Chapter Text
The Tonks’ bathroom was tiny and cluttered and it felt like home. Not their current house in Back Bay — but his childhood home in Montreal, before visits from family were few and far between. Before Ted. The house wasn’t exactly small, but it was busier, warmer. Andy took all that with her when she left town. Examining himself in the mirror, he pulled his hair back behind his ear, exposing the bandage on his neck. The dull sting had ceased hours ago and he figured it was unnecessary to keep it on. He carefully peeled back the corner, then shut his eyes tight before ripping it off.
“Shit!” Sirius cried, covering his mouth with his hand. The adhesive pulled some hair from his neck, and it stung fast like the prick of a needle. He examined the angry red mark left behind from his accident in the laundry room. It had scabbed over, crusted with blood. He had to pinch himself to avoid picking at it.
He let the shower heat up before he got in, but it quickly turned lukewarm. Rather than staying in the tepid water, he ran it freezing cold — turning his back to let it hit him like soft beads of ice. This was insane, even for his mother. Had she gone so far as to ignore her own principles just to embarrass him? No, most likely it was desperation; the ‘family matters’ had come up too quickly for her to plan anything else. There was just nowhere else to send them, and at least with Andy they’d be well out of her hair. She probably told Reg he’d come along just to shut him up. He always behaved better when he had something to hold over Sirius’ head. Sirius was finally adjusting to the temperature when he was interrupted by an impatient knock on the door.
“Ahyo amos duninere?” The muffled voice of his brother called from the other room. He turned the water off.
“What?” He yelled, pulling the patterned curtain back.
“Are - you - almost - done - in - there?” Regulus repeated, over-enunciating every syllable. Ted and Andy’s place was small, with two bedrooms and only one bathroom. He gave Regulus the room’s twin bed and opted to sleep on the couch, but he wasn’t planning on giving up any shower time because of it. Since it was already cold, though, he stepped out and grabbed his clothes instead of arguing.
“Yeah. Just give me a minute.” He said, opening the mirror cabinet in search of toothpaste — which he had forgotten.
“Ted said we’re leaving at seven tomorrow. You’d better be ready this time.”
“Of course I’m gonna be ready,” He mumbled, shutting the cabinet and staring at his own reflection. His eyes were immediately drawn to the scab left by his ring — he imagined it, shining and silver, shoved into the bottom of his bag. He could go without ever seeing it again, now that the humor had well and truly worn off. The symbol of the mark was visible on his neck, imprinted below his jaw by that stupid, ugly ring. It would be barely noticeable once it healed, but damn, if that didn’t suck. Regulus pounded on the door again.
“It’s been more than a minute.”
“Eat a dick, Reg.” said Sirius as he pulled the door open, pushing past his brother into the cramped hallway.
Sirius was longer than the couch. He knew he should’ve taken the room when he had the chance — being the oldest was a curse. In fact, he was so busy mulling it over he didn’t notice he’d fallen asleep until Ted shook him awake the next morning. They all shambled into his car, bags in hand, and hit the road towards the camp.
The drive was about two and a half hours northeast, but this time both he and Reg were hanging onto every word out of Ted’s mustached mouth. Apparently, Ted’s family had owned the place, and he bought it off them about ten years ago. He and Andy had been running it together since they’d been married — her only appearing for Christmas made even more sense now. For a few years, Andy ran alone while Ted was in Vietnam — that’s when she really fell in love with the work. There were going to be several other counselors their age, and some older. Most of them had been attending the camp since they were little, but a few were going in blind alongside them, which was slightly comforting. When Ted ran out of steam, they spent the last half hour playing an accidental game of hot potato with the trash bag and listening to the fuzzy radio as it clicked through news broadcasts and hippie folk rock.
Out the window, Sirius watched them trade little cities for smaller towns and eventually, only a spare log cabin and an overgrown gravel road to prove any human had ever been there at all.
About ten minutes out from the last power line, they passed the big wooden sign welcoming them to Camp Silver Lakes. Ted’s energy was infectious as they got closer to their destination. Sirius rolled his window down and stuck his head out, letting the wind whip his hair into his eyes.
