#he gives off like sweater weather sirius black energy

[jamie-potters]

guys is it just me but you know the show "The Great British Baking Show" well theres this host on it and he has black midlength hair and he ears eyeliner and he once wore a leather jacket

And he just gives Sirius Black vibes so hard

(also watch the show its very good but makes you hungry)

[ikkyfics]

Stag Party

James Potter x reader

Summary: Sirius ignored him completely. “First, remember one thing: atmosphere is everything. If you stay somewhere with a creaky bed, you’ve failed as a husband.” James laughed but covered his face with his hand. “Merlin, I can’t believe I’m hearing this.” “Oh, wait, there’s more.”

Warnings: none

Part 7 of Marry Me

Masterlist

It was a golden afternoon, with the sun gleaming on the autumn leaves in the garden. The air was filled with anticipation, especially for James, who was sitting on the couch beside you, his hands intertwined with yours, wearing that signature smile that always made your heart race.

You both were savoring the last quiet moments before the evening’s commotion. James was about to leave for the long-awaited bachelor party organized by the Marauders, and though he tried to hide it, it was clear he was excited.

The door slammed open, and Sirius entered first, a whirlwind of energy. His messy black hair was more unruly than ever, and he wore a leather jacket that was definitely not suitable for the weather. "Prongs! Time to go, my dear future married man!"

Right behind him came Remus, more composed, but with a mischievous glint in his brown eyes. He was wearing a blue sweater that looked like it had been knitted by some devoted grandmother, a stark contrast to Sirius's chaotic energy. "Hope you're ready. Sirius spent the whole week planning this," he said, giving a slightly suspicious glance to his friend.

Peter appeared last, carrying a wrapped box that seemed heavier than he was. He was blushing and grinning from ear to ear. "I told you I wasn’t carrying this alone!" he protested, as Sirius easily took the box from him.

"Prongs, let’s go! We’ve got the whole night planned, and you can’t be late," Sirius said, slapping James on the back.

James looked at you, his blue eyes shining behind his glasses. He seemed torn between wanting to spend more time with you and the excitement of going out with the guys. "I guess this is a goodbye for a few hours," he said, leaning in close.

You smiled, knowing exactly what to do. Gently pulling him by the tie he was wearing – because of course James wore a tie even on a casual day – you kissed him. It was a slow, sweet, deliberate kiss that made him sigh against your lips.

"Oi, oi! Let’s go, Prongs, this isn’t the honeymoon!" Sirius exclaimed, pretending to cover his eyes.

"For Merlin’s sake, we’re still here," Remus muttered, but his smile gave away how much he found the scene amusing.

James finally pulled away, but not before leaving a last kiss on the tip of your nose, causing more grimaces from Sirius. "I’ll be back soon," he said softly.

Before they left, you placed a hand on Sirius’s chest, stopping him. "I’m only going to say this once: strippers are off the table. Understood?"

Remus raised an eyebrow and responded with his usual calm. "I promise there won’t be any strippers."

"But I can’t guarantee anything about—" he started, only to be cut off by Sirius.

"Hey, hey! That was supposed to be a surprise!" Sirius said, feigning indignation. "But don’t worry. We’ll bring Prongs back safe and sound for you... eventually."

When James was practically dragged out of the house by the Marauders, he looked back one last time, flashing a smile that made your heart melt. You shook your head, knowing he was in good hands – albeit extremely chaotic ones.

Outside, Sirius was already waiting impatiently to Disapparate. "Prongs, today’s the day you learn what real fun is. No responsibilities, no wedding lists, just us and the best night you’ll have before you say 'I do.'"

James raised an eyebrow, adjusting his glasses. "As long as it doesn’t involve anyone losing their pants or ending up in the Ministry’s holding cell..."

"Relax, love," Sirius replied with a grin, throwing his arm around Remus’s shoulders, who looked at him with skepticism. "We’re not losing our pants. Just... maybe... misplacing them temporarily."

Remus sighed, but there was a lightness in his eyes. "Ignore him, James. The worst that’ll happen is Sirius breaking a bar stool trying to show off some inappropriate dance moves."

"Hey! That was ONE time!" Sirius protested, while Remus just shot him an incredulous look.

"Oh, let’s go before you start fighting," Peter said, stretching out his arms so everyone could Disapparate together.

They vanished with a pop and reappeared in a place that was a mix of controlled chaos and extravagant magic. A wizarding bar filled with floating enchantments greeted the group, with colorful lights flashing around and a makeshift stage where a band was playing.

"Welcome to the Howling Cauldron," Sirius announced dramatically. "The best place to celebrate like there’s no tomorrow."

James looked around, surprised by the size of the place. The enchanted walls displayed constantly changing landscapes – from lush forests to snow-capped mountains – and the tables were filled with spells that made drinks levitate directly into the customers' hands.

“I’m afraid to ask how you found that out,” James said, throwing a glance at Sirius, who simply smiled as if he were the greatest genius in the world.

Remus rolled his eyes, but there was an obvious affection in the gesture. “He spends more time researching bars than he should, but... he has good taste.”

Soon, the group was seated at a polished wooden table, with mugs of butterbeer and goblets of mead being magically distributed. Sirius raised the first goblet, signaling for everyone to do the same.

“A toast to Prongs!” he began, with a wide, sincere smile. “To the best friend a guy could have – and to his bad luck for getting married before me!”

Remus gave his shoulder a light punch. “You’ve literally been dating me for years, and we live in the same house.”

“Details, details,” Sirius shot back, before continuing the toast. “Prongs, you deserve all the happiness in the world. And honestly, we deserve credit for putting up with you while you fell madly in love and got unbearably mushy.”

James blushed slightly but smiled. “You make it sound like it’s a bad thing.”

“Oh, it’s not bad,” Peter chimed in, with a shy smile. “It’s just... constant.”

Everyone laughed and toasted, the sound of the goblets echoing through the bar.

After a few rounds of drinks and embarrassing stories – like the time James fell off his broom trying to impress you – Sirius appeared with a box wrapped in a silver ribbon.

When Sirius handed the box to James, his eyes sparkled with the same mischievous energy that had turned simple moments into legendary tales. “Just open it,” he insisted, his voice full of expectation.

James, who had already been blushing lightly from all the laughter – and maybe a bit from the rounds of mead – raised an eyebrow and carefully untied the silver ribbon, clearly skeptical. As he opened the lid, he froze like a deer caught in the headlights.

Inside the box was a pair of underwear that blinked in bright letters: Love, You’re Lucky to Have Me.

The bar exploded with laughter. Sirius literally barked a loud laugh, slamming his hand on the table hard enough to almost spill his drink. Remus joined in with a short laugh before covering his face with his hand, shaking his head in amused disapproval. Peter, on the other hand, let out a high-pitched laugh and immediately took a long gulp of his butterbeer, trying to contain the embarrassment of being seen in public with this chaotic group.

James picked up the item with two fingers, holding it up in the air like a broken broomstick. “Sirius, this is absolutely ridiculous,” he said, but the smile that threatened to form on his lips betrayed any seriousness he tried to fake.

“Ridiculous?” Sirius repeated, mock-offended. “This is a masterpiece! You’ll thank me when you wear it on your honeymoon.” He winked, and the group laughed even harder.

Remus, who had until then tried to maintain some dignity, finally succumbed to the chaos. “This is so you, Sirius. You’ve managed to combine bad taste and creativity in one gift.”

Sirius dramatically pointed at him. “Ah, but that’s why you love me, Moony.”

“For that and your amazing skills at being the most inconvenient person in the world,” Remus retorted, but there was a smile at the corners of his mouth.

“Speaking of inconvenient,” Peter began, with an expression that could only be described as a small, adorable betrayal, “has anyone told the story about the time James tried to impress her with that spell to make fireworks?”

James turned around so fast he almost knocked over his goblet. “Peter, no!”

But it was too late. Sirius was already leaning forward, his eyes shining with anticipation. “Wait, I don’t know this one!”

Remus bit his lip, trying to hold back a smile. “Oh, it was memorable. James decided to surprise her in her garden. He wanted to conjure fireworks with their initials...”

Peter completed the story, enthusiastically betraying James: “But he messed up the spell, and the sparks ended up forming completely wrong initials, and she got confused because she thought he was talking about a completely different couple.”

Sirius laughed so hard that tears threatened to escape. “You... you basically confessed your feelings for another person! This is pure gold, Prongs.”

James shook his head but couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped. “Oh, of course, because none of you ever did anything stupid to impress someone, right?”

Sirius blinked innocently. “Me? Never.”

Remus raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh, sure. Want me to mention the time you tried to impress me by dancing on top of a table in the common room?”

“Oh, that was a display of talent, Moony,” Sirius replied, without an ounce of shame.

“It was more of a display of how clumsy you are,” Remus shot back, and the group erupted into another round of laughter.

When the laughter started to die down, Sirius turned his attention to James with a smile that promised nothing good. “Now, let’s talk seriously, Prongs. Are you ready for your honeymoon?”

James squinted. “If by ‘ready’ you mean I’ve planned everything to make it special, then yes. If you mean am I ready to hear you give absolutely inappropriate advice, then no.”

Sirius completely ignored the second part. “First, remember one thing: atmosphere is everything. If you stay somewhere with a creaky bed, you’ve failed as a husband.”

James laughed but covered his face with his hand. “Merlin, I can’t believe I’m hearing this.”

“Oh, wait, there’s more,” Sirius continued, raising a finger. “Never underestimate the power of a good ambient lighting spell. Magic lights are good, but enchanted candles with scent? Perfect.”

“That’s very specific,” Remus commented, looking at him with a slightly flushed face.

Sirius smirked. “I only say what I know.”

Before James could protest, Peter intervened with his hesitant voice, but full of enthusiasm. “Oh, and have you chosen who will be the godfather of the first baby? Because I have a list of reasons why it should be me.”

That broke any remaining attempt at seriousness. James laughed loudly, and even Sirius looked surprised by Peter’s boldness.

Remus shook his head, smiling. “You’re skipping a few steps, don’t you think?”

Sirius patted Peter on the shoulder. “Ah, Wormtail, you always know how to steal the show. But we all know the godfather will be me.”

When the night came to an end, James looked around at his friends with a smile that didn’t need words to express what he felt. They were chaotic, unpredictable, and absolutely insufferable... but they were his family.

And as Sirius led the group toward the exit with one last tease, James made a mental note: maybe he really should consider those scented enchanted candles. After all, every piece of advice had its use.

taglist: @hisparentsgallerryy

[fruitcoops]

Two of A Kind

I’ve been focusing on asks a lot lately because of everyone’s awesome ideas, but I saw a Cut video that was similar to this and just couldn’t resist. Hope you enjoy! Sweater Weather credit goes to @lumosinlove!

TW for mentions of sex and endless simping!

“Are you ready?” Marlene asks behind the camera. Kasey sits alone on a stool in the middle of the room, drumming his fingers on his knees.

“Yep. What am I doing again?”

The video cuts, revealing the same room, this time with James Potter on the stool. “You’re going to be answering a few questions,” Marlene explains. “And then we’re also going to be interviewing your wife and comparing your answers.”

“Oh, God,” James laughs. “Okay, hit me with your best shot.”

A title card appears on the screen. First Question: What was your first date?

Remus thinks for a moment. “Like, our first official date, or something that was definitely a date but we were both too dumb to notice?”

“Kasey took me to an ice rink,” Natalie says. She is inexplicably sitting on a folding chair rather than the stool. “We spent about three hours there, drinking cocoa and talking. It was a ton of fun!”

“Ice skating.” Kasey grins. “She told me she could skate, but she had never stepped on the ice in her life.”

“It was at Sid’s.” Sirius smiles to himself. “We had been together for about three months at that point.”

“Remus asked us to define ‘first date’,” Marlene says, sounding amused.

“Is there a different definition that I’m not aware of? We hung out at Sid’s a bunch before we actually got together, but those didn’t qualify as dates.” He pauses. “Looking back, they kind of were dates. We just didn’t know it.”

The video transitions to Lily and James, whose interviews are lined up side-by-side. “Lily took me to get ice cream after we went for a walk in the park,” James answers with a bright smile.

Lily laughs. “Our first date was a disaster. It was twenty-five degrees outside and we got ice cream. I think our brain freezes lasted about three straight minutes, but I had a great time.”

Second Question: When and where was your first kiss?

“Our first kiss happened on our first date,” Natalie says. “Kase caught me when I fell over and I just leaned right in.”

Kasey’s dopey smile makes his eyes crinkle. “At the ice rink. It felt like something out of a movie.”

Lily frowns in thought. “Oh, god, maybe our sixth date? He dropped me off at my apartment and kissed me goodnight.”

“I pulled a move straight from a John Hughes movie.” James grins and stretches his arms out. “Walked her to the door and everything. It was perfect.”

“Pascal Dumais’ basement,” Sirius says with a light laugh. “Which is a surprisingly romantic place.”

“It happened right after Sirius’ birthday party, which I was tricked into attending.” Remus gives the camera a mock-serious look. “Always be suspicious of Pascal Dumais. Always.”

Third Question: Who said ‘I love you’ first, and what was your reaction?

Sirius bites his lip. “I said it first, but only by two seconds. It was a long time coming, to be honest.”

“Sirius said it first.” Remus smiles at the memory. “We were both kind of wrecks at the time, but it was…amazing. I think I just cried harder and kissed him.”

Lily rolls her eyes fondly. “James said it first. We were both super drunk and he just blurted it out in the middle of the club.”

“She ran away!” James practically shouts as the video cuts to him. “I told her I loved her, she gave me this shocked look, and then disappeared! I get a text an hour later saying she caught a cab and went home, and she signs it with ‘love, Lily’. What the fuck was I supposed to do with that?”

Natalie coughs slightly. “Um, I don’t remember who said it first.”

Kasey grins at the camera. “Natalie said she didn’t remember,” Marlene calls.

“Oh, she remembers.”

Fourth Question: How’s your sex life? Anything you can do differently?

Sirius, who was taking a sip of water, chokes. “Excuse me?”

Remus is dead silent for a second, blinking at the camera in shock. “It’s, uh, good.”

“If we gave you some alcohol, would your answer change?” Marlene asks.

“Probably. Does anyone else feel like they’re suddenly in danger?”

“What sex life?” James snorts. “We have a baby. There is no time or energy for anything anymore.”

Lily raises an eyebrow. “You think I want him anywhere near me after I just shoved a baby out of my crotch?”

“It’s damn good.” Natalie winks, uncapping her own waterbottle. “Pro tip for anyone looking for a hockey boyfriend: go for the goalies. They’re flexible.”

Kasey is laughing into his hands when his interview appears. “She said that?” he manages. “Oh, Christ.”

Fifth Question: Do you dirty talk?

“Yes.” Kasey and Natalie say at the same time. James winks, and Lily shrugs with a sly smile.

Remus gives the camera crew a disbelieving look. “Are all the questions like this? Were we lulled into a false sense of security?”

“Answer the question, Loops!”

Remus sighs deeply. “On occasion, yes. I’m going to regret saying that.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Sirius says, narrowing his eyes as he sets his water down.

Sixth Question: How well do you sleep?

“Not bad,” Remus says. “Better than I used to, that’s for sure.”

“I don’t sleep,” Lily scoffs. James just looks at the camera and wordlessly gestures to the shadows under his eyes.

“Pretty well,” Natalie muses, slinging one arm around the back of her folding chair.

Sirius nods. “I’d say I sleep well most nights. It’s more comfortable with another person, which was surprising.”

Seventh Question: Why do you feel obligated to share a bed?

“Obligated?” Sirius and Remus say with matching tones of incredulity.

Lily’s smile becomes softer. “I really like sharing a bed. It makes me feel safe.”

“Oh, I love sleeping next to Lily.” James’ gaze turns dreamy. “She smells nice, she’s so warm, and sharing a bed makes childcare much easier when the other person is within reach.”

“You can’t tell her I said this, okay?” Kasey looks around at the camera crew before answering, and his cheeks turn light pink. “Nat’s side of the bed faces east, so if I get up for practice and the sun is rising, she glows a little bit. I dunno, I like it.”

“Kasey is really warm and cuddly.” Natalie says after a moment of thought. “He’s like my own personal heater and I’m never cold if he’s there. Don’t tell him I said that.”

Remus bites his lip before speaking. “I’m not much of a cuddler, but I sleep better next to Sirius than I ever have before. It’s incredible.”

Sirius cocks his head to the side with a smile. “Hmm. Having someone there to hold, especially someone I care about so much, is the best feeling. If I ever wake up in the middle of the night, he’s just…always there.” He half-shrugs. “It’s sappy, but it’s true.”

