London Calling
Remus was ready to throttle James and Sirius. He wasn’t unfamiliar with the emotion, though it had occurred less frequently since they left school. But the last week had been an exercise in pure self-control.
“Enough” He bellowed as the two launched themselves across the kitchen, almost taking him out for the third time that morning. “You two outside. If I have to remake my breakfast again I’ll have the two of you instead.”
“But you already have.” Sirius grinned smugly
“Yes. But you won’t enjoy it this time.” Remus growled. “Now get out and let me enjoy my bacon and eggs in peace. Not pieces.”
James laughed. “Come on let’s grab the brooms and try those awesome moves again. Merlin! Dan is amazing to watch. Mind you, so are Chelsea and Stan. The way the teams coordinate is astounding. Did you see how ……”
The back door slammed shut. Remus breathed a sigh of relief, grinned to himself, and settled in to enjoy the paper over breakfast. Finally the front page was about something other than the trial and wizarding war. Five days straight of rehashing old stories and grievances, then the mysterious discovery of Voldemort the previous year, and finally the betrayal by the abused boy Peter Pettigrew. After the first two days, when the stories had caused everyone in the house to spiral down, Effie had banned the paper at breakfast time and encouraged more talk about the great match they’d all seen. It had reached the point it was the only topic of conversation and an amused Lily had returned to her flat where Dorcas and Marlene were staying to escape the increasingly mad recaps by James and Sirius.
“Fuck!” He exhaled. There on the front page, in full colour was an unsmiling Regulus and the smiling young woman Remus assumed was Elsbeth. Another smaller picture had the parents on either side of the newly weds. Walburga and Orion looked smug, as if they had won something no one else had, while Angus and Mara-Gret smiled as though they’d rather be anywhere else. Remus felt sorry for Elsbeth and her family. Regulus might be turning into an okay person, but the parents were never going to be anything other than true monsters.
Remus finished the wizard paper then turned to the muggle ones. He appreciated the fact the Potters kept up to date with both worlds as much as they could. It certainly helped when he caught up with his mum. Remus was deep into an article about unrest in the Middle East when he heard the others coming back through the garden. With deft movements he tidied the papers, being careful to put the daily prophet at the bottom, and took his dishes to the sink.
———
Regulus scowled at the perfectly ordinary Mayfair street below him. Eisbeth glanced over at him.
“Explain to me again, why both families are coming for lunch?” Regulus said.
“Tradition.” Elsbeth replied evenly. “To make sure we both survived our wedding night intact and to bless the house in which we will live.” She sighed. “I can’t believe this is ours.”
Regulus agreed. He was grumpier than usual today. “I apologise Elsbeth. I shouldn’t take my foul mood out on you.”
“You saw this morning's papers didn’t you?”
Regulus nodded. He knew they would be a feature, but he’d paid handsomely to have them as the centre spread only, and not page one as well. Clearly his mother had paid more. At least the mugglle papers had ignored the story.
“Your lover?”
“Partly.”
“I thought they knew.”
“They do. I hate being centre of attention.”
“Then you shouldn’t have got married.”
Regulus turned his full attention on the slim young woman standing beside him. “Kindly refrain from using that again.” He said coldly.
Elsbeth paled but stood her ground. “My apologies Regulus.” She turned back to look out the window. “How long?”
“A year.”
Ellsbeth nodded. “How shall we set up the house? I’m not sure I want Jean-Pierre and Marguerite here.”
“That would be extremely unwise. How do they feel about all of this? I saw them at the wedding. It was hard to tell if they were amused or drunk.”
Ellsbeth gave a low chuckle. “Both. We’ve talked heaps about possible arrangements over the past few months. It was inevitably my family would want to marry me off and we came to the conclusion that it could be worse.” Regulus looked at her. “Lestrange, Malfoy, Finch. Your parents are truly awful, but you’re okay. Anyway, they thought this gift of a three hundred year old family home in Mayfair was hilarious.” Elsbeth paused slightly before adding “JP would love to get his hands on it.”
Regulus raised a brow.
“Interior design. His current passion. Our place has had a complete make over in the last three months. Looks fantastic.”
“He’s welcome to give it a go.”
Elsbeth looked at Regulus sharply. “What exactly do you mean?”
Regulus turned his back on the street and surveyed the room they were in. Like all the other rooms, this was a hundred years out of date, with shabby wallpaper and furniture. “I know we could use magic to fix all of this. But if your lover wants too, I’m happy to engage his skills and he can turn this ancient tomb into a modern house the muggle way.”
“Are you sure?” Elsbeth asked cautiously.
Regulus sighed internally. Great. Married less than a day and he’d already frightened her. Maybe that’s why he’d fallen in love with James all over again. The only fear James felt was for him, not of him. “I’m sure.” He said. “It will help with the illusion that we intend to live and raise a family here.”
“And when it’s been completed?”
