Confluence
Looking through glass eyes, give it a few tries
Nothing goes right in its time
Kill all its bad dreams, wonder 'bout no things
Circles and spirals in mind
They stood in the hallway waiting for Regulus for a few minutes. Sirius looked nervous, and he tried to talk to James every once in a while to ease up his nerves.
“Where do we go to eat? What will we talk about?” He fidgeted with his hand a lot, twisting his fingers.
“I’ll figure it out, stop worrying so much” James just shrugged him off.
A couple of minutes later Regulus joined them, with his usual tote bag on his shoulder and a nice outfit over his dance clothes. He had his Prix de Lausanne shirt on, along with some very business attire sort of pants. He was carrying his jacket in his hand, it has been getting warmer outside but not in a t-shirt and no jacket type of warm.
“You got any suggestions for where to eat?” James greeted him, again.
“How about the same place as last time we met? Really want tea!” his face brightened up just at the thought, so James agreed while Sirius remained quiet, looking at Regulus closely.
The brunch place was nearby, just a short five minute walk away from the theatre. On the way there they stayed mostly quiet, enjoying the nice weather.
“Aren’t you cold?” Sirius asked Regulus while crossing the street.
“Well, I’m still all warmed up from class so I’m alright, at least for a while.” he responded calmly, looking around for cars.
Once they arrived they sat themselves at a nice table in the corner, next to a beautiful window with plants all around it. James figured he would order the same thing as last time since it was pretty filling and he really enjoyed it, as for a drink his insides were begging for something nice and cool so he landed on an iced latte with a bit of vanilla syrup.
“You were right about me coming to see you, it really was helpful, also felt different, i liked it.” James figured he needed to be the one to initiate the conversation. “What was that jump you did called, the one where you touched feet in the air? I liked it, it looks fun!” he actually fell in love with that jump the moment he saw it, it was something different then the usual ones.
“It’s called a front Cabriole, it’s pretty fun but it’s hard to get over the mental block when learning it, especially if you want to jump really high. I almost twisted my ankle doing it a dozen times, it’s pretty dangerous oftenly.” Regulus said quickly, almost as if he was relieved that James was talking.
“And those turns you did with the leg to the side? Where you sort of go down from demi-pointe and back up? What are those?” James had seen these pirouettes before but he never actually researched their name or how to do them.
“Oh fouettés à la seconde! I was going to teach you fouetté turns soon, they’re considered the hardest but once you understand the movement they’re manageable! Given how you’re a natural turner it would probably be for the best if you learn them now.” He responded, actually excited.
James was looking for a way to add Sirius in the conversation, a way to get them to actually talk. Fortunately, Padfoot got over his nerves and he managed the situation himself.
“You jump really high!” he said “It was quite thrilling to watch.”
“Oh, well, jumps are my favourite elements.” Regulus smiled before stopping for a moment, as if he hesitated. “I’m really glad you came, sorry it was such a short notice, I found out pretty late myself.”
“Well I told you I want us to start talking again, I swear I’ll try!” Sirius said quickly before looking at his phone nervously.
“Well since we're on that topic, how have you been? I hardly heard anything about you from James.” Regulus turned to Prongs and he gave him a smile, before turning his attention back to Sirius.
“Oh well since I finished high school both me and James graduated early, I went to Imperial College for two years and I studied physics, they had some sort of extra credit so i graduated early from there too and now I teach at King's college a few times per month and occasionally work on a few other projects, depends on where I get hired.” he seemed to ease up a bit “Money’s not a problem anyway, still got loads of that inheritance from our uncle.” he rolled his eyes.
“And you, James? I keep wondering how someone your age can just attend classes like this.” Regulus turned to him and Prongs took the opportunity to brag about his career, which he prided himself over.
“Well, I went to Oxford after highschool, it was pretty hard being away but I also finished in two and a half years, studied english, more branches of it at the same time. I was first in basically every class and I wanted to do my masters but a few opportunities came in clutch so now I’m sort of my own boss. I edit books, I work with every single genre possible. I’ve even done work for those overseas, pretty sure I’m considered one of the best in my field. Personally I like it because I get to choose when to work and I still make loads.” he smiled, actually feeling proud of how far he had come. “C’mon now tell us about you, I read somewhere you won the Prix de Lausanne when you were 17.” James grinned, watching Regulus’ face widen in shock. “I watched your performance videos and all” he teased.
“Sometimes I forget you can actually search my name up and find things out about me.” Regulus joked “Anyway, after well, you left” he said turning to Padfoot, “Walburga got sick and Orion became impossible to stand.”
“Good, about time.” Sirius interrupted.
