Remus
Remus had learnt from a very early age that monsters didn’t just hide under beds or behind doors.
Some monsters hid under quiet whispers and behind rustling curtains at night.
Others hid behind cold smiles and empty words.
Fake promises, reputations, money, lies, lies lies.
Remus never wanted to be a monster. He did his homework and he ate all his food and he didn’t complain when it was bath time. He tidied up his room, he helped dad in his garden, he never went anywhere without permission. He was kind to his friends, he shared his toys with the children at the park. He offered food to the dogs in the streets, he climbed trees to save cats, he built bird feeders with his parents.
And yet, when he was all of five years old, the world decided to brand him as a monster.
A dark creature.
Remus learned to lie, to hide, to run away. He didn't know what it meant, really, to be a werewolf. All that he knew then was that he was in pain and that mum and dad were unhappy. But it doesn't mean it didn't sting when children talked about werewolves; magical horrible creatures that only like to cause harm. Monsters.
Mum tried, she explained that some people thought so, but it was just fear of the unknown. That once everyone met him and others like him, they’d realise that he was just the same as them, only he had something else as well. She loved him, and cared for him, she was kinder to him than he was to himself.
Dad tried even harder, out of guilt maybe, but mainly because he loved Remus, his little lad. He showed Remus his research, he taught him about spells and potions to alleviate pain, he reminded him of how much he loved him all the time. He informed himself and gave Remus all the tools that he could give him so that he could fight bigotry by himself one day.
Life was quiet, nice most of the time, even. But nothing could stop the hurt in his parent's eyes when they watched him recover moon after moon. Nothing could stop the pain in his joints, nor the ache in his heart, his soul, knowing that he was a monster. Reading the stories the Daily Prophet ran, describing in gruesome detail every new, though rare, werewolf attack. Hearing that he was, and probably always would be, isolated. Learning that new laws were being passed that allowed for discrimination against people like him. That probably not even a muggle education might help in his future. That he would be, one day, truly lost in a sea of people who wanted him dead.
And then, light at the end of the tunnel, being accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Happy faces, all around the house. A teacher with a glint in his eye and a small smile upon his lips. The possibility of friends and magic, magic magic.
His years at Hogwarts were not without trials, but he did make some good friends, and a few enemies as well.
Still, the ache never subsided; he only learned to grow around it.
Remus had tried, at first, to make friends, have good grades, deal with his lycanthropy. But lying and hiding made him feel… trapped. Most of the time, he thought about running away. It might be easier to just give into the urge. Nobody wanted someone like him in their midst, and he couldn’t change what he was so, why even bother?
It was the thought of his parents that kept him going, for a long time.
His mum gushing over Albus, for letting him in despite his condition. His father making plans for him to change people's minds from the inside. The hope, hope, hope that they had for him.
Even so, Remus would have been more than willing to give up, had it not been for the fierce and nearly unconditional support of Lily, Marlene and Sirius, especially after both of his parents passed.
His friendship with Lily had been built slowly. Countless hours poring over large tomes of dusty books, essay writing and exchanging ideas one by one, until one day, he realised that they were friends now. It had been so gradual that he didn't notice for years. The moment he realised that they were in fact, rather close friends, he felt awful; here he was, making friends with her, a normal, normal, normal, brilliant witch, and he was lying to her. He was a monster, he didn't deserve Lily's friendship. He was a liar and a monster and a dark creature and bad, bad, bad.
It took months of him pulling away for Lily to confront him about it, and still he didn't feel courageous enough to explain his condition. Feeling like a horrible person, he carried on being her friend, guilt eating his insides with every word they spoke to each other.
She surprised him one day, already out of Hogwarts and trying to find work, by visiting him with a proposal. A new project she was working on, or one that she intended to develop, at least.
"You'd be invaluable for it, Remus, please! You know injustice, you recognise it and you fight it as well! You cannot simply sit and do nothing when we could do everything! I mean I know it can be difficult, having to deal with bigotry yourself, what with your–,"
Remus felt the blood drain from his face. Somehow, he found it in himself to ask, rather defiantly, "Especially with my what, Evans?"
