Chapter Text
Severus had to agree – there was something innately thrilling about pulling up to a strobe-lit house in the Hills. Celebrities, supermodels, Hollywood’s finest and those who hung onto their fame had all clustered around this superstar’s house to engage in debauched decadence and revel in their beauty, fame and narcissism.
Severus knew he did not belong to that world. Nor did he particularly want to he thought. He liked the sterility of the lab and the dependence on chemical reactions and the quiet pursuit for knowledge.
Not this epitome of human profligacy.
Yet, in some strange twist of fate, Severus had found himself befriending Regulus Black, brother to actor Sirius Black and son of two Hollywood moguls.
He hadn’t intended to; upon acceptance into UCLA’s graduate program, he had imagined himself spending time in the library or lab and ignoring the hullaballoo of Los Angeles and all it suggested. He had no interest in celebrity culture, believed them all to be depraved anyway, and hated parties to begin with.
He hadn’t even recognized the fact that Regulus’s brother happened to be crowned by the public as some coveted Hollywood star. No, Regulus had been someone he had run into the library, frantically searching for some books on cybersecurity among the stacks. Severus, remembering Lily’s words to try to make friends, decided to help him.
Regulus had bought him a drink later as thanks, and from there, Severus found himself with a friend in the massive metropolis of L.A.
Only much later did he find out that Regulus’s brother was apparently a world-renowned celebrity. He had watched in a confusion as some girls rushed up to Regulus to gush about a movie; Regulus had responded politely but quickly disengaged from them, turning to leave with Severus.
“What was that about?” Severus had asked, tilting his head in Regulus’s direction. He still didn’t possess the greatest grasp on L.A. culture, especially after moving here from a small town in New York and attending undergraduate on the east coast. Perhaps that was normal in this city.
“Huh?” Regulus had asked. “Oh, that? Well, you know about my brother, right?”
“Your brother?”
“Yeah,” Regulus replied, sounding surprised. “Yeah, uh, Sirius Black? The actor?”
“Oh,” Severus had responded, feeling stupid. It sounded as if Regulus had expected him to know and the fact that he didn’t reflected on a cultural gap Severus had yet to overcome in his move from coast to coast. “Uh, no, I don’t actually. Should I?”
“You don’t know about Sirius Black? Power of the Dog? Cries of an Innocent Man? Through the Veil? Really? None of that?” Regulus stopped in his tracks and turned to face Severus. “You’re telling me you had no idea I’m related to one of Hollywood’s biggest stars?”
Severus had flushed uncomfortably; he hadn’t spoken about his childhood with Regulus yet, so Regulus could hardly know that Severus hadn’t had the money to attend the movies. After a while, he had just started to ignore them.
“No, I…I mean, I don’t really watch a lot of movies.”
“No shit.” Regulus had stared at him for a moment longer, Severus shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. Then Regulus beamed at him. “Severus, you don’t know how happy I am to hear that.”
Severus blinked, taken aback. “Why?”
Regulus ran a hand through his hair and laughed. “Because most of the people I meet solely want to be friends with me for that reason. They ask me for his autograph, to meet him all that. It sucks. I kept waiting for you to bring it up. Holy shit,” Regulus grinned. “That means you actually like me right?”
Severus bristled. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
Regulus lightly shoved at his shoulder. “Wow, I seriously didn’t think I would ever meet anyone…I think I might love you.”
Severus rolled at his eyes at Regulus’s light-hearted proclamation, causing Regulus to laugh.
“We’ll watch one of his movies. I think you’ll like Through the Veil. Actually,” Regulus paused, thinking. “He invited me to some party this weekend if you wanna come? It’ll be big-name people, which might be kind of cool. Unless…damn, I’ll have to see how many you know.” Regulus laughed at the apparent sheer absurdity of it. “Yeah, it’s very L.A. if you want to come, you fucking Yankee.”
“Alright,” Severus said after a moment, thinking he might as well. He really had no reason not to. Besides, he liked Regulus Black, and he thought meeting his brother would be, if nothing else, interesting.
