Title: The Snapdragon's Gardener
Durmstrang, Year 5
Theme: Discovering the Truth
Prompts: (first/last line) It was 11 o'clock when time stopped, cross-dressing
Wordcount: 2954
A/N: This is wolfstar, and AU. Sirius is not in Azkaban.
It was 11 o'clock when time stopped. 11 sharp, almost as sharp as the angles of the drag queen's cheekbones. She was dressed in shimmery pastel colours of a scarf-material garment, like a silky wispy dress with leggings, which had accommodated her acrobatics. The garment hugged her bum in the most lovely manner, as she spun around displaying herself to Remus. He observed as the queen gyrated, that she looked familiar. It wasn't until she was still, that Remus saw who it was.
12 hours earlier:
Remus paused in his work planting flowers by the walkway in Diagon to nod to the tall, handsome auror. "Hello, can I help you, officer…?"
"Why yes, my good wizard," he said with a twinkle in his eye, "I believe you might be able to help me, indeed."
"Oh?" Remus yawned. Maybe it was just him, but the guy looked almost a little hurt.
"Well for the record, I am officially OFF duty, and my name is Sirius. Citizens usually address me as Auror or Officer Black, but you don't have to, unless we were getting into it." He winked. Remus felt...something at this, but he wasn't sure what the heck it was. This guy was gorgeous, but he didn't like guys...did he?
"Perhaps you think me unprofessional, what with the uniform, but could I ask you to a certain establishment tonight?"
"Huh?" Remus mumbled, feeling his face grow hot. Was he blushing? He never blushed, most certainly not for off-duty aurors who were blokes!
He tried to remember the last time he'd blushed. Ah, it was when Rosie McConnell kissed him while he was helping her study for OWLs. He'd grown very, very red and started mumbling senseless protestations. He hadn't liked her, despite what James had chanted for the next week straight. It was so embarrassing. He thought he must have been broken, not liking women nor having crushes. What kind of person didn't like anyone? Let alone him being a werewolf; even if anyone deigned to go on a date they'd be suspicious and calling the Aurors soon enough. And yet here was an Auror talking to him, and he wasn't trying to get away. No, no, he was acting natural he told himself. Acting natural…
The guy looked crestfallen and was about to turn away, when Remus suddenly emerged from his bout of introspection and cried out "What? My name's Remus. But uh, uh what establishment? Am I in trouble? Auror?" He was babbling now, and his cheeks burned even more.
"You're not in trouble, not the legal sort anyway," Sirius said with a sly grin. "I'm off duty, remember?"
Remus nodded dumbly. Why couldn't he so much as put a comprehensible sentence together, and why couldn't he understand what this guy said? "Yes, offic—Sirius. Of course. Don't mind me I woke up on the wrong side of the broom today. I—I mean bed. I don't sleep on my broom, that would be ridiculous—"
"Uhhuh, sure you don't. And I'm not a snapdragon, either," Sirius chuckled. Maybe Remus was going bonkers, but he could have sworn the guy winked at him. He rubbed his eyes as if it would help him make sense of the odd little situation he found himself in.
"A snapdragon, you say? Why my mum loved herbology. I might have a few back home in a pot on the window ledge…" He didn't know what he was rambling about. Why was he telling Sirius, an absolute stranger, about plants?
"Mm a snapdragon of sorts. Anywho, Remus, I was wondering if you'd like to go to a sort of pub tonight, The Purple Siren it's called. 42B Hippogriff Way," He grinned just a little. Remus wondered why, a thought that was tinged with excitement, maybe even something like awe for the tall dark stranger.
"OK what time?"
"10:30 would be great," Sirius said.
"Alrighty then, 42B Hippogriff Way, 10:30, see you then I spose." His heart thundered in his ears. He hadn't the slightest what he was doing or why, but it seemed like a good idea. He'd planned to have supper with the blokes at the office tonight, but he'd owl them. This seemed much more interesting…
"Great, see you there. Don't be late, or I might have to arrest you."
Remus didn't know why, but he was almost tempted to be late, just to spite him.
Remus had gone to the address a good 30 minutes early, for all his best efforts sweating and trying vainly to relax. But why was he even so nervous? It made no sense. He watched as the staff cleared the tables and chairs from the floor to turn the daytime bistro into a gay dive bar. Jazzy piano music played, but would soon be replaced with hip modern tunes. Other guys began filtering in after a bit, but try as he might, Remus couldn't spot Sirius. He wondered if he had become the butt of a cruel, bad joke. Then, on the stage, someone came up, and began announcing. The stage personas were decked out in all manner of outlandish glitter and glamour. "Hellooo gents, and ladies, oh do we have a treat for you tonight! Introducing our very own ladies of splendor and sirens of all things sumptuous, the Royalty of Knocturn Alley! Give these Queens a round of applause!" The queens came onstage, decked out in all manner of outlandish glitter and glamour.
The queens fawned and waved, one turning around and shaking her derriere for the audience, who whistled and cajoled her for more. She smirked, exaggerated her sharp eyebrows, and fell into a split at the edge of the stage.
