"Remus? Good Godric, what on earth are you doing here?"
Remus looked up from the plate of hors d'oeuvres he was picking at and found James standing beside him with a bubbling glass of champagne in hand. He quickly covered his mouth, swallowing the bite of caviar-topped toast point he'd just very ungracefully shoved into it.
"Mm, James." He pulled him into a one-armed hug. "Your guess is as good as mine."
As James laughed, Remus' attention drifted back across the lawn. The sprawling garden was almost sickeningly picturesque, all perfectly manicured hedges and fairy lights woven through trees. The warm glow cast everything in gold, including Sirius and the man standing beside him. His fiancé, presumably.
Even from here, Remus could admit the man was handsome.
"Have you..." James hesitated, glancing down into his champagne. "Have you been talking to Sirius again? He hasn't mentioned anything."
"No," Remus answered too quickly. At James' raised eyebrow, he sighed. "I mean, sort of. We ran into each other at a coffee shop I frequent. He invited me."
James nodded thoughtfully and reached for a passing tray, absently selecting a canapé. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
"What do you think of him?" James asked eventually.
Remus dragged his eyes away from Sirius. "Of who?"
The question caught him off guard, mostly because of the tone behind it. There was something strange in James' voice. Not quite suspicion. Not quite dislike. Something closer to scrutiny.
Remus looked back toward the pair.
The man looked like he'd stepped out of a magazine. He was tall enough to tower over Sirius, broad-shouldered, impeccably dressed, with a sharp jawline and the sort of effortless confidence that usually accompanied old money.
"I haven't had the pleasure," Remus admitted.
James hummed, but said nothing.
That, more than anything, made Remus suspicious.
He'd known James Potter since they were eleven years old. James had many talents, but keeping his opinions to himself had never been one of them. If he liked someone, everyone knew. If he disliked someone, everyone definitely knew.
Yet here he was, staring thoughtfully at his drink while picking the smoked salmon off a gougère and leaving the pastry behind.
Remus watched him for another moment.
Then drained half his champagne.
"Merlin, Remus, I hate him so much."
The confession burst out of him with such force that Remus almost laughed.
"He's a jerk. A right pompous ass. He has more money than he knows what to do with." James held up a hand before Remus could interrupt. "And don't lecture me. I know I have money too. But somehow he manages to make it everyone's problem."
This was not the direction he'd expected the conversation to go.
"And," James continued, lowering his voice, "I don't think he's good to Sirius."
That wiped the amusement from Remus' face immediately.
James' jaw tightened. His gaze remained fixed on Sirius across the lawn.
"I mean, he tells Sirius what to do. Who he should spend time with. Where he should be. He wants him to quit his job and stay home."
Remus frowned. "That doesn't sound like Sirius."
"No." James took another drink. "It doesn't."
The music from the band drifted through the evening air. Somewhere nearby, guests laughed loudly at something that had been said. Across the lawn, Sirius smiled at one of them, looking every bit the gracious host.
Yet something about James' expression made Remus look twice.
"I think Sirius is too polite to leave him," James admitted quietly. "I think he's terrified of hurting people."
There was a long silence before James spoke again.
"After everything that happened, I don't think he knows how to choose himself anymore."
The words settled heavily between them.
Across the lawn, Sirius threw his head back laughing at something Edmé had said.
But for the first time that evening, Remus found himself wondering whether that smile was real.
Sirius had finally managed to make his way through the crowd of partygoers. He appeared at Remus' side with a grin already on his face and immediately pulled him into a quick hug.
Remus barely had time to react before Sirius stepped back and held him at arm's length, looking him up and down as if making sure he was actually there.
"How are you finding everything?" Sirius asked. "Have as much as you want. We ordered too much again."
There was a slight flush to his cheeks and a brightness in his eyes that told Remus he'd had more than one glass of champagne. Not drunk, exactly, but certainly well on his way there.
Remus couldn't help smiling back at him.
"It's all wonderful, Sirius. Thank you for having me."
"Of course. I wasn't sure you'd actually come."
The admission surprised him.
Sirius laughed awkwardly and looked away for a moment before meeting his eyes again. His hands were still resting lightly on Remus' arms, neither of them seeming to notice.
