A/N: Written as a gift fic for NeonDomino (Liza) on Hogwarts Houses Challenges' Secret Santa.
Prompts (Secret Santa): Sirius/Remus, SquibSirius!AU, Soulmates
Prompt (Quidditch Pitch): word – heartbeat
Prompt (Drabble Club): creature - werewolf
I'm not a fan of slash. That said, hopefully this turned out well. Thanks for the challenge, Liza!
oOo
And then my soul saw you and it kind of went, "Oh, there you are. I've been looking for you." - Unknown
oOo
"A squib!"
Sirius cringed at the sound of his mother's shrill voice, his heart clenching as he listened in.
"Our son is a squib!"
"Walburga, lower your voice." His father's calm tone contrasted sharply with the outrage and disgust in his mother's, but that calm did not make Sirius feel any better.
His mother continued as if she hadn't heard him, but her voice did become quieter. "A squib!" Sirius could imagine her lip curling. "We'll have to get rid of him – blast him off the tree." The boy did not like the way she said 'get rid of him'. He didn't like it at all. "Arrange an accident. Perhaps drowning in the tub."
His father sighed. "He's too old for that now. And the timing would be too suspicious. Right after he should have received a letter? Really, Walburga – I thought you were smarter than that." His mother huffed, but his father continued speaking. "It's a shame we didn't realize sooner – we would have been able to deal with him much more quietly."
"I suppose those times we thought he did accidental magic were really Regulus."
Sirius's eyes snapped to his younger brother, eavesdropping on the other side of the partially open door. The other boy stared back with equally wide eyes, fear flickering in them.
"They were always together when it happened."
"You don't think…"
"I doubt the boy could have been deliberately covering for his brother." Their father's tone was derisive and their mother huffed again. "It's called accidental for a reason."
The two were silent for a moment inside the study and Regulus scrambled silently from his side of the door to Sirius's, pressing their shoulders together as they waited to hear the rest.
"We'll have to deal with him somehow," their mother said. "I don't want that blight inside our house, sullying Regulus and our good name."
"I have an idea of how we might be rid of him."
oOo
"You have to leave!"
A bag thudded onto Sirius's bed, already half-stuffed with who-knew-what, as his younger brother riffled through his drawers, tossing clothing haphazardly out of them toward the bed. Most of the time, the blind shots didn't even come close.
Sirius stared at Regulus, confusion stirring through the resignation he felt.
"Why?"
"Because! You can't let them do that to you! You can't!"
Sirius's brow furrowed.
"Reg, they aren't going to kill me. They're just going to Obliviate me and… leave me…" The eleven-year-old couldn't quite finish the sentence, still not capable of wrapping his mind around his parents' plan and all the simmering mass of emotions that their imminent abandonment of him caused.
"It is killing you!" Regulus spun around and the look on his face was enough to make Sirius flinch. "They're going to take everything. Everything! You won't remember anything – you won't remember me! You won't be my brother anymore. Sirius Black won't exist! He'll be dead and I'll be alone!"
The words and the way Regulus had to wipe his eyes twisted in Sirius's gut, making him feel sick and sending him scrambling off his bed to wrap his arms around his brother. The younger boy hugged him back, the edge of a sob quickly stifled between them.
Shortly, Regulus pulled away, his eyes red but dry. "You have to run away – for real – before they do it. That way… that way you'll still be Sirius."
Sirius nodded and after a moment, grinned. "That'll make them so mad."
The way his little brother laughed sounded more like a sob, but that didn't stop them from packing Sirius' bag together.
oOo
"Hey."
Rain dripped down the back of Sirius's neck, cool enough to make him shiver, but he didn't look up – the greeting would not be directed at him.
"Hey!"
This time, the word was accompanied by a poke on the top of the boy's rain-soaked head. Sirius swatted at the offending hand instinctively and lifted his head to glower at the black-haired, bespectacled annoyance. The other boy grinned, even as rain started to stick his messy dark hair to the top of his head.
"What?"
"Why are you sitting out in the rain? Did you lose a bet?"
Sirius frowned. "No."
The other boy frowned as well, seeming to think for a moment. "Is it a dare?"
"No."
Again the other boy paused to think. He opened his mouth to ask another question, closed it as if he had thought better of his query – then repeated the process twice more.
Finally, he asked, "Well why are you sitting out here then?"
Sirius didn't answer, continuing to stare at the other boy, wondering if he would go away if he stayed quiet long enough.
A bit of uncertainty entered the bespectacled boy's face as he peered more closely at Sirius – closer than the Black would have liked. Sirius was the first to look away.
