Chapter 2
“We don’t have to talk to each other. I’m not going to stick around and do this shit anyway,”
Remus Lupin whispers from next to him on the bus to the airport.
“Fine by me” Sirius snaps back. “What do you mean with not sticking around, though?”
“Don’t worry about it” Remus smirks a little. Sirius wants to punch him.
“Fine. Whatever”
Sirius is sitting by the window at the very back of the bus, trapped in his seat by Remus, who’s sitting next to him.
“You’re so grumpy” Remus teases.
Sirius’ head whips around to him, “I’m not!”
“If you say so”
“I do!”
“Okay”
“You’re so full of shit”
Remus smiles sweetly.
Ugh.
They arrive at the airport and all get off the bus, grabbing their bags. It’s raining, because of course it is, and they all run inside the building.
And then, because they live in fucking england, there’s about a forty-five kilometre long cue.
Sirius eyes search his brother’s curly head, who’s standing unnecessarily close to James, as always, and giggling with him about god knows what. They’re a little further behind, and James is drenched whereas Reg is somehow completely dry, and Sirius wonders once more how pathetically in love his best friend actually is. He starts walking over to them, taking a breath so that he might survive the PDA.
“Hey,” he announces himself.
James doesn’t even seem to hear him, busy making heart eyes at Reg, and Reg turns around to frown at him.
“What do you want?”
“Gee, love you too, man”
“You know what I mean”
“Can we just hop on a plane to Mexico or something?”
“No”
“Please?”
“What, can’t handle your crush?”
“I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH!”
And of course, every single person in this stupid airport turns around and stares at him. Including Remus Lupin.
Regulus laughs, “Sure”
Sirius doesn’t think he’s ever blushed quite as hard. Whatever. Reg is a dick.
Their class starts to get in line, and thus the long years of waiting begin.
Once they’ve finally made it through security, they’re allowed to chill a little, still having an hour and a half before their flight.
Sirius, James and Regulus sit down at the McDonalds, and Sirius shares a happy meal with his brother, as they always do, while James eats a massive cheeseburger along with three milkshakes. Weirdo.
At some point, Professor Binns makes them all huddle into a corner for the rest of the waiting time, because apparently Barty and Evan actually did try to get onto another plane. Sirius can’t say he’s surprised.
Once their gate is announced they all head towards it, and by the time they get there, they’re allowed on the plane.
Of course, being ‘Berlin Buddies’ Sirius and Remus have to sit together. Lucky for him, Sirius manages to shove Remus out the way and get the window seat, which makes Remus frown at him.
Sirius resists the urge to stick out his tongue and pulls his headphones over his ears.
As he stares out of the window, he suddenly realises he’s never been on a plane. Immediately, he sits up and looks for Regulus’ head, which is a few rows behind him. Regulus meets his eyes with a confused look.
Okay. Reg’s okay. He has James, he’ll be fine.
Now, Sirius has to worry about himself.
He can’t have a panic attack next to Remus fucking Lupin.
It’s fine, though. Planes are perfectly safe, right? Otherwise they wouldn’t fucking be on one.
“Oi, you alright there?”
His head snaps to Lupin.
“Fuck you” He snaps.
Lupin’s eyebrows raise, surprised at Sirius’ animosity. “Alright, Christ”
He puts his hands up in a gesture of surrender, and turns back to his phone. Sirius stares at the crappy screen, cracked and splintered, the awful quality making everything look retro. He’s playing some game, Cats&Soup, where, as far as Sirius can tell, there are cats… making soup. Sirius wishes he could say it’s a waste of time, but the cats all look so cute he really wants a go. Trying to hide his screen from Lupin, he quickly downloads the app, acutely aware of the fact that within ten minutes, this giant metal tube will be in the fucking air, so he distracts himself with naming all the cats. He calls one Freddie, in honour of Freddie Mercury, another Bluey, Sazzles, Leo, Pattycake, Bowie, Buttercup and Froggy.
This is actually really fun Sirius thinks, proud of the little cat colony he’s created. He looks over at Lupin’s phone, frowning when he sees a much, much bigger one.
Then he looks out the window and nearly cries out when he sees clouds.
Fuck. FUCK. THEIR IN THE FUCKING AIR WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE WHY DID HE AGREE WITH THIS WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT TH-
“Sirius!”
He turns his head to Lupin, who looks a little weirded out and very scared. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine” Sirius’ voice has never sounded higher or shakier.
Lupin scoffs, “Yeah, right. Have you never been on a plane?”
“N-no”
Lupin frowns a little. “Oh, er- well, like we’re safe, so…don’t freak out”
Wow, so helpful.
Sirius’ face must have reflected his thoughts because Lupin cringes. “Er, yeah, okay. But- look mate, the school wouldn’t stick us on a plane, if they weren’t safe, right? And I guess the safety conditions kinda freaked you out, but they only say that so they don’t get sued. I’ve been on hundreds of planes and never even come close to crashing or anything. So, seriously, chill out. We’re okay”
Sirius stares at him.
