The Marauders’ fifth year at Hogwarts
Sirius couldn’t sleep all night. He’d been worried about Remus for the past few days but now he was definitely worried. He visits his sick mum every month and comes back in pain. Sirius swears he has injuries too but Remus doesn’t get dressed in the dorm room, only the bathroom with the door closed and locked. Plus the nightmares leading up to his visits (and afterwards) don’t help Sirius stop worrying.
Sirius glanced at the window and ripped the blankets off before he climbed out of bed. He’s seen one injury on Remus before and Sirius worries that his parents are causing them. Sirius just had to wait until he got back from his parents’ house and then he’d ask about it.
He got dressed and made his way out of the dorm, glancing at James and Peter asleep in their own beds. The sun was barely up. He left the common room and hoped that he’d eventually run into Remus.
“Who turned on the sun?” Sirius complained to himself when he got blinded by a sliver of sunlight peeking through the morning clouds.
Sirius rubbed his eyes and made his way to the courtyard. He stilled when he saw his brother reading on one of the benches. He’d been meaning to ask this question for days but could never find the right time or way to ask.
He stumbled over to Regulus and stopped in front of him. Sirius had a few occasional nightmares about this but he needed to ask. Either this would help his nightmares go away or it would make them significantly worse.
“Would you use the Killing Curse on me?” Sirius blurted out.
Regulus looked up from the book he was reading.
“Most people say ‘good morning’ or ‘hello, how are you doing’,” Regulus said sarcastically.
“Would you?” Sirius asked.
“Would I what?” Regulus asked.
“Would you point your wand at your brother and say ‘Avada Kedavra’?” Sirius asked, glaring.
“Did you walk down seven floors just to ask me that?” Regulus asked with an eye roll. “You’re so melodramatic.”
“You’re avoiding the question,” Sirius said.
Regulus stared at him for a moment before whispering.
“Yes, I would, if I had to,” Regulus said quietly.
Sirius felt nauseous. He started to walk away to find Remus, the entire point of being out here, when Regulus started to speak again.
“Not that it would do anything. It might tickle you at most,” Regulus said. Sirius turned around with a confused expression. “Don’t you remember what mother said? You have to genuinely mean it.”
Sirius nodded slowly and walked away. He rubbed his eyes. The entire reason he even asked the question was because of his own nightmares of his brother using the Killing Curse on him. And the entire reason he was having nightmares about that was because of him waking up in the middle of the night to Remus talking in his sleep.
“Don’t kill me. Please. Don’t use the Killing Curse, or any other Unforgivables. Please. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Sirius had promptly woken Remus up before he started screaming. Remus pushed him away and was shaking violently, and it took an hour to calm him down with the help of James and Peter. None of them fell back asleep that night. But that entire interaction had provided Sirius with his own set of nightmares, hence why he needed to ask his brother if he’d use the Killing Curse on him.
Sirius somehow made his way near the Whomping Willow. He himself had tried to get close to it, as many other students had challenged themselves throughout the years. It was a game to see who could get the closest without being killed by the tree. Obviously the teachers didn’t approve but they couldn’t stop the students from being dumbass kids (as much as they tried). Sirius remembered Remus sitting off to the side when a group of them were trying to get close. Remus looked nauseous at the sight of the tree.
Sirius froze when he noticed something on the ground near the tree. He wasn’t stupid enough to run at it. Well, not anymore. So he pulled out his wand.
“Immobulus,” Sirius casted, stopping the branches from moving. He walked over to the trunk and grabbed a sweater. He instantly recognized it. “Remus.”
Sirius instantly ran through the tunnel that was apparently there and started searching.
“Remus? Remus? Hello?”
Sirius eventually reached something that wasn’t rock and peeked his head through.
“A house?” Sirius asked. He walked through the hole in the floor. “Remus? Are you here? Remus, whatever your middle name is, Lupin, where are you? Do you even have a middle name? Wait isnt it John?”
