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“Ew. Ew. Ugh. Eww-”
“Sirius, you can’t just say ew every time you step in a bit of dirt,” Remus mutters in annoyance, his boyfriend has been doing it for over an hour and Remus was reaching his limit.
Sirius looks down at his mud-soaked Doc Martens in protest,as if he reserved the right to complain if his favourite shoes were getting ruined. Remus tutted and rolled his eyes. He chose to bring his favourite shoes, a decision he made despite Lily’s warnings, that was on him. No-one else.
It was hard work dating such a diva but as much as Remus found himself sighing and rolling his eyes at his boyfriend’s behaviour, he wouldn’t change a single thing about him. He was obsessed, so in love with Sirius in a way he never thought possible for someone with his affliction. They weren't overly affectionate but in the privacy of each other's arms they-
“Moooony!” Sirius whines and Remus starts taking longer strides to catch up with Lily and James, “My bags are heavyyy..”
“You were told to pack one bag, Sirius!” Remus calls over his shoulder, sighing when he reaches their friends, “This is by far the worst idea you have ever had, Lils.”
Lily looks over at Sirius and laughs in amusement as he attempts to blow his long black hair out of his face whilst also juggling his two giant red duffle bags and his oversized backpack, stepping in more mud during his rather impressive juggling act.
Remus shakes his head, camping had been fun with Lily and the girls a few months back. They had roasted marshmallows and shared stories around the campfire. They had thought it would be nice and romantic to take their boyfriends this time. Sirius and James were always working incredibly hard as business owners, having inherited Fleamont Potter’s Sleekeazy’s hair potions.
James was head of distribution, responsible for the storage, transportation and delivery of goods. Sirius was in charge of overseeing product designs, getting the final say on both packaging and what hair potions got the thumbs up. In his humble opinion, nothing beats the original potion invented by Fleamont and it remains their top seller to this day but catering to different hair types was incredibly important to them.
They were only an hour into their weekend break and Remus was starting to regret everything. He was struggling with his dodgy hip, carrying his bag and the tent he’d be sharing with Sirius later. Sirius was a chronic over-packer, a lot of ‘just in case’ and ‘what if’, who needs ten pairs of boxers for a one-night break? Ridiculous.
“If only there was a big, strong, handsome man around to help me...”Sirius sighs longingly, batting his eyelashes at Remus hopefully. Remus scoffs at his boyfriend and carries on walking, Sirius’ mouth falling open as he watches his boyfriend’s retreating figure.
James suddenly looks up from his phone, he had been trying to get a signal since they had left, “I can help!”
“My favourite big, strong, handsome man,” Sirius beams pettily.
Remus and Lily exchange looks as James rushes to help Sirius with his bags, despite carrying his heavy backpack and one of the two tents. James was into his fitness and loved doing weights and 5 am runs, carrying the extra bags probably counted towards a workout. Remus shrugs, linking arms with Lily and striding ahead, abandoning their boyfriends. Ideally, they wanted to reach the lake by sundown so they could set up camp for the night before it got too dark.
“And my shoes are ruined.”Sirius pouts to James.
“There’s not even any signal out here.” James adds, “How are we going to keep up with the quidditch scores? Being a muggle sucks, I don’t know how they do it. We could apparate to the location but no, we have to go on a nice long walk and do things their way.”
“There is nothing nice about this,” Sirius mutters, glaring at Lily and Remus from behind.
They are in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but overgrown trees, and the stench of animal excrement and mud. It wasn't even warm out. When Remus and Lily had suggested a muggle trip to get away from everything for a few days, Sirius and James had both imagined getting on one of those muggle aeroplanes and jetting off to someplace warm. Not camping in the wilderness with the cast of Bugs Life. Their idea of a good time was very different to their partners. Lily is practically bouncing as she takes photos of everything she sees, James smiles fondly at his future wife whilst Sirius wonders how many photos of identical-looking trees one person needs.
“Have you seen how big bears and moose are?” James mumbles, looking around nervously like one is going to jump out at them.
Lily rubs her temples, “We do not have Moose in England, James.”
