Comets and Cupids

He was glad he’d packed his button down after all. He looked at himself in his dorm mirror, briefly, before looking away. He’d never liked his reflection, he’d never been the slightest bit vain, and he was okay with that. But on nights like tonight it just added to his nerves.

His dorm was large, it had two adjacent beds-Remus took the one furthest from the door, the other was unmade and clearly belonged to his roommate. Curtains hung above the two arched windows beside Remus’s bed. There was an en suite that was littered with various containers of sleeping pills and cigarette packets, as well as a bottle of green hair dye. The dorm was old fashioned-with brick walls and wooden floors-but Remus liked it. Well, honestly, he was indifferent.

He hadn’t met his roommate yet, but judging by James’ description of him and the state of the bathroom, Remus didn’t really know what to think of Barty Crouch Jr. He hadn’t seen him yet-in the studios or in the dormitory, so god knows where he was.

Earlier, he’d sat on his bed and studied his timetable. It was flexible. Kind of like college schedules, he thought. Breakfast was held in the hall from six to eight every morning. He had two classes every day-the earliest possible starting at nine and the latest ending at four. He thought that maybe the day was divided into six hour periods-excluding break and lunch-and each of classes were two hours long. So while another class was being held, he had two hours free. A fair deal, if he was being honest.

He’d also found his academy gear, like James had assumed. How they knew his size, he had no idea-and honestly he didn’t want to know. It was folded neatly in his half of the wardrobe-a red and black T-shirt and the same colour jacket. The essentials for performances were there too, thick black tights and white T-shirts, as well as a duffel bag with the Hogwarts logo stitched on it. Unfortunately, “Lupin” was printed on the back of his jacket. Great.

Checking the clock, he saw it was ten to eight. Ten minutes. His hands were shaking. He shouldn’t be nervous, but he could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest.

He left his room and walked down the stairs into the common room. It was on the fourth floor, and he walked down three staircases to get to the bar. He stood outside the half glass doors for a moment, taking a few deep breaths before pushing the door open.

The room was filled with chairs and booths, the actual drinks bar was to the left of the room. A deserted arch in the corner led into what Remus assumed was a restaurant. The room was loud, there was music playing from a duke box and Remus assumed most of A and B were here. He’d only just had time to take everything in when an arm was around his shoulders and a voice in his ear.

“Remus!” He turned his head to see Evan smiling at him, beer bottle in hand. He’d changed out of his gym gear and was now wearing baggy cargo jeans with a band print T-shirt and yellow faded converse. Remus assumed he was probably drunk.“Was starting to think you weren’t gonna come, you know.”

“Oh come on, I’m like, what-five minutes late?” Remus said, shoving him off.

Evan laughed as he dragged him over to the bar. They took two stools next to a blonde girl wearing a single daisy in her hair and a light blue dress.

“Remus, I’d like you to meet my sister, Pandora Rosier. Pandora, Remus. Remus, Pandora.” Pandora smiled at him and he extended his hand.

She shook it. “Nice to meet you, Remus.”

He smiled back at her. She had a contagious smile. He’d never met someone like that before. “And you.”

Pandora laughed. “You talk funny. Posh. Where are you from?”

“Windsor.” He replied. “And believe me, back home, they don’t consider my accent posh.” He played it off lightly. He’d been through this with his father. Somewhere along the line, Remus had gotten sloppy with his pronunciation-in his father’s eyes, anyway-and since then he’d became used to the odd looks-disgusted, even-from his parents’ friends or associates who deemed it as the height of bad manners.

She laughed again. “Windsor? What brought you here?” She cocked her head to the side. Remus noticed now the resemblance between her and her brother. Not just their blonde hair, Evan had acted the same when Remus first met him. He’d had the same curious look in his eye, dropped his head to the same side. It was like a strange sense of deja vu, talking to Pandora.

He smiled at her. “Honestly, I’m wondering the same thing.”

He heard Evan laugh at that, as he understood Remus’s situation better than his sister did.

He would’ve continued to talk to Pandora but a girl appeared behind the counter, approaching him with an empty glass in her hand.

