— CHAPTER TWENTY —

Brotherhood

TW: Period-typical homophobic slur

Professor Dumbledore's office was a large, circular room, but it still felt cramped since it hosted Remus, his four friends, the headmaster himself, and Professor McGonagall. Everywhere Remus looked there were portraits of previous Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses, who all pretended to not be listening eagerly to Lily's explanation of last night's events. Remus saw Fawkes the phoenix, somewhere between his adolescent and adult phase, on his perch. He gave Remus a wink.

"…and then Remus figured we could use the Wild Wind in that flask to whisk us up and out," said Lily. "That's how we escaped. And we're here now."

"Fascinating," said Dumbledore, clasping his hands together, his eyes alight. Sirius, beside Remus, snorted. "Fascinating tale, Ms Evans. I must say. Listening to your adventures has truly woken me up. I no longer need my morning cup of tea."

McGonagall cleared her throat. "Professor Dumbledore. We must contact the proper authorities. They have to know that the Jewel twins are on the loose."

"Yes, yes," he said, waving a careless hand to his left. Remus watched as an unmanned quill began to write a letter on one of Dumbledore's spindly desks. "Mr Lupin, I do suppose they didn't tell you where their Portkey was going?"

"No, they didn't, sir," said Remus, speaking for the first time in this conversation.

"A shame," said Dumbledore cheerfully. "I predict we won't be seeing them for a long time. Certainly, I'll have to find another Defence Professor for next year, won't I, Minerva?"

"Indeed. But first, their discipline." She cast a severe hand over the five of them.

"Ah, yes. Discipline, the only thing that keeps man from going mad. I suppose it'll be, er, fifty points from each of you, for sneaking out of bed. You all know that is against the rules and the quarantine period in place."

They all sighed. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"But thirty points to you each, as well, for the dedication and bravery you showed tonight," said Dumbledore seriously. "Especially you, Remus, my boy. Fifty points, for your ingenuity. Your courage. Your mercy."

They were all pleased by this. Remus fought the smile. Peter was particularly pleased, his squeak high-pitched, his face fresh and aglow.

"If that's all, I really think you all should go off to Gryffindor Tower," said McGonagall. "This quarantine period doesn't seem to be ending any time soon—"

"Wait," said Remus, and then blushed at his own bad manners. "Sorry for interrupting, Professor. James, you said Lily cast the Flame-Freezing Charm, then the Fire-Lighting Charm on herself, right?"

"Yes," said James. "It was wicked."

"Did she do it on anyone else?"

"Well, yeah," said James. "She did it on all of us. Otherwise, those bloody bugs would've eaten us all."

"I know how to cure the Clicker Cold," said Remus quickly, turning to Dumbledore and McGonagall. "It's fire." The Clickers were deathly terrified of fire; it made sense that their disease would be too. "You have to burn the diseased person, and it purifies them. It happened to Peter." Peter looked surprised, as if he hadn't realised that he was suddenly cured. "It happened to Ruby. We can heal everyone that's sick. Just do what Lily did."

Everyone gawked at him. Then—

"Surely Gryffindor earns all those points back," said James, but he was shot down instantly by McGonagall's glare.

"I'm just saying, if Remus didn't help cure the whole school, then we wouldn't have to do any exams," Peter was saying, fretfully rifling through his Potions textbook.

"Shut it, you ungrateful git," yawned Sirius, sinking further into the sofas and placing his feet on a nearby table. The Marauders were alone in the Gryffindor common room, but it didn't stop Remus raising an eyebrow at him. "If not for Remus, you'd be drowning in your own sick right now."

"What a pleasant image you've inserted into my mind," said Remus whilst marking a practice paper he'd done. He'd gotten a question about the ingredients of Strengthening Solution wrong, but everything else he had down pat so far.

Though he didn't show it, he was chuffed at what Sirius had said. It felt so much better now that Hogwarts was back to normal; Madam Pomfrey had efficiently and quickly healed everyone with Remus's method. (Some kids reportedly had enjoyed the tickling sensation of the Flame-Freezing Charm so much that she'd had to boot them out of the Hospital Wing.) Now the hallways were full of students, laughing and messing about as if they hadn't been under the threat of the Clicker Cold just weeks ago. It was nice to see Lily reunited with Severus—even if Remus supremely disliked the boy—or to see Frank so happy when his girlfriend Alice was cured—even if it did trigger an inexplicable twinge in Remus's chest.

