Chapter 5
James
James had been practicing for a couple of days now, but he still didn’t feel like part of the team.
All he’d been doing was erging alone, running drills in the boathouse while the others were out on the water. There was no camaraderie, no casual chirping between sets, no one there to shove him playfully after a good stroke or hype him up when he hit a new PR.
It wasn’t hockey.
Hockey had been a family. In the way they crushed each other with hugs and slaps on the helmet after a goal, in the way they broke their bodies for each other every game. And off the ice? They partied just as hard as they played. Drinking each other under the table, getting into trouble, waking up in places they didn’t remember but always finding their way back together.
James missed that.
And he wanted to know if the rowing team had anything close to that or if he was stuck with a bunch of guys who went to bed at 9 PM and only drank electrolytes on the weekends.
So after another brutal solo session on the erg, he tracked down Remus Lupin.
“Hey, quick question,” James started, falling into step beside him. “Do you guys, like… party?”
Remus barked out a laugh. “Jesus, you don’t waste any time, do you?”
James grinned. “Nah, man, I’m just tryna figure out the vibe here. 'Cause with my hockey guys? We’d go hard after a win.”
Remus shook his head, still amused. “I wish. Most of these guys are the my body is a temple type of athletes.” He rolled his eyes. “They’d rather have an extra hour of sleep than a beer.”
James groaned dramatically. “That’s tragic.”
“Yeah, but some of us still like to have a good time,” Remus added, smirking. “I love to drink, and have a cigarette on the weekends. Some of the other guys do too.”
James perked up instantly. Finally.
“Perfect. We should all hang out,” he said. “I wanna introduce some of you guys to my old teammates. The hockey house is throwing a party this weekend—why don’t you bring a couple of the chiller guys, and we’ll have a good time?”
Remus thought for a second before nodding. “Yeah, sounds fun. Just text me the address and what time, and I’ll make sure we show up.”
James went to clap him on the shoulder but hesitated as a sudden thought hit him.
Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “Hey, you should try to invite Reg.”
Remus raised a brow. “The lightweight?”
“Yeah.” James shrugged, trying to sound casual. “I just think he could use some… loosening up.” He scratched the back of his neck. “But it shouldn’t come from me.”
Remus let out a knowing chuckle. “Ohhh, I see.”
James rolled his eyes. “It’s not like that. I just—he’s so damn wound up, and he’s been looking at me like I personally ruined his life. Maybe if he had a couple of drinks, he’d stop acting like I killed his dog.”
Remus hummed, unconvinced but clearly entertained. “You might be onto something. Plus, I’ve been trying to fix the whole openweight versus lightweight divide, so this could be a solid opportunity to bring everyone together.”
“Exactly.”
Remus smirked. “Text me with the details, yeah?” He clapped James on the shoulder before turning toward the locker room. “See you tomorrow, big boy.”
James groaned but couldn’t fight off the grin that tugged at his lips.
This was going to be interesting.
When James got home, he found Sirius exactly where he expected—sprawled on the couch, fully absorbed in NHL 14 on their Xbox, thumb flicking lazily over the joystick as he played against some unlucky soul online.
Sirius barely glanced up as James dropped his bag by the door. “Yo,” he greeted casually, tilting his shoulder toward the other controller sitting beside him.
James took the silent invitation, plopping down onto the couch and picking it up. Without a word, Sirius quit his current game, sending a quick message to whoever he was playing with before:
"gg, gotta bounce."
It was an unspoken rule—whenever James was home, he got priority to play with Sirius.
They’d spent years fighting over who got to play as the Bruins, but ever since James got drafted to Toronto, Sirius made him play as them instead, claiming that "Jamie boy needs to learn how to play with his future teammates."
It was bullshit, and they both knew it. But James let it slide. It was just a video game, after all.
As Sirius loaded up a fresh game, James leaned back against the couch. “So hey, I invited one of my new teammates, Remus, to the party on Saturday. Hes a cool guy, I told him to bring some of the other guys. I’d like for you all to meet each other.”
For a fraction of a second, something flickered across Sirius’ face—worry, hesitation, something James couldnt quite catch before it vanished. Within a heartbeat, it was replaced with his usual easy smile.
“Sounds great, Jamie,” Sirius said smoothly. “We’ll show those rowers a time.”
