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Sirius shuffled out from his and James's bedroom about fifteen minutes after Peter and Remus showed up for breakfast. They knew to expect it after sharing a dormitory for seven years, so they just said hello and continued with the conversation. James got to his feet and poured Sirius a cup of coffee, heaping plenty of sugar and cream into it before handing it over. It was just the domestic sort of scene Remus and Peter knew to expect but still found a little sickening with how sweet it was. James and Sirius were always so in love they were practically the same person, sometimes.
"There you are sweetheart," James said, pressing a soft kiss to Sirius's temple.
Peter looked at Remus and pretended to gag.
Remus widened his eyes in agreement and turned back to his toast.
"You left your jumper in the room; you know you get cold," James reminded him.
Sirius shrugged and took a gulp of coffee.
"I'll go get it," James said, rolling his eyes with a smile. He passed Sirius to leave the kitchen, and Sirius flinched when James's arm accidentally hit his side.
Peter froze, and Remus eyed him warily. "Sirius?" he asked. "You okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine," he said automatically.
"You sure? You er, flinched."
"Hm? Oh, yeah. I've got a bruise on my ribs."
"From what?"
"Walking into a door," he said with a crooked smile.
As soon as breakfast was over and Remus and Peter were out the door, Peter said, "You don't think..."
"I dunno. That's- that's kinda what it looked like, right?"
Peter nodded uncomfortably. "But then, do we really think that James would do that? This isn't Mulciber we're talking about, this is Sirius."
"I know, but isn't it always the last person you'd expect?"
"You really think that James is abusing Sirius?"
"I... I don't know," he admitted, looking extremely discomfited. It was hard to imagine James raising a hand to Sirius, but he'd thought the same thing about his last boyfriend, and that had nearly killed him. The idea that the same sort of pain and mind games could be happening to Sirius, it made his stomach crawl. "I don't want to think he'd do that, but if he is, Sirius needs our help and support."
"Should we ask him?"
"Not yet," Remus said, frowning hard as he thought it over. "Maybe this really was an accident and everything's fine; you know how secretive Sirius can be."
"So if it happens again, we can talk to him?"
Remus nodded slowly. "I think that's a good idea." He looked at Peter for confirmation and got a responding nod.
"No offense, but here's fucking hoping we never have to have that talk."
"I hope so too."
James, the arse, laughed when Sirius showed up from rehearsal with a giant bruise on his side. But he did it while grabbing an icepack, and he spent the rest of the night waiting on Sirius hand and foot, so Sirius was willing to let it go. Sort of.
"Ran into a door? Really?"
"Well it's more like the door ran into me," Sirius corrected. One of the set pieces had fallen off the cart and straight onto Sirius. It wasn't that heavy, except for the metal doorknob that had landed on his side as he fell to the floor.
"How rude. Want me to beat it up?"
Sirius snorted and snuggled closer, nosing at James's neck. "Nah, wouldn't want you to get taken out too. Careful James, I won't be a long-mourning widow. I'll find new love."
"Course you will, nothing gets you down. Well, not for long, as the doorknob can attest."
Sirius got home, limping a little.
James raised an eyebrow. "Again?"
He nodded miserably.
"I'm beginning to think this musical has it out for you."
"I think you're right," Sirius groaned, sitting down on the couch next to him.
"Do I want to know how it happened?"
"Fucking tripped."
James chuckled, wrapping an arm around Sirius's shoulder and peppering his face with kisses. "We have plans with Remus and Pete tonight. Did you want to cancel?"
"No I'll be fine. Probably should shower though," he said with a sigh. He levered himself up a moment later and carefully made his way to their room.
"Hey Sirius, can we spend some time alone after dinner?" Remus asked while James was in the loo. "Just us?"
"Is something wrong?" he asked, a concerned frown on his face.
"Er, yeah."
"Okay," Sirius said softly. "Did you want to come to our's? We've got the softest couch out of everyone," he added with a smile.
"I- I was thinking mine actually. If you don't mind. I can give you a ride afterwards, if you want. I know that- er, James was the one that drove tonight."
"Okay," Sirius said again, giving Remus's hand a comforting squeeze before letting go.
Did Remus feel guilty about misleading Sirius? A bit, but if he said it was about Sirius not himself, he'd never get Sirius to agree to it. He spent the rest of the night on the quiet side, unable to talk to James like everything was normal when he knew what was happening behind closed doors.
