Descend - Wolfstar + Marauders

Perfect Day

The first two days had been a lot of that. Close moments, furtive looks. The truth is these moments had been happening for at least the last year, but Remus had always been able to rationalize it away. That was becoming harder to do all of a sudden, with the isolation (and honestly, the hormones) the whole issue seemed to have been kicked into overdrive. That was a skill of his, rationalizing. He could usually argue himself into and out of any truth he pleased when it came down to it. Rationally, he and Sirius shared a room. A friend group. As long as they were at school together, they pretty much shared their lives. If he was wrong, if he was reading the signals wrong and he acted on it he could blow it all up. He needed these people far more than they needed him. No, unless he was certain he had to keep it to himself. And how the fuck could he ever be certain that someone like Sirius could want someone like him? It was a silly idea.

He’d caught onto the little smirks his father had been giving them, the way he watched. Once or twice, though he couldn’t be certain, he thought he saw fear in his father’s eyes. Remus knew his dad wanted him to be happy, but that fear of discovery always hung over them. Remus almost considered telling him that the secret was already out with his friends. They knew about his lycanthropy and protected him. It was okay, they were safe. He knew it would frighten him to know that he could be at risk at school though. They’d both been burned before by people who they thought accepted Remus. There was a reason his extended family were no longer in the picture. He decided it was best to leave his father in the dark for now. Remus was already on a roll with avoiding hard conversations and disruptive truths, why stop here?

On the third night, Remus and Sirius were sat at the little four-seater dining table. Lyall was busying himself in the kitchen with dinner. He was juggling between two simmering pots and a chopping board of vegetables. He let out a loud string of swears as he burned his finger, but quickly went back to work. Sirius had always found it odd that the otherwise polite and respectful Remus had the worst mouth of the whole group. He was actually the one that introduced the rest of them to the concept of casual swearing at the fresh, young age of 11. After spending some time around Lyall he was starting to see where Remus had learned it.

The smell of rosemary and garlic filled the kitchen. The radio was playing softly in the background, as it almost always was in the Lupin house, though the senior Lupin preferred his Elvis to his Ramones.

Sirius was watching Lyall cook with great interest as he and Remus chatted idly. He eventually trailed off from the conversation, seemingly distracted.

“Lyall, why don’t you use magic for that?”

“What’s that now lad?” Lyall asked as he spun around to face Sirius, who always seemed to get a little flustered whenever Lyall stared directly at him like that. It was a source of great entertainment for Remus and Lyall both.

“Your cooking. No offense, I mean, I don’t think it’s a problem. I’m not criticising, I love the food! I just- wouldn’t it be easier with magic? If you don’t mind me asking sir. Lyall, I mean.”

“That’s a pretty personal question don’t you think boy? Why don’t I just cut out the middleman and get a house elf in to cook for us?” asked Lyall with a serious look.
Sirius just gaped for a moment, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to sputter out an apology. After a moment Lyall let out a laugh.

“I’m just fucking with you kid, relax.” Sirius looked fractionally more at ease. “My mum was a muggle, always took care of the cooking. She taught me how. Might be easier with magic, but where’s the fun in that?”

Sirius nodded skeptically as Lyall took long sip from his ever-present mug and returned to his cooking. He understood he supposed, though he didn’t really see the fun. He certainly wasn’t complaining as the scrumptious smelling roast was placed in front of him. He winced slightly as he caught the sour smell of whiskey coming off Lyall’s breath as he leaned over to set down the gravy boat. Remus caught the movement, just as he had the previous two nights. His dad didn’t notice. Or pretended not to, at least. They were very good at pretending not to notice in this house. Lyall took another sip from his mug before sitting down to a lovely meal.