Marlboro Nights

Remus Lupin preferred and cherished his privacy his whole life. No matter what challenges his family faced they always valued and respected each other's privacy. Being a single child also helped to avoid any unwanted visits. His father always knocked on his door before entering. A door Remus always kept closed.
Now he was standing in front of a closed brown door that had his name and “James Potter” written on a small white board that was hanging from a nail that was in the door. The tall scrawny young man had no idea why he was convinced that for once the non existent luck would grant him a room for himself. But no “James Potter” had to be placed in the room. Remus sighed and opened the door hoping that the other man would be late. The room was cozy, with two beds on opposite sides and desks facing the window. Remus saw that the right side already had suitcases placed in front of the bed and simply went to take the other bed. Lupin started to carefully map out where he would put his stuff, deciding to keep the most fun activity of sticking up posters as a reward for the last.

Unfortunately soon Remus heard muffled voices coming from the hallway. Two men seemed to be focused on arguing about something and one of them was clearly distressed. They talked loud and he caught some words even through the closed door. Something about a girl named Lily. Remus rolled his eyes deciding that it was some stupid love drama and decided to mind his business and focus on organizing his desk.
“I’ll be fine, Pads. Just go to your room!”, the door flew open and Remus saw the young man with black messy hair standing with his back to Lupin.

“But I want to be your roommate!”, another voice came shouting from the hallway, complaining.
“They can’t put… Siblings together”, the Potter boy made a weird pause before saying siblings and shrugged apologetically, still staring at his brother?in the hallway.

“Can’t we talk to that lady-”

“Pads, it will be okay. I’m still gonna be here”, James sounded tired even though he seemed to try hard to comfort his friend. “I’ll check on you and Peter shortly”, he quickly closed the door. The next second Remus’s new roomate pressed his back against the door, letting himself slide slowly to the ground before sitting down and holding his knees in his hands. James seemed to be extremely lost in thought since he didn’t notice Lupin who was staring at him unimpressed. After a minute Lupin simply shrugged and went back to unpacking, making Potter realize that he was not alone.

“Oh fuck”, the boy on the floor mumbeled. “I’m sorry- It’s just you weren’t here a few minutes ago-”, he almost jumped up from his place on the floor and started to gesture to the other side of the room where his bags were placed for the whole time. “I’m James. James Potter”, he grinned after recollecting himself quickly and offered Remus his hand for a handshake.
“I know, the whiteboard said your name. I’m Remus Lupin”, he shook his hand still trying to fight the urge to be rude.
“I also saw your name on the whiteboard”, their handshake was firm, Remus could guess that his new roommate did sports by his tall athletic build, even though Remus was slightly taller. “What major are you?”, welp his new roomie seemed to be a very talkative person. Something that went against Remus’s antisocial personality greatly.
“Education”, hoping that answering sweetly and short would get Potter off his back Remus moved back to his side of the room to focus on unpacking.
“Oh Pete’s going to be in your class! I’m taking science in social work and my other friend is taking journalism”, it seemed that Potter could as well talk with himself. “You know anyone here already?”
“No”, Lupin answered with a tense tone, laying down books on his desk.
“Then you can stick with me and my friends!”, James sounded excited. Lupin looked back at the man and could almost imagine him wagging his tail like a dog who was about to be taken out for a walk. He chuckled to himself. “Oh shit, am I speaking too much?”, Potter’s face light up bright red.

“Not at all”, Remus answered sarcastically with his back to the other man. James waited for Remus to say more or add something but after a minute of awkward silence the roommate simply started to unpack too. For a few minutes you could only hear the boys move around the room, books being put on desks, rustling of clothes and paper. Soon Remus happily took out tape and his favorite Bowie poster. After his Lumineers poster followed, right next to Hozier.
“I like Lumineers”, Remus’s smile dropped dead. “Peter also listens to them sometimes”, Lupin turned around looking at his roommate's side of the room. The boy had bright red bedsheets with a few extra pillows and a red and golden blanket on top of his bed. James Potter was a fan of ABBA and The 1975. But most of the wall was covered in polaroids and printed out pictures of his friends and people who seemed to be his parents.

