House: Ravenclaw
Word Count: 3472
Category: Themed
Prompt(s): [Speech] "Let's find out exactly how deep your betrayal runs."
Warning: Muggle AU, Modern Day AU.
It was shameful, that's what the reporters, newspapers, and even Remus' own girlfriend said, they all said what he had done was a shame, would ruin his reputation. He was a famous actor, having starred in more movies than anyone could keep count of - besides his manager, who would bring it up to anyone willing to listen - His girlfriend had been someone he'd been pushed into, told to act like he loved in order to make better connections.
The fact was, the world loved seeing them, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, as a couple. He was a kindhearted actor who loved his fans and she was a badass model who took nothing from no one. The public ate it up; they loved the thought that Remus and Nymphadora were hopelessly in love, despite both having previously stated they didn't think they would ever find a partner.
But he had cheated and the press had caught him red handed, a picture from a fan being leaked all across the internet. Blog after blog, news station after news station, each had the same headlines, the same caption, the same image. Remus had gone to the bar one night, wanting to forget the chat he had just had with his manager, feeling that the bright lights and loud music would distract him from the reality of his own life. If that didn't work then at least the alcohol would.
He wanted to forget everything, to be happy, even if it was just for a night. He wanted to forget his fame, forget his manager, forget his lie. It all started when he was four years old. Remus' mother had a friend who worked at a children's show, a casting director in urgent need of another child for the show. Remus was said to be the perfect candidate, so his mother agreed. He became known from that show, making friends as he grew up, moving on to auditioning for bigger shows, bigger things.
Remus met his manager when he was eight years old, a rather snobbish man, Abraxas Malfoy. The man was blonde, fit, had blue eyes, Remus' mother was absolutely smitten. Remus was sure his mother would have tried to pursue the man if he hadn't had a wife and a child. Abraxas was as prejudiced as they came, clearly stating his views on religion, political parties, and sexuality within a week of their meeting. Remus had been young, however, and hadn't truly known what all of that meant.
It had been multiple years later, when Remus turned sixteen, that he had finally realized what his manager had meant. Remus had figured out that Abraxas was building up his fan base and it had shocked him that it was mostly full of teenage girls, he'd never said anything on his sexualtiy, so why would everyone just assume? He'd taken his questions to the Malfoy, explaining that he didn't like girls, he liked guys, and he didn't want people to misinterpret his actions later on in life.
Abraxas had been surprisingly calm, simply telling Remus that he wasn't able to tell the world he was gay, he couldn't or he'd lose all his fans, all the popularity. People would hate him, maybe even go as far as to despise him. It was a conversation Remus would always remember, he hadn't wanted to let his mother down as she was happy with the way things were. She wanted him to be popular, famous, to be a star. So he let it go, making her happy was one of the only things that mattered back then.
Thinking back on it now, with a massive hangover and sitting slumped against his kitchen table, he'd always done everything to make others happy. Remus had lied about his sexuality to keep his manager happy, had stayed working in the movie business to keep his mother happy. Whenever he had gone out and done anything, it was to make someone else happy, he'd never done something that had made him happy. Well, not until he'd gone to that bar, in those few hours he had been having the best time he'd been sure he'd ever had in his entire life.
Even after getting back to his house he was left feeling on top of the world, he'd stumbled into the living room, sitting down on the couch and smiling into nothingness for a solid five minutes. That was, until a loud buzz from his phone startled him out of his stupor. He glanced down at it, traces of a smile still on his face. He had read the message, his smile dropping and his eyebrows furrowing. There, leaked onto the internet, was a picture of him in a heated kiss with some person in the bar.
His manager had told him that it was still alright, he could just play it off. After all, no one knew who he'd been snogging in the picture. Well, Remus knew; it was a fellow actor, an openly gay one as well. Someone he wished he could be like, wished he could have just as much courage as. The two had met some time ago, both being supporting roles in a movie. They had become fast friends on set, though hadn't seen each other since the movie was released. Thinking back on it, Remus didn't know how he'd managed to forget the piercing grey eyes and the lovely black hair of his fellow actor.
