Chapter Text
Remus’s POV
Remus slept horribly that night. Since the conversation, Sirius hadn’t uttered a word to him and instead went over to the girls, being his usual arrogant self. All of his worries and concerns were surfacing as his mind came up with all the worst-case scenarios, even extreme, that could happen from a single noise. Not only that, but he couldn’t stop replaying the wide eyes, the pale face, the.. Everything. Remus slept awfully that night.
So once the first glimpses of sunlight dipped through the windows, he felt a quick sense of relief and practically threw himself out of the bed. He wanted to avoid people at the beginning of the morning, not feeling fully energetic or himself, so quietly he took himself outside the cabin and began walking. Once he was at a good distance from the cabin area, he dug around in his trouser pockets and took out a single cigarette stolen from Sirius - I’ll repay him, he thought - and a matchbox he carried with him everywhere. Lighting it, Remus sat himself down on the dock overlooking the lake that practically stretched for miles and gently chucked small pebbles into the water, watching as the ripples would tremble for a moment before stilling again. He felt it seemed quite reminiscent of his state whenever his emotions acted up. Smoke filtered around him in gentle clumps, being carried away by the morning breeze - it was slightly chillier than usual, causing Remus’s skin to prick up. He felt something coming.
“Put that disgusting thing out at once, Remus!” a voice squealed from behind him, startling Remus.
He turned around to see Lily Evans, the girl James was infatuated with. Remus always liked Lily, she was gentle and sweet, and loved by all of the campers by how she always made things enjoyable. Lily was in charge of the banquets and parties hosted by the camp counsellors
Remus smiled sweetly and quickly put the cigarette out on the word, causing a sigh to come from Lily. She sat down next to him, looking out to the lake as well.
“I always love early mornings, I find them to be so relaxing, don’t you?” she spoke, a gentleness always in her voice.
Remus shrugged and mumbled, “Yeah, I guess.”
She hummed softly in reply, resting her head on Remus’s shoulder and relaxing. Remus never really knew how to act with physical touch, he didn’t hate it but he didn’t love it either, to him it was just awkward and unnecessary. But, he never rejected it, at least not immediately.
Remus yawned and looked down, sensing Lily’s eyes now on him.
“Did you sleep?” she questioned, making a point to look at the dark circles under his eyes.
“A bit.”
She frowned, lifting her head and turning to face him, “Is everything okay Remus? You know you can always talk to me.”
“Yeah I know, cheers Lily,” Remus forced a smile, looking back at her to hopefully avoid any more suspicion. She simply squinted and furrowed her brows, then decided to leave it with a sigh.
In the distance, the sun began to rise more, casting its golden glow onto the camp. Remus could hear the forest become alive with birds and animals making their noises, as the first few campers began to stir. He wanted to go and check on Sirius, but he wasn’t sure if he should or not after last night. Luckily, he didn’t have to, as Remus looked behind to see James strutting up to his and Sirius’s cabin, knocking on the door.
“Wakey wakey, Black!” he grinned, hands on his hips.
Lily groaned and rolled her eyes, but had a soft smile, watching too.
Soon after the knocking, a begrudged camper opened the door, looking at James and mumbling something incoherent before letting James inside. They could already hear the groan and complaints from Sirius.
“He’s so immature, he knew what he was signing up for! He should learn responsibility,” Lily utters, expecting Remus to back her up.
But Remus stayed quiet, ignoring her remark and just looked back at the forest as his chest tightened with uncertainty. Noticing this and sensing Remus’s wish to be alone, Lily got up, saying goodbye to Remus before walking over to Mary.
“Sirius, get up!” James called from the cabin that many frustrated campers were currently filtering out of.
Sighing, Remus got up and dragged himself to the cabin reluctantly, not really wanting to deal with all of this right now. However, Sirius is a bitch to wake up and usually requires a whole squad to get him up. Plus, he was desperate to get a gist of how he was supposed to be acting today.
“I hate you all,” he grumbled from under his covers, attempting to kick at James and failing miserably.
“And we love you too, now get up.”
Groan.
