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February 1976
“You really don't know why they told us to come here?” James asks, voice muffled by the Gryffindor scarf covering half his face.
“Nope. They just wrote that I need to be here tonight for my late Christmas present, and that I should bring my friends”. Sirius smiles widely, looking like the happiest little kid. He’s almost skipping in place, wearing a knitted beanie with a pompom on top, while following the path Remus is carving as they’re trudging through the deep snow covering Hogsmeade.
And really, they can complain all they like about leaving the warm Gryffindor common room in favor of this freezing mystery adventure, but they do these things all the time, and sometimes it’s for very stupid reasons. This time it’s worth it even before they get to the pub, considering this is the most himself Sirius has seemed since showing up beaten and bloody in James’ home during the holiday break.
They reach the Hog’s Head, Sirius so buzzing with excitement that he almost falls trying to get through the door. The place is unsurprisingly empty considering the weather, except for a tall, grumpy-looking man behind the bar, and two people drinking butterbeer out of bottles.
“Bloody hell, they’re actually here,” Sirius whispers in delight, then shouts “Andy! Uncle Al!” and runs to them.
“Merlin, Sirius, I don’t see you for a few years, and you grow into a teenager?” the woman laughs and hugs him tightly.
“Truly, I was half expecting to see the same ten-year-old from the last time we met”. Says the man now taking his turn hugging the boy.
Sirius takes a step back to look at them, unable to contain his smile. “Well, you both still look old as fuck” he laughs, his voice kind of wet and choked up.
The woman punches his shoulder playfully. “Always the brat. You wanna introduce us to your friends?”
Sirius huffs with a smirk “Yes, finally I get to show off the good side of the family.” He turns to face the Marauders. “Meet the disgraced, outcasted, unapologetic, best branch of the Blacks – my uncle Alphard and my cousin Andromeda.” Andromeda sniffs at him in disapproval “My apologies,” he grins widely, “she isn’t a Black, she’s a Tonks.”
“And proud of it” she declares.
“These are my best mates, my family in everything but blood – James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew”.
“If it makes any difference, his brain is still the same as a ten-year-old’s.” James grins and dodges Sirius’ attempt to whack him over the head. Remus and Peter nod in agreement.
Sirius turns back to his uncle and cousin. “Thank you so much for coming, I’m so happy to see you both”.
Alphard smiles warmly if a bit sadly “Of course. We couldn’t see you before because it would’ve gotten you in trouble, but we want to support you as much as we can, now that you’re away from them. We both know how hard and confusing it can be”.
Sirius blinks a few times, visibly trying to control his tears, though some manage to escape. “Best present ever,” he chokes out.
Andromeda smiles wickedly “Oh, this isn’t the present, cous”.
Alphard chuckles. “It certainly isn’t. We managed to get you something that would hopefully lift your spirit long term.” He turns to the bartender “My dear old friend Aberforth has agreed to let us install a most wonderful thing in his establishment.” He smiles widely at an unimpressed, uninterested-looking barman. “Don’t let the stony exterior fool you, he’s really a soft, cuddly teddy bear on the inside.”
“Always talking rubbish”. The decidedly un-teddy bearish Aberforth murmurs.
“Must be buried very deep inside” Peter whispers.
Alphard continues in a dramatic, festive tone. “We introduce to you – the jukebox!” he jesters to a big, brown-red muggle machine sitting inconspicuously in the corner. It looks almost like a cupboard with a curved top and white buttons on its upper half.
Remus gasps. “No bloody way!”. He stares at the machine in awe. “But it runs on muggle electricity, how can it… Is that even allowed?”
Alphard laughs out loud. “Good, someone who knows some muggle culture! I have a mate who specializes in converting muggle technology to run on magic. Andy suggested that it would be the most perfect thing for our Sirius to compensate for all the lost birthdays and Christmases over the years”.
“And nobody’s gonna tell me what’s allowed or not allowed in my pub” Aberforth grumbles.
“What does it do?” Sirius asks in awe, walking closer to look at the thing.