Lily had stammered, "W-well, with your, uh, c-condition?"
"How long have you known?" Remus had asked, prepared for the worst. Now that his fear had been realised, he found himself in the calmness of despair. He was sure that he was about to lose his longest standing friendship in a matter of seconds. He found a sort of freedom in the pain. As if nothing could ever hurt him again if Lily hurt him enough right now.
"Not sure, really. Three months after graduation? when you got that, uh, mark. On your nose. And you sort of… missed my birthday the following month. And Marlene's trial for the Holyheads the next one. I'm sorry."
"I–, What? That was… more than a year ago."
What was Lily saying? That she'd known for more than a year and she'd–, she'd stayed friends with him?
"Well, yeah, I kind of thought you might want to tell me yourself but then… you didn’t. So I assumed that we all kind of knew and ignored it?"
And that had been that. But at the same time, it hadn't. Because Remus still felt like a monster. And he still hated lying and hated hiding with every fibre of his being. And he still lied and hid with all his might. And he was sorry that he hadn't been the one to tell her, to trust her. He hadn't been a good friend. He was right to feel ashamed.
His friendship with Marlene had been more straightforward. One day he’d been lying on a hospital bed, waiting for Madame Pomfrey to patch up the last of the quidditch-victims when a blonde head appeared through the white curtains.
“If you help me escape to the Gryffindor common room I’ll help you escape to the library,” the girl had said before he could even fake being asleep.
Her face was so swollen on the right side that it looked as if she'd been inflated as a balloon. Her left side was normal size, but it was purple and red and green, it was the nastiest bruise Remus had ever seen in his life. Including the time three of his ribs broke and he didn't tell his parents about it for four days.
Despite her obvious injuries, the girl's eyes had been sparkling with mischief.
Remus had been embarrassed, being found in such a state. Bedridden and bandaged and horrible. But most of all, he’d been scared. Did she think–, did she suspect–.
He couldn’t dwell on that. He had to act quickly, he needed to be clever. He figured that his best bet was to do as she asked and avoid questions or… lie. Always lying, was Remus. Always hiding. Always ashamed. Always scared.
He got up from bed and beckoned her over, “sure,” he said very quietly. “One thing, though. Those are in two different parts of the castle. And even before that, leaving without Madam Pomfrey’s express permission is practically impossible. She’ll notice! She can be very mean, you know?”
“You’re so silly, Lupin. Of course she’ll notice!” with that, she grabbed his (very injured) arm and pulled him through the curtains at full speed towards the door.
“You’re going to get us expelled!” whisper-shouted Remus, already panting.
“No such thing as adventure without risk!” the girl shouted-shouted. Remus tried to shush her, but she didn’t seem to realise that she was being loud. Or care. She handed him a small parcel, “do us a favour and throw it at my signal.”
“What signal?!”
She pinned him with a menacing look, “Don’t you dare throw it like a little child. It’s my last one,” she said.
They were reaching the door when Madam Pomfrey appeared from her office.
“What is all this noise!? People are healing here!”
“SIGNAL!”
Remus threw the parcel as far as he could.
BOOM. Fffffffsssssssssssss
“RUN!” the girl screamed.
And Remus listened.
Through corridors and passages and tapestries they ran and ran and ran. Remus couldn’t remember if he’d ever run as far and as fast as he did that day. But with warnings from Madam Pomfrey at their backs, up one set of stairs, down three, they climbed. Spotting Mrs. Norris perched on a stone arch, they finally stopped behind the statue of a knight, gasping for breath.
“I hope I didn’t… wear you out with that,” the girl said, smiling ferally. “You still have to help me get to the seventh floor.”
Remus froze. Had she emphasised the word ‘wear’? She couldn’t… know, right? It must have–, it had to be–,
“I–, sorry, wear me–,”
“Well, if you’re that tired I suppose you could… wolf down dinner tonight.”
