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Remus wasn’t the first man Lily had dated. Not by far. She was twenty-eight; she’d had her first boyfriend at age fifteen (and her first girlfriend at age nineteen). 

Remus wasn’t the first friend Lily had dated. She and Marlene had dated a little after uni, but had eventually realised that they weren’t a good fit, and were, instead, better off as friends.

Remus wasn’t even the first Jewish person Lily had dated (Abby Shapiro, second year of uni).

In spite of Remus barely being her first anything, he was still uniquely himself.  

Remus was content to stay in most nights, but he wasn’t averse to a fun night out. When they’d been dating a little over two months, Sirius got them on the list for some exclusive nightclub opening. Lily didn’t really care for nightclubs, but she had to admit she was interested. Maybe the film premiere had spoiled her.

She borrowed a dress from Mary, snogged Remus before putting her lipstick on (and for a bit afterward; she had to reapply, but it was worth it). Regulus had his driver pick them up, and Lily was pleasantly surprised to see his boyfriend waiting in the car.

She didn’t know how Regulus was planning on keeping his relationship a secret much longer, because he certainly couldn’t pretend to date Taylor Swift for a publicity stunt again, not with everything going on with her right now.

“It’s lovely to see you!” Regulus’s boyfriend, Max, exclaimed, kissing her on the cheek.

She had to admit that she did really like Max. He was sweet and clever and made Regulus incredibly happy. And, most importantly: he completely respected that Regulus couldn’t publicly be out.

“It’s lovely to see you, too,” Lily said. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been really well!” Max said. “I’ve been trying to work on my next novel, but someone has proven extremely distracting.” He wrapped an arm around Regulus’s waist as he said this, and kissed his forehead.

“I’ve been working,” Regulus said. “He’s been monopolising all of my free time.”

“And you’re clearly torn up about that, I’m sure,” Remus drawled.

“Oh, more than anything,” Regulus deadpanned. “We know I did so much with my free time before.”

“Who can forget?” Max teased. “He does get significantly less reading done, now.”

Regulus rolled his eyes and kissed him. Lily knew she’d never seen him so happy before. He’d been so focused on never letting there be the tiniest question of his sexuality before. She’d never admit it to him, of course, but she’d been worried about him. She was still sort of worried about him now; she knew being outed could destroy his career (and worse). But – well, he was happy, and she tried to focus on that. 

Regulus was an adult. He could make his own decisions, and Max was clearly every bit as mad for him as he was for Max.

“Does my brother know about the two of you?” Regulus asked. “I mean – properly. Not just whatever the Mail’s been saying.”

“Yeah,” Remus said. “Said it took us long enough.”

“That sounds like him,” Regulus said. He settled in close to Max. 

“Oh, and by the way: I’ve got my own invite,” Max said. “Don’t worry; we’re not going as a couple. Neither of us want any media attention tonight.”

The club was loud and even the VIP section was pretty crowded. Lily stuck close to Remus and Regulus from the moment she went in. Max promised to catch up with them in the car, but he and Regulus had apparently decided it was best that they not come in together – as Max had repeated that he’d gotten his own invite.

“You didn’t mention it was a gay club,” Regulus said when he saw his brother. 

Sirius rolled his eyes. “There are straight girls here,” he said. “If you’d actually read my text, you’d know that a certain actress who shall remain nameless is scheduled to make an appearance.”

“If it’s Celestina Warbeck again, Sirius, so help me. She’s nearly Mum’s age.”

Sirius smirked. “What, do you not like MILFs?”

“No,” Regulus said. “I prefer my partners closer to my own age. At least within a decade.”

“What a pity,” Sirius teased. “I think Celestina will be quite disappointed. Maybe you can spend the night with Lily – I’ve got to steal her boyfriend.”

“Excuse me?” Remus said.

Max chose that opportune moment to make his appearance – he introduced himself to Sirius first, as would only seem reasonable, though his gaze did seem to linger on Regulus. Lily didn’t think even the most opportunistic paparazzi could make anything of that; Max was openly gay, even if Regulus wasn’t. Besides, there weren’t any paparazzi allowed in the VIP section.

