Fic: Spring Forward - April 25 & 26
Part 12 - Remus and Sirius do not want to run into each other at Peter's art show. (Harry Potter; Pre-Azkaban; PG)
Written for wellymuck
Title: The No-Shows
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,869
Disclaimer: JK Rowling's boys, not mine.
Summary: Remus and Sirius decide not to attend Peter's art show.
Previous: April 1&2, April 3&4, April 5, April 6, April 7&8&9, April 10&11, April 12&13, April 14&15&16, April 17&18&19, April 20&21&22, April 23&24
April 25, 1979
“You didn’t talk to him?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He was talking to somebody else.”
“Another boy?”
Remus Lupin had to laugh. His mother sat on his bed and rubbed his leg as Remus lay on his side. She knew Remus had gone to James and Lily’s engagement party the night before, and she wanted to know if he had seen Sirius Black. Mrs. Lupin had recently found out-thank you, Peter-that her son and Sirius had had a fight and weren’t speaking to each other. So Remus was forced to tell her how he had kept the secret that Sirius’s father was in the hospital from Sirius and how Sirius reacted when he discovered the truth. She sounded almost jealous now as she inquired about Sirius. Earlier in the month, she and Sirius had talked (though Sirius never told Remus what about), and they had become quite friendly with one another since then. She even seemed to approve of the boys’ relationship.
“No. He talked to everybody but me,” said Remus, his head resting on his arm.
“Did he see you? Maybe he didn’t know you were there,” suggested Mrs. Lupin hopefully.
“He saw me, and he still hates me.”
Mrs. Lupin playfully swatted Remus’s leg. “Don’t say that. Overreactions like that are why I’m glad you’re not a girl.”
Remus closed his eyes.
“Do you want me to talk to him?”
Remus’s eyes flew open. “Mum!”
Mrs. Lupin shrugged. “Why not? He said he cared about you, and this is a very poor way of showing it.”
Remus sat up. “He’s angry, Mum, and he kind of has a right to be. Of course, he didn’t have to act like a complete wanker last night.”
Mrs. Lupin shook her head sadly. “Why didn’t you just tell him, Remus?”
Remus shrugged.
“Have you talked to his brother?”
Remus shook his head. “No. I’m staying away from him.”
Remus felt bad about shunning Regulus Black at the hospital, but he could no longer talk to Regulus without thinking about Sirius.
The morning after Remus and Sirius’s fight, Remus took a break at work and walked out onto the roof of the hospital, which offered a beautiful view of London. He stood there for a few minutes before he heard someone behind him.
“I shouldn’t have gone,” said Regulus quietly.
Remus didn’t turn around. “He had to know.”
“But, maybe I could’ve done it differently.”
Remus sighed. “Has he visited him?”
“No, I knew he wouldn’t,” said Regulus. Then, “Has he said anything?”
Remus shook his head. “He’s not speaking to me.” He turned to face Regulus. “I shouldn’t have encouraged you to see him. What did he say to you?”
“What I thought he would. He’s too stubborn; he didn’t listen to anything I said,” explained Regulus. He stared at Remus thoughtfully. “You care about him a lot, don’t you?”
Remus nodded.
Regulus walked closer to Remus. “Um, you and him-you’re not-”
“I have to go, Regulus,” interrupted Remus.
Since that morning, Remus did his best to avoid Regulus, who casually strolled around the areas that Remus worked in. Remus soon became good at hiding in storage closets and empty rooms around St. Mungo’s.
“I’m sorry, baby,” said Mrs. Lupin sympathetically. At that moment, Mr. Lupin looked into Remus’s bedroom. “What’s going on?” he asked, noticing his wife and son’s glum expressions.
“Boy trouble,” said Mrs. Lupin, a tiny smile upon her lips. Remus gently kicked her.
Mr. Lupin’s eyes widened. “You handle that,” he said and left.
“I know you have Peter’s art show tonight; that’s why I didn’t invite you to dinner with your father and me,” said Mrs. Lupin.
Remus shook his head. “I’m not going. He’s going to be there, and I don’t want to deal with his antics tonight.”
“Are you sure? You might get a chance to talk and-”
“I’m not going.” Remus lied down.
Mrs. Lupin patted his leg as she stood. She sighed. “All right, then.” She walked to the door, glanced back at Remus, and left.
Remus shut his eyes and tried not to think about him.
