Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Fuck!” Sirius laughed, “James, we made it into the musical!”

James smiled slyly, throwing an arm around his black haired friend. They both studied the cast list,

“Maybe we’ll be those two gay guys, then we can go at it on stage!” joked Sirius.

“Oh, you know you want to!” retorted James.

“Well,” entered a whining voice from the sea of theater kids, surrounding the paper duct taped to the plaster school wall.

“If you all would actually read the script, you’d know your character, Prongs, is the lead.”

The voice was no other than Lily, the girl James had a crush on since 8th grade. Maybe it was her bossiness, maybe it was the fact that Lily hated his guts. Maybe it was just her beautiful curves. And gorgeous , fiery red hair. And her adorable freckles. And smile. And-

“So Lils,” Sirius interrupted James’s daydreaming, “Who do you and I have the pleasure of playing. Oh! And which one of you two do i get to kiss on stage!”

”Well, you’ll be playing Padfoot, whose love interest is Moony played-“

”What kind of names are these??” Sirius interjected.

”What kind of name is Sirius?” Lily retorted. James let out a snicker, that was another thing he liked about her, that sense of humor. And her-

Lily cleared her throat ”Back to what I was saying, Moony is played Remus,” she finished.

This comment led James to break out into full on laughter.

”Oh you ARE playing a gay guy! This can’t get any better!” He said, through bursts of snickers and snorts.

”Eh, he’s hot,” Sirius said without a thought, “So Lily, who are you playing?”

Her expression annoyed to somehow even more annoyed once this was asked. “I’m playing Evans.” Lily said shortly.

This now lead Sirius to burst into a laughing fit.

”You’re playing James’s love interest!” Sirius was dying at this point, “Wow, this day really can’t get better, huh, Jamey!”

Oh! James thought, oh!

”Now Black how do you know that?” Asked Lily

”Reg,” Sirius said, very matter-of-fact-ly, “He’s told me a bit about the musical so far, I’m pretty excited!”

”Oh right, I forgot Reg was your sis- sibling,” Fixed Lily, “Didn’t know you two were that close,”

”Oh yea, we still talk some, even after, you know… everything,” Sirius said somberly.

The conversation fell short after that. James and Sirius started walking out of the hallway when James turned,

”Oi, Evans!” He screamed, “See you at rehearsal!”

”Please don’t start calling me that,” begged Lily

”Sorry, Mrs. Potter, see you tomorrow!” James said, with a cheeky smile.

Lily groaned as they walked off.

Chapter Text

James and Sirius walked out of the large brick Electives building in silence after their interaction with Lily. They walked through the parking lot, towards James's old, bright red Corvette his dad used to drive them around in when they were little. Sirius had always looked up to Monty Potter, he seemed like the perfect father, better than Sirius ever had.

"So how is his anyways," James finally broke the silence, "Reggie?"

"He alright, as good as he can be trapped in that awful old house," Sirius replied. He hadn't talked to Reg much, since they haven't lived under the same roof for two years. "I've just got to get him out somehow."

Sirius, had been kicked out of the Black house over spring break in his sophomore year, and fled to the Potter's house. Other than his mother loosely threatening to sue Effie, James's mom, his parents didn't care much that he was gone. As long as hey had their supposed 'golden child', Reg, they'd be fine. Though they treated Reg better than they ever had Sirius, besides blatant misgendering of his brother, but Sirius feared Reggie wouldn't be safe at that house for much longer. They both got into James's car, and sat in silence for a few moments, as the radio was singing H-O-T-T-O-G-O

"I just don't know what my parents will think is worse," Sirius finally broke the silence, "People knowing that they kicked out both their sons, or people knowing they had two sons. Two gay sons, to make matters worse."

The two gay sons he was referring to was, of course Regulus, who came out as a trans man a few years back, as well as gay. Of course, Reggie never came out to his parents, and as far as they were concerned, Reg was just their perfect, straight, tomboy, daughter, who would be the heir to the families law firm. The other gay son Sirius was referring to was, of course, himself. About two years ago, Sirius's parents found video of him drunkenly making out with some guy at a party. After that, there was a lot of yelling, and worse things Sirius did not want to relieve, then he just left. The Potters had treated him as a second son ever since.

As Sirius was deeply entranced in thought, James had pulled out of the parking lot, and slammed on the break, snapping Sirius out of it. He realized they were moving, quickly put on his seatbelt, and then grabbed the pack of cigarettes he kept in the dash.

”Filthy habit,” James finally spoke to Sirius as he light the cig, trying to lighten the mood, he laughed, “What are we going to do now that we’re in this dumbass musical anyways?”

Sirius rolled down the window of the speeding car, took a drag, then replied, “Don’t know, but i think this is gonna be our best senior prank yet!”

This comment sent James into a laughing fit, as he relived his old pranking memories.

“How did they even let us audition?” James laughed some more.

”Well, obviously they loved my wicked good looks and talent,” Sirius replied cheekily, “And for you, well I mean Regulus is the stage manager, so I assume he had some power when picking the cast.”

”And?”

”And while you’ve been swooning over Lils for the last five years, Reggie has been in love with you!”

“He has not!”

”James, I’m his brother, I know everything about him!” Sirius finished, “Don’t be scared though, he going out with some Barty kid right now, so no one except maybe Evans is gonna make a move on you!”

Oh, sweet, adorable, clueless, James, how could he not know when someone’s absolutely obsessed with him. Sirius didn’t have feelings for James, anymore, he hadn’t really had feelings for any guy since he’d been kicked out, he’s felt too ashamed to make moves. Though, at one point when Sirius tried to hit on his best friend, he’d been completely clueless! Same with Reggie, his brother had been trying to get James Potter’s attention since He was in kindergarten, still James was oblivious. Maybe that was another thing he’d envied about the Potter’s, how can a person live so happily and so clueless?

”Oh, I forgot to tell you!” Sirius quickly fell out of one trances, “I invited him over, Reg. Not sure how long he’s stay but I just felt like I had to do… something.”

”Perfect! I’ll tell mom, he should be good to stay in the guest room!” James replied cheerfully. He was so kind, never scared of anyone, even when he just found out the child who was completely mad about him would be staying at his home.

”Just, be kind to him, alright?”

”I’m nicer to him than you are!”

They pulled into the Potter’s driveway. Sirius had always admired their home, it was a big, not as big as the Black’s manor but still, three story, white suburban house with blue shutters. Sirius always thought this is what a home should look like, there was love between these wall, unlike that wretched old mansion.

”How are my boys!” Effie said as soon as they stepped through the door.

”Great mom!” James sounded giddy as he kissed his mom on the check, “You’ll never believe what happened.”

Effie had a questioning look of disapproval on her face.

”We made the school musical! The leads!” James couldn’t keep his laughter in, making Sirius giggle along with him. 

“Oh that’s wonderful! You’ve always had a love for theatrics, always sang those News Boys songs!” Effie poked fun, leading Sirius to laugh harder.

”Mom, please don’t bring up my Jack Kelly phase! I was eight!” James whined, then Sirius and Effie started ganging up on him, taking turns teasing the boy.

Sirius remembered Regulus, “Oh! Effie, my brother is going to come over tonight, is that alright? Sorry for the short notice!”

”Of course! He can stay as long as he needs,” Effie knew about the Black’s troubles, but still loved them, must’ve been her perfect motherly instinct, “I’ll make sure we have five servings for dinner!”