Remus didn’t have time to respond, the girl pulled him by the arm and they were both running again. Their steps were loud, the girl's maniacal laughter even louder, but Remus could barely register them. He was freaking out. He’d been found out. By a total stranger. A Gryffindor, no less. They were remarkably bad at keeping secrets. Too noble for that, Remus supposed. He was going to be expelled. He was going to be killed.
He barely even noticed that they’d reached the portrait of a woman in a pink dress, until the girl said something to it and it opened revealing what looked like the inside of an oven, and sounded like a million people singing their hearts out. Reds and golds and browns blurred in Remus’ vision for a moment. The Gryffindor common room, he realised. It was packed, people dancing and singing and drinking and–.
The party looked wild. A good match, he supposed. Gryffindor must have won.
"Well don't just stand there, Lupin, come in! Merlin, I'd have thought you'd be more… aware," she laughed again.
Remus didn’t move.
"Come on!" she complained. "I have to make an appearance at least, then I'll help you get to the stupid library."
"I–, I don't understand," said Remus, stunned. "You–, what do you–, what?"
"I made this win possible, if I may humbly say so," she explained slowly, as if speaking with a baby. "So I'd like to get some praise before I carry on with my side of the deal."
"No, that's not–, how do y–, I mean. What did you, uh, mean? When you said–,"
"OH! THAT! Don't worry about it. I won't tell, Gryffindor's vow, or whatever. Anyway, do you want some butterbeer?" When she saw that Remus wouldn't answer her smile got a little less chaotic, "We're friends now, Lupin. I won't tell. And we'll probably have detention together tomorrow and for the rest of the week, if my calculations are correct. And it won't be pleasant; that jelly bomb was the finest of its kind. Pomfrey will have to cast about a thousand spells to get rid of the jelly and about three thousand more to lose the smell. So you know she'll be a little cross. We can discuss that while cleaning bedpans, how's that sound?"
"I can't be your friend!" Remus was distressed. He couldn’t be her friend. What was this girl thinking?! Befriending someone whom she knew, or suspected strongly, was a werewolf! She's mental! Bloody Gryffindors.
"Why the fuck not?", the girl asked sharply. But Remus noticed a little hesitation behind the question, overshadowed by her angry tone.
He felt bad over it. It was rude to decline a friendship offer when one didn't have real reasons for it. And the girl was kind of funny. And she had got him away from the tedious walls of the hospital. And she didn't seem to mind about his condition. She thought it was something to make puns with, not something to fear. Remus felt a flicker of hope spark in his chest. "I don't know your name," he answered, somewhat lamely.
"My name is Marlene Mckinnon you inattentive horrid boy! We've been in the same year for four years now!"
"Oh I do know your name! Sorry, it's just… your face is…"
"My face is…?" Marlene prompted.
"Disfigured?" Remus answered.
“Excuse me?!”
“Not always! Just now, look,” he directed her to a mirror.
Marlene looked at herself for a minute, then, “OH MERLIN I’M DISFIGURED! Why would you let me leave the hospital like this!”
Remus tried to stammer out a response, but she beat him to it.
“It doesn’t matter. Merlin I look hideous. Nevermind. I’ll be right as rain tomorrow. And if I’m not, we can be disfigured together!”
And that had been that. They were friends now. And Remus still felt guilty for lying to her, every time he missed class and said his mum was poorly, or that he’d eaten too much pudding so he was ill. Even if Remus knew that she knew about his lycanthropy, he still lied, he still hid. And she never once called him out on it. And she never once got angry. Marlene was a good friend. Remus was still a monster. A dark creature.
With Sirius it had been more complicated. For years Remus avoided him. He was a Hufflepuff, so he as a Ravenclaw got paired with his class most of the time. But he was also a member of the House of Black. Stories of his family’s values were thrown all around the school, plus the Daily Prophet loved to run stories about the members of the family doing truly heinous things in the name of blood purity.
Of course, they never ran the stories about their illegal activities such as attacks on muggles and muggleborns, but of laws and reforms that they promoted, organisations they founded. All of them written and designed to belittle everyone but rich, pureblooded families.
