A/N: It's here! The chapter where all our characters meet and we FINALLY get some Sirius POV. I couldn't resist getting into James's head a little as well, because Sirius was being very uncooperative (like, when is he not?) - hopefully the POV changes are not too confusing. I've marked them all with horizontal lines.
London, May 2, 2020
Exiting the stadium took Remus, Marlene, Lily, and Alice a long time due to the throng of people all trying to do the same. Everyone was in a euphoric mood; especially Alice and Marlene, who had made them take a detour to the merch stand. Remus, to his surprise, hadn't minded the crowd during the concert. The music and the performance had been so immersive that he had stopped paying attention to all the people bumping into him or grabbing his shirt for balance; it had even briefly made him feel like a part of something bigger. But in the harsh, unflattering light of the concourse, the solid mass of sweaty, rowdy people was making him increasingly uncomfortable. Marlene seemed to be feeding off it, though, and wanted to continue the party by going to a night club, but Lily, perhaps sensing Remus's trepidation, put her foot down and insisted they find a quieter establishment.
"Alright, I'm up for anything," Marlene chirped, and Remus sent Lily a grateful look.
It took them a while to get back into London because the first train had been stuffed full, just like every pub they now passed seemed to be. Eventually, they drifted down a side road that Remus had never been down before.
"Let's go in here, it doesn't seem too full," Alice suggested, cupping her hands around her face to peer through the windows of a dingy, unassuming place called 'The Hog's Head'. The dangling sign above the door looked like it had been there at least a hundred years, which was highly likely, given the part of town they were in.
"Ooh yes, there's a live band on tonight," Marlene said, studying a handwritten poster taped to the window.
"Alright, as long as they serve Irish Coffee, I'm happy," Lily said and marched in.
The 'live band' turned out to be a single, ancient-looking man sitting on a bar stool in the corner behind the door. He was playing an equally ancient-looking acoustic guitar and belting out 'The wild rover' with drunken back-up vocals done by three chubby, red-nosed patrons sitting by the bar that spanned the right side of the small establishment. A moth-eaten, slightly scary-looking head of an actual hog hung above the packed liquor shelves, its yellow glass eyes glinting in the soft light given off by an antique chandelier hanging above it.
"Erm, are we sure about this?" Lily said, eyeing the scruffy barkeeper, who seemed to be missing a few teeth.
"You wanna continue walking around?" Marlene snapped.
"I suppose not. I just hope my tetanus shot is up to date."
"C'mon, Lily, it's not that bad—look they've got your Irish Coffee!" Alice pointed to a small chalkboard sign on the wall. "I've got first round."
"Ah, there's hope after all!" Lily smiled and linked her arm through Alice's to drag her towards the bar.
Alice had been right, the place wasn't too crowded, but the small group in attendance was oddly diverse: a couple of chic-looking, middle-aged women were nursing martinis by the window, while a group of beefed-up construction worker types were playing a rowdy game of cards in the far corner. A woman with black, spiky hair and multiple piercings was sat at a small table along the left wall, gazing emptily into space, while her corduroy-clad date picked at the sticker on his beer bottle.
At the bar, Remus saw that the only things on tap were Foster's and Guinness, so he opted for an Irish Coffee like Lily, while Marlene and Alice ordered martinis. They found a table next to the bored punker and her nervous date and settled down; Lily and Marlene on the built-in bench along the wall and Remus and Alice in chunky wooden chairs across from them.
"Oh, sweet baby Jesus, it's good to sit down…!" Marlene exhaled, stretching out her legs next to the table and massaging her shins.
"Serves you right for wearing four-inch heels to a rock concert." Lily snorted and wiggled her own trainer-clad foot in Marlene's direction.
"Yes Mum, but at least I didn't have to stand on my toes all night to see!" Marlene stuck out her tongue before putting on a self-satisfied grin.
"Yeah, I envy Remus—he had the best view of all from up there!" Alice laughed, sweeping her eyes over Remus, from his feet to the top of his head.
"And what a view it was!" Marlene fanned herself. "I mean, did you see how fit Sirius Black was?"
"Yeah, no complaints about the view…." Remus laughed, scratching his neck.
