Birth of a Legend
Chapter V: Searching for Mr. Right and Other Things
As the months passed and the season turned toward the colder weather of the holidays, Remus found a rather interesting surprise when James and Sirius arrived back at Hogwarts, a couple days early from their Winter Break, together. Remus had been enjoying the peace and quiet of the common room. Seeing as most Hogwarts students went home for the Christmas Holiday and Remus didn't really have any family to go home to, he usually spent the time alone. It was true he enjoyed having his friends return early, even if he knew it marked the end of the quiet times. Remus turned his gaze on the two boys, tipping his head slightly.
"All right, Padfoot, Prongs, while I'm glad to see you two arriving back to Hogwarts early, rather than late, I have to ask why?" Remus asked, watching the men for a moment.
"Sirius ran away from home," James remarked, flopping onto the couch beside his friend.
Remus' eyes went wide, staring at the black haired man. "Seriously?" he questioned, watching Sirius for his reaction.
Sirius merely rolled his eyes at that word. "Oh come on. Don't start with that. It wasn't funny the first time and it won't be funny now." Remus and James shared a smirk at those words, even as Sirius grinned a bit as well. "The family and I were on completely different sides of the fence so we agreed to disagree and I ran away. James's parents were nice enough to take me in. Spent the holidays with them then we decided to come back early so that we could spend some of the holiday with our favorite werewolf."
Remus sighed, shaking his head, laughing softly. "I'm the only werewolf you two know," he remarked.
"See, so you really are our favorite. You're looking at the newest brothers ever born to separate parents," James commented, bumping against Remus as Sirius flopped over the chair, laughing loudly at the comment.
"Oh, we've got your presents. Give me a second," Sirius remarked, before heading up to their rooms where the house elves would have put their trunks when they'd gotten back. With Padfoot gone, Remus' expression grew serious as he turned to face James.
"All right, tell me the truth. What happened and don't joke and say he just didn't get along with his family, because we've know that for years," Remus remarked, watching James as the other moved to sit up correctly on the couch beside him.
"I'll tell you, Moony, but only if you tell me what's been bothering you since before we left for the holidays. You've been out of it and while the other two might be dense, I'm not that bad." James started at Remus, wanting to know why his friend was hiding something that was obviously bothering him so much more than he was letting on. James wasn't certain what it was, but he knew it had something to do with the joking around they had done shortly after they'd learned Remus was gay. He was fairly certain Sirius was behind it… in some way.
Remus sighed, something he did rather often lately. "All right, I suppose that would be acceptable. Since I suppose if Sirius already knows, then you should at least be able to know as well. Not to mention I'm sure he'll tell you himself, if you asked."
James didn't tell the other what no matter how much he's asked, Sirius wouldn't tell him anything, which was why he decided to go to the source. It wasn't a lie, not really. It was just James' way of wanting to help his friends however he could. Sirius had been acting strangely since then and Remus was more distant that James would like their friend to be. It was time he at least knew what was wrong so he could either help or go beat someone up. Although James was more than certain that someone was most possibly going to be Sirius, himself. "Come on Moony, tell me. You're not your usual self and while I can understand why some of your moody attitude is understandable, we don't need to add more."
"Sirius learned I have a crush on him. He then told me he doesn't feel that way about me and we decided to remain as friends. It's as simple as that. It isn't my fault he's got problems being around me since then," Remus commented, even as he couldn't help but chuckle.
"He hasn't been that bad Moony. He's just had a lot of problems going on at home. His family wanted him to drop out of school and chose to help the self-proclaimed Dark Lord that's been terrorizing the muggle population lately. He decided to tell them were to shove it and got himself disowned. Since then, he's been staying with us and you know my mother. She's ecstatic. Said she's got three sons now instead of one," James said, grinning at the look of surprise on Remus' face. "Come along now, Moony, you know the day she met you she considered you one of her own. You should just give in and come back with us when the school term is up. She'd love to have you over."
Remus flushed, shaking his head. "I don't think I can, James. It just… isn't safe for me outside of Hogwarts while I'm still working on getting as much control over my problem as possible. I need the control before having to make other people have to deal with me."
