Cherry Wine

The rest of September seemed to pass very quickly. Sirius, in his persistent research, had found a charm to apply a nasty smell to the robes within the week ( Corporis Halitosis Temporarum ) . He and James then began to help Remus and Peter find a spell that would bind the wearer's clothing to their body, which took longer, but they did manage to figure it out (only after they had accidentally stuck Peter's shoes to his feet for two weeks straight). The spell was evidently very easy to get wrong, and only Remus had managed to master the incantation, which was Servatus Indumentum . The plan was to find wherever the house-elves did laundry, break in, and apply both spells before the robes could be sent back to the Slytherins. At breakfast the next morning, all they would have to do was repeat the Corporis spell once more and things would be set in motion. The four of them were giddy with excitement. Although, Sirius did notice that it seemed Remus was getting increasingly less interested in the prank, or really in anything, as the month drew to a close. In fact, by the morning of September 29th, Remus looked so sickly that Sirius had half a mind to drag him to Madam Pomfrey himself.

“I just don’t see why you won’t go!” Sirius whined, dangling upside down off the foot of Remus’s bed where Remus laid, shivering under the covers with a warm towel pressed against his forehead.

“I told you already,” he croaked out, teeth chattering, “I’m fine. This’ll pass in a day or two.” James groaned from the bathroom, where he and Peter were brushing their teeth. He spit out his toothpaste and walked over to the bed, shoving Sirius off the end (“Oi!”) and sitting down himself. 

“At least stay here and rest instead of going to lessons, Remus,” he said, Sirius nodding in agreement from his spot on the floor, “you’re about as ghostly looking as Nearly Headless Nick.”

“Cheers, mate,” said Remus, but he didn’t seem to agree, because he got out of bed anyway, still shivering, and started brushing his teeth. From the sink next to him, Peter rolled his eyes and spit out his toothpaste.

“Seriously, Remus,” he said, wiping a bit of toothpaste off his lip with a tissue, “we’ve been telling you to just stay in and rest for a week now!”

“And I’ve been telling you lot that I’m perfectly fine for a week now,” Remus contested after spitting out his own toothpaste. Sirius just scoffed, growing steadily annoyed with Remus’s lack of concern over his health. 

“Hurry up and get dressed then if you’re coming,” said Peter, shoving his spellbooks into his bag in a manner so unruly it made Sirius cringe, “I want to get down to the Great Hall before all the good biscuits have gone.”

“All biscuits are good biscuits,” James countered as Remus fished around his drawers for a clean set of robes. Wordlessly, Sirius handed him a set that he had folded the night before. (He had taken to folding clothes for all of the boys– something about the innate tidiness of his upbringing made it very uncomfortable for him to allow his roommates to just shove their clothes into their drawers with no regard for wrinkles). Remus dressed and the four of them made their way out of the dorm and into the common room, where fifth-years Frank Longbottom and Alice Fortescue were snogging on the couch. 

“Eww,” blanched Marlene, who was coming down the stairs of the girls dorm, arm-in-arm with Lily, “we haven’t even had breakfast yet!”

“Too true,” agreed Sirius as the couple pulled apart, red-faced. “If I had any food in me, I would certainly be throwing it up right now.”

“Not that that's stopped you before,” said Frank, smirking. Sirius rolled his eyes. Naturally, he suspected thanks to Peter, all of Gryffindor knew of Sirius’s visit to the hospital wing. Sirius also reckoned it was possible that the information had leaked into other houses as well, as he was, rather unfortunately, quite popular. Everywhere he went he heard whispers of people discussing “ The Black Heir ” and rumors surrounding his family and his Sorting. He tried his very best to ignore all of it, and he especially tried to ignore Slytherin house for fear of running into Bella or Cissa. He had managed not to speak to them at all so far, and he was planning to continue not to for as long as he possibly could. 

“C’mon, then,” said Lily as Dorcas and Mary made their way down, “I’m starving!” 

