Taking what’s not yours- TV Girl
Sirius had made a very grave mistake.
He had been angry. The night before, Remus had said something that had made him so dam hateful he could have sworn his vision went blurry. Or maybe that had been the tears. Regardless, he had fucked up, slipping a note to Snape in the hallway before class. It had suggested paying the whomping willow a visit that night. He had intended it as a prank. A silly practical joke to scare Snivellus that they could all laugh about afterwards. What hadn’t crossed his mind in his hurt-filled state was what it would mean. It put Remus at risk. Oh gods, he had put Remus at risk. He could have gotten Remus killed. What was he thinking?!
He burst from the tunnels to see Severus standing on the hill overlooking the whomping willow, wand raised as the slightest sliver of moonlight crept over the horizon. A ghostly howl from Moony caused Sirius to draw his wand.
“Stupefy!” Sirius flicked his wand at Severus unnecessarily harshly and he went flying backwards before lying prone on the lawn. Sirius darted from beneath the willow and grabbed Snape’s wrist with a grimace.
He apparated them into a corner of the Slytherin boys’ dorm. Thank Merlin it was empty.
Sirius slipped a hand into the pocket of Snape’s robes, if he played this right, he might be able to fool Snape into believing he had dreamed the whole thing. His hand closed around a piece of parchment, and he withdrew it from the pocket, letting out a silent cheer as saw that it was the note he had given him.
“Incendio.” Sirius murmured and the parchment in his palm burned up in a puff of sparks. He almost smiled before hearing voices outside the door to the dorm.
Shit, what was the time?
“Oh my god Reg! You have a thing for your new potions partner, don’t you?” A rowdy voice chuckled and Sirius was about to disapparate when another voice replied.
“Shut uppp Barty! I don’t fancy James.” Sirius froze. James? He was being silly, there were other people in the school named James. But that voice! It was so familiar and yet he was certain he had never heard it before.
“Oh? James is it? Not Potter anymore?” The first boy – Barty Crouch Junior Sirius presumed – replied in a taunting tone.
“Oh fuck o-” The voice cut off as the door to the boys’ dorm opened and an uncannily familiar yet strange face peaked through. Silvery grey eyes met Sirius’s own and for a split second, there was pure joy in them before they shifted to panic. To hurt and anger and Sirius disapparated with a pop.
…
He appeared at the end of the tunnels beneath the shrieking shack. Sirius stood there, adrenaline coursing through his veins as he processed everything that had just happened. He had nearly gotten Remus killed, then prevented it thank the pagan gods. He had nearly been caught in the Slytherin boys’ dorm. He had heard someone talking about having a crush on James – though that wasn’t anything new to be perfectly honest – however it was apparently James’ potions partner who he himself seemed rather curious about. And then there was the boy who opened the door. He had Sirius’ eyes. Estrella’s eyes.
Sirius hadn’t seen his sister since he left home halfway through last year. Walburga had pulled her from school as if she feared Sirius would taint her with his ideals, would persuade her to run away too. She hadn’t been entirely wrong, in fact, Sirius had tried to take her with the night he left but Kreacher had threatened to call Orion if he tried to take Estrella out into the world without a plan for her safety. Perhaps the house elf had been right to do that.
Sirius had heard rumours of Estrella being sent to Beauxbatons which had made sense, his mother had always wanted to send her there anyway. French, all girls, proper. It was a pureblood dream.
The boy had been so familiar. Yet Sirius couldn’t place him. Angular cheekbones, inky hair, slatey eyes, everything about him screamed pureblood, Black family descendant. But Sirius knew all his cousins. Even the ones who had ‘defected’ from the traditional ways, like his dear Andromeda. He would ask Andy about it, Sirius decided.
Before he could continue dwelling on it, a pained howl echoed through the shack and Sirius was reminded of his duty to his Moony. His Moony? Where had that come from?
Sirius decided to chalk it up to stress causing wires in his brain to cross and hurried up the unsteady staircase into the shack.
He burst into Moony’s room as moonlight broke through the clouds and slanted through a split in one of the wooden slats, cutting directly across Remus’s face. Remus’s eyes shot to him,
“Sirius.” He whispered and then his pupil dilated until it swallowed the iris entirely before constricting again leaving it a shining silver. A whine tore from his throat as the shift took over his body.
It was awful, watching as Remus’ bones broke and grew and reshaped themselves into a new form. His back arched, his skull elongated into a snout, teeth growing into canine fangs. Ears became pointed and silky grey fur blanketed his skin. His hands compressed into paws and all the while he howled in agony. Sirius turned away, his stomach knotting painfully. He wished there was something he could do for Remus but all he could do was watch, the knowledge that this was permanent, incurable, something Remus would know all his life carved itself into his bones.
It fell silent, the room was almost peaceful for a moment. Sirius turned as a hoof clopped on the rickety flooring, James and Peter had already changed. Behind him, Remus – no, Moony – watched quietly. Sirius knew he should change but he felt frozen, watching Moony watch him.
Werewolves were naturally aggressive towards humans. It was a well-documented fact. Sirius was being stupid and yet… Moony hadn’t attacked him. He just watched.
Sirius took a step forward, stretching out a hand hesitantly, palm open towards the muzzle of the werewolf.
Prongs let out a nervous snort, stomping his hooves. Wormtail was perched between his antlers watching the interaction very intently.
He took another step, hand hovering about two inches from Moony’s head. What was he doing? This was stupid. He was gonna get himself killed. This was so damn stupid. This was-
Moony pushed forward, shoving his snout into Sirius’ chest, pressing his neck against Sirius’ open palm. A giggle broke from Sirius’ lips as Moony let out a grumbling sound something like a purr. The werewolf’s hot breath stirred Sirius’ hair, and he curled his hand to scratch behind Moony’s ears, the fur far softer than it looked.
“Oh, my darling Moony.” Sirius chuckled.
Wormtail let out a squeak and Prongs pranced impatiently so Sirius sighed and took a step back to shift. Suddenly he was shorter than Moony, looking up at the glorious wolf in the moonlight with far sharper eyes. That was something he would never dislike about being Padfoot. His vision was so much clearer. He could see Remus so much more.
Padfoot barked and Moony lunged at him, bowling him over across the floor, play tackling. Snapping jaws and scratching paws never actually making contact.
Prongs huffed, guiding the two canines out of the shack and tilting his antlers towards the Forbidden Forest. They went tumbling down the hill in a mess of fur.
…
The night was long and joyous despite the circumstances, and Remus even emerged with barely any new wounds – barring the one from Padfoot managing to get a light nip on his neck in their play fight. When Remus saw it in the hospital wing mirror the next morning, he smiled slightly and Sirius chose not to think about what that meant because otherwise his foolish, hopeful, delusional mind would tell him to do it again.