"Lads," James hissed, shattering his reverie. "Look who it is!"

Coming down the stairs were Marlene and Mary, and behind them—

"Lily!" said Remus. "Your hair!"

Lily approached him, smiling. Her hair was back to its original colour and length, the fiery red spilling down her back. (She must've spelled it to grow back or brewed herself a Hair-Growth Potion. It was, after all, in the syllabus. Remus would know.) She'd also ditched her sister's punk clothing and was back to wearing the school uniform.

"Remus, hi!" she said, touching her hair a little self-consciously. "Yeah, I decided black wasn't my colour. I'm still gonna keep the clothes, though. Petunia doesn't deserve them."

He smiled, but he wasn't sure why. "Where are you off to now then?"

"I was actually going to go study. I need to if I'm gonna ace those exams, right?" she said, sending a challenging look at James and Sirius, daring them to ridicule her. "After all, I've been wasting my time with you and your idiot friends. God knows I've lost brain cells."

"All right, have fun then," said Remus, wearing a full-fledged beam on his face now.

As she and the other Gryffindor girls left, James goggled at her. "That girl is so—"

"Weird," finished Sirius.

"I was gonna say cool."

Sirius groaned. "Pete! Remus! We've lost him to the dark side."

"Come on, Pete, you agree with me, right?" James asked, which Remus thought was unfair because Peter always agreed with him. Sure enough, Peter gave a nod and a shrug.

"Remus then, my last hope!" Sirius said dramatically. He staggered over to Remus, grabbing him by the shoulder and tugging on him with faux despair.

"Get off me, you—"

"Hey," Sirius whispered in his ear now that they were close. "Can we talk?"

Remus jolted and looked at him, then gave him a brief nod. Sirius glanced at James.

Either they'd prearranged it or James was incredibly good at comprehending social cues because he gave a little pointed cough. "Pete. I was thinking we could go play some Wizard's Chess."

"Wizard's Chess?" Peter perked up. "But the set's on the other side of the—"

"Come on, silly," said James, already making his way over to the other end of the common room. "You scared to lose?"

"Okay, what's this ambush about?" Remus muttered when they'd left.

"Come. I want to talk," said Sirius. He unceremoniously flopped once more on a scarlet sofa, and Remus gingerly sat beside him. They now faced the crackling fireplace. "I solemnly swear it."

Remus sighed. "What more is there to interrogate me about?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Listen to yourself. I wanted to apologise. I—" He hesitated. Remus knew that Sirius was averse to apologies like Remus was averse to talking about lycanthropy. Or lice. "We haven't had a chat since. Well, you know. The chat."

Remus had been dreading this.

Maybe Sirius had been right to call Remus selfish because Remus knew he should be at home right now. He knew he should have owled his dad already, telling him that his secret was out. That he couldn't go back to Hogwarts next year. But one thing had led to another, and he'd had things to do; telling Pomfrey about his method of curing the Clicker Cold; studying for his exams; preparing for the upcoming Gobstones Cup which he was meant to compete in.

He was just stalling, he knew. But he wanted to savour the last drops of Hogwarts sweetness before having to leave forever.

"Yeah, well, is there anything more to say?"

"What? Of course there is. Look." Sirius turned away from him. "Remus. I'm sorry. I truly am. All that rubbish I said—us not being friends, you being selfish—I was just angry. I didn't mean any of it." He was almost whining.

"I know," said Remus. He truly did.

"It's just—" Sirius made a frustrated noise.

He was carding his hand through his hair, so artfully, unfairly tousled. It was getting so long, Remus noticed. He observed the thick strands ripple as Sirius's pale fingers ran through them, like a ship coursing through the open sea.

"Everything with Regulus this year. It just makes me so upset, seeing him all happy and getting letters, when I've gotten, well, shite. I've lost my family already, and I've basically lost him too now. I just—" He groaned, then turned to face Remus. "I couldn't stand the thought of losing you too, okay?"

He said the last part, so quietly but so intensely that Remus knew if Sirius hadn't blurted it out like that, he wouldn't have managed to say it at all.

"Sirius…"

"I'm sorry," said Sirius again. "That's why I bloody stalked you and wanted to know where you went all year and followed you and got mad and whatnot."

"Well. I just don't get why," said Remus, looking away from Sirius's hair. Not daring to look at him.

