Remus was so sure that Sirius had seen it too. The clear vision of Remus in the kitchen and Sirius unflinching touching his scars. Remus would have thought it were real if Sirius wasn't so far away on the couch when he came out of it. The problem Remus faced was that was not a realistic event.
There were only three people who would touch his scars. His doctors would run their fingers over the scars meticulously with every intention to simply make sure that scar tissue was not building poorly. Hope Lupin would run her fingers over them when he was asleep. She would be sobbing as quietly as she could whispering unwarranted apologies. Lily would run her fingers over them in pity. Lily didn't pity Remus in any other fashion, but in the early hours of the day after nightmares plagued him, Lily would run her fingers over them to help with his phantom pains. Her eyes would try to remain neutral, but when she brushed over a thick portion of a scar she would flinch. Even his best friend, who had known him scar-less was bothered by them.
There was hope though. Hope in Remus that hadn't been there ever since he woke up in the hospital. Hopes that someone would touch him and know that Remus was broken, yet loved him because of it. Knew that Remus had lost pieces, broken pieces, and pieces he had spent hours putting back into place. Someone in Remus' dream would help him put together his puzzle knowing that the picture wouldn't ever be whole.
Looking at the spirit and soul in Sirius, he could see that Sirius had found his own pieces. Sirius knew who he was and what he wanted. There wasn't time to slow down for someone who didn't have that path. Sirius seemed to like adventure and chasing after what he wanted. Remus liked to stay in his comfort zone, moving slowly when he needed to reach out beyond that.
The bookstore was busy as expected on a Saturday afternoon. He enjoyed the distraction. Around closing Remus say Lily jump out of a car with James and Sirius. She was obviously pointing out their apartment above the shop and then pointed into the store. Remus prayed to whatever was out there that they wouldn't want to come in. Powers were conspiring against him because at the slowest part of the day when Remus had no other distractions, Miss Lily Evens led Sirius Black into the bookstore.
Remus softly waved to them. He didn't want to seem too unfriendly.
"Look around if you'd like. Remus gets shipments on Friday so there's some good stuff in stock."
James and Sirius seemed genuinely interested in some of the shelves. Lily grabbed Remus' upper arm and pulled him around the back room.
"You left this morning without me. I was worried."
"Lily, I was fine. You were sleeping quite well, and I didn't think James could pass up an opportunity to walk you home."
Lily blushed bright red down her neck. "He just said that he'd be interested in the café next door for dinner. We came over to invite you too."
"Are you sure you want to move so fast with James?"
"What do you mean? We're just friends. I told him as much yesterday."
Remus couldn't help but worry. Even as she said that her eyes searched out the messy black hair.
"Men and women can be friends. It can be hard when that man obviously wants something more and then proceeds to take her on not-dates." Remus didn't know how to phrase the next section politely, but it needed to be said. "People can start to treat you in a way that makes you feel like you owe them what they want. I think you might be in a vulnerable place receiving attention like that."
Lily went back and forth between angry and contemplative. "It feels nice to have someone be attentive. I don't want to use him."
"Friendship is a mutual relationship; I just don't want him to use that against you to get more."
Lily had tears streaming down her face. "He doesn't have anything on his ankle. His pant leg rode up a bit this morning and I wasn't able to see anything."
Remus all of the sudden realized why Lily was so confused on what to do. Lily had expressed that she thought he was the one. That he was her knight and she would go slow, but eventually they would come together and be soulmates. Not seeing that mark would have sent her into a spiral of what to do with her feelings now.
"I'm going to tell you something and you aren't going to do anything about it ok?"
Lily was surprised at the sudden change. "Ok."
"I saw something. Something me and Sirius related." Lily's face brightened and began to bounce. "I think he saw it too. I don't know how to approach that."
Lily wiped her eyes and immediate went into scheming mode. "You could start with a not-double-date at the café next door." She winked at him and Remus had to admit. A meal of being able to stare at Sirius was not going to be any sort of pain to him.