Chapter 6
THEN: November
It’s taken forever to get their friends all in the same place. Relatively. Two months, not even, into knowing each other and everyone is finally meeting. Sirius could have asked everyone to come to the gallery opening, but he didn’t. It was only a week and a half ago and he knew everyone would be here tonight, so there was no point. He will have other art showings, plus these works were not nearly up to his usual standards. You could say he’s been a bit too distracted for work.
The last few weeks have been nothing short of amazing. He and Remus have somehow managed to spend even more time together. And they tell each other they love each other more times than he can count. Once it was said, neither of them could get enough. Now it’s slowly become the first and last thing he hears. Not everyday, but enough. He’d like it everyday, but they’ll get there.
Recently their friends have gotten tired of them. They haven’t formally met, and yet they are plagued with hearing about their relationship and subjected to phone calls while they had only planned to hang out with one of them. Despite the already present grievances with them, everyone is excited for tonight.
It’s his 25th birthday, so he has decided to go a bit overboard. Which is easy to end up doing when James is his best friend. He heard the words celebrate and party and ran with it. Literally. The night he brought up having a big party and inviting Remus’ friends too, James ran out of the room and returned with his computer ready to plan. That’s how they have ended up with a small cabin rented an hour or so outside of the city and more food and booze than they would need for a week long holiday.
Sirius and Remus decided to drive up together to get there early and also to have some time alone. They tried to help figure out cars for everyone else, but quickly gave up. James had asked to come with them, not at first though. First he said he would go with Regulus, who then put up a fight and told him no and that he could find another ride.
James is currently on his way in Regulus’ car. Somehow they worked it out. He was a bit surprised because as persistent as James is, Regulus is equally if not more stubborn. Luckily they have a buffer in the form of Pandora and Mary who will ensure they all make it there in one piece.
On the other side of things, Remus said that the girls were driving up together, they aren’t often separate anyway so that makes sense. His friend Peter is driving up a bit later once he’s done with work for the day. By the time he arrives everyone will surely be sufficiently pissed, so he will have to play catch up. Apparently he is on the shyer side, but with everyone else drunk off their arses, he should have an easy time meeting them. Plus, Sirius would not classify his friends as intimidating. Loud and eccentric, perhaps. But only Regulus is stand-offish. He’s harmless really, and he will be on his best behavior for his brother. Hopefully.
“I’m excited. Are you?” Remus takes his eyes off the road to look lovingly at him in the passenger seat.
“Very. I’m glad we got everyone to come, I hope they all get along.” He’s been the good kind of jittery since last night.
“You know they will. Lils and Cas already love you, I’m sure they’ll love your friends too. Everyone is going to have fun and I am so glad we’re celebrating you. There’s nothing to worry about sweetheart.”
One car is already parked outside the cabin when they get there. It’s Regulus’ which doesn’t surprise him. James had said he wanted to get here early to help bring what he deems ‘party supplies’ and must have successfully convinced Regulus to help. They’re only staying until tomorrow, but somehow Sirius managed to bring a large bag of clothes. Just in case. He grabs his bag and Remus’ much smaller one and carries them inside. While carrying them, he and Remus walk at the same speed and get to the door at the same time. As soon as he turns the handle to open it, James yells. Somehow, despite the weekend being all about Sirius, he still seems shocked that they walk through the door.
“It’s just us, mate. Why are you screaming?” He laughs.
James ignores him. “Remus! You’re real!”
“Good to finally meet you James.” They all laugh lightly. “You must be Pandora, and Mary.” He nods in each of their respective directions, and they smile right back at him. “Regulus, I’m glad you came.”
“He wanted me here, so here I am.” Regulus simply states, not daring to show any emotion.
Makeshift introductions continue though they have all now met. No one really needs Remus to share any details, as Sirius has shared more than enough for everyone to know about him over the last few weeks. Mary and Pandora share a bit about themselves since he hasn’t actually had a chance to talk much to either of them. Pandora is an artist like Sirius, but they have known each other since they were kids. She is closer with Regulus, but still one of his own good friends. Differently, he hadn’t met Mary until university, but has been friends with her ever since. When he learns this, Remus’ eyes practically light up at the opportunity to hear stories of him from uni.
