Written for Hato-ryou-chan. Happy Birthday!

This idea came from Hato-ryou-chan.

Thanks to Rayniekinnz for reminding me of this idea and for helping me with this. :)

Penguins and Wolves

[Remus] 'I had a good time last night (and this morning). ;) Did you find out if you were free tonight, because if you are, you could stay at mine again?'

[Benjy] 'Sorry Rem, I'm going to be spending this evening at my parents house. This morning was amazing!'

Sirius stared at the text for a long time, listening to the water running in the bathroom. By the time the water had stopped and Benjy had stepped out of the bathroom, Sirius was back in front of the television in the living room, watching a sitcom that he cared very little for as he thought about that text message.

It was dated the previous day and clearly Benjy hadn't spent the evening with his parents, he had spent it with Sirius.

...oOo...

The next day, Sirius headed onto the internet and googled the name he had stolen from Benjy's phone. Navigating the internet, he found himself on Facebook, looking a profile.

Glad that the profile was open, he began looking through the pictures.

It wasn't long until he saw the pictures of Remus and Benjy together. Jealousy shot through him as he glared at the pictures and every other one of this guy who was stealing his boyfriend away.

He even glared at the ones where the guy was holding a puppy. Stupid adorable looking guy holding a puppy. Who really named their puppy Snuffles?

He scrolled down the page. Charity walks to raise money for animals and conversations about books.

This guy was dull. Why would Benjy ever be interested in this guy when he had Sirius Black?

...oOo...

Sirius stood at the bar of the Hog's Head, sipping his beer and watching through the crowd. At a table on the other side, he saw a guy with dark blonde hair, wearing the dorkiest cardigan he had ever seen in his life.

He had been watching for about twenty minutes. He still couldn't work out why Benjy was cheating on him with this guy, there didn't appear to be anything special about him.

He diverted his gaze as the guy stood up, returning it to his drink.

"Having a good night?" came a melodic voice from next to him and Sirius jumped, looking around to meet a pair of beautiful hazel eyes.

"Not too bad," Sirius replied politely, turning back to his drink.

"Are you waiting on someone, or here alone?" Remus asked.

Sirius briefly wondered if Remus was hitting on him. "Alone," he said. "My mate cancelled on me when I was already halfway here. Didn't want to turn back and go home."

Remus smiled at him. "It must be dull by yourself, come sit and have a drink with us."

Sirius began to decline, but Remus had already turned to the bartender and asked for him to add another beer.

"It's rude to refuse a drink," Remus said, grinning at him. "Also rude to refuse an invite. I'm not going to take no for an answer."

Yup, this guy was totally into him, Sirius decided, following Remus to the table. Was it the leather jacket or the skin-tight jeans? Either way it showed him that this Remus guy wasn't good.

Remus placed the tray down at the table and everyone began moving their chairs to allow space for another to be brought over for Sirius.

"His friend cancelled on him," Remus explained. "I insisted he sit with us, so make him feel welcome."

He turned back to Sirius. "I'm Remus, these are my friends, Lily, Alice, Marlene and Frank."

"I'm... Regulus," Sirius replied. His own name was unusual enough, he didn't want anyone trying to look him up. If anyone tried to look Regulus up... well, Regulus wasn't a fan of technology or social media.

"That's an unusual name," Frank commented.

"Yeah, my family are really into stars," Sirius explained awkwardly. "We're all named like that, generations of us."

"That's cool. My parents named me wolf-wolf," Remus replied with a sigh. "Remus, brother of Romulus who were raised by wolves... and my surname is Lupin. They think it was clever. I don't so much."

"Here's to strange names," Sirius said, raising his drink. Remus smiled at him and clinked his glass to Sirius'.

"So, are you single?" Marlene asked. Sirius shook his head. "No, got a boyfriend," he replied.

"Awww, have you been together long?" She asked.

"Not too long, me and Ben... have been together almost a year now," Sirius replied, annoyed at himself that he almost slipped up and said 'Benjy'. He looked around the table. "What about you lot?"

"Me and Alice have been together for a couple of years," Frank said, smiling at the girl next to him.

"I'm sort of seeing some guy," Lily said with a shrug. "Then you have Remus and Benjy." She pulled a face. "Talk about a sickening couple."

"We're not that bad," Remus insisted.

