Chapter Text
"Teddy!” Remus tries to hug his nine year old, turquoise haired, son when he sees him in the airport but he pushes him away
“I haven’t gone by Teddy in over six months. It’s Ted now”
“How’s it going, hot stuff?” Tonks, pink haired and ears filled with piercings, holds her arms out for him and he swings her around with a giggle
“Miserable without you two, I missed you both so much”
“Doubt that” Ted scoffs under his breath and Remus’ smile crumbles
“I do. I always miss you” he says earnestly
“Now he’s gonna be around so much we’ll be begging he leaves us alone” Tonks tries to save it
“I thought we were already there” Ted doesn’t bother looking at him
“Are you two tired?” Remus puts on a brave smile “I thought maybe we could grab a bite to eat before—”
“Can we just go to the Hotel?”
“Oh, sure”
“It was a long flight” Tonks offers him a smile but that doesn’t stop Remus from wanting to cry.
“I’ll order us an uber” he tries to take Ted’s luggage but he shrugs him off
“I’ve got it”
“Give him some time to adjust, he’ll come around” Tonks wraps an arm around Remus and leans into his ear to whisper as they watch their son march ahead on his own
“He hates me” his voice cracks and he swallows the lump on his throat
“No. He doesn’t”
“It’s fine, I deserve it”
“You don’t. He loves you, he’s just too young to understand why his dad can’t be around most of the time but now’s gonna be different, you’ll get to drop him off at school and pick him up every day”
“Do you two want to keep talking about me or can we go now?” Ted stares at them boredly and Remus recognizes himself in him, he feels guilty for burdening him with his genetics, he’d be so much happier with someone else’s genetics mixed with Tonks’.
Remus takes a deep breath and Tonks hands him her luggage “Yeah”
“I was thinking…” Tonks sits next to Remus on the table as Ted reads Percy Jackson on his bed
“How long will we have to stay at this hotel? I miss having a living room– and a kitchen– and my own room”
“Until we find a good place to rent, we’re going this week, your dad was nice enough to wait for us so we could all decide together, like a family” she says and Ted scoffs again “anyways, as I was saying before a rude boy interrupted me” she sticks her tongue out at him and he rolls his eyes without looking up from his book “god, that’s like traveling back in time. Your father used to lay in his bed reading while I sat on that stationary desk your grandma turned into her arts and crafts desk, I’d sit there and I would talk and he’d roll his eyes at me whenever I suggested we go out for the night, he liked to stay cooped up inside every night. Do you remember?” she turns to Remus fondly and he smiles at her softly
“Of course, there I lay trying to be a scholar and there your mother came with her devious ways” he teases
“Yeah, who knows where you’d be if you hadn’t knocked her up” Ted mutters to himself
“Ted—” Remus starts but Tonks cuts him off and it’s a good thing because he doesn’t know what to say
“Why don’t we go somewhere? It’s stuffy in here, it’s driving me a bit insane, we could go to a museum or a park or—”
“The new Marvel movie just came out!” Ted sets his book down with a smile
“I have practice in an hour, the first one,” Remus mumbles to his hands, feeling shy and guilty “But we can do something afterwards “but we can go afterwards?” he knows the hope is visible in his voice and he grimaces, he doesn’t want to spook him, almost like he’s an animal in the wild that could flee at any second
“Mum and I can go while you work” he says the word like it’s an insult or a slur an it works because it shames his father into shameful silence
“We’ll tell you all about it at dinner” Tonks pats his hand and Remus’ lips titter up
“Yeah! We can go out for Pizza afterwards—”
“It’s Friday. We eat pasta on Fridays” Ted cuts him off with a glare that says he should’ve known that but of course he doesn’t, he was too busy working in another continent.
“Right.” Remus curses himself for ever opening his mouth
“Mum, can we go?” he doesn’t wait for an answer, just walks out of the room and leaves the door open
“I’ll talk to him” she kisses the top of his head but he shakes
“Don’t, he’s right, I should know this things, I’m his father, I should’ve been there”
“Well now he gets the best of both worlds, his dad and enough money to not only eat but also have a good education. Because of you he gets to have everything you dreamed of having, Re”
“Mum, lets go”
“Do not rush me Ted Lupin— say goodbye to your father” Ted does so reluctantly and Remus drops his head into his hands when the door shuts.
