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“Here he comes,” he hears James mutter under his breath smugly just a moment before the coffee shop’s door opens with a tingling of the bell. Sirius considers splashing his hot cup of tea in Prongs’ clever snickering face for a moment because it’s still bloody early for the lad to be unnerving. Then his rational part gets the better of him and he decides against it. This small, almost empty coffee shop named The Marauders is still a workplace and he doesn’t want to get thrown out.
He doesn’t have to look up from refilling the tea box to know who his best friend was referring to, though.
“Good morning,” says a quiet, sleepy voice and Sirius tries his best to stop the grin that is creeping to his face instantly. He vaguely senses James slipping out through the back door, but he couldn’t care less. Sirius lazily glances up at the guy in front of him, and he has to admit that this morning he looks even better than usual. His soft brown hair is all tangled up and lovely, eyes tired but warmly gleaming. He has a dark brown knitted pullover on which might as well be something he wore for sleeping. You never know with fashion nowadays.
“Hello,” Sirius greets him and gives only a small smile. The tired face in front of him reflects some of the kindness and Sirius’ heart does something funny in his chest.
“A latte, please, with extra brown sugar,” the guy says and yes, Sirius knows. He could ask if the boy wanted the usual but that would mean minus one sentence exchanged. Also, now Sirius got extra four seconds of staring at his beautiful customer before turning his back to him and fetching him his coffee.
“Morning class?” he asks casually, grabbing a paper cup and scooping sweet-smelling sugar in it with practised movements. Sirius knows he is an Art major. The guy actually told him that much but he could have deduced it from his hipster clothes and hairstyle anyway. The torn navy-blue sketchbook he always carries kind of gave it away, too.
“No, I actually-“ he cuts himself off, shrugging and smiling apologetically. “Just came out for a walk, and I think I wandered here accidentally.”
“As a very wise man said once,” Sirius smiles at him as he turns back towards the counter, emptying the coffee grounds from the machine into the bin, “accidents don’t just happen accidentally.”
“Oh god, did you just quote Supernatural?” the boy frowns with a smile.
“Are you just awake at-“ Sirius checks the wooden clock on the wall, “6:08 for no reason?” he asks back with a lifted eyebrow. “Then don’t judge me or my life choices,” he mocks a hurt expression. The boy actually chuckles and Sirius was not prepared because he now has to grin widely at the sound of it. It is adorable. But really, was he expecting anything else from the guy?
“I wouldn’t say ‘for no reason’,” he mumbles and looks down at his feet, fingers absent-mindedly tapping the edge of his sketchbook hugged to his chest.
“Oh, the morning got your inspiration flowing, didn’t it?” Sirius asks teasingly and he watches as the boy’s ears redden, complementary to his pale face.
“We could say that, yes.”
Sirius watches him for another moment before the boy looks back at him in the eye. The barista might or might not feel his palms start sweating because he wants to goddamn reach out and pull the guy down for a kiss. Those lips look like they would taste like cherry and warmth and marshmallows which might sound disgusting but Sirius is sure it would be lovely.
The backdoor suddenly opens and Sirius jumps, just like the guy on the other side of the counter. James comes in and runs a hand through his hair, the other tugging his lighter away into his back pocket. When he sees it’s still that lad at the counter, he breaks into a beam.
“Please ignore Prongs,” Sirius tells him as he quickly refills the coffee machine and pushes a button so it starts brewing.
“You’d better pick up a pace, mate, the morning wave’s approaching,” James tells him with a grin and winks at the hipster boy who looks even more lost then he did before. James walks up to Sirius, most likely to grab his own mug from the shelf behind him.
“If it weren’t for Lily, I would tell Pete you smoke during your shift again,” Sirius tells him to shut him up while he is making milk foam. It certainly doesn’t happen.
“I’m, at least, not flirting with a customer,” James whispers behind his back and Sirius feels his cheeks heat up and yanks his head to look at said customer. The boy is observing Sirius’ hands with a tad too much interest but his ear is certainly on the conversation.
Sirius pours the foam and the coffee together and grabs his Sharpie from the counter. He scribbles a small dumb nothing on the paper cup (‘You look cold. Wanna use me as a blanket?’), pops a lid on it and hands it over.
“Enjoy,” he smiles at the guy. He beams back thankfully and places down a pound too much for the coffee on the counter. Sirius always tries to give him the change but the boy just waves, turns around and walks out with wishing them a great day.
Sirius is looking at his butt through the glass door as the guy makes his way across the street, then turns right.
“God,” Sirius sighs, leaning against the counter as if he has just defeated something great. “It’s harder with every day.”
“I can’t bloody believe you fell for a customer you don’t even know,” James shakes his head and starts brewing himself a coffee as well.
“Oi,” Sirius looks at him with a genuinely hurt expression. “I do know him! I mean- we’ve talked plenty of times, I know a lot about him.”
“Do you now?” James eyes him, smiling sarcastically. “Then what’s his name?”