The group made their way to breakfast and quickly fell into their usual meaningless chatter at the table. Sirius paid very little attention, instead opting to watch Remus pick at his eggs rather than eating them. If Remus noticed him staring, he didn’t say anything about it. Sirius continued to keep an eye on him through Transfiguration, and through Charms, and through Defense Against the Dark Arts. They were learning about dark creatures in the highest classification category when Sirius decided to try talking Remus into seeing Madam Pomfrey again.

“Remus, I can take the notes for you, just go to the hospital wing,” Sirius whispered to him, pleading.

“I’m fine,” Remus hissed back, jotting down the list of creatures on the board. Sirius glanced at his parchment.

“You’ve forgotten the werewolf,” he said. Remus paled, not looking up from his textbook.

“What?”

“The werewolf? It’s on the list of XXXXX creatures. You didn’t write it down,” Sirius confirmed, pointing to the board.

“Oh,” Remus swallowed, “Right. Thanks.” He didn’t add it to his notes. Sirius just shrugged and went back to the assignment. 

Remus was quiet at lunch. He was usually quieter than Sirius and James, but he typically at least laughed at their jokes and joined in on most of the conversations they had. Today was different. He kept spacing out for long periods of time and then blinking back to reality, like he’d forgotten he was an inhabitant of his own body, forgotten he was in control of his own movements. Sirius knew exactly what that felt like. It was very unsettling to be on the other side of things. 

“We still need to find out where the elves do the laundry,” James groaned to Peter, pulling Sirius out of his thoughts. They had been discussing the upcoming prank all day. 

“I know, James,” said Peter, scarfing down a turkey leg, “you’ve said that at least twenty times.”

“So do something about it!” James said dramatically, flopping his head onto the table. Peter rolled his eyes.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Search the castle with me again tonight!” The four of them had been venturing out into the castle at night in search of the elves' workspace. They had found several hidden passageways already, all of which Remus had noted down on a map of the castle. Sirius had done the drawings and scalings for said map, something he was quite proud of.

“No way! I’ve already been caught by filch so many times I’ll be in detention until I'm twenty!”

“I’ll go with you, Jamesy,” said Sirius, patting James on the back, “Even detention with Filch is better than writing my History of Magic essay.”

“This is why you’re my favorite.”

“Hey!” exclaimed Peter and Remus in unison.

After classes had finished, Remus seemed suddenly very open to the idea of seeing Madam Pomfrey. In fact, it felt like he began gathering his things as soon as they returned to the dormitory. Sirius was obviously pleased that Remus had finally decided to care about his health, but the sudden change in demeanor was cause for suspicion. 

“Why now ?” he asked, as he had opted to walk Remus down to the hospital wing. James and Peter had stayed behind to catch up on Charms, something Sirius was very ahead in after all his research for the prank. Remus shrugged, not making eye contact with him. Sirius furrowed his brows. 

“Just decided it might be best for me to get some proper rest after all,” Remus replied simply. He was lying. Sirius was positive he was lying. Sirius was raised in the Most Noble and Ancient House of Liars and therefore knew a liar when he saw one. He could tell from the way Remus’s eyes were locked onto the floor, the way his shoulders hunched over as he walked, the way his speech became breathy and his demeanor distant. Also, Remus had the particularly helpful habit of picking at the skin on his lips when he lied. 

“You aren’t telling me the truth,” Sirius said plainly, because he wasn’t. 

“Of course I am,” replied Remus, too quickly. His pace picked up as they descended a staircase. Sirius sped up, matching it. 

“No, you aren’t. Why?” He questioned, grabbing Remus gently by the arm and turning him. They stood like that in the hall for a few moments, silently, trying to read each other. Remus swallowed, his eyes boring into Sirius’s own, screaming please don’t make me say it . Sirius thought about what his mother would do if she knew that someone was keeping something from her. He decided to relent, if only for one night. “Fine,” he said, “I’ll stop asking.” They walked the rest of the way in silence, Sirius keeping true to his word, but both of them knew he would stop at nothing until he figured out exactly what was going on.

