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Kiss and Cry: An area in an ice skating rink where figure skaters rest while awaiting their results after a competitive performance. So named because competitors typically celebrate or commiserate (depending on their performance) with coaches, friends, or family in this location.

***

Remus thought it was his alarm going off, and it aggravated him so much that he contemplated throwing his phone against the wall. Despite having gotten a full nine hours of sleep, he still felt rather tired, and planned to hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. However, upon opening his eyes, he could tell that it was in fact not the time to wake up, as the sun was barely out, the sky still a light shade of pink. The sound coming from his phone was also decidedly not his alarm, but actually ABBA’s Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) that he had jokingly bought to be the ringtone for one specific person.

Remus sat up and unplugged his phone from where it was charging on his nightstand. He could have let it go to voicemail, but he knew she would keep it calling. “Hello?” He said, rubbing a hand down his face in an attempt to wake up a bit.

“Remus!” Lily exclaimed, much too peppy for seven in the morning. “My best friend, light of my life, how are you this morning?”

“Lily, as much as I appreciate our chats, I would like to remind you that not all of us have to wake up at arse in the morning,” Remus said, laying back down, trying to keep his eyes open. 

“I know, I’m sorry, Rem,” Lily said, sounding genuinely apologetic. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I think I feel pretty stiff. But I’ll be able to manage,” Remus confirmed. 

“Ok, great. In that case, I have a small favor to ask you,” Lily said.

“A favor that couldn’t wait another two hours?”

“I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t important. I left my laptop at my flat, and I have an online exam in two hours,” Lily said. He could tell that she was panicked, and it did wake him up a bit. He’d always been a bit protective of Lily. Not that she needed it, though; if that girl was capable of anything, it was taking care of herself. 

“You’re still at the rink, aren’t you?” Remus asked, even though he knew the answer.

“Yes, and I will be for the next four hours. But Minerva is letting me take a break so I can take this,” Lily said. 

“So you want me to bring you your computer?” Remus asked. 

“I’m really sorry, Remus. I know you don’t have class until noon. But Alice spent the night at Frank’s and I can’t get a hold of her. Dorcas is in class. You’re the only person I know who sleeps with their ringer on,” Lily said. She was right of course. He did it, in case his mum called. If he didn’t answer she would worry.

“You want me to bring it to you?” 

“If it isn’t too much of a bother,” Lily said. “God, I wish I was like Sirius and could just not go to university. Balancing the whole college thing with practice is too fucking much.”

“Hey, it’ll all be worth it when you’re an Olympic athlete and have an exercise science degree,” Remus pointed out. “You’re a bloody superwoman, Lily Evans.”

“Rem, I’ve told you, just because we got silver in  the Autumn Classic and silver for the Nebelhorn Trophy doesn’t mean we’re going to the Olympics,” Lily laughed. “We have a chance since Emmeline and Caradoc retired, but it’s still just our first year as partners.”

“Olympics aren’t for another three years Lily. You’ve got time. Besides, I don’t know about this Sirius bloke, but I know you’re the best figure skater in the UK,” Remus said. 

“Remus, you know shit about about figure skating,” Lily pointed out.

“But I know you. And if you could make Severus look good, you can do anything,” Remus said.

“Oh why’d you have to go and mention Severus. Way to ruin my day,” Lily groaned.

“I apologize. I’ll make it up to you by bringing your laptop,” Remus said. 

“You’re a gem, Remus Lupin. Truly a God among men,” Lily said, sounding relieved. 

“Just remember me when you’re famous, that’s all I ask,” Remus laughed. “Let me get dressed and get some coffee in me and I’ll drive over.”

“You still have the spare key?” Lily checked. 

“Of course. I have to be able to get into your flat in case you ever get murdered,” Remus said. “Or need someone to water your plants.”

Lily giggled, “I’ll see you soon, tosser.”

“Bye Lils,” Remus said, and ended the phone call. He sat up again, throwing his legs over the side of the bed, and checked other notifications that he had. His mum had shared a video with him on Facebook, and he had an unanswered text from Mary from the previous night:

Train ticket booked. See you in two months xx

Remus shot a quick text back letting her know that he was excited that she was coming to visit for a bit, and also sent a laughing emoji in response to the video his mom had sent. He didn’t actually watch it. It was one of those “mom humor” type things. 

He got up, reaching down to the floor to pick up his pants that he’d worn the other day. They were wrinkled, and he was pretty sure there was pasta sauce on it from the night before, but it’d have to do seeing as he hadn’t done laundry in a week. He picked one of the last sweaters he had hanging in his closet--definitely not one he wore that often because of the bleach stain--but again, not a lot of options at the moment. 

He walked out into the common area, where Peter was sitting on the couch, the same place that Remus had left him before going to bed. He had his headset on and was playing some sort of video game and shouting into his headset. There were two energy drinks on the coffee table that Marlene or Remus would probably end up throwing away. He seemed to realize that Remus had walked in, and put the headphones around his neck.

“Morning, Remus,” Peter greeted him. “You’re up early.”

“Have to run an errand for Lily,” Remus said, walking over to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. He knew he ought to cut down on the caffeine. Not because it affected his immune system, but because it could mess up his sleep schedule. And Dr. Pomfrey kept telling him that he needed to rest more to avoid a flare, that he was overexerting himself. But one cup wouldn’t hurt him. He  took his medication out of the cupboard and put his daily doses in a bag, he then packed a banana and some of Marlene’s homemade granola, since he wasn’t able to take it on an empty stomach. He would probably go straight to campus once he had dropped Lily’s stuff off. 

