The Truth
The one thing you should really know about Gryffindor parties is that they don't end until breakfast.
There might be downsides to being one of the most popular houses in Hogwarts, mainly because they were a primary force in the other houses' rivalry with Slytherin and therefore were usually the targets of most acts of retaliation, but the main upside was, of course - the parties.
The Marauders were well known around the school and had different reputations in some of the different groups in Hogwarts. The rumors were truly a source of entertainment for the four - as they varied from mundane things to one very widely spread rumor that they were all secretly dating one another.
Of course, there were so many of them that at least some of them were bound to be true, and they were. One, that Remus was a notorious drug dealer, which was true for a short period of time when they were fourteen, as he was going through a weird phase back then and tried to rebel in every way he could think of. Quickly enough he bounced back but his reputation remained about the same. Or another one in which James and Sirius were secretly in love. This was James' favorite, as it was the furthest thing from true, since they were practically brothers in each other's eyes (except for one very confusing week during third year in which they shared each other's first kiss in a broom closet and never spoke of it again).
A lot of people were intimidated by the more ‘well known’ Marauders - Sirius Black and James Potter - and were practically drawn to them. They naturally tried to be around them all the time. The two had an almost astronomical force of charisma that made them the talk of the school. They wouldn't admit it per say to anyone, but they both thoroughly enjoyed it.
Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin were less popular than the other two but were well loved in their respective circles. Many would consider them harmless, even though Peter always had a seemingly endless supply of booze hiding under his bed, and was by his nature very chatty (almost too chatty, in the other Marauders’ opinion) and Remus was the glorified mastermind behind most of their pranks.
When the Gryffindors planned a party, everyone knew the ones truly behind it were the Marauders. Each birthday party ran until the morning hours and contained every excuse you could possibly think of to get absolutely wasted. Girls carried their shoes in their hands to breakfast and boys showed up with mismatched ties the morning after.
For a Gryffindor, anything could be a good enough reason to throw a party.
★
Regulus and his friends were standing in front of the portrait of the fat lady. They were all looking at him as he simply stared at the wall as other people were coming in.
“Hey, Reg?” Barty tapped gently on his shoulder, “You alright?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled.
He hasn’t technically spoken to Sirius, who invited him to the party, all week. They saw each other in the halls and exchanged quick, sometimes slightly awkward smiles, as they were never alone when they crossed paths. Regulus knew their friends would watch their every interaction and was just uncomfortable with the idea. He could only assume Sirius wasn’t a big fan of this either.
When they were kids, especially in the pureblood parties and balls their parents hosted so often, Regulus used to follow his older brother everywhere he went. He felt so small in most places, invisible - like he was floating amongst the stairwells of his own house without ever being seen. The crippling feeling that made its way through his throat whenever people addressed him made him hold on to Sirius’ hand and never let go.
Sirius, being the heir to the noble and most ancient house in Britain for the first fifteen years of his life, and was very different from Regulus, knew how to deal with these things much better than Regulus. The questions didn’t silence him as they did to Regulus, and he never hid behind anyone. He held his head up high and made the foulest people utter the most obnoxious laughs he had ever heard. As he grew up, the line between sarcasm and wit grew thinner, and he came to know the consequences of a rebellion in the house of Walburga Black.
Nevertheless, he never hid, never cried to her and never kept his mouth shut when he felt something was wrong. A younger Regulus Black once thought his brother was his guardian angel.
Parties meant something different in school. Usually, at least in the parties Regulus went to, there was one goal that came above all else - getting drunk. He had never been to a Gryffindor party before, but that wasn't really the thing that troubled him. People often perceived him as shy or socially awkward but the truth was that he could control the social environment he was in as he pleased.
He was never like Sirius, always the life of the party no matter where he went and what he did. He possessed a different kind of charm, one that had the elegance that came with control. He didn't always have fun in these things (usually aspiring above all else to reach said goal and rid himself of his thoughts) but he knew how to control them. It wasn't much of a social awareness as it was an awareness to all which surrounded him.
As he stood in front of the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, he could hear the noises coming from the party - people talking with one another and laughing, girls' shoes making a delicate 'clink!' sound as they hit the floor, dancing to the sound of a very loud rock song. Probably Sirius’ choice. This Sirius that he was about to meet wasn't one he knew very well. He felt as though he had only ever known Sirius in pain and never in pleasure, as if he was a figure that represented only suffering in Sirius' eyes, and this version of Sirius that he was about to meet as soon as he got a hold of himself probably didn't want a constant reminder of that suffering. So what can he do with something like that?