"Want to help me with a prank?"
Sirius's head swiveled back around. The too-perceptive light was gone from the other boy's eyes, replaced by mischief and a broad grin. For a moment, he could only stare.
"Who are you?" Sirius asked.
The other boy continued to grin.
"I'm James Potter."
oOo
"Sirius! Sirius, you're never gonna believe this!"
James burst in the door, followed by his father, the twelve year old unwinding his Gryffindor scarf while toeing off his snow covered boots when his mother shot him a look. Sirius, sitting on the couch and doodling on the math homework his Muggle tutor had assigned him, set it aside with a grin in favor of his best friend's return home.
"I'm never gonna believe what?"
The other boy threw himself onto the couch beside Sirius, properly stripped of winter gear before leaving the doormat. Mrs. Potter left the decorations she had been putting up – a distraction from paperwork she said could wait until later – to greet her husband. Their quiet murmurs were a distant reassurance in Sirius's mind as he focused on James.
"Remus is going to come stay with us for Christmas!"
Sirius felt his stomach do something funny in his gut and hoped whatever feeling caused it didn't show on his face.
It must not have, because James continued full-steam. "This is gonna be great! My two best friends in the same house!" The hazel-eyed boy watched his parents move into the kitchen, still talking quietly together, and lowered his voice. "We're going to have so much fun."
That Sirius couldn't help but grin at, even if his stomach was still doing something funny – because James' idea of fun was sure to involve lots of getting in trouble. And Sirius was always up for trouble.
"And guess what?" James' voice got even lower, forcing Sirius to lean in close to hear him. "Remus is a werewolf. How cool is that?"
oOo
"And Remus, this is my almost-brother Sirius."
The sandy-haired boy beside James didn't look like much - he was pale and skinny, with bags under his eyes, but his eyes were bright when he smiled and greeted Sirius.
"It's nice to finally meet the infamous Sirius Black," said Remus, holding out his hand. Sirius shook it, sending James a look that the other boy ignored.
"Infamous, huh?"
"Won't be Black for too much longer!" James said blithely. "Soon as the paperwork goes through, I'll be able to drop the 'almost' and just introduce him as my brother."
"The world is doomed," murmured Remus, a hint of laughter almost hidden by his low tone. "Can barely handle one Potter, let alone two."
The other two boys stared at him for a long moment, watching Remus' eyes widen in horror as he realized they had heard him, before a slow grin stretched across Sirius' face. He looked at James to see a similar expression on his face.
"I like him."
oOo
"Prongs, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Easy. Married to Evans."
Sirius wasn't the only one to react to that with a snort of laughter, but he was the only one to say what they were all thinking. "Never gonna happen."
Though he couldn't see him – not with the way they were all laying on their backs in the dark – Sirius could hear the pout in James' voice when he responded. "Alright, Padfoot, what do you want to be? So I can shoot your dream down too."
A smirk worked its way onto his face. "I want to be a mechanic. Build motorcycles. Get my wizard-y friends to magic them for me every once in a while. But you already knew that, Prongs."
"You might want to actually do some of that math homework, then." Remus' voice came out of the dark to his left, wryly amused, the sound of it making his heartbeat just a little faster. "I don't think people want a mechanic who can't do even simple arithmetic."
Sirius barked out a laugh. "Didn't you hear? I graduated to algebra now! I'll be fine."
James snickered and Peter's voice mused, "I don't know what I want to do."
"You've got a few more years to figure it out, Wormtail. No need to really worry about it yet."
"What about you, Moony? What do you want to do?"
"Besides get rid of your furry little problem." Sirius laughed even as his right hand punched James' shoulder for the joke, making the other teen yelp.
"I kind of would like to be a teacher," said Remus after a long, contemplative moment.
"You'd be great at that!" Peter said, all enthusiasm for the idea.
"Yeah." Remus' voice didn't sound sad, or even resigned, but Sirius reached out in the dark and laid a hand on his anyway. Almost instantly, the other boy's hand turned and curled around his, a light squeeze expressing thanks.
"You know what I'd be great at?" James said. "Being Evans' husband."
oOo
"If you were planning on killing me and hiding my body out here, Reg, you probably could have done it twenty minutes ago." His tone was light, teasing, but Sirius' gut churned as he and his brother picked their way down a barely-there path in the woods. It was something about the look on Regulus' face – distant, closed off – that reminded him uncomfortably of the father he had not seen in years. "Coming all the way out here is overkill. Just means you've got a longer walk back."
His brother didn't respond, continuing on without even a glance at Sirius.
