Chapter Text
It started with a wedding.
As Regulus was sure many stories did—half the romcoms and low-budget TV shows. Full of laugh tracks and scenes that made Regulus wrinkle his nose and scoff. As if. Weddings were romantic, a pivotal moment in a person’s life. Something young girls everywhere dreamed of, cutting out pictures of wedding dresses and bouquets to stick on dream boards. Or as he was learning now, children of the modern age were a little higher tech.
Regulus blinked at the thirteen-year-old. “Sorry, Darcy, what?”
“I have a wedding Pinterest board,” Darcy repeated, haphazardly smearing her purple glue stick across the page. “It’s much more convenient than this. If we were allowed our phones, I could just do that instead.”
“This is a no-phone zone,” Regulus reminded. “And you’re supposed to be creating positive visions for your future, not wedding planning.”
“Well, in my future I plan to get married,” Darcy remarked, slamming down a cut-out picture of a wedding veil onto her paper with enough force that her friend Shannon flinched.
“To who?” Shannon rolled her eyes. “Charlie dumped you.”
“Charlie can’t handle me, not my fault he can’t be a man,” Darcy mused.
“You are thirteen,” Regulus said in disbelief.
The girls ignored him. Shannon scoffed, eyeing Darcy as the other girl started pouring copious amounts of glitter onto her paper. “It’s not that he couldn’t handle you, he couldn’t handle your eating disorder. If you spent more time with him and less time throwing up in the bathroom—”
“Girls,” Regulus cut them off. “This is not how we talk to each other or about our lives and experinces.”
They both rolled their eyes, and Regulus wondered for the millionth time how he’d gotten here.
“Oh come on, Regulus,” Darcy looked up from her glitter disaster. “We all know you think this whole exercise is bullshit. Are you creating positive visions for your future? Maybe you should be in this program.”
“Unfortunately for you, I’ve aged out,” Regulus said simply. “Now watch your language, less bitching and more arts and crafts.”
“Hey, why do you get to curse?” Shannon protested.
“Because I am an adult and I’m in charge,” Regulus said simply.
He figured (hoped) they were safe to be left alone and moved on to the next table.
The truth was, he had been in a program like this for “mentally unwell” teenagers, but that was a long time ago. Now he got to be on the other side.
He wondered why he’d decided to torture himself like this. Some vague idea about giving back to the community and helping as people had helped him, but really, it was bullshit. Fuck younger, aimless Regulus Black for thinking that he should do some good in the world. He should have become a soulless businessman, at least then he’d be rich.
Instead, he got off work, and went home to his small flat with the stupid leaking sink.
He dropped his bag on the table, before turning on the sink to get a glass of water. Nothing happened as he turned the knob
“Fuck,” Regulus cursed. He resisted the urge to throw the glass.
Instead, he got on his knees, opening the cabinet under the sink and practically climbing inside to reach the shut-off for the water. There was a sudden blaring ringing, and Regulus jumped hitting his head hard on the pipes.
“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck. Ow!” Regulus groaned, muttering a few more expletives as he fished into his pocket to pull out his phone.
“What?” he answered.
“Uh… hello? Happy Thursday, I hope your day has been going great too, Regulus.”
“What do you want, Sirius?”
There was a pause. “Why do you sound all muffled?”
“Because, I’m under the sink. Are you calling to torment me, or do you have a reason?”
“Do I dare ask why you’re under the sink?” Sirius asked, and it was clear he wasn’t sure whether to be amused or concerned.
“I’m turning on the water, it’s been leaking and I’m not trying to pay millions on the water bill. Why are you calling?” Regulus fumbled around, finally finding the lever to turn the water back on. He sighed in relief, scooting back out from the cabinet and collapsing in a heap on the kitchen floor.
“I wanted to invite you to dinner, but if this is a bad time…”
“It’s fine,” Regulus muttered. “Why are you calling for that? It could have been a text.”
“Because… it’s kind of an important dinner,” Sirius said, and he sounded strangely nervous.
Regulus straightened up suddenly. “Oh god, who died?”
“No one!” Sirius said quickly. “I just have some news.”
