Chapter Text
Regulus sits on the steps outside his apartment building. He doesn’t usually wait outside, but the weather had finally turned warm, and Regulus wanted to take advantage. Besides, he had been sitting inside his apartment waiting, but then inside had begun to feel stuffy. He frowns, turning his wrist to check his watch. Sirius was late.
He taps his foot. Maybe he won’t come. Or maybe Regulus will go out on a walk, wait it out and he won’t have to go. Deep in his bones, Regulus wanted to run away, scatter into the wind piece by wicked piece until there was nothing left of him.
So he's not exactly in a good mood when Sirius shows up, 10 minutes after he said he would, on his sleek black motorbike. Regulus approaches him cautiously. Sirius grins, and holds out a black helmet to Regulus “Sorry I’m late, traffic was awful.”
“No,” Regulus says, crossing his arms and not even attempting to reach for the offered helmet.
“Oh, come on” Sirius pouts. “It’s only a 20 minute ride there.”
Regulus glares, “A 20 minute drive that you will be making alone.” Regulus can feel the anger coiling in his gut like a snake and he clings to it, lets it lash out, “This is just like you. You know I hate the bike, but you like it, and so I have to bend to your fucking will. And you can tell Minerva I said that when you see her.” With that Regulus turns around, stalking back to his apartment building. This was a bad fucking idea, Regulus knew it was a bad idea. He never should have entertained it.
“Wait, Reg” Regulus hears, and the sound of the metal hitting the pavement. He picks up the pace but Sirius is quicker and grabs his arm. “Please Reg, I’m trying, I am.”
Regulus stops, but doesn’t turn around. “Regulus, not Reg,” he corrects. “And if you were really trying, you wouldn’t make me ride that metal deathtrap.”
Sirius sighs, and tugs on Regulus’s arm. Regulus allows himself to be pulled, and the two brothers are facing each other. Sirius chews his lip before explaining, “Moony borrowed my car. His mom is in the hospital, it was an emergency. It’s why I was late too, I wanted to make sure he was okay before I left.”
Regulus looks down. Of course. Sirius wasn't doing anything malicious, he had a genuine reason to bring the bike, and a reason to be late. But Regulus hadn’t even given him a second to explain, just assuming the worst of his own brother. Sirius had his own problems to deal with, he didn’t need Regulus being a moody git on top of that. “Is she okay?”
Sirius grins, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Hope? Course, she’s a trooper.”
Regulus doesn’t know what to say next. Is he supposed to ask what’s wrong? Or is that too invasive? He decides to ignore it. “You will be driving the speed limit the entire way,” Regulus demands.
Sirius beams at the agreement, and nods vehemently. “Pinky promise,” he agrees. He holds out the helmet again, still in his hand.
Regulus takes it this time. He heads over to the bike, and calls to Sirius, “Now hurry up, we’re late.”
The drive isn’t as bad as Regulus had feared. Sirius sits in the front, with Regulus behind him, holding onto Sirius. At one point Sirius reaches down to Regulus’s hand and pries it from it’s tight grip on Sirius’s side, digging into the skin. Regulus loosens his grip reluctantly. Sirius’s body blocks most of the wind, but the sound of screaming wind is loud as the air whips around them. At first Regulus keeps his eyes tightly closed, but after a few minutes and no crash, he feels safe enough to keep his eyes open.
Sirius does end up going the speed limit the whole way, which means they’re still running late. Once parked outside the building, the two brothers rush inside.
The inside of the building is bright and clean, and it puts Regulus on edge. They leave their names with the lady at the front desk. She looks a bit older, with grayed hair, and a sweet smile. Her nametag reads ‘Poppy’.
Sirius and Regulus take a seat in the waiting room, but it’s less than a minute when the door to the back area opens, and a tall woman with a stern face calls out “Sirius and Regulus Black?”
The two brothers glance at each other. Sirius gives Regulus a small smile. Regulus can feel his heartbeat rising as his nerves set in. He schools his face carefully, and they follow the woman into the back. She leads them into a room, and Regulus has to admit it’s more inviting than the waiting room. The room is covered in earth tones, with a comfortable looking couch and matching arm chairs.