Eighth Question: Rate your attractiveness on a scale of 1-10

“Eleven,” Lily and Natalie say in unison, as if it’s obvious.

“I’m going with a solid six,” Remus decides after a moment’s deliberation.

“Eight, maybe?” Kasey answers.

Sirius makes a face. “Six? Seven?”

James is mid-laugh when the video cuts to him. “Um, seven. Lily and I have talked about this before and I got in trouble for saying ten, that’s why I’m laughing. Sorry.”

Ninth Question: Rate your partner’s attractiveness on a scale of 1-10

Not a single one hesitates. “Ten.”

“Remus said he was a solid six,” Marlene says as the camera focuses on Sirius.

His eyebrows shoot up. “What? Where is he? Re!”

“What?” a distant voice shouts back.

“You’re a ten!”

“On what scale?”

“Nat said eleven, didn’t she?” Kasey asks with a grin as the clip changes. “I love it when she does that.”

Final Question: What animal is your partner and why? Give three reasons.

Lily gives Marlene a hard look. “Marley, I love you, but what I say right now needs to stay confidential from my husband.”

Sirius laughs quietly. “Oh, he’s going to hate me for this.”

“Lily is a lioness,” James says immediately. “She’s strong, fierce, and unbelievably brave.”

Natalie tilts her head. “Good question. I’m going to go with a bear, since he’s got a big, tough reputation but he’s all soft inside. He’s a pretty solid guy, too, and he likes cold weather.”

“Nat is one of those really colorful birds,” Kasey says. “The ones with big personalities and the pretty feathers.”

“James is a lion.” Lily thinks for a moment longer. “It’s not just that he plays for the Lions, but he really is one of the bravest people I know. He’s protective of his family and cares a lot about keeping everyone together.”

Remus grins at the camera. “Sirius is a dog, and I will happily tell you why. Number one: he loves going for walks. Number two: he is endlessly loyal to the people he cares for. Number three: peanut butter.”

“So, Re is either a cat or a dog, and I really can’t choose.” Sirius’ eyebrows draw together in thought.

“You can choose both if you have reasons,” Marlene calls behind the camera.

“Really? Alright, he’s a dog because he’s friendly, loyal, and brings people trinkets as gifts. Um, I don’t have a legitimate reason for the cat one, but do any of you know that one vine with the cat that’s being dragged around on a leash?”

The camera crew bursts out laughing, and a small picture of the cat appears in the upper left of the screen.

“Anyone who has tried to pick Remus up knows that he looks exactly like that. Goes completely limp, it’s the funniest fucking thing.”

The video cuts to Remus, who raises his eyebrows. “He said what?”

The title card appears and Marlene’s voiceover begins. “Thanks for watching, Lions! Special thanks to Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James and Lily Potter, Natalie Darcy, and Kasey Winter for being with us today. Like and subscribe for more!”

[anemonenemerosa]

Soo fellow people! I decided to post my entire “The Spare” fic here anyway.

Hopefully, I can post a chapter every week.

Enjoy if you like :)

The fic is inspired by lumosinlove’s Sweater Weather (read it!) and contains HP characters, her OC’s and my OC’s.

Thank you for your great work and inspiration Haz :)

@lumosinlove

Chapter 1

As the plain slowly descended into landing on Slytherin Airport, Regulus' fidgeting with the cuff of his suit was interrupted by the harsh grip of his mother’s hand on his wrist.

"Regulus, arrête ça!" Stop that! she spat, her voice low but coldly settling into his bones nonetheless. "It is high time to drop your childish attitude. You are a Snake now, don't befoul your father’s reputation by acting all shy and flustered. You are expected to brim over with pride for following his legacy."

Straightening his shoulders, he gave her a small nod "Bien sûr, Maman."

His father, seated on his other side said nothing, he rarely did. His face stony, unyielding, like most of the time. When Regulus got the call a few weeks ago, he had seen his father emit more emotions than the last years combined. Orion stood in front of him, almost smiling and giving his shoulder a firm squeeze. "Just as we expected from you, son."

He was, and still is absolutely determined to make his parents proud, exited to prove to everyone that he is just as good as his famous brother, if not better. Especially as Sirius turned out to be such a disappointment.

Regulus felt his brother’s eyes on him as he walked from the interview towards the podium for his official draft ceremonial and tried to pass by quickly without being too obvious. Sirius, however, oblivious as always, pulled him into a hug he could only jerk away from. Regulus did not look into his brothers face. Determined to suffocate any reminiscent feelings still left from their shared childhood, he rushed past him without sparing a glance.

 How dare he acting all brotherly after not no more than a few brief calls since last Christmas. He left his family -left Regulus- behind as ruthlessly as to be expected from a Lion. Why is he even here? For publicity, no doubt.

In the locker room, Regulus looked in awe at the emerald green jersey. BLACK was written across the shoulders in bold letters, just above his number, the 72.

"Ne nous laisse pas tomber. C'est ta seule chance." Don't fail us. It’s your only chance, his mother hissed, pulling him back into rapt attention.

Aware of all the reporters in the locker room, Regulus just quickly shot her a look, indicating that he understood while carefully pulling the item over his head. Once the jersey was in place, the room was bursting with camera flashes. Regulus, stood in between his parents, showing what he hoped was a look of self-esteem and determination on his face. He never felt comfortable within crowds.

 However Sirius did this so confidently.

"We are so very proud to finally have a son following his father’s footsteps into a career with the Snakes" hearing his mother telling the reporters turned his focus hastily turns back on his surroundings.

The evening rushed by in an overwhelming blur of people congratulating him during an extravagant dinner at Malfoy Manor.

His father was immersed in a highly engaged conversation with Karkaroff, consisting of their chances for the Cup, slagging other Teams and elaborating the high standards Regulus will have to meet. Lucius and Rodolphus were mostly eavesdropping on the exchange while their wives, his cousins Narcissa and Bellatrix, busied themselves with drinking champagne at an alarming rate with his mother.

No one spoke to Regulus, but he was content to listen. Most people underestimated how much information could be gathered by unsuspecting bystanders and his mother made sure he always kept what-ever he overheard for further use.

By the time women began to cackle and gossip unashamedly, Orion made a quick effort to excuse himself and his wife, most likely to avoid his family being witnessed in a fairly unflattering, borderline-embarrassing situation.

After bidding his parents farewell, Lucius instructed a housemaid to show Regulus to the room he would inhibit during his rookie season. Luckily, the Lestranges did not want him to billet in their house. While Narcissa and Lucius were acting with polite indifference around him, he always suspected Bellatrix to be more than just a little mad.

As he was silently led through elegant corridors with polished furniture and ornate carpets, almost indistinguishable from his parents Maison, his nerves began to act up a little. His trunk was already in the room and he was left to himself. The bedroom was plain in a way that radiated wealth but lacks any means of recognition.

Just like home, Regulus thought drily while stepping into the marble-covered bathroom for a shower.

Lying awake in the dark, he finally allowed himself to process the commotion that was his day. After an exhausting flood of questions, photographs and people staring at him, the trimmed and polished drafts presented on TV seemed amusingly off the mark. Was Sirius draft a similar ruckus?

Six years ago, Regulus was not allowed to come with his mother but secretly watched it on TV in the kitchen with their house-maid. His father refused to accompany Sirius.

“I will not set a single foot in that wretched city. If you want to pull through with this, you have to go alone!”, he spat over dinner the night before and stayed in the basement during the next day.

Back then, he did not understand the tension and certainly did not want Sirius to go and leave him alone under the strict supervision of their parents.

"Seras-tu toujours mon frère, Siri?" "Will you still be my brother Siri?"

"Je serai toujours ton frère, Reg!" "I will always be your brother, Reg!" ...Yeah, of course. Connard stupide.

Much later he would learn about the end of his father’s career but until then Regulus clung to his brother whenever he visited, if he visited, less and less each year.

Huffing angrily, Regulus dismissed Sirius from his thoughts. This was his draft, the start of his career, the golden opportunity to prove himself to his parents and the world. He should sleep instead of wasting his energy on futile memories.

[lumosinlove]

Sweater weather quarantine idea: After dodging James's phonecalls and discussing it with Remus, Sirius decides to come out to James. He's too nervous to do it on the phone, so he writes a long text message or films a video explaining the situation to James.... (I can't decide if he says who the person is or not... I guess that's up to you) After sending it, he's too scared to look ok at his phone again and starts pacing like crazy before deciding to work off the nervous energy on his ice rink

Remus: Plz come eat dinner. Or at least change directions you’ve been circling left for like...four hours.

Sirius: can’t.

Remus: James is gonna accept us. C’mon, Pads, you know him.

Sirius: *is nervous boy*

*A sudden banging issues from above*

James: SIRIUS FUCKING BLACK I AM--I AM--LILY IS MAKING ME SOCIAL DISTANCE SO I AM OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW AND I KNOW YOU ARE SKATING RIGHT NOW. COME TO THE WINDOW SO I CAN GIVE YOU A VIRTUAL HUG AND THEN A VIRTUAL PUNCH FOR NOT TELLING ME. I’M SO HAPPY AND SO ANGRY. AND SO HAPPY. I’M NOT CRYING LILY STOP----

[wizardwritings]

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Prompt: Holiday AU. “We were playing in the snow and you suddenly tackled me to the ground and now…we’re just…staring…at each other…” by @nadiahilker. (Sirius Black x Reader)

Word Count: About 1,900.

Warning(s): Banter, flirting, sexual tension. Literally just holiday fluff with a bit of spice. ;)

Author’s Note: I’ve never experienced snow so this is just me fantasizing, LOL. Happy reading! I hope this can make your holidays a little bit brighter. :)

You loved the holidays.

Christmastime was–without a doubt–your favorite time of the year. The weather was cold and cozy, the paved streets were lit with strings of light, and, if you were lucky, there was even snow.

The first snow of the season had just started a few days earlier, and you and Sirius decided to take advantage of the fresh snowfall by celebrating outdoors.

You met him during your first year of university when you lived across from each other in your residence halls, and to this day you were still friends, only getting closer over time. Both your former roommates and his got along and you instantaneously became a close-knit group that did almost everything together.

And, four years later, the truth still held.

You were as close as ever.

You even invited them to hang out with the two of you today, but they bailed last minute–something about their cats running away? Though you weren’t aware they even had cats–leaving you and Sirius to spend the day alone.

Not that you minded.

In fact, you were a tad more pleased than you’d like to admit.

But your evident attraction towards Sirius did not stop you from wanting to tackle him for hurling a snowball at your back.

“Tell me you did not just throw a snowball at me.”

Sirius muffled his chuckle with a clothed hand. “Okay. I didn’t throw it at you.”

But the wet slush you felt sending shivers up your spine told you otherwise. Calmly adding the finishing touch of a carrot nose on your snowman, you turned around to face Sirius.

“I’m going to get you back for that,” you said simply, scooping up some excess snow from your snowman to chuck his way.

As you rose from your crouch a sudden flurry of white landed on your chest, melting into the soft cashmere of your knitted sweater and shooting a chill straight through you.

Your mouth fell open. “That was such a cheap shot!”

“Was it?” taunted Sirius, tossing another ball up and down as he leaned against a tree trunk. “What are you going to do about it, princess?”

With all the strength you could muster, you flung your deformed snowball straight at him, pegging him in the face. As the snow softened and slid off his face, Sirius blinked, a bark of surprised laughter escaping him. Your hands shot to your mouth as you tried to hold in your giggles at his confused expression.

“You want to talk to me about cheap shots, huh?” he asked, moving to close the distance between you two as you cautiously backed away.

You raised a hand up in mock surrender, the other behind your back clutching a snowball at the ready. “I swear, I was aiming for your stomach– I just have terrible aim.”

As he opened his mouth to respond, you threw the icy snowball at his waist. However, it went lower than you intended and landed directly on his crotch.

Sirius grimaced, hissing between his teeth.

You bit your lip, sheepish. “Oops.”  

“Oops?” he repeated, his voice raspy enough to make your throat feel dry.

Sirius threw the snowballs in his hands down onto the floor and a look of skepticism crossed your face. Was he about to forfeit the title of Snowball Champion to you? Perhaps this was the year you would finally win–

“Hey!” you yelped, eyes widening when you saw Sirius running towards you, arms outstretched with a troublesome look on his face.

Snapping out of your daze in the last second, you managed to dodge his grasp. You ran faster than ever before, Sirius–with his stupidly long legs–hot on your heels.

“You better run, Y/N!”

“What do you think I’m doing!?”

Out of breath and only further losing your energy, you ducked behind a tree trunk, using it to shield you against Sirius. Quickly realizing you weren’t going to be able to run from him much longer, you decided to switch tactics.

When you heard Sirius drawing nearer, you jumped out from behind the tree, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and using the momentum and surprise tackle him.

“What the–?”

Caught off guard, you felt him lose his balance on the snowy ground, landing with a small oof.

“Ouch,” you groaned, rubbing your elbow that crashed onto Sirius’ side.

“Why are you saying ouch?” he grunted, back flat the floor as he tried to catch his breath from all the chasing he did. “You landed on me.”

“It was a hard fall.”

“I know.”

Laughing, you pushed yourself up into a sitting position, one knee on either side of his waist. You were breathing hard from the physical exertion and adrenaline, and you were certain your elbow was going to bruise within the hour. Yet this was the most fun you’ve had in a long time.

“Sorry,” you said after you realized Sirius hadn’t said anything in a while now. In fact, you weren’t sure he was even moving beneath you. “I didn’t mean to tackle you– But I’d make a good rugby player, wouldn’t I?”

Sirius chuckled, but it was a strangled one. “I reckon you would.”

“I’d be the best on the team. Just like I’m the best at snowball fights.”

He snorted. “In what world?”

You quirked an eyebrow, feeling smug. “In the world where I pegged you in the face and crotch with a snowball– And then still managed to tackle you and end up on top.”

“Oh, really?”

You felt his hands brush against the backs of your thighs. You tried not to jolt.

“What are you–?” You cut yourself off with a yelp, laughing uncontrollably as you tried to pull away from his fluttering fingers. “Don’t! I’m ticklish!”

“That’s the point,” said Sirius, a wicked grin on his face as he rolled the two of you over so he was on top. With Sirius still tickling the sides of your waist, you continued to squirm and wriggle underneath him. “Do you agree you used cheap shots to win the fight?”

You shook your head fervently. “No.”

“What was that?”

As he tickled you relentlessly, you squealed, grabbing at his hands to push them away.

“Do you give up?” Sirius pressed, his warm body pressing closer against yours.

“Yes! I surrender,” you cried between fits of laughter, fingers interlacing with his in an attempt to stop the tickling. “I concede! You’re the ultimate snowball champion.”

“Thank you.” Sirius dropped his hands from your sides, instead placing them on either side of your head. A triumphant look mingled with the stormy fire in his eyes when he heard your breath hitch.

It was just then you realized the position the two of you were in.

Sirius–who was still straddling your hips tightly with his thighs from his efforts to control your wiggling, torso pressing against yours. You–tucked snugly beneath him on the icy floor, hands still resting on the warmth of his chest from when you tried to stop his tickling.

You gulped.

When you met his gaze, a flush filled your cheeks and you were thankful the harsh winds were there to blame. His lips were pink and slightly chapped from the cold, and the only thought in your head was how much you wanted to press your lips against his. You blinked.

“Hey there,” said Sirius with a crooked smile, shifting slightly but making no move to get off you.

“Hi,” you said breathlessly.

Was he going to kiss you?

You were certain he was, but when he didn’t move you looked away in uncertainty.

“You have pretty eyelashes,” you blurted, watching a snowflake land on the tip of his lash. “I don’t think I’ve ever looked at them this closely before.”

Sirius laughed and you felt a flood of warmth fill your stomach as if you had just chugged a cup of steaming hot chocolate too quickly and you were now left with a burning tongue and a hot core.

The snow beneath you began to melt and you shivered as the wetness seeped through your sweater. But the body heat emanating from Sirius was enough to distract you and keep you warm.

“Cold?” Sirius whispered, his voice hoarse.

You felt a chill run up your spine, but it wasn’t from the snow.

You shook your head. “I’m pretty comfortable right here.”

He looked down at you, thighs still pressing against yours. “Are you, now?”

“Yes.”

Sirius chuckled, shaking his head as he began to pull himself away. “I think you’d be more comfortable indoors with a nice cup of cocoa in your hands.”

Not wanting to get up just yet, you grasped the collar of his coat in your hand, stopping him in his spot. He froze.

You peered up at Sirius through your lashes, smiling coyly when his eyes darkened.

“Y/N,” he rasped, his tone sounding almost warning. With one hand gripping his jacket, you pressed your other flat against his abdomen. Sirius sucked in a breath. “What are you doing?”

