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Chapter Text

The bigger man would have said no. The bigger man would have informed their little brother that it was pouring outside, a very pitch black—stormy—seven o’clock at night, and he would much rather be in their shared apartment, blasting his records and enjoying a joint whilst lying on the floor of his room. Unfortunately, Sirius was not the bigger person, as his brother, Regulus, was much too terrifying to say no to.
So it could be said that Regulus was the reason he was in this predicament, sopping wet and shivering his way through a muggle bookshop. Yes, Sirius thought to himself, Reg is very much to blame for this.

‘Can I help you sir?’ a woman’s voice asks from behind him. Sirius turns slowly, attempting not to spray the shelves from his hair, wincing as he sees the mess he’s already made on the floor. He hasn’t even been inside the building for more than a minute.

The woman, in contradiction to him, is in a neatly pressed lilac dress with a white collar and matching belt. With the white gogo boots and chunky earrings, she looked like she took a step right out of the sixties. Her face was set in a polite grimace, attempting a smile, but clearly annoyed about the water around the delicate materials.

Her name tag read Mary.

‘Oh, yes, uh,’ Sirius mumbled. You see, he was usually a much more composed individual but the dripping water and ice-cold clothes sticking to his skin was really not helping his brain functions, ‘Mushrooms.’

‘Mushrooms?’ the woman, Mary, asked with an eyebrow raised.

‘Anything on mushrooms actually. My brother, he makes… well, he. How do I put this-’

‘I think,’ she said with a hand raised, ‘I understand.’

Mary, clearly more amused at Sirius’ situation than annoyed now understanding he wasn’t coming into the establishment to cover all the books in water or whatever she thought he was going to do, leads him deeper into the stacks of novels, expertly weaving around stacks that hadn’t been shelved yet and ducking under arches to support where the shelves started to lean inwards the higher up they went. The poor lighting of the establishment did not help matters either.

‘Sorry about the mess,’ she spoke out, ‘we just got a couple new selections in from donors’.
Mary, after taking Sirius deep into the maze, gestured over to a section of shelves closer to the ground, causing Sirius to have to gently crouch down, listening to the squelch of his shoes as he read labels and hoped one of these books will have what he needs. Eventually he gives up and takes all three, heading back through the shelves towards the counter he spotted near the entrance.

‘These three books please,’ Sirius tried for politeness, he really did, but his shirt is really soaking into his skin now and it feels like his bones itself are being leeched of warmth every second he stands shivering in this Merlin-forsaken shop in fuck-all London because Reg said it was ‘the only place’ that had good books for his potions research. Which confused Sirius, as it was very clearly muggle-owned and operated. But Sirius did not care about this trivial fact about his brother’s research when the mop of brown hair behind the teetering shelves did not even flinch at his words, or tone, or the shivering that had most definitely turned to rattling at this point, his necklaces and earrings clinking in tandem.

‘Fucks sake, I’m standing right here, what could possibly stop you from looking up this badly?’

Sirius did try to be polite, didn’t he? What felt like eternity later, the mop of hair shifted slightly and a long, slender hand stuck out from an opening behind the stacks, doing a slow, rolling motion, to get Sirius to shift over.

‘Would you like to try that again?’ a lilting Welsh voice spoke with some of the driest wit known to man.

Sirius, stepping over to the counter space, would like to say that he was fully prepared to stand up to this stranger. That this dry, sarcastic, taunting voice with their little hand-waves and beautiful piano-long fingers could not stop the rage in Sirius, for he, the disgraced heir of the House of Black, was very well known for his sharp comebacks and dazzling charm and no man—or woman!—will get the last word with him around. He was much too skilled to allow this to happen.

Yes, Sirius was very prepared to face this..

This..

Sirius was stunned into silence by the most intriguing man. He looked as if autumn itself had gotten trapped underneath his skin. Dressed in shades of brown and soft oranges and muted greens, a knitted jumper with patched elbows and a soft brown mop of hair, thick curls evidently unmanaged, cut roughly into some resemblance of a mullet. A cup of tea was in his right hand, a worn out book in his lap, the fingers of his left hand sat holding an electronic machine with the price already detailed out, and a box of plastic bags sat at this stranger’s loafer-clad feet, the top bag already opened and waiting. His socks did not match.

‘Um. Erm. These three please.’ Sirius placed the three textbooks onto the counter and the man wordlessly handed over the machine while continuing to read his book. And while Sirius muddled about with the muggle machine —it had been a few weeks, okay? This mysterious man, mug in hand, book in lap, deftly picked up and placed all three books within the opened plastic bag and returned it to the counter for him.

Sirius paid as quickly as could, grabbing the bag and heading towards the door. The faster he could make it home, the faster the ice sliding down his back could be replaced with a hot shower and warming spell. And get away from this most embarrassing moment with the enticing stranger.

‘I suggest,’ the Welsh man said dryly, ‘ folding over the plastic bag, the rain is only going to get heavier tonight.’

‘Oh, uh, thanks.’ Sirius mumbled, following his instructions as he pulled the heavy wooden door, listening to the bell chime as he stepped out. Almost immediately leaving the front step of the building did a large crack of thunder strike overhead, making Sirius jump. Behind him, Sirius listened to a quiet scratching sound on the multicolour stained glass of the door. It was Mary, turning over the sign to say ‘closed’. She raised an eyebrow at Sirius, still standing underneath the awning on the front step.

He smiled sheepishly back at her.

She responded with a shoo-ing motion.

Fine. Message received. Sirius took a deep breath, straightening his spine as he steeled himself, and ran out into the storm, heading towards home.

Remus was quite done with his day when the mysterious boy, soaking wet and looking for all the world like a lost dog stumbled into the store. He swore if he had to make small talk one more time about the torrential downpour outside he was going to curse this boy’s ass off, muggle or not. It wasn’t that he didn’t like his job—Remus wouldn’t have gotten ownership of the building from the small funds his father left behind in Gringotts if he didn’t. It was just that the moon was a few days away and his temper was always shorter then, the lack of sleep and numerous aching bones in his body reminding him of what he will have to endure so painfully soon.

Thankfully, Mary had picked up on Remus’ souring mood and she stepped up to the drenched potential customer, wincing as the water sliding off of him started to soak into the worn hardwood floors.

Remus also seemed to be saved from small talk by this boy’s complete idiocy when it came to forming a coherent sentence. And as Mary took him into the stacks to go find, and he quotes, ‘mushrooms’, he relaxed back into his seat, sipping his chamomile tea and listening to the rain pour heavily onto the practically empty street. The few cars that drove by went slowly, headlights reflecting brightly against the drops on the bay window he sat at.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed this final customer did not know what he wanted so badly that he took all three identification textbooks about the subclasses of fungi from around the world and quickly made his way to the front desk. As he approached, Remus could see all three tombs between the stacks of new arrivals. By Rowena he needed to shelve these all before the moon, as much as he loved Mary and her tireless work ethic, she did still have classes to attend, unlike him, and could not stay all day to shelve books and make small talk.

‘These three books please,’ the boy called into the stacks as he typed the pricing out into the machine. Merlin, he could hear the customer’s jewelry clinking from his shivering. What was he thinking, not grabbing a coat on his way out the door? Could he not see the torrential downpour?.

‘Fucks sake, I’m standing right here, what could possibly stop you from looking up this badly?’ The boy ended up muttering from the other side of the stack. Remus rolled his eyes, knowing full well the drenched individual could not see him from his position, at the wrong side of the counter.

Remus stuck out his hand and motioned for him to come forward a few steps so he could be seen, and as he was feeling particularly spiteful from that comment, he spoke rather drily back to him.

The boy stood frozen in place, looking star-strucked at Remus. He watched from the corner of his eye as he placed his books into the bag, seeing him fumble with the machine like he barely used one. To be fair, it was rather presumptuous of Remus to immediately type the price into the machine, but his demographic rarely carried cash on hand anymore anyways.

As he used the machine, Remus categorized the boy’s figure. Besides being sopping wet, he wore an entirely black outfit. The thin shirt and jeans, alongside platform Doc Martens to make this small individual seem just slightly taller and a dark belt. Even his hair was just an inky curtain into the night. What stood out to him was all the jewelry worn was a sharp silver, he could feel it in his stomach, now that the customer had gotten closer. A nauseating smell for any werewolf, no matter the time of year. What really struck Remus was that this boy was in fact a man. Remus just assumed by his frail-looking frame and small stature that he hadn’t finished growing.

But nevertheless, he paid and was headed towards the door. And Remus, in an act of fear for the books in hand, called out.

‘I suggest,’ Remus said, ‘folding over the plastic bag, the rain is only going to get heavier tonight.’

The man seemed to mumble a thanks as he folded over the bag, stepping out on the front step. Just as he stepped out, a large crack of thunder struck overhead, making the man involuntarily flinch. Remus watched through the glass as he stood out on the step.

‘What is he doing?’ Mary asked.

‘I don’t know. Do you think he would move if we put out the closed sign?’ Remus asked with a smirk.

Mary matched his grin with her own, ‘Ooo, I like how you think, Wolfy.’

Remus cringed.

‘Yeah that one was bad coming out. I’ll figure something out eventually!’ She stated merrily as she went over and flipped the sign. The man outside turned slightly to see what she was doing.

Mary raised an eyebrow.

He gave back an impish smile.

Mary made a shoo-ing motion at him, finally urging the small man to move.

The man seemed like he was, for all the world knew, going to war. As he took in a deep breath and straightened, before dashing out into the rain, vanishing from sight. A large crack of thunder soon followed.

‘What a strange man.’ Remus stated plainly. Mary snorted.

‘That’s putting it lightly,’ Mary laughed, ‘Uhh.. uhh. Mushrooms!’ She imitated the poor fellow.

Remus chuckled.

‘It seems no one else will be coming in tonight. Would you like to help close up or leave early?’ Remus asked.

Mary waved him off, ‘Oh please, you finished closing sales an hour ago. I know you have nothing left to do Mr. “Would you like to try that again?” Godric you sounded like my mother with that tone.’

Remus outright laughed at that one. Standing up, he took care to favour his right leg, as his left side pulsed with the continuing rain. Mary softened and came around the desk.

‘Oh here, I can take these upstairs for you.’ she said, reaching for his tea, but Remus waved her off. His apartment was only up the stairs in the back, he didn’t need assistance that badly.

‘I’m a strong independent woman, Mary. I can walk up a set of stairs on my own.’ he said, straight faced. She snorted at that.

‘Alright then, let me grab my coat, I’ll only be a moment.’ she said, running to the back. Returning with her rain coat and umbrella, Remus walked her to the door.

‘Message me when you get home, alright? It’s quite slippery and I don’t want you falling in the dark,’ he said. Mary smiled softly and tugged him to lean down so she could kiss his cheek.

‘You’re too kind for this world Remus,’ she said, opening the front door, ‘let Lily know I say “hi”! And don’t let her catch you without your cane, mister. I know you haven’t been using it.’

Remus smiled fondly at one of his long time friends, ‘Yes Mary. Now go home. Shop’s closed.’

She smiled and stepped outside. And only after she had safely made it, underneath her umbrella, to the end of the street, did Remus watch her apparate into nothing and Remus felt the buzz in his pocket, of her letting him know she was home safe, did he lock the door and head in for the night. Letting the memory of the odd final customer wash away, alongside the heavy rain.

Chapter Text

Regulus was roughly rubbing Sirius’ head with a towel, while simultaneously yelling at him.

‘You’re hair is soaking wet, you left without a fucking jacket or coat and you expect me to what? Be so grateful for my darling brother to go retrieve the books I asked him to get, five hours ago?’ He stated.

‘In my defence! I was busy with the Smithes’ sleeping draught when you asked.’ Sirius said, ‘and ow! You do not have to rub that hard.’

‘Be lucky the store was even open.’ Regulus spat at him, ‘and go shower, you smell like a fucking dog.’

‘I am a dog,’ Sirius muttered, getting up from the kitchen stool in their shared flat. The building manager was very kind six years ago, when a newly minted, seventeen year old Sirius with his sixteen year old brother in tow asked about renting. The Black brothers would forever be grateful for the wizard’s help as they went into hiding from their family as the Wizarding War raged on, tormenting both boys’ every waking moment as they waited, and waited for Walburga to burst through their front door, spouting curses and dragging both brothers back into the mess their family had started.

When news broke out in the daily prophet that Voldemort had been slain by his own right hand man double crossing him, one of the Pettigrews, if Sirius recalled correctly, the celebration through the entire complex lasted a week straight. Sirius remembers very little from that week, except for the raging hangover when it ended—and one of the neighbours asleep, naked, in his bed—but he still looks upon those days with a fond smile. That was the day the Black brothers could finally stop running from their House and start to live again.

Now, Sirius looks around their flat as his brother stares daggers into his back and sighs. If only seventeen year old him knew that in a few years time, he would have been living comfortably with his brother, far away from the impossible standards of the Beauxbatons, or the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. I think I would have told myself I was crazy , Sirius thought as he turned on the shower and peeled off the ice-cold fabric on his skin. Sirius turned to the mirror in their shared bathroom, as steam started to fill the space.

The face staring back at him was one with full cheeks and light in his eyes.

A good kind of crazy though, I will admit Sirius smiled.

‘Sirius I swear to Merlin himself if you run up our water bill again I’m going to kill you.’ Regulus shouts through the door. Sirius laughed and stepped into the shower, all his reminiscing forgotten in exchange for the employee at the front desk of the bookshop.

He didn’t even look away from his book the entire time the two of them interacted but he already wanted to know more. What book was he reading? It looked like just a standard novel. And what tea was he drinking? Sirius rarely used his canine-senses in human form, it was too overloading on the brain and his dog form was covered in memories of covert spying and sneaking out when the standards of being the Most Noble Heir beared down too strongly. But if he did, he wondered what smells he would’ve picked up from the man. Would he smell like the freshly fallen leaves and campfire smoke that his clothes looked like they came from? Or would he smell like spring, yet dress like fall? The man was a mystery that Sirius Black wanted to solve.

Opening a window and sitting on the sill a few hours later, Sirius lights a blunt and takes in a deep pull, calming him with the repetitive action almost immediately.

‘I could smell that from a mile away,’ Regulus said from the open door to his room, smirking at his older half.

‘Unless you’re coming to join, piss off.’ Sirius replied.

‘What’s got you all fussed?’ Reg asked, coming into the room.

‘Nothing, forget I said anything.’ Sirius said. Regulus, sits down across from him, taking the joint and having some himself.

‘Was it the book keeper?’ Reg asked, raising an eyebrow. Sirius turned his head towards the rain.

‘I’m not answering that.’

‘Oh so it was the book keeper. Yeah, he pisses everyone off. Bit of a snob, if I do say so myself.’

Sirius stayed silent, having another pull on the dwindling roll of weed between his fingers.

‘Although, who are we to say? I think we could live off of Alpharad’s trust fund for you alone.’

That pulled a smile to Sirius’ lips, ‘Oh most definitely. Quit our jobs and live somewhere on the coast.’

‘Ah, if only I didn’t have such big dreams of being a potions master, and you, collecting enough records to own your own muggle shop.’ Reg dramatically leaned against the window sill, hand tilted up against his forehead. Sirius outright laughed, the weed starting to soften his system and relax his body even further.

‘Speaking of potions, who’s left to do for the month?’ Sirius asks, nudging his brother with his foot.

‘Ew, don’t touch me with those, I don’t know where they’ve been,’ Reg starts, pulling a face, before grabbing a piece of folded paper from his pocket, ‘We have three names left on the list. Two of them are from my advanced potions class, they’re both in the mediwitch program so they’ll be easy to get them to. And then finishing off the Smithe’s.’

‘I finished the Smithe’s before I left, we just need to get it to them. What potions do your classmates want?’

‘Lily—the redhead—wants a wolfsbane so she can practice making sure hers turn out the same way and Marlene needed a few more healing draughts for her brother’s quidditch team.’

And into the night the two boys went discussing and listing what ingredients needed to be picked up the next morning until Sirius’ eyes started to droop and Reg excused himself to bed.

If Regulus walked by from the kitchen to his own bedroom and peered into Sirius’ room, he would have seen his older brother still sitting by the window. Weed long gone, window still open, peering out into the street, listening to the rain and looking for something outside longingly.

Chapter Text

Sirius became so overwhelmed with making the healing draughts and dropping off the finished potions for the month that by the time he had a moment to himself, two weeks had passed since his encounter in the bookshop.

‘Ok, I swear if we get any more rush orders this month I am going to stab someone.’ Sirius said, apparating into the middle of Reg’s workstation. Reg, used to Sirius’ antics around order drop offs, just looked up with a scowl.

‘Everyone from the West End has been dealt with, and most of the Diagon Alley shop owners have been given their rush orders.’

There had been an incident regarding a loose niffler and someone’s familiar. Many valuable things had been stolen, and multiple people ended up with some scratches from the familiar as it chased after the gold thief. Apparently a few shelves had been knocked over in the process and a few individuals ended up with minor concussions. Now, most of these injured witches and wizards would have reported immediately to St. Mungo’s, but a banshee had been let loose in Sheffield near the university and many muggles and wizards alike in the area had had ear drums bursts and fainting spells alike, making the healers and aurors swamped with clean up from the mess it left in its wake. Leaving small-time potioneers like the Black brothers responsible for helping out with the smaller incidents around the country.

‘Can you run these to their buyers? The names are on the bottles, I still need to finish Lily’s wolfsbane and Evan said he would drop by to grab Pandora’s elixir.’ Pandora was pregnant and was having horrible morning sickness, making her become more thin than swollen with new life and poor Xeno had been running himself ragged trying to keep her comfortable and relaxed.

‘Can do. Does Evan know the door is locked and we have an unplottable location?’ Just as Sirius finished asking that, a loud smack could be heard from the hallway.

‘He does now.’ Regulus smirked. Sirius snorted.

‘Buggering fuck, could you boys inform me that you’ve spelled the door against visiting apparitions?’ Evan yelled into the door, as Sirius went to open it.

‘Good morning to you too,’ Sirius smirked, as a fair haired man rubbing his nose walked into the flat.

‘It’s almost two in the afternoon, what are you going on about?’ Evan asks as he heads towards where Regulus was working on his red-headed classmates’ order.

‘Oh shit, really?!’ Sirius says with a start, ‘I had made plans to go out with Andromeda for lunch!’

‘Yeah, I don’t think that will be happening.’ Reg said, with a quirk of his mouth, ‘Besides, you haven’t finished dropping off the end of last week’s orders.’

‘Shit- fuck- ass-’ Sirius says as he runs around the flat, looking in the mirror to see if he was presentable enough, and then pulling out his muggle phone to see if ‘Meda messaged him. He opened his phone to see ten unread messages.

One from Reg, it’s the groceries he has to pick up after everyone has their orders

Two from different people in their complex. One is the celebratory neighbour, wondering if he would like to meet up. He asks about once a month, ever since the week-long party that Sirius still has trouble remembering bits and pieces of. The other is the sweet older woman down the hall, she’s wondering if they can make her some dreamless sleep for her nephew, he’s an auror who was on the front lines during the war.

‘Mrs Moody is wondering if we can get Alastor another dreamless sleep made. And she reminds us to not allow him to know that we are the ones who made it, so keep it unlabelled.’ Sirius calls out, as he checks the final string of messages with a wince.

Andromeda
Last seen at 1:25pm
«hey Siri! i’m running a bit late, ‘dora doesn’t want to go down for her nap. where are we meeting again?»

«hey, ‘dora is down for the count! let me know where we’re meeting so I can apparate in time»

«Siri? i know you’re not this bad at muggle phones, can you send me a text to let me know what’s up?»

«Siri?»

«hey lil cous’ if you need to cancel, just send me a text»

«siri, dude, it’s been an hour, what’s going on?»

«reggie just messaged, said you were busy running errands and forgot, we can reschedule for some time later when the orders have slowed down?»

«buggering fuck, meda im so sorry ive been swamped all day. can we reschedule?»

«promise i’m not this bad all the time»

«it’s chill, dora just woke up so i can’t leave anymore. Let me know next time you’re actually free, ok? Love you»

«this is why you’re my favourite. Love you too !»

Sirius closes his phone with a sigh, knowing how clearly he messed this up. Rarely was Andromeda ever free, even rarer did Nymphadora sleep long enough to go out for food. He really needs to make it up to her next time she visits.

‘I’m going to finish off these orders and grab a bite to eat at the café near the Thames in Greenwich, do you want anything? Reg? Evan?’

Evan had rolled up his sleeves and stood beside Reg, measuring out ingredients for future potions, and making notes of inventory. Stuff Sirius usually did, but usually couldn’t on drop-off days.

‘We’re good, just finish those off so we can be done for the day.’ Reg states, waving him off. Sirius nods, and grabs the bag near the cauldron, already heavy with the next collection needing to be run around town, and apparates on the spot.

Two more hours later, Sirius had to call for a break and dragged himself into the café, trudging to the cashier. Ordering both a black coffee and an espresso shot, alongside a pastry to hold him over, he collapses into a chair, waiting for his name to be called. Giving himself something to do, Sirius looks around at the small collection of other customers in the establishment.

A couple sitting at the window bench, watching passerbys as they sip lattes and speak in low voices. A girl sits by herself, typing away on a computer, headphones firmly locked into place around her ears. And a man sits in the far corner, legs crossed at the ankles, tucked underneath the seat like he’s always making room for another person across from him, and long, slender fingers, holds up a newspaper. The man is staring at Sirius, and Sirius stares back.

And blinks.

Twice.

And then a slow smile crosses his features as his order is called out. Sirius collects his order from the counter and heads towards the newspaper owner, plopping down into the seat across from him.

‘Do you always need to be reading something or is it possible to see you without a paper of some sort in hand?’ Sirius asks, and the newspaper drops away to show a raised eyebrow across a witty book keeper’s face, the one brow had a scar in the start of it that travelled down beneath the paper diagonally.

‘Sometimes I can be found not reading something, but it usually means I’m writing instead. Or the conversation I’m having is quite riveting.’ he says, then pointedly lifts back up the paper to read.

Now Sirius spent a good deal of time learning decorum and posture and speaking artfully with others. From both Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and the Noble House of Black. So yes, technically, Sirius knows when he’s being dismissed and informed through other’s body language to ‘drop it’. But Sirius did not have a dog animagus and a track record of detentions for nothing, and something flared alight underneath Sirius’ ribs as he took up the challenge.

‘Well how can you know if a conversation is riveting if it’s barely begun?’ Sirius asks, knocking back the espresso shot in one go, before biting into his pastry.

‘Hm, I suppose it would be unfair to presume how a conversation will go before it starts, but, to be fair, the first conversation held with this individual, he only said the words, and I quote, “mushrooms” and, what was it again? Oh yes, “fucks sake, I’m standing right here” as his teeth chattered away so intensely I thought they would fall out.’ The book keeper said, not putting down the paper. The mop of hair shifting slightly with his words.

‘Now that is unfair, as I was clearly in hypothermic shock.’ Sirius rebukes.

‘And your current state is so much better?’ The book keeper finally puts down the paper, showing off more of that scar. In fact, it looked like three scars ran across the right side of his face, faded with age but the skin was still split from the healing process and not fully back in line with itself. The biggest line ran from the start of his left eyebrow, across the bridge of his nose and down to his jaw, another one across his eyelid and halfway down his cheek, while the third started at the corner of his nose and cut through the corner of his mouth, leaving that side of his face always turned slightly downwards. For something like that to scar and stay this prominently, it had to be something tragic. The book keeper shifted uncomfortably and Sirius realised he was staring. He cleared his throat and tried to remember the last thing the book keeper said.

‘What about my current state?’ Sirius says, in fake mockery, as he downs his coffee. Something minute in the book keeper’s face relaxes slightly.

‘Your eyebags are so large I could make a cuppa in them,’ the book keeper replied, ‘What’s got you run ragged?’

And isn’t that something. The first question this random book keeper with a sharp wit and sharper tongue asks Sirius. And it wasn’t for his name.

‘My brother and I run a herbal medicine store together, and near the end of every month I go out to hand deliver and mail orders around the area.’ Sirius says. The lie was well rehearsed and practiced, and technically, it wasn’t lying. Just, stretching the truth slightly. Maybe a bit tightly but who’s to say.

‘Now this is the point in the conversation that I become intrigued,’ the book keeper says, fully folding up and putting away the newspaper so he could rest his hands together on the table, ‘tell me more. Why do you have to hand deliver some of these medicines? Are they of the more, green variety?’

Sirius, picking up the book keeper’s subtle hint, grins back viciously, ‘Some could say we do a lot of incense.’ Which, ok, now the truth was well and passed a gentle massage. They did mostly potions and herbal sacks for teas, the incense they made were rare and few between. But the interesting man with the even more interesting scars and hand-knit jumpers smiled at him, eyes alight and Sirius’s burning challenge beneath his ribs sparked even brighter.

‘Hm, well, that would be cause for having to drop off these herbal recipes in person. I’d say, if I’d like to come to you and your brother’s shop, where would it be located?’

‘We do most of our work at home in our flat and do the odd pop up stand here and then,’ Sirius says, answering fully truthfully for once, ‘we have an online page for our more public sales. Here, I can write it down for you.’ Sirius reached into the side pocket of his bag where the notepad and pen were stored for orders submitted when dropping off new ones. Most of their regulars and a few extra names were on his list, but Sirius found a blank page and tore it out, writing down the name for the book keeper.

‘We go to the year-end holiday market in Victoria Park every year if you want to see us in person.’ Sirius says, finishing off his pastry and last of his coffee, ‘Unfortunately I have to run. I still have a few places left to get to before the sun sets.’

And Sirius got up clearing his place into the garbage as he ran out the door, not waiting for a reply. Only after he had finished dropping off all the orders and was standing in a store, apple in hand, did he realise he never got the man’s name.

‘Fuck.’

Chapter Text

Remus was having a shit day. It had nothing to do with the weather or the bookshop, and everything to do with it being a Sunday and Remus having nothing to do, as he usually spends this day catching up with friends. Unfortunately, it had been a rather bad moon a week and a half prior and since then, his roommate, Lily, had been closed up in her room in their shared apartment or in class at St Mungo’s furiously trying to figure out how to make wolfsbane so he didn’t have to suffer as much or have to revert to the pack to keep himself from shredding his own skin off every moon.

And thoughts of the pack sent him into a different, much darker spiral, that made him close up shop early and speak in sharper tones than usual. Remus fought very hard every day to make sure those disastrous few years between himself and the wizarding community stay far away from one another. Every week after a full moon he still checks the Prophet to make sure his name wasn’t on the list of wanted after unidentified werewolf attacks across the country, and every moon he’s relieved to see the aurors haven’t started trying to find him yet. Still too busy with the much higher on the list threats and prosecuting all of the Death Eaters, not like any of them were innocent. They all worked for Voldemort if they bore the mark. And every single one of them did something unforgivable for him. Every last one of them.

So Remus ended up having a rather shit day, as his best friend and roommate was locked in her room and his other two friends were at a Chudly Cannons practice and a lecture respectively. So Remus had a lie in, puttered around his kitchen, cleaning dishes and having a spliff to relax his aching muscles. Then he watered all his plants on his rooftop garden, harvested some of the fruits that looked ripe and went back inside to muddle about some more. Sometime around two in the afternoon, Lily came out of her room, hair a frizzy mess around her face, talking on the phone with her.. friend? Boyfriend? Situationship.

‘Yes I know your mother invited me to your family brunch, no, James, that does not mean I have immediately accepted it. My life does not revolve around you, as much as you wish it does. It revolves around me passing my exams and becoming the smartest mediwitch in all of the continent.’ Lily said, waving to Remus with one hand.

Remus could hear James’ voice on the phone from his enhanced hearing, and listened as James tried oh so very hard not to sound as nervous as he was. Spoiler alert, it did not work.

‘You already are the smartest witch on the continent, honestly. You crushed everyone in your potions brewing exam, and came in third behind Marlene and Mary in the practical, and second in the written.’ James said, ‘But back to my question, are you going to come next Saturday? Mum just doesn’t understand our situation and, to be honest, neither do I.’ James chuckled nervously at the end of his statement.

Lily sighed rather dramatically, for someone standing in the kitchen in a pair of worn-out Hello Kitty sleep shorts and oversized shirt. There was even a smudge of something across her nose, covering her freckles. ‘Thank you James, that’s very kind. And for your mother? Tell her I’m your girlfriend, I’ve practically been it since February.’

James started spluttering over the phone.

‘Look, Remus is up and I need to check on him, ok? Call you later. Bye.’ And just like that, she hung up on the spluttering man she unwittingly fell in love with at the end of seventh year.

‘You alright?’ Remus asked, eyebrows raised.

‘Remus I just admitted to the most pigheaded idiot in the world that I want to be his girlfriend, while standing in my kitchen, in my pajamas. Of course I’m not alright. But I really should be asking you. You have that look in your eye again.’ Lily says, leaning against the edge of the counter top as Remus cleaned it for the second time that day.

‘What look?’ he asked.

‘Oh you know, just the “everybody in the world is after me and I feel horrible for all the mistakes I made as a teenager under the oppressive thumb of my superiors”’ Lily said with a shrug, typing something on her phone, ‘the usual.’

Remus gaped like a fish at her, for once at a loss of words.

‘You should go for a walk, clear that head of yours and loosen up your hip, I know it’s gone tight again, I can see you wincing every step.’ Lily stated, and just like that, back to her regular business of taking care of him both mentally and physically.

‘I’m fine.’ He said in response.

‘I could hear you grunting from my room. Go, take your cane that I know you haven’t been using and go get some fresh air. No, the rooftop does not count. Now go,’ Lily practically pushed Remus out the door, shoving his cane into his hands and his messenger bag onto his shoulder, closing the door in his face.

‘Don’t let me see you back here for at least an hour!’ She shouted through the thick wood. Remus just sighed and pulled the strap of his bag higher up his shoulder as he slowly made his way down the stairs.

He walked for as long as he could manage with his hip and side acting up again. The cane, unfortunately, proved to be rather useful as he wouldn’t have made it as far without it. He ended up taking the bus for a while, just going around the city and watching the streets pass by. He ended up getting off at a stop somewhere in Greenwich, slowly strolling down the street and letting his enhanced senses stretch out and take in all the different sights and sounds. He picked up a Daily Prophet from a street vendor in a magical alley way and eventually stumbled across a quaint little cafe tucked between two major brands on a side street and went inside. Ordering a tea and sitting down in the back corner of the establishment, he double checked to make sure he froze the pictures of the Prophet while being in a muggle-populated area before starting to read.

He took note of any major events happening in the city, apparently a niffler got loose in Diagon Alley a few days after a rampant banshee up in Sheffield and St Mungo’s was swamped and asking mediwitches to work overtime while they sorted everything out. They were even debating calling in some of the higher-level students studying to become mediwitches just to keep everything running smoothly. The last time they had to do that was during the peak of the war.

The war.

And there Remus’ nasty brain went again, bringing back up old memories about a life he wished he never lived, yet still has to deal with every day. And reminded of every full moon. He inadvertently starts scanning for any key words about stray werewolf sightings or attacks, knowing that nothing will come up until the day after the next moon in three weeks.

