Pas de Deux

Tu me plaques comme une affiche au mur

J'porte plainte

J'vais le payer, c'est sûr

J'étais a deux doigts

D'y laisser tout mon bras

Tout mon bras

March 29, 2025.

After a very busy and chaotic week, Prongs figured he could use the weekend to relax and hopefully get back on track with things. He’s gotten to a level of laziness that takes quite a lot of dedication for someone like him to achieve, so, naturally, he is going to slowly procrastinate starting work again until he can no longer do anything about it.

To start, James decided to put his gym membership to use once again. He used to go every other day at least during the summer, but now since he’s been busy his membership card has begun to gather a thin layer of dust on top of it. 

Prongs threw together an appropriate outfit that he could take pictures in, because he obviously needs to brag about how amazing his body looks. He packed his bag along with a few other things that he normally had with him, especially his headphones. 

As per usual James walked there, the best part about living in Soho is everything is within walkable distance, so he arrived fairly quickly. He did his usual routine, picking out a locker to leave a few things in and taking a few looks around the gym to decide on what exercise to start with. 

James’ favourite part has always been working on his arms, especially biceps. He is pretty naturally strong but he still chooses to work on it, especially maintaining his already great physique which he is painfully aware of. 

He did his usual routine, 4 sets of incline dumbbell presses, 4 of weighted dips, 4 sets of pull ups which he absolutely dreads, 4 of seated cable rows, 3 of later raises and finally 5 sets of bicep curls, which he absolutely adores. At the end of his whole routine, James obviously had to take a picture of himself. He ended up taking a few mirror photos, flexing his left arm which was generally stronger. The one he particularly liked was of him doing a bicep curl, since his muscles were really visible. Prongs favorited the special ones so he could post them later, then he moved on to the rest of his workout. 

Working his legs, glutes and core has always been excruciatingly hard but necessary, either way he’s mostly interested in maintaining his usual body type, so James doesn’t mind how much he can squat nowadays. He was surprised to find out that he’s not that out of shape, since he still managed to squat a decent 120, instead of his usual 145kgs. 

After some painful sets James could finally relax with a few minutes on the stairmaster, his all time guilty pleasure. Prongs took his time, taking a better look at every single picture he took. He settled on the one from before, since he looked incredible in it, and he posted it on his story. James will never be afraid to admit it, he looks good and he has a great body, so maybe bragging every once in a while won’t hurt. 

If there was one thing that Prongs easily noticed, it was that his stamina really increased. Maybe it was the ballet that kept him in shape, but either way he didn’t fight through his sets as much as he normally would, and that’s something. 

As soon as he got home from the gym he took one long cold shower. James is familiar with the huge misconception about how hot showers work best for muscle soreness, but that’s just wrong. It’s actually cold, nearly icy showers that really make a difference, at least that’s what professional athletes say. 

After his shower James picked out a comfortable cotton set of clothes to sit in around the house while he did a bit of cleaning, just tidying up the mess that has been made in his flat throughout the week. Sometime while cleaning Sirius called, asking James to come over to talk through a few things, so minutes later Prongs was out of his apartment making his way towards Sirius’ flat.

Remus was already waiting for him when he arrived, opening the door quickly so Buckbeak wouldn’t even have a chance to get out. James just stood in the doorway for a moment to pet Buckbeak who was jumping up on him and barking, absolutely ecstatic to say the least. 

“Hey mate!” Sirius was on his way to the kitchen, he barely even reacted to seeing James there “Want anything? I was making myself some tea!” he halted just as he was about to enter the kitchen. 

“Yeah tea is nice!” James said as he took his shoes off, following Remus to the living room. 

“Alright Prongs so, we’ve got a bit of a dilemma and it’s only natural that you need to come help us deal with it.” Remus kicked a few papers off of the couch so he and James could take a seat.

“Wedding prep I assume?” James took a quick look around the room, it was full of pictures of venues, color palettes, flower samples, pretty much anything you could picture. 

