Love's a State of Mind
November brought winter to the highlands. Hogwarts was permanently shrouded in a thick fog, rain battered against the old window frames. Remus had a love hate relationship with this time of year. The dark evenings, crackling fires and cozy cardigans were something he longed for over the warm summer months. But the bitter cold made his bones ache, and the dark gloomy weather seemed to fuel his fatigue.
Monday rolled around and Remus curled into his covers as he heard his roommates shuffling out of their dorm for an early quidditch practise. He heard someone approach the bed, knowing in an instant who it was.
“Oi Moony!” James whispered, poking his head through the curtains. “Hey, we’re popping down for a quick fly about. We’ll come up after and get ready for breakfast, then we can all go down together.”
Remus hummed back in response, yanking the covers over his head. He heard James pull the curtains to and strut out of the room.
At some point Remus dragged himself out of bed, indulging himself in an extra hot shower to motivate him for a day full of lessons. He ran back to his bed cocooned in a towel, and summoned over his uniform, including a vest and his favourite school cardigan. He got ready and crawled back into bed, under his duvet, waiting for the others to return.
“-He needs to go deeper when he dives, Jamie.” Sirius said, Remus opened his eyes to find his roommates getting ready. Sirius was standing by James’s bed in nothing but his briefs, waving around a pair of socks, as the pair discussed their team’s position before the opening match.
“He’ll be fine Sir, it’s only the puff’s on Saturday.” James responded, he was mostly dressed, knotting the tie around his collar.
“We’ve not even started this season and already you’re promoting complacency? Merlin’s balls James!” Sirius huffed, he turned around to go back to his bed and Remus was now face on with Sirius’s scarred chest. Four ragged pink slashes over his left breast. They stood out, stark, against his porcelain skin. His beautiful, toned, marble like chest…ruined. Remus caught silver eyes watching him and quickly looked away. Jumping out of his bed he busied himself, organising his books for the day.
“I like your chances this year James” Peter popped his head out of the bathroom door, toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. “I reckon Harry will want to impress you all, once he’s actually against an opponent.”
The four lads trudged down to the great hall, James and Sirius taking the lead a few steps ahead. James had brought Sirius back to their dorm the night before last. It was uncomfortable, but no one was really sure why. Of course, Remus felt a slight unease about the incident that occurred last full moon, but it wasn’t that bad. No one died and Snape can’t tell anyone Remus’s secret; which Remus had since learnt from Draco, Snape was desperate to do. If anything it had at least resolved that problem. Unless the atmosphere had soured because Sirius was angry with Remus, I did rough him up a bit, I would be upset if I were him, I reckon.
They sat in their usual spot on the Gryffindor table, joined by Fabian Prewett and Harry.
“Blimey Paul, is this your first 3rd of November?” Fabian grinned, nudging Harry with his elbow.
“What’s so special about today?” Asked Harry, who had been confused since his dad rushed him down for breakfast, muttering about being there before the owls flock.
Sirius looked across the table, with an air of indifference as he poured a coffee for himself. “I don’t know why you’re all making such a fuss this morning, it should be much more civilised. It’s not like anyone knows yet.” He raised an eyebrow at James.
Fortuna rushed down the empty hall, frantically waving a magazine in her hand.
“Rus, Rus! Have you seen this?” She shouted halting to a stop and shoving the paper into Sirius’s chest.
“What’s this?” Sirius asked, running his eyes over a copy of Witch Weekly.
“I get an early delivery, I signed onto the priority mailing list. It’s a load of nonsense if you ask me! I only get it a few hours before everyone else! Anyway, you want to take a look at page six.” Fortuna sat down next to Sirius, who flicked through the pages and stared wide eyed when he caught the offending article. Fabian leant over the table and grabbed it out of his hands.
“Black heir back on the market?” Fabian looked up from the page, a wide grin growing. He continued to read. “It may seem that Britain’s most eligible bachelor, Sirius Black, is once again up for grabs. We have heard on great authority that the Hogwarts heart throb has backed out of his engagement to his cousin, Narcissa Black, who has effortlessly moved from one well bred heir to another, Lucius Malfoy. We hear they will be planning to wed soon. Blah blah blah, the young heir is set to turn sixteen today, let’s hope the celebrations bring him a welcome distraction from his young broken heart.”