As he waited for it to brew, he walked over to Peter and sat in the armchair. He was playing some shooting game that Remus didn’t understand the point of and really had no desire to learn anything about. 

“Have you been up all night?” Remus asked. He would be more concerned if it wasn’t a regular occurrence for Peter. Remus could only dream of having that amount of energy. 

“I had a kip on the couch for a couple hours,” Peter told him. “Don’t have classes today, so I figured I’d just sleep later.” 

Remus knew Peter well enough to know that he did have class; he just wasn’t going to them. Peter would tell him it was fine because he was a political science major and didn’t learn anything when he went to class. Everything was just opinions and papers.

“Well, try to do something productive today,” Remus said jokingly, but Peter glared at him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Peter asked. 

“It was just a joke, Peter,” Remus sighed. He walked to the kitchen and grabbed a thermos out of the cupboard and poured some coffee in, leaving most of the pot full. He was sure Marlene would finish it off when she woke up, though. She was probably having the lie in that Remus had been hoping to have.

He grabbed his keys off the hook by the front door, and put his wallet in his backpack. He slipped on a pair of sneakers and said goodbye to Peter; who did not acknowledge him as he had already put his headset back on. 

Lily’s flat was just a few doors down from him. They had wanted to live together, but Lily’s parents had thrown a fit at the idea of her living with a boy. So Remus became roommates with Peter, one of the only other friends that Remus had at university, and then Marlene joined at the last minute. Remus and Marlene had studied together fairly regularly, but he hadn’t considered them close until she asked if he was looking for another roommate. Now they spent a lot of time together, and Marlene had become part of his main support system when he wasn’t feeling great. 

Lily lived with Alice and Dorcas, the latter Marlene had started dating a month ago. Remus and Marlene both spent a lot of time there. It’s not that either of them disliked Peter, but he could be very hard to live with. Said a lot of stupid things sometimes too, because he “didn’t have gay people where he was from.” Sometimes they just needed a bit of a break from him, especially considering he was always in the flat. Which Remus wouldn’t mind, he was an introvert as well, but Peter could be a bit of a nuisance. He loved him though. It was hard to find people that would take the time to understand lupus, and Peter really did try his best, even if he was a bit daft sometimes.

He keyed into the girls’ flat, being as careful as he could to make sure Dorcas’ cat didn’t get out. It was always trying to bolt out of the door. Artemis really thought she was an outdoor cat, but the way Dorcas coddled her, she wouldn’t last an hour. 

Sure enough, Artemis was there to greet him at the door, the sound of the lock clicking always sent her running. Remus did his best to not step on her as he walked inside and she ran around his feet, nearly tripping over her. 

“Oi!” Remus said, reaching down to scratch her head. “Stop that or I’m going to make you bring Lily her computer.” Artemis quickly lost interest in him, and walked over to the windowsill. She stretched her legs before flopping down.

Remus spotted Lily’s laptop on the counter, where she had probably left it with the intention of taking it with her. He grabbed it and walked back to the door, taking one last look at Artemis who was watching him intently. “See you later, you demon,” Remus told her before leaving.

***

The rink  was about a fifteen minute drive from the flat. Remus had been there many times to pick Lily up. Sometimes he would even watch her practice while he did homework. He hadn’t done that since she stopped skating with Severus though. Him being around Lily alone had always made him uncomfortable. He’d never met Sirius before, but Lily seemed to like him a lot, although she did seem to complain about his friend often.

There were only a few cars in the parking lot when Remus pulled up. The owners of the rink let them practice in private in the mornings. 

Here, Remus texted her. He watched the dots appear as Lily typed back her reply almost immediately.

In the gym rn. Back door is unlocked, will meet you at the rink in a few. 

Remus grabbed his coffee, Lily’s laptop before getting out of the car  and walking around to get to the back of the building. The door was unlocked, just as Lily had promised. He knew the back of the house well to know how to get to the front. There was someone at the front desk, who recognized Remus and waved. He motioned for him to head on in, and Remus said a quick thank you. 

Someone was doing laps around the ice. He had AirPods in, and didn’t seem to realize that Remus had walked in, too absorbed with gliding across the ice. It was nothing fancy, he was just skating, but Remus thought that he looked incredibly graceful. His hair was pulled back into a bun, he was wearing tight black athletic pants, and a long shirt, similar to what Lily would usually wear. Remus walked closer to the wall separating the floor from the ice, leaning over it just as the skater jumped into a spin, landing and continuing to skate. Remus knew that this was Sirius from her Instagram posts, but this was his first time seeing him in person. 

Sirius still had not noticed him. Remus tried to make as much noise as possible to alert him, but it didn’t work. Remus was starting to feel a bit creepy just watching him while he wasn’t aware that he was there. Should he just leave? Should he go find Lily? He didn’t know where the gym was, though. He settled for a different course of action. 

“Excuse me!” Remus yelled. Sirius looked at him, obviously startled. He lost his footing, twisting his ankle a bit, and fell forward, his knees hitting the ice first, but kept himself from hitting his head by catching himself last minute with his hands.

“Fuck,” Sirius grunted, already starting to stand up. 