Sirius walked around and didn’t see anything besides broken furniture and claw marks. He stopped when he realized where he was.
“I’m in the Shrieking Shack,” Sirius said to himself quietly. They’ve all heard the stories and the noises. The most haunted house in Britain that no one goes near. Everyone’s too afraid. The howling and screaming noises, along with the eerie piano music before the howling and screaming, made people scared of this place. Terrified actually.
Sirius felt uncomfortable but his need to find Remus was more important than his fear. He kept searching through the house and didn’t find anything. He huffed and eventually left.
——
The next time Sirius ran into Remus was when Remus came into the dorm. He looked dreadful.
“Are you okay?” James asked from his bed.
“Yes, I’m quite alright,” Remus said with a nod.
“How’s your mum?” Peter asked hesitantly.
“Sick, like always. I lost hope that she’ll ever get better,” Remus mumbled before he crawled into his own bed. He made a whimpering sound as he pulled the blankets over his body.
“I’m sorry,” James said quietly. “Is there anything we can do?”
“If you could keep from yelling and making much noise, I would appreciate that immensely. The medical wing was quiet while I was there. I’d appreciate it being quiet here as well. My heads killing me,” Remus said tiredly.
“You got it,” James said with a worried expression. He didn’t comment on Remus mentioning him being with Madame Pomfrey. “Peter and I will study in the common room.”
James and Peter walked away. Sirius slowly walked over to Remus’ bed. He crouched down.
“Can I help you?” Remus asked, seeing Sirius staring at him.
“Your sweater,” Sirius said slowly, holding the sweater.
“Oh. Thank you. I couldn’t remember where I left that,” Remus said, grabbing it and wincing. He stuffed the sweater under the blankets. Remus eventually looked at Sirius staring at him. “Is everything okay?”
“Are you safe?” Sirius asked hesitantly.
“What do you mean?” Remus asked with a confused expression.
“Is everything okay at home?” Sirius asked. He tried to be vague but specific enough so that Remus would understand.
But of course because of Remus being so out of it, he wasn’t comprehending what Sirius was saying.
“Mum’s sick,” Remus said tiredly. “I lost hope that…that she’ll ever be healed.”
Sirius contemplated asking about his father but decided against it. Maybe his father was the one hurting him? And his mother as well? Was he poisoning Remus’ mother and making her sick? Was that why Remus visited so often? Because Remus was making sure she was safe? Did he take the brunt of the pain so she wouldn’t have to? Remus was protective.
Sirius felt a headache coming on.
“Your nightmare a few days ago…when you were…begging someone not to use the Killing Curse on you,” Sirius said slowly. Remus flinched and made an uncomfortable expression from the sudden twinge of pain. “What was that about?”
“Ooh, nosey,” Remus said. Sirius smiled. Remus sighed and gave in. “I had a nightmare about you and James and Peter using the Killing Curse on me.”
Sirius instantly felt all the color drain from his face.
“We would never do that,” Sirius said quickly.
“Never say never,” Remus said in a mumble. He closed his eyes.
“I’ll do an Unbreakable Vow or a Blood Oath right now to prove it to you,” Sirius blurted out. Remus opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. “I will. Don’t tempt me. No one said I had common sense.”
“You’d do that?” Remus asked in a whisper. Sirius walked over to James’ trunk where he kept a random assortment of potions. He grabbed the Veritaserum and drank some of the vial. “What are you doing?”
“Veritaserum. I will never use any Unforgivable on you. I will never hurt you. I can do a Blood Oath or an Unbreakable Vow, whichever you choose,” Sirius said stubbornly. “I will drag James and Peter in here and force them to drink this to prove it to you.”
Remus smiled slightly.
“You’re very dramatic,” Remus said, his eyes watering slightly. “And thoughtful.”
“My brother called me melodramatic earlier,” Sirius said with an eye roll. Remus smiled again. “I will never hurt you.”
