Chapter Text
"Holy shit, he's tall," Marlene whispered down the line to her friends, her long blonde hair flying as she swivelled her head rather obviously between each of their faces and the guy who just walked into their English Lit class. Lily poked Marlene while Mary sat up as straight as she could to get a good look, furrowing her brow in response to the heads of the rambunctious lot in front of her, blocking her view. What was Dr. Elliot even talking about?
"Mr. Lupin, I presume?" their professor stopped to address the new guy. "Yeah, that's me," he replied, his voice deep and raspy. Despite the lack of regular interest in the class, Dr. Elliot’s habit of taking regular attendance ensured a full class. He motioned to one of the few empty spots. "Well, go ahead and have a seat, we can discuss your books after class," the squatty professor waved his hand, annoyed by the interruption.
Mr. Lupin, the tall, deep-voiced stranger slipped into the seat in front of Marlene, dropping his worn looking leather messenger bag onto the floor in front of him and letting his fluffy golden brown curls fall into his face. He looked so uncomfortable, long legs jutting into the seats in front of him and shoulders hunched so he didn't block the people behind him. As the new student occupied the last available theatre-style seat in the room, their professor resumed his rant about moral themes in their current text and her friends returned to their previous distractions.
Lily eventually started listening to their professor and Mary got distracted with a magazine and taking occasional notes. In front of her, James, Peter and Sirius passed notes back and forth and whispered obnoxiously loudly. Marlene watched him sympathetically as he kept pulling his sweater over his hands, and scrawled into a black notebook. He shifted in his seat as her spirited friends spilled over purposefully into his personal space. “Watch it, guys!” she hissed and swatted Sirius on the arm, who threw an innocent look over his shoulder, hand over his heart as though wounded by an accusation.
But Sirius turned back around and finally sat properly on his seat, returning his hands to his notebook and began writing his name over and over in big, obvious calligraphy, making a display of the fact that he was most definitely not paying attention.
Their professor promptly ended his lecture at 1:59 pm and announced that they'd continue next Thursday.
"You guys go ahead, I’ve a question for Dr. Elliot," Marlene called to her friends. Lily gave her a strange look, and Mary cocked her head. James threw an arm around Sirius and Peter and raised his eyebrows, "You mean Mr. Lupin?" Sirius broke out of his grasp, waving them away and announcing, "Yeah, I've got that same question," Marlene pressed her lips into a thin line, trying
to come up with an excuse to get him to leave with the rest of them, when the door they'd just exited swung wide open.
The brooding new boy froze and stared at the cobblestone ground, and he hunched his shoulders and prepared to squeeze past them. But Sirius was too quick, switching into one of his more charming modes, "Mr. Lupin, that was such a mystifying entrance, pray tell us your first name?" His hands outstretched, they waited patiently for the new boy to answer. He stared at Sirius's hand and momentarily glanced over to where Marlene was standing, shifting his weight and still not making any eye contact.
"I'm Remus," he choked out, decidedly repositioning his hands on the strap of his bag. Sirius paid no mind to his refusal of the hand shake. He held out his arms and smiled a true Sirius Black smile, "Well Remus Lupin, it is lovely to make your acquaintance. My name is Sirius Black and this is my dear friend Marlene McKinnon. Would you do us the honor of accepting an invitation to eat lunch in what is quite possibly the best location in all of our humble campus?”
Marlene looked at Remus, smiling and nodding a little when he looked back at her. She was pretty sure he'd have denied it if Sirius wasn't still holding his arms out expectantly. Remus tried to smile back, eyes still on the floor, but shrugged finally and threw up his hands. "Sure, why not?"
Sirius inclined his head nobly, like the little rich aristocrat he was born to be, no matter how he may deny it, and led the way. Marlene smiled sweetly at Remus, who she could have sworn just snorted as Sirius theatricality walked on.
She laughed out loud and gestured ahead, assuring Remus quietly that yes, Sirius was always like that. Remus laughed again and Sirius turned around, whipping his head then his body followed and he began to walk backwards, tilting his head to the side and raising his eyebrows. "Ms. McKinnon, is something hilarious?"
Marlene giggled and pointed beyond Sirius, just in time to save himself from ramming into a tree branch where the path began to turn. "Who in the blazing fuck would put that there? This is ridiculous!" Sirius spun gracefully back onto the path, turning to walk alongside his companions. "So, Mr. Lupin, will you share with me the reason for your delightful snorting, for I dearly love to laugh?" Marlene took huge steps to keep up with Remus' naturally long stride and Sirius's energetic habit of speedwalking. Remus smiled at the sidewalk and kept walking quietly.
"Alas, Remus Lupin prefers to remain a mystery to us, which may seem like a tragedy, but worry not, I can be very persuasive," Sirius announced with a wiggling eyebrow. "We've almost arrived at our destination.” He jumped out in front of them, feet planted and hands up once more, "Before we continue, sir, you must agree to the following terms."
Remus swallowed, resolutely trying to hold eye contact. Marlene thought he'd hardly raised his head once in the past 4 hours since she'd see him first. He just nodded. "First, that you will never share the location of this lunch with anyone who is not here today, and second, that you will let me see what's in your glorious bag."
