Rose flowing with your chosen family
Wednesday, December 24th, approx. 8:30pm, approx. £350,000/£350,000 raised
If there’s one thing Sirius loves in this entire world, it’s James, and James’ family.
If there’s a second?
It’s partying. Oh, he loves to party. Loves it more than almost anything. He loves the excitement and the rebelliousness of planning one. He loves sneaking in the alcohol for it. He loves alcohol, and how free it makes him feel, although he won’t be drinking tonight. No, he wants to have a clear head for the moment he’s been waiting for for the past two months.
Maybe that was why he never really connected with any of the people he dated, kissed, and slept with at Hogwarts. They were easy to date, kiss, and sleep with, because dating, kissing, or sleeping with Sirius was something just about every student, girl or boy, was willing to do. They loved him, and he liked them, most of the time.
Remus is different from those flings. Remus has really made Sirius be patient, and wait, and really the only thing that was holding him together through all of this “professionalism” was this promise of tonight, technically tomorrow. Because the contract and case were technically over, they were free to kiss, but due to Remus’ commitment to the law, he insisted on tonight. That taste of Remus from the auction was slowly returning to Sirius, taking over his brain and any thought he could have. Could he truly wait until midnight? It was a lot to ask.
The party is just getting started at this point, as people have only just started to arrive, hanging up their coats and mingling where they can. Every party has a semi-slow start, so Sirius isn’t too worried. This will be fun, he’s sure of it, because he’s going to make it fun.
The first step to this, obviously, is ABBA. ABBA, only the best band to ever exist, in Sirius’ opinion. In another universe, he is sure that he has been to one of their concerts, and was there to anticipate every album drop. He just knows this.
However, that’s a bit impossible in this lifetime, so Sirius makes do with Spotify and asking every DJ he meets to play some. Because this is going to be a very festive party, Sirius starts with Dancing Queen, to really get people in the mood to dance. It’s necessary.
He gives the DJ a few more requests, glad to see that once people have heard the mellifluous sound of the 70s they’ve relaxed a little, and have finally not been so uptight. If there’s one kind of person Sirius can’t stand, it’s people who are too uptight. People who don’t know how to have fun.
“If we’re doing 70s, you should put on Bowie,” a familiar voice suggests behind him, making Sirius jump.
“Remus! You came!”
“Of course I came! How could I resist?”
“Me, or the party?”
“Both. I hope it’s okay that I brought a friend.” Remus moves, revealing the woman who worked at the front desk at Remus’ law firm. Alice, Sirius remembers.
“The more the merrier. It’s Alice, right?”
“Yep. You must be Sirius. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Good things, I hope?”
“Many good things, and many things that make me question Remus’ sanity,” Alice answers honestly. “Good luck at midnight tonight, Sirius.”
With that, Alice leaves, presumably to mingle, leaving Remus and Sirius both a bit red.
“If you want to run, now’s the time,” Remus eventually says, to ease the tension.
“I’m good. I’m looking forward to whatever filthy thing you have planned. Behind that professional, lawyer thing you have going on, I know there’s someone wild.”
Remus shrugs nonchalantly. “Can’t say for certain. I think he’s under all these clothes.”
“Sounds like you should probably take them off, then,” Sirius suggests not so subtlety. Now that they’re closer to midnight, it’s so much easier to joke like this, because there’s no worry of making things awkward when they both know what's going to happen.
“Agreed. Might be easier if you’re the one taking them off, though.”
“Man, I cannot wait for midnight.”
“Stupid professional.”
“I hate it just as much as you do, trust me, but I am not going to get fired tonight.”
“You sure? Because I think you could go into work with Dorcas, now that she’s quit Starry Night.”
Dorcas, currently, is getting drunk, and dancing uncomfortably (for everyone else, at least) close to Marlene, who doesn’t seem uncomfortable at all and just as drunk. If Sirius has to guess, Marlene and Dorcas will last 30 minutes before getting out of there.
“Really?”
“Truly. According to Regulus, your sarcasm makes up for your experience, and so far you’ve been the only one who has come close to matching Dorcas.”