“Merlin! That Rita is callous. Her gossip is unrivalled, but could she not have waited a few days at least?” Fortuna tutted, spooning a generous helping of jam onto a croissant.
Remus didn’t know where to look, is this what Sirius has been sulking over? It can’t be, he wanted Cissa and Lucius together. He looked up at Sirius, who was now grinding his jaw.
“Oh Rus, don’t be like that my dear.” Fortuna giggled, she leant up and kissed his cheek. “It’s your birthday, have a little fun.” She winked, pinching Sirius’s cheek.
“Well….errr, happy birthday Sirius!” Harry piped up, mouth full of bacon. “But errr, she’s right. You might as well enjoy the attention."
Sirius smiled back to the boy, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He grabbed Fortuna’s hand and gave it a light kiss, “Miss Shafiq, you are a terrible influence my dear. Truly, I fear for Zabini.”
“No need, I’ll be gentle with him.” The girl giggled, she downed the last of her tea and looked up the hall. Narcissa and Draco had just walked in. “I better be off then, do have fun you rascal.” She popped another kiss on Sirius’s cheek and held her hand out for Fabian to return her magazine.
“She’s… something.” James said, watching the witch walk down the hall.
“Fortuna’s not that bad.” Pete responded, “She’s a good friend to Jem. She says Fortuna is a witch’s witch, whatever that means. I’m not surprised you’re pals with her Sir.”
Remus could feel Sirius watching him, but couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact with his friend. He caught sight of Harry waving at someone and felt the calming buzz of his daughter’s magic brush across his shoulders.
“I believe I should be wishing you a happy birthday?” Hermione asked, half teasing. Remus looked up to see his daughter looking at Sirius, eyebrow raised and a smirk playing on her lips. Sirius huffed a laugh in response, he moved up, making space for Hermione to sit between the pair. “I hope you’re not expecting a present from me. I’m afraid notification from page six of Witch Weekly, on the morning of the event, is not nearly enough notice.”
Sirius was now barking a laugh, he poured the girl a cup of tea. Remus watched as Sirius perfectly made it the way she liked it, two sugars and a dash of milk. He felt this strange flutter in his stomach, warm and fuzzy, but sharp around the edges. The feeling made him want to scream and cry, and throw himself on Sirius, all at once.
“I must say Miss Lupin, that sharp tongue you’ve woken up with this morning is a present enough. Terribly cocky, wouldn’t you agree Moon?” Sirius gently asked, summoning over Remus’s mug to refill his coffee.
Remus felt his eyes warm, he looked over his daughter’s head and met those all too familiar silver pools. His heart ached, his lips formed a small smile, which grew when Sirius’s lips pouted back. Remus moved his mouth to respond when he caught sight of the first, of what was to be many, witches running down the hall to wish his friend a happy birthday. Sirius turned to greet his adoring admirers.
“Happy birthday Mr Black, terribly sorry to hear the dreadful news.” Juniper Fawley crooned, taking Sirius’s face into her hands. The bold Slytherin peppered his face with kisses, Sirius sat back and took it, not initiating any contact with the girl, as he always did. Remus rolled his eyes at the sight and Hermione scooted closer to him.
“Remus?” She whispered. “What is going on? I heard girls in the common room swooning over Sirius, like he was a pop star or something.”
Remus snorted and leant closer to his girl, “Didn’t you hear? He is Britain’s most eligible bachelor.”
“So they’re all gold diggers then?” Hermione mused, a haughty look on her face.
Remus noted that she had to have inherited that from her mother. He grinned back, “Mostly, some of us who know him are on the wind up though. Usually we all write him a love letter for his birthday, we try to make it ridiculously extravagant for a laugh. But these witches go crazy for him, you can barely tell the difference between ours and theirs. Juniper here is like a vulture, she’s always been so desperate for a look in.”
Remus thought to himself that the comment about Juniper may have come on a bit too strong and bitchy, but Hermione paid no notice and laughed. She turned to look at the other girl, she glared at her like she was a bad smell. The expression felt familiar to Remus, but again, she must have inherited that one from her mother; whoever she may be.
Juniper had certainly made herself at home on Sirius’s knee. He didn’t encourage it, no part of his body was willingly touching hers, but he didn’t throw her off either. She continued to fuss over him, running her fingers through his hair, dropping kisses on his temple when she could.
