Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You got a fast car

Is it fast enough so we can fly away?

We gotta make a decision

Leave tonight or live and die this way

-Fast Car, Tracy Chapman

8.42pm, Friday, July 9th

Unknown

i really wanted to kiss u tonight

Regulus

Wrong number.

Unknown

shit i'm sorry

-

11.32pm, Saturday, July 17th

Evan 

tell barty to pick up white bread and seeded

if you can

i dont have the note with his new number on

Regulus

I knew we should’ve both put it in earlier.

But yeah, I will.

Evan

cheers

-

11.35pm, Saturday, July 17th

Regulus

Can you pick up some bread while you’re at the store? Pandora’s eaten all of it again.

Unknown

yes

how much bread

Regulus

Loaf of white, loaf of seeded?

Unknown

yh for sure 

Regulus

You never type like that.

Something go wrong, Barty?

Unknown

lol this isn’t barty

im prongs

Regulus

Prongs.

Oh fuck, you were near the top of my contacts. Sorry.

Unknown

haha

im drunk as shit rn

Regulus

I can tell.

Unknown

look at the pretty sunset

[ Photo Attached ]

Regulus

Fabulous.

Unknown

ikr

i think i'm gonna be sick

Regulus

You do that.

-

11.44pm, Saturday, July 17th

Regulus

Hey Barty, pick up some white and seeded bread while you’re there?

Unknown

sure

one loaf each?

Regulus

That’s it. Thanks.

[ Contact Barty has been deleted.]

[ New contact has been saved as: Barty]

Barty

ill see you in thirty minutes

-

10.11pm, Sunday, July 18th

Unknown

i’m so sorry about last night

i had wayy too many shots

Regulus

It’s alright.

Unknown

i’m scrolling up right now

that’s so embarrassing

atleast i only sent a sunset pic

Regulus

I take it that you could’ve sent worse?

Unknown

way worse 

Regulus

Well, Prongs, I hope you feel better.

Unknown

holy shit did you SAVE MY NUMBER

Regulus

No, actually.

Should I?

Unknown

yes

you’re fun to talk to

Regulus

Alright.

Don’t let me down.

[ New contact has been saved as: Prongs]

Prongs

what am i saving you as then

Regulus

I don’t really do nicknames.

You come up with one.

Prongs

what am i supposed to base it off

prongs is based off something personal lol

Regulus

I don’t know.

Black.

Prongs

edgy, i like it

Regulus

I know someone who prefers ‘punk-rock’ to ‘edgy’.

Prongs

same haha

i’m calling you noir

Regulus

Isn’t that just French?

Prongs

do i look like i care

it fits

[Photo Attached]

its you

Regulus

Black, like my soul.

Prongs

that's deep

you think you’re funny

Regulus

No.

Prongs

sucks

i’m going to go take some ibuprofen now and not stare at my screen so my goddamn hangover will go away

Regulus

Good idea.

Prongs

cheers

i’ll message you later

Regulus

Right.

-

9.58 am, Monday, July 19th

Prongs

so

noir

Regulus

Oh god.

Prongs

that seems really prejudiced

Regulus

And here I thought I’d got away from all the prejudice in my life.

Alright, hello Prongs. Tell me your deepest secrets.

Prongs

i don’t even love her anymore

Regulus

I didn’t mean literally tell me your deepest secret.

Sounds, as you said, deep.

Prongs

well now we have to be friends as you know my deepest darkest edgiest secret

Regulus

Care to explain?

I like hearing people’s secrets.

Prongs

basically i have a girlfriend, we’ll call her Li, and she’s lovely but i just don’t love her in that way anymore

i used to have a HUGE crush on her (we go to school together, since primary actually) and we finally started dating around two years ago? we were 15/16 or so but i just don’t know how to break up with her because i think she started dating me out of pity tbh

Regulus

So you’re 17?

Prongs

is that all you took from that

yes

anyways so i do love her but i love her like a friend i think i spent too long trying to get her to date me that i’m actually like falling out of love with her

it’s weird bc i really do love her but i love my best friend pads like that too

Regulus

Pads?

Prongs

you are MISSING THE POINT OF THIS CONVERSATION

Regulus

I don’t care.

You’re called Prongs and your friend is called Pads?

At least ‘Li’ has a normal name.

Prongs

they’re nicknames asshole

Regulus

I was rather looking forward to knowing your name.

Prongs

don't believe you

Regulus

Yeah, I wasn’t.

I’ve probably walked past you.

Prongs

you probably haven't there's 7 billion people on this earth

Regulus

You really aren’t the smartest.

I got your number because I put in my friend’s incorrectly. Meaning you live near me.

Prongs

oh

so you live in hogsmeade

??

Regulus

What happened to ‘Don’t trust random strangers?’

You’ve just told me where you live.

Prongs

so

you knew that anyway don’t see why it matters

Regulus

…

No, I live right outside Hogsmeade.

Prongs

close enough

small village isn’t it

i definitely have seen you somewhere before

Regulus

Wasn’t that my original point?

Prongs

yes

it’s mine now though

Regulus

Right.

Prongs

what if you’re one of my exes

Regulus

I’m a guy.

Prongs

so? i’m bi

Regulus

Are you?

Prongs

yes

does that bother u

Regulus

No, no.

I can’t be one of your exes, I’ve never dated a guy.

Prongs

would you

Regulus

Would I what?

Prongs

date a guy

Regulus

I don’t know. Was always taught it was wrong. I’m trying to be more open.

Prongs

my best mate is like that

Regulus

Good for him.

Prongs

speaking of my best mate

he needs me 

ttyl?

Regulus

I don’t know what ‘ttyl’ means.

Prongs

talk to you later

??

Regulus

Ah

Sure. See you.

-

1:16am, Tuesday, July 20th

Prongs

noir i have a very important question

…

what is your opinion on david bowie

Regulus

It’s 1am.

And I prefer Blur or Oasis. I’m not all that into 70’s music.

Prongs

so?? im awake

and okay that’s acceptable

Regulus

Acceptable?

Only acceptable?

They’re brilliant.

Prongs

brilliant* my bad

whats ur fav bowie song

Regulus

Life on Mars. Or Diamond Dogs.

And thank you.

Prongs

good taste my man

i took you for more…

Regulus

Punk-rock?

Prongs

emo music

no

your picking up on my lingo though

lets go

Regulus

Please never say ‘lingo’ again.

I think you’ve just made my heart combust.

Prongs

your

heart

?

Regulus

Autocorrect.

I meant head.

Prongs

your HEART

Regulus

For fucks sake

I’ll ‘ttyl’

Prongs

MY LINGO

Regulus

I’m going to sleep.

Prongs

ttyl i hope i make your heart combust

Regulus

I don’t know if I hate myself more for making that mistake, or you for pointing it out in the first place.

Prongs

;)

Regulus

Goodbye.

- 

1.46pm, Tuesday, July 20th

Sirius

Are u coming round later?

Regulus

Are your friends going to be there?

Your friends being your boyfriend-not-boyfriend, best mate Potter and the other one?

Sirius

Ur still a dickhead it seems

But no they’re all out i said i was gonna be with u today

Regulus

Alright

Sirius

Good good

Ur gonna have to meet them someday Reg

Regulus

I don’t care. I’ll prolong that.

Sirius

So dramatic

Anyway

Regulus

Anyways. 

What time are we talking? And are you still in that shared flat?

Sirius

7pm? I’ll be eating b4 that

And yes I am

Regulus

I’ll see you then.

Sirius

Good

Regulus

Fuck you

Sirius

See u later

-

Regulus creeps up Sirius’ staircase to his flat a few minutes after seven, as in his opinion, being late showed that you weren’t too overly enthusiastic. 

He stares warily at the door - he’s only been here around twice and that was to drop Sirius off when he got extremely drunk. Thankfully, his boyfriend-not-boyfriend Remus had answered, eyed him warily, sighed like this was a regular occurrence (and Sirius was some kind of alcoholic) and carried him inside, bridal style.

Not his boyfriend my ass.

Regulus curls his fingers around the door knocker that looks all too fancy for where he’s living, and pulls it up and down slowly, wiping his fingers on his trousers afterwards in slight disgust. Who knows what’s touched that door.

Sirius answers almost immediately, swinging in his face as he pops into Regulus’ field of view.

His face lights up as he leans against the doorframe, resting his arm outwards against it, “You came!”

Regulus grimaces, “Yes, yes, I did. Let me in?”

Sirius grins slyly, moving into a bowing position with his arm outstretched like they’d been taught when they were younger, “After you, Sir Black.”

“Shut up.” A scoff escapes Regulus’ throat as he follows Sirius through the hallway and into his living room, and he’s pleasantly surprised by the fact Sirius has put in an effort to make the place look presentable for once in his life. His sofa is covered in a variety of cushions, which happens to be only slightly neater than his rug which has lows in it from moving their coffee table around, and the shelves are covered in an assortment of collectables from Sirius’ various trips. They’re ubiquitous, from a multitude of different bands or shows and the like. He recognises one of the David Bowie CD’s as either Sirius’ or Remus’. As Prongs said, 'men with taste.'

“Sorry for the mess, ‘was all Pete, I swear.” Sirius turns to press on the TV on and dials the volume down low, presumably as some background noise to keep away the dreaded Black family silence that seems to be inevitable for every reunion they have.

“You know I don’t care as long as you’re not living like rats. ” Regulus remarks dryly, inspecting the sofa warily for any marks that might be potentially damaging to his trousers. They were fucking expensive and he’s not letting some… sofa juice ruin them. After confirming it was safe to do so, he sits down in satisfaction as Sirius calls from the kitchen.

“D’you want some tea?” He yells, shortly followed by what sounds like the flick of a kettle of some sorts.

“Please.” Sirius returns after a short while with two mugs in hand - one has a dog paw on it, probably Sirius’ personal one, and the other, plain black with a white rim. It’ll do. Regulus accepts it with a quick thanks to his brother and takes an obligatory sip, the temperature only slightly burning his tongue.

“So, what am I actually here for?” Regulus initiates the conversation after a small silence, raising his eyebrow.

“You’re here because…” Sirius begins, dramatically doing a drum roll on the table, “I was wondering if you and your mates would like to come on holiday with me and my mine for my 18th? Everyone’s going and Dorcas’ll want you there - so do I, Reg. We’re all going to Tenerife in Spain, it’ll be fantastic, please, please say you’ll come?”

“You and your mates?” Regulus asks, “Are we talking about you so-called ‘Marauders’ or Dorcas’ other group?”

“All of us. Me, James, Remus, Peter, Marlene, Mary, Lily, Dorcas. You, Evan, Barty and Pandora if you agree.” Sirius lists off, grinning, “How ‘bout it?”

Regulus’ mouth twitches upwards in a small smile, “If my friends say yes, I’ll go. Explain it more to me?”

“‘Course.” Sirius says and begins listing off what he’s prepared. They’re all going to fly out to Tenerife on a fucking private jet on July 31st, just before the August mark, for two weeks (Sirius’ birthday is on the third and he’s stupidly excited for it, by the looks of his delighted expression and how fast his hands are moving explaining everything), they’ll all be staying at a five-star hotel with a pool, proper accommodation and rooms of four. Sirius will be sharing with Remus, James and Peter; Dorcas with Marlene, Lily and Mary which leaves Regulus with Barty, Evan and Pandora. Works out perfectly. Tenerife has three beaches near where they’re staying, a water park not so far off which looks amazing and hell, Regulus barely likes the water. Apparently, they also have what Sirius defines as ‘ bomb food’ .

He also said there’s: ‘A fuck ton of places to get shit-faced’ - meaning they’ll sell alcohol to Sirius legally , not like it makes much of a difference, he's probably found a myriad of places to get hold of some by now, knowing him.

“There’s a bowling alley that we’ve got to visit- Oh, and there’s this cave apparently which I wanna check out.” Sirius’ breath is ragged, the guy does not stop talking.

“Mh.” Regulus sips his drink, “It sounds fantastic, Sirius. I’d love to come.”

Sirius smiles at that, “Good. I’ve met Evan, chill guy, and I think Barty’s fine with me. Never met Pandora but Dorcas says you lot are calm.”

Regulus rolls his eyes, “ Calm. Honestly, her language is appalling.”

“Means she thinks you’re cool!” Does Dorcas think she’s some salient businesswoman or something? Obviously not, with that mouth.

“She better well do.” He murmurs under his breath, his eyes flickering up to the TV where this poor girl is being stabbed with really bad visual effects, “Two weeks, you say?”

“How the hell are we all supposed to afford this?”

“Well…” Sirius smiles slyly, the prat, “I’m paying for it all.”

Regulus leans forward, “ All of it?”

“Yep! Birthday treat.” Sirius’ tone is filled with too much chirp considering how much he’s paying for this.

“Where the fuck are you getting the money from? I know damn well your job doesn’t pay that well and it’s not like Mother left you anything.”

Sirius stiffens at the mention of their mother. He inhales, “You remember Uncle Alphard?”

“Mh…”

Sirius leans back on the sofa, rubbing at his neck. Regulus waits for some kind of snide remark but he comes out with something totally different, “Well, a few months ago, he er, died.”

“He died? I never knew that.” Regulus mutters, “Doesn’t explain how you’re rich.”

“He kind of left me all of his money? Well, most of it, he left a small bit to Andy. She didn’t want it, neither did I to be honest, but he didn’t know that about me, so in his will he left me with it all.”

Regulus takes a moment to process this because he knows damn well how loaded Uncle Alphard was, family trust fund and all, a luxury he and Sirius would never have after escaping their Father’s nagging needs about taking over the family business. They can let Narcissa and Bellatrix do that for all Regulus cares. They’re both marrying into lower families, anyway, his Mother can shout at them for once.

“That makes sense.” Regulus blinks, exhaling, “Just to clarify, you’re paying for all the basics and will let us pay for other things, right?”

“Yes, yes, Remus has already lectured me on that.” He replies nonchalantly, kicking his feet up on the table. Explains the marks left on there.

“Good.” Regulus answers. They continue to talk about holiday plans for a while until it hits ten at night and Regulus passes him back the chocolate they’d been sharing between them, explaining that he should probably get a move on before Evan yells at him for coming in late or God forbid, Pandora.

“‘Was nice catching up with you, Reg. So you’ll come?” He pleads, eyes wide, doing that thing where he looks slightly like a kicked puppy if he didn’t get what he wanted.

“Like I said, if my friends agree, I’ll go. You’ll have fun with or without me.”

Sirius pouts and flutters his eyelashes at him - God, he’s nearly eighteen and he’s pouting like a baby, “Still. You’ll message me later?”

Regulus nods and gives his goodbyes, watching Sirius wave from the door as he takes the steps down and leaves his field of view.

He decides to text Sirius almost immediately just to mock him, and as he pulls his phone out of his pocket, flipping the verdant cover over to a lockscreen of a photo of his group’s snowman (snowsnake?) they’d named Hisser back in the winter. Regulus lets a small smile out at his phone, pulling up his messages with Sirius.

-

10.17pm, Tuesday, July 20th

Regulus

So what I gathered from that was: You’re rich.

Sirius

It makes up like 2% of my inheritance for a rlly good holiday for all of us

And that’s from one bank acc lol

Regulus

I’ll go on two conditions, one of which I already said.

Pandora, Barty and Evan all go. All of them.

And you don’t force me to become best friends with James.

Sirius

DEAL

I’m just happy ur coming, Reg

I like ur friends anyways and you’ll like mine, I think you'll like James

Regulus

We’ll see.

-

10.21pm, Tuesday, July 20th

Prongs

what’re you doing this summer im bored

i'm going on holiday with all my mates

Regulus

I think I’m doing something similar.

-

10.22pm, Tuesday, July 20th

Regulus

A friend of mine is messaging me. I’ll talk to you later?

Sirius

Yep. Thx for agreeing

Regulus

I just hope you have a good 18th.

Sirius

:)

-

10.24pm, Tuesday, July 20th

Prongs

sounds fun

hope you have fun bc i know i will

idk some of the people who’re going but i think they're chill

Regulus

I hope so.

I’ve never really done anything proper aside from going on business trips to Italy or France with my family. It was rather boring.

Prongs

you type so posh oh my god

rather boring, darling, i believe i’d rather separate myself from these commoners

Regulus

You’re annoying.

Prongs

it’s what i do best unfortunately

ur like my texting best friend since my actual best friend doesn’t message me enough, my other one takes ten years to type one thing and my OTHER one is never on his phone

Regulus

Why do you have so many best friends?

Prongs

bc i do

don’t you?

Regulus

Well, yes

Now I’m thinking about it, I have three ‘best friends’.

I hate saying that. It’s cringey.

Prongs

sucks to be you

do you want to be my best friend

Regulus

No.

Prongs

im going to cry

Regulus

No, you’re not.

I’m going to try and get some sleep, I need to do some convincing tomorrow.

Prongs

you know me so well i'm not

goodnight hope ur convincing goes well

Regulus

Thank you

Chapter Text

Open your arms and pray

To the truth that you're denying

Give into the game

-Desire, Years & Years

2.58pm, Wednesday, July 27th

Regulus

Do you like dogs?

Prongs

thats random

yes i do they’re adorable

Regulus

Despicable.

I’m arguing with my brother. He prefers dogs over cats.

Prongs

so do i though

i take it ur a cat person

Regulus

Cats are fantastic. They don’t require long walks or any of the unnecessary things a dog needs - just head pats, a comfy place to sleep, and food. Easy as.

Prongs

do you have a cat cus you seem biased

Regulus

No, sadly

My flat doesn’t allow animals. I’ve tried to argue, multiple times.

Prongs

me and my girlfriend had a border collie

well he was mine and then our neighbour got him put down for barking too loud at night because of the fireworks

i was so sad at the time, i’m over it now but i still hate her to this day

Regulus

Prongs and Li, beloved Border Collie owners, gets dog put down by the horrid neighbour! Disaster strikes!

Makes the headlines, no?

Prongs

i still find it so weird how you remember names

Regulus

You have alot of friends to keep track of.

Prongs

you’re included tho

my best mate is always #1 though

its annoying to keep saying ‘best mate’ we’re calling him pads

Regulus

I forget you called him that originally.

Maybe I don’t remember names.

Anyways, Pads? What kind of name is that?

Prongs

he kept comparing my old sofa to dog paws once

and then he had these leather boots right next to said sofa

so we call him pads

Regulus

I don’t think I’d ever be friends with you and your group. They sound slightly manic.

Correction, very manic.

Prongs

too late

you’er already friends with me

Regulus

You’re*

Prongs

you’re an ASSHOLE

i take it back we’re enemies now

Regulus

Insecure, much?

Prongs

yes actually my girlfriend wouldn’t go out with me for years and i had lots of self-esteem issues

Regulus

This is the second time you’ve, how do I put it, told me all of your unnecessary problems even though I didn’t ask.

Prongs

you asked the first time

let me go find it wait

‘Alright, hello Prongs. Tell me your deepest secrets.’

YOU ASKED

Regulus

I’m sitting with my head in my lap, rocking back and forth because of how much I hate talking to you.

Prongs

but babe, we can’t hate eachother

what about the kids? just because you have problems doesn’t mean i get full custody

Regulus

What

Prongs

inside joke

i forget i'm not messaging pads rn ur alot like him

Regulus

First off, what the fuck? The kids are mine. You can keep the dog and the house, I want the kids. Noir Jr. needs me. And second off, I don’t think being like ‘Pads’ is a good thing.

Prongs

OH MY GOD

YOU WENT ALONG WITH IT

Regulus

…

Suddenly, I’m rather busy. 

Prongs

no pls come back

are you

did you actually go?

noir?

oh come ON

DON’T LEAVE ME ON READ

you’re an asshole

Regulus

:)

Prongs

my lingo!

-

2.58pm, Thursday, July 28th

Group: silver > gold 

Barty

did u get the suitcase dora

Pandora

Yes! My mother said I could borrow both, do you need the spare?

Barty

yes pls mines ripped as fuck

Regulus

Not like you can’t afford a new one.

Evan

lol who knew regulus could be funny

Regulus

I could be messaging better people.

Thank you for getting the suitcase, Pandora. 

Do any of you need anything else?

Evan

barty

Barty

evan’s love, forever

Pandora

This is my favourite part of the groupchat

Regulus

I take it back. Pandora, do you need anything else?

Barty

he doesn’t love us evan

Evan

i think we need to finally elope sweetheart

Regulus

Do not start, holy shit. Go on your DM’s.

Barty

baby i think you’re right where are we eloping

Pandora

Greece!

Evan

is this a threesome now

Pandora

I was just suggesting

Barty

my husband is a cruel man

Evan

my husband likes me being cruel to him

Barty

kinky

Regulus

Pandora, if you need anything, message me.

Pandora

All right!

Evan

what kind of stuff are you into dear husband 

-

3.15pm, Thursday, July 28th

Regulus

Talk to me. My friends are going to be the death of me.

Prongs

pour all of your trauma onto me

Regulus

…

Any other conversation topics?

Prongs

oh so you’re messed up by the sounds of it

alright

how was your day

Regulus

Bang on.

Fine. I’ve been planning for my holiday with said friends who immediately fucked up the conversation. I’m missing animals. I want a cat and I will never stop complaining to that landlord lady.

Prongs

fuck landlord lady

i have news about my girlfriend though

li and I were talking and i finally spoke to her about things and she agreed we're better as friends

i do miss her being my gf tho

Regulus

Do you miss your girlfriend or the idea of having a girlfriend?

Prongs

you’re always right

probably the latter

Regulus

It’s what I do best. Is there anyone else you’re interested in?

Prongs

nah i’d like to date a guy again, last guy i dated was called benjy and he broke it off with me after two weeks because he didn’t get why i didn’t wanna shout it from the rooftops like no thanks i’m more private

Regulus

Haha, I know what you mean. Sort of. A friend of mine went through something similar.

Prongs

breakups really suck

i think li's happier now though, seems like it 

Regulus

That’s really good for her.

How’d you two get together?

Prongs

do you want the long version or the short version

Regulus

I don’t mind. Tell me the long version.

Prongs

alright

so all my life i’ve basically been trying to woo her (that sounds so stupid now) and i’d kind of been a dick about it and forcing myself on her? she never liked all that or how i tried to act like i was smarter then her - i was actually just trying to make her seem like she was right but oh well - and like i said, two years ago a friend of hers finally got it through my thick skull that i was going about it totally wrong so i tried to be actually friends with her and we actually became pretty good friends which is nice and i think once she started to see what kind of person i really was she started to like me?

she asked me one day if i still liked her and i said yes and then she basically just kissed me, said she likes me for me 

Regulus

She sounds lovely, Prongs.

Prongs

she is, she’s extremely smart and really should have had a boyfriend with how pretty she is before me

she’s happier now, we were better as friends and with all our history it worked out for the better

she moved out of our flat and my mates moved in with me, she went to go live with her friends and it all turned out fine in the end

Regulus

Ah, so that’s why you both had a dog. I think it was definitely for the best.

Prongs

i just don’t know what to do now because her rejection originally caused ALOT of my issues and she was really the only thing i properly wanted then and now i just 

don’t have that same motivation for a true goal? it was always ‘make li fall in love with me’

Regulus

Slightly off topic but, what happened to ‘don’t tell all your secrets to strangers?’

You don’t even know me but I feel like I’ve just gotten your life story.

Prongs

good gut feeling about you

noir the trustworthy

Regulus

I take the title with pride.

Prongs

i’ve got you saved in my phone as that now

Regulus

Really? That’s ridiculous

I just have you as Prongs .

Prongs

[ Photo Attached]

see?

Regulus

You actually did.

The funny thing is, we’re like polar opposites.

Prongs

it’s fate

like i said, good gut feeling

Regulus

Weren’t you drunk when I texted you?

Prongs

well

yes

but drunk gut feeling turned into sober gut feeling

Regulus

I don’t go out to drink all that often, and when I do I have to make sure not to drink too much, I become too clingy drunk.

Prongs

i just laugh at everything

pads got a video of it once

this guy literally said ‘why did the chicken cross the road? to get to the other side’ and i laughed

Regulus

That’s

I’m speechless at how stupid that is.

Prongs

ikr not my best moment

did your friends stop messaging?

Regulus

Hold on, I’ll check.

Prongs

alright

-

3.45pm, Thursday, July 28th

Barty

on holiday i am going to fuck you on the beach

Evan

will sirius enjoy that? he can pay for the condoms

-

3.46pm, Thursday, July 28th

Regulus

No. They’re talking about fucking on the beach.

Prongs

are they flirting on a public gc? 

i feel so bad for you

me and li always messaged like that on private

Regulus

Thing is, they’re not dating.

Prongs

HAHA

REALLY??

Regulus

Sadly.

Prongs

i feel so bad for you x2

Regulus

You should do.

[ Marked as Read at 3.48pm]

-

8.38pm, Friday, July 29th

Sirius

Have u started to pack?

James keeps telling me to but I think I can put it off?? right?

Regulus

We’ve all packed except for the things we need right now

I agree with him.

Sirius

Ugh you two together would be unstoppable i’d fold to every demand

Regulus

You’re lucky I don’t know him. I don’t like him much, either.

Sirius

You’ve NEVER MET HIM

Prejudice i say

Regulus

Posh words. It’s not prejudice.

Sirius

Yes it is

Regulus

Alright, fine. I have no opinion on him.

Sirius

Better

Can u send me a list of things to pack PLEASE 

I’m shit at this

Regulus

Yeah. Pandora made one, let me forward it to you quickly.

Passport

Credit/Debit card

Plug adapter

Documents

Headphones, charger

Medication

Plasters, insect repellent

House keys for when you return home

Toothbrush, toothpaste (floss if you need)

Deodorant

Shampoo, conditioner, soap

Hairbrush

Suncream

Sunglasses

Hat

Swimwear

Hygiene products (GIRLS)

Atleast 2 pairs of flip flops/sandals, make sure they can fit in your bag!

7 tops if you're not wearing a dress

5 pairs of shorts/skirts/dresses, we will do washing once we’re there

A pair of jeans, in case.

Sleepwear

15 underwear and/or bras

8 pairs of socks (SAND!)

3 towels - one big, one smaller, one medium

Small bag for day trips

Extra:

Jewelry

Makeup, only light stuff

Shaving supplies

Extra socks/underwear if you think you’ll need it

Contact lenses (James, Barty, Remus, Dorcas)

Light jacket if you get cold

Sirius

Tell Pandora she’s a life saver oh my god can i send this to my gc

Regulus

Sure.

Sirius

Cheers james will love this, so will dorcas

Regulus

I’ll give you her number to thank her.

+44 ##### ######

Sirius

Thanks

Should I make a holiday gc?

Regulus

No bother. We won’t use it in the end and I don’t want my phone to be blown up. 

You can if you’d like, but leave me out of it.

Sirius

I won't bother then lol you’re right

-

1.12pm, Saturday, July 30th

Prongs

are these shorts nice?

[ Photo Attached]

Regulus

They’re decent, I suppose. How much?

Prongs

twenty quid

Regulus

Nah, definitely not. You could get better than that, they look like all other pairs of shorts.

Prongs

[ Photo Attached]

?

Regulus

I like them. Simple and effective. Get those.

Prongs

cheers i’m w moony right now and he keeps complaining about how summer limits your clothing options and winter is better

Regulus

I agree with half of that. Autumn is the best season for that reason.

Prongs

you traitor

summer > spring > autumn > winter

Regulus

You just like hot weather.

Prongs

i’m biased i come from a hot country lol

Regulus

Maybe.

Autumn > Summer > Spring > Winter

I like them all pretty much the same, to be honest, I just don’t like December.

Prongs

neither christmas is so overhyped birthdays are better

Regulus

Christmas Day was always horrible. I think I’ve had one good Christmas in my life and that was last year.

Prongs

you’ve got it rough buddy

do you prefer halloween or your birthday?

Regulus

My birthday. It’s in the summer.

Prongs

mine’s in the spring

guess what day it’s on

Regulus

No. You forget that we’re not telling eachother any important info.

Prongs

do my deepest secrets not count?

Regulus

I meant more birthdays, friends, ect

Prongs

address

Regulus

What the fuck

Yes, address.

Prongs

that sucks

i guess its good i didn’t immediately say OH YES I’M * AND I’M FRIENDS WITH * AND *

Regulus

Wow, relief.

Prongs

you are so sarcastic

Regulus

Am I?

Prongs

you have literally just proved my point

snarky little shit

Regulus

You’re so rude.

Prongs

being annoying is so fun

don’t you agree

oh my god you’re leaving me on read again

dickhead

[ Photo Attached]

Regulus

Aww.

Cats are such cute creatures.

Prongs

haha you messaged me back

Regulus

You

Oh fuck.

Prongs

winner

Regulus

Looser.

-

4.56pm, Saturday, July 30th

“Come in!” Pandora’s voice is soft through the walls of her room as Regulus knocks on her door. He’s in their apartment, slightly bare as half of it’s been packed away. He opens the door slowly and smiles at Pandora who beckons him in. She’s got long, blonde hair - it’s probably more accurate to say it’s white tinted with blonde with how light her hair is. Her eyes are a bright blue, accompanied by soft facial features and a thin blush across her cheeks. Pandora’s always had pale skin and it’s obvious the sun is getting to her - she’s still slightly shiny from the sunscreen and the back of her neck is red.

“Pandora, I don’t know if Sirius messaged you, but he says thanks for the list. I think he was panicking - badly .” Regulus explains.

She shoves her legs off the bed and meets Regulus’ gaze, “Yes, he did. I’m glad he and his friends made use of it. I’ve probably missed a few things, now I’m thinking about it.”

Regulus leans against the doorframe, “I’m sure you’ve got all you need.” He reassures her, his voice gentle. She gets up and paces around the room, steps slow.

She gives a small laugh, humming, “I hope so. I might forget something very important.”

Ever the over thinker, Pandora. She’s always got something on her mind - whether that be holiday checklist missing items or what to get for tonight’s dinner, “You’ll be fine, ‘Dora, stop overthinking it.”

She bites her lip and leans against her desk, “Yeah, I know. Have you checked in with Barty and Evan?”

“No, not yet. For all I know, they’re currently blowing eachother.” Regulus shakes his head, “They’re so dirty. If they’re going to be like this all holiday, I might just have to drown myself.”

Pandora laughs at that, “I do wonder sometimes if it’s purely platonic.”

“I hope so.” Regulus stares out her window at the green tree below. Not very interesting, “Barty’s kind of like some sort of… magnet for romance. I think he’s drawn Evan in.”

She lets out a small snort, “ Drawn Evan in. Honestly, Reg, you think the strangest things sometimes. And you’re talking to me!” She points at herself dramatically.

“You’re the brightest girl I know.”

“Aww. You mean that?” She tilts her head in curiosity.

Regulus nods reassuringly, “Yeah. Of course. I don’t say things I don’t mean.”

“ I might just have to drown myself.” She uses air quotes, raising an eyebrow at him, “Sticking to your word?”

“Definitely. In some cave on the shores of Tenerife, 16-year-old prodigy-turned-escapee Regulus Black is found dead.”

“Dramatic title. They’ll focus more on us being star-crossed lovers and the devastation of your drowning for me.”

Regulus chokes at her words, stifling a laugh, “Some classic literature story we are.”

It’s surprisingly easy to talk to Pandora. Regulus shoves the thought of talking to Barty and Evan into the back of his brain to remember later, and lets himself indulge in random conversations about morality.

-

10.42pm, Saturday, July 30th

Regulus

What actually happened the first time you text me?

Prongs

when i text you??

oh this pretty girl gave me her number but she ran off afterwards i think she gave me a random number and didn’t even like me

Regulus

Wow. That’s rude

Prongs

i know right

i’m glad though bc then you text ME and now we’re mid blossoming friendship

Regulus

I wouldn’t say friendship.

Prongs

relationship then

Regulus

Neither that.

Prongs

marriedship?

Regulus

You’re one step off.

And that’s not a word.

Prongs

soulmateship

Regulus

Not a word either, and no.

I was thinking strangership turned random guy to talk to.

Prongs

strangership isn’t a word

hypocrite

but i thought we were friends

Regulus

We can be.

Prongs

do you want to be my friend?

Regulus

Sure. We’ll be friends, Prongs.

Prongs

yes, new friend noir.

:)

Regulus

:)

Stop typing don’t you dare

Prongs

my

Regulus

Don’t

Prongs

my lingo

Regulus

I’m going to block you.

Prongs

you’d never

Regulus

You’re lucky I like you.

Prongs

awwwwwww

still no to the soulmateship?

Regulus

Yes.

Prongs

is that a yes we’re soulmates or yes to the no

Regulus

The latter, idiot.

Prongs

:)

Chapter Text

Yeah, ready for the summer, girl, your hair look killer

-Not Letting Go, Tinie Tempah

11.03am, Sunday, July 31st

Prongs

i wont be able to talk to you for a day or so

see you later?

Regulus

I won’t pry. See you.

Prongs

:thumbsup:

-

11.05pm, Sunday, July 31st

Regulus

We’re leaving.

Sirius

safe journey, cya at the airport

Regulus

You too. Don’t break the car.

Sirius

no promises

-

11.12am, Sunday, July 31st

Regulus Black doesn’t get excited for things. He manages them with a cool expression on his face, clamping down on the emotion of excitement. No, Regulus doesn’t get excited.

Except he does because this trip seems incredible and he cannot believe his luck that Sirius is paying for all of his friends, they’re going somewhere completely new with amazing attractions, and the fact that it should ease the tension in Regulus’ shoulder from the stress of school.

That morning, the four of them took a taxi to the airport. The driver looks at them warily - a bunch of teenagers with luggage, surely they’re trouble - but lets them in nonetheless. Regulus takes his seat in the front, leaving Barty behind him, Pandora in the middle and Evan behind the driver.

They talk at a moderate volume aside from the occasional loud outburst from Barty, with background music from some old Nirvana album. Regulus doesn’t talk much - he prefers to stare out the window idly, paying little attention to the conversation (or bickering, or flirting, it’s one of the three), and rather the soft hums of the guitar from the old stereo.

The journey takes a little under an hour with minimal traffic, thankfully, and the total is less than Regulus was expecting. The airport is smaller than most, plain and white with a few runways out the back. Overall, simple and welldone.

