Thanks for the tag @rae-lune 🖤🖤
Sharing some Remus lore from an unnamed thing I’m working on!
You’ve all met my mommy issues. Now, for the first time on the Tumblr stage, please welcome Fifi’s daddy-issues!
TW: manipulative/ emotionally abusive family dynamics
“No, Hope, we can’t just take your earrings to Gringotts. Jewellery is not wizarding currency.” Lyall’s voice was thin and tired.
“But it is all gold, right? We could take it to the muggle jeweller first, have them—"
“What part of—you don’t know what you are talking about—do you not get!” Lyall was yelling now.
Remus shuddered. He tried to hide further into the shadows at the top of the stairs. He hadn’t meant to get caught there. He'd been good at creeping about the house unnoticed that summer. But he had wanted to write back to Sirius, and his sharp quills were downstairs.
He heard Hope’s usual choked-off sob. The sound she made when she was trying to stop the tears before they began. He hated the way she breathed when she cried. He wished she would just punch Lyall. Then they’d all be done with it. But again, he’d never punched Lyall, so he recognised his hypocrisy.
“In one breath, you hand me a stack of unpaid bills, which we cannot pay, and ask to take the boy to the sixth specialist of the year. How does that work in your little pea brain, Hope? We have established this clearly; no muggle quack can fix our son. This is what he is now. We all need to live with it. It is mostly my burden to bear, after all.”
“Just one more, love. My sister got us an appointment with a—”
“Your sister.” Lyall laughed without joy. “Your sister thinks our son has some sort of impurity in his blood that can be sieved out of him. If your sister spent half her time minding her own bloody business, and not on the telephone, sticking her nose where it—”
“Stop, Lyall. It's fine. I’ll tell her we’re not doing it—okay? Let’s not fight about this tonight. How about dinner? Would you like the soup from yesterday? It's better reheated." Her voice pitched up brightly.
Remus rolled his eyes. It was worse reheated. And she'd given in. She always gave in.
“Soup and carrots,” Lyall muttered.
Remus heard the clack of a spoon against the good china.
“Percival from Clerical asked if I was half-scarecrow at our board meeting the other day," Lyall said.
Remus heard Hope giggle from the kitchen.
“I've got so thin, my trousers need to be taken in,” Lyall continued. “Maybe we should put the boy to use and send him out to hunt.”
Still crouched on the stairs, Remus felt himself snort. Tears filled his eyes, but instead of muddying things, they seemed to offer his vision clarity. He crept back to bed feeling relieved, almost happy.
He already felt like he spent every day earning the bed under his body. So what was one more cut? And, of all the casually cruel things his dad said, at least this one was funny.
leaving an open tag today since I don't want to summon you all to read this ouchy thing. Always curious to read what everyone is working on!