“Well, that’s nice to know,” Remus says. “I’ll think it over, see what we can do.”
“Good. I’m rooting for you, Remus.”
Before they can talk more about Remus’ law career, James gets onstage, prepared to make a speech. To get the attention of the now slightly rowdy crowd, he clinks a glass, and that seems to calm people down enough to hold their attention.
“Hello! Hi, everyone, hello,” he greets, earning a few chuckles from the crowd. “I first just want to thank you all for coming here tonight to support our victory, and the fact that we’re saving the farm. I want to thank everyone who donated to our farm, everyone who bought a tree, everyone who rented a saw, everyone who bought something from The Leaky Cauldron, and everyone who has told someone about our mission. All of you, everyone single of you, we couldn’t have done without.”
James pauses, waiting for the raucous applause that follows to quiet down, before continuing, “It seriously means the world to me, and my lovely parents, that we were able to save this farm.” James motions off to the right side of the stage, where Effie and Fleamont are standing, both of them glowing with admiration for their son. More clapping follows them, as well.
“As many of you know, I’m set to inherit the farm, and I couldn’t be more excited about that. Using your generous donations, and our outstanding profits this year, I’m going to expand Potterly Trees like never seen before. I can’t say much now, but rest assured, next year’s Christmas will be the merriest of all. I want to give a special shoutout to my best friend, Sirius-” James gestures to Sirius in the crowd, who waves, “and our amazing lawyer, who got us an amazing deal no thanks to me, Remus.”
Remus waves as well, a bit more embarrassed and unfamiliar with recognition than Sirius was, but James continues nonetheless.
“I’d also like to personally thank Mary and Lily, the owners of The Leaky Cauldron, whose sandwiches, cookies, and hot chocolates drew crowds from everywhere. One of our lumberjacks, Marlene, who was a tremendous help with cutting down trees. And last, but not least, Regulus Black, for his support in those last stressful moments and the motivation he provided throughout this entire experience. He’s offstage right now, but deserves some recognition.”
Sirius spots Regulus waiting behind the stage, looking extremely red. He was always a bit shy, and even though Sirius knows he’s mostly grown out of it by now, he can remember when Regulus would skip class whenever he had a presentation or dread receiving public awards, something he received a lot of due to their parents.
“That’s all I have, but to the rest of you or anyone I didn’t mention, we’re still extremely grateful. So let’s get this party started!” James cheers, bringing more cheers from the crowd, and a large whoo from Sirius.
Sirius would like to say that the rest of the night passed in a blur of dancing, eating, and partying, but the truth was he was aware of every single moment that passed. Every single moment that brought him one step closer to Remus. Sirius has never been so excited for something in his life - usually, whenever he did something potentially life-changing, it was spontaneous and he didn’t really think it through. It didn’t tend to work well for him, so maybe this time will be different, he hopes. It has to be, right? Because Remus is involved. It just makes sense that Remus would be the one to change his streak of bad luck.
As predicted, Dorcas and Marlene leave approximately 32 minutes after they first start dancing together, presumably to Marlene’s flat to go do what girlfriends do when they’re both drunk and horny. Sirius makes a mental note to tease Marlene about it later, as it’s time for her to get a taste of her own medicine when it comes to teasing friends.
Mary and Lily show up a bit after the speech, having arrived late due to the odd hours of The Leaky Cauldron on Christmas Eve.
“We would’ve liked to close the entire day, but we haven’t raised £350,000, so we can’t afford to do that on one of the busiest days of the year,” Mary explained, when they finally arrived.
“What are the others?” Remus asked, out of pure curiosity.
“Valentines day, mostly.”
“Huh,” he remarks. “Might have to stop by then.”
“Are you planning to have a valentine?”
“If everything goes well tonight, fingers crossed, yes,” Remus agrees, winking at Sirius. Having not known them as long, Sirius is glad Remus didn’t notice the clear set up for him to say exactly that, reassuring Sirius. Mary is a good friend for it.
