Lesson Two: Expect the Unexpected
"Remus." He heard his mother call once more as he entered the living room. He looked up from the wooden floor at both of his parents, who were standing in front of the open front door. "I'm here." He muttered.
His mother turned to him and smiled, giving Remus just enough time to see who was standing in the doorway. "Is this one of your friends from school?" His mother asked kindly after she knew her son had gotten a look at the boy who was standing before them. Remus just nodded his head as he looked intently at the figure. His eyes never left the front porch to meet Remus' level stare he just periodically shifted his weight to the other foot.
Upon gazing at him, Remus noticed that the boy's hair was longer than it had been while they were at Hogwarts together. And because of its newly developed length it hung conveniently in front of his eyes, covering the majority of his face. Yet, at the same time, Remus didn't need any aid in telling him that this was Sirius.
Remus' mother, after Remus had confirmed that this was a friend of his, ushered the boy into their house. Shutting the door quietly behind him. Once inside, Sirius took a seat on the couch and mistakenly, in his mind, looked up from the floor at the people he had so kindly interrupted. He smiled weakly at them while he watched as these kind peoples faces went from confusion to utter concern.
"Oh my." Gwen Lupin muttered in shock as her eyes got their first glimpse of the boy's condition.
Remus felt his own mouth drop at his friend's appearance. Sirius' face was as pale as it had ever been. His hair was dirty and slightly hard from the dried blood that had escaped from a large gash on the left side of his head that was hiding beneath the thick layers of his black hair. His right eye was swollen, yet he could still open it, which revealed a deep red color from where the blood vessel inside of it had burst open upon impact with whatever or whoever had done this to him. On Sirius' face and neck there were numerous deep purple and green bruises blatantly on display. Under Remus, Gwen and Edmund's concerned gaze, Sirius just smiled imperceptibly at the family and then turned his own stare down to the wooden floor in shame. He knew he shouldn't have come here.
"What happened?" Remus asked. His voice was full of concern as he took a seat next to Sirius. Sirius looked away from him, unable to look his friend in the eyes and also not really wanting to talk about his problems with him either. His eyes then fell on Remus' mother and he gave a small halfhearted smile to her. "Nothing." He lied as he began to absentmindedly rub his right-arm gently as he started to look around at his new surroundings. Remus stared at his actions, which resembled that of a battered animal, and could tell, as Sirius' robes flattened against his arm, that his arm was clearly broken.
"Edmund; floo the healer." Gwen stated firmly after watching Sirius for a few moments. Her husband asked no questions and walked into his study, shutting the door behind him. Gwen moved to sit next to Sirius. Remus watched intently as she inspected his friend's injuries, carefully mumbling off the names of certain homemade remedies that would help each wound be less painful for him until the healer arrived later that evening. Remus chuckled slightly as Sirius raised his eyebrows at some of the words Gwen uttered, and Remus new that they were completely foreign to his vocabulary. She stopped when she had officially analyzed each of his injuries and then she smiled a warm unfamiliar motherly smile Sirius before she turned to her son. "Hon, could you go and get the First-Aid kit?"
Remus nodded, not wasting any time, got up from the couch, and walked back into the kitchen. When he entered he instantly began his 'ignore Kara' act, which worked quite nicely due to the fact that she was playing the same game with him as she busied herself with making some tea for herself. Remus quickly moved over to the counter and grabbed the First-Aid kit out of the third drawer. Once he had collected the box of muggle healing supplies he folded it under his arm and left the room before Kara had the chance to make a snide comment. When he reentered the living room he found his mother just talking softly with Sirius.
Remus handed his mother the First-Aid kit, which she took from him, and slowly opened it, taking out different jars of herbal remedies and other bottles of things that Remus knew Sirius had never seen before, and then she set them aside on the coffee table. She opened one of the bottles and carefully dabbed some of the clear liquid onto a cotton ball. "This is hydrogen peroxide... it will sting a bit when I do this." She told Sirius softly.
He nodded prepared for what was coming, and then Gwen dabbed the chemical onto the cut on Sirius' head. Sirius whimpered slightly, as the solution made contact with his wound, like a wounded animal. After she was done with that part of the treatment she moved on to the next remedy, after the next, each time she would tell the boy exactly what she was going to do to him.
