Painted Scars // WOLFSTAR

Year Six: Winter Break, 1976

"This has never happened before, something must have happened," James muttered, stuffing clothes into his trunk with a little more force than was strictly necessary.

"It must be something to do with the war," Remus said. He'd been using that word a lot more recently, after the fight with Regulus over the newspaper, and Sirius was horribly touched. Sirius wanted to speak up, to tell him he appreciated how kindly Remus still treated him after the Prank, but he couldn't. There was this barrier between them these days – the pair of them always walking on eggshells around each other, unsure of what was alright to say.

Peter, thankfully, didn't have that same problem. He said whatever he liked, even if it was mildly uncalled for. "There's no need to sound so bummed out. It's only a few days."

James turned on him with a vicious glare. "And what about Sirius? Where is Sirius supposed to go?"

Sirius had been wondering this for the good half of an hour and felt he should probably cut in before Peter said something wildly stupid, or James jumped on him for not considering Sirius as a part of the situation. "Well, I'll just have to stay at school over break."

This conversation was the by-product of a letter James received from his parents on the day that the boys left for the Potters. It read that they needed a few days alone time with James before the rest of the Marauders could come over, and James was more than distraught.

Sirius thought he wouldn't have been so upset if Remus and Peter hadn't spent days prior trying to convince their parents to let them come over, but James revealed it to be something else entirely. "Remus and Peter I understand, but you, Sirius? We're brothers. They took you in already, they can't kick you out now."

The aftermath of that statement was Sirius grinning like a loon, and he was suddenly much more content with the idea of staying at Hogwarts during the break. He'd see his brother in a few weeks time, after all.

"Don't be ridiculous!" James shouted, like Sirius staying at school was a punishment fit for a murderer. "You're coming to mine, I don't care what my parents say."

"Oh, don't be callous, James," Remus said, packing a few books away neatly in his trunk. "I'm sure Sirius wants that just as little as your parents."

Sirius was about to argue that he'd love to go to James's, but then he thought of their reaction; seeing him showing up against their will, he couldn't stomach it. He begrudgingly nodded to show James that Remus was right. James appeared to be entirely put out.

"Well, then where is he supposed to go? We can't leave him here."

The four of them looked at each other, waiting for anyone to pipe up with an idea. Remus was the first to crack. "Why don't we go to Peter's for a few days? We've never been there, and the Pettigrews seem nice enough. We can head to James's after everything clears up."

"And, we live right next to each other!" James added, excited by the possibility before hearing any other input.

"Er, I don't think so," Peter said nervously, wringing his hands. "My mum doesn't like people who are loud. Or messy. Or...people." The three of them stared at him with pleading eyes. He quickly diverted, "Why don't we go to Remus's? I've never even met your parents, it'd be a nice opportunity!"

"I live in Wales," Remus said far too quickly for his reasoning to be genuine. "That's nearly four hours, it wouldn't make sense."

"Well... what about–?"

"If you dare suggest we stay at Grimmauld Place," James started, sending Peter another one of those menacing glares.

"No! I was just, well. I dunno. I'd have to letter my mum."