It’s a March Saturday. London is bustling with energy; the pubs are filled and Remus and Sirius have bought their new apartment in the centre of the city just a week ago. James and Lily are visiting for an evening of good music and booze at the couple’s place. The atmosphere is light, seeing as the humid, cold weather of London in winter is starting to fade into the hues of summer – the living room window is wide open.
Remus sits with his back against the wall and his legs half bent and half hanging from the windowsill. The breeze is pleasantly caressing his face, passing through the unbuttoned top holes of his shirt; he’s waiting for Sirius to get ready, or James and Lily to arrive. In this type of situation, he could never guess which came first.
A lit cigarette is emitting gray rays of smoke into the air from between his fingers. He’s humming in the tune of Pink Floyd as he absentmindedly picks at his trousers. When he catches a few loose curse words coming from the bedroom Remus allows the sides of his mouth to tug into a small smile, though his gaze does not falter from the city streets below his window while he speaks.
“All good Padfoot?”
His response comes along with a quite entertaining scene; Sirius walks out of their bedroom, down the corridor leading to their living room with his black short sleeved button-up unbuttoned, eyeliner on one waterline, trousers half-on and hair messed into volume. Remus stifles a loving laugh as he stubs out his cigarette and flicks it out to the unknown – or possibly a poor pedestrian’s head.
“No! They’re going to be here any second now and- just look!” Sirius gestures with his hands to himself, emphasis on his dishevelled state. In truth, he’s not usually this anxious about being late, because Sirius Black is ALWAYS late; he just does it fashionably. However, today is not just any day of some nighttime fun with his fellow marauders, no. Today is the day the all listen to Hozier’s new EP on his own freshly bought and installed (by Remus) muggle sound system.
“It’s just Lily and James!” Remus throws his hands up in exasperation as he slides his legs over the windowsill and walks the few paces over to his other half. Sirius looks up at him and his eyes really remind Remus of ‘Snuffles’. The taller pauses and starts buttoning up the other’s shirt while he sighs. “Sirius” his tone is jokingly firm, his eyebrows slightly raised. “Quit being dramatic”
When his shirt is perfectly buttoned, apart from the top two – just how Remus likes him – Sirius smiles stubbornly, pulling his trousers up on his own this time. “It’s in my blood” With a wink, he crosses his arms in front of his chest and waits expectantly. With another sigh paired with some hopeless shaking of his head, Remus retracts his wand from the couch and points to his boyfriend’s hair. With a few swift motions, the silk black locks are untangled and brushing his collarbones elegantly. Remus thinks he might faint.
Sirius tips his head up and runs thin delicate fingers through his hair; he smirks as his eyes meet his partner’s and swiftly places a kiss on his lips. Remus pulls away with a sheepish smile as the doorbell rings, abandons his wand nearby and while laughing at Sirius’ being startled from the sound, walks to the apartment door.
In mere seconds, the room is made into a home : deep laughter, warm hugs, casual banter and just a few stray remarks on the state of the furniture. Sirius is smiling, Remus is too; Lily laughs wholeheartedly and swats James’ arm from around her shoulders, in turn, he grins lovingly. The guests allow an energetic Padfoot to lead them in and out of every room in the apartment, commenting on changes that are to be made such as paintwork and decorations. Remus hangs back in the living room whose space was shared with a small kitchen, tucked away in a corner with an island that barely fit his and his partner’s dinner plates on it.
He does not hesitate to pour four glasses of their good wine - or whatever was left of it from his birthday. Propping one of his legs on the coffee table, he rests his back on the couch just as the other three were finishing their tour of the house.
“And there’s a small kitchen, just in the corner there. You won’t catch me using it, though mate” Sirius’ remark summons laughter among his friends and Remus can’t help but scoff with a raise of his eyebrow and a slight tilt of his head. “Oh but you do use it...”
Silence follows but it’s quickly broken from a loud groan from James. “For fuck’s sake Padfoot!” Lily laughs and flowers are blooming all over the room, soon enough the other couple joins. They’re seated around the coffee table: Remus on the couch with Sirius on the ground in between his feet and James has Lily curled to his side, both on a few floor cushions.
After all the glasses have been refilled more than once and three rounds of cards have been won by Remus, Sirius is getting impatient and his partner finally walks over to the sound system sheepishly. Remus feels eyes on his back. A smile makes its way onto his lips as he hears his own thoughts mumbled into the growing suspenseful silence of the living room from a voice none other than Lily’s. “Just don’t be too loud, it’s past midnight” A pause – her tone is firmer when she speaks again, like a mother scolding her child. “Sirius, I’m looking at you”
Remus’ smile widens knowingly while he pushes the buttons of the music player. He adjusts the base and lists the songs to play back to back for one another, in a random order. Sirius pouts behind him, the alcohol in his blood amplifying his reactions. “Whatever, mother”
“Is it ready yet, mate?” James turns to Remus, eager to listen to the track. Hozier is one of the artists Potter actually enjoys, even though Sirius and Remus’ kind of music would not be considered his favourite. While the two queued up Bowie, Queen, Mitski, The Smiths, T. Rex, he usually preferred Fleetwood Mac, The Killers, The Foundations and One Direction. Hozier was their meeting point.