“Anyway, I just left and I moved to Paris for a while. I stayed with an old friend who did ballet there at the time. I joined him for classes and eventually competed at YAGP, that's one of the hardest competitions.” he looked at Sirius just to let him know. “I won a summer scholarship at the Rock School for Dance Education in America, so I moved there for a while. When I came back my teacher said I should prepare for Prix de Lausanne. She saw potential. I was 15, almost 16 at the time so I didn’t really feel ready, so for a while I focused on summer intensives. I went to Vaganova for a while, where I met Pandora, she was the blonde dancer today. On my 17th birthday I sent the application form for the Prix and I got accepted. One of the teachers there was actually Minerva , our director, and I caught her eye immediately.” a soft smile grew on his face “I qualified in the finals with pure luck, when I first performed I flunked two jumps and well, that’s not really accepted. I’m sure she put in a good word. In the finals I did really well in both ballet and contemporary, and since I had experience in all ballet styles, from Balanchine to Vaganova, they decided I deserved to win. Minerva offered me a soloist spot here but I declined at the time since Orion died, two days before I left for The Prix I think. Dumbledore, the director from the Paris Opera said he would be glad to have me as a principal, so I moved back there. I didn’t really like being in France after a while, everyone was pretty rude, so I just came back here and Minerva freed up the principal spot specifically for me. I really like it better here!” Regulus said everything in one breath, watching Sirius carefully.
“Well that’s a journey, how did you take their death? I had no idea they got sick like that.” Sirius felt sort of bad, James could tell just by looking at him.
“I was alright, not glad but not sad either. I guess it just felt like a heavy rock got lifted off of my chest. I inherited a fortune from them, probably the only way I’m able to afford my place in Islington” he said, sort of relaxing in his seat a bit.
“You live in Islington? Do you take the tube or something? You actually go through that whole journey all the way here?” James was quite surprised to hear how far Regulus lived, it was a 40 to 50 minute walk from Islington to the Royal Ballet.
“Well I’m here so often that it almost feels like I live here, I mostly sleep at a friend of mine, his boyfriend is part of the corps at the ballet so we just go together sometimes. Plus I like Islington, it’s peaceful” Regulus said that as if it was a completely normal thing to do, however James considered that not seeing your own home often was nothing short of a crime.
“Where do you live anyway? You told me you walk home from the theatre, you’ve got to live somewhere close.” Regulus asked James, who actually took a moment to remember.
“In Bedford Square, pretty cozy place, loads of nice people live there.” James couldn’t help but smile when he thought of all of his neighbours. “Sirius is in Marylebone” Prongs kicked Sirius’ leg.
“Oh that reminds me, are you and Remus still together? I asked James but he said it’s better if you tell me!” Regulus snapped his fingers together, turning towards Padfoot with excitement.
“How nice of you.” Sirius gave Prongs a sarcastic smile. “We are still dating, yes. I actually proposed a few weeks ago.” Padfoot blushed just enough for it to be noticeable. “My ring would be visible if it hadn't been for our stupid dare game, I’ve got to wear these damned gloves everywhere.” Sirius joked.
“What! Congratulations?!” Regulus gave the most genuine smile, James could feel his happiness. “Do you have the ring on? I want to see!” Regulus grabbed Sirius’ hand to take off his glove.
“Yeah look” Sirius put his glove somewhere and let Regulus twist his hand around to look at the ring from every angle.
“Really unique design, very you.” Regulus said, still thrilled by the news.
While they were talking the waiter brought out their drinks, placing them carefully on the table.
“What about you Reggie, are you dating anyone?” Sirius grinned, winking sarcastically.
“No, I’ve never really had time for an actual relationship.” Regulus took one big sip of his signature lychee tea, savouring every second of it. “Had a few crushes but they didn’t really work out.”
“What’s up with everyone saying they don’t have time for dating!? James has been saying the same thing, it's driving me crazy, he’s not even busy.” Sirius said.
“Just because you and Remus met when you were young and never had to worry about any other relationship doesn’t mean everyone did the same, we’re not all as lucky.” James rolled his eyes.
“Weren’t you and Lily dating?” Regulus asked. “Thought everything was great between you two.”
“She wanted to break up after a while, she said it wasn’t me or anything really, she just didn’t want to date anymore. One year later Remus caught her kissing this girl, I’m still not sure if she’s lesbian or something.” just the memory of everything made James a little sad. He had always liked Lily a lot.
“What, are all of your friends gay or something now? Marlene came out in our first year of high school, I’ve always been suspecting Dorcas, Mary openly said she wouldn’t mind dating a girl and-oh no wait Peter is definitely straight.” Regulus said.
James watched Sirius’ smile grow larger and larger as Regulus spoke, he could already tell what Sirius would say.
