FRIDAY AFTERNOON
[12:46] About to leave school.
[12:46] An eight hour journey with Prongs and Wormtail.
[12:47] What could possibly go wrong?
Sirius groaned loudly and knocked his head against his seat. It had been three hours since the Marauders had boarded the train to Edinburgh (where they would change to London, where they would change to Cardiff, where they would change to Llanfairpwll) and already he was bored out of his mind. Mr and Mrs Potter had decided to give the boys an opportunity to test their independence by allowing them to travel down on the train by themselves. In theory, freedom from both parents and teachers sounded like fun, and James had agreed eagerly on behalf of his friends. In practice, it was sitting in a moving building for eight hours with very little to entertain them.
Usually, when his friends failed to amuse him, Sirius had taken to talking to Remus instead. It bothered him more than it should have that Remus hadn't replied, although he reasoned that Remus was probably still in school. Or had lost his phone in a terrible accident. Or was hanging out with Marlene.
Sirius tapped his fingers impatiently on the table and directed his glare to the countryside outside, willing it to move faster.
"You alright, mate?" Peter asked, looking at Sirius inquisitively. "You look a bit constipated."
"Yeah, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" Sirius snapped in reply. Peter, used to Sirius' sharp jeers, didn't look at all hurt, although James poked his friend in the side.
"Yeah, what's got into you, Padfoot?" he asked with an expression identical to Peter's.
"Nothing," Sirius insisted. He unlocked his phone again and checked his texts.
James exchanged a look with Peter. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the text you sent Moony when we left, would it?"
"No! How do you even know about that?"
"Who else would you be texting?" Peter asked. "Me and Prongs were with you at the time."
"I have loads of friends," Sirius protested, elbowing James as he scoffed at the notion.
"Yeah, right. Anyway, is that why you keep checking your phone?"
"No," Sirius mumbled after a beat of silence. Peter cackled. "Oh yeah, Prongs, that reminds me," he continued, ignoring Peter's guffaws. "Is there something going on between him and Marlene?"
James smirked. "I don't think she's really his type, if I'm honest."
"No?"
James shook his head, although a smirk was still plastered on his face. "Almost certainly not."
"You're like a jealous girlfriend, mate!" Peter told Sirius gleefully. Sirius kicked him under the table.
"Fuck off," he grumbled, although he wondered if there was some truth in Peter's words. He certainly enjoyed talking to Remus a lot, although he'd managed to brush that off as friendship, even if he'd never really texted people before. The occasional clench of jealousy he felt when Remus spoke of Marlene he had also banished to the corners of his mind. But it was difficult to ignore the daydreams about Remus, even if he managed to repress the thoughts before he leaned in to kiss him. Or at least before the kiss was too heated. Or at least before any clothes were removed. Sometimes.
Sirius groaned
"Oi! Shitface!"
Sirius was awoken by a heavy pillow to the head. The three of them hadn't arrived in Llanfairpwll until at least midnight the night before, and Sirius was still recovering from the late night and the long few weeks spent in school. "Fuck off, Wormtail," he grunted, only to be met by another pillow.
"Remus is here. I've been sent up to get you."
Sirius twisted around to look at Peter. "What time is it?"
"Like, 11 o'clock. Get up, get dressed, and pay attention to your hair."
Before Peter could finish his sentence Sirius had rolled out of bed and was stretching. "Get out, Pete, I'm about to strip."
"Jesus Christ, I'm leaving, I'm leaving." Peter waved his hands in front of his eyes as Sirius pulled off his T-Shirt and left the room.
Ten minutes later Sirius emerged, his hair self consciously swept over one shoulder. He found James and Peter sitting at opposite Remus and a bespectacled girl, the tips of her afro a hot pink. She was the first to see Sirius and her face lit up.
"Hi," she grinned.
"Hey," Sirius replied, doing his best to look cool as he ran his fingers through the end of his hair. "You must be Marlene."
"The very same."
Sirius noticed how at ease Remus seemed beside her, his arm resting casually on the back of her chair. They go well together, he thought bitterly.
"We were just hearing about what an inspiration Marly's hair had been to your prank," Remus grinned, pulling Sirius out of his thoughts. Sirius returned his smile, even if it was a little forced, and sat at the head of the table.
"It was legendary," he declared.
"A bit juvenile, don't you think?" Remus countered.
"Adding pink hair dye to the Slytherins' shampoo was our best prank to date," James argued, slamming his fist onto the table for emphasis.