“How do you know?”James asks, narrowing his brown eyes at her, “I bet loads are hiding in this very woods. They’re bigger than cars, you know?”
“In that case, we would have seen one by now.” Lily sighs, “Now stop talking and keep walking.”
“I’m going to internet it.”James decides, unlocking his phone for the hundredth time, “Oh. Still no signal...”
Eventually, they reached the lake where they were setting up for the night. James and Sirius drop the bags they’re carrying as soon as they stop moving. Sirius instantly sits down to catch his breath, complaining about his boots yet again. James stands on a tree stump, holding his mobile up in the air to try and get a signal again. Remus starts taking the tent he was carrying out of the bag, getting to work on pitching it whilst Lily triple-checks that they have every peg and pole they need.
“Make yourselves useful and set up the other tent.” Lily tells James and Sirius, “Otherwise you’re sleeping outside.”
James raises his eyebrows at his girlfriend, “But we’ve never set up a tent before?”
“The instructions come with it. Perfect time to learn a new skill.” Lily smiles at him, making James feel all mushy inside. James smiles back adoringly before his face slowly falls at the realisation of what she said.
“Come on then, Padfoot.” James sighs, shoving his phone into his pocket and grabbing the tent, “We can do this.”
Sirius looks up from where he’s sitting, “I just did a really long walk-”
“We all did, you’re not special. Now help me because I am not sleeping outside with the mooses…the meese? The mooseses?”
Lily and Remus manage to set up their tent, unpack their belongings and start a small campfire in the time it takes James and Sirius to realise they’re doing everything wrong.
“What is taking you two so long?” Remus asks, sipping his water and smirking at his boyfriend’s messy hair and confused expression.
James holds up a snapped pole, grimacing awkwardly at Lily who looks furious, “I’m sorry, Lily.”
“We’re all going to have to share a tent then.” Lily mumbles, “My fault for thinking you could follow the instructions.”
“What instructions?” James puzzles.
Lily doesn’t justify him with an answer, only with a pointed look. She had told him where to find the sheet of paper, if he didn’t listen to her then fine. Remus starts cooking bacon, thick sausages and beans on the campfire with two large pans. Everyone was hungry after such a challenging walk, Lily had already been snacking on the lemon sherbets she had found in her pocket. Sirius and James unpack their own things inside the tent. The four sleeping bags take up the majority of floor space, Remus and Lily had strategically stacked their things in a corner.
Sirius looks around aimlessly as he takes out a pair of black skinny jeans, “Where is the wardrobe?”
“Oh no mate, you keep your clothes in the bags. Just take the essentials out.” James nods, taking out his water bottle.
Sirius looks horrified but puts the jeans back, moving on to his next duffle to take out his essentials. James watches wordlessly as Sirius takes out the different bottles for his five-step skincare routine, his hand cream, suncream, six different haircare products and his heated rollers.
“You brought all that camping?”James raises his eyebrow, “Did you not get Lily’s list of what to bring?”
“Yes, but that list was just to give me an idea.” Sirius tuts, grabbing facemasks and smiling, “I thought facemasks would be fun. It’s like a sleepover, right?”
James thinks for a moment before agreeing, it was a bit like a sleepover. Just without the movie night and popcorn, and the cosy soft beds. Sirius had provided the facemasks though. James snorts when Sirius takes out his fluffy slippers and white dressing gown, he might have never been camping but wasn’t as clueless as his best friend. Sirius was acting like this was another of their luxurious spa weekends in the lake district.
Sirius takes off his ruined Docs and trades them for his slippers, he tosses the boots just outside the tent before trekking carefully outside wrapped up in his dressing gown. He sits down in one of the stripey folding chairs, one leg rested over the other as he watches his boyfriend cook in the dirty outside air. Remus looks over at Sirius’, laughing fondly when he notices his boyfriend's attire.
James runs to the lake where Lily is taking photos of the water, he wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her cheek. He rests his chin on her shoulder, watching her concentrate on taking the perfect shots of the glistening lake. James loves Lily’s photographs, he loves seeing things through her eyes. She had an incredible talent for capturing breathtaking moments and beautiful things that James would never spot.