Remus looked around the hall and all eyes were on them, many of the witches green with envy, with the exception of Lily, Mary and Marlene. They sat giggling, Marlene draping herself over the other two girls, mocking Juniper.
“Oh, what do we have here then?” Gareth teased, taking a seat between Harry and Fabian.
“That’s really kind of you there Juniper. You know, keeping my seat warm for me.” Gilderoy shot the girl a saccharine smile. James snorted into his tea. Juniper looked between Sirius and Lockhart, she huffed a sigh and removed herself from the boy and marched back to the Slytherin table.
“That’s a talent I still don’t understand, Gil.” Gareth chuckled, buttering a slice of toast.
“Well, clearly she understands she can’t compete at my level there.” Gil grinned back, he let out a squeak as Sirius pulled him into his arms, to take the now empty spot on his knee.
Fabian’s knife scraped on his plate.
“Aren’t you forgetting something, my dear?” Sirius asked, jutting his cheek out for Gil to peck. Gilly shot him a challenging smile back, he leant in and at the last second planted a forceful kiss on Sirius’s lips. Sirius smiled into the kiss and tightened his arm around Gil.
“You’re incorrigible.” Sirius grinned, the rest of the group erupted into laughter, with the exception of Remus and Fabian.
Remus felt hot with something. Anger? Lust? Jealousy? He took a deep breath through his nose and met the gaze of Fabian, who’s ears had gone scarlett at the scene. At least he’s got a fair reason, Remus thought to himself. Christ, here I was having a go at James all that time, and yet I’m just as much a coward…wait, wait, no. No, Gil kissing Sir doesn’t mean anything, it doesn’t mean- Remus broke from his thoughts as a flock of owls bouldered through the hall. Showering them in letters of well wishes for the birthday boy.
Sirius took little time to convince a few of his younger admirers to collect his post and run it up to the tower for him to open later. Hermione scorned him on how cruel it was, but couldn’t help and laugh herself as the young witches clambered to be chosen for the job.
Remus kept his distance from Sirius for the rest of the morning, he hoped Sirius didn’t think it was because he was angry with him. He wasn’t. The truth was that Remus didn’t know what he thought of that display with Gilderoy this morning. He played the memory over and over in his head, trying to catch a clue, a sign to tell him to make his move.
Sirius had consumed Remus’s mind since the full moon. He would lay in bed at night, remembering how Sirius’s hands felt under his lips, how his chest felt to lay on, the way he called him darling. He had never heard Sirius call another wizard darling before, in fact he couldn’t remember hearing Sirius call anyone darling. In the sobering daylight Remus felt shame in his actions, but of a night he lost himself in his hand, dreaming of silver eyes, porcelain skin and whispers of darling.
Remus settled into his usual seat for defence, setting his books out on the desk, dreading what Professor Meadowes would have in store for them this week. Remus’s parents were assured that he would not be on the receiving end of any bigotry from his teachers, and the school had made good on their promise. But Professor Meadowes always managed to make Remus feel uncomfortable, singled out in her lessons. It wasn’t just him, she also treated any well bred pureblood with much of the same disdain. It was clear that she had an agenda at play, Remus couldn’t fathom what Dumbledore was thinking when he hired her.
The chair next to him shifted, a dragon hide bag dropped on the table and a firm warm thigh brushed his. Long fingers reached for Remus’s textbook, a flash of an unmistakable gold signet ring on the pinky. Remus’s heart skipped a beat as the hand stilled, lithe fingers caressing the book’s cover. Remus swallowed hard and his cheeks burned, he continued staring forward not trusting himself to turn and greet his friend.
“Today we will be starting from page 1132, to begin could anyone tell me three defining characteristics of this being?” Meadowes began, silently she ordered the shutters on the classroom windows to close and lit up a projector. She pointed towards the back left corner of the class and Lily’s voice filled the room, “Well, firstly they have an ethereal beauty that draws in their…prey? They usually cannot walk in the light of the sun, and thirdly Polyjuice has no effect on them.”
“Very good Miss Evans, and yes certainly! Polyjuice is rendered useless if given to a vampire, much like a werewolf. Although, hair of a werewolf in their human form can be used to make polyjuice, hair of a vampire will not. In fact, anecdotally it will catch alight the moment it is added to the potion.” Meadowes turned on the projector and the wall lit up with medieval paintings of known vampires.
