Chapter Text
"All I can say is, I was enchanted to meet you" - Enchanted, Taylor Swift
— REMUS —
Remus was used to meeting famous people, he did it every day. He wasn’t, however, used to meeting his childhood crush/hero. He was a little starstruck. Not that he’d ever admit that.
They were about five minutes away from The Marauders arriving, and Remus was struggling to keep acting like it was just another day. He was antsy, and people could tell.
He wasn’t a fanboy by any means. He was a professional. He’d met other famous people before. Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, the list goes on. He would treat The Marauders like anyone else.
That didn't stop him from internally freaking out.
“Remus,” Marlene half patted half shoved his shoulder. “What’s your problem?”
Remus shook his head, partly as an answer and partly trying to shake all his thoughts away. “Nothing,” he said, mostly to the floor. “It’s nothing.” He shook his head again, really meaning it. He was jittery, and he didn't like it. Not one bit, he wanted it gone.
A door opened. Footsteps walked closer. He could hear voices, undoubtably Arthur Weasley introducing himself and showing the boys around.
Another door opened, and Arthur stepped through it, followed by three guys.
“Remus, Marlene,” Arthur said, stepping out of the way. “Meet James, Peter, and Sirius. Make sure they’re all set up, radio me if you need help.” He turned to the guys, and shook their hands again. “Great to meet you lads, looking forward to working with you.” He left, not waiting for an answer.
It left them all awkwardly staring at each other. Peter coughed.
“Hey,” Marlene said, breaking the silence. “I’m Marlene, I’m the A1. I’ll be running the board, Remus here will be your main point of contact. I’ll be around if you need anything, just let anyone with a radio know.” She turned to Remus. “I’m on channel three.”
“Yes, Marlene,” Remus rolled his eyes. “I am too, we’ve been on three all day.”
Marlene rolled her eyes back. “Okay asshole, bye.”
“Rude,” Remus shouted to her retreating back. “This is workplace bullying, I’m telling Arthur.” There was no weight to his words, and she flipped him off before the door closed behind her.
With Marlene gone, it was just him and The Marauders.
“Hey guys,” Remus said, finally looking at them properly. “I’m Remus, I’m the A2.”
“Nice to meet you, Remus,” James said, clapping him on the shoulder. His smile was easy, bright, and took up his whole face. “I’m James, I’m the drummer.” Remus nodded, pretending he didn't know. Pretending The Marauders wasn’t his top listened to artist in his Spotify Wrapped three years in a row.
“I’m Peter,” Peter said, smiling as well. He was quieter, more reserved than James. Maybe it was shyness, Remus couldn’t tell. “Keys and guitar.” He paused for a second. “Sometimes bass.”
That was new, as of this tour. As of this leg, actually. At the beginning of the European Leg of their tour their bassist up and left. It was all over the papers and internet for weeks.
“Nice to meet you,” Remus said to both of them. “I’m looking forward to working with you.” He turned to the last member of the group.
Sirius Black.
He was even prettier in person, was the first thought to go through his head. His second one was that he was already looking at him. His third was that he didn't want him to look away.
“I’m Sirius.” Remus wanted to laugh at him introducing himself. Not because it was funny, but because he’d had Sirius’ poster on his wall from ages fifteen to seventeen.
“Hi Sirius, it’s nice to meet you.” Remus tried to ignore how Sirius was looking at him, he couldn’t tell if it was positive or not. The way he was staring… it could be either. He looked down at himself, suddenly a bit self conscious. Sure his shoes were a bit worn, but he’d picked a shirt that didn't have rips in it, and he figured that balanced it out a bit.
“Are you ready for us,” James asked, shaking Remus out of his thoughts.
“Yeah,” he answered, shaking himself out of his daze. “Let’s get you sound checked.”
~~~
Remus heard the guys coming back from their short break before he heard them. They were laughing about something, clearly at Sirius’ expense. Remus was pretty sure this was the first time he’d seen Peter actually smile. Lily Evan’s followed them in, laughing to herself but trying to hide it. He recognized her because of her bright red hair, and he knew she controlled their band social media account as well as being their manager.
“Okay guys,” she tried to sound exasperated but couldn’t quite swing it. “Focus time, you’re almost on stage.”
Sirius and James gave overexaggerated apologies, leading to James getting down on his knees and begging Lily for forgiveness. Her eyes were light, even as she rolled them. “Get up, Potter.”
