Chapter 2
The next morning, Remus was awakened by James getting ready for Quidditch practice. Normally, Sirius would be accompanying James down to the pit, grumbling about waking up at the ass crack of dawn as he got into his uniform. Sirius had been kicked off the team, due to... recent circumstances. Remus -- who used to lie in bed and watch as Sirius complained with soft eyes and a small smile -- was now the one getting ready with James, in an attempt to avoid him in the mornings.
Sighing, Remus threw his blankets off and sat up, pushing his curtains aside as he did. It was still dark outside, and it would be for the next few hours. Remus pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes, debating if it was really worth it, waking up at such an hour. But then he thought about Sirius's face, his silver eyes, the high cheekbones, his soft pink lips. . .
Remus shook his head, trying to rid himself of the onset of images that filled his mind. Standing up, he made his way to the bathroom. Remus turned on the shower, purposely turning the temperature down. The icy cold water splashed down on his head, stinging his skin. When he was finished, Remus grabbed a towel, drying himself off, only then realizing that he hadn't taken clothes into the bathroom with him. Cursing himself silently, Remus wrapped a towel around his waist. Remus stepped out of the bathroom, only to be met face-to-face with Sirius Black.
The two boys stared at each other, unsure what to do. Remus towered over Sirius, his cold stare glaring down at the boy. Sirius swallowed harshly, gaze dropping to Remus' bare chest briefly, his cheeks turning a soft pink.
"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me," Remus practically growled, running a hand down his face and leaning against the door frame for added support.
Sirius seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was under. "I thought you were James," Sirius said quickly, by way of explanation.
Remus looked at him, raising a single eyebrow. "You. . . thought I was James," He repeated. "Well, that clears everything up, then." Remus pushed past Sirius, making his way over to his dresser, his heart pounding in his ears. It was taking everything in him not to start screaming at Sirius. To stop him from asking why?
Why are you like this?
Why did you tell Snape?
Why did you want to hurt me?
"Moony," Sirius said, his voice practically begging.
Remus spun around. "You don't get to call me that," Remus said, his voice low and full of anger. "Not after what you've done. After what you've done to me." Sirius' eyes were pleading, as though he was the one in pain. Remus laughed, the sound sharp and bitter. "Don't look at me like that. Like you're the one hurt on here. This," Remus gestures between them, "this is your fault. Not mine, not James', certainly not Peter, you. This is because of you."
"I-"
"Sirius." Standing in the doorway was James Potter, his dark hair a wild mess and his glasses tilted on his face. It was just then that Remus realized that James had left the dorm room. He had probably left his Quidditch gloves in the common room again. His tone was light, but Remus could feel the sharpness lurking beneath. Judging from the way Sirius seemed to almost curl in on himself, Remus was willing to bet Sirius had noticed it too. "What are you doing awake?" James asked.
"Marlene," Sirius told him, looking down at the floor, "She invited me to watch you guys practice."
"She did?" James looked skeptical.
Sirius nodded. "She did."
James sighed, looking over at Remus, as though he was trying to apologize with his eyes. Remus only shook his head. None of this was on James. "Get dressed then," James said after nodding at Remus. "We leave at five."
Sirius nodded aggressively. "Yes. Right." He shot Remus one more glance before grabbing his clothes and retreating to the bathroom.
Once he was gone, James looked back to Remus. "Moons-"
"It's fine, Prongs," Remus told him, holding up a hand. "Marlene invited him, not you. And she doesn't know." Remus sighed softly. Sirius and James were inseparable. They were brothers, you wouldn't find a single soul in Hogwarts who disagreed. They completed each other in a way, reflecting off of each other to create a near-blinding light that couldn't look away from. The sun is a star too, after all. It had occurred to Remus more than once that this must have been killing James. Snape wasn't the only one who could've been killed that night.
"Prongs, if you want to forgive him-"
"But I don't," James said firmly. "What Sirius did. . . it was wrong. I can't forgive him. Not yet."
The whisper of a smile tugged at Remus' lips. If James was anything, he was loyal. "Thank you," he said softly.
James smiled, though it looked a little sad. "Anything for our Moony."
"Anything for our Moony," Peter's muffled voice agreed from his bed. "Now can you be quiet? I'm trying to sleep."
Remus and James shared an amused look.
"Sorry, Wormy," Remus said, picking out a pair of trousers to wear.
"We'll be quiet now," James added.
