Chapter Text
Sirius takes a step back from the canvass he’s been working on, stretching his neck slightly before setting the brush down. He studies the painting with a frown, sighing to himself. There’s still something that’s a little bit off about it, but he can’t quite put his finger on what it is. It’s frustrating, but not unusual; he knows he usually figures it out in the end, and he still has quite a bit of time to work on it.
This will have to do for now though, because the alarm on his phone goes off to tell him that his working day is effectively over and it’s time to pick Harry up from school. His school day finishes in about twenty minutes, and Sirius wants to be there before the bell signals that it’s time to go home, he doesn’t want Harry to have to wait for him. Luckily it doesn’t take him more than ten minutes to walk between their house and the school, definitely one of the (surprisingly many) perks of a small village.
When he had first told his friends in London that he was moving “to the countryside” they had all acted as if he’d gone mad, and he didn’t blame them. Had anyone told him five years ago that this was going to be his life, he never would’ve believed them, but that was before everything changed. Before Harry. Before James and Lily had died, leaving their toddler to be brought up by him. All of a sudden Sirius Black wasn’t just a partying artist who slept too little and partied too much, but he was the guardian of a three-year-old while still reeling from the loss of his two best friends. Sure, his friends had already hinted that they thought his partying lifestyle had been going on for too long, he was just north of thirty after all, but none of them had expected it come to such an abrupt stop.
He lets himself get lost in thoughts for a moment as he takes off his apron and hangs it by the door before washing the paint off his hands. He and Harry had lived here for almost two years now, and Sirius was convinced it was the best decision he’d ever made concerning the two of them. He had struggled with it at the time, James and Lily had both loved London and James kept going on and on about how his son was going to be a London boy. But Sirius wasn’t James, and he didn’t think he would be able to bring Harry up, alone, in such a big city. He didn’t trust himself to be strong enough.
Moving had seemed like the right choice at the time and two years later, the two of them were firmly settled in the sleepy village of Godric’s Hollow. He had bought them a house on the outskirts of it, more than big enough for the two of them and with spare bedrooms for when his brother or friends came to visit, and with room for a spacious studio for himself. He had promised Marlene he would continue to paint even with the move and the truth was that he felt more inspired here than he had ever done in London. Less distractions, nothing to focus on but Harry and his work, and it suited him surprisingly well.
He takes a deep breath as he leaves the house, breathing in the air that was unusually warm for being early September. It was about time, considering that the summer had been mostly cold, wet and grey. Harry had started school only the week before, and from what Sirius had gathered so far it had been a roaring success. Sirius knew that would change, eventually, but for the moment he was grateful that the boy seemed to be enjoying himself with his friends and teachers. Not that he had been particularly worried, Harry had adopted to this new life a whole lot better than Sirius had. He was almost jealous of the boy’s ability to take things in his stride.
He reaches the school just as the bell rings, and he stops by the gate as he watches the children pour out of the main entrance. He keeps his eyes out for Harry’s mop of black hair, feeling something hot spark in his chest as he spots him.
“Pa’foot!” Harry shrieks delightedly as he spots him, setting off into a run and Sirius just about manages to catch him as the boy throws himself into his arms.
“Hiya, sprog,” he laughs, feeling his chest expand as he hugs him, pressing a quick kiss to the top of his head, knowing it’s something Harry will grow out of eventually. But for the time being it’s allowed, and he spins him around before setting him back down on the ground. “Eager to get home, are we?”
“No,” Harry shakes his head, blinking up at him with bright green eyes. “I don’t want to go home.”
“Oh?” Sirius asks, ruffling his hair. “Where d’you wanna go then? Park? It’s a bit late for the beach.”
“I want to go with Teddy,” says Harry, already tugging Sirius along with him, but not towards the exit but rather back towards the school. ”Teddy has a swing and a trampoline behind his house and I think that would be so cool to try and Teddy says it’s very safe and he says he can jump super high and I think if I could just try and jump on a trampoline I’d be very good at it too but if you say I can’t then at least I can swing and you know how much I love to swing and–”
“Whoa, Haz,” Sirius laughs, holding a hand up as he pulls the boy gently to a stop. “First thing’s first: breathe, please.” He smiles fondly as Harry sucks in a breath, then, “Who’s Teddy? I don’t remember seeing that name on the list of your year.”