“Sirius,” Remus spoke up.
Sirius lifted his head now, looking at Remus pleadingly before sighing and finally dragging himself out of the bed. He was pouting and got ready in silence, which caused James and Remus to glance at each other.
“James!” a smaller voice called out from the doorway.
They both turned around to see Peter and grinned.
“Hey, Pete! The kids get up alright?” James asked.
“Perfectly. Sirius up?”
“Yup. Took about 100 years,” snorted Remus, rolling his eyes.
Sirius looked back at the sound of his name and stuck two fingers up at him. Remus pulled a face back, making an effort to avoid looking at his chest.
“Anyways, the bell is about to go off,” Peter smiled, looking between them all.
☆☆☆
Once they reached the mess hall, the group sat down on the bench and began their usual morning chatter.
“I’m absolutely knackered, I could barely sleep last night,” groaned Sirius, dramatically shoving his plate of food to the side before putting his head on the table.
“Up all night wanking off or something?” teased James, smirking and glancing at Mary who simply scowled at him.
“Ha ha, piss off,” Sirius scoffs.
In an attempt to calm things down, Remus smiled slightly and mumbled, “I couldn’t sleep either. Stupid foxes outside our cabin.”
“I heard those animals are terrifying at night,” perked up Peter, smiling, “especially the sounds they make. It’s truly something else.”
Remus and Sirius glanced at each other nervously, as Sirius opened his mouth to begin speaking.
“Act-”
“I didn’t even think we had foxes here at camp, I’ve never seen one before,” Marlene interrupted, putting her fork down and wiping her mouth to remove the jam surrounding her lips.
“You’re also blind as a fuckin’ bat.”
Scoffing, Marlene chucked a small piece of bread at Sirius, who was smirking and somehow managed to effortlessly catch the piece in his mouth, mumbling as he chewed, “Why thank you.”
“Can you both act somewhat normal today, please?” Lily asked, looking between them both with a raised eyebrow.
“Can’t make no promises, Evans,” Sirius shot her a playful, albiet tired, grin.
“Yeah, 'cause Sirius is a twat.”
“Takes one to know one.”
“OKAY!” James interrupted loudly and sharply, banging his hands on the table. Immediately everyone turned to face him, some with confused expressions, others with annoyed and some with pleased (Lily and Remus). He continued, “I think we should discuss how to get back at the Slytherins for beating us in Quidditch yesterday.”
“Not everyone cares about Quidditch as much as you, James,” Mary groaned begrudgingly, resting her head on her hand.
“Well. It’s not a matter of Quidditch, Mary, it’s a matter of the Slytherins,” scoffed James, eyes wide with confidence and enthusiasm.
“James has a point there,” Sirius mumbled, shrugging and playing with his food.
Remus found that Sirius and James became unbearable when they dissolved into the talk of quidditch, despite it being such a ridiculous game in his opinion. Peter agreed with him. However, once they started, they could never stop talking about it. Each time he tried to catch Sirius’s eye to give some sort of recognition to last night, he was too engrossed in his talk.
“I still can’t believe you’d rather choose the rope-death-betrayal-course thing over this,” James scoffed, ruffling his hair.
“It’s not deadly, you know.”
“Practically is. Whatever, it’s just crazy to me,” he shook his head, sighing in defeat.
“If we’re talking about crazy, let’s talk about how Remus picked the most boring activities ever,” chuckled Peter, looking at Remus with a forgiving look.
Remus pouted, feeling attacked for no reason and kicked Peter’s foot playfully, “I just take pride in relaxation.”
Sirius snorted, hiding his face in his hands.
“What?” Remus whined, looking at him confused.
For a second, Sirius smiled at Remus apologetically, holding the stare for a fleeting moment before shaking his head and returning to his heated conversation about quidditch with James.
“Sorry,” whispered Peter.
“Don’t worry about it, Pete,” he smiled at Peter, “Are you joining James in quidditch today?”
He shook his head, “I’m teaching canoeing today. What about you?”
“Archery. I think.. Pandora is joining me.”
“Is she the girl from Ravenclaw?”
