Splash
Remus runs as fast as his feeble body allows. His weak legs whine with every step but he doesn’t stop. “What the hell Lupin?!” Lily calls after him but he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t know what’s going on, who he needs to stop, Snape or Ursa but he knows he can’t slow down. He doesn’t waste his precious breath on explaining, just yells over his shoulder for her to run. His body might be crumbling apart but he’s got stubbornness on his side not to give up and legs almost twice as long as Lily’s so it takes a few flights of stairs before she surpasses him
“Prefect’s bathroom, go! Run!”
“What is going on?!” she pants as her short legs fly through the corridors
“Why are you two running?” Peter deters from his way out of a regular bathroom a story above the prefect’s bathroom but he’s too lazy to just start running along, so Remus has to shove him ahead
“Prefect’s bathroom!” it’s a testament to the urgency in Remus’ voice that Peter –who even on the Quidditch team finds any excusable possible to not run– doesn’t argue and just starts running
It’s probably not even a few minutes before they get there but it feels like forever. Remus rounds the corner just as Lily opens the door, it isn’t locked. “Ursa?” she asks, the urgency slipping out of her voice. Lily hesitates. Remus seemed hardcore pressed on them bursting in but she’s not looking to invade on anyone’s privacy. Peter halts beside her and looks away because that is a very naked they just burst in on in the bathroom.
Ursa, however, doesn’t look at her, like she didn’t even hear her. Her gaze is focused on something in the water. “Ursa, are you okay?” Lily takes a hesitant step forward when there’s still no answer “What are you doing?” Remus barrels past her and Peter tries to stop him but then he sees the shoe poking out of the water “Oh my God!” Lily wails, clearly spotting the same thing “Let go of them!” but Ursa can’t hear them, she’s in a trance, holding someone’s head underwater “Repulso!” Ursa flies backward against the edge of the tub with a wince. Remus splashes into the water, staining his trousers dark with moisture. He fishes the unconscious stiff body out of the water. He drags Severus out of the water with a groan and dumps his soaked body on the tiles, a puddle of water forms around them easily. Lily crouches down beside him and cradles his face in his hands as she sobs
Ursa stares at them with hard, cold eyes with no ounce of regret. Remus pumps his chest and Snape coughs. She doesn’t notice Peter. But he clears his throat and when she looks up he’s pointedly looking away while holding a big towel that will shield her naked body from the other three who aren’t concerned with looking at her either way. She stands, the water gushing and splashing in its way and wraps herself in the towel. “Thanks”
“No pro—” his words die in his mouth as he notices the raw red lines splattered on her neck. She flips her hair forward and the ink black strands cover the wounds. Defense wounds. Peter clenches his jaw.
“Get off me!” Snape splatters with disgust at Remus who was only trying to save his life. Remus does it without protest and Lily rubs Severus’ back as he recovers
“Are you insane?!” Lily cries at Ursa who just stares “You could’ve killed him!”
“Fucking psycho,” Snape spits at Ursa “I saw the look in your eye, you wanted to drown me!”
“Yes.” Ursa holds his eye without a flinch
“You’re fucking deranged!” Snape spatters, and the wild look in his eyes is petrified, hiding behind outrage “You’re unsafe to be around! I’ll tell Dumbledore! You can’t live around other students, you—”
“You deserved it” Peter grumbles. All eyes turn to him. Snape’s words die in his mouth and he spatters dumbly.
