Chapter Text
Sirius Black
Friday, September 1st, 2023
It’s the day of the last race before next week’s qualifiers, and Sirius is shaking with anxiety about it. His parents swung by earlier and got him worked up about placing high, and now he’s sitting in his changing room twenty minutes before he’s supposed to be on the track. His headset is ringing with announcements and attempts from his team to get his attention, and his phone screen is repeatedly lighting up as James texts him.
“Ne laissez pas tomber cette famille, Sirius,” his mother had hissed lowly in his ear. Sirius no longer lives with his parents and is free of them for the most part, but they are very well-known sponsors in the Formula One world, so he knows they’re always watching. Sirius has, for a long time, not felt the need to please his parents, but Orion and Walburga Black have a knack for getting under your skin, no matter how thick it is.
Eventually, Sirius leaves his room and finds himself in his car, pulling up onto the line, seats warm and engine humming. Through the tint, he can see the crowds of reporters, coaches, and mechanics ready for the qualifying race to begin.
“Today is only going to be a forty-lap event, much shorter than usual, because the track is so large,” Moody calls over Sirius’s headset.
Sirius eyes his opponents and chirps back, “Aye Aye Cap!”, doing his best to sound cheerful and prepared.
As the flag brandishes, Sirius releases the clutch and speeds forward, the force pinning him back to his seat.
This is why I do this, he thinks. The way it feels. Hitting that gas pedal feels similar to a plane leaving the ground.
By lap 25, Sirius is in the lead, as usual, nothing to worry about. The car Red Bull has been working around this season has provided Sirius nearly zero trouble, unlike Mclaren, who seem to be having much trouble figuring out what works best for tracks with sharper turns. As Sirius finishes lap 30, he’s shortly behind Gilderoy Lockhart and Severus Snape, because he had to box a bit earlier than he’d hoped.
“What’s my gap on Lockhart, Moody?” Sirius calls.
“About 0.2, not far now, Snape seems to be slowing down. I’m hearing he might box now or after the next lap, so that gives you more than enough space,” he returns.
Do your best to scare Lockhart off, cut him off slightly at the next left, and get a closer gap on him. He still hasn’t boxed, kid. Sirius only hears this muffled as he’s only focused on the pairs of eyes staring back at him. He can see Walburga’s stony eyes staring at him, in third place currently, as if he’s in last. What a disappointment I am to her, no matter what I do, he thinks.
Ne laissez pas tomber cette famille
Ne laissez pas tomber cette famille
Ne laissez pas tomber cette famille
Ne laissez pas tomber cette famille
It’s all he can hear as he takes too wide a turn and collides with the tracks’ outer wall. Sparks consume his car, and he hears as five- no- six cars pass him while he tries to come back to his senses.
“KID! WHAT WAS THAT?” Moody yells, making Sirius flinch, his headset too loud.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I don’t know- Moody, please tell me I still have a chance here,” Sirius chokes out, trying to turn the wheel and get his car unstuck. He succeeds and hears a relieved sigh as he pulls out from between two sheets of cement, finding his center of gravity and trying to take a deep breath.
“Yeah, Sirius, you’re fine. Do not- and I mean DO NOT let Chapman pass you. You’re in 9th right now, so you better get back on track right now. We have a medical team here to give you a once over when you get back. Good luck, kid”, he responds.
Sirius pulls back onto the track and runs a leather-gloved hand through his curls, still not able to fully catch his breath. The final 10 laps felt like a blur but Chapman didn’t manage to pass him, so he finished in 9th.
Barely scraped by.
I barely made it.
Why do I let them get in my head so much?
As Sirius hops out of his car, he is surrounded by the medical team, reporters, Moody, and worst of all, his parents. Sirius, the pride of the Black family, has never placed below the top three in his entire career.
“Sirius Orion Black, qu'est-ce que c'était? Tu es une véritable honte pour cette famille si tu penses qu'une telle course est acceptable” his mother stabs.
“Mère, mère, s'il te plaît, pas maintenant. Je suis fatiguée et j'ai des déclarations à faire. Par tous les moyens, dégradez-moi plus tard, mais pas maintenant” Sirius whispers back, practically pleading.
“Un garçon si stupide,” Walburga mutters, spinning quickly on her heels and stomping away like a toddler who didn’t get her way. Sirius sighs and turns to the reports screaming questions at him.
Get me out of here.
This is part of the job.
Moody snaps him out of his haze, gripping his shoulder and tearing him away from the people crowding around them.
“I’m going to give it to you straight, Sirius”, he hurries, “This is messy, and it will only get messier. Go home, take a couple weeks off until the next meeting, and for the love of God, stay off of social media. I’ll handle this from here.”
Sirius hangs his head and covers his face, not letting any cameras catch the reflection of tears filling his eyes.