Sirius rolled his eyes and slung an arm around Remus’s shoulder. “Not like that. Though, really, if you ask any tabloid, Lily did steal you from me first.”

Remus snorted. “If that’s what you call dating someone new after you’ve been broken up for over half a year.”

“We all know how tabloids are,” Sirius said. “Anyway. As I am now tragically single, I need a wingman, and Jem’s shit at talking me up to men. So who better than someone who can attest to exactly how fantastic I am in bed?”

“From what I’ve heard, you’re rather vanilla,” Lily said.

Regulus pulled a face. “I did not need to know that.”

“Neither did I, to be honest with you,” Lily said.

“You know,” Max said. “My best mate, Isaac, has been obsessed with you since – well, well before he ever came out, really – and now I’ve got to tell him it never would have worked out between you.”

“I assure you, Max, I’m amazing in bed,” Sirius said.

“I assure you: you couldn’t handle Isaac. I don’t think he knows the meaning of the word ‘vanilla’.”

“It’s not as if I think a harness is too much. They can be quite sexy.”

Max laughed. “It’s cute that you think I’m talking about harnesses.”

Sirius turned to Regulus, evidently annoyed enough to forget the façade. “You’ve met this Isaac, haven’t you?”

“Er, yeah? But I don’t think it’s worth obsessing over. He’s married with kids.”

“Isaac and his husband are, like, honestly, one of the only completely monogamous couples I’ve ever met,” Max said. “Though I think they probably would make an exception for a threesome if you were kinky enough.”

“I’m going to get a drink,” Lily said, because it seemed like an opportune time to get the hell out of that conversation. “Reg, would you like to come with me?”

Regulus looked from Lily to Max and Sirius. “Sure,” he said, and followed her.

There was, fortunately, a private bar in the VIP section, and there really wasn’t much of a line. They got their drinks (whisky sour for Lily, gin and tonic with lime for Regulus), and stood off to the side of the bar to chat.

“I can’t believe Max completely neglected to mention that this was a gay club,” Regulus said. “Sirius, I’d understand, but Max should know better.”

“You’ve got such a heterosexual image, I wouldn’t worry. And you’ve made your support clear from the start, so it’s not strange that you’d be here.”

“Sirius is my brother,” Regulus said. “Just because our parents don’t support him doesn’t mean I’m not going to, either. I’ve always… admired him for refusing to hide who he is. At least once he got out from under our parents’ thumb.”

“Loath as I am to admit it, I have, too. Though, of course, I’m not straight.”

“Have you ever fancied him?”

Lily nearly choked on her drink. “God, no! Like, all right, he’s objectively fit – and so are you, really – but I’ve never fancied either of you.”

“Good,” Regulus said. “I don’t think Max is being totally truthful when he says he hasn’t. Between him and Remus – it’s a relief that someone I’m close to hasn’t wanted to fuck him.”

“Though I have fucked someone who’s fucked him, so do I really count?”

Regulus pulled a face. “I don’t want to think about that.”

“Neither do I, really. I’m sure Sirius doesn’t, either. Or Remus.”

“Is that what gay dating is like?” Regulus asked. “It seems as if all of my gay and bi friends – regardless of gender – have slept with each other, somehow.”

Lily shrugged. “It’s not an inaccurate assumption. Obviously, I’ve not slept with gay men, but… nor has Remus slept with any lesbians.”

“Having slept with your friend is sort of an unequivocal deal-breaker for straight people.”

“I actually asked your brother what Remus was like in bed. I wouldn’t be surprised if Remus had asked one of my exes. I mean – it’s a bit different, between men and women, of course, but… asking the ex hasn’t failed me yet.”

“No, I understand, I think,” Regulus said.

“Sirius seems to be hitting it off with Max,” she said, looking over to where the two of them – and Remus – were now laughing. “Is Max’s friend really that into Sirius?”

“As a celebrity and a concept, but, really, I think his husband, Dan, was far more invested in the fact that I dated Taylor than Isaac was that Sirius is my brother.”

Lily laughed. “I’m a bit more impressed by Taylor than Sirius.”

