Bloody Hell

The music was pumping through his veins, as if there was never any blood there to begin with. He and James had done everything in their power to be allowed to be attending this concert, it wasn’t even a big one. Just a small gig at the local pub, really. However Mr and Mrs Potter had been worried, not for their safety but for whatever foolishness they would be up to. They had a right to be, to be completely honest. Sirius did have in his plans to get absolutely hammered tonight, not caring that he wasn’t of legal age yet.

James didn’t exactly plan to join his mischief, but was happy to escort him home in a discreet manner. The band finished up and the host announced that there would be an hour gap before the next act, which to Sirius sounded like the perfect amount of time to begin drinking. And so he did. Of course the bartender knew they were under eighteen and had no plans on serving them, not that it really put a stop to him. James was chattering away with the grumpy old man, telling him about how difficult school would be the following year now that they were about to turn sixteen and how nervous he was about meeting up with the love of his life. James had this wonderful talent of keeping any listeners close by him, even if they happened to be the least interested person to ever have listened to him. Sirius carefully looked around, reaching a hand over the bar and pulling out a glass for himself. Sure, they weren’t allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts until they were in seventh year, but as far as he knew that law wouldn’t be relevant until the term actually started.

He waved his wand lazily at the glass and it filled up to the brim with a warm toned drink. Just as he was about to take his first sip of the beer he heard someone hiss at him. “What the actual fuck was that?”

He nearly choked and James threw an alarming look at him, before returning to his quest of distracting any authority figures. A bloke with eyes the size of plates was staring at him with his mouth wide open. Bloody hell, how had he not noticed him before? He can’t have a muggle wondering how he had made beer magically appear in his glass tonight, they were supposed to show the Potters how mature they were. Committing under-age magic sure wasn’t on the list of very responsible and mature things to do.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re probably too pissed”, he muttered.

The boy furrowed his eyebrows at him the second he had heard Sirius’s accent. Of course he did, it did not match the venue in the slightest. Great, now he appeared as some rich bloke who tried to imitate the lower class by walking around in a leather jacket and going to some underground gig. Fantastic, he cursed Walburga Black for that.

Unfortunately his language was not shocking enough for the boy to let the magic go. “Oh piss off.” He snatched the wand from his hands and flicked it, trying to imitate the movement. Jesus Christ, what did he think would happen? A muggle couldn’t possibly- Every single tap in the bar seemed to explode at the same exact time, overflooding the floor. “What the fuck?” he said, once again.

Now it was his turn to stare shamelessly, because Sirius honestly had no clue how that just happened. The barkeep was already at work with cleaning the mess, cursing under his breath about the “bloody taps being ancient”. James turned to him and whispered. “Padfoot, what did you do mate?”

No way was he about to be blamed for this mess. “What did I do!? Ask this bloody lunatic!” Sirius's finger was steadily pointing at the lad who still had a firm grip on his wand, he snatched it back and began lecturing him. “What the hell man? You can’t just go about waving someone else's wand around! Especially if you’re this sodding bad at it. Look at this mess, how are we going to explain this?”

The confusion still hadn’t left the stranger's face. “Wand? Explain this to who? How about you explain this to me?”

Sirius could do nothing but blink at him. Did he truly not know what he had just done? “Sirius”, James began, “I don’t think he knows, mate.”

“What do you mean he doesn’t know. He’s far older than eleven, isn’t he?” James simply shrugged his shoulders.

“No clue, perhaps Dumbledore forgot about him? I really have no clue.”

James and Sirius weren’t the only ones without a clue in the room. “What are you two going on about? Who forgot about what? Can at least one of you explain to me what just happened?” Sirius definitely did not feel the slightest bit compelled to explain magic to this stranger, not a single bit.

He grabbed James by the arm and gave the stranger an apologetic nod before making their way through the crowd to the exit. James aimlessly followed and fumbled in his coat of the invisibility cloak they had used to get here in the first place. They didn’t get far before a hand reached out for the see-through fabric and snagged it off of both of them. “I’m not even gon’ ask ‘bout that.” The robe was hanging from his clenched fist.

