[Podfic-TTS] Wolfstar Podfics Composed by BurningAurora

Dearly Detested

Remus

Remus Lupin was screwed.

That was it, he had to pack up his things, disconnect from the internet, move to the countryside, and become a goat farmer.

He stared in horror at the Instagram app on his phone that he had thrown away on his bed earlier. The screen was still showing the message he had just sent: a forwarded post of the latest picture Sirius Black (@imsirius) had posted from what presumably was a photoshoot.

Remus’s problem however, wasn’t really the photo, but what he had written to Lily that accompanied his forwarded message:

wolfjwolf: Obscene.. 😩 How am I supposed to go on with my life, Lils??? It's not enough that his voice is plaguing my consciousness but now his body’s going to plague all my wet dreams as well?????

And the real problem wasn’t the message. It was that whilst he thought he sent that message to Lily, he apparently had just accidentally sent it directly back to Sirius himself. He was tired after a long day at work and it appeared his fingers were faster than his brain. And now that message stared at him - he had officially slid into Sirius Black’s DMs.

Fucking hell.

He glanced again at the picture in question; Sirius was a pop star whose singing career had blossomed almost overnight. Picture Sirius was in a simple black suit with a white shirt but to Remus’s utter dismay, Sirius was completely drenched. He was half immersed in a swimming pool, the long waves of his dark hair dripping water droplets down his neck and face as if he had just emerged from the water, his wet white dress shirt was also completely see-through and clung onto his lean torso, and Remus could see the outlines of Sirius’s tattoos on his chest…

Focus, Remus!

Remus had last seen Sirius at Hogwarts High - they hadn’t know each other well but he remembered the other boy so vividly. Sirius Black - mischievous, gorgeous, and very popular. Remus hadn’t actually thought of Sirius for years, until recently when his music had started to go viral and Remus couldn't get him out of his system.

Remus groaned. This is why he shouldn’t have gotten Instagram, he was awful at social media. He switched off the app, and prayed Sirius never checked messages from fans.

The next day, however, he found himself periodically checking his message - still unread.

Remus had just started at a new school as a teacher; he was in charge of a class of kindergartners who were all obsessed with Sirius’s new song ‘Butterflies and Bees’ and had requested they listen to that song on repeat during all their breaks.

At the end of the school day, when the kids had finally left, Remus was at his wits’ end - clutching his aching head in his hands, he closed his eyes and all he could hear ringing in his head were the tunes of the happy song.

“That’s it,” Remus said to himself, and he opened Instagram and started to type another message below the one he had accidentally sent last night.

wolfjwolf:

To my significant bother,

I truly am mortified about my last message but… you're probably never going to see this anyway, and I need to get this off my chest. I’ve been a teacher for all of 2 months and having to play your album on REPEAT to the kids today was possibly the hardest part of my job I've experienced so far. Why are they all so obsessed with you? Why do I hear you everywhere I go? Please spare a thought to my sanity? I’m afraid my subconscious mind will start thinking to the tune of your songs very soon…

….

He found he felt a little better after writing that.

And so Remus found himself messaging Sirius almost daily whenever he thought of Sirius and wanted to complain about hearing his song everywhere.

wolfjwolf:

Dearly detested,

The kids in my class want to do their drama dance recital to your song. Why am I being punished?

…

wolfjwolf:

My beloved nemesis,

I remember you playing piano at school. Perhaps a change in tempo will do your listenership some good. Maybe some David Bowie covers? Anything that will save me. For I fear I will hear your pop tune well into my afterlife.

…

wolfjwolf:

My cherished inevitable downfall,

They all drew a portrait of you today in art class. You’re everywhere I look.

...

wolfjwolf:

My adored archenemy,

Not a complaint about the music today.

I had the world’s most horrible date. Why do I pick the worst guys?

Hell, it feels ridiculous to be telling you about it even if you don’t see it, but it just feels so cathartic writing to you these past couple of weeks. It's fine… even if you did, you probably don't even remember me anyway.

….