“I think so, I’ve heard she's really nice, gentle.”
“Just your type, then?” Peter chuckled quietly, elbowing him playfully.
Remus looked down and his smile faltered in return, but kept quiet. He never really had a ‘type’ when it came to girls, something he never understood. It was made worse by the fact he was fully aware of how active his best friends were, (even having walked in on Sirius once..), yet he just had no interest in it. He had kissed a girl before, yes, but he couldn’t remember the name of her no matter what - it was just some random girl from his school who fancied him - all he knew was that he didn’t really enjoy it. It was too wet, uncomfortable and he had to bend down just to reach her.
Remus really hated when his thoughts began.
Soon though, the quidditch banter had ended and the morning activities commenced. Sirius and Marlene had taken their group to the forest where the ropes course was located, earning Remus a nervous glance from Sirius as he walked away. James, Peter and the girls had each left for their own respective locations, leaving Remus to the lake.
☆☆☆
James’ POV
James had soon arrived at the makeshift pitch that was to the far right of the camp, tucked away behind trees and flowers galore. He always felt relaxed here, and he wished his parents could see it as they would love the scenery it has to offer. Today, he was on his own to teach the Gryffindors as Peter chose to teach canoeing today, which he was perfectly content with.
The kids began to filter in onto the pitch, chattering happily between themselves and looking around in awe at the hoops that stretched far above them. Within the crowd was a small group of much less interested boys, who seemed as if they had been forced to do this against their will. Two of the boys were wearing matching sap green shirts with black stripes on the collar, while one of them instead had a dark bluey-purple shirt on, the only other difference between them was the personalised names on the back: “Rosier”, “Crouch”, and “Black”.
James blinked and looked up to see Regulus Black’s pale face and cold, desaturated blue eyes staring back at him.
He cleared his throat, reducing the stammer he felt coming on and grinned, “Wanting to change teams, are we boys?”
The three scoff and roll their eyes as the other campers turn to face them.
“Fu-” ‘Crouch’ had started.
Regulus put his hand in front of the scruffy-haired kid's chest and spoke calmly, “No, but the counsellor who teaches me and Evan hasn’t turned up yet, neither has Barty’s.”
“I see. Whose your counsellor?” James asked, tilting his head.
“My cousin, Narcissa. I forgot the other one's name, too unimportant.”
James sighed, knowing she was a lost cause and likely was off with Lucius Malfoy right now. So, he just nodded and said with as little annoyance as he could, “Right. Well, you’ll have to work with us then today.”
Collectively the campers groaned and crossed their arms, eliciting Crouch to put his fingers up at them.
“Oi. Behave.”
Regulus clipped the boy round the ear and sighed, “His names Barty. This one is Evan. And I’m-”
“Regulus. I know, not cause I’m stalking you or whatever- I mean you are my best friends little brother, so like how could I not?” James chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck and then readjusting his glasses.
The boy just stared at him.
Feeling incredibly awkward, James broke up the silence and clapped his hands loudly, starting to announce the rules of the games and instructing the campers how to play. This went on for a while, as Barty and Evan continuously made interruptions or comments over various different things James was saying - even though none of it was actually incorrect. He had begun to understand that they were doing it to get under James’ skin, and it worked for a while, but he soon learnt their plan and resorted to simply ignoring them outright.
Eventually, the game began. Despite Barty being on a separate team, he chose to join his mates on the Slytherin team. It was a particularly difficult game, much to the fault of the three ‘troublemakers’, and James was quick to realise who the leader of the group was - Regulus. He was similar to Sirius in his looks, with his defined features and enchantingly blue eyes, yet much colder than Sirius’s were as if they rejected any slight emotion or light to enter them. His hair was much shorter, and neatly combed through, but the odd curl still stuck up or drooped down to his face in a frenzy to stand out - and it did. His looks were similar, but so different to Sirius’s in every way; Sirius was handsome, there was no doubt about that, but Regulus looked ethereal. Regulus’s quiet, intimidating demeanour was another stark contrast to his paired overly confident, cocky brothers’ that James had grown used to. James always understood that Sirius had a love-hate relationship with his brother, even if he was never truly sure why, it was one of the first things he’d mentioned when they first met - how much he loved his brother. But, if it wasn’t for the fact James already knew Regulus in that way, he never would’ve known he had a brother, for he didn’t mention him or even reference him a single time as if Sirius didn’t exist to him. It felt so strange.