“Merlin's beard, what’s your deal man?” Sirius was getting properly ticked off by now. Sure, it was probably unnerving for this boy to discover his magic powers in his early teenage years, but to be frank that was none of his business to care about. “You’ve been ogling me all night! Prick.”

That was actually true, Sirius hadn’t really noticed at first. He had just been enjoying a summer night spent at a pub gig with his best mate, that was until James started to shove his elbow in Sirius’s ribs each time a pair of smug eyes had drilled holes in him. Now it was undeniably the same lad, no one else was wearing a knitted sweater with such an intricate pattern at a pub. Also, Sirius would never admit this to anyone, the other boy had caught his eye several times as well.

He scoffed. “Names’ Lupin, you twat. Also, I have not been ogling you. That’s a bit dramatic innit? Besides, half the pub was trying to snog you tonight.”

“Excuse me?” What a horribly vulgar thing to say to a stranger, Sirius immediately disliked him less than before.

“You’re excused.” Lupin was busy rummaging through his coat pockets, which seemed to be endless, until he found a pack of cigarettes.

“It was a gay pub pads, thought you knew”, James confessed with a bit of guilt.

“You knew?” Lupin raised an eyebrow at them as he lit the cigarette. “Not that it’s an issue, just thought that I ought to know if someone was flirting with me you know? Can’t ruin my reputation by seeming oblivious.” Sirius looked longingly at Lupin’s cigarette and finally asked: “Mind if I bum one?”

“Dunno, do I? Stop being so bloody posh and you might get one.” Yet he reached inside of his pockets and got one out for him. Before he handed it to Sirius; Lupin lit it for him, took a drag and then placed it between Sirius’s lips.

“Christ…”, James mumbled.

Sirius refused to acknowledge what just happened and simply begun smoking the rest. “I am not posh.”

“We are”, James argued.

“Oh sod off James.”

They were about to start bickering in that loving way that only siblings and best mates do, throwing insignificant comments at one another without actually getting somewhere. But they didn’t get the chance until Remus interrupted them, once again. “Can you please explain what the fuck happened in there.”

James was the first one to answer. “You really don’t know then, do you?” Lupin shook his head. He wasn’t entirely sure on how to explain it, he himself had grown up with magic. His father waving his wand at documents to sort themselves out. Mum stirring pots from the living room with a twirl of her finger while entertaining James as a toddler. His main entertainment being flying on a broom didn’t particularly help him understand Lupin's situation. He slowly reached out for his cloak and wrapped it around himself, the colour ran out of Lupin’s face in the matter of seconds. “This is an invisibility cloak, see? It makes the wearer invisible.”

“I think he gathered that, Prongs”, Sirius muttered.

“Go on, show him something.”

Sirius refused to use magic outside of Hogwarts twice in one night, so he handed his wand to Lupin who hesitantly accepted it. “Alright, wave it like so”, Sirius demonstrated the motion of which the wand was supposed to be used in, “and say Wingardium Leviosa, try it out. Remember to decide which object to levitate first.”

Lupin did just that, pointing it at Sirius. “Wingardium Leviosa.”

Sirius hadn’t expected him to actually get it at his first try, but soon enough he was levitating a fair bit above the ground. “Alright, alright! Put me down.” Lupin didn’t really know how to, so he flicked his wand in some rather aggressive way and Sirius thumped to the concrete ground. “You get it now, don’t you? Or do we have to spell it out?”

Lupin could not stop blinking at them, or form words it seemed like. “You mean I?” James nodded slowly, trying to think of the softest way to break the news.

Sirius did not have time for that sort of caution and got to it before James had even formed a sentence in his head. “Magic, yeah. Pretty much all there is to it. Bye now.”

Sirius turned his heel to both of them and started making his way to the nearest fireplace to floo his way back to the Potters’. He didn’t get very far.

“Sirius.” On rare occasions James Potter took on the same tone as his mother, which made Sirius stop dead in his tracks before he had even thought of a way to escape a lecture. “We ought to help him. Lupin, do your parents know you’re here?”

