Chapter 6
8 December 1976
The December full moon had been successful, Remus only had to spend one day in the hospital wing, and madame Pomfrey had been very relieved to see that his streak of very violent moons had ended.
With the moon out of the way, he had a new thing to worry about - the Christmas holidays. His dad was going on holiday, yet again, without Remus, so he would probably have to stay at Hogwarts. Ever since Remus’ mum had died, the relationship that Remus had with his dad had pretty much disappeared.
Remus knew his dad felt guilty about many aspects of Remus life, primarily him being a werewolf, as well as his absence while Remus’ mum had been struggling with her cancer. Remus used to try harder with his dad, begging him to try and be a father, but Remus had pretty much given up since he went to Hogwarts.
In years past, Remus would go to James’ house for Christmas, it was a happy affair and it was probably the closest Remus had ever experienced to a proper Christmas celebration. However, this year Sirius lived with James, and Remus was struggling to hold a conversation with just James, never mind Sirius.
Christmas at Hogwarts probably wouldn’t be too bad, there would be a constant supply of food, and he would be able to avoid the nagging feeling that he was intruding on a family Christmas.
The other issue about Christmas holidays, though, was his worrying about Regulus. Remus knew that Regulus’ family were horrible. He had been told many horror stories from both Sirius and Regulus, each one seeming to be worse than the last.
He knew Regulus was worried about it as well, he had been very obviously trying to avoid the topic that was the impending doom of going home.
“Regulus?”
Him and Regulus were not in their usual spot that night, the overwhelming cold weather had become too much, even with warming spells. Not even magic could overcome the chilling nights of Scotland in December. Instead they were in the Astronomy tower, which was warm enough if the correct combination of spells were used. Though it was inside the castle, which made them more at risk of being caught by the prefects, they liked this spot. It still provided them with a view of the sky, something both of them found somewhat comforting.
“What’s up Gibby?” Remus rolled his eyes fondly at the nickname.
“Are we going to talk about it?”
“Whatever are you talking about, Remus?” Regulus replied, feigning ignorance.
“You know what I’m talking about, I can tell you’re nervous about going home.”
“Well, there’s not much I can do about it, is there?”
“You could stay at Hogwarts? Say you need to study or something?”
“I tried that last year, they said I could just study at home.”
“They might say yes this year though! You’ve got your OWLs this year”
Regulus considered this, Remus was surprised he had not already thought about this as an option.
“Please! You can keep me company, I’m staying as well!”
“Okay! I’ll ask”
“Good. I don’t want to be here by myself”
—
11 December 1976
Regulus sent the letter, asking to stay, fully expecting his request to be denied. He only sent it for Remus’ sake.
That morning, the massive Black family owl soared in gracefully through the front hall.
The letter that it carried read:
Regulus
After talking about it with your father, we have come to the conclusion that it will be overall beneficial for you to stay at Hogwarts this year for Christmas.
There are circumstances happening at home that you are not a part of, and it would be best to keep it this way.
I expect you to study well during the break, do not become distracted.
Sincerely,
Walburga Black
Regulus let out a breath, full of relief, and surprise. He caught Remus’ eye from across the hall and gave him the slightest nod. His face let out a small smile before turning back to his food.
He also caught Sirius’ eye, who had been oblivious to his small interaction with Remus, and was looking at him with worry.
Regulus rolled his eyes and ate his breakfast, his shoulders releasing tension that he had been holding since November.
Regulus wouldn’t admit this, but he was looking forward to spending Christmas with Remus. They wouldn’t have to sneak around in the dead of night, they wouldn’t be able to interact too publicly, but they could talk during the day. Without lessons, or nosy dorm mates to worry about, they could do whatever they wanted.
20 December 1976
It was the first day of the Christmas holidays, after everyone had left there were only around 40-50 students left. Most of them were students who had wanted to study further during the holidays, but with the war becoming increasingly more worrying, parents wanted their kids at home as much as possible. Definitely not all parents though.
Regulus did not like his parents, a small part of him would probably always love them, unfortunately, but that didn’t stop him from hating them.
He knew Remus didn’t get on with his dad much either. Neither of them enjoyed talking about their parents much, it was a sore topic for the both of them, but whenever brief comments were made in complaint, they would understand.