“I mean who cares what his name is?” Sirius huffs, leaning against the wall. He sips his beer before adding, “Not like I don’t, just... there’re more important things, you know?”
“If you say so,” Lily snickers at him from behind her cider. “James told me he’s a cutie, thought.”
“Don’t even get me started on it,” Sirius sighs dramatically.
“Wow, okay,” Lily puts up her hands. “So tell me about him, Casanova. What is he like?”
“Well,” Sirius frowns. He gathers his thoughts and says, “He’s really sweet indeed. He has that hipster style, you know, he has beautiful olive eyes but he always looks like he’s tired. He might be, he’s at uni, learning Art and his parents are the sweetest people, and he loves wolves and he’s obsessed with The Beatles and chocolate and-”
“Oh, god,” James chimes in from behind him as he arrives, “he’s rambling about Moony again, isn’t he?” he asks and kisses Lily on the cheek.
“Fuck off,” Sirius punches him on the arm and sits down at the table, opposite to them.
“Moony?” Lily frowns, looking at her boyfriend.
“Yeah, Sirius gave him that nickname,” James grins and Sirius just pokes his tongue at him.
“Aww,” Lily coos.
“Well, we need to call him something, don’t we?” Sirius defends himself. “And it fits. His pale face, his wolf obsession, his late night drawing sessions-”
“And how do you know about those, exactly?” James asks, chuckling in amusement.
“I told you, we talk a lot,” Sirius turns his nose up.
Prongs has a witty answer for sure, but the concert they came to see starts with the frontman yelling, “What’s up, everyone?” The crowd starts applauding and the three of them join in, making their way to the stage.
Several drinks and half a concert down, Sirius is seriously hammered. He chuckles at his own pun in his head as he stumbles to the bar. There are way too many people in there. The concert is something everybody wants to see in the town’s quarter. He can barely make out the bartender and almost misses the stool as he tries to sit up on it.
“A w’skey, please!” he yells over the crowd’s sound. The bartender eyes him for a moment before shaking his head, blond dreads moving as he does so. “Oh, c’mon, darling,” Sirius smiles at him what he believes is a seductive smile. “I’d even tip you afterwards,” he winks but the lad seems unaffected.
“Sorry, bud,” he tells him.
“What y’ mean you’re sorry?” Sirius narrows his eyes and cocks his head. “Gimme a whiskey, mate!”
The bartender just ignores him and walks to another guy who is also asking for a drink. Sirius follows him with his eyes and shouts at him again, “I want m’ bloody whiskey, for fuck’s sake!”
“Dude, one more word an’ I get ya kicked out,” the bartender tells him in a practiced voice and Sirius tumbles to his feet, ready to demand his rightful whiskey when a hand softly touches his shoulder.
“Hey,” the voice of the owner of the hand speaks and Sirius spins around on his heels. He finds himself staring at the prettiest face he has seen in his life and even he is impressed that he knows the name belonging to the face.
“Moony!” he throws his arms around the boy’s neck and hugs him with quite a force. He has to actually stand on his tiptoes to do so. The taller bloke squeaks a little, bending down but Sirius holds him, the alcohol and the lack of a counter between them making him brave.
“He belongs to ya?” he hears the bartender talking behind him, presumably to Moony.
“Y-yeah,” the boy speaks, not really convincing the guy with the dreads so he adds, “he’s my boyfriend.”
“Damn right I am!” Sirius tells him with so much pride it is unquestionable. He’s dating Moony. Simply logical, isn’t it? “He’s mine an’ I’m his and we make out an’ I top and he-”
“’kay, ‘kay,” the bartender puts up a hand and grimaces, “jus’ take ‘im outta here, will ya?” he speaks and Moony nods, pulling away from Sirius. He takes his hand and Sirius might become a bit too excited because he is leaving the bar with Moony. If only Prongs could see this...
“Where’re we goin’?” he asks over the sound of the crowd and Moony doesn’t turn around, he just pulls him towards the exit. When they actually get out, Sirius’ head feels like it’s suddenly empty after the loudness of the bar.
“Sit down,” Moony talks to him softly and wow, there is actually a bench next to him out of nowhere and Sirius does as he was told to. He sits and leans back and the fresh air is doing wonders to his drunkenness. Moony sits down next to him, pulling out his phone, and starts texting.
“Who you talkin’ to?” Sirius asks, grinning at him like an idiot, probably.
“Just a friend,” Moony assures him and he’s done with it in a moment. He puts it away and looks at Sirius with a small smile. “How are you?”
“You found me in the middle of a fuckin’ bar w’ this concert and I’m bloody hammered an’ you askin’ me how I am?” Sirius laughs at it as if it were the most hilarious thing.
“Are you always like this when you drink?” Moony asks, smiling and shaking his head.
“Like what?”
“This… happy and intemperate?”
“Onl’ understand the happy part,” Sirius tells him with a wide smile. “But nah, only when I’ve such a pretty boy w’ me.”
