Lesson Three: Know Your Surroundings
Remus sat picking out the rhythm to the "Blackbird" on his guitar, as he slowly sang the lyrics to himself. When Sirius came into his loft of a room from his shower he just smiled awkwardly at Remus while Remus continued to play his favorite song by the Beatles. Remus continued quirkily, with his finger picking out the familiar beats, as his mind reeled about what he could do with this friend now that Sirius was waiting patiently for him to pay attention to him. When the song had reached its final chord the sound it made was left to linger over the little loft. Finally, Sirius spoke up, clearly trying to get away from the obvious awkwardness that both boys had suddenly fallen into during the few seconds it took for the room to fall into a complete silence.
"Your mum is really nice." He offered lamely into the noiseless void.
"I know." Remus muttered, instantly trying to cling to any form of 'easy' conversation, as most tend to dub it when they are in such a predicament as he was now. He stood up and put his guitar back into its case and stowed it carefully underneath his bed. Once he was sure that it was safe he stood up straight and just looked at Sirius. He quickly ran his fingers through his short-cropped hair that fell slightly in his eyes and chuckled uneasily amidst the silence. As much as he loved Sirius, he did not know exactly how to deal with having a friend over at his house. This was actually a first for him. Well, at least since he and his family had been run out of the small wizarding community when he was eight. He sighed deeply, as that painful memory came back into his mind, and soon he found himself pacing back and forth in the small isle between the wall and his bed, as he wandered deeper and deeper into his own thoughts. All the while, Sirius eyed him nervously.
Not only did Remus never have a friend over to visit him before, but he also, because of this last fact, was entirely used to being by himself; alone. Whether that meant him reading a good book or playing his guitar. All of which, Sirius would surely frown upon as possible things to do. After all, it was their summer holiday. Therefore, Remus did not have any clue as to what he could do with Sirius' being there.
He could feel Sirius' eyes on him as they followed his movements around his room. Finally, he stopped and turned to Sirius slowly. He looked at Sirius closely, examining him as he stared, evenly, back at him. He was still battered and bruised from head to toe, but now, at the very least, he was clean. That was aside from his dirty robes that he had been wearing when he had arrived. Eventually, as he looked his friend over while he still thought over all of assorted activities he could do with Sirius for the duration of his stay, he noticed that his arm was no longer confined within the temporary cast his mother had put it in. "My dad fix that for you?" Remus asked curiously as he gestured to his friends previously injured arm with a casual wave of his left hand.
Sirius nodded his head and chuckled slightly as he remembered Mr. Lupin's reaction to the feeble cast. "He said it was dumb. Well, not in those words but, pretty much, that's what he implied. Your mother just hit him on the shoulder." He added unnecessarily as if this observation were an odd yet absolutely beautiful thing to his young eyes. He continued before Remus could make any form of a comment. "Then he fixed my arm." He sighed deeply and was silent for a while before he spoke again. "I wish my family was like that." He ended bitterly, unable to keep the previously blissful picture in his mind as the memories of how his own family treated each other quickly took up those thoughts, much like a disease.
Remus smiled weakly at Sirius. His father often did simple things like that to pick on his mother. It was just his odd sense of humor that occasionally came out. The one thing that his mother always stated is what made her fall in love with him in the first place, and also one of the many factors that had aided her in talking herself into marrying him six months later, a rarity in many ways. Remus though said nothing of this because he was absolutely certain that Sirius had no such joyous stories to tell about his parents. So after awhile of Remus thinking on these things, he resigned the conversation with a simple "yeah," for it was all that he could manage to say to Sirius' comment in the end. He didn't know how to react to his friend's family issues because he only knew what had been said an hour earlier... nothing less and nothing more, he could only assume, and sometimes that was not a good thing to do. He sighed deeply, and finally pushed those thoughts out of his head and put his mind back on what he was going to do with Sirius to show him a good time.
He then began to run assorted ideas back and forth through the endless caverns hidden within his skull and finally he smiled widely at Sirius. This was the same smile that James always used when he had thought that he had come up with something extremely clever. He then, without saying a word, walked over to his dresser and pulled out a set of muggle summer clothing and tossed them at Sirius. Sirius caught them with great ease and just cocked an eyebrow up at him. "Put them on. I want to show you something."
