Remus

January 31 was Lily's birthday and we had quite the day planned. We, of course, didn't let her in on any of it, so she was in the dark the entire time. Before Lily had woken up, we all gathered in mine and Lily's apartment to prepare her an elegant breakfast. This was mainly Peter's job.

He didn't disappoint. He'd made perfect waffles with a light dusting of powdered sugar and strawberry slices. He also had some bacon perched on the side and some hash browns. James ran to the coffee shop to get Lily's favorite drink and then James went to wake her up so we could bring in the food.

Lily was pleasantly surprised. She invited us all to sit around while she ate. Peter made enough food for everyone so we all sat on Lily's bed and ate our amazing breakfast.

After that, we sat around and watched John Mulaney on the TV for the millionth time while I did my vest treatment. Lily and I had watched all the Netflix shows a hundred times over so we were quoting it the entire time. The other three boys had never seen him and found it hilarious.

After I was done, we all got in James's van and he started driving. We refused to tell Lily where we were going so she had to sit in suspense the entire ride. We let her choose the music though.

The only hint she got was that I had my oxygen bag instead of the cart, so she knew it was more of a physical activity.

When James parked the van in the parking lot of the laser tag activity center, Lily's eyes lit up in excitement.

"Mum and Dad used to take Petunia and I here when we were little!" She exclaimed, hurrying to get out of the van.

We followed her and went inside to set up. After James informed them of our reservation, we went to the prep room where we got our vests and laser guns.

We decided that Sirius, Peter, and I would be on a team, while James and Lily would be on the other. Once we got inside my eyes took a second to adjust to the darkness and the neon glow.

Sirius grabbed my hand and we split up from the group, Peter following behind us. Sirius led me to the top level, where I had a pretty good view of the entire arena. There were a few other teams playing, but the competition was between our two teams.

"I'll be sniper," I suggested at the same time Sirius asked, "Sniper?"

We both laughed.

"Well I'll be on the offense down on the front lines," Sirius suggested dramatically. "Peter, I don't give a fuck what you do, just don't die."

Peter nodded in equal seriousness. I grabbed Sirius by his collar and pulled him in for a kiss.

"Come back to me, Sirius. Don't be a hero. I need you."

Sirius offered a weak smile. "I can't promise anything, love. Just know that no matter what happens, I love you."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, just go already, you dork."

Sirius grinned and kissed me again. "Copy that, soldier." He saluted me and jogged off back the way we came.

I glanced over at Peter. "You ready for this?" I asked him. He looked disdainfully down at the glow in the dark arena.

"No. I'll see you around, Remus," and with that, he scuttled off in the other direction. I took as deep a breath as I could force through my lungs and trained my laser gun out of the cut out window down to the floor below.

Sirius was jumping around from one wall cut out to the next, looking like an obnoxious, try-hard ninja. I snorted. He looked quite ridiculous.

I spotted Peter cowering in another corner, trying to work up the courage to peek around and see if anyone was coming.

James and Lily were talking strategy quietly in the far corner, smiling and most likely insulting Sirius, by the looks of it.

There were three consecutive beeps that echoed throughout the arena and the game began. I sought out James's vest and shot him almost immediately. He let out a shout as his vest vibrated and went dark. Lily looked frantically around, searching for who had shot him, but didn't find anything. I shot her too.

Once both of their vests reloaded, they went back to back and entered the fray, prepared to take down their enemies.

Sirius jumped about like an idiot, trying to be daring, but really he just looked stupid. He was shooting at random, not even bothering to aim.

Lily aimed and shot and he fell to the ground dramatically.

"I'VE DIED," he yelled. "BLAAH."

"OH GET UP ALREADY, YOU GIT. AND AIM NEXT TIME," I cupped my hands and yelled down at him.

Sirius rolled his eyes and rolled over, getting to his feet as his vest lit up again. James aimed to shoot him again but I took him out first.

"What the fuck?" He yelled in exasperation. "Where are you, you little shit?"

I giggled and James whipped around, looking for me. Peter crept up behind them and shot Lily in the back and she whirled around. James spun around as well and as soon as his vest turned on, he tried to shoot Peter, but I got him first.

James screamed in frustration. "REMUS!"

I laughed some more, but I didn't see the other random player that snuck up behind me. I felt my vest go off and I spun around to see some random dude grinning at me.

"Damn it," I said through coughs because the vest dislodged some of the mucus in my lungs.

