The Mischief Makers

"Hello boys, I have exactly who you've been looking for.." Dorcas said as three guys, around the same age as Remus walked in. Remus was sitting in one of the chairs in front of Dorcas' desk.

"Remus, this is James." she pointed to the guy who was the tallest out of the three. He had messy black hair with round glasses, dark brown, almost black eyes; he wasn't bad looking at all.
"Peter." she pointed to the shortest one out of the group. He had dark blond hair and light eyes with very light freckles on his nose.
"And finally, Sirius." she pointed to the boy who had shoulder length black hair, with grey eyes and high cheekbones. Remus knew damn well who Sirius Black was.

"Boys, this is Remus." Dorcas stated and Remus gave them a nod as he pressed his lips together in a straight line.

"Wait so this is the new guitar player?" Peter asked Dorcas, as if Remus wasn't in the room with them. Dorcas noded in response.

"Damn.." Sirius let out under his breath but James nudged him with his elbow "OW! The fuck?" Sirius exclaimed as James sent him a death glare.

"Look I don't like arranging stuff like this but you're desperate. You're starting tour it two weeks and it is not my fault you decided to kick off Nate" Dorcas states with a stern voice, gaining everyone's attention.

"I gave you three whole weeks to find a replacement, in which you failed miserably. As your manager, I am disappointed. As your friend... I hoesntly don't even know." Dorcas continued. Remus looked over at the group in which they were all looking down at their feet James looked like he was trying his hardest not to laugh.

"James, you found a whole girlfriend instead of a new band member."

"My love life comes first!" he protested.

"Sirius, you slept with half of New York."

"Ey, they got pretty folks over here, what can I say?" He replied with a smirk as he raised his hands up in surrender. Remus tried his best to not chuckle.

"And Peter, I don't even know what you were doing and honestly don't want to." Dorcas said. Peter opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Dorcas again.

"I don't wanna hear any complaints from any of you. Remus here is wonderful and I'm sure you'll get along well.. Tomorrow, rehearsals start at 11 am sharp. No excuses about the subway not working, Black." She sends Sirius a death glare.

"Not my fault the tube here is filled with rats.." Sirius replied casually.

"And suicidal people." Peter added quietly.

"The fuck?" James frowned at him.

Dorcas sent them all a death glare as they all stared at each other for a few moments.

"Fine. 11 sharp." Sirius let out in defeat.

"Great. See you tomorrow" Dorcas smiled as Sirius rolled his eyes.

Remus knew damn well who Sirius Black was. Who all of them were actually. The band "The Mischief Makers" were starting to be the talk of the town, especially because of the drama about how two weeks before the huge tour that the band was supposed to go on, they kicked out their guitar player, Nathan Arlo.
The only reason why Remus ended up in this situation was because his best friend, Regulus Black, the brother of Sirius, suggested him to Dorcas who took the offer happily and made Remus sign a contract about joining the band.
He and Regulus had been best friends for about three years now. Remus knew Regulus and Sirius weren't exactly buddy buddy so this whole situation was truly bizarre to him.

As they all walked out of Dorcas' office James stopped Remus right before they were about to split outside.

"Hey Remus, could I have your number? For band stuff and you know.." He asks as he raises his phone for Remus to see. Remus couldn't decide if he was overly nervous or confident about asking the question.

"Yeah sure, here." Remus replied as he took James' phone and typed in his phone number. "You're British?" James asked him and it took every once in Remus' body not to reply sarcastically. "Yeah, grew up in the east end of London with my dad."

"Cool! We're also from London." James states "Well, me and Peter are technically from Liverpool but both of our families moved to London when we turned 10. That's where we all met and well, now we're here. In New York. Crazy what life has in store for us, ey?"

"Truly fascinating." Remus replied as enthusiastically as he could but if he was being honest he was very tired and not comfortable enough with these people to start small talk.

"Hey, I know you from somewhere.." Sirius suddenly jumps into the conversation, taking Remus by surprise.

"Really? Hm, I wonder" Remus replied sarcastically. Sirius frowned at him.

"No, genuinely."

"I'm friends with your brother." Remus stated and suddenly Sirius' eyes lit up in realisation. "Ohh I think he told me about you.. Barty, is it?"

"Since when do you two speak?" Remus raised an eyebrow.

"We don't. I just drag information out of him through text."

"Aha."

beat.

"Well I don't know if you remember that whole meeting session we had about five minutes ago, but no, I'm not Barty, I'm Remus, thank you very much." Remus replied in a colder tone.

"Yeah I know, just wanted to fuck with you." Sirius grinned at him. Remus just rolled his eyes in response.

"Well it was truly a pleasure to meet you. See you tomorrow." Remus started as he faked a smile, turned around and left. In his defense. He was not really having it that day.