Sirius just shrugged his shoulders and did as he was told. Once he was fully clothed in the muggle attire, an outfit that his family would surly frown upon, he followed Remus out of the house.
"I'm going on a walk with Sirius." Remus yelled out at his mum as they had left the front steps. Shortly after they received an "alright" back through the kitchen window, once they had reached the yard. Soon after Remus lead Sirius too the dark woods only a few yards away from the front door of his home.
Remus pushed along the familiar trails, occasionally, he would look back only to make sure that he hadn't lost Sirius somewhere behind him. After they had gone quite a way into the abyss of the forest Remus began to venture off of the path that had been beaten there by the few people that had walked there before him. Slowly but surely this path began to disappear and eventually he reached the route he had been looking for. He jumped down into an eight-foot deep trench that had been dug out by erosion. Eventually, he followed it until it lead to a clearing where only a large field laid with its rolling hills set out in all of its possible glory. Remus stopped to look at the scene that never failed to awe him, he sighed deeply taking in the fresh air of the countryside. He then turned to look back at Sirius, who was standing behind him openly gaping at the beauty of the countryside.
"This is so much cooler than London." Sirius announced as he walked towards Remus and stopped when he was standing only a foot behind him. Remus only laughed at his friends expressed approval. It was nice to know that he appreciated it.
"I have to agree. I love it here, it's peaceful; comforting." He said calmly. He took a short while to gather his thoughts and then he turned back to Sirius and smiled that half smile of his that meant that he was up to no good. "But this isn't what I wanted to show you."
Remus then started to walk off towards the rest of the woods on the other end of the field. Sirius followed quietly behind him, trusting wholly that Remus knew where he was going. After walking only a few yards into these new surroundings Remus stopped by a secluded willow and smiled back at Sirius who was still lagging behind him. Before him was a little lake and a small pier that Remus told Sirius that he and his dad used mostly for fishing, an addiction that Remus' mother had allowed the both of them to get a hold of. Remus then went and pulled on a rope that was hanging off of the willow making sure that it was sturdy enough. Once he was satisfied that it would hold both of the boys' weight for the next hour or so he took off his shirt, exposing old wounds that his lycanthropy had given him. With one last smile at Sirius, Remus took the rope in both of his hands and gripped firmly as he ran and jumped over the lake. The rope swung out over the water and then he let go and dropped, causing a violent splash, back into the cold water.
Once he had come up from the depths of the lake he turned in the direction and shouted for Sirius to give it a go. Sirius just smiled mischievously, finding that what Remus had just done looked like great fun. Then, not having to be told twice, he took the rope in both of his hands and flung himself out over the lake and promptly let go when he knew the rope had reached its highest elevation and landed in the water less than gracefully. The waves from Sirius' fall splashed over Remus' bobbing head that was just barely managing to keep above the water as the waves crashed over him. When Sirius came up from his journey to the bottom of the lake, both of the boys instantly fell into a fit of laughter.
"My mum's going to kill me. She hates it when I go swimming with open cuts. She's afraid I'll die of an infection or something. So it's safe to assume that she'll think the same with you." He then laughed a bit more at Sirius' shocked face at the idea that someone would actually care about his wellbeing. When Sirius had recovered from this revelation Remus continued. "So, you'll probably get the peroxide treatment again." He paused a bit as he tried to read the blank expression that had made its way onto Sirius' face. When he found that he couldn't decipher the look he was receiving, he continued on unsurely. "I always find that it's worth it." He said bluntly. He shrugged his shoulders quickly and then dived under the water and swam over to the pier and pulled himself up out of the cold water.
Sirius followed him, and as Remus grabbed for the rope that was tied around the willow, Sirius said with a large smile, "This is well worth it." Remus grinned widely and laughed once more at his friend. Then, using the rope, he jumped back into the lake. When he came back up from the depths, Sirius already had the rope in his hand and was preparing to jump. Suddenly, he let his stance down for a moment and yelled as an afterthought to his previous comment. "Although, it did really sting." Then he too went back into his stance, and swung himself into the lake. Remus only chuckled as the boy fell into the water with a wild battle cry.