“Yes.” Remus rolled his eyes “This is so much work, I thought I knew what I wanted until I actually had to start planning, it’s a pain.” he groaned, stretching out his legs “C’mere Buckbeak!” he clapped his hands just a tad so Buckbeak would notice. 

James scooted over so Buckbeak would fit on the couch, but he was getting a bit big so he ended up in both of his and Remus’ lap anyway. 

“So, we’ve settled on the venue. We just need your opinion. It took loads of time to find one that lets us bring Buckbeak.” Moony smiled, trying to stretch to grab something off of the coffee table “I can’t reach it.” he sighed. 

They waited for a bit longer until Sirius came back. He and James were dressed pretty similar, both of them wearing short black pants and a grey t-shirt, they just matched like this sometimes. Sirius’ hair was tied up, a big claw clip holding it together. 

“Ugh finally.” Remus grabbed his tea off of the table, pushing Buckbeak away “Let’s just sit on the floor, it's easier.” 

“Alright, James.” Sirius cleared his throat “We have like a general idea of everything, but we, or mostly I,  obviously need your opinion and suggestions on a few things that we can’t agree on!” 

James nodded, waiting for a moment as Sirius and Remus tried their best to put everything in order to properly present. 

“So, venue, Remus wanted outside and I wanted inside, but we found this gorgeous garden place and that’s what we’ve sort of settled for.” Sirius explained as Moony didn’t even pay attention, he was busy turning on some drag race in the background. Padfoot handed James a few photos, so he could get an idea.

It was absolutely gorgeous, just like Sirius said. The flowers were vibrant and pretty, paired together in a really smart sort of way to look pleasing to the eye, most importantly it suited their usual aesthetic. 

“Yeah this place is nice, but did you make a guest list or anything? Will it have space for everyone?” James was thinking rationally. 

“Well, from my family it’ll just be Andromeda with Ted and then Regulus, then for Remus Hope and Lyall, then obviously you, your parents, then Peter and we might invite his parents too. Then of course Lily, Mary, Marlene and Dorcas, and I’ll also have Lily ask Petunia if she can attend.” Sirius took a breather as Remus continued to list the guests. 

“We were also thinking about inviting Molly and Arthur since they invited us to their wedding. Then for the party the list basically doubles since we know loads of people who might want to be there.” Remus was already lightning up a cigarette to smoke. 

“Yeah anyway, we found someone to do the ceremony, that won’t be an issue. Now let’s talk about some actual fun stuff, outfits!” Sirius already had an evil grin on his face “So, we won’t do all of that usual black and white crap, which means everything will be color coded.” 

“And judging by the absurd amount of color pallets scattered around here you haven’t decided?” James said. 

“We’re between these two, take notice of the fact that the outfits for groomsmen and women will be in this range of colours too.” Remus handed James two pieces of paper with various colours on them. 

“When exactly do you want the wedding to take place?” James furrowed his brow staring at the colours, they were nice, pleasing to the eye, he liked both pallets just as much. 

“We found a spot for May, think it’s too soon?” 

“No, it’s perfect actually!” James took a moment to really stare at the colours he had in front of him. One palette had more greens and pinks, with gray undertones. The other was leaning into purple and yellow, which Prongs didn’t consider quite as suited, so he chose the first one. “Pink and green I suppose… I never thought you would choose something like that.” he said. 

“Well they’re pretty! Plus this shade sort of goes with everything…” Remus smiled. 

“Pink and green it is! Next question James, who would you see in pink and who would you see in green? As in, do I wear pink or does Remus wear pink?” Sirius sat a bit closer to Remus, wrapping an arm around him so James would decide faster. 

Prongs chuckled, audibly, the both of them would look nice in those colours since they were earthy toned, so they would pretty much fit anyone. 

“Well, if you’re going to keep that sandy-ish type of pink then I think Padfoot should wear it…” James held up the colours next to Sirius’ face, just to be sure. 