The woman introduces herself as Dr. Minerva McGonagall. “But you can call me Minerva,” she says.
“How about Minnie,” Sirius asks with a wink. Minerva raises an eyebrow at him unimpressed. She gestures towards the couch, and takes a seat in an arm chair.
The brothers settle on opposite sides of the couch. There is a moment of silence. Regulus’s mind is reeling, are they meant to start talking first? He doesn’t know how this works, but he had assumed she would lead them. But then Minerva says, “It’s very nice to meet you both. Reaching out for help is never easy, so I must commend you for doing so.” There’s silence again, and neither brother moves to fill it. Minerva continues, as if she hadn’t paused, “Can I ask why you both decided to seek out family therapy?”
Going to therapy together hadn’t been an easy decision. There had been many fights, and pushes from friends before they could even think about it. But they both knew the house they grew up in was full of hatred and twisted values and had left the brothers covered in scars, both physical and otherwise. Ever since Regulus had gotten out of his parents house, Sirius had been persistent, adamant in being a part of his brother’s life. Regulus had pushed him away at first, feeling betrayed and vulnerable. But it was nice to see that his big brother did care for him, and did want him in his life. They blew up at each other, of course, but they were brothers. Well, they used to be brothers, and maybe someday, with some work, they could reach that again.
So they talk, stilted as it is, with Minerva about it.
“It’s just hard, because it feels like we don’t know each other anymore,” Sirius is saying. Minerva listens attentively, nodding slightly. “We didn’t talk for almost 7 years. How are we supposed to get along if we barely know each other?”
Regulus had been sitting back for the most part, letting Sirius do most of the talking. But this was something he could speak on. “Sometimes,” he admitted quietly, “it’s like looking at a stranger. A stranger who has all the same childhood memories as you, but a stranger nonetheless.”
Sirius looks down, fiddling with the rings on his fingers from where he sits at the other end of the couch. Regulus can tell he looks sad to hear this, but he doesn’t disagree.
Minerva hums, considering this. “Perhaps it would be a good idea to spend more time together. Relearn each other's habits, and interests.”
Regulus' eyes flicker to his brother, and he sees Sirius wince slightly. “We’ve been trying to do that,” he admits. “It’s just a bit difficult because the tour is coming up.”
Ah yes, Regulus thinks bitterly. The tour.
“The tour?” Minerva echoes with a frown, glancing down at her notes.
Sirius puts a hand on the back of his neck and gives her a half smirk, “Yeah, I’m actually in band, called the Marauders. You might have heard of us, we’ve been getting good press lately, and after we signed with Gryffindor Records, they booked us a European tour.”
Minerva’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “That’s quite the feat. Congratulations Sirius.”
With a wolfish grin, Sirius says “You should check us out, you might like what you hear.” He continues, his smile lowering, “The tour though, it’s soon. Well, I actually leave in two days. We’ll be gone for months, and I won’t have much free time to call Reggie.”
“Regulus,” Regulus corrects automatically.
Sirius rolls his eyes, “Regulus,” he echoes.
Minerva watches the exchange with pursed lips. “I do see how that would make it difficult to spend time together,” she admits with a wry grin. She eyes Regulus. “What do you do for work then?”
“I write,” Regulus says simply.
Sirius cuts in, “He’s a novelist, and a good one. On the New York Times Bestseller list too!” Regulus glares at him, but Sirius just shrugs, “What, if you’re not gonna brag about yourself, I will.”
Regulus wills himself not to flush. He wants to hate Sirius sometimes, for pushing himself into every part of Regulus’s life. But a part of him - a very small part, he forces himself to think- likes knowing his older brother is proud of him. He pushes that part down to the depths of his mind.
Minerva makes a triumphant sound. “Well, that sounds like something you could do while traveling.” Regulus frowns, not comprehending, so Minerva continues, “What if you go with Sirius on the tour?”
Regulus stares at her incredulously. He shakes his head. “No way, absolutely not.” He does not look at Sirius, does not want to know what expression is on his face.
Minerva nods slowly. “Can I ask why not? What’s keeping you here?”
