Brunch!
Regulus was doing the crossword in the paper. It was peaceful; early morning, a cup of Jasmine tea in his hands, the crossword in front of him, the low hum of rain outside, and no sound but his own breathing and the scratching of his pencil inside his home.
He took a sip of his tea, only a few more words left to go before he was finished. That was slightly disappointing, but he lifted his spirits slightly with thoughts of going down to the public library or maybe he could stay in the whole day, playing the piano, rereading one of the books he had on his shelf, maybe getting his paints out and doing some landscape painting by the window.
It was a peaceful Sunday.
A loud yelp came from the hallway, Regulus jumped in shock and spilled his tea over himself and his crossword.
The voice laughed, seeing what had happened, and walked over, jumping onto the sofa and laying down with a sigh.
“Hello, Reggie!”
“Sirius. Why are you here?”
Sirius didn’t answer, instead tilting their head to the corner of the room with a raised eyebrow, “What’s with the fire extinguishers?”
“It was a joke.”
They sat up, “A joke played on you, or a joke you played on someone else?”
“A joke I played on someone else. Now may you please answer my question?”
Sirius ignored him again, placing a hand on his heart, “You made a joke? I’m so proud of you, Reggie!”
“Why are you here?” He gritted his teeth.
Sirius stood up, stretching, “Brunch.”
“I’m not cooking you brunch.”
“That is not what I meant. I’m taking you out for brunch with a couple of my mates!”
“I decline the offer, I’m rather busy today.”
Sirius grinned, “Doing what? Spilling tea on yourself?”
“That was your fault! I didn’t expect anyone to come into my house! How do you even have a key?”
Sirius’ grin widened, “I’m a magician.”
Regulus sighed, getting up to clean himself up, “Can you poof out of here then? I’m not going to brunch with you.”
Sirius sat back on the sofa, “Go clean yourself up then, I’ll wait for you here and then we’ll go out for brunch.”
“It’s like you don’t hear a word I say”, Regulus muttered, throwing his wet t-shirt at Sirius as he walked to his bedroom to change.
Sirius took his jacket off and got up from the sofa, wandering to the kitchen and making himself some of Regulus’ tea. He turned the small radio on, the sounds of some classical station chiming through. He changed it to Absolute Radio.
At that moment, Dorcas Meadowes almost ran into the kitchen, “Are you listening to Oasis? Oh my god, Reg. I cannot believe this.”
Sirius turned around, “Who are you?”
“Who the hell are you? Are you Reg’s evil twin or something?”
Sirius gaped, just as Regulus came strolling into the room, “Who’s that? And why don’t they know who I am?”
Regulus shrugged, walking over to steal the tea Sirius had just made and walked back to the sofa.
“You didn’t tell me you had an evil twin!”
“He’s the evil one!”
Regulus massaged his temple, “Dorcas. I thought you were going on a date, why are you back? And Sirius, can you not rummage around my house and steal my belongings?”
“She had to cancel, something about her ‘keeper’ not letting her out today. She’s very mysterious.”
Regulus raised an eyebrow but didn’t reply, instead turning to Sirius who seemed to be having a growing smirk on his irritating face.
“You have a friend?” They hummed in excitement.
“Yes, I have a friend. I have multiple friends. Dorcas is my roommate for the time being.”
“They’re your roommate, and yet you haven’t told them about me?”
“Dorcas punched Regulus in the arm, “You told me you were an only child!”
Regulus huffed, folding his arms, “I can’t talk about this now, Cas. I’ve got plans to go to brunch.”
He grabbed his coat from the armrest of the sofa, and folded it over his arm, “Ready?”
Sirius tilted his head to the side, flicking their eyes between Regulus and Dorcas, and grinned, “Dorcas, how would you like to come with us to brunch?”
Dorcas smiled, turning to Regulus, “I would love to.”
Regulus lifted his head to the sky in annoyance, his peaceful day was dilapidated by the social interaction he was being forced into. So much for sitting alone at home, reading a book on a rainy morning. He hated having siblings and friends. What was the point? Companionship? Disgusting.
He held the door out for the two nuisances, and almost hissed as he spoke, “Die.”
-
Marlene Mckinnon sat at a table with James Potter at her side. Prick. She sipped on her mimosa, glaring at James.
He smiled back, sipping his tea.
“I hate brunch.”
“You don’t hate brunch.”
“It’s repulsive”, she moaned, leaning back in her chair.
James leaned over, “I thought you were into living wild, making every moment count? So, even if you don’t like brunch, you should still try it.”
“I had a date, James!”
He sighed, picking up his teacup, “Well Minerva said you shouldn’t be dating yet.”
“Since when did you get boring?” She huffed, before thinking back on a memory, a smile spreading across her face, “Don’t you remember when you’d get in fights with random people? When you and Sirius travelled round for months with no money or phones? Or when you crashed your car into our teacher's on purpose? Or when we played golf on the school roof?”
“Because I was a silly kid back then!”
“It was like five years ago! Nothing’s changed! The world’s still bleak and boring and pointless, just waiting for us to die! So why not have fun? You used to be the king of fun!”
James shook his head and sipped his tea, before turning as the door opened, “Ah, there they are.”
Sirius and Regulus walked in, bickering about something as usual. And behind them, was Dorcas Meadowes.
Marlene grinned.