“I can’t wait to see the photos you’ve taken, love,” James says, kissing Lily’s shoulder affectionately.
“They’re not that good.”
“That’s a load of rubbish. You take the most wonderful pictures.” James defends, sounding offended by Lily’s self-doubt. She was better than she gave herself credit for, one of the best photographers James had ever met.
“Food is ready!” Remus announces, dishing up even portions onto paper plates.
The four friends sit around the fire, James and Lily sit side by side on an uncomfortable log as Sirius and Remus sit on the folding chairs. It’s the first time since they set off early hours of that morning that they’re all sitting down and not bickering. James is still complimenting Lily’s photography skills whilst she blushes at each nice word. James is always making Lily blush, showering her with sweet words and positive affirmations.
Remus notices Sirius is oddly quiet, camping was way out of Sirius’ comfort zone but he is proud of Sirius for giving it a go. Remus had told Lily that Sirius would never go camping but here he was, trying to make the most of a bad situation with his slippers and dressing gown.
“You’re so stinkin’ cute,” Remus tells him, looking at Sirius in disbelief. He still can’t believe that this angel is his, even after all these years together. “Came camping with your dressing gown and slippers.”
Sirius scowls, “You didn’t tell me there was no electricity..”
“Why would you need electricity?”
“My hair,” Sirius says, stabbing his bacon with his fork in annoyance.
“You can go one day without straightening your hair.”
Sirius side eyes Remus with horror, “Straightening- you think I straighten my hair? I use heated rollers! Hair straighteners are for weirdos.”
“Hey! I heard that!” Lily interrupts, she straightens her thick mane of red hair every single day.
“I need to pee. Where’s the bathroom?” James asks, standing up and glancing around at all the trees for any sign of a bathroom. Perhaps a little hut or something.
Remus chuckles to himself, “Merlin.”
“We’re in the woods, James.” Lily smiles.
“Yes?”James furrows his eyebrows as she states the obvious.
Lily waves her free hand around, “Your bathroom is anywhere.”
“What?” James and Sirius gape at the same time.
“I want to go home. I have had enough.” Sirius declares standing up, his foot landing in something that looks suspiciously like manure, “I am going to scream.”
Remus puts his empty plate on top of Sirius’ on the floor, before pulling Sirius into his lap. The folding chair collapses underneath their weight, making everyone laugh, except for Sirius who whines dramatically.
“It’s not that bad, love.” Remus comforts him, stroking Sirius’ face with his hand, “Just relax and you might even enjoy yourself.”
“I brought everything we need to make smores,” Lily says, feeling guilty that her friend isn’t having fun.
Sirius brightens a little at that, he had made them when he was a child with his little brother. It’s one of his favourite memories of his difficult childhood. Granted, it had ended with melted marshmallows all over their mother's Persian carpet and a grand bollocking but Regulus’ delight had made the punishment worth it.
Remus continues holding Sirius in his arms for as much as he complains of his boyfriend's quirks, he is head over heels for him and appreciates that camping is wildly out of Sirius’ comfort zone and that he only agreed as it was something Remus enjoyed himself. Both of them were always trying to appreciate the things the other one loved just so they could see the smiles and excitement. Remus loved it whenever Sirius rambled about the stars or a new product they were working on at work, just as Sirius loved listening to Remus rave about his current read. Camping was just another thing that made Remus happy and Sirius wanted to be there for that.
James and Sirius make a mess as they make smores with Lily whilst Remus sneaks away with Sirius’ precious Docs to give them a good clean in the lake. Lily watches as James and Sirius act like big kids, getting over-excited and elated with the smores. Sirius’ mood drastically changes as he finally starts to have fun. Remus returns with the Docs, standing beside Lily to watch Sirius and James feed each other.
“Remember when everyone thought they were dating?” Lily asks as she watches her boyfriend wipe the corner of Sirius’ mouth.
