This year's Christmas party was in full swing.
Adults chatted around the dining room with drinks in hand, while the kids - young adults really, Scorpia reminded herself - danced to records in the living room. She noticed James standing on a coffee table, with his broom as an imitation of guitar, losing his guts to Black Betty by Ram Jam. Scorpia then saw Mike trying to yell over the music all while trying to seem polite, talking to Effie and Frank. She wondered how they reached such a company, but approached them anyway.
"Hi, love!" her boyfriend grinned, extending one hand. She immediately pressed into his side and offered a short wave to his partners. As she quickly gathered, they were discussing differences between Hogwarts and Beauxbatons education programs, with Frank periodically inserting Quidditch references.
There was one question lingering at the back of her mind, though. It floated there unnoticed, until she saw James run by, chasing Peter to the kitchen. She realized. And the question came up to the front. Where the hell is Sirius? Prongs and Padfoot are inseparable, why is James not noticing anything? Is Sirius okay? When was the last time anyone saw him? And where is Remus, for that matter?
"Amour?," Michael's voice above her ear filled her soul for a moment before her thoughts returned to her brother.
"Have you seen Sirius? I need to find him - he's usually with James, and Remus is missing too. I'll go look for them, okay? See you in a bit." Scorpia attempted a reassuring smile for her boyfriend's benefit. Without giving Mike time to fuss over it, Scorpia was already running upstairs.
The Potter manor's second floor contained five bedrooms, four bathrooms, an office, and a big cozy living room with windows going out onto the woods. Scorpia rushed to the end of the hallway. If Sirius wasn't at the party - she hadn't seen him in the last half hour - he had to be in his room, right? Standing before his door, she prayed to everything she had ever had faith in to not walk in on her brother doing unspeakable things to Lupin. Sure, he just turned 18, but —…
She heard shuffling and pacing from the other side. Without knocking, she pushed the door open, wand ready. What if Sirius was having a panic attack? What if he was anxious about the crowd, or had recognized Mrs. Snowell and her husband were at the Black's Christmas ball? What if knocking would make him flinch? What if he couldn't respond because he couldn't breathe, or was hurt?
But it wasn't Sirius pacing around the bed. It was Remus.
He turned his head and froze in place. He could have been a statue, if not for his rapid breathing that rose his chest up and down at crazy speed.
"Remus, love?" Scorpia raised an eyebrow, slowly pushing the door nearly closed behind her. Remus didn't respond. He stared at her, then shut his eyes, pressing his palms against them before dropping his hands with an attempt to control his breathing.
"Do you know where Sirius is? Should I get him?" Scorpia knew it’s a bad idea to swarm him with questions at the moment, but she needed to know where her brother went. And what has happened here?
"No! No, it's... no, please." With a stang of guilt, she realized he was staring at the wand in her hand. He then raised his eyes in panic; shook his head frantically. And well, that caught her off. Remus, panicking alone in his boyfriend’s room, flinching when she walked in and staring at her wand, then practically begging to avoid Sirius. It’s either something he was hiding from her brother, or her brother did something. Being a good sister she is, Scorpia assumed the latter.
"Okay, it's okay. I won't. Breathe, Remus," she tucked her wand into her jacket pocket and stepped closer. "But is Sirius safe? I need to know."
Remus raises his eyes and stares at her. He stared, and stared, until the beautiful golden eyes were stamped in her memory for a long time. The eyes filled with love, pain and regret.
Scorpia sighed, giving up. If Remus would know something is wrong, he would have already ran for his boyfriend. “Okay, can I stay here?”
The boy nodded.
She sat on the bed's edge, pieces falling into place. Scorpia, as her talent allows, rethinks back to all the tiny details she could gather. The way Remus didn’t wish to see Sirius, the way he previously stared at her wand, although allowed her to stay because he didn’t want to be alone. And that he wasn't crying, Remus was panicking. Therefore he's not exactly hurt, but he thinks he did something wrong. He’s spirling.
She met his eyes, brows furrowed. "What did that shit do?"
Remus looked surprised, then shook his head, mumbling. She caught fragments: "'tis alright," "my fault anyway," "Sirius isn't shit... he can be sometimes, but it's fully me this time... fuck, I'm so sorry..."
When his fidgeting hands began shaking, Scorpia stood, arms open for a hug. Remus looked her in the eyes. Only for a second, as he clearly couldn’t take much eye contact right now, but it’s an assessing kind of glare. Slowly, he came closer and pressed against her chest, tears flowing freely. She held him, staring blankly at the door, wondering what her brother had done and where he was.
Just after 5 minutes passed, and Scorpia was slightly concerned about the boy in her hands, there is a soft knock at the door.
And in all his glory walks in Sirius.
He couldn’t have heard the crying, as Scorpia made sure to cast a muffliato as soon as she walked in. So he creeps in carefully, not knowing what is going on inside.
The woman has to turn her head just a little bit to notice how Sirius’ eyes get glued to Remus’ back in her arms. And, being his sister, she can literally feel his wish to come and ask what happened, hug and comfort his boyfriend and give love. But he can’t, because the moment he heard Remus is crying, recognition dawned on his face - he'd caused this. He froze.
Remus seemed to sense Sirius's presence, trying to control his breathing to listen better. Would Sirius yell again? He didn’t want to see him right now. Which was just pathetic, wasn’t it? Not wanting to see your boyfriend, is it equivalent to cheating or lying? No matter what, he had considered Scorpia’s hug safe enough for him to stay, and listen to what will happen further.
Scorpia glared at her brother until he met her eyes. "The hell?" She mouthed to him, most likely in a way only siblings would understand.
And everything that he started to realize earlier, was now crashing on him with full force. "Rem... I'm so sorry, gosh love, I... I didn't... I am so so sorry. What I said - none of it was your fault, I promise..."
He approached without touching. Remus finally left Scorpia's embrace, moving just enough for Sirius's hand to reach him. After a brief glance at his boyfriend, he wiped his eyes and sat on the bed, staring at the floor.
Sirius followed, sitting on the floor in front of him, holding his hands out. He kept whispering something, looking fully shocked by Moony's behavior, because Oh. My. Gosh. He had caused this.
Scorpia forced eye contact on him again, raising her eyebrows, this time strictly, basically yelling "you better fix yourself this second". As soon as she noticed Remus relax and come back to himself, she left the room for her brother to figure this out.