Remus never likes meeting his new teammates –doesn’t like meeting new people in general really. Today isn’t an exception, even if a big part of him is excited, Gryffindor is the biggest team he’s ever been a part of and he’ll get to play with Sirius Black himself, probably the best player of his generation, a legend really. He walks into the office to meet an old man wearing sunglasses inside and a rainbow ribbon tying the end of his long silver beard. He introduces himself and the men beside him, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Stugris Podmore and Regulus Black. Of course Remus already knows who he is. Even before he was publicly outed and the media went wild with it –the first high profile gay football player–, Remus liked watching his games back when he played for Slytherin, he found passes that seemed impossible, his read on the players and field was impeccable.
Still, he refuses to be a fangirl about it, so he doesn’t say any of this, just listens dumbly to what Dumbledore tells him. There’s a knock on the door and a man with an eyepatch with a googly eye stuck on top of it walks in. He limps and leans to his side as he walks and Remus realizes he’s also missing a leg. “This is Alastor Moody, he’ll be your physical trainer”
“No time for pleasantries,” he claps his hands together, “you lads ready to sweat?”
“They haven’t met the rest of the team yet” Albus tuts at him
“What are we waiting for then? Let’s go!” he shoves them off the office and down too many neon lit hallways, some narrow, some wide, it looks like a maze and Remus is already lost.
“This is surreal. I can’t believe I’ll be playing with the Sirius Black!” Stugris, the younger one out of the three of them, only twenty years old, looks around wide-eyed. Remus schools his expression because he surely looks the same “I’ll get to play with Sirius Black” he says giddy, seemingly to himself. Remus eyes flicker to Regulus’, but the boy doesn’t seem to react, at least not until Stugris turns to him “And you’re his brother! What’s he like?”
“A moron,” he responds easily “but then again like you said, he’s my brother” Remus can’t figure out if it’s meant to be friendly or not, his words are but his tone isn’t. Apparently the others can’t either because Remus is the only one that snorts in laughter. Regulus eyes shoot to him and he grimaces, he gets the sudden impulse to apologize but swallows it down. The corner of his lip curls up and Remus crooks a smile in return
Finally, they hear the sound of chatter and a loud roar of laughter coming from their destination: the locker room. The smell that greets them isn't pleasant but it’s better than it’ll be in a couple of hours. Besides, Remus is used to worst than this. It’s the biggest locker room he’s ever been in, that’s the first thing he notices. Even filled with an entire team of football players there’s still extra space. The last place he played in they were all squeezed in so tight he’d grown used to just changing at home. The benches are Gryffindor-red and the doors a light wood delaying a square, but above all there’s life. James Potter, the captain, is gesticulating broadly with his hands telling a story to Fenwick, Bones and Figg, he doesn’t even notice when they walk in. Zeelby, one of the older players, turns from where he’s laughing with the bear of humongous man Hagrid, he’s probably the biggest tank Remus has ever seen.
The sound of a twinkling laugh draws Remus’ attention and there Sirius Black is.
The pictures and videos don’t do him justice, even if he’s not only known for his impeccable football skills but his undeniable beauty as well. He has a shirt in his hand, like he’s about to put it on and Remus mourns the loss they’re about to experience because Sirius Black with his shirt off is a remarkable sight. His tight muscles shift under his toned skin with every move. Remus forces his eyes away from his toned stomach and it’s worse because he meets the most chiseled jaw he’s ever seen with eyes that seem to glow and a smile that’s been carved.
He laughs with his whole body and leans in to whisper in a kid’s ear, undoubtedly a Potter by the looks of him, he’s an exact replica except for the eyes, those were probably his mother’s doing.
“Black!” Moody snaps at him
“Mad Eye! Oh, I’ve missed you!” Sirius meets his rage with a bright smile. He moves towards the old man and reveals a humongous wolf-like black dog sitting on the bench next to the kid. The kid’s petting him, Remus would’ve probably noticed him if he hadn’t been so distracted by the sight that is Sirius Black
“What is that fleasy beast doing here!”