“News about someone dying?” Regulus asked suspiciously.
“No!” Sirius said his voice rising. “Good news! Please just come. Are you free on Saturday night?”
Regulus was still suspicious, but he sighed. “What time?”
“Seven?”
“Yeah, fine I’ll be there. Yours and Remus’?”
“Actually, I thought we could go out, I’ll make a reservation and send you the details.” Sirius sounded like he was trying way too hard to sound casual.
“Are you sure no one has died?”
“Yes, Reggie! Why must you be so suspicious all the time? Just come to dinner, please?”
“Okay, god. You’re the one being weird. Fine, I’ll see you Saturday.”
“Good,” Sirius sighed. “So, how’s work been—”
“Oh, actually I’m super busy right now. Bye, Sirius.”
Regulus hung up on his brother, letting his head fall back against the cabinets.
God, he really hated his life.
“You both look like someone died,” Regulus said eyeing Sirius and Remus as he sat down at the table.
“Regulus, I swear to god—” Sirius began, but Remus cut him off.
“Everyone is alive and well as far as I’m aware,” he raised his eyebrows. “Maybe we should check on Peter though, he’s been galivanting across continents at a rate alarming enough to think he’ll die of jet lag.”
Regulus leaned back in his seat. “He posted a picture from Rome this morning, I think he’s still kicking.”
“Well, in that case, nobody died.”
“Maybe James did,” Regulus said hopefully.
“Regulus,” Sirius scolded. “I thought you and James were better now.”
“I don’t publicly try to murder him anymore for my own dignity, that is not the same.”
Sirius sighed. The animosity between his best friend and Regulus had always been a sore point for Sirius, but no matter what schemes he came up with, he could never make them like each other.
“Well, you’re going to have to keep up your streak of not attempting murder,” Remus raised his eyebrows.
“Why?” Regulus asked. “Please, don’t tell me this big news is that he’s moving back home.”
“He is at the end of the year,” Sirius reminded Regulus.
“And I dread the day,” Regulus muttered.
He’d been granted four years of peace and quiet, only needing to put up with James Potter on holidays and the occasional birthday of a mutual loved one. James was off in America, being a hot-shot author and lecturing in New York over the past several years. He’d been so busy he’d missed two Christmases and Regulus blessedly hadn’t seen him in two years. (Unless you counted the summer holiday thing, and Regulus was not counting that. He was pretending that had never happened.)
“But…” Sirius said taking a deep breath. “That does lead us to the news.”
“Which is?”
Remus and Sirius glanced at each other, and Remus smiled encouragingly. “Remus and I are getting married!” Sirius blurted out breathlessly.
Regulus blinked. “Oh,” he said taking a sip of his water. “Is that all?”
“Is that all?” Sirius spluttered. “Aren’t you happy for us?”
“Course I am,” Regulus rolled his eyes. “But we’ve all known Remus has been holding onto a ring for years. Here you were acting like you were about to drop a bomb. But no, you’re just getting married.”
“You’re really not surprised in the slightest?” Sirius said crossing his arms unhappily.
“Not one bit. But please don’t tell me you told James first. I’ll kill him and then kill both of you.” Sirius grimaced guiltily and Regulus resisted the urge to bang his head on the table. “Really?” he protested. “Really?”
“Sorry! He helped Moony plan the proposal, so he already knew…”
“Oh, fuck me. As long as he’s not your best man.”
There was a silence and Regulus’ mouth fell open. “Sirius! He’s not your best man, is he?”
“No, no!” Sirius said quickly, holding up a hand. “We haven’t decided on that stuff yet.”
“What’s there to decide? I’m your brother, I get to be best man!”
“Yes, but—”
“No buts, that’s how it works.” Regulus glared.
“We’ve been discussing James being my best man and you being Sirius’,” Remus said, cutting in before an argument could break out. “We’re planning the wedding for summer, so we have to get some details worked out still. But it’s seemed like the best bet.”
“As long as I’m Sirius’,” Regulus scoffed. “Isn’t summer a little soon though?”
“Yes,” Sirius admitted. “But we wanted to get married at Alphard’