For Our Parents Willed So

For Our Parents Willed So

*

Settling in

*

"I want this drawer. You can have that."

"Fine, but then I want to sleep on the wall's side. You tend to toss and turn in your sleep, and I'd rather not wake up some day pushed off the bed."

...Yes, it's Remus and Peter first time in their shared room.

After the Feast, the Marauders had all went to the Gryffindor Common Room, where they'd had to give several new shows to their excited house mates. Then, McGonagall had come, asking to everyone with a fiancé outside the House to come with her. So, Peter and Remus had bid goodbyes to a nervous Sirius and a desperate James, and then slipped to their own room.

It wasn't big, no - just enough for a double-sized bed, a couple of drawers, a desk with two chairs, and a door to the bathroom. But that was far more than they'd had in their dormitory, and it was theirs, and theirs alone. The password-protected door made sure that nobody else could get inside without their permission, and the window had a rather nice view of the school grounds. All in all, they were very happy with their little room, and very happy together. It wasn't very different from their life in the dormitory, so they had no problem with settling into this changed life.

...Although they had rather good suspicions that their two friends weren't thinking along the same lines.

"Did you already have a look at our schedule?" asked Remus, searching for his school books from the trunk.

"Yeah," Peter said, "and it looks rather good, actually. All Potions are double with Slytherins, but other than that, we only have CoMC with them, and that I can handle. You, however, have also Arithmancy with them." With a quick peck on Remus's cheek, he added, "Poor guy."

"Now, now, don't get too concerned," the werewolf chuckled. "I'm sure I'll be able to handle a couple of Slytherins even without your help."

"Not necessarily," Peter said, frowning. "You know that they'll do anything to have you out of the picture before the Quidditch season begins." It wasn't too far-fetched, even. Remus, with his lycanthropic reflexes and predatory instincts, was an exceptionally good Seeker. Ever since he'd joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team, he hadn't lost a single match, and the Quidditch Cup had belonged to Gryffindor every year. Also, it was clear that Slytherins weren't afraid of harsh actions - the Ravenclaw Seeker had been attacked in a corridor last year, having to lie in the Infirmary for almost a month.

The werewolf, however, merely smiled at his fiancé's worry. "They can't very well attack me in the class," he pointed out. "And I hardly think they could beat me anyway. I may be tiny, but I'm a werewolf, I can very well beat a few Slytherins any day."

"Whatever you say," Peter said, then leant forward to peck Remus again, this time right on the lips. Wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's waist, he smiled suggestively. "What about testing our new bed immediately?" he said with a grin.

Remus grinned back. "An excellent idea," he replied.

And so, they soon forgot everything else but each other.

*

"I only have one bed," Lucius said a bit apologetically as Sirius glanced around their shared bedroom. "As neither of us is too good in Charms, it'd maybe be the best if we didn't try separating it. However, its big enough that we should be able to both sleep in it without feeling too uncomfortable."

Sirius nodded slowly. He of course knew everything there was in Lucius's quarters, nothing came as a surprise. Everything just seemed to be somehow different, now that he should be living there.

"I guess we should get unpacking," said Lucius just as the silence was getting pressuring. "The drawer on the left side of the bed is yours. I trust you to know where everything else is."

Sirius nodded again, not seeing talking necessary. Then, he set to unpacking his trunk.

On the other side of the bed, Lucius did the same.

*

"Thank Merlin," breathed Severus Snape as his onyx eyes darted around the room. "They've at least had enough sense to put two separated beds here. I'd die rather than sleep in the same bed with you."

"That can be arranged, Snape," James muttered. "But I can assure you, the feelings are mutual. I don't think there's a single more disgusting thought than having to be so near to you for the whole night."

Ah, our happy little couple in their reunion. Two beds, two drawers, a desk with chairs, and a bathroom - the new surroundings of Severus Snape and James Potter. There was nothing wrong with their room, no, the bad thing was the people they had to share it with.

...Each other.

Before leaving them to their new living quarters, McGonagall had informed them that if they fought, a week's detention for them both was to be expected. And they'd spend those detentions together. So, as much as they despised each other, they were trying to stay under line.

How long they'd manage was an entirely different question.