“Well, he wasn’t like that – I don’t think. He says he’s gay, anyway; that’s not me assuming. But I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me so many questions about her. And no – he doesn’t look anything like what you’re picturing.”

“What’s he look like, then?” Because, well, Lily did have an image in her head of the sort of gay guy to like Taylor Swift, which was really more an amalgam of all of her gay Swiftie friends.

“Rather masculine, really – like, he’s very openly gay; he’s not a straight man, and doesn’t act like one, but… well, you know what I mean. He’s probably about as tall as Remus, but he’s built more like I am – and he’s got a beard. And he’s got dark hair. He and his husband were lovely, really.”

Lily quirked an eyebrow. She knew better than to ask if this bloke was Regulus’s type in public, but Regulus could read her well enough to know what she wasn’t asking.

He laughed and shook his head. “Jesus, no. Neither of them. I don’t – well, you’ve…” He dropped his voice a few octaves and stepped close to whisper in her ear, “You’ve met Max. He’s perfectly my type.”

Lily looked over to Max. She couldn’t really say she saw the appeal. “Femmy like that?”

Regulus shrugged. “I mean, I can draw up a list of the great loves of my life, if you’d like to compare.”

“Would Taylor make the list?” she teased.

Regulus laughed. “No, I don’t think so.”

“You know,” Lily said. “You can tell a lot about someone by who they consider a friend. If Max’s friends are lovely, that’s a very good thing. And I think you reflect well on Remus and I.”

“But what does it say about Remus that he chooses to spend time with my brother and Jem Potter?”

Lily laughed. “Probably that he can be a right arse when he wants to.”

When she woke up the next morning, Lily was tangled together in her bed with Remus, terribly hungover. Her mobile was ringing off the hook.

“Please turn that fucking thing off,” Remus said. “We’re both too hungover for this shit.”

Lily grappled for her phone and went to send the call to voicemail when she saw the caller ID. Petunia. Shit.

Petunia only ever actually called when something was of the utmost importance.

She answered the phone and headed out to the living room. “Tuney, what is so important that you couldn’t text me? Someone had better be dying.”

“When were you going to tell me you were dating Regulus Black?” she demanded.

“What? I’m not dating Regulus.” Regulus was gay – but she knew better than to say so outright. Especially since Tuney had such a big mouth.

“That’s not what the Mail has to say. Front page.”

“The Mail is a rag. Reg and I are just friends – and you know that.”

“Lily, it’s all over every major news outlet. Regulus Black’s latest flame. That’s what they’re calling you.”

Shit, shit, shit. “Well, it’s not true. Has he – or his agent – commented?”

“What does that matter?”

Lily ran through her options. Damage control. She needed to phone Regulus now. “I need to talk to him. I’ll ring you back.”

Without waiting for a response, she hung up on her sister and rang Regulus.

He answered on the third ring. “Hello?” His voice was rough with sleep, and Lily felt slightly guilty – but not guilty enough to hang up.

“It’s Lily. My sister just rang me to say we’ve made the front page of the Mail.”

“What?”

“Apparently I’m your latest flame.”

She could practically hear Regulus rolling his eyes. “Just two months ago, you were the woman who’d stolen Remus from my idiot brother.”

“I must get around,” Lily said.

“Fuck,” Regulus said. “I’ll have my agent put out a statement. I’m sure we’re agreed that there are far worse people for the media to think we’re dating than each other – but neither of us want this. You’ve got Remus, and – well, even if Max and I can’t be public, I can’t imagine something like this wouldn’t hurt him.”

“And you know Sirius will never let us live this down. He still reminds me that I stole his boyfriend on a regular basis.”

“Oh, I’m sure this will be the first story he sells to the press when I come out,” Regulus said.

“Probably,” Lily agreed. “But at the moment, I’m more concerned about my sister.”

Regulus’s agent issued an official statement, which was accompanied by a very restrained (even for Regulus) series of tweets.

Petunia, naturally, didn’t believe a word of it.

“I have a boyfriend, Tuney!” Lily insisted for the hundredth time as said boyfriend made lunch. “I promise you, he’s not Regulus. I’d tell you if he were.”