Sirius's voice made it clear he thought Remus was quite stupid. "'Cause you're my friend, Lupin. Obviously."

"You have James though," he said, turning around to see James and Peter engaged in a particularly vicious Wizard's Chess match. He watched Peter's knight decimate James's rook. "And Peter."

Sirius dismissed the thought with a scowl. "Well obviously I have James and Peter. But they aren't like you. I can't—I can't go sulk to James or he'll call me sensitive. I-I can't talk about books or he'll call me a girl. I can't tell him so much about my family as I do you, just 'cause you're … you." He paused. "You know, I would've liked to sulk more to you. The whole year. But you gave me no chances."

Now it was Remus's turn to feel guilty. Fuck. He really was such a terrible friend, wasn't he? "Sirius … I'm sorry. I couldn't have anyone find out about me, so I avoided everyone. It was easier that way."

"Well," said Sirius, his face splitting into a grin. "We did find out. So it should be all right now, shouldn't it?"

Remus didn't return the smile. "Sirius, no. I can't stay at Hogwarts. I can't come back next year. I've already said so."

"That's rubbish!" said Sirius, who scrambled up into a standing position. "Why not?"

"Nobody was meant to find out," said Remus, slumping back dejectedly into his seat. "That was the rule, the deal I made with my dad. I'll lose my place at the school. Parents will find out. What if I get sent to Azkaban?"

"How would anyone find out? We're not going to tell anyone," Sirius insisted, "right, James? Pete?"

At some point they'd made their way over to Remus and Sirius on the sofas, taking seats on their right. They nodded, as solemnly as Remus had ever seen them.

"Not a soul," said James. "Not my mother. Not my Auntie Priya, who I tell everything."

"Marauders' oath," Peter squeaked in endorsement.

"Trust me," begged Sirius. It seemed like the presence of James and Peter had bolstered his confidence. "You can tell me—us—anything. Trust us, Remus. Please."

"You guys are sweet, but…"

"But what?" demanded Sirius.

"Well, I'm a bloody werewolf, aren't I?" Remus snapped, but wearily. He couldn't believe himself! He'd said the W-word. There was no going back now. If by some chance they'd been sceptical about Remus's lycanthropy before, it was out in the open now. The truth had reared its ugly head. "It's honestly disgusting. Aren't you guys scared or creeped out? I'm a monster! You boys are friends with a monster. I don't want to put you lot through that."

The room was silent.

"Scared?" said James suddenly, laughing. "Remus, you are the least scary thing I have ever met, and I've met your pet rabbit."

The other two snickered, but Remus couldn't find it in him to join in. He merely stared at them, his jaw open. He'd been so candid, so honest, yet…

Peter nodded. "Ruby without breakfast is terrifying. Remus without breakfast is a mild inconvenience."

"You're not a monster, Remus," said Sirius, uncharacteristically gentle. "Why are you—why are you talking about yourself like that? You're not filthy or scary or whatnot. You're our best friend. We like you regardless."

"You still … you still like me?" asked Remus. He couldn't believe it. He'd just assumed they were just tolerating him for the time being before he had to bugger off forever.

Peter snorted. "Yeah, Remus, whose exams am I meant to copy off? Of course, we like you!"

"Like you?" James scoffed. "Lupey, Marauders go beyond like. There's almost something poufy about how I feel about you—"

"Yeah, yeah," said Sirius, frowning and pushing James away. "We," he emphasised, gesturing to all four of them, "are brothers, Remus. Brothers. Nothing can tear us apart."

"Even though I'm a werewolf?"

"Even though?" James scoffed once more. "Remus, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but your coolness factor was nought, until about two weeks ago. Your werewolf-ness is a pro, not a con."

"Definitely," said Peter. "Pro not a con, what he said."

Remus looked to Sirius, asking with his eyes if it was true.

Sirius gave him such a broad smile that Remus was sure it hurt. "For the smartest boy I know, you can be so stupid," he said in confirmation.

Remus burst into tears. He couldn't help it. He had never thought of himself to be a lucky person, but at that moment he felt like the most blessed person alive. The universe had not historically been kind to him—but had compensated him by giving the three best friends anyone in the world could ask for.

"—oh, shite, he's crying—"

"—what do you want me to do—?"

Remus felt arms wrap around him. No one really hugged him except his mum, so the feeling was novel but nice. Sirius was warm, solid. Supportive. His heart swelled, and eventually he felt the tears subside.

