you’re so obtuse but i love you anyway: au where sirius doesn’t go to azkaban, and james and lily don’t die, and sirius and remus work at hogwarts, in conjunction with the wolfstar nerds discord server.
sirius is chaperoning a hogsmeade weekend. he wears his leather jacket, emblazoned with padfoot across the back, and his favorite sex pistols jumper to the outing.
1.7k words of fluff
the sunshine streaming in to the room is a lie if you ask sirius. the warm glow of the morning dapples in through the windows, and casts the most glorious light on remus’s dirty blonde waves, and illuminates the splattering of caramel freckles on remus’s nose. it truly is a sight to behond, and if sirius didn’t feel so utterly cynical about the sun right now, he’d probably thanking merlin that he gets to see remus looking this beautiful and peaceful. but the sun is a liar. april in scotland has no business pretending to be warm the way it does. the sun beaming down on the grass looks so fucking lovely that he shouldn’t need a coat, and yet the temperature is still a cool 45 degrees.
he’s lucky that he isn’t expected to dress with the formality does to teach, he’s lucky, because it means he can pull on the acid washed sex pistols jumper remus has been wearing around their quarters recently, that smells like him, to chaperone his third years at hogsmeade. he’s so grateful that he and remus are here, together, teaching. in their youth, they had never really grasped what life would be like beyond the war. he and james had discussed it once, but they never got further into the conversation then maybe we’ll be quidditch players. and puddlemere united didn’t want someone like him on the team. james didn’t want to go out for the trial when he had a new baby at home. so instead, sirius and remus had settled for a bit. they had a spell of muggle london, and they had loved every minute of it. they had relaxed into routines of going to clubs, going on dates, perfecting recipes, and living in domestic bliss. but eventually, that had come to an end, and they needed something to occupy their days. sirius was thankful that the war had ended, and that dumbledore had offered him a job at his alma mater, teaching defense against the dark arts, no less. it had always been a class he deemed useful, despite how close to home it hit for him. he and remus were back in the castle they had forged their relationship in, walking the same walls they walked in their youth. and now, he was off to watch a new generation of students do the same thing, taking their friends to hogsmeade and courting each other over a chocolate bar.
he thin fingers wrap around the soft fabric of the jumper, and the feeling of warmth, of a closeness to his lover, radiates through him from the contact. it makes his chest ache in the best way to have access to remus’s clothes like this, and to be able to wear them without fear. there had been so much to be afraid of, so many hurdles to overcome in this castle the first time. but the world was a different place, four short years ago when he graduated. he pulls the jumper over his head, and the smell of parchment, oak, and earth overwhelms him. it could make him cry tears of joy, if he thought too hard about it. he slips on his drainpipe jeans, and his chuck taylor trainers. remus had always been fond of them, and who was sirius to deny his boyfriend the simple pleasures in life. he puts on the kettle, as usual for his morning routine, and heads toward a mirror to style his hair. he’s finally gotten his inky strands to lay just right when he hears remus stirring in bed. the part of his mind that he thinks accounts for his wit forces a smug smile on his face, because he can’t help the way he immediately feels pride knowing when remus will wake up, given his routine. just on time.
when remus finally sits up in bed, the kettle is ready. so instead of returning empty handed, sirius waltzes back towards the four poster bed with to mugs in toe, one tea black with a heaping scoop of sugar, one with milk and honey in the perfect balance for his snobbish, tea drinker boyfriend. there’s a light smile on his face, and he hands off the beverage before he even has the time to greet remus with a sweet good morning moonbeam.
“cariad bore da” remus smiles, his eyes still hazy in his early morning sleepiness.
“morning, love.” sirius smiles, although he’d be a liar if he said he’d actually been told what those words meant. through context clues, he’d figured it out long ago. it’s the same way remus greets him every morning, with the same pet name he’d been given all those years ago in sixth year.
“you’re chaperone today, right?” “yeah, ‘m right chuffed about it honestly.” “oh, i’m sure you are.” remus grins, because he knows that sirius “i’m super punk” black loves chaperoning the kids on hogsmeade weekends. he loves to impart any wisdom he has at zonko’s. he loves to come back with little surprises, like a new book or some chocolates for remus.