“That’s just what someone secretly dating a rich and famous footballer would say!”

“He was ranked the third sexiest man in Britain last year,” Remus said.

“You’re not helping,” Lily hissed.

“I know we’ve not been together that long, but maybe she should just meet me.”

That was actually a good idea. “Do you want to meet him?” she asked Petunia.

“Regulus Black?”

“No,” Lily said. “My actual boyfriend. His name’s Remus.”

“That’s a weird name,” Petunia said. “Is he English?”

“No. He’s Welsh. And Jewish.”

“I suppose Jewish overrides Welsh,” Petunia said. “I’ve not met any Welsh Jews.”

“He’s as Jewish as you and I are, I assure you.”

“All right,” Petunia said. “Saturday morning? Brunch? Or does he actually keep shabbos?”

Lily turned to Remus and mouthed, “Saturday?” to him.

He shrugged. “Sure.”

“We’ll be there,” she told her sister.

They decided to make a weekend of it. At first, she’d wanted to take the train, but Remus had solidly refuted that idea. “My parents live in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “Trust me, we’ll need to drive there, at least.”

Embarrassingly, neither she nor Remus had a car (they lived in London; they didn’t need one!), so they had to borrow one of Sirius’s. It was the least ridiculous car he owned, which meant it was still fancier and more ridiculous than Lily felt comfortable with. Remus, who seemed more at ease in the car, drove first.

They started with Petunia; they stopped by in Reading, which was a bit out of the way, for brunch on Saturday morning. Lily didn’t know why Petunia was so obsessed with brunch, but she wasn’t about to ask too many questions.

“Well,” Petunia said, appraising Remus with her eyes, “he’s certainly not Regulus Black.”

“No,” Lily agreed. “I’m actually attracted to Remus, to start.”

Petunia scoffed. “You really expect me to believe that you’re not attracted to Regulus Black? That the two of you are just friends?”

“Absolutely,” Lily said. “It’s the truth. Besides, you know as well as I do that I’d never go for someone that posh.”

“I suppose,” Petunia said. “His family’s proper nobility, aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” Remus said. “They are.”

“And I trust yours aren’t,” Petunia said to him.

Remus laughed. “God, no. My mum works in an insurance office, and my dad works for the village police.”

“The village police?” Petunia repeated.

“Yes,” Remus said.

“I see.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Stop it, Tuney.”

“I’m just saying… Regulus Black.”

“Regulus is a Premier League footballer who can’t go out to the pub in peace.” And, again, he was gay, but no matter what Petunia pulled, Lily wasn’t going to mention that. “He dated Taylor Swift.”

“That doesn’t mean he can’t date a normal girl for a change.”

“Maybe,” Lily said. “But I don’t want to date him . We’re not like that; we’re just mates. It’s difficult enough to just meet up with him for a pint. I couldn’t imagine properly dating someone that famous.”

“The parties and premieres can be fun,” Remus said. “And I wouldn’t turn down a paid weekend in Paris, but – I wouldn’t go back to it.”

“And who did you date that was so famous, then?” Petunia asked.

“Sirius Black,” Remus said. “For about – eight years, on and off. We got together when I was in uni, and we’ve been broken up for about a year, and I don’t miss any of it.”

“So you just happened to date Regulus’s brother?”

“Remus and I were friends in university; his friend James introduced him to Sirius, and Remus was the one who introduced me to Regulus, who is – and I cannot stress this enough – strictly my friend and will never be anything more than that.”

Petunia rolled her eyes. “A likely story.”

“If you’re just going to ignore everything I say, then Remus and I can head up to see Mum and Dad early,” Lily said. “I’m not going to sit around trying to convince you that I’m dating someone I’m not.”

“You’re introducing him to Mum and Dad?” Petunia asked, leaning forward in her seat.

“Yes,” Lily said. “I am. And then tomorrow, we’re going down to visit his parents.”

Petunia swept her gaze over Remus. “Lily said you’re Jewish.”

“I am,” Remus said. “Had a bar mitzvah and everything.”