His phone pinged and what he saw when he checked it made him drop his phone in shock, because on his notification screen, clear as day, was a message from Sirius Black:

imsirius: Oh I remember you just fine, Lupin ;)

Fuck.

~~~~

Sirius

Sirius found Remus's DM by complete accident.

James had messaged him earlier in the day saying he’d sent Sirius something that Regulus would love from his cat Walter's Instagram account. He couldn't keep up with James’ internet personas - just last week, he’d made an Instagram account for a lizard he’d been looking after for one of his patients, a little girl who was distraught to leave her lizard at home while she was in James’ paediatric ward and somehow James had ended up with the bloody thing - promising the girl he’d take care of it at home.

Sirius had to search for Walter’s message in the general message bank along with all the fan messages when a message from one @wolfjwolf caught his eyes, the profile picture depicting a face he thought he recognised. Although Sirius never usually checked fan messages, he was curious and so he opened the message.

It turned out it was Sirius's old school mate Remus Lupin. Sirius remembered him - he even briefly had a crush on Remus. There had been one especially memorable day where they were both in detention: Remus had asked if he wanted to share a cigarette, when Sirius said yes, he just handed Sirius the spliff he was currently smoking, gave Sirius a small smile, and just went back to reading his book, not saying another word. Sirius was immediately enchanted. Remus was just effortlessly, and he was sure unknowingly, cool. He wondered if Remus remembered that. The school year ended soon after and he never got the opportunity to get to know him better.

Upon checking Remus's profile, Sirius found Remus had just gotten more handsome. He seemed to like books, hiking and wearing cozy sweaters that made him look like a hot young professor.

The message that Remus clearly didn't mean to send to Sirius made him chuckle. He recalled the picture in question. Marlene, his manager, had made him post that picture and Sirius had been dubious but it seemed worth it now to see this message from Remus. He made a mental note to send Marlene some wine as thanks.

Sirius didn’t respond immediately since he was careful with who he interacted with online, but he read every message Remus sent. And with every passing day, he felt like he was getting to know the other man. Remus was funny, insightful and witty - and Sirius started to spend most of his days waiting for a message from Remus.

About a few weeks passed then one day, he saw a message about a bad date, and Sirius learned he hated the fact that Remus was upset. Maybe it was time he finally spoke to the man.. Sirius typed back a response and sent it before he lost his nerve:

imsirius: Oh I remember you just fine, Lupin ;)

~~~

It was early morning and Sirius stood near the entrance to the swimming facilities waiting to pick Regulus up after his lesson. He opened his Instagram app just to close it again when he found no messages from Remus. He had been checking his phone periodically since last night when he sent the message to Remus who hadn’t responded.

“THIRIUS!”

Regulus came running towards him and crashed into Sirius for a bear hug. His dark ringlets of hair were damp and smelt strongly of chlorine. Regulus smiled up at him toothily - 2 of his front teeth were missing, and some of his ‘s’ sounds had taken on a ‘th’ cadence lately. Sirius beamed at his little brother.

“Hey Reggie! How was swim practice?” He scooped his brother up and swung him around before setting him on his hip.

“It wasth good! I thwim fast now, Paddy! I thwim faster even than Barty today! But we still can't catch Evan,” Regulus reported in a very serious tone as they walked out to the courtyard where he had parked his car.

“I'm sure you're going to catch him very soon, Reg,” Sirius said fondly, tickling Regulus’s tummy which sent the boy into fits of giggles. He had raised his brother on his own since Regulus was born shortly after Sirius turned 18; Walburga and Orion Black had died in a car accident when Regulus was a baby, and Sirius who was then legally an adult, was given full access to his family’s estate. His aunts and uncles had tried to gain control of him and Regulus, but Sirius didn’t want Regulus to be brought up in the cruel and conservative circles of the Black family as he had been. And so with a bit of help from his favourite uncle Alphard, Sirius managed to gain full custody of his brother and it had been the two of them against the world ever since.

“Hey hey, there's my two favourite people!” hollered James Potter who was waving at them from across the courtyard. James was in his exercise gear, he trained in the adjacent facility for rugby practice, and always joined them after Regulus’s swim lessons for brunch on Saturday. Sirius waved at his best friend,

“Hey Prongs!”

“Lo’ James,” Regulus said, as James approached and ruffled Regulus’s hair.