Remus could've stayed like that forever, but then James jokingly tried to join in and then they were all laughing and shoving each other and being the fools they were.

"Brothers," insisted Sirius quietly to Remus afterwards. He looked determined to make Remus believe it.

"I have to tell you lot something," said Remus, snivelling. His heart had grown to three times its normal size. His friends accepted who he was? His friends liked him regardless? Then he could tell them anything. "Something else I've been keeping to myself the whole year."

"Detective Black has missed out on a crucial detail!" cried James.

Sirius smacked him with a cushion. "What is it, Remus?"

"So," started Remus, wiping at his eyes, "there's this club that I've been in…"

The Gobstones Club members had gone all out for the finals. The classroom in which they normally held club meetings had been magically refurbished. Frank had charmed a gramophone to play some loud Muggle jazz in the corner. In the centre of the room lay a playing field, left blank as they hadn't decided which Gobstones version to play yet. The room itself had been enlarged magically to fit seats all around it, for spectators. In these seats sat mostly members of the Gobstones Club—but Remus's friends were there too.

"Woo! Remus!" called James, even though the game hadn't started yet. Sirius and Peter met his cheers with equal fervour. Ruby in Peter's lap chittered in approval.

"Your friends are the worst," said Frank, but he was grinning about it.

People were still milling about the room, chatting excitedly about the imminent match. He stood awkwardly by himself and tried not to let the pressure of all the onlookers get to him. "Yeah," he answered without turning to Frank, privately thinking they were, in actuality, the best. Sirius winked when they made eye contact and continued whooping.

Remus turned from them embarrassedly, but it felt good. It felt so good that his friends were here, yelling his name, supporting him. It was still surreal that they'd remained friends with him. He could hardly believe it. And now they were here, cheering him on with only just a hint of irony. It was more than Remus could ask for.

"Thanks for returning my thermos," said Frank, who was refereeing the game. He pulled out the golden Gobstones Cup from the said flask. "Otherwise I wouldn't have this. You ready to crack on?"

Regulus stood beside him, his mouth in a thin line. He looked like he was ready for war, not a game of Gobstones.

Remus nodded. Before they would play the finals match, they'd have to decide on what version to play. This was decided not through negotiation but through a game of wand, cloak, stone; the winner would decide the details. For the drama, Remus reckoned.

"Wand … cloak …" said Remus and Regulus simultaneously, shaking their hands with each word as per the game, "…stone!"

Remus, with his two hands, made the triangle for cloak. Regulus made the circle for stone.

"Cloak covers stone," Frank said.

His friends went barking mad, hollering in favour of Remus's win.

"All right, calm down, lads," said Frank, "He hasn't won the Cup yet. Okay, Remus, what'll it be?"

He'd thought about it beforehand. "Hufflepuff's Heart. No Keepsies. I'll go second."

"Hufflepuff's Heart it is," said Frank. "Give us a sec to make the playing field."

"Lupin," said Regulus, his voice low. "Can we talk outside?"

"Er—OK."

He glanced at Sirius, who raised one of his sharp eyebrows at him. Remus shrugged as Regulus led him outside the classroom.

"I know you threw our game," said Regulus instantly.

"I—"

"Don't try to deny it," said Regulus, his arms folded. It was frightening how similar he looked to Sirius when he was cross. "I know you lost the game on purpose. There's no way you would've lost with that last Kingstone flick you did. I've been observing you all year, remember? I've watched you improve. How could you beat Frank and not me?"

Remus was floored. All his effort for nil. The Black brothers should really be investigative Aurors.

"I don't know why you threw the match," Regulus said, "and I don't care. All I know is I will win, and not because you're going to lose on purpose." There was fire in his eyes when he walked closer. The Black boy was shorter but Remus felt threatened. "You're going to play the best you have ever played, and still lose. I will win."

Living up to parental expectations was no small feat; Remus knew that all too well. However, he was finding that it was a much harder task to be happy with yourself.

"All right, fine," said Remus with a small smile. "You're on."

Regulus didn't grin back, but his eyes were satisfied.

They went back inside. The playing circle field had been prepared for them; magical concentric circles had been drawn on the floor in the room's centre, and everyone was now seated. Remus heard James whistle in support and rolled his eyes. He looked up—Sirius looked at him determinedly and nodded his head once.

