Auction - Plot point: Not running around on someone.
Chocolate Frog - Write about someone not trusting someone else
Assignment 9 - Write about distrust
Writing Club:
Character Appreciation - (word) first
Disney Challenge - "You said you'd always be there for me. But you're not."
Les Mis - "Men like you can never change!"
Count Your Buttons: "Can I stop pretending that I'm happy now?"
Sophie's shelf - Write about someone competing for the affection of someone who is already in a relationship
Emy's Empourium - Write about someone losing everything they have
Film Festival - Plot: Think a partner is cheating, Emotion: guilty
Photography Month - Write about someone who is downcast
Scavenger Hunt - Write a fic that is incredibly angsty
Cooking - Action: crying, Genre: Angst
A Change in Future
Sirius, who was that in our bed?" Remus asked, pacing the living room. He had been silent in the fifteen minutes following the half-naked stranger leaving their flat.
"Our bed?" Sirius scoffed, heading to the small bar in the corner of the living room and pouring himself a drink. "I haven't seen you in three months, Love. I didn't realise there was an 'our' left."
"You know I've been…"
"What? You've been doing what?" Sirius tossed the glass to the floor, the shards smashing. "You've left me over and over again. I don't know what you're doing or where you are."
"So you bring strangers back to the bed that we bought together?" Remus spat. "The one that was just for us. I can't talk to you about what I've been doing - the things I am suffering through because I'm under orders, but I break those orders and return here because I love you. And for the record, I've never once even thought about doing what you do."
"Oh good. Can I stop pretending I'm happy now?" Sirius asked. "Because I'm not."
"You said you'd always be there for me. But you're not," Remus said. "I'm leaving."
"How long for?" Sirius asked, snorting. "Another three months?"
Remus shook his head. "No. I'm not coming back this time. Consider this over, Sirius."
Sirius stepped towards Remus, panic on his face. "Remus, wait. That's not… don't go. I'm sorry, I'll change."
"Men like you can never change," Remus replied softly. He walked from the room, slamming the bedroom door after him.
When he left with his suitcase, Sirius refused to look up from the new drink he was pouring himself. Remus didn't realise it was Sirius' way of hiding the tears on his cheeks.
...oOo...
Six months since the final battle. Over the few years since Sirius' escape, the pair had built up their trust in each other. There were no secrets this time around.
That morning, Sirius had kissed him for the first time since they were twenty years old and it felt as right and perfect as it had when they were younger.
But he had seen Charlie hanging around Sirius a lot and he could see the way Charlie's hand rested on Sirius'. The memories of what Sirius had done found their way back into his mind and he couldn't sit there anymore.
He walked out of the house, sneaking a cigarette - a bad habit he had stopped the day he had left Sirius. The day Sirius had first broken his heart.
"Mind if I have one?" came a voice, as Remus lit his cigarette.
He silently handed his first cigarette over, before taking another from the packet.
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked. "Talk to me." When silence followed his request, Sirius frowned. "We promised no secrets."
"It's not so much a secret as it is an… insecurity on my part," Remus said, before bringing the cigarette to his lips. "You're awfully close with Charlie Weasley. He's quite handsome and—"
"Let me stop you there," Sirius said. "Remus, I love you. I fucked up when we were younger - I wanted to hurt you like you hurt me, but I was wrong. What I did hurt you more than anything you ever did to me and I hated myself when you walked out. I wanted to come after you… I… I needed time to sort myself out but before I could… well, you know."
"I know," Remus confirmed, slightly bitterly.
"I did something bad that ruined the best thing in my life and I hoped… I hoped that all the time we've just spent getting to know each other again and building trust… Remus, I've wanted to kiss you every single time I've seen you but I've waited until I thought we were at a good place. I believe we're there and I can't blame you for not fully trusting me in that regard."
"So what do we do?" Remus asked. "I don't know how long it'll take for me to trust that you won't hurt me like that again. If I'll ever trust—"
"I deserve that," Sirius interrupted. "But you're doing what you always do and pushing me away. Be jealous all you like, watch my every move and every encounter with another man and I won't hold that against you. If that's what it takes to realise that I'm not going to stray again, I'll not say a thing about it, but I'm not letting you walk away from this."
"And… Charlie?"
"Charlie is great. If he's flirting - which I didn't realise by the way - it's because he won't be aware that we're getting back together. I'll make it clear immediately."
"We might never get back to what we were," Remus pointed out.
Sirius shrugged. "Towards the end, we both had problems and were too stubborn to admit our own faults, blaming only each other. This time we're going into the relationship knowing everything. I know that we won't have the same as before - this time we'll do better."
"Even if I get jealous sometimes?"
"It saves me from always being the jealous one," Sirius pointed out with a smile.
861 words