That afternoon, he had googled the name Sirius Black, curious to see who exactly this man was. It took one glance for him to admit that Sirius Black fit perfectly into the stereotype of a movie star by being breathtakingly, ridiculously, outrageously handsome. He had grown his thick black hair out to his shoulders, his jaw set strong, cheekbones high and his gray eyes piercing. He had a movie star face, and Severus struggled to feel nothing for it.
He could also see the resemblance to Regulus – in his nose and his eyes and cheekbones. However, Regulus looked more boyish in his features, much more boy next door than the strong build of his brother. Even still, they were both incredibly handsome, far more than Severus, and he balked at the thought of being surrounded by Hollywood’s most beautiful.
Severus, even though he had now made peace with it, did not rank as attractive. He knew his features came off as too narrow and aquiline in his face, and his nose did him no favors. He valued his mind far more anyways, so it had not bothered him for some time.
He scrolled further on the web search, reading over Black’s IMDb page and recognizing a few of the movies from advertisements. He also remembered watching one – he thought Power of the Dog – in Lily’s dorm room his freshman year of college. He had distractedly watched the first ten minutes or so and then fallen asleep fast asleep, exhausted after the week, so he didn’t remember all that much. Lily had enjoyed it though; perhaps he should call her.
He read over some Oscar buzz for his latest role in Through the Veil and then fell into the gossip rags that tracked Black’s wild lifestyle and his several relationships and his one stint in rehab. Severus’s gaze flickered over stories reporting Black’s dramatic breakup with a supermodel and then his previous affair with some British hunk, and he blushed when he realized Black hadn’t limited himself to the female side of Hollywood.
He hoped for Regulus’s sake that Black proved himself far differently than how the internet presented him. Severus anticipated someone drunk on their own arrogance, callous and haughty and believing himself above the common drudge of life. Those traits didn’t particularly endear someone to Severus, but then again, this was a superstar. He wasn’t some man off the street; this was Sirius Black, and from what Severus could gather, that apparently mattered.
He spent the days leading up to Friday trying to decide how to deal with Black. Severus had never even envisioned Regulus as part of that world and had never dealt with the bluster of nerves over talking to someone famous. He thought it over, played through acting deferent or flattering or uncaring, and finally decided to treat Sirius Black as he did his brother.
Lily had told him to make friends, and while he hadn’t been all that successful, he thought it would make her smile if he told her one of his newfound friends happened to be some great actor.
Of course, he thought, they might just hate each other. Or nothing would come of it. But, still, he thought with a smirk, the possibility existed.
He grew nervous as they stopped in front of the mansion. Regulus thanked the uber driver and then pushed Severus out onto the street. Four women in very high heels and very short dresses strutted past them, and Severus watched stupidly, feeling as if he had just stepped onto another planet.
Regulus noticed his expression and laughed. “You’ll be alright,” he chuckled again at Severus’s skeptical look. “Seriously. You’re smarter than most of the people here. And you’ll…you’ll be fine, Severus.”
Severus shot Regulus another disbelieving stare, at which Regulus just shook his head and laughed. “By the way,” he added, “You look good, Sev. All black, very you know Phantom of the Opera or Matrix-y.”
“Matrix-y?”
Regulus stopped again, causing a couple behind them to shoot him dirty looks as they nearly stumbled into him. “Please tell me you’ve seen the Matrix?”
Severus thought for a moment. “Is that the one with the robots?”
Regulus beamed. “Yup, exactly. God, I’m going to love this.”
“I feel like you’re just making fun of me.”
Regulus shook his head. “No, I’ve lived in L.A. my entire life, and I have never met anyone so completely uninterested in pop culture. Ever. It’s kind of amazing.”
Severus gestured towards the house they had now nearly approached. “Will these people-?”
“They’ll absolutely hate you for it,” Regulus said with a smirk. “For these people, they live for people to know who they are. If you don’t, then you can’t really commit a greater offense in their eyes. But since they’re all narcissistic bastards, it’s incredibly worthwhile. You should be proud, honestly. And please, please, if we run into any Kardashian, please pretend you don’t know who they are.”
“Isn’t she the one with ah, the butt?” Severus asked, blushing at the one picture he had accidentally glanced at when Lily had scrolled through her Instagram.