And so it went for the remainder of that afternoon. They spent the majority of the day in that lake until they eventually, like most twelve year old boys do, got bored with their activities there. After they were done with the lake Remus opted to show Sirius the best parts of the woods, figuring that if he had been impressed with the field then he would love the rest of it. Sirius gladly agreed with his plan and they quickly walked off away from the lake, leaving it in a peaceful silence behind them.
Remus proceeded to show him every corner of the Lupin's many acres of land. Showing him all of the best hideaways it had to offer. Among these spots included a large rock formation, located in the eastern part of their woods, that they climbed earnestly all the way to the top. Though, that was only after Remus had warned Sirius about the snakes that liked to hide in the cracks and crevasses of the rocks. Even though the warning had been a bit of a shock to Sirius, it only appeared to make his friend even more determined to do it. When they had finally reached the top of the rocks. The view from the top of it overlooked the trees and hills that were made even more beautiful by the higher elevation. They had stood over the view, each lost in their own worlds, until Remus finally drew Sirius away from the enriched scene. Remus then led him down the other side of the rock formation and headed on towards a deer trail that only a few yards away from the rock. While they walked down this they saw assorted markings that as Remus informed Sirius, meant that it had been used recently, so Remus continued to follow it hoping that they might run into an animal of some sort. They followed the path beaten by the deer and, eventually, Remus had the chance to point out where a deer had actually chosen to lay down for the night only a little ways off of the trail. This revelation led to the boys' contemplation over how big this stag (if that was, indeed, what it was) had been. They followed that trail until the sun began to set over the horizon, painting the sky brilliant oranges and pinks, and made the woods gradually more and more dark. After it began to get too dark for the two to feel comfortable in they resigned for the evening after much ado, and quickly made their way back to the Lupin's small house, which, as Remus had informed him when they had reached the back yard of the house, the family had dubbed "Lupin Lodge."
As they headed back they moved at a much slower pace than when they had run through the woods early that day. Remus busied himself by telling Sirius tales of all the assorted magical creatures he had sometimes had the chance of seeing in the forest. Sirius had clung onto his every word desperately wanting to believe the stories he was being fed. This was partially do to his overall interest in such beings as the ones Remus spoke of, all of which could definitely be seen in such a forest as this, and also the fact that he doubted if Remus would openly lie to him now that he knew his one big secret.
When they entered Lupin Lodge, Remus' mother was waiting patiently for them in the living room. When she saw her first look at the two boys' appearance, dirty clothes and bodies, she openly proceeded to scold her son. "Remus Jonathan Lupin." She said strictly. "You know better than to go out there with open cuts." She sighed deeply and smirked a bit despite herself. Boys would always be boys. She then continued with her rant half- heartedly. "Granted, they're not yours but you shouldn't jeopardize your friend's health either." She smiled a bit at Sirius and subsequently led them to the bathroom and quickly instructed them to clean themselves up.
They did as they were told, and once she had left the room they openly laughed at the expected scolding. When they were had finished scrubbing themselves and getting new clean clothes on, they were allowed to eat the dinner that was waiting for them on the kitchen table, a meal which they had missed while they had been out gallivanting through the woods. After they had finished with their re-warmed meal, they wandered back into the living room, where they spent the duration of their evening.
Remus smiled and laughed as he watched intently as Sirius spent the evening getting acquainted with his family members. This, unfortunately also included a small row between him and Kara who openly disagreed with the boys view on a particular dark beast that Remus had later forgotten the name of and its relevance to the evening at all. And once Gwen had reprimanded Kara for her behavior they went back to their getting to know the boy too. Not only did it help them to get to know what kind of children their son had befriended while at school, but it also kept the boys mind off of what Remus' healer, Mr. Genezer, was doing. This was always a good thing, as Remus knew all too well, when it came to mending bruises.
When the healer had finished his work, Sirius thanked him dramatically calling for laughter from everyone in the room. The Healer smiled at him and then bid the family a short fair well until next week when he was expected to be back again. When he had left Gwen quickly instructed the children to head up to bed. They followed her order and Sirius watched as Remus and Kara collected goodnight kisses from both of Remus' parents. He smirked at the scene that he was not used to at all, and then he followed Remus up to the room he would be sharing with Remus. When they had reached the loft he quickly slipped into the small cot that had been set up for him and Remus slipped into his own bed. The two of them stayed up well in to the night quietly talking to one another about assorted nonsense and tall tales that they made up on the spot until they slowly slipped off into a deep slumber.
