Chapter Text
“Moony ?”
The words sounded muffled as he tried to focus on the quill and an empty page sat in front of him. Why couldn’t he just fucking write? Why did he have to be so useless?
“Moony, can you hear me ?”
He made a small hum in response. The sound of quills scratching, people breathing, and McGonagall's voice carrying across the room made it impossible to respond in any other way.
“Moony, love, don’t worry about the notes right now, James is taking them, just try to focus on me, ok.” Sirius whispered so only he could hear.
Slowly, he lifted his eyeline to meet the beautiful silver ones of Sirius. He instantly felt a small amount of relief as his focus shifted. Suddenly, the noise of the room faded to a quiet silence, and he began to relax further. He felt the small brush of a hand on his own as Sirius interlinked them.
“ Put your head down on the desk, alright, class is nearly over, and then I’m going to take you up to the dorm. Does that sound ok ?”
Another hum
“Ok, perfect, just focus on my hand and I'll get us out of here”
The rest of the class passed as a blur. Remus used the constant pressure of Sirius’ hand to try and stay grounded. That only worked up until the last few minutes of the class when the silencing charm faded. He was plunged into the overwhelming sea of noise, lights and the constant feeling of being pushed and shoved as students rushed to leave the classroom. Tears began to form in his eyes as the world became too much. Still, Sirius gripped his hand, and Remus used that as a lifeline, tying him to the world. Unfortunately, that lifeline was broken once they entered the busy corridor, and prying eyes became all too common.
“JAMES, JAMES”, Sirius called over the noise in the hallway “ JAMES. I’m taking Remus up to the dorm. He’s completely shut down, so I don’t think lessons are going to be a good idea. Can you get notes for the two of us in potions?”
“Ye of course mate, just make sure Moony’s alright ye”, he said with a worried glance towards his friend
“Ye, I’ll get him sorted, don’t worry about it”, Sirius reassured as he turned and grabbed Remus’ sleeve to lead him towards the dorms
Once the corridors were clear enough, and all remaining students had entered their classes, Sirius’ hand returned to his own to stop him from hitting himself.
“Cmon moons, let’s not do that. I don't want you to hurt yourself.”
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Finally, they made it to the common room, which was deserted. Slowly, they climbed the stairs up to the safety of their dorm.
“Go sit on my bed love, and I’ll get you some of my clothes to change into, ok”
Remus felt no need to respond as he made his way over to the bed. Sirius opened his wardrobe and selected some of his plaid pyjama bottoms and his baggiest queen shirt. He walked over to Remus’ bed and grabbed his favourite grandad jumper for good measure. When he turned back to Remus, he found him rocking back and forth, humming to himself. If this were any other situation, he would have let Remus stim to his heart's content, but from past experiences, he knew that this could turn more violent if he wasn't careful. He made his way over to the bed and sat in front of his boyfriend.
“Here you go, love, all your favourites. Do you want me to help you ?“
A quick nod gave Sirius the all clear to take off Remus’ robes. Once the taller boy was changed, Sirius pulled back his bed covers and motioned for Remus to get in.
“Cmon, you’ve had a long day, and you must be tired. Let's have a nap and then we can think about dinner later”
Remus climbed in after Sirius and instantly attached himself to the other boy. Remus felt his body relax almost immediately as warm hands snaked their way around his waist. After a few minutes of silence, Remus finally spoke.
“I’m sorry”, he spoke so quietly that Sirius almost missed it
“Why are you sorry? And don't say that because I shouldn't have to put up with this, because I will tell you over and over again until you believe it. I love you, Remus, and I will always look after you when you need help. You are not a burden, and there is nothing you can do to make me think otherwise,” Sirius stated as he began playing with Remus' brown curls
“I know, it's just sometimes I hate that I'm like this. I hate that I just completely shut down and can do nothing to stop it. And I hate that I have to be ordered around like a baby because I can't think for myself. I wish I could just be normal sometimes, y’know” Remus replied as tears began to fall
“I get that love, but you need to understand that your brain works differently, and sometimes you need to ask for help. You remember what Pomfery said, right?”
“Ye “
“And what did she say?”
“That asking for help doesn't make me weak. It just means I’m letting people in or whatever”
“Yes, so let me help you. Please, I hate to see you struggling, and I want to be there for you.”
“Ok. Thank you. I really appreciated the silencing charm earlier. It helped a lot.”
“ Of course, love. I'm glad it did. Now get some sleep before dinner. James and Pete shouldn't be up for a few more hours, so the dorm is all ours”
With that, Remus turned his head into the crook of Sirius’ neck and breathed him in. The hand playing with his hair grounded him enough to send him to sleep. Sirius followed not long after, and the two boys slept until the late hours of the afternoon.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
James was exhausted after a long day of actually paying attention in class, so he could take notes for his two absent friends. Pete hadn't been much help as his own notes were always messy and borderline illegible. So, as he made his way up to his dorm for a quick nap before dinner, the last thing he was expecting to see was two of his best friends being so tangled up together that he couldn't distinguish whose limbs were whose. He also didn't expect a half-asleep Sirius to begin stroking Remus’ hair and kiss his forehead.
Really, though, James was more surprised that he hadn't figured this out sooner. Remus and Sirius had always had a special type of friendship. Sirius always had a way of making Remus let his guard down and ask for help, and Remus always had a way of calming Sirius down before he let his anger take hold of him. Them being a thing now made total sense, really .
The two boys looked completely at peace with each other. So James silently shut the door and left, leaving the couple to sleep in peace.