Chapter Text
“I do not need a french tutor.” Sirius scoffed, staring at his mother. The energy in the dining room was tense, as it usually was over supper, as Sirius and Walburga stared each other down across the table. “I speak perfect french. You made sure of that.”
“Your grades say otherwise, Sirius.” Walburga purses her lips, her fork scraping across the plate as she scoops a mouthful of potatoes with her fist clenched around the handle so hard it was turning white.
“I’m doing fine-”
“You’re failing.” Walburga snapped, waving her fork in his face, finally losing her patience. “You’re failing in what should be your easiest class! How do I explain that to the rest of your family? That my halfwit son is failing french. Your Uncle Cygnus will tell the world!”
“How do you even manage to do that?” Regulus looks up from where he’s eating, his book falling to the table with a clunk. “Fail french, I mean, not the Uncle Cygnus thing, I know about that.” He trailed off placing his hand in his fist and raising his eyebrow.
“On purpose.” Sirius smirked, taking a bite of his food and cringing at the taste. Their Mother had cooked today then. Regulus shook his head incredulously, a small hint of a smile on his face, before looking at his dinner and scowling. Probably at the taste, Sirius would too.
“You’re failing a class on purpose?!” Walburga shrieked, dropping her fork, the force chipping the china plate. “Sirius Black, in the eighteen years I have been your mother I have fed you, kept you clean and presentable, and had a warm home waiting for you after a long day of school.”
From the corner of his eyes Sirius can see Regulus roll his eyes at their Mother’s antics. They’d had this lecture almost everyday since they were toddlers, and it was standard procedure for at least one of them to get told off for something while eating supper.
“Well-” Sirius tries, only to get cut off.
“I have tried to provide a proper education, one that would give you opportunities in future. I let you travel home with miscreant boys from school even though I have my doubts about their motives. And yet you betray me by purposefully failing your classes?”
“Mum-” Sirius tried again, exasperated.
“I knew that Potter boy would be a bad influence on my little boy. Gallivanting off with people of all sorts, it’s no wonder he got you all mixed in with the wrong sort. I should’ve kept a tighter leash when you were younger, now you’re off with your leather jacket and failing classes to look cool and swag.” Walburga ranted, waving her hands through the air like a mad woman and looking like she had just swallowed a lemon.
“Don’t think too much of it, Mother.” Regulus buts in, pushing his pink chicken around his plate looking bored out his mind. “It’s just teenage rebellion, we all go through that phase eventually.”
“That doesn’t make it acceptable-” Walburga attempts. Her mouth opens to continue but Regulus continues.
“Oh I know, but believe me when I tell you it could be far worse.” He sighs, shoving a nearby fork into his book to keep the page. “Do you know Wulfric Mulciber? Well he’s failing all of his classes, got three girls pregnant, and got suspended for stealing school awards. In comparison Sirius is a saint.”
Walburga’s face turns sour as she zeroes in on her youngest son and Regulus glances at Sirius, screaming for help silently.
“And Gaspar Avery.” Sirius throws in a name that their mother would know, “We’re supposed to share most classes actually but I don’t think I’ve seen him around since the first day.” Sirius shrugs, exaggerating the story.
“I’ve seen him at house functions.” Regulus notes, holding up his hand “But he’s always in the corner with Mulciber and Wilkes smoking.” He threw in more names and Sirius hoped his Mother would be too caught up in the names of her sons to stick to the point.
“Now that you mention it-”
“Boys!” Walburga cuts in, sounding quite exasperated. “Sirius will undertake tutoring to remedy his less than savoury grades.” Sirius rolls his eyes and huffs at his mother’s decision, he’d have to put up with some nerd treating him like he’s stupid for however long his mother decides his sessions are. “And be lucky I can find it within myself for no further punishment for your attitude.”
With that Walburga sweeps from the table dramatically, leaving the brothers alone in the dining room. Sirius waits until he can hear her steps in the hallways above them before pushing his plate out of his way and draping himself across the table and groaning as he presses the side of his face into the wood.
“Pleasant as always, wasn’t she?” Regulus hummed, picking his book up and ignoring the full plate of food in front of him “You owe me a favour now, by the way.” He added, not looking up from his page. Sirius pulled his head back up and stared at him, eyes narrowing as he watched Regulus read, smug, oh so punchable face as always. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. Mum would have eaten you alive.”
“I didn’t ask you to jump in.” Sirius scoffed, sitting up and crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair and watched Regulus turn a page. “You did that on your own.” Sirius rolls his eyes and pushes his now cold food around his plate glancing at the clock before looking back at his brother.