“Thank you.” Regulus says to the taxi driver as they arrive, paying him the money and receiving a curt nod in response as he takes the wads of cash and puts in it his wallet. Regulus climbs out of the passenger seat, seeing in the mirror the clad of limbs that seems to be restricting poor Pandora from getting out the middle seat.

Regulus opens up the boot and takes out their luggage, passing it to each of them individually.

They begin to walk down to the airport, “This is so cool.” Pandora’s voice is laced with excitement as she tugs her suitcase along behind her, the bag on her back bouncing in sync with her steps. Her blonde hair seems already slightly wind-swept.

Barty kicks at a stone, cursing it lowly before raising his voice to the others, “Stupid stone, could’ve made my suitcase fall. Anyways, I love your brother, Reg.” He cackles loudly, “Serious godsend.”

Barty sings Sirius’ praises, his arms swinging at his side and Evan grins slyly at him, “ Sirius godsend.” He snorts, “I think I like him more than you.”

Pandora’s laugh is in the background as she tugs Evan over to her left side and mutters something to him under her breath which earns Regulus a glance from Evan with no subtlety whatsoever. He starts to smirk and whispers back as they approach the building.

“You guys are horrible. ” Regulus complains, attempting a sneer even though there’s absolutely no malice in his voice.

“You love us really.” Pandora hums, pushing open the door - surely that’s too thin for an airport entrance?

Barty takes point ahead, letting himself through, “What happened to ladies first?” He’s shortly followed by Evan who twirls around like the place is a palace of somesort.

“Feminism.” She says, her tone heavy with exaggeration as she pushes Regulus forward, “Hurry up!”

“Alright, Jesus…” Regulus complains, fishing his phone out of his pocket, snapping a photo of Evan and Barty pathetically dancing in the middle of the airport - do they have no shame? - before messaging Sirius.

-

Regulus

[ Photo Attached]

Look at these two.

Where are you?

Sirius

We’re in block C

Everyone’s here but Marlene n Dorcas, they’re abt 10 min away 

Regulus

We might be a while. Evan’s found the shops.

I’ll see you in seven, maybe?

Sirius

Sure

Don’t get lost, C down the hall and to the right

Regulus

Thanks

Regulus shows Pandora the messages as they walk together, quietly talking about all their previous holidays. Turns out Pandora doesn’t go abroad all that much, preferring to stay in England with her family. 

Evan and Barty are still up ahead, buying snacks from the overpriced airport shop on the corner. Evan is eyeing the drinks, grabbing a few cans and comparing them flavour-wise whilst Barty looks much more sceptical about the pricing but pulls out some change nonetheless and pays for the pair of them and the assortment of items they’ve bought.

They return with four cans of Red Bull, low-quality crisps that are a scam because they fill a quarter of the packet and multiple packs of Haribo which Pandora snatches immediately - her eyes drawn to the price in the top left corner.

She speaks slowly, “You paid… two pounds… for Haribo?” She asks, chucking the pack back to Barty’s hands. He and Evan glance at eachother quickly.

“Maybe?” He offers, his voice hesitant and sheepish. Pandora rolls her eyes, her mouth twisted in a slight frown as she begins to lecture them about economics and the rising cost of living . Regulus almost feels bad by the looks they continue to share.

They’ve been here for far over seven minutes apparently because soon after, Regulus spots the dark curls of Dorcas’ hair through the wave of people. She’s accompanied by Marlene,  smiling at them in a friendly manner, her other hand intertwined with her girlfriends. Marlene’s a nice girl; Regulus has only met her a few times as they only know each other through Dorcas and also Sirius.

Marlene is in blue denim dungarees and a small top, her hair tied up in a loose bun. She’s got on quite the eyeliner, by the looks of it, and a bracelet on her wrist.. Dorcas, on the other hand, is wearing a white tube top and classic hippie pants with patterns adjourned by a multitude of swirls and green tones. She’s got on layers of necklaces - Regulus figures it’s to save space in her suitcase because why else would you put in so much effort to look nice at the airport - the tattoo on her chest of a strelitzia flower visible.

She’d told him what it means, once, freedom and immortality. Very fitting indeed.

She waves at him from across the hall, earning a few stares from the bystanders as she yells something incoherent in their direction. Regulus nudges Evan, shooting a look towards the two girls, which Evan follows where Regulus’ head points. He goes up on his toes to see and grins at them, elbowing Barty who also goes up like a meerkat. He waves aswell. Pandora does the same, nodding her head with a smile.

“People of the country ! ” Dorcas announces, dragging her vowels on as she tugs on Marlene’s hand to get her to quicken her pace. She obliges happily, speeding up her step.

“They’re so cute together.” Pandora whispers to Regulus quietly before they’re greeting one another. Regulus steps away from Dorcas’ attempted hug and reluctantly bumps her fist like a heathen. He smiles at Marlene as nicely as he can.

He knows exactly what Pandora meant, though, they’d danced around eachother for months, spouting endless ‘ What if…’. ‘But she’d-’, ‘I can’t-’ to all of them. He’s sure Marlene must have said something similar to Mary and Lily at that point. Regulus, in fact, had been the one to say that she ‘ definitely likes you, Dorcas, just ask her out on a date already’. Thankfully, Dorcas had listened because it saved Regulus many moments of despair and crush talk. 

After Evan runs back into the store to buy an extra two Red Bulls for the girls, they make their way to block C. Well, they try.

“Down the hallway and to the right?” Marlene asks, tilting her head as if making the map sideways will make it make sense all of a sudden.

“Where are the signs?” Dorcas laments in complaint, her eyes looking for any sign of… well, a sign.

Evan is with Marlene, after being introduced they get on quite well, and they’re both over-analysing the map by the looks of it. Block A and B are to the left and clearly labelled whilst C and D are off down winding hallways; this is clearly annoying Barty as he peers over Evan’s shoulder.

“Why don’t we try, I don’t know, walking? ” Regulus gestures vaguely to the right and there’s a collective ‘ ohh…’ . Idiots, the lot of them.

“Well, off we go!” Pandora announces, tugging her case along with her to where Regulus pointed. Marlene, Evan and Barty take after her quickly.

“Aren’t they stupid? The airport, I mean. They have no bloody signs.” Dorcas sighs, looking at her shoes.

Regulus shrugs, “Maybe they fell off.”

She sharpens her eyes, this woman is the literal embodiment of a fox, “I’d hope not, god. Our plane will fall off mid-flight if the fucking signs fall off.”

She continues on a small rant about the appearance of the company but stops mid-sentence when she finally spots a big, neon letter C above the next hallway, “Oh my god! They’ve got a neon C!”

“Your eyes seem to be working, then, congrats.” Regulus remarks dryly, catching up with the rest of them up ahead, leaving Dorcas to run after him in a huff. They finally find Block C after walking for a short while and Sirius’ loud shout of ‘ Reg!’ makes Regulus hunch over in embarrassment.

Sirius is in a Rolling Stones shirt with denim jeans, hair tied back in a bun and his ears full of piercings and the like. He’s running over to them and essentially jumps on Regulus.

He puts his arms around Regulus’ neck for a hug quickly so Regulus can’t back away in time. He settles for a quick pat on Sirius’ hip as his arms can’t go any lower.

“I’m so glad you're here.” Sirius says quietly, only to him, and Regulus smiles at him.

“I’m glad I decided to come. Introduce me to your group?”

“‘Course, ‘course.” He grins, dragging Regulus over to the rest of his posse, with Regulus’ group following him, “Alright guys, introductions first. This is Regulus-” He points at him, “my brother. That’s Barty-” Barty gives a happy wave, “Evan-” Evan does the same as Barty, “And Pandora.” She gives a quick nod.

“Do I not get an introduction?” Dorcas asks dryly.

Sirius glares at her, “No. Okay, Regulus, let me introduce you and your mates to mine. ”

He begins to list them off and point to them one by one.

Remus. Ah yes, boyfriend-not-boyfriend. He’s got brown hair that seems ridiculously thick, a thin pair of brown trousers on, a simple white t-shirt to cover his torso and a chain that’s tucked into his top around his neck.

Then there’s Peter. The boy is friendly, smiling at the four of them. He’s in denim shorts and a blue tank top with a single bracelet around his ankle. He has thin mousy blonde hair and runs a hand through it nervously, dipping his head. He only seems to be about 5’7.

Mary. She’s in a coral flowery dress and cute sandals with links around her arms and fake nails on with more orange flowers. This girl really likes orange - she’s even got an orange bead around one of her black curls. She waves at him.

Next to Mary is Lily - she’s a redhead with rather long hair and has settled on a white skirt and a princess vest in a light mint colour. She’s got freckles dotted across her cheeks, down her arms and across her legs and under the sunglasses resting upon her head, you can see her blue eyes clearly.

And finally, James. Is that really James Potter? Since the last time Regulus has seen him, he’s shot up and now looks around six foot with his curly hair more prominent than ever. He’s gotten new glasses which bring out his cheekbones and his facial features are even more defined then before. His brown skin has seemingly got darker - probably as he’s tanned - which brings out the maroon shirt he’s wearing with long black shorts. Regulus can see the mass of muscle on his forearm and on his calves (he guesses that James is still into football). He’s got a cheeky smile on his face.

When the hell did James get so hot?

Regulus is still slightly zoned out when Sirius clears his throat loudly, “Introductions over. So, our flight is in around two hours. Do whatever, don’t die before we go, blah blah. Dismissed!” He laughs, earning a jab from Remus.

“You’re not a teacher.” Remus says as Sirius is sitting back down on one of the seats next to him.

Sirius runs a hand through his hair and says something that Regulus can’t make out under his breath. He’s guessing, by the look on Remus’ face, it was either some stupid flirt or a snidy comment of a sort.

Marlene is talking to Mary and Lily, catching up with the two because oh no, they haven’t seen one another in so long , Regulus is sure. Dorcas is sat next to Pandora, showing her photos of where Marlene and her had gone on holiday last year in Greece whilst James watches over her shoulder. It’d be nice to go to Greece.

Poor Peter is stuck talking to Barty and Evan and has an extremely embarrassed look on his face, glancing sideways.

“Hi, Regulus!” Evan’s voice is way higher than it should be.

“Hello.” He says dryly, “I’ve come to rescue Peter. Please, release him from your torture device called your mouths. ”

Peter lights up at this and goes to say something but Barty cuts him off with a finger to his lips, “We’re not torturing him. We’re getting to know eachother!”

“I’m sure you can do that one-on-one without shamelessly saying all the ways you’re going to have plane sex in front of him.” Regulus raises an eyebrow, knowing he’s right, and Evan scoffs in response.

“Why, Reg, you jealous? You wanna join in? Well, Barty, do you want him in?”

“No.” Barty turns his nose to the side, “He’ll ruin the fun.”

As they’re bickering about whether Regulus should be allowed in their sex scandal or not (which he shouldn’t) he takes the opportunity to help Peter up and practically scamper away.

“My saviour!” He remarks, “They’re so…”

“Intense?” Regulus offers, “Tell me about it.”

Peter sits next to him and they converse about what they’re looking forward to. At some point, Dorcas shoves her bag onto him as she darts off to the toilet with Marlene, who’s left her stuff with Remus. That wasn’t a good sign.

“You reckon they’ve gone to just snog in the toilets?” Peter asks, his eyes gazing at where they’ve turned the corner.

“Probably.” The corners of Regulus’ mouth quirk up in a small smile. In all truth, he’s happy for Dorcas. Even if she’s the most annoying shit on the earth.

Soon enough, Regulus watches the plane begin to fly down outside the window, the following announcement of ‘ Flight 8C-SB is boarding shortly’. Mary sits up at that, removing the finger that’s twirling around her hair and replacing her hand to run excitedly up and down Lily’s knee.

“We’ve best get a move on.” Lily says, gently removing Mary’s fingers and standing up.

Sirius frowns, “What’s the time?” Peter promptly leans over and shows him his watch, earning a harsh inhale from Sirius of panic.

“Oh yeah, fuck. Come on, people!” He calls, getting up off his seat quickly.

“People? We’re not your people , Sirius.” Marlene mutters, earning a laugh out of Remus beside her.

James throws an arm around Sirius dramatically, “The announcement said 8C-SB. Eight-C-Sirius-Black.” He explains with a smug grin of knowing.

Pandora and Peter are staring at the piece of paper in Peter’s hands - presumably where to board, what time, the flight name and the seats. Pandora’s staring down, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and as Peter calls Sirius over to come to look at it.

He looks slightly confused (this is why they leave Lily in charge) and shrugs nonchalantly, saying something about showing Lily instead as it’s all bullshit to him. He slows down, walking alongside Remus and James.

Regulus is behind all of them, still with Dorcas’ bloody bag, “ Dorcas! Come get your bag!” He shouts up ahead, where she’s walking with Marlene and Mary. She turns her head, flinging her dreadlocks to the side, and shoots Regulus a death glare.

“But my shoulders- ” She starts, slumping. Regulus snickers and tells her to stop moaning, which she makes a sexual joke out of - of course - and explains how she’s a lady and therefore Regulus should carry her bags for him to be a gentleman. 

It’s all stupid, honestly, “Stop whining. Your shoulders will live!” 

“You’re being sexist!” She laments, tugging on her case with force, “Weren’t you brought up to be the man of the house or some shit?”

“ Yes. Carrying your bag isn’t too hard, is it? Neither is deciding whether you’re a feminist or making men do things for you because that’s how it ‘ should be’ .”

Dorcas opens her mouth, probably to make a snarky comment about his sarcastic words, but is interrupted by Marlene finally noticing their arguing. She comes over, takes Dorcas’ bag out of Regulus’ hand and grabs her by the shoulders. Marlene pushes her forwards as Dorcas is furiously whispering something about ‘men and the goddamn audacity’, causing her girlfriend to tell her to shut up while rolling her eyes. 

Dorcas retorts something about ‘ that’s why you love me’ and earns herself a quick kiss on the cheek. 

As they start to approach the exit, Sirius pulls six plane tickets out of his pocket, Remus with the other half. Regulus can see the plane clearly now, with Jetblue Airlines on the side in a deep navy.

One of the assistants stands by the stairs to the plane, calling out, “Mr Black?” Both Regulus and Sirius step forward, out of instinct and force of habit more than anything. The assistant gives the two a confused look as Evan tugs Regulus back.

As he’s being tugged backwards, Regulus blinks. Oh. Oops? He quietly mutters a quick sorry in embarrassment, his cheeks tainted a faint pink.

James looks at him curiously and offers him a smile, looking back at where the lady is essentially interrogating Sirius. Sirius turns around to Remus and Lily; the look on his face is priceless where it’s a cross between not understanding a thing and ‘ help me ’. Lily rolls her eyes and takes up talking to the assistant where Sirius visibly breathes a sigh of relief.

“Mr Black.” Evan mutters to him. Regulus jabs him in the side.

“Shut up, Mr Rosier. ”

“It’s actually Mr Crouch-” He smirks, knowing he’ll get a rise out of Regulus. He centres most of his conversation with Regulus around him and Barty’s ever-evolving relationship out of pure annoyance.

“You’re ridiculous.” Regulus exhales, leaving him to go up the stairs when Lily and Sirius are done talking. The assistant beckons them in and goes on with some speech which Regulus doesn’t listen to, it’s all the same as every time before that. Sirius was good at just getting on the plane, not the planning. He was shit at the planning part.

The seats have names on them, displayed on the corner digitally. They’re duo seats. Sirius has placed himself next to Remus at the front, with James and Peter behind them, Pandora and Regulus in the last occupied seats in the row. On the other side, Marlene and Dorcas are upfront, Mary and Lily at the back, leaving Evan and Barty in the middle. It seems that row is destined for endless flirting (yes, Regulus is counting Mary as she’s often flirting with Lily without even realising it.)

The flight takes around four hours and is filled with ups and downs - James falls asleep and earns a loud clap around the head from Sirius, Mary looks ready to vomit as they take off, Evan has half draped himself over Barty who shoves him off and Regulus is just sat there, staring out the window. Pandora’s happily reading a book, Lord of the Flies, and her attention is focused solely on that.

In the end, Regulus ends up watching a film called Call Me by Your Name. One of the main characters, Elio, looks like him and falls in love with a boy in the summer. It’s a good plot, yes, just slightly unrealistic. As if that’d ever happen.

-

4.33pm, Sunday, July 31st

The plane lands. They do pretty much the same as getting on - arguments over luggage, someone jabs Remus in the ribs whilst trying to get off and he groans in pain right in Sirius’ ear. Regulus notices the blush on his brother’s face and it is not subtle.

Eventually, they’re all off and standing in Tenerife. They’re in Spain, finally. Regulus can feel the heat difference, the sun already hitting his skin as they follow Sirius outside to what seems to be… an extremely large car. Car-cross-small-limousine would be a better term. It’s in black and Regulus recognises this is exactly the sort of thing Sirius would do.

“Get in!” Sirius chirps happily, gesturing his arm towards the party car, “I’ve hired it for the whole time we’re here. I’m driving, no I don’t know how they got it here but it cost alot, so close your mouths!” All of them promptly follow his directions, the wide-spread gaping in awe coming to a stop.

Regulus is the first to talk, “Sirius, I didn’t even know twelve-seater cars were a thing. ”

“It’s not a fucking twelve seater, you’ll all gonna have to squish on the seats.” Remus says as he opens the passenger seat and peers inside, “See for yourselves.”

Peter slides the door open and he promptly laughs in shock, jumping in and taking the best seat slap-bang in the middle. The car has a huge leather seat starting far up the left and looping around the back, ending up on the right in a long C shape. There’s a table in the middle, firmly attached to the floor, and the windows are opened slightly already. In the front, Sirius climbs into the driver seat and Remus joins him in the side. Regulus decides that’s a good decision as first off, Remus has good music taste and secondly, he won’t let Sirius crash. 

Boyfriend-not-boyfriend privileges… or something.

The left side is full immediately, with James, Dorcas and Marlene on the right. Regulus exhales silently and takes the seat next to Dorcas because he’s not squeezing on the end and risking falling off, so he’ll settle for James and Dorcas as buddies. It could be worse. Worse being in Mary’s seat or Pandora and having to hear Barty and Evan’s endless banter.

They’re sat in the order that follows: Pandora, Barty, Evan, Mary, Lily, Peter, James, Regulus, Dorcas and Marlene with Sirius and Remus in the front. It works decently well aside from the fact that James is still in Regulus’ mind and he’s now talking to him.

“So!” James says suddenly, turning to face him, “Regulus. Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“I could say the same.” He huffs, “I’d insult you but we’ve got to be friends for Sirius.”

He grins, “You’ve gotten taller. Truce?”

“There was nothing to truce on in the first place.” Regulus shakes his head, leaning back, “We’re friends now.” He says the worst with slight disgust of the thought of being friends with James Potter.

“Alright, alright. We’re friends. Sirius will be pleased.”

“Mh.” Regulus hums, “How’s it going with Lily? I remember you being obsessed with her.”

He rolls his eyes, “Starting off personal, are we? I wasn’t obsessed - and we’re just friends, nothing more.”

Regulus narrows his eyes, "When did you get over her?"

"Around a week ago." He says plainly, playing with the hem of his shorts, "We were dating but we agreed we were better off as friends."

"Really?" Regulus is generally surprised at that because in the two or three times he's met James in the past, he always had something to say about Lily Evans. Whether it was saying how beautiful she was, how smart she was, or something of the like.

He had been so infatuated with her that he had failed to see reason on topics surrounding her multiple times - the most prominent memory of the roses spelling out her name on the school field on Valentine's Day. Sirius had sent him a picture of it. It was horrendous and the second L had looked more like an I with a tail.

According to Sirius, with video evidence to prove it, Lily had absolutely gone off at James about how embarrassing he was and that he needed to grow up.

James hadn't been deterred. Regulus had felt bad for Lily at the time and now they just joke about it.

"Mh. Completely over her." James says, nodding his head to support his own argument.

"I'll believe it when I see it. Remember the roses on Valentine's Day?"

James laughs loudly, his voice deep and very attractive for some reason, “Oh god, yeah. I regret doing about half of those things to poor Lily. I see why she didn’t like me.”

Regulus rolls his eyes and snorts, turning his head to look out the window at the myriad of colours flashing by. He can hear Remus asking if he can put on some songs, which Sirius basically begs him to. Regulus recognises it as the intro to Two Door Cinema Club’s Tourist History album . 

Both Mary and James perk up at this, “Turn it up!” Mary yells loudly, therefore causing Remus to turn it up slightly too high. Mary seems satisfied, alongside James who’s bopping his head like there’s no tomorrow, but Peter winces at the volume. He’s right below the speaker, poor thing.

Apparently, he sucks it up, because he soon recognises the chorus and the discomfort on his face is soon replaced with his mouth murmuring the words.

James is singing quietly, but loud enough so that it’s prominent in Regulus’ ear. Normally, he’d hiss at him to shut up but honestly, he can’t bring himself to. The atmosphere is perfect right now, and James’ voice only adds to that perfection. With his low tones and the gravels of his vowels, it’s rather hot as he’s singing ‘ tell me your favourite things, tell me your favourite things’. 

Not meeting James beforehand may have been a bad idea because maybe, Regulus would be less shocked at his appearance. He wouldn’t call it admiration, rather an appreciation for the human body. If someone’s fit, they’re fit. End of.

James and Mary are screaming towards the end, waving their hands from side to side in the air like idiots, and they’re just about to sing the next line when Sirius swerves harshly to the left, causing Regulus to fall forward. He’s caught by James’ arm shooting out to stop him and Peter from falling. Marlene’s head falls back and she must've done something to her neck by the shrill shriek she lets out.

“Ow, shit, shit- ” She wails, clutching her neck, “My bloody neck! What the hell, Sirius?”

Remus leans over his seat to face the back, “Sorry! There was roadkill.” He looks especially apologetic at Marlene and is pointedly not looking at Regulus or James, who are both shooting bad looks at the back of Sirius’ head.

“It’s definitely dead now.” Barty mutters.

“No shit.” Dorcas says, “We should say something to Sirius for being such a-”

She’s interrupted by a sharp horn blare behind them. Sirius and Remus glance at eachother as Sirius slows the car down and pulls over. Someone comes upto them and knocks on the window with sharp hits of their fist. Sirius warily put the window down as everyone in the back sinks down on instinct.

“¡ Estás acelerando !” The woman says, her voice high enough to immediately annoy Regulus as she speaks in rapid-fire Spanish, “¡ Casi me estrello, extranjeros descuidados !”

“You’re speeding.” Mary translates, her voice a quiet whisper, “I nearly crashed, you careless foreigners!”

Her translation earns a snort from Dorcas, her eyes glaring at the lady.

“Lo siento!” Sirius says in the worst Spanish accent, promptly rolling his window back off and taking off. They’re all silent for a second before James starts to howl with laughter, Barty following with him knocking his fist on the table. Even Regulus is laughing under his breath at the woman’s stupidity.

They’re definitely speeding now if they weren’t before.

“What did she say?” Sirius shouts.

“That you’re speeding, she nearly crashed and that you’re a stupid foreigner.” Not exact, but good enough so that Sirius slams the breaks and they all roll forward.

“That bitch! What’s wrong with my driving?” He yells. Remus puts a hand on his thigh and Sirius exhales loudly, calming down immediately. Like Regulus has pointed out previously, boyfriend-not-boyfriend privileges! 

He puts the music back on, ABBA . Lily’s attention is grasped like the speed of light as she shouts about ‘ Oh my god, they’re playing ABBA!’

Pandora starts to sing the chorus of Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! and every single one of the girls - save Marlene - sings with her, alongside Peter. James scoffs and turns to whisper to Regulus, “Lily’s a total ABBA fan-freak.”

“Don’t you mean fangirl?” Regulus says.

“No.” He pauses, looking at her, “Nope. Fan-freak.”

They’re belting out the chorus properly now that the timing has lined up.

“Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight! Won’t somebody help me chase the shadows away?” Lily’s voice is the loudest, unusual to Regulus as she’s normally fairly quiet, followed by Pandora’s belting.

Marlene is just sitting there, arms crossed. She doesn’t like ABBA, by the looks of it.

The car journey to the hotel consists of singing from everyone at some point, even Regulus joins in with Don’t Look Back In Anger because that’s just the kind of song you have to sing- obligatory. They arrive after thirty minutes of teenage nonsense and the breath of fresh air is refreshing when Regulus steps out.

The hotel’s car park is big as they climb out one by one and designate whose luggage is whose. The hotel itself is modern-looking, marble whites and contrasting blacks, with a large sign with the name on it.

Sirius calls them all over for a photo infront of the hotel before they go anywhere. Sirius is to the far right, holding up his phone. Remus has his head on Sirius’ shoulder, James is popping up behind him. Marlene is pressing a kiss to Dorcas’ cheek, who currently has an arm around her shoulder. With the courtesy of BartyEvan’s climbed on his back, holding his hand up in some stupid hand sign. Pandora is crouched just below Remus so her head is only just in frame, Peter alongside her. Regulus, Mary and Lily are in the back but they all simultaneously say ‘ cheese!’ just to appease Sirius.

They crowd around his phone afterwards, most of them satisfied but Mary’s complaining about how her hair is all messed up because of Sirius’ stupid driving.

Sirius grins, “Welcome, people, to Tenerife.”

“I thought I told you, we’re not your people.” Marlene complains.

And for a second, Regulus wants absolutely nothing to change when the sun is high in the sky, the heat in the air, his friends and his brother beside him. Even with yelling foreign ladies.

This trip is going to be incredible, Regulus decides.

Chapter Text

Down to Greece on holiday

Love in the nineties is paranoid

On sunny beaches

Take your chances

-Boys and Girls, Blur

4.37pm, Sunday, July 31st

The hotel is brilliant and deserves the five star rating. They spend the remainder of the first day fairly relaxed; they claim rooms for each of them. The rooms are named Calico, Conch and Cowrie - after the most popular shells in the area - in a hand-painted white font on the wood. Apparently, it’s locally sourced.

Sirius snags the Calico room for him, James, Remus and Peter as it apparently has got the best view of the sea; Mary claims he’s only getting it as he’s paying for it all. His room is fairly big with an extremely fluffy rug in the centre of it.

The other two rooms are decided upon by Evan and Lily doing a brief game of rock-paper-scissors. Evan wins with a rock to Lily’s scissors after two rounds of them doing the exact same thing and decides on the Conch room. To Regulus’ delight, they’ve got the best air-con. Barty and Evan take the two bigger beds, Pandora the smallest as she claims she ‘ won’t mind ’, leaving Regulus with the one nobody wants. It’s decently soft and allows him to sink into it comfortably, so he doesn’t complain.

The Cowrie room is therefore given to Mary, Lily, Marlene and Dorcas. Marlene promises that she and Dorcas won’t do anything in the room - Dorcas rolls her eyes and says ‘ no promises!’ in a playful tone while she wiggles her eyebrows.

It takes an hour or two to get all of them to unpack fully, find out where to put this and that, how to work the shower (Barty needed it) and the aircon controls. Regulus takes pride in being the only one to know how to work it pre-hand as it’s surprisingly complicated at first glance, but simple in terms of use.

Pandora’s filled half of their shared wardrobe’s shelf with her shoes alone - heels upon heels, sandals, a pair of trainers and flip flops. She’s cramped them all together upon Evan’s request so he could stuff all of his, Regulus’ and Barty’s shoes away aswell.

Regulus also messages Prongs at some point, too, when he’s in the privacy of the bathroom packing his multiple hair and skincare products away. They’re necessary.

-

6.56pm, Sunday, July 31st

Regulus

Have you landed?

-

6.58pm, Sunday, July 31st

Prongs

yes i’m in spain with my friends it’s incredible so far

Regulus

Me too. I think I’m going to enjoy myself.

Prongs

pads is currently unpacking and he’s yelling about how he missed his special hair product

Regulus

I quite like Pads. I included mine.

Prongs

you use special hair products

why am i not surprised

Regulus

You’d be surprised at alot of things about me.

Prongs

oh yeah??

like what

Regulus

What I look like, maybe?

Prongs

i’d be pleasantly surprised i think you’re hot

Regulus

You’ve never seen me.

Prongs

i don’t need to

by the way you talk to me you’re automatically fit

Regulus

You don’t seem so bad yourself, if we’re going on your analogy.

Prongs

wink

i’ll be sure to send you hot beach pics

Regulus

Make sure to include that wonderful eight-pack.

Prongs

six*

Regulus

You have a six pack?

Prongs

mh my biggest achievement

Regulus

Holy shit.

Prongs

;)

-

7.04pm, Sunday, July 31st

Was he just flirting with Prongs?

Maybe.

Thoroughly enjoyable. Regulus is currently smiling down at his phone with his stomach fluttering. His face is probably red. Not like that he’d ever let anyone see him like that - Prongs was a total stranger. Some flirting would be harmless.

When Regulus finally steps out of the bathroom after ensuring his face was pale as normal, he’s happy to find that Pandora’s finished unpacking and sorting.

They’ve fully decked out everyone’s room in two hours and spent the rest of the time mapping what to do every day (rather, just a list of things they’d like to do and choosing randomly on the day. It consists of some rather ludicrous ideas like taking home a foreign seagull or transporting Spanish water back to England ). After making said list, the twelve of them must be like elephants as they explore the hotel from top to bottom. The hotel is large on the inside with room after room down the side; they have a fully furnished dining hall that looks brilliantly clean with menus for what they serve for meals - Remus decides he approves and therefore, everyone else does. They’re going out for dinner every night anyways, but knowing the breakfast is good reassures them. The rest of lower floors are just basics like the lobby, a rec room with a huge pool table (James declares war on Peter, who is apparently a god at pool), a dart board, jukeboxes, a small dance floor and vending machines with an assortment of drinks. There’s also a shop selling small trinkets, but they agree to check that out later.

In the higher floors, there’s not much interest other than the names of the rooms. But, something catches James’ eye - he screams like he’s six years old again and runs onto the roof, screaming ‘ they have a pool on the roof!’

Sirius immediately dashes after him with Marlene by his side and declares that everyone needs to get changed right now and that they’re going to spend their first night in the pool. They all quickly run down the stairs with Barty tripping over and crashing down a grand total of two stairs because he was going too fast; Evan kicks open the door to Conch and they all grab their swimwear from out the wardrobe. Pandora heads into the bathroom and the three boys just simply turn away from each other, like they do back at their flat.

Pandora comes back in a sky blue bikini with white stripes lining the rim and the back strings tied up in a bow. In her hand is a collection of fucking rubber ducks.

“When the hell did you grab those?” Barty asks, staring at her hands.

“Better yet, where did you get them?” Regulus says, chucking his shirt in the laundry pile he’s made for himself. It was sweat-soaked anyway.

She smiles and hands them all a rubber duck each, “I bought them from the shop while you were all in the rec room.”

Evan scoffs, throwing his duck up and down like a ball, “Brilliant. You’ve got twelve?”

She nods, “Yep!” And with that, the four of them trek back up the winds of stairs to the roof with three ducks in their hands each.

Mary and Lily are there, sitting on the sun loungers as Mary ties Lily’s hair up carefully. Mary’s in a green two-piece with flowers on it whilst Lily is in a simple lilac bikini. Peter and Remus are looking at the view over the glass, peering downwards as Remus points to things, Peter nodding along.

“Where’s my brother?” Regulus narrows his eyes, double checking the staircase.

“He’s gone to that bloody shop with James.” Peter replies, turning to face him and spotting the ducks, “What the-?”

“Pandora also went to the shop earlier.” Barty supplies usefully, handing the pair of them a duck each. Mary glances up from where she’s finished Lily’s hair and claims one for herself, Lily the same.

“They’re brilliant!” She says, twirling it around in admiration, “I’m keeping this. You don’t mind if I do?” Lily jerks her head to the side.

“That’s what they’re intended for!” Pandora smiles, placing the remaining four in a line by the edge. Soon enough, Marlene and Dorcas come up the stairs looking thoroughly snogged. 

“Ah, so that’s where you’ve bloody been!” Remus says.

Dorcas grins like a cat who’s had the cream whilst Marlene blushes, “Is it that obvious?”

“Yes, darling. ” Dorcas draws out, “Your neck.”

Marlene’s face is a mix between horrified and amused as she brings a hand up gingerly to her neck.

“There’s only one, and it’s faint.” Regulus laughs as Marlene lets her hand down, smiling sheepishly and pressing a kiss to Dorcas’ cheek. Dorcas throws an arm around her waist and whispers something in her ear.

Regulus doesn’t get to see Marlene’s reaction because Sirius and James loudly announce themselves.

They’ve got water guns. Huge, blue water guns that stack up in a pack of six in Sirius’ hands, the rest in James’. They’ve both got stupidly big grins on their faces and dump them all on the floor.

“These cost me a fortune and they’re fucking good quality.” Sirius remarks, picking up one for himself and experimentally shooting water at the floor. Those guns are powerful , Jesus.

“You and your fucking money!” Remus mocks, taking one for himself and shooting into the pool. He jumps back slightly at the force. Marlene grabs her own and immediately squirts Lily right in the back. She arches her back from the pressure and turns to glare at Marlene, picking one up and shooting her right back.

Marlene squeals and backs up quickly; she promptly falls into the pool and splutters, her mouth full of chlorine. Dorcas howls with laughter and with a water gun in hand, jumps in with a huge splash and squirts Marlene right in her face.

Regulus laughs at them as the rest of them get in and jet liquid at one another. Remus is the last to get in but is dragged in by the ankle, courtesy of Sirius, and throws himself onto him, slowly punching his torso and yelling about him being a dickhead.

They’re all spraying each other with no specific target in mind, the pool water cold in contrast to the hot summer sun against Regulus’ skin. The suncream he’d applied beforehand was definitely a good idea.

“That went in my eye!” Mary yells at some point, propping herself up on the side and rubbing her eye dramatically.

Sirius shoots her again, an evil grin on his face. She gets up and jumps into the pool - right ontop of Sirius. His eyes going wide as he’s crushed, thrashing his limbs around in panic. Mary surfaces, satisfied.

At some point, Barty nearly drowns Regulus by holding his head underwater for slightly too long. Regulus kicks him hard but the water slows his leg down and it results in a mere tap. Barty laughs and swims away, climbing on Evan’s back and shooting people from above.