“Very well then! This means you and Reggie will be in pink too, Lily and Mary get green!” Sirius snatched the paper out of James’ hand so he could move on to the next topic. 

James was stunned for a good moment, he could imagine himself wearing pink but definitely not Regulus, it will be a hilarious sight. 

“Of speaking of, we’ve got to decide on a date to get your measurements and all, since we want everyone to have the specific shade of each colour.” Remus added “You’re all getting custom suits for the ceremony, everything needs to be a perfect match.” 

“Wonderful!” James smiled sarcastically. “What will you guys wear? I suppose you want to stand out?” 

“Me personally I’m still deciding, I only ordered my shoes though.” Sirius was looking around for something. “Have you seen my phone?” 

“Here.” Remus sat up for a second to hand Sirius his phone. “And yeah I have an idea in my head but I’m still thinking, I only decided on what dress I want for Lily and Mary.” 

“Wait right! So James, I saw Regulus recently, I just y’know asked him to hangout so we can talk.” Sirius looked a bit more shy out of the blue. “Anyway, not the point, I had him vote on what design he likes best out of these three, so now it’s your turn.” 

Sirius slid three pictures across the table yet again, each of them having a different suit design. From far away they were fairly similar, but the details really made the difference. James could easily tell which one Regulus picked, one of the three had small flowers embroidered onto the side, while another option had sort of leaves and plants added to them. The last one was just plain with a few different stitching patterns. 

“Which one did Regulus choose?” James asked, looking closely at each picture, trying to imagine himself wearing that. 

“This one, I quite like it the best myself.” Sirius pointed to the one James expected. It wasn’t bad, it was actually really pretty, the embroidery showed lots of wild flowers lost among leaves, it suited their wedding theme. 

“This one it is then!” James lifted the picture up and he tossed the other two aside. 

“Now flowers!” Remus sat up to grab three small vases “We need to decide on a theme, these are the samples we liked best.” He placed them in front of James so he could take a closer look. 

James didn’t even need to think about it, based on what he saw so far he was sure the more wild- looking bouquet would fit best. It looked neat enough for a wedding yet wild enough for it to make you think that it was just nature’s doing. 

“Definitely those. They go with everything you showed me so far, it’s perfect!” James spun the vase around a few times, making sure he liked the flowers from every angle. 

“I like those best too!” Sirius added “We’ll do the classic bouquet throw at the party by the way!” 

“Oh I hope Marlene or Dorcas catches it! They need to get engaged already!” Remus picked up the other two vases and he put them back up on a shelf where Buckbeak couldn't reach. 

“Now this might sound a little ridiculous but our not-so-little dog needs something too, so we’ve decided on a bowtie. Now you just say if it should be pink or green.” Sirius called Buckbeak over to pet him gently.

“Err, pink with green dots or green with pink dots!” James said. 

“Remus write that down before I forget!” Sirius basically shouted. 

Remus nodded, grabbing a paper and an unsharpened crayon to note everything they discussed. Afterwards, he sat back down next to Sirius and they gave each other a knowing look, before turning to James. 

“We have one very special request Prongs…since you’re like our best friend and all!” Sirius smiled. 

James didn’t respond, he just grinned, waiting to see what they could possibly want. 

“You know, this venue we found for the ceremony does have a piano…” Sirius was talking so slowly it was nerve wracking. 

“We want you to play something basically, I have a song in mind Sirius has another one. After the ceremony just two quick pieces pleasee!” Remus said quickly, squeezing Sirius’ hand. 

James sighed, audibly, just for the dramatic effect, before smiling again. 

“Depends on what you want me to play and if the piano actually works, if the keys are sticky, out of tune or it’s an electric one I won’t do it.” James said. 

“Well, we were hoping for Chopin’s Ballade No.1 and the Pas de Deux from The Nutcracker, y’know Tchaikovsky…” Sirius said. 