“Hello, my favourite member of the Black family!” James said, giving Regulus a high five. “Shoulder rides?” he asked Regulus who nodded enthusiastically. James lifted Regulus over his head, setting him on his shoulders and the pair zoomed around the car park, Regulus squealing happily.

“Alright, you two,” Sirius said, catching up to the pair at his car and shoving James teasingly. “Let’s go to brunch, I’m starving!”

Regulus cheered, “James, James did you know it's my birthday month?”

“Sure do buddy, are you excited?”

“Yeah! Paddy and I planned it all!” Regulus said, gesturing wildly. “I can choose my own dinners, and next week Paddy and I are making cookies together and then and then next is my party!”

“I'll be there with extra party hats, sprog,” James replied cheerily. James and Alphard, along with James’s parents, had been Sirius’s rocks when it came to caring for Regulus. They all loved Regulus to bits and Regulus was the happiest 5-year-old who never had a shortage of people who loved him and wanted for nothing. Sirius made sure of that.

Later that night, Sirius posted a picture of himself and Regulus eating bowls of cereal for dinner on his Instagram; imsirius: R’s birthday month begins!

He posted pictures of Regulus often but never by name, he's referred to as ‘R’ or ‘baby brother’ and always obscured Regulus's face under different disguises; their recent favourite was a big lion beanie with ear flaps which hid his face well that Regulus insisted on wearing around the house.

He hadn't heard back from Remus, and Sirius couldn't help himself from sending another message.

imsirius: No complaints today? Maybe you've finally been converted to pop music huh?

imsirius: And I really did enjoy your messages, Remus. I hope I haven't lost them/you forever. And I'm sorry about the date. The guy is a plonker if I say so myself.

He couldn’t stop himself from smiling when he saw Remus had replied a few minutes later.

wolfjwolf: Hi Sirius… You were never supposed to see my messages. I'm absolutely fucking mortified…

wolfjwolf: And hah no I've not quite been converted yet. I was out shopping today and your song was playing on the radio. I can't quite escape you, Sirius Black.

imsirius: Remus!! Hi!!!!!!

wolfjwolf: Hi, Sirius. Can we please pretend I didn’t send that first message and start over? Hi, I'm Remus. Nice to re-meet you :)

imsirius: Hi Remus. I’m Sirius. The pleasure is definitely all mine :)

A week passed and he and Remus continued to exchange messages back and forth. Remus was so easy to talk to. He had a wicked sense of humour, and Sirius found him endlessly charming.

Remus also still sent occasional messages complaining about Sirius, but they mostly talked, and as of lately, they danced around each other.

wolfjwolf: My beloathed, I found myself humming your song today. So it's all over for me. Hades, take my soul!

imsirius: Hades huh. Didn't take you for a pagan worshipper, Remus ;)

wolfjwolf: Oh yeah I worship all sorts of things: tea, a good book, David Bowie… I'm on my knees.

imsirius: And what would one have to do to gain your worship? Asking for a friend..

wolfjwolf: You’ll have to see. I don't just get on my knees for anyone, Sirius ;)

Sirius whimpered at that. He was in trouble.

~~~~

Remus

Remus was spending recess panicking over Sirius.

Sirius, who earlier today had posted a video of himself playing the piano and singing along to a version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity. The video was different from his usual content;

imsirius: someone very dear to me said I should play more piano, hope you like this one, 🐺

Remus messaged him immediately,

wolfjwolf: Sirius that song…

imsirius: You did say I should branch out Remus, I learned that for you, hope you liked it 🙂

Remus was speechless. After getting to know him, Remus found Sirius was nothing like he could have ever imagined. He was thoughtful, cheeky, yet extremely humble for someone of his stature. This was one of the most thoughtful things anyone had ever done for him, and Remus found himself on the precipice of falling for one Sirius Black.

“Excuse me, Mr Lupin??” a small voice startled Remus.

Regulus Arcturus came up to Remus in the classroom, he was one of the best students in Remus's class. He was a quiet, intelligent and extremely kind young boy. He also reminded Remus of someone but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

“Hi Regulus, how can I help you?” Remus replied.

“I lost Paddy. I was wondering if you seen him?” Regulus’s lips trembled as he spoke, and he looked like he was holding back tears.

“Paddy?”

“Yeah he's my toy puppy, I named him after my brother Si- umm… Paddy. I always play with him but I’ve lost him…” Regulus said sadly with watery eyes, and went to sit in the corner amongst the bean bags.

“Oh I’m sorry, Regulus. I haven’t seen Paddy… I’ll keep an eye out for him though,” Remus said softly, and sat down beside him. “Would you like me to sit with you? I could tell you a story?”

Regulus nodded, but he still looked sad so Remus added in a whisper, “Okay, and don’t tell Ms McGonagall but here’s a chocolate, it always makes me feel better when I’m feeling sad,” Remus winked, holding his index finger to his mouth in a shushing gesture, and handed over a Mars bar to Regulus who finally smiled. And Remus spent his break telling Regulus a story he made up about a little lion who was very brave. Regulus was laughing by the end and had devoured all of his chocolate.