Remus Lupin
Remus Lupin is entirely too anxious for his own good. He promised Marlene that he would join her for the race tonight, simply to watch, and of course, he’s going to make good on his promise, but he definitely doesn’t have to like it.
He’s been fretting about it all day, sort of pathetically if he’s being honest with himself. Remus hates how easily he lets fear take over him in such a way. Marlene is really excited for the race tonight, and most of that excitement is due to the fact that Remus is going with her, and what kind of friend would he be to deny her that happiness?
It won’t be that bad
Remus finally pulls himself together and slips on a pair of jeans from his pile of dirty laundry, a plain white t-shirt, and a beanie, along with his Converse. Marlene is already lounging on the couch with her feet on the coffee table when he exits his room, giving him a knowing smile as he rolls his eyes and nods to the door.
“Ready when you are, Marls,” he says, and she hops up, with quite an obvious pep in her step, starting out the front door.
“Lock it behind you, please,” she says, smiling at him, and he does.
The entire car ride is a bit tense and off-putting as Remus battles his anxiety.
It won’t be that bad, I’m not even racing, it’s fine, he reasons in his mind.
As they arrive, the roar of engines quiets every other thought in Remus’ mind, and the smell of burnt rubber is all too familiar.
“Hey guys! I’m so glad you could make it,” Dorcas calls as she walks over to them, beaming her perfectly perfect smile, smiley piercing peeking out from under her top lip.
Remus snaps his head up and locks eyes with her, giving her a shy smile and holding out his hand.
“Remus,” he states, friendly but stiff. “I know,” she returns, “Hell love, it’s so great to meet you. Heard many good things about you from Marlene here”.
“Thanks again for inviting us. I’ve been so busy at work lately that I wouldn’t have known about this race if it weren’t for you,” Marlene beams.
“Ah, yes, anytime darlin!” Dorcas responds, “Either of you racing tonight or just here to watch?”
Marlene flashes a sympathetic eye at Remus, who looks a bit afraid, honestly, obviously not comfortable in this element like he used to be.
“Just watching, love, maybe next time though,” she replies.
“Oh, alright, no worries. Well, the first race starts in about five minutes. There’s a bit of a rule in this community; if you’ve never raced here before, you have to race the first night you show up. We have a new racer tonight, Frank Longbottom, so that’ll be fun to watch. Each race takes place about half an hour apart for preparation and radio/scanner checks, so if you feel like you want to leave before the night is over, just come say bye first!” Dorcas smiles.
“We will,” Marlene says.
“See you later,” Dorcas says, leaning in to kiss Marlene on her cheek, pulling back with a light blush climbing up her cheeks, “it was nice to meet you Remus, I hope to see you around some more. Maybe next time, you’ll think about racing? A lot of people here remember you and would love to see you race again”.
Remus, a bit distracted by the sound of cars zipping past, replies, “Yeah, yeah sure, nice to meet you too”, and Dorcas spins on her heels, walking over to a group of people Remus vaguely recognizes.
“Those are the Snakes ,” Marlene says, “they go everywhere together”, and Remus nods to signal he’s following, “those are the Rosier twins, Pandora and Evan,” she says, pointing.
“That’s Barty Crouch Jr. and Regulus Black,” Marlene points out, “and you obviously met Dorcas. Evan is racing tonight, absolutely a fabulous racer if you ask me.”
As if calling on him, Evan begins to walk over to his car, a beautiful Skyline resembling Brian O’Conner’s. As he revs the engine, he rolls down the window and pulls a wide grin at a very mesmerized Barty Crouch.
As all of the racers pull up to the starting line, Remus finds himself holding his breath. The race is called, and the cars are gone in a blink. Almost immediately, people are running around the corner with cameras, filming the beginning of the race. Almost halfway through the route, it’s called out over a megaphone that Frank Longbottom was run off the road by Rosier and is no longer in the race. Remus is on the edge of his seat after the announcement. After a few minutes, Remus hears the racers turning a few streets up, metal scraping pavement, and tires skidding. At the last second, Evan Rosier uses his NOS and crosses the finish line first, hopping out of his car. He’s immediately crowded by his friends and given too many high fives to count. Barty reaches out and cradles the man's face and mouths what Remus thinks is “you’re absolutely brilliant”, kissing Evan on the cheek, leaving Evan completely red and beaming.
All of this celebrating and joy ends the moment Remus sees red and blue lights reflecting in one of the car windows.
“Marlene!” he panics, scrambling around to get her attention, looking absolutely pitiful doing so. Dorcas sees him and immediately runs over to them.
She looks frantic, whispering, “I just got word that Frank, the man who crashed, was apparently hurt and called 911, the idiot! Led the cops right to us! Come on, this way!”.
