London, May 3, 2020

Remus was awakened rather abruptly by Sirius jumping out from underneath him. He cursed as he started to run around, searching through all their scattered items of clothing, trying to sort his own from Remus's.

"Bollocks…."

Remus sat up on the sofa and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" he mumbled. The only light in the room came from the mini bar and fireplace, which was still burning as happily as it had earlier. Must be electrical.

"6:35. I had to be downstairs five minutes ago. Shit," Sirius said without looking at him. He had finally located his t-shirt and was trying to turn the right side out before apparently remembering what he used it for only a few hours ago. He threw it into a corner with a grimace. "Listen, I'm sorry"—he paused in his movements for a second—"but I'm going to hit the shower, and then I have to run." He darted through the bedroom into the bathroom, and Remus heard the shower turn on. "Feel free to sleep some more, though, or order room service or something—just have to leave the room before 10," he called through the still open door as Remus dug out his pants from under the armchair.

Remus frowned. He wasn't stupid. He was clearly being dismissed, despite Sirius's polite offer. He did mention last night that he would have an early start this morning, but at the time, Remus had thought it was just a convenient way of maintaining an option to kick him out if he wanted to. Now, it seemed his suspicions were confirmed. What had he expected? Nothing, he tried to tell himself. They had shared an amazing night (at least as far as Remus was concerned), but now it was back to reality.

Retrieving his shirt from where it perched on the reading lamp on the big desk, he wondered how many people Sirius had been through this routine with. Was it just men, or women as well? After all, the public seemed to have no clue that he liked men (if they did, Marlene would definitely have mentioned it in her trivia stream). With his talent and his looks, he could certainly have his pick. Did he find someone new in every town?

He immediately felt bad for thinking like this; Sirius had treated him with nothing but respect last night, but it still hurt to be kicked out like this. He sighed as he zipped up his jeans and tried to remember when and where he had taken his shoes off.

When he had finally located the last of his belongings, Sirius stepped out of the bathroom, his lower body wrapped in a fluffy, white towel while he used a smaller one to dry his hair.

"I think I'd better get home." Remus wavered by the door, feeling awfully self-conscious. He tried hard not to stare at Sirius's dripping wet chest and the way his muscles moved as he ruffled the towel around in his black curls.

"Well, I don't blame you—these rooms are much too big to sleep in properly, and they only serve chia seeds and fucking grapefruit juice for breakfast…. Whoever made grapefruit juice a thing, should have his balls cut off…." He pulled his still wet hair into a messy bun on top of his head, then rifled through the contents of a small suitcase on the bed for some clean clothes.

Remus smiled to himself; he had already noticed that Sirius had an endearing tendency to ramble and say whatever was on his mind.

"Well, I had a good time," Remus began. It was a massive understatement, but he couldn't exactly tell a bloke he'd known for less than twelve hours that it was the best sex he'd ever had in his life, could he? "Hope everything goes well on the rest of your tour…." He edged towards the door, not sure how best to conclude their little encounter and leave with his dignity intact.

Sirius paused in pulling on his jeans and looked at him with an unreadable expression, before his face softened. "Listen, I'm sorry about this rude wake up—can I give you a ring sometime?" he said, pulling up his zipper.

Remus didn't know what to say to that. Was he being sincere or just polite? He must have thought about it for too long because Sirius frowned and busied himself with his suitcase once more. "Nah forget it, it was just a thought, I understand if you don't want to…" he mumbled, turning his back to Remus as he pulled on a black t-shirt.

What just happened? Where was the confident lead guitarist from last night? Did he actually think that Remus didn't want him to call him?

"No wait, of course, you just took me by surprise, that's all. Here, let me write down my number for you," he quickly amended and strode across the room to the big desk with the hotel stationery sitting ready. He scribbled down his details, then turned to face Sirius, who was now fully dressed, leather jacket and boots finishing the outfit. He smiled and pulled Remus in for the briefest of kisses, apologised for the rush again, and asked if he could please wait five minutes before leaving the room. "The paps get up early in this town," he explained with a grimace and then he was gone, leaving Remus's head spinning slightly.

It was just after half seven when Remus locked himself back in his flat. Everyone would still be asleep, so he tried to be as quiet as possible.