As he was scanning the paper, the door chimed rang as it opened and a familiar voice started speaking to the barista. Remus looks up to see the rain-soaked man from before, now very much dry, but haggard in a different way this time. His long curly hair, which he last saw soaked and pulled down past his collarbones, was now haphazardly put up into some resemblance of a bun, some strands, intentionally or not, falling artistically across his forehead. The silver jewelry was still there, earrings, necklaces and rings, but the sopping wet shirt and jeans were exchanged for a dry leather jacket, faded band shirt and ripped up jeans. He still wore the same platformed shoes as before. The most out of place thing about him was the bag slung over his shoulder, it was a green canvas material with some form of logo imprinted on the front, must be some type of school or company bag.

Unfortunately for Remus’ luck, the man caught him staring at him, and after collecting his order, sat down across from him. Remus tried to hide behind his newspaper, but the man would not have it. The silver he wore was stinging his nose.

‘Do you always need to be reading something or is it possible to see you without a paper of some sort in hand?’ the man says, and Remus tries to fight a snort, punching back with a comment of his own. This only seems to rile the man further, as he sits up straighter in his seats, and the fire of a good fight lights up in his eyes. Remus is too invested from that response to ignore him now.

Remus goes for a kill shot while speaking and makes fun of his stumbling words from before, and the man fires back in kind.

‘Now that is unfair, as I was clearly in hypothermic shock.’ he says, a smile in his tone.

‘And your current state is so much better?’ Remus shoots right back at him. Honestly the man looks like he was going to pass out any minute, the espresso and black coffee not doing much to hide the large eyebags and sagging shoulders. Remus puts away his paper after realising he wasn’t actually reading it anymore, and gets momentarily stuck as the man stares at his face. Or more specifically, his scars.

He knows he has them, he has to see them every morning and every night, but talking about them, acknowledging them? A whole other story. Thankfully he’s saved by the man realising his unease and moving past it, focusing instead on his snide remark. And in gratitude for this stranger's kindness, he acts as if he cares for this stranger’s well being and asks about why he’s so tired.

The answer he gets was not one he was expecting. Because “running a herbal shop with my brother” was not the response Remus would ever expect from this rockstar-looking man who seems like he spends his days bunking off class and nights partying in his dorm. Interest peaked, Remus asks more and ends up with a sheet of paper from a notepad with a URL to a website, and a location to find him in a few months.

Another couple hours later, Remus is tucked safely back in his home, typing in the link into his computer. The website name and logo pops up first before Remus can see anything else. In a detailed black on white design sits an intricate logo of hyacinths surrounding a raven mid-flight, with the words “Black Brothers’ Herbal Remedies” underneath.

And only then did Remus realise he hadn’t asked the man his name.

‘Fuck.’

Chapter Text

‘You’ve been staring at that request page for an hour,’ Mary said from the other side of the counter, clad in deep oranges that complimented her dark skin beautifully. Apparently, she was wanting to go for more of a “seventies vibe” that day—her words, not Remus’—but was disappointed her hair did not have tight enough curls for the iconic afros of the time.

‘I’m contemplating what to get,’ Remus replied in a slow drawl.

‘More like contemplating this guy’s di–’

‘MARY’ Remus shot up from his seat, eyes wide and threw a hand across her mouth.

‘Eughhh– gerroff me yow giaan frea’ Mary, knowing Remus’ reaction, stuck her tongue into his palm.

‘That’s disgusting,’ Remus replied, removing his hand.

‘And you’re still a prude even at twenty three,’ Mary snarked back, ‘You know, most people our age would be out partying every night, getting pissed and being reckless. Yet here you are, you old man, managing your fully owned bookshop and never talking to anyone.’

‘Do you have a point in there somewhere or are you just insulting me?’ Remus rolls his eyes at her.

‘Both, always.’ Mary waves her hand, an automatic response at this point, ‘But what I’m trying to say here is, it’s a good thing you’ve found someone to creepily stalk their website for!’

Remus cringed and put his head in his hands.

‘Wait. That came out wrong.’ Mary takes a step back, ‘What I mean to say is–’ The shop’s bell chimed with the opening of the front door, “–you’re a bright, strapping young man, and this is a good first step to get out on that dating scene!’

‘Mary.’ Remus folds back into his chair.

‘Remus is dating? Who!’ a voice calls out from behind, Mary turns around with a gasp.

‘Marls, please, help me here. Remmy here—yeah, this one sounded better in my head too—has been staring at this request form for a herbal remedies shop for the past hour—at least for today—and will not tell me who is on the other end of this form.’ Mary collapses on top of the smaller woman’s shoulder as she says this. Pin-straight blonde hair braided back neatly and soft blue eyes look over questioningly at the man behind the counter.

‘I am contemplating an order,’ Remus grits out. Marlene just responds with one of her dry smiles.

‘I’m sure you contemplated very hard last night in bed,’ she says with a smirk. Remus’ face starts to turn an alarming shade of red at that.

‘Hah! Called it.’ Mary laughs, arm on top of Marlene’s shoulder. Remus just raises an eyebrow at the blonde individual as she smiles at the person practically glued to her. Marlene responds with a dirty look. Remus subtly lifts his hands in a gesture of backing up. Marlene’s dirty look subsides.

Just then, footsteps can be heard coming from the back of the shop and out walks Lily, looking very much like she was still at Hogwarts with her pleated skirt and soft cream sweater, heavy book bag on one shoulder.

‘Called what?’ she asks, inquisitively. Mary responds by comically reenacting the past minute with Marlene.

‘But he’s been looking at that screen for hours over this past week and still hasn’t done anything!’ She finishes, fully collapsing on top of the counter. Remus, for his part, tries to stay as composed as possible. Even going so far to rebuke Mary’s claims and keep to his indecisive narrative. Unfortunately, Lily had decided to choose violence that day

‘Is this why you took a cold shower this morning?’ Lily asks with a smug tone. The two other girls let out conspiratorial gasps and immediately laugh at Remus’ face of shock.

‘I- no- what. Lily-’ Remus sputters, Lily easily rounds the corner of the now, semi-organised counter. Well, there were less books on top now at least. He did not have a cold shower that morning, thank you very much. But his mouth and brain did not seem to want to work together.

‘Lils what are you doing?’ Remus asks, attempting to block her path. Fortunately for Remus—and unfortunately for Lily—the freakishly long legs he possessed stopped her from being able to fully enter where he was sitting, which led to his triumphant look, and Lily’s crossed arms and scowl.

‘At least tell us who you’re thinking about, or me, your roommate who will undoubtedly hear his name as you shower.’ She bites at him.

The following silence starts Marlene up, ‘Remus tell me you know his name.’

The next pause gets Mary going, ‘Remus, you do know his name… right?’

As Remus turns away and begins busying himself with counting the day’s sales, all three girls show different forms of the same shock. Mary, unsurprisingly starts laughing loud and unashamedly, arms around her stomach, curling over. Marlene alternates between snorts at Mary’s laugh, a high pink on her cheeks, and giving Remus a half-smile and eyes wide look of utter disbelief. Lily pinches the bridge of her nose to hide her giggles. Even Remus smiled slightly, albeit a small, timid smile. What could he say? Mary’s laughter was contagious.

‘Remus I swear to Merlin,’ Lily eventually sighed, ‘Every time I think you’re finally understanding how dating works, you show me how incapable you actually are.’ When she looks up there’s a telling look in her eye. But her eyes wander to the clock on the side wall and widen.

‘Shit! Girls, we’re going to be late, it’s ten too!’ She practically yells, and the atmosphere quickly changes. Mary practically flings herself over the counter to grab her bag and jacket, Marlene grabbing the books she requested to be brought in off the counter (fun fact: having a bookseller as a friend is really handy when it comes to schooling) and Lily darts back around, checking her bag and finger-combing her hair. And in a flurry they all headed out the door, yelling out goodbyes as they went. What a chaotic trio they made. Lily, always dressed as if she was on a muggle girl’s “business casual fall aesthetic” tumblr page. Mary, permanently looking like she stepped out of the late sixties and brought her entire wardrobe with her. And Marlene, always ready to go to the gym, with her sturdy jackets, leggings and trainers. If any passerby on the street looked at them, Remus wasn’t sure if they would be able to tell where the trio were exactly headed.

As soon as the door closed on the three chaotic girls, it was like a vacuum inside the shop, all sound sucked out with it. Remus eventually got up and went to the record player in the back of the shop, behind a false wall that Lily charmed for him…

‘You know your spells are better than mine,’ she said at the time, ‘This is shoddy work in comparison.’ They were finalising how they wanted the bookshop to look. Well, Remus was finalising. Lily was helping. A subtle extension charm here or there to allow more shelves to fill up the space, replacing the gaudy frosted-over windows with charming stained glass in no standard pattern or shape. Rewiring half the lamps to allow the whole space to be lit up. And a hidden sound system, complete with a hidden storage shelf of records collected over the years.

‘Yes, well-’ he waved, trying to find words to encompass all that he felt around his use of magic. Lily’s smile slowly fell off her face at that.

‘Remus, hey, look at me.’ She said, pulling his chin down, careful of the still-healing bruise on his face at the time, ‘You have nothing to be ashamed about. You are one of the strongest people I know.’

‘Lils-’

‘No, Remus I mean it. Not “strongest werewolf”. Not “strongest half human”, or “strongest wizard”. Strongest person. Ever. You have a light inside of you Remus. One that shines so impeccably strongly, and I’m so sorry he tried to snuff it out.’ Lily said, and what an image she made saying it. Paint splattered across her clothes and skin, hair put into a mess of a knot at the back of her head, wand in her one hand, and a strong sense of purpose in her eye. Remus almost fell apart and cried in her arms that very moment. But he didn’t. Remus didn’t cry very much anymore at all, after the war. But his heart did ache at her words, even if his head didn’t believe them.

Now when Remus thinks of that day, in the building he now calls home, surrounded by his three closest friends who all stumbled into his life seemingly without him even noticing, a wave of calm washes over him. It doesn’t matter what he did during the war to survive, or what he does during full moons to keep himself hidden from the ministry now. Because he was finally at peace, doing something that he loved. As music filled the space, he heard the door chime quietly from the front, and a familiar voice called out.

‘Erm, hullo? Mr Book keeper?’ A pause, then a mutter, ‘I really hope I’m not talking to nobody.’

‘You aren’t.’ Remus replied, leaning against a shelf near the front, where a pair of striking silver eyes whip around to meet him. Merlin, how did Remus not notice his eyes before? They were so beautiful, it looked as if mercury were poured straight into his irises.

‘Oh good.’ the man replies, mirroring his stance by popping out his hip to lean sideways, ‘Otherwise my brother would have thought I’d have finally gone mad.'

Remus smiled, ‘Who’s to say you haven’t?’

Chapter Text

A week. Sirius stayed focused on his job for one whole week. Actually, he would like to factually point out that he stayed focused for a whole week and one day. Today was Monday. Specifically, it was one Monday after his impromptu, totally not on a whim, conversation in the coffee shop with the book keeper. And Sirius could not stop thinking about it. The scars across his skin, the mixed earth-toned colours of his eyes, the hand-knitted sweaters and slender fingers. Something about that man distracted him so thoroughly that Regulus literally ended up shoving him out the apartment because of it.

‘Sirius, you’ve been so spaced out all week, are you trying a new gummy or just losing what brain cells you have left?’ He asked him, as Sirius had to remeasure the same ingredient five times. It wasn’t his fault the brown-tones in the dried up murtlap hair looked exactly like the tones in the book keeper’s eye. Or that the soft material of the underbelly fur of a highland cow was the same shade and possible texture of the messy-haired man.

When Sirius did not respond to Reg’s comment, it seems it made him finally snap.

‘Okay that’s it.’ Reg slammed down the knife onto the cutting board he was using.

‘What?’ Sirius looked up with a frown.

‘I don’t know what’s going on with you, but this is our first chance in a month to finally stock up and take inventory and if you have to recount every item I ask you to get, I swear to Salazar himself I will gut you like a fish until you tell me what’s going on.’ Reg said.

‘Nothing is going on I swear-’ Sirius starts.

‘I don’t care if this is from smoking too much earlier or if you’re just exhausted. But obviously something’s happening in that big head of yours, so go take a walk and don’t come back until it’s clear.’ Reg said, arms crossed. And what a posing figure that was. This small man, with his porcelain features and his stormy-grey eyes, staring at his brother, and easing up ever so slightly on that tightly-controlled leash of his emotions to show just a tad of anger. If Reg hadn’t shoved him out the door physically after that statement, Sirius would have ran from that look alone.

Which led him to now. Aimlessly wandering the streets of London, trying to sort out the mess in his head. For Merlin's sake, he didn’t even know the man’s name, what sort of man could Sirius possibly be to assume that he might like him too. Just because he was a well-dressed, handsome bloke, did not automatically mean he swung, even just slightly his way. But that didn’t matter for Sirius’ wandering heart, getting swept up and stolen by a man he didn’t even know the name of. As Sirius’ mentally yelled at himself, he didn’t even realise the path he had walked, or what direction his feet put him in, until he eventually arrived at a familiar stained-glass window set in an old, weathered door.

‘Well, Reg did say to clear my head,’ he muttered to himself, before pushing in.

The door chimed in such a familiar way for only having heard it once before, it felt as if it was welcoming him back, knowing he would grace the front steps again. He heard the startings of an older Mumford and Sons album come on from a hidden speaker somewhere, and he had the distinct impression it was from a record player, something about the audio felt too tinny to be from a playlist off of a phone.

Sirius noticed that the sharp-tongued man was not at his usual haunting of the front desk and peered around the stacks.

‘Erm, hullo? Mr Book keeper?’ Sirius paused, trying to strain his ears for a response. This was when having a dog’s ears instead of a human’s would be more helpful for him, but unfortunately, as skilled as Sirius was at learning how to become an animagus while still in school, he did not have the abilities to master partial-shifting. Sirius ended up muttering to himself when there were no voices from deeper inside the shop, ‘I really hope I’m not talking to nobody.’

‘You aren’t.’ A dry voice calls in response, and Sirius whips his head around to see the book keeper, in all his glory, leaning against a shelf, arms crossed, staring at him in some type of amusement. Merlin, how tall was he? Sirius had never seen him standing before, but knew from the long-limbs the man had, he obviously had some height to him, but not the full head and a half taller than Sirius he seemed to be. Keeping composure, after realising he was staring, Sirius mirrored his stance by popping out his hip, leaning his weight onto his opposite leg.

‘Oh good.’ Sirius replied, ‘Otherwise my brother would have thought I’d have finally gone mad.’

The soft, amused look the book keeper had on his face, changed into a much wider grin, ‘Who’s to say you haven’t?’

Sirius laughed. Not the sharp, haughty laugh of his mother, or the crazed one of his cousin. One of pure joy and happiness, loud and unafraid. The man’s already-wide grin grew bigger.

‘Well, considering he kicked me out for the day, it seems the evidence is most telling.’ Sirius ended up saying in response. And what compelled him to be so honest as to say that? Sirius was never this honest with anyone, and to some stranger? He had to try to cover his mistake, ‘Not that he like, kicked me out kicked me out. Just told me to go “clear out my head”. Apparently I’ve had too many herbal remedies for his liking if you know what I mean.’

Well. That was certainly not the most elegant way of saying that. But the book keeper just nodded his head in understanding, and kept his dazzling smile.

‘I don’t think I ever told you my name,’ he ended up saying, seeing Sirius’ fumbling. The tall, autumn-wrapped man stuck out his hand in a gesture of good faith and stated, ‘I’m Remus.’

And what a wonderful name that was. Remus. An intriguing name for an intriguing man. Just another mystery to add to the growing list he had about him. Why did his parents decide on that name? Did he have a brother named Romulus? Sirius took his hand with a smile and a raised eyebrow, ‘Just Remus? No last name?’

‘Just Remus.’ He stated plainly.

‘Oh, well, good. I don’t use mine either. Just Sirius.’

A snort, ‘Serious you certainly are not.’

Sirius laughed in response, used to this reaction, ‘No no, my name. S-I-R-I-U-S. Sirius.’

Remus dropped his hand away with a laugh, ‘You’re having a laugh. No it’s not.’

‘I’m serious! It’s Sirius!’ he said, ‘Wait, that didn’t come out right-’ but it was too late, the tall man had already dissolved into giggles.

‘And here I thought Remus was bad. Then you had to come by and muck it up with that.’ He snorted.

‘Oh, my whole family’s like this,’ Sirius said, coming up and leaning on the shelf in front of him, ‘every member is named after some sort of star. Except for my cousin Andromeda. She had to go hog up a whole galaxy on her own. Left no room for the rest of us, did she.’

‘That’s pretentious.’

‘That’s my family.’

A comfortable silence fell between them, and as Sirius looked up at Remus, the man realised how close he was standing, and took a step back, clearing his throat.

‘Say, would you like to come upstairs for a smoke? God knows I need one.’ Remus said, looking at Sirius inquisitively, ‘Or is coming home even more baked than you were when you left, not allowed by your brother?’

‘He’d certainly frown upon it,’ Sirius replied with a smile, ‘But what’s life without a little risk?’ A sharp, dagger shaped risk and a vial of poison in his breakfast, but Remus didn’t need to know that. Besides, Sirius was sure that Reg needed him too much to run the shop to kill him. Well. Reasonably sure.

Sirius then looked around the shelves of stories and paused, ‘What about the shop? Unless the girl, Mary, was it? Unless she’s poking around somewhere.’

Remus waved him off, ‘I can close up for the day, it’s been slow anyways. Costing me more to stay open than to call it quits.’ And then Remus meandered over to the front door, put the bolt across, flipped the sign and turned around.

‘There. All done.’ he said, sliding his hands against each other in a ‘cleaning off’ motion, ‘Shall we?’

And then Remus just walked off through the towering stacks, and Sirius followed closely behind.

Chapter Text

A first time meeting in his dusty old bookshop, a second time meeting in a coffee house, a third in Remus' flat. Remus genuinely believed he was having a very long, very intense dream at this point and he wasn't sure if anything was going to be able to snap him out of it. Stuff like this just didn’t happen to him, ever. He doesn’t have the beautiful man follow him upstairs, or the soft life surrounded by shelves of books. He definitely doesn’t have his best friend as his roommate and cheers her on as she falls in love with the boy who had been fighting for her heart over years. But just as Remus’ thoughts started to spiral too deeply, a suspiciously Lily-sounding voice filled his head.

‘Spend your whole life feeling sorry for yourself Remus and you’ll never have the chance to see the good around you.’ It said.

Thanks, Lily. Remus thought, just before unlocking the side door in the storage room at the very back of the building. Leading Sirius upstairs to his home didn’t feel as nerve-wracking as it should have been. Maybe because there was something so familiar about the man, or maybe because he was just so good-natured and bright and, and kind. Sirius was undoubtedly a kind-hearted man. Because who else would go out of his way to spend so much time travelling around such a large city to hand-deliver people’s orders from his shop? No one. No one would ever put in that much effort. And maybe that was the reason he didn’t hesitate as he stepped into his messy, plant covered home. Maybe it was because he knew Sirius wouldn’t judge.

Just like a week ago when he saw the scarring across his face. Acknowledged it, and moved on, like he was taking in his features and nothing else. No jumbled thoughts or questions or half-paused words or, or Godric, showing him his own scars as if they would ever compare. No, the small nick on the side of someone’s wrist did not compare to the full-body horror Remus dealt with all the time. No matter how many times some old lady, trying to be kind and considerate, showed him their nicks and bruises, did they ever make him feel better for the trauma he had endured since he was five.

Sirius paused in the doorway at the top of the stairs and looked around, taking everything in. Something about how he stared at everything and took it all in made Remus self conscious, even though he just spent the entire stair-climb thinking about how kind and easy-going this man was. Remus absent-mindedly started taking in the space like he was also in it for the first time.

The plants covering almost every surface, hanging off of the roof and taking up corners. Every window is made of different shapes and sizes of stained glass, covering the space in a soft glow from where the light hits each one. The vintage Edison-bulb lights that Remus thought made them look like they lived constantly as if they were hosting a rustic wedding or were in a bar, but made Lily’s face light up brightly about her big dreams to travel to America and see everything there so Remus kept quiet and let her buy them. The giant fluffy rugs and mismatched furniture from different charity shops in the area, and the giant blanket on the one wall with different phases of the moon cycle and astrologic tracking lines of planets and stars that made Remus laugh because of it’s inaccuracies which made Lily immediately get it and hang it on the wall. He never took it down. Yes, taking this all in with an outsider’s view really did give it a different look and feel. It looked.. homey.

Yes, homey.

‘This place is beautiful.’ Sirius ended up saying in a near-whisper. Remus chose to pretend not to hear that as he went to grab his weed stash.

‘I’ll be right back. My roommate hates the smell of it so if you could open the windows behind the couch that would be lovely,’ Remus said, ‘you’ll have to use the piece of spare wood on the sill to keep the window up, when we replaced it all with stained glass, they got too heavy to keep themselves up on their own.’

Sirius smiled and walked over, a light chuckle as he responded, ‘Every home has to have its quirks, right?’ Giving Remus a light, fluttery feeling appear in his stomach for a second.

Returning back to the main room after grabbing his small tin where he kept his pre-rolls he joined Sirius at the window. The man had taken off his jacket and flung it over the arm rest of the couch, perching on the back of it to breathe in the city air. He’d left his shoes at the main door alongside Remus’ and showed off his soft grey socks, adding a pop of colour to his otherwise monochromatic outfit. If it weren’t for the silver jewelry and white design on his shirt—showing off yet another band logo—he would have been entirely a sheet of inky darkness. How he survived in the summer months, Remus couldn’t fathom.

As Remus walked up to him, he noticed a spattering of small tattoos all across his biceps, peeking out from the cut of his shirt. There seemed to be a star pattern poking out from his right side, and a paw print on his left. Remus paused at that, surely it had to be for a beloved pet, but the irrational part of his brain always froze when faced with wolf-looking prints. Even when he knew the design was distinctly more dog-like than wolf. He passed Sirius one of the fully rolled joints as he joined him on the top of the couch, making sure to not put too much weight on his bum hip. Grabbing the lighter out of the tin as well, he lit his and then passed the lighter over as well.

Taking a deep pull on the familiar plant had Remus instantly relaxing before the leaf had even entered his system. Placebo effect and everything.

Sirius closed his eyes as he had the first pull of his, ‘Man, where did you even find this stuff? This is strong.’

‘I thought you were the herbal remedies man?’ Remus replied dryly.

‘I mean I am,’ he said, waving the joint around, ‘but this stuff? Much better than I could do.’

Remus chuckled, ‘Why thank you, I try my best.’

Now, Remus was generally a rather blunt individual. A title held by many small conversations where the man plainly stated what was right in front of him, sometimes forgetting the social etiquette around his statements. He likes to think that over time he’s gotten better at being polite and keeping his questions and words internal, but as he was slowly making his way through his cigarette, he started to feel more brave as it hit his system. Which meant the already too the pointed man got just that much worse, and as the two of them sat there, taking in their respective rolls—now well onto their seconds, debating thirds—and talking aimlessly about nothing, the city, the weather, how sales were going in their respective businesses now that people were realising that December was fast approaching, Remus ended up blurting out the thoughts he tried desperately to keep at bay.

‘Why do you always smell like a dog?’ He asked, cutting into whatever sentence Sirius was saying. Sirius paused and looked at the man across from him.

‘I do?’ he asked, sniffing his shirt.

‘Yeah, faintly, but it’s there.’ Remus said, scrunching his nose. He had just enough control of his tongue left to bite it, stopping himself from asking about the silver as well, why he practically draped himself in it.

‘Oh, I own one. He’s a Scottish Deerhound. I call him Padfoot.’ Sirius says after a beat, his eyes slowly getting more hazy as the minutes tick by. Apparently he was much more of a light weight than Remus, as he was swaying slightly as he barreled on. Although, it could have also been from the earlier-mentioned weed he had before arriving, ‘He’s real sweet I promise, Reg—my brother—hates him, says he tracks mud all around the house and leaves the place reeking like wet dog when it rains.’

‘Ah, I see.’

‘Maybe one day you could meet ‘im.’ Sirius says.

‘Afraid not,’ Remus replied, a wince in his features, ‘most animals tend not to like me very much.’ Something to do with him being the most dangerous one, he pointedly did not say. Instead he simply said, ‘Apparently I don’t smell very nice.’

To this, Sirius leaned right in, taking in a deep breath of him. Leaning back, he hummed. ‘Smells alright to me.’ He said with a shrug.

Remus snorted, ‘Yeah, alright.’

As they sat there, taking in the effects of the marijuana in their systems, Remus lazily looks over at the clock on the mantle of the fireplace. It was almost five in the afternoon, Lily would be getting back soon.

Lily. Liiiiiiilllllly. Lily!

With that thought, it felt like a bucket of ice cold water was dumped down his system. They were going to go out together for dinner, as they had been spending too much time over the past few weeks just orbiting around one another on their way out the door to different things. Well, Lily was. Remus just had to go down the stairs and all of a sudden, job there he is! But Sirius was still there, and Lily was coming home soon. And as lovely as Sirius is, he did not need that conversation with Lily to happen while they were both rather stoned, and probably only going to get worse.

‘Hey,’ Sirius said, nudging Remus with his foot. He ended up lying, half sprawled on the couch, while Remus stayed perched by the window. Apparently he spent a good deal of time lost in his thoughts, ‘Where’d you wander off to?’

‘Just noticed the time, I fear you better get home.’ Remus said, standing up slowly. Sirius stood with him, and only wavered slightly, ‘Would you like me to call a cab or uber or something to take you home?’ He asked, as Sirius shrugged on his jacket and wandered over to put on his boots. Standing beside the man without his platforms on, he was even shorter than he first thought. Remus absentmindedly thought it was cute.

‘Nah, I’m allright.’ Sirius said, slurring his words slightly together, ‘I can get home like this fine.’

‘Okay then. At least let me walk you out.’

And then Remus did, slowly meandering down the stairs and through the book stacks to the front door. As Remus undid the bolt, and held open the door, Sirius passed by him, leaning in just slightly too close, and the silver on his skin that Remus did such a good job of smelling past, instead focusing on the rich dog undertones on him came at him in full force and he held back a gag.

‘You good there String-Bean?’ Sirius said, looking up at him.

‘Oh just fine,’ Remus said, shrugging him off. String-Bean was an interesting choice of name, ‘Are you sure you can get yourself home?’

‘Oh easy peasy,’ Sirius replied in a grin, stepping past onto the front step, ‘Don’t worry about me. I’m super safe.’

Remus just smiled warily, then an idea struck him.

‘Oh! Wait one second.’ and then he rushed to the front desk to grab a pen and notepad, scribbling his name and number. Ripping out the page and rushing back over, he was met with an amused, almost fully baked look of Sirius, still swaying slightly in the street.

‘Message me when you get home, so that I know that you’re safe.’

Sirius took the paper with a grin, then saluted Remus as he got off the step, ‘Will do good sir. Shall I see you again sometime?’

‘You know where to find me.’ Remus replied with a grin. The responding smile off of Sirius was star-shiningly bright as he walked away.

And as Remus relocked the front door, and turned off the lights, climbing back upstairs knowing full well Lily would either use the back entrance or just apparate into the building, he heard a car backfiring, and a few moments later a slight buzz in his pocket. He checked it as he was putting his tin of rolls away, from an unknown number. Saying that he was home safe.

Remus smiled slightly at that, even though an odd feeling nudged at the back of his brain from that. Oh well. A more sober man could figure that out, and one that was about to be in less shit. Because just as Remus reentered the main room, Lily came in from the door. She took one sniff of the air, looked at the two opened windows, the couch with a very prominent imprint where someone was just sitting, and then at Remus’ glazed eyes and said,

‘We’re you fucking smoking? We have a dinner date with James and his family in an hour.’

Oh Remus was so, oh very fucked.

Very fucked indeed.

Chapter Text

‘Hey Sirius,’ Regulus called out, it had been a few weeks since Remus and his’ impromptu smoking session, but ever since Sirius came home, albeit fully stoned and with a phone number burning a hole in his pocket, he had been more focused, calmer, honed in. Which led to Reg not telling him off too strongly for walking around London in the dark inebriated, because whatever was troubling his older brother seemed to have been miraculously solved. He still, unfortunately, had to clean up the muck ups Sirius had done earlier.

‘Hm?’ Sirius asked, quill in his mouth, he was intensely counting and sorting their remaining stock, calculating numbers in his head so fast he didn’t have time to write them down. Never judge how smart Sirius was, just because he slacked off in school didn’t mean he couldn’t have run laps around everyone if he wanted to. He just… had more important things to do, like some of his other schoolmates for example.

‘Where did you get these fungi identification books?’ Reg asked, flipping through the pages.

‘The muggle store on South Molton Lane?’ Sirius said, still not looking up from his counting, ‘Just like you asked. Why you wanted muggle identification books is beyond me, but, hey, if it works it works. A quaint little shop too.’

Reg paused his sifting of the pages, pinched the bridge of his nose and took in a deep breath, ‘The muggle store on South Milton Lane Sirius, not Molton. Milton.’

Sirius stopped. Then, ‘Oh.’

‘Yes “oh”. The back half of the shop has magical textbooks for potion making and remedies,’ Reg supplied.

‘Ah, that would make more sense,’ Sirius answered, ‘Is there anything useful in these ones at least?’

‘For making a good stew or surviving the wilderness, but nothing for making proper wolfsbane!’ Reg ended in a shout, evidently wolfsbane was much harder to make than he previously thought. Especially since Lily had made the request for it not to fully decommission the wolf, just calm it down enough to keep it docile while the moon shone in the night. This was proving difficult as Reg had to weaken the potion in some ways, yet keep the main ingredients of the potion to the same strength, all while not having any werewolf to test it on.

Sirius had dealt with many long rants from Reg about this and seriously debated breaking his six years of no-contact with his family to speak with Severus Snape, one of Regulus old schoolmates who apparently joined the Death Eaters but played spy for Dumbledore once he realised his stupidity. Severus was a sharp man with fantastic potion making skills, unfortunately, the only way to contact him was either through his family or Reg’s classmate Lily, who apparently hated the man. So no such luck for his brother in that way. And no such luck for Sirius’ ears who had to listen to his complaining.

Sirius sighed and put down the notebook he was writing on, ‘Would you like me to go get the books from Milton street?’ He said defeatedly.

‘Would you like me to go get the books from Milton street? ’ Reg mocked, then said sharply, ‘Yes I would like you to go get the books from Milton Street.’

Sirius had never left a building faster than when Reg was angry.

Unfortunately now Sirius was left with finding the—correct—mushroom books in another bookshop. Thankfully this owner looked much more like a wizard than soft-muggle-Remus and instantly knew what he needed and helped him along his way.

Sirius decided to take the long way back and use the tube to get back across town, just to give Reg a bit more time to cool off. As he was going down the steps to the station, he was once again met with a shock of messy brown hair on a spindly-thin man. Sirius powered down the rest of the steps and ran to catch up to him, causing many passerbys to curse him out.

‘Hey stranger, what are you doing here?’ Sirius asked, sidling up beside the taller man. Remus looked horrible. There was no other way to describe it. He looked like he was sucker punched in the gut and like he just survived the worst possible flu imaginable. He was putting an immense amount of his weight on a cane Sirius had seen behind his desk before and was hugging the side railing for dear life as he made his way down the final few steps.