Remus covered his mouth with his hands, trying to keep himself from laughing at a stranger’s pain. That’d be a terrible first impression. “Are you okay?” Remus managed to get out. 

“I’ve had worse falls,” Sirius told him, he was standing now, and skating slowly so he was closer to Remus, but not totally at the wall that divided the two of them. 

“I’m glad. I’d feel bad if I made you miss your next competition,” Remus said. He knew he and Lily had the British Figure Skating Championships in little over a week.

“Thanks, complete stranger who is here staring at me for some reason,”  Sirius raised an eyebrow, looking him up and down. Remus realized that he must look like he just rolled out of bed. Which to be fair, he did.

“I’m looking for Lily,” Remus explained. “She asked me to bring her her laptop.”

“She’s doing her warm up with Minnie in the gym,” Sirius said, and Remus could have been imagining it, but he sounded annoyed.. “Should be back soon.”

“Oh. Do you have to go warm up too?” Remus said, hoping for anyway to get out of this incredibly uncomfortable situation. 

“No, I got here early. Already did them,” Sirius said. 

“Oh, cool,” Remus nodded, now bouncing back and forth on his heels waiting for Sirius to start skating again; but he didn’t he just kept standing there. Remus took a long drink of his coffee just to have something to do. 

“So I’m assuming you’re Lily’s boyfriend then,” Sirius said, and Remus nearly choked on his drink.

“What?” Remus coughed. “Why would you think that?”

“My mate tried to ask her out and she told him she had a boyfriend,” Sirius shrugged. “I thought it might be you, seeing as you’re bringing her stuff to her.”

Lily did not have a boyfriend. Lily did not have the time for a boyfriend. But Remus could play along with whatever lie she was spreading. “Oh, no, that’s not me,” Remus said. “Could never be me, actually.” He had meant it as a joke, but Sirius just kept staring, at him, confused, until his eyes widened as what he said settled in. 

“Oh,” Sirius said and scratched the back of his head, and few strands of hair fell out of his bun and into his face.

Before they could say anything to make their interaction even more awkward, Lily walked in, sweaty and cheerful, and completely oblivious to the unpleasant situation. “Remus. My savior!” She exclaimed.

Remus turned to her and smiled, “Yeah, yeah, you owe me, Evans. Your cat just about killed me.”

“Dorcas’ cat,” Lily corrected him. “I have no ownership of the spawn of satan.”

Remus chuckled, and looked over his shoulder. Sirius had started skating again on the other side of the rink, but he still had his eyes on them. Maybe not so much on Lily as they were on Remus.

“What’s his deal?” Remus asked, making a subtle motion at Sirius.

“Sirius?” Lily’s eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” Remus said. “Just seems a bit stand-offish.”

“Maybe it’s because you’re a random person that showed up at a private practice?” Lily said sarcastically. 

“And whose fault is that?”

“Look, Remus,” Lily said, tugging on her sleeves nervously and ignoring him. “Sirius is great. I don’t even know why he wants to skate with me. He had girls literally offering to pay his way. But he picked me. I thought I was done after Severus and I dissolved our partnership--which I don’t regret, of course. I’m lucky I still get to skate at all after what happened.”

“That wasn’t your fault,” Remus reminded her. Lily put a lot of what happened with Severus on herself, even though she had nothing to do with it. She had no control over what Severus did or said. But Lily thought she could have stopped it, seeing as they had been skating together for seven years, and they’d known each other so well. 

“I know that. But it still hurt to end it,” Lily said. “I know you’re just concerned because you don’t want to have anything like that happen again. But I am capable of taking care of myself.”

“I know,” Remus sighed. “He seems fine. A little strange, but fine.”

“I’m glad I have your approval,” Lily deadpanned. “I have to get back to practicing. But I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“Of course,” Remus said.  He took one last look at Sirius, not sure if he should say goodbye to him or not. They accidentally locked eyes, and they both quickly looked away. Lily had sat down to lace up her skates, and Remus gave her one last wave before leaving. 

He could feel Sirius’ eyes on him the whole time. 

***

By the time Remus had finished both of his classes, he was exhausted. He planned to take a nice long nap to make up for the two hours of sleep he lost. Then he’d go through the powerpoints from his lectures, because he knew the notes he had taken would most likely be complete gibberish. 

Marlene was in the kitchen, taking the crockpot out of the cupboard. She typically cooked for everyone. The thing about Marlene was that food was definitely her love language, as she could be a bit blunt at times, mean but in an affectionate way. She was double majoring in managing and accounting in hopes of opening her own restaurant. Her busy schedule meant that she could rarely actually cook though, having to settle for things she could do quickly like crockpot meals. 

“Remus,” She said when he walked in. “We’re having chicken and dumplings tonight.”

“Sounds good,” Remus said, kicking off his shoes, and dropping the rest of his things on the kitchen counter.“Peter asleep?”

“I think he woke up awhile ago,” Marlene said. “Heard his toilet flush.”

“Why are you talking about me?” Peter said, choosing that moment to walk out of his bedroom, like saying his name had summoned him to emerge from his cave. He was wearing different clothes from the morning, thank God. 

“Because we adore you, Petey,” Marlene cooed. “You’re the center of our universe.”

“Please don’t call me Petey,” Peter groaned, as he sat down at the island. Remus took a seat next to him, deciding he would talk with his friends a bit before he slept. “Is that dinner?”

