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Remus Lupin was staring at the empty display case that was meant to hold a sculpture created by Gertie Keddle. Instead, in the display case, was a drawing depicting the sculpture. The Golden Snitch was on the title card. The drawing shows a round golden ball, small enough to be held in your palm. There was an engraved diamond in the center and detailed lines surrounding it, and in the drawing were a pair of delicate golden wings.
Gertie Keddle (b. 11th Century)
The Golden Snitch, 1050
Sculpture
Designed in Keddle’s journal after a description of a game she witnessed played across the march from her cottage home.
He often came to this display after his shift ended at the Hogwarts Museum, the museum where he had been working on his internship as a tour guide. Remus is currently in his last semester of university, and his goal was to become a museum curator, eventually.
The Hogwarts Museum was once a school and Gertie Kiddle created the sculpture while she was attending as a student. She donated the sculpture to the school, but after a fire had destroyed most of the school, the sculpture landed in the hands of The Umbridge Museum of Fine Art. To this day, the sculpture is on display at the Umbridge Museum and while there have been efforts to return it to its rightful place, those efforts have not yet been successful.
“Are you ready, sweetheart?” asked Sirius, Remus’ boyfriend of three years. Sirius often gave him rides home from work, and he always knew exactly where to find Remus after a shift.
“Mhm, yeah, I guess so,” Remus replied thoughtfully. With one last glance at the display, he stepped away and into Sirius’ arms. “I can’t believe they won’t return the sculpture. It belongs here Sirius.”
“You always say this, and I agree, but what are we to do? Plan a heist?” Sirius huffed out a laugh at his own remark.
Remus smirked and responded, “Maybe we should. Who knows? We could have a knack for it, after all.”
At that, Sirius let out a snort and gently placed a kiss on Remus’ scarred cheek. He guided Remus out of the museum because lord knows he’s been there enough times that he too could work as a tour guide there, but he much prefers his work as a mechanic.
Outside of the museum, the pair walked toward Sirius’ motorbike, his pride and joy that he worked on himself. It was not a long journey back to the flat they shared with their friends, James and Peter, but Sirius always preferred to take a scenic route. Remus was scheduled off work right before the sun went down, so after each shift he would watch the sunset with Sirius. The ride home was honestly one of the best perks of working at the museum in central London and them living just outside of it.
Arriving at the flat, the pair walked up the stairs that led to their door and Sirius threw open the door. “James! Peter! Get out here. We’re planning a heist.”
James was the first to open his door and saunter out. “Oh, how fun! Do we get code names?”
Peter poked his head out his door and said, “What are we heisting? Is that the right terminology?”
Remus and Sirius sat on the sofa first, and Peter and James quickly joined them. This was their tradition after Remus was off work, since he usually was off the latest. They would all commune in the living room and chat about their day with music on in the background. It was Remus’ turn to pick the music, and he went with David Bowie, as per usual.
“Nothing Pete, Sirius is just joking. I was looking at the sculpture of the Snitch again and was just thinking about how it belongs to be home again.” Remus was not sure why this piece of art stuck with him so strongly. For as long as there have been art and museums, there have also been stolen pieces that are not in their rightful spot. Remus was aware of this and, as an art history major, it is a fact that he would have to get comfortable with.
“Well, what if I’m not joking, sweetheart?” Sirius looked at Remus and Remus genuinely could not tell if Sirius was joking or not. He was not entirely sure where this was coming from, either.
Unless. Remus squinted at Sirius. “Were you watching Ocean's Eight again? You know heists aren’t like the films, right?”
At this, Sirius pouted but said nothing, causing Peter to respond for him, “Yes, he was watching right before he left to pick you up.”
James started laughing but humored Sirius, “Why not? Let’s plan a heist.”
Remus looked at him incredulously, muttering, “And go to jail while we’re at it?”
“It’s not like we’re actually going to do it. It’s just for fun, and I want to feel like Sandra Bullock.” At this, Remus knew Sirius was being dead serious.
But what’s the worst that could happen? It’s only a silly plan.
~
The first part of the planning included watching Ocean’s Eight , followed by the other Ocean’s films, as well as an assortment of other heist films. The boys made a day out of it, a movie marathon with popcorn and all their commentary that made them crack up at different intervals. In the planning of an actual heist, they would do more than just watch these films, but it wasn’t as if they were actually going to follow through.
