Chapter seventeen – Blackmail
Remus remained in the hospital wing for several more days. He had a lot of visitors but the person who hardly left his side was Sirius.
"Hey Sirius" Remus greeted him softly from his bed in the hospital wing. "Hi love, are you feeling any better?" Sirius asked, not trying to hide the worry in his tone. "A little, Madam Pomfrey is helping me to walk again without getting too tired, but my muscles ache so much" Remus replied.
"Aww my poor baby" Sirius said, sitting on the edge of Remus' bed and giving him a gentle kiss. Remus smiled at him lovingly and began stroking his silky hair. "I miss you" Remus said to him quietly. "It's difficult to sleep without you next to me" Remus added. "Me too" Sirius replied sadly.
"But hey, look on the bright side. I'll be out of here in a few days" Remus said, trying to brighten their moods. "Yeah" Sirius replied, smiling wistfully at the thought of having to wait a few more days. Remus noticed his look and reached across and took his hand in his. "Don't worry about it, you'll have me all to yourself again soon" Remus said, kissing his hand.
Over an hour later, Sirius walked back to the common room by himself to meet James and Peter.
"Hey Padfoot, how's Remus?" James asked when Sirius entered through the portrait hole. "He's fine, hopefully he'll be getting out of there in a few days" Sirius replied, sitting down in one of the armchairs. "Was Snape sniffing around again?" Peter asked.
"No" said Sirius bluntly. "But if he does… let's just say my fist is going to say hello to his ugly face" Sirius added, punching a pillow. Peter and James laughed slightly. "Don't worry about him mate, he's after Remus but he knows he can never have him, I pity him sometimes" James replied. "Well I don't. He can't have Remus, even if I didn't. Remus is too good for that Slytherin scum" Sirius said angrily. "True true" Peter said.
James glanced at Sirius cautiously and decided to calm the other boy down. "Hey Sirius, how about a bit of Quidditch before dinner?" James asked, smirking. Sirius' face lit up. "Yeah sure! Do you want to come, Peter?" Sirius asked. "I'll come by later, I'm just going to visit Remus for a while" Peter replied.
"Okay, tell him I love him whilst your there" Sirius said. "Will do" Peter replied before exiting through the portrait hole. "Come on then Jamie, it looks like it's going to be just the two of us" Sirius said. "Yeah unfortunately" James replied with a smirk. "Shut it you" Sirius retorted, hitting him on the arm.
The two boys walked down to the Quidditch pitch with their broomsticks in their hands and smiles on their faces. The second Sirius rose in the air, all his tension and worry over Remus eased a little and his anger of Snape vanished. The wind blew softly through his black hair as he and James flew around the pitch, occasionally tossing an apple they got from the kitchens to each other.
Whilst the two boys enjoyed Quidditch, Remus and Peter had a nice long chat in the hospital wing about various subjects; schoolwork, teachers, friends and their relationships with Penny and Sirius. "You really like Penny don't you?" Remus asked Peter with a smile.
"Yeah, she's amazing. She's so beautiful and perfect…" Peter trailed off lovingly. "Same as Sirius then, except I wouldn't call him beautiful because that's a bit girly but amazing and gorgeous pretty much sums him up" Remus replied. Peter laughed softly and they continued talking until Peter decided to go and see James and Sirius at the Quidditch pitch.
"Hey Pete" James and Sirius said in unison when they arrived on the ground to greet their friend. "Hi, did you have fun?" Peter asked. "Yeah, how's Remus?" James asked. "He's fine. He sends his love, Sirius" Peter said to his friend. Sirius smiled and the three of them made their way back to the common room to deposit their brooms before dinner.
After dinner, James, Sirius and Peter went to the common room to play chess. Sirius decided to watch because he was too busy thinking about his werewolf lover not being with him right now.
"I think I'm going to go for a walk" Sirius announced to his friends. "Yeah okay" James said and then continued playing chess. Sirius wandered around for a while and found himself near the hospital wing. He was just thinking about visiting Remus when he heard somebody walking behind him.
"Hello Snape" Sirius said, disgust evident in his tone. "Black" Snape replied, nodding curtly. "Going to see your boyfriend, Black?" Snape asked, with a hint of jealously in his dark eyes. "Yes as a matter of fact I was, is there a problem with that?" Sirius asked him.
"No, of course not" Snape replied. Sirius turned away but he Snape said to his retreating back: "send Remus my love". Sirius turned around to glare at him darkly before walking briskly to the hospital wing.
Madam Pomfrey was reluctant to let him in because Remus was sleeping but Sirius used his charm to persuade her to let him sit with Remus for a while, reluctantly she agreed. Sirius took a seat next to Remus' bed and placed his hand in Remus' and began stroking it gently.
Sirius gazed at Remus' sleeping form. His thin body rose up and down gently and his perfect lips were shaped into a content smile. Sirius thought Remus looked even more amazing whilst he slept. He seemed so peaceful, despite all the bad things that had happened to him in his life.
Sirius admired his courage; he didn't think he'd ever be able to live as a werewolf, just knowing what Remus went through every month made him love him more.
He didn't know how long he sat there, watching his lover sleep but eventually, Sirius began to feel himself drifting off. Quidditch always seemed to tire him out and it had been a long, tiring day. Kissing him softly on the forehead, Sirius left the hospital wing and went back to the common room.
Everyone else had gone to bed and Sirius decided to do the same. He went to sleep much quicker that night because he was tired, but he still missed Remus' warmth lying next to him wrapped up in his arms.
Severus went to sleep that night with only one thought in his head. 'I'm putting my plan into action…tomorrow'.
