Can we be friends?
Regulus wakes up and goes to the bookshop just as always, today seems another boring day but at least he is with Emmeline and not alone.
“You were brilliant last night” She breaks the silence
“oh thank you, you were there?”
“Yea I passed just to see you but I had to go before it ended”
“I hope next time you can stay” He says without thinking twice and the horrible truth is that he means it, he really hopes she can stay next time, really what is happening? His brother reappears in his life and suddenly Regulus has *emotions*
“Oh my god, is this Regulus Black mostring some… affection?” She mocks a bit, but the girl seems genuinely surprised, he is also surprised so who is he to blame her for that?
“Shut up”
“Just so you know, the day your band is famous you are going to let me free into concerts”
“I don’t think we will be very famous”
“You will be and I’ll be waiting for being entrevisted in your documental talking I knew Regulus Black before the fame and I covered shifts for him”
He doesn’t say it out loud but he likes Emmeline.
“It’s some sort of secret but maybe we do a collaboration with my brother’s band, to do a ‘reveal’ or something” He admits to the girl.
“That’s actually cool, make a song about me will ya?”
“Oh yes I will make a song about my depressing works and the girl who makes it all more bearable” Regulus jokes
She laughs at that and they continue working in silence. Silence with Emmeline is comfortable. A few customers come by and they are ready for closing.
“You really think people will buy with these prices? I can’t believe it, this is unacceptable” An old lady who was at the store starts yelling at Regulus. He very much wants to yell back, he doesn't make the prices hello? But he can't, he needs to be a good worker.
“Sorry but I can’t do anything about it, I can talk and pass your dislike to my boss if you want” Of course he is not going to bother McGonagall with this but the lady doesn't need to know that.
“I don’t care if you pass my dislike or not, I want to pay less for this book”
“Sorry but you need to pay the price established”
“I’m not paying so much for this piece of shit” She is getting on his nerves, The Marauders are probably in the flat already everyone waiting for him, he can go home now, it’s time to close but this fucking woman is not leaving.
Emmeline steps in to help him and they finally manage to make the woman go away, she mutters some insults under her breath but honestly who cares?
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“Hey Rex, we were getting worried” Dorcas comes greet him
“Yea there was this fucking lady who won’t go away”
As he expected his brother’s band is there, Pettigrew is not because he had something to attend and he wasn’t very important anyways. The only free spot is next to Potter of fucking course he can’t believe his luck.
“Hard day?” He is so bloody nice it’s just unfair.
“A woman was arguing because she wanted to pay less, can they understand I don’t make the prices? I can’t stand people honestly”
“Oh Reggie, I mean Regulus, now that you are here, we have a concert on Sunday we have vip tickets for the band if you can come”
“We will try to but Ev and Barty usually work on Sundays so they maybe can’t come”
“I’m sure I won’t be able to go, my boss already hates me” Barty says
“I wonder why” Evan mocks him.
“Well then you three if you can and want” Sirius shrugs
“Actually can Emmeline come? She has been working and helping me a lot and she is a fan of your music”
“Yes of course, and she is? She was so calm when we met her we thought she didn’t know who we are” Sirius is taken aback about this information.
“Oh no she tried to keep it cool but she was freaking out, she yelled at me for not telling her before you are my brother”
“Okay then later I will send it to Dorcas all” Marlene says. Maybe you wonder who Marlene is, well Regulus was quite upset for not knowing the name of the blonde one, the bassist, so he searched on the internet, Marlene McKinnon that’s her name.
“Perfect” Cas smiles at her and blushes a bit. Why? who knows, Dorcas is weird you get used to it.
“I have an idea for a song” Evans comments, all eyes landing on her.
“Really?”
She shows them and is good, the truth is Lily Evans is sweet, he hated her back then but for no logical reason, he has to learn how to be kind with her, he has the impression he’ll get along with her.