“Pete,” Moony warns but Peter shoots him an ‘im not sorry’ look
“I told you Lily, you need to stay away from them, these people are dangerous!” Snape stammers “Slughorn will hear about this, you will pay for this, you—”
“—You have an explanation for what you’re doing here? Fully clothed. While she was naked. Do you?” Peter channels his inner Ursa and smirks down at Severus and he shrivels
“She still shouldn’t have—” Lily stutters but Peter cuts her off with a look
“Some feminist you are!” Peter scoffs “Blaming the victim for defending herself” Lily’s arms tense around Severus and she gulps down
“Shut up. All of you.” Ursa rubs her temples “We won’t be mentioning this to anyone. Specially not my brothers” She adds the last bit with a pointed look at Remus
“They need to kno—”
“Not your secret to tell” she cuts him off and he huffs because that’s fair “Now get out. I need to get dressed and go to class”
“You expect me to just brush this under the rug?! You almost killed me! I saw the look in your eye when—”
“You did it first, I just did it better”
“You tried to kill her?!” Lily gasps
“I wasn’t really trying to— I just wanted to scare her” he begs lily to believe him but she only steps back with horror
“We need to report this” Lily whispers and Ursa rolls her eyes
“We can do all of that tomorrow— I’ll do all that tomorrow, okay? I promise, I’ll deal with it tomorrow, I’ll tell my brothers and decide what I’m gonna do. But until then— please don’t do anything, okay? Just give me a day to cope and I’ll listen to whatever you gotta say. Just give me one bloody day to process this”
“Yeah,” Lily agrees easily. “Yeah, we can do that. I won’t tell anyone, I promise”
“You can genuinely believe she’s the victim here!” Snape squeals “I— she tried to drown me!”
“Severus, shut the fuck up and stop making your death seem so tempting. We both know you’re not gonna say shit, so shut the fuck up and leave me the fuck alone or I’ll do it again and I’m warning you, they won’t be able to stop me again”
“We won’t try either” Peter chimes and Remus stares at him with wide eyes like he’s lost the plot but Peter only shrugs. He isn’t sure if he means it or not, but that isn’t entirely relevant at the moment so he doesn’t bother stressing about it. Severus slams the door shut on his way out and Ursa turns to them
“Get out” They head for the door but Peter heads for Ursa
“Ursa, are you okay? Do you need—”
“Get. Out.”
He obeys with a nod and head low. He shuts the door behind them and she instantly locks it. She sinks down to her floor with a breath, closes her eyes and stops trying to keep her head up, letting it rest against the cold tile wall.
Peter can feel Moony’s quizzical eyes on him –Remus is used to the shy, hesitant mouse who usually speaks on the sane side of caution but caution is being on the same side as Ursa Black– he pretends he doesn’t notice “I need to get back to class. And you need rest, the moon was only last night. But don’t leave her alone with him” he adds in a whisper with a nod to Lily and Snape
“Yeah,” he drags his body, adrenaline gone, the fatigue sets back deep and heavy in his bones “Wait up Lils”
“Stay away from me, monster!” Snape growls and Lily sighs
“It’s fine Remus, I’ve got him, he’s been through a lot but he can walk, I can handle taking him up to Mrs Pomfrey on my own”
“I’m more comfortable going with you” Remus offers quietly, he doesn’t want to believe Lily would be unsafe with her childhood best friend but Peter certainly believes it, and what he said about Ursa wasn’t a lie, she –someone who hates so much as her skin brushing her brother’s– was naked in a bathroom while he was fully dressed… He shakes the thought away
“Get this freak away from me!”
“Sev stop, he only wants to help” Lily soothes
“I don’t need the help of a half breed mudblood” Snivelous snaps at her and she yanks away from him with a shake of her head
“Whatever. Let's go Remus, I’ll walk you back to your dorm”
“He’s a beast!” Snape hollers and Lily’s glare focuses on him
“You’re a far worse kind of beast he’ll ever be” she spits with venom in her voice and links her arm with Remus as she yanks him back up the stairs
“Are you alright?” Remus asks her once they’re in the privacy of his room
“I don’t know. Are you? You know you’re not a— beast. You’re the best man I know”
“Thank you, but I’m used to Snape calling me names. You… it can’t be easy”
“I just can’t believe I was ever friends with him, you know? How did the person I used to know turn into that? Or did that person ever even exist? Or maybe if I’d been more supportive—”
“No, stop. Lily, none of this is your fault” Remus scoops her into his arms and lets her cry.
