Another chance meeting
Remus sees Sirius Black again a week later.
He is with two other boys, all similar in age but different in appearance. One is taller than Black with glasses that hide mischief in his eyes and the other is a short blonde boy whose smile never fully leaves his face.
When Sirius spots Remus, he distracts his friends with the sweet shop and then turns back. Remus has plenty of time to put out his cigarette and go inside the inn.
Instead, he decides that he isn’t scared of Sirius Black. That he was there first and he shouldn’t have to go inside.
“Probably a good idea,” Black says as he walks over.
He’s looking at the mitten on Remus’s left hand. Before he’d pulled out the cigarette, he had been wearing both.
Not being so close to the moon the cold tended to seep in a bit more. And they couldn’t afford cough syrup.
“Glad you think so as I was certainly seeking your approval, little lord,” Remus answers snidely.
Black looks perplexed for a moment but he doesn’t leave.
“How do you know who I am? You don’t go to school with me, I asked,” he says, clearly not intimidated by Remus’s gaunt face and wiry frame.
Remus is surprised to hear that he’d asked around about him. Even if it was to a bunch of people Remus will never know.
“Not that I mind it. Only, you should know that I loathe my family. All of them. Evil bastards.” Sirius grins, though his cheeks redden a bit with the swear words at the end.
Remus would like to mortify him with the amount of swear words he knows. It happens when you spend time working with lads in the middle of the woods.
He’s not sure, but he thinks the boy is telling the truth. That he hates his family.
“I’m R.J.,” he switches from his left foot to his right, making no attempt to seem cordial. Though he is intrigued by the wizard standing in front of him, eyes bright and uncommonly friendly.
“Sirius,” he replies as if he is worried Remus has forgotten his first name in the past week.
“I know,” Remus says, pulling his carton of cigarettes out of the pocket of his jacket. Once he has one in his mouth, he lights it without thinking. A habit that he should never have adapted.
One that earns him a gobsmacked look from Sirius Bloody Black.
“You’ve got magic.”
Remus shrugs, trying to remain casual about what a colossal mistake he’s just made.
“Why aren’t you at Hogwarts?” Sirius Black asks.
“Why the fuck would I be?” Remus asks.
The other boy laughs. Remus can’t help but stare at his face. It’s incredibly symmetrical. His long straight nose makes Remus want to punch him and kiss him in the same moment. To feel his skin against his in some way. Even if it ended with blood smeared across pale skin.
“Well, you could learn more than just how to light your cigarettes,” Sirius answers.
Remus scoffs. He and Sirius Black couldn’t be more different. If someone were to walk by the pair right now they’d probably ask Sirius if he needed help. Then they’d call a policeman on Remus.
The air is empty. No one else is nearby. A couple of foxes in a den to the north.
Sirius smells like cinnamon. Strongly.
“What makes you think I can’t do anything more than light cigarettes?”
“Can you?”
“Yeah,” Remus says, annoyed.
“Oh.” Sirius looks at his feet, clearly feeling abashed. “Well, you could learn loads more.”
“Well I can’t go so it doesn’t matter,” Remus answers, without thinking.
“You from Scotland? England?” Sirius asks, throwing Remus off even further.
“Wales.”
“Right, well that would make you eligible.”
Yeah it would. He would be eligible based on the fact that he is from Wales and he is capable of magic.
Only his eligibility is wrecked by his monthly problem.
Remus knows how wizardfolk feel about his kind.
They would never allow a werewolf to attend the same school as all of their precious children. Future little lords like the boy in front of him.
He can’t help but wonder what Sirius Black would say if he knew he was chatting with a werewolf.
“I’m homeschooled,” Remus offers, thinking about the only other wizard he knows.
His father.
“Really? Do you like it? I’d hate having to stay at home.”
Remus doesn’t correct his assumption that he has a home.
“It beats having to interact with ponces like you.” Remus is being a dick. It feels like the only option. The only way to keep a cavern between himself and the handsome wizard.
Sirius laughs.
Remus blinks. It’s a perfect laugh. Because of course it is.
He takes a long drag of his cigarette to avoid the feelings that laugh drums up.
Wind whistles through the trees.
It’s getting colder. Life will only get harder as Winter marches on.
“Look at you, R.J., hitting where it hurts. I’ve been trying to shed my poncy status for years. I’m devastated to hear I’m so easily labeled.”
This boy doesn’t quit.
Remus nods, not smiling. Definitely not smiling.
He doesn’t like Sirius Black.
Sirius Black is everything Remus will never get to be.
Remus hates Sirius Black.
Has to.
It is the only thing that makes sense.
Luckily, Remus doesn’t have to come up with another witty response because Sirius’s two friends come out of the candy shop and yell his name.
“Just a minute, lads! Making a new friend!” Sirius shouts back, smiling.
Remus shakes his head.
“I’ve got to go,” he says, once again dropping his cigarette and stamping it out before it is done.
He can’t keep standing here talking to a boy his age who thinks he is funny and knows he has magic and had come back to talk to him even though he’d been an arsehole to him the last time they spoke.
“Oh come on, we were only just getting to know each other. I got your name, or at least two letters of it, and I know you are from Wales. We are practically best friends at this point.”
“R.J.,” Casey says, walking out of the inn. He looks cross.
“Yeah, I’m coming,” Remus says, turning away from Sirius again without a word.