‘Sirius,’ Remus said, plainly, ‘Hello, where are you coming from?’

‘Oh just picking up more books for Reg, apparently I got the wrong ones from your place,’ Sirius said, offhandly, ‘What’s going on with you though? You look like you’ve been through the ringer!’

Remus smiled softly, which immediately turned into a grimace, ‘Sorry, just uh, chronic pain. Had a bad flare up while fighting off a nasty cold.’

‘Oh Me- God, you poor thing, is there anything I can do to help?’ he asked, reaching out a hand as they waited on the platform.

‘Nono, I’ll be fine, my roommate is meeting me here to take me home,’ he stated, waving him off.

‘Well alright, at least let me wait with you.’

‘Sure.’

And then they waited together.

Sirius let two trains pass by as he waited with Remus for his roommate, but he didn’t tell him. Unfortunately as they were just one stop on the line, Remus probably had figured it out. Eventually a redheaded woman came bounding off a train, dressed much like an office worker and in a hurry to get somewhere. She locked eyes on Remus and high tailed it over, completely ignoring Sirius.

‘Remus! You massive, giant git!’ She yelled at him, pulling him, presumably to the elevator system to get back up. Sirius could hear her shouting as he waited for the next train going his way, even as her voice got more muddled the further away they went.

Well, Sirius thought to himself, she seems quite colourful.

A few hours later he gets a message from Remus.

« Hey, sorry about that. Lily’s just very passionate about me taking care of myself. Sorry we didn’t have long to chat, would you like to meet up later this week? I should be feeling better by then.»

Sirius almost drops his phone in his haste to respond.

«hey ! its so ok. im glad someones trying to take care of u ! u looked really awful mate, didnt know what to do :/ i would love to meet up later this week! ill meet u at ur shop?»

Regulus is giving him an incredulous look at this point, most definitely wondering if he has gone mad. But Remus has responded with a calm, cool and collected thumbs up, making Sirius smile widely and subconsciously run a hand through his hair.

‘By Godric you have a crush.’ Regulus stated over their dinner.

‘What.’ Sirius snaps his head up, ‘I most definitely do not.’ Regulus smirked at him, challenged lighting up his eyes.

‘You most definitely do. Last time you were this glued to every message that blasted phone rings was when you were shagging the bloke down the hall.’

‘We were not just shagging,’ Sirius replied heatedly, ‘We had a real relationship going on!’

‘Oh yeah? Name me one other thing that hooking up and smoking that you two did.’ Regulus retorted.

‘We…’ Sirius was drawing a blank, fuck, ‘We talked! Yes, we talked.’

‘You.. talked.’ Reg replied slowly, ‘Was this before or after the se-’

Sirius’ dirty napkin was launched at Reg’s face, stopping his sentence short.

‘Reg! You’re being rude at the dinner table.’ Sirius stated.

‘Oh but when you explain how down and dirty you and your flings get, it’s fine?’

Sirius just scowled and Reg looked at him, triumphant.

‘So who is it? Some muggle model you made swoon? A passerby, starstruck by your beautiful hair?’ Reg said, calling out old one night stands Sirius had.

As Sirius stayed silent as Reg continued on, his words slowly died on his tongue and then he actually looked at his older brother, not just gauging a reaction. And Reg’s face softened in recognition.

‘You’re actually in love with this man, aren’t you?’ He asked, being straight forward. Sirius snapped to attention at that.

‘What. NO. ahem, I mean. No, no I am not in love with this man, that would be, I don’t know. Preposterous, weird, stupid. Many things to describe how wrong that would be,’ Sirius said, rapid-fire speaking. Reg just smirked at him.

‘And why would that be?’

‘Well firstly, I’m like 98% sure he’s a muggle. Well, more like 99.999999999% sure he doesn’t have a magical bone in his body. He’s so soft and kind and slow-paced compared to everything else around him, could not be a wizard at all.’

‘And would being with a non-wizard be that bad?’ Reg asked, ‘Isn’t that what the war was fought for? To allow people to marry whomever they wanted?’ And Sirius paused at that, because boiling down all the blood supremacy lies and half-human revolts, that’s what it really was. A racist group of people with racist ideologies trying to keep things their way, and using fear and other’s lack of education to do it. So maybe he did have a crush on this muggle book shop owner, and maybe he’d like to get to know him better than the few sporadic texts and run-ins they seemed to keep having.

‘No, no it wouldn’t be that bad at all.’

Chapter Text

‘You came!’ Sirius shouted out from his market stall in Victoria Park. The year was almost over and the weather had gotten so much worse as the winter season finally hit. Slush everywhere, cold, windy days met with slightly warmer rain days and a few days of wet snow thrown in. This particular day was a wet snow day and a few children in the park attempted a snow-ball fight earlier, but ended up abandoning it once they realised it was just sad ice.

Remus stood across from Sirius’ stall, bundled up in a thick coat and high scarf, cane in his right hand. He looked a lot better than a week ago when he practically fell down the stairs to the Underground.

‘You said I had to buy something,’ Remus remarked, ‘so I could see your very real herbal remedies in your very real herbal remedies shop.’ And Sirius did say that, because over the past week, as Sirius came to the realisation of his massive crush on the taller man (with a strong help from Reg but he didn’t need to know that), he seemed much more confident in having conversations with the man, over text or in person, as they did end up going for coffee later that week, and two days after that a record store, and a day after that to a shopping centre. As the holiday shopping season was wrapping up and everyone had their gift orders delivered, Sirius was given more free time to spend with his new… friend. Friend? Yes well, it seemed at the very least that was what they were, laughing and hanging out all the time. And Remus had certainly given no cues or signs to any other expectations or preferences, so Sirius guessed that’s where their relationship was at until he mustered up the courage to ask.

But Sirius was pulled from these thoughts as Remus looked through some of the muggle items on display. They didn’t get many orders from their muggle side of business, but it was a good way to keep some cash on hand in case of emergencies, as most of their sales were in their potion making. Apparently giving a muggle cashier knuts and sickles to pay for things wasn’t a good idea—not that Sirius ever did that accidentally before at all.

He poked through their candles and incense and looked over to the small bags tied up with different assortments of dried up leaves and spices.

‘Herbal teas?’ he asked Sirius with that quirked eyebrow he was starting to fall in love with.

‘Yeah, you only need to sprinkle a bit from the pouch into your drink to add flavour. One pouch can last upwards of three to six months, depending on how much tea you drink. A full year if it’s used sparsely.’ Sirius said easily, he’d been explaining that to customers all day, and somehow still had the patience for it. This is why he was the front face of his and Reg’s operation, because his little brother, even though he could keep quite a level head, could not deal with the stupidity of the general public.

‘Which one’s your favourite?’ Remus asked, leaning down to him.
‘Depends on what I’m in the mood for,’ Sirius responded, hand on the table, leaning back towards him.

‘Hm.’ Remus said, staring at Sirius.

‘Excuse me,’ an older lady asked, very oblivious to whatever was happening between the two men, ‘what does this do?’

And Sirius turned around, giving Remus an apologising wince as he went, to help the poor older woman understand how different crystals and infused moonwaters could do for your system. As the lady left, quite frazzled, with a piece of Himalayan salt and giving Sirius a chunk of change, Remus snorted from where he was sniffing different bags, leaning a bit more on his cane.

‘Well she was certainly something,’ Remus said, keeping the bag he liked the smell of in his hand, ‘But I’m glad to know this is an actual shop and not just some fancy front for anything.’ And well, ouch, that one stung Sirius a bit, but he could roll with it.

‘Well my darling Remus,’ he said, and wow okay, didn’t mean to launch into flirting but alright, ‘I am a man of many talents and abilities. To have some of my more nefarious secrets you’d have to be willing to share some yourself.’ And was Sirius just imaging this? But no! He wasn’t! A smile graced the scarred-man’s face as he looked into Sirius’ eyes.

‘Was my plant collection not enough for you?’ He asked, handing over a few notes to Sirius as pay.

‘Oh it was certainly something.’ Sirius said and laughed boisterously.

And that was how it went for the following week. A joke, a push too far into a flirt, a pull back, only to do it all over again. Sirius was going, quite frankly, mad. He got himself a new tattoo about it, some runes across his collar bones, and smoked a large amount of pot. He’d have to go get some more, maybe Remus had some to spare. And it was thoughts like that that sent him right back down into his spiral.

‘Ok I was really happy for you with this whole crush thing when it made you a better worker so you could go meet up, but this mopey, spiralling shit you’re doing now isn’t as pretty.’ Reg said one day, fully snapping at him. It was mid January at this point, their sales at a full halt for a month as they take some time to rest and recover from the holidays. Remus, coincidentally, also closed up shop for a couple weeks in January as his roommate did not have any classes to attend until almost February as her school went on break, Regulus didn’t either, which meant that the few nights a week Reg spent learning new things and socializing were cut down almost entirely, only going out every once in a while with Evan. He used to hang out with Barty Crouch Jr. —Sirius suspected he even had a bit of a thing for the slimy bastard—but the wizarding war was hard on everyone and Reg didn’t just have to choose his family or his freedom. He also had to choose his friends.

Anyways, all this to say, the two brothers were getting quite sick of constantly being around one another, and no matter how many times Sirius went out with Remus during the week, he still came home and spiralled, making his moody younger sibling even moodier.

‘We’re going to Diagon Alley. Grab your coat.’ Regulus said, snapping his book shut and drawing Sirius’ attention.

‘I’m sorry what?’

‘You heard me. We have ingredients to stalk up on for the new year and we both need to get out of this house. Let’s go.’ he stated simply, tying his fancy black leather boots and shrugging on his trench coat. Sirius always called this particular coat of Reg’s his “diplomat jacket”, as he always looked ready to meet other diplomats and nobility.

‘Sirius. Let’s go,’ he said, leaving no room for argument.

Which led to him trailing after Reg in a slightly crowded Diagon Alley, taking in all the sights and sounds as he went. While passing by Florean’s Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour he saw a very familiar mess of hair, and an even more familiar dry wit, drawing him in like a moth to flame, entranced but knowing he could possibly get hurt. And was it really him, or just a look alike? Because it couldn’t possibly be, Remus just seemed so… mundane. They never strayed outside of muggle areas, always talked about muggle things. How could this man possibly be in Diagon Alley? Maybe because of his roommate? Sirius was like, 80% sure his roommate was probably magical, after being in his shop enough times, he noticed some subtle spells and enchantments on things that could possibly be from the redhead woman he passed by at the station. Yes, she probably brought him to meet some wizarding people, as she was sitting at the table with him, alongside a few others.

Surrounding Remus were four other people, three girls and one other man. The one was the redhead, curled up against the other man in a show of affection and close intimacy. The man, in contrast, was full leaned back, dark brown hair a giant mess on his head, circular framed glasses perched on his nose, kept tapping and lightly pushing the others—a man of physical connection. One of the other girls he recognised from the bookshop from the first night, every time since then he somehow managed to avoid her when coming in so it took him a second to remember her, and the final girl was a short, pin-straight blonde woman with a very serious expression on her face, everyone else at the table seemed to be laughing at her, her mood slowly rising back up.

Sirius just had to investigate, Sorry Reg, he said internally, and walked over to the group.
‘Remus?’ he asked, coming over, ‘What are you doing.. here?’ He waved his hands around to encompass all of Diagon Alley.

‘Shopping,’ the man replied dryly, taking a pointed sip of his drink and looking oh-so relaxed. Okay. This was getting weirder. Because in Remus’ hand was definitely not a standard muggle looking drink, it was one of the most interesting wizarding flavours that Flo liked to play around with.

The secondary bookstore employee leaned over, ‘Oooo Rem, who’s this?’ she asked, becoming quite flirty, ‘Hellooo small, dark and handsome, what’s your name?’

Sirius was taken aback by her words, this girl all but shoved him out the door the last time they met.

‘Mary,’ Remus said pointedly, ‘He’s the customer from the rain storm back in October.’ Mary! Right. She seemed to think deeply on Remus’ words, letting the gears slowly turn.

‘Oh!’ she said, recognition lighting up her eyes, ‘You look much better not soaked to the bone.’ She nodded solemnly, seemingly done with him for now, and leaned back into her chair. Well then.

‘You still haven’t introduced us mate,’ the other man said, elbowing Remus. He rolled his eyes, evidently the other man did this quite a lot.

‘Everyone, this is Sirius, he runs The Black Brothers Herbal Remedies with his brother, Reg.’ Remus said, straight to the point as always.

‘Oh, your brother’s Regulus?’ the redhead asked, recognition in her eye as she took in Sirius’ facial structure, ‘We have advanced potions together every Tuesday night.’

Sirius looked over at the redhead and nodded, going quiet for a moment. Ah, Sirius thinks. She’s the one Reg has obsessively been trying to perfect a wolfsbane serum for.

‘Anyways, how do you know Remus?’ the bespectacled man said, ‘I’m guessing at his bookshop? He does have quite the collecti-’

The blonde-haired woman cut the other man off with an accusatory voice, ‘Wait. Black Brothers?’ she asked, ‘You mean, like, the Black Family?’

And didn’t that just kill the mood of the group. Even the glasses-wearing man with an extremely friendly—and extremely familiar—grin, tightened at that, almost falling flat. Sirius had to save this.

‘We’re very deeply estranged,’ he said, attempting politeness. Well, here he goes, ‘Was kicked out when I turned of age, I haven’t seen any of them in years.’

There. They can do with that what they want.

It seemed to do the trick, as everyone at the table slowly relaxed. Even Remus, oddly enough. Okay, now it was getting strange again. How could a muggle have such a deep-rooted fear of a family he would barely know about?

‘Well then!’ Mary said, ‘That’s all good, now pull up a chair why don’t you. You being here is making Remus nervous and I’m quite enjoying it.’ Sirius grinned at that.

‘I am not-’ Remus tried to retort.

‘Hush hush now love, I’m interrogating.’ Mary said, and the two of them got into a small fight. There was finger-tasering and hand licking involved. Eventually the redhead stopped them, adding more to Sirius’ description of the “mom” friend to her.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, turning to Sirius, ‘we haven’t told you our names yet. I’m Lily Evans, Remus’ roommate. Or, apartment-mate? We live together.’ Sirius did know that, he politely did not say. But the last name he did not. Evans. Huh. Not a wizarding family name. Not that it mattered, but still interesting to note.

She then, not so subtly, kicked her boyfriend’s chair, ‘Right, yes, uh, I’m James-’ another kick ‘-Potter! James Potter.’ And Oh my Merlin wasn’t that just something. Sirius Black was standing in the presence of a quidditch god. He completely ignored Mary’s introduction, too busy gaping. But it was stopped quickly when he turned to the other woman.

‘Marlene McKinnon.’ Marlene said, arms crossed and leaning back. And wasn’t this Sirius’ lucky day, one of his favourite reserve beaters—scratch that—favourite all time beater was also sitting at this table. Who really was Remus? Did Sirius even know?

‘Blimey you must be pulling my leg,’ Sirius said, leaning on the small garden fence, ‘Potter and McKinnon? I’m a huge Chudly’s fan.’

James broke out into a huge grin, and Marlene’s face became quite guarded, but Sirius paid it no mind, probably something to do with her brother, if he had to guess. Another fine quidditch player.

He instantly started gushing about the two of them, unable to help himself. Apparently his blatant favoritism of Marlene helped win her over.
Potter looked absolutely shocked to hear that an acquaintance of Remus’ knew anything about quidditch and immediately wanted to launch into conversation with him. Not before shooting a jab at Remus first. Something about them being dormmates.

Dormmates for seven years? But Potter went to Hogwarts—which meant Remus went there too. Was Remus actually a wizard? He was saved from further conversation, letting his brain rattle by Reg coming to collect him like a toddler.

‘Sirius! There you are,’ his younger brother called out, ‘Sorry about that, he’s a bit of a charmer.’ Obviously thinking Sirius was up to his usual parade and fanfare. Reg ended up pulling Sirius away with a tug, scanning the group he was talking with, his eyes widened, looking at one of the members. Probably Potter.

‘I’ll see you around!’ Sirius yelled, as his brother continued to pull him down the street. But as soon as he turned away, his easy grin slid off his face, his brain turning.

Sirius was in shock as he followed Regulus farther down the alley, dragging his heels slightly. Reg eventually stopped and turned around.

‘For Salazar’s sake, what.’ he said, fully done with his brother’s earlier disappearing act, but Sirius was too confused to care.

‘He- I. The man.’

‘Yes, there are multiple around here, it’s a public place. Merlin what is going on with you.’ he said, arms crossed. Wizards and witches alike stepped around the two of them with annoyed looks. The brothers paid them no mind. Especially Sirius, as he was lost so deeply in thought, Reg was starting to get worried.

‘Sirius, what’s going on?’ he said, much more kindly.

‘The taller man, at the table.’ He started, and the softened composure of his younger half immediately tightened back up, ice in place.

‘What about him?’ he asked coldly.

‘He’s the muggle bookshop owner I’ve been going ou- hanging. Hanging out with.’ Sirius said, all in a rush. Regulus scoffed and turned his head at that.

‘Well he certainly isn’t a muggle, I can tell you that.’ he said, in an accusatory tone.

‘What?’ Sirius asked, grabbing his younger brother by the shoulders, ‘What do you mean?’ And Reg looked at him, really looked at him, and his gaze softened.

‘Oh, you don’t know, do you?’

‘Reg, up until about two minutes ago, I sincerely thought he was a muggle bookshop owner with possibly a magical friend. Now I find out he’s probably a wizard too and I just- I’ve been so careful with my wording, practiced my muggle slang and currencies and everything, only for me not evening having to? What do you know?’ Sirius said, now suddenly very focused.

‘Never mind,’ Reg said, shrugging out of his grip, ‘It’s not my place to tell. C’mon we have some shopping to do.’

‘No, Reg, listen to me. Tell me what you know.’

‘He went to Hogwarts is all, was in Gryffindor and a proper prick to me, okay? I didn’t want to tell you because you’d be all older-brothery about it.’ Reg said, walking steadily down the street, Sirius almost had to jog to catch up.

‘What? Really? If he’s been really mean to you I can hex h-’

Reg stopped him with a look, ‘Sirius, it’s fine. Water under the bridge and everything, it was just school rivalries. And he looks much better now, so just let this go. Drop the stick or whatever you mangy attack dog.’ And that had Sirius relaxing slightly, letting him fully lean back into his revelations about Remus, rather than making sure he had never hurt his brother.

Remus was a wizard.

Huh.

Sirius could honestly say he hadn’t seen that coming.

Chapter Text

Remus did not go to Diagon Alley very often, if at all, if he could avoid it. In all honesty, it took Lily two years to even get him to go near the street where the Leaky Cauldron was. Another five months to get him to go inside and have a meal. But when they went inside the messy pub, it seemed something in Remus relaxed—calmed even—nostalgia washing over him. He remembered the back corner where he got properly pissed for the first time as an adult with a few other wolves. The final summer before his last year at Hogwarts, aimlessly wandering the streets before running into Lily, Mary and Marlene. The three of them instantly started chatting with him, even sharing their name for him, ‘the lonely Gryffindor boy who shared a dorm with James Potter’ a mouthy one, but still quite funny. The moody bastard he was at the time just scoffed at them, but the three girls took none of his attitude and looked right past it to the fragile heart underneath. And when Lily started hanging out with James, she spent more and more time with Remus as well. James made a joke about her leaving him to go hang out with her other boyfriend the one time as the two of them headed to the library. Lily just flicked two fingers up at him, while Remus rolled his eyes. But they were both smiling. Yeah, Lily was smitten.

Sometimes Remus thinks about how if the three girls found him even just a week earlier, right before the moon, it would have saved so many of the mistakes he made. He never would have struck the deal he did.. When Dumbledore spoke to him at the end of the year about being a bridge for werewolves, to close the gap between their kinds, he almost snapped at him right then and there. But he instead politely declined, saying he wasn’t meant for battles and wars. He thinks Dumbledore knew more than he was letting on during their discussion, because a light winked out in his eyes. But for the scorned teenaged werewolf, he didn’t care much for the wizard or his school and left his office swiftly.

But alas, the girls did not find him beforehand, but it all ended up okay in the long run. They were all still friends, still had weekly book swappings and shared recipes. And, unfortunately for Remus, monthly outings to Diagon Alley.

It’s not like Remus hadn’t frequented the place during the war, in fact, he regularly went to Knockturn Alley, even by himself, to pick up potion ingredients and spell books alike. He just wasn't a very kind individual when he did go. And scared others a great deal when he did, being overly prideful of his werewolf-status at the time. Something Remus now looks upon with a wince. And now that the war is over, and people were starting to heal from the trauma of everything, the last thing he wanted to do was bring back bad memories for shop owners, or have the aurors called on him for simply walking down the street.

Lily was rather used to Remus’ spiralling every trip, and every time he tried to voice his concerns, he was met with one of two answers.

The favourite one of the two, though Lily would never know, was the standard, ‘But Remus we need your scary-dog privileges. You being there stops the spell book owners and potioneers from raising their prices on us simple girls.’ Evidently, feeling wanted or needed by the girls made him feel better about the situation.

The other response, which, less enjoyable, still as effective in smoothing over his worries, was a simple, ‘You’re not that hot-headed werewolf anymore. You aren’t dressed in ripped up fur hides and untreated leather, there isn’t dirt under your nails and you took out those gaudy gold earrings, no one will even recognise you.’

And those two lines are how Remus is roped in, every time, to being the girl’s “scary dog” as they shop in Diagon Alley. Only once did he and Lily go to Knockturn, because Lily desperately needed one of the books there to gift to an Advanced Potions 201 classmate, why? Remus never knew. But the entire time he felt as if the walls of old bricks were staring at him, leering at him for even thinking about walking the cobbled streets again, after everything he did. Lily tried to push him just a slight bit more and go to the small pub two doors down, but the fear in Remus’ heart about going into a vampire and werewolf filled building, let alone with Lily by his side was too much for him to handle, and they ended up leaving the entire area right away.

Now though, after almost another year had passed since, leaving a good solid stretch of three, closer to four years between him and the Great Wizarding War, the darkened cobbles of the Dark-Magic alley seemed less daunting, and like maybe, just maybe, he could try going down there again. Probably by himself, to keep any old acquaintances from meeting his friends. But maybe he could do it.

As the girls and Remus head through the Leaky Cauldron to the back door, they meet up with James, who gives each girl a polite kiss on the cheek—Lily’s lasting a good deal longer than the other twos—and Remus a smile and firm hand-shake. A gentleman through and through.

‘Ugh, Lils, this was supposed to be a boys-free trip.’ Marlene said with a scrunched up nose.

‘Marls, I’m right here,’ Remus replied, as he tapped the correct bricks to let them through.

‘Okay and? You’re not a boy though,’ Mary said, the others shot her a dirty look, ‘Oh you tossers know what I mean. Not one I’d want to snog, anyway.’ And they all rolled their eyes at that. Because Mary was never Mary without being overly personal.

‘Right,’ Remus said, straightening, ‘Where are we off to?’ and just like that, the three girls all flipped like a switch, bouncing from shop to shop, pulling Remus over to listen to negotiations and haggling prices when they thought they were being sexist and unkind. For almost all of them, no, inflation was just a bitch. But one young floor worker in Quality Quidditch Supplies was rather condescending to Marlene, even though she was on the Chudly Cannons reserve team, and once the floor worker realised that Remus knew next to nothing about the sport, kept on being quite mean—it didn’t help that at this point, Remus was leaning heavily on his cane. It finally ended when Marlene sighed in defeat and got Remus to go grab James from across the street. When the worker saw the start chaser of the very same team, he immediately started apologising, and worshipping the very ground James walked on it seemed.

Marlene was still rather pissed about it, even when they took a break to eat some ice cream on the patio of Florean’s. Why they were having a cold treat in January was a mystery to Remus, but then again, the bustling streets and warming spells did make the place much warmer than it could have been. And it also could have been from him starting to lag behind. They group never said it, but they always made sure to give him plenty of resting opportunities on trips, especially on days surrounding full moons, knowing how aching his bones were to be. And Remus was always silently grateful, even if it meant dealing with an angered Marlene.

‘I mean, it’s just not fair! Just because I have long hair and tits doesn’t mean I can’t tell a quaffle from a snitch!’

James choked on his milkshake and Lily flushed a deep pink. Marlene was not a very prude person, but sometimes her anger did get the better of her.

‘Yes Marlene, we’re all quite annoyed about the fifteen year old being sexist.’ Remus remarked dryly, having a large draw on his milkshake. Which made the crew all start to laugh and softened Marlene’s jagged emotions.

As they continued chatting away, steering clear of any conversation of quidditch (for Marlene’s sake) and Knockturn Alley (for Remus’ piece of mind), the werewolf started to feel quite at peace. That was until a familiar mop of black curls walked by on the street, paused, and turned back around to stare at Remus.

Remus cocked his head questioningly at Sirius, standing in the middle of the street, laser focused on Remus, his friends and getting more and more confused. He thinks seeing James draped over the back of Lily’s chair and elbowing him in a sense of familiarity is what finally made him snap. Not to say that Remus wasn’t also thoroughly confused, but it did make sense to him. The herbal remedies him and his brother seemingly made enough money off of to survive in London, and confusion to some of the more modern-muggle things Remus did or they saw when out in the city was quite telling. Alongside the more wizard-populated area his flat was in when Remus walked him home the one day. Yes, Sirius Black very much did seem to belong in the wizarding world.

‘Remus?’ Sirius asked, coming over, ‘What are you doing.. here?’ He waved his hands around to encompass all of Diagon Alley.

‘Shopping,’ Remus replied dryly, taking a pointed sip of his drink.
‘Oooo Rem, who’s this?’ Mary asked, leaning over, immediately going into flirting mode, ‘Hellooo small, dark and handsome, what’s your name?’

Sirius seemed rather taken aback by Mary’s attitude. To be fair, the last time they saw each other he was sopping wet and she was in customer service mode.

‘Mary,’ Remus said pointedly, ‘He’s the customer from the rain storm back in October.’ Mary seemed to think on that for a moment, letting the gears slowly turn.

‘Oh!’ she said, recognition lighting up her eyes, ‘You look much better not soaked to the bone.’ She nodded solemnly, seemingly done with him for now, and leaned back into her chair.

‘You still haven’t introduced us mate,’ James said, elbowing Remus. He rolled his eyes.

‘Everyone, this is Sirius, he runs The Black Brothers Herbal Remedies with his brother, Reg.’ Remus said.

‘Oh, your brother’s Regulus?’ Lily asked, looking over, ‘We have advanced potions together every Tuesday night.’

Sirius looked over at Lily and nodded, unnaturally quiet all of a sudden.

‘Anyways, how do you know Remus?’ James asked, ever the polite one of the group, ‘I’m guessing at his bookshop? He does have quite the collecti-’

‘Wait. Black Brothers?’ Marlene asked, piping up, ‘You mean, like, the Black Family?’ And that caused even James to stop talking. His kindness only reached so far, and especially after the unwavering support and horrible actions of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black to Lord Voldemort, he seemed to have taken a huge metaphorical step back into being kind to any of the sacred twenty-eight, even though he was technically one himself. Or was his family black-listed from it? Remus couldn’t remember.

‘We’re very deeply estranged,’ Sirius said, with a grimace, attempting politeness, ‘Was kicked out when I turned of age, I haven’t seen any of them in years.’ and with that, the ice that had frosted over the group instantly melted.

‘Well then!’ Mary said, ‘That’s all good, now pull up a chair why don’t you. You being here is making Remus nervous and I’m quite enjoying it.’

‘I am not-’

‘Hush hush now love, I’m interrogating.’ Mary said, fully covering his mouth with her hand. He responded by jabbing two fingers in between the side of her ribs, making her let out an indignant squawk.

‘Oh you did not,’ she said, fully turning.

‘And I’ll do it again.’ Remus said, sticking out his tongue.

‘Children! Please!’ Lily yelled, getting their attention. They stopped and looked over. It was best not to mess with one Lily Evans.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘we haven’t told you our names yet. I’m Lily Evans, Remus’ roommate. Or, apartment-mate? We live together.’

She then, not so subtly, kicked James’ chair, ‘Right, yes, uh, I’m James-’ another kick ‘-Potter! James Potter.’

‘Mary Macdonald,’ she said with a flourish, ‘But just Mary does fine.’

‘Marlene McKinnon.’ Marlene said, arms crossed and leaning back. She was a very hard one to win over, no matter if your blood relatives were evil or not.

‘Blimey you must be pulling my leg,’ Sirius said, in full shock, leaning on the small garden fence, ‘Potter and McKinnon? I’m a huge Chudly’s fan.’

James broke out into a huge grin, and Marlene’s face became quite guarded—when someone was a Chudly’s fan, it usually meant they were going to pester her about her brother.

Sirius didn’t seem to notice, too distracted by gushing about them both, ‘McKinnon the way you fully integrate yourself into the team, even though you play reserves, is so admirable. You can tell the team really trusts you on the pitch-’ and wasn’t that shocking to hear for her, immediately lowering her defences, ‘and Potter! Right mad chaser you are, every time I think the team’s going to lose, you spin right back around and even out the score long enough for the seeker to catch the snitch.’

And James, shocked that Remus had met someone who cared two shits about his life-long sport, turned fully around and leaned in, ‘Where did Remus find you? That man is allergic to anyone who has a singular grain of knowledge about quidditch.’

‘Oi! Potter I’m friends with you,’ Remus replied, affronted.

‘You were my dormmate for seven years, it’s different.’ he waved him off. Remus turned to look over at the girls, they all shrugged at him.

Thankfully, Remus was saved from further embarrassment by another shorter man who looked quite similar to Sirius. They both had the same high-cheek bones, black-curly hair, and grey eyes. But where Sirius’ eyes held a constant spark of mischief and seemed to be made of liquid mercury, his brother’s were a darker, cloudier, storm grey. Their hair was cut differently too, while Sirius left his long and sometimes messy, Reg’s was cut much shorter, only allowing some of the top to fully curl. Even how they dressed spoke to their personalities too. Sirius was all rock-star ready, while Regulus looked very much like he came from a posh home, with his collared shirt and neatly pressed trenchcoat, yes, there was no mistaking this man was noble. Although they both very much shared a love of darker clothing, as Reg was in deep greys and blacks alongside Sirius. But there was something else that surprised Remus about his brother. Remus knew Sirius looked a bit delicate, meant to be in a beauty magazine for his fragile-looking skin, but he also had a quiet strength to him, something along the lines of a ballet dancer. Lean, beautiful, and secretly powerful. Regulus Black was not as dancer-like, he seemed more like a poisonous plant, or even a snake, more porcelain and easily shattered.

Remus also realised right then, that this was not their first time meeting, and he turned his head away quickly.

‘Sirius! There you are,’ his younger brother called out, ‘Sorry about that, he’s a bit of a charmer.’

James laughed, not noticing Remus’ discomfort and Sirius playfully pushed his brother to the side.

‘Nothing wrong speaking to new people, Reg, you should try it.’ Sirius said, Reg just rolled his eyes and tugged on his brother.

‘C’mon, let’s go,’ Reg said, but he paused for a moment as he scanned the group lounging around the table and chairs, catching on Remus, their eyes met for a second and his widened, every so slightly, before he pursed his lips and continued to tug his older brother away.

‘I’ll see you around!’ Sirius yelled, as his brother continued to pull him down the street.

