Futile Devices

Sirius woke up with a start. He took a moment to compose himself and noticed that his sheets were damp. Covered in sweat, no doubt. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, with enough force he felt it might burst out of his cavity Alien style.

It’s okay. She’s not here. She can’t hurt you anymore. You’re safe now. You’re stronger now. You have James and Pete and Mary and Effie and Monty. They’re your family now. You’re okay, Sirius. You’re safe.

It’s a mantra he’d been repeating to himself ever since he’d moved in with the Potter’s. Since then, he’s been battling night terrors and panic attacks every time he laid his head down to sleep. Well, to be honest the night terrors have been present even when he was living with them. But their intensity lessened when he moved into the homely environment of the Potter’s residence.

Sirius couldn’t worry about that right now. He pushed it to the back of his mind for another time when his nights of impending trauma made themselves known. For now, he had a study session to prepare for.

When one anxiety comes, another one takes its place, he thought. Sirius was nervous, though James and Mary would later tell him that nervous was an understatement.

“Mate, stop bouncing your leg. You’re making the car shake.” James kept one hand on the wheel and moved the other to Sirius’ shoulder in hopes to calm him. “Sorry. I’m sorry, just. I feel like I’m overdressed, am I overdressed? I think the leather jacket is too much. Oh, who am I kidding. The jacket is never too much. What about my hair? Mary, you’re always on me about my hair. How is it? James, I think I left a brush and some dry shampoo in the console if it’s bad. Let’s see, can you mo-OW!”

Sirius rubbed his hand against the back of his head, trying to soothe the burn he felt from Mary yanking on his long, black hair. “Christ, Mary! The fuck you do that for?”

He turned from the passenger seat of James’s car to flick Mary square in the forehead.

“Ow, you prick. I was only doing it to shut your bloody trap. If I have to hear you complain about your outfit or your stupid, shiny hair, I swear I’ll cut your jacket and your hair off with the pair of box cutters I found back here.”

Sirius, thoroughly threatened, turned to stare at James who pulled up into the car park of the Three Broomsticks. “Why do you have a pair of box cutters in your car, Prongs?”

James spared a look around the faces in the car who seemed to have the same question. He started to busy himself by unbuckling his seatbelt and saying, “I don’t know, what if I’m driving and I see a litter of baby kittens who somehow got their little necks stuck in those plastic soda rings?” He took the keys out of the ignition and finally looked up at the group.

Sirius and Mary had endearing looks on their face while Peter just stared blankly at James. “And you know what, he’s being dead serious about that too.” Peter unbuckled himself and proceeded to step out of the car.

“What?” James said befuddledly, “Some of us like to show compassion to other living things, Pete.” Everyone began making their way to the front doors, James and Peter arguing back and forth about whether or not kittens could gnaw their way out of the plastic pack rings when Sirius caught their attention.

“Oh stop whining, you lot. Just tell me, should I have worn these boots or were the Chelsea boots the better- OW! Damnit, MacDonald!”

“Look, I didn’t agree to this study date so that you could ask us how flamboyant you look on a scale of 1 to Harry Styles. You look smashing as always, you’re just freaking yourself out.” Mary swiftly turned behind her to face James and Peter looking caught off guard by her sudden outburst. “And you two. Pete, you can’t be surprised that James has a heart of gold and will put any living thing before himself. Just accept it, and move on about your day. Now, are you all ready to make some new friends and possibly lovers?”

The three men nodded in affirmative which Mary gave a curt nod too. “Very well. Let’s go now, shall we?” The men nodded again, and made their way into the establishment; Mary leading them, and the boy following close behind.

Once Sirius saw the familiar red hair of Lily hovering over the shoulder of a curly head of hair, he was reminded of his earlier fears that occupied his mind when he was getting ready.

