Chapter 4
Sirius fixes his hair in the window reflection – the wind caused it to fly around in all directions during the short journey from his dorm to the café. He takes the next few moments to survey his outfit. He's wearing his leather jacket over a Queen shirt (without a doubt the greatest band in all of existence, no arguments) and some ripped skinny black jeans. He's even wearing some smoky eyeliner. He looks very punk rock right now.
He takes a deep breath, then pushes the door open. He marches into the café with a determined stride. It's not very busy at the moment as he approaches the counter.
“I’d like a flat white please.”
Remus turns around, exclaiming, “You’re early.”
“Just a little bit, yeah.”
Remus rolls his eyes; Sirius shouldn’t find that attractive, right? “I can’t just leave now, you know. You have to wait.”
“Fine by me,” Sirius shrugs. He continues “I like watching you work,” meeting Remus’ perplexed gaze. “That sounds very creepy, doesn’t it?”
“Just a bit. Then again, your behaviour has been very stalker-y the past week.”
Sirius laughs anxiously, “Yeah, I see that now. Sorry about that.”
“Don’t apologise,” Remus says, resting his forearms on the counter, “you are by far the most attractive customer I've ever had. There are worse people to be stalked by.”
A blush spreads across his face and deepens as Remus leans back with a satisfied smirk. He starts working behind the counter while Sirius stares dumbfounded.
Remus hands him his coffee, and he reaches for his phone to pay.
“On the house,” he states, “Can’t have you paying here on our first date.”
So, it is a date! Sirius screams internally, his brain short-circuiting.
He stammers, “Oh, uh, thank you.” Ridiculous. He’s bloody ridiculous around this man.
Remus takes off his apron as Emmeline steps behind the counter.
“Go take a seat. Give me 5 minutes, and then I’ll be over.”
Sirius nods, watching Remus walk towards the staff room.
“Hi Sirius,” Emmeline smiles.
He turns towards his old friend and says, “Thank you. Whatever you said to him, thank you.”
She laughs, “I just told him how much of a prat you were back at Hogwarts.”
“I wasn’t a prat,” Sirius exclaims, “I was a legend. I was the best prankster to ever attend that school.”
“You and your friends were a bunch of idiots. But I can't deny you were funny at times. When I didn’t get caught in the crossfire, of course.”
Remus approaches Sirius, rubbing the back of his neck. Oh, he’s nervous. He wants this just as much as Sirius does.
“Shall we?” Remus nods towards a table near the back.
“We shall," Sirius replies, waving bye to Emmie.
***
They talk for hours, learning a lot about each other. Remus studies English Lit, his favourite colour is sunset orange, he loves chocolate, despises coffee and much prefers tea. He wanted to be an astronaut as a child and is obsessed with the moon. He had an unusual childhood and spent a lot of time in the hospital. He didn’t want to talk about it much more, which Sirius understands.
Sirius also studies him throughout their interactions. He notices the way his eyes light up when he talks about his favourite books, or random facts about astronomy. He notices the ways his lips curl upwards slightly whenever Sirius talks about something he’s passionate about – meaning he doesn’t shut up about the topic for about 15 minutes. He appreciates that Remus occasionally asks questions during his rants, showing he is actually paying attention rather than just nodding in agreement, silently hoping he’d just shut up like most people do.
They soon end up talking about music.
“You a Queen fan?” Remus asks, looking at his t-shirt.
“Yes!” Sirius shouts, drawing the attention of a few nearby tables. “Sorry. Yeah, they’re my favourite. I have all of their records, and I don’t even own a record player.”
“I quite enjoy their music, but they certainly are not the best.”
Sirius audibly gasps, placing a hand over his heart and looking Remus straight in the eye when he says, “I don’t think this is going to work out between us. How dare you say that Queen isn't the best!”
“Stop acting like I said they’re shit, I just think that Bowie is superior,” he says, rolling his eyes.
“I’m sorry, what?! You think that David Bowie is better than Queen?”
“Yes.”
“I love Bowie as much as the next person, but how can you possibly think that?”
“His songs are so creative, and catchy, and bloody perfect. He was one of the only artists I could listen to as a child.”
Sirius scoffs, knowing how much you can get attached to certain things during a shitty childhood. “Fine. But there must be someone else we both like. Like Taylor Swift.”
“Taylor Swift?”
“Yes. Please say you like her otherwise I genuinely don’t think this will work out.”
“There are two types of people in the world. Those who like Taylor Swift, and those who pretend they don’t.”
“And which one are you?”
“I told you, I'm not ashamed of what I like. And I love her.”
“What’s your favourite album?”
“Folklore,” Remus says.
Sirius sincerely believes he has met the most incredible man imaginable. “Mine’s Reputation.”