A/N: I had a little debate over myself of how to make Sirius's character appear and as well as Remus's. Hmmm, yes – just some of my random mumblings. Remus and Sirius are both twenty…by the way.
Well – ENJOY!
Remus had never thought that Sirius had been serious (…) when he had told Remus that he could use the room that was joint Sirius's own. It was a very nice room though, like the drawing room, the ceilings were very high. Rather than the dark, fruity wood of the formal areas, however, this chamber was decorated completely in ivory and white. The only colour at all came from gilded detailing on the white-canopied bed and other furniture, and the ice blue curtains and pillows on the bed. However, it irked Remus that this room was feminine to the extreme. In slight mortification, Remus rushed towards the wardrobe and flung it open to catch sight of stacks of garments, exquisite dresses that brushed the bottom of the wardrobe delicately. His suspicions was confirmed…
Remus automatically jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He swivelled around to see Sirius's silver eyes twinkling with amusement. "This room used to belong to my mother. Although it may not be to your taste, bear with it."
Remus ignored Sirius and pushed the stack of gowns to one side of the wardrobe and started to pile in some of his own clothes. They all looked so plain and shabby compared to the dresses, Remus pondered painfully, if he had been a witch, he wouldn't have minded just borrowing the garments as well as the living space. About halfway down the left-hand wall, a doorway was ajar. "My room," Sirius informed Remus when he noticed his eyes. "You have your own bathroom," Sirius also added, stepping past Remus to gesture to a second door. Inside there was long, marble counter, toilet, and claw-footed tub.
"But before that, shouldn't we go shopping?" Sirius stared pointedly at Remus's numerously mended clothes.
Remus coughed, "That wouldn't be necessary. This is enough," he couldn't help looking around the extreme feminine yet still very adequate room that he was to occupy. Even if it was a woman's chamber, he had never occupied such an exquisite space.
Sirius nodded curtly, "I'm going out for lunch soon, a house-elf would come and fetch you so get ready."
"Is that really necessary?" Remus asked hesitantly.
"Pardon?" Sirius shot him a quizzical look.
"I don't really need to accompany you on your meals…do I?"
"Oh but you do," Sirius smiled humourlessly, "we have a lot to discuss,"
Remus somehow felt intimidated by the delicate smirk arranged on Sirius's face.
Minutes later, Remus was seated opposite Sirius in a neat restaurant called 'Terrace on the Green'.
"So, have you met the head house-elf of our Hall, called Daisy?" Sirius asked at length.
"No sir," Remus replied stiltedly. He picked at his salad.
Sirius gave a delicate cough, "You will have to meet her of course and arrange for the count on silver, as well as conduct a list of china patterns, inventory of the larder, and calendar of when the linens had last been pressed…Since my mother left, things have quite gotten out of hand." Sirius further explained.
"Yes sir," Remus lifted a morsel tenderly up to his mouth.
Sirius's silver eyes narrowed, "Doesn't the food here suit you?" he asked softly.
"No, sir. I mean, the food here is quite – nice." Remus admitted that that sounded rather weak even to him so rushed, "I'm just a little tired," to cover up for his unsatisfactory reply.
"The gardener is called Mr Malcolm, he's been on the property for as long as I could remember. We also have one maid. Natasha is her name, although she is rather unreliable. I had wanted to fire her for a long while except she is good at avoiding me. Just the sheer size of the house helps, I suppose." Sirius elegantly sipped at his water.
"Even so, sir. I thought I was to help you become the Black heir. I am very surprised you haven't mentioned the will yet, sir." Remus tried to bite down the sarcasm.
Master Black smirked, "Quite to the point, aren't you Remus?"
Since Remus played around with his food and stayed silent, Sirius sighed and propped his elbows onto the table.
"There are a lot of conditions. The details are very refined and would take me ages to explain so I will summarise it for you Remus. Firstly, the heir is to have increased the profit margin and the Black family fortune by more than fifty percent than the other two people mentioned in the will. Second condition is to have an influential position in the Ministry - a place within the school governors or the Wizengamut is favoured. Thirdly, the heir is required to make the Black family one of the three most influential pureblood families in both wealth and reputation. Once conditions one, two and three are fulfilled, to receive Wulberga Black's consent – that would be the last condition for the heir."
Remus shifted his eyes uncomfortably, "Wulberga Black…your mother?" he asked slowly.
"Don't worry. As soon as conditions one, two and three are fulfilled – I am sure even my dearest mother would not have anything she could do about the outcome."
