Chapter 5
“So, how old are you?” James asked. He was strolling around the deck with Sirius, looking out over the endless blue ocean.
“Is this you trying to find out how old Regulus is?” Sirius smirked at him, nudging his side with his elbow.
James rolled his eyes, “Well, no. I just don’t know much about you, both of you. Thought we could do a little ice-breaker, get to know each other a bit. I can start if you don’t wanna.”
“I see, well I’m 19. I’ll be 20 in November. Now, before you ask, Regulus is 17, but he’ll be 18 in a few weeks,” Sirius told him.
“I’m 19 too, but my birthday is March. Remus is too, just a few days before me. We’re basically twins.”
“Sure you are. So, if you want to do this whole icebreaker thing, what’s your favourite colour?” Sirius chuckled, pulling a face at James as though mocking his idea of getting to know one another. Personally, James had thought it was a good idea.
“Glad you asked,” He grinned, “Red. Yours?”
Sirius snorted and shook his head laughing. “Blue, I guess.”
“That’s boring though! Come on, be more exciting!”
“Fine! Brown. But like that really nice brown, you know? The sort that has a golden shimmer to it when the sun hits it in the right way.”
James raised his eyebrows at Sirius. “Are you describing Remus’ eyes?” he chuckled.
“Maybe,” Sirius smirked.
“Favourite food?”
“Probably croque monsieur,” Sirius grinned.
“What’s that? Please tell me it’s not cock.”
“Ah, sadly not. It’s just a fancy sandwich. But you’re right, cock is my favourite, I dunno why I didn’t come up with that myself.”
James chuckled and shook his head, watching Sirius grin at him mischievously.
“Remus has a nice dick,” Sirius went on.
“That’s… nice. Can’t say I’ve ever seen it up close, but I’ll take your word for it,” James replied.
“Yeah, he’s very rough though,” he sighed.
Oh god, as much as James liked Remus and Sirius, he didn’t really want to know what they got up to when they were alone. They hardly knew each other for starters.
“Good thing I like people being rough with me,” Sirius continued, flashing a grin at James.
“Right… Good to know. Tell me more about France…”
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“Oh, hello,” Regulus said. Remus was just leaving the smoking room where he had been chain smoking for the past hour and a half and nearly walked right into him.
“Oh! Hiya Regulus. What’s up?” Regulus wrinkled his nose as Remus stepped around him out of the room.
“God, you reek!” he exclaimed, looking at Remus in utter disgust. Remus smiled and shrugged, “You get used to it. Besides, it’s an addiction at this point. Couldn’t stop if I wanted to.”
“I see…” Regulus muttered. They started walking down the corridor to the stairs onto the deck in silence until Regulus broke it.
“Do you know where Sirius is?” he asked.
“No, why would I?” Remus answered.
“I don’t know, maybe you’ve been with him today?”
“Nope, I haven’t. I assume he’s with James, but I dunno. Why?”
“That’s none of your business,” Regulus scoffed at him.
“You’re prickly aren’t ya?” Remus chuckled, watching as the younger boy rolled his eyes and folded his arms.
“What? It isn’t any of your business. If you bump into him, do tell him I’m looking for him.”
“And where do I tell him to go?”
“It depends on when you find him. If it’s within an hour I will be in our room. After that, I’ll be at Pandora’s room, before going to tea with her family. They want him to be there, so I must find him before then,” Regulus explained.
“I see. Or, you could just... stay with me and we can look for him together?” Remus suggested. Regulus looked him up and down, frowning.
“Or don’t,” Remus huffed, rolling his eyes.
“Fine, but I only have an hour. Got it?” Regulus answered with a sigh. Remus smiled tightly and nodded, before opening the door and soldering it open for Regulus to pass through.
“After you, madame,” he muttered under his breath. Regulus shot him a glare and furrowed his eyebrows, but ducked under Remus’ outstretched arm.
“You do know ‘Madame’ means something like ‘m’lady’ or ‘Ma’am’, right?” he mumbled.
“No, I didn’t. So what’s ‘man’ then? Or ‘sir’, if you must.” Remus asked him, a slight chuckle to his tone.
“Monsieur. You could say ‘Aprés vous, Monsieur’ in that case.”
“So you’ll speak French to me but not in front of James?” Remus asked, cocking his head at the short boy.
Regulus scoffed and rolled his eyes again, he seemed to do a lot of that, and then he stood and looked up at Remus. “Peut-être parce que sa présence me rend nerveuse?” he said.
Well, wasn’t that just so enlightening? Remus looked at him, confused and waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. He turned away and kept walking, Remus rushing along beside him.