Across town, in Sirius’s flat, Sirius sat across from James at the small table in the kitchen. He held his head up with his hands as he stared at the tabletop. James, dressed in his Sunday best, said, “We have to go, Sirius; we promised him.”
Sirius’s head moved from side to side. “I can’t,” he muttered. “He’ll be there and I can’t face him. Not after last night.”
Lily, leaning against the sink and dressed stunningly in a lavender dress, crossed her arms. “I heard about that. Maybe it’s not such a bad idea if you do stay home.”
Sirius raised his head to James.
“What?” asked James. “We tell each other everything.”
“You guys have to go. You’re his friends, and I bet he’s counting on the three of you to be there,” said Lily.
“No.”
“You’re not still blaming Remus for everything, are you?” asked Lily.
“That’s none of your business, Lily,” said Sirius, sounding annoyed.
“Fine,” said Lily as she tugged on James’s arm. “Let’s go, James.”
Sirius grabbed James’s second arm and pleaded, “Don’t leave me alone, James, please. Stay here and we’ll play chess. It’s been a while since I last kicked your arse.”
“Sirius.”
“I meant, since you last beat my arse at it,” Sirius corrected himself quickly. “Please. I need a friend at a time like this.”
“I’m sure Peter needs a few friends too at a time like this,” remarked Lily.
“The paintings will still be there tomorrow, James,” said Sirius. “Come on, what do you say?”
James glanced from his girl to his best mate. Then he said, “It’s his first show, Sirius.”
Lily smiled, and Sirius hung his head in defeat. James stood and put his hand on Sirius’s shoulder. “It’ll be all right.”
“How can you say that? You know how limited my options are. What if-what if it doesn’t work out anymore? Then what?” Sirius put his head on the table.
James’s shoulders sagged. “Aww, Sirius.” He looked at Lily. “You go on ahead.”
“James.”
James pointed at Sirius. “I shouldn’t leave him alone, Lily. You go.”
Lily sighed. “No. I can’t go alone.”
“Why not?” inquired James.
She lowered her voice. “To be honest, Peter makes me a little uneasy.”
“Since when?” demanded James. Lily never said negative things about his friends. Lily shrugged. “Okay, go home then,” said James. “I’ll talk to Sirius for a bit.”
Lily rolled her eyes but smiled. “Okay. But you have to take me out tomorrow. I didn’t buy this dress to wear only around my house.”
James grinned. “You bet.” They kissed, and Lily left, waving at Sirius as she walked out.
“I am a bastard.”
“What?” asked James, sitting again.
“Your girl hates me and tomorrow morning, Peter will too,” explained Sirius.
“Lily doesn’t understand you. And Peter-well, he’s going to hate me too.”
“I don’t want to be a bad friend,” said Sirius.
“You’re not, Sirius.”
Sirius sat back in his chair. “Pete’s like my brother, just like you, but . . . well, I wanted to know if you’d come with me-to the hospital. Maybe this time I’ll actually walk through the entrance.”
James smiled warmly. “Yes, I’ll go, and don’t worry about Peter-he’ll understand. He always does.”
Sirius forced a smile. “Yeah, he does.”
They never made it to St. Mungo’s. Halfway there, Sirius changed his mind, so they Apparated to James’s house, where they talked and laughed until three a.m., two friends momentarily leaving behind their grown-up lives as they reminisced about their carefree childhood days.
Peter Pettigrew stood by a long white wall, from which hung five large paintings. He smiled proudly as a small group of people stood in front of his works and admired them. As time went by, though, Peter became anxious. His three best friends had not yet arrived, and he couldn’t truly enjoy this moment until they saw his paintings. They were the inspiration, after all. But Peter kept smiling; he was hopeful.
Ten minutes before the art gallery closed, Peter stared at nothing, his hope completely gone. How could they do this, he wondered. Right from the beginning, when he’d first signed up for art classes the previous summer, his friends knew how important all this was to him. And hadn’t they promised to be here, to support him, to share in his triumph? He was always there for them. Just recently, he’d been very supportive of James as James’s marriage plans proceeded, even more supportive than Sirius, who claimed to be James’s “best, best, best friend” but who Peter suspected was incredibly jealous.
And he patiently listened to Sirius’s frustrations the night of the big fight between Remus and Sirius. Sirius had flooed into his bedroom (Peter assumed Sirius mistakenly said “Peter’s house” instead of “the Potters”) and told Peter everything. Peter, afraid Sirius would do something odd-like cry-immediately flooed James to help him.