Remus nods “Yeah” and the room falls silent as he gets up from where he was crouching to head back to the couch after pressing the ‘start’ button on the sound system. A catchy beat starts playing as he lets out a breathy grunt when the fabric of the couch meets his pained back. Remus’ eye catches Sirius bobbing his head to the tune and he smiles knowingly.
It can’t be said I’m an early bird
It’s ten o clock before I say the word
Baby I can never tell,
how do you sleep so well?
Just then, James turns and gives Lily’s forehead a kiss, its visible he’s enjoying the song.
You keep telling me to live right,
to go to bed before the daylight
but then you wake up for the sunrise!
Sirius turns around to give Remus a playful smirk and a raise of his eyebrows, because that’s all he needs to do for his partner to understand; Remus, in turn, nods because through his head now pass reminiscing thoughts of the sleepless nights, when daylight found him with a cup of tea and eyes wide open and Sirius scolding him for still being awake.
You know you don’t gotta pretend,
baby, now and then
Don’t you just wanna wake up,
dark as a lake?
Smelling like a bonfire, lost in a haze?
Lily locks eyes with her best friend and two soft smiles of tenderness and “Look, Rem, we made it!” “I know, Lils, I know” are exchanged as the music flows around the room, filling up every corner and crevice with an emotion only it can procure.
If you’re drunk on life, babe,
I think it’s great
But while in this world
James lets out a breath and a soft laugh as the song builds up. His girlfriend’s head is now against his shoulder and she’s humming and he’s happy ever so carelessly.
I think I’ll take my whiskey neat,
my coffee black and my bed at three
you’re too sweet for me
you’re too sweet for me
Remus closes his eyes and allows the music to evade his brain in the best way possible; with James Potter – famous destroyer of romantic moments – nearby, though, he’s interrupted. The refren is repeating and Potter is laughing almost uncontrollably. Lily has a smile of question staining her lips and Sirius, sporting a similar one, cocks his head to the side.
Now, just as James has got his breath back and the vocals are decorating the atmosphere, Sirius can’t hold it in anymore. “What is it, Prongs?” and the latter almost combusts.
“I bet Moony loves this song”
Remus’ response is a silent eyebrow raise
“I bet he’d also love his coffee and Black in his bed, at three”
To this statement there are three quite different reactions. Lily audibly groans, covering her face with both her palms and supporting her head with her elbows on the coffee table; James, still grinning like the big idiot he is, wraps a comforting arm around her shoulders.
Sirius straight up bursts out laughing, losing his breath, shoulders bobbing up and down as he struggles to stop. Remus looks at James and then back at his partner with a playful scoff and a smile gradually growing on his lips. Yes, that joke was awful but by God, does he love Black in his bed - he’s not telling them that, though.
“You do know it says ‘and my bed’, right?” he opts to say, resorting to sarcasm.
“Oh come on, Moony! You know I do” James waves him off playfully with a loose palm in the air and leans back to enjoy the remaining time of the song.
Remus repeats his actions mockingly, yet leans back too and his eyes steadily close as he allows the melody to consume him.
But who wants to live forever, babe?
You treat your mouth as if it’s heaven’s gate
The rest of you like you’re the TSA
The smile cannot be restrained from making its way onto his lips due to the fact that Remus knows, internally, how much these lyrics fit to Sirius. He knows this song will be his favourite of the album – regardless of it being the first one he listened to - and he also knows it provokes a blizzard of loving emotions for his person.
I wish I could go along, babe,
don’t get me wrong
You know you’re bright as a morning,
as soft as the rain
Pretty as a vine,
as sweet as a grape
As if on cue, black tresses fall against his knee and his eyes open to find Sirius’ gaze on him. It’s nauseating how easy it is for the latter to tell when he should interrupt his partner’s thoughts. Moony tilts his head towards the sound system, signaling to the lyrics. Sirius nods in response and Remus can’t help himself but lean in and share a kiss with the object of his affection.
Through the kiss are shared endless conversations after midnight and breaths against scarred or pale skin. There are solved arguments and revealed secrets. And there are tears and so, so many laughs. There is love, endless, powerful and life-threatening love. There are invisible strings, tied up so tightly so that neither of them can escape; yet they’re content about that fact.
The song ends and silence fills the room for seconds as the four friends wait for the next one to begin. Remus feels shaken up. Sirius is smiling, unable to wipe it off of his lips. And even though it was just a song, a stupid joke from James and a touching of their lips against one another; the couple finds themselves even more smitten than they were a few minutes ago - if that is even possible.