And even in his drunk state, Sirius is sure Moony reddens.
“Aww, Moony, so cute when you blush,” he coos at the boy and clumsily reaches up to caress his cheek. Moony gently pushes his hand away and looks down at his feet.
“Why do you keep calling me Moony?” he asks quietly.
“’Cause that’s y’name? Dumbo,” Sirius really doesn’t understand. What is the guy on about?
“No, it’s not,” Moony chuckles and adds quietly: “But keep it, I like it.”
Suddenly voices come from the bar’s door and Sirius looks towards it to see his friends rushing at him.
“Oh, god, what did you get yourself into this time?” James asks with a tired expression.
“What you doin’ here, Prongsy?” Sirius pouts. “You ruinin’ the mood.”
“The what?” Lily asks, giggling at the boy. Sirius sees Moony blushing even more and he finds himself really wanting to kiss the hell out of his pretty face.
“Haven’t even shown you m’ tattoo,” Sirius tells him with a grin and simply pulls up his shirt on his torso. The huge black dog inked into his skin is visible even at the dim light of the street lamps. Moony looks like he is really impressed by it and Sirius is pleased. It is a moment before James grabs his shirt and pulls it back down.
“Yeah, that’s- uhh something he totally shows everyone when he’s drunk,” James says in an apologetic voice and yanks Sirius to his feet.
“’s not true!” he demands but gets ignored.
“Thanks for keeping him safe, Moony,” Lily smiles at him.
“Yeah, but it’s time for him to go home,” James nods and grabs his friend. Sirius is hurt in his pride. He has to watch as Moony gets farther and farther away from him as Prongs pulls him down the road. He waves at him sadly and Moony looks just as disappointed as he waves back. Sirius can’t blame him. He must have been the best company for such an evening.
Drinking is bad. Getting drunk is bad. Bad, bad, bad. It’s a bloody bad idea.
Especially when you start your shift at 5:30 the next morning.
“Oh, boy,” Peter shakes his head the moment Sirius steps in The Marauders.
“What?” Sirius asks grumpily and he couldn’t care less that it’s not the way to talk to your boss. Pete is more of his friend anyway. His irritating know-it-all friend.
“Even looking at you makes my mouth feel dry,” Peter looks at him with a genuinely worried expression. Sirius just grumbles something and walks to the tap, drenching himself some water and downing it in one gulp. “If you can’t work today-“ Pete starts.
“I can,” Sirius reassures him and Peter actually can’t believe his ears. Sirius usually wouldn’t even wait for him to finish the sentence, he’d be out of the shop and going home. But not today, no. He has someone important to talk to. “I’ll be fine, okay? It’s fine,” Sirius speaks in spite of his headache and slight nausea.
“You had a fun night, I’ve heard,” Pete speaks in the meantime, smiling smugly as he readies some cups by the kettle.
“James Prongs Potter is a gossiping little-“ Sirius starts but can’t finish because the bell on the door tingles and a lad walks in.
He has a floral shit on with a thin black cardigan and Sirius wasn’t ready for this, he realises. It is too late, though. He just swallows and tries to look at the pretty boy’s eyes without feeling extremely uncomfortable.
“Hello there,” Sirius greets him and makes his best attempt at being normal.
“Good morning,” the lad smiles at him warmly. That is it. Sirius’ heart has crashed and burnt. Beyond repair. Moony, on the other hand, doesn’t look embarrassed. He just places down his notebook on the counter and stands in front of Sirius. “Nice shirt,” Moony’s smile seems to only grow as he catches sight of the Beatles on the shorter boy’s shirt.
“Thanks,” he nods with a matching smile. “I didn’t even know I had this shirt, I mean it’s from like junior year, not like I have grown much since and I kinda knew you were about to fall in today, too, so-“ he stops when he realises he is rambling and looks down at his hands. What has gotten into him?
“Yes, I like it,” Moony seemingly finds his behaviour immensely entertaining. “A latte with extra brown sugar, please,” he tells him and Sirius is happy to finally be able to turn his back on him and fumble with the paper cups and sugar.
“I- I wanted to thank you,” he speaks, braver now that those beautiful sea green irises are not staring at his face. “For yesterday, I mean. I could have gotten into some serious crap if you hadn’t come for me.”
He hears Peter’s spluttering laughter from just a few feet away from him and he realises what he just said. Luckily, Moony doesn’t make fun of him.
“It’s okay,” he reassures him and Sirius exhales. “I was rather surprised to find you there, though,” Moony speaks and Sirius turns around with a paper cup in his hand.
“You were surprised?” he grins. “I mean, who knew you listened to that band?” he talks as he dumps the coffee grounds from the machine.
“I don’t, actually,” he admits with a small, apologetic smile. “A friend requested them to me. It was a great night, though, so I regret nothing.”