Marlene proceeded to give them a play-by-play recapitulation of the entire concert—as if they hadn't all literally just been there—lingering on her personal highlights. Alice was eagerly offering her own opinions while Lily inserted questions and sarcastic comments here and there. Remus sat back, humming his agreement when appropriate, but mostly just enjoying being in the good company of his friends. It really had been too long since they had all been out like this, and despite his earlier reservations, the experience had been oddly intense, the magic of it unwilling to lift just yet. A faint ringing still sounded in his ears and a tingling lingered in his fingertips, almost like the afterglow of sex.
As Lily offered to go get their second round of drinks, Alice turned to Remus. "So, what about you, Remus? Have we turned you to the dark side?" She nudged his ribs and fluttered her eyelids, painted purple for the occasion.
He laughed. "I must admit it was surprisingly good, but I don't think I'm ready to pierce my eyebrows and paint my nails black just yet."
"Oh, why not?" Marlene whined. "You would look so handsome with a mohawk and leather boots!" she added, making Alice snort into the dregs of her Martini glass.
"Think of the kids! They'd be scared to death," he countered, putting a hand over his heart and an air of disapproval on his face.
At that moment, Lily arrived back, carrying a tray with their drinks. "Right, so, you're never gonna believe who's at the bar…" she said in a low voice, sliding back into her seat.
"Who?" Alice asked, twisting in her chair and craning her neck to see.
"Oh my god!" Marlene exclaimed; her voice so high-pitched that almost no sound came out. "It's them! It's The Marauders!"
"Yes, I know, no need to take my arm off!" Lily winced and nursed the sore spot after prying Marlene's fingers off.
And sure enough—there they were.
The twins with their long, red hair were hard to miss; the drummer sitting on a stool, back against the bar with a fresh Guinness in his hand; the bassist standing next to him, talking to a tall bloke in a brown leather jacket who Remus didn't recognise. James Potter had his arm slung across the shoulders of a pudgy little man, gesturing towards the bottles on the top shelf, and Sirius Black—Remus's stomach did a funny sort of twist—was handing over a wad of bills to the barman, who then proceeded to line up a row of whiskey glasses.
Remus snapped back around, not wanting to get caught staring.
"Ohmygod-ohmygod-ohmygod—" Marlene hyperventilated, going full broken-record, not even reacting when Lily tried to slap her out of it.
"Shit, did you talk to them?" Alice asked in a hushed voice, even though no-one else would have been able to hear her over the one-man-band now playing a loud rendition of 'Whiskey in a jar'.
"Seriously, they just came in while I was ordering, acting like they owned the place, and then Potter declared he was buying my drinks," Lily said.
This seemed to shake Marlene out of her rut. "Wait. Are you saying that the James Potter bought the drink I'm about to drink? I think I might die."
"Don't be silly, of course I wasn't gonna let him do that!" Lily looked at her like she had suggested she dye her hair pink.
"Lily Evans, you're not telling me you turned down James freakin' Potter, or so help me God—" Marlene said.
"Honestly, he just came up to me with some corny pick-up line. I wasn't gonna fall for that!" Lily huffed. "He probably does this all the time and is used to girls swooning left and right whenever he picks his nose—"
"You stupid, stupid girl…! Why am I even friends with you?" Marlene cried, pulling at her hair like the world had ended, and dropping her forehead onto the table.
"Wait, what exactly did he say?" Alice asked, leaning across the table.
"Oh, I don't know, some rubbish about my eyes being the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen…" Lily said, shaking her head. "As if he'd been looking at my eyes! I swear, if you were to walk up and ask him right now, he couldn't tell you what colour they are."
Remus snorted. The bloke was a professional songwriter, whose poetry inspired great emotions to world-wide acclaim, and this was what he came up with?
"Right. I'm going over," Marlene declared, downing her drink. "Alice, how do I look?" she asked, rearranging her hair.
"Oh, for heaven's sake, sit down,'" Lily said, pulling at her arm. "You'll just make a fool of yourself."
"I detest that sentiment." Marlene huffed and smoothed the sleeve Lily had just wrinkled.
Remus had thought Alice would support Marlene, but she was apparently still sober enough to have some sense of propriety. "Come on, they're probably just out to have a quiet drink after the show—they don't want fans disturbing them all the time."