By nightfall, James and Sirius sat shoulder-to-shoulder in the largest armchair watching Dorcas lose spectacularly to Peter at chess while Marlene, Mary, and Lily played gobstones. 

“Do you want to join in, Sirius?” asked Lily, setting up a new board after Marlene had won the first game.

“Oi! Why can’t I play?” argued James, offended. Lily rolled her eyes and continued to set up the board.

“Because I don’t like you,” she deadpanned, very matter-of-fact. James gasped, putting his hand over his heart dramatically.

“How rude,” he said jokingly, but Sirius could see the hurt in his eyes, “Why ever not?”

“Because you bully Severus!”

“Sirius messes with Sniv- with Severus just as much as I do!” he countered. Lily scoffed.

“You’re also incredibly arrogant.”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not !”

“Why don’t we all head to bed?” interrupted Marlene awkwardly, pulling an almost growling Lily toward the steps of the girls dormitory. 

“Yeah,” said Sirius, standing up and pulling James to do so with him, “tensions are running a bit high.” James crossed his arms and glared at Lily, who flipped him a very rude hand gesture. They both huffed, turning around and stomping up the stairs to their respective dorms. Peter quickly followed James, and Dorcas Lily. Sirius ran a hand through his hair as Mary and Marlene cleaned up the gobstones game. 

“Why does she hate him so much?” he asked them once he was sure both James and Lily were out of earshot. Mary just shrugged, collecting the stones into a small tin.

“We’ve asked her about a million times, but it seems to put her in a very sour mood, so we just stopped trying,” she explained. Marlene nodded from behind her, looking almost frightened.

“Once I invited her to come watch a Quidditch practice with him and I and she nearly set me on fire.” Sirius just blanched, helping them finish cleaning up the game before bidding them goodnight and making his way to the dorm. He made a note in his mind not to bring up James to Lily if he could help it. When he entered the dorm, Peter was somehow already asleep, and James was laying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Sirius took a seat beside him. 

“I’m not arrogant, am I?” James asked, voice quiet. 

“No, mate,” said Sirius, shaking his head softly, “she just doesn’t know you. If she did– if she did, she would see what the rest of us do.”

“What’s that?”

“That you’re the best friend any of us could have ever asked for.”

“You’re such a nancy,” laughed James, but his frown lessened significantly. Sirius just smiled. 

“Yeah, but only for you guys.”

The two boys waited like that for a while, lounging in James’s bed and talking each other's ears off until they were certain the castle was asleep. Only then did they slip down the stairs and out of the common room, the welcome fire of adventure brewing in their stomachs. This, Sirius reckoned as he tip-toed through the dark castle with his best mate, stifling their laughter for fear of being caught, was surely the only way to live. After some time, they heard a faint meowing ahead of them. James grabbed Sirius by the shoulder, pulling him into a hidden nook behind a large tapestry they had found in their second week. They watched as Mrs. Norris pattered by, red eyes glowing like lamps in the dark corridor. After they had recovered from that scare, Sirius pulled out the half-finished map and studied it by his wandlight. 

“I say we start by the Great Hall,” Sirius whispered, furrowing his brows in concentration, “we’ve already searched the dungeons and all of the taller towers.”

“Yes, I suppose we ought to fill in the middle of the map a bit more,” James agreed, “we still haven’t found Hufflepuffs common room. I’ll bet you anything it’s near the elves' workspace– Professor Sprout is so friendly with them.” Sirius nodded, folding up the map and tucking it safely into his robes before following James down to the Great Hall. They were in the corridor where Sirius had learned about the contents of his parents' letter when they froze. They could hear footsteps getting steadily closer. Filch. They ran, blindly turning corners and descending down several staircases until they were sure they were far enough away. James panted, leaning against a large painting of a fruit bowl and trying to catch his breath. Sirius swore he heard someone giggling, but before he had time to say anything about it, the painting swung open to reveal something magnificent hidden behind it. The kitchens. It was glorious. James and Sirius stepped inside tediously, gawking at the huge, stone ceilings and roaring fireplaces. There were house elves moving in every direction, carrying heaps of food that smelled so delicious Sirius was quite sure he was dreaming. 