You shrugged, biting your lower lip to keep his attention there. As his gaze focused on the way your tongue flicked the flesh of your mouth, you slowly formed a ball of snow in your hand, smashing it on the back of his neck.

Sirius yelped in surprise at the cold snow and you used it to your advantage, hooking the back of your leg around his hip and pinning him down. He looked up at you in a shocked, but dazed, expression and you grinned triumphantly.

When you made eye contact, you both laughed at the audacity of the situation.

“Who’s the winner now?” you teased, breathless from laughing. “I am.”

You did a little happy dance and he sucked in a harsh breath. You stiffened, still straddling his torso.

Sirius smirked lazily, a glint in his eye. “You might’ve won the snowball fight, but I’m sure as hell feeling like the winner here.”

You felt his warm hands run along the hem of your pants, stopping to grip either side of your hips. You shifted your legs, a rush of warmth shooting straight to your core.

He propped himself upright, large hands still planted on you to keep your legs wrapped around him. Your face was inches away from his– So close you could even smell the aftershave he used.

“Armani?” you hummed, pressing your face near the crook of his neck where it met his jaw.

“Yeah,” he chuckled roughly. “Your favorite, right?”

“Mhm.” You sighed contentedly, resting your head on his shoulder. “Sirius?”

“Yes?”

“I won, right?”

He breathed out in amusement. “Yeah, babe, you did.”

“Good.” You traced the square of his jaw, feeling the light stubble underneath your fingertips. “Does that mean I get a prize?”

Sirius met your gaze, staring down at you as his lips quirked upwards. “Anything I can give you.”

A giddy smile formed on your face as his hand cupped the side of your face. He laced his fingers through the hair at the nape of your neck, a shiver running down your spine–and not because it was cold outside.

“Just you.”

Sirius laughed, his lips brushing against yours. “Trust me– You already have me.”

A/N: The end!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone! Good luck with finals, exams, or any essays you have left. Winter Break is coming soon; keep pushing through! Spend time with your loved ones, read some books, watch your favorite movies, bake some cookies! Much love. :) xx Fia

P.S. This is like my third re-upload so if the search tag things don’t work again, I give up. Just find me on Wattpad, LOL. 

[fruitcoops]

You’ve done a few ace Reg centered fics (which I adore, thank you) what about an aro Reg centered one? Like I know you headcanon him as aroace but there’s not a lot out there for just an aro aspect if you get me. Anyway, do ignore if you don’t vibe with this. I adore your fics and I hope you have a wonderful day ♥️

AAAHHH YES!! I love that people enjoy my aroace Regulus fics! I absolutely vibe with this and had a great time revisiting my favorite runaway snake <3 Sweater Weather credit goes to @lumosinlove!

I

Leo sniffed the air, then leaned down and sniffed Regulus.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“Is that you?”

“Is what me?” Regulus looked down at himself, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“That smell.”

He frowned. Aside from taking a shower in the morning instead of at night, he hadn’t changed any part of his routine. Tentatively, he sniffed his shirt. “…I don’t think so?”

“GImme your hand.” Leo reached down and took it before Regulus could protest—he lifted it to his face and made a humming sound of satisfaction. “It is you. I like your hand lotion.”

“Thanks?” Regulus didn’t remember putting any lotion on that morning. It hadn’t been dry enough recently to make his knuckles crack, and ever since he left the Snakes, his blisters weren’t as severe…

A thought struck him as they headed down the next aisle. Soap.

“I’m not wearing hand lotion, but Sirius got new soap for the bathroom. Something with flowers, maybe?”

“Magnolia,” Leo said with a small smile.

“Yeah, something like that. The minty stuff was making Remus sneeze.” Regulus paused. “How do you know what flower it is?”

“Smells like home.”

He closed his eyes and breathed deep again; he had never been to New Orleans, but knowing that only made him want to go more. He laughed under his breath. “Knutty, guess what?”

“What?”

“I’m an aromatic aromantic.”

“Oh my god,” Leo groaned, shoving him away by the forehead as they rounded the corner. “You’re awful.”

“I’m hilarious,” Regulus corrected with a grin.

II

Regulus drummed his hands on the doorjamb as he popped his head into the living room. Nervous energy prickled in his stomach, though it wasn’t nearly as severe as the first time he came out.

“Do you want to join?” Sirius asked around half an Oreo, tucking his legs up. Some sci-fi action movie Regulus had never seen burst in bright colors across the TV screen; one of the Star-somethings, he thought.

“No, I just needed to talk to you. Uh, you know how I’m ace?”

Sirius sat up straighter with concern written all over his face. “Are you okay? Did someone give you shit for it?”

He shook his head and tried to ignore the dryness of his mouth. He loves you. He’ll accept you. Be cool. “No, but I’m also aromantic.”

A smile tilted one side of Sirius’ mouth up. “Merde, I thought it was going to be bad news. That’s great, Reg, thanks for letting me know. I guess I should stop looking for people to set you up with, eh?”

“Yes, please,” Regulus laughed around the clog in his chest. “Okay. Okay, cool. Um, thanks for…being cool about it.” Say ‘cool’ a little more, why don’t you?

Sirius just kept on smiling. “Any time. Anything else you want to talk about?”

“I think that covers it,” he said, clearing his throat. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

III

Regulus’ birthday had never been a big deal, even once Sirius was out of the house and it was just him and his parents. They remembered it, of course, and always wished him an absentminded ‘happy birthday’ when he came out of his room, but it never felt personal. Their gifts were especially detached: some pucks, a new stick, and a watch he would never wear were the most common.

His first birthday away from them was like nothing he had ever experienced before. Sirius organized a surprise party while the Dumais kids teamed up against him in a game of pickup hockey at the park; Regulus nearly cried when he saw the bright streamers and crowd of people that showed up for no reason other than to celebrate him for a day.

He finally fell into bed just before midnight, exhausted and all tingly with happiness. The purple, black, and gray flag on his wall caught the moon coming through his window and he smiled to himself when he saw the toppled pile of birthday cards on the dresser beneath it.

Nobody had given him anything remotely hockey-related, nor had he seen any sign of a watch. A new puzzle from Leo with magnolias on it waited on the floor by his closet; the book series Sirius got him was already in his bookshelf, perfectly filling the last bit of empty space.

There was a gentle knock on the door just before he turned his light off. “You can come in,” he called, suddenly worried. Had something happened in the twenty minutes he had been gone?

Remus stepped in with a shy smile as he fidgeted with a small package wrapped in green paper. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were getting ready for bed.”

“It’s alright.”

“This is for you.” He sat on the end of Regulus’ bed and handed him the package; it was soft, like fabric, but much too small to be clothing. “I was hiding it so you wouldn’t find it on accident and totally forgot to give it to you earlier.”

“Thanks, Remus. You didn’t have to do that.”

He shrugged. “It’s your birthday. The presents are the best part.”

The best part is being absolutely suffocated by affection from twelve Lions, Regulus thought, though he kept it to himself and picked at the shiny gold ribbon. “Can I open it?”

“Sure thing, birthday boy.”

It certainly felt like fabric when it brushed against Regulus’ fingers and he scooted closer to his bedside lamp as he pulled the wrapping paper away. Green, grey, white and black stood out in blocky stripes against the blue of his bedspread—it was slightly smaller than his ace flag, but just as beautiful.

“It’s—Erin thought you might like it. From the bookstore?” Remus was worrying at the cuff of his sleeve, as if there was any possible way Regulus wouldn’t like it. “It’s the—”

“Aromantic pride flag,” he murmured, tracing the edges and willing his voice not to crack. He swallowed hard and kept it clutched tight in his hand as he turned and wrapped his arms around Remus in a hug. “Thank you.”

Remus seemed surprised, but quickly relaxed and held him close. “Happy birthday, Reg. I’m really glad you like it.”

“Of course I like it,” he scoffed, closing his eyes as a slight prickle built behind them.

“I’m really glad you came to stay with us,” Remus said when Regulus finally pulled away. “It’s been awesome getting to know you.”

Regulus cracked a smile. “Ditto. Today was incredible, by the way.”

The clock on his nightstand beeped as midnight struck and Remus raised his eyebrows. “Oof, sorry for keeping you up.”

“Are you kidding?” Regulus laughed. “I’m a night owl. I’ll be up for ages.”

“Uh-huh, sure you will.” Remus shook his head as Regulus stifled a yawn, then stood and headed back toward the door. “Sleep tight, Reg.”

“You, too.”

Regulus curled up under the covers with the flag’s smooth fabric tucked against his face and the scent of magnolia soap winding around him. Happy birthday to me, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

[fruitcoops]

Hello! I truly love your writing! Would you consider a continuation of that piece where Jules stays with coops for a week? Or just some snippets of what they get up to?

Here’s part 1, folks! It’s about 3k words and I’m thinking there will be three or four parts total, released over the next couple days. I hope you enjoy it!

Sweater Weather and Jules credit belongs to @lumosinlove!

“Jules.” A series of gentle knocks echoed down the stairs and Sirius smiled into his coffee cup. “Jules, it’s time to wake up.”

Regulus snorted. “Bet you five bucks he has to drag the kid down.”

“Deal.”

“Jules.” Remus knocked again, sounding more exasperated. There was a heavy sigh and the door clicked open; after a moment of quiet, someone yelped. “Good morning, sunshine.”

“Go away!” Jules groaned. “An’ give it back!”

“It’s time for breakfast, get a wiggle on. I’ll carry you if I have to.”

“I’m cold.” More rustling noises followed before Jules appeared at the top of the staircase, bundled in Remus’ sweatshirt—which was really Sirius’, but it didn’t matter—and scowling. His bedhead was outstanding.

“Bon matin,” Sirius said with a smile when Jules sat heavily in the chair next to him and put his forehead on his arms. “How’d you sleep?”

“I don’t like your fiancé.”

“Oh?”

“He’s mean.”

Sirius winked at Remus as he rolled his eyes and pulled a cereal box out of the pantry. “What did he do?”

“He stole my blankets with no warning.”

“That is such a lie,” Remus scoffed. “I knocked on your door for five whole minutes before I came in!”

“Thank you for that, by the way,” Sirius said, walking over to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Reg owes me five bucks now.”

“Sweet, we can get more Oreos.”

“Oreos aren’t on your diet plan,” Jules sulked as Remus passed him a bowl of cereal and milk.

“How do you know?”

Jules mumbled something and shoved his spoon into his mouth. The night before had been hectic, with Sirius driving the Hope and Lyall to the airport while Remus helped set Jules up for the night. Regulus came back from hanging out with Leo around ten pm; by that time, Jules was still wired for sound at the idea of a week-long sleepover. He finally went to sleep around eleven thirty and Sirius and Remus crash-landed into bed, exhausted.

Practice was going to be hell.

“Why do we have to wake up early, again?” Jules asked around a yawn.

Sirius ruffled his hair as he sat down again. “Practice starts at ten. Eight o’clock is not early at all.”

He squinted at him, confused. “How early do you usually wake up?”

“Seven, seven-thirty.”

Jules shuddered and turned back to his cereal while Remus plonked himself down in Sirius’ lap with a coffee cup, looking moments away from falling asleep again. “Children are exhausting. Why did we get two of them?”

“Hey!” Jules and Regulus said in unison, clearly offended.

“We’ve got terrible judgement,” Sirius laughed.

“Older brothers are the worst, right Jules?”

“Totally. Are you coming to the rink with us?”

Regulus shook his head. “Sorry, buddy, I’ve got college stuff to work on. Want to help me with paperwork?”

Jules made a face. “I’ll pass.”

“We’re leaving in forty minutes, okay?” Remus said, stretching his back as he stood up and left Sirius’ lap cold and empty. “Jules, please take a shower.”

“I smell fine!”

“You didn’t take one yesterday or the day before. Scoot.” Jules rolled his eyes and got up. “Don’t give me that look! And put your bowl in the sink.”

Sirius and Regulus shared a glance as Jules put his stuff away and trooped up the stairs. “Hi, Hope,” Regulus snickered.

Resignation overtook Remus’ face and he sighed. “Fuck. I’m turning into my mother already. Reg, you should take a shower, too.”

“I smell fine!” The withering look from both Sirius and Remus made him raise his hands in surrender and wander off to his bedroom. “I’m nineteen, not nine!”

”And yet we still need to babysit you,” Sirius called back. Finally, they were alone. He hopped up to sit on the counter and grabbed Remus around the waist as he passed by, pulling him back for a hug. “Good morning, sweetheart.”

“Good morning.” Remus kissed him gently, bracketing his hips with his hands. He looked tired, but happy. “I’m actually pretty excited to have Jules stay with us. Thank you for that, by the way.”

“Ne rien. It’s good to have people here.” They kissed for a moment longer, listening to the shower running upstairs and Regulus’ rummaging noises down the hall. “I swear to God, he’s like a raccoon.”

Remus laughed and leaned his forehead on Sirius’ shoulder. “He definitely sounds like one.”

“At least his room’s clean.”

“Cheers to that. He’s heading back tomorrow, right?”

“Mhmm. Dumo’s been bugging me for, like, three days.”

Remus hummed, wrapping his arms around Sirius and snuggling into him. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. We’ve only got a little bit of time before Jules is out, so we should get dressed.”

Remus groaned, but released his limpet hold. “That was so close to a perfect sentence.”

Sirius paused just before hopping off the counter and raised his eyebrows. “If we have extra time…”

“Come on, you,” Remus laughed, tugging him off the counter by the hand and hurrying toward the stairs.

---------------------

They arrived at the rink at 10:05, and Sirius began bracing himself for the inevitable chirping as soon as he stepped out of the car. Jules bounced on his toes in excitement as they walked toward the building, laden with their hockey gear and still a bit frazzled from the mad dash out of the house.

“Is this the munchkin?” Moody asked when Remus knocked on the door to the PT office.

“Yep.” Remus looked down at Jules, whose eyes were wide and more than a little nervous as his grip tightened on Remus’ jacket hem.

“Alastor Moody,” he grunted, holding a hand out that Jules tentatively shook.

“Jules.”

“Wanna see how bones work, kid?”

Instantly, his nerves disappeared. “Yeah!”

Moody winked at them as he led Jules toward the joint models on the far wall and Sirius let out a slow breath. “He’ll be fine.”

“God, I hope so. If anyone can drive Moody off the wall, it’ll be my little brother,” Remus murmured as they headed off down the hall.

The yelling started the second Sirius opened the locker room door. “You’re LATE!” James shouted, grinning from ear to ear. “Hand over the badge, Captain.”

“We still have fifty minutes until practice starts, shut your face.” Sirius socked him on the shoulder and set his bag in the stall.

“What, pray tell, was the reason for this tardiness?” James leaned over and batted his eyelashes.

Remus rolled up a towel and smacked him on the ass with it. “My little brother.”

“Jules is here?” Leo perked up on the other side of the room, and Sirius saw several of the guys look over in excitement, as if they were hiding him in one of their bags.

“He’s staying with us for the week since my great-aunt passed away.”

“Shit, Loops, I’m sorry.”

Remus shrugged. “I never met her, but my folks went back for the funeral. Moody said he’d keep an eye on Jules during practice.”

“Lupin, Black, you’re late,” Coach Weasley said from the doorway, giving them a look over his glasses. “Do we need to have a conversation?”

“No, Coach,” Sirius said as he pulled his pads over his chest.

“I hear you’ve commandeered my head PT for the day.”

Remus shook his head. “If Jules starts bugging him—”

“I’m kidding, Loops.” Arthur’s mouth twitched into a smile. “Moody loves kids. This’ll be good for his disposition.”

Finn snorted. “Can’t get any worse.”

“I expect all of you on the ice in twenty. Any stragglers are doing laps outside!” Arthur slapped the edge of the doorway before ducking out into the hall again; his sneakers squeaked on the freshly-washed floor and Sirius stifled a laugh as he finished buckling up.

The five minute delay did not have a terrible impact on his pre-practice rituals, which he took a  moment to be grateful for—they had a scrimmage planned, and he didn’t intend to lose. Once warmups were over, they moved into running plays, until finally the whistle blew and Coach called out the teams. Remus ended up on the other side and he slapped Sirius’ ass with his stick as he passed him, grinning over his shoulder before stopping next to Dumo.

Jules and Moody came out to watch a few minutes in; Sirius caught a glimpse of his wide eyes when he saw the speed of the game and smiled to himself. Everyone else seemed to notice the new arrivals as well, because their effort doubled and suddenly the plays were running smoother than ever.

Showing off for a ten-year-old, he thought with a shake of his head. Talk about baby fever.