“Yes, but none for you,” Marlene said. “Not unless you start on that paper.”

“Why are you both on me about being productive today?” Peter said, crossing his arms.

“Because we are committed to your educational success,” Remus said, throwing an arm around Peter’s shoulders, and patting his arm. Peter squirmed away.

“Two paragraphs. That’s all I request,” Marlene told him.

Peter rolled his eyes, “Okay, mum.”

“Damn right,” Marlene said waving her spoon at him. Returning to throwing stuff into the crockpot, and turning her attention back to Remus. “Peter said you were seeing Lily. How’s she doing? I haven’t seen her in awhile.”

Honestly, even Remus barely saw her anymore. Sure, she had always been busy, but ever since she’d partnered with Sirius, she never seemed to have a spare minute. It was competition season so it was understandable, but he still missed her. Luckily he had a wider circle of friends now, so not having her around stung a bit less. 

“She’s good. Working hard, but that’s nothing new,” Remus told her. “I met Sirius, though.”

That clearly peaked Marlene’s interest. Nobody had ever met Sirius before, it wasn’t just Remus. Lily wasn’t purposefully keeping him from them, she just remembered how things had ended with Severus, and was trying to not have a repeat of that situation. She’d brought him a lot, and he nearly became a part of the group too, despite everyone’s protests. Even Peter didn’t like him.

“Oh, and what’s the verdict on him?” Marlene asked. Marlene, Dorcas, and Alice had thoroughly stalked him on the internet after Lily had told them all about their partnership, and reported their findings to Remus and Peter. He was extremely talented, having been trained by the best, basically from the time he could walk. Both of his parents were Olympic silver medalists. They had sent him to boarding school in London, had covered the costs of some of the best coaches to follow him there, and trained him vigorously. It was still expected that he would skate for France with his cousin Bellatrix, both of them junior champions in singles. But then he turned seventeen, he  announced that he would be skating for Britain eventually, and his parents had reportedly been unsupportive, and stopped supporting him financially, not even letting him come back to their home in France. They never mentioned him, and began throwing all their energy behind his younger brother. Sirius had taken years off to practice, and competed occasionally before announcing his partnership with Lily. Again, an extremely controversial and risky move for him, considering what happened with Severus, as it had nearly ruined her reputation. 

“He seems a bit strange,” Remus said. “Not Severus strange. Just, I don’t know, kind of intense?”

“What do you mean?” Marlene asked.

“I mean, he just kind of stared at me a lot? Like he was trying to form some sort of opinion on me just by looking at me,” Remus said. “I also implied that I was gay, you know, as a joke, and he seemed to get all uncomfortable.”

“You think he’s homophobic?” Marlene asked, and Remus shrugged. “I don’t think Lily would ever partner with someone like that again. No matter how good he was.”

“I mean, why would he be homophobic? Aren’t all male figure skaters... ya know ,” Peter said, and Marlene and Remus shot him a look at the same time

“Jesus Christ, Peter, what a thing to say,” Remus said. “Do you ever think before opening your mouth?”

“I’m just saying, all the dancing and the outfits. I wouldn’t do it,” Peter said defensively. He didn’t enjoy getting called out for that kind of stuff, it made him feel attacked. Remus understood that he was still trying to be better, but it was just ridiculous at times.

“Peter, you wouldn’t be able to do it even if you tried,” Marlene countered. “Besides, it is not dancing. And just because he figure skates doesn’t make him gay.” What Sirius and Lily excelled at was ice dancing, but neither Marlene or Remus were going to give him the kind of affirmation he was looking for. Besides, it was incredibly complicated, and a difficult sport to master. Peter didn’t have to shit on it. 

“Okay, I get it. Stereotypes are bad,” Peter relented, throwing his hands up. Remus couldn’t be sure if he had actually learned, or was just saying it so they’d lay off him. But he didn’t currently have the energy to pry. Naturally, his phone chose that moment to start ringing. Peter and Marlene both recognized Lily’s ringtone. 

“Oh, Remus, please put it on speaker?” Marlene said. 

“Let me ask,” Remus said, answering the phone. “Hey Lily.”

“Remus! I’m not waking you again, am I?” Lily asked.

“No, I haven't gone to take my nap yet, I’m talking with Marlene and Peter right now,” Remus said.

“Oh, put me on speaker please!” Lily requested

“Marlene asked the same thing,” Remus laughed, hitting the speaker button. “Okay, they can hear you now.”

“Hello, loves,” Lily said in greeting.

“Lily Evans, I miss you so much. It’s been years since I’ve seen you,” Marlene exclaimed, putting the back of her hand to her forehead, feigning being a damsel in distress, even though Lily couldn’t see her. She was acting like Lily had gone off to war and had never written her.

“Don’t exaggerate, you saw me last week,” Lily said. 

“For an hour!” Marlene countered. 

“Oh come off it, I can not deal with your dramatics right now,” Lily scoffed. “Peter, how are you?”

“I’m good, Lily,” Peter said.

“You started that paper yet?” Lily asked, and Peter looked about to burst.

“Oh, none of you lot appreciate me,” Peter complained, but he wasn’t actually mad. He hopped down off his stool and started heading back to his room. “I guess I’m starting it so Marlene doesn’t starve me.” He entered his room and shut the door. 

“Good job, Marls,” Lily said. “You seem to be taking the mother hen role in stride in my absence.”

