Chapter 1
Sirius
The music was loud. Even louder than the stadiums Sirius had grown so accustomed to. The air was heavy, beating down on Sirius. It should have felt oppressive, claustrophobic, but it was the complete opposite. It was liberating to dance under the flashing lights, a drink in his hand while the world buzzed around him. Only on the ice did Sirius feel freer.
He was alone in the middle of the dance floor, completely oblivious to the bodies pressing in on all sides who were just as unaware of him, exactly how Sirius liked it. He was lost in the music, some 80s pop/punk remix he didn’t recognize. He hadn’t felt this relaxed in a long time.
Until he saw him.
There was a boy swinging a red-haired girl around by her hand. They were giggling, enjoying their childish fun in the middle of the crowded club, clearly following the message to be completely unaware of your surroundings.
Until their eyes met and Sirius was suddenly aware of every hair on his body.
He was gorgeous. He had curly, dirty blonde hair that fell past his ears, bouncing in time to the music. There was a faint scar, reaching from where his ear met his jaw and across his nose. And he took up so much space, dominating the room with his broad shoulders; Sirius knew the man would tower over him. But the most shocking thing about him was his eyes. They were bright, shining through the darkness of the club, and were an unnatural amber.
Those eyes met his and Sirius was gone.
He didn’t think as he made his way across the club, their eyes still locked. He and the girl had stopped dancing now, and she had made her way to some of their other friends. Sirius was so enraptured he hadn’t even realized they were standing toe to toe now, standing closer than Sirius would have thought possible. He had been right, the man towered over him. For one of the rare instances in his life, he wasn’t sure what to do, or where to take this. But the other boy acted first.
“I’m John,” he murmured, barely loud enough to be heard over the music but directly into Sirius’s ear, causing him to shiver. The plain name didn’t sound fitting for the work of art in front of him, but Sirius barely processed that thought before he became dizzy with the touch of John’s hand around his waist as they began to dance. Sirius wasn’t sure how but he got turned around, back pressed against John’s chest. He tilted his head up,
“I’m Connor,” he breathed. He always created fake names on the rare occasions when he did stuff like this. It made things simple.
They just danced for a while, John guiding them. Sirius felt like he could figure out who he was just from the way he moved. He was sweet in the way he gently held him and caressed his jaw. He was fun in the way he threw his head back and laughed. And he was physical in how he directed Sirius, who was like putty in his hands.
“Want to go for a smoke?” John asked eventually and Sirius simply nodded. It was highly against his health plan to be smoking but he would currently break any rule, law, or sanction ever put in place just to see John’s lips wrapped around a cigarette.
They made their way to the front doors, still tangled together, and stumbled into the night. It was February and the air was cool against Sirius’s hot skin. It shocked him into reality a little, how reckless he was being. But as soon as he saw John leaning against the wall, lighter in hand, his head went blank. All he could do was reach out for a cigarette of his own.
They stared at one another for a moment as they lit the cigarettes as one and took their first hits, blowing the smoke back into each other's faces.
“You’re a good dancer, “ John said eventually, a smirk playing on his lips.
Sirius quirked an eyebrow, “You were doing most of the work.”
“It doesn’t feel like work when I have the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen in the palm of my hand,” he quipped, reaching out and hooking his index finger through the belt loop of Sirius’s jeans, pulling him closer. And, oh, Sirius almost melted. His mouth opened on reflex and John took the opportunity to lean down and blow his last puff of smoke directly into Sirius’s mouth. Sirius inhaled, the nicotine flowing through him, but it was no match for the effect John’s simple presence had on Sirius; he was weak in the knees.
When he regained what little coherence he had left Sirius uttered the only thing that was on his mind, “Come back to my place.” He sounded hopelessly desperate but John only grinned,
“Lead the way.”
…
Remus
“That over there is the training room and right next to it is the weight room. That door there is Weasley, the team doctor’s, office. We’ll introduce you to him and the rest of the staff after you meet the team.”