The tears have dried by the time Sirius makes it back to their room “Should I be jealous? I went to the prefect's bathroom but it was empty” Sirius teases but his smile dies when he sees the look on his boyfriend’s face “are you alright? Did something happen?”
“Yes.” Remus admits “But, it’s not my place to tell you, I’m sorry sweetheart, I’d tell you I could” he promises wondering if he should just tell him anyways. Maybe Ursa needs her brother’s comforting arms to hold her for once, stop playing strong, indestructible and in control twenty for seven and just let herself shatter for once.
“It’s okay Moonshine,” Sirius brushes his cheek “don’t you worry your pretty little head, I understand” Remus stares at him with so much sorrow in his eyes that Sirius aches to soothe it “Get some sleep, okay? Tomorrow will be a new day, yeah?” Remus nods and holds out his arm. Sirius doesn’t hesitate before slipping in next to him. He tucks his head into his chest, he kisses it before he lets his eyes flutter shut.
Lily is easy to take care of. The other two idiots insist on being surrounded by more idiots. Remus, for as much as he’s probably dying to tell his little boyfriend all about what happened, will keep his mouth shut. He knows both when to keep his mouth shut and when to mind his own business. Peter on the other hand is responsible for half of the school’s rumors spreading. Being a rat lets him have all the inside, exclusive snoop on things and his mouth is a bit too big for Ursa’s taste. So, the simplest route is to ask him for a game of chess.
“How are you?” he asks after a while because of course he’s worried. Ursa holds back the urge to roll her eyes, it’ll take far more than Snape to affect her. And Peter Pettigrew is definitely not the arms she’d fall in for comfort
“Flawless” she bats her lashes at him and doesn’t even have to lie
“So the usual then?” He tries for lightheartedness. He’s trying to ease her into comfort, she can appreciate the effort — even if it’s futile. He tries a change of direction and she’s interested to see where he’s planning to go “how did you know Snape was an animagus— and that animagus?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You’re deflecting”
“Good. You could tell.”
“How long have you known he’s an animagus?” he tries a different question, maybe she’ll answer that. She doesn’t. He tries another, maybe he’ll wear her out and she’ll give him something “How long has he been an animagus for?” she baits her pawn on the board and is bored enough to see how Peter will play it out outside of it, she lets him, just to see what he’ll do
“My guess would be when he cornered Sirius about Lupin’s secret, but I don’t know for sure”
“You think that’s why he waited after he found out about Moony’s furry little secret?”
“Probably. That’s just my guess though”
“It makes sense, he waited until he wouldn’t actually be in any danger”
“Yeap.”
“We should tell them,”
“Sure”
“You’ve figured all this out a long time ago, didn’t you?”
“Yeap.”
“But you didn’t say anything”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“Why would I?” she really was expecting something a tad more interesting on Peter’s part. Everyone truly is a disappointment, that’s why you shouldn’t expect shit from people but nothing.
“Because both Moony and your brother carry guilt over what happened,” he tells her and really? Guilt tripping? That’s low. How little does the little rat think Ursa that he believes that cheap ass tactic would work on her? She should be offended “and I know you care about your brother, otherwise you wouldn’t have wasted your breath telling us about Snape”
“Do I?” she doesn’t roll her eyes, but her body aches to do it
“Yes. You thought you were about to die and your first instinct was to help your brother”
“Nice theory” she hums, this is getting boring.
“I know” he lets the silence settle in and linger, but Ursa is entirely unaffected by it. Again, cheap tactics to make her talk don’t work “I don’t judge you” he admits because despite everything he wants her to know that.
“You sure changed your tune pretty fast” this time she doesn’t hold back the roll of her eyes. Gryffindors are exhaustingly sentimental, couldn’t they just hold on to a smidget of dignity? Nah, she guesses it’s not, it’s really in their nature to spend their entire lives humiliating themselves and working hard for what they want and entirely neglecting the option of working smart.