"The conditions are…very…" Remus was lost for words.
"The most difficult would be condition 3. Therefore, we need to work on it right away whilst we have time." Sirius pointed out.
"Excuse my saying so, sir." Remus asked, a little puzzled, "You could easily wed someone from one of the three presently wealthiest pureblood families and achieve that condition easily."
"That won't work Remus," Sirius answered patiently.
But Remus frowned slightly, "If you chose a wife who is the only child of an ailing father, then I am sure you would achieve the condition rather easily." He elaborated on his theory.
"That can not be done," Sirius answered, somewhat darkly, "We also need to have a good reputation and that act would only bring rumours around. It would take too long…Besides, I - "
"Sirius? Sirius Black?" a melodic voice asked hesitantly from Remus's right.
He saw Sirius look straight past his shoulder and he diverted his attention also, to catch sight of a young witch, happily making her way over, dragging a most elderly man by the arm with her.
Her beauty was the first thing that struck Remus. She had long, wavy lengths of auburn hair and a set of dark eyes that seemed so full of life. She had on; a stunning white dress and it matched her equally white teeth as she continued to smile.
The elderly man beside her coughed a little with irritation for being so unceremoniously dragged. The girl immediately turned towards her father and grinned apologetically, "I'm sorry papa, but it had been such a long while since I've seen Mr Black."
She then ignored him as she beamed at Sirius, "It has been awhile. And would it be rude of me to ask why you're here? I heard you were always busy in your office in the Ministry and hardly had time for…outings."
She threw a brief glance at Remus.
Sirius stood up and shook the hand of the aged man. "Mr Henning," he greeted. Mr Henning nodded, "Sirius,"
"Ms Henning, Mr Breton and myself were just discussing business." He gestured towards Remus.
"Mr Henning, Ms Henning. This is Mr Clemens Breton. He works with me at the Ministry." Sirius finally introduced Remus and didn't bat an eyelash as the lie flowed from his mouth freely.
"Mr Breton, this is Mr Edvard Henning, a member of the Federation of Warlocks and this is Ms Clara Henning, his stunning daughter."
At this Clara giggled whilst Remus tried not to look uneasy as he shook hands with Mr Henning and kissed the back of Clara's hand gently.
"I never thought your business meetings were this extravagant." Clara teased, although her glances toward Remus were still a little chilled.
"I do indulge myself once in a while," Sirius replied mildly.
Clara laid her dark eyes on Remus, who had been silent so far and the corners of her lips turned up slightly, "Have you been working at the Ministry for long, Mr Breton?"
Remus did not dare look at Sirius, "No ma'am.'
"A pity," she replied, although her radiant smile had vanished when she had turned to him, "you would have been able to see Papa at the Ministry if you had."
"Isn't that right Papa?" she clung onto her father a little tighter and stared up at his wrinkled face.
"Yes, Clara dear," Mr Henning's face shone with adoration.
Sirius took Remus's arm, "I'm very sorry but we are already done here."
"Oh," Clara stared at Sirius's hand that was on Remus's arm. Her face was cold.
"Let us meet another time," Sirius finished as he tugged at Remus.
"Err- it was a pleasure meeting you, Mr Henning, Ms Henning." Remus said politely.
Mr Henning nodded but Clara grinned, almost shark-like. She did not look so beautiful then, "Yes, quite. Let us meet another time."
Sirius steered Remus out of the restaurant after paying the bill. He let go, as soon as they were on Beryl Lane.
Remus cleared his throat, "You seem to know Ms Henning very well, sir."
Sirius glanced at him, "Not very. The late Mrs Henning was rather well known for parading her in front of me with every opportunity she acquired. I escorted Clara to last year's Christmas Ball hosted at the McNairs once."
He paused and stared at Remus intently, "Why? Are you jealous?"
That took Remus by surprise, "W-hat, why would I be?" he spluttered.
Sirius chuckled, "I guess, not yet."
Remus turned bright red in his face and muttered to himself discontentedly.
"Ahh, here we are." They had been walking quite a distance down the lane and Sirius swerved left into a shop that had Merlins studded in gold letters and in smaller glittering writing, Remus read Wicked wizard-wear.
"Uh, umm…sir," Remus began to protest but Sirius had already led him into the impressive interior, where Remus saw all the walls lined with mirrors.
A man with slick black hair and a measuring tape slung over his shoulders walked towards them immediately. His black shoes clicked sharply on the granite floor.
"Young master Black. What can I do for you today?" the man asked, twitching his black moustache.