“Much the same as muggles, we hold many misconceptions about the workings of vampires. I’m sure many of you have heard of the frankly ridiculous series of books released by Benoit LeBeau?It is propaganda written by the ancient covens. There is no evidence that vampires seek paramours, or that they find themselves compelled to find them and turn them. Like claims of how they have subjects, who offer themselves to feed from, and that the vampire would simply stop before they run bone dry. It is all nonsense. Same as the werewolf, there is no romance, and no discriminating in their victims. They both will seek and turn strong characters that they encounter into their mate, to better their own chances of survival.” Meadowes caught Remus’s eye when the topic turned to his own kind, boring into him as she explained how he was a monster, condemned to a lonely and miserable life.
Remus felt Sirius grip his thigh under the table, and he finally grew the confidence to look up to his friend. His eyes met pools of molten silver and perfect pale skin, cheeks and chin showing a hint of a shadow of dark stubble. That’s new, Remus noted, as he reacquainted himself. I wonder, if I were to take a strand of that silky black hair and drop it into a cauldron of polyjuice, would it burst into flames? Sirius was running his eyes over Remus, he took his plump bottom lip into his mouth and bit it. Remus’s heart was thumping, a heat flooding him as he licked wet his bottom lip. Images of Sirius, enchanting and seducing him with his divine beauty, drawing blood and lapping it up from Remus’s - Remus shifted in his seat, once again licking his lip. Sirius leant in closer, reaching over to turn the page of their text book. He played with the thin paper between his fingers, teasing the corner of the page and leant his chin on his other hand, letting out a tired sigh.
“It’s nonsense you know, what she’s rambling on about.” Sirius whispered, leaving the corner of the page to rest, he ran his finger over a drawing of a male vampire, with a young lady over his knee. “Vampires, they’re great thinkers. I’ve met a few and they were the most fascinating people I have ever met. They have a lot of time to ponder on things you see, and almost always have they had a companion. And they were most certainly lovers, although mostly it was men with men.” Remus turned to Sirius with a raised eyebrow, he wasn’t sure what to make of this revelation. “It was back when they let uncle Alph host the odd event, father would always feel need to pass comment on the characters Alph would entertain. Personally, I always found myself drawn to them. It must be so liberating to live so unapologetically.”
“Excuse me, Mr Black! I’m sure it is a struggle for you not to be the centre of attention, but I will not have you disturbing my lesson. Especially on such an important topic, about a very dark and dangerous creature.” Meadowes glared at the boy, Remus found himself acting without thinking. He opened his mouth, “Professor, that’s completely out of or-”
“Mr Lupin, I suggest you take your mate and leave my classroom.” The professor spat, Remus flinched at the word mate, and was certain Sirius didn’t miss the suggestion.
“Come on Remus, we don’t need to spend a moment longer listening to this miserable old shrew! Did it not occur to you, Ms Meadowes, that your dislike for the LeBeau series has nothing to do with any factual inaccuracies and more to do with the fact you are an insufferable, shrivelled up, old spinster! Maybe you could do with a visit from Monsieur De La Croix, maybe then you would stop being such a bitter old cow-” Remus was dragging Sirius out of the room, as he went into his tirade. The other students remained silent as they watched on, Sirius gave no resistance as Remus pulled him along.
“Christ Sir, what in God’s name is wrong with the woman. I won’t even tell you that what you said was wrong, and I’ll tell you for why. That woman makes me feel so unsafe, so uneasy. I’m glad you said what you did, because I’ve been dying for a reason to leave that fucking room since the bell rang.” Remus began to stride through the corridors, hand still firmly gripping Sirius’s…hand. Remus didn’t remember when that had happened, but he wasn’t going to make it weird, which might encourage Sir to let go. He felt the cold metal of Sirius’s ring, as Sirius looped his pinky around his own.
The evening quickly drew in and Sirius had decided he would rather a more private event celebrating his birthday. The boys had invited Hermione, Gilderoy, Gareth and Harry up to their room to join them. James sat on his bed, surround by piles of envelopes. Lifting them with his wand, he methodically dipped the corner of each one into a small cauldron and laid them out on old newspaper prints covering the floor.
“It’s genius!” Hermione gasped as the corners turned either pink or green.
“Yeah well, we had to do something! One year Moons opened a letter and spent the night in the hospital wing wailing for his dear sweet Layla to find him.” James chuckled, Remus scowled across the room to his friend.