“I, for one, think the women did it best,” exclaimed Sirius. He had taken it upon himself to drape his body over the other boys on the couch with his head on Remus’ lap and feet on Peter’s stomach, who was also laying down.
The other three gave various murmurs of agreement because, yes, the women did it best.
“Also, Helena Bonhem Carter is a dead ringer for my cousin Bella! Don’t you guys think?” Sirius said this every time they watched a movie with said actress in it and, as per usual, this statement always elicited a series of groans.
James, the kind soul that he is, always humored Sirius. “You always say this, Sirius. But, I see it. They have the same eyes. Very intense?” That was a kinder way of explaining the Black family madness that most definitely affected Bellatrix Black.
“I think after all these movies, we could do a heist,” joked Peter. “What would our roles be?”
“Well, I would be the getaway driver. Obviously,” said Sirius.
“Ah yes, because all four of us would fit on your very large motorbike,” Remus’ voice was dripping with sarcasm. “I think Pete could be the getaway driver.”
Peter hummed in agreement. “Yes, and then at the last minute, I would call the police and drive away so that when you all came out, you lot would be arrested, and I would be back at the flat laughing at your demise.”
James and Sirius let out a loud gasp at the same time. “How could you!” said James at the same time Sirius yelled out, “Traitor!”
They all dissolved into a fit of laughter, a little delirious from watching films for the whole day. It had been a while since they had a movie marathon, but whenever they did, they always had a good time. It gave them a break from their everyday lives and reminded them of how they used to be in school, before work and strenuous family situations made some of them grow up faster than they should have.
Sirius had taken it upon himself to grab the whiteboard they kept in the kitchen and bring it into the living room. The whiteboard was used to write notes for each other. While it was meant to let them know what the flat needed or when they would be out, it also became something that they could write silly messages on. Sirius erased all that was currently on the whiteboard and wrote in all caps at the top heist. If they were going to plan a heist, then they needed to write it all down on something that would not leave a paper trail. Below the word heist, Sirius wrote roles and placed each of their names with a colon under that. Only Peter had the designated role of getaway driver; the other boys remained unassigned.
“I think we would need over four people for this,” James pointed out.
“We can figure that out later. For now we follow WWDD, What Would Debbie Do?” Sirius responded, which caused another bout of laughter, but the boys would have found anything funny at this point. “Remus needs to be the one to actually take the sculpture. He works at the museum, so he should be the one to return it. I also think he should be the leader, so get over here Lupin and get to writing.”
Remus chuckled while standing up. It’s not like this was real. What was the harm in planning a pretend heist? Grabbing the whiteboard marker, Sirius went to throw himself back onto the couch. “I think it’s rather obvious that Sirius is the charmer in this situation. He could do the acting and distract anyone who would get in our way.” Sirius gave a hum of approval and with that grifter was now written next to his name, with mastermind being next to Remus’ name.
“Hey! I’m also charming!” James shouted, obviously displeased that he was not considered for this role.
“Yes, but remember when you got really into magic? The whole sleight-of-hand stuff. We could make a replica of the sculpture, and you can do the pick pocketing. We'll replace the sculptures and you’ll slip the real sculpture into my pocket so we can leave unnoticed.” Remus was rather proud of his explanation, feeling as though this could actually be plausible. Next to James’ name, he now wrote pickpocket. “Then we would need a hacker, someone who could make a replica of the sculpture, and last, my Cate Blanchett.”
At some point, one of the boys had brought out whiskey, and they were drinking it from the bottle. Remus grabbed the bottle from James and took a swig, then passed it to Peter. The bottle kept going in a circle and soon enough; they were all pretty sloshed. Despite this, they kept planning with their heist.
“Okay, okay,” Peter said, slurring his words a little. “So we could use a hacker to disarm the alarm that’s protecting the display case, and to move the camera a little every day, leading up to the heist so that the camera misses who is closest to the display.”
“You are incredible, Petey!” shouted James. “They would also need to move other cameras so that I have a clear path to the display without being caught on camera at all. Just like Nine Ball did.”
“Also, we would need to visit the museum a few times so that it’s not suspicious that the one time we go, something gets stolen. That is, if they noticed.” As Remus talked, he kept writing everything that was being said. The writing progressively got messier the more pissed they got, but it was still legible.
Sirius got up to plant a sloppy kiss on Remus’ cheek. “This is why you are the mastermind, sweetheart.”
