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The blaring alarm clock only got to play a couple of tunes before Remus shut it off. He opened his eyes, finding his bedroom slightly illuminated by the sun sneaking through the sides of the curtains. Remus breathed deeply while running through his plans for the day in his head.
It was easy to concentrate when nothing could disrupt him. Living this far from the city, the only noise he heard was the birds chirping outside.
Remus pushed himself up and stretched his weary bones while ignoring the creaking. Then he followed his usual routine of trudging to the kitchen, filling the kettle, getting the newspaper from his mailbox, buttering his toast and steeping the tea while reading the front page.
A politician made a statement, a celebrity couple broke off, and there was a new train track being built. Remus had never been in that direction, but found it interesting, nonetheless.
After finishing his breakfast and leaving the dishes for later, he moved to the living room sofa to continue the book he had fallen asleep reading the previous evening — one of those Friday nights.
Most mornings looked like this for Remus. It was quiet, comfortable and nice.
It was good. Remus liked his routine. He liked that every day was predictable. It was what kept his brain calm enough to get through it.
An engine came to a stop outside his house, and his lips stretched into a smile without him realising it.
Remus put his book away to hurry outside, still, he didn’t get far down the cobbled path before Teddy came crashing into his embrace. “Hey, Dad. How are you?”
He ruffled their bright blue hair. “I’m doing good. Your hair looks great.”
Last they had seen each other, Teddy had asked to dye their hair a fun colour, though had trouble deciding which. Tonks and Remus had discussed and decided to allow it. They also agreed that Tonks was better equipped to help them out.
“Teddy, remember your things.”
Remus’ attention was pulled away when she spoke. Tonks had left the car just after Teddy and was now walking towards them. Her short pink hair was pulled back by the sunglasses resting on her head.
Teddy walked back to the bright pink car, and Tonks took their place in the conversation. “So how are you really doing?”
Remus huffed a laugh. She knew him too well, even with all these years apart. “I am good. Health’s up and down, but mostly good. I’m taking care of myself.”
Tonks’ eyes narrowed in suspicion, but his innocent face must have convinced her. “Alright. Thanks again for taking Teddy this weekend.”
“It’s no problem.” Remus waved his hand dismissively. “I’ve got nothing else going on.”
After they had broken up, Remus and Tonks had made a weekly alternating visiting schedule for Teddy, but they helped each other out occasionally. Tonks and her partner wanted to spend an extended weekend in Paris, and this was the only one that worked for them.
Teddy rejoined them, now with a large bag over their shoulder.
“Oh!” Tonks snapped her fingers. “The parent-teacher meeting. The schedule has come out.”
“I saw, uhm, Thursday’s good for me, if it’s good for you.”
“I moved some things around, so I’ll be there too.”
Teddy’s school had an app where they shared useful information like that. Tonks had in the beginning forwarded it to Remus over a call, until she and Teddy forced him to get a smartphone and downloaded the app for him.
Schools were so technical nowadays. Teddy even did most of their homework on the computer, although some of those were called laptops now, and Remus had to get Wi-Fi installed in the house because of it.
Remus didn’t really understand any of that smart technology. Where were the buttons? Why were there so many advertisements and phone calls from people he didn’t know? Not to mention the electronic mail from that Nigerian prince Remus was worried about, but unfortunately couldn’t help out.
He (and the world for that matter) had done completely fine without all those smart telephones and smart televisions and smart refrigerators and all that. Remus even had to stop visiting his favourite restaurant, unless Teddy was with him, because they only had menus on the telephone. It was an odd thing when paper worked just fine.
“Alright.” Tonks bent her knees to look Teddy in the eyes — like she had always done when dropping them off. Except that Teddy was a lot taller now at sixteen, and would soon tower over her, if they carried any of Remus’ genes. “Be good, have fun, and only cause a little mischief.”
Teddy rolled their eyes but hugged her goodbye anyway.
Tonks straightened back up, tilted her head back and looked Remus directly in the eyes. “Same goes for you.”
With a laugh, Remus sent her on her way. She could be a bit chaotic, so likely hadn’t packed yet.
