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Time seemed to pass slower every time Remus Lupin glanced at the watch on his wrist. He should've been home long ago, but instead he found himself an hour after the end of school, waiting for his last student to be picked up.
He sighed softly as he read over the essay in front of him again, before glancing at the clock, and then the small boy again.
"Harry, are you sure I shouldn't call your parents?" he asked softly.
The eleven year old boy looked up at him, brows still furrowed with concentration from his English homework as he adjusted the glasses that had slipped down his nose.
Harry shook his head. "Mum and Dad are busy today. My godparent's picking me up. I swear."
Remus only sighed again while he nodded and went back to grading the essays.
"Alright," he murmured.
And again, they waited. Harry had finished his English homework and went over to Maths, which seemed to be a lot less interesting than the trees swaying in the wind outside. Remus had finished grading the essays from his 9th years too, and now tried to flesh out what he'd do in the next class with his 7th graders.
It was then when the dull sound of boots sounded through the empty hallway of the school building. And only seconds later, the door to the classroom flew open and someone barged in.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I know I'm late, god, I'm sorry. London's traffic... really horrible today."
Harry jumped up with a bright smile on his face, running to go hug his godparent. And Remus, well, Remus could only stare.
In front of him stood no other than Sirius Black.
Remus' heart stopped, only to stumble over itself and then beat twice as fast as before. He watched Sirius run a hand through their hair, black curls that barely reached her shoulder. She was wearing a leather jacket over a washed out band tee, a mini skirt over tights and boots with leg warmers. And a mess of jewellery, necklaces, rings and earrings that were making sounds with every one of her moves, completed the outfit.
She looked exactly like in college, when Remus used to pine over her. He used to pine in class, when he sat at the back of the lecture hall, staring at the back of her head and wishing he would be the one she was laughing with. He used to pine in the library, when she was studying with her friends. He used to pine in the cafeteria too, when he was the one eating alone and she was surrounded by a mass of people.
When he was lucky to sit behind her in class, he would spend the whole time trying to build up courage to talk to her. But his mouth was shut every time she did so much as look at him.
So, the only time he actually managed to introduce himself, was also the time he was humbled so much, that he decided to never do something like that again.
It had been at a party, and Remus might have had a bit too much to drink that night. He had spotted her, downed his drink and pushed through the crowd to get to her group of friends. The alcohol made him feel fuzzy, and the sight of Sirius in that dress only added to it. His cheeks had burned when she suddenly stood in front of him.
"Sirius, hi," he had muttered and she managed a polite smile and a, "Do I know you?"
Remus nodded, then shook his head. "Uh... English Lit. We, uh, we have that together. I-," he had to swallow down the lump in his throat at this point, "I really like your contributions to the course."
Sirius had a polite smile on their face the entire time which didn't seem dismissive, but also not exactly pleased.
"Thank you," she had said and then there was this guy (her boyfriend) who approached them, had to glance once at Remus, and sling his arm around Sirius' shoulder. That was the first and last time Remus had talked to her.
But now she was standing in front of him (a situation in which Remus had never dared to imagine himself) and furrowed her eyebrows while her gaze swept across him.
"Sorry, I feel like I know you. Do I?"
Remus' tongue felt thick in his mouth. Sirius was recognising him?
He cleared his throat. Twice.
"College. We, uh, English Lit? We had that together."
She pulled her lower lip between her teeth in thought – an action that did more to Remus than he wanted to admit – and just kept staring at him, before her face seemed to light up with something close to recognition.
"Wait. Remus? Uh, Lupin?"
Oh. They remembered him.
They.
Remembered.
Him.
Remus nodded, exhaled and made a sound close to a laugh, but it came out rather embarrassingly high.
"Yeah."
Her lips curled up into a smile.
"I knew it. Small world, hm? You a teacher now?"
Remus swallowed, trying not to be distracted by her smile. He suddenly felt too aware of everything – his sweater which had a small stain right on the chest, his hair which was messy because he didn't have time to style it today, and, of course, every single word he spoke and gesture he made, because it all had to seem ridiculous to Sirius.
"Yeah," he said weakly. "Almost five years now."
Sirius hummed lowly. "I have to say that it suits you."
Remus swallowed again, trying to think of a fitting reaction. Should he ask what they were doing now? Or was that too much? Or-
"Sirius," Harry suddenly chimed in, tugging at her sleeve. "I'm hungry. Can we go?"
Sirius laughed softly (that did something to Remus) and ruffled Harry's hair.
"C'mon, I'll take you somewhere. Nice chat, Lupin.”
She grinned and the next second they were both gone, only the faint sound of their shoes in the hallway was heard.
Remus buried his face in his hands. Fuck him.
—
It was two weeks later when Remus walked through the busy hallway of the school, trying to get to the teacher’s office to store some books he was planning to show his students later. They were old, from his own collection, and his biggest pride. Well, he didn't have much else to pride himself on.
It only took him two sets of stairs and about 20 running students to almost drop the books to the floor. He shouldn't have taken that many. Two would've been sufficient. But then, it was really hard to decide which ones, he had to be honest.
Just as he was about to kick open the door to the staff room, he saw some movement from the corner of his eyes and someone suddenly held open the door.
“Thank you,” Remus muttered, thinking it had to be another teacher. But the second he lifted his head, he almost dropped the books, including everything else he was carrying, to the floor.
Sirius Black.
“I-,” he began, and swallowed. “Sirius. What are you…?”
Sirius smiled at him, that same smile that had made his heart drop in college, and shrugged.
“Don't you want to drop off the books first?”
“Uh. Yeah. Sure. Wait here,” he spluttered and rushed into the staff room, not without bumping the door frame and sweeping some loose papers from one of his colleagues from the table in the process of walking past.
He straightened his shirt on the way back to Sirius, hoping he looked presentable. He had shaved his face yesterday. He had used a new perfume. He looked good.
He hoped, at least.
“What are you doing here? I, uh, have class soon,” Remus repeated himself again as he closed the door of the room behind him and now stood in the hallway again.
Sirius sighed, stepping slightly closer to Remus in a way that made him feel a bit giddy inside.
“I want to give you this,” she said quietly, gently pressing a small piece of paper into Remus' hands, holding it there until Remus was sure they had felt that his hands were sweaty.
“Let's meet up sometime, yeah?” she said, dropping her hand and smiled.
It seemed like she wanted to say more, and Remus wanted to say something too, but his tongue felt too thick for his mouth and his throat was as dry as a desert.
“Don't hesitate, alright?”
Don't hesitate what, Remus wanted to ask, but then she had already brushed away a stray curl from his face, making Remus turn into jelly all together, and turned around to leave.
It took ten seconds for Remus to rip his gaze away from her and to the (damp) note in his hands.
Call me :)
Remus stared at the words, and then at the numbers scribbled underneath. Did they just come here to give him this?
Fuck. Him.