”Thank you,” Sirius said apolitically.

”Don’t worry about it, son.” 

Chapter Text

After Lily’s obnoxious interaction with her two new cast mates, Remus texted her and all their friends to meet him at the Spot. This of course referred to an old, grungy cafe and video store, Stardust. Lily pulled the door open, ordered her usual, a hot chai, and sat down at their regular table where Remus was already camped out. When Lily was around Remus, she immediately loosened up, she could be truly herself around her best friend.

“Ughhh,” Lily groaned, sitting down and covered her face with her hands, “I can’t do with this stupid ass play!”

”Is it James Potter again?” Remus asked, he always knew what was up when it came to Lily.

”When is it not James Potter! Oh, and Sirius Black too, dare I say he’s worse than Potter!”

”What? Has he gone all mysterious and morbid like his brother. God, that kid’s like modern day Batman.”

”I wish, at least BatBoy doesn’t act like a homophobic bitch! You know he made a comment about you, when he found out you’d be playing each other’s love interests, what a jerk!”

Remus seemed stunned by this comment. Maybe Lily had gone too far, what Sirius said earlier was something Remus wasn’t supposed to hear.

“That doesn’t sound like him, maybe you took it the wrong way?” Remus replied calmly, taking up for the boy. 

“What? Do you know him? As far as we know he could be in the witness protection program, or a CIA agent, or a Jehovah’s Witness!” Lily poked fun, but was still suspicious of her best friend. Remus let out a quick nervous laugh, Lily knew there was some he wasn’t telling her. She was about to pry when the others interrupted. 

“Hey y’all!” Said Mary as her and Marlene slumped down into their usual seats. Lily quit arguing with Remus and greeted to two with a smile.

”Oh, by the way, Dorcas wanted to come along, and she brought Pandora! Sorry, it’s just gonna be a one time thing! They’re ordering now, will be here in a bit.” Marlene quickly said before the two other girls got here.

Dorcas was Marlene’s ‘on-again off-again’ girlfriend, as she liked to refer to it. Lily was fine with Dorcas, when Marlene and her were together at least, but Pandora, not so much. Whenever Lily was around her something was just off about her. Lily put back on her cheery smile once the two extra girls sat down.

Mary, as she always does, quickly broke the tension, “So, everyone excited about the musical! That cast list is definitely something.” 

This received quite a few chuckles from the group, of course the ‘core-four’ as Lily called it, were all cast in the musical, and Dorcas and Pandora were working tech. At least she had that in common with Pandora, hopefully their next few interaction would be slightly less awkward. 

“I know someone is,” Remus replied, giggling and slightly elbowing Lily who was beside him, “This one won’t shut her tapper about that damn James Potter!”

“Stop!” Lily teased back, “It’s not my fault that kid is mad about annoying me!”

”That’s because he mad about you!” Mary interjected, “I’ve been telling you that James is in love with you since the eighth grade!”

Marlene, who had been having a side-conversation with Dorcas, jumped in, “You’ve got to get this kid off your back! Just lie to him! Tell him you’re gay or something!”

”Marls, I am gay, bi at least, and if you remember correctly the last time I said that to a guy obsessed with me it did not end well!”

The table collectively winced, they all knew what incident Lily had been referring to. Sophomore year, Lily’s best friend at the time, Sev, had been completely insane about her, he tried to hit on her and asked her out multiple times. Eventually, Lily got fed up with it all and told her friend that she was a lesbian. This caused Sev to completely blow up at her, and he ended up calling her, in his words, a “Dyke Bitch”. Lily didn’t want anything like that to happen again. 

“Remember when he called me a bitch, then said he it was just butch!” Lily was laughing now, and her friends joined in, “That word had a chokehold on us Sophomore year!”

”We should bring that back,” Remus said, laughing.

”Butch, please!” Marlene said back to Remus, with her right hand vertical, fingers pointing at Remus, slapping down onto her left palm. This made the table burst out into a collective laughing fit.

“But seriously,” Dorcas got back on topic, “If you were to tell James you were gay, I don’t think he’d react the same as Sev. He’s annoying as all hell, but he has good intentions.”

”And,” Pandora finished, “You don’t have to tell him you’re gay, just show him! Pretend to date one of us or something!”

There it was again, Pandora was acting some sort of way, Lily just couldn’t put her finger on it. It wasn’t weird, Lily was fine with weird, being a plus-sized, nerdy, theater kid, she could come off as pretty weird herself. It was just- just off. Like a performance or something. Before Lily could finish her thought, the groups drink got brought out by a familiar waitress, who the four talked to for a bit before getting back to conversations about the musical. 

Everything was perfect to Lily. Normal, familiar. The Spot was perfect, cozy, and slightly dirty, everyone had their same exact seats, and same exact drinks. Lily always ordered a hot chai, Remus a black coffee with sugar, Marlene a matcha, and Mary an earl gray. They’d had the same exact routine, meeting up her every Friday, for about two years now. They’d sat in these seats, chatting the exact same, except for Dorcas and Pandora being there, about a hundred times. This was Lily’s safe space, the love of her friends, mixed with the smell of coffee and dust. Free from the stress of schools or college apps, or the fact that her sister completely hated her. But at Stardust, she was with her true family. Everything was perfect. 

Chapter Text

Once Regulus got home, he quickly started packing his bags. After Barty, the boy he was currently going out with, Regulus rushed through the long, dark, windings halls of the Black mansion, directly towards his room. He didn’t greet his parents when he got home, he didn’t even know where they were. About an hour and a half later, Regulus had shoved anything important into the little space he had, his backpack for school and a beat up messenger bag. He was ready for his flea to the Potter’s house, Reg knew it wouldn’t be permanent, he might not even last the weekend before Walburga came knocking on the door, looking for her ‘perfect daughter’. Or she might not care at all, Regulus never knew when it came to his mother. Maybe she’d been catching on, realized her ‘daughters’ short hair and boys clothes actually meant something, and thought it would be worse to have two gay sons, than no children at all. 

“Snap out of it, Reg,” he muttered to himself, trying to fight his own feelings. As Reg was riffling through his bags, he found himself drowning in tears. 

“Fuck!” Regulus cussed himself out, balled up his fist, and started hitting his thigh to snap himself out of it.

Regulus unclenched his fist, stood up, zipped up his bags, and took a few deep breathes.

He had to get out. Now.

Both bags in each hand, Regulus once again walked down the long, somber, halls, for what he was hoping would be the last time. He stuck his head into his father’s study.

”I’m going out, studying with a friend!” Regulus told his dad, his father, didn’t even bother to so much as look up. He has been deeply entrenched in work for the past month. Though Regulus’s father was a lawyer, he didn’t fight for the just side, but The Right, and tried to eradicate anyone who got in his way. Anyone different from him, anyone like Regulus. The Black son closed the door, then quickly stormed out of the house.

Regulus walked two blocks to the place where Sirius would be picking him up, it was safer this way. Reg was sitting on a bench for a few long minutes, thinkingRegulus hated that he had so many thoughts, why couldn’t he just see everything like it was perfect, like that Potter kid. Sirius pulled his Harley over on the side of the road, parked, and got off to greet his brother. He was wearing his signature Sirius-Black-leather-jacket with an old band tee and a pair of worn-in Levi’s. Sirius approached Reggie, didn’t speak, and just pulled his brother into a tight hug. Regulus hadn’t been hugged for in a very long time. When he buried his face in Sirius’s shoulder, Reg started to shed a few tears, dripping onto his brother’s leather.

