Written for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition.

[Season 10] – Round 10: Nothing Beats a Classic

Team: Chudley Cannons

Position: Beater 1 – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Write about a character trying to correct their flaws.

Bonus prompts:

2. (emotion) afraid

8. (word) abject

9. (emotion) trepidation

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Word count: 1033

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Thanks to Hannahsoapy for betaing!

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CW: Implied bad relationship with parent. Implied bad parent.

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Remus had had a tight grimace on his face ever since dinner started. Sirius had easily ignored this until Remus decided to cover his ears with his hands, and he couldn't help rolling his eyes.

"Wha'chu doin' tha' for," he said as bits of food flew out of his mouth.

Remus glared at him and shook his head.

"C'mon," Sirius said before swallowing.

"Can't you chew with your mouth shut?"

"Why?" Sirius scooped up a mouthful of potato and started exaggerating his chewing.

Although before he could finish, Remus had gotten up from the table and stomped out of the Great Hall, even though his plate was still half full.

Sirius rolled his eyes again because it really wasn't that big of a deal. His whole upbringing had been centred on always being perfect and always having good manners, so what was so wrong with letting loose and ignoring that for a bit?

Still, he didn't like it when Remus was upset, so he got up from the table, leaving James and Peter behind, to run after Remus.

"Hey," he yelled, once he was out of the Great Hall.

"Leave me alone."

Instead of doing that, Sirius ran up and pulled Remus' hand away from his ears. But Remus yanked his hand back immediately as if Sirius' touch had burned him.

"I told you a million times not to touch my wrists," Remus hissed.

"Why?"

"Because they're sensitive."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You seriously have to get over that nonsense. There're no such thing as sensitive wrists."

Remus' jaw tightened. "Even if that was true, why can't you stop doing the thing that I'm asking you to? It's really not that hard to not touch my wrists."

They glared at each other. Sirius wasn't sure if it had become a staring contest or not, but he wasn't going to lose it either way. Once Remus blinked, Sirius decided to speak again.

"It didn't used to be a problem. Why are your wrists so sensitive all of a sudden?" Sirius crossed his arms and smirked, thinking he had won the argument.

"Because I didn't know how to set boundaries before. You were the one who taught me how to do that." Remus took a step back. "But I guess it didn't really matter because you refuse to respect them."

Remus turned around and continued marching down the hallway.

After half a second of hesitation, Sirius did as well.

"Re, wait–"

But he only sped up. Sirius didn't realise where they were going before Remus opened the door to the Hospital Wing.

"I don't feel so good," Remus told Madam Pomfrey before promptly finding a bed and sitting down on it. Sirius tried to follow him, but Madam Pomfrey blocked his way.

"He needs rest, so you have to leave," she told him. Madam Pomfrey was always strict about her rules, this was a well-known fact to all the students at Hogwarts.

Sirius looked at Remus behind her, while a sudden uncomfortable feeling was growing inside him.

Remus wanted to get away from Sirius. He even went to the Hospital Wing because he so badly wanted to get away, and because he didn't trust Sirius to leave him alone. What if this was only the beginning? What if Remus decided that he never wanted to be around Sirius? What if Remus didn't want to be friends anymore?

No!

He could still fix this. His first instinct was to apologise immediately, but that thought had his heart beat louder against his chest, which reminded him it was not a good idea. So Sirius backed away and closed the door behind him.

Nausea built up, but he ignored it, reminding himself there was still a chance he could fix his friendship with Remus.

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Sirius didn't get the chance to apologise until a couple of days later, because Remus had had to visit his mum. He did that often, because she was ill. Now that he thought about it, Remus always seemed more on edge than usual close to the visits. And while Sirius knew these visits were important to Remus, he couldn't help feeling unsettled during the wait before he could apologise.

But finally, he found Remus sitting on his bed in the dorm and staring at nothing. He often did that after being away, because the visits took a toll on him. Sirius would feel the same if he had to visit his mother and see her more than necessary.

Sirius had come to the dorm alone, so he gently clicked the door shut behind him.

On the list of things Remus didn't like, that Sirius had previously ignored because he thought it was silly, sounds was at the top. He wasn't sure which sounds (except the sound of chewing with your mouth open, obviously) so he tried to avoid all of them.

"Is it okay if I apologise?" Sirius asked softly.

Remus' head slowly turned, and he looked Sirius up and down before nodding.

Sirius kept standing by the door, in case Remus didn't want him closer. Part of him hated this, because it reminded him of how his parents wanted him to behave; proud and self-assured in front of others, yet abject in front of them. But he knew it was the best way to apologise to Remus.

"I'm sorry I didn't respect your boundaries. I didn't mean to upset you. I promise I will chew with my mouth shut from now on, not touch your wrists and stop all the other behavior that bothers you."

"Really?"

"Yes. I'll be a better friend from now on."

Remus smiled wryly. "Good."

The silence stretched between them, but it was good, right? Remus liked when it was quiet. Sirius then decided not to try and fill the silence, because he figured that if he was going to be a better friend to Remus, then he should learn to appreciate the things Remus liked more.

"Can I sit on your bed? Without touching?"

Remus cocked his head. "Sure."

They enjoyed each other's company in silence for hours after that, and by the end of it, Sirius felt as if he understood Remus, at least a little better.