"All lovey dovey," Lily accused.

"I've been with my boyfriend for about... three and a half months now," Remus said.

"But he chased you for about three months before you even dated him," Lily said. "You should count that too."

"Doesn't count," Remus said, shaking his head. "So Regulus, are you from around here?"

"Not too far away," Sirius replied.

"Well, we're a friendly bunch, so if your friend ditches you again..."

"What excuse did he give?" Lily asked.

"Seeing his girl," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

...oOo...

Sirius was more content to sit back and listen to the conversations going on around him. He tried not to get too involved - he was only there to find out about Remus and why Benjy had been chasing him, and what Benjy saw in Remus Lupin.

In between being forced up to dance with Alice and Marlene and drinking all the drinks everyone kept buying, Sirius could honestly say that he was having an awesome night.

Quite drunk, he allowed the group to take his number, promising him another great night out. As he made his way home, he was bombarded by quite a few drunken and entertaining text messages and he wondered what in the hell he was going to do about Remus Lupin.

...oOo...

Sirius paced the living room. He had gone out with Remus and his friends twice more now, and each time he told himself that he wasn't going to do it again.

But he couldn't stay away.

He stared down at his phone - at the text Remus had just sent him.

[Remus] Hey Reggie... I was wondering if you were free. I was supposed to go to the zoo with Benjy, but he's suddenly busy and can't go. Do you want the extra ticket? It's for today and I'm there now.

Sirius exited the message and opened the one from Benjy.

[Benjy] Hey, you were asking me what I was doing today - well, my dad doesn't need help working on his garden after all, so I'm free. What time are you coming over?

Anger swelled inside him. Benjy was cancelling on Remus because he wanted a shag.

'I'm leaving now. I'll be up London in about an hour. I'll text you when I'm close.'

...oOo...

As he got off the train, he sent his other message to Benjy.

'Can't. I've made other plans.'

He turned his phone on silent and shoved it back into his pocket.

Sirius looked around and saw Remus walking towards him with a massive grin. He couldn't wait to spend the day with Remus.

He tried to tell himself that it was to find out more about Benjy and Remus' relationship, even though he knew it was more than that. He actually wanted to see Remus, not Benjy.

The pair walked to the zoo, passing a bottle of water between them as they walked.

"It's my birthday," Remus blurted out. "I'm really glad you came."

Sirius felt even more angry. Benjy had stood Remus up at the zoo for a shag... on his birthday! That made it even worse. "I'm glad you asked," he replied. "Hopefully you'll have a great birthday."

"I'm sure I will," Remus replied, smiling at Sirius.

"So, anything in particular you'd like to see?" Remus asked as they headed inside.

Sirius glanced around at the signs and shook his head. "I don't know, I haven't ever been to the zoo. Plus it's your birthday - what do you want to look at?"

Remus grinned. "Penguins," he admitted.

Sirius grinned back in amusement. "Penguins?"

"They have to be my favourites," Remus replied.

"Not Llamas or Otters or Lemurs or something?"

"You've just listed my favourite animals, are you psychic?" Remus said, with a laugh. "I just like looking at the Penguins. They have to be my favourites."

"Right, let's go and see them," Sirius said, pulling out the map.

"We don't need that, I know the way," Remus insisted.

Sirius glanced up at him. "Come here often?"

"Enough to have a membership card," Remus admitted. "I pay yearly and can come here as much as I want."

"I thought you bought two tickets?" Sirius asked, confused.

"Oh, I only bought Benjy's ticket," Remus replied. "I didn't want it to go to waste, and I was excited about coming in here, and I thought to myself - I bet Regulus loves animals too. You seem too nice not to."

"Thanks," Sirius said, somewhat guiltily. He was hanging out with his boyfriend's boyfriend using a fake name to spy on him. He didn't think he was very nice at all. The opposite in fact.

"Did you know that creatures such as penguins mate for life," Remus said as they moved closer, drawing Sirius from his thoughts.

"What?" Sirius asked, looking around at Remus.

"Penguins... they mate for life," Remus offered. "It's quite romantic really."

Sirius snorted as they reached the display. He leaned against the glass of the enclosure. "So do cockroaches," he muttered in response.

Remus turned to look at him, studying him for a long moment, but Sirius kept his eyes on the penguins.