What’s keeping him here? What kind of question is that? His entire life is here in London, his flat, his book manager, his friends. “My friends,” he says. Regulus could live without his flat, could find somewhere else to live, but he could never leave his friends. Barty and Evan, his best friends since school. Dorcas, his Editor. And Pandora, another author under Dorcas’s care. The five of them had been a team, ever since Regulus met Dorcas, and dragged Barty and Evan with him, while Dorcas dragged along Pandora. They had become inseparable, best friends who understood each other on a deep level. Regulus would call them family, but considering where he grew up, that would be a disservice.
“They could come too,” Sirius says eagerly, too fast. Regulus looks at him, and sees the hope that Sirius is desperately trying to hide. Regulus frowns. Did his brother really want him to go on tour with him? So much that he would invite Regulus’s friends too?
“I don’t know,” Regulus says cautiously. “I don’t want them to just uproot their entire lives to accompany me.”
Minerva nods. “Of course, you don’t want to force them to leave everything behind if they don’t want to come.”
Regulus nods quickly, glad she understands.
Minerva smiles, except it’s closer to a smirk. Regulus doesn’t know why, but he feels like a fly caught in a spider’s web. “Of course,” she says again, but then, gentler, “But you won’t know whether or not they want to come unless you ask them.”
Oh. Regulus realizes. She has a point. Regulus knew his friends well, and could guess how they would respond. But that’s different from actually giving them the chance to respond. Regulus considers this, absentmindedly twisting the silver snake ring on his middle finger. He looks up at Sirius, who had been watching him. Sirius looks tense, and Regulus realizes he’s waiting intently for Regulus’s decision.
The guilt and insecurity in the pit of his stomach gnawed at him. “You really-” he starts, then shakes it off. “I mean, it’d be okay if I came with you?”
Sirius’s eyes widened in hope. He nods vehemently, exclaiming “Yes! Yes, that would be amazing! You could watch me play! And we could just, hang out and stuff.” Sirius glances at Minerva, and Regulus realizes with humor that ‘hang out and stuff’ is likely code for ‘get drunk and party’.
But Regulus needs to make sure everything will work out before he can let himself think about it too much. “And my friends? There would be five of us, including me. Are you sure that’s not too many people to add at the last minute?”
Sirius hesitates, frowning. “I think we can make it work.” Then nodding to himself, “Yeah, I’ll talk to Marlene, I’m sure she’ll help figure it out.” Marlene, the Marauder’s manager. Regulus had often heard Sirius say the Marauder’s wouldn’t be half as popular without her there to help them.
Regulus is still on edge, as he thinks through the idea. It would drastically change the next few months of his life. But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Regulus loved that he could work as a novelist, but he was in a bit of a writing block lately. Perhaps the travel would provide some inspiration? “I’d have to talk to them,” Regulus warns Sirius, “Before agreeing for sure.”
Sirius seems to buzz in his seat, then starts bouncing up and down on his seat like a child. “Is that a yes?” he asks eagerly.
Regulus rolls his eyes. Trust Sirius to only hear what he wanted to hear. “It’s a maybe,” Regulus says firmly. Sirius just grins, still bouncing up and down in his seat.
Minerva smiles, “Well, I think that could be quite beneficial for both of you, if it works out.”
________________________
“AHHHHH! Oh my god Reg tell me you’re joking!”
Reg winces, rubbing his ear after the shrill shriek. Pandora was standing in front of him, stars in her eyes. Regulus grumbles, “I wish.”
Pandora shrieks again. The five friends had gathered in Barty and Evan’s apartment. It was their typical meeting place, since the two shared, and it had the most space.
Dorcas grabs a bottle of wine from on top of the fridge, and pours herself a glass. “That would actually be really cool,” she says casually. “I’ve listened to some of their stuff, they’re pretty good.”
Regulus turns to her, glaring daggers. “You’ve listened to them?” he demands. “You’re meant to be my friend. Traitor.”
Dorcas rolls her eyes. “I thought you and Sirius were getting along? I assumed that negated the standing order to not listen to his band.”
Regulus huffs, “You assumed wrong.”
Evan, from where he’s sitting next to Barty at the kitchen table, says, “Do ya think they’ll have any job opening? Like crew or security or something? Only thing is, I’d have to quit my job at the office, I don’t think I can just bunk off for a few months and expect to pay rent.” Currently, Evan was working as a receptionist at a doctor’s office. He was good at his job, but it was obvious to his friends that it wasn’t fulfilling for him.
