Chapter 12
9 March 1977
Months passed rather smoothly after that, there was mild bickering but that was normal for the Marauders. Things still weren't how they used to be, and frankly Remus was fine with that, he was content with life how it was. Of course Remus was dealing with his feelings for Sirius, but he was coping.
Remus' main problem now was Regulus. Regulus would be turning 16 during the summer holidays, and he received letters from his family claiming that certain things would be happening. They were intentionally vague about these happenings, but neither of them were idiots, it wasn't hard to guess. Remus desperately wanted to get Regulus out, to save him, but he didn't know if it would be possible. Regulus certainly didn't think so. Part of Remus was scared that Regulus had resigned himself to this fate, he was determined to change his mind.
Remus also felt a great deal of guilt now that he was friends with Sirius again. He had originally justified keeping his friendship with Regulus by telling himself he hated Sirius and he shouldn't care about him. He was now far too aware how untrue this was. He wanted to tell Sirius about Regulus, he knew it would hurt him, but Sirius was always so worried about Regulus being alone and miserable. He wanted to tell him that he was okay, he hoped he wouldn't be lying. He knew, though, that Regulus was adamant about keeping their friendship a secret, and he had to respect Regulus’ request.
Remus was about to turn 17. This was a big deal in the wizarding world, as it marked becoming basically an adult. His actual birthday was on a Wednesday, but they were going to have a party on the Friday after. Remus was secretly relieved about this, as it meant he could hopefully spend some time with Regulus on his birthday. Part of him wished Regulus could come to the party, but that wasn't really his thing anyway.
Remus thought about all of this whilst staring out of the window. It was dark, and he was sure the rest of his friends were asleep.
“Remus?” Maybe not.
Sirius crawled out of his bed, “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, can’t sleep.”
“Oh, why not?”
Remus shrugged, “I've just gotten worse over time I guess.”
“Oh” Sirius looked at him sympathetically, “I got really bad at sleeping after I ran away from home, like my body was finally able to relax fully but my brain can't really handle it”
“I get it, it's always worse after the moons. Like it takes a minute for my brain to catch up”
“Yeah” Sirius looked out of the window with Remus, “Remus?”
“What's up?”
“Thank you for giving me a second chance, that must have been difficult” Sirius spoke quietly, “I really missed you, you have no idea.”
“I think I do,” Remus looked at him for the first time since they started talking, “and it wasn't that hard for me to forgive you. I had to kinda talk myself into it, but once I was doing it, it felt right. I really missed you too, Pads.”
They looked at each other for a moment. It was a short amount of time, but Remus felt like he could spend an eternity looking into Sirius' eyes, and still only feel like a second had passed.
“You’re wonderful, Remus,” and he crawled into bed, before Remus had the chance to ask him what he meant.
10 March 1977
Remus woke to a large number of cheers surrounding his bed.
“Happy Birthday!” They all chorused.
They got ready in a blur of singing, sweets and laughter.
Once they got down to the Great Hall for breakfast, everyone else was waiting for them.
“Happy Birthday!” The girls cheered at him.
“Come on, sit, let's do presents.” Sirius called.
Whenever Remus’ birthday was on a school day, they did present alongside breakfast in the morning.
“Mine first.” Sirius said, putting a box in front of him.
Inside was a book, not the kind of book he would talk about with Regulus, instead it was a guide to London. Remus raised an eyebrow at him, “you know I live near London, right?”
“Well, duh, but I've never been, so it's like a promise. That we’ll go to London together”
“Oh, wow! That sounds amazing, I'm excited.” Remus smiled at him, Sirius smiled back.
“Okay, me now!” James cut in, he passed Remus a bag.
The rest of the present consisted mainly of books and jumpers, and an insanely large amount of chocolate from Peter.
He noticed, lastly, that there was a box with a note tied to it left on the table. It matched the wrapping paper and bow that Regulus had given him on Christmas. He hoped Sirius wouldn't notice.
“Oh yeah, here Remus, I'm not sure who it's from, it was just left on the table this morning.* Lily handed it to him.
“Probably from my mum.” Remus opened the note:
Closest thing I could find to a dog collar.
Happy Birthday x
Remus snorted.
“Everything okay with mum?” Sirius sounded sceptical.
“Yeah she's fine”
Remus opened the box next, inside was a necklace. It was simple, just a chain that looked like silver, without the burns, and an aquamarine stone - March birthstone, Remus remembered - in the shape of a moon. It was simple, but Remus loved it, and he immediately put it on.
“That's pretty,” Sirius said, eyeing the necklace.
“It is, Mam has good taste.” Sirius gave him a weird look, but didn’t question further.
The rest of the day was fun, Remus didn’t have to worry about any drama, he just let himself relax on his birthday. There was of course the sense of dread he got whenever he thought about how he was an adult now, but he would deal with that tomorrow.
Once his classes were over, he went back to the Gryffindor tower with his friends, whilst they were celebrating properly on Friday, Sirius demanded that they do something to mark the occasion.
They were all gathered in the common room, Remus, Sirius, James, Peter, Lily, Mary and Marlene. It was a relaxed setting, music was playing in the background and they were just hanging out with each other. It was nice.
Lily was next to him, her head was resting on his shoulder.
“How are you doing, love?” Lily whispered in his ear.
“I’m good, it’s been a nice day,”
“I’m glad” She smiled up at him, “Have you lot sorted yourselves out then?”
“I think we’re trying,” Remus looked up at Sirius, he was giving him another weird look, before looking away again, “he’s been a bit weird today,”
“Yeah, I noticed that” Lily hummed, “I think he’s still dealing with a lot of stuff”
“Yeah, I think he is.”
They sat in silence for a while after that, listening to James, Marlene and Peter argue about Quidditch. Sirius was being quiet, something that puzzled Remus.
“I’m gonna head to bed,” Remus called out. A chorus of ‘good night’s and ‘happy birthdays’ filled the air as Remus climbed the staircase.
Remus sat on his bed, in his pyjamas, he pulled out the necklace. It was truly very pretty, Remus wasn’t sure where Regulus got the idea that he like jewellery so much, but he definitely liked the stuff Regulus gave him.
Sirius walked in, Remus hurriedly put the necklace back down his shirt, but Sirius had seen it.
“I didn’t realise you like jewellery so much,” Sirius said quietly.
“I like it when it’s from someone I care about,” Remus replied easily.
“Look, I know you don’t really trust me much yet, but you can tell me stuff,” Sirius said, sounding hurt.
“I’m not hiding anything from you Sirius,” Remus felt bad for lying, but it was easy for him by now.
“You’ve been sneaking around a lot, and I know that necklace wasn’t from your mum, she got you a jumper and it arrived yesterday. I saw it.” Sirius was becoming angry, Remus was worried that he had figured it out, but decided to play dumb instead.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sirius,” Remus said.
“If you’re seeing someone, you can tell us, we’re your best friends,” Now Remus was confused.
“I’m not seeing anyone.” Remus was becoming annoyed, but at least that one wasn’t a lie, “And why would you care if I was?”
Sirius splutters, “I- It’s just you shouldn’t hide stuff from us!”
“Why not?”
“I- I don’t know”
“Goodnight Sirius.” Remus sighed.