"Thank you," Pete grumbled, turning over in a mass of blankets and pillows. Remus bit his lip in an attempt to stifle his laugh. As Sirius and James left for the pitch, James flashed Remus a bright smile.
"Love you Moony!" James called from the hall.
Remus smiled. "Love you too, Prongs."
After grabbing a plate and filling it with eggs, pastries and fruit, Remus made his way over to the Ravenclaw table, where Pandora was carefully constructing a plate of her own. Remus smiled when saw the way that Pandora made sure to keep everything separate from each other. Pandora had always hated when the food on her plate touched.
"Ready?" Remus asked after she gave her plate a satisfied nod.
"Yep," She responded cheerfully, then turned to face Remus. "Follow me," she told him. Remus eyed his sister's smirk.
She's up to something, he thought before following Pandora.
It was a Saturday, so the students of Hogwarts were free to wear whatever they pleased. Because of this, it was rare when students chose to wear their uniforms on such days. So when Remus saw a flash of Gryffindor red out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but glance over at the table. James, Marlene and Sirius had just taken their seats at the table, the rest of the Quidditch team filling in behind them. Marlene's head was thrown back in laughter, Sirius' hands gesturing wildly as he talked to the blonde. James just sat quietly next to Marlene, loading his plate with scrambled eggs and toast.
James looked up, catching Remus' eye. He smiled and waved. Remus returned the gesture just as Sirius turned around, a smile still plastered on his lips. It quickly died when he saw who his best friend was waving at. Remus scowled and shook his head, his eyes glued to the floor in an attempt to ignore the dark haired boy.
Remus was relieved when they made it out of the Great Hall. The two siblings fell into easy conversation as they walked alongside each other. He hadn't even been paying attention to where they were going, not all that bothered, to be frank. At some point after they had been walking for some time, Remus realized he had no idea where they were. Pandora had taken him up a flight of stairs somewhere along the line, and now they were walking down a narrow hall made of old, weathered stone with slim windows carved into the walls.
"Dora..." Remus said, looking around at his surroundings. "Where are we?"
"You wouldn't know," Pandora explained, "It isn't on the map." Remus stopped and looked at her.
"Which map?" Remus asked casually. Surely she didn't know about the magical Marauders Map that the four boys had put copious amounts of time and magic into.
"The one Professor McGonagall gave us during the First Year's tour, of course," Pandora told him. "I found this place in year two," Pandora explained. "I was searching for Wrackspurts, you see. That's when I turned up a small staircase and found myself here."
Remus shook his head, not even surprised. Of course Pandora found an area not displayed on the map while looking for Wrackspurts.
"We're almost there," Pandora said. "See, there's the door."
Down at the end of the long hallway was an old wooden door the colour of mahogany. It had a brass door knob that looked like it hadn't been opened in ages, and the whole thing looked as though it hadn't been opened since Hogwarts had been built. Remus, while intrigued, was also a little apprehensive. What was waiting for them behind that door?
Pandora on the other hand seemed completely calm. If anything, she was maybe a bit excited. Turning the doorknob, Pandora opened the door, revealing a small round room with tall windows, high ceilings and a plethora of pillows, chairs and cushions to furnish the room. It reminded Remus of the Gryffindor common room, except for the fact that instead of the fabrics being shades of red and gold, it was flourishing with shades of purple and copper. It was beautiful: The intricately woven carpets and the deep, plum pillows that sat on every chair and couch. But what really took Remus' breath away was the ceiling. It was a deep indigo with the night sky's constellations carefully painted on. Phases of the moon and the solar system's planets drifted about, and it was then that Remus realized they were charms. They helped to illuminate the room and created a very intimate and comforting atmosphere. It took Remus' breath away.
"It's pretty incredible, isn't it?" Pandora asked quietly. Remus couldn't even respond. Instead, he nodded, eyes still transfixed on the glowing moons.
"What, the ever-living fuck."
Remus snapped out of whatever spell he was under and turned his attention to one part of the room he hadn't paid much attention to. There, lounging on the couch sat by a lit fireplace, was none other than Regulus Black and his entourage of snakes.
The voice had come from Barty Crouch Jr, who had been previously lying with his head in Evan Rosier's lap, whose homework was scattered across the carpet. Meanwhile, Regulus and Dorcas were in the middle of an intense game of chess, looking utterly unbothered.
"Come now Barty, that wasn't very polite, was it?" Regulus chided lazily, his eyes not swaying from the chess board once.