Remus sped through the defense, weaving back and forth until he was nearly face-to-face with Sirius. His whole face lit up and he braced; when Sirius went to check him, he dipped sideways at the last second and slipped the puck right through his skates, catching it on the other side and zipping toward the goal at top speed. The goal light went off and Talker whooped, checking him in celebration.

“Lupin! Where’s that been all season?” Arthur demanded, though he was laughing. “Christ, guys, thanks for finally waking up!”

“Where the fuck did you learn that?” Sirius asked as they headed back for the face-off.

“You think you’re the only one who skates in the basement?” Remus said with a cheeky grin.

The whole rink buzzed with energy throughout the rest of the scrimmage—once or twice, Sirius realized even he was showing off a little for Jules, who cheered louder than fifteen thousand fans whenever someone scored.

Arthur shook his head when the final whistle went off. “Everyone say ‘thank you’ to Julian.”

“Thank you, Jules,” they chorused. Jules looked like he was about to die of happiness.

“I need to get him in here more often,” Arthur muttered as they headed to the locker room to change into their gym gear. “Let’s get that energy for every practice, okay? Not just the ones with Little Loops.”

“What are you talking about?” Kasey laughed.

Arthur fixed him with a look. “Don’t bullshit me, Winter, all of you were showing off for the kid.”

Remus blushed all the way to his ears, and the rest of them mumbled some half-assed excuses until they were shooed away. “I put the new schedule on the mirror,” Sirius called over the noise. “Try to pay attention to it for once.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Logan reached up and patted him on the shoulder as he passed; Sirius dragged him back into a headlock to ruffle his hair. “Ow, fuck, okay!”

Logan did not, in fact, stick to the schedule. He was far too busy tossing the lightest medicine ball they had with Jules, who staggered slightly whenever he caught it. Both looked absolutely thrilled.

Sirius, on the other hand, was glad for the opportunity to do a fair bit of ogling while he spotted Remus—who stuck to the schedule, Sirius had never loved him more—until he finished his bench-pressing rotation. He was strong before being a player, but now…well, it was safe to say he could sweep Sirius off his feet literally and figuratively.

“Re, Re!” Jules ran over when Remus finally sat up, then paused and made a face. “You’re sweaty.”

Remus pulled him in for a hug, making him shriek and wiggle to get out. “I am, yeah! Isn’t it great? Here, lemme just—”

Jules flailed, but he couldn’t get out of Remus’ hold in time to avoid the head nuzzle that plastered his hair up on one side with sweat as the guys laughed. “Ewww!”

“Did you need something, buddy?” Remus asked at last.

“Well, now I need a shower.” Jules grimaced. “I was going to ask if you guys actually do ice baths.”

“Of course we do!” Kasey cut in before Remus could quickly divert the topic. “And your brother loves them.”

Sirius had to turn around to muffle his laughter as interest lit on Jules’ face. “Really? Can I see?”

Kasey opened the door dramatically. “Right this way, Little Loops.”

Two of the ice baths were full when they arrived and Sirius did not miss the pained look on Remus’ face at the sight, nor did he miss the devious smile on Kasey’s. Jules hurried over to one and looked over the end, practically sticking his whole face in. “Woah.”

“Pretty cool, huh? You want to know what the best part is?”

“What?”

“Oh, Christ,” Remus muttered.

“Loops, will you do the honors and make sure your darling little brother has a good time?” Kasey asked, the picture of innocence. Remus sighed and stood next to the ice bath, silently begging Sirius for help with his eyes as Kasey motioned Jules over. “Alright, so you take one of these, and then you have to be super careful as you aim. Lucky for you, you’re learning from the best.”

Remus winced as the first ice cube smacked him in the side of the head and gritted his teeth as the second went down the neck of his t-shirt. Sirius schooled his expression into the mildest, sweetest smile he could muster. “He’s not doing anything,” Jules whispered. Remus began taking deep breaths.

“He will.”

“Try me, Wint—oh, sh—” Remus muffled a squeak as ice went directly down his spine. “Hoo, boy, that’s cold.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you censor yourself,” Kasey said, amazed. “It’s uncanny.”

“Are you done?”

“I could do this all day, but it’s my turn to make dinner tonight and Nat gets hangry if I’m late. Good game, Little Loops.” Kasey and Jules high-fived and Remus shook his shirt out; no less than four ice cubes clattered to the ground.

“Young man, you are in such big trouble,” Remus growled playfully as he swept Jules over his shoulder and began tickling his knees. Sirius dodged the squirming legs and held the door open for them as they walked back into the hallway. “You’re okay hanging out with Moody while we get our stuff together, right?”

“Yeah! He’s got the coolest knee statues.”

----------------------------------

Dinner was anything but a quiet affair; all three of them had taken a nap when they got home, then had a dance party in the kitchen while Remus taught Jules how to actually cook chicken so nobody got food poisoning. Sirius was torn between begging them for the details of that particular story and wanting to stay as far away from it as possible.

Regulus and Jules got into a fierce game of footsie under the table that only ended when a small foot—he still didn’t know which one it was—slammed into the base of Sirius’ knee, hard enough that it would certainly leave a bruise. “Ow.”

They both froze, shared a look, then silently went back to eating. “Practice starts at nine tomorrow,” Remus said around a bite of broccoli. “That means wake up time is six thirty, okay? We’ve got a game on Thursday and it’s super important that we’re not late again. Reg, what time are you heading out?”

“I was thinking noon-ish? That way I can get my stuff set up while Dumo’s still at practice. Don’t want to bother him.”

Jules turned to him with the biggest, saddest eyes Sirius had ever seen. “You’re leaving?”

“I live with Dumo, remember?” Regulus hesitated. “I’ll be at the game, though.”

“Can I sit with you?”

“Absolutely.”

That seemed to placate him, and he turned back to his chicken happily. Sirius nudged his brother, giving him a significant look, which was met with an eye roll that couldn’t quite cover the fond flush on his face.

Jules and Regulus took care of the dishes after dinner and Sirius stretched out on the couch to the sounds of the kid’s excited chatter as he recounted the day’s events. Remus flopped down on top of him, settling between his thighs with a contented smile. “Today went well.”

“Yeah, it did.” Sirius began running his fingers through Remus’ soft hair. “I think Moody is about thirty seconds away from adopting him.”

Remus laughed against his chest. “I think so. It’s pretty cool seeing him so excited about PT stuff.”

“It is.” There was a slow sigh and Sirius raised his eyebrows. “What was that about?”

“I just realized that even though Reg is leaving tomorrow, we won’t have the house to ourselves for six more days. It’s been two weeks.”

Sirius closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the armrest. “Fuck. I didn’t even think about that. Think we can dump him on Dumo for a night?”

“We can handle six days, right?”

“Yeah, totally.”

There was a beat of silence. “This is going to be difficult.”

“If we make it to the three-day mark, I say we break open the Oreos as a reward.”

“Sounds good to me—oof.”

They both groaned as an extra hundred pounds of person squished on top of them. “Dishes are done!” Jules chirped.

“Did you wash your hands?” Sirius wheezed, blinking the dark spots out of his vision. Remus’ chin was digging into his upper ribs.

“Yep! Regulus wants to watch a movie. I think we should watch Jurassic Park, but he says it’s terrible—”

“He what?” Remus raised his head slightly and craned his neck to look back at the kitchen. “Regulus!”

“What?”

“You don’t like Jurassic Park? I thought you had taste!” Remus pushed off the couch and Jules wrapped all his limbs around him like an oversized koala. “We’re watching it tonight and you’re going to like it. Come on, baby, we need to make sure your brother has culture.”

Two hours later, as the credits rolled and three people snored gently, Sirius smiled to himself. He could handle a week of this.

[anemonenemerosa]

The Spare - Chapter 4

Hello fellow people, here comes the fourth chapter of my fic. As always, this is a spinn-off of @lumosinlove Sweater-Weather, so the universe belongs to her, while the Harry Potter characters beling to JKR.

Please be careful if you feel triggered by past abuse topics.

Chapter 4

With an exasperated huff, Regulus chucked The Hobbit into a corner of his room.

After realising that no one even seemed to know of the existence of the light fiction in the library, he began to keep all relevant books he found in his room. By now, the stack on the floor was reaching his hip. But whatever he did, he could not distract himself from the impending game against the Lions this evening. He had neither seen nor heard from Sirius since the draft, he did not expect a call, and was rather indecisive on how to react to his brother.

It was the first time the brothers played against each other in an actual game, in the NHL no less. Of course, everyone supplied their unrequested suggestions, or rather demands. The Death Eaters wanted him to rile Sirius up, taking his focus off the game. His parents insisted that he had to outshine his brother, presenting himself as the genuine heir of Orion Black.

God forbid anyone considering to ask me about that, Regulus mused.

It was not his very first game in the NHL but surely the most sensational so far. The media was all but hyped about the game but the 'Brother Rivalry' overshadowed by the 'Captain Rivalry' and Sirius' broken ankle. He was relieved that Severus took up so much media presence but he did not fool himself. A lot of eyes were going to be on him. Hence his indetermination.

Following the Death Eaters lead to distract Sirius with chirping and slurs was not a viable option. He would probably rise in their graces but also draw public attention for gamesmanship, without doubt overshadowing his actual hockey performance, which he wanted to be noticed for. Of course, his parents would not appreciate Regulus taunting Sirius either. They wanted him put Sirius to shame by performance, not immature behaviour.

They expected Regulus to outrank the Captain of the rivalling team with six years of NHL experience is his sixth-ever game. Personal relations be damned, this is a hideous demand, Regulus scoffed, finally giving up on distracting himself from his brother and stepping into the shower.

Regardless of how hard he tried, he would always be seen in relation to Sirius. Thank you, brother. You just have to fart to overshadow my life. Merde... connard stupide!

  _________________________________________________________

It hadn’t always been like that, Regulus had to acknowledge. As small boy he looked up to his bigger brother. He cared for him in a different way than their parents. While they clothed, fed and trained him, Sirius was the one who hugged and comforted Regulus when their father scolded him for being shy and introverted.

“A hockey player does not hide in corners!”, Orion used to spit, his patience always on the meagre side.

Sirius loved him in a different way than Walburga and Orion, cheering him up instead of punishing him when he messed up.

“You need to toughen up, boy” his father explained one day, “You have been pampered too much. Crying and asking for cuddles is for girls.”  

But his older brother would hear nothing of it. Sirius instructed Regulus to sneak into Sirius' bed after nightmares and during stormy nights. Thinking of it now, Regulus realised that he must have been as much of a comfort for Sirius as the other way around.

From the beginning of Regulus life, Sirius was famous for his talent but it did not affect their relationship until he was getting prepared for a professional career as soon as he turned twelve; spending the summers in training camps and receiving additional private lessons at the rink in their basement. They saw each other infrequently and Sirius was mostly too tired for playing with Regulus if he got a bit of spare time. That did not stop them from secretly snuggling up in bed.

However, their dynamics began to shift as the rising success of his brother took up all attention from their parents. Whatever concerned Sirius was more important and Regulus began to feel a constant sting of jealousy souring his mood. Then puberty hit Sirius hard, causing him to rebel against his tight schedule. Regulus was eight when he began asking Sirius to obey just to make their parents stop beating him and nine when Sirius gave in.

Daft fool, Regulus thought while scrubbing his hair with a bar of soap. If he had just kept his head down... but that wasn't Sirius.

Well, Regulus was able to learn from other people’s mistakes, kept quiet and secured himself a comparingly unbothered time. At least for a while.

Sirius draft to no other team than the Gryffindor Lions had had a severe impact, not only on Sirius' life. He remembers his brothers’ conflict after the call: The excitement from being picked first over all from a strong team mingled with the dread from their parent’s wrath concerning the particular team. Back then, Regulus did not understand the uproar. He was twelve, hadn't learned about the end of his father’s career and wanted his brother to be happy for living his dream. God, he even sneaked in a Lions hat for Sirius. Mrs. Kreacher, albeit reluctantly, bought the item during her weekly errands. Their ancient house-maid always had a soft spot for calm little Regulus that did not extend to his boisterous older brother, but making Regulus happy seemed to outweigh her reservations.

Once Sirius had left to live with the Dumais family, Regulus suddenly became the sole focus of their parent’s energy. As he was twelve, he was subjected to the same extensive training as Sirius and while he was absolutely able to hold a candle to his older brother, it was nothing to knock their parents' socks off. Sirius had already been there and Regulus keeping up was just expected, business as usual, not a big deal.

Eventually, learned what ended Orion’s hockey career. A centre of the Lions had sent him crashing into the boards, causing irreparable damage to his father’s spine. And while his father had to leave the rink forever, the other player wasn't even penalised. This put the drama about Sirius draft into perspective. Still, Regulus missed his brother immensely but after two years of dwindling visits, he got annoyed. Sirius rare calls more and more turned into chorus of praise for his team and especially the Dumais'. He was more and more badmouthing their upbringing and telling Regulus off for defending their parents. "Tu ne comprends pas, Reg." You don't understand. Of course, he never understood, did he? Little naive Reg did not just see how his brother went and found himself a better family, preferring to spend his time with them instead of his actual family, with him. No, Reg was not left-behind, he did just not understand!

_____________________________________________________________

“Je serai toujours ton frère, Reg!” Oh, fuck you!

It has been several weeks since he allowed all the memories and feelings concerning his brother to surface and it always hurt him but for now, he would channel the feelings of abandonment, anger and disappointment into determination. He would at least try and make his parents proud, would treat Sirius as much as any other player as he could, brother or not.

“Hockey is about winning, not fun, not comradery!”, his father used to stress constantly.

Regulus took that to heart. He stepped out of the shower, very wrinkly but ready to let his performance speak for him.

Soo that was chapter 4 for you, I hope you enjoyed it. Stay save and channel your inner Hufflepuff

[lumosinlove]

Sweater Weather

part vi

It was the middle of the first period, and there was already blood on the ice. Just eleven minutes on the clock. A high stick by Carrow on Finn and Sirius was spewing words at the ref, his mouthguard in his gloved hand. They were across the rink, and with the crowd as loud as they were, Remus couldn’t hear Sirius’ words. He could only watch him corner the ref—Crouch, today, which was good, Crouch was usually fair. He was arguing for a longer penalty, no doubt, gesturing wildly to his own mouth, a mime of the blood Carrow had drawn from Finn’s lip.

Remus tensed when he saw Snape dragging over, coming to a hard stop on the other side of the rink to join the conversation. Remus watched Sirius’ eyes harden, watched them get in each other’s face—much to the delight of the crowd—until Crouch put a hand on both of their chests and pushed them away from one another. Then, he skated out to the ice, microphone on, an announced the two minute penalty.

Sirius cussed him a new one. Remus heard that. Carrow skated gleefully to the penalty box, which Sirius banged his glove on as he skated back towards the bench. Carrow hissed back.

“Fucking bullshit,” Sirius said as he swung over the boards to sit on the bench, the second line replacing him, James, and Finn. “Bullshit.”

“It’s ten minutes in, it’s alright, Cap,” Finn tried.

“Look at your fucking mouth, Harzy. Blood is not two minutes.” Sirius shook his head.

Remus glanced up, already knowing Sirius was being shown on the jumbo-screen in all his rage.

Coach leaned down, hand firm on Sirius’ shoulder, “If you’re so mad about it, why don’t you stop giving them a show and making it better, eh?”

Remus watched Sirius jaw grind for a minute before he nodded. “Yes, Coach.”

Arthur was right. Remus knew that. But, oh, did Remus love Sirius’ ice-temper. Fights weren’t always the best thing in the world for the game, but Remus found himself holding his breath, chest and cheeks hot, whenever Sirius got in someones face or dropped the gloves. Sirius was a fighter and he usually won.

Remus always had to patch Sirius up afterwards in the locker room, where he was silent and fuming. Sometimes he conjured those images for himself, when he was alone. It was stupid, but this entire thing was stupid. This crush was probably the stupidest situation he could allow himself to get in. What was so bad, then, about taking it one step further when he was alone, and thinking about what it’d be like if Sirius needed to get just a little more energy out before returning to the game? Remus would be right there for him. Sirius would still be without his gloves and his hands, hot with his temper, would pull Remus in, push him back against one of the stalls, maybe—

But not at the rink.

Remus cursed at himself under his breath and forced his attention back to the game.

He did not think about these things at the rink, and certainly not with Sirius sitting directly in front of him.

The game didn’t get any more smooth after that. Malfoy scored the first goal of the game at the end of the first period with two minutes to go. As he did, he snowed Kasey right in the face, giving one of his pads a little knock with his skate.

Logan fought him for it and, on the bench, Leo looked ready to go out there, too, goalie pads or not.

