A/N: Written for the Houses Competition. All the love for my betas Alixx and CP. Also, the title is from a Siouxsie and the Banshees song that I feel Sirius would have appreciated and also it is a kind of? pun. So there you go. Also, X-Ray Spex did perform live at the Roxy in '77 and it's all on the Germfree Adolescent album which is amazing so go listen. (I'm done now).
AU! - This is a Muggle!AU where the school is called 's and Remus never went there or met Sirius, James or Peter.
House: Ravenclaw
Category: Short
Prompt: Concert
Words: 1410
Sirius leaned back in his chair, his fingers drumming restlessly on the scratched wood of his desk. His fountain pen was lying forgotten next to his parchment, notes abandoned and paragraphs left half-written. Exams were over, and that meant work was no longer a requirement, only a faint suggestion from the most draconian of professors.
Even James' girlfriend, Lily Evans, Head Girl and off to study Classics at Cambridge, had discarded her work in favour of taking an admittedly well-deserved nap. How she even managed to doze off was beyond Sirius, seeing as they were in the middle of the worst heatwave in decades. The air hung hot and humid around them all, shirts clung to sticky bodies and nights were spent tossing and turning, trying desperately to find one cool spot of pillow. Sirius and James had declared it an official disaster, mainly because it was too hot to breathe, let alone move, nevermind execute any of the pranks they had planned for the Marauders last week at St. Godric's.
Their luck had changed, however, when Sirius' endlessly cool and mature elder cousin, Andromeda, had sent them a flyer for an X-Ray Spex concert at the Roxy in London. Sirius had badgered James for ten minutes before he agreed to going, on the condition that Lily was allowed to come along. Sirius had protested vehemently, saying that he would be a third wheel and that it was boys night, James, for fuck's sake. Lily had chipped in by pointing out that Sirius' only other option was Peter, and so Sirius quickly mailed Andromeda the money for three tickets. Peter, everyone agreed, was not exactly punk.
So, they were all the hottest they had ever been and stuck in McGonagall's last Chemistry class, watching the final few minutes on the clock tick away. After what seemed like an age, the final bell rung and the class erupted into whoops of celebration and hugging; paper and textbooks were chucked into the air excitedly. It was absolute chaos, and Sirius surveyed the scene so proudly that one would have thought he'd orchestrated it himself.
After it had all died down, everyone went outside to the great lawn that stretched out before the castle. Everyone's luggage was already there, but most stayed milling around to say goodbye. Each student performed the awkward dance of small talk with people they hadn't become friends within the seven years they'd all been at St. Godric's, but everyone else had decided that it was important regardless. Sirius, James, and Lily had almost made their escape when Peter Pettigrew, a boy they were vaguely friends with, came up and started nattering away.
He had been mainly kept around for menial tasks, creating a distraction while they pulled a particularly complicated prank or perhaps fetching food from the kitchen. In return, he was almost a member of their group and his popularity was boosted considerably. It wasn't that they didn't like him, more that he didn't really have a place in the group. It was Sirius and James, the Marauders, and a third member would just stick out like a sore thumb. Besides, he was rather quiet and eager in a way that was quite annoying, and neither James nor Sirius were very patient people.
"And that's why I am free this afternoon, absolutely nothing at all to do. Free as a bird, you might say." Peter looked up at Sirius expectantly. Fuck. Sirius had been paying no attention and so had absolutely no clue what he'd been rambling on about, and Lily and James had already drifted off to talk to Dumbledore, the Head. Nevertheless, he took a gamble.
"Well that's nice, Peter, but Lily, James and I are actually off to a concert, so-"
"Yeah, at the Roxy!" Peter reached deep into his blazer pocket for something, eventually coming up with a crumpled scrap of paper. "I got a ticket, too."
Dammit. The little bugger actually did. Sirius would be impressed, if he wasn't so desperate for him not to come along.
"I won't be any bother, I swear, and my elder brother went to all the trouble to get me the tickets and I really want to come, got nothing better to do, you know and…"
"You can come," Sirius ground out eventually. Anything to stop the rambling, really. "We'll go and wait over by the car for Lily and James."
A few hours later, Sirius was leaning by the bar in The Roxy, gulping back drink after drink as Peter rambled on happily about something Sirius couldn't give three rat's arses about. He was sure the music was great, he just couldn't bloody hear it with the incessant chatter coming from beside him. Lily and James had made their escape a while ago, giggling and shooting conspiratorial glances at each other. Sirius expected they were probably making out in a cramped, grimy bathroom stall somewhere. It'd be a lot more fun than he was having, too.
Sirius threw back one more shot, a bolt of inspiration suddenly coming to him. "Hey, Peter," he shouted, cutting off whatever the slightly tipsy, shorter boy was saying about the beginning of an era, or whatever. "I just spotted an old friend in the crowd, I need to go say hello."
Peter just looked confused, Sirius' words indistinguishable from the roar of the crowd.
"My friend!" Sirius made some vague gesturing movements towards the stage, and to his relief, Peter nodded. Thanking his lucky stars, Sirius practically ran towards the jumping horde. Amidst the mass of leather-clad bodies, Sirius felt almost at home. The music was great, the drinks were strong, and the people were gorgeous. Now that he had ditched Peter, it was shaping up to be a good night.
"Bad date?" A voice asked from beside him, and Sirius whirled around to face whoever had spoken. There was a boy who looked around Sirius' age, with a mop of tawny hair and the most peculiar amber eyes Siris had ever seen. He was, to Sirius' horror, gesturing towards Peter.
"What, no!" He almost recoiled in horror and the man looked something close to surprised.
"I'm sorry if I offended you, just with the-" The man sort of pointed at his face, and Sirius assumed he was talking about the absolutely fabulous makeup Lily had helped him apply on the way down. "I just assumed that you were…"
He trailed off and Sirius' eyes widened in realisation. "Oh, you were right about that. Just not..." His face scrunched up in disgust at the thought of doing that with Peter. "He's a friend. Sort of."
"I see," the boy said, and pressed almost imperceptibly closer to Sirius. Was he also…? Sirius didn't know, but he did know that this stranger was ridiculously good-looking. It took all his willpower not to grab the boy and do something highly inappropriate, but he restrained. It was only as he moved his eyes up towards the boys face that he noticed he had been talking, only the words had been lost in the roar of the crowd.
"I can't hear you," Sirius shouted back, just loud enough that he was sure the boy understood. In response, the boy grabbed ahold of Sirius' wrist, sparks shooting across Sirius' skin where they touched. He was lead out into the alley beside the venue, but still, the boy did not let go.
"I'm Sirius," Sirius said, finally, after whatever was flickering in the air between them was almost too much to bear. "Sirius Black."
"Remus Lupin," the boy replied, his voice so low that Sirius had to strain his ears to hear him. Remus' grip was tighter now, and Sirius felt his heart start to race.
"So, Poly Styrene, she's bloody brilliant, isn't she," Sirius started to say almost nervously, hating how much he sounded like Peter at that moment. "I mean, the messages in the songs are so true, aren't they, what with-"
"I'm not sure it'll make a difference," Remus said, cutting Sirius off. He stared at the ground, twisting his hands together almost nervously, and Sirius swore he could almost see a faint blush spreading across his cheeks. "But I'm gay too. Just so you know."
He looked down at Sirius almost expectantly, as if waiting for Sirius to get angry or slap him, or whatever else he thought would happen. Instead, Sirius just smiled and said laughingly, "Just kiss me, you twat."