"Do you want to talk?"
Lily looked up at Remus, who was sitting next to her, and shook her head.
"Thanks, Remus, but no," Lily said.
"If you do, you can come talk to me," Remus said softly. Lily nodded, knowing he was offering because he knew somewhat how it felt. Different situations, but he had lost his parents. If anyone was going to understand how Lily felt, it would be Remus. Remus took Lily's hand and squeezed it gently before letting it go. They sat in silence, trying to ignore the muffled arguing between James and Sirius in the next room.
"Thanks for coming to the funeral," Lily said quietly.
"You were there for me," Remus replied, closing his eyes as he heard yelling from the next room.
"What are they even arguing about?" Lily asked, a mixture of irritation and fondness on her face.
"Well, first it was about what was going to be on the telly, which is of course ridiculous because it wasn't that long ago that neither of them of them knew what a bloody television was, and then I suggested they listen to music, they argued about that too, and then I said they shouldn't argue and that you wouldn't appreciate it, James insulted me, Sirius insulted him, and I don't know what they're arguing about now because I left them to it then," Remus said.
"And these are the men we choose to spend our lives with," Lily said with a sigh. Remus gave Lily a half-smile when they heard a smash from the other room. Remus and Lily exchanged worried looks, and both stood up and entered the living room, where Sirius and James were rolling around on the ground, the table broken.
"Will you two grow up!" Lily snapped, "I don't want to deal with this rubbish right now!" James jumped away from Sirius and stood up.
"I'm sorry, Lily," James said.
"Oh, shut it," Lily said, storming out of the room. James stared after her before quickly following her, and Remus went over to Sirius, helping to pull him up. Remus brushed his hand against Sirius' cheek, which had a cut.
"Are you going to heal me?" Sirius asked.
"No," Remus said, "You deserve that."
"It was James' fault!" Sirius complained.
"You're as much to blame. Lily's father died only a week ago, and the two of you think it's the perfect time to fight!" Remus exclaimed.
"Okay, it wasn't exactly the best time," Sirius said, "But you don't exactly choose when you start an argument with someone."
"What were you even arguing about?" Remus asked.
"Everything," Sirius said, and he scratched the back of his head nervously, "I may have said something about Charlus and that James probably swallowed the same beliefs…"
"Sirius!" Remus exclaimed, "You of all people know that people don't necessarily believe what their parents do."
"I know, I shouldn't have said that, but he was really pissing me off," said Sirius.
"How was he pissing you off?" Remus asked. Sirius shook his head.
"It doesn't even matter," Sirius said, "Both of us said things we didn't mean, and then threw a few punches."
"You need to talk to James about this," Remus said, before kissing Sirius.
"He's talking to Lily," Sirius said. Remus shook his head.
"Not for long," he replied. About ten seconds later, Remus was proven right when James walked back into the living room, looking somewhat dejected.
"She won't talk to me," James said.
"I don't blame her," said Remus, "You two are twats. You couldn't have chosen a worse time for this." James shrugged, then held his hand out to Sirius, who took it.
"No hard feelings, right mate?" James said. Sirius grinned, and then the two were hugging.
"What were you arguing about?" Remus asked again, now that James was in the room. James let go of Sirius and turned to look at him, and shrugged.
"I don't know. Doesn't matter. I'm going to try to talk to Lily again," James said.
"Yeah, good luck," Remus replied. James made a face, leaving the room again, and Sirius moved over to Remus, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling Remus close to him.
"I should apologise to Lily," Sirius said quietly.
"She won't listen right now," Remus said, "She's been through a lot and she probably isn't even annoyed at either of you." Sirius tilted his head slightly, looking at Remus.
"We're insensitive prats," Sirius said.
"Yes."
"And we didn't do anything like that when it was you who… well…"
"I know. You weren't thinking. It happens a lot," Remus said. Sirius grinned before kissing Remus.
"You know me very well," Sirius said.
"You're not difficult to figure out," Remus said. Sirius laughed.
"You can read me like a book," Sirius said.
"I do like books."