It was no secret that they hated werewolves, vampires, centaurs, goblins, merpeople, house-elves. They abhorred anything to do with forging relationships with magical folk that didn’t have a similar lineage to theirs.
But that wasn’t the only reason that Remus avoided him. Sirius was scary. He looked scary and mean, nothing like his Hufflepuff classmates. He was unapproachable and he had a sharp tone and a disagreeable countenance. He was clever and quick and had absolutely no regard for people’s feelings. He was almost always alone, when people spoke to him he rarely answered, and if he did it was with a curt response, as if everybody was beneath his notice. Remus had seen him reject friendships and dates indiscriminately and viciously. He’d seen him attack people for no discernible reason at all. He’d seen him berate many people he’d been partnered with in class for not understanding as well as he did.
He didn’t want to be in that position, ever.
So, he avoided Sirius Black. That is, until he and Sirius had been paired for a Care of Magical Creatures project, in which they had to raise a bowtruckle which had lost its parents. As it required a lot of involvement from both of them, they talked a little. And then a lot. And then the bowtruckle had been ready to be set free into the forest and Remus had teared up and Sirius hadn’t made fun of him.
Remus came to understand that Sirius wasn’t… Well, he was scary, and he was mean. But he had feelings as well, and his beliefs didn’t align with those of the rest of his family. He’d even come close to being disowned completely over them, but had been sent away to live with his uncle Alphard instead.
Suddenly, it was as if he saw Sirius everywhere. He couldn’t stop himself from admiring the shape of his nose and his slim hips and the way he carried himself. Speaking with Lily about it she said that it sounded like he had a crush but Remus didn’t–, he didn’t want to date him. He found him hot, and sort of funny in a dry, sarcastic way. He imagined what it would be like to kiss him, but not be his boyfriend. Remus didn’t want a boyfriend. Nor a girlfriend. He didn’t get romantic feelings for him, or anyone. He just found him attractive and, separately from that, he considered him someone he was friendly with.
Their friendship had been solidified, sort of, when Sirius stood up for him to Severus Snape, Lily’s nasty friend from Slytherin. Snape had spewed some insinuations about his condition, and Sirius had hexed him stupid while explaining too calmly that if he kept on blabbing about shit that didn't concern him, he'd be a very sorry man indeed. Even if it wasn’t quite necessary, it had been a nice thing to do, especially coming from Sirius, who never acknowledged that anyone was worth anything.
Remus hadn't thought on those terms immediately after the incident, of course. He'd been too preoccupied by thoughts of how Sirius would react now that he knew, or suspected, that he was a werewolf. Fucking Snape. Him and his fucking mouth. Remus and his fucking luck. He seemed destined to be found out by everyone who paid the littlest bit of attention.
Sirius took one look in Remus' eyes and rolled his own, "nobody else knows, mate. I don't give a shit. And nobody else should either. It isn't obvious, and you shouldn't worry about it." His tone was dismissive and haughty, but it set Remus at ease anyway. "If you think I will pretend to not see when you're wolfy, you've got another thing coming though."
"Of course," Remus answered goodnaturedly, still somewhat shaken, "you'd never miss an opportunity to harass me about something." And Sirius had smirked with that snotty smirk of his.
Remus still felt like a monster, a dark creature, a bad person. He still hid most of his symptoms from Sirius, and felt like shit about doing so. But he'd found that his chest was a little lighter every time that he answered truthfully when asked by Sirius if he felt alright, if he needed anything.
It had been a bumpy friendship, though. Especially when they started having sex.
Remus made it clear from the start that he didn't want a romantic relationship, that it was friendship and sometimes sex that he was after. And Sirius seemed fine with it, at first. It seemed like he understood, that he wanted that as well. But Remus noticed that it wasn’t exactly true. He put a stop to it when he realised that Sirius, while not asking for anything ever, wanted more.