The Snakes got a power play from that fight, and Snape scored again.

2-0 was not where they needed to be right now, and during the first intermission between the first and second period, the locker room was feeling the weight of those goals. They sat in their stalls, relatively quiet. Some of the guys had towels around their necks and their eyes closed, gaining their energy back. James was picking at the tape on his shoulder, but didn’t call Remus over.

It was unsettlingly quiet until Coach came in, clapping his hands a few times, like he was waking everyone up.

“Rough start, it’s true, but we’re playing well. We’ve got hot hands tonight, we do, we just aren’t quite following through. That doesn’t matter now, this is a re-set, alright?”

Arthur talked for a while, and it seemed to pick some of the guys up, but it wasn’t until Sirius stood that the guys really straightened, looking to their captain.

“Alright, boys,” Sirius said, scratching the back of his neck. His hair was damp with sweat and curling at his temples. He’d pealed his jersey off and took his place in the center of the room in his skates, hockey pants, and bare pads. They looked like an extra, exterior skeleton. They made him look a little like a superhero, tall and proud.

He was quiet for a few long moments, and Remus held his breath.

Then, Sirius said, “Fuck the Snakes.”

There were a few laughs from around, a few cheers.

Sirius pointed to James, who delightedly banged on his stall, then said, louder, “Fuck the Snakes!”

The sentiment was echoed this time by practically the entire room. Remus loved this, loved how people responded to Sirius.

“Who gives a fuck what happened last season. Fuck Snape, fuck my ankle—Fuck Carrow and Dumo’s wrist. Fuck Riddle….just fuck, Riddle.”

“Psychopath.” Kasey grumbled.

Sirius laughed and it sounded a little delirious, like he was still breathing hard, like in his mind they were all already back out on the ice.

“Look,” he continued. “Tremzy’s got hot hands tonight. Second line, you gotta help him follow through. We have to keep the puck out of the corners, and know where each other are, yeah, boys?”

“Fuck the Snakes!” Finn shouted, and then there was the ruckus of getting geared up again for the beginning of the second. Sirius and James knocked gloves, then helmets, and James swatted Sirius’ arse before he went, Sirius last in line. Just like always.

Snape got a one-timer six minutes into the second period, and the boys skated harder, but the Snakes more viciously. Carrow was a menace tonight, as was Riddle. Seven minutes later, Logan got a breakaway and was shooting down the ice, bringing Remus forward with anticipation until his thighs were pressed against the boards like he himself was going to jump over them and onto the ice. Riddle held up his blocker, making a come-here motion, taunting Logan as as he got closer.

“Come on!” Sirius was shouting from the bench. “Take it, Tremzy, take it!”

And Snape came out of no where and slashed his stick at Logan’s skates. Logan went flying, tripping up and sliding into the boards back first.

Remus’ chest tightened and he began to make his way out of the bench and towards the locker room on instinct, but Logan practically sprung back to his feet as the ref called the whistle.

He wanted to yell, but Sirius was already doing that for him.

“Fucking trip! That’s a fucking trip!” Sirius shouted, and the ref made a motion at him that was equal parts telling Sirius that he realized that already and telling him to calm down.

Snape didn’t even stutter, just made his way to the penalty box without any form of remorse.

“You stupid mother-fucker,” James bit at him as him and Sirius made their way over the boards for the power-play unit, “can’t see over your big fucking nose, Snivilus?”

Snape remained stony-faced as he closed the penalty box door, but Malfoy skated over, as usual. He looked strange against the ice, his blonde hair that fell over his shoulders nearly blending in.

“He’s not the one who needs glasses, eh, Pot-head?”

James scoffed, laughing aloud, “Go dye your hair, Lucius.”

Sirius bumped his fist against Logan’s chest as he went back to the bench and Remus was on him as soon as he sat down.

He leaned over Logan’s shoulder as he squirted some water into his mouth. “Hey, you alright? That didn’t look too good.”

Logan shook his hair out, then put his helmet back on. “I’m fine.”

“Yeah? Do I have to check that, or are you telling the truth? Because if you come to me tomorrow with any sort of concussion, I’m keeping you out an extra week out of spite.”

Logan laughed, “Loops, I’m good. I’m not Sirius, I would tell you.”

Remus laughed a little at that. “Alright, alright. Drink more water.”

“Oui, maman.”

Remus jostled his helmet and turned back to the ice. He expected to see Sirius facing off with Malfoy, per usual for the power play, but when he turned it was—

“Fuck,” Remus breathed out.

Regulus and Sirius were staring at each other from across the face-off circle. It was strange to see Sirius’ profile uncannily and perfectly mirrored across from him, but in green and silver instead of red and gold. Regulus’ hair was longer right now, but the eyes, the nose, the lips were the same. The steely gaze, however, that Regulus had fixed on Sirius, lacked all of Sirius’ warmth and spirit. It was pure, ruthless determination. Remus’ mouth settled into a hard line and he looked at Snape sitting stonily in the box. He wondered where Regulus learned that expression from.

Remus watched Sirius hesitate before leaning down to prepare for the puck drop, and realized that this was the first time the two brothers had ever faced each other in the NHL.

It was a perfect strategy of distraction and intimidating. It was cruel. It was so typical of the Snakes, Remus wanted to scream.

Remus saw Sirius’ lips move, saying something that Regulus didn’t respond to. Instead, Regulus’ eyes were on the puck in the ref’s hand. When the ref dropped it, Sirius’ eyes were still on his brother’s face.

Remus heard Arthur curse as Regulus won the face off, knocking it over to Lucius easily who shot it to Yaxley. The crowd was wild. Yaxley got tangled with James briefly who managed to steel it back to shoot to Sirius, who got it to Finn, and back to Sirius. Regulus was on his brother like fire on hay, and it was like they were suddenly the only two players on the ice, battling it out like Remus was sure they’d done countless of times on the rink that the Black family was rumored to have in the basement of their family home.

They were in something of a grid-lock, both of them having known each other’s strengths and weaknesses all their lives. Coach was shouting from the bench, yelling that they were wasting time, but neither Sirius nor Regulus were giving each other even an inch of room. Remus heard Sirius let out a yell of frustration and finally take his stick into one hand, controlling the puck, while the other acted as a blocker, keeping Regulus back for long enough that he finally got around him. He shot up the ice, pulling the puck back towards him. Malfoy loomed in front of him, and he ticked it over to James, then spun around Lucius’ outside just in time for James to snap it back. Sirius barely had to touch it for it to redirect towards Riddle. It flew past his glove and the goal horn blared.

Remus shouted, throwing his hands up, and the bench went wild. James, Finn, and Brady slammed Sirius into the boards in celebration, tapping their helmets.

When Sirius came by the bench, gloved fist out to bump against each guys’ down the boards, he caught Remus’ eye and held it for the entire time, rather than look at who was congratulating him.

Remus loved Sirius after a goal. Cheeks flushed, smile wide, like he almost couldn’t help himself. Remus could still remember the first time he had seen that smile. The thing was, Sirius hadn’t smiled in the beginning. Remus had thought it was simply something he didn’t do. When he’d first arrived, fresh out of the draft and with unprecedented amount of attention on him—that he had received since the age of ten—he’d been quiet and cold. Everything he said, even when no cameras were around, had come out clipped. Remus had—well, not hated him in the beginning, but he’d been so disappointed that this was the Sirius Black he’d watched hours of video on, tried to model his play after, that he could barely breathe. He’d looked up to Sirius, really, even if they were about the same age. Sirius had always seemed bigger, better. 

Remus had watched him loosen up over two years, and he’d then had the pleasure of knowing the man Sirius was now for another two. But he remembered that first smile like it was yesterday.

Sirius had always had this look of intense surprise when he scored a goal and James and the other boys would jump on him, laugh with him, even when he had been nothing but cold to them. It always, and still to this day, made Remus’ heart ache to remember that expression on his face. He’d let James throw his arms around him but blink dazedly over his shoulder, wrap his arm around James’ back like he wasn’t sure how.

Finally, when they’d secured a Playoffs spot two years ago—Sirius and James’ first ever—the spell had broken.

Sirius had scored the game winner against the Washington Capitals, the goal horn had blared, the Hogwarts Stadium had erupted around him, James crashed into him.

And Sirius had smiled. It had crossed his face like a hose on full blast, like sun in the late afternoon. He’d turned golden, his eyes had crinkled up, and he’d grasped James back like it was a life line.

Maybe it had been, for a while. A line that felt like it could be pulled at any moment. But Sirius trusted them now, Remus knew that much. They weren’t his life line anymore, they were his life.

That was the smile Remus saw now, that very same smile, only this time it was directed right at him.

Sirius pulled himself over the boards, and stood for a second before he sat, looking right at Remus. Remus swallowed hard.

“Gorgeous,” was all he could think to say, and he sounded breathless even to himself.

Sirius’ grin softened and he sat, keeping his head tilted around and back to look up at Remus.

“Thanks,” he said.

Remus pretended to himself that, one day, he could tell Sirius he hadn’t been talking about the goal.

The second period ended that way, still deadlocked at 3-1, and the high of Sirius’ goal was slowly receding in the locker room.

Remus watched from behind the cameras as Sirius did his intermission interview with Rita Skeeter, the Lions’ reporter. He had his helmet off, tucked beneath one arm and kept having to push his hair back to keep the sweat from dripping into his eyes.

“Sirius,” Rita was saying with her usual knowing smile. She had a funny—and famous—relationship with the team. They pranked and messed with her to no end, she rarely asked questions directly related to game, but she stuck around out of tradition. Seeing the Lions without Skeeter—or Skeetz, as the boys (James) called her—would be like seeing Snape as their captain.

“Can you tell us what it was like seeing your baby brother out there? And playing for the Snakes, no less?”

“Yep, that was him, alright,” Sirius said.

Remus almost laughed at the typically bland answer.

“He’s a talented player, always has been. Was happy to see him get drafted this past summer. He’ll be a great addition to the league.”

“And playing for the Snakes?” Rita pushed, raising her eyebrows.

“Snakes are a team as good as any other,” Sirius responded.

“And what do you think you will have to do to pull ahead here in the third?”

Sirius pushed his hair back again and Remus’ fingers itched to do it for him.

“Well,” he said, “we gotta focus on getting the pucks in deep and, you know, finding the net where we can.”

Rita looked less than pleased with Sirius’ typical, answerless answers, but she was out of time. The intermission interviews usually lasted a minute or two only, if that.

“Thank you, Mr. Black,” she said cooly with a coy smile.

Sirius flashed her the tiniest of smiles. “Yep.”

As soon as Sirius was past the cameras, he caught Remus’ eye again and sent him a big eye roll. Remus snorted and caught up with him as he headed back to the locker room to rest before the third period.

“This fucking game, eh?” Sirius said.

Remus nodded. He had to look up extra high with Sirius in his skates. They added two or three inches to his six foot three.

“We’ll tie it up,” Remus said.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. “You think so.”

“We’re better than they are. In every way.”

Sirius laughed, “can’t argue with that, I guess. Where are you going?” Sirius looked confused as Remus went to split off from the locker room.

“Gotta check Tremzy. He says he’s okay, but…you know how Logan gets. He wants to play more than he wants air.”

Sirius nodded, “I know the feeling.”

Remus sent him a wry smile, “yeah, I know you do.”

Sirius flipped him off with a low hand and Remus laughed.

“See you out there,” he said, then stopped. “Hey.”

Sirius tilted his head.

Remus wasn’t sure if it was his place to ask, wasn’t even sure if he should bring it up right now, not while their luck was turning, but…he cared more about Sirius than the game. He always would.

“Are you okay? With—with everything.”

With your brother, they both knew that meant.

Sirius nodded quickly and Remus knew then to back off.

He just smiled and said, again, “see you out there.”

Sirius bumped his fist against Remus’ chest, right over his heart. “Good to have you around, Loops.”

That left Remus a little puzzled but smiling as he turned towards his office where Logan would be waiting for him—hopefully.

Sirius got them one goal closer to tying it up about ten seconds into the third period with such a beautiful wrap around that James actually planted a kiss on the top of his helmet. Remus let out such a surprised, loud yell that his throat hurt afterwards. Coach was yelling excitedly left and right, telling them all to keep this momentum going.

“Allez!” Sirius had shouted after the goal, jumping up against the glass as James slammed into him. It was—

“Gorgeous,” Remus said to himself. “Fucking gorgeous.”

3-2. One more and they’d have overtime, if they needed it, unless they could—

Pascal and Logan flew onto the ice, and Remus could practically here Marlene and Frank in the box calling them the father-and-son line. They pitched the puck into the Snakes’ zone and Pascal palmed it down onto the ice so he could whip it around the boards to Logan, who lost it to Yaxley. Snape was waiting on their end when Yaxley chipped it back. The defensemen tried their best with Snape and Malfoy zipping it between them, but it was Kasey who saved the day. He stopped on with his blocker, the other with the knob of his stick. A final rebound shot pinged off the post before he was able to glove it down and out of play. He rose up off of his knees and Remus laughed as he patted the place on the post that had stopped the puck. He always did that, as if thanking his goal. It was sweet, and the media ate it up like chocolate.

“Hey.”

Remus looked down at a tap on his thigh and Sirius was looking up at him.

“Hm?” Remus said, and instinctively reached out to take Sirius’ gloved hand, like it was injured. He realized what he was doing and dropped it, cheeks flushing.

“Could you pass me the iPad? I want to watch the playback of my last shift.”

“Oh, yeah, for sure.” Remus handed him the iPad and watched the way his hair dripped onto the screen with only a slight grimace.

Both of their attention was only brought back to the game when the crowd doubled in volume. Carrow had supposedly slashed Olli and the two were now face to face, hands gripping the fronts of each other’s jerseys in an effort to keep each other upright and knock each other down at the same time. The others on line had paired off, keeping each other from making the fight uneven.

“Fucking hell—” Sirius rose on his feet, banging his stick. “Draw it, Halla!”

The Lions did indeed get another power play as Olli drew the penalty and Sirius shoved the iPad back at Remus with a grin before following James over the boards to—hopefully—score another goal and tie up the game. There was ten minutes remaining in regulation time.

They fought for it. The fought for it hard, and Remus’ heart was in his throat the entire time he watched the clock run down.

But Malfoy managed to feed Snape for a slap shot with forty-six seconds to go and it was all over from there.

The crowd was manic, hissing and banging on the glass behind the Lions’ bench so hard that Remus’ ears rattled.

Remus saw Kasey hit his stick down on the ice, dejected, as he skated over from his goal. Sirius waited there on the ice, giving fist bumps and back slaps and nods of approval. He tapped his helmet to Kasey’s gently and they said a few things quietly to each other, before he finally skated off last of all. Before he went, however, Sirius glanced over to the Snake bench. It took Remus a moment to realize that he must have been looking for Regulus, but the younger Black didn’t glance his way. Remus could see Regulus between Malfoy and Carrow, looking pleased. They all had shark-grins on their faces.

Remus tries to catch Sirius’ eyes, but Sirius left the ice looking down.

~

Remus watched the boys load back onto the bus to their hotel to fly out in the morning. They were all in their game-day suits, of course, but they looked more rumbled than before. Everyone’s shoulders were lower.

Remus would do anything to fix it.

Fuck Snape.

Fuck his slap shot.

Fuck the Snakes.

~

Remus was in his bed watching some show on Animal Planet when there was a nearly nonexistent knock on his door. If Remus hadn’t been secretly hoping for it—maybe, maybe expecting it—he probably wouldn’t have heard it at all.

But he had been hoping.

He opened the door and Sirius was standing there in sweats and a t-shirt. He just had socks on his feet, like he’d come down the hall for specifically this reason and planned to stay.

“Hi,” he said.

Remus stared up at him, smiling a little. “Hi.”

Sirius smiled back, then pushed his hand through his hair. It was fluffy and dark from his shower and looked smooth as it passed through his fingers.

“Do you want to hang out?” Sirius asked.

It made Remus remember that he should be stepping aside to let Sirius in, and he did so with a jerk. “Yeah, for sure.”

Sirius wandered right over to the bed and sat down, stretching out on the left, the same side he’d chosen in the last hotel they’d stayed at together.

He chuckled a little at the TV. “Of course you’re watching this.”

“It’s relaxing, what?” Remus said.

“I’m not making fun,” Sirius’ tongue poked out a little in his smile, teasing. “I’m just observing.”

Remus rolled his eyes as he laid back down on the bed, too. “Oh, you’re observing,” he said, mimicking Sirius’ light accent and making him laugh. He tucked his knees against his chest and leant back against the pillows. “Sorry about the game.”

Sirius raised one shoulder nonchalantly, but his eyes darkened. “It happens. Does it suck that it happened right now? Yes, but…you know.”