“Potter. Oi, are you zoned out or something? Jesus.”
James broke out of his thoughts to see the boy he was just thinking about staring down at him. God, he despised that Regulus was taller.
“Sorry. Everything good, mate? You were doing great there,” James spoke with a smile.
Regulus blinked at James for a moment then looked away, crossing arms and replying with a mumble, “The game’s over.”
“Oh. Who won?”
“Are you fuckin’ stupid?” Barty barked back, glaring at him and arm wrapped around Evan, “We won, dumbass.”
“Hey, watch your tone. I am still the adult here and can get you a strike put on.”
“Oh boo-hoo,” he mocked, putting on a pout and pretending to cry.
James looked back at Regulus, who was utterly unbothered by all of this, and who was attempting to not look at James right now.
“You’re as good as Sirius, you know,” James chuckled lightly, attempting to start a conversation back up.
He scowled at that and finally looked back at him, “I’m better than him.”
As if on cue, the sound of Sirius shouting from the distance erupted as another kid squealed. They both watched as a both terrified and excited camper flew down the zip line, smiling big and laughing as the wind attacked them. Sirius’s voice was cheering them on as Marlene was waiting to catch them at the bottom. James noticed as Regulus’s eyes followed every step Sirius took, a mix of something unexplainable - admiration, resentment, pain - flickering across his face like a broken tape.
“Dumbass!” Evan’s voice cut through the air, grabbing James's attention.
“You gonna let us play again or just stand there drooling like a mindless idiot?” Barty scowled.
Quickly James nodded and focused back on the pitch, “Right, yes. Let me set the pitch up again,” he sighed, trying to ignore Barty’s remark even if stung a little.
Behind him, Regulus continued to stay seemingly unbothered, leaning against one of the quidditch goalposts. However, despite his front, James caught him once again glancing over at Sirius’s area again, unreadable, but it was clear he was feeling something that hurt him. Seeing the strained relationship between the two in person, despite the distance they have, was something so different from simply hearing it from his friend.
The game soon came to an end as James blew his whistle, wiping the sweat from his forehead and grinning. As the campers scattered, filled with excitement and adrenaline rushing through their bodies, James continued to focus on the star behind him, bored and distant.
“You played well,” James spoke slowly and carefully, stepping closer to Regulus and trying to act casual.
Regulus’s cold eyes flickered to look up at him, squinting and trying to work out what James was doing here.
“What do you want?” he spoke, deadpanned and making it very clear he wasn’t interested.
James sighed but pushed further, “I just wanted to congratulate you on winning. Both rounds. You could be a captain next year.”
This seemed to strike a chord in Regulus as he straightened up and stayed silent for a moment before speaking coldly, “Maybe.”
The Blacks were similar in almost every way, but while Sirius was a star of fire and recklessness, Regulus was a star of ice and precision. And James was desperate to know more.
He searched for something else to say, looking at Regulus carefully and studying him. Before he could come up with words, Sirius’s voice called out from one of the tree canopies, echoing to the pitch.
“Hey James!” he shouted, grinning, “Wanna join us on a hike? Remus is leading it.”
Regulus's jaw tensed up at the sound of the voice, flickering to look at it with a glare.
“YEAH!”
Sirius waved then turned around, climbing down the wooden ladder from afar.
“I should go then,” James said, feeling an itch to stay with Regulus and hesitating, “So, uh.. Well done. Bye.”
Regulus didn’t respond, just turning away from James and sauntering off to his friends.
James made his way back to the camp to meet the others, unsure what this ‘hike’ would be just yet.