Suddenly, Sirius was behind me, hand on my back as the vest turned back on.

"Alright, Moons?" He asked.

I nodded as the coughs subsided.

"I need to relocate," I said. "I've been compromised."

Sirius nodded and led me over to the other side of the arena where I vowed to be better hidden and perhaps not yell instructions at my boyfriend.

While I was relocating, James and Lily had become The Power Couple and we're taking people out one after the other. They had Peter cornered and were repeatedly shooting him as he laughed and begged for mercy or else for Sirius or I to save him.

Sirius snuck up behind them and tried to shoot, but Lily spun around and shot him first.

"You idiot," I murmured to myself.

"I'VE DIED ONCE AGAIN!" He exclaimed. I peeped out of my hiding spot quickly to shoot Lily and James. Peter made his escape, yelling, "Thanks, Rey!" as he went.

Lily cursed and looked around before grabbing James hand. The two of them disappeared behind a structure and I couldn't see them.

From my vantage point, I took aim and sniped many players I didn't know, since James and Lily had disappeared. I even shot the dude who ambushed me as payback.

I was quite enjoying myself, playing sniper and shooting people, watching Sirius make a fool of himself, once yelling, "I'VE DIED A THIRD TIME, CURSES!"

In fact, I was so into the game that I didn't hear James and Lily behind me until my vest went off. I spun around in surprise, but the damage was already done.

They kept shooting though, even when it didn't do anything. "Alright, alright, I'm dead, stop it!" I finally relented.

"You little bugger!" James said, shaking his head. "Clever play, sniper, but it seems we have outsmarted you lot."

I glanced down at the arena where Sirius was pirouetting around the ground floor and shooting at random.

"Well I mean...it wouldn't be very hard."

Lily barked a laugh. My vest lit up again and Lily shot me a second time.

I looked down at it and then back up at her. "Now that's just mean," I said. She smirked and shrugged.

"I'VE BEEN KILLED EVEN MORE!" We heard Sirius shout from the ground level.

James sighed and shook his head. "Good heavens, what is his problem?"

"He's a tad bit dramatic," Peter supplied, joining the conversation. James shot him and his vest went out. He looked quite betrayed, for he had most likely forgotten that the game was still going and that James and Lily were the enemy.

My vest went on a third time and I raised my gun and shot Lily first. Then my vest vibrated and went out again. I had forgotten about James. He was grinning and looking quite proud of himself.

Then a voice came over the speakers. "Game Over. Players please make your way to the exits. Follow the glowing arrows."

So we made our way down to the ground level as a group and Sirius joined us along the way. He grabbed my hand and grinned at me.

"Alright, love?" He asked. I nodded and squeezed his hand.

James and Lily ended up winning by quite a lot of points, unfortunately.

That night, James took Lily out on a date and Peter left to meet with some of his friends from his culinary arts class, so Sirius and I had the apartments to ourselves.

We sat on my couch, surrounded by potted plants and painted canvases propped up on the wall. Sirius was wringing his hands nervously.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm just worried. And scared. I'm feeling anxious is all," he whispered. I scooted closer to him and laid my head on his shoulder.

"What are you anxious about, love?"

He took a shaky breath. "I'm just worried about Regulus, I guess. I could tell at Christmas he was depressed. I know the signs and he hides it a lot like I did. I told him that if he never needed anything, to call. And I know it's only been a month, but I just have this feeling that he needs me and...and I don't know what to do."

I thought about it for a minute. "Maybe you should call him?" I suggested.

Sirius shook his head. "He wouldn't answer."

"I bet he would."

"He wouldn't."

I let it go. "Well he's eighteen, he's only got four or so months left of high school. And then he can leave and go to school to be a doctor like you said he wanted to be. Everything will be alright, Siri. You don't have to worry so much."

"That house is toxic, though, Rey. It's so toxic. They would never lay a hand on Reg like they did to me, but just being in that house is enough to drive anyone mad."

"Call him then," I said. "It won't hurt to talk to him, Sirius. If you really think he needs you right now, then maybe he's afraid to call you. Maybe he needs you to take the initiative."

Sirius shrugged, eyes a little teary. "It'll be worse for him if my parents find out he's been talking to me. I wouldn't want to hurt him."

I sighed. "Just think about it, okay? I still think you should talk to him."

Sirius didn't say anything else after that.