~~~~

Sirius

“More chocolate chips please, Paddy!” Regulus demanded.

He and Sirius were making cookies together as part of Regulus’s birthday month itinerary. “Here we go,” Sirius said, upending the entire packet of chocolate chips into the batter to Regulus’s delight.

They made oddly-sized balls of cookie dough and placed them in the oven together. They had also made a huge mess, not aided by the flour fight they had earlier.

He was worried to find out that his brother had misplaced his toy earlier, but Regulus was dealing with it rather well and seemed to be in good spirits.

“I’m sorry you lost Paddy, Reg. We can go buy another one tomorrow if you want?” Sirius asked while they waited for the cookies to bake.

“No, that’s okay. Mr Lupin said I had to be brave like a lion,” Regulus said matter-of-factly.

Lupin???

“Who said that, Reg?”

“Mr. Lupin. My new teacher! He’s my favourite, Paddy. He told me a story about how to be brave today when I’m feeling sad, and he gave me some chocolate too! He say it helps…” Regulus rambled on.

Lupin.

Regulus’s teacher.

Remus was Regulus’s teacher!

Sirius was stunned. Of course, Remus didn’t know Reg’s name - he wasn’t enrolled under the name Black, which Sirius often did to avoid attention for Reg. Regulus knew Remus…He couldn’t believe his luck.

Before he could think on this further, the oven bell rang and the cookies were done. Regulus requested he play the piano, so Sirius played one of their favourites, Queen’s Somebody to love.

Sirius played and Regulus sat beside him eating the cookies, singing along dramatically whenever the chorus got to, “...somebody to loooooove.''

A few Queen songs later, Sirius looked over to find Regulus had fallen asleep on the chair beside him. He carefully extracted his brother from the chair and put him to bed, trying not to wake him in the process.

Later in bed, Sirius was messaging Remus; he had sent him a blurry picture Reggie took of Sirius playing the piano, and Remus had sent a picture back of him looking very cozy in a big sweater. He was snuggled up on the couch and holding a mug of tea, his wavy hair looked so soft, Sirius wanted to run his hands all over it.

Sirius was about to reply to Remus when there was a soft knock on his door.

When the door creaked open, a small head peeked around the door frame, and a little voice whispered, “Paddy?”

It was Regulus, standing at the door dragging his baby blanket behind, his eyes teary and lips trembling. Sirius dropped his phone on the bed and jumped off the bed running towards the door.

“Paddy, I had nightmare,” Regulus’s voice trembled.

“Hey Reggie. It's alright. Come here buddy,” Sirius scooped Regulus up into his arms and held him against his chest.

“Why don’t you spend the night with me, huh?” he said softly.

Regulus sniffled and nodded. He settled his brother down on the large King bed, and he tucked Regulus and his blanket in under the duvet.

“There, all better huh?” Sirius asked Regulus, who was still sniffling but no longer crying. He laid down beside his little brother and stroked Regulus's hair, which always soothed him and helped him with sleep. Regulus often came to Sirius’s bed in the middle of the night from nightmares.

“Can you sing a song please?” Regulus whispered, his big round grey eyes staring up at Sirius.

