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Remus had always been pretty secretive about his home life, not even the marauders could tell you about it. Sirius knew that he was an only child, living with his dad. His mum was always a sore subject so he doesn’t exactly know where Remus’ mum is, just that she doesn’t live at home with Remus. So it was definitely a surprise when Remus invited Sirius for dinner at his house. Remus hasn’t told Lyall that he was gay, nor that he has a boyfriend; but he felt that it would be good for one of the most important people in his life to meet his only remaining family.
Sirius was a little nervous, seeing as he never really met someone’s family before and really wanted to leave a good impression. He fussed with his hair for about twenty minutes before giving up and leaving it as is. He spent an even longer time trying to find a good outfit, all his clothes looked ripped and too black. He picked out his most respectable-looking pair of jeans and a sweater that doesn’t look too worn.
He arrived on the Lupin doorstep right on time, took a deep breath, and knocked. The door swung open to see Remus standing with a smile on his face, and Sirius’ anxiety dissipated into thin air.
Remus enveloped Sirius into a hug, and quickly kissed his cheek before pulling away.
“Hey, Padfoot,” grinned Remus.
Sirius smiled back, “Hi, Moony.”
Lyall Lupin walked into the room, a slight frown on his face.
“Da, this is Sirius,” Remus gestured at his boyfriend.
Sirius flashed a smile and extended his hand, “Such a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
Lyall didn’t move, looking him up and down, before taking a step forward and begrudgingly shaking Sirius’ hand, “Hullo.”
There was a beat of silence, and Lyall rolled his eyes.
“Is there food for him, or will your friend here finally see your incompetence?” Lyall seemingly directed the question to Remus, yet he was talking to the wall.
Remus looked down to the floor, “No, Da, I cooked enough for Sirius as well.”
Lyall grunted and left the room.
Sirius put his hand on Remus’ arm, “Moony, what-?”
Remus shook his head, “It’s fine. This is normal, I’m fine.”
Sirius frowned, even though Remus labelled it as ‘normal’ he could tell that it shouldn't be.
“Come on,” Remus smiled a little, and took a step, dragging Sirius with him, “I made your favourite.”
Lyall, Remus, and Sirius sat at the dining table, eating their lasagna in silence. Lyall sat opposite Remus, but his eyeline was never directed at his son. Sirius never really knew how to sit in silence so he cleared his throat, “Mr. Lupin, your house is lovely.”
Lyall looked at Sirius lazily, “My wife was in charge of decorating, before she lost her mind of course.”
Remus flinched and stabbed his lasagna. Sirius looked at him with concern, but held back from comforting him; who knows how his father will react?
Lyall sighed, “And your family,..Sirius was it?”
“Yes, Sirius, sir. Sirius Black. My family lives in London.”
Lyall’s eyes widened, “Black? You’re Orion’s boy?”
Sirius cringed, as he does whenever his family’s mentioned, “Yes, sir. But please believe that I’m against all their beliefs.”
Lyall looked between him and his son pointedly, “Apparently, not all.”
Remus dropped his fork and covered his face with his hand.
“Sir, Remus is one of the be-”, Sirius started.
Remus put his hand on Sirius’ arm, “Padfoot, don’t. It’s fine.”
“But, Moony-”
“Sirius,” Remus looked at him, with glazed eyes, “Please.”
Sirius exhaled and nodded, “Okay, love.”
Lyall raised his head at the last word, though Sirius whispered it.
Sirius went back to eating his lasagna, “This is delicious, Moony. I didn’t know you could cook!”
Remus smiled and was just opening his mouth to respond when Lyall grunted and rolled his eyes.
“Barely even changes what he cooks half the bloody time, I’ve been eating lasagna for what feels like a month!”
“It’s been three days, Da-”
“And that’s not even considering all the months I’m left to fend for myself, he never does anything around here!”
Remus’ gaze fell down to his still-full plate, shrinking into himself, “I have to attend my classes, Da, but I try to come back on weekends and help.”
Sirius remembers back to when they were in the middle of their OWLs,and Remus was dead on his feet yet he insisted that he had to go home, that he could stay up and study when he got back.
Lyall scoffs, “Not like Hogwarts is going to do you any bloody good anyway, what self-respecting man would hire an animal in his workplace?”
Sirius’ fork clattered and his jaw dropped in rage, “Remus is NOT an-”
“Sirius!”
“He is the smar-”
Remus grabbed his arm, “I said don’t!”
Sirius turned his head to see Remus glaring at him, nostrils flared, and Sirius couldn’t find it in himself to argue.
He heard a scratchy laugh, and looked over to see Lyall shaking his head.
“This is just bloody hilarious,” he wiped his eyes, “even you’re scared of him.”
Sirius felt Remus freeze next to him, all the colour draining from his face.
“Is he just your lapdog, then? You keep him around, and what, scare him into obedience as a pastime?”
Remus stood up suddenly, loudly scraping the chair, and running upstairs.
Lyall just shrugged and continued eating his lasagna.
Sirius had so much rage, and so much he wanted to yell at this man sitting in front of him, casually eating the food that his son made yet having no problem to treat him like filth. If given the chance, Sirius would brag about Remus; his stellar grades, his humour, his kindness. But this man deliberately ignores all of those aspects and focuses on the one thing Remus can’t control, the one thing that worries him day and night. And if Lyall didn’t want to talk to Remus, then Sirius certainly does not care if Lyall thinks he’s being rude, following Remus upstairs.
Sirius could hear hyperventilating as he walked up the stairs, and followed the sound to find his boyfriend sitting in a corner of his room, struggling to breathe. He locked the door behind him, taking a few steps towards him, keeping his distance but also close enough for Remus to realize he’s there.
“Moony? Moony, I need you to breathe with me,”
Remus was shaking his head quickly, breaths coming shortly.
“Baby, look at me.”
Remus’ welled up eyes met Sirius’ own, and he tried to smile as best he could to help his boyfriend calm down.
“That’s great, love. Now breathe with me, c’mon, deep inhale,” he inhaled exaggeratedly, and Remus followed.
“Exhale.”
This kept going on until Remus was able to breathe properly again. He looked at Sirius and softly smiled.
“There we go, there’s my Moony.”
Remus looked down and shrugged, coughing lightly, “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Not telling you about my mum.”
Sirius sighed, holding Remus’ hand in his own, “Love, that’s absolutely fine, you don’t have to apologize. I know how hard it is to talk about family.”
Remus looked at Sirius and bit his lip, before coming closer and hugging him hard.
“Thank you, thank you for being you, Sirius. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Sirius smiled, “Well, it’s a good thing you never have to find out, yeah? I’m with you forever, Remus, there’s no getting rid of me.”
Remus pulled back and laughed, “You stupid amazing man, I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he pulled him into a searing kiss.
His hands went to Remus’ neck, his waist occupying Remus’ hands. They kept kissing, both trying to show the amount of affection they hold for each other.
Sirius pulled away, “I have an idea.”
“Hm?”
“Let’s go to the Potters’ and continue this there,” he wiggled his eyebrows.
Remus laughed, and planted a small kiss on Sirius’ lips before standing up, “Let’s.”