Little King,
It's been two months since you last wrote, and I was beginning to worry. Our mutual contact told me that you have a muggle girlfriend. If that's true, congratulations. I personally can't believe that you tricked some poor French girl into dating you. Not that she'll be dating you long, as you have an appalling lack of communication skills.
Two months. You could have sent something. Anything. I would have been happy with a fucking Metro card. At least I would have known you were alive. Instead, I spent two months thinking this was all for nothing and that you've gone and got yourself killed, when in fact you've been living it up on the Continent. But I guess thanks for eventually sending me that lovely postcard. A little more than a Metro ticket, but I should feel honoured I suppose.
Life here is the same, in case you were wondering. Mother is sick(more so than usual), and Kreacher can barely find it in himself to clean the toilets, he dotes on her so often. Don't worry. I'm sure she's fine. She's survived this long, hasn't she?
Work is interesting. One of my co-workers is all right. His mates are okay too. They're nice. I think you'd like them. Especially one of them. He kept talking to me about muggle music for a long time. I didn't mind. He's a muggle. They all are. I think you'd like him.
I hope that you're okay. I'm still furious with you and I want to hate you. I hope you're okay.
Please respond.
Snuffles
Sirius ducks as a shoe goes flying past his head. He soon has to resort to using his wand to deflect the objects being hurled at him.
Walburga Black was said to have been a great beauty in her youth. She was slim, with thick dark hair. Her face, before the war, was smooth with delicate features that complimented the angular set of her face nicely.
Now, as she sat in bed, her face was lined with age and red with exertion. Her skin was swallow and nothing in her posture was delicate as she continued to throw any object in reach towards her eldest.
"YOU VILE, LYING CREATURE! WHERE IS MY SON?"
"I told you, I don't know!" Sirius was trying to keep his rage in check. His mother had not been entirely sane for some time and her recent bout of illness was not helping matters. "Where ever he went, he's hiding-"
"KREACHER TOLD ME! HE TOLD ME WHAT HE SAW! HE SAW YOU, YOU MY OWN SON, WRITING A LETTER TO HIM BEHIND MY BACK!"
"I wasn't! He's in hiding! With Muggles! It's not like he can have owls delivering the post to him."
Walburga paused with her hand still clutching an inkwell and narrowed her eyes. "Explain what Kreacher saw."
"I was writing a letter to Regu-HEY! Let me finish, all right?" Sirius slowly began to back towards to the door as Walburga brought her arm back. "I don't send the letters to him. I just write them and pretend to. So I feel better."
Hoping that this would be enough, Sirius turned to the door and grasped the handle. He paused at the door when he heard an intake of breath.
"I sometimes do that too. It'll be good for when he comes back. He'll know he was missed."
"Yeah." Sirius couldn't bear to turn around as guilt flooded him and he escaped out of the room and down the stairs.
Another dancer was covering his shift tonight, so he collected some money from a jar in the kitchen and made his way outside, only stopping to grab his leather jacket.
He loved London. The crowded streets with their perpetual noise and relentless stream of cars, people and lights. He began sneaking out when he was twelve and by the time he had his first job at a bookstore on Knockturn Alley, he knew the streets like he was born with the knowledge. There was nothing more exciting to him than the colourful and thriving crowds around him. He couldn't even tell witch from muggle out here. It was wonderful.
Deciding that he didn't want to go far tonight, Sirius walked into a deserted alley and apparated into the Leaky Cauldron. The bar was gleaming as Tom wiped glasses behind it, the stools lining it mostly full. He was only halfway towards the bar when he heard someone call his name.
Turning, he spotted Frank and James sitting in a booth in the corner. Surprised he quickly checked to see if Remus was nearby. Making his way over to them, Sirius was so preoccupied with wondering where Remus was that it took a moment to realise why it was odd to see them here in this bar.
"You're wizards!"
James laughed and made room for him to sit down. "Obviously."
"But you had muggle music!"
Frank just shrugged. "Remus got me onto it. It's much better than anything our kind ever makes. Hmm, I'm going get us another round. You drinking?"
Sirius nodded and pulled out a small bag of money. He was disconcerted that he'd spent time with wizards. The only people he spent time with outside his house were all virtually muggles. Spending time in the wizarding world was safe as he was not likely to be recognised. However, giving his name to wizards was risky at best. Thank Merlin he only gave his first name to Remus.
He wasn't on the run, but most wizards have not yet forgiven the Blacks for their role in the war. Regulus had not helped matters with his foolish actions, only a couple years ago.
As the night carried on, Sirius found himself relaxing and enjoying the other men's company. Since he quit his job at the store, Sirius had experienced few nights like these. James and Frank bought round after round of drinks and soon Sirius was supporting James as they walked through Diagon Alley.