They work, this time the ideas come and go, they manage to make a very good song out of it. Regulus looks around for a second, he didn’t expect to find himself in this situation but it’s nice. Sirius is jumping around excited, Potter laughing at him, all of them ignore his stupid brother, everyone but Remus. In a moment he knows what’s going to happen, of course Remus would fall for his brother. He will have the talk but for now he will let his friend be. Evans is ‘arguing’ with Barty and Evan just laughs at them, Dorcas stares at McKinnon while the blonde writes down some ideas, Potter is done laughing at his brother and is looking at… him? Weird.
After hours the marauders decide it’s the best for them to head home and Sirius catches him to talk.
“Hey Reggi, Regulus, I thought we could meet just the two of us to talk some day, maybe go grab coffee or something if you want of course, if not that’s okay and I’ll give you time but ”
“Sirius, you are rambling. And it’s okay I’ll like that, the coffee thing.”
“Oh, okay, tomorrow goes well?”
“I’m done working around five, we can meet up at my work and walk?”
“Yea, cool, cool, okay see ya”
He sees how his brother stumbles with Remus on the way out. He blushes slightly and says a quick ‘so sorry’ before running away.
Okay why is Sirius a mess around Remus? First his friend staring at his brother and now his brother blushing at the sight of Remus? Fucking hell.
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Why did he agree to this? Just a day is not enough to prepare himself. He is waiting for his brother to appear, he dressed himself, choosing carefully his outfit and now he is nervous. Why is he nervous for Sirius? Everything used to feel easy around his brother but now he wants to throw up.
“Hey brother”
“Hello Sirius”
“Are you ready?”
“Yes”
“Lead the way”
It’s so awkward. He doesn’t know how to break the silence, are they supposed to act like everything is fine? Ignore how much Sirius hurted him when he left, how much Regulus hurted Sirius when he stayed? He doesn’t know a single thing about Sirius' life right now, they are in part strangers.
“If you could be any animal what animal do you think you’ll be?”
“What kind of question is that?” Trust in Sirius to break the silence in the most random way.
“We can start with light topics, I think it’s the best” He is right if you think about it.
“I don’t know, a cat probably”
“Makes sense”
“It does?”
“Yep, I would be a dog”
“Okay it suits you I guess” Sirius started with this question he should ask something now right? But what can he ask? Oh he is so bad at this.
They arrive at a coffee shop, it’s Regulus' favorite, it’s usually empty and he likes the coffee they make here.
“Good evening”
“Hello, I would want a coffee with extra of sugar”
“Okay and for you, oh you are Sirius Black right? I can’t believe it, sorry, it’s just my boyfriend is a fan of the band and I can’t believe the only day he is not working Sirius Black decides to come, what can I get you?”
“A tea will do, and yes I’m Sirius Black, I guess I will have to come back and meet your boyfriend now”
“Yes, Frank would love that. I’m sorry for interrupting your day”
“No worries”
They sit down in a corner, Regulus always sits there, it's quiet, perfect.
“You asked to come here and you are getting tea?”
“Yea, coffee is not really good for me, It makes me too nervous”
“Okay”
“I’m surprised I thought you would order a black coffee but the amount of sugar you put on that should be illegal”
“Hey, let my coffee alone” Contrary to popular believing, Regulus liked his coffee with sugar, he was bullied for that of course ‘Rex that can’t be called coffee’, ‘that’s sugar with a bit of liquid’, they said, he doesn’t care, he likes it that way.
“Should we talk about her?” He doesn’t want to ruin this yet but a part of Regulus knows they should talk about it.
“I don’t want to talk about her today if that’s good with you, I just have you back, can we wait and first try to get to know each other better?” Sirius says
“Yes, we can do that”
At the end of the day Regulus knows a few things about his brother, Sirius Black, lead singer of the marauders is known as a whore but he hasn’t been and kissed anyone for months, he is waiting for ‘the one’ as he says, he is studying art and Regulus after seeing his work can say he is good at it, he still likes football but he hadn’t played a lot since he finished highschool, his brother is cool, he won’t admit it but it was nice getting to know him again, weird but nice. They agreed to do this more often, he is scared of the day they would inevitably talk about Walburga, but right now they are good, that has to count for something right?
