ALPHABETICAL AUs


Word count: 5570

Written for:

Hogwarts Ancient Runes - Write about a character finding light in the darkness - you're free to interpret this however you want! Extra prompt: (word) despair.

Word Prompt Express - 1/10 (100 words used). List can be provided if necessary.

Pokemon Go Challenge

Note: Story takes place in America. Since there's a pretty strong Hollywood theme, I thought it made sense to set it in a place I know reflects that vibe... real-life Hollywood in the state of California. Enjoy.


A = Actor!AU

Someone You Love


Sometimes you think you want to disappear


Sirius slammed his bedroom door shut. He lay down on his sheets and curled into a ball on his side, holding his knees in his arms. It was a childish way to behave, but he couldn't help it. He was the victim here, not someone who needed to act dignified or put-together. He deserved to cry in peace.

A tentative knock barely made a sound on his thick wooden door.

"Sirius?" wavered the voice of a boy. He was sixteen but he sounded twelve.

"Go away."

Shuffling footsteps indicated that no such movement was taking place.

"I mean it. Go ask mother and father when they can send you off to Harvard Law," he snapped. "I'm leaving soon anyway. Getting out of this fucking prison." Sirius grabbed one of the ornate throw pillows and folded it around his head, trying to block out the sound from outside.

"I'll go with you. Just give me a minute to talk to them and get my things," pleaded Regulus. "I'll look up a place we can stay."

"Stop it!" Sirius said, glaring at the faded posters on his walls.

"Sirius - I wasn't trying to take anything away from you. It's not my fault that they didn't like your choices. Father just-"

"I don't care what Father said. He can go die, as far as I'm concerned. As can you."

The voices from downstairs loudened, and Sirius heard a gulp from the boy standing in the hall.

"I've got to go - give me a minute," said his brother. "I'll be right back," he added, his voice fading away as he hurried away. Sirius didn't listen, just scooped up his cell phone and a wad of cash from under his mattress and opened the window. Twenty feet of air greeted him. Sirius took a deep breath, then dangled his feet out and hoped for a soft landing.

.oOo.

Sirius's dressing room would be his palace. There, he would be left peacefully alone from the belligerent directors, producers, agents, and other figures wading through the frantic noise of Hollywood. He could sit in his chair under the lights and dream about future roles, all while indulging in whatever delicacy was offered to him. He could practice his signature, hone his falsetto, and scheme to purchase random luxuries. There was no better way to live.

His current "dressing room" was ideal, except for its location: smack in the middle of a trailer park. It also held shared duty as his living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. Sirius didn't have a mansion - not even a little one. He had a trailer, parked with care under a tree in the largest trailer park in Los Angeles.

He hadn't been offered a role in weeks - months, even - unless you counted a cameo in a Coke ad that had been scrapped instantly after Sirius's disastrous photobomb. Few people did count it. He tried not to think about it.

But he liked to pretend - pretend that he wasn't a failed, out-of-work actor - by imagining his trailer as the vehicle of an undercover movie star. And what was wrong with that? It was better than moping around. He wasn't upset anymore about being treated like a free-will-less prodigal son in his parents' house; he was happier by himself. He just worried that Regulus wasn't faring as well.

Sirius stared out of the squat window across from his bunk beds. Where was his brother now? He'd deleted Regulus's number in a fit of rage, and he hadn't bothered to ask for it while he had the chance.

"No glitter, no mirrors, and nothing," he muttered. Nothing had come of his escape from that hellish house. Nothing had come of his bid for a life of wonder and mystery, not a single role. Wasn't it obvious that his exotic good looks would perfectly suit the role of any sexy lothario?

Maybe lothario wasn't the right word. According to the internet, it meant 'male seducer of women.' And women weren't the ones on his mind.

.oOo.

"Hey, man, you looking for something?"

Sirius's head jerked upwards. He identified the voice as belonging to a guy roughly his age with jet black hair and dorky glasses, who stepped toward Sirius and stuck out his hand. "I'm James. You?"