After a few wholesome moments, Sirius pulled away and pointed at Regulus’s two, small bags, “Is that all?”

”Yea, I was in a rush,” Reg said bashfully, after wiping his eyes and nose with a sweater sleeve.

”It’s alright, the Potters have some things for you, though you may not like James’s or I’s  clothes!” His brother always tried to make him feel better, lighten the mood. Sirius handed Reg a spare helmet out of the top box, “Here put this on,” he said as he switched it out with his brother’s little belongings.

Sirius started the engine up again, Regulus hopped on and they were off. Reg loved the motorbike, it felt so freeing, and it went against everything the Black family stood for, which he liked even more. He finally let loose on the ride, hadn’t felt this calm since more than two years ago, when he got to always be around Sirius. Back then they were both trapped, but at least they were trapped together. After about three TV Girl songs played on Sirius’s beat up JBL speaker, they were at the Potters. The house had a sense of nostalgia around it, though Reggie had barely been in there, he always wished he was. He’d always had confusing feelings about that Potter boy, he just wanted to be around him. Even though in recent years Regulus had moved on, these strange feelings were still in the ack of his mind. What did they mean?

”Hey,” Sirius grabbed his brother’s shoulder before they stepped into the house, “I know you’re in love with him or whatever, but please don’t be weird around James, I don’t want him feeling uncomfortable.”

”What are you talking about? I am not in love with James Potter! I tolerate him at the most!”

”Whatever you say Reggie, but I know you better than you think!”

Regulus rolled his eyes, just like the good old days.

The Potter’s were very kind, for one they let him stay in their house, but also made him feel at home. At dinner they were extremely chatty, which Regulus hated. He preferred to think. Though they still managed to make him feel welcome, Effie even made sure their guest bedroom was ready for him, and showed him where everything was. Regulus was lying down in his temporary bed, trying to not take up too much space, in case he got displaced at any moment, it wasn’t Regulus’s space after all. Around 9:00 PM, Sirius came into the guest bedroom and invited his brother upstairs, where the two boys bedrooms were. Sirius led Reggie through the halls, which were filled with family photos and memories. In James’s room, the Potter boy was lying down, watching something on his phone, when he saw Regulus and jumped up to greet him. The three boys hung out for an hour or two, just chatting, well James and Sirius were chatting and Regulus was enjoying their company. At around 11:00 PM, Sirius yawned, got up, and announced he was going to bed. Now, left in the room was just James and Reg, sitting together on the boy’s king sized bed. 

Regulus didn’t know what to do, he shifted, “I can leave if you want, Potter.” Oh god, that sounded too rude, Regulus wasn’t thinking about what he was saying. Why wasn’t he thinking?”

”No, it’s alright,” James replied, like he actually wanted to be around him, “Reggie, you can talk to me if you want. About anything.”

Regulus settled back down, tried to get a little comfy, knowing he’d be her for a while. But he did it, he told James everything.

Once he was done, it was around midnight, and he’d slipped between awake and asleep a few times during the conversation. He’d woken up again, and suddenly felt James’s body next to his. Oh god what was he doing? The boy was still awake, which was worse.

“James, do you want me to go?” Whispered Regulus, as he tried to subtly angle his hips away from the other boy’s.

”No,” James whispered back sleepily, “Reggie, please stay.”

Reg felt very tired himself, he yawned and groggily replied, “Ok, Jamie,” and that’s what he did.

He stayed. 

Chapter Text

James spent the rest of his week attached to Regulus. He just so, James couldn’t put it to words, just so. There was something intriguing about the Black boy, he wanted to know everything about the boy, every secret, every detail, James wanted to see life through Reggie’s eyes. Oh and those eyes. James could drown in Regulus’s eyes, deep shades of blue and green. They were filled with mystery, doubt, sadness, but somehow also passion. Light.

James might’ve been thinking about him too much, and it didn’t seem like Regulus reciprocated these feelings of pure fascination in the other boy. James needed a distraction from him, something to get him mind off of the blue eyed boy. Something to get James’s mind off of the eyes. Luckily after a short two days of obsession, the weekend ended and James was shot back into reality.

”We’re going to school, love you Mom, love you Papa!” James said to his parents as he got his waffle out of the toaster. Sirius had already eaten breakfast, since he routinely woke up at six A.M. on Mondays to make sure his hair looked for the week, and he always had a little extra time in the mornings. Regulus, in fact, did not eat breakfast. Another thing to ask about, James noted. The three boys all plied into the car, there wasn’t much conversation. Eventually Sirius’s favorite Chappell Roan song, Causal, started playing on the radio so the silence got replaced by the older Black brothers belting. 

Sirius was screaming, “FUCKED YOU IN THE BATHROOM, WHEN WE WENT TO DINNER! YOUR PARENTS AT THE TABLE-“ when the group pulled into the parking lot. They inevitably got weird looks since you could hear Sirius from outside, then the boys parted ways.

⭑ ⭑ ⭑ 

The three housemates were eventually reunited at 2:00 P.M. when their first theater rehearsal happened. James scanned the theater classroom, carefully viewing each of his new cast mates. 

There was Lily, obviously, who he couldn’t help staring at. He wasn’t excited to work with her, how in the world would he focus. To the right of her was Remus, who kept eying Sirius. James had no clue what that would’ve been about, and he didn’t think he’d want to. Talking to Remus was Peter, who looked friendly enough, at least a little friendlier than Lupin. Standing a little behind them was Mary, who looked very outgoing, talking off her friend’s , Marlene, ear off. With a small arm around Marlene’s shoulder was Dorcas, and James assumed there was something going on between the two of them. Talking to Dorcas was Pandora, and her brother, Evan. They didn’t seem very interested in their conversation though, with the sister eying Lily, and the brother eying Barty. Oh and then there was Barty Crouch Jr., James wasn’t very found of the boy. He’d known Barty and Reg were going out, but James didn’t fully trust Barty, not with Reg that is.

Mcgonagall, the high school theater teacher, clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention, “Ok everyone, I know we’re very excited, but let’s settle down!” the room drew quiet and the young woman smiled, “Ok! Since it's our first day of production, we'll start with some chemistry reads. I'll put you with the actors you have the most scenes with, just to get a feel for your characters! Tech, I'll scatter you throughout to provide extra help!" Then, the teacher came directly to James, with Lily and Regulus in tow. "now, my two leads, I'm going to have Reg work with you to make sure everything runs smoothly! Ok everyone, get to work!"

James looked towards Sirius, who had been assigned to Lupin. James looked at him own group, this would be interesting!

“Alright then!” Lily said assertively, “BatBoy, Potter, let’s get to work!” 

She lead them to a one of the stage wings, where she sat down on a large prop couch and started talking. James, barely knowing anything about theater, just sat there, nodding. He got distracted easily by the two of them. They were both so intriguing. James finally started paying attention again when Lily yelled at him. ”James! Pay attention! I can’t put on my best performance if my costar doesn’t care !”

James looked helplessly back at her, then Regulus noticed and lead him through the exercise. Regulus was always so attentive like that, he noticed everything. James appreciated that about the boy. About his friend .

After a little while, James got the hang of the exercise and ended up having a bit of fun. Even Lily seemed to be enjoying herself, laughing at James’s jokes and making fun of him. Everything was going perfectly until half of tech crew showed up.