“Don’t be rude Moody,” Sirius gasps in offense before a smirk finds its way to his lips “Harry has a name” Moody doesn’t find it funny “Fang is our new team mascot!”
“We’re not americans.”
“Ouch” Frank laughs with a hand to his chest
“How can you say no to this adorable face?” Sirius cups Fang’s face like it’s the most adorable baby to ever grace the earth even if only Fang’s snout is bigger than both his hands. It’s in that moment that Remus realizes how dangerous Sirius Black is, because he’s not just beautiful and talented but caring and funny and he will definitely fall in love with him if he doesn’t stay as far away from him as he can.
“You have five seconds to get him out of here”
“No, Moody, listen, I couldn’t leave her behind, she hasn’t spent one second alone since they—” he covers her ears “A-B-A-N-D-O-N-E-D her, what if she thinks I’m going to do the same thing?!”
“The kid can take it”
“The kid has it– her”
“The kid, has a name” James chimes as he pats his son on the head
“I don’t want that beast anywhere near my players” Sirius, James and Harry gasp in offense and shield her ears, she seems delighted for the attention and licks the smaller face beside her.
“Moody, she is not a –that” he sounds too repulsed to even say the word aloud “she’s an angel”
“Yeah, she’s even allowed near Vicky” Harry says like that’s a testament to Fang’s exemplary behavior
“Fine. She can stay for warm up but that’s it, then you have to tie her up to a post or something– and put on her leash!”
Fang joins their cheers with a woof and jumps from his stall and zooms over to Regulus. She licks his entire face as he wipes off her drool and her tail wags “Reg! You’re here!” James brightens up at the sight of him
“Oh yeah, Everybody listen up!” Moody claps his hands together to draw their attention and all eyes turn away from Fang and towards him "These are your new—"
"Ooh, ooh, let me! Let me! Can I do it?!" Sirius bounces on his spot like an overexcited dog wagging its tail. Actually, with his slick luscious mane, he looks a lot like Fang.
With a resigned sigh Mad Eye gestures for him to go ahead "This is the moment you've all been waiting for," he slams his locker shut for dramatism "this is the moment we make history," he stumps his foot on the bench "the moment our team becomes a legend" he rises on the bench "the moment our ranks are joined by the man can see through any man no matter their size" he holds his Powerade out in toast "the instant my own blood—"
"Oh, I'm already regretting this" Regulus drops his head into his hands and a few of the men chuckle, James the loudest of all. Remus doesn't laugh though, no, because he's too busy realizing Sirius Black is exactly his type –boisterous, confident, a little narcissist but also, a goofy idiot, he hates that he finds that so adorable in men– he needs to stay as far away from him as he can or he'll definitely fall in love with him.
"Shut up asshole" Sirius flips Regulus off "team, meet my annoying, cunt of a little brother. Reggie, meet everyone else"
"Don't call me Reggie.” he swats his hand away “Can we start running now?"
