Remus may or may not be a werewolf
After some more rounds of cards – Ted won 3 before leaving to the kitchen, Remus and Regulus won 1 each – they settled in the table for lunch. The food smelled great, it reminded Remus of his mother’s cooking. He smiled fondly at the memory of Hope swearing when she put way too much salt on her sauce.
“So, how did the both of you met?” Sirius asked, pointing at them with his fork. Remus turned his head to face Tonks, wide eyed. They should’ve planned this better.
“Uh… We work together” Remus answered – Well, it’s not a lie, “she bothers me every day.”
“I do not!” she objected, “you would die of boredom without me there.”
He raised his eyebrows at her, “at least I would be able to do my job, since I already do everything alone.”
She gasped in false offense, “I’m plenty helpful!”
“Hmm, if you say so” He smiled, despite his words. She shoved his shoulder and chuckled. He wondered if they were doing a great job at the pretending part, since this is their normal way of interacting, but if Andromeda’s fond gaze directed at them was anything to go by, the answer was probably yes.
“You know, you’re the first boyfriend Dora brought here…” Sirius said, with his face resting in his hand, his gaze flicking through Remus’ face. Remus swallowed, heat creeping in his cheeks. “You must have something special.” He finished with a smirk. It was like he purposely was trying to give Remus a heart attack.
Remus was frozen on his spot, trying to figure out what to say when Sirius suddenly yelped, “Ouch! What the fuck Regulus!?” He rubbed his leg under the table, probably where Regulus had hit him.
“Terrible wording Sirius, do you even hear yourself?” he scolded. The other boy’s eyes widened and Remus could see a bit of blush on his usually pale face. Okay, so probably not purposely. Maybe Remus just really wants Sirius to flirt with him.
He turned to look at Remus, “I’m sorry Lupin, I’m really-“
He snapped out of his haze “Don’t worry! It’s fine, really.” He smiled, trying to be reassuring.
“Are you sure?” Sirius eyes were full of worry and a bit of embarrassment.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re fine- I mean, we’re fine, don’t worry about it.” He could hear Tonks trying to stifle her laughter beside him. He turned back to his food.
The rest of the lunch was really pleasant. He kept getting lost in conversation with Ted and his tales from different gigs he did with his band in his youth. But sometimes, he would steal a glance at Sirius, and he could feel his heart beating faster when, one time, he was already looking at him.
Later, when the sun was long gone and the moon shone bright on the sky, Remus left a sleeping Tonks on the bed and made his way to the balcony that faced the pool with a book in hands – ‘They both die in the end’, he really likes to torture himself, especially because he’s reading for the second time. The sky was a bit cloudy, but it was possible to see the stars, and the moon’s light was enough to make up the words.
He was in the middle of a chapter when he heard a gasp. He looked up from his book to see Sirius opening the glass door, phone in hand. His hair was a bit messy, and he was wearing a faded band shirt who was kinda big for him, its stretched collar showing his collarbones and a point of a tattoo.
“Sorry! I didn’t know you were here.” He muttered, stepping back in the house.
“No, no! don’t worry, you can come here.” Remus assured, closing his book “is everything alright?”
Sirius smiled, “Yeah, just couldn’t sleep, you?”
“Just wanted to read for a bit” he admitted.
He hummed, nodding at the book in Remus’ lap, “The title is kind of a spoiler, no?”
Remus chuckled, “Yeah, but it didn’t stop me from crying like a baby when I finished it for the first time.”
Sirius huffed a laugh, “I think you’re gonna make friends with Reg, then. He’s the reader type too.”
“You’re not a fan?” he asked, standing up from the little bench and standing next to the other boy, who was resting his arms on the guardrail, soft breeze tousling his hair.
“Not really, I can’t sit still for long, unless I’m drawing.” he confessed.
“You’re an artist. I could’ve guessed.”
“Really?” he said with a smirk, “what gave me away?” His eyes are intense, molten silver shining in the moonlight.
“I don’t know,” he looked to the sky, trying not to stare at him for too long, “just your vibe, I guess.” Sirius hummed in response. Silence falls on them, the only sounds being the cicadas and the far come and go of the waves. After a while, Remus broke the silence, “It’s easier to see the stars here than in London.”
“Yeah, but they’re prettier by the beach.” Sirius smiled. “I have a tattoo of them. Well, mine and Reg’s namesake constellations. I made the design, and a friend tattooed for me.”
“Really? can I see?” He turned to him.
Sirius grinned and pulled off his shirt, then turned to show him his inked back. Remus inhaled sharply at the sight. If he had found Sirius breathtaking with his clothes on, Sirius without his shirt and showing all his tattoos was making him choke to death.
On his back, marked with black ink, the Leo and Canis major constellations danced around each other with some of Sirius’ moles incorporated in the design. Remus itched to touch it, to trace the lines with his fingers (or his mouth).
“It’s beautiful.” he breathed.
“Thank you.” Sirius smiled softly, tugging his shirt back. “Do you have any tattoos?”
“I do. Two, actually.” he smiled, pushing his sleeve up to show the word ‘Hope’ written in a pretty calligraphy, “It’s my mom’s signature. The other one is a crescent moon on my hip. I did in a party, I was too drunk to realize it might be a bad idea and my friends were too drunk to stop me.” He laughed at the memory.
Sirius laughed too, “It makes sense, the moon.” Remus turned his head to the side, in question, “Well, your name is basically Wolf Wolf, isn’t it? I’m starting to think you’re a werewolf.”
“A werewolf?” he chuckled, “I don’t think they exist.”
“That’s exactly what a werewolf would say.” He affirmed.
He hummed, “Well, I’m not one, so I think you werewolf finding skills are a bit rusty.”
“And how can I know if you’re not lying?” He met his gaze. Sirius’ gaze was so intense that Remus himself was staring to believe that he’s a werewolf and hadn’t realized yet.
“You can’t. You have to trust me.”
“We’ll have to wait until the full moon, then.”
“Yeah, we do.”