the cadence of part time poets

Chapter 16: After the Storm Blows

Bright lights, Soho, Wardour Street,
You hope you make friends with the guys that you meet;
Somebody shows you round,
Now you've met the London boys,
Things seem good again, someone cares about you...

- "The London Boys" David Bowie, 1966

Walking out of Kings Cross station on the evening of December 21st, Remus found Giles and the Rolls parked and waiting for him. The old driver opened his arms like he was going to give him a hug, but only side-stepped him to grab his trunk instead. Remus almost smiled. He'd secretly missed the little game they had; the old man would play at getting too close but would always swerve past him at the last second. Giles was good with boundaries when he wanted to be.

"I wouldn't believe it if you weren't standing in front of me right now," the driver said, wheeling the trunk to the car's boot. "Four months, and the only word we got was about a few lacking marks. There was something about illegal fireworks, but nothing fatal, right? Hell, I'd almost started to wonder if they had the right Lupin."

Remus rolled his eyes, but didn't bother correcting him as he stepped over a puddle just outside the station. "You should really try and make this comedy act of yours into a living, Gil."

"And leave you behind? Never. That school must be something. It's almost cause for celebration."

"Yeah, not like it's Christmas or anything."

Remus opened the back door of the Rolls and got inside, joined a moment later by Giles in the front. It was a familiar scene, sitting behind the driver and staring at the wisps of red hair that peaked out from beneath his cap.

As they drove back to Blackheath, Remus watched the city roll by. He, James, and Peter had all left Sirius at Kings Cross, where he'd be joining his darling baby brother for their train west to Bath. The train ride would probably feel endless, especially since Sirius could hardly keep still in the weeks leading up to Christmas holidays. They'd spent their last few days at Hawkings finishing off the last of Remus' cigarettes and sharing stories of holidays' past. Sirius had more to share, having more family, and some of them were downright awful while others were quite funny.

It was during one of these conversations while Sirius regaled him with his Uncle Alphard's last Christmas at his parents' manor—the old man had given a swift exit after toasting Christmas dinner with a vivid story of the time he'd promised his brother-in-arms that his wife would never be lonely and then went on to sleep with the old lady after his buddy's untimely death—that James slammed the bedroom window shut and ordered the two smokers from the room so that he could clean for the holiday room-inspections.

Afterwards Remus had taken Sirius to one of his hiding spots, a small tool shed behind the Agricultural building, where they took their time and shared a spliff. He'd almost considered taking him to the astronomy building, but decided at the last moment to keep his favourite spot to himself a bit longer, just in case he ever needed a private place to escape to.

They continued sharing, and Remus learned that Alphard had died in '73, and had apparently left money aside for his favourite nephew rather than let his family get their hands on it. Walburga had been livid, of course, but there was nothing to be done about it. Sirius only knew about the money because Alphard's other favourite family member, Andromeda, had received a good sum, which had allowed her and her new husband to buy a house in London. Sirius wouldn't have access to the money until he was eighteen, but because he was born the year before the rest of them, he'd be of age before their first term in year 13 was up.

"Why are you older?" Remus had asked stupidly, taking his turn with the spliff and then passing it along to Sirius, who still had a goofy look on his face after talking about Andy and the time she spent three months on the road as a groupie for T. Rex. "Shouldn't you be a year above the rest of us?"