“What can I get you, Lupin?” She asked. She wore a leather jacket with various pins over it, and a black apron over her the top of her jeans. She had blonde hair cropped to her shoulders and impeccable eyeliner painted on her face. Marlene, Remus thought, This must be her.

“Marlene McKinnon!” Evan greeted, confirming Remus’s thoughts. “I was wondering where you’ve been.”

“Serving, Rosier.”

“You go girl.” Evan said, snapping his fingers twice. Definitely drunk, Remus concluded.

“Serving orders, dumbass.” She shot back, rolling her eyes. Evan laughed as he disappeared off to the other side of the bar.

As Remus watched Evan walking away, he took in everyone else in the room for the first time. He recognised some people from Evan’s short introduction in Studio C. Lily Evans and Mary MacDonald were sitting in a booth talking to a boy with dirty blonde hair and round eyes. Remus didn’t recognise him. In the center of the dancer floor was James Potter, dancing and singing along to the music-it was an older tune, Bowie, maybe? Remus didn’t really follow music-he’d never had the time.

The boy next to James caught Remus’s eye. He had a certain elegance about him, despite the fact that he was holding a bottle of vodka and was dancing in a style that was pretty much the opposite of ballet. He was beautiful, really. And Remus never took much notice of how people looked, not in that way. The boy had long, perfect black hair that ran down to his shoulders. He had astounding bone structure, but what set his face off was his ice-blue eyes. Even from this distance, Remus could tell they weren’t at all cold. It’s not like he was attracted to the boy, or anything. But he would be an idiot if he couldn’t acknowledge how handsome the boy was.

James saw him staring and beckoned him over. He smiled at Marlene and apologised. He hadn’t even got to actually meet her.

“Remus! When’d you get here?!” James shouted over the music.

“Just a while back.” He called back, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the boy he’d saw a minute ago. He was dancing next to James but had his back to Remus. Remus just stood beside James, feeling weirdly awkward on the dance floor, especially giving he was a dancer. Parties had never really been his thing.

James tapped the boys shoulder and motioned to Remus once he had his attention. “This is Remus Lupin!” He shouted in his ear.

The boy grinned and stuck out his hand. “You’re the new guy?” Remus nodded once. “I’m Sirius.” Remus shook his hand.

Sirius Black, he thought. Captain of Group A. This should be interesting.

Up close, he could see that Sirius wore silver chains around his neck and a black leather jacket. Something about the likeness between his and Marlene’s style made Remus assume they were probably good friends. Sirius smelled strongly of the alcohol he was drinking, so much Remus actually had to fight the urge to cough.

“Nice to meet you, Sirius.” It wasn’t really the truth, but it didn’t feel like a lie, either. “You’re captain of A?”

“Yeah. But we don’t talk about school here!” Sirius shouted, leaning in so Remus could hear him. The feel of his breath on Remus’s neck sent shivers down his spine. The goddamn alcohol, he thought.

“We’re living at school. It’s our entire life.” Remus argued back for the sake of it. Everything in his life had changed because of his school. He didn’t want people acting like it was something he could just escape. Because that would lead to people thinking he was dramatic. And yeah, maybe he was, but he didn’t want people thinking it, all the same.

“Why’s that so terrible?” Sirius leaned in once again, his eyes focused on Remus.

He had a point. Truth be told, this school had changed his life, but what life? A life where he only had fake friends and argued with his father? A life where his own mother wouldn’t even stand up for him? He knew deep down that she couldn’t, even if she tried, but it still made him bitter.

He’d been at this school for less than a day and he’d already enjoyed it more than any other academy he’d ever attended. And he’d been dancing since he was four. He liked the people here, but what was different from everywhere else was that they liked him too. In most schools, he’d been at a mutual hate-point with his classmates. Even though half the people here weren’t talking to each other and most friendships seemed to be falling apart, Remus liked it. They were completely corrupt, but they were decent people. So far, at least.

Before he could answer Sirius, the boy was whisked away by Lily Evans who now up and dancing, James having taken her spot at the booth. Remus returned to the table and introduced himself to Marlene.

