Right, I have an AO3 account now and this story's on there and will be more edited than this one, though I am trying to edit this one too - my account name's 'imcrapatthiswritingshitbutitry' - and I also have some Marauders Oneshots on there too.
Anyway, I'm, gonna try and get through their first-year pretty quickly now, cos I kinda wanna get onto their second year - I like writing about Remus and his furry-little-problem and there's a lot of that in their next year.
Oh, and a small disclaimer cos I've not done one of those in a while: None of these characters are mine, all credits go to J.K. Rowling (even though, in my opinion, she's a transphobic bitch)
Raven x
The second half of their first term, after Halloween, was pretty uneventful. Remus managed to survive the next few full moons and Sirius suspicious looks died down after the distractions his and James' pranks caused. And he had plenty to worry about with the shower of Howlers he constantly received from his mother and father whenever a prank went just far enough that they needed to be informed.
Remus wasn't glad of these Howlers - the loud noise could cause horrible headaches, especially has his hearing was already stronger than normal humans. He was pleased, however, that they meant James and Peter were focused on keeping Sirius and happy, meaning none of them could focus on their fourth friends strange illnesses and disappearances.
It was one night, after a particularly violent Howler, that just so happened to be three days before the full moon. Remus couldn't sleep and had been lying awake for hours, when he heard movement in the bed next to him. Sirius' bed.
He checked his watch: 2:37 A.M. Why would Sirius still be awake at this time of night? He was famous in the dorm for loving his sleep - staying asleep for hours and napping whenever he could (unless, of course, there was mischief to get up to).
Remus could still hear James' steady breathing and Peter's snores as they slept, but he could tell Sirius was awake. He shuffled out from under his duvet, sliding the sleeves and legs of his pyjamas down to cover his scars before getting out of bed and tiptoeing over to the curtains of the other boy's.
"Sirius," he whispered. "Sirius - err - are you okay?"
There was no reply from the other side of the curtains, but Remus could hear him moving. He thought he heard sniffling, like Sirius was crying, but Remus didn't want to embarrass the other boy by bringing it up.
"Sirius?" he said hesitantly. Still silence.
Not wanting to go back to his own bed when Sirius was clearly upset, Remus reached out and slowly opened the Gryffindor red curtains. He was lying flat on his back, staring up at the canopy of the bed. Remus could see better in the dark than humans, so could see the red eyes, full of tears and tracks created by the salty droplets down his cheeks. Sirius glanced over, but said nothing, only shuffling sideways to make room for the other boy.
Remus perched on the edge of the bed. He didn't know what to say or do. He'd never had to comfort someone before - he was usually the one who needed comforting. He tried to think what his parents would do, but that wouldn't work. His father wasn't great at reassurance, either, and his mother would just hug and kiss him until he calmed down.
He just sighed, "I know this is a stupid question, but... are - are you okay?" he said. At least it was a conversation starter, he thought.
Sirius sighed too, his eyes drifting closed as he breathed deeply before opening them again thirty seconds later and looking over at Remus. He shook his head. His eyes were glistening with tears again, but he still didn't say anything.
Remus shuffled onto the bed further. "Do - do you want to talk about it?"
Sirius shook his head again.
"Okay, well... I just wanted to - to make sure you were alright... I- I thought I heard you... never mind, I'll - I'll go back to my bed," said Remus.
He was just about to leave, when he felt Sirius' arm on his elbow. "Stay," he said quietly, almost inaudibly.
Remus smiled and nodded, edging closer to his friend again. "Okay, I'll stay with you," he said. It always worked when his mum was comforting him to repeat herself, saying the same kind, reassuring things over and over.
There was a long silence, before Sirius sighed and gingerly sat himself up, leaning against the pillows. He paused before saying faintly, "I - I don't like the dark."
"Me neither," said Remus and he reached out of the bed curtains to take his wand from his bedside table, casting a dim Lumos charm.
Sirius smiled awkwardly at him but said nothing and Remus smiled back, trying to be reassuring. He had no idea what to do and felt completely out of his comfort zone. He had to try, though. Sirius was his friend and he had to try and help him, didn't he. Surely... after everything he'd done for him, he had to try and do something in return.