Remus couldn’t help but let out a bark of laughter. “Then we just need an artist to make the replica and my right hand to help with all the logistics. They would make sure everything went smoothly and stay with the getaway driver. They would have to be ready to interject, in case something started going wrong, or monitored the cameras while the hacker disarmed the alarm.”
All four of the boys stood up to admire their planning. The bottle of whiskey was long finished, but at this moment, they had all felt as though they had cracked a code. Anything felt possible when they were this pissed.
~
The morning after left three out of the four boys with a raging headache. Of course, it was James who still felt okay enough to be up when the sun was up. Mimicking their actions from last night, James was staring at the whiteboard with a hand on his hip and his head tilted to the side. He could tell when the night took a turn because the writing progressively got sloppier and there were drawings of the boys next to their roles. There was also a poorly done stick figure drawing depicting them doing their make believe heist.
Behind him, James heard the others stir from their sleep. “Maybe we could actually do this.”
Sirius groaned, “Stop yelling James. And do what?” After a tremendous effort, Sirius peeled his eyes open and saw James in front of the whiteboard. There were three glasses of water on the table for each of the hungover boys, and Sirius was ever grateful for James’ thoughtfulness.
Remus spoke up next with a snort. “It was just a joke, mate. We’re not actually stealing the sculpture back.”
“But what if it wasn’t a joke? I mean, we have a plan and Regulus literally is a hacker-”
“As if my brother would ever help us,” Sirius cut in, laughing. While Regulus and Sirius had worked hard to repair the brother relationship that their parents destroyed, he doubted that their loyalty went towards committing crimes together. But who knows, anything was possible with their family history.
James continued as if nothing had interrupted him. “And his friend, Pandora, she’s an artist. I bet she could make a replica, especially if she saw it.”
“James, what are you doing?” Remus asked in exasperation. “Are you trying to convince us to commit a crime ?”
“It’s like that time in our fourth year when we took the house cup from-”
“We were children! This is a crime!” Remus shouted, making his own headache worse.
After what felt like an eternity of silence, Peter—the logical one—spoke up in what Remus was hoping to be in his defense. “I bet Lily could do the logistics too. She would be your perfect Cate Blanchett.”
Remus guffawed, “What are we doing! We can’t actually be planning a heist?” Remus paused, looking at the earnest expression that marked all their faces. They were serious right now. “What would we even be getting out of it? We just watched all the movies. They always get money or something out of it!”
“I think returning the sculpture home is enough. You stare at that display every day. I know you want it back, too.” Sirius said as he placed a gentle arm around Remus, leaning in to place a soft kiss on his temple. “Besides, I think this is only plausible if Reggie says yes. I doubt he would, so really, you have nothing to worry about.”
“What would I even tell them when the sculpture is back?” Remus accepted defeat because once these boys had a plan, it was near impossible to not follow it through.
“Pandora could donate it as a replica. Say she’s an artist, which she is, and that she made it to fill the display until the original one is back,” Peter answered smugly. If only his logic could have been used to deter them away from this plan.
Remus stood there in absolute shock. They were going to do this; they were going to plan and execute a heist. Of course, Remus could always say no and put a stop to this outrageous plan, but he knew they would probably do it without him either way. If there was one thing their group was known for, it was being troublemakers. They were constantly getting into detention because of the pranks they planned, but that has never stopped them before. Admittedly, prison was drastically different from detention, but when challenged, they always rose to the occasion.
James let a mischievous grin overtake his face. “I’ll ask Reggie,” James said with determination.
“Good luck with that James, he likes you less than he likes me and I fear that's not saying much,” said Sirius.
~
As soon as James decided to ask Regulus for help, he separated from the group to prepare himself for the daunting task, that is, Regulus Black. He washed away the alcohol induced haze of the night before and put on a green jumper, green because he knew it was Regulus’ favorite color. He was not above using his looks to gain favor with the younger of the Black brothers.
Once James finished getting ready, he left his own flat, while the other three boys were still lounging about on the couch. It was their day off because they made sure, despite their busy schedules, that they always had aligned at least one day off together and since it was their day off, James knew the others were going to have a late start to their day.
It was only a fifteen minute walk to get to Regulus’ flat from their own, so James did not mind the short trek. The time to walk to Regulus’ was also valuable time for James to build his courage with his own little pep talks. James can be described as a lot of things, and a coward was not one of them. James was brave, if not a little arrogant and egotistical as well, but all things flew out the window when Regulus was involved. Regulus made James weak and everyone seemed to know it except for Sirius and Regulus himself. He was not afraid to go ask Regulus for help. What he feared was making an absolute fool of himself in front of Regulus, like a lovesick puppy.