Evan, Pandora, and Barty all walked in together. Pandora was giving Lily strange looks, though that might’ve just been  how she looked. Then Barty started getting mad at Regulus, asking why he’d been around James so much. James was about to punch the boy, but Reg wouldn’t let him.

”Jamie, no,” Reggie said, with a slight French accent. James had begun to notice his accent came out when he was upset. Then Barty pulled the blue eyed boy aside. James couldn’t tell what was being said, but Barty sounded angry.

All he could make out was Crouch yelling, “Well then why are you  living  with him, explain that then?” James was fuming at this point.

He better not hurt my Reggie,  James thought.

He turned to Evan, who had been just standing there, staring at Barty from afar, and asked,”What is his problem?”

”Oh, uh, I don’t know. Barty just  gets  like that sometimes. He’s overprotective that’s all.” Evan responded aloof.

Why was this dork defending that jerk? If you love him so much go make out with him and let James talk to Reg. 

“That is  not being overprotective,” James  was overprotective of Reg, because he cared about him, of course, “Barty’s just being a bitch!”

Then James stormed in the two’s direction, punched the Crouch kid hard in the face, and dragged Regulus out by the shirt collar.

Lily broke free from her awkward interaction with Pandora, and started freaking out. Though, James didn’t care. They were leaving.

Chapter Text

Oh god, Remus knew this moment would come soon enough, but he finally had to interact with Sirius Black. Remus knew for sure this would not end well.

"All right then," Remus said reluctantly to his new castmate, "Let's get to work!" The two boys decided to walk around campus, pacing through the Electives hall while running lines. Sirius wasn't to bad, he had a sort of way with words, this air about him. 

Sirius was working on some improv in character, "Are you a poet?" the boy said. Remus knew it was not the real Sirius, just a act, but the back-and-forth banter felt nice.

"No," Remus replied with a slight smirk, damn this was going to be a rough few months.

"Part time then?" Sirius, well more of his character Padfoot, said back. Remus studied the boy, breathing in his soft blue eyes and hard smirk, for a few moments, until he felt a small trickle of blood roll down his leg. 

Oh fuck!

"Fuck! You're bleeding!" his castmate was stunned. Remus should've known he was going to start today, but bleeding through in front of Sirius Black? What would he think.

The Black boy told off his leather jacket, tied it around Remus's waist, and lead him back into the theater classroom. "Here, Reg as some extra supplies in his bag, I'll get it!” 

At this point, Remus was too mortified to even think properly, and just blindly followed Sirius into a single bathroom across the hall. Sirius carefully locked the door, and rummaged through his brother’s bag until he eventually found a small cloth bag containing some pads, boxers, and stain remover. Remus watched as Black placed the item on the sink countertop then approached Remus, who couldn’t help but bite his lip and stare. The boy couldn’t be seriously doing this to him, with the situation at hand. Sirius slowly reached down, unbuttoned Remus’s jolts, slipped them off, and then did the same for his boxers underneath. Sirius took the boxers, handing Remus a knew pair, and tossing the others. Luckily, nothing got onto Remus’s shorts, but if there was, Sirius seemed happy to help. This felt very of character for the boy, Remus always viewed him as sort of a fuck boy, making out with people then not speaking to them for two years. Now, this person with him in the bathroom was very different, he cared.

Sirius Black you motherfucker, Remus thought. This couldn’t be like what happened on Remus’s fifteenth birthday, two years ago at a party over spring break. This time there would be no feelings, and no kissing, though Remus was secretly routing against that one. 

After everything was handled, Remus slid down to sit on the bathroom floor, staring up at Sirius, and finally asked, “Why’d you do it?” 

“Anything for my moony,” Sirius responded, with a cheeky smile. Remus wanted to attack him. 

“You know what I’m talking about,” Remus was pissed at this point. How could he keep ignoring what had happened, “I’m talking about the party. Spring break sophomore year, Lily told you it was my birthday at a party, you said you’d make me remember, and you kissed me. More than kissed me, we made out. Then you left. Then pretended it never happened. Why’d you do it? Any of it?”

Sirius stood on the wall opposite of Remus, then slid down the meet him at eye level. Sirius looked baffled, almost disgusted, “It was you? You’re the reason I got kicked out?”

They both went quiet then, Remus stared into the boys deep blue eyes. All this time Remus thought he’d been a homophobic jerk, but kicked out? For kissing a boy? Remus didn’t know what to say, but Sirius broke the silence first.

”I’m sorry, really. I was drunk, and don’t remember it well. I mean,” the boy smirked, “It was good, if that’s what you’re asking. Then shortly after I’d reliazed what I’d done, and knew my parents would murder me for it. A few days later, someone sent them a photo of me- us- making out, and kicked me out. I’ve been living with James ever since. But really, I’m sorry I left you at the party. And you were a really, really, good kisser.” Sirius sniffled and let out a laugh towards then end.

After processing, Remus responded. “No, I’m sorry. I mean kicked out! I guess that kiss was really worth it,” both the boys laughed, “And all this time I thought you were just a bigot, but today I find out you a trans rights advocate or some shit, and I got a queer kid kicked out of their home. Who’s the bigot now?” They both broke out into intense laughter. 

“It’s alright!”

”But seriously, thank you. For all of this,” Remus gestured to the bathroom. This place would hold what might’ve been one of Remus’s favorite memories forever now.

”Anything for my Moony.”

Both the boys rose, and stood too close for comfort to one another, and awkwardly left the bathroom. When they walked back to the theater classroom, James was running around frantically.

”There you are! Where were you too?” James ran over to Sirius, who started blushing, “Doesn’t matter, we’ve got to go. Now. I kinda punched Barty in the face for being a prick.”

Remus turned, “You what? And does anyone know where Lily is?”

”She’s dealing with Barty right now, you know how she is. Now, C’mon, we’ve got to go like now!”

Remus looked around, dazed and confused, when Sirius grabbed his hand, “You coming?” So Remus, quickly, followed along. 

Remus plied into the back of James’s corvette, sitting next to Sirius, with James at the wheel and Regulus in shotgun.

When they drove off, Sirius finally asked, “So what exactly happened?”

James started to speak but Regulus cut him off, saying, “Nothing! Barty and I got into a disagreement and James overreacted, that’s all! And now everything’s royally fucked because of him!”

“Hey!” James shouted back, Remus didn’t know he could do that, “Barty laid his hands on you. He deserved much worse than what he got!”

Now Sirius was riled up, “He what! That cunt! I’m killing that boy!” 

“EVERYONE, JUST STOP!” Regulus shouted, “I’m fine.”

”Alright,” his brother responded, “Reggie, reach into the glove box and grab me my pack, please.”

Regulus passed back a box of cigarettes, “Light me one.”

 “Me too,” Remus spoke up for the first time the whole ride. 

The rest of the car ride, the three boys smoked while James made various complaints about how bad it was. Why did James care so much? He was way too overprotective, especially towards Reg, Remus wondered what was going on between the two of them. After the tense car ride, Remus finally got a text from Lily saying to meet her at The Spot.

”Hey,” Remus turned to Sirius, “I need to go, go to meet up with Lils,”

”I can take you, if that’s alright,” he responded, “Ever ridden a motorcycle?”