It was strange for Remus to watch Sirius sit there while his mother helped him with his injuries, like she often did to him after the full moon. All the while, Sirius tried his best to pretend that he was okay with this stranger touching him, caring for him, all things that, as Remus had learned during his first year at school with the young boy, were very foreign to him. Yet, at the same time, the more Remus' mother talked softly to his friend the more Sirius began to open up. When Gwen had reached the worst part of treated Sirius' wounds, setting Sirius' right arm back in place, he had yelled in pain as she did this to him. Yet, afterwards, while Remus' mother was placing a bandage firmly around it, he was ready with a quick joke that even Remus had to laugh at, even after considering what he had recently been through. Then Remus' mother, finding that her job as healer was done for the evening, put all of the bottles back into the box and set the First-Aid kit to the side on top of the coffee table.
Remus barely noticed that his mother had stopped helping Sirius as his mind fixed itself on the last thought that had crossed his mind. "What happened?" He asked finally finding his voice.
Sirius said nothing, fully intending to hoard the memories of what had happened that morning until he died. He turned to Remus and smiled feebly at him hoping that that would be enough for his friend and then he said. "I would have waited to come, but I couldn't. I know the full moon is next week, so I'll leave then, so you don't have to bother with me. I just needed to get away." He said as bluntly as he could, and Remus knew that he was trying to get away from his question.
Remus watched his mother's eyes grow wide at the child's bluntness and then she touched Sirius' arm comfortingly making sure that he knew that he was welcome here. "So that's why you've been so worried." Gwen stated as she looked over Sirius' should over at her son. Remus nodded and put his head down in shame. He'd been completely stupid to have doubted his friend's intentions. This just proved that, Sirius wouldn't have come here if he didn't like him. And he certainly would not have said what he had just said if he didn't respect him. "And you will not be leaving here if you don't want to. We're perfectly used to Remus' condition and I'm sure, since you don't seem to mind it either, you can handle staying here while Remus is sick."
Remus rolled his eyes at his mother's words. He couldn't help it. He looked back at Sirius who smirked openly at Remus' mum's words and nodded his head as if saying that he understood. Remus then got to thinking about Sirius' injuries and again the question came to his mind. How did they get there? He could definitely guess easily enough, but he wasn't sure if he'd be right, and it wasn't healthy for Sirius always to hold his feelings in like a greedy old miser. "What happened?" The question soon left his lips, though, more earnestly this time.
Sirius groaned and stared at Remus and just shrugged his shoulders and turned to stare at the coffee table. When the design that was carved into the top of it grew slightly dull amidst the silence of the room he lifted his gaze and was greeted with the soft grey eyes of Remus' mum, which were full of concern. He looked at her intently and noticed that her whole face read of the same concern that was in her eyes and it was completely unfamiliar to him. A mother cared about what had happened to him. She wasn't just standing on the sidelines chanting, "You deserved it you sorry- " and then went on to fill in the ending with more colorful words that fit the moment. Gwendolyn Lupin actually cared about him.
Remus watched as Sirius' firm, stubborn facial expression grew softer as he looked at Remus' mother and suddenly he saw Sirius open his mouth. "It was my birthday gift." He said bitterly. He looked over at Remus and then went on to explain. "My dad came home yesterday evening. One of the few visits he makes home during the month. He usually just gallivants around town with his tramps and then, suddenly, realizes he has a family back in London and comes home for a week until he gets sick of us." Sirius sighed not sure why he was saying any of this but then continued anyway. "But that's not my point. I don't even really care about his nightly activities; I prefer it when he's gone." He sighed slightly and quickly began to get to his point.
"Anyway, this morning he called up the stairs at five in the morning for me to wake up. Well, I wasn't going to wake up at that time during my holiday. When I didn't come down for whatever it was he wanted, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and I knew I was in trouble.
"He stormed into my room, threw off my sheets and grabbed me by the hair and proceeded to crack my head against the headboard of my bed. When he was done with that event, he dropped me on the floor. I laid there for a while until I thought he might have left because it had grown terribly quiet. Then I heard his breathing, he was waiting for me to move. Then I made the mistake of playing dead, my hope was that he'd just go away, I was wrong. He had figured out my plan, so he started to choke me until he was sure I couldn't breathe. Then he let me go, as I gasped for breath he punched me once in my eye. I heard him move for the door and I thought that he was going to go away for good this time, and then, suddenly, he picked me up again, carried me out of my room, and threw me down the stairs. I lay in the hall until I heard him head for the kitchen."
