Oof! Starting right out with the angst! Here ya go! Thanks so much for the request!
A turn of events: The day Sirius ran away from home…
Remus awoke to the sound of frantic scratching and whimpering at his bedroom window. He rolled over, groaning. The clock at his bedside table read 2:00 AM. Ugh.
The scratching continued, loudly. Remus yawned, stretching his arms over his head as he left the warmth and comfort of his bed to check on the racket. A large, tawny owl was throwing itself madly against Remus's window, desperately trying to get inside. Remus recognized the owl. It belonged to none other than James Potter—one of Remus's closest and dearest friends. Remus unhooked the latch and allowed the bird to fly inside. It landed on his bed and shook its wings and legs madly, urgently. Now, Remus was awake.
Why had James sent his owl at this time of night? Why was the owl acting so strange? A sinking feeling fell through Remus's stomach. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Remus rushed over and unraveled the note from the owl's foot. His heart raced as he deciphered the scrawled writing (James had never been a master at penmanship).
"Padfoot in trouble. At my house. Need your help IMMEDIATELY. –Prongs"
Remus's heart sank. Sirius, his boyfriend, was in trouble. Without a second thought, Remus threw on a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, wrote a short note to his parents explaining his absence, and burst out the front door into the stale summer air.
After a short—albeit quite unpleasant—ride on the Knight Bus, Remus arrived at the Potter Estate. Somehow, its grandeur was not diminished by the darkness of night. The massive home towered majestically, its beige brick exterior reflected in the moonlight. Crickets chirped in the garden as he made his way up the long, paved drive towards the front door. Fireflies danced in the grass. Water front the various fountains and statues gurgled merrily in the distance. Usually, Remus loved visiting the Potters. However, tonight, he felt sick. A cloud of tension surrounded Potter Manor. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
The door opened before Remus had the chance to knock. James grabbed him by the arm without so much as a hello and dragged him through the labyrinth-like house.
"James, what's going on? Why is Sirius here?" Remus questioned as his friend pulled him along. James shook his head. Remus had never seen him so somber.
"Pads'll tell you. It's…it's bad, Moony…" James paused at his bedroom door and knocked timidly.
"Hey," he called out softly. "Pads? Moony's here." James gave one, last, distressed look at Remus before slowly pushing open the door.
Remus could barely register the scene in front of him. Sirius was laying on James's bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. He had a massive bruise blooming on his cheek, and his eyes were rimmed with red—as if he had been crying. His body trembled, childlike. On the floor beside the bed sat Sirius's brother, Regulus. Remus was shocked. Sirius and Regulus were hardly ever allowed to be together outside their home. Sirius's parents believed he would corrupt his younger brother, and deliberately kept them separate—lest he tarnish the Black Family name any more than he already had. Yet, here they were. Regulus sat cross-legged with his back against the side of James's bed. He clutched a cream-colored pillow in his arms, hugging it tight. He looked shell-shocked. His stormy grey eyes were wide with fear and disbelief.
Carefully, Remus lowered himself onto the bed beside Sirius. He ran a hand through his boyfriend's thick, dark hair, and guided Sirius's head onto his lap. Sirius squeezed his eyes shut. More tears rolled down his checks, breaking Remus's heart.
"Sirius?" Remus whispered tentatively. "Are you alright?" He winced internally at his words. Clearly, Sirius was not alright. Sirius trembled even harder. "Shhh, Shhh, it's ok. I'm here. You're safe. You're ok," Remus resumed stroking Sirius's head, comforting him.
The two of them remained in this position for several minutes. At some point, James left and returned with a tray of tea. "Want a cup, Reg?" He asked. The boy on the floor did not respond. James poured him on anyways, guiding it gently into his shaking hands.
"Here, Padfoot," Remus said, gently pulling his boyfriend up to a sitting position. "You should drink something." Sirius wiped his eyes, took a cup, and sipped cautiously.
"There. Good job, love. Now, can you tell me what happened?"
Sirius sighed. "I-I-" his voice broke. He cleared his throat. "I killed them."
A heavy silence hung in the air. Regulus trembled harder than ever, his teacup and saucer clanging madly. The color drained from Sirius's face.
"What?" Remus asked, wondering if he had misheard.
"I killed my parents. They're dead."
Another long pause.
"Wh—how? What happened?" asked Remus, stunned. Sirius hated his parents, sure, but he was not a killer.
"They w-were trying to force Regulus to join the Death Eaters. It-it was awful. I could hear them screaming at him. He was c-crying. I ran in and father had his wand pointed at Reg. Right at his chest. He told me it was none of my concern. They were ensuring that at least one of their sons didn't wind up a disgrace. And, he almost…he was about to hurt him and I…" Sirius broke off again. He buried his head in Remus's shoulder, sobbing. Remus held him tight. He locked eyes with James, who was still on the floor trying to calm Regulus. "In shock," mouthed James.
Remus's heart ached for the Black boys. Their home life had been horrible. An explosive catastrophe was always on the horizon. But, Remus had never imagined it coming to this gruesome end. Sirius— forced to kill his parents to protect his brother from a terrible fate. It was way too heavy a burden for anyone to bear, let alone a 16-year-old boy. No. None of this was fair. None of this was right.
"I—what're you going to—" Remus stammered. He felt his own fear mounting, his heart pounding violently against his ribcage. Was his dear Sirius destined for Azkaban?
"Mum and Dad are taking them in," James explained. "They've gone to the Ministry to argue the case and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement ruled it as self-defense."
Remus breathed a sigh of relief. He kissed Sirius's forehead, rocking back and forth. "See? It's going to be fine. It's going to be alright love. You're safe. You're alright."
"I used an Unforgivable. I killed. I'm a killer." Sirius lamented.
"No!" Remus exclaimed. He placed his hands on Sirius's cheeks, forcing his boyfriend to look him in the eyes. "You listen to me, Sirius Black. You are not a killer. You did what you needed to do to protect your brother from a terrible fate. I never, for one second, would ever believe you were capable of murdering anyone in cold blood."
Sirius stared back at him, grey eyes pleading. "You promise? You don't believe I'm a murderer? You would never think that about me?"
Remus pressed his nose against Sirius's. He could feel his boyfriend's hot breath against his own lips. "I promise."