James finally arrived at his destination and made his way up the stairs to the number that he was looking for. Once he got to the door, mustering up all the courage he could, he confidently lifted his hand and knocked four times. The door opened for maybe half a second, enough time for Regulus to make eye contact with James and immediately move to close the door in his face.
With quick reflexes, James jammed his foot in the door and braced his arm so that Regulus could not close the door on him. “Wait! Please, I need to ask for a favor.”
Regulus regarded him for another moment before stating simply, “No,” and proceeding to close the door once more.
James put more of his weight onto the door to further prevent Regulus from closing the door. “Please Reggie,” said James, widening his eyes a bit and giving him a near pout. “You would get to do something bad.”
What James did not know is that the way Regulus made James weak was the same way that James made Regulus weak. Regulus knew he was going to give in and let James into his flat, but that did not stop him from making James sweat by waiting a couple of extra minutes and rolling his eyes before opening the door enough to let him in. It would be a lie to say that Regulus was not the least bit intrigued by the latter half of the intruder's statement. “Don’t call me that Potter, but proceed.”
Making himself comfortable on the couch, James gestured to the spot right next to him for Regulus to take. Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, Regulus instead took the spot farthest from James, but still facing him. Regulus tilted his head, urging James to continue, so he did. “Do you know the museum that Remus works at?” James waited for Regulus to nod before continuing. “There is a sculpture that was stolen and is currently on display at the Umbridge Museum-”
“ The Golden Snitch, ” interrupted Regulus. “I’m familiar.”
“Yes, that’s the one! Well, we want to take it back,” James ended.
Regulus’ jaw dropped because surely James could not mean what he was implying. “What do you mean, take it back?” Regulus said carefully.
“You know, like steal it. A heist?” James looked noticeably less confident at the face Regulus was making at him. “Well, if you think about it, it’s hardly stealing. I mean, it was stolen to begin with, but really, we’re just returning it. We have a plan and everything…” James trailed off, still staring into Regulus’ gray eyes.
“Dear lord, a plan? That can’t be good. When you said I could do something bad, I didn’t think you meant outright illegal. What would I even get out of it?” Regulus asked in even more suspicion, if that was even possible.
James beamed because if he still had Regulus’ attention for this long, then he knew there was hope. “A feeling of accomplishment. You do something bad, for the greater good. Also, didn’t your parents donate money to the Umbridge Museum? You can also do this to spite your parents.”
James knew he at least piqued the other boy’s interest, so he continued, “We would also need Pandora and Lily. Come over and look at our plan. It could actually work.” James made a mental note to message the boys and tell them to rewrite the plan so it didn’t look like a group of drunken fools made it. Even though a group of drunken fools did make it.
“Not only do you want to involve me, you want to involve my best friend and her girlfriend, who, might I add, is also one of your closest friends?” Regulus asked with an amused smirk.
Looking a little sheepish, James replied, “Just come over, please, love?”
And with that, James had sealed the deal. Regulus would have done just about anything that James asked, and yes, that included committing a crime. “Fine. I’ll call Pandora. She’ll be home with Lily right now. You may as well tell us all at the same time. Hopefully Lily will be able to knock some sense into you all.”
~
With everyone gathered in the same flat (and the whiteboard rewritten to look a tad more professional), Remus—taking up the role of the mastermind—launched into a detailed explanation of the sculpture itself. He spoke as though he were on shift as a museum guide, with confidence and a hint of excitement. Remus faltered when he then got to explaining the heist, first glancing at the three boys who helped plan it, then to Lily, Pandora, and Regulus.
Pandora was smiling, happy to be there, and they all knew she was going to be the easiest to win over. Meanwhile, Lily and Regulus were looking at Remus with twin frowns. Remus was fully expecting to be shut down before he could finish the plan, but they let him explain it in its entirety. He went into further detail with Regulus about how they needed his hacking, how Pandora would need to go to the museum with Remus and Sirius a few times so that they could get a scan of the sculpture to make a replica, and how Lily is in charge of the logistics. Remus made to pause now and then to give them time to interrupt, but the three kept quiet.
Regulus was the first to speak up once Remus finished. “I hate to admit it, but this is a decent plan. I think it could work,” said Regulus, although it was evident that he did not want to give them praise.
