A/N: Second date!
Mostly a dive into Sirius's musical philosophy, but there's snogging too, I promise ;-P Had to split this chapter into two, and you will sadly have to wait a bit for the next part since I'll be away from my computer most of the summer (going hiking in motherf***ing Scotland! So exited) and I want to work on a few other projects. So, the plan is to post the next chapter on 3 August.
Enjoy your summer and a big thanks to everyone who have read so far. I appreciate every single one of you!
London, May 13, 2020
Wednesday seemed to drag on forever. Remus kept checking the clock, thinking at least an hour must have passed, only to find that it had barely been ten minutes. Work was mostly meetings and home-work grading, so he didn't even have the interactions with the kids to keep him distracted. Sirius had texted him saying he was in town for the day and would pick him up from work. So, by the time five o'clock finally rolled around, Remus was a tight mess of anticipation. He had no idea what to expect and couldn't imagine Sirius simply strolling up to the school and greeting him. He looked out the window from the teachers' lounge as he shut down his computer and shrugged on his jacket. It was a fairly big car park, and he didn't know what car Sirius drove—how was he even going to find him? A wild image of Sirius pulling up on a motorbike popped into his mind, but he quickly dismissed it. Sirius seemed pretty concerned with privacy, and with the horde of students and teachers pouring out the doors at the moment, such a stunt would definitely draw too much attention.
A shame, really.
He gathered the used tea mugs that always seemed to spontaneously appear on his desk and took them to the kitchenette. As he was loading them into the dishwasher, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
[Sirius, 5:02 pm]: In the car park now, east corner, black bentley, can't wait to see you
A Bentley. Geez. Smiling to himself, Remus quickly replied that he was on his way and stuffed his phone back in his pocket.
When he got to the car park, he looked around for a minute but quickly figured which car must belong to Sirius since it was easily the nicest one in the lot, and it had tinted windows all around. As he approached it, the passenger door clicked open, and music spilled out. He put his hand on the roof and peered inside. A smiling Sirius sat with one hand resting on the wheel, the other dialling down the volume.
"Hello there, Professor Lupin," he greeted with a cheeky smile and motioned for Remus to get in.
"You do know I'm not a professor, right?" Remus laughed and folded himself into the seat, shutting the door behind him.
"A man can dream…" Sirius said and leant over, pulling Remus in for a quick kiss, that turned out to not be so quick.
"Somehow you don't strike me as the type to be hot for teacher." Remus snorted as they drew apart.
"Only because my teachers never looked like this," Sirius protested, gesturing to all of Remus. "Would've never skipped class if old Professor Slughorn had been this fit!"
"Christ, I bet you were a menace at school…." Remus shook his head.
"Well, they didn't call us The Marauders for nothing," Sirius said, flashing his canine.
"I thought it was just a band name?" Remus raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You all went to school together?"
"Nah, it was just James, Peter, and me at the time, but we kept the name." Sirius shrugged.
"Still, even with just three of you…." Remus chuckled, imagining the mayhem. "Poor Professor Slughorn."
"I'm sure you would have found a way to make me behave." Sirius grinned and grabbed the lapel of his jacket, pulling him close once more.
"God, you're the worst…" Remus muttered against his lips. They took their time exploring each other's mouths, just enjoying the closeness, until things started to get a bit too heated, considering their location. Remus pulled back and rested their foreheads together.
"We should get out of here, before someone sees us," he said reluctantly.
"Don't worry, no one can see us," Sirius said and gestured at the tinted windows. Remus could see several people walking past, but no one paid them any mind.
"How is this thing even legal?" he wondered aloud.
"Technology, my friend, is a beautiful thing." Sirius grinned and pulled away to twist the keys. The engine ignited with a smooth purr, and when Sirius put it into gear, the tint on the front windows faded like a blind being lifted.
"Well, that's handy…." Remus laughed, amazed, and pulled on his seatbelt.
"Quite. But now we do need to get out of here," Sirius chuckled and fastened his own seatbelt before pulling out of the car park.
"What are you listening to?" Remus asked as they merged into the busy London traffic, curious as to what music a successful recording artist would put on in his spare time. He didn't know the song that was playing, but it sounded a far cry from The Marauders' style; no guitar or even singing, just an electronic groove.
"I'm not sure, to be honest. I like to just let the algorithm surprise me," Sirius said, checking his mirror as he changed lanes.
"Living dangerously, I see."