Regulus laughed again. “Yeah, that’s the one. Now, come on, let’s get something to drink and then we can try to find my brother.”
They walked through the doorway, passing someone Severus thought he recognized from some movie or another. The house was phenomenal – modern, massive, and clearly very expensive. It was every bit as much a Hollywood mansion as Severus would have imagined, and his breath left him as he considered its magnificence.
The ground floor looked packed with people all wearing fashionable, expensive clothes, resplendent in their fame, and, Severus noted with a frown, loud and annoying and drunk. A group laughed loudly beside him, and Severus twitched at the sound. He had never liked loud noises, which is why he had generally avoided any large social gathering. Until now, of course.
As they crossed the space, a very pretty girl with curly brown hair and amber eyes rushed over to them and pulled Regulus into a hug.
“Reggie,” she squealed, “How are you? How’s school?”
Regulus smiled and returned her hug. “It’s been good, D. Lots of studying, but you know, that’s how it goes. I saw your, um new movie – that one with Fenwick? Loved it, seriously.”
“Oh, Reggie, thank you! Benjy was such a great co-star. Really passionate, you know?”
“Oh?” Regulus asked, raising an eyebrow. She giggled and smacked his shoulder.
“Don’t look at me like that. It’s that Swedish accent, you know?”
“Yeah,” Regulus emphasized. “Good for you D. Is he here tonight?”
The girl nodded and waved her hand. “Got stuck talking to some director, so I slipped away. But it’s so nice to see you, Reggie. We should get lunch together soon.” Regulus nodded in agreement, and she shifted her gaze to Severus. “And I’m sorry, I don’t think I…”
“Severus Snape,” Severus introduced, sticking out his hand for her to shake. She did so, and her gaze flickered between the two of them.
“He’s a classmate,” Regulus explained. “He’s in the Chemistry department. Completely brilliant, you know.” Severus scowled at the compliment and Regulus laughed. “And this uh, Dorcas Meadows? Do you…?”
Severus tried to place her admittedly very pretty face, but besides some faint recognition, he couldn’t think of anything. “Uh, no,” he admitted, holding his hands awkwardly by his side. Dorcas’s smiled faltered, and she looked confused.
“What…?”
Regulus rested a hand on Severus’s shoulder. “My amazing friend has next to no knowledge on celebrity culture or any of that. It’s so fucking cool.”
Dorcas laughed awkwardly, seeming not to believe Regulus’s claim. “But he knew about…Sirius, right?”
Regulus shook his head. “Nope, nothing. We’ve been friends for what like four months now? And yeah, nope, he just found out this week actually.”
Dorcas stared at Severus with wide, disbelieving eyes. “Wow…I, where are you from? It’s just crazy to think…”
Severus gave a small shrug. “I grew up in New York. Only watched old shows, if anything, so I never really got to know anyone. Oh, and Grey’s Anatomy. I have seen that.”
Regulus turned to him, face crinkling in confusion. “Grey’s?”
Severus nodded. “My best friend used to watch it a lot.”
“I think I saw Ellen Pompeo here,” Dorcas added, scanning the room. She caught sight of what must have been Fenwick because she smiled and excused herself. Regulus’s smile stretched across his face and he laughed.
“Sev, amazing.”
“How do you know-?”
“Old family friend,” Regulus explained. “Her mom used to be a big actress. She’s pretty cool. Now, I need a drink.”
Severus nodded, and Regulus led him over to a table in the corner. A few bartenders were frantically trying to make drinks for the crowd, and Regulus shoved his way to the end of the table and tried to wave one down. He pulled Severus beside him who accidentally bumped into some woman.
“Sorry,” he apologized, and the blonde huffed and ran her gaze over him apathetically.
“And who are you?” she drawled, and Severus bristled at her tone. “Some up and coming director type?” She peered at his face. “Certainly not a model,” she sniggered.
“No,” Severus replied coldly. “Now excuse me.” He turned her back to her, and he could practically feel her surprise. Regulus noticed and glanced behind her.
“You have no idea who she is, right?”
“Annoying,” Severus muttered.
Regulus shook his head. “Also happened to have won an Oscar last year. She’s probably never had anyone turn their back on her.”