“I can play the Pas but I’ve never attempted to learn any Ballade from Chopin yet, so I’ll update on that. Overall it’s a yes, as long as their piano works well.” James smiled. “I’ll have to go see my parents to practice ugh.” he said, sarcastically. 

“And I’m sure it goes without saying that we expect a speech from you for the after party right?” Remus added.

“Oh yes I figured, any other duties I should know about perhaps?” James asked.

“Well, you’re taking care of the rings, and of anything else that could possibly go wrong. If I forget something it’s up to you to fix it!” Sirius glared “Then of course someone has to stay with Buckbeak until we start, so it’ll be you or Lily since he only listens to you guys. Then for photos I will trust you on carrying some of our stuff around, then of course you need to take care of any gifts or things and bring them home after if we can’t.” Sirius listed everything. 

“I will be glad to.” James smiled fondly “Feels like yesterday when I caught you kissing in the physics lab.” 

Remus visibly cringed as he heard that, grabbing the closest pillow to him to scream into. 

“We were SO stupid! Sirius totally abused his key privilege for the lab!” he groaned. 

“I’m sort of glad you found out like that, I would’ve hated actually having to tell you, I was pretty terrified back then.” Sirius lit a cigarette as he spoke. 

“Oh please you make me sound like some sort of mean bully! Terrified of what?” James rolled his eyes.

“What he’s trying to say is that I was his gay awakening and he didn’t know if it was okay to like me or not back then!” Remus teased, patting Sirius on the shoulder playfully. 

“Nope, let's change the subject!” Sirius shouted “James how is Regulus? I saw him recently but I mean it as, I dunno, is he okay with me and him talking and all? Is he awkward around you?” Sirius fidgeted with one strand of hair, twirling it in his fingers. 

“I’m not sure what you guys talk about but we get along really well!” James smiled to himself “Had him over at my flat twice now I think?” 

James forgot about his conversation with Remus until now, when he accidentally met his gaze. Remus was practically glaring at him with a weird expression. 

“Oh!” Sirius looked pretty shocked himself “Well I certainly didn’t expect that! Is he awkward around you or anything? What do you guys talk about? It was pretty hard for me to, y'know, get him to open up and talk.” 

“Well I just ask him things and he replies, he’s really easy to talk to! I got him to watch Fantastic Mr. Fox with me, he really liked it.” James chose his words carefully, as Remus was already giving him weird looks “Next on my must watch Wes Anderson movies is Grand Budapest Hotel, we didn’t decide when to watch it yet so maybe you should come over too when we do! It’ll be nice I think!” 

“Wait, that's brilliant! I didn’t get a chance to see him yet, I’m assuming I could come too right?” Remus asked, “I miss him honestly, he was fun to be around!” 

Sirius turned to Remus looking absolutely baffled.

“Why do the both of you get along with my brother so well?” Sirius scoffed “Well, obviously I know why he tolerates James but since when did he enjoy spending time with you?’’  

“Since always! When I didn’t have anyone to talk to about my crush on you I’d go to him, and he’d tell me more about his in exchange!” Remus winked, giving Sirius a knowing look. James didn’t really understand what that was about.

“What do you mean why he tolerates me? Does he have some random reason?” James asked, being a bit confused by what Sirius said.

“Oh well y’know just some things from when we were little, nothing to worry about.” Remus chuckled, looking at Sirius again, who also giggled. 

“You guys know something I don’t!” James gasped.

“Let’s keep it that way!” Sirius managed to get his words out before hysterically laughing with Remus. They wheezed until they turned red, making James feel more than left out.

After they calmed down a bit Remus’ expression changed, as if he realised something, so he turned to James again:

“You mean you seriously don’t know? You’ve never figured out something about Regulus when you were little?” he asked discreetly. 

“No..? What?! What is this about? Was I supposed to figure something out?” James looked around the room as if some divine spirit would give him the answer. 

“Right mate um, pretend you didn’t hear us say anything, just carry on!” Sirius still smiled, standing up to find something to do. 

“Why won’t you tell me! I seriously don’t get it!” James felt like he was being left out of some inside joke. 

