The fast lane
James potter loved the adrenaline. It was always something he’d seeked for, as a kid, as a teen, he’s never grown out of it.
Pranks, risks, theme park rides, dangerous games, motor racing.
Don’t even get him started on it. He was introduced by his bestfriend, Sirius Black, who had the same love for thrill as him.
Luckily, their whole friend group ended up getting jobs that were tied closely together, but we’ll get to that later.
He was 14 when he decided he wanted this to be a profession, and when James wants something he gets it.
So he got it. He did his driving tests the second he turned sixteen to secure his license. He took multiple courses to learn every trick in the book, a lesson everyday. When he turned 18 he secured his international class competition license.
So when he was twenty, after competing in
races as much as he possibly could, he took the FIA theory test after being offered it. And because James was the luckiest person to ever walk the earth, he passed.
Despite the amount of money this cost his family they supported him the whole way through.
He’d always had an amazing support system. His three bestfriends are phenomenal, always listening to his rants.
Sirius was also into motor racing - meaning him and James did everything together to qualify for formula 1.
Remus was into writing. He loved books, newspapers, biography’s, you name it. The boy was a chronic writer, like the modern day shakespeare.
Throughout their high school years Remus wrote the newsletters, the flyers, the advertisement for plays, sport events, he even narrated the sports events.
When he turned eighteen he became a journalist, he got multiple offers for newspapers, (which he rarely took them up on) but his journalism got big.
Peter was nosy, he loved drama and gossip, he’d always watch celebrity interviews and dig for information on their breakups etc.
So he got into interviewing, and he was good. Him and Remus worked closely together due to the similarity in their careers.
James and Sirius of course put in very good words for them, but due to their careers being huge by themselves, they also got hired by formula 1.
all four boys were thrilled by this. maybe not so much remus, knowing he couldn’t even escape the boys antics at work. (he loves them deep down.)
It was another typical race day, the sun was beaming, the sheer excitement coursing through James’ veins like a drug.
Sirius was off chatting to Remus, because when wasn’t he, which more or less left James standing around like a clueless puppy.
To cure some of this boredom he decided to observe his surroundings, see if there was anything he could do to entertain himself in the meantime of the race.
And that’s when he saw it.
Well, him.
The most gorgeous, ethereal, divine boy James had ever laid his eyes on.
His hair was as dark as a ravens feathers, his eyes grey as a cloudy sky. His skin was pale like porcelain with soft brown freckles dusted along the bridge of his nose. His lips were a perfect pink, his cupids bow refined. His eyebrows were sharp, as were his cheekbones and jawline. God - he was perfect.
Suddenly, those grey eyes snapped over to James, causing the man to smile and awkwardly wave.
Truth is, he wasn’t too good at interactions; Let alone with people worthy of daily praise.
“You nervous, potter? Why are you standing around?” a familiar voice hums, a hand landing on his shoulder.
James snaps out of his trance and casts a smile at Marlene, “mm, just got distracted. Hey, who’s that guy there?” he questions, nodding in the man’s direction.
Marlene studies him for a moment before shrugging, “I don’t think i’ve seen him before. I reckon he’s a journalist. What a fancy notebook - leather bound and everything. Why?”
He shrugs nonchalantly, running a hand through his unruly curls, “Just caught my eye. You planning on winning today?” he teases, playfully elbowing the blonde in the side.
He receives a hit to the arm in return, followed by a, “I always win Jamie-boy, you aspire to have my speed.”
“Pff, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night McKinnon.”
“Do you know where pete is? i’ve not seen him.” Marlene asks, scanning their surroundings for their childhood friend. James frowns for a second, “I don’t actually know, is he in today?”
“Nah, he’s off sick.” A warm voice replies. James smiles and turns to look at Remus.
“Is it ‘creep up on James’ day today or what?” He jokes, moving over so Remus is now stood between him and marlene.
Remus grins and closes his notebook, “We’re your goodluck charm. God knows you’ll need it. A lot of interviews today, do your best.”
James nods absentmindedly, his eyes glued to the raven haired boy once more. He’s so careless. Every move he makes is carried out with precision, yet looks so careless and swift.
Remus, being the smartass he is, follows James’ line of vision, “That’s Regulus Black, a new journalist.”
James hums in thought. Wait.
Regulus black?
“As in Sirius’ brother?” He frowns, snapping out of the trance be was in. Remus nods, “Yep.”
Sirius and Regulus had a rocky relationship. Honestly James hadn’t heard what actually happened, he’s aware they haven’t spoken for a good few years because of something that happened in the past, but Sirius was never very willing to talk about him.
“Don’t get any ideas.” The sandy-haired boy drawls, his tone slightly teasing yet serious.
Supposedly it’s a fair point that he shouldn’t. But James isn’t a man that lets anything go easily, especially not people that are as ravishing as Regulus.
“mm, i’d never.” He replies absentmindedly, Remus stares at him pointedly. “I mean it James, Sirius wouldn’t have it; i seriously don’t need any complications.”
James watches as Barty Crouch Jr wraps an arm around Regulus’ shoulders with a frown. Are they a thing? does James have competition?
Remus pinches the bridge of his nose, moving to stand infront of James, “Listen, i’m being serious here. This is a boundary of Sirius’ that is the worst to break okay? He’s already on edge about him being here, he doesn’t need his bestfriend ogling him 24/7, let him go. You can have anyone okay? You don’t need the one boy you’re not meant to have.”
As if on cue, Sirius bounds over to the two, “What’s up? Race starts soon.”
James gives Remus a look, hoping to convey that he’ll try not to go after Regulus. He turns to Sirius, “Yeah, i know. Ready to get your ass kicked?”
Sirius grins and pressed himself against Remus’ side, “Oh please, i never lose.”
Remus huffs out a laugh and pulls Sirius into his side, “Yeah, sure.”
James looks around as the couple starts bickering, assessing their competition and the track. It looked relatively easy, they weren’t racing big names.
Friday and Saturday were full on practice days for all of the drivers. fine tuning their cars and test strategies. Then they had to qualify, which determines their starting grid for the race.
The race today was around two hours, 190 miles. Which is an average race day, really.
It was nothing special. James was rather chuffed with his car though.
It was the SF21, made by ferrari. It was a lovely matte red, James’ favourite colour of all time.
Overall, it was a pretty good race. Perfect weather too. James couldn’t wait to get on the track.
“Five minutes!”
He walks over to the lanes with Sirius, letting out a shaky exhale as he seats himself in the car.
“Goodluck, James!” Sirius yells as he gets into his own car. James grins and nods.
The five minutes are filled with engineers checking over his car, James pulls his helmet on and adjusts his seat belt as they do.
Unsurprisingly, the buildup is the worst part for James. He’s itching to get going, slam his food on the pedal and just drive, but obviously that’s not how it works - screw safety measures.
James keeps a close eye on the row of lights in front of the lanes, bouncing his knee with eagerness. just as the countdown begins, he turns his head to the left.
He’s met with gorgeous, stormy grey eyes staring right at him. A sly smirk slides its way onto his face, and just as the gorgeous boy smiles back, the lights go green and his foot slams down on the pedal.
James never liked rules anyway.