Chapter Text
JAMES POV
James had never seen Sirius this angry before. He was literally fuming with rage, trying so hard not to hit the man standing in front of him. And the man standing in front of him would be none other than Severus Snape, their bass guitarist.
“She just wanted it as much, don’t lie to yourselves.” Severus said while looking completely unbothered with the whole thing. James was sure Sirius was going to hit him.
But before Sirius had the chance to do so, someone came forward and punched Severus right in the face. Severus came to the floor, his nose already starting to bleed.
Remus had been the one to throw the punch.
”Next time you’re going to do some shit like that-“ Remus started, shaking his head but James cut him mid sentence.
”There will be no next time. You’re off the band, Severus. Do not even try contacting us.”
Severus had the nerve to object to that. “Yeah? And what about the contract?”
“Yeah i’m pretty sure fucking sexual assaulting another band member is a pretty good reason to kick you off the band.”
Severus was still not off the floor. Luckily, there were no people nor paparazzi around them. They were in a dark, not-crowded alley somewhere in Los Angeles. They had gone there for their show.
Marauders was one of the biggest bands of their generation. They were a rock-band with five members: Sirius, James, Remus, Lily and Severus.
James had no idea why Severus was in the band. They’d all been in the same high school but never liked one another. Unfortunately, Lily was friends with him and when they decided to create a band, they needed another bass guitarist. That was when Lily suggested him.
Severus was not a good person. James liked nothing about him. He was an arrogant, annoying guy but he did play the bass real nice so they decided to give him a chance.
They had started slow. They used to play in all sorts of places, mostly dingy bars. Slowly people started to notice them and they shot to fame. It wasn’t an overnight thing, they’d been in the business for over a year now and they were finally on tour.
Their first stop was Atlantic City. They had lots of fans there. But at the end of the show, Severus did something no one expected. He tried to kiss Lily on the stage, in front of all their fans.
Lily dropped her mic and tried to pushed Severus, yelling at him. She was so shocked and obviously didn’t want him but when Severus insisted on kissing her, she slapped him and ran from the place.
They were gonna look for Lily, obviously, but they had to take care of Severus first. They knew Lily was with her friends, and she was safe. Marlene had texted them to let them know she was safe as soon as she started to calm down -at least a little.
The show had turned out to be a disaster and all their fans were so shocked and disappointed. The other guys were even more disappointed in themselves for letting a guy like Severus into the band.
”We’re leaving. Don’t care what happens to you from now on, hope you can’t even get up from the floor. Fucking coward.” Sirius spit on Severus and started walking, the other guys coming after him.
They called a cab and went to their flat. The three guys were living all together ever since they graduated from high school.
“Okay, i know that everyone’s tense right now and we’re all furious, but i can’t believe you punched him, Moony!” James chuckled to himself, and Sirius also joined him.
”If he didn’t i was going to. That fucking bastard had it coming.”
Remus looked so pleased with himself, he had every right tho.
But when Sirius said “You were brilliant, Moons.”, something so slight shifted in Remus’s eyes. He went from looking so confident to kind of shy.
”Yeah no, don’t sweat it.”
James took out his phone and logged into his social media accounts. Since his phone didn’t fucking stop buzzing, he had to log out whilst dealing with Severus.
But when he logged into his Twitter he looked kind of shocked. Obviously he was expecting all kinds of back flash but this was different.
“Guys, we’re on the national news.”
”The fuck did you just say?” Sirius jumped up from his seat to look at his phone and so did Remus. Sure enough, there was an article about them.
”FAMOUS BAND MEMBER SEXUALLY ASSAULTS ANOTHER MEMBER.”
“Don’t like the caption. It should’ve been ‘FAMOUS BAND MEMBER PUNCHES A GOOD FOR NOTHING LOSER.’ Oh only if they could see…” Sirius said.
Remus hit Sirius on the head for that comment, ”Oh my god Pads can you be serious for a second?”
”But i’m always Siriu-“
”Enough, shut up for a second!” James yelled at them and that was their cue to shut up. James literally never raised his voice unless it was something major. And this was a pretty serious situation.
“Let’s just announce that we kicked him out of the band and that Lily is safe, nothing to worry about.” Remus suggested whilst looking like it wasn’t a big thing.
”On it.” Sirius said and went to their room, probably to get his phone and announce it. They contacted Lily as soon as they got home and sure enough, like Marlene said earlier, she was safe and with the girls.
“It’s okay Prongs, don’t stress. The contract-“ Remus started but James raised his hand.
”I don’t care about that, we’re on the right here. But what are we gonna do without another bass player? This was our big break, our first tour ever! Now how are we even gonna cancel it? All the tickets are sold out.”
Remus just stared at him. He probably didn’t even think about the fact that they had a show to continue doing.
Sirius barged into the room, smiling to himself.
”I just announced that we kicked him off the band, and i’m getting us another bass player.”
“And that would be..?” James asked but he wished he didn’t hear the answer to that.
”Regulus fucking Black. You know, my little brother? Yeah so you guys might not remember but back when we were kids-“
But James wasn’t listening anymore. He remembered Regulus, oh he did. They never liked each other. Regulus was so much like Sirius and also nothing like him at the same time. Regulus was colder, more ignorant than his big brother and James was pretty sure he hated them all.
That was the problem. Even though Regulus hated him, James had always had a giant crush on him. Maybe it was the way he rolled his eyes and started walking in the other direction when he saw James, or maybe it was that one time he “accidentally” tripped James in the hallway and caused him to have a minor concussion.
Nonetheless, James was drawn to him for some reason. Everyone always liked James, he was so lovable. So why didn’t Regulus like him? It made James curious and he ached to find out.