What if he remembers me? He obviously will, I dropped scalding hot coffee on him. He’s going to see me and spit on me. Wait, I might actually like that. Stop it, for once in your life be serious, Sirius. He is going to hate me. God, I hope he likes me. Will he think I’m ugly? Will he think of me as the idiot who doesn’t look where their walking? Bloody hell, this was a bad idea.

A soft nudge on his shoulder brought him out of his overwhelming thoughts. Mary gave him a comforting look and wrapped her arm around his middle. He thought it was a movement from Mary that meant she had his back, but really she was just keeping a strong grip on him just in case Sirius wanted to flee at the last moment.

“Hey! You guys made it!” Marlene’s bright smile and deep tone reached the groups ears. She made her way around the table and brought Sirius and Mary into a hug. Once she was done with her big embrace, she brought her attention to the two men shuffling awkwardly on their feet.

“You two must be their mates” she said, gesturing with her head towards Sirius and Mary, “I’m not clairvoyant, so you guys have to tell me who’s the Paramore and who’s the Smith’s one.”

James’s raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat before stretching his hand out (James, ever the gentleman) towards Marlene. “Right, yes. Well I’m James, Paramore” he said obviously while rolling his eyes as if that should have been an easy conclusion to make.

“I’m Peter, I’m the Smith’s one.” Pete just nodded politely, never one for physical contact.

“Oh, lovely! I’m Marlene by the way. Marlene McKinnon. It’s so great to finally put some faces to your guys’ names and musical favorites. We’re all so excited to meet you.”

A snort came from where behind Marlene was standing, from the person with the shaggy light brown hair, sitting at the table with an open book, and wearing what Sirius thought to be the most adorable jumper.

“Oh, nevermind Remus, that snarky git. He is just in one of his moods today.” Sirius smiled at that but felt dread build in his stomach and sit there like a rock.

“He is always in a mood, Marls” said a very pretty girl with dark brown skin and long legs that seemed to go on forever. She appeared from behind them holding a tray of breakfast sandwiches and James swore he saw Peter’s mouth water.

“Remus has not been in a good mood ever since they took Pride and Prejudice off Netflix.” Sirius recognized Lily’s familiar, Scottish drawl and turned to greet her. James and Peter followed suit and shifted their stances to face the new voice.

“Hi. I’m Lily-“From beside him, Sirius could hear James’ take a quick inhale. Sirius knew James was done for when he interrupted Lily’s introduction by saying,

“Fuck me, you’re gorgeous.”

Sirius and Peter simultaneously dropped their heads and sighed deeply, while Mary pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head, causing her black ringlets to shake as well.

“Fuckin’ hell mate” Sirius heard from the person sat at the table who had yet to introduce himself.

“Yes, I am gorgeous. Thanks for noticing…Potter. I assume” Lily said with a slight curve on her lips.  “Wish I could say the same for you, lad.” And with that, she patted James on the shoulder and whisked away to the table to set the drinks down

Lily ruffled Remus’ shaggy hair which Remus shook her hand off his head and finally turned to address the group. 

He brought his long, lanky body to an upright standing position and Sirius thought he heard joints cracking. Remus took off his circle framed silver reading glasses, oh fuck me that’s hot, and immediately locked eyes with Remus.

“You work here, too? Spilled any coffee on unsuspecting patrons today?” Remus spit harshly.

Caught off guard by both the beautiful man standing in front of him and the harshness in his words, it took Sirius a moment to register what was said.

“Oh, what? Yeah, no I don’t work here.

 And I just wanted to apologize for that actually” Sirius answered with a shaky voice. “I um- I didn’t mean to do that and drop you.”

“Twice” Remus said, with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Yeah, twice. And I tried to apologize but you left quite suddenly. And I know the pun made it worse, Lily told me afterwards how much you hate them” Sirius spared a look towards Lily and saw her and the rest of the group gathered up on the opposite side of the room, peering with watchful eyes.

Remus cleared his throat and looked Sirius up and down before locking his vision dead in the eyes again. Sirius wished he’d stop doing that, he could feel his knees buckling from the pretty boy’s smolder.

