CW: traveling(trains), food/alcohol, high emotions, surprise conflict

:SIXTY-FOUR:

Kreacher made them breakfast the next morning, which Sirius praised until Kreacher's ears had turned pink with embarrassment. They made sure Kreacher had everything he needed, and that he knew how to reach Petunia if he needed something while she was at work.

"Kreacher can take care of himself, Sirs Sirius and Remus." Kreacher said grumpily, shooing them out of the flat.

"Kicked out of the flat by a house elf." Sirius said melodramatically as they walked down the stairs. "Mother would be so disappointed."

"Good." Remus smiled, holding Sirius' hand and carrying their luggage with the other.

"Now," Sirius said excitedly. "Let's apparate over to the train station, and then we should have some time to explore before it leaves."

Remus nodded, pulling Sirius along to the alley where they usually apparated. The place where they landed was foggy that morning, but they managed to find their way through the village streets over to where the station was supposed to be. Remus shrunk down their luggage and placed it in his pocket so it would be out of the way.

Once they'd established their time to get on board, Sirius and Remus went off to find a cup of coffee. They each ordered lattes, putting in their own sugar and then meandering back. Sirius held Remus by the hand, gently swinging their arms as he sipped his coffee. They people-watched while they waited to get on board, a comfortable silence between them like a warm blanket.

"What do you want to do first?" Remus asked Sirius. "When we get to this surprise place you've picked out."

Sirius just smirked, booping Remus playfully on the nose. "I'm not spoiling anything, love. You'll see when we get there."

Their train was called soon after that, so they climbed aboard and got themselves settled in a compartment Sirius had reserved. It was just easier that way to not worry about muggles overhearing anything on accident. Plus, Sirius thought it added an extra level of romance to the occasion.

"This is very nice." Remus said approvingly, stretching out luxuriously on his side of the compartment. "Do you want to play cards or something?"

"Yeah, alright." Sirius leaned on his elbows, watching Remus shuffle cards on the table in between them. "I will be sure to trounce you, as is tradition."

"We'll just see about that." Remus smirked, dealing out the cards for a game of rummy.

Dudley had taught them the game several years ago, and they were hopelessly hooked on it. Sirius also wasn't entirely overdramatic either - he was a consistent champion against Remus and barely challenged by the boys. The only ones who remotely held their own were Petunia and Noah.

So they spent the train ride playing several rounds of cards and enjoying a fabulous lunch from the dining cart that came by halfway through their journey. Remus was honestly impressed by the quality of the food, and very happy with the wine Sirius picked out. He was terrible at selecting wine for himself, but loved everything Sirius picked out for them both.

"Alright, well," Sirius said finally, clapping his hands together as the train pulled into their destination. "I suppose I should tell you where we are now."

"After Noah took us on that holiday this summer," Sirius began. "I noticed how much you loved the view of the water and the open air. So…"

He drummed his hands on the table. "I got us a cottage in Durdle Door!"

"Ah," Remus smirked. "That explains why you made me pack our swimming trunks."

He kissed Sirius on the cheek as they got up to leave the train. "It's a wonderful surprise, love. Thank you."

Sirius beamed, holding onto Remus' hand so they wouldn't be separated by the crowd of other people exiting the train. He didn't respond though as it was so noisy, instead waiting until they were out on the street looking around for some transportation to their cottage.

"That's not all, either!" Sirius replied excitedly. "There's all sorts of cool historical sites out here I thought you might like. And the website Harry showed me says there's all sorts of good places to eat as well."

"Is that so." Remus smiled at him. "I think we'd better get unpacked, then we can decide what to do first."

They got into a cab, which took them up to the cottage without any problems. It had started to drizzle slightly by the time they got unpacked, so the two of them decided to just stay in and get cleaned up for dinner. They'd looked over the brochure and chosen a nice local pub because Sirius had a hankering for chips.

"I know Harry spends most of his time away from us now," Remus said as they walked down the street to the place they'd chosen for dinner. "But it's weird not having him around."

"I know what you mean." Sirius agreed, holding the door open for both of them. "It probably drives him crazy how many letters we send him at Hogwarts."

They laughed together, ordering a round of beers and their food before grabbing a booth. The pub was classically charming in the way only small older towns could be. Remus liked places like this because of its historical context, while Sirius liked it because it flew in the face of everything he'd grown up around. In the world he grew up in, going somewhere like this and being surrounded by muggles would have been completely off-limits.

So, now Sirius appreciated the greasy food beers, and people like a child at Christmas. He and Remus joked around and had fun together, people-watching and trying each other's food until they were too full for dessert.

"Well," Sirius said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows. "Do you want to head back to the cottage?"

Remus smirked, but kissed Sirius gently. "Alright, let's go."

The pair of them woke up the next morning to a pretty grey-blue sky, all cuddled in bed together. Eventually though, Sirius' stomach demanded they get up and have some breakfast. Remus busied himself making a pot of tea, humming a nonsensical tune while he worked. Sirius had been wise enough to order a few pastries to go the night before, so he went about heating them up. Once everything was ready, they took their breakfast to the table overlooking the coast.

Remus took a sip of his tea. "The paper's late today."

"Oh, come on Remus!" Sirius smirked. "We're on holiday! Why do you want to read the paper for?"

"You know I like doing the crossword." Remus replied. "And don't act like you don't enjoy it too - you always wind up helping with at least half of them."

"Well, here it comes then." Sirius opened the window for the tawny owl as it flew inside.

The owl fluttered their wings importantly, holding out one leg for payment after it had released the morning paper. Remus paid the owl, offering it a glass of water before it had to take back off through the window.

"You know," Remus said conversationally as he watched the owl fly out. "We really don't give owls enough credit...Sirius?"

Sirius looked pale as a ghost, staring at the paper in front of Remus. "Remus…"

Remus looked down, seeing what Sirius was so afraid of - it was the Dark Mark. He quickly opened the paper and frantically read the article on the front page. There really was not very much information, but the basic details were there. Someone had sent up the Dark Mark after a few Pureblood supremacists had been muggle-baiting at the Quidditch World Cup. The paper rumoured that people were dead or hurt, though Remus took it with a grain of salt as the author was Rita Skeeter.

"What about Harry?" Sirius asked immediately after Remus finished summarizing the article. "Does it say anything about Harry? We need to go - he could be hurt -"

But before he could panic too much, another owl came flying inside. This one they recognized - it was Hedwig. She had a very hastily-written letter from Harry tied to her leg, which Sirius read quickly before handing it off to Remus and going outside.

Harry was alright. Remus let out a sigh of relief. The letter didn't say much more, other than that everyone was safe and back at the Burrow. Harry said he would write more, but he wanted to reach them before the papers did. He told them explicitly not to cut their holiday short on his account, that he would just stay with the Weasleys until they got back.

As Remus looked back up at Sirius, who was pacing around angrily outside, he highly doubted that would be possible.

Notes:

My poor characters just can't catch a break it seems. I hope to continue posting semi-regularly - I am writing every day still, I just don't get as much time as I used to.

Happy Reading!