Five years without a word and Sirius still somehow made him feel sixteen again.
Before either of them could say anything else, another voice joined them.
"Hey, babe. Who's your friend?"
The change in Sirius was immediate.
Not dramatic enough for anyone else to notice, but enough that Remus caught it.
His hands dropped from Remus' arms and he took a small step backward.
A tall man appeared beside him, one hand wrapped around a champagne flute. Up close, Edmé was just as striking as Remus had thought from across the lawn. Everything about him seemed carefully curated, from his tailored suit to the silver streak running through one side of his otherwise perfectly styled hair.
"Edmé," Sirius said quickly. "This is Remus. Remus, this is my fiancé, Edmé."
"Remus. I don't believe Sirius has mentioned you before, are you a customer?"
Remus accepted the handshake.
"Oh, no. I—we attended school together."
The handshake lingered a moment too long.
Edmé's expression shifted almost imperceptibly. It was the look of someone fitting a missing puzzle piece into place.
"The one he calls Moony."
Remus felt his stomach tighten.
The words themselves were harmless enough, but there was something underneath them. Something sharp.
For a few moments they simply stood there, measuring each other.
Then Edmé smiled and slipped an arm around Sirius' waist, pulling him comfortably against his side.
"Well," he said, his smile never quite reaching his eyes, "it's lovely to finally meet you."
Remus smiled back just as politely.
The tension between them remained hidden beneath pleasant expressions and practiced manners.
It was only when Remus' attention shifted to Sirius that something felt wrong.
Anyone looking at him would see a happy fiancé standing beside the man he intended to marry.
Or at least, he had known him once.
And what he saw wasn't happiness.
The slight stiffness in his shoulders. The way he glanced toward Edmé before speaking. The almost imperceptible tension around his eyes.
It reminded Remus of something he couldn't quite place. Something old and familiar.
Across the lawn, laughter erupted from another group of guests. The band continued playing its light jazz. Fairy lights twinkled in the trees overhead.
The entire evening looked perfect.
Yet standing there beneath all that warm golden light, Remus found himself thinking back to what James had said only minutes earlier.
I don't think he's good to Sirius.
At the time, Remus had assumed James was exaggerating.
"Well," Edmé said at last, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had settled over their little circle. "We need to go greet some other guests."
His arm remained firmly around Sirius' waist as he spoke, fingers resting against his side with an ease that somehow felt rehearsed.
"Help yourself to the champagne," he continued. "It's Louis Roederer Cristal. Just over two hundred pounds a bottle."
The comment was delivered with a pleasant smile, though Remus couldn't help feeling there was something deliberate about it. A subtle reminder of the world Edmé occupied. The world Sirius now occupied.
Remus glanced down at the glass in his hand.
It still just tasted like champagne.
"Right," he said. "Wouldn't want it to go to waste."
For a brief moment, nobody moved.
Then Edmé gave Sirius a gentle tug at the waist.
The gesture was affectionate enough on the surface, but Remus found himself watching Sirius' reaction rather than the movement itself.
Sirius immediately followed.
Not enthusiastically, either.
As though he'd been pulled from conversations like this a hundred times before.
"It was good seeing you again, Remus," Sirius said, offering him a smile.
The smile was genuine. Remus was sure of that much.
Yet there was something apologetic lurking underneath it.
Something that made Remus' chest ache unexpectedly.
Sirius lingered for half a second longer, as though he wanted to say something else.
Then Edmé steered him away.
The crowd swallowed them quickly. Within moments they were across the lawn greeting another cluster of guests beneath the fairy lights.
Remus watched Sirius laugh at something someone said. Watched him accept another glass of champagne. Watched him settle effortlessly back into the role of host.
And yet, James' words still echoed unpleasantly in the back of his mind.
I don't think he's good to Sirius.
Now, standing alone with his untouched plate of hors d'oeuvres and a very expensive glass of champagne, he was certain that James wasn't wrong.
Across the lawn, Sirius glanced back.
Their eyes met for the briefest moment before Edmé said something that pulled his attention away again.
Remus looked down at his champagne and drained half the glass in one swallow.
