Deal or No Deal?
“WAKE UP THE FLAT’S ON FIRE!”
James vaguely registered the sound of a pillow being launched from Remus’ side of the room towards the offending noise.
“Marlene, I swear to god I’ll set you on fire.” Remus groaned half into his now pillowless mattress.
“Well, if you two got up on time I wouldn’t have to do this shit.”
James finally opened his eyes and saw Marlene leaning on the doorframe to the bedroom. She was fully dressed and already had her hair and makeup done. Shit. “I was basically already awake.” James said, jumping up out of bed and heading towards the door. “Don’t worry I’ll get the beast out of bed.” He gently gestured for Marlene to get out.
“Okay, but you both have 15 minutes to get your asses out here.” Marlene relented as she backed up and let James close the door between them. “I’m so fucking serious!”
James knew just how serious it was. Today was likely the most important day of his 22 years of life. Grimmauld Records has given them a chance. And like hell was James going to let them screw this up. This band was the culmination of 6 years of constant practice and stress. It was his pride and joy. Now, all he had to do was convince Orion Black of their potential.
James turned to see Remus sitting up in bed rubbing the heels of his hands over his eyes. “Re-”
“Don’t even.”
Remus was never a morning person. James took the hint. They got ready in silence.
Being under pressure really revealed everyone’s true character. Marlene responded to everyone with extra fire and attitude, while Remus stayed largely silent and stoic. The only hint to his nervousness being a more pronounced furrow between his brows. James on the other hand didn’t shut up.
“I looked up Orion Black’s net worth. It was like $30 million. No wonder Sirius didn’t know how to do his laundry. They definitely hire people for that. Siri probably didn’t even need to go to uni in order to be well off. Not that he’s not a great producer, but I bet Orion would have taken him on anyway and just trained him at the studio. I wonder if Sirius is going to produce us by himself or if his dad is gonna make another producer be in charge or him. If we get signed of course. But we will.”
“James, would you stop talking about them. We are literally in their record label’s studio. That’s fucking weird.” Marlene hissed, shooting James a dangerous look.
“Fine, fine. But really, how much longer is this going to take?” James ran out of patience 15 minutes ago.
Just then, the sound of designer men’s dress shoes striking the tiled floors announced the arrival of Orion Black- the CEO of Grimmauld Records. Out from behind him, Sirius came running up to greet them, wearing his usual combination of an unassuming band tee (that was always vintage and cost a fortune), jeans and Doc Martens.
“Jamie! I missed you. Two weeks was too long.” Sirius lamented, pulling James into a hug. “I’m too used to seeing you every day at uni.”
“Missed you too, mate,” James echoed earnestly. As much as he liked sharing a flat with the band, he missed his dorm with Sirius. After a moment of sentimentality, James pulled him around to his side.
Sirius nodded his greetings to Marlene and Remus. James saw his eyes lite up when they locked onto Remus. James has spent the last four years of uni trying to get them together, and they have finally gotten their asses in gear. They started being more than friends about 6 months ago, but they are too emotionally stunted to really call themselves officially together. It also doesn't help that Sirius was not out to his family. They were the definition of old money and traditionalism.
As if one cue, Orion stepped forward and cleared his throat, obviously, trying to reestablish a formal atmosphere. His tailored black suit, clean haircut, and cold demeanor made him the antithesis to Sirius. “Orion Black, pleasure to meet you,” he said with an outstretched hand.
“James Potter, sir. Thank you for agreeing to meet us.” James made a point to let go of Sirius and stand up taller as Orion went around the circle shaking Marlene and Remus’ hands in similar greetings.
“Now before we begin, be assured that your familiarity with my son does not guarantee you any special treatment. I will sign only talent that I believe have potential and align with what Grimmauld Records is looking for.” Orion directed a thinly veiled, pointed look towards Sirius as he said this.
James could see both Remus and Marlene bristling at the, quite frankly, demeaning statement. However, James remained smiling as he agreed, “Of course. We are looking forward to earning our place here.”
“Well then, let us go to the studio, and we will review what I’ve heard so far.” Orion turned to lead them down the hall. James took the opportunity to lock eyes with Sirius and mouth a silent oh my god. Which meant I can’t believe we are here. Your dad really is an ass. I’m shitting bricks. Sirius just nodded in understanding then picked up his pace to fall in line next to Orion.
