The Gryffindor common room buzzed with the usual excitement of a Friday evening. The marauders were all near the fire, each doing a separate activity. James was sitting on the couch, bored and avoiding any homework as always. Peter was sitting at a desk slowly writing out an essay on how a polyjuice potion worked. Remus was across from James, reading a book. They don’t know how long they had been in those spots, but they bet it had been a couple of hours.
“My ass hurts from sitting here, I’m going up to the room.” James whined out, slowly getting up.
Just as James mentioned he was leaving, Peter slammed his quill down proclaiming how done he was and cursing under his breath. He quickly got up to follow James.
“You coming, Moony?” Peter asked.
Remus stopped where he was in the book to take a quick glance at the clock above the firepit. It read 8:05. He grabbed his bookmark and marked his spot within the book.
“Sure, why the hell not.” He said, slowly closing the book and getting up from the chair he was sat in.
The three boys made their way up to their shared bedroom. They had gotten up and realized that Sirius was not there. Him not being there wasn’t an absurd thing to happen, so they shrugged it off. James quickly flopped on his bed letting out a groan. Peter and Remus, after laughing to each other and sharing an eye roll, they both sat on their beds. Remus was already invested in his book again while Peter sat on his bed quietly fidgeting with his wand. It was a nice and relaxing environment.
That was until Sirius Black came bursting in the room with his brother trailing not too far behind him.
The brothers were yelling, the others could tell they were angry about something, but they didn’t know why. Why don’t they know what they were saying? Well, the boys were arguing in French. The other three weren’t even aware the brothers knew French.
“Qu'est-ce qui t'a poussé à dire à ma mère que je sortais avec quelqu'un?!” Sirius screamed out.
“Elle m'a posé des questions sur toi, alors je lui ai dit.” Regulus spat back.
“Maman t'a posé des questions sur moi? Maintenant je sais que tu es plein de merde!” Sirius said while throwing his hands in the air.
Over on the beds, James and Remus made a glance to one another.
“What are they saying??” Remus mouthed to James. James just shrugged.
The three boys slowly turned their heads to whoever was yelling as if they were watching a tennis match. Every one of them was in utter confusion. Well, except for a part of Remus. He’s been dating Sirius for a year and Sirius just never brought up the fact he speaks French. Fluently. He felt a little ashamed for finding it attractive, knowing why the boy was speaking French, but he couldn’t help it. While the other two watched in confusion, Remus watched in worry (and a little admiration if he’s being honest). The brothers never fought, and if they did, it was never this bad of a yelling match. Something had to have been wrong. The sound of his boyfriend yelling brought him back.
“Arrête de te mêler de ma vie!”
“Tu es tellement dramatique, Sirius! Elle ne sait pas que tu es gay ou quoi que ce soit.”
“Mais si elle le découvre, elle me cherchera et me tuera.” Sirius’ voice begins to break.
“Elle ne va pas te tuer, elle ne sait même pas”
“Regulus, tu as regardé ce qu'elle me fait ! Est-ce que ça ne vous dérange tout simplement pas?” Sirius said, begging for an answer.
“J'en ai fini avec toi. Peut-être que tu es une honte.” Regulus said, his words filled with so much venom that even the boys who had no clue what he said understood the severity. Regulus pushed past Sirius, storming out. Sirius was left standing wide and teary eyed at the door.
Silence filled the once lively room. The tension in the air was so thick that you could cut it with a pair of scissors. James, Peter, and Remus had never heard Sirius that quiet. Even when he was sleeping. Remus and the others quickly got worried on what would occur in the next moments.
“Pads?” Remus said, breaking the silence. He slowly got up from his bed and made his way over to the boy who was frozen with… some emotion. Remus made his way over to Sirius in 3 long strides. He slowly put his hand on Sirius' shoulder, whispering something that no one heard. With the feel of someone else’s presence, he slowly turned toward Remus, understanding that the werewolf would be a pillar for him. Gray, teary eyes met hazel. When Sirius got a glimpse of Remus, he realized that he was safe. With that understanding, he let out a sob into the other man’s chest.
Remus quickly wrapped his arms around Sirius, holding him very close. Sirius just let out sob after sob until eventually his knees began to give out. Remus felt Sirius’ slowly slipping, so he quickly made their way over to the bed.
