One
November 1st, 1976
Remus didn’t know much about Sirius Black, and he was very content with this being the way of things. Despite having shared rooms with the Black Heir these past five years, Remus never associated with him much, as they ran in different social circles entirely. Remus spent his time with James, Lily, and Peter, while Black obviously surrounded himself with the old-money purebloods of their House, like McKinnon and Brown.
Unfortunately, another who fell into that particular category was James himself. James had made it clear many times that Black wasn’t an acquaintance he was proud of, but Lily, Peter, and Remus understood and accepted that only Black could offer the heir-of-a-wealthy-pureblood-house camaraderie that James insisted he didn’t need. So Lily and Remus would slip away on the occasions that James looked like he wanted to join in on the conversations Black and McKinnon were having, the same as Black did for McKinnon when McKinnon wanted to chat with Lily. It was a precarious little balance that had been carefully constructed over time, and while plenty of them had toed the line before, none had been so stupid as to fully leap over the boundaries so far.
At least until today.
Remus was in the bathroom of their dormitory, getting ready to tuck in after a long day. He’d left James and Peter on the Quidditch pitch minutes prior to now, as the mighty Captain Potter had insisted that he stay out to try a few new moves, and Peter had eagerly agreed to stay and watch.
At first, Remus thought nothing of Black slipping into the bathroom with a towel in hand. After all, this wasn’t the first time the two of them had been left alone in their dorm before, and Remus knew the routine as well as Black did. Stay silent, avoid eye-contact, do everything in their respective powers to ignore each other.
“Been sleeping well?”
Remus paused. It was not so much the content of the question itself than the existence of it that had him quizzically turning in Black’s direction.
“You were out late last week. You, Potter, and Pettigrew.” Black tilted his head to the side. “Been going on for a while, hasn’t it? Ever since last year? Your little… Midnight excursions?”
Remus’s blood ran cold, and he stilled.
“Who is it, then? Evans? Macdonald? Though I can’t imagine even a Mudblood would want to fuck Pettigrew, being how he is.”
Remus was too relieved that this was the conclusion Black had come to that he couldn’t even bring himself to get angry about the usage of that word.
“What about you?” Remus tried for a casual tone. “You and McKinnon seem to be getting along. A lot closer than usual.”
Black smirked. “I like Marlene.” He took a step forward. “Very confident. Sharp tongue. What about you, Lupin? What’s your type?”
“Oh,” Remus blinked. “I don’t… I suppose… Er…” His words trailed off into nothing as he noticed the proximity at which Black was standing. There was hardly a step between them, but Black didn’t seem to mind as much. For one wild, stupid moment, Remus wondered if this was Black’s way of flirting with him, before the pureblood heir gave a soft, chilling laugh. Black then leaned in as though to whisper to him a secret.
“My ancestors used to hunt creatures like you.”
There was a loud thud and pained cry, and when Remus came into his own mind again, he had Black pressed against the stone wall, his arm splayed against Black’s chest as he tried to control the furiously beating heart that threatened to explode out of his own. Remus would never have reacted like this if Black had said people instead of creatures, as that could have meant a number of things, from half-bloods in general to anyone who wasn’t a Black. But the fact that Black had chosen that word in particular… It couldn’t be a coincidence.
Fear. It had risen to the surface of Black’s eyes, and Remus could tell that whatever Black had expected to come of this confrontation, it sure as hell wasn’t this. He was a Black, after all, and no person in their right state of mind would dare attack a Black.
Black seemed to remember this just as Remus did, and there was the simultaneous motion of Remus stepping away and Black shoving forward, resulting in Remus stumbling back and nearly losing his balance.
“How dare you put your hands on me, you filthy fucking half-breed?” Black spat out with all the derision in him, which was, quite frankly, a large amount. “They should have beasts like you locked up and caged, menaces to society that you are. A wolf in wizards’ robes, thinking it has the right to hold a wand- And Dumbledore allowing it, at that! Hogwarts has gone to the dogs.”
Words that Remus had heard many times before. Never directed at him in particular, but declared very loudly every time news of a werewolf attack popped up in the Prophet, whether it was deliberately done or not never seeming to matter much to those who read it.
Facing down Black’s condescending sneer, Remus did what he always did when his emotions threatened to run wild, and brought his Occlumency barriers to the forefront of his mind. He couldn’t let his anger and fear get the better of him. As his parents had said, others would be more than eager to use his emotional outbursts as ammunition against his lycanthropy. Always be the quiet and timid, studious prefect. Just take what they throw at you and never fight back.
“Do you agree, then?” Black seemed to have sensed the way Remus was retreating into himself, and took advantage of it immediately. “Well, wolf? Do you think beasts like you have any business carrying around wands?”
“Of course I do,” Remus scowled, though he made sure to keep his hands to himself this time. “I’m a wizard, same as you are.”
“Same as I am?” Black repeated with a mirthless laugh. “Same as I am? Let’s get one thing straight here.” He began to move forwards, slowly, and Remus began to edge back. “There is nothing in common between the two of us. I am a human, and you are not. I am a pureblood, and you are the spawn of Muggle filth. I am a Black, and you are a nobody mutt who has dire need to learn its place in the world.”
Black gave him a hard shove. A resounding ache came for Remus’s hip as he hit the countertop of the sinks.
“So learn it, Lupin. Tell me where you belong.”
They’d had five fucking years of relative peace. Had Black really needed to go ruining all that, just because- Because- Well, actually, Remus supposed finding out one had been sharing rooms with a man-eating werewolf for the past half decade was a reasonable cause to be alarmed by. But that didn’t justify Black getting to act like more of an arse than usual! But of course, Black had taken that memo and torn it to shreds, all because he was a Black, the Black, and no one in their right minds would do anything about it.
“Shall I teach it to you myself?”
James. James would do something about it. But James wasn’t here.
“On your knees, at my feet. That’s where. Bowing to your superiors is the only way you will ever belong.”
There was a distant bang, signaling the opening of the bedroom door. “Moony, where are you? You should’ve seen that dive I pulled off! Just barely grazed the grass, Peter will tell you…”
Voices filled the dormitory, and in the blink of an eye, Black had backed away. He was at the bathroom door by the time it swung open all on its own, revealing to them the beaming and sweaty face of one James Potter.
“Hey, Black,” James said cheerily. “I was just looking for Remus- There you are, Remy! Lily came and joined in on spectating, but her head turned right when I was pulling up from the dive, I was so upset!”
Remus let himself be tugged out of the bathroom, stumbling along as a clueless James continued to ramble on about his Quidditch moves. He didn’t once look back to see what expression Black was wearing. Remus didn’t think he’d be able to hold himself back if he did so, and whether holding himself back would mean keeping from cursing the shit out of Black or trying his best to keep his despairing tears in, he would never know.