Yes, this is why Remus did not frequent Diagon Alley. Too many possibilities.

Chapter Text

Many things no longer shocked Sirius. One could say he was desensitised to so much from living in the House of Black that it took a lot to get any type of reaction from him. Apparently, this Remus fellow was his breaking point. Sirius ended up doing something he hadn’t done since Beauxbatons because of it, getting up at the crack of dawn for a run to sort through everything.

He started with a light jog down the street, seeing if it was just extra energy from the cold weather that he needed to shake. But after a full circle of the block, Sirius realised he needed to do something a bit more, and so he apparated. He jumped from spot to spot until he could finally make it to the collection of thick woods on the border of Scotland and England. He took a moment to catch his bearings, not having jumped that many times so quickly in quite a while. Then he reached deep inside of himself where the curled up dog in his chest was sniffing the fresh air and in an instant, Padfoot was exploring the woods.

Everything was simpler as a dog sometimes, Sirius could admit that much at least. He didn’t need to worry about stupid little human things while chasing squirrels, or why someone would actively hide a very important, earth shattering, world ending fact about themselves when knowing that the person sitting across from them was the same thing. The very—Merlin be damned—same thing. Was it that Remus didn’t think that Sirius and him were going to be friends long enough to reveal this? Or did Remus think he was just a weird muggle? That thought stopped Padfoot from running in the forest, pulling back and leaving a stumbling Sirius with mud streaked in his clothes and hair to decide on a course of action very quickly. Because if Remus thought that Sirius was a human, it would make perfect sense. Why would he try to explain to someone he thought was muggle about the wizarding world? He’d end up with the muggle police called on him for talks of insanity at least, running and screaming if attempted to do a spell to show the other as an extreme.

Remus thought he was a muggle, obviously, that much was clear. And he wasn’t sure about showing Sirius the other side of his life because he was afraid of Sirius’ reaction! Anyone would be, Sirius thought to himself, trying to show someone who you’ve gotten closer to something so important to you would be bound to be nerve wracking. And with that final puzzle piece clicking, Sirius understood what he had to do. Maybe he should start running in the mornings again, it really clears his head.

Sirius then apparated all the way back to the side street to his flat. He practically collapsed against the building when he did so, scaring multiple birds in the process and something falling over, but he did it—all in one go he might add. He then stumbled his way up to his door, unlocked it and practically fell through the doorway, collapsing onto the front entrance floor. A voice yelled out at him.

‘Sirius!’

Hey, wait a minute. That isn’t Reg’s voice.

‘You stupid git what happened?’ the voice said, as the sound of a bag dropping to the floor followed.

‘What the fuck did you do?’ Ah. There was Regulus.

‘Do not apparate all the way to Scotland and back in one day.’ Is all Sirius replied, body too heavy to get up. Two identical sighs met his ears before more footsteps.

‘Move over you oaf, fucks sake I got him.’ Reg said, getting in his face.

Sirius was then lifted up by four sets of hands and brought over to a couch chair in the living room, practically tossed in it.

‘You will be cleaning this mess up afterwards, so you know.’ Reg said snarkly, before sitting down across from him. The other person next to him came into focus as he slowly stepped back, keeping a safe distance away from Regulus.

‘Rosier!’ Sirius called out in surprise, energy returning as he sat up quickly, ‘When did you get here!’

‘A few minutes ago, Reg called me saying you were missing.’ he said, tone suspiciously neutral, ‘Better question- what were you doing?’

‘Yes, I agree to this statement, the fuck were you doing, Sirius?’

‘I uh, I needed to take Padfoot for a run?’ Sirius said, his head spinning again.

‘And you had to do that in Scotland?’

‘There’s a big stretch of forest there that he likes.’ Sirius shrugged, ‘And I needed to think.’

‘Hold on, who’s Padfoot?’ Evan interjected.

‘Me.’

‘No, you’re Sirius. Who’s Padfoot?’ Evan said. Reg rolled his eyes and when Sirius made that face like he was going to transform, he practically shouted.

‘Sirius I swear to Merlin don’t-’ Too late. All of a sudden, a very muddy dog was lying across the place where Sirius was once sitting.

‘Bloody hell!’ Evan shouted, standing, ‘Did you know he could do that? Who am I kidding, of course you know. How did you do this?’ After the initial shock of a massive dog appearing in the living room, Evan walked over, looking very impressed.

‘He did it on a dare in school,’ Reg stated, ‘I think, fifth year? Yeah, he was fifteen. Was a massive dick about it when he figured it out too. Never registered himself though, so don’t go around telling people.’ The last part was directly said at a half asleep Padfoot, hoping to reach Sirius behind all the fluff. Too bad both halves of his mind were falling deeply asleep at that moment.

‘You’re falling asleep right now, aren’t you?’ Reg asked, arms crossed. Padfoot huffed at him, eyes closed.

Evan laughed, ‘Don’t argue with a dog, mate, you’ll be the one who loses pretty much every time.’

‘Don’t I know it,’ Reg said, and from the sliver of eye Sirius still had open in his dog form he could see a soft smile on his younger brother’s lips as he looked at Rosier.

Huh. When did that start? he thinks, before his eyes slip fully shut again. A hand is placed on the top of his head.

‘Have a nap, Sirius,’ Reg said, ‘We’ll talk about your stupidity when you wake up.’

But by then the dog was already asleep.

Sirius wakes up, what he thinks is a few hours later, now human, still sprawled on the couch. The clock in the kitchen throws Sirius off though, because it says it’s eight in the morning, but that’s when he got home from his run.

‘You’re finally awake,’ Reg says from his spot across from him, sipping tea, ‘You really depleted all your magic yesterday then.’

‘Yesterday?’ Sirius croaks, voice scratchy from just waking up.

‘Yes, Sirius, yesterday. You slept almost a full twenty four hours. Last time you did that was when we escaped from Grimmauld Place.’

‘Huh.’ was Sirius reply, before slowly starting to stretch his limbs.

‘You want to tell me why you did that now?’ Reg asked, looking at him quite seriously.

‘I uh,’ Sirius starts.

Reg tilts his head and scans Sirius’ face, ‘Is this about Remus?’

‘It uh, might be.’ Sirius says with a wince, then a scrambled, ‘Look, I just. I needed to sort out why he didn’t tell me he was magical too! And going to the forest helped, I swear. I realised that Remus thought that I was actually a muggle, which is why he never told me! So when I figured that out, I took some time to plan a course of action and then came straight back home. I didn’t realise how much energy I had spent already going to the forest, so when I came back—all in one jump, I might add—I was so exhausted I just collapsed. But now I can follow through on my plan! I’ll go have a chat with him and sort this all out, I can probably even get him to write some sort of formal apology for his attitude to you in school if you’d like. I can tell you don’t like him very much, but I promise Reg he really is quite nice, well, most of the time. He’s a bit straight to the point so it can come off harsh, but he means well honestly. He’s a really sweet person once you get to know him. It’s just the initial push past the sharp exterior, but underneath is a bleeding heart for others, I can tell.’

Silence followed Sirius’ long-winded explanation.

‘You’re falling in love with him, aren’t you?’ Reg asked pointedly.

‘What?’ Sirius said, sitting up, ‘No, no. I just, he’s becoming a really good friend! And I want to have a few more of those, not that I don’t love spending all of my time with my darling baby brother but you’re always pushing for me to have one other around so I found someone and I want to keep them around a little…while..longer…’ his words were stopped by Reg coming up to him and grabbing him by the sides of his half-dried muddy face, squishing him.

‘It’s okay to like him, Sirius,’ Reg said, ‘Our past is not your future.’

‘Oh.’ a squished-faced Sirius says, ‘Are you sure? Because I- Reg, fuck. I think I really like him.’

‘Okay.’ Reg said, letting go.

‘That’s it? No warnings or anything?’ Sirius said, scrambling up.

‘Nope,’ Reg said, ‘Sirius the war ended three years ago. Whatever crimes he may have committed, I think he’s atoned them by now. I’m allowed to be suspicious of somebody, just as much as you are allowed to love them.’

‘Oh.’ Sirius says, standing face to face in their living room, ‘Thank you, Reg.’

‘Just know that if he breaks your heart, I break his spine and use his body for my potions for years.’

Sirius laughs deep from his belly, ‘Okay. Fair enough.’

And that was that. Reg scolded him into cleaning up his mess that he tracked into the house, and then Sirius took a shower and got dressed for the day he was supposed to have yesterday. Merlin, he hopes Remus isn’t mad at him for not speaking to him. But by checking his phone notifications, he sees that he didn’t even message him in an attempt to reach out. Chronic problem avoider, probably.

Sirius ends up walking most of the way to his store, trying to catch him midday, possibly during a lunch break where there wouldn’t be many, if any at all, customers in the store. Although, as Sirius hadn’t seen any whenever he was there, he had quite high hopes. He also wasn’t even sure if Remus had re-opened, or if he was still on holiday break. It definitely looked like a ‘one last hurrah before work starts again’ type of get together when he interrupted them all in Diagon Alley. Especially since Regulus had his classes starting back up again that week. Which probably meant the redheaded Lily had hers too, and possibly the other girls, as Sirius knew McKinnon was studying to be a quidditch mediwitch full time, and reserves player much more rarely. That was another thing that shocked Sirius, he had been in Remus’ home and not a single quidditch poster for the Chudlys anywhere. He was quite surprised by that after learning that two of the man’s best friends were two star players on the team. Or maybe Remus had a smaller knick-knack somewhere from them, or maybe it was Lily who had all the memorabilia everywhere, as it seemed she was dating Potter. Either way, learning who Remus was friends with certainly did make him feel quite stupid for not noticing any clues, but the man hardly dropped any. Always doing everything the muggle way, from boiling water for tea or lighting his rolls of weed, every mundane task was done non-,magically, which Sirius thought was very endearing at the time, learning how he navigated the world. Now though, he just winces, knowing that he could have been doing so many things in half the time if they only communicated, instead of just, spending time wandering around together aimlessly, talking about quite literally nothing, now that Sirius knows he doesn’t have to study so many muggle things.

Sirius arrives at the front door of the shop and notices the open sign first, before sighing in silent thanks and shoving it open. And there the man was, back at his post behind an ever messy counter, reading titles and sorting books into different piles as Mary brought them to stacks on the floor near different shelves—to be put away properly at some point. The scene was so calming and muggle-like that Sirius almost snapped right then and there. No one was in the shop as far as he could tell, why wasn’t he using any magic? Why wasn't Mary!

‘Remus,’ Sirius says, stalking up to the counter, the man shot up his head wicked fast at that, ‘We need to have a talk.’

‘I’ll.. be in the back.’ Mary said, holding another stack and walking off.

‘I, uh.’ Remus said, the usually sharp-tongued man rather quiet for once, ‘Would you like to have a seat? Cup of tea?’

‘No, Remus. No distractions or delays.’ Sirius said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were a wizard?’ And the man absolutely flinches at that.

‘To be honest I thought you were a muggle at first, you did such a good job selling it, with going to different muggle places with me and showing me what you sold at your shop, it didn’t even cross my mind.’ Remus said quietly, then a bit more confidently, ‘And then I started to see the little things, like the stick you sometimes use to hold your hair—I realised that was your wand now, but it was certainly a factor. And certain turns of phrase you would say and well, I just never tried to talk about it because I really enjoy what we have and didn’t want to ruin it by asking you a question you might think I was mental for.’

‘Oh,’ Sirius said, then, ‘Oh. You. You really thought I was a muggle too? I was just guessing you did.’

‘Too?’

‘I thought you were one this whole time! Blimey the whole thing with the tea kettle and the lighters and-’ Sirius breaks down into laughter and Remus then follows.

‘Shall we try this again?’ Sirius asked, and Remus looked at him questioningly.

‘I’ll go first then.’ Sirius says, then stands a bit straighter, ‘Hello I'm Sirius Black, I am a wizard and learnt how to use magic in France at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. What’s your name?’

Remus snorts and then looks at him, deciding how to best go about this, ‘Hello, my name is Remus John. I am a wizard and learnt how to use magic in the Scottish Highlands at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Not that it would matter much to you but I was sorted into Gryffindor alongside my dorm mates James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, James is now my longest-held friend and Pettigrew is in prison for crimes I care not to name.’

Sirius smiles, ‘It’s nice to formally meet you, Remus. It seems you have some interesting stories to tell.’

‘You as well Sirius.’ Remus smiled at him, ‘You as well.’

Chapter Text

Remus could not believe his luck over the next two months. The man he was so sure hated his guts for lying to his face, walked right up to him, asked him for the truth, acknowledged it and shrugged off any residual pain from being lied to and carried right on becoming the best thing that ever happened to Remus.

Sirius was so kind, funny and unafraid to try something that Remus honestly couldn’t even fathom him being related to the same family who held conferences with Voldemort in their study. So it was no wonder how one day they ended up kissing, even if it was a light, gentle thing. It still sent butterflies into Remus’ stomach, bringing up emotions he hadn’t felt since first discovering he was gay. Remus never let their brief kisses go any farther though, there were only so many secrets he was willing to share with the other man, his lycanthropy firmly not being one of them. Ever. But every day Sirius seemed to chip away at another wall Remus had seemingly built, learning more about him and in turn, Remus learning more about Sirius.

Like how he had tattoos all along his upper chest and arms, different runes and constellations, all meaning different people and things he had done, experiences he lived. How his dog, Padfoot, was actually him. Sirius was an unregistered animagus, learning how to become one when he turned fifteen. James was in the room when Sirius shared that certain tidbit, coming back from a date with Lily and practically begged Sirius to teach him how to become one too. Which led to Sirius also spending some evenings with James, and they went off on their own adventures, leaving Remus and Lily a bit dumbfounded at this immediate bond the two men built. Lily asked James about it one day, seeing them be almost intimately close as they were reading a quidditch magazine together earlier.

‘James, are you fucking Sirius?’ She asked directly, one dinner between the three of them, Sirius did spend a good portion of his evenings there now, having his own hook on the rack beside James’, but did still have obligations to his brother and their job.

‘I’m sorry what?’ he spluttered, ‘What makes you think that!’

‘You two just seem so-’ she waves her fork around for emphasis, ‘-close. It’s kind of scary, actually.’

‘I second that.’ Remus said, ‘Quite terrifying how fast you’ve taken my friend.’

The two of them slowly blinked at him, then decided to move past that particular comment of ‘friendship’ with Sirius. The couple was very much aware that what Remus was in was denial, and they weren’t quite sure how to approach it yet.

‘Lily we’re not doing anything like that, I promise.’

‘You took him to the Chudly’s practice arena last week, you know, where you’ve only ever taken me.’

‘I’ve offered to take Remus too! He just refuses!’ James said pointedly.

Lily sighed, ‘Fine then, what is happening between you two then?’

‘I dunno know,’ he said honestly, ‘it just feels like we were supposed to meet years ago or something. He feels like a brother to me, honestly. Totally platonic.’

Lily and Remus shared a glance at that, ‘Okay, if that’s all it is.’

‘Honest.’

And that was one mystery solved. But Sirius still seemed to merge himself effortlessly into all aspects of Remus’ life. On days where he didn’t have many orders to work on he came into the shop chatting away with Mary and shelving books “the muggle way” as he puts it. On weekends he would talk quidditch strategies with Marlene and James, breaking her icy walls as she learns just how much he loves the game and not just the “popular players”. He would swap books for Regulus and Lily on different potions (Regulus still refused to go anywhere Remus was) and have long chats about what different ingredients did to affect the qualities and strengths of potions. But he would spend the most time with Remus. Walking around the city, going out for meals, staying upstairs in the apartment, sometimes smoking by the window, sometimes cooking together. Lily seemed pleasantly surprised by how much time the two of them were spending together, but Remus politely ignored any light-hearted jabs she sent his way. If Remus was seriously going to consider keeping Sirius in his life more long-term, there was an important conversation he needed to have first.

Remus holds a slip of paper outside of a complex building, the address written upon it. The weather was getting slowly warmer as the sun stayed up higher in the sky a few minutes longer each day, but the biting wind sent a shiver down even Remus’ spine, the man known for being ridiculously warm all the time. The building was located in a more magical part of town, subtle enough that a muggle on the street couldn’t tell, but could obviously see that stranger individuals lived in the area. Someone was growing moonlace off of their window sill, the smell almost inviting. Remus walks up to the buzzer and pushes for number nine and waits patiently.

‘Who is it?’ a robotic sounding voice comes through.

‘Remus-’ He heard the voice on the other end sigh but he really needed to be let in, ‘Regulus wait- can we please talk? I promise not to take up too much of your time.’

A long pause from the other end is met with the sound of the door clicking open.

‘You have ten minutes, tops.’ Was the message as Remus headed inside. Remus headed up the stairs to the second floor, being told by Lily that the building had a confusing layout and even numbers were on the second floor, odds on the bottom.

‘Wizards are weird,’ she said when Remus asked, ‘you did see how they separated us into houses, correct?’

Which, touché, the housing arrangements were rather odd. What purpose did having every potential dark wizard all in one place have, other than create more dark magic? Honestly, Remus thought the whole system was rather stupid. But Remus lets his rambling train of thought go as he knocks on the white door with the number eight on it.

‘It’s unlocked!’ A voice shouts from inside.

‘Your door handle is silver,’ Remus replied and then waits for a shuffle of feet to come to the door. As it unlocks and opens, Remus is met with the sight of a very disgruntled looking Regulus, much the same height as when he last saw him in Hogwarts at the end of his exams. In a messy white collared shirt, untucked and the sleeves pushed up and trouser that could pass for being part of a formal-attire, yes, some parts of the Black Family still sat heavily with Regulus.

‘It was made to keep you out,’ Regulus stated, ‘It seems it’s failing.’

And then Remus walked inside his flat to the front entryway. The space was well decorated, a kitchen overlooking a seating area that probably doubled as the living room. A long dining table, half covered in different tombs and laundry, the other cleared off just enough for two people to sit and eat, and a couple of doorways at the end, leading off to two different bedrooms and a shared bathroom. Yes, this very much screamed Sirius. Because on every available wall were shelves stacked high with various things. One wall was entirely for different textbooks for potions, around the main windows in the living room was stacks of blankets and pillows for people to use, alongside board games and small items that looked like gifts—probably end of year 'thank yous' from repeat customers—and all around the kitchen were different cauldrons and cooking utensil, a jar of newt eyes next to a coffee maker, a giant stir stick beside a spatula. This was what a wizard’s apartment was supposed to look like, Remus realised with a jolt, magic embraced and used practically all the time, not just something they knew how to do.

Remus was also incredibly grateful for Lily at that moment, who let Remus know when Sirius usually ran his end of month drop offs, letting Remus speak to Regulus alone.

‘What do you want, werewolf?’ Regulus said, standing arms crossed, not allowing Remus entry into the main apartment space.

‘I want to apologise to you, Regulus.’ Remus said earnestly, and something like suspicion moved behind Regulus’ eyes.

‘Did Sirius put you up to this?’ he asked.

‘No. No, I. I think I’ve always wanted to tell you that… that I’m sorry. I just never was able to find you to say it.’

And the suspicion in Regulus’ eyes lightened slightly and he let him fully come inside.

They sat down across from each other in the living room, on either side of the low coffee table, acting as a barrier between the werewolf and Black.

‘Well?’ Regulus said, in the same way as Sirius it made him ache slightly. Godric he was falling so fast for this man he could never have.

‘I.’ Remus started, then cleared his throat and tried again, ‘Regulus Black, I would like to formally apologise for the pain I caused you inside and outside of Hogwarts, both during schooling years and after. I…. I was a moody prick all the time then, and it wasn’t fair for me to have taken it out on you. You were just a boy trying to fit into impossible standards and I never took the time to realise that. I’m sorry for every curse I ever sent your way, magical or verbal. And I’m so, very sorry for humiliating you in your own home, it wasn’t right of me and every time I think of that day I feel horrible about it. Nothing I can do will ever make up for the pain I caused you and I hope that you can at least tolerate me being around, because I don’t want to hurt you ever again.’

Silence rang heavy as Remus spoke his final words. He wishes he rehearsed more, added more points, said more apologies. Merlin what was he even doing still sitting here, he needed to leave-

‘Thank you.’ The younger Black brother said quietly and a whoosh of breath came from the werewolf, relief coursing through him. Even if Regulus never wanted to hear his name again, to up and leave, never speak to his brother, he could still leave knowing that he had attempted to amend one of his wrongs.,

‘I don’t think I can forgive you, Remus.’ Regulus continued after a moment, ‘But I can certainly let go of some of my hatred. I told Sirius that our past is not his future and I mean it. I cannot fully let go of everything you have done, knowing that the only way you can fully atone is by handing yourself into the ministry, but I can keep our problems out of you and my brother’s relationship, whatever it may be. I just ask that you tell him at some point, at least about the lycanthropy. He has a right to know, Remus. Especially considering he could be directly implicated if the aurors ever find you.’

And then it was Remus’ turn to make a difficult decision. He thought on this extended olive branch Regulus was holding. Move forward and past their childish mistakes and continue to be friends with Sirius, all in exchange for telling him about his illness. He thinks he can do it. It may take him some time to rack up the courage, but Remus thinks he can tell Sirius that much, at the very least.

He tells Regulus this line of thinking and he sees the younger man smile slightly, a quick little thing that goes away as soon as Remus sees it.

‘You have the next three full moons to come clean,’ Regulus says, ‘by then my brother will have either figured it out, he’s incredibly smart when he actually uses that head of his, or if he doesn’t, I’m going to tell him everything, not just that you have lycanthropy. Deal?’ He stands, his hand outstretched to the other.

Remus takes in a deep breath to steady himself, then stands as well.

They shook on it. The pale perfect skin of a member of the House of Black, stark against the warmer-toned scarred fingers of a werewolf.

‘Deal.’

Chapter Text

Sirius was a smart man—is a smart man. Just because he almost failed out of Beauxbatons doesn’t mean he wasn’t smart, he just, doesn’t apply himself to things he doesn’t seem necessary. Learning how to be prim and proper and hold social gatherings wasn’t necessary to him, as he already planned on leaving the Black Family, so he didn’t spend his time pleasing his teachers when it came to grading. He spent most of his time hunched over Dark Arts books in the back of the library, learning new spells and studying different dark beasts and half-humans, especially as the war really started to become something tangible and real, not just whispered words behind closed doors and odd looks at family meals.

It was Sirius’ deep research into dark creatures coming back to him that really tipped him off. Or maybe it was the fact that he had to create a lucid-dream sleeping draught, which required to be scheduled around a full moon for the best effects to have strong, reliable, lucid dreams. Either way, Sirius started to notice things. Specifically things about his situationship, Remus. Like how he would use his cane more the days after a full moon, sometimes not even getting out of bed because his chronic pain was too much, or that leading up to it, he seemed to have boundless energy—well, boundless for a rather quiet and timid man—and would walk long stretches with the cane barely touching the ground, or he just outright forgot it. How, during certain times of the month his mood was crabbier and when Sirius made his one, and only, joke about him being on his period, he and Lily both winced severely and were rather quiet for the rest of the evening, leaving him to silently vow to never speak of it again. And then there was the scars running down the side of his face, gashes not properly sewn together, jagged, unconnected skin, healing overtop of itself. He also had scars on his fingers, more subtle, like from old splinters or maybe a small pup biting one. But no wizard would ever choose to keep those types of scars, especially when they had the power to fade them and heal things properly—unless it was from a magical creature.

And finally, what really tipped off Sirius was Lily. Ultimately, Sirius thinks it was her and Regulus that really ended up explaining everything. It was their obsession with the perfect wolfsbane recipe. After Reg’s icy demeanour with Remus melted ever so slightly—and yes, Sirius did notice it, and chose not to comment—he seemed to have redoubled his efforts in perfecting the potion, even going as far as making Sirius practically do everything for their business himself because he was obsessed with solving it. Making a wolfsbane that did not outright inebriate a werewolf. Because wolfsbane currently was used by wizards to put down dangerous werewolves. Slipping some into their drinks at a restaurant, and when they took a sip, they immediately doubled over, not only proving to the aurors they were in fact werewolves, but also dimming their magic so they couldn’t get away. Or stabbing one with a needle while transformed on a full moon, fully immobilising the wolf and making their bite no longer toxic. Unfortunately in the end for both options, the werewolf either ends up severely harmed or killed.

So when Lily started coming over for weekly conferences about how wolfsbane is made and what they could add or subtract to weaken it, while still having the same effects, one could say Sirius’ mind started spinning.

Sirius ended up making a plan. A simple order of steps that Sirius would do to either make Remus come forward and admit he was a dark creature. Or catch him as he was transforming to further prove his point. Now, the disgraced Black heir did not necessarily hate werewolves. To be honest he didn’t even know that much about them, as the Beauxbatons library did not include very much information, as they were not a ‘graceful creature’ in the academy’s eyes. But Sirius could piece things together. Lycanthropy was classified as a contagious, infectious and deadly disease, most werewolves not making it past the age of fifty from the extreme amounts of pain they endured every moon. Now, even though lycanthropy is classified as an illness, werewolves were considered dark creatures, so every time an incident occurred around one, lawmakers and wizarding councils had a difficult time deciding on where the punishment lies, as many werewolves pleaded for being diseased and needing help, rather than the alternative of being malicious creatures twelve, or sometimes thirteen, times a year.

Sirius also knew that the bitten individual is labelled a ‘sired child’ of whichever werewolf that bit them, and if they found that werewolf again, would have to go through a legal name change, accepting their part in that werewolf’s pack and taking that werewolf’s last name. It was one of the easier ways to track transformations that the ministry used, but still, some people fell through the cracks, especially ones who never find their werewolf-sires or ones who do not accept their made family and stay away from them. These cases did not have a definitive number to them, as no werewolf would come forward and admit they were bitten and that they had chosen to not join their pack, as it would leave them ostrich-sized by both communities, and possibly hunted by other werewolf packs for disgracing their families.

All of this compiled information, from either research done in school or now and inferencing where things get fuzzy and reports overlapped and disagreed with one another, painted a pretty strong picture for Sirius. Remus never used his last name, whenever they went out places, never even so much as wrote down an initial. And even all those months ago when they had their first conversation about not using their last names, at some point you find out the other’s full name. Through paperwork or just general knowledge that comes up. But not Remus. He remained a mystery. Sirius went so far as to go look up the official werewolf registry, combing through every single name, scanning for a Remus. But of course he was unregistered, because it would have been a huge target on his back, an easy tool for discrimination in any magical workplace. ‘Oh sorry, we don’t hire dark creatures’ even though Remus is only a dark creature for a few hours one night every month. Sweet, kind and caring Remus. Who was more stubborn than a mule, could be more single-mindedly focused on a task if need be than any person Sirius had ever seen before, and could drink multiple litres of tea by mid morning if left unattended.

It was difficult for Sirius to wrap his head around that fact specifically. That this beautiful, gorgeous, sort of friend, sort of more male was a level five x threat to him, and ministry officials would cage him for three days straight every full moon if they found out. So even though Sirius had such a well laid out plan, he was hesitant to use it, because he was afraid of the rejection. It was already a bad scene when the two of them found out they were both wizards? Remus ghosted him for two weeks because of it! What would he do if Sirius told him he knew about this, much darker and much more dangerous secret?

But Sirius was, unfortunately, quite bad at backing down from challenges, and after his initial hesitation, launched right in head first into his plan. It started small, a reference there, a conversation here. But it all slowly built. And when everything started to come crashing down, was when Sirius asked his first big question.

‘Remus, what’s your last name?’ Sirius asked one lazy evening, Lily was in the kitchen fixing herself a meal while the two men smoked out the window. She was too focused on the wolfsbane recipe, thinking she almost had a solution to join them.

‘Why’s it matter?’ Remus asked, lying on the couch, head on the armrest.

‘Oh, I wanted to tell ‘Meda about you. She likes to trace family names, it’s an old Black family habit that she could never break.’ Sirius said, sitting between his outstretched legs.

‘She doesn’t need it, it’s muggle if that’s what she’s after,’ Remus said, keeping his gaze fixed away from Sirius.

‘Ah, okay.’ Sirius said, ‘Can I still have it for her? She’s super big on tracing family trees and shit.’

‘Sirius I said no, kindly fuck off.’ Remus said, getting agitated. And as much as Sirius was one to push, he also knew when to stop, as he only got Remus really aggravated when high once before, and that was something he never wanted to repeat. Because an angered Remus was angered, scowls and snarls alike. And he was scary, pacing and acting like a caged animal. Which, to be fair, was quite accurate of a description, now that Sirius knew about his disease. Giant apologies and a free dinner were given as compensation when a more sober Remus realised what he had done and been quite mortified. Apparently Remus hated getting that confrontational and did everything he could to stop it from happening. He even smoked less weed for the week, not that he had much to begin with, just one roll every other night as a treat. But he was practically fully cold-turkey after that night and Sirius could see all of his aches and pains growing each day because of it. Which is one of the many reasons why Sirius tries not to get him angry anymore. Too many memories of curses and shouts in a very old Victorian building for him to feel comfortable about it.

So Sirius stopped pushing, annoyed but satisfied in the fact that it was probably his sire’s name, whoever they may be and continued to enjoy their evening.

But the suspense was gnawing on the animagus and he finally snapped once seeing the aftermath of his body the morning after a full moon.

Lily was reluctant to let him in, but when she looked into his eyes and at the set line of jaw on his face, something relaxed in her, understanding that he knew and he was there to help God damn it, no matter what the stubborn wolf tried to do. It was worse than what Sirius could ever imagine. Living in the House of Black was tamer than the ravaged mess of the man, a mess of limbs and half-healed gashes, old scars and heavy eye bags. Sirius finally realised why that man was always in longer garments, as looking at the short t-shirt and sleep shorts he wore now, lying sprawled on top of the nest of blankets on his bed, his limbs were covered in dozens of dozens of scars. At some points, especially around the man’s thighs, the scarring was so thick, Sirius couldn’t tell where one cut ended and another began. The black-haired man finally understood why most werewolves never saw the age of fifty, it was because their bodies just gave out.

Lily came up to Sirius to share the doorway, looking together at their friend.

‘He runs hot, especially around the moons, it’s like, flu level temperatures. So putting him under the covers would just wet the bandages from sweat, he’s been getting worse over these past few years, since leaving the pack. Deeper scars and sleeping later into the day, not waking up until dinner in some cases.’

‘The pack?’ Sirius asked. It seemed the most important of his questions.

‘He used to be in his sire’s pack, was his right hand and favourite “son”,’ Lily sneered, ‘He thinks we don’t know about him transforming with them during some of the moons after school, but nowhere else would have been safe for him. His mother already had kicked him out, practically disowning him—’ and ouch, that hurt Sirius– ‘and he wasn’t allowed back at Hogwarts, so James and I made an educated guess of where he was.’

‘Ah, and the scars?’

‘He does them to himself, while he’s transformed. He thinks it’s because the wolf doesn’t get to satisfy it’s need to hunt and run outdoors so he self-inflicts pain just to taste something. I used to push Remus into allowing me to give him a rabbit or something, but he always refused. Said something about how he would just be hurting another innocent, whatever that means.’

‘Can I go in? I think, I think I need to make sure he’s okay, and-’ His words stopped, but thankfully Lily understood.