“Yeah, amazing concert,” Sirius says but he is lying. He doesn’t remember anything about the band. He only knows last night he got to embarrass himself in front of the boy he fancies. He turns on the machine and puts a cup under it. “School today?” Sirius asks casually, just to say something as he starts foaming the milk.
“No,” Moony smiles and tries to find eye-contact. Sirius is not sure he could handle it so just concentrates on the milk. Moony is waiting for something but when it doesn’t come, he adds, “It’s Saturday, you know.”
“Fuck, right,” Sirius cracks up and Moony joins in, chuckling with him. Sirius feels his guts heat up with the familiar feeling of the boy in front of him and he wants to tell him how pretty and breath-taking he looks but it would probably be creepy. Most certainly.
He pours the milk and the coffee together on the brown sugar until it forms a perfect latte. He sneaks a small piece of chocolate into the hot drink before popping the lid on it and taking his Sharpie. ‘I was feeling a little off today, but you definitely turned me on.’
Moony never reads the pick-up lines when Sirius can see him. He only ever read the first one he wrote him (‘Are you a hipster? Coz you make my hips stir.’) and he flushed to the tip of his ears.
It was two months ago and Sirius writes him a crappy-sappy pick-up line every time he visits The Marauders. And Moony comes almost every day.
“Here you are,” Sirius smiles up at him as he places down the cup.
“Thanks,” the lad gives him the money and a last smile before turning around and-
He walks to one of the tables and sits down.
Sirius' mouth hangs open for a moment but then Moony looks up and smiles at him shyly. He sips his coffee and opens up his notebook. From the pocket of his cardigan he pulls out a pencil and a rubber and starts sketching while enjoying his latte.
“Come on, mate,” Peter elbows him lightly and Sirius is too aware of his presence once again.
“Why did he- why did he sit down?” Sirius asks in an intense whisper. “He never- he just doesn’t-“
“Well, he’s a customer, he has the right,” Pete shrugs as he grabs a wet cloth and starts wiping the counter clean with it. “Don’t disturb my customer, okay? You’ve caused enough excitement for him today already,” he smiles smugly, not looking up at Sirius.
“What do you mean?” the long haired barista asks and he genuinely has no idea. He takes a side-glance at Moony again who seems to just read the pick-up line on the cup. He smiles a dorky smile to himself before going back to his sketchbook. Sirius’ throat tightens. That smile, sweet Jesus-
“Nothing, Romeo, it’s nothing,” Peter chuckles and shakes his head.
The rest of the morning goes by like this. Customers start coming at around 6. Sirius knows most of them; regulars with their usual orders. He is put off by the simple presence of Moony, though, who sits at his table so the shorter lad can see his beautiful face as he works on his drawing. He concentrates on the paper intensely, just sometimes looking up, probably when he feels Sirius’ gaze on himself. The tattooed boy turns his head away instantly. Pete keeps muttering remarks under his breath. Stupid wanker, Sirius thinks affectionately.
The customers come and go and it is almost ten o’clock when Moony stands up from his table. Sirius doesn’t want him to go just yet. Moony steps to the counter, with his cup between his slender fingers and Sirius has dirty thoughts. He has no-one to serve at the moment, thank gods.
“You know, I would’ve given you coffee in a glass if you told me you’d stay,” Sirius grins at him.
“It’s okay,” Moony smiles. “I feel like it wouldn’t taste the same, hadn’t I drunk it from this paper cup,” he holds it up for Sirius to look at. The shorter boy doesn’t know why but feels flustered.
“Can I get you anything else?” he asks, fumbling with small packet of sugar between his fingers.
“No, thanks,” Moony sounds a bit lost for a moment before saying, “I’d better go. It was really nice,” he says and Sirius wonders what he means. “See you.”
“You too, Moony,” he replies. Moony flashes him a surprised but heart-warming smile before turning around and walking away.
“Queers,” Pete notes before turning to the sink.
“Shut up, ace,” Sirius replies, rolling his eyes. “Also, who said he was queer?”
“Erm, his body language, style and that he was checking you out all morning?” Peter asks with an expression that says Sirius must be an idiot to miss what even he could pick up.
“Was he actually?” Sirius asks back with a surprised grin. “Oh, man, if only-“ he says dreamily as his eyes wander over the abandoned table and they grow wide. “Wait, he left his notebook here!”
The long-haired barista hurries around the counter to pick up the navy-blue sketchbook from the table. He holds it for a moment before deciding to keep it shut as he brings it back to the counter.
“Pete,” he says dramatically. “Moony left his notebook here.”
“I see,” Peter nods as if Sirius is pointing out what’s only obvious. He keeps doing the washing-up. “What’s in it?”
“I dunno, I mean-“ Sirius eyes it carefully. “Am I allowed to?”
“It’s just a sketchbook, mate,” Pete grins at him. “You want me to open it for you?”
“No, weirdo, don’t look at his art,” Sirius tells him in a possessive voice. “Not before I do, anyway.”
He takes another look at the torn exterior of the notebook and opens it slowly. What he sees inside leaves him breathless.