The wind slowed to a breeze as the car rolled to a stop in a dirt parking lot, surrounded by pine trees that, if climbed, might lead to a giant’s castle in the clouds. The log cabin that greeted them looked minuscule in comparison, despite being almost as big as Ted’s house. Out of the beaded doorway came Andy, all smiles and bouncing curls, wearing a gray-blue shirt with the same red and white logo he had seen on the sign. After kissing her husband hello, she gathered the remaining two boys into a bear hug that was seemingly a Tonks custom.
“How have you two been? Oh, I’ve missed you so much!” Andy was tall enough to ruffle Reg’s hair without much difficulty.
“Wow, Sirius, you’ve grown!” She pulled her hand back and patted him on the arm instead.
“Nice to see you, Andy.” He smiled in a way he hoped was warm.
“You too, Regulus. I remember when you were barely up to my elbows!”
“Ankle-biter, that one. Even now.”
“Where do you want us?” Regulus shifted, uncomfortable with the teasing. Andy understood and let up immediately, entering administrative mode.
“You can just head inside with your bags… Ted called me last night and said that you left some things at home? I have some spare suits and things you can look through — we’re not expecting the others until about ten.”
“Great, thanks Andy.”
“Just don’t wander, you’ll get the tour as soon as our head counselors get here, along with the others. Ted and I have a lot to do here, but we’ll be back before anyone shows up. If not, give us a call at the front desk with the radio — the instructions are all written down. The phone goes to the PA system, so hands off. Got it?”
The Black family planning gene, while it had skipped Sirius, had clearly not done the same to Andy. They both nodded and she gave them a quick thumbs up before disappearing behind the building with Ted.
The inside of the cabin looked exactly how he imagined stepping into Andy’s head would look. The beads clicked together as they pushed them aside and walked through the open door. The dark wooden walls were covered in colorful drawings, photographs, and framed flora; thriving plants overflowing from pots and windchimes whose songs twinkled and blended together, traveling through opened windows. On the other side of the room, a tinted plastic case held a stack of records, locked and stored under a turntable.
The sturdy front desk was tucked in a bright corner, covered in memorabilia, pens, stacks of paperwork, and pictures of dozens of chubby-cheeked kids lined up in rows, canoeing, or jumping off docks. Encircled in keepsakes was the radio as well as the plastic, mint-green phone he hoped he’d never have to use — and under the desk, a minifridge fit with another padlock. In front of the desk were a few side tables and wicker seats fitted with vivid-hued cushions. On top of one table sat another plastic tub labeled ‘Lost and Found’, which was the only display of clothing in the cluttered room and clearly what they were supposed to look through.
“She doesn’t want us going through that, does she? That’s other people’s old stuff.” Reg’s nose twitched in disgust.
“Pretend it’s one of your fancy heirlooms.” replied Sirius — who was already sorting through the piles, looking for his size.
“I will not equate our family heirlooms to a forgotten pair of piss-stained swim trunks left in a moldy bin at fat camp!” He spat out.
“Jesus Christ, I wish I could send you to fat camp. You know what happens when you talk this much shit at fat camp? You get smothered.”
“You’re not funny.”
“And you’re not above this! Here, I found you a pair.” He held up a set of little boy’s green shorts, sporting a cartoon whale on one side. “Since you want to act like a fucking baby.” He tossed them at Regulus, who held up his hands in defense and swatted the poor kid’s trunks on the ground. Normally, that was when one of them would make a dramatic exit. With specific instructions not to wander, though, Regulus just collapsed onto the wicker sofa, refusing to acknowledge Sirius’ continued presence.
After a while of searching, Sirius found one that seemed like the right size. They were dark blue with little white moons and stars — not really his style, but at least they looked clean. He shoved them in his bag. He even found a few plain ones for Regulus, which he just tossed on the couch next to him. Regulus had given up on pouting and was reading an overly thick book, which wasn’t abnormal, but the way his eyes were glazed over — plus the fact that he hadn’t turned the page in multiple minutes — gave him away. He looked so out of place in his casual t-shirt and jeans, Sirius couldn’t help but feel a little bad for him.