It was a fine line to walk, and it took a toll on their friendship, the fact that Sirius wasn't like him. Sirius, Remus came to understand, deeply craved a romantic connection as well as a sexual one. He just didn't feel like he deserved one. Of course, they never talked about it, but even a terribly unobservant person like Remus could have picked up on it, especially having such a close relationship with him. He hadn't wanted to break things off, but he could see how much it was hurting Sirius. Remus felt horrible about it, and for the first time, it wasn’t because of his lycanthropy, but his actions. His failure to see, for such a long time, how his actions and desires harmed someone he cared about made him feel like a liar in a different way. Not the fact that he didn't get romantic feelings, but the fact that even knowing that he wasn’t what Sirius truly wanted or needed he didn't put a stop to it in time.
It wasn't easy, and it wasn't quick, but it was done, finally. They needed to stop fucking, for Sirius first, because even if he didn’t feel it, he deserved to be loved in a relationship, he deserved what he wanted, what he craved. But also for Remus. He deserved to have the freedom to be open about his feelings and his desires.
What broke his heart the most, was the way that Sirius took it when he explained why they needed to stop.
"Oh. Did I do something wrong?" he had said. "I can change," he had said. "Did I hurt you?" he had asked. "I'm so, so sorry."
Remus knew that Sirius didn't believe him completely. Their friendship suffered from it for a time.
It wasn't as if Sirius didn't believe Remus about being aromantic, but the fact that he felt it was somehow his fault.
Still, years later, they found some peace with it. And Remus felt less of a dark creature and more of a good friend when he saw what being honest could accomplish.
Honesty could be very painful, sometimes. But it was a pain that Remus thought necessary. It was the first time in his life when he caused someone to feel bad, and didn’t think of himself as a monster.
Remus reflected on all of this, high out of his mind, chocolate fudge cake on his face, when he ran out of James' room.
Sat for hours in the solarium, he thought and thought and thought.
How bad could it be, really, to come out to James as a werewolf?
The prince was as unbothered by it as he was about everything. He was kind to him, to everybody. He didn't have a judgmental bone in his body. And he clearly had suspicions about it.
Would it be so bad if he told him?
Remus felt as if he was stuck in a cycle of meeting someone, fearing their reactions if his condition were to be acknowledged, and being found out anyways. Of course, with his friends it had gone quite well, but they hadn't been the only ones who discovered his secret.
Many, many people had been cruel and sometimes violent because of it. Severus Snape came to mind, but also his former employer at Jones&Jones, the bookshop he worked as a recently graduated Hogwarts student, or that auror Dawlish, who threatened to add him to the registry for months if he didn't do what he asked, until Albus fucking Dumbledore stepped up. Always the fucking saviour and always with another scheme to rope Remus into.
But James wasn’t like that. He was good and unpretentious. He didn't seem like the type to be kind so he could cash on it later. He had some issues, sure, but he wasn't bad to other people. Only to himself.
If he turns out to be a terrible human being, Sirius will be very disappointed, Remus thought.
Sirius' obsession with the prince was a little weird. Remus had never seen him have a crush so big. And it was particularly funny because Sirius was getting nowhere with James. They talked a lot, especially since their day at Hogsmeade, but James never showed any overt signs of reciprocating Sirius' lust.
Men were just… playthings to Sirius. He'd go out, fuck somebody, then ignore every attempt to form a genuine, fulfilling relationship with them. He wasn’t a heartbreaker, by any means, but only because he never allowed himself to be close enough to anyone to let that happen.
James didn't strike Remus as someone who'd be into that kind of thing. He seemed like a boyfriend, honestly. A commitment person.
Remus shook his head, dispelling that line of thinking. This wasn’t about Sirius' crush.
Could he trust James? Was Remus actually thinking of confessing his secret to a subject of his project?
But James was more than that. He was the type of person you wanted to form a friendship with. The type of person who made people feel at ease and cared for; acknowledging what he observed but not pushing for more information. He seemed like a great friend. A great person.
