1
It was the summer of 1977 when everybody called me Reggie and it didn't occur to me to mind. It was before Voldemort rose to power, before the order of the phoenix fought against him, and when I thought I would never meet someone as great as my brother. When I arrived at the luxurious Black Lake Resort with my family, My mother was determined that both Sirius and I maintain our pristine reputations among the pureblood elite, while my father, Orion, remained detached, simply pleased to be among his kind.
As always, I was the dutiful son, resigned to another dull summer of formal dinners and tedious conversations with people who I could care less about. Sirius, however, was already devising ways to escape our parents’ expectations and get away with as much rule-breaking as possible.
"Another bloody summer playing perfect heir," he muttered as we walked into the grand dining hall.
"Can’t wait" he smiled sarcastically.
I wandered around the room remembering all the previous summers we have spent here. I looked at Sirius before telling him I was going to go to our room to rest and freshen up before dinner. I made my way to the familiar door and opened it to find our bags already in and our clothes and other belongings already put away by the house elves. I threw myself stomach first on my bed and began writing to Barty and even back home. I hated spending summer here but it was even worse without the two most annoying people in the world to keep me company.
After sending the letter out, showering, and getting dressed, I still had about an hour to kill before I was expected at dinner so I called out to my mother that I was going to go walk the grounds, and after a mild threat as to what would happen if I was late to dinner, she let me go.
I made my way down to the main hall and saw the waitstaff being given specific instructions on how this dinner was supposed to go tonight by Abraxas Malfoy, a good friend of my fathers, and a massive dick. One of the servers however was a handsome tall man with freckles and a scar across his face. I thought he might have been the most attractive man I had ever seen.
That was Until I saw him.
Tall, golden, and radiating an effortless charm, he walked into the room in a tight shirt and sunglasses making a joke I didn't quite catch to the attractive one on the waitstaff. I felt my knees buckle just watching him. Abraxas stopped him before giving him instructions on how he was to do his job, he must be one of the dancers based on what I was able to makeout. Unfortunately, before I could keep drooling over the stranger, I had to get to the dining hall.
When I got there Mother, Father, and Sirius were already sitting down with a seat open for me next to my brother. My mother looked furious as I sat down whispering to me that we would discuss this later. As we ate Abraxas came over to greet my father along with his son, Lucius. He talked to my father before turning to me and asking both me and my brother what we plan to do after Hogwarts,
“Well I plan to work in the ministry” I replied, to which my father added, “Regulus is going to fix all that's wrong about the wizarding world”.
Abraxas smirked and turned to Sirius asking,
“And what about you young man” to which I shot back with “Oh, Siri is going to decorate it” with a smile earning a kick under the table from my brother.
As it happened, the cute waiter I saw earlier was refilling our drinks and quietly replied,
“he already does” with a small smile before walking away.
After dinner, we were all directed to a large ballroom to dance and mingle, which was really just a way to get the children of pureblood families to meet others and ensure the bloodline continued.
That's when I saw him again. He was now in a Tux, dancing with a beautiful woman with red hair and a stunning green dress on. I had no idea what type of dance they were doing but he looked so incredible doing it. My brother must have seen me staring because he walked over to me before saying
“Can you stop drooling over one of the only cool people here?” he smirked.
“You know him?” I said confused
“Yeh, we met last summer when he was working here, his name is James, James Potter. And the girl is Lily Evans.” he continued “James is great and so is Lily. some of the only kind people here. They have a hangout we were gonna go to after if you would like to join me. That is if your willing to go against mother and father's rules and sneak out past curfew.”
I thought about it and usually, I would say no to that sort of thing. I never went against my parents, that was only Sirius. But the thought of potentially getting introduced to this incredibly attractive man had me agreeing before I could think too much about it.
Sirius seemed shocked but walked over to James as I watched. He was confident, commanding, and completely at ease as he spun Lily Evans around the floor with breathtaking precision. The rhythm seemed to flow through him, every movement effortlessly precise yet bursting with energy. I found myself captivated and as Sirius started talking to him, my pulse quickened as James’s eyes met mine across the room.
He winked before dipping Lily into a dramatic pose, his grin wide and carefree.
I swallowed hard and turned away blushing.