‘I’ll come back to change his dressings in a bit,’ and she left. Sirius then slowly walked into the room, and sat down gingerly on the edge of the bed. How many times had the two of them gone in here, to mess around, yet always keep their clothes on. A line Sirius respected but was confused about from Remus, but now he understood.

Brushing his damp curls away from his face, Sirius whispered to him, ‘Why haven’t you told me, you big oaf?’ A sigh, ‘did you think I’d be afraid of you? I never could be you know.’ Something came over the animagus as he sat, watching over someone he cared so deeply about. The peacefulness on Remus' face perhaps, or maybe the fact that every time Sirius was around Remus he felt so secure and safe. And Sirius just started whispering to him some of his secrets, like sharing what he had endured could help the unconscious man feel safe to be this vulnerable around him.

‘I was always someone who pushed, when I was in school, and at home.’ Sirius chuckled, ‘I hated being told what to do and how to act, so I always took it as some type of insane rule, even the little things, like being perfectly on time for dinner or making sure my hair was done perfectly and flat. And never, ever down. I think that’s why I only wear it down now, because my mother spent so much time pulling it all up, uncaring for the pain it caused me when doing so. “A Black must always be the most respectable person in any room!” she would shout. Godric, she shouted a lot. I think it was her favorite pastime. Well, that and her lacero curse. You know, saying Godric is a term I picked up from you. All those years Reg was at Hogwarts, and it was actually you who started making me say those terms more often. What I wouldn’t kill to have gone there, instead of Beauxbatons. I think we would have been great friends, you know? Or me and James, Merlin James is so kind. So little hesitation, even after learning my family name. Will you ever give me yours in return? Or will it just become one of the great mysteries of Bookshop Owner, Werewolf Remus? That’s your full title by the way, I couldn’t think of anything better so I guess that will have to do. How did you even become a bookshop owner? Did the Hogwarts librarian set you up? Tell you how to do it? I bet she was a lot kinder than the one I had. Nasty old bitch, she was. Never let me stay even a second past closing, always insulted my accent when speaking to her. Apparently I sounded “too English”, well apologies for being born and raised there! Either way, she’d come swooping in anytime I made much more than a slight shuffle of my feet when walking. Even a subtle cough, she would sometimes kick me out. I have no idea what was wrong with her.’

‘M..may..be be..cau..se yo-you were a.. A messsss’ a voice croaked, an eyelid opened.

‘Remus!’ Sirius jumped, and Lily came running.

‘What!’ she shouted, ‘Oh! You’re awake, good, let me change those bandages.’ And as she walked in, Sirius eyed the scarred-man.

‘How much did you hear?’

‘De-depends h. How long you, were talking.’
Sirius eyed him.

‘You know.. About..’ and he vaguely gestured to his body, unable to raise his head.

‘Yeah.’

‘How long?’

‘A couple weeks now. I was waiting to see if you would come forward first.’

‘Ah.’ Remus laid his head back, clearing his throat and feeling a bit braver he asked, ‘Are you afraid of me?’

Sirius shot up, and stared at him hard, ‘Remus, what? No. I’d never be afraid of you. Just because you’re a wolf once a month doesn’t make me think any differently of you.’

‘Really?’ he asked.

‘Really. And, if it makes you feel any better, I’m half a dog all of the time anyway. The great joy of being an animagus.’ and that got Remus laughing, breaking the furrow in his brow and tenseness in his shoulders. Sirius then turned over to Lily and asked what he could do to help, knowing full well the stubborn man beneath them would not admit to anything. And Lily had such a grateful look in her eye, like they could finally split and share this burden, that she let him do most of the work.

Sirius spent the rest of the day lounging around the side of Remus’ bed (he drifted off again, not even needing dreamless sleep to take him), or helping Lily with odd jobs around the apartment. He finally left sometime after dinner, where there was no chance of Remus waking back up until the next day, and gave Lily a firm hug on the way out. An agreement, they were in this together.

‘You know,’ she said, holding the backdoor open for him to apparate out the alleyway, ‘you’re really good for him.’

‘What?’ Sirius asked, turning around.

‘You. You make him come alive in a way I haven’t seen since his first year at Hogwarts. You know, he's going to brave Knockturn Alley for you. Mind you, James is going with him. But he's doing it because he knows you would want to go down there for ingredients or potions, and didn’t want you to go alone.’

Sirius’ look of confusion made Lily sigh.

‘He’s terrified of the place. Has been ever since the war ended. Afraid someone is going to notice his scars and know what they mean, have the aurors called on him, or throw silver. People do anything to remove a loitering werewolf from their area, even if they’re just shopping.’

And wasn’t that something. Sirius had slowly stopped wearing his silver jewelry, or otherwise transformed it into a different metal but still looked the same. He noticed that Remus tended to cringe away more from him, although subtly, every time he was too close to him. Learning about the lycanthropy symptoms helped him make sense of it, silver was harmful to anyone with the disease. Burning the skin and even the mere smell of it caused intense nausea and their magic to deplete. Because werewolves had heightened magical abilities, and ones who were once wizards even more so. Adding to one of the contributing factors of why Sirius knew he was one, before his confirmation.

But even with his brain sifting through all that knowledge, Sirius still felt so incredibly touched by the fact that Remus knew he had a fear, and was going to face it just so he could spend more time with him.

‘Whatever you’re doing is changing him for the better, Sirius.’ Lily said, ‘I hope he keeps you around for a while longer.’

And with that, she shut the door, leaving Sirius outside, in the dark, in the rain. His head, knowing where his house was, but his heart, his heart told him where was home.

Chapter Text

Remus doesn’t know if he will ever tell James about what he did during the war to shelter him, hide him. The absolute blow-out they had when he found out that he was “in conversations” with Greyback was already hard enough, if James ever found out the crimes he committed? The Order members he helped tear apart, all in his grand thoughts of revenge? Remus was certain it would be the end for the two of them. But he was pretty sure James already knew something, especially when he crashed through the front door of his parent’s home, cutting through his wards, covered in gashes and drenched in blood. Yeah, who was Remus kidding, James definitely knew.

And besides, he needed to face this stupid little fear of his one way or another, especially since Sirius and him had gotten rather, well, serious, ever since the raven-haired man, according to Lily, stormed into the house and did not take no for an answer to see him. Remus woke up in shock when he heard the man quietly muttering about trivial things from his home life, and the librarian at his old school. If he had had the energy to move any muscle of his, he would have ran far away immediately. But instead all Remus could do was lie there while Sirius explained how he knew about one of the biggest secrets he had, and did not judge him for it. A wave of relief washed over him when he spoke, accepting Remus, faults and all. Sirius then spent the next two days helping Lily get Remus back onto his feet and in working order, and it made his stomach all fluttery again.

So it was these thoughts that helped guide him to having a sit down conversation with James over coffee and tea one day. Lily’s nagging for him to ‘bring the circle of knowing to three, at the very least’ was also a large contributing factor to this, as Regulus was still on the outs with him for something stupid he probably did as a teenager, and was probably the only one who knew everything he did. As Remus sat, fiddling with his tea bag’s string, James sighed.

‘Remus, whatever’s got you all nervous? Just say it, it’s making me start to get jittery,’ he said, staring at the taller man. And looking at James’ earnest and honest face, Remus’ fears melted. Because this was the man who picked him up no questions asked off of his living room floor and nursed him back to health. Who he shared a dorm with for seven years and never once pushed about where he went every month. Of course Remus could say this, and possibly even ask for his help.

‘So uh, as you know, I’m a werewolf.’ Remus said, and James froze. They only once talked about this out loud, and it was directly correlated to their biggest, and longest fight. They cut contact with each other for two whole months because of it. Well, Remus did for at least one month, and then was too afraid to reach out for another, until the man came barreling through his front door and yelled at him some more for ignoring him, then hugging him fiercely. One could never escape the love of James Fleamont Potter, no matter how hard one tried.

‘Remus, whatever you’re about to say, know that I don’t hate you for it-’ James was cut off by Remus’ wave.

‘I don’t know if I’ll ever be fully comfortable sharing everything,’ Remus said, ‘but I do need your help with something, so that means sharing, even just a little bit.’

‘Anything you need, Moony.’ James said, seriously. Remus gave him an odd look.

‘What? You don’t like it? C’mon, Mary and I spent like, three hours trying to come up with something.’

‘It's a little on the nose. But it’s better than the other ones.’

‘That’s the spirit! Now, what were you saying?’ James asked, bringing them back past his diversion. Remus was grateful for the light jest, easing the tension in his shoulders and reminding him that this man was one of the few people who knew him the best, and he could tell him anything in confidence, knowing he would hold on to it safely.

‘James, I uh. I didn’t just “communicate” with Greyback, during the war,’ Remus started lightly, and James drew in a deep breath, keeping himself calm, ‘I was… I spent my full moons with him, and.. And helped him with a couple errands in Diagon Alley. Especially Knockturn.’

There, a half truth. He could do this. James gave him an odd look, processing this information. He then took in a very deep breath, and an even longer exhale.

‘When did this start?’ He asked.

‘Just before seventh year, when mum kicked me out. And ended when I stumbled across your doorstep that one evening.’ Stumbled was a very light description of what happened, but whatever. It was the best he could do for now.

‘Right, and are you in contact with him anymore?’

‘No! No, I… I cut all ties to him, permanently. He doesn’t even know where I live. He can’t even track my scent, it’s too busy of an area.’

‘Okay,’ James said, nodding, then a more confident, ‘Okay. You said you also needed some help with something?’ Remus could have kissed the man he was so gracious for his ability to absorb new information and move forward. Even before the war, if Pettigrew or him told him something about his habits in their dorm, or if either had trouble with any homework (that was more the Pettigrew boy than Remus, Remus was actively always ahead in school), he would sit there, listen, take a moment to breathe and think, then move forward with a plan. Remus thinks this is something that served him well during the war, even if he never saw it in action. Listen, think, strategise, move. This mentality helped Remus well as he asked for some, light assistance with his next task.

‘So I uh, as you know, I have a fear of Diagon Alley.’

James nodded, listening intently.

‘And I, I want to work on that fear, because uh-’ Remus blushed, and then mumbled quite quickly, ‘becauseIknowSiriuswillwanttogotheretogethermaybeasadate.’

‘I’m sorry, what?’

‘Because,’ Remus sighed dramatically, ‘I think Sirius is planning an outing and I don’t want to cancel because of some stupid fear.’

‘Aw, that’s so sweet Remus, of course I can!’ James smiled bashfully, ‘That man’s a real stunner, I’m so glad you snagged him. So, let’s see… hm.. If you want to work on a fear.. Hang on, my mum told me this one.’ He paused, one finger raised, and then his eyes lit up.

‘If you want to work on a fear, you have to first acknowledge why you have it.’

‘Okay, easy. I have a fear of Diagon Alley because I’m afraid someone will recognize my scars or my face, and know I am a werewolf.’ He stated with a shrug, feeling slightly stupid for having to verbally admit this aloud, but knowing it would be the best way for James to help him get through this road block of his made the embarrassment subside slightly.

‘Okay, second step. Uhh..’ James paused, face scrunching, ‘Hang on- I… I got nothing. Sorry. Mum and I usually just talked through the fear and never got to any other steps because by then I’d have calmed down enough for bed.’

‘Thank you, for your infinite wisdom, Mr Potter.’ Remus said, smirking.

‘Hey! You called me!’ He said, laughing. And Remus chuckled along with him. Godric, how did he miss this ray of sunshine in his life for seven whole years? They shared a dorm for fucks sake! But Remus was too covered in his self-pity to reach out to anyone then, too hidden from himself or others around him to see the goodness just out of reach.

Remus sat up straighter. That was it, wasn’t it? Something so simple, it was easily overlooked.

When Remus looked at Diagon Alley, all he saw was his own misery, instead of the joy around him. He could do this.

‘Remus mate, you have that look in your eye. What plan do you have cooking up?’

‘I think...I think I know how to face Diagon Alley.’

‘That’s great! What’s the plan!’

‘I think, I think I just have to go and, and be you know? Join the crowds, see the people. Stop focusing on the dark, hidden memories or something.’

‘That’s uh, not very specific.’ James said, ‘But hey! If it works, it works! So what do you need from me? Do you want me to come with?’

‘No, I-’ Remus started, standing, ‘Actually, maybe for a little bit? And then we’ll see how I’m doing and go from there.’

‘Sounds great! Let’s go!’

And off they went, putting their cups in the ‘dirty bin’ beside the counter, and then out into the street, finding their way to the Leaky Cauldron to start their journey.

Remus thought he was doing relatively well, all things considered. He hadn’t once flinched, reminding himself that James was with him, and that he was not his past. He could move forward, forgive and forget, turn over a new leaf. However many sappy expressions he needed, Remus would use. Because he wanted to do this, wanted to grow and solve this, for Sirius. Yes. This really was all for Sirius, so he could spend more time with him. And not be afraid when they went anywhere. It was this thought that helped guide him to continue down the street, stopping in almost every shop, getting something in a few of them, and just browsing in others. James and him laughed at some of the practical jokes in the old Zonko’s shop, his section location, as his first was in Hogsmeade, where he made quite the pretty penny from kids in Hogwarts. They chatted away about which one would send Filch into the worst mood, which one would have outright expelled them or worse. If only they were still in school, they could have raided Zonko’s, been proper marauders, him and James. Maybe even that Pettigrew bloke too. Too bad he was sentenced to some wizarding prison in the country for what he did for Voldemort. He only got a lesser punishment because of his double crossing, ending the war and the public all yelling that he was a hero, despite all he did.

Remus hopes that if he was ever found that he would get a similar sentence, a few years in a cell, some community service, and then be allowed back to his quiet life and bookstore. Maybe by then Sirius would be gone, off to bigger and better things, his potions taking off and saving the magical world. Or maybe they were still in contact, sharing letters during the hard years, and staying together during his community service. But this was a dream easily crushed. No werewolf ever got a lighter sentence. They were too much a danger. You either register with the ministry upon turning seventeen, or end up caught and get sentenced to life in Azkaban for “endangering the populace” or some other bull excuse. No, Sirius would definitely not be in Remus’ future, no matter how much he wanted him too.

But he could make the short term burn bright and beautifully.

It was that thought that drew him out of his quiet demeanor, and seeing the entrance to the dark magic alley.

‘James,’ Remus said, looking around. But then he realised he sent him home, feeling confident enough to roam the streets just a bit longer, by himself. James smiled so brightly when Remus said he wanted to be by himself for a little that he practically bolted right then and there, letting him try. But instead he left Remus with a strong hug, passersby scowling at them, calling them queers or other, much meaner terms.

‘I’m a phone call away,’ James said, and then turned around, disappearing into the crowd. Remus debated calling him back, but then he felt extremely childish. He already wasted enough of James’ time today. He didn’t need him to go down the dark alleyway with him. Remus was a big man, a werewolf, he could do this.

For Sirius a smaller part of his brain whispered, one that hoarded all of his miniscule courage for itself.

Yes, Remus agreed silently, For Sirius.

And then he straightened up, and plunged into the darkened street.

It was as if a muffilato spell was cast on the entrance to the street, all the noise and bustling activity was sucked away and there Remus stood, practically by himself, with only one or two others outside. He took in a deep breath, placed his cane forward and took a step down the stairs, slowly but surely he went, going deeper into the alley. The magic here was much less potent, but had the tell-tale burnt edge of dark magic. Remus had made a plan as he walked toward the entrance. He decided he would go have one drink at the pub, sit in the back, pay his tab and leave. Five minutes in the area. Ten minutes, tops, if he took his time or the bartender was held up. But Remus had a suspicious feeling they would probably not be, seeing as it was midday in March and Hogwarts did not have a proper spring break.

Remus walked into the pub, pushing the door open and was hit with a wave of familiarity. There was a new coat of paint on the outside and in, probably had switched owners at least once or twice as well, but yes. This was the same one Fenrir and him went to for a few of his birthdays, relaxing, having a good time, yet still reminding everyone that they were very real, and very strong. Greyback had gotten into more than a few fights in this building, yes, there was the table he took a small nick out of from his nail. And Greyback had subsequently gotten kicked out of this establishment a few times. Remus went up to the counter and politely asked for a butterbeer, something to warm his shaking hands, as his nerves were making him sweat and feel a chill.

The few patrons in the bar all seemed to ignore him, too focused on their day drinking. He was pretty sure one of them was a vampire from the different scent coming off of them, it was an overly sweet scent, like it was inviting someone in subconsciously but too artificial to be natural. But by that point the vampire would have already sunk their teeth into the poor victim's neck. The bartender looked at him oddly but made him a glass anyways, he paid the man, thanked him and sat down in the back corner he was oh, so familiar with. He also quite enjoyed it because it kept the right side of his face hidden from view.

Waves of old memories crashed into him.

There was where he tried his first firewhiskey drinking game. Over there was where he shared a pint with his wolf pack lover for the other man’s birthday, Remus paying for once, something he normally didn’t do, as he realised how little money the pack made and did a good deal to hide the small funds in his Gringotts account, saving it for a rainy day. Turns out that rainy day was used a few years later to escape the very place he used to call home.

The front door opens with a loud bang, the few patrons turning their heads to it and scowling, wanting to be alone in their miseries. Remus doesn’t even bother looking over, knowing that he was far enough away he wouldn’t be spotted. A gruff voice asked the bartender for a pint of something before heavily stomping in Remus’ direction.

Oh please no. Remus thought, but it seemed that hopefully the patron was just going to the toilet in the back half of the building, seemingly by passing the man in the booth. It was with that hopeful thought that Remus continued to drink his butterbeer, still extremely on edge. His bubble burst when he remembered to get to the loo you would have to go to the otherside of the bar and Remus inwardly groaned.

‘Oi you posh boy, get outta my seat,’ the gruff individual huffed at him. Remus pointedly ignored the man, knowing that the best way to handle these types of people is to just let them be.

Unfortunately, this man was one of the few who would escalate the situation before ever deciding to call it quits.

‘Are you feckin deaf or something?’ he asked, leaning in. He breathed into Remus’ face and it was at that moment Remus smelt the wolf in the other man's blood and the one inside Remus bared its teeth.

‘No,’ Remus said, politely, ‘I just happen to be looking at an empty bar where you could be disturbing no one’s peace.’

A patron—the possible vampire one—quietly snickered at that.

‘Oho! So you think yer a smart one, huh?’ the man said, staying uncomfortably close. He sloshed his drink onto the table, spilling some of the contents and sat down across from Remus.

‘Fine then, if you ain’t gonna move, seems I’m gonna be joining you.’ He smiled like a shark catching a scent of blood and moving in. Remus thought that he really must have done a fantastic job at hiding his own lunar scent if this man thought he was prey.

And maybe that was what made Remus do something stupid. Or maybe it was the hug of old memories both good and bad around him, or maybe it was this new found bravery, staying out this long in Diagon Alley and even Knockturn. But Remus turned his gaze upwards and looked directly at the other werewolf, locking eyes and raising one eyebrow.

‘Do you think you own this specific booth?’ Remus asked, ‘Or are you just so insecure about yourself that you have to bully everyone out of this corner for your self inflicted male loneliness?’

The bartender chuckled at that, evidently listening in. The other werewolf turned his head to the noise, and then back, a scowl on his face.

‘Do you think yer pretty words are gonna hurt me? I’m a fecking werewolf buddy, I’ll tear you apart in your sleep.’

And oh, did Remus remember the times when he used to be like that. Unfortunately, Remus had not grown fully out of that petty shell and decided to bite right back.

‘Oh dear, so it’s a small dick problem then, I see.’ nodding to himself.

The other man growled and Remus smirked.

‘You think yer so funny, eh, posh boy? What if I bit you right here and now? What would you do?’ The other wolf was clearly riding on Remus’ fear factor of werewolves, and he could tell that the others in the room were reacting the way he was expecting Remus to.

‘Hm, I guess I’d ask the bartender for some stronger alcohol to clean it out, bandage it and get on with my day.’ Remus shrugged, evidently calling the other man’s bluff, ‘Everyone knows a werewolf’s bite only works on a full moon.’

The other man gaped like a fish, before leaning in, ‘I can still hurt you real good, posh boy.’ and then it seemed the man actually acknowledged Remus as a challenge, and properly looked at him. His eyes widened, ‘Oh, but maybe I don’t have to. Who gave you that pretty face?’

‘A wolf, funnily enough.’ Remus said, leaving out that it was, in fact, a werewolf that did it.

‘Did the mutt bite ya as well? Or just give you a little warning.’

‘Well it depends, because he did bite me first, but I hit him back,’ Remus said, leaning back and pretending to scratch his chin. It was a bit of a bluff, aka removing the key details of being bit multiple years beforehand. But apparently when Remus moved he shifted the air a bit too quickly and the man got a deep inhale of his scent, or he just was being creepy and breathing in deeply to be annoying. Pretending to size up his prey or something. Godric he hoped he wasn’t that annoying when he was younger, he probably was though. It made Remus cringe.

‘Well isn’t that interesting,’ the wolf smile got even wider somehow, ‘no wonder you ain’t afraid little one, you’re just like me.’ Remus tried not to snap back, he was definitely not a “little one” anymore and was probably a werewolf a great deal longer than the imbecile in front of him.

‘Hm, I don’t think I would say that.’ was Remus’ smart ass reply, ‘I shower regularly.’

And the wolf outright laughed, taking a large gulp of his drink, ‘How long ago did this wolf bite you?’ He asked.

Remus weighed his options, then decided how he was going to play this, ‘You answer first.’

‘Fair enough,’ the werewolf shrugged, ‘about four years ago, near the end of the war.’

A baby in Remus’ mind. Well, most wolves were babies when you were one as long as him.

‘I’m guessin only a few years for you if you’ve still got yer societal ideas.’ the man tacked on. Remus tried very hard not to roll his eyes.

‘Maybe I just like to blend in and go about my day in peace,’ Remus stated. The man barked a laugh again, this time getting spit on the table.

‘You’re a funny one, might just take you under my wing. I can pretend to be your sire, buddy.’ Something in Remus snarled at that. He did not need to be under anyone’s wing, thank you very much. Least of all some small fry wanting to live up to the person he still called his father, even if he wishes to never speak to him again.

‘You will not.’ Remus said sharply.

‘Oh? So the puppy does have teeth. You gonna tell me when you were bit, Mr Puppy?’ and Remus then realised very quickly that he needed to leave before he did something he regretted. But the small, petty, part of him still wanted the last word. Remus stood up, hiking his bag onto one shoulder, grabbing his cane with his right hand and the empty butterbeer glass with his left.

‘Oh, puppy don’t be like that-’ the man crooned, ‘I can teach you so many wonderful things.’

‘No thank you,’ Remus said, bringing his cup to the counter. The man leaned back in his seat, feeling like he had some sort of victory, and that made the petty side of Remus snap. Remus walked back over to the man, and leaned in. The man seemed to light up, thinking he actually had something.

‘And for your information, I’ve been a werewolf since I was five.’ Remus said quietly into his ear, then stood back up straight, ‘and it’s Mr Greyback.’ Remus tacked on, ‘Not “Mr Puppy”.’

And as the colour drained from the man’s face, Remus left the pub, feeling an odd mix of emotions.

It was only as Remus was back passing through the Leaky Cauldron and heading to the muggle entrance that he realise what it was. Pride. Yes, Remus was very proud of himself. He spent the day with a good friend, faced some fears and even put some slimy werewolf in his place.

Maybe Diagon Alley wasn’t so bad after all.

Chapter Text

It took a lot of goading from Sirius over the next couple of weeks to open up a bit more about his lycanthropy and when he needed help, but eventually Remus started to come out of his shell. They went out on more sort-of dates and spent more time together behind a locked door. It was heaven for Sirius, and he couldn’t quite get enough of the other man. His wit, his laughter, his smell, his kiss. Sirius had fully fallen for the taller man, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself about it. He almost complained to Reg about it, before realising that him talking about the werewolf so personally might set his brother back to his icy edge. And wow, wasn’t that something. Regulus had almost done a complete 180 from when he first talked about Remus to now, even allowing room for a few conversations. For example, the one they had before going together to his apartment.

‘Lily and Remus are hosting a get-together with their friends and invited both of us, would you like to come? I asked Lily to let you bring a plus-one if you’d like, to be a bit more comfortable.’

And it was a great show of Regulus’ growing character that he didn’t outright refuse, but instead asked for some time to deliberate.

Which then led to Evan Rosier coming along with the two brothers to the back entrance of the shop.

‘Are you two just leading me somewhere to kill me?’ he joked, the two black-haired men just rolled their eyes at that. Sirius rang the doorbell and waited patiently for the door to be opened by someone from upstairs. Lily ended up opening it, flushed from running down and smiled widely.

‘Sirius! Glad you could make it! Reg, great to see you outside of class for once,’ Lily said, smiling, ‘Come in, come in, everyone’s upstairs already. Godric, it’s still raining? The forecast said it would be finished by now. Stupid Spring.’ And then she was gone, not even bothering to learn who Evan was.

‘Do I know her?’ Evan asked, as they climbed the stairs.

‘Lily Evans, she was Head Girl during her seventh year, our sixth.’ Reg explains as they go.

‘Ah, Gryffindor.’

‘Oi!’ Sirius said, turning around, ‘If you’re going to go in there talking about made up houses for competition at school, you can just go home.’

Evan and Reg both looked at Sirius, then each other, a bit dumb founded.
‘We won’t say anything, got it.’ Evan said with wide eyes, ‘I was just remembering who she was, is all.’

Sirius rolled his eyes and continued up the stairs, ignoring Reg and his’ whispered conversation. But all was forgotten as they entered the apartment. It was completely changed, but still felt like the same place. “The conversation pit” as Sirius dubbed the collection of mixed and matched chairs from different charity shops around the city, was pushed farther back, giving more space to the centre of the room. The kitchen counter was covered in an assortment of different foods, all free for people to grab, Reg went and set down their dish to add, trying to find space. Evan went and helped him. The Edison bulbs mixed with twinkling fairy lights gave the whole apartment a different feel, a song was playing from somewhere, it was White Winter Hymnal, evidently Lily had gotten ahold of the playlist then, as forest-themed songs came drifting through the room.

‘She won’t tell me where she hid the speaker,’ Remus said, sneaking up beside him, ‘If I could I would be putting on Bowie, just so you know.’ The two of them had gotten closer over their shared love of experimental pop and rock music, playing stranger and stranger songs to the point that even Lily had to tell them enough on more than one occasion.

‘A crime has most definitely been committed then,’ Sirius said in response, ‘We must attempt to salvage this party. Quick! I’ll get the microphones, you get the loud speaker. We can do this acapella style.’

Remus snorted a laugh and turned to him, ‘Are you high already?’

‘Maybe a little bit,’ he responded with a smile. Remus grinned back and turned to the party, motioning for Sirius to follow. Mary was lying across Remus’ and Sirius’ smoking couch singing along loudly to whatever song was on next, Marlene was chatting away with a woman who looked remarkably like Evan, holding a newborn baby, Sirius realised that this must be Pandora, and the fair-headed man laughing with James must be Xenophilius, the red-headed one was too young to be Lily’s father, but still a bit older than the others so Sirius guessed that it must be Arthur Weasley and Lily was laughing with the only other red-head in the room, Molly. Some type of Hogwarts reunion maybe, but it would be odd to have two people a decade older than the rest be in the room. Or maybe it was a celebration of Pandora’s baby, as she couldn’t have been older than a few months, still swaddled in her mother’s arms.

Reg and Evan slowly joined the mix as well, Evan’s face lighting up upon seeing his niece again and going over immediately. Conversation ebbed and flowed around the room, alongside the music. Food and drinks were shared and laughter could be heard from everywhere in the room. At some point someone started dancing in, and Sirius was drawn in, putting out a hand for Mary to join. She giggled and took it, righting herself from her slow fall down the couch.

‘What’s your boyfriend gonna think about us dancing?’ Mary said into his ear.

‘I-what- I don’t..’ Sirius flushed pink, and Mary laughed.

‘Oh gosh, you’re worse than Remus!’ and then they spun around the room, leaving Sirius unable to answer, too busy keeping up.

Sirius doesn’t know how much time passes, or if Reg and Evan are comfortable, because he’s too busy dancing around the room with Mary or Marlene or Lily and at some point a very tired Pandora who just wanted in on the fun, before ultimately crashing into Remus and standing together talking about nothing, but feeling like everything. At some point Remus left to use the toilet and Sirius was pulled into conversation with James and Marlene about quidditch, because yes, they were on a first name basis. He couldn’t very well keep calling James by his last name after showing him how to become an animagus, he was still working on it, waiting for a good storm to put it all together, but it was happening. And Marlene treated him so kindly after learning he actually cared about her skills and not what a hero her brother used to be, that she actively started searching him out for conversation whenever they were in the same space.

At some point Lily got the room’s attention, pausing the music and everyone paid rapt attention. Remus appeared beside her with a small smile on his face, always hating to be the centre of attention.

‘Hello everyone,’ she started. A few said hello back to her, which made the room laugh, ‘Thank you for coming to Remus’ and I’s celebration. As you all are aware you entered this building only knowing it was a potluck and probably nothing else, well, we are here to let you know what we really are here for.’

Then Remus opened his mouth, and Sirius started hanging on to his every word, ‘Yes, uh. Thank you all, as you know back in February, Pandora and Xeno welcomed into the world the beautiful Luna-’ a round of cheers and clapping filled the space, ‘-yes we are all very proud of them, so we wanted to highlight it.’

Arthur spoke up then, ‘Keep it moving Remus my babysitter can only stay up so late!’ to which the room laughed again.

‘But we also wanted to bring you here because.. Drum roll everybody…’ Remus said, then everyone started either stomping their feet or smacking their thighs with their hands, even baby Luna was babbling along.

Then Lily and Remus spoke at the same time, ‘You are now looking at the new assistance mediwitch for the Chudly Cannons!’ and then the room cheered, turning to a star-struck Marlene. A confetti cannon popped from somewhere.

‘What,’ she said, hands coming up to her mouth, James turned to her then.

‘Congrats mate! Coach pulled me aside last week asking if I wanted to be the one to break the news. You’ve done so well in school that he wanted to sign you on before graduating!’ and then Marlene started crying in joy, tears welling in her eyes.

James rushed in for a hug, Mary soon followed, and slowly but surely everyone except for Reg and Evan (who was holding Luna) joined in. A laughing mess of people cheering on someone who fought hard for her dreams, Marlene put up a hand, asking for quiet and slowly the room listened.

‘I uh, I just want to say thank you to all of you, truly. You guys were the ones who helped me get to where I am today and I couldn’t be prouder to call you all my friends. We went through some rough ass shit during the war, we lost a lot of good people, but here we all stand. A little bruised, a little scarred, but moving forward, together. If everyone could find a glass I would like to raise a toast,’ everyone hurried to grab some type of drink, Pandora making sure to grab something non-alcoholic, ‘To pursuing your dreams, even if the people who first helped you start them are no longer there.’

Everyone murmured along before taking a drink, and then Marlene raised her cup for one more toast.

‘And to my brother, a great quidditch player and an even better brother. May he rest in peace,’ and everyone raised a more somber glass to that, a sad sort of silence falling over the group. Lily turned the music back on and slowly people started to talk again, Molly and Arthur alongside Pandora and Xeno the ones to leave first. Reg and Evan soon after. And then Mary and Marlene left together, after hugging James one last time, and there stood the final four. Lily and James grabbed their wands and started whipping out cleaning spells, while Remus sorted out the leftover food into containers for everyone to get in the morning. Sirius wanted to help and ended up beside him in the kitchen.