"It's going to be dark soon. It's a full moon tonight. Aren't there supposed to be werewolves in this forest?"
His brother still didn't answer and the silence between them stretched, broken only by the sounds of their progress, until Regulus stopped at last. When he turned to face the older teen, Sirius had already crossed his arms, leveling a flat stare at his brother – they should get this over with quickly and get out of here.
"What's this about?"
For a moment, the closed expression on Regulus' face faltered, and Sirius caught a sliver of uncertainty, of pain, as his brother took a deep breath and spoke.
"I didn't want to tell you this in a letter."
"Tell me what?"
It was getting hard to see in the gathering gloom, but Regulus wasn't looking at him anymore. He stared down at his feet, his jaw working. Finally, he lifted his head, but whatever he wanted to say, what came out of his mouth was something different. "Why do you know it's a full moon tonight?"
The tight feeling in Sirius' chest shifted to a brief flutter in his stomach. "I may be a squib, but I know enough to pay attention to the moon when I'm wandering around the Forbidden Forest."
Regulus frowned at him and didn't speak again for a long time.
"I'm not going to write you anymore."
"What?"
"I'm not going to write you anymore. I'm cutting ties. I can't have a squib for a brother, not if I'm going to do what I plan to."
It probably should have hurt, but the words just made Sirius angry.
"So you're finally on board with the Black family traditions?" His laugh was bitter, a bark. "Mom and Dad were going to Obliviate me to make me not their kid – what are you going to do to make me not your brother? Not talking to me anymore isn't going to make me any less your brother. You're an idiot if you think that's enough."
"Maybe I should do it then." Sirius didn't see him draw it, but suddenly Regulus had his wand in his hand. "Obliviate you."
"Go ahead," snarled Sirius, his brother's actions only making him angrier. "Wipe my memory. Kill me. That's what you'd be doing – you said it yourself. Obliviate me and Sirius Black dies. You won't have a brother anymore."
"Good." But he didn't raise his wand.
"Do it."
"I will!"
"Then why don't you? You can't even point that at me!"
Their argument cut off abruptly as another sound rose above the forest. Ice shot down Sirius' spine, his eyes catching his brother's as they both realized the same thing.
"Run," breathed Sirius. Neither of them hesitated, turning and racing down the path back to the edge of the forest, Sirius pushing Regulus ahead of him, protecting his back as the werewolf howled again.
Half an hour to walk out as far as they had – even sprinting, the werewolf would catch them long before they made it to safety. The howl had not been distant in the first place, and the third was far, far too close.
Heart in his throat, he wondered if Remus would recognize him before the werewolf disemboweled him. A hysterical laugh bubbled up at the thought.
"Don't look back!" Sirius snapped, shaking off the hysteria when he saw Regulus start to turn his head. "Just keep running! No matter what!"
Regulus faced forward again and did not look back, not even when Sirius' foot caught on a root and he went down, too surprised to even cry out. His brother kept running, the sound of his footfalls quickly fading as he left the range of Sirius' hearing.
Momentarily stunned, he lay still for several seconds, just trying to breathe. Coming alive in a flurry of frantic movement, Sirius rolled, freeing his foot from the root and standing – only to fall with a sharp cry as pain lanced up his leg. Something was wrong with his ankle, he thought, blinking to clear his vision as he clutched the injury as close to his torso as he could without jostling it further.
A snuffling sound came from behind him, back further down the path, and Sirius froze, holding his breath as it drew closer. His heart pounded, his own pulse so loud in his ears that he could barely make out the movement of the creature through the forest – it was almost there, almost on top of him.
Its low growl made him shut his eyes, like a child, foolishly thinking the darkness of their own eyelids could protect them from monsters. But only for a moment, before he forced them open again – if this was the end, he wanted to face it head-on.
Slowly, he turned his head and saw it, less than the length of his own arm away, its yellow eyes fixed on him. It didn't look anything like Remus, something he probably should have been grateful about, but there wasn't room in him for gratitude. Or confusion, when it didn't jump and rip his throat out immediately – it just stood there, staring at him, staring at it. Until the moment Sirius tried to inch away, his good foot pushing him back a few centimeters.
It growled and leapt, its front paws slamming his shoulders back to the ground and knocking the breath from his lungs. Sirius stared up at the werewolf, frozen as it lowered its head and… sniffed him? He wasn't sure, until it did it again, a definite inhale before its breath puffed back down into his face.
"Ugh, Remus, your breath stinks," said Sirius, turning his face away more on instinct than thought.
The werewolf's cold nose touched the side of his neck just as something crashed through the undergrowth and slammed into its side, knocking the creature away from him.
