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Chapter Text

Not for the first time, or the last, Sirius was very grateful that his work uniform wasn’t utterly vile. He wore his own jeans, which were black, and tight enough to leave very little to the imagination, and a black shirt. The outfit managed to make him look paler than he really was, which was in itself an achievement, but he was quite sure he pulled it off. And, to his eternal joy, they’d stopped making him tie his hair up. He liked his job in the café. The customers didn’t change much, at least, not on his shifts, and most of them knew him by name. Not that “Sirius Black” was a very easy name to forget.

There was one customer in particular that Sirius liked, although they’d never actually spoken. A friend of the girl who’d worked there, who came in for lunch every Thursday, Lily. Before Lily had quit, she’d taken her lunch break to eat with her friend. It had been the only shift Sirius and Lily had shared. But since Lily had her new job (and James, Sirius’ best friend and flatmate, had stopped ditching classes to come to the café to ogle her) Sirius had taken over all the shifts, while Tom, the owner, had started looking for Lily’s replacement.

And so Sirius happily tended to Lily’s friend, because nobody else came in on Thursday lunchtimes, and tried not to be obvious in checking him out. Just in case James did come back. Or somebody found out.

It wasn’t that Sirius was ashamed of being gay. He quite enjoyed it. But, in light of what had happened the last time someone had found out his secret, he wasn’t telling anybody. Suddenly being homeless had been bad enough, but adding lying to all and sundry about why he’d dropped out of university had been almost too much.

He was distracted from his thoughts by the boy coming in. His name, Sirius was reasonably sure, was Remus Lupin. But the name was such an absurd one, he could definitely have been wrong. Although, it wasn’t any more ridiculous than Sirius Black.

“Good afternoon.” Sirius said, with a smile. “What can I get you?”

“Um,” a pause. “Can I have a steak sandwich? I think that’s what Lily normally gets.” A blush. “Sorry, I’m rambling.”

“You don’t need to apologise.” Sirius laughed. “You do normally have a steak sandwich. And, wow, I’ve just realised how creepy that sounded.”

“Only a little bit. You must be Sirius, right? Lily mentioned you. I’m Remus. Yes, after the Roman myth.” A small, self-depreciating, smile accompanied the words.

“At least you’re not named after a giant fiery ball of gas millions of miles away from the earth.” Sirius shrugged. “My family have a thing for stars.”

“We both have stupid names.” Remus laughed. He had a nice laugh, Sirius thought. And then promptly stopped thinking, because flirting with female customers was one thing, flirting with the male ones was another altogether. Then, he might not be able to bring himself to lose any phone numbers he was given.

“Well, that sandwich will be a few minutes, so can I get you anything else for while you’re waiting?” Sirius asked, bringing himself back to the script.

“Can I have a cup of tea, please?” and, Christ but this bloke was adorable. Asking, like Sirius could refuse.

“Of course. If you’d like to take a seat, I’ll bring it right over.” Another smile from Sirius, and, after paying, Remus went to take a seat, in a squashy armchair in one corner. Sirius took the order for the sandwich to the kitchen, and the tea to Remus.

He spent the whole half-hour Remus was in there trying very hard not to look at him. If he had, he might have noticed that Remus didn’t turn a single page of the book he was reading.

It wasn’t as though Remus had never noticed Sirius before. He was quite a hard person not to notice. He had a way of drawing attention to him, without meaning to. And he was bloody gorgeous.  They’d never spoken, though. Lily had always had their food ready when he arrived, and although she’d pointed Sirius out to him before, there’d never been any reason for any conversation before then.

He had a very nice voice, Remus thought. The kind of voice that dragged you into conversation, whether you wanted it or not, but made you want it. Remus thought that, if he wanted to, Sirius Black could probably make a person feel like the most important thing in the world, just by talking to them.

And if Remus couldn’t concentrate on his book while he ate his lunch? Well. That certainly had nothing to do with the ridiculously attractive waiter.

