It was at fifteen that Sirius felt something for someone for the first time.
He was just a silly boy who had kissed a couple of girls not because he wanted them but because they initiated it.
The summer when he met George, Sirius would call it the best of his life. The bloke was one of his Uncle's friends. He was way older. In his thirties. He was cool, handsome and easy going. He dressed like a Rockstar: cool leather jackets, tight jeans, piercings and leather boots. Plus he had the most angelical voice Sirius had ever heard.
They toured through different cities of Europe thanks to Alphard's money. George sang in every bar and club they could find. Alphard brought his nephews along, pretending they were more than eighteen and not minors with little experience of that world.
Regulus didn't enjoy his time much. He didn't enjoy the clubs and crowds and preferred to get lost in his books. Sirius was delighted with all that experience. With George and his Uncle, he learned to drink, to smoke, to listen to music, to flirt and to have fun.
Sirius thought Alphard's life was wonderful. Full of adventures, so different than what the rightful House of Black represented. During that summer, Sirius swore to be just like George when he was older.
But what George made him feel was intense and very different than what he had felt before. George was this amazing person that Sirius wanted to impress. He got nervous around him. And at the same time he felt so wild, like anything was possible around him.
Sirius couldn't stop looking at him, admiring every move, every smile, every word that came out of his mouth. His heart beat harder when George winked at him. He blushed when he rubbed his hair. And when he sang, Sirius was transported to another world.
Of course in Sirius’s fifteen year old mind, it was impossible to acknowledge these feelings as love. It was impossible for Alphard to be gay. It was impossible for him to be gay. So Sirius just saw all of this as admiration. Nothing more.
They were just bachelors having fun without compromise.
"George, Uncle has been looking for you"
George was at the hotel terrace, sitting at the edge of the roof, looking down at the street, feet tangling down. He held a cigarette between his lips. He had dark shades and wearing only a white tee he looked incredibly great. How could he manage that?
"Sirius, come here" George gestured for Sirius to come closer, smiling at him with his perfect white teeth.
Sirius couldn't avoid blushing as he approached.
"Look at this view, isn't gorgeous?"
Sirius saw the city of Paris in front of his eyes. Sunset was making the sky pink and yellow. The buildings had a certain glow in them. Everything looked as if it was made of gold. Paris was truly breathtaking. Eiffel Tower in the back. Sirius had been a few times, but he had never seen the city this beautiful.
"C'est trés jolie" Sirius commented as he took a seat besides George.
George laughed. His hair was also golden, shinning under the sun.
"At least I get you to talk to me in French, your Uncle doesn't want to"
Sirius was aware of his cheeks getting on fire.
"I bloody love Paris" George added "Might want to stay here forever"
"Me too" Sirius suddenly agreed looking at the landscape "I don't want summer to be over"
George raised an eyebrow.
"Come on, I'm sure you miss your friends" he said "Maybe a pretty girl you left behind?"
Sirius did miss his friends. The Marauders and their silly pranks. Although he didn't think about them every second of the day. Not when Sirius was having this much fun. He thought he should probably write to James. Then he felt nostalgic and got excited about the idea of telling him about of his adventures to him. He was surely going to love them.
"Maybe my friends, but no.. I don't have a girl" Sirius found himself nervously playing with his wristband as he said this.
"Oh yeah? A boy as handsome as you?"
Sirius now smiled at his own silliness and way of blushing so easily.
"I am like my Uncle. A free spirit. Do not want to waste time in just one girl"
He said it mainly to sound cooler. Like George as well. He flirted and talked with plenty of girls after his shows. But never actually stayed with one.
George looked away into the sunset with a sigh "Your Uncle, a free spirit, isn't he?" he took a drag of his cigarette, then realized he was supposed to offer it to Sirius.
Sirius grabbed it between his fingers. He had managed to not cough the other day. He wasn’t very keen of the smell and taste. But he wanted to look cool. And George looked so cool while he smoked.
Sirius managed to take a full drag and only coughed a little as he let the smoke out. George was amused. God, why did Sirius want to impress him so much? And why did he fail miserably?