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Regulus is alone, the flat feels empty and he is having a hard time, the silence is too loud. Everyone is working, he has the day free and has nothing to do. He could write something but honestly he isn’t in the mood for that. The bell rings and he jumps to get it, it’s weird, he didn’t expect anyone today.
“Hey, sorry for showing up unannounced haha” Of fucking course.
“Potter, what do you want?” Suddenly Regulus feels too aware of his appearance, his clothes are a disaster, he is wearing one of Remus’ shirts that is big for him and his hair is probably a mess.
“Can I come in?” The boy looks inside.
“Okay” He gestures for Potter to follow him.
“Are you going to tell my why the fuck are you here?”
“Sorry, I wanted to know your opinion of something”
“Shoot, I don’t have all day” Yes he has all day but Potter doesn’t know that.
“At our concert tomorrow, should we address the fact that there are ‘important’ people in the public or should we do something more ‘secret’? What do you think?”
“Really? Did you just come all the way here just to ask that, Sirius has my number he could have just asked with a text. I knew you were stupid but THAT stupid?”
“Maybe I just wanted to see you and this is just an excuse. And you know that doesn’t answer my question” Why is Potter flirting right now? That’s considered flirting right? Where is Barty when you need him? Always annoying around but disappearing when he is really required.
“Save the flirting for the cameras we don’t have public now, it’s not necessary. To answer your question I don’t care do whatever you want”
“That’s not an answer, what would you do?”
“If I was you, then I would imply it, maybe, I don’t know and I don’t care”
“Thank you Reg, so kind”
“Not my name”
“Okay Regulus. Can I stay with you for a bit? I don’t have much to do”
“I have a lot to do”
“Then you are kicking me out of your flat?”
“You have a brain after all Potter, impressive”
“Okay okay, I’ll just go. See you tomorrow Regulus” It’s like it pains him to leave, why? they don’t even know each other, once Sirius finished highschool all contact was lost, why is Potter so fucking insistent?
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“Tomorrow we see the marauders” Is quite dark outside. Dorcas Remus and Regulus are at their flat eating a pizza on their couch, Barty and Evan have a shift and they will be working late.
“Thank you Dorcas for pointing that out, what would we do without you?” He replies at the girl rolling his eyes, it’s clear she wants to say something but what?
“Okay Regulus no need to be that mean. I’m just nervous”
“Why?” Remus asks intrigued, Dorcas is being so weird right now, she is usually calm.
“I, okay, you know what it doesn’t matter”
“Cas, if something is bothering you, you can tell us” Oh thank Remus for being sensitive and knowing how to talk to people
“I think it’s just stupid, it will pass”
“I’m sure it’s not stupid” He tries to do his best to ‘comfort’
“Okay promise you won’t laugh”
“I won’t laugh” Remus promises
“Black I’m waiting”
“Okay I’ll do my best”
“Ihaveacrushonmarlenemckinnon”
“Oh but I already knew that” Remus says
“What? I thought I was being subtle” Dorcas looks at him surprised and a bit embarrassed.
“I had my suspicions, you blush too much around that girl” He mentions, it makes sense honestly, he finds Mckinnon a bit annoying but the two of them could be good together.
“What? I don’t blush”
“Denial is not a good color on you” Remus laughs
“Are you doing something about it?” He asks
“Wait for it to pass?” She hides her face between her legs.
“I don’t think you should do that” Remus tries
“Oh shut up, you didn’t have the talk with Rex for ignoring and bullying his crush you are not going to have the talk with me because I will just stay friendly”
“Hey why did you have to attack me?” He asks, honestly having friends for this.
“Why did you have to attack Potter?”
“Fair” He listens Remus say in the background
“Thanks for telling us I guess”
“Oh Regulus just shut up, you really suck at feelings” She laughs
“Here I was trying to be nice for once”
“Thanks for listening”
“We are here for you if you need us” Remus says
“See Rex? That’s how you comfort someone”
“Fuck you”
“Hope Mckinnon does it” Remus grins and he laughs with him.
“Why did I even say anything?” She tries to look desperate and annoyed but she is smiling and nobody can deny it.