“What movement?” she asked.

“Liberal.”

“We’re Reform,” she said, looking from Remus to Lily. “But Liberal’s not too bad, I suppose.”

Petunia seemed much less interested in Regulus, after that. In fact, Lily was pleased to note that Regulus’s name wasn’t mentioned again.

Remus was, somehow, the very first person she’d dated who she was going to introduce to her parents as such. Her parents knew she was bisexual, and they’d met Marlene multiple time – but they hadn’t known her when Lily had dated her, and it had seemed a bit redundant to introduce Marlene to her parents as her ex instead of as her friend.

Petunia had met Marlene when she and Lily had been together, and she’d known all of the boys Lily had dated in grammar school. Her relationship with Petunia was different from her relationship with her parents, though, as bossy and demanding as Petunia could be. She could tell Petunia things she couldn’t necessarily tell their parents.

They stopped over once at a rest stop on the way to Cokeworth to stretch their legs, and so Lily could use the restroom. Ten minutes later, they were back on the road, with Lily driving this time.

Lily pulled in front of her parents’ house fifteen minutes before they were meant to arrive. She put the car in park and took a deep breath.

“Are you all right?” Remus asked. He reached for her hand and squeezed it.

“Yeah,” Lily said. “It’s just that Tuney’s had a few hours to call them and tell them exactly what she thinks of you.”

“Hey,” Remus said. “Listen, love, if this goes to shit – then we’ve got the car and we can go to my parents’ house, or we can just go home. But – granted I’ve not met your parents – I don’t think it will go to shit. Petunia seemed to like me well enough.”

“My parents haven’t met anyone I’ve dated before. Not while I was dating them. Not that they knew of, anyway.”

Remus took a second to compose himself. “All right. Well, if it helps, I’m not convinced my parents actually believe I’m bi, and not gay.”

“Tuney still probably thinks this is all a cover for my secret relationship with Reg.”

Remus snorted. “Of course she does.”

“I know my parents won’t,” Lily said. “My parents know that I’d never lie to their faces about something like that.”

Remus leaned across the centre console and kissed her. “Petunia will come around eventually. Besides, didn’t you say your parents always wanted you to find a nice Jewish boy?”

“Well, or a nice Jewish girl,” Lily said. “But yes.”

“I happen to remember all the prayers for Havdalah offhand,” Remus said, surprising her; he never seemed like he’d grown up very observant. “Not to brag.”

Lily laughed and kissed him. “All right. Let’s go inside.”

Remus carried their bags, and Lily didn’t even bother ringing the doorbell. She still had her old key, and unlocked the door. “Hello? We’re here!”

Lily’s mother rushed into the foyer. “Hello, darling! You’re a bit early!”

“There really wasn’t much traffic,” she said. “Mum, this is Remus. Remus, this is my mum.”

Her mother rushed to hug him. “It’s so lovely to meet you, Remus!”

“Thank you,” Remus said. “It’s lovely to meet you, too, Mrs. Evans.”

“Oh, please, call me Rebecca,” Lily’s mum said. “And let me help you with those bags. I hope you don’t mind being in Lily’s old room.”

“Not at all,” Remus said.

“It’s got a single bed,” Lily said. 

“I’m sure we can manage,” Remus said.

Once the bags were put away, Lily’s parents updated on the latest goings-on in Lily’s life (including, of course, the paparazzi taking a dozen photos of Lily leaving the club with Regulus and Remus both, and assuming Lily was dating the wrong man), Lily’s mother said, “Do you normally make Havdalah, Remus?”

Remus shook his head. “Not so much at home – but if I happen to be with my parents over a Saturday night, we do as a family.”

“Lupin isn’t a Jewish name.” She didn’t say it with any malice or condescension. 

“No,” Remus agreed. “My dad’s not Jewish. He’s not Welsh, either; he’s English. But we never did – Christmas or anything growing up. He wasn’t very concerned with any of that, and my mum wanted me to be raised Jewishly.”

“That was very decent of him,” Lily’s mum said. “I very nearly married a goy myself; I keep telling the girls that I don’t mind if they do… though, of course, I wouldn’t be averse to a nice Jewish son-in-law.”

