Thank you Clear Venom, Icarus Malfoy, elvencherry07, andrea-88, Georgie's girl, mystic-angel5, Spicycandy1, Loonymoon, ShatteredDesire, Bitter Black Tears, MY MInD, ShuffleQueen, Do you do threesomes, Mr Weaving, chaeili.meep., auralay, dance-flirt and Forrest.
Oh dear! I seem to have made yet another mistake with this story… When I introduced a character called Tom I totally forgot that was the name of the landlord/hunchback in the books. They're two different people, okay? Thanks Georgie's girl for pointing that out!
Chapter Four- 'His Back Against The Wall'
Midnight, July 28, 1972
Sirius Black couldn't see the stars.
He tilted his head even further upwards, until his chin jutted towards the sky and the back of his head scraped against the uneven bricks.
All he could see was the purple glow of sodium streetlamps. Definitely no stars.
Sirius sighed, even as lips continued to suck on his neck and a tongue traced the outline of his collarbone. Suddenly, hands that were too eager fumbled with his belt buckle.
And then Tom was on his knees before Sirius, the very picture of subservience.
Somewhere nearby a dog barked. The sound of high-pitched laughter and smashing glass came from a few streets away, where a couple of drunken wizards were leaving the Leaky Cauldron.
Sirius groaned as slightly chapped lips closed around his cock.
"Do you do this often?" he gasped.
On the brink of ecstasy Sirius bit his lip, hard, determined not to cry out the name that he was screaming inside.
Remus. Remus. REMUS!
And afterwards, Tom didn't kiss him and Sirius found himself oddly relieved. A blow job in a back alley was fine but a kiss? That would be the ultimate betrayal.
"Let's go back to my place," Tom said. "What do you say?"
Sirius shrugged. "Allright." He picked up his bags.
"Here. Hold my arm; we'll apparate."
A moment later, Sirius was standing in an entrance hall. "This your place?" he asked. It looked kind of squalid.
"Yeah."
Sirius jerked his arm away from Tom's. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn't think he could do this…
"Can I, umm, use your bathroom?"
"First door on the left, mate."
As Sirius walked away, Tom's eyes followed him. It was a relief to finally shut the door. "I can't sleep with him," Sirius murmured, more than a little aware that talking to oneself was an early sign of madness. "I need to get out of here."
He glanced around the bathroom. It looked slightly cleaner than the entrance hall. The bath was quite impressive with huge iron claw feet. Above the sink hung a cracked mirror and Sirius stared at his reflection. He looked tired and gaunt. His lower lip was swollen where he'd bitten it to stop himself crying Remus' name.
"Christ. Look at me," Sirius whispered. "I'm a fucking mess."
"A mess with nice cheekbones," said the mirror.
Sirius blinked. "Well, thanks."
"And dark eyes… You ought to play on that."
"Play on… What?"
The mirror sighed. "Eye pencil: cabinet, far left on the second shelf."
Sirius, not wanting to disobey a talking mirror, found the pencil and smeared kohl under his eyes. He watched his reflection as a lone tear fell and swept down his face, leaving a trail of black behind. "Fuck," he cursed, trying to rub the eyeliner off and succeeding only in smearing it everywhere.
Outside Tom hammered on the bathroom door. "What's taking so long?" he demanded. His voice was muffled through the wood.
"I'll only be a minute. Um- get me another drink will you?"
Sirius listened with baited breath at the sound of retreating footsteps. He waited for a moment longer before opening the bathroom door. The hallway was deserted. Sirius darted towards the door.
It was locked.
"Shit… shit…" Sirius reached behind and managed to spend an inordinate amount of time attempting to extricate his wand from his back pocket. "Shit… shit… Alohomora."
The lock clicked and he was free. Grabbing his two bags he ran out into the night. He could hear Tom yelling behind him: "Where the hell d'you think you're going! Come back, you wanker!"
Sirius kept running.
11 AM, July 29
James' mother, Carol Potter, was plump and round and altogether motherly. She had long hair, streaked with grey, and laughter lines around her mouth. "And you won't forget to take the casserole out of the oven, will you dear?" she asked.
"No!" James gave her his finest mock glare. "Now bugger off," he said.
"James!" Carol Potter frowned at her son for a moment. "Your language is appalling." Nevertheless, she pressed a kiss to his head and then ruffled his hair for good measure.
And then - thank Christ - she was gone.
James dashed upstairs and rummaged under his bed until he found his copy of Witches For Your Broomstick magazine. "Perfect." He settled down on his bed and admired the magazine's cover at length.
Downstairs, there was a knock at the front door.
"Bugger…" James flung the magazine aside and dashed back downstairs. He opened the front door.
"Sirius!"
His friend looked thinner and more tired that James had ever seen him look before. His hair, straggly and unkempt, had mostly escaped from its ponytail. His black jumper hung loosely off his shoulders. There were shadows under his-
James coughed. "Are you wearing mascara?" he asked.
"Black… pencil… thing," Sirius said. He yawned loudly.
"Right. You look awful." James clapped his friend on the shoulder. "You'd best come in. How long are you staying for? You'll have to sleep on the floor…"
"I'm staying as long as long as you'll have me." At James' puzzled look, Sirius shrugged. "I left home," he admitted. "And I don't have anywhere else to go. Your folks aren't in, are they?"
"My dad's away and mum's at her Knitting Group." James gave Sirius an encouraging smile. "So…" he said conversationally. "Why did you leave?"
"Oh, the usual. You know…"
"I know!" James laughed. "So you've finally left the bastards?"
"Yep. But listen: there's something else I've got to tell you… It's quite important and I don't know how you'll take it."
It was unusual for Sirius to sound so, well, serious. James frowned. He took Sirius by the shoulder and steered him into the lounge. "So what is it you want to tell me?"
And Sirius told him everything.
"I don't know what to say," James confessed. "Jesus. I can't believe it, Padfoot!"
Sirius sighed. "Can I still stay here or do you want the fucking queer out of your house and out of your life?"
"No! No. You're my best mate. It's just hard to…" James frowned. "So is there someone that you – you know – like?"
"Well, yeah actually." I'm truly, madly, deeply, insanely, head-over-heels in love with Remus Lupin! "Yeah… There is this one boy that I quite like."
James gave a weak smile. "Oh. That's… nice." He frowned. "I'm sure there's something I'm supposed to-" His eyes widened into a look of horror. "Holy crap! The casserole!"
James dashed from the room and a moment later there followed an odd yelping sound from the kitchen. The smell of thick smoke filled the house.
A knock sounded from the front door.
"James! Door!" Sirius shouted.
The answer faint from the kitchen, "You get it! I'm busy!"
Half expecting to see his mother on the doorstep (ready to drag him home) and half expecting Tom to be standing there, bulky and scarred and ready to kill him, it was with some trepidation that Sirius opened the front door.
His palms sweated, his breath hitched, his eyes blinked furiously.
The person standing on the doorstep was neither his mother nor Tom. The person standing on the doorstep was pale and slight, with red-rimmed amber eyes.
The person standing on the doorstep was the love of Sirius' life.
"Hello, Remus," he managed to say.
"Sirius, I didn't expect to see you here," said Remus Lupin. He didn't smile. "My dad's dead… Can I come in?"
Tbc…