Bristol, UK
“How did I know I’d find you here?” a familiar voice asked from over Remus’ shoulder.
Remus knows it’s James Potter, captain of the football team, yet surprisingly a decent person. He’d seemingly made it his mission to befriend Remus, which means his comfy reading sessions in the school library keep getting interrupted.
“I could ask you the same thing.” Remus responds.
James jumps over the back of the dingy couch to settle himself next to Remus. They make an interesting looking pair, James with his unmarred sun kissed brown skin, tight fitting white tee, blue jeans and hearty smile. On the other hand, Remus with his ill-fitting brown corduroys, grandpa sweaters and toffee colored skin that implies he should be darker, that’s covered in crooked scars.
James throws an arm around Remus’ shoulder, jostling his book, Ulysses. “Anyways, me and the lads are having a get together at my place, was thinking you could come with. Stay the night, Mum and Dad are visiting family.”
“I don’t think your footie mates would appreciate my company. My mam wouldn’t let me go either.”
“Not them, my actual mates, just Peter, Kingsley, Benjy and hopefully youuu,” James emphasized with a shimmy of his shoulders.
“I already said my mam would have a fit.”
“You’re in Southwind aren’t you?” James narrows his eyes, Remus nods. “Alright, sneak out and then follow the powerline, until you reach Godric’s Hollow, turn left and we’re the big white house.”
Remus turns his head to his book for a moment and James says, “I want you to make friends here. Don’t you?”
“I’ll try.”
☾✧
Hope Lupin sits in the passenger seat of her car, waiting for Remus to get out of school, she only has a few months before he’s 18. He’s good enough at driving now, but she needs him to brush up on his skills quickly however.
“Hey mam,” he smiles as he throws his backpack into the back seat and clicks his seatbelt.
“Hello, my love.”
She doesn’t have much time left at all.
☾✧
Remus holds most of the bags as he helps his mother carry in the groceries.
“Seems we need more practice with parking,” she says as she unlocks the door to their shabby apartment.
“Was everything else good?” he asked feebly, struggling to make eye contact with her.
“It was wonderful, darling,” she couldn’t help but leave a kiss on his forehead.
Remus takes her bags to unpack in the kitchen, as she makes her way to the bathroom, he stops her.
“Do you reckon it’ll rain tonight?”
“Don’t think it’s mean to rain today.”
☾✧
“Night mam,” Remus says as he pads out of the bathroom, nicking the screwdriver from the wall shelf outside of his room.
As he closes his door behind him, he hears his mom lock it from the outside. He waits until he can hear her return to the couch before he works open the window of his bedroom. His mam usually never rents apartments on the first floor for this very reason, not that Remus had ever done it before. However, this move to Bristol was rather sudden, wasn’t it?
Remus’ trainers land on the asphalt of their parking lot, the blue air of the night tousling his curly brown hair. He makes his way down to the powerline James told him about, setting off to Godric’s Hollow.
☾✧
Remus feels something as he spots James’ house, he can feel the warmth that must be in this home, a point of warm in the unrelenting night. The warmth of people, he could almost feel it dripping in between his fingers as he knocks on the door.
Remus doesn’t experience fear like normal people, so he doesn’t know how to refer to how he feels as James smiles at him, standing in the threshold of warmth. The closest thing he could compare it to is maybe a deer in headlights, wholly disoriented at the absurdly bright lights brought on by James’ beaming at him.
“I knew you’d make it!” James shouts as he wraps Remus into a hug.
“Yeah.”
☾✧
James and Remus lie on the ground under the glass coffee table. Peter, Kingsley and Benjy all invested in the game of Rugby on the telly.
Lying shoulder to shoulder, James turns his head and asks, “So is there a reason your mum is so strict?”
“Just the way she is, wish I could tell you,” Remus almost finds it harder to lie under James’ gaze.
“So you can’t spend the night?”
“No, I’ll head out when you guys decide to go to sleep, I need to be back by six.”
“Christ,” James says with a disgruntled expression, “where’d you move here from, anyways?”
“Cardiff.”
“What! You didn’t tell me you were Welsh!”
“Well yeah, didn’t think it’d necessarily be a surprise, given my accent, mate.”
“Well now I feel like an idiot,” their breaths mingling as Remus looks into James’ crinkled eyes as he emits a soft chuckle.
“Speaking of where you’re from, you’ve never talked about your dad,” James starts.
“Oi, James! Look at Preston score, isn’t he brilli-” Peter starts yelling from the couch behind them.
“Can’t you see I’m talking, Peter?” James interrupts. He rolls his eyes, “About your dad, it’s none of my business, ignore all of that.”
“It’s alright, I don’t have any memories of my da, not even photos, my mam never tells me anything.”
“Bloody hell, I love my dad, I’d be wrecked mate. You could always share mine, I think you’d like him.”
Remus feels his breathing grow more shallow. He can’t stop looking at James’ neck, the warmth bottled inside of James now feels like heat. Remus can hear the rush of lava inside of James’ veins.
Remus is interrupted as Peter gets James’ attention to rewind the play just made. James turns to Remus and points at the telly.
“Look at him go!” James shouts, mirth heavy in his gaze.
Remus can’t rip his eyes from James’ finger, as he guides James’ wrist to his chest. James’ face only becomes confused as his finger dives into Remus' awaiting mouth.
God, it’s better than I remember. It’s so warm. Mmhhggghh…
Remus barely registers the hands pulling him away from James. All he feels is James’ skin pulling away from his finger in between his teeth. The guzzle of James’ red lava down his throat. The warmth of him sits in his belly like whiskey.
Remus runs.
☾✧
Remus bangs on the door of their apartment. Hope swings the door open, frazzled, clearly just awoken. Remus pushes inside as his mother takes in his appearance. A deep sigh pushes from her lips at the sight of his mouth covered in blood, dripping down his neck and a spray of crimson on his pajamas.
“Three minutes. I need you in the car in three minutes. Only get enough things you can grab in three minutes.”
Hope grabs at her keys and gets going as Remus staggers to his room, tears rushing from his eyes. He pulls out a duffle bag and starts to grab at his shirts. Turning around he makes eye contact with himself in the mirror. He steps closer.
He’s choked up. He’s covered in James’ blood. Blood from James.