He grinned and complied. “Don’t pretend like you don’t love me, Evans, we all know it’s true.” Remus pulled his gaze from them as they started to have a moment, not wanting to intrude. His gaze found Sirius, because of course it did. How could it not?
Sirius had changed into new clothes, the ones that he’d wear on stage. The shirt was unbuttoned about halfway, and Remus could see tattoos on his collar bone. He knew they were vines based on photos he’d seen on the internet. Not that he’d been looking for them, Sirius was just everywhere. He could also just barely see the top of a tattoo on his stomach. He’d never seen that before, and he wanted to know what it was. His jeans were artfully, purposefully ripped. Unlike any pair Remus owned, where the rips were fully accidental because of how much he wore them, and how much he worked in them.
Sirius caught his gaze and smiled at him. Remus could feel his cheeks flush, and wanted to pretend it was because of his autoimmune disease, not because Sirius Black was looking at him.
Remus swallowed, maybe a bit too hard, and hoped it wasn’t noticed, and then immediately had to take a very obvious breath in.
No, he didn't want to make the obvious joke that Sirius Black had taken his breath away, because that was cliche, stupid and just plain wrong. It had nothing to do with Sirius Black, and everything to do with Remus’s shit lungs.
Nothing to do with Sirius.
Remus very quickly realized that he’d been staring at him, maybe for too long, and he felt self conscious until it dawned on him that Sirius was staring back.
And then he had to take another big breath in. He looked away as he willed his lungs to not give out on him, and instead got back to work.
All three of the guys had their in ears over their shoulders but not in yet, and Remus moved to plug them into the receivers. That was how they’d be able to hear each other onstage, rather than hearing all the noise. It would be muffled while the sounds of the band and their voices would be loud, based on what each of them wanted.
“I’ll be over here if you want to adjust anything,” Remus said, holding up the iPad in one hand and gesturing to the side of the stage with the other. “Just signal over if you need anything.”
“Thanks,” James patted him on the shoulder and grinned. “This is gonna be so fun boys! Let’s go out there and show ‘em what we’ve got.”
The countdown neared its end and James, Peter, and Sirius positioned themselves behind the big doors that would open and reveal them.
“Break a leg,” Remus smiled and then turned away to walk back to the wings.
The doors opened, the bright white lights went on, and The Marauders were visible to the ninety thousand people who were screaming and clapping for them to go in. Remus almost wished he could see it from their position. He knew the guys were backlit, so just their silhouettes were visible as they walked to their spots.
They were still in near darkness as James settled behind the drums. The clear drum cover hid his count in from the audience, but Remus could hear it loud and clear.
“One, two, three, four,” He yelled, clapping his sticks together. And then there was a wall of sound. The crowd was muffled by their playing, it was quickly all Remus could hear.
He knew the song, it was the first single off their album. He nodded along, and hummed it quietly. He was alone on his side of the stage, most of the crew were on break during the show, but not the audio team. They had to be on their toes, ready to fix anything that might go wrong. It meant that aside from a guitar tech he was the only person back here.
One of Sirius’ in ears fell out, and it bounced around on his shoulder, getting tangled in his hair. He couldn’t adjust it yet, had to wait until the song was over or until he stopped playing.
Remus could see Lily from where he was standing. She was in the space between the stage and the barricade, with her phone up recording Sirius. There were other people, recording on fancy cameras, and Sirius was doing a good job ignoring all of them.
When the song ended a guitar tech ran out to hand Peter his guitar and then take Sirius’ guitar from him. She stopped to talk to him for two seconds and then scurried off to her station on the other side of the stage from Remus.
Sirius shoved his in ear back in as the crowd clapped for their first song. Once it started to calm down he took the mic off the stand and stood just to the left of it.
“Hello, London,” he said, “How’s everyone doing tonight?” Ninety thousand people all yelled, and Sirius laughed. “I’m glad you’re all having a good time.”
Remus could see more people getting their phones out as Sirius walked towards them, interacting with the first few rows.
“My name is Sirius,” he said, as if people didn't already know.
“Behind me I have James,” he gestured to James as he hit the drums a couple times. “And Peter to my right.”
Peter strummed the guitar a bit. He seemed less into it than James was, and Remus had a feeling he didn't like the attention as much as the others did.
“We have a couple more songs we’d like to play for you, if that’s alright.” Remus couldn’t believe how loud the crowd could get. It almost seemed like they were trying to outdo themselves.
