Chapter Text
Remus lets out a low grunt as he tugs the sheet over the corner closest to the wall. Bending down to smooth out the creases, he spots a dark splotch blooming across the fabric.
“Da,” Teddy says slowly, eyeing the mattress with a mix of mortification, shock, and fondness. “Are you crying on my new sheets?”
“No!” Remus yelps, scrubbing furiously at his eyes. “I—no.”
Teddy just stares at him.
“Fine. Yes.” Remus exhales, shoulders slumping.
He straightens and laughs weakly. “I just can’t believe this is going to be your home now. How are you old enough to be off to university? How am I old enough to have a kid off to university?” He takes a step forward and pulls Teddy into a hug.
Teddy rolls his eyes but leans in and hugs him back. “Da, I’ll be fine. You’ll be fine.”
Remus chuckles and ruffles Teddy’s hair as he leans back. “I know. I’m just going to miss you. The house is going to feel so empty while you’re off on this big adventure.”
“It’s just uni,” Teddy says, rolling his eyes again. “Hardly a grand adventure. Millions of kids do this every year.”
“Yes,” Remus says with a grin, “but only one of those millions calls me Da.”
“You are so embarrassing,” Teddy groans, though a soft smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “But—what about you? What’s your next big adventure?”
Remus tilts his head, brows knitting together. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you raised me—”
“Definitely an adventure,” Remus cuts in with a wink.
“—and,” Teddy continues pointedly, “you bought the bookshop. It’s doing great. You’ve got staff. You don’t need to be there all the time anymore. So… what’s next?” He pauses. “You can’t just sit alone in an empty house every night. That’s… really sad.”
The words land harder than Teddy means them to. Remus takes a step back, feeling like he’s been punched. He knows Teddy is only saying this because he cares— but does he really have nothing else?
He shrugs, pasting on a smile he hopes looks convincing. “You don’t need to worry about me, Teds. First thing I’m doing when I get home is taking a very long nap—and enjoying a quiet house for the first time in eighteen years.”
Teddy gives him a knowing chuckle. They’ve learned each other’s boundaries by now—when to push and when to let go.
“Right then,” Remus says, rubbing his hands together with forced casualness. “Do you need help setting anything else up, or are you ready to be rid of me?”
“It’s not like I needed help making my own bed,” Teddy says with a smirk. “And you cried all over my new sheets.”
“It wasn’t all over!” Remus gasps.
“But also,” Teddy adds, voice softer, “you do know I’m never going to be ready to be rid of you, right? I’m still texting you every day. How else am I meant to keep up with all the gossip you overhear at the shop?”
“Oh, I’ll be sure not to leave out a single scandalous detail.” Remus promises, smiling more easily now. “I’ll really miss you, Teds. Have an incredible time. And please—try not to get into any serious trouble. You’re here to learn and that means schoolwork, too.”
Teddy’s smile drops abruptly, eyes going wide. “Da! I was so focused on buying everything for my room that I didn’t buy a single pen. Or pencil. Or highlighter. Do I need folders? Paper? Da—I have nothing.”
Remus blinks. Then his mouth falls open. How did they both forget the actual school part?
“Well, fuck.”
Grabbing his wallet and keys, they head to the bookstore to stock up on supplies, followed by a quick lunch. Then it’s back to the dorm—another hug that Remus refuses to apologise for, even when it stretches into fifteen full minutes of him weeping into Teddy’s new overpriced university sweatshirt.
Remus wipes his eyes on the sleeve of his own identical new sweatshirt and watches Teddy disappear through the doors of his new home. Only then does he get into the car and make the drive back to Whitstable.
He queues up his playlist, cleverly titled—Dad Rock? More like, Dads Rock–and promptly loses all composure when Queen’s You’re My Best Friend comes on. He doesn’t care that it’s meant to be romantic.
His best friend just went to university.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving me, Haz!” Sirius cries, hauling Harry into a fierce embrace.
Harry chuckles, patting his back. “Pads, I was already away at uni. This really isn’t that different.”
“But it is,” Sirius insists. “You still had your room. You came back for the holidays. This was still home. Now you’re properly moving—playing professional football, getting paid, setting up a whole new home.”
“I’ll miss you too, Pads,” Harry says gently. “We’ll still talk all the time. And I’ll see you at some of my games.” He raises an eyebrow. “But, not all of them.”
Sirius scoffs at the suggestion.
“Really, though,” Harry adds, “you need a life outside of me and my football.”
“What are you on about?” Sirius gasps. “I had a photography exhibition just last month!”
Harry stares at him. “And every photo was of me playing football.”
Sirius opens his mouth, shuts it, then smirks. “Fine, you little shit. Time for you to go.” He opens the car door pointedly.
Harry laughs as he climbs in.
“But Harry,” Sirius says, leaning through the open door, voice quieter now, “I’m going to miss you. And I’m so proud of you.” He pulls Harry into one last hug.
“Thanks, Pads. I love you.”
“I love you too, kid.”
Sirius closes the door and taps the roof twice, stepping back onto the curb. He stays there, motionless, tears slipping down his cheeks as he watches Harry’s car disappear down the road.
Wiping his eyes, he turns and sees two people standing in their garden, staring at him. They’re wearing matching fuzzy robes and slippers, coffee mugs in hand, mouths agape.
“Don’t you think we wanted to say goodbye to our son, Sirius?” James asks, brow raised.
“Oh,” Sirius says, blinking. “I thought you already did that… inside?”
“So did you!” Lily shouts
“Well,” Sirius hedges, “he’s gone now.”
“WE KNOW!” Lily and James shout together.
“You can probably text him,” Sirius offers, walking back into Lily and James’ house.
“You absolute wanker,” James calls after him fondly.
Sirius flops onto the sofa with a dramatic sigh. Lily and James follow him in, taking their usual chairs by the fireplace.
Sirius stares at the ceiling. “Do you think Harry was right?”
James lifts a brow, giving him a long-suffering look. “You’ll have to tell us what he said, seeing as we weren’t close enough to hear it.”
Sirius rolls his eyes, are they really still on about this? “That I don’t have enough of my own life.”
James and Lily exchange a look that Sirius does not like in the least.
James rubs the back of his neck. “I mean…”
Sirius gasps
James laughs. “We love you, Pads. You’re family. But… maybe you could find a few more things just for yourself? We’re past fifty now. Might be time.”
Sirius stares at his supposed best mate slash brother, then dramatically turns his head towards the ceiling again. After a beat, he huffs and stands up. He grabs his things and shoves his feet into his shoes with unnecessary force.
“Where are you going?” James asks, sighing.
Sirius turns slowly, face blank. “Back to my flat. That I have. For myself.”
“Love you, Pads!” James and Lily shout after him as he storms out.
He stomps up the drive, huffing as he throws open the door to his flat in the carriage house at the back of their property.