-

"Well, how was it?" Regulus called out from the kitchen when Remus walked in through the front door.

"The hell are you doing here?" Remus let out a smile as he walked through the small hallway towards the kitchen. Remus' apartment wasn't small, but wasn't big either. He lived on the fourth floor of an apartment building with windows overlooking one of the busy streets of New York.

"Thought you'd need the emotional support." Regulus added as Remus walked over to the couch in the living room which was connected to the kitchen and sat down. Regulus had a spare key to Remus' apartment so it wasn't all that surprising that he barged in.

"Well?" Regulus asked, taking two cups into his hands and walking over to sit on the couch beside Remus. "Tea." he said under his breath as he handed one cup to Remus. "Cheers."

"Your brother is insufferable." Remus stated as he took a sip from his tea.

"Tell me about it." He snickered.

"I have rehearsals tomorrow at eleven."

"Morning?"

"No. Night. Yes, of course morning." Remus replied sarcastically and Regulus rolled his eyes.

"You'll pay for this, you know. You're the reason why I'm here." Remus pointed out. Regulus just shrugged as he took another sip.

"I have a feeling you won't regret it sooner or later.."

-

"Remus Lupin. I'm here for the Mischief Makers." Remus told the receptionist in which she nodded. "Room 501. Fifth floor."

"Cheers."

Remus made his way to the elevator and if he was being honest, he was more nervous than ever. I mean could you blame him? He was about to go practise some songs that he has either never heard before or heard only once before in his life. A part of him was excited because deep down, this is what he always wanted to do. But then again, what if he won't get along with the others? He was truly hoping that today will go better than yesterday.

As the elevator finally brought him up he walked over to door 501 which was about 5 steps away from the elevator. He walked over and knocked on the door before he walked in.

"Remus! Hi!" James called out. Peter and James were already there. James was on his phone and Peter had his bass strapped around him; either practising on his own or tuning it.

"Hey," He called out and set down his things next to one of the chairs and took out his guitar from its case. He had a deep maroon guitar which he had now for a few years. Still looked and sounded as good as new.

"Where's Sirius?" Remus asked, James seemed to not hear him as he was smiling over something on his phone. Peter however looked up. "Running late. He always is."

Remus looked down at his watch which read 11:13. Remus hadn't been exactly on time either but let's not talk about that.

"HEY GUYSSS!" Sirius shouted as he burst through the door. "Jesus." Remus heard Peter mumble under his breath and chuckled in response.

"Should we start?" Peter asked and James finally jerked his head up.

"Yeah! Remus, you got the sheets I sent you? Did you learn the songs?" James asked him.

"I mean I looked at it. I'm a quick learner though, I'll pick it up as we go." Remus stated and James nodded in response.

Once they all finally went over to their instruments.

"Alright, what do we start with guys?" Sirius asked.

"Dark red?" James answered "It's pretty short and the guitar isn't too hard to pick up in that one." He looked at Remus who shrugged in response.

"Sure." Sirius stated as he counted them off.

Something bad is 'bout to happen to me

I don't know what, but I feel it coming

Might be so sad, might leave my nose running

I just hope she don't wanna leave me

The song was easy to pick up, and by the end, Remus was playing the chords with ease. It almost felt natural to be playing with the band. Even if there is the possibility he wouldn't get along with them, at least they knew how to play.

"Remus you're insane! You killed that!" Sirius exclaimed, smiling, which only made Remus smile back. "Thanks."

"Hey, we should all grab a pint after this. You know, to get to know each other." James suggested and nobody seemed to oppose. Remus didn't have anything better to do anyway.

"Alright, how about rock and roll?" James asked.

"That's the least rock and roll song we play. Why did we call it that." Sirius stated annoyingly.

"Oh shush it." Peter snarked back. Remus came to the conclusion that it was Peter who wrote the song.

"Five, six, seven, eight!" Sirius shouted out as he, Remus and Peter started playing the intro of the song in which James shortly started singing.

Jenny said when she was just five years old

There was nothing happening at all

Every time she puts on a radio

There was a nothin' goin' down at all, not at all

Then one fine mornin' she puts on a New York station

You know, she couldn't believe what she heard at all

She started shakin' to that fine fine music

You know her life was saved by rock 'n' roll

-

"Well Remus tell us something about yourself." James asked as they all sat down in a local pub that same night.

"Well," Remus started, "I grew up in London with my dad but when I was 19 I moved to New York so I could be closer to my mom."

"Oh, where is she now?"

Remus shook his head. Nobody spoke out after that.

"Prongs you idiot." Sirius whispered to James but it was loud enough for Remus to hear.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. It's been a while. Anyway, you just got famous out of nowhere with only one album out. Where'd that come from?" Remus asked them to keep the conversation going.

