A/N: we recently went to London and this is what we ended up unintentionally thinking about. It may be a little unrealistic because we don't know London all that well, but oh well. If people like this part we do have ideas for a second part including more of James, Lily and Peter, and a prequel of how they all met. This is a modern muggle au where the characters are in university, set in the summer between their first and second years.
Sirius wasn't particularly adept at time keeping. Living off campus in his first year of university had resulted in him being late for lectures on a number of occasions; his seminar tutor had almost keeled over the first time she'd seen him actually turn up on time.
He'd gotten slightly better towards the end of the term, once he was used to his time table and the stress of exams were keeping him awake all night anyway – or if he stayed over with Remus and Lily on campus; one of them would always drag him out of bed and fill him with enough coffee to function for his 9am starts.
Usually, it didn't matter too much – lectures were easy enough to catch up with online, and his good grades in essays and reports had been enough to keep his tutors off his back about his punctuality. Even the transportation in London didn't fill him with the need to rush. With trains leaving the numerous tube stations every couple of minutes, Sirius wasn't exactly under pressure to catch one at a particular time. He was 19, and he liked nothing more than spending a few extra minutes in bed, or catching up with a friend in the hallways instead of following the crowd of other students to his classes.
Despite this, even Sirius recognised that being late to pick up his boyfriend from a busy train station was not a good idea, especially as Remus had never been to King's Cross before. Despite the campus being so close to the centre of London, Remus had spent surprisingly little time there in their first year of uni – something that Sirius was determined to change during his summer visit. So, with Remus' inevitable disappointed glare if he were late at the forefront of his mind, Sirius had somehow managed to arrive at the station 35 minutes early. He'd wandered up the stairs in the concourse to get some food while he waited, staring wordlessly up at the impressive ceiling and periodically texting Remus, who irritatingly didn't seem to have much to say other than that he was very warm, almost there, and extremely annoyed by the crying toddler a few seats down.
As the arrival time for Remus' train approached, Sirius ventured down to the platforms, hovering by the entrance between 9 and 10 while he glanced at the arrivals board between them. He was excited – other than James, who he now lived with, Sirius had never really had many visitors over the summer holidays. When he'd lived with his parents, they had been disapproving enough about him spending time at James' house, never mind bringing strangers back to their 'perfect family home.' He'd especially never had any visitors that he very much enjoyed kissing.
Eventually, throngs of people started to filter up from platform 9, some dashing by with briefcases while others glanced around them in wonder or confusion, weighed down by heavy suitcases. Sirius stood on his tiptoes, peering over the heads of the crowd until he finally spotted Remus, a rucksack swung over one shoulder and looking for Sirius as people rushed past him.
"Remus!" he shouted, waving over the shoulder of a particularly large man in a suit that was far too tight around his middle.
Remus waved back, looking relieved. He hurried up the platform until he'd just about escaped from the mob of commuters and tourists. "Hi," he said, stopping directly in front of Sirius.
He was a little sweaty, with his plain t-shirt sticking uncomfortably to his back, and the fine hairs around the top of his ears curling up with the heat. He was also smiling, looking at Sirius with something like nerves, as if their month apart had left him worried that he would embarrass himself. "I hate trains," he said, shuffling to one side as an over-enthusiastic mother dragged her son past him.
Sirius grinned. "I missed you!" he announced, pulling Remus forward by the strap of his bag and kissing him. "You were three whole minutes late. I thought the train might have combusted or something."
Remus smiled and kissed him back, a little shy despite the familiarity of their lips pressing together. When he detached himself from Sirius and stepped back, he replied, "This coming from you – it's normally a small miracle if you're only three minutes late. I promise you, if I could've made that train get here quicker, I would've done."
He glanced around, feeling dwarfed by the station, let alone the rest of the city. London always made him feel like a tourist, even though most of the time he was here as a student. "So where do you want to go?" he asked, fishing around in the pocket of his bag and pulling out a notebook. "I've got a list of everywhere that looks worth visiting, with opening times and prices if there's a charge to get in. I think we can fit in two or three places before midday if we're quick."
Sirius tugged the list towards him and pulled a face. "Half of these are way more boring than anyone lets on, and you've missed off the best place!"
"Oh?" Remus said, raising his eyebrows. "And where's that?"
"You'll see," Sirius said, grabbing Remus' hand and dragging him in the same direction of a large percentage of the crowd.