Remus sat picking out the rhythm to the "Blackbird" on his guitar, as he slowly sang the lyrics to himself. When Sirius came into his loft of a room from his shower he just smiled awkwardly at Remus while Remus continued to play his favorite song by the Beatles. Remus continued quirkily, with his finger picking out the familiar beats, as his mind reeled about what he could do with this friend now that Sirius was waiting patiently for him to pay attention to him. When the song had reached its final chord the sound it made was left to linger over the little loft. Finally, Sirius spoke up, clearly trying to get away from the obvious awkwardness that both boys had suddenly fallen into during the few seconds it took for the room to fall into a complete silence.
"Your mum is really nice." He offered lamely into the noiseless void.
"I know." Remus muttered, instantly trying to cling to any form of 'easy' conversation, as most tend to dub it when they are in such a predicament as he was now. He stood up and put his guitar back into its case and stowed it carefully underneath his bed. Once he was sure that it was safe he stood up straight and just looked at Sirius. He quickly ran his fingers through his short-cropped hair that fell slightly in his eyes and chuckled uneasily amidst the silence. As much as he loved Sirius, he did not know exactly how to deal with having a friend over at his house. This was actually a first for him. Well, at least since he and his family had been run out of the small wizarding community when he was eight. He sighed deeply, as that painful memory came back into his mind, and soon he found himself pacing back and forth in the small isle between the wall and his bed, as he wandered deeper and deeper into his own thoughts. All the while, Sirius eyed him nervously.
Not only did Remus never have a friend over to visit him before, but he also, because of this last fact, was entirely used to being by himself; alone. Whether that meant him reading a good book or playing his guitar. All of which, Sirius would surely frown upon as possible things to do. After all, it was their summer holiday. Therefore, Remus did not have any clue as to what he could do with Sirius' being there.
He could feel Sirius' eyes on him as they followed his movements around his room. Finally, he stopped and turned to Sirius slowly. He looked at Sirius closely, examining him as he stared, evenly, back at him. He was still battered and bruised from head to toe, but now, at the very least, he was clean. That was aside from his dirty robes that he had been wearing when he had arrived. Eventually, as he looked his friend over while he still thought over all of assorted activities he could do with Sirius for the duration of his stay, he noticed that his arm was no longer confined within the temporary cast his mother had put it in. "My dad fix that for you?" Remus asked curiously as he gestured to his friends previously injured arm with a casual wave of his left hand.
Sirius nodded his head and chuckled slightly as he remembered Mr. Lupin's reaction to the feeble cast. "He said it was dumb. Well, not in those words but, pretty much, that's what he implied. Your mother just hit him on the shoulder." He added unnecessarily as if this observation were an odd yet absolutely beautiful thing to his young eyes. He continued before Remus could make any form of a comment. "Then he fixed my arm." He sighed deeply and was silent for a while before he spoke again. "I wish my family was like that." He ended bitterly, unable to keep the previously blissful picture in his mind as the memories of how his own family treated each other quickly took up those thoughts, much like a disease.
Remus smiled weakly at Sirius. His father often did simple things like that to pick on his mother. It was just his odd sense of humor that occasionally came out. The one thing that his mother always stated is what made her fall in love with him in the first place, and also one of the many factors that had aided her in talking herself into marrying him six months later, a rarity in many ways. Remus though said nothing of this because he was absolutely certain that Sirius had no such joyous stories to tell about his parents. So after awhile of Remus thinking on these things, he resigned the conversation with a simple "yeah," for it was all that he could manage to say to Sirius' comment in the end. He didn't know how to react to his friend's family issues because he only knew what had been said an hour earlier... nothing less and nothing more, he could only assume, and sometimes that was not a good thing to do. He sighed deeply, and finally pushed those thoughts out of his head and put his mind back on what he was going to do with Sirius to show him a good time.
He then began to run assorted ideas back and forth through the endless caverns hidden within his skull and finally he smiled widely at Sirius. This was the same smile that James always used when he had thought that he had come up with something extremely clever. He then, without saying a word, walked over to his dresser and pulled out a set of muggle summer clothing and tossed them at Sirius. Sirius caught them with great ease and just cocked an eyebrow up at him. "Put them on. I want to show you something."