“Your posture is awful,” Regulus grunted.
“Thanks? You try being 6 foot 4 and stickin’ out like a sore thumb,” Remus scoffed.
“It’s not healthy though.”
“A lot of things aren’t healthy, yet we still do them. Being that pale isn’t healthy, get some more sun.”
“Excuse me?” Regulus scoffed, furrowing his eyebrows at Remus.
“You heard me,” he grinned. He reached his hand out and ruffled Regulus’ hair. Bad idea. The boy stepped away, looking mortified that someone dared touch his perfectly styled hair and then mess it up.
“What the heck?” he spat, eyeing Remus and running his hand over his hair, making sure it was still as perfect as before.
“It’s alright, you can say fuck. Mummy and Daddy aren’t around to scold you, and I won’t tell,” Remus chuckled.
“What is your problem?”
“Nothing’s my problem. But you seem to have a lot of them. Come on Reg, be honest. Do you really like Pandora? Are you ready to get married? How old are you even, 15?”
“I’m 17 actually-”
“Yeah, still underage, aren’t ya? I know you probably don’t want to take advice from someone like me, but you need to live a little. You’re a kid. Go out, get drunk, smoke a little, do drugs, make bad decisions, make out with strangers, have sex, regret it in the morning and move on. You can’t let your parents control your life, you’re too young for that. Don’t you want to make your own decisions in life?” Remus offered.
Regulus gazed at Remus, seemingly in awe, but then his expression turned stormy.
“You’re right, I don’t want advice from some broke kid. Let me live my life, and I’ll let you live your miserable, poor life too. You don’t see me trying to convince you to do things you don’t want to do, do you? No, you don’t. Tell Sirius to find me,” he spat, his words sharp and dismissive.
They stared at each other a second longer before Regulus turned and marched off. Remus sighed at his back and walked off in the other direction.
To his delight, it didn’t take long to locate James and Sirius, their loud, barking laughter turning heads and attracting attention which they both seemed oblivious to.
“Remus!” James shouted, both he and Sirius were waving him over like mad idiots.
“Hiya,” Remus hummed as he approached them and squeezed onto the bench between the two of them.
“Regulus is looking for you. Said he’d be in his room. Apparently, you’re going to tea with Pandora’s family,” Remus told him.
“Ugh, what a pain. Did you ask if you guys could tag along?”
“Pft! No,” Remus snorted.
“Remus! You should have!” James groaned.
“He seemed pretty set on marrying Pandora, James. Give it up,” Remus sighed.
“Really?” Sirius questioned, looking confused.
“Well, yeah.”
“Weird... Right, let’s go,” Sirius huffed, standing up and offering Remus his hand. He took it, fighting a smile, but they let go almost instantly after he pulled Remus up.
“Poofs,” James grinned, “So, where are we going?”
“To my room, idiot,” Sirius snorted as though it were the most obvious thing.
They followed Sirius through the gate, getting weird stares from people as they walked down a corridor to the rooms. Remus felt very out of place, and he could tell James did too. The boy was playing with a loose thread on his sleeve, glancing around nervously.
Sirius pulled out a key and unlocked the door. The last time Remus had been here, he had been slightly drunk and desperate to taste more of Sirius. Now, he had the chance to look around the neat room.
They followed Sirius into a different room; his. It wasn’t as neat as the other room, clothes strewn on the floor, his bedsheets nearly falling off of the bed, a pillow already on the floor which had been ignored and abandoned there.
“Welcome to ma chambre, James,” Sirius smiled.
“It’s… er…”
“Messy,” Remus finished for him.
Sirius just shrugged at them, grinning happily. He walked over to the bathroom and knocked, “Reggie?” he called.
“You wait here, I’ll be back in a sec’” he said turning back to James and Remus. He pushed through the door and left them.
“So, Reg seemed alright with marrying her then?” James said casually, walking to the side of Sirius’ bed and picking up one of the books there.
“Seemed it, yeah,” Remus responded with a shrug.
“Cool,” James said, trying and failing to keep the disappointment out of his voice. He obviously didn’t think it was cool, so he started flipping through the pages in silence.
Remus sighed at the sight of him and sat down on the bed next to him. “It’s alright, mate. You’ll find someone, it might take time but you will,” he tried to reassure him.
“Easy for you to say,” James sighed, dropping the book back onto the nightstand and turning to Remus. “Why am I like this?”
“Like what?” Remus asked, confused.
“Like this,” James said, motioning to himself.
“All I see is a caring person who has a huge heart and only wants the best for other people and puts their needs before his own. Come on, James, this isn’t the worst thing in the world, you’ve dealt with worse and you’re gonna get through this. He’s a prick anyway, we’ll be in New York soon and you’ll never have to see him again.”
