Chapter 2
James had made a lot of brave - and perhaps stupid choices in his life. He stole a puppy from a pet shop when he was 4. He broke a total of 11 pairs of glasses. He threatened to expose the Black family to free his best friend and his little brother from an abusive home when he was 16. Three years later, he got on one knee and asked said little brother to marry him.
He didn't regret a single one of those choices.
Now though, on the doorstep of Sirius and Remus's home, he was starting to doubt himself.
He stared at the wooden door, awfully aware of the beads of sweat on his forehead, of the anxious trembling of his leg. He barely noticed when his hand rang the doorbell, almost by itself. He waited a minute before ringing again, but was met by silence.
Maybe they're not home - he thought.
Maybe this had been a sign from the universe, after all, there was for sure another way, a better way, to get in contact with Regulus. He was ready to leave when he heard a groan from the other side of the door, followed by the sound of the lock being opened and before he knew it, the annoyed face of his best friend appeared in front of him.
His frown immediately turned into a smile once he laid icy blue eyes on him.
"Prongs! My man!" he welcomed him in with a hug
"What are you doing here?"
"Just taking a walk, though I'd come by"
It had been Sirius' idea to buy their houses so close to one another, once they were out of highschool. He claimed he just really liked that neighborhood, but James knew about Sirius' not so secret attachment issues. Ever since they knew each other they had been joint at the hip, so why stop now?
James took a closer look at his friend - his hair was a mess, his cheeks slightly red and- was that a hickey?
"Did I interrupt something? I can come back later if you want" he quickly said, one foot ready to turn around and disappear
"You never interrupt, let me put some clothes on and I'm all yours" he ran in the other room and mumbled something.
"Evening James, want some tea?"
Remus entered the living room followed by Sirius, now in pajamas pants and an oversized t-shirt which definitely belonged to his boyfriend.
“Everything alright? You kinda look like you saw a ghost” he now realized he hadn't answered the question, too anxious about what was about to come.
“Well… I actually came here to talk about something"
Good start, he thought. Now you just have to tell him you've been married to his brother for 7 years.
"Wait, is this what i think it is?"
Oh god, did Sirius already know it? No, he couldn't know. How could he? Regulus didn't tell him. Did he? No, he didn't. Stop panicking.
Sirius put his hands on his friend's shoulders and stared at him.
"Prongs. Brother. Look me in the eyes"
This is it, he thinks.
"Is she pregnant?"
what the fuck?
"What the fuck?"
Remus emerged from the kitchen, kettle in hand.
"Wait, Lily is pregnant?"
"No! No one is pregnant!”
The couple now looked very confused.
"If she's not pregnant then why are you sweating the amount to fill a pool?"
Damn you Remus, couldn't you be less observant for once?
"Oh god, is someone dead? Please tell me your parents are fine"
"What? No! They're great, it's nothing like that" he quickly said, the idea being so far away from reality.
"Are you sure? When was the last time you called them? I need to text Effie"
Sirius was now getting up from the sofa to look for his phone
"Pads- Padfoot! focus back here please"
The long haired man stopped pacing and looked at him again.
"Yeah, sorry, got a bit carried away. So what is it?"
"It's about your brother"
Sirius looked stunned. He didn't expect it, that's for sure. He blinked a few times.
James knew this was weird, coming after all these years when they never talked about him. Sirius knew they had been together. Did he like it? Hell no, but he knew about it. He also knew they broke up a week before his brother moved away.
"I need to talk to him. It's- um, it's quite urgent"
"You need to talk to him"
"Yes"
"After seven years"
"...yes"
A few seconds went by.
"Do you have a death wish?"
"...no?" Where was Sirius going with this?
"Mate, i love you, but my brother hates your guts, why on Earth would you want to talk to him?"
It's crazy to think how there was a time when this words would have made him laugh. His Reggie hating him? You could have said the world was flat and James would have believed it more.
Did James know the boy he once loved didn't feel that way anymore? Yes. Did he know he probably hated him? Also yes. Did hearing it out loud, even after all these years, hurt more than he could have ever imagined? You can guess it.
"It's for the wedding. I need something from him" Nice and simple, good job James.
"Like what?" He watched as Sirius' face went from confused to more confused
"Promise me you'll stay calm"
"Calm? Why wouldn't I be calm?" Okay, wrong approach James.
"It's nothing, really. Just a signature. On some papers" James felt his lungs get filled and emptied, suddenly aware of his breathing.
"What kind of papers?"
It was clear he wasn't going to give up, not when he was so close to getting the answers he patiently waited for.
"James, what kind of papers?"
"Divorce papers" James said, in a small voice.
A beat passed.
And another one.
And another one.
Finally, Sirius broke the silence.
"This is a joke. You're joking"
"Pads…"
"No, for your sake, this is a joke"
"I'm sorry i kept this from you. I really am. But-"
"But nothing!" Sirius got up, his voice now alarmingly high
"You got married? When did you- how- what the fuck?"
James closed his eyes, took a deep breath and started talking.
He told him everything, how they were drunk and happy and -much to Sirius' distaste- madly in love, and they made a crazy decision. One he never regretted. He told him how Regulus had not felt the same. How they fought the next day, how they broke up. How a week later, it was like they had never been together. Regulus loved him, but this was too much. He wanted to be with him, but not forever. The wedding was a bad choice. They were a bad choice. He held his tears while telling him how his whole world fell apart because of one stupid drunken night and how he was finally ready to do the right thing.
After about 3 hours and many tears, Sirius finally broke his silence. He got up, took a piece of paper and wrote something on it, then gave it to James.
An address.
"You're not going to fix this over the phone. Go to him, do what you have to do. Just, please James" he looked at him with a weird look in his eyes "He's doing good, he's happy. Don't mess it up. Please"
What was that supposed to mean? It's not like James was going to hurt him or anything. Quite the opposite, he was giving him what he wanted.
"I'd never hurt him, you know that"
"I know. Just promise me you'll do the right thing"
"That's all i want to do"
He looked at him for a moment and finally broke into a laugh.
"You're mad, you know that?"
James finally smiled back. He felt like a weight had been taken off his shoulders. Sirius was still his best friends, the one he could tell anything to.
"I know mate"
"Come here" he captured the taller man in a hug
"Want to know the bright side of this?"
James laughed in his shoulder, picturing Sirius' reaction to what he was about to say
"We're brothers-in-law"
Sirius suddenly looked like a child receiving his favourite toy as a Christmas gift. Directly from Santa Claus. On his birthday.
"OH MY GOD-"