“Pads, Siri, you need to sit down, okay? I’m right here.” He was slowly lowering Sirius onto Remus’ bed. Immediately the smell of parchment, chocolate, and vague cigarette smoke filled Sirius’ senses. The scent was comforting. He knew he was home.
Remus slowly sat next to Sirius and looped his arms around his waist, gently pressing kisses to Sirius’ neck. Sirius realized started crying again.
“Hey hey hey, I’m right here Pads. Can you take a deep breath with me? Like we always do?” Remus said while rubbing circles on Sirius’ back.
Sirius eventually started to calm down. His breathing began to regulate and the only thing he was left with was a stuffy nose and an annoying headache. Sirius looked around the room and fully processed what just happened.
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry guys, I’m so sorry.” Sirius began to rapidly apologize, scared that he made his friends uncomfortable.
“It’s okay Sirius. We were just worried, that’s all.” James said with a comforting tone.
“Are you guys okay?” Peter asked slowly, him being the one to ask the question that was eating the rest of them up.
“Yeah, well, no, but… fuck.” Sirius stumbled out.
“It’s okay Pads, you don’t have to tell us. We just wanna know if you’re okay.” Remus said. The other two nodded.
“He had told my mother I was dating someone. I just… freaked out. I know he just said that I was dating someone, but it was just the fear that she would want to snoop in my life and find out I’m gay. I have enough wounds from her already. What if she finds out and she wants to kill me. I don’t… I don’t want to…” Sirius rambled, eventually working himself into tears again.
“Pads, Pads, Pads. Listen to me. Look at me.” Gray met hazel again. “She is not going to hurt you. She will never hurt you again, okay? You’re safe here with us. I will protect you I promise.” The werewolf brought his hand up to cup the other boy’s face. Sirius leaned into Remus’ touch, feeling the warmth the other boy brought.
“He called me a disgrace.” Sirius slowly said.
“He what?” James chimed in.
“I don’t know why he said it or what I did to cause that, but he did. I just, He hates me like the others. He had the look. The same look my parents give me or the look my mom gave me before she…” Sirius trailed off.
Anger bubbled in Remus’ stomach. The one family member Sirius could rely on just sat there, telling Sirius’ business to his mother, then calling him the one thing that Sirius believes himself. His boy. The person who saved his life was crying in his arms believing the horrid things his “family” tells him.
“You aren’t a disgrace. Not to me, not to James, not to anyone. Those people are hateful. You have a family here with us. You will always have a home to run to. I love you beyond words, Pads. You are so perfect. I wish you could see yourself through my eyes.” Remus started going on a side tangent about Sirius. While that was happening, Sirius just sat there watching Remus, his eyes filling with tears again.
Before Remus could finish, Sirius threw his arms around him and pulled him in for a kiss. He kissed him like Remus was his lifeline. They pulled apart and just looked at each other. Nothing could pull them apart.
Besides the sound of James clearing his throat.
“Okay lovers, chill.” James said, the two looked up to see James with his eyes covered. All four of them shared a laugh.
“Is no one going to mention the fact Sirius is fluent in French? Are we looking over that?” Peter chimed in from his bed.
The two others agreed with him and looked over to Sirius. He was just laughing awkwardly to himself.
“Yeah… I guess I forgot to mention that.” Sirius laughed.
“I wish you would’ve showed it off earlier, Moony seemed to lift it.” James slowly looked over to Remus, who was bright red.
“Wait, you like that I speak French?” Sirius was honestly shocked.
“It just- caught me off guard.” Remus said, trying to avert Sirius’ gaze.
“Moony. Hey Moony. Je t'aime.”
Remus fell silent for a second.
“I have no clue what you just said, but I liked it.”
“Hmm, maybe I’ll speak French more often.” He giggled
With the silence that loomed over them, the issue that remains unresolved loomed as well. His brother. He didn’t know what to do. Sirius got up from the bed, giving Remus a kiss on the cheek in the process. He slowly made his way to the door, not planning to leave, just planning to stand there.
“Sirius? Are you okay?” James asked hesitantly.
“I uh- I just don’t know what I’m gonna do from here. I don’t think I can face him.” His voice began to waver.
“You don’t have to know. You need time to heal, my love.” Remus said.
“I just feel weird. I feel… helpless. Right now, I have no family. He was the last one I had.” Sirius began to spiral into sadness and realization. Until he felt someone grab his waist.
“You have a family. We’re always right here.” Remus said softly.