Dorcas grabs a wrist each and pulls them along. At this point, everyone had come to the realization that Remus had, and they’ve all started to flee. As Remus gazes back at the thinning crowd, he sees a few people getting put in handcuffs and shoved into the back of police vehicles.
Just my luck, he thinks, of course this would happen.
Dorcas guides them all the way to her car and gives them a ride back to their flat, leaning out the window to kiss Marlene on the cheek again. She starts to pull away before coming to a halt and calling out, “I’m sorry about all that back there guys, that usually doesn’t happen. It was really nice to see you Marls, and Remus, please don’t let this scare you into never coming to a race again. I promise it’s usually a lot less police-infested.” She nods and gives a solemn smile, “Have a good night guys”.
“Night, Dorcas,” Remus and Marlene call out in unison.
Remus and Marlene climb up the stairs to their flat in absolute silence, barely looking at each other. Upon entering, they both huff out a huge sigh and practically fall into the couch. Suddenly, Marlene starts hysterically laughing, Remus gives her the most inquisitive look and asks, “What in the world could possibly be so funny after what just happened?!”
“Your face, Remus! Your face! It was hysterical!” Marlene cackles, rolling around like a dog in mud.
“Oh, shove off, idiot! I went to my first race in two years, and we could’ve gotten arrested! Of course I’m not going to look utterly ecstatic when the police show up,” He retaliates.
“Dear God, Remus, I wish you could’ve seen your face. That face is engraved into my mind. I could die happy,” she continued.
Remus scowls at her and jumps off the couch, huffing and stomping to his room, muttering, “I hate you so much”, and slamming his door.
“You love me, really!” Marlene calls back, still laughing like a hyena.
Remus settles down on his bed, and his fearful expression dissolves into a grin. As scary as it is, that’s what this life is about: the adrenaline, the people, and the pride that comes with winning a race.
Maybe it’s time to start racing again, he thinks, maybe it’s time to stop being so afraid.
Sirius Black
The night of his race, Sirius is lounging in his flat with James sprawled out on the couch next to him, snoring with his glasses skewed. He’s scrolling through Twitter when he sees a tweet by Evan Rosier.
_________________________________________________________
Rosie
@Evan.Rosier
Won tonight's race downtown! Nearly got busted
in the end, it was totally worth it, though. Attachment: 4 images.
11:32 PM · Sep 1, 2023
14 Retweets 2 Quote Tweets 349 Likes
_________________________________________________________
Curious, he looks through the photos. The first photo is a photo of Evan after the race, face bright and beaming through his driver’s side window, looking like the happiest person on Earth. The second photo is of Evan and Barty, with Barty kissing him while Evan holds up a fist in the air in victory, laughing and smiling into it. The third photo is one of the crowd, and Sirius recognizes someone.
Who is that?
I know that face!
Sirius zooms in slightly on the photo and sees a man in a black beanie and his eyes widen when he sees a familiar scar running through the man's eyebrow.
Remus Remus Remus
Remus Remus Remus
Remus Remus Remus
Remus, street racing? Hm.
Sirius scrolls along to the final picture, a photo of Evan and all of his friends. Sirius lets out a shriek when he sees his little brother.
Regulus, my Reggie
Oh, Reggie, I haven’t seen you in years
It’s so good to know you’re alive
I miss you, I hate you
How dare you look so happy without me
God, I miss you.
James flies up off the couch as Sirius shrieks. “JESUS SIRIUS! WHAT IS IT?” He yells, glasses barely on his face, looking like a deer in headlights.
“James- it- it’s Regulus. I haven’t seen him since I got out, but he’s here, he’s alive, he was at a street race tonight,” Sirius says, stunned.
He zooms in on the photo many more times, tears pricking his eyes as he lets his eyes roam over his brother, seeing him smile as he leans into the side of a pretty blonde girl he has his arm around.
Pandora, he recognizes.
“James, I have to see him. I have to know where these races are. Evan posts about them all the time, and if he’s there, Reggie probably will be too. You have to help me find him,” He chokes out.
“Sirius, those races are very illegal, aren’t they? You’re Sirius Black. Not only could you get arrested, but you could also get in so much trouble if you’re caught. Moody would absolutely kill you,” James reasons.
“James, I love you, but I genuinely couldn’t care less about that right now. That’s my brother. I have to see him," he pleads.
“Alright, Pads, we’ll figure it out, okay? It’s really late, and you need to get some rest. We can start worrying about this when our heads are on right,” James says.
“Okay, I guess you’re right, we’ll figure it out,” Sirius nods, eyes wide and desperate, searching for reassurance. James gives him a weak smile and nods for him to go to bed.
Sirius looks in his mirror and runs his fingers through his hair before plopping down on his bed with a large sigh.
How is he supposed to get into the world of street racing?
Remus, he remembers.
Remus Remus Remus
Remus Remus Remus
Remus Remus Remus
That’s how.