Remus Lupin is definitely too pretty to die. (lykanthropos) wrote in find_horcruxes, @ 2009-07-27 03:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | remus lupin, sirius black |
RP Log: Sirius, Remus
Who: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin.
When: Backdated! 22 July, 1979. Laaaaate at night.
Where: Sirius's flat!
What: Remus can't stand worrying by himself, and so he decides to worry at Sirius. Naturally, this backfires.
Rating: PG-13? Something like that.
Status: Complete!
There had been a bit of the usual pacing going on, but that was Remus Lupin for you. Actually, that was Remus Lupin in the midst of trying to get his thoughts straight when they were being devilishly uncooperative about being put into any order or heeding to any variety of logic. It was the situation: lose his job, give up his flat, accept Adelaide Banges's offer for a roof over his head until he could amend the first two points -- brief pause, about-turn, commence pacing -- take Adelaide Banges out of the friendly acquaintances party (because he had read her words over a dozen times and despite having a skull thick as brick, it was difficult to dodge her meaning), place Adelaide Banges under the 'What Do I Do Now?!' classification, backtrack to consider what in Merlin's name Sirius was thinking, remember that trying to figure out Sirius's reasoning only meant a headache, and on and on and on... Remus was all too aware that the whole of it was a nasty run-on sentence, and as grammatically-attentive as he was, it was frown-inducing to say the least. That was roughly five minutes ago. Somewhere along the lines it struck Remus that there was only one thing to be done about it all -- no matter about the hour approaching something that could be considered late-getting-on-ungodly. At present, he reached up a hand, and gave the door to Sirius's flat three solid raps. Sirius had given up with journals for quite some time during the evening, if only because he had no particular desire to deal with Addie. He felt God awful for what he had done -- but how was he supposed to know that she had feelings for Remus? As far as Sirius was concerned, he was trying to do his mate something good and that was that. He didn't know that it would be getting as complicated as it had and somehow, he had even managed to anger Doris Purkiss in the process. To be quite honest, Sirius didn't even know how he managed to do that, but he didn't pay attention to that for the most part. After all, she was bound to be getting over that quickly enough and he had other, important things in mind. He had decided that he was going to try to go to bed early that night and had been happily laying down on his bed when he heard someone knock on the door. His first thought was that it may have been some Death Eater -- only someone barking mad would be making a call at this hour, yeah? He grabbed his wand quickly from the nightstand and slowly walked over to the door, but didn't open it. Instead, he peaked through the peak hole to see who it was and -- Merlin, was that Remus? Still not completely convinced that it was Moony, Sirius unlocked the door cautiously before opening the door. "Are you really Moony?" he questioned as he quirked a brow. Remus had allowed his sights to wander up the street, viewing some distant silhouettes to pass the short wait, but his attention reeled right around when the sound of the lock mechanics clicking reached his ears. By the time he was properly facing the doorway again, there was someone peering out from inside. Given that it was Sirius's place and that was Sirius's voice, even despite not being able to make out the face until his eyes could adjust to the light pouring out from inside, the safe bet was on it being Sirius. "Would have to be. No one else is mental enough to respond to that name," Remus replied, smiling wanly. Good enough answer, Sirius supposed, before opening the door completely and letting Remus in. "What are you doing here at this hour?" he asked, as he closed the door behind Remus. Sirius made sure to securely tighten up all the locks once again -- even though it was only the Muggle locks and if Death Eaters really wanted to break into his flat, it would have been easy to do so. "I'll have you know this is when normal people go to sleep, mate," Sirius said, yawning slightly for effect. Not that he himself was normal by any means. It was really some miracle that he decided to try going to bed early that particular night. He trotted to the couch and promptly plopped over before putting his feet up on the coffee table. "Need a place to stay already?" he asked in a joking manner, though the moment the words left his mouth, he felt awful. That certainly wasn't a thing to joke about. "Sorry, didn't mean it like that...." he trailed off, unsure of how to revoke his stupid behavior. He really was never going to learn. Following Sirius, Remus snagged the corner of the sofa as a seat before turning to send Sirius an eye-narrowed look. "Werewolf," he explained with a