“Well, then she shouldn’t insult people,” Severus responded, shrugging. Regulus shook his head in grudging respect.
“Right.”
The bartender finally reached them and Regulus ordered a rum and coke, to which Severus doubled the order. The bartender coolly turned away, made the drinks, and slid them towards them, quickly turning away to attend another.
They took their drinks and walked back out into the room. Regulus scanned the room, his gaze settling on the opposite corner. He grabbed Severus’s wrist and pulled him in that direction.
They stumbled around a few people – one or two Severus did think he recognized – and, they reached a group of people.
Sirius Black was abundantly obvious; his type of handsome seemed to suck all the air from the room, and Severus dug his fingernails into his palm in irritation when the air in his lungs rushed out. The resemblance with Regulus was apparent, and he smiled brightly when he caught sight of his brother and pulled him into a firm hug.
A gorgeous woman with black hair stood beside him, and Severus averted his eyes from her chest as well – wow. Another man who was shorter and more rotund and with baby cheeks, and then a nerdy type with rounded glasses and a mess of black hair. He smiled when he saw Severus, and Severus nervously returned the smile.
“Reggie!” Sirius exclaimed, eyes bright and smile wide. He clutched a drink in his hand and took a long sip. Severus noticed that the nerdy one watched him closely. “How are you, brother?”
Regulus pulled a face. “Drowning in school work, but otherwise alright. And this is, uh Severus. Severus Snape,” he introduced, gesturing towards his friend. Severus gave an awkward smile and stuck his hand forward to shake Sirius’s.
Sirius took it, his grip strong, and he glanced between the two of them. “Someone from school?”
“Yeah, he’s in the Chemistry department. Helped me find some books in the library once and it’s been history ever since.”
“It’s very nice to meet you,” Severus added for he felt it polite. Sirius Black stared at him for a moment, the look in his eyes surprisingly distrustful.
“Yeah, alright,” he said, his tone cooler than Regulus seemed to have expected. He began to frown, but the nerdy one stepped in.
“Hey Reg, how are you?” the man asked, and Regulus shook off the moment of strangeness.
“Doing good, James. How’s the new movie coming? It’s with Sirius right?”
James nodded. “Working title so far is The Lions and the Snakes. Peter’s in it too.” The shorter man nodded. “Production’s been a bitch, but hopefully it turns out alright.”
“It will,” the one named Peter gushed. “You’re brilliant, James. Wouldn’t be surprised if you get an Oscar.”
“Yeah, we’ll see,” he laughed and then turned to Severus to reach out his hand. “James Potter.”
“Severus Snape,” Severus introduced again, wondering if he had seen James anywhere before. He couldn’t place him
“Oh, Peter Pettigrew,” the shorter man said. No, Severus did not know him.
“And Bellatrix Black,” the gorgeous woman added as an afterthought. Her haughty voice had an edge of sultriness, and Severus felt his cheeks warm. “It’s good to see Reggie find himself a little friend, you know. The last one was so…”
“Bella,” Sirius warned as Regulus glanced down at the floor.
“Just saying,” Bellatrix added, throwing her hair over her shoulder. “Pleasure to meet you, Severus Snape.” She had a shark’s smile, Severus decided. Dangerous. Enticing.
“Are you…” he asked, for he really didn’t know and her last name seemed to suggest a familial relationship. “I didn’t know you had a sister, Reg. Uhh,” he added when everyone looked at him a bit too sharply.
“She’s his cousin,” Peter stated flatly. “The Black sisters?”
Severus flushed and felt increasingly stupid. “Sorry, I don’t really follow this stuff.”
“But she’s…” Peter continued flabbergasted. “What?”
“You don’t know about me?” Bellatrix asked, her tone sharp and causing Severus to blanch. “Narcissa?”
Regulus shook his head and responded for him. “He doesn’t know. He didn’t even know about you, Sirius.”
Sirius snorted at that and rolled his eyes.
“No seriously, he had no idea. He doesn’t watch movies.”
“He’s never seen a single movie?” Sirius replied skeptically. He snorted again, and Severus felt himself bristle at his tone.
