Saving Moony
Remus slowly opened his eyes, flinching when the light blinded him.
Groaning, he looked around and noticed it wasn’t the Hogwarts infirmary nor the Durmstrang one. It was quieter and much less crowded, he was in a room by himself.
On his bedside table, before he even looked, he could strongly smell a bouquet of flowers that made him sneeze. They were pastel and pretty, something his mother would give him if she was overwhelmed with pity for him. As much as he loved his mam she couldn’t hide emotions for the life of her, making it known to him what she felt about his lycanthropy on more than one occasion.
Then he began to manic. If he wasn’t at Hogwarts then where was he? All he could remember was his Headmaster exposing his condition to all the boys of Durmstrang then darkness. What had happened to him? Where was he? What about Sirius or James? Where did that Snivelly bastard do to his boyfriend?
Before he could get himself into a possessive frenzy, an old nurse came in and smiled kindly.
“Good morning Mr Lupin, it appears you have finally awoken.” Her voice was croaky but motherly, like a grandma. She was carrying a steaming bowl of soup with a large glass of water. Her eyes reminded him of James.
“Just let me get you rewrapped then I’ll leave you to rest.”
Only then did Remus notice he was covered in thick bandages along is arms and torso, his head was sore and he felt a bandage wrapped tightly over his forehead.
“Ummm, what happened to me?” He asked quietly as the matron undid the bandages on his arms.
She looked up sadly and pressed gently against his temple. “Do you not remember anything? There was a chance you could get amnesia.”
“No, no. I do remember about Arnoldi and getting knocked out, but why am I here and not at Hogwarts?”
“You’ve been unconscious for five days dear, you got hit in the head pretty bad. And don’t even start on the fear the ministry has of you being around young school children. My grandson is at Hogwarts, you see, and I know for sure Dumbledore wouldn’t have let you come to his school if you weren’t kept under great surveillance during the full moons.” She smiled kindly again as she moved onto his torso. “To be damned with lycanthropy at such a young age must have been so horrible. I sympathise with you dear, and to loose your father over something so significant…” The woman shook her head with distaste. “No man should abandon his young wife and child when they need him more than ever.”
Remus nodded uncomfortably. He hated conversations about the father he barely remembered.
“But mams great.” He said with a forced smile.
“Oh yes,” The old woman laughed cheerily. “Hope’s been here every day and night, we made her go home yesterday. Poor dear had periorbital’s darker than the night sky.”
“Can I see her?”
“We will let her know you’ve gained consciousness, yes. She needs the reassurance.”
Remus smiled at the nurse as she finished with his bandaged head.
“Who’s your grandson? I’ve only been at Hogwarts for the tournament but I might know him.”
She grinned widely. “You would know him! He did the tournament with you. James Potter is always trying to find ways to prove he’s braver than everyone. Such a silly boy, but I love him for it.”
“Prongs?” Remus laughed loudly, “hell yeah I know him, I wouldn’t have survived the tournament without him!”
“Talking about him, he’s asked about you. You’ve made your new friends rather worried.”
“What did you tell them? Are they okay?” He played with his fingers, anxious.
The matron nodded with comfort. “They’re furious at your headmaster, the minister, everyone. They really want to see you.”
“Me too.” Remus whispered. “Can they come to see me?”
“The minister threatened to fire Dumbledore and Arnoldi for letting you be around people. He- he came in here on the third day and wanted to discuss execution dates.”
He stiffened and his hand involuntarily went to his neck. “What did everyone say?”
“Your mother told him to get his head out of his arse,” Remus laughed at her language, “and your friends wrote a petition to get you to come back. It was Mr Blacks idea, James speaks highly of that boy.”
“Sirius.” Remus breathed, his heart fluttered and he couldn’t help the large grin on his face.
“It’s in the Prophet,” -The elderly woman gestured to the Daily Prophet on his bedside table-“ the petition and Sirius Black saying he’d rather get disinherited than have you in the ‘clutches of the ministry’, it was all very noble if you ask me.”
