The Potter's house, Summer 1977
It was a hot summer day. The Potters had gone to the town, and James was outside flying as usual. Sirius would had gone with him too, but it had been many days since he had decided to show Remus, and only him, something important. And he thought this was the best opportunity.
Remus was sitting on a couch by the living room, immersed in a book, when Sirius entered and spotted him. "Moony, can you come with me for a sec?" he asked. Remus looked up from the book he was reading, curiosity piqued. The book was Maurice, by E.M. Foster. His friend Christopher had recommended it to him, and he read it carefully, always trying to cover up the plot he had written on the back cover of the book. Although James and Sirius already knew about it, he didn't want James' parents to know what he was reading. And he didn't want them to find out that he was gay.
He looked at Sirius with an eyebrow raised, curious about what the boy wanted. It wasn't usual for him not to be outside with James, flying. "What is it, Pads?"
"Just, come, please," Sirius said disappearing into the hall towards the staircase that led to the rooms. Remus exhaled, a bit annoyed that Sirius wouldn't tell him what was going on, but followed after him.
The Potter's house was huge. It had many rooms that were even bigger that the one the Marauders shared at Hogwarts, all decorated nicely, obviously according to Euphemia's personal style, though it was clear that Fleamont had made his own contributions to the decoration.
They climbed quickly upstairs until they reached the room that the Potters had given to Sirius since he moved with them after Christmas in 1974. When Remus stepped inside the room Sirius immediately closed the door behind him.
"So, are you going to tell me what's going on now?" Remus asked, growing impatient.
Sirius rolls his eyes, though he seemed amused by Remus' impatience.
"Yeah, yeah. Long story, though"
"Well, the sooner you start, the sooner you end."
Remus sat down on Sirius' bed and Sirius did the same, next to him.
"Well, so... Where do I start...?" He thought for a few moments.
"Well, remember anything I've told you about my uncle, Alphard...?"
Remus thought for a few moments before nodding. It was one of the few persons in the Black family that wasn't a blood purist like the rest of them. "Yeah, what with him?"
"Well, he died last year..." Sirius continued, though he seemed completely calm about that topic. Remus wasn't. When he heard the word "died" his eyes widened and his stomach twitched. Now he felt bad for Sirius. He knew that he liked his uncle Alphard much, and that his uncle loved him back. His death had probably been a hard blow for Sirius.
"I'm sorry-"
"Yeah, well, don't worry. That's not what I wanted to tell you."
Remus was stunned by the sudden cut, but stayed quiet, wanting to know what Sirius wanted to tell him.
"Well, when I lived in my old house, when I was 10 I went up to the attic on my house, just to explore..." Remus cut him.
"Wait, didn't the attic of your house have an impenetrable lock?"
"Well, it does. But why do you think she put it there?"
Remus thought that it was logical, knowing how Sirius was. But such a drastic measure made Remus wonder what other things Sirius mother kept there.
"So, what I was saying. As I looked between the amounts of old trunks, all of course decorated with silver snakes..." He rolled his eyes before continuing. "I found this..."