‘Hey Remus,’ Sirius asked in the quiet, James and Lily were now moving furniture back and it required a mix of both levitation spells and physical effort.

‘Hm?’

‘Why don’t you ever use magic?’ he asked, looking at the scarred side of his face. He watched as the broken muscles shifted as Remus thought.

‘I-’ he started, then stopped and thought another moment before trying again, ‘My magic has a lot of bad memories surrounding it. Werewolf magic is different, it’s a bit wilder. We don’t just rely on wands, we.. sort of drink from the magic around us, channeling the energy of the space. The more wizards in the area, like Diagon Alley, the easier it is. Same as magical forests, even more so because it’s connected to the wolfish nature inside of us. At least, that’s how it was explained to me. Either way, every time I use my abilities, all I think of is the dark situations I needed it and I just freeze. So I choose not to, to live alongside muggles and keep the magical things about myself more quiet, letting friends show off and use their skills instead.’ And then Remus just shrugged it off, like he wasn’t just revealing Earth-shattering information, and continued on portioning food.

Even Lily and James had paused for a moment, listening in to Remus’ speak. Evidently he didn’t often talk about his lycanthropy. But much like when Sirius learned about Remus being a wizard, or his lycanthropy, he took it all in, let the information wash over him, then stored it away for a run to think more on later.

A short while later James and Lily went to bed with looks at the two men from across the room.

‘No funny business, you hear me?’ Lily said.

‘If you do, use a silencing spell and protection, boys!’ James said in a laugh as Lily punched him, walking into her bedroom. Remus rolled his eyes and laughed, cocking his head towards Sirius.

‘You coming?’

‘Like you had to ask.’

And then they ignored Lily’s warning and followed James, laughing and collapsing into Remus’ bed. It seemed ever since the moon where Sirius admitted he knew about his lycanthropy, a switch had been flicked inside of Remus. No longer was the shy boy who only asked for a few pecks on the lips, now was a man who was unafraid to go further.

Eventually Sirius and Remus curled up together underneath the covers and Sirius asked another question.

‘Hey Remus.’

‘Yes Sirius.’

‘What are we? Friends with benefits? A weird situationship?’ he said, then dared to ask, ‘Boyfriends?’ And Remus tensed at that, before settling, mulling it over.

‘Well if we were to be boyfriends we’d have to go on a proper date then, wouldn’t we?’

‘I guess so. Any recommendations? Or worse, places you’d like to avoid?’ Sirius said.

‘Don’t think so, pretty much anything is on the table. I might blush profusely if you pick a more immodest place, and it wouldn’t be pretty.’

‘Oh please, I think your blush is pretty.’

Remus snorted.

‘Seriously! It’s cute.’ Sirius then tucked in closer and sighed, ‘Anyways, am I even allowed to go to magical places? Because I really do wonder what you find so interesting in Diagon Alley, Mr. Pretend to be a Muggle All the Time.’

‘That’s a long title,’ Remus remarked, ‘But sure, we can go to Diagon Alley together.’

‘And then we can be official boyfriends.’

Remus rolled over, smiling.

‘Yes. Official.’

Sirius looked into the other man’s eyes, his smile just as bright.

‘Well I like the sound of that.’

They did not get much sleep that night after all.

Chapter Text

‘So I have to ask.’ Lily stated, flopping onto Remus’ bed.

‘Yes?’ he questioned, putting down his novel. It was about Quidditch rulings, as Remus had a suspicious feeling they would all be invited to go see Marlene’s first official game as Assistant Mediwitch to the Chudly Cannons. Lily eyed it and sighed dramatically.

‘Do not tell me you are becoming someone who enjoys quidditch, Moony.’

Ever since James landed on that particular name, it stuck, much to Mary’s dismay, as she never got to be the one to create it.

‘Just refreshing on the rules. You were going to ask something?’

‘Yes! Right.’ Lily sat up crossed legged and stared into Remus’ eyes, ‘How long have you been shagging Sirius, and, better question, are you proper boyfriends yet?’

Remus looked like a blue-screened computer. Then he looked like a fish, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly. Then he just stared wide eyed. Lily, used to this, let his emotions slowly wash over him until he could finally utter a response.

‘I- we-,’ evidently, Remus tried speaking before his brain had caught up to the action, and had to pause again.

‘We are not dating—’ Remus began.

‘But you’re fucking.’

‘Lily Evans, do not.’

‘Not what?’ She cocked her head to the side, ‘State the truth? Reveal the obvious? He’s been spending more nights in your room than the couch when he’s over. And whenever he leaves you stare at him like God’s greatest gift and you’re still in a post orgasmic haze. So forgive me for being curious.’

‘Lily I am going to strangle you.’ Remus said, face a bright pink.

‘No you’re not.’

Remus sighed, ‘No I’m not.’

‘So am I right? Or am I right.’ Lily asked, leaning in.

‘You are the worst.’

‘That’s not an answer.’ She grabbed his shins over the blankets, and leaned in close enough to be nose to nose, ‘Remus you will give me an answer now, or I will put veritaserum in everything you drink until you embarrass yourself in front of him.’

And Remus, fearing for much more than his dignity, decided to state the truth.

‘I, uh. Don’t know?’ Remus said, and Lily pulled back with a weird look on her face.

‘What do you mean you don’t know?’

‘I mean, we’ve been..’ he coughed, trying to cover his words, ‘intimate, but haven’t really discussed the together-ness between us.’

Lily fell back with a frustrated yell.

‘Men! Why are you all like this!’

‘All of us?’

‘Don’t change the subject.’ She pointed a finger at him, while her head hung off the edge of the bed.

‘If it makes you feel any better we’ve… setupaproperdate.’

Lily shot up at that.

‘Come again?’

‘At Marlene’s surprise announcement,’ Remus said slowly, thinking on how he would state each word, so many to choose, so many different meanings, ‘Afterwards, as you and James went to bed, he and I discussed. And agreed to some form of label after a trip to Diagon Alley.'

Lily stared at him.

‘You’re lying.’

‘Am not!’ He protested, feeling much like a toddler at the moment.

‘Remus that was two bloody weeks ago! And he’s been over so much since! Have you gone to Diagon Alley yet?’

Remus looked away, face still flushed.

‘Remus.’

He kept his face turned away.

‘Remus I swear to Merlin if you do not answer me-’

‘Not yet.’ he mumbled.

‘Not yet! Remus! He’s– you– ARGH.’ She flopped back down again.

‘Are you alright?’

‘Men.’ she stated, ‘Bloody useless the lot of you are. No help at all.’

‘Something up with James?’

‘No, Remus. James is fine, James is great actually, thank you so much for asking. You are my current headache, if you cannot already tell.’

‘I didn’t ask you to try and change wolfsbane,’ Remus muttered and that finally snapped Lily, she climbed off of the bed and stood up, running her fingers through her hair to flatten out the frizzy mess.

‘Please, Mister No One Can Help Me.’

‘A sophisticated title for sure,’ Remus said. Lily had also taken up giving Remus titles when she was annoyed with him, much like Sirius.

‘Wolfsbane I can fix. You, you stupid man. I cannot. I can only shove extremely hard and hope you move your feet.’ She said, hands on hips, ‘Which is what I’m going to do now.’

‘I’m afraid.’

‘Good, you should be.’ Then she left the room, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Somehow what Lily had planned was much more terrifying than what Remus could have ever imagined. When she reentered his room two hours later, dressed in her favourite soft green dress for when she visited the Potters, he knew something tremendously awful was about to happen to him. When Lily pulled out his nice slacks and button down, alongside his cleanest knit jumper, that he also only reserved for when he went to the Potters, Remus knew his fate was sealed. Unfortunately, Remus did not know the full extent of Lily’s scheming until they had already apparated to the front garden of the Potter’s house. Where a giddy James and a confused, slightly nervous, Sirius were standing.

Sirius looked as dashing as ever, he was wearing much more fine clothing than normal. Instead of the standard faded band tees and torn black jeans, was a man in a soft dark velvet green double breasted blazer and a black turtle neck underneath. The blazer had silver detailing that seemed to shift and move, forming different star patterns every time you took another look, his trousers were much like Remus’ and James’, more formal, like he was headed to a meeting. They matched the dark shirt and were a flowy material. Remus thought that they were probably styled that way to show off his wealth, stating to lower classes that he could afford to spend money on unnecessary fabric just because. (Or it could just be the historian in Remus’ brain spinning. Forgive him for reading historical fashion books over the past week, it was rather interesting.) But the werewolf was still stunned by how regal Sirius looked. His usually, in some sort of disarray hair, was properly treated and half tied up, he had beautiful steel earrings in, made to replicate his silver jewelry. Because yes, Remus had noticed the lack of nauseating smell around the other man ever since finding out about his lycanthropy, it made his heart melt every time he thought of it. The man had even forgone the platform Docs for proper dress shoes. He looked every bit a part of the Black family. A pureblooded wizard of great talent, raised and poised by the standards of the Beauxbatons. Remus felt very much like the half-wild animal he was standing beside him in his obviously muggle clothes. But Sirius looked at him like Remus hung up the setting sun and painted the sunset himself and, oh. Wasn’t that just something? One look at the silver-grey eyes of the animagus and all of a sudden his worries seemed useless and dull.

‘Do you know what’s happening?’ Sirius asked him, subconsciously leaning into his side to allow Remus to alleviate some of the weight on his hip and knee. He had started doing it after the second moon Sirius had been there for, noticing how his limp was more pronounced right before and right after the full.

‘I think,’ Remus said, leaning down and whispering, ‘Lily is planning to use James’ parents against us.’

‘Against us?’ Sirius asked, looking up in confusion.

‘She’s rather… annoyed about our.. Lack of label?’ Remus said, unsure exactly how to tell the other man without either turning into a blushing mess or forcing Sirius’ hand. Although, it seems that’s what Lily was planning on doing, so if Remus did so in advance, maybe they could get away from the embarrassment he was about to endure from the Potters.

Speaking of, Lily swept up to James, giving him a soft peck on the lips before knocking on the front door of the home. Almost immediately it opened to a charming house elf in the standard tea-towl uniform they wore. Although this one had gold tinsel stitched to the edges, adding a festive flair, even in the midst of Spring.

‘Young Master Potter! Young Mistress Evans!’ she squeaked, ‘Mistress has been expecting you, come in, come in.’

‘Thank you, Gully.’ Lily said, before stepping into the house, James following behind.

‘Mister Remus, welcome.’ Gully said politely, nodding to him. Mister, never Master. Remus established strongly long ago that he never wanted to be called Master. Even bedridden while the elf changed his dressings, he didn’t allow it. He had called the old pureblooded wizarding families masters once, while working for them, and it left such a sour taste in his mouth he never wanted to be called or call anyone else that again. The level of power given to the other with that simple title was one Remus did not want.

‘And who is this?’ Gully asked, looking up.

‘Gully, this is Sirius. He’s my..’ Remus trailed off, unsure what to say, Sirius looked up at him and something flickered in his silver eyes, a recognition of change.

Just then, James cut in from where he was putting his shoes away, ‘He’s my best mate, is who he is, Gully!’

Lily responded by smacking James on the arm and hissing at him.

‘What!’ he half-whispered. She stared daggers at him while the other two entered the home, adding their shoes to the neat row the others started. Very rarely was Remus ever in the Potter’s home, as ever since he moved in with Lily and started running his shop, he no longer needed the support of James’ parents and their roof over his head. But he was still star-struck and slack-jawed every time he walked inside. The ‘house’ was more of a mansion, with an entrance hall, two different sitting rooms, a sunroom overlooking the back of their property, stretching out to the forest. A dining room, a main kitchen and a separate, smaller, one on the other side of the home alongside at least five different bedrooms upstairs makes Remus always feel so small when in their home. Especially since he grew up in a small cottage home in the countryside, one bedroom for him, the other his mother. The entire building he grew up in was one floor with a cellar that used to hold storage, but soon became home to something much worse after Remus turned five. So yes, Remus was allowed to feel the same way every time he was over, because it was something so unnatural for him, of course it would shock him every time.

Gully interrupted Remus’ line of thoughts by speaking to Sirius. ‘Welcome Master Sirius,’ she stated, ‘I am Gully, the Potter’s only house elf—’ she seemed proud stating that fact— ‘please let me know if you need anything. I am only a call away.’ And with that she vanished on the spot, going wherever she went when not working.

‘Sirius,’ James turned, ‘I’d like to officially welcome you to my childhood home.’ He said with a theatrical bow.

‘Good sir!’ Sirius stated, leaning into the bit, ‘Why you must show me around this grand establishment, I must hear of the most embarrassing events that have transpired within these walls!’

‘Well of course! There is no better way to show such an esteemed guest an esteemed house,’ and off they went, arm in arm, deeper into the house.

Lily huffed and rolled her eyes, ‘Typical.’

‘This is the first time Sirius has been here, what do you mean “typical”?’ Remus asked with a smirk.

‘Oh you know,’ she shrugged as the two of them ventured to the kitchen where Mrs Potter no doubt was, probably with the disappeared Gully.

‘I do not know, actually.’ Remus said dryly.

She gave him a rather rude side eye as she stated, ‘Just that our boyfriends have left us for each other yet again, leaving us to fend for ourselves.’

If Remus had a drink in his hand, he would have snorted it out. Instead he simply coughed and responded with, ‘Since when were Sirius and I boyfriends?’

‘Since you’ve been too chicken to ask him yourself, I’ve decided for you.’ She stated simply, before turning her attention to the older woman they had walked up to.

‘Ah! Lily,’ Mrs Potter said, a fondness in her eyes. She had pure white as snow hair nowadays, the war sucking up the rest of the colour, but the laugh lines around her eyes were deep, showing many more years of love and joy, rather than the darkness and misery she had fought. Multiple pots and pans were whizzing around her, her wand was on the table and three separate cook books were floating mid air as utensils consulted the pages before going back to their designated crafts. Mrs Potter avoided it all as she walked over, was her gait slower than before? Remus couldn’t tell, it had been so many months since he was last over.

‘How are you, my girl?’ she asked, giving her a bone-crushing hug, ‘Is my James still treating you right? Or do I need to straighten him out some more, hm?’

‘James is fine, Effie. He’s very mature and considerate, you raised him well.’ Lily said, a twinkle of mischief in her eye, Mrs Potter held the same gaze back at her, knowing everything that the young woman never said. Then the older woman turned her gaze onto Remus.

‘Oh Remus, I didn’t forget about you either, c’mere love.’ She then gave the tall man an equally strong hug before forcing him to sit on one of the stools by the counter, ‘Sit dear, please, I want you off that hip as much as possible. I know the moon’s coming up and it’s making it worse.’

‘Thank you, Mrs Potter.’ Remus said, always polite.

‘It’s just Effie dear.’

‘Of course Mrs Potter.’

She smiled at him brightly, he timidly smiled back. This happened every time Remus was over, and he was not going to stop now. Mrs Potter deserved the respect he gave her, every time.

‘Remus I haven’t heard from you in a while, tell me what’s been going on with you.’ Mrs Potter said, heading back into the throws of spinning dishes, ‘Lily says you’ve made a new friend?’

Remus shot Lily a look but the copper-haired woman just stood there smugly.

‘Yes Mrs Potter,’ Remus said, ‘His name’s Sirius, Sirius Black. James brought him over, I think the two of them are exploring the house right now. If I’m being completely honest, I think James has stolen my friend from me, ever since meeting one another they’ve been as thick as thieves.’

Mrs Potter looked at Remus with a knowing smile, but a hesitant gaze, ‘He’s not a part of the Noble Black family is he?’

‘He left the family when he was seventeen,’ Remus said proudly, ‘Took his younger brother with him and never looked back.’

The hesitance vanished, replaced with a softness Remus knew all too well.

‘I’m glad.’ Is all she stated on that, then continued on asking both the werewolf and Lily about trivial things. It was during Lily’s speech on her one professor hating her that Mr Potter came in, both boys following closely behind. Actually, it seemed more like they were being dragged, as Mr Potter had one arm around either man and was practically pulling them into the kitchen.

‘Effie! You’ll never guess who our Jamie’s befriended!’ Mr Potter said loudly, entering the space.

‘Dad, please, gerroff-’ James was silenced by being shoved into his father’s armpit. Even after the hard years of the war, Mr Potter still had a powerful strength to him.

‘It’s Orion’s boy, Sirius! By Merlin, I thought he was dead! Well, that’s what that old bat Walburga said—pardon me for my description boy, but it’s what she is.’

‘Not a problem sir, never liked her myself.’ Sirius squeaked, obviously not used to Mr Potter’s antics.

Mr Potter laughed loudly, letting both boys go, ‘Look at him! Spitting image of his old man, eh? Oh, but you got a better sense of style, I’ll tell you. Both of them, always so high strung in their old-fashioned ways, clothing included. I used to tell ‘em that always being in wizarding robes isn’t the norm anymore, but oh no, that isn’t the Black family way, now is it?’ Mr Potter laughed again, letting the old memories of many debates and discussions in the ministry wash over him, choosing to ignore the darker days where those offhand moments became more frequent, and more potent with their views and opinions.

‘Hello Sirius,’ Mrs Potter said, smiling softly, ‘Remus was just telling me about you a moment ago. You’re very brave for escaping your family, and for taking your brother with you.’

And wasn’t that something. Remus looked over to see Sirius standing there, eyes lined silver as he took in Mrs Potter’s words and understood the sincerity in them.

‘Thank you, Mrs Potter.’ Sirius said finally, and tried to subtly wipe at his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. It didn’t work nearly as well as he wished, Remus could tell. But thankfully, at that moment, Mr Potter turned all of his attention to the other two occupants of the room.

‘Lily love! So nice to see you again, I was so happy when you sent that owl asking for dinner. Effie and I were already thinking about some company tonight and then it’s like you read our minds.’ he said, stepping over to give Lily a hug, equal to that of Mrs Potter’s. He then leaned into Lily’s ear, whispering something only someone with enhanced hearing, much like Remus could have picked up if not being directly spoken to.

‘Has my boy given you a ring yet? Because if he doesn’t soon, I fear he may be a lost cause. I can only do so much to teach him, you know.’

Lily’s face turned as bright as her hair and stuttered in response, unable to complete a full sentence.

Mr Potter paid it no mind as simply spun around to face Remus. Practically yanking the man off of the stool, Mr Potter gave Remus a hug as well.

‘Remus my boy, how are you? I haven’t seen you in months! I thought we told you to keep in contact, young man. Gave you a home and patched you up after that terrible evening and this is how you repay us? My heart is in shambles.’ Mr Potter held Remus up by the sides of his arms, staring into his eyes. Which was quite a feat to accomplish as Remus was much taller, and much stronger than the other man.

‘Fleamont Potter, you put that boy down right now. Merlin knows he isn’t supposed to be putting weight on that hip!’ Mrs Potter scolded her husband. Mr Potter gave an apologetic wince to Remus before letting him go. Remus thinks he did a good job not collapsing back down, but the deeper wince from Mr Potter said otherwise.

‘I’m alright Mr Potter, promise.’ Remus said, waving him off.

‘Stubborn as your father,’ Mr Potter stated simply, patting the werewolf on the arm before heading over to help take out cutlery and plates, sending them to the dining room.

Mr and Mrs Potter never pushed Remus on his family, but sometimes they made the odd offhand comment about his biological parents, mostly about similar characteristics he and his father shared, they never once spoke about Greyback. Remus is pretty sure the two of them don’t know that Fenrir was the one to bite Remus, but he could never be certain. Especially not after his dramatic crashing into their living room. But they never mentioned the werewolf around him, and for that he was eternally thankful.

‘Did you know Remus’ parents well then, Mr Potter?’ Sirius perked up, noticing the comment.

‘Hm? Did he not tell you?’ Mr Potter said, as Mrs Potter ushered them to the table to sit.

‘No sir,’ Sirius says mischievously, Remus shot him a glare, ‘Remus has never even told me his last name, if I’m being completely honest.’

‘Oh, just Monty is fine, young man, none of that “sir” business here.’ Mr Potter said with a wave. ‘I worked with his father in the ministry, a kind man most of the time, somewhat timid, even being as tall as he was. But oh, did that man ever have a temper. You got him going and he could just blaze right through you if you got him fired up enough. A young Remus was much the same, if I do recall correctly.’

‘Really?’ Sirius said, finding his seat and leaning in towards the older man. Fleamont took one head of the table, Euphemia the other, with Remus and Lily on either side of her, and James and Sirius beside Mr Potter. Sirius’ leg was against Remus’, probably unintentionally, but it still sent a wave of warmth through him.

Sirius turned over to him and looked at him like he was solving a puzzle, ‘Will I ever get to meet your parents?’ he stated.

To that Mr Potter let out a tired sigh, ‘Oh I don’t think so Sirius. Lyall passed away a while back now. When was it Effie dear?’

‘Winter of 1995.’ Remus said softly and Mr Potter glanced over at him, a sad look in his eyes. Sirius even looked up at that, and something clicked in his eye because he simply stated.

‘You were five.’ And for the second time that evening his eyes lined silver, ‘You didn’t even get to grow up with him.’

A sullen silence filled the space, before eventually Remus spoke.

‘I think,’ Remus said, clearing his throat, ‘That’s more than enough about my family.’

And then Lily, ever the diplomat and even more so, a shit-stirrer, loudly spoke up and asked:

‘So Effie, Monty, did you know that Remus and Sirius are dating?’

Chapter Text

Sirius was confused but very much delighted when James came bursting through his front door, loudly proclaiming that they were going to his parent’s house and he needed to get ready right that very moment. Regulus looked up from his place on the couch, where he was watching a muggle movie on the television, something he indulged in every once and a while, and scowled at the intrusion.

‘Potter I will curse you to never be able to ride a broom again,’ he said sharply, ‘Quiet down.’ And then the younger Black just resumed his film, curled underneath a deep purple blanket that had a moving image of two pegasi. A gift from Pandora many years ago.

‘Yes Regulus sir!’ James said with a salute, still bashfully unaware of how true the man’s threats were.

Sirius laughed, ‘Alright, alright, c’mon mate, before Reggie dearest does decide to hex you.’ And pulled James into his room to help decide what to wear.

Being around James was easy for Sirius, from the second they met in Remus’ home it was an instantaneous bond. Sirius felt as if he had been spending his whole life only seeing in black and white and when the quidditch player befriended him, the whole world lit up in technicolour. They spent hours playing different games from their childhoods, traversing muggle shops and wizard ones alike and generally making a ruckus wherever they went. Sirius liked James very much, he felt like a brother to him in so many ways, which was why he knew that what he felt for Remus was different. Lily had started to tease Sirius and James about the two of them falling into their own romantic entanglement, but Sirius knew it could never be true, because James was a firecracker, loud and bright and dazzling, and Remus? Well, Remus was like the well worn books he cared for. Soft, gentle and slightly battered. The pages inside containing a complex and intricate story that Sirius could never get enough of. Because once Sirius started reading he felt ravenous for more. It was an all-consuming need for Remus that he tried to keep at bay as best he could, and finding out that the other man felt even a speck of how Sirius felt for him just made him want even more. So he pulled back, and didn’t schedule that Diagon Alley trip just yet, afraid of what would happen when they came out the other side of it.

Although it seemed that Lily had other plans regarding Sirius’ shyness on the matter, because after he had gotten dressed into some of his more posh wizarding clothes—the kind he and Regulus bought once as a ‘just in case’ a few years ago—and he and James apparated to the front of his childhood home, they were met with the sight of a dazzling Lily in a beautiful soft green dress, and a well put together Remus. He wore a smart-looking button down from the looks of the collar and even had on a tie, although only the knot was visible from where it snuck beneath the most gorgeous looking knit Sirius had ever seen the man wear. Soft golds and oranges subtly glowed with the light of the setting sun, lighting up his face and giving his hair an ethereal glow. Deep brown slacks and his standard pair of beat up old shoes, alongside the cane he usually kept on hand, yes, Remus had stolen whatever was left of Sirius’ heart right there in that very moment.

Without even realising it, Sirius gravitated over to Remus’ side, allowing the taller man to rest some of his weight against him, as Lily said a quick hello to her boyfriend before knocking on the door.

A house elf opened the front door, greeting the young woman.

Sirius knew that the Potter family were much like his own in that they had old pureblood money stashed somewhere, but he didn’t realise exactly how much they truly had until stepping into their home. The house elf, Gully, was the first sign. Actually, no, it was the house itself. A much larger home than he could have ever dreamed of, as he had always been in Grimmauld place and only once went to the Malfoy Manor when he was younger for his cousin’s wedding. The Potter’s home was much like the Malfoy’s but with warmer tones and softer furniture. James pulled him all through the house, past a well-used drawing room, an ornate formal dining space, two separate gaming rooms, one for table tops and the other looked like it contained old quidditch equipment from when James was younger, he was about to drag Sirius upstairs before coming across an older man coming out of the study, he took one look at James and his face lit up.

‘My boy!’

‘Dad!’ James cracked an identical smile to the elder man and rushed for a hug. Everything about the two of them seemed identical, the way they held themselves, the wire-framed glasses and even matching mops of hair—although, the elder’s was a shocking white to James’ rich brown. Yes, there was no mistaking that this was Mr Potter.

‘And who’s this?’ he asked with a soft smile.

‘Dad this is my friend, Sirius Black.’ James said proudly. Mr Potter’s face blanched.

‘Sirius Black? Orion’s son?’ Mr Potter said, stepping up to peer at the disgraced Black heir.

‘Uh, yes sir.’ Sirius said, as the formal training in him took over, making him stand straight and proudly, even under the intense scrutiny of the older man.

‘Walburga said you and your brother were dead.’ Mr Potter stated, not unkindly, but definitely factually.

‘She probably wished we were.’ Sirius said with a shrug, ‘Ran away when I was seventeen, took Regulus with me, never looked back.’

Mr Potter looked at him a moment longer, taking him in, before breaking into a large grin and pulling Sirius into a bone-crushing hug.

‘Atta boy,’ he said, then pulled Sirius under one arm, and James under another all the way back across the house to where his wife was.

Mrs Potter was in the middle of many different pots and pans flying about, stirring and cooking and mixing alike, house elf Gully at her side, while a very heated Lily ranted about something from the side of the counter, and Remus sat there looking at the scene fondly. Mrs Potter had the arms of a baker and the same thick, pure white hair as her husband, she had the same laugh lines as James around her eyes as she smiled merrily.

Mr Potter paid Lily’s speech no mind as he loudly entered the space. James tried to squeeze out of his father’s grip while Mr Potter introduced Sirius to his wife. Mr Potter made a comment about Walburga, and then went on to further insult his parent’s old-fashioned tastes and something warm blossomed in Sirius’ chest. Yes, others did see how horrible of a woman she was—is? Sirius honestly didn’t even know if she was still alive. Nor did he particularly care.

‘Hello Sirius,’ Mrs Potter said, smiling softly, ‘Remus was just telling me about you a moment ago. You’re very brave for escaping your family, and for taking your brother with you.’

And that made the warm feeling inside Sirius grow even more. Because this was someone who knew what Sirius had struggled with inside his home—at least, to some extent—the monsters behind the jewels and classist manners, and was proud of what he did. Not condemning him for leaving his blood relatives, but understanding the harm that was befalling him and knew he had to escape. Sirius felt his eyes start to water and was shocked by his sudden urge to cry. He hadn’t had a proper cry in such a long time, let alone in front of another person. As he thanked Mrs Potter and tried to wipe his eyes, Mr Potter stepped away from the two boys and swept up Lily into his arms. She laughed in his embrace and turned as red as her hair after the man whispered conspiratorially into her ear. Remus smirked, obviously able to hear whatever the man said. Stupid werewolf hearing. This was another reason why Sirius was annoyed that he could never master a partial-shift into his animagus form. Although, sprouting dog-ears in the middle of the kitchen would have been a bit too shocking for everyone, no matter the context.

Mr Potter then spun around to Remus and gave him the same treatment as Lily, practically lifting the lanky man fully from the floor. ‘Remus my boy, how are you? I haven’t seen you in months! I thought we told you to keep in contact, young man. Gave you a home and patched you up after that terrible evening and this is how you repay us? My heart is in shambles.’

Sirius smirked at that, then fully took in what Mr Potter stated. Remus lost his home too? Of course he did, it was probably when he got bitten. His family casted him out, and got into a fight with the wolf that bit him in the first place, and that’s when Remus stumbled to the Potters, a family he knew he could trust.
‘Fleamont Potter, you put that boy down right now. Merlin knows he isn’t supposed to be putting weight on that hip!’ Mrs Potter scolded her husband. Mr Potter gave an apologetic wince to Remus before letting him go. The poor younger man practically collapsed back onto the stool he was picked up from, trying hard not to wince too strongly, and utterly failing.

‘I’m alright Mr Potter, promise.’ Remus said, waving him off.

‘Stubborn as your father,’ Mr Potter stated simply, patting the werewolf on the arm before heading over to help take out cutlery and plates, sending them to the dining room. And that was shocking to Sirius, Mr Potter knew Remus’ father? Probably quite well if he could comment on his characteristics on Remus himself. He stated as much and the older man let out a hearty laugh as he explained while everyone sat around the table.

‘I worked with his father in the ministry, a kind man most of the time, somewhat timid, even being as tall as he was. But oh, did that man ever have a temper. You got him going and he could just blaze right through you if you got him fired up enough. A young Remus was much the same, if I do recall correctly.’

‘Really?’ Sirius said, finding his seat and leaning in towards the older man. Fleamont just nodded, smiling. Sirius then turned to Remus on his other side and asked, ‘Will I ever get to meet your parents?’

Such a simple question seemed to suck all the warmth from the room, leaving a hollow glow. Mr Potter let out a tired sigh, ‘Oh I don’t think so Sirius. Lyall passed away a while back now. When was it Effie dear?’

Lyall? The name sounded familiar. Remus quietly spoke up after a moment.

‘Winter of 1995.’ he said softly and Mr Potter glanced over at him, a sad look in his eyes. Sirius looked over at that, and he did some loose math, knowing that Remus and him were born around the same year.

Sirius realised how old Remus had to be when his father passed and spoke, his eyes lined silver for the second time that evening,‘You were five. You didn’t even get to grow up with him.’

A sullen silence filled the space, before eventually Remus spoke again.

‘I think,’ Remus said, clearing his throat, ‘That’s more than enough about my family.’

And then Lily, with a mischievous glint in her eye, looked at one elder Potter, and then the other and said, ‘So Effie, Monty, did you know that Remus and Sirius are dating?’

The following silence was charged with much more energy than before, as both Sirius and Remus finally understood why they were both brought over. And then the questions started. Most of them were directed at a very flustered Remus, as both parents asked him why he hadn’t said anything to them.

‘I thought we were family, Remus!’ Mr Potter said, in a joking manner, ‘By Merlin, I taught you how to shave, least you could do is tell us if you had a partner.’

‘How did you meet? When did this happen? Who asked who?’ Mrs Potter said, rapid firing questions in a way to never let the poor man breathe. Even Sirius was starting to become overwhelmed as Mr Potter turned his attention on him, asking him his own questions.