The goal of Hufflepuff's Heart was to try to get your Gobstones as close to the centre circle as possible. Before the game began, you had to line up all your Serfstones in a line, on the opposite side to your opponent. Then, to fire your Gobstones into the playing circle, you used your Kingstone to shoot them in.

Regulus went first. Knuckle down, he fired the first Serfstone in his row by firing his Kingstone. It landed squarely in the second ring.

On the opposite side of the circle, Remus ignored his friends' alleluias. Focusing hard, he flicked his first Serfstone. It managed to knock Regulus's into the third ring.

Remus looked up. Regulus's furrow deepened.

And the match continued much in the same vein. Regulus would fire one of his glassy Gobstones into the playing field into an ideal position, but Remus would be sure to match it the next turn. Sometimes Regulus or Remus overshot or undershot. Much like their previous game, the match seemed neck-and-neck, but Remus's calculating eyes judged that perhaps his Serfstones were in better positions than Regulus's. Perhaps he would win.

At some point, the Marauders had shut it, and there was a silent tension in the room. It had reached the time for their final turns. Everyone held their breaths as Regulus weighed his Kingstone in one hand, repositioning himself. Then, he fired it with such concentrated energy that it not only managed to reach the innermost circle, but also knock aside one of Remus's Gobstones whilst pushing one of his own into a more favourable ring.

"Wow," Remus heard Frank breathe.

Remus's turn.

Like last time, Regulus had made the mistake of never trying to knock away Remus's Serfstones. That final move by Regulus had unintentionally pushed Remus's Serfstone aside. He knew it from the slight surprise in Regulus's stormy eyes, the small space where his lips parted.

Remus couldn't afford to be unintentional. This last move of his had to be deliberate. Carefully curated. All his other Serfstones were in good positions, prime positions for him to earn the most points. Only Regulus's Kingstone kept Remus from winning, he was sure of it.

He didn't look up but he could feel Sirius's intense gaze on the game. He had to win for Sirius. For himself.

One would expect Remus to try to get his Kingstone into the middle too. But that would be too messy; there were already so many Serfstones littering the playing field. It would just be too unpredictable, Remus knew. It'd have unintentional consequences like Regulus's last play. What if Remus knocked away some of his own and caused his own loss?

So Remus, knuckle down, fired his Kingstone forcefully at one of Regulus's Serfstones in the outer edge. Whilst Remus's Kingstone stilled in the outermost ring, its power sent Regulus's Serfstone flying—so much so that it smashed right into one of Remus's Serfstones, sending it into the very centre! Regulus's Kingstone was collided with, rolling far, far away until it was in the outermost ring.

The final playing circle looked like this: two Kingstones on the very edge. Remus's Serfstone in the centre.

There was nothing else to do now but sit back and wait.

"Metimini," said Frank, looking gobsmacked at the game's outcome. Magical blue lines shimmered over the floor, counting the players' points. The blue then exploded, and the Globstone occurred, expelling putrid liquid into the face of Regulus Black.

The room erupted in deafening cheers and applause. It felt better than a Quidditch Cup win. At some point, Frank had shoved the Gobstones Cup into Remus's shaky hands.

Remus hurried over to Regulus, who looked only a little bitter as he cleaned his face off.

"I know you told me to play hard," Remus was saying under his breath, under the cheers and the chatter, "but, look, Sirius has told me about your mum, I know she might not be happy—"

Regulus interrupted him, a Black family trait. "Relax, Lupin. It's just a competition. Competition is fun, but that's all it really is." He paused, before adding, "I know I'm going to be a part of far more important things than Gobstones Club."

Before he could respond to that, he was pulled away by Frank, who swept him suddenly into a hug.

Remus jerked with surprise. The sensation of Frank's strong arms wrapped tightly around his body, the smell of aftershave emanating from his neck, the breadth of his body that Remus was now clinging to … it caused an involuntary twist in the pit of his stomach, that wasn't necessarily unpleasant, but was definitely unfamiliar.

Remus stumbled away, unable to keep his eyes from widening, his cheeks from the blush staining them, but Frank seemed not to notice. "My prodigy, Remus! You were fantastic!"

Remus longed both to hug him again and to run away, and so he settled for standing still as Frank ruffled his hair. Remus finally returned the grin Frank was giving him, trying not to think of his manly jaw, his pale neck, his lips—

"Congratulations, lad. Right. I'll leave you to those gits," said Frank humorously, gesturing to his friends beaming at him.

