Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
- "Anthem" by Leonard Cohen
"Have you seen them?" Sirius asked, their skirt fluttering in the cool Seattle morning breeze, making them shiver slightly as they waited in line for GeekGirlCon 2017.
"No," Remus replied, looking around.
Sirius groaned. He had been waiting for weeks for this moment.
"Maybe I should've contacted them on Tumblr?" Sirius said.
"Probably," Remus said.
Remus was in cosplay as Robin Hood, purely at Sirius's suggestion. He looked startlingly handsome in Lincoln green and Sirius was looking forward to getting him home later that night.
The doors to the Washington State Convention Center opened up and everyone went inside. They all quickly filed into lines to pick up their passes, which seemed to take longer than waiting to get inside had taken.
Passes obtained, Sirius continued to look around for Pica Scribit but was unable to locate them. So instead they ended up shuffling into panel after panel on various subjects. Sirius had been disappointed there was nothing Harry Potter related this year, like there had been year before. He supposed it helped that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, such as it was, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them had come out the year before.
It wasn't until later in the afternoon when they finally spotted Pica Scribit, upstairs wandering around among the exhibitor booths. With them was a figure they didn't recognize, with long hair, glasses, carrying a backpack and wearing a Hogwarts tee-shirt.
"Pica!" Sirius said.
"Oh, hey," Pica said, giving Remus and Sirius a curious smile.
"I'm Sirius. We met a few years back," Sirius said.
"Yeah, I remember. Cool Robin Hood cosplay," Pica said, smiling at Remus.
"Cheers," Remus said with an appropriately roguish grin.
"So I just… really wanted… No, I needed to tell you how much I loved Discards," Sirius said, almost wanting to fall to their knees in adoration.
"Thanks! The response has been really great. I like your skirt by the way," Pica said.
Sirius blushed and patted the side of the long skirt they was wearing, hoping the purple glittered nail polish they were wearing stood out against the black.
"I've discovered a lot about myself since uh… moving to Seattle. I identify as genderfluid now. I guess… I related to things in Discards. I mean, I always relate to the way you write me. Sirius, I mean. And Remus… well, let's say that anyone who dares judge my Moony for his choices will have to answer to me," Sirius said, almost grimly.
"That's fair," Pica said.
"I loved The Outlaw and the Monk," Remus interjected.
"That's great! It's kind of a small fandom. I really want more people to read the Rowan Hood books," Pica replied.
"I read them! Actually, we read them. I read them to Padfoot… I mean, Sirius. They really like when I read to them," Remus said, grinning at his partner.
Sirius giggled and leaned over and kissed Remus on the cheek with their red painted lips.
"Well, I think we have a panel to get in line for," Pica said.
Sirius just realised that Pica's companion hadn't said a word this entire time and Pica had never introduced them.
"Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Sirius," Sirius said, extending a hand to shake the person's hand.
"Hi, I'm Steven," they said softly, seeming nervous.
Their pass had something scribbled on it in black marker than looked like Pommedeplume. Looking into their pretty blue eyes felt a bit like seeing into the soul of God and it gave Sirius shivers. Remus introduced himself while Sirius tried to dispel that feeling that someone had just stepped over their grave.
"So are you a fan of their work?" Sirius asked, gesturing from Steven to Pica Scribit.
"Yeah. I mean we're friends so I guess I'm biased. But yeah. I write fanfic too," they said.
"Do you? What's your name?" Sirius asked.
"Pommedeplume," they replied, confirming what Sirius suspected.
"Yes, I've seen you mention on Pica's Tumblr. I'll have to look into your work," Sirius said, quickly wanting to get away so that they could have a conversation with Remus privately.
"We better go," Pica said, looking at something on their phone.
"It was nice meeting you," Pommedeplume said with a wave.
"Cheers!" Remus said and they were gone.
"Remus. Did you get… a weird feeling?" Sirius asked.
"Yes. Like someone had walked over my grave," he replied.
"Do you think?"
"That they could be the one who brought us into this world. Perhaps. Perhaps not," Remus said with seriousness.
"Dammit. I forgot to tell Pica how much I loved Protego Club. Can you imagine how great that would've been to have when we were at Hogwarts, Moony?" Sirius said, wrapping an arm around their boyfriend.
"Definitely. Pica always has a way of making things better," Remus said and they continued to walk together through the exhibitor booths.
"That was weird," Steven said.
"Yeah, they think they really are Remus and Sirius," Pica said as they waited in line for their next panel.
"But they aren't cosplaying. What? They just realised they look like Remus and Sirius one day and decided to pretend to be them? I mean I can't fault them… but that's pretty weird, right?" Steven said.
"I guess. I think it's cute," Pica said.
"Well, yeah. Just… oddly specific. And like, did you hear how they both called each other Moony and Padfoot then took it back like they had said too much? They really believe it. They aren't just pretending," Steven laughed, thinking Fox Mulder from The X-files would love these guys.
"Guess so," Pica said.
"It's funny. I had an idea for writing a story about Remus and Sirius coming to Seattle. I was going to write it for your birthday a few years back but I never did," Steven said.
"Maybe you did on some other timeline," Pica replied.
"Does that make this the timeline where they did come to Seattle because I wrote it on another timeline? Is this a fanfic?" Steven asked.
"Probably," Pica replied.
"Ah. Existential terror. I was wondering where that had gone," Steven replied and decided to think no more of it as they entered the next panel