"My friend needs a few set of new robes, casual and formal." Sirius replied easily. Remus grew slightly pink, as he understood what Sirius was about to do.
"I can't af -" Remus swallowed his pride to say it but was in vain as the man took out a white piece of chalk and started marking points on his arm and around his neck. The measuring tape came to life as it tightened around his shoulders.
The slick man waved his wand around and fabrics lying nearby unrolled themselves and started arranging themselves around Remus. Scissors would fly and snip at excess fabric and needles with threads pulled through, would stitch seamlessly in mid-air.
The man shook his head a few times and scratched his chin before calling Sirius over to discuss the designs and style of the robes he wanted and left the material, scissors, needle and thread to continue hovering around Remus, still animated with work.
Remus sighed and stared at his reflection. Just last week, he had never even dreamed that he would be working for Sirius Black nor have new robes from Merlins. He marvelled at the fabric quietly but could not ignore the anger starting to bubble from the pit of his stomach. He didn't need charity!
Remus tried to pay attention to what the textiles were doing now. Sleeves were wrapping around his arms, and the pale blue material was very soft. Remus tried to caress the thick velvet that was currently then being draped over his shoulders but a reprimanding pair of scissors tapped his outstretched hand fiercely. Remus scowled unconsciously and nursed the back of his hands, for it hurt slightly.
"My, don't you look so handsome, all dressed up." A silky voice drawled near his ears.
Remus saw Sirius standing right behind him through the mirror and froze instantly. There was something dangerous lit in Sirius's blank pair of eyes.
Sirius extended a hand, his index finger reaching past his shoulder to Remus's cheek. With the other hand, however, he grasped his shoulder firmly and shifted all his weight onto Remus's back. His hand, inched closer and closer, ever so close to making contact with Remus's cheek. Remus watched transfixed onto that hand through the reflection. Sirius placed his chin on Remus's shoulder blade and finally stroked his cheek with aching slowness, "You're just like a doll…Mr Lupin, a doll." He snickered as he saw Remus's golden eyes widen with fright.
Sirius then drew his lips towards Remus's ears; his long lashes brushing the curve of his cheekbones. Sirius Black's ridiculously long hair started to tickle Remus. It was strange, although Remus was confused and indignant with Sirius's comment and behaviour, he was slightly intrigued, a sense of enchantment was tugging curiously at his senses.
But just as abruptly as he had begun, Sirius withdrew in a split second and turned around sharply, "Yes, Mr Mortimer, this is fine," he gestured to the soft blue material, "I would expect the arranged robes to be sent directly to my house in a few days time."
He gestured to Remus, "Come Mr Lupin."
The materials slithered off Remus and tucked themselves away at these words and the scissors fell lifeless. The measuring rope returned to Mr Mortimer's shoulder, limp and Remus saw his old self in the mirror again. The tired, shabby, patchy exterior. He sighed and followed after Sirius, too tired to even feel riled up about the fact that Sirius had called him over so crudely.
As they exited the shop, Sirius nudged him gently. "Something bothering you Mr Lupin?" he asked lightly.
"Yes," Remus burst out, "I can't afford those robes and, I don't need charity. Especially from you, Mr Black."
Sirius sneered, "Charity? I never give anything away for free, Mr Lupin. You will be paying it off with labour so no need for you to worry your pretty head about it."
Remus bit his lip, what Sirius said made sense too, now that he thought about it carefully. Damn…
"Don't look so dejected Mr Lupin. It takes away the sparkle in your eyes – cheer up, I'll buy you ice cream."
"Ice cream?" Remus asked incredulously, seriously upset now, who did Sirius think he was – a little 5 year-old child?
Remus was walking though Diagon Alley with a large cone clutched in his hand. It was piled with chocolate ice cream and choc chips, with a layer of chocolate sprinkles and chocolate shells. He was feeling considerably happier as well; sugars and sweets had such effects on Remus but still, nothing compared to chocolate.
Sirius saw the happy grin on Remus's face and could not help smiling, "You like chocolate?" he asked quietly.
Remus blushed and cleared his throat, he wasn't meant to be so uplifted by an ice-cream cone, he wasn't a child! "Yes," he mumbled quietly.
Sirius stared at his own, plain vanilla ice cream and gave a hearty lick, "What else do you like, Mr Lupin?"
However, his question was answered immediately when he saw Remus's awed eyes focus on a window to Sirius's left. Sirius followed his gaze to see an International standard broom, the Firebolt for display in the window of Quidditch Supplies. He smirked as Remus tried to tear his gaze from the broomstick. He managed, with much effort and when he met Sirius's penetrating gaze, he hurriedly sped up his pace.
