Netflix
“Care to explain how the fuck this happened?” He seethed the second he opened the door. He stormed inside his father’s office, not caring that he was meeting with someone important. Nothing— or in this case no one— was more important than fixing this mistake. His father Orion and his guest didn’t even look up from their computer screens.
The office had big mahogany bookcases and two leather chairs with a table in between them in the corner. The mahogany desk stood facing the door, with two chairs in front of it, one of which the other man occupied. The chandelier was on rather uselessly, as the big windows offered sufficient sunlight.
“Hello, Regulus,” his father started calmly, writing down the last few words of whatever he was typing. “I was about to come get you. Sit down, will you?” Papers were littered across the desk and the guest was holding a briefcase close to his chest while offering him an apologetic smile. Gritting his teeth, Regulus did what he was told. With a straight spine and nails digging into the armrest, he sat across from his father and right next to whoever he was meeting with.
“We have been advised to… not fix this error,” His father’s guest began explaining to him. Regulus’ gaze snapped to him, his lip curling up. He seemed to be around 30 years old, with blond slicked-back hair and green eyes. Upon further inspection, he realised the man was a representative of Netflix. He was wearing a suit with the Netflix logo stitched on it. Instead of asking any of the questions swimming around in his head, he just stared until the man continued.
He cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly in his seat. “As you may already know, Netflix has green-lit a documentary show about Formula One, to show all the behind-the-scenes of the famous sport.” Regulus did not know this, but he kept his mouth shut and made sure his surprise was hidden behind a careless mask. “And, well, to put it frankly, this mix-up creates drama, and drama keeps a show running. Not only keeping this error, but putting a focus on it, will create more revenue and will make sure it gets continued for further seasons. We can make multiple story-lines out of this; how this forced the drivers to get closer, how it could possibly heal the broken bond between the Black brothers, or how—“
“Absolutely not,” Regulus interrupted, his voice final. “Are you even hearing yourself? You’re talking about making a documentary yet in the same breath talk about all the storylines you want to make up to create fake drama. I will not participate, and I doubt anyone else on the grid will.” He made sure the guy from Netflix could hear the venom in his voice.
“Good thing it’s not up to you then.” His father’s voice made him freeze. Instead of uttering a reply, he balled his hands up into fists. He had learned a long time ago to not go against his father. “I already agreed to it and I made Minerva an offer she cannot refuse, you will share a room with Potter just as Barty will share a room with Sirius until I say otherwise.”
Regulus huffed, slumping down in his chair. His entire life he had wished for a seat in F1 and now he wanted to run away from it as fast as possible. He nodded his head, looking Orion in the eyes. “May I leave now, father?”
***
“If I get one more question about my dating life, I’m going to fling myself into the ocean,” Lily said dramatically as she laid herself face down on the couch. Her teammate, Logan Ashworth, looked at her in amusement. “It’s like they forget I’m the person driving the car and just want to know personal shit about me when I just spent a shit ton of time in the new car.” Her voice was muffled by the pillows, but she was certain Logan could still hear her. She was proven right when she got a reply.
“Are they starting rumours about us dating again?” Logan barely finished his sentence before she let out an exasperated groan.
“Yes! Because obviously a guy and a girl can’t be just platonic teammates. To make it worse, they somehow made it the narrative that I’m just a diversity hire,” her voice started rising, “even though I’m not the only girl on the grid AND I put in a great performance.” She sat up straight, tucking her hair out of her face and looking at Logan.
“I wish I could do something to help, Lils, but I fear it’s just the standard in motorsport. If you want to, I can get in touch with Hogwarts, though. Give them the names of the journalists giving you a hard time.”
She gave him a weak smile, “Thank you, but we both know it won’t do much.” He hummed in reply before sitting down next to her.
They were currently seated in his driver's room, both sitting on the small couch. He had been relaxing before Lily Evans had stormed into his room right after her interviews. She was certain that bee-lining towards Logan’s room would make the rumours worse but at this point, she didn’t care.
Ever since she joined Formula One in the Phoenix Rising team, there had been rumours that she got the seat because she slept with Logan, or with the team principal. It all depends on which rumours you listened to, really. She had spent her entire childhood karting and winning championships, racing in the lower formulas, having to be twice as good as the men just to have a chance of maybe getting a Formula One seat. She had given her everything, yet now people were convinced she just had to spread her legs and she got the place.
She grabbed her phone and texted the other girls on the grid, asking them to meet up for dinner. It was a group chat that was created when the first girls entered the sport as a way to protect each other and so that female rookies could feel included and protected as well. They had her back when the rumours first started, and they’ll have her back now as well. She put her phone away and faced her teammate.
“But… speaking of love-life—“ Logan cut her off with a loud groan.
“Absolutely not,” he said sternly. She raised an eyebrow and looked at him in silence until he caved. “The date sucked and I ghosted her, pretty sure she’s just going to find another driver to leech off.” Lily grimaced in reply.