“Even if I was…a monster? Or different?” Remus asked quietly, already regretting speaking.
“A monster? You are not a monster. Mate, you fold your socks and wear knitted sweaters. You’re not scary,” Sirius said. Remus laughed.
“Can I get some sleep now and enjoy my Saturday afternoon or are you going to keep being stupid?” Remus asked. Sirius laughed.
“Just for that, I will continue to sit here and stare at you,” Sirius said stubbornly.
“You do that quite often,” Remus said. He closed his eyes and started to drift off. “Thank you for not being afraid of me.”
“Am I scary?” Sirius asked suddenly.
“No. What’s there to be scared of?” Remus asked in a mumble.
“Boo,” Sirius said. Remus chuckled quietly and fell asleep.
——
Sirius didn’t know why he was following Remus but he was. He borrowed James’ invisibility cloak and watched Remus go into the tunnel underneath the Whomping Willow.
“Why are you going in there when you told us you’d be visiting your mum?” Sirius asked himself quietly.
After standing there long enough for the full moon to come out, since he was debating whether he should invade Remus’ privacy or not, Sirius eventually made his way into the tunnel. He walked through the tunnel and heard howling. The closer he got, the closer it sounded like a werewolf.
Only one thought was on his mind; Remus was in danger because of a werewolf in the Shrieking Shack. Sirius quickly ran through the tunnel and into the house.
“Remus where are you?!” Sirius yelled as he held his wand in front of him. “Remus!”
Sirius flinched at the growling noises behind him and froze when turned around to see a werewolf. He noticed the clothes on the floor.
“Remus? Is that you? Oh, that explains a lot,” Sirius said anxiously. “Remus? It’s me, it’s Sirius.”
Sirius backed away from the werewolf before he heard voices coming from the tunnel.
“Sirius, where are you? Why are you sneaking off? Are you getting into trouble without us?” James asked before he walked into the room with Peter. They both screamed and James immediately pulled out his wand.
“Don’t it’s Remus!” Sirius yelled, grabbing James’ wand.
“What?! How?” James yelled.
“You’re asking me?!” Sirius yelled before grabbing them both by their arms and dragging them into another room. He quickly pushed a chair in front of the door and put his body against it.
“A chair? You think a chair is gonna help?” James asked. “Werewolves attack humans.”
“Too bad we’re not a animagi,” Sirius said offhandedly.
“Why is he a werewolf?” Peter asked anxiously.
“I don’t know!” Sirius yelled.
James quickly grabbed his wand from Sirius’ hand and cast a spell on the door to stop Remus from breaking it down. Sirius slowly stepped away from the door when he realized it wasn’t going to break.
“Explain now,” James said with a glare.
“I was following him and I noticed his clothes on the floor and realized he’s a werewolf,” Sirius explained, throwing the invisibility cloak at James. “That’s why he has the nightmares and leaving to visit his sick mum and being in pain. Everything makes sense!”
The ‘so he’s not being abused’ part of his thoughts he kept to himself. Sirius anxiously ran a hand through his hair.
“What do we do?” Peter asked.
“Well we’re not telling anyone about this!” Sirius said loudly, throwing his arms in the air. “We can’t. He thought we’d kill him. He…”
Sirius leaned against the wall as his adrenaline rush started to disappear.
“We can’t tell anyone,” Sirius said anxiously, his eyes watering slightly. He slid onto the floor and ran his hand through his hair with a shaking hand.
“We won’t,” James said. He looked at Peter, who nodded quickly.
“We won’t tell anyone,” Peter said while nodding.
“Do you think he’s okay in there?” Sirius asked quietly, looking at the door.
“Probably not,” James admitted. He slid down to the floor next to Sirius and wrapped his arm around him. “But when he wakes up, he’ll have us.”
Sirius nodded, his eyes watering slightly. He rubbed his eyes to get rid of the tears.