He asked the kitchen staff to have Remus' favourite snacks, especially when he saw him looking poorly. He made sure that Remus' room was near the classrooms and in a part of the palace where there were very few stairs. He did most of the talking when Remus was tired during class and he asked very dumb questions to the rest of the group, winking at him with a smile. He asked about the books he was reading, he gave him complete access to the various libraries at the palace. They talked about art and the palace's architecture, about James' travels and Remus' studies. James was thoughtful and open minded.
It made it very difficult for Remus to maintain the distance he always imposed on the project's subjects.
There was also the fact that Marlene was James' best, best, best friend. She was protective over him as Remus had never seen. Marlene was all goblin-laughter and mischievous pranks. She was the friend whom one could count on to have fun, even if it involved some risk of getting arrested. He'd never known her to care so deeply about someone. Enough to show vulnerability to the rest of her friends. Enough to put her feelings of discomfort aside to push when the other person didn't want her to, but deeply needed it.
Marlene was a little unhinged, sometimes, but Remus didn’t think she'd put all of that love, all of that care, into someone who didn't deserve it.
Remus didn't even notice when he'd got up, but somehow he found himself knocking on James' door.
"Come in," said the slightly croaky voice of the prince. He must have been asleep, Remus thought.
"Hi, James. I–," Remus' eyes found James on the floor, next to the abandoned chocolate fudge cake and what seemed like fifteen cups of water. "Are you feeling alright?"
"What? Oh, the cups. Well, you see, I fell asleep. And when I woke up, I ate this abomination and I felt so thirsty, really, Remus, your taste for sugary chocolate is frankly appalling. As is the fact that we forgot to bring something to drink after we ate it. Bad planning, that was. Anyway, so, I didn't feel that going down to the kitchens in my state was the greatest idea–,"
"Understandable," interrupted Remus.
"–so I decided to magic some water into existence. Problem is, it tastes like shit. Well, not shit, exactly. Just… off. First I thought it was the temperature. But then it was too heavy, somehow. And then it was too blue. And then–,"
"Would you like me to conjure some water for you?" Remus asked.
James eyed him with mistrust for a bit, but nodded. Remus was careful not to point at James with his wand, and vanished all the glasses that were on the floor but one, which he filled with aguamenti water.
"Did you need anything, Remus?" asked a newly hydrated James. "You left rather hastily earlier. Did I upset you? I'm a rather insensitive person, you know? I'll have to ask you to tell me when I'm being rude."
Remus wanted to laugh, but he also felt a little confused. James was speaking seriously now, but it couldn’t be true. The prince? Insensitive? Did he really think so?
Sure, he put his foot in his mouth, occasionally, but he was the most empathetic person that Remus had ever met in his life. He knew how to read a room so quickly that it was eerie. He must have been joking, Remus concluded.
"You didn't upset me, James. Well, not you, exactly. It's just that–, you said some things. And they made me think of–," Remus was sure that James was about to interrupt him, to apologise again, maybe. "Just. Let me finish, please?" James nodded and mimed zipping his lips.
"I'm going to–, god, I'm really doing this. Merlin’s fucking balls. Well. Here goes nothing. Or here goes a lot. Fuck."
James mimed unzipping his lips, "you don't have to tell me," he said from the corner of his mouth. He zipped his lips again.
"No, I want to. It's just–, I've never told anyone. But I think–, I mean if I was going to do it with someone, I think you might be–, I think you could be a good choice. But first. Are we friends? James? Are we… Would you consider me as your friend?"
James looked confused by the question, but he unzipped his lips again and said, "well… if you want us to be, then yes! Of course. You just didn't seem like you… wanted it? All that much? So I rather, uh, held back? I know I can be intense to people. And you're so professional and distant sometimes that–,"
"Was that you holding back?" Remus laughed. "Merlin, you've been nicer to me in these few months than Sirius, Lily and Marlene combined in all the years I've known them!"
Instead of joining in his mirth, James looked embarrassed. "I–, yeah, hah, like I said, I can be too intense sometimes."