Sirius just shrugged his shoulders and did as he was told. Once he was fully clothed in the muggle attire, an outfit that his family would surly frown upon, he followed Remus out of the house.
"I'm going on a walk with Sirius." Remus yelled out at his mum as they had left the front steps. Shortly after they received an "alright" back through the kitchen window, once they had reached the yard. Soon after Remus lead Sirius too the dark woods only a few yards away from the front door of his home.
Remus pushed along the familiar trails, occasionally, he would look back only to make sure that he hadn't lost Sirius somewhere behind him. After they had gone quite a way into the abyss of the forest Remus began to venture off of the path that had been beaten there by the few people that had walked there before him. Slowly but surely this path began to disappear and eventually he reached the route he had been looking for. He jumped down into an eight-foot deep trench that had been dug out by erosion. Eventually, he followed it until it lead to a clearing where only a large field laid with its rolling hills set out in all of its possible glory. Remus stopped to look at the scene that never failed to awe him, he sighed deeply taking in the fresh air of the countryside. He then turned to look back at Sirius, who was standing behind him openly gaping at the beauty of the countryside.
"This is so much cooler than London." Sirius announced as he walked towards Remus and stopped when he was standing only a foot behind him. Remus only laughed at his friends expressed approval. It was nice to know that he appreciated it.
"I have to agree. I love it here, it's peaceful; comforting." He said calmly. He took a short while to gather his thoughts and then he turned back to Sirius and smiled that half smile of his that meant that he was up to no good. "But this isn't what I wanted to show you."
Remus then started to walk off towards the rest of the woods on the other end of the field. Sirius followed quietly behind him, trusting wholly that Remus knew where he was going. After walking only a few yards into these new surroundings Remus stopped by a secluded willow and smiled back at Sirius who was still lagging behind him. Before him was a little lake and a small pier that Remus told Sirius that he and his dad used mostly for fishing, an addiction that Remus' mother had allowed the both of them to get a hold of. Remus then went and pulled on a rope that was hanging off of the willow making sure that it was sturdy enough. Once he was satisfied that it would hold both of the boys' weight for the next hour or so he took off his shirt, exposing old wounds that his lycanthropy had given him. With one last smile at Sirius, Remus took the rope in both of his hands and gripped firmly as he ran and jumped over the lake. The rope swung out over the water and then he let go and dropped, causing a violent splash, back into the cold water.
Once he had come up from the depths of the lake he turned in the direction and shouted for Sirius to give it a go. Sirius just smiled mischievously, finding that what Remus had just done looked like great fun. Then, not having to be told twice, he took the rope in both of his hands and flung himself out over the lake and promptly let go when he knew the rope had reached its highest elevation and landed in the water less than gracefully. The waves from Sirius' fall splashed over Remus' bobbing head that was just barely managing to keep above the water as the waves crashed over him. When Sirius came up from his journey to the bottom of the lake, both of the boys instantly fell into a fit of laughter.
"My mum's going to kill me. She hates it when I go swimming with open cuts. She's afraid I'll die of an infection or something. So it's safe to assume that she'll think the same with you." He then laughed a bit more at Sirius' shocked face at the idea that someone would actually care about his wellbeing. When Sirius had recovered from this revelation Remus continued. "So, you'll probably get the peroxide treatment again." He paused a bit as he tried to read the blank expression that had made its way onto Sirius' face. When he found that he couldn't decipher the look he was receiving, he continued on unsurely. "I always find that it's worth it." He said bluntly. He shrugged his shoulders quickly and then dived under the water and swam over to the pier and pulled himself up out of the cold water.
Sirius followed him, and as Remus grabbed for the rope that was tied around the willow, Sirius said with a large smile, "This is well worth it." Remus grinned widely and laughed once more at his friend. Then, using the rope, he jumped back into the lake. When he came back up from the depths, Sirius already had the rope in his hand and was preparing to jump. Suddenly, he let his stance down for a moment and yelled as an afterthought to his previous comment. "Although, it did really sting." Then he too went back into his stance, and swung himself into the lake. Remus only chuckled as the boy fell into the water with a wild battle cry.
And so it went for the remainder of that afternoon. They spent the majority of the day in that lake until they eventually, like most twelve year old boys do, got bored with their activities there. After they were done with the lake Remus opted to show Sirius the best parts of the woods, figuring that if he had been impressed with the field then he would love the rest of it. Sirius gladly agreed with his plan and they quickly walked off away from the lake, leaving it in a peaceful silence behind them.