half-grin, pointing at himself. "Besides, I don't think we know any normal people." And there was his segue, Remus decided. Might as well mush right into it now that he saw the opening. He shook his head to the second of Sirius's remarks, waving it off entirely and trying to keep focused on the point he came over to make. "Well, no. We know them," he corrected, feeling that was slightly more fair. "...And they bolt away in abject terror," he added after a second's pause. "As well they should. And -- on that note -- you wouldn't've happened to have been in touch with one Adelaide Banges today?" "Wait until birds find out you're a werewolf -- I'm sure they'll jump all over you." Sirius was only half-joking at that, but he couldn't be entirely convinced otherwise. He will always be convinced that this was simply going to be the case, no matter what. "I'm telling Lily you called her abnormal," Sirius said, grinning stupidly. In all honestly, he would never ever tell Lily such a thing -- he was honestly slightly afraid of the bird but it was only because he didn't want to deal with all the screaming she had done when they were younger. Granted, Sirius deserved most of them, but still. Things like that just don't easily erase from a bloke's memory -- unless that bloke was James, apparently. Oh, bugger all -- Remus was going to really talk about Addie? When Sirius had specifically wanted to not bother with it for the rest of the evening. "Why?" he asked cautiously, twirling his wand as a mild distraction. "I mean, I speak to her everyday, yeah, but -- erm, why in particular today?" Remus's brows knitted briefly. Only Sirius would think lycanthropy was a veritable case for attracting women. "Oh, I can wait. There's no trouble about that." Maybe 'jumping' wasn't the right verb for how Remus imagined their reactions. And 'all over you' wasn't exactly lining up, either, for that matter. "Right, well," Remus plowed on, leaving the Lily crack peacefully alone. "She and I were conversing, and I figured it would help to forward along that I wouldn't need to... er... infringe on her solitary living arrangement, even though I was grateful for the offer..." He drew a few circles in the air with his right hand. "And all down the line, but that's not important. She didn't ever say anything to you about me, did she?" Sirius didn't bother responding to the first comment and instead decided to leave it alone. It was just one of those things that he liked to bother Remus about, though he wasn't sure that if anyone was actually going to find out about Remus's furry little problem. Sirius was sure as hell not going to tell anyone -- he hadn't told anyone up until now and there was no need to in the future, either. "Why are you being odd?" Sirius asked Remus, shooting him a quick glance. This was certainly weird -- normally it was he that asked Remus all sorts of questions regarding a girl -- never the other way around. "Did she say anything to you? She did say that you took back your answer about sharing a flat with her, but erm.. yeah." And that was it. Sirius wasn't going to babble any more. He had already done enough damage. A few seconds ticked away in absolute silence as Remus looked alongside to Sirius. As far as slip-of-the-tongues went, that last one was nearly a confession. Perhaps it didn't yield to answering about anything more than Sirius's involvement, but that was a good amount of what Remus needed to know. The rest of the puzzle would come together sooner or later. "Bit of an understatement." Remus sank back into the sofa, allowing his eyes to fix upon the distant part of the wall where it met the ceiling. "I'm not going to kill you, by the way. Adelaide said you were worrying about that." Those few seconds seemed like an eternity because oddly enough, Sirius felt as though he was under some sort of magnificent pressure at that moment. Why was he supposed to feel guilty? Well.. this particular time. Alright, perhaps he had a bit more to feel guilty than a normal person would have -- but still, it was for the good of his friend, honestly. "Good, I can sleep soundly tonight," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as well. If Sirius didn't know better, he would assume that Remus really did have a thing for Addie -- which was quite interesting, to say the least. But was he supposed to ask him that straight away? What if the answer was no? He couldn't possibly bear to see Addie's face later. But he really wanted to know the answer to that impending question and clearly the future consequences didn't matter as much as his curiosity did. "Why, you've got feelings for her or something?" he asked, raising a brow with a half-grin plastered on his face. "Meaning I'm only ruling out murder, which leaves a wealth of other choices to pick from," Remus retorted. Well, it was a noble attempt at a retort. He hadn't the right frame of mind to really deliver. Even his usual reserves of dry wit had all but vacated. It was troubling. Regardless of his feelings (whatever they