“I know who you are, you’ve been all anyone’s talked about all day.” Coming from anyone else, Remus would’ve considered it rude, but something about her eyes told Remus she was teasing.

He laughed. “I can tell you don’t get new people here a lot.”

“How could you tell?” She asked, faking shocked. He laughed again. He liked her, he decided.

“You been working here long?” He asked her.

“About a year now. You been dancing long?” She asked him.

“Since I was four. Your family own this bar?” It seemed like a fair assumption, after all, Hogwarts was all about who you knew.

“Grandfather owned this entire building. Sold it to Hogwarts when they wanted to relocate decades ago. Most of the family thought it was a disgrace-selling it to a ballet school. Uncle got me this job.” She told him as she made a drink for someone down at the end of the bar. “You a relation of someone in the industry?”

Remus almost laughed. Something about talking to Marlene reminded him of playing tennis. Back and forth. Question for a question.

“Yeah, father’s a patron. Lyall Lupin. Sent me here without my permission. Got the news I was coming here yesterday.”

“Well, I’d judge you based on him, but it seems like you two don’t have the best relationship, and I know fuck all about ballet.” She smiled as she leaned back in the counter, amusement in her eye.

“Well, I’d say that sounds pretty fair.” Remus grinned back at her.

“Looks like Rosier wants you again, Remus.” She pointed behind him. He turned around to see Evan calling him over, another bottle of alcohol in his hand and his hair looking a lot less tidier than it had when Remus arrived.

“Oh god. I’m gonna need one of them beers.” He told Marlene. He didn’t really drink, but dealing with drunk people was a good enough excuse.

“I was about to say the same.” She grabbed a bottle from the fridge and handed it to him. “On the house. See you round, Lupin.”

“Cheers, McKinnon. Same to you.”

He made his way over to Evan, who just slung his arm around Remus’s shoulder and began dragging him over to the other end of the bar.

“I want you to meet my friends.” He slurred in Remus’s ear.

Evan pushed him into a seat beside who Remus recognised to be Regulus Black. Next to him was Dorcas Meadowes.

“Remusss…” Evan drawled. “This is Dorcas and Regulus. These guys are my best friends.” He turned and rested his hands on their shoulders. “I love you guys.”

Dorcas laughed and Regulus rolled his eyes.

“Fuck, you’re hammered.” Regulus remarked.

“I am not!”

Remus turned to Regulus and Dorcas. “Hi.” He held out a hand. Dorcas shook it and smiled, Regulus held his own hand out and nodded his head once.

“When’d you get here?” Dorcas called over to him.

“Just this morning.” Remus replied. He was about to continue his introduction when he heard a loud yell from the appointed dance floor. It was followed by the sound of shattering glass.

Remus saw Dorcas drop her head in her hands as Regulus shook his head. Evan, who was on Remus’s left, just stared daggers at the dance floor behind Remus’s back. He seemed more sober now as he held his cold stare.

Remus turned to the source of the noise. There, in the centre of the room, was a dishevelled boy who was making Evan look sober.

The boy was wearing a white button down, the top two buttons undone. The right cuff was stained by whatever drink he was waving in his hand. His hair looked as though it hadn’t been combed and a broken vodka bottle lay beside his feet. He was laughing hysterically as he shouted the lyrics, and his eyes had a faraway look about them.

“God, Barty.” He heard Dorcas whisper.

So this was Barty Crouch Jr. Evan’s reaction made sense now. Some first impression. An alcoholic asshole who pissed off one of his only friends. Yeah, he doubted he was gonna like this guy.

Barty stumbled over to the bar and slumped on to the counter beside Evan. Remus could sense Evan tense next to him.

“I’ll have a vodka, please.” He spoke loudly but his words were barely coherent.

He completely ignored Evan, who was beside him and had redirected his gaze to directly in front of him. Neither acknowledged each other, the only difference between the two being that Evan seemed aware of Barty’s presence.

Marlene’s eyes were sad, almost painful. “I think you’ve had enough to drink, Barty.” She whispered.

