It Has To Get Worse Before It Gets Better

full moon

Okie I decided to just leave it all in one part. So get comfy bc it's 4460 words long XD.

The day before the full moon, Sirius and Remus weren't seen much. They mostly stayed in their room and Molly looked after the children. She made them lunch, and made sure Apollo was okay. He was, for now. Apollo tried to distract himself all day, doing bits of homework and reading,he mostly stayed in his room too, and the twins went to check on him regularly to make sure he wasn't... well you know.

Nearing the end of the day, as the setting sun cast a red and pink spell across the darkening sky, Apollo became increasingly anxious. He was waiting in silence by his door for Remus and Sirius to head out before the moon rose, with his eyes staring fixedly at their door and his foot tapping on the ground.
He heard faint talking from inside and footsteps coming to the door. He scrambled to look like he hadn't been waiting there for ages, which he had, and was sat on the edge of his bed when the door creaked open to reveal a wobbly looking Moony leaning heavily onto Padfoot.
Sirius looked up and stopped outside Apollo's doorway.
"We'll see you tomorrow pup, okay?" He said quietly. Apollo stood up, and cursed himself when he could already feel the burning tears welling up in his eyes.
Remus looked up with unfocused eyes. Apollo walked over to them slowly, and Sirius gave a small smile.
He didn't know what to say. He could tell them he would miss them, that he loved them? That he hoped it would be okay?
His words seemed to get caught in his throat and when he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out. He closed his mouth as a single damned tear rolled down his face.
"Oh Apollo," Sirius said, reaching out his hand to wipe away the tear off his face, which proved pointless as more and more streamed down his cheeks.
"You're going to be okay, I promise. We'll be back in the morning, and everything will be fine." Apollo sniffed.
"But, but..." his words died again.
"We love you puppy, we'll see you tomorrow." Sirius said, running his hand through Apollo's fluffy hair. Apollo held out his hand, with his pinky finger stuck out.
"Pinky promise?" He said, his voice wobbling.
"Pinky promise." Sirius confirmed, linking his pinky finger with Apollo's. Remus reached for Apollo's other hand and linked his pinky with Apollo's other, smiling weakly.
Sirius wrapped his arms around the both of them, and Apollo hugged them tightly, hoping that if he just held them as tight as he could... they could just... stay. But he knew that was foolish, and had to let go all too soon. Sirius and Remus both had tears collecting in their eyes too, as they looked at their son in front of them.
"We'll be okay, and so will you. Molly will look after you, and you've got the twins. We will be back in the morning." Sirius said, once more. Apollo nodded and wiped his face.
He followed them down the stairs at a slow pace and had another tearful goodbye at the door before they left. By this time, the shine of the moon could already be seen vaguely at the bottom of the skyline.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Apollo burst into tears.
"Come back!! I- I can't- I can't have you not here!!" He wailed, collapsing into a heap by the front door. Molly crouched beside him and tried to tell him they would be back, and that they had to leave, but Apollo just pulled at the door handle crying out their names to come back.
"I need them here!!" He hiccoughed, looking up at Molly with pleading eyes. She held his face inbetween her hands and gave him an apologetic look.
"They will be back in the morning dear, it will be fine." Apollo tried to catch his breath as he nodded at Molly. She stood up but Apollo stayed sat on the floor by the door.
"How about we go up to your bedroom, it's probably cold down there." Fred said kindly, holding out his hands to help him up. Apollo took them and let himself be pulled up off the floor.
"I- I know it's stupid... I just wish they didn't have to go..." he mumbled, as he was lead up the stairs.
"I know beautiful, I know. It's not stupid at all. They didn't want to go either." George said, as he pushed open the door of Apollo's bedroom. Apollo went and sat on his bed, bringing his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on top of them.
"Do you want us to stay with you, or..?" Fred asked, not knowing whether Apollo wanted to be alone, or wanted someone with him.
"Could... could you stay? Please?" He said quietly, looking up at them. The twins nodded, and sat either side of Apollo. Before either one of them could say anything, Apollo muttered;
"I'm so selfish. I knew they had to go and its not their fault. And I had to go and cry again. Pathetic..." his words trailed off as he rested his chin back on his knees.
Fred and George couldn't think of what to say for a minute, just staring aimlessly at each other. They knew if they tried to tell him otherwise, Apollo wouldn't believe them.
They could tell him he was the least pathetic person in the world and that it was fine to cry, hell, they could tell him he was the most wonderful person on the planet and he wouldn't believe them. It was silent for a moment before George spoke up.
"You're right. They had to leave, and they didn't like it any more than you do. But I know one thing," Apollo looked up at him expectantly,
"You are not pathetic. In no way whatsoever. And you are certainly not selfish."
"Yeah," Apollo turned to look at Fred,
"Just remember all the things you've been through recently. You have every reason to want them to stay. But you've handled it well, because you know they had to go."
Apollo nodded, and tilted his head to be resting on Fred's shoulder. Fred put his arm around the boy's shoulders and kissed the top of his head.
"You hungry? Mom said she's going to make dinner in a minute." George said. Apollo shook his head a bit.
"I'm not really hungry." He said quietly.
Fred and George shared a look, but before they could protest, the door creaked open to reveal Ron, Hermione and... Percy?
"Hey mate..." Ron said. Apollo smiled at him.
"Hi Ron, Mione, Percy." He greeted.
"Are... Are you okay?" Hermione asked hesitantly. Apollo nodded, looking at the rug on the floor with great interest to avoid making eye contact with anyone, for he felt if he did he might crumble again. He didn't want that.
Apollo felt Fred move away on his right side, and he looked up questioningly, reaching out to pull him back. But Hermione sat down in his place, and placed her hand on his shoulder. Apollo looked at her, and she smiled sympathetically.
"They will be okay." She said, specification not needed. Apollo nodded, and glanced at George on his left. George smiled with a little nod, and patted Apollo's hand a little.
"How about," Percy started, pulling the chair out from Apollo's desk and sitting in it,
"We do something, you know, to take your mind of... stuff." They all looked around at Percy, waiting for him to continue.
"Well, what should we do?" Ron asked. There was a pause while everyone thought of something to do.
"We could... " Hermione started.
"I know!" George exclaimed.
Everyone looked round at him.
"We have some paint in a cupboard at home, I could apparate back home to get it, and we could do some painting!"
Apollo's face broke out into a smile.
He had always loved seeing Dudley do painting when he was little, of course he was never allowed to join him, but when the paint was all dried out, he'd often get it out of the bin when Petunia wasn't looking and salvage whatever was left to paint his own painting on old receipts he found in the bottom of his cupboard. That was until Petunia found them stashed under his pillow and made him watch as she ripped each one into shreds.
He remembered watching as she tore the picture he had painted with his fingers of a big black dog with tears in his eyes, whispering 'padfoot' when scattered the pieces at his feet and told him to put them in the bin.