Remus Lupin learned at a young age that ‘normal’ wasn’t a thing for him, because normal wasn’t being a werewolf for as long as you can remember, normal wasn’t your parents locking you in a cage once a month after you got to strong to subdue, normal wasn’t trying to avoid everyone at school because the slightest incident would have you expelled and possibly put on the werewolf registry, normal certainly wasn’t agreeing with your friends to take a summer long road trip before fifth year to hunt for rare potions ingredients to turn your friends into illegal Animagi.
And normal definitely was not leaving a random grocery store in the middle of nowhere Staffordshire only to see Severus Snape and Lily Evans of all the people in the world pushing the most beat up looking motorcycle up the street.
Their band shirts were soaked with sweat as they fought to keep the bike from rolling back down the hill.
Remus couldn’t really complain about this not normal event; however, how else was he supposed to keep himself entertained on this trash chute of a road trip? Sirius belting out rock songs in the back of Peter’s parents' RV for another half hour? No, Remus was much more interested in what the other two were up to.
And so he subtly shoved his pack of gum into his pants pocket and started making his way towards the two. The duo didn’t even glance up as he walked briskly through the parking lot, quietly looming over Snape when he finally decided to make his presence known.
“You know, in Greek myth, Sisyphus is FORCED to push the rock up the hill for eternity, so seeing one doing it of their own free will is quite the joke, don't you think?”
Remus was not prepared for the way Severus and Lily seemed to jump out of their skins, turning to face him with wide, shocked eyes. Their fearful reaction even made him jump back, There was a tense silence as the lone marauder and the duo looked at each other, Lily being the one to finally break into the silence.
“Lupin! What are you doing here!?” Remus could physically feel his brain stalling as he looked between the two, they both had their hair messily tied up as if they had been rushing to do so, their clothes were covered in grease and sweat stains and Remus could smell the dirt on them and he could feel his stomach tumbling around as they looked at him like a pair of deer caught in headlights.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wearing trousers before, Evens. Do you wear them often?”
“Well spotted, Lupin. You still haven’t answered my question.” It was as if he was being dragged out by a judge and being demanded his confession, he could feel his fingers starting to twitch with nervous energy as he looked between the two. Why was he so nervous? He was the one who had come up to them.
“Well, I was just leaving the store, and I saw you two pushing this bike, and I thought since, you know, we know each other and such, I might as well say hi…. So hi.”
The two blinked at him, the silence stretching for a moment before the two turned around and returned to their feat of pushing the motorbike. “Hey! Did you two need help? Why are you pushing the bike?”
Snape rolled his eyes before glaring over his shoulder as Remus rushed forward to help them push the bike. “If you must know Lupin- and seeing as you refuse to butt out- there’s a scrap yard over the hill, we’re going to fix it up, we’ve been talking the parts from the yard to my house but this seemed like the easier choice in the long run.”
Remus nodded before his mind caught up with Snape’s words, “Your house? You live around here?”
Lily gave a huff of a laugh as the three finally cleared the top of the hill. “No, we were just walking for days to get to this one specific scrap pile. What do you think, Lupin?”
Remus chuckled under his breath as he looked between the two wixen who were now stopped at the peak of the hill catching their breath.
“Alright Lupin, you want to be involved so badly, it’s time to get it down the hill.” Remus nodded at Severus’ words, looking down the steep slope, a forest on one side and a stone wall on the other. “Okay, how do we do that?”
Remus wasn’t sure exactly how he had ended up in this predicament, but all he knew was it definitely wasn’t normal to be sitting on a fixer-upper motorcycle at the top of a steep country hill with Severus Snape sitting behind him. He heard the other chuckle as he pushed them closer to the drop. “What’s wrong, Lupin? Scared?”
“Very!” He squeaked as he kept his hands firmly on the handles. He took a deep breath, remembering what Lily had told him before she started running down the hill. ‘Keep and handle straight and ease on the breaks.’ Simple enough, right?
He gulped and picked up his feet, letting Severus push them over the edge, and suddenly they were rolling down the hill. Slowly, then faster and faster. Remus could feel the tension in his jaw, and Lily’s standing figure got closer and closer.
“Breaks Remus! Hit the breaks!” He squeezed the brakes and screamed as he felt the back wheel start to lift, the bike screeching to a stop right in front of Lily, who was saying something, but all Remus could hear was the blood rushing in his ears.
He took deep breaths as he turned to Severus, who was looking at him with a wide grin, his ears finally popping and turning back into his surroundings. “The mighty marauder shaking in his boots.”
Remus gasped as he grabbed onto Severus’ band shirt. “We could have died?! Why aren’t we dead?” He could hear the other two laughing as Severus reached out to rub his shoulders comfortingly.
“Remus, it's okay. If you still want to tag along, I promise there are no more hills.”
Severus and Lily were crazy! He knew that for sure now. Any normal person would leave before they could suggest any other insane activity! Well, it was a good thing Remus wasn’t normal, then.