Work Text:
“Okay Ted, you have everything?”
“Yes, tad.” Teddy rolled his eyes at the question, and Remus rolled his eyes at his son’s tone.
“Helmet? Broom?” he prompted with a smirk, fully being able to see him holding his broom and wearing his helmet.
“Ta-aaaad, we’re going to be late!”
“Okay, okay! We’re off, then.”
Remus held out his hand for Teddy who grabbed on tight as Remus threw a handful of Floo powder into the hearth. They were headed to a little league Quidditch try-out that Teddy found a flyer for last week during their library visit. The pair had just moved from Wales to Godric’s Hollow, a quaint little wizarding village, and both were in desperate need of company their own age. Remus hoped his son would meet some other children before he went to Hogwarts in two years, and hoped he would meet some other wizarding parents. Hopefully, he’d get on with at least someone.
The pair stepped out of the Floo and into a large foyer. It was obviously someone’s home, judging by the family photographs on the wall and the kitchen he could see through an open doorway. As soon as Remus stepped onto the carpet, a bell tingled in the distance. Before long, a jovial man raced through a doorway.
“Hello! Are you here for Quidditch try-outs?”
The man was tall and smiling, and his hair looked wind-swept from flying. Although, after watching him run his hand through his hair, Remus had a feeling it was more self-inflicted. His golden glasses highlighted his kind eyes and complemented his dark skin.
“We are, yes. I’m Remus, and this is my son Teddy.” Remus gestured toward Teddy, who had taken a step behind him when the man burst through the doorway. Sensing his trepidation, the man squatted down to Teddy’s level and held out his hand.
“I’m James, it’s great to meet you. My son Harry is out back with the others. Shall I introduce you?”
Teddy shook James’ hand and matched his beaming smile at the prospect of making new friends. Remus followed the pair out the door and into what was presumably the back yard of the house. However, calling this a “back yard” would be like calling Wembley Stadium an auditorium; it was absolutely massive. Remus could see a mini Quidditch pitch complete with stands and goal posts in the distance, and the landscaping was immaculate. There was no pricing on the flyer and Remus sincerely hoped there wasn’t a huge fee he’d have to pay.
As they approached the pitch, Remus heard more voices. Children were laughing and joking with each other while tossing a quaffle around a circle. Remus waved as Teddy ran to join the other children, spying a boy who was the spitting image of James among the group. There were also adults in the lower levels of the stands, chatting and seemingly settling in for the duration of the try-outs. As Remus turned to walk over, he spotted the most gorgeous man he had ever seen in real life. The man was walking away from the other parents, dressed in his own Quidditch kit and tossing a beater’s bat between his hands. Remus froze, incapable of simultaneous thought, speech, and motion in the face of such beauty.
He mentally shook himself and remembered how to put one foot in front of the other, and started walking toward the group of adults. They passed each other, and the gorgeous man gave him a once-over and smirk before jogging to the group of children. Remus’ brain was still trying to form coherent thoughts by the time he reached the stands.
Remus hovered at the edge of the group for a moment before a short woman with long auburn hair tied back in a braid approached him. She had the same warm presence as James as she walked over.
“Hi, I’m Lily. You probably met my husband James in the house. Do you have a little one trying out today?”
“Yes! My son, Teddy. He’s very excited.”
She beamed at him, the same as her husband. It was adorable.
“Fantastic! You should know that all the little ones will be getting a spot on a team – James and Sirius will each coach one so nobody feels left out. Let me introduce you to the others! You are staying, right? You don’t have to, obviously, but it’s good to meet the others since you’ll be seeing a lot of them if you go to the matches.” She said all this very quickly and Remus could only keep up because Teddy had the same tendency to turn all his sentences into one run-on sentence.
Remus chuckled, “Yes, I’m staying and would love to meet other adults.”
“Perfect!” Lily marched them over to the rest of the adults and cleared her throat. “Esteemed Quidditch parents, this is…” she looked at him, realizing she never got his name.
“Remus.”
“Remus! His son Teddy is joining the Quidditch team.”
The others all smiled, happy to welcome him to the fold. Before long, the “try-outs” started and he watched the kids complete the tasks with varying degrees of skill and nerves. James and Lily’s son Harry was confident yet helpful to some of the more inexperienced kids, and he was proud that Teddy held his own among the pack. As they took a break and separated the kids into two teams, Remus couldn’t help but notice the other man, presumably Sirius, kept glancing his way.