“Sounds kinda fun, though, doesn’t it?” said Sirius, watching Reg’s eyes dart up from his book immediately — the way he never would if he was actually reading. “Way cooler than eating snails in France.” Regulus just stared in response. Refusing to back down, Sirius rambled on.
“I mean, I dunno. It’s summer camp, so it’s probably sports and stuff. You like that.”
“I doubt the lake is frozen over, so I’m pretty much useless.” said Regulus, avoiding eye contact in favor of reading the posters on the wall. He had to agree with that one, unfortunately — why his brother put all his stock into ice skating at such a young age, he’d never understand.
“And I’m awful with kids.” he continued, closing his book and leaning his head on the sofa back. “I always say the wrong things.”
“I’ll fuck up way worse than you, at least.” Sirius took the seat on the couch next to him, twirling a pen he found on Andy’s desk.
“You’ll probably say ‘fuck’ in front of them.” Regulus mumbled, watching Sirius spin the pen between his fingers. “How do you do that?”
“You can’t do this?” He stopped, clicking the pen tip in and out. “What were you doing in junior high?”
“Homework.”
“Oh.” They stared at each other for a second.
“I’m only gonna show you once.” said Sirius, eyes widened in a comic expression. “So pay attention, ‘cause I’m about to teach you magic.”
* * *
When their first coworkers showed up, Ted and Andy were not back. They decided to split up, with Sirius going to check them out and Regulus staying behind to call. As he exited the beaded door to watch the car pull up, he could hear Reg’s frantic voice in the background.
“Oh god, you gotta get back here. There’s a guy in a Ford Pinto, I think he works here. Hurry up, I don’t know what to do, I sent Sirius out. No, it won’t end well, the guy’s a total nightmare. I don’t know who it is, I meant my brother.”
Sirius tried not to stare too hard as the Ford pulled into the staff lot. He examined his fingernails intensely, hoping he looked nonchalant leaning against the support beam. His head snapped up when he heard the door pop open, and out of the passenger side came a small, slight woman with short dark hair and big round eyes. The man that appeared from the other side of the car was weedy-looking and tall, probably due to his exceedingly good posture. He watched as they opened the trunk and had an intense conversation in whispers before the man slumped his shoulders and picked up both of their bags.
The girl tilted her head at him as they approached the cabin, and Sirius gave her a little wave in response; considering Regulus had gone silent behind him, he could only assume Ted and Andy were on their way. He looked back at his jagged fingernails — he had picked them off without noticing. This time, though, he was going to quit for real. He noticed two pairs of feet stop in front of him, and realized they were trying to introduce themselves. He looked up at the girl’s big eyes, wishing they all had name tags. Introductions never stuck for him.
“Hey, I’m Alice. This is Frank.” She pointed at the man behind her. “Are you one of the new hires?”
“Uh — yep. Sirius, nice to meet you.” He reached out to shake her hand like he did at family gatherings and school events, before realizing that he looked like an idiot. It would’ve been funnier if Regulus had done that. Frank and Alice, however, did not laugh, and she shook his hand and smiled politely like she hadn’t noticed anything. He left Frank’s hand alone, which he didn’t seem to mind.
“My brother is inside. A— Mr. and Mrs. Tonks are gonna be back soon, I’m not sure where they are though.”
“I’m here! Who’s here?”
Right on cue, Andy burst out from behind the beaded curtain — she had a habit of that — and Alice screeched, jumping in for a hug. Frank made eye contact with Sirius, holding back a laugh. Sirius thought he could read the expression. These girls, huh?
“Andy, I missed you!” Alice squealed, her round face going red.
“Of course it was just you two, I thought I had to be prepared! How was the drive?” Andy gripped Alice’s shoulders with the question. Behind him, Ted came out and shook Frank’s hand in greeting — it looked normal when he did it.
