A/N: So I discovered AFTER I wrote this that the London Eye wasn't around in the '70s. My apologies. There probably wasn't any amusement parks either. I wouldn't know; I'm not British, nor was I around in the 70's. So in that respect, this story is slightly AU.
Written for the awesome Sapphire Leo.
"Come on, Moony!" Sirius whined, tugging Remus's hand as he attempted to drag the werewolf down the busy London street.
Remus just laughed. "Slow down, Sirius," he said, grinning at his enthusiastic friend. "London isn't going anywhere."
"No, but I want to see everything!" said Sirius. "And we've only got today."
It was the summer holidays and Sirius had thoughtfully decided to give Mr and Mrs Potter a break for a few nights, agreeing to stay at Remus's place as the holidays drew to a close. The werewolf thought Mr and Mrs Potter were probably secretly quite relieved; while it had been very kind of them to open their heart and house to the runaway teen, they probably hadn't counted on the amount of mischief that James and Sirius could make together.
Remus's mother had been thrilled to finally meet one of her son's friends; she'd been going on at him for ages to invite them all round. Remus wondered a little guiltily whether she'd be quite so pleased if she knew just how friendly Remus and Sirius really were.
"I think 'everything' is a little ambitions," Remus conceded, "but I promise today will be fun – whether we rush through it or not." He knew Sirius had a fascination with all things muggle so, for the day, he'd agreed to show him around muggle London. Remus had been raised a wizard but his mother was muggle, so he generally knew his way around.
"What's this, Moony?" Sirius asked, pausing to tap at an electronic box on top of a metal pole.
"It's a parking meter," Remus explained. "Muggles sometimes have to pay to park their cars in certain streets, and they get fined if they don't."
"But how does the machine know how long the car's been there?" Sirius asked, squinting at the meter suspiciously.
"The muggles buy a ticket that'll give them a certain amount of time," said Remus. "Then they display it on the windscreen of their car." Remus pointed at a car that had a little white slip of paper sitting on the dashboard. "And then people who are paid to check all the cars are doing it right come along, and if they don't have a ticket or if their ticket has expired, they give the driver a fine."
"What people?" asked Sirius curiously.
"Ah… parking people," Remus improvised.
"Is he a parking person?" asked Sirius, pointing to a man standing by a car. Remus watched as the man unlocked the car door and hopped in.
"No, I think he's just a normal person.
A car pulled up a few parks away while they'd been talking, and Remus and Sirius both watched with interest as he walked to the meter and inserted his coins. No sooner had the man walked off when Sirius turned to Remus. "I want one," he said.
"What?" Remus asked, surprised. "You want a parking meter?"
"No, I want a ticket," Sirius said stubbornly.
"Sirius, you don't have a car."
xXx
And so they made their way towards the amusement park, where they'd originally been heading, with Sirius clutching a small slip of paper proudly in his hands.
"Look, Remus," Sirius exclaimed, pointing to the moving clown heads that people put balls into to win prizes. "They're moving by themselves! It's just like magic."
Remus smiled. "Wait until you see the ride we're going on next," he said as they joined a queue.
"What are we going on?" Sirius asked eagerly.
Remus just pointed up at the large framework. "That," he said.
"What does it do?" Sirius asked.
"It's a rollercoaster," Remus exclaimed. "See that car up there?"
Sirius nodded.
"You sit on it, and then it goes around the track. Watch it."
They watched as the cart began to move. A few minutes later, Sirius gasped. "Moony," he said incredulously. "It goes upside down! How come nobody falls out?"
"There are harness things," Remus said offhandedly. "Oh, look, it's our go." He grabbed Sirius's hand and pulled him towards the steps they had to climb to get in.
Two minutes later, they were safely strapped into one of the carts. By this point, Sirius was looking rather pale.
"Moony?"
"Hm?"
"Exactly how safe is this?"
"Oh, very safe," Remus assured him. "Almost no one dies."
"Almost?" Sirius squeaked.
"Almost," Remus repeated.
"I want to get out."
"Sirius, you've been on the carts at Gringotts. This is exactly the same."
"No, the carts at Gringotts are magical. I know I'm not going to die in one of those."
"You won't die in this."
"I want to get out."
At that point they started moving. Remus's lips curved into a slightly wolf-like grin. "Too late," he said.
The next few minutes were filled with screams of terror and exhilaration (the former being Sirius's, the latter being Remus's). Eventually the ride did end and the safety bars were lifted, leaving a very pasty Sirius to stumble out of the carriage into Remus's arms.
"Sirius?" Remus asked. "Are you alright?"
Sirius fainted.
xXx
"And this one is definitely safe?" Sirius asked hesitantly.
Remus chuckled slightly. "The rollercoaster was safe too," he said. "I told you; I was just winding you up."
"It didn't feel safe," Sirius muttered defensively.
"Well, did we die on it?" Remus asked sensibly.
"We might have."
"Do you really think I'd let you get strapped into a rollercoaster that I wasn't one hundred percent sure wasn't going to kill you?" Remus asked.
Sirius relented then. "I suppose not."
"Exactly. Now I'm pretty sure you won't faint on this. If you do, you are not the man I thought you were."
"Fine," Sirius huffed, stepping into the carriage of the London Eye. Behind them, the doors closed.
"Oh, Merlin," Sirius muttered, and grabbed Remus's arm. Remus laughed.
"Why would people do this?" Sirius asked. "I feel like I'm about to die."
"Most people have more faith in muggle technology," Remus commented. "It's supposed to be fun. And a really good view. And romantic."
"This is romantic?"
"Not when you're trying to break my arm," Remus said dryly. Sirius took the hint and loosened his grip slightly, although he didn't let go."
"I don't get it," Remus said. "You have no problem soaring a thousand feet in the air on a twig, but put you in a safe structure made of metal and raise it slightly above the ground and you look as though you're about to faint."
"The twig," Sirius said, "is magic. I trust magic. Magic is safe."
"This is safe," Remus argued.
"My instincts beg to differ," Sirius said.
"Look," Remus said, pointing out the window. "You can see London from here."
Sirius looked. "Yeah," he said. "You can also see how far we'd plunge to our deaths if this were to break."
"Stop being morbid," Remus said.
"Sorry," Sirius said. "I'm not being romantic, am I?"
"Not really."
"Would you like a kiss?"
"That'd be nice."
By the time they reached the ground once more, Sirius had forgotten all thoughts of imminent death.