Mischief Managed Year One: Mayhem of the Moon

Chapter Sixty-Four- Lily's Meltdown

TW: Mentions of Abuse

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Sirius didn't think the weekend could get any worse, what with the new rules, Remus still avoiding him, and Patricia telling them she couldn't train them anymore until next year.

Then Remus disappeared.

It wasn't the 20th. It was only the 18th and Remus disappeared!

"What exactly happened, Peter?" Sirius asked Pettigrew angrily. The boy had dragged Remus to Madam Pomfrey earlier that day, since he had been convinced he'd been poisoned because he had a stomach ache.

"When I got there Madam Pomfrey checked me out. She said I was fine, only before we left she asked for a moment alone with Remus. It was only a moment and then we walked back. He seemed fine, I swear! Remus was a bit tired-looking and maybe a bit paler than usual, but he seemed fine."

"How is it they are still letting him visit his mum even with everything going on? With all those rules you think they'd make him wait a mere two weeks before seeing her," James concluded, pacing back and forth in the dorm as Sirius interrogated Peter for the third time.

Sirius placed his hands on the small boy's shoulders, "We're missing something. We have to be missing something. Peter, you must know more. Think, really think."

"I'm trying, Sirius. But that's all that happened."

"It can't be!" Sirius shouted, extremely frustrated. He shrugged off James' hand on his shoulder and joined him pacing around. It was eight-thirty. Remus should have returned thirty minutes ago like he often did after studying, but he hadn't.

It's not like he had just forgotten an earlier curfew either. They had gone looking for him and couldn't find him anywhere. The first-years had since retreated to their room in defeat. Sirius was so mad at him! Yeah, maybe they would try to stop him if he tried to see his mother, but Remus could have at least left them a letter explaining where he bloody went.

"Maybe his mum doesn't have two weeks," James concluded in a small voice. Sirius stopped pacing in front of the window. He tried to focus on what was the blurry outline of the full moon through his tears, then quickly wiped his cheeks as the tears fell.

"She can't die. He's already been through so much. His mum can't die. That's not fair," Sirius sniffed.

"Neither are all the people being killed by Voldemort," James pointed out solemnly.

"Why are you bringing that up?" Sirius asked James angrily, finally gaining control of his watery eyes.

"I'm just saying...the world we live in isn't fair," James concluded.

"Well, it should be!" Sirius snapped, turning around to gaze angrily at James who looked uncomfortable with his own suggestion about Remus' mum.

"I agree. But...well, we need to consider the possibility. I mean it makes sense. It'd explain why he hasn't said anything each time he goes back, why he's always so sick and upset afterward."

Sirius hated that it did make sense, an awful lot of sense. It would explain why Remus said nothing, even now.

Sirius tried to imagine how he'd feel if he actually liked his mum. When that didn't work, he thought about if he lived with his Uncle Alphard and if he was really close to dying. He realized he wouldn't want to talk about it either, not even with his closest mates.

"Well...if...she does. He knows we'll be there for him, right?" Peter asked uncertainly. He still looked a little on edge, as if he expected Sirius might yell at him again.