“Mum!” Lily exclaimed. “Remus and I have only been dating for two months!”

“I know,” she said. “But it doesn’t hurt to make things clear.”

“Anyway,” Lily’s father said. “Do we want to start?”

“Yes!” Lily said, grateful for something to distract from her mother’s ridiculous plans.

Her mother led the prayers, as she always did, but Lily was pleased to note that Remus sang along, and didn’t miss a word. What was more, he could actually carry a tune.

“My mum raised me on the Beatles,” Remus said. “I had to learn to harmonise.”

They left Lily’s parents’ house shortly after breakfast. Remus’s parents lived deep in the Welsh countryside, and it was a long drive. Lily’s mother gave them snacks for the road. 

Remus and Lily discussed it, and decided that Lily would drive the first leg, so that Remus would drive the second. They made sure to stop for petrol before they got on the motorway.

Since Lily was the one driving, she picked the music, which was, really, just her Spotify library on shuffle. It wasn’t really anything made for a road trip – it was a mix of pop, indie, rock, and even the odd hip hop, and none of it really flowed, but she didn’t mind. Remus didn’t, either.

When they stopped for a break around Birmingham, Lily said, “I really hope your parents like me.”

“Are you kidding? They’ll love you.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Your parents seemed to like me – unless I’m horribly mistaken.”

“No; they did,” Lily said. “Absolutely.” Though it hadn’t really hurt their case that Remus was a nice Jewish boy, Lily rather thought her parents would have liked him regardless.

“I’m sure my parents will love you,” he said.

“I hope you’re right,” she said.

“I am. You’ll see.”

Lily had to admit that the Welsh countryside was beautiful. She’d never want to live there, but it was still beautiful.

“You really grew up out here?” she asked when Remus informed her they were about ten minutes away.

“I did,” he said.

“It’s really beautiful.”

“I greatly prefer London myself, but it is beautiful. Living here, though – you’ve seen Hot Fuzz?”

Lily furrowed her brows. “The Simon Pegg film? Where they’re police?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m familiar.” It was one of Marlene’s favourites, and it had been a while, but Lily had seen it easily over a dozen times.

“It’s like that – but without the serial killing. Well, probably. I’ve not noticed anything, anyway.”

“How charming,” she deadpanned.

Remus grinned. “I know. Why do you think I insisted on going to uni in a city?”

“I suppose I didn’t think too much on it,” Lily said. “I feel like if you’d made the Hot Fuzz connection sooner, I might not have agreed to come out here.”

Remus laughed. “I promise you, you won’t be murdered.”

“That’s just what someone from that creepy murder village would say,” Lily said. 

They pulled up at a rather lovely-looking cottage. 

“You didn’t tell me you grew up in a cottage,” Lily said. “Just what else don’t I know about you?”

Remus smiled and shrugged. “You’ll have to find out.”

They walked up the pathway, and Remus knocked on the door. The door swung open to reveal a man who could only be Remus’s father. He was tall and lanky and had greying brown hair. He greeted Remus with a hug, and turned to Lily. “You must be Lily! We’ve heard so much about you; please, come in!”

They were ushered inside, and, if possible, the interior of the cottage was even cozier than she’d imagined. Mr. Lupin showed them to a sitting room, and Lily couldn’t help but be distracted by the photos on the mantel.

“Remus, is this you?” she asked, pointing to a rather adorable picture of a small brown-haired child riding a big fluffy dog.

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s our old dog, Sadie. I’m sure my parents have got more embarrassing photos where those come from.” He pointed to a nearby photo. “That’s my bar mitzvah. You see that tallis?”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“If you look very closely, you’ll see that it’s got tiny little TARDISes on the corners.”

She looked. “Is the atarah styled to look like the call box sign?”

“Maybe,” Remus said. “I think my parents have still got it upstairs.”

“Remus Lupin, you never told me you were such a nerd.”

“Maybe dating a celebrity for the past – what, eight years? – has done something to damage my wonderful reputation as a giant bloody nerd,” Remus said. 

