The Marauder's Tale [MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT, & PRONGS]

XLI. Growing Up

“Hey, beautiful.” Remus leaned over to kiss Laura’s cheek, then sank down next to her on the couch in the prefects’ lounge.

“Well, you’re certainly in a better mood than you have been in awhile,” she smiled. She turned her head to kiss his lips. “I’ve missed this.”

Remus smiled sheepishly. “I have been rather impossible for the past couple weeks, haven’t I?”

“I wouldn’t say impossible . . .” She smiled, and laced her fingers through his.

“But I will,” Remus grinned.

“Have you and Sirius made up, then?”

“Yes,” Remus said with relief in his voice. “It’s so good to be back on speaking terms with everyone. I feel like this incredible weight has been lifted from me.”

“Sirius must be happy, too.”

“He is. James and Peter are, too. I think this really got to them.”

“I’m sure it did,” Laura agreed. “Remember what it was like for you when James and Sirius were fighting?”

“Of course. I know that this has been hard on them. You know, sometimes I think it’s harder for the friends of the people who are fighting than it is for the ones who are fighting themselves.”

“I agree,” Laura said. “At least when you’re the one who’s arguing, you know where you stand. You have to fight to protect your side. But when it’s your friends, you’re completely caught in the middle. Everyone wants you to take a side, but you can’t, because you’re friends with everyone.”

“Exactly,” Remus smiled. “I knew you’d understand.”

Laura looked as though she was trying to decide if she should speak or not. She bit her lip, and looked at Remus, then down at her lap. She shifted uncomfortably against him.

“What?” Remus asked.

“Nothing,” Laura said quickly.

“Oh, don’t start that,” Remus said. “What’s bothering you?”

“Well,” Laura said slowly, “I didn’t want to bother you about it before, because you were so upset, but what exactly were you and Sirius fighting about? What started it all?”

Remus looked away. How could she ask that? No, it was a fair question. After all, he had told her everything about the feud between Sirius and James. Besides, they always talked about everything. She would certainly expect details of the argument that had been tearing him apart for the past two weeks. But what could he tell her? The truth was definitely out of the question.

“It was stupid,” Remus finally said.

“Most fights are,” Laura said softly. She paused, and watched the conflicting emotions dance across his face. She could always tell what he was thinking just by looking at him. “You don’t want to tell me, do you?”

“Not really,” Remus replied.

“What happened to knowing that I’d understand?”

“I don’t think you would understand this. It’s guy stuff, you know?”

“’Guy stuff,’” she repeated. “You aren’t going to tell me, then.”

He turned to look at her. “Does that bother you?”

“A bit,” she admitted. “We’re so close, Remus, but sometimes I feel like there’s this part of you that’s completely locked up, that you never let me see. It’s like you want to hide part of yourself from me, or like you’re afraid to let me know all of you. Is that ridiculous?”