Remus stared at Sirius, who was always the strong one, as he spoke. His voice never wavered with the hint of tears, and no tears ever even fell from his eyes during his tale. It was just simply an unfortunate event in his short-lived life, nothing more, and nothing less. How could he live like that? Remus couldn't even try to comprehend it. Granted he didn't have the best of lives himself, but at least he knew that he was loved. Even Kara loved him, despite the way she treated him, and he treated her back, they loved each other. Sirius had never even had the chance to even witness anything like that, ever. The closest thing that Remus could think of that Sirius could try to compare to having a loving family of his own was James'. Remus looked at Sirius, who just smiled at him, knowing what his friend was thinking about and simply in return shrugged his concern away. "It's nothing new. I'm used to it."
Remus shook his head at Sirius' words and opened his mouth to reply but his mother cut him off with the same words he himself had planned to say. "No one should be used to that, hon." She said softly as she gently placed her hand on Sirius' bruised cheek. She smiled faintly at the young boy. "Now go wash up. Take a long shower or bath, anything you like, the bathroom's down the hall, second door to the left."
Sirius chuckled slightly to himself, in slight shock of the hospitality he had found in this house. He then got up and disappeared down the hall, moments later they heard the sound of running water filtering down the hallway. Remus looked up at his mother. "You're not going to send him home, are you?"
"No, I wouldn't risk it." She stated firmly, and Remus instantly knew that she was found of his friend. Then she added as an afterthought as if to confirm his suspicions, "He's a remarkable boy, and I'm glad he's your friend. Now go busy yourself with something, I have to talk with your father."
Remus nodded and wandered up to his loft and began to set up another bed for Sirius. He was fully content with the idea that Sirius would be staying with them. He could hear his parents discussing how they were going to deal with the full moon's festivities and try to manage a guest at the same time. His father, ever the sensible one kept posing hypothetical questions with what could happen to Sirius psyche if he stayed, all of which his mother barreled through with a reasonable answer, that blew holes into her husband's theories. Remus laughed slightly at their petty bickering. He knew and understood all of their concerns all too well, but this time he was willing to set them aside.
"Remus." He heard his mother call once more as he entered the living room. He looked up from the wooden floor at both of his parents, who were standing in front of the open front door. "I'm here." He muttered.
His mother turned to him and smiled, giving Remus just enough time to see who was standing in the doorway. "Is this one of your friends from school?" His mother asked kindly after she knew her son had gotten a look at the boy who was standing before them. Remus just nodded his head as he looked intently at the figure. His eyes never left the front porch to meet Remus' level stare he just periodically shifted his weight to the other foot.
Upon gazing at him, Remus noticed that the boy's hair was longer than it had been while they were at Hogwarts together. And because of its newly developed length it hung conveniently in front of his eyes, covering the majority of his face. Yet, at the same time, Remus didn't need any aid in telling him that this was Sirius.
Remus' mother, after Remus had confirmed that this was a friend of his, ushered the boy into their house. Shutting the door quietly behind him. Once inside, Sirius took a seat on the couch and mistakenly, in his mind, looked up from the floor at the people he had so kindly interrupted. He smiled weakly at them while he watched as these kind peoples faces went from confusion to utter concern.
"Oh my." Gwen Lupin muttered in shock as her eyes got their first glimpse of the boy's condition.
Remus felt his own mouth drop at his friend's appearance. Sirius' face was as pale as it had ever been. His hair was dirty and slightly hard from the dried blood that had escaped from a large gash on the left side of his head that was hiding beneath the thick layers of his black hair. His right eye was swollen, yet he could still open it, which revealed a deep red color from where the blood vessel inside of it had burst open upon impact with whatever or whoever had done this to him. On Sirius' face and neck there were numerous deep purple and green bruises blatantly on display. Under Remus, Gwen and Edmund's concerned gaze, Sirius just smiled imperceptibly at the family and then turned his own stare down to the wooden floor in shame. He knew he shouldn't have come here.
"What happened?" Remus asked. His voice was full of concern as he took a seat next to Sirius. Sirius looked away from him, unable to look his friend in the eyes and also not really wanting to talk about his problems with him either. His eyes then fell on Remus' mother and he gave a small halfhearted smile to her. "Nothing." He lied as he began to absentmindedly rub his right-arm gently as he started to look around at his new surroundings. Remus stared at his actions, which resembled that of a battered animal, and could tell, as Sirius' robes flattened against his arm, that his arm was clearly broken.
