Silver

Sirius POV

I awake to a strange feeling in my ear, like something’s  in it. I look down at my shoulder and there’s a FUCKING RAT STICKING IT’S TAIL IN MY EAR OH MY GOD GET IT OFF GET IT OFF.

I shake my head violently and the rat flies off of my shoulder. 

Then, I look up, and the beautiful man in front of me is standing smugly, book held between his arms.

He’s got gorgeous hazel eyes, that, when the light hits them just right, appear to become gold. He’s wearing an oversized sweater and a pair of trousers, though no shoes.

His hair is over seventy feet long. It’s the color of hazelnut, with a silver streak in the front. At first glance, I would have assumed he was a woman due to this, but his voice was too deep and husky. Also, he didn’t have boobs, so that was that settled.

“Now it’s hidden somewhere you’ll never find it.” He says, beginning to walk circles around me. 

“What do you want with my hair?” The boy (He said something that sounded like Remus, but I refuse to believe that that’s his name) asks, “To cut it?”

“What?” I question, confused.

“To sell it?” The boy asks again.

“No. The only thing I want to do with your hair is to get out of it! Literally!”

“Wait-” The boy hesitates, “You don’t want my hair?”

“Why on earth would I want your hair? I was being chased by some horse named Prongs, so I ended up finding this tower. I didn’t even realize it was inhabited until… well, now.”

“You’re… telling the truth?” The boy asks, holding the book out threateningly.

The rat crawls out from behind his hair, along his arm, and to the end of the book, glaring at me.

What the actual fuck have I gotten myself into-

The boy slowly pulls the book away from my face, rat still staring into my soul.

The boy walks away, and begins to mutter with the rat.

I use the opportunity to try and scoot away, and untangle myself from the hair.

“Okay, Sirius Black.” The boy says, turning towards me, and tugging on his hair, spinning me to face a curtain, “I have a proposition.”

He moves the curtain, revealing a gorgeous painting of the lanterns that King Lyall and Queen Hope send up into the sky every year on the Prince’s birthday.

“Do you know what these are?” He asks.

“You mean the lantern things they do for the Prince?” I tell him.

“Lanterns.” He mutters under his breath. “I knew they weren’t stars.”

He shakes his head, pointing the book at me again.

“Well, tomorrow, they will light the night sky with these lanterns. You,” He gestures wildly with the book, “Will be my guide, and take me to see the lanterns, and then you will return me home safely. Then, and only then, will I give you back your satchel.”

“Yeah.” I say, “No chance. I’m not exactly in the Kingdom’s good graces at the moment, so I won’t be taking you anywhere.”

The boy frowns, and looks at the rat, which is still on his shoulder. The rat makes a punching motion and the boy nods, jumping down from the ledge.

“Something brought you here, Sirius Black, call it fate, destiny-”

“A horse.” I interrupt.

“-And I have made the decision to trust you.”

“Horrible decision, really.” 

“But trust me when I tell you that you can tear this tower apart brick by brick, but without my help, you will never find your precious satchel.” 

“So…” I clear my throat, “Let me just clear this up, I take you to see the lanterns and you give me my satchel?”

“Yes.” The boy confirms.

“Okay, listen, I didn’t want to have to do this,” I say, “But, here comes the smolder.”

I pause, making my best puppy dog face I can manage.

The boy frowns, staring at me in utter confusion, and the rat on his shoulder glares at me.

I groan.

“Fine, I’ll take you to see the lanterns.”

“Really!” The boy asks excitedly.

“Yes, really, now get me out of this chair.”

The boy unravels his hair, and I go to grab my arrows, so that I can climb down.

I’m about halfway down the tower when I see a long rope of hazel hair with a silver streak come down from the top of the tower.

The boy slides down the rope, giggling the whole way, but, when he reaches the bottom, he holds himself there for about a minute, obviously hesitating.

Oh my actual god, this boy has literally never touched grass before what the fuck.

I watch him as he jumps down from his hair, and as soon as his feet hit the ground, he grins.

He ducks down, running his hands through the grass, and fully collapsing onto the ground, beaming. He’s sniffing the flowers and grass, tugging on different pieces of grass, and running his hands through the dirt.

It’s actually quite endearing.

I jump down the rest of the way and watch as he runs into a stream and lets out a gasp of delight, kicking his feet and laughing, like a child.

He’s running through the water, splashing it all over himself, and picking up different pebbles to smile at them.

“You’re getting soaked.” I tell him.

“I know!” He turns, face lighting up with the brightest smile I’ve ever seen. “Isn’t it wonderful?”

I sigh.

He eventually gets out of the water, and looks up at the trees, which are towering over him.