Barty sat up, pulling Evan out of his school work, causing him to look up and spot Remus and Pandora, still standing in the doorway.
"Holy fuck," Evan said plainly, his pale eyebrows raised in a look of surprise.
"What's happening?" Dorcas asked, sighing in annoyance.
"Well, maybe if you looked up you'd see Remus Fucking Lupin standing in the doorway," Barty cried out.
"What?" Regulus finally looked away from the chessboard, his dark, stormy eyes landing on Remus. Dorcas took her chance and moved her knight, jumping up victorious.
"Checkmate!" She cried out. "That makes it one-to-one, Starboy." When Regulus didn't respond, still staring at Remus with a look of shock and denial, Dorcas finally turned around to see what the fuss was about. "Wha- oh." Dorcas looked between Pandora and Remus, her expression unreadable.
"What's he doing here," Evan asked, nodding at Remus.
"He's my brother," Pandora told them, completely undeterred.
Barty rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the rundown on your family tree. Now can you actually tell us what he's doing here?"
Pandora walked into the room, making her way over to her group of friends. Suddenly Remus remembered why he didn't spend time with Pandora at school. Brushing her hair over one shoulder, Pandora sat down on the carpet across from Barty, staring at the mess of papers spread about.
"Remus is going to be spending some time with us."
"I never agreed to that," Remus pointed out, narrowing his eyes at his sister. "I agreed to eat breakfast with you, not these Slytherins."
"Is this really necessary?" Pandora asks, looking up from the abandoned papers she had been re-organizing. "I find the house rivalries rather immature." The blonde looked from her friends to her brother. "I'm a Ravenclaw, and yet I don't see any of you jumping at my throat."
"That's different," Barty said.
Pandora raised an eyebrow. "Is it?"
"Yes!" Remus and Barty cried out in unison. Dorcas and Regulus stayed quiet, seemingly having a conversation with just their eyes. Remus clearly wasn't the only one who noticed this, because Pandora had already turned her attention to the duo.
"You two seem awfully quiet," She prompted.
Dorcas shrugged, but Regulus eyed Remus, sizing him up. Remus raised an eyebrow, challenging him to say what it was he was thinking. Something flashed in his stark gray eyes, so similar and yet so different from his brothers. A smirk pulled at Regulus’ mouth.
“Why is it that you aren't running around with my idiot brother?"
Remus had been expecting it.
"Because I hate him."
It was a lie. Of course, it was a lie. But oh, did Remus want it to be true. It would have been easier, less painful, certainly. What was the saying? "it's only painful because you care". Remus could never hate Sirius, it simply isn't possible. If nothing else, his pain was proof of his underlying love for Sirius. But for now, Remus was ignoring that. For now, that didn't matter.
Regulus narrowed his eyes at Remus, his intense gaze boring into Remus'. The room was silent, everyone awaiting the Black family Heir's response. After what felt like an eternity, Regulus gave him a slight nod, turning his attention back to the chessboard in front of him.
"He can stay," He said as he reset the chessboard.
"He has always been the least insufferable of the lot," Dorcas said, helping Regulus move the pieces back into place.
"I don't care much either way," Evan added, turning back to his homework. Barty turned suddenly, glaring at Evan with all the bitterness he could muster.
"Have you no loyalty?" Barty asked, glancing from Evan to Pandora to Dorcas to Regulus.
"Sorry Crouch," Pandora said, gently cupping Barty's cheek. "You're outvoted. Remus stays."
Remus backed up, shaking his head. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to pass. Sorry, but I'm not interested in hanging around a bunch of snakes."
"Too late." Pandora stood up, walking towards her brother, smiling brightly. "You're a part of this now. Come." She took Remus' arm, dragging him towards the group of Slytherins gathered in the secretive room. Pandora sat down, dragging Remus down with her. He only barely managed to stop his tray from falling onto the carpet as he was forced to sit.
"So you're just going to, what, kidnap me?"
"Yup," Pandora confirmed, opening up a pomegranate and throwing a couple of seeds into her mouth. Remus stared at his sister, questioning what string of choices led him to this exact moment. Logically, Remus knew he could just get up and leave, but he never was very good at telling Pandora 'no'. Everyone else had moved on: Dorcas and Regulus had started another game of chess, Evan was working through what looked to be an astrology map and Pandora listened to Barty complain about his upcoming exams.
This was going to be a very odd morning.