*

"I love you," Remus muttered, lying in a boneless heap next to his fiancé. With a soft kiss on Peter's temple, he repeated, "I love you."

"And I love you, too," Peter said with a tired smile. Then, wrapping his arms around Remus's frail body, he fell asleep.

Remus snuggled up to his fiancé's side, closed his eyes, and soon joined Peter in the land of dreams.

*

Sirius tossed and turned on his bed, not being able to find a comfortable position. The bed was strange, the room was strange, the whole situation was strange. He wasn't used to sleep next to someone, no. No matter if they had four feet of empty bed between them, he couldn't just ignore the fact that Lucius was sleeping in the same bed as he. En though they were both in their pyjamas, this kind of closeness made him feel uneasy.

Oh, Sirius was all big talk and small deeds, like most boys in his age. It wasn't like he, being already engaged, even could have really experimented with anybody else but Lucius, but he did participate to all the sex talk going on in the Common Room. There were always some younger children of families or not-engaged Halfbloods and Muggleborns who were ready to share their experiments with others, although even those were mostly lies.

In their dormitory, however, there was no sex talk. Remus and Peter, who alone actually had done something, weren't ones to brag about it. James hated even the thought of having to sleep with Snape, and Sirius, having come to think of Lucius more as a big brother than a lover, felt uneasy about it.

That was true; Lucius was more a brother or a confidant to Sirius than anything else. Some form of a friend, although in a different way than his peers. Knowing that the man was supposed to become his husband in less than two years didn't help the matter. No, rather to the opposite. If Lucius truly had been his brother, Sirius'd had no problems with sleeping in the same bed with him (although this did not apply to Regulus, who really was Sirius's brother.) However, as the Animagus knew that he was in the same bed with a man he was supposed to marry and create a family with, he found himself unable to sleep peacefully.

"...Sirius?" asked a sleepy voice from the darkness. "Is something wrong?"

The teen stilled. "No, Lucius," he replied quietly. "I just don't seem to be able to get any sleep."

He heard a quiet ruffle of the bed clothes, then felt a hand resting on his shoulder. "Don't worry," Lucius said softly. "You don't need to be nervous about anything. We'll settle things when it's the time for that. It's no use to worry about them now; you cannot do anything to something that's in the future. Just calm down now, and sleep."

Once again, Sirius was amazed about how well his fiancé seemed to know him. So, he did as Lucius had advised, trying to calm down. He heard his fiancé rolling back to his own side, and did his best to relax.

Moments later, he was asleep.

*

James awoke to some muffled sounds. Sharpening his ears, he recognized the source of sounds. 'Great,' he thought to himself, 'Snape's talking in his sleep. This is so my luck.' Turning his side, he tried to get to sleep despite the quiet murmurs.

Suddenly, he heard a frantic scream, "NO!" The voice was so full of fear and agony that his heart sank to the bottom of his stomach.

Jumping up on his bed in alarm, James tried to see something through the darkness. "Snape?" he asked warily. "What the hell is happening?"

After a moment, he heard a muffled reply, "Nothing. I'm sorry if I disturbed your sleep, I didn't remember to put the usual silencing charms on."

Now, the Gryffindor was really confused. Snape apologizing for anything? Something was really wrong.

Snatching his wand from the nightstand, he pointed it towards the direction of the other boy's bed, and murmured, "Lumos." As soon as the dim light of his wand filled the room, Snape, who'd also been sitting, turned his back on him. However, he did not do this soon enough. James could clearly see the tiny tears glowing on his enemy's cheeks.

You cannot be daft if you're able to keep up Quidditch and homework, get the best grades in exams, and become an Animagus before you're sixteen. Sirius and Remus had both proved this, and James did, too. So, being not daft, he soon put two and two together.

Not that it'd been very hard, anyway. He'd often enough woke up to find Remus screaming and crying in agony and Peter trying to comfort him, or to see Sirius in silent tears because of his nightmares. Therefore, he easily realized just what was distracting his roommate.

"You had a nightmare, didn't you?" he asked quietly. James could not explain even to himself why he cared whether the other boy had a nightmare, but he just had to know.