The walk between the actual station and the tube was strangely long compared to most, as both Kings Cross and St. Pancras shared it. When they finally got there, Sirius handed Remus the second pass he'd bought earlier in the day and quickly scanned the map, double checking which line they needed to get on. He rarely got confused by the underground these days, but didn't want to go the wrong way and make a fool of himself.
"How do you ever work out where to go?" Remus asked, looking at the map as though it were personally offending him.
"You get used to it," he replied, gesturing towards the ticket gates they needed to go through to get to the Northern Line. The wind hit them almost as soon as they stepped into the tunnel-like walkways of the tube station, refreshing from the humidity above ground. Luckily, when they got to the correct platform, a train pulled up within seconds.
"Are you still not going to tell me where we're going?" Remus asked, perching on one of the seats in the busy tube carriage.
"It's a secret," Sirius smirked as he flopped down beside him. "It's one of my favourite places in London. I used to sneak here all the time when I was about 14 and buy all sorts of crap."
"So I get to see what you liked when you were an angsty teenager?" Remus smiled, though he was still a little tense; at home, it didn't get this busy and crowded even during rush hour, but on the tube you were lucky if you got a seat at almost any time of day, especially on a Saturday.
"I'm still an angsty teenager, I'll have you know."
"Only for a few more months," Remus pointed out. The train slowed to a jerky halt and people poured in and out once the doors opened. "Are we getting off here?"
"Nope," Sirius said, glancing up at the map above the seats opposite them. "It's a few more stops."
None of the stops on the map meant anything to Remus, so he gave up on trying to figure out where they were going and allowed himself to relax a little. He leant back in his seat so that their shoulders brushed, and felt Sirius lean in to him.
The train was now pretty full, and it was difficult for them to hear each other over the whoosh of the train and the loud chatter of people on the phone. They gave up on talking and sat shoulder to shoulder for a few more minutes, until it was their stop.
"We're here," Sirius announced, jumping up as the beeping indicated the doors of their carriage opening. "Mind the gap," he mimicked as Remus followed him out.
"Camden town," Remus read from the large circular symbol on the wall. "You're taking me shopping?"
"Shopping?" Sirius repeated in a mock-insulted tone as they were swept towards the exit. "Camden is not just stopping, Remus. It's a magical place. I've not been here for ages!"
"If you say so," Remus said dubiously, mentally calculating how much money he could spend on shopping; budgeting for a weekend with Sirius was not the easiest of tasks.
When they got out of the station and onto the street, Remus squinted against the bright sunlight, not knowing exactly what to expect.
"This way," Sirius said confidently, and Remus hurried to follow him.
As he peered around, Remus' eye was quickly caught by the shop fronts, the walls of which were covered in things like giant shoes and brightly coloured fairies. He eyed a few of the stalls they passed with curiosity, seeing mostly souvenirs and wondering what exactly attracted Sirius to this place.
"We're not at the best bit yet," Sirius said, seeing the still-sceptical look on Remus' face. "Come on, it's just over the bridge, and... here!"
Sirius took a right turn and stopped, gesturing dramatically and grinning. It was both very similar and very different to what Remus would usually refer to as a market; there were at least a dozen food stalls that he could see, but instead of the fresh fruit and meat in the markets at home, this was all take-away food. He wasn't particularly hungry - it was too early for lunch - but the smells that wafted towards them made his stomach growl.
With a glance behind him to make sure Remus was keeping up, Sirius practically skipped down the row of food stalls, stopping now and then to peer suspiciously at the range of different cuisines.
"Free sample?" a friendly looking man behind a Chinese stall asked as Sirius poked a finger into a plate of noodles that were laid out for decoration.
Before Remus could pull him away, Sirius took the fork the man offered him and ate the orangeish piece of chicken appreciatively.
"It's nice," he told the man, nodding. "Is that ginger? Very tasty. Cheers mate."
He turned back to Remus, said "I might get some new boots if there are any decent ones", and carried on past the food stalls towards a large statue of a lion.
The man at the stall turned to Remus hopefully. "Only £2.50 for what your friend tried."
Shooting an exasperated glance at Sirius, who had paused at a stall a few metres away and was examining some bags, Remus sighed and got out his wallet. "I'll take two, please."
He handed over a five pound note and took two polystyrene tubs from the man, thanking him before hurrying over to Sirius. "I got you this," he said. "There are seats over there, come on."