“Sirius said what?!”
“Oh yes,” she winked cheekily. “His parents came to see him on the second night, their meeting was recorded for the Prophet or evidence or something and Sirius Black made his feelings very clear when it came to what happened to you.”
Remus flushed and nodded for her to continue. The nurse got out the paper and showed his a moving picture of Sirius yelling at his parents, his hand was over his heart and he had that determined angry look Remus loved. The text beside it was repeating what he had said:
”Why the fuck do you pretend to care about me when all you care about is the family name? And why the fuck would you care about a boy who had never done anything to do with you? Remus Lupin is in containment because bigots like you and the whole bloody ministry are in charge! I love him. He is my boyfriend and I dare you to use Crucio on me again for being gay. Do it in front of the crowd! I dare you! Then everyone will know what Regulus and I have had to deal with for our whole lives.” Sirius Black yelled. His eyes were shimmering with the trauma of his past but his voice was strong.
“Sirius Orion Black!” Walburga Black said loudly. “You have ashamed yourself and our family! You are done here, we are done here and you and Regulus are coming home this instance. I will not have a- the failure of the Triwizard Tournament be the heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Back!” Walburga and Orion Black had stood and went to turn to leave. The crowd was twitching with anticipation as Sirius and Regulus Black stared at each other, then to surprise as even more, Sirius winked!
“We won’t leave until you sign my petition.” He said, smirking roguishly. Everyone (including myself) gasped as The Black Family - one of the oldest and richest families in all of Britain- stared each other down. Orion scoffed and pulled on his wife’s arm to leave, but she pushed him off.
“So you will only leave if we encourage dark creatures to roam freely with normal humans?” She said in disbelief.
Sirius Black nodded and Regulus Black held out the petition with over 3,000 signatures. We thought their mother would sign it as her hand twitched, to my belief, but instead she scoffed along with her husband and the couple walked out.
But not before saying: “You will be disowned for this.” The air turned cold when they past me, their glares were so piercing if looks could kill, I’d be dead.
We turned back to the Black brothers who were speaking in rapid French, I had no translator nearby and everyone from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic refused to tell me what they had said. This school loyalty is beautiful. Then James Potter - winner of the Triwizard Tournament 1978 - grabbed their elbows and with other friends the Black Brothers had made at Hogwarts, pulled them out and no one has informed me where they would be!
This is one of the first times the public has seen a glimpse of how the Black siblings have been raised and their sexuality. Many students have told me of Sirius Blacks relationship with Durmstrang Champion Remus Lupin, they were open and proud with their relationship but then Igor Karkaroff from Durmstrang informed me of Headmasters Arnoldi’s plan to use Sirius Blacks vulnerability and insure Remus Lupin gets the Triwizard Cup. Stephan Arnoldi is currently under surveillance as Auror Alastor Moody uncovers the secrets behind his master plan.
Remus Lupin is currently in the safety of St Mungos Hospital, and still unconscious from an unfortunate accident. I, Rita Skeeter, will be back with more information on the unrequited romance between our two Champions.
Remus put the news paper down and suddenly got a headache.
The nurse laughed and put a warm hand over his. “It’s quite a bit to comprehend.”
He could only nod slowly.
“I’ll leave you to rest, your mam will be here when you wake up.”
“Thank you, Mrs Potter.”
“Oh, called me Dorea dear.”
Remus was asleep before he could worry about his boyfriend.
——
James, Sirius, Marlene and Lily were jumping out of Hogwarts with gleeful smiles. They had just had a meeting with Dumbledore and the Minister to discuss the petition for Remus. They were there for an hour and a half since the minister had an obvious fear of dark creatures. With some convincing and menacing glares, Dumbledore was on their side with letting the werewolf return and the minister just had to agree.
It was all very bias and Sirius made the decision to never get a ministry job.