He was still contemplating and replaying the conversation with Regulus, feeling himself admire the looks of the boy shamelessly - how his hair was styled, how his eyes were silent yet had so many emotions in them at the same time. He knew that he was named after a star, all of the Black family was, and he understood it so clearly now as to why.
Once again, Sirius’s voice cut through his thoughts, calling out closer, “Oi! You coming or what?”
James looks up to see Sirius jogging towards him, a mischievous grin on his face. His hair was tousled and more messier than usual due to the increase in wind as the morning progressed, but the rest of him was immaculate. Behind him was Marlene, looking just as suspicious as Sirius was.
“Yeah, yeah, m’coming,” James nods, catching up to them, “Where’s Remus and Peter?”
“Gathering some campers,” Marlene replied, coming to a stop, “You good?”
“Yeah, why?”
“You look dazed.”
“He’s probably dreaming about Evans~” Sirius teased, smirking and hooking his arm around James’s shoulder.
He chuckles and says half-heartedly, nodding, “Alright shut it.”
Sirius just started to walk back to Marlene, taking James along with him, “C’mon, Remus’ll be waiting for us,” he said, a wide grin on his face as he caught up to Marlene.
“So what’s with the random hike anyways?”
He shrugged, seeming a little dazed after that question but continuing to hold onto James’s arm like they usually did. “Me and Remus just wanted to do something to fill up the empty time, so Marlene came up with a path and yeah.” Sirius looked behind him as if paranoid, scanning the area furtively before turning to face James, and once again putting on a confident yet fake smile.
James furrowed his brows, unsure whether to question what was up with him. He gently squeezed Sirius’s arm, watching him for any sign of response, but there was nothing. Sirius was distracted, and James was going to find out why. Maybe he saw him with Regulus and got jealous? That wasn’t like him though, and he has seen Sirius when he’s jealous and it is not a pretty look, and most definitely not a quiet look on him. However, there was most definitely something plaguing his mind.
The first person they saw was Peter, who was crouched down to tie up his shoelaces for his muddy, worn-out walking boots. As a group, (although they were down a Marlene who had gotten distracted watching Mary teach swimming lessons), they waited for the few campers actually interested in hiking to arrive, along with Remus. James wasn’t too sure why, but he had a slight hope that the younger Black would show up to tag along - even though James could tell he was most definitely a ‘not get my hands dirty’ sort of guy. He couldn’t be upset at that though, Sirius was the exact same when they first met, utterly and obnoxiously posh in every way, believing he was too good for anything. He knew Regulus would never turn up, but he wanted to learn more about him, about the star that was so intriguingly bright.
“Alright, you lot!”
Remus’s voice slowly getting louder took James out of his obsessive thoughts, as the group of kids turned up with excited faces and fully geared up in hiking gear.
“Jesus, Remus, are we going on a week hike or something?” James chuckled, scratching his head and rubbing his nose.
Remus shook his head and replied with sincerity, “You can never be too prepared, who knows what could happen.”
“Ahh! You’ve cursed us all, Remus!!” squealed Sirius, dramatically putting his hand over his chest and dropping to the floor, erupting laughter from all the kids.
“Get up, you freak,” Remus said, staring right at him.
Quickly Sirius scrambled up and straightened up, putting his hand to his head to mock a soldier salute, commanding a ‘Yes sir!’. More laughter.
Sirius prided himself in putting on a silly, reckless act for anyone who wasn’t Peter, Remus or James - and even then he still sometimes forgot about not needing it. He never got embarrassed and would do anything to make people laugh, because that's what he wanted most, to be someone people like and look up to. He felt like he wasn’t worth the trouble he'd been through if he couldn’t be the light in somebody else's life, in everyone’s life. Unfortunately, that irritated the people who didn’t understand who he was.
“Mr Black?” one of the younger girls spoke softly, looking up at Sirius and tugging on his shirt, “Is it gonna be scary out there?”
He smiled and crouched down to her, shaking his head before speaking in a gentle, comforting tone which starkly contrasted his usual voice, “Nah, I’ll protect you. And so will Remus, and James and Peter, everyone here will make sure you do not get hurt.” Sirius turned around and tapped his back, allowing the girl to climb onto his shoulders before standing back up, his hands holding onto her legs to keep her steady.
