Timeless

James

“Pronggss!” Sirius' voice echoed through the house, I dropped my book.

“I'm on the back porch, Pads!” I refrained from raising my voice as I knew he actually knew right where to find me. Surely enough, his head poked out the door moments later, “What's up?”

“You know I love you, James Fleamont Potter, right?”

“Oh god, Sirius. Did you do something horrible or do you need me to do something horrible? I honestly don't know which would be worse-”

“Do you truly think so little of me, my dear bestest friend?” 

“No. I just know you,” I tossed my book aside and pushed the sunglasses slowly slipping down my nose up into my hair instead, leaving just my usual pair of glasses on the nose,  “So? Which is it?”

“Fiine.” he flopped down on the porch, back towards the sun instead of his usual way of letting sunshine tickle his cheeks, “I need a favour. You know how we sent out the wedding invites today?”

“Yup,” mine had already found its use as a bookmark. I didn't understand why they sent me one in the first place, considering I was basically living in their house rent-free and had been a part of all the planning (which included picking a date and slapping together an invite design and that was all, they really didn't think things through enough considering it was their wedding), but I was grateful nevertheless. 

“I need you to check in with someone and see if they received it,” 

“I'm not visiting your uncle Alphard again just because you're still traumatised from walking in on him and that dude going at it that one time,”

“Oh god did you have to remind me, ew,” his face puckered from a grape to a raisin before he shrugged the memory off, “No, not him. It's my brother,”

“Regulus?”

“Yeah. The only one I have. He's still a rightful member of the Black House and you know how my parents were, in his case no doubt still are. It wasn't a coincidence I picked today to send out the invites, the owls should get to London by tomorrow-”

“OwlS? As in plural?” 

He nodded, “And not just. I haven't been able to get a single letter to him since I left so a scheme of several owls was crucial. It's his birthday celebration tomorrow and I have two owls and a third fake one on their way there, the fake one - a massive bitch like that Blakiston one - will cause a bit of mayhem to distract everyone, the two real ones each have an invitation, of course, they might be caught by Kreacher… but at least one envelope hopefully should make it to Reggie. However, it's the Black House we are speaking of and so I am not sure…”

“You have a fake- You know what, I don't want to know,” a laugh was gathering in my stomach, but the serious look on Sirius' face cooled it right back down, “You know you look very serious right now, Sirius,”

“Well duh,” the ends of his lips tugged upwards, “I'm always Sirius,”

I smiled, “Well it sounds to me like you've already made up quite the elaborate plan, bra-vo by the way, so I don't know what you expect me to do to help?”

“I need you to attend a pureblood ball tomorrow,”

“Sirius, no-”

“James, please. Listen. I haven't seen my brother in ten years. I don't know when, if, I ever will again and I really want him there at my wedding. Of course, if he doesn't wish to attend that's fine, but I need him to know at least that the option was there, that he was invited, that I have not forgotten him. And I know you swore never to attend one of those again after you found out your parents were blacklisted merely because they fell in love with each other. But could you just make one exception, please?”

“I don't know, Pads, why can't you just sneak in yourself?”

“Right. Because it's so easy for a Black heir, who has been disowned since he ran away, to make his way into the birthday celebration of another Black family member, make his way to that individual without being caught and then make his way back out without a scratch. I'm on every blacklist… list..? I'm forbidden is what I'm trying to say, and everyone knows I mustn't get near Reggie. You, on the other hand, were never taken off the Purebloods' party-gang-list, because technically you are still the heir to a whole ass pureblood tribe and have done no wrong. Besides being associated with me, of course,”

“Ah yes, the greatest crime. Daring to even look at your godforsaken face,”

“James,” usually he'd laugh at a comment like that and dramatically throw his hair back in fake distress that such harsh words caused him to feel. But not now. He really had no other way to his brother, did he?

“Fine. Okay. But I'm not paying rent this month,”

“You have never paid rent, not once,” Remus appeared from the portrait of the gays (aka our backdoor). “James, are you flirting with my fiance again?”

I raised my hands in surrender.

“Actually,” Sirius pushed himself up, “All me this time, my love.”

“I'm not gonna make an honest man out of you, am I?”

“Afraid not, fiance,”

“Hmm, you call me that again and I might just look past it,” 

“Fiance. Husband-to-be.”

“Oh bollocks, will you get a room and let me read, I have a ball to attend tomorrow it appears and I would really like some peace and calm before then,” I swished a rock at Sirius' back as Remus dragged him back inside with him. 

“Thank you, Prongs,” his face reappeared just a moment later. I nodded to avoid saying “anytime” and got back to my book. Or so I tried to make it seem because really, my ability to focus had left with the happy couple. 

My family had had more money than I could ever spend and yet I had never seen a mansion this size. If I had any recollection of the lessons of architecture through time I was given by my father who had a passion for the topic I would point out the details assigning it to each era. As that it did have – elements of different historical periods merged together in a grandiose way that only the help of magic was capable of achieving. 

I had to remind myself why I was here. To find Regulus Black and ensure he'd received the wedding invite, as soon as I'd accomplished that I would be able to make my escape.

“James Fleamont Potter,” I told the house elf at the door my name, in part expecting to be turned away, but the grumpy being waved me on without a second glance. I swallowed and entered the belly of the beast. At least it is one grand belly, full of music and chatter and mingling, a spell being mumbled here and there. 

The ballroom must've been the size of the house itself and for a moment I hesitated, because how is one ever to find the person they are looking for in here? Especially one they'd never met? 

Sirius told me he and his brother look quite a bit alike, yet as I walked around the grandiose chamber I didn't see a single guy that would remind me of Sirius. After three rounds of inspection around the whole place and countless excuses as to why I did not wish to dance with one lady or another, I felt like the world was caving in on me. There was simply no space in this colossal manor, no air for me to breathe, and so moments later I found myself in the building's courtyard. The music and chatter were muffled here, reminding me of the nights I was sent to bed while my parents still had guests over. I could hear them laughing through my bedroom walls. It was the peaceful feeling of a happy home. Yet there was something here that most definitely a happy home did not have. A lady in distress.