James, Sirius, and Peter played the rest of the concert without incident. Remus couldn’t believe how loud the crowd was. When the three guys went barreling offstage towards him he took three large steps back so he didn't get hit and go down.
Sirius and James were laughing, covered in sweat. Sirius’ hair was wet, partly from the sweat and also possibly partly from the water James poured on him when he jumped up on the drum riser.
“That was amazing Pads,” James was grinning. His glasses were slightly off, and his hair was a mess. “And Wormy, good going!”
Sirius pulled the top part of his hair into a bun, fighting to keep it out of his eyes. He answered James as he pulled Peter in, arm around his shoulders. Peter shrugged him off, but he was laughing too.
Remus couldn’t help but notice how bright Sirius was. He really lived up to his namesake, like the brightest thing in the room. It was such a contrast from how he’d been before the show started, and Remus liked this Sirius a lot better.
Sirius turned and suddenly he was smiling at Remus. Since his hair was pulled back Remus could see his silver helix piercing. Remus could feel his face warming up, and chose to believe it had everything to do with his autoimmune disease and nothing to do with the cute boy smiling at him.
“You sounded great,” Remus said, fighting the urge to reach up and touch his warm face. Sirius’ smile brightened.
They talked for a bit longer, Remus waiting until the audience had mostly cleared out so he could go out and start striking some of the stage. The Marauders had sold out two nights, so they didn't have to pack up everything, but he wanted to make his life tomorrow as easy as possible.
He got the all clear from Marlene, said bye to the guys, and then made his way on stage. There were a couple girls still at the barricade, laughing and taking photos, and when they saw him they started waving him over. He went, grabbing the set lists that had been taped to the stage on his way.
“Hey, what’s up?” He felt awkward. Normally he wasn’t the first one out, and he wasn’t good at small talk. “Do you want these?”
Whatever the girls had been wanting to ask flew out the window and instead they all nodded and leaned up for Remus to pass them the papers easier.
“Thank you,” the tallest one grinned. She had ended up with Sirius’, and Remus wasn’t sure if any of them knew which of them they had. He decided not to say anything, and let them decide amongst themselves which one they had if they decided they wanted to know.
“Don’t mention it.” Remus smiled at them again and then turned away to start striking all the gear. He started with Sirius’ stuff. His mic stand was easy to collapse, and he made sure to keep the empty guitar pick holder on the stand, ensuring it didn't fall off. He wondered if the picks were lost on stage, on the floor, or if they’d made it into fans’ hands. He hoped it was the latter.
Remus finished clearing the stage and moved everything for their first opener back on stage in the time it took Marlene to get backstage.
“Damn Remus,” she laughed. “Where’s the fire?”
Remus shrugged. “I figured it was easier to just do it now.”
Marlene shook her head. “Okay weirdo.” Remus shoved her a bit, and she shoved him back.
He wasn’t about to tell her this, or anyone, but his hands were swelling and he wasn’t sure how long it would last. Setting up bands with swollen hands was a struggle, and he figured the less he had to do tomorrow the better.
Since he was done Marlene dismissed him early. He went out the front door, eager to avoid whatever crowd was waiting for The Marauders at the stage door, and headed home.
~~~
It took Remus under a minute the next day to realize that his prediction had been right. Sure enough, not only were his hands swollen but also his neck. It felt scratchy, which was never a good sign, but he resigned himself to the reminder that life went on, and he’d have to just suck it up.
He put on a black t shirt, identical to the one he’d worn the day before - but a little less sweaty - and then immediately changed into a long sleeve. He had very obvious hives on his lower arms, and that was not something he wanted to advertise to everyone.
Yes, everyone. Not just Sirius.
Okay, maybe mostly Sirius.
It was fine.
He took his meds, coughing a bit after his inhaler, and then set about to start the day. He had to be at the theatre at four thirty, so he decided to go to his favourite coffee shop and have some lunch and maybe get some writing done beforehand.
Sitting in his favourite chair with an English breakfast tea, Remus opened his notebook. He looked over what he’d written last time, just some sad sentences that he was hoping would string together into something at least mediocre, but he wasn’t sure.
He’d only managed to write one more line before someone crashed down into the chair next to him. He was sitting in the corner in one of the arm chairs, away from the general noise of the coffee shop. He’d picked it specifically so he wouldn’t have to talk to anyone.
“Hey stranger,” the person said. They were in all black, with the hood of their sweater up, and sunglasses over their eyes. Their black hair was curling out of the hood, and if the circumstances were different Remus might have thought they looked like an angel.
