Ink and Parchment ~ blood and bone

65- What Happens In the common room & A riddle interlude

“Blaise?” Remus called, softly rapping on the door “Can I come in?”

There was a muffled shout from inside and the door unlocked itself, swinging open to let Remus step inside the room. They had decorated it with Blaise last summer, cream coloured walls and ebony shelves holding the majority of Blaise’s possessions.

Blaise himself was sat on the windowsill, legs dangling outside the open window as he stared down at the street outside. Walking over Remus hoisted himself up on the other side, joining the boy in watching the street down below.

“Bad day?”

Blaise nodded mutely and Remus gave the boy his silence, not pressuring him into speaking.

“My mother has a bit of a reputation, of killing her husbands” Blaise said in an airy tone, fists clenching slightly “The reputation isn’t a lie”

“You’re here now” Remus said, wanting nothing more than to just pull Blaise in for a hug “With us, and Eliza – nothing can get you here”

“I saw her kill one of them once – he had always been so nice to me”

Remus wanted to kill the woman. These kids, his kids, didn’t deserve anything that had happened to them. He had always been protective of his friends growing up, had even tried to curse Sirius’ mother once, now he was even worse.

“I know it’s stupid but I just keep seeing it happen over and over in my brain and I always used to wonder when is she going to get sick of me? When am I the one who’s going to have poison in their cup? And-

Blaise took a shuddering breath, leaning further out the window to take a gulp of the fresh air “I’m sorry”

“Blaise?” Remus asked and waited until the boy tuned to look at him, dark eyes shining wetly and Remus felt his heart break “Is it okay if I hug you?”

Blaise blinked in surprise before drawing his legs back inside the house giving a tiny nod of his head. Remus didn’t waste a moment and jumped down to wrap his arms around the boy. Blaise shuddered in his hold, gripping onto his sweater and Remus didn’t mention the tears dampening his shoulder. Merely murmured soft words of comfort as he held Blaise closer. When was the last time an adult had given a damn about this kid? When was the last time Blaise had anything resembling a parent?

Eventually Blaise’s silent cries came to a stop but Remus made no move to pull away.

“Eliza and Sirius are out all day today – how about we have a little adventure of our own?”

Blaise pulled away, looking at him with a slightly guarded look that pulled at Remus’ heartstrings.

“What do you want to do?”

“Well” Remus said brightly “You like the garden right? And Eliza mentioned you’re always climbing the trees at Hogwarts so I say we go out and make a tree-house”

Blaise smiled slightly rubbing at the back of his neck “I’ve never made a tree-house before”

Remus grinned “There’s no time like the present, now come on – we can even ban Sirius from it”

Blaise let out a startled little laugh and Remus smiled smugly at the thought of cheering him up.

He’d go to hell and back for these kids – even if they were all war criminals.

~

By the time Tom decided to visit Eliza it was already dark. Night had captured Eliza’s street in a sleepy haze, separating it from the rest of maddeningly busy London. It was quiet here, walking down the empty streets – it made Tom feel like he was the only person awake in the world. Except for the light coming from Eliza’s bedroom window, the golden light warming the night beyond it.