might be when he got around to considering them), Addie had clearly been snagged in the mix up, and her parting words were driving the guilt home for Remus. And an arm's length away Sirius was grinning. It took a decent amount of control for Remus to not fling an arm out and cuff his mate on the shoulder. "You really did put out a call to set me up with someone, didn't you?" Right. So, that wasn't what Sirius was after, but Remus Lupin was nothing if not a master at dodging questions. "She told me she volunteered to spare me from the others, Sirius. And now what am I supposed to do?" "I can't wait until you follow through with that, Remus," he started off, snickering to himself quietly. Even if Remus was being completely serious, Sirius would never actually believe him. Unless he was in his other state of mind, Remus wouldn't hurt a fly -- those bookmarks, however, well they had another think coming. Sirius knew that once he was being questioned like that, there was no way he in hell he could get out of answering. He could beat around the bush and not answer completely, but still, there would have to be evidence of a hint of an answer. Might as well proceed with it. "Well, yes, I did. But I suppose that was already obvious. Which fat mouth told you, anyway?" Sirius really was going to murder whoever it was. Well, not if it was Addie. Which defied the entire purpose of his rage in the first place. "Oy, Remus, it's not that bloody difficult!" he exclaimed, before sitting up. "She's got feelings for you, yeah? Now you've got to figure out if you feel even remotely the same way. Honestly, I think she's a fine bird and decent enough for you -- unlike the other 'offers' I got -- and you really ought to seize the opportunity." He finished with a nod and leaned back against the cushion again, before glancing at Remus once more. For someone who had never been in a proper relationship before, Sirius knew what he was talking about. It was kind of shocking, even to himself. Fair point. No, Remus wouldn't ever resort to anything remotely violent by choice, but as his eyes fell upon the pillow beside him, he prided himself on being able to at least draw up alternate plans to fill those holes. He didn't even hesitate to pluck it off the sofa, and smack it straight into Sirius's nose as a reply to the dare. It did make him feel a bit better, he reflected, as he tucked the pillow neatly back into the corner from whence it came. All that had happened without Remus ever actually turning away from goggling at the far wall, as well. If Sirius meant to take a crack back, then he was fully as his own leisure to go for it. Now what was it Sirius asked? Oh, right. "I don't know if anyone's told you lately, but you..." Remus sent over a glance finally. "You aren't very couth. You're couthless." He stopped, sounding out a mute 'coo-th-leh-ess' as if trying it out to double check the fit. "And it's late and I haven't the foggiest if that's the word, but it sounds about right. I had a feeling something was up even before Adelaide took a turn at explaining." Remus shifted in his seat as he sorted through all the rest of the offered advice. He could already tell what the snag was: it wasn't that bloody difficult if you were Sirius Black. Remus Lupins of the world to even the smallest suggestion of romanticism were like oil to water. He never precisely made the case, but it was his belief that he ought not be putting any girl in the place of having to contend with a werewolf in their lives like that. It didn't seem fair. Not to whoever she happened to be. "I suppose," he replied. That -- well, that was unexpected. Sirius's chiding stopped almost immediately as his face met the pillow. He was no teenage girl -- he wasn't going to attack Remus's face with another pillow, but it certainly didn't mean that he didn't want to. Stupid prat. Stupid, unexpected prat. And that too -- with nonchalant behaviour! Really, Remus should have gone into acting -- Sirius reckoned that he would have done well, and probably even better than that James Dean bloke that Ted was so fond of. "I beg to differ, thanks. I'm sure I could find loads of girls who would tell you otherwise." That was his story and he was sticking to it. Sirius crossed his arms across his chest and looked over at Remus before sticking out his tongue. Perhaps he shouldn't be allowed to look after Dora very often, just for this... "What did Addie tell you?" he asked, making a slightly disgruntled face in the process. "I swear, whatever you've heard -- it was all for the good. I never intended for anything bad to happen. But I don't think anything bad happened, anyway, even if she thinks otherwise." Sirius paused for a brief moment and managed a chuckle in the moment. "I heard she went to church and whatnot for it, too. Silly girl." A blank stare followed Remus's reply as Sirius had no idea how to respond to that. "You suppose?" he asked, just barely managing to blink. "You suppose what, exactly? Do you fancy her or not, mate? Do I have to go on