Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast

*

Tears of Night

*

"Moony, what the hell has happened?" James asked, his eyes wide with shock. He stared at his friend, who had only a sheet around him, his face wet with tears and lips trembling.

To his great surprise and horror Remus broke down, falling on his bed crying and sobbing.

"Shh, calm down, Moony, it's okay," he murmured, trying to close the smaller Marauder in his arms. This movement, however, made Remus flinch backwards.

A sudden realisation started to dawn him. He stared at the other boy in horror, his mouth closing and opening, not knowing what to say.

Remus verified his fears with a nod and the words he dreaded to hear, "I - I was - I was raped, Prongs!" Then he cried even more than before.

The bespectacled boy felt his heart clenching in his chest. "And you - you marked that bastard, didn't you?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Remus merely nodded, trying to wipe off the tears with his wrist, failing miserably.

"Who was it? Some Slytherin, right?" he asked, fury raising in him. "Sirius will surely kill that monster, if I don't get him first!"

"I doubt he will," Remus mumbled bitterly.

James stared at him. "Remus - it wasn't Sirius, was it?" he asked in pure shock.

Very slowly, Remus nodded.

James clenched his hands in fists. "I will kill him," he vowed. "My best friend or not, I will kill him. He has no right to do this to you!"

"He said he was only taking what was rightfully his," Remus whispered, his gaze fixed at his hands that were fiddling in his lap. "That I was his, and no one other would ever touch me."

"He had no right to do that," James repeated firmly. "He lost all his rights over you at the same second as he touched you without your permission."

"Maybe you're right." Remus sounded uncertain. He still didn't stop crying.

"I am," he said firmly. "Believe me, Moony, he was a pure bastard to do that to you. And I will show it to him."

"No!" Remus exclaimed. "Don't do anything to him, Prongs. Please."

James stared at him, in shock. "You're not serious, are you?" he asked. "He raped you, for Merlin's sake! And forced you to mate with him! Do you know exactly how long in Azkaban you can get by raping a virgin werewolf?"

"The shortest sentence this far has been five years, eight months, and seventeen days. It was originally seven years, but he somehow managed to kill himself," Remus replied immediately. "But Sirius won't go in Azkaban. You won't tell anyone."

"WHAT?" James roared. "Are you out of your mind? If he did that once, he can - and most probably will - do it again! I won't let him flee with nothing!"

"Prongs, please," Remus said, biting his lip. "I loved Sirius, and, somehow, I still do. His life would be destroyed. If he gets expelled, he'll never get any job - nor can he if he gets mad sitting in the Azkaban."

"So you're going to let him do it again?" James asked, outraged. "You're going to just sit and let him abuse you every night for the rest of your life?"

"You don't understand!" Remus shouted, his eyes filled with fury behind the veil of tears. "I love him! Merlin help my heart, but I love him! You can talk about forgetting him, that he doesn't deserve another change. It's so easy to you! If your lover raped you, you could go and find another, but I can't. I'm now mated with him, and thus cannot love anyone other. And I can't stop loving him, although the bond doesn't have anything to do with that." Then he buried his face in his hands, his shoulders trembling as he cried.

"Mm... What's going on?" Peter asked sleepily. He was sitting on his bed, glancing at them. "Why're you crying, Moony? And why you are in James's bed?"

"Sirius raped him," James said gloomily. "Raped him and forced him to mate with him, and this little puppy forbade me telling anyone!"

"WHAT?" Peter screamed. "You must be out of your mind, Moony! You have to tell someone! Tell Headmaster Dumbledore, he'll understand..."

"No, I won't," Remus said, swallowing his tears. "And neither will you."

"Are you afraid of him?" Peter asked. "You don't have to worry, we won't let him near you, he'll be taken care of -"

"Is it too hard to understand?" Remus spat, thus interrupting him. "Can't you understand that I still love him? I'm mad at him, right, and upset and horrified and very sad, but I still love him."

James and Peter glanced at each other. Then James placed his hand on Remus's arm very carefully, trying hard not to frighten him again. "You're a fool, Moony," he said with a sad smile. "A fool in love. If you change your mind, just tell us and we'll finish the bastard off."

"Yeah," Peter agreed. "And if he hurts you again, you can't talk us out of it. He's our friend, but so are you, and we won't let you being hurt anymore."

The werewolf nodded. "Thank you, guys," he said softly. "I appreciate your offer, believe it or not."

"No problem," James said. Then he pulled a despising face, glaring at Sirius's bed, where the topic of their conversation was sound asleep. "But don't wait us to have any interaction with him - at least not after we've yelled him deaf."

Remus opened his mouth to say something, but Peter immediately put his hand over it. "Nope, Moony, you won't talk us to anything else," he said. "We won't turn him in, if he behaves in the future, but we're certainly going to give him a lecture - and a well-deserved one."

"Okay," Remus said. "I suppose I can't turn your head in this matter." With a defeated sigh, he hid his face in his hands.

Exchanging concerned glances over the werewolf's head, Peter and James settled on both of his sides, wrapping gently their arms over his shoulders.