“Speaking of that, Peter now has a boyfriend. We found out on Tuesday, it’s still fresh.” Sirius said, waiting to see Regulus’ reaction.
“Shut up! Him out of all people? Remember how disgusted he was when Remus came out? How dare he!” Regulus laughed.
“Anyway, James is the only one left. We set up a bet and everything, everyone agreed that he will shag a dude sooner or later, there’s just no way he will last with this many queer people around.” Sirius said it, James could feel it coming.
“My my, is that so?” Regulus smiled widely at him. “How much money will you be losing?” he giggled.
“Oh please it’s not that funny, and I won’t lose. I’m confident in my abilities.” James stood up a little taller, to seem more intimidating.
“So, who is Peter dating? What’s his name? What does he do? Tell me everything.” Regulus got ready to gossip, just like any other honorable member of the Black family would do.
“Okay so his name is Gilderoy Lockheart, he’s a perfumer, super rich too, I have no idea how Peter pulled him.” Sirius started looking through his phone to find a picture.
“Oh Gilderoy? I know him! We had a photoshoot for a magazine together once! He’s pretty nice but so damn arrogant it will drive you insane! He is a God when it comes to perfume making, and he knows it damn well. He always praises himself, it’s hard to bear after a while! Plus he knows he’s good looking, he just shamelessly flirts with everyone!” Regulus exclaimed, talking sort of loudly.
“I knew it! I knew he would be arrogant, he’s just the complete opposite of Peter! I can’t wait to meet him. I need to see what he thinks about us.” James always had some sort of crazy intuition about people.
Just as Sirius was going to add some more information about him, the waiter brought out their food. James forgot how hungry he actually was so as soon as he saw the fries he had ordered he dug in immediately.
“So, Reggie. I assume you’re bi right?” Sirius said while chewing on some pasta he ordered. “You never actually talked to me about that sort of stuff, like, ever. You only told me about one crush.” After Sirius said that, he turned to James with a soft smile on his face.
“Why are you looking at me? Is there something on my face?” James was completely clueless, but Sirius’ expression was too weird to just pass by. He tried to insist but Padfoot switched back to talking to his brother.
“Well um, I actually haven’t shown interest in women in quite a while, I don’t really like to label things though, you never know what might happen.” Regulus answered a bit shyly.
“If mum had heard you said that she would’ve gone mental, it’s good to know though. Thanks for telling me.” Sirius smiled and went back to eating his food in silence.
After a while Regulus began talking again.
“Oh James, I just remembered, you have class with Minerva tomorrow. I need to tell you a few rules, if that’s what you want to call them. She is mean with pretty much anyone, if she didn’t seem that bad today it's because she likes me a lot, but anyone else, not so much.” Regulus looked at him with a serious face.
“She does look mean, anyway what should I keep in mind?” James asked, making sure to remember everything.
“She’s all about discipline, rules and respect. You have to show her that you’re interested and that you’re paying attention. If she gives you a correction, immediately redo whatever you got wrong and show her that you understood, otherwise she will think lowly of you. Never nod, always respond to her, even if it’s a rhetorical question. If you don’t know the answer, tell her that, don’t try to guess. Never go down from a balance or finish an exercise before she tells you to, always wait. No matter how much your legs hurt, never go down before, don’t relax whenever you want. She will be testing the whole class, it will be significantly harder than usual. Even if you are in pain, never show it, just smile softly throughout the whole class and keep in mind every single correction I told you since you started and you might actually catch her eye.” Regulus listed everything, sort of scaring James.
“She sounds a lot like mum, if she was my employer I'd probably leave after my first day.” Sirius giggled a bit, not knowing what else to say.
“Most ballet teachers are like this, you should see the ones in Russia, they’re even worse.” Regulus said.
“I’ll try my best, maybe she won’t completely hate me.” James smiled a bit.
“She doesn’t hate, she just judges a lot.” Regulus joked again.
They took a small pause and then Sirius spoke:
“Prongs, are you wearing my vest? I swear it’s most definitely mine.” Sirius stared intensely at James.
“Might be yours, found it next to the clothes I forgot over at some point though, I assumed it’s mine.” James tried to look at the tag.
“Hold on, let me check.” Sirius stood up to read what it said. “Yeah it’s mine” he laughed.
“Here.” James took it off quickly, since the outfit worked well without it. “I’m not coming back to your place after, I need to visit Euphemia. Take it now, I'm alright.”
“Alright, I’ll bring you the clothes you wore yesterday tomorrow probably, I might swing by since Remus will be at school all day.” Sirius sat back in his seat, putting the vest in his bag.
“Sorry what time is it? I have another rehearsal around four and I might need to leave soon.” Regulus interrupted.
James checked his phone, it was almost three. He showed it to Regulus who nodded.