James would be able to tell just as many, if not more, but nothing sounds embarrassing when he tells it. Everyone seems to know this. Unfortunately for Sirius, Mary has a knack for sharing his worst moments with people he loves. It’ll be a miracle if he makes it out of this weekend without Remus learning about the time he tried to help by picking Mary up from a hook up’s flat and somehow ended up in a drinking contest with the bloke causing him to nearly miss an exam because he spent the entire night and morning throwing up on the side of the road. He can only hope that he will still love him after that.
Not long after their conversations settle, another car pulls up and the shouting can be heard from inside the cabin. It seems that Lily, whose voice is very distinct, is mad about the way that Dorcas followed their directions. They aren’t even late, so there’s nothing to be actually mad over. Which she seems to know because by the time the door opens, they are both laughing.
“Sirius!” Both girls yell when they lock eyes.
“No hello for me?” Remus cocks his head jokingly, but doesn’t move to get up and greet them.
That seems to make the difference, because Sirius leaps out of his chair and grabs both of the girls into a big hug. It’s been weeks of seeing them through his face time calls with Remus and he is sure they will be good friends of his own in no time. They both wrap an arm around him warmly. Once they let go they make their way to an open sofa and pile onto it together.
“Alright, I know we’re waiting on Peter, but let’s get this party started!” Lily suggests with a huge grin.
James jumps out of his seat and heads straight to the kitchen. “I’ll play bartender, what does everyone want? We’ve got a lot of beer, or if that’s not your style, tequila and vodka are also options.”
A variety of drink requests are shouted all at once, which he should have anticipated. He laughs it off, but appears to have understood at least one because he gets to work. While he does that everyone busies themselves in conversation. Sirius can hardly keep up. The girls, both his and Remus’, become fast friends and are whispering and laughing in no time. Regulus, keeping to himself, ends up getting up and heading for the kitchen. Not likely to help James, more likely to make his own drink.
It’s a lot going on, and he does really love it. But he stays sitting with Remus rather than launching into any of the conversations. He’s content to just have the people he loves and the people Remus loves in one place. It’s reassuring that no one is arguing yet. Though he may have spoken too soon on that, based on the bickering that can be heard from the kitchen. That’s nothing out of the ordinary, so he just lays his head on Remus’ shoulder and relaxes.
As much as he loves a party and loves to be around people he loves, Sirius is not at all used to hosting. Granted they are at a cabin that none of them own, so technically no one is hosting. But still, it’s his party and his birthday, and he wants to make sure everyone is enjoying themselves. It’s barely been thirty minutes and he can already feel the pressure of having some kind of activity or entertainment lined up.
“Relax, it’s all going great.” Remus whispers to him and squeezes his hand in reassurance.
“I’m- wait ho-” He stops himself from asking how Remus knew he was starting to worry. Of course he could tell. “You’re right. Should we play a game or something?”
“Sounds like a great idea.” He presses a kiss to Sirius’ temple.
This time he raises his voice enough to penetrate through the conversations everyone is currently having and successfully gets everyone’s attention. “Let’s play a game. Everyone needs a drink first though. James, are you handling that?”
“On it!” In the kitchen, James hands the first drink he made right to Regulus, then quickly makes more for everyone else.
It doesn’t take long before he is carrying over five drinks on his own. How he manages to do it is anyone’s guess. Though, there are little wet marks across his shirt from the drinks nearly spilling a few times. After passing these out to each of them, Sirius excluded, he goes back to grab two more, for himself and Sirius. There are plenty of beers in the fridge for if they need or want more, plus James brings the bottle of tequila over too.
Everyone tries the drinks James mixed, and all seem content. While he is the one to most often offer to make the drinks, they are not always drinkable. Most of the time they are far too strong that even taking one sip will have you gagging. Sirius hesitantly takes a sip, and yes it was definitely made by James. He loves his best friend, really, but when they drink he’s almost certain he’s trying to kill him. Or get him insanely drunk insanely quickly.
“What game were you thinking?” Pandora asks.
“Actually, first I think he needs a birthday shot. Those are the rules.” Dorcas smiles deviously while pouring the liquor. “Drink up!”
He downs the tequila shot and only winces a little bit. He’s a bit shocked that it was Dorcas to suggest the birthday shot since they just met, but even just that small thing reassures him that all of the two friend groups will get on perfectly. Even Regulus appears to be having a good time, despite sitting farther away and silently sipping his drink. If he was truly miserable he would have fucked off to another room in the cabin by now.
