Industry, Baby!

The screen loaded for a second before the viewer count started climbing.

regulusblack started a live video

The hotel room was dimly lit, the bedside lamp casting long shadows over the rumpled sheets. His suitcase lay half-unpacked in the corner, a testament to his usual disinterest in settling in. The air smelled faintly of overpriced room service and whatever cologne Sirius had doused himself in earlier.

lovebuzz: NO WAY
siriuslyobsessed: AM I DREAMING???
prongspotter: wait wait everyone SHUT UP HE NEVER GOES LIVE

Regulus raised an eyebrow and smirked at the immediate flood of comments. He hadn’t even saidanything yet.

“This is a mistake,” he muttered, but didn’t end the stream.

Instead, he leaned back against the headboard, fingers drumming against his knee. His hair was still messy from earlier, and he was wearing some ancient band t-shirt he’d stolen from Sirius years ago.

The comments kept flying in.

starh4rm0ny: bro looks like he just woke up
rblackfan: he looks like he regrets this already lmao
flowerskys: WHERE IS JAMES???

Regulus groaned. “Why do you people always ask about Potter? Its late guys, I’m just bored okay?”

Big mistake. Now the comments went feral.

b2bb2bb2b: AHAHAH HE KNOWS

Regulus raised an eyebrow. “ And what do i know?”
am3thyst: “why do you people always ask about James” BECAUSE YOU’RE OBSESSED W EACH OTHER
ch4singst4rs: u just KNOW hes in the hotel room next door

Regulus rolled his eyes, but a hint of a smirk played on his lips. “He’s not here. He MIGHT be nextdoor. But no, I don’t know what he’s doing. Probably being insufferable somewhere else. One of your usernames is literally like rblackfan or something can’t you believe and trust me? You’re my fan bitch, ”

rblackfan: REGULUS BLACK NOTICED ME WHAT THE FUCKK

As if on cue, his phone buzzed with a text.

James: WHY ARE YOU LIVE RIGHT NOW???
James: ITS BLOWINF UP MY PHONE

Regulus glanced at the camera, then typed back without muting the mic.

Regulus: bored
James: ur gonna regret this
Regulus: doubt it

The chat exploded.

paperbaag: WE CAN HEAR HIS KEYBOARD CLICKS
raindrops0nr0ses: NOT JAMES TEXTING HIM MID-LIVE
rblackfan: this is better than netflix

Regulus sighed. “ An instagram live is better than netflix? Ho, is you okay”

Before Regulus could say anything else, there was a loud knock at his hotel door.

Regulus narrowed his eyes. “No.”

James: OPEN THE DOOR

The chat was screaming.

rblackfan: NOOOOO WAY
moooony: IS THAT JAMES AT THE DOOR
am3thyst: WE ARE WITNESSING HISTORY

Regulus exhaled slowly. Then, very deliberately, he turned back to the camera and said, “Anyway, I’m ending this now. I think that fuckers at my door—”

The door burst open, slamming against the wall with enough force to rattle the framed artwork that no one had bothered to look at.

James, looking exasperated and very much like someone who had sprinted over in pajama pants and a hoodie, barged in.

“You’re actually insane,” he told Regulus, completely ignoring the fact that the live was still running.

Regulus just blinked at him. “You could’ve texted.”

“I did text.” James flopped onto the bed next to him, grabbing the phone out of his hands. “How do I turn this off?”

The chat was losing it.

thecuredis3asee: HE STOLE THE PHONE IM SCREAMING
rblackfan: theyre so married its disgusting
wa1tingr00m: JAMES HAS ZERO CHILL

James squinted at the screen. “These people are too invested in our lives.”

Regulus sighed, finally giving in. “Yeah, well. You should be used to it by now.”

And then, before James could say anything else, Regulus reached over and ended the live with one last note.

“ When the chile is tea but the finna is gag, sis im dead as a chile,”

The last thing their followers saw was James staring at him like he was the most ridiculous person alive.