“Bloody hell ,” muttered James, blinking furiously as though he, too, was unsure if he was imagining things. Just then, Sirius felt something pulling on his robes, and he looked down to meet the eye of a delighted looking house elf with very large ears and bright, blue eyes. 

“Good evening, Young Masters,” bowed the elf, her voice almost endearingly squeaky. “My name is Tibbles!” James beamed, kneeling down to meet Tibbles’ eyeline and shaking her hand. This demonstration reminded Sirius fleetingly of his brother and Kreacher, although Tibbles appeared entirely more pleasant than Kreacher had ever been.

“Hello! My name is James Potter and this is Sirius Black. It’s very lovely to meet you!” James said kindly, the poster child of charm. Tibbles blushed furiously, grabbing James’s hand and leading him over to a small table by the fireplace. Sirius followed, and Tibbles gestured for the two of them to sit down on the wooden stools. They complied, albeit uncomfortably. The stools were obviously made to be table seats for the elves, who were notably much smaller than the two pre-teen boys. 

“How can Tibbles be of service, Master Potter and Master Black? Is either of you wanting a midnight snack?”

“There’s no need to call either of us Master, Tibbles! James and Sirius will do just fine,” said James, which had Sirius nodding in agreement. He was not a fan of formalities. They reminded him too much of home. Tibbles blushed again, nodding her head. 

“Tibbles is very flattered by your kindness! Would you like to try a blueberry scone? They are going to be served at breakfast tomorrow!”

“Yes, please,” said Sirius, the aroma of the food all around him making him suddenly very hungry. Tibbles bowed low and scurried off to make their plates. The boys turned to each other, grinning.

“Oh my GOD ,” exclaimed James, “there is no way this is happening. Is this happening?”

“If it is,” Sirius said, eyes still flicking around the room, trying to soak it all in, “then Peter is going to be properly pissed he didn’t come with us.” James laughed, loud and bright, his eyes crinkled in the pure joy that came along with discovering something new. Sirius was mesmerized by how much space a laugh could take up. At how much space James could take up without even trying– without even realizing. Tibbles came back a few moments later, carrying a huge tray of goodies in her little hands. On it were not only the blueberry scones, but eclairs, jam doughnuts, fizzing whizbees, and a number of other things Sirius had never even seen before. Tibbles worked quietly, conjuring two golden plates and goblets for them and giving them each a bit of everything before filling their glasses with pumpkin juice. Sirius just gaped in appreciation. Kreacher had never been so kind to him– in fact Sirius was quite sure that Kreacher spit in his food more often than he would like to imagine. 

“Is there anything else you is needing?” Tibbles asked, looking at them in such a way that made it clear she was thoroughly enjoying being able to serve them. 

“No thank you, Tibbles,” said James kindly, which led Tibbles to blush yet again, “we appreciate this very much!” Tibbles bowed and scurried off to join the rest of the elves as James and Sirius dug into their plates. After a few minutes of silence as the boys tried a bit of all their sweets, James groaned, leaning back in his stool. “I miss my old house-elf so much ,” he said, rubbing his very full stomach. Sirius paused, picturing the heads of all the fired house elves hanging on the wall in the home of his Great Aunt Casseopia. He shuddered.

“What happened to them?” He asked, very curious to know more about the Potters. He had long since dropped the notion that James’s parents were at all like his own, considering the way he talked about them and the letters they sent him and the care packages Sirius himself had received just for being James’s friend. However, he still found it difficult to picture a pureblood family that was capable of kindness just for the sake of being kind. Since meeting James, Sirius has tried many times to picture in his mind a mother who kissed his forehead instead of kicking his feet out from under him, or a father whose hands had never been covered in his blood. He never could imagine it just right. 