"Edmund; floo the healer." Gwen stated firmly after watching Sirius for a few moments. Her husband asked no questions and walked into his study, shutting the door behind him. Gwen moved to sit next to Sirius. Remus watched intently as she inspected his friend's injuries, carefully mumbling off the names of certain homemade remedies that would help each wound be less painful for him until the healer arrived later that evening. Remus chuckled slightly as Sirius raised his eyebrows at some of the words Gwen uttered, and Remus new that they were completely foreign to his vocabulary. She stopped when she had officially analyzed each of his injuries and then she smiled a warm unfamiliar motherly smile Sirius before she turned to her son. "Hon, could you go and get the First-Aid kit?"
Remus nodded, not wasting any time, got up from the couch, and walked back into the kitchen. When he entered he instantly began his 'ignore Kara' act, which worked quite nicely due to the fact that she was playing the same game with him as she busied herself with making some tea for herself. Remus quickly moved over to the counter and grabbed the First-Aid kit out of the third drawer. Once he had collected the box of muggle healing supplies he folded it under his arm and left the room before Kara had the chance to make a snide comment. When he reentered the living room he found his mother just talking softly with Sirius.
Remus handed his mother the First-Aid kit, which she took from him, and slowly opened it, taking out different jars of herbal remedies and other bottles of things that Remus knew Sirius had never seen before, and then she set them aside on the coffee table. She opened one of the bottles and carefully dabbed some of the clear liquid onto a cotton ball. "This is hydrogen peroxide... it will sting a bit when I do this." She told Sirius softly.
He nodded prepared for what was coming, and then Gwen dabbed the chemical onto the cut on Sirius' head. Sirius whimpered slightly, as the solution made contact with his wound, like a wounded animal. After she was done with that part of the treatment she moved on to the next remedy, after the next, each time she would tell the boy exactly what she was going to do to him.
It was strange for Remus to watch Sirius sit there while his mother helped him with his injuries, like she often did to him after the full moon. All the while, Sirius tried his best to pretend that he was okay with this stranger touching him, caring for him, all things that, as Remus had learned during his first year at school with the young boy, were very foreign to him. Yet, at the same time, the more Remus' mother talked softly to his friend the more Sirius began to open up. When Gwen had reached the worst part of treated Sirius' wounds, setting Sirius' right arm back in place, he had yelled in pain as she did this to him. Yet, afterwards, while Remus' mother was placing a bandage firmly around it, he was ready with a quick joke that even Remus had to laugh at, even after considering what he had recently been through. Then Remus' mother, finding that her job as healer was done for the evening, put all of the bottles back into the box and set the First-Aid kit to the side on top of the coffee table.
Remus barely noticed that his mother had stopped helping Sirius as his mind fixed itself on the last thought that had crossed his mind. "What happened?" He asked finally finding his voice.
Sirius said nothing, fully intending to hoard the memories of what had happened that morning until he died. He turned to Remus and smiled feebly at him hoping that that would be enough for his friend and then he said. "I would have waited to come, but I couldn't. I know the full moon is next week, so I'll leave then, so you don't have to bother with me. I just needed to get away." He said as bluntly as he could, and Remus knew that he was trying to get away from his question.
Remus watched his mother's eyes grow wide at the child's bluntness and then she touched Sirius' arm comfortingly making sure that he knew that he was welcome here. "So that's why you've been so worried." Gwen stated as she looked over Sirius' should over at her son. Remus nodded and put his head down in shame. He'd been completely stupid to have doubted his friend's intentions. This just proved that, Sirius wouldn't have come here if he didn't like him. And he certainly would not have said what he had just said if he didn't respect him. "And you will not be leaving here if you don't want to. We're perfectly used to Remus' condition and I'm sure, since you don't seem to mind it either, you can handle staying here while Remus is sick."
Remus rolled his eyes at his mother's words. He couldn't help it. He looked back at Sirius who smirked openly at Remus' mum's words and nodded his head as if saying that he understood. Remus then got to thinking about Sirius' injuries and again the question came to his mind. How did they get there? He could definitely guess easily enough, but he wasn't sure if he'd be right, and it wasn't healthy for Sirius always to hold his feelings in like a greedy old miser. "What happened?" The question soon left his lips, though, more earnestly this time.