Remus leaned back. He wasn’t sure who this person was, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out. Until they lowered their sunglasses. “Sirius,” Remus took a big breath in. And then his lungs didn't work and he had to take another one.
A look flashed across his face that Remus couldn’t place. “I didn't mean to scare you.”
Remus shook his head, maybe a bit faster than the situation warranted. “No, you didn't.” Sirius didn't look like he believed him, and Remus did his best to reassure him without explaining that he wasn’t scared, his lungs just didn't work.
“Anyway,” Remus changed the subject. “Sirius, what are you doing here?”
Sirius shoved his sunglasses back on his face, and readjusted his hood to put some of his hair back in. “Shhh,” he looked around to make sure no one had heard, but it was still just them back there. “I’m incognito, call me… Jack.” He paused before suggesting the name, and it made Remus laugh. Loudly. Sirius looked very pleased with himself.
“Why Jack,” Remus asked when he stopped laughing.
Sirius shrugged. “It was the first thing that came to mind!” Then Sirius was laughing too. They were mutually laughing. Remus was laughing with Sirius, Sirius was laughing with Remus. He didn't want to stop.
Another person with their hood up and sunglasses barrelled over to them. “Sirius,” he said. “What are you doing over here, you just abandoned me you-” He paused, seeing Remus for the first time.
“Ah,” He said, with a knowing look. What he knew, Remus certainly didn't.
Remus smiled. “No Sirius here, just Jack.” James looked incredibly confused, head moving back and forth from Sirius to Remus as if watching a tennis match. “Jack?”
“Yeah mate,” Remus could feel Sirius’ eye roll from under his sunglasses. “I don’t know who this ‘Sirius’ bloke is, but I’m just Jack.”
James, still confused, just decided to ignore it, and dropped down into the last available armchair.
“You don’t do anything slowly, do you,” Remus asked, effectively changing the subject while pointing out James’ affinity for interrupting everything with his quick entrances.
“Where’s the fun in that,” James shrugged with a grin. “Kachow.” Remus couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up with the Cars reference.
Sirius moved his sunglasses down slightly to make sure James could see on his face just how stupid he thought that was.
“That was so bad,” Sirius said as he pushed his sunglasses back up.
“Remus laughed!” James was trying to sound offended but it definitely didn’t work.
“Remus is being polite,” Sirius retorted, but also laughing.
Both guys turned to Remus, expectantly waiting for his answer.
“No comment,” Remus held his hands up in what he hoped was a ‘please don’t put me in the middle’ gesture. He was also laughing though.
It was weird, he thought. Being in the back corner of a coffee shop with James and Sirius from The Marauders, laughing and joking like it was just a normal Saturday.
Remus wondered if this was how they were with everyone they worked with. He liked to think it wasn’t, but he was pretty sure it was.
He decided to pretend it was just because it was him.
— SIRIUS —
Sirius saw the cute boy before the cute boy saw him, which he was grateful for. It gave him a couple seconds to shamelessly stare at him without judgement.
He was tall, taller than Sirius even, who was pretty tall himself. His cuffed black trousers were covering the tops of his (very broken) Docs, and he had a black t-shirt tucked into the jeans. Very clearly a member of the tech crew.
Arthur was talking, but Sirius wasn’t listening. Then he left, and then the girl left, and then it was just them and the cute boy.
“Hey guys, I’m Remus.”
Remus.
Sirius couldn’t help but notice what a weird name it was. Then again, his was Sirius so he couldn’t exactly judge.
James and Peter introduced themselves, and Sirius was very jealous of their ability to talk to Remus. He, on the other hand, was speechless.
James nudged him, and he realized that he hadn’t introduced himself. “I’m Sirius,” he managed to get out. He didn't think he’d ever been this awkward around a guy, not since his school days.
“Hi Sirius, it’s nice to meet you.” His voice was so nice. There was a hint of a Welsh accent, but it was clear he’d been living in London for a while. Sirius wanted him to say his name again. He’d always had a so-so relationship with his name, hating that it was given to him by his parents, but loving how it fit him. He could listen to Remus say his name all day.
When they started their sound check, James cornered him.
“What the fuck is your problem,” He whisper-yelled. “Get it together mate.” Sirius glared at him. James’ face went from frustrated, to confused, and then to straight up gleeful.