Lupin sighs, “Erm, physics! Yes, okay, so planes fly because of Bernoulli’s theorem, right? The air on the curved upper side of the wing travels faster than on the straight under side, meaning there’s less pressure on the top of the wing so that with enough thrust from the engine the plane flies. So, even if the engines failed, the plane would still glide for a while, even while losing altitude, and the pilot is trained to be able to land in worst-case scenarios, so we’ll be okay, no matter what. I promise.”
He awkwardly places a hand on Sirius’ arm, rubbing it up and down a little, waiting for a reaction.
Sirius has to admit, it helped a little. Rationally, he knows he’s safe. He just got a little scared, no biggy. He pulls his arm away and clears his throat. “Yeah, erm, thanks, I’m fine”
Lupin looks relieved, and they both sit a little straighter, not making eye contact.
And then the seatbelt sign goes off, and before either can say anything James is already next to them.
“Hi!”
“Hey…?”
“Oh, right, I’m James, we haven’t really met yet”
Lupin takes James’ offered hand and shakes it awkwardly. “Er, Remus”
“I know,” James smiles. Way to go, James , Sirius nearly groans. Super normal.
“Okay…”
“Where’s Reg?” Sirius cuts in.
“On the loo”
“Who’s Reg?” (Remus)
“There’s a loo on this thing?” (Sirius)
“Reg’s his brother, Regulus” (James)
“Of course there’s a loo, Black, what did you expect?” (Remus)
“Do you want to watch a movie, Pads?” (James)
“Pads? What kind of a stupid nickname is that?” (Remus)
“Yeah, sure, Prongs” (Sirius)
“‘Pads’ is short for Padfoot” (James)
“What movie, though?” (Sirius)
“Why Padfoot?” (Remus)
“Because I like dogs” (Sirius)
“How about Frozen?” (James)
“That movie’s stupid” (Remus)
“Your arse is stupid” (Sirius)
“What movie then?” (James)
“Why are you asking him ?” (Sirius)
“You could watch Nimona” (Remus)
“Isn’t that a book?” (Sirius)
“No they made it a movie lately” (James)
“Is it good?” (Sirius)
“No, I’m recommending it for shit’s and giggles-” (Remus)
“WILL THE THREE OF YOU STOP TALKING LIKE DECAPITATED CHICKENS!?”
They all jump, turning around to find Lily sticking her head between Sirius and Lupin’s seats.
“I have never heard a more chaotic and stupid conversation”
James gives her a sheepish look, “Sorry, Lils”
She gives them one last pointed look, before sitting back, muttering something under her breath.
They’re quiet for a second, before Regulus appears. “That was the most disgusting experience of my entire life” he says, wiping his hands on his trousers.
Remus scoffs, “Posh prick”
See, insults don’t usually bother Sirius. They’re just words, and, especially something like what Remus said, isn’t really meant to hurt you. Reg doesn’t seem very bothered. But no one insults his little brother in front of him.
“Shut your fucking ugly hole, you stupid cunt,” Sirius bites, nearly growling.
Remus turns, eyebrows raised. “Fuck d’you just say?”
“Sirius-”
“I said, to fucking stick it up you’re fat ass, you pathetic wanker”
A mean, wolfish smile sneaks onto Lupin’s face, but just as he opens his mouth, McGonagall walks up to them. “Everything alright, boys?” She looks them all up and down.
“Yes, thank you, Professor. We were just discussing what movie we should watch during the flight,” Regulus, smart as ever, turns on his good-boy-mode, with his dashing smile and perfect posture.
She narrows her eyes but Regulus bats his lashes slightly, still smiling innocently, and she nods and walks away.
“Come on, mate” James pulls him away towards his and Reg’s seats, who’s muttering something under his breath. He’s squashed against the window while Reg and James basically have a make out session (they’re not even kissing), and do actually watch Nimona, which Sirius is disappointed to find fucking awesome.
At some point, James falls asleep, mouth hanging open and soft snores escaping him. Sirius watches Regulus stare at him, the softest smile on his face. God, his brother is so whipped.
“Reg?”
“Hmm?”
He doesn’t even turn his head. Honestly.
“Regulus”
Now , he turns his head. “What?”
“Are you scared?”
“Of what?”
“Being… in the sky”
Regulus raises one elegant eyebrow. “No. Are you?”
“I mean… I was earlier”
“Why?”
“Because we’re like three thousand miles above the ground!”
Regulus raises his other eyebrow. “I think we both know that’s a bit of an overstatement.”
Sirius deflates. “Well, maybe, but still!”
“Sirius, I’m pretty sure we’re more likely to get eaten by a whale or something than to die in a plane crash”
“Whales don’t eat people”
“Exactly”
Sirius stares at his brother as a smile tugs at his lips. “It’s funny when you try to joke”
Regulus shoves a cookie in his face.