“He started today,” Harry says, practically jumping on the spot as he shoots his godfather an impatient look. “He started today because they just moved here and he missed the first week, and he’s all new here and he doesn’t know anyone so I said we could be friends and did I say he has a trampoline and a swing?”
“You did,” Sirius confirms, trying to keep a straight face at the boy’s obvious eagerness. “But we don’t know if it’s okay with Teddy’s parents yet.”
“Teddy’s daddy said it was,” Harry interrupts eagerly, pulling at his arm, “Come oooon, Padfoot!”
Sirius allows for Harry tug him along then, towards a boy with brown curly hair that looks about the same age as Harry albeit a bit taller, dressed in a similar burgundy school uniform. The other boy grins a little shyly at them, one of his hands fisted in the trousers of the tall man standing next to him.
“This is Teddy,” announces Harry brightly with a gesture to the boy, “and Teddy’s daddy.”
Sirius says a hello to the boy before shifting his gaze over to the man next to him. He extends a hand automatically, the polite greeting on the tip of his tongue but then he looks up and oh.
Sirius feels his world tilt a little, finding himself staring into green eyes that somehow look almost golden in the afternoon sun. The man’s face is framed by curls almost identical to the boy’s and his skin is impossibly tanned, more than what should be possible after the dreary British summer they’d had. Oh, Sirius thinks again, numbly.
“Hallo,” the man says with a smile, voice warm and with a melodic sort of accent that Sirius can’t immediately place, “You must be Harry’s dad.”
“Godfather,” Sirius corrects automatically before he catches himself, realising how rude it must have sounded, “Er, I mean, well, godfather, technically, but also his guardian–”
“Padfoot’s my Padfoot,” Harry interrupts, tugging at Sirius’ arm keenly, “Can we go, Padfoot, please?”
“Padfoot?” the man asks, an amused sort of curl to his lips and Sirius can’t help but smile as he tears himself away from the gaze to look down at his godson, excitement radiating from him.
“It’s– well…a nickname, I guess,” he shakes himself, looking back up at the man, “My name’s Sirius.”
The man smiles properly then as he shakes the hand that Sirius is still holding out towards him, grip firm and warm and the long fingers close easily around Sirius’. Oh.
“Nice to meet you, Sirius, I’m Remus. And this is Teddy,” he gestures towards the boy who is chatting away happily at Harry, the two of them practically buzzing with excitement.
“Er,” Sirius says, again, when he’s managed to remember how talking works, “Nice to meet you too. Well, Harry said something about wanting to go with Teddy but I don’t want to inconvenience you if–“
“It’s no inconvenience,” Remus assures him before he has a chance to finish the sentence, “We live around the corner and we’ve recently moved in. It’s just me and Teddy so I’m only happy if Teddy’s managed to make a friend on his first day. Really, it’s no problem.”
“Oh, right,” Sirius says, frantically searching for something else to say even as Harry is practically hanging from his arm now, pulling at him. Just me and Teddy, echoes in his head and he steals a furtive glance at the man’s left hand. No ring. He suddenly wishes he had looked at himself in the mirror before leaving the studio, traces of paint on his skin a rule rather than an exception when he’s been working, “Well, then…”
He trails off, unable to think of anything else to say, as if he’s completely forgotten everything about how to set up a playdate and he drops his eyes to Harry, the boy groaning dramatically and impatiently, and Sirius recognises that he’s only about half a minute away from a tantrum.
“You could come too.”
Remus’ voice pulls Sirius’ thoughts back and he looks up at the man again. He’s tall, just about taller than Sirius himself which is no mean feat. He looks to be the perfect height, really, Sirius would have to tip his head back just the tiniest amount to kiss him and– no! No, where the hell had that thought come from?
“What?” He asks, because he suddenly realises Remus had said something and his brain feels foggy.
