Lily smiled.
"Oh, of course, dear! I'll come by tomorrow, Sirius, if that's okay?" Dorea said. Sirius nodded mechanically as Lily and Dorea started to walk out of the flat, Lily talking at top speed about all sorts of flowers that Sirius had never heard of. Sirius made his way back to the bedroom and lay down next to Remus, pulling him to his chest, and slowly he drifted off to sleep also.
Seems more of a filler chapter than anything else, I know, but I do feel that some of this was important. I really like Dorea, even though we know very little about her in canon, or that she is even James' mother, but James's mother has to be an amazing woman for taking in Sirius and treating him like a second son.
