Our Lovely Home_ Marauders Era Fanfic.

36. The travel: Foam Flowers

The outlook for the day was proposed by Peter, after receiving a letter from his mother, asking him to bring from wherever he was, jars of raspberry jam.

They assembled a backpack each, Lily and James made a charm with which they hid the campsite and set off in the direction of the next village.

The place was smaller than Hogsmeade, and it would seem that its best attraction was fish, because every house had that seafood smell. James looked askance at the giant tuna displayed above a store, remembering the fiasco that was their fishing trip.

They entered a very small craft fair, where the villagers (mostly elderly ladies) were displaying various kinds of curious souvenirs.

At a certain point they agreed to separate to buy whatever they wanted, and then meet again in the small central square; Lupin, who didn't have much money on him, decided to stroll through the stalls without buying anything.

Or at least that's what he had planned.

Because when he saw a scrawny little boy, who looked to be at most five years old, accompanying his mother as she made foam flowers, his heart went soft.

"Would you like one, sir?" asked the child, selecting a purple flower from the table, "at one pound three pieces."

On the burning cement, the boy had his toy cars and plastic animals strewn about.

When he wanted to pay, he felt Sirius's hand on his shoulder and handed the family a ten-pound bill; the woman's face lit up and, without thinking too much, handed the tray of flowers to Sirius, who took only five.

"Keep the change" Sirius said, bidding farewell to the mother and son. "See you later."

The two of them left the fair and Lupin, not quite understanding what Sirius was up to, frowned at him, but faced him once they sat down in the square; alone.

"Can't I do a good deed for no reason?" Sirius questioned, sounding somewhat offended. Lupin rolled his eyes and waited for him to continue, "Even though I bought the flowers for you."

Lupin saw the cluster of foam flowers and suppressed a small blush rising to his head. Sirius sighed and sat down next to him; his eyes sorrowful.

"Agh... you of all people know that I'm not good at apologies" Sirius muttered, scratching his head, "I'm sorry, I was a jerk, I treated you badly, and I regret it."

Sirius' hand extended the bunch of flowers, and he received them, his boyfriend was waiting for an anxious answer, however, he knew Remus and was aware that he always took a long time to answer, because he was looking for the right words to express himself.

"It's okay, I wasn't THAT angry any more anyway" said Lupin, "although I still don't know why you were like that at McDonald's."

The beginning of Lupin's dilemma, and the main reason he was never really irritated with Sirius, was that; he was just hurt by his words, which without the proper context, came off as a vile insult.

"It's just that, since you were talking so casually to that pretty girl at McDonald's" Sirius explained, "I got...."

Remus let out a smile as he watched Sirius hide his face in his hands. It wasn't like him to be embarrassed.

"Jealous?"

A moment later, Sirius nodded, and Lupin hugged him.

"You're a fool." Sirius, his cheeks red as apples, looked at him questioningly. "The girl and I started talking, because she's also a Pink Floyd fan" Lupin pointed out "and besides, I'm gay."

"Really?"

"How can I put it... Remember that Muggle boy you met in the summer of third grade?" Sirius tried to reminisce, without much success.

"Grant?"

Lupin affirmed lightly.

"Before you, I experimented a bit, you know?"

"Wait! You're telling me you were the first of the four of us to have a partner?"

Sirius put his embarrassment aside, and pointed at Lupin, who was laughing loudly.

"Damn it! And I thought Peter was the first" Sirius blurted out "You never told us anything."

"It wasn't like I could tell you either, because then they were going to ask questions and... I don't like lying," Remus replied, hiding from Sirius's accusing eyes, "or, actually, you guys always end up getting the truth out of me."

They stood in silence for a long while, Lupin brushed the fake flowers, noticing that one of them was bright red.

"I'm better, aren't I?"

"Better at what?"

"In everything" Sirius generalized, resting his head on Lupin's shoulder, "don't make me specify."

"I don't know... Anyway, I was about twelve."

"Moony! Twelve! Hell, my first kiss was at thirteen!"

Lupin turned and squeezed Sirius' nose with a goofy grin on his lips.

"At least you're the best at making drama over everything, and giving cheesy gifts" Lupin clarified, standing up, "Come on let's go, so James can once and for all stop being a jerk and get out of the bush behind us."

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