“But his eyes! His hair! His entire godforsaken face! And have you seen his hands? I don’t want to get to New York if it means I’ll never see him again. Even if I can’t have him and won’t be able to call him mine, I still want to be able to see him. Even if it’s from afar. You’ll have Sirius but what do I have?” James groaned, lowering himself onto the bed next to Remus.
“You’ll always have me. I promise that I’ll never leave you. It’s been us against the world up until now, why would I let that change, just because of some boy? You’re mine and I’m yours, nothing you say or do will change anything about that, yeah?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Regulus was pacing his room, Sirius watching him from the doors with his arms folded.
“Oh come on Regulus! They’re really not that bad! And besides, since when do you want to marry Pandora? What sort of bullshit is that?” Sirius spat.
“Since I figured there was no other way, Sirius! Not everyone can get what they want, whenever they want it!” Regulus shouted at him.
“You think I get what I want?” Sirius laughed, that loud, arrogant, barking laugh of his. “Please, Reg. I’m not even allowed to eat with you all normally! Can hardly leave the bloody house! Just because you’re mummy and daddy’s favourite doesn’t mean they completely ignore me, you know? I have to live up to their standards, just like you do. Sure, they’ve stopped caring as much about what I do, but that’s because they’re ashamed of me. That’s not easy either, having your parents just completely turn their backs on you overnight because you like to shag different people!”
Regulus swallowed, looking at Sirius. He was breathing heavily, looking distressed.
“Sirius..” Regulus sighed softly, taking a step towards his brother, but he stepped away.
“No. Either they come, or I don’t go with you. It’s your choice and I’m sure mummy and daddy will go along with whatever you choose, as long as none of us express ourselves the way we want to,” he snarled.
Regulus rolled his eyes, “Stop calling them that, I’m not five-”
“Yeah, well sometimes you certainly act like it.” Sirius glared at him and made to leave again.
“Fine, they can come,” Regulus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Sirius grinned at him as though he had planned it all. He certainly did have a knack for getting his own way.
“Make sure they look decent. We can’t have them show up in their… current attire. Meet us there though, don’t come to Pandora’s with them.”
“Why? You gonna shag before tea?” Sirius grinned. Regulus rolled his eyes but didn’t respond.
“Naughty naughty,” Sirius tutted. Regulus listened for the sound of him leaving and then sank onto his bed.
Whatever was he going to do? He couldn’t have them there, it was too distracting. He couldn’t mess this up, his parents were relying on him and only him. He was their last hope. There was no one else after him, he didn’t have the choices Sirius had.
And James was going to be there. No doubt he would deliberately make things more difficult than they had to be.
Groaning, Regulus got up for a quick, cold shower before he got ready and went to meet with Pandora.
“Hello there, Regulus. Please do come in, Pandora will be ready shortly,” her mother greeted him politely, stepping aside and allowing him into their room.
He smiled at her politely and slipped inside. She led him into Pandora’s room and he sat on her bed, waiting for her to finish in the bathroom.
“You look nice,” she said quietly. Regulus spun around to face her. She was smiling shyly, her hands playing with the long sleeves of her dress.
“So do you, I mean, wow. You look beautiful,” he breathed. He did mean it, she did look lovely. Her pale cheeks flushed slightly as he walked up to her and kissed her forehead. He held his arm out for her to link her own into and then walked into the main area of their quarters together.
“Aren’t you two just perfect together!” her mother exclaimed, her hand clutching her chest in joy. Pandora’s father nodded in agreement and offered them both a smile. Regulus returned it tightly. Sure, Pandora was a lovely girl, but he didn’t think they were perfect together.
“Where’s your brother, Regulus?” her father asked him as they all made to leave the room.
“I told him to meet us there, he wanted to bring some of his friends. I hope that’s alright with you, but he wouldn’t take no as an answer,” Regulus grumbled.
“Not at all! What are their names? First class, I assume?” Pandora’s mother asked excitedly.
Regulus hesitated, “Erm… Well. The tall one is Remus and the one with the glasses and the stupid grin is James. They’re… not exactly first class…”
“Not that it matters anyway. I’m sure they’re lovely,” Pandora butted in before either of her parents could make a rude remark. Regulus smiled weakly at her and they fell silent.
Regulus was dreading walking through the door and finding James and Remus dressed in their filthy clothes, but he was pleasantly surprised.
He saw Sirius first, waving them over calmly. That was very out of character for him. Regulus steered Pandora over to them and froze when the three of them stood.