Dinner ended, they were all getting ready to head their separate ways, and he overheard Sirius talking to James. "Hey, I think I'm gonna head over to Moony's for a while."
"Why?"
"It's personal."
"Oh. Are you staying the night, or...?"
"Dunno. I might be home before you fall asleep, but Rem said he'd give me a ride."
"Okay." James gave Sirius a kiss, Remus a smile, Peter a pat on the back, then left.
Remus gave Peter a quick hug and a murmured, "I'll take care of it," before getting into the car. He turned on the radio so they didn't have to try and make small talk, and when they got to Remus's flat, he put on the kettle to forestall conversation for a minute longer. "Sirius... you remember my last relationship?"
There was a quick flash of anger that he dampened, responding with a tight nod. "Hard to forget. He's not bothering you, is he?"
"No, nothing like that. It's just, I remember what it was like. Knowing that all of you were there for me, but too terrified to say anything in case you thought I was weak."
"None of us thought that, not for a moment."
"I know." He took a deep breath. "I'm just trying to say, Sirius, that something like that can be paralyzing."
"Okay? No offense, Remus, but I don't see the point of this. You're safe from him, you know that. You won't be in a situation like that again, especially not as severe as it ended."
"I know I won't, but what about you?"
Sirius pulled up short, blinking at him in shock. "What?"
Remus licked his lips, trying to think of how best to phrase the next part. If he wasn't careful, Sirius could run. "Sometimes the people you love are capable of hurting you more than you think."
"I honestly have no idea where you're going with this."
"We've all been friends for a while, but you can't really think we'd doubt you because it's James."
"Because what is James?"
Maybe the best option he had now was to come out and say it. "He's hurting you."
"He's doing what to me?" Sirius asked incredulously.
"Sirius you don't need to lie, it's okay?"
"Hold up. Just- time out for a second. What the hell makes you think James is hurting me? I'm not even sure he's capable of doing that if he wanted to!"
Anger was surprising, though it maybe it shouldn't be. Sirius's first reaction for most everything was anger, but for some reason, Remus hadn't anticipated this. "You're limping and favouring your right leg. And the other day, you had a giant bruise on your side."
"Yeah, from rehearsal!"
"Why didn't you say that instead of making jokes then?"
"Because it was fucking embarrassing, that's why. I tripped so badly during a simple dance that I can't walk without limping, and I'm supposed to be a bloody professional! I get bruises on set all the time, I didn't think you'd read into it." Sirius crossed his arms over his chest angrily, closed his eyes, and took several even, measured breaths. "Is there something going on with you, that you would jump to that conclusion?"
"I didn't think it was jumping," he murmured apologetically. "I'm sorry Sirius, I was just trying to look out for you."
Sirius had to focus to make sure that he didn't let his anger re-surge. "And I appreciate that. If you're okay Remus, I think I want to go home."
"Yeah of course." Remus turned off the stove and moved the kettle to a different spot. They walked back down to the car in silence, but once they were on the road again, Remus started talking. "I really am sorry. I thought you needed help."
Sirius sighed, looking out the window as the light from lampposts rushed by. "I know that it makes sense, with your history, but I can't believe you really thought that James of all people could do that."
"Sometimes it's the people you never expect. And-" his hands tightened reflexively on the steering wheel "-if you were being abused, I wasn't going to give the person doing it the benefit of the doubt."
"When you say it like that, I sound like an arse." Sirius fingered the fading bruise through his shirt absently. "I'm sorry. I kinda freaked out on you, and you were just trying to help."
"It's okay."
A beat of silence, and then, "Did you know that my parents used to hit me?"
"No." Remus had had his suspicions during school, but it was years ago, and he was focused on so many other things that they were little more than passing thoughts.
"James knew. As soon as he found out how bad it was, he convinced me to leave. He saved me, so it's just- it's so fucking ridiculous to think that he could ever do that to me."
"I'm sorry."
"You didn't know. I- I appreciate the thought Remus, I really do."
James blinked, then stumbled. Sirius was home a lot quicker than he'd expected, and instead of taking his time taking off his coat and shoes, he came barreling over and hugged James tightly. "Everything okay?" he asked, arms coming up to hold Sirius.
"Yeah."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Just- some bad memories."
"Did you want to talk about it?"
Sirius shook his head. "I only need cuddles."
"A tall order, but I think I can manage."