Written for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition
[Season 8] - Round 3
Team: Chudley Cannons
Position: Beater 1 - It's Quiet Uptown: Write about someone asking for forgiveness.
Line used: But hear me out. That would be enough.
('me' has been changed to 'us')
Prompts:
9. (action) arguing
13. (emotion) relief
Thanks to Fire the Canon, Queen Bookworm the First and Hannahsoapy for betating!
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Trigger warning: homophobic slur and biphobic comment
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Remus barely registered what was going on around him. Suddenly he understood when books described the shining sun and singing birds, and why people in musicals burst into song. Quite frankly, Remus wanted to do so himself.
And the reason for his good mood was that he had spent a whole week together in a beach house with Sirius. His new boyfriend. It had just been the two of them in there, and it had resulted in each confessing their true feelings for the other.
Remus blushed, thinking of it.
He still couldn't believe Sirius - the amazing, loyal and beautiful Sirius - wanted to be with him. Remus openly smiled at the thought. His mum seemed to be delighted with his good mood.
"Had a great holiday with your friend?" she asked with a big smile on her lips as he stepped into the living room. Remus walked into her open arms and hugged her back.
"Yeah. It was amazing." He smiled to himself. With the things they had done, Remus wasn't sure they could be considered friends anymore. "Actually. I have something I need to tell you and Dad."
She ran her hand through his hair, failing to make it look decent. "He'll be home in just a second."
"It's important," Remus pressed, feeling nervous. His hands were already getting sweaty.
His mum nodded slowly.
Remus went to his room. He took some big breaths, trying to calm himself down. It was going to be fine! If they could accept him for being a werewolf - a condition where he turned into a murderous beast once a month - then surely they would accept his sexuality.
Less than ten minutes later, he heard the front door open and close. He took another minute to calm himself, then went to the kitchen where both his parents were standing.
His dad smiled at him. "How was your week, son?"
"Great." Just get it over with. "Good. Can we go to the living room?"
Remus had a feeling his mum had told his dad that whatever he wanted to say was important. His parents sat down on the couch, and Remus sat in the chair in front of it. He took another deep breath, trying to keep the fears and doubts away.
"I'm bisexual," he said. "That's when you like men and women."
His parents shared a glance. Remus looked down, terrified of their reaction. His mum spoke, her voice calm. "That's okay."
Remus felt a huge wave of relief wash over him; he couldn't help smiling and asked the silliest question ever. "Really?"
His dad smiled wryly. "Yes, of course. It doesn't matter what you call yourself, because no matter what, you'll end up with a woman. It's just a phase, anyway."
Remus' face darkened. He felt his heart beat faster, sank, and with an unsteady voice, he spoke again. "But it's not a phase."
"Of course, it is! Because there is no such thing as being bisexual." His dad narrowed his eyes.
"There is because I am." Remus was sure his throat had never been so dry. He wanted to laugh and say it was a joke. But he also knew he would never be able to look at his parents again if they didn't talk about it now.
"Let's just forget about this, alright? What should we get for dinner?" His mum clapped her hands together and went to stand up, but Remus stopped her.
"I don't wanna forget about it. I am bisexual."
"Okay. I think I know what this is about." His dad seemed satisfied with himself.
Remus frowned. "What?"
"It's that friend of yours. Black. He's… you know." His dad gestured. "He's just putting all these crazy ideas into your head."
"Yes, I know he's gay! He's my boyfriend."
"You can't say things like that. People are gonna think you are one of them. It's very misleading." His father was suddenly stern—something Remus wasn't familiar with. Usually, his dad was kind and gentle.
Remus wanted it all to go away. He wanted to calm down, but instead, he raised his voice. "How is it misleading? He's my boyfriend! We're together. I love him."
His dad jumped to his feet, his face contorted with rage. "Stop saying that! We're finished here!"
"No!" Remus stood up as well, towering over his dad, yet still feeling smaller. "I'm still the same as I've always been. What's so wrong about loving a boy?"
"I don't want my only son to be a faggot!."
Remus' breath caught in his throat. He stared into his dad's eyes, not seeing any regret. Then at his mum, but she wouldn't meet his gaze. All he could think about was how much he wished he was in Sirius' arms.
"Get out!" he sneered, voice strained with anger.
Remus stared at his dad again, feeling his heart throbbing in his throat and tears pressing against his eyes. "What?"
"Get out of my house!" he spat.
Remus couldn't wrap his head around what was happening. His vision was a blur. But he was moving. He was thinking about Sirius again. He wished he was back at the beach house in the warmth of Sirius' arms.
He was outside the house, and just before slamming the door, his dad yelled one last thing.
"Come back when you learn to be normal!"
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Sirius used his elbow to open the door to his room, balancing two cups of tea in his hands. Two weeks had passed since Remus had shown up at his doorstep after his parents had kicked him out.