“Don’t be rude Reg, say hi to the team” James sits next to him with a teasing smirk
“Rude of you to ignore the other new members” Regulus smirks back in response
"Shit, yeah, sorry, we're being rude, I'm James, I play defense, this stunner good looker is Harry" James goes around, pointing at each man and introducing them and their positions. Stugris lets out a muffled squeak when he gets to Sirius' name, his cheeks turn a bright shade of red "I know mate," James smiles bright and easily at him, Stugris manages a smile through his blush
“Some people used to call me their God” Sirius adds smugly
“It happened once and I meant it as a short for godfather!” Harry protests
“No take backs”
“He snores and his feet stink” he tells on his godfather
“My own godson has betrayed me!” Sirius gasps dramatically and swoons with a hand to his forehead “I have been forsaken! James, catch me for I shall perish” James scoots him in his arms and fans him
“Quick, Harry, get me the defibrillator pallets!” he makes his son smile
“I’m so glad you got your mother’s intelligence” Regulus sighs and Harry giggles
“Enough of this nonsense, get dressed and get out there!” Moody barks at them and leaves no room to protest. “Kid, out,” he snaps his fingers at Harry “and take that”
“Mad Eye, you’ve known me since I was born” Harry protests and Sirius whispers something in his ear that makes him laugh
“Yes, I know, that’s why I blame those two idiots instead of you –Now scat, you’re distracting my players”
“I’ll go with you” Sirius laughs on their way out as he puts on his shirt and Remus is capable of thinking again
James, no longer distracted by the short eight year old, shifts all his focus into making conversation with the new players as he changes into his workout gear “Don’t let Moody scare you, he acts all tough but deep down he adores us”
“I’m just grateful to be here” Stugris sighs dreamily, Remus silently agrees with him
“You earned it,” James claps him on the shoulder “maybe we’ll become the new dúo iconico, eh? An impenetrable force” he beams at him and Stugris makes his best not to let his knees buckle beneath them. Regulus turns to his bag and roll his eyes at them “like you and Re, eh Regulus?” he loops an arm around Regulus’ neck like he sensed the other boy drifting away and wanted to anchor him down to him “You know, they call him a werewolf because he devours his opponents” James chuckles and Remus stiffens at the sound of that nickname, the one Fenrir Greyback gave him, once upon a time he’d loved it
“It’s just a stupid play on my name” he shrugs them off but doesn’t achieve the nonchalant look. He changes quickly and heads out ignoring the curious look Regulus shoots him
“Lupin, first one!” Sirius looks up from where he was talking with Moody and beams at him. Remus grimaces, he’s already failing the one thing he imposed on himself: stay away from Sirius Black
“You’re my favorite already!” Moody doesn’t exactly smile but it’s probably the closest he ever gets to smiling
“Excuse you, what am I?” Sirius gestures to himself
“A bother. I told you already, five laps around the field!”
“Wanna do some loops with me, Loup?” he has a lovely teasing smile on his face and it’d be so easy to simply smile back at him, but he can’t let what happened with Greyback happen again
“I prefer running alone.” he sets his head down and starts running.
“Knew I liked him” He hears Moody roar with laughter behind him, apparently he can laugh.
Remus runs alone, Sirius runs with Fang behind him and he knows those silver eyes are glued to the back of his head, staring and studying him, but eventually the rest of the team piles out into the field and the awkward tension in the air slips away
Regulus ends up jogging beside Remus, pretty much running away from James who insists on running together. Still, the corner of his mouth twitches up before he suppress it when Sirius and James make a dumb jokes behind them with Stugris. They fall behind to where they can’t hear them and then James sprints his way to join them, Regulus speeds up but James slows down beside and jogs beside Remus
“So Lupin, got anyone special in your life?”
“My son” he smiles at the thought of Teddy
“Oh! What’s his name?”
“Teddy— Ted, he goes by Ted now, I still can’t believe how fast he’s grown”
“I know, Harry –he’s my oldest– he just turned eight, I still remember when he was born –well, I remember the day he was born, I sort of fainted whe— anyways, how old is your Ted? Maybe they can be friends"
"Nine"
"I’m sure they’ll get along— oh, do you already have a school? We did so much research when we were figuring out what school to send the kids to, it's a couple years old but it's yours if you wanted"
"That'd be great, thanks, I'd really appreciate it" he means it, they've been doing their research but you can never be too thorough, specially not when it comes to your son's education "what school did you end up going with?"
"Hogwarts, don't know if you heard of it"
"Yeah, we were considering it" and hesitating because of how expensive it is
"To be honest though, what ended up swaying us was my son's best friend, he and his brothers go there —Frank's kid Neville goes with them too, Zeelby's also but they're older— Bones' daughter goes to Beuxbatons, I think she likes it there— I think King's looking for a new school too, I don't know if he found one yet, but, just, word of advice, don't send your kids to Durmstrang, his daughter had some nasty issues with bullying and they basically told him she should put up with it to make her skin thick or some bullshit like that"
"Thanks for the heads up, we were actually thinking Castelobruxo or Ilvermorny, do you know anyone who goes there?"