“Yeah it’s just I’m a big time old camera fan so I often take pictures”, Potter spoke again after following Remus’s gaze towards the pictures. The young man took out an old black polaroid from his backpack and proudly handed it to Remus. “It’s actually my dad’s. He gifted it to me few years back for my birthday and ever since it’s my favorite camera”, James was looking at the camera as if it was his baby. Remus quickly handed it back before accidentally dropping the old thing. “You don’t speak much”
“Really?”, Lupin rolled his eyes.

“Sorry I didn’t mean it as a bad thing! Pete also doesn’t like to speak much to strangers but he’s a great dude”, James nervously bit his lip while staring at Remus waiting for him to say something.
“Look, this roommate thing might work if you simply let me be. Let’s both pretend we don’t exist, cool?”, Lupin turned around again to hang up another poster.

“But we’re roommates. For another few years”, James sounded heartbroken.
“And?”, Remus looked back with a raised eyebrow.
“We can be friends”

“I’m fine on my own”

“But you said you don’t know anyone here-”
“I’m fine by myself. I like the peace and quiet”, Lupin hasn't rolled his eyes so much in one day for a while now.
“So no talking?”
“I like the silence”, and with that Remus simply took headphones out of his bag, putting them on and turning up the volume.
The rest of the day went by peacefully with his headphones on and music Remus could truly admire his side of the room. The posters, the table and perfectly made bed calmed his nerves down. Lupin spent most of his life at home, avoiding friendships and lately even his family. He was a very closed off child and grew up to be a closed off young man. His father simply dropped him off at the station and left. Remus didn’t think he deserved the hugs or goodbyes after the fight that had but he hoped for something. At least a “good luck” would have been nice from his father. Like always he was left to his own devices. Remus felt the anger rise in his chest as he laid on his bed, eyes closed and music playing. But a tap on a shoulder broke his thought process.
James Potter looked apologetically at Remus. He then pointed with his hazel eyes at the plate of cookies he held in his hands. Lupin sighed and took off the headphones.

“I know I have to pretend like you don’t exist BUT”, he pushed the plate closer to Remus. “My mom backed some for me to share with my roommates. At least try them. Chocolate chip”, James wiggled his eyebrows which did make Remus chuckle. He regained his annoyed persona and took the cookie with a sigh but after one bite Lupin couldn’t argue that it was one of the best cookies he ever tasted. The chocolate also happened to be Remus’s go to sweets. He grabbed another cookie which made Potter grin triumphantly. “Only a monster wouldn’t like chocolate chip cookies, especially from my mom”

“.... it’s not bad”
“Suuure. They are delicious and great is what you mean”, James placed Remus’s desk chair next to his bed. Sitting down on it and handing the whole cookie plate to Remus. “Did I trick you into talking finally?”

“If I talk to you will you get me more of these?”

“Of course”, James grinned. “So why education?”

“Why not?”

“Oh c’mon I want normal answers”, Potter groaned but the smile did not leave his face.
“Fine. I’m simply very good at teaching”, Remus shrugged while eating another cookie. “I want to teach history or literature”

“History? Me and Sirius always napped in that class”
“Why are you taking social work?”, Remus asked in hopes of not needing to talk more about himself. But the question whipped James’s wide smile disappear.

“I have a friend who I helped. I want to help more kids. No one deserves to be stuck in an abusive home”, Potter’s persona changed as he spoke. Voice strong and tone sure in what he was saying. Maybe Remus simply had to give the other guy a chance. He clearly had something to his annoying childish personality.
“I’m sure you will, Potter”, Remus spoke with the friendliest tone he could manage. He even smiled for a second.

“I will”, the smile returned and at that moment Remus could see the determination in the eyes of another man. He was smiling brightly but his eyes were set on a goal Lupin couldn’t fully know or understand. At least not yet. “Also, please call me James”

“Alright, James, can I get my peace and silence back now?”, Remus pulled his headphones up from his neck.

