Hallo! Here is the sequel to It Was Just How You Looked in the Light. I felt no need to make you all wait long for it, so I got right on it. It takes place roughly a year after the ending of its prequel. I hope you enjoy it.
Remus tugged self consciously at his dress robes. He frowned at his reflection in the mirror across the room. He saw a nineteen year old kid, pale and tired, dressed in black robes that made him look out of place. He was the type of person who belonged in clothing that was patched and frayed and had the general appearance of being worn. New things seemed to generally clash with the entirety of Remus's being, at least in his opinion. He sighed, adjusting the ridiculous tie that James had insisted he wear, as Sirius strode into the room.
"Hey," Sirius said, preoccupied with his own ridiculous tie. Once he finished fiddling and straightening it, he looked up at Remus. His eyes grew wide, suddenly, and he breathed the word, "Wow."
"That bad, huh?" Remus said, dropping himself onto a bench in the room they were in. He placed his head into his hands.
"No, no, not at all," Sirius said, sitting down beside Remus. "You look… handsome."
Remus looked up at him, an eyebrow raised. "You're lying! You hesitated!"
"No," Sirius insisted, "Handsome is a pretty good word for it." He smiled, "I wanted to tell you that you looked beautiful, but for some reason you get pissed at me when I say things like that…" He winked.
Remus felt a blush creep up his neck as Sirius pressed a kiss to his temple.
"Okay, can you two stop being in love for about fifteen seconds," Came James's frantic voice from just outside the doorway. He stepped into the room with his hands over his eyes, "I don't mean to interrupt, but I'm in crisis mode right now, and I would appreciate a little compassion from my friends who can't seem to dismount long enough to see that I am having a major crisis!"
"Okay, what's the crisis?" Sirius asked.
"I'm getting married in a half and hour!" James exploded, his hands tangling themselves into his terminally untidy hair, as he began pacing rapidly. "I can't do this! This was a bad idea!"
"James, calm down," Remus said, standing up. "It'll be fine. You two love each other!"
"Whose stupid idea was it to get married anyway?" James asked suddenly, ripping his hands from his hair and taking some with them.
"Yours, mate," Sirius said, smiling. He stood and forced a glass into James's hands. "Drink that."
"No," James cried, holding the glass away from him as if it contained the plague. "I can't drink! If I drink, I'll get drunk. If I get drunk, I'll be drunk at my wedding. Don't you know what Lily would do to me if I was drunk on our wedding day?" He was slowly edging toward being hysterical.
"James, it's only water," Sirius said, still smirking in amusement.
"Oh shove off," James said quietly, drinking his water. He sank into seat that Remus and Sirius had vacated. He hung his head. "I'm nervous. What if I screw up our vows, or throw up on the minister's shoes?" He gulped. "What if I knock over a candle and set this whole 'church' place on fire?"
"James, I do this because I love you," Sirius said shaking his head. He slapped James across the face.
James blinked. "Thanks mate."
"You're welcome."
James stood at the alter of a little church in Godric's Hollow, next to the Wizarding Bishop who would officially marry the couple. James was pale, and ringing his hands. Suddenly, the music sounded, and Remus, Peter, and Sirius escorted in two of Lily's closest friends, and her rather unwilling sister. Swallowing, James's stomach tied itself up in knots as he waited for Lily to walk out.
She emerged, on the arm of her father, dressed in a traditional Muggle wedding dress that James recalled had belonged to Lily's late mother. She looked breathtakingly beautiful, James decided. The instant he saw her, he knew that he wanted to spend all of eternity with her, a thought that hadn't truly crossed his mind since the moment he had gotten down on one knee to propose to her.
Throughout the ceremony, the entire wedding party kept throwing glances at Petunia's very Muggle husband who, other than being one of only three people not dressed in wizard's attired, was squirming in the pew at the thought of his very Muggle wife taking part in a very magical wedding.
Before long the couple had exchanged traditional Wizarding vows, and they were married.
