Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dear Mr Lupin,

We are sorry to inform you that you have not received...

Remus clicked off the short email, not bothering to read the rest. Another failed audition, excellent. Just what he needed. Sighing, he closed his laptop and began marking the mass of papers from his Year Eleven class that he'd been putting off. About half of them had some AI generated slop that they had attempted to mask as their own work, clearly all his warnings were going out one ear and out of the other.

Teaching English was great; it wasn't his dream job by any means, but it paid the bills. Remus was fresh out of uni, so he was lucky he even had a job. It could've been worse. Most of the kids were decent, and he was a decent teacher.

But Remus had always wanted to be an actor. Really, he knew it sounded ridiculous. Remus Lupin: the shy, ill and quiet kid wanted to be an actor. When he got in front of a camera, it was...different. He could put all his anger, rage and hostility into a character and let all the emotions flow through him. Remus saw himself in so many actors and desired nothing more than to be just like them. He wanted to prove everyone wrong.

But alas; here he was at twenty-two years old, probably giving himself scoliosis as his bent over the pile of papers. Remus loved the kids, he really did, but this was a complete waste of his time. Nearly every paper was a repeat of the one before it. As Remus got up to refil his mug of tea, his phone buzzed.

Lily: REMUS JOHN LUPIN. YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE THIS.

That would be Lily Evans, probably Remus's best friend in the entire world. They met at university, she was studying Law and he studied English Lit. Despite her short stature, she was a force to be reckoned with.

Remus first impression of Lily was seeing her berate two guys who were following this random girl around campus, and boy was she scary. Remus had been sitting against a tree, attempting to finish his essay when Lily pointed at him and yelled.

"I don't care if she was dressing provocatively, you can just fucking ignore that! Look at that guy! He's not being a perv, he's minding his own business. He doesn't care for following girls around the campus." 

Remus was a bit stunned and looked up in surprise, why was he being brought into this? It's not like he'd be following girls around anyway.

"Well that guy is obviously a fucking fairy, he ain't gonna be following girls around!" One of guys had argued. Lily slapped him across the face and continued to berate him even more. Once they left, Lily skipped over to him and introduced herself:

"Hiya, I'm Lily Evans."

"Er, Remus Lupin."

"Remus? Remus Lupin? Did you know that your name means..."

And that's how their friendship had started, it was incredibly random and a stroke of luck that he sat there that day, or else he never would have met her.

Remus: Hi Lils, what is it that I can't believe?

Lily: I GOT TICKETS!!!!!!

Remus: To what?

Lily: TO SIRIUS BLACK YOU IDIOT!!!!!

Sirius Black: Lily's favourite singer and worldwide sensation. One of the biggest heartthrobs in the world. Remus couldn't help but roll his eyes; he hated the guy. With his generic songs and being an industry plant and...other things that have nothing to do with Remus!

Remus: Oh, that's nice.

Lily: THAT'S NICE? NICE? REMUS THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY FUCKING LIFE

Remus: I'm happy for you, I'm sure you'll have a great time.

Lily: You mean WE'LL have a great time

Remus: Lily

Lily: Remus

Remus: You're kidding me.

Lily: I'm not! ISN'T THIS SO EXCITING??

Remus: Joy.

Lily: REMUSSSS

Remus: No way.

Lily: COME ONN!! I'll need someone to stand on so I can see. Unless we get barricade!!

Remus: I am not queueing for three days to get barricade for Sirius Black. I'm sure all the teenage girls will beat you to it.

Lily: sooo you'll go with me??

Remus: No.

Lily: don't you care about my safety? Me, a young and vulnerable girl all alone a concert? 

Remus scoffed. Lily, young and vulnerable? Yeah right.

Remus: The answer is no.

Lily: but I bought two tickets!! And they were TOO much money.

Remus: Invite Petunia.

Lily: please Remus?? I'll buy you a new jumper?? A candle?? ooo, maybe a new book?

Remus: Do my marking for a week.

Lily: YES. I WILL. EVERYTHING.

Remus: Fine.

Lily: YOU ARE THE BEST, REMUS!! LOVE YOUU

Remus: Love you, Lils.

Excellent. Remus had got himself roped into going to a Sirius fucking Black concert. Of course he was Lily's favourite singer, he was half the fucking world's! Remus considered himself a nice person, but any mention of Sirius Black and the niceties will fucking vanish. It wasn't Lily's fault, she didn't know the real reason he hated Sirius Black. Remus knew he'd have an amazing night listening to all the breakup songs that were about him.