“I think we would need to change some roles. Sirius’ tattoos are easily recognizable. I can’t believe you missed the opportunity to make him the getaway driver,” said Lily. This shocked them, as no one expected Lily or Regulus to humor them.
“That’s what I said!” shouted Sirius. “They said it was because of my motorbike.”
“Did you idiots forget he could borrow a car? He is,” Regulus paused, “The best driver.”
“Bet that hurt Reggie.” Sirius smirked at the compliment that Regulus clearly struggled to give.
Pandora finally spoke up with her soft voice. “I would be happy to make a replica. The sculpture deserves to come home.” It was shocking to no one that Pandora would be on board with the plan. As an artist, she knew the importance of where art belongs and the negative effects of stolen art.
Remus glanced at everyone in the group. He really was not expecting it to get this far.
“How did you guys even come up with this plan?” Asked Lily.
The boys all looked a little sheepish. “We kind of—binge watched all the Ocean’s films,” said Remus.
Regulus was the one to bark out a laugh, saying, “Remus, I expected more from you. Everyone else, not so much but you.”
“I know! I’m still waiting for you two to shut this down!” Remus said, a little defensively.
Lily, still glancing at the board, said, “I think we could do this.”
Lily's being on board secured the decision. Strong willed as ever, none of them would be able to turn her down now. If she wanted to do something, then she was going to do it well.
Since everyone was on the same page, they planned new roles. They all still looked to Remus as the mastermind and, so far, that mostly comprised writing on the whiteboard. Sirius was now the getaway driver, which after consideration they thought he was the most suited after all. They assigned Regulus to be the hacker because he was the only one with the skill set. James kept the same role as grifter, but now Peter was to be on distraction duty, making sure that no one was near the sculpture during the switch. Unsurprising to no one, Lily was in charge of the logistics. The most fit for the role, and the Cate to Remus’ Sandra.
Once Remus had written everything on the board, he reviewed it again with the group. “Regulus, you’re going to hack into the cameras when we visit the museum and slowly move them each day so that James and I will have a clear path to the sculpture. There is also an alarm on the display case, so you would have to disarm it.”
“I can go into their system, but I can’t make any promises that I can hold off the alarm for long,” replied Regulus.
James, with a smug grin, said, “That’s okay, love. I only need a minute. I’m good with my hands.”
Regulus did not respond to that, but James did not miss the blush that was creeping up his neck.
Siris, though, made fake gagging noises. “Are you hitting on my baby brother? In front of me!”
James had the decency to look chagrined. “Er- maybe.”
“Moving on,” cut in Remus, “James, Peter, and I will visit the museum twice before the switch. James and I will check for the easiest paths and Peter will keep track of where the guards are. On the day of, James and I will head toward the display and Peter will get whatever guards are in the vicinity, out of our line of sight. Lily will keep tabs on us with Regulus and keep us updated on the earpieces that we’ll eventually get, and after the switch, we get out of there and Sirius takes us home. Sounds easy enough.” Despite them working out the plan, Remus did not feel the confidence he was trying to portray.
“What about code names?” asked James, full of excitement.
“You, my moonbeam, should be Moony,” said Sirius, directed at Remus.
Remus flushed at the remark. “I don’t really think we’ll need them, but okay.” With the marker, Remus turned around to add the codenames to the board.
“Regulus should be Star since he is my star,” said James.
“Absolutely not,” said Regulus.
“I’m also literally a star,” interjected Sirius. “How about Snake? I know you love them, Reggie.”
Regulus contemplated the codename for a moment. “I suppose that is acceptable.”
“Sirius, you should be Padfoot since you’re obsessed with dogs and I’ll be Prongs for my tattoo.” Although they all knew the tattoo, James couldn’t help but lift his shirt facing Regulus to show off the antlers he had going along each of his sides from below his armpit to his hip. This caused Regulus to blush even further and James internally celebrated.
“You should be Valkyrie, my darling, because you are such a strong woman,” Pandora said to Lily in adoration. “And I will be Hesiod, after the myth of Pandora’s Box.”
“That just leaves you, Petey,” said Remus, pointing the marker at Peter.
“Well, we’ve already established that if this goes south, I’m turning my back on you all.” Peter gave them a wicked grin. “I’ll be Wormtail.”
With everything settled, there was no backing out. It was time to execute a heist.