“Someone has to make sure the children behave,” Marlene said. “Okay, Remus. Chicken and dumpling will be done in a few hours. But I can just save you leftovers, if you need to rest longer.”

“Sounds good,” Remus said. Marlene started throwing away the packaging and scraps that she had left, and washed her hands. 

“Well, I have to go study,” Marlene said. “But Lily, please try to pencil me into your busy schedule.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Lily told her.”I’ll text you later and we can set something up.”

“Wonderful,” Marlene said, before turning to Remus. “Get some rest. Don’t make me come back out here.” Remus just nodded and she walked to her room. Remus took the phone off speaker and put it to his ear. 

“Okay, I didn’t want Marlene to bite my head off, but I have a request,” Lily said. 

“I see, so you want me to incur the infamous Mckinnon wrath instead of you,” Remus said. 

“If you don’t mind,” Lily laughed. “Anyways. I was wondering if you’d want to get dinner tonight?”

“You really want Marlene to kill me then?” Remus said.

“No, I just want to repay you for today with sushi,” Lily explained. “Got to get you your Omega-3.”

“My diet can consist of more than just fish,” Remus said. 

“Maybe I just want sushi,” Lily insisted. “Nothing to do with you.”

 “Okay,” He relented, knowing he couldn’t turn down an opportunity to spend time with Lily. “But Marlene will be pissed.”

“She’ll be fine Remus, she adores you,” Lily said. “Oh, and Sirius and his friend James are coming too.”

“God Lily, I can’t have another conversation with that guy,” Remus groaned. “Just thinking about this morning makes me cringe.” Remus really didn’t want to be in the same room with him again, especially this soon, let alone have a whole dinner with him. It’d be just as unpleasant, but with an audience.

“Please, Remus,” Lily pleaded. “I really want the two of you to get along. He’s going to be around for a while, and honestly I think the two of you would get along. Today was a fluke.”

“I really don’t know…” 

“He kept asking about you after you left. I think he wants to get to know you. He hasn’t got a lot of friends here, except for James,” Lily said. “You can understand that, can’t you?”

“Oi, that’s a low blow, Evans, and you know that,” Remus replied. It did soften his impression of Sirius a bit though. “Why is James coming then? Isn’t this the friend you supposedly can’t stand. By the way, I forgot to say, congratulations on the new boyfriend.”

“Piss off,” Lily said. “Maybe he’s growing on me a bit. The same way Sirius would grow on you if you gave him a chance.”

“Fine, but if this is a complete nightmare, I’ll never forgive you,” Remus threatened. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Lily said. “You won’t regret it, I promise.”

“Can we meet in four hours so I can get some rest?” Remus asked. 

“Of course, we’ll see you at seven,” Lily agreed. 

“Should I meet you at yours then?” Remus asked. 

Lily was quiet for a moment. “Um, no. I think I’ll get a ride with James and Sirius.”

“What? Why would you-” Then it hit them, and Remus had to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing. “So you’re with James right now, aren’t you? How scandalous.”

“I’m with James and Sirius,” Lily protested. “They live together. We had to discuss our routine.”

“Mhmm,” Remus said.

“Shut up,” Lily protested, and Remus couldn’t help it anymore and  burst into a fit of laughter. “You’re an arse. I’m hanging up.” She did so without even saying goodbye. Remus laughed some more, pocketing his phone while walking into his room, and immediately falling to his bed, not even bothering to get under the covers. 

When he closed his eyes, all he could think about was the way Sirius had looked at him, probably judging his disheveled appearance. It wasn’t fair, it’s not like he’d been expecting to actually meet him. Besides anyone would look good in what Sirius had been wearing, or skating the way that he did.

The last thing he thought before falling asleep, was that he really needed to do his laundry.

***

Marlene didn’t kill him. Which was fortunate, seeing as he did quite enjoy being alive. She made him promise that he would eat leftovers the next day. He also had to do yoga with her and Dorcas in the morning; which he would have done anyways. A good stretch always made him feel a little better, and Pomfrey always told him that it helped reduce his fatigue. There was also the fact that somehow it helped his self image, made him feel better about himself to know that he was active and taking care of his body the best way that he knew how. That the rashes and the pain weren’t his fault. 

He confirmed with Lily that they were meeting at their usual place. They had been going there since they were freshmen and met in a biology class that was held later in the evening. Lily took it because it worked better with her skating schedule, and Remus because he preffered to not have to walk around campus in the sun, since his skin was so sensitive. It had become rather unavoidable now, but he did have accomadations that made things easier. This was back when Remus had thought he wanted to study zoology., 

He was an English major now.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t liked zoology, because he did. It wasn’t that he was bad at it, he’d gotten a B in the class (Lily had never let him live it down). To put it simply,simply put it he just liked writing more . With writing, there was more freedom, and that was something he had longed for most of his life. To not have constraints. Like many people, he had been wary of declaring it as his major, worried about the employment opportunities. In the end, he decided that for once, he was going to do something that made him happy.

He pulled the car up to the front of the restaurant, and waited a minute for a group of women to walk past his car to get into the restaurant. A couple years ago, a woman had accused him of lying and stealing handicap spaces. Apparently he didn’t look disabled. She didn’t even need the spot, was just sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. Ever since, the idea of it happening again made him extremely anxious, so he would always wait to make sure there were no people around before he got out of the car. Unless he was with Marlene or Lily. They always said they would beat the shit out of anyone who said something like that to him. And Remus believed them. He didn't always use the handicap spot, but he could already predict that he would be very tired after this dinner, especially since it'd been so last minute.