“Someone has a crush on the cute sound tech,” James said in a singsong-y tone. He quickly jumped into a round of ‘Sirius and Remus sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G’, which Peter joined in for. Sirius shoved them, ending it at the second go around.
“Shut up,” He said through his teeth. “He’ll hear you!”
Remus didn't hear them, luckily, and he walked back over to them from where he’d been talking to the blonde girl, Marlene.
“Okay guys, whenever you’re ready.” Remus gestured to the stage. “Play whatever you want, something quiet and then something loud so we can set some levels.”
They did some songs to check their levels for the audience and then Remus went up on stage to test their in ears and make sure they could hear each other on stage as well.
“Peter,” Remus said, stopping next to Peter with an iPad in his left hand. “What’s your preference?”
Remus adjusted the levels on the iPad to fit what Peter liked (mostly vocals, some guitar, some keys), what James liked (vocals, lots of keys and bass, no guitar), and then he turned to Sirius (mostly vocals, lots of keys and guitar, some bass). Everyone was different, and it was done so they’d all be able to stay in time.
Remus nodded, put in the finishing touches, and then looked up, closing the iPad.
“Great,” he said with a smile. “Let’s do a song, make sure it’s what you want, and then we’ll be good to go.”
They worked through one song, and just like they expected, everything sounded great. Marlene walked up from the booth to thank them and let them know that they were good to go for a break until their set.
“Thanks guys,” she said, dismissing them. “See you in a couple hours!” James responded, and then Peter, and then Sirius made a sound that was a mix between a hi and a bye, and immediately retreated after his friends.
Okay, all he had to do was never look at Remus ever again, because what the fuck was that?
~~~
They tumbled off stage after their encore, sweating, laughing, and - in Sirius’ case - very wet from the water James threw on him.
Sirius threw his hair up in a bun, trying to ignore how the wet hair felt on his neck. He was not a fan. He could feel himself laughing, the adrenaline from performing was coursing through his veins, and it didn't change when he locked eyes with Remus. He realized that for the first time, Remus was looking at him first. He decided to file away that information for later.
“You sounded great.” Remus’s face was kind of pink, and Sirius wanted to know why. Was he blushing? He talked to them until more of the audience cleared, and then excused himself to clean up the stage.
“So,” James said, putting his arm through Sirius’ as they moved towards the exit. “Remus is pretty-”
“Yeah,” Sirius agreed, maybe a bit too quickly. Okay, a lot too quickly. “Very pretty.”
James grinned and slapped Peter on the shoulder. “You owe me five bucks Wormy!”
“What,” Sirius exclaimed. “You were placing bets on me?”
“If only you’d lasted a little longer,” Peter moaned, handing James a tenner. “Keep the change, I don’t have a five.”
“I was going to say he’s pretty nice, but you actually made me win the bet way faster than expected.” James was practically cackling as he put the money in his wallet. “I bet Pete you’d last less than three minutes before admitting you had the hots for Remus, I didn't think it would take two seconds though.”
Sirius rolled his eyes and shoved his friend, hoping it hid his blush.
“Oh c’mon Pads,” James threw his arm around his shoulder. “We tease because we care.”
“Care somewhere else,” Sirius grumbled, but he put his arm around James and his other around Peter, effectively ending the ‘argument’.
“Well, shall we boys,” James gestured to the stage door.
“We shall.”
~~~
The next day, Sirius and James decided to get some fresh air and walk around before they had to be at the stadium. They didn't really have a place in mind, they just wandered in comfortable silence.
Well, kind of silence - Sirius did have an earbud in one ear. He didn't do well in complete silence. His playlist was all over the place, he’d gone from Taylor Swift’s "Dress" to Wilson Phillips' "Hold On", and the one he was listening to when they opened the doors to the coffee shop was Queen’s "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy".
“Hi, how can I help you today?” The girl behind the counter, named Annie (according to her name tag) smiled. She had one hand hovering over the screen, and Sirius could see the moment in her eyes that she realized who she was talking to.
“I-” Annie paused, looked down, and then back up at him. Her smile had fallen a bit, but it was back. “Sorry about that. What can I get started for you today?”
Sirius, realizing he was not about to be stopped and asked for an autograph, ordered a vanilla latte.
“Okay, so one vanilla latte,” Annie tapped some buttons on the screen and then looked at him again. “Anything else for you today?”
Sirius shook his head. “No, just that. Thank you so much.” He hoped she realized he was talking about more than just taking his coffee order, and she seemed to.
