Finding Home
(the sequel to "No Better Mistake")
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, or any other related characters from the world of Harry Potter. I also don't own the setting, plot lines, relationships, etc. ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH HARRY POTTER BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING, not me.
NOTES:
I'M SORRY THIS CHAPTER IS SO SHORT. Seriously, this is the shortest chapter EVER, but it had to be this way for the storyline. I promise it will make sense in a few chapters! The breaks had to go in here. But I will update super soon!
Reviews make me happy when I am mopey and I love you all you for it.
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14
"What happened to you?"
Matt was gasping even before he had reached Remus in the back corner of the shop, throwing his papers down on the table. Remus smiled rather weakly at him. He knew he wasn't looking his best. Lily, who hadn't had much more success than James had the day before, trying to help his broken bones heal, had fashioned him a sling for his uninjured arm, worn in an attempt to immobilize his neck. He was wearing a cardigan, which concealed his scarred arm, but the v-neck shirt he wore underneath did nothing to hide the purple and yellow bruises crossing the area. To top it off, the four friends last night, in an act of celebration as well as attempting to drown out emotions, had had quite a bit to drink, and Remus was feeling the effects of the morning after. He supposed he must look it too, as Matt gaped at him, taking his usual seat. "You look… like shit."
"Thanks," responded Remus sarcastically, putting the final note on a letter to his parents with his free arm. "I feel like it as well, if you must know."
"You get in a fight or something?" Matt asked, surveying him critically.
"Um… kind of," said Remus, who was too tired, and too hung over, to think of a more clever excuse. "It's kind of a long story."
"I'll bet…" Matt muttered, staring incredulously at him. "What does Sirius think, then?"
"What do you mean?" asked Remus hastily, stuffing his letter into an envelope.
"I mean—he's bound to notice you all beat up. Has he been good about it, or—?"
"Oh—" Remus faltered. There was no way he could tell Matt that, while this was the worst of he'd ever been, that he was used to injuries. "He's been fine." He couldn't even tell Matt that, in reality, it had been Sirius himself to administer the blows that his broken his bones…
Matt continued to squint at him. It was as if he were sizing up, analyzing him, and Remus wished he could shrink away from the judging gaze. His head was pounding, and he wanted nothing else but to leave early, go home, and take a nice, long nap. However, Matt cleared his throat, and Remus felt a sudden sense of foreboding.
"I've been thinking," he said delicately, as if he were carefully picking his words, "it doesn't seem as if your boyfriend is really… doing the right things."
Remus stared, confused, at him. Matt couldn't possibly now about the complexities of their relationship—he didn't know, obviously, that Remus was a werewolf, and therefore he couldn't explain things like transformations, pain, and complex friendships. However, Matt was speaking very matter-of-factly now, as if he somehow knew more than Remus had told him; despite only really knowing Sirius through what Remus had said. "It just seems like the things you say about him," he went on, hastily, seeing the mystified expression on Remus' face, "I mean, all those late nights working… it just kind of seems like he's never around to me… he doesn't sound like the guy you described to me. I thought you said you two were best friends."
"We are," said Remus, who was having trouble finding his voice. "He's just been working hard, is all, I can't blame him for that…"
"All I'm saying is—" Matt went on, pressing forward, "Best friends—boyfriends—they don't let the people they care about look like you do right now. I would never let my boyfriend go to work with a broken collarbone…" he moved slightly closer in toward Remus, who stiffened as Matt laid his hand on his. "If I had a boyfriend like you, that is."
Remus drew back from him, as if he had just touched a hot stove. "It's not like that," he insisted, hastily avoiding the other boy's eyes. "I…" but he couldn't find what to say, not with Matt staring at him like that, not with the voices inside his head telling him that Sirius was different. "I've got to go," he mumbled, "go home. I'm closing up early. I feel like shit."
Matt, whose hand was still resting in the same place, wordlessly rose from his seat across from him, scooping up the things he'd lain on the counter. For a moment, he looked as though he were about to speak again, but instead, he walked toward the front of the store, turning around only when he reached the door.
"If he really was who you say… It seems like he's changed," he said bluntly, "and maybe you should too."
And then he vanished, leaving Remus standing, alone, amongst the towering stacks of books, now more distressed than ever.
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ONCE AGAIN, I AM SORRY IT'S SO SHORT... but it had to be this way for the break up of activity.. you'll see! I plan to update really soon but...
more reviews = faster update!
I'm evil : )