Wolfstar Oneshots

Detention, the Lot of You! Part 3

Requested by: CricketCat @inigomentoya

Words: 2375

Description: The Marauders find out about Remus's home life and are determined to do something about it.

Story:

Remus sat quietly on the train ride back to school. He couldn't stop his hands from shaking, so he hid them in the sleeves of his sweater. It was on old thing that James's Mum gave him for Christmas in second year and he loved it to death.

Sirius was quiet that train ride as well, but for different reasons. James talked his ear off about the upcoming Quidditch season, but Sirius kept his attention on Remus.

He didn't like the way that sweater hung off his frame like it was two sizes too big when it fit fine the year before. He didn't like how Remus's cheekbones stood out so starkly. (Well, actually he didn't mind that so much, he just would've preferred if Remus looked healthier with the cheekbones). He didn't like the sadness in Remus's eyes.

Because Remus could manipulate his attitude and his expressions like clay anyway he wanted and he could fool just about anybody, but the truth was in his eyes. There were pools of sadness in there, but blink and you'll miss it.

When they got to the welcoming feast that night, Remus was so, so hungry, but he was finicky about eating. He hadn't done much of that over the summer and he feared he'd get an upset stomach if he tried to eat too much too fast.

Sirius had been watching him closely. He and James had been trying to piece things together about Remus for years now. Remus was never a sharer like James was. James just loved to tell you about everything.

But Remus, you either had to figure it out yourself or pry. Nobody liked to pry with Remus, it just pushed him away because he would put up his walls again. Sirius hated those walls. He wanted to take them down, brick by brick. He felt like he'd been working at it tirelessly for quite some time, but Remus was just rebuilding them right behind him.

Before they knew about Remus's furry little problem, Remus used to tell them that he was going home to his sick mother.

They of course had felt bad for him, but got worried when he would come back hurt. It was James that voiced the idea that maybe someone at home was hurting him. Sirius had of course already considered it, but not in the negative light James had. It was sort of a natural possibility to Sirius.

But the way James's voice had lilted when he said it made Sirius think that maybe it wasn't normal for parents to hurt their kids. He'd expressed his concerns to James that night and James had gotten so upset when he heard about his mother's idea of discipline.

Once Sirius had settled with his own definition of abuse, he started to apply the signs to Remus and everything fit. The timing, the injuries, how tense he was when he talked about his family...

But when they'd figured out his real secret, they dismissed the idea altogether. They knew that Remus's mother had indeed been sick, but she had already passed away a few years prior. Now, as Sirius sat beside Remus and watched him pick at his food, he wondered if they were so far off with their theory.

After a few weeks, Sirius mostly forgot about it. Remus after like nothing was wrong, so they acted like nothing was wrong. A lot of their friends said James was oblivious, and he was for a lot of things, but when it came to his friends and their moods and feelings, nothing got past James. Not even Remus's acting.

James kept his questions to himself, but he kept an eye on Remus and kept his chocolate stash stocked with all sorts of divine Honeydukes bars.

Once it was finally time for their Halloween prank, things had finally settled into their normal rhythm. Sirius and James had been distracted with the planning, getting their genius break throughs from Remus's genius mind.