This sparks what James calls a ‘ piggy-back fight!’. Mary is on Peter’s back with both his and her own gun in hand, streaming water at people left and right.

Marlene is climbing on Pandora’s back, currently fighting with Dorcas who’s with Lily. They’re spraying water everywhere as Marlene kicks around randomly.

Sirius gets onto Remus and his face is extremely red, his arms flung around Remus’ neck like his life depends on it. Remus himself is blushing too, holding onto Sirius’ legs like he’s never touched him before and nervously moving around. It’s a general rule to not squirt them, now, because the look on Sirius’ face of pure love is too sweet for any of them to risk him falling off.

James looks at Regulus and asks, “Fight Sirius and Remus with me? I don’t want Sirius to pop a boner onto Remus’ back.

“Ew! Don’t talk to me about my brother’s boners. ” Regulus hisses but finds himself grinning anyway.

“Alright, alright. Get on?” James hunches over, his brown skin shimmering with water under the sunlight. His muscles are visible and he’s humming fucking Live Forever by Oasis.

“If I must.” Regulus clears his throat and scampers up on his back. He must look rather stupid right now. James readjusts himself to grasp Regulus’ legs, throwing him up slightly in the process. Regulus lets out a squeak and is glad nobody notices it because that’s embarrassing. His grip on his watergun tightens as he shoots into the air, the water landing in little droplets.

James cackles loudly as he starts to jet at Sirius. Remus turns around slowly, his movement delayed in the water, and Sirius gasps at the sight of Regulus and James.

“Reg, you traitor! ” He yells, “Forward, noble steed!”

Remus rolls his eyes but smiles and goes forward as Sirius shoots James right in the face, on the occasion Regulus too. It’s ironic, because he called Regulus the traitor but he’s aiming more at James.

“Fuck you!” James yells as Sirius pushes him over. Regulus goes toppling backwards straight into the pool and the force of Sirius’ push causes Remus to also loosen his grip and fall himself. Sirius plops straight into the water as they’re all piled on each other weirdly.

Regulus surfaces, coughing. Sirius is already up and shoots him a devious look.

“Brotherly murder?” He offers, smirking.

“The Most Ancient and Murderous brothers of Black.” Regulus responds, making his way over to Sirius and climbing on his back. Lily glances at them and looks faintly scared.

James is staring at him in shock, “You betrayed me!”

“You started it!” Regulus shouts back, “You never war me against my own brother, Potter.”

“James, not Potter!” Sirius says from below. He’s staring into Remus’ eyes, the dramatic git. Regulus elbows him in the head as he mutters something, turning his head away from Remus.

Remus is bright red. James offers for him to go on his back and he agrees warily. All twelve of them fight each other for a while longer, howling with laughter and all of them soaked from head to toe.

At some point, they all grow tired of the water and climb out. Regulus is perched up against the glass, water dripping from his hair. His curls are even more prominent now.

“Who wants to play Who’s Most Likely ?” Sirius asks. The sunset is clear in the sky now, a myriad of warm hues, and the golden sun glaring right onto James’ skin. He looks very -

“Me!” Mary says eagerly, “I love this game.”

“Sure.” Remus shrugs. He’s leant up against Sirius, their shoulders touching. Remus’ head keeps dropping but he picks it back up every time. Regulus thinks they’re both idiots, for dancing around each other longer than Marlene and Dorcas, and Remus is too bloody scared to drop his head on Sirius’ shoulder. 

“Let me go first!” Peter asks, receiving a murmuring of ‘ go for it’ throughout the crowd, “Who’s mostly likely to elope with their best friend?”

Everyone looks at Sirius. Sirius looks at James.

“Oh.” He snickers, “Let’s elope, Remus.” He says hesitantly. Remus’ cheeks heat up and he lowers his head in a pathetic attempt to hide it.

James splutters, “I thought I was your best friend?”

“You’re my second brother.” Sirius says, matter-of-factly, “Peter is my dearest buddy. Remus is my best friend.”

“ Boyfriend. ” Someone mutters. It’s definitely not Regulus, nope. He’d never say something like that.

Remus flushes and looks down. Sirius’ eyes widen a fraction, “Alright then. Who’s most likely to have the most kids?”

A few people look at Lily, she’s very much a family-orientated person, while a few look at Pandora. Pandora is staring at Mary.

“Lily and Pandora. I can see that.” Marlene says, nodding her head in agreement.

James sits up, “How many kids do you actually want, Lils?” 

“Mm, I’m not really sure. Atleast three.” She admits sheepishly, “I like kids.”

“You won’t want three or more when they’re teenagers.” Evan scoffs, crossing his legs and leaning forward, “Nightmare.”

Regulus’ mother sure hadn’t wanted any kids when he and Sirius were six. Part of the reason Sirius had run away, Regulus joining him.

“I’m sure.” Lily laughs, “My turn! Who’s most likely to be late for their own wedding?”

Dorcas, the traitor, is staring right at Regulus alongside Evan, Barty, Pandora and Marlene. The rest are staring at Sirius again.

“It’s those bloody two-hour routines, I swear.” Peter mocks, “Skincare, haircare, whatever-care.”

“Hey!” Regulus says defensively, “Those keep me looking fantastic. Me and Sirius are always looking our best, not like you mangy creatures with greasy hair.” He pointedly looks at Barty, who turns his head to the side in guilt.

“He speaks only the truth.” Sirius nods, “They’re very important.”

“Your turn, Regulus.” Remus prompts. Regulus thinks for a second, fidgeting idly with the hem of his shorts.

“Who’s the most likely to fuck in public?” At that, they’re looking at Dorcas. Even Dorcas just shoots Marlene a sly look, grinning.

“I take that with pride. I’m the only one here with any sex in their life. ” She turns her nose up proudly.

Regulus cuts in, “You’re forgetting the hourly rutting Evan and Barty do.” 

Barty’s mouth drops open as he laughs, Evan’s eyes creasing up in amusement.

“What are we, wolves in heat?” Evan smirks, “Mm. Hourly? Do you want blowjobs every hour, sweetheart o’ dearest?”

James cackles, “Jesus.”

“As tempting as that sounds… I’ll pass.” Barty snickers. Evan throws his head back, laughing loudly.

He catches his breath after a while, “Okay, okay. Who’s most likely to-”

“It’s my turn, idiot!” Dorcas shouts, “ My turn. Who’s most likely to die first in a horror film?”

“That’s what I was gonna say.” Peter pouts. Some of them are looking at him, some at James and Sirius. Regulus looks at Pandora because she’d probably space out and start talking to the murderer.

James fakes a loud sigh, “Why me and Sirius?”

“You wouldn’t shut up or stop screaming.” Regulus answers dryly. Wasn’t that obvious?

“Oh.”

Sirius looks at him like he’s totally incoherent, “Even I figured that out, James.”

James exhales, “Yes, I get it now, I get it.”

“I think Peter would be the murderer.” Pandora says, completely randomly.

“What?” He squeaks in confusion, “Why me?”

“Because you’re the one nobody would suspect!” Lily pipes up, “You’re perfect for it.”

“Traitor Peter Pettigrew.” Mary snorts, gesturing to him, “Kill your best friends in a scandal for an evil man controlling him.”

“This is the shittiest murder plot ever. ” Peter pouts, “I’d fail as a murderer. James, your turn.”

“Oh, okay!” He says in surprise, “Shit. I forgot my idea, give me a sec-”

“Second’s up.” Lily retorts, giggling with Mary.

“Shut up. Who’s most likely to become a werewolf?” James says loudly, over the echo of Mary’s laughter.

Regulus thinks Remus would make a good werewolf. He’s got the scars for it - Sirius had told him in confidence that he hated them and got them from the shitty guy he stayed with in childhood - and would go against the trope of angry-man-werewolf, rather sailors-mouth-werewolf. Sirius also looks at Remus.

“What?” He asks, confused, “Why am I the werewolf?”

“Well, Sirius and Regulus are the vampires. Pandora’s a fairy, in my eyes atleast. Lily can be a selkie, we’ll reluctantly name Marlene an angel and Dorcas a devil, Peter can be a giant because they’re big and friendly, Barty is a banshee and Evan can be a gnome. Or a goblin.” Mary smirks, “Leaving you to be the werewolf! I’ll take the zombie.” 

“We should do that on Halloween. I take pride in being a banshee.” Barty says, nodding his head. They’re all drying off slightly now, the water pooling beneath them. The patio doesn’t stay wet for long because the last of the sun is drying it. Every time Barty moves his head Regulus gets the sun in his eyes, so he’s hoping Barty can stay still for once in his life.

“Why am I the gnome?” Evan asks at the same time Marlene says, “Why am I the angel? ”

“Because, my sweet saviour, we’ve got to match. I’ll be the evil, evil lady turning you to the dark side.” Dorcas’ voice is low and she’s staring at Marlene, “We’ll elope instead of Remus and Sirius.”

Sirius coughs suddenly, “We’re not-”

Remus has inched away from him. Nice going, Dorcas, ruining the moment.

Marlene seemingly doesn’t care as she whispers back, “Ah yes, fair lady, whisk me away.”

“Of course.”

“So they’re allowed to flirt but we’re not?” Evan complains.

“Yes.” Marlene twists her head to glare at him, “We’re dating. You’re not.”

Barty stares at him, whether on impulse or not, “Well. Want to be my boyfriend, Evan?”

Evan freezes, his back stiffens as he nods slowly, “Sure.” He says, shifting over to Barty and placing his hands on his cheeks, “Can I kiss you then, boyfriend?”

Regulus kind of can’t believe this because they’re always like this, but they’ve never taken it this far before. Barty is known for having week-long girlfriends and breaking up with them randomly, so Regulus is fairly sure he’s joking. Well, he was sure, past tense, because the faint blush on Evan’s cheeks is suggesting otherwise.

Barty clears his throat, nods and actually kisses him. Full on pulls him closer by the hem of his shorts, letting his hands curl under the fabric whilst Evan has gone stiff and moves an arm around his neck.

What the fuck. They’re all silent, just watching in a mixture of shock and amusement as Barty pulls away, smiling hesitantly. Evan removes the arm around his neck as if he’s completely surprised by what he’s just done. Barty lets his fingers uncurl, brushing against his skin as Evan chokes slightly, staring into his eyes. And then he grabs Barty’s hand, pulls him up quickly, drags him to the exit as they depart. He’s whispering harshly under his breath by the time they’re out of range.

Regulus is absolutely silent as he slowly turns his head to Pandora. She’s staring at the rooftop exit.

“I thought they weren’t dating.” Sirius says after a small silence. They’re all speechless, by the sounds of it - rather, the not-sound.

“They’re not.” Regulus says, not completely sure, at the same time Pandora starts, “They weren’t…” 

“That was not platonic.” Peter stands up, brushing himself off. This causes a chain reaction as they’re all standing up, hesitant to leave. The game of Who’s Most Likely is long forgotten by now.

Regulus hears his phone ping from where they’ve left all their belongings on the side, safe from the water.

“I think it’s from Evan. Or Barty.” Regulus walks over to his phone, checking it, and sure enough it’s from Evan.

-

10.58pm, Sunday, July 31st

Evan

help i don’t think i can do this i’ve run off into the bathroom like a coward

Regulus

Do you like him?

Evan

i don’t know

maybe? i thought the flirting was just us joking around but then i kissed him and i’m not even sure anymore because he told me 

Regulus

He told you what?

Evan

i don't think i should say

sorry

but the point is i think i do like him and i don’t think he even likes me you know how he is

Regulus

Talk to him then. Communicate.

We’re all in agreement he must like you.

Evan

you’re all talking about us oh god

i’m so embarrassed

Regulus

Do you want me to message him?

Evan

please

Regulus

Alright.

-

11.02pm, Sunday, July 31st

Regulus

What happened with Evan?

Barty

i think i fucked it all up

i thought we were just flirting and i think he genuinely likes me

Regulus

Do you not like him? I was under the impression you did.

Barty

i don’t know

i thought i was straight

Regulus

Have you ever considered being bisexual?

Barty

no

yes

fuck i don’t know i’m so confused i’ve never liked a guy before but it’s different with evan i don’t know if it’s because he’s my best friend or he’s a guy or he’s not just a casual hook up

my mind is going a mile a minute

Regulus

By that, I think you should talk to him.

I think you’ve not had enough time to consider who you like and you should talk to him, ask him to give you time to work things out.

Barty

okay

thank you reg seriously

Regulus

Anytime.

Message me later? Or come find me?

Barty

yeah

-

11.06pm, Sunday, July 31st

Regulus

Talk to him. Trust me.

Evan

don’t let me down

please

Regulus

Go. Talk. To. Him.

Evan

alright

dear GOD wish me luck??

Regulus

Luck.

Pandora sends luck. So does James and Sirius.

-

11.07pm, Sunday, July 31st

“He’s going to talk to him.” Regulus says, refusing to show anyone but Pandora the messages. She’s evidently thinking about everything.

“I feel like this is my fault.” Marlene sighs, looking down. Dorcas puts an arm around her.

“They made it messy themselves, they can sort it out. I know them better than you and neither of them will blame you, babe, trust me.” She soothes her, rubbing her thumb in circles on her shoulder blades. Marlene offers her a weak smile.

They sit quietly on the roof for ten minutes longer, talking quietly about Evan and Barty and how they’d come to this.

-

Evan Rosier, 11.06pm, Sunday, July 31st

Evan steps out of the bathroom cautiously. Barty’s leaning against the post, his mouth parted slightly. The lips he’d kissed, and ran away from. It seems it’s always one step forward, two steps backwards. 

He’s anxiously scratching his arm, a habit he’d picked up over the years. Barty’s skin is red as he moves his nails up and down.

“Stop that.” Evan says. Barty jumps slightly, jerking his head upwards as he licks his lips. The moon is prominent in the sky and Barty looks jaw-dropping in the silver streams of light, latching onto the shadows of his skin and highlighting them. 

Barty clears his throat, “Will you-” His voice cracks as his eyes are wide and pleading, “Will you please let me talk for a moment?”

“Yeah.” Evan nods slowly. He doesn’t know if Barty’s going to harshly tell him what he truly thinks, say that they should stop being friends, or that they could still be friends but without the flirting. Maybe, if the universe is on his side, some sort of reciprocation.

“I’m- fuck, sorry, I had a whole speech planned in my head.” He laughs lowly, “Sorry if I fuck this up. I’ve- you know how I was raised, Evan, and since a few years ago I’d believed all of those Catholic beliefs my dad had said. He still expects me to marry a pretty girl, have three kids and have one inherit the spot in Parliament after I’m supposed to. And I think I just need some time - I don’t not like you. I think I really do. You’re everything I could’ve ever asked for.”

“You mean that?” Evan’s voice is a harsh whisper.

“It’s all the truth.” Barty reassures him quietly and honestly, “I need to figure out where I stand with my own beliefs. I need to talk to my dad about his expectations, I need to figure out these things. This doesn’t mean that I don’t want to… be with you. Please, just let me have an hour or two.”

“We all die at the end of it, Barty, please, let yourself take a risk for once.” Evan murmurs, picking up his hand and enclosing his fingers around Barty’s calloused thumb, “I can give you time, hell, I can give you anything. I’d hang the stars for you.” His voice breaks at the end and he can feel the slight tear in his eye, which he blinks away quickly.

Barty meets his gaze, “Would you really?”

“It’s all the truth.” Evan repeats, smiling, “If you meant what you said earlier and you just need some time, then I’d love to.”

Barty seems confused for a millisecond but registers what he means quickly and laughs, “Shit, Evan. I’m really, really fucked if you keep saying things like this.”

“Then I’ll let you think.” Evan says softly, pressing a kiss to his hand and dropping it back on Barty’s lap, “I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah.” He breathes, “Yeah. You will.”

Barty nudges his foot with his own and Evan stands up.

“Let yourself live, Barty.”

Barty looks at him, his eyes glazed over, “You’ve been a better friend to me in three years than anyone ever has in seventeen.”

Evan laughs and removes his hand from the doorframe, slipping from view, his heart beating out of his ears and his chuckle giddy.

-

Regulus Black, 11.18pm, Sunday, July 31st

Evan

thank you so much

Regulus

I take it that you’re okay?

Evan

more than ok

i’m brilliant

Regulus

Let me know all about it. The rest have gone back to their rooms, me and Pandora are downstairs.

Evan

i’ll be two minutes

-

Regulus Black, 11.19pm, Sunday, July 31st

Evan shows up in only a minute. His face is lit up and he’s shaking with what seems to be happiness.

“He- He asked me to give him time.” Evan breathes, his breaths ragged from where he’s been running, “You were right, Reg, I think he does.”

Regulus isn’t surprised and tilts his head, “I told you he likes you.”

“It’s been slightly obvious.” Pandora pipes up.

He laughs, running a hand through his hair, “I told him I’d hang the stars for him.”

Oh, Evan. You lovesick puppy.

Chapter Text

I live my day as if it was the last

Live my day as if there was no past

Doin' it all night, all summer

Doin' it the way I wanna

-Lush Life, Zara Larsson

9.48am, Monday, August 1st

The day of Monday is spent touring the town. Thanks to Mary’s Spanish, she manages to ask a few of the local residents about recommendations. She comes back every time with another restaurant to add to the list or one to avoid, places that aren't generally listed as attractions and the shops that sell the best things.

They let Mary and either Lily or James go to interrogate these poor locals, as a group of twelve would probably scare them off - a huge group of teenagers isn’t the thing most people look for.

Decisions are made and everyone has piped in about what restaurant they’d like to eat at, letting Sirius choose twice. A rule has been made that they’ll eat a different type of cuisine every day with the exception of hotel food. It was more a dinner rule.

Yesterday evening, they’d all just bought chips after the pool adventures. It worked out pretty well.

Marlene has chosen to get Chinese on Monday. She’s currently scanning all the Chinese restaurants nearby and forcing Mary to ask people which is the best one for later on in the day.

Pandora wants to have a barbeque on Tuesday with burgers, hot dogs and skewers. American-esque.

Sirius’ birthday is on Wednesday and promptly decides on proper Spanish tapas - it’s only fitting.

Thursday goes to James, he’d like an Italian. Fancy one.

Indian is chosen for Friday, courtesy of Peter, who claims they’ll all be starving for it at the end of the week.

Saturday is Regulus’ choice of French food. He’s dead set on having atleast some of his own cuisine at one point.

Lily gets Sunday. She wants a proper British roast.

Mexican Monday is Barty’s idea, they’re all going to go and get tacos and promptly get smashed. Barty always seems to have the worst ideas. Regulus decides he’ll go along with the former and skip the latter.

Sirius gets Tuesday. It’s undecided as of now, but knowing Sirius they’ll just have pizza or he’ll be unoriginal and get Tapas again.

Remus proclaims that they’re having a Greek next Wednesday. Sounds good.

Dorcas chooses a Japanese dish for Thursday. Pandora is in high support of this.

Mary wants to have German on Friday. Regulus has never had something properly labelled as German, so he’s excited slash terrified for what it’ll bring.

Evan gets the last day of Saturday as Sunday they’re flying home before dinner. He chooses to end their trip with more Spanish food, as there’s a place that makes ‘never-ending’ Paella that has definitely piqued his interest.

Thus, the food decisions come to an end after an hour of arguing back and forth about where to go, what to eat, what time, etc.

Aside from their planning for the rest, they simply walk around and talk about nothing and about everything. They visit the beach at high tide when it’s packed with people and resolve to come back later - ‘later’ gets interrupted by a wild chase of these two butterflies.

Many photos, videos, and an attempt at catching them later, they finally leave. Lily gets rather sad about it, proclaiming that, ‘ oh, they’re soulmates, it’s so sweet. ’

Regulus thinks it’s all a bit melodramatic, especially how Sirius fake cries when they can’t trail them anymore. He is quickly cheered up when they all get Chinese - a huge bowl of prawn chow mein between them with dumplings on the side. James complains about his ‘ food baby’; Regulus doesn’t believe him because his stomach is still toned and muscular, like always, his hair still perfectly but imperfectly messed up and the rest of his sunglasses on his head as he tilts them up with slender hands is just as soon-worthy as usual.

James Potter couldn’t be ugly if he tried.

-

10.09am, Tuesday, August 2nd

Prongs

hey sorry i haven’t messaged you much

how’s your holiday going?

Regulus

Pretty good actually.

We’re going down to the beach later on, I think.

Prongs

always love the beach

i’m so tanned i love it

Regulus

Picture?

Prongs

you want

a photo of my tanned-ness

Regulus

Sure. Only to judge if you’re actually tanned.

Prongs

right, right ;)

[ Photo Attached]

Regulus

You’ve got nice thighs.

Prongs

cheers 

means alot

Regulus

I should hope so

Prongs

where’s the smiley face after that

Regulus

:)

Prongs

woo

ttyl?? i’m gonna be busy for a few days

Regulus

Yeah. I’ll send you a photo of anything that reminds me of you.

You know, the name Prongs reminds me of a deer? Or a fork?

Prongs

that’s where it was from LOL a fork being jabbed into my old bday cake

Regulus

Prongs. How ridiculous

Prongs

ur just black in french

whats up with black anyways 

Regulus

Links to something personal.

Prongs

ahhh makes sense

okay i’ve really really gotta go now my mate is bugging me

see you

:)

Regulus

Yeah. See you.

:)

-

9.25pm, Tuesday, August 2nd

The beach is mostly empty now, save for the stray group miles away from them. They’re going ahead with Pandora’s idea of a barbeque on the beach. The waves have crept in, the sun is just about setting so that the blue is still visible but the hues of sunset are slowly taking over.

They’ve got pillows that they’d bought impulsively to sit on - Regulus paid for them, all in black in a poor attempt to keep sand off them. Lily had tasked them all with things to do in pairs: Marlene and Dorcas have gone to buy drinks, Remus and Lily to go gather sticks to make a campfire, Pandora and Evan are browsing the shops for barbeques (Sirius again offers to pay, the bastard ) that are fairly cheap and expendable - just to cook basic, cold but pre-cooked meat over it.

Barty, Mary and Peter (what a strange group) have gone to buy all the food as Mary claims she’s the best chef there and Peter’s going to remember what they need to buy. Barty’s just coming along to carry it all, apparently.

Speaking of Barty, he’s still in this weird phase with Evan where they mutter comments to one another, Evan smiles at him warmly and Barty just stands there with this look of confusion on his face.

Regulus is hoping they’ll talk it out tonight.

Sirius is upset about not being able to use his brand new legal age permissions to buy drinks; he’s sulking behind Dorcas as she buys Heineken and Corona beer for the lot of them. Marlene makes a sour face about the fact that none of them have bought vodka but she sucks it up in the end when Dorcas says she’s a sourpuss - not like she can buy it (legally) anyways.

Back to the pairs - Lily’s decisions have left James and Regulus together, who have been tasked with ‘guarding their spot’ on the beach and setting up music on the shitty speaker Remus brought.

Of course Remus brought it. He’d die without music.

“Lily really left us with the most boring job.” James complains, dramatically putting his head in his hands, “Whatever will I do with stone-cold Black?”

“Oh, shut up. Are you really that bored?” Regulus asks as they both sit on the pillows opposite each other. James has just flung himself out, watching the sky and thinking, while Regulus scrolls through random playlists to find songs that everyone will like. Hard job.

He sighs, “ Yes.”

“We’ve been here for like, two minutes.” Regulus deadpans. James may be attractive, but he’s not the smartest at times.

He turns his head on the pillow to face Regulus on his side, propped up on his elbow, “Don’t care. Provide me with some entertainment.”

“You’re missing something.” Regulus mutters.

“ Please? ” He begs, sitting up. Oh, that’s hot, James beg-

“Sure. Want to go on a walk?” Regulus offers casually, evening his voice into a bored tone as he starts standing up and dusting himself off, “Our shit won’t go missing.”

“Will you actually talk to me?” James teases, getting up and shaking his head from the sand.

Regulus glares at him, “Yes.”

“Alright then.” James kicks the pillow to align with the others with his foot as Regulus walks off up ahead.

“Do you like the sunset?” Regulus asks, focusing more on his steps and not kicking the sand up rather than James’ muscled biceps in the golden glow or his calves.

His answer is so… James. It doesn’t surprise Regulus, really, but he stuffs it away in the back of his mind in the folder for James (that definitely shouldn’t exist, yet every piece of information he gets on James sticks in his mind). “Yeah. I really do. It’s so pretty and peaceful, y’know? Just… I don’t know, I just like it.”

Regulus hums, “I prefer the sunrise. The morning air is less stuffy.”

James nods, seemingly satisfied, “You know when you try to take a photo of the sky, it’s all beautiful and stuff, and when you look at the picture it’s shit?”

“Oh god, yeah.” Regulus knows exactly what he means, “You try all the filters but no matter what, it’s still better in person?”

It’s a bit like James. Sure, his photos are incredible, but nothing compares to him in live motion. Alright, so maybe Regulus is developing a slight crush on James Potter. It’ll pass, he’s sure of it, because this is his brother’s best friend, he’s a guy and has dated girls in the past, and there’s no chance he’d go for Regulus.

Regulus refuses to say ‘ crush’ whether in his mind or out loud. He settles for ‘ sure, he’s hot, nothing special about it.’

(Understatement of the century.)

“Yes!” His voice rises an octave, “Sorry. Yes, yeah. I have a collection of sunset photos on my phone, you wanna see?”

“Sure.” Regulus finds himself over-enthusiastically agreeing, “Let’s see.” He says, making sure to even out his voice.

James pulls his phone from his pocket, his lockscreen is one of all twelve of them taken at the pool on Sunday. Lily must’ve taken it, seeing as she’s not in it. Regulus is on James’ back, smiling broadly, and Sirius on Remus’, the both of them blushing. Evan and Barty are splashing each other with water in the back with Mary sat on the side trying to dry her eyes. Pandora’s got two waterguns in her hands, shooting Peter in the back while Marlene and Dorcas have noticed the camera and are smiling. Dorcas has an arm around her waist, barely visible from under the water.

It’s such a nice photo, the way Regulus is absolutely lit up and the grip of James’ arms visible around his legs.

“I like your lockscreen.” He finds himself saying without thinking.

James grins at him, “Thanks. I can send it to you, if you’d like? I never did get your number.”

“Are you asking for my number?” Regulus hides a smile, biting his lip.

“Maybe.”

“Well, I think you’d annoy me. Get Sirius to send it to me.” Regulus laughs as James scoffs.

“You’re so dramatic. Didn’t want your number anyways.” His voice is teasing, with no malice whatsoever.

“Mm. Neither. Show me these photos then.” James quickly skips past his camera roll, slightly suspicious there James, and opens the folder named Sunset Pics.

The first photo is normal - pink in the sky streaked with orange with one or two clouds. The second, though, is a photo of a jar of strawberry jam.

“Why do you have a photo of strawberry jam in your sunset photo folder?” Regulus crosses his arms, laughing in disbelief.

“Fuck-” James panics, “That was an accident. Ignore that. Wrong folder.”

He snorts, “Nice Jam, James. I should start calling you Jam-s.”

“You wouldn’t.” He gasps, “I’ll start calling you Reggie.”

“Ew. I hate that name.” Regulus cringes. Sirius had called him that when they were younger, switching to Reg over the years. Still wasn’t the greatest, but it was preferable to Reggie or the one time one of his parent’s friends had called him Gully. Gully! Fucking weird, those adults doting on kids like that. Anyways.

“Sirius calls you that.” James says like he’s read his mind.

“And I whack him every time he does.” Regulus mutters, “Arsehole.”

“Oh, speaking of Sirius, it’s not just me who’s noticing the thing he’s got going on with Remus? I know I said this to you before, but I swear it’s got worse.” James says, idly spinning around as he walks like a kid.

Regulus loosens up at that, “Oh my god. No, it’s not just you. They’re so-”

“Stupid?” James finishes for him.

“I was going to say oblivious.” Regulus huffs. He’s not really annoyed James finished his sentence.

“It’s just like they’re so obviously into each other and I don’t get how Sirius doesn’t realise that.”

“Honestly, this is like the first thing I completely agree with you on. Sirius being oblivious is nothing new, it’s Remus that I’m more shocked at.”

“Remus?” James tilts his head, “You think he’d confess first?”

“Sure. By accident. Hey, I’ll make you a bet. Fifty quid Remus confesses to Sirius on his birthday.”

“I get fifty quid if he does it before or after? Or if Sirius does?”

“Mh.” Regulus sticks out his hand - pre-wiped on his shirt in a pathetic attempt of wiping the sweat off, “Deal? I know you can afford it.”

James takes his hand, “‘Course I can.” His hand lingers a moment too long and Regulus feels electric. He pulls away and he can still feel James’ touch in his hands.

James looks down, “I’ll be winning.” He coughs out.

Regulus clears his throat, “I don’t know about that.”

“Oh my god, this is really random but-” James launches into a rant about a crazy ex-girlfriend he’d had called Gauri back when he still lived in India who bet on everything . Regulus notices how he’s changing the topic from their weird bit of contact.

“I’ve only bet on that one horse race, Sirius forces me to do every year, and in a few friendly bets with friends. She sounds a bit… manic.” Regulus scoffs. He’d always done weirdly well in said annual horse race bet and Sirius always gets extremely upset because ‘ you don’t even care but you win something every fucking year.’

Poor Sirius. Unlucky.

“That’s one word to describe her, although I prefer not to think about it.” James laughs, looking up. Regulus follows his gaze where he’s staring towards the sun.

They look the same.

“Well then. We’ll talk about something else. Back to making fun of Remus and Sirius?” Regulus offers, sensing that James brought it up on impulse and would rather not talk about it.

“Oh, yes. Speaking of which…” James nods, “Doesn’t Remus look like Andrew Garfield?”

“Who?” Regulus asks. He’s never been too good with celebrity culture.

James brings his phone back, “Let me find a photo of him, give me a ‘sec.” He’s typing aggressively, moaning under his breath about the shitty signal, “Ah, here! Look!”

He’s right. Remus does look like this guy.

“Kind of.” Regulus furrows his brow, “Remus has different cheekbones and I think he’s got thicker hair.”

“Not supposed to be exact. ” James laments, “Just similar.”

“I can see it.”

They talk about the most random things for a small while, walking up and down the beach by the waves. Regulus is careful not to let the water touch his ankles because of the horrible feeling of wet sand stuck to him that’ll haunt him for the rest of the night - no thank you.

They come back around the eleven minute mark, and just in time too.

Remus and Lily come back with a pile of sticks in their hands, heavy and piling up. Lily’s chatting animatedly to Remus as their voices come into earshot.

“-go for it, you’ve got nothing to loose!” She proclaims,

“I have everything to loose.” Remus sighs, “Drop it, okay?”

“You know I’m right.” Lily says as they go silent as she waves at James, and then at Regulus.

James leans over to whisper to him, “He definitely likes Sirius. Fuck, can I back out of the bet?”

“No.” Regulus grins, “I’m getting your money, Potter.”

“You don’t need it, Black.” James shoots back playfully, “Filthy rich, both you and Sirius.”

Regulus laughs quietly, and admits, “I’ve been calling Remus boyfriend-not-boyfriend for a while now.”

James groans, “Soon he’ll just be boyfriend-oh-god-stop-making-out-boyfriend. You know what Sirius is like.”

“Why are most of our conversations centred around my brother?”

“He’s what we’ve got in common.” James hums, standing next to Regulus now as they walk slowly to meet with Lily and Remus, “We’re polar opposites, Regulus.”

“Oh yeah? How so?” Regulus prompts.

“Your favourite colour is green, mine is red. You run cold, I run warm. You like sunrise, I like sunset. You’re a star, literally, and I’m just a human down on this earth.” James says, leaving Regulus’ mind to turn on its axis as James walks off to help Lily arrange the sticks. Regulus is standing there, frozen, thoughts whirling as he can feel his pulse quicken.

You’re a star.

James, if only you knew, you could never just be a human.

In the distance, he can see Sirius, Dorcas and Marlene returning with what seems to be an absolute shit ton of beer. Sirius has two boxes of Corona in his hands whilst Dorcas and Marlene both have Heineken boxes of twelve, Dorcas with two. That’s alot of beer.

Sirius is frowning at whatever Marlene’s lecturing him about. She’s shaking her head as Sirius is staring down. Dorcas looks like she feels slightly sorry for Sirius but in support of whatever Marlene’s saying.

James has now finished arranging the sticks with Lily - they’re piled up with scraps of paper screwed up in the middle, ready to be lit by either matches or a lighter. Remus has been going through the things Regulus put on the playlist and is adding or removing songs. They trust him with the music.

“You’re going to regret it.” Dorcas murmurs, changing the conversation as they approach closer. Regulus has always had good hearing and by what she’s saying, this is exactly what Remus and Lily were talking about. Regulus will be getting that fifty quid off James.

“I’ll think about it, Jesus.” Sirius hisses, “So, how much beer did we buy in total?”

“Twelve, twenty four, thirty six, forty eight, sixty?”” Marlene counts up, “Maybe we went overboard.”

“You can never have enough alcohol.” Dorcas declares as she sits herself down, “Fourten people, Marls, we’ll be fine.” She leans over to where Regulus has sat himself, peering down at his phone in Remus’ hands going through the music, “What’ve you got on the playlist then?”

“Everything.” Regulus answers, strumming his fingers against his thighs, “Remus is going through it.”

“I’m sure you did fine.” Sirius reassures him, placing down the beer near where he’s sat, “We’ve got about four beers each, with four spare. Hope your group doesn't need more than four to get drunk, Reg.”

“Pandora’s a bit of a lightweight, and I’m not drinking all that much.” Regulus answers, helping Sirius pass out two Corona and two Heineken to everyone, the remaining ones shoved in a pile behind where they’ve all dumped their shoes and the boxes. They’ll be useful for all the cans, Regulus thinks.

Sirius huffs, “Are you still that bothered about that? You know nobody cares that you’re a clingy drunk, so am I.” 

“You’re a clingy drunk?” James pipes up, peering over to Sirius and Regulus.

“ No. ” Regulus seethes at the same time Sirius says, “Yep, he totally is.”

“Sirius!” Regulus glares at him, offering the most you’re-a-dickhead stare he can.

“They’ll find out eventually.” He waves his hand, moving over to greet Barty, Mary and Peter where they’ve got endless food in their hands.