Live ended.

“ What the fuck Potter??”

“ All publicity is good publicity,”

“ Thats what youre sayinf right now??”

“ Maybe,”Regulus stared at James, incredulous. “What the fuck, Potter?”

James, completely unfazed, tossed the phone onto the bed and stretched like he hadn’t just barged into Regulus’s room mid-livestream. “All publicity is good publicity.”

Regulus pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s what you’re saying right now?”

James shrugged. “Well, yeah. People loved it. You saw the chat.”

“That’s the problem,” Regulus groaned. He flopped back against the pillows, running a hand through his hair. “It was supposed to be, I don’t know, quiet? Just something to kill time, not—”

“Not an internet-breaking event?” James supplied, grinning.

Regulus shot him a glare. “You enjoy this too much.”

“Maybe,” James admitted, unbothered. He leaned back on his elbows, watching as Regulus huffed in frustration. “But come on, you have to admit—it was kind of funny.”

Regulus did not have to admit that.

Unfortunately, James kept going. “You should’ve seen the comments. They were losing their minds. The bit where I showed up at the door? Iconic.”

“You barged in,” Regulus corrected. “Like an absolute menace.”

“Like a concerned friend,” James said, all mock innocence.

Regulus rolled his eyes. “You wanted attention.”

James grinned. “No, you wanted attention. You’re the one who went live.”

Regulus opened his mouth to argue but stopped. Damn it. He had been the one to start it.

James seemed to notice his hesitation and took full advantage. “Oh, don’t tell me—did you actually enjoy it?”

Regulus scoffed. “Please.”

James gave him a knowing look. “Mhm. Sure. That’s why you didn’t end it the second people started spamming about me.”

Regulus groaned, shoving a pillow over his face. “I hate you.”

James laughed, reaching over to steal the pillow. “No, you don’t.”

Regulus swatted his hand away. “Okay, but seriously. What now? What if our manager loses it?”

James shrugged. “Too late to do anything about it now. Besides, it’s good for the album. Everyone’s talking about us.”

Regulus sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.”

James nudged him. “Relax. We’ll survive.”

Regulus wasn’t convinced. But as James flopped down next to him, still grinning like an idiot, he figured he’d deal with the consequences in the morning.

“ Go to sleep Potter,” Regulus sighed, rubbing his face.

James laughed as he finally stood up, stretching like he hadn’t just spent the last couple minutes being the most insufferable person alive.

Regulus refused to look at him, focusing instead on his phone like he hadn’t just turned an alarming shade of red. “Don’t you have anywhere else to be?”

James smirked. “Nope. I live to torment you.”

Regulus let out a long-suffering sigh. “Tragic.”

James made his way to the door, but before he left, he turned back with that stupid grin still plastered on his face. “Sweet dreams, princess.”

Regulus threw a pillow at him. “Out.”

James dodged it effortlessly, laughing as he slipped out the door. “Night, Reggie.”

The second the door clicked shut, Regulus groaned and fell back against the mattress. His phone was already buzzing again—undoubtedly more notifications from their disastrous live. He’d deal with it later.

For now, he buried his face in his pillow, trying very hard to ignore the fact that James Potter calling him princess had sent his brain into a full-on meltdown.

Regulus stepped into the studio the next morning with a pounding headache and a deep, burning regret for every decision he’d ever made.

The moment he crossed the threshold, the room erupted.

“Oh, look who finally decided to show up,” Dorcas announced, spinning in her chair with an absolutely infuriating grin.

Barty was already howling. “Fucking hell, Reg, you broke the internet.”

Pandora, not even looking up from her phone, held up the screen. “You’re trending. Again.”

Regulus groaned, dropping his bag onto the nearest couch. “I don’t want to know.”

“Too bad,” Evan said smugly, shoving his own phone in Regulus’s face. “There are thousands of edits of you and James now. Some of them are actually good. Look at this one,” Then Evan started singing along, trying to throw it in a circle. “ Two bad bitches at the same damn time,”

Regulus batted the phone away like it physically offended him. “You all need hobbies.”