“Of course mon chou, c’mere,” he opened his arms and Regulus came to snuggle on his chest, sighing contentedly.

“Love you Paddy,” Regulus whispered sleepily.

“I love you too, so much.. g’night and sweet dreams, Reggie,” Sirius whispered back and started to softly sing the song Hey Jude. He wasn’t familiar with many nursery rhymes, so he often sang songs he himself loved to Reggie whenever he had to put his little brother to sleep. Reggie loved anything from the Beatles to Queen to David Bowie.

Before the song was finished, Regulus had fallen asleep, well-practised at sleeping in this position. Sirius pressed a soft kiss in his little brother’s hair before searching around for his phone one-handed, not wanting to let go of Regulus.

He found his phone and quickly replied to Remus,

imsirius: I’m so sorry Remus! My little brother came to my room, he had a nightmare and I needed to help him fall back asleep.

His phone pinged immediately, and he picked it up with a smile.

wolfjwolf: Poor thing! Is he okay?

Sirius was touched. None of the very few people he bothered dating in the past ever showed an interest in Regulus.

imsirius: thanks Remus, he’s ok, he’s asleep here in bed with me now, even managed to get me to sing him another song, the little rascal lol. (Sirius sent a selfie of him with Reggie snuggling on his chest, Regulus’s face hidden beneath his curls and the blankets).

Sirius saw the … dots pop up several times before Remus replied.

wolfjwolf: oh my god…

imsirius: Please, call me Sirius ;)

wolfjwolf: Shut up, this is the most adorable thing I've ever seen… You're something else, Sirius.

imsirius: Something…good, I hope?

wolfjwolf: Something perfect.

They said goodnight soon after and Sirius couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he fell asleep, dreaming of golden eyes and soft sweaters.

Sirius had been racking his brain all day trying to figure out how he should tell Remus that he was Regulus's brother. In the end, a message didn’t feel right, so he called up Alphard to tell him that Sirius would pick Regulus up from school today instead as a surprise.

He arrived early and was parked in the private entrance of Regulus’s school, leaning against his car, fidgeting and full of nervous energy.

“THIRIUS!!!!”

Sirius looked up to find Regulus running over.

“Hey sprog! Surprise!” Sirius beamed as the young boy squealed and jumped into Sirius's arms.

“Paddy….can we go for ice cream pleath?” his little brother pleaded with big puppy dog eyes, not wasting any time.

Sirius looked around, searching amongst the rush of people at the school gates. He had hoped to find Remus somehow, but now he internally cursed at himself at the fact that he hadn’t planned anything more substantial than foolish hope. He wanted to run inside to look for the man but Regulus was looking at him expectedly. Maybe another day…

“Haha alright alright, you’re just happy I’m here so you can get treats aren’t ya, come on let’s get in the car,” Sirius teased and he helped Regulus fasten his seat belts when he heard a voice interrupted -

“Regulus! You forgot your hat. Are you still -”

Sirius looked up and there he was. Remus.

His heart was thundering.

He turned back quickly to Regulus in the car, “Hey Reg, sit tight for a bit while I talk to Mr. Lupin yeah?”

Regulus nodded, settled in his seat and opened up a book.

“Sirius?”

Sirius turned to the voice, and their eyes locked.

He just stopped and stared for a while; Remus was tall, his wavy brown hair was slightly rumpled as if he'd been running his hands through it during the day, he was wearing a slim-fitted simple white dress shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and he was just… so gorgeous.

“Hi Remus,” Sirius said, giving him a nervous smile.

“How??” Remus asked, his eyebrows wrinkled in confusion and he walked towards Sirius.

“I’m sorry, I only found out last night from Reggie here that you were his teacher, he couldn’t stop gushing about his favourite - Mr Lupin. You couldn’t have known, I don’t use Reggie’s real name to protect him a little… and I considered telling you but then I thought maybe I’d surprise you instead, so, er… I came here, hoping I would run into you… hi, I hope you don't mind…” Sirius said, barely able to contain his excitement.

Remus looked stunned for a few moments before bursting out in laughter, “You’re absolutely ridiculous, you know?”

