Remus

I was miserable enough without Petunia bothering me. I was sitting on my bed in the Evans house with my vest, doing a treatment. I was texting Sirius to keep my mind off things. Plus I was bored.

Me: I've officially coughed up mucus 27 times and I've still got fifteen minutes to go.

I informed Sirius.

Sirius: bet u can't get to 30

I laughed, mucus rumbling in my chest as I leaned forward and coughed, spitting up some more.

Me: You're on. 28

Just then Petunia poked her head through the door, her phone held to her ear. She looked immensely annoyed.

I gave her a look that showed that I was also immensely annoyed with her.

"Can you please not cough so loud? I'm trying to talk to Vernon on the phone."

Vernon Dursley would probably be here for Christmas considering he was married to Petunia, but he had a business trip.

I scoffed at Petunia, coughing. "Um, no, actually, I cannot. Don't be a bitch."

Petunia's eyes widened in offense. "Whatever," she said, slamming the door behind her. I felt tears of frustration well up in my eyes at Petunia's comment.

'Can you please not cough so loud?'

Like I can help it. She knows that. I've lived in her house for years, and yet she can't get over it. I don't know what her problem is, but whenever I'm around her I feel useless and helpless. It reminds me of when I was with my parents.

I wiped my eyes and picked up my phone again.

Me: I can't wait to see you. I love the Evans, but I need out of this house.

Sirius: something happen? are you alright?

Me: Yeah. It's just...Petunia.

Sirius: lily's sister?

Me: Yeah. Her and Lily couldn't be more different. For how much I love Lily, that's about how much I dislike Petunia.

Sirius: what'd she do?

Me: Well for starters, she just asked me if I could please cough quieter.

Sirius: she didn't

Me: She did.

Sirius: omfg

Me: Yep.

Sirius: well i love you for all your loud coughs <3

Me: :) You dork.

Sirius: *sending kisses*

I smiled. Sirius has a talent for cheering me up. Lily opened the door then and came and sat down on my bed.

"Petunia bothering you again?" She asked.

I grimaced and nodded. Lily's jaw clenched and her eyes shone with anger.

"I'll talk to her again. She shouldn't be able to talk to you like that. It's horrible."

I shrugged, willing myself not to cry again. Lily rubbed my shoulder as the vibrations of the vest sent me into another coughing fit.

And then I couldn't control my tears anymore. I just started sobbing. Lily jumped in surprise, but reached out to me nonetheless. I melted into her and cried.

Between sobs, I choked on the mucus climbing my throat so I pulled away quickly, hacking up mucus. I turned off the vest in anger and flung it across the room, though it didn't go very far.

Lily's eyes met mine and I broke all over again. I started gasping for breath, caught between hiccups and sobs.

I started to feel lightheaded. Lily took me by the shoulders, eyes full of concern.

"Remus, you need to calm down. Just breath, Remus, that's it."

"I hate this," I moaned. "I just want to be normal."

Lily's own eyes started to water. "Remus, I know it's hard okay? I know that. I know you're hurting. But there's no such thing as normal. Remus, you are bloody perfect just the way you are. I love you so much, Rey. I love everything about you, even the bad stuff. You've got so many people to love you, now you've just gotta love yourself, baby."

I sniffled, still struggling to get control of my breathing.

"I don't know how," I whispered.

Lily smiled warmly at me. "The boys and I, we'll help you. It'll be alright, Remus."

I sighed shakily, coughing some more. Lily stood from the bed and help out her hand.

"Supper's ready, Rey. Let's go eat."

I took her offered hand and she pulled me up from the bed and we made our way to the kitchen.

Petunia and Mr. Evans were already sitting at the table. Mr. Evans(I'm too lazy to give him a name) smiled at me.

"How're you doing Remus?" He asked.

I shrugged, turning away from the table to cough into my elbow.

"About the same as usual," I said. I caught Petunia rolling her eyes and I felt my face flush.

Mrs. Evans came from the kitchen, dinner in her hands. She set it on the table and came to stand behind me, ruffling my hair and leaning in to whisper in my ear.

"You're supposed to call your mother tonight, sweetie."

My heart sank with even more dread, but I brushed it aside.

"Okay," I said simply. Part of the agreement was that I had to call my parents once every two months to keep them in the loop of things. Lily and I had long ago made it a tradition to turn on the speaker phone and both talk to my mum. Mum used to be really bothered by it, but she's come to expect it at this point. That way I didn't have to talk to her alone and she couldn't say anything to me that would upset me.

Well, she did anyway, just more discretely so Lily couldn't always tell. She knew by the look on my face, rather.

Lily overheard her mum telling me that and grimaced as well. When she caught me looking, she gave me a reassuring nod.

Dinner started a bit awkwardly, all due to Petunia's mood. Mr. and Mrs. Evans were trying extra hard to keep spirits high all throughout the meal. Because Petunia, my abundance of emotions, and my mum's phone call were all dampening the mood.

After supper, Lily and I went back up to my room and sat together on my bed, my phone open to my mum's contact between us. 

Lily looked up me, raising an eyebrow. I sighed and pressed the call button. The phone rang for a few seconds before my mum picked.

"Remus? That you?"

"Yes. Lily too," I said quietly.

"Oh. Hello Lily," Mum said.

"Hi Mrs. Lupin," Lily said sweetly, though her face told a different story. 

"So, Remus, how are you? I heard you were in the hospital a couple days ago."

"Yep," I said, not caring to elaborate.

"How's your artistic career choice working out for you?"

I grit my teeth in annoyance. "It's going great, Mum. I'm working on painting my final project now. It's gonna be great and--"

"Your father and I still think you should go into something with a more promising outcome. Like accounting. Or you could work for your father, like we always planned."

"Mum--"

"It was just a suggestion, hun."

I bit back a comment, barely concealing my anger. Lily patted my knee, letting me know she was equally frustrated. 

"And you've moved into your apartment nicely since I last talked to you? How're your neighbors? They aren't noisy, are they?"

"No, Mum, they're great. Um, also, I've got a boyfriend, Mum. His name's Sirius and he lives in the apartment across the hall--"

"You're still on about that?"

"What?"

"They gay thing. I thought you would have grown out of that phase."

I felt like she'd punched me in the gut. "Mum, it's not--"

"Goodbye, Hope," Lily interrupted angrily, ending the call. 

Lily looked up, pity in her eyes. "Remus--"

"No, Lily. Can you...I just want to go to sleep, please. Just leave."

Lily nodded and stood. 

"Goodnight, Remus."

"Goodnight."