Sirius smiled. "I have always liked wedding receptions," He said to Remus, as he nursed a glass of champagne. "They are always happy, yet completely awkward, occasions."
"Why awkward?" Remus asked, his eyes scanning the crowd for obvious signs of uncomfortable people.
"Well, take us for example," Sirius said, "In a minute I will have to dance with Mary Macdonald who I dislike and who has never quite forgiven me for not being totally in love with her in sixth year, while you are forced to dance with Lily's rather vile sister Petunia because of some totally ridiculous Muggle tradition that makes the whole wedding party dance together." He shrugged, then said, "However, I have gotten off easy."
"What makes you say that?" Remus asked.
Sirius smiled, ""I only have to try to keep Mary's hands from going places other than my waist." He laughed quietly, "You, however, will have to defend yourself against Petunia's two ton husband over there," He used his thumb to indicate Vernon Dursley's massive girth across the room.
Remus sighed, and then shook his head. "I think I could take him." He laughed. More than a head shorted than Vernon, and less than half his weight, Remus was not exactly the type of person who considered themselves able to hold their own in a fight against a walrus like Vernon.
"Good luck with that," Sirius chided. "However, if he beats you a bloody pulp, I'll have the pleasure of nursing you back to health. Which would, of course, mean that you would need my assistance when it came to bathing…" He raised his eyebrows.
"I'd rather not have to have the stuffing knocked out of me just so you can have a shower with me," Remus said, rolling his eyes. "Besides, you've never needed an excuse before. You normally just climb right in."
"Good point." The music sounded, indicating the dance was to begin. "Good luck, Rem! Don't let your hands wander in front of Vernon!" Remus blushed crimson.
After many drinks, many dances, many champagne glasses being tapped in order to give a toast, the wedding reception ended at about three in the morning. Lily and James retreated to their new home, with plans to leave in the light hours of the morning for their week long honeymoon on some tropical island.
Remus, among the few people who had remained sober during the night, was given the task of carting a rather intoxicated Sirius back to their small house in north Ireland. He bid good night to Peter, James, and Lily and gripping Sirius's arm tightly, Apparated to their tiny home.
Sirius was smiling broadly as he and Remus stumbled inside of their house. "Rem," he slurred, planting a wet kiss on Remus's lips. "I love you. You know that?"
Remus smiled. "Yes, Sirius, I do. You tell me every day." He wrapped his arm around Sirius's waist, and Sirius allowed Remus to lead him to their joint bedroom.
The dark house did not look anything out of the ordinary. It was small; it only contained two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a small kitchen just outside the cramped sitting room. Remus and Sirius technically had separated bedrooms, mostly for show in case Remus's mother popped over at an unexpected time. There was a lumpy, yet comfortable sofa in the tiny living room, as well as one equally lumpy arm chair, and a tiny Muggle television set.
Remus practically had to drag Sirius to what was technically his bedroom. Sirius, being completely uncooperative, lolled around. Remus attempted to set him down on the bed placed in the center of the room, but Sirius had other plans, and subsequently pulled Remus on top of him.
"Sirius, it's three thirty," Remus muttered, his chest currently forced down so that his nose was flattened against Sirius's chest. Sirius's only response was to pull Remus's face toward his own and kiss him. "Sirius, I'm not kidding. Let me go." Sirius, however, seemed to think that his statement could be translated to mean, "Take off my clothes." So, grinning broadly, Sirius flipped Remus onto his back and began to slowly unbutton the front of the shirt Remus worse under his dress robes.
Remus sighed, and rather than complain and bat Sirius's hands away, he just let him go. It wasn't as if he minded letting Sirius disrobe him anyway.
Morning came much too quickly in Sirius's opinion. He woke to obnoxiously bright light shining through his window. His head ached in protest as he moved it slightly to avoid letting the sunlight burn his retinas. His mouth had the distinct taste of carpeting, and his breath on his pillow made it quite obvious that some beast had crawled into his throat and died there.