Remus proceeded to show him every corner of the Lupin's many acres of land. Showing him all of the best hideaways it had to offer. Among these spots included a large rock formation, located in the eastern part of their woods, that they climbed earnestly all the way to the top. Though, that was only after Remus had warned Sirius about the snakes that liked to hide in the cracks and crevasses of the rocks. Even though the warning had been a bit of a shock to Sirius, it only appeared to make his friend even more determined to do it. When they had finally reached the top of the rocks. The view from the top of it overlooked the trees and hills that were made even more beautiful by the higher elevation. They had stood over the view, each lost in their own worlds, until Remus finally drew Sirius away from the enriched scene. Remus then led him down the other side of the rock formation and headed on towards a deer trail that only a few yards away from the rock. While they walked down this they saw assorted markings that as Remus informed Sirius, meant that it had been used recently, so Remus continued to follow it hoping that they might run into an animal of some sort. They followed the path beaten by the deer and, eventually, Remus had the chance to point out where a deer had actually chosen to lay down for the night only a little ways off of the trail. This revelation led to the boys' contemplation over how big this stag (if that was, indeed, what it was) had been. They followed that trail until the sun began to set over the horizon, painting the sky brilliant oranges and pinks, and made the woods gradually more and more dark. After it began to get too dark for the two to feel comfortable in they resigned for the evening after much ado, and quickly made their way back to the Lupin's small house, which, as Remus had informed him when they had reached the back yard of the house, the family had dubbed "Lupin Lodge."
As they headed back they moved at a much slower pace than when they had run through the woods early that day. Remus busied himself by telling Sirius tales of all the assorted magical creatures he had sometimes had the chance of seeing in the forest. Sirius had clung onto his every word desperately wanting to believe the stories he was being fed. This was partially do to his overall interest in such beings as the ones Remus spoke of, all of which could definitely be seen in such a forest as this, and also the fact that he doubted if Remus would openly lie to him now that he knew his one big secret.
When they entered Lupin Lodge, Remus' mother was waiting patiently for them in the living room. When she saw her first look at the two boys' appearance, dirty clothes and bodies, she openly proceeded to scold her son. "Remus Jonathan Lupin." She said strictly. "You know better than to go out there with open cuts." She sighed deeply and smirked a bit despite herself. Boys would always be boys. She then continued with her rant half- heartedly. "Granted, they're not yours but you shouldn't jeopardize your friend's health either." She smiled a bit at Sirius and subsequently led them to the bathroom and quickly instructed them to clean themselves up.
They did as they were told, and once she had left the room they openly laughed at the expected scolding. When they were had finished scrubbing themselves and getting new clean clothes on, they were allowed to eat the dinner that was waiting for them on the kitchen table, a meal which they had missed while they had been out gallivanting through the woods. After they had finished with their re-warmed meal, they wandered back into the living room, where they spent the duration of their evening.
Remus smiled and laughed as he watched intently as Sirius spent the evening getting acquainted with his family members. This, unfortunately also included a small row between him and Kara who openly disagreed with the boys view on a particular dark beast that Remus had later forgotten the name of and its relevance to the evening at all. And once Gwen had reprimanded Kara for her behavior they went back to their getting to know the boy too. Not only did it help them to get to know what kind of children their son had befriended while at school, but it also kept the boys mind off of what Remus' healer, Mr. Genezer, was doing. This was always a good thing, as Remus knew all too well, when it came to mending bruises.
When the healer had finished his work, Sirius thanked him dramatically calling for laughter from everyone in the room. The Healer smiled at him and then bid the family a short fair well until next week when he was expected to be back again. When he had left Gwen quickly instructed the children to head up to bed. They followed her order and Sirius watched as Remus and Kara collected goodnight kisses from both of Remus' parents. He smirked at the scene that he was not used to at all, and then he followed Remus up to the room he would be sharing with Remus. When they had reached the loft he quickly slipped into the small cot that had been set up for him and Remus slipped into his own bed. The two of them stayed up well in to the night quietly talking to one another about assorted nonsense and tall tales that they made up on the spot until they slowly slipped off into a deep slumber.