Constellations on one page in watercolour, a pack of wolves sketched with black ink on the other. A study on male anatomy, another one on female, a whole page of different plants. The sketchbook is filled with beautiful art. Moony is really talented at what he does, Sirius thinks. And on the next page he sees-
“Oh my god,” Sirius blurts out as he sees his own face on the paper. His hair looks like the artist really took his time to create it, the perfect curls he didn’t manage to tuck into his manbun. His jaw, his cheekbones, his eyes… he has never seen himself this beautiful before.
The name Padfoot is written in pretty cursive at the bottom of the picture. Padfoot. Is that a nickname Moony gave him? Sounds fitting, Sirius decides.
He turns a page and his breath hitches. He sees his own torso, the huge dog tattoo stretching across his side. The muscles are obviously exaggerated, to tell the truth. Not like Sirius minds. It is not a perfect replica, far from that but it has been made with such precise lines and dots and Sirius falls in love with the picture.
Moony took his time drawing it. He took an effort to capture his face and tattoo. If Sirius has ever felt special in his life, it is now.
“Not bad,” Peter hums appreciatively from behind Sirius and he shudders.
“Fuck off,” he waves him off and shuts the sketchbook. “Not bad? It’s literally the best art I’ve ever seen.”
“Not even a bit partial there, are we?” Pete chuckles to himself. “Will you give it back or just keep it for your shrine?”
“You’re creepy,” Sirius looks at him as if the idea hadn’t occurred to him at all. “No, I’ll- I mean, you can give it back to him. I’m not working tomorrow.”
“Well, then he won’t come tomorrow,” Peter shrugs.
“What do you mean?” Sirius frowns. Pete rolls his eyes, clearly pained by Sirius’ oblivious behaviour.
“He only ever comes when you are in, you inobservant fudge.”
Sirius tries not to feel ridiculously bored as he turns to lie on his back. His head is dangling off of the bed and he is watching the telly upside down. Crappy Saturday reality shows.
He has been thinking about visiting The Marauders.
It is insane, though. He has never done it on his day off, not once. And now he catches himself staring at the clock on the wall and thinking about the coffee shop all day. Okay. Maybe not the shop. Maybe it is the hipster lad with the tussled hair and tired smile and gorgeous art.
His phone starts ringing with Green Day’s Holiday and the drums don’t even come in by the time Sirius has picked it up.
“Hey.”
“Wow, you’re fast,” James laughs on the other end of the line.
“Oh, it’s you,” Sirius tries not to sound disappointed.
“Why, what did you think?” James asks. “Anyway, I was thinking about going out tonight. You in?”
“I dunno, mate,” Sirius turns back on his stomach, eyeing the telly with no interest. “Friday was bad enough and tomorrow we have the morning shift, you know.”
“Since when do you care abou- oh,” Prongs says and Sirius, knowing the lad for ten years now, hears the repressed laughter in his voice.
“Be so kind and get off me,” he says tiredly. “You don’t know anything.”
“I know you want to be well rested and beautiful tomorrow morning,” James says mockingly and Sirius hates his best friend at the moment. Mostly because he is right.
“I’m gonna hang up now.”
“No, mate, I’m just kid-“ James tries to say while laughing but Sirius ends the call.
He doesn’t need to get drunk every day. There are more important things. Like looking decent the next day.
That clever git, he thinks. Why must James know everything? Lily is certainly a bad influence.
“Good morning!” Sirius yells as James steps in the coffee shop’s door. The lad looks miserable; his hair is flat, his glasses are lopsided and his shirt is misbuttoned. His face looks like a badly shaven kiwi and he winces at the yell. It is only fair for Sirius to have some fun.
“I hate you,” James moans and runs a hand through his hair. His expression gives away his nausea and pounding head. He wanders to the counter and rounds it with the speed of a snail.
“Fresh dew on a rose petal,” Sirius holds his nose up and mocks Prongs but he just hits him on the arm weakly. “Hey, I’m protesting!” he talks unnecessarily loudly. “If you hit me, hit me with force.”
“Piss off, twat,” James sighs with pain in his voice and closes his eyes. His hands ball up into fists but instead of punching Sirius again, he leans on his hands on the counter, trying to breathe for a bit.
“You and Lily had fun last night?” Sirius wiggles his eyebrows. Sleeping eight hours can actually do wonders to your morning mood.
“You’re jealous, aren’t you?” James, despite his hangover, still smirks at his friend.
“Just asking because you showed up almost an hour late,” Sirius shrugs. He has made like ten coffees already but it is okay. He at least has something to take his mind off other matters. Prongs’ eyes shoot open and he stares at Sirius.
“Crap,” he moans, turning to look at the clock on the wall. “Does Pete know?”
“Come on,” Sirius grabs a sponge and starts cleaning the coffee machine. “The lad’s good, but not that good.”
“Right,” James nods and leans against the counter, his head hanging low. He’s lost in his thoughts for a moment before asking: “And what was Loverboy like today?”
