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Sirius ran as fast as he
could(which was really fast), not sure where he was going, just knowing he had
to find Remus. He reached a sort of intersection of hallways and stopped for a
moment, breathing hard. He glanced wildly about, willing the walls to give him
some clue as to which way Remus had gone. His eyes fell on a small Ravenclaw
girl who was looking at him curiously.
"Have you seen a little pale guy
running?" he asked hurriedly.
"What?" she said, eyeing him with
suspicion now.
"Little guy, Gryffindor 2nd
year, light brown hair, tearing along like he's got a," Sirius paused. He'd
been about to say like he's got a werewolf behind him but didn't think that was
entirely appropriate, given the circumstances. "vampire behind him?" he
finished, somewhat weakly.
"I think I saw him headed towards the
library," she said, clearly creeped out by this bizarre Gryffindor and quite
ready to be leaving.
He took off again without a backward
look. Reaching the library, he slowed to a walk. It wouldn't do him any good to
finally find Remus and be kicked out by Madam Pince, the librarian. His eyes
scanned the rows of books with the occasional head poking out.
His eyes fell upon the back corner. As
far as he could tell there was no one there, there never was. It was filled
with books on THE most BORING topics ever conceived by man. No one in their
right mind went back there. Well, at least they didn't go back there to study.
Other, er, activities went on back there though… Besides that, though, it was an excellent place to hide.
He tiptoed through the bookshelves,
peeking quietly around the corner as he reached his destination. Just as he'd
thought; Remus sat with his legs pulled tight up against him and his arms
around his knees, head down, sobbing uncontrollably.
He didn't notice Sirius quietly coming
around next to him and sitting down. Remus seemed completely lost in his own
misery for the moment.
"Hey," said Sirius casually, being
careful to look straight ahead and pretend Remus wasn't crying.
Remus sat up with a start. He looked at
Sirius with an expression that plainly said that he was past embarrassment at
being caught crying. He turned his head around and, like Sirius, looked
straight ahead. "Hello," he said quietly. Well, not that quietly. His body
still shook and tears continued to trickle down his pale cheeks. His voice
wavered with suppressed grief.
Sirius quickly gave up on casualness.
"Listen, Remus. I'm completely cool with it. You have nothing to be ashamed.
James and - , well James feels the same way. You're one of the best friends
I've ever had and there's no way something like your, er, lycanthropic
predicament is ever gonna change that," he concluded.
"I," began Remus hesitantly, "I'm not
sure I believe you."
"Are you calling me a liar?" said Sirius
jokingly.
"No! It's just, well, I'm a, I'm
a…werewolf," he finished in a whisper.
"I know, we've been over that. What's the
big deal?" Sirius asked, "You still want to be my friend, right?"
"You still want to be my friend?"
Remus asked incredulously.
Sirius sighed exasperatedly. "YES, I
still want to be your friend, loony!"
"Oh," Remus once again had a shocked
expression, this time tinged with happiness. "It's just, well, I've never had real
friends before. And every time I do they abandon me as soon as they find out…as
soon as they find out, what I am."
"That just proves that their idiots."
Sirius's statement had a tone of finality which stopped any arguments of
Remus's before they could even form. By this time Sirius had stood up. He bent
over slightly, offering Remus a hand up. Remus smiled slightly and took
it. Seeing tears forming in Remus's
eyes again, Sirius quickly pulled him into a tight hug.
"Geez, Remus. You always were a little
wuss…" he muttered.
Just then, James came tearing into the
library. He hadn't bothered to slow down. Madam Pince came rushing over with
her lips pursed very tightly and a scowl clear upon her face. Seeing this,
James hurriedly slowed to a casual walk and strolled(somewhat faster than was
appropriate for a casual stroll) over to some books and pretended to begin
reading. Madam Pince gave him a last glare before storming away.
James dropped the book and looked around
the library. There, in the far corner, he spotted a familiar, dark-haired head.
He ran as quietly as he could, ducking among the shelves.
An interesting site met his eyes as he
reached his destination. Sirius and Remus, hugging each other? Blinking
rapidly, he realized that Remus was crying.
"Um, Sirius?" he said tentatively.
Sirius looked over Remus's head at James,
but didn't release the sobbing Gryffindor. He silently mouthed, It's cool.
James nodded. They stood that way, the three of them, none daring to say a
word.
Remus stopped crying and let go of
Sirius. He turned around and rubbing his eyes, he saw James and blushed a bit.
He smiled somewhat hesitantly.
"Hey Remus," said James.
"Hey James."
Sirius laughed. "You two are amusing," he
said, grinning.
"Your robes are wet," said James.
"Just a little Remus slime."
"Hey!" exclaimed Remus.
The conversation continued in this way
for a while and kept on like that as they slowly began walking back to
Gryffindor Tower. The conversation drifted along on subjects like quidditch,
girls, motorcycles, teachers who gave too much homework…
Remus felt happy…so happy. These were his
friends. They loved him for who he was. Regardless of his, what was it
Sirius had called it? Oh, yeah, his lycanthropic predicament. As they chatted
about unimportant subjects, such a normal group of friends, Remus knew that
they would be friends forever.