“So you’re not mad I just showed up?” Sirius asked.

“Quite the opposite in fact,” Remus replied.

Sirius beamed.

“Hi,” he said again stupidly, and stepped to stand in front of Remus, trying and failing to wipe the smile off his face.

“Hi,” Remus mirrored, and moved in closer, “I can’t believe you’re here.”

The two of them just stood across from each other for a moment, and Sirius wondered whether it would be considered too forward to just run and jump into Remus’s arms right now.

“Here, um, Regulus’s hat,” Remus said awkwardly, handing Regulus’s lion beanie over.

“Oh thanks,” Sirius reached out to grab it and his hand touched Remus’s outstretched hand - their fingers resting against each other over the hat.

“I've been waiting for so long to meet you, Remus, every message… every complaint.” Sirius said, adding the last part teasingly. Neither of them moved their hand away from each other’s.

“Me too, Sirius.” Remus stroked Sirius’s hand with his thumb.

“I can't believe I found you, and yet I feel like we’ve -”

“- known each other forever?” Remus finished his sentence.

“Yeah,” Sirius whispered. He leaned in towards Remus, unable to stop the movement even if he tried; he felt as if there was a magnetic force bringing them together, as if all the particles in the universe arranged themselves to bring him here to this moment, to Remus. There were freckles on Remus’s face that spanned galaxies - and Sirius wanted to count each and every one of them. Remus gripped his hand tighter and pulled Sirius closer towards him, and Sirius finally closed that last gap between their lips.

Remus kissed him back with a fire Sirius had never known before.

His skin lit up with electricity everywhere Remus touched him, and Sirius thought Remus felt like magic. Like what all the songs were written about, and he let himself get lost in the lyrics.

Remus shifted them back slightly so Sirius was leaning against the car. He cradled Sirius’s face in his hands, and kissed him so softly. Sirius chased his lips, wanting more, and he slid his palm along the hem of Remus’s untucked shirt, and tucked his thumb underneath wanting to feel his skin -

“EWWWWW Paddy, you're kissing Mr. Lupin!!!!!”

A screech from Regulus broke them apart, and Remus pulled away from him, blushing furiously. Sirius turned to find Regulus peering around the car door.

“Mr Lupin, are you going to be my new dad?” Regulus asked bluntly.

Sirius barked out a laugh and hid his face in the crook of Remus’s neck. Remus chuckled and dropped his hands from Sirius’s face and placed one of them on the small of Sirius’s back as they turned towards Regulus. Sirius never wanted to let him go.

Regulus continued speaking to Remus, “Paddy is my brother, Mr Lupin, but he's also like my dad. I don't have a mum or a second dad and I think you should be one if you want… Paddy makes really nice cookies and he plays the piano really good, and sings songs for me, and I think he likes you. I don't mind sharing, so you can come over to have cookies with us and play some games, Mr Lupin!” Regulus spoke in one breath without taking any pause.

“Oh and we're having pizza tonight, cos it's my birthday month and I get to choose any food I want. Paddy said I can have my favourite cheese pizza! You should come!”

Regulus smiled a big toothless smile at them.

"That's very kind of you, Regulus." Remus replied fondly.

"Yeah, please come for dinner! If you'd like, of course,” Sirius piped up, his brain function slowly returning to him.

"You sure?"

“Yeah Reg would love it. He loves you. We'll make pizzas and watch cartoons. Come to think of it, not the most exciting first date…” Sirius trailed off.

“Are you asking me out, Sirius?” Remus said with a grin.

“I think Reggie did that for me already, but if I were to also ask?” Sirius asked hopefully.

“I'd love nothing more, Sirius.”

“Oh. That's great! I'll text you my address? If you'd like to swing by at 6?”

“Perfect.”

“Great, I better get this little rascal home, and get cleaned up,” Sirius said.

“Goodbye Mr Lupin! I'll see you soon!” Regulus ran over to Remus and hugged him around the legs, which was all he could reach. Remus leaned down and ruffled Regulus’s hair, looking up at Sirius with a soft smile as he did so.

Sirius smiled back as he watched the pair and saw a glimpse into his future.

He couldn't wait.