“so you’ll be back around dinner, then, yeah?”
“should be. i’ve got to shove off, if i don’t want minnie to have my arse for being late.”
sirius pulls remus into a kiss, and it’s so full of the love and peace they’ve made for themselves, right here, in this home. if sirius was being honest, he’s probably never been more at ease, even with the snivelling greasy git of snape roaming the halls with him. he pulls on his leather jacket and makes a move for the door.
“oi, sirius black! you’re really gonna walk out of here in that jacket, and my jumper, right now. that’s fucking unfair.”
“moony, i’ll be walking back in here in your jumper and this jacket in a couple of hours.” he laughs. he tosses his hair over his shoulder to make eye contact with remus as he reaches for the door, and he definitely doesn’t pretend not to notice the way remus gives him a once over with a love sick smile adorning his face.
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when sirius arrives in hogsmeade, he does as he’s supposed to. he keeps an eye on the kids, seating himself on a bench to keep track of who’s going in and out of zonkos. he’s already taken care of his errands in the small town for the day, a tiny package secured in the zipped pocket of his jacket, and a bar of chocolate for remus in his other pocket, patiently waiting for when he returns to their chambers in the evening. he doesn’t expect to see liz tuttle and penny haywood walking up to him, eyes wide and giggling over something. neither seemed like the pranking type, and most of the students knew that that was truly his specialty on these trips.
“professor black!” penny calls, and he looks up from his book to acknowledge them.
“alright girls?”
“we just had a question for you.” liz begins, her eyes fixed intently on his jacket. he isn’t exactly shocked, really, neither penny nor liz had ever asked him about it, but that didn’t mean plenty of other students hadn’t had inquiries about his proclivity for muggle fashion, or the fact that he never wore robes. both he and remus dressed much more like muggles than the majority of the hogwarts staff, and students were bound to have questions about muggle casual clothes.
“what’s a padfoot?” liz asks. she was clearly the bolder of the two, but penny was also a joy in his class.
“sorry– what?”
“padfoot? you’re always wearing that jacket, and it says padfoot across the back. what’s it mean?”
sirius can feel his lips curling into a smile, but he simply shakes his head. he couldn’t tell them it was his nickname. not when the map, which was still in the castle, clearly stated messr. padfoot on it. he could deny any connection to the map, should it come up, if no one knew it was his nickname.
“it’s a muggle joke, girls. don’t worry about it.”
“is that–” penny starts, but liz shoots her some kind of look that sirius has neither the time nor the energy to decode. “is that the jumper professor lupin wears all the time?”
that however, does get a reaction out of him. the young man can feel his cheeks going read at the question, because he really didn’t think these kids took so much stock of his and remus’s closet, and it was his jumper anyways, why shouldn’t he wear it?
“‘s a matter of fact, yeah, it is.”
“oh– you two must have been very good friends while you were at hogwarts if you share clothes.”
“yeah, friends.” sirius agrees, resigned to the fact that he knew remus didn’t want everyone talking about their relationship. sure, it had been four years since they attended hogwarts, but that didn’t mean the bigotry they had experienced no longer existed. and they were so happy here, it would be ridiculous to jeapordize it, if students’ parents found out about them.
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when sirius returns for the evening, he’s in just as breezy of a mood as when he left. he’s got a shit eating grin on his face, because he’s overwhelmed with joy every time he spends a moment alone with remus. as soon as he’s back, he’s finding his place with his arms wrapped around remus, and his lips pressing gentle, loving kisses into his boyfriend’s hair.
“i got you something today.”
“you always get me something when you’re chaperoning.”
“if i want to spoil you moonshine, i’m going to.”
sirius pulls the small package out of one pocket, and the bar of chocolate out of the other. when remus’s hands pull the wrapper off of the smaller of the two boxes, and open what’s inside, the joy on his face is something that sirius is sure could rival any magic, or any god.
“just wanted to say i love you.” sirius whispers, watching as remus slips the modest silver band on his finger.
“i love you too.”