"Er," Sirius said, putting down the satchel in his hand and following Remus, "are you hungry?"
"Not really," Remus sighed, trying to get comfortable on one of the strange seats overlooking the lock. They were shaped like motorbikes and, despite looking cool, were not the most comfortable places to sit.
"You didn't have to buy anything you know," Sirius told him, piling up a spoonful of chicken and rice. "Not that it isn't kind of adorable."
"It was your fault," Remus sighed. "At least it's decent food. We can just eat dinner earlier than planned."
"Sure," Sirius grinned. "Do you like the bikes? I'm going to get a real one someday. When I can be bothered to actually take the test."
"I think I prefer them when they don't move," Remus said, looking at the bridge to their right and imagining riding over it on a motorbike. "Have you ever even ridden one?"
"My uncle had one!" Sirius replied. "You know, the one who I could actually stand?"
Remus nodded.
"When I was a kid he used to let me ride around on the back of it. Not far, you know, just down the lanes around his house - it was brilliant!"
"He was probably wise to not let you near proper roads," Remus said solemnly, then grinned as Sirius gave him a sulky look. "Though that was a long time ago and I'm sure you are now a very responsible adult who would never crash into a tree or anything."
"The only thing I would ever crash into is the hearts of half of campus when they see my stunning bike and devilish good looks."
Remus snorted and nearly spat out his mouthful of chicken. "As long as you don't start giving people rides so they can feel you up, I'll do my best not to be jealous."
"You know the only person I let feel me up is you." He winked.
"How romantic."
Shoving the last piece of chicken into his mouth, Sirius stood up and tossed his empty food container into the bin. "Are you done? We have loads to look at and these flies are doing my head in." He wafted absently at the flies hovering around the edges of the lock.
"Yeah." Remus awkwardly got off the seat and followed Sirius. "Lead the way to the home of Sirius Black's fashion sense."
"I sense your sarcasm, and I do not appreciate it," Sirius smiled as they joined the groups of people navigating the small spaces between stalls.
A lot of what was on offer was clothes: shirts with popular symbols or patterns on, messenger bags, jewellery and the like. In an attempt to wind Remus up, Sirius picked up the naffest, most brightly coloured vest he could find and held it up against Remus' torso thoughtfully. "I think it suits you," he declared, laughing until Remus snatched the shirt from him and put it back.
"I'm not really a vest kind of guy," he replied, glancing down at the t-shirt and knee-length shorts he was wearing. "Nor am I really a fashion kind of guy. I'm not sure I belong among all this jewellery and leather."
"Everyone looks good in leather, Remus," Sirius insisted, trailing his fingers along the shirts they passed, their hangers rattling loudly. "I'll find something for you and you'll look even more attractive than usual."
"Something like artfully-ripped jeans?" Remus poked Sirius' leg through the hole just above his knee. "How do you not boil in these?"
"I'll have you know these jeans are perfect for summer weather. All the tears provide fantastic ventilation."
Remus rolled his eyes and nearly walked into Sirius as he stopped suddenly outside a longish cove-like stall that was covered floor to ceiling in various pairs of leather boots.
"I definitely need at least ten of these," Sirius said, almost too quietly for Remus to hear. "Look at these ones, look at the spikes."
"Ah yes, the practical uses of spikes on boots are endless," Remus said, but Sirius was already kicking off his shoes and trying on a pair. "I'll leave you to it. I'm just going to be a couple of stalls away, I saw someone selling records."
Sirius nodded so Remus ducked out of the stall and headed towards the several big boxes of records that he'd spotted. He flicked through them, checking the prices of the ones he liked and half-listening to the music that was drifting towards him from somewhere nearby.
After a few minutes of searching, he picked up his three favourite records and paid for them, carefully putting them inside his bag before he returned to Sirius.
"Have your found your ten pairs of boots?" he asked, taking in the sea of scattered shoes that Sirius was in the centre of.
"What size are you?" came the instant reply, as Sirius attempted to stack the shoes he'd tried on in some sort of order.
"Err, a ten, why?"
"You know what they say about blokes with big feet," Sirius replied cheekily. "In your case I happen to know-"
"Sirius," Remus hissed. "Stop that sentence right there, please. Why did you want to know my shoe size?"
Sirius held out a pair of brown leather boots to Remus hopefully. "Try these on?"