Sirius had barely enough time to process this – and the snarling of the werewolf as it leapt at the stag that had attacked it – before a hand was wrapped around his arm and pulling him up, Peter's voice squeaking at him, "C'mon, Sirius! While James has him distracted!"
An incoherent sound of agony left him as his weight landed on his injured side and he fell, dragging Peter down with him. The werewolf snarled, bowling past James, heedless of the sharp points of his antlers, to leap again at Sirius. Peter's form beside him disappeared with a squeak, the wolf collided with him, and this time when he hit the ground, his head bounced against a tree root. Stars flashed behind his eyes, pain taking his breath away.
The werewolf stood over him, lips drawn back in a snarl, when the first jet of red light hit, glancing off the creature's shoulder. A second landed directly in its face, scattering sparks that in turn fell on Sirius. As soon as they touched his skin, he knew no more.
oOo
"Hey, Lover Boy's waking up!"
"Shut up, James." Remus' voice. Oh. Did that mean he was alive? "Padfoot?"
"Moony… gotta tell you something…" He kept his eyes closed, but turned his head toward the sound of his friend's voices.
"Moony's got something to tell you too," said James, snickering. The yelp that followed brought Sirius' lips curling up into a smile. "Why do you guys always hit me?"
"What do you want to tell me, Padfoot?" Remus' voice sounded very gentle.
"Come closer…" Opening his eyes a slit, he could see his friend lean closer.
"Yes, Padfoot?"
"Your breathe stinks." With the words, he opened his eyes and grinned.
Remus leaned back sharply with a sound of disgust while James and Peter started laughing. There was a bandage wrapped around Remus' head, and he could make out a bulky dressing under James' shirt. Peter looked okay, at least.
"The wolf's breath stinks. My breath is fine."
James snickered again. "Yeah, and you two are going to get real familiar with each other's breaths, I bet."
Remus' face turned red. "Shut up, Prongs!"
Sirius frowned, looking between the two, feeling his own cheeks heat at the implication. "What are you talking about?"
"Moony's little furry problem." James kept snickering, apparently unable to get anything else out.
"I hate you." That just set the bespectacled teen into further hysterics.
Finally, Sirius turned his gaze to the only other friend that would still look at him. "Wormtail, what are these two loons talking about?"
"Well, uh," stuttered Peter, his face getting pink. "Um, maybe we should… get the professor back in here to explain it?"
"Explain what?"
"You're soulmates!" James crowed, recovering from his laughing fit. "Apparently that's the reason Moony didn't try to eat your face when he pinned you in the forest."
Remus groaned, covering his face with his hands.
"I… do remember a lot of sniffing going on."
The werewolf made another sound of complete mortification. Sirius grinned, as did James, who nodded rapidly. "That was the werewolf recognizing you as Moony's soulmate!"
"Padfoot, I am so sorry about this."
"Wait, what are you apologizing for? This is great!"
"It is?"
"Yes!" Sirius grinned, pulling Remus' hands away from his face as he repositioned himself in the infirmary bed to sit up. "It's just confirmation of what I knew all along. We were meant for each other."
The look on Remus' face was priceless. "Really?" His tone was as dry as Sirius had ever heard it, which only made him grin harder.
"Yup." Using his grip on the other teen's hands, he pulled him closer. "From the first day Prongs brought you home." His expression turned contemplative. "Well, I knew we were going to be friends – great friends." The grin returned. "But this is definitely a happy development. You know I've had a crush on you for ages, right?"
"You don't say." Remus' tone was still dry, but Sirius caught a grin starting in his eyes.
"You two should snog."
"Shut up Prongs!" James actually looked cowed by the combined glares Remus and Sirius leveled at him, and Peter was the one to laugh.
Madame Pomfrey's glare quelled them all though, sending James scurrying back to his bed and Peter out the door. Remus got to stay by Sirius' bed though – the witch had a softer spot for the werewolf than for his friends, even the Squib she saw more frequently than was appropriate for someone without magic.
"Maybe we should," Sirius said, enjoying the feel of Remus' hand in his and the lightness in his chest.
"Snog?"
"Yeah."
"Have you smelled your breath this morning? It's as bad as a dog's."
"So… no snogging?"
"Not until you brush your teeth."
"Bugger."
oOo
A/N: And that's all she wrote, folks! Literally. That's all I'm writing. (With the exception of the statement that Reg got professors and went back for Sirius when he realized he wasn't with him. He's not a total dick-head, after all.)
Merry Christmas, Liza! Sorry this is so late. It was actually pretty fun to write. So siriusly, thanks for the challenge. :D