Tonks was the first person Remus had met who was willing to look past all his health problems. Maybe they could have been friends if things turned out a little differently, but this was how they were. Remus couldn’t have any regrets, because that whole mess had led to Teddy.
They waved goodbye, then stepped inside. Teddy made a beeline for their room to deposit their things, then went to turn the Wi-Fi on.
Remus expected a quiet house, and maybe they could plan something for the following day, but Teddy came into the living room, plopped themself on the sofa in front of him with their hands folded in a businesslike manner.
They had always stood out against Remus’ typically dark and old decorations. He had had them for years, same pieces and same placement. Teddy's style included a lot of vivid colours, but it was more of a whirlwind with their blue hair.
“Dad.”
“Teddy.”
“I have decided that you need a dating app.”
“Hm? Oh—”
Remus paused. Usually when Teddy was like this, they had a speech prepared about a thing they wanted, and arguments as to why they should have it. But this was unusual. Before Remus could properly realise what they had said, Teddy continued.
“I know your health made it difficult to have a social life, but you’re better now, and you need to get out of the house. You haven’t dated anyone since Mum, and it’s been over a decade.”
Remus bit his tongue. He had actually been on a couple of dates through the years, but they had been so disastrous that he hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. But now he wondered which of the options seemed less sad.
His hesitation was enough for Teddy. “See? You gotta get out. Have a little fun.”
“Teddy,” Remus said slowly, carefully considering his words. “I’m good. It’s not your job to worry about me.” Except now Remus worried. Did his life really seem so uninteresting that Teddy thought he needed something—someone—to help fill his days when Teddy wasn’t there? But he really was good. He was fine, he…
His heart spiked with anxiety at the idea of changing his routine, but Teddy’s expression slipped, and Remus swore he could see the vivid colour seep out of their hair. Maybe it would be good to introduce a little more excitement into his life. It was a small thing, after all. And he didn't have to do much about it. Setting it up together could be fun.
He tried for a jokey tone, but his palms were already so sweaty he had to wipe them on his trousers. “Such an app, I wouldn’t even know where to begin with setting it up.”
“I’ll help.” Teddy grabbed Remus’ telephone from the table where he always kept it. They moved closer so the two could look at the screen together.
The only app on it besides the ones that came with it, was the one from the school. Remus only used it for that, plus phone calls and text messages. He didn’t really need anything else.
Teddy was clicking around on the thing faster than Remus could fathom. They seemed able to figure it all out by themself, but they suddenly turned to him. “You don’t have any pictures?”
“I have a digital camera.”
Teddy didn’t dignify that response. “We need new ones,” they decided and walked to his bedroom without looking back.
Remus silently asked what he had gotten himself into before following. His wardrobe had already been upended on his bed. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“Nothing in theory.” Teddy seemed to be sorting his clothes into three piles, but Remus had no idea what was approved and what wasn’t. “We just need to make it look like the photos were taken on different days. Why do you have so many brown cardigans?”
They took up about half his knitwear collection. “When you’ve lived as long as me, you learn what you are comfortable in.”
That, and Remus supposed he had never really been good with trying new things. It was just more comfortable if everything stayed the same.
Teddy picked out one brown cardigan, a pleasant green one Remus hadn’t worn in a while and a button-up with a tweed jacket, but complained: Honestly, Dad. Do you own anything that isn’t mute or brown? They seemed to have a game plan, so Remus just followed them from room to room and posed in the way he was told.
After the first picture, Remus was placed in the armchair in front of his bookshelf. Teddy walked away and came back with a makeup bag and hair gel. They applied some powder on his cheeks and messed around with his hair.
Remus looked up at their concentrated face. “Is makeup something you use often?”
“Not every day, but it’s fun to try. A little bit like face paint.” Teddy pulled out their telephone, clicked around and then handed it to Remus. Their hair was still brown in this one, so the purple around their eyes and the swirly lines stood out even more as bright and colourful. “There’s more.”
They swiped their finger across the screen and a new picture showed up. This one had several shades of blue and glitter shining in the light. Remus tried swiping his finger slowly across too, and it revealed yet another picture. That one had the colours of the nonbinary pride flag, and a little bee under their right eye.
“Did you learn this yourself?”
