Descend - Wolfstar + Marauders

A Sirius Talk

Chapter Text

Sirius sat on the armchair across from James, who had his arm around Lily on the couch. Sirius and James each sipped a beer while Lily drank her decaffeinated tea with her usual bitterness. They had just gotten Harry down to bed half an hour ago and were enjoying the peace and quiet.

“The things I do for love!” had became the catchcry of her deprivation. “First pregnancy, now breastfeeding, it never ends. If Harry doesn’t love me more than you when he grows up, I’ll sue for pain and suffering, I swear it,” she joked to James.

“Obviously he’s going to love me the most,” Sirius chimed in.

“At least if Dumbledore makes me leave work, I’ll have more time to win Harry over to my side,” James said.

“Honestly, I don’t know what you’re complaining about. I’ve been stuck inside for ages and only gone half out of my mind, you’ll be fine. It’s a miracle you’ve been able to keep working this long. You’re Moody’s little protégé, but even he has to see that the Auror offices could be just as compromised as everywhere else, what with the spy,” said Lily. “Constant vigilance, and all that.”

“It’s different for you. You can still work on your potions and do your research from home to a certain degree. What am I meant to do, hunt dark wizards from my living room?”

“You aren’t allowed to leave the office, Prongs, who the hell are you hunting? Face it, you’re a paper pusher,” Sirius pointed out.

James let out an exasperated sigh. “I know they’re going to bench me soon, just let me enjoy it while I can. Though I suppose there are worse fates than being locked in a house with my incredible wife and our perfect son,” he said, giving Lily a kiss on the top of her head.

Sirius had been spending a lot of his evenings with James. Things were better between him and Remus, in that there was less fighting, but that was mostly because they’d fallen back into the habit of not talking to each other. He knew that this time it was largely his fault. He tried to be calm, he really did, but any tiny thing would set him off and he was still just so angry at Remus that it was easiest just to take it all out on him.

No matter how much his partner walked on eggshells around him, tried to placate him, he just couldn’t stop himself. Aside from his return to his missions, which really only served to compound Sirius’ fear, Remus had been spending most of his time at the flat. The only time he went out was to see their mutual friends, and he always made a point of letting Sirius know where he’d been. It was what Sirius wanted. Except what he actually wanted was to just trust him in the first place without needing the updates, so it all just infuriated him more.

“So how is Remus?” Lily asked as if she’d been reading his mind.

She was usually pretty good about leaving that topic alone. She’d well and truly learned in the two months since The Incident not to hassle Sirius about it unless she wanted to deal with him being a belligerent jerk. Still, Harry had been put to bed and the mood of the night had been open and thoughtful, so Lily tried her luck.

“You’d probably know better than me these days given how much time you spend together,” he said to Lily. “I got James in the divorce and he got you,” Sirius joked.

James laughed at that, prompting Lily to extricate herself from under his arm and shoot him a glare.

“Except I’m here talking to you right now, Sirius, whereas James can’t be in the same room as Remus for more than two seconds without making an ass of himself,” she chastised.

James looked a little guilty at that. Sirius appreciated how much James had rallied behind him. Peter too. It made him feel justified in his anger, but the truth is he also felt awful. He knew how much it was hurting Remus to feel cut off from his friends, and that it was petty and cruel. They’d get over it eventually and all be the Marauders again, he was sure. In the meantime, though he wouldn’t admit it, he was actually very grateful that Remus had Lily to worry over him. Maybe just this once he’d give in and let her talk to him about it. Just once.