"Um," said Sirius. He stuffed his phone in his jeans pocket and grabbed the guy's hand, shaking it quickly before letting go. A scan of his surroundings showed that there was nobody to save him in case this guy was a mugger, or serial killer, or worse - a spy for his parents. "Why do you ask?"

The stranger - James - shrugged. "No reason. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, man."

"You're not-?" Sirius stammered, trying to find the least troubling words. He tried again. "Nobody told you to look out for-?"

James looked at him in concern. "I'm not like that. Why, is someone after you?"

"My family." Sirius blurted the word, then looked up to see the guy's reaction. Luckily, he acted as if Sirius hadn't said anything out of the ordinary.

"Aw, that sucks. My dad's all right. He runs the shop." James gestured behind him to a squat brick building labeled 'Potter Repairs & Co.' Several cars, trucks, and trailers in various states of disrepair littered the parking lot. "He also rents to the folks in the park just along the way." James pointed to a swath of green farther down the road, where Sirius could see a man parking his mobile home and a woman dragging her protesting kid by the arm.

"Cool, man," Sirius tried. He'd never called someone his age 'man,' or 'bro,' or 'dude' - his parents would have gone ballistic - but it was startlingly freeing to be so casual and open with a stranger.

"Yeah." James grinned and grabbed Sirius by the shoulder, pushing him sideways so that he faced a restaurant across the boulevard. "See that building?"

"Yeah?"

"That's where my boyfriend works."

"Oh really?" asked Sirius. He didn't have to squint to read the large neon sign flashing the name of a famous chain. "At a lesbian bar?"

James blinked, looking back at the building and then shaking his head, a burst of laughter breaking the silence. "Sorry, turn left a bit." They were now facing a new building, much smaller this time.

"Ah. A bookstore."

"He's quiet," James explained. "Smart. And stuff."

"Okay."

No one spoke for a few moments, then James broke the silence. He seemed like a silence-breaker kind of guy.

"So, did you have any particular reason for stopping by, Sirius? Or did you just show to hear about my boyfriend's job?"

"No," Sirius admitted, struggling to decide how much he could tell James. He seemed reasonably innocent - at worst a little too friendly - but that was the ideal cover for someone with something to hide. This could all be a trick.

"So what was it, then?"

That's when Sirius gave in. He sighed, then told James the lighter details of his situation: how he'd run away from home, survived for two weeks on a few hundred dollars, and noticed the 'help wanted' sign on the shop window.

"Oh, that's old," James interjected. "My dad got someone, so he doesn't need any more help." He glanced at Sirius, realizing why the subject had been brought up. "Hey, I'm sorry, man. I'd give you the job if I could. Your life sucks."

"Yeah, I guess it does," Sirius said, laughing suddenly. It wasn't something he usually did - feeling sorry for himself in public. When he was with people, he kept it all inside. "Listen, if I can't get a job here, can you at least sell me a car or something? I can't afford any hotels around here, and there's no way I'm living in the street."

"I can do better than that." James led him over to the closest garage, and tugged the door upwards, revealing a beat-up white trailer. "It's yours for five hundred bucks."

Sirius gaped. "What? No, that's worth-" He caught himself. "I mean, yeah, of course I'll take it!" He found himself digging a wad of cash out of his wallet and shoving it in James's face.

James rolled his eyes, pushing the money away with one finger.. "I know it's worth a lot more, but it's taking up all this space in the garage. My dad's sick of it."

"There's nothing wrong with it, right?"

"The transmission's a little funky, but we think we've got that worked out."

"That's good enough for me." Sirius again handed the money to James, who accepted it and stuffed it into his own pocket.

"Want to take it for a spin?"

"Hell yeah."


but all you really want is


When Sirius woke up, he was picturing Regulus, not his acting career, which came as a bit of a shock. His brother wasn't a little boy anymore. He never was. In their parents' house, you grew up fast. Sirius sat in bed visualizing what he could remember of his brother's face and wondering how it would have changed since then.