Oh. My. God. Sirius Black somehow just got a hundred times hotter. He got on, tightly pressing his body into Sirius’s. It felt good, really good. As they were driving, an Adrianne Lenker song started to play. It was perfect for the moment, because Remus did, in fact, want to kiss kiss your eyes again. 

Chapter Text

Sirius and Remus arrived at, what the brown eyed boy had referred to as, The Spot, within a quick twenty minute ride. Though, Sirius secretly wished it had lasted longer. There was something about being so close to him, the boy that had gotten him kicked out of him home. it felt liberating. Like a huge "Fuck you" to his parents. Though, at the same time, the boy simply comforted Sirius, it was something about him, so- just so. Sirius followed Remus inside the grimy cafe to a crowded table in the back. There, he saw practically half the cast sitting, chatting, and some setting up instruments. Lily, Peter, Pandora, and Evan were all in chairs, admiring the three other girls, Marlene, Mary, and Dorcas, all setting up microphones, guitars, and what looked like a- keytar?

As they pulled up two chair, Marlene, who seemed to be the lead singer, spoke to them, “Ya ready for the show, wrote some of the music ourselves, its gonna be a fucking banner!”

“It better not be like last time, when the sound system went out and you all were singing Scotty Doesn’t Know- A Capella!” Remus joked with what seemed to be his good friend.

Dorcas snorted at this comment, causing the rest of the group, including Sirius, to start dying. Once everything thing was set up, the girls started their set, and they sounded fucking amazing. They went from singing Zombie by The Cranberries to American Idiot by Green Day, both extremely culturally relevant, which Sirius appreciated. They continued with some Boygenius, playing the best cover of $20 anyone has ever heard. After a few more covers, the girls, who Sirius found out called themselves The Valkyries, started playing a song they wrote, called Talk. As they were singing, the girls seemed to be in heaven. Dorcas and Marlene were screaming-singing a duet that went, “You don’t wanna talk to me right now!”, with Dorcas also playing the most insane and complicated riffs anyone has ever played on a keytar. While this was going on, Mary was going absolutely nuts on her guitar, again playing one of the most batshit crazy riffs Sirius had heard. After their set was over, The Valkyries asked how they did, and Sirius was simply at a loss for words, as well as the rest of his friends.

“Alright, I’ll say it then!” Pete finally spoke up, “That was cunt!” 

Marlene bursted into a laughing fit, “Thanks Pete!”

”What- did I use it wrong?”

”No, the way you say cunt, is well extremely cunty!”

”Thank you?” Peter responded. Sirius could now tell he was the token straight of that group. Peter continued, “Well I’ve got just the thing to celebrate, your royal cuntiness.” 

The boy revealed the necks of two beer bottles from his thick jacket pockets. Yep, definitely straight, Sirius thought.

“I like how you’re thinking,” Evan finally spoke, “I’ve got the perfect thing to go with it!” The boy pulled out a metal flask, that he had not-so-sneakily been pouring into his coffee throughout the show, as well an inconspicuous baggie of leaf-shaped gummies.

Dorcas smiled and nugged him, “I’ve got some joints in my car too, I wouldn’t trust Rosier’s Uber floor drugs!”

“Hey! I got given them in the club bathroom!”

”That’s so much worse?!”

The group took their business elsewhere, though if they did get lit in the middle of the Stardust Cafe, no one would’ve cared. As the group was walking and smoking, some tobacco, some weed, they passed a liquor store and collectively got the best, or worst, idea ever. Evan had his fake ID on him, because of course he did, and bought the group multiple cases of beer and vodka bottles. 

“If we’re going to get this wasted, let’s at least throw a proper party,” Sirius suggested, before Evan was going to shotgun a beer in the middle of the street with encouragement from Peter and Remus. “How about the Potters? His parents don’t care about anything.”

”Aren’t they rich? Fuck yes!” Mary responded. 

Once this plan was in place, the only two sober people, Lily and Sirius, shuttled everyone over to the Potter’s house. On the ride back, Remus was extra touchy, and a bit of a freak after a blunt. Sirius didn’t mind, but did wish that Remus wouldn’t remember some of the things he whispered to the black haired boy on that bike by the next morning. Since Sirius had told James about the party plans, he had tried his best to get the Potter’s set up before everyone got there. For James, that meant grabbing a bunch of Solo Cups, turning on the stereo system, and playing one of Sirius’s Spotify playlists, labeled Party Songs. Just what Sirius had expected from James. 

Once it got started, the party was a hit! Everyone was, chatting, dancing, drinking, smoking, and for some reason all making out?Sirius spotted Marlene kissing someone, though he couldn’t tell who, he could tell it was not Dorcas. Dorcas was on the back patio, with Evan and Pandora, who all somehow got a bong and were passing it around. During one quick interaction, it seemed like Dorcas was hitting on both Pandora and her twin, Evan. This night would definitely make for some good songs in the future. Mary was also being a bit of a flirt that night, even trying to make a few playful moves on both Sirius and Remus, and seemed to either be really interested or really high. In spite of this, the two boys were more entranced in each other than anyone else. Sirius hadn’t even seen James or Reggie all night, the two had been so close in the past week they must’ve snuck off to talk or some bullshit sappy stuff. 

As the song faded from Fireball by Pitbull to Party 4 U by Charli XCX, Remus pulled Sirius into a spare bedroom. Though they could still hear their friends, and some strays that had just shown up to the party, through the door, it was quiet. Just the two of them, being strangely serenaded by Charli, getting way too close for comfort. As the boys talked more, they got closer, and eventually took each other’s clothes off, lying next to each other while the speaker played Rush by Troye Sivan. They weren’t touching, just together. Though, things quickly changed as they got into the chorus of Rush, and Sirius became genuinely addicted to the other boys touch. More playful, tipsy, touching and kissing was exchanged before the doorknob started to rattle. 

“Fuck!’ Sirius whispered.

”I was just about to ask,” Remus, who was either very high or just a freak, whispered back.

”No, the door, weirdo!”

The bedroom door slowly creeped open, as the two boys through blankets over each other, to see Peters shocked, and completely blazed, face. 

As he stood there with the door slightly ajar, the boys could hear Talk by Charli XCX and Troye Sivan more clearly playing.

Peter finally pulled his words together, “Wait- what? You’re- but you’re also-?” He said as he pointed at Remus, “And you’re?” He turned and pointed at Sirius. The boys just both awkwardly nodded and tried to shoo Peter out so they could get their clothes back on. 

“Ugh!” Sirius groaned, “This is why I never hook up with someone when Troye Sivan is playing!”

Chapter Text

Why the fuck did this keep happening to Peter?

He had walked into basically all of his friends either hooking up, or about to over the course of this party. After getting completely blazed, he first tried to go up to Marlene, one of his closest friends, to congratulate her on the show, just to see her absolutely eating Mary’s face. Being completely out of it, he still tried to talk to them, they both realized he was there and started begging him not to tell anyone. He agreed and tried to find Lily, who was getting a little drunkenly handsy with James. Then he went outside to find Dorcas, Marlene’s girlfriend, making out with Pandora. Again, they asked Peter to not tell anyone. After they stopped, Lily came outside with Mary, who were hitting on each other. Though Lily was also flirting with Pandora? She was definitely black out drunk, this was not like her. Getting fed up with all of his friends cheating on each other, he went back inside to get some alone time, ended up walking in on Regulus and James getting a little too close, while smoking weed in a bathroom. The he walked into whatever Remus and Sirius were doing together.