The way they were all grouped together quickly changes as they spread out more. The girls, Lily and Pandora, move back to make it more of a circle, joining Regulus across from Sirius. Remus stays on one side of him, Mary on the other. Dorcas finds a seat next to Remus, and James rounds out the circle between Dorcas and Pandora. Surprisingly, or perhaps on purpose, most of them are next to one person from either group. It makes both Sirius and Remus smile at each other. It’s so lovely to see everyone blending into one big group.
It’s not that they were worried it wouldn’t go like this. The thing was that they dove head first into their relationship so quickly and are pushing their lives together faster than most people would and they started doing so without considering how other aspects, such as their friends, would react. They also weren’t going to bail on each other if tonight didn’t go well, but it would have ruined Sirius’ birthday and also complicated how things would go from here. Especially considering that at least Sirius, and he hopes Remus too, are in this for the long haul. For forever, if all things go well.
“Okay birthday boy, what are we playing?” Lily now repeats the earlier question.
He takes a sip, then answers. “How about never have I ever? Should help us all get to know each other and also get us quite pissed.”
Everyone seems content with the choice and starts to think of prompts to use, Mary ends up going first. “Never have I ever left the UK.”
The rest of them all take a drink. He could have guessed she would start with something that earns everyone else a drink. Sirius knows his friends well enough to know that there are bound to be very targeted attacks. And since it’s his birthday he’s sure to get more than his fair share. From there they go around in a circle, Sirius being next.
Knowing that Regulus will have plenty of specific things to use on him, he takes the first go. “Never have I ever been a younger sibling.”
He expectedly rolls his eyes and takes a sip. Next to him Lily does as well. After they both take their drinks, they look at each other and clink their glasses. It almost looks as though Regulus even smiles at her. He just might be enjoying the game as much as he’ll try to hide it. They appear to be the only two to take a drink. Though he could argue that Pandora should, since she’s the younger of her and her twin brother, but he leaves it. She’ll be drinking for plenty of things soon enough.
Next up is Remus. “Never have I ever gotten a tattoo.”
Sirius shoves him playfully. “Mean. You couldn’t have gotten other people to drink instead of me?”
“Happy birthday, sweetheart.” He smirks and kisses him softly. “Drink up.”
To his surprise, he isn’t the only one drinking. Lily and Dorcas both take a drink. As does Pandora. This then leads to them showing off their tattoos. Lily has a small bunch of flowers on her ribcage. Dorcas has a few, though the only currently visible one is on the back of her arm above her elbow, which has song lyrics of a song he doesn’t recognize. Pandora has stars behind her ear, and says she has others that are covered up currently too.
After the little round of show and tell, Dorcas is up next. “Never have I ever cheated on someone.”
With this, she pointedly looks at Sirius, who has never cheated. She seems to be testing him like any good friend would do to make sure their friend’s partner is not going to hurt them. Proving that this is a good group of people, no one takes a drink. After watching him for a few seconds more, Dorcas leans back into the couch, satisfied with this. He has no reason for that to have made him feel uneasy, but it did for only a second. Maybe it’s just the fact that he so badly wants to have their approval on him dating Remus.
“Never have I ever been in a car accident.” James says simply.
It’s nothing crazy, though it is targeted. He knows that Sirius has been in a car crash, however minor. It was a few years ago and he didn’t have a scratch on him. The paramedics did still come to make sure everyone was fine, which he was. The other person who hit him was fine as well. So Sirius takes a drink, as do Mary and Remus. This isn’t one that requires stories, at least not in the form of prying questions from the group. None of them offer any more details, so they swiftly move on.
Next up is Pandora who looks deviously between the two brothers. “Never have I ever been named after a star.”
“Really?” Regulus groans, but takes the sip while rolling his eyes.
He always acts like this when drinking games are played, but he is secretly enjoying himself. Once he finishes this drink, he will surely loosen up and be outwardly having plenty of fun in no time. Which is fine, everyone is different and opens up and has fun at varying degrees. Sirius is just happy that he is here at all.
Dutifully, Sirius takes a sip as well. That one is always a given if one or both of them are playing and someone wants to get them to drink. It somehow always seems to be Pandora. The door opens and in comes, who Sirius assumes is Peter. He is the only one left to arrive, and as long as this isn’t a stranger here to scare them, then it would be a good guess.