~
The first visit to the Umbridge Museum went smoothly. Sirius borrowed a van from Pandora that she uses to transport larger pieces of art. Regulus had set up several monitors in the van, and he and Lily were keeping an eye on the cameras. It was easy for Regulus to hack into the cameras and the rest of the security system. The caveat was that he discovered he could only disarm the display case for thirty seconds. James assured him once more that he was talented with his hands and would not need any more than that.
Only Peter, Remus, and Pandora went into the museum for the first time, and Peter noted the security guards. There was only one guard stationed in every section of the museum, meaning there was only one guard to distract on the day of the switch.
When Remus got to the display case, he froze. He has spent months staring at the empty display case at his own museum and seeing the stolen art made his blood boil. While he may not have been fully confident before, there was now no doubt in his mind that this was the right thing to do.
Pandora spent her time sketching out the sculpture itself. She drew out every kink and even got the dimensions of it to ensure that her copy was perfect and would go undetectable once switched.
On this first trip, James spent his time in the van annoying Regulus and forcing him to help with his sleight of hand. He instructed Regulus to brush past him and he would attempt to remove the golf ball, roughly the same size as the Snitch, from Regulus’ pocket without notice. James was successful from the first attempt and by the fifth he just used it as an excuse to touch Regulus.
“James, I felt that.” This time, James had brushed his hand along Regulus’ waist.
“I know.” James drew up closer to Regulus, fully wrapping his arm around him, holding him close. Their faces were nearly touching when James said, “I think that’s enough practice for now.”
They stood frozen for a moment before pushing away from each other. James was confident in his skills and the next practice for him would involve quickly switching the fake for the real sculpture under a makeshift display before attempting it on the real one.
After the initial trip to the museum, Pandora began her work on the sculpture. She was a very talented artist and her primary form of art was sculpting. Pandora loved to work with her hands and constantly came up with new creations. This is part of why Lily loved her so much and why they balanced each other out. Where Pandora was air, Lily was earth.
On the second trip to the museum, James accompanied Remus and Peter stood in the van, coming up with ideas for good distractions. Sirius and Peter concocted several ridiculous ideas before settling on Peter running to a guard to tell them that someone had fallen and needed help. Once Peter distracted the guard, the plan was for him to slip away and go back to the getaway car. James began practicing moving the ball from his hand to Remus’ pocket undetected. His obsession with magic paid off because he was so smooth that Remus never once felt James until Remus put his hand in his pocket and felt the ball.
With more practice, the group felt the anticipation in their bones. While they had planned many pranks and schemes in the past, there was never anything this serious.
When Pandora finished the sculpture, they knew it was almost time. Lily and James worked together to practice James’ ability to lift the display and switch the sculptures in under thirty seconds. James had always managed it, but Lily, with her timer, wanted him to do it in twenty seconds or fewer. Pandora had been there for moral support, giving James gentle words of encouragement.
By now, Regulus had moved the cameras to the perfect position that just misses the display case. He periodically worked on disarming the display case and checked to make sure that no one in the museum noticed, which they didn’t. On that second trip, Remus went to the display while Regulus disarmed it and lifted the display quickly to test it. Thanks to Regulus’ skill, the alarm did not go off.
It was time.
~
“Are you ready, my love?” asked Sirius, wrapping his arms around Remus. “Or should I say Moony.”
Remus gave Sirius a nervous chuckle in response. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Are you ready, my darling little snake?” James asked Regulus. James slithered his arms around Regulus and held him close.
Regulus tried to break away, but James’ grip was firm. “Yes, Prongs. Now let go.”
James let go of Regulus, but not before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. “For luck.”
Remus now turned to everyone in the group. “Is everyone ready? If anyone wants to back out, now would be the time.”
The group gave various sounds of confirmation before piling into the van. They were in too deep now. They planned, they practiced, and now they were going to perform a heist.
~
Sirius parked the van a couple of streets down from the Umbridge Museum; he needed to be close enough for Regulus to have a solid connection without risk of it wavering. Sirius, Pandora, Regulus, and Lily all remained in the van while James, Peter, and Remus made their way to the museum entrance. Sirius and Pandora were in the driver and passenger street, respectively, and were probably the least nervous of the bunch.
“What should we get to eat after?” asked Sirius.
“Oh Padfoot, you read my mind!” answered Pandora.
