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The tension in the room could be cut with a blade- Remus and Sirius had had a fight.
James wasn’t sure what happened as he’d only caught the aftermath. Remus had burst out of the dorm room just as James had reached the top of the stairs, slamming the door behind him. James attempted to call out to him, but the angry boy was already long gone. Once he entered the room, James caught sight of Sirius standing in the dead silence, a mix of upset (at Remus? at himself?), hurt, and anger on his face as he stared at the floor. A few silent tears dropped down his face- ever the sensitive soul.
The floorboards creaked as James took another step into the room, unsure of himself. This obviously made Sirius aware of someone else’s presence. He made quick work of wiping his tears away before he grabbed a towel off his bed post and hurried into the bathroom, never once glancing in James’s direction.
The four boys had agreed that Remus and Sirius’s business as a couple was their own when the two had announced their relationship. James knew not to ask what happened. He didn’t ask when Sirius sat on his bed all afternoon, eyes fixed to some random spot on his comforter, listening through headphones to the cassette player Remus had gifted him for his birthday last year. Obviously things weren’t too bad if Sirius was still using it; James relaxed a bit at that. He didn’t ask when dinner in the Great Hall was quieter than usual without the couple’s banter. They sat on opposite sides of the bench, both not saying much. He didn’t ask when Remus sat quietly in bed after dinner, reading his book, absent of a particular black dog at his feet that was usually there when the boy had too much on his mind.
Now their friends were all gathered in the common room around a table too small for their amount, focusing on homework and exam prep. James couldn’t focus though, his mind clouded with worry over his friends. His eyes shifted to Sirius. For once he was actually doing work on his own accord- Remus usually had to nag him or persuade him with rewards like kisses. His long hair hung over his face, blocking his emotionless face from view. It was usually pulled back when he studied, be it from a messy tangle of bun, a lazily placed clip, or Remus’s own hand sometimes. Tonight he let it drape down, probably attempting to avoid a certain boy’s eyes.
James’s gaze floated over to said boy, hard at work on his essay but James could tell it wasn’t the writing that was causing his frustration. He looked so wound up, the way he usually did the days leading up to a full moon. The full moon was just last week so James knew that wasn’t the source either. Remus’s shoulders were tense, no head of messy black leaning against them today- they honestly looked quite lonely. The days of not speaking were obviously wearing on him; on both of them.
Sirius could be incredibly stubborn, this was a fact James learned quickly. He had a bit of an ego and a lot of confidence. Hell was freezing over if Sirius relented easily. It was rarer for Remus to be so unmovable, though not too surprising. He was incredibly intelligent and would never compromise that to agree to something he knew was wrong. However, his biggest weak spot was his boyfriend. He was more like a puppy dog than a wolf with Sirius- eager to please and looking to spoil.
James wasn’t sure if anyone else had noticed the tension filling the space of the table. If they had, no one wanted to say anything either.
Lily was one of the most emotionally perceptive people James knew. She was also incredibly blunt. He was surprised she hadn’t said anything yet- or maybe she had. Lily and Remus were quite close and James wasn’t sure where Remus had run off to straight after the fight. He wouldn’t be shocked if Remus had gone straight to Lily, she was great at solving problems. James wished she could solve all of his problems, honestly.
After a long evening of silence and homework, James was happy to flop onto his bed and sleep until the sunrise. But that was gonna be hard to do with the thick tension following them to their dorm room. Sirius had all his curtains drawn, a rarity as the complete darkness usually intensified his nightmares. Now he was just going to torture himself. James had enough. The pact of staying out of their relationship be damned, James couldn’t continue to see his friends hurt.
“Hey, Moony.” James had approached the other boy’s bed, causing the book blocking his view to lower. “Wanna go for a walk?”
In a few minutes, James and Remus were outside (undetected thanks to the invisibility cloak) and circling the lawns around the castle, making sure to stay close to the wall so they couldn’t be seen out any windows.
They paced in silence. James could tell the nighttime air and the effect of the moon allowed Remus to relax greatly. He felt bad ruining the tall boy’s peace but it had to be done for the peace of them all.
“So, what happened?” He finally mustered up the courage.