Lupin shrugged his shoulders and put out the cigarette by dragging it in the ground with his shoe. “Haven’t got any.”

Oh no. Sirius already knew what was going on in his mates head. James had a heart larger than his brain and did not, not ever, fail to find a situation where he could help someone in distress with no parents. Sometimes Sirius felt like James collected them, and Sirius happened to be his first item in the vast collection of children with good for nothing parents. Of course he didn’t mean harm by, nor did Sirius mind James caring for them, however it was as if James simply forgot to ever care for himself.

“Oh. I’m sorry. Would you like to come with us? Mum could help, I think.” Sirius had to use every bit of self control to not bang his head into a wall right now. Lupin was in the process of answering him, and by the look of his face it would’ve been a firm no. However, James had no plans on abandoning a newly found friend in the gutters of London and simply took the lad's hand and guided him after himself and Sirius.

*

Sirius struggled to pick the lock for the summer cabin, the old thing was rusty and getting on his nerves. James stood guard, watching out for any muggle police officers while Lupin observed him. “Bugger. This thing is impossible!”, he exclaimed in frustration.

Lupin kneeled down beside him and took the hairpin from his hands. “Let me see.” The familiar clicking began as soon as Lupin started tinkering with the lock and Sirius took his concentrated state as an opportunity to ask some more questions.

“Is your name really Lupin?” Sirius did not believe for a second that any other family than his own had the sadism in them to name their children ridiculous names.

“Nah. ‘s Remus. Got properly bullied for it in school though.” Remus Lupin, Sirius had to calm himself before bursting out in a fit of laughter. That was far worse than Sirius Black. The lock made a loud ‘click’ noise and fell to the ground, Remus flashed Sirius a proud smile. “Welcome.”

“Do I want to know how you are a professional lock picker, Remus?” Sirius had hoped that teasing him with the name would get a reaction out of him, in a friendly way of course. But Lupin didn’t move a muscle, perhaps it did sound friendly after all.

“Depends. Can’t promise it’s for legal reasons.”

“Oh now I definitely need to know.” The three of them walked into the cottage quietly, locking the door behind them before locating the fireplace. James started to look through his bag for the floo powder while Remus explained.

“Last summer I helped the lads in the neighbourhood with some… er, business. They needed someone small, don’t look at me like that I hadn’t hit my growth spurt yet, and I needed money. Simple as that, really.” Sirius could guess that he looked in absolute awe right then, a little mischief maker in their midst was an absolutely perfect way to end their night out. “Now you.”

His smile fell in an instant, being thrown back to the memory of him learning to pick locks. He couldn’t have been old, seven? Eight? It was before Hogwarts, that he knew for a fact. Mother had discovered Sirius’s lack of affinity for small spaces, and timely enough purchased a small cupboard for “things she couldn’t stand loitering around the house”. At least that was what she told him when he asked, in a way he presumed it was correct. Not long after, Sirius had taken the blame for when Reggie cleansed the biscuit jar before dinner. The punishment was not a pleasure, rather traumatising really. Being a thing loitering around the house never really made him any happier. Either way, when she started her series of creative punishments with that cursed cupboard, Sirius taught himself how to pick locks only to later teach Reggie. Naturally, if Sirius was going to keep protecting his little brother, the lad might as well sneak in some food when their parentals were asleep. With that story in mind, Sirius had no intention of telling the truth.

“Oh, nothing special. Nicking exam answers from the teachers lounge.”

“A bit meak if you ask me”, Remus chuckled. James interrupted their conversation by putting a handful of green powder in their open palms.

”Alright lads, see you at home. Sirius, help Lupin out, yeah?” Sirius shrugged his shoulders as he watched James step inside the fireplace, throw the powder in the stead and shout “Potter residence!” before vanishing in green flames. Lupin stared at him for the millionth time that night.

“You’re not siri-” Sirius did not let him finish that sentence, partially because of what the last word seemed to be, and simply dragged them inside the chimney and did the exact same thing as James. He was sure he could hear Remus scream at him in anger during the brief transportation.