"Whatever. You're gonna regret not going with me when I get Sirius Black to sign my tits." Marlene stuck out her tongue, gave said tits a squeeze, and navigated around their table.
Remus watched in horror as she approached the far corner where The Marauders' company had now set up camp. This was a disaster waiting to happen. He turned back around to face Lily. He couldn't watch this. Alice seemed to be in agreement. Lily definitely handled herself with the most grace; she just leant back against the wall, sipping her coffee and only glancing up occasionally.
"What's happening?" Alice said through her teeth, curiosity almost getting the better of her, yet she kept her back to the scene.
"She's chatting to the bassist," Lily said. "Don't look now—they're looking this way," she continued, averting her own gaze.
"No, no, keep telling us what's going on," Alice urged.
"Oh great, now Potter is looking over here…" Lily said, irritation crossing her features. She pointedly looked away and refused to give them any more updates.
Eventually, Alice gave up and turned around herself to check on Marlene's progress. "Oh, she's coming back!"
"Alright, don't freak out now… but they've invited us to join them!" Marlene practically sang as she came dancing back to their table. Behind her, James Potter was raising his pint and winking at Lily.
"Thanks, but I'm good here." Lily narrowed her eyes and raised her glass in response, but her words were only loud enough for the four of them to hear.
Marlene pouted and sat herself in Lily's lap. "Aw, that's a shame, because James wanted me to inform you that your eyes are 'as green as emeralds most adored, like rolling fields unexplored, like morning dew on a budding spring lilac, like the jelly shots I want to do off thy rack.'" She delivered the lines with a fervour sure to make Shakespeare roll in his grave somewhere.
Remus and Alice fell into a fit of laughter.
"Get out!"
"He did not say that!"
"Word for word." Marlene grinned, crossing her heart. "At least up until the jelly shot part—Fabian reckoned he needed a bit of help for that one."
"What a load of bollocks," Lily said and pushed Marlene off.
"Hey, he got the colour right," Remus offered before succumbing to laughter again.
"Lucky guess…." Lily scoffed.
"Lily. My sweet, little, delicate flower…." Marlene sidled up close to her again. "It's cute that you think you have a choice and all, but if you ruin this for me, I am literally going to kill you, chop you up, and throw you in the Thames," she said through a sickeningly sweet smile.
"Christ, Marlene, no need to go all Killing Eve on me…. Alright. But you owe me!" she said, pointing at her squealing friend.
"Yes!" Marlene kissed her cheek and jumped up.
Alice was suddenly in a hurry to fix her hair and check her blouse.
Remus hesitated. "Do they want me there as well?" He didn't want to make things awkward; they probably only wanted the girls' company.
"Don't be silly. They invited all of us." Marlene smiled and pulled him up from his chair. They all grabbed their drinks and made their way over to The Marauders' table, Alice and Marlene leading the way, arm in arm.
Potter and the bassist were pulling up extra chairs, but Lily grabbed Remus's elbow and steered him down to where the drummer was sitting along with the unknown bloke in the leather jacket. At the opposite end of the table from Potter, Remus noticed with a smirk.
"Welcome!" Potter stood up and gave an elaborate bow. "I'm James, and next to me is Sirius, this is our manager Peter"—he indicated the pudgy man he'd been talking to earlier—"then we have our tour manager-slash-producer, Caradoc"—this was the man in the brown leather jacket—"and these two knobheads are Fabian and Gideon," he finished, gesturing to the twins as a collective. Marlene followed this up by introducing each of her friends in turn. The people who could reach shook hands with the newcomers, the rest waved, and Black didn't even lift his eyes.
"Marlene told us you've just been to the show. What did you think of it?" the man called Caradoc asked Lily and Remus, while the drummer (was that Fabian or Gideon?) turned to Marlene and his twin.
"Very impressive, though Marlene and Alice are the true fans—we were just along for the ride," Lily answered easily. Remus's tongue seemed to stick oddly to the roof of his mouth, but Caradoc was nice and polite and not nearly as intimidating as the band members, so Remus slowly joined in the conversation and started to relax a bit. He avoided looking in the direction of Sirius Black, however, but was acutely aware of his presence next to Potter, who held court at the other end of the table. He suddenly felt a bit dirty; not two hours ago, he had been gawking at this man on stage, shirtless and lost in his music, and now Black was sitting here, only a couple of chairs over, like a regular person having a pint at a pub. Alright, maybe not like any regular person….