Sirius snorted. "Actually, it tends to get complacent, so you need to be on your toes, but you can still manage to stumble upon something that inspires you," he explained, absentmindedly drumming his fingers in time with the weird synthetic rhythm now coming from the speakers, accompanied by deep bass notes and angry rapping. "So, we've established that you're not a metalhead, and judging from the look on your face you're not a big fan of trap either." Sirius grinned at him. "So, what's your jam? Ed Sheeran? John Mayer maybe?"
"Will you leave me on the side of the road if I say yes?"
"Hey, I'm no purist, and they're talented lads! Whatever floats your boat, I'm just curious." Sirius smiled, letting go of the wheel for a second to perform a disarming gesture.
"The truth is, I don't actually listen to that much music…" Remus said, bracing himself for the reaction.
Sure enough, Sirius slammed the brakes in the middle of the road. Luckily, they didn't have any cars immediately behind them, but Remus wasn't sure if Sirius had actually been aware of that.
"Okay, this is obviously not going to work out." Sirius sighed and waved his hand at the door. A car honked loudly as it narrowly passed them.
"What, you'd rather I listen to Nickelback or something?" Remus challenged.
"Ah, a sound argument," Sirius conceded and sniggered before setting the car in motion again.
"Thought you said you weren't a purist?"
"Well, I've still got ears…." Sirius grumbled. "So, a clean slate, eh? I can work with that." He smirked and rubbed his chin.
The afternoon traffic was its usual congested self, so the going was slow, but every time they stopped at a light, Sirius would put on a new song that Remus just 'had to hear'. While most of it was lost on Remus, Sirius's enthusiasm was contagious, and they spent more time talking than actually listening to the music. Remus learnt that Sirius did indeed own several motor bikes, had a weird aversion to citrus fruit (which was not to be laughed at), thought New York was overrated, was fluent in French, German and Italian and currently working on Spanish.
As they were passing through Wandsworth, Sirius turned off the main road and down a side street. "Do you mind if we make a quick stop on the way? I need to pick up a couple of things."
"Yeah, no problem."
.
A few minutes later, they pulled into the small car park next to a run-down building with a broken neon sign on the front saying 'Kingsley's Guitars'. It wasn't possible to see into the shop because all the windows were plastered with posters, a lot of them hand-painted or home-printed, advertising records and concerts or calling for band mates.
A sleepy bell rang as they walked through the door, but if an employee heard it, it went ignored. The place was packed with instruments; rows and rows of guitars, basses, banjos, and the likes covered the walls while racks of keyboards competed with drums and amps for floor space. There were no other customers in the shop, but Sirius led Remus behind the counter and into a backroom.
"Kingsley? You out here?"
"Sirius? Is that you?" a deep voice sounded from behind some boxes in the corner. The owner of the voice straightened up and revealed himself to be a tall, dark man with a golden hoop in his ear, clad in loose jeans and a purple paisley shirt. His face broke into a smile when he saw Sirius, and he put down the price tag gun he was holding.
"Alright, King? New kid behaving?" Sirius asked.
Kingsley struck up a booming laughter. "You've gotta stop calling Carlos 'the new kid'—he's been here six years now. But he's doing good—twice as efficient as you ever were."
"Maybe. But only half as charming," Sirius winked.
"A much healthier dose, I'd say," Kingsley remarked. "Who do we have here?" he said, noticing Remus standing behind Sirius.
"Kingsley, I want you to meet my friend, Remus," Sirius said, pulling Remus into the room. "Remus, this is Kingsley, purveyor of the finest guitars and procurer of the oddest things. Also, my old boss," he added in an undertone.
"Alright, Remus? You play too?" Kingsley said, sticking out his hand.
"Can't say that I do." Remus chuckled and shook it.
"Pity. Those are some great piano fingers you've got there," Kingsley said before turning back to Sirius. "So, what brings you here today?"
"Have you got any spare humbuckers lying around?"
"Depends…." Kingsley eyed him. "Are you going to use them to further mutilate that Strat I built you?"
"Mutilation all done—I swear." Sirius grinned and held up his hands. "No, I want to stick them on some oil barrels—we haven't been able to capture the sound properly, what do you reckon?"
Remus quickly lost track of the conversation as the two of them launched into a technical discussion about what would be the best placement, how to minimise the noise and what amps to choose. Kingsley rummaged through some boxes containing a mess of spare parts and wires.
"I think these should do the trick," he said, tossing a couple of items to Sirius.
