QLFC Reserve League

S1, R1

Keeper: Friendship

"Siriiiiiiiii!"

Sirius tilts his head up at Lily's shout, blowing on his wet nails absentmindedly. "Coming!" he calls back, getting to his feet gingerly with the palms of his hands, his fingers tense and still. He walks over to the vague location of her voice and peers into the room that she's in.

She's hanging upside down from the inversion table she had brought into their flat the previous day, all her red hair spilled on the ground. Her face is red from the blood and she's pouting a little bit.

He cocks a brow up and she sighs. "Can you help me back up please?"

Lily smiles weakly, blinking a bit, and lifts her head so that her chin is touching her chest and tries to jolt herself up. She only succeeds in making herself almost slip out of the foot holds and squawks as she grabs the holds to keep herself from falling.

Sirius nods and grabs the end, pushing it down and slowly tilting Lily back up. She smiles brightly when he unlocks the foot hold and slides off of it. "Todah Rabah," she says, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing his cheek.

"Are we still on to go the club tonight?" she murmurs.

Sirius nods, stroking the tips of her long, flaming hair carefully. "Of course! Why wouldn't we? We're going full glam with stilettos! If you need me to stab somebody, I can. If I need you to stab somebody, you can. And don't forget the fake numbers, love," he reminds her, leaning his head on hers at the reminder of what happened last time.

She rolls her eyes but nods anyway. "I remember Sirius. I have them written on my contact list."

"Good."

Sirius spreads his fingers out, inspecting the black nail polish and the design that he'd tried his hand at. It's white nail polish to make stars, little bitty sparkles for an extra bling, and a thick line of silver polish on his thumb. "What do you think?" he asks her.

She takes his hand into hers, staring at the design intently. Green eyes sparkle when they look back at her. "I think," she begins, stopping dramatically before a grin splits on her lips, "that you need to do my nails before we leave with a fire theme."

He lets out a bark of laughter and nods. "Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

—oXo—

They're ready at 9pm, dressed to the nines. Sirius is in a sheer red top over his lace vest, tucked into his mid-thigh black skirt with black platform stilettos with silver studs that boost him up to 6' rather than his 5' 8. Lily did a black and red smokey eye and black lipstick, exaggerating his pale skin and Sirius feels like a baby girl.

Lily walks next to him in an off the shoulder, scrunched green dress with long puffed sleeves. Sirius curled her long hair so that it bounced to her mid–back and over her shoulders, and she strutted in her heels that matched Sirius', putting her at 5' 10. Her makeup is a green and black smokey eye, red lipstick, and her freckles accentuated with small dabs from a brown brow pencil.

To him, they look like they walked out of the Vogue magazine and Sirius feels gorgeous. They're allowed entry quickly, waving at Connor, and Lily drags him to dance immediately. Sirius dances for as long as he can, smiling and laughing with Lily, until his feet feel as though they are being hit by a hammer with every beat.

Sirius lets out a harsh breath as he plops himself into a bar stool, waving his hand to call for the bartender on shift. He blinks when his little brother, Regulus, pops in front of him with a shit–eating grin on his face.

"Reggie."

"Sirius," Regulus says. "What can I get for you?"

"Surprise me, Reggie. Just make sure it has fruit," Sirius mumbles, easing his heels off his feet and flexing his toes. "This is why Lily has an extra pair of flats in the car. Why didn't I do the same?" he laments.

Regulus snorts and shakes his head as he shakes up a drink, flipping it and tossing it around flamboyantly, humming along as he does so. Barty, from the other side of the bar, whistles and winks. Regulus sticks his tongue out at partner and Sirius groans.

Before he can make a complete drama show, a body drops on the bar stool next to his and Sirius is distracted immediately. Golden tan skin, messy black hair, and broad and muscular. They're wearing a tight shirt that's striped with non-binary pattern. They sigh and wave at Regulus. "Whiskey, neat please, good person."

Regulus laughs. "Coming right up!"

"Sirius Black," Sirius introduces.

They startle and their head swings toward him. "Oh! Uhm, James Potter, they/them pronouns. Though I'm sure you could guess that from my shirt," they joke, an easy smile on their face. "More into girls than guys, but thank you for the interest."

Sirius snorts and tips his head back, idly thanking Regulus for his drink as he surveys James. "I'm everybody's type," he sniffs arrogantly, letting his lips tilt into a smile to let James know he's joking. "But that's fine. I'm here with my bestie but she's dancing and my feet were being tortured by dancing so I'm sitting and drinking. Much preferred really. Who are you here with?"

"My mate, Remus. He abandoned me for some chic bc they both like some author," James said with a sigh, rolling their eyes in obvious exasperation. "If she's looking to get in his bed, she's in for disappointment because he's strictly for men."

James sighs and nods at Reggie, taking a sip of their whiskey. "So now we can both lament our abandonment together and with our drinks," they announce, holding their glass out. Sirius laughs and clinks his glass against James'.

"To our abandonment," he agrees.

"What abandonment, Sirius?" comes a voice behind him. Lily comes and drops herself in his lap, arm around his shoulders and taking a sip of his drink. "From what I remember, you abandoned me on the dance floor because your feet were hurting." She looks at James, eyes roving over them, and takes another sip of Sirius' drink. "They're cute," she mumbles to Sirius in Hebrew.

Sirius nods distractedly, eyes more focused on the tall beauty standing behind Remus. Green–gold eyes meet his eyes and Sirius leans against Lily, licking his lips. "You made me forget my pick-up line," he breathes, and Lily laughs, James laughs, but Mr. Sex-on-Legs goes red. Sirius grins widely.

"Care to dance?" he offers.

Mr. Sex-on-Legs swallows and nods. "Remus," he responds.

Sirius hums. "I prefer Mr. Sex-on-Legs but Remus is a nice name," he chirps as Remus chokes and Lily laughs, a full belly laugh that makes James stare at her and Sirius can almost see the stars in his eyes.

Lily slips off his lap and Remus takes his hand. "Have fun, love," Lily says, pecking his lips and then looking at Remus. "Do anything wrong and I'll stab you," she threatens Remus with a sweet smile, taking Sirius' now empty spot.

Remus nods and Sirius cackles, slips his stilettos back on, and drags Remus to the dance floor.

Todah Rabah: Many Thanks or Thank you very much.