Remus nods, amusement dancing in his eyes and mouth quirked into a smile, “Yeah, it wouldn’t hurt if I made a friend on Teddy’s first day either,” he pauses, a flicker of uncertainty over his face as he studies him, “Unless you’ve got somewhere else to be?”
“No,” Sirius says quickly, too quickly, he scolds himself but it’s too late now and he clears his throat. “I mean, that’d work, we just planned to– god’s sake, Harry, stop pulling at me,” he interrupts himself, a little exasperated as he looks down at the boy who pouts at him.
“But you’re taking too long. Can we go or not?” He demands, and Sirius can see James hinting in his features, the steely sort of determination that he used to see on James’ face whenever they played football.
Sirius’ gaze flickers to Remus for a moment but the other man merely makes a half shrug, that same smile still playing over his face as he raises an eyebrow in question.
“Yeah alright, we can go,” Sirius says, unable not to smile at the joyous shouts that emits from the boys, both of them setting off over the school yard.
“Wait for us by the gate, Teddy,” Remus calls out after his son, a fond sort of expression on his face as he watches them run and it makes Sirius melt in an instant.
“You coming?” Remus asks, tossing his head in the direction of the boys, brown curls dancing with the movement and they’re close enough now that Sirius can see traces of faint, silvery scars on the side of his face, almost hidden in the wrinkles around his eyes as he smiles.
Sirius feels something hot spark in his chest, something unclenching there that hadn’t been unclenched in a very long time and all he can do is nod as Remus starts walking, swallowing thickly as he follows behind.
Oh, he thinks again as Remus starts moving, unashamedly running his gaze over his backside now that he can, before he quickly lengthens his steps to catch up with the other man, his heart doing cartwheels in his chest. I’m so fucked.
~*~*~
Remus tries to focus on putting one foot ahead of the other as they walk the short route back to their cottage, Teddy and Harry scampering ahead of them. It had been a spur of the moment thing, asking Harry’s dad (no, not dad, guardian, he had said, whatever that meant) to come along. Right now Remus wasn’t sure what had possessed him to do so because it seems like an increasingly bad idea the closer to the cottage they get. He desperately tries to think of something to say, but comes up with nothing, and instead he just makes a vague sort of gesture when the kids disappear up their driveway.
“This is us,” he says, clearing his throat a little, and he steals a glance at Sirius as the other man looks at the house, his expression betraying nothing. Remus knows it’s not much, it’s small and a little run down, but he had fallen in love with it during his first visit. “You go ahead around with the boys, I’ll get us all something to drink.”
Sirius nods with a small sort of smile as he follows Teddy and Harry around the corner and Remus exhales a breath. Fucking hell, he thinks faintly. He needed a few minutes to collect himself.
He unlocks the door to the house, dropping Teddy’s bag off inside the door before walking through to the kitchen. He opens the fridge to find a pitcher of his Mam’s lemonade, gratefully pulling it out and putting it on a tray together with four glasses.
Remus John Lupin, he thinks sternly to himself, you are being ridiculous. Unsurprisingly, talking to himself doesn’t seem to help much, because he still feels as if someone had hit him over the head, but there is no other way to explain what it felt like, standing eye to eye with a man like Sirius.
He gathers the tray and takes it through the sitting room where there were still cardboard boxes in various sizes stacked high, nudging the glass doors open to step out onto the back porch. Sirius has already taken a seat in one of the chairs there, watching the two boys competing over who can jump the highest on the trampoline and talking a mile a minute. Remus has no idea how they manage to hear what the other one is saying considering how much they’re both babbling.
He sets the tray down on the table before pouring two glasses of lemonade, handing one of them to Sirius and he’s absolutely not thinking about how their fingers brush together when the other man takes it from him. He has to force himself not to stare at Sirius, caught completely off guard by the handsome stranger that was now lounging on his porch as if he belonged there.
Sirius is, by far, the most attractive man Remus has ever seen, as if he had stepped right out of every erotic dream Remus ever had. He looks like sex on legs, all pale skin (it looked like he would bruise easily and oh wouldn’t Remus want to find out) and long black hair (that looked like it would be perfect to run his fingers trough and tug) and grey eyes (that made Remus think about things that certainly wasn’t appropriate with his son nearby). He was tall, broad shoulders and muscular arms covered in tattoos, dressed simply in a t-shirt and jeans so tight they made Remus’ mouth water.