“You made it! Come, grab a drink mate. we’re playing never have i ever.” Remus waves him in.
He drops his bag by the door and finds a seat between Pandora and Regulus, making it his turn. “Alright, I’ve got one. Hope it hasn’t been done yet. Never have I ever kissed someone in this room.”
Easily, Sirius and Remus take drinks in unison. Following that, there seems to be a flow of other people taking sips as well. The two of them watch as every single one of their friends brings their glasses to their mouths and sips from it. They are both surprised by some, and not by others. James was expected, as Sirius himself has in at least a few instances kissed him. Nothing romantic, but they’ve known each other since before they had ever kissed anyone, so you know… things happen.
Remus doesn’t seem too shocked when Lily and Dorcas glance at each other and then drink. To Sirius’ knowledge, they aren’t together, but maybe they were at another time. Mary and Pandora drink without much fuss. The star of the show however is Regulus who begrudgingly drinks before huffing, crossing his arms, and returning to glaring at everyone else present.
“Oh that was so much better than I expected.” Peter laughs. “Let’s unpack this, please, I am begging. Wait, let me try to guess. Okay so you two obviously, same with you two. I knew that.” He gestures to Remus and Sirius, and Dorcas and Lily. “James, is it? You’ve probably kissed Sirius and maybe Mary too. These two lovely ladies have also likely kissed. And that now leaves the elusive little brother.”
“Let’s move on, shall we? It’s my turn.” Regulus attempts to deflect.
It all just makes Sirius zero in on him even more. Usually he doesn’t care much what Regulus does in his free time, but if he’s going around kissing one of their friends, that just might be his business. No one else seems to push him to answer, and not wanting to potentially cause a fight, Sirius lets it go. For now. But if he remembers this later, he might just have to bring it up. While he’s processing the fact that his brother has likely kissed one of his best friends, Lily is whispering and laughing with Regulus across from him.
“Right then. Never have I ever drunk dialed an ex.” He stares Sirius down while saying it.
The thing here is that he knows that technically he has. But no one else knows that. Regulus isn’t even supposed to know that he did, so he’s not sure why he’s so focused on him. Around the circle Lily and Pandora both drink, laughing at their past selves for making less than ideal decisions. He however holds firm that no one knows and he can get away with not drinking. As much as he is able to handle drinking more, barely even tipsy yet, he doesn’t want this to be a known fact.
“Oi, birthday boy! Why aren’t you taking a drink?” James yells across the circle.
“You know?!” He yells back, giving up the act.
“Of course I know. I think you should take a shot for trying to get out of this one.” He suggests, earning agreement from everyone else.
He pours himself another shot and takes it like a champ. After having more alcohol already in his system, this one doesn’t burn his throat as much. Before returning to the game he leans back into Remus who happily wraps his arms around him. Remus kisses his temple, and he tells him he’ll tell him why he would have drunk dialed an ex before another time. Not that he owes him anything about his past, but he wants to make sure he knows that he’s happy with him and has no interest in Fabian anymore. It was a weak moment not long after they broke up. That’s all.
While they remain cuddled up, Lily gets everyone’’s attention. “Never have I ever fallen asleep while on the phone with someone.”
Sirius turns his head to look up at Remus and they fall into laughter. Everyone in this room, for the most part, knows that over the last week or two, they have gotten into a habit of doing that. If they aren’t actually spending the night together, they FaceTime each other until one falls asleep. Both have fallen victim to their own tiredness on different occasions. It’s quite comical how everyone from both sides of the group collectively groans at this.
They don’t mind though. Sirius is happy with how their relationship is. Even if everyone else thinks they are ridiculous, he’s beyond content and so fucking happy with Remus that none of it matters to him. He also knows that the laughter and poking fun at them is very lighthearted. No one actually gets annoyed with them in the long run for their borderline insufferable tendencies as a couple. Maybe in the moment they would rather not watch them be all cute, or have one joining every hang out through a phone screen, but it’s really just brought them all closer.
It’s only been a few hours but Sirius feels like he could already consider Lily, Dorcas, and Peter his own friends. He hopes they feel the same way. At one point while Sirius is up and getting himself another drink, James joins him and tells him how much fun he is having. “This is great, I’m glad we did this. Plus his friends are all great.”
He smiles so wide, which is only partially due to his intoxicated state. “You really think so?” James nods. “And Remus? You like him?”