Drinks kept arriving, and Alice and Marlene were getting on spectacularly with the others. Marlene was even managing to keep up with their pace of drinking, but she hadn't succeeded in getting Black to join the conversation so far—though not for lack of trying. She had turned on all her charm, which usually had men fighting for her attention, but it seemed to bounce right off him. She had even tried to stroke his hair when she passed him on the way to the loo, but he had politely brushed her hand away and gone back to his beer. Remus wasn't sure Marlene had given up, but maybe she was trying a different tactic, because she was currently accepting a kiss on the cheek from the bassist and laying her hand on his thigh under the table. Alice had been drawn into a heated discussion with Potter and the bloke called Peter about whether the cover art for Metallica's black album was a rip-off, pure genius, or pure laziness ("But it can be none more black!"), and even Lily seemed to be having fun, bonding with the drummer (Gideon, Alice kindly reminded him), over their shared gingerhood. Caradoc had a lot of great stories from his years on the road, both with the Marauders and with other bands before them, and though it made his own life feel a bit bland in comparison, it was the most fun he'd had in a long time.
James tuned out the conversation as he regarded his best friend. Ever since Marlene's group had joined the table, Sirius had been uncharacteristically quiet. He had been the one to suggest they go out for drinks, and had been in high spirits after the show, but now he had gone all moody. His eyes kept darting to the man sitting at the end of the table, but he had yet to make eye contact. If James didn't know any better, he would have thought his friend deliberately avoided it. As if he didn't want to get caught watching. Interesting… James thought to himself as he shifted his attention to the man with the weird name and the weird cardigan, now engrossed in a conversation with the fit redhead. Lily. Were they a couple? A small sting of envy shot through him, but he quickly dismissed the idea. No, they were sitting too far apart, and he didn't detect any flirtatious behaviour—they simply seemed to be comfortable in each other's company. Good, then he won't mind me making a move on her, his mind prompted, but he shook the thought away. Focus! This is supposed to be about Sirius! he reprimanded himself and turned his attention away from Lily's cleavage and back to the cardigan-clad man next to her.
He had always found it hard to evaluate other men's appearance, but this one seemed alright. He was tall, probably almost as tall as James himself, and his sandy-blond hair was short on the sides and longer at the top where it fell in soft waves, almost reaching his eyes. He had clean skin, except for a long, thin scar running from the bridge of his nose and down over his cheek. It looked kinda cool; a sort of roguish twist to his otherwise friendly face—but okay, seriously, what was up with the cardigan? Why would anyone below the age of sixty wear a cardigan on purpose? The fella could also use a few hours at the gym—he was a bit skinny—but hey, horses for courses, right? His gentle, easy-going demeanour painted a stark contrast to the brooding guitarist with the wild, black hair, strong, tattooed chest, and decidedly cardigan-free wardrobe. But didn't they say opposites attract? Now he just had to figure out which way Remus swung. He grinned as a plan began to form in his mind.
"Oi. Remus, was it? Come for a fag with us?"
Remus startled and looked around him to check whether Potter was actually addressing him, since he hadn't even spoken to the man yet. But of course, with a name like Remus, there wouldn't be anyone else, so he stammered, "Erm, I don't smoke…" feeling like a fool.
Potter, however, did not seem deterred. "No worries, mate, neither do we. At least not when we're sober." He sniggered. "But come along anyway, keep us company."
Remus couldn't determine whether he was being sincere or not, but then his eyes met those of Sirius Black, who stood a few steps behind Potter in the process of shrugging on a well-worn, black leather jacket. It only lasted a fraction of a second, but there was something in those eyes…. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but how could he turn down the perfect opportunity to find out? Emboldened by the drinks and the atmosphere, he grinned back at Potter and rose from the table to follow him out of the pub. Apparently, Black had walked ahead without them; he could see the door swinging on its hinges, but the man was already gone.