James noticed how Remus looked at him and this sweet act, his eyes softening and focused on only Sirius and what he was doing, every movement he made. He had a smile on his face, one he never saw unless it had to do with Sirius, but it quickly vanished just as quickly as it appeared once he focused back on the moment.
“Right, let’s get started then, yeah? We’ve got a forest to conquer,” Remus commanded, hauling up one of the heavier bags and throwing it onto his back with a grunt.
“So where are we heading, Remus?” asked James, as a request from a camper.
He glanced back at James, then made a quick, pointed look to Sirius before replying, “There’s this overlook, about in the center of the forest. It’s gorgeous, and has an insanely beautiful view. It should take an hour or two to reach, but it’s quite an easy trail. As long as we all stick to the path, we’ll be there in no time.” Remus came to a halt and turned round to face the campers, speaking sternly, “Stay on the path. Alright? There are wild animals in the forest, so its best to be safe. No one does anything without being accompanied by one of the counsellors.” Once again, he looked straight at Sirius, holding it a bit longer than before.
Sirius’s POV
Sirius stared back at him, squinting slightly and attempting to understand what he was getting across. Quickly he shook it off though as Remus started to walk, making light conversation with Peter and holding an old, worn out map.
“So, uh, I saw you were with Reg today,” Sirius mumbled, now walking to the side of James and occasionally looking at him.
“Oh-!” James looked at Sirius quickly, a surprised look on his face before nodding, “Yeah, he was doing quidditch and the Slytherin captain, your cousin, wasn’t there, so.. I said he had to work with us. That alright?”
“‘Course. You have my sympathies, though,” Sirius chuckles.
“He wasn’t too bad, actually. I mean, yeah, he was arrogant and cold, but that wasn’t too different from you a few years ago,” he peered at Sirius carefully to see his reaction to this. His face twitched slightly with a hint of pain, or anger, but quickly relaxed back to no expression.
Sirius scoffs, “Well atleast I co-operated. But yeah, he’s not bad at all. I’m glad he was civil with you, atleast.”
“I really don’t see why you hate him,” James drew out cautiously.
Sirius came to a quick halt, staring right at James, his eyes narrowed, “I don’t hate him.”
“I didn’t mean it like that- Sorry,” he sighed, kicking at the dirt beneath his feet.
Sirius dips his head slightly before taking a heavy breath and starting to stroll again, shoving his hands in his pockets. They were both now at the back of the group, stalling behind a little as the light began to dim around them all.
Slowly, he began to speak again, “It’s not that I hate him. I love that idiot with my heart, I’d do anything for him. But he’s an utter twat, and he tries so hard to please my parents and lets me take the fuckin’ blame for everything. Have I ever let him take it before? No, absolutely not. I couldn’t do that to him. But, he’s ratted on me before. That’s what I hate. He’s my parents’ perfect little son, the one they wish was the oldest. I just.. Sometimes I just wish the roles were reversed, y’know? Sometimes I wonder what it’s like to have that affection from my mum or my dad, or even to be liked by my nuisances of cousins. It must be great.” Sirius paused and glanced at James sheepishly, before chuckling and mumbling a quick ‘Sorry’.
“I think he wants the same as you, to have the roles reversed,” James replied with a gentle tone, avoiding to watch Sirius as he knows he doesn’t like the confrontation of looking at eachother. “Everytime you spoke, or I mentioned you, he’d react. Sometimes negatively, but there was a chance of hope in there, like he wanted you to just come over and hug him- No, probably not hug him-”
Sirius laughed, tilting his head back and shook his head, “Definitely not hug him.”
“Either way. He looks up to you, I can tell, but it’s whether he wants too that I’m unsure of. Have you talked to him recently?”
“I tried to yesterday, but he was dragging on and on and wouldn’t get his point across. Remus interrupted us and then he just.. Ran away.”
James furrowed his brows and questioned, “Ran away?”