About an hour after the speech, Sirius loses sight of James and Regulus, who he hopes haven’t followed in Dorcas and Marlene’s footsteps, but knows probably have, if not already. However, he chooses not to think about that, instead spending the night wishing desperately to do the exact same thing.
Oh, Remus is so lovely. Just lovely. Sirius isn’t a romantic, but there’s something about Remus that makes him want to be one, and isn’t that romantic? It has to be, really and truly.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Remus suddenly asks, snapping Sirius out of the dream-like state he was in over the dreamy Remus.
“You’re the most handsome man I know,” Sirius shrugs, because it’s a fact.
“I’m telling James you said that.”
“Go on ahead. I’m sure he’d say the same about Regulus, which, gross, but what can I do about it?”
“You could slowly try to break them up by planting insecurities and breaking their trust in each other month by month until they’re no longer even able to tolerate being in the same room as each other by June,” Remus suggests. “That might work, if you don’t want to see them be all lovey dovey around each other.”
“Remus Lupin, you diabolical genius,” Sirius laughs, because the idea of James falling out of love that easily is laughable. James isn’t that kind of person, and while it might be easy to do so with Regulus and anyone else, James simply wouldn’t let him. Remus laughs too, of course, and there’s something that’s just lovely about the way he laughs. Mentally, Sirius adds it to his list of things that make Remus lovely. It’s a very long list, mostly because there are a lot of things that make Remus lovely.
“What time is it?” Remus groans, looking around for a clock. “It’s got to be close to Midnight, right?”
“It’s 9:45, mate,” Sirius says, gently grabbing Remus’ wrist to check Remus’ watch. “I know. The hours are crawling by for me, too.”
An hour and 15 minutes later, people start to leave, reminded of the fact it’s a weekday and their bodies aren’t used to drinking or partying or staying up so late on a Wednesday. Remus and Sirius leave as well, deciding to deal with the aftermath the next morning, and heading to Sirius’ flat. It’s the closest one around, and both of them already practically live there, so it seems the most logical place to go to for their midnight activities.
“So, do we watch another Disney movie to pass the time?” Remus asks, once they arrive about 10 minutes later.
“Gosh, that was so random. Remind me why we did that again?”
Remus shrugs. “I’m just as confused as you are about why James likes Bambi so much.”
It turns out that this part of the waiting is the worst part, because it’s the slowest. It’s not those days filled with uncertain flirting in November, or those days in anticipation in December, it’s these agonising minutes of just waiting on this last, final day. Sirius isn’t sure what to do, and that’s the worst part. He hates that, so he thinks of how much he hates this waiting while he waits, hoping to pass the time. It doesn’t.
“Do you think we would’ve kissed by now in some other universe?” Sirius asks, at about 11:30.
“I mean, of course. There’s infinite universes we could’ve kissed in. We could’ve kissed at 10:30 instead in one, or when we were both 16 in another, or maybe we could’ve kissed when we’re old and grey in an entirely new one.”
“That makes me thankful we’re in this one, although it would’ve been cool to meet you at 16.”
“Really? Even though I sold counterfeit shoes and you were ‘popular?’”
“I would’ve bought all of those Doc Martens if it meant meeting you earlier, believe me,” says Sirius. “Imagine how big my closet would have to be to hold all of those.”
“Right, because that would be the most important part of us meeting at 16. I think your biggest issue meeting me at 16 would be trying to keep your reputation as a partier and hanging out with the guy who’s favourite place was the library.”
“Remus, this is terrible foreplay. I think I went to the library three times in my entire time at Hogwarts.”
“Well that’s not helping me!”
“Would it help if I told you I would’ve followed you into the library? I wasn’t really one for studying, but it’d be cool to just hang around you. I couldn’t give less of a fuck about my reputation being tarnished just by being in the library.”
“That does help, yeah,” Remus agrees, enjoying any leftover doubts he’s ever had about Sirius being crushed in one sentence.
“Is it midnight now?” Sirius asks, sighing.
“11:50 or so. I was actually thinking about that, you know how it’s going to be at midnight?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, most people usually wait until New Year's Eve to kiss at midnight.”