He'd eaten half a sandwich and some water when he sighed and tilted his head back to stare at the low ceiling. If he sat thinking about it much longer, he'd focus on his guilt about Regulus. No, he had to try and find him.

The first place he looked was the Black family home. It was surrounded by acres of property, and had the kind of long driveway only found in front of massive estates. Seeing the place again bought back all the little memories he'd forgotten over the years, like days spent walking the gardens in boredom with Regulus, and the time the pair of them had gotten their tutor fired for looking at their mother the wrong way.

Retrospectively, Sirius wished the tutor had stayed and the mother had gone. But that couldn't be helped now.

A monstrous iron gate blocked the entry road, and Sirius had parked his trailer a half-mile away for safety. He gazed at the mansion, helpless, then turned away. There was no hope of getting in, and he didn't even want to see who remained. But before he left, he stuck a neighborhood "For Sale" sign in the ground for good measure.

Sirius spent the day driving around greater Los Angeles, just watching the shop signs flash by in case something caught his eye. He didn't know what he was looking for - it was unlikely that his brother would've founded 'Aunt Enid's Pizza Parlor,' but there were thousands of other buildings to see - so the drive, while relaxing, did nothing in terms of satisfying his curiosity and guilt.

He avoided driving by 'Potter Repairs & Co.' Seeing James would turn his day into a defensive argument that he wasn't prepared to win. He would be good-natured, but his prying questions would give Sirius his own doubts. And those doubts lasted much longer than his somewhat-friend's inflicted ones. Why else would he be driving around a major metropolis in search of one person he hadn't spoken to in years?

This was useless. If Regulus had actually left home like he promised, he'd likely be homeless now. And who could count the thousands of homeless people in L.A.? They were everywhere, so finding the right one would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Worse, actually. A needle in a haystack could probably be located in two minutes using a decent-sized magnet.

The sun went down on L.A., dropping the temperature to a chilly 73 degrees. Sirius finally gave up, grabbing a slice at the closest pizzeria before driving back to the trailer park. As night fell on the city, he watched the stars try to rival the city lights. They failed, but they put up a good fight.

.oOo.

A banging noise shook Sirius out of sleep. He thought at first that the trailer was being towed, or that a nuclear war had broken out. Neither would interrupt his morning coffee, but generally, he liked to be informed.

"What? What?" he yelled vaguely, smashing his fist against the wall to make it sound like he was getting up. When there was no response, he actually did try to get up. Sirius's head instantly collided with the upper bunk, causing pain that would likely solidify into a bump-laden bruise.

"It's me," was the reply.

"Who's me?" he asked, too lazy and tired to put effort into listening.

Silence. Then:

"If you can't recognize my voice, I guess you're worse off than I thought."

James. Sirius knew that James Potter was the only person likely to bother him this early in the morning, but still - it could have been anyone. Suddenly, someone was making an awful racket near the door to Sirius's trailer, and he really wanted to know why.

"Is that your imitation of a chorus of the damned? Because this, this right here, is what I imagine hell to sound like," Sirius grumbled, even though he figured James couldn't hear him.

"I pride myself on my key-jingling skills!" James replied, as he forced Sirius's door open and climbed over assorted trash to the back of the trailer.

"You shouldn't even have keys to my trailer. What happened to private property?"

"Never trust the guy who sells you a cheap trailer."

"Yeah, I guess." Sirius yawned and pulled the Pottery Barn sheets over his bare legs. "You shouldn't be in here."

"What, because you're at least half-naked and probably drunk?"

Sirius scrunched up his eyebrows. "Says the dude whose boyfriend works at a lesbian bar."

"That doesn't even make sense," James protested. "Well, it's lucky that I'm the one making the rules. We're talking." He shoved a box and a paper plate off Sirius's makeshift table and sat down. "You suck at life."

"Isn't there somewhere else you could be right now? Like, Mexico?"

"Ha ha. Says the dude who hasn't left his trailer in actual days." James wrinkled his nose. "Where are you even pissing?"

Sirius grinned, showing off his yellowing teeth. "That's a trade secret."