Tonks had never been one to wear this sort of stuff, and Remus thought he might know more about various sorts of makeup brushes and other beauty tools than her. Which said a lot, because he was clueless.
Teddy cleared their throat. “No, uhm, Victoire has been helping me out.”
Victoire… she was Teddy’s friend with the strawberry blond hair. Or, considering their flushed cheeks, maybe she was someone different to a friend.
Before Remus could inquire further, Teddy stepped back, told Remus to pose and snapped several silent pictures.
After another wardrobe change, they moved outside, and Teddy messed around with his hair again.
When they were done, Remus made a couple of cups of tea because he needed something to calm his nerves. He also wiped the makeup from his face, because he wasn’t a fan of the feeling on his skin.
Teddy was cross-legged on the sofa, already typing and scrolling around on the telephone when Remus stepped back into the living room. “Shouldn’t I fill all that in?”
“It’s just basic information, name and such,” Teddy said without stopping or looking up. They were so adept with this, that Remus wondered if they had tried it before, or if they were just that good with technology. “Pronouns, gender, sexuality and who you want to date?”
“Oh, uhm.” Remus thought this all happened mighty quickly. His brain usually needed more time to process, but he pushed the urge away. He reminded himself that it was just for fun, and if it didn’t work out, at least he had tried. “He and him, man, bisexual and that includes everyone, I suppose.”
Teddy also asked for intention with dating, type of relationship, height, family, family plans, and so many other things that it made Remus’ head swim. Then they put the pictures in, choosing the one in front of the bookshelf as the one to go first.
Remus suddenly found the telephone in his hand.
“You have to choose three prompts and answer them,” they explained.
Remus put on his reading glasses, that he had placed next to his book earlier and read through the list. They all asked him to give information about himself, but Remus wasn’t sure what was interesting enough for other people.
“There’s more,” Teddy said, and clicked a button at the top, revealing a whole new list of questions.
Remus carefully read through everything before finally settling on three:
The way to win me over is
to read my favourite book.
Teddy said it was better not to specify, because then people could ask if they matched.
We’ll get along if
you like quiet nights in.
Remus figured it was good to set the standard upfront, and there ought to be people out there like him, right? The last one… Remus had a wild side! He could show that.
Two truths and a lie:
In my youth, I loved pulling pranks.
I’m a cat person.
A sheep once bit my behind.
There. And that could prompt even more conversation.
Remus handed the telephone back to Teddy so they could finish it off, but that turned out to be the last thing, and now Remus had a dating profile. His self from that morning would have a good laugh at his expense.
“The app shows you a profile, then you can like or click them away. Your matches show up here, and then you can chat with them.”
Remus didn’t see where Teddy pointed, but he found what must be the profile of a user. He looked around carefully. Benji seemed sort of interesting, but his idea of a good time was parties, and Remus didn’t want anything to do with that. Not even back when he was young.
After clicking a couple more people away, he gave up. “Maybe I should do this some other time.”
“Dad.” The word was accompanied by a pointed glare. “You’ve been at it for two minutes. You can’t give up yet.”
“I’m not giving up, I…” Remus racked his brain for an excuse. “I want to spend time with you. Not be glued to a telephone.”
Teddy raised their eyebrow, unconvinced. “Just look a bit longer, then we can do something while you wait for answers.”
Reluctantly, Remus adjusted his glasses and turned his attention to the telephone again. His eyes widened in surprise, because there was no way that this man was real. His sharp jawline, his silky black hair, not yet touched by grey, or perhaps dyed? His piercing eyes almost looked at Remus through the screen. And that name… Sirius, like the star. This man was ethereal.
He read further on the profile.
The first time I knew I was gay was
When I saw Freddie Mercury at a concert
Well, it was good to know they had a similar music taste. And Remus couldn’t fault him, because Freddie Mercury had been godlike. He was then blessed with a picture of Sirius on a motorcycle, which was followed by another prompt.
My biggest date fail
Is that you and I haven’t been yet ;)
Remus blushed even though it was stupid, and even though this comment wasn’t directed at him. Everyone who came across Sirius’ profile would see it. It was just that Remus didn’t get a lot of attention, and someone with a flirty personality was certainly enticing.