Sirius rolled over, and was surprised to see that Remus's side of the bed was empty. Sitting up to inspect this phenomenon, Sirius spotted a note and a small vile of potion on the nightstand. The note read: Mum's dropping by. Get dressed; I'll have breakfast for you. The potion was, more than likely, from the store of hangover cures that Sirius kept in the house for nights like the one he had had. Sirius smiled at the thought of Remus actually bothering to drag himself out of bed for this… then the note resurfaced in his mind.
Sirius had not real problems with Mrs. Lupin. She was nice enough to him. However, having been raised by rather religious Muggles, Mrs. Lupin's stance on same sex relationships made it slightly less than desirable for her to be popping in at odd hours. Remus had originally planned on telling his mother about Sirius when he had moved from home, but the very day he had planned to do it his mother had gone on some sort of rant about "queers" and "faggots" and Remus just couldn't bring himself to tell her.
This, however, left he and Sirius to hide everything about their relationship from Remus's mother. Which was quite a pain at nine o'clock in the morning, Sirius decided.
Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, Sirius grabbed the potion and downed it like a shot. Instantly his hangover symptoms seemed to disappear. He dragged his feet across the room, and paying very little attention to the clothes he was grabbing, dressed himself before leaving his warm sunny room to face Mrs. Lupin.
Selene Lupin was a petite little woman. She had a round face and dark curly hair that framed it and her skin looked as if she spent much of her free time lying about in the sun. Her eyes, a deep cerulean, were wide and at their edged sat perfectly drawn crow's feet. She looked nothing like her tall, slight, and pale son. The only feature that Sirius had ever noticed that they shared was the dark, bruise-like, circles under their eyes.
Mrs. Lupin did not approve of Remus's friendship with Sirius. She had never truly liked him, even when he had visited their home briefly during summer breaks while he had attended Hogwarts. She had especially taken to disliking him after their sixth year when Sirius had told Snape how to get past the Whomping Willow. While Remus had forgiven him for that, Mrs. Lupin now thought of him as a traitor who could turn on her son at any moment.
"Good morning, Sirius," Mrs. Lupin greeted Sirius as he trudged into the small kitchen and took a seat at miniscule table in the corner. "Did you sleep well?" Typical mothering question, but Sirius's ears seemed to detect something suspicious about the question. He glanced over at Remus, whose back was turned as he cooked what smelled like bacon.
"Yeah," Sirius said, clearing his throat as he caught the hoarseness of his voice. "I slept fine." He stared down at his hands, wishing he had thought to grab coffee before he had sat down. At least coffee would have kept his hands busy, which would in turn keep him from being able to make direct eye contact with Mrs. Lupin.
Remus saved the moment, however, by setting a plate of food in front of Sirius and his mother. "Here you go," he said, his voice unnecessarily loud. Sirius could feel the tension rolling off of him in waves. It was as if he felt the same suspicion that Sirius had.
The three of them ate quietly for the most part. Mrs. Lupin broke the silence finally by asking, "How was the wedding?"
Sirius grinned; this topic was something that he could talk about without spilling anything to Mrs. Lupin that would cause her heart failure. "Oh, it was great. It was so odd; they had the ceremony in this Muggle place called a church…"
"You've never been to a church before?" Mrs. Lupin's voice dictate and element of surprise and disapproval.
"Well, not before yesterday," Sirius said sheepishly.
"Sirius was raised in a very pureblood home, Mum," Remus said quickly. "His family never had any overhanging Muggle customs, so he never attended a mass." He bit his lip when he finished, waiting to hear his mother response.
"I suppose that makes sense," She said finally, and sipped her tea.
"I hate my job," Sirius grumbled on Monday morning, frowning at himself in the mirror in bedroom. He wore basic black robes, standard uniform for those training to become an Auror. Sirius had never truly wanted to go into this field; he had always imagined himself going into Healing, like Lily had done. But the head of the Auror department had come to Hogwarts during his final weeks, and upon observing Sirius, James, and Remus in a practice duel in Defense Against the Dark Arts, he had offered them all positions in the Auror training program.
They had all accepted.