"So do lobsters," Remus said. "I just think it's lovely that humans aren't the only ones that know how to be monogamous."

"Humans have no idea how to be monogamous," Sirius snapped. "They just lie and cheat and shag other men on the side."

Crap.

"Reggie, are you alright?" Remus asked softly. "Things between you and Ben aren't good, are they?"

Sirius shook his head, not wanting to look at Remus. This was the man that Benjy wanted more than him.

"Talk to me, I'm your friend and it helps," Remus said.

"We're friends?" Sirius questioned, finally looking around at him.

"Of course we are," Remus confirmed. "You're a good guy, Regulus... I'm here for you. What did Ben do?"

"He's been cheating on me... I found out a few weeks ago."

"Maybe you're mistaken?"

"There is no mistake, I know he's doing it. I saw text messages. I've seen pictures of them together."

"So why are you still with him?" Remus asked.

"At first I wanted to blame the other guy, but the other guy isn't at fault. I'm torn, Remus. Should I just leave Ben? Should I tell the other guy because he deserves better than someone who'll cheat on him."

"When did you last see Ben?"

"He contacted me today to see him, but I decided I'd much rather hang out with you," Sirius admitted.

Remus was quiet for a long time, and Sirius was scared that he had somehow worked it out.

"That's tough," Remus finally said. "Are you telling the other man so he'd leave Ben, so you'll be able to have Ben back to yourself, or are you telling him because you think he's a good guy."

"I've realised today... I've realised that I... maybe I deserve better?"

"Don't say it like you question it. Regulus, you can do better," Remus insisted.

"But why did he cheat on me? Wasn't I enough?" Sirius whispered.

Arms wrapped around him, enveloping him in a tight hug and Sirius' breath caught. The moment felt so perfect. He couldn't resist wrapping his own arms around Remus, clutching him tightly.

He pulled away in a panic, but Remus only smiled and turned back to the penguins.

Had Remus felt his heart pounding against his chest? Or realised that Sirius didn't want to let go?

"I think that you should end it and find someone perfect for you," Remus said. "Someone who sees what an amazing man you are. You deserve to be happy, Regulus. You deserve to find..."

"My penguin?"

"Your penguin."

"I kinda thought he was my penguin," Sirius whispered. "I don't even feel the same anymore."

"What about a lobster or a wolf?"

"Wolf?"

"They mate for life too," Remus said.

Sirius smiled. A wolf was exactly what he needed. It was a shame that his wolf was dating his boyfriend.

"Wolf sounds perfect," he admitted.

Remus smiled widely at him. "You're not fond of penguins, are you? Well, I know what will cheer you up."

"What?" Sirius asked.

"It's almost half past twelve. You know what happens at half past?" He grabbed Sirius' hand, pulling him through the zoo.

"Here we are - at twelve-thirty, we get to feed the otters."

...oOo...

That evening, Sirius decided that it was time to cut all ties with Remus. Maybe because he couldn't stop thinking of Remus' arms around him. Maybe something to do with the fact that every part of him was telling him to kiss Remus at the end of their outing.

Maybe because he kept thinking about their outing as a date - in his head of course - before reminding himself that it wasn't a date.

Or perhaps it was because whatever he felt for Benjy was nothing compared to how he realised he felt for Remus.

He called James over for a drink, admitting befriending Remus and falling for him. James didn't get much information as most of it was slurred and Sirius quickly passed out.

...oOo...

James hung around the Hog's Head. He was going on limited information. All he had was the name of the pub and the name of the guy that Sirius had fallen for.

He was currently standing at the bar, staring at a group of people, trying to decide if Sirius was in love with either of these guys, but his gaze kept drifting to the redhead.

Finally someone from the group approached him, an uncertain smile on the guy's face.

"Hey, uh... everything alright?" The guy asked.

"I'm looking for Remus," James said.

"I'm not sure -"

"I'm not going to cause any trouble, me and him have a mutual friend really... I just... I think Remus can help him. The problem is that I've never met Remus, so I don't know who he is."

"Right," the guy replied, sounding slightly unconvinced. He led the way back to the table. "Remus, this guy wants to talk to you."

James stood uncertainly at the table as a guy in a dorky cardigan turned around in his chair and smiled at him.

"Basically we have a friend in common," James began, his eyes darting around the table, before turning to Remus. "Unfortunately I have only the name of the pub and the name Remus to go on."