Remus clears his throat, “I used to be so jealous of them. They used to share a bed in school sometimes, I remember being so moody every time that happened and I couldn’t figure out why.”
Lily laughs loudly, it had been so painfully obvious to her that Remus was pining over Sirius for years but it took Remus a long while to realise he was gay and not just jealous that his friends were close. They had come a long way since Hogwarts. Lily had accepted that she did find the insufferable James Potter attractive and now they had been together for five years. Remus and Sirius had finally put a label on their ‘situationship’ three years ago instead of insisting they were just friends who made out sometimes.
It was good to be away from everyday life, a change in routine and scenery. A chance to relax, reflect on the time that had passed and appreciate the people in their lives. Lily had already decided they had to do this with the rest of their friendship group at some point, although dragging everyone away from work simultaneously would be nearly impossible.
As the sun set and the stars came out, the four of them settled around the campfire in pyjamas, snuggling under blankets and nursing mugs of hot chocolate. Sirius grins from ear to ear in his freshly cleaned Docs, resting his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder as they start to share their favourite memories.
“Remember when Remus made all the quills write swear words instead of whatever everyone was trying to write?” James recalls with infectious laughter.
“Of course, I remember! I got blamed for that one.” Sirius glares at Lily who, as headgirl at the time, gave him detention for it.
“Remus is a very convincing liar!” Lily says apologetically as Remus smirks.
“How many times did Remus get away with our pranks when he was the mastermind?”James tuts, “Like we were smart enough to think of all the details that go into them.”
Lily shakes her head and laughs, “Yeah.. when you put it like that, I should have realised it wasn’t always you two.”
James and Sirius start protesting, insisting and confessing that the ideas were mostly theirs and Peter’s but Remus did all the tricky parts so they could pull it off effortlessly- despite getting caught plenty of times.
“It was a group effort! All four of us marauders.” With finality in his tone, James says, “We created a legacy at that school. We will be remembered for centuries for our pranks.”
“And our crowns will be passed onto our kids.”Sirius grins, “They’ll be just like us.”
Remus’ eyes widened at the mention of children, they were still far too young to be thinking about things like that. Lily’s face flushes pink as James starts agreeing with his best friend, talking animatedly about how their children will be on the quidditch team together and pulling even better pranks on the pesky Slytherins.
“It’s getting dark.” James notices, staring up at the starry sky.
“Perfect time for a ghost story.” Remus decides, recalling how brilliant Lily’s stories were last time.
Sirius groans, whimpering a small “No..” under his breath as he sinks into his chair.
“I know a true story about this very woods!” Lily says happily as she leans forward, getting ready to share with the group.
James leans forward too, staring at Lily with adoration and eagerness as Sirius slumps and sinks further into his chair.
Remus kisses Sirius’ cheek reassuringly, “It's just a story.”
“Once upon a time…four friends decided to go camping..” Lily starts and Sirius groans under his breath, feeling his heartbeat increase with anxiety already.
James ends up clinging to Sirius’ hand as Lily talks slowly and quietly, the distant sound of owls hooting and the rustling of the trees in the wind making even the self-proclaimed king of Gryffindor nervous. Their only light source was the campfire flickering away keeping them warm, the dark woods surrounding them are eerily chilling in the pitch black of the night. Anything could be out there. Anything at all.
“Wait.. what was that?” Remus asks in alarm, looking around nervously.
Lily abruptly stops talking, wide-eyed as she too looks around hesitantly. Remus isn’t one to be easily spooked after all. Sirius and James cling to each other tighter, refusing to turn their heads and look at the trees.
“What was that?” Lily asks softly.
“I don’t know..” Remus whispers as he stands up to investigate, disappearing from view.
Sirius feels his heart sink, “Moony?”
When he doesn’t get a reply, he cautiously sits up and turns his head- “BOO!” Remus says as Sirius comes face to face with him. Sirius screams, clutching his chest as his heart races.
“That was not funny.” Sirius splutters, hitting his boyfriend gently in the chest with both arms as James cracks up laughing.
“Sorry love it was too good to pass up on.” Remus whispers, holding Sirius’ face in his hands as he peppers soft kisses all over his face, “You forgive me don’t you?”