It still felt unrealistic to him that the Lupins weren't accepting Remus for who he was, and clearly, the revelation had taken a hard hit on Remus too, because the other boy had trouble even getting out of bed.
As expected, Remus was still laying under the covers, though he sat up as the door opened. As he had left everything else at his parent's house, Remus was wearing the jumper Sirius had stolen from him during their trip. Sirius sat next to Remus on his bed and handed him the tea. Then Remus leaned against Sirius' shoulder.
Sirius waited a couple of minutes before speaking.
"If the opportunity came up, would you fix things with your parents?"
Remus moved his head, staring up at him. "Why?"
Sirius didn't answer, but kept staring back at him. Remus had grown up in isolation. He had never gone to a real school and he had never played with the other children on his street. He didn't even have any siblings. The only people Remus had growing up were his parents and they, therefore, formed a special bond together. Sirius would do anything to get Remus and his parents on good terms again. "Would you?"
Remus looked away again, leaning closer to Sirius, who put his arm around him. They sat in silence a few minutes before Remus spoke with a strained voice. "Yes."
"Your parents wrote a letter," Sirius said and pulled out the letter from his leather pants, handing it to Remus. "They say they're sorry and hope they can meet us for lunch."
Remus scanned the letter and frowned. "Both of us?"
Sirius nodded. "Exactly…" he hesitated, not wanting to say the wrong thing. "I think you should at least hear them out. They must've realized how wrong they were, and I think that's why they want to meet me too."
Sirius hated seeing Remus feel bad.
Though Remus was chewing on his lip, seemingly unconvinced, so Sirius quickly continued.
"I also once thought all werewolves were evil, but now I know that being a werewolf doesn't automatically make you evil, and I bet your parents have realized the same about being gay or bi or whatever." Sirius pressed a kiss to his forehead. "But it's your decision. Wherever and whenever you want to meet them - if you want to meet them at all - I'll be there with you."
Remus wiped tears from his eyes and smiled up at Sirius. "Thank you."
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Two days later, Remus and Sirius sat close to each other at the back of a café, holding hands under the table.
Remus had been running different scenarios in his head of how this could work out. Mostly the ways it could go wrong. But Sirius kept reminding him that his parents wanted to meet both of them. That this was a good sign.
And finally, Remus felt ready to face his parents again. But only because Sirius had promised to hex them if they tried anything.
Remus stared at their joined hands as Sirius drew small circles, though he suddenly stopped and squeezed Remus' hand tightly. Remus glanced up to see his parents walking toward the table.
He felt a sudden wave of panic, terrified that his parents were only pretending to be okay with his sexuality because they still thought it was a phase. But Sirius gave his hand a squeeze, and Remus remembered he wasn't alone. He squeezed back.
"Hi," his mum said, sitting down. Remus kept his gaze on the table.
"Hi," Sirius said, giving Remus another squeeze, silently saying; I'm here for you.
"It's nice to meet you." His dad reached his hand toward Sirius, who offered his left hand instead of letting go of Remus. His dad seemed to realize and used his left hand.
"Nice to meet you too, Sir."
"Hey, son. How are you doing?"
"Not good." Remus bit the inside of his cheek, yet didn't regret what he said. It wasn't nearly as bad as what they had done, and he needed them to realize they hurt him.
"Remus…" his mum started to say, cut off by his dad.
"We do realize - I realize - what I said is unforgivable, but hear us out. That would be enough."
Remus hesitated. Sirius bumped their knees together, and when Remus met his gaze, he squeezed his hand and smiled reassuringly. Remus took a deep breath. "Okay."
"Thank you. I can't say sorry enough times to make up for what I called you, or for kicking you out, and not least for putting you through this, but I can try. We'll both try." His parents grabbed each other's hands.
"We both love you, Remus," his mom said. "Family is the most important thing in the world. We forgot for a moment, but... If you say you're bisexual, then you are. Your dad and I have our old ways, and to be completely honest with you, we don't fully understand it yet, though we'll try and we're hoping you can help us. We just want you to be happy, and it doesn't matter whether you choose to be with a man or a woman. We'll support you no matter what. Especially if it's Sirius. You've always spoken highly of him."
Sirius poked him in the ribs and Remus blushed slightly.
"We would like it if you came home with us, so we can work this out and become a family again." His dad smiled carefully. "But if you need some space, we could also just meet for lunch once a week. With Sirius too. Then we can get to know him."
"We're really sorry. Please give us another chance," his mum said.
Perhaps Sirius had been right, yet Remus had been terrified to believe him till now. Though it sounded good. And they seemed sincere.
"Yeah… I would like that." He finally looked at his parents and offered them a wry smile.
Both his parents let out a deep sigh of relief, then smiled widely.
"We should have something to eat now that we're here anyway," his mom said. "So, Sirius. Tell us a bit about yourself."
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Word count: 1951