He couldn’t believe this man had this much power over him. He’d barely met him! And “met” was a stretch because every single interaction Sirius had with him always turned-out sour.

A loud guffaw from Dorcas broke their what felt like a never-ending staring contest. “That was YOU?” she said, pointing a manicured finger at Sirius.

“What was me?” Sirius said, already on edge from Remus’ brooding stare. “You were the one who fell off the table at Frank and Alice’s party?”

“Holy shit, that was you!” Marlene laughed out. “You made me drop my drink on myself ‘cause I was laughing so hard.”

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously. “Yeah, that was me. Still got the bruise to show it.” Never one to get shy from showing off his body, Sirius pulled his jacket to the side and pulled up the bottom of his shirt, exposing the large patchwork tattoo that adorned his sternum, and held the edge of the shirt in-between his teeth. He looked up to the group and motioned down to the bruise covering the right side of his abdomen, “Thee it’s thtill kinda bruithed”.

Everyone winced at how painful the bruise looked and moved collectively together to get a better view of Sirius’ drunken consequence. Everyone except Remus, who still stood by the table, arms still crossed in an intimidating way. Sirius thought he saw Remus tracing the tattoo with his eyes. Moving his eyes in the shape of the large butterfly tattoo, from start to finish.

Sirius’ active imagination pictured Remus replacing his tracing eyes with his tongue, with Sirius laying flat on his back in his room. Remus’ head hovering over his stomach, hot tongue roaming over the inked skin, and their eyes locked together as Remus slowly moved his mouth lower and lower. Then, Remus’ long fingers would come up to unbutton Sirius’ pants and—

Why don’t we focus on having a conversation more than two minutes before we start having sex fantasies, huh Black?

Sirius distractedly released his shirt from his mouth and shuffled in his spot. He kept sneaking small glances at Remus, thinking he could somehow see what Sirius was thinking.

“Oh Christ, Remus is that you?” Dorcas said, holding James’ in front of her while everyone was huddled around her. “Really Remus, you just laughed and didn’t even help him up. Figured after a few drinks you’d be nicer.”

“What? You’re lying?” In three quick strides from his position by the table, he was suddenly towards the left of Dorcas. Sirius could feel the waft of cold air from Remus’ quick moves.

Sirius, of course, already knew who Remus was. That’s why he dropped him the second time. But Remus didn’t know this. And so, the young long-haired boy stood and watched the realization wash over Remus’ face that, yes, the same man who was dancing and singing along to “Gimme! Gimme!” was also the same man who knocked him down, soaking him with hot coffee, and was also standing a mere five feet from him fraternizing with his friends.

“Interesting” Remus finally said, after rewatching the video like six times, “you really can’t stay on your feet, huh?” From behind Remus, Peter laughed and tried to cover it up with a cough when Sirius gave him a death stare that would make his mother proud. Peter swallowed his retort immediately.

James, on the other hand, was not one who could be easily swayed by Sirius’ glowers. “Please, our old Chem teacher Slughorn used to call him ‘Floor Magnet’ because he would fall every single class period.”

Peter, getting brave from James’s statement, gave his own embarrassing tidbit about Sirius’ moments in grade school. “During our sixth year, Sluggy designated a separate part of the board so he could tally up how many times Sirius fell on his ass for the year.”

James nodded, agreeing. “By Christmas Break, Padfoot here raked up 86 falls and earned himself a reputation”, giving Sirius a firm slap on the shoulder.

“In more ways than one, actually” he said, trying to dig himself out of the deeply embarrassing hole made by his “best friends”.

“Sirius, I didn’t know you were a slag!” Marlene exclaimed. Okay so this wasn’t the reaction Sirius was hoping for. Oh god, now he’s gonna think I’m some commonly known whore.

“Oh, he definitely was that. How many girls was it a week, Pads? Four? Five?” James said smugly. Sirius wasted no time to slap his friend on the back of his head.

