The light sound of sizzling intertwined with music filled the quaint kitchen. Warm beams of light from the setting sun adorned the room, creating warmth and comfort. Remus carefully pushed back the sleeves of his knitted jumper, his long scars prominent as the sun hit them. He busied himself with chopping the carrots, dicing them neatly.
“Kiddo?” Remus called, his voice carrying through the house. “Are you coming to help?”
Vienna clambers down the stairs, ploughing their shaking hands through their hair. Vienna entered the kitchen, joining Remus at the window, watching as he peeled and diced the carrots. They pull their sleeves over their hands and cross their arms, leaning on the counter.
“That smells good,” Vienna says, glancing at the pan as the meat slowly turns brown. They reach for the spatula and move the meat around, the sizzling intensifying.
“Thank you, dear,” Remus smiles softly, adding the diced carrots to the pan and moving them around. He softly hums to himself, his head swaying. Vienna’s lips tug into a smile as they watch, their eyes intently fixed on him cooking. “So, how was your day?”
“My day?” They repeat his question, their eyes meeting his. “Oh- uh… good, good,” they nod, picking at their sleeves. Remus’ eyes pick up on this and a wave of concern floods over him quickly.
“Hmm,” he mumbled, an uncertain look on his tired features. “You know, you should be grateful for the overpowering smell of my delicious food or I’d be able to smell your bullshit,” he says jokingly, smiling wider when Vienna rolls their eyes.
“Yeah, yeah,” Vienna tuts, bumping his arm gently. “You should be grateful that there are so many noises in here or I’d have laughed at that joke.”
“Oh, now, come on,” Remus smiles softly, pouting at them. “Be nice to your old man.” He stirs the food in the pan and adds some seasoning
“If my old man would be nice to me first,” Vienna says, shrugging shortly. Their lips pressed into a line and fought hard to keep it that way. Remus, however, failed to refrain from smiling.
Remus kept cooking, Vienna silently watching as they sang along to the music and fiddled with their sleeves. Remus shot a few glances, concern growing in him like a balloon. He pushed it away for now and made a mental note to ask about it later. Carefully, he filled a pot with water and waited for it to boil, adding a pinch of salt to it. Vienna felt a little useless simply watching and padded through the kitchen, walking to the shelves and admiring the several lively plants they’d adopted.
“They need water,” Remus said from the other side, nodding quickly at the plants. “Do you mind?” He asked, adding a handful of pasta to the pot.
“No,” They shook their head and filled a cup with water from the tap. They began with the plants on the ground, pouring water onto them and refilling the cup.
They pushed themself onto their tiptoes to reach the highest plants, straining slightly. With a small grunt and a little more effort than required, the plants drank the water gratefully. Vienna stood and admired the plants, feeling a breeze on their arm and a pair of eyes baring into them. Quickly, their eyes fell to their arm, the sleeve of their jumper pulled back slightly. Several raised scars crosshatched on their wrist and forearm. With a swift movement, they pulled the sleeve back down and kept their widened eyes on the ground. They were hyper-aware of the ringing silence through the house- the music and sizzling completely stopping for a moment.
Remus cleared his throat. “Vienna,” he said, his voice gentle yet slightly stern. They stiffened at the use of their name. No soft nickname. Vienna squeezed their eyes shut, their hands clenching to hide the sudden shaking that took over them. “Vienna, look at me, please.”
They didn’t. Their head stayed down and they walked to the arch that opened into the hallway. They looked out at it, the house suddenly feeling so big and scary. All the pictures of Remus and Vienna in the ornate golden frames seemingly mock her.
“I’m not hungry, dad.”
A clatter of a pan, the sound of footsteps, a gasp as he watched her scurry up the short staircase of the cottage and the slam of a door. He ploughed a shaking hand through his scruffy hair, letting out a strained sigh. He turned the stove off and made sure the kitchen was okay for him to leave it. The stairs felt to go on forever as he walked up them, dreading the thought of Vienna being alone in their room. His mind flashed images of the scars on their skin- scars he’d seen many times before on others. Remus wiped away tears and stood in front of the green door of Vienna’s bedroom, hesitant to knock.