By now, Sirius was sitting up, one knee bent and the other out straight in front of him. His left arm was resting on his knee as he said, eyes locked on the duvet, "It was my parents."
"Hmm?"
"The dream - the - the nightmare... my parents, they - they..."
"It's alright, Sirius," said Remus gently, but not pityingly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Sirius looked up briefly then, meeting the other boy's eyes for just a split second. He reverted his gaze back to the dark red duvet and sighed again.
There was another small pause, and he said, "You want to know, though, don't you?"
"I want to know, but only if your comfortable telling me," said Remus. "I'm not going to force you. Everyone has secrets and they deserve to stay secret if that's what you want."
Sirius looked up for longer this time. He met Remus' eyes and smiled gratefully. The other boy smiled back. They were silent for a while, just sitting on the bed, enjoying each other's quiet company.
"Remus?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
"It's no problem," said Remus, smiling again.
Sirius breathed out deeply and rubbed his eyes like he was tired, then said, "I know I'm just being stupid. Only kids get nightmares. Not eleven-year-olds."
"That's not true."
Sirius said nothing, so Remus also said nothing, not wanting to interrupt his train of thought or stop him speaking if he was building up to something. Instead, however, Sirius just said, "I didn't wake you, did I?"
Remus shook his head. "No. No, it's alright."
That made Sirius glance at him a little suspiciously, but was obviously too tired to follow through with his curiosity and just said, "Okay, then."
After another pause, Remus said, "Do you want me to stay here tonight, if you can't sleep?"
There was a second's hesitation when Remus thought he'd overstepped some weird boundary and that wasn't something friends did for each other, before Sirius nodded, smiling but looking embarrassed.
"I wake up quite early," continued Remus, "so, I can leave before the others wake up, then they won't know, if you like."
"Don't tell them. Please."
"I won't. I promise," said Remus, looking right into the other boy's eyes so he knew he was being serious.
"Thank you."
Remus just shrugged as if to say it was no problem and Sirius shuffled sideways further so both boys could fit into the bed.
It was nearly another twenty minutes until Remus heard Sirius' breathing slowing down and could tell he was soundly asleep. He smiled to himself before going to sleep too, still in Sirius' bed in case he had another nightmare.
The next morning, Remus did exactly as he'd promised to do. He woke up at his normal time - before the others - then went into the bathroom to wash and change. When he came out, the other three were starting to get up.
James was just getting his stuff to go into the bathroom and Peter was sat up on his bed, planning to go in after him. As he passed Remus, James said, "Wake sleeping beauty up, would you?" motioning to Sirius' bed.
Remus nodded in response before dumping his pyjamas on his bed and going over towards the other boy's. He shook his shoulder gently and Sirius rolled over, rubbing at his eyes with his exhaustion.
"Y'alright, Rem?" asked Sirius, mid-yawn.
Remus couldn't help laughing a little at that. "Yeah, it's just, we need to get to breakfast."
The other boy groaned, still not sitting up or making any effort to get out of bed. He yawned again and his eyes started drifting closed.
"Come on, Sirius," said Remus, pulling on his pyjama shirt lightly.
"Yeah, yeah. Stop nagging."
Remus laughed again.
"How are you not tired after last night?" said Sirius, not realising what exactly he was saying until James spoke.
"What happened last night?" he asked them.
Sirius froze slightly and kept glancing at Remus, which was a sight as he was usually the first to have a quick, confident comeback in any situation. It was obvious he didn't want their other two friends to know what had happened.
"Oh, erm, I just had a nightmare," said Remus, almost without missing a beat. "It was nothing. I'm okay, don't worry. Just - err - just missing home."
"Oh, okay. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, it was just stupid. And, erm, Sirius heard me go to the bathroom after so, that's why he asked."
"Oh, alright, then," said James with a small shrug.
Sirius let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding and his shoulders relaxed, lowering from the position they had just by his ears. He then caught Remus' eye and smiled, mouthing a thank you.
He just smiled back in response.
K, I like this chapter. It's not long, but it's quite cute. Raven x