“Fucking love him. Can’t believe we just met him, already feels like he’s been around forever.” James slings an arm around him and laughs.
That, coming from James, means literally everything. If one of his friends didn’t totally care for Remus, he could manage. Not everyone in his life has to like everyone else he loves, he wouldn’t expect that. But if James didn’t like Remus, that would be sure to cause issues. His best friend and boyfriend are contractually obligated to get along. Sirius has never told that to either of them, so their budding friendship is for sure genuine. The happiness over this bubbles up in him and he can’t help but grin and lean his head against James.
“Wait- unrelated to that. I am so glad you like him, but I can’t stop thinking about the game. Do you know who here Reggie has kissed? It’s killing me.” His drunken curiosity takes over for a moment.
James suspiciously pulls away slightly. “Another time…” Sirius goes to protest, figuring out what he is insinuating, but is quickly cut off. “It’s dessert time! We have a cake that the lovely Mary baked. And for the birthday boy who doesn’t love cake, a tub of icing!”
He turns and pulls both out of the fridge and places them on the counter. Sticking out of the icing is a candle that is shaped like the number 25. Everyone makes their way over to the kitchen and surrounds the counter in the center. There’s just enough space for all of them. Remus pulls a lighter from his pocket and lights the candle as everyone, even Regulus, begins singing happy birthday . In the midst of the gathering in the kitchen, Sirius has forgotten about his conversation just moments ago. It will likely come to him once he is sober again, but that’s a problem for future him. Right now, he is just going to enjoy the wonderful company, and the delicious chocolate icing.
James cuts the cake and passes pieces around to everyone and they all start eating right when the plate hits their hands. They all seem to enjoy it, and Mary has been known to make excellent desserts. He’s tried some of them before, even just a bite or two, and everything has been delicious. Sirius just isn’t a huge fan of cake, even if he does love sweets.
“I could have made something else for you, you know.” Mary sneaks up behind him, resting her chin on his shoulder. “I know you don’t like cake but James told me just icing for you.”
“Your icing is to die for Mare. He made the right call. Wouldn’t want you going out of your way to make cake for everyone and something else for me.” He reassures her.
“It’s your birthday, dumbass. Of course you could have me make something special. Or everyone else could just suck it up and have your favourite dessert instead. It’s too late now, but I owe you a treat. Any time you want, yeah?”
“Whatever you say!” He laughs, knowing that she will hold him to that and will for sure make him pastries soon enough.
Most of them remain standing around the counter, but a few trickle off to sit back on the couch. Among those are Regulus and Lily, who seem to be getting along fairly well. Pandora joins them too, knowing that Regulus isn’t a people person and she acts as a good buffer for him whenever needed. It’s how they have always been since growing up and becoming friends. Even if he doesn’t need it, he does appreciate her for it.
The night carries on with everyone content to just chat with music playing in the background. Sirius couldn’t be happier with how his birthday goes. Over the years he has had plenty of bad birthdays and some good ones. But this one might just be the best yet. He’s surrounded by people he loves, regardless if he just met some of them tonight or less than two months ago. These are the people that will be around for the long haul. He knows that now, he’s so unbelievably sure of it.
Slowly some people start getting tired and the chatter dies down. The music was turned down to more mellow songs and to a lower volume once it hit midnight. No one seems to want to be the first to wander off to the bedrooms for the night. One issue is that before they all started drinking, no one figured out who would be sleeping where. The cabin has two bedrooms and more than enough space on the couch.
Sirius and Remus silently declare that they will take the master bedroom, everyone else can argue with the wall if they don’t like that decision. It’s his birthday and he can do whatever he wants. And what he wants is to cuddle with his boyfriend, after they have sex of course. None of them would want to see that, so they can all figure out beds from there.
The second bedroom has two full size beds, meaning only three people will be left on the couch or floor. If he had to guess, all of the girls would claim the beds. Now that it is past 2 in the morning and they will need to be up and out of the cabin by 11, Sirius grabs Remus’ hand and silently drags him away from the main room. His boyfriend happily obliges and they shut the door behind them.
“Tonight was so much fun.” Sirius smiles. “We’ll have to do something similar for your birthday. Or again before then. March is too far away to wait before getting everyone together again.” He drunkenly rambles.
“Whatever you want sweetheart. I’m glad you had fun.” Remus tilts his chin up with his finger and gently kisses him.