yellow (remus lupin.)

forty nine.

FORTY NINE.

Handing a giggling Leo over to his grandfather, Remus had never felt such anxiety. Andrea had been delighted to have the young family visit for the day, whereas Tony was a little more protective and fierce than he had been when he saw him at Christmas, now wanting to know more about Remus through the method of intense scrutiny. They had only been there long enough for a cup of tea, yet Tony had practically got his bank details from him.

"We'll be back by tea." Cara explained to her mother as she laced up her chunky boots.

"Good, because we're going down the chippy!" She shouted back to her daughter from the kitchen.

There was something he loved about her family dynamic, something he had not seen before. The distinct lack of anything magic gave it a sense of normality and homeliness.

"Don't go without us!"

Squatting down and kissing both her son and her little sister, Cara bid goodbye to her parents. Lacing her hand into Remus's, she pulled him out of the front door and out into the open air.

"Where first?" He smiled, throwing his arm over her shoulder.

From behind them, an aggressive knocking on the pane of glass caught their attention sharply. Tony was stood in the window glaring at him with arms folded, making sure Remus knew where he stood with emphasised pointing from his eyes to the other man.

"Fuck me, the ghost of Sirius lives on." Cara joked, throwing up her middle finger at Tony causing him to break down and laugh. "First up, it's the bus stop."

Soaking up his surroundings, Remus couldn't get enough of it. Growing up, he had to constantly move villages once the community began to get suspicious over the growling monster heard every full moon, meaning he never really had a concept of feeling 'at home' somewhere. Cara however seemed to know each brick and street like the back of her hand, having not moved house since she was four. The way she didn't even have to think as she practically skipped along the pavement raised a smile from him, watching her in awe.

Reaching the bus stop conveniently at the same time as the bus did, she whispered up into his ear.

"You want the full experience, you're going to bump the bus with me. Follow what I do."

The smirk he was met with as she pulled away was eerily reminiscent of Sirius, when he used to rope Remus into wrongdoings back in their schooldays. Doing as he was told, he sat beside her on the perch under the bus stop as passengers filed on. As the last few paid their fair, he began to get confused as to why they weren't boarding.

"Why aren't we — " He muttered into her ear, but was met with her kicking him in the shin.

The driver jumped out of the cabin and lit up a cigarette as he headed to the back of the bus, being able to smoke out of the passengers's way. Lurching up from her seat and grabbing his hand, she pretended to fumble in her pocket for change and held a few coins in her hand. Babbling something about this being their bus to him, she hopped on board and slammed the coins onto dish by his door. Leading him upstairs, they snatched a pair of seats towards the back.

"What just happened?"

Opening the palm of her hand, the coins required for payment were still sat there.

"Fucking hell, you're a little criminal." He mumbled under his breath, chuckling.

"It's perfect, see? The bus driver didn't see us get on, and the people downstairs thought we paid." She grinned devilishly, but it dropped on seeing Remus's confusion. "Don't tell me you've never broken any laws."