When he was sure that the coast was clear, he got out of the car, and walked into the restaurant. Every time he went, he couldn’t be sure if it was crowded, or the restaurant was just small. It was a popular spot for students, though, since it stayed open until late in the night. Regardless, there was one hostess that always recognized Remus and Lily. She waved at him when he walked in, and pointed at the table where Lily was. Sirius was also there, along with a guy with deep tan skin, unruly hair, and a pair of those large round hipster glasses. 

“Remus!” Lily greeted him as he sat in the seat that was conveniently between Lily and Sirius. There were already four glasses of water for all of them at the table, and Remus watched Sirius start drinking his immediately, like he was also trying to avoid any interaction between the two of them. A waiter walked by and put two beers in front of Sirius, and who Remus assumed was James. The waiter asked Remus if there was anything he wanted besides water, and Remus declined. He left to give them a minute to look over the menu. Lily also only had water. Remus knew that she was only doing it so he wouldn’t feel left out or excluded, although she only did it when they were around people who didn’t know that he had lupus. Even though she absolutely did not have to. Lily would tell him that it was better she didn’t drink all the time anyways, and would slow her down. Sirius didn’t seem to have the same reservations as he took large sips of his drink. 

“Remus, this is James,” Lily introduced them. James nodded at him, smiling brightly. It usually took a while  for Remus to warm up to someone. But there was something about James, even though he hadn’t said anything, that told Remus that they were going to get along just fine. 

“Nice to meet you Remus,” James said. “Lily talked a lot about you today.”

Remus glanced at Lily who looked back at him; she seemed a bit guilty, but also incredibly proud of herself.

“Good things, I hope?” Remus asked.

Remus expected for James to reply, even opened his mouth to; but it was Sirius who spoke first. 

“Couldn’t shut up about you, actually,” Sirius muttered, not even trying to be subtle about his annoyance. Remus was bit taken aback, and out of the corner of his eyes he saw James put his head in his hands. Remus had no clue what was going on, or why Sirius seemed to have some sort of problem with him. They had only had one conversation. Granted it was an extremely weird one. And it wasn’t like Remus was his biggest fan either. But Lily had given the impression that he’d been asking about him. It occurred to Remus that this had probably been all a set up. James had probably even helped orchestrate it, if the looks he was exchanging with Lily were any of indication. Also Remus didn’t care if Sirius wasn’t a fan of him, and Remus wasn’t about to throw roses at him either. He didn’t have to be a jerk to Lily though. Remus wouldn’t have any of that. Not after Severus. 

“Maybe there’s just a lot to say about me. Never really heard anything about you before, though,” Remus said, and there was a very sharp edge to his voice. Remus knew that he had a tendency to be irritable, his fuse was notoriously short. And Sirius was pushing all of his buttons for some reason. Like he knew exactly what they were. Maybe Marlene was right when she had thought he was homophobic. 

Remus and Sirius just stared at each other. Apparently that was just something they did a lot. Lily and James didn’t seem to know what to do. They didn’t expect it to go this bad. Especially not so early.

Luckily the tension was cut when the waiter returned to take their orders. Lily got her usual alaska roll, James got a spicy tuna roll. Remus and Sirius both got shrimp tempura rolls. For some reason that made Remus very angry.  

Sirius, James, and Lily chatted amongst themselves, and Lily would give Remus concerned glances. He sat on his phone, pretending to be busy, when he was actually just texting Alice. 

I’ve made my decision. We do not like Sirius.

 what??? why????

He’s just so rude for no reason

I might punch him Alice

Like literally, if he says one more thing I will punch him

REMUS

NO

take a breath pls

if you do that lils won’t have a skating partner

I don’t know why I agreed to do this.

ugh i am so upset that he turned out to be an arse

lily has never said anything bad about him before though

maybe he just doesn’t like you???

Alice I was my usual charming self

oh well that explains it then

Um what is that supposed to mean

remus i literally thought you didn’t like me when we first met

it felt like you were just blatantly ignoring me 

you’re literally texting me rn. ignoring him.

and anytime you did speak to me it was super sarcastic

obviously now i know that's just your personality

but that could be why things are so weird

so you’re saying it’s my fault 

i’m just saying it's a possibility

When the food came out, Remus was forced to put down his phone. He’d hoped that it would be one of those dinners where everyone would stop talking when they ate. This was not the case. James was definitely chatty. 

“So Remus, Lily tells me you’re a big reader,” He said, and for some reason Remus was surprised he didn’t chew with his mouth open. Really excellent table manners, the whole napkin in the lap thing and everything. “I’m always looking for something new to read? What are your favorites?”

“Well, depends on what you’re looking for,” Remus said, handing his soy sauce to Lily, which didn’t seem to strike James or Sirius as unusual. “ Maurice definitely has a special place in my heart. I’m also partial to Dracula or Frankenstein .”

“A monster man huh,” James said. 

“S’pose,” Remus said. “I like them for what they have to say about people’s fears and anxieties of the time. Gothic horror is fairly genius if you think about it. There’s a lot of opportunity for symbolism, without outright criticizing something. Same could be said for Maurice I guess.”