“He wasn’t,” Sirius replies, not looking up.
“What?”
“He’s not come this morning.”
Moony always comes early in the morning. Before his first class or even if he doesn’t have classes that day, he always visits The Marauders right after Sirius’ shift starts. He doesn’t want to think about why Moony hasn’t come yet but he just can’t stop.
“Well, I guess he’s realised the worth of sleeping in,” James jokes. With one eye he peers up at Sirius to see his best friend washing the sponge rather disappointedly. “Hey, I’m sure he’ll come by.”
“Yeah,” Sirius says, dropping his sponge in the sink. “Also… you know the sketchbook he always carries around?”
“Yeah, why?”
“When he came on Saturday, he left it here,” Sirius gives James a small smile.
“What?” the boy with glasses breaks into a grin. “Show me,” he demands.
In just a minute, Sirius is back from the office with the notebook. He carefully places it down on the counter as if it was a treasure.
“Okay,” he huffs and looks around, “so anything you see in there, you don’t have the right to judge him. Or me. Deal?”
“Oh, god, what’s in there?” James beams, his nausea almost completely forgotten at this point.
“Shut up and promise me!”
“Yeah, okay, cross my heart and all that,” James rolls his eyes. “Now give it to me!”
And Sirius does. James opens it and the long-haired barista watches his face. His best friend is more amused than Peter was, that’s for sure. He turns some pages and Sirius knows the exact moment James sees him on the page because his grin grows even wider.
“Oh my god, he’s made a drawing of you!” James giggles, like a little girl. “This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. And also,” he looks at the page more carefully, “did he just give you a nickname?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Sirius looks down at his feet, smiling like an idiot.
“You look much prettier here than in real life,” James adds, grinning at his blushing cheeks.
“Bastard,” Sirius huffs, punching his arm. “I’m beautiful. Look at the next page, thought.”
When James turns the page, his jaw drops. Sirius sees his eyes roaming over every part of the drawing. He doesn’t have to look at the notebook; he has stared at it for enough time to memorise even the smallest details. James looks up at him with an amused grin.
“Jesus, you two are definitely getting together,” he says and closes the sketchbook, handing it back to Sirius.
It is almost half past two when Moony comes around. James has left earlier, he had some things to sort out with Lily, or at least that is what he told Sirius.
And Moony is not alone.
The shop’s door opens with the bell tinkling and Sirius looks up from his phone with a bored expression. He acts like he hadn’t seen Moony from the shop window just a moment ago. As if his heart is not beating like crazy in his chest.
So he came. He didn’t forget to come. He looks a bit lost without his sketchbook in his arms. His hair looks ruffled and his cardigan is a bit lopsided. He is in a hurry. There is a voice in Sirius’ head telling him he must be Sherlock Holmes with deductions like this. The voice sounds awfully like Peter.
“Hey,” he smiles at the boy who steps in. Moony looks at him with his usual shy smile and holds the door open. Sirius doesn’t understand until- “Oh.”
“Hello!” a lean and pretty girl with pink spiky hair and too long limbs follows him. She is clearly younger than him; five years at least. Sirius frowns. He has no idea who she can be. Sister? No, Moony has no sister. Best friend? Most likely. Girlfriend…?
She hops to the counter and stands in front of it with an expectant smile. Sirius smiles back politely.
“Hi,” Moony greets him finally, pretty beam still plastered on his face. “How are you?”
“I’m- I’m okay, really, cool,” Sirius replies, trying to concentrate on Moony and not the girl. “And you?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” he replies. “It will be the usual for me. Dora?”
“Stop calling me that, dumbo,” she frowns and punches him in the arm. “I told Mum not to call me that either. Sounds lame.”
“Okay, Nymphadora, choose, please.”
“I really hate you sometimes, Lupin,” she looks at her with a scandalised expression. Sirius swallows. Lupin. His surname is Lupin.
“Alright, Tonks, just choose something,” Moony laughs at her and Sirius realises he has never heard him laugh properly before. It is a whole new feeling in connection with the bloke. “His shift is almost over, isn’t it?”
“It- how do you know that?” Sirius asks with wide eyes. Moony – Lupin – just smiles and shrugs apologetically and the barista wants to say something but he doesn’t get the chance.
“The same for me as for him,” she chirps too loudly. “He always goes on about how amazing it is so I wanna give it a try.”
“You do?” Sirius asks the boy with a lifted eyebrow and a lopsided smile.
“No, Dora just likes to talk about things she doesn’t know,” he replies with slight blush on his cheeks.
“In your position, I wouldn’t be so cheeky,” she smirks at him and Sirius finds it better to turn around and start scooping sugar in paper cups.
Moony knows when his shift is over. He tells people about his coffee. He has drawing of him in his sketchbook, for crying out loud. But… now he is here with this girl, and the playful banter makes Sirius’ stomach hurt. Did he actually assume Moony has nobody else in his life but him? Just because he has never seen him with anybody, it doesn’t mean he is lonely. Nor does it mean Sirius is such an important person in his life as Moony is in his.
