Chapter Text
“Hey there, Sirius.”
Remus glanced across from his seat next to Peter at the Gryffindor table to see Thomas Greenway, a Ravenclaw prefect, shove his way onto the opposite bench, pushing James aside in order to squeeze next to Sirius. Thomas was tall, with dark, slicked back hair and Remus despised him. He thought he was better than most students in the school and was hell to work with during prefect meetings. Even Lily couldn’t stand him.
“Don’t mind me, Thomas.” James said irritably stabbing at his dinner and turning away from the Ravenclaw. Peter frowned at James but Thomas didn’t seem to hear him, instead focusing his full attention on Sirius, who had yet to say a word.
“How would you like to meet me after dinner, hm? We could...find somewhere private to hang out?” Thomas whispered in the Gryffindor’s ear.
Remus watched with furrowed brows as Thomas’ fingers danced their way down Sirius arm, coming to rest somewhere beneath the table. Sirius shifted uncomfortably and stared down at the table resolutely. Remus gripped the table tightly, trying to quell the sudden anger inside of him, but to no avail. The unsettled look on Sirius’ face and the clear ignorance of Thomas was making his blood boil.
“I’m busy.” Sirius said shortly, sliding as far as he could down the bench, bumping into Alice who was sitting beside Lily. The two girls looked up, just then noticing the interaction.
“C’mon,” Thomas said, in a low, impatient tone, “you sucked off both Richie Wadsworth and Quentin Dall last week, can’t you do the same for me?”
“We didn’t—we just kissed. I never—“ Sirius stuttered, his face turning a deep shade of red as he glanced around the table to see that most the attention had fallen on he and Thomas now. The Ravenclaw scoffed and slid his hand across Sirius’ thigh.
“That’s not what I heard. Aren’t you supposed to be the local Gryffinwhore or something? You’ve been with like half the guys in school and even with some birds, ain’t that right?”
James had stood from his seat just then, ready to give Thomas a piece of his mind, but Remus beat him to it. He launched his fist across the table without a second thought, the sound of his fist connecting with Thomas’ jaw rang in his ears like a lovely tune. Most everyone around the table gasped, their eyes blown wide at the scene but Remus just glared at Thomas.
“Shut the fuck up, Greenway.” Remus hissed as Thomas held a hand to his jaw. The Ravenclaw looked at him and glared.
“What the hell, Lupin?” He hissed. “What was that for?”
“For harassing Sirius you dumb fuck!” Remus yelled and Peter hastily grabbed hold of his robes, afraid of his friend launching across the table and ripping Thomas’ head off, and oh, how Remus would have liked to. Students from all over the Great Hall were turning toward the commotion now, even the attention of the staff table had been drawn. Professor McGonagall was hastily making her way towards them with Professor Flitwick in tow.
“You’re just jealous that even a slut like Sirius won’t sleep with someone as ugly as you!” Thomas shouted back.
Remus saw red.
He thrust himself forward, causing Peter to squeak as he tried holding him back. James leapt up, trying to help restrain Remus while Sirius stared with glistening wide eyes. Thomas had stood too, clearly ready to fight, but before anything could happen, Professor McGonagall announced her presence.
“What is the meaning of this?” She said imperiously, glaring at the group as a whole.
“This motherfucker—“
“Language, Mister Lupin!”
“Is harassing Sirius!”
“It’s not harassment is he’s into it! He practically begged to suck my dick!”
“He did not!” Lily shouted, her eyes narrowing menacingly at Thomas.
Suddenly, Sirius launched from his seat, grabbing his bag and rushing out of the great hall despite both James and McGonagall yelling after him. Remus watched him go, suddenly feeling guilty for the scene he had caused that had drawn attention to his friend.
“Mister Lupin, you have detention with me this evening after supper!” McGonagall chirped as Professor Flitwick made it to the table, giving Thomas the same punishment. Remus nodded, admitting defeat and plopping back down into his seat. Peter let out a breath of relief and James started towards the exit of the hall after Sirius.
“Mr. Potter,” McGonagall called and James stopped to look at her. “Please tell Sirius that I would like to speak with him in my office.” Her voice was soft now, a flicker of sadness in her eyes and James nodded before hurrying after his friend once more. Remus watched numbly, wishing he had done something more.
****
McGonagall had gone easy on him during detention, not even assigning him anything to do and rather just making him sit there to “think about what he had done.” So Remus thought and came to the conclusion that he should have done more to mess up Thomas’ pretty face. Sirius wasn’t a whore. Sirius hadn’t even gotten past a few make out sessions as far as Remus knew and he couldn’t imagine Sirius allowing himself to be used by just anyone.
The reputation of a Sirius being a sort of play-boy had gotten out of control. Sure, he would flirt with almost everyone, but when it came to actually doing anything, Sirius was quite respectful and caring. He deserved much better than guys like Thomas who just wanted to use him...
Remus’ thoughts kept swirling around as he walked back to the dorm, only stopping when he heard soft muttering coming from behind the door. He leaned in, almost grateful for his intense werewolf hearing.
“I’m not a whore James, I swear. I haven’t even...I haven’t even done anything except kiss a few blokes!”
“I know, Sirius. I know that.”
“Why does everyone think that? Why does everyone feel so...so entitled to my body now?”
Sirius voice broke at the end and Remus felt his heart clench. Sirius rarely cried, opting to suppress his feelings instead of facing them, but the humiliation of the day proved to be too much for him.
“It’s not right.” James mumbled. “You should have told McGonagall. This isn’t the first guy that has approached you like this, Sirius. And I’m worried that someone is going to push too far one of these times and you’ll get hurt.”
Remus stilled. This wasn’t the first time Sirius had been harassed? How many others were there? Why hadn’t anyone told Remus? Without another thought he swung the door open, his heart pounding in his chest and the revelation he just heard.
Both James and Sirius jumped when they saw Remus, not having expected him back so early. Sirius had tear stains on his face and was hastily trying to make himself look presentable while James ran a nervous hand through his hair.
“How long you been standing there, Moony?”
“Long enough to know that this hasn’t been a one time occurrence.” Remus practically growled. James looked down, a slightly ashamed expression on his face and Sirius let out a sigh.
“I didn’t want you to know.” Sirius mumbled.
“Why?” Remus said, a little hurt that his friend hadn’t confided in him. “Why wouldn’t you tell me? I could’ve helped!”
“I didn’t want your help, Remus!” Sirius shouted, standing and glaring at Remus. “I didn’t want you, of all people, to ever know what everyone else thought of me because I was scared that the one guy I actually do like might think the same thing!”
Remus stood there, shocked at Sirius’ outburst. His heart which had been thundering loudly in his chest had come to a stand still. The one guy I actually do like...
“Pads,” Remus said, “I could never think about you in an unsavory way. It wouldn’t even matter if you had been with half of the school or no one at all, I would never ever think anything ill about you. I care about you too much.”
Sirius’ eyes shined with tears. “I didn’t sleep with any of those guys.”
“I know.”
“I never wanted the attention from them.”
“I know.”
“I just want you, Moons.”
Remus rushed forward and pulled Sirius to his chest, allowing the smaller boy to cling onto him as he cried. James excused himself, though Remus didn’t pay attention to where he said he was going, all his attention focusing on Sirius and Sirius alone. Remus held him tight, pressing soft kisses to his head, vowing to never let anyone hurt him again.
“You have me, Pads. You’ll always have me.”