“My shoulders are going to fall off.” Mary complains, throwing herself down on one of the unoccupied pillows. Lily snorts at her and offers to massage her shoulders, which Mary takes easily and relaxes.

Barty laughs as he and Peter spread all the food out, “You’ll live.” They’ve got pre-cooked meat that only needs to be heated up - burger meat, sausages, bread buns, a ton of fruit and skewers.

“Fruit skewers!” Peter says in answer to Remus’ curious gaze at them, “Pandora’s request.”

Remus nods slowly at the pile of fruit; grapes, raspberries, strawberries, mango, orange, pineapple, apple and kiwi. “Oh yeah. Forgot about that.”

“Oh my god. Are they rainbow fruit skewers?” Lily pipes up, moving from where she’s been working slowly at Mary’s shoulders. Mary grins, although Lily can’t see it.

“Yup! They’ll still be cold, don’t worry.” Mary answers.

Peter nods along with her words as he leaves the last of the snacks with the four lone beers as Barty says, “I forced Evan to buy a cooler. Hope you don’t mind, er, paying, Sirius?”

“God no. All these extras won’t even make one percent of one of my bank accounts, trust me. The flights and the hotel cost the most. Go crazy.” He grins. Regulus does wonder how much has come out of his account so far.

Pandora and Evan are the last to return, with Pandora carrying an ice cooler in her hands (Barty wasn’t lying!) and Evan has a huge box that he's suffering to carry - presumably the barbeque.

“ Regulus !” Evan yells, “Help me carry this?”

“I’m busy!” Regulus shouts. He’s really not.

“ James?” He screams as he drops it in the distance, “ Fuck, that’s my toe! ” He dramatically clutches his toe, hopping around like a complete idiot.

Pandora mutters something, probably about how he needs to stop whining. James shoots Regulus a look, again, and jogs over to help him carry it back.

Evan’s yelling about how ‘ oh god, I’m gonna die, I think I need a new toe’ while Pandora just rolls her eyes, and murmurs something to James, who barks out a laugh and shoves Evan in the side.

James places the box by where everything else is, tearing it open with the help of Sirius’ pocket knife (he still has that from where Bellatrix had bought it for him for his tenth birthday. About the only useful thing she did to Sirius in her life) and setting it up according to the instructions.

It isn’t too hard and came with a pack of coal, so Peter sets it up and eventually gets it working after the long process of trial and error.

At some point, Evan is just quietly watching Barty with a solemn look on his face.

Regulus nudges Barty, “Have you talked to him yet?” He doesn’t need to say who ‘ him’ is referring too.

Barty shakes his head and whispers back, “No. I’ve- I’ve done my thinking but I don’t know how to bring it up.”

“I think he’s a bit miserable. Please, go talk with him at some point tonight? Preferably, before you’re both black-out drunk.”

Barty smiles guilty and nods, “I’ll try. It’s so terrifying. ”

“I know what you mean.” And he does. James is nothing more than a quick infatuation. He’s new, he’s hot, and he’s the same age as Regulus.

“Good. Should I… Should I try now?” He asks. His voice is shaking.

“Maybe. You know Dorcas will start playing some drinking game and you’ll be caught out somehow by her.”

Barty offers a weak smile and stands up, “Alright.” He leaves, though his steps are cautious and he keeps peering back at Regulus. He taps Evan’s shoulder and murmurs something to him. Evan smiles and follows him to where they’ve passed the stone stairs. He doesn’t see their heads, so they’ve both presumably sat down out of view.

Nobody but Pandora seems to notice them go off. She looks at them, and back at Regulus, confused. Regulus just nods sympathetically. She sighs and takes up talking to Lily and Mary. They have a certain way of communicating telepathically, according to Dorcas, the two of them.

They’re all sitting down on their pillows now, save Barty and Evan. Sirius is sitting opposite Remus, which Regulus thinks is either a blessing that they’re not having their weird space issue next to each other or a curse that they’ll be gaping at one another the whole time from across the fire.

Regulus sits next to Sirius, and Evan is placed next to him. Then Peter, Mary, Dorcas, Marlene, Barty,  Remus, Pandora, Lily and then James on Regulus’ left. Why is it always James? Paired up with him. Sitting next to him. Talking to him. 

(He’s not complaining)

Sirius has decided that it’s his holiday and therefore they won’t wait for Evan and Barty to get back to start cooking food, as it’s already nine and they’re all starving. Sirius is closest to the barbeque and just passes the things behind him to Peter, who’s cooking them and chatting to Mary about fashion and celebrities. Peter’s got burgers on there, claiming that they’ll have the hot dogs later. Mary’s set up a small table out of the box it came in and has twelve burger buns lined up, with sauces and fillings.

Regulus glances over to the wall, where the top of Barty’s head is just popping up over the wall. He’s leaning down and oh, is that Evan’s hand in his hair. That’s definitely his ring.

Aha. So they’ve figured it out.

-

Evan Rosier, 9.56pm, Tuesday, August 2nd

“Fuck, Barty, I thought we were taking this slow?” Evan rasps between ragged breaths. Barty smirks and kisses him again, again, again.

“We can go slower later. Right now though…” Barty smiles and continues his sentence quickly.

“You want me to?” Evan asked, hushed, “You’ll have to be quiet.”

“I can do quiet.”

-

Regulus Black, 9.57pm, Tuesday, August 2nd

He tears his gaze away from there. Good for Evan. Hell, good for Barty. 

They come back after three minutes, both looking very dishevelled as Evan fixes his shirt, Barty tugs at his hair and straightens out his jeans. Evan’s smiling like a loon and Barty has a wonky grin on his face. 

“Guys.” Regulus whispers, “Don’t look right now, but look at Evan and Barty.”

James immediately looks, so does Sirius. Luckily, they don’t seem to notice.

“I just said don’t!” Regulus hisses. Mary sneaks a sly glance, pretending to point at a seagull, and so do Marlene and Dorcas as they follow the ‘seagull’.

“Sorry.” Sirius says, peeking out the corner of his eyes. Evan’s now fixing Barty’s chain around his neck.

“They’re so cute.” Pandora says, crossing her legs on her pillow. She takes a sneaky photo and shows it to the rest of them who haven’t looked.

There’s a chorus of ‘ aww’ and Peter looks happy enough like he was the one who just got some action.

“Ok, normal conversation.” Remus says, and then continues louder, “How the hell did you carry so much beer?”

“Well, with my epic strength and my assistants-” Sirius proclaims, bringing an arm up in a poor attempt to flex his muscles (James has more, Regulus knows) which Remus coughs up on where he’s been drinking his beer, spluttering onto the sand.

“I’m not your assistant.” Marlene and Dorcas chorus, laughing at each other. Evan sits down at the free pillow (which is actually his) and Barty takes the one next to him where Peter’s abandoned it to go help the barbeque. Oh well, he can just move to Barty’s old pillow. Not like they were named.

Regulus nudges Evan on the rib and the smile he shoots him is golden. He nods quickly, and Regulus finds himself smiling back, happy for them.

Evan’s index finger is curled around Barty’s subtlety behind their backs. It’s not actually subtle since most of them have noticed, but there’s no harm in pretending they don’t know.

Peter says that the burgers are just about done as Mary takes the meat carefully, hissing that ‘ fuck, that’s hot-’ while she flings them down one by one onto the buns and calls their names one by one, asking what they’d like in it.

Sirius gets first choice, of course, and he loudly declares that he’ll have tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, cheese and meat.

“The meat is included…” Mary mutters but does his request anyway. The box makes for a decent station as she leans over the not-yet-lit fire to pass it to Sirius, “Hey, don’t start eating yet!”

He grumbles and brings the burger away from his mouth. Mary and Peter go around the rest of the circle, running out of tomatoes at Pandora, who’s asked last, but she doesn’t care because she ‘ didn’t want them anyway, don’t worry about it.’

Peter goes back to the free pillow, “Alright guys. To Tenerife?” He holds up his beer in the middle.

“To Tenerife!” They all shout, clanging them in a toast and taking a swig. Remus pulls out a box of matches and lights the campfire. It’s small at first, earning a frown from Lily asking if it’ll even burn. She quickly takes back her statement as it flickers up and the wood is on fire, crackling slowly and spitting small splinters at them.

The atmosphere is nice there - it smells of beer and fire, sea waves and pure island air, and the cinnamon of James’ spray. They all eat their burgers, talking amongst themselves about the earth, which leads to a conversation about Mother Nature and how God should be female, leading to Greek Mythology weirdly enough. Remus takes most of that, with only Lily really knowing what he’s talking about. Regulus actually quite likes Greek Mythology, but he’s not admitting that, so he keeps his mouth shut and pinches the sand when Lily gets something wrong.

After the burgers and everyone’s down a beer they start the hot dogs, this time Barty’s cooking it and is talking to Pandora (probably about Evan) while Sirius decides to play Never Have I Ever. 

“We don’t have shots, though.” Dorcas frowns.

“So? Just take a swig.” Sirius deadpans, like it’s obvious, cracking open a new bottle and passing his old one to put under the box table.

“You nearly done?” Regulus calls to Pandora, who nods and starts asking what people want. In between the various orders, Sirius goes first.

“Alright then. Never have I ever given a fake name to someone.” He declares proudly, and Regulus is actually surprised at that.

Regulus drinks, he’s technically given the name Noir to Prongs. James drinks aswell, and does Marlene and Remus.

“What’d you do?” Marlene asks Remus.

“Fake ID.” He answers casually, passing the next hot dog to Lily as they can’t pass it over the fire anymore.

“Ah, same.” She snorts, setting her drink down. Regulus wonders what name James had given. Maybe Jam. Jamie. Pott. Probably something stupid but meaningful.

“Alright, let me go next.” Regulus says, because he’s got the perfect one just to confirm his suspicions, “Never have I ever blown someone.”

Barty’s eyes go wide as Evan hesitantly drinks. Marlene rolls her eyes and takes a swig alongside Mary, Pandora and James.

Everyone’s more focused on Evan than James.

James.

What?

“Evan?” Mary snorts, “When the fuck did you blow someone?”

“Uh.” He answers. Barty is biting his lip to stop himself from laughing.

“Okay, okay. Recent or past?” Pandora teases even though she already knows the answer. Regulus has a hand around his mouth, smirking.

“Recent…?” He makes out, earning a loud whistle from Sirius. Regulus doesn’t particularly care, though. James. He was gay? Or… under the gay label somehow?

James is just staring into space. Even Sirius didn’t notice him drink as they’d all been watching Evan drink.

“Let’s not harass him.” Lily calls, “Can I go?”

“Yeah.” Evan coughs.

“Alright. Let me think, give me a minute.” She says, looking around for inspiration, “Oh! Never have I ever stolen something.”

They all drink. Well, aside from Lily.

“I-” She splutters as they’re all laughing, “You criminals. ”

“Big chains don’t matter!” Marlene shouts, taking another drink for good measure. Dorcas is nodding in agreement along with Sirius.

“I can only hope it’s not regular.” She shakes her head. Honestly, she’s such a mother hen at times.

“Nope!” Sirius grins, “Can I go?”

“Again?” James snickers, “No. My turn.”

“Hey-!”

“Never have I ever heard my parents fucking.” James says. Lily drinks, so do Peter, Dorcas and Evan. Sirius and Regulus are just…

“Ew!” Sirius shouts, staring at Regulus with a horrified look on his face, “I-”

“ Don’t you say anything. I don’t even want to imagine that.” Ew. The thought of his parents having intercourse. 

Peter sighs,  “You know they had to-”

Yes Peter, they’re both well aware, they just refuse to acknowledge it, “Nope! No, I am not hearing it.” Sirius says, “Next question! Uhm, Pandora, your turn.”

“Oh, mine? Okay.” They go on for many questions and Sirius ends up already on his fourth beer from how often he’d done the question whereas everyone else was at their second or third.

Regulus learns multiple new things: Mary’s given a random guy a lapdance, Peter used to run a page of mugshots from school, Pandora and Lily both had a crush on their teacher - James and Sirius argued about ‘ but my sweetheart Minnie!’ to Remus’, ‘ she doesn’t count. You love her like a mother, really’. James has never hooked up with someone, Marlene has never gone out of Europe, Dorcas hasn’t broken a bone before (weird) and Barty used to hitchhike constantly.

And the most important one for Peter’s ‘Never have I ever fancied someone here’ everyone had drank. Even Peter.

“That’s cheating! You asked the question.” Dorcas says.

“So?” Peter takes another sip, “Doesn’t matter. So we’ve all fancied each other at some point?”

Seemingly so. Regulus can work out a few: Marlene and Dorcas, Barty and Evan, Lily and James did at some point. Remus and Sirius, obviously, and he’s fairly sure Mary has a small crush on both Sirius and Lily.

Pandora, he’s not sure about, neither James or Peter. 

James smirks, “Remus, can I ask a question surrounding you?”

He falters, “Uh. I guess.”

“Brill. Never have I ever had a crush on Remus.” James says proudly, drinking from his drink. Lily drinks, smiling slowly, alongside Marlene who rolls her eyes and says ‘ he wasn’t manly, so I used to like him ages ago in like, first year’. Sirius also drinks, and he’s fairly sure Remus is staring at him.

“What?” Remus breathes slowly at the admission that four people have liked him at some point. Oh fuck, James is trying to get him to confess before Sirius’ birthday, the bastard.

James Potter, you sly fuck.

“James, you liked Remus?” Regulus brings up, loudly, “ When did that happen?”

He smirks, “Mh. Back in fifth year. Like my bisexual awakening, you know.”

Remus makes a small noise, embarrassed. Sirius takes another big swig of his beer.

“Mm, right. I think I should go next.” Regulus smiles at him dryly. He is determined to get that fifty, even if it’s completely useless to his bank account.

James grins, “Go on then, star-boy .”

“ Star-boy ? Please. Never have I ever not confessed to someone on their birthday.”

His mouth drops open because wow, it’s the biggest suggestion for Remus to delay a single day to confess to Sirius and James seems to be annoyed at Regulus’ words, “Didn’t know you had romantic feelings, ice prince.”

“Didn’t know you’ve never hooked up with someone, rich kid.” Regulus quickly shoots back.

“Oh, shut up. You confess to people on their birthday.”

“Person, actually. Only once, and it was back when I was seven and I thought that one of Lucius’ cousins was pretty. It’s awfully romantic to confess to someone on their birthday. Don’t you agree, Marlene?”

“Oh yes, yes.” Regulus had told her about the bet with James at some point, “Very romantic. Guaranteed to say yes.”

“I think it’s better the day after. A late birthday present.” James tries weakly, but everyone save for Remus who’s sitting there still half-shocked and processing, and Sirius who is gazing at Remus every so often, his eyes droopy. He is so in love with Remus, Regulus doesn’t know how they’re not together already.

“You’re outnumbered, Potter.” Regulus smirks, throwing his empty bottle to Sirius who catches it and stashes it away.

He shakes his head, “Stop arguing, you two. Let’s do another game, okay? Truth or dare, anyone?”

Mary squeals, “Yes! That’s a much better game.”

Remus nods in agreement as Evan pipes up, “Sure. Fine with me.” Throughout the evening, he’s not-so-subtly been getting closer to Barty, who keeps running his hand down his thigh. Not subtle.

“You guys start, I’ll make the fruit skewers?” Lily offers and after a murmuring of agreement, she swaps her seat with Sirius and begins sticking all the fruit on them one by one.

“I’m starting because it’s-” Sirius begins, but everyone knows what he’s going to say - again.

“Your holiday and your birthday. We know, go for it.” Regulus finishes his sentence, earning a grimace from Sirius.

“Okay. Truth or dare, James?”

“Truth.” James responds, peering over at where Lily’s putting on the fruit in rows rather then finishing them individually and moving onto the next.

“Who’d you last text?”

“Not sure, actually, I haven’t used my phone since this morning.” James pulls out his phone to check, “From that one guy.”

Only Sirius seems to know what he means, “Really? You still text?”

“Mh.” James stiffens, like it’s personal, can’t be that personal surely, it’s just ‘that one guy’. “My turn now. Truth or dare, Marlene?”

“Dare.” She grins wolfishly.

“Show us your favourite part of Dorcas.” He raises an eyebrow as Marlene lights up and looks at Dorcas. Dorcas just tilts her head, exposing her neck.

“Right there.” Marlene presses a kiss to her neck.

“PDA.” Regulus mutters to Sirius, who just hums - whether vaguely in agreement or disagreement, Regulus can’t tell. Marlene smiles in satisfaction as Dorcas grins.

“Lily, you done yet?” Remus asks.

“Nearly!” She calls over to him, leaning to the side where the skewers are nearly done.

Marlene moves back to her pillow, “My turn then. Truth or dare, Regulus?” 

“Uh. Dare.” He doesn’t really care what she asks him to do.

“Am I allowed to up the stakes a bit?”

“Go for it.” Regulus waves his hand. Can’t be that bad. He’ll kiss Barty or Mary if he has to.

Marlene looks evil. Regulus begins to regret giving his permission because she sits up, “I dare you to kiss whoever most annoys you here.” She giggles as Mary gasps a ‘ that’s cruel, Marls’ but she raises her eyebrows, “Go on then.”

“I’ll- I’ll wait for Lily.” Regulus panics. Normally, it’d be Sirius who’s most annoying but that’d be weird to kiss his brother, leaving the guy in second place. James.

“Who do you think it is?” Peter mutters to Remus, who shrugs. They’re not very subtle. Barty and Evan share a glance as Regulus looks over at Pandora. She laughs behind her hand. Traitors, the lot of them.

Does he just fake that it’s someone else? No, knowing Evan, he’ll call Regulus on his bullshit. He doesn’t want to kiss Sirius because no but kissing James, whether quickly and on his cheek or if Marlene makes him properly snog him is not going to happen. James doesn’t seem to be aware of the disaster because as he’s eating, he’s fucking singing Oasis. Again ! Champagne Supernova , this time. This guy really likes Oasis.

Except it does happen because Lily gives them all their fruit skewers - in rainbow order with possibly every fruit in the stores - and James just picks the fruit off with his teeth one by one. Not a crush.

“What was Regulus’ dare?” Lily asks. Fuck you, Lily Evans.

Marlene cackles, rocking forward in anticipation, “To kiss who annoys him most. Evan, tell me if he’s lying, will you?” Lily gives a loud whistle, leaning back.

“Most definitely.” There’s a hit list for the future: Marlene McKinnon, Lily Evans, Evan Rosier. Oh, and James Potter for making him feel like this.

Regulus scowls, “Can I just kiss… them on the cheek?”

“Nope!” She chirps, “Mouth. Don’t be a pussy, Reg.” She has no permission to call him Reg. Sirius cackles in glee.

“Fine.” He turns to James next to him, pulls him by the collar of his shirt to kiss him on the mouth quickly and pulls away, scowling and crossing his arms. James has awfully soft lips, he thinks, must be the fruit. James just blinks, bringing a hand up to touch his lips.

Barty cheers, “James, you’ve earned the title of most annoying!”

“I vote for Marlene.” Regulus mutters, cheeks pink, “ My turn. Dorcas, truth or dare?”

“Dare.” Dorcas grins fearlessly, “You won’t do anything that bad.”

“Kiss Sirius.” Sirius gapes at that, spluttering that ‘ she’s a lesbian and she’s got a girlfriend! I couldn’t!’ while Marlene glares at him.

“Fine, kiss Pandora instead.” He settles on. Marlene nods approvingly; Dorcas seems satisfied at that and kisses Pandora quickly, smiling at her. Pandora smiles back. Dorcas wasn’t the one who had to kiss James, was she? Lucky bitch.

(Regulus feels rather lucky. He feels the phantom feeling of James’ lips on his for the rest of the night, and spends an awful lot of time staring at him in the moonlight, laughing.)

Chapter Text

A breakin' my back just to know your name

But Heaven ain't close in a place like this

Anything goes but don't blink, you might miss

-Somebody Told Me, The Killers

James Potter, 10.56pm, Tuesday, August 2nd

Regulus scowls, “Can I just kiss… them on the cheek?”

He’s awfully reluctant to do the dare. James can’t help but wonder - who’s at the top of his most annoying list?

“Nope!” Mary chirps, “Mouth. Don’t be a pussy, Reg.” Sirius cackles in glee.

Regulus frowns and mutters a quick, “Fine.” He turns to James next to him, pulls him by the collar of his shirt (!!!) to kiss him on the mouth quickly. Regulus’ lips taste like the hints of strawberry he’d just been eating and that James had definitely not been admiring by the wet red coat tracing them beforehand.

It lasts too short, James thinks, as Regulus pulls away, scowling and crossing his arms. He’s very obviously not looking at James and ignoring the catcalls in the background coming from various people. James just blinks, bringing a hand up to touch his lips because holy shit, Regulus just kissed him.

And he wants to kiss him again.

And again. It’d last longer, and Regulus would have his hands all over James and he’d sigh softly.

And again. James would put his arms around Regulus’ neck, or his waist, or under his shirt, and inhale his signature cologne smell of juniper and cypress that’s definitely expensive and well worth it.

And again. Regulus wouldn’t stop kissing him, and they’d spend hours wherever just making out.

James is day dreaming of making out with Regulus Black.

He’s maybe a little- no, slightly- no, definitely fucked.

-

00.00am, Wednesday, August 3rd 

They stay at the beach to begin counting down the seconds until the clock struck midnight, screaming ‘ happy birthday, Sirius!’ drunkenly in chorus with one another.

“What day is it?” Sirius teases, just to be annoying. He’ll start saying things like ‘ well, I’m eighteen now and it’s my birthday, my holiday and I’m an adult so you’ve got to listen to me’ soon enough - Regulus dreads the moment.

“Your birthday!” James shouts back at the same time Lily says, “It’s August third.”

“Isn’t it ‘ It’s October third?’ ” Pandora asks and oh, Lily squeals with delight.

“You understood it! Pandora, you’re my new best friend.” Regulus didn’t understand what they were going on about, and neither did anyone else.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Remus asks, confused, his brow furrowed. Pandora laughs at him as Lily shakes her head.

James rolls his eyes, “She’s done this before, I think I’m the only one who remembers. You know when we watched Mean Girls? ”

“Oh. Oh. ” Remus gapes as Sirius seems to finally understand, as well as Peter. 

Mary gasps, “Oh, I love that movie. I’m so annoyed I didn’t get that.” Regulus has never seen Mean Girls, he’s heard of it though, and by the looks on their faces neither have Barty or Evan who are just sitting there, bewildered.

“Tough luck. I didn’t.” Sirius chimes in as Lily sighs.

“That was the worst reference ever, wasn’t it?”

A chorus of ‘yeah’ and Lily pouts, reassured by the fact that at least Pandora got her stupid reference. They agree to give Sirius his gifts in the morning as they’re all stored at the hotel (Evan’s panicking over the card as he needs to run to the shops to get one, but they’re not open until nine) because they would have been destroyed somehow at the beach.

They head back when they all start to yawn at around half one, the buzz of the alcohol wearing off into a dull headache. Only James and Sirius don’t seem to be tired - both screaming the lyrics to Supersonic down the street. The echo of ‘Cause my friend said he’d take you home! Sits in a corner all alone! He lives under a waterfall! Nobody can ever see him, nobody can ever hear him call!’ is loud down the silent street and Regulus winces at Sirius’ horrible tone and James, who’s normally quite a good singer, even sounds stupid. 

When they get back, the girls head into Cowrie with a wave of tired hands. Dorcas is dragging her heels, moaning about something, as Marlene agrees with her - even though she’s obviously not listening to what Dorcas is saying. Sirius thanks all of them for making this so special and heads back into Calico, with James hindering back slightly. He whispers a goodnight to Barty, Evan, Regulus and Pandora, but he’s looking at Regulus when he says it. Regulus says goodnight back, a soft smile on his face as he clings to Pandora’s arm, entering the door.

His brother is an adult now, and he’s got a crush on his best friend. Great.

(That was the first time Regulus admitted to himself he liked James.)

-

10.37am, Wednesday, August 3rd

Regulus wakes up with a banging headache. His body is tired, his eyes droopy as he rolls around on his bed and shoves his head in his pillow. Yeah, maybe the best idea is to go and get some ibuprofen, drink some water and try to just rest. But can Regulus be bothered to do that? Not particularly.

Barty has fallen asleep in Evan’s bed, his head curled up against Evan’s - it’s rather cute. Pandora’s not in her bed; Regulus figures she’s already up, she’d always been an early riser.

He hears the soft hum of Pandora’s music from the other room as he begins to properly register things and the pouring of something.

Regulus groans and sits up, padding slowly down the hallway to the kitchen slash living space. It’s small, but works.

“Morning, Reg. Would you like some tea?” She asks as Regulus searches through the cupboards for where they’d put the ibuprofen.

“That’d be great.” He croaks out as he finds the pack, popping two out and filling up a glass from the other cupboard with water and downing it all at once.

“You’ll feel better soon, I hope. Did Sirius tell you what we’re doing today?”

“No?” Regulus responds as she stirs the tea around.

She smiles and throws him the remote to the television, “Ah. I’ll let him tell you then, I think he only told me.”

Pandora makes the tea for him just the way he likes it and allows him to put whatever he wants on - Regulus decides on some shitty movie he won’t be paying much attention to for background noise and rather decides to think about Sirius’ birthday plans.

Knowing Sirius, he’ll do something over-the-top like he does every year, and will probably do something that he only got tickets for because he paid a stupidly expensive sum of money. Last year, he’d taken his friend group on a hike up a mountain (and paid for all the equipment) whilst the day before, he and Regulus had gone to go and get tarot readings. It was a strange experience, but fun nevertheless and Sirius had been slightly scared of the girl doing it, a teenage apprentice called Sybil who’d kept talking about ‘the inner eye’.

His hangover goes away soon enough. Well, it mostly goes away. There’s still a dull pain in the back of his head, but that’ll surely fade into the background as they get on with the day.

Regulus takes the opportunity to message Prongs.

-

10.52am, Wednesday, August 3rd

Regulus

There should be something invented to stop hangovers by now.

-

10.55am, Wednesday, August 3rd

Prongs

isn't that just called ibuprofen or aspirin

Regulus

No, something to make it properly go away. Meds don’t always work

Prongs

lol true

my head hurts so bad i haven’t taken anything so far

Regulus

Sorry, did I wake you up? I had a night out yesterday, too

Prongs

nah pads woke me up by fucking jumping on me and im annoyed now cus my head hurts

Regulus

Go take your medicine, have some water, and watch a shitty film. It helps.

Prongs

cheers i’m actually gonna take your advice

Regulus

Good. Message me later?

Prongs

yeah i’ll be busy most of the day but i’ll message u before i go to sleep?

Regulus

Sure. Have a nice day, Prongs.

Prongs

you too noir

:)

-

11.00am, Wednesday, August 3rd

Sirius comes charging into their room a short while later. Well, he tries, finds the door is locked, knocks aggressively and as Regulus deadpans at him because he knew it was Sirius, he comes barging in and yells, “We’re going diving!”

Diving. Ah, so that’s what he planned. It’s… actually a good idea.

“We are?” Regulus says, hiding the excitement in his voice because secretly, he’s wanted to go diving for a long time.

He nods enthusiastically as Pandora is looking at him with wide eyes, “Yup! We’re- no, I’m gonna buy us all snorkels and shit so we can go swim with dolphins or something.”

Evan comes in at that moment, rubbing at his eyes and complaining about how he needs some ibuprofen or he’ll die. He’s got a random pair of shorts on and no top, and a single hickey on his neck. Barty, you vampire.

Regulus snickers, “Nice neck.”

Evan brings a hand quickly upto his neck, on the wrong side, and is suddenly more awake, “What?”

Sirius raises his eyebrows, “Wrong side, mate.” Evan switches his hands and curses under his breath. Pandora laughs slightly, making him a glass of water and throwing him the already open pack of ibuprofen.

Regulus opens his mouth to make fun of him again but Evan cuts him off quickly, “Don’t you dare, Reg. Shut up.” He grumbles angrily, gulping down the rest of the water, filling it up again, and takes the paracetamol pack to his bed - presumably for Barty.

“I thought, y’know, Barty would’ve wanted to take it slow.” Sirius drawls out slowly, checking his phone for the time quickly.

“Oh, he does.” Pandora confirms.

“Just… the slow will come later?” Regulus tries to answer, “Honeymoon phase, I suppose.”

“Ah, yeah, you’re probably right.” Sirius says as he heads back against the still-open door, "Well. We're all meeting in the main room in an hour, so get your shit, get rid of your hangovers, and let's dive!" He sounds like a walking talking advertisement who cussed on set and promptly was kicked off.

"Alright then." Regulus pushes him out the door, "We'll be there. Pandora, could you go check if Barty's awake yet?"

"Sure." She nods, taking off to the other room. Sirius smiles and bids him goodbye, shutting the door with a soft click.

-

12.02am, Wednesday, August 3rd

It seems they're the last ones to arrive. The rest of them are sat all around a sofa, squished together in an attempt to be respectful and allow the other sofas to not be taken up (but to the extent where they're essentially all intertwined). Dorcas is perched on Marlene’s lap, squished up next to where James has Sirius sat on his lap, dramatically waving his hand around like a loon. Remus is curled up next to Sirius, seemingly still not feeling too good, while Peter has his legs up on Remus from the edge of the sofa. Mary and Lily are sitting beneath it with legs curled up, sitting against the furniture. 

Regulus offers a brief wave as they arrive, most of them sitting up in alert of ‘ wow, we can leave now’ . Barty trails behind them all, moaning about how his head will explode underwater. It’s honestly impressive how much a single man can complain.

“Before you start explaining… when are we giving you your presents?” Dorcas pipes up.

“Later.” Sirius waves his hand, like he doesn’t care - rude adult - “Can I explain about the diving? James-” He glares at James above him, who offers a sheepish smile, “-has banned me from talking about it.”

“Yes, yes, go ahead darling.” James drawls, and Sirius lights up.

He begins to explain where they’ll be going -  down to a special, secluded area by the deeper parts of the sea on a boat which is only for scuba diving. James has a huge bag on his back, which according to Sirius, is packed with snorkels. As he’s mid explanation about researching what animals to spot, one of the ladies visiting with her two kids begins to yell at them about ‘ no good teenagers’ . The owner, reluctantly, asks them to leave even though he’d heard their conversation was about fucking diving. They leave, and as soon as they’re out, they’re all laughing.

“ You’re bothering my kids !” James mocked, gasping for breath. Sirius started to laugh silently and god, that was a sign of laughter if Regulus knew one. Mary was absolutely howling as they all continued to do stupid impressions of said lady.

“Why do people act so self-entitled?” Regulus smirks, idly kicking at one of the stray rocks in front of his foot.

Lily snickers, “God knows. Crazy lady.”

“No good teenagers? No good middle-aged women.”  Evan nods along. Regulus hears a snap of the camera and twirls around, to where Marlene is grinning with her phone held up.

“For the memories?” She offers weakly, showing him the photo. It’s actually quite nice.

“Send it to me.” Regulus compromises, turning back to Remus. He’s looking at Sirius, again.

They walk down to the boat dock in the afternoon sun. It’s boiling; Regulus can see from where he’s started to linger behind and talk to Dorcas how the sweat on James’ back drips down slowly against his skin, the brown spread out in a beautiful tone (nothing like the red on the back of Regulus’ neck).

His thighs look very nice. He’s seen someone’s thighs like that before, they’re pretty similar, he just can’t place it.

The dock doesn’t have too many boats in it - there’s two stationed, one with a whiteboard sign reading ‘Black’ on it, and the other reading ‘Smith’. Must be another family who’s decided to go diving.

A third one is just leaving Regulus’ view on the sea, with people on it excitedly jumping up and down, peering into the sea.

“Boat Black.” Peter laughs, looking at the sign.

“Well, I was gonna book it under Serious but Lily convinced me not to.” He shakes his head, sighing as Lily snorts.

“I am your only voice of reason, Sirius.” She says satisfactorily, crouching down and dipping her hand into the seawater.

“When did you book this, anyways?” Mary asks.

“Around a month ago? Was the only thing I had booked, honestly, apart from fast pass tickets to the waterpark.” Sirius follows Lily’s lead and also puts his hand in the water, grinning. Regulus frowns and joins him. It’s cold enough to cool them off but warm enough to be enjoyable under the hot sun.

They wait for a small while until the boat driver - he’s got a name badge on his chest saying Gary - smiles at them when he calls out ‘ Mr. Black?’, this time Regulus remembers to stand back.

He beckons them all onto the boat slowly, ensuring them to leave everything on the boat that’s not their swimsuits - Mary takes off her rings, Dorcas her necklace (why’d they bring them in the first place?) and Remus empties his short pockets of the crumpled receipt from one of the previous nights. Then all the phones.

Lily peers over the side of the boat as she steps on, looking into the water. There’s not much there, just different shades of blue. They put their shoes in a box, the rest of the extras into another smaller one.

James puts the bag onto the boat and passes out the snorkels as they’re all discussing ocean life. Marlene really likes sharks, he’s learnt. James smiles at Regulus, passing him a snorkel in a dark green, “Got you a green one.”

Regulus makes sure not to gape like one of the fish he’s about to swim past, “Aren’t you considerate? Thanks.” Got you a green one. He remembered my favourite colour.

“No problem.” He nods, turning away speedily and passing Dorcas one in purple. He knows why Sirius had this so properly done because when he was small, before he properly understood the weight of inheriting the family business, he’d dreamt of being a marine researcher. Looking into habitats, how they work, ect. He’d enthusiastically shown Regulus his terrible drawings of sea life in rough crayon marks. Regulus, too young at the time, had just said ‘ that’s cool’ and gone back to fiddling with the toy guitar he’d begged Andromeda to buy him.

He can still play guitar - he hasn’t properly in a long time, but the muscle memory is always there. In the back of his mind. The way the mind works is incredibly strange to Regulus - you can remember things from young ages and not what you had for dinner yesterday, or small details like the flicker of James’ eyes in the night instead of the importance of Walburga’s lectures.

Everyone looks positively ridiculous in their snorkels. James and Sirius have bought themselves the most stupid shark ones in light blue and they’re currently chasing each other around, with their arms held out snapping. James is screaming ‘ come back here!’ while Sirius is yelling in response, ‘you’re a cannibal! Sharks don’t eat sharks!’. 

