Two
Thanks to the nightmarish menace that was Sirius fucking Black, Remus hadn’t been sleeping well at all these past couple of nights. The fact that he was losing sleep when it wasn’t even anywhere close to a full moon was enough to put him in a sour mood from the crack of dawn, and so naturally, he got even more pissed off when a small army of morning owls decided to drop a dozen feathers into his breakfast soup that day.
Everyone in the Great Hall with the exception of Remus turned to see who it was that had earned himself so many letters and packages in one sitting. Eventually, curiosity got the better of him, and Remus looked, too, to find Black half buried beneath a pile of envelopes and gifts. Black only had eyes for the black-feathered eagle owl, however, which carried a small velvet box in its claws. Black opened it up and revealed a shining obsidian watch inside, with so many diamonds hammered into its leather strap that it was blinding just to look at.
“Your parents really went all out, didn’t they?” James whistled. “Makes my gift kinda crap in comparison, but here you go,” he offered Black a wrapped package the size of a fist. “Happy Majority, Black.”
It was the only thing anyone could talk about for the rest of the day, because, obviously, it was Sirius Black. Later, a small congregation of goblins cornered Black in the library and marched him off to Merlin knew where, and within hours, Black returned with a shining black obsidian ring on his finger. The Heirship Ring of the House of Black, Remus overheard McKinnon explaining to Lily and Macdonald soon after. Sirius Black was now officially the most powerful seventeen year-old in all of Magical Britain.
Not that there had been any question about it before, but now there was a fancy new ring to prove the point.
Which only made Remus double down on the dread that had been plaguing him since Black’s confrontation. He’d been constantly stressing himself out to the point where he had to hide himself from his friends in fear of them finding out the reason for his despair.
Black knew. Sirius Black knew Remus’s deepest, darkest, most closely guarded secret, and it was only a matter of time before he let the secret slip. Were it anyone else, Remus would have at least felt some comfort in the knowledge that his secret would remain one for the purposes of blackmail, but with Black, Remus didn’t have even that. There was nothing a half-blood from a working-class family could offer the Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. This, combined with the knowledge that Black clearly had a sadistic side to him he’d been carefully keeping hidden these past several years, only pointed to the conclusion that Remus might as well start packing his bags now, because there was no chance in all the seven hells that Black would be letting Remus stay at Hogwarts for much longer.
Having completed his Prefect’s rounds, Remus was heading back up to Gryffindor Tower when he saw it at last. Black, strutting along the corridor with his arm wrapped around his younger brother’s shoulders, hissing something into Regulus Black’s ear.
Overcome by too much panic to even consider Black might be blabbing about someone else’s deepest secrets rather than his own, Remus marched straight up to them, cleared his throat, and said, “It’s after curfew. Neither of you are allowed to be out this late.”
Regulus Black opened his mouth to snap out a blood purist comment, Remus was sure, but before the younger Black could say a single word, the older one spoke first. “Oh, but Lupin, haven’t you heard?” Black smiled pleasantly. “It was my birthday today. You’re supposed to be nice to a fellow on his birthday, you know.”
“Your birthday is already over, Black, that’s the whole point of this. It’s past midnight, and neither of you are allowed-”
“Mm, and who’s going to tell?” Black laughed. “Come on, Moony. It’ll be our little secret.”
Remus couldn’t help himself. He drew his wand, and Fourth-Year Regulus immediately pulled out his own. Ignoring the tiny boy, Remus glowered at Black and snarled, “What are you waiting for? Is dragging it out meant to be extra torture for me?”
“Why Remus, I have no idea what you could possibly be going on about.”
Remus shook himself out of the brief moment of stupor triggered by the sound of his name rolling across Black’s tongue with that aristocratic lilt of his.
“You know what I mean. Just get it over with, Black. Announce it to the whole school so that I can stop fucking dreading the moment my whole life falls apart!”
Black stared at Remus for the longest time. And then, “Leave, Reggie.”
“What? But Sirius-”
“Leave,” Black repeated, the ghost of a smile on his lips. “Lupin and I have much to discuss on how he’s going to repay me.”
“Repay you?” Remus exclaimed, as Regulus left with a groan. “What the hell would I be repaying you for?”
“For helping keep your life intact, of course,” Black nodded solemnly. “How’s this, Lupin? I’ll make sure your furry little secret stays hidden, and in return, you’ll show up when I want, where I want, to do whatever the fuck I want you to. Does that sound reasonable to you?”
Black was likely under the impression that his family name would keep him safe from any manner of retaliation Remus might send his way. But this, Remus was sorry to say, was not the case at all. The fact of the matter was, it could have been a nobody Hufflepuff who was trying to extort him and Remus still wouldn’t have put up a fight. He couldn’t give them an excuse. Keep your head down, never let your emotions show. They’ll take that scrap of anger and paint it into a picture of werewolf rage. One wrong move, and you’ll be an outcast from society forever.
“Good,” Black sneered, taking his silence for an answer. “You know the old dueling room by the Potions corridor? You should come by for a visit tomorrow evening. We’ll have all the fun there is to be had.”
Head down. Lips sealed. Never fight back. Remus wanted to curse the living shit out of Black until his wand sputtered out, then ruin him with his fists until those broke, too. But as such actions would be dangerous to even dream about, Remus did the only thing he could. Avoiding the dormitory that he shared with Black, Remus curled up in a corner of the Common Room that night and cried himself to sleep.