Take a shot of holy water

Im in bed with the devil

Sirius was at church for the first time since he'd been confirmed against his will. He hadn't even gone to Regulus' confirmation ceremony. But he was at church now because Remus was the priest, and he was pathetic. Lord have mercy on him, or whatever.

Apparently, in the ten or so years since he'd attended mass, they'd bloody changed the whole thing. Instead of saying 'and also with you' now they were supposed to say 'and with your spirit'. Whose spirit? Jesus? Remus? His own spirit? The Holy Spirit? Was the Holy Spirit also Jesus, or were they separate entities? Was it even the Holy Spirit with a capital H, S, or was it just the holy spirit? He'd always been too afraid to ask, but he thought Remus might be able to answer without judging him too much.

They were currently in the midst of giving each other a sign of peace, and despite the fact that there were far less patrons than there would have been on a Sunday, Sirius thought his voice might go hoarse from all the peace he was giving out willy nilly. He stuck out like a sore thumb, but the regulars (he had to assume they were regulars, what other reason did they have to be there on a Wednesday afternoon?) embraced him despite his multitude of facial piercings, tattoos on his hands, and leather jacket laden with queer pins. Granted, they probably didn't know what the pins meant, but at least these people didn't seem as insufferable as his own family. In general, Remus' church felt a million times less oppressive than the one he'd grown up going to.

The songs— sorry, hymns— hadn't gotten any better either. He sang them beautifully, of course, he considered it his duty to show up the other hapless souls that had wandered into a midweek midday mass, and it was a duty he accomplished well. All of them were about bread, or something. He had nothing against bread, but he preferred it outside a biblical context.

The current hymn ended and Remus, up by the altar, grinned at the room, one of his eyes blackened from the disastrous dinner party. "You may be seated," he said, voice like a gentle summer rain.

"And with your spirit," Sirius said confidently, the only one still standing. There were so many bloody call and responses, how was he supposed to know when not to speak?

He met Remus' gaze across the room for a moment then sat hurriedly, before he could say something stupider than the typical mass responses. Remus dropped his head, a small laugh echoing in the cavernous space.

Even Sirius had to admit the church was beautiful. He could appreciate art and architecture, even if he didn't care much for the shit that went on inside the building. The ceiling was domed and painted intricately, which reminded him of how he'd told Regulus that their church was the Sistine Chapel when they were little, and Regulus had only found out that he'd lied when they visited the actual Sistine Chapel on a school trip in high school. The long con was well worth it.

It must have been the perfect time of day as well, because the stained glass windows were refracting color throughout the room in beautiful ways. Sirius had always felt a kinship to stained glass. Both of them were broken enough that people could see their cracks, but presented such a lovely picture that no one ever wanted to look further. The best they could do was throw a stone and watch as he shattered.

"Don't forget to grab a newsletter on the way out if you haven't gotten one already," Remus was saying, "My first review is in there, and it's a good one if I do say so myself."

There were a couple chuckles from the other churchgoers, but Sirius didn't know what he was talking about, so he stayed silent. Remus continued, "And don't forget that we need volunteers for our fundraiser at the end of the week, so if you're available we'd love to have the help."

Sirius was not aware of the fundraiser (how would he be) and under normal circumstances he would absolutely avoid it at all costs (he was a bloody atheist after all) but somehow Remus' voice had him thinking it wouldn't be the worst place in the world to spend some time.