“C’est la vie?” Remus offered, and Sirius snorted.

“For sure,” he said.

They both watched the elks on the screen calmly sip from the watering hole for a moment. Remus expected a lion or something to jump out any minute. He was proven correct when one was shown, peaking out from the grasses.

“Hey, c’est moi.” Sirius pointed when Remus just gave him an incredulous look. “It’s me.”

“Oh, you’re going to kill an elk now?”

“Only if the elk is a Snake.”

Remus laughed, “right. A snake-a-vore lion. Makes sense.”

Sirius sighed, paused for a moment, and then said, “fuck.”

Remus turned towards him a little more. If Sirius wanted to talk, he would let him. “It’s one game.”

“Yeah, but it felt like the game. The game I came back, the game I proved to everyone…”

“Bullshit.”

Sirius laughed, but it was shaky. “I know, I know, just…fuck.”

“Fuck,” Remus agreed. “Hey, I was wondering…and you don’t have to answer—”

“Does my baby brother hate me?” Sirius looked at Remus.

“Well,” Remus hesitated. “Not quite those words, but…yeah.”

Sirius gazed forward, eyes unfocused as he thought about it. “He’s never been out from under my parents’ thumb.” He began, then ran another hand through his hair. “Does he hate me? No, I hope not. I mean, I was like him not too long ago, non?” His brows pulled together. “Only I had the boys. James, Blizzard…” he glanced at Remus, “you.” 

Remus felt a tug in his heart as Sirius looked away again.

“He has Snape and Lucius. He doesn’t hate me, but he’s going to think he does. He’s going to act like he does. For a long time.”

“You don’t know that,” Remus tried, but Sirius shook his head.

“I do. Because it’s what I would have done if I was in his position and he was in mine. Our parents…”

But Sirius cut off, seemingly unable to get the words out. His eyes were still ahead, but more focused now. They were filled with something that made Remus’ chest hurt.

“I’m sorry,” Remus said softly.

Sirius finally looked at him and held his gaze. His eyes softened a little and he pressed his lips together in a melancholy smile. “Merci.”

They were laying close together on the bed, and Remus could see a slowly developing, deep purple bruise on Sirius’ forearm from a nasty slash. He reached out, not thinking, and ran his fingers over it. Sirius drew in a breath, and Remus was suddenly reminded of his small theory. He looked up at Sirius’ face and Sirius was already looking back.

“Did you ice?” he asked.

Sirius nodded. “Yeah.”

Remus glanced down again, nodding. “Good.”

He let his fingers flatten, palm against the tender skin, and ran his thumb across the darkness gently. He realized it probably hurt a little, but when he went to draw away Sirius’ hand covered his own. Remus froze completely, but then Sirius simply squeezed and pulled away again.

“How’s Julian?”

Remus cleared his throat, trying to recover quickly and took his hand back, holding it close to his chest. He let out a nervous little laugh, and Sirius tilted his head questioningly.

“He would die if he knew you just asked that.”

“Would he?”

Remus rolled his eyes, still grinning. “Fuck off, you know who you are.”

Sirius laughed. “Yeah. I must be pretty famous if Remus Lupin has my jersey.”

Remus groaned and sunk back into the pillows, throwing his arms over his face. “Oh god, I can’t believe he said that. You were never suppose to know about that.”

Sirius turned onto his side, obviously enjoying himself now. “Is it my home or away?”

Remus huffed, voice muffled by his arms. “Home, obviously.”

“Oh, obviously, sorry.” Sirius mimicked Remus’ accent this time.

Remus peaked out from between his sweatshirt. Sirius had propped himself up on one forearm and was leaning over Remus a little, smiling gently. God. Remus wanted to kiss him.

“I’ve never seen you wear it.” Sirius raised his eyebrows at the sliver of Remus’ eyes he could see.

Remus threw his hands down, “Well, I wear a uniform, don’t I?”

“You mean you wear a track suit.”

“I—It’s not—well.”

Sirius cracked up, nose scrunching, and Remus shoved him on the shoulder so he wouldn’t pull him in and kiss him, smile and all.

“Fine, it’s a track suit. But it’s nice. It has the Lions’ logo. It has my name on it. It’s comfortable. At least I don’t have to wear a suit and tie to every game like you do.” Remus shrugged, clearing his throat. “It makes me feel like I’m a part of the team.”

Sirius made a noise. “You are a part of the team.”

Remus sent him an unimpressed look. “I’m part of the staff.”

“No. You are as much a part of this team as I am.”

Remus smiled, shaking his head, and looked back at the television. “Whatever you say.”

Remus only looked back when Sirius’ hand appeared on his arm, squeezing again. His eyes were a light gray, nearly the same as his t-shirt.

“You are,” he said. “You are, Re.” 

Remus had to duck his head a little. His cheeks felt hot and there was the uncomfortable threat of emotion suddenly in his throat.

“Thanks, Pads.” He managed to choke out, and sent Sirius a smile. “That means a lot.”

“Do you miss it?” Sirius asked.

Remus didn’t need Sirius to tell him he was talking about hockey. Remus didn’t even have to think about it.

“Every day,” Remus said. “There’s nothing like it.”

“I still want to see you play.”

Sirius was still leaning over Remus but he relaxed into the bed now so they were laying beside each other, heads pillowed on their arms on top of the sheets and quilts. Remus’ heart was beating just from that alone. He wondered if he’d ever get used to Sirius Black.

He hoped not.

“Maybe.” Remus smiled.

“At least tell me what position you played.”

“Right Wing.”

“Good, so when you do play, we can be on the same line.”

Remus licked his lips, looking down to Sirius’ t-shirt. He let out a breath before he spoke. “I do think about that. What that would be like.” He glanced up at Sirius briefly with a short smile. “We’d make a good team, I think.”

Sirius smiled widely, like the thought made him happy. He looked up a little, like he was imagining it.

“We would. We’ll never know if you don’t play with me someday,” he said, and then knocked his socked foot into Remus’ and kept it there, ankle on top of ankle.

Remus hummed lightly, looking down at where Sirius’ hand was on the bed between them.

“How come you aren’t out with the guys right now?” he asked.

Sirius made a noncommittal noise and presses his face into the pillow, closing his eyes.

Remus smiled a little. “Oh, you’re just tired? Here I was thinking you wanted to hang out with me.”

“I do,” Sirius said, a sleepy smile on his face. His eyelashes fanned across his cheeks, dark as his hair.

Remus stayed silent. He was still getting used to seeing this side of Sirius. This version of him without any guard up whatsoever. Smiling dopily with his eyes closed.

“I do want to hang out with you,” Sirius said again. “I want you to play hockey with me.”

Remus laughed softly, pulling his lip between his teeth. “Right, well…win a Cup and we’ll see.”

Sirius groaned and reached out blindly for Remus’ face. His fingers found his lips and he pressed them there.

“Ne pas le sort!” Sirius said, then cracked on eye open and snorted at Remus’ face.

“‘m not!” Remus said, fingers closing around Sirius’ wrist. Sirius laughed and let him. Remus hesitated, but didn’t let go. “You and your fucking jinxes. All of you.”

“It’s real. It’s real, I’ve seen jinxes,” Sirius laughed through the words and it got Remus laughing, too.

“Have you now?” Remus said.

“Yes.” Sirius’ fingers closed around Remus’ wrist and they were just laughing at each other. “I told you. I’m just looking for luck.”

Sirius’ eyes were earnest and his fingers were warm on Remus’ pulse point. The air felt heavier in the room now, like it was pressing them closer together somehow. Remus wanted…something. He wanted to know what Sirius wanted, but he didn’t want to ask, lest it break the spell of whatever dance they were currently doing.

“I know,” Remus said softly. “And I said…I said you should let me know when you find it. What you’re looking for.”

Sirius let out a breath, looking down at their hands. They each had their fingers around each other’s wrists, not holding exactly, but close enough. The warmth from it spread all the way down to where Sirius’ ankle rested heavily on his own.

“It might not be what everyone thinks I’m looking for.” Sirius took another breath. “What everyone expects.”

Remus, slowly, pressed his fingers firmer around Sirius’ wrist. He eyed the dark bruise on Sirius’ forearm from before and rubbed his thumb lightly over the delicate skin on the inside of his wrist, paler than the rest of him.

“What’s so bad about that?” he asked softly.

Sirius closed his eyes again and seemed to hold perfectly still within Remus’ touch.

“I don’t know,” he finally said, then, “I should let you sleep.”

“It’s fine, Sirius—”

“No, I should, this…” he sat up suddenly, pulling away completely. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, facing away from Remus. Remus could see his back muscles, taught and stressed beneath his t-shirt.

“This isn’t fair to you,” Sirius murmured.

Remus sat up, too, tucking his knees beneath him. “Sirius, there’s—I’m not even tired.”

“No, not—” Sirius stood. He ran a hand through his hair once, twice, then turned towards Remus. His eyes were wider than before, the sleepy contentment and openness long gone. “I didn’t mean…”

Remus shook his head, trying desperately to think how to remedy the situation, to get Sirius to sit back down. He couldn’t even stand the thought of another few weeks of Sirius ignoring him, tip-toeing around him, like last time. He couldn’t.

“I,” Remus began, heart in his throat. “You didn’t mean what?”

Sirius took a step forward, then one back. He shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Nothing,” he said, socked heel scuffing the ground. “Nothing, I’ll…I’ll see you tomorrow, eh? At breakfast.”

Remus swallowed. He was disappointed, but he didn’t know what he had expected. This, surely, would fair better than anything else in the long run. They were two friends hanging out. They could gloss over any miscommunication that had just happened, even if they both were aware of it.

“Yeah,” Remus said faintly. “Breakfast.”

Sirius’ hand was on the door when he turned. “Thank you.”

Remus stood. “You don’t have to keep thanking me.”

Sirius sent him a small smile, but that was all. The door clicked shut behind him and Remus was left with a flickering television and on even more uneven ground than he had been before.

~

Sirius’ house looked like he himself hadn’t put in effort to decorating it but that maybe some of the other guys’ wives had come over earlier and strung lights around his door and placed some pumpkins along his walkway and steps. Remus stared up at it as his cab drove away behind him. He was a late, almost an hour so, and the driveway was packed with black Range Rovers and Bentleys. Remus had to squeeze between review mirrors before he could reach the walkway to get to the door. It was closed and he could hear voices and music playing inside. He could hear the high voices of Pascal’s and Coach Weasley’s kids inside and he smiled a little, raising a fist to knock.

“Coming!” a voice shouted from within.

Remus waited for a moment, bouncing on his toes, before the door swung open to reveal—

Fuck.

“Re! I thought you weren’t going to show up! I was going to send a search party!”

Sirius practically shouted the words. He was obviously more than a little tipsy, and he was dressed head to toe as a fireman. He had the hat on his head with a number twelve stuck on, written on a piece of paper, and the heavy pants and coat. Remus didn’t even know anything about firemen, but he already knew he had a thing for Sirius in a uniform. This was just a different type of uniform.

“I—sorry. I couldn’t find my wallet.” Which was true, it wasn’t Remus’ fault that it came out sounding like a stumbling excuse as he stared at the places on Sirius’ jaw and cheek where he had smeared something dark to look like soot on his face.

Fuck.

“Well, come on in, ref.”

Remus laughed and glanced down at his own costume. He’d borrowed a black and white striped referee shirt and put on some dark jeans, then bought a whistle for around his neck. It wasn’t much, but he knew some of the guys would get a laugh out of it.

Stepping inside, Remus took a moment to look around. He’d only been to Sirius’ house a few times, for parties similar to this one, but he liked to see how Sirius’ space had changed every time. Remus smiled to himself. It never changed much. Sirius lived alone in this huge house, and it tended to remain looking like an interior decorator had stepped in, done their magic, and Sirius had left it that way. There weren’t any pictures, like a James and Lily’s or Pascal’s home. It was just…a place where Sirius slept. It made Remus a little sad, and he was glad there were nights like these where the team could fill the big staircases, kitchen, and living room up with light and laughter.

“Nice costume, Loops. Very funny.” Kasey said as Remus followed Sirius’ fireman hat into the kitchen.

Kasey raised his beer at him, his girlfriend, Natalie by his side. Natalie was dressed all in black with devil horns on her head and dark makeup on, while Kasey was all white and looked as if he had been firmly coerced into wearing the tiny little wings that hooked over his shoulders and a headband in his hair that had a fluffy halo on it.

Remus laughed. “The Blizzard as an angel. I’d never thought I’d see the day.”

Kasey flashed him a sarcastic smile, then a softer one at Natalie. “I was convinced.”

“There’s nothing funnier than irony,” Natalie said, and raised her own glass at Remus.

Remus smiled at her but was quickly distracted by a warm hand on his back.

“Re, you want beer? Wine?” Sirius asked, guiding Remus closer to him and over to where the counter was laid out with countless beverages. “There’s punch that Olli’s girlfriend brought, or I can make you something. We have soda…vodka, rum, whatever you want.”

Remus hummed, looking over the options. “What are you having?”

Sirius made a face and sort of snickered. “Too much, probably.”

“Probably?” Kasey called. “Remus, the captain is drunk.”

“James did it first!” Sirius protested.

“And if James jumped off a bridge, so would you.” Pascal entered the room, one kid hanging off of each of his arms. He smiled at Sirius, “We know, mon ami. Hello, Remus. I see you’re calling the shots tonight, eh, ref?”

Remus picked up a bottle of ginger beer and the rum, planning to mix something before they were taken out of his hands by Sirius who waved him off and set about doing it himself.

Remus smiled, shrugging. “I’ll call ‘em when I see ‘em.”

Pascal looked between the two of them, a funny, amused expression on his face. “As you should.”

“Papa, I want another.”

Remus looked down at Katie, one of Pascal’s two daughters, and Marc, his oldest son.

“Katie, you have had two cupcakes and you’re going trick-or-treating tomorrow night, ma puce.”

“Candy is different than cake!” She laughed, clinging more tightly to him. “Marc wants one, too.”

Pascal fixed them with a mockingly stern gaze.

“Sirius said we could!” Marc chirped, bounding around the counter and hugging Sirius around the legs.

“Oh, did he now?” Pascal raised his eyebrows at Sirius. “Are you in charge of my children now, mon capitaine?”

Sirius shrugged, smiling warmly and placing a large palm over Marc’s head. “You know I can’t resist. It’s your fault for leaving them with me.”

Pascal shook his head, but a smile was threatening to break over his face. He held up a finger.

“One,” he said, and Katie and Marc shrieked and scampered off towards where Remus assumed there was a food table set up in the dining room.

Pascal took another beer and made to follow them, but pointed at Remus.

“You make sure he gets a penalty for that, eh?”

Remus raised his newly mixed drink up to him. “Will do, Dumo.”

He looked at Sirius, picked up his whistle and blew lightly. Sirius laughed, a full mega-watt grin that Remus needed to look away from and couldn’t tear his eyes from all at once.

The party went well after dark. A few of Sirius’ many unused bedrooms went to some sleeping Dumais and Weasley children, and everyone else—team and staff alike—were scattered about Sirius’ house.

Remus found himself with quite a few drinks in him and an easy, happy buzz running through his veins. He also, having gone upstairs looking for a free bathroom, found himself in a hallway he didn’t quite recognize. He tried one door which turned out to be some sort of linen closet, and another that was, thankfully, an empty bedroom. He b-lined it for the bathroom, and when he came out again, was about to leave when a picture on the dresser across the room caught his eye. Then another. And another.

Remus crossed the room, walking around the bed, and looked closer at them. The first one showed two dark haired boys, dressed in what looked like pee-wee hockey jerseys. They had their arms thrown around each other’s necks and were grinning toothily at the camera. Remus would recognize that face anywhere, even in a different time.

“Sirius,” he said under his breath, and his eyes moved to the other boy, slightly younger.

Regulus.

The next picture was much more recent. It was of Sirius, James, Lily, and James’ parents at Christmas, beside the tree. Then, there was one of just Sirius and Lily, and Sirius and James. There were a few more of him and James clustered around. None of them were framed, but just carefully laid out like they were looked at often. There was a picture of Kasey and Sirius with their arms around each other and beer cans in hand at some bar, laughing hard, eyes squeezed shut. Remus leaned forward to see the ones towards the back, careful to keep his drink clear of them. There was another of Lily, a few of Logan, Pascal, and Finn messing around on plane rides or the bus, and then—

Remus set his drink down all together, reaching forward to pick one up that was half hidden from view.