"Okay, well, how can I help?" Remus asked, still smiling at him.

James sighed, deciding to just jump in at the deep end. "My friend Sirius is in love with you."

"I'm really sorry, I don't know anyone called Sirius," Remus said. "You must have the wrong person."

James sighed. "Well, thanks for listening to me," he said. "I'll keep asking around to look for Remus. I didn't think it'd be this easy. Sirius wouldn't tell me anything else about this Remus guy."

He stood up and started to walk away.

"What kind of name is serious?" he heard the redhead ask.

He turned back around. "Sirius the dog-star," he replied. "Family thing - all his family are named after stars. Orion, Andromeda -"

"Regulus?" Alice asked, looking towards Remus.

"Yeah, in fact his little brother is called Regulus," James said.

"Why don't you sit down," Remus said, quickly pulling a chair over for James.

...oOo...

The moment James sat down, Remus headed to the bar for another round, quickly placing a beer in front of James.

"You said that there was something wrong with your friend?" Frank asked.

"Yeah... he was dating this guy Benjy for a while," James said, sipping the beer. "Found out the tosser was cheating on him. Ended up falling for this other Remus guy and now he's turned his phone off, drinking like an idiot. He called in sick to work."

Remus was silent for a long time. "This... Benjy guy sounds like a tosser," he offered, his voice shaking as he pulled out his phone. He pulled up a photo and handed the phone to James.

James took one look at the phone before dropping it onto the table, his eyes narrowed at Remus.

He opened his mouth to speak, but ended up just shaking his head. Glaring at Remus, he shoved his chair back and began to walk out.

"He told me his name was Regulus," Remus shouted after him. "I didn't know about Benjy."

James paused, before turning back.

"You broke my best friend's heart," he hissed.

"He came here and lied to me," Remus said, hurt flashing across his face. "I thought we were friends. I thought he.. I... I thought..." He dropped back into the chair, head in his hands.

James walked back to the table, standing behind the empty seat and stared at Remus for a moment, trying to decide whether he was genuine or not. He watched as Lily's arm moved around his shoulders.

"Is this Regulus?" James asked, pulling up facebook and going into Sirius' photos.

Remus looked up at the phone. There was proof - a photo of Sirius and Benjy together. He nodded miserably.

"How did you meet him?" James asked.

"He was in here alone about a month ago, I asked... forced him to join us... I kept talking about Benjy. He got drunk with us and we all had a great time so we swapped numbers. He's come here every Friday night, until he stopped talking to me."

"Wait, how do you know that this is really happening - maybe it's a misunderstanding?" A blonde girl asked.

"This just got very complicated," Remus muttered. "I live round the corner, let's go." He looked around at his friends.

"I'll text you later, can you make sure Lily gets a cab back?"

"Screw that, I'm coming back to the flat," Lily insisted.

...oOo...

"So, Reg- Sirius and me have the same boyfriend? Are you sure?" Remus asked as they all walked into the flat, a small dog excitedly jumping around his feet. He reached down and picked the black bundle up, cuddling it to his chest.

James pulled out his phone and dialed a number, putting the call on speaker.

"James?" came a familiar voice through the phone.

"Just wondering if you've heard from Sirius?" James asked.

"You mean since he dumped me?" Benjy asked. "Can't say that I have."

"Didn't think so," James muttered.

"Hey, can you... we're mates right, James? Can you put in a good word? Tell him he's mistaken, I'm not seeing someone else. Tell him I miss him. I'll forgive him for breaking my nose, I mean it won't take much longer to heal and I love him and -"

James ended the call and looked at Remus.

"We went to the zoo," Remus whispered. "He told me his boyfriend was cheating on him... I never even considered... wait. You said he's in love with me?"

"He has it bad," James agreed. "I think his exact words were that what he felt for Benjy didn't even compare to how he felt for Remus."

Remus gave a soft smile.

"He knew exactly who I was when he was in the pub."

"Knowing Sirius as well as I do - and since I'm his cousin as well as his best friend, that's pretty well - I know he's fallen for you. Sirius isn't spiteful or cruel, I honestly think he needed to see why Benjy would cheat on him. I don't think he planned to even approach you. Look, I'm sorry to have been the one to tell you all this, to tell you that your boyfriend is cheating on you." James stood up from the chair. "I hate being the bearer of bad news. All I wanted to do was find the guy who Sirius had fallen for and fix everything, but I've caused a bigger mess."