“Interesting work,” said a voice to Peter’s left. He turned and saw a tall, dark-haired woman with porcelain skin and an eerie smile, standing next to an equally tall, muscular man who looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else but here.
Peter stared as the woman extended her hand. “Bellatrix Lestrange. This is my husband, Rodolphus.” The man nodded.
Peter shook her hand. “Oh, are you”-pointing to the man-“related to Miss Kane’s boyfriend?” Miss Kane, the very attractive art professor, dated Rabastan Lestrange, whom Peter had seen a few times and who looked just like this man.
Rodolphus nodded.
“So, have your friends seen these yet?” Bellatrix asked in a drawl that sounded quite familiar to Peter’s ears. “Because I did not see my disgraced cousin here tonight.”
“Who?”
Bellatrix pointed to one of the paintings of a man’s profile. “That’s him, isn’t it? Sirius Black.”
Peter said nothing. Bellatrix smacked her lips as she surveyed the paintings. “Awww, is ‘friendship’ the theme of your works?” She shook her head. “It’s cruelly ironic, isn’t it? Here we are, seeing your friends, and your friends couldn’t bother to show up to see you.”
“They’re busy and-and Sirius’s father is in the hospital, and he’s miserable about that,” said Peter.
“So miserable he hasn’t bothered to visit his sick father?” asked Bellatrix, her grin widening.
Peter roughly bit his bottom lip.
“It’s horrible, isn’t it, when you can’t count on anyone anymore? Rodolphus and I are having dinner with your teacher and Rabastan. Would you like to join us?” asked Bellatrix.
“Me?”
“We’re going to meet some friends later and talk about . . . things.”
Peter shook his head. “I don’t think I can; I-”
“Peter, are you coming with us?” asked Miss Kane, her white teeth as shiny as ever, as she and Rabastan approached the threesome.
“Sure,” said Peter, smiling at Miss Kane. “Let’s go.”
Bellatrix and Rodolphus glanced at each other briefly and nodded. As the group left, the room darkened, the paintings of James, Sirius, Remus, and their respective animal selves no longer visible on the white wall.
***Almost done; one more (long) entry to go.***
Written for wellymuck
Title: The No-Shows
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,869
Disclaimer: JK Rowling's boys, not mine.
Summary: Remus and Sirius decide not to attend Peter's art show.
Previous: April 1&2, April 3&4, April 5, April 6, April 7&8&9, April 10&11, April 12&13, April 14&15&16, April 17&18&19, April 20&21&22, April 23&24
April 25, 1979
“You didn’t talk to him?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He was talking to somebody else.”
“Another boy?”
Remus Lupin had to laugh. His mother sat on his bed and rubbed his leg as Remus lay on his side. She knew Remus had gone to James and Lily’s engagement party the night before, and she wanted to know if he had seen Sirius Black. Mrs. Lupin had recently found out-thank you, Peter-that her son and Sirius had had a fight and weren’t speaking to each other. So Remus was forced to tell her how he had kept the secret that Sirius’s father was in the hospital from Sirius and how Sirius reacted when he discovered the truth. She sounded almost jealous now as she inquired about Sirius. Earlier in the month, she and Sirius had talked (though Sirius never told Remus what about), and they had become quite friendly with one another since then. She even seemed to approve of the boys’ relationship.
“No. He talked to everybody but me,” said Remus, his head resting on his arm.
“Did he see you? Maybe he didn’t know you were there,” suggested Mrs. Lupin hopefully.
“He saw me, and he still hates me.”
Mrs. Lupin playfully swatted Remus’s leg. “Don’t say that. Overreactions like that are why I’m glad you’re not a girl.”
Remus closed his eyes.
“Do you want me to talk to him?”
Remus’s eyes flew open. “Mum!”
Mrs. Lupin shrugged. “Why not? He said he cared about you, and this is a very poor way of showing it.”
Remus sat up. “He’s angry, Mum, and he kind of has a right to be. Of course, he didn’t have to act like a complete wanker last night.”
Mrs. Lupin shook her head sadly. “Why didn’t you just tell him, Remus?”
Remus shrugged.
“Have you talked to his brother?”
Remus shook his head. “No. I’m staying away from him.”