He had no more classes that day. He could have gone home for lunch, but Thursday lunchtimes were his treat. He had no lectures on Friday, either, although sometimes seminars were re-scheduled. He did have work, but the old man who ran the little bookshop never minded if he had to miss a shift. He loved working in the bookshop. The money was good, and the shop was nice. It was warm and dry, and the smell of the books was, without a doubt, one of Remus’s favourite things.

If he were honest, Remus just loved books.  Fiction or otherwise, he adored them. He’d chosen English Lit for his degree for that reason. Any excuse to read, any at all, and Remus Lupin was a very happy man. And, although Lily had teasingly called him weird for it all through secondary school and sixth form, he enjoyed analysing books. There was something he liked about being able to explore other people’s emotions and motivations without actually having to talk to them. Although Remus had no strong objections to people, he got nervous in large groups, or talking to strangers. It was all right working at the bookshop.  Conversations with customers always followed nice, neat formulae, they could almost be scripted they were so monotonous.

He couldn’t help but be a little proud of himself for successfully ordering his own lunch. He was normally awful at that sort of thing, and he thought he was perfectly justified in having a spring in his step as he walked back to the flat he shared with Lily.

“You look quite pleased with yourself, dear.” She said, almost as soon as he was through the door.

“Do I?” Remus attempted an airy tone. “I can’t think why that would be.”

“Did Sirius give you his number?” Lily asked, with a smirk.

“No! And I thought you said he was straight?”

“I said he flirts with the female customers. Anyway, sometimes, I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ve seen his flatmate.”  The words were accompanied by a laugh. “But then, maybe not. The bloke’s a right arsehole. And he keeps asking for my number.”

“Oh Lily, you poor thing.” Remus laughed too, flopping down on the sofa next to her. “Attractive men chasing you around. What I wouldn’t give for that.”

“Well, you can have this one. James Potter, he’s called. And he thinks he’s all that because he’s captain of the rugby team, and he’s in talks with some rugby club or other who want to sign him up when he finishes uni.”

“Not,” Remus smirked, “that you were paying any attention to him. Isn’t he that guy from the café?”

“That’s the one. Still following me about, apparently.” Lily blushed. “He’s kind of cute. But he’s a self-obsessed arse and there’s no way in hell I’m giving him my number until he grows up a little bit.”

“Sirius, my good man, I have news.” These words were accompanied by James wrenching open their front door. “I am in love.”

“Of course you are.” Sirius said. “Who’d you shag?”

“You’re so crude.” James whacked Sirius around the back of the head, and was rewarded with a yelp of protest, and a hastily thrown cushion, which knocked his glasses slightly askew. “I haven’t shagged her yet.”

“Oh, so it is a girl. I was wondering how many revelations I’d get in a day.” Sirius grinned.

“Piss off.” James said. “Don’t you want to know her name?”

“You’ll tell me whatever I say, so go on, get it over with.” Sirius lit a cigarette, and put his feet up on the coffee table.

“Lily Evans.” James sighed, in the kind of way that only the love-struck can, and collapsed onto the other sofa, in a somewhat undignified sprawl.

“Lily Evans?” Sirius laughed. “She’ll have your balls, mate. I used to work with her. She’s not gonna take your shit.”

“I know you worked with her! That’s where I saw her. She’s got a new job now, though-”

“Did you follow her, James?”

“Maybe a little bit. Not the point. She wouldn’t give me her number, anyway.” James looked genuinely crushed.

“You astonish me.” Sirius rolled his eyes. “Look, mate. When you want someone’s number, you don’t follow them around. How is that you’ve ever gotten laid?”

“You know, mate, sometimes I really don’t know.” James looked forlorn.

“Oh, cheer up.” Sirius rolled his eyes. “Have a beer and a fag. It’ll cheer you up.”

“You know I don’t smoke any more, mate.” James sighed. “Stop tempting me, you… temptress.”

“Pretty sure that’s what you call girls, Potter.” Sirius blew smoke in James’s direction. James coughed pointedly.

“You’re a shit, Sirius Black.” He said, wafting at the air in front of him, as if he was trying to bat the smoke away. “Open a window.”

“But I’m comfortable here.” Sirius smirked. “And it’s not me it bothers.”