“How dare you even mention that dreadful night. I felt like death when I woke up, my throat was so raw I couldn’t talk for days.” Remus shuddered, “Anyway, you can’t even take all the credit, Sir came up with the idea of the pearl dust being the activating agent. Pink if present, blue if not but there are traces of other common ingredients and green if none of the above is present.”
“Obviously we scan them for curses, well Sirius does. Not had one yet, but y’know, there’s always going to be one nutcase.” Pete said, uncorking a bottle of Ogdens and pouring everyone a glass.
Remus took a swig of his drink, letting the warming liquid run through him as he watched envelope after envelope turn pink. Sirius jumped down next to him, crossing his legs as he sat with two cigarettes hanging out of his mouth. He wiped his fingers past the sticks and the pair of them lit up, he took a small puff and then pulled one from his lips and handed it to Remus.
“Must be a record this year! Blimey, How many is that now?” Sirius for once sounded in complete disbelief.
“249…250…251…” Gareth counted as he floated them into another cauldron that contained a neutralising potion. “It should be illegal this, love potions are terribly dangerous if they’re not made perfectly. You could end up on a ward in St Mungo’s.”
“Hmmm, you know there’s one bit I enjoy though.” Sirius downed his glass of drink and summoned over one of the pink envelopes. He took a deep sniff and smiled, he floated it over to Peter who took one whiff of the envelope and turned the colour of a beetroot. The pair burst out laughing, “Been a naughty boy have we?” Sirius teased. He continued to float the envelope around the room.
Hermione shuffled over to sit with Remus, a small glass of amber liquid in her hand. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to love.” Remus said, nodding to drink.
“Can I?” Hermione asked.
Remus felt his face heat, Ok, right, father head on. Can she? Well, of course she can, but should she? Am I condemning her to a life of alcoholism… this is scary, how do people do it? He thought to himself.
“If you want to, you can. You’re safe here Hermione, you’ve got me and Gar.” Remus felt his heart thud as he looked into his daughter’s big brown eyes.
“Thank you.” She smiled back, cheeks dusted pink as she took the tiniest sip from her glass and scrunched her face when the drink hit her throat. Remus heard a gentle snort behind him and turned to see Sirius watching on at the pair, eyes shining.
“Your turn Moon, what do you smell?” Sirius asked, hovering the paper barely an inch from Remus’s face.
Remus closed his eyes and breathed in the swirl of sleekeazys, sweet vanilla and tobacco. He took in a deeper breath and let it wash over his body, it was all consuming, like a drug. It reminded him of when Lily had first got her cat, Pilchard, and they gave him a bag filled with catnip. The kitten rolled all over it, rubbing the bag of herbs over every bit of his body. Remus wanted to rub every last inch of his body in the intoxicating scent of Sirius Orion Black. Remus opened his eyes and caught his brother and Gil staring at him, he shifted and took huge gulp from his drink.
“Why does it smell like-” Harry started to ask, but was met with a chorus of “ah!” And “No!” From the other lads in the room.
“My dear son, that is sacred information for your mind only. There is no need to share your deepest, darkest desires.” James looked at his boy over his glasses.
“Exactly, although I’ll tell you a secret.” Remus grinned, the buzz of the alcohol making him feel a bit more comfortable. “Your dad doesn’t even need to spill his deepest, darkest desires.” He loudly whispered across the room. “We all know that all he can smell right now is your mum’s-” Remus was cut off by Sirius who threw himself on him, chortling as he covered Remus’s mouth with his hand.
Pete giggled along, “Nice to see you back to your old self Moons!”
Gareth sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked up in horror as James began to chuckle along, holding his sides. Even Hermione bit a laugh as she caught Harry’s grimace across the room.
The night drew in, Peter had convinced the elves to sneak some food up to their room for the occasion, which Remus found himself grateful for after he downed his fifth…no… sixth tumbler of Ogdens.
“So, just to clarify here, this big gift was sent to me over summer from your uncle.” James started, carrying a huge box over, covered in a deep red wrapping paper. “The gift from me and Harry is the smaller parcel on top here.”
“You didn’t need to get me anything Jamie.” Sirius grinned, crawling across his bed to take the presents off James. He tore off the wrapping paper, beaming once it became obvious what his uncle had sent on. “Merlin!” Sirius whispered.