Remus is recording them - he’s the last one to put his phone away and is just filming the nonsense of James and Sirius. They really have a bond that’s like no other.

“Hey, Remus, take a photo of all of us?” Lily pipes up. Sirius freezes and bounces over, out of breath.

“Yes- yes, let’s take a photo, come on guys.” His attempt to get away from James is pathetic because as they all come into shot, James practically jumps on Sirius and falls into Regulus.

“Ow!” He hisses, his eye catching the photo when Remus turns his phone around. It’s nice- apart from the disaster of the three of them to the right that’s blurry.

James grins at the photo, “Brilliant. Love it. Sorry, Reg.” Reg? Who does he think he is?

“...It’s fine, James.” He finds himself saying instead of a snarky comment about his language. He really does have a weak spot when it comes to James Potter.

James flashes him a smile and looks around to where Sirius has gone off to. He’s pathetically hiding behind Remus and Lily; it’s the least sneaky thing he’s ever done, but it seems to work because James has walked off in the opposite direction.

The boat isn’t that big, James, use your head. You would’ve seen him run. James isn’t the smartest, sometimes, but that’s one of the thing Regulus-

“Fuck!” Sirius screeches as the boat jolts and they start to drive slowly, off the port. James hears his voice and yells, “I yield!”

“You’re gonna push each other off the boat if you continue.” Remus pushes Sirius forwards, earning a muttered ‘ traitor’.

“Come on, darling, we’re friends again.” James grins sarcastically. Like they weren’t always going to be friends. James sticks his hand out for dramatic effect and Sirius grasps it.

“That we are!” The boat picks up speed as they drift further from the port, it just becoming a small blob in the distance. They travel out to an area where the sea has gotten considerably clearer and the boat parks itself.

Regulus can hear the driver clanking about in the cabin, coming out rubbing his head and scanning for Sirius.

“Alright, you can all dive. When I blow the horn, you all come back up.” Gary, right, that’s his name, explains in a dull tone that suggests he’s said this very sentence one too many times.

Mary takes that as her queue to run straight off the boat, not even going down the little ladder on the side, and cannonball in. She makes a huge splash; Sirius follows her, jumping in quickly.

It seems Regulus and Lily are the only sensible ones - they both go down the ladder slowly. Regulus doesn’t like being in the middle of the ocean too much, but he’s fine with it. It’s fine.

As they’re swimming one after another, thrashing wildly underwater, they pass some beautiful sights. Creatures and creatures that are in between gorgeous (the colourful fish) and terrifying (the not so colourful fish). The bright coral in all of its iridescent hues, the rocks in their shifting form as Remus picks up one and tries to throw it at Sirius. It was so free down here. Just endless water, no human society to change it aside from the plastic - we don’t have gills as a species - and pretty reefs. Blues of every colour under the sea.

Regulus gets separated from the rest of them at some point just as they turn past a large rock. Mary and Dorcas are seeing who can swim the fastest.

Regulus stays behind just fixing his mask as he treads water, when out the corner of his eye, he spots an eel. Huge, long, and terrifying. The eel is staring at him, wide eyes. Regulus has never liked eels - it’s much like Sirius not liking spiders much - and he panics. The thought that ‘ hey, we looked at these, they’re harmless if you don’t annoy them’ doesn’t particularly register in his head as all he can think about is how it’s slowly snaking out of the crevice. Has Regulus bothered it?

James decides to swim back at that very time to check for Regulus - was that a good or bad thing? - and  turns his head to where Regulus has frozen. He glances at him, to where Regulus’ eyes are stiffly on the eel, and back again. He gapes slightly.

“James.” He mouths from inside his mask, his eyes wide. James notices his stiff posture and swims over to him, taking his hand and pulling him away from the eel and towards the surface.

Regulus can’t breathe, even as he surfaces. He can barely breathe, even as James drags him over to the boat, practically carrying him up the ladder and ripping the snorkel mask off him, softly instructing him to inhale, to exhale. He can only just begin to breathe as James touches him on the wrist again, his fingers curling around the slim structure, reminding him that oh, he’s on land.

“Regulus.” James says in the same soft voice he’s been using for the past few minutes, “Regulus, Regulus, Regulus.” How his name sounds so good on the tip of his tongue, spilling out, “Can you say my name?”

“James.” Regulus murmurs, “James, James, James.” 

“Okay… fuck, how did it go? What are five things you can see?” Oh, so he’s doing that. James, you’re so kind, how can anyone say no to you?

“...You. The boat. The water. The sky.”

“One more?” James prompts.

“...Your hand.” Regulus finishes. It’s not quite right. Oh well.

He laughs a little, his laugh is grounding, “Good enough. Four things you can touch?”

“I can’t be bothered to do that.” Regulus huffs, “’M okay, I’m okay.”

“Are you?” James confirms. 

“Yeah.” He chokes out, “Fuck, I’ve ruined Sirius’ birthday.” He laughs pitifully through his pathetic sobs, at the thought of James seeing him so vulnerable. He hadn’t had a panic attack in so long, why was the eel the triggering thing?

Maybe it was the thought of the ocean. Absolutely massive, you barely know what’s out there, and it’s so very easy to drown. To be sucked under by something like that eel, or some crazy plant organism.

“Sirius doesn’t know you’re up here.” James’ hand is still on his wrist. Regulus drags his knees up to his chest.

“Oh.” Is that relief?

“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to.” James offers quietly. His voice is so, so careful, even though the only person up here is the driver in the cabin.

Regulus gives him a weak smile, “Could you?”

“Yeah. Do you want to… talk about it?” James trails off.

“I guess I owe you an explanation.” Regulus nods slightly. James has shifted himself to sit next to Regulus against the edge now, shoulder-to-shoulder. James listens to the explanation about his fear of the vastness of the ocean, of being dragged down. James listens about how Regulus thinks it’s utterly stupid and that there are worse things to be scared of - death, living. James just listens.

“I think that, generally, humans aren’t anywhere near as close to understanding everything as they think they are.” Regulus says. James has been quietly speaking about the meaning of life and death beforehand to keep Regulus’ mind off that bloody eel.

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I think that you can have so many ideas about the meaning of life and never truly understand it. How death works, how life works, how humans are so complicated.” It’s slightly eerie, as James has always been the happy-go-lucky type. He doesn’t seem like he’d talk about things as deep as this - things you’d never truly understand.

“There’s a quote I like. Je vois que beaucoup de gens meurent parce qu'ils estiment que la vie ne vaut pas la peine d’être vécue et j’en vois d’autres qui se font paradoxalement tuer, pour les idées, les illusions qui leurs donnent une raison de vivre. Ce qui peut être une raison de vivre est en même temps une excellente raison de mourir. ” Regulus quotes, the softness of his French accent coming through.

“What does that mean?” James questions. His eyes have gone wide at the French, and he must be getting warm in the sun because his cheeks are slightly red.

“ I see that many people die because they deem that life is not worth living and I see others that, paradoxically, get themselves killed for the ideas, the illusions that gives them a reason to live. What can be a reason to live is at the same time an excellent reason to die.” Regulus translates for him. James’ hand is touching the side of his thigh, he notes.

He chuckles, “Where’d you get that?”

“The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. It’s from… 1942?” Regulus guesses.

James raises an eyebrow. His hand is still touching his thigh, and god, he’s rubbing his thumb now, “Do you like mythology?”

Regulus hesitates because he prefers to keep some of his interests to himself, but this is James. It’s slightly different with him, “Yeah. I do, actually.”

“You know that Remus and Lily like all of that? She tried to explain it to me once, got as far as these two star-crossed guys in a war. I didn’t get a word of it.”

“Achilles and Patroclus?”

James nods, the water spilling off his hair as he does, “Yeah. Never can remember the names of them all, they’re all so long and philosophical.”

“Didn’t know you knew words as long as that.” Regulus teases. He feels overtly better now.

“Well, tough luck, I do.”

Regulus laughs, “I’m surprised.”

“Can you tell me about… shit, I’ve already forgotten their names. The A and P guys.”

“Of course.” Regulus admits and begins to talk about the Trojan War. He explains how they’d met during childhood when Patroclus was exiled for murder - ‘ He killed someone over that?’ - and how they’d stuck together the whole time, training, fighting, loving. He said about the Greek beliefs that homosexuality wasn’t actually too big a problem aslong as you married into a good family, had kids, and kept your other affairs private. James is watching him intently as he finishes it with Achilles being called to war and Patroclus going instead alongside him, and the switching of the armour. The deaths, the aftermaths.

And James just listens. Is this the longest Regulus has talked? Perhaps.

“That’s crazy.” James exhales at some point, “How you can love someone that much.”

Regulus goes to answer, but there’s a head popping up from the sea. It’s Sirius, and he looks terrified. His eyes are bloodshot as he pulls off his mask and brings himself up the ladder. James flinches away from him, so his hands are kept safely in his lap and there’s a mark where their shoulders had been conjoined.

“Regulus! What the fuck, where did you go? Where’s-” He spots James, “Why are you here?”

“I started choking.” James answers quickly, “Fucked up my snorkel, y’know? Regulus noticed and he’s been helping me to, er, not choke.”

Why was he lying to him? Why not say the truth, that Regulus freaked out stupidly over an eel? Sirius breathes a sigh of relief, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. You can go back, Sirius, we’re just gonna sit in the sun.” James reassures him, waving a hand. Sirius still looks sceptical, “Remember when you told me to get on with your brother?”

“Hmm.” Sirius hums, still unsure.

“We’ll be fine, Sirius.” Regulus uses that name, he hasn’t in a while, just to get him to leave. Underhanded tactic, maybe, but it does work.

“You two better be best friends when I’m back.”

“‘Course.” James nods while Regulus says, “I’m sure.”

Sirius gives them a quick smile and pulls back on his snorkel, going back under to a body who’s already swimming. Remus, he’d guess.

James exhales, turning his head to look at Regulus. Regulus frowns at him, “Why’d you lie?”

“You didn’t want him to know. So he won’t.” James answers curtly, shuffling back over to where he was sat before. His hand clasps Regulus’ before he can pull away, “I just… gut feeling, that he’d freak out.”

“That he would.” Regulus can’t bring himself to look at James. He stares at the blue sky instead, looking for clouds. He’s unsuccessful.

James keeps his hand touching Regulus’ until the horn blares.

-

1.02pm, Wednesday, August 3rd

In the end, the diving had gone fantastically. Everyone, save Regulus, had a great time and were all excitedly talking about all the creatures they’d seen.

Did James have a good time? Probably not. But he’s still smiling, nodding along to Peter’s hurried explanations, listening to them all intently.

They all agree to go and snag lunch from one of the random cafe’s down the street when they’re all back on the boat and dried off. Mary is complaining about how she’s gonna have ‘fish disease’ because a small fish brushed past her leg. Sucks to be you, Mary.

The cafe serves them a simple lunch; it’s enough to fill them up after a long two-hour swimming session and they all head back to the hotel to give Sirius his gifts. They agree that they won’t drink too much alcohol (and as it’s Wednesday, per schedule, they’re going out for tapas and having white wine, one or two glasses and acting like they’re higher class then they are).

Sirius is bouncing on the heels of his feet all the way back. For a guy who says ‘ don’t bother with gifts, guys’ he’s pretty excited. They all gather in the Calico, sitting on the floor in a circle as they pass Sirius his gifts. He keeps the grin on his face the whole time.

Regulus has gotten Sirius a ticket to go to a major motorbike race called Isle of Man TT for next year and special LED light strips to go on the underlight. Sirius has been planning on buying a motorbike since he learned to drive but James had forced him to wait until he was eighteen and could drive better. He can’t drive any better than he could at seventeen, but it’s wasted effort as Sirius will end up just buying it anyways.

“ Holy shit. ” He breathes, “You didn’t.”

Regulus smiles at him, “I did. Happy birthday.” His smile is genuine because in the end, his brother really is the most important thing to him. Sirius tackles him with a hug, whispering in his ear a quiet ‘ thank you, Regulus’. 

Sirius pulls away from him quickly as Barty quickly declares for his gift to be next. Sirius nods as he’s chucked a small package, claiming it’s from both him and Evan. They’ve both got him an assortment of patches to stick on his multiple leather jackets and a real canine tooth necklace from a dog who needed them surgically removed. Barty had gotten the tooth, ‘ I know a guy, don’t worry, it’s ethical’ and Evan had strung it together.

Sirius immediately puts it over his head and tugs at the string, pulling it up in front of his eyes. It looks pretty damn cool, “Cheers, guys, I’m gonna be the most punk-rock person in England.”

“Doubt that.” Mary rolls her eyes. Pandora laughs and passes him a box. Pandora doesn’t know Sirius very well and via Regulus’ brief suggestion of ‘ music’, she’d brought him a couple CDs and a special CD player with good audio. Remus and Lily are enthusiastically looking at the collection, with a sheepish smile on Pandora’s face.

Sirius offers her thanks as Marlene pipes up ‘ music gifts? I’ve got a music gift!’ and very carefully passes him what looks like a vinyl, wrapped up. Marlene had found and bought him an original copy of Diamond Dogs by David Bowie with the original artwork on it, before it got removed. They’re extremely rare apparently, only ten or so copies in circulation, so Regulus has no idea how she’d got her hands on it but respects her for it nonetheless. Dorcas paid for half of it, Marlene the other half and they’d both got him some useless snacks to go along with it.

“Oh my god. Marls, I can’t take this.”

“Yes you can!” Dorcas says, declining where he’s trying to pass it back to her.

“Seriously-” He tries, but doesn’t get very far. Bad wording, Sirius.

“Siriusly.” Marlene laughs, “Please, it’s your eighteenth. Keep it.”

Sirius huffs but puts it aside, thanking them both again.

Lily gives him a new helmet for his motorbike. The theme of red and gold gifts are becoming common, it seems. It’s got a gold rim and red highlights, with SIRIUS painted on the back. He tries it on and it fits perfectly. Did Lily measure his fucking head? 

The next gift, from Peter, is slightly more unique. He’s got a collection of small vials, each labelled with some weird witchcraft that Sirius is currently interested in - Amortentia, Wolfsbane, Felix Felicis, Veritaserum, Polyjuice. One is called Draught of Living Death. Peter explains they’re to go on his shelves and also gives him a voucher to one of the stores he likes. It’s weird, but Sirius seems to like it by the big smile on his face as he examines the bottles.

James has got him an absolutely huge map of the night sky from Tenerife’s point of view. It’s in soft silk and the stars are done by hand. James must’ve taken ages to do this, as it looks professional. He even has the names of the major stars underneath. He’s taken great care to leave the names of his family out - only leaving Sirius, Andromeda and Regulus. Polaris, Deneb, Mira, Aldebaran. It’s beautiful, really, how big it is, the small details in making Sirius’ star a light red, making Andromeda’s in lilac, and Regulus’ in a mint green.

“Oh, James.” Sirius is holding it up for them all to see with the help of Barty from the other side. Everyone’s staring at it, wide eyed, “It’s gorgeous. Thank you so much.”

“You’ll find the best people on there.” James says, and oh, he glances at Regulus when he says that. Sirius doesn’t seem to notice and folds it up carefully. He hasn’t stopped smiling, and it’s so nice.

Mary’s gift is small - a bookmark made up of photos of all of them. It must have been made while she was here, as she’s taken the photo that James has as his lock screen and put it on there. Both sides are covered in images of Sirius and one of his friends. They’re passing it around to look at it.

Finally, Remus gives him a notebook with the golden letters S.O.B on. It’s leatherbound, perhaps by hand by the way the stitching is done, in a dark maroon colour. There’s a sticky note taped to the first page.

Regulus is sitting next to Sirius as he leans back to read the note privately. He can’t make out what it says, but Sirius’ eyes widen.

-

Remus Lupin, 1.38pm, Wednesday, August 3rd

Remus has never been too brave. That’s what James and Sirius are for. But now, he’s trying to be brave. Brave enough to write a small post-it-note to stick to the inside of his gift, just for Sirius to see.

Sirius,

Happy birthday.

I’ve booked a table at Restaurante Donaire for next Wednesday if you’d like to go. Listening to Regulus yesterday, I just thought that I’d ask you to dinner on your birthday.

I think I’ve liked you for a while now, but I’ve never had the courage to say it. You’ve changed my life, Sirius, in so many ways that I could never finish listing. From the second you told me to come and sit with you on the train that day, barely understanding me through my Welsh accent, you changed everything.

I understand if you just want to be my friend, nothing more and I’m sorry if I ruined your birthday, if you don’t feel the same way. I can cancel the booking if you’d like. Again, happy birthday. Have a good eighteenth.

Remus

The writing is kind of shit, but after a million drafts, a million edits, it’s the best he can do. And all he can hope for is anything but anger. A soft ‘ we’re just friends, Remus’ or ‘ I don’t feel the same way ’ would hurt, yes, but it’d be better than anger. Maybe Lily was wrong. She’d kept going at him about how Sirius definitely likes him back, and he’d been stupid enough to believe her. He’d hear James and Regulus mutter about him and Sirius at certain points, he’d heard Mary quickly ask Marlene about whether they’ll ever ask each other out.

Remus isn’t stupid, but he’s unsure. So incredibly uncertain of the result, so scared of what he’ll say.

He can’t help but look around nervously as Sirius reads his note. He’s grateful that Regulus doesn’t try to peek over his shoulder.

Sirius’ eyes seem to be glued to the page. His expression is hard to make out and it’s driving Remus insane. There’s no clear pleasure or hatred on his face, nor no confusion, just nothing. 

Remus can’t take it anymore. He stands up, his legs wobbly, and walks outside quickly. He needs to breathe. He can hear Sirius’ panicked calls, probably more out of pity than anything, and the call of Peter’s voice. Keep walking.

“ Remus !” Sirius shouts, his voice is getting louder. Oh, he’s come after Remus. Sirius has always been the brave one. “Come back. Please?”

It’s hard not to turn around. To come back - just because that’s what he wants. So Remus just keeps walking. Step by step, left, right, forward. Don’t look back. Don’t think about Sirius. Don’t answer him. It’s so very hard because Sirius starts to run and his steps are so quiet - it’s all the small things - and calls his name again and again. 

“Remus.” Sirius clasps his wrist, tugging on it slightly and forcing him to turn around, “Listen to me!”

“I-” His voice cracks, “Stop leading me on, Sirius.”

“I’m not- fuck, just listen to me, please?” He pleads.

Remus hesitates, “You’re just going to-”

“No! That’s exactly not what I’m going to do!” Sirius yells in frustration. His free hand is scrunched up into a ball and he’s stiffened his posture.

“It was a stupid idea, I know, god, I let Lily get to my head with the stupid fucking idea that-” Remus hurridly explains, but Sirius starts to talk over him.

Sirius moves his hand from the grip on his wrist to his fingers on Remus’ palm, “Remus, I couldn’t do a thing without you. And that’s why-”

“What?” Remus blurts, snatching his hand back. Sirius looks so confused - why?

“I don’t know where you got in your head that-” Sirius starts. Ah, here’s the let-down. The angry version. Fuck, what was Remus thinking? It’s completely irrational to confess to your best friend about the big feelings you’ve had for him since you’d met.

“Just leave me be, Sirius!” Remus snaps, walking off again down the road. He can’t bear to think about Sirius right now. Focus on the sky. The sky, pretty blue background, white clouds that turn to stars in the night, the brightest one being-

It always rounds back to Sirius Black, doesn’t it? Everything.

“Let me finish my bloody sentence!” Sirius shouts. Remus doesn’t turn around, but stands still. Rejection, here he comes, “I was going to say I don’t know where you got it in your head that I didn’t like you back. Remus, I think I’m fucking in love with you.”

“Stop fucking with me.” Remus mutters. Because he’s got to be lying.

Sirius gapes, “What? You’re- you can’t be real right now?”

“Yes.” He answers dryly.

“Remus, I love you. I have been for a year but shit, maybe longer.” Sirius takes his hand again. His voice is too soft to be joking, his touch too tender for him not to mean it. Isn’t that exactly what he wanted to hear, though? The return of his feelings after so long. For someone to love him like a lover - not his mother, not even when his father claims he did, not the love that James has for him. Something more, that’s what he’s dreamt of for so long. Sirius has just completed his long-term aim of finding someone who loves Remus for who he is; even with the scars, even with the moods that he has, even with his obsessions over small bits of information. Like Sirius’ laugh, or the way he parts his hair, or where his pinky dips from his phone, or how he shines like the star he always was in the moonlight.

Remus has been compared to the moon before. 

“Do you know how long I’ve dreamt you’d say that? That it wasn’t in a dream? ” Remus says quietly.

Sirius huffs, a small gesture he does in amusement, “Alright then. Do you know how long I’ve been trying to get up the courage to ask you out?”

“Do you know how long I’ve been trying to get up the courage to ask you out?” Remus repeats, biting back a smile. How did he ever argue with Sirius?

They start playing a little game as Sirius plays with Remus’ fingers, looking him right in the eyes, “Do you know how long I’ve stared at your face and thought, fuck, he’s gorgeous?”

“Do you know how long I’ve thought the exact same? Do you know how long Lily’s tried to reassure me that this unattainable boy likes me back?”

“Do you know how long Marlene’s been pestering me for the same? Do you know how long I’ve truly thought that you’re the only one for me?” Sirius scoffs at the start, his voice lowering into a musky tone at the end. His cheeks are flushed and it’s definitely not from the sun, though the shadows on his back do make him look rather angel-like from where Remus is standing; even with his black hair, black shorts, Black lastname, he’s an angel.

“Do you know how hard it was to keep you on my back in the pool?” Remus changes the question, and it’s true. So incredibly true. There’s so many questions, and not enough answers.

“Do you know how hard it was to not kiss you?” Sirius breathes, untwining his hands from the sweaty grip they’ve got going on and bringing his arms to twirl around Remus’ waist, bringing him closer.

“No.” Remus exhales, stroking his cheek. He’s broken the pattern now, “No, I don’t.”

Sirius leans closer, his breath smells of chocolate and is warm against his lips, “Can I stop resisting?”

“ Yes. ” Remus finds himself kissing Sirius a mere second later. His lips are wet with where he’d licked them a moment before as they spill into each other. Skin with skin, breath with breath, lips with lips. Sirius tightens his grip as he pushes Remus back slightly and opens his mouth. Sirius just keeps kissing him, continuously, and between his ticklish licks and tongue, it’s absolutely perfect.

Remus doesn’t want to part for him but he’s going to die from air loss otherwise; he parts his face only, keeping the rest of them pressed up against one another.

“ Fuck, Moony.” Sirius says. He hasn’t said that in so long.

Remus laughs, ducking his head against his shoulder, “Right back, Padfoot.”

-

Regulus Black, 2.04pm, Wednesday, August 3rd

Sirius and Remus don’t come back for a good twenty minutes, leaving everyone just sitting there, puzzled.

“Do you reckon they had some sort of fight and then make up sex?” Mary asks rather shamelessly.

“Not quite that far.” Sirius voice’ comes back as he’s tugging on Remus’ hand. Remus is looking down in embarrassment and they’re both dishevelled. Sirius is not covering his neck and god, isn’t that a sight to behold?

“Copycats.” Evan mutters, jabbing Barty in the side.

“Finally!” James pipes up, “God, the tension between you two was unbearable.”

There’s a nod of agreement. Sirius coughs, “Anyways. Yes, I’m dating Remus now, no I did not have make up sex with him but I-”

“Sirius.” Remus hisses.

“Sorry!” He grins, not sorry at all, “Who wants to go down to the fish show?”

As they walk down, Regulus elbows James right in the back, whispering, “ Winner. ”

“Fuck you.” He mutters, smiling nonetheless, “I’ll get you your fifty eventually.”

Regulus hums, “Eventually, he says. Eventually. That just means never.”

“I’m sure you’ll live.”

“I’m sure I will. Come on.”

It’s a brilliant day for Regulus, as he’s never seen his brother so happy.

Chapter Text

So why do I want you so badly?

Baby, I got your back, like we're still seventeen

-17, MK

11.20pm, Wednesday, August 3rd

Sirius

That was the best birthday I’ve ever had, thank you so much Reg

Regulus

Are you messaging that to everybody and changing the name at the end?

Sirius

No jesus it’s only for you

I didn’t know you all liked me that much 

Hell look at what Marls and Dorcas got me

Regulus

They told you to keep it. Believe it or not, Sirius, we all love you

Sirius

Aww is that you saying you love me

Regulus

Actually, yes it is

Sirius

I love u too 

Goodnight

Regulus

Goodnight :)

Sirius

Since when do you use emoticons you sound like James

Regulus

It’s influence.

Sirius

Who’s influence???

Regulus

A friend of mine. You don’t know him.

Goodnight

Sirius

Yes yes actually goodnight this time

-

4.35am, Thursday, August 4th

Prongs

is it just me or are you also really tired?

Regulus

No wonder. It’s 4AM.

Why don’t you go to sleep?

Prongs

i can’t idk why it’s so hot and i just keep thinking

and ur up at 4 too

Regulus

You woke me up.

What are you thinking about?

Prongs

shit sorry for waking you

Regulus

It’s alright.

Prongs

i keep thinking about this guy

Regulus

Do you like him?

Prongs

i think so but i’m really not supposed to like him

Regulus

Why?

Prongs

can’t explain it’s too complicated and we agreed to the whole secrets thing 

Regulus

Fine with me. 

Do you think he likes you back?

Prongs

don’t think so he’s straight i’m pretty sure

i think he has a crush on one of his friends

Regulus

Ah. And he’s just not getting out of your mind?

Prongs

nope

Regulus

That’s rough. Nothing I can do really but tell you there’s other fish in the sea and he won’t be ‘the one.’

Prongs

last time i liked someone i did for over five years

Regulus

Get over it quickly?

Prongs

i’ll try

i’m gonna try to go to sleep again, talk to you soon :)

Regulus

Goodnight.

-

11.38am, Thursday, August 4th

Mary’s decided today is her day. They’d all pretty much agreed because she’d get her way in the end, she always did with things she wanted. Regulus thought she could make a very formidable villain if she wanted to, commanding men to her word or something. According to her, they’re going to get lunch, go play beach ball, and eat Italian for dinner (per James’ request on their schedule).

She’d dragged Lily along to the store with her earlier by the name of Necesidades De La Playa - translating to Beach Necessities - to go buy a net to play with and two blow-up beach balls; a spare incase they pop it, break it, loose it, or anything that involves not having the first one.

One of the annoying things about this trip was that everyone was bloody coupling up like the film he watched on the plane flight here. First it was Marlene and Dorcas beforehand, then Evan and Barty, then Sirius and Remus. Who’s next, Mary and Lily? Maybe Peter will get a Spanish girlfriend to have fun with for a week. Perhaps James will, and Regulus will hate her.

Regulus is just sitting on the sand, talking to Pandora, as he watches Barty and Lily blow the beach balls up. Barty is failing, drastically, and passes it to Remus of all people. Peter and Remus both start laughing as Remus throws it to Peter, saying ‘ come on, Barty, my lungs are too fucked to blow that up’ in which Barty tells him ‘ quit them cigarettes, you’ll die or something’. It’s a wasted effort, because Sirius starts to chime in ‘ we’re here for a good time, not a long time’ and Barty just shakes his head and lets Peter blow it up. Lily does hers effortlessly, much to the delight of Mary.

They’re currently separating themselves into teams to play with - well, Mary selected two leaders (Sirius and Regulus) to choose teams and the only rule was ‘ don’t pick based on friendship’ which Sirius had ignored immediately and chosen James first. He never was one for following the rules, and it seems that he’s sticking to that to this very day. James gives him a quick high five and walks over to stand by Sirius.

Regulus chooses Marlene next because he’s seen her play volleyball before - Dorcas had dragged him along and it wasn’t all that bad - and she’s amazing. Marlene grins at him and skips over, taking her spot to stand behind him.

Sirius, the sneak, chooses Dorcas next. She pouts but is soon happy again because before they were friends, Dorcas and Marlene had actually been rivals. Academically. Always competing for top spot in English; he remembered Dorcas’ long rants about ‘ fucking McKinnon’ which has rather come true now - the first bit anyways. She is fucking McKinnon, so maybe her wish was just… twisted slightly for the better.

He’d heard from Sirius that Marlene was similar, complaining about tests and how next time she’ll beat ‘ goddamn Meadowes once and for all’ which turned into an actual verbal fight in the exam hall. Which led to detention together scrubbing the toilets, which led to some sort of rival-make-out-session. Dorcas had told him all about it afterwards. That she definitely still hated her but she certainly didn’t hate her tongue.

“You’re on, McKinnon. ” Dorcas sticks her tongue out at Marlene’s excited expression.

“I always beat you in the end, Meadowes.” Marlene says.

“That you do.” She grins slyly.

“Shut up!” Sirius hisses, tugging on Dorcas’ arm, “Reg, your turn.”

“Oh, okay. In that case, Remus.”

“What?” Sirius yells, “That’s not fair!”

Regulus rolls his eyes as Remus sighs and walks over to him. He’s obviously not too bothered about playing beach ball, “It’s fine, Sirius. You’ll win because I’ll just keep-”

“Alright!” Regulus cuts him off, “It’s fair, Sirius, you choose.”

Sirius pouts but beckons Peter over. Regulus picks Barty, Sirius picks Mary, Regulus picks Evan which is disallowed because of ‘ friendship’ and he picks Lily instead. Sirius is given Evan - who complains that he’s not just a chess piece but goes over anyway - leaving Pandora to go to Regulus.

Sirius, James, Dorcas, Peter, Mary and Evan.

Regulus, Marlene, Remus, Barty, Lily and Pandora.

Marlene begins to make sure they’re all in position because Regulus knows absolute shit about positions - wasn’t this supposed to be fun and not a serious game - and declares her and Mary to count the points.

Mary nods enthusiastically and reaches to the whistle around her neck.

“Scared, Potter?” Regulus mutters to James, who’s standing right infront of him on the opposite side of the net.

“You wish.”

James’ smirk was the last thing he saw as Mary’s whistle blew loudly, setting off the match. Pandora throws the ball into the middle and then runs on her own side.

They play back and forth for a while - no, Marlene, that wasn’t a point - just hitting the ball to people and having fun. The tally went up point by point and everyone was sweating wildly at the end of it. Everyone joined in, in the end, even with the reluctance of Remus who kept moaning to Sirius about how he was going to die of heat stroke.

They loose the ball a few times - James and Sirius go running after it as a race and James was very obviously letting Sirius win - in the sea but surprisingly, they never popped either one of them.

Regulus is having the time of his life. Between the sand, the sea, and the huge smile on the people he loves faces, it’s pretty goddamn good.

-

1.19pm, Thursday, August 4th

They win. Not by many points, maybe Marlene’s been adding a few too many, but they win nonetheless. Lily was a good decision - she was shockingly good at hitting it in the right spots and James had begun a small competition with her to see who got more points. James had won their contest, yes, but their team had won the whole thing.

Barty calls everyone over to the sea afterwards to chuck around the ball some more. Regulus dips out quickly, claiming that the sun was getting to him, and is quickly followed by Remus.

“You just tired?” He asks. He hasn’t talked to Remus one-on-one all that much so far, but if Sirius likes him, Regulus is bound to as well.

He huffs a sigh of relief, “Yeah. Honestly, I don’t know where they get their energy from.” He glances over to where Marlene is hawling Dorcas up on her back, throwing the ball over to where Barty and Evan are. Sirius and Mary are wrapping the other ball in seaweed while Peter is gathering more. Pandora and James are trying to find shells by the looks of it, or are just really interested in sea sand.

“Tell me about it.” Regulus places his towel down on the floor, lying down. Remus nods at him and pulls a book out of the bag he’d brought along. Regulus notices the pattern on the back, recognising it quickly, “I’ve read that before.” He leans over to look properly at it. Yeah, it’s The Picture of Dorian Grey.

Remus jolts up, “You have? I’ve tried to convince Lily to read it for so long but she gets bored within thirty pages.”

“It’s a hit or miss with this.” Regulus smiles, gesturing at the book, “Would you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Sell your soul for something. Maybe not eternal youth, but eternal love? Eternal wealth? Eternal well-being?” 

Remus contemplates this for a while, ending on a confused, “I don’t know. Maybe? Wasn’t it more about being careful what you wish for?”

“You’re rereading it?” Regulus asks.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t think Wilde wanted it to be about selling your soul to the devil or something - it’s more of an allegory, I think. Mythology on thoughts of the nature of what beauty can do to someone.” Remus explains. He’s now sitting up and very interested in their conversation.

“Yeah. Yeah, god, you’ve worded that pretty spot on to what I think. You know how with those classics, they’re always misinterpreted for something that they’re not?” Remus hums in agreement, letting Regulus continue, “I think people take this for a deal with the devil, some kind of warning of religion, when really it’s more about exactly what you said - the nature of beauty and how it controls people. Think magazines; they set all the beauty standards.”

Remus nods slightly too quickly. Regulus thinks that maybe he’s the only person Remus has ever had a real conversation about book meanings to. It’s the inner mythology nerd in him.

“Yes, I totally agree with you. I think they just set everything up for people.”

“Haha, yeah.” Regulus laughs, the conversation having dried off a little, “Hey, speaking of beauty standards, did you know Sirius used to hate his features?” He says on instict, freezing a little, “Fuck, shouldn’t of said that. Forget about it.”

“I do, actually.” Remus says, “I won’t tell him about that if you don’t?”

His offer is weak, just his word, but Regulus finds himself trusting him, “Yeah. Sounds good.”

Remus opens his mouth to say something but they’re approached by Sirius and James. Good thing they ended their conversation then.

“Remus, come join me? Please?” Sirius takes his hand and flutters his eyelashes at him. Remus sighs, glancing back at Regulus on the sand, and then back at Sirius.

He tries pathetically, “I can’t leave Regulus alone-”

“I’ll- I’ll stay with him!” James quickly offers, grinning at him, “You go off with Sirius. It’s fine.”

“You’re going to kill him.” Remus remarks dryly but he’s smiling.

Regulus feels small on the floor and he’s not liking it, surrounded by them all standing up, “Yes James, you can stay, go have fun, Remus.”