“I’ve actually read Maurice , before,” James said. “I really liked it.” Remus had not predicted that reaction, but he thought it said something about James. That he was so open to different things that didn’t align with his own interests and identity. Made him wonder how he became friends with Sirius. 

Sirius was currently struggling to use chopsticks. It was actually sad to watch, especially since there were no actual utensils. Remus was sure that Sirius was about to resort to just eating it with his fingers. Remus could just let him struggle. Or ask the waiter for a fork.

Instead he took Alice’s advice. Maybe he could stand to be a little kinder. Maybe Sirius wasn’t the only one acting cold. He nudged Sirius with his elbow, and Sirius looked up at him. 

Remus picked up his own chopsticks. “You put the bottom chopstick between your thumb and index, balance with your ring finger.” He demonstrated the action with his own chopsticks and watched as Sirius followed along. “You put the other between your thumb and pointer finger, and rest your middle finger on it. Use your thumb, middle finger and pointer finger to hold the second chopstick tightly; then use your pointer finger to lift the chopstick, then close.” 

Remus picked up his own sushi roll, and ate it. He watched Sirius struggle a couple times, and then he got it. He smiled. No, he smiled at Remus, and he liked it a lot more than the thin line he had been seeing. 

They all ate, and the dinner got slightly less terrible. Remus and Sirius did not talk one on one again, but they were able to talk within the group. James was hilarious, there was no doubt about it, but Remus definitely picked up on Lily laughing a little too hard at his jokes. 

Remus excused to himself to go to the bathroom. When he was in the stall, he could hear someone else enter, but they didn’t go into a stall. Didn’t even hear them running the sink. He finished his business and opened the door, and James was standing there, waiting for them.

“Hi?” Remus said, caught off guard. He walked past James so he could wash his hands.

“Sorry, this is weird,” James apologized. “It's weird, isn’t it?”

“A bit,” Remus admitted scrubbing soap into his hands. 

“Sorry, sometimes I can be a bit forward? Lily could probably tell you that,” James said, and Remus snorted. “I just...I wanted to tell you that Sirius isn’t usually like this. He just-he has a lot going on right now. I know Lily already told you, but I really think you guys would get along. Just from what Lily has told me, and from talking to you today.”

“I suppose we could have just gotten off on the wrong foot,” Remus said. The last twenty minutes had been pretty enjoyable. 

“For what it's worth, I think you seem pretty awesome,” James said.

Remus grinned. “I guess you’re okay. If you want I can write down a list of books I like, and can give it to Lily so she can get it to you.”

“No,” James said, and Remus’ face faltered a bit. Then James took out his phone. “Just give me your phone number.”

“Oh. Yeah,” Remus said, taking James’ phone from him. He had never made a friend this quickly before. At least, Remus assumed they were friends. Maybe acquaintances? Alice could have been right, could he just be approaching people the wrong way. James could only be being nice to him to impress Lily. 

Remus finished putting in his number, and James sent him a text so that he’d have his. What a scene that must have been. Two men exchanging phone numbers in the tiny bathroom of a sushi restaurant. 

When they got back out there the waiter had already brought their checks. Lily was paying for his, as promised. It looked like Sirius was also paying for James, which Remus did find strange, but maybe he was just overthinking things as always. He also didn’t know what James did. Why he had so much time to just hang around Sirius. Sure, Remus was close, especially with Lily and Mary, but he did not think it was on the same level as those two. 

Remus had gotten so caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn’t even realized that James and Lily were talking excitedly about the new Charlie’s Angels movie. 

“No, Lily, listen, ignore what people are saying,” James begged. “It’s a great movie. I promise.”

“Are you sure? Everyone is saying it’s rubbish,” Lily replied. 

“Well, people are idiots,” James said, and pointed at Lily’s phone. “Look at that cast and tell me there is any possible way the movie isn’t good.”

“I will take you word on it,” Lily said. “I’ll try and go see it some time.”

“There’s a showing in thirty minutes…” James mentioned. 

Lily looked hesitant. “You’re not an axe murderer, are you, Potter?”

“If I was, I’d be a really bad one. Trying to lure you away in front of people,” James said, but he looked nervous. 

“Okay, yeah. Why not?” Lily conceded. Now Remus knew that Lily liked James, or was at least on the verge of liking him. Lily was an “in bed by ten” type of girl. By the time that movie got out it’d be eleven. Lily doesn’t deviate from schedule for just anyone. 

“You lads want to come too?” James offered. Sirius shook his head, and Remus also had the good sense to not be a third wheel. He was obviously only offering to be polite. Also, Remus was also already tired again

“Ok well- shit!” James said suddenly. “I have to take you home, don’t I, Padfoot?”

The fuck is a Padfoot, Remus thought.

“It’s fine. I’ll call an Uber,” Sirius said.

“No, no,” James insisted. “I can take you back to the flat. If we’re quick we can still catch the movie.”

“James-” Sirius started to protest, but then Remus was talking before he even fully realized that he was. 

“I can drive you back,” Remus offered, and everyone turned to look at him. “I mean, you don’t live far, right?”

“Only ten minutes,” Sirius responded.

“Yeah, see? It’s fine,” Remus said, although he was already starting to regret the decision because of the way that James and Lily were looking at each other smugly. 

“If you’re sure…” Sirius said, not sounding totally thrilled by the concept either.

“It’s not a problem,” Remus assured him. He supposed it was to see if they could function being alone together. If it was anything like the first time, then this was going to be a very quiet drive. 