”Please don’t tell anyone,” Remus begged, “You can keep one secret, right?”

Peter could’ve sworn he heard that about ten times tonight.

Peter started giggling, “It’s fineee, everyone’s doing it!”

”You’re completely blazed, aren’t you?” Remus started laughing

”Maybe?”

⭑⭑⭑

About thirty minutes later, Remus grabbed Peter and told him they were going somewhere. The boys walked outside and Remus filed Peter into a bright red sport car that James was driving and Sirius was sitting in shotgun. They turned to greet the boys in the backseat and then sped off.

Realization finally kicked in and Peter turned towards Remus, “So exactly what the fuck are we doing?” He asked, though he didn’t care. The boy was already completely wasted, he wouldn’t even remember this drive in the morning.

Remus, also very drunk, and probably high on dopamine after what Peter saw him doing earlier, answered, “I have no fuckin’ clue,” he said slurrying his words.

“Actually,” Sirius interjected from the front seat, slurring his words, “We’re just off from a drive. Remus over here just has no clue what he’s talkin’ about. And don’t worry, Jamey isn’t drunk. I hope-“

”I’m fineee,” James whined, “Now Black, put on some good music and crank it!”

James was definitely on something. They were fucked.

Sirius turned on a playlist, turned up the stereo to full volume, and rolled down the windows. The first song that started playing was a random one from the Mamma Mia soundtrack. James and Sirius both exchanged sly smiles and started belting.

”-HONEY, HONEY, HOW HE THRILLS ME! UH HUH!”

Remus started dying laughing and said, “What the butch?”

They whole car started dying and Sirius whipped his head around and playful yelled, “What did you just call me, twink?”

”No, he’s more of a twunk,” Peter said while snorting. 

“Oh, and you’re a TRUNK!!” Remus joked back at Peter.

The car laughed for about twenty more minutes until a song turned on and James whipped the car over. 

“Sirius- Sirius,” James yelled as the boys in the front seat routinely traded seats, “It’s the song.”

Once they both sat back down, Sirius started driving again and James climbed out of the skylight in the roof as the song Heroes by David Bowie started playing.

Peter and Remus both started laughing, “Oh. My. God! Are you reacting that’s scene from that pedo movie?”

”Hey!” Sirius, a reckless driver, took his eyes off the road and turned towards the backseat, “Put some respect on The Perks of Being a Wallflower’s name!”

James stood up and stuck his arms out like he was flying, and like he was Emma Watson in a coming-of-age film as the radio sang,

I, I will be king

And you, you will be queen

The entire car started singing along, and made fun of their friends, who was standing up through the entire song. Once it ended, James pulled himself back down into the speeding car. The rest of the night was filled with joking, singing, smoking, speeding. Going to Waffle House, getting kicked out of Waffle House, getting kicked out of the Waffle House parking lot. 

It might’ve been the craziest, strangest, best night Peter had ever had. With his friends.

The boys got back about an hour and a half later, around midnight. It had seemed like the party had cleared out, with some people still in the backyard. They were all crowded around someone- two people, who seemed to be in a screaming match. Then they all saw it.

The two boys in a screaming match in James’s backyard, were Regulus, and Barty Crouch Jr.  

Chapter Text

“Barty! Get off of him!” Evan screamed at his friend, who was trying to attack Regulus. Everything had happened so quickly, Barty had stormed into the house, Evan had tried to calm him down, then Barty found Regulus and absolutely lost it. There was screaming, crying, and some poorly thrown punches that fortunately hadn't hurt Reg. Evan had resorted to forcing his friend off of Regulus. He was pulling Barty arms back with all his force, when James came rushing into the backyard.

Lily was murmuring something to him when he screamed at Barty, “GET OUT OF MY FUCKING HOUSE!” James bolted towards Barty, trying to fight the boy, while Evan forced the two drunk idiots apart

”FINE!” Barty screamed back, “And you can keep you bitch-boy too, I don’t want him.”

”If you even try to lay a finger on Reg again, I swear to God-“

James was about to go ballistic again so Evan forced Barty out of the house. Evan profusely apologized for his friend then followed him outside. Evan got in shotgun of Barty’s truck, where he was punching the stereo as Everlong by Foo Fighters was playing.

Evan grabbed Barty’s wrists and stared at him, “What the fuck was that?”

Barty shook Evan’s hand away, “I don’t know! I’m pissed,” He punched the dashboard again, “If that bitch wants me to  be mad, he’ll see me mad!”

Barty was of course talking about the fact that his boyfriend, Regulus, had been purposefully ignoring him, ever since moving into the Potter’s. The only interaction they ever had these past weeks ended in screaming, and Barty hitting something, or someone. Evan hated it.

Barty drove off, they sat in silence for a few minutes, then Evan turned the radio back on when Wonderwall started playing.

”I fucking hate this song,” Barty said

”You fucking hate everything,” Evan smirked. “Hey, tonight. Why?”

”I told you, I’m pissed!”

”It’s not your fault,” Evan reached for Barty’s hand, and gazed into his eyes, “With your parents and everything. You couldn’t do anything.”

Barty stared at Evan, the look of anger melting into a look of what seemed to almost be desire. As they were driving on a backroad, Barty pulled over.

”Thanks, Rose,” Barty leaned towards his best friend. Evan initiated the kiss, maybe it was the amount of pot in his system, maybe it was the radio playing Dirty Little Secret, maybe it was nerves. They made out, Evan doing most of the work. Eventually, realization must’ve kicked into Barty, and he pushed away. He looked at his friend again, this time with a look of sadness, almost pity, and disgust.

”Evan, I-“ Barty voice started trembling, “I don’t want you. I don’t want this. Just, don’t do it again, ok?”

”What?” Evan was on the brink of an outburst, “So do my feelings not matter to you? God, you say no one loves you, then when someone does you hate them! I see why your parents left!”

Why did he just say that.

”What did you just say?” Barty was angry again, “Get out of my fucking car!”

”FINE! Have fun alone in life, cunt!”

Evan jumped out onto the road, and realized they were quite literally in the middle of nowhere. He slammed the door and flipped off the truck as Barty speed away.

What the fuck had he just done?

⭑ ⭑ ⭑ 

After what happened Friday, Evan hadn’t talked to Barty since. Every rehearsal had been awkward, though. There was a lot of apologies to Regulus, which he just blew off. Evan also apologized to James, who said it was fine, but had some choice words about Barty. On Thursday, Evan eventually broke when talking to Dorcas after class.

”Ok, I need to tell someone this,” Evan told Dorcas while they shared a cigarette and listened to Hard Times by Paramore. “So, after the party and everything with Barty. Before he kicked me out of the car, I kissed him. Like we made out.”

Dorcas turned to her friend, stunned. Evan had told her about his crush on Barty, that was about three years ago, but they both knew it would never happen.

”What did he say?”

”Well, I mean he kicked me out of the car, and I cussed him out if that gives you any hints.”

”Fuck, that’s insane,” Dorcas started chuckling, “Smooth moves, dweeb!”

”Oh shut up, dork!” Evan was laughing too now.

”Oh and about the party,” Dorcas started blushing, “I kinda made some moves on Pardora. And she didn’t cuss me out, so I think it went well!”

”Bitch! That’s my sister!” Evan was shocked, though this made more sense than him and Barty. “And you have a girlfriend!”

”Eh,” Dorcas shrugged.

”What do you mean, eh?”