and ask her out for you?" He managed to smile for a moment before reaching over and hitting Remus on the back playfully. "Can't believe you fancied someone and didn't tell me or James. So unpredictable, Moony!" Remus raised both brows as Sirius stuck out his tongue, only just resisting a sigh. It was a blamed uphill struggle trying look mostly unfazed by the laughs and the grins and all the nonsense that made up Sirius Black, but he rather thought he did decent job of playing the straight man. Not that he couldn't stop himself from slipping into a mirrored grin from time to time, of course, but the old composure was holding up right now. At least there was a real conversation going on, anyway. That was a victory worth noting. "I know. I interrupted her while she was in church." Remus chewed the inside of his cheek. "She told me that much, then about spelled it out that she fancied me, and then..." He rolled his shoulders up, holding a shrug until he finished, "Dashed off." The right side of Remus's mouth tugged backward as he looked over to Sirius. There had to be a reason why he came to Sirius of all people about this, but it was escaping him at the moment. He wobbled a bit from an after-effect of the back-slap, retaining the fretful expression that had settled into place when Sirius offered to ask her out for him. "I suppose..." Sirius didn't need any encouragement, Remus felt. "That about wraps this up. It's late and you were off to bed, I'm sure. Good idea, that," he assured his friend amicably. He let out another chuckle -- just at the mere thought of Remus interrupting Addie while she was at church. What a way to go about doing things. Were journals even allowed in church? Sirius didn't see why they couldn't be allowed in church, but he assumed that they would be rather distracting. He had never been to the church himself, but he could just imagine what it would have been like -- the gasps of horror, the chuckles, the noises -- surely other churchgoers would be distracted. "So what's the problem? I fail to see it." And he really couldn't fathom what the problem was. An attractive bird like Addie fancied Remus and yet, there the bloke was, on Sirius's couch. Really, Remus ought to start learning how to handle femmes from Sirius. "She.. dashed off?" So perhaps he was able to see the problem slightly now. But he didn't know how to handle that -- bloody women. Bat shit, all of them. Sirius rolled his eyes ever so slightly and shook his head. "Oy, no, sit down. You're not leaving anywhere until we figure out this mess. What do you want to do?" Sirius asked, running a hand through his hair, somewhat haphazardly. "Don't make me send Doris after you, mate." "Figuratively," Remus amended. "It was all in writing, but 'And she closed her journal' seemed lacking on the imagery front." He frowned at the thread-bare state of his trouser knees, although not because of the thread-bare state. It was halfway to climbing to his feet to make a needed exit that Sirius had asked him to it back down, and Remus cursed himself for listening. He always listened. Why did he listen? Of course, a smarter internal voice suggested that it was because Sirius had a point. And, well, fleeing the scene was likely to be as incriminating as any other answer Remus could give. Life was rottenly condemning at times. "I want to bury my head in a book for a few hours and see if I can forget this ever happened?" Remus attempted. "Don't send Doris. Dear God, don't send Doris." Leave it to Remus to correct himself. Sirius hadn't exactly believed that she dashed off, literally, but of course, he had to hear the clarification, anyway. He didn't bother rolling his eyes and instead just stared at Remus in awe. "I dunno, mate, I think that sounds quite dramatic." A foolish grin appeared on his face a moment later as he just sat there, quite amused at the situation suddenly. His plan had worked, after all! Sirius Black WAS a genius -- now to make everyone else acknowledge it. "So you don't fancy Addie? Does that mean I can go after her?" For the first time in his life, Sirius used carefully-picked words, if only because he realized recently how much power words could have. If he kept going on about how Addie was, in fact, more perfect for himself rather than Remus, then maybe that would have forced Remus out of his shell and actually go for her himself. "I mean, I know she fancies you and all -- but, I'm Sirius Black." That was reason enough. Remus blinked back as Sirius mock-gaped, retaining quite the poker face. It was a talent of his that had once gotten him through many sittings in Professor McGonagall's office, when she silently waited for him to explain whatever the trouble had been, and how it came to be that things kept going awry under his Prefect-ly watch. She had to know he wasn't one to rat out his mates, no matter if there was a badge pinned to his lapel or not, but that never seemed to discourage her from making him want to sink between the floorboards while he was attempting to keep his