Shelter • wolfstar au

66 ; blessing

Chapter Sixty Six: Blessing

Remus stared at the plate of food in front of him, having no appetite nor any desire to eat. It was midnight, the rest of the people in the house have had their dinners and gone to bed already. But Remus had been waiting for Sirius's return, refusing to eat anything until he was back safe and sound. In the end, however, hunger forced him to surrender and drag himself to the kitchen, where he fixed some dinner. But once the food was ready, he didn't find the strength in him to eat it.

Remus knew Sirius wasn't in any sort of danger. He hasn't gone to any battle or to fight any of Voldemort's followers. Rather, he has gone to visit one of his closest friends from the Order – Alice and Frank Longbottom – to discuss about the future of their son Neville, regarding him being the Chosen One. Once their discussion was over, he would be back. Wouldn't he?

Then why wasn't he back yet?

He knew he was being irrational. Maybe their discussion wasn't over yet. Maybe Sirius had decided to stay the night with his friends. Remus brought his hand in front of him and looked at the slim bronze ring slipped around his finger. With hesitation, he lifted his fist towards his mouth. He would only need to touch the ring to his lips and say something, and the message would subsequently be relayed to Sirius, appearing in small letters on his own ring.

The cool metal touched his lips, but he quickly moved his hand away. Why was he being so desperate?

Closing his eyes, Remus pushed thoughts of Sirius to the back of his mind, fighting the scary thoughts of him falling into any sort of danger. He is fine. He repeated to himself. He's fine.

He opened his eyes again and focused on the ham sandwich in front of him. Food was scarce nowadays, for Elizabeth had two wizards and one muggle to feed along with her sister. Her job at the restaurant obviously didn't pay much to feed three fully grown men, but she sometimes managed to sneak in food from her work. Remus was grateful for her generosity, and so were Robbie and Sirius, he was sure.

With some effort, Remus took the sandwich and took a small bite out of it. He was having trouble swallowing it, for his guts twisted every now and then with worries about his boyfriend. Images of Sirius bloody, Sirius injured, Sirius unable to walk, Sirius unconscious, floated in front of his mind and he suddenly felt the urge to vomit.

But like a saving grace, Elizabeth walked into the kitchen all of a sudden, washing all of the intrusive thoughts out of his scared mind.

She looked surprised to see him, but Remus was glad to see her. There was something about Elizabeth that could sweep any kind of negativity out of a room, replacing it with colours and flowers and happy memories. Maybe it had something to do with the brightly coloured clothes she always wore (like the bright yellow night gown she was wearing now), but her mere behaviour and her smile and her cheerful voice definitely worked wonders on a person.

A smile split into her face as she joined him at the table. "Finally decided to have dinner?" she asked teasingly, to which Remus gave a sheepish smile.

"My stomach kept yelling at me. What are you up to?"

Elizabeth, initially, hadn't really liked Remus. But she didn't seem to be the type of person to hold grudges, for she had eventually warmed up to him, and had even started talking nicely to Sirius. She shrugged at his question. "Couldn't sleep," she answered, twiddling her fingers together. "Worried. Scared."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. He could imagine what she was going through, for he had had his fair share of sheltering a wizard in his home. But the situation was slightly different in case of Elizabeth, and far more difficult and dangerous.

"I'm worried about Annie," she spoke. "She's a child. And I worry that she might say the wrong things to the wrong people and word may spread that we are hiding wizards –"

"She's smart," Remus interjected. "I'm sure she won't say anything that would cause trouble."

"I know, but I worry." She looked pleadingly at Remus. "You get me, don't you? You kept Sirius in your home. Weren't you worried that something terrible might happen?"

Remus laughed dryly. "Well, I was kind of busy being mad at him to think about what the death eaters might do to me. I was –" he paused, biting his lips. "I was selfish. I treated him like shit. What you are doing, Elizabeth, is a hundred, a thousand times more than anything I have ever done for Sirius."

Elizabeth smiled softly as she looked at him. "Well, Sirius seems to have forgiven you."

Remus laughed and took a bite of the sandwich. He suddenly began to miss Sirius.

"You don't have to worry about Anastasia," he tried to reassure her. "No one knows we live here, no one knows your identity. I'm sure she'll be safe."

"Her school's started last week," she continued speaking, as though she hasn't heard Remus. Her voice sounded suspiciously shaky. "And since the moment she leaves home, up until she returns, I cannot rest. I keep running scenarios in my head. What if she gets captured? What if she accidentally tells someone about us? I just –" she halted and took a deep breath, rubbing her face with her hands. "I'm sorry for bothering you," she said after a long pause, her voice low. "I just need to talk to someone about it, and I thought you might understand."

Remus pressed his lips, feeling awful all of a sudden. Sirius and Robbie have been so caught up in their own battles that they have completely failed to acknowledge the turmoils Elizabeth must be going through. She sighed and stood up, not giving him a chance to speak. He opened his mouth to say something to assure her, when they heard the sound of the front door opening and both whipped their heads around towards the kitchen entrance.

Abandoning his sandwich, Remus rushed out and sprinted across the hall before he came face to face with Sirius and Robbie, although the latter was practically invisible to him at the moment.

He halted a few feet from Sirius, suddenly embarrassed. He smiled abashedly as the latter gave him a curious look. "Hi," he said.

Remus stepped towards him. "Hi."

"I didn't think you'd be awake." Sirius took off his shoes and stood close in front of him, very close. Out of the corner of his eyes, Remus saw Robbie smirking as he ventured into the house, giving them enough space to catch up. Sirius slid his arms around his waist. "Have you eaten?"

"Y-yes," answered Remus quietly. Technically he has. He has taken two bites of his sandwich. "How did your meeting go?"

Sirius made a face and pulled back from him. "We'll talk about work later. Let's go to bed. I'm tired."

Remus smiled and complied. They went up to their bedroom, where Sirius changed and flopped onto the bed. He looked happy, or rather, as happy as he could get under present circumstances. Remus joined him under the covers, hesitating slightly as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Sirius, I was talking to Elizabeth just before you came," he said. "I think –"

But he was interrupted as Sirius pressed a finger to his lips, cutting him off. "First tell me. Can this conversation wait until tomorrow?"

Remus frowned in confusion. "I suppose –"

"Then we talk about it tomorrow." Sirius snuggled close to him and rested his head over his chest. "I'm sorry, Remmy. I just really want to sleep. I've met Alice and Frank after such a long time, and I had a great time with Neville. I want to go to bed with good thoughts and happiness in my head. I have forgotten what it feels like."

Remus wasn't very eager to let the matter go, as he thought it was rather serious. But seeing his boyfriend so happy, he decided to wait until tomorrow. A true, blissful smile in Sirius's face was a rare blessing indeed.

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