Chapter 1
Maybe, just maybe… Remus should stop taking dating advice from Lily.
Lily is lovely, really. She’s been his best friend since grade school. Still, Lily’s only ever been with two people (three if you count Snivellus). Mary and James are amazing, don’t get him wrong. He loves them. Remus doesn’t tend to go for people like them. People that are good to him. For some reason, the universe loves to push assholes in his direction.
This was no different.
Sirius fuckin’ Black.
They had gone to school together. He and Sirius Black had been roommates with James for seven years. He remembers those years fondly. For the most part, at least. If he avoids thinking about Sirius for too long. The first four and a half years had been heaven. The last two and a half had been a mix of heaven and hell, ending in a fiery explosion of pain and disappointment.
“There is no way,” Sirius gasped, his jaw dropping.
Remus pinched the bridge of his nose, cursing Lily telepathically.
Sirius laughed, “Remus mother fuckin’ Lupin! How are ya, Moony?”
“I don’t go by Moony, anymore,” Remus said.
“Jeez, you’re exactly the same, huh?” Sirius snipped, half-playfully. “So, uh, I’m guessing James didn’t mention it was me?”
“I thought Lily set it up?” Remus muttered.
“You’re still close with Evans?” Sirius asked.
Remus nodded, “Yeah, I see you’re close with James, still.”
“We stayed roommates up until Prongs moved in with Evans a couple of months ago,” Sirius said, “So, uh, do you want to get going?”
Remus fidgeted with his arms, “You still want to go on the date?”
Sirius shrugged, “James and Evans went through all the trouble.” he tossed Remus a spare helmet and gestured to his motorbike which Remus had seen once or twice on his Instagram feed. They may not have spoken in a few years, but they were still in the same friend circles, more or less. “Hop on, yeah.”
“You want me to get on that? ” Remus asked, shocked.
Sirius is a daredevil. He loves adrenaline and adventure and danger.
Sirius nodded, “It’s safe, I promise.”
Remus sighed, defeated. He might as well get this date over with since the reservation had already been made on their behalf by James and Lily. He can’t be too mad at Lily. He never told anyone about what had happened between him and Sirius. He doubted that Sirius had told James. Or maybe he had and James told Lily and the universe was out to get Remus. He slid the helmet over his head and followed Sirius onto the motorbike.
“Grab on tight!” Sirius grinned, as the motorbike roared to life.
Remus felt his heart thump uncontrollably as Sirius took off. He wrapped his arms around Sirius’ middle and buried his face in Sirius’ jacket as best he could with the helmet in his way. He could hear Sirius laughing. Probably at Remus’ reaction, the sadistic bastard. He should have turned Sirius away. God. He hoped he didn’t fly off this damn bike. Or maybe he should fly off. It would save him a lot of embarrassment.
Within a few minutes, Sirius stopped at a light. He looked over his shoulder, “First time on a bike?”
“They’re not really my style,” Remus answered dryly.
He was as much a daredevil as Remus remembered. It was almost charming until Sirius took off again.
The restaurant was close enough that Remus was only made to endure just under fifteen minutes on that goddamned motorbike. As soon as Sirius parked, Remus pulled himself off the bike and ripped off the helmet. He didn’t overreact. He handed the helmet back to Sirius.
“It wasn’t so bad, was it?” Sirius asked cheekily, taking the second helmet and placing it with his own.
Remus ignored him and looked towards the restaurant.
The Burrow was a family restaurant that had recently blown up– well recently as in within the last five or so years. The restaurant was older than Remus’ old headmaster. But ever since Molly Weasely had married into the Weasley family, the restaurant’s business had been booming. Bringing in all sorts of customers. Remus only really knows this because of his friendship with Molly’s younger brothers Gideon and Fabian Prewett.
Sirius walked past Remus and held the door open, “After you, Moony.”
“Thank you,” Remus said, “And please don’t call me Moony.”
A young boy, about twelve or thirteen, stood at the podium with a wide smile and a funny little bowtie, “Welcome, sirs. How can I help you?”