It was him. In the picture he was leaning against the wall of what he recognized as the locker room, talking to Moody. He had his head tilted back, laughing at something, and was fidgeting with a role of stick tape. Remus didn’t know if Sirius had taken the picture or where he had gotten it from, but something warmed in his chest at the thought of Sirius looking at this. It made him feel frantic, too, his mind asking why over and over. 

“Penalty,” a voice said from behind him suddenly, making him jump and turn. He dropped the picture back on the dresser.

Sirius was standing there. He’d since lost his fireman hat and jacket and was left in just a white t-shirt and the fireman pants with the reflective material stripped on them. The shirt set off his tan skin nicely and Remus swallowed, the alcohol in his system making it harder than usual to ignore.

Sirius smiled crookedly at him. “Two minutes for snooping.”

“I was—looking for a bathroom,” Remus stuttered. “I’m sorry—”

“I’m joking, Loops,” Sirius sat down on the bed. His bed, Remus realized with a jolt.

He’d wandered into Sirius’ room.

The space suddenly felt charged, warm and electric.

“Oh,” Remus said stupidly. “Right.” Then, he cleared his throat. “They just caught my eye and—and I never see any pictures in your house or anything. I didn’t know this was your room, Pads, I really am—I didn’t mean to…”

Sirius pushed a hand through his hair and Remus almost wanted to snap at him to not because, honestly, his arms.

“Don’t worry, really. I…” Sirius seemed to think about it for a minute. “I guess this feels like the only room I really spend much time in, other than the kitchen. The pictures…are for me.”

“I’m sorry,” Remus said helplessly again, but smiled a little at Sirius’ exasperated look, and came to sit beside him.

“Good party?” Sirius asked.

Remus nodded. “The drinks are certainly not in short supply.”

Sirius laughed, “I can tell.”

At Remus’ confused look he reached up and rubbed a thumb over the high of Remus’ cheek, the rest of his palm cupping Remus’ jaw. “Pink cheeks.” He dropped his hand. “You get like that when you drink.”

Remus felt himself flush further at the fact that Sirius even noticed. But, then again, maybe Sirius did notice him in ways he hadn’t seen before. He—maybe—flirted, he had a picture of Remus—and Moody—in his room. He was touchy—but with everyone.

Remus let out a breath. He just didn’t know.

“It’s hot,” Sirius said, and then his smile fell, dropped like a stone. “Ah…” He looked down, “Sorry. Like—no, I mean…”

Remus practically gaped at him, heart leaping. Hot. Hot was not a friend word.

“It’s okay,” Remus said, barely hearing himself over his heart.

“Lots of drinks, like you said.” Sirius tried to laugh but it came out tight, his eyes firmly downcast.

Remus raised his hand. It hovered for a moment, and then he let it rest on Sirius’ thigh, a little higher than what would usually be acceptable.

“Sirius,” he said, and when Sirius looked at him, tearing his wide eyes away from Remus’ hand, he nodded. “It’s okay.”

Sirius blinked at him. Remus could see his throat work around a hard swallow and he drew in a shaky breath. Sirius shook his head minutely.

“Yes,” Remus said. “It is.”

Then, Sirius’ eyes widened. He sat there until he seemed to remember to breathe again and said, “You…?”

Remus felt frozen for a second. There he was, about to tell a secret he’d never told anyone, to the one person he thought he’d never tell, or at least would be the last to know. But he wasn’t about to let there be any miscommunication. Not with this. If Sirius was sitting there thinking he couldn’t like men because of his career, Remus wasn’t going to sit by and watch.

He nodded just as quietly back.

Sirius let out a shuttering breath. “That’s why you don’t play hockey anymore?”

Remus’ heart squeezed. Of course that was what Sirius would latch onto. He shook his head, rubbing his thumb once over Sirius’ thigh soothingly. “No. No, Pads, I don’t play hockey anymore because I’m not six foot three like you. My—my sexuality had nothing to do with it. No one knew. No one knows.”

Sirius’ eyes were wide again. “And you tell me?”

Remus pulled his bottom lip into his mouth for a moment. “Well…yeah. Yeah, I guess I did.”

“Why?” Sirius asked, voice breathless.

Remus looked at him, eyebrows pulling down. “I’m not ashamed of it or anything. I thought—aren’t you…?”

Sirius looked away quickly, eyes going back down. His chest and back were rising and falling quickly beneath his t-shirt and Remus moved his hand tentatively from Sirius’ thigh to his back. Sirius was warm and his heart was fast. He was panicking.

“Sirius, it’s okay. It’s alright, I’d never tell anyone, I just—I brought it up because I thought maybe that you…”

Sirius stood abruptly and Remus’ hand fell to the bed. “I…it’s not good. I can’t.”

Remus felt like someone had just knocked his skates out from under him and sent him flying backwards on to cold, hard ice. He didn’t know what that meant, it’s not good. Being gay? Being with Remus?

He looked up at Sirius and painstakingly nodded, feeling it like whiplash.

“Right,” he choked out. He was definitely going to cry when he got out of here. He had the briefest thought of walking all the way home, just to get it out. “Right, yeah, okay.”

Sirius made a pained noise in the back of his throat and then he was suddenly dropping to his knees in front of Remus and cupping the back of Remus’ calves, then the sides of his thighs.

“No, Remus, listen,” Sirius pleaded, eyes dark and sad. “Remus.”

Remus looked down at him, utterly confused now. “I’m listening.”

“It would have to be,” Sirius closed his eyes briefly then opened them again, “secret. So secret, and—so hard. It wouldn’t be fair to you. Remus, if my parents found out—I mean, if anyone found out—”

Remus blinked at Sirius, words caught in his throat. “Are you saying…”

Sirius nodded, hard, voice a whisper like Remus’. “Yes. Yes, I want you. I’ve wanted you for, mon dieu, I don’t know how long.”

Remus let out a breath that was bursting with relief and reached out to touch Sirius’ cheek, needing to feel him to make sure this was real—

And Sirius caught his wrist, eyes desperately sad. He shook his head, pushing his hand back.

“I want you, too,” Remus said, confused. “Sirius—”

And then Remus really heard what Sirius had said.

Too hard.

Remus sank back into himself and Sirius dropped his hand.

They sat together, Sirius on his knees and expressing aching, Remus’ eyes down, for what felt like minutes and minutes.

“Remus,” Sirius finally whispered, voice shaky. “Please understand. I’m not ashamed to want you, I just…my family. I…I’m scared.”

Remus nodded slowly. He did understand. Of course he understood. This decision was bigger for Sirius than it was for him but, even if Sirius had made up his mind, Remus needed him to know something.

“I do. I know it would be hard,” he began.

Sirius made a soft, relieved noise and went to speak but Remus cut him off.

“I just wouldn’t care,” Remus said more firmly.

Sirius sucked in a sharp breath. Remus looked at him.

“You’d be worth it,” Remus pressed his lips together in a regretful smile, “for me, you’d be worth it.” He rose, stepping around Sirius. He let his hand rest for a moment on his shoulder. “Just keep that in mind, okay?”

Remus went back downstairs and called himself a cab.

[lumosinlove]

Sweater Weather

part iii

Remus didn’t always have too much time for it, but there was nothing he liked more than sitting on the bench and watching Gryffindor City’s Hogwarts Stadium fill up with red and gold. The waves of chatter got louder and the seats filled, and it was a nice balance to the energy in the locker room as he walked back down the tunnel and through the doors, leaning against the wall with Moody. There, in case they were needed, but out of the way.

Even more than watching the fans, he liked watching the boys get ready. Kasey was down on all fours in a butterfly squat, full-pads making his body look huge and his head look tiny. Leo was down the hall some, throwing two balls against the wall and catching them quickly. Remus’ eyes blurred after watching for a minute and he looked away. Which turned out to be a mistake in itself.

Sirius was sitting in his stall, shirtless and knees spread to accommodate the stick he was taping between them. He didn’t have any of his pads on yet, typical Sirius, who always had to get ready at the last minute because he spent so much time on his stretches and sticks. He was just in his underarmour, the tight material leaving absolutely nothing to imagination. He had a Lions’ hat on backwards and stray strands of hair were sticking out of the front, casting shadows on his cheeks. He stuck his tongue out and wound the tape carefully around the blade of his stick, checking for wrinkles and creases every other turn. James was saying something to him with broad hand gestures, probably a play he wanted to get perfect tonight.

They all wanted to get everything perfect tonight. It was the home opener. The crowd would be wild, and the pressure would be on. Remus loved every second of it and he knew the boys did, too.

James let out a loud whoop then, clapping his hands together and and throwing his helmet on even though his pads were still hanging in his stall. “Let’s fucking go, tonight, eh boys? Durmstrang fuckers won’t know what hit them.”

He was met with a series answering shouts of approval, all of which amplified when Coach Weasley appeared through the locker room doors with the large lion on it. He grinned and held up a little slip of paper, tonight’s line up.

“Pots, since you’re already standing, why don’t you do the honors?” Arthur said, handing James the paper.

James hit his helmet on his head. “Alright, let’s see. Starting tonight,” the boys yelled and James dropped down a little, knees bent and voice low like the commentators, “in the cage,” there was another round of shouts and James wound up his arm and then bounded over to Kasey, “we have the man named for the sport of hockey itself, Kasey Winter.”

There were a series of “Yeah, Kase!” and “Be the fucking blizzard!” before James could continue.

“Next we have…on your left, Harzy!”

Harzy looked up from where he was lacing his skates with a little salute to the cheers.

“On your right,” James smiled around at them all, so wide that Remus could see where one of his outer bottom teeth was still missing, just out of sight. He pressed a hand to his own chest, “yours truly.”

“Alright, Potty-mouth!” Kasey shouted the nickname James had earned himself for his relentless chirping on the ice, name-calling and poking fun until the refs eventually had to call him on it.

“Your favorite D-man pairing, Kaner and our resident Finland-man, Olli!”

Timmy Kane and Olli Halla did some strange, complicated handshake.

“And your center tonight…the man, the myth, the one who holds the record for most marriage proposals by teenage girls at the glass,” Remus laughed at that and James ran back over to Sirius, pretending to take his stick just to see him flinch back, and taking his hat instead and placing it on top of his own helmet, “oh captain, my captain, Sirius mother-fucking Black!”

Everyone clapped a little, Arthur shaking his head fondly and Moody letting James run over and touch his leg for good luck, per tradition, and then it was really business time. There was some calmer chatter as everyone got into their gear and laced up, getting into the right headspace for a game.

Remus rifled through his own inventory in his head, making sure he would be prepared on the bench. He had extra blades for everyone, laces, sterile gauze, and a little box for teeth which he’d learned to keep the hard way (Olli Halla spitting a few directly into his open palm). He took one last look around the locker room before heading back to the mouth of the tunnel at the bench where the guys would pass on their way out for their lap-around introductions under the lights and warm ups. He could see some of the Durmstrang equipment guys over on their bench, and they exchanged nods that were friendly enough. Eagles games were always odd, not just for the competition—they had nothing compared to Lion and Snake games—but because their colors were nearly identical, and so the away-team always had to wear their more solid colored third-jerseys. Remus was glad they were on home-ice, so the Eagles would be the ones stuck in their nearly all goldish-yellow uniform, not the Lions.

Remus looked up at the stands, figuring his parents were out there somewhere, trying to keep Julian at bay, who was no doubt in his BLACK jersey and bouncing out of his shoes with excitement. At nine years old, Remus sometimes wondered if his little brother was a bigger Lions fan than even him, despite living halfway across the country from them.

He had a sudden fantasy of bringing Jules back to the locker room and Sirius being there, maybe James, too, and Sirius would give Jules a hockey stick maybe, and then smile at Remus—

“What’s with the face?”

Remus started, looking at Moody who had brought out the fresh bottles of gatorade and water.

“What? What face? Nothing.” Remus reached forward and started to help him line the bench with them. “I wasn’t making a face.”

“Alright, at ease.” Moody laughed a little. “Jeez, Lupin.”

Remus desperately tried to change the subject, “How’s the lucky leg?”

Moody scoffed, giving it a stomp. “It’s been kissed by Harzy, that’s what. Fucking crazy-ass.”

Remus laughed and sat down on the bench, looking up towards the jumbo-screen where they were showing a video of a few of the guys saying what they did that summer. James was on, giving a typically sarcastic answer. Something about hamburgers. When Sirius’ faces came on next there was a positive roar from the crowd and Remus felt flushed with their enthusiasm. Gryffindor loved their Captain, and they were just as eager to avenge him as the team was. It was pretty fucking thrilling to sit and watch it all, but if he could, Remus would be out there on the ice, fighting to get Sirius ever goal and point he could. He pushed that thought down just as the lights shut off and the music stopped, signaling the beginning of the Lions’ entry onto the ice, their first of the season. Remus’ heart pounded.

“Gryffindor!” boomed Frank Longbottom’s voice, one of their beloved announcer. Frank came with the team on the road, along with Marlene McKinnon. Butts and Kinzy were well loved by the team, and, maybe unfortunately for them, the subjects of many pranks, but Remus was sure they loved the boys’ attention as much as he himself did. The crowed boomed back in response and then the jumbo-screen bloomed to life, along with the lights and the lasers that streaked across the crowd and ice.

“Are you ready?” Frank asked the stadium, and then the jumbo-screen started counting down from ten with loud booms that quickly developed into a bass-heavy song.

“Ten…nine…” Remus found himself smiling, mumbling the numbers under his breath.

“Your Gryffindor Lions!” Frank drew out the words and the lights went crazy as the boys appeared down the tunnel.

Kasey came first, goalie mask propped on top of his head as he skated out onto the ice. Then Timmy, Finn, Leo…Olli, Brady, Evgeni, Kris, Tyler…

They all looped around the rink, warming up and pounding on the glass, laughing when the crowd pounded back. Remus liked watching the rookies the most, their eyes alight with the attention and praise.

And finally James, always second to last, and then Sirius, always last. Remus watched him come all the way down the tunnel, just in time for his name to be read out by Frank. Sirius raised his glove and knocked it into a few of the kid’s fists who had made it down by the glass, before scampering back up to their parents, delighted with having received a fist-bump.

Remus didn’t expect Sirius to look back at him, but for the split second between him being beside the bench and him being on the ice, their eyes met. And Sirius dropped a wink. And he was gliding away, dropping to one knee as he went and raising his stick a little, drawing screams from the crowd. They were happy to have him back. Sirius was cocky, and Remus didn’t like to admit that he loved that, but he did.

Sirius belonged on the ice, that much had always been clear, and when he wasn’t there, something was out of gear. Everything felt settled now, ready.

The lights came up after a bit and then Eagles filtered on, too, taking shots at their goalie. Victor Krum crossed center ice and met Sirius where he was talking to James, offering a somewhat stiff hand. Sirius smiled, so Remus guessed he had welcomed him back. The Eagles were good like the Snakes, but they weren’t assholes like they were. Remus watched Sirius pluck at Krum’s shoulder, no doubt chirping him for the bright yellow color, and Krum laughed, nudging him back and skating away.

Kasey was busy nesting his goal, scraping up the crease with his long goalie skate blades and catching the boys’ practice shots. Remus watched him for a minute, always enjoying how specific and protective Kasey was of his goal (he patted his posts whenever a puck got knocked askew by one, for god’s sake), but soon his attention was—predictably—dragged away by Sirius. Sirius had a routine, a strict routine, and there was few things Remus loved more than watching him go through it. Remus wasn’t sure he even knew about all of it, but he wanted to. He knew Sirius had to tape his own sticks, do specific stretches in a specific order, had to put his left skate on first, and during warm-ups he had to trace the Lions logo with a puck. He knew Sirius liked to have two pieces of toast with butter and honey an hour before games. Remus wished he knew more, secretly. He wanted to know how long Sirius’ pre-game nap was and what he looked like when he woke up from it—

“Earth to Remus Lupin.”

Remus’ slowly spiraling fantasy was abruptly cut off by James waving a glove in his face.

“What?” Remus stood up. “Sorry, what’s up, what do you need? James, face-off’s in like two seconds, you’re on first shift.”

“I just want some gatorade and it’s all red.” James practically pouted.

Remus huffed out a laugh and handed him a blue, shifting to the side as the other team members shuffled down the bench, coach Weasley slapping a few of them on the back. “There, now go!”

James whooped and skated off to take his position. Sirius was at center ice, eye to eye with Krum, the ref between them with the puck. They crouched, eyes on the puck, and Remus said a soft prayer to whatever god anyone could believe in.

The ref dropped the puck, and the game began.

Remus was on his feet the entire time. He was meant to be watching for any trip-ups, any hard hits, anything that might need to be looked at. Instead, he kept catching himself just enjoying the game, standing behind the bench. Sirius came careening over the boards, tapping Brady’s butt as he jumped onto the ice to replace him, and sat down heavily in front of Remus. He turned, sweat dripping down his temples.