——
When morning came, the three of them stared at Remus sleeping on the floor. Sirius and James got his clothes on while Peter kept a lookout for anyone coming.
“Poor guy must be exhausted,” James said to himself. “It explains everything.”
Sirius stared at Remus asleep before he started to wake up. Remus froze when he saw James and Sirius and Peter. He immediately scrambled away from them as fast as he could while being in pain and bumped into the wall.
“Woah, woah, it’s okay,” Sirius said, holding his hands in a calming gesture.
“It’s okay,” James said as Remus started to hyperventilate. “We won’t tell anyone.”
“And we won’t hurt you or hate you. I promised I’d never hurt you and I meant that,” Sirius said.
Remus continued shaking, despite the fact that he didn’t have any energy left to even talk. Sirius slowly walked over to him and hugged him.
“We’re gonna do something stupid, like we always do,” Sirius whispered. “We’re gonna spend time with you here every full moon.”
Remus frantically shook his head.
“…could hurt you…” Remus managed to say, his eyes watering.
“Werewolves only go after humans, not animals,” James said before he smirked. “If we happened to be animagi…”
Remus’ eyes widened.
“I told you I’d never hurt you, and I meant it,” Sirius said seriously. Remus felt exhausted but nodded.
“You’re very stubborn,” Remus mumbled.
“That’s me. Sirius Stubborn Black,” Sirius said.
“I thought it was Orion,” Peter said from the corner of the room.
“No, it’s Stubborn,” Sirius said with a glare. Remus smiled slightly.
——
“Hypothetically speaking…if one wanted to be an animagus, how would one do that?” Sirius asked Professor McGonagall.
McGonagall looked up from her papers and stared.
“Why are you wanting to be an animagus?” McGonagall asked.
“I never said me. I said hypothetically, Professor,” Sirius said.
McGonagall looked at Remus, who was sitting at the desk and looking extremely pale after the full moon. She immediately understood.
“Of course as a teacher, I can’t tell you that,” Professor McGonagall said as she grabbed some parchment to make notes for the spell.
Sirius smirked at Remus.
——
Harry’s third year at Hogwarts
Remus still felt nauseous at the news of Sirius Black escaping Azkaban. He was still angry at Sirius for giving away their location to Voldemort. He was still angry that he never got to meet Harry when he was a baby or help Lily and James raise him. He was still angry and sad at a lot of things. But he had other things to worry about.
Now he was a professor at Hogwarts. To Harry, he would always be Professor Lupin, never Uncle Moony. He’d always be a teacher and not his uncle.
Remus was so tired from stressing out about Sirius Black for days. He was absolutely exhausted by the time he got onto the train that he fell asleep in the compartment.
And when he woke up, he woke up to darkness. It wasn’t Sirius Black in front of him like he feared, it was a Dementor, and James was right next to him in danger. He quickly performed a Patronus Charm to cast it away. By the time the Dementor was gone, he realized it wasn’t James unconscious next to him, but Harry Potter.
“Harry, wake up,” one of the two others in the compartment said as she tried to shake him awake. Remus must have been exhausted if he slept through them coming in.
“What’s wrong with him?” The boy asked. Remus realized the boy was asking him.
“It’s okay. Harry will be okay. He just needs some rest for a few,” Remus said, gently lifting Harry’s unconscious body off the floor and onto the cushions.
Remus pushed away the thought that first time he’s seen Harry in person was when he got attacked by a Dementor and is now unconscious. Sirius had seen Harry as a baby, but that visit happened when it was the full moon, so obviously Remus couldn’t visit the Potters. And then Lily and James and Harry went into hiding soon after, so he’s never seen Harry in person before.
Eventually Harry managed to wake up and Remus gave him chocolate with an explanation that the creature was a Dementor searching for Sirius Black. Remus made the excuse of needing to talk to the conductor because he was having difficulty being in the same space as Harry at the moment. So he walked away.