The next morning, Peter, James and Sirius went to breakfast early, ready for the classes they had that day. Snape kept giving Sirius knowing looks and Sirius could have sworn he saw a smirk rising on Snape's mouth.
The morning dragged on slowly and by lunch time, the three of them were fed up. "We had History of magic this morning, Potions after lunch and Transfiguration this afternoon, what a nightmare!" James moaned and earned a few agreeing nods from a few of the Gryffindors.
"Aww how can I make you cheer up?" Lily asked him seductively. "I can think of a few ways" James said, cocking an eyebrow. He brought her close for a kiss and once they broke apart, they sat so close together they appeared to be joined at the hip.
"Oh get a room!" said Tylon, pretending to vomit in his cup. The other Gryffindors laughed including James and Lily.
Sirius visited Remus briefly at lunch and he was sad to have to leave so quickly. "I'll be back this afternoon, ok?" Sirius said, feeling reluctant to let go of Remus' hand. "Yeah okay" Remus replied with a smile. Sirius kissed him softly one last time before he departed.
About ten minutes later, Remus received another visitor, a certain Slytherin named Severus Snape. "Hello Severus!" Remus said cheerfully. "Hi Remus" Severus replied, taking a seat next to Remus' bed. "How are you feeling?" Severus asked him worriedly. "I'm getting better" Remus replied.
"That's good" Severus said. "I saw your boyfriend leaving here a little while ago" Severus added casually. "Oh yeah, he just came for a quick visit" Remus replied. Severus nodded before continuing. "You know, it's quite strange. I would have thought the school would be talking about yours and Sirius' relationship, it's not everyday we have a gay couple here!" Severus said.
"Oh…" Remus said, frowning slightly. "They don't really know, not many people do" Remus said sadly. 'This is even better than I expected' Severus thought to himself. "Why's that?" Severus asked. "Sirius isn't really ready to tell people" Remus replied. "Oh and you are?" Severus asked, loving this more and more every sentence. "Well yeah, I'm not ashamed of us" Remus said with a hint of anger in his tone.
"Yes, you're quite right. It's better to be open about these sorts of things" Severus said. "Yeah I know…" Remus replied doubtfully. "Why don't you talk to Sirius about it?" Severus asked. "Oh no I couldn't do that, Sirius might get a little upset" Remus replied.
'Oh that would be wonderful' Severus thought evilly. "Well you never know until you ask. Anyway, sorry I must dash. See you soon" Severus said, standing and going towards the door. "Bye" Remus said, obviously deep in thought.
'Sirius is doubtful, even better than I once thought' Severus thought with glee. He walked far down the corridor and almost bumped into someone walking in front of him. Much to Severus' delight, it happened to be Sirius.
"Watch where your going, Snape" Sirius said with venom. Severus merely laughed slightly and turned to face the other boy. "I've just come from seeing your boyfriend" He said casually.
Sirius' face went red with anger. "I thought I told you to stay away from him" Sirius spat. "Well, I just couldn't keep away from him and I'm sure he'd miss my company" Severus replied. Sirius was growing angrier by the second but kept his cool, he didn't want to give Snape the satisfaction of making him angry.
Sirius began to walk away from him but Severus stopped him. "Get out of my way" Sirius said angrily. "Oh no I can't do that until we've had a little talk" Snape replied. "Fine, say what you want to say then I'm off" Sirius said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I want you to break up with Remus" Snape said bluntly. Sirius looked outraged and opened his mouth to say something until Snape cut him off. "Don't argue, just hear me out" Snape began. "I'm asking you, no I'm telling you to break up with Remus, or else" Snape said.
"Or else what?" Sirius snapped, becoming more angry by the second. "Or else I'll reveal one of Remus' little secrets. In case you don't know which one, something about a full moon perhaps…"
"YOU WOULDN'T DARE!!" Sirius yelled angrily. "Oh wouldn't I?" Snape said calmly. "YOU LIKE HIM!" Sirius shouted, stating the obvious. "Maybe so but when everyone shuns him, I'd be there to be his only friend" Snape replied. "WE'D BE HIS FRIENDS!" Sirius argued.
"And what makes you think he'll want to be your friend?" Snape asked. "Why wouldn't he be?" Sirius asked. "Do you have any idea how convincing and cunning I can be? I can make it look like you three idiots told someone who spread the word" Snape said.
"He would never believe we'd do that!" Sirius said angrily. "Not even to someone you're all close to? Like Evans for example?" Snape asked. Sirius glared at him. "I'll tell Remus what your up to" Sirius said. "That won't stop me from telling everyone he's a werewolf and also adding that you two are a couple" Snape said.
Sirius was becoming quite desperate now. No matter what he said, Snape always had a way to reverse it and make it even worse for Sirius.
"So, are you going to do it?" Snape asked. "Do I have a choice?" Sirius said sadly. "No you really don't" Snape replied. "But Remus will know something is wrong, you don't just break up with someone for no reason" Sirius stated. "Oh but there is a reason, Remus wants to go public and you don't. He's probably expecting this" Snape said.
"How did you know about that?" Sirius snapped. "Remus told me, I had a nice little talk with him earlier, like I said" Snape replied. "So I want you to break up with him, tomorrow and then no one will ever find out Remus is a werewolf and you two are a couple and don't try and tell anyone else, because the damage will be done and in the end, saying something wouldn't be worth it" Snape said, then he walked away leaving Sirius standing alone, salty tears flowing down his cheeks.
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A/N: I'm very sorry about that but it had to be done. Poor Sirius! What a horrible person Snape is!