"No, I'm glad I know. Can I see him?"

"What?"

"I don't care that he lied about who he was," Remus said. "I don't care that we met because he wanted to know about Benjy's other relationship. I believe everything else was real. I know he's a good person, I know he's sweet and kind and just wants to find his lobster or his wolf."

James looked confused.

"And Penguin... they mate for life too," Lily said.

"Penguin doesn't work for him," Remus replied, looking back at her. "He's looking for his wolf. He said wolf."

"And you didn't work out that you were that wolf. If he specifically said wolf, doesn't that tell you something?" Lily pushed.

"The name Remus comes from Remus and Romulus, two boys raised by wolves. My surname is Lupin," Remus explained to James.

"So... what would you say to him when you see him?" James asked.

"That I'm ending things with Benjy and I don't want to lose... Sirius. It's going to be strange calling him that. I want to tell him that he's very important to me."

"And can we just pretend I didn't tell you that he loves you, otherwise he might pull away even more," James said.

"I won't upset him," Remus said.

James looked reluctant.

"Please," Lily said, taking James' hand and fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"Okay," James agreed, looking at Lily. "But you have to go out to dinner with me."

...oOo...

After a short cab ride, the three of them stood outside of a door and James knocked. There was no answer. He put a key in the lock but it wouldn't turn.

"He's pushed the lock down," James explained. "Means he's still in there."

He pushed opened the letterbox and knelt on the ground. "Oi, if you don't let me in, I'm going to break the door down."

"Piss off Potter."

"I'll serenade you," James threatened.

"Fine, but if you even mention anything about my failed love-life..." They listened as the locks clicked back and the door opened, James quickly pushed his way in before Sirius could close the door at the sight of Remus.

"What did you do?" Sirius asked, staring at James.

Remus walked in the door, locking eyes with Sirius. In a couple of quick steps, he closed the distance and Sirius looked panicked.

"I don't care that you gave a fake name, I don't care that we met because you were spying on me. You are so important to me, Reg- Sirius and these last couple of weeks... I have been so confused. I thought I was falling for Benjy, but then you appeared and I fell for you instead. I thought that you realised that the last time we met and thought that's why you stopped speaking to me."

Sirius stared at him in shock, his eyes filled with hope.

"But... Benjy?" He whispered.

Remus looked around, spotting Sirius' ipad on the table. "Do you Skype?"

"Yeah, but -"

Remus thrust the Ipad at Sirius and he opened it and put the pin in. Remus took it back and opened Skype, He clicked on Benjy's name and turned the screen to face Sirius.

"What are you doing?" Sirius hissed. "I don't want to talk to him."

"Sirius!" Came the relieved voice. "I've missed -"

Remus turned the camera to show himself. "Hey Benjy," he said calmly.

"Remus? What's going on?" Benjy asked.

"Well, I've recently made a very good friend, only to find out that he's your boyfriend," Remus explained. "But that's not all. I've come to realise that I don't want to be with you... Something that I've been feeling for the past couple of weeks now."

"I'm sorry," Benjy started. "I love you, Remus -"

"I'm not mad at you for cheating on me," Remus said. "I just don't understand how in the hell you could have someone as amazing as Sirius and then chase another man? I'm mad at you for hurting him so much."

"You know, once I met you, Remus, I could see exactly why he cheated on me. You're the amazing one."

Remus smiled at him. "Well, maybe me and you would make an amazing match?" Remus suggested. He looked back at the shocked expression on Benjy's face.

"We're over," Remus said. "I'm falling in love with someone else. I should thank you for doing this - if you hadn't had cheated on us with each other, we'd never have met."

Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus. "He's mine now, so don't contact either of us." He pulled Remus as close as possible. "No falling about it, I'm already in love with you."

Remus smiled at him, tilting his head up slightly to reach Sirius' lips with his own, gently kissing him.

By the time they had pulled away, Benjy had ended the Skype call.

"So... I have something I want to ask you," Sirius said shyly. "Remus, do you want to be my penguin?"

Remus grinned, meeting Sirius' lips for a second time.

"I think I'd much rather be your wolf," Remus replied.

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