Teddy studied his reaction, then leaned over to look at the screen.
“No.” They shook their head.
“What do you mean no?” Remus wouldn’t ever date anyone Teddy didn’t like, because they were his absolute priority in life, but they didn’t know this man yet.
“I love you, Dad, but brown cardigans don’t attract cool men like that.”
Remus frowned but kept looking at the profile. At the last prompt, he turned the screen towards Teddy.
I’m weirdly attracted to
Jumpers. Their so soft
Teddy raised their hands in defeat. “Go on then. Prove me wrong.”
Remus pressed the heart next to that last prompt. Then he was forced to continue looking through people until his number of free likes for the day was up. He put the telephone away, distantly thinking that this was the most he had ever used it in one go.
“Lunch?” he suggested. His eyes were a bit cross from looking at the screen for so long.
Teddy waited in the kitchen with him while Remus prepared sandwiches. He had remembered to buy some of the fancier ingredients that Teddy liked on his previous grocery trip, like green pesto.
“You seemed really good at taking pictures, is that something you do with Victoire too?”
Teddy absentmindedly rubbed their red cheek. “Yeah. She likes photography. Mostly capturing things most people don’t look twice at.”
“Hm. I don’t know what that says about the pictures she took of you.”
“Dad!” they complained.
Remus laughed and went over to ruffle their hair. “I’m sure she thinks you’re pretty. Handsome? Uhm…”
He trailed off, not sure which adjectives Teddy preferred. According to the article Remus had read on the library computer (because there weren’t many books on the subject), getting it wrong could lead to distress for Teddy.
They rolled their eyes. “Words aren’t gendered. They’re all good for me.”
Remus mentally noted that for another time.
The two spent a normal day together, and Remus happily forgot all about the app.
That evening, when Remus picked up his book from the living room, his eyes caught sight of his telephone with the screen down. He hadn’t looked at it since before lunch, and a little part of him was curious…
Feeling a bit like a naughty child, Remus took the telephone away from its permanent spot and brought it to his bedroom. He almost wanted to crawl under the covers to have a look, but that was a bit too far.
Remus stared at the telephone for several minutes, contemplating clicking it on, when the screen lit up with a message. From Sirius.
He opened the telephone and clicked on the app. One of the icons at the bottom had a purple dot, so Remus clicked on that, and it led him to a page that said it was his turn to text. When clicking on Sirius’ message, Remus found that he had actually texted first. Sirius’ response was to the prompt where Remus had clicked on the heart.
Sirius
Well well well. This seems like a very good fit, doesn’t it?
Remus
It does. Most of my wardrobe is knitwear.
Sirius
But are they soft?
Remus
Naturally.
Sirius
How lovely <3
And then, because Remus found it hard to receive attention like that, even if it was implicit, he had to redirect it elsewhere.
Remus
Are you aware there’s a typo on your profile?
Sirius
Yes
I’m using it to attract a specific kind of person
Remus
What kind is that?
Sirius
The one who is clever, pays attention to details and isn’t afraid to point out my mistakes
Remus
I feel called out, but I suppose that’s an accurate assessment.
Remus caught himself rubbing his hand on his red cheek and had to shake his head to mentally shake himself out of it. But then Sirius sent another text, and he was right back to it. Throughout the conversation, he had to put his phone down several times to fiddle with his fingers, and he continuously whistled under his breath to calm his brain.
Sirius
It does its job quite well
So I have to ask about your ‘two truths and a lie’ prompt
Remus
Go ahead.
Sirius
I hope the prank pulling is true, because then we would have gotten along very well back then. My friend and I were the kings of pranks at our school.
Remus
I never got that reputation. I was too good at not being caught.
Sirius
Oh you’re an experienced prankster then
Very nice
For your sake I hope you’re a cat person, because the sheep thing doesn’t sound too fun
Remus
Unfortunately, it is. I took my kid to the petting zoo, and apparently had some food in my back pocket. They got a good laugh out of it though, so I don’t mind too much.
Sirius
I’m really sorry
But that is hilarious
I can imagine you all grandpa like and grumbling
When did this happen?
(Also does this mean you’re a dog person?)
Remus
You’re painting a good picture of how it went down. Are you an artist?