“No, I don’t think they do,” Sirius disagrees, shaking his head, a small worry growing in his stomach that maybe Remus is making excuses and maybe doesn’t want to do this. He’d feel terrible that Remus couldn’t tell him it upfront. “Or I guess some people do.”
“Maybe we could do that. I mean, what’s 6 more days?” Remus says, and Sirius looks away, feeling a bit guilty.
“If you don’t want to do this now, that’s okay, you know that? I know we’ve talked about it but you don’t have to, and I’m so sorry if I made you think I did-”
“Sirius! Gosh, no, I was joking! Yes, I want this, that joke did not go as well as I thought it would,” Remus rushes to say, turning and making Sirius face him. “I definitely want this, and you didn’t do anything to force me, lord no, geez.”
“Oh,” Sirius realises, his mood instantly brightening. “Thank goodness.”
“Yes, yes, yeah don’t worry.”
“Okay. That’s good.”
“To be clear, you want this, too, right?”
“I honestly couldn’t say that there’s something I’ve ever wanted more than you right now, Remus Lupin. Ugh, what time is it?”
“11:55.”
“These next 5 minutes are going to be absolute torture, you know that?” Sirius groans, sliding off the couch dramatically, almost melting to the floor.
“Trust me, I know.”
“I mean, what’s a little white lie to your boss? It’s only 5 minutes, what would they know?”
“3 minutes now,” Remus says, checking his watch and sliding down next to Sirius.
“That’s only 180 seconds, you know. So really nothing at all.”
“Good point.”
“And an hour is only 3,600 seconds.”
“That’s pushing it.”
“No, think about it. We’ve already lived through so many seconds, what’s 180 more?”
“What an optimistic view. That’s…surprising. You are Sirius, yes?”
Sirius laughs. “Yeah. This is how I thought about things to make the time pass faster at my parent’s house. Seconds seem less long than minutes.”
“I mean, they are, so that makes sense. Sorry you had to do that though.”
“It’s no biggie. How many seconds, now?”
“90. Minute and a half to go.”
“Do you think I have time for a nap, then?”
“Maybe enough time to brush your teeth,” Remus lightly suggests, making Sirius truly worry for a few precious seconds.
“Seriously? Does my breath smell bad? Because I swear, I’ll run in there super quick, or find a mint, or something if it smells bad, I’m not ruining this for us.”
“Oh my gosh, Sirius, no. Your mouth is fine.”
“Well, stop scaring me then.”
“Deal. Only 30 seconds to go, now.”
“29…28…27…26…”
“Please do not count down every single second.”
“Why not? It’s very romantic.”
“I’ll argue with that, and say it’s very annoying.”
“Are you sure you want those to be your last words before we kiss?”
“Fine. I can’t wait to kiss you. Is that better?”
“Much, because I agree with it. For you. Although I wouldn’t mind kissing me either. I’m a very good kisser.”
“We’ll have to see about that in…10…9…8…”
“So it’s okay when you do it?”
“3…2…Oh, just shut up and kiss me.”
Sirius obliges happily, leaning over and kissing Remus with more enthusiasm than at the auction under the mistletoe.
It’s so much easier this time, already knowing each other’s mouths so well. Instead of mimicking the kiss before, this time, Sirius lets Remus be in control, giving up his neck for kisses instead of the other way around. Remus’ hair is so soft, and easy to run his fingers through, it’s just natural to let it happen like this. It’s like they’re made for each other, how easy this is.
Remus lifts Sirius back onto the sofa, and Sirius lays down, enjoying the feeling of Remus on top of him.
“Are you ready to do this?” Remus asks one last time, glancing up at Sirius from under long eyelashes as he goes further south than Sirius’ belly button.
“I’ve been ready for this since the first day I saw you. I can’t wait to meet that wild man under those clothes,” Sirius replies cheekily, and Remus grins, letting Sirius discover exactly that.
____________________________________
Wednesday, December 24th, approx. 8:30pm, approx. £350,000/£350,000 raised
Regulus had always hated parties before James.