They entered a control room with an adjoining small studio. In the sound engineer’s seat, at the control board, sat a familiar face. Sirius’ brother Regulus was a regular guest in their dorm room over the years. He was just a year behind them, and as a part of the uni music scene, they ran in similar circles. Regulus was pretty close to Remus, but he never seemed all that keen to hang out with James, so they never really hung out unless everyone else was around.
But now, the usually cool and confident Regulus watched as the group filtered in and took their seats without actually meeting anyone’s eyes. That’s weird, James thought. His attention was quickly diverted to Orion as he reached over on the control panel and started playing one of the band’s songs.
It was one of their most recent songs and featured a pretty sick bass solo from Remus. The lyrics James sang were loosely inspired by a movie they saw where this girl basically dies and is brought back to life by this scientist Frankenstein style then reexperiences the whole world for the first time again.
About halfway through, Orion stopped the song. “It’s good. This is your best song. There’s a good balance here that most university bands tend to be missing. Not too much noise and not just a poem with a drum beat and three chords. An improvement from your earlier songs. I like to see that kind of musical growth. Remind me of your instrumentation?”
Everyone’s eyes turned to James to answer first. Typical. He didn’t mind, but it felt stereotypical for his role. “I’m lead vocals and rhythm guitar, sometimes keys.”
Remus followed suit, “I’m on bass.”
“I’m on lead guitar.” Marlene added.
“Right. And your drummer…”
This was still a bit of a sensitive topic for James. Peter had always been a great friend and bandmate, but he decided that after graduating he wanted to stay and get his master’s degree, leaving them without a drummer at a very critical moment. James understood why he made that choice. Peter’s dream was never to be a pro musician, but it still stung.
“Yeah, we have been auditioning some people. There’s a couple that stood out.” James answered nonchalantly. There really weren’t any that stood out. But Orion doesn’t need to know that.
“I believe I have a solution.” Orion started. James, Marlene, and Remus all sat at attention. This had to be a good sign. “First, Grimmauld Records would like to offer The Marauders a short-term, one year contract.”
The band and Sirius all lite up with matching enthusiasm as Marlene threw her arms around the boys on either side. “We gladly accept, sir,” she said.
“I have not given you the details of the contract yet. I will remind you that nothing is final until it is signed on paper.” Orion responded with a sigh and a squint of distaste at their inexperience. “I would like to sign The Marauders with my son Regulus as the new drummer.”
Sirius and Regulus both startled at this news. It was clear that they were not informed of this decision. Sirius was the first to find his bearings. “But he can just audition like everyone else. Did he even wan-”.
“That is the deal. It is best for everyone. We both know that Regulus can bring much-needed experience to this group.” Orion countered.
For the first time in the meeting, Regulus addressed his father, “Do you mean just drumming for recording sessions?”
“No. I mean performing in this band. It’s time you get out of the studio and onto a stage.”
Regulus’ face had returned to the neutral expression James had come to expect from him. It seemed like he was resigned to his father’s wishes. The rest of the room was silent for an oppressive moment. Then, Remus came to the rescue, “We look forward to working with Regulus, and for the opportunity to finalize a contract.”
Orion rose to his feet abruptly. “Excellent. I’ll have the legal department send you all a copy to review, and we can meet next week to sign. It was a pleasure to meet you all. I am off to a board meeting.”
He strode out of the room without waiting for a response. James got the impression that it wasn’t such a pleasure to meet them.
“Sirius what the hell was that?” Regulus grit through his teeth. “I swear he’s only doing this because of you.”
James was lost.
Sirius shot up to his feet. “He does whatever he wants. Why does it have to be my fault? Besides, getting on stage isn’t that bad. Get over it.”
“Easy for you to say. I just got pulled to your little dumpster-fire of a passion project that is likely going to blow up in all our faces.”
Remus stood and walked between the brothers. “Okay okay, just hold on, you two. A lot is going on right now. Slow down.” He grabbed both by the shoulders and tucked them into his sides. “Reggie, have a little faith in us. Sirius, Reggie’s emotions are valid.” He offered them both a shit-eating grin. They just continued to stare each other down while looking significantly less intimidating in the hold of their mutual ally. It reminded James of those “get along” tee shirts he’d seen on the internet made by parents for siblings. Just with Remus serving as a tee shirt. James suppressed a laugh at the still fuming pair. Marlene pulled out her phone and captured the moment.
“Aww this is so adorable!” She cooed.
Regulus wiggled out of Remus’ hold at once and walked out with a cold “whatever” thrown over his shoulder.
“Well, let’s get out of here.” Marlene suggested.
“Yes, please.” James really needed Sirius to fill him in.