He suddenly feels awfully sick. It is as if he has been lead on but then he remembers that nobody ever promised him anything in the first place. It makes him feel even more miserable.
When he has already finished making the lattes, he realises both Moony and Tonks are looking at him. He knows he put chocolate only in one of them. He grabs his Sharpie and scribbles down a line on it. Aren't your legs tired? Just because you've been running around my mind all day. The other cup looks plain and sterile next to it.
He places them down in front of the pair on the counter. Tonks instantly grabs the one with the pick-up line on it and reads it curiously. Sirius may be a tad too quick to correct her.
“No, the other one is yours, that’s for Moony. Please,” he says, motioning between them. It takes the girl a moment to get it, but then just grins brightly and hands it over. Lupin smiles shyly and doesn’t read it, just as usual. He pays for both lattes and is ready to leave when Sirius remembers something.
“Hey, wait a moment,” he speaks and turns around, making his way into the office. He returns with the sketchbook and gives it to Lupin.
“Oh, I’ve been looking for it for ages but I thought I left it on the campus,” he smiles thankfully as he takes it.
“You left it here last week, I thought-“ Sirius shrugs. “I really like your art style, by the way,” he says and he means it. Not just because he looks beautiful in the drawings.
“Thank you,” Moony is still a bit flushed but he looks satisfied. Tonks is confused but Lupin motions something like ‘I’ll explain it later’ at her, then opens the door. He turns around and smiles at Sirius just before leaving. “See you, Padfoot.”
“So yeah, my mother has always been like this but my brother seems to change these day-“
The rest of the sentence gets caught in Sirius’ throat as the doorbell chimes. It is past eleven. The reason why Sirius likes night shifts is because The Marauders is not really frequented at night. They – in this case him and Peter – usually just sit behind the counter and chat to pass the time. The Marauders is lit by candle-like fairy lights running along the walls. Lily and Peter were in charge of the decoration when they opened the shop and Sirius got used to it by now.
As the door opens, Moony steps in the coffee shop from the darkness of the street.
“Hey,” he speaks, worry in his tired eyes which have huge black circles under them, his face is even paler than usual. “Are you guys closing already, or…?” he asks and he has clearly thought about this question on the way here. He has a thick black coat and a dark blue beanie on. Sirius’ heart is not at all racing at the sight of the bloke.
“We’re not,” Sirius smiles at him, but his smile fades as Moony steps closer. He takes in his facial features and his eyes widen. “Man, are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Moony nods, tiredly smiling. “I just- can’t really sleep?” he shrugs, looking down at the counter and drumming on it with his fingers. “The full moon does that to me quite often.”
Sirius looks at the night sky on the other side of the windows. The moon looks indeed quite disturbing and huge up there. Sirius chuckles. When Moony glances at him with a confused look, he explains.
“It’s quite funny, you know. We should get you a new nickname, then,” he says with a wink. Moony giggles and blushes but before he could speak Sirius goes on. “What can I do for you, pretty boy?” he asks and it surprises even himself. He is blatantly flirting.
Well, the moon probably affects him as well. Having Moony in the coffee shop at night makes him feel careless. He is used to thinking about the night as something that won’t count the next day.
“Erm, nothing,” Lupin looks down at his hands again. “I don’t actually have money on me at the moment… I didn’t even want to come here, it’s just… as I said, I have a hard time sleeping-“
“Okay, then I make you a nice warm tea,” Sirius decides as if he hadn’t heard anything. Moony looks confused.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you like tea?”
“I do, of course, but I-“
“Then I’ll make you tea,” Sirius repeats. “It’s on the house,” he says and he hands him the box of tea. “Choose.”
Moony just smiles at him weakly and picks out the first bag he touches. He hands it over to Sirius.
“Just sit down, I’ll take it out,” he nods reassuringly as he fills the kettle. Lupin does as he was told to.
He hasn’t even realised Peter was gone until now. As he puts the tray together, Sirius can’t help but steal glances at the lad sitting in the corner. He is watching the map-like designs on the wall and smiles. The barista has to smile, too. He has no idea when the hipster boy started to have such effect on him but he doesn’t mind. The day – or night – always seems to light up when Moony walks in the shop.
The only thing that bothers Sirius is that pretty girl who came with him the day before. She hasn’t quite left his mind ever since she stepped in. Her identity is still a mystery for him but hey, when is a better time than now to figure it out?
“Here you are,” Sirius says as he stops next to Moony with a tray of things: the cup of hot water with the teabag, sugar, milk and a chocolate muffin. He only realises he has written a pick-up line on the napkin when he places it down in front of the lad: You're like a pizza. Even when you're bad, you're good. Moony glances up at him as he puts everything on the table one by one. “It was a last minute idea, the muffin,” Sirius explains. “I hope you like it. I mean, you never really complained about the chocolate in your coffee so I guessed it’s okay.”