”THIS is why I didn’t want to tell you!”

”No, it’s fine, really, just what?”

”Just don’t tell anyone, ok?” Dorcas got very serious then, “The only other person that knows is Peter.”

“Why does Peter know?”

”Just, forget it! Secret?” Dorcas begged as she held out her pinky to make a sacred promise.

”A very dirty one!” Evan smirked, taking his friend’s pinky.

Chapter Text

A Few Weeks After The Party, March 10th

Luckily, for Lily, thy had no practice that Monday in March, so she rushed home as soon as she could. Lily had told Remus she had to 'run errands', which hadn't been a lie, but those errands just happened to include setting up a surprise party in Remus's apartment. Lily sped out of the parking lot, and quickly got to her and Remus's apartment complex. She ran upstairs, threw her things into her apartment, grabbed party supplies, and ran into Remus's next door.

"Hi darling," Mr. Lupin greeted her. He was always kind to Lily, even though he was a bit of a drunk, but it was better than Lily’s own family. She was barely home, if she was there would always be someone screaming at her for one reason or another, so Lily practically lived at the apartment next door. 

“Hello, Mr. Lupin,” Lily replied cheerfully, “It’s still alright if we throw the party here, right? I don’t want to intrude!”

”Of course it’s alright, make yourself at home!”

Within about two hours everything was set up and people started rolling in. The first person who came in was James, who since his party around a month ago Lily had started seeing. Along with him was the boy he had been living with, Regulus, while Sirius was still stalling Remus before the party. She greeted her boyfriend with a peck on the cheek, and smiled at the Black boy. He shyly smiled back at her, Lily never understood Regulus, she wasn’t sure if anyone understood him, except maybe James, as it seemed. Though James, with somehow a heart bigger than his ego, seemed to love and understand anyone. 

Shortly after their arrival, Mary, Marlene, and Peter entered, without Dorcas, who Marlene had broken up with again. Lily couldn’t keep track of them anymore, but apparently according to Marlene, she dumped Dorcas, who had been a bitch recently. Though, Marlene was severely regretting it, even though it had only been a week since the breakup. 

Within about 20 minutes the apartment was packed with people, and Lily called Sirius to bring Remus over. Lily turned off the lights and told everyone to get down, as she heard the lock shake.

”SUPRISE!” Everyone shouted, as Remus flicked the lights on. He was in utter shock, and ran to hug Lily.

The rest of the night Remus couldn’t stop smiling, which made Lily very happy. The party was filled with dancing, singing, drinking, laughing, and having a great time. There was even a point when Lily and Remus did a karaoke duet to Dancing Queen by ABBA. It was a blaze of colors, and had evidently been one of the best nights of their lives.

By midnight, everyone had gone home, except Remus’s closest friend, Lily, Mary, and Marlene, obviously, but also James, Peter, and most importantly Sirius. Along with Lily and James going out, Remus and Sirius had also started seeing each other. Though, they weren’t very committed, and were keeping it on the DL, as Remus put it.

”Thank you all,” Remus was almost in tears after the event, “This might’ve been the best night ever!”

Lily scooted next to her best friend on his couch, and gave him a giant hug. This caused some more tears, and the pair were in shambles.

”Alright!” Sirius said, trying to move things along, “Can you open my gift, Moony!”

Remus nodded, and almost died of laughter as he open his gift, which consisted of a three piece suit and a pack of cigarettes, which had “Baby’s first legal pack” written on it.

”What the fuck is this!” Remus smiled and laughed as he hugged Sirius.

”Well, it is your first legal pack, and as for the suit, you really need to dress nicer.”

Remus laughed some more, and his friends joined in, and started giving him gifts. By the end of the night, Remus had 6 new packs of cigarettes.

Soon after, Mary and Marlene left together, something was definitely going on between them. Then Peter left, after he realized the two other boys wouldn’t been going any time soon.

“Thanks again Lils,” Remus hugged his best friend goodnight.

”Night boys!” Lily said as she walked out the Lupin’s apartment, with James following behind.

Lily showed James the way to her bedroom, and the boy sat on Lily’s bed as she changed into her pajamas.

”Lily,” James said quietly, “This might’ve been the best night ever. You’re a great friend.”

”Thanks baby,” Lily smirked, “But you know what could make this night even better.”

Lily pushed James to lie flat on her bed, and rose on top of him.

⭑ ⭑ ⭑ 

Two weeks later, practice was running relatively smoothly, when had to rush to the bathroom and throw up. Lily had been feeling pretty sick recently, and didn’t know what was going on. She quickly began to freak out and called Remus.

Once he had gotten into the bathroom, Lily broke down, “I haven’t had my period in six weeks!”

”It’s ok,” Remus said, trying to sooth her, “Surely you can’t be, but I got a test just in case.”

Lily took the test and handed it to Remus, because she couldn’t bare to look. Remus’s face went blank. Lily looked at the small stick to see two distinct lines. The girl was too stunned to speak.

Lily. Was. Pregnant.

Chapter Text

It had been a quite peaceful day on set, no one needed Regulus for anything, so he had been helping James run lines. Though they both knew James didn’t need the help, he was a wonderful actor in fact, but Regulus gladly obliged.

”I’m not feeling well,” Lily said, as she quickly ran off stage, “be right back!”

”Lils, you alright,” James looked concerned, but he must’ve figured it was nothing.

”Well then,” said McGonagall, the director, from the audience, “Reg, will you fill in for her?”

”Sure, ma’am,” Regulus said, trying to stay cool, though he was actually fluttering with joy. James and Lily had gotten to a bit of a romantic scene, and it would’ve killed Regulus to watch. Right now, James was all Reg’s, his boy.

”Well this is it, baby,” James said, in character as he gestured around the stage.

”It’s,” Regulus couldn’t compress his smile, “perfect!”

”Well we are in our golden years,” James smiled as he pulled Reggie closer, though the boy was probably imagining Lily in his place.

Regulus smiled and pulled him into a kiss. Well, it was supposed to be a stage kiss, but the pair sort of forgot the “stage” part of it all. They lingered, letting their lips interlock for a few seconds too long.

James politely pulled away, and continued acting, as he started to sing Golden Years.

”And scene!” McGonagall yelled, “James it seems like we need to practice the kiss scene a bit more, we don’t want it to be too passionate on opening night!”

James smirked, as Regulus was still standing there in utter shock.

What had he done?

James was flipping through his script to a scene a few pages over, when Remus came rushing in. He pulled the two off to the wings.

”James,” he said with a heavy breath, “Lily needs you, it’s urgent. She’s in the dressing room right now.”

James quickly rushed back to his girlfriend, and Reggie tried to follow, but Remus held him back.

”What’s going on, anyways?” Regulus asked Remus, who in the past month, had turned into sort of a role model for him, an older brother type. Though the two boys were less than a year apart, Remus had more experience in being a man than Regulus did.

”Lily,” Remus seemed as if he was choking on his words, “she’s pregnant.”

”What?” Regulus was in shock, he wanted to ask how, but he knew the answer. Reg knew James wasn’t just his boy.

Since there wasn’t much else to do at rehearsal, Regulus and Remus were allowed to go. Remus took both Reg and Sirius, who had both just lost their ride home thanks to James, to an old cafe a few miles away.