“Lily, would that be Sirius out there with James?” he asked, hopefully nonchalant.
He realized he might have missed the mark when she replied with a smirk. “Sure is. He’s James’ platonic soulmate.”
Remus gave a vague hum of acknowledgement as he watched Sirius tie his hair in a messy bun.
“He’s also 34, a Scorpio, has great hair, is great with kids, and single. Very single.”
“Single? What? I, er, what?” Remus couldn’t stop the bright blush spreading across his face even if he wanted to.
“Yep, single as they come. And from the look he gave you earlier, interested. And from the way you can’t keep your eyes off of him, I assume you’re interested as well.”
It was no use. Lily was too good.
Remus leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he watched Sirius fly around. He had no right to look that fit in his Quidditch kit. “Was it that obvious?”
“Just a bit, but I have it on good authority you’re just his type. You should say something after they announce the teams.”
They watched the rest of the match in companionable silence, occasionally remarking on a good play or close call. All too soon, they were touching down and announcing teams. The adults started making their way over and Remus shot Lily a nervous glance.
“You’ll be fine, I promise. Now go!” She gave him a surprisingly strong shove for someone so small, and he made his way to the group. Teddy separated himself from the pack and flung himself into his father’s arms.
“I made the team! Tad, I did it!”
“That’s fantastic! You were great up there.”
Teddy was practically vibrating out of his skin with excitement. “I’m on Sirius’ team, he’ll be my coach. Harry is also on my team, he’s so great. I thought he’d be on James’ team but Harry refused. Can you believe it?”
Remus smiled, knowing Lily for just a short amount of time he could believe her son would be just as strong-willed. It took a moment before Remus processed everything his son said, though.
“You said you were on Sirius’ team?”
Before Teddy could respond, a smooth voice came from behind him. “That he is. So it looks like we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other…?”
“Remus.”
Sirius smiled and Remus nearly went weak in the knees. Did that even happen in real life? Apparently so. He took a deep breath and decided to take Lily’s advice and go for it.
“I could get used to that,” he replied in what he hoped was a flirty tone. “I could get very used to that.”
Apparently, Sirius wasn’t expecting that and a deep blush spread from his ears down to his neck. He didn’t look uncomfortable, which Remus counted as a good thing.
The moment was broken, however, when Harry ran over and nearly collided with Sirius.
“Pads, mom says she made too much spaghetti and that I can invite someone to stay. Can we invite Teddy? Please?”
The blush deepened as he spun to see Lily and James in cahoots, waving in their direction with twin grins. Teddy and Harry took the opportunity to turn their best puppy dog eyes to their respective guardians.
Remus broke the silence first. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. Teddy, why don’t you go with Harry and get washed up? I’m sure you’re a sweaty mess.” The two boys whooped with joy as they ran back to the house. Remus turned back to Sirius who mumbled something that sounded like “bloody meddlers” under his breath.
“They might be heavy-handed, but I don’t mind their meddling,” Remus said, smiling as Sirius’ head jerked up to meet his eyes. He looked hopeful.
“Yeah?” He was breathless, it seemed.
“Yeah. Now, are you going to show me up to the house or are we going to stand here all evening?”
Sirius’ eyes lit up as he laughed, which Remus thought was one of the best sounds in the world. “I can do that. Are you going to send me to go wash up too? I might need some help…”
Now it was Remus’ turn to laugh. “Do you chat everyone up like that?”
“Nah,” he responded, “just fit dads.”
His blush returned at the complement, but he wasn’t going to let Sirius have the last word in whatever this was. “That’s more of a third date activity. Just because you’re gorgeous doesn’t mean you get to skip ahead.”
Sirius stood there, eyes wide but with a spark of mischief.
Remus leaned close to his ear and whispered, “and this doesn’t count as a date. You’ll have to ask me out properly if you want it to count,” before walking away. If he made sure to swing his hips a bit, nobody could blame him.
He heard Sirius laugh behind him as he jogged to catch up.
Meanwhile, Lily and James stood by the back door, watching their awkward banter turn into awkward flirting.
“I think this will be good,” she said to her husband. “I think this will be very good.”
James pulled his wife in for a kiss that was more smile than kiss. “I couldn’t agree more. Now, I think you need to actually start some pasta or else this ruse will fall apart.”
“Shite!”
He laughed as his wife sprinted to the kitchen and watched his best friend run after Remus.
“Very good indeed…”