Remus shifted over to see his reaction, he had been looking forward to this since he received word from James over summer. Sirius Black owned his own muggle record player. Remus kneeled next to his friend and put his arm around him, “What do you think, Sir?” He whispered into Sirius’s ear. “This is unbelievable.” Sirius responded, running his finger over the wooden trim.
Remus reached for his hand, guiding it to the lift the lid open. As Sirius opened up the player, there was a glimmer of the shiny plastic that covered new records. He reached in and lifted them out, “Moons? Are these good ones?” Sirius asked, handing them over to Remus.
“Oh I’d say so Sir, you’ve got Elton John, David Bowie and Queen?” Remus turned back to his brother, holding the cover up for him to see. Gil jumped up and run over to see it. “Aye! Tha’s the one Kenny was playing! You remember Gaz? When he played that song over and over?”
“Oh, that’s not bad then if it’s that one. Yeah, you’d like that Sir.” Gareth called over.
“Look it’s signed on there, it says love Freddie. He must be the singer then?” Remus said flipping the cover over and passing it back to Sirius to take a look. There was a small snort coming from Hermione and a gasp from Harry, as he threw himself from his dad’s bed to take a look.
“No way! Tha-that’s Freddie? Freddie Mercury has signed that!” He spluttered, peering over Sirius’s shoulder to catch a glimpse. “That’s Bohemian Rhapsody! Signed! Freddie touched that!”
Hermione was in a complete fit of giggles now, she fell back onto the bed and hid her face behind her hands.
“That good, eh?” James chuckled, Sirius leant back to hand the record back to the boy. Harry delicately took it from his hands, like a priceless antique. Sirius turned his head to Hermione, “Not a fan?”
“I like them, I’m just not that mad about them is all.” The girl responded, she took a sip from the small glass of whisky, that she had been nursing for the evening.
“Bloody hell!” Remus gasped, “Sir, close your eyes and hold your hands out.” Sirius did as his friend said, Remus laid the record in his hands, he was buzzing with excitement. He had to give it to Alph, he was the coolest human being to walk this earth as far as Remus was concerned, and he knew his nephew inside out.
“Can I open them now?” Sirius asked, fighting a smile.
“Go on.” Remus said.
Remus couldn’t even describe the feeling when Sirius’s eyes met the signed cover of George Harrison’s ‘All Things Must Pass’. He felt like he was going to burst with happiness.
“Go on, what does it say?” James asked, he was returning the single that he had finally prized from his son’s hands.
“D-dear Rus, Hope you have a fab day kid. George.” Sirius was visibly choked at the gift from his favourite uncle.
“Well that’s us stuffed then. Wouldn’t even bother opening mine now Sir, and I really thought I was on to a winner this year!” Peter groaned, he pulled a pair of antlers from under his bed. “No, they’re not! They’re not!” Sirius howled. Remus looked up at James who was blushing, and over to his brother and Gil who shrugged. Sirius leant back into Remus, shoulders still giving the odd jolt with laughter, “I’ll explain later Moons, you’ll love it when you find out.”
“Don’t even bother opening mine now, nothing’s beating that!” James joked, making his way back to his bed.
“Right, well these are from me. Thought you’d like to add to the collection.” Remus summoned a gift bag from under his bed. Sirius peeked his head in and pulled out even more records, T.Rex, The Rolling Stones, The Who.
“How did you find this?” Sirius asked, pointing at the brightly coloured copy of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. “I’d keep that in there if I were you.” Remus teased, “I wrote a very nice letter to your uncle when I found out what he had planned, explained you very much enjoyed the film and would probably like a copy. No way I was asking my mam to source a copy, imagine trying to explain it to her.”
Sirius took Remus into a crushing hug, “Thank you darling, it’s perfect.” He whispered into his ear. Remus felt his cheeks warm, he gave Sirius a tight squeeze back. “There’s another one in there, I thought maybe you’d like it. They’re called Fleetwood Mac, they’re brilliant! The album only came out in the summer. They’ve had Buckingham Nicks join the band.” Remus said, pulling away from his friend and reaching into the bag. “They’re a Wizarding band, but they mostly play for muggles. Which is great, but a shame, because the music is something else.”
“Fleetwood Mac are wizards?” Hermione asked, she crawled over the bed to take a look.
“Yes they are, and may I congratulate you on your fantastic taste in music there, Mione.” Remus grinned, taking his daughter’s hand and shaking it. She giggled, shaking his hand back.