It happened maybe nine years ago, when my kid was seven.
And yes, I am a dog person. I’ve unfortunately been unable to have one of my own, but I walk my neighbour’s dog occasionally.
Sirius hadn’t commented on the pronouns Remus used when describing Teddy. If he was transphobic, he would have said something, right? Shut down their conversation? A lot of people his age could be stuck in their ways, even queer ones, but Remus couldn’t be around someone like that.
Sirius
I am an artist actually
Maybe I should paint this incident
It’s very good that you get to spend some time around dogs. I’ve thankfully got my very own little floof ball. His name is Snuffles
There’s a picture on my profile
Remus didn’t know how he could go back to Sirius’ profile, but did remember there being a picture of an adorable black dog lying on top of Sirius on a sofa, and practically covering his entire body.
Remus
I don’t know if “little” is the right way to describe Snuffles. Did you name him?
Sirius
I did!!!
I’m very proud of it
You could meet him one day if you want
Remus’ instincts forbade him from meeting up with a stranger, especially one he had met online, but that was what a dating app was for, wasn’t it? Finding people, building a connection, meeting and seeing if it could turn into something deeper. A real relationship. Sirius was a stranger now, but he could be someone Remus shared the rest of his life with. And now he thought of weddings and oh no Remus needed to stop these unrealistic, spiralling thoughts.
But what should he do then? He didn’t want to scare Sirius away by saying no, but meeting him this soon was a little more than Remus could handle. His heart had other ideas, but his brain won this one. It did so all too often.
Sirius
At some point
Remus
I have to admit that I’m still very new to all this. I only installed the app this morning because my kid insisted that I did.
Sirius
It’s okay. We’re all new at some point
I’ll have to thank them sometime, because this has been delightful so far
There it was. Sirius acknowledging Teddy’s gender-neutral pronouns. That was good, right? Remus wondered if he should inquire further, but before he could decide, there was another text from Sirius.
Sirius
So you’re completely new to the app?
Remus
Yes. You’re the first person I have texted.
Sirius
That’s adorable
Well it’s an honour to be your first
I hope I’ve given you a good impression of the app
Remus
You have. Thank you.
Remus would quite like to bury himself under the covers and never leave. His heart was beating harsher than it had in years, and his hands were so sweaty that the telephone was almost slipping from his grasp.
He needed to get a grip on himself. Sirius was being friendly. He was being kind and normal. Except that the fact that he had texted must mean he felt some sort of attraction to Remus. And he just hadn’t experienced that kind of attention in… well — like Teddy had so kindly pointed out earlier — a decade.
Should he keep the conversation going for this vague possibility? Should he sleep on it — oh the clock showed it was getting late. It had been a very long time since he had been up at this hour. This feeling was so overwhelming that his brain begged him to delete the dating app and never talk to Sirius again to make it go away. But it was also nice. It was just new. He hated anything new.
He could—would—get over it. It would just take some time.
Sirius
So what do you like to do in a day?
Remus
Reading. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to become a librarian.
This conversation has been lovely, but can we continue it in the morning?
Sirius
Of course
Sleep tight
Remus
You too.
Despite exhaustion, it took a long time for Remus to wipe the smile off his face long enough to fall asleep.
When Remus trudged into the kitchen the next morning, it was to the delicious aroma of eggs and sausages. It was so wonderful that Teddy had gotten older and was able to navigate the kitchen on their own — especially when they decided to bake. Remus liked to keep the right ingredients in the house, in case Teddy was inspired.
Teddy turned on the kettle without Remus having to ask for a cup, and because there were no newspapers on Sundays, he took a seat at the table.
“Your phone wasn’t in its usual spot this morning,” they said casually.
“No, uhm…” but there was no reason to come up with an excuse; Remus had never slept with his telephone in his room, so it was highly suspicious behaviour. “I was answering some of the messages I had gotten.”
Teddy grinned. “Wasn’t such a bad idea then, now was it?”
If Teddy was happy, then no, it wasn’t. And well… there was a possibility that this could make Remus very happy too. Once he got over his nerves.
“Remember to thank me in your wedding vows,” they said, to which Remus just laughed, as if his thoughts hadn’t gone there too.