There were the obligatory Black family parties, where he had to dress up in a stuffy outfit and be polite to bigots he hated for hours on end. Those were never fun. On the other hand, you had the exact opposite, Hogwarts parties, especially those thrown by Sirius and James. Wild, crazy parties filled with alcohol and girls, two things Regulus were uninterested in. Now, just because he was uninterested in them didn’t mean they didn’t make him feel things.
There was alcohol, and that made him lose all control over himself, which he hated. He’s always hated how he acts super drunk, so he tries avoiding getting super drunk. It’s simple, really. But whenever he ended up at one of those raging parties, it was inevitable that everyone there would be super drunk, so it was practically unavoidable if he went.
Then, there were the girls at the parties; girls Regulus didn’t recognise intoxicated, girls Regulus didn’t recognise, girls Regulus didn’t want to recognise. Overall, though, when he saw the girls and how the other boys would drool over them, he mostly felt jealous. Jealous of the girls, who could get a guy’s attention with a flew hip swishes. Jealous of the way they moved so gracefully, in the way only a woman could. Jealous of the way James looked at them, and not him.
Not to mention, back then, Regulus still wanted to be able to look at girls the way his friends did. He desperately wished on every shooting star that maybe one day he’d wake up and understand. He could understand why everyone else loved them - they were beautiful, and alluring in such a mysterious way. He wanted to understand why everyone was so sure of it, and why he couldn’t be. Why he wasn’t attracted to them at all. He wished he’d understood that sooner than he did, and the girls were always there, taunting him, a reminder of what he couldn’t have.
He didn’t start truly despising the girls until James and Lily had started dating. He didn’t want to hate Lily - she was always kind to him, and open to study with him whenever he needed a study partner. But he hated what she had, and what he didn’t. It wasn’t fair. Thinking that only reminded him of his own mother’s words, that life wasn’t fair, and wasn’t that a fun person to be reminded of?
With all of these aspects, one could guess why Regulus hated parties, and why the Potterly Trees one might be different.
There was alcohol, yes, but nobody was pressuring him to drink it or drink massive amounts of it. There were girls, yes, but none of them had James’ attention the way he did, and wasn’t that something? To hold James Potter’s attention?
It also didn’t have any members of his family, save for Sirius, the only one of them he could actually tolerate (most of the time - not when he was flirting with Remus, which he seemed to be doing all night). He could dress however he wanted, speak to whoever wanted, and act however he wanted, and it was so freeing to know he was finally free. Free from his parents. Free from his jealous, misunderstanding teenage self. Free from the pressure both of those people had put on him.
It was mostly thanks to James Potter. Lovely, wonderful James Potter. James, who has made him feel at home, like he has a home. James, who has made him feel happy in ways he’d never thought possible for him before. James, who has made him feel things he’d never thought possible before.
James deserved the £3,500, in Regulus’ opinion. For how hard he’d worked, for everything he’d done for Regulus, all of it. James deserved the £3,500 and more - he deserved the world for it, and Regulus was prepared to give it to him.
At the moment though, he can be happy for his boyfriend, and that’s enough. There’s a lot of things to be happy about. Happy that he’s saved Potterly Trees, and in James’ opinion, that he’s saved Christmas itself. Happy that he’s going to inherit Potterly Trees, and run the business he’s been looking forward to running since he knew what a business was. Regulus is simply happy James is happy about all of those things, and it’s been a long time since Regulus was simply happy, if ever. And James makes it so easy to be just that.
“Having fun?” James asks, hopping off the stage to grand applause and immediately finding Regulus in his spot next to it.
“None. I’m incredibly bored,” Regulus responds lamely.
“Well, that must be terrible. I’m doing great, because it’s a super fun party.”
“I’ll give you that, it is.”
“So you admit it, you’re having fun?”
“I’m Regulus Black. I’m incapable of fun, but I can acknowledge what can make things fun,” shrugs Regulus, making James roll his eyes and lightly bump into Regulus.