“No need to worry about it mate really, just a thing of the past, I hope.” Remus said. 

“Fine..” James figured he might as well change the subject “Who’ll walk you down the aisle? Remus, Lyall I assume?” 

“Yeah, I can already picture him crying and all.” Remus smiled.

“Sirius? I’m sure Fleamont would love to, last time I went to see him he asked me about how you’re doing before even asking what I’m doing.” James knows Sirius’ situation is a bit awkward, so he wanted to make sure he knows someone is there for him. James’ parents see Sirius as their own.

“He would?” Sirius looked so emotional all of a sudden, his voice cracked lightly “I was actually debating on what I should do, I was really trying to figure things out. I suppose I could talk to him.” 

“Well, he wants you two to come over for dinner anyway, Effie too. They want to properly congratulate you and things.” James stood up to check the calendar “I’m seeing them this Thursday, you should join me.” 

“Oh I really want to see Effie! We’ll be there!” Remus said. 

After some more small talk the conversation switched to Sirius, who decided to brag about how he’s torturing his students. 

“Well, I told all of them that if no one in the class fails their astro-physics final I will be taking them out for drinks.” Sirius grinned “Thing is, I figured out the perfect problem to give them, only the biggest nerds will figure it out since it will be on a topic I rarely discussed in class! One tiny formula that if they miss they won’t get it. I’ll give them one cheat sheet and an open syllabus. The formula they need to use is in the corner of page 279, they will not figure it out, at least not all of them.” 

“Well that’s just mean! What if some of them have scholarships they need to maintain? Why just fail them like this?” Remus asked.

“Well, I know who actually tries in class and who doesn’t. There’s this one girl, she always fumbles written exams but her labs are flawless! I always give her extra credit! I’ll do the same for anyone who behaves, the rest will just have to come back next year!” Sirius opened the book to the formula he talked about “They think I’ll go easy on them because we’re basically the same age, little do they know I have every little detail about physics memorised while they’re just sitting around hoping I won’t give them something too hard.” 

“You know I sort of hate that! This is why I don’t teach yet! They treat you like an equal when you’re clearly smarter!” James said. 

“I think you should go easier on them, not everyone has brains like yours.” Remus said “You talk about the funny stuff they said in class all of the time, at least give them some stupid assignment for extra credit, like the first person who can bring you a very specific type of coffee back wins.” 

“I did that once, don't you remember? Sent them to the other building to ask an art major about Quantum Chromodynamics, they ended up knowing more about colours than my students! I bet them 10 points that art majors will know the answer, all of those who took the bet lost 10 points from their exam! It was a blast” 

“Wait, this does sound fun! You’re torturing them though, physics is hard enough as it is!” James could imagine himself teaching something absurd like this, but he needed to be a bit older first. 

“I’m so glad I study english, it’s a lot more peaceful over here.” Remus sighed “Speaking of english, do you have any Nietzsche works I can borrow? In my literature analysis class my professor switched the topic. Our first assignment is to analyse one of Nietzche’s works by the end of the month and explain why he viewed the world the way he did!” 

“Yeah I’ve got plenty, I’ll give you the ones I already have annotated to give you a bit of help with your assignment.” James winked. 

“Mmm wonderful!” Remus smiled.

*

*

*

James’ weekend ended quickly. He ended up spending the night and Sirius’ flat, discussing some more wedding plans with him and Remus. On Sunday he got back on track with work, since he fell behind these couple of days. 

He also checked the photo he posted on his story,  just because Prongs liked the attention. Of course his friends liked it, giving him funny responses as they normally would. Even some of his clients liked it, which just made James’ ego rise an unholy amount. What he noticed though was Regulus’ like, which he really did not expect. In James’ brain, liking other people's stories meant you consider them your friend, so he was happy to see that Regulus did what he did, since it now meant that he and James were friends.  

Of course Prongs never doubted their friendship, not really, he just liked the certainty.