“Girls? Oh, I thought you were gay Sirius” Lily said quizzically. She looked over to Marlene as if they miscalculated something.

“You thought right, Lils. Grade school was a very complicated time for my self-discovery. James is lying though; it was only five girls my entire time in school. It wasn’t until sixth year that I realized it’s the blokes I fancy.”

“Awwww, we love a good self-discovery story. Poor birds though, they probably thought they had something good with you” Dorcas said as she pulled out a chair from the table and bringing a pickle and cheese sandwhich to her plate.

“Oh, I don’t think so. When the time came, I let them down real gently and sent them off to Prongs over here” Sirius wrapped a leather covered arm around James’s broad shoulders. James was always much taller than him but being around James and Remus tree-like height made Sirius feel like they could pick him up and put him in their pocket.

James used his free arm to bring Pete into the three-way hug and tugged them to sit in the available chairs. Sirius conveniently sat in the seat next to Remus and felt like he needed to take off a layer or two. Or all of them. Whatever would entice Remus.

Before he could let his dirty mind get ahead of him, he turned his attention to James and Pete who were chatting animatedly about New Girl with Marlene and Dorcas. James still had his arm around his best friends, which wasn’t unusual for the three men. James Potter was a 6’2, 240-pound man who could send people running for the hills if you crossed him (which was rare) but in reality, he was just one big teddy bear.

“So,” Lily’s authoritative voice brought New Girl fans conversation to a halt, “you three are very close” she said gesturing to the ongoing side hug with the stirring utensil. “Have you ever explored each other’s bodies?”

Mary, who was sitting on the opposite side of Remus (Sirius noticed they were becoming fast friends, and he tried his best not to get jealous) laughed and turned into Remus’ side (Not helping, Mary) to try and muffle the sound.

Peter self-consciously shook James’ arm off his shoulder and straightened himself up a little.

“So what if we have, Lily? Would you be jealous?” James said, using his newly freed arm to wave up and down his own body with an egotistical look on his face.

Now, the thing about James was that despite growing up in a predominantly rich household, he was not taught to be closed off and rude to anybody who didn’t reach his status. In contrast to Sirius, Effie and Fleamont Potter raised their only son to bear both the manners that any boy who came from money should obtain but to also be friendly and caring to every person he met.

When Sirius stayed over at the Potter’s house for the first time, he was completely thrown off by the warm, welcoming feeling he got from being in their home. Being around James made him used to the big ol’ heart James carried in that huge chest of his. But Sirius realized two hours after staying with the Potters that James was certainly not as intense as Effie and Monty.

During dinner, Sirius could feel an anxiety attack coming on and had to excuse himself to the toilets. When the room finally felt like it wasn’t closing in on him anymore, he’d washed his hands and stepped back into the dining room to see the Potters with worried looks on their faces.

It definitely was not the home environment he’d been used too, but with the way James Potter was he did not expect any less. It truly had just caught him off guard and made him feel a bit jealous of James. When the school would release them on holiday, Sirius would go home to his distant brother and abusive parents while James would be showered with infinite love and togetherness that Sirius so deeply yearned to have.

It wasn’t until a couple years later after that initial summer vacation, that the Potters adopted him as one of their own, officially. Since then, Sirius understood what it meant to come from a loving family.

Though coming from a loving family doesn’t mean that James was completely selfless. James Potter had the biggest ego after Sirius. He used his gentlemanly manners to get him out of serious trouble when it came to the three boys school pranks. He had top marks in every class (with Sirius following close behind) and was rugby captain his third year, as well as Head Boy his last. His time weight training was obvious in his build and even though his hair stood straight up when he woke up every morning, it added to his boyish charm and overall attractiveness. James Potter was truly a package, and he knew it.