The woman who ran the stall began to take the discarded boots away from Sirius. With a smile he grabbed a specific pair to keep hold of as Remus sceptically took the others from his hand.
He pulled off his scuffed trainers and tried the boots on, lacing them up tightly. They fit surprisingly well, feeling quite comfortable as he paced back and forth across the stall a couple of times, both the stall owner and Sirius watching him eagerly.
"Well they definitely fit me," he said.
"But do you LIKE them?"
Remus gave his feet an assessing look. "I don't know, maybe? They're nice but I think they'd suit you more than me."
"I'm all about the black boots, these are brown," Sirius said sensibly. "I admit you look like a dick wearing them with the shorts but imagine if you had jeans or something on. They're cute!"
Remus made a sceptical noise.
"Doesn't he look cute?" Sirius asked the woman, who was still watching curiously.
"If only I was ten years younger," she laughed.
"See! They're cool looking for everyday but you could also wear them to job interviews and stuff if you wanted. They're perfect!"
Remus bit his lip. "I guess...maybe they would look okay on me with a different outfit. How much are they?" he asked, knowing the price would sway his decision.
"Only £30! I'll get them with mine, don't worry about it." Sirius clapped his hands together and stood up, pulling his wallet out of his pocket.
"I can't ask you to get them," Remus said, flustered. "That's way too much for you to spend on me."
"I don't recall you asking me," Sirius shrugged, handing the money to the sales woman who smiled over at Remus.
"Honey," she said, "if the boy wants to spend his money on you, I'd say let him."
"Besides," Sirius reasoned, "you bought me lunch."
Remus opened his mouth to protest but then gave up and shrugged. The woman put the two pairs of boots in boxes and then in carrier bags, handing one to each of them. "Thanks," Remus said, following Sirius back outside.
An hour later, Sirius had managed to weigh himself down with a fair number of bags from various places around Camden. They'd crossed to the other side of the street at some point, which had been far more interesting to Remus, with its more artful designs and abundance of music stalls. He'd bought a fancy looking candle for his mum and Sirius had promised him the most fantastic smoothie he'd ever drunk.
Leading the way back through the inside market, Sirius dragged himself away from various possible purchases and towards where he knew a long table sat beside the little smoothie place outside. His feet were beginning to get tired from walking around and the bags in his hands were leaving nasty red marks on his palms. Really, he reflected, buying things he would have to carry around for the rest of the day may not have been his best idea.
Just before they reached the door, Remus came to a stop by a stand of expensive-looking notebooks.
"Hang on," he said, picking up one of them and opening it, flicking through the blank pages.
"You can get those anywhere," Sirius said, putting his chin on Remus' shoulder so he could look at the notebook with him.
"You can buy clothes anywhere, too," Remus said. "That didn't stop you."
He turned the notebook over in his hands. It was £15, which was way more money than he wanted to spend, but the records had been cheap and the candle didn't count because it was for his mum, so he really hadn't spent that much money. Besides, Sirius had bought at least a dozen things for more money than they were worth. Why shouldn't he do the same?
"I'll have this, please," he said to stall owner, giving her the money and slipping the notebook in his bag with his other purchases. "Smoothie time?" he asked Sirius.
"Definitely."
The smoothies stand was busy, so Sirius told Remus what he wanted and went to snag them a couple of seats before they were all taken up.
Remus stood in the queue for a while, watching Sirius sit down at a bench and arrange all his bags around him. The smoothies were made fresh, from handfuls of chopped up fruit that sat in big tubs, so it took a while for each customer to be served. When he eventually got to the front of the line he asked for two specials, trusting Sirius' judgement when it came to food, and was finally handed the two drinks.
He took a sip through the straw as he edged through the crowd, and by the time he reached Sirius he'd already had about a third of his smoothie. "This," he announced, "is the best thing I have ever tasted."
"Please believe me when I say that one is enough," Sirius said, taking his own drink from Remus gratefully. "I once drank about five in a row and when I got home puked all over my mother's new rug. You don't even want to know."
"I'm sure she was thrilled about that." Remus smiled as he sat down next to Sirius, and for a while they were quiet as they drank their smoothies and watched people visit all the different stalls around them.
"So," Remus said eventually. "How are we spending the rest of the day?"
"Well since you let me drag you around here I suppose we could do some of your extremely interesting list before you torture me with Shakespeare. I hear the dinosaurs at the natural history aren't too shabby."