“Sometimes, I wonder why I let you live here, you useless bastard. I should throw you out.” James froze as soon as the words left his mouth. “I- shit, mate, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like… that.”

“It’s fine.” Sirius said, with a slightly forced smile. He got up, and opened the window.  “Don’t you have a rugby practise? It’s Thursday.”

“Oh, shit. Yeah.” James jumped to his feet. “I’ll see you later, mate.” He ran into his bedroom, and returned carrying a sports bag. “Want me to pick up a pizza or something on the way home?”

Sirius shook his head. “Nah, I’ll cook something.”

“You’re such a househusband.” James said, and, with a laugh, and left.

Sirius didn’t see Remus again for another week. By that time, he had a new co-worker, Peter Pettigrew, who’d taken over half of Lily’s old shifts. He’d got the hang of the job pretty quickly, and they’d worked it out so that he’d take the later lunch, to give him a go at working the till alone.

But if Sirius had Remus’s steak sandwich ready when he arrived, that was just being organised for a loyal customer. Nothing more. Definitely nothing. He had a bacon and sausage sandwich for himself, partly because he’d skipped breakfast, and partly because there was never a bad time for bacon.

“Mind if I join you?” he asked, and his palms were definitely not sweating.

“Not at all.” Remus smiled, and gestured to the chair opposite him. “It’ll be nice to have company.”

Sirius sat down. “Why’d you come, without Lily? If it’s not rude to ask, which I just realised it probably is.”

“It’s not rude.” Remus shrugged. “I dunno, habit? I came here every week last year. And the sandwiches are good.”

“Well, we aim to please.” Sirius grinned. “So, uh, is Lily your girlfriend? Because you might have competition.”

Remus laughed at that. “God, no. I’m, um, I’m gay. Lily’s my best friend, has been forever. I assume you’re talking about the ‘self-obsessed arse’ James Potter?”

“That’d be my flatmate.” Sirius grinned. “James isn’t all that bad, really. Doesn’t charge me rent. But he does make me cook for him.”

“That must be so awful.” Remus laughed again, but not unkindly. “I suppose you have more time than him. Lily mentioned you’d dropped out.”

“I’m taking a break.” Sirius shrugged, immediately on his guard. “Needed a year off, such is the life of an art student.” He hated the lie. He didn’t even know Remus, but there was something about him that made him feel incredibly shitty for lying to him.

“Art? That sounds fun. Although, I find English Lit fun, so you might not want to trust me on that.”

“You seem like a trustworthy sort of bloke, so I’ll take your word for it. And it was pretty fun.” Sirius smiled, and relaxed again.

“It sounds it. I have the artistic talent of a slug trying to draw with a stick.” A pause. “A broken stick, actually. I’m a stick figures, and smiley suns sort of artist.”

Sirius laughed loudly. “We all have our faults. I’m dyslexic. One time, I read a book in just under a month and a half. I was very proud.”

“What book was it?” Remus bit his lip as soon as he’d asked the question, and Sirius couldn’t help but wonder if he were embarrassed. Remus did have an awfully nice mouth, he thought.

“The first one of those Bourne Identity books. James let it to me. It wasn’t half bad, really.” Sirius shrugged. “He decided I needed some manlier reading material, because the classics are 'girly'.”

“Ignoring, I see, the fact that they were largely written by men. Except for Pride and Prejudice. That’s a brilliant book.” Remus’s eyes lit up as he spoke, and Sirius thought there was something kind of adorable about his excitement. Which was probably an odd thought, seeing as Remus had a good four inches on him in height, and probably more.

“It really is.” Sirius nodded, internally cursing his shortness. “Elizabeth was pretty badass.”

“Yes,” Remus laughed again. “Yes, she was.”

“Anyway.” Sirius stood up. “I’m out of lunch break. I ought to get back to work.”

“I’ll see you next week?” Remus looked a little hopeful. But perhaps that was just Sirius's imagination.

Sirius tried very hard not to blush. He wasn’t sure how successful he was. “I’ll see you then.”

He nearly tripped over his shoelaces on his way back to the counter.