"Brilliant," Sirius said, examining the little rectangles with the rounded corners and rows of silver screws.
"I think I've got to go into the basement to find the right wires—you should go check out the new stock in the meantime—just got in a '67 Twin Reverb that should go great with that Gibson you picked up last time."
"Erm, that one's not doing so great these days…" Sirius said a bit sheepishly.
Kingsley closed his eyes and groaned. "Don't tell me you smashed that one too?"
"What can I tell you? It was acting up!" Sirius defended as they made their way back into the shop.
"And what about the blue Flying V?" Kingsley asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing a little araldite couldn't fix." Sirius shrugged.
"You're hopeless."
Sirius grinned. "Perhaps, but I'm good for business."
"One of these days I'm going to cut you off…." Kingsley shook his head and started down the spiral stairs located at the back of the shop.
"Eyy, Sirius!" a voice called behind them just as the bell above the door rang. A boy, perhaps sixteen or seventeen, with long dread locks came walking in, schoolbag slung carelessly over his shoulder and tie hanging loose around his neck.
"Lee! My man—what's kickin'?" Sirius said, his face lighting up. He went over to greet him. "I've been dying to know how the gig went?"
Lee bumped his fist against Sirius's. "Bruv, it was amazing!"
"Yeah? You nailed the solo?" Sirius asked, putting his arm across the boy's shoulders. "Lee here is the best guitar player St. George's Academy has ever seen," he explained to Remus as he led the boy back to where he was standing. "Lee, this is my friend, Remus."
The boy gave Remus an upwards nod, shooting him a brief "S'appening?" before answering Sirius's initial question, "I did alright, I think—missed a couple of notes, though…."
"Who cares, as long as you were feeling it—music's not about perfection." Sirius waved. "But more importantly: was Aimee feeling it?" he added with a knowing grin, nudging Lee's side.
"Nah, man…." Lee sighed and made a face. "She's still seeing that loser from the rugby team…." He flung his bag into a corner.
"Her loss, mate," Sirius said sympathetically and clapped him on the shoulder. "But come on, show me what you've got!" He took a seat on an amp and indicated for Lee to do the same. Remus leant against the counter, curious to see where this was going.
"Alright!" Lee said, face lighting up, and grabbed the guitar that was already plugged in.
He flicked on the amp and checked the tuning, asking Sirius for affirmation before he began to play. Remus didn't have much frame of reference, but it was obvious that the boy had talent. He kept the tempo and moved his fingers in a complex sequence. It looked impossibly hard but sounded quite good.
Sirius was listening intently, tapping his foot, and nodding his head to the beat.
But then Lee must have hit a note he didn't mean to, because he winced and stopped playing. "Ah, bollocks…."
"Hey, you were doing great—I see you've really been practicing those harmonics!" Sirius said.
"Yeah, I'm usually good for the first part, but then I hit a wrong note or forget where I'm supposed to go…."
"Okay, the important thing is to keep going. Don't draw attention to your mistakes. The worst thing you can do is let a wrong note hang. You were only a semitone away—use it to approach the target note or find a chord that incorporates it. Don't let yourself be limited by the key—you can resolve anything—it's just a matter of conviction."
"Ugh, I can't wait till the day where I can just go up on stage like you and play a whole set without making mistakes…."
"You and me both, mate," Sirius said and clapped his shoulder. "Hate to disappoint you, but if that's your goal, you may as well hang up that guitar right now. Let me tell you a little secret: what makes a great player is not how few mistakes you make—it's your ability to cover them up. Hit a wrong note? Just repeat it and make it sound intentional. Build tension and unrest. Miss a note? A chance to work in some syncopation. Don't know where to go? Don't be afraid of silence or a little scale wanking until you get your bearings. And if all else fails, remember what I always say: 'When in doubt—"
"…sustain'," Lee finished with a grin.
"Exactly," Sirius said and bumped his fist. "If you don't make mistakes, you're playing it too safe. Now try again, but no stopping this time, okay?"
"Okay," Lee said and adjusted the guitar in his lap.
This time he got all the way through the solo, and he looked pleased with himself, though Remus honestly couldn't tell if he had made any mistakes or not.
Sirius smiled broadly. "Nice one! How did it feel?"
"Bare nerve-wracking, bruv!" Lee laughed and held up a hand to show Sirius how shaky it was. "I didn't have time to think, I just went with it!"