“Alrighty then, weirdo. I’m going to go thank people individually and very sincerely. You wanna come with me?” James asks, grinning dangerously, making Regulus fervently shake his head to explain nonverbally how very much he does not want to do that. “Don’t worry, I’m only joking. I know that’s not really your scene. Feel free to stay over here, or find one of your friends - I think I saw a few of them come in during the speech.”
It’s likely that’s when they arrived, as the only time Regulus took his eyes off the doors was to look at James during that speech.
Regulus quickly scans the crowd for a mop of bleached-blonde hair and shaggy brown hair. Just as he suspected, he finds the pair over by a table laid out with food and drink.
“Are you two enjoying your unemployment so far?” Regulus asks, making Evan laugh.
“I’d be asking yourself that question. We’ve recently been interviewed by multiple museums about positions as bodyguards.”
“Really?”
Evan looks at Barty for a split second, giving him away.
“No, not technically,” Barty clarifies. “But we’ve thought about being interviewed after applying for said positions.”
“Have you applied yet, then?”
“I mean we’ve thought about it,” Evan shrugs, then downs his drink. Regulus doesn’t worry too much about his friends - they’re both adults, and they both have a fair amount of money saved from the exorbitant amount his parents paid them, but then again it’s Barty and Evan. It’s possible they’ve already spent it, or are going to get jobs in a completely different field.
“Good enough for me,” Regulus says, and orders a drink for himself. Something sweet, because he isn’t planning on getting too drunk tonight, and christmassy, because that’s the only kind of drink on this menu.
“James has changed him,” Barty sighs dramatically, as if Regulus has been gone for 6 months and is only just getting back. “You used to always bug us about working. Now look at you…relaxed, and letting all three of us be unemployed without a care in the world. What the hell did James do to you?”
Evan leans in close, suddenly a bit of worry on his face. “Are you high? Did Dora give James weed to give to you?”
Regulus chuckles, remembering the time he’d discovered Pandora was growing some of the stuff for medicinal use and had given her a lot of advice about not getting caught with it. Regulus had admittedly tried some before - not from Pandora, but at school - but at the moment, he had nothing. Nothing from James or Pandora. He was just happy. The fact his friends were suspicious of that should’ve said a lot, but Regulus chose to happily ignore that.
“No, just happy. I’m not too worried about that, and I think I’ll see if there’s a way I can work here,” Regulus explains, making Evan and Barty exchange worried looks.
“Regulus? Not worried about something?” Barty gasps.
“Who’d’ve thought we’d see the day?” Evan says, shaking his head.
“You two are both dramatic, you know that? And assholes.”
“We’re aware.”
“Good. That’s the first step to changing your behaviour - being aware of it.”
“The fuck kind of advice is that?” Barty asks, then, in a poor imitation of Regulus’ voice, says, “that’s the first step to changing your behaviour, being aware of it, blah blah blah. When did you become some sort of therapist?”
The truth was, he’d studied psychology, so that was when. What a fascinating class that was.
“College. I did major in psychology, so I would know that.”
Barty, having never been to college nor caring about Regulus’ degree, rolls his eyes.
“Well, we’re not going to change our behaviour, and frankly it’s insulting you want us to,” Barty huffs.
“Is he insulting people again?” James asks, suddenly appearing behind Regulus and slipping an arm around his waist.
“Constantly,” Barty laments, turning his voice into something incredibly sad and fake.
“Sounds like Regulus,” James laughs, then turns to Regulus. “Do they deserve it?”
“Constantly,” Regulus repeats, glaring at Barty.
“What can I say?”
“I think that’s the problem, you keep saying things,” Evan advises, which gets Barty to shut up in a way nobody else does. Evan always seems to have that effect on Barty.
“What did you need?” Regulus asks, now that Evan and Barty are finally silent.
“My parents want to meet you, officially and informally,” James says. “They’re very thankful, and have taken a bit of interest in the man I’m dating and Sirius’ younger brother. I might have told them a lot about you. They also want to apologise about the whole Starry Night thing.”
“Wait, you’re gay?” Barty exclaims, at the same time Evan says, “You two are dating?”