“She had been hinting for a while that she wanted to travel the world and explore,” explained James nonchalantly, “and she had served our family for so long, so my mother surprised her with a dress sewn just for her on her birthday one morning. She was so happy, jumping up and down like a chocolate frog,” he laughed, “and she still visits us and brings us souvenirs all the time.” Sirius considered this. If Kreacher had suggested he wanted to stop serving House Black, Mother would probably skin him alive. He opted not to say this aloud considering the present company.

“Huh,” was all he said, pushing his plate away. Thinking about the differences between Mrs. Potter and his own mother had caused him to lose his appetite. James didn’t notice his shift in mood, downing his goblet of pumpkin juice and belching loudly. 

“Tibbles?” He called once he had finished his plate, causing the elf to promptly scamper over, “can I ask you a question?”

“Of course, Master Potter! Er- James,” she corrected herself. James just smiled softly.

“I was wondering where it is you all do the laundry? Do you think you could show us?” Sirius bit back a smirk. He was laying on that James Potter charm thick. Tibbles looked a little confused, but she nodded anyway and grabbed James by the hand.

“Follow me!” She squeaked, and so they did. She led them to the back of the kitchens and through a stone doorway, which housed several elves magically cleaning and folding robes in every direction. There seemed to be four different sections of elves, one section for each house. That would make things very easy when it came time to sabotage the Slytherins. James seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he turned to Sirius and winked at him, grinning from ear to ear. They ventured back into the kitchens and bid Tibbles goodbye, thanking her for her hospitality. She told them that they were welcome to come back anytime– all they would need to do was tickle the pear on the painting of the fruit bowl and the entryway would appear. Sirius noted this down onto the map after they left, and sometime later the two boys found themselves staring blankly at their ceilings in bed, still high on the adrenaline of adventure. 

The following morning, Peter was incessantly badgering them to tell him what had happened the night before. 

“You both slept in so late! I know it's Saturday, but waking at lunchtime is crazy even for you guys,” he said to them as they sat down to eat in the Great Hall. Remus was presumably still in the hospital wing. James just shrugged, biting his lips to stop them from spilling out the details of their escapade. The two had agreed to tell Peter and Remus together about their discovery. James had been fine telling Peter as soon as they woke up, but Sirius didn’t want Remus to feel left out. 

“We’ll explain it to you when Remus is here,” Sirius replied, ever so diplomatically. The topic of Remus’s mysterious ailment was still a sore one for him. 

“If he doesn’t turn up soon, I say we go and visit him,” added James through a mouthful of roast chicken. Sirius thought this was a wonderful idea. He was determined to figure out why Remus was lying. He felt guilty about his inherent nosiness, but he was a Black, so it was kind of part of the deal of having him as a friend. 

“Good idea,” agreed Sirius, “why don’t we go after lunch?”

And so they did. They even made Remus a plate to bring to him, as Sirius knew firsthand that the food in the hospital wing was nowhere near as delicious as in the Great Hall. They entered loudly, as they did most things, play-fighting with each other and laughing brazenly. It was only when they got to a sleeping Remus’s bedside that they fell silent. It was not at all what they had been expecting. He looked dreadful, bloodied bandages wrapping around his torso and   broken arms and a new, large scar etched over the bridge of his nose. Madam Pomfrey must have noticed them huddled around Remus, gawking at their very broken friend, because she ran over and closed the curtains around his bed within just a few moments of their arrival. It had only been a glance, yes, but they had seen enough. She did not explain what had happened no matter how many times they asked, merely thanking them for bringing him lunch before shooing them out of the wing. They stood silently in the hall for a couple seconds before James and Peter started to try and rationalize what it was they had just seen.

“I thought he was just sickly,” gasped Peter, a hand over his mouth, “what the bloody hell happened?”

“I don’t know,” said James quietly, shaking his head and pale with worry, “It looked as though he’d been attacked or something.”

“How could he have been attacked if he was in the hospital wing?” asked Peter, an eyebrow raised, “Madam Pomfrey watches it like a hawk.”

“I’ve no idea, but he sure as hell didn’t do that to himself!”