“I’ve never seen them like this!” He grins.

That’s quite sad, really, so I let him have his fun. Eventually, he decides to continue on with our journey, gesturing for me to lead the way, though he’s still beaming. I’m surprised his cheeks don’t hurt, at this point.

When I lead him into the forest, he looks around, spinning in circles and staring at everything in absolute awe.

“Um-” I say, hesitant. I don’t want to ruin his fun, but… “Sorry, what did you say your name was? Also how old are you? Also how long have you been in that tower?”

The boy turns, still grinning.

Oh, if I could bottle that grin forever, I would finally be satisfied.

“My name is Remus, I’m eighteen years old, well, I will be tomorrow, anyway, and I’ve lived in that tower my entire life.” he bends down to finger the grass again, “My father says it’s to keep me safe, because selfish people will try to take my hair, and, when the realize that I’m a monster then-”

The boy’s- Remus’s- face twists with terror.

“Wait- fuck. Nevermind. I never said anything. Please don’t make me go back- I want to see the lanterns. I’m sorry. Fuck.” He stutters, choking over the words.

He’s not smiling anymore, in fact, he’s beginning to cry.

I frown.

“I won’t make you go back, especially since you’ve literally never touched grass before, that’s just sad. But… monster?” I say weakly, barely able to, because watching him cry physically makes me ill.

Remus sniffles, looking up at me with those gorgeous eyes.

“Really? You won’t make me go back?” He pleads.

“No.” I say firmly.

He laughs, running up to me and collecting me into a huge hug.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” He says breathlessly.

I grimace.

“Of course.” I tell him, awkwardly patting his back.

He sighs, content.

How is it fair that even after he’s been bawling his eyes out, he still looks like a fucking angel?

For the rest of the day, I watch as Remus goes back and forth between thinking today’s the best day of his fucking life and thinking that he’s a terrible son.

I recognize the signs of abuse though, especially from my terrible childhood, though they show differently in Remus than they do in me.

He’s scared of what his father will do, if he doesn’t come home.

He’s fucking terrified of making his father angry.

And, worst of all, this man has lived in the same tower for eighteen years with zero human contact except for with his father. He wasn’t even allowed to fucking leave.

He’s showing clear signs of Stockholm Syndrome, because I know for fact that no father would lock their child up and away for eighteen years. Not even my parents would do that, and they’re fucking awful.

He was kidnapped when he was young, I can tell.

And his captor has forced Remus to believe that Remus is his child.

It’s fucking awful, and it makes me sick to my stomach. No one should have to go through that.

Yet he’s still bright and happy.

How he does it, I don’t know.

At the moment, I’m leaning up against a large tree trunk, pondering, and Remus is swinging around the tree by his hair, which looks like it should hurt, but to each their own, I guess.

Eventually, he comes down from the tree, and runs through the forest more. I lose him for a moment, but I come across the end of his hair and follow that.

He’s leaning against a rock, crying into his knees.

I clear my throat.

“Look, I know that this is tough, but if this helps, it’s just part of growing up. Rebellion? Every kid does it.” I tell him.

“Really?” Remus asks, sniffling. 

“Oh yeah, I ran away from my house when I was fifteen.”

Remus chuckles.

“Does your father deserve it?” I ask.

He shakes his head no.

Yes, actually, he does, the asshole kidnapped you.

I say no anyway.

“Will this break his heart and crush his soul? Of course.”

Remus looks at me in horror.

“But you’ve just got to do it.”

“Break his heart?” Remus murmurs.

“Yup.”

“Crush his soul?”

“Into teeny tiny pieces.”

“He will be heartbroken… you’re right.”

“I am.”

Remus sniffles again.

“Okay, y’know what, I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I’ve got to break the deal.” I say, forcing Remus onto his feet.

“What?”

“I’ll take you home, you can get back to your father, I get my satchel back and we’re all happy.”
Remus halts.

“No. I want to see the lanterns.”

“Okay, then you need to keep it together.”

Remus nods, rubbing at his nose.

“I’m sorry.”

Fuck, I need to be more careful. This man… he thinks everything’s his fault…

The bush next to us begins to rustle, and Remus squeals, running behind me, like I can protect him.

A rabbit jumps out of the bush.

“What is that?” Remus asks, peeking over my shoulder.

“It’s a rabbit. You might want to calm down; I’m pretty sure they can smell fear.”

“Oh…” Remus stares at the rabbit in disbelief.

“Hey, are you hungry?” I ask him.

“A little.” He admits.

“I know the perfect place.”

“Okay!” He smiles again.

I lead him off to my favorite brewery, The Black Dog.