When James snapped back to reality, he heard Sirius shouting “Prongs? Are you listening? James!”
”What? Yeah i’m listening. So when will he be here?”
”We’re in luck, he said he’s in A.C. for a couple of days so he’ll be here in the morning. He was with his friends or whatever. You remember them? The scary-looking Crouch and Rosier kids?” Yeah, James remembered them. They were literally in an invisible club named JAMES POTTER HATERS for some unknown reason. “Turns out they’ve become quite famous themselves. Apparently they’re DJs and are also doing tours.”
“That’s quite nice actually, i missed little Reggie.” Remus said in a mockingly way.
”Yeah, junior Black all the way. He was always the better brother.” James also continued with the teasing but Sirius threw something he picked up from the table in front them and thew it right at them.
REGULUS POV
”OH MY GOD, YOU’RE IN A BAND WITH YOUR LONG TERM CRUSH. THIS IS SO EXCITING, REG.” Dorcas snickered and teased Regulus. She was laughing without catching a breath and so were the others.
“God, kill me now.” Regulus sighed and put his head between his hands dramatically.
Sirius had called him claiming it was urgent. Regulus usually didn’t care because to Sirius, everything was urgent. He swore the last time Sirius called saying it was urgent he was asking Regulus where he got the bacons from that they ate last morning.
“Sirius i swear if this is.-“
”Youhavetojoinourband.”
”Come the fuck again for me? Why would i do that?”
And then Sirius explained what had happened between them all, and how they needed a bassist as soon as possible.
”Also, do you remember how you broke that vase mother loved so much when we were 12 and I took the blame so you wouldn’t get starved? Yeah, you still owe me for that.”
Regulus didn’t owe anyone anything but he simply thought he could use this to his benefit. He had just finished college this year and he was unemployed. He was so bored and he let Barty and Evan drag him to all their concerts, but he started getting tired of that too.
So that’s how he found himself packing to go to Sirius’s and get ready for his urgent concert.
”I swear, i will kill you all if you don’t shut the fuck up, oh my god.”
”Why so dramatic Reggie? Scared you’ll bump into Potter, fall into his arms, tuck a few strands of hair behind your ear…“ Barty said while still laughing with Evan.
Regulus did not have a crush on James Potter. He found him quite annoying actually. Everyone liked him for some reason that Regulus just didn’t understand, he didn’t get the hype about him. Of course now he was famous and he had fans, but it was different back in high school. Even when he was 16, he had everyone falling head over heels for him. It made absolutely no sense to Regulus.
And he also didn’t get why his friends thought he had a crush on James. He didn’t even talk to him, let alone like him.
“Yeah no if you don’t want Regulus to actually do what he just claimed he would, i suggest you stop talking.” Peter said but he was also laughing with them. He probably just didn’t want to get killed, but the others didn’t give a damn.
After all the teasing stopped, Regulus was finished with his packing and said goodbye to all his friends.
“Text us daily, Reg!” Dorcas said while hugging him.
”Yeah and don’t forget to snog Potter.” Barty winked.
The ride was not so long, it would only take about 20 minutes. It was such a strange coincidence that he was in the area.
He spent the whole ride listening to their songs, because he had so little time to memorize their songs yet he had to play them too.
And he had to admit, they were good. He always knew they were talented, Regulus would sometimes come watch their rehearsals they had in the garage of Potters. But now, they were at a whole new level. His brother’s voice was insane and the girl sometimes joining made it even better.
When he got to their house, he had to just knock once and the door swung open. Just to his luck, James opened the door. He looked kind of tired. His hair was messy, his glasses were falling off and he was wearing the worst fit Regulus had ever seen. Still, he managed to look handsome.
”Oh, hey Regulus! Glad you could make it.” James smiled at him and waited for Regulus to return it but he -of course- didn’t.
”Just get out of my way Potter.” Regulus lightly pushed James away to get into the house. There he saw his brother and their friend, Remus, sitting. They looked comfortable and were kind of too close if Regulus was honest with himself but it simply wasn’t any of his business.
”Reggie!” Sirius immediately jumped off from the couch and hugged him. Regulus had always loved his brother; more than anything, more than he could ever admit. They had ran away from home together when Regulus was just 15 and Sirius was 16. Ever since then their relationship grew even stronger.
“Yeah, yeah. Missed you too.” Regulus said but he hugged him back. He would always hug his brother back.
When they pulled away he managed to get a closer look at Remus. His scars were still visible and he hadn’t changed much. The only difference was that he was even taller now, like that was possible.
“Hi, Black.” Remus shot him a look.
”Lupin.”
But when Regulus looked back, he saw James staring at him for some reason.
”James don’t look at my brother like that.”
”Like what?” James asked unknowingly.
”Like you’re in love.”
“Don’t be ridiculous Pads, why would i be in love with your brother?”
“I’m standing right here.” Regulus pointed out.
“If you guys are done, we have to get going. Otherwise we’re gonna be late to our own damn show.” Remus said.
“Isn’t the another show nearly a week later?” Sirius asked and Remus began explaining how he had to teach Regulus the songs because he ‘probably wasn’t learning how to play Marauders songs in his free time’ but Sirius was only half-listening. Instead, he was more focused on the way Remus was talking.
Regulus always suspected something was going on between them but they never actually did anything couple-y together. If anything, Sirius and James were more like in a relationship with each other than anything. But there was some kind of tension between his brother and Remus, even a blind person could see that. He figured they were just blind then.
“Where’s Lily tho?” James asked.
”She’ll be coming three days later with Marlene. If there wasn’t a slight change of plans, that would be when we would be leaving too.” Remus said.
”Well then, let’s get going.” Sirius took his luggage.
”Where are we going?” Regulus asked to his brother.
”To Vegas.”