“Maybe it was one of the Slytherins? Snivellus? Remus does come up with most of our prank ideas,” Peter attributed.

“Yes, but nobody knows that– if they were going to retaliate like this, why not hurt me or Sirius?”

“I don’t know– but it looked bad. What do you think, Sirius?” 

Sirius didn’t respond. He was still picturing Remus in his mind over and over again: bloodied and broken. It was hard to stomach for several reasons. Perhaps it was very selfish of him, but his first thought before Madam Pomfrey had closed the curtain was of himself. He had been like that before. He had been worse than that before. Is that what Regulus had to bear witness to? Those times they made him count the lashes— is that what he saw? How did he bear it? The sunken eyes and the blotched skin and the broken bones and- and- Sirius had to grip onto the wall to stop himself from throwing up again. Sirius knew what it was like to be hurt. He hadn’t considered how impossible it was on the other side of things. Whoever had done that to Remus was going to have hell to pay. 

“Sirius?” Peter repeated, pulling him out of his trance.

“Are you good, mate?” James asked, putting an arm on his shoulder. Sirius flinched backward. All of them pretended not to notice. 

“I’m fine. I just don’t like blood. I’m going to go get some fresh air,” he mumbled before stalking off to the lake. He willed them not to follow him. They didn’t.

Sirius stayed outside for a long time. The sun had set, and he watched the Giant Squid swim around and rested his back against a large oak tree and closed his eyes. All he could see was Remus’s battered body. He opened them again. Despite his best efforts, he kept picturing how Remus had gotten like that. A forceful shove to the ground would explain the bruising. His wind would’ve been knocked out of him. Before he could steady and defend himself, a hard kick in the ribs. To the face. He would be on the ground. A twisting of his arm behind his back until the sickening crack reverberated in the air. More kicks. Punches. Blows upon blows upon blows. And then the spells would start. Perhaps his attacker knew that the sting of magical pain was more effective after the body was already weakened. He would be writhing on the ground, begging for it to stop- but it wouldn’t stop, it wouldn’t stop, because it never fucking stops - and suddenly Sirius was hyperventilating and he couldn’t fucking breathe and he was in his fathers office cowering under his mothers wand and he could hear himself screaming and he could hear Reg sobbing and-

“Sirius?” It was Lily Evans who sat down next to him. She was looking at him curiously. He wiped his eyes. Mother didn’t like it when he cried. 

“Hm?” was all he managed to respond. He was bracing himself for her to ask him what he was doing out here, or why he looked like he had been crying, or what was wrong, or, or something , but instead she just scooted closer to him, her shoulder against his, and opened her book. She didn’t say anything else. She just started reading. He blinked at her. “Aren’t you going to- to-”

“To what?” she inquired, not looking up from the page she was reading. Her hair fell in front of her eye and she brushed it away, tucking it behind her ear. 

“To ask me why I was, uhm,” Sirius began.

“Staring out into space like a soldier reminiscing war?” she finished for him, “I’d assumed you didn’t want to talk about it.” She finally looked up at him, knitting her brows together, her green eyes flicking across his features, and she reminded him, for a moment, of James. 

“I don’t, but…” he began, but he wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence. He was accustomed to being forced to share things he didn’t want to. His family were not keen on being out-of-the loop on anything, and his mother happened to be a particularly skilled Legilimens.

“I’m not going to make you talk about it, Black,” she told him, smiling softly, “I just thought you could use some quiet company. Like you gave me that night in the common room after I got those letters.” 

“Oh,” Sirius said. He wasn’t sure how to respond. Something warm stirred in his chest. Company. She bumped his shoulder gently and went back to her book. Sirius looked back out into the lake. Quiet company was nice. They stayed like that for some time more before it was curfew, and Lily Evans, being the goody-two-shoes she was, convinced him to finally go back inside. 