“Maybe I’ve just been too distracted by how fit you are,” Lily said, stepping close to him.

“I know for a fact we’ve discussed Star Wars in depth.”

“That’s not the same as having a Doctor Who tallis,” Lily said. “God, even my tallis at my bat mitzvah wasn’t that embarrassing.”

“I think I’ll be the judge of that,” Remus said.

“It was white with purple stripes and lilies on the atarah,” she said. “I’m sure my parents can send photos if you’d like proof.”

Remus hummed. “Yeah. All right. Not embarrassing at all, really.”

“Hello!” a voice called.

Lily spun around to face a rather beautiful woman with the same kind green eyes as Remus. Her hair was a dark brown, and fell to her shoulders.

“Hello!” Lily said.

“I’m Hope, Remus’s mum. You must be Lily.”

“Yes,” Lily said. “It’s so lovely to meet you! Remus has told me so much about you.”

Hope’s gaze flitted to her son. “Has he, now?”

“Well, we have known each other since uni,” Lily said.

“Oh, I know,” Hope said. “I remember when he met you. He was mad for you even then.”

“Mum, please,” Remus pleased. 

“I’m sure Lily already knows, love.”

“I do,” Lily said. They’d discussed it, after all, and even if they hadn’t – well, it wasn’t as if Remus hadn’t been obvious back then.

“That doesn’t make it less embarrassing,” Remus said.

“I think it’s sweet,” Lily said.

“Fancying you, maybe, but not my mum pointing it out.”

Hope rolled her eyes. “Really, now. And Lily – I’ve not asked if you keep kosher.”

“Not particularly, though – I do try to avoid pork and shellfish.”

“Lyall is going to make his famous cheese toasties for lunch,” she said. “I hope that’s all right.”

“That sounds lovely, really,” Lily said.

Remus managed to ward his mother off long enough to show Lily his childhood bedroom. “It’s only fair,” he said, “since you showed me yours.”

She followed him up the stairs and into one of the rooms. It wasn’t very large, but it was undeniably Remus. There were several bookcases, all double- or triple-stacked, even now, and a single bed tucked into the corner next to a large desk. What really caught Lily’s attention, though, was the posters. Posters covered every wall, and while most of them were very predictable (Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, X-Men, Doctor Who), one in particular stood out.

“Is that… Sirius?”

Remus blushed. “Technically, it’s for School’s Out.”

“The infamously terrible film that almost tanked his career,” Lily said. “Tuney was obsessed with him, you know.”

“I think you mentioned when I told you I’d met him. You asked for his autograph, actually.”

She had; she didn’t know how she’d forgotten that. “The fucking bastard never gave it to me.”

“I’m pretty sure he would if you asked, now.”

“Probably,” she agreed. “I can’t believe you had a poster of him.”

“Before I met him,” Remus said.

“That’s sort of worse,” she said.

“It is, isn’t it?”

She reached up and kissed him. “I think it’s rather sweet, really. Though I have to say, I’d be a bit concerned if you wanted to put up a poster of him in our flat.”

“I think it’s safe to say I’ve got over him,” Remus said. “Apparently he’s a massive slob and just really quite vanilla.”

“Good thing you’ve got me, then, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” he said.

They arrived back in London late on Sunday night. They returned Sirius’s car to him, refused his offer of a drink (because they did both have work in the morning, even if he didn’t), and took the Tube home.

It was half midnight when they got in. Remus fell asleep right away. Lily got a shower and crawled into bed, but she had trouble falling asleep. She turned on her side and looked at Remus.

To think that they almost hadn’t been together. Remus was easily one of the most wonderful people she knew, and she’d been pleasantly surprised at just how fantastic he was in bed. (It wasn’t that she’d expected him to be bad in bed, but he had spent most of the past decade dating another man – and she hadn’t been under the impression that he’d been with loads of people before Sirius).

The room was dark, and she couldn’t really make out his features beyond broad strokes, but she didn’t need to. She scooted closer to him and rested her head on his chest, curling around him. She could feel his heart beat steady with the even rise and fall of his chest. She felt, really, completely at peace as she finally drifted off to sleep.