"You like flying?" Sirius asked, a little surprised.
"I don't mind it, sir." Remus bit off a large chunk of ice cream.
"Can you play quidditch?"
Remus nodded his head,
"What position?"
"I would say, a chaser."
"Strange," Sirius mused out loud, "I have never seen you fly at Hogwarts."
"I couldn't, because of my…condition," there was definitely an edge of defiance there.
There was a strange kind of silence that spread out in between Sirius and Remus, as Sirius grew lost in his thoughts. For the first time, he wondered how it would be like to be a werewolf, feeling dread and pain with each full moon. Wondered how much, just being a werewolf, would make your life difficult to live.
It was an unfamiliar emotion that Sirius felt, and when he saw Remus staring at him, he suddenly was full of something that could have been self-loathing. How could he have even thought of discriminating average people like Remus and with just cold indifference, because of who they were? Sure, they were beasts but what made them human were undoubtedly more important. When he thought about, Sirius was suddenly irked when reminded that Remus had not really willingly agreed to work under him.
"What did you really want to do after you left school?" he asked rather out-of-the-blue, yet decidedly curious.
Remus did not notice the strain in Sirius's voice, or even if he did he did not show it, "A healer," he gave a little snort, "as if that was going to happen."
"Why not?" Sirius asked darkly,
"Don't pretend you don't know sir, and spare me the time to explain."
Sirius noticed that Remus sounded like somebody he knew, and it was strange that he didn't like it. As they stepped into the grate, Sirius finally placed a finger on that somebody. That sarcastic tone, the plain hurt disguised carefully in indifference…Remus had sounded like himself.
"Kiann Hall,"
Remus stared at the small creature with eyes as large as a pair of bludgers. "You are?" he asked hesitantly.
"I am Daisy sir," the house-elf bowed. By the high register of its voice and the nature of its name, Remus classified it as a female.
"So, uh – Daisy. Can I see the menus?"
Daisy shuffled its awkward feet, "Daisy and the others just cook what the mistress had ordered us to."
"Mistress?" Remus asked, then he realised, "Oh…Mrs Wulberga Black? Do you mean?"
Daisy nodded her large head.
"But Mrs Black is not here," Remus wondered aloud.
"Oh," Daisy squeaked, "Us have just been serving master with the same menu the mistress gave us six months ago, every day." It explained.
"Oh, since she left?" Remus contemplated.
Daisy nodded its head again. Remus sighed, poor Sirius, having to eat the same meals each day, no wonder he was so thin. Anybody would get sick of eating, if they had the same food for six months!
Only a few people would understand the comfort and relief Remus felt at last when he sat down in the cosy eastern study and shifted through paperwork. The rustle of parchment, the smell of ink and the smooth feel of a quill in his hands, this was work Remus could do.
He saw through some documentation and saw that Sirius was monitoring the movements of other pureblood families quite hawk-like. He skimmed through one particular length of parchment, containing details about the Malfoy's securing a monopoly on the Caribbean floo-trading network.
Hmm, he started to jot down a rough draft of a report that he was required to hand in to Sirius every week. He then saw a peculiar date on Sirius's social calendar and an invitation enclosed neatly in an opened envelope.
Remus put on his rimless glasses to inspect the letter when the door burst open and Sirius strolled in, "Have you seen my white gloves Remus?" he asked buoyantly.
Remus gestured towards the bookcase where Sirius had left them lying unceremoniously, "Over there, sir."
Sirius grinned, "Thank you Mr Lupin," he walked over to slide his lithe hands into them when Remus asked absent-mindedly. "Sir, did you know that tomorrow was Lucius Malfoy's birthday?"
Sirius froze in his tracks and blinked.
"And you are invited sir,"
Sirius's grey eyes glazed over with something like…horror? Remus looked up to see Sirius take a seat, his eyes still unfocused and far away.
"Sir?"
"Remus," Sirius abruptly spoke, "Can you do me a favour?"
Love it? Hate it?
Haha – as per usual, please let me know!!!
And any suggestions are appreciated…
And I know some may say, what was really the point of some parts in this chapter? But I always liked the idea of Sirius and Remus unconsciously dating…haha, if you didn't like that, then sorry!
There are also some of these pairings, which I would like your opinion about:
Snape/Remus
Tonks/Remus
Sirius/OC
I know, not much angst for now, but I promise it will come!
R&R!
Noeru K