silence. And Remus would've dropped the act if not for the next thing Sirius had said. The hint of a worry line was already creasing his brow, but he fought it back as best he could. Sirius was Up To Something. "It's really not my call to make, Sirius..." A truthful point to make: it wasn't as if Remus could claim rights to deciding who all wanted to pursue who. Besides, when it came to situations that he could view from a bench seat, it was in good spirits that he often did just that. "You are Sirius Black," Remus agreed, nodding. This definitely was a trap. Somewhere, at any moment, the iron teeth were going to jump up from a hidden patch in the leaves and latch onto his ankle. Remus looked at Sirius for a quiet moment, clearly fighting with his own thoughts as he narrowed his eyes. "I'm not saying that I feel either way about Addie, you understand," he ventured carefully. "But..." Sirius didn't know what Remus was trying to play at, really. Either he fancied Addie or he didn't. But yet, Remus was somehow going to make things way more complicated than necessary, it seemed. Sirius shot him a small smirk and managed to raise a brow before resorting to a small, but toothy grin. "Not your call to make? Then whose is it? Your mum's? Is she going to tell you to fancy Addie and ask her out?" A-ha! There was a 'but'! Certainly a good turn of events, considering how valiantly Sirius had been fighting for the past few minutes. Perhaps his presence really was helping Remus with his confidence. Really -- Remus should hang out with Sirius more often. All this positive influence was certainly for the good of the world, whether the world realized it or not. "But what, Moony?" A sly grin followed his somewhat teasing question. Oy, this was bloody fun. He really should torture Remus more often. "Bloody hell, I swear, I'm going to just ask her out for you, I hope you know." He paused for a brief moment and used that moment to sigh dramatically. "I hope you realize how embarrassing this is for me -- one of my best mates having difficulties asking out a girl. That's bloody preposterous! You're supposed to be naturally good at this thing -- or at least have learned from me. Come on, mate, you are better than Peter." "That's exactly it," Remus returned, rolling his eyes, though a smile had broken through. He made a noble attempt to keep it pegged at a smile, too, as it was threatening to veer off into grin territory. It was just impossible trying to make a case with Sirius around to go off and drag people's mothers into things. It was impossible trying to make a case with Sirius around -- full stop. "As soon as I hear back from my mother, I'll let you know directly." Deflating his lungs, Remus sighed as he looked upward and at the ceiling. "But I didn't think out what I was going to say before I said 'but'. Moot point. Although it was something to the effect of 'What sort of bloke would I be to let Sirius Black swoop in on the poor girl?'" He sent Sirius a pointed, brow-raised look. "You wouldn't. Sirius, you are not going to ask her out for me. The only one that ought to be doing any asking is me." And snap! went the trap. Remus nearly grimaced. "If -- if I ever happen to go out with Adelaide, I can very well manage the asking on my own, I mean. Your dignity can rest easy." Oh, good Merlin. Sirius simply laughed at Remus and shook his head before speaking up. "Can't wait for the response. Tell her that you'll give her grandchildren as soon as possible so that she won't worry, yeah?" As that seemed to be Mrs. Potter's number one worry. Sirius was just joking for the most part, but hell, if Remus really wanted to go that far with his new-found crush, then that was going to be a turn of events. He opened his mouth to retort quickly but instead of interrupting Remus like he normally would have done, he sat there, listening to his mate. The open-mouthed expression just turned into a jaw drop at the end of Remus's epiphany, as the sides of his lips started to form a small smile. "Remus Lupin." That was all he could manage as he cracked a smile, once again. "See? That wasn't such a bloody difficult confession, was it?" He merely chuckled at Remus's obvious discomfort before tilting his head to the side. "So when's that going to happen, you reckon?" "That isn't what I --" Oh, what was the use? It was that Remus trusted Sirius would ask her out for him that caused the lapse in thinking out his response. Somehow, letting Sirius handle things any more than he already had seemed to be asking for trouble (well, more trouble), and jumping around that patch of rough terrain meant landing right in a pile of... you know. Besides, Adelaide didn't deserve this. She had only meant to help, and she didn't realise she'd picked someone so rubbish at contending with his own feelings -- or, rather, someone that shoved them way back into his skull and tried to pretend they didn't exist. Wasn't her fault. Not hardly. At the very least Remus owed her something in return for the unwarranted kindness. And, what's