When he did, he felt a strange release. “Kiddo, please let me in,” his voice wobbled, but when he was met with silence his face hardened. The sound of shuffling could be faintly heard through the door. “Vienna, open the door.”
“No,” they replied, their voice weak and hardly audible. Remus felt a burst of frustration. He pulled his wand from his pocket and uttered the spell. The door flung open, revealing Vienna’s bedroom.
He looked around the room, the bookcases, plants and vinyl creating a cosy aura. Vienna had candles lit and fairy lights strung in every nook and cranny so it was never dark. They had books piled in corners, Remus’ old jumpers scattered about and a tattered armchair in the corner beside the largest bookshelf. Vienna was on the window sill, the freezing air of the fresh night pooling in and causing a shiver to pass through Remus. His face softened as he sat down.
“Kiddo, what’s going on?” He asked, feeling a little idiotic. He expected them to lie, to tell him all was well and that he needn’t worry about it- but he would always worry.
“It was nothing,” they sighed, adjusting their posture and keeping their teary eyes fixed upon the night sky. Remus stifled a scoff.
“Don’t give me that bullshit, dear,” he sighed, shaking his head. “You having self-harm scars is not nothing.”
“They’re old,” Vienna told him as if that changed anything.
Remus had to bite his cheek. “I don’t care if they’re brand new or decades old. You still did it… why?”
They shrugged, frowning. “Adds some spice to me, don’t you think?” Remus' lips pressed into a straight line, a firm shake of his head.
“That’s not funny, Vienna,” he said sternly, his patience slipping away the more they prolonged this.
“Yeah well, tickled me,” they said plainly, not even a slight trace of a smile or the soft chuckle they usually produced when they joked.
“Seriously, why?” Remus pressed on, gently touching their knee in an attempt to comfort them. “You can tell me, kiddo. You know you can.”
All attempts to keep a strong facade fell, their face slipping into one of deep sadness and a pang of guilt hitting them. Tears spilled from Vienna’s green eyes, their shaken hands pushing them away. A shaky breath inhaled and an equally wobbly one exhaled. “I’m sorry.”
Remus’ face faltered and he wrapped his arms around them with no hesitation. “No, dear, don’t apologise.” He placed his chin on top of their head and cradled them in his arms. “Never apologise for things such as these- it’ll be alright.”
Vienna melted into his hug, his words of comfort combating the cold and warming her. “I should have told you.”
“Do you still do it?” He asked, kissing their head gently.
They shook their head, looking at him for the first time. “It’s been a month.”
“A month?” He repeated with a small, proud smile on his face. “Kiddo, a month is amazing. You did that all by yourself. I am incredibly proud of you.”
Vienna smiled softly, nodding slowly. “Thank you. But I didn’t not tell you because I didn’t trust you, I just-”
“Vienna, darling, it’s alright. You’re safe, you’re alive, that is all I care about. I know now, alright? I’m here now.”
Vienna nodded slowly, still feeling lingering guilt. Remus sighed, kissing the top of their head again and standing up, admiring their room and placing his hands on his hips.
“Now, dinner?”
Vienna smiled softly and stood up from the window sill, closing the window and looking at him, nodding.
“How could I say no to Remus Lupin's famous bolognese?” Vienna chuckled, earning a rustle of their hair and a proud smile.
“Hypothetical question,” Remus shook his head playfully. “Nobody can say no to that. If they did, well, they’d need to be checked.”
“Alright, it’s not that good,” Vienna told him, the short gasp from Remus causing them to smile wider.
“You’ll take that back right now, my dear,” he said, shaking his head. “Well, whatever, I don’t need your approval. Sirius loves my bolognese.”
Vienna rolled their eyes and smiled softly, walking out of the bedroom and back downstairs. The dim light of the extractor fan and TV light filling the room made the shadows look haunting. But, Remus flicked on the light and smiled down at them. A smile laden with comfort, safety and love. No matter what- he was there.