“Just the best bloody thing in the world!” Andromeda says excitedly and joins him. “You see all the names next to the buttons? You’ll know some from the records we wrote each other about over the years, and those your mate has,” she turns around and winks at Remus “guessing that would be you” he nods, still looking stunned, and she turns back to Sirius. “So, you tap twice with your wand, and push the button you want. I made sure it has some of the best songs ever.” She taps her wand twice and pushes a button.
The jukebox makes some noises, then there’s the sound of a needle on a vinyl record. A few seconds of silence, and a catchy guitar riff comes out of the machine. “Sweet Merlin,” James gasps. Sirius is mesmerized. Soon, the guitar is joined by drums, then a bass. Remus is smiling widely and moving his head to the beat.
“We all came out to Montreux
On the Lake Jeneva shoreline…”
“That’s ‘Smoke on the Water’ by Deep Purple. You’re welcome”. Andromeda says smugly, bowing her head at Sirius. They’re all listening in stunned silence, enjoying every second.
“Smoke on the water,
Fire in the sky.
Smoke on the water…”
Suddenly Sirius starts laughing incredulously and almost tackles his cousin in a crushing hug. He’s jumping in place while still hugging her, almost knocking them both to the floor. “This is the best, coolest, most awesome thing I have ever seen!” He almost shouts in her ear, and she untangles herself from his arms with a broad smile and a wince.
Sirius turns around and dances his way to Remus. They’re smiling wildly at one another, and Sirius yells happily, “Dance with me, Moons!” And surprisingly, Remus complies and dances unashamedly, even though they’re not alone or in their dorm.
They all dance like they’re in a concert, taking turns choosing songs. Eventually, they get tired and sit, laughing out loud and drinking hot butterbeers. By midnight, only Sirius is still hopping around, banging his head, and playing air guitar. Even James is sitting exhaustedly, though his feet are still moving to the beat. Finally, after a song ends, Aberforth says, “Last one, tossers. Choose wisely, then get the fuck out”.
Sirius laughs breathlessly and picks a song. “This one looks promising,” he mutters. The sounds of fast drums and an electric guitar fill the room. A tired-looking Andromeda whoops in joy, and Sirius continues jumping around.
Remus sits in a chair, leaning his head against the wall. He feels unable to take his eyes off the sweaty, kinda manic, happy, human energy ball. He smiles in affection and happiness, watching Sirius dance to the most appropriate song ever –
“I wanna rock and roll all night
And party every day…”
November 1976
After some negotiations, Aberforth allows them a closed, private party in the Hog’s Head for Sirius’ 17th birthday. He doesn’t normally allow them to play song after song on their precious jukebox, only “two, three max” a night. So, they’re all very excited about having complete control over the music. Andromeda even sent a few new records to put into the machine as her contribution.
Sirius thinks it’s gonna be the best birthday ever with only the twelve of them there – The four Marauders of course, the three Gryffindor girls (to James’ delight, Lily agreed to come), Dorcas (decidedly Marlene’s better half), Regulus (who also surprisingly agreed to come), Pandora, Barty, and Even. Plus, Peter said he’s bringing what he insists on calling ‘green energy’.
The moment they close the pub’s door behind them, Aberforth puts a new bottle of fire whisky on the bar and announces loudly, “I don’t like any of you sods, so don’t bother me in the back room. Black, remember it’s all on your head”. Then he turns around and leaves through the back door.
“Yes!!” Barty cheers, and Regulus slaps him over the head.
They all fill shot glasses with the smoky, amber liquid from the bottle, and James starts talking, looking for all the world like he’s giving a toast at a wedding. “My baby has grown up and reached adulthood,”
“You’re younger than him, you prat!” Remus laughs, and Sirius just smiles in contented happiness.
James doesn’t even blink, “I hope we raised him well. He has become a beautiful, loud, stubborn, prickly, silly little butterfly, ready to spread his wings and fly. Don’t ever let him into a kitchen, and he may thrive in this big, scary world.” Everybody laughs, even Sirius can’t help himself, though he’s trying to look offended. “But don’t let the passage of time fool you. Our Padfoot will always be a biting, fluffy little puppy that enjoys playing fetch with random sticks and chasing his own tail. You will always be welcome at the foot of my bed. Cheers mate!”