But then—he hesitated.
James watched as Sirius’ fingers hovered over the controller, his grip a little too tight, his gaze fixed on the screen for just a second too long.
Then, suddenly, he dropped the controller altogether, stretched his arms dramatically, and faked a yawn.
“Actually, shit—sorry, James, I gotta hole up in my room for a while. Got an econ test I’m totally fucked for.” He shot James a lopsided grin and stood up, already sauntering toward his room. “But let’s grab dinner later, yeah?”
James blinked as Sirius disappeared down the hall, the door clicking shut behind him.
… Weird.
Then again, Sirius was always weird, so James shrugged it off.
Instead, he pulled out his phone and fired off a text to the hockey group chat.
James:some of the rowing guys are gonna be at the party, be nice
Peter:make sure they bring boooooze
James:noted
James chuckled at his screen before tossing his phone onto the coffee table.
His attention drifted back to the game Sirius had abandoned—and to the username of the player on the other side of the screen.
R.Black_Star.
James smirked, feeling a mischievous itch creep up his spine. He grabbed Sirius’ remote instead, hovering over the message box.
Blackdawgg:nvm I can keep playing
Ah well.
James did love causing a little trouble.
The game restarted, and just like that, James was playing against Regulus…without him knowing.
James picked the Leafs out of obligation. He knew Regulus was gonna pick the Rangers—Reg had always been weirdly loyal to them, despite how much shit he got for it. He thinks its because Sirius is so diehard for the Bruins, Reg wanted to be different.
The first period started, and James was cocky at first, chirping at the screen, but—
Regulus was good.
Like, actually good.
His defense was a nightmare to break through, and he played with this sharp, disciplined style that James should have expected but still hated playing against. It was infuriatingly difficult to get anything past him.
James barely scraped by with an overtime goal, but before he could even celebrate, a message popped up.
R.Black_Star:Why do you suck all of a sudden?
James barked out a laugh. He should absolutely not engage, but—
Blackdawgg:I just won???
There was a pause, then—
R.Black_Star:Yeah but you were beating my ass hard like 5 minutes ago.
R.Black_Star: Maybe its cause your playing in a Leafs jersey…Treasonous btw.
James barked out a laugh, delighted by the chirp, and without thinking, sent back:
Blackdawgg: Says the guy playing as the Rangers.
R.Black_Star: That’s only cause you usually insist on being the Bruins!
For a moment James forgot that Regulus thought he was playing with his brother. He almost blew his cover.
James grinned, settling deeper into the couch.
He should have told Regulus who he was playing against.
…But where was the fun in that?
James was locked in, controller gripped tight, fully immersed in yet another overtime battle against Regulus. They had been playing for hours now, trading wins back and forth, neither willing to back down.
Regulus had no idea he was playing against James, and that made it even better.
James could practically feel the frustration through the screen whenever he scored a greasy rebound goal or when Regulus’ defense barely fell apart under pressure. And to his endless delight, Regulus had stopped sending chirps after every game and instead just sent one-word demands like—
R.Black_Star:Again.
James smirked, about to line up for the next faceoff when—
Sirius’ door creaked open.
“Hey, Jamie, you ready to hit the dining hall?”
James flinched so hard he nearly dropped the controller. Without thinking, he lunged for the remote and turned off the TV in one frantic motion.
Sirius raised an eyebrow, clearly not missing James' panic move. “Uh. What the hell was that?”
James shrugged way too quickly, forcing an easy grin. “Nothing, just—uh, I was done anyway.”
Sirius narrowed his eyes, glancing at the now-dark TV screen. “Who were you playing?”
James was already off the couch, stretching like he’d been totally relaxed the whole time. “Peter.”
Sirius blinked. “Peter?”
“Yeah.”
Sirius gave him a skeptical look, but after a moment, he let it go, shoving his hands into his hoodie pocket. “Alright, whatever. Let’s eat, I’m starving.”
James exhaled a little too deeply and grabbed his phone before following Sirius out the door.
As they walked out the door, James took one last glance at the message sitting unopened in the corner of their dark tv screen.
R.Black_Star:Did you just rage quit?? Lmao
James smirked to himself.
Maybe he’d give Regulus a rematch later.