“Yeah,” he shrugs and smiles at her “Guess you’ve corrupted me”
“How cute.”
“I wouldn’t have needed swaying about Snape though, I never would’ve judged you for it”
“You seem to have made a lot of assumptions about what happened.”
“Enough assumptions.” he counters “He made his own bed, he can lie in it”
“Just because he made his own bed doesn’t mean mine doesn’t exist, I am not exempt from sin and I’ve never claimed to be. I don’t need you to pity me, or justify my actions. I am not a victim. And just because Grindelwald was worse, it doesn’t mean Voldemort doesn’t totally suck.”
“Yes. But unlike Grindelwald and penis-head, you’re still young, are not responsible for a genocide, and still got time to redeem yourself”
“Is that what you’re trying to do? Redeem me?” give them enough rope and they’ll hang themselves. Or, give them enough rope and they’ll humiliate themselves to an extent you weren’t expecting. Always a fun thing to witness.
“No, I’m just trying to survive you” he says. She sends her queen to the offensive and her lip titters up, he is at least more interesting than her brother’s other side characters. Although, in Sirius’ eyes Remus is the main character and the whole plot
“Is penis-head meant to be Severus or The Dark Lord?”
“Oh Merlin,” Peter gasps and shatters her queen with his tower “they do both have a phallus-like shape to their heads!”
“And when did you see Lord Voldemort’s phallus-like shaped head?”
“Well I haven’t, but based on your description I can only guess, I had to get creative— are you saying his skull doesn’t look like foreskin?”
“Well he is a dickhead in more ways than one” she hums and Peter chuckles
“Can I ask you something?” He asks after the laughter settled into comfortable, easy silence
“If I say no will that stop you? You seem to have adopted your best friend’s senseless, shameless and unfiltered way of being”
“Actually,” He says with a smug, cocky grin as he puts her king on check “I’ve adopted Dorcas’ ways,” he corrects her and okay she can admit that makes the corner of her lip twitch up because Meadowes lacks common sense “Just as shameless but for a reason, because you will figure out the truth even if I lie so what’s the point even bothering to try?”
“You get a cero for effort” she hums “She and Marlene have been spending a lot of time together”
“Which you totally saw coming”
“And you didn’t? Dorcas was the opposite of subtle about it. It got to a point where it wasn’t even funny anymore, just sad and pathetic”
“And you let your friend be sad and pathetic? That doesn't sound like a very good friend”
“And who ever said I was a good friend?”
“Your brother. He said you're the best friend anyone could ever ask for”
“Then maybe you should try asking my other brother”
“But he has no idea what you're like with your friends, you told me yourself he doesn't know you outside of your family’s toxic environment”
She deters the impulse to roll her eyes again –she really isn’t trying to see her own brain anytime soon– with a question “What was your question?”
“Wha— Oh! Yes” just when he thinks he's controlling the conversation he realizes he’s even forgotten why he started the conversation in the first place “it’s two questions actually. One is: remember the other night we snuck into the Slytherin chambers to reveal Snivelous’ skull's true foreskin shape and form?” She nods with a tiny smile
“Yes, I have a memory”
“Yes, yes, you're hot even when you threaten people, I know” he rolls his eyes with a wave of his hand that only as he does it he catches how Regulus-like that gesture is. It also strikes him that he can recognize it as a Regulus-like gesture. He must've been paying more attention to the younger boy than he realized. His presence around the marauders became a common occurance starting this year, specially now that he and James exchange rings, but he never paid him much thought. Or at least he didn't think he did, maybe he was wrong “you were talking with Nott that night”
“I remember”
“He mentioned something”
“He mentioned lots of things, you'll have to be more specific” she stares at him and her grin widens. Judging by the red look on his face it’ll be interesting
“It's not — it's just a tad embarrassing to admit that it stayed on my mind and that I've been thinking about it and that I'm even asking about it”
“Pettigrew.” She snaps him to attention and cuts off his rambling, she’s not that interested in what he’s got to say as to listen to his nonsense babbling “get on with it. I can assure you, I probably won't care” he knows she means that and for whatever reason that makes him relax
“He mentioned a spell that hides your eyebags or something and my sleep schedule has been shit this last couple of weeks and I—”
“—You want me to teach you the spell.” she states and he crumbles down onto his seat
“Yes please”
“Maybe,” she shrugs “I'll think about it”
“But I said please” he pouts and she can’t believe he tries that on her, she is deserving of far higher manipulation tactics. The puppy look really doesn’t flatter him, odd given the roundness of his baby face.