After dinner, Regulus followed Remus to his dorm room. Gryffindor probably had the least amount of students left, Remus and a few 7th years who were still eating.
Regulus looked around the common room, it was cosy. Far cosier than the Slytherin one at least. He supposed this made sense.
Once they reached the dorm, Regulus wasn’t surprised by the decorations that surrounded it. Just by looking at the area around the beds, Regulus could tell whose bed was who’s. James had a large collection of Quidditch posters scattered around his, Peter had herbology textbooks, as well as a slightly smaller collection of posters that matched James’. Sirius had a range of muggle music posters, Regulus recognised the names based on what Remus had told him. Remus’ area was much more reserved, there was a stack of books on the bed side table, and a jumper, that Regulus had seen many times, folded on the end of the bed.
“Cosy” Regulus finally said, after looking around completely.
“Well we’ve got it to ourselves” Remus smiled, “Which bed do you want?”
“I’m sleeping here?”
“Obviously”
“Yours”
Remus rolled his eyes, “Of course you do, I’ll take James’”
“This is weird”
“It is a bit”
“Okay, how about I go to the kitchen, get some hot chocolate - don’t scoff I know you like it - and we can just relax”
“Fine”
“No need to thank me” Remus muttered, “I’ll be back in a second”
Regulus isn’t sure at what point he and Remus officially became friends. The first time they had properly talked, he comforted him from a panic attack. After that, they just always seemed to show up next to each other.
Regulus knew that they had properly bonded after the first moon, a lot of trust was built at that point. But Regulus also knew that a lot of trust was needed to get to that point in the first place.
Once Remus had returned, they both sat on his bed, alike to the way they would when Remus was recovering from a moon. Regulus' head was resting on his shoulder and they were sitting in a comfortable silence, sipping on hot chocolate.
“Can we talk about you and my brother?”
“Uh sure, I guess.”
“Have you had any semblance of a conversation with him recently?”
“Not since our last fight.”
“You’re going to have to talk to him at some point, or at least find some way to co-exist”
“I know” Remus whined “It’s just so difficult”
“You know you’re going to have to live with him for another year and a half”
“Ugh don’t remind me”
“Just talk to him Gibby”
“I’m not sure of how I feel about Gibby”
“You called me Toes the other day, and don’t change the subject”
“Fine! I’ll talk to him! I’m surprised you want me to forgive him”
“What he did was inexcusable, but he’s a mess. Plus it might get you to leave me alone”
“You love me really”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about”
“You are literally in my bed right now”
“Nope, don’t know what you’re talking about”
Eventually, they both had to go to bed, Remus climbed over into James’.
“Goodnight, Gibbous”
“Goodnight, Toebeans”
—
Remus woke up in the middle of the night to distressed sounds coming from his bed.
“Reg?”
“Reg! Wake up”
When Regulus did wake up, he looked panicked, like he was ready to punch something.
“Hey! Hey, it’s okay, just a nightmare, you’re alright.”
“Remus?”
“Yeah, it’s me, you’re alright”
“Okay” Regulus began taking deep breaths.
“Can you stay with me?”
“Yeah, yeah okay”
Remus climbed in next to him and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulder.
“Remus?”
“Yeah, Reg?”
“I do love you, you know”
“I know, I love you too Reg.”
“Thank you”
“For what?”
“Everything”
21 December 1976
The rest of the night passed with no further disturbances. When Remus woke up, Regulus was clinging to him like a koala.
“TIme to get up, Toebeans,” Remus laughed.
“It’s too early”
“You’re as bad as your brother”
“5 more minutes”
“Come on, I’m hungry”
Finally, Regulus did get up, they both got dressed quickly. Regulus was wearing some of Remus’ old clothes that he had grown out of.
They got some breakfast from the kitchens and ate it in the common room. All of the seventh years were studying.
“I kinda wish I was sorted into Gryffindor, you’re common room is much nicer than mine”
“Just move in, no one will notice”
“You know I’m heir to the most powerful family of the wizarding world?”
“You can hide in my trunk?”
“Something tells me that won’t work”
“Why? You’ll fit. You’re shorter than your brother.”
Regulus just rolls his eyes and laughs at Remus, exasperated.