“Should get one of those for Harry, too, it seems like a hit.”
Remus has to shake himself slightly, pulled from his thoughts by Sirius’ voice. “What?” He croaks, then clears his throat with an embarrassed sort of half-laugh. “Sorry, one of what?”
“The trampoline,” Sirius clarifies as he lifts his glass, taking a sip of lemonade, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows, and he makes a low appreciative noise that makes sparks run down Remus’ spine. “Bloody hell, that hit the spot.”
Remus tries not to blush at the praise but he thinks he’s doing a pretty poor job of it, grinning helplessly as Sirius turns his grey eyes onto him, giving him an appreciative look over that makes Remus’ skin prickle.
“Did you make this?”
Remus laughs, shaking his head. “My Mam did, but I agree, it’s very good. Teddy’s favourite, too.”
“I can see why,” Sirius nods, his lips quirking. “Sorry about the, er, language, at least the kids weren’t around.”
“I don’t mind,” Remus laughs, shaking his head, finding himself relaxing slightly with it. “That was mild, as far as I’m concerned. I slip up all the time, Teddy always calls me out on it. But you’re right, the trampoline is a hit. I wish I could take credit, but it came with the cottage.”
Sirius hums, glancing around them, and Remus does the same. The small cottage doesn’t look like much but it already felt like home. Like their home. It’s not very modern but clean and big enough for himself and Teddy. He liked it the moment he set foot in it, and when he lay eyes on the view, stretches of rolling green hills and the mountains in the distance, he knew he had to have it.
“It’s nice,” Sirius says after a moment, shifting his gaze to look at Remus, grey eyes searching. “How come you moved here? I mean…if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Not at all,” says Remus as he turns the glass of lemonade in his hand, “my Mam lives here, I grew up here actually, but I’ve been away for a while. It just felt like a good time to move back, closer to my Mam to get some help with Teddy, and to help her as she’s getting older…that sort of thing. I think village life suits me better than city life, to be honest.”
“Same,” Sirius chuckles, a soft sort of sound that settles somewhere in Remus’ chest, his eyes on the boys who have abandoned the trampoline for the swings, taking turns pushing each other. He can see the love in the other man’s eyes as he looks at Harry, the fondness, his voice soft as he continues. “Never thought it’d be for me, but it’s different with kids, eh? Used to love London, but it’s no place to bring up a kid. When Harry came to me…I dunno. This just seemed like the right move. And now I’ve fallen in love with this place.”
Remus nods, about to say something else when they’re interrupted, Teddy and Harry falling onto the porch, breathless and laughing and Remus feels a wave of affection for his son, happy to see him laugh in a way he hadn’t for such a long time. Yes, moving back here had been the right choice, both for himself and for Teddy.
“You boys thirsty?” He asks, pouring them both some lemonade even before they have a chance to reply, watching his son climb into the seat next to him. Harry, in turn, climbs into Sirius’ lap and Sirius wraps his arms around the boy in a protective sort of way.
“Daddy?” Teddy’s voice brings him back and he turns his eyes onto his son, his hair tousled and face flushed, eyes shining brightly.
“Yes, Tedster?”
“Can Harry and his da– uhm– er, his Padfoot stay for tea?”
“I dunno, kiddo,” he smothers a hand over the unruly curls, pushing some hair away from his son’s eyes. “They might have other plans, y’know.”
“We don’t,” Harry’s reply is instant as he eyes Sirius encouragingly. “Right, Padfoot? We can stay? Teddy and I are best friends now and we’d like to do everything together, it’s important.”
Remus can see Sirius’ lips quirk into a smile, amusement curled around the words as he ruffles the boy’s hair. “Oh, it’s important, is it?”
Harry nods solemnly, and Remus feels Teddy tug at his arm. ”It is important, daddy.”