Barty, not raising his eyes from where he’s typing frantically on his phone, pipes up, “Seconded on the job thing.”
Regulus shrugs, “I don’t know, I guess I could ask Sirius. But you don’t have to quit your job for this, it was just a stupid idea.”
“Too late,” Barty says, setting down his phone. Regulus eyes follow the movement with concern.
“What?” Dorcas says, taking her wine to the table and taking a seat.
Barty shrugs, gesturing to his phone. “I just texted my resignation letter, effective immediately.”
Evan’s eyes widen. “Barty!” He chastises. “We haven’t even agreed yet.”
Pandora hums in disapproval. “I think we should do it. Me and Reg can work on our writing. Dorcas can manage us from the tour, since we’re her only clients right now. And I’m sure there will be some kind of work needed on tour that the two of you can handle.” Her eyes glow as she thinks through her plan. “Besides, Barty already quit his job for this, so honestly it would be rude if anyone else didn’t go through with it.”
Regulus groans. “Barty, seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you.”
Barty leans back in his seat, unapologetic. “I’ve been looking for a reason to quit for ages,” he admits. Which is true enough. Barty’s (previous) job was in construction. The work was fine, the pay was shit, and his manager was an asshole. Or at least that’s how Barty always described it.
Evan shrugs, “Yeah alright. I’ll call my manager to let her know I’m not coming back."
Regulus looks at Evan incredulously. “Seriously? The two of you are just going to quit your jobs on a whim?”
Pandora scoffed,. “It’s not a whim, Reggie. It’s a full European tour with a famous pop punk band.” Her eyes lit up. “Oh my god, I have to check out the tour schedule. Where are we going? Oh I hope we get to go to Paris!” She paused to spin around, as if imagining herself in the city already.
“The first stop is Madrid,” Dorcas informs them. Regulus doesn’t want to know how she knows that off hand.
Pandora gasps, eyes wide. “I have nothing to wear for a Spain trip,” she wails.
Dorcas rolled her eyes. “You have plenty to wear Pan, you literally turned your second bedroom into a walk in closet.”
“But I don’t have anything to wear while touring with the Marauders! I need an entire new wardrobe!” Pandora’s eyes narrow onto Regulus, who feels very brave for not recoiling at the intensity of her gaze. “You don’t have anything to wear either.”
“I have plenty to wear, thank you,” Regulus says, offended.
Pandora glares, “You are not wearing dark jeans and a green sweater to a Marauders concert.”
Before Regulus could defend himself, Barty piped up, “Especially if you wanna impress James ‘the hunk’ Potter.” Barty smirks, looking proud of himself. James ‘the hunk’ Potter had been a name that Barty started, and repeated so often on social media that the Marauders’ fans had picked up on it, and it had become an affectionate nickname for the singer from his fanbase.
Regulus refuses to rise to the bait, not even bothering to turn towards Barty. “Well I don’t, so I guess my current wardrobe will be sufficient.”
Dorcas laughs, “Yeah, I’m sure you don’t care what Potter thinks about you. He’s only been your favorite topic for the past seven years.”
Regulus stiffens. He didn’t talk about Potter that much. “Because I hate him,” he reminds her.
“Yeah, seriously guys, ease up” Evan says, standing up. He walks towards Regulus and puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. “We’re going on this tour to support Regulus, and help him get along with his brother again.” This doesn’t make anyone look apologetic, but Regulus appreciates the sentiment. But then Evan gives a wolfish grin, “And when Reg and Sirius are doing better, Reg can focus on pining after his brother’s best friend.” They all laugh.
Nevermind, Regulus hated his friends.“I hate you all,” he says, pushing Evan’s hand off. Evan lets it go with a laugh.
“No you don’t,” Pandora says sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes at him.
“Yeah,” Barty agrees, fluttering his own eyelashes at Regulus too. “We’re too pretty to hate.”
Regulus glowered. “I hope our plane to Madrid crashes, and we all die in a fiery wreck,” he declares.