What was James playing at? Why did he have to invite that bloke along? Sirius had jumped at James's suggestion to go out for a smoke—not because he particularly needed one, but because the room had seemed stuffy and way too hot…. He needed to clear his head. But James had made that impossible when he invited him to join them.
He had only been alone for a couple of seconds when he heard the other two coming up behind him. Having already lit a cigarette of his own, he wordlessly held out the package to the others. James pulled out two fags and passed one to Remus, who hesitated a bit before accepting it. James had his own lighter, but Sirius couldn't resist holding out his Zippo to Remus. When he leant down towards the small flame, cigarette between his lips, Sirius found himself hypnotised for a moment as the glow from the fire lit up his elegant cheekbones and turned his eyes into liquid amber. His face looked gentle and inviting, and Sirius had to actively stop himself from reaching out and tracing the long scar that spanned his cheek.
"Cheers, mate," Remus mumbled with a nod and—to Sirius's regret—straightened back up before seating himself on the low wall that separated the pub's front yard from the road. James jumped up next to him, so Sirius chose to remain standing.
"So, Remus. What do you do for a living?" James asked and took a long drag of his smoke. Remus took a more tentative pull of his own before answering.
"I teach secondary school," he said with a shrug.
"Really? What subjects?" James asked, showing a suspiciously high level of interest, considering his general disdain for school.
"Mainly History and English, but sometimes I sub as a maths teacher. Though in those cases I mostly just let the kids go and play cricket. That'll teach them more arithmetic than I ever could." He flashed an apologetic grin, though Sirius could have sworn he saw a hint of deviousness lurking underneath.
"Wicked," James said. "So, do you give out loads of detentions?"
Remus chuckled and shrugged again. "Not really. I find it's usually more effective to sit down and have a talk with the kids."
James continued to grill Remus about his job for the next cigarette and a half. Sirius was only listening with half an ear, contented just to look at Remus talk. The man obviously loved his job because his eyes lit up in excitement when he relived anecdotes about misbehaving children, and a small smile was constantly on his lips. Sirius wanted to know what those lips would taste like and might have been staring, but fortunately Remus did not seem to notice. Whenever James interjected a story of his own, Remus would listen attentively, and when James reached the punchline, he would burst out laughing (though more gracefully than Potter himself, he might add, who almost fell off the wall sniggering at his own childhood antics). Remus's laughter was a beautiful sound, and Sirius could have happily stood there listening to it all night.
But when James started relaying stories that involved him, however, he felt forced to intervene; Prongs was known for having an open relationship with the truth, especially when it came to describing the trouble they would get into as young boys. More often than not, he would tweak his tale to make himself look like the hero and Sirius like some sort of juvenile delinquent.
"Now, now, James, we mustn't tell lies. I seem to recall that it was you who nicked the camera from the media lab. And whose brilliant idea was it to sneak over to the girls' dormitory?"
They bantered back and forth for a while before reaching a consensus account of events, which had involved a flock of screaming girls, a furious headmaster, and a month's worth of detention for both of them.
"Yeah, so in hindsight it was a terrible idea…. I was twelve, what can I say." James laughed and put out the butt of his cigarette. "But, what about you, Remus? Did you ever sneak into the girls' changing rooms when you were a wee lad?"
"Nah, I never really saw the appeal." Remus shrugged and blew some smoke out the corner of his mouth.
Sweet fate, must you be so cruel…? Sirius thought and turned his eyes to the sky.
James just laughed again and said how he wished he'd never seen Bertha Jorkins naked either. Then his mobile went off, and he excused himself, said he had better take it, it might be important.
Oh sure, Sirius thought. I see right through your little game, Jamie, but okay; I'll play along….
As James moved to the other side of the small road, Sirius took over his spot on the wall next to Remus, and they sat in silence for a while, nursing their half empty beers.
Despite the smoke from their cigarettes, Sirius thought he could smell chocolate and pine and something else he couldn't quite name. He wanted to move closer to find out what it was but reckoned it might come off a bit creepy.
"I'm sorry about Marlene." Remus interrupted the silence. "She can be a bit pushy, especially when she's had a few drinks. Once she has her eyes on something… or someone… it can be hard to get her to back down."
"Nah, don't worry about it. I can handle it," Sirius said. "She just hasn't noticed I've had my eyes elsewhere."