"Merlin's pants, do you know what I would do for ice cream right now?" James pushed off Sirius before draping an arm across Frank's shoulders. Drunkenly slurring, he whispered, "I would sell my broom."
"No!" Sirius reached out as if to grab James and shouted, "You love your broom! Remember, remember how you said you take care of it every night? And you always make sure it's polished every night?"
"Yeah! Yeah, I do!"
"You can't sell your broom James! You clean it, every night. I sometimes don't even clean my teeth every night." James gasped and released Frank as Sirius nodded. "It's true! You love your broom more than I love my teeth. And I am not giving my teeth for ice cream! I'm not!"
"Don't! Don't give away your teeth. You have very nice teeth. All white and shiny."
Sirius beamed and flashed a crooked grin. "I'm an aristocrat!"
James gasped and shook his head wildly. "You're a cat?!"
"No! I'm. Hmm. I like dogs. I think I'm a dog person. Woof woof. I'm a dog. Woof." Sirius continued to bark while James roared with laughter and nearly fell over in delight when Sirius began to "chase his own tail."
"You look just like a dog! Frank! Doesn't he look like a dog? Frank?" James turned in a circle, his hair dishevelled and his glasses askew. "Where's Frank?!"
"He's right there." Sirius pointed to a curled up mass on the ground. "How will we get him home now? Oh! I know! Your broom!"
"Yes!" James threw up a fist of victory and fished his wand out of his pockets. He drops his wand a few times before dramatically thrusting his arm out and saying, "Accio broom."
Both men scream when a large crash erupts and a broom comes bursting out of the shop to the left of them, in an explosion of glass. Sirius only has a moment to realise this isn't going to end well before the broom connects with his face and all goes dark.
"Here, take this."
Sirius dutifully lifted the glass to his lips and drained it. Immediately he groaned as the hangover potion went into effect and his headache ebbed away. The woman who administered the potion bent down so that she was eye level from where he was sitting on a chair.
Probing green eyes met his as she gently touched the tender side of his head. Skillfully drawing her wand up, she waved it once with a muttered spell and Sirius felt the throbbing disappear.
Last night's activities had caused a loud enough commotion to bring Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, out to investigate. Upon seeing two unconscious men on the ground, and one drunkenly waving his wand at a broom, he quickly flooed the girlfriend of the only one left standing.
Fortunately, she was able to make it there promptly and drag them all back to her flat before anyone called the authorities.
Leaning back, Sirius glanced around the kitchen and grunted, "Thanks."
"Right. So what happened last night? I would have asked then, but you lot were in no shape to answer." Sirius grimaced as he tried to recall the actions that led to him waking up in a strange flat with Frank Longbottom drooling on his shoulder.
Thankfully, he was saved from answering by a much too cheery James strutting into the room.
"Ah, good morning. Lovely day, isn't it?" Lily looked torn between amusement and anger, before settling on something in between.
"Oh, it's just wonderful. Waking up early to brew potions for the three drunken idiots who invaded my flat. Thinking to myself, 'It doesn't even matter what idiotic story I'm sure to hear when they wake up. Because at least I get the pleasure of taking care of their sorry asses instead of doing other things. Like sleep, for instance.'" She dragged a chair out so that it screeched across the tile and gracefully fell into it. "So tell me, why was I called to Diagon Alley in the middle of the night. It's got to be quite a story. In fact, I'm sure it's just lovely."
Sparing a glance at Sirius, who was determinedly staring at the floor, James explained, "Me and Frank were at the pub, and we met Sirius up there. That's Sirius by the way." Lily nodded in acknowledgement and James continued, "We got a little drunk, er…I decided I wanted ice cream. I guess we forgot the time. Anyways, we were walking down Diagon and I think Frank passed out. Hmm, I'm not sure when he did. So then, um, I think we decided to fly back. But I didn't have my broom so I tried to summon it."
"You tried to summon your broom all the way from Diagon Alley?" Lily interrupted her face incredulous.
"Eh, yeah. But then, we must have been by a quidditch shop cos a broom burst out of the shop and there was glass everywhere." Throwing an apologetic glance at Sirius, he rubbed the back of his neck. "The broom kind of hit Sirius and he passed out. Next thing I knew Tom was there and you know the rest. Mostly bad luck really. If only we hadn't been by that quidditch shop."
"You weren't by a quidditch shop. You were by an apothecary. You can't summon merchandise out of a store. Someone must have left their broom there. I mean honestly, James, really? You know they have spells to prevent theft."
James's cheeks darkened as he rubbed the growing stubble on his chin. Sirius chanced a look at the clock above the stove and leapt up when he realised it was past noon.
"Shit! Oh fuck, sorry. I have to go."