They stopped in front of a set of oak double doors and his tour guide, who was also his new head coach, clapped his hands, and Remus’s head rang. It was only noon and he was still slightly hungover from the night before. It was risky, he knew, to go out partying the night before you start a new job, but Lily had insisted on taking him out to celebrate the signing of his contract with the Lions. Or as Remus had put it, his contract with the devil.
“Well, here we are,” Moody (the Alastor Moody, the NHL legend Remus had dreamed of playing under since he was a child) continued, “Of course, the team knows we were signing a new goalie but we haven’t told them who, so no need to worry that they’ve gossiped about you. You’ll get a clean slate to show them what you’ve got at practice today.” To be fair, Remus didn’t know a thing about the team either. He hadn’t since he was 18. “Obviously, that means the media doesn’t know about you either, but the press release will come out at 7 pm tonight so be prepared. And there will be a press conference tomorrow, but Minnie will get you prepped for that. I’m sure the media will eat up the whole ‘wonder kid returns to his home team’ story,” Moody said gruffly, his distaste for the media clear.
Remus could only smile tightly. He wasn’t exactly thrilled either. He hadn’t put a foot back in Gryffindor since a month ago, and it wasn’t necessarily of his own free will. He was even less thrilled to be inside Gringott’s Arena, about to enter the locker room of a team he loathed. The same team he was now a part of.
He felt a bit guilty, truly. Hockey had a culture of loyalty and he had practically betrayed his team before ever stepping onto the ice. He hadn’t looked at the roster, hadn’t watched a lick of tape, and had avoided all mentions of their games for the past five years. It felt like he was walking into a memory that had been wiped clean.
“Are you ready?” Moody asked, slightly more gentle than the rough demeanor Remus had been present to since their introduction.
It had to happen eventually. Remus nodded and repeated the mantra that had been stuck in his head since he had signed the contract. One year. You just have to last one year.
Moody pushed the doors to the locker room open and Remus was met with a cacophony of noise that stilled the moment Moody cleared his throat. The room turned to stare at them, and Remus adjusted the equipment bags hanging off of him anxiously.
“Boys, this is our new goalie, Remus Lupin. Graduated from Harvard last spring, so just know he can beat you all on the ice and in life,” some of the players scoffed, clearly used to Moody’s jabs. Moody continued, making the necessary introductions, “That there is Frank Longbottom, our captain. You’ll be moved out of your hotel and into his house soon enough.” Remus was a little shocked to see Longbottom, who had been on the team when Remus was still a fan. He had changed, he was bigger and had grown a beard, and had obviously evolved enough as a player to become captain. “That is James Potter, assistant captain, and an absolute knob.” The man he pointed to had dark tan skin, unruly black hair, tilted glasses, and the widest smile Remus had ever seen. Moody seemed to look around the room for a moment before addressing James, “And where’s Black?” he barked.
James only shrugged, “He seems to be a bit late coach.”
Moody scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Well, whenever he decides to arrive let him know he has an extra ten around the ice.” He continued, “And that over there,” he pointed to a scrawny boy that was in the process of putting on giant pads that seemed to swallow him whole, “is Peter Pettigrew, our other goalie. Your stall is right next to his.”
Moody clapped his hands together again, a gesture he seemed to enjoy massively, “Well boys, go ahead and make your introductions. Practice will start-”
He was interrupted by the sound of the double doors banging open behind them and Remus turned around slowly. “Sorry I’m late coach, I seemed to have-”
Their eyes met and Remus was transported back to the moment in the club when he had met Connor’s eyes over the top of Lily’s head and had felt his soul consumed. It was no less intense, seeing him standing in the Gryffindor Lions locker room, surrounded by his new teammates. Remus’s eyes bulged but he quickly contorted his features back into the careful mask he had had in place the whole day. He saw a similar occurrence take place across Connor’s face.
“Remus,” Moody drawled, “meet Sirius Black.”