Sirius tapped the podium, “We have a reservation for Black.”
The boy tapped the podium and then nodded, “Charlie!” another, younger boy appeared by the podium– this one about ten. The first boy gestured at the younger, “This is Charlie, he’ll be your waiter.” Then the boy looked at Charlie, “Charlie, take them to table three. Pink special.”
Charlie nodded and turned toward Sirius and Remus, “Follow me to table three, please.”
Remus couldn’t help but smile. He had always thought it was adorable that the Weasley children liked to help out around the restaurant. Recently, little Percy had also started to help around. Remus didn’t see him anywhere right now though.
Charlie set two menus on the table and smiled, asking what Remus and Sirius would like to drink.
“A water, please,” Remus said.
“Don’t be silly,” Sirius scoffed, he turned to Charlie, “Forget the water, kid. We’ll have some Chardonnay.”
“Chardonnay,” Charlie repeated, nodding. “For two?”
“Bring the whole bottle,” Sirius said.
“That’s nearly a hundred and sixty pounds.” Remus hissed as soon as Charlie had left.
Sirius waved him off, “Don’t worry, I got it covered.”
Oh, Lily, why do you hate me? That could be the only reason that Lily would ever set Remus up with Sirius Black. God. Jesus Christ. Remus didn’t want to have to pay half of the fucking bill. As great as The Burrow ’s rise to fame was, it also brought a rise to the price of everything on the menu.
Sirius browsed the menu, humming periodically, “The gyro sounds appetizing, don’t you think?”
Remus scoured his own menu, “I suppose.”
“Order whatever you want,” Sirius said. “It’s on me.”
“I can’t accept that,” Remus muttered.
“Just let me pay,” Sirius said, as Charlie returned, balancing a large bottle of wine, a corkscrew, and two wine glasses. “You’re back! Great!”
Sirius took the bottle and placed it on the table before he helped Charlie with the glasses and the corkscrew. Charlie huffed, getting out his little notepad, “Are you ready to order, sirs?”
Sirius went over his menu one more time, “I’ll go with the grilled garlic and black pepper shrimp.” he said, folding his menu and handing it to Charlie, “And the gentleman can order whatever he wants.”
Remus thumbed through the menu one last time, looking for the cheapest meal, “I’ll have the slow-smoked salmon.”
“I think you would enjoy the pork chops with fig and grape agrodolce,” Sirius said.
Remus shook his head, “No, it’s much too expensive.”
Sirius bypassed him and looked at Charlie, “He’ll have the pork chops.”
Charlie nodded and ran off to the kitchen before Remus could say anything.
“Don’t look so mad.” Sirius pouted playfully, “I know you prefer meat to fish.”
“What happened to the gentleman can order whatever he wants ?” Remus muttered bitterly.
He grimaces at the more bitter memories he has of Sirius. He was such a know-it-all. And Remus knows know-it-alls. He can be a know-it-all at times. He doesn’t understand why Sirius has to always think he knows better than Remus what Remus wants. Maybe he does enjoy pork more than he does fish. But maybe Remus wanted to save money. Ever thought of that, Sirius?
“I just want you to enjoy this date,” Sirius said, somewhat defensively.
“Maybe I would enjoy it more if you would let me choose anything,” Remus said back, crossing his arms.
And oh, the nostalgia. He remembers sitting angrily in his dorm room with only Sirius there. They would disagree over anything, really. A book they both read. A homework problem they both solved. A movie they had watched together. Anything and everything had been fair game.
“You’re always like this,” Sirius says.
“Like what?” Remus snaps back, careful to keep his voice down.
As soon as their food arrived at the table, Remus felt a pang of annoyance as to how his mouth watered at the smell of the pork chop.
The night only fell apart even more from there.
And ultimately (and predictably) Remus ended up walking home. He didn’t mind it. He was a fast walker and got home in less than an hour. He also texted Lily, banning her from setting him up on any more dates.