Barely sparing a glance at James Sirius tore through the flat until he reached the front door. As he ripped the door open, he called back, "Thanks, Lily. I can make it up to you some other time, yeah?" He didn't wait for an answer as he sped down the stairs and out of the building, trying to find a place to apparate as quickly as possible.
The club was empty as he entered through the back door and made his way to the office. Generally, every Sunday at noon Sirius would have a meeting with his the owner of the joint.
The owner was a hulking and scarred man named Fenrir Greyback. He was lounged in a seat behind a large desk, his forearms resting on the top.
Sirius tried to fight down his anxiety as he strode to the desk. He never missed their meetings and didn't know what to expect from the man. Greyback was known for his vicious temper and an unpredictable cruelty. Sirius desperately hoped that the calm demeanour being presented right now was not a facade. He prepared to sit but was stopped when Greyback raised his hand.
"You're late."
"Yes. I'm sorry, Sir. I-"
"You're late. I almost thought you weren't going to come."
"No, of course not."
Greyback eyed him carefully before gesturing that he should come over to the other side of the desk.
Swallowing loudly, Sirius ignored his sweaty palms and crossed to stand near Greyback.
"You made me wait."
Fear was beginning to blossom in Sirius' chest as he once again apologised, "I'm sorry."
Greyback cocked his head to the side and rasped, "Make it up to me."
Instinct was telling Sirius that whatever was about to happen was not going to be good. Pushing away the dread coiling in his stomach he asked, "How?"
Smiling widely, Greyback slowly unbuttoned his pants before lowering the zip.
If this was any other man, Sirius would have raged, would have torn the building apart in his anger. But he couldn't today. Not with this man.
This was new. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Then again, Sirius was one of the top workers and provided no reason for punishment. Disgust and hate coursed through Sirius as he realised there was no choice. The only thing he could do was raise his eyebrows in mock confusion.
It happened in a second. Claw like hands dug into his neck as he was pulled to the floor. Unable to resist the strong grip, Sirius was forced to his knees. Horrified, he stayed still as his head was drawn closer to the man sitting in the chair. Powerless, Sirius prayed it would end quickly.
The scent of freshly brewed coffee assaulted his senses as he stumbled through the streets. Relief flooded him as the coffee drowned out the other smell that had taken his nose hostage. He fell into the first empty seat he could find and leaned his face into shaking hands.
Although he could no longer smell Greyback's musk, his other senses were still all too aware of what had just happened. The taste of bile was still fresh in his mouth, thankfully replacing any other taste. A few hours must have passed, but he could still hear Greyback's animal-like grunting. The cafe was loud, but all Sirius could hear were the promised threats and disturbing sounds of pleasure.
Shaking slightly, he leans his head down on the table and hopes that no one will think to kick him out for a little bit.
"Sirius?" His head snaps up, and he finds himself looking into concerned brown eyes.
"Oh. Hello, Remus." Gathering his hands together, Sirius squeezes his fingers roughly.
Remus smiles but falters while looking at Sirius. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah." Sirius can't find it in him to be more responsive. All he wants is to be left alone. And yet, he also finds that he does not want Remus to leave.
"Um. Well, I was just going to go for a walk in the park. Would you like to come?"
"A walk in the park?"
"Yes. There's a park just down the road. It's small but lovely." Remus didn't look very hopeful and after a silent moment, stood to leave. "Well. It was nice seeing you."
Sirius watches as Remus leaves the cafe before rushing out after him. "Remus," he calls, "wait!"
A surprised expression crosses Remus' face as he stops in the sidewalk. "Decided you want to go the park after all?"
Sirius nods and walks alongside Remus as they continue to the park.
The park is small but charming, filled with scattered benches. Abandoning the assumed task of walking around the park, Sirius immediately sits down on one of the benches. After some hesitation, Remus follows.
"Are you sure you're all right? You seem off." Remus is watching him carefully. His eyes are kind, with an unfamiliar warmth.
"Can we just sit here?" Remus nods after a moment and settles against the back of the seat.
Soon Remus turns to him and moves to push back a stray lock of hair that has fallen into Sirius' eyes. Flinching back, Sirius unconsciously scoots further away on the bench. "Sorry. It's just…"
"No, it's all right." Looking at Remus from the side of his eye, Sirius takes a breath before moving closer until they're nearly touching.
Very slowly, Sirius leans until his head touches the other man's shoulder. He whispers, "I would like to be friends with you Remus. Just friends."
"Just friends?"
"Yeah, if you want to."
In response, Remus lets Sirius rest his head against him and doesn't say anything when he feels wetness spread along the collar of his shirt. He doesn't say anything as they watch families pass in huddles or when he feels slight trembling along the left side of his body. He doesn't say anything at all until he feels a cold hand take his, hidden in the safety of his pocket. Only then does squeeze the hand and quietly reply.
"I want to."