“Enjoy the cookies, Lupin”, Potter grinned before getting up from the chair and going to his bed.

Maybe having a roommate had it’s benefits, Remus thought as he enjoyed every last cookie.

While a few rooms away Regulus Black was busy trying to not let his anger get the best of him. Somehow it was just his luck to get the worst roommate possible to share a room with for the next three years of his life. The young man that was laughing loudly at Regulus’s annoyed expression was Barty Crouch Jr. He was wearing a white crop top with a black skull and skinny, ripped low waist jeans. The man had his ears pierced, almost in every place possible on an ear. If his parents would see his roommate they would definitely burn the dorm down just for Regulus to have a “suitable” roommate. He could hear his mother’s voice in his head about what is truly “suitable for a Black”. Barty arrived first and already decorated his part of the room. Many posters, a lot of questionable posters specifically with men and women half-way or almost naked, and quite few posters of a band called Chase Atlantic.

“It stinks in here”, Black spoke up. The room smelled of smoke.

“I had a cig but I promise the window was open”, Crouch grinned and then stuck out his tongue showing off a piercing.
“I would appreciate it if you didn't smoke in our room”, Regulus kept his tone cold, eyes focused on the wall full of posters rather than Barty’s tongue.

“Jesus, you sound like a fucking robot”

Before all of this Regulus had high hopes of the freedom that would be finally given him in university. After his brother, no not anymore, after Sirius ran away and abandoned him his family focused very strongly on keeping Regulus in line. They chose his friends, chose his company at all times, how he dresses, where he goes, what he eats. University could allow him to finally focus on what he wanted for once at least a little bit. He was still a Black and he would carry on to represent his family until the day he died but for a few years he would be able to read what he wanted or listen to music he actually liked.

“Where’d you go?”, Barty was now up, hand squeezing Regulus’s shoulder. He quickly pulled away from the brown haired man. “Sorry”, Barty raised his hands up high, “Not a touchy type?”
Regulus decided that the best way to deal with someone like Barty would be to give him a silent treatment. So he simply turned around and headed towards his table. He was already ahead of this year’s syllabus thanks to all the hard work he did this summer but revising some extra topics wouldn’t hurt.

“Oh you’re also taking political science? Nice”, Crouch was leaning on the desk with his elbows.
When Regulus thought things couldn’t get any worse they did. Black flipped a page focusing hard on reading and ignoring the presence next to him.

“We have classes tomorrow. Why read now?”, Barty complained in Regulus’s ear, making him flinch. “C’mon let’s check out the campus”
“You can go ahead, Crouch”, Black always used sarcasm as his shield.

“Barty”, the man hissed. “Please use my name. We are roommates after all”, and like that all the anger seemed to be gone. Regulus could sense there were some clear family issues. The rumors about Barty being the problem child with oftenly absent father who was too busy being stuck in the office seemed to be true. Thankfully a knock on the door came to Regulus’s rescue before he had to comment on whatever that was.
“Reggie?”, a soft spoken feminine voice came followed by Pandora. The one and only true friend Regulus ever had. She already found some flowers that Dora braided in her hair.

“Reggie? I love that”, Black’s excitement to see his friend died when he remembered that Barty was still in the room.

“Don’t call me that”, now it was Regulus’s turn to hiss.

“Is it okay if I come in?”, Pandora whispered.
“Why are we whispering now?”, Crouch raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not supposed to be here”, Rosier giggled but nervously glanced in the hallway, her head disappearing behind the door for a second. “So can I come in?”

“Of course”, Regulus spoke.

Pandora happily bounced into the room and closed the door behind her. She started to glance around immediately with this childish kind of curiosity. She went over to Barty’s side of the room, her face immediately lit up when she saw the inappropriate posters.

“I really… like your guys’s room”, she mumbled.
“Finally someone appreciates it!”

“Dora, why did you come here?”, Regulus mumbled into his hands, now slouching in his chair with a tired look.