“I have actually,” Severus cut in, unwilling to remain silent. “And I’ve seen one of yours, I think.”
“You have?” Regulus asked, surprised.
Severus nodded. “The one with the dog?”
“Power of the Dog?” Sirius corrected snidely, and Bellatrix giggled.
“Yeah,” Severus replied for it sounded right.
“How’d you like it?” James asked, glancing over worriedly at Sirius.
“Oh, I – well I fell asleep in the first ten minutes, but it seemed…promising,” he finished. “My friend put it on, and I…” he added awkwardly to their stunned stares. To his relief, both James and Regulus burst out in laughter.
Sirius only stared at Severus with dislike evident in his striking gray eyes. Severus swallowed hard and took a sip of his drink. He suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable and was grateful when Bellatrix turned the conversation away from him and back to James’s movie.
He watched the conversation play out, feeling as if he had nothing to add. Regulus shot him a worried glance, and Severus cringed at himself – he had always shied on the side of socially inept, so what had he expected?
After a while, he excused himself and decided to head outside for a smoke. The loud hum of voices and the general oppressive heat had started to overwhelm him, and he badly needed some fresh air. He headed toward the back door but noting the shrieks and music coming from the pool, he decided to head instead for the balcony he had seen from the outside. It looked much emptier and quieter, so he headed upstairs.
He found the balcony easily and took a moment to stare into the stunning landscape, alight despite the coolness of the night. He couldn’t see any stars and frowned; in his small town in New York, he could always catch glimpses of constellations. Here, the smog smothered the night sky.
He took a cigarette from his pocket and politely asked an older man who had also retreated onto the balcony for a lighter. The man offered his lighter, exchanged an understanding smile, and then retreated back into the house, leaving Severus alone.
Severus leaned across the balcony railing and sighed. He took a drag of the cigarette – Lily had been pressuring him to quit for years, but since he had so few vices, he had maintained the habit, albeit far less than he used to.
The smoke filled his lungs, and he felt himself relax. The dull thrum of the party faded behind him, and he took in the night and the feel of fresh air in his lungs. He jolted when he heard someone approach him.
He turned and stared in surprise at Sirius Black. Black had swaggered up, eyes far too bright in a way that reminded Severus of the times he had seen Mucliber snort cocaine. He tensed automatically and regarded Black warily.
He waited for Black to speak, turning back to face the Hollywood hills. Black sidled up beside him, leaning against the balcony and reaching out for Severus’s cigarette. Severus passed it to him, uncertain of what else to do.
“Here’s the deal,” Black growled, “You hurt Reggie, I kill you. Comprende?”
“Why would I -?” Severus started, but the look in Black’s eyes caused him to pause. “I’m not going to hurt your brother.”
Black let out a cruel snort and took a drag of the cigarette. He held it tightly, and Severus stared entranced at his perfect fingers. “Fucking hell, you aren’t. If you do, right, I’ll fucking kill you.”
“Sure,” Severus said before he could stop himself. Black turned on him, his eyes narrowing.
“This isn’t some fucking joke. I don’t know what your deal is and what you want from him, but I’m not fucking around.”
Severus leaned into his space and hissed, “He befriended me, alright? And unlike you might think, I don’t give a single fuck about you.”
Black looked at him with skeptical distrust and curled his lips cruelly. “Think you’re special or something? Do you even know who I am?”
“Yeah, a fucking asshole,” Severus cut back, his infamous temper flaring. He knew Lily would be disappointed him, but he didn’t care.
Black curled his fist. “You have no idea -.”
“Yes, and I don’t want to know a single fucking thing about you, alright? Unless you can get your head out of your ass.” Severus sighed and turned away. “I’m not going to hurt your brother. I’m not trying to use him to get to you. I didn’t even know you existed until about three days ago.”
Sirius watched him for a moment, and Severus tried not to shift uncomfortably under his intense gaze. He eventually took a drag from the cigarette and threw it down into the cliff below, the ember falling and fading. “You better not,” he hissed, and then before Severus could respond, he turned and stalked back into the house.