“What name do you want on the order,” She asked, holding up his cup and a sharpie.
Sirius paused for a moment, unsure.
“I’ll just put Sam.” Annie wrote Sam on the cup in careful lettering, a smiley face, and then set it down beside her. “Have a nice day!”
Sirius put a 20 in the tip jar and then walked down to the end to wait for his drink. As James was ordering he took a minute to look around the shop. It was cute, with potted plants everywhere and a mix of comfy armchairs and aesthetic wood tables and chairs.
His gaze passed around people, a man at a laptop with a large iced coffee, a middle aged woman with her kid in a stroller drinking a small tea, and then, in the back corner, Remus.
He was wearing all black again, and sitting on one of the comfy armchairs hidden in the back of the room. Without even really realizing it, Sirius was walking over.
“Hey stranger.” Sirius collapsed into the chair next to Remus, without thinking about the fact that it was entirely possible he would have no idea who Sirius was.
Remus leaned back, clearly shocked by Sirius’ sudden appearance, so Sirius lowered his sunglasses. “Sirius.” There was a look of relief that passed over Remus’ face, and then he took two very deep breaths.
Sirius instantly felt a wave of regret fall over him. “I didn't mean to scare you.”
Remus immediately assured him that he hadn’t, and when it was clear Sirius didn't exactly believe him, he changed the subject.
Sirius managed to make Remus laugh not once, but twice. Sirius was very proud of himself, and made it his mission to make him laugh as many times as he could.
James joined them, and their conversation continued. James threw him a look that sounded a lot like “hey, I see your crush all over your face”, which Sirius really hoped wasn’t actually the case.
Sirius couldn’t help but notice how easy it was to talk to Remus. He liked it.
“Hang on,” Remus laughed. He was taking a sip of his tea, and his book was sitting forgotten on the table in front of him. “Are you wearing your own merch?”
Remus was gesturing to James, who was indeed wearing their merch. It was a hoodie from their current tour, their second world tour but their first stadium one. It had THE MARAUDERS written across in a block font, and then Around and Around World Tour under it in a more cursive font. The tour dates and locations were written on the back, in the same font as the tour name.
“It’s comfy,” James laughed, holding up his hands.
“Aren’t you just drawing attention to yourself,” Remus pointed out. “Isn’t that like the whole point of being ‘in disguise’?” He put quotations around the ‘in disguise’ part, and Sirius made a noise that he hope sounded offended.
“Are you meaning to tell me that you don’t think my disguise is good? Need I remind you that you didn't recognize me when I first came up to you?”
Remus rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t exactly expecting Sirius Black to pop out of no where there was I?”
He scratched at the skin next to his left eye, almost instinctively, and Sirius noticed for the first time that it was kind of red. He wanted to reach out and move Remus’ hand away but he didn't. Because that would be weird.
“Anyway,” James grinned. “No one’s expecting us to wear our own merch, it’s basically the perfect disguise!”
Remus just laughed and shook his head. “Whatever you say, James.”
“Why, are you jealous?” James moved his sunglasses down a bit so Remus could see his eyes. “It is a very nice looking hoodie, if I do say so myself. I helped design it, you know.”
Sirius laughed, pushing James so he nearly fell off his chair. “Oh shove off. Peter did most of the design work, not you.” He paused, and looked up at Remus. “We could hook you up with one, if you wanted. We know people on the inside.”
He winked, and Remus blushed. Sirius wanted to know what it meant. He’d been noticing Remus blushed easily, and he filed that information away for later, with the rest of the Remus information he’d been collecting.
“Good to know,” Remus chuckled a bit. “I’ll let you know.”
The conversation moved on from there, flowing seamlessly from one conversation to another. They weren’t really talking about anything important, but it didn't matter.
At about three-thirty, Remus moved to get up.
“I’ve gotta get to the stadium,” He explained as he gathered his stuff. Sirius didn't want him to leave. He also knew how stupid that sounded, but he couldn’t help but notice how slow Remus was moving. Like maybe he didn’t want to leave either.
“I’m gonna get another tea to go,” Remus gestured to the baristas. “I’ll see you in a couple hours.”
They exchange their goodbyes, and Sirius turns to his untouched coffee. “Actually I’m gonna go grab one too,” he said, not waiting around to answer James’ “you haven’t touched yours ma- ohhhh”.
Sirius got to the counter just as Remus was about to pay. “Could you add a vanilla latte to that as well, and I’ll put it on my card.”
