NOVEMBER 22, 2023
Sirius sat in his and Remus’s living room, pen in hand and notebook laying on their lap. They’d been humming one specific tune for hours, and working on lyrics for that tune almost just as long. It was impossible. Sirius switched positions, fidgeting and trying to get comfortable- when a glint of silver flashed in the corner of his eye. A necklace that said R in cursive. Remus had a matching one that displayed S in gold.
“OH! OH MY GOD I’M A GENIUS” Sirius yelled, sitting up and jotting something down into their notebook immediately.
“PADS? WHAT WAS THAT?”
“NOTHING!” Sirius yelled to the boy on the other side of the house. Remus and Sirius had been living together for a year now, dating for triple that. Those 3 years had been the best of Sirius’s 24 years of life- and they hoped their boyfriend felt the same. Obviously being famous and keeping their relationship a secret from the world made that lifestyle the tiniest bit difficult, and even a smidge excruciating, but Sirius loved it. He loved knowing that millions of people wanted his boy, but he was the only one that could get him. In every sense of the word.
After a minute of thinking, Sirius looked back down at their notebook and started to write. Write, and write, and write. Words and lyrics wouldn’t stop flowing out of their mind. Lines and lines and lines.
Sirius was broken out of a trance for the second time in 15 minutes by a tall, lanky, brunette and curly-haired someone barging into the living room. Looking up, Sirius smiled at the boy and reached out his hands, beckoning Remus over to him.
Remus slumped into the shorter boy, wrapping his arms around their neck and placing a kiss on his cheek before turning his head slightly, looking at Sirius’s notebook.
‘Whatcha workin’ on?”
Sirius slammed the book shut, shoving it away and looking at the boy in front of himself. “Nothing! It’s- nothing. Promise. Just some rough drafts.” Remus raised an eyebrow but evidently let it go, flopping out of Sirius’s lap and sitting next to them, pushing their head into his lap.
Sirius sighed as Remus ran his fingers through his hair, looking up at him with a slight smile on their face. “I love you.” They whispered.
“Love you, Sirius.”
***
DECEMBER 5, 2023
James groaned, dragging his hands down his face and dropping himself into the nearest chair.
“Prongsie? Struggling over there?” Sirius asked from his spot on the one couch in the recording studio, watching the boy in question with a smirk on his face.
“No! I’m actually so not okay!! We have no ideas!! And Pete’s snoring, we’re gonna lose fame after 4 years of even being a band!”
Sirius laughed at his best friend, then paused for a second, realization coming at him full-speed.
“Wait! I think I have something- in my notebook,” they leant over, reaching for the mentioned item on the floor, and sat back up. “I do have something! Moony love, can you pass me my guitar?”
Remus passed the instrument over and Sirius got comfortable, guitar on their lap and music by their side. He got struck with nerves for a second, glancing over to the lyrics on his paper and realizing how important they were, and how much releasing this song would reveal to the public.
Sirius gnawed at the inside of their cheek for a bit, but decided to go for it as they began to strum the starting notes of the song that he hadn’t even thought about for almost a month.
They took a shuddering breath, singing softly- like the lyrics were something that needed to be kept secret. And, well, they kind of did.
My castle crumbled overnight
I brought a knife to a gunfight
They took the crown, but it's alright
All the liars are calling me one
Nobody's heard from me for months
I'm doing better than I ever was
'Cause my baby's fit like a daydream
Walkin' with his head down, I'm the one he's walkin' to
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to
My baby's fly like a jet stream
High above the whole scene, loves me like I'm brand new
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to
Sirius paused for a second, shifting his gaze to the boy sitting across from him- with his beautiful face and those intricate scars, that reminded Sirius a bit of ancient marble statues.
All my flowers grew back as thorns
Windows boarded up after the storm
He built a fire just to keep me warm
All the drama queens taking swings
All the jokers dressin' up as kings
They fade to nothin' when I look at him
And I know I make the same mistakes every time
Bridges burn, I never learn, at least I did one thing right
I did one thing right
I'm laughin' with my lover, makin' forts under covers
Trust him like a brother, yeah, you know I did one thing right
Starry eyes sparkin' up my darkest night
My baby's fit like a daydream
Walkin' with his head down, I'm the one he's walkin' to
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to
My baby's fly like a jet stream
High above the whole scene, loves me like I'm brand new
(Call it what you want, call it what you want, call it)
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to
I want to wear his initial
On a chain 'round my neck,
Remus grinned, gripping the S pendant on his necklace softly. Sirius felt like sobbing.
chain 'round my neck
Not because he owns me
But 'cause he really knows me
Which is more than they can say, I
I recall late November
Holdin' my breath, slowly I said
"You don't need to save me
But would you run away with me?"
Yes (would you run away?)
My baby's fit like a daydream
Walkin' with his head down, I'm the one he's walkin' to
(Call it what you want, call it what you want, call it)
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to
My baby's fly like a jet stream
High above the whole scene, loves me like I'm brand new
(Call it what you want, call it what you want, call it)
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to
Call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want
To
Sirius strummed out the last chord, and was attacked with arms flung around his waist, gripping him so tight Sirius felt like they could have been lost at sea for a decade.
“Padfoot. That was amazing! When did you write that? We’re putting it on the album- wait, is that okay? I know you two are like, trying to keep a secret from everyone, but that would be such a brilliant way of revealing your relationship!” James rambled on and on, face fluttering through about 80 emotions in 15 seconds.
“No Prongs, we can definitely put that on the next record- if Moony and Pete are okay with that,” the two mentioned boys nodded vigorously, “I think it should be a single.”
James gasped and opened his mouth to talk, but was interrupted by his phone ringing in his pocket. “Oh! It’s Lily! Hi darling!” James’s grin grew about 50 times bigger, and Sirius could tell why. Harry’s voice screamed out through the phone, calling out for ‘Da-y!’
Sirius smiled, and tucked his head into their boyfriend’s neck. Watching James talk to his son like nothing else in the world mattered to him.
“So,” Remus whispered, softly enough for only Sirius to hear him, “I had an idea.”
“Shoot.” Sirius mumbled back, starting to feel very drowsy.
“Instead of having to film an entire music video,” Remus started back up, “what if we compiled together a bunch of photos and videos of us? Or some that I took of you- or you took of me? I know it sounds like a lot-”
“Moony.” Sirius interrupted, sighing, “I think that sounds like a brilliant idea. Good thinking, love.”
Remus just tightened his grip around their waist, and rested his chin on their head.
***
The Marauders released the first single off of their new album on New Year’s day, 2024. It reached Britain’s top 100 on the Billboards in hours.
The music video was released the next day, with no promotion at all.
It started with a blank screen that read ‘Call It What You Want; The Marauders’ in simple lettering. After a few seconds the lyrics started up, and a video of Remus reading with his stomach on a King-sized bed played. The man was clearly oblivious to being filmed, but it looked like he was talking to the person behind the camera nonetheless- grinning and blushing at the tips of his cheeks.
The clip faded into one of Sirius, sitting in the studio and strumming their guitar. You couldn't hear him, but Sirius was laughing a fully belly laugh, clutching their chest and wiping tears off of their face. That video faded into a blurry one of Remus and Sirius cuddling on a couch, asleep and looking extremely content.
Clips of either Remus, Sirius, or both boys continued to play on tempo with the song until it came back to a fully dark screen. This time, the words read 'To the moon and back, until our names are just stories. Forever.'
One last picture appeared before the video came to a stop, a simple polaroid of a young Sirius Black and Remus Lupin hugging in a blanket fort, totally spaced out from the world.