Remus could barely breathe but this wasn’t the first time he’s felt like this, and it certainly won’t be the last. He stared at the chocolate in his hands. Chocolate is supposed to make you happy, and Remus has been trying to kill the wolf inside him for years by eating chocolate. Unfortunately the last part didn’t do anything, because the wolf was still there.
“Breathe, Harry is fine,” Remus said to himself as his hands shook slightly.
——
“Intriguing, isn’t it?” Remus asked the class after the wardrobe shook. A few students even backed away from it. “Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what’s inside?”
“That’s a Boggart, that is,” one of the students said.
“Very good. Now can anyone tell me what a Boggart looks like?” Remus asked.
“No one knows,” Hermione Granger said. “Boggarts are shapeshifters. They take on the shape of whatever a particular person fears the most. That’s what makes them so-“
“So terrifying, yes,” Remus said. “Luckily a very simple charm exists to repel a Boggart. Let’s practice it now. Without wands, if you please. Riddikulus.”
“Riddikulus,” the class said.
“Again, a little louder. Speak very clearly. Riddikulus,” Remus said.
“Riddikulus,” the class said again.
“Very good. Now, the easy bit is the incantation, but it is not enough on its own. What really finishes off a Boggart is laughter. You need to force it to assume a shape that you find truly amusing,” Remus explained. “For example, Neville, will you join me please?”
Neville carefully walked over to him.
“Hello,” Remus said. “What frightens you most of all?”
Neville mumbled something and Remus couldn’t understand.
“Sorry?” Remus asked.
“P-Professor S-Snape,” he said hesitantly, prompting the class to start laughing.
“Professor Snape,” Remus said with a small smile. “He frightens all. Now I believe you live with your grandmother?”
“Yes. But I don’t want that Boggart to turn into her either,” Neville said, causing the class to laugh again. Remus smiled.
“It won’t,” Remus said. “I want you to picture her clothes, only her clothes, very clearly in your mind.”
“She carries a red handbag-“ Neville started to say.
“Shh,” Remus said calmly. “We don’t need to hear. As long as you see it, we’ll see it. Now, when I open that wardrobe, here’s what I want you to do.”
Remus moved closer to Neville and whispered.
“I want you to picture Professor Snape in your grandmother’s clothes,” Remus whispered.
Remus stepped back and saw Neville’s eyes widen.
“Ready? On three. One. Two. Three,” Remus said, flicking his wand to open the wardrobe.
Remus watched as Snape walked out of the wardrobe.
“Think, Neville, think,” Remus encouraged.
“Riddikulus,” Neville hesitantly said.
The class burst out laughing after the clothes changed into Neville’s grandmother’s clothes. Remus even laughed as well. He expected to hear James and Sirius and Peter laughing beside him but that would never happen, ever again.
“Wonderful, Neville, wonderful,” Remus said, pushing the thoughts away. “Alright, to the back. Everyone form a line. I want all of you to picture the thing you fear the very most and turn it into something funny.”
He moved out of the way and turned on the record player. Remus watched as each student walked up to face their fears and couldn’t help but smile. It may not be a way to rid them of their fear completely but it might help them overcome it a little bit, even for the moment.
Remus stilled when Harry walked up. He was wondering what Harry was most afraid of. He watched as it turned into a Dementor, and for a split second he was a teenager and James was in danger. Without thinking, Remus threw himself in front of James-
Remus watched as the Dementor changed. He expected the full moon like last time he faced a Boggart, but instead it was a black dog.
Remus froze. Sirius. Sirius was growling at him in his animagus form. He backed away, as did multiple students. Remus pulled out his wand at some point, since he was scared to move, and casted the spell.
“Riddikulus,” Remus said. He didn’t see what the dog turned into but he suddenly felt exhausted. The class laughed though and he sent the Boggart into the wardrobe.
“That’s all, everyone. Class dismissed. So sorry,” Remus managed to say. Everyone thankfully complied rather quickly, even James- Harry.