James was wearing one of Sirius’ suits, but it was a lot tighter on him than on Sirius. It hugged his arms nicely, showing off his muscular shoulders and chest, his strong legs,...
Regulus’ eyes wandered down his arms to his hands. They truly were remarkable, big and strong yet still elegant and soft-looking. He looked back up at his face. And there it was, that big, stupid grin that lit up his entire face, his eyes glistening like the stars in the night sky.
His hair was lying nearly flat on his head, most likely thanks to Sirius, yet it still looked curly and fluffy like it had when Regulus had had his first bump-in with James. He was beaming like the sun, so much so that Regulus couldn’t take his eyes off of him.
He hadn’t even noticed Pandora repeatedly saying his name and prodding his side until she sighed and pulled him towards the table to sit down.
“You must be Pandora, yes? I’m James, James Potter,” James introduced himself, holding out his hand.
“Yep, that’s me! It’s lovely to meet you,” she said, letting him take her hand and allowing him to kiss her knuckles ever so gently. Regulus had to force himself to look away from his lips. “I take it you must be Remus then?”
“That’s right. It’s nice to meet you,” Remus smiled softly but he didn’t reach for her hand, instead, he nodded politely and turned to look at Sirius who gave him a smile and a thumbs up.
“Idiots,” Regulus muttered under his breath. Luckily, no one seemed to hear him, already chattering away with each other.
Regulus sat down next to Pandora and to his dismay, James took his other side. “You look nice,” he whispered with a smirk.
Regulus scoffed and rolled his eyes, “I wish I could say the same about you. Where did you get that suit, anyway?” Of course, he already knew the answer, but he asked anyway.
“Sirius gave it to me. We-”
“It’s too small on you. It’s not meant to be so tight around your… arms,” he settled on, not wanting to admit he had been looking at James’ arms.
“Ah, please. It fits fine, bet I could still do a backflip in it!” James mused, taking a sip of the tea that had just been served.
“You can do a backflip?” Pandora joined in the conversation.
“Well… No, but if I could I bet I could do it in this suit too,” James admitted, turning slightly pink.
Regulus rolled his eyes again and turned his back on James to strike up a conversation with Pandora instead. At least she had some sense.
“When will your parents be joining us, Regulus?” Pandora’s mother asked him from across the table. Regulus glanced at the clock just over her right shoulder and sighed.
“Anytime soon, I suppose. I apologise they couldn’t make it any sooner,” he said.
“Not at all!” her father waved a dismissive hand at him. “So, Sirius, how did you meet these two?”
“Ah, well…” Sirius turns a deep red and looks to Remus and James for help, but both of them shrug at him, clueless.
“They were drunk and Sirius and I were just strolling around the deck. We found them on a bench and helped them back to their rooms. Now Sirius can’t seem to get rid of them,” Regulus lied, his eyes fixed on his hands to avoid eye contact.
“Well, that was nice of you. Are you old enough to be drinking, though? Especially you James, no offence Remus.”
“Yeah, I’m 19 so it’s alright,” James said.
“Well, you certainly don’t look it. Ah, Walburga!”
Regulus bit back a groan as he turned around to see his parents making a bee-line towards them.
“Sorry we are late,” Orion apologised, pulling out a seat next to Sirius for Walburga to sit in. Sirius eyed her and scooted his chair away slightly, edging closer to Remus.
“You didn’t miss much, Regulus was just telling us how he and Sirius met these two,” Pandora smiled, motioning to Remus and James who both smiled awkwardly.
“And who might you be?” Walbgurga asked sharply.
“I’m James Potter and this is my friend Remus Lupin,” James said, reaching his hand across the table. Walburga looked at it judgementally, brows raised. James got the message and slowly pulled his hand back, nodding.
“Pleasure,” Walburga snarled. “I would like a word with you later, Sirius.” Sirius groaned and threw his head back in despair.
“Mother, dearest, please spare me the lecture.”
“Sirius, I am warning you,” she hissed.
Regulus suddenly felt a hand squeezing his upper thigh, dangerously close to his groin, and he snapped his head to look at the culprit; James of course, who else?
“Is she always like this?” he whispered in Regulus’ ear, his warm breath sending shivers down his spine.
Regulus glanced around the table and quickly pushed James’ hand off his leg. It seemed as though nobody had noticed, thankfully, too busy watching Sirius and Walburga argue back and forth.
“You can’t do that!” he hissed at James.
“Sorry! I was just trying to get your attention without drawing everyone else’s attention!” James countered.
“You can’t just… touch me like that.”
“It won’t happen again, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, sure you are,” Regulus scoffed and once again, he turned his back on James, hoping nobody would see the stiffness he had caused in his trousers.