Pandora’s job was long done with creating a replica of the sculpture, said replica rested in the pocket of James’ trousers. While she could have stayed at the flat, she did not want to feel left out of the plan.
At the other end of the van, Regulus and Lily watched the screen intently, tracking the boys' every move.
“Can you all hear me?” asked Lily, checking the earpieces for the third time.
The three boys responded by saying their codename, giving Lily a moment of relief. Just as planned, Regulus moved the cameras leading into the room with the display so that James could move just out of the frame. Remus and Peter both were in frame, but they were not walking together. Peter kept his distance, hovering between two different showrooms that were far from the target. James and Remus got to the sculpture and in a panic, Remus grabbed James’ hand.
“What the fuck are we doing, Prongs?” Remus whispered frantically.
“Breathe Moony,” James whispered back. “It’s kind of too late to back out now. It will all be worth it when the Snitch is home.” His voice was full of comfort that helped to ease Remus’ nerves.
“Ready, my darling Snake?” James whispered into the earpiece at the same time Lily asked Peter, “Ready Wormtail?”
“Shut up Jamie,” responded Regulus. He tried to add a bite to his voice, but it melted at the nickname he knew James adored. “Yes, I’m ready.”
As suspected, a small smile graced James’ lips. A secret smile reserved just for Regulusbecause, although he may not have been on camera, Regulus just knew he was smiling for him.
“Ready,” answered Peter.
“Counting down. Three. Two. One.” Regulus then disarmed the display at the same time Peter ran into the showroom shouting, “Help! Help! This old lady fell! I think she’s injured.” Peter went to the only guard that was in that showroom and grabbed his hand in a plea. The guard glanced over at James and Remus, but then quickly followed Peter out of the showroom.
“Twenty seconds,” warned Regulus. “You got this Jamie.”
With this vote of confidence, James reached over, lifted the case, and switched the sculptures with his other hand in one fluid movement.
“Ten seconds,” Lily’s voice rang through.
James had already set down the display case and slipped The Golden Snitch into Remus’ pocket in such a way that while Remus may be on camera, they could not see below his belt on the cameras.
James looked over at Remus and smiled before speaking. “Done.”
This time it was Sirius who spoke up, “Good, now get the bloody hell out of there.”
“Just made it back to the van. An old lady did actually fall! Terribly sorry for her, but very convenient for us!” Peter updated them as he made his way into the van. “I slipped away before he turned back around to get my statement, so hurry it up.”
“That poor lady, I hope she’s okay,” said Pandora.
Remus and James exited the museum the same way that they went in, at the same pace as well, so they did not attract any attention. James stayed just out of view of the security cameras. If anyone were to look, it would appear Remus was walking on his own. With the commotion happening in the next room over, the guard would not be likely to remember whether there was more than one person in the showroom with the Snitch .
They finally made it to the van and clambered in while Sirius took off. Removing the sculpture from his pocket, Remus held it up for all of them to see. “We did it.”
“I can’t believe we actually did it!” exclaimed Lily, leaning over to lock Pandora into her arms and pepper her with kisses.
James gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Yes, we did, mate. Good work.”
“Is it just me, or did that feel anticlimactic?” asked Regulus. He was no longer looking at the monitors now that they were off and instead looked straight at James.
James gave him a wolfish grin. “I can take care of that,” said James before swooping in, placing a kiss directly on Regulus’ mouth. Regulus blames the adrenaline from pulling off a heist as the reason he grabbed James’ shirt and deepened the kiss.
“Prongs! Get off my baby brother!” shouted Sirius through the rearview mirror. Despite his words, there was a smile on his face. He caught Remus’ gaze in the mirror and mouthed to him, I love you.
The group was giddy with both adrenaline and excitement, chattering about what they would do now. They all agreed unanimously that they would never do a heist again.
~
It was after Remus’ shift and he was once again staring at the newly filled display case. There was a new placard placed under the old one, Replica of The Golden Snitch by Pandora, donated to the museum for display.
Remus couldn’t help the wide grin that overtook his face because he knew the truth.
“Are you ready, sweetheart?” Sirius was wrapping his arms from behind Remus, the same smile on his face. He buried his face in Remus’ neck and placed a soft kiss there.
Rather than leaving his shift with a sense of emptiness, he now was leaving feeling at peace. He felt at home now that the sculpture was back in its rightful spot.
With one last glance at the sculpture, he turned to face Sirius and wrapped his arms around the shorter man. “Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s go home.”