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“Mum!” Remus hollers without looking away from the screen. “Can I order something off the telly?”
“It’s out of your pocket,” his mother calls back. Excitement courses through him, but he still refuses to look away, eyes glued to the perfect thing to impress the other Marauders.
The Fushigi Magic Gravity Ball.
He grabs a pen and scribbles down the number, a grin forming as he imagines the shocked faces of his pure-blood friends when he shows them Muggle magic. Last year, he introduced them to Muggle music and Padfoot became obsessed—which, if Remus was honest, made him feel like he actually belonged with his much cooler friends.
This year, he needs a skill. Something to cement himself as cool enough for them, which is nearly impossible, considering Sirius’s entire personality is just ‘cool’ personified. He also needs to exude nonchalance. Like he hasn’t been secretly practicing for hours to make it look effortless. Simple.
And practice he does. When the Fushigi ball and DVD come in, they completely take over his summer. Instead of worrying about the upcoming school year, Remus sits himself in front of the telly every day until he is proficient at contact juggling. Soon, he is putting on shows for his parents and neighbors, all the perfect preparation for the Marauders.
By the time summer comes to an end, Remus can complete every illusion on the disc, even making up some of his own. He’s proud of his newfound skill, and hopes his friends will be fooled by the illusion, convinced he is floating it without magic. He cares the most about impressing Sirius, the boy practically glowed when Remus introduced him to CD’s the year before, and he wants to do the same this year when he shows Sirius his Fushigi skills.
The summer is always hard for Sirius at the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, and seeing Remus’s new skill on the train will be the perfect distraction. The first days back are always the toughest, Sirius’s nightmares driving him to sneak into James’s bed late at night. He needs it, and they all understand. But this year, Remus wants to do something more. Something to help distract him from his awful summer.
And besides, Sirius is so bloody cool, of course Remus wants to show off to him. Girls practically fall over themselves just to talk to him, boys want to hang out like their reputations might improve just by being in his presence. To be fair, they probably do. And while nothing feels more important than making Sirius smile, impressing him might come close. The Marauders pledged to stay friends forever (well, technically they pledged to die for one another, but that feels dramatic), but Remus still worries about proving he fits in with the rest of them.
When he arrives at their usual compartment, it’s empty. He feels himself wanting to bounce in excitement, but tamps it down. Instead, he leans against the window, pulling out a book and his Fushigi Magic Gravity Ball. Last year, when he got to their compartment Sirius was smoking a cigarette and reading a quidditch magazine, charm and smoke filling the room effortlessly. Remus had frozen in the doorway, just staring, until James arrived and bustled them both inside.
This year, Sirius was going to be the one caught staring.
He doesn’t want it to be obvious, the practice or the concentration needed to complete the tricks, so he pretends to read his book, flipping a page every so often until he’s sure he’s got it down. It wouldn’t do to be caught just sitting there, so he keeps it in constant motion, just waiting until a friend appears. The first one in the compartment is James, and for a moment Remus is disappointed. With their other friend there, Sirius won’t let himself get caught staring as he sometimes does when they are alone. Instead, he will let himself be pulled into the gravitational field that is James Potter.
“What’s that!” James says from the door, his voice bright, and Remus doesn’t even glance up. He lets his eyes rest on his book, his mind focusing on completing The Wiper. His Fushigi ball maintains contact with his hand the entire time as he tosses it from side to side. “Moony, that’s bloody cool,” he hears, awe thick in James’s voice, so he glances away from his book at James who is now sitting across from him.
“Sorry Prongs, I was focused on my book.” Remus apologizes, fighting back a grin, his friend's eyes don’t leave the Fushigi ball as it glides across his fingers. “How was your summer?”
“Grand, fantastic. Practiced quidditch. The usual.” James is just letting the words spill out until he gets to the question he is clearly dying to ask. “And where did you learn this bit of magic?”
Remus doesn’t get a chance to answer, the door banging open once again and revealing both Sirius and Peter. Their eyes instantly drawn to the reflective ball floating in Remus’s hands.
Peter starts talking, but Remus can’t look away from Sirius, the other boy staring at him in silence, jaw slightly ajar, as he takes in Remus’s new skill. They don’t break eye contact, Sirius eventually coming to sit closer. Their legs are pressed up against each other and Remus feels himself get lightheaded when the smell of leather overtakes him. Sirius somehow got even cooler over the summer, long, silky hair, with eyeliner ( eyeliner!!!!!) and his leather jacket hanging perfectly off him with his jeans tight . He can’t take his eyes off of Sirius and the Fushigi ball comes to a standstill.
“Did you learn wandless magic?” Sirius asks in a near whisper.
“It’s muggle magic.” Remus responds, ignoring James's gasp of amazement from beside him, focusing only on Sirius’s slight eye widening.
“Do muggles have magic?” Sirius is staring at the ball now as if it will start moving of its own accord. Remus doesn’t let him down, tossing the ball lightly into the air.
“No.” Remus answers truthfully, preparing himself for another trick.
This time he starts doing The Enigma, rolling the ball slightly between his hands while moving constantly. His fingers shift across the ball, making it appear to be floating as he turns his attention back to Sirius who is staring at him hungrily. Perfect eyebrows knit together to focus on what Remus is doing, trying to figure out the mystery behind his muggle magic.
Suddenly, silver eyes are back on him and it feels as if they never looked away. Sirius breaks into a wide grin, all heaviness that usually accompanies him after a summer gone, “That’s bloody cool Remus.”
And suddenly it’s all worth it.
*
“Did you really buy a Fushigi Magic Gravity Ball?” Lily sits down next to him in the common room where he has been playing with his Fushigi ball while pretending to read. His attention partially on the ball, and partially on Sirius across the room stealing glances at him. His book sits unread.
“Who knew that something from a commercial would impress the pure bloods.” Remus smiles at her, rolling the ball across his arms, his skin warm under Sirius’s gaze.
She snorts in response, “Clearly you did, don’t pretend like you didn’t practice to get this good Remus Lupin.”
He merely shrugs, looking up to see Sirius approaching. Lily gets up off the couch, but pauses to whisper, “Seems you have a fan.” His face blooms pink, and he glares at her as she walks away.
Sirius sits down in the spot Lily abandoned, sitting much closer. “Hey Moons.” He tucks a piece of hair behind his ear. “Can you teach me to do that?”
Remus wants to say no, he wants to keep this skill to himself, but with Sirius in front of him, he can’t imagine saying anything other than, “Of course, Pads.”
They spend the next few hours together, Remus teaching Sirius the basics isolations until suddenly he looks up and they are sitting inches apart in an empty common room. Their hands meet over the ball again, like they have been for hours, but in the newly realized privacy, Remus feels his heart start hammering in his chest. When he looks away from the ball, Sirius is already staring at him, eyes soft. A moment passes between them, the air thick, and Remus presses their lips together.
It’s perfection, kissing Sirius, and he wonders why he wasted all that time learning how to Fushigi when he could have been thinking about this.
“Thanks for teaching me Moony.” Sirius pants when they pull apart. “Maybe you can help me with my technique upstairs..”
“It could take hours, but—” Remus starts, getting cut off by the feeling of lips against his neck. “But I think it’s worth it.”
“Oh definitely.” Sirius pulls away from him, standing and offering a hand. “Let’s go Fushigi somewhere private.”