“iPad,” he said, and one of the assistant coaches held it out to him. Sirius stayed turned, brow intense as he watched a replay of his latest shift, and so Remus got to study his profile. He loved Sirius in the heat of a game, loved how fast he talked. He leaned over to explain something to Olli, who leaned in like if he didn’t catch every word, he’d parish. Everyone on the team tended to listen to Sirius like that, like he was their leader through thick and thin.

“How’m I doing?” Sirius said as he handed the iPad back. Remus assumed he was talking to the coaches until Sirius’ eyes fell on him.

“Me?” Remus asked—stupidly.

Sirius smiled, “You.”

“You look great out there. You know you look great out there.”

James laughed, whacking Remus lightly in the stomach with his glove. “Way to call him on it, Loops.” Then the whole bench leaned back as Brady shoved an Eagles player nearly over the boards and into the bench. The crowd loved it, and James banged his stick on the boards after them. “Way to go, Shady-Brady!”

They were gone shortly after that, Coach calling for short shifts for the end of the first period.

“Keep ‘em coming boys, keep this lead!” he was shouting.

The Lions were up 3-1, and the atmosphere was electric. Remus loved this. It was the closest thing to being on top of the world there was, he thought. Suddenly, Sirius was on a breakaway up the ice off of a clean pass from Harzy. He skirted around number 16, number 3, with hard edges, and then he was nearly at the net—

Krum came out of nowhere, slamming Sirius into the boards.

Remus was on his feet in a second, pressing up behind Tyler and Evgeni on the bench.

It was a clean hit, but it felt like ages before Sirius got up. Remus didn’t even watch Krum take the puck, didn’t watch Kasey miss it, didn’t watch their goal-horn light up, didn’t watch the scoreboard change to read 3-2. He didn’t watch the Eagles celebrate.

He watched Sirius skate towards the bench. It was just for a shift change, but Remus looked over every part of him, checking for a limp, a wince, anything. He looked okay. James was on him in a second, skating shoulder to shoulder and talking to him. Sirius was nodded, even smiling a little, but Remus could tell he was shaken. To have something like that happen in the first game, and when he’d just gotten back…

The stadium filled with booing that felt like it shook the walls.

Sirius took his seat on the bench, but before Remus could get through his teammates and to him, the buzzer signaling the end of the first period was sounding and everyone was filing off the ice and back into the locker room. Good, Remus thought. He’d ask to see Sirius, he’d check him out fully, just to be safe.

Marlene was waiting for Coach at the end of the tunnel.

“Hey Arthur, who can we have for media?” she asked.

“Not Black,” Remus stepped in, “I want to check that hit.”

Coach nodded, “right. You can have Pots, or Kasey, I think.”

Marlene nodded and shot Remus a smile, which he returned tightly as he pushed between them and into the locker room. Sirius looked up at him almost immediately, like he had been waiting.

Remus only had to jerk his head towards the quiet and training rooms, before Sirius was getting up and following him. Remus held the door open to the quiet room. It was technically for concussion testing and protocol, and Remus hadn’t seen Sirius hit his head, but better safe than sorry. Sirius stepped inside and Remus closed the door.

“How do you feel?” Remus asked, then pointed to the padded observation table. “Sit there. I’m going to check your ankle and your head.”

“Loops—”

“Does anything else hurt?”

“Remus.”

Remus looked up.

Sirius loomed over him anyway, but he practically towered over him while wearing skates. Remus nearly had to crane his neck.

“What?” Remus asked, a little breathlessly.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. “It wasn’t a bad hit.”

“I know. But given your recent history I want to make sure everything’s fine.”

Sirius sat down on the bench and took his helmet off, laying it to the side along with his gloves while Remus bent to start unlacing his skates. Remus’ heart was still pounding, and Sirius’ gray desperate eyes filled his head. He wouldn’t be helpless this time. He’d fixed Sirius’ broken bone, and he wouldn’t let anything go amiss, not now.

“Durmstrang’s always a tough one to call, eh? Sometimes they’re brilliant and sometimes they’re…”

“Angry?” Remus supplied, carefully sliding Sirius’ skates off of his feet before rising.

Sirius laughed a little, “Yeah. For sure, yeah.”

“Look here.” Remus held up a small flashlight and a finger. Sirius looked, but right at Remus, not his finger. A small smile was still lingering on his face. “My finger, Black.”

Sirius laughed again but obeyed this time.

“When’s your birthday?”

“November third.” Sirius supplied easily.

“When is Pots’ birthday?”

“March twenty-seventh. When’s your birthday, Re?”

Remus chest fluttered a little. He clicked off the flashlight, satisfied. “March tenth.”

“Hey, you and James are birthday-buddies.”

Remus rolled his eyes, “Raise your arms. Touch your—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Sirius obediently brought his fingers to his nose and back out again a few times, then, without prompt, got up and walked in a straight line, toe to heel, and turned and looked at Remus expectantly.

Remus narrowed his eyes at him. “And your ankle? Tell me the truth.”

“Fine.” Sirius smiled and sat down in one of the chairs in the room to start getting his skates back on. “Really, Loops, I’m alright. It probably looked worse than it was.”

“It took you a bit to get up.”

Sirius shrugged down at his laces, digging his heel in to pull them tight, “I’ll admit, I was a little surprised. It’s the first real time I got hit since…you know. Since Snape. But you said it yourself,” He looked up at Remus then, sweat damp hair falling into his eyes a little, cheeks flushed, “can’t let the fear get to me, can I?”

Remus swallowed dryly. “Right. Yeah.” He watched Sirius until he was standing again and pulling his gloves back on, tucking his helmet beneath his arm. “Right, right. Sorry.” He opened the door, “Have a good second period, okay?”

Sirius paused beside him in the doorway, tall as ever with his skates back on and looking down at Remus. “Hey.”

Remus looked up at him. Sirius had a funny expression on his face, something soft and determined.

“Don’t ever say sorry for helping me,” Sirius’ voice was low when he said the words.

Remus caught one last glimpse of the odd expression, and then Sirius was gone, enveloped back into the energetic mass of the team.

They won 5-3, Sirius with three points, two goals and one assist, in the second and third period.

The locker room was ecstatic afterwards, and Remus was kneeling to tape up Kasey’s thigh for him when Arthur came out with the lion head. The lion head was this seasons team token, of sorts, an object that got past around the locker room after every game, depending on who played best that night. For the first game of the season, Coach was the one who handed it out. After that it would go from player to player. This year, the object looked like an overly-furry lion-mane and nose, maybe from some poor, cotton stuffed animal, sewed onto a baseball cap. Remus grimaced just looking at it. He didn’t want to think about how sweaty and disgusting that thing was going to become by the end of the season.

“Great game, boys. Great start to the beginning of the season.” There were some cheering and Arthur smiled, waving his hand, “As you know, it is my pride and joy making our season tokens.”

“What section of the wall is last year’s going on?” James said, making everyone laugh. Arthur’s creation last year had been a monstrous blend between a gladiator helmet that had a yarn lion tale glued to the back of it.

“Front and center, thanks for asking.” Coach said. “This year, we have…”

Kasey started a drumroll which the entire locker room eventually joined in on.

“Lion-cap. Gorgeous, isn’t he?” Arthur held it up. “And tonight…I’ve got to give it to the captain, don’t I?”

“Yeah you do!” James pounded the wall of his stall with his fist.

“Quite a hit, and beauties of goals. Sirius.”

Sirius laughed as he walked forward, just his underarmour on again, and put the hat on, crouching into a ridiculous pose so that James could take a picture. He looked hilarious in it, the mane fluffing out around his ears and the nose resting on the brim.

“Thanks, Coach.” He said, and then handed it off to Remus for safe keeping, per tradition. Remus was always put in charge of bring the token on roadies, and keeping track of who got it when.

Remus felt his phone buzz in his pocket and was pulled abruptly from the bubble of the team when he saw his mom’s name flash up. He slapped a hand to Kasey’s shoulder, telling him he was done, and slipped out of the locker room to answer.

“Hey, mum.”

“Hi, baby. Great game!”

“It was,” Remus smiled. “I’ll be right out to get you guys and we can get ice cream or something. I just have to—”

“Remus?”

Remus pressed the phone to his shoulder, turning on his heel back to the locker room. Sirius was standing there, head poking out and smiling a smile that looked almost—shy.

“Yeah? Hold on, mum—Sorry, can I help?”

“Bring them back,” Sirius said.

“Huh?”

Sirius rolled his eyes, “Your family. Bring them back, show them the locker room and stuff.”

“Oh.” Remus’ heart beat. He would love that. Julian would freak out. “Oh, I don’t want—”

“C’mon, the boys would love it. We can sign a jersey and stuff, or a stick.”

Remus’ mouth hung open for a minute before he heard himself say, “okay,” and Sirius grinned before retreating. Remus didn’t move until he heard his mom’s voice in his ear. He blinked a few times and raised his phone back up. “Hey, mum, do you want to…would you guys want to come back to the locker room?”

And so here Remus was, his parents and Jules in toe, walking down the all too familiar hallway.

Julian bounced up beside Remus, both hands around his arm. “Are we going to meet Sirius?”

Remus smiled, “probably.”

“Are we going to meet Pots?”

“Yep, him too.”

“Blizzard?”

Remus laughed, “I think you could meet Kasey, sure.”

“Can I take a picture with them?”

“If you say please,” Remus said, because it was definitely what his mom would say. Once they reach the locker room doors, he looked back at his parents. Both were wearing BLACK jerseys, which Remus found unbearably endearing and also slightly embarrassing now that Sirius knew how Remus felt about him as a hockey player. There was no doubt he was going to think Remus had had sway over his parents’ jersey choice. His dad was clutching his phone excitedly to his chest, and Remus couldn’t think why he hadn’t asked to do this sooner. He was glad Sirius had said something, and he’d make sure to tell him thank you later.

“Ready?” He asked.

“Ready, ready, open the doors!” Julian whisper-yelled.

The sound wave once Remus did hit them like a wall, and Remus heard Jules quiet down a little, maybe with nerves as the reality that this was actually happening set in, and Remus turned around to put a comforting hand on his back. He could see that the media was just leaving out the press door, which Remus was thankful for because it meant that none of the players would be surrounded by cameras. He didn’t want this to look like a photo-op.

He made eye contact with Sirius almost immediately, and tried to smile in a way that didn’t look like he expected Sirius to come over or anything. Sirius had a routine, and that included winding down. He looked like he was about to leave for his twenty minute cool down on one of the stationary bikes, and Remus didn’t want to interrupt that. But then Sirius was grinning and motioning them over.

“Oh.” Julian said softly from beside Remus, and Remus patted his head softly and motioned for his parents to follow him over to Sirius’ stall.

Sirius stood when they got there, grinning warmly.

“Who’s this?” Sirius asked, holding his fist out for a dumbstruck Julian to bump.

“These are my parents, Hope and Lyall, and this is Julian, my brother.” Remus said, smiling a little at Jules’ expression. His heart was pounding. “Say hi, Jules.”

“Hi Padfoot. I mean—” Julian flushed.

Sirius laughed. “You can call me Padfoot if I can call you Jules. You play hockey, bud?”

Julian nodded frantically, “yeah, I’m a center, too.”

“Nice.” Sirius raised his eyes briefly to Remus’ parents and held out his hand for them to shake, “Hi, I’m Sirius.” As if they didn’t know, as if they weren’t wearing his last name on their backs, “Did you all enjoy the game?”

“That was such a nasty hit on you.” Julian said, eyes going from Sirius’ face to his locker to his pads to his stick.

“It was, wasn’t it?”

“Oh, we hope you’re alright.” Hope said with a very motherly disapproving frown.

Sirius nodded and, to Remus’ surprise, threw an arm around Remus’ shoulder. “Your son took care of me. Remus takes the best care of us, right James?”

James had come over with a protein bar hanging out of his mouth, but took a bite and chewed quickly when he put together who he was speaking to.

“Jesus f—” He looked at Julian whose eyes were practically hearts. “Hi,” James said again, laughing a little at himself, “you must be Loops’ parents.” James looked down at Julian again, “And older brother, I presume? What’s up, man? Here to try out?”

“Yeah.” Julian said softly, clearly barely able to think, and they all laughed.

Remus, on the other hand, was much to pre-occupied with Sirius’ arm which, having slid away from his shoulders, was now briefly a warm, pressing weight between his shoulder blades, before it disappeared completely as he slapped the seat of his stall.

“Well I’m certainly not going to have a spot on this team if you’re playing, so you might as well take a seat. Let’s see, what will he need to be a Lion, Pots?”

James crossed his arms, pretending to think hard. “Jersey, definitely.”

“Oh, two, I’d say.” Sirius added, “And a couple sticks, don’t you think?”

Julian, now seated snuggly in Sirius’ stall, was red-cheeked with happiness.

“On it.” James said, and winked at Remus as he left to get a few of his and Sirius’ jerseys and sticks to sign.

Sirius on the other hand, crouched down to Julian’s level. “Hey, Jules, do you know how awesome your brother is?”

Julian grinned up at Remus, then back at Sirius. “Yeah.”

Sirius nodded back, “He does practically everything for us. Gets us new skate blades, makes sure we have what we need on the road, keeps us healthy.” Then Sirius looked at him with a similarly fond and happy expression that Julian was wearing, and Remus felt a little like he might cry which would be completely and utterly embarrassing. “He’s pretty great.”

Remus felt his own cheeks flush. “Okay, okay, thanks.”

Hope laughed from beside him, squeezing him in a one armed hug. “Never could take a compliment, could you, Re?”

“That was a lot of compliments.” Remus laughed, running a hand through his hair. He couldn’t stop looking at Sirius and Sirius wasn’t looking away.

Remus felt like he was back in Sirius’ car, unsure what it all meant.

“Hey, did you know I’m your brother’s favorite player?” Sirius asked Jules.

“You’re mine, too! We both have your jersey!”

Remus flushed and had to look away from Sirius and his raised eyebrows then, pretending to watch James come back across the locker room with the gear. He didn’t want to hear what Sirius had to say about that.

James and Sirius were both at Julian’s level for a good fifteen minutes, signing things, taking pictures, and talking hockey. Kasey even came over before leaving to sign the jerseys and offer one of his own sticks. Remus didn’t know how Julian was going to carry it all.

His parents eventually left for their hotel with promises to meet him for breakfast the next morning and their favorite pancake spot—really everyone’s favorite pancake spot—in Gryffindor. Remus watched them walk back to their car until they turned out of view, smiling to himself at Jules’ insistence that he carry all three sticks and wear both jerseys at once.

Remus stopped by the exercise room on his way back to lock up the office for the night and, as expected, Sirius was there. He looked fresh off the bike and was on one of the mats, stressing his fingers towards his toes. Remus knocked lightly.

“Hey,” Sirius said with a grin.

“Hi.” Remus walked in a few more paces and leaned against one of the treadmills, scuffing the toe of his sneaker against the floor softly. “I don’t want to interrupt you or anything, but I just wanted to thank you. For earlier. You—You really made my little brother’s life, there. He loves you guys.”

Sirius stood, dusting off his leggings and picked up his water bottle from the floor. “I hope he’s not the only one.”

Remus bit back a smile, and his heart clenched. If only Sirius knew what he was saying.

“Of course,” was all Remus could think of to reply.

“You’re family seems great, Re. Really.”

“They are,” Remus replied before he thought about what that statement probably meant, coming from Sirius. Sirius who didn’t have a family like that. Remus felt guilt and the want to strangle anyone who didn’t love Sirius properly swirl in his chest. Sirius deserved so much. Look what he would do for just one kid who he never even met, for Remus, who he barely knew outside of his work.

“I’m headed out soon.” Sirius said. “Do you need a ride?”

Remus shook his head, “Moody said he’d drive me.”

Even though everything in him was screaming at him to lie and say yes, he didn’t want to explain that to Moody.

“Ah.” Sirius said, nodding. He looked, if not disappointed, something like it. “Okay. Well, let me know, eh? Any time.”

“Thanks, Sirius.” Remus was aware of how soft his voice sounded, but there wasn’t much he could do about it with Sirius’ gray eyes on him.

Sirius smiled, a soft and lopsided thing, and Remus’ heart flipped in his chest. As Sirius left for the showers, Remus got back to his desk. On it, was a hat.

It was a Lions hat, red with gold piping and the gold lion. On the bill, in the gold sharpie that the team used for signing, was a messily scrawled message and a signature. Sirius’ signature, complete with the number twelve.

I’m glad I’m your favorite, it read.

(A/N: Ah, slowly but surely....:)