For August Bingo on the Ministry of Magic Discord.


Lily fussed over Remus, her quick fingers deftly buttoning the shirt she had demanded he slip over his singlet. Remus stood straight, his shoulders stiff and back.

"Just relax," Lily said softly. "You'll be brilliant. Who wouldn't want to hire you?"

"Who wouldn't want to hire a werewolf?" Remus responded drily. Then, batting her hands away, he turned to look at himself in the mirror. His reflection frowned back at him. "Are you sure this isn't too green? I feel very… Slytherin-esque."

"It's not Slytherin green," Lily immediately protested. She took a step back, looking him up and down. "It's more of a khaki, don't you think?"

"Khaki?! Green's fucking green, Evans!" Sirius howled with laughter. Then, sobering under Lily's glare, Sirius quickly added, "I mean, it's a nice green. Not Slytherin-esque at all. Khaki, you call it?"

He shifted his attention back to Remus' kitchen cupboards, suddenly finding great interest in the empty spaces covered with a smattering of dust. Satisfied with his self-correction, Lily turned back to Remus. She pulled her chosen tie from the table and wrapped it around his neck.

With a cautious glance in Sirius' direction, Lily lowered her voice. "Remus, is everything okay with you and James? I thought he was helping you with all this."

The thought made Remus freeze. How could he possibly explain it all to Lily? That James couldn't help with buttoning his shirt or knotting his tie. That there would be too many lingering touches. Too many hitched breaths. Too many uncomfortable pauses in conversation.

"Yeah." Then, knowing she didn't believe him at all, Remus shrugged. "Well, no. But it'll pass."

"What happened?"

"Nothing," Remus said forcibly. "Nothing at all."

At the very least, that was true. Nothing had happened. But Remus had wanted it to. And that, he supposed, was the problem.