James looks legitimately worried that he might’ve just outed Regulus and their relationship to his friends, before realising that, no, they’re only joking.
“You two-” Regulus starts.
“Mate! We’re only joking. You’ve talked enough about James for us to know both,” Barty says, throwing his hands in the air.
“Cut us some slack, would you?” Evan adds, looking at Regulus as if he’s shocked he isn’t cutting them slack.
Regulus just decides to leave right then and there, taking James with him and leaving Barty and Evan to the drinks and the indignity of being ignored.
“So, your parents?” Regulus says, suddenly nervous. Thanks to his friends, the request hadn’t had time to properly sink it, but it’s here in full force now. James’ parents. Euphemia, or maybe Effie now, and Fleamont Potter. They want to meet Regulus.
Regulus, who tried for many years to take their company down. Regulus, whose parents actually might have launched tiny mites into their best selling trees to run their company out of business. Regulus, who, not even two months ago, helped make an insane deal to once and for all get their company. Regulus, who then saved said company with said deal. Regulus, who is now dating their beloved son. Regulus, who has never had an actual conversation with them before. One might be able to guess now why the thought of meeting James’ parents, despite knowing how lovely they are, freaks Regulus out a bit.
“Don’t worry, they’ll love you,” James reassures him, reading his mind. “They love everybody. They loved Sirius, and my friends, and don’t forget that you did save our business. That helped a lot.”
I’m not anything like Sirius, Regulus wants to remind James, even if he is. I’m not anything like your friends.
“Mum! Dad!” James yells, finally finding them in the crowd. The two of them, joined at the elbow, look over, and Effie beckons them over.
“Regulus!” She smiles warmly at him when they arrive, but doesn’t go in for a hug, like most would’ve done; he appreciates that. He always had a gut feeling he would like James’ parents, despite his many efforts to despise them. How could he truly hate the people that brought James into the world, though? Or the people who had given Sirius solace from their parents? No, Regulus never stood an actual chance at despising the Potters, no matter how much he wanted to.
“Mr. and Mrs. Potter,” he greets, a bit stiffly, but they don’t seem to notice.
“Before you say anything,” Fleamont says, seeing the apologetic look on Regulus’ face, “let us tell you that we are so grateful for your donation. It means the world to us, and to James.”
“I’m glad it’s being put to a good cause. This company is worth saving, and so is James’ future,” Regulus responds, and as soon as the words leave his mouth, he’s wishing he could take them back. They came out wrong, they seem fake, phoney, weird coming from him-
James gives Regulus’ hand, the one he’s still holding, a quick squeeze of assurance. Effie must have noticed this, because she looks down quickly, then addresses Regulus.
“If you hurt him, we’ll know, and we won’t be kind about it,” she says, softly but firmly, leaving no room for debate. “Understood?”
Regulus nods. “No plans to.”
“How convenient, I don’t have any for you either,” James smiles, making Regulus smile as well.
“Aw, they’re adorable,” Effie whispers to Fleamont, making James go a bit red.
“Mum, I’m not a teenager anymore,” he complains, but Effie just waves him off.
“You’ll live. Now go on, have fun!” She encourages them. “It was nice meeting you, Regulus,” she adds, even if it wasn’t much of a meeting.
“Before we go,” Regulus says, only just remembering it. “Would it be possible for you to give my friend Pandora a sample of your soil? She’d love to test it, if that’s okay with you.”
“I think that’d be up to James, now that he owns the place,” Fleamont says, looking at his son. “But I think that’ll be easy, then. Tell Pandora to go right ahead.”
“Thanks,” Regulus says, then joins James again, making a mental reminder to tell Pandora the good news.
“What’d they want?” James questions, curious.
“I was wondering if I could borrow some soil, actually. Pandora wants to study the soil here.”
“Really? Did they say yes?”
“In a way, but they also said to ask you.”
“Oh. I still can’t wrap my head around owning this place. It feels like a dream. But yes - feel free to go on ahead.”
“I’ll let her know. I think you’ve finally won over all my friends, then.”
“Had I not before?”