"Well we're not really famous yet. But we used to do a lot of gigs and people kept posting us on social media until we got big enough and got an offer with Dorian studios, aka Dorcas, with whom we recorded our first album and yeah. Now we're here.." Peter answered and James nodded in agreement.

"Wait, someone's calling me." James suddenly said as he got up and walked towards the bathrooms while looking down at his phone.

"Probably Lilly, they keep texting. It's honestly disgusting." Sirius said as he took a sip of his drink.

"I think it's cute." Peter protested.

"Yeah, key word, you." Sirius replied bluntly and it made Remus chuckle.

"Hey. Not my fault you're not into the whole dating thing and have to have one night stands every night. " Peter replied and Sirius' jaw dropped in response as a joke. Remus was watching them in amusement.

"Hey! I just haven't found the right one!"

"Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night.."

Sirius rolled his eyes as Remus let out a small laugh.

They were silent for a few seconds, however the noises around them were loud, Remus decided to speak out loud.

"Fancy a smoke?"

Peter shook his head "I don't smoke."

"I do." Sirius stated as he got up in which Peter raised an eyebrow "I thought you stoppe- OW!" he said but got cut off by Sirius kicking him.

"Let's go." Sirius stated as he started walking out of the bar; Remus was quick to follow. On the street Remus lit a cigarette and then handed one to Sirius and lit it too. They were silent for a few moments before Sirius broke it.

"So" Sirius took a drag from his cigarette "you're friends with my brother." he stated.

"Yeah."

"Yet you're funny.."

"And how are those things connected exactly?" Remus asked him. Sirius shrugged in response and took another drag from his cigarette as he stared into the distance.

The air was warm and there was a slight breeze in the air. Remus found it peaceful.

"You're cool. I like your presence. You'll fit right in." Sirius spoke again and Remus turned his head over to look at him.

"You think?" He asked and Sirius nodded in response.

Suddenly in the corner of his eye, Remus saw someone storming up to him. When he fully turned his gaze over he muttered out "Oh shit."

"What?" Sirius asked but before Remus could answer, the person started shouting.

"REMUS JOHN LUPIN."

"Oh." Sirius let out under his breath.

"Hey Riley. What's up?" Remus replied as casually as he could.

"Oh don't you 'what's up' me!" he wasn't shouting anymore, but his voice wasn't at a normal volume either.

"Look Riley, I don't want to talk to you. We're done. I don't know how many times I have to say it. And I will definitely not talk to you if you're in this state."

Riley seemed to take a deep breath before he asked Remus in a soft tone "Can I have a word, please?"

"Yeah sure. How about user? Manipulator? Cheater? Oooh, how about my favourite one? Bye!" Remus said sarcastically as he waved at Riley whose expression seemed to darken. Remus could swear he heard Sirius chuckle next to him.

"That's not what you were saying two nights ago when you were over at mine.." Riley said and Remus could swear that he could punch him right now. Instead he flicked his tongue in his mouth and stated.

"I was drunk. You took advantage of me. I never want to see your broke ass again, understood?" Remus said in a stern voice. Riley just crossed his arms as he looked up at him with a frown.

"Understood.?" Remus repeated even colder than before. They held eye contact for a few moments before Riley rolled his eyes and stormed off again. "Fucking whore."

"Sorry about that." Remus sighed as he turned back to Sirius, who had a huge grin on his face.

They were both silent for a moment before Sirius started "That was the coolest shit I've ever seen anyone pull. Who was that?"

Remus chuckled "My ex. Dated a while back but he cheated on me so I left him. Guess he wants revenge so he keeps coming back."

"So you're like..?"

"Gay? Yeah. I am." Remus answered.

"Oh cool.. You don't seem like it."

Remus raised an eyebrow "Well I don't exactly go parading it around. Could ruin this whole thing for us."

"What thing?"

“The band..”

Sirius raised an eyebrow at him. Remus sighed in response and started explaining.

"Well, maybe it is the twenty-first century but people are still a bit, eh, about this stuff. Better to keep it quiet."

"Right." Sirius nodded in response and took another drag from his cigarette, almost as if he was unsure to ask another question. Remus raised an eyebrow at him.

"Did he actually, you know, take advantage..?"

Remus looked down at his feet before he looked on the street instead of answering. Despite the hour, the city was still alive.

Sirius seemed to get the message.

"I did pour a bunch of instant mashed potato packets in his front yard right before it rained, though." Remus stated proudly.

"No way." Sirius exclaimed excitedly. Remus nodded in response with a smirk. "That's so cool. You're so cool." Sirius continued as he laughed "You really are one of us."

"What do you mean?" Remus let out a chuckle.

"A marauder. A mischief maker."

A mischief maker.