Remus sighed and leaned against the wall. He slid down onto the floor and stared at the ceiling. His worst fear wasn’t Sirius Black in his human form. It was Sirius Black in his animagus form. His animagus form provided him comfort countless times when he himself had been experiencing his own worst nightmare. But now that comfort was gone forever.
——
Remus felt exhausted after the full moon but he still decided to go for a walk with Harry. He was trying to get over his fear of being around Harry. Despite the fact that Harry was James and Lily’s son, he is his own person and shouldn’t be defined by his parents. It isn’t fair to Harry or James or Lily. And Remus was certainly going to try to be better at spending time with Harry.
“I’m sorry about your broomstick,” Remus said sincerely. “Is there no chance of fixing it?”
“No,” Harry said. “Professor, why do the dementors affect me so? I mean, more than everyone else.”
“Listen, the dementors are amongst the foulest creatures to walk this Earth. They feed on every good feeling, every happy memory, until a person is left with absolutely nothing but his worst experiences. You are not weak, Harry. The dementors affect you most of all because there are true horrors in your past. Horrors your classmates can scarcely imagine. You have nothing to be ashamed of,” Remus said seriously.
“I'm scared, Professor,” Harry admitted.
“Well, I'd consider you a fool if you weren't,” Remus said with a small laugh. He thought of James doing something stupid and silly. He focused back on the present when Harry started talking again.
“I need to know how to fight them. You could teach me. You made that dementor on the train go away,” Harry said.
“There was only one that night,” Remus pointed out.
“But you made it go away,” Harry said carefully.
“Well, I don't pretend to be an expert, Harry, but seeing as the dementors seem to have developed a particular interest in you, perhaps I should teach you. But after the holidays. For now, I need to rest,” Remus said tiredly.
Remus leaned against the tree next to him. Harry looked at him with a worried expression.
“Is everything alright, Professor?” Harry asked hesitantly.
“Yes,” Remus lied. He’s gone through this quite a lot. He was tired of being a werewolf, yes, but he’d be fine, even if he didn’t have his friends to help him with his transformation anymore.
“Did you hear that?” Harry asked.
“Hear what?” Remus asked tiredly. He turned to the direction Harry was looking and noticed a black dog.
No. No. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t-
“That looks like the dog…your Boggart,” Harry hesitantly said.
“Run, Harry!” Remus yelled before he got blasted with a spell. He blacked out.
——
Remus groaned when he woke up. His body felt extremely heavy and he remembered Harry was with him before he blacked out. He instantly tried to get up.
“Calm down,” Sirius said from next to him in a gentle voice, prompting Remus to violently flinch. “Take it easy, Remus.”
“Where’s Harry?” Remus asked anxiously.
He looked around and saw Harry asleep on the bean bag chair in the corner of the room. They were in the Shrieking Shack. Remus hated this place. Remus stared at Harry’s chest moving up and down, and he felt relieved that Harry was breathing.
“If you’re going to kill Harry, you’re going to have to kill me too,” Remus said.
“No,” Sirius said, shaking his head. He went to start talking again but Remus started pleading with Sirius.
“Please don’t hurt him. Please, I’m begging you not to kill him. If you cared about me at all, or James or Lily, please, Sirius-“ Remus pleaded as he tried his best to move. He couldn’t move any of his limbs. “Why can’t I move? What did you do?”
“Remus, please calm down,” Sirius said with a worried tone. Remus scoffed at Sirius pretending to be worried about him. “You look awful. How bad was the full moon?”
“Why did you kidnap both of us? Why not just kill us?” Remus asked, glaring at Sirius.
Remus was terrified that Sirius was going to force him to watch Harry die before he killed him. He couldn’t deal with that. He’d already lived through James and Lily being gone, Peter being killed by Sirius, Sirius being sent to Azkaban. He couldn’t deal with seeing his best friend kill Harry.
“Peter Pettigrew is alive,” Sirius said. Remus stilled.