Sirius nods easily, it was impossible to stay mad at Remus. He starts squirming as Remus keeps kissing his face, making him blush which is mortifying in front of their friends. When Remus finally stops, Sirius looks at James who is smiling at them. He isn’t roasting them or being rude, he just looks happy for them like he just knows how much his best friend loves Remus. If anything, James looks incredibly proud of Sirius. James had been there for all of Sirius’ worst moments but he got to be there for all the good moments now too.
“It’s getting late, we should go to bed.” Lily says, “The animals will wake us up rather early.”
“Animals…right.” James nods with uncertainty, obviously thinking about the moose that don’t live there.
James and Lily go to bed but Sirius and Remus remain outside, snuggling on the hard log beneath the stars. Sirius is shivering in Remus’ arms but he’s happy to have the moment alone, just to be with the calm of his boyfriend for a while. Remus combs his fingers through Sirius’ hair, untangling some knots whilst they look at the stars. At this point Remus has the constellations memorised as Sirius loved to talk about them, pointing his star out every single time he saw it.
“It makes sense, Sirius being the brightest star,” Remus speaks softly, the sleepy tone he has when the day is finally catching up with him makes Sirius prickle with goosebumps, “You’re the light of my life.”
“Lame.” Sirius cackles.
“More fool me to be romantic then, prick.” Remus jokes, cradling Sirius closer before bumping his nose against the other's cheek, “Come on, time for bed.”
The tent was wide enough for all four to squeeze side by side towards the back, Lily and Remus had been given the left and right sides respectfully as James and Sirius wished to hold hands in the middle. ‘Like at Hogwarts!’ James had cheered, immediately snuggling into his best friend's side.
The peacefulness of crickets chirping and the gentle breeze meant that Remus and Lily were on the cusp of sleep almost immediately after they had all settled in. Sirius and James, however, had other ideas.
“I mean we can’t really be sure, can we?” James had pondered in his quietest voice which was not quiet at all.
Sirius hummed, not even trying to whisper, “I know for a fact that they are still around. At least the aquatic ones.”
“If we have dragons, surely there’s still dinosaurs.”
“Maybe they're one and the same.”
“The dinosaurs grew wings to escape cavemen and found solace in the magical world.”
“Entire species don't just disappear like that, like the muggles say, do they? They've gotta be kicking about somewhere.”
“Bulgaria!” James yelled with glee.
“Please,” Remus started, a desperate plea, “Shut up!”
“Sorry, Remus.” The two boys synchronised sheepishly.
A moment of pure bliss and then, “Why Bulgaria?”
“That's where all the dragons are, right?”
“No, there's dragons all over the shop. I think most are in Asia.”
“For the love of all that is holy,” Lily's shadowy figure darted up, “Shut up or you're sleeping outside!”
James audibly whimpered, “With the mooseses?”
“This is why we got two tents because you two don’t know when to call it a night.” Remus tuts, turning his back to Sirius.
Sirius screeches as he feels something ghost his ankle, “There’s a bug on my leg!”
“That is my toe.” Remus sighs, wiggling it more to assure his boyfriend.
When the sun is rising, everyone stirs awake. There wasn’t much sleeping taking place as Sirius and James had another late-night conversation and despite trying their hardest to keep it down, they’re very excitable when together. Remus and Lily tried to zone the gradually louder voices out but eventually gave up and joined in, all four of them chatting and laughing deep into the night. It was like being teenagers again, staying up past curfew just to chat about absolutely anything. In the hustle of everyday adult life, small moments are often taken for granted and swept away in seconds but even Sirius liked and appreciated that part of their camping trip. Just four friends joking around, no jobs or responsibilities. Nothing else mattered but the moment they were in.