“I imagine that it will be a slow project. There will be carpets to source from the Middle East, wall paper to investigate in China, marble to inspect directly at the quarries in Italy, furniture to bring in from Morocco. And dozens of other places to investigate to make sure we’re getting the best possible quality at the best possible price.”
Elsbeth laughed. “And his partner will just have to travel with us to ensure the items selected match my ever changing brief.”
Regulus smiled. “Exactly. My only request is that the library and study are more of an early twentieth century gentleman’s club than mid-century or modern disco in style and decor.”
“And what will you be doing during this time?”
“Oh I’ll be travelling for business, and will meet you in various cities to ensure we agree on style and budget.”
“I like the sound of this.” Elsbeth paused and studied Regulus. He had changed ever so slightly again since the trial. Something, or someone, had taken off one of his many sharp edges. She wondered if she would ever find out. “Will you travel alone or will we get to meet your travelling companions?”
“Perhaps.” Regulus responded enigmatically.
Equilibrium restored, Elsbeth led the way out of the room and downstairs to the large dining room. She quite liked the layout of the house. It was tall but not too narrow. The front door opened on to a long hallway with rooms on the left which was replicated on the floors above. The ground floor had a front parlour for guests to wait in, a large dining room, and a recreation room. This was serviced by a spacious kitchen with a walk-in pantry and staff dining room in the basement. The second floor had a more casual sitting room, a well proportioned study, the mandatory library, and a back room with plenty of light she could use for crafting and painting, The top floor contained four bedrooms, with the largest and master bedroom overlooking the reasonably sized back garden. Each floor also contained a powder room which was highly unusual.
“How many guests are we expecting for lunch?” Elsbeth asked
“About twenty. Family only. And before you ask, technically Evan is family and he never goes anywhere without Barty. Plus if we have to suffer through this so can they. Not that Barty will. He loves to rile things up whenever he can. It’ll get him killed if he’s not careful.”
Elsbeth grinned. “I told my brother and cousins the same thing. Without the killing bit.” She looked around the room. The table sat twenty and each place had a name card and full table service. Mara-Gret had lent the young couple a house elf until they could engage one of their own., for which Elsbeth was extremely grateful.
“JoJo has done a great job here. It looks properly formal and grown-up.” Regulus said, his voice and face betraying none of the longing he suddenly felt for the large informal kitchen at the Potters. He wondered yet again, if James had seen the paper and how he’d reacted. Then promptly squashed the thought and went back to discussing the menu, seating arrangements, and expected finish time.
——
James was blissfully unaware of anything outside his bubble until late evening when he found the newspaper in the front sitting room. He’d taken one look and felt his world shatter into a million pieces. It had been all very well to almost talk about what Regulus being married would mean, but seeing him and his bride in full colour, standing arm in arm was something completely different. James couldn’t work out if it felt worse than the unexpected engagement announcement or not. Then he only knew how he’d felt after one night together. Now. Now he knew it was mutual and he wasn’t sure he could drag them back from this particular form of torture.
Curled up on the coach, lost in his own thoughts, James didn’t hear Effie enter the room.
“How are you doing Sweetheart?” She asked softly, coming to sit beside him.
“Not good. I think, deep down I knew this was inevitable, but I really really hoped he’d make it not happen.” James lapsed into silence again. Effie waited patiently. “Do you think he’ll still meet us in Fowey?”
“What do you think?”
Another long pause. “He promised to help get our friends home. He never breaks his promises.”
Effie nodded. There was that.
“Do you think he’ll stay with me? Even for a few days?” James heard his voice crack. Although he’d talked about quidditch non-stop, it was the thought of spending time with Regulus that had kept James going since the trial.
Effie gathered James into her arms. She had no answer.
“Yo! Prongsss. Where are you mate?” Sirius’s strident voice rang through the house.
James gave Effie a grateful hug and wiped away his tears. A moment later Sirius burst through the door.
“There you are. Did you forget? We promised the girls a weekend in London before we attempt the great time and space experiment.” Sirius grinned.
“Never!” James cried, standing up, causing the newspaper he’d been holding to fall to the floor.
“Huh! He actually went through with it. She seems okay. Intelligent eyes. I’m sure they’ll be happy together.” Sirius said lightly, though James and Effie could see the hurt in his eyes as he lingered ever so briefly on his parents, before scanning the article itself. “Looks like all the usual suspects attended. Expensive and unimaginative. Ugh. How boring.”
“Are you okay Sirius?” Effie asked.
Sirius gave his adopted Mother a grateful smile before bending down and kissing her cheek. “I am Mum. Thanks.”
Effie returned the smile and put a hand out to be pulled up. “I take it you’re all staying at Alphard’s?”
Sirius nodded. “Way easier. Lily and Pandora said they would as well.”
“In that case I’ll ask Winnie to deliver a couple of hampers tomorrow morning.”
“You're the best.” James and Sirius said simultaneously smothering Effie in a giant hug.
Effie laughed and sent them on their way