“Oh James, I wouldn’t be jealous of missing the Lewis and Clark expedition across the vast land of your obviously, very toned body,” Lily nodded towards his physique and James smiled smugly at that, “when I can use my own two hands to explore my own body and have myself writhing in under two minutes, something you will never experience”

James sat there with his jaw dropped, just gaping at the pretty redhead who joined the conversation with Remus and Mary as if she didn’t completely annihilate James. He immediately turned to Sirius and said in a voice only he could hear, “I’m going to marry her someday”. Sirius smiled and shook his head knowingly at James, always ambitious that man.

“So Sirius,” Remus’ euphonious voice made Sirius turn his head so fast and so sharp, he got a sharp pain in his neck, “spilled any more coffee on other cafe guests recently? Or was I the only one who’s day you thought to ruin?”

Shocked that Remus was talking to him, Sirius just stared. His eyes ran over his pretty amber eyes that probably held the secrets to every wonder in the world. He had an angular face with light brown curly hair that fell over the contours of his face. The white, silvery scar that fell over the left and right planes of his face only made him more enticing. Then he focused back onto Remus’ whole face and realized he was waiting for something, what was it?

He was talking to you, you bloody idiot. Sirius cleared his throat and shook his head to get him out of whatever trance Remus had over him. “Nope, you’re the only one. How does it feel being a part of a very tight knit community made up of 1 person?”

Remus gave Sirius a bored look before blowing out a puff of air that made a loose curl hanging over Remus’ head flutter in the air and float down into the same spot. Adorable, Sirius thought. What he wouldn’t give to run his hands through his hair. Or to hold it between his fingers while Remus sucked the soul out of him. Jesus, you sound like a little kid who just discovered the internet.

“It’s definitely not great but at least I don’t have to worry about getting burned and dropped on my arse by any long haired boys in leather jackets” Remus said while bookmarking his place in his book and shutting it closed before turning his body and facing Sirius.

Remus stretched his long arm out to tug on the lapel of Sirius’ jacket. Sirius felt like Remus could feel the pounding of his heart when he did that. “Why the jacket, it’s literally 85 degrees outside?”

Sirius looked down at his favorite jacket putting his arms in front of him and admiring the sleekness of it. “My brother gave me this jacket” he said in a low voice. Remus almost didn’t hear him, especially with the chatter from their friends that took up the room. “Oh, you have brother? How’s that like?”

Still staring down at his jacket, Sirius grew a small smile on his face. “It was okay. He was kind of annoying at times, but it was always great to share secret faces with whenever Mother got tiffed with us.”

His response was a huge understatement. Regulus was annoying but only when he couldn’t understand where Sirius was coming from when he said they needed to escape and emancipate themselves. The secret faces behind Mother’s back because whenever she would yell at Sirius, she would draw her eyebrows up and make facial expressions that made her look like Miss Trunchbull from Matilda. Sirius missed his brother. When he moved into the Potter’s, Reggie stayed there and took over Sirius’ place in the family company. They had talked for a short period after Sirius left, and their conversations would be Sirius trying to convince his brother that once he turned of age, he could leave. The Potter’s had extra rooms I their huge house, and they’d be more than willing to take Regulus in as well. It was after that discussion, that Regulus stopped answering his messages and calls. He hadn’t spoken to his brother in two years.

Remus could tell that this was a topic that shouldn’t be had, especially since they barely knew each other, so he tried to steer the conversation in a better direction. “Never had any siblings meself. Only child. Dad was a horrible git and me Mum tried to make the best with what we had so no more children. But I’ve known Lily since we were young so she’s kind of like my sister. She had a crush on me for a short period in time, but that’s something we never discuss.”

Remus had absolutely no idea where all of this was coming from. He’d never disclosed this much information to some random person (who has caused him pain and given him first degree burns) but Sirius looked so sad when he mentioned his brother, Remus never wanted to see him like that again, though he couldn’t understand why.

He couldn’t remember the night of Frank and Alice’s party. He knew he had way too much to drink that night and remembered dancing to Mamma Mia, his guilty pleasure if he was being honest. But he had no idea the man he was grinding on the table with was Sirius. It didn’t even register when the whole Coffee Box incident happened.