There was also the matter of James Potter, which made Regulus' heart beat faster in his chest the more he thought of it. A part of him wanted to overthink and analyze this whole thing in his head, but another part of him wondered, like a whisper amongst screams - what if I let myself have this one thing? What if I let the light in?
He didn't know what this thing with James really was, but a part of him longed to find out the true ending of this story without having to make it up in his head. He wanted to know if these clandestine meetings could have a nice ending for once.
So he opened the door.
“Reg!” a holler came his way as soon as he entered, “You made it!”
“Hi, Sirius.”
“You made it!” he cried out again, obviously very much baked. He had a red drink Regulus couldn’t recognize in his hand.
“Of course I did, idiot. I told you I would.”
Sirius laughed and his eyes wrinkled as he turned around and shouted - “Oi, Moony! Come meet my baby brother,” he gestured enthusiastically at him.
Regulus rolled his eyes.
Remus, who was obviously just as trashed as Sirius was, turned on his heel and stumbled towards Sirius. The first few buttons of his shirt were open, revealing a pink faded scar that slashed its way across his chest. His hair was messy and his tie loose. His cheeks were flushed as he leaned on Sirius’ shoulder.
Sirius’ cheeks flushed.
It was so sweet that it was almost obnoxious.
“Heya, Regulus,” he slurred and let out his hand to him, “I already know him, Pads.”
Sirius rolled his eyes, ignoring Remus, “Reggie, this is the great Remus Lupin.”
“The great?”
“Shut up,” Sirius said without quite looking Remus in the eye, “so, Reg, who are your friends?”
Oh.
Right.
Regulus turned around and saw his friends staring at Sirius and Remus with very visible enjoyment. Barty whispered something in Evan’s ear and he smacked his shoulder and failed to hide his grin. Regulus shot them both a glare.
“This is Barty, the one who I am very much not sleeping with, Sirius, and -”
“Oi! I asked you this in confidence!”
Regulus shrugged.
“Nice to meet you, Crouch, I’m happy to hear you’re not screwing my baby brother.”
“Not anymore I’m not,” Barty gave his politest smile.
“I-”
“Moving on,” Regulus said and shot Barty an amused glare, “This is Evan.”
Evan nodded at Sirius.
“This is Dorcas,” he said and gestured to the girl scouring the place.
“Of course I know Dorcas,” Sirius said and shot her a smile, “best beater on your lame excuse of a Quidditch team.”
“I guess we’ll see about that on the pitch, Sirius,” Regulus said. Sirius smiled at him. His heart warmed. Or defrosted, maybe.
“And this is Pandora,” he said, lastly, “Our honorary Slytherin.”
“Sirius! how are you?” Pandora swept in and hugged his very drunk brother. His drink spilled a bit but he didn’t seem to care.
“I’m great, Pandora. You?” he smiled at her.
“How do you know everyone?” Regulus asked her, a fond smile rising to his lips.
As Pandora opened her mouth to answer but was stopped by a grinning James Potter, who tripped over Sirius.
“Sorry mate, didn’t see you there.”
“Oh, good. James this is Regulus, my baby brother,” Sirius said.
Remus looked at James with a slight smirk on his face. James saw him and stuck an elbow in his rib that made Remus groan, yet the amused expression did not leave his face.
To be fair, Regulus was wearing the same one.
“Oh, I know Potter, Sirius,” Regulus said innocently.
James looked like he wished the ground would swallow him whole.
“Oh?” Sirius said, surprised.
“Nice to see you again, Regulus,” James cleared his throat. He lent out his hand to Regulus and smiled at him.
Regulus lent out his hand and shook it firmly, smiling at James.
James looked like he was about to explode.
His friends introduced themselves to James, the faint sounds of their talking passing Regulus by as he stared intently at James.
He looked nice tonight.
He didn’t look as drunk as his two friends, but his cheeks were a bit flushed (the result of alcohol or Regulus’ presence, he truly couldn’t tell you), he wore a white shirt, the first few buttons of which were loose and showed off his chest. A gold necklace hung around his neck and his fingers gently fiddled with it as he shook Barty’s hand, in a friendly manner but Regulus noticed the slight frown in his eyebrows.
The group began to scatter around the large common room. Now that his view wasn’t blocked by his very drunk brother, Regulus could properly look at the scene.
And it wasn’t what he had expected.
This common room was nothing like the Slytherin common room he was used to. The warm, strong colors made everything around him feel… happier, somehow. More profound. There were paintings of many Gryffindors in the past, some shaking their heads at the drunk teenagers in disapproval and some nodding their heads to the sound of the music.
He had guessed one of them had enchanted a record player to play the vinyls much louder than their normal sound, and the gentle tunes of David Bowie’s voice floated around the room, loud enough for everyone to hear but gentle enough to not fiercely interrupt conversations or make people have to raise their voices.