"You're fucking disgusting, bro." James held up his hands. "And now I'm a little worried about sitting down in here."

Sirius waved his hand vaguely. "The kitchen area is good. You're welcome."

"You call this a kitchen?"

Sirius shrugged. "It's good enough for cheesy ramen. Did you know that you can get four packets of ramen for a dollar? Four!"

James shook his head in despair. "All right, I'm getting you out of here."

Sirius shot up and stared at James. "You can't. I'm not going back."

James held up his hands. "All right, all right."

"I'm fine," Sirius said. "Really. I'm gonna go try out for some reality shows, audition for some movie roles… If all else fails, I'll get a job at CVS."

James seemed taken aback, as if he didn't expect such a serious answer. "Don't those involve acting? Except for the CVS one. Did I miss you going to acting school in the past six months?"

"Please. I've got the personality, I've got the charm… I'm serious about this, man."

James shook his head, but sighed and gave up trying to knock Sirius's confidence down a notch, which Sirius thought was a change well made. It was hard enough convincing himself that he even had a shot in the acting capital of the world, let alone convincing someone else of the fact.

"All right. I'll leave you alone. But don't get too hung up on acting, okay?"

"What?" Sirius protested. "Me? Impossible. I'm nothing if not a man of reason."

"You're barely a man at all," James muttered. But he stepped over to the door and gave Sirius a wink before turning away again.

.oOo.

The second day of searching brought two never-ending red lights and one prevented police arrest. Sirius still didn't understand why his (lack of) knowledge of the speed he was going was relevant. Luckily, his dashing good looks distracted the officer before she asked to see his license and registration.

The third day of searching brought absolutely nothing.

The fourth day of searching brought a moment so incredibly magical and life-crushing that Sirius couldn't believe it had happened until he got the second text.

It all started on Mulholland Drive, which made some sense. Sirius remembered daydreaming about owning his own mansion there, right in the center of all the Hollywood action. The road wasn't as exciting in the daylight as it was supposed to be at night, but he closed his eyes while stopped at an intersection and pictured the neon lights, the music, the celebrities. Maybe it could all be real for him one day.

He kept driving, taking the trailer around sharp turns but never hitting the curb, and wound up only a block from the largest film studio in Greater L.A. Sirius had fantasized about buying a studio tour ticket as a kid, but his parents thought movies and acting were frivolous. He was never even allowed in that part of the city.

So he pulled over, not caring if there was a meter he was supposed to feed or not. A hundred yards away, an actual real-life set stood, with real-life actors and crew milling about with packets of paper and complex-looking equipment. Sirius grinned. It was now or never. Regulus could wait for an hour.

He crept closer, trying to act casual, and found that he could overhear what a short old man with stubby white hair was saying into a microphone.

"Jason, Jason, where's Jason? He was due here an hour ago," the man grumbled. "All right, we'll skip his scene for now. Let's go back to page twenty-eight, stat."

Bunches of actors moved into place, some carrying scripts and mirroring the moves of primary actors, who were in costume and completely professional-looking. But Sirius noticed a gap in the group where a single person should be. And it looked like the director did too.

"Who's supposed to be there?" the man yelled. Nearly everyone sighed, a collective gasp of air that was actually audible.

Some spoke up. "Mr. Miller, Jason Strike is in this scene as well."

"Dammit!" cried the director, a.k.a. Mr. Miller. "Fine. Ten minute break! Everyone! Go! Get out of my sight!"

It was so exciting to be there, right in front of the action, seeing real Hollywood at work. Sirius stayed hidden to watch individuals go about their tasks during the break. The director hopped into a trailer, and Sirius admired its sleek design. A woman headed into the nearby building and emerged minutes later with a new wig on.

Wait, who was that person standing by one of the cameras? That cameraman guy with the sandy-colored hair whose back was to Sirius?

It was a good angle for him.

Wrapped up in staring at the mysterious stranger, it took a moment for Sirius to notice the director return, a frown more deeply etched in his face than before. The actors and crew were all back, and one younger guy in a band t-shirt stopped to speak to the one Sirius was admiring. They turned, and now Sirius could see their faces.