"Yes, yes, good people, another round of applause for these opulent ladies of ostentation, especially the Marvelous Miss Mauve Snapdragon!"
The queen bowed so low her hair almost touched the floor, then jumped to the dance floor, her six inch heels making a thunderous crack, and she headed straight for Remus.
It was 11 o'clock when time stopped. 11 sharp, almost as sharp as the angles of the queen's cheekbones. She was dressed in shimmery pastel colours of a scarf-material garment, like a silky wispy dress with leggings, which had accommodated her acrobatics. The garment hugged her bum in the most lovely manner, as she spun around displaying herself to Remus. He observed as the queen gyrated that she looked familiar. She came up to him, and tucked him into her arm, did a dip and spun him around. As Remus, dazzled by the occurrence, drank it in, she dove for a voracious kiss on the lips. The crowd cheered, and Remus kissed back, deeply. The queen addressed the crowd, voice far higher than could be natural. It wasn't until she was still, and pulled back, that Remus saw who it was. Sirius. Remus never realized a bloke could look that hot.
"Sirius?"
"Shhh as far as you're concerned, I am Miss Mauve Snapdragon here," Sirius tossed her hair. "Or if you really must, call me Siri, then." She winked. Remus grinned.
Sirius departed to go dance on stage, which Remus watched with rapt attention. Each movement seemed seductive, perfectly executed, deliberately calling to him.
Later, after the dances were done, they went to mingle with the crowd.
"That's my friend, Flossy Phoenix," Siri said. One of the queens waved from behind her pink ostrich feather fan, batting her oversized eyelashes when Sirius gestured to her, and pretending to faint when he winked. Remus wasn't sure what to make of all this, but he clung to Siri nonetheless.
Another queen, larger with lots of curly brown hair and a disgusting number of pink bows on everything-her hair, her dress, her jewelry, even her fingers-nodded to them "Hello boys," she said. "And this is Dolly Umbitch," which made Remus almost inhale his firewhisky. "No!" Remus blurted "I've never heard a more perfect name in my life!" "Yas!" Siri insisted, clapping him on the back. The pair guffawed loudly.
They met more queens, Magdalene the Magnificent and Nora Explora the more memorable names among them, but Remus only had interest in one, Mauve Snapdragon, or as he preferred to call her, his Sirius. His? He'd only just met this guy, and yet, he kept thinking of him as "his." Blimey, he was smitten.
They had a nice snog in the alleyway, Sirius now in his street clothes, which were under threat of being shucked off by eager hands. He chuckled and told Remus "Thirty seconds." And they apparated away to his place, where they soon found themselves moving beyond kisses.
Remus had just realized what desire was, what attraction was. He longed to undress Sirius, but as they headed towards the bedroom, he paused, growing still and quiet for a moment.
"All good?" Sirius asked.
"Don't laugh. But I...haven't been with a bloke before." He cleared his throat. "Or...or anyone. I haven't been with anyone before."
Sirius smiled, laughing softly. It didn't sting like Remus had thought, though. It was warm, friendly in tone, not mocking. "Well then we shall have to fix that. It's quite altright, I'll show you a proper shag." He clapped Remus on the shoulder, and he also smiled, turning back to his lover, who he beckoned into the bedroom.
Some time later they were resting in Sirius' bed, Sirius was just finishing some long crazy story of his time in second year.
"Say, yesterday, you were planting flowers when I came up. Hobby or work?"
Remus laughed. "Both."
"Well, you know, I thought I recognized you, from school. You were a quiet kid, yeah?"
"Yeah. I was, or still am, really. But you were at Hogwarts?"
"Aye, 'til my mother decided Hogwarts was going downhill, run by an old man gone soft, then they shipped me off to Durmstrang. They said the Black family needed wizards taught to fight and to respect tradition, which apparently Hogwarts didn't do to her satisfaction. So off I went, over hols, no less. No time for goodbyes, just sent me away."
"What year would you have been?"
"Second. I'd been watching you a while, wanted to say hi, but never got the chance."
"You remembered me all these years later?"
"Well, sort of. I wondered what happened to you all this time, but wasn't sure if it was you when I saw you yesterday. I thought, what the hell, I ought to take a chance and ask you to the bar."
"I was friends with James Potter and Peter Pettigrew," Remus shrugged. "James got married but he and his wife were killed. Only their baby son survived that night."
"Oh. I remember hearing, yes. Terrible, that."
"I wish I could do more for the child," Remus pondered. "I was to be his Godfather, before all this…"
"If he's your Godson, why don't you go see him?"
"It...it's a long story…" he shook his head sadly. The fact was, he was a wolf, and the way wolves were treated, it would be cruel to inflict his presence upon Harry, when he'd only inevitably be forced away when someone realized a wolf was interacting with the Boy who Lived.
"Maybe you can tell it to me sometime?"
"Maybe…" Remus recoiled a bit, rolling over away from Sirius. The reason he didn't go see Harry was being a wolf, the reason nobody wanted him, the reason none of this could last. It would all be ruined by being a wolf.