“Does that mean we’re going on the tour,” Dorcas says with a grin. The others lean in, awaiting Regulus’s decision. Regulus realizes that, although they had all agreed individually, they were letting Regulus have the final say in the matter.
Regulus glares at Dorcas, because he’s still angry. But he also remembers the look of hope on Sirius’s face when he thought Regulus might go on the tour with him. “Fine,” he says.
Pandora squeals, running to Regulus and wrapping her arms around his waist. Regulus holds himself stiff at first, but then allows himself to wrap his own arms around her. She whispers in his ear, “Now can we go shopping?”
Regulus rolls his eyes. “As soon as I talk to Sirius,” he promises. “I need to let him know we’re going, and ask about jobs for Barty and Evan.”
Pandora releases him immediately, “Call him now!” she demands, then darts off towards the front of the apartment. She digs through her bag and pulls out her phone. “I’ll start looking up shops!”
Regulus groans, and pulls out his own phone. He doesn’t particularly want to talk to Sirius, they had done quite enough of that earlier at therapy. He opts to text instead.
From: Regulus
To: mon frère agaçant
3:24pm
Would there be two jobs available for Barty and Evan? Something in crew or security.
From: mon frère agaçant
To: Regulus
3:25pm
Let me check.
3:27pm
Yeah, I can get them both into Security.
Regulus looks up from his phone. Barty, Evan, and Dorcas are at the table, heads gathered as they talk about the Marauders and the upcoming tour. “Does Security work?” Regulus asks.
Barty and Evan glance at each other. Evan shrugs. Barty says, “Sure.” And the three go back to gossiping about what songs they think the Marauder’s will be singing. Regulus is irritated to find they seem to know a lot of the Marauder’s discography already.
From: Regulus
To: mon frère agaçant
3:28pm
Okay
From: mon frère agaçant
To: Regulus
3:28pm
Okay???
Does that mean you’re coming???
From: Regulus
To: mon frère agaçant
3:29pm
Yes.
All five of us.
From: mon frère agaçant
To: Regulus
3:29pm
!!!!!!!!!!
OH MY GOD!
THIS IS GONNA BE AMAZING I PROMISE
I’M SO EXCITED!!!!!!
🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
From: Regulus
To: mon frère agaçant
3:29pm
Sirius. For both of our sakes. Lay off the emojis.
From: mon frère agaçant
To: Regulus
3:29pm
NEVER!!!
😎😎😎😎💩
3:30
The last one is because you’re a piece of shit (affectionate) <3
ALSO! We’re having a ‘going away’ party tomorrow night, at mine and the bands. Since it’s our last full day in town. You should come, bring your friends.
From: Regulus
To: mon frère agaçant
3:31pm
I’ll think about it
From: mon frère agaçant
To: Regulus
3:31pm
Does that mean yes?
From: Regulus
To: mon frère agaçant
3:32pm
It means I’ll think about it.
Regulus sets his phone down, ignoring the continued buzzing. He’s dealt with his brother enough for one day.
—-
Shopping with Pandora is equally interesting and exhausting. Regulus and Pandora both come from wealthy family lines, so money has never been an issue. They go to upscale shops together, and Pandora drags him around each one, demanding he try on different outfits. Sometimes Regulus feels like a doll that Pandora is dressing up
Right now, Pandora is shopping for herself though. She rifles through stands, muttering to herself as she goes. She pulls out a light pink ruffled dress and considers it, before shaking her head.
Regulus frowns. “I liked that one, it’s very ‘you’.”
“It’s nice,” Pandora expressed, looking back at it longingly “But it’s not the right aesthetic for a pop punk concerts.”
“It’s not like we’ll just be going to concerts. It’s their first big tour, I’m sure there will be a party a night."
Pandora pauses, considering this. “I’m gonna need so many new outfits,” she says with a grin, and grabs the ruffled dress and throws it into her cart. She then looks back at Regulus, glancing up and down at him. “And so are you,”
And with that she’s off again, stalking the aisles. Regulus groans, but it’s half-hearted at best. If Regulus is going to be traveling with a band for a European tour, he’s gonna look damn good doing it.