“At least we’re both single and miserable,” she replied, touching his shoulder before getting up. “You’re on media duty soon so I’ll leave you to prepare. Don’t forget we have to be on the track earlier tomorrow to film that promotion video.” And with that, she took her leave.
***
“Welcome to another sunny day here in Albert Park! We are here for the second day of pre-season testing. The Slytherin car already looked great yesterday, but are the rookies, Regulus Black and Barty Crouch, ready to challenge the big contenders like Marauders and Quidditch?”
“I don’t know, Lara, both the Quidditch car and the Marauders car looked quick, although we didn’t see much of the Marauders car on track after the cooling issue. But if you were to ask me, I would lock in Phoenix Rising as a surprise top team this season.”
“Guess we’ll have to find out, John. In 10 minutes the green light will be given at the end of the pitlane and we will be on the way for our second day. Some teams have just finished their media duties while others preserved it for in-between sessions. Of course, everyone is aching to talk to the new rookies this year and gauge their skills. I had the honour to talk to Black Junior earlier today, and it was a very productive talk.”
“I do wonder, are we to call them Black Senior and Junior? Or talk about Slytherin Black and Marauders Black? With the Prewett twins… well, it doesn’t really matter considering they’re in the same team,” John joked, “they like each other and don’t really mind if we don’t distinguish about who we’re talking about. But with the Black brothers, with their rivalry, I doubt they’ll react the same.”
“Well, John, that’s a great question. One that Regulus answered for us in his interview!” The screen faded before Regulus came on screen, a blank stare towards the reporter named Lara and a microphone in his hands. He was still dressed in his casual outfit, actually having been on his way to the motorhome to get changed into his race suit. He was wearing a dark green suit, a watch on his wrist and the hand around the microphone showed off the rings he was wearing.
“Regulus Black, thank you so much for joining us today! After winning the Formula 2 championship and doing an excellent drive in FP1 last year, it’s not surprising you got a seat. But how does it feel for you to finally have your dream become a reality? To finally be in that car.” Lara asked with her usual cheer. Regulus smiled at her, masking himself to be as charming as he could be.
“Well, as you said; it’s no surprise I got a contract after all the promise I showed before. Of course, I have to prove my worth now but the car feels absolutely great so I don’t think it will be much of a problem to challenge the more experienced drivers. Having a car with my own name and driver number still feels surreal, as you can imagine, but I’m just happy to be here,” He replied professionally.
“The question everyone has been dying to ask, including me,” Lara started, her voice giddy. Regulus clenched his jaw but quickly covered it up. “What’s it like to know you’ll be racing your older brother, the world champion Sirius Black, next weekend? He doesn’t hide his distaste for your family, have you two talked about it? Is there any animosity?”
“I’m excited to show the world I’m better world champion material than my older brother,” Regulus started with a cheeky smile, “Sirius does have a distaste for our family, and I haven’t talked to him yet, but I’m certain we can both act like adults and not let petty family drama interrupt our driving. We’re here to race, not argue,” He replied, still smiling even though his voice sounded slightly strained.
“Completely understandable, Regulus. One final question before I let you go, how would you like the commentators to address both you and your brother? I doubt you want to be called ‘Black’ just like your brother without any distinction, so we decided to put the ball in your court.”
“It doesn’t really matter to me, and I doubt the fans will mind much either. I’ve heard a lot of things over the years, and honestly use whatever you’re most comfortable with and what rolls off the tongue best. It’ll only be a matter of time before people forget about my brother and only remember me.” The screen faded again, ending with Regulus’s blank stare, before showing the countdown, only 2 more minutes before cars went on track for this testing session.
The paddock was in complete chaos, besides the many reporters, the Netflix crew now also roamed freely. They were trying to get as much gossip as they could, see which angles they could play best to keep the viewers’ interest. But nothing was juicier than the rivalry between brothers, especially not now that they could use the administration error as a huge plot point. All parties were advised to not tell the media about the mix-up, and to let it be something exclusive to the Netflix show.
At the end of the paddock, they had added a new building for Netflix, where they were going to film the introductions in their free time before the first race weekend here. Most drivers glanced at the building in disgust but they all knew they didn’t have a say in what was happening here.
“We are waiting for the green light that will show at the end of the pitlane any moment now. But let’s talk who’s going out in this session,” the commentator spoke, the cameras focused on the cars waiting at the end of the pitlane. “Slytherin decided to send out Crouch for both sessions. Two other teams share that strategy. Death Eaters is sending out Avery and Marauders Black Senior—“ he interrupted himself to say: “It’s still so weird to have two family members on the grid, besides our Quidditch twins of course… moving on! Bones is driving for Hufflepuff this session, as is Lovegood for Ravenclaw, and Fortescue for Gryffindor. Then we have McKinnon for Valkyries, Evans for Phoenix Rising, Fabian for Quidditch Falcons, and of course male Rosier for Butterbeer Racing.”
“Male Rosier? Well, that is a good way to tell them apart,” Lara replied with a laugh. “It is quite extraordinary we have so many siblings on the grid this year. It makes me all the more excited for the new season coming up.”