Standing Still

Standing Still

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Madness and Mollying

*

The next morning, Sirius woke up, feeling absolutely awful. Thankfully, this time Remus didn't seem to have woken up to the sounds of him throwing up. It wasn't long until the next full moon, and Remus needed all the rest he could get. The wolf was maybe too damaged to try to hurt itself, but that didn't make the actual transformation any easier, like Sirius knew all too well.

Planning to let Remus sleep as long as he just would stay asleep, Sirius now got up on shaky legs and went to switch on the tap of the washbasin to rinse the horrible taste of vomit from his mouth. However, just as he was starting to feel slightly better, his ears caught a loud crash coming from the kitchen.

Instantly worried to death, his mind going over all horrifying possibilities starting from stray Death Eaters and ending to fanatic werewolf haters, Sirius started to run. When he reached the kitchen, however, all he could find was Remus, deeply concentrated on making something that looked like a pile of bread, cucumber and lots and lots of butter. The werewolf didn't seem to care about the fruit bowl he'd accidentally knocked to the floor. The bowl was now in tiny pieces all over the floor, the apples and bananas and oranges and grapes spread around as well.

"Remus," he said sharply, eyeing the mess in the kitchen. Not only the fruit, Remus had also knocked over a can of juice, as well as dropped the rest of the bread to the floor. "Remus," he said again. "What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing? This is a total mess!"

The werewolf looked up at him, a huge grin on his face. "Wemuz help Ziwius!" he announced cheerfully. "Ziwiuz ill, Wemuz wann help Ziwiuz. Wemuz make Ziwiuz bweakfazt!"

Sirius, however, would not be calmed down by this. His heart was still running like a frightened hare from the scare he'd got, and his stomach lurched dangerously at the mere mention of breakfast. "Oh, no, you don't!" he exclaimed. "All you're doing is making a mess! This is really not helping!"

Remus looked startled at his shouting. "Wemuz do bad?" he asked quietly, the amber yes wide like plates and his lower lip quivering threateningly. "Ziwiuz -- Ziwiuz mad?"

"Damn right I'm mad!" shouted Sirius. "You know very well you're not allowed to touch anything in the kitchen when I'm not present! Now get out of here while I clean up all this mess you've made!"

And Remus left, and fast. Sirius was left alone to clean up in the kitchen, grumbling quietly to himself while he did so. By the time he had got everything fixed, his anger had mostly left him, and he felt slightly ashamed at his outburst. After all, it wasn't Remus's fault that he didn't understand. Surely he hadn't meant to do any harm, he'd simply wanted to help. So, after making some true breakfast and putting a bowl of honey cereal -- Remus's favourite breakfast -- on the table, he went to look for the werewolf.

He soon found Remus in his room. The werewolf had turned his wheelchair to face the wall, like he always did when he wanted to hide. Sirius walked to his side, and was startled to find Remus crying. Remus never cried, unless he'd had a nightmare or somebody had mentioned Lily and James.

"Remus?" he asked quietly. "Hey, Remie, what's wrong?" He already knew the answer, though, and he dreaded hearing it. He'd been so cruel that he'd made his beloved little werewolf cry!

"Zi-Ziwiuz yell Wemuz," the childlike wizard muttered, "Ziwiuz mad. Wemuz wann help, Wemuz wann do good. Wemuz no wann do bad. Ziwiuz -- Ziwiuz hate Wemuz!" And the tears started to fall again.

Sirius sighed and hugged Remus. "No, I do not hate you," he said firmly. "See, Remus dear, I was just upset. I'm really sorry for yelling at you like that. I was mad, yes, but the only thing I hated was the mess, not you. I could never hate you -- I love you." After this, he gave the werewolf another tight hug.

"Wemuz luv Ziwiuz," muttered Remus, weakly returning the embrace.

"I know that," Sirius replied, smiling. Then he sighed. "Look, Remus, try to bear with me. The baby is not only making me ill, it also makes me odd at times. Yes, even mad."

"Baby make Ziwiuz ill?" asked Remus, the still teary amber eyes wide. "Baby make Ziwiuz mad?" As Sirius nodded, Remus gave his stomach a dirty glare. "Bad Ziwiuz baby," he muttered.

"No, Remus," said the Animagus. "The baby is not bad. It's not making me ill or mad on purpose. And besides," he added then, "it's not only my baby, it's your baby too."

"Wemuz baby?" asked Remus, his eyes even wider now. "How go Ziwiuz Wemuz baby Ziwiuz tummy?"