"Are you trying to flirt with me, Mr Moony?" Sirius asked.
"That's an awful way to flirt," Remus said, laughing, pressing a kiss against Sirius' jaw. Sirius closed his eyes at the contact of lips against skin, before he kissed Remus, sucking on Remus' bottom lip. Sirius could feel Remus' hand pressed against his skin under his shirt. He gently bit down on Remus' lip, enjoying the soft moan elicited from Remus' mouth. Sirius broke away and gave Remus what he hoped was a seductive smile.
"If James and Lily weren't in our bedroom…" Sirius said, leaving the sentence hanging as a soft promise. He could see his desire reflected in Remus' eyes.
"Get a room, you two," they heard James say.
"We have one," Sirius said, not taking his eyes off Remus, "You're in our flat."
"You invited us over," James retorted.
"Yeah, and now I want you to sod off so I can have my wicked way with Moony," Sirius said in a low voice.
"Padfoot…" Remus said, removing his hands from under Sirius' shirt and stepping away from Sirius.
"At least one of you can keep it under control," James said with a sigh.
"Years of training," Remus said with a smile, "Had to put up with you lot, I learned to control my… well…"
"Are you okay, Moony? You're not normally at a loss for words," James said, with concern. Sirius whistled innocently.
"Sirius pinched my bum, I got distracted," Remus said. James laughed.
"Couldn't resist, Moony," Sirius said, a cheeky smile on his face. Remus gave him a slightly exasperated look, but it was mixed with amusement. Sirius found the expression very endearing, and completely ignoring the look of slight disgust on James' face, he took Remus in his arms and kissed him.
Lily couldn't sleep. Thoughts of her father plagued her. They had known it was coming, but it didn't make things any better. Her father was dead, and he would never walk her down the aisle at her wedding, he would never meet any grandchildren. She could never curl up in her father's lap again, listen to him as he talked about cars. She would never see him again.
Lily got up from her bed. It had been a week since his funeral, and she couldn't help but think that she could've done something. Yes, her father had told her he didn't want magic to help him, but Lily could've tried anyway. She could've convinced him. She was training to be a Healer, and she couldn't even save her own father.
She looked out the window, and made a split second decision, Apparating and appearing outside the block of flats Remus and Sirius lived in. Remus had given her a key, telling her to come by if she needed to talk, though she doubted her meant at 3 in the morning. She needed to talk to someone right now, and Remus was the only one who could possibly understand.
Heading up to the third floor, she quietly unlocked the door and tip-toed quietly into the flat. She closed and locked the door behind her before she made her way to Remus and Sirius' bedroom, hoping that they had something covering them.
She smiled slightly at the sight of her two friends, Sirius' left arm wrapped around Remus, and Remus curled slightly into Sirius' side. She didn't have the heart to wake Remus, looking at him sleeping so soundly, despite Sirius' snores. She turned around, and the floorboard beneath her creaked a little. She stopped, freezing, as she heard a rustling of the sheets.
"Lily?"
Lily turned around to see the outline of Remus sitting up, rubbing his eyes. She smiled sheepishly, though she knew he wouldn't be able to see her facial expression in the darkness.
"Sorry, Remus," Lily murmured.
"What are you doing here?" Remus asked.
"I… I needed to talk, but it can wait until the morning, you looked peaceful," Lily said.
"No, if you need to talk, we'll talk. Um… could you go wait in the living room while I find some clothes?" Remus asked. Lily nodded, and walked out of the room, and Remus got out of bed, searching around the floor for some clothes that had been thrown off earlier when he and Sirius had gone to bed. As he pulled on his trousers, Sirius rolled over to where Remus had been sleeping moments before, and then started.
"Moony?" Sirius whispered.
"Go back to sleep, Sirius," Remus said, zipping his trousers as he bent over and pressed a kiss to Sirius's forehead. Sirius closed his eyes, and Remus pulled on his shirt before leaving the bedroom and going out to the living room, shielding his eyes slightly from the sudden light. Lily sat on the couch, staring at the floor, and Remus sat down next to her. He watched Lily, waiting for her to say something. For a few minutes, she sat silently, still staring at the ground, before she looked up at Remus, tears flowing down her cheeks. Remus wrapped an arm around her, hugging her.