Much too pumped to go to sleep himself, even though he'd probably only slept about an hour and a half by his best guesstimate, he opted for a quick shower before tackling the kitchen, which was in dire need after the margaritas Marlene had made them before the concert. Was that really only last night?

When the room no longer resembled an active war zone, he went down to the supermarket around the corner to buy stuff for a fry up. He had a feeling that Marlene would need it when she re-joined the land of the living.

The smell of sizzling bacon must have woken Lily up, because Remus hadn't even turned the pork strips over on the pan before she was sitting ready at the table, dressed in her hideous, fuzzy, lime green dressing gown, hugging her knees with her eyes not even fully opened yet.

Remus chuckled at the sight; she never was much of a morning person, but he took mercy and put a freshly brewed cup of builder's tea in front of her. She couldn't stand coffee when she'd been drinking.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" She sighed and blew on the hot liquid.

"Not nearly as often as you ought to," Remus said and cracked an egg on the side of the pan.

By the time he was distributing eggs and beans to their plates, Marlene had stumbled from her bedroom as well, looking even worse than Lily.

"Ah, the cat be bringing gifts today," Remus sang as he put the plate of bacon on the table and sat down beside Lily.

"Oh God, I feel like a pig shat in my head…." Marlene winced and rubbed her temples. "But how wicked was last night?" She looked up with a grin only to flinch again due to the pain of moving her head too fast.

"Pretty wicked," Remus said, unfolding his napkin, while Lily just nodded her agreement through a huge mouthful of eggs.

"I can't believe we got drunk with the freaking Marauders!"

"Drunk? Try wasted," Remus said and swatted her shoulder.

"Oh no, I didn't make a fool of myself, did I?" Marlene looked suddenly horror-stricken. "Please tell me I didn't vomit on Sirius Black or something? That would totally ruin my chances!"

CLANK.

Remus's laugh was interrupted by Lily dropping her fork onto her plate, sending bits of egg rolling halfway across the table.

"Sirius Black!" she shouted, making Marlene recoil, clasping her ears. "Oh my god, Remus, what happened? I want to know everything!" She sat up straight in her chair, hangover all but forgotten as her brain apparently finally remembered where Remus had gone last night.

Marlene, intrigued by Lily's words, turned her attention to Remus, who was acutely aware of the blush creeping up his cheeks. He averted his eyes to his plate and scratched the back of his neck.

"Erm, nothing really…."

"Bollocks! You're about the shade of a bloody bus right now! Go on, spit it out!"

"What's she talking about, Remus?" Marlene looked between the two of them in confusion.

"Yes, what am I talking about, Remus?" Lily smirked and leant back in her chair, arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

Remus shot daggers at her, but they mustn't have been very sharp, because Lily did not flinch.

"Remus, if you have gossip about Sirius Black, I command you to tell me!" Marlene, too, seemed temporarily hangover-free, and Remus mentally cursed himself for not just going to bed when he had the chance.

"There's really nothing to tell…" he began, desperately hoping they would leave it be.

"Oh dear, you didn't chicken out on the way there, did you?" Lily sounded almost empathetic were it not for the snort she ended her question with.

"Of course not!" Remus blurted before he could stop himself. "I mean, I—"

"Aha! I knew it! I want details!" Lily was back to looking smug.

"Will someone please tell me what the bloody hell we're talking about?!" Marlene waved her arms to get their attention. Lily just looked expectantly at Remus, and he knew the game was up. Keeping secrets from these two was damn near impossible.

"Alright, alright…!" He held up his hands in surrender and began to explain. "Last night, when we said goodbye at the pub, Sirius slipped me a note as we shook hands. I didn't read it until we got back here—being a bit preoccupied with getting you home in bed." He shot Marlene a condescending look, but she didn't even have the decency to look sorry. "The note invited me back to their hotel."

"But why would he only invite you there? I mean, if they wanted to continue the party, he could have asked Lily and Alice as well." Confusion painted her features. "Unless… you're not saying that… no…?!"

Remus squirmed in his seat and scratched his neck again. Would she be angry? He couldn't help but feel he had cheated her—after all, she had had her eyes on him long before he had—but it wasn't his fault that Sirius had set his eyes on him, was it?