And it was easy to think of nothing but them. His friends, who roared in his ears and shoved him around affectionately. His friends, who had given him love when he deserved nothing and helped him win—just by being there. His friends, who Remus knew, could do anything. Together, they would conquer the world.

May came and went, the sweet rush of spring breezes replaced by the sticky stillness of June. Hogwarts exams rolled in hand-in-hand with the heat, both arriving in never-ending waves. Students abandoned robes and rolled up their sleeves, exposing naked skin to relentless summer sunrays. Remus himself had sought shelter in the shade of a Wandering Willow, on a hill on the shore of the Great Lake, which was too blinding in the daylight to glance at. The tree he sat under remained unstirring for now. Even the Willow's leaves grew tired of the weather, draping motionlessly over him like a soft, thin duvet.

This summer stasis proved ample time and space for Remus to mull over his thoughts of the year he'd had. He felt like he was wading through the Great Lake, grasping at murky thoughts in the water but ending up empty-handed, truths flowing away through his fingers.

"Ah, my Gobstones champion!" said Sirius, interrupting his brooding.

Remus glanced up from his book, which he hadn't even been reading. Sirius had been with James and Peter a little way away, mucking about on the shore with some old Quaffle they'd found. But now Sirius was making his way over to Remus.

"Come on, that joke's getting old now."

"It's no joke," Sirius said, faux angry. He slumped down next to Remus, too close. "I'm best friends with Hogwarts's best Gobstones player."

This warmed Remus more than any sweltering sunbeam could. "Be careful. He'll stop being friends with you if you don't shut it."

"So hurtful." Sirius clutched an invisible wound to his chest. "Well, I suppose he's got folks lined up for him, being a commodity and all. Curer of the Clicker Cold, Gobstones champion, resident werewolf—"

Remus felt his eyes enlarge with alarm. His head darted left to right. "Shh. Someone will hear you!"

Sirius laughed at him carelessly. "No, they won't."

He was annoyed now, and he shoved the Black boy away. "Well, some of us want to pass our Potions final, so if you don't mind…"

Sirius tumbled a little, down the slope of the hill, all while snickering. It wasn't a very steep hill, so there he sat, cross-legged, looking up at Remus like the irritating child he was.

"C'mon, ditch the textbook and play with us," he drawled. "I'm pants at Potion too, yet do you see me studying?"

"Well, you see, that's how one gets better at things they're not so good at. By studying."

Sirius gave him a look. "All right, what's got you so snappy? C'mon, tell me."

"Nothing's got me—"

"Secret for secret?"

Remus blinked at him.

"Did you forget what—?"

"No, I didn't forget what 'secret for secret' is," Remus said impatiently. "Of course I remember."

"Exactly. It's our thing. You first, then."

Remus let out a beleaguered sigh, but there was something about Sirius's words that made him smile.

"OK, fine. I'm brooding because I was thinking of Jewel."

"Jewel? Why? Which one?"

"Both, I suppose. But Jiminy, mainly. The friendly bloke, not the arsehole."

"What about him?"

"I told you I was a Whisperer just like him, right? Well, he'd give me lessons on how to do it, and he'd talk about magical creatures all the time, and—" Remus paused, trying to stare out at the Great Lake. The reflection of the light was blinding. "It was just nice. He convinced me they weren't all dark and evil. That I wasn't dark and evil."

In truth, there was also the fact that Remus realised he'd been fancying Jewel the whole year, just like he fancied Frank. They both made him feel a certain way, a feeling Remus wasn't sure yet if he hated or liked. But Remus wasn't about to verbalise this. He hadn't even really processed it himself. He looked down at the grassy floor to hide any blush spreading on his cheeks.

"Well, you're not dark and evil."

"Thank you. But the, er, worst part is that I'd made up this image of him in my head. I thought he was. You know, like me. And then when he and his brother told me offhandedly, no, we aren't bloody … you know, the W-word, I was floored. Even afterwards, when I thought I'd have to leave Hogwarts, I couldn't help but think, how much better would it be if I had some sort of mentor right now? I'm still thinking about it." A pregnant pause. "OK, your turn. Secret for secret."