He laughed humourlessly. “Fine.” He threw his arms up. “Fine.” It wasn’t until he turned to walk away that he glanced at Evan. The look in Barty’s eyes changed to something much saner. Evan didn’t see it, he just continued to stare in front of him.

Regulus stood up and walked over to Evan. “Come on, you’re going back to your dorm.”

Even though Regulus was at least a head smaller, Evan managed sling his arm around the former’s shoulders and lean most of his body weight on him.

“He’ll deny it ever happened tomorrow.” Dorcas said with a small smile as she watched Regulus.

The pair were walking away when Barty staggered over to them.

“Reg!” He shouted, attempting to put a hand on Regulus’s shoulder. “Where’ve you been?” His eyes were unfocused as he spoke.

Regulus slapped his hand off his shoulder. “Fuck off, Barty.” Remus had thought Regulus had a cold stare when he first met him, but watching how he looked at Barty now, Remus realised how wrong he’d been. There must have been a difficult history of friendship there, Remus thought, because no one could look at a stranger with as much hate as Regulus looked at Barty right now.

Barty cackled as he spun in a slow circle. Then his tone turned serious. “No fuck you, Regulus, you fucking prick.” Regulus ignored him and turned to walk away. He paused and turned to Remus.

“Lupin.” He nodded his head. “Unfortunate we didn’t get a chance to be properly acquainted.” Regulus kept his face void of emotion as he spoke.

“Yeah, unfortunate. I’ll see you around.” Remus replied. God, Regulus made his “posh” accent sound like gibberish.

Regulus nodded again then turned and practically carried Evan out the door. He heard Barty scoff.

“Fuck all of you.” He heard Barty say quietly. Remus seemed to be the only one who heard. He was used to listening to everything at once. Eavesdropping. That’s how he’d grown up. His parents never told him anything so he learned to find it out himself.

He ignored Barty and turned back to the bar. Dorcas still had her head in her hands.

Dorcas noticed Remus. “Those boys,” She said quietly, “I swear to god they’re going to drive me over the edge on of these days.”

“Regulus seems…interesting.” To put it nicely. Cold or hostile might have been more fitting. He didn’t know Barty well enough to judge him, certainly not to someone he assumed used to be his friend, and despite Evan’s little drunk appearance, Remus still had a very high opinion of him.

Dorcas laughed a little. “Well, he likes you.”

“Are you kidding?” Remus raised his eyebrows.

“Not at all.” She said. “Coming from someone who’s known Regulus for years, that little farewell was his equivalent to his hand in marriage.”

Remus laughed at that. “Thats reassuring.” He didn’t add that Regulus didn’t seem like someone who he’d like to be on bad terms with. After that little fiasco with Barty he didn’t want to strike a nerve.

“Well, I’m going to round up Emmeline and see what time she plans on returning to our dorm.” She declared.

Dorcas moved to walk away but Remus spoke up. “Wait, who’s Emmeline?” It wasn’t a name that he recognised.

“She that girl with the blue-ish hair?” She pointed to a brunette with faded dyed hair. “That’s my roommate, Emmeline Vance. You know the other two girls she’s with?” Remus shook his head.

“The girl with the pink hair is Amelia Bones. And next to her with the frizzy hair is Hestia Jones. All in B.“ She told him. The girls were laughing and talking to each other, completely oblivious to the previous tension at the opposite side of the room.

“Okay, thanks, Dorcas.”

“Anytime. See you later, Remus.”

Remus sat there for a while, drinking his beer and trying to think. Trying to think about Hogwarts, about joining the A’s, about the friends he’d made, about how bloody messed up their own friendships were. He hoped he won’t be dragged into it. He didn’t fancy being Regulus or Barty’s enemy. The only person he tried not to think of was Sirius Black. He didn’t know why. There was something about that guy he didn’t like.

Thinking back to what happened between Regulus and Barty, he realised he didn’t actually know why they hated each other so much. He knew briefly about Regulus and Sirius’s argument and Barty and Evan’s fallout, but he was unsure as to whether they were connected. He looked up and got Marlene’s attention.