"Dinosaurs it is," Remus agreed. "And Hamlet is more fun if you pretend you're watching the Lion King."
"I'll try my best to imagine Hamlet with a mane."
"I'll tell you what," Sirius said hours later, when the only light around the Thames was coming from streetlights and bars, "that Hamlet was a right dirty bastard. And completely bonkers! Was he after shagging his mum or what?"
"That's up for debate," Remus said. "I'm glad you liked it; I was worried you'd be bored."
"If I knew you got to study debauchery like this I might have rethought my choice of degree," Sirius laughed, "did you have fun?"
"Yeah, I did," Remus said enthusiastically. "The acting was amazing, and I think the way they portrayed Ophelia as a bit more intelligent and aware rather than helpless was interesting. It'll really help with my Shakespeare module next year that I got to see one of the main texts live on stage."
"Well, as long as all the vagina jokes were educational," Sirius said, and Remus laughed. They reached the tube station and went down the steps, glad that it was much emptier than before. It was also colder after dark, especially without the crowds, so Sirius put his arm around Remus' waist and pulled him closer in an attempt to warm up.
Once they were on the train, which was so empty that Sirius put his feet up on the seat across from him, Remus yawned widely. "God, I'm tired. I got up at 6am to get the train here and that was a long day."
"We'll be home soon," Sirius said, sighing happily as he laid his head against Remus' shoulder. "We can tell James to sod off until the morning and go to bed."
"That would be rude," Remus murmured, his eyes fluttering closed despite his best efforts to stay awake. "I can make small talk for a bit. I am the king of making small talk."
"Remus," Sirius said, smirking, "if I left you alone with a stranger for ten minutes you'd probably explode. Small talk is your kryptonite."
Remus opened his eyes. "I've met James before, though. I can talk to him about – about sport or something."
"What do you know about sport?" Sirius asked, sitting up slightly to watch Remus' expression as he tried to concentrate on staying awake.
"You kick balls," Remus said firmly. "Or hit them with sticks."
"So you want to talk to my best mate about his balls?" Sirius asked, laughing quietly to himself.
"Shut up," Remus said as he buried his face against Sirius' shoulder, his hair tickling his neck. "Are we here yet?"
"Just about."
Sirius pulled Remus up with him as he got to his feet and they clung to each other while the train stopped with a jolt.
The house Sirius shared with James was only a five minute walk away, and the cold air woke Remus up a bit so he was practically conversational by the time they walked through the door.
Sirius kicked off his boots and dropped his bags unceremoniously onto the carpet as soon as the warm air from inside the house hit him.
"Honey, I'm home!" He shouted out to James, whose muffled laugh from the lounge was a decent indicator of his location. He and Remus headed in that direction and opened the door, revealing James spread out on the sofa watching some sort of animal documentary.
"Mate, I shouldn't be left alone all day. I've resorted to crap TV and I now know more facts about deer than I ever wanted to." James got up off the sofa and stretched. "Alright, mate?" he said to Remus. "Did you both have fun being tourists?"
"Yep," Sirius said. "We bought too much and ate complete crap all day. Now Remus is all sleepy, I've worn him out."
"We did no such thing," Remus corrected. "You bought half of Camden market."
James grinned. "Sounds like him."
"I can't help it if the place is made for me," Sirius shrugged. "Anyway, we're going to head to bed, long day and all that!"
"Right, you're very tired and are going to go straight to sleep. I'm sure that's exactly why you're in such a hurry," James said, winking at Remus, who blushed.
"Just because you're a horny teenager, honestly, get your mind out of the gutter." Sirius grinned and led Remus out of the room.
"That's what they all say," James replied as they fled, "just keep the noise down, my room is right next to yours!"
"Screw you, Potter," Sirius shouted back, rolling his eyes as he and Remus headed upstairs.
"Thought you were screwing Remus!"
"He always has to have the last word," Sirius sighed, letting Remus into the dimly lit bedroom and closing the door.
"Well," Remus shrugged, wrapping his arms around Sirius' neck and kissing him. "If you want revenge we could always deliberately wake him up with morning sex."
"I forget how evil you are sometimes," Sirius laughed, "but I do like the sound of that plan."
"Not evil, just innovative," Remus said as he climbed into Sirius' bed and snuggled into the pillow.
"Of course," Sirius nodded seriously, "wouldn't want you any other way."