Now there Remus sat, trying to ignore Abraxas as the blond tried to, yet again, get Remus to tell him who it was he'd been snogging. Their 'talk' moved onto how Remus could redeem himself in the eyes of the public. Almost all the ideas were not to his liking, however.
The first way was getting a new girlfriend and telling the world that the spark between Nymphadora and him had just gone out. The public still wouldn't trust him, they'd expect him to do the same thing, go off and cheat again in a random bar. It wouldn't end up redeeming him in the eyes of the public, it would end up sinking him even furthur.
The second was telling the world it was a mistake, he still loved the model and was just drunk, in the moment shit had happened and he was sorry for it. But that meant apologies, thousands that Remus didn't feel like faking anymore.
The last was to just ignore it, to continue on with life and try to get to set to shoot a new movie he was starring in. This road to redemption would take the longest, but at least it didn't include pretending. This was the option Remus decided to go for, hoping that it would help keep him busy, keep his mind off the press, keep his mind off everything else he had to put up with.
A week later and it turned out ignoring the whole issue was a whole lot harder than Remus had expected. Nymphadora showed up to his house, hair dyed a new color than the last time he'd seen her. It was now a fiery red, a contrast the pastel blue she had previously sported. She'd stormed through the door, her expression livid.
"You cheat on me and then have the audacity to just ignore me!" He'd cringed at the shrillness in her voice, mentally berating himself for ever giving her the spare key. It was a weekend, the only viable reason as to why she was in his house at twelve in the afternoon, on weekdays she would've been modeling or preparing to walk down a runway of sorts.
She'd taken his silence as a cue to continue yelling at him, her anger prominent, though the underlying note of betrayal and hurt was ever so evident. "You went behind my back, you were shoving your tongue down another girl's throat!"
Remus felt strongly like he should correct her, he hadn't been 'shoving his tongue' down a girl's throat, it was a guy, but he wasn't sure if it would only make the situation worse. He decided he would just tell her, it would be the first step in redeeming himself to her, maybe even to the world. He opened his mouth to start explaining, though before he could she'd pulled out a computer, opening multiple web pages and turning the screen so they could both see it.
"Let's find out exactly how deep your betrayal runs." Whether she'd murmured that to herself or to him was anyone's guess, but it still left him with an immense feeling of guilt. His gaze shifted to her face, which was set in a determined scowl, and then back to the computer screen where she was scrolling through multiple news articles.
"Ah ha." Nymphadora had a triumphant look on her face as she turned the computer to fully face him, he scrunched up his eyes, leaning a bit closer, finally finding what she'd seen. It was a very small version of the image that had been dispersed across multiple outlets.
"Who is she?"
"Well, it's not really like tha-"
"Who. Is. She?" Nymphadora growled, eyes fixing him with a piercing glare. It was terrifying, to say the least. He didn't know how to respond, but he knew he had to at least say something. Panicking he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.
"It's not a she." He resisted the strong urge to smack himself, though couldn't stop himself from cringing as he saw the shocked expression on her face.
"So...You're bi?" she'd asked after a few seconds of silence had passed, her tone expressing her high confusion. He shook his head at her statement, her expression growing even more confused as she sat in a stunned silence.
"How long have you known?" she'd asked, her voice soft, a big contrast to her normally loud, strong, slightly obnoxious voice. To Remus it seemed like she was asking if she was the reason he didn't like girls, as if he'd dated her for a while and just decided, nope, girls aren't my thing.
"I've known since I was fifteen." Nymphadora turned towards him with a shocked yet grateful expression on her face, though there was still confusion evident.
"My manager decided it would help strengthen bond with other companies if I was dating people from there, and he doesn't want me to come out." Remus elaborated, trying to help lessen her confusion, wondering if he'd managed to redeem himself even slightly. Wondering if he seemed like less of a cheating asshole than before, or if the fact that he had complied to the Malfoy's wishes made him seem like even more of a douche.
