James
James Potter was sure of exactly 7 things. Their first studio album would’ve went platinum if they replaced track 6 with a different song, Paris was lame in June and much better in September, performing was 100% less scary without his glasses on, Avocados are way too popular and don’t deserve the hype, the C he got on his 7th grade english test should’ve been a B, Remus only pretends to know what Sirius says when he’s speaking french, and Regulus Arcturus Black hates him, and probably always will; of everything in his life that last statement is probably the hardest pill for him to swallow, because James isn’t sure he will ever stop loving the same man who hates him so fervently.
“Good morning you sexy sexy bandmates of mine” Sirius all but screamed upon his entrance to their recording studio.
Marleen rolled her eyes at his entrance.
Remus muttered something that sounded vaguely like “I'll show you a good morning” from beneath his book but the comment wasn’t paid any mind.
Peter didn’t seem to be particularly present.
“Okay, I have some really exciting news. After months of reaching out to him, Reggie finally answered me! And we got to talking and decided we’re going to tandem tour with them during the U.S leg, we’re gonna hit every state together and perform shows the same day or a day apart so we can hopefully reconnect”
James felt his heart sink into his stomach. He hadn’t seen Regulus in 4 ½ years, their last conversation was permanently seared into his brain, no amount of alcohol or random hook ups could get it out or make him stop thinking about it when he laid in bed at night. Their break up was anything but amicable or mutual, he still remembers screaming and holding into his hand begging him not to go, he still remembers the look in Regulus’s eyes and how he never wanted to see that look again and now here was Sirius telling him he’d have to spend 6 months with him and James felt like he was going to vomit.
“Where is Reg’s band gonna meet us then?” Remus asked his eyes briefly fleeting to meet James.
“They moved their tour up so we can tour together, so we’re leaving at the same time!”
It didn’t take a genius to see Sirius was excited, his relationship with his brother was anything but stable, their mother was a deranged power hungry woman who saw pimping out her children to Hollywood to become stars, and therefore gain status from them, acceptable. Wallaburga Black forced her children into the industry at age 5 and 6 starring in the occasional toyotathon commercial or childrens made for TV sitcoms but once Sirius and Regulus turned 13 and 14 Wallaburga sent them into the slimy hands of the music industry. Dog & Lion won countless grammy’s, AMA’s, Billboards, and Brits; Headlined countless tours and charted in the top 10 every time they released a new single, this was until after years of silencing, abuse and controlling behavior from their Mother and management team Sirius had a complete breakdown on stage and ran off, leaving his brother and thousands of fans left alone. Sirius ran all the way from Wembley Stadium to James’s family home in Camden, James still remembers seeing a 17 year old Sirius Black standing on his front porch drenched and shivering exhausted from his almost 3 hour walk, his stage makeup streaming down his face in some spots revealing deep purple welts underneath them, James’s mother, Euphemia, wasted no time in bringing the boy in and providing him with dry clothes; Sirius Black never went back home after that. Since his running away Sirius’s relationship with his brother was well… strained. Regulus and Sirius had been each other's everything. Their level of codependency on one another was extreme, once Sirius left Regulus lost a part of himself, so did Sirius, but Sirius learned to replace that part over time with James, Regulus never did find a replacement.
The strained nature of the boy's relationship was part of why James and Regulus never told Sirius they dated. Their relationship was so secretive James could count on one hand how many people knew. While they were together James didn’t much mind if people knew or not, their relationship was their own and no one else's, it was once they had broken up James wished people had known. He didn’t want his heartbreak to be his own, he wanted to scream at the world he wanted others to know the pain he was in, but James learned the hard way you can’t let people into something that is already closed. Remus Lupin was one of the few people that did know about his relationship, James thinks he would’ve lost his mind if he didn’t have Remus during that time; Remus knows he would’ve.
As his Best Friend James was happy for Sirius that he was going to be reconnecting with his brother and hopefully rebuilding their relationship. As someone who couldn’t let go of the love they had for his best friend’s brother who stopped loving him 4 ½ years ago he felt helpless, the moment he heard Regulus’s name come out of Sirius’s mouth he felt like he was drowning.
“So when are we leaving for tour?” James asked, coming out of his thoughts.
“Tuesday”
“Tuesday? We weren’t supposed to leave till next week Sirius” Marleen screamed.
“Yeah well… remember how I said Reg moved his tour up…? I added another show so we could be moved up together”
“And you didn’t think to tell us???” Pete who finally zoned into the conversation squawked.
“Yeah? That's why I just told you guys” Sirius said flatly.
The room soon erupted into a mess of arguing between Marlene Pete and Sirius until Remus broke it up.
“Yes, he should’ve told us, but there is nothing we can do about it now. We all know Sirius was just excited to see his brother, let’s just start getting ready” Remus said loudly but not yelling.
James could do this, James could do this, he had 4 days to prepare for this. It's just 6 months, what could possibly go wrong spending 6 months stuck with your ex who hates your guts across the country?
Remember this is for Sirius.