“We did it! Moony’s coming back!” James screeched. Some students out the front heard and cheered with them.
“I’m going to smother him with kisses until he forgets this ever happened.” Sirius sighed.
While Lily and Marlene went back inside to tell the others the good news, James and Sirius bagged a large willow tree to sit under. Both smiling and making plans for when the other champion came back.
“I think I’m going to share my prize money.” James set on.
Sirius scoffed a laugh. “Why?”
“Because I’m rich enough to last me five lifetimes and Moony will need the money more than I ever will. Also you and Regulus wanted to get an apartment away from your parents and I can help! I never want any of my friends, for as long as you have me none of you will ever be helpless.”
Sirius had the urge to cry as he hugged his best friend. “Always the hero Prongs.”
“Well someone has to save you damsels.”
“Oi! If anyones the damsel it’s you.”
“As if. You’re so short I could use you as an arm rest.” James shrugged as if it were obvious.
“No damsel will want you with a head as big as yours.”
James winked, “that goes for both ‘heads’ I assume?”
Sirius gagged and pushed James away. “Répugnant!” Disgusting!
“Aww I forgot you spoke French when you were grossed out. Only a damsel would do that.”
“No, speaking French makes me smart and very attractive.”
“It’s only attractive because no one knows what you’re saying.”
“That’s why I speak it.” Sirius grinned and James gasped in realisation.
“So when you spoke French to those girls before the Yule Ball when they asked you out, you said…”
“Tu sens les cacahuètes.” Sirius deadpanned.
“Which means?”
“You smell like peanuts.”
James burst out laughing, holding his stomach and covering his eyes. “She did though, even I smelt that!”
“That’s what I said?” Sirius laughed along.
“Why are you French people so mean?” James chuckled.
“We aren’t mean, we’re honest.” Sirius emphasised. “You don’t have to sugar coat everything, not like Britain needs anymore sugar anyway.”
This only made James laugh harder and very soon the boys were silently laughing and had to hold onto each other. James tried to mimic his accent but this only made Sirius laugh even more, the silence only making it funnier.
“Oh Godric!” James breathed.
Sirius had to take a few deep breaths to compose himself. “Okay, alright. I’m okay.”
The girls returned with the rest of their friends who ran up to them and hugged.
“You guys did it!” Peter cried, he was on his tip toes with his arm around James’s shoulders.
“The minister is a bastard and no one even remembers his name.” Mary said.
Marlene snorted. “All I know is that I hope he gets eaten by something, preferably something dark and magical.”
“Maybe we should lock him in the place Remus transforms and see what happens.” James joked. Sirius and Marlene glared and elbowed him in the ribs.
“What was that for?” James cried out, holding his sore ribs.
“Remus didn’t want anyone to know about his furry problem because he didn’t want to be seen as a fearful killer, he’s a human everyday except for once a month and he needs to be treated as such!” Marlene snapped. Jame looked guilty and apologised thoroughly.
“Anyway, when is he coming back? You have three days before returning to your own schools.” Dorcas asked.
“It depends when he wakes up. And it also depends if Durmstrang are comfortable with him coming back to finish his schooling. It’s July so he only has two months left, if not, then he can do exams at Hogwarts I think.” Sirius recited what Dumbledore had said.
“I hope he wakes up soon.” Lily sighed sadly.
——
“Send for me if you feel uncomfortable, go to Madame Pompfrey or Dumbledore for anything and please stay safe.” Hope told her son, they were in Professor McGonagall’s office which had one of the only flu powder networks in Hogwarts.
“Yes mam.” Remus muttered as she kissed his forehead. He was so much taller he had to bend in half.
“I love you, my baby boy.” She cried as they hugged.
“Love you too.”
After his mother returned home, Remus opened the office door. He was met with James and Sirius smiling widely at him. Sirius was jittering with impatience and jumped into Remus’s arms and kissed him deeply.