“I may have complained about you a bit excessively, so they might not have had the highest opinion of you,” Regulus sheepishly says.
“I still think it’s adorable you complained about me,” James says to that. “I mean, I hardly knew you.”
“I’m not having this conversation again,” Regulus decides, then pretends to zip his lips.
“Still adorable and super funny, though,” James says, “That’s all I’ll say about it for the rest of the night.”
True to his word, James doesn’t bring it up the rest of the night, instead focusing on the present and future.
“Next Christmas, I’ll get you twice as many gifts,” he promises. “I’m just…a bit broke this Christmas.”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to get me anything,” Regulus shrugs.
“No, I did,” James corrects. “And I definitely do. I’m just getting you more next year.”
It’s a book. It’s true, Regulus loves reading, so he’s grateful for the new material.
“Thank you, James,” Regulus says sincerely, but James just smiles.
“Open it.”
Regulus does, and to his both shock and horror, he realises that James has given him a book of Christmas folklore, tales, and fun facts. On the inside reads a small inscription, in James’ messy handwriting; Dear Regulus - I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did. This was basically my Christmas tree farm school, and I think you’ll like it.
“James, this is perfect,” Regulus agrees. “Thank you so much.”
“I like gift-giving,” James says, grinning sweetly. “I’m very glad you like it - a good copy was hard to find.”
“Like it? I love it.”
“And you don’t have to worry about getting me a gift,” James says quickly. “The £3,500 was perfect.”
“Well, that’s disappointing,” Regulus sighs dramatically, making James suspicious.
“Why?”
“I already have your gift,” Regulus answers.
“You’re kidding. Please tell me it didn’t cost you much, at least?”
“Only £5,000 or so,” Regulus shrugs. James might just be the most gullible man on Earth, because his face shows that he actually believes Regulus for a moment. “Just joking. No, it wasn’t much. Now follow me. Usually, I’d have it under a tree, but I feel like this is a good place, too.”
“What place is it?”
“I’ll show you,” Regulus says, puzzling James even more as he leads him up through the staircase, and to the balcony area. As usual, not many people are up there, but there’s still a few circular tables. On the one closest to the balcony, a nametag sits.
“Huh?” James questions, as Regulus guides him over to it. It’s a nameplate, clearly, but it takes getting closer for James to realise what it reads. James Potter. “Why’d you get me a nameplate?”
“I figured you might need one, now that you own a company and all,” Regulus explains, and oh no, James doesn’t like it, he doesn’t want it, he thinks it’s stupid, he thinks Regulus is stupid-
“I love it, thank you,” James says sincerely, picking it up and twirling it between his fingers. “I completely forgot about these.”
Regulus shrugs in response. He’s glad James likes it - he’d been toying with the idea for a while now, but he’s glad he’s gone for it.
There’s still mistletoe on the balcony from the gala, something Regulus finds a bit funny. Now that he thinks about it, there was some in the stairway as well. “Did you never take the mistletoe down?” He points out, looking at the plant above them.
“I like it,” says James. “Besides, there’s still one couple who hasn’t kissed under it that should probably get that taken care of.”
“Really? I think we have everyone.”
“I’d rethink that, if I was you.”
“Hmm, would you?”
James does have these incredible, beautiful moments where it seems like he’s been gifted with the power of words by Athena herself, where he expresses things so beautifully Regulus can’t help but listen to him. James neglects this amazing talent during this particular conversation, instead choosing to just lean in and kiss him under the mistletoe, something Regulus has no objections to.
After a blissful five minutes, Regulus remembers that, oh right, they’re at a public event and shouldn’t really be making out where everyone can see them, James’ parents and Regulus’ brother included, so he makes the smart decision to move back downstairs and maybe find some snow outside or something.
Leading James by the hand again, something he’s rather fond of doing, Regulus goes back down the stairs and plans to go through the doors and complete his plan, but something in the corner catches his eye. It’s Barty. And Evan. Barty and Evan, doing what they should’ve done years ago. Kissing passionately without a care in the world.
It’s a Christmas miracle.