Remus flashes him a smile, “Thanks.” He shouts back over his shoulder as Sirius drags him off, laughing and spinning around as he twirls Remus around on the sand. Remus has a huge smile on his face as he has Sirius’ hands in his and is shouting over the wind. Sirius looks giddy, laughing honestly. It’s so refreshing to see Sirius happy.

“You’re like a vampire.” James says as they both take their eyes off Sirius and Remus, looking him up and down for whatever reason.

“How so?” Regulus responds dryly. 

He hesitates, “You’ve got… sharp teeth.” He finishes weakly, glancing at what could either be his neck or his mouth. Regulus brings up a finger to touch his canine tooth. It’s fairly normal.

“I don’t think so.”

“Alright then. You just don’t tan, do you?” James tells him, flinging the towel down onto the beach and laying down.

“No.” Regulus scoffs, sitting down next to him. He pulls his sunglasses down so James can't see where his eyes are going.

James looks him up and down, obviously not finding much tan but rather red marks, “Do you just use SPF50 or something?”

“Yes? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to use?” That’s what he’s always used. Any lower and he’d get skin cancer.

“Not if you want to tan. Use like, SPF30.” James throws him a bottle of suntan lotion from beside him, “Might wanna uh-” James gestures to his own back, “-do your back.”

“Well I can’t reach there, can I?” Regulus answers, taking it and glancing at the back of the bottle. He’d not really been focused on getting a tan, rather the topic of the nature of beauty with Remus. He purposely doesn’t mention that his mother had always said that would give him cancer.

“Do you-” James hesitates, “Do you want me to do it?”

He does not trust James to do that - he’s done it before to Sirius, missing the lotion in the shape of a penis right down his leg last summer, “You’re gonna draw something stupid on my back.”

“I won’t.” He promises, “I’m not gonna do it if you really don’t want me to.” His voice goes quiet at the end - like a kicked puppy.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, stop pouting. ” Regulus sits up and crosses his legs, his back facing James, “Just do it quickly.”

From behind him, he can hear James get up and the crack of the opening of the bottle. The sound of him squirting out the lotion and him spreading it over both of his hands. He sits behind Regulus, parting his legs so either leg is on the side of him and being so close. Does James have no self-awareness of what he does to people? Apparently not; he shifts closer and begins to talk.

“It might be a little cold.” James warns him, pressing a palm to Regulus’ back. It is cold, yes, but a rather refreshing cold. His hands are soft with where the lotion has softened the callouses and the small hum of James’ breathing is loud in the silence. Regulus is holding his breath, for whatever reason, while James palms at his back in circular motions.

It’s strangely calming as James moves from left to right, rubbing in the lotion across every bit of skin carefully and as he does Regulus’ neck as well. He uses his thumbs to finger at the kinks in his neck and around the back of his shoulders in that one tense spot, making Regulus tilt his head back slightly in pleasure.

“Stop giving me a damn massage.” He mutters lowly, even though only James can hear him.

James continues kneading his hands into Regulus’ skin, “You’re enjoying it.”

“No I’m not.” There’s no massage room, no candle-lit environment joined with peaceful music, no reassuring therapy words. Just the content sigh of James’ breath against his neck and the sound of his fingers working magic.

“You are. Stop bloody talking and enjoy it. I normally charge for these, y’know?” James laughs a little.

“Bullshit.” Regulus says, shutting his eyes off from the rest of the world. His thoughts are clear, no incoherent babbling of his mind, just silent as he drifts asleep.

-

James Potter, 1.25pm, Thursday, August 4th

Regulus has fallen asleep on him. He isn’t an ugly sleeper by any sorts - just breathing lightly as he leans against James’ chest. 

Regulus Black is a blur. He’s soft to the touch, but he forces the front of keeping his major emotions under check. His laugh is carefree but he saves the laugh for very few people. Sirius, Evan, Barty, Pandora. James. He trusts James enough to let himself go.

His hair is tousled just under James’ chin, a light tickle when he shifts, and James is just to either force himself to stay upright with the weight of Regulus on him or to fall down and let Regulus fall asleep in his arms like some sort of damsel. Which he wouldn’t want because if anyone comes over here, James would be seriously fucked and so would Regulus.

It’s basically the number one rule to not date your best friend’s sibling. And that’s exactly what James wants to do and it’s terrifying. He’d loved Lily for years on end and to this day he still loves her, just not like that anymore, after he released how they didn’t work.

It isn’t like that with Regulus - not the loud affection he’d given Lily, rather just staring at him silently. Finding small excuses to touch him here and there, offering to stay with him. Regulus doesn’t seem to notice, and James isn’t sure whether that’s a good or bad thing.

Does he want Regulus to notice just how much he likes him? Yes. No. Maybe. He doesn’t know. It’s all so very confusing because he’s going off Sirius’ experience - his own with Lily will be useless.

Does he want to face the inevitable conversation with Sirius about his best friend liking his brother, of all people? Not really. It’s utterly terrifying to think about how it’d go. Anger? Confusion? Allowance? The Sirius expression of what-the-fuck-are-you-serious?

So he doesn’t do anything. He continues the subtle flirting that maybe he’s hoping Regulus will pick up on, he continues to be as he was before.

He continues to let Regulus lay on him for as long as he likes.

Regulus is always welcome in James’ world. Any time, any place, any day. Show up, Regulus, make my day.

-

Remus Lupin, 1.28pm, Thursday, August 4th

He comes back over to where he was sat before to grab some more suntan lotion, with Sirius trailing behind him slightly (he’s shrugged him off because Sirius kept trying to kiss him with his mouth full of salt water, and quite frankly, it tastes pretty shit.)

And as he approaches where he’s left the lotion, he’s met with the sight of Regulus and James curled up on the towel. James has fallen asleep upright, apparently, because he’s laying back on the ground quite awkwardly with Regulus between his legs for whatever reason, head on his chest. James is snoring quietly and one of his arms is bloody snaked around Regulus’ torso.

Remus peaks over his shoulder - Sirius is still fairly far back.

“James!” He hisses, shoving James’ shoulder quickly. He awakes with a jolt and his eyes immediately lock onto the weight on his chest, “Sirius is about 30 steps behind me. Move.”

“ Remus, I can-”

“I don’t want to hear it, I don’t care, just get him off you before Sirius starts asking questions!” Remus demands, crouching down to hide the two of them from Sirius. James nods quickly and carefully tries to move Regulus off of him. He snaps awake in a wasted effort to keep him asleep - something Sirius had picked up as well, awaking quickly at something being slightly off.

“You’re fine, just- Sirius is coming. Can you get off me?” James whispers to him quietly as Remus is shouting over his shoulder to Sirius about some incoherent rambling about sea shells.

“ What? ” Regulus sits up, scrambling away from him quickly. Remus can hear how his voice is panicked and the rough moving of sand as James apologies. Regulus brushes himself off as Remus turns to look back at him. He’s trying to adjust his hair and James fucking moves a strand out of his eye. Regulus’ pale complexion isn’t one to hide the way his cheeks pinken as he looks away and picks up The Picture of Dorian Grey from where Remus was reading it earlier.

“Hi!” Sirius chirps happily as James clears his throat in an attempt to look casual, “We’re gonna go get ice cream now. Just came to tell you but Remus apparently got here first.”

Remus shoots him a grin, “Yeah. Regulus doesn’t listen when he’s reading fine classical literature. ” He grabs Sirius’ hand to take him away to where Marlene and Dorcas are approaching them, shooting a sympathetic smile over his shoulder to both Regulus and James. Regulus is whispering furiously to James while he rubs the back of his head - a tic he does when he’s truly sorry.

James was subtle with it, but to Remus, it was clear.

James Potter liked Regulus Black. 

That’s a recipe for disaster if he’s heard one.

-

Regulus Black, 1.32pm, Thursday, August 4th

Fuck James Potter, for letting him fall asleep. Fuck bloody Remus Lupin, for seeing something he wanted to keep private. Oh, and fuck Sirius Black, for not letting him spend more time with James.

What?

Fuck. Regulus is so fucked. 

He’s currently ignoring James and puts Remus’ copy of Dorian Grey back into his bag and pulls his sunglasses down. He gets up, shoves his towel into the bag he’s sharing with Pandora, and goes over to talk to Evan and Barty.

James keeps looking at him, with his mouth open like a fish. His eyes glance down when Regulus looks back at him and he bites his lip, turning around to tug on Remus’ hand (earning a protest from Sirius about stealing his boyfriend) and weirdly enough, ignores his taunt, and Remus very obviously glances back at Regulus when James’ mouth is running a mile a minute.

Evan takes his eyes off of James when he nudges him in the ribs softly, “Why do you and James look so…?”

“Down.” Barty finishes for him, “You both look like you’ve just been kicked. Trouble in paradise?”

“No.” Regulus’ voice is firm, “He’s a dick.”

“Oh god, are you really back to your I-hate-James-Potter-with-everything phase?”

“It wasn’t a phase. He’s just so-” Regulus makes a sound of frustration and kicks at the sand. Barty is staring at him like he’s a child. He’s not a fucking child, thanks, he just really doesn’t like James Potter right now.

Evan raises an eyebrow like he doesn’t believe him, “Barty, I think this is some enemies-to-lovers shit.”

“Yep!” He grins. And no, that’s not what’s fucking happening because they were never enemies in the first place. James was just this annoying thing that stole his brother away from him and honestly, he can’t blame Sirius for going with him because he’s literally the light of Sirius’ life.

“I don’t like him.” Regulus scoffs, voice quiet because he’s paranoid James is listening right over his shoulder or something, “He just annoys me. We’re not bloody lovers .”

“Said every protagonist ever.” Barty tells him, patting his shoulder, “He’s not all that bad, Reg, we accept.”

He scoffs in disbelief, “I don’t fucking-”

Barty cackles, looking at Evan, “Cue to leave?”

“Yep.” Evan nods and the two run off, laughing loudly. One day, he’s going to bloody kill those two. Great, now Remus has some sort of idea and Evan and Barty think he’s wildly in love with James.

Regulus wouldn’t say in love. Rather a summer crush. That’s what he tells himself as he keeps glancing back at James, offering a quick smile. That’s what he tells himself as they approach the ice cream shop and he knows what James is going to order - honeycomb with chocolate sauce and sprinkles with a chocolate cone. That’s what he tells himself when he purposely sits opposite James on the tables they’ve merged together to be enough for 14, when he feels James’ foot touch his and he doesn’t jolt back.

Sirius drops his ice cream right on the floor in a pathetic attempt to get away from the seagull on the table, splattering it all over the floor. He immediately starts fake crying and begging Remus to buy him a new one.

Remus sneaks Lily a wink and drags him off back to the shop - the guy named Raj just stares at Sirius as he pays yet more money to his shop. Regulus just smiles, biting his lip at the fallen ice cream on the floor.

They stay there a while longer, just talking for an hour or two and eventually get led to a small pub - ‘wow, Tenerife’s stealing our English culture’ - and having a pint before going out to eat their dinner.

The Italian is a delight to Regulus’ taste buds because he hasn’t had proper Italian food in so long and it’s completely delicious. James, who put the request on there when they organised it, seems enamoured with his plate being filled with dish after dish.

It’s a nice night out and they all agree to head back fairly early to catch up on some of the sleep that they’re missing - mostly Mary and Marlene complaining about running out of concealer and Lily saying that all this sun will make her wrinkle early. Sirius says he’s got to keep his perfect face and waves them off, dragging Remus with him.

Peter stays in the main room for a while with Barty, Evan and Pandora, claiming he’ll stay out of the room just in case.

James has gone off on a walk. Maybe he needs to clear his head.

Regulus follows his lead and also leaves the main room after a while, waving off Pandora’s concerns and promising he’ll come back within an hour. She nods sceptically and asks him to check his phone every so often.

He goes up to the shops, well, the ones that are still open, and buys a guitar. It’s something to keep his mind off James, it’s fairly cheap and it’s similar to his old one that he’d bought after running away with Sirius. Regulus pays for the guitar, smiling generously at the poor cashier who’s made to work there so late - maybe it’s a waste of money but he doesn’t care - and walks down to the beach, perching himself on the stone wall and tuning the guitar.

The night is silent except for Regulus’ fingers and the waves in the background. Just waves, the clear sky with stars he could infinitely name and guitar strings.

In a second, he hears footsteps. They’re quiet, but they’re there, so Regulus turns around to see who’s there. A stranger? Another night owl? No, it’s not that simple, is it?

James. He cannot stay out of Regulus’ life, it seems. Always popping up like an annoying butterfly - they never go away, they just flutter around you, then touch you and look all pretty.

James gazes at him, clearing his throat, “Hey, you.” James smiles slightly, hands in his pockets. Why does he continue to use these words with such care in his voice?

“Hi.” Regulus answers dryly, purposely looking away from him. He puts a hand over his guitar protectively for whatever reason; it’s not like James is going to nick it.

“Can I sit?” His voice is rough and scratchy as he glances down to the spot next to him. Regulus puts his guitar there. 

Regulus gapes. He’s so thick-headed sometimes, ““What do you want with me, James? Why’re you trying so hard to be my friend?” 

He leans against the wall, not quite sitting on it like Regulus, and looking at the waves with him, “For Sirius.”

“For Sirius. Right.” Regulus inhales, “Well, if you’re only being my friend for Sirius, you can leave. Sirius isn’t here and right now, I just want to be alone.”

“Er, I- I do want to be your… friend- ” He grits out the word like it’s poison, “-but you’re not helping by pushing me away.”

“I’m not-”

“If it wasn’t for Remus, Sirius would’ve killed me.” He’s obviously referring to earlier, and James seems to get that.

“I can say the same. I came out here to walk, Regulus, and if I see one of my friends alone, I’m going to talk to them.”

“Not when said ‘friend’ has a guitar and is obviously occupied.” He huffs, turning his head, “You can leave now, or I’m just going to start playing.”

“I don’t want to leave.”

“Fine.” Regulus feels the strings on the pads of his fingers and plucks them slowly. He starts to play Wonderwall by Oasis. James’ whole music life is based on Oasis, and seemingly, it works to cheer up the mood.It’s so easily recognisable, and James obviously follows with the lead of that because he sits up in awarement, gazing at Regulus’ hands.

Regulus finishes the start as James begins to quietly sing the words against Regulus’ strumming, his fingers moving up and down to play the chords. As James sings under his breath, Regulus can’t help but think - James emphasises a few of the lines.

♫ 

Today is gonna be the day that they’re gonna throw it back to you

And by now, you should’ve somehow realised what you’ve gotta do

I don’t believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now

And backbeat, the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out

I’m sure you’re heard it all before but you’ve never really had a doubt

I don’t believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now

And all the roads we have to walk are winding

And all the lights that lead us there are blinding

There are many things that I’d like to say to you but I don’t know how

Because maybe, you’re gonna be the one that saves me

And after all

You’re my wonderwall

Today was gonna be the day but they’ll never throw it back to you

And by now, you should’ve somehow realised what you’re not to do

I don’t believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now

And all the roads that lead you there are winding

And all the lights that light the way are blinding

There are many things that I’d like to say to you but I don’t know how

I said maybe, you’re gonna be the one that saves me

And after all

You’re my wonderwall

I said maybe (I said maybe)

You’re gonna be the one that saves me

And after all

You’re my wonderwall

I said maybe (I said maybe)

You’re gonna be the one that saves me (saves me)

You’re gonna be the one that saves me (saves me)

You’re gonna be the one that saves me (saves me)

♫ 

James mimes the piano at the end as he smiles up at Regulus, so openly. And just like that, they’re back to what they were before.

“Can you play any other Oasis songs?” James looks fucking awe-struck. 

“Loads of them. Eight or nine?” Regulus guesses, grinning and laughing at him in small huffs of laughter. He doesn’t tell James he learnt half of them just for him.

“You’re incredible, Regulus.” James breathes out. His eyes are wide and he’s staring at Regulus like he’s hung the stars.

He takes everything back. Every bad thing he’s ever said about him. He’s slowly falling in love with James Potter, and he’s terrified to admit that.

Chapter Text

Waste time with a masterpiece, don’t waste time with a masterpiece

You should be rollin’ with me, you should be rollin’ with

You’re a real life fantasy, you’re a real life fantasy

But you’re moving to carefully, let’s start living dangerously

-Cake By The Ocean, DNCE

4.27pm, Friday, August 5th

Being in love with James just gave him all the more opportunities to make an utter fool out of himself. Not on purpose, of course, if he had his way he’d never do anything out of line but of course humans are clumsy in their nature. It’s annoying how his breath hitches in his throat when James does something or how he lets out a soft sigh when he’s laughing just because he’s so fucking gorgeous.

He mixes up his words, and says good morning instead of good afternoon once and it’s not too bad. James laughs him off and Regulus stalks off dramatically, scowling. Barty wiggles his eyebrows at him, the twit.

He splutters his drink out when they’re all on the beach again and James turns around with the sun right on his back and stretches, making all of his upper body muscles visible and Regulus starts choking. It’s mortifiying because Barty lets out a fucking hyena laugh and Evan’s biting his cheeks to not laugh. Remus is just smirking and he’s not sure what’s worse between the loud laughter of Barty and the silent snickering of the other two.

And the worst one of all - it’s not in front of James - but he says to Sirius just idly, “Was James always this fit?” And then followed by a swift ‘ fuck’ under his breath.

“What?” Sirius laughs, looking at him in disbelief, “You serious?”

That’s the least subtle way to make a joke ever. Regulus wipes away the sweat on his head and mutters, “No, you’re Sirius.” 

“Yes, I know. Brightest star in the sky and all.” Then he seems to realise Regulus’ previous question, “What, you think James is fit?”

“I think Pandora’s fit. Everyone here is, so drop it.”

Sirius seems to consider this for a moment and then raises his eyebrows, “Even me?” He grins.

Regulus smirks, shoving his shoulder, “Nah, you’re the exception with your ugly mug. Ratty hair, bad tan, and oh don’t forget about the horrendous sight of your neck.”

“That’s not what Remus says.” He retorts, “He tells me that I’m-”

“Okay! Yes, I know what Remus says.”

“He says-”

“But Reg, it’s really mandatory I tell you about Remus’-”

“ I know, Sirius. You can rant about your boyfriend’s loving qualities to anyone but me, please. Romance grosses me out.”

“‘ Was James always this fit?’ ” He sticks his fingers up in air quotes, “Not what you said a second ago.”

“That’s not romance.” Regulus glares at him, “It’s appreciation. I think Pandora is beautiful.”

He snorts, “You say that to her face?”

Of course he does. New dress? You look nice, Dora. Why wouldn’t he compliment his best friend when she’s gorgeous and everyone should know it? He’s seen Lily looking at her a couple of times to Mary’s dismay, “Yes, actually.”

“Say it to James then. Hey James, I think you’re pretty hot .” He challenges, crossing his arms.

“I’d rather die.”

“Do it!”

“No.”

“Reg-”

“No.”

“ Reggie.”

“No.”

“Gully? ”

“No!”

-

4.27pm, Saturday August 6th

Saturday was one of the more simple days they had.

Mornings per usual - eating in the hotel room and Peter complaining about lack of sleep. He also keeps complaining about how he misses his drum kit back at home (he did pathetically try with sticks and a hollow box, not many results) and that he’ll never want to see rain again after this trip. They'd gone to a club, and the rest of the day was just spent at the beach.

-

00.41am, Sunday, August 6th

Regulus

I am so very fucked.

Prongs

why

sleep it off

Regulus

It doesn’t work like that.

Okay, so I know we’ve kind of been flirting but I can’t do that with you anymore because I have a crush on someone and he’s so hot it hurts me, Prongs, he is literally the embodiment of the sun and I don’t know how everyone else here doesn’t want him.

Prongs

wow you’re ranting to me

Regulus

Sorry. I’m a bit drunk.

Prongs

aren’t you a clingy drunk?

i remember you saying 

Regulus

Probably. I was with my friend Lilly and I was fine.

Prongs

i have a friend called lily too

Regulus, in his drunk state just after they’d had too much to drink on Saturday, doesn’t realise the single spelling mistake could’ve changed everything. 

-

1.42pm, Sunday, August 6th

Today, they’re going caving. And Sirius has hired a boat. An actual, working boat capable of fitting up to fifteen.

The guy who’d given it to them had been extremely sceptical of twelve teenagers and a boat. He’d held it back until Lily swore that she’d be the one to drive it and looked at Sirius with all of her authority she could muster and firmly tell him that he couldn’t drive it, that there’d be no drinking because it’s the afternoon and that’s irresponsible ( when did she become so good at manipulating adults?) and if anything broke she’d pay for the damages. Or, what was left unsaid was that Sirius would pay for it and if that didn’t work, Regulus would.

He seemed to be mostly convinced because Lily did a pretty damn good job of showing that she could be responsible enough. He nodded slowly and showed Lily how to drive it - fairly simple, as it was for hire - and she went on a practice spin around the water with speed and Marlene and Dorcas whooping over everyone else. Mary was just smiling at her.

Leading up to now where they’re driving towards the cave and the entrance looks thinner than Regulus remembers seeing on the website.

“There’s the cave I was going on about!” Sirius yells, “Can we go in?”

“Sure!” Someone, maybe Marlene or Dorcas, shouts in response and signals Lily to turn. She returns words of affirmation and turns left slowly towards the cave, parking the boat right outside of it and putting down both the emergency rope and the ladder.

She comes out of the driver’s booth, “You can go in.” 

Sirius looks at James. James looks at Sirius. They both run off the boat too fast and jump into the water, padding towards the cave.

Remus shakes his head and goes down the ladder, closely followed by Regulus and Dorcas. The rest of them jump in. Marlene jumps right on top of where Dorcas is swimming and takes her hand, treading water, and flicking her with water.

Regulus swims over to the entrance - it’s long and slender, the water running up to a kind of island in the middle. The sides have stone spikes on them that’ve been sanded down to be safe to visitors and there’s warning signs about how deep it is.

They go ignored as everyone gets up on the starting stone island as they enter and follow Peter where he swims over to the middle island. So much for warning signs, he thinks. The cave is better than the vast ocean, for sure, but it’s weird just how the cave can be visited. So therefore if it’s safe enough to advertise, it won’t collapse.

Everyone’s bashing about; Remus and Sirius have gone behind the island out of view to do god knows what, Pandora’s currently competing with Marlene to see who can make the biggest splash (children, the both of them) while Dorcas just laughs at them, Peter’s investigating the weird statue-thing in the middle of the island with Regulus and Barty, and the rest of them are just swimming around, doing tricks and treading water.

“What is it?” Barty asks, peering at it.

“I think it’s a chalice. Like, a big one.” Peter answers, running his fingers along it. It’s got water in it from people who have probably tipped it in, and it seems to be pretty fragile by the big warning sign hanging above it. 

Regulus walks around it in a circle, “Seems like an old artefact or something they’re storing here.”

“Why though? This place seems pretty tourist-y. We found it easily enough…” Barty trails off.

Peter shrugs, “Not sure. You reckon Sirius will like this?”

“Probably. You can go get him though.” Regulus looks over at where there’s distinct laughter. Peter laughs, faintly scared for what he may or may not see, and makes his way over there. Barty goes over to Pandora just to jump on top of her.

Regulus sits down on the edge of the island, looking into the water, flicking his foot up when Mary comes and takes a seat next to him. Her curls are wet from where she’s been swimming and she’s grinning whilst rubbing at her eyes.

“Do you think there’s something in there?” She asks. It’s rather random but she puts her legs in the water too.

Regulus stares at her, “Probably? Fish. Or some things that other tourists have left.”

“Imagine if there were zombies at the bottom. Waiting to pull you down.” Mary teases, peering into the water and thrashing her legs around.

“Why would there be zombies? Are they guarding something?” 

“No. Yes. Yes, they are. A… locket.” She finishes dryly, “In that little bowl over there.” She gestures to where there’s this shell that looks like it could be used as a bowl, “And they’re trying to protect the locket because if the first defence mechanism fails, they’re the back-up.”

“That’s so random, Mary.” He laughs, and then turns to her, “What’s the first defence mechanism?”

She considers this for a moment and then gestures over to the centre of the island, “Some evil potion that makes you see things.”

“How is that going to protect this… locket?” Seems a bit useless, really. He’d be able to get past that with ease.

“Well, the hallucinations are so bad and it’s like, really painful.” She nods like her idea is the best thing in the world.

“Sounds kind of stupid.” He says, “What’s so special about the locket?”

“It… um… you think of that part.” She runs off, her imagination running dry.

“Er, okay.” He thinks for a second, “It’s got a soul in it. Some evil reigning ruler and he can come back from the dead if the locket is there. I’m calling it a… horcrux.”

“Wow, didn’t think you’d go along with it.” She snorts, twirling her hand around in the water, “There we go then. Story complete.”

“But wait. The locket’s a fake. It’s been stolen and replaced by a copy, and the Dark Lord can’t come back because it’s going to be destroyed.”

“Two things: Dark Lord? You’d think an evil reigning guy would come up with a better name than that. And two, who’s stolen it? You? ” Mary laughs, twirling her hair and shaking her head in laughter.

This is so stupid. Regulus can’t believe he’s fucking making up fairytale stories with Mary Macdonald of all people, “Yes. I did and I left a note.”

“What’s it say?”

“Uh… give me a second. To the Dark Lord - I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. R.A.B.”

“That’s deep. Wait- you die? How do you get the locket out then?” She asks.

“I didn’t think of that. Your turn, then, if we’re making this a full on story.” Wow, look at the two of them. Full on novelists, ready to publish. Mary can be the author, Regulus the main character. 

“Okay, okay, hmm. You have this elf buddy who destroys the locket after you’ve nicked it - he teleports back to your house as you get drowned by the zombies.”

Regulus grins, swirling his leg around in the water, “That’s stupid.”

“This whole thing is stupid.” She snickers. Regulus has described this whole thing as stupid over a million times by now as Mary gets up and dusts her knees off, “Maybe I’ll see how deep it goes. Dorcas told me Pandora did a pretty shit job at diving. Coming?”

“Nah.” Regulus shakes his head. Not after the first case of nearly drowning, he’ll pass.

“Alright. Enjoy your locket!” She calls as she goes over to Lily, takes her by the shoulder and pushes her in. James, who was sitting next to her, yells something as Mary pushes him back towards the island and dives in after her. They’re both kicking about as Lily keeps trying to drag Mary down by her ankle and Mary is jumping on her back.

James stalks back over to him, looking over at Mary and Lily, “I see both of our girls have abandoned us.”

“She’s not my girl. ” Regulus tells him, standing up and brushing off his legs from the stone dust from where he’d sat down so James can’t sit next to him. Might’ve been a dick move, but he really couldn’t handle the possibility of James’ shoulder touching him, or his thigh, or his hand, or his foot, or his-

“Lily’s not mine, but oh well. How are you liking the cave?” James says.

“It’s fine. Mary-” He purposely leaves out the fact he joined in, “-made up a stupid story about this place. I wonder if anyone’s claustrophobic.”

“Oh, I think we gave Peter claustrophobia once. So we all went caving and Peter loves caving, right, so he’d gone down the letterbox first - that’s this really tiny cave that you can barely fit through - and promptly got stuck. He was fine the rest of the trip, just hates tiny spaces.”

“He went first? Brave man, I’d think there were spiders there or something.”

James’ lips move into a teasing smirk, “You’re-”

“ Not that I’m scared of them. That’s Sirius.” Regulus says firmly.

“We found a massive one in our flat once. Scared the living shit out of him.”

“I’m sure.” Regulus snorts. Sirius could be quite pathetic sometimes, “Got any other dirt on my brother?”

“Yes, yes, of course I do! Okay, so you know when we were gonna try and be in a band?”

“Briefly. Remind me?”

“Sirius was gonna sing, Peter was on drums, Remus was on bass, I was on keyboards. Well, when Sirius tried to sing, it turns out he hadn’t done so in years and singing Bowie songs doesn’t count, so when he sang he sounded like a horse. All of that pureblood vocal training down the drain.” James snickers, “He looked well mortified, and Remus couldn’t stop laughing so Sirius changed the music to ABBA to piss off Remus. Remus started taking the piss out of him, Peter was filming it, and mate, I was just dying of laughter as Sirius and Remus fought over his pathetic singing.”

Regulus is grinning at this - James was actually really funny. Not like Regulus didn’t know that, but still, “Oh my god. Do you have the video?”

“Fuck yeah. I can send it to you?”

“No thanks. Show it to me later, though?”

James nods as he calls over Sirius to remind him. Sirius goes as white as a sheet - Regulus had always been the better singer when they were younger, “That never happened, James.” Sirius quickly denies, “Come on, Moony, back me up?”

Regulus snorts, “ Moony? What kind of nickname is that?”

“Old nickname. Remus was Moony, Peter was Wormtail, James was-” He lists off, but he’s interrupted. James was probably something like Sunboy.

“You’re getting off topic, Sirius!” James calls, a glint of mischief in his eyes, “Your singing?”

There’s a muttered fuck from Sirius as Remus laughs, “You’ve gotta admit it was pretty shit.”

“I know.” He pouts.

Remus hums, “You just don’t wanna accept that there’s no singing genes in you, at all. Can you sing, Regulus?”

“Better than him.” Regulus gestures to Sirius who looks up at him in betrayal.

“Guys, there’s more people coming!” Lily shouts from where she and Mary are peering out of the cave entrance, “I don’t want it to get too crowded. Let’s leave?”

James sighs at Lily’s words, “I liked this place. Shame, we’ve ticked it off now.”

Regulus shares a grin with Mary as she shouts bye to the ‘Dark Lord’ and nobody but Regulus knows what she means.

Marlene stares at her in confusion.

-

Marlene McKinnon, 10.46pm, Sunday, August 6th

James had a thing when he liked someone. It’d been the bane of her existence to see him doing everything that followed to poor Lily: the ‘ thing ’ being constantly messing up his hair in an attempt to look cool, to constantly clear his throat, blurting out things just because he couldn’t control his bloody speech patterns, and biting his lip across the room in a pathetic attempt not to be outright grinning at Lily from across the room.

But it’s not Lily this time.

It’s an epiphany called Regulus Black. 

James is messing his hair up when Regulus talks to him. He clears his throat awfully loudly, he blurts out small things and he vividly stares at Regulus with fucking gooey eyes and snaps himself awake when someone knocks him out of his trance. Marlene’s been told she’s observant, but this? A blind man could see this. How doesn’t Regulus see this? She doesn’t know him too well, that’s her girlfriend’s thing, but from what she does know, Regulus is stupidly smart.

When it comes to love, apparently not. He’s just as idiotic as his brother.

When James and Lily broke up, it wasn’t messy. There was no argument or slamming of doors, just quiet conversation that was so eerie for the man that was James Potter - he never did anything with discretion, always making loud remarks and shouting to get his feelings out. Never did he do anything silently, or anything that went unnoticed.

But apparently this was both silent and unnoticed because he’s not confessing to Regulus every second of the day, he’s literally liking (loving?) him mutely and aside from a select few people, nobody seems to bloody notice.

Remus has noticed, naturally, and he just smirks whenever James does something to Regulus to make him bat James away or turn his head in shame, hiding a blush. It’s a possibility that Barty and Evan know because they let out wolf whistles when James is whispering in a very flustered Regulus’ ear - or that could just be because they want to embarrass Regulus.

Either way, Marlene knows. And she’s going to keep it quiet, because if she told Sirius, he’d tell Remus, who’d blurt it out to Peter (surprised he hasn’t already), who’d definitely tell it to Dorcas, she’d tell Mary, who’d whisper it to Lily, who’d tell Pandora, and then she’d make Barty well-aware and he’d loudly announce it to Evan, who’d tell Regulus. And then everyone knows because James would be the last person to realise that everyone knew he was slightly in love with Regulus. Actually, Marlene takes that back. Everyone knows once it gets to Mary.

Essentially - don’t tell anyone is her motto and she’s sticking to it.

That’s what she’d done, when she got together with Dorcas. They were well-known to always be competing for the top spot and if these two girls are suddenly dating, it’ll just look off to everyone.

Hidden spots in the corridors, quick meetups using time symbols - “Meadowes, what you’d get on your last test? Two? ” and Marlene would head off to their spot in the school. A small abandoned classroom that was only used for storage now, and if you went around all the myriad of junk that's been left there, there was a backroom that Marlene and Dorcas had made theirs.

They’d hung up fairy lights that Dorcas had bought, added blankets and pillows. It was theirs, and no-one elses, and they spent hours after hours there.

Laughing, kissing, fucking, messing around, studying and everything inbetween with the background noise of Windows 96, Sufjan Stevens and Fleetwood Mac.

She’d never tire of Dorcas’ soft hum of Dreams or when Caroline came on, she replaced it with Marlene.

Dorcas was still her rival academically - they always strived to get better marks than each other but rather than a cussing match in the middle of the hallway about cheating, it was rather praise in the form of Marlene’s mouth on Dorcas’ neck or Dorcas using her body to be amazing.

She may have not been the first love, but she was the best one and it’ll stay like that.

If Marlene could have anything in the world, she’d like to switch places with Dorcas for one hour. So Dorcas can see just how incredible she is, how special she is, and how much she means to Marlene.

James and Regulus would need that, too.

-

James Potter, 11.26pm, Sunday, August 6th

It’d been a nice night out. They’d gone out for a roast, as planned by Lily, and James didn’t know just how well Spanish people made roasts. Not better than his mother’s, of course, Euphemia Potter’s dishes top everything, but they’d made a close third place.

Yesterday, they’d got French food and he’d very much enjoyed Sirius and Regulus telling everyone what was what and how to pronounce this and that. Regulus’ accent was extremely attractive, but the memory of Regulus speaking a long string of French as a quote was fresh in his mind, making him blank out slightly as he kept thinking of Regulus’ mouth.

Sirius seemed to notice early on, but only dragged him outside after they’d finished and he had passed his card to Regulus to pay.

He leads James to one of the fences going down towards the middle of town and props himself up on it, patting his hand next to where he’s sat. James sits down in silence, with little protest.

Sirius puts an arm around his shoulder and shuffles closer, “You alright?”

“Yeah.” His voice is hoarse because he might just cry from how Sirius seems like he knows already, and James knows in his head that he’d have to tell him eventually. He just doesn’t like to admit that because that’s such a scary thought to him. Avoidance. It’s not very brave.

“I’ll ask again; you alright?”