“I wanted to go check out the campus together”, Pandora was fidgeting with her hands behind her back. Bouncing from one foot to the other which meant she was simply bored and needed to do something right now. Regulus started to get up.

“Great! We can finally go”, Barty followed behind.

“Who said you are coming?”
“What is up your ass today, R-e-g-g-i-e?”, the man with piercings specifically put all his attention on slowly spelling out the name. His grin would haunt Black in his nightmares.

Pandora was sensing the tension in the room. She stepped closer towards Regulus and grabbed her friend’s shoulder, this time he did not flinch away. “Give him a chance, Reggie”, the stood in silence for an awkward moment simply staring at each other. Soon Regulus looked away with a sigh.

“Fine”

“You’re the best!”, Pandora pulled him into a tight hug. She was taller than Regulus and put her chin on top of his head.

“But if he does something stupid I’m blaming all of this on you”, the black haired boy tried his best to sound harsh but even Barty could see the smile hidden in the corner of his lips, slightly pulling upwards.

“You have wounded me so deeply with your lack of trust, Mr. Black”, Crouch rolled his eyes still managing to have an amused tone. Regulus could already see people talking the next day about him and Pandora even though Regulus only viewed her as a sister and nothing more people often got a wrong impression.

“No more bickering, boys”, Dora let go of her dear Reggie and smiled at Barty who was standing now at the door waiting to leave the room. “Let’s focus on having a little adventure”, her voice suddenly became extremely playful. “What about a manhunt?”, now it was Rosier’s turn to grin mischievously.

“Who’s our target?”, even in such silly conversation Regulus spoke like a true aristocrat. His voice so calm and emotionless Barty could’ve mistaken this for a business meeting. “Please not Evan-”

“EVAN!”, Pandora exclaimed joyfully.

“Who’s that?”, Crouch asked.

“My dear twin brother. He’s probably already hiding somewhere on the campus-”

“Smoking God knows what-”, Black said with clear disgust. Pandora simply scoffed, not giving the comment much attention.

“Then I would love to join him”

“Oh great now there’s two of them”

It seemed like Barty Crouch was brought to this Earth simply to annoy and bother Regulus. He could already see Evan and this guy becoming a very chaotic and destructible force. Regulus knew both Pandora and Evan since his childhood, they’re family worked for the Blacks. Evan used to be somewhat like Regulus, calm, successful in academics, making the Rosiers proud with many different achievements. But somewhere in high school everything simply went wrong. Now most of his dates he spends alone smoking weed or getting drunk. Evan only talked to Pandora and started to completely ignore anyone else including Regulus who ever tried to speak with the young man. Black’s parents called him a “slob” and a “disappointment” and Regulus agreed on those comments completely. However he often bit his tongue not wanting to hurt Dora.

“He’s probably in the park. Evan loves to climb trees”, Pandora was already lost in her own game but anything was worth it to see her bright and careless smile.

“What do I get if I find him first?”, Barty asked, hand gripping the door handle.

“Whatever it is that Evan is smoking”, Regulus scoffed. But those words made Crouch open the door wide open and simply jump in the hallway. He was gone in seconds.

“Wait up!”, Pandora laughed and ran right after the man. “Come on, Reggie!”, she screamed from somewhere in the hallway.
Regulus let out a sigh before walking out of the room. He closed the door and headed towards the stairs, hearing Barty and Pandora shout something at each other. For a split second Regulus’s gray cold eyes were full of softness and he had a calm smile on his face. He headed towards the exit.

Sirius Black was sitting on his bed. Arms crossed on his chest, his expression full of annoyance. He was staring out of the window for the past fifteen minutes. Black was looking forward to sharing his room with his best friend, James Potter, but the housing system of the university has put him and Peter together. Peter fucking Pettigrew who always followed James and him around like a lost puppy. Especially since Sirius left to live with Potters, he and Pettigrew started to have some fights. The shorter boy was clearly jealous that he and James became brothers. Peter himself was sitting at his desk with a hurt expression on his face. Even though Sirius was convinced that the golden-haired young man was hurt because he didn’t get to live with James, in reality Peter was actually excited to share a room with Sirius. He hoped that this would fix their rocky friendship, help them bond better without James to fight over. But it turns out that Sirius simply couldn’t stand the idea of being friends with anyone but James. Thankfully James Potter walked into the room. He looked around, raising an eyebrow in confusion of such tension hanging in the air.