“That’s not- you killed him-” Remus said.
“They changed their Secret Keeper to Peter!” Sirius said loudly in a frustrated voice. “He gave them up to Voldemort! I confronted him and he killed 12 people. The only thing they could find was a finger. The Weasley Family has a rat, and it’s Peter.”
Remus shook his head, the only part of his body he could move. Sirius rolled his eyes.
“If I wanted to kill Harry or you I would have done so. That spell is making him take a nice nap while you and I talk,” Sirius said.
“I don’t believe you,” Remus said nervously.
“I promised I’d never hurt you,” Sirius said softly. “I even offered to take a Blood Oath or do an Unbreakable Vow. Do you remember that?”
Remus nodded slowly.
“I won’t hurt either of you,” Sirius said. “The only reason you can’t move is because of the spell. Listen, I will remove it, but you can’t attack me. I won’t attack you, especially because the full moon was two days ago. You’re probably in enough pain as is.”
Remus didn’t want anything to do with Sirius Black. But he nodded. Sirius waved Remus’ wand and Remus felt like he could breathe again. He backed away but remained on the bed.
“He’s so young,” Sirius whispered, staring at Harry.
“He’s a child, Sirius, children are young,” Remus drawled. Sirius snorted.
“I missed your attitude and sarcastic comments,” Sirius said with a smile. “When I was searching his pockets, I found something.”
Sirius grabbed the Marauders Map and handed it to Remus.
“Check for yourself and see if you can find Peter,” Sirius said. He handed over Remus’ wand and Remus blinked at the amount of trust Sirius had in him.
“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” Remus said slowly. He expected a comment from James about how they’d definitely be getting into trouble. Remus pushed away his memories of them mapping the entire school for fun.
Remus searched and finally froze when he saw Peter Pettigrew. Sirius climbed on the bed next to him. Remus flinched.
“Not possible,” Remus whispered.
“I told you. The map never lies,” Sirius said. He glanced over at Harry.
“I need to tell Professor McGonagall about this,” Remus said as he climbed off the bed and walked towards the door. He stopped to look at Harry and realized he had to make a choice. “What about Harry?”
“I’ll watch over him. I don’t want him anywhere near Pettigrew,” Sirius said. Remus felt uncomfortable. “Remus, please, try to trust me. Or at least trust that I won’t hurt James and Lily’s son. The sleep spell will last a few more hours.”
Remus hesitated. He leaned against the wall to get rid of the dizziness. Sirius went over to him.
“How bad was the full moon?” Sirius asked in a worried tone.
“It’s always bad whenever you and James aren’t around,” Remus mumbled. “It’s whatever anyway. I deserve it.”
“No. You don’t. Being able to endure something does not equal an obligation to withstand it,” Sirius said.
Remus felt dizzy again and stumbled. Sirius grabbed his arm gently.
“Who knows? Maybe Harry is part stag and he’ll be able to help you on full moons if I get sent back to Azkaban? Did you know I was worried about baby Harry being born a stag?” Sirius said.
“James, what if your baby is a centaur?” Sirius asked as he climbed onto the bed.
James woke up and rubbed his eyes.
“What?” James asked, his voice slightly raspy from having been woken up. “Sirius? It’s 3 in the morning.”
“I’m just saying. What happens when an animagus has a kid?” Sirius asked. “What if your baby is a centaur?”
“The baby won’t be- I’m a stag, anyway,” James said.
“You know what I mean,” Sirius said. James turned over in the bed to look at Lily.
“Lily? Are you awake?” James asked.
“What?” Lily asked tiredly after having been woken up.
“You’d be able to tell if the baby was half stag, right?” James asked with a worried expression.
“I can tell he’s half an idiot,” Lily said before she looked at Sirius also on the bed and sighed. She went back to sleep.
Remus rolled his eyes and hesitantly walked away, trusting that Sirius won’t kill Harry while he’s gone.