“What do you mean?” They had halted their steps, Remus’s eyes closed as he let his face be bathed in the moonlight. James had to admit, in that moment he totally understood where Sirius was coming from in their relationship.
“I know you and Sirius had a fight.”
“Ah,” the peaceful look left Remus’s face, replaced by something more solemn. James tried not to let the guilt eat at him. “Yeah.”
“You don’t have to tell me what actually happened, but it sucks to see you two so hurt.”
“Yeah, it does suck.” Remus was obviously talking only about Sirius. He cared more for that boy than he did himself.
“Can’t you guys just like kiss and makeup?”
“Sometimes it isn’t that simple, dear Prongs.” Remus heaved a sigh. “Sometimes we say stuff that we can’t take back, stuff we mean to hurt with in the moment, but regret later.”
“What did you say?” Now James was too curious to stay out of it. Remus was incredibly eloquent, he never said something he didn’t mean. But James couldn’t believe it if Remus was intending to hurt Sirius.
“We were arguing about something, I don’t even remember what it was so stupid. We were just getting heated at that point, he was getting on my nerves like he usually does, but this time it just got to me for some reason. I wish I could blame it on the full moon or something. But I said something really hurtful.”
James could hear the regret in his voice. Remus turned to look at him.
“I told him he was starting to sound like his mother.”
It took everything in James not to let out a gasp. Sirius’s relationship with his family was terrible. An entire lifetime of abuse- verbal and physical, all at the hands of his own parents. His mother was particularly nasty. She was like a snake personified, and even that was putting it lightly. Sirius unfortunately got his sharp tongue as well as his beautiful features from her, that much was obvious. But Sirius never used his wits for evil like her. He might’ve been sarcastic and snide, maybe a bit sadistic at times of pranks, but any jab too far would come with an apology. Maybe not always through words, but sometimes gestures or gifts. Sometimes in the form of Padfoot curled at the foot of your bed, docilely taking pets, maybe delivering a few licks of apology to your hand.
What Remus had said was a low blow. Any one of their friends knew it would sting more than a slap- Sirius was used to something physical like that. According to a drunk Remus at a party once, a few hits on the ass were even a turn on for the raven haired boy; this was something James begrudgingly had remembered from that night while most other things were lost to the alcohol.
“And you haven’t said sorry?” James was surprised if Remus hadn’t immediately apologized.
“I was going to, but the fight didn’t stop there. Sirius also said some hurtful stuff.” It was obvious he didn’t wanna disclose, but his gaze shifting back to the sky was the only hint James needed to understand it was something about Remus’s condition.
“I want to say sorry but I just can’t find the courage. I’m ashamed of what I said and I don’t know what I’d do if he doesn’t accept my apology.”
“Well, sounds like you guys are, unfortunately, square.”
“Yeah but he only said what he did in retaliation, it doesn’t really count as even.”
“There’s no use just ignoring each other, though. I know you know that’s not the solution. Come on, Moony.” James was practically begging his friend to think. The despair and regret had obviously clouded his mind too much.
“Yeah, you’re right.” The finality in Remus’s tone indicated that their walk was over, and so was the tension. Hopefully.
The two boys snuck back into the castle under the glow of the moon, and James couldn’t help but feel a little satisfied that he helped to solve the issue. He might even have to brag to Lily about it.
When they returned, James safely tucked the cloak back into his trunk as Remus parted the curtains of Sirius’s bed, climbing in. James perched himself on the windowsill so that he could peer into the gap that was left.
He didn’t want to be a creep, but he was worried if things would actually get resolved. He saw as the two boys talked lowly. With Remus’s back to him, James could only see a bit of Sirius’s face, but eventually he couldn’t see any at all as the gap between them was closed with a kiss.
James smiled to himself, happy that everything was solved and made his way to his own bed, closing the curtains, finally passing out until the sunrise.
The next morning was much more relaxed. The typical bedhead of Sirius emerged from his curtains, followed by Remus. The dorm’s morning routine was quiet and sleepy as always until they made their way to the Great Hall. James could sense the relief from their friends as they watched the couple enter, hands clasped and actually sit next to each other.
No one made any comments about the last several days as they all ate, Sirius kindly wiping butter from the coroner of Remus’s mouth. Peace was finally restored.