During the whole “Sirius’ self-discovery” tangent, Remus took some time to observe him while he was trying to defend his sexuality. To put it plainly, Sirius was beautiful. From his long black hair to his deliciously muscled stomach, Remus had to remind himself not to stare.

Though when Dorcas mentioned seeing Remus in that (hilarious) video of Sirius falling off the table, Remus saw Sirius stumble backwards when he made his way to the phone in Dorcas’ hands. Partly why Remus kept rewatching the video was because the first two times, he was thinking about why Sirius moved away. It’s the scars, you gashed up idiot. Everyone is afraid of the scars. Remus made a mental note to drop a pound in the scar jar.

Remus wasn’t ashamed of his scars, per se. He’d learn to acknowledge they were there and a part of him until he died, but people were just so…obvious about them. They’d widen their eyes when they saw him. Turn to their friends by their side and whisper very loudly “do you see him?” One very nice gentleman had even said “Woah, life has not been good to you huh mate?”

Sirius must carry the same thoughts Remus concluded. I mean why shouldn’t he. Remus literally laughed when he fell off the table. He left abruptly after that horrible, horrible pun. He’d been rude to him ever since he joined the study session. Plus… the scars. It all made sense. But still, that doesn’t mean he couldn’t admire him.

“Lily had a crush on you? You must have been her sexual awakening, given that she’s lesbian and all.”

Remus stopped fidgeting with the napkin that held the sandwhich and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his thighs will a small curve on his lips. “What?” 

Sirius gulped deeply, affected by how close he and Remus were. Their faces were a good 6 inches apart, and the smile on his face made Sirius want to close the distance and place his lips on his. “Isn’t Lily lesbian? I mean, from the way she keeps turning down James and how close her and Marlene are…I just thought”

Remus laughed, a strong yet quiet laugh like he was holding himself back. He leaned back into a normal sitting position and Sirius tried to mask his disappointment by how much the distance between them grew. “You thought Lily and Marlene were a thing? That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard” Remus wiped a tear from the corner of the eye with the sleeve of his jumper and continued, “She’s not a lesbian, Sirius. She’s bi. And her and Marlene are not a thing. Lily and I actually have a secret bet going on when Marlene and Dorcas are going to confess that they’re shagging.

“Oh” was all Sirius could say. He prided himself on having a pretty good gaydar, there was just something about Lily. “So, James isn’t her type then?” he asked Remus. He needed to know whether he should tell James that the so-called wedding plans would be useless. “Oh no, I definitely sense something between them. I’m not sure what though” Remus said with his vision towards Lily laughing at something Mary had said.

“And um– “Remus looked to Sirius now and found Sirius was already looking at him. “Are you…um?”

“Gay?” Remus asked, smiling inwardly at the fact that Sirius wanted to know this about him.

Sirius nodded slowly. He was afraid of the answer, honestly. Nothing about Remus screamed gay, but Sirius thought it couldn’t hurt to ask.

It did hurt him though, when Remus answered “No.” Sirius hoped the disappointment wasn’t evident on his face, until Remus spoke again,

“I’m bi.”

“Oh.” Sirius found himself saying again, secretly elated.

“Okay you lot,” Lily’s authoritative voice caused everyone to turn their attention to the beautiful redhead standing at the head of the table. Sirius heard James sigh and look dazedly at Lily, Sirius could only shake his head at his friend. He was down horrendously.

“I feel like we’ve definitely bonded today, no fighting has broken out,” She looked towards Remus and Sirius when she said that, and the man acknowledged her by raising his cuppa in the air “so I suggest that we move this party somewhere else. How about we go back to our respective flats to relax and then if you’re up for it, we can meet at Club 101 at say…9:00?”

Everyone agreed collectively,

“Sounds fun!”

