Work Text:
Sirius often wondered if he was destined to be alone.
He, at the age of 29 had been in only one relationship, and it was in primary school. Sure, he’d had his fair share of drunk flirting and late-night hookups, but those never lasted. He thought that there was just no one right for him.
That was until one day, as he was watching a rather poorly made 80’s film, contemplating love, he heard a cry from outside of his house. He got up to figure out what the source of the noise was, and spotted a child, no older than 4 years old, sitting on his lawn, bawling his eyes out.
Sirius slowly opened the door, not sure if this was some kind of trap, and stepped outside. He walked up to the child and kneeled down.
“What's wrong?” He asked gently, trying not to scare the boy.
The boy looked up at him, a look of fear in his eyes. He stumbled to his feet, taking a shaky step away from Sirius.
“No, don’t go away, I won’t hurt you,” Sirius said, hoping he didn’t sound like a creep.
“T-tad said not to talk to strangers” The boy stammered. Sirius could hear a slight Welsh accent in his voice.
“That’s very smart of your tad. My name is Sirius, can I help you find him?”
“Okay.” The child whispered, wiping his tear-stained eyes with the sleeve of his green jumper.
“Would you like to come in? It’s rather cold out here.” Sirius offered.
The boy nodded his tiny head and followed Sirius to the house. Inside, they were met with the black fur ball that was Sirius’ dog Padfoot. The boy giggled as the dog, twice the size of him, sniffed his hand and barked happily in his face.
“That’s Padfoot, he's a bit loud, I hope you don’t mind. Don’t worry, he never bites.” Sirius called down to the child.
The two of them walked to the kitchen, Sirius lifting the boy up to sit on a stool by the kitchen island.
“So, what’s your name?” Sirius asked.
“Teddy.” He answered, no longer crying.
“Okay Teddy, do you remember where you last saw your dad?”
“No,” Teddy replied, more tears forming in his eyes, his tummy grumbling.
“Don’t cry love, would you like a snack? I have some sweets if you’d like some.”
“Yes please,” Teddy sniffled, extremely well-mannered for a toddler.
Sirius handed Teddy some, not sure how he would find his father until he saw a bit of writing on Teddy’s wrist.
“Teddy, can I see your arm?” Sirius asked, reaching his hand out.
Teddy allowed Sirius to grab his arm (gently of course,) and Sirius read a series of numbers, most likely his father's phone number, and dialed it on his phone.
After only one ring, someone answered the call.
“Hello?” A worried voice asked.
“Hi, are you Teddy’s father?” Sirius asked the man on the other line.
“Yes, Have you found him?” The man asked, sounding like he was on the brink of tears.
“Yes, he was in front of my house, and I hope you don’t mind but it was chilly out and I didn’t want him catching cold so I invited him inside.” Sirius apologized, smiling down at the boy. “Oh my goodness thank you, I don’t mind. May I speak to Teddy?”
“Yes, of course, here, say hi Teddy,” Sirius said, bringing the phone down so Teddy could speak.
“Hi, Tad!” The toddler exclaimed, probably giddy from the amount of sugar he had just consumed.
“Oh Teddy, I thought I lost you.“
“I’m not lost, Tad! I’m with Sirius, he’s nice.” Sirius felt a pang of adoration in his chest as Teddy looked up at Sirius, his chubby baby face smothered in chocolate.
“That’s good. Can you give the phone to Sirius please?”
Sirius put the phone to his ear once more.
“Thank you so much, I was afraid something had happened to him. What's your address?
Sirius gave Teddy’s father his address and sat back down, continuing to talk to Teddy, he was a very smart kid.
After a few minutes, there was a knock at the door. Sirius opened it, moving aside as Teddy ran into the arms of the man on the other side.
Bloody hell, Teddy’s father sure was fit.
He was a head taller than Sirius, with a skinny frame, shaggy brown hair, and scars along his face. He seemed to be Sirius’ age, but looked much older, and was wearing a jumper just like Teddy’s.
“Thank you so much, My name is Remus by the way.” The man looked at Sirius with tears in his eyes, a look of immense relief on his face.
“You're very welcome. I bet you and his mother were worried sick.”
“Oh, no. Just me. Teddy’s mam and I are separated,”
“Tad doesn't like ladies,” Teddy added brightly, giggling at the blush that spread across his father's face as he did.
“What a shame, a handsome man like you shouldn’t be single.”
Remus blushed harder at this, his face bright red.
“Thank you again, I don’t know how I could ever re-pay you.”
“Maybe you could buy me a cup of tea? Does Saturday at 11 work?” Sirius smiled at Remus, who in turn smiled back.
“It does actually. Meet me at the shop down the street?”
“Of course, see you there.”
“Well, you have my number, don’t be afraid to use it,” Remus said as he walked away, Teddy in his arms.
“I won’t.”