Bewitched | wolfstar au

Eighty-three

That night, Sirius comes downstairs for dinner. Remus can't imagine that he's supposed to, but either whatever painkillers the Mediwizards gave him are some really strong ones, or his healing potions are really working their magic, because Sirius doesn't even flinch. If it weren't for Regulus holding his arm, he'd probably leap down from the first step. 

James and Auguste are already seated, waiting for the three other boys. Remus looks at James, trying to catch his eyes, but James is too focused on Sirius to notice. A weird, cumbersome sort of silence settles over them. The kind of silence that makes itself felt with just how silent it is. Remus shifts in his seat, stealing a glance at Sirius, who's staring at James with a questioning look.

"Oh, for Salazar's sake," Regulus snaps. "Spit it out, you two."

Remus and Sirius exchange a look of confusion. 

Both James and Auguste are carefully examining the surely most interesting tablecloth. 

Regulus groans. "I'm doing it," he says threateningly. "Go ahead," James mumbles, ears pink. Regulus rolls his eyes. "I," he drags the word out, turning to Remus and Sirius with a nefarious little smirk on his face. "Walked in on these two making out... And apparently they're dating now." 

Sirius' mouth literally falls open. He turns to James, eyes wide. James reaches over the table to place a hand on Sirius jaw to close his open mouth. "You... What?"

Remus can't help the smug smile that draws itself across his lips. 

"You... you two?" Sirius' mouth falls open again. James shuts it a second time, face pink. Sirius turns to Remus, probably seeking someone to share his confusion with. He frowns when he catches Remus smiling. 

"You... knew?"

Remus can't help his grin.

"How do you know?" Regulus frowns, too. "Only I... Unless... Oh my days," he almost stands up. "You've... You've done it before?" He turns to James and Auguste. 

"Stop it," James groans, hiding his face in his hands. Auguste, although shy about the whole ordeal, watches him with a crooked smirk.

"Wait, no, stop," Sirius speaks up. He pokes James' shoulder a bit too harshly. Remus frowns. Could it be that Sirius is angry? Emotionally attached or not, he did have some sort of relationship with Auguste...

"You told Remus and not me?" Sirius shakes his head in disappointment. "I'm... hey, Reg?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think medicine for broken ribs also works for broken hearts?"

Remus chokes on half a laugh. Sirius turns to him with a mock glare. "You laugh at my pain, Lupin? Like this isn't betrayal of the highest degree?"

Remus shakes his head, having no real comeback. But he can't stop smiling. Never does he feel as good as he does when he sees Sirius being like this. Playful and happy and himself.

"I wasn't going to..." James blushes, "It's just..."

"Just what?" Sirius narrows his eyes. "If you cheated on me, you better have a valid excuse, Prongs,"

"He... gave me tea?" James cringes.

"Oh," Sirius pauses. "Fair enough." He takes a minute to think it over, but then his face blooms into the cheekiest, most shit-eating grin Remus has ever seen. "So..." his grin somehow grows impossibly wider, "All this time you've been going at each other's throats... It was actually sexual tension?"

"Sirius, no—" Regulus slaps his forehead. 

"Sirius, yes," Sirius grins. "I can't believe this—" he lets his smile fall. "But I'm really happy for you." Remus doesn't miss how he seems to address the last bit to Auguste especially. "You both deserve to be happy."

Remus nods. "Congratulations, you two," he smiles at the two boys.

They turn to Regulus. "What?" He frowns. "Oh, yeah. Happy dating, or whatever," he rolls his eyes. 

"Be nice, Reg," Sirius tells him. 

"I just can't believe you turned him gay," Regulus tells Auguste.

Auguste raises an eyebrow. "I'm quite sure you can't just... turn someone gay, Reg,"

"Yeah, well I can't," Regulus grumbles. "But you can. Trust me, I tried with this idiot for literal years,"

It's Auguste and Remus' turn to be shocked now. And then Remus remembers something from a while ago. 

'I'm not just gay for Snape. I'm stupidly gay for him. Have you even seen his hair?'

'All my friends...'

Remus never imagined this all my friends of Sirius' included James.

"Can we please stop," James goes even redder. Auguste looks at him, eyes sparkling. "Why, look at you, Potter," he smirks, "Quite the demand you are,"

"I hate you," James mumbles, covering his face again.

Auguste opens his mouth to retaliate, but closes it. A moment later, he speaks up. "I have a good  comeback, but on account of us being at the dinner table, I'm not going to say it out loud."

"Please do," Sirius grins, "I'd love to hear it,"

"Please don't," Regulus scoffs. "Remus is here. Do you want to corrupt him, too?"

"No worries," Sirius leans closer to cover Remus' ears with his hands. "I've got it covered,"

"I can still hear you," Remus says flatly, ducking his head to save himself from Sirius' unrelenting hands. 

"Well... Guess I'll never hear it, then..." Sirius pouts.

"Isn't that just tragic," Regulus rolls his eyes, standing up. "Let's eat before the food goes cold," he says, starting to serve Sirius. Remus, as discreetly as he can, watches Sirius' face to see if he shows any sign of revulsion, but he doesn't. 

"Thanks, Reg," he smiles at his brother. Regulus lifts his head to give Sirius a soft smile. Remus smiles to himself. Just before he can pick up his cutlery, he feels Sirius give his knee a small squeeze. When Remus raises his eyes, Sirius is smiling at him. He leans a bit closer, his flowery perfume spilling into Remus' sense. 

"Thank you," he whispers and quickly pulls away. Remus watches him for a second. He can't be sure what exactly he's being thanked for. But he decides not to stress himself out over it. Because he's happy. He might not be tomorrow. but he's happy now. What's more, Sirius is happy, too. And for Remus, hardly anything else could matter more.

*** 

Author's Note

Hi, unfortunately I do still exist. I'm self-quarantining cause I'm a second contact for COVID (I don't think I have it, but I have to do it. Not like self-quarantining is any different from my everyday life lmao) Hope all of you are alive. 

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