James was already out of his seat, and Lily quickly followed. Sirius got up next, but Remus held back for just a second, to process what had just happened before heading outside. 

James and Sirius hugged goodbye. They hugged for a long time, before James surprised Remus by pulling him in for a strong hug, clapping him on the back. God, it was a good thing that Remus wasn’t in a lot of pain today. 

“It was great to meet you, Remus,” James said. “We’ll have to do this again sometime.” 

“Absolutely,” Remus said, and James pulled away. He and Lily started to walk towards the other side of the parking lot. Sirius went to walk further out, and Remus realized that Sirius wouldn’t think that he had parked so close.

“Actually, I’m right here,” Remus said, gesturing to his car. Sirius stopped walking and turned to look. He either didn’t notice that it was a handicap spot or didn’t care. Regardless, Remus was glad that he didn’t ask any questions. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed that he had lupus, there really wasn’t anything to be embarrassed about. He just didn’t go around telling people, it was a lot to explain, and it was hard for people to understand. 

They got into the car, and Remus quickly pulled out of the parking lot, wanting to get this over as soon as possible. Sirius pulled his address up on the GPS on his phone, so he wouldn’t have to tell Remus the directions, he’d just have to listen to the direction. Remus hadn’t put any music on. He didn’t need Sirius judging his music taste the way that he judged his clothes. The silence turned out to be worse.

Sirius was the first to break it. “Sorry I was a prat.”

“What?” Remus asked, looking at Sirius quickly and then looking back at the street. He couldn’t see Sirius’ face, not only because it was dark, but also because he was looking at the floor, and his hair was in his face.

“I didn’t like that your first impression of me was seeing me fall,” Sirius explained. “I know it sounds stupid...but figure skating is kind of like, the only thing I’m good at. It kind of pissed me off I guess, thinking that you thought I was bad.”

“Oh,” Remus said, because at first he didn’t really know what to say. “I saw you skating before that. I thought you were really good actually. Lily will tell you that I don’t know about figure skating. But you were..I mean, it was beautiful.”

Sirius looked up so his head was turned to Remus. Remus glanced over, he was smiling again. Damn, did he really like that smile for some reason. 

“Thanks,” Sirius said. 

“No problem,” Remus shrugged as he turned down a new street. “Was just being honest. While we’re apologizing, I’m sorry if I came off a bit nasty.”

“You were fine,” Sirius said. And they were quiet for a bit, until Sirius spoke again. 

“Can I ask you something?”

Remus felt a bit panicked. He was pretty sure it was going to be about the gay thing. Or the parking spot. “Go ahead.”

“What’s your last name?” Sirius asked, and Remus let out a long sigh, because he hadn’t realized he was holding his breath

“Lupin,” Remus told him. Sirius laughed. Everyone usually laughed. Sirius had a nice laugh though, so it didn’t bother him as much. 

“So like, Wolf Wolf?” Sirius snickered. 

“My parents thought they were being cheeky,” Remus explained. 

“Don’t be embarrassed. Literally everyone in my family is named after a star. Some kind of branding shit,” Sirius said. “My parents are Walburga and Orion Black. My brother is Regulus.”

Remus didn’t mention that he already knew this from the extensive research the girls had done. “Are your parents as awful as their names make them sound?” He hoped Sirius didn’t take offense to it, but he just laughed again. 

“Oh trust me, whatever you’re thinking would barely hold a candle to how awful they are,” Sirius told him, and then added a request. “Hey, can I call you Moony?”

It came very out of the blue, and it caught Remus off guard. “Excuse me?” He wasn’t mad, but a little interested in Sirius’ train of thought. 

“You know, wolves, howling at the moon, that kind of thing,” Sirius explained like it made sense. 

“Why not just call me Wolfy or something,” Remus suggested, but also remembering that he had been called that before, and he had not particularly liked it. 

“No, that’s too obvious,” Sirius said. “Got to think out of the box.”

“Okay,” Remus agreed. “Next time you see me, you can call me Moony.”

Once again, Sirius smiled. Somehow it just made Remus feel so lucky, because he felt like Sirius didn’t smile a lot. “I’m Padfoot by the way. James is Prongs.”

It was Remus’ turn to laugh. “I see absolutely no correlation there.” The GPS on Sirius’ phone announced that they were about to arrive at their destination, and Remus was a bit disappointed. He even subtly slowed the car down.

“It’s a long story from our boarding school days,” Sirius said. That gave Remus a little bit more information on how they knew each other. It didn’t answer all of his questions though.

“Basically, one is because James thinks he’s a comedian, and the other because James was drunk. I’ll tell you the whole story at some point.” The GPS said that they had arrived at their destination, and Remus stopped the car. 

“Yeah well, if I ever come to the rink to see Lily, maybe we can talk about it,” Remus said. 

Sirius shook his head and rolled his eyes. He took his seatbelt off and got out of the car, but kept the door open to say one last thing to Remus. 

“Thanks for the ride,” Sirius said. “See you soon, Moony.”

Remus just waved, and Sirius shut the door. He was glad that there was no way that Sirius was able to see him blush. The fact that he was suddenly being so nice to him was leaving him a bit flustered. 

He waited until Sirius was inside his building to pull out his phone. He sent a quick text to Alice:

Okay. So maybe we don’t hate Sirius.