"And I still think bribing the kitchen staff to serve candyfloss and raspberry lemonade was a stroke of genius," Peter added and he grinned reminiscently as the other four laughed uproariously.
"Anyway," Remus said, clearing his throat as the noise died down. Sirius didn't miss the nudge Marlene sent his way. "I suppose there's something I should probably tell you guys. I mean, not a lot of people know, but-"
James settled back into his chair with a smug smile, folding his arms expectantly. "Come on then, out with it, Moony, old pal." Sirius tried to send him an inquisitive glance but he was ignored in favour of Remus.
"Well – here's the thing," he began, twisting his hands together nervously. "I may not – ah – be entirely straight."
Sirius blinked in surprise. James clapped his hands together triumphantly. "Way ahead of you there, mate," he told him smugly.
It was Remus' turn to look surprised. "How did you know?"
"You're nearly not as good at keeping secrets as you think you are."
"That's true," Marlene chipped in. "I knew before you told me, too."
"You were the first person I told. I had hour long conversations with you about it before I was even sure."
"Well, I didn't know," Sirius interrupted, pouting slightly. He felt hurt that Remus hadn't told him before. Why wait so long to come out?
"I hadn't really told a lot of people," Remus explained, looking at Sirius as though he'd said something very odd. Sirius scoffed and rolled his eyes disparagingly. "But I thought you should…" He shot an uncertain glance at Marlene, who shrugged discreetly.
"Anyway," James said, also looking at Sirius dubiously. "Now we know Remus is a rampant homosexual, we can move on to the important stuff. What's this music festival like?"
Marlene looked relieved that James was taking the initiative as Sirius continued to glower at Remus.
"Well, the music festival's a pile of bullshit. A couple of crappy rides, some Welsh nationalists, and some 11-year-olds singing the national anthem." Her eyes slid towards Remus, who was biting his lip and staring at the table top. She wondered if she should get him out of there before the situation escalated.
"Sounds like a barrel of laughs. Why are we going to this again?" Peter asked.
"To support the Welsh culture, Pete. We all know it's dying out," James told his friend, rolling his eyes at Marlene.
"Quite right. Although I would keep quiet tomorrow – they don't exactly appreciate the English," she grinned.
Marlene had slipped her hand under the table to hold Remus', well aware that sometimes her friend needed some physical contact to help him feel grounded. Sirius' jaw tightened. "Remus, blod, wyt ti angen gadael?" she asked very quietly. Peter and James had the good grace to look as though they hadn't heard.
"What did you just say?" Sirius asked quickly, but not before Marlene could catch Remus nodding subtly. Marlene scowled.
"I don't remember it being any of your business, cariad."
"Marlene," Remus hissed. "Come on, let's go before you hit someone."
Peter looked bewildered as James glared furiously at Sirius and Marlene and Remus got up to go, giving their thanks to Mrs Potter and promising to find James in the Eisteddfod.
"What a prick," Marlene declared as soon as they were halfway down the street. When Remus didn't reply, instead kicking a rock across the road, she tried a different tack. "Are you feeling OK?"
After a pause, Remus groaned. "What did I do wrong, Marlene?"
"Nothing!" she insisted. "You've done nothing wrong. He just appears to be a wanker of the highest order. You need a better crush."
"I think I'm in too deep for that, Marl."
"Nonsense. You'll be fine!"
"Sirius, what the fuck was that?"
Sirius' arms were still crossed and he stared sullenly at the table, not acknowledging James' question.
"Yeah, Sirius, that was really weird. What's wrong with you?" Peter chimed in.
"Nothing," Sirius snapped. "Nothing's wrong with me. I'm fine."
"Thing is, I'm not worried about whether you're fine. I'm worried about poor Moony. Do you know how difficult it is to come out to people? How do you think he's feeling right now?"
Sirius flinched. "Fuck you, James."
"Don't be a homophobic dick. It's like the number one rule in life."
The chair scraped as Sirius stood up suddenly. He walked out without another word, leaving a fuming James and concerned Peter in his wake.
[12:53] Hey Moony
[12:53] I'm sorry if I was weird earlier
[01:12] Don't do that to me again. What the hell is wrong with you?
[01:16] I don't know.
[01:16] I am OK with you being gay. I don't mind.
[01:17] And I'm sorry.
[01:18] Good.
A/N: Oops. Dick!Sirius has reared his ugly head. Sorry about that, guys.