CW: mental health, mentions of abuse, prejudice

:TWENTY TWO:

Remus and on edge and jumpy over the next week, much to the confusion of Harry. They had left soon after Mr. Weasley, apparating back home where Harry went to see Aunt Petunia about that cookie. When he returned to their flat; however, he found Remus curled up on the couch in one of their large blankets. Harry, not entirely sure what to do, had cuddled with Remus all that afternoon.

As time went on, Harry's confusion grew into frustration. He didn't know what was wrong, but his time with the Dursleys had taught him that it was probably his fault. But he just couldn't think of what he'd done that had caused Papa Lupin to become this way. Nothing seemed to work, not cleaning or cooking or treats.

Remus didn't mean to be dismissive - he was just so incredibly exhausted. All of this new information, combined with all of the changes in his life, had rendered him completely unable to cope with any more. He continued to fight, and was able to do the bare minimum, but that was about it. And he thought he was hiding it fairly well, until Harry confronted him.

"Papa Lupin!" Harry shouted, stamping his foot in front of Remus.

Remus started, just realizing that Harry was standing in front of him. "What is it, Harry?"

"You've been ignoring me." Harry's eyes filled with angry tears. "Why? I don't understand!"

Harry balled his hands in his face, hiding it from view as he cried. He tensed slightly when he felt Remus kneel down to hug him close, but relaxed as Remus muttered soothing words to him. When he'd settled down a little bit, Remus pulled away and looked at Harry.

"I'm so sorry, Harry." Remus began, looking ashamed. "I have been ignoring you, but not on purpose. I've been worried about someone. There's some things I need to tell you, okay?"

Harry sniffled, but nodded. Remus scooped him up, carrying them both to the couch in the living room. Once they were all wrapped up in blankets together, Remus began to explain about Sirius Black. He explained their friendship and how it transformed into a relationship. He explained, in a child-friendly manner, how Sirius had gone to Azkaban. Finally, he explained how some new evidence meant that Sirius might be innocent.

"So you see, Harry," Remus finished. "I'm very worried for Sirius. I'm hoping he gets to leave prison so he can meet you, because he really loves you."

"And he loves you, too." Harry said, nuzzling into Remus and looking thoughtful.

"Well," Remus replied, holding Harry close and stroking his hair. "I don't know about that anymore."

"If he loves me, he'd better love you too." Harry stated firmly.

Remus felt himself at a loss for words, so they just sat there together in silence for a while. Once again, Remus was made aware of just how forgiving Harry was. He resolved to try harder to communicate with Harry so he wouldn't have to doubt their relationship again. Harry was the one to break the silence.

"Papa Lupin," Harry murmured thoughtfully. "If Sirius has been all alone in prison, maybe we should write him a letter. Then he'll know he's not alone."

Remus swallowed nervously. In truth, he still hadn't written to Sirius himself. With everything going on, he really had no idea where to even start. But with Harry looking up at him so openly, Remus found himself agreeing.

"Alright." Harry leapt off the couch. "I'm going to get the art supplies! Sirius deserves a Harry Potter original!"

That was what he'd taken to calling his drawings, which littered the whole flat with color and character. At this light-hearted comment, Remus found himself cheering up even as he mentally prepared himself to write his letter. Harry came back quickly, handing Remus his favorite pen and some paper. Then, Harry settled himself on the coffee table with all of his markers, crayons, and a whole stack of paper. Remus smiled bemusedly at Harry.

"That's a lot of paper." He mused aloud.

"Well, yeah," Harry said, like it should be obvious. "I have to make sure it's absolutely perfect."

"Right." Remus said seriously, nodding his head. "May I join you at the coffee table?"

Harry nodded, pushing some of his art supplies over to make room. Remus slid off the couch, using it to support his back while he decided what to write. Having Harry there made it eraser though, and Remus was eventually able to start writing. And once he'd started, it was like a river of words came flowing out of him naturally, until he'd written on both sides of the paper.

He explained to Sirius all that had happened since he'd been imprisoned, especially when it came to him and Harry. He explained how they'd found Peter and were working hard to secure his freedom so he could get out. Finally, Remus wrote that he would be there to collect him and that Harry really looked forward to meeting him.

When he'd finally finished writing, Remus watched as Harry sketched various ideas. Even at his young age, Harry was incredibly expressive in everything he did. It looked like he settled on a cartoon strip idea though, pulling the paper towards him and breaking out the markers to color everything in. As Remus looked at the drawing, his heart broke.

"What's this about, Harry?" He asked quietly.

"Oh!" Harry showed Remus his drawing, pointing to each drawing as he explained. "This is me in the cupboard, then the next section is you saving me from the cupboard."

He pointed to the top half of his drawing, showing a sad stick figure in a small space, then being held by a large stick figure. Both of them were smiling here, with little fireworks in the background.

"Then here, I drew what I reckon Sirius looks like in prison. And the ending is all of us together!"

It was a very depressing sketch of a stick figure in a dark space, followed by three big stick figures and the small stick figure together. And, of course, there were even more fireworks around them.

"It's beautiful, Harry." Remus murmured. "I'm going to go get ready so I can deliver our letter, okay?"

Harry nodded, not looking up from his drawing as Remus left. Seeing as how Mr. Weasley had headed up the investigation into Sirius Black's case, he would probably be the easiest way to get the letter to him. Remus hadn't heard once from Dumbledore since the news had broken, which was slightly concerning.

But he didn't have time to worry about what Dumbledore was doing, he could only think about what he had to do in the moment. So he got dressed in his nicest clothes, since he would need to go into the Ministry of Magic. It was taxing, but Remus pushed through it and thought he looked passable by the time he'd finished.

"I'm going to see if Dudley will play with me." Harry said when Remus re-entered the living room.

"Alright," Remus agreed. "I'll try to be home soon."

Harry hugged Remus, then they walked down the stairs together. Remus quickly explained to Petunia that he had an errand to run, then left the house.

He'd warded the building with all the same protection as his old home, so he had to walk down the street and into an alley before apparating. He popped in front of the Ministry, where he stared up at the daunting building. Remus was registered here as a werewolf, but people didn't check that list very often. If he was careful, he might be able to get to Mr. Weasley's office without any uncomfortable conversations.

Pushing down his dread about going into this awful place, Remus walked into the marble atrium and checked in with the front desk. His wand was checked and he got one of those visitor's badges. Remus asked which floor Mr. Weasley was on, then carefully made his way to the rather small office. Considering how frequently magical objects were misused, Remus was surprised by the lack of space and people in this department.

Mr. Weasley was not in when he arrived, so Remus squeezed himself onto one of the chairs to wait for him. He didn't have to wait for long though, as a bedraggled-looking Mr. Weasley came in carrying a box of snapping tea cups. He looked startled when he saw Remus there, but came in and set the box down before speaking.

"How'd you know, Remus?" He asked once he'd plopped down into his chair. "I was going to send you a message right now."

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, looking confused and a little apprehensive.

"They're releasing Sirius Black today."

Notes:

I'm sorry for the cliffhanger, but I really wanted to end here because all of those feelings you're feeling are about how Remus is feeling now.

Also, this story passed over 10K readers yesterday! I wanted to just say thank you so much for that. I had no real idea that my stories would be read and cared about by so many people. It's really amazing, so thank you!

Happy Reading!