“I missed you so much, mon loup.” Sirius mumbled against his mouth.
“I missed you too.”
“Yeah, I missed you to Moony.” James said loudly from behind Sirius. Remus chuckled and put his boyfriend down.
James pulled him into a hug and slapped his back good naturally. Sirius made a wounded sound and join in, Remus hadn’t felt this safe all week.
“How is everyone?” He asked as they pulled apart.
“We were worried sick about you.” James breathed, running a hand through his already messy hair.
“I made a petition and everything!” Sirius put in, connecting his and Remus’s hands. “It got me disowned but you know, consequences for my actions and all that.”
“It got you what?!” Remus revelated, letting go of the boys hand.
Sirius shifted on his feet and looked at James for help. “Well, mother wasn’t to pleased that I had a boyfriend who could turn into a werewolf, I don’t think she was pleased with the boyfriend part anyway. But not everyone thinks you’re as hot as I do.” He shrugged and grinned wickedly at Remus.
“Merlin, keep it in your pants for one fucking moment.” James groaned.
“I’m glad you find this funny Padfoot,” Remus started, feeling red with anger. “But you can’t get disowned because of me! We might not even stay together for very long and you’d be disowned with no money and no family to fall back on! Also I’m poor as fuck and I know you know that, I can’t give you the life you’re used too. I won’t let you throw away that lifestyle, you won’t stay happy with me.”
Sirius frowned and took a step back, looking hurt. “You don’t think we’d last forever?”
Remus groaned in frustration and took a fistful of his own curls. “I want to, I would love nothing more than to live with you forever but I’m a fucking werewolf with no inheritance and you haven’t even lived with me before! We might buy an apartment and after the first week you get sick of me, I wouldn’t be able to handle that and then I’d be homeless and nothing is worse than a fucking homeless, heartbroken werewolf!” Remus whispered and took Sirius by the shoulders, shaking them gently. “And didn’t you want to live with your brother? What happened to winning the Tournament and buying an apartment away from your family? He needs you and you certainly don’t need me.”
“I love you Sirius Black but I’m not worth the sacrifice of all of that.” He whispered, tears stinging his eyes.
Sirius was breathing heavily and looking at Remus with a small smile.
“Don’t you remember I told you about getting my uncle Alphards inheritance after he died. We can travel across Europe, buy a house in each country and still have enough money.”
“Pads love, you’re being unreasonable.” Remus groaned but Sirius continued to talk.
“I don’t like my family, I never have. They’re abusive and my parents are bloody second cousins, that says something.” He chuckled a bit which made Sirius smirk. “I’d love nothing more than to spend my dead gay uncles money on my gorgeous werewolf boyfriend, if he’d let me.”
“Regulus?”
“Reggie will always be near, I won’t leave him alone in that awful house even if my life depends on it. Besides, he loves you enough to learn Welsh! He’d be sadder than anyone if we don’t live together.”
“I’d be pretty sad if you don’t live together.” James commented. Remus and Sirius whipped their heads around to see James still leaning against the wall looking emotional.
“Prongs, you fucktard.” Remus chuckled.
“Ooo new word, does talking about the future make you smarter?”
“Go aways Jame.” Sirius joked. James shrugged and blew kisses to the both of them before leaving them alone.
“Fucktard is rather imaginative.” Sirius winked.
Remus rolled his eyes and turned his face down. “I was- I was put on the spot okay?”
“Whatever you say Moonshine.”
It was quiet for a moment and Remus had a sudden jolt of confidence. He pushed Sirius against the opposite wall, grinning down at the flustered boy, then kissing him softly. Sirius moaned into the kiss and put a hand in his auburn curls. Remus giggled a little which set Sirius off and soon the two were laughing more than kissing.
“My beautiful Padfoot, I’ll love nothing more than to live with you.”
Sirius tried to fight a smile and just kissed him instead. “My Moony, you’ll never regret this.”
Remus wished to every divine being looking over him that that was true.