“So this is the band then?” Sirius asked, looking at the back of the cover.
“Yeah, that’s Christine, Mick, Stevie, John… and that-” Remus pointed at a man with a head full of black curls, “that is Lindsey Buckingham. He’s great he is, he’s just- yeah he’s great.” Remus had to stop himself from gushing over the man too much, but to Remus he was perfect. Black hair, bright blue eyes and the most gorgeous face Remus had ever seen, well, maybe the second most gorgeous face. He looked up to Sirius, who was staring at the photo of the man, his brow furrowed.
“They really are amazing Sirius, completely changed the game with their music. It really is like listening to magic.” Hermione beamed, “I love Stevie, she writes the most beautiful songs. I think Landslide is on this one?”
“It is, but Rhiannon’s my favourite.” Remus smiled over to his girl, filled with pride knowing she had inherited more than her looks from him. Sirius looked up smiling at the pair, “Well, I’ll have to take a listen later. See what all this fuss is about!”
Later in the evening there was a firm knock at the door, James jumped up from his bed and slightly opened it, “Invite only I’m afraid, you’ve missed the window to make your offerings. You’ll have to wait til tomorrow for your chance with the bean beater.” There were a few snickers from the lads in the room.
“Open the door Potter.” A drawl came from the other side, it immediately opened to reveal Regulus and Draco standing there, with parcels in their hands. “Offerings for you, uncle Rus.” Draco grinned as he led the other boy into the room.
“Dad sent this on for you, I’ve not got a clue what’s in there. He said he’d know if I took a peak…” Draco handed a long box to Sirius, who gently pulled away the wrapping paper from the top of the box, just enough so only his eyes could catch a glimpse. He let out a low whistle and secured the tissue paper back.
“Lu must have dug deep in the vaults for that.” He looked up to Reg and raised an eyebrow, Remus found himself wondering exactly what was under that wrapping paper. Regulus placed the large box he was carrying on the table in the centre of the room, he looked at Sirius expectantly, “Go on, then.”
Sirius leant over and undid the big ribbon bow, the walls of the box fell down to reveal the most beautiful cake Remus had ever seen. Layers of chocolate and cream, adorned with all different fruits, that glistened as the light hit them.
Sirius looked up to his brother, Remus caught him mouthing the word ‘Mummy?’, to which Reg nodded his head and made way to sit down next to Sirius on his bed. “Father doesn’t know though.” Reg murmured back.
Sirius blinked back any emotion at his brother’s words and jumped up, summoning over some plates. “Right! Cake? Mione, I can see you eyeing it up already.” He grinned, floating slices of the cake on to each plate and handing them out. “Reggie, here’s your one.” He handed over a slice that was smothered in raspberries. “We always have to make sure there is a raspberry one for little Reggie, he would always make a fuss when we had cake as children. He would only eat it, if it had no fruit other than raspberries.”
Sirius sat back down and leant into his little brother. “It used to drive Father wild, he would always get so furious as we all sat there and picked the raspberries off the cake for you. So mu-mother said to the patisserie that there must be one slice made especially for Reggie. Do you remember when Belle took it once?”
Regulus laughed, it took Remus and the others by surprise, Regulus Black never laughed.
“Of course I do, you bit her so hard it left that scar on her arm.” The two brothers leant into eachother.
“You bit her?” James asked, horrified at the thought. “Who bites people? I’ve never bitten anyone in my life!”
“Ach, of course not!” Gil chimed in, “You’re an only child.”
“What’s that supposed to mean!” James snapped back.
“If you had siblings you would’ve bitten them, or been bitten, or at least got into a few fights. Ray broke my nose once, when we were wrestling.” Gareth lit a cigarette, and pointed it at his brother.
Remus huffed and pointed back, “Yeah I did as it goes, and it was because you were being a twat. He took my slinky-”
“What’s a slinky?” Draco loudly whispered across the room.
“Oh, Ray! I never took it, alrigh’!” Gareth shouted back.
“Yes! Yes you did, you took it down the street, you and Bryn Thomas were playing with it down the road.” Remus reached for the cigarette packet between himself and Sirius. “I knows this because little Gwennie told me, she says that Dai -”
“Dai the drive?” Gareth interrupted.
“No, Dai with no eyes! She said she saw him stamp on it, as he got out his car.” Remus snapped back.