"And with practice, that's going to become a lot easier. Having a good grasp on the theory also helps. But let's talk about all the things that went right. The way you slid into those arpeggios at the end there…." he did a chef's kiss instead of finishing the sentence.
"Took me months, but you shoulda seen everyone's faces!" Lee said proudly.
"Wish I could've." Sirius beamed.
"So, what's the next step?" Lee said eagerly.
Sirius regarded him for a moment. "Sure you're ready for the next step?"
"Of course, bruv, just bring it!"
"Okay, listen carefully," Sirius said, grabbing his arm and bringing their heads closer together. "Now, I need you to forget everything you've learnt thus far."
"What?" Lee said, drawing the word out in disbelief. "You're taking the piss, bruv!" He shook his head.
Sirius just sat back with a grin.
"No way, what's it all been for, then?"
"Discipline."
"Fuck that, be real."
"I am real. You've learnt the techniques, the tricks, the movements; now you need to learn not to use them."
"What d'you mean? You use them all the time!" Lee accused.
"I don't," Sirius corrected patiently. "I use them when they add something to the song. Let me demonstrate." He got up to grab an acoustic guitar from a stand. He sat back down and did an intricate little piece, his hands moving fast and twisting to add all sorts of extra effects.
"What's your point? That was proper mad, and you know it," Lee said, frowning.
"Sure, it might sound impressive, but you're not playing to impress—you're playing to invoke emotion," Sirius explained. "Music is not a technical competition. You need to let it breathe. And remember you have a band around you, and it all needs to blend. There's a time to embellish and a time to be silent, and then there's everything in between. It's like cooking; spices can add to the flavour, and you can experiment with different combinations, but if you dump your entire stock into the pot, no one can taste the meat. You need to feel the song and feel your band. Listen to this now," he said and repeated the same little melody, but dialled down with fewer notes and fewer movements. He lingered on some parts, and barely touched the strings on others.
"Bruv." Lee mimed his head being blown. "I've got chills—you have got to teach me that!"
Remus smiled to himself. It was quite endearing seeing Sirius interact with the boy, generously sharing his knowledge and taking an interest in his life. Not a hint of big-headed fuckery or arrogant star whims.
At that moment, Kingsley plodded back up the stairs, a handful of wires in his hand. "Hello, Lee," he greeted when he saw the boy.
"'Sup, King?"
"Right, Sirius, these should do the trick," Kingsley said, waving the cables.
"Cheers, you're the man, Kingsley." Sirius smiled and got up, putting the guitar back in its stand. "Sorry Lee, gotta run, but keep at it, yeah?"
"I will. Thanks for the tips, bruv!"
"Anytime, mate," Sirius said and pulled a couple of packs of guitar strings from a rack on the counter before handing Kingsley his credit card. "I'll tell Benjy to come and check out that Reverb—he busted his main one last week."
"I appreciate it, man. And hey, try not to burn all of Europe down, okay?" Kingsley said as he handed Sirius his acquisitions in a bag.
"No promises." Sirius grinned and waved goodbye.
.
Back in the car, Remus regarded Sirius as they were putting their seatbelts on.
"What?" Sirius said, pausing in twisting the keys when he noticed Remus looking. "Do I have something on my face?"
"No." Remus smiled and chuckled softly.
"Well, what, then?" Sirius laughed.
"Nothing. Just—it was nice to get a little glimpse of your world, that's all."
"Oh," Sirius said, a self-conscious smile on his face as he pulled them out of the car park. "Yeah, I practically lived in that shop for four years. Kingsley kinda hired me off the street, even though I was officially too young. Don't know where I'd be today if it wasn't for him."
"I reckon you could've been an excellent teacher," Remus said. "Of course, I may be predisposed."
Sirius chuckled. "Yeah, Lee's a great kid. Though I think I'd fail the whole being-a-role-model part. Skipped too many of those classes."
"You'd be surprised who they let teach these days…." Remus sniggered.
"Is that so, Professor Lupin?" Sirius grinned and turned onto the A3.
A/N: I am just in love with exasperated guitar shop owner Kingsley Shacklebolt! He would've had his hands full trying to manage a sixteen-year-old Sirius.
And yes, I know Lee is way too old here, but he just fit the vibe I wanted. I originally wrote it as Bill Weasley, until I remembered that he is related to the twins haha. He might make an appearance later.
Sorry if Remus took too much of a backseat here - I just cannot resist Sirius in his element and I don't think Remus can either.
(and er... does Sirius have a Teacher Kink or what?)