Sirius, sprawled out on the couch with a mug of coffee, just sighed dramatically. “I told you this was a bad idea.”

Regulus gave him a deadpan look. “No, you told me working with James was a bad idea. This is an entirely separatedisaster.”

“You’re right,” Sirius mused. “This is a much funnier disaster.”

“Glad you’re amused,” Regulus muttered, sipping his coffee. Sirius is not laughing. Sirius is frowning at his phone, watching the chaos unfold.

“Okay, but why is the entire internet acting like this is some kind of rom-com? People are saying it’s ‘enemies to lovers’—what lovers? That’s my brother and James.”

Barty, still scrolling Tiktok, barely glances up. “Yeah, mate. And?”

Sirius makes a face like he just bit into a lemon. “And? It’s James.”

James places a dramatic hand over his heart. “Wow, Padfoot. That hurt.”

Regulus, flatly: “Not enough.”

But the thing is, Sirius just doesn’t see it. He genuinely thinks Regulus hates James (which, to be fair, is mostly accurate), and he just assumes Twitter is doing what Twitter does—being insane.

Remus, scrolling through his own phone, raised an eyebrow. “You did see the headlines, yeah?”

Regulus hesitated. That couldn’t be good. “…What headlines?”

Barty snickered. “Oh, you sweet, innocent thing.”

Sirius grabbed a newspaper from the table and smacked it down in front of him. The headline?

‘Are James Potter and Regulus Black More Than Just Rivals? Fans Are Losing Their Minds.’

Regulus closed his eyes. Took a slow, deep breath. “I’m going to kill him.”

And, because of course, that was exactly when James walked in.

“Morning, everyone,” he said cheerfully, far too chipper for this ungodly hour. He caught Regulus’s glare and smirked. “Morning, princess.”

Barty fell off his chair laughing.

Regulus considered throwing his coffee at him.

Regulus sat stiffly on the couch, gripping his coffee like it was the only thing keeping him from committing a felony. The studio was alive with chaos— Evan was playing more edits at full volume along with Barty, and James, the bane of his existence, was sitting with that smug little smirk.

Sirius, still fixated on his phone, groaned. “People are insane. Look at this—‘The way James stormed into his hotel room like a rom-com protagonist…’ Rom-com protagonist, James.”

James grinned, completely unbothered. “I am rather charming.”

Regulus threw a crumpled napkin at him. “Shut up.”

And that was when Pandora and Frank walked in.

“Alright, idiots, listen up,” Pandora called, clapping her hands. “We’ve got news.”

Regulus immediately had a bad feeling.

Frank, who at least pretended to be the responsible one, sighed. “We need to talk about last night.”

“No, we don’t,” Regulus said immediately.

“Yes, we do,” Pandora shot back. “Because it broke the internet, and now you and James have a joint interview tomorrow.”

Regulus blinked. “What.”

James, the traitor, grinned. “Sounds fun.”

Regulus whipped around to glare at him. “Fun?”

“Oh, don’t be dramatic,” Pandora said. “This is good for the album. Great publicity. Everyone’s talking about you two.”

Barty snickered. “Yeah, they’re calling it the ‘rivalry of the century.’”

James, stretching way too casually, smirked at Regulus. “That what they’re calling it?”

Regulus knew that look. It meant trouble.

Sirius, who had mostly been ignoring the conversation, suddenly frowned. “Wait. You guys aren’tactually encouraging this, right? Like, obviously it’s not real.”

Frank pinched the bridge of his nose. “Interview. Tomorrow. 10 AM. Don’t be late.”

Regulus groaned, sinking further into the couch. This was going to be a disaster.

James leaned in slightly, voice low enough that only Regulus could hear. “Looking forward to it, princess.”

Regulus barely stopped himself from throwing his coffee.