Obsidian & Bronze {Fred Weasley}

4. Trouble brewing

"Can we talk?" I whispered, remaining reserved and suppressing the urge to throw myself into his arms.

I had decided to go and speak to Remus early the next morning, before breakfast, in an attempt to fix the mess we had both equally created. It had been well over twelve hours since we last spoke, and as far as I can recall that was the longest I had ever intentionally gone without Remus, and it was a lot more draining than I anticipated.

Despite the heavy thoughts toying with my mind, I drifted off rather quickly the night before. I would assume contacting your incarcerated father for the first time in your entire life can be fairly overwhelming to say the least.

But regardless of that seemingly significant step, my mind still wandered back and forth from what I had said to Remus.

"the only thing on your mind, ever, is Sirius"

I didn't mean it, I realise that now.

I pushed the door open haltingly and rested my head between the crack in the entryway to Remus's living quarters, as I spoke. He sat in the corner of the well lit room upon his large burgundy armchair, his tired eyes looking up at me as I entered, with a large mug of tea in one hand and a book in the other.

He motioned with his head in response for me to come in, his smile was as gentle as always and I couldn't help but feel immense guilt for shutting him out. But I was here now, wasn't I?

Remus placed his cup of tea down on the counter next to him and opened his arms wide whilst shuffling in that colossal chair of his slightly to make room for me to slide in next to him. Any nerves I had preconceived now melted away, leaving just the feeling of contentment settling within my stomach.

The scent of the room was enough to evaporate any anger. The warm almost sickening smell of tea and the subtle scent of parchment was so homely.

"I love that book" I whispered, as I nuzzled into his side and he held me in a nurturing manner, glancing down and noting Charlotte Bronte's Wuthering heights resting lazily in his hand. "Can you keep reading?" I questioned.

An ungagable look etched its way onto his features, what appeared to be almost a sense of nostalgia washing over him. Almost as if he had heard that before. However he soon allowed the feeling within him to fade, just as quickly as it arose, and he nodded faintly to my question.

And so he read. And all was good once again. It wasn't until twenty minutes later he broke his concentration on the pages and rested the book nonchalantly upon his chest before glancing down at me.

"I'm sorry" he muttered, a look of suppressed guilt tumbling out along with his words.

"Me too" I agreed sheepishly before swiping a tear that escaped me and rolled down my cheek before I could stop it.

"We don't have to speak about it" He started, noticing the emotions brimming within my eyes. "But if you want to talk about Draco, I'm here" His tone was sympathetic and remorseful, I could tell he knew he should have done this weeks ago.

I didn't verbally respond, just simply nodding along with his words. Truthfully I had already resolved the internal conflict surrounding Draco. Draco Malfoy was not his father, in the same way I wasn't mine, I needed to acknowledge the possibility that Draco was a satisfactory human being. Satisfactory, yes. That would be enough.

I began hauling myself out of the chair that had now partially engulfed my body due to its size, bringing myself out of my thoughts.

I had thought about telling Remus about the letter to Sirius, maybe he would understand. Should I have spoken to him first? Maybe I made a mistake. The notion of telling him proved to be far too anxiety provoking and I decided against it. I would tell him when I was ready.