“Here!” Pandora calls from the other side of the store. Regulus hurries over before Pandora keeps shouting across the store. She holds out a mens shirt and Regulus immediately shakes his head. “It's literally see-through,” he argues.
“But tastefully!” Pandora explains.
The shirt is thin black mesh and the lower part of the shirt is covered in embroidered red flowers. It is tastefully done, Regulus can admit to himself.
“There's no way I'm getting that,” Regulus tells her.
“There's no way you're not getting this.” Pandora counters.
As always, Pandora is right.
__________________________-
The next night Regulus and his friends arrive at his brother’s house for the going away party in Dorcas’s SUV, and immediately Regulus wants to turn around and go home. The music pounding through the house is so loud that not only can they hear it from outside, Regulus is pretty sure the foundation is shaking.
In fact, he says as much to his friends. “Turn around,” he instructs. Dorcas just laughs, and parks the car. Pandora, Barty and Evan all pile out, and Regulus follows sullenly.
There are people loitering outside, smoking and laughing. Regulus and his friends ignore them, walking straight into the house. The inside is even worse, there are people everywhere, all in various stages of drunk or high, talking, chatting, laughing, grinding. The last applies only to a couple, who both seem rather inebriated. Someone else slaps the man on his back, saying a slurred, “Good one, Frank.” Regulus sneers, he isn’t sure what’s ‘good’ about it, given both ‘Frank’ and the girl are moving unrhythmically to the music. It’s hardly dancing as much as it is literal foreplay.
Regulus looks around, searching for Sirius’s familiar black hair. He spots him pretty easily, sitting on a ratty beige couch, and talking emphatically to a lean man with light brown hair, who nods occasionally, looking only slightly amused. Regulus recognizes him as the pianist of the Marauder’s, Remus Lupin.
Regulus turns the other direction, and announces to his group, “I’m going to get a drink”. He heads to the kitchen, not caring if any of his friends follow. He needs at least 5 drinks before he can be even somewhat okay with the amount of lights, noise and people in one household.
He pokes around the kitchen, ignoring the stacks and stacks of beer. He spies a large cocktail dispenser with some pink liquid with orange slices in it and makes a beeline. Typically he wouldn’t take a drink without knowing where it came from, but he trusted Sirius enough to not throw a party where someone would lace the drinks. He also trusted Sirius enough to know that whatever was in the jug would be very strong. After pouring himself a cup Regulus raises the drink to his lips but before he can take a sip, a voice calls out from behind him.
“Cosmopolitan. Good choice baby Black.”
James Potter. James Potter is standing in the doorway to the kitchen behind him. Regulus freezes for a second, then carefully lowers his cup. He takes a deep breath, turning to look at James with a bored look. “Go away, Potter,” he says, then walks forward, as if to walk past him.
James steps to the side slightly, so Regulus can’t get around him unless he shimmies between James and the doorway. Regulus doesn’t think he could do that and walk away with his dignity intact, so he remains in place, albeit reluctantly. James gives him an amused grin. “This is literally my house, you can’t tell me to go away.”
“I don’t care.”
This only serves to make James laugh, which infuriates Regulus. Potter says, “So, I hear you’re coming on tour with us?
“Leave me alone.”
“I’m just trying to make conversation! We’ll be stuck together for the next few months, we might as well get along.”
Regulus glares, “Leave. Me. Alone. Potter.” He ensures each word is enunciated carefully, so there is absolutely no confusion.
“Or what?” James says, grinning. Regulus hadn’t noticed before, but he’s swaying slightly, moving side to side in the doorway. It seems like he’s already had a few Cosmopolitans of his own.
“Or I’ll hang you by your toes, cut off your arms, and watch you bleed to death,” Regulus threatens, without a hint of emotion. He desperately wants to leave this conversation, he feels trapped in this small room, and he doesn’t know how long he can put up with a drunk Potter.
“Jesus” James says, eyes widening in shock. He steps to the side, almost reflexively. “Alright, fine. You win.”
Regulus smirks as we walks out. None of his friends fall for his intimidation tactics anymore, so he’s happy to see they still work on normal human beings. Not that James Potter is normal.
As he walks away though, he hears James say to himself, “Yeah, these next few months are gonna be interesting.” Regulus can’t help but agree.