Beginnings

Sirius can’t quite believe that Remus’s house is so quiet. No one is shouting. There are no house elves about, either. Remus’s parents do everything. At first he thought that was the reason why they looked so tired, but now he knows there are other factors.

When they saw Remus, he got hugs form both of them. Not just a quick embrace, either, but long hugs full of love that Sirius could plainly see on Remus’s parents’ faces. He had looked away.

“Remus?” he says, now. He’s in a fold-up bed that is set up in Remus’s bedroom. “Are you awake?”

Remus stirs in the bed. He blinks a couple of times, running a hand over his face before he looks at Sirius. His hair is sticking up in every direction.

Sirius snorts. “You look like James.”

Remus mutters something unintelligible.

“I know you’re not a morning person, but I was wondering if your parents would be home.”

Remus shakes his head, leaning back against the pillow. “They’re at work.”

Normal people’s parents work, Sirius realises. “Oh. Right.”

He sits up. “So, you said you’d show me around your muggle town today.”

Sirius knows all about muggle London. He would sneak out at first, but then when he realised that no one noticed his absences, he would just walk out the front door.

At first, Regulus would say something, but he soon got used to Sirius’s absence. Occasionally, Sirius would take Regulus with him, but as they grew older Regulus withdrew into himself and soon they had stopped talking to each other altogether.

“It’s not that interesting,” Remus says, turning over to face the wall.

Sirius frowns, then gets out of his camp bed and into Remus’s. It’s a single and Sirius can feel Remus’s bony legs against his own.

“It could be fun,” he whispers. Remus shivers.

“That’s not very attractive, Sirius,” Remus says. His voice is suddenly much clearer and Sirius can see goose bumps appearing on the other boy’s neck.

“What is, then? Lying in bed all day?”

“Yes.”

“I hate you.” Sirius musses up Remus’s hair and gets out of the bed. Walking over to the window, he thrusts the curtains open.

Through the opened blinds, he gets a spectacular view of Remus’s neighbour eating her breakfast. The woman’s eyes widen, and then Sirius remembers he isn’t wearing anything.

He shuts the curtains curtly.

“That’s why you shouldn’t sleep nude,” Remus says.

“I don’t recall you ever complaining. And you could have warned me.”

Remus grins at him.

“Come on, get up. I’ll make you pancakes.”

There is no reply as Remus pulls the blankets up over his head.

“I’ll make you ten million pancakes if you get up, Remus.”

“Maybe.” His voice is muffled.

In the kitchen, Sirius makes a stack of pancakes and after rummaging around in the fridge, finds some bacon and an egg and cooks them. The smell will get Remus out of bed, he knows.

Soon enough, Remus emerges, blinking in the bright light of the kitchen. He yawns widely.

“Have a seat,” Sirius says with a flourish of the tea towel he’s holding. He pulls out a chair and holds it out for Remus.

Remus sits in it heavily and stares, heavy-lidded, at the food in front of him. “You made all this?”

Sirius nods as he puts the tea pot down on the table and sits.

“I didn’t know you could cook,” Remus says. “Don’t you have a house elf?”

“I don’t cook at home,” he says, passing the egg to Remus’s plate. “Sometimes when I go to the kitchens, the house elves teach me things.”

“Oh.” Remus stops to each some bacon. “It’s good. Does James help out with the cooking?”

“Mainly the eating.”

Remus smiles. “You sure you don’t want the egg?”

“I cooked it for you. So, what is there to do in this place?”

“Not much,” Remus says. “We could go to the super market, or for a walk. That’s about it.”

“That’s it? What about all the quaint muggle fascinations? Washing machines and light balls?”

Sirius eats some more. It’s not bad, if he does say so himself. Remus seems to enjoy what he’s eating. Or, at least, he doesn’t think it tastes disgusting. Unless he’s very good at hiding his feelings. Which he is. Is he good at hiding disgust from food, though? Sirius frowns.

“Light bulbs, and we have washing machines, too. How do you think our clothes get clean? They’re not the same as our machines, they run on electricity.”

“What is that?”

“It’s like ... A power source. See the light bulb up there?” Remus points. “It’s connected to the electricity with wires.”

Sirius looks at it and it burn his eyes. He rolls his eyes at himself. Looking directly into the light source, probably not a good idea. He blinks until the spots leave his eyes.

Remus finishes the egg and moves onto the bacon. Sirius watches him, but Remus shows no signs of displeasure.

“Those ones you showed me yesterday?”

“No, that was just the switch. You use that to turn something on and off. They’re like cables that have metal in them and they all connect to everything.”

“Right. Where does it come from, then?”

“No idea. A generator. You have to get an electrician to connect everything, and then a power company.”

“Sounds complicated. But then why does the stove look like the ones we have? I could use it fine.”

“Maybe to hide magic from Muggles? I don’t know.”

