Chapter 5
The next day they walk to the wall memorial. Lupin came back just past one in the morning, with no intentions of telling Sirius where the fuck he was.
Despite Regulus’ pleas to McGonagall and Binns, they aren’t going to be going to the East Side Gallery, instead the memorial that’s a ten minute walk from their Hotel, close to the Mauerpark, whatever that is.
It’s a relatively bleak morning, locals buzzing around them, on their way to work or going shopping. There are other tourists, as well as people walking their dogs or parents with their kids, chasing them around.
Sirius smiles at his brother when a little girl runs straight into Regulus’ legs, causing him to have to bring his arms around her to stop her falling. She smiles up at him with a bright, toothy smile and James gives her a high five before she runs off again to where her dad is waiting.
Sirius tries to ignore Lupin while the tour guide leads them from one patch of soggy grass to the next. Sirius only half listens, sure that Regulus will rant about it all later anyway, which is why he notices when Lupin starts lagging behind.
Sirius slows his steps and gives Lupin a look as they slowly get further and further from the fast-paced group.
Eventually, Lupin turns around fully and who would Sirius be if he didn’t follow?
”Where are we going?” He asks as they cross the busy street where there is most certainly not a traffic light.
Two cars honk at them and an old lady calls them a “Wechselbalg” before they finally make it to the other side.
Lupin is completely unfazed and he keeps striding forward, checking behind his back twice to see if the teachers have noticed.
Apparently not.
“Lupin, where are we going?”
“I’m going to have some fun. Dunno where you’re headed.”
“I wanna come with”
”What are you, five?”
”Wh- No”
Lupin chuckles and walks faster. Stupid fucking Lupin with his fucking long legs.
Sirius has to half jog to keep up.
They cross another street before suddenly turning left into a park.
The second they step foot inside, Lupin stops and just takes a long, deep breath. Sirius does the same and chokes on the smell of Mariuhana.
There’s got to be about 300 people in just the first hundred metres of the park, some of them with barbecues, blasting music, smoking or selling stuff.
Sirius watches the cheeky grin bloom on Lupin’s face as he turns to Sirius.
“So”
”So?”
”Wanna smoke some weed?”
”That’s illegal”
”You scared?”
”Yes, I don’t wanna go to prison”
Lupin chuckles and nods, “Alright, no weed then, fine. Want a sausage”
Sirius’ face must go like, 40 shades redder.
“Wh-what?”
“A sausage? From the barbecues? Bratwurst?”
”O-Oohh, er- fuck- yeah, no, um, sure, yeah”
Lupin raises his eyebrows slightly before striding right over to one of the groups and asking something in German.
The girl he talks to starts nodding happily, fishing two burnt-looking sausages from the barbecue and sprinkling some orange-y powder over them. Lupin tries to give her a five euro note, but she refuses and shakes her head, before shoving them both in Lupin’s hand.
He walks back, still smiling slightly and hands Sirius his sausage.
Sirius looks down at the powder, then back at Lupin. “It’s not drugs, right?”
Lupin lets out a delighted laugh, his cheeks stretching into that smile of his. “No, ‘course not. It’s curry.”
”Ohh, I like curry.”
”Hmm”
Sirius looks back at Lupin after the humm, finding his face all warm and fond. It makes him squirm slightly, so he turns away and takes a bite. It’s… interesting. But good.
Sirius happily takes a second bite.
They walk along the path, through all the picnic blankets and breakdancers, barely talking. Sirius tries to take everything in, the colours, the smells, the sounds, all the people.
“Where did you live? Or do your parents still live here?” He can’t help but ask after a while, still thinking of his conversation with Regulus.
Lupin tenses visibly, looking away from Sirius.
“Pretty close, but my parents don’t live here anymore.”
Sirius tries to catch his eye, but Lupin stubbornly keeps his gaze away. ”Where do they live now?”
”I-,” his voice cracks, and Sirius feels his eyes widen in surprise. “I don’t know”
Sirius scrunches his brows together. How on earth would he not know where his parents live? Did they kick him out or what? But then why would he be going to a fucking boarding school in fucking England. He wants to ask, so desperately it almost aches, but he can’t really bear the thought of Lupin crying now because he pushed too much.
“I don’t know where my parents live either,” he settles for.
“How?”
”Don’t talk to them”
”…why?”
”They’re dicks.”
“Ah.”
”Are yours dicks?”
”…no”
The conversation ends after that.
Eventually, they make it back to the place they came in from, and they both stand there, staring at the other side of the street.
Staring right at a Photo Booth.
Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of giddiness fills Sirius as he and Lupin look at each other, both grinning.
Without a word, they both run across the street, getting honked at again, before crashing into the booth.
Lupin starts frantically shoving coins inside as they both laugh like crazy people.
They
don’t expect the first flash, both falling silent in surprise before bursting into laughter again when they look at each other.
While trying to sit down, Sirius kicks over an empty beer bottle, causing them both to laugh harder, entirely missing the second flash.
By the third, they both calm down enough to stick their tongues out and show off their middle fingers, but by the fourth they’re too busy trying to push each other off the small stool, foreheads pressed together as they push with their heads more than with their bodies.
They stumble back out of the booth, still laughing, and wait for the photos to come out.
“Are you sure those weren’t drugs, mate? I feel like I’m drunk,” Sirius slurs, hoping to make Remus laugh.
To his delight, he does, letting his head fall back. Sirius can’t do anything but stare at the way the sunlight filters through his sandy locks.
Sirius takes a step forward and trips over his own foot, distracted, and Remus laughs harder and wraps his arms around him to keep him upright.
“Careful, Jesus, you really are drunk”
Sirius smiles, still staring right at Remus’ face. He’s so warm.
A loud thunk makes them both turn, their photos popping out of the booth.
Lupin gets them out, blowing on them so that they dry before showing them to Sirius.
In the first, they’re laughing, facing different directions. In the second they’re laughing as well, but looking at each other, looking oddly fond. In the third, Sirius is actually looking at the camera, but he’s surprised to find that Lupin was looking at him, distractedly flipping off the camera like Sirius is, smiling.
Sirius takes a sharp breath when his gaze finally lands on the last photo. He knows they were actually trying to push each other, but the way their foreheads are leaning against each other, eyes locked, looks so much more intimate than it really was. The photo looks like they’re about to kiss. Sirius stomach flips at the thought.
Lupin does not seem to be sharing his internal panic as he chuckles. “We’re idiots”
Sirius tries his best to sound normal, “Yeah… total dickheads.”
Lupin grins at him and Sirius heartbeat suddenly gets really fucking loud.
“Anyway, we should probably get back, McGonagall is pretty fucking scary”
Sirius nods, still a little dazed and follows Lupin back to the memorial, where they’re group is still standing. They subtly slip back into the crowd, smiling innocently when Binns gives them a slightly quizzical look.
Just as Sirius is going to go to sleep that night, Lupin already snoring away, he finds the photos tucked into the pocket of his jacket.