Where did that come from? What the fuck was wrong with him? Maybe he should stop drinking….
"Oh?" Remus looked up in surprise.
Sirius gave him a wink and took another swig from his bottle.
A wink.
A wink?
Jesus Christ, he was rusty… and reckless…. But something about this man's smile, so genuine and easy, just made him forget all his reservations.
"Oh…" Remus repeated, softer now. He cleared his throat. "Well, Marlene will be very disappointed, I guess." His tone was matter-of-factly, but the corner of his mouth drew up slightly.
Sirius couldn't think of anything to say to that, so he just took another drag of his cigarette.
Back inside the pub they made their way back to their table where Marlene was engrossed in a complicated-looking drinking game with the twins, involving lots of brightly coloured shots and a snack-sized bag of crisps.
"I'm gonna get us some beers—Remus do you fancy another one?" James asked, already changing direction towards the bar.
"Sure, thanks, mate," Remus said offhandedly, eyeing Marlene with slight concern.
"I'd better go make sure she's alright," he told Sirius, who in turn said he would help James with the drinks. Marlene looked perfectly happy to Sirius, but there was something oddly endearing about seeing Remus worry about his friends. They obviously meant a lot to him.
As he reached the bar, he found Peter already there, accepting a high-five from James, and he thought he heard James say something along the lines of, 'Thanks for the call, bruv, perfect timing!' but it could just have been the music.
"But why—"
"Shh!"
Sirius slapped his best friend over the back of his messy-haired head and just glared when James mock-winced and rubbed the spot. "Real fucking subtle, mate!"
"Don't know what you're talking about—I'm the King of Subtle!" James puffed out his chest and straightened his back.
"Just stay the fuck out of my business, alright?" Sirius spat.
"Aw, come on, mate, when was the last time you got laid? You need to loosen up—have fun once in a while!" James said in a low voice, draping his arm over Sirius's shoulders and ruffling his hair.
"Get off me, you twat." Sirius wriggled himself out of James's grip. "I'll bloody well decide for myself!" He shoved between his friends to the bar and craned his neck to see where the bartender had gone off to. He rapped his knuckles on the counter a few times, and the bartender stood up from stocking the fridge below the bar, revealing an ugly, incomplete set of yellow teeth as he saw Sirius.
"What can I do you for?"
"Where's Abe tonight?" Sirius asked, leaning back to avoid his breath.
"Tending to a goat-related emergency." The bartender's grin widened.
"I regret asking…." Sirius grimaced. "Ten pints and a whiskey, neat, please."
James once again came up and laid his arm around Sirius as the bartender shuffled off to prepare his order. "Come on, I'm sorry. I've just never seen you stare at anyone like that before." He spoke into Sirius's ear so Peter, who stood on Sirius's other side, wouldn't overhear. "Go for it—he's cute!" James finished with a couple of perky pats to his back.
"Ugh, James, you know I hate it when you talk about blokes like that. As if you would know…." He rolled his eyes. "Moreover, I'm sure he would detest being called 'cute' just as much as you would."
"What are you on about—that redhead back there can call me cute anytime she likes." James clicked his tongue and elbowed his side.
"She's not going to, though."
"Ouch, claws away." James feigned a hurt look, then shook his head. "But come on, what've you got to lose? Just ask him for his number or something."
James just never gave up, did he? Always trying to set him up with this fellow or that, ever since Sirius told him he might fancy boys, back when they were still at school. It was an annoying habit of his, though Sirius reckoned it could be worse—at least James had accepted his leanings without judgement or question. He had been so afraid of losing his best friend until he had finally plucked up the courage to tell him. James, the git that he was, had just shrugged and said, "a'ight, cool, bruv," before asking if he'd seen his football boots.
But despite James's positive reaction, Sirius had never felt the need to tell anyone else. Lying (or at least omitting the truth) had become second nature to him by now; he'd learnt the art at an early age, after all. But the effort it took to keep his private life from the tabloids was never-ending, and the strain of having to conceal this part of himself, even to his closest friends—his bandmates—had driven him to some dark decisions….