He was used to being alone with his gloomy thoughts, but what happened next surprised him. Sirius too rolled over, and spooned him, arms wrapping around his sides. He wanted to shrink from his lover, but didn't want to cause offense. He didn't know why he'd chosen to do this, tonight of all nights. Then again, any night would have the same inevitable conclusion; he'd eventually be found out as a wolf, and any attachment would be ruined. He tried to block this thought and enjoy being held. Just for a bit, maybe, he could pretend he wasn't cursed to be perpetually alone.
He woke up in a bed he didn't recognize beside his acquaintance, momentarily the last night's events came rushing back, and he felt his gut sink.
"No, no, no…" Remus muttered to himself. He ran to the bathroom, tried to wash his face and straighten his hair and pants a bit. Where had he even left his clothes? He stood at the sink muttering to himself. He'd just spent the night with an auror, how stupid could he be? But the memory of how right it felt being near Sirius had him all confused. How could something so dangerous, and so out of character, sleeping with a male auror, feel so right?
Sirius found his trousers and was looking for a shirt. The fellow had run off to the bathroom, as if to avoid him. What had he done? Maybe he was wrong, maybe Remus regretted their entanglement. Maybe Remus didn't want to be with a drag queen, after all. He couldn't pretend it wasn't the first time this had happened. His gut sank, but he tried to put on a brave face.
"Hey, Remus? Everything all right in there, mate?" Remus heard Sirius moving around like he was getting dressed.
He froze, then straightened up and opened the door, heart pounding in his head. He managed to school his face to a blank look, praying he didn't look terrified.
"Y-yeah, s'all fine," he mumbled. He failed to hide his voice quavering.
"And yet my detective skills tell me you don't sound alright."
Remus bit his lip and stared at the floor.
"What's going on?"
Sirius was out of bed, heading over. Remus shut his eyes. A sharp, familiar burning sensation on his chest made him snap back to reality. He hissed wordlessly, willing himself not to snatch away.
"What's wrong? I'm sorry, didn't know you didn't want me to touch you—" Sirius looked a bit closer, and realized his silver signet ring he'd put on while getting dressed had made an angry red imprint—a brand— on Remus' chest. He stared, jaw going slack.
"I burned you…" he whispered.
Remus nodded, struggling to speak. "Yes."
"But that would mean…"
He braced for what came next.
"...a werewolf. Y—you're a werewolf?"
Shutting his eyes tightly, wishing like hell this wasn't happening, tears threatening to spill, he said stiffly, "Yes."
When he managed to look up, he saw the consternation in Sirius' face.
"But you're amazing. You're not...you aren't like they tell us you'd be."
"No, not so fearsome as the propagandists would have you think." He smiled weakly.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Sirius shook his head. "Of course you're not like...that. You're just a regular bloke."
Remus sighed. "What happens now?"
"Well, I was going to ask you if you fancied some waffles?"
Remus nodded slowly, though his heart still pounded.
"Is it ok if I touch you?" Sirius asked softly. He nodded. "Without this, of course," Sirius said, placing his silver ring on the dresser, where Remus vaguely remembered seeing it the night before. The auror wrapped his arms around the werewolf, who slowly returned his embrace. Sirius let his lips brush against Remus' and they began to kiss again. The fear that had frozen Remus melted away, and he felt like he didn't ever want to let go.
They'd finished their breakfast and sat in the lounge, half watching the replay of last night's quidditch match on WizardTube.
"I had a lot of fun, though I'm not sure why you chose me, you must have men begging to be here," Remus said. Sirius' heart fell; did he only see this as a one-time thing, a one-off?
"Not really. I thought you didn't want to stick around, when you were in the bathroom," Sirius said. "I've had guys run off before when they find out I'm a drag queen, they aren't up for it. But you've been...different. Did you expect me to turn you away when I found out you're a werewolf?"
"Yes. It's happened before; girls have left mid-dinner when I can't touch the silverware." Remus face burned remembering the abject shame of it all. "I'm hardly some catch, you know."
"I don't know about that," Sirius said, voice gently teasing.
Remus turned a bit pink. "I, er, thanks. I think?"
"Oh honey that is definitely a compliment, just own it."
"Fine, fine. I don't get those much."
"Well you should."
Remus laughed. "Not to hear most people."
"What, because you're a wolf?"
"Yeah. And a weirdo who's 30 and never had a girlfriend."
"About that, are you sure you're straight?"
Remus frowned a little, "I...I'm not so sure now. I feel things with you I never felt before."
"That's alright. I haven't felt like this in a long time, either. Now I don't know what we do next, but I'd like to find out," Sirius said as he planted a kiss on Remus' cheek.
"As would I," Remus said as he kissed Sirius back, on the lips. "But what happens with your job, with me being a wolf, and-"
"Shh, it's ok. I'll figure it out. Besides, the Ministry could use a bit of an update on their werewolf inservice, if I don't say so myself. I don't care what anyone thinks, I'm glad I ran into you again. And, I want to do this again."
"Really?"
"Really."
Remus squeezed Sirius' hand, finding that whatever happened, he now had a friend-a lover?-and maybe he didn't have to be so alone, after all.