James notices how exhausted everyone is and decides to take the initiative to make breakfast for everyone. Somehow he starts the fire easily but struggles with opening the tins of beans and Remus has to come to his rescue. The two of them cook together, whilst Lily sits by the lake reading her book on a blue plaid blanket and Sirius is trying to get ready inside the tent but keeps falling over due to lack of space. When eventually Sirius exits the tent, everyone stops what they’re doing to look at him. He’s wearing tight skinny jeans and a crop top with one of Remus’ grey cardigans. Not the most practical for camping, but every occasion is a fashion show for him.
“You look beautiful, love.” Remus smiles warmly, he always felt tingly inside whenever Sirius willingly wore his cardigans or sweaters.
“Do I Remus?” Sirius asks with a sassy click of his tongue.
“Oh no.” Remus and James both mumble under their breath knowingly.
Sirius gestures to his hair furiously, “My hair is frazzled. I look like Hagrid.”
Remus bursts out laughing, unable to help himself. James snickers but quickly manages to school his expression as Sirius glares at him. Remus continues to laugh amusedly, his side hurting from laughing so hard. He decides he must be delirious from the lack of sleep in the tent because it really isn’t that funny but he simply can’t stop.
“Sorry love, I meant to say you don’t look like Hagrid.” Remus wheezes, clutching his side.
Sirius clicks his tongue again, “Oh do be careful Remus. I am not carrying you home if you do your hip in.”
Remus is still grinning when he pulls his boyfriend into his arms, rocking him back and forth lovingly, “I love you. You’re a handsome devil, even without your heated rollers.”
“Thank you.” Sirius blushes as he buries his head into Remus’ chest, “I know but I am booking a hair appointment with Marlene when we get home.”
“Of course.” Remus agrees.
James dishes up, handing out hot plates of beans to the not-so-happy camper and his boyfriend, before joining Lily by the lake on her blanket. He peers over her shoulder at the book she is reading and immediately recognises Remus’ unreadable scribble. The two of them often exchanged books and annotated them for each other, it was cute if not a little nerdy. Lily leans against James as she finishes the chapter she is on, the beans forgotten about as she is so engrossed in the book.
“Lils. Open up.” James says, spoon-feeding her some beans. Lily laughs around the spoon in her mouth, abandoning her book for James.
They watch the birds as they eat, enjoying the peace and quiet. James can’t stop looking at his girlfriend, his heart bursting with pride and love. He can feel in his gut that he’s ready for the next chapter in their lives. He wants to marry Lily Evans and spend the rest of his life with her. After five years together, a proposal is within reach. It will be done by the end of the year. He wouldn’t be shocked if Remus and Sirius did the same. He’s seen the way Sirius stares at Remus when he thinks no one is watching, he imagines he looks just as lovestruck when he is looking at his Lily.
“CANONBALL!”Sirius yells suddenly running towards the lake.
“NO!” Remus shouts after him, “It’s not deep enough you absolute-”
Sirius turns back to grin at Remus cheekily, “I was only kidding Moons.” He side-eyes James before whispering, “Good job he warned me eh Prongs?”
James laughs as he jumps to his feet, offering Lily his hand, “Shall we swim?”
Lily takes his hand, slipping out of her shoes and rolling her jeans up. James kicks his own shoes off sending them flying in opposite directions, one hitting the tent and another disappearing into the trees somewhere. Lily just rolls her eyes, leading James to the shallow water. They both squeak as they step into the icy cold lake, Lily giggling as James shudders dramatically.
Remus settles down on the blanket to relax, his legs outstretched as he watches James and Lily start to splash each other playfully. Even though there is plenty of space on the large plaid blanket, Sirius chooses to sit right on Remus’ knee and smiles sweetly at him. Remus just wraps his arms around Sirius, resting his head on Sirius’ back as they listen to the sound of James and Lily getting competitive with each other.
“James is going to propose to Lily.” Sirius whispers suddenly, “Everything will change, Moony.”
“How do you know he’s going to propose?”Remus asks, sitting up and twisting his body awkwardly to look at Sirius’ face.
Sirius points at their friends, “Look at them. They’re a forever type of thing.”
Remus smiles as James scoops Lily into his arms as she squeals in protest. “Yeah, they are.” He agrees, brushing Sirius’ hair out of his eyes, “But so are we.”