Remus glanced up at Sirius, who was scratching his neck absent-mindedly. Remus watched his white neck arch upwards, watched the tendons, watched the growing Adam's apple glint in the sun. (When had Sirius grown an Adam's apple? Remus swore it hadn't been there before.)

"Well, I'm excited to go home."

Of all things Sirius could've said, this surprised him the most. "How come?"

"Remember when I asked you all the way back in first year if you loved your family? It's because I was thinking about it myself." (Well, obviously, Remus didn't say.) "I was really debating this idea of family love and whatnot—and I've finally decided." Steel flashed in Sirius's eyes. "I don't care if they're my parents. I don't love them anymore. They always make me feel shite, like I'm worse than Regulus. They're just not good at parenting. Look, I still think Reggie can be saved, maybe not right now; obviously I still love my little brother. But yeah, that's what I've figured out. I want to go home because I know how to feel now. How to act."

He stuck his chin up defiantly as if daring Remus to take issue with his words.

Remus would never. In fact, he rather thought that Sirius was more mature and courageous than anyone had ever given him credit for.

"Hey, I'm happy for you." He reached out tentatively and put a hand on Sirius's. "You're right. There's no excuse for the way they treated you." Remus paused, knowing the words that he wanted to say, but not knowing if he was brave enough to say them. He recalled what his dad had told him during the last summer holidays, before he'd left for his second year. "You say you're here for me. I hope you know that I'm here for you too. You can tell me whatever you like, whenever you like."

Sirius looked up at him silently for a few seconds. "Yeah. So when I go back, I give up on trying to meet my mum and dad's expectations. I'm going full wild child."

"All right. But stay safe about it."

"Mm," said Sirius noncommittally, drawing his hand away. "So, tell me. Why does it matter if Jewel's a werewolf?"

"It made me feel not so lonely." Remus sighed, leaning back against the Wandering Willow. "Like I wasn't alone."

"Good thing you're not alone then," said Sirius fiercely. "I don't know how many times you need to get it through that thick skull of yours—"

"No, I know. Marauders forever, I know. It would just be nice, okay? To know someone like me."

"I'm plenty like you."

Remus cracked a grin against his will. "Yeah? How?"

"Dashingly handsome. Incredibly sporty. And, as I said, I'm pants at Potions," said Sirius. "Come on, whip out the textbook then. Let's test us."

"I lied. It's not a textbook." He held it up. It was Mellie Mudaliar's The Light at Midnight. "I'm rereading it—"

"—ah, 'cause the third book's coming out this year," said Sirius excitedly. "I should probably reread it too then."

Remus smiled. Again, Sirius could be so charming when he didn't try to be. "Still can't believe you read. Still can't believe you can read, really."

Sirius tackled him into the ground, Remus howling at him to get off, and suddenly they were tickling each other until they were both dirtied from rolling in the grass and the leaves and the mud and the sun and the sea. Wheezing from laughter and life. Conducting a bit of electricity into the still summer day.

Lying there on the grass with Sirius by his side, panting, staring up at the dark canopy above him, he realised that he was feeling better. A lot better, in fact. Sirius's presence had not only clarified Remus's musings for him but had also lightened the weight of his worries. If Remus had been swimming in a sea of thoughts before, Sirius was his lifesaver, dragging him from the depths and onto the shore. He could only hope that he'd been a similar help to Sirius.

Now, Remus, if he craned his neck, could properly appreciate the Great Lake from afar. The sunlight was arcing beautifully off the motionless waters.

"Okay, okay, I'll play with the Godric-forsaken Quaffle you found," relented Remus finally, helping Sirius up from the ground, his face wrinkled with the same joy Remus knew was on his own. But before they could go, something unusual happened.

Out of nowhere, a cold breeze materialised before them. With it brought a singular rose petal which landed perfectly in the centre of Remus's palm. A whisper of words, unheard.

"What is that?"

Remus watched as the gentle gust faded just as quickly as it had come.

"Probably nothing," he said, letting the flower petal fall away. "Come on, race you to the others. Last one there's a dragon's egg!"

And off they went, enjoying the sunlight for as long as they could, before they were whisked away by the trappings of time. It was beautiful to revel in the ephemeral. The Wandering Willow would not wander, for now.

Yay! That's the end of Remus's second year. Thank you everyone for coming along, for your kind comments, and your support I'll forever be grateful for all my readers for sticking with me this whole time! :)

I'll start uploading Remus's third year soon! 3