“Well then,” Remus says, giving a sort of helpless shrug as he meets Sirius’ gaze from across the table, arching a brow. “If it’s important, who am I to say no? You’re welcome to stay, if you want, I was just planning on making pasta though, nothing fancy.”
“That’s plenty fancy enough for us,” Sirius assures him, “we’d love to stay, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“Daddy?” Teddy tugs at him again, an impatient sort of movement. “Can I show Harry my room?”
“Yeah, go on then,” he nods, watching fondly as the two boys disappear into the house before he turns back to Sirius. “Well, guess I should get the food started then.”
“I’ll help,” Sirius says, draining his glass before standing, running his eyes slowly over Remus’ body, the corner of his mouth pulling into a grin, “I’m no cook but I can toss a salad.”
Remus chokes on what’s left of the lemonade in his glass, and he can feel himself flush a little, Sirius’ eyes dancing in amusement as he throws him a look.
“I bet you can,” Remus mumbles, glancing at him, unable not to smile at the grin on Sirius’ face.
“Among other things,” Sirius continues, winking at him before picking the tray up as if it weighed nothing, taking the lead into the house.
Remus stares after him before shaking his head, following him back into the house.
“Kitchen’s through there,” he walks past Sirius who has stopped in the middle of the sitting room, “Sorry about the mess, we’re still mostly moving in.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sirius says, setting the tray down on the counter. “Really, it should be us inviting you over for dinner, shouldn’t it? New neighbours and all. Isn’t that what neighbours are supposed to do? Come knocking with a casserole and snoop around to get all the gossip about the new man and his kid?”
He turns to watch Remus, leaning casually against the counter in a way that looks slightly too practised to be completely natural, his hips jutted out slightly and Remus forces himself not to let his gaze linger as he makes his way over to the fridge, laughing lightly at what he says.
“Somehow you don’t strike me as the casserole type,” he smirks as he starts pulling out the ingredients for their dinner. “And anyway, I’m afraid there’s not much gossip to get from me.”
“No?” Sirius sounds amused and when Remus steals a glance at him, he’s watching him with an amused quirk to his lips, a searching sort of look in his eyes. “Tall, handsome stranger with a kid and a trampoline? I smell a story.”
Remus prays that the flush on his cheeks isn’t visible as the compliment registers, and he busies himself with the food, very aware of those silvery eyes stuck on him. He gives an amused sort of snort.
“Ah, but you forget I told you my Mam lives here. I think this village probably knows more about me and my story than I do myself.”
“I don’t,” Sirius replies, a sort of weight to the words that settles somewhere in Remus’ chest but there’s no sign of it as he steals a glance at the other man so he’s not sure if he’s only imagining it as Sirius pushes off the counter, voice light. “C’mon, put me to work.”
“Salad,” Remus points at the lettuce and tomatoes before handing him a knife. “And I’d like mine properly tossed, please.”
He feels a spark of something in the pit of his stomach as Sirius laughs before getting to work slicing tomatoes.
“So, your mum,” he prompts after a while. “Someone I know?”
“I dunno,” replies Remus as he fills a pot with water for the pasta. “Her name’s Hope, she owns the bookshop in town.”
“Mrs. Lupin’s your mum?” Sirius sounds genuinely surprised, and when Remus glances at him he’s watching him with an unreadable sort of expression. “She told me she had a grandson about Harry’s age but she didn’t say–“
He stops, abruptly.
“Didn’t say what?” Remus asks.
“That you were moving back here,” finishes Sirius smoothly, although Remus has a feeling that wasn’t what he had been about to say to start with. He doesn’t push it though, merely shrugs.
“It ended up being a sort of…spur of the moment thing. That’s why Teddy came late to school. So you know her?”
Sirius nods, dumping the tomatoes into a bowl that Remus places in front of him.
“She took me under her wings when I moved here. I didn’t know anyone, alone with Harry…I think she felt a bit sorry for me. She’s been a star, really, offered to babysit a few times, and I’ve even taken her up on it. She’s been very helpful, especially in the beginning. When I moved here with Harry–” Sirius stops again, his brows pulled together slightly into half a frown as he studies the lettuce in front of him. Remus has a feeling he’s not finished this time though, so he doesn’t hurry him, and after a moment Sirius exhales a wry little laugh.