"ACTION!" someone spoke over the intercom. Silence overtook the set. "Just kidding. Well, everyone, take your places for a quick film demo!"

Sirius's camera-man-crush shooed away his friend, focusing on his equipment. But the scene quickly fell apart when the director realized that Jason Strike was still missing. Sirius watched the cameraman roll his eyes, then yawn and look around while the others argued across the set. His eyes fell on Sirius, who had given up all pretenses and was watching him openly, leaning against a palm tree.

The stranger looked surprised, then curious, squinting to try and identify Sirius. Obviously, he wasn't able to. But the adorable man's lips fell into a shy smile, and he raised his eyebrows, turning away from Sirius. Moments later he was approaching the circle of important producers and writers, where simple technical workers certainly weren't allowed.

"What are you doing?" whispered Sirius. He watched helplessly as the cameraman conferred with the high-level men and women, who, instead of laughing him away, seemed intrigued by the man's remarks. Was he trying to get Sirius thrown out?

One woman grabbed a bullhorn hanging from her belt loop and put it to her face. "ATTENTION - will the young brunette man by the tree please approach the set? We'd like to talk to you."

Sirius whipped around, looking for a different young brunette, but none was to be found. Him. They wanted him. But why?

"Coming!" he answered, knowing they wouldn't be able to hear. Sirius urgently finger-combed his hair and straightened his hopelessly wrinkled shirt as he jogged towards the group. He arrived breathless and completely unprepared.

"Your name?" a pantsuit-wearing woman inquired, tapping on her clipboard with her long painted nails.

"Sirius Black."

"Age?"

"Um, I'm almost twenty."

"Mmm. Not bad."

"What wrong with my age?" Sirius demanded. He folded his arms, which had the added benefit of accentuating his average-sized muscles for the cute man's benefit.

"Nothing," said the woman coolly. "You're exactly the right age. And…" She walked in a tight circle around him, inspecting every inch and making little noises of approval and disapproval as she did. "...you'll do. Let's get you suited up."

"I like the sound of that," Sirius joked. The group led him inside to a suite of small rooms, each fully staffed and lit to perfection. That's when he realized where he was: following real movie makers into a block of professional dressing rooms. "Wait, what's going on?" he asked in disbelief.

A chic stylist from one of the alcoves grinned at him. "You're replacing Jason, right? What a babe! Hey, Margaret, where'd you find this guy?"

The first woman spoke nasally and with care, like she had nothing and no one to fear in that room. Sirius wished he could say the same for himself. "He was recommended by Remus Lupin. The young one. Around his age." She gestured to Sirius, then sharply turned and continued towards another room.

"I'm acting?" Sirius wondered out loud. He gazed up in amazement at the studio as the woman led him down the hall to a small, empty room.

She nodded in response. "You're replacing Jason Strike in one of the action scenes. Unfortunately, he hasn't showed up today and we really do need to get a move on."

"Action scene?"

She noticed Sirius's wide mouth and rolled her eyes. "He has two lines. Get over yourself, you won't be credited in the film. You'll receive a few small payments, maybe fifty thousand each, and we'll call it a day. The editors will have fun photoshopping your face to look like Jason's. Or, maybe…" The woman started pacing, musing to herself. "We could shoot the shots from behind, showing only your clothes and hair… Yes, that could work…"

Sirius gaped at her. Here she was, talking about editing and payments and credit when all he could think of was - he was going to act. And - fifty thousand dollars!

"Thank you," he said. "You don't know what this means to m-"

The woman interrupted him, shoving a script in his hands and stepping out the door. "Have that memorized in half an hour. If you need me, just ask for Minerva McGonagall."

"Sure," Sirius replied, awestruck, but she was already gone.

.oOo.

"Three dollars and twenty-eight cents is your change, ma'am." He offered a close-lipped smile that faded before the customer was out the door.