“Makes sense. So, after breakfast shall we hit the town?”

Remus grins. “Sure.”

He digs into the food quickly and Sirius watches him, his own food getting cold. He smiles. Remus is enjoying what he made.

* * *

The town is not very exciting. There is a handful of shops down the main street, mostly cafes and op shops. There are a lot of trees and the air smells fresher than what Sirius is used to, though. The main thing is that Remus is there with him.

“See? Very interesting.”

“I’m having fun,” Sirius says.

“You must be bored. It’s boring, here. You’d have more fun at James’s.”

“Moony, no I wouldn’t.”

“I’m not all ... wacky like he is. You two go on all kinds of adventures.”

“We have adventures.”

“Sex counts as adventures?”

“Other adventures, too. And of course it counts as adventures. What on earth are you thinking, Moony?”

“My mistake,” Remus says drily. “I am awfully boring.”

“You’re awfully Moony-like.” Sirius gives him a light push. “Chin up, Remus. Let’s go for a walk.”

Remus takes him into a little forest nearby. There’s a walking track that leads down to a river. They take off their shoes and lift up their pants and walk down the stream. Sirius leans down, splashes Remus with some water, and runs down the river, cackling.

“Come on, Moony,” he calls, then shrieks and slips over.

“Sirius?” Remus calls, taking careful steps towards the boy. “Sirius, are you alright?”

Sirius sits in the river bed, clutching his foot. He’s let go of his shoes and one is caught on a branch a little downstream. The other one can’t be seen.

Remus walks over to him. “What happened?”

“Cut my foot on something,” Sirius says, showing Remus the bloody sole as the other boy squats beside him. “Rivers are dangerous, Moony. We should stick to safer things like trees that can fight back.”

Remus shrinks away from him slightly. Before Sirius can say anything, though, Remus takes his foot in his cool hands.

“See, maybe being careful can be a good thing,” Remus says. “Come on, let’s go to the riverbank and dry it off.”

Sirius hops, Remus supporting him, to the shore. They sit down on an old log and Sirius uses his shirt to dry his foot. By now, it’s stopped bleeding. Remus takes the foot into his hands to look at the wound.

“That cut is tiny,” Remus says.

“Lupin, I am ailing,” Sirius says, wincing. “Be careful.”

“You’ll be fine. Although maybe we shouldn’t go any further down the river. Here’s a good a spot as any.”

From the bag on his back, he takes out the sandwiches they brought with them.

“I really liked those shoes,” Sirius says after a while. “They served me well. You know, they were the same shoes I was wearing when I first rode my bike.”

Remus smiles at him. “May they rest in peace.”

Sirius limps over to the riverbank and looks downstream. “Can’t see them anywhere. I hate being underage, we could accio them in a second.”

“And you could fix your foot.”

“Maybe you should do that, though. Remember last time I tried to heal something?”

Remus grimaces. “True. When we get back home I can heal you there, if my dad is home.”

Sirius lies on the bank. The grass is slightly damp but the sun shining onto his belly keeps him warm. Remus sits next to him, picking at the grass near his feet.

“There’s nowhere like this in London,” Sirius says, turning onto his side. He pulls at the back of Remus’s shirt, untucking it from his pants. “You dork.”

“My waist gets cold.”

“I know,” Sirius says. “You’re still a dork.”

Remus doesn’t say anything.

“I like dorks.”

Remus snorts. “You’re a dork.”

“I’m not a dork.”

“Yes, you are.” Remus turns and leans over to Sirius, kissing him lightly. “Dork.”

“Moony,” Sirius says. “You’re not boring. You can be wacky.”

“I can be wacky?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting. Are you sure the grievous wound hasn’t gone to your head?”

Sirius looks at him, his clothes wet in the places where Sirius splashed him, his shirt hanging out, his sweater vest that is a horrible shade of brown that would look terrible on anyone except for Remus.

“I’m sure, Remus.”

They get home and Remus’s father is there. Sirius gets his foot healed. Remus shows him a bit more of the town then, when the sun begins to set, they have dinner at the table. As much as he enjoys himself, Sirius finds the same jealousy he always feels at James’s. Family is something he misses, if he can miss something he’s never really had.

Remus told him it was silly, but Sirius managed to convince him that sleeping in the same bed was a good idea. After a lot of fidgeting, they both found a position where no one’s hair was in anyone’s mouth and no feet were going to fall asleep.

“You smell like soap,” Sirius says.

“Well, I did just have a shower. You should, by the way.”

Sirius laughs. “Maybe you could help me tomorrow.”

“Maybe I could.”

Sirius sighs in contentment. The only sounds he can hear are his and Remus’s breathing. He’s warm from Remus’s body and he nuzzles his face into the pillow.

“Good night, Remus.”

“Night, Sirius.”

Happiness is this, is this, he thought.