‘What do you do for work, Sirius? Do you help out in the bookshop? Are you in school? Are you taking care of my boy? Because Remus may not be blood but he sure is family.’

Finally James spoke up.

‘Mum! Dad! Let the poor men breathe, why don’t you?’ and to that both Potters sat back, looking at everyone at the table apologetically. Lily still sat there rather smugly, Remus was subtly staring daggers at her.

‘Apologies boys, we’re just rather excited about Remus finding someone.’ Mrs Potter said, ‘Remus dear, how did the two of you meet?’

Apparently resolving himself to having to speak about Sirius and his’ love life, Remus looked over at Mrs Potter with a mischievous smile, ‘Well, it was an interesting first meeting to say the least.’ He started, and then launched into a rather dramatic description of how a sopping wet boy traversed into a bookshop half a year ago.

The evening went rather smoothly after everything, Sirius thought. Remus and Sirius both shared stories of how they met, places they’ve gone together and only ever mentioned one kiss the two of them shared, the first one, while both properly intoxicated on Remus’ couch by the broken window. Both Potters listened with rapt attention, smiling fondly at the two men as they went on to explain how they found out they were both wizards.

‘I never would have guessed it,’ Sirius said, ‘But there he was, confident and relaxed in the centre of Diagon Alley.’

The table laughed at that, and more stories were shared, until bellies were full and everyone was a proper bit tipsy from the wine Mrs Potter brought out to celebrate and it was time to head home.

Mr and Mrs Potter gave Lily and James strong hugs, then Remus, and then Sirius, thanking him for coming. And as they walked back up the front path towards the road, the werewolf and Black leaned into each other’s space and smiled at one another.

‘So it seems you’re my boyfriend now, according to James’ parents,’ Sirius said smiling.

‘As long as you’re okay with that,’ Remus replied carefully.

‘Of course Moony.’ Sirius simply said, and Remus leaned down to him.

‘Oh thank fuck, Padfoot, because I’ve been wanting to do this all evening.’

And then Remus kissed Sirius deeply outside the Potter’s home. James did a wolf-whistle and Lily cheered, her efforts finally paying off, before they all apparated back to Remus’ and Lily’s apartment.

Back to their home.

Chapter Text

The next moon hit hard, the wolf, different. Remus felt a shift with the monster inside him ever since running into the other werewolf in Knockturn. It snarled and howled more than it bit at itself and Remus woke with vocal chords so coarse it took him three days to be able to speak again. He was eternally thankful for the stone basement with all of its enchantments because without it, Remus seriously thinks he would have escaped into the city streets, or at least, definitely woken the neighbours. But it wasn’t the wolf or his throat that made this moon worse than usual, no, it wasn’t even the fact that Sirius had rushed down to the cage Remus was in, instead of Lily, wrapping him up in blankets and using a weightless charm to bridal-carry him back to his room, fuelling him with embarrassment being seen that way. No, it was finally being able to go for a walk again, grabbing a Daily Prophet, sitting at a café and reading the headline. That’s what made the moon hit harder than usual. Because there was a Fenrir Greyback sighting in the woods near Plymouth, which meant that he had crossed back over the channel from France, and was now on the same island as Remus, possibly hunting for him.

Remus felt like he was going to vomit. He worked so hard to keep himself hidden, what if that stray wolf finds Fenrir and reports to him about Remus? What if Greyback knew where he was this entire time and was slowly making his way to him? The anxiety ate at him, and unfortunately, Lily took the brunt of his mood when he returned home and stunk up the entire house by chain smoking until his head was overly fuzzy and he couldn’t feel his toes anymore. To make matters worse the shop was getting busier as the warmer weather got more people outside for walks, leaving him unable to close up for a day to spend time with Sirius to calm his shaking nerves. To customers he was polite, albeit quieter than usual, not as willing to converse with strangers about the little things, to his friends he was more reserved, shaky. They all thought it was anticipation for Marlene’s first official quidditch game, to take place in mid August, as they all were excited for her, counting down the days. Or they thought it was general stress of the full moons and Lily and Regulus still not having found the correct dosage of Wolfsbane that didn’t make Remus immediately curl in on himself and feel his magic deplete the second they brought it near for him to sniff.

Ironically, it was actually Regulus who realised why the werewolf was so stressed, and invited him out for lunch two weeks after the full moon to discuss it. Mary was put in charge of the shop with a flustered Marlene, who was spending more time revising her medical notes than actually helping customers, but it was the thought that counts.

‘I didn’t think you ever wanted to speak to me,’ Remus said meekly as they traversed down the street.

Regulus huffed, pulling his coat in tighter around himself, even with the weather warming, he was still in his posh winter clothes, perpetually cold, even in the warmest of weather.

‘Unfortunately my brother’s infatuation with you and decision to become “official boyfriends” means that he thinks that we are now family, which means spending time with one another.’ Regulus starts, ‘It also does not help that your sour mood is affecting him, making him less cheerful and unfocused, causing our work to become muddled and incomplete. He has messed up three separate orders and left one potion already to over boil, and I will not have him ruining our business any more so here I am, walking beside someone I do not enjoy the presence of, in hopes that you can fix your mood, and hopefully, fix my business.’

‘Always a Slytherin, huh? Always watching your back before anyone else.’ Remus snorts as they turn a corner.

Regulus scowled at him in response, ‘I can leave you to your self-destruction if that will make you feel better.’

‘But what about your business?’

‘I can hex Sirius to forget about you,’ he said haughtily.

‘Going to obliviate your own brother, is that it?’ Remus said dryly, listening to the hollow hit of his cane against the stone path.

‘If I have to.’ Regulus said, ‘But as I’ve stated, I’m here to fix you, it’s the easiest way to get Sirius to calm down and focus.’

Remus gives a short laugh at that, ‘Hah. Good luck ever getting him to focus on anything for long amounts of time. I can’t even manage that particular feat.’

Regulus smirked at his words as they turned down another side street, almost arriving at their destination.

‘Where is your darling brother, if I may ask?’ Remus ponders, as he rarely went anywhere without informing either Regulus or Remus. A nervous habit from the war, probably. A way for someone to find him if he was gone too long.

‘Out for a lunch date with our cousin Andromeda.’

‘I don’t remember her,’ Remus said with a frown.

‘You wouldn’t have, she was kicked out of the family for marrying a muggle. Mother dearest thought that it was just a rebellious stage and that she would come back in a year after divorcing the man, or saying it was all an act. But then she got pregnant and the family realised she really was serious about the whole thing, so they cut her off.’ Regulus said with a shrug, before pushing open the door to their intended destination.

A magic-friendly diner near Regulus’ apartment was where they ended up. It was bustling midday with most seats being taken up, the place loud with sound from different creatures and people alike. Paper airplanes whizzed through, dropping orders off at the back kitchen, with a mix of both waitresses and flotation spells sending food back out to tables, two windows high up were left always open so owls could swoop in and out, dropping off letters to anyone inside. A dog barked from its place beside its handler to a cat curled up on another’s shoulders. Laughter could be heard, sharp and shrill or loud and bountiful from any which direction, allowing a perfect cover for whispered words and files to be passed, easily overlooked by the older couples enjoying a day out, or the tourists from America witnessing English magic. The place was split into three separate levels, all overlooking one another and made of different shades and cuts of wood. Regulus took Remus up to the first platform near the back where it was slightly quieter, or at least, where less people would notice the two of them together. Because it was rare for Regulus or Remus to get noticed by themselves, but together? As soon as someone either realised what Remus’ scars are from, or who Reg was, it was over for both of them. No good could ever come from a Black and a werewolf sitting across from each other, was the general public opinion.

A waitress flitted by as soon as they sat down to take drink orders, then left a stack of paper and a pen on the table for them to order anything else.

‘They’re spelled to fly straight to the kitchen darlin’s, so don’t think you need to wait on me.’ she said, before going up a level to where someone’s Golden Pheasant was ripping up the enchanted paper and generally making a ruckus.

‘So,’ Regulus finally said, after they sent off their orders, ‘What’s gotten you all stressed out?’

Remus thought deeply on how to best speak on the topic, taking a sip of the tea that had arrived at the table for him.

He decided to just cut to the chase, ‘Fenrir Greyback is back in the UK.’

Regulus sucked in a sharp breath, ‘Do you know why?’

Remus rolled his eyes, ‘If I knew that, I wouldn’t be so terrified, now would I?’

‘Fair enough.’ was the response he got, ‘So what are you going to do about it?’

Trust the Black brothers and Lily to always cut to the heart of the matter, no matter how the recipient might feel about it.

‘That’s the million dollar question, Regulus.’ Remus said with a sigh, leaning back.

‘Well he’s a four hour bus ride away at the very least.’

‘He can apparate.’

‘He despises large crowds and cities.’

‘Actually he prefers them, better to blend in.’

‘He would never guess that you’re living in London.’

‘He might, I ran into another wolf two months back and he knows the two of us are connected.’

Their rapid fire responses paused at that, until finally—

‘Oh for fucks sake Remus!’ Regulus ends up shouting, turning the heads of a few other patrons before the resume back to whatever they were doing, ‘You should’ve led with that.’

Remus just shrugs in response, ‘Apologises. I was a little too focused on Greyback returning to think of any other details.’

‘Do you know the name of the wolf you ran into?’

‘No.’

‘What he looks like? Smells like?’

‘I remember his face, but I’d have a hard time tracking him, he was too dirty and we were in Knockturn Alley at the pub.’

‘For Salazar’s sake you are so bloody useless.’ Regulus sighed, putting his head in his hands.

Remus scoffed, then sarcastically stated, ‘Well I’m so sorry for being such a problem for you to handle.’

‘Well maybe you should try not aggravating everyone around you because of your stupid mutt brain.’ Regulus snarked, just as the waitress came by with their orders.

‘Dearie me, what’s got you all out of sorts.’ she said, placing down their meals.

‘Nothing of importance,’ Remus said softly, smiling up at her, ‘Rough time at work, you know how it is.’

The waitress just sympathetically nodded at Remus’ words, ‘Oh, especially the ministry, did you hear about that nasty werewolf being spotted down south? I thought he was good and dead but apparently he went into hiding after the war ended. They have aurors on rotating shifts around the country trying to locate him.’

‘Oh really,’ Regulus said, something in his tone told Remus he was about to make a point, ‘What happens if these aurors come across any other werewolves during their hunt?’

‘Jeesh hon I was only skimming the article in the Prophet this morning, just trying to keep myself alive to face the next day, if you know what I mean.’

‘I hear you,’ Remus said with a nod, taking a sip of his tea.

‘But I bet they’re collecting them up as well, any of those dark creatures being rounded up is a good sign to me,’ the waitress said, before getting called away to another table, ‘I’m sorry dears but I need to keep moving, I’ll let you two carry on now, let me know if you need anything else with your meals.’

‘Well wasn’t that informative?’ Regulus said, taking a bite of his food.

‘I can’t tell if you actually want to help me or just scare me off to the ends of the Earth.’

‘Well which is working?’

‘Neither.’

‘Then it seems I’m not trying hard enough.’

Their conversation came to a halt as they ate their food, each thinking on how to best tackle this situation. Eventually Regulus spoke up.

‘Well, you live a considerable distance from Diagon Alley, and the wolf would probably never be spotted walking down a muggle street, bookshopping, so I think you’ll be fine.’

‘So considerate, thank you, Regulus,’ Remus snarkily, ‘you could have led with that.’

‘You could have led with meeting one two months back, but instead, here we are.’

They continued eating. As they dug into their respective meals, Remus seemed to come to an understanding of their relationship, why, even in Grimmauld place or Hogwarts, the two of them could never get along.

Regulus was very much like the rest of his family, sharp, intelligent and always looking for how to best protect himself. He befriended very little because he didn’t see the need to have a close group of people around him. He had walls upon walls up around him, keeping anyone from getting too close, and if they did? Well, Reg would probably poison them out of spite. Remus on the other hand, always spent too much time catastrophising and placating others, never allowing anyone to see the claws he grew each month. Soft clothes and warm tones when speaking to customers, trying to be as mundane as he could possible. They were each other’s opposites in so many ways, but they both thought they were better than the other, never allowing the two of them to actually communicate. Unfortunately, the wolf inside Remus never allowed him to back down, no matter what the challenge could be, so keeping the younger Black brother at least still willing to help him was not going to be easy. Steeling himself for the high chance of more humiliation from the younger man, he opened his mouth.

‘What do you propose I do?’ Remus finally asked, rather flatly.

‘Honestly?’ Regulus asked, looking up at the older man.

Remus nodded, arms crossed.

‘Keep living your life. You live somewhere with enough foot traffic to mask your scent, you barely leave the house as is, especially since your job is just a staircase below, you really aren’t easy to find at all. It was coincidence that brought my brother to your shop, stupidity that made you cross paths with that wolf. Stay away from sketchier areas and you’ll be fine.’ Regulus said with a shrug, before finishing off his meal and signalling for the check.

‘I can pay for myself,’ Remus stated.

‘I know,’ Regulus responded, ‘Consider it my final act of goodwill towards you for the day. Don’t try and get any more of it.’

With that Regulus paid and they left the busy diner, turning different ways once they got to the end of the street. Neither man acknowledged the other as they parted, and neither looked back as they went. From sheer stubbornness or knowing that the other would be fine, Remus didn’t quite know. But at least he could recognise that Fenrir Greyback wouldn't run into him any time soon.

Chapter Text

Sirius was annoyed, ticked, bothered, miffed, irked, unhappy.

Sirius was upset. And there was very little that was going to fix his sour mood. The Ballycastle Bats had just beaten out the Holyhead Harpies, officially putting them on the roster to potentially play the Chudlys in August, and he had to learn about it in the paper. Not only that, but the news was second page to a large photo of a greasy and dirty looking man by the name of Fenrir Greyback. Who, in the image, kept shifting into a howling wolf before turning back again. Apparently this Greyback fellow was a “dangerous werewolf”, and a past Sirius would have looked at the news article in horror, locking windows tight and keeping his brother sheltered and safe, but ever since falling into a bed with one of these so-called “dangerous” creatures, all the dark-haired man felt for the wolf was pity. The man had no family and no friends to support him, so he spent his moons trapped fighting against the wolf under his skin all alone, no one there to lift him up and stitch him back together when the sun broke through. If Greyback was as torn up physically as Remus every month, with no support for himself, no wonder he helped the Dark Lord. Because, oh yes, there was a list of suspected crimes underneath the grimy man’s photo, ranging from petty theft and exchanging illegal goods to child snatching and murdering families, most under Voldemort's command. A small part of Sirius wondered if this was the man who bit Remus, but that was absurd to think about, no child could ever survive the transformation process. The pain was too unbearable for a child’s mind to comprehend, it’s why none of them ever survived when bitten, the St Mungo’s documentation for the public confirmed it, alongside the books and articles Sirius found. So yes, there was no way that Remus could have been bit before or during his time at Hogwarts. The school prided itself on its safety, there was no way the grand Dumbledore would ever allow a werewolf on the grounds. So he must have been bitten sometime shortly after leaving school. A dark alley or in the woods back home, not having fully made it inside yet before the wolf had jumped on him.

And with that grim final thought, Sirius finally turned his attention to the station being called out on the tube, realising he was about to miss his stop if he didn’t practically jump out the closing doors. The daily commuters paid him no mind as he raced out the exit, used to people being lost to their devices and forgetting when to get off. He folded up the prophet in his hands, packing it away to go into the extension-charmed inside pocket of his leather jacket. No one needed to see the picture on the front accidentally move, thinking that no muggle was looking. Muggles were always looking, just not usually in the right direction. Sirius used the escalator, something that still made him think of the wonders of mechanics every time he was on one. Once he reached the top and could finally enter into fresh, London air he sighed in relief. Both himself and Padfoot hated being so far underground, without the clouds or sun above him. Sirius took in a deep breath, looking around, this was where Andromeda was going to meet him, wasn’t it? He made sure to even arrive early to make up for his lack of answering all those months ago.

Eventually a voice rang out, lilting and loud, the exact opposite of the quiet and sharp of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black and it made Sirius break into an immediate smile.

‘Siri my love, I’m over here!’ The voice belonged to a stunning woman with the same high cheekbones and sharp eyes as Sirius. They had the same straight nose and short—probably from the inbreeding—height and carried themselves much the same way. Two people raised in propriety, and cared nothing for it. But that was where the similarities ended. Where Sirius had the dark, tight curls of his mother, ‘Dromeda had the softer toned hair of the Rosier family, making it a rich brown shade, her lips were thinner and her skin was more tan, mostly from getting outside more than him, but also from the Roiser families’ ability to absorb sunlight into their skin, unlike the vampiric Black family. She was dressed in a purple-ripped off sleeves jean jacket and deep blue skinny jeans with studded heeled shoes. Her hair was a mess of motherhood and the eyebags of sleepless nights with a toddler, but her smile was bright and her hug was warm, letting Sirius know that everything with her was alright.

‘Tell me everything,’ she said, pulling her younger cousin along. A knowing look glimmered in her eye, and Sirius had a suspicious feeling that she had been in contact with Reg a couple times these past few months.

‘About what?’ Sirius attempted to play dumb as they made their way to their preferred meet up place, a quaint little park with little foot traffic in a quiet neighbourhood. They had to apparate behind a dumpster in an alley to get there, as the public transportation didn’t make it out the whole way, but it just added another level of security to the place. No wizard could enter without them knowing.

Passing by a sign saying “Privet Drive” they knew they had arrived at the correct location. ‘Dromeda sat on the swings as always, and Sirius sat on the spinning circle across from her, no one ever told Sirius its proper name was, any muggle-born wizard he knew only calling it ‘pure fun’ or ‘a total death trap’ making him unsure what to call it. So “spinning circle” it would be.

‘Reg told me you have a boyfriend,’ ‘Dromeda said with a smirk, ‘A Welsh boy from Hogwarts, huh? And here I thought all you Beauxbatons pricks thought us scum underneath your boots.’

Sirius rolled his eyes at the last part, ‘Je suis une anomalie.’ He bowed dramatically, while still staying seated cross legged on the spinning-thing.

She laughed, ‘Tu es vraiment quelque chose, c’est sûr. Traître au sang.’

‘Pot calling a kettle!’ Sirius snorted at her.

‘Oh but you’re kissing a wizard, unlike my muggle husband.’

‘I think the fact that Remus and I won’t be creating any children is more than reason enough.’ He shook his head.

‘So it’s that Remus fellow you were telling me about, huh?’

‘It.. might be…’

‘Oh don’t you dare hold back now, youngling. Not when you’ve described to me every horrid detail of your hookups with that bloke down the hall from you.’

‘Those were just one offs! I didn’t actually, y’know, like or really even care for the guy, he was just a good fuck when I was bored.’

‘So you care for Remus then, huh?’ ‘Dromeda asked, and Sirius stared wide eyed.

‘I, uh. I don’t-’

‘Sirius,’ she said, leaning in, ‘It’s okay to care for someone other than your brother. He can take care of himself now, you’re not in that house anymore.’

‘I know! I know, I just-’ Sirius couldn’t find the words to describe how much he cared for both men in his life. The little brother that stuck with him through thick and thin, and the beautiful bookshop owner who showed him parts of himself he didn’t even know existed. Sirius wanted to hold them both so close, and never let go. The friendships made from being around Remus made him fill with joy he never got to experience inside the walls of the Academy and Reg being freed from the impossible standards of their mother made him smile in relief everyday. So maybe Sirius was finding space for both of them, in his own way. Working with his brother and living with his… his boyfriend? Yes, Sirius thinks he could do that.

‘I don’t want Reg to feel left out.’ Is eventually what Sirius settled on, because even with all of his internal self discovery, there was still that nagging fear underneath it all. What if he never took his brother with him when he ran away? Would he have joined the Death Eaters? Left of his own accord? Died fighting for his freedom? Sirius would never know, and never wanted to find out.

‘I have a suspicious feeling he won’t be for much longer, my love,’ ‘Dromeda said with a glint in her eye.

‘Oh? Tell me, tell me!’

‘Not my secret to tell, youngling.’ she said simply, pushing off the ground to move backwards.

‘Not fair, you and Reg talked about me and Remus. What’s the difference?’

‘The difference is that Reggie doesn’t know it yet, is all.’ she said, ‘Much like when you were lamenting to me over the phone about this “witty, tall, bookshop fellow” you just had to see again.’

‘You’re kind of cruel,’ Sirius said, squinting at his older cousin.

She stopped swinging abruptly and looked into his eyes, ‘Being right doesn’t make me cruel. It’s your inability to handle the truth that makes it seem that way.’

‘Cruel.’

‘Truthful.’

Sirius stuck his tongue out in response, she stuck hers out to the mirror. Then all of a sudden her eyes lit up.

She reached for the purse she dropped onto the ground beside her feet and pulled out a waxed-sealed piece of parchment, ‘Oh! I got a letter in the mail for you. Well, by owl. It’s from Narcissa.’ And suddenly the warmth coursing through Sirius’ body left like stepping into snow. Leaving him with an empty feeling hollowing him out.

‘Andromeda, you know I don’t-’

‘I know-’ she said, stopping him from completing his thought, ‘but she sent me one too. It’s up to you if you decide to read it, but at the very least take it.’

Sirius frowns before hesitantly reaching out, taking the letter he sees his name scrawled along the front in neat cursive, the same style he, Regulus, and ‘Dromeda all wrote in.

Sirius Orion Black the Third, heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. Was what was written on the front.

‘Even after the war she still needs to add all titles to a slip of paper I might not ever read.’

‘It’s an ingrained habit, Siri.’ she sighed, ‘Read it if you wish, burn it if you must. But I read mine and I could say I was pleasantly surprised by it, so you might be too.’

‘No letter for Regulus?’ Sirius asked.

‘They’ve already spoken to each other once or twice,’ she said with a wave, ‘Nowhere traceable and in disguise, but they’ve met up. Why? I don’t know.’

‘Then how did the owl not drop the letter off at our flat?’

‘Because they only speak through my home.’ Andromeda raised an eyebrow, ‘Between the two of you I don’t know who’s more cautious. If it weren’t for the fact Cissy could never operate muggle postage, I think that would be the only form of communication that Reg would ever read from her.’

‘But they’ve been in contact.’

‘Yes.’

‘And he didn’t tell me.’

‘Reg is allowed to have secrets, Sirius.’

‘Not when it comes to this!’ Sirius stood up, ‘One rule, one rule in our house. Don’t bring in any connected family. And he.. He.. he goes ahead and speaks with Narcissa anyway? While still sharing a roof with me, at that!’

‘To be fair, you’ve been spending more and more nights with Remus than with Reg,’ she said, swaying back and forth on her swing, ‘He can make his own decisions.’

‘Yeah, and what happened the last time he did that regarding our messed up family, huh? Need I remind you how much blood was spilled that evening?’

‘Need I remind you that he chose you over everything?’ she bit back sharply, the famous short temper all Blacks had rising within her, ‘Regulus choseyou, he chose safety, and he chose freedom. It’s been a few years since the war ended, and all Narcissa is doing is trying to make amends with the family she was too blinded by hatred to see. Like it or not, Reggie is a part of that. So get your head out of the sand and look around Sirius, everyone around you is trying to heal and yet you keep dragging us back to the black and white mentality. Don’t you remember that's the whole reason there was the bloody war? Everyone is starting to move forward Sirius, you should too. Read the letter or not, I’ll know either way.’

And with that she stood, picked up her purse, grabbed out her wand and apparated away on the spot. Leaving Sirius filled with anger at his brother for a betrayal he wasn’t quite sure why it was one, and a letter burning in his hand.

For Fucks sake he handled Remus’ lycanthropy better than this. He could read a letter with better grace.

So Sirius sat his arse back down and opened it. Ready to face whatever was written inside it.

Chapter Text

The letter sat burning in his back pocket for the rest of the week. Narcissa Malfoy’s words of reconciliation and peace ringing in his ears. He cancelled his plans with James and with Remus, spent his evenings chain smoking both weed and standard cigarettes until he fell asleep. His mood got so sour that Regulus volunteered himself to drop off all of their finished potions to waiting customers—he had had a phone call with Andromeda the night before, after Sirius had passed out for the third time that week on his window sill, fag still lit between his fingers. Regulus was good at a lot of things, but fixing whatever mood his brother was in was not one of them, so after learning about the letter and reveal of his contact with his older cousin, Reg kept a wide berth from his brother, unsure of how the animagus would react if he tried to initiate a conversation about their family or, any conversation at all for that matter. Merlin knows he was never good at it while they were at Grimmauld place to begin with.

But Reg was spared that particular task when one very tall Welsh werewolf with a habit of cutting to the heart of the matter came knocking on their front door.

‘Reg, may I enter to speak-’

‘You’re not a vampire, you’re a werewolf, get in here and fix my brother before I inhale enough second-hand fumes to be as high as him.’ Regulus cut the taller man off, opening the door and stepping back. Remus coughed at the smell of smoke and weed wafting in the air, giving the apartment a soft hazing effect with the lighting.

Sirius was in his room at the sill, his current haunting place for all forms of negative thinking, and another roll was lit between his fingers, he didn’t even notice when Remus walked right up to him and pulled it from his hands, putting it out in the ash tray. Sirius’ eyes were distant and unseeing.

The anigmagus’ mind was in a spiral, unsure how to proceed. Narcissa had sent an invitation for him and any plus one of his choosing for a small, intimate family dinner sometime in the next few weeks if he wanted, no obligation to come, just an open hand waiting to be grabbed. This invitation came after a lengthy apology of a young, spiteful woman’s actions for a family whose opinion she held in too high of a regard for too long, blind to others around her, viewing herself as the only option in a world of lessers. And how Narcissa, after having a child with Lucius, now sees how precious a young life is, and how she would do anything, anything to keep more of those lives safe, starting with healing the ones she broke first.

What a load of crap, in Sirius’ professional opinion. He still remembers the curses her and Bellatrix practiced on him when their parents’ backs were turned at family gatherings, the whispers of ‘be quiet or we’ll try the more painful ones on your brother’ by them, as wide grins split across their faces. The treats snuck from the table and blamed on him, resulting in lashes from his mother. The better-than-thou attitude over Sirius being sent to Beauxbatons while they were all perfect Slytherins who went to their perfect Hogwarts. No amount of kind words or heart-felt apologies would change Sirius’ opinion on the matter, Narcissa Malfoy was not just complicit in the crimes her parents committed, but an active member of them. And that was a fact, even if her and her husband managed to escape getting thrown into Azkaban with the rest of the family, this was a truth Sirius knew down to his very marrow, and part of why his mood continued to stay so sour. She wanted peace and forgiveness from someone who had to spend four years in hiding just to survive, and spent almost seventeen years before that being beaten by his own blood for mistakes a child should be allowed to make. No. The woman was not getting forgiveness from him anytime soon.

‘Sirius.’ a voice cut through his spiteful thoughts.

‘What.’ he snapped, turning to tell his brother to leave him alone as he had a few times earlier that week.

Instead he was met with soft hazel eyes that had more brown than green in them, the centre ring around each pupil a shocking yellow if you were ever close enough to see. An apology formed on Sirius’ tongue but before he could speak it, Remus cut him off.

‘If this is how you speak to people who care about you, no wonder you’ve never had a boyfriend stick around longer than a few months,’ he said, not unkindly, but definitely pointedly. It made Padfoot inside of Sirius’ chest rise up, hackles raised, ready for a fight.

‘What the fuck is that supposed to mean?’ he shot back, apology forgotten.

‘I mean that this self pity act is just that, pitiful, you’re almost twenty five years old and you still can’t form a coherent sentence about how you’re feeling, not even every once in a while?’ Remus said, immediately going for the kill. ‘Pitiful.’

‘Oh, because you’re such an open book Mr John,’ Sirius replied, ‘With your hidden backstory and pretty little bookshop, pretending to be a muggle with all that magic stored inside you. Who are you to sit here and tell me to open up while you hide underneath all that wool and cotton, your friends basically pushing you to do something as simple as take a fucking muggle pill when your hip’s acting up.’

‘At least I can understand when my words and emotions are unconnected and can hold my tongue better than you. Is this why you were disowned? Couldn’t keep your mouth from running off the second someone inconvenienced you?’

‘Oh because you’ve never said something you regretted before,’ Sirius stands, done with this behaviour from someone who was supposed to support him, even when he engaged in filthy coping habits, ‘If you’re only here to insult me, you can show yourself the door.’ Remus, the bastard, knew he was getting somewhere if Sirius had to stand up to make himself more powerful and stayed right where he was

‘Is that what you want? To smoke out this house even more than you have already? Push Regulus even further down a spiral of fear because he doesn’t know how you’re going to act around him? If you’ll lash out and attack him?’

‘By Merlin, why would I do that?’ Sirius stares in shock.

‘Because he knows that you know about his communication with your cousin.’ Remus responded flatly.

‘Why are you in the know of my family matters?’ Sirius asked, crossing his arms and furrowing his brow.

‘Because you made it my problem the second you took you agreed to be my boyfriend, is that so hard to believe? That now I’m your family? Or can you only allow pureblooded, uncontaminated wizards to date you and be given that label?’

‘No! No, that’s absurd and backwards and-’ Sirius starts pacing, Padfoot circling around in his chest. By Godric he needed to go on a run.

‘So what’s the matter then, huh? Got a little upset over Regulus trying to reconnect with his family? Finally giving up on being happy about your lycanthropic boyfriend? What’s got you chain-smoking from sunrise to sunset?’

‘I am not chain-’

‘How many fags have you had today?’

‘That’s not your concern.’

‘Like hell it is, it’s all my concern when you’re slowly killing yourself in front of me.’

‘You smoke all the time-’

‘Yes, my singular roll every other night for medical reasons is just as bad as the three packs you’ve gone through this week.’

‘Do you always need to be an insufferable know-it-all?’

‘Do you always need to result to destroying yourself when you can’t figure out how to communicate? Merlin, what is your problem Sirius? Do you hate your own family that much that you can’t even stomach the idea of Reg reaching out to some of the kinder ones?’

‘None of them are kinder ones!’ Sirius finally shouts, a dam breaking inside him, ‘They all beat me behind our parents’ backs, just to prove how strong they were. They all became filthy fucking Death Eaters the second they became of age! They laughed when my mother used an unforgivable on me. They cheered when a muggle-born died or got severely injured in the paper, they called them every slur under the sun, and used the same ones on me when they overheard me confiding in Dromeda during my sexual awakening. They beat me to a pulp the second they heard about the dreams that thirteen year old me didn’t understand I was having or why I couldn’t take my eyes off fucking Tomas and Richard in the boy’s showers whenever they were in there. And after they were done? They told my mother and I spent a week in the cellar until I “no longer had such traitorous thoughts lurking in my head”. After that I couldn’t enter the boys’ shower if anyone else was in there for years, I stopped trying to make friends because I was afraid they’d all realised the atrocity that I was. And now, now after everything I’ve done to keep Reg safe, myself safe, and finally find happiness, Narcissa wants to come strolling in and reconnect? I’m not doing it- I can’t Remus, I just- I just can’t.’

Sirius ends up sobbing into his own hands. Remus’ very effective tacting of making him so angry he bursts, coming through yet again, unearthing some of his deepest and darkest secrets for the taller man to see. And Remus, the gem that he is, washes away the insults and jabs that the animagus took at him and instead wraps him up in his arms, holding him close and letting the tears dry out and snot ruin his shirt.