“Well, no surprise if the poor bloke has no eyes.” Said Peter, who took a sip of his drink with a solemn look.
“Muggles aren’t allowed to drive with no eyes, are they?” James asked.
“Certainly not!” Hermione responded, holding in a laugh and giving Harry a pointed look.
“No, no he has actually got eyes.” Gareth said.
“Yeah, just doesn’t know how to use them. He was the talk of the rugby club for months, his wife Jean, she was putting it around. Weren’t a bloke left down Rhondda that she hadn’t at least tried it on with. She even made eyes at da’ once.” Remus lit his cigarette, with a cheeky grin on his face. “Anyway, her husband Dave, he didn’t notice not even once. So, now we all calls him Dai with no eyes.”
“That’s absolutely scandalous Moons! And you mean that no one’s even told the poor bloke?” Sirius looked at him, his eyes twinkling with mirth.
“Oh come on, Uncle Rus! You mean to tell me that anyone has told Hestia Selwyn about Clifford’s secret family on the continent?” Draco snorted into his glass of whisky.
Reg and Sirius barked a laugh back, Sirius sloppily brought his finger to his lips and made a ‘shh’ sound.
The other eyes lit up and looked over to the brothers. It made Remus laugh to himself. He dread to think what Hermione and Harry thought of the evening, they were probably expecting an evening of scheming, pranking and mischief. Instead they were invited to eat cake, gossip and swoon over love potions.
The night drew into a close, the guests had left with the exception of Hermione, who quickly fell asleep with her head resting on Remus’s shoulder, once she had finally finished her glass of whisky.
“I’m sorry Sir, I’ll put her on my bed now.” Remus fussed, trying to move without waking her up.
“Don’t be so silly moon, she’s fine where she is. Here, we’ll lay her down next to us.” Sirius whispered, as he got up from his bed and shimmied the curtain drapes to cover his bed side cabinet.
“What do yo- What are you doing?” Remus lost his line of thought, his mind was hazy after copious amounts of alcohol and food.
“I want to listen to Fleetwood Mac, and I want you two to listen to it with me. It’s my birthday moons.” Sirius whined, pouting his bottom lip.
“Mione’s asleep-”
“She can still listen though. Please, please Remus.” Sirius placed the record player on his bedside cabinet.
“I suppose, as it’s your birthday.” Remus watched a smile take over Sirius’s stubbled face, his eyes crinkling.
“You’re the best Moon!” Sirius grinned placing the vinyl on the player and setting the needle. He jumped into bed next to Remus, the duvet released itself from under them and swooped over the trio.
Remus felt a blush rise up his cheeks and the electric buzz of magic run through his body, it was almost overwhelming, maybe it was all the alcohol. Hermione scooted over, closer to him. Remus lifted his arm up and put it around her, his hand stroking her bushy hair from her face, as she rested back on to his shoulder in her sleep. He looked back to Sirius who was watching with glassy eyes, his face still like stone. Remus knew the face well, Sirius was holding something in, hiding something away from him. Remus turned back to his daughter and lightly kissed her forehead, “Dwi'n dy garu di fy merch fach.”
The trio laid in bed as the music washed over them, Remus smiled to himself as his favourite guitar riff on the album started up. Hermione was right, their music was pure magic, each verse a line of a spell, Remus could feel his heart thud with each beat of the drum. He turned to watch Sirius and was surprised to find his friend staring at him, eyes wide under the light of the lamp.
Rhiannon
Remus felt a force pulling him closer to the man next to him, as if the ancient Welsh Witch had been summoned through the vinyl record, and was guiding him… leading him to his ruin.
Rhiannon
Heart thumping with the music, skin tingling with the enchantments of his ancestors, those pink wet lips of Sirius Black met his own.
Rhiannon
He closed his eyes and felt fireworks course through his veins, the kiss deepened and Remus felt something awaken in him. It was like he had spent his entire life blind and finally he could see for the first time. He peppered Sirius’s lips and stubbled jaw with little pecks, and Sirius snuggled into his side, resting his head on Remus’s other shoulder.
Taken by taken by the sky
Remus felt Sirius pull himself in closer, “Goodnight, darling.” Sirius whispered into his chest.
“Nos da, cariad.” Remus shakily whispered back, as the adrenaline finally wore off. He laid as still as he could, trying to steady himself with each breath, staring at the ceiling above them.
Dreams unwind
Love's a state of mind