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I fucking hate haunted houses, Sirius thought as he backed away from the deranged zombie dragging a clown’s leg. Somehow, James had convinced him to come anyway, and invited Evans, and now Sirius is third wheeling his worst nightmare.
Sirius backs into something and screams. (It was a very many scream, and he absolutely did not shriek. More of a shout, really. A grunt. Sirius grunted when he backed into something. Shut up.)
“Oh, y'alright there?” the thing said, only when Sirius turns around, he found out the thing was actually a tall man with tawny curls and magnificent green eyes.
“Oh, um,” Sirius says, and for a moment, he forgets about the horror behind him. He spins quickly, but the zombie has turned around to claim a different victim. “Yeah, sorry. I just–”
James is laughing so hard he’s bent in half (though Sirius doesn’t miss the way he’s still holding Evans’s hand). “Padfoot, you screamed so loud. This is the best. We should do this every weekend.”
“Shut up, Prongs,” Sirius says, turning back to the beautiful boy and absolutely not blushing. He’s not. “Sorry, I ran into you.”
“Sorry he screamed and wet himself when he did,” James says, rather unhelpfully. Sirius doesn’t miss the way the beautiful boy’s eyes fall to his crotch (which is not wet, thank you very much).
“No, it was a very reasonable scream,” the beautiful boy says. “In line. At the haunted house.” He looks around at the long line behind them, still waiting to get in the door. “You know we’re not inside yet, right?”
This, unfortunately, makes James laugh even harder. He throws an arm around the beautiful boy’s shoulders. “Oh, I like you. What’s you’re name?”
“Remus,” he says.
“You should stick around. Who are you here with?” James asks.
“No one,” he says. “None of my friends wanted to come, and I decided I didn’t want to miss out.”
“Oh, well, now you’re here with us.” James turns Remus round to face Sirius again. “Besides, Sirius here needs someone to hold his hand on the way through.”
Remus looks him over with a raised eyebrow. “I bet he does,” he says.
I’m definitely in trouble now.
By the time they made it to the front of the line, Remus is genuinely enjoying himself with James, his girlfriend Lily, and Sirius.
Sirius, who looks like a centerfold model and keeps stealing glances at Remus. An impossible scenario, he is sure, but Remus can't stop thinking that Sirius seems interested in him too.
"A'right, kids. A'right. Scootch on up closer. Don't be shy; we don't bite here," a costumed man says as he guides them onto the porch. He wears makeup that darkens his eyes and makes his skin look sallow. His hair hangs in long, stringy strands around his face like he hasn't bathed in years. "I'm the caretaker, and you're about to enter my house. But beware. Not everyone who checks in gets a chance to check out, and some of our guests are dying to meet you."
James is bouncing on his feet, Lily looks apprehensive but like she's having fun, and Remus is just excited at the prospect of being scared. Sirius looks about ready to piss his pants, and Remus can't stop smiling at it. As the caretaker talks, Sirius edges back away from him until he's almost pressed against Remus's arm.
Remus resists the urge to reach around and tap on Sirius's shoulder, but just barely. Instead, he leans in to whisper. "If you need to, you can hold my hand."
"Shut up, I don't' need to," Sirius says quickly with false bravado. He gives Remus wan smile.
They walk into the first room of the house, which is a sitting room of sorts. They pass a haggard looking maid who appears to be missing an eye, then move into the room that would almost seem normal if you don't look closely at the horrific details. It's actually really incredible continuity, if you ask Remus, but he's not so sure if Sirius would agree.
The door closes behind them and the lights go off, just as suddenly. There's the sound of lightning, and flashes of a strobe light before the framed picture in front of them slides up to reveal it's contents--two twin girls with long dark hair and white robes--in the living flesh. Or, well, in the flesh, nonetheless.
Sirius jumps and screams, backing solidly into Remus and grabbing both of his hands. The twins continue talking disquietingly in sync, but Sirius doesn't let go of his hands. Remus doesn't pull back.
When the fireplace opens to reveal a crawlspace for them to crawl through to the next room, Sirius shifts until Remus is in front of him, but he doesn't let go of one of his hands.
"Alright there?" Remus asks as he pulls Sirius through behind him.
"I'm just fine," Sirius says proudly, then drops his voice. "Please don't leave me."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Remus says.
Sirius holds Remus's hand and follows him through the haunted house. If he's honest, after the first few rooms, he gets used to the jump scares enough that he could--probably--go through without it, but he doesn't want to let Remus's hand go. It's large and warm in his own, and despite the fact that they are strangers, Remus is willing to comfort him and check in to make sure he's alright.
By the time they get out, Sirius is still holding his hand, but the bright lights as they exit seem to shine a light on how weird that actually is. Remus is virtually a stranger, but they're holding hands.
Remus seems to have the same realization at the same time, and they awkwardly free their hands as they walk into the gift shop.
"That was excellent," James says to Lily, walking a few steps ahead of them. "Really excellent. I almost got scared once."
Lily scoffs. "You were scared more than once."
"Nope," James says, leaning down to kiss her. "Not even once." he spins around, looking at Sirius. "How did you fare? Survived, it looks like?"
"He screamed like a baby through the whole thing," Remus says before Sirius can say anything. "Had to hold his hand the whole way through."
Sirius narrows his eyes at Remus. "Traitor."
"As if I didn't know," James says, looking between the two of them with bright eyes. "So, Remus. What are you doing now?"
Remus shrugs, glancing quickly at James before he says. "Just going home, I guess. I didn't plan anything else."
James and Lily both pointedly look at Sirius. "Yeah, I think we're heading home too," Sirius says.
James rolls his eyes and turns back around. He slings an arm over Lily's shoulder, and Sirius is fairly certain he hears something distinctly like Idiot when James kisses her temple.
"Right, well. I'm going to catch the train, so I should go this way," Remus points a thumb over his shoulder toward the nearest station.
"Right. James drove us so." Sirius turns and takes a step toward James and Lily. "Wait," he says suddenly, spinning back around.
Remus turns back toward him. "Yeah?"
"I, um." Sirius thinks quickly, trying to come up with an excuse. "I'm too scared to sleep. Do you want to sleep with me?"
James cackles over his shoulder, and Lily is stifling a laugh too. Remus just smiles. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I'd really enjoy that."