Frank Longbottom and Alice Fortescue were the head counselors that year and drove in from Washington State University where they both went to school. Being veterans of the camp, they had known the Tonks’ for years and probably saw them more than Sirius did growing up — which felt a bit like betrayal. They were also the oldest counselors around, as the rest of the college-aged employees started to filter out in favor of internships and whatnot. It didn’t help that the camp had to cut a few things for budget reasons — like day camps or peanut butter alternatives. Regulus would just have to do without.
Luckily, Andy had managed to find another group of older counselors that would be arriving the next day — but the crew was still a decent chunk smaller than it was the year before. Itching with curiosity, Sirius wanted to start the tour right then, but they had to wait for the rest of their group to show up first. With the five of them already there, Andy put some records on and they all got comfortable on the front porch, chatting about the upcoming weeks.
They didn’t have to wait long before two chattering girls pulled in, driving a rusted cream-yellow MGB with the top down. After pulling into the nearest spot, the driver — sporting a bright blue top and flaming red hair — leaped out of the car and towards Andy just like Alice had.
“Guess who I brought with me!” She gestured to the car, smiling brightly. Another girl, a tanned blonde with broad shoulders, threw up her arms in an excited wave.
“Hey, Raz!”
“Oh my god!” Alice slapped her hand over her mouth. “Marlene, I didn’t know you were coming back this summer!”
“Good, it was a surprise! Lily, hide Marlene in the cabin before anyone else shows up — Frank, will you help me with the bags?” asked Ted, clapping Frank on the shoulder.
“I can help, if you want.” Sirius offered, hoping he might get some context. Lily tossed him the keys as she pushed Marlene inside, both giggling.
“Oh, great! Frank, you’re off the hook — why don’t you pick another record? I’m just about done with Carly Simon.”
“You got it.” Frank nodded and headed into the cabin with the girls.
“So what’s the surprise?” Sirius asked Ted as they popped open Lily’s trunk, revealing half a dozen heavy-looking bags.
“Oh, Marlene? She’s been coming here since she could walk, but her parents moved last year — to Michigan or something. Everyone figured she wouldn’t be back.” Ted grunted with effort as he picked up one of their suitcases and set it on the ground. “Andy ended up calling to work it out, we had Lily pick her up from the airport on her way up. Great group of kids, I’m telling you.”
Sirius jumped as an engine revved behind him. Ted, who was helping him lift a particularly heavy duffel bag, dropped it to wave to the driver, who blocked off two parking spots with his giant truck.
“Paul, hey! So good to see you — you didn’t drive here, did you?” Ted laughed. Hung up to dry, Sirius tipped forward and barely caught himself before a thin set of arms started to lift the other side.
“You got it?” It was Regulus, clearly surprised by the weight.
“Yeah, thanks.” Sirius replied. Neither of them as strong as they’d like to be, they began to inch towards the porch with the dense bag.
“Sirius, Regulus!” Ted called to them, gesturing towards the open window. A dark-skinned man with aviator sunglasses leaned an elbow out, chewing tobacco with fittingly stained teeth. “This is my buddy Paul, we were in the Army together — he’s out in Minnesota now, the bastard. He’s dropping off his daughter, will you show her inside?” Sirius’ arms began to ache from the weight of the bag, but he nodded as the back door swung open, revealing a lithe, severe-looking girl with short coily hair. With her long legs and platform sandals, she had a few inches on Ted, even. She waved goodbye to her father and walked past Ted with little recognition, approaching the two boys coolly.
“Hi, I’m Dorcas Meadowes.”
“Sirius Black.” He croaked out. She looked them up and down — taking in his hunched posture and Regulus’ reddening face, her expression unreadable.
“Cool name. That looks heavy, do you want me to carry it?” She asked, not a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Sirius was sure he had never made such direct eye contact with anyone in his life — she was very tall for a girl and was standing very close to them.
“Uh… Yeah.” He said, his arms shaking as he lifted it up for her to get a grip on. Regulus shot him a look he didn’t really understand, and they handed the bag off to Dorcas, who only faltered for a moment before carrying it inside as if it were a cat instead of a giant duffle bag that weighed more than two of Regulus plus maybe half of himself.
He made eye contact with Reg for half a second and failed to stifle the choked laugh that came out of him.
