o n e
I stared out the window of Lily Evan's car as we drove through the city. I love how London looked as we sped by, how the buildings varied in all shapes and sizes.
"There's the university," Lily said, pointing out the window to a school that looked a bit like a castle. It would be our second year and we would be staying in the dorms no longer. We'd been apartment hunting all summer and we'd finally found an affordable apartment in a relatively good part of town.
We drove a little while longer before we pulled into the parking lot of the apartment building. Lily's parents pulled up behind us, a trailer hooked up to the hitch on the back. "Ready, Rey?" Lily asked with a smile.
I adjusted my nasal cannula and nodded, smiling back. I slipped my mask on over my nose and mouth and got out of the car, swinging my portable oxygen bag over my shoulder. I glanced disdainfully at the tall building.
"What floor are we on?" I asked. Lily glanced over. "Only two, Remus. Plus they have an elevator here."
I nodded, opening up the trunk of Lily's car, which was full of my stuff. I sighed. I was not looking forward to moving all this.
*******
"Hey, I think we've got new neighbors!" Peter Pettigrew squeaked excitedly, looking out the window. Two vehicles had just pulled in and four figures were grabbing boxes out of the back of a van and a trailer.
"Really?" I asked, sitting up from where I was previously hanging upside down off the couch. "Let's go introduce ourselves then."
James Potter squeezed beside Peter to get a look down at the parking lot. "We could offer to help move their things too. Looks like they've got some heavy stuff and the elevators been out of order for a week."
We nodded our agreement and made our way down the two flights of stairs.
Once out of the building, the three of us made our way over to the four people. James sauntered up to them and cleared his throat. "Hello, I'm James Potter and these are my mates Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. We live here and saw you lot and we were wondering if we could be of any help?"
A very pretty redhead girl's eyes lit up. "That would be wonderful, thank you. We can take less trips up the elevator."
"Actually," Peter piped up, "the elevator's out of order at the mo'."
The boy standing next to the girl groaned loudly at this. The girl glanced back him with pitying eyes before turning back to the trio in front of her.
"I'm Lily Evans, by the way. And this is Remus Lupin. We really appreciate your help."
I glanced to my left to see James had been staring at Lily Evans. I elbowed my mate, who started and stepped forward to help. Lily stopped him though, pulling a bottle of hand sanitizer out of her pocket.
I noticed that Remus Lupin's face went really red in embarrassment. I took my first good look at the boy. He had messy light brown curls that looked soft to the touch and lovely honey colored eyes. Freckles covered the boy's face, a scar running from just under his left eye all the way across his nose and his right cheek. He had on a face mask, so I couldn't see the bottom half of his face.
Remus was fairly short, drowning in an over sized sweater, light ripped jeans and red converse high-tops. He was quite possibly the most adorable human being I had ever laid eyes on.
"Lily, we'll go ahead and clean the apartment up before you bring up any of the stuff. You two go ahead and chat for a bit," a woman said to Lily and Remus.
"Oh! This is my mom. And my dad," Lily said as her parents smiled and waved, heading into the building carrying a tote of cleaning supplies.
"So," James started, "what brings you here?"
"It's our sophomore year of college," Lily explained. "We go to Hogwarts University."
James's eyes lit up. "Really? We do too! What are you majoring in?"
"Photography," Lily grinned.
"Cool. I got a lacrosse scholarship, but I'm here for music. I play the cello."
Lily's eyes widened. "Oh my god, the cello is like, my favorite instrument. That's so cool."
James blushed, turning and nudging me. "Oh. Uh, I'm majoring in English. I want to be a writer."
"I'm in the culinary arts program," Peter added. I turned to Remus again expectantly.
"Oh," he muttered, flushing once again when he realized all the attention was on him. "I'm a painter. I'm here for art, I mean."
My heart melted a bit more.
Mrs. Evans cracked a window and called down, "Done cleaning, you can start bringing stuff up!"
Lily took charge, handing everyone boxes and totes. She ignored Remus waiting expectantly for something to carry.
"Oh, come on, Lily. I want to help."