If Sirius could afford a phone data plan, he'd be blogging about working at the pharmacy. Rather, the horrible experience that came along with working at a pharmacy. There were too many sick children, uncomfortable conversations, and people who yelled at him for guarding the cigarettes behind the counter. As if it was his fault that CVS sold controversial products…

The next wasn't so bad. A bubblegum-pink greeting card and a bag of pre-grated nacho cheese were tossed onto the counter. Sirius quickly scanned and bagged them, not meeting the customer's eyes.

Anyway, there was a good thing about working in such a public place. There were good-looking guys everywhere. It was like they popped up out of the ground and decided to file into the building one after the other, each searching for something different, but usually ending up near the stack of adult magazines. Sirius was getting good at deflecting looks of embarrassment from the patrons when they realized he knew what they were doing...

"That's all," said a cool male voice. Sirius jerked his head up, realizing he'd been leaning on the cash register, half-asleep and thinking.

He'd already met a few with potential, though. One time he'd gone for drinks at a bar before the slightly older guy realized Sirius was underage and promptly dumped him. The next realized he had no career prospects and lived in a trailer. The third was a closet druggie looking for a meth buddy. The fourth was straight...

"Sorry," he muttered, and as he accepted a wad of dollar bills, he glanced up into the guy's eyes. Now here was a specimen he'd invite to the trailer. Yet he was probably the type Sirius loved to hate. He quirked his lip and then let the man walk away.

Sirius needed the money from this job, and his old boyfriends never came into the store again when he was working there. So each time it was a new 'hello' attached to a new face and new memories afterwards. He just wished they lasted longer. And he wished he had the luck and courage to seek out the one he really wanted. Someone who could love him and make his life whole.

It was lonelier than he'd expected, living without a brother.

.oOo.

"I can't thank you enough! That was such a nice thing you did, back there…" Sirius exclaimed, beaming at Remus Lupin. He carried on at top speed. "Did you see me do the shot? I said that threatening line to that girl and then ran off! The McGonagall woman said she was surprised and impressed. Oh, wait, I bet you were on camera duty. No problem. You can watch the final cut with me. They've invited me back for the last day of shooting. Maybe I'll get a bouquet."

Remus snorted suddenly, interrupting Sirius's ecstatic rant. "I doubt you'll get a bouquet. Not even the leads get them. I assume they buy their own with the millions of dollars they make per film."

"Oh," Sirius replied. "Well, it was nice doing it. Thank you, thank you, thank you." He smiled at the cute cameraman, now separated from his equipment and sat in a local coffee shop booth with Sirius.

"You're welcome."

Sirius hesitated, then asked what he'd been thinking about for the past few hours. "How'd you know I wanted to act, anyway?"

Remus shrugged. "I just saw you from across the way, and, well, you looked interested. In the filming, I mean." He blushed. "And you fit the role that Mr. Miller needed, so I thought I'd ask. You did a good job in the end."

"Yes, yes I did. And I was interested, before - in lots of things. Not just the movie, if you know what I mean."

"Er- okay." Remus looked away towards the counter, as if he was working out what to order. Sirius's gleeful face fell flat. Was Remus just being nice? Did he not get why Sirius had invited him here?

A minute later, Remus looked back at him with an ordinary expression. He seemed guarded. "Coffee?"

"Sure," said Sirius. "Listen, about a minute ago-"

"What happened a minute ago?"

"Nothing, I guess. Forget it."

"Okay, I'm going to get some pastries from the counter. A sort of celebratory thing, you know? You did great. I'm so happy for you." Remus smiled at him again, and Sirius's heart fluttered. But as he watched Remus head towards the back of the busy room, his eye caught sight of another familiar face.

"I'll be right back," he murmured.

A minute of squeezing between tables and ducking under trays of sandwiches later, Sirius was right next to James's table. "Hey, man," he said, eagerly punching his friend in the arm. "I haven't seen you for ages!"

The person across from James, who Sirius had walked past without a thought, dropped his mug mid-sip, shattering it on the table. The cafe went quiet.

"S- Sirius?" the person sputtered. "What the fu-"

Sirius's heart pounded. That voice.