“What happened?”, Sirius was still staring out of the window while Peter just sighed. “Wormtail? Pads?”
“I thought we would be roommates”, Black’s frustration spilled out his tone full of hurt and annoyance. “I wanted to be with you, not him”, he complained, pointing his finger at the other boy.

“I thought we were friends, Sirius. I’m sorry I’m such a fucking incovnecience”, Peter’s hurt expression deepend but now there was a hint of annoyance in it too.

James sighed, running a hand through his hair. Lately the fights between Sirius and Peter started to get out of hand. Sirius didn’t mean to but he always clinged onto James especially when any big changes were happening. “Look I understand that things didn’t go as planned but I’m just a few doors away from you, Pads”, James sat down next to Sirius on the bed. Peter looked betrayed for a split second before he turned away, staring at the book on his desk. “The same goes out for you, Pete. We’re friends so we all need to support each other”, James wished his mom would see him calming down the boys, she would clearly be proud of her son. The room was filled with silence, Padfoot was looking at Peter with a changed expression. Guilt clearly creeping in.

“Pete, I’m sorry… You’re going to be a great roommate, it's just I’m so used to living with James at home”, Sirius spoke quietly and softly. “I really set my heart on us sharing a room”

“I get it but you made it sound like I’m simply a…”, Peter sighed. “Like I’m just some sort of issue in your way”

“You started fighting a lot lately”, James spoke up. “I hope that you can figure all of this out by sharing a room. It will be good for both of you”

“I’m sorry, Pete”, Sirius repeated.

“It’s alright”, Pettigrew got up from his desk, sitting right next to James on Sirius’s bed.
Potter put his hands on both of his friend’s shoulders, pulling them into half a hug. “C’mon, we’re finally in uni! Nothing should ruin our first day here”, he spoke enthusiastically with a wide smile.

“You’re right, Prongs”, Sirius grinned.
“By the way, how’s your roommate, James?”, Peter asked curiously.

“Grumpy actually”, James sighed. “Doesn’t seem to be too happy that I’m chatty”

“Oh how can someone now fall for James Potter’s charms?!”, Sirius shouted sarcastically.

“Don’t be a dick. Plus my mom’s cookies got me on his good side”, Potter said proudly.

“Effie’s baking can get you on anyone’s good side”, Peter scoffed unimpressed.

“Do you think I talk too much though?”, James’s tone changed from worried to playful. His hazel eyes jumping from Peter to Srius looking for an answer.

“That roommate of yours is just a dickhead”, Sirius said confidently. “Maybe a good old prank will help to fix this?”, Black wiggled his eyebrows mischievously.
“C’mon if we prank him, he will just hate James more-”
“You think he hates me?”, Potter asked. Eyes full of worry.

“Well, hate is a strong word”, Peter mumbled apologetically. “Some people do prefer peace and quiet over your… Usual loud personality, James”, the short young man shrugged.

“Which is why he deserves to be pranked!”, Padfoot’s goal was set on pranking poor Remus.

“I would recommend to simply leave the guy alone”, Peter added.

“Nope, he sounds annoying and boring so we need to shake things up with a good ol’ prank!”, and like that the tension between the two was back. James hoped that talking about his roommate would simply make Sirius and Peter focus on something else but it only created another opportunity for an argument.

“Then he will actually hate James! Think for a second, Sirius, they will have to share a room for few years-”

“Don’t be such a buzzkill, Wormy”, Black said teasingly.

“Not that stupid nickname-”

“Guys, please! I’ll figure it out on my own”, James was rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Remus isn’t bad he just needs some time”

“So he’s name is Remus”, the mischief in Sirius’s voice promised that he was up to no good.