"Holy shit… Sirius Black is gay? I don't believe it…." She looked quite put out, increasing Remus's feeling of guilt.

"I'm sorry, Marlene, I knew you liked him…."

"Oh, erm, yeah…." Marlene swallowed as if to collect herself before she smiled at him. "But hey, if I can't have him, then who better than you?" She bumped his shoulder.

Remus returned a hesitant smile, still not convinced. "Really? You're not angry?"

"Why would I be angry? If what you're telling me is true, I never stood a chance anyway." She chuckled, but Remus thought it seemed a bit forced. He didn't mention that, for all he knew, Sirius could be bi. It seemed kinder to let her believe that she was rejected purely because of her gender. "Oh no, I must have looked like such a fool, trying to come on to him all night…!" She clasped her hands in front of her mouth in horror.

"Don't sweat it Marlene, I'm sure you're not the first," Lily said.

"I guess not…. But look, here I am, making this all about me! What happened next?" Marlene asked, shaking it off. "Please tell me you took him up on the offer? You know I'd kill you if you shot down a chance like this!"

Remus chuckled and shared a knowing look with Lily; just as she predicted. "No." He sighed in defeat. "Lily talked some sense into me, and I went up there after we'd put you to bed."

Marlene was completely enraptured now, leaning forward and resting her chin on her hands. "And…?"

Remus sighed again. He was not the type to share or brag about these sorts of things, but the two girls had a way of prying out information that made Scotland Yard look like pre-schoolers. "…And we had some red wine on the balcony, talking a bit about his writing and stuff."

"…And…?"

"And—and then one thing led to another, y'know…." He was sure his face was beet red by now, and he fiddled with his napkin as an excuse not to look at either of them.

"Oh God, I'm gonna faint!" Marlene mimed swooning and fanned her face. "What happened next?"

"Well, we got as far as the sofa… and afterwards we just fell asleep until he had to go to an early press meeting, and I snuck out after he left," Remus said, taking a drink from his juice. Hopefully, by skipping to this morning, he could avoid going into any details.

Lily, however, knew him too well to let him get away with such tricks. "Oh no you don't, I want all the gory details, Mister! How was he? Is he a good kisser? Who topped?"

"Lily?!" He almost choked on his juice. "I am not telling you any of that—let a man have some privacy for god's sake!" he said and wiped his chin with his napkin. Dammit, what was it with women and oversharing? Even now, they were still looking at him in a way that said, 'Spill it or else'.

He pushed his chair away from the table and grabbed his empty plate. "Suffice to say, it was quite nice, and now I would appreciate if we could stop with the third-degree." He turned his back and started rinsing the dishes.

"I'm sorry Remus, but it's not every day one of us gets to shag a rock star, you know."

"Oi, you had your chance!" Remus shook the dish brush at her.

"Oh God, don't remind me…" Lily put her face in her hands. Marlene began laughing and Remus felt the corners of his mouth drag upwards involuntarily, the absurdity of the situation hitting him, and it wasn't long before all three of them were desperately trying to breathe between laughs, tears streaming down their cheeks. Every time they almost had the giggles under control, they would look at each other, and the cycle would start all over again.

After several rounds of manic fits, the fatigue finally began to settle in, and Remus excused himself to his bedroom, giving each girl a kiss on the cheek on his way. "By the way, ladies, do you think we can keep this to ourselves? I don't think Sirius is out, and I don't wanna take that decision away from him."

"Of course, Remus, don't worry," Lily reassured him.

"And you, Marlene?" he added, seeing her hesitation. "Can you keep this a secret? Even from Alice?"

"Oh…" she whined and bit her lip. "Alright. But I want you to know how much pain it physically causes me to sit on gossip like this! I expect to be reimbursed for my troubles."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll buy you a pound of chocolate as soon as I wake up in 20 hours or so." He yawned and waved over his shoulder as he retreated to his room.

He didn't even bother taking off his clothes and fell asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow.


A/N: Hope you enjoyed this little silly breakfast scene :) Next chapter will be Sirius's POV. Less silliness there.