"Regulus," he breathed. "James, what is- how did you-"

"Wait, you know him?" James said, his eyes flickering between the two. He narrowed his eyes. "You two haven't dated, right? Because people who look alike are more likely, I heard."

"No, I haven't dated him," Regulus scoffed. He closed his eyes. "He's my brother."

"I wouldn't go that far," Sirius mumbled. But he stared at Regulus, trying to fix each vaguely-familiar feature in his head. Two years, and everything had changed.

"Your what?" James screeched. He stood up from the table, knocking over his chair in the process. "Sirius, we have to talk."

Sirius wordlessly followed his one and only friend outside, where they leaned against the cafe window together. Inside, the noise had started to pick up again.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a brother?"

"I told you I had family problems. Right when we met. Besides," Sirius said, his face resolving into a frown. "You didn't ask."

"He told me he had a brother. But I thought he was in the army or something, not living in my dad's trailer! I could have linked you two up!"

"How do you even know him?"

James stared uncomprehendingly at Sirius. "We're dating. We've been together for a few months."

"He's only eighteen."

"And I'm twenty. You have a problem with that?"

"No," said Sirius, sullen. He breathed out, watching the cars go by. The coincidence was so unlikely that it had to be true.

"If you want me to end it…"

"Nah, I don't care. I just need some time. I haven't seen him in two years. It's been awhile." Sirius dropped his voice. "Is he...okay?"

James frowned. "He's always been a little bothered about you being gone, but he's not… hurt physically, if that's what you mean."

"Yeah. Listen, thanks. Go ahead and date him. Just let us catch up." Sirius straightened, having realized something. "Hey, I just met this guy. You wouldn't know him, but we met today, and honestly, I think he's pretty amazing. He's inside."

James smirked. "Then let's go back inside."

Sirius was shocked to see Regulus sitting at the table with Remus, and more shocked still to notice that they were chatting animatedly. He stood helplessly at the door until James shoved him towards the table.

"You didn't tell me you were gay!" his brother exclaimed. Sirius's jaw dropped open, and he tried to ignore the stares they were receiving from other customers.

"Shut up, you don't have to tell the whole city," he growled. Remus was biting his lip, and he wasn't sure if that was good or bad. "But yeah, I am. Fun fact."

"Well," said Regulus, "It seems that Remus here is too. I've gotten over my initial surprise and thought to investigate on your behalf. You two are seeing the new Avengers movie together on Saturday."

"What the…" Sirius trailed off. "You can't arrange dates for me!"

James snickered. "He just did. Love you, Reg."

"Okay," Sirius maintained. "No pet names directed at my brother when I'm around." There was an audible sigh from both Regulus and James at these words. Sirius rolled his eyes. "And about Remus… Well, do you actually want to hang out with me sometime?" he asked, somewhat shyer than usual.

"Yeah, I'd love to," Remus replied.

"Great," Sirius said quickly. He grinned his insatiable grin, unable to contain the excitement, confusion, and nervousness that were flooding his body. "Hey, I just need to talk to my brother for a sec, is that okay? I'll be right back."

"Let's go," said Regulus. He waved to James, who had already begun a conversation with Remus about movies he'd worked for. They walked outside and stopped at the same place that James had spoken to him before.

"Listen, Regulus…" Sirius said helplessly.

"You had to do it," Regulus said quietly. "I didn't stay too much longer. Got out when I turned eighteen. It wasn't too long."

"I didn't mean to blame you. It just felt like…"

"Yeah. I know." Regulus gave him a sad smile. "Let's just move on. I never thought I'd see you again and I want to relish it."

"I missed you. I was looking for you."

Regulus nodded, then stepped forward and hugged his brother. "I missed you too."

They held each other for a few seconds, Sirius thinking about the warmth and how his brother probably smelled better than he did, but it was okay because he was okay and Regulus. Then they let go, their arms retreating to their sides. Sirius couldn't remember the last time he'd felt that close to his brother.

"Let's go inside," he said.


to be found by someone you love