“Mhm,” Sirius nodded, still just eyeing the ground, “He went to the woods or something. I don’t know, it’s not completely unusual of him.” He chuckled sadly and ran his hand through his hair, “When he was younger, y’know, he had this, um, little fort thing. It was like a treehouse, I think. We called it “SRs Canopy”, like a ship but not, if that makes any sense. It was really rickety and unstable, but we loved it so much. I had stashed a bunch of snacks there, and whenever we could we’d sneak up our favourite tapes and a dingy old cassette player, and we’d just fuck around and dance, sing badly.. It was like a home away from home, even if it was just in our backyard. It’s gone now, anyways.”
“What happened to it?” James had a soft smile as he imagined it, finding it incredibly sweet.
Sirius shrugged, breathing out through his words, “Dunno. I was away at a family friends, came back and it wasn’t there anymore. Reg wouldn’t speak to me for a week.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
There was a heavy silence between them as that once gentle, nostalgic moment was quickly overrun. As the group ventured deeper in the forest, everything seemed to have shifted. The light was little as it filtered through the dense branches reaching above them, creating a sort of kaleidoscope of different brightnesses on the ground below. It was far from silent, as each step someone took was accompanied by the crack of twigs or the simple ‘squish’ of the blades of grass, amplified by the mass of footsteps. Sirius and Remus were continuously on high alert, scanning the darkness encompassing them in case that same noise was heard again; while the others were unaware and mindless to the truth. The air was thick and palpable, hanging over them in a seemingly suffocating way. Any glimpse of the sky was no different to what was surrounding them, tinged with a deep grey that stretched far across.
Soon they reached an opening that was truly breathtaking, everything that Remus had promised them it would be. Everything was basked in a golden, angelic glow of the nearing twilight, the leaves reaching down in an array of green, with the few specks of colours twirling around it. Across the blanket of grass were wildflowers, scattered across but so full of life and atmosphere, a vibrant display of violets, yellows and gorgeous blues - blues just like Sirius’s eyes. It was a true sanctuary, a place untouched by the darkness and emotions that the surrounding ‘escape’ brought to the minds of the youth. Life was bright here.
In the centre, towering above all, was a lone, yet perfectly substantial tree. A twisted being that crushed its roots into the ground with such force that surrounding was a variation of cracks and twists. It’s trunk was gnarled and warped in different directions, each branch breaking its way through the air and threatening any movement around them. While drastically contrasting to the serenity of the picturesque setting, it was accompanied with the few peculiar dashes of colours which marked the previous meetings of groups from camp.
“Hey, I’ve been here before!” Sirius grinned, looking around with familiarity.
“Clearly,” James snorted, raising his eyebrow and pointing at the carved initials on the trunk of the tree, “S and B?”
“Oh my god,” Sirius gasped, rushing over quickly. His face was the pure demonstration of appalled, staring at it with wide eyes as his mouth fell open slightly.
Peter crossed over to them both, giggling at the sight of the badly scrawled in, “S + B” with a love heart surrounding it, faint now with age but still there, and obvious. “Whose B? I don’t remember a girl starting with B,” he questioned, pursing his lips in thought.
“It doesn’t matter,” Sirius grumbled, arms crossed and pouting excessively. If it wasn’t mistaken, it could be said Sirius was slightly redder than usual.
“No, it does, tell us!! Who is this mystery girl you had relations with?” James now giggled, grabbing onto Sirius and intrigued.
A few campers also gathered around to peer and whisper about it. Remus stood to the side, watching from afar as his shoulders tensed up and the map was now crumpled in his harsh grip.
Embarrassed, Sirius shook his head and pushed James away, exclaiming in defense and raising his arms, “I don’t remember! I probably was..” he trailed off, glancing at the young kids.
“Mhmmm, c’mon Siriussss!”
Remus cut in sharply, glaring at the group and his jaw clenched, “He doesn’t want to answer, leave him the fuck alone, yeah?”
They all stared at him with a mix of surprise and confusion, but Sirius was grateful, holding the gaze for a minute. Remus stayed how he was though, staring through Sirius and numb in a sense.