"Yeah, my nephew –or ex-nephew now I guess?– he goes to Ilvermorny and I've never met a more obnoxious brat, don't know much about the school though, I'm biased. And Castelobruxo is the school Benji went to," he nods to the frizzy head on the other side of the field "I think he liked it, he might still have some friends with siblings who go the–”
“Hey, what are you two smiling about, I thought you preferred to run alone” Sirius mocks and it isn’t his desire for Sirius that pushes him away from him but his pettiness
“You’re right” he speeds up in order to lose him and James scuffs him on the back of the head
“I was only joking! I was trying to be friendly, I don’t know what his deal is, he literally just ran away from me”
“Why, because he doesn’t bend over backwards for the mighty Sirius Black?”
“No.” Sirius huffs
“Aw, Pads, did the new boy hurt your feelings?”
“Shut up” Sirius shoves him as Moody draws everyone to run warm up drills.
After the warm up they’re on to the gym and by the time Moody is done with them Remus' muscles feel like jello and they're only halfway done with the day. They head for the club's cafeteria during lunch together, the entire team plus other members of the staff he's introduced to "and you all eat together?" Regulus asks his brother in a low voice but not low enough not to be overheard
"Of course"
"Even the staff?" He asks in disbelief
"Of course Reg, don't be rude, they're part of the team"
"No—" regulus cheeks flush "sorry, of course they are, I just— everyone ate on their own in Slytherin"
"Well you're a lion now Reg," James hooks an arm around his shoulder and ruffles his hair "you're on our team" regulus shrugs him off and hides his blush on the sleeve of his Adidas jacket, but James has already moved on to clap the owner on the back.
The owner is a tall man with carrot-red hair James calls Arthur. The entire team greet him, some shoulder squeeze, some 'bro-hug', Fabian squeezes him so tight Arthur's feet leave the air, Dearborn cups his face and pats his cheek fondly as he asks about his wife, some simply say hi with a friendly smile like Benji.
James introduces Arthur to all the new faces "Remus' son is actually around the same age as Ron and the twins, we'll have to introduce them," James swings an arm around Remus shoulder "Arthur here has me beat by two kids"
"Together they make a whole football team"
"Oh! Speaking of that, the club has this sort of 'sporty daycare' for the player's kids –mine go every Monday, Wednesday and Friday– they love it, you two should think of bringing your kids next time."
"Mine's a teenager, I'm lucky if I get her to talk to me" Kingsley tells him
"Oh god, don't tell me that, I'm terrified of what puberty's gonna do to my little angels"
"Turn them into demons, probably" Regulus tells him, apparently listening in on their conversation rather than listen to whatever Dearborn's spewing next to him about hitting the night with Vinicius and Sturgis. James laughs through the pain and smiles brightly at him.
Conversations flow on easily and loudly, they sit outside because the day is lovely and so Fang can join them.
Remus sits across from Benji, Regulus and Fabian Prewett. The three of them are chatting about Fabian’s twin brother, Gideon, he just signed with Benji's old team Ravenclaw and Regulus is good friends with one of their star players Crouch. Vinicius bulges his eyes at this, clearly listening in on their conversation “You is friends wit Crotch?” he has a thick accent, he’s only been living in the country for a year. Regulus bites his cheek so hard it bleeds trying not to make the man self conscious about his accent, but he’ll definitely tease Barty with it later.
Remus is surprised by their friendship too. Crouch is known for being a wild card, you never know when he’s gonna do something idiotic that‘ll get him kicked out of the game. Regulus is the opposite, both from what Remus has seen today so far and every other match he’s watched Regulus Black play in, too cold and composed, even when the other players try to get a rise out of him it seems impossible but maybe that’s why it works.