Remus felt bad about shunning Regulus Black at the hospital, but he could no longer talk to Regulus without thinking about Sirius.
The morning after Remus and Sirius’s fight, Remus took a break at work and walked out onto the roof of the hospital, which offered a beautiful view of London. He stood there for a few minutes before he heard someone behind him.
“I shouldn’t have gone,” said Regulus quietly.
Remus didn’t turn around. “He had to know.”
“But, maybe I could’ve done it differently.”
Remus sighed. “Has he visited him?”
“No, I knew he wouldn’t,” said Regulus. Then, “Has he said anything?”
Remus shook his head. “He’s not speaking to me.” He turned to face Regulus. “I shouldn’t have encouraged you to see him. What did he say to you?”
“What I thought he would. He’s too stubborn; he didn’t listen to anything I said,” explained Regulus. He stared at Remus thoughtfully. “You care about him a lot, don’t you?”
Remus nodded.
Regulus walked closer to Remus. “Um, you and him-you’re not-”
“I have to go, Regulus,” interrupted Remus.
Since that morning, Remus did his best to avoid Regulus, who casually strolled around the areas that Remus worked in. Remus soon became good at hiding in storage closets and empty rooms around St. Mungo’s.
“I’m sorry, baby,” said Mrs. Lupin sympathetically. At that moment, Mr. Lupin looked into Remus’s bedroom. “What’s going on?” he asked, noticing his wife and son’s glum expressions.
“Boy trouble,” said Mrs. Lupin, a tiny smile upon her lips. Remus gently kicked her.
Mr. Lupin’s eyes widened. “You handle that,” he said and left.
“I know you have Peter’s art show tonight; that’s why I didn’t invite you to dinner with your father and me,” said Mrs. Lupin.
Remus shook his head. “I’m not going. He’s going to be there, and I don’t want to deal with his antics tonight.”
“Are you sure? You might get a chance to talk and-”
“I’m not going.” Remus lied down.
Mrs. Lupin patted his leg as she stood. She sighed. “All right, then.” She walked to the door, glanced back at Remus, and left.
Remus shut his eyes and tried not to think about him.
Across town, in Sirius’s flat, Sirius sat across from James at the small table in the kitchen. He held his head up with his hands as he stared at the tabletop. James, dressed in his Sunday best, said, “We have to go, Sirius; we promised him.”
Sirius’s head moved from side to side. “I can’t,” he muttered. “He’ll be there and I can’t face him. Not after last night.”
Lily, leaning against the sink and dressed stunningly in a lavender dress, crossed her arms. “I heard about that. Maybe it’s not such a bad idea if you do stay home.”
Sirius raised his head to James.
“What?” asked James. “We tell each other everything.”
“You guys have to go. You’re his friends, and I bet he’s counting on the three of you to be there,” said Lily.
“No.”
“You’re not still blaming Remus for everything, are you?” asked Lily.
“That’s none of your business, Lily,” said Sirius, sounding annoyed.
“Fine,” said Lily as she tugged on James’s arm. “Let’s go, James.”
Sirius grabbed James’s second arm and pleaded, “Don’t leave me alone, James, please. Stay here and we’ll play chess. It’s been a while since I last kicked your arse.”
“Sirius.”
“I meant, since you last beat my arse at it,” Sirius corrected himself quickly. “Please. I need a friend at a time like this.”
“I’m sure Peter needs a few friends too at a time like this,” remarked Lily.
“The paintings will still be there tomorrow, James,” said Sirius. “Come on, what do you say?”
James glanced from his girl to his best mate. Then he said, “It’s his first show, Sirius.”
Lily smiled, and Sirius hung his head in defeat. James stood and put his hand on Sirius’s shoulder. “It’ll be all right.”
“How can you say that? You know how limited my options are. What if-what if it doesn’t work out anymore? Then what?” Sirius put his head on the table.
James’s shoulders sagged. “Aww, Sirius.” He looked at Lily. “You go on ahead.”
“James.”
James pointed at Sirius. “I shouldn’t leave him alone, Lily. You go.”
Lily sighed. “No. I can’t go alone.”
“Why not?” inquired James.
She lowered her voice. “To be honest, Peter makes me a little uneasy.”
“Since when?” demanded James. Lily never said negative things about his friends. Lily shrugged. “Okay, go home then,” said James. “I’ll talk to Sirius for a bit.”