“Hey! Hey, Marlene?” She walked up to him.

“What can I get you, Remus?”

“Oh, no, nothing-I was just wondering-eh-why do Barty and Regulus…not really…like each other.” Yeah, it was a bit difficult to put into words. He still didn’t want to upset anyone.

Marlene sighed and a sad look crossed her face. “It’s all to do with Evan.” She said quietly.

“Wait, so it’s not because Barty got into Group A and Regulus didn’t?” That had been what he would’ve assumed. James had told him after Sirius Black made sure Regulus stayed in B, Barty Crouch Jr had made it up.

“No. Well-from what I know-after Barty made it into the A’s he started blocking Evan out. Blanking him. I don’t know why. And Regulus, who was already beyond angry at Sirius, sided with Evan. Except Evan couldn’t handle it like Regulus did.” She whispered the next line softly and so quietly it was barely audible. “I think Evan cared more for Barty than he ever let on.”

“So Barty just stopped talking to him and Regulus has been mad ever since?”

“Regulus argued with Barty a lot. Asked for explanations to why he’d treat Evan like that. Those three had been really close, you see, along with Dorcas and Pandora. But Barty and Evan had been the closest. All Barty ever said was that the best dancers can’t afford distractions. Evan never argued. They haven’t spoken since that time half a year ago.”

“Christ.” Remus said.

“Yeah. And I’m worried about Barty.” She stopped abruptly, like she’d said to much.

“Why?”

“It’s-well-I don’t know what the hell is going on with him.” She threw her hands up, agitated. “Two nights after he made it to Group A, he came down here and sat at this bar, alone, and drank more than anyone I’d ever served before. I didn’t know what to do-he wasn’t acting like he was tonight-he just sat silently and drank it all. And I kept giving it to him.” She paused. “I regret that more than anything.”

“It wasn’t your fault. Even if you hadn’t, he would’ve gone out to a random pub and drank it there. At least here you could watch him.” Remus tried to reassure her.

“Thanks, Remus. But still.”

She started wiping down the counter. “A month later, he became vice captain, and that’s when he started drinking like he does now. Came down here and got completely wasted, shouted all over the place and left at three a.m..”

“Holy shit.” Remus said under his breath. “It’s all so fucking messed up.”

Marlene gave a weak laugh. “Yeah, it really is.”

She continued. “And he wasn’t always like this, you know, you should’ve known the old Barty. But honestly, I don’t wanna talk about him right now.”

“Fair enough, I get that.” Remus replied.

The bar was almost empty now. He hadn’t noticed people leaving. “I should head back to my dorm now.”

“Bye, Remus. It was nice meeting you.”

“Thanks, Marlene, you too.”

He began to walk out of the bar when his foot stepped on broken glass on the floor. He noticed a broom in the corner and a dustpan beside it. So, he offered to help sweep up the glass. It was unfair, he thought, to leave it all to Marlene.

They talked a little more as Marlene cleared glasses and Remus dusted up the broken ones. Just about where Remus was from and how far away it was. What it was like there and what he thought of Hogwarts so far. He was glad the topic of family was avoided. It was easier talking to Marlene now, it felt less like tennis, the slight tension had lifted. And then he realised, that this is what it felt like to trust someone. She had opened up to him, and he did the same to her. It was strange, how unfamiliar that feeling was to him.

When they were finished he set the broom back in the corner and checked the time. Twelve thirty. Shit, that was late, classes started at nine tomorrow and he didn’t feel that being late on his first day would leave a good impression.

“Well, I really should go now.” He told Marlene, who was looking at him strangely.

“You know, I’ve worked here for well over a year and you’re the first person who’s ever offered to help.” She said to him.

“Well, people can be assholes sometimes. I didn’t think it was fair to make you clean a mess you didn’t make by yourself.”

She smiled at him. “I like you, Remus. I think you’re a good person.”

Remus wanted to laugh at that, but she looked serious. “You two Marlene, honestly.”

He returned to an empty dorm with his head spinning. And he went to sleep thinking about trust, and how foreign it felt, but most of all how it was no longer a stranger to him.