“That was so pathetic.” said Sirius, shaking his head.
“You’re so pathetic.”
Together they approached the cabin’s porch, watching Lily whirl around in confusion as Dorcas passed her, duffel bag in hand. She was handing out her armful of sodas, and Sirius took the last one as he stepped up onto the patio.
“Sorry about the bags, I should’ve warned you.” Lily said, using her short patterned nails to pry the tab off her can.
“Nothing I can’t handle.” said Sirius, returning to his spot leaning on the support beam. “What was in there, though? Dumbbells?”
“Yeah, actually. Marlene’s. Says she needs to stay in shape for swim season.” She shrugged, going to take a drink and immediately spilling some down her front. After a moment of sputtering and coughing, she excused herself into the cabin to find some napkins. Ted and Andy were still running around, mingling and loading everyone’s stuff onto the backs of beat-up golf carts.
It would be a while longer before the next person showed up, about halfway through the hour. Ted and Andy had taken the first trip to the cabin with everyone’s stuff, so the porch was empty of luggage. Frank brought some chairs out from inside so everyone could lounge about while they waited, chatting and listening to the wind chimes ring. Sirius had taken a seat on the floor, leaning against the leg of Andy’s chair. Alice had given up her seat to Dorcas, who was reading Reg’s book over his shoulder.
Everyone’s heads perked up when they heard the sound of an engine cutting through the quiet forest; Marlene stopped mid-conversation and ducked inside the cabin. Sirius had to stop himself from drooling when he saw the car approach through the trees — an olive green Chevy Nova. The bottom was rusted and the doors scratched, but he could imagine it in its prime. He wished he had his own car more than anything, but his parents would rather have him and Reg chauffeured to school and back and nowhere else without explicit permission. At least then, they’d always know where he was.
There was no fanfare when the busted old car swung into the staff lot and parked next to Frank’s Ford. No screaming when the tall lanky boy with curly hair stepped out with his rucksack. Sirius watched Ted squint at the stranger from across the lot before nudging his wife and whispering.
“Is that Remus?”
“I — I think so? He looks so different.” Andy responded in the same hushed tone.
“And he used to be short, didn’t he?”
“Well, obviously he grew.”
Unaware or unbothered by the quiet chatter, Remus locked his beautiful car and started towards the group.
“Hey, Ted. Andy.” He said as he stepped up on the patio, smiling slightly. His face was tanned and freckled, with a scar on his upper lip. Maybe it was because Sirius was on the ground, but the boy looked massive, like his head would scrape the rafters. After a moment of processing, Ted stood up and pulled the boy into a hug, knocking the air out of him.
“Hey, Remus! How have you been, I barely recognized you!”
“No? Well, I got my braces off.” Remus bragged, awkwardly showing off his straight teeth; Andy laughed in that chittering way that girls do when a boy does something precious.
“Oh, I remember now! How long did you have those on for?” asked Andy.
“Three and a half years.” He nodded, before looking down at his feet and noticing there was someone there. “Oh — Hey.” His mouth twitched into a frown.
“Hi, Remus.” said Sirius, raising his drink like a glass of champagne before finishing it.
“Oh, right! Introductions are in order.” Andy stood and guided Remus around the group, pointing at and naming every smiling face. He gave a tentative greeting to each person, finally making it around the room and back to where he started.
“And that’s my cousin, Sirius.”
“Hello, Sirius.” Remus nodded, looking between him and Andy and clocking the similarities. His brow scrunched with concentration, and Sirius counted two more scars — one faded across his cheek, the other on the underside of his chin — and a crooked nose that indicated it had been broken at least once. With the introductions finished, Remus took a seat next to Frank on the floor.
“How many of us are there?” Remus asked the group. “I’m not the last person to show, am I?” He looked around as he ran out of fingers to count off.
“Oh dear, no.” Andy ran a hand through her mass of dark hair, deftly hiding her exasperation. “We’re still waiting on a few friends.”