“Frankly, I had no idea what I was doing when I came here, I think I was still in shock. My brother was here with me for a bit, but he wasn’t ever the village type, and when he moved back to London she kind of took me in, showed me around, introduced me to a couple of people. She saved me. Us. Me and Harry.”
Remus feels a tug of guilt in his gut as he listens to Sirius speak, the familiar shame of having been away for so long settling over his shoulders. It doesn’t surprise him to hear that his Mam had taken Sirius in, helping him with Harry. He knew she had taken it hard when he hadn’t returned home immediately after Dora had left him and Teddy. She had asked him to, told him to bring Teddy and come home, but he had refused. He had been too stubborn, desperately feeling as if he had something to prove. So he had stayed away, even though he knew it had hurt her. It feels strangely good though, to hear that she had at least been able to help Sirius and Harry.
“Sounds like my Mam,” he says, after a while, his voice a little rough and he clears it before he continues, tentatively. “You and Harry…can I ask…?”
He trials off, glancing over at Sirius who isn’t looking at him. He’s not working anymore though, the knife resting on the chopping board and Remus feels an uncomfortable twist somewhere in his stomach. He shouldn’t have asked, it’s none of his business, and whatever it is that makes Sirius look the way he does now…Remus isn’t sure he wants to know.
“I’m sorry,” he says, hurriedly. “It’s really none of my business, I don’t–“
“It’s alright,” Sirius interrupts him, voice surprisingly soft and then he turns to look at him. He’s smiling vaguely, but there’s a sad sort of pull around his eyes. “It’s not a secret. I’m Harry’s guardian, he’s been with me since he was three, so just over two years now. His parents, James and Lily, were my best friends. We grew up together. James…he was like a brother, y’know? Anyway, they… someone broke into their house as they were sleeping upstairs. The bloke had a gun and he must’ve panicked or something when they woke up, or if James tried to stop him, I don’t know.”
”He shot them, point blank. James died immediately, Lily was in hospital for a while but eventually…anyway, they’re both gone. Harry was at home, asleep in his room, but the guy didn’t find him. A neighbour called the police and when they turned up, Harry was alright. He was too young to really understand anything, and luckily he was sleeping in his own room that night. They didn’t have any other family, or, well, Lily’s got a sister somewhere but they’re not in touch, so…I mean, I had always been Harry’s godfather, so it made sense he would come and stay with me.”
He falls silent then, grey eyes shifting up to meet Remus’ and he can see the sadness there, a darkness to them that wasn’t there before and it takes Remus everything he’s got not to reach out and pull him into a hug. They don’t know each other, but Remus can feel the sadness, the grief, as if it was settled in his own chest. He exhales softly, voice low.
“Sirius, that’s…I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” nods Sirius but then he shrugs with a sort of half-grimace, “or, well, y’know, not really. It’s not okay that Harry lost his parents or that James and Lily can’t see him grow up but…we’re trying our best to keep going.”
Remus nods, “It’s all you can do sometimes, isn’t it? Keep going.”
Sirius gives him an unreadable sort of look before he nods, “Yeah, s’ppose that’s right,” he smiles then, more genuinely this time as he turns back to the salad. “Anyway, didn’t mean to bring you down, but I suppose you would’ve heard it all eventually anyway. News travels fast in this village.”
Remus smiles a little ruefully, “Ah, yes, the perks of village life,” he deadpans, feeling his heart flutter slightly at the huff of laughter that comes from Sirius.
They continue preparing the food together, talking quietly about other things. Remus finds out that Sirius is an artist, a painter, which explains the smudges of paint he had seen on the other man’s hands. Remus tells him that he’s planning on helping his Mam with her book shop, she’s not getting younger and the shop has been in their family for generations so he would like to keep it going if he can.
He tells Sirius about how he moved away for University but how he dropped out to travel the world. How one year of travelling became three, became five and then ten. He tells him about how he had finally settled down in Berlin when Teddy was born.