Five years ago, Remus Lupin came to London for a Performing Arts course over the summer. His parents were wary of letting him go alone, but Remus had argued that since he was seventeen he could be trusted. Now, Remus wished he never went to that course to begin with. There, he met Sirius Black and fell in love.

Remus was raised in a Catholic village in Wales and was an only child. His parents: Lyall and Hope were overprotective and barely let him breathe for his entire childhood, so being able to go to London on his own? It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

Sirius Black was just a regular rich kid back then; sneaking out and going to parties. Maybe it's the thrill of him that Remus found so attractive. Who knows.

It was late one night and Remus decided to go for a stroll around the park closest to his accommodation. There, he saw a boy with black hair that curled to his shoulders. He was wearing a uniform, clearly being from the private school down the road. He was smoking, leaning against the tree and somehow looked effortlessly cool while doing it.

Remus suddenly became aware that the boy had noticed his staring. His cheeks flushed, hoping the boy couldn't see it in the dark. The boy grinned at him, looking at him with piercing silver eyes that nearly illuminated the darkness. The boy beckoned for Remus to join him.

Hesitating only slightly, Remus walked over to the boy, trying to seem as casual as possible.

"Er, hello." Remus spluttered. 

"You're not from here, are you?" The boy asked. He had a very aristocratic accent, or as his parents would say, posh. 

"No, Wales." Remus replied.

"Whatcha doing here then? I mean, you don't look much older than I am. Besides from your height, Jesus, you're a fucking beanstalk!" The boy said, looking Remus up and down.

"I'm...I'm here for a program." Remus mumbled.

"A program?" The boy asked, intrigued. 

"Er, yeah. It's a Performing Arts one." explained Remus.

"Cool. Are you one of those theatre types then?" The boy questioned. It was beginning to feel like a survey.

"Not really. I'm more on the acting side, I guess." 

"That's a shame, I was hoping you could perform me a little song." The boy grinned.

"You wish." Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"I like singing," the boy said, more to himself than Remus.

"That's...nice?" Remus attempted to form a reply, but he was getting distracted by the boy's eyes. Again.

The boy checked his phone and mumbled a soft "Shit." before throwing his bag over his back.

"Gotta run, sorry!" The boy yelled.

"Wait! What was your name?" Remus exclaimed.

"Sirius! Sirius Black!"

Chapter Text

"REMUS! I'M LEAVING!" Lily yelled, jolting Remus awake. It was the dreaded day of the Sirius Black concert. They had to travel up to London, because of course Lily just had to pick London. 

"Come on, Remus! It'll be so much better in London." Lily had pleaded.

"REMUS. I WILL LEAVE WITHOUT YOU. DO NOT TRY ME!"

"Please, do." Remus groaned, meeting Lily at the front door of his flat. She was wearing some merch of Sirius's, his face plastered all over the front. 

"Are you ready for the best day of our LIVES?" Lily squealed.

"Yup. Very excited, best day ever." Remus scoffed.

"Why don't you like him anyway? It's not like he's done anything to you!" Lily asked.

You don't know the half of it. Remus thought.

"Just don't like his music. It's generic slop." Remus shrugged.

"NEVER call his music generic slop! Just because you only ever listen to Bowie doesn't mean everything else is bad." Lily argued.

"I didn't say everything else was bad. I just dislike Sirius's music. Not my taste," said Remus.

"Generic slop..." Lily muttered to herself, her face going as red as her hair. It was a Saturday, so Remus didn't have to worry about being at work in the morning. As they boarded the train, Lily finally began to talk to him again.

"His new album is amazing! Still about that one person from years ago! If I could find out who that person was..." Lily clenched her fists and shoke her head, her red plaits bouncing on her shoulder.

"They could be right under your nose, Lils," said Remus, not looking up from his phone.

"Exactly! They could be anywhere. Imagine breaking someone's heart so bad they still haven't gotten over it five years later!" Lily said.

"Maybe we shouldn't judge the other guy so harshly. You only have Sirius's side of the story." Remus shrugged. Lily's eyes lit up.

"So you think it's a guy?" Lily asked eagerly.

"I meant guy as in anyone," corrected Remus. Lily's sighed, disappointed.

"I think it's a guy. If it wasn't then he would specify the gender!" Lily exclaimed.

"You are so nosy, Lily Evans." Remus chuckled. "Sure you shouldn't be a journalist?"

"I am happy at my law firm, thank you!" Lily sniffed.

"You're an intern; it's never too late." Remus smirked.

"I'm working my way up," she declared to nobody in particular.

The train came to a stop and Lily looked borderline psychotic with excitement as they got off.

"We need to get to the venue NOW!" Lily yelled.