The strangled sob the Slytherin couldn't hide was enough of an answer.

The young Chaser settled back down on his bed, but kept his wand still lit. "Do you want to talk about it?" he continued asking, remembering that his friends sometimes wanted to talk about their bad dreams.

"Why should I?" came the snappish reply.

Anybody else would have just given up and gone to sleep at this point. However, James Potter would not give up, no matter what he had to face. "We're supposed to be married in less than two years," he replied with the same sharp tone. "If I'm going to be shaken awake by your screams more often, I would at least want to know what's the reason behind it."

At first he expected to get another snap to response. Instead, the other raven-haired boy turned to his other side, now facing James. His eyes were cold and angry, yet the traces of tears on his cheeks spoiled the threatening effect. "I saw my father killing my Mum," Snape snapped. "Are you satisfied now?"

James was dumbstruck. He couldn't do anything else but stare at his fiancé, his mouth wide. "Your - your father -"

"Yes. And the worst thing is, it's not imaginary. I truly did see it, when I was five. Mum lay on the floor and he just beat her, kicked her on the sides and banged her head to the floor. She screamed and cried and begged him to stop, but he did not listen. At last, she didn't make any sounds, but he still beat him. When he at last left her to peace, she did not move." Snape's voice stayed dry and businesslike through the whole story. Then, he added, "He said me that if I told anyone, he'd kill me, too. I knew he meant it."

Swallowing, James sat back up. He'd of course known that his fiancé had only a father, but hadn't known the reason behind it. Everyone'd just told him that Mrs. Snape had died in some kind of an accident many years ago, and he'd believed them.

Now, he desperately hoped he hadn't known the truth.

e had thought that Remus's dreams of the night he'd been bitten were bad, or Sirius's memories of his uncaring family. However, no matter how bad those things were, they were nothing compared to this.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I truly am sorry that you had to suffer that."

"Doesn't matter," Snape said dryly. "I'll be sure to place the silencing charms on my bed from now on. You won't be disturbed by my nightmares anymore."

"Do you have them often, then?"

"...Every night, usually."

After a moment of thinking, James got up to his knees, reaching for his trunk. He'd got an idea. Searching for one particular thing, he asked over his shoulder, "Would you like to borrow Mr. Snuffles?"

"Excuse me?" Even though Snape's voice was still a bit muffled from his tears, James could very well hear his dryly amused tone.

"Mr. Snuffles," James repeated. "This." He reached out a big, black stuffed puppy. "My favourite dog, other than Padfoot. I got it from Sirius on my birthday. Maybe it'd scare the bad dreams away." He gave Snape his most charming grin in response of the Slytherin's dry sneer.

"You're insane, Potter," Snape huffed. "You're offering me a toy to rid me of my nightmares?"

James shrugged. "Well, it at least helps Remus," he said offhandedly. "Or so he says. It might also be the fact that while he has his own Mr. Snuffles on his left side, he always has Peter on his right side. But it's worth trying, isn't it?"

Snape didn't reply, just snorted. Not caring about this, James tossed the toy to the other side of the room. The Slytherin instinctively caught it, then just stared at it like he'd never seen anything like it.

"What's the matter, Snape?" asked James, astonished. "Never before seen a stuffed toy?" He regretted his question as soon as he'd said it, but he couldn't very well just pull it back.

"To be honest," Snape said slowly, "no, I've not. At least not this near." He turned it around, examining it closely. "Why would anybody want such a ridiculous thing?"

Shrugging, James replied, "Don't ask me. For fun, I guess. Or for comfort." Watching as the other boy turned the toy in his hands, we kept quiet for some time. Then, very carefully, he asked, "Would you want it for the night?"

After what seemed to be forever, Snape nodded slowly, like not daring to say anything aloud. James smiled, then glanced at his wand. "Nox," he muttered, and the light went away.

Just as he was settling comfortably in his bed, he heard a voice calling him from the shadows.

"Potter?"

"Yes?"

"If you tell anyone about this, I'll skin you alive."

"Sure thing, Snape." For the first time in his life, James didn't really even consider using this knowledge to embarrass his fiancé. It just didn't feel right, not after what the other boy had told him.

And then, they both went to sleep.