Marlene groaned, "Sirius, you're mad. This is a public campus and you can't go looking through people's stuff." Sirius let out a huff and looked back and forth between them, about to argue, when Remus answered. "Alright, then."
Sirius broke into a mischievous smirk and stuck his tongue out at Marlene, who rolled her eyes.
“Follow me.” He squeezed right through the hedges next to the building behind them, and Marlene followed, gesturing for Remus to come along.
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! I have just had the pleasure of making a new acquaintance. Please welcome, the one and only Mr. Remus Lupin,” Sirius shouted at the group, bowing deeply and holding out his arms yet again to present their new friend. They were sitting around a few forgotten park benches that seemed as though they belonged to another century.
A massive willow tree obscured the small sitting area, ironically forgotten in the many beautification projects the University of Glasgow had undertaken over the years, creating an overgrown canopy of leafy shade cast over the old tables. The girls sat together at the bench, passing a container of grapes back and forth and giggling. Peter and James reclined on the grass below them and Mary took turns lazily tossing grapes into their mouths.
Everyone raised their eyes to the clearing between hedges where they’d emerged from, a short burst of cheering and applause as Remus stepped over a bush and into the soft grass. A tan boy with messy dark curls sticking up in different directions stood up on a bench and shouted, “Welcome, good sir!” He made an elaborate curtsy, and Remus looked down, his face turning beet red at the sudden spotlight.
“That’s Sirius’s brother, James,” Marlene whispered to him, tugging his forearm softly, encouraging him to venture deeper into the secret lunch spot. “You don’t say,” Remus snorted.
“Get over here and let me search your bag, handsome,” Sirius called from his seat next to Lily, twirling one of his shiny, long, black curls between his fingers. The girls eagerly stared, not so much surprised by Sirius’s boldness, but curious to see how Remus would react. His cheeks reddened, but he looked down and approached them anyhow, wondering how the hell this was happening. Remus had a group of friends once, but it had been so long. The girls giggles and James’s suddenly attentively raised eyebrows made him think, just for a second, that something could be starting here. Were these people his friends now?
He wasn’t quite sure, so he reached over the table to set the bag down in front of Sirius instead of tossing it over. It felt a little like approaching a royal court where Sirius was the monarch, his long fingers delving into the contents of the bag and searching his expression for the thoughts behind his eyes. He tried his best to keep a straight face, failing miserably as Sirius held his gaze and calmly passed each item out to each of the girls, and Peter and James perked up, joining them at the table.
Lily unzipped a small canvas case and pulled out some of his pencils, frowning at the charcoal smudges the bag was leaving on her fingers. Marlene looked at the ID in the front pocket of his wallet, holding it up next to his head and looking back and forth rapidly between them, as if comparing his 16-year-old face with the 20-year-old one in front of her. “You look much younger here,” she remarked, bouncing over the top of the picnic table to show James the photo. Peter peered over their shoulders and squinted at the photo, “You’re 20?”
“Uh, well almost,” Remus answered, rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding eye contact as the group passed his ID around and compared it to his current state. “His birthday is in March, my dear,” Sirius replied, still diving into the rest of the contents. “Oh, right, so a couple months away,” Peter replied, looking down. “That’s right, darling. Hey, Remus, mine is the 27th of March,” James threw an arm around his shoulder and flashed a smile at Remus. He had annoyingly perfect teeth but his wild hair was endearing and made him look innocent. Trustable.
Remus' shoulders tensed as Sirius slid the black leather book out from the bag, the last thing left, which he’d hoped in vain that he’d have skipped. Mary reached out to take it, but Sirius held it out above her, shaking his head at her friend. “Are you a writer, Remus Lupin?” the corners of his lips curled into a smirk and dark eyes peered through wickedly long eyelashes. Remus held his breath and shrugged, in that moment all too aware of the heat creeping up his neck. Sirius carefully placed the book back into the bag, plucking the rest of the items from his friends’ curious hands and arranging them all exactly as they had been.
James laughed, surrendering the wallet he’d been thumbing through. “Well, Sirius?” James’s carefree cadence pierced the tension of silence Remus had yet to break. He held the bag out with one hand, thin arms drooping a bit at its weight, and Remus reached out and swung it back over his shoulder, standing up straight and wordlessly waiting for his appraisal as if it would get him a better grade.
The rest of the group began to collect their things, packing leftovers away and listening to Mary describe a movie that was coming out that weekend. Sirius grabbed a crisp out of Peter’s hand, popping it in his mouth. “You have Medieval History next with Vance?” he offered, swinging his long legs over the bench and taking purposeful strides toward where Remus’ feet had remained planted throughout the whole of lunch.
“Yeah,” Remus answered, eyebrows seaming together in confusion. Sirius held out the class schedule he’d scrawled onto a piece of paper he’d ripped from a notebook, getting closer and closer to Remus’ face he was just under him, inches shorter than he was but with a presence that was larger-than-life. Remus let a breath out that he just realized he’d been holding.
“So do I,” he announced, confidently breaking eye contact and heading toward the hedges, glancing over his shoulder before he stepped through the space. “Well? Let’s go, Mr. Lupin.”