Chapter Text
Sometimes Sirius wondered if he was too immature for his age. Licking his bear-shaped chocolate ice cream, he pondered this. Twenty-five wasn't too old for amusement parks, surely. Regulus didn't know what he was missing. But then again his little brother have always been known to be boring. Sirius was in Paris, against his better judgment. The least he could do was find some solid entertainment to make the trip a tad more doable.
See, the thing about France, is that it's filled with the french. Sirius spoke the language perfectly fine but the stuck-up average citizen still heard his English accent, and looked at him as if he was something stuck beneath their shoe. Why Regulus would choose this city in this country, Sirius had no idea. London has its own fair share of prestigious universities for him to choose from. Although, one could assume the decision to leave England was partially fueled by his desire to run from their family, but still. At least go somewhere authentic, like Montpellier.
Sirius had to admit he was pleasantly surprised with his trip. He'd been dreading it for weeks prior, driving James up the wall with ramblings and possible excuses he would make come September. But James had taken that tone he only used when Harry draws on the walls, and told him to suck it up and visit his brother like a grown-up. Harry still often draws on the walls. No matter, he did get on the plane. Sirius could pretend all he liked but in the end, it had been his idea to meet with Regulus. They were both grown up now, and estranged from the rest of their family. He wanted to know his little brother, even though it had been nearly five years and they'd grown into separate people. It was Reggie.
When he first arrived it was... tense. It's strange, already loving someone and thinking you know them, when you haven't spoken a word in so long. But they began somewhere, not important enough to be remembered. And Sirius did know him. Sure, he hadn't known Reg listened to Elliot Smith- but he knew, because it was so him.
The amusement park wasn't far from Reggies flat, and Sirius had assumed they would make a day of it when he walked past it because hello? it's an amusement park. Reg wasn't as keen, as in he refused to go. That was how Sirius ended up alone in the middle of loud children and stressed adults and giant stuffed bears. Apparently, it was the mascot; Teddy the bear. Original. His Teddy the bear ice cream tasted good though, even though the weather was too chilly for it.
'Pardon, monsieur?' A lady came up to him, waving her phone, 'pouvez-vous nous prendre une photo?' She practically pushed it into his hands.
'Oui, bien sûr,' he said, and watched as the family of six posed awkwardly with a stuffed bear. Sirius snapped a few pictures before handing it back to the woman. She thanked him in the stressed manner every parent seemed to ooze of in the park. He wondered if that was what ruined amusement parks for adults, the children.
The thing was, even though he had gone on the only appealing ride the park had to offer, played (and succseeded) at most the games, and bought an ice cream- Sirius couldn't go home. It was still too early, if he went back now the whole plan of proving his brother wrong would crumble.
All around him was chatter in quick french and children squealing and running around. He thought of Harry and thought he would like it here. Suddently he recognized a childrens voice yelling over and over. Thing was, it was i English.
'DAAAAAAAD,' the voice said again. Sirius looked around, but there was a large crowd passing by. 'DAAAAAAAAAD.'
Finally, in a clearing of the crowd, Sirius found a little boy. He was dressed head-to-toe in a bear costume, with little round ears of top. Sirius heart clenched. The kid had tears rolling down his cheeks and was completely alone.
'DAAAAAD,' he wailed again. Sirius cast a few looks around. Surely, one of these people would comfort the boy and help him? They were all parents for god sake! An adult should talk to him and help him find-oh. Sirius was an adult. He hesitantly made his way toward the boy, hoping he wouldn't frighten him. 'DAAAA-'
'Hey kid,' he crouched down to his level, and the boy went quiet looking at him. 'are you lost?'
'I'm l-lost,' his voice broke and a tear fell from his eye.
'Hey, it's okay, we'll find your dad, alright,' Sirius tried to sound calming and comforting, but the kid started sobbing and suddenly he felt way out of his depth. 'Uh- Would you like some ice cream?' The kid immediately quieted down, eyes focusing on the presented gift.
'Y-yes, please,' he took it and held it with both hands. 'Thank you.'
'No problem, kid. What's your name?'
'Dad says I shouldn't talk to strangers,' he said, nodding and looking very wise.
'Your dad's right,' he answered, because what else could he say? 'My name is Sirius,' he offrered. The kid looked at him over the ice cream, seemingly contemplating this fact.
'I'm Teddy,' he said. Sirius sighed. Teddy, like the bear costume. The kid wasn't making it easy for him.
'Yes I can see that, but what's your real name?'
'Teddy is my real name!'
'But you're dressed up as the teddy bear-'
'I'm not a teddy bear!' He yelled, seemingly feeling strongly about this. 'I'm a grizzly bear!'
Sirius blinked.
'Okay,' he said slowly, 'Look, kid, do you know where you saw your dad last? I'll help you find him.'
'No, I don't know,' Teddy looked down at his feet, sounding on the verge of tears again.
'Did you walk alone for a long time?'
'I don't know.'
'What about your mum, is she here?'
The kid looked at him strangely.
'I don't have a mum,' he said casually. Sirius felt dumb.
'Oh. Okay, well, um...' Of course, there was surely some staff who could help them out, maybe call for the dad using the speakers. But Sirius couldn't see any stands like that in sight, and he didn't think he'd passed one so far. Chances were they'd be gone long looking for one, and if the dad was close he didn't want to separate them further. God, if the dad was anything like James he'd surely be a wreak by now...
'Alright, here's what we'll do, we're going to sit on that bench right there, do you see it?'
'Yes,' it was only a few feet away.
'Good. We'll sit there together and you'll tell me if you see your dad or anyone else you know, alright?' Yes, that sounded like a good plan, right? Teddy's dad was probably looking all over and would walk by any minute.
'Okay,' he answered in a breath. Sirius looked down when he felt a tiny hand grab his own, and tried not to imagine where the stickiness could've come from.