"Are you angry with him?" Sirius asked as he passed the cig back "With my Uncle? I heard you discussing with him yesterday after your show"
If Sirius had been paying more attention he would have seen George go a bit frigid.
"It was just some bickering, Sirius. Do you bicker with your mates?"
Sirius shared a dorm with his best friends. Sometimes they fought about silly stuff.
"All the time" Sirius sneered.
George nodded with a smile.
"Your Uncle has an insufferable temper, I must tell you"
Sirius chuckled "He is alright"
"Have we met the same Alphard?"
Sirius found himself laughing and afterwards he couldn't stop smiling. It was a stupid thing.
'I like you' Sirius wanted to say. 'I'm glad you are my Uncle's friend. And I am glad I met you'
"Don't worry about it, mate"
But he didn't dare. The words were just stuck on his throat like a bloody syrup.
George kept smoking in silence. Sirius opened his mouth trying to find the right words. It was the nervousness that got him this silly.
"Each morning I wake up and die a little, can't barely stand on my feet..."
However his thoughts were interrupted when George began singing. He winked making Sirius blush. It was an acapella song without music, without warning, just because he felt like it. And Sirius smiled because he recognized this song.
"Take a look in the mirror and cryyy... Oh lord what you're doing to mee... I have spent all my years in believing you... Someday I'm gonna be free Looooord!"
Sirius couldn't get more fascinated by George's voice. He hadn't heard something so beautiful. He hadn't seen anyone so beautiful. In his mind it was that he wanted to be exactly like George. That cool, that amazing, that talented, that perfect.
"Find me somebody to Looove... Find me somebody to Looove" Sirius sang as well.
George smiled before continuing.
"Caaan anybody find mee...." George made a pause looking at the beautiful sky "Somebody toooo....... loooooooveeeee...."
The last part gave Sirius goosebumps. Not even Mercury had managed that. So Sirius was smiling just because. Cheeks pink, no wonder.
And George was smiling as well. Cheeky little smile below his shades.
Sirius wanted to smile at someone someday and provoke all the crazy things he was feeling now.
"George, don't encourage my nephew to sing. He has a terrible voice"
Alphard was right behind them. He had a soft smile on his face. But he looked tired. Maybe he just woke up.
"And don't you dare encourage him to smoke" Alphard added as he practically ripped the cigarette out of George's hand.
"He is a grown up boy, Alphard"
"I am a grown up boy, Uncle" Sirius smiled innocently. He actually couldn't wait to be a grown up adult like these two. Free from Orion and Walburga, free from all the stupid rules.
Alphard rolled his eyes as he took a drag.
"Your mother will kill me if she knew what you've been doing this summer"
Sirius buffed. He was embarrassed to be treated like a brag in front of George.
"Better not tell her, eh Alphard?"
"Why don't you go and fetch your brother?"
Alphard asked as he kept smoking "He's been reading the same bloody book in bed all day..."
Regulus was just fourteen. And he was already behaving like a bloody boomer.
"Look at that sight, let's go eat something outside"
Sirius rolled his eyes.
"I am not Reggie's babysitter"
Alphard patted him in the shoulder. "Come on, lad. I need to have a moment alone with George, yeah?"
Sirius noticed George haven't said a word. He kept looking forward. Sirius wished he would know what he was thinking.
"Yeah, of course" he said reluctantly as he stood up. Alphard gave him a sympathetic smile before Sirius left.
As he was walking inside, Sirius turned to see at his Uncle and George discuss. They were talking in low voices so Sirius couldn't hear. He couldn't tell by the shades but was he crying?
Then Alphard whispered something to make George give him his handsome smile. And something weird happened. Alphard touched his cheek delicately. Both men looked into each other's eyes.
Sirius found the gesture so intimate that he decided to leave.
Sirius was blind back then. He should have seen that as romantic. He should have known what his Uncle was. What George was. Now with everything that had happened with Remus, it all made more sense. Remus was not the first bloke he had fancied. Perhaps...
Something was certain. Alphard had been terrified to tell everyone the truth. And Sirius was terrified as well. He wished his Uncle was not dead so he could talk to him. He wished Alphard had trusted him. But he didn't. And Sirius missed him very much. Now he had to figure out all of these feelings on his own.
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