AN: Yayyy last one! If any of you are wondering why I always pick on Peter, it's because I hate him.
Plain and simple.
OKK byyee!
Loves,
Alex
Grey
"Oh bollocks!" I grumble, handing a grinning Remus all my poker chips. Peter is teaching us "poker"- some sort of pointless muggle card game. The cards don't even explode, for Merlin's sake! James and I both suck tremendously at it- Remus and Peter are both whipping our behinds rather badly.
I'm lazing on Lily's couch in Lily and James's house, flicking cards over the game at James, who's sprawled across from me in an armchair. Remus and Peter are sitting on the floor, both intent on winning a whole lot of chips that aren't really chips. I can't eat them, they're not money, and they aren't even attractive colors. In my book, they're worthless.
I peek over Peters shoulder to see his cards.
"Rem, he's got a pair of kings, a jack, a queen, and a five. Can we do something else now?" James nods in agreement, but Peter throws his cards down in anger.
"Dammit Sirius, I was going to win! Why'd you do that?" I smirk at him, rolling off of the couch to dump my head on Remus's lap, where he absentmindedly strokes my hair while cleaning the cards up.
"My dearest Wormy, who do you think I make win every freaking time? Of course I'm going to help Rem- if I don't, I never get shagged." Peter goes pink and Remus chuckles.
"That's right, you mangy thing. No cheating, no sex. That's how I roll." he says with a small smile. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull his face down so I can kiss him without having to lift my head off his lap, which is extremely comfortable.
James skips out of the kitchen, takes one look at Peter's irritated face, lets out a great "HA!" of laughter, and starts nancing around his living room, twirling like a ballerina. I really worry about my choice of mates sometimes. Peter gives up with cleaning up the poker chips with his hand and just cleans them up with a wave of his wand, sending them zooming back into Lily's closet of miscellaneous items.
He sits onto the couch right above Remus with a huff of annoyance, probably still ticked about the card game. He'll get over it. Eventually. Remus and I are in the middle of an exceptionally good snog when Peter suddenly says "Oi, Rem, you're going gray!" as cheerfully as if he's discussing the weather.
Remus stiffens above me, going completely and absolutely still, clouded golden eyes staring into mine with panic. I stand up, pissed out of my mind.
What the hell is the matter with Peter that he'd say that? I push him as hard as I can out of my way, not even caring if he falls off the couch and dies. I take his spot, carefully parting Remus's light hair, looking for any signs of gray hairs, praying I won't find any, and... My heart sinks.
His hair is shot with a few tiny, tiny strands of grey, shining in the light against the golden of his hair. There's really hardly any of them, and they're not noticeable unless you tilt your head a certain way, but... Remus is only seventeen. He shouldn't be graying yet.
'It's that horrible werewolf curse!' I suddenly realize. It puts so much stress and injuries on Remus that he must be going prematurely gray. Now thinking about, I've never seen a werewolf that hasn't had gray hairs. Even Greyback's hair was partly gray, and he's about forty. I kneel down off the couch and pull the nearly catatonic Remus into a hug, squeezing him so tightly I hear him suck in air sharply to breathe.
"What?" Peter asks cluelessly, completely oblivious of how crushing that one little statement was to Remus.
"Nothing, Peter. Just go help Lily." James says coldly, stopping his dancing to come and sit down next to us, one hand rubbing between Remus's shoulder blades. Remus sits up, and I'm shocked his eyes are clear.
"It's alright, I'm fine. It just took me by surprise, that's all. Nothing to worry about." he gives James a reassuring smile, and James smiles back, giving Remus a light kiss on top of his hair before getting up and heading into the kitchen.
Remus turns to me, and I know why his eyes are completely blank. He's keeping it all bottled up inside and he'll probably be upset later. His whole face is screaming at me 'I'll tell you later. Don't worry about it now. Please.'
I don't. I listen to him, pressing a chaste kiss onto his lips quickly before pulling him up with me. I have some THINGS to say to a certain someone.
James sees me come into the kitchen and hurriedly books it out, sensing a storm brewing. Peter isn't so fast. He stands there against the table, grinning at me, still not noticing what he'd said. Lily covers her ears and stands beside Remus, laying a soothing hand on his arm.
"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?" I roar, advancing on Peter, who's started trembling like the cowardly rat he is.
"WHY WOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT? HOW BLOODY INSENSITIVE CAN YOU BE?" My voice is getting louder, and I kind of feel like a Howler.
Peter whimpers out "I... I didn't mean... Sirius, I'd never... I'm so sorry!"
His apology to me irritates me even more.
"DON'T APOLOGIZE TO ME, YOU SODDING LITTLE WANKER! APOLOGIZE TO HIM!" Remus reps forward, resting a calming hand on my arm.
"Sirius, stop!" he hisses just loud enough for me to hear.
"R-Remus, I'm s-sorry!" Peter snivels out, sniffing and looking completely pathetic. Remus smiles gently at Peter.
"It's alright Pete, just, please think about what you say." he says, and Peter nods very rapidly, shooting uneasy glances at my glowering face. I want to strangle him right now, for upsetting Remus so.
We sit down to dinner, the four of us, me and Remus next to each other, James at the head, Lily across from me and Peter across from Remus. I'm glaring at Peter the entire meal, and he flinches every time my angry gaze focuses on him. Remus says nary a word the entire meal, keeping silent and eating very little. I scoot my chair as close as possible to his, keeping our legs pressed together for security. I twine the hand I'm not using to eat and the hand Remus isn't using to eat together, rubbing his palm soothingly with my thumb.
As soon as dinner is over Peter jumps up, thanking Lily quickly for dinner, nodding at James and Remus, hurrying to the Floo, leaving before anyone else has even gotten up. Remus lets out a heavy sigh, rubbing his face as he gets up to help Lily with the dishes.
I exchange a "look" with James. I can see that James is just as pissed as me, because I know he loves Remus as much as I do, and seeing him upset from one of our MATES is so upsetting for us. But unlike me, James has learned to keep his emotions in check, like Remus. Lily and I are more fiery and explosive when we get angry.
I go into the living room and sit down angrily on the couch, waiting for Remus to come in. Him and Lily walk through the door from the kitchen, and Remus automatically curls up next to me on the couch, pulling his legs underneath him and laying his head on my shoulder. I sense that now is the time to talk.
"Rem?" I quietly ask, and Remus sighs again.
"Honestly Sirius, I'm alright. It just... It shouldn't be happening to me. I'm not even twenty! How can I be going gray already? And... It's just the way Peter said it. So casually. It's not fair." He says heavily, nuzzling into my neck more and breathing out softly.
"Rem, it's not actually you going gray." James says severely, his anger at Peter finally coming out.
"It's the wolf. don't worry about Peter, he's just stupid." I spit out Peter's name.
Remus doesn't respond- he's already asleep. I stroke his hair slowly, meeting eyes with James. We'll help Remus get through a life of lycanthropy.
We always do.