Regulus closes his book, placing the fork back within the pages. “Whatever.” He shook his head before grabbing his dinner and heading towards the kitchen to dispose of the barely edible food their mother had cooked.
Sirius scowls and follows after him, plate in hand, trying not to think about the raw meat sitting on his plate.
***
Sirius glowers as he enters the library. Of course, Walburga had decided that it was best he was tutored during lunch, best that he didn’t miss any of his other subjects and let his grades slip in any other place. “Not like she forces me to study for an hour at home anyway.” Sirius muttered to himself, sour. Unfortunately missing lunch also meant missing anything entertaining, like Dorcas and Marlene’s latest break up happening at that moment.
With an eye roll he looks for the tutor, glancing around the library. Walburga, ever thorough, had managed to find a picture of Romulus, to make sure Sirius could recognize him when they started these sessions but he looked so plain it was almost too easy to forget his face. His eyes landed on Ragnar from across the hall and Sirius made his way over.
Weaving through the tables set up throughout the library towards the back, where River was sitting, flicking through a text book, nodding his head like a dork. Throwing his bag on the table, Sirius sat in the chair across from Ryker and looked him up and down.
Randy looked like a loser… in the nicest way possible. Long limbs, sharp jawline, strong features, a very nice set of hazel eyes staring back at Sirius, a shaggy haircut and some vintage sweater littered with holes. Sirius let his eyes roam over the tutor, staring at cheeks full of freckles and a mole on his neck before his eyes caught on a long scar running from his forehead down to his chin, stopping just where his head meets his neck. Sirius takes in a sharp breath before pulling his bag closer to himself and smiling.
“Hey, could we make this quick? Dorcas Meadows and Marlene Mckinnon are having an incredibly horrendous break up on the quad. Again.” Sirius nods at the book in front of Rowan and raises his eyebrows expectantly.
The other boy pauses for a minute. “Uh, yeah. I was thinking we could go over some pronunciation, if that’s alright with you?” He asks, flipping through the book, landing on a page about comprehension.
Sirius considered Remus for a moment, tilting his head, shaking it slightly. “Not the hacking and gagging and spitting part please.” Sirius furrowed his brows with a frown, knowing full well that he does not hack nor gag no spit.
Rhett looked up from his book and shrugged, looking slightly lost. “Well there is an alternative.” He offers with a small smile.
“There is?” Sirius tilts his head to the side, pronunciation was out, comprehension maybe? Or writing?
Ripley nods his head quickly, some of the hair that had been brushed aside falling in his face. “French food.” He starts hesitantly. “We could go eat some together, uh, saturday night?” Rockwell curled inwards slightly, his shoulders curving forward.
Sirius feels his mouth hang open for a second before regaining his posture. “You’re asking me out? That’s so cute. What’s your name again?” He smiled, adjusting himself in his chair and leaning in towards his tutor.
Raddix bit his lip and looked down, seemingly embarrassed. “Remus.” The boy straightens back up and begins to stammer. “Listen, I know your Mum is super strict and stuff but I thought that if it were for class then-” He begins to explain himself.
“Wait a minute, Roger.” Sirius holds up his finger, cogs turning in his head as he formulates an idea.
“Remus.” The boy across from him corrects.
“Right.” Sirius waves him off and settles his arms on the table. “My Mum just came up with a new rule.” A large grin blooms across Sirius’s face. “I can date when my brother does.” Sirius leans forward more and nearly laughs when Rumi leans forward slightly too.
Reid smiles. “Oh really? Do you like sailing? Cause my Dad has this boat-” Rex smiles, Sirius frowns, someone’s getting ahead of himself.
“A beaucoup problemo, Riley.” Sirius cuts in, rolling his eyes. “In case you haven’t noticed my brother is a particular breed of loser.” Loser didn’t even begin to describe Regulus but whatever, this kid didn’t need all the details.
“Yeah, I noticed he’s a little . . . antisocial.” Ryan clears his throat with a nod. “Why is that?”
“Unsolved mystery.” Sirius shrugs, relaxing back into his seat. “He used to be really popular then he just got, like, sick of it or something. Theories abound as to why but I’m pretty sure he’s just forgotten how to be human. Plus, he’s a bitch.” he finishes with a hum.
“Well, yeah, but I’m sure there are lots of girls-”
“Guys.” Sirius corrects, looking up at Robert with a raised brow, his brother might be an ass, but Sirius wasn’t a dick.