"Oh, no! I meant–, sorry. Uh. Anyway, I asked that because apparently you've bewitched us all and I've decided that I'd like to be your friend. As well as maintaining the professional attitude inside the classroom. But to do that…" Remus felt his nerves return in full force, "I've got to tell you–, I want to tell you something. And you may not like it, but I'd rather you hear it from me instead of figuring it out on your own."
"Remus, you're uncomfortable. You don't have to tell me anything, truly. We can be friends, I can trust you to–,"
"No, uh, I really want to. Consider it practise. For me. I've never, ever, ever told anyone about this. And every time that someone finds out about it, it makes me feel like shit. So, maybe… if I was the one telling it…"
"Oh. Alright. Go on then," said James, straightening.
Remus closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"James I'm–, I'm a werewolf."
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Remus didn’t think he was breathing, but he didn't feel as if he needed to.
The words were out of his mouth, and he was a little scared of what might happen now, but mostly he felt…
Free. Open. Light.
He hadn't realised how much it weighed on him when someone would make him a bystander in his own story. This was information that only he was allowed to reveal. And it felt like a million galleons.
He didn't blame his friends for the way that they handled knowing his secret, but from now on he wouldn't deny that his agency over it being taken from him didn't hurt.
Whatever happened now, this had been on Remus' terms. And he was fine with it.
He opened his eyes and looked at James.
James blinked once.
Then, all in one motion, James had stood up, grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him into a hug. Remus was stunned, tense for about two seconds, before he let himself be hugged.
It was a funny position, being held by someone who was about a head shorter than him, instead of him doing the holding, but it felt nice. James was firm, as was his hug.
"Thank you for trusting me with this," he croaked. "And I'm so sorry that you are treated so poorly by people."
Damn if that didn't make him feel a rush of fondness for the prince.
Here he was, telling him that he was a monster, a dark creature, something to fear. And James' response was to thank him, followed immediately by an acknowledgement of it being a problem in society.
Someone protect this man, Remus thought. At all costs.
"What is going on here?" Sirius' voice called, making both of them jump.
“We’re bonding,” answered James, not missing a beat. “Remus and I are friends now. That’s what friends do. They bond.”
“Do you need to be hugging for this, uh, bonding?” Asked Sirius rather sharply.
"You can let go, now James,” said Remus.
“OH, yes. Sorry,” he said, though he didn’t look embarrassed. James smiled at Remus, then at Sirius. “What can I do for you, Si-rius?” he asked.
“Actually, I was looking for Remus,” he answered. Turning to Remus he said, “something’s come up. We need to discuss our, uh, plans. For Friday.”
“I’ll leave you to it, then. I’ve got to clear something up with Marlene right now,” James said, still smiling. He looked at Remus, a question in his eyes.
Remus understood immediately. “She knows,” he assured him.
“Brill, bye then!” He ran out of the room.
“Knows what?” Asked Sirius suspiciously.
“Doesn’t matter. What matters is, Sirius, what are your intentions with my new friend?”
It's very rare, the occasion in which Remus was able to shock Sirius out of his carefully crafted poker face. Remus wanted to laugh, but he held himself. He didn’t want to ruin this before he’d had his fun.
“I–, intentions? What the fuck are you on about mate?”
“Intentions, yes. With my new friend. Are you quite with me yet?”
“I wouldn’t say so, no,” answered Sirius, his face still shocked and a little outraged.
“Listen, Sirius. You’re my friend. I know you’re not a bad person,” Remus’ voice, previously partly in jest, had lost all of it at once. “But James is a genuinely brilliant, compassionate person. And he’s also my friend now. So, let me be very clear now. You either think very long and very hard about what your intentions are with him, or you stop this at once. Because if I find that you’ve hurt him, or have any ill plans for him, Merlin help me, I’ll make sure you regret it.”
“Ill plans?” Sirius squawked. “Is this a shovel talk?!”
“I’m not joking, Sirius. That man is a ray of sunshine. I know your history. There’s no way that I’ll let you do anything bad to him.”
“I’m not planning to–,”
Remus didn’t let him finish, “Tell me,” he said, “what’s come up about Friday?”