“Padfoot, no!”, both Peter and James exclaimed in unison.

“Fine”, Sirius fell back on his bed. “Boring but fine”

The guys sat in silence for some time, Sirius arms crossed on his chest yet again but with less annoyance than before. Peter got up shortly after heading back towards the desk. At least this time they weren’t pissed at each other, honestly was all James could hope for.

“Alright”, Potter got up. “I’m going to check on Lily”, he mumbled and quickly headed towards the door.

“Alright, loverboy!”, Sirius shouted. “I’ll come by later in the evening though”

“Me too”, Peter added.
“See ya!”, and like that James Potter was out of the room, running down the hallway with a dreamy smile excited to see his girlfriend. Only in the last year of high school did him and Evans finally started to date. He had a huge crush on her since primary school, following her around for years with flowers, chocolates and even musical performances just for her. James was over the moon when he found out they were going to the same university. He couldn’t even imagine having to spend a few years without being able to see her every day. What would he do without-
Potter was brought back to Earth after bumping into something and hitting the floor hard. During the fall James lost his glasses, and was chaotically searching for them on the floor like Velma from Scooby Doo.
“Watch where you’re going”, apparently the something was actually someone. Someone was now pissed off, a boy who Potter at the moment could only see as a dark blur. “Here’s your glasses. Hopefully they help you to avoid bumping into anyone else”. James mumbled a thanks and put on his glasses, looking at the stranger and finally seeing him clearly.

Potter swallowed hard because of who was in front of him. Black wavy but short hair, gray eyes. The young man in front of him was shorter. He stood with a perfect posture, his gray cold eyes delivering the message of disappointment and annoyance at James. However, all James could feel was a grin forming on his face.

“Are you going to apologize or simply stand like a deer in headlights the whole time?”
“Oh, sorry”, James mumbled quickly. “What’s your name by the way?”

“You need to remember someone you knocked off their feet by the name?”

“No…”, Potter paused thinking for a second. “I just want to apologize… And I need your name for that”, suddenly he heard laughing from behind the pretty stranger. Two guys and one girl were giggling together staring at James.

“Glad at least you are entertaining my friends”, the dark haired boy sighed.

“Friends? Awwww we’re friends?”, a stranger in a tank top and skinny ripped jeans exclaimed. That’s why you were trying to get away from us so badly, R-e-g-g-i-e?”

“Shut up!”, so called Reggie, which James thought was an adorable nickname, quickly turned around and shouted at still laughing and giggling trio.

“Reggie?”, Potter asked now amused.
“Don’t you dare become a part of this!”, now the shouting was directed at James who was grinning like an idiot.
“He’s name is Reggie”, the same guy spoke again looking at Potter.
“Dora why did you have to call me that in front of this asshole”, the short boy hissed, his face now red like a tomato.

“Reggie is very shy”, another young man said. He had short blonde hair that was as messy as the other boy’s. He was wearing a black hoodie and a pair of skinny jeans. Him and the girl on his left looked identical facially so James thought that they might at least be siblings.
“Shut up, Rosier”, Reggie hissed. “I’m leaving!”, and like that the pretty stranger ran off. His friends started to laugh again.
“I’ll go after him”, Dora said before running off too. James was now left alone on the staircase with two strangers who moved closer standing in front of him.
“I’m Barty”, the shorter man spoke. “Reggie is my roommate. We live on the second floor of the male dormitory, if you ever want to find him again”, Barty winked at James before passing up the stairs. The blonde boy simply followed him not saying anything to James. He could hear them going up the stairs for another minute before they clearly entered the second floor.

And just like that James Potter was left alone on the staircase, wondering what the fuck just happened and why did he find another boy pretty? He quickly shook his head, deciding to forget that any of this happened and simply blame it on feeling stupid for bumping into the poor guy. Well… Maybe visiting that Reggie guy to apologize properly with some famous Effie’s cookies wouldn’t hurt. Just to say sorry of course…. Nothing more…