James sighed, moving to drop an arm around Remus' shoulders. "Well, she sent a gift with me, so you better send a letter and tell her thank you," he told his friend, even as he heard Sirius coming back down the stairs, mostly because the man cursed several times as he struggled with an armful of packages.
Remus rolled his eyes. "You really want me as a brother, do you? You realize if I go along with that, it would make me your older brother and you'd have to start listening to me a little more. That includes getting your school work done on time, rather than waiting till the last minute. Like someone else we know." His last words were loud enough that he knew their dark haired friend could hear him.
"Hey, you would only be seventeen days older than me. I don't think that would let you treat me like an older brother," James grumbled, looking toward Sirius. "Come on, man, help me here. Remus is trying to pull the older brother card since my mother's taken the two of you into her heart."
Sirius paused, tipping his head. "But it is true that he would be the older brother if we went along with it, James. He was born first in order of our birthdays." Coming to a stop before them, he opened his arms, dumping the packages onto James and Remus, much to their dismay.
"You can't possible mean to say all of these are for me?" Remus questioned, looking at the seven or eight wrapped packages that had been dropped onto the couch with them.
"Oh, but I do, Rem. You see. There's at least one package from each of us Marauder's to you. There are also a couple packages from James' mum and dad. There's also something from Headmaster Dumbledore. We all agreed that it wasn't right you never really get to celebrate the holidays so we made sure there would be plenty for you to enjoy over the break. Wormtail was supposed to come back as well, but we heard he was having some difficulties talking his parents into letting him come back early."
Remus stared at the brightly wrapped packages in his lap, even as his eyes filled with moisture. It was amazing, how much they had all thought about him. They gave him so much and all he did was worry and fret over his curse. The tears pooled and then tumbled over his lashes; even as he looked down to hide his face from his friends. James shifted, placing a hand on his shoulder. A worried frown crossed his features. Even Sirius seemed to become worried as he kneeled beside his friend, looking up at him.
"Hey, come on Rem, don't start crying. We all care about you. You're our friend. We aren't going to write you off on a holiday that's meant for families. So what if none of us are blood related, we can still care about one another. Sometimes… the bonds of friendship mean a hell of a lot more than the ties of blood."
James snorted, snickering slightly. "That fits especially well with your family, Padfoot. I'd run away too if they were my family."
Remus sniffed, a small laugh passing his lips despite the tears. "I… I'll be right back," Remus murmured, before getting up and slipping away from the room, leaving James and Sirius to glance at one another before turning back to look in the direction Remus had slipped off to.
"Think he went off to cry alone?" James asked, a frown crossing his lips as he pushed his glasses up with his index finger.
Sirius shrugged. "It's possible, Prongs. I'll admit I don't really know what he does when he runs off like that." He sighed, sitting back on the floor till he was leaning back against the chair, stretching his legs out before him. "I was thinking... maybe we should look into finding a boyfriend for Moony. He's seemed more depressed lately and maybe a whirlwind romance would help cheer him up. It always worked whenever I was feeling blue."
James stared at his friend, wondering for the first time why Remus had fallen for the idiot if this was the kind of thinking that Sirius normally displayed. That just didn't seem appropriate for what he had learned just a short time ago. "What if he already has someone he cares for? Isn't that kind of harsh? I mean you can't force him to change his mind and chose someone else if he's already head over heels for someone else, Padfoot. It would be wrong to force it."
Sirius paused, looking at James before his gray eyes got serious and he frowned at his friend. "Ah, you know, don't you? You've realized that he has a bit of a crush on me, haven't you? And that's why you're against trying to get him hooked up with someone." Sirius sighed and waved his hand in front of his face. "Seriously, don't worry about it. I've let the man know that I'm flattered but not interesting and I'm sure he's all for trying to find someone new to care about. We just need to give him a little push," Sirius remarked, even as he never really met James' eyes as he talked.
"Are you seriously okay with him being with just anyone, Sirius?" James asked his own tone serious. "Just think about it. If you push him into a relationship with someone outside of our little group, it could become the end of the Marauder's. We've all seen how Wormtail is with that little Ravenclaw girl he's been mooning over. If Remus finds love he'll stop being an active part of our group. Do you really want that?"