Sirius groaned and stared at Remus and just shrugged his shoulders and turned to stare at the coffee table. When the design that was carved into the top of it grew slightly dull amidst the silence of the room he lifted his gaze and was greeted with the soft grey eyes of Remus' mum, which were full of concern. He looked at her intently and noticed that her whole face read of the same concern that was in her eyes and it was completely unfamiliar to him. A mother cared about what had happened to him. She wasn't just standing on the sidelines chanting, "You deserved it you sorry- " and then went on to fill in the ending with more colorful words that fit the moment. Gwendolyn Lupin actually cared about him.
Remus watched as Sirius' firm, stubborn facial expression grew softer as he looked at Remus' mother and suddenly he saw Sirius open his mouth. "It was my birthday gift." He said bitterly. He looked over at Remus and then went on to explain. "My dad came home yesterday evening. One of the few visits he makes home during the month. He usually just gallivants around town with his tramps and then, suddenly, realizes he has a family back in London and comes home for a week until he gets sick of us." Sirius sighed not sure why he was saying any of this but then continued anyway. "But that's not my point. I don't even really care about his nightly activities; I prefer it when he's gone." He sighed slightly and quickly began to get to his point.
"Anyway, this morning he called up the stairs at five in the morning for me to wake up. Well, I wasn't going to wake up at that time during my holiday. When I didn't come down for whatever it was he wanted, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and I knew I was in trouble.
"He stormed into my room, threw off my sheets and grabbed me by the hair and proceeded to crack my head against the headboard of my bed. When he was done with that event, he dropped me on the floor. I laid there for a while until I thought he might have left because it had grown terribly quiet. Then I heard his breathing, he was waiting for me to move. Then I made the mistake of playing dead, my hope was that he'd just go away, I was wrong. He had figured out my plan, so he started to choke me until he was sure I couldn't breathe. Then he let me go, as I gasped for breath he punched me once in my eye. I heard him move for the door and I thought that he was going to go away for good this time, and then, suddenly, he picked me up again, carried me out of my room, and threw me down the stairs. I lay in the hall until I heard him head for the kitchen."
Remus stared at Sirius, who was always the strong one, as he spoke. His voice never wavered with the hint of tears, and no tears ever even fell from his eyes during his tale. It was just simply an unfortunate event in his short-lived life, nothing more, and nothing less. How could he live like that? Remus couldn't even try to comprehend it. Granted he didn't have the best of lives himself, but at least he knew that he was loved. Even Kara loved him, despite the way she treated him, and he treated her back, they loved each other. Sirius had never even had the chance to even witness anything like that, ever. The closest thing that Remus could think of that Sirius could try to compare to having a loving family of his own was James'. Remus looked at Sirius, who just smiled at him, knowing what his friend was thinking about and simply in return shrugged his concern away. "It's nothing new. I'm used to it."
Remus shook his head at Sirius' words and opened his mouth to reply but his mother cut him off with the same words he himself had planned to say. "No one should be used to that, hon." She said softly as she gently placed her hand on Sirius' bruised cheek. She smiled faintly at the young boy. "Now go wash up. Take a long shower or bath, anything you like, the bathroom's down the hall, second door to the left."
Sirius chuckled slightly to himself, in slight shock of the hospitality he had found in this house. He then got up and disappeared down the hall, moments later they heard the sound of running water filtering down the hallway. Remus looked up at his mother. "You're not going to send him home, are you?"
"No, I wouldn't risk it." She stated firmly, and Remus instantly knew that she was found of his friend. Then she added as an afterthought as if to confirm his suspicions, "He's a remarkable boy, and I'm glad he's your friend. Now go busy yourself with something, I have to talk with your father."
Remus nodded and wandered up to his loft and began to set up another bed for Sirius. He was fully content with the idea that Sirius would be staying with them. He could hear his parents discussing how they were going to deal with the full moon's festivities and try to manage a guest at the same time. His father, ever the sensible one kept posing hypothetical questions with what could happen to Sirius psyche if he stayed, all of which his mother barreled through with a reasonable answer, that blew holes into her husband's theories. Remus laughed slightly at their petty bickering. He knew and understood all of their concerns all too well, but this time he was willing to set them aside.