“-Guys around who wouldn’t mind going out with someone difficult. I mean, people jump off of aeroplanes and skii off cliffs. It’d be like, “Extreme dating,” right?” Reggie laughs nervously.
Sirius considers him for a moment, a light bulb going off in his head. “You think you could find someone that extreme?” Sirius’s voice turns calculating, he wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity like this. What idiot would?
“Yeah, sure, why not?” Remmie smiles, the poor thing probably thought it would be easy. Sirius nearly scoffed at the idea of setting Regulus up with somebody, his brother avoided affection, from anybody, like the plague.
“And you’d do that?” Sirius asks, reaching out and resting his hand on Roman's forearm, his thumb rubbing the span of the skin for a few seconds. “For me?” He smiles innocently, looking into his tutor’s eyes like he’s the only person in the world.
“Yeah!” Richard gets out, flustered and over excited, his eyes fixated on where their limbs met before his eyes were snapping up to meet Sirius’. “I mean, I could look into it.” He switched his tone, trying to sound cooler.
Sirius smiles at Remington as the bell rings and he grabs his bag, walking away and not giving the stunned boy at the table a second look.
***
“Which one do you think is better?” Fabian smiles proudly, holding up two pictures for Sirius to look at. “White or Black shirt?” They looked exactly the same to him, but he wouldn’t say that aloud. It was probably some modelling secret that Sirius didn’t understand.
Tilting his head, Sirius stared at the two images in front of him, taking in the similar pose and the exact same monochromatic colouring. “I think I like …” He trailed off deciding which one he preferred “the white shirt.”
Fabian nods, looking down at the pictures. “Yeah, yeah. It’s more…” he trails off, his adorable tiny jock brain trying to find a word. How Fabian saw the difference in the two Sirius would never know but for now..
“It’s very contemplative.” Sirius suggests, gesturing at the picture, trying to hurry the conversation along, he had French next and if his Mother found out somehow that he was late to a class because of a boy, she’d have Sirius homeschooled and banned from leaving the house for life.
“Oh.” Fabian furrows his brows and brings the picture up to his face, examining the photo of himself carefully. “I was trying for thoughtful.” Sirius’ eyes widen as he watches the boy glance between the two photos, his mouth dropping open when Fabian begins practising his thinking face while glancing down at the glossy photos in his hands. Sirius clears his throat, attempting to gain Prewett’s attention before the bell rang and he was officially late .
Fabian looks at him suddenly, his eyebrows raising to see who had bothered him before seemingly realising that Sirius was still in front of him. “Oh, are you going to Lucy Mouthoy’s thing on friday?” He flashes a smile, hiding the photos behind his back and finally looking at Sirius.
Sirius shrugs. “I might.” he says, non-committal, tucking his hair behind his ear. “You know the situation. I’d have to convince my mutant brother to come with me.” Sirius scowls and rolls his eyes at the thought of having to convince the hermit to do anything.
“Good” Fabian smirks “'cause I probably won’t bother if you’re not there.” Prewett winks at Sirius with a smile before shouldering past him and sauntering his way down the hall to his friends as the bell rang.
Sirius adjusted his bag strap and stared after Fabian for a second before rushing down the hallway to his french class. Walburga was going to kill him.
***
“I’m home.” Sirius said as he walked into the kitchen to grab something to snack on. Regulus hummed from where, thankfully, he was standing over the stove, stirring a pot of some pasta or soup in place of their mother “Is Mum still at work?” he asked, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl, before taking a bite. Sirius threw his bag down on the counter and took a seat, planning to do his homework in the kitchen so he could focus, instead of watching the phone and waiting for a call.
“She rang ahead and said she took a shift for her colleague.” Regulus turned around and leant against the stove, watching (like a creep) as Sirius dug his homework out so he could start. “What are you doing?” Regulus said, getting up and making his way over to their fridge, still littered with the alphabet magnets they’d been bought when they were children.
“Homework, I already have Mum up my ass about one subject, I don’t need her complaining about everything.” He frowned, pulling his hair away from his face before digging around again to find a pen. Regulus hums again, closing the fridge and making his way back to the stove.
“Your first tutoring session was today wasn’t it?” Regulus asks. Sirius’s sigh is answer enough as he continues “How was that?” and Sirius thinks of Remus, sweater wearing, freckled, hazel eyed, clearly doesn’t know a lick of french but still willing to help anyway. He was nice, Sirius supposed, he was nice..
“It was fine.” Sirius shrugged, tight lipped and focused on his homework. Regulus took the hint and the conversation ended there.