"Do you want to? Come out that is." Remus pondered her question for a second or so, curling into himself as he replied.
"I - I don't know. I guess I'm scared." No, that was a lie. He was terrified, Remus had always been afraid of what others thought of him. He didn't want everyone who adored him to suddenly turn around and start despising his entire existence.
"Of what? I mean it's not that big of a deal."
"I don't want everyone to hate me, not everyone is accepting, what if people don't like me anymore?" He felt relieved after replying to her question. He'd told someone besides his manager, they supported him, he'd gotten his worries off of his chest. It felt amazing.
"If they don't like you just because you're gay then they don't deserve your time." Remus couldn't help but let a grin take over his features, which quickly turned into shock as the red haired model pulled him into a hug. She wasn't known for showing affection.
"Does this mean we're good now?" She pulled away and gave him a playful glare, shoving him lightly towards one end of the couch, causing him start laughing. His good mood quickly vanished, however, as he read a text message from his manager.
'Get to set to meet the rest of the cast'
He groaned, resting back against the couch, causing Nymphadora to snicker. He hopped up and rushed into his car, smoothing out his hair and clothing before speeding off towards set. He'd completely forgotten about Tonks as his mind was focused on meeting the rest of the cast and getting out of there as fast as possible.
He pulled into his reserved parking spot, something he could thank Abraxas for, hopped out of his car, locked it and then proceeding to enter the building. There stood around fifteen other people, all chatting happily with each other, one actor sticking out from the crowd. It was the same person he'd worked with in another movie a couple years ago, the same man with the curly black hair and piercing grey eyes, the same exact person who Remus had been caught snogging.
"Fuck." Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm. Maybe, if he was lucky, the man wouldn't be in any of his scenes, though he knew it was most likely not possible. He was being forced to meet these people, they would most likely have at least one scene with Remus. His manager was in the middle of a conversation with the brunette, so maybe he could just mingle with the other cast and not have the blonde even notice him.
His luck, however, seemed to be steadily decreasing over the course of the day, as Abraxas noticed Remus. His eyes lit up and he practically dragged the other actor over towards him. Remus let out a disappointed sigh. If he just stayed calm then everything was sure to work out.
"Remus! You're finally here, good. I'd like to introduce you to your co-star, Sirius Black." Remus started choking on the water he had gotten from the refreshments table when he'd walked in. That was just perfect, he had to practice lines, go over scenes, and spend most of his time on set with Sirius. Though Sirius had tried keeping a straight face, Remus could see a slight hint of amusement behind his cool facade.
"We've met before, actually," the grey-eyed man stated, an almost smirk on his face as he stared at Remus. Abraxas' eyes flickered with confusion before quickly lighting up, most likely remembering working with him in the past. The blond chuckled and said his goodbyes, going off to talk with the rest of the cast, leaving Sirius and Remus to 'catch up'.
"So, about these pictures…" Remus exhaled sharply, of course Sirius would bring that up. How he'd managed to keep his name out of the news was astounding. There was a clear resemblance between the 'girl' in the picture and Sirius, how the news hadn't even speculated was beyond Remus. Though he figured, if he was being forced to talk about the scandal he might as well ask a few questions.
"Yeah, I've got a lot of shit with that. How come you seem fine?" Sirius smirked, seeming to already have an answer.
"My manager is amazing." Remus glared at his co-star.
"That's it? You just have an amazing manager?" Remus was, admittedly annoyed, not fully at Sirius, but at the fact he had to keep his sexuality secret in the first place. He was now taking this out on Sirius, and though he knew he should have felt guilty, he didn't feel that much guilt.
"Well, Lily Evans is a force of nature. If she wants something, she gets it. Her boyfriend works in the news and she had him tip off the rest of the stations that the person you were spotted with was female." Remus stood still for a second. He hadn't expected such a calm explanation. He'd been sure Sirius would've shouted, raised his voice at least. Remus opened his mouth to ask another question, though Sirius shushed him.