“Sorry for having to leave like this, my schedule is always weird.” Regulus was searching in his bag for his wallet.
“Oh don’t worry about paying it’s on me!” James offered.
“You paid last time too!” Regulus looked up at him, furrowing his brow.
“Yeah I pay all the time, get used to it, I really don’t mind.” James smiled widely at him before going to pay the bill, while Sirius and Regulus talked for a bit and said their goodbyes. He walked back and they all headed towards the exit together.
“I’ll see you Monday, I suppose?” Prongs asked Regulus.
“Yeah, text me after class. I’ll let you know when I talk to Minerva, she told me she’ll let me know if she likes any dancers from my group.” Regulus said. “Bye than!” He smiled and waved quickly, before turning on his heels to walk back to the theatre.
James and Sirius stood their ground, looking at each other for a while.
“So, how was that? Did you enjoy talking to him?” James asked, hoping Sirius had a good time.
“Yeah, I did. I really regret going no contact after all of these years.” Padfoot smiled, visibly relaxing. “I'm glad he’s doing okay, he really got his whole life together on his own. I feel pretty bad.”
“Yeah, but that’s how life is sometimes I suppose.” James tried to comfort him. “Your parents though, that’s really bad news.” He suddenly remembered Walburga and Orion were both dead.
“I’m okay, to be fair they really deserved it, especially after that nasty night when I ran away. Sometimes I really like to admit that they were bad people. I hope death treats them more kindly then they treated me and Reggie.” Sirius’ voice sort of changed, it sounded colder, more cruel.
“He lets you call him Reggie, I thought he hated it.” James said, trying his best to remember everything from their teenage days.
“Well, I think he still doesn’t like it but who am I if I don’t tease my little brother every so often?” Sirius smiled. “He might just have to get used to it!”
“Anyway, I’ve really got to go now. I am actually having dinner with my parents and I need to leave early.” James gave Sirius a hug before rushing back home to change his clothes and get ready for their family dinner.
Every so often he would visit his parents for dinner. They talk and sometimes even invite guests over. James tells them about his life while they serve him unholy amounts of food. At least it’s tasty. He wore a red sweater that his mum bought him for Christmas, one of his favourites, with some brown pants that looked really elegant. He wore his usual white New Balance sneakers and he brushed his hair down a bit better, so Fleamont wouldn’t comment on it. He grabbed his keys and went outside to find his car, in hopes that he still knew how to drive it.
James has a license, he actually passed his test on the first try. Not only that but he owns a pretty expensive car that does turn some heads, not everyone can afford a Porsche Panamera. Despite the 100 grand that he spent on the car James rarely drove it around, preferring to walk or just take the tube. Parking in London was too difficult in his opinion. He sat in his car, taking a bit of time to get used to it again, and he got ready to drive all the way to Kensington, where his parents live. He put on some good music, including Heroes and Villains by the Beach Boys, his favourite song. It was particularly crowded in London that day, so the usual 20 minute drive turned into a 40 minute one. He called his mum to let her know that he would be late and he patiently drove around, taking in every bit of London's scenery.
Once he arrived, he parked his car in their garden, and he knocked on the big heavy wooden front door that he has been struggling to open since he was a child. Fleamont answered almost immediately, rushing to give him a big hug.
“Hello James! Was traffic really this bad today? We lost so much time just waiting! Can I get you anything to drink?” Euphemia greeted him, offering the average alcoholic beverage that his parents have always been stocked full on.
“A martini would be nice! Thanks!” He shouted, since his mum already ran to get everything ready.
“Lemon twist or olive?” she asked as soon as James walked in the living room.
“You know I always ask for olive, it’s just such a good quick snack!” he took the glass in his hands, taking a close look at it.
“Did you buy new martini glasses? These ones feel different, more fragile.” he twisted it around in his hands a few times to try to figure out what was different.
“A friend of mine from the golf club gifted us these Waterford crystal glasses. They’re really good, I bought from Waterford before but not as often as our friend does, he just really loves their brand.” Fleamont said, taking a seat on the couch with a drink in his hand.
“I will never understand why you started golf. Are you this bored?” James had always considered golf a weird sport for rich people, and although he knew his family was in fact rich and well…privileged, he still considered them too good for golf.
“It’s hard to find things to do after retiring, I considered going back to work but your mum just won’t let me.” Fleamont joked.
“Oh yes it is always my fault isn’t it? Don’t listen to him James. Let’s go to the dining room I want to eat already." She invited them all.
James felt pretty warm in his childhood home. He took a bit of time to think about how hard it must have been for Sirius to not be as lucky as he was. This big home was such a welcoming place, James could never imagine himself wanting to run away from it.