“So it was chocolate!” Moony grins at him with childish joy. “I wondered why my own coffee never turned out as good as yours.”
“Yeah, it’s my secret ingredient,” Sirius smiles proudly. “Well, not a secret anymore. I guess I’ll have to kill you now,” he jokes and Moony laughs, the same adorable laugh he laughed the day before and now it was Sirius who made him laugh and he is way too proud of that.
“Thank you for the tea,” Moony says eventually. “I’ll pay for it next time, I just really didn’t count on this.”
“You really don’t understand ‘on the house’, do you?” Sirius chuckles. “I’ve planned on buying you a drink for a while now anyway. And you’ve left so much tip here I can’t even count it. It’s the least I can do.”
“Buying me a drink?” Moony smiles at him playfully. His eyes, despite the tiredness gleam with something Sirius can’t really define. He decides to retreat, however.
“I- I mean, only if you want to,” he puts up a hand. “I dunno what your girlfriend would say because you two are clearly a nice couple and I think she’s head over heels because have you seen the way she looks at-“
“Padfoot.”
“What?”
“You’re rambling.”
“Shit. Sorry,” Sirius looks down at his tray. He managed to make an utter idiot of himself. Again. “I guess I should leave you alone now,” he mutters and turns around to leave when he feels a gentle touch on his wrist.
“No, you can stay,” Moony offers him really quietly and did Sirius just hear fear in his voice? “You could.”
“Why would you want me to?” the barista asks. It sounds really pleading and he wants to cringe at himself.
“Well,” Moony starts, turning Sirius towards himself gently, looking up at him from his seat. “First of all because I’m not dating Dora.”
“You’re not?” Sirius asks and hopes his face is not giving away how relieved he suddenly feels. “But- I mean, she looks like she’s totally in love with you.”
“I hope not,” Moony speaks jokingly. “She’s way too young… and I’m way too gay.”
Sirius doesn’t even realise the huge grin appearing on his face until it does. Moony is looking at him with his beautiful eyes and wonderful smile and it takes Sirius a lot of fucking self-control to keep himself from kissing the living hell out of the guy.
“What?” Moony asks, his own smile growing into a grin.
“It’s- nothing, it’s nothing,” Sirius says between giggles.
“Oh my god, Prongs was right,” Moony mumbles to himself, eyeing Sirius with amazement.
“About- wait, why do you call him Prongs?” the barista stops in the middle of the sentence.
“You’re so oblivious,” Moony shakes his head, chuckling.
“What do you mean?”
Lupin sighs, as if he has just made a final decision.
“Come on, do you really believe I was at the club because I like that kind of music?” he asks with a clever smile. “Or that I coincidentally always wander in when it’s your shift? Or that I left my sketchbook here accidentally? I even gave you a bloody nickname,” he laughs. Sirius is speechless; his jaw has literally dropped and now he is staring at Moony with an awed expression.
“You and James have been-“ he trails off, hardly putting together a coherent sentence.
“Working together behind your back? Yes,” Moony stands up, smiling at Sirius. “You’re not upset, are you?”
“No, I’m just- you could have told me!” he demands. Moony lets out an amazed chuckle.
“Yeah, because telling strangers you fell for their first smile is something that turns out well most of the time, isn’t it?” Moony asks, stepping closer to Sirius. The barista can smell him; it is a mixture of new book and – surprisingly – chocolate.
“We- we’re hardly strangers,” Sirius says in a low voice. His eyes wander over the boy’s lips and when Moony realises, he takes the barista’s hands in his. His palms are soft and warm and Sirius is sure his heart has stopped.
“I don’t even know your name,” he smiles down at Sirius. The shorter boy can see Moony is just as nervous as him. The barista steps closer, pulling at the hipster’s arms so Lupin needs to bend down to him. Their faces are just inches apart, they feel each other’s breaths on their lips.
“You tell me yours, I tell you mine,” Sirius offers. Moony looks at him with an adorable small lopsided smile and he can’t take it any longer. He crashes his lips against Moony’s.
The taller boy lets out a small moan as he lets go of Sirius’ hands. His fingers instantly touch the barista’s neck and he places his hand gently on it. Sirius can’t even think straight. His heart is pondering in his chest so hard he thinks Lupin must hear it, too. He has never felt like this with anyone he kissed earlier; before Moony he was sure the firework-effect was just something his body was not capable of. Oh boy, was he wrong.
The short kiss is over before the barista could get into it properly. Moony pulls away but only so his forehead still touches Sirius’.
“It was about bloody time,” they hear Peter noting by the counter but neither of them cares. They look at each other in the eyes, panting, and Sirius wants to tell Moony he is beautiful and that he wants to do this again and that he is so sorry for being an idiot and not doing this sooner but he doesn’t get the chance.
“You know, people call me Remus,” Moony says quietly so that only Sirius can hear it. “But you can call me tonight.”