Regulus had never been here before, though it was obvious the other two boys had. Reg ordered a plain black coffee, which gave him a few strange looks from the barista as well as his friends. He got embarrassed by this small gesture, since Reg was desperate to look cool in front of Remus. It wasn’t like Regulus is interested in him or anything, Remus is more of his brother’s type anyways. Though, there was just something about the boy that Regulus wanted to impress.

The pair flirted as Regulus sipped on his scolding coffee. Maybe it was a bad idea to hang out with a couple. Especially when one of half of the pair was his brother.

After the group finished their drinks and caught up on the weekly gossip (apparently Marlene and Dorcas were together again, who knew?) Remus offered to take the brothers home. Once they got back, Regulus quickly rushed to find James.

The boy was in his bedroom, rearranging some furniture and seemed to be unpacking some things.

”Hey,” Reg slid the door open and stepped in, “I heard about Lils, is everything alright?”

”Yea we’re all good,” James replied cheerfully, “But can I tell you-“

”Real quick,” Regulus interrupted, “Listen, I’m really sorry about today. I swear it won’t happen again.”

”No it’s really alright,” James responded, as he inched closer to the boy, until they became to-close-for-comfort.

Regulus drew in closer.

”Listen Reggie,” James stared deeply into Regulus’s eyes, and then at his lips, “I really need to tell you-“

James couldn’t bear to get his words out. Before he could, he started kissing Regulus, with passion too. They had gotten to a point where Regulus was scared his face would get permanently eaten off, when a voice interrupted them.

”James,” Lily stepped into his bedroom.

The couple quickly pulled away and both stared at Lily in horror. 

“Baby!” James scrambled as Lily marched out the door, and the lover boy ran after her in suit.

⭑ ⭑ ⭑ 

At dinner, Mrs. Potter ordered everyone to have dinner together. She knew that James and Lily were arguing, though she didn’t know why, which was good for Regulus’s sake. Mr. and Mrs. Potter along with Sirius and Regulus had dinner as normal, with Lily showing up politely late. Late without James, who never showed up to the meal. Dinner was awkward once Lily showed up, with Sirius trying to initiate small talk with the other. Regulus didn’t speak much, just played with his roasted potatoes and tried to keep his head down. He couldn’t bare to see what kind of death glares Lily may have been shooting him. After the painfully long meal, Regulus tried to slip off to bed quietly. Before he could get to his room, Lily pulled him off into a hallway.

”Hey, uh, I’m really sorry for today- well I’m not sorry, but uh-“ Lily stuttered, which she never did, this couldn’t be good, “I’m not mad at you is what I’m trying to say. James and I worked it out, and I’m fine with this whole open-relationship thing if you are. He’ll talk to you more about it- it’s really not my place I’m just, sorry, uh I-“

Regulus cut her off with a warm embrace, “Thank you. I’m so sorry I’ve been keeping this a secret. I really look up to you, and I didn’t know what you’d think of me. Just, thank you.”

”Of course,” Lily was back to her bubbly self again, “now I’m still mad at James though. For not telling me and everything, he has a problem with secret keeping. Also have you noticed how he chews with his mouth open? I hate it!”

This made Regulus giggle, ”I know! I swear I can’t one dinner with getting grossed out just looking at him eat!”

Lily laughed then said goodnight to Regulus. He went to bed happy, almost proud. Lily, one of the coolest people he had ever met liked Regulus, even though he had a thing for her boyfriend.

Chapter Text

“GUYS! THE SPOT! NOW!” Marlene texted her group chat that consisted of Lily, Mary, and Remus, as she raced to Stardust. Once Marlene got there, she ordered a Maple Chai and waited. The rest of her friends showed up five minutes later, who were late to respond to her code red text. They all sat down as normal and exchanged confused glances, not knowing why they were all gathered for.

”What’s up Marls?” Lily broke the silence.

”Have you all heard about what went down between Severus and Emmeline?” Marlene responded frantically.

“His girlfriend?” Remus chimed in, extremely confused.

”Ex-girlfriend,” Mary corrected, who was friends with the girl.

”What? They broke up?,” Lily seemed a bit too shocked, probably scared Sev would go after her again, “No, what happened?”

”Ok well Emmeline broke up with him about a week ago, while Severus was at a rowing camp for a week. And we all now how Sev goes crazy when he gets his heart broken,” everyone’s eyes darted toward Lily as Marlene was explaining. A few years back, Severus had called Lily a slur after she broke his heart.

”Well anyways,” Marlene kept explaining, “I was talking with Dorcas, and she mentioned that Evan broke off whatever was going on between him and Barty. I asked why and you will not believe what she told me!”

”What?!” The group shouted, on the edge of their seats.

”Apparently, while Barty was also at this rowing camp, Severus gave Barty a hand job, then went to Evan crying about it!”

The group was in utter shock, with no sound coming out of their open jaws for minutes.

Lily, again, was the first to respond, “He’s gay?!?!”

Remus started laughing, “Hey! I guess he could call you slurs after all! Better call him a fag next!”

Everyone bursts out laughing, and goes on with their meet up. Though, no one is fully over what they found out about Sev and Barty, because how could you be?

⭑ ⭑ ⭑ 

A few days pass, and no one dares to mention the Barty and Sev thing. Until at lunch when Barty runs up to Marlene’s lunch table. They all have B lunch, and the table consists of Marlene, Dorcas, Pandora, Lily, and James. As the five of them are talking, Barty rushes over to the table. He winces when he notices James, who makes eye contact with Barty, but he decides to talk to them anyways.

”Hey, I know y’all are spreading rumors about me, but those are not true. I would never ask any guy for hand stuff. I’m not a fucking freak.”

”Barty, we know you’re gay, you’ve dated two guys, Regulus and my brother,” Pandora snaps back, visibly irritated.

”Regina is not a boy, and your brother was a sorry excuse for one. In love with me any everything, disgusting.”

Everyone knew Barty was the most gay person they knew, there was no point in hiding it.

”What did you just say about Reg?” James could’ve punch him, again, “Get the fuck out!”

Barty walked away, pissed, and the group discussed the situation once he was out of earshot.

”So, Sev isn’t gay?” Marlene was a bit shocked, she always thought he’d been a total fruitcake, more than her.

”I guess not?” Pandora seemed puzzled too.

”I am not buying it!” Lily joked, “have you seen Sev’s build. Total twink!”

Marlene went throughout the rest of her day like normal, only seeing Severus a few times. He seemed hollow, at least more than usual, as he received strange glances from everyone in the halls. Marlene had almost forgotten about the situation, until opening instagram. On an old account of Severus’s, which only had Marlene, Lily, Mary, and Remus following it, there was a story. Marlene was in complete awe reading it and immediately called Lily.

”Have you seen the story?” Marlene shouted as soon as Lily picked up.

”No? What?” Lily seemed very concerned and on edge, must’ve been a pregnancy side effect.

”Here read this,” Marlene sent a screenshot of a story of Severus’s. It read that the rumors about him and Barty were actually true. Apparently Sev had also been drinking and smoking a lot since his break up and been very depressed. Severus also mentioned in the story that his parents found out, which Marlene wasn’t sure if it was about the addiction or him being gay. If it was about the gay thing, then Sev would’ve been kicked out by his parents, so it must’ve been the addiction.

”What. The. Fuck.” Lily couldn’t say anything else.

”I. Know.”

”What?” Lily was in utter shock and confusion, finally coming to terms with the full situation.

All Marlene could manage to sat was, “Why is everyone a bi-con now?”