He’d get it out of James, anyways. No point in resisting, “...Not really.”

“Come on, tell me what’s happening.” He prompts. Not like an adult conversation, not like he’s speaking to a child. Just how he talks to James in the right way.

He blinks away a small tear before Sirius can see, “It’s personal.” 

Sirius seems to think about this for a second, because James tells him everything, and he knows that. The one thing James wouldn’t tell him? He figures it out immediately, “James, do you like someone? ” Sirius asks slowly.

Right on the dot, Sirius. There’s no point in lying because he’d get the truth out in the end anyways. He sniffs, rubbing his nose, “...I think so.”

“Someone… here?”

Who else could it be? “...Yeah.”

“You gonna tell me who it is or am I gonna find out? I’m eliminating Remus because that’s not allowed, and Regulus because that’s my brother.”

James laughs. Maybe he sobs. Because isn’t that exactly right, Sirius? That’s his brother.

Sirius stares at him a second, and then it seems to click. He shuts his mouth quickly, inhaling, “ Regulus? ”

James leans into his shoulder with another sniff.

“Oh, James.” He sighs, “How did that happen?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m not- Jamie, I’m not mad. I’m not angry, or anything, so stop those thoughts in your head about whatever you’re thinking about.”

“You know me so well.” He says, bringing his arm up to his eyes to wipe the stray tear away.

“Of course I do.” He smiles at James sympathetically, “Why- how did you come to like Reg?”

“Long version or short version?”

“Short. I prefer to hear my voice over yours.” He teases, putting his head on James’ thigh reassuringly.

James clears his throat and looks down, evening out his voice, “Well I just started to, y’know, talk to him, and we got on quite well. And then I kind of realised- shit, I think I like my best friend’s brother. And then I kind of had a mini crisis about it.”

Sirius nods, exhaling as he takes it in. He opens his mouth to say something, closes it, and then changes his question, “When did you… realise?”

“I kind of showed him the sunset photos on my phone and I offered to send them to him. He said something about me asking for his number and then after that I was just like, holy shit. This can’t be happening.”

“Trust you to do that. Hey, this won’t be like another ‘Evans, I love you!’ thing, will it?”

“God, no.” He sits up now, feeling slightly better, “I’m a matured man.”

He snorts, “Bullshit.”

“Why are you taking this so well?” 

Sirius hums in consideration, “I think I just want to see you happy. I want to see Regulus happy, and if you’re the one that’ll make him happy, so be it. There’s nobody better for it, you know? No trial of are-you-good-enough-for-my-brother, you already pass that easily.”

“I don’t think he even likes me.” James sighs. He’s happy to get Sirius’ roundabout way of allowing him to date his brother, but the chances of Regulus liking him back are slim to-

“Oh, he definitely does.”

“What?” James sits up yet again, this time more stiff in his posture, “Where- who- how did you come to that? ”

“James, he looks at you like I look at Remus.” Sirius says softly, and James freezes.

Sirius looks at Remus like he is the sole being on their planet. Sirius looks at Remus like he is another universe that people stare at through telescopes just to see because he’s that rare and that beautiful. Sirius looks at Remus like he’s the most important thing in the world and nothing will take them away from each other because Sirius would never allow that.

He looks at you like I look at Remus.

“You’re gonna have to convince me.” He looks down in disbelief because how could anyone look at him like that, let alone Regulus Black?

“Jesus, Lily really did a number to your ego, huh?” Sirius frowns.

“What do you mean?” It seems like James is asking all the questions tonight. It’s surprise after surprise because Sirius just doesn’t stop startling James with everything he’s saying.

He sucks his breath in and sits up, taking his arm from around James’ shoulders and settling his hand on his lap, “All that rejection isn’t- that isn’t good for someone.”

“She didn’t reject me, she just didn’t- I was being a prat to her, why wouldn’t she?” Sure, over the years Lily constantly told him this or that had hurt, but it hadn’t given him what Sirius is implying to be insecurity issues. 

“She only liked who you were when you stopped trying.” He says calmly, “Come on, if Remus rejected me for that many years I’d think I was unlovable.”

“I don’t think I’m-”

“Not platonically. Romantically, Jamie. I know why you never went off with a pretty girl or a fit guy at any of those parties we went to.” Sirius explains; why is he always getting it right? It’s like he’s splitting James’ head open and peering into his mind, into every little thought whizzing around his head over the years.

And he’s right. That’s the scary thing - he’s so very right. His mother loved him, he knew that. His father did, Sirius did like they were actually brothers. Remus, Peter, even Lily. The rest of them. Platonically.

“Hey, I told you, stop thinking.” Sirius nudges him again, “You’re allowed to love someone and they’re allowed to love you back.”

It’s bittersweet in a way, that one of the only times Sirius sees him break down is over his love life and his brother , “Even if it’s your bloody brother?”

“Even if it’s my bloody brother.” He smiles in confirmation.

It’s his blessing.

Maybe it’s a curse.

-

Regulus Black, 11.38pm, Sunday, August 6th

James comes back looking less space-y. Sirius comes back and his gaze is firmly on the ground. Remus whispers something to both of them, glancing at Peter who shrugs nonchalantly and walks over to them as they’re all standing in a corner.

The Marauders. What a stupid name. Didn’t they have nicknames? Moony, Wormtail, and Regulus doesn’t know the rest. He knows Sirius’ ends in -foot because he’d overheard Remus once and he has no clue to James’. He’s been dubbed Sunboy, for now.

They go for a walk afterwards, not wanting to return to the restaurant or the hotel just yet, and this results in the twelve of them ending up on a random hill just before midnight, watching the stars.

Between him and Sirius, there’s an awful lot of constellations pointed out. With only Pandora being able to point out Hercules, the rest is up to the brothers.

Pyxis. Monoceros. Canis Major and Minor. Draco. Cepheus. Ursa Major and Minor. Lynx, Bootes, Ophiuchus. Sirius points out, Regulus the occasional other star when Sirius stares at him with a smile on his face. It’s fairly easy and the names of them are familiar on his tongue; it’s very satisfying to have to search the stars for constellations, instead of automatically knowing where they are like in England.

Sirius is laying on the grass with Remus’ head on his chest, his arm flung over his waist as he points out Lupus. Remus stares up in awe and murmurs something about Latin influence and Sirius gives him some sappy comment about how he is the star and the moon at the same time.

Cancer. Virgo. Leo.

“Regulus?” James is sitting next to him, gazing up, “Isn’t your star in Leo?” He points out as Regulus is naming the zodiac sign stars.

“Yeah. It is.” Regulus draws the Leo constellation with his fingers in the air - the triangle at the start, towards the sharp corner where the tail begins, “Here. You can’t see Sirius at this time of year.”

“I know.” James laughs under his breath as he sighs, “Regulus means heart of the lion. You’re a prince.”

How does he know that? Did Sirius tell him? Did he look into it himself? James is a mystery that’ll never be solved, with all the random remarks he comes up with, it’s impossible to figure him out fully, “Uhm.” Regulus gets out, pointedly avoiding where James is obviously staring at him because that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re talking to someone but not that intensely, “That’s what it means.”

James nods, a slip of a smile on his face as he repeats, “I know.”

Regulus hums, “Narcissa wants to name her son Draco. She’s keeping with the star tradition. Narcissa was actually one of the very few in our family not named after a star - it’s a flower. Daffodil. Lucius means ‘light’ in Latin, probably because he’s a Malfoy.”

“Draco Malfoy. That’s certainly an upper-class name if I ever heard one.”

Regulus snorts at him as he makes his next words mocking the posh, “What would you name your kid, then?”

“When I was with Lily, I wanted to name at least one of them Harry for a boy. Lily loved the name. Lily had decided no flower names - obviously - and if we had a second kid, we’d have called it Ariadne for a girl or Elias. I did like Daphne but Cerci already took that.” James explains. Harry was a nice name, and so were Ariadne and Elias. They’re Greek. Daphne is a pretty name, Regulus agrees, but he remembers Cerci Greengrass; she was a friend of his and of Lily’s at school who knew from the moment she turned eleven she wanted two kids called Daphne and Astoria. Blonde hair, very sarcastic but nice nonetheless, and got into alot of trouble for ‘ talking back’.

Regulus and Sirius had gone to different schools (they hadn’t got on then) and therefore had very different friends. Sirius had gone to Hogwarts Academy in Scotland while Regulus went to one down by Cornwall called Beuxbatons. French-run, his mother liked it, and honestly, he made the friends of his life there. Cerci and Lily had become friends purely because Dorcas went to Hogwarts but had been friends with Evan since she was young, and introduced Cerci to Marlene, who introduced her to Lily and they had some sort of pen pals thing going on.

Pandora and Cerci had actually had a fling, if he remembers right.

“What’s with the Greek?” Regulus asks.

“Believe it or not - my idea. Just thought it sounded nice.” James shrugs, “We made alot of plans, and they all went to shit. I’m glad I didn’t marry her because that'd have made it a whole lot messier. We moved way too fast as y’know, I’d already planned everything out.”

“And now? You’d still like those names?”

“Maybe. Would you continue the tradition?”

“I don’t know, honestly. I always liked Asterope - lightning, sun-face, twinkling, it means - for a girl, or Eridani -  that’s a river - for a boy. I do like the tradition, but I can’t help but think about whether I really want to link my children to my lineage?”

James looks back up at the sky, “Yeah, but then they’ll be there permanently. Up in the stars.”

“Just like my bloody father. Hey, my mother wasn’t named after a star, so that’s a bonus.” Regulus laughs, and when James just looks at him solemnly, he stops, “Bad joke. My bad.”

James bites his lip, “Regulus, I-” He hesitates, “I like the fact that you’re in the sky. I can see you or Sirius every night.”

"Oh." Regulus laughs a little, and lets his imagination take over at James' words.

If I could, I’d see you every night in person, he thinks.

If I had my way, I’d kiss you until I forget my name, he thinks.

If you asked, I’d submit to your every command even if they're as heavy as stealing fine art, he thinks.

If needed, I'd set the world alight for you, he thinks.

If I'm allowed to dream, I’d love to continue this discussion when we’re older and we’re deciding, he thinks. It’s far-fetched, never going to happen, and a stupid, childish thought.

But as Regulus knows all too well - the impossible can be possible. It's just incredibly far on the 'impossible' end of the scale that there's little motivation to try and take action, and more motivation to dream about what he'd like to have.

Chapter Text

Take a moment for yourself

Get close with the lights down low

You and I and no one else

I get the feeling that I wanna explode

-Gecko, Becky Hill

10.41am, Monday, August 7th

Monday brings groggy mornings, Pandora nearly burning down their flat from where she’d pushed Barty over whilst he was lighting a cigarette and the lighter caught fire to the edge of the pillow, and road trips.

Sirius had gotten their limo/big-car taken away after the second time they’d driven it and nearly ran over one of the members of some kind of big authority, because he instructed Sirius to stay still in perfect English and had a glare worse than Lily’s.

So, he’d hired two different ones. A smaller car with 5 seats and a bigger one with 8. They split themselves up into two groups.

“We can take the smaller car and you guys can take the bigger car?” Peter offers. Mary nods and claims that she and Lily can go with Peter, and so do Barty and Evan because they’re essentially kicked out of the bigger car due to long complaints of ‘PDA! Go in the other car!’

“Sounds good then. Alright, people, let’s go!” Sirius opens the door, bowing to Marlene as she yet again sighs.

“For the last time, we’re not your-” Marlene lectures, shooting him a glare.

“People.” Dorcas finishes for her, grinning, and shoves her in the car. Remus and Sirius are in the front, and then Regulus sat behind Sirius with James on one side of him and Pandora the other, then Dorcas and Marlene in the back.

Marlene has her head turned around, waving at Peter in the driving seat (who’s already blasting his goddamn metal music with the screaming vocals) with Barty sitting next to him, his hand snaking around the back of his chair presumably on Evan’s knee. Evan’s got Mary’s bag on his lap, with Mary herself is leaning against Lily’s shoulder.

Remus turns around to ask about music requests.

“ Oasis!” James shouts. Obviously he asks for that - his major love for Oasis doesn’t even surprise Regulus anymore when he’s humming something by them, drumming his fingers, or when he passed Regulus a headphone once and of bloody course it’s Roll With It. It’s clear his favourite album is Morning Glory.

“ David Bowie!” Sirius says when Remus murmurs something about ‘ we can’t always play Bowie’ . Sirius seems to disagree by the way he slouches down in his seat.

“Whatever. Don’t mind.” Marlene pipes up in time with everyone else but there’s a voice louder than both her and James.

“ My Chemical Romance!” Dorcas yells and is swiftly followed by an ‘ ow! ’. Apparently Marlene doesn’t like poor MCR.

“ Taylor Swift.” Pandora says. Regulus mutters, “ Blur. ” but everyone’s efforts are wasted as Remus apparently sticks to what he heard first and starts to play She’s Electric. Sirius whines about how James is always playing Oasis, and he’s kicked by James’ leg in the back of his seat. Pandora nods approvingly while Marlene yells about how he should’ve played one of the more well known ones. James sticks his tongue out at her as Sirius takes off. Marlene is singing along to the chorus, whilst James is just quietly singing the words as he peers out of the window. Regulus expected him to be fully belting them, but perhaps that’s just Wonderwall and Don’t Look Back In Anger.

Regulus just quietly listens to James’ singing. After the song ends, he glances over at James. He isn’t looking out the window anymore. His eyes are on Regulus and it’s not even a brief look - it’s a full on stare as he smiles. He’s suddenly aware of the curious look Regulus is sending him and sheepishly ruffles his hair and sends him a lop-sided grin.

Pandora’s laugh interrupts him out of his trance as she jabs him in the side, smirking, “ Regulus. ”

“You.” Reglus glares at her, “You don’t say a bloody word, okay, or I will gut you in your sleep.”

“Brutal.” James mutters, clearly confused by what they’re talking about. Pandora rolls her eyes and waves her hand in dismissal.

“You horrible man.” She sighs.

“Shut up.”

“Next song?” Remus shouts, “Marlene’s next.”

“Yes!” She yells back, “Uh, play Chelsea Dagger. ”

James whoops.

♫ Na na na, na na na, na na na na na na na ♫ 

There’s a whole lot of na. James, Sirius and Marlene can sing awfully loud. Dorcas only knows the ‘ na.’ 

They go through Stereotypes by Blur, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen which is so very loudly sung that someone yells at them, Nightrain by Guns N’ Roses per Dorcas’ request and Remus full on screams out in excitement , Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears For Fears because Regulus had to request a song and James definitely was not whispering that . Rebel Rebel by David Bowie as Bowie is essential if you’re with Remus and Sirius, as well as The Pretender by Foo Fighters.

Regulus thinks that the music is much better than whatever Barty and Evan are shoving on in the other car. Between Peter’s metal, Lily’s obvious requests for The Smiths and Barty’s horrible music taste, it’s probably a whole lot worse over there.

-

Marlene McKinnon, 11.26am, Monday, August 7th

Musical burnout is a thing, apparently, because Regulus keeps telling them to shut up tiredly whilst Dorcas keeps teasing him, Sirius is yelling out lyrics without a care in the world, and somehow between that Pandora’s head is dropped on Regulus’ shoulder and James looks awfully jealous by the looks he keeps sending Regulus when he drops his own head back on Pandora.

James is so obvious and it’s painful. He barely tears his eyes off Regulus and when he goes to look out of the window, he’s looking into the side-view mirror at him. 

And from what Marlene’s seen, she’s pretty sure he has a whole folder in his camera roll disguised as Friends #2 and it’s really just photos with Regulus in it. She doesn’t know how Sirius doesn’t know, or if he does, what he thinks about them because surely he can see just how soft Regulus turns when James talks to him.

Then again, Sirius and recognising things are two things that do not go together because he is quite possibly the most oblivious person Marlene’s ever met. With the exception of James and Regulus, of course.

Marlene gets them to all shut up eventually and they go from screaming lyrics to talking about ex-girlfriends.

(Lily is very evidently left out, she declares that early on when she loudly says ‘ no talking about me and James!’)

James eventually stops talking and goes on his phone as Pandora’s asleep and Regulus is also on his own phone.

-

Regulus Black, 11.31am, Monday, August 7th

Prongs

what kind of music do you like

Regulus

90’s rock? I told you a while back about Blur and Oasis, I think.

Prongs

no only blur

i love oasis

like they’re my favourite

Regulus

I know someone who’s extremely similar to you and it’s uncanny.

Mine is Blur, personally.

What’s your favourite Oasis song? Let’s see how similar you two can get.

Prongs

oh that’s a hard one

wonderwall obviously i know it’s popular but i don’t care, champagne supernova and supersonic. morning glory?? i like the whole album basically

for blur, i like the popular ones since i don’t really listen to them?

song 2, girls and boys, stereotypes

Regulus

Oh, you’ve got a good list.

I’m liking it.

Prongs

alright then let me rate yours

Regulus

Oasis - Live Forever, Stand By Me and Morning Glory

Blur - Charmless Man, On Your Own, Parklife.

Prongs

10/10

you ever heard someone play wonderwall on guitar? it’s an amazing experience

Regulus

More than that. I can play it on guitar. I can also play Morning Glory, or some of it.

Prongs

no way

send me an audio recording or something?

Regulus

Can’t right now, I can try later?

If I remember, that is.

Prongs

deal

what u doing

Regulus

Avoiding people.

I’m going to try and go to sleep now, I’ll send you the audio later?

Prongs

yeah sounds good

:)

Regulus

:)

-

Regulus Black, 11.33am, Monday, August 7th

James and Regulus put their phones down at the same time and James goes back to looking out the window, whilst Regulus closes his eyes, leant up against Pandora.

After a while, James falls asleep on Regulus’ shoulder. He doesn’t seem bothered by how bony Regulus is, or the tense of his torso when James touches him.

On the corner when Sirius turns violently yet again, Regulus’ head is no longer on Pandora’s shoulder, but rather James’.

He doesn’t attempt to move it, and shuts his eyes into sleep with the background music of Diamond Dogs.

-

12.03pm, Monday, August 7th

Regulus wakes up to the soft click of someone taking a photograph of him.

He snaps his eyes awake but doesn’t move his head off of James and glares up at where Sirius is smiling sheepishly at him.

“It’s cute. It’s for the memories!” He whispers, careful not to wake up Pandora or god forbid, James.

Regulus sneers at his brother, “Can you not? Delete it!”

Sirius grins, “But the memories-”

“Sirius. Delete. It.”

“Okay, can I give you my reasoning as to why I should keep it?”

“No.” Regulus says shortly.

“Alright, number one, it’s nice to see your getting on with my best friend-”

“I said no-”

“-and the fact that he also likes you! Number two, when I’m all old, I’ll look back fondly-” He’s so fucking dramatic at times. He doesn’t say shit like ‘fondly’. Once, he started saying ‘obligatory’ every bloody minute and it drove both Regulus and his mother insane.

“ Posh words.”

“Shut up! Stop interrupting me!” Sirius narrows his eyes, “I’ll look back fondly on my youth and if you make me delete it, all the evidence will be gone.”

Regulus can’t shrug as both of his shoulders are taken, so he rolls his eyes instead, “Good. You’ve got other photos.”

Sirius sighs, “But Reg, this one is like, essential to keep. It’s two out of three of my favourite people!”

“You can take another one with Remus in and you’ll have three out of three.”

“Not the point!”

“Delete it then!”

“No!”

“Will you two shut up ? God.” Remus finally turns around, frowning so hard that Regulus thinks he’ll get wrinkles and it’ll serve Sirius right for being such an annoying prat that his boyfriend gets old early.

“Sorry, darli-”

“ Sirius.” Remus bites his lip to prevent a smile, “Stop tormenting your brother.”

“Yeah.” Regulus pipes in, slouching down on his seat and placing his head back on James’ when Sirius rolls his eyes and looks away. He puts the music back on quieter and eventually says that he’s deleted it, but Regulus isn’t convinced. Hell, he’s not even all that bothered anymore.

(He gets Sirius to send it to him, in the end.)

The ride to the spot they’re going is all the way on the opposite side of the island, and they arrive there after another twenty minutes of just pure Queen songs that Remus is muttering quietly every goddamn lyric to, while Sirius sings slightly louder and Regulus says the words in his head.

Peter’s car sticks behind them the entire time and they’ve turned off their loud metal music by the sounds of it or it’s just quieter now and Mary’s finally told him to shut up.

They reach their destination with minimal ‘ are we nearly there yet’ complaints from James, who when he finally wakes up, makes no comment whatsoever about the fact that his thigh is touching Regulus’, their hands  are basically intertwined or the fact that James is sitting with one arm crossed around his torso and curling around Regulus’ side. To sum it up, he and James are touching in about a million places and it’s driving him crazy.

Worse yet (or better yet), Sirius has a photo of them looking so… gooey. With bad photos of Marlene and Dorcas in the background who have both shut their eyes and are touching romantically, but even though they’re literally a couple, Regulus and James somehow look more in love than them.

James is like this with all of his friends, Regulus tells himself. It’s not any different with Regulus because he’d fall asleep with Mary, he’d leave his and Sirius’ thighs touching, and he certainly would make pathetic excuses to grab the hint of a touch of Lily’s.

(What Regulus doesn’t register is that he’d only done that with Lily whilst they were dating. Of course, he wasn’t around them then, but if he’d simply asked Remus subtly, he’d have learnt that all of James’ ‘awkward habits’ are more ‘oh my god I’m in love with you why can’t we date already’ habits.)

They’ve all been told that they’re going on a ten-kilometre hike around one of the beaches and up this path that is just hill after hill. They park at one of the car parks near the beach and make the short walk down.

Remus gets out first, opening his door and inhaling the air like he’s been starved of both oxygen and outside interaction for months. He stretches out every possible limb of his body earning a series of loud cracks from his bones. Sirius stares at him in horror, “Your bones get worse every year, I swear.”

“Yup.” Remus’ laugh is muffled as he closes the door, leaving James to offer a weak grin and jump out. Regulus wakes up Pandora with a soft shake to her shoulder.

She wakes up fairly easily, “Are we here?” Her voice is sleepy as she sits up and smiles at him.

“Yeah. I’ve gotta wake up the girls. James, Sirius and Remus are outside.”

“Alright.” She nods, “Thanks for waking me.”

Regulus smiles at her as she gets out and straightens her dress out. Now, for the sleeping monsters. 

Regulus opens Marlene’s door, and blows on her arm. She wakes up immediately and starts to yell, “There’s something on my fucking ar- Regulus.”

“Morning.”

“You-”

“Wake up Dorcas, will you?”

“I thought there was a spider on my arm!” She narrows her eyes and hits him right on his shoulder, “You’re such a dick. Wake up, babe.”

The change in her tone from get-the-fuck-away to aw-I-love-you-so-much is surprising as Dorcas awakens as Marlene gives her a kiss and fucking undoes her seatbelt. Lovesick, the pair of them. Dorcas’ eyes travel to Regulus as she sorts herself out, “Why’re you just watching us?”

“So I can show you where we’re going…?” Regulus answers dryly, getting out of the car and leaving the door open. Dorcas sighs and gets out, stretching her arms as she does.

The three of them catch up with the other four eventually. Where they’ve arrived is nice and by the looks of it, the walk seems decent and the beach is rather nice.

James and Sirius immediately run off to go look at the massive jellyfish on the sand. Regulus goes over to Marlene and Dorcas, who’re currently looking at every single shell.

Marlene’s going through them, tossing the ugly ones back into the sea and trying to skip them (she’s failing, Dorcas succeeds once) whilst her girlfriend is just watching her with a content smile on her face.

“Oh, this one’s so pretty.” Marlene gasps, holding it up in front of the sun and she’s right. It is rather pretty.

“Did you take a photo?” Dorcas asks, taking the shell out of Marlene’s hands and twisting it around in her own and running her fingers over the bumps.

Marlene shakes her head, “No.” She pulls out her phone, opens her camera app and promptly snaps a photo of the shell, “Now I have.”

“Nice!” Dorcas grins and kisses her fingers as she hands the shell back to Marlene. Marlene takes one more glance at it and places it in her bag.

Regulus isn’t jealous of the easy affection they have with one another, per se. He’s just mildly annoyed at the PDA.

Oh, fuck blocking out his thoughts, nobody can hear them anyways, he’s extremely jealous with how simple it is for them to kiss each other and do romantic things like shell comparisons. He’s jealous of just how obviously Dorcas is in love with Marlene, he’s jealous of the way Dorcas caresses her skin like it’s golden and highly protected, and he’s jealous of the way that the girls aren’t him and James.

Regulus was never very good at not dreaming.

Marlene is finding shell after shell, ‘ this one reminds me of you, babe’, and Dorcas is snapping photos of said shells whilst Marlene reaches her fingers on the shore yet again to look for nice ones. Dorcas is photographing the various things near them - the clear Spanish sky, the waves, some small foam-y thing, the trees, and multiple shots of her girlfriend.

As Marlene continues to soak her toes in the water and get her hands covered in sand, seaweed and ‘shells’ that are actually rocks, Dorcas comes over to him as they both stand shoulder-to-shoulder, watching the skyline blur between the blues of the land and the blues of the sky.

“I really love her.” Dorcas murmurs softly.

“Yeah. You really do.”

-

3.42pm, Monday, August 7th

“My feet hurt!” Peter complains, “Can we sit do-”

“For the last time, we’ve got to keep moving, Pete.” Sirius laughs, “Everyone’s feet hurt.”

“Not mine.” Marlene smirks slyly - everybody already knows she likes hiking and it makes sense.

Lily jabs her in the side, “Nobody asked you.”

“Oh, you horrible bitch!” Marlene punches her lightly in the stomach right back. Lily feigns that she’s severely hurt.

“Oh, Marlene McKinnon, you’ve just killed me! Just been stabbed… I need to cover the wound…” She clutches at her stomach dramatically as she hunches over. 

Mary gasps mockingly, “Marlene! I hate you! Here, darling, it’s okay. Blue paper towel.” Mary used her imaginary blue paper towel to dab at Lily, earning a snort out of Remus who waves his hand when Sirius looks distinctly confused.

Mary, Remus and Lily had all gone to the same primary school and whenever they got injured, the ‘nurse’ (teaching assistants who looked like they needed more sleep than they could ever get) would give each one of them a wet blue paper towel. Stomach ache? Towel! Cut yourself on the compass? Towel! Cracked your head open? Towel!

The last one had actually happened to Mary, apparently. She’d cracked her head hard (not open, but hard enough for some real damage) and they’d just parted her hair and put a blue paper towel on it which got immediately covered in blood. After thirty minutes or so, they finally called an ambulance. 

“Oh, thank you so very much, my saviour.” Lily sighs in relief, “I think we’ve got to sit down so I can heal.”

She sits down and leans against the tree. Peter exhales extremely loudly as he sits down and starts to complain about how bloody sweaty he is.

“We’re all sweaty.”

“Not me.” Marlene pipes up.

“Liar.” Dorcas jabs her, “I can see your sweat right…” Dorcas traces her fingers around the nape of Marlene’s neck. She scoffs and swats her off. Dorcas grins, “...here. See?”

“Ruining the moment, babe.”

“Sorry.” She rolls her eyes and takes a seat. Barty and Evan are distinctly behind them, and at the sight of them all sitting down, Evan breaks into a run up the hill, promptly doesn’t have enough energy to reach the top, trips up on one of the tree roots, falls over, and lands right on Pandora’s face.

“Ew! Get off me.” She complains, grimacing and pushing him off. He’s glistening with sweat (opposite of Marlene at the scrunching of her nose she does) as he mutters apologies.

“Sorry, sorry.”

Pandora smirks, “You’re the one being embarrassed, not me.”

Sirius smirks up at poor Evan with his phone in hand and turns it around to show the pathetic video of him.

“Sirius!”

He flutters his eyelashes innocently, “Yes?”

“...Just don’t post it.” Evan mutters, pouring water over his and Barty’s head as they both sit down and Barty throws him the deodorant they're carrying around; that’s how bad they smell.

“‘Course.” Sirius nods.

“Cheers.”

Evan Rosier is the strangest boy he’s ever met. If that were Regulus - which it wouldn’t because he’d never do something as embarrassing as that - he’d get Sirius to delete it immediately. And if he didn’t? Well.

Regulus was practically an expert in getting what he wanted.

Just… maybe not one or two things.

(James Potter, for example.)

-

11.52pm, Monday, August 7th

The hike takes them a good five hours with the many times they stop, restart, eat, take photos, or whatever else. With Barty’s request of Mexican Monday, they get tacos for dinner and they’re so delicious Regulus orders thirds (that he doesn’t finish and passes the rest to James and Sirius. Between them, they’re like pigs). In the end, after hopping from bar to bar and having a lot of alcohol in his system that there shouldn’t be, they get to the third one.

Sirius calls for another round of shots to the bartender, who just shakes his head, grinning, and goes behind the counter. He’s obviously thinking something along the lines of ‘ teenage youth’ as he returns with the shots and slides them over to everyone individually and adds the price to Sirius’ growing tab.

Mary’s talking animatedly across the table while Lily sulks.

Knowing them for a while, Pandora’s a happy drunk where she just insists everything will be okay if you hope. Dorcas asks for more shots and is promptly denied over and over again. Marlene is like Regulus where she’s awfully clingy - she seems to be permanently stuck to Dorcas’ arm and at points is practically on her lap and Lily has to blackmail them with something to get Dorcas to scowl and say she’s no fun. It’s got to be pretty bad/interesting/weird blackmail if even Dorcas is folding to it.

Barty keeps flirting with Evan worse than before and it’s stupidly hard to watch for over a second, Evan himself just glares at this one girl who attempted to talk to Barty and was quickly shooed away, and Sirius himself keeps ‘fixing’ his appearance when there’s nothing wrong with it at all.

Regulus has learnt that Mary gets very talkative when she’s smashed, Lily gets all solemn but it doesn’t bother too many people, Peter becomes the number one happy-go-lucky guy you’ve ever known, Remus complains at everything (even the shot quantity that’s been the same the whole bloody time) and that James gets rather spacey.

Regulus hates getting drunk.

Well, he doesn’t hate the alcohol - in fact, he really likes the buzz it gives him - but rather he despises how goddamn clingy he gets when he doesn’t ensure that he doesn’t drink too much.

Regulus hasn’t been counting. Mistake one. He leans against James’ shoulder and lets his hand trail down James’ thigh. Mistake two.

“Why didn’t you let me respond?”

James looks a little breathless as he sucks in more air, “What-?”

Regulus walks his fingers around the side of his skin, “When you kept talking about liking me.” Mistake three.

“ What?!” James repeats, more startled.

“Y’know, liking the fact that Sirius and I are in the sky together.”

“Oh.” James breathes what could be a sigh of relief, he’s clearly more sober than Regulus and it is not helping, “Uh.”

“Gonna need a little more than ‘what’, ‘oh’ and ‘er’, James.”

“Yes. Er.”

Regulus drops his hand on the inner bit of his thigh and James stiffens, and then relaxes like putty, “Not going too well.”

James laughs and lays his hand right next to Regulus’, just beginning to be held. Regulus takes it and smiles up at him - the alcohol really does muddle his brain as usually, he’d never do something like this. But under the table, where nobody but the two of them can see? It’s perfect.

James exhales yet again, “I just kind of-”

“Wow, words.”

“Shh.” James brings a finger to Regulus’ lips, “Let me talk.” Regulus nods numbly because James traces his fingers down Regulus’ torso as he speaks, “I just kind of was focusing on my words. I meant them, you know? Everytime I go outside in the dark, I look for you in the sky before I look for Sirius. Everytime I hear the word ‘regular’ I can’t help but think of you. Everytime I see you, you make my day a little better.”

“ James… ”

“More shots, guys?” Marlene pipes up, tearing them back into the reality where all ten of them are staring at Regulus and James. Sirius looks confused, Remus is smirking, Barty is laughing into Evan’s shoulder as he shoves him and Marlene just looks outright trigger happy as she grins like a cat.

“Er.” James goes back to stumbling over every word, “Yeah.”

“Regulus?” Dorcas prompts.

“Er, yeah.” Regulus repeats and glances over at James. He’s already looking at him again as he clasps Regulus’ hand again and presses a kiss to it. Regulus feels like he’s going to faint out of sheer stupidity because the things James Potter does to him are ridiculous.

“James.” Regulus hisses in embarrassment.

“I know.”

“Do that later.”

“...Okay.”

He’s hoping that’s a promise that he’ll keep because the flirting is really getting to Regulus’ head. He needs clarity, as soon as possible.

-

5.16am, Tuesday, August 8th

Barty’s ‘Mexican Monday’ results in them getting absolutely smashed and everyone seems to be regretting the large amounts of alcohol consumed.

The aftermath?

Regulus is completely and utterly dead on his feet.

They stay up all night, and it’s five AM in the morning when they finally head back to the hotel after a long night of tacos, bar hopping, and a nightclub. Sirius has Marlene slumped on his back with her eyes shut, Barty has his arm around Evan and vice versa. Evan’s cheeks are flushed as his other arm is firmly around his boyfriend’s waist.

Mary and Lily are giggling together - how the fuck do they still have energy? - as Mary sways from side to side and pulls at Lily’s top. Pandora, Dorcas, Peter and Remus are all just walking in a line looking solemn and already regretting all the alcohol. Pandora’s taken her bloody shoes off because ‘ the heels are killing me, everything’s killing me, oh no’ in her long, drawling dramatic tone and apparently the ground isn’t too hot yet because she just hisses once in a while when she steps in the rising sun.

Peter is carrying Dorcas’ bag and just looks like that, quite frankly, he just wants to kill himself. Remus is shooting daggers at James who’s laughing with Mary and Lily.

“Regulus?” Pandora moans, “I’m-”

Regulus is guessing what she’ll say next. He’s slightly more sober now, and can think more coherently than earlier.

“-so tired . ” She finishes. Bingo, he’d got it right first try.

“I know, Dora. We’re like, three steps away, come on.” Regulus tutters, holding open the hotel door for her as she goes stumbling in, followed by the rest of them and Sirius’ awful posture from where Marlene keeps slipping off his back. She groans heavily as she awakens (how the fuck was she asleep) and Dorcas reassures her that they’ve just got to get up the elevator.