"It's my turn to ask some questions. You need to answer them." His words had a more serious tone to them. Remus could see these questions had been burning in the back of his mind for a while. He nodded, staying silent, a cue for Sirius to start asking.
"Why did you kiss me?"
"Well, if I remember correctly, it was you who kissed me." Sirius let out an exasperated sigh, which Remus realized was at the fact that he didn't actually answer the question.
"Why didn't you pull away?" Remus thought over that for a second, he didn't know whether saying that he didn't want to would make the situation better or worse.
"I - I was a little drunk?" It had come out as more of a question than an answer, truth was Remus had not drunk much. He didn't actually feel tipsy until his ride home and the hours after that. Sirius seemed to know this, though Remus couldn't fathom how.
"Bullshit. You said you weren't romantically interested in anyone, you said it was fine." The hurt lacing Sirius' words was clear, and it finally made the quilt settling in Remus' stomach known.
"I wasn-" He tried to protest, though he was cut off by an annoyed Sirius.
"You had a girlfriend!" Remus let out a sigh. What he had said was true, he'd not been romantically interested in anyone, yes he'd had a girlfriend, but he didn't like her in that way. He didn't quite feel like explaining it on set, so he did something rash, something maybe a little more bold than he was used to. He invited Sirius over to dinner, so he could explain everything.
"What the hell?" Sirius yelled. Remus rubbed his temples in frustration. It was around two hours after the introductions had ended and Remus had just gotten back to his house with Sirius, who was now shouting a string of curse words in his angered confusion. Nymphadora sat with a half smirk on her face as she watched in amusement from the couch.
Remus had expected her to go home after he'd left but it turned out she'd stayed all day, awaiting his return. Sirius was now livid and Remus had no clue how to calm him down.
"So this is him? Gotta admit, I can see why you like him." Remus' face turned almost as red as the woman's hair, though perking up slightly as Sirius' angry shouting had stopped. Nymphadora took Sirius' arm and, in a split second, was sitting on the couch with him, explaining everything, some conclusions more correct than others. By the end of the night Sirius was smiling and laughing along with Tonks and Remus. What had surprised Remus was the quick kiss he'd gotten as Sirius left the house. The giggles from Nymphadora as Remus stepped back inside would have normally bothered him, though he was far too happy to care.
The next few months passed slowly, Nymphadora mumbling about Remus' slow but steady path to redemption. Sure, he'd wanted to redeem himself to the world, but now that he'd gotten the two people he cared about most in the world, it didn't seem all that important. Though Sirius was quite persistent, telling Remus that he should try and get back up to a positive side of the public eye. So he did, over the few weeks he'd gotten to really know the Black, he'd fallen head over heels for him. He would do almost anything the man said.
Which is why, weeks later on live television, Remus announced to the world that he was gay, explained some of the scandal, and left the crowd in a stunned silence. All he could remember during the next moments were his erratic heartbeats, the nervous fidgeting he'd done in his seat. The crowd had burst into thunderous applause, though, which made Remus feel slightly better.
A week after that interview aired, Remus was feeling a lot better. He'd told Abraxas that he was done with him, Sirius explaining to his manager about Remus' situation. It turned out that Lily Evans was a wonderful person, becoming Remus' manager as well. The situation with the public was much better as well, most accepted him, understood, and in their eyes he had redeemed himself.
Sure, there were still the select few who didn't accept that he was gay or hated him for using Nymphadora, but he was fine with that. Because he had Sirius, now his lover, and Nymphadora, his best friend and emotional support. He had other things to focus on now anyway. He had a new movie coming up, that he was trying to promote, going on interview after interview, though it died down eventually. It was quiet for the next few weeks after that, quite a contrast to the buzz and chaos of the past months. Remus smiled to himself. This was it…
This was his happily ever after.