Not even five minutes later, their next friend showed up — a short, curvy girl named Mary with hair that rivaled Andy’s in both size and personality. She gave Remus the greeting he lacked from the others and tackled him into a hug; apparently they had become friends during day camp a few summers prior. She had no trouble recognizing him, despite the implication that he looked like a completely different person only a few months ago — she did have some choice words about it, though.
“I’m a little shocked, Remus. You hit puberty?”
“You’re shocked?”
Before they knew it, Andy had checked off all but two names on her list and it was well past eleven. She was debating with Ted on how the remaining counselors should be inconvenienced as punishment for their lateness, but neither could agree on something fitting. Lily and Marlene were butting in with suggestions, struggling to contain their laughter.
“No, Andy, I’m sorry. That leaves James unattended by the golf carts for nearly ten minutes. Do you want to be fishing the kid’s glasses out of the lake to hand to Effie? Let’s just cut out the middleman and tie him up in a bag of rats, like they used to do with witches.” said Ted, handing out a third round of sodas to combat the heat.
“Fine, rats it is. What about Peter?” Andy tapped her pen against her clipboard impatiently.
“Oh, I know!” Marlene perked up. “Make them clean out the fishing shed!” A chorus of groans and grimaces followed.
“Hey, as long as I don’t have to do it.” Frank shrugged, earning him a slap on the shoulder from Alice.
“Let them defend themselves first, at least.” she said, shaking her head.
“How about we pick our chores now? They can get stuck with the gross ones if they don’t want to show up on time.” said Lily, green eyes sparkling with mischief.
“I like that.” Andy said, nodding. “Let me get the whiteboard.”
Before long, a balance had struck. Every morning, Lily would sweep the front porch. Regulus would check the beds, equipped with a dustpan and a flyswatter. Dorcas would pick up all the trash, and Remus would bring it to the bins by the main lodge. Marlene would collect all the laundry and at the end of the week, Sirius and Mary would wash and dry everyone’s clothes — he vowed to learn how it was done so the events of Friday night would never be repeated. This left two jobs for their tardy coworkers to fight over: the bi-weekly bathroom scrub, and wake-up calls. Frank and Alice had put their names down for their other counselor cabin, and decided to pick laundry as well. The lodge was loud and filled with laughter, so no one heard their guests of honor arriving at last. They might have been able to slip through completely unnoticed, which would’ve made for a good scare — had they not announced their presence as soon as they stepped through the door.
“Hey guys, sorry for the wait —holy shit!” Sirius turned around to face the voice, which belonged to a warm-skinned, athletic guy his age, clad in glasses and a mop of messy black hair. Behind him trailed a shorter, fairer, heavyset kid in a patterned baseball cap. Both of their faces shifted quickly into expressions of shock and glee as they took in the group — specifically Marlene, whose head was peeking up from behind the desk Lily tried to shove her behind.
“Marlene!” The short one yelled, dropping his bags and running. They tackled her into a group hug — or she tackled them, it was hard to say.
“Hey Pete, James! Long time no see.” She said playfully, like it was nothing.
“But how? How did you get here — did you fly in?” The one with the glasses — James — asked, looking between Marlene and Andy.
“Lily picked her up. It was a team effort really, getting her here.” Andy smiled graciously, like she hadn’t just planned to throw him in a lake with a bag of rats for disrupting the schedule. He still wasn’t entirely sure she was joking about that.
“You’re the best, Lily, come on!” He opened his tanned arms for another hug, but Lily froze up.
“Don’t touch me, Potter.” She said coldly, flipping her hair over one shoulder. Peter elbowed him and mouthed something along the lines of ‘nice try’. Unfazed, James backed up and turned to the rest of the group.
“So, are we ready for the tour?”
“I don’t know — are you ready for wake-up duty?” Marlene sniggered, waving the whiteboard in their faces. Peter’s face dropped, but James’ wide smile only wavered for a second.
“Aw, nice try — you know that I’m a morning person, Mar.” said James, uncapping the attached pen and scribbling his name onto the table. “Sorry, Pete.”
“It’s fine.” Peter printed his first and last name next to ‘bathroom clean-up’. “I probably would’ve gotten this one anyway.”