The drinks had appeared on a tray now, and Sirius necked the shot of whiskey, threw down some notes for the bartender and picked up the tray. "Just leave it alone James—worry about your own problems. I'm not the only one who's been staring."
"What's got into him tonight?" Peter asked behind him as he headed back for the table.
"No idea. He's just being Sirius, innit?"
As the night wore on, Sirius found it harder and harder to be near Remus. Images of what he wanted to do to this man kept flashing in front of his eyes, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on the conversation. He knew he was probably being more masochistic than was healthy, but he kept making up excuses to talk to him, sit near him, or bump shoulders. A pat on the back or an 'accidental' brush of hands. By now, he was sure Remus had called his game, but he never said anything, nor did he seem particularly averse to the idea.
A twinge of guilt poked at his insides as a thought struck him: was he taking advantage of his celebrity status? Or worse: was Remus only interested because of it? Get over yourself. That's never seemed to stop you before….
James's earlier words rang through his mind, 'Have fun once in a while'. That was easy for him to say, though; if James hooked up with a random bird in a bar, it would only cement his rockstar status. If the world found out what he was… his image would be ruined, and the paparazzi would never leave him alone again. They would lose their label, and their fans would turn their backs faster than you could say 'tolerance'.
He honestly didn't know how he had managed to keep his private affairs out of the media so far—probably because there hadn't been that many affairs to speak of. Only a few one-night stands, quick blowjobs in dark storage rooms, or hurried shags in night club loos, which always left him feeling disgusted with himself afterwards. And the fear that one of these trysts would lead to his exposure was ever-present at the back of his mind. More than once, he had felt the need to cover his tracks by 'accidentally' being seen with some fashionista or actress in public. Not to mention the whole Gwen disaster…. Peter had really outdone himself keeping a lid on that one, but it still filled Sirius with immense guilt. Yes, by now he had learnt that it just wasn't worth the trouble of scorned women and prying journalists, so his exploits had become few and far between.
And he'd been fine with that. Convinced himself he didn't need it. But looking at Remus, currently trying to wake up Marlene, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder, he knew he'd been kidding himself.
He definitely needed it.
But could he trust him? You never knew about people in this business. The right story could sell for thousands of pounds if the details were saucy enough. But Remus wasn't in the business, was he? He seemed like a genuinely nice person; he couldn't imagine him ever doing anything for personal gain or glory—let alone hurt another human being.
Cursing his own lack of self-control, he got up under the pretence of going to the loo and made a detour to the bar to ask for a pen and paper.
When he got back, Alice was standing, putting on her jacket and wrapping a big scarf around her neck, while Lily was gathering their coats and purses.
"I'm sorry, but it looks like we'd better get this princess to bed." Remus stood up, supporting Marlene, who was now semiconscious but not quite able to keep her balance by herself. "It was nice meeting you all, and thanks for the drinks!"
"No worries, mate, any time." James stood up and shook Remus's hand, clapping his shoulder and sending him a warm smile. The twins stood up as well to say goodbye, and Sirius offered his hand for Remus to shake before proceeding to bow and kiss the hands of the girls. Alice giggled and blushed; Lily tutted and rolled her eyes, but she couldn't hide a slight smile.
"Oi, mate, stop outshining me!" James cried and knocked Sirius aside to perform an even more elaborate bow. He then proceeded to kiss every single knuckle on Alice and attempted to do the same with Lily, but she yanked her hand away, making him fall sideways.
"Prat," Sirius muttered and pulled his friend up from the floor.
Remus chuckled and finished buttoning Marlene's coat for her.
"Make sure she gets home safe!" Gideon commanded.
"And if she wants a rematch, we'll be back in London on the tenth, before we're off to the Continent," Fabian added with a wink.
"Fare thee well, Princess Marlene." Gideon bowed.
"T'was a pleasure making your acquaintance," Fabian followed, and they simultaneously kissed her cheeks.
"Aw, fanks boysss, I'mma win next time!" Marlene slurred and let herself be led out of the pub by her friends.
A/N: Oh, James - King of Subtle indeed... That's it for this week, I'm afraid! Next chapter will be the last of the München chapters, and then we're gonna find out why Sirius asked for that pen and paper (!)
I'd just love to know what you think - do you have any theories, anything you're hoping to see?