He doesn’t tell him about Dora or why he had decided to return back home. That’s a story for a different time, maybe. Remus isn’t sure it’s a story he wants to share, not yet.
Sirius doesn’t ask. It’s as if he senses Remus’ reluctance to talk about it, and he steers the conversation back to safer grounds. He tells Remus about the school and walks him through what’s happened in the village over the past few years. He recognises a lot of it from what Hope has told him but it doesn’t matter. He likes listening to Sirius’ voice, and his observations are both sharper and more amusing than his mother’s.
Eventually dinner is ready and Sirius sets the table for them whilst Remus goes to get the kids. He manages to get both of them to wash their hands, despite their protests, and when the four of them are settled in the kitchen he feels a strange sort of calmness settle over him. It makes sense that they’re here, even though Remus has no idea how or why since they’ve only just met.
“Your food’s better than Padfoot’s,” Harry announces after he and Teddy have finished telling them about their day, smacking his lips in an exaggerated sort of way. “I think we should eat here more oftener.”
Remus tries not to smile at the indignant huff from Sirius, at the way he waves his fork in mock-seriousness at the kid.
“Hey, my cooking’s fine, sprog! You’ve never complained before.”
Harry doesn’t seem phased, merely shrugging as he polishes off the last bit of pasta from his plate.
“I was trying to be nice,” he says gravely, the look he sends his godfather bordering on pitying, “I don’t want your feelings being hurt.”
Sirius stares at the kid for a moment and Remus can’t help himself, snorting out a laugh and he can swear there’s the hint of a flush creeping up the other man’s neck but then he laughs, a loud and infectious sound as he reaches over to ruffle Harry’s hair.
“Fair enough. I appreciate it, sprog.”
Remus grins as watches them, pushing his own empty plate away. “Kids, at least they’re honest.”
“Too honest,” Sirius grouses, but it’s good naturedly, and his expression as he watches Harry who has turned back to Teddy is soft.
The rest of the evening goes smoothly, pasta followed by ice cream (only because they had guests, it was a regular Wednesday after all) and then Harry and Teddy want to go outside again so he makes a cuppa for himself and Sirius as they settle back on the porch. It’s nearly half six when they realise what time it is.
“It’s going to take me ages to get him to settle down enough to sleep tonight,” Sirius mutters under his breath in Remus’ general direction as they crowd in the hallway, Harry and Teddy still chattering animatedly to each other, and Remus smiles a little.
“Same here, but I doubt Teddy will have any complaints about his first day,” he pauses for half a beat, then, “neither do I, by the way. This was nice.”
Sirius glances at him then, grey eyes shining with something that Remus can’t quite place but the smile is slow and a warm in a way that he’s fairly sure is not only in his head. Especially not as Sirius clasp a hand on his shoulder, touch lingering just a fraction too long before he lets it drop.
“Next time dinner’s on me. Despite what Haz says, I am a decent cook.”
“I’m sure,” replies Remus in a way he hopes sound mostly casual as he forces himself to hold the other man’s gaze, “if nothing else, I’ve heard you know how to toss a salad.”
Sirius grins, a quick flash of teeth, “Among other things,” he agrees before wrapping an arm over Harry’s shoulder to steer him out the door. “Say good night, Haz.”
“Night,” the boy repeats dutifully, ”See you tomorrow Teddy.”
“Bye,” Teddy replies, and Remus can feel his hand fist into the hem of his shirt as if for support, a gesture he knows only too well as he puts an arm around his son’s shoulder.
They stay in the doorway until Sirius and Harry have disappeared out of sight. Teddy stifles a yawn, knocking against him a little as he steers the boy back inside. He hides his smile, not surprised if he’s dead on his feet after a rather intense first day in school.
“Had a good time?” He asks, as they climb the stairs up to Teddy’s room, and the boy nods.
“Harry’s my best friend now,” the boy says, eyes serious as he looks at Remus. “Did you have fun daddy?”
Remus smiles a little, thinking of grey eyes and pale skin and pink lips curled into a smirk. “Yeah,” he says, a little surprised at the realisation, ruffling his son’s hair. “Yeah, I did.”