#penalty

Mack in the Box San Jose Sharks vs. Vancouver Canucks : January 27, 2026

@wolfstarmicrofic January 9, word count 946

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Sirius took a deep breath and opened his laptop. He’d been sitting at the breakfast bar for over an hour, psyching himself up to do some research. In truth, he was terrified of what he might find. It was all so new to him, but thoughts of honey-coloured eyes finally gave him the courage to type in his first question.

Five hours later, his brain ached with all the new information he’d forced upon it. There was so much he hadn’t known or even thought about when it came to the LGBTQIA+ community.

Sirius couldn’t believe he’d basically blocked out this whole beautiful culture. He wondered what else he’d been blocking. He knew where this all stemmed from and why he’d had so much trouble accepting Henry as part of the family: his parents. They’d drilled it into him over and over in the years he’d lived with them, and something must have stuck because he’d never bothered to look into it. He felt like giving himself a penalty on life and going to sit in the box for a time-out. Instead, he pulled up the pictures he’d screenshotted from the Wolves page and scrolled through all the pictures of Lupin. He was such an idiot. He should just go out to one of the many gay bars in the city and go meet someone, but he didn’t want to meet anyone, not really. Sirius wanted Lupin in a way he hadn’t wanted anyone before, not even the few women he’d been in a relationship with. He slammed the laptop shut and went to grab his coat. He needed some fresh air.

Somehow, he ended up at the rink. He shrugged; the ice had always been the best place to clear his head. To his dismay, the rink was halfway through a kids’ session, but Marlene behind the counter let him on as long as he promised not to kill any of the tiny gremlins.

“The big ones tend to get angry if the smaller ones get hurt,” she giggled as she waved him through.

He closed his eyes the second his skates hit the ice. The shrieks from the kids and parents didn’t bother him. He’d long ago trained himself to block out the unnecessary noise of a hockey game, and this was no different. When he opened them again, he set off, taking a few laps to warm himself up. He couldn’t practice much, but maybe that was good. He could just be on the ice with no expectations. 

Just ahead of him, a tiny boy held onto the sides of the rink for dear life, his little skates slipping comically beneath his feet. Sirius looked around but couldn’t see any adults watching him.

“Want some help?” he asked gently. The little boy looked up at him with wide, round eyes and nodded. “Okay, you’ve got to put your feet like this and lock your legs. That’s it!” Sirius grinned as the boy got his footing. “Alright, Mr Superstar, the next step is to push one foot out, like you’re walking, and then the other follows.” He showed the boy what he meant. “Brilliant!” he cheered as the boy began pulling himself around the edge. Sirius kept an eye out for his parents. But he couldn’t see anyone. The session was nearly over, and Sirius was getting worried, but he wouldn’t leave the kid until he found a parent, so it looked like he was stuck there for a bit longer. “Want to try letting go of the wall?” he asked. The little boy shook his head. “Go on, I’ll be right here,” Sirius said, holding out his hand, and after a few seconds of debating, the boy let go of the side and shakily skated to Sirius, taking his hand and barrelling into him. “Well done, Mr Superstar!” Sirius praised him, and the beaming grin he got in return melted his heart.

“Oliver? Oliver!” A man rushed across the ice towards them, looking a little panicked.

“Daddy, look!” Oliver squealed in excitement and pushed away from Sirius and skated a little less wobbly than before to his dad.

“Oh my God, Oliver, that was amazing!” The dad scooped him up into his arms and twirled them around. Sirius was very impressed. “I’m so sorry; we didn’t mean to leave him so long. My husband got a nosebleed, and it just wouldn’t stop gushing, and he passes out at the sight of blood, so you can guess what happened. I was a bit overwhelmed.”

“No worries, Mr Superstar, here was doing a fabulous job at skating, weren’t you?” Oliver nodded.

“Well, thank you,” the dad said, offering his free hand for Sirius to shake. The dad finally looked at Sirius properly, and Sirius caught the flick of recognition. “Oh my God, you’re Sirius Black! My husband is going to be so pissed he missed meeting you,” he gasped. “Oh my god, the Sirius Black gave my son a skating lesson. Would it be okay to get a pic with you?”

“Er, yeah, sure,” Sirius said, glancing around the rink to make sure no one else had realised who he was. The dad pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it up so all three of them were in the shot.

“Smile, Oliver,” he said and took the picture. “Thank you so much. Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. Graham Wood and you’ve met Oliver. Thank you again for watching him. I honestly thought I was going to be a minute.”

Sirius waved them off with the rest of the skaters, and then he was alone on the ice, and he absolutely hated it.