Chapter Text
It was a Friday night. The city came alive with thousands of university students, longing for a drink after a rigorous week of classes and ridiculously arduous exams. Sirius was among them, dressed in black jeans, a faded t-shirt, and sporting messy-yet-styled tangles of black hair. He smiled, inhaling the mixed smells of perfume and cigarette smoke. God, how he loved the chaos of Fridays; the sound of cars honking, heels clacking, and drunken laughter felt like home. He probably would lose himself in it if he didn’t have somewhere to be.
Fridays were his show days.
Due to the large amount of young adults living out their rock star fantasies, there were tons of bands to see locally. Sirius loved going to one venue specifically called The Leaky Cauldron. It was originally a church, until someone decided to open it up as a space for bands to get discovered. It was smaller than normal, which meant it was super easy to make it to the very front; it could get a little too crowded at times, but Sirius oddly loved that togetherness. That however, didn’t happen too often, as most of these bands weren’t known enough to draw a ton of people.
The tickets were cheap too, even cheaper for those attending the university. It was absolutely perfect for Sirius and his best friend Lily. They both craved music like it was oxygen; whether the music was shitty or not didn’t matter. It was all music, and both of them could never get enough of it.
It was also a perfect excuse to get a drink and a shag, which they both couldn’t resist the appeal of either. (“We deserve it, after all the bloody work they’re having us do,” Lily huffs earlier that day.)
Tonight, a band called The Marauders were playing. Sirius and Lily couldn’t contain their excitement, as they had never heard them before. The anticipation of what was to come hit them in waves as they entered the buzzing building.
Sirius assumed they were rather popular, because the room was unusually full. Luckily, it was the healthy kind of full; not exactly spacious, but not entirely suffocating. Some indie song played in the background as people stood in clusters, talking to one another.
“See if you can get a good spot, I’ll get us our drinks,” Lily spoke into Sirius’ ear, causing him to nod in response.
Eventually he did find an amazing spot, almost in the center of the room. To pass the time, he people watched. Sirius proved to be quite observant.
Girls sported their usual black outfits and plum lipsticks while others dressed casually, their dyed hair providing contrast to their simple getups. He noticed some of the band’s t-shirts moving in his periphery, which further fueled his interest. They must be good.
Just then, Lily returned with their plastic cups, both of them tapping theirs together and taking a sip. Now they could scope out the area, hiding behind their cups, for possible hookups. Sirius was observant, alright, especially when it came to men.
A lot were aesthetically pleasing, their faces pale and blemishless. They could be little pixie boys if they truly wanted to. A few were sporting scruff and dangerously sharp jawlines, giving off that bad boy heartbreaker vibe. Others were nerdy, with gelled hair and jumper clad bodies, their noses accompanied by thin or thick rim glasses. He had a few in mind already, but none of them truly sparked his attention. From the looks of Lily, she was fruitless in her search as well; but they weren’t really picky. This was the birthplace of one night stands and drunken pickups, and people here had an unspoken understanding that this was not the place for longtime commitments. No numbers were really exchanged, just lips and a good fuck. Blunt way to put it, but it’s the truth.
The lights dimmed and the background music stopped. People turned their attention to the four silhouettes walking through the stage. Guitars were put on and tuned, the drums were tested quickly, all in one fluid movement. Lily squeezed Sirius’ hand excitedly. Sirius found himself holding his breath, his heart pounding.
Eerie microphone feedback rang in the audience’s ears. The vocalist cleared their throat. The drummer hit his drumsticks together. one, two, three...
Music exploded from their instruments instantly. Lights flashed rapidly in pink, red, yellow, and orange hues. The tune was happy and upbeat, making the audience jump right away. The singer jumped around the stage along with them, his curly hair falling every which way on his face. He came back around to his mic stand gripping it tightly.
“There's always something to hide, there's always someone to lead on with you.
Obligatory wine, evidently proved that I didn't need you…”
Sirius found himself infatuated with him. After his wild hair had settled, he could get a good look at his features. He was wearing a thin green sweater and brown skinny jeans with beat up converse. His hair was a messy and tangled brown, much like Sirius’ but shorter. He was the attractive kind of disaster; almost as if he had planned it like that. Sirius wanted to drink all of him in, every little pore, every little freckle. Usually after a while, he got tired of standing and staring at the person sing, but not with this man. His boyish look made Sirius weak.
“Oh god, the bassist,” Lily hissed, and Sirius laughed as his eyes landed on the person in question. His hair was also a mess, but not exactly planned. Almost like he had just gotten out of bed right before performing. Untameable. He sported thin rim glasses.
“She said, ‘Oh please, you're obsessed!’ I said she looked overdressed,” he continued. And suddenly, he met Sirius’ eyes with a smirk as he shook his head. Oh, how Sirius regretted yet loved finding room at the very center.
“She deffo didn't like that, no.”
Sirius was suddenly very glad Lily was beside him. He almost passed out like a rabid fangirl. Lily whispered a childish “Ooh,” in his ear, and Sirius just blushed, blushed, blushed like a schoolboy.
“You see, ‘I'm feeling like it's put on, when you say you don't need me, And you want nothing of me.’” His face contorted and his eyes closed as he leaned forward to sing with an audience member.
“Oh but babe, you know I've tried and failed, but you, just don't know how it feels, to lose something you’ll never have and never will.” he smiled at them as if they were a really good friend. His eyes crinkled like autumn leaves. Sirius jumped along with everyone else, enjoying the rush and how his entire body pulsated like his heart.