Sirius fetches another chair for Fang to sit on despite the fact that she's taller than the table he pets her the entire time as he places his order “and for her—”
“—The finer stake we have, yeah, yeah, I know” Arthur waves him off and the table chuckles
“He has to treat his girl right” Dearborn winks at him
“God knows you ain’t getting a human one any time soon” Moody jesters
“Unlike you with your endless parade of chicks Mr Heartthrob” he jabs back sarcastically and Moody tosses him one of his fries. Sirius catches it and chews it merrily
“That’s not on your diet plan” Moody levels him with a glare and Sirius sticks his potato-chewed tongue at him
Remus expects Fang to dive into the steak as soon as Arthur sets it in front of her, but instead she's gentle about it, like she's used to having a fine meat steak for lunch. That dog probably has a better life than most people do.
Hagrid talks Remus’ ear off beside him, he rambles on endlessly about his garden. Apparently this past spring was dreadful, the weather was terrible and half of his plants kept being attacked by mice he refused to kill. Remus is half listening as he devours his food, he isn’t sure what they put in his chicken but it’s the most delicious thing he’s ever had "So, I thought to myself, if they ain't hungry they won't eat my veggies, so I built them a tiny house made of twigs and Grawp–my little brother– built them a table on his pottery class for them to dine but my neighbors weren't big fans, I had to drive out to the woods and set them free. I still miss seeing them out there scattering around" he gets teary eyed and Remus wishes he was part of any other conversation going on around them. Even the one happening on his other side, Dearborn is telling Stugris he has to go out with him and Benjy, apparently Benjy keeps saying no and he's finally found the means for peer pressure him into it, those were his exact words
"Don't come crying to us when they steal all the chicks from under you” Fabian says through a biteful
“Not a chance baby, have you seen this face”
“Yeah, that’s why I said it” that then launches a table wide vote and discussion over who’s more beautiful Caradoc or Fabian
“It doesn’t count, what do you guys know about male beauty” Caradoc scoffs after loosing “Only one of us is allowed to have an opinion. Regulus, you think I’m prettier than Fabian, don’t you?” Regulus’ hands freeze where he’s cutting his chicken.
“Don’t be a fucking asshole Dearborn” James snaps at him before Regulus even has time to look up
“Yeah, wanna keep all your limbs?” Sirius eyes shine deadly at him
“I just wanted him to say I’m attractive to gay guys” Caradoc holds his palms up
“Course you are,” Regulus goes back to cutting his chicken into pieces “there’s people with bad taste in all sexualities” he chews his chicken with a smug smirk and just like that the tension shatters into laughter.
“Where’ we meeting up tonight?” Enzo asks, he’s one of the south american players. Remus noticed he’s the one that speaks the better English along with James who almost sounds native to England.
“Three Broomsticks, anyone need a ride?” Frank asks the whole table “Sturgis, Remus, do you know where the Three Broomsticks is?”
“I could use a ride” Sturgis beams at him and Remus frowns
“Huh?”
“You have no idea what we’re talking about, do you?” Frank sighs “we’re all meeting after practice for drinks, Potts was supposed to tell you but he’s been a little distracted today” he shoots Potter a heatless glare, James doesn’t even notice him, he’s too busy giggling at something Sirius said to Regulus “Potter!” he whips around at the sound of him, his messy hair bounces over his eyes and he protest having to wear contact lenses flat and soaking wet over his eyes “You forgot to tell them about after practice”
“Shit. I knew I was forgetting something”
“Yeah, your brain” Regulus grumbles and Sirius swats at him
“You’re so mean to me Reg” James smiles as he says it, Regulus rolls his eyes at him and stares down at his food
“Baby Black, you coming?” Fabian asks and Regulus shakes his head
“No. To both the question and the nickname, James’ ex wife made me join her book club”
“What? But you invited us to cook at my house” Remus isn’t sure why Regulus would invite his brother to his own house but he doesn’t ask
“yeah, because I won’t be there”
“I even bought all the ingredients for those sorrentinos you like” James looks very dangerously close to pouting
“The bookclub won’t last forever, I’ll make it in time for dinner” he shrugs easily
“I feel so used” Regulus rolls his eyes again “you don’t deserve my sorrentinos– I think I’ll cook some albondigas instead”
“Meatballs” Sirius smirks the translation at Regulus
“But I hate meatballs”
“Precisely.” James say in unison to Sirius’ “Exactly” and Regulus rolls his eyes yet again
“Is Three Broomsticks the one on Hogsmeade?” Kingsley asks Frank and he nods
“Yeah, main street, you know it?”