Lily rolled her eyes but smiled. “Okay. But you have to take me out tomorrow. I didn’t buy this dress to wear only around my house.”
James grinned. “You bet.” They kissed, and Lily left, waving at Sirius as she walked out.
“I am a bastard.”
“What?” asked James, sitting again.
“Your girl hates me and tomorrow morning, Peter will too,” explained Sirius.
“Lily doesn’t understand you. And Peter-well, he’s going to hate me too.”
“I don’t want to be a bad friend,” said Sirius.
“You’re not, Sirius.”
Sirius sat back in his chair. “Pete’s like my brother, just like you, but . . . well, I wanted to know if you’d come with me-to the hospital. Maybe this time I’ll actually walk through the entrance.”
James smiled warmly. “Yes, I’ll go, and don’t worry about Peter-he’ll understand. He always does.”
Sirius forced a smile. “Yeah, he does.”
They never made it to St. Mungo’s. Halfway there, Sirius changed his mind, so they Apparated to James’s house, where they talked and laughed until three a.m., two friends momentarily leaving behind their grown-up lives as they reminisced about their carefree childhood days.
Peter Pettigrew stood by a long white wall, from which hung five large paintings. He smiled proudly as a small group of people stood in front of his works and admired them. As time went by, though, Peter became anxious. His three best friends had not yet arrived, and he couldn’t truly enjoy this moment until they saw his paintings. They were the inspiration, after all. But Peter kept smiling; he was hopeful.
Ten minutes before the art gallery closed, Peter stared at nothing, his hope completely gone. How could they do this, he wondered. Right from the beginning, when he’d first signed up for art classes the previous summer, his friends knew how important all this was to him. And hadn’t they promised to be here, to support him, to share in his triumph? He was always there for them. Just recently, he’d been very supportive of James as James’s marriage plans proceeded, even more supportive than Sirius, who claimed to be James’s “best, best, best friend” but who Peter suspected was incredibly jealous.
And he patiently listened to Sirius’s frustrations the night of the big fight between Remus and Sirius. Sirius had flooed into his bedroom (Peter assumed Sirius mistakenly said “Peter’s house” instead of “the Potters”) and told Peter everything. Peter, afraid Sirius would do something odd-like cry-immediately flooed James to help him.
“Interesting work,” said a voice to Peter’s left. He turned and saw a tall, dark-haired woman with porcelain skin and an eerie smile, standing next to an equally tall, muscular man who looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else but here.
Peter stared as the woman extended her hand. “Bellatrix Lestrange. This is my husband, Rodolphus.” The man nodded.
Peter shook her hand. “Oh, are you”-pointing to the man-“related to Miss Kane’s boyfriend?” Miss Kane, the very attractive art professor, dated Rabastan Lestrange, whom Peter had seen a few times and who looked just like this man.
Rodolphus nodded.
“So, have your friends seen these yet?” Bellatrix asked in a drawl that sounded quite familiar to Peter’s ears. “Because I did not see my disgraced cousin here tonight.”
“Who?”
Bellatrix pointed to one of the paintings of a man’s profile. “That’s him, isn’t it? Sirius Black.”
Peter said nothing. Bellatrix smacked her lips as she surveyed the paintings. “Awww, is ‘friendship’ the theme of your works?” She shook her head. “It’s cruelly ironic, isn’t it? Here we are, seeing your friends, and your friends couldn’t bother to show up to see you.”
“They’re busy and-and Sirius’s father is in the hospital, and he’s miserable about that,” said Peter.
“So miserable he hasn’t bothered to visit his sick father?” asked Bellatrix, her grin widening.
Peter roughly bit his bottom lip.
“It’s horrible, isn’t it, when you can’t count on anyone anymore? Rodolphus and I are having dinner with your teacher and Rabastan. Would you like to join us?” asked Bellatrix.
“Me?”
“We’re going to meet some friends later and talk about . . . things.”
Peter shook his head. “I don’t think I can; I-”
“Peter, are you coming with us?” asked Miss Kane, her white teeth as shiny as ever, as she and Rabastan approached the threesome.
“Sure,” said Peter, smiling at Miss Kane. “Let’s go.”
Bellatrix and Rodolphus glanced at each other briefly and nodded. As the group left, the room darkened, the paintings of James, Sirius, Remus, and their respective animal selves no longer visible on the white wall.
***Almost done; one more (long) entry to go.***