Sirius found himself relating to the lyric that just poured out of this angelic boy’s mouth. He would never have him. This stranger was leagues ahead of his own; a faraway star that he could see but will never reach. At least he could admire him from this distance. He was never really all about appearances, but this boy was too gorgeous to ignore, a statement that was repeated dreamily like a mantra all throughout his head. It fogged up his senses… gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous, and talented...
Oh, how fucked Sirius found himself to be.
The boy headbanged. “There's always some kid too snide, they took my mother at thirteen. And pacifically, I, evidently proved that I didn't need you,”
The crowd joined in “Or no one,” and the boy fucking laughed and smiled a smile almost too big for his face. He removed the mic from its stand as he moved to the opposite side of the stage.
He crouched down in front of another person. “She said ‘It's you I detest!’ I said she looked under-slept,” He found Sirius’ eyes again and raised his eyebrows as he shook his head yet again.
Sirius smiled and mouthed along with him, “She deffo didn't like that, no…” and the boy stood, perhaps blushing.
“She said, I'm feeling like it's put on when you say you don't need me. And you want nothing of me…”
He repeats the chorus twice, contorting his face, concentrating on his words. He jumped in place, urging his audience to jump even more aggressively, and they all tried their hardest, despite being drenched with sweat and burning up.
Then came a sort of interlude as the lights dimmed blue and purple shades. As he was previously jumping, he stopped and moved ghostlike back to the mic stand, on which he leaned tiredly on, swaying. His lips were slightly open, his hair was sticking onto his face with sweat, and his eyes were closed. The sweat was highlighted by the light concentrated on his face and as he slowly and agonizingly moved his head to and fro, Sirius got a good look at his slight jawline. On his neck, a cute little mole was just waiting to be adorned with a hickey. Sirius could only dream. The way the curly haired boy led his hand to said hair, getting it out of his eyes, was absolutely and positively illegal, nearly pornographic in Sirius’ eyes. He forgot how to breathe entirely.
Almost as if it had never happened, the music returned to its happy and upbeat rhythm, and the man (Sirius wanted a name with that face, goddamn,) coming out of his sleepy state, jumped high and bobbed his head. He smiled at his bandmates, visiting each one. They were just good friends having an amazing time together. All of them were tired and sweaty, but unmistakably so in love with the energy and the music they created together. So proud of themselves and how far they’d come.
He leaned up to Lily’s bassist, “I’m her pacifier,” and his bandmates sang “Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh,” in the background.
He moved onto his guitarist, and then to his drummer repeating “I’m her pacifier,”
He climbed onto the drum set, nearly giving Sirius a heart attack, “I’m her pacifier,” and as the final “oh,” was sung, he jumped off and the lights shut off. Everyone clapped and whistled, girls proclaiming their love for their favorite member. They were all enveloped in darkness, breathing heavily. Sirius could feel Lily’s smile beside his own. If he smiled any more, his mouth would split open and bleed all over the floor. They came to a wonderful realization; this was only the first song.
-
“That’s James Potter on bass,” the still unknown boy gestured, and everyone clapped. Lily swooned.
“Peter Pettigrew on drums,” Boom boom crash. Cheering.
“Marlene McKinnon on guitar,” Earsplitting cheers and one modest bow.
James rushed beside him a sweaty and breathless mess. “And this,” James wraps an arm around his friend’s shoulder, “is Remus Lupin on vocals.” Sirius’ hands hurt from all of the clapping. Remus looked down at his shoes for a moment.
“We are the Marauders, thank you and goodnight!”
-
Finally, finally, Sirius got to the front of the line at the merch table. He didn’t know if he was too happy about that; usually, he was smooth, calm and collected when he flirted, but he wasn’t even able to think in coherent sentences, much less speak them. His brain was still dangerously fogged; he was worried he would make a fool of himself in front of Remus Lupin, but as he looked into the singer’s eyes, he came to the conclusion that perhaps that was inevitable.
“Hello,” Remus spoke first, hiding behind his hair. His eyes were crinkled and his cheeks were chubby and pink. His eyes were twinkling like that star Sirius would try so hard to reach.
“He-hello,” Sirius stumbled, “Would you-um, would you sign this, please?” Sirius tucked a stray hair on his ear nervously.
“Of course,” Remus smiled and leaned forward. “To whom am I making this out to?” he looked up at Sirius.
And Sirius smiled foolishly in return, “Sirius.”
“Sirius, mm, like the star?” Sirius nodded, chuckling at how his own name referred to the star, but he had referred to Remus as that. He was one after all; the twinkle in Sirius’ eye.
Remus bit his lip as he slid the sharpie across the album. “Okay, here you go. Thanks for coming out to the show.”
Again, Sirius was transfixed. “Yeah, no problem...thank you for a great performance…”
He moved away from the table, nearly collapsing on a petite girl.
“Oh, fuck me,” Lily came to Sirius’ side moments later, “The bassist was actually fucking flirting with me, shamelessly in front of all these girls...shit….I even got his number, fuck.”
Sirius chuckled. “Wow, Evans. You know what they say about bassists…”
“And oh boy, how I would like to test that theory,” Lily replied.
Sirius looked down at his album, smiling at the silver signature. He opened it up to look at the booklet, but on the front he was met by numbers.
Sirius - thanks for listening to me croon. Call me. I would love to see you again. Remus.
“Oh man, Sirius,” Lily sang, “You know what they say about singers…”