“The girl I’m seeing leaves a few blocks down”
“What about you wolf-boy? You coming?” Dearborn turns to Remus
“There’s room in my car if you want a ride” Frank offers with a smile
“Oh, no, sorry, I can’t. I promised my son I’d take him out for pasta tonight and I can’t back out, maybe next time” he rambles on, this is why he likes to plan the conversations out in his head before they happen
“James is a great cook, why don’t you and your kid come over for dinner?” Regulus chimes happier than he’s sounded this entire day
“Yes! That’s a brilliant idea! He can meet Harry! And don’t think I didn’t realize you just want the sorrentinos you like,” he adds the last bit to Regulus “but you’ve finally admitted I’m a great cook so alright”
“Oh, we wouldn’t want to be a bother”
“Nonsense! We're happy to have you, this way we won't have to wait all the way till Saturday! And Ted will already know someone so all the new kids won't be so overwhelming, it's brilliant–bring your wife too" Remus doesn’t feel like clarifying that Tonks isn’t his wife so he just nods.
"Okay, alright, I'll ask them" he isn't sure what Ted will say if he calls him and he doesn't want the entire team to know his kid hates him so he texts him and his mother instead. Ted doesn’t answer but Tonks sends him a thumbs up and a heart so there’s that
“What kind of filling does he like?” James says excitedly
“I’m sure anything you’ve got planned is fine” Remus says instead of admitting he doesn’t know the answer
“I don’t mind cooking an extra filling, I’m used to making different things, my little girl’s a picky eater”
“What filling are you having?” he asks instead of answering
“Caprese for Harry, Ham and mozzarella for Damiano, Ricotta for Vicky and Pumpkin and chicken for Sirius, Spinach and beef for Reg and I’ll do half of Sirius and half of Reg for myself”
“That’s… a lot.” he says and James chuckles
“I know, Lily says I spoil them but I like cooking” he shrugs and Remus can’t help the pang of envy that stirs in the pit of his stomach, he wishes he had that sort of close relationship with Ted. He excuses himself from the table with the pretext of the bathroom.
They’re back on the field after Dumbledore’s talk and some neuro exercise specially designed to train and improve their reflexes. They run some drills both with and without the ball before. Since it’s time for field practice Dumbledore says they’ll take it easy since it’s the first day and lets them free-throw kicks at Frank and the other two goalkeepers for a couple of minutes. At the end he splits them up into four groups of four (excluding goalkeepers) and lets them play on rotation in small squares. James and Sirius argue over who’ll get Regulus on their team so neither one of them ends up with him.
Instead Sirius gets Remus. He smiles at the same time as a defeated sigh escapes past Remus’ lips. But at least he won’t have to face off against him, he won’t have to press his body against his to cover him, he won’t have to wrestle him for the football and let their sweaty bodies rub toget— he won’t have to do that, lucky him.
Sirius stands in front of the ball and Remus behind him, Benjy and Edgar on defense form a triangle with him. The other group’s positioned 2, 2, 1, Vinicius and Zeelby as forwards, Stugris and Dearborn as defense and Bracović as goalkeeper. Sirius taps the football over to Remus, jogs forward until Zeelby is on him and he steps it back to Edgar who throws it over to Sirius who controls it easily with his chest, corrects its direction with his thigh and steps on it instead of kicking it over for the goal. Instead he waits for Dearborn so he can show off his skill. There’s no other way to describe it. The man’s a beauty, his skill is irrefutable, and he knows it. Stugris joins Dearborn and he taunts them both, even though he’s half daze over finally watching the great Sirius Black play. Dearborn grabs a fistful of Sirius’ shirt and yanks him back. Even then he doesn’t lose it, with the last of his stability he passes it over to Remus who doesn’t hesitate and shoots it to the corner angle on the posts. Bracović graces it with his gloves but it isn’t enough, they score. Benjy and Zeelby hi-five him as Sirius cheers loudly from the ground and he knows his smile is radiant on his face. Sirius spins him in a celebratory hug and he knows his smile is dimmer when he’s back on the ground because Sirius is so warm and sturdy under his arms.