"That, my dear," Sirius said calmly, "is the doing of magic." As Remus nodded happily, seemingly satisfied with this explanation, he added, "Now come on, Remus. We have honey cereal for breakfast!"

And Remus followed him, his sorrow all forgotten.

*

Once they had eaten breakfast -- even Sirius had managed to get something down with the anti-sickness potion he had, surprisingly, got from Severus the day before -- Sirius looked at Remus.

"Now, we have to get you into Muggle clothes," he said. "We're going to get Harry for a day, and then we will go to the Weasleys!" He smiled as Remus's expression brightened immediately. The only things Remus loved more than his "pwetty flowewz" were Harry and visiting the Weasleys. And Sirius, of course.

After a lot of giggling and talking, Remus was dressed properly, and Sirius himself also had Muggle clothes on. Then, after charming the wheelchair to look like a Muggle one, he led Remus to the fireplace. "Arabella Figg!" he cried out, then stepped to the Floo, pushing Remus in front of himself.

Soon they both fell out of Arabella's fireplace. The old Squib greeted them just as warmly as always. After giving Remus a few sweets and talking with Sirius, she then saw them off.

Harry was, as always, delighted to see them. The Dursleys, of course, did not relish the thought of having "freaks" on their doorstep, but were relieved to get Harry out of their hands for a whole day. The toddler wanted to sit in Remus's lap, and as the werewolf didn't seem to mind, Sirius allowed it. So, after making their way to Arabella and receiving a few more sweets and talking, they then Flooed to the Burrow.

At Burrow they were welcomed with enthusiasm equal to that Harry always greeted Sirius and Remus with. Fred, George, and Ron immediately dragged Harry to their games, Molly greeted Sirius with lots of talk and motherly hugs, and Percy climbed into Remus's lap and started to read aloud to the werewolf. The boy was really proud of his ability to read, and Remus was eager to listen. Seeing that both Remus and Harry were well occupied, Sirius followed Molly to the kitchen for a cup of tea.

"So, Sirius," Molly said, after making sure that Ginny was sleeping peacefully. "How are things with you and Remus?" Pouring two cups of tea and giving one to him, she sat down opposite to him.

"Well..." Sirius hesitated a bit, then said, "I went to see Poppy yesterday." As Molly gave him a questioning glance, he continued, "I found out that I'm currently two months pregnant."

"Really?" Molly's eyes widened. "You're having Remus's child?" As Sirius nodded in confirmation, she smiled warmly. "That's wonderful!" she said. "You must be so happy about it!"

"I am," Sirius admitted, "really happy. But at the same time, I'm scared. It's hard enough to care for Remus now, and it certainly won't be any easier if I'm pregnant, even less with a baby to look after. And what if Remus never recovers! I just can't do this all alone!"

"Remus will recover," Molly soothed him. "And besides, you're not alone. We will all help you through this. You can be sure about that. To think that we'd ever leave you alone with both Remus and a baby!"

Just then, three red-haired and one black-haired head looked from the doorway of the kitchen. "A baby?" echoed George. "Who'z having a baby? Iz Mommy having a baby?" He, Fred, Ron, and Harry came to the kitchen, and in an instant, Remus and Percy were there too. All looked very curious.

"Merlin, no," muttered Molly, looking at his twin sons sternly. "Sirius is having a baby."

"Where do babiez come from, Mommy?" asked Fred not-really-so-innocently.

"Well..." Molly hesitated a bit, glancing at the children gathered around her. They all were watching her with bright, curious eyes, obviously waiting her answer to this rather awkward question. However, she didn't have to answer to this question, since Remus got to speak first.

"Tiny baby," the werewolf explained firmly. "Baby Ziwiuz tummy. Baby come out long time."

Sirius laughed. "There, you heard him," he said. "The baby's in my stomach, and will come out by time."

"Oh." George frowned. "But how doez the baby come out, then?"

"It's magic, lad. It's just magic." The Animagus winked at Molly, who smiled at him.

"No, it isn't," a stern voice interrupted this adult communication. "I know how it comes out. It's not magic!"

Molly glared at Percy, who looked very annoyed at this obvious wrong information being offered to him and the younger kids. "It is magic, Percy," the witch said. "Or, if you still claim that it isn't, you can forget about that book I promised to buy for you. I don't want you messing the little kids' heads!"

"It still isn't magic," muttered the boy, fixing his little glasses onto a better position on his nose. Then, however, he turned to look at Remus. "Do you want to hear the Ugly Duckling?" he asked brightly.

And soon enough, the kitchen was again empty of all underage life. Sirius and Molly glanced at each other, then chuckled and shook their heads. No, little kids were never easy to talk with.

*