‘I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that alone,’ Remus finally says, cradling the man in his arms.

‘I don’t- I never want to see her-’ Sirius hiccups into him, ‘She.. she destroyed me, Moony. I- can’t I just can’t.’

‘Shh, shh, that’s okay.’ Remus says, pulling away, ‘You have survived so many horrors and protected Reg from so many of them, you are nothing but brave and strong and if Narcissa thinks otherwise I will personally hunt her down and hex her for you.’

Sirius outright laughed at that one, ‘Yeah right, you don’t even use basic charms for making your morning tea, what makes you think I’d believe you could perform a hex on anyone?’

‘Oi! I’ll have you know I was top of my class at Hogwarts, I even managed to get the most NEWTs in the past decade.’

‘Oh, so you’ve always been a nerd. I thought it was a side effect of becoming part wolf, good to know that it’s just you naturally.’

Remus rolled his eyes but smiled, happy that Sirius’ foul mood was lightening.

‘Are you going to stop chainsmoking now?’

‘For now.’

‘I’m not playing dashing knight if you do this again.’

‘It was more like a grouchy goblin, and I was not a damsel in distress, I’ll have you know. I am a very dignified angry prince.’

‘Oh, of course of course.’ Remus snorted, ‘But will you be okay now that you’ve gotten it all out of your system?’

And Sirius took a moment to think. His insides felt scrubbed raw and it felt as if something was definitely taken out of his chest, but it made him feel lighter in a way, calmer and more at peace.

‘Yeah, yeah I think so.’ Sirius said. And relief washed over Remus’ features, ‘Are you? You’ve been a bit out of sorts these past few weeks. Was it the moon?’

‘No, no, everything’s alright in that department, relatively speaking. It seems we’re both having family issues. My… adoptive father is back in the country and much like your cousin I’m not very fond of him.’

‘Want to talk about it?’

‘Not particularly.’

Sirius shot him a dirty look, ‘You literally just bullied me into spilling my guts out to you, and then go ahead and turn around and do what you told me not to? Hypocrite.’

‘This is different, I’m not going to chainsmoke my feelings out about it, or bury them.. Too deeply… besides, I already talked to someone about it.’

‘Okay, but if you need anything-’

‘Just, trust me,’ Remus said, giving Sirius a peck on the lips, ‘I’ll come to you if I need anything, alright?’

‘That makes two of us.’ Sirius responded with a smile.

They ended up spending the rest of the evening curled up on the couch, watching old muggle films and drinking tea that Sirius had secretly stocked in the apartment in case Remus ever spent the night. And if Regulus was just a little bit kinder to Sirius and Remus after listening to his big blowout, neither brother commented on it.

Alongside the subtle kindness was the letters from Narcissa to Reg that were secretly burned after Sirius went to bed, cementing the younger brother’s loyalties completely within the family.

Chapter Text

Remus knew that there was something up with Sirius before James messaged him. Because Sirius had been ignoring his calls and brushed off their date downtown without so much as an explanation, two things the man never did, which put the werewolf on high alert for any other abnormal behaviours. This had happened once before earlier on in their relationship, after the revelation of them both being wizards and Remus too afraid to reach out, the werewolf thought that they had moved past that initial hesitation and discovery, only for the raven-haired man to go radio silent for almost a full week before Remus saw him moping outside of the shop on a walk. Remus had then pulled him inside and tried the nice, polite approach of asking what was going on, until he finally gave up in frustration when all Sirius responded with was either an incoherent mumble or silence and snapped a sharp remark at him about his attitude. This seemed to wake Sirius up and Remus came to the understanding that the animagus needed to be angry and yell out his problems in a fight, making it feel less connected to the pain and fear inside of him. Ever since, if Sirius was ever down in the slumps, he would first start by being kind and courteous, but if the other man couldn’t properly communicate, went for the quick and dirty verbal gut punch to get the other one’s hackles up.

Learning about the horrors his family put him through though, that was not on his list of reasons for this particular case of the blues. It ignited a fire underneath Remus’ ribs at the pain the other had to go through, probably by the very same people Remus had meetings with when with the wolf pack. How a group of individuals could be so cruel against their own blood, the very thing their backwards views were “protecting” was appalling to him. What made it worse was these were views he defended for a time, which made the burning flames under his ribs go out just as fast as they came in. Views that Remus supported and protected, even if he wasn’t fully aware of what those views entirely were, also hurt Sirius so horribly at the same time. But there was nothing he could do about that at the moment, so he pushed those feelings aside and focused on the tear-stained man in his arms, sleeping deeply after letting what was keeping him awake so long. A gentle knock on the door turns Remus’ head to a shy-looking Regulus. A posture he had never seen the other man wear before.

‘Is he awake?’ Regulus whispered, and Remus responded with a shake of his head, ‘There’s something you need to see.’ Remus was instantly focused, gently disentangling himself from the bedding and Sirius, following Regulus to his kitchen counter, where a Daily Prophet and a sheet of paper sat.

‘These both came in the mail, the landlord pays a subscription fee for the entire complex, it comes out of our rent.’ Regulus answered the unspoken question while Remus read through the Prophet’s headline and major story first, it being what Reg wanted to show him.

MINISTRY URGES EXTREME CAUTION FOR NEXT FULL MOON, SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY NIGHT

The Minister for Magic, Millicent Bagnold, has requested, alongside the Heads of the Auror Office and Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, that all citizens be on high alert during the June full moon, which is reported to happen on Thursday of next week. This is in direct response to the sightings of the infamous child murderer, Fenrir Greyback, who had been seen reentering the country after the last full moon, during May. Aurors have been on constant patrol across the Isles, searching for this man. Fenrir Greyback’s crimes range from petty theft and racketeering, to kidnapping and murder. Greyback is reportedly an unregistered werewolf who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during the Wizarding War and has been on the run ever since the Dark Lord fell. He is rumoured to be back in the country to rally his sired children and other lone wolves who went into hiding after the end of the war. ANY WEREWOLF CONNECTED TO HIM IS CONSIDERED HIGHLY DANGEROUS AND UNSTABLE. DO NOT APPROACH. Witches and wizards alike are urged to use as much caution as possible until this dark creature and his sympathisers are caught. Do not let strangers into your home. Do not go outside during the full moon. If you come across or think you have come across a dark creature, please contact your local auror’s office, do not try to engage them alone, they are highly skilled and very powerful. A list of known associates and pictures for those applicable will be arriving by owl on a separate document alongside each addition of the Prophet, citizens are encouraged to read over the names and remember the faces connected to them. And remember to keep you and your family on high alert and indoors until these dark creatures have been caught.

The second piece of paper contained a list of ten names and four moving pictures taken at angles that allow the werewolves to stay turned away from the camera. Only one name had a forward-facing photo and a proper description with it, every other suspected werewolf had only the first or last name written, which made it more difficult because the Ministry used the names of after they were bitten, instead of family names that could be traced. Or the descriptions were so non-descript that all they did was give the public more fear of their neighbours. ‘Unclean, buzzed hair, sharp teeth and pointed finger nails reminiscent of claws.’ Was the general consensus, besides a few other details of ‘presents female’ or ‘presents male’. But it was the second photo on the list, alongside its description that pulled Remus’ attention.

The picture was taken at an awkward angle inside the Leaky Cauldron, many years old from the looks of it. In clear frame is a smiling Fenrir shaking a young boy’s hand. The boy’s face is mostly concealed, but the lanky frame is not, the bones and skin that hadn’t quite caught up to one another yet prominent. The boy’s head was shaved close to the scalp, giving him an attempt of a meaner look. A description is written beside the photo, alongside a name.

Young male, possibly late twenties, early thirties now, shaved head, scars across backs of hands, brown-yellow eyes, pointed teeth. This man is rumoured to be the right hand man of Fenrir Greyback, being one of his oldest sired-sons, probably bitten when he was a teenager. He is not to be approached under any circumstances, officials should immediately be informed of any sightings.

NAME: R. GREYBACK, officials can only confirm that the werewolf went by the codename of “R” while working alongside Fenrir.

‘It’s you, isn’t it.’ Regulus said, looking at the gangly teenager.

Remus nodded and Regulus swore in response.

‘I knew you were with him for a time, but I didn’t know it was this bad. His right-hand man? What are you going to do?’

‘I thought we already discussed this,’ Remus said, unable to tear his eyes from such a young version of himself. He remembered every second of that day, from sunrise to sunset, every action and every step that led to that moment, he could probably even recite the conversation the two of them were having at that moment if Reg had asked him. But Reg didn’t. Instead the younger Black brother took in the image, and then looked up at Remus, noticing how much fresher the scars across his face were, compared to the nicks on his hands. Acknowledging the tired eyes and the way he kept his weight to the one side, ‘Keep playing muggle and keep my head down.’

‘Hard to do that when James has already bought the tickets for the August match,’ Reg snorted, ‘He even got two for Evan and I.’

James had gotten the family and friends tickets for the group as soon as he could, and was overly excited about the whole thing, especially since he still didn’t know what team he was facing, since Northern Ireland still had to defeat one more team to get to the finals. But it seemed the whole world was waiting for the gruesome battle of Northern Ireland and England, believing that would be the final match for the European Cup.

‘This picture is almost a decade old, Reg,’ Remus states, ‘No one will recognise me from this, besides, they got my age wrong.’

Regulus snorted at that, ‘Well, politicians aren’t always the smartest. What are your plans for the next moon?’

‘Lily locks me in the cellar, spells it shut in a very intricate way and comes back at sunrise.’ Remus said, ‘We’ve been doing it for years and no one has made a comment to us yet, so I think it’ll be safe enough.’

‘Okay,’ Reg said. Before either man could say anything else, a half-asleep Sirius came walking out of his bedroom.

‘What are you two up to?’ He asked with a yawn, rubbing at one eye. Sirius didn’t notice how Remus subtly slid the list into his pocket, but Regulus certainly did, and shot him a dirty look for it.

‘Discussing the Prophet and the Chudly’s August match,’ Remus said smoothly, and Sirius lit up like a child on Christmas morning.

‘Has it been confirmed yet? Is it going to be the Ballycastles?’ he asked, rushing forward.

‘The game’s not until early July, Sirius. We’ll know at the same time as you.’ Reg said, used to his antics. Sirius groaned.

‘The anticipation is killing me.’

‘Your whining is killing me,’ Reg responded. Remus laughed and looked over at the clock on the wall.

Shit. It was almost opening time at the store, he needed to go. Now.

‘Sorry guys, have to bounce, I need to open in the next hour,’ Remus said, rushing to the door.

‘Oh, alright. Want to ride-along to get there faster?’ Sirius asked, but Remus shook his head.

‘The two of you need to catch up after last night, I’d just be in the way.’ Remus said sternly, looking both brothers in the eye.

‘O-okay.’ Sirius said, taken aback.

‘I’ll see you later, okay?’ Remus pecked him on the cheek and Sirius smiled.

‘Later.’ And with that, Remus exited the flat into the hallway, rushing off to work in the day before’s clothes. Leaving the two brothers in their apartment to traverse their next steps together alone.

Chapter Text

Somehow, even with the warnings for the public, Greyback wasn’t spotted for the June or July full moon. To raise Remus’ spirits even higher, no other wolf sightings happened across the entire island for either moon. And the Ballycastle Bats were finally confirmed to be facing the Chudly Cannons in August, giving the whole friend group much excitement to latch onto. So of course something had to happen to bring everything right back down.

‘Remus, did you hear?’ James asked, barreling into the shop one morning.

‘What happened?’ He placed down his novel, very rarely did the man ever come in only for him, even rarer through the front door.

‘They’re releasing Pettigrew next week, apparently he’s “reformed himself locked away” and with his decision to release the Dark Lord’s location to aurors and being a huge help in his death, they’re deeming him safe to reenter the general public with weekly meetings in the aurors office for counseling.’

‘That’s- that’s- I-’ Remus stopped, took in a deep breath, looked around to see if the few shop goers were within ear shot, then very eloquently stated, ‘What the fuck?’

‘That’s what I said when I read it!’ James shouted in agreement, evidently the fire churning inside him had been amplified by Remus’ similar reaction.

‘He- he.. He’s a fucking Death Eater.’ is what Remus, the hypocrite, ended up saying, ‘He tucks tail and hides under the biggest piece of power he can find. He joined the dark wizards because they were winning, and then came back the second they were losing, he’s a spineless, useless, disgusting, vile.. Coward. That rat is a fucking coward.’

‘No, it’s absolutely ridiculous I agree.’ James responded, but he had that look in his eye like he needed to do something about it, before he couldn’t.

‘James, what are you planning?’

His eyes widened and he shook his head, ‘Nothing, nothing.’ James’ face split back into his regular shit-eating grin, ‘Hey, what do you say about going out to the pub with me tonight? It’s been a while since it was just the two of us, huh?’

Remus broke into a grin, the pub sounded like a wonderful idea after that dose of news, ‘Sure. But if you start performing any magic-’

James laughed, that fully-belly sound he shared with his father, the one that turned heads and had others mutter ‘Americans’ under their breath from how loud he was.

‘I promise to keep my wand away, I’ll come by at eight?’

‘I’ll be waiting.’ Remus smirked, and James patted him on the arm before heading out. As James exited the front door, a lively older woman came bouncing inside, a smile bright enough to lighten anyone’s day on her face as she entered the towering walls of books. Her multi-colour shawl hung around her arms, fallen off her shoulders and was long enough to almost touch the ground, catching Remus’ attention. James rotated one finger at the side of his head through the glass at Remus, making him snort.

Don’t judge a book by its cover, James. Remus almost spoke out loud, then realised that he wouldn’t have been able to hear him and he would have looked as ridiculous as the woman’s choice of clothes. He was pulled from his internal embarrassment over possibly spoken words from one customer walking up to pay.

A serious looking middle-aged man, with a tie tied too tight and a suit jacket pressed one too many times, took a good portion of Remus’ supply of law books, something he had a passing interest in at one time, and then kept the novels around in case someone ever needed them.

‘Do you have any Chitty on Contracts here?’ he asked, straight faced. Leaving Remus to believe that this was, in fact, a real law book, and not just him pulling his leg.

‘Er, no. Sorry.’ Remus said, ‘I’m honestly surprised you found as many texts as you did in here.’

The man’s face did not change as he nodded in response, ‘A shame. Just these then.’

As soon as he paid, he turned sharply and walked right out and down the street, other pedestrians jumped slightly at his brisk pace, while others simply nodded and continued on in a similar manner.

Shaking off the brisk man, Remus was given some time to mull over James’ news. Pettigrew, out? It gave him both an urge to find and pummel the man, but also a fleeting flicker of hope for himself if he was ever caught. If the Dark Lord’s personal snitch, the leading cause for so much of the destruction endured during the wizarding war, could be allowed out of prison after only three years, surely his punishment wouldn’t be any worse? Although, the Wizengamot did not take to any form of half-human very well, so, probably not.

Another customer came over and paid for a copy of a John Lennon biography, and Remus happily indulged them in their favourite artists for a moment while they paid and slowly made their way out the door with promises to be back to learn more about other musical talents whose light was snuffed out too soon.

After another ten minutes had passed, Remus realised that he had not seen or heard the older woman in a little while. His enhanced hearing was usually more than enough to make sure all his customers were accounted for and alright, but she seemed to have slipped through the metaphorical cracks. Every other customer had left, even the few who came in after her, leaving Remus to feel an impending sense of dread. He stood up and grabbed his cane, leg and hip flaring simultaneously from the amount of weight he was pressing down on it. Slowly wandering into the stacks, he hesitantly called out in greeting, trying to see where she was. As he went, the shelves seemed to tower more than usual, the lamps on the sides of the stacks dimmer, as if they were holding back, keeping something hidden by not shining too brightly. As Remus went further in, his music through the sound system quieted out, the side ending, the static from the needle still moving along the spinning vinyl echoed around the shelves. Remus could have sworn that he made sure to flick the automated stop on the record, but he might have accidentally hit it in his rush to open the other day, spending another morning curled up with Sirius, choosing to push off his wake up routine a bit too far yet again.

The static in Remus' ears did not help in his search for the ridiculously silent woman. He was wondering if she casted muffilato on herself, but he couldn’t smell any magic, the taste would have been heavy on his tongue, pouring itself straight into his muscles and strengthening his limbs more than ever necessary for a humble book keeper—his werewolf genes causing the magic around him to add to his strength. He never even realised how strong he was at Hogwarts—too many spells and charms going around at all times—until he went home for the summer and spent a week straight learning how to walk again, feeling as if all his energy and magic was drained, and every joint and ligament in his body wanted to protest loudly against it. If Remus was being honest with himself, he was feeling like that right now. Every step forwarded sent shockwaves up his hip and he felt himself moving slower, the aisle stretching ahead of him. Were the lamps always this dim? Maybe the wiring was getting faulty again, he’d have to get someone in.

The dimmed lights made the shelves look as if they were towering above into an abyss around Remus, caging him in. The scratch of the static in his ears and his enhanced senses trying to compete with one another gave him the startings of a nasty headache, as the record kept his eyes from being able to fully focus. Each step the werewolf took forward sent a new, stronger shockwave of pain through his leg, from the ankle to hip, curling around his knee and settling in deep. That draining sensation he felt was coming back in full force, every movement being a monumental effort for reasons Remus could not sort out, as the charms the girls had placed on the building were more than enough to keep this full body drag from ever happening again. To make matters worse, the lamps seemed to have gone entirely out, leaving Remus in complete darkness, as his wolf-eyes tried to work out where shapes and objects were, being derailed every time by the continuous scratching of the record and ricochet of pain through the one half of his body every other second.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, he finally stumbled across one lone light overtop of someone. And there was where the woman was, in her multicoloured glory. A bright light against the gloom his shop had been thrust into. Her heavy, long grey hair was like a birds nest towering above her head, her shawl draping over a stack of books, revealing a many-layered outfit of various shades of pink, purple, and everything in between, her heavy-duty looking work boots stood out against the other colours, drawing in Remus’ attention. Paint seemed to be splattered across them, bright and white against the deep black material, the only part of this woman not fully decked in some form of colour. The oddest thing about the woman was how she seemed to be swaying back and forth, hands clasped together, resting on her chest. Wait, no. They were holding a novel to her chest, one of the older, well loved ones that sat in the historical fiction section.

‘Erm, excuse me ma’am, but are you alright?’ Remus asked, inching forward. As soon as the light hit Remus’ face, the woman snapped over to look at him. Body going still, spine ramrod straight. Her eyes reminded him of the divination teacher from Hogwarts, large and unfocused, always looking both in the present and the future, never able to stick to just one. She took one step towards Remus, coming to stand right in front of him, the singular lamp casting her face in shadows that his enhanced senses could partially make out and opened her mouth to speak.

As words flowed out of her, Remus was taken aback by the way her voice sounded, it seemed as if three different voices were trying to speak out of one individual, a soft, young voice, a gravelly, older one and another one in between. It must be the static in his ears, there was no way people could actually sound like this, could they?

Remus was so distracted by the woman’s voice that it took him a moment to catch up to what she-they? It? Was even saying.

‘Thrice the moon shall travel past
Thrice shall they reveal each faction of her face,
The maiden, powdering her daisies to distract from the blackened stems
The mother, hiding her kits beneath the earth, suffocating their breath
The crone, able to free herself from the garden to reach the stars, or stay inside and tend to roots far overgrown
The beginnings of an end and the ends of the beginning is your crossroad.’

Remus blinked in confusion, ‘What, what do you-?’ He had never been given a prophecy before. Honestly, he had never cared much for them in the first place. Divination, in his eyes, was a rather useless skill, as it relied heavily on confirmation bias to work. But this? This seemed to be something much more closer to the original idea of oracles, and he had a feeling he shouldn’t be so dismissive of it.

Then the woman of three voices handed Remus the book, pressing it into his hands. As he looked down to see the title, he was confused even further by the woman’s choice.

‘The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland?’ He asked.

‘A child with an insatiable imagination and a lazy summer’s day can think many a thing,’ the woman said, ‘but even the sun too, shall set, and their created world will slip away as parents come to collect.’

‘I don’t understand-’ Remus started.

‘A name can be just as fickle as a child’s wonder, young man. Do not mistake it for anything more.’ The voices slowly morphed back into one as she spoke her finally words, the light behind her, the only lamp still on in the shop getting brighter and brighter until it blinded the werewolf's eyes and when he finally cleared them away, the light was completely out, and he was surrounded in total darkness. The record’s scratching became the only static he could hear, and as he tried to turn around to find the light switch, the heavy footsteps of a familiar beast prowled closer, and around the stacks came the shadowed figure of a wolf, yellow eyes shining in the dark, teeth bright and visible. Remus knew this wolf, knew how he favoured neither side, never giving away any injuries or tells. Knew the grey-black fur and scars well, and Remus felt his heart speed and his throat close as he stared down the wolf form of the man who took his life from him.

Fenrir Greyback opened his jaw, and in a voice that shouldn’t have been possible, called out his name.

‘Remus,’ the wolf hissed, ‘Remus.’

‘No- no-.’ His feet were frozen, cane clattering to the floor, his voice coming out in a gasp, barely above a whisper, ‘You’re not here- you’re not-’

The wolf prowled closer, continuing to call out to him, ‘Remus… Remus.’ As Remus tried to lift his foot to move, it felt overly heavy, causing him to fall, crashing to the ground alongside his discarded novels and loose notepaper from the odd traveler. The wolf opened his jaws, close enough to go for the kill, and just as he coiled and lunged-

A hand landed on his shoulder and shook.

‘Remus! Mate! Are you alive down there?’ a much warmer, kinder voice called out. Remus blinked and sat up with a start, banging foreheads with a bespectacled man with a familiar mop of dark hair.

‘Oh, ow!’ James leaned back.

‘Sorry! Sorry I didn’t-’

‘It’s alright, it’s alright,’ James waved him off, ‘What were you doing here on the floor?’

It was that comment that made Remus take in his surroundings. He was lying on the floor, the midafternoon sun long since gone, the endings of sunset lighting the streets outside the window, the lamps and lighting at full strength, none of them dimming or flickering—well, any more than usual. The record player was quietly spinning away, playing another song from another album. Right, he had the player charmed by Lily to always be on rotation while turned on. Then how did it spin out earlier? Was it all a dream?

‘Remus?’

‘Sorry, I uh. I think I just had an experience with an..’ Remus paused and mulled over his words, not wanting to scare James any further, ‘I think I had a run-in with a fae is all, draining experience at best.’

‘Hah, yeah, I get that. Are you still up for drinks?’ James asked, eyebrow raised.

Remus smirked, ‘Absolutely. Let's get plastered.’

James’ signature grin returned and he helped Remus up. ‘That’s the spirit!’

Chapter Text

Sirius entered Remus and Lily’s apartment fully intent to spend an evening with his boyfriend, and possibly help Lily with her wolfsbane potion. She had cracked the key last moon to properly balance it and managed to finally get Remus to give in and try it the week leading up to the moon. Apparently it was something to do with the nullification of adding a moonstone to the mixture, allowing the wolf to transform, but the wolfsbane stopping it from taking over mentally. He had drunk the mixture the night before and the evening of the full moon and said afterwards that he could remember more and was able to fight the wolf off for some of the transition, but it ultimately still managed to gain control. Lily was undeterred at this though, claiming that this was good progress, and a step in the right direction.

Unfortunately, Sirius’ plans were broken by the lack of Remus in the building, and the addition of Mary and Marlene upstairs. Entering the apartment space he was met with the loud playing of the most recent Taylor Swift album, evidently Mary had broken up with yet another boyfriend as the lyrics, ‘we are never-ever-ever getting back together’ was being scream-sung most loudly by her, a whole bottle of fire whiskey in her hand.

‘Er, have I interrupted something?’ Sirius asked, leaning against the kitchen counter as Mary continued to dance on the couch by the stained glass window and the others laughed. Lily turned her head and broke into a confused smile.

‘Hey Sirius! What are you doing here?’

‘Looking for Remus,’ he said, walking over and carefully navigating around the fallen pillows, clearly the fallen victims of Mary’s drunken sofa dancing and Marlene trying to create a crash pad for when she eventually slips.

‘He and Potter went to the pub for a boys night,’ Marlene responded, eyes glued on Mary’s dancing figure.

‘Eugh, boys, remind me why I like them again?’ Mary said in a spin.

‘I’m sure you can tell yourself that one love,’ Marlene responded dryly, then used a fantastic imitation of her friend to say some of her most common phrases, ‘Oh Lily, their haiirrr. Oh Marls, their jawbones. Oh James you’re a diamond in the rough, if Lils didn’t grab you I would’ve been right up-’

‘You’re horrible!’ Mary leaned down from the couch, hands on hip, whiskey still in the one hand and pouted at her.

‘She’s realistic.’ Lily responded, then turned back to the raven-haired man, ‘Do you want the address to meet them? I’m sure Remus wouldn’t mind.’

‘It’s alright, let them have their night. I rarely ever hear of Remus ever leaving this building unless strictly necessary, let him have a night of fun.’

All three girls snorted at that.

‘Remus? Night of fun? Honestly, you’re his boyfriend, you’re supposed to know him the best.’ Mary said.

‘Honestly Black, you’re the most eccentric and interesting thing about him somedays.’ Marlene responded. Sirius raised an eyebrow at that. Clearly Marlene wasn’t aware of his lycanthropy then, if she still believed him to only be the quiet, timid man Sirius heard stories about from their time at school.

‘Why don’t you join us instead Sirius?’ Mary asked, cocking her head to the side.

‘I wouldn’t want to intrude-’ Sirius raised his hands, fully intending to turn back around and head home.

‘Please,’ Mary batted her eyes at him, a tactic she learned worked on almost anyone when she wanted something particularly badly.

‘Er, McKinnon? Evans?’

The redhead and blonde looked at each other and shrugged.

‘Don’t see why not.’ Lily finally said, ‘Drinks are in the fridge, and you’re in luck, Mary was just about to start telling us why this particular boyfriend was not the one until the song came on.’

Sirius laughed and placed his shoes at the door, grabbing a variety of alcoholic beverages for the girls from the fridge and joining the mess in the living room to the sounds of Mary lamenting about her latest fling, while practically lying on top of Marlene and putting Lily into fits of giggles.

At some point nail polish was brought out, alongside face masks and makeup supplies, which led to Sirius’ current attire. His nails were painted a bright, vibrant red, which matched the lipstick they put on him. There was eyeliner on the top and bottom sides of his eyelids, and apparently some form of smokey eye? (He really didn’t know the terms very well.) They then put something on his cheek bones, giving them a shimmering effect. Whatever the girls did to him made them all blush, and even Lily muttered out a ‘damn Sirius, even I would fall for you like this’ which felt like the highest form of flattery ever to be given so he felt quite proud of that. Marlene ended up with blue on her eyelids and sequins glued to the edges of her face, Mary was exquisite in the shimmering gold against her darker skin, and Lily even put on a bit of blush to join the fun, fully not one to add to her complexion.

‘The carrot hair and fair skin don’t do well with many colours, makes me look quite sickly usually.’ she said as an excuse. Sirius stuck his tongue out at her. She rolled her eyes. They then all decided to have a “fashion show” and ended up taping plastic bags to each other to create different ensembles and cheered each other on as they took turns walking around the space, striking poses.

It was the makeup, coupled over with the whiskey in his system that really started to fire the girls up, as he suggested karaoke and then showed the girls his very terrible skills in singing, to which all three fell over, unable to breathe, their faces going beet red.

‘Please… never sing again.’ Lily wheezed.

‘Who knew.. The great.. Sirius Black…was perfect.. In every way… but voice..’ Mary said.

Marlene snickered, ‘Weren’t you classically trained?’

‘In pianoforte!’ He defended himself. The three stared at him.

‘How old are you? Pianoforte? Where are we? The seventeen hundreds?’ McKinnon snarked. Sirius rolled his eyes.

‘Alright, why don’t you sing, why don’t you?’

Marlene did not fare any better than Sirius.

It was almost four in the morning when their partying and card game was interrupted by the loud slamming of the entrance door, and out stumbled two very drunk, very disoriented men.

‘Lilyyyyy!’ James shouted loudly, letting go of Remus and stumbling towards her, immediately wrapping his arms around his waste.

‘Hello James,’ she smiled, the most sober of the entire group.

‘You have, hic, very nice freckles.’ he said, smiling so widely at her.

‘Did you two have a fun time out?’ Marlene asked.

‘We got plastered,’ Remus smiled dopily, seemingly holding onto the counter for dear life.

‘Right we did!’ James said, like it was the most important proclamation he had ever made, ‘Fuck Wormtail.’

Remus nodded, face stoney for a moment, ‘Fuck Wormtail.’

Whatever that meant.

‘Moony, do you want to have a seat?’ Sirius asked, as the man continued to hold onto the counter to the point that his skin was going white. He hadn’t realised how naturally he seemed to gravitate towards the other man, until all of a sudden he had an armful of pissed werewolf on him, staring at his face. His face? Oh. Right. The makeup.

‘You look like a rock star vampire,’ Remus said, nodding to himself, ‘it’s hot.’

Sirius blushed, not used to the very straight-forward words of his boyfriend. Remus was one for gestures and sharing passages in poems to describe how he felt, never just outright saying it in such a blunt fashion.

‘I think you need a glass of water and your bed, love.’ Sirius said quietly to him, to which Remus responded with a sigh.

‘Do I have to?’

‘Do you want to be okay tomorrow or have a raging hangover?’ Sirius asked. Remus awkwardly rested his head on Sirius’ shoulder and groaned.

‘Water is fine.’

‘Good choice. Can you make it to your room on your own or do you want some help?’

Remus squinted at Sirius from his folded over position, ‘You don’t have to take care of me. I can do it myself.’

‘I know,’ Sirius responded on instinct, ‘But I want to.’

Across the room, Mary made a gagging noise.

‘I thought this was supposed to be my drunken break up party, not some sappy love fest for the happy couples!’

Marlene laughed and James looked over, ‘Broke up with the bloke finally, eh?’

‘No,’ Mary pouted, ‘He broke up with me.’

‘Ah. How dare he.’

‘James, please don’t get her started, I just got her to stop.’ Lily said, ‘Why don’t we all just go to bed now, huh? Marls, Mary, are you two okay out here?’

‘Don’t worry, you have enough blankets and pillows to make a whole other couch out here.’ Marlene said, ‘Goodnight guys.’

An echo of goodnights could be heard as everyone went their separate ways, using the toilets and drinking glasses of water to help fight the hangovers coming for them all in a few hours.

It was after the two of them had climbed into bed, and Sirius had finished wiping as much makeup as he could off of his face that Remus turned to him.

‘Thank you,’ he said quietly.

‘For what?’ Sirius asked.

‘For helping me,’ he replied, ‘I never really had that before.’

Sirius felt confused, ‘You have Lily and Mary and-’

‘No, no. Lily only helped with the moons after we moved in together, and we never drank together in school. I never really had someone be there for me, and only me before, you know? So, thanks.’

Sirius stared into the darkness towards the werewolf’s face, thinking on what life the man had to live to be thankful for such baseline care for another.

‘I’ll always be here for you Remus.’ Is what he finally settled on, but his words were only met with the deep, steady breathing of the other man falling asleep, leaving his words to hang in the air around him, until he finally drifted off as well.