Sirius wasn’t sure what he was expecting inside as they climbed through the portrait hole to the common room, but it definitely wasn’t what he saw. Remus Lupin sitting with a book in his lap on the large armchair, the only clue as to his state only hours before the scar across the bridge of his nose. James and Peter were playing chess together as if nothing was amiss. Sirius marched over to them as Lily went up the stairs to her dorm.

“What- How?” He stammered out, mind reeling. James glanced up at him, looking relieved.

“Sirius!” He said, standing, “we were just about to go and get you– you were out there for so long!” Sirius ignored this, just looking over at the very much so uninjured Remus, dumbfounded. Remus looked up from his book and shot him a quick grin.

“Someone hexed me in the hall after you left me,” he explained, picking at the skin of his lip, “I didn’t see who it was, but Madam Pomfrey was nearby and she fixed me up.” He looked back down at his book, as if this explained everything. It didn’t. Peter and James both seemed content with this explanation. This frustrated Sirius to no end. Remus was very badly hurt by somebody, and he was lying to cover it up. He was lying about so many things and it was like nobody even noticed it except Sirius. He scoffed, stomping up the stairs to the dormitory and slamming the door behind him. He sat down on his bed, untying the laces of his shoes and grumbling to himself. He had sat outside for literal hours worrying about Remus and he just turns up perfectly fine all the sudden? There was no way those kinds of injuries could’ve been caused by a simple hex– not the kind that any of the students at Hogwarts would know, anyways. Well, except maybe Bella, but Sirius highly doubted Remus was anywhere on her radar. And the way he explained it– saying “ after you left me ,” like it was Sirius’s fault? It wasn’t his fault. It couldn’t have been. Right? He threw his shoes on the ground and flopped backwards onto the bed. Today was objectively very suckish. He intended to sulk dramatically for the rest of the evening like the true Black he was. There was, however, a flaw in that plan, and his name was Remus Lupin. He opened the door just after Sirius had finished putting on his pajamas, nodded at him, and sat down on his own bed. Sirius fought against an eye roll, instead handing Remus a pair of freshly folded pajamas in a very passive aggressive manner. Remus just muttered a “thank you” and stepped into the bathroom to change. He always changed in the bathroom. It was kind of annoying. Sirius, James, and Peter had no sense for privacy amongst each other, it often felt to Sirius like the others were just an extension of himself. Remus always maintained a degree of separation. Perhaps he thought he was too good for them. Merlin's Beard, he was frustrating. Remus returned moments later, dawning his usual brown sleep jumper. Sirius bit back a smirk, remembering the night he was sick fondly before realizing he was supposed to be angry. Again. Remus was very frustrating. Even more annoyingly, instead of sitting down on his own bed, Remus made himself comfortable on Sirius’s. Sirius raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Well, come and sit then,” said Remus, patting the space next to him. Sirius obliged. 

“You lied, earlier, didn’t you?” Sirius asked bluntly. Remus laid back, his feet still dangling off the edge of the mattress.

“Yes,” he responded quietly, “I did. Please don’t tell the others.” Sirius frowned, copying Remus’s position and lying down next to him. He hadn’t expected him to admit it that quickly.

“What’s the truth, then?”

“I can’t tell you that,” replied Remus apologetically. Sirius groaned, hands over his face.

“Why not?” He questioned. Remus just looked at the bed curtains in thought for a few moments. 

“You have secrets, too, you know.”

“I do not!”

A beat, and then,

“You never told me about one of your scars.”

“What?”

“That day, in the hospital wing? When I told you about my hummingbird scar? You were supposed to tell me about one of yours.” Sirius bit his lip. He had been hoping Remus had forgotten that. He didn’t have any funny scars. They were all just painful memories. 

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, turning to face Remus. The scar over the bridge of his nose suited him. 

“It’s okay. You’ll tell me when you’re ready. I know it doesn’t mean that you don’t trust me.” Sirius frowned. Remus was drawing a parallel. Frustrating git. Remus smirked, sitting up and patting Sirius on the knee. “We done with this?” He asked.

“For now,” relented Sirius. Remus Lupin was an enigma.