“Cheers!” they all answer and take the shots. It says a lot about them that nobody chokes on the burning feeling of the whisky going down their throats.
“And now, a song,” James declares, continuing with his dramatic performance. He taps twice on the jukebox and pushes a button.
“I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black…”
“Very subtle, Prongs” Sirius laughs happily and pours another shot.
After a few songs, Remus goes and sits in one of the chairs that were pushed to the side of the room. The full moon was only a couple of days ago, and his body is still recovering. He’s not complaining though, he can sit here all night just happily watching Sirius being so free and joyful, with his pretty flushed face from the alcohol and the dancing, his skin shining a bit from the sweat.
When someone chooses David Bowie’s ‘Rebel Rebel’, Sirius lifts his head, looking around the room, and Remus smiles and waits to see how long until the birthday boy finds him. Sirius’ eyes land on the corner where Remus sits, and their eyes meet. Sirius smiles softly, gets a bottle of water from the bar, and walks over. He lifts the feet Remus has resting on a chair, sits, and lowers them onto his own lap.
“Hi Moony”. He says, sounding as soft as his smile.
“Hi Padfoot”. He answers in the same soft tone.
“Bowie is playing”.
“I know. The first muggle musician I introduced you to”.
“Guess he’ll always be my first,” Sirius smirks and Remus snorts a laugh.
“Are you enjoying your party?”
“I am, it’s wonderful. Thank you for staying even though I know you're tired and aching. It means a lot that you’re here”.
“I wouldn’t miss it. I love listening to good music and seeing you being happy”.
Sirius blushes a little, though it’s hard to tell with how flushed his face is already, and hands Remus the water. He drinks deeply, then passes it back. Sirius lifts his head and gulps the rest, while Remus watches the sweaty marble-like skin of his throat move when he swallows, and thinks how their spit is mixing a bit in the water. When he’s done drinking, Sirius absentmindedly puts his hands on Remus’ calf and lightly massages the muscle.
They’re just sitting there, in comfortable silence, looking at each other, when the song changes and something new begins.
“She keeps the Moët et Chandon in her pretty cabinet,
‘Let them eat cake,’ she says, just like Marie Antoinette…”
Both their smiles widen. “Go on, you can’t miss a Queen song,” Remus encourages. Sirius gets up, rests Remus’ feet gently back on the chair, kisses his forehead, winks, and goes back to dancing.
March 1979
Since Remus’ 18th birthday falls on a Wednesday, just a day before an important Charms lesson meant to prepare them for their N.E.W.Ts, it has been agreed that the party can wait until Friday. So, on the actual birthday, Remus and Sirius manage to quietly sneak out and grab a pint at the Hog’s Head. They sit there for a couple of hours, laughing and enjoying the time they have alone with each other. Since the beginning of 7th year, they’ve been so busy that it feels as though they haven’t had the chance to just spend some time together and enjoy the easy, relaxing bubble that seems to form when it’s only the two of them. The pub is almost empty when Remus takes a big breath and gets up. Sirius cocks his head in a question, and Remus just smiles and walks towards the old jukebox still standing in the same corner. He taps his wand and pushes a button. The wonderful opening notes of ‘The Chain’ by Fleetwood Mac start playing.
“Listen to the wind blow
Watch the sun rise…”
Remus slowly walks back to the table, and Sirius can only watch him, eyes wide and mouth a little open. When Remus reaches him, he stops a step away from Sirius’ chair and offers a hand. Sirius takes it and stands, their bodies now so close they can feel each other’s breath on their faces.
“And if you don’t love me now
You would never love me again…”
They move at the same time and close the small gap still separating their lips. They kiss softly, reverently, with no hesitation. Sirius lifts his hands to the back of Remus’ head, who in turn holds Sirius’ waist and pulls them closer. When they separate, they pull their heads back a bit, looking at each other with big, radiant, sappy smiles.
“Finally, you bloody idiots,” Aberforth says loudly enough for them to hear, making their smiles grow even bigger.