more, he found himself wondering in earnest about her, now. Sirius was likely having a field day watching this all pan out, though Remus didn't take a look alongside to see. "I'll sort it out. Just... don't rush me," Remus finally answered. Well, finally some sort of a positive sign! Sirius didn't say anything else, and instead watched with an amused smile Remus as he sorted out his thoughts about the situation. It was an excellent turn of events, and he had to admit that he was quite proud of himself for helping the situation. When he started to -- erm, pimp out, Remus to the female population, he didn't expect this at all, and yet, here he was, trying to sort it all out. If only he had known that there was something between Addie and Remus. Then that whole mess wouldn't have happened, and Doris wouldn't have been so irritated with him. (Even though Sirius was sure that she wouldn't be irritated for much longer -- it was Doris, after all.) But he was excited at the prospect of Remus having a possible love interest -- and hell, even a future girlfriend. When Remus finally spoke up, Sirius smiled in an understanding manner and didn't dare take a crack at the confession. It was probably already difficult enough for Remus to admit what he had, and Sirius didn't want to take it away by making some inappropriate comment. "Alright, Moony. I'll trust your judgment on this one." "Thanks," Remus replied, sucking in a breath and drawing out the exhale. He really had some thinking to do when he had time to himself again. For now, the lateness of the hour seemed an excuse enough to shelve that foray into the unknown, and Remus gladly put the line on hold. With any luck, Sirius wouldn't press him about Adelaide any more for the night. Morning. Whatever it was at this point. "And the next time you get one of these ideas," Remus began again, quirking a brow and almost -- but not quite -- grinning at Sirius, "Use it to help Peter out instead." "Oh, you mock me now -- but it worked for you, didn't it?" Sirius snapped back in a joking manner, very glad to know that Remus was finally coming to terms with it. Finally. "He would very much appreciate it, I bet. I don't see why he wouldn't. I've got living proof right here." Sirius pointed his hand towards Remus and waved it around, as if indicating that he was indeed the living proof. "I should make this my career. Clearly I'm very well-equipped for whatever situation. The pay rate would be bloody brilliant, I reckon...." he trailed off, laughing slightly. Not that many of his friends needed to be set up with anyone, anyway. But it certainly was an interesting career choice, if Sirius ever ventured off towards that way. He let out a small yawn after a moment, and realized that perhaps, just perhaps, he was getting tired finally. "Want the couch for the night? I don't reckon it's too safe to go by yourself now, even if you're a big, bad werewolf and shit." We'll see about that, Remus thought as he ran a hand through his hair. Maybe Sirius considered the entire conversation a victory, but Remus preferred to wait until all was said and done before making the call. There was enough room for things to still go spectacularly wrong, after all, and luck hadn't always been a Lupin's best friend. "I think people get into that line of work because they appreciate the intangible rewards more than the money, Sirius," was the return. Remus offered a mild shrug, faintly smirking. "But you follow your heart, and let me know how it turns out." He then turned his thoughts to the options he had for the remainder of the night. It wasn't as if Remus was ever unwilling to travel by night, and there was the fact that the end of the month was coming quickly; soon enough he'd have to pack up his things and say farewell to his flat, as it was. It really depended on how he wanted to view that: this could be one less night of pure independence, though maybe it wasn't any huge loss, anyway. It was getting dangerous to be skulking around after darkness fell. "If I say yes, I won't be waking up with something jammed up my nose, will I?" "I'll think of names for my business tonight and let you know tomorrow morning, Moony." He flashed Remus another grin and finally got up to his feet. Sirius managed to grin foolishly at Remus's sudden doubts and shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not." And just in case Remus still had any doubts about it, Sirius decided to clarify and make him feel at ease. He had already troubled his mate enough for the day and didn't need to do it anymore. "No, Remus, you will not. I'd like to think I've grown up, thanks!" Sirius would have liked to think, but most people knew that he really hadn't. He walked to his room quickly and picked up a spare blanket before returning to the couch. Throwing it at Remus, he said, "Sleep well. And if the Death Eaters decide to drop by in the night, tell them I'm not here." He was joking. For the most part. And with that, he returned to his room and decided to call it a night. |