"You are not carrying a heavy box up two flights of stairs," Lily argued, peeking my curiosity. Remus sighed angrily and Lily gave in, handing him a small box to carry. Lily handed me a heavy tote full of a bunch of medical equipment and I followed James up the stairs.
Once we got to the top of the two flights, Remus had to stop, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. He pulled his mask down to breathe better and I noticed he had a nasal cannula under his nose.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked him. His head shot up in surprise and he hurriedly pulled up his mask to cover his face. He nodded.
"Alright then," I said, heading to the door that was propped open. I noticed with delight that they were in apartment 2D, directly across from 2C, where James, Peter, and I lived.
When I entered and set the box down, I was attacked by the strong sent of bleach and Clorox. Remus came in behind me and when the smell hit his nose, he immediately went into a coughing fit.
"I'm sorry, honey," Mrs. Evans said. "I've opened all the windows. We're working on the smell."
"It's--okay," Remus managed. Remus sat down heavily at the small table in the kitchenette. Lily passed, ruffling his hair. "You stay here and organize when we bring stuff up, alright?" Remus nodded, taking the tote from my hands. He opened it, pulled out a few things and started organizing a ton of pill bottles.
I followed Lily and her parents back down the steps, James and Peter behind me, to get the next load. There wasn't as much stuff as I originally thought, and we were done in no time.
James, Peter, and I helped Mr. Evans and Remus organize and put things away while Lily and Mrs. Evans made beds and put clothes in the closets. Remus and Peter were just finishing setting the flower pots on the windowsills when the two women exited the last bedroom.
"We set up an air mattress in the guest room," Mrs. Evans says, turning to Lily and Remus. "We'll stay the night to make sure you two get settled and Remus's things are set up properly.
Remus blushed. Lily saw this. "Mum, we've both been setting it up for ages, we got it."
She smiled at them. "I know. Just being safe."
Soon it was time to head back to their apartment.
"Thank you boys so much for the help," Mrs. Evans said, giving us each a hug.
"I'll talk to the landlord and see about getting the elevator fixed," James suggested. Mrs. Evans smiled. "That would be lovely, thank you. Goodnight boys."
"I'm in love," I declared the second our door was closed. James laughed. "That was quick."
"He's just so fucking adorable!" I exclaimed, jumping onto the couch. "I've never laid eyes on another man as cute as he is. Good lord, I might die." James laughed.
"What was up with him, though?" Peter asked, concerned. "Did you see all the medications he had? And that breathing thingy in his nose?"
James glanced over at Peter disapprovingly. "Don't be rude, Peter."
"I'm not being rude!" He defended quickly. "I'm just curious is all."
I sighed, digging a cigarette out of my pocket and lighting it. I'd disabled the fire alarms ages ago.
"Sirius, please, you know I hate it when you do that," James complained. "Please go out to the balcony at least."
I groaned, but did as he asked anyway. When I got back inside there was a knock on the door. James went to get it and Lily Evans was standing there in her pajamas. She pushed past James and stepped inside, wrinkling her nose at the smell.
"I knew it was coming from in here. All right, which one of you three smokes?"
James and Peter both looked at me and I raised my hand. Lily looked disappointed, like she'd expected it almost.
"I'm sorry. I know we've just moved in and we've already been such a bother. You lot were such a great help today. But when we bought the apartment, it said it was a no smoking building and I hate to come into your home and tell you to quit something, but here I am and I'm asking you to stop, or at least leave the building to smoke. Remus has got Cystic Fibrosis and he really can't handle the smoke."
"What the heck is Cystic whatever you said?" Peter questioned.
"It basically means he's got really shitty lungs."
Lily turned to me, fixing me with a piercing stare, begging. I nodded.
"Thank you for your consideration," she mumbled, yawning and stalking out the door and across the hall. I closed the door, turning to the lads.
"That's it. I've quit."
"What?" Asked James.
"Smoking. I've quit. It has suddenly lost all appeal. Help me get rid of all my cigarettes immediately," I stated. James happily obliged, not questioning my sudden change of attitude. He's always hated my smoking.
That night, I stayed up researching Cystic Fibrosis.
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