“I'm starting to lean more towards the no…” she hums with a devilish scratch of her chin “what's the second thing?”
“Uh…”
“Spit it out” she glares at her own king, cornered by his fucking pawn of all things
“Christmas? And Uh, maybe, uh, finding someone for me, uh, to, uh, stick it in— how did I stutter so much through that sentence and still the term I landed on was stick it in?” he grimaces at himself and Ursa grants him, that last bit was funny. He sighs and gives up on shyness “Will you really get me laid during christmas or not?” It's a shift in the set of his shoulders that has questioning whether he was truly shy before or not. She’ll have to watch him closer to be sure
“If you want to” she watches every muscle on his face, from the small twitch on the corner of his lip –lucky he got what he wanted– to the movement of his ears as he swallows
“Good, cause you kind of owe me for the orgy” he tries to dissipate the flush on his cheeks but it lands kinda jagged and there’s a movement on his eyebrows so tiny she even impresses herself for catching it
“Oh I owe you?” she sits back on her seat, relaxed but keeps her eyes focused on him, studying him scrutinously “Think you might have that a bit twisted but alright, I’ll bite, are you looking for an orgy?”
“Uh…” he blanches and every emotion is written plainly in his face, but she catches the tightening in the corner of his eyes a moment before, the impulse to hide it, the active choice to let his feelings show “check mate?” he coughs as a distraction even though they haven’t moved the pieces in a long time for that exact reason.
Her king crumbles and she smiles at him “Did you change your mind? You think you can handle an orgy now?”
“Uh… maybe I should practice some more first?”
“I agree” She slips away from her chair with a smile and onto his lap instead “Let’s practice” she crushes their lips together, abruptly, a whirlwind his mind will have little time to catch up on. Her wand in her hand she takes the moment his thoughts blanks and defenses fall to creep into his mind. She steps on it and quashes it as her lips move on his and she licks into his mouth. She pulls away gently, she’s already done enough destruction to his brain and isn’t looking to cause anymore. She tucks her wand back into her pocket and kisses him. Sirius slip down the stairs, leaving Lupin all alone upstairs. Unprotected. No witnesses.
“Ew. Can you two not do that where I can see you?” Sirius tosses a pillow at their heads but Ursa rocks down harder against Peter, only deepening the kiss “Eeew! Stop it!” she holds a middle finger at him “Wormtail! STOP DEFILING—”
“Shut the fuck up Sirius!”
“Go away” Peter mumbles against her lips and she kissing Peter through Sirius’ mumbled outrage
“You’re lucky I want to be back before Moony wakes up!” he grumbles as he stumps out of the portrait. She hears it slam shut and pulls back to giggle.
“I’ll be right back, I’ve had to pee for half an hour but I couldn’t pass up on a chance to annoy my brother” she pecks Peter in his dreamy haze, she doesn’t give him a second to think or process. She dashes off and away up the stairs to at a time to the Marauders’ dorm. The same one where the poor, defenseless little werewolf is sleeping all alone with his mind relaxed and exposed. Up for grabs. On a silver platter really. How could she pass up on such an opportunity? She creaks the door open slowly and creeps inside with a pout on her face, this isn’t nearly as fun or hard as she expected it to be.
She tiptoes over to the hard breathing, some could consider it a gentle snoring. Remus’ head is perfectly relaxed on the pillow. Ursa, with a twist of her wand, steps into his unguarded mind.