Dumbledore barks at James to sweep the ground as Regulus shoves James away from on top of him and slaps his offered hand away. The next time James tries it Regulus is expecting it, he passes the ball to Fabian before James cuts him off, Regulus simply hops over him and James misses him completely. Fabian parades his way to the goal and kicks freely, Frank saves it by a pinch and Fabian curses.
“James, what did I just say?”
“Sorry coach” Potter mumbles and holds a hand out for Regulus with a cheeky smile. Regulus rolls his eyes and yanks him up
Sirius Black then goes on to what can only be described as showing off. He barely makes a pass and dribbles past the opponents with snobbish laughter. It doesn’t help that sometimes Stugris just stares at him in awe instead of defending his goal.
Sirius continues to show off and only pass it over a few minutes after Dumbledore tells him to. When the time’s up and they switch teams Sirius is still showing off and James even taunts him about wanting to impress his little brother “pretty sure that’s you, cupcake” he scoffs as James steals it from under him and Remus intercepts it. He tosses it over to Benjy, they’re already on the lead, they don’t need to score again, unlike Sirius watch-me Black, Remus isn’t snobbish enough to show off.
In the last round, two gray eyes face each other. Sirius grabs possession of the ball and does the same bullshit he’s been doing all day. This time he dribbles past Fabian and nutmegs Hagrid. He’s about to stroll ahead when Regulus yanks him back by a fistful of his hair. Sirius squeals so hard everyone turns to look “Oops. Brotherly habit.” Regulus says with a deadpan expression. Remus snorts with laughter and Sirius turns to him with a look of pure, utter horror and betrayal.
“That’s what you get for showing off!” Dearborn hollers at him from the other square
“I wasn’t showing off!”
“He was just trying to impress the newbies” James coos and Sirius holds up a middle finger in the air before Dumbledore waves them back to practice.
“The ball’s ours after that nasty foul” Sirius sets the ball in position
“Try to play with your team this time” Fabian taunts and he too earns a Sirius Black middle finger waved at him.
He passes it over to Benjy, Fabian forces him to pass it over to Edgar but Regulus is there to intercept it. All his teammates have a mark on them and Edgar blocks him from moving ahead. He looks back but all his teammates have a mark on them, in the same second his eyes flicker ahead and Fabian’s covered by Benjy in front of him. Edgar pressures him for the ball, Regulus lifts the ball to kick it back but in the last instant he deflects it and sends it over both Benjy and Fabian’s head, landing easily manageable close to Fabian who escorts it into a score.
“Can’t even be mad,” Benjy shakes his head and Fabian nods
“That was fucking beautiful man” he claps him on the back and Regulus turns his head down sheepishly
“You did that with the tip of your foot?” Remus walks over to him
“No, the outside” Remus tries it and throws it hard and straight to Sirius’ bum
“Sorry” he winces and Sirius holds his thumb up even if he’s clenching his jaw and grinding his teeth. Fabian tries it too and his attempt is more decent if only lacking power at least he’s got the gist of the idea
“Hold on, you did it further back with this part” Remus taps the spot on his boot and the others nod. He tries it again and it comes out better than Fabian’s but still a bit weak
“Yes! We just need to add a bit more power into it”
“You can try grabbing it a little further up, just as it starts going down, you’ll have a bit of momentum from gravity to use in your favor and deflect it instead of too much speed you’ll have to fight against”
“You make it sound so technical” Sirius scoffs and takes the ball
“No, hold on, what he said makes sense” Remus cuts him off and takes the ball off Sirius’ hands. He sets it on the ground and nails it “Yeah!” he beams at Regulus and Fabian cheers.
“I wanna try it too” Benjy says and Remus throws it at him with the little trick he just learnt.
The others chuckle with every miss and cheer with every hit, they change it here and there, throw in some little fancy changes –no one but Sirius likes the unnecessary complicated acrobatics he wants to add– and before Remus knows it it’s time for them to hit the showers.