"I'm telling you, mate. She may seem like lollipops and rainbows but I bet behind closed doors she's latex and whips." Sirius grinned, giving his customer a wink. "She's a firecracker, that girl."

Teddy smiled, his anxiety giving way under Sirius's humor. "Thanks for helping me out. Oh, and for the Pumpkin Pasties."

"No problem," Sirius said, trying not to look at Teddy's red string again. "Good luck with Victoire."

"Thanks," Teddy repeated and rose, checking his watch. "Shit, I'm late! I was supposed to meet her five minutes ago! I'll see you around!"

"See you."


He woke up in a gray, empty, cold room with a wire attached to his wrist.

"Hello?" he called, and that's when he noticed the string around his index finger.


"Rough day?" Lily asked sympathetically as they both sipped from wine glasses. Sirius was staring moodily at the red string around his finger.

"Huh?" he asked and then his mind caught up to his ears. "No, no, I was just thinking…"

"Don't," Lily said sagely. "It's such a bad habit."

"You're such a bad habit," Sirius retorted childishly.

"Oh please, that was such a lame comeback." Lily rolled her eyes. "Are you sure you're feeling okay? Because your comebacks are better than this."

"I'm fine," he muttered, staring into his wine glass.


No one was there. The red string was the only thing that connected him — what? Who was at the other end?

The door opened easily, noiselessly, and Sirius walked down the never-ending hall. The hallway too was gray stone, and it was awfully quiet.

At the end was another door. This one opened into daylight. The scent of grass hit his nose and the wind tugged at his hair. The red string lay gleaming before him in the sunlight, but only for a few meters. After that, it was strange — the string curved up, into the sky, as far as Sirius could see.

What did it mean?


Sirius generally avoided the park because it was full of couples, soulmates, holding hands and looking nauseatingly adorable. It was only a cruel reminder of what he couldn't — didn't — have. He instead bought himself an ice cream and walked to the beach. The sun blazed overhead and there were a few birds flying overhead.

He gave the couples on the beach a wide berth, finding an unoccupied spot. Not caring about getting sand on his arse, he sat, licking his ice cream languidly.

And that's when he heard the buzzing. Not in his immediate vicinity, but far above, and rapidly growing louder.

The birds were descending — but wait, they weren't birds. They were sleek, metal transport ships, but with an unfamiliar symbol stamped on the sides.

And bloody hell, they were flying towards him and —

Sirius ran like hell, skidding through the sand, but to his horror, the red string resisted. He tugged on it impatiently, but the damn thing resisted like someone was pulling it from the other end.

The bloody thing was attached to one of the ships, or more specifically, someone inside the ship.

The transport ship landed behind him, spraying sand everywhere, and Sirius received a direct spray to his backside. He fell facefirst into the sand, but at least he had the foresight to close his eyes and mouth.

The ship screeched to a halt and the damn string stopped resisting. He heard the creak of a door opening and a voice calling frantically, "Oh Lyall, are you okay? I swear I didn't mean to land as clumsily as I did!"

Sirius coughed as he scrambled to his feet, brushing the sand off his skin and clothes. He could taste, no feel the grains of sand in his mouth (thankfully, it was only a few). "I'm fine, but could you watch where you're going next time?"

"Sorry!" the man (the voice sounded male) apologized. "This was my first landing and I'm so awful."

Sirius turned and his face went slack as he took in the man standing before him. He seemed almost ethereal, with his amber-colored eyes and light brown hair streaked with white.

Sirius's eyes dropped instinctively to his hand and saw a thread winding its way through the head, and at the end —

The man raised his hand, inspecting it in the sunlight. "I suppose we're soulmates?"

"...I suppose. Wait, who are you?"

"Remus Lupin. And you are?"

"Sirius, Sirius Black."

"Well, Sirius Black," Remus said, pushing his hair out his eyes and smiling shyly. "I'd be honored and grateful if you showed me around your…dwelling. And perhaps we can discuss this red string?" He gestured to the beach and the city beyond, the red string following his hand.

"I'd be okay with that."

Oh, he was very okay with that.


800 words

Sci-Fi September Day 19 - After gaining the ability to see people's Red Strings of Fate, tying soulmates to each other, You realise yours extends past the sky.

Pick a Wick - 23. Pumpkin

Build a Breakfast - 11. Bananas

Founder Says - Rowena - 7. "You're such a bad habit."

Skyscraper, Floor 5 - (action) flying

Shades of OZ - 9. Flying Monkey

1000 - "She may seem like lollipops and rainbows but I bet behind closed doors she's latex and whips."

365 - 305. Taste