“No, Si- Sam,” Remus covered his mistake. “You don’t have to do that.” He awkwardly tried to shove Sirius out of the way and cover the card machine, but despite the height difference he didn't succeed.
“Shut up,” Sirius squeezed through Remus’ limbs to hover his card over the reader. It chimed, signalling that the payment took, and Sirius pulled away.
“Thanks,” Remus smiled down at him.
“Anytime.”
Annie cleared her throat. “Would you like your receipt, Sam?”
Sirius’ head turned so fast he was pretty sure he felt something in his neck twinge. Annie was looking at them like she knew something, and Sirius wanted to know what it was she knew. He wanted to know if she knew the same thing he knew, and also wanted to know if she maybe knew what he didn't know - namely, whether or not Remus also maybe sorta liked him too.
“Sam?” Remus raised an eyebrow at him, and Sirius rolled his eyes.
“Shut up,” He said again, pushing Remus down to the waiting area for the drinks. He threw another 20 in the tip jar and threw a “Thank you Annie,” over his shoulder as he went.
“You do not look like a Sam,” Remus laughed when Sirius stopped pushing him.
“I wasn’t the one who came up with it,” Sirius answered, also laughing.
“Then again, it is better than Jack,” Remus grinned. “Why didn't you just go with Sam, that would have been so easy!”
“I didn't exactly think of it at the time, did I,” Sirius answered, crossing his arms over his chest.
“One vanilla latte and one English breakfast tea for Sam,” The barista called out their order, interrupting whatever comeback Remus was going to say.
“Thanks Benjy,” Remus said, and the barista smiled back.
“See you, Remus,” Benjy said, with a look on his face that Sirius couldn’t quite read.
“Thanks mate,” Sirius smiled, and the barista smiled to him as well.
“Have a nice day,” He said, before turning to call out the next order.
Remus turned to the counter next to them to put milk and sugar in his tea, so Sirius stopped next to him.
“That is a crime,” Sirius said after Remus put in his third sugar packet.
“I like things extra sweet,” Remus shrugged. “Besides, you don’t even drink tea so you can’t really say anything.”
“Ah, except I used to be the heir to a tea fortune, so I feel like that makes me an expert,” Sirius took a sip of his coffee. Remus raised an eyebrow as he stirred his tea.
“I- I forgot about that,” Remus stuttered. “I’m sorry.” Sirius shook his head. He was used to people knowing, it had been splashed in all the tabloids at the time. Marauders Lead Singer and Guitarist Disowned from Black Family had been trending for weeks after he’d been kicked out.
“It’s okay,” Sirius shrugged. “It was all over the news, everyone and their grandmother knows.”
“Is that why you drink coffee,” Remus asked. He put a lid on his tea and took a sip. He clearly burned his tongue because he winced and then did a really cute thing where he tried to let it breathe without making it look like he was sticking it out.
“You don’t have to answer, if you don’t want to.”
Sirius shook his head, realizing he’d been staring at Remus for far too long. “No, no it’s okay. Yeah, mostly. It started out that way at least, a bit of a ‘fuck you’ to them.” Sirius stopped before he started rambling. He was pretty sure Remus didn't care about this, he was probably just being polite.
“I’m sorry,” Remus looked down at his tea. “I kind of feel bad drinking this now.” He let out a weird half laugh.
“Don’t,” Sirius answered. “For one thing, it’s just tea. For another, small businesses like this one don’t sell Black Label Tea.”
“Why not,” Remus asked, hip pressed against the counter so he was facing Sirius more.
“My parents don’t care much for small businesses,” Sirius rolled his eyes. “Their tea can only be sold by places with very specific criteria. Big chains, that kind of stuff.”
“Good to know,” Remus said. Sirius was surprised to see that there didn't seem to be any sarcasm in his words. He genuinely seemed interested in what Sirius had to say.
“Padfoot,” James threw his arm over Sirius’ shoulder. “Are you boring dear Remus to death over here? Doesn’t he have work to get to?” Remus glanced down at his watch and then his eyes got very big.
“Oh, shit,” He said, picking up his bag from where he’d set it between his feet. “I’ve gotta go. It was nice talking to you, see you later! Thank you for the tea!” Remus said the last part as he was running out the door. Sirius watched as he ran down the street, and didn't look back at James until he was gone.
“So,” James nudged him. “Are you actually going to drink this coffee?”
“Shut up James.”