Chapter Text
Sirius woke with a start. He stared upwards, heart pounding as he thought back on his dream. Regulus’ wide eyes, a flash of light, laughter. Stupid really, he didn’t even know how Regulus had died. Only that a disappearance for this long obviously meant the worst. But of course, what else could it be? They’d all heard he wanted out. There’s only one way to go when you can’t stomach being a Death Eater anymore. Sirius shook himself and reached out across the bed. His hands met cold, empty sheets. Remus still wasn’t home.
He sat up and looked around. The room was empty. Of course, it should have been expected. They didn’t share a room – they weren’t that poor quite yet. Sirius had managed to keep a job over the last year, which James in particular considered a real feat when you factored in how little Sirius would usually put up with. He’d actually applied as a joke, to make the Marauder’s laugh. No-one had actually expected that Sirius could be a muggle mechanic. It seemed with wizards and witches, he was always rubbing someone up the wrong way, but the muggles he worked with didn’t care as long as he was fixing up the motorbikes that were brought in.
Remus however, was having a bit more trouble. He’d faced a fair amount of difficulty getting any long-term employment since they left Hogwarts. Way more than he’d told Sirius about anyway. He could usually keep something down for three or four months before someone guessed or started asking probing questions about his condition. In fact, he’d gone for an interview that afternoon, but Sirius hadn’t seen him. Usually, Remus came into Sirius’ room to socialise, on the account of them having no living room. Remus would read, Sirius would distract him, they’d play card games. It was a fairly domestic routine. Remus would sometimes fall asleep on Sirius’ bed, and Sirius would pretend he’d fallen asleep too when Remus asked why Sirius never kicked him out. One time, Sirius had fallen asleep first, and in his half-waking state felt a slender hand running through his hair. But he’d unconsciously moved his head further into the soft touch, and Remus had got up and left without a word.
Despite it, Remus had definitely slept in Sirius’ room a lot more since they’d found out about Regulus. It was common knowledge pretty quickly, as it would be in a small, underground, rebel organisation. Gossip and rumour made its way around frequently. Sirius liked having Remus there, so had decided not to mention that his grief for his brother was fairly minimal. The lack of knowing what had happened and the lack of closure was uncomfortable, but all in all, Regulus had been a true Black family member. Sirius was certain Voldemort’s golden boy would have blasted Sirius from the tapestries himself if he’d been allowed. Not that Sirius minded – he’d always rather have been off the tapestry than on it.
He got up, heading to the kitchen. It was one o’clock in the morning, if Remus’ interview had gone badly he’d still be up. But when Sirius got to the kitchen, the light was on and no-one was in there. Sirius had a bad habit of leaving the kitchen light on when he went to bed, which Remus complained about at least once a day. If the light was on and no one was in there, it wasn’t a good sign. Sirius checked Remus’ room to make sure he wasn’t sleeping, before pulling on his shoes and heading out. There wasn’t a full moon for another week, and Remus’ interview had been at three in the afternoon. Sirius had got home at six and collapsed in his room, assuming Remus was contending with muggle traffic. In moments Sirius was out the door, securing the flat with incantations as he walked away from it. In times like these, there wasn’t a second to lose. He’d follow Lupin’s route into town before sending Patronus’ to James and Peter. There was no use worrying anyone else yet, and there was an awful feeling in Sirius’ gut about not checking to see if Remus had gotten home. His heart rose further into his throat as he walked, feet disturbing puddles and breaths stealing the silence.
Rounding the corner, to Sirius’ instant relief, was Remus. He was quite a way down the road, at the bus stop leaning against the wall. He seemed like part of his own world, motionless and still as the night surrounding him. A worry punctured Sirius’ relief, and with that, he sped up to close the distance between them.
A world where Remus Lupin seemed separate from Sirius Black was one that Sirius didn’t intend to frequent for long.