Severus let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding and leaned heavily onto the railing. He felt sick; he had no idea what he had done, and then for him to respond like that – he felt an immense wave of shame. Lily had always warned him about his temper, the way he could never let anything go, and while he had been trying to work on it, he had fallen straight back into it and pissed off Regulus’s brother. To be fair, he was threatening Severus, but it still didn’t reflect greatly back on him. Now, he could expect their relationship to be tense and stressful, and since Severus had no intention to leave Regulus, it would be a continuing problem.
He let out a curse; why the hell was Sirius Black such an asshole when Regulus was so nice and friendly? What could he had done better? God, he missed New York.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice someone else approach him. He tensed and turned his head, meeting the surprisingly kind eyes of James Potter.
“What do you want?” Severus growled, expected that Black had sent Potter up to finish the deal. He wondered if Black had sent Potter up to push him off the balcony.
James sighed and looked out onto L.A. “Yeah, I figured,” he said softly. “It’s really not you, Severus.”
“Sure,” Severus said shortly. James shook his head.
“It’s not. He’s…” James paused and took a moment to debate something in his head. “Can you promise me something?”
“No.”
“Can you promise not to tell Reggie what I’m about to say?”
“No,” Severus repeated. James blinked and seemed surprised.
“Why not?”
“I try not to keep secrets from my friends,” Severus replied bitterly, remembering just had badly that had fucked him up for a time with Lily.
“Oh,” James nodded in understanding. “Oh, good.” He paused and seemed to reconsider his direction. “It’s not necessarily…it’s more so that Sirius doesn’t want Reggie to have to know. That it’s something that could hurt him more than it already did.”
“Potter,” Severus sighed, “I really don’t…”
“It’s about his last friend,” James replied quietly. “The last friend we’ve met at least.”
“And he was using Regulus, huh?” Severus speculated bitterly.
“Yeah, he was,” James replied, sounding reminiscent. “A nice guy. Really nice, actually. But he was obsessed with Sirius. Got to the point – it got bad. What happened – it sent Sirius spiraling. You know when he was in rehab? Or I guess you wouldn’t.”
“I saw on Google,” Severus said, thinking back on those tabloids. James sighed again.
“Yeah, and poor Reggie, he was – he didn’t know all of it, but he knew he got used. Didn’t seem like he trusted anyone for a while. Especially didn’t bring anyone to meet us. Until you.”
“I’m not-,” Severus protested.
James let out a small laugh. “I know. Either you’re completely brilliant by pretending not to recognize Bellatrix Black and playing a game far above our level, or you’re just…you’re actually a friend.”
Severus snorted, and James tilted his head.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but do you really not follow any of this?”
Severus looked sideways at James, relaxed, and shook his head.
“No,” he answered, “I…I didn’t have much growing up, and what I did certainly didn’t go to the movies. I read a lot.”
“Yeah?”
“Mm-hmm, and the T.V. I watched was just what my dad and then my mom watched. Which was a lot of COPS and I Love Lucy.”
“So you really just never…”
Severus shrugged. “No, never really was anything I exposed to. And it’s kind of too late for me to start caring now.”
James laughed at that. “Then if that’s the case, stay friends with Reggie. Ignore Sirius. Once he realizes you’re not some crazy stalker, he’ll warm up to you. He just worries a lot about Reggie.”
“Guess that makes sense,” Severus replied. “But he really didn’t have to threaten to kill me.”
James blanched at that and then laughed nervously. “He really wouldn’t,” he tried to assure. “He says shit. All that Hollywood crap. God, that didn’t sound convincing.”
Severus glanced over at him and couldn’t keep himself from smiling. “No, not particularly.”
James huffed out a laugh. “Sorry about that. And him. He’s an ass, but he’s a good ass once you get to know him.”
“Mmm,” Severus hummed unconvinced, and James laughed again.
“Alright, then. Um, actually,” James added, sobering a bit. “We got a restraining order on the guy and I don’t think he would, but he might because you’re now friends with Reggie. He’s uh got problems, if you know what I mean. If you see him, just get away, honestly.”
“Okay,” Severus agreed, figuring he could avoid some crazy person. “What’s his name?”
James sighed and looked back up at the night sky and the gleaming moon.
“Remus Lupin.”