Regulus continues to hold the door when James comes in last. He glances back at Regulus hesitantly. 

“Do you want to go inside?”

Regulus considers this for a second. He really doesn’t want to put up with Pandora’s moaning about anything and everything or having to constantly look away from Barty’s neck, no matter how much he loves the three of them, “...Not ‘till they’re all asleep.”

“Okay. Stay outside with me for a few minutes?” James asks.

“Sure.” Regulus nods. James pulls his hand outside, his cheeks flushed, and James slides down against one of the alleyway walls. He can hope James fulfils his promise.

Regulus follows his lead. He smiles and in his still half-drunk state, he begins to ask, “Where would you like to visit one day?”

“Tokyo.” James says.

“South America?” Regulus shoots back, just to see if he gets it. And oh boy, does he get it.

James scoffs at him in disbelief, “Australia?”

“France!” Regulus grins.

“Germany!"

Regulus is cackling now, he never laughs this loud unless it’s with his best friends, his brother, or apparently James, “UK!”

“Africa!” They continue. James does a dramatic drumroll and pulls him up, dancing like an idiot. The street lamp is on and there are probably people watching, but at the rate James is making his heart go, it doesn’t matter too much. And then he starts the first verse.

James clears his throat loudly, watching Regulus sit down in amusement and cups his hands around his mouth, rotating, “ Calling out around the world…” 

He pulls Regulus up with a spluttering protest from him and nudges him right in his side, “Are you ready for a brand new beat? Summer’s here and the time is right for dancing in the street!” James gives him a little twirl and Regulus, honest to god, giggles like a girl, “ They’re dancing in Chicago…”

Regulus is blushing now, he’s sure of it, and he can only see the faint red on James’ cheeks under the light. He whispers in the background, “ Dancing in the street.”

“Down in New Orleans…” James continues, taking both of Regulus’ hands and spinning them both around in a circle.

“Dancing in the street.” Regulus murmurs as they’re spinning, James tugs him closer at one point, making him stumble, and they both laugh.

“In New York City!”

He feels a bit dizzy and spins them the other way, “Dancing in the street.”

Regulus really is singing David Bowie’s parts in Dancing In The Street with his own Mick Jagger, James Potter, in Tenerife at night. How ridiculous, he thinks, as they start to sing together, “ All we need is music, sweet music. There’ll be music everywhere, they’ll be swinging, swaying, records playing.”

“Dancing in the street, oh!” James jumps up and untwines their hands from where they’d been swaying, as they both stand back to back.

“ It doesn’t matter what you wear! Just as long as you are there!” They both shout loudly. Partners in crime, they are. James’ singing whilst drunk isn’t the best, but neither is Regulus’ as they’re both grinning like idiots and pointing finger guns to the air.

James twirls around and takes a step towards him, “ So come on! Every guy, grab a girl, everywhere, around the world!” He touches their foreheads together and the skin of James’ nose is right on his. James stares at him with wide eyes and exhales slowly as his words quieten down.

Regulus shakes it off and grabs his hands again, prancing around like the ballroom dancing he’d been taught except clumsier, stupider, and more Potter-y, “ They’ll be dancing, dancing in the street! It’s an invitation, across the nation, a chance for folks to meet!” His hands are curled under Regulus’ shirt, his palms right on his hips under the hem of his shorts, and his breath is short as they come to a stop.

“I forgot the next part.” Regulus laughs, as Bowie’s part was next. James cackles, a full-on laugh that’s beautiful in sound, and drags him over to the alleyway as he’s essentially pressed up against him.

There’s scarcely any light now as James’ voice is a low whisper, “Regulus? Can I ask you something?”

“Can I go first?” He replies and James nods. Sweet, lovely, James being the gentleman. Why didn’t Lily like him? Why did Regulus like him?

Easy question; because James was the personification of the sun, bright in his step with warm tones and the sense of security. But doesn’t that beg the question, how could he be so bright when the sun was dying? Slowly, over millions of years, dissolving?

“Has anyone ever told you how bright you are?” 

James snickers, his laugh going straight through Regulus and directly to his heart, “What am I, the sun?”

“Yeah.” Regulus laughs rather breathlessly, “Yeah. You are.”

“Does that make you the moon?” He teases, circling his index finger against his hip. His touch is electric, through his veins like lightning, and it’s hard not to jerk away. He moves his left hand down to clasp his index finger and his other to slowly run through his hair. It takes all he has not to melt right there.

Regulus inhales carefully, “Going off what?”

“Polar opposites. Just like I told you before. Moon and sun. If I’m your sun, you’re my moon. Cold and warmth. You know you can still be cold even in the hottest weather, Regulus? Dark and light. It’d normally be that you’re the dark and I’m the light but you’re all light complexion, except for your hair of course, and I’m dark-skinned, dark hair, and I’ve been told I’ve got dark eyes. ” James answers, moving his fingers from where they’ve curled around Regulus’ index finger to intertwine slowly.

Your sun. My moon. 

Yes James, you’ve got dark eyes. Eyes that are so incredibly beautiful, even with their flecks of white and the lighter rays of gold circling the pupil that makes you look ethereal. Your gorgeous eyelashes.

Adonis, he thinks.

Regulus shakes his head, glancing down at their conjoined hands and softens his voice to only reply to the first bit that won’t make his voice shake, “No, I don’t think I’m the moon. Only the sun is in the sky right now.”

James smirks and moves his right hand out of caressing his hair and down to his face, where he pushes a strand of hair out of Regulus’ eyes from where he’d shaken his head, “The moon and the sun are both always in the sky, you know. Shouldn’t you have known that, star-boy?”

“Shut up.” Regulus laughs, the familiar nickname from before flashing him back to when they’d gone for a sundown walk. Now, it’s sunrise.

James leans forward at Regulus’ soft words, taking his spare hand to slowly trace his jaw as Regulus breathes in. He’d sure got an adrelaine rush from dancing with the guy he’s falling in love with that possibly likes him back - fuck the tiredness from before.

He clears his throat once, maybe twice and opens his mouth. His eyes are so honest as he begins to talk quietly, “The moon looks beautifu tonight, doesn’t it?”

Oh.

“ James-”

He croaks, “Regulus. About earlier, in the bar, I think- I think I really-”

“ That’s where you two are!” Someone calls as Regulus harshly steps back from James. James looks as if he’s just been struck by lightning and straightens up his clothes as Sirius comes into view.

Sirius stares at them both like they’re deer caught in the headlights, “Oh- fuck. Uh, I was just wondering where you two were.”

Regulus coughs, “Sirius.”

“I’ll- yeah, I’ll go, see-you-when-we-wake-up.” He rushes out all at once and darts away, looking mortified.

James stares at Regulus, wide eyed.

Regulus is silent.

They try to talk at the same time - it fails. Regulus laughs albeit slightly awkwardly, “You first.”

“We should- we should probably get back.” James’ voice has risen again. It’s higher than normal and no longer the musky low tone he was using earlier. It’s disappointing.

Avoidance. Regulus was going to ask him to finish his sentence if he'd gone first. He’s not an idiot. He knows what ‘the moon looks beautiful tonight, doesn’t it’ means. What, James thinks he doesn’t? James wants to run from his supposed ‘confession’? Where’s that famous Gryffindor bravery? What the fuck happened to the weird touching of his hand, to dancing with him, to almost kissing him because James keeps tracing his jawline?

“Yeah.” Regulus stares off into the distance.

James weakly smiles at him and walks away.

He fucking walks away.

Coward.

Chapter Text

You make me feel like I'm livin' a teenage dream

The way you turn me on, I can't sleep

Let's run away and don't ever look back, don't ever look back

My heart stops when you look at me, just one touch

Now, baby, I believe this is real

-Teenage Dream, Katy Perry

2.13pm, Wednesday, August 9th

James is avoiding him, and it’s driving Regulus insane. The silence. James keeps looking at him with that look he has- the one with nothing to let Regulus read him in his expression and when Regulus offers a brief smile, James turns away.

It’s annoying because Regulus really misses his company - the loud laugh of his, him butting into conversations and instantly brightening the mood, James’ presence in general. And he’s never missed someone like he’s missing James, aside from Sirius. But even then, it took two weeks.

With James? A mere eight bloody hours and he feels like half of his soul is missing.

-

James Potter, 4.31pm, Wednesday, August 9th

In the end of it all, it narrows down to just the pair of them. It’s always been like that - James and Sirius. Sirius and James. James doesn’t particularly remember anything so prominent before meeting Sirius, but afterwards, it had felt like his world had shifted on it’s axis just because of this kid with family baggage, a cheeky grin and a tendency to do whatever the fuck he wanted.

Sirius Black was the coolest person James had ever met.

Sirius Black is still the coolest person James has ever met - except when he’s staring at James, just waiting for him to look back. At one point, James finds himself looking at Sirius at the exact same moment he does. Sirius catches his eye and James gulps because he knows exactly what Sirius’ll say about what he interrupted last night between him and Regulus. His brother, James reminds himself, said brother that you’ve technically got permission to date, but still, that’s his bloody brother!

Sirius frowns and gestures outside. He offers a quick beckoning of the hand and James nods in return, following him outside.

He’s leaning against the wall and stands upright when James shuts the door. He’s straight to the point as usual, “James, what the fuck was that last night?”

“I don’t know.” James finds himself muttering. Sirius scoffs like James is a kid he’s interrogating, or a potential criminal.

“You don’t know?” Sirius repeats slowly, shocked. He sighs.

“No.” James scowls, “Because you interrupted it.”

Sirius shrugs his shoulders, clearly not sorry whatsoever, “...Whoops. Sorry. So, what happened?” He moves on quickly from his half-assed apology and James drops his head in shame, “Come on.”

James takes a deep breath and begins to recite the events of the night. Maybe Regulus wouldn’t want him spilling all of their private moments, but James is going to explode if he can’t get these bloody feelings off of his chest.

“I kind of… danced with him and sang Bowie? And then I got all, sappy and shit, and we kept speaking and I may or may not have told him the moon looks beautiful tonight doesn’t it and that goes two ways because y’know, the saying obviously, I think I do love him, Sirius, and two, I keep comparing him to the moon and I think I’ve just fucked everything up because I’m clearly nowhere close to good enough for Regulus, he deserves someone who-”

“ James. We’ve been over this.” Sirius sighs, “Okay. Let me speak a minute?”

“Mm.” James goes quiet.

“First of all - you danced with him? That’s so cute, James. I’m surprised he let you do that.”

James ignores his earlier sentiment of ‘let me speak’ and barges in, scoffing, “He was very drunk-”

“Shh!” Sirius hushes him, “I’m speaking.”

James nods mutely as Sirius continues, “Okay. Second of all - Bowie? What song? Yes, you’re allowed to answer that one.”

He bites the side of his cheek and looks at the floor, “Dancing in the street?”

“Holy shit.” Sirius starts to bark out continuous laughter, clutching at his sides, “I- Jesus!” He continues to laugh for a while whilst James just smiles stupidly as Sirius gets his breath back, “Did he do Jagger’s parts?”

“No, he did Bowie’s. This sounds so stupid now I’m talking about it…”

“It’s so cute!” Sirius squeals like a teenage girl who’s talking about her crush, “Okay. Next thing. You told him sappy love quotes and compared him to the bloody moon? I’ve taken that idea, thanks, can’t you come up with a different one?”

“...It’s true. Remus can be the full and Regulus can be the crescent.”

“Deal.” James finds himself agreeing quite easily at the stupid thing of moon arguments.

“ James, the last bit is you need to stop putting yourself down! You have so many things that people like in you and just because Lily ignored you for years doesn’t mean other people don’t like you. Lily ignored you because you were a dickhead and now, you’re not, and you know that for a fact! Come on, you know how many people would literally fall apart without you - me included. Give yourself some self-confidence because god, I can’t take you thinking you’re not literally the best thing that’s ever happened to me. ‘Sides Remus, of course.”

James is speechless. Sirius isn’t particularly the type to go on long rants about how grateful he is for everything - it’s implied and nobody arguments. So when he does, it shocks James with just how good he is at letting all of his worries slip away and melt into a puddle that James can run through.

“Yeah.” James finds himself getting out eventually when Sirius curiously smiles at him.

“Yeah.” Sirius nods.

He’ll think about it.

Sirius nods once more and walks back inside. It’s the pair of them again, on good terms. James takes one last intake of the air and follows him.

He’d follow Sirius to the end of the earth, if needed.

-

Regulus Black, 5.34pm, Wednesday, August 9th

The wall makes for an extremely comfy seat, Regulus finds. They’ve headed off to a new area that only Lily and James had visited when they scoped out that area - it’s a good spot with nice views of the sky, the village is pretty with fairy lights on the edges of certain buildings and the stone makes it seem like they’re in some teenage coming-of-age film set over the summer. Like the one he watched on the plane - although that was in Italy.

Regulus is sitting next to Barty on the wall, who’s just scrolling through his phone idly. He’s on Instagram, obviously, and Regulus can just about make out what he’s going through so thoroughly.

“Barty.” Regulus raises an eyebrow. Barty flinches quickly and closes off his phone, sitting up straight and clearing his throat.

“Yes?”

“Why are you…” Regulus lowers his voice, still smirking, “-going through Evan’s Instagram?”

Barty stares at him, then sighs and scoffs a soft ‘ fuck’.

Regulus laughs and jabs him in the side, “Be more subtle next time.”

Barty glances over to where Evan’s currently laughing with Dorcas, his back slicked with sweat and his Adam’s Apple on full view. Barty gulps and sighs, “I think I love him.”

Regulus can’t say he’s surprised, “Mm. For the record, he definitely loves you too.”

Evan may have fallen first, but Barty has definitely fallen harder.

“Maybe.” Barty hums.

He and Barty sit in quiet silence as he’s watching Evan not-so-subtly whilst Regulus lets his eyes venture over to James passing Marlene his phone so she can take a photo of the back of his neck (Regulus doesn’t see the problem as James never goes red, it’s always that perfect shade of brown).

At some point, Remus clears his throat when they all go quiet at one point in their loud conversation and starts to suggest, “ Hey, let’s play hide and seek!”

“Sounds good.” Sirius shrugs. 

Dorcas shifts in her seat, “ How far are we allowed to go?” 

“ Okay, so, let me make some rules?” Lily announces, and after a second when there’s a muttering of agreement, she continues, “Don’t go further than one kilometre or so, just stay fairly close, oh, and don’t go in the buildings !” 

“ Do we have to have that last one?” Peter complains.

Remus nods in agreement with Lily as he turns to Peter, “ Yeah, it’s only fair.”

“Alright…” Peter trails off and starts to scope out the area. Multiple people do the same.

“Who’s seeking?” Marlene asks.

“Sirius can.” Regulus offers slyly, knowing that Sirius absolutely hates to seek.

“What-? No! James can!”

“It’s your birthday, your holiday, only fair.” James grins, using his own words against him. Sirius grumbles in complaint but gives in as he’s probably realised that he’s not going to get his way and just turns around.

“Okay! I’m counting to sixty! One, two, three…” Sirius announces suddenly, his arms crossed as he shuts his eyes and begins to tap his foot. Dorcas squeals in surprise that he’s started and her and Marlene run west quickly. Mary laughs and runs off towards the east with Lily, hand in hand (Regulus still doesn’t know what’s going on between those two). Barty, Evan, James, Remus and Peter all head off south where there’s more places to hide.

Regulus and Pandora head over towards the north. Pandora turns to him and smiles, tying her hair up in a rough bun and hopping over the wall. Regulus follows her lead and crouches beneath the wall. He can hear the faint sound of ‘ fifty-five’ from Sirius back where he’s standing.

“If I get found, you will too.” Pandora frowns, “I’ll hide over there.” She points towards a point between two bushes, “If you get found, don’t come get me?”

“Deal.” Regulus nods and Sirius yells out ‘ sixty!’. Pandora smiles at him and scampers off quickly, making sure she’s quiet as she hides in her spot. She wedges herself in the bushes as she disappears from Regulus’ sight as he makes himself small under the wall.

Sirius walks over to them first annoyingly - he’s checking every bloody spot that he could; behind the buildings, checking by pillars, even peering into the buildings themself even though they’d banned that.

He holds his breath right as he sees the dark curls of Sirius’ hair above him. Regulus forces himself to be even smaller as he slouches, but the attempt is pretty shit as Sirius, the idiot, peers directly over the wall.

“Fuck.” Regulus mutters.

“Would’ve thought you’d be last, Reg!”

“So did I.”

“Alright then, come with me.” Sirius jumps over the wall with one hand, swinging his legs over and nearly hitting Regulus right in the head.

Regulus shoots a quick smile in Pandora’s way, not knowing if she’d seen or not, and dragged Sirius off in the complete opposite direction.

They walk around, looking for people for a good hour.

Sirius finds Lily trying to hide behind a thick pole and she joins them. Regulus finds Remus down an alleyway hidden behind a bin (when he gets up from where he was sat, his legs crack loudly and it’s extremely funny to make fun of him) whilst Lily can hear Marlene’s giggling and Dorcas’ loud ‘ shush!’ from far away and she loudly announces herself.

According to her mumblings afterwards, she’d found Marlene with her top being done up by Dorcas and Dorcas laughing as she was tracing Marlene’s skin.

So now it’s the six of them - half down, the other half left to go.

Evan is the next to go - he’s laying down beneath a wall (Like Regulus, but slightly smarter). He sighs dramatically as he gets up and joins them on the hunt. They get Peter next who’s trying to blend in with the people by sitting at a fucking cafe seat with a smoothie.

They all end up buying a smoothie - Peter buys a second one for himself - as they go to look for the remaining people: James, Pandora, Barty and Mary.

It’s down to three when Mary’s spotted by Lily up in a fucking tree. She jumps down, nearly breaks her ankle, and is promptly on Sirius’ back for half of it. She hops off eventually when Sirius starts hunching over and sweating so much that Mary swears ‘ your sweat is on my bloody thighs, let me go!’

Evan finds Barty, of course, they’re naturally drawn to each other. Barty had been facing a shop window and had even turned his hat back and messed up his hair to look different. Sadly, his shorts were quickly recognised when they got to that part of town.

And then there were two. It’s funny, really, how Regulus is walking next to one of his favourite of three people, looking for the remaining two-thirds of that.

It’s stupid how James has made his way into Regulus’ life so easily and so quickly, so much that he’s on the same level as Sirius, his own brother, and Pandora, his best friend. 

They’ve split up into two groups, and perhaps it’s fate that Regulus finds James.

James gapes at him from his spot crouched on the roof on one of the buildings and just blinks slowly.

Regulus smirks up at him and raises an eyebrow because James can’t possibly ignore him now. It's not like he’s mad at James, just briefly annoyed that he ran away too quickly. Partly because any negative emotion involving James was automatically gone. How the tides have changed.

James offers a hesitant smile and his eyes trail down to where Sirius is quickly following. James ducks down.

“You see James or Pandora?” Sirius asks loudly - loud enough so it’s easy for James to hear.

“Neither of them.” Regulus answers as they walk off.

James could have that second chance.

-

5.52pm, Wednesday, August 9th

Pandora ends up being the winner anyways. She’d kind of mixed James and Peter’s idea - she was sitting with her hair down on a rooftop diner, talking to a random old lady in French when Marlene had spotted her with a loud scream.

James had moved his spot after that and was behind a bin - quickly found by Remus who went to go bin his smoothie drink and in the process had found James.

“Winner!” Pandora yells from the roof as she presumably bids her goodbyes to the lady and takes a courtesy before running down the stairs to come and meet them.

“Nice spot, ‘Dora.” Barty gives her a hard smack on the back. She glares at him.

“Yes, I know. Do I get a prize?”

“Uh…” Sirius clears his throat, “Yes. You can play pool in the rec room on me.”

They’ve hardly gone in the rec room so far. Pandora considers this, and then nods as it’s the best she’ll get.

“Sure.” She accepts and sets off towards the hotel.

They all follow on the smooth stone concrete with the colourful flowers growing above Regulus’ head, buried deep within the vines.

Tenerife really is quite beautiful, and it’s a shame that they’ve only got a few days left. Regulus can’t say he won’t miss the everlong heat when he gets back to England - it’s annoying at times but generally, the warm sun is always welcome on him.

Especially that now he’s using SPF30 and isn’t as pale as a ghost when he walks around. Thanks, James.

They reach the rec room after the many staircases and a, ‘ there was a fucking lift!’ from Remus who sighs as they reach the top.

Marlene charges in first and begins to scurry around the room, immediately shoving a few euros into the vending machine and cracking open a can of Rio. She gulps perhaps half of it, holds it to her forehead, and then sighs in relief.

“Enjoying that, Marls?” Sirius laughs, finding the money to insert into the pool table.

She grins, “Very much.”

Everyone follows her lead and it’s a fantastic idea. Sirius doesn’t play pool with Pandora - he leaves Barty to play with her - as he and Lily look for the darts.

“Where are the darts?” Lily rummages around one of the boxes near the board, “Ah-ha!” She grins, holding up three darts in green, blue and yellow.

Sirius stares at them, “Pass them?”

Lily shrugs, “I’m not any good with them.” She throws them over to Sirius who turns towards the board and aims at it, trying to narrow his eye-sight to get it accurate.

“Let’s see your skills, then.” Pandora raises an eyebrow sceptically, turning her eyes back to the pool table and getting one in. Barty isn’t really paying attention, more so to Sirius. Seems they’re all not too confident in how good he’s actually going to be.

Sirius laughs, “Pfft. Easy. Watch this.” He swings his arm back and absolutely whacks the dart at the board. He misses.

“Warm up.” He hisses at Mary’s cruel laugh and takes another two. One hits near the centre, and another on the outside. Sirius sighs.

“Okay, that was warm up.” Sirius goes over to the board to take the darts out of the sisal fibres. Green first, then yellow, and finally the blue one. He throws them up in the air while he walks back over in a pathetic attempt to look cool. It’s not cool. Only Remus thinks it is - or maybe Remus just doesn’t care and is staring at his face (or worse) instead.

Mary snatches them off of him.

He shoots an annoyed glare at her, “Hey-!”

“Watch this, ‘warm-up’.” She air quotes, grinning, “Hey, Regulus, c’mere a sec.” She turns towards him as either he’s closest to him or he won’t be biased against either one of them.

“...Sure.” Regulus nods and walks over to where she’s standing with these sharp weapons in her hands. Regulus never was any good at darts - he was always better at pool.

“Okay, so can you just cover my eyes when I say so?” Mary requests.

Regulus is confused but agrees nonetheless, “I guess?”

“Great!” She chirps.

“Why?” Peter pipes up.

“Grew up a pub kid. Well!” She declares as Regulus just awkwardly stands next to her, “Now?” She asks, earning a loud ‘ what the fuck’ from under Sirius’ breath that everyone hears. Mary rolls her eyes and takes a dart in her hand and simply lines up her arm.

Regulus does as she says.

She hits the middle. Without her vision.

Sirius’ mouth touches the floor, “What the fuck ?” He repeats, more shocked this time.

Mary does nothing but grin as Regulus removes his hands. She lines up her arm again, “Again.”

It hits the middle. Everyone’s staring now, just pure shock as they’re all quietly watching Mary shoot at the board and Sirius’ scared/surprised silence.

She takes the last one and turns to Regulus, “Once more?”

Three in the centre.

Lily is staring at her like she’s just won every single Olympic gold. Like Mary is Hera up there on Mount Olympus. 

“Bullseye.” She winks at Sirius and takes her seat effortlessly.

-

7.39pm, Wednesday, August 9th

Pandora is currently strung across his lap as they’re both sat downstairs whilst Pandora just idly scrolls through her phone - all the pictures they’d taken. She puts her phone down and looks up at Regulus, “What’s up with you, then?”

“What do you mean?” Regulus inhales.

“You’re all sad. And you know who else is?”

“‘Dora-” He starts.

“ James. ” 

Regulus blinks because that’s spot on, “...I’m sorry?”

“Regulus, you really had a fight with him? What about?” It’s that easy to tell, huh? Or Pandora’s just woefully observant when it comes to Regulus - she dubbed them best friends for a reason.

“Nothing.” He says stubbornly. It’s not really any of her business about his internal, perhaps external love crisis. Regulus likes to keep some of his secrets to himself, is it that hard to grasp?

“Nothing?” She tilts her head to the side where Regulus is currently combing his fingers through her hair.

Regulus looks to the side, at the floor, anywhere but her face, “...We didn’t really fight?”

“Okay, so why’re you all sad?” She prompts.

“Because he’s just so-” Regulus makes a small sound of frustration and tightens his fingers in her hair.

“ Ow!” Pandora hisses and jerks up, “Don’t take your frustration out on me. Talk to him. ”

“I would if he’d let me.” Regulus sighs.

Pandora sighs, “Regulus. You know how obvious it is-” Regulus freezes and widens his eyes, “- only obvious to me, that you’re completely smitten with him?”

“ Keep your bloody voice down! ” He whispers and sits up to stare at her, “I don’t like him.”

She shakes her head in denial to his statement, “Yes, you do.”

“I don’t. Trust me, I think I’d know my own feeli-” Regulus hisses.

Pandora cuts him off, “You do, Reg.”

“...” Regulus sighs.

“It’s not a bad thing.” She stands up and straightens her skirt out, “Does anyone else know?”

“Remus. Barty, Evan.” Regulus says easily, “And you.”

She hums as she leans against the doorframe, “I think James likes you too, for the record.”

“Mm.” Regulus shrugs nonchalantly and goes on his phone. Pandora offers a quick smile and leaves him to his thoughts.

His thoughts, his phone, and the only person he feels like he can really talk to.

-

7.46pm,Wednesday, August 9th

Regulus

Is it always this hard to be in love?

Prongs

yeah

it sucks doesn’t it

Regulus

Definitely.

Prongs

you just wish and wish he likes you back and everyone says ‘oh yeah he definitely does’ and you’re not even sure because insecurities get the best of you

Regulus

Not quite. Along those lines, though.

I’d like you back if it was you and me.

Prongs

that’d be crazy lol

thanks for letting my ego soar even higher because yknow i’m simply so great

Regulus

Well, I like to be honest.

I hope the guy you’re in love with likes you back.

If it were me, I would. Easily.

Prongs

i think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me

thank you

Regulus

:)

Prongs

:)

-

8.57pm,Wednesday, August 9th

Regulus feels like his heart is going to explode out of his chest.

He can’t look at Pandora, he can’t look at Barty, he can’t look at Evan, he can’t look at Remus. They all know and that terrifies him because it’s Regulus’ secret, not theirs, and the smirks and Evan’s annoying habit of wiggling his eyebrows whenever Regulus so much as looks at James is really affecting him.

The only person he can bear to look at is Mary as everyone else is heavily connected to his problem.

Sirius? Oh, that’s James’ best friend. And his brother.

Pandora? Remus? Barty? Evan? They all know.

Peter? That’s one of James’ closest friends and they have the same loud cackle.

Lily? James’ ex - she knows what it’s like to date James. She’s far too lucky.

Marlene and Dorcas? Well, Regulus lets the two of them slide.

So he keeps his conversation limited to mostly Dorcas and Mary - it’s not working very well as Regulus keeps letting his eyes wander over to James.

Marlene seems to catch on by the teasing smirk she gives Regulus.

That’s her kicked off the ‘good’ list.

Lily Evans is now off of the list, as she saves him from freaking out, “Let’s go for a walk - the sunset is really nice.” Lily volunteers as she stands up and looks out the window. The rest of them follow and she’s right, it’s gorgeous. The sunset reminds him of James.

Fuck.

James never fails to barge his way into Regulus’ thoughts. One second it’ll be an innocent thing and the next, it’s replaced with James.

“Sure.” Remus nods.

“Good idea.” Regulus agrees weakly and walks outside, steadying his head from not looking back at James. He can feel someone’s eyes on him as he leaves and he’s not sure who, but it’s entirely possible it is James. Or perhaps he’s thinking too much into it and it’s simply Pandora, or Sirius, or Barty, or Evan, or-

“Regulus?” Ah, his initiation wins again.

“What?”

James shakes his head and tries to smile apologetically. It just looks like a smirk.

Regulus sighs and raises his eyebrows, “Go race Sirius or something.”

“That’s actually a good idea.” He says shortly, and walks up to Sirius, “I bet I can get there before you.” James announces loudly, grins and takes off quickly.

“ James!” Sirius yells and begins to chase after him. James laughs loudly (his laugh is so gorgeous) and continues to run off into the distance.

“James Fleamont Potter !” Sirius screams, running after him, “I didn’t say go!”

“Tough shit!” James shouts back, turning to them for a second and his eyes go to Regulus, then Sirius, before he grins and takes off again.

Regulus can't help but laugh at them and how ridiculous their antics get. Sirius speeds up as James squeals like a girl. Sirius begins to catch up to him as they’re reaching down the end of the pier, and he shouts, “James! Prongs!”

Prongs.

Prongs?

That gets a reaction out of James. Oh, and Regulus. His face morphs into that of shock, biting his lip in confusion about whether to cry or laugh. Sirius had called him Prongs. It all added up, so easily, oh Jesus. Prongs was James. James was Prongs. How could Regulus be so oblivious? They acted the exact same, they’ve both gone on holiday with their friends at the same time, they’re both in Spain.

Regulus Black may have called himself a smart man before. Before. Not anymore.

He’d never felt so stupid in his whole life.

“Alright, alright, I give!” James yells, “What's with the ‘Prongs’?”

“Well we’re all using the nicknames again-”

James snorts, “They’re stupid-”

“I don’t care-”

“You’re eighteen and still using them-”

“James!” Sirius yells in frustration, “If you hate it so much I won’t.”

James throws his head back, sighing, “No, no, use it. It’s just… It reminds me of something else, now.”

“Huh?” Sirius stares at him in confusion, “What’s it remind you of?”

“It’s kind of the fake name I gave to the guy I’m texting?”

Now Sirius is just bringing up arguments for no reason, the idiot, “You’ve never seen this guy, and he goes by Noir for fucks sake! That’s sketchy!”

“It translates to Black. Oh my god, what if that’s like, Bella?”

“He’s a guy-”

“ You don’t know that!”

“Okay, okay, god. We don’t even text all that much, we’re both busy.” James explains and he just looks tired of Sirius blowing up in his face.

“...Mk.” Sirius settles on, “So I can call you Prongs.”

James kicks at the sand as they start to walk over to Remus, “Yes.”

“That’s all I wanted.” He huffs.

“There we go then. Hey, James…” James looks at him curiously but his sweating from running is soon gone as Sirius pushes him off the edge of the pier and everyone runs over to see where he’s spluttering in the water.

“Oh my god!” Lily yells and pushes Sirius in who James swims over to and jumps on, spluttering around like a pair of idiots. The chain of events is basically just revenge for revenge; Pandora shoves Barty in for shoving Evan in for shoving Peter in for shoving Lily in.

Mary smirks in amusement and jumps in, closely followed by Marlene and Dorcas making a run up off the pier and straight onto poor Peter’s head.

Everyone’s screams fade out eventually as Regulus turns away and faces towards the sun, only just so his vision is shielded from the blinding light.

That’s confirmation. He had a small crush on Prongs (that went away very quickly) and he’s borderline in love with James.

James is Prongs, and Regulus is completely, utterly, totally, entirely, wholly, downright fucked.

Pandora turns towards him and smiles, “Jump in with me?”

Regulus clears his throat, “Yeah. Yeah, I will.”

“I think you’re blinded from the sun.” Pandora assesses, probably from Regulus’ squinting.

“Yeah. I feel blinded.” Not just by the sun, but by everything else that even remotely resembles  it.

-

6.18am, Thursday, August 10th

Regulus decides to go for a walk at sunrise. Not because it reminds him of James, but because he needs that morning air to clear his head.

James seems to be up anyway. It makes sense. They always seem to be opposites and the one thing they’re similar in is how much they like each other.

If James stopped being such a coward and faced Regulus (Regulus refuses to confront him like he’s… desperate or something) then perhaps they’d be in a different situation.

“You’re up.” James is standing at the end of the hallway in a simple red shirt and shorts. He’s extremely tanned now, his skin glistening even in the early morning. He says it confused, like a question.

“I get up early.” Regulus deadpans, trying not to pay attention to James too much or he’ll-

He nods and walks off.

“James?”

James freezes and turns his head. He’s got bed-hair and it’s stupidly cute, “Yeah?”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going for a walk.” He pauses awkwardly, “Do you want to come?”

“Yeah.” He doesn’t mention that’s exactly what he was planning to do.

Down the stairs of the hotel, out the door. They walk down to the beach, down the winding stone road in silence only broken by the squawk of seagulls. 

The beach is beautiful in the morning light. The sand is desolate of the normal herd of humanity, the skies coated in foreign blue. The waves are closer but still in the aquamarine colour, foaming the shores and coating the shells. The earth continues on its axis.

“Tell me a secret.” James asks vehemently. The silence is gone now; it wasn’t too uncomfortable in the first place aside from the obvious question of ‘why have you been avoiding me?’

“That’s the first thing you-” Regulus answers and sighs. He doesn’t want to argue, “I can speak French.” Regulus says instead, rather thoughtlessly. It wasn’t too impressive, nor a secret, but it was the first thing he could come up with, “And a little Italian and Latin.”

James leans forward, “Ah, yeah. You did that before - with that one quote? And in the restaurant?” James explains.

Regulus nods, “Yeah, I did.”

“Speak to me in French. Say something- anything?”

“ Puis-je te donner mon numéro?” Regulus’ fingernails grind into his palms.

James freezes, “What does that mean? Something something number?”

Regulus closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, “Can I give you my number?” He slowly translates.

James’ eyes travel up him slowly, he’s speechless by the looks of it, “Yeah. Yeah, sure.” He fishes his phone out of his pocket and enters up the New Contact tab. He glances over at Regulus who punches in his whole number and there’s only one result with the exact same number as him.

Noir the Great 

Regulus laughs a little at his contact name.

“Is this a joke?” James asks.

“No. That’s my number.” Regulus teases, allowing a small smirk, “Pass the phone back.”

James obliges. Regulus sends himself a quick smiley face on James’ phone and brings his own up to James’ face, who stares in confusion at the two messages side by side.

-

6.23am, Thursday, August 10th

Prongs

:)

Regulus

:)

-

6.23am, Thursday, August 10th