Sirius frowned, thinking hard and long at those words. The more he remained in their group, the less he wanted to see Remus with anyone. The truth was, a part of him was flattered Remus cared so much about him, even after being turned down. He liked being with Remus and he was one of the best friends he'd ever had. He just… didn't see men that way. He knew if he didn't actively look for someone to take his place in Remus' heart then he'd get greedy and want the man to love him, despite the fact he knew he'd never feel the same for him. He just… couldn't do that to Remus. "Well, maybe not just anyone, but that's why I was going to have you help. We could look for Mr. Right for Remus together and we'd have to make certain that both of us agree on the man before we ever introduce them. That way, there will be no complaints and we'll at least know the one with him doesn't turn out to be a total sod."
"Sirius, the only two men I trust near Remus in the way you're talking about is Wormtail and yourself. Since Wormtail is completely against the idea and you've already turned him down, my search options are nil," James told his friend, meaning those words with everything in him.
"Why the hell would is it only Wormtail and me? Seriously James, have you gone daft or something?" Sirius questioned, his gaze going skyward as he stared up at the high ceiling of the common room.
James shook his head, beginning to piece together everything he knew and coming to a realization that neither of them had even realized. "No, there is just one thing I've come to see that I think you haven't realized."
Sirius tipped his head, his hair falling roguishly into his eyes. "And what would that be, Prongs? What's the one thing that you believe we've not noticed?"
"Remus' condition, you prat, or have you forgotten all about the reason we've spent five years of our lives working on becoming Animagus?" James questioned his hazel gaze completely serious behind his glasses. "It's fine to find someone who'll care for Remus. Probably wouldn't even be a hard thing to accomplish. He is a very amazing person, after all. Yet he's also someone who's got a very dark past. One that most people would look at and call him names for. He isn't safe with just anyone, Padfoot and you know it. We can't just pick a nice person. We need someone who doesn't care he's a werewolf and could possibly endanger them. Let's face it; we are the only three aside from Headmaster Dumbledore, that don't see the curse when we look at him, even though we know the truth. Anyone else… wouldn't be so kind about it. Most would freak out."
Sirius frowned, before huffing out, shaking his head a moment before reaching up and ruffling his hair with both hands as he growled in frustration. "Bloody hell, James, what do you expect us to do? We can't just give up and resolve that he'll just be alone all the time! It's just wrong! Completely and utterly wrong! No one should be doomed to spend their life alone." His words seemed to trail off as he hung his head. It was too sad to think about. Even if he couldn't love Remus the same way he loved him, the man didn't deserve to be forever without someone. Remus was a smart young man, caring and generous, and always there for others, even when they were pulling pranks on people.
"So then we'll just have to keep our eyes open for someone who would make a good fifth member to the Marauder's and who would be able to keep his secret and still care about him regardless of his curse. I'm not saying we will find someone like that, but that would make the man Mr. Right in our books if we can, right?" James asked, grinning slightly at the other just then.
Sirius nodded, grinning back, even as a part of him inside frowned at those words. He didn't want someone else in their group and he most certainly didn't want anyone else to know about Remus, just in case they did freak out over it. The fewer people who knew, the more likely Sirius was able to know who would have broken their word and told. The easier it would be to find the bastard and beat them up for such treachery. Of course, he'd never admit to those thoughts so instead he agreed with James, fairly certain there would never be someone who would fit all of those requirements. "Well then, sounds like we'll have to keep an eye out and see if this Mr. Right does exist here in the school."
"If not, we're going to graduate in two more years. We can always keep an eye out once we're free from Hogwarts," James murmured, pretty certain that there was only one person who fit that description, and he was too busy being stubborn about incidental things. Luckily, he had two years to get the stubborn fool to realize it himself.
Author's Note: Looks like James as someone in mind already. Can anyone else figure out who that person is? Reviews make me happy… so please review and let me know you like this. It gets harder to keep writing when I don't know when others are interested in it. I've still got a few more chapters in reserve and working on another… faster updates when I know people really want more.