Bewitched | wolfstar au

Eighty

"Alright, Remus," Severus' phone says, "Tell us what happened. And then we can write a hit piece on the Ministry,"

"I don't think you'd be able to do that," Remus tells the phone,

"Is that an insult to my skill? I write the best hit pieces known to the Wizarding World, Remus. Have you not read my article on the American Quidditch Captain?"

"I have no doubts about your journalistic skill," Remus says, although he does have a fair doubt about Xenophilus' journalistic integrity. "It's just that... Why don't I just tell you what happened?"

"That is, as it turns out, what we're here to do. Go ahead, Remus,"

"Okay," Remus bites his lip, sneaking a glance at Sirius' hand which is resting dangerously close to his thigh, the back of his fingers almost brushing Remus' jeans.

"I got an owl from the Ministry," Remus mumbles.

"Pardon?"

"An owl," Remus repeats, not looking up. "I got an owl notifying me of the date for my next hearing."

This is the second time most people in the room are hearing this, but it still sends a ripple of tension rolling across the room.

"They sent you a wrong date? That is a new low, even for-"

"They didn't," Remus says. "The date was today. And the time was at seven in the morning."

Another long pause, and the tension rises higher. Remus can feel everyone looking at him, but he keeps his head down, fixed on his lap. He feels Sirius' hand creep closer until it rests lightly against his thigh.

"Oh,"

"Why didn't you go?" It's Severus who raises this question, eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown.

"I..." Remus can't explain. "I just didn't... I didn't want to..."

"Re," Lily looks at him, concerned. "Did something happen? Did anyone tell you not to go? You know you can tell us anything,"

"Yeah," James agrees, "We'll go beat the shit out of all of them."

Everyone turns to James with varying degrees of incredulity on their faces. Except for Sirius.

"Fine," James rolls his eyes. "I'll go beat them up,"

"I'm coming, too," Sirius perks up.

"I'd love to see you try, Sirius," Regulus snaps, "When you can't even walk out of your room,"

"That's alright," the phone says, sounding too gleeful, "I'd be happy to help,"

"Why don't we—" Severus speaks up, "—settle on no one beating anyone up?"

"And maybe listen to what Remus has to say?" Auguste adds.

Now everyone turns back to Remus.

"No one threatened me," Remus says firmly. "It was my choice,"

"A very bad choice at that,"

"Maybe in your opinion," Remus says, perhaps a bit more harshly than he intended. He sees James' eyebrows practically lift off of his forehead.

"So why did you, then?" Regulus asks. "You can't have not known that this is gonna turn out a disaster,"

Remus purses his lips, glancing at Sirius' hand that has now fully crawled on to his knee.

"Because... Because it's not worth it," he manages to choke out. "And I don't want to... It's just too much."

Everyone falls silent again, processing-or trying to process-the gravity of both Remus' words and the overall situation.

"Is the case dismissed now?" Auguste asks Severus, who's sitting on a chair brought from Regulus' room.

"It is," Severus sighs.

"Of course it is," the phone hisses angrily. "They were probably trying to get it done anyway... And the chance fell right in their laps when Remus didn't show up,"

More silence.

"But now the case is dismissed," Lily turns to Remus, "Do you know what that means, Re?"

Remus swallows, wincing at how dry his throat is. "I know," he replies, quietly bit firmly. "I know what it means, and I've decided that it still isn't worth it."

Some more silence.

"So... What do we do now?" James frowns, resting his head against Sirius' nightstand which he's leaning on. "We can't... This can't be the end of this," he lifts his head back up to look at Sirius. "Can it?"

Sirius doesn't offer much of a response, just squeezes Remus' knee.

"The public doesn't know, yet," Severus says. "We'll have to see what the Ministry says," the phone finishes for him.

"Maybe..." James pulls his lip in between his teeth, his frown growing deeper by the second. "Maybe they'll... Give Remus another chance?"

Remus doesn't mention that he doesn't want another chance. He wants this to be over so that he can go back to living a normal life, working a normal job and having normal conversations with his friends.

"Fat chance," the phone snorts.

"Don't be rude, Xeno," Severus mutters, stroking his chin. "But I agree. I don't think the Ministry will pass up on a chance like this. They have the perfect excuse now, they won't just let it slip out of their hands,"

"In that case," Regulus sighs, "Are we fucked?"

"Fucked sideways with a drill," the phone replies, and Severus almost chucks it across the room. "That's it, I'm hanging up. Goodbye," he all but shoves the phone into his pocket.

A long, strange pause later, Regulus finally stands up. "There's no point in talking about this anymore, then," he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Let's meet up tomorrow," Auguste stands up as well. "I'm sure we'll have found something to talk about by then."

***

Author's Note

About to leave for uni again I CANNOT