"Now? But the concert doesn't start for another four hours!" Remus moaned.

"Exactly! We're already running late!" Lily cried, grabbing Remus's hand and running through the station.

"Sorry! Excuse me!" Lily shouted, dragging Remus through hoards of people. After what seemed like forever, they were at the concert venue.

"OK, we're not too far back in the queue. It isn't over for us yet, we can still get barricade if we try!" Lily plotted. Remus could barely stand the ludicrousy.

"Lily, there's ten people ahead of us." He gestured to the small line of people that had formed outside the venue.

"Ten people that can beat us to the front!" Lily hissed.

"You are manic." Remus shuddered, moving away from the beast that is Lily Evans.

"You have to be. Fangirl life is brutal." Lily sighed, sitting down and looking through her handbag.

"Do we really need to be at the front?" Remus asked. He didn't want to be recognised by him.

"Yes! Of course we do, I really hope Sirius notices us! Well, he'll definitely notice you because your so tall! Now, leave me alone! I can't find my lip gloss." Lily insisted. Great, so there was an incredibly high fucking chance that Sirius would notice him. Excellent.

About an hour passed and the queue began to fill up, the noise was far too overwhelming. Was all of London going to this concert? Lily was absorbed in a case file she had taken from her law firm and everyone else seemed to have something to do while waiting. He took out a book and began to read, however it was one of the ones his Year Eight class had been reading and was dead boring, so he was back to square zero.

A tall girl with bleached blonde hair in a fades band tee walked by the queue and everyone went completely wild.

"MARLENE!" a shrill voice squealed.

"IT'S HER! OH MY GOD, IT'S HER!" 

"I LOVE YOU MARLENE!" 

Lily stood up instantly, jolting out of her daze. She looked Remus dead in the eye.

"Is that Marlene fucking MCKINNION?" she squealed. Upon closer inspection, Remus realised that it was actually the Marlene McKinnon waving at the crowd.

"It seems like it," shrugged Remus.

"She must be here for the show! EEEEK! I am so excited, Remus. Aren't you?" 

"So excited." Remus drawled.

"Thank you for coming, really! I promise you'll enjoy it," Lily smiled.

"The only person I'd ever go to this with is you, Lils." 

"Aww! You two are so cute!" A girl behind them cooed.

"We're not a couple," Lily laughed.

"Really? You're not?" The girl said, puzzled.

"Definitely not," shuddered Remus.

"Hey!" Lily elbowed Remus, and it was hard!

"Ow!" groaned Remus, clutching his stomach.

The girl chuckled and twirled her hair around her finger.

"Sorry! I make assumptions sometimes, you know! I'm a journalist, so I really shouldn't but...I can't help it!" The girl laughed.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Remus chuckled. Him and Lily? Never.

"I love your hairclips! The stars are gorgeous!" Lily complimented.

"I know! I just thought it'd be cute because Sirius is a star!" The girl grinned.

"Exactly! I'm Lily, and this is Remus!" Remus gave a small wave.

"Hiya! I'm Mary," greeted the girl.

"We've been here for ages," complained Remus, rolling his eyes.

"We're getting let in soon, don't worry." Mary grinned. "I'm so excited!"

"Me too!" Lily squealed.

"Er...me too! Yay, I just love Sirius Black." 

The venue had opened and people were getting let in, at long last. Remus really didn't see the point in queueing up so early, everyone had tickets; what was the rush?

Lily scanned their tickets as they entered the venue. Remus greedily eyed the snacks but was dragged away by Lily.

"Snacks later. We WILL get to the barricade."

"Joy," sighed Remus.

As luck would have it, they reached the barricade. 

"Dead centre! We are so lucky!" Lily squealed. Remus could only nod, he felt sicker by the second.

Time seemed to move by quicker and the venue was now packed. The countdown started.

"TEN."

"NINE."

"EIGHT."

"SEVEN."

"SIX."

"FIVE."

"FOUR."

"THREE."

"TWO."

"ONE."

It was the loudest cheer Remus had heard in his life as the music began to play and Sirius Black walked onto the stage. Remus hated to admit it, but he looked even better in person.

"HELLO LONDON!" he yelled into the microphone. "I am so excited to be here tonight!" The crowd roared as the first song began. Remus suddenly felt very out of place as everyone screeched the lyrics along with Sirius. Lily had completely lost herself in the atmosphere of it all.

And then Sirius saw him.

Something flickered in his eyes, but he kept the song going. Remus prayed Sirius hadn't spotted him; but it was futile. He had most certainly been spotted because by the end of the song his eyes were glowing with unshed tears.

Fuck. Remus thought.