“All the young dudes
Carry the news…”
The big study table was now stacked with alcohol - mainly firewhiskey and butterbear but a few other bottles Regulus didn’t recognize and assumed were muggle versions of alcohol. He wondered what they tasted like.
James stood beside him and watched him as he studied this new environment.
“Do you like it?“ he whispered to Regulus, so that no one but them could hear.
Regulus smiled at him and whispered back,“It’s alright.“
James grinned.
“You can all go get drinks from that table over there, Peter really brought his A game with the supply,” James said to everyone as they all sat down on one of the couches.
“Firewhisky with ice,“ Regulus said without even looking at him.
Evan scoffed in an attempt to hide his laughter.
James smiled and headed straight to the table. Regulus watched as he disappeared among the small crowd around the table.
Sirius stood beside the record player and held a bottle of firewhiskey in both hands. He lifted his wand and stared intently at the stack of vinyls near the turntable. A yellowish vinyl with a face Regulus recognized from Sirius’ posters that were still glued on the walls of his old room back at Grimmauld. A very determined twelve year old Sirius Black put a permanent sticking charm on a bunch of his posters. To this day, no matter how hard Walburga tried, she couldn’t get David Bowie’s face off of her precious walls.
“Yes!” Sirius said as the vinyl landed gracefully on the record player, and the needle rose above it and landed right at the beginning of one of his favorite songs.
Sirius held the bottle to his lips as if it was a microphone and took a large sip rather sloppily, which resulted in a big splash of firewhiskey on his shirt.
“Honey I missed your two tongued kisses
Legs wrapped around me tight”
By that point he grabbed Remus by his hips and dragged him near the speaker. Lupin flushed and grabbed the bottle out of Sirius hand and took a large sip down his throat.
Sirius pointed at him and slurred the lyrics:
“If I ever get back to fun city, boy
I’m gonna make you scream all night”
A slight touch of a hand on his shoulder made him look away.
James stood behind him with a glass of firewhiskey with ice.
“Kind sir,” James grinned as he handed it to him. Regulus rolled his eyes.
“You’re an idiot.”
James’ grin didn’t fade in the slightest.
He laid his arm around Regulus’ shoulder and looked at Sirius and Remus with amazement.
Regulus’ heart raced, and before he knew it he looked up at James with a slight hint of sadness to his gaze he asked, “do you think he knows?”
James seemed a bit surprised and his eyes widened.
“Come on, Potter. I have eyes.”
“Sorry, it took me a while. A few years, actually,” James smiled, with a reddish tone to his cheeks.
“I’m not surprised,” Regulus smirked and took a sip from his drink.
“I hope he knows,” James smiled and his gaze slightly hardened.
“So do I,” Regulus replied, and his lips rose slightly at the sight of James being so close to him. Right above his shoulder, a few inches and their faces would touch.
His eyes dropped down to Regulus’ lips and Regulus wondered if James could hear his heart.
James’ eyes were a color Regulus has never seen before. A mix of the darkest shade of blue and a light green, like a small earth resided within his eyes and through it he peered into the world and spread his warmth.
The warmth James spread to all who stood around him, circling him as if he was a warm sun amidst a storm. He remembered it even from the first time they met - his own hand was so cold when James’ was so warm. And for a soft moment when they touched, he felt a feeling he had never quite felt before, and wondered ever since if he would ever feel again.
Warmth.
Eternal warmth, like the kind that spreads across universes and guides people to the light. He felt as if he was chasing after it for his whole life, and for a moment, a small part of him - the eleven year old version of himself that was so enthralled by the sight of James Potter - was at peace again.
This moment probably only lasted for a few seconds but had him by its fist.
It took him a good few moments to recover from it.
More than he’d ever like to admit.
“Oi! Sirius’ baby brother! I’ve heard so much about you!” he heard a loud voice beside him, who tapped his shoulder. He flinched in surprise.
He turned around to face her.
She smiled widely at him and said: “Mary Mcdonald. You’re Regulus, right?”
“Yes. Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Oh, aren’t you a dear. Certainly more polite than that brother of yours,” she said, to which Regulus laughed.
“I like you already.”
“The feeling is mutual, sweetheart,” she said. “And by the way, I was sorry to hear about what happened in the great hall the other day. It wasn’t right.”
Regulus was surprised. “Oh, it’s alright,” he mumbled, slightly embarrassed.
She seemed to notice his embarrassment and gave him a slight nod to signify that it was fine.
She cleared her throat.
“So, Black, what do you say we torture that old brother of yours a bit?” she smirked.