“Yeah,” James breathed out, rubbing his knuckles, “Sorry Remus.”
“Sorry,” whispered Peter.
After a few moments of awkward, heavy silence, a gasp broke it. Despite the clear rules, one of the campers had wandered off into the mist and accidentally tripped over a fallen branch, cutting her knee in the process. Remus and Sirius rushed over, crouching down by her side. Dark streaks of crimson trickled down her knee, leading to a grisly gash that cut deep into her knee; the exposed underskin was wet and raw. The small, braided-haired girl from earlier was crying into Sirius’s arm, gripping at his camp-shirt and leaving a few small stains of blood.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing too bad..” Remus grimaced as he gently patted it down with some cotton pads from the first aid kit, “It will hurt though.”
She sobbed out, her voice trembling and pained, “I-I’m sorry!”
Remus sighed, glancing up and giving her a soft, comforting smile before reaching out to rub her arm, “It’ll be okay. Wanna tell us why you wandered off?”
“Remus-”
“No, Caitlyn, please tell us. Did you see something?”
She sniffled and scrunched her nose to try prevent to incoming of a runny nose, taking in sharp breaths between each word, “Ye- yeah, um.. It said my- my name."
“Who did?”
“I don’t know.. It was too dark,” Caitlyn’s voice broke in sobs and sniffles, holding onto Sirius even tighter as his face flushed with pity and concern.
Sirius made eye contact with Remus, who was just as concerned as he was. Was what we heard really just an animal, Sirius found himself panicking and swallowing more frequently. It was clearly something. There was a chance that Caitlyn was imagining it, but the cut was very real and very painful, so what’s to say the figure wasn’t. And it said her name? How didn’t they hear it? Remus notices Sirius’s thoughts spiralling and reached out to tap him gently on his palm, once, twice, and then a third time. It was a method Remus had began to use, something only he did to calm and readjust Sirius’s anxiety. Like always, Sirius’s face finally softened, nodding slightly at Remus to show they’re okay before picking up Caitlyn carefully.
"We’ll take you to infirmary, get you all fixed up and back to normal in time. Mrs Pomfrey works wonders,” Remus reassured her.
James shouts out from the opening, “Everything okay back there??”
“Yeah! We’re coming,” Remus shouts back, sighing and getting up with a grunt, hand on his leg.
“Is your leg still an issue?” Sirius asked, looking at Remus and steadying the girl on his back.
He sighed and nodded, “It’s nothing though, please don’t worry.”
Sirius chuckled and elbowed him in the arm, “Maybe we ought to take you to the infirmary as well.”
They both, with Caitlyn on Sirius’s back, made their way back to the group. Remus handed James the map to ensure he could make his own way back before leaving to follow the trail back to the campsite with Sirius. On the way, Caitlyn had fallen asleep and Sirius was using all his strength to hold her up on his back. Soon enough, they reached the infirmary that was off the edge of the camp and got Pomfrey sorted with the injury.
“What happened, boys?” she questioned harshly, staring at them both with a raised eyebrow.
“She strolled off the trail and fell, it was purely an accident, that’s all,” Remus spoke calmly, following this story to ensure no worry is brought up.
Pomfrey sighed as she wrapped a bandage round Caitlyn’s knee with precision and care, not wanting to wake her up during the process. She pursed her lips, then clicked her tongue before looking back up, “Well go on then, off you go.”
“Thank you,” Sirius spoke quickly and dragged Remus out with him.
Jesus, way to make a ‘non-suspicious’ impression, Sirius. Everything okay?” He chuckled nervously, but still genuinely concerned.
Sirius came to a halt and breathes out, “What if we heard someone, like an actual person. Should we be… worried?”
“No. Yes, I- I don’t know,” he sighed, hesitating and unsure what to say, “We could be overthinking it all.”
“No, I know when somethings off,” Sirius paused, drumming his fingers against his arm repeatedly, “I’m gonna talk to Reg again.”
Sirius breathed out deeply and headed straight to the cabin Regulus was staying in, his shoulders tensed up. He knew what he was doing, and he committed to it.