Unfortunately, when the day came for them to take their positions, Remus's background check revealed his lycanthropy, and the Minister of Magic outright refused to have a werewolf work in magical law enforcement. So, after a huge argument between Remus and Sirius, Sirius caved and took the job that he no long truly had the will to do. Being an Auror had always been Remus's dream that he had shared with James, Sirius only merely tagged along.
And now, he stood in front of a mirror, grumbling about his job.
Remus shrugged, sitting on the bed, still in his bedclothes. "I'm sorry to hear that," He said quietly. "We could always trade. You can most certainly have mine."
Sirius frowned again, feeling guilty. Remus's current source of employment came from a Muggle pub in London, which Remus Apparated to every night. The hours were horrible, the pay minimal, and the patrons were the most rowdy bunch of vile men that Remus had ever had the misfortune of meeting. Sirius had once claimed that it was because they were Muggles; Remus had called him a bigot and lived on Peter's couch for three weeks as a result.
"So, what are your plans for today?" Sirius said, quickly trying to change the subject.
Remus shrugged. "I might pour over the Prophet in hopes of seeing a job description that read 'Wanted: Werewolf.'" He quirked a small, yet sad, smile. "I dunno, actually." He stood up, and walked over to wardrobe where he took out a pair of jeans and a shirt. "Anything you'd like me to do?"
Sirius smiled, "I have a whole list, actually. Unfortunately," He turned and wrapped his arms around Remus's thin waist, "Then I would miss my tenth day of work this year, and I might get fired from my crappy job that is currently paying the rent."
Remus nodded, suddenly sullen and he removed himself from Sirius's arms. "You'll be late." Sirius sighed, and after kissing Remus's cheek, Apparated to work.
It was nearly four o'clock. The doorbell rang. Remus smiled, having expected it. He glanced back at the tiny sitting room again. The space formerly occupied by the lumpy couch and chair was now filled with a piano. The furniture had been moved up against the other wall. Remus opened the door with a smile. After bidding a good day to her mother, Remus turned to face Bridget, a small blonde girl of about eight years old.
"Hey Bridget," Remus said, "How have you been?"
"Good," She beamed up at him. "I been practicin' real hard!"
"Really, now?" Remus said. "Well, let's see about that."
Bridget took a seat on the piano bench, and began playing her scales diligently.
"Very good," Remus said with a smile. And so the lesson continued.
Remus was rather disgusted. He hated his job at the bar more than ever before at this moment. There was a man, quite drunk, with one of his arms around Remus. Just outside of the pub's door stood a group of twenty or so drunken men, each looking mean and argumentative. "Ye'll leave 'er open fur us, won't ye?"
It was already 2:30, a half an hour past closing time. Remus was tired, and wanted nothing more than to simply go home. "No, sir. I'm sorry. This bar has been closed for half an hour already. I can't let you in."
The drunk man, obviously displeased, swore at him. "Ye had bes' leave 'er open fur us, or I'll-"
"I'm sorry, sir, we are closed," Remus interrupted, removing the man's arm from his shoulders.
The man had obviously had enough of Remus's inability to cooperate. He wound up and landed a punch on Remus's left cheek. Remus staggered, and pulling his wand from his back pocket and holding it behind his back, stunned the man. He returned the wand, knowing the man would wake within the hour. "Oh, best take him home then." He shooed off the rest of the bunch, who were now afraid of how Remus had attacked.
Remus managed to climb into bed at 3:00. He was exhausted. Sirius was sprawled across both sides of the bed, so Remus was forced to wake him in order to find enough room to sleep. "Did you just get in?" Sirius asked, upon scooting over. He stared at Remus's face, and noticed that a shiny bruise was forming on Remus's cheek. "You ok?"
Remus nodded, rolled onto his side, and was nearly immediately asleep.
"Good night Remus. I love you." Sirius murmured, prepared to deal with whatever happened in the morning.
There is the first chapter. I hope you liked it. Unfortunately, I shall be out of town for the next week, so updates won't pick up until some time after that.