“I’m game”

“We’ll be there Lils”

“I guess”

“Whatever you want from me, Lily”

“Perfect,” she said, clasping her hands and smiling a wide smile with her white teeth making an appearance. Another sigh from James. “We’ll see each other then.”

Everyone gathered their stuff and began to rise. As Sirius was straightening up his jacket, his elbow bumped into Remus’ arm, making him drop his book to the ground.

Embarrassed that he caused something else to happen to Remus, Sirius squatted down to pick up the book, but when he picked the book up in his hands and made his way up to an upright position, Remus was kneeling down at the same time. They bumped heads, making a loud thunk noise and Sirius dropped the book again. This time they were sitting on the ground, rubbing their palms on their foreheads to try and ease the pain.

“You know,” Remus began to say, hand still on his head, “I’m starting to think I need to wear those inflatable bumper suits around you, Sirius” Remus stood up and held his hand out to the boy with a matching bump on his head. Sirius smiled at his words and took his hand. He tried to ignore the feeling of warmth that radiated throughout his body when their hands met.

For being tall and skinny, Remus was surprisingly strong, lifting Sirius as if he weighed nothing. Now, they were both standing upright, facing each other, eyes never leaving each other’s. Sirius didn’t know how long they were doing that until a quiet cough from James made them jump apart. They were still holding hands, Remus noticed.

“Sorry to interrupt, but Sirius, mate, we gotta go. I have to wash clothes because my good trousers are dirty, and I want Lily’s jaw to drop when she sees me at this club tonight.” James looked to Remus and leaned in a little, “you wouldn’t happen to have any tips on how to impress her, right Re?”

Sirius was surprised by the nickname and based on Remus’ expression so was he. Though he masked it quickly before clapping a hand on James’s shoulder and saying, “Sorry, mate. I made a promise to Lily a while back that I wouldn’t help anyone with insider tips on how to ‘woo’ her. I’m afraid you’re all on your own for this one.”

James was not put-off by his response. He took it in stride and said “S’alright Remus my boy, just means I gotta work a little harder for the girl I want. Sirius, we’ll be outside, okay?”

Sirius nodded and turned back to Remus. “I want to apologize in advance for the possible complaining Lily might do. James is very persistent” Remus let out a puff of air out his nose and shook his head. “Oh, it’s fine. I like seeing Lily all riled up.”

A small silence fell between the two, now the only ones left in the area. “So, I guess I’ll see you later then?” Sirius asked hopefully. He wanted to see more of this man, and now with his newfound knowledge, he wanted to climb this man like a tree and take him in his mouth until he moaned Sirius’ name.

“Yeah, I suppose. Maybe they’ll play Mamma Mia huh? They do have tables you can actually dance on there you know. Let’s hope you won’t fall off this time” Remus joked and slowly moving towards the exit.

Sirius rolled his eyes and bent down to tie the lace on his boot that had somehow come undone. A feeling of boldness took over him and he said “Oh shut up. You just want to dance all over me again.”

“Maybe”.

Sirius thought his brain was playing a joke on him, Remus didn’t actually say that did he? Sirius whipped his head up and stood up so fast he got a little dizzy. He was about to ask Remus to repeat himself but found himself alone in the area that used to be occupied by them and their friends.

Sirius burst out the door, expecting to see the group still standing there conversing but instead he only found James, Peter, and Mary huddling together outside of the car.

“Oh finally. You have the bloody car keys, mate! Hurry up and lets go. I need to see if the outfit I have in my head looks good in real life.”

Sirius smiled and rolled his eyes at his best friend. Honestly, you’d think James was the self-obsessed one. “I’m going, get your knickers out a bunch” Sirius unlocked the car, and everyone got in quickly, trying to escape the heat that was swallowing them outside.

“Let’s go, then. We have a fun night ahead of us. Hopefully one of us gets lucky, eh?”

“Yeah,” Sirius said from the passenger seat, smile on his face looking down at Remus’ book sitting in his lap from when he forgot to hand it back to him, “hopefully.”