"I want him back, Remus," Lily said through her tears, "I want my Dad back." Remus just held Lily as her body shook from her sobbing.
After a while, Lily drew back from Remus, wiping her eyes as she looked at him.
"It hurts so much," Lily said softly. Remus nodded.
"I know. I'm going to be honest, Lily. You will always miss him, and it will always hurt. But as time goes by you'll focus more on the good memories. Your Dad would want you to be happy. I'm not saying you have to be happy right away," Remus said, watching Lily carefully.
"How can life possibly continue?" Lily asked softly, closing her eyes.
"Lily, you still have your Mum, and James. Sirius and I, too, though Sirius can be an insensitive prat," Remus said.
"Not with you," Lily said. Remus gave a small smile.
"No. Not with me," Remus agreed, "Just like normally James is an insensitive prat and… no, he still is an insensitive prat with you." Lily giggled a little, a sort of half snort and sob coming out as she finished giggling.
"He's not," Lily said, willing her eyes to stop leaking.
"Oh, Merlin, Lily, I didn't mean to make you cry. Sorry," Remus said, staring at Lily with slight trepidation. Lily shook her head.
"You didn't… everything is setting me off, especially laughing. I don't feel like I should be happy, laughing at things or enjoying myself, my father just died," Lily said.
"Of course you can be happy," Remus said, "You should find ways to be happy."
"Well, spending time with you boys makes me laugh," Lily said.
"I think Padfoot and Prongs would be seriously offended if they didn't make you laugh," Remus said, "You're just going to have to spend a lot of time with us. Which is a good thing. When my parents died I felt so lonely, and I hated being alone," Remus said, "You're always welcome here, as much as we might complain if you interrupt us." Lily smiled.
"Thank you, Remus. I should go home," Lily said.
"You can stay here if you like, there's the spare room," Remus said. Lily shook her head.
"Mum will worry if I'm not there in the morning. I have to go. Thank you for listening," Lily said. Remus nodded, and Lily walked out the door. Remus went back to the bedroom, slipped out of the clothes he had hastily put on before and got back into bed, pulling himself close to Sirius. Sirius turned around to face Remus.
"Everything okay?" Sirius asked, yawning. Remus nodded.
"Lily needed to talk," Remus said.
"Why'd she have to talk to you?" Sirius asked.
"I understand what she's going through," Remus said softly, "And she needed reassurance that life goes on, even when you feel like the whole world has stopped." Sirius watched Remus unblinkingly, then kissed him.
"You are amazing, Moony," Sirius said. Remus blushed a little, though Sirius couldn't see that in the dark.
"Why do you say that?" Remus asked.
"Willing to listen to Lily early in the morning when you should be sleeping, not many people would do that," Sirius said.
"I'm just being a good friend," Remus said, "Nothing amazing."
"Well, I think you're amazing," Sirius said, kissing Remus again, "Now sleep, my Moony."
AN- So, as you all should know by now, Remus's bio was put up on Pottermore, which is brilliant! There's been a lot of rubbish surrounding it and I've been avoiding the Wolfstar tag on tumblr as best as I can because apparently we're now having a shipper war or something and I just want to say that I think it's ridiculous. Other people continue on with their non-canon ships quite happily, and Wolfstar was already fanon.
There are some things in the bio which I love but obviously for this story I'm going to completely ignore, such as Remus never having loved anyone before. I'm also going to ignore what it says about where Remus was on the night of Halloween 1981. I have plans for that for this story.
This story is officially against canon, but I still think that it's canon-compliant if you only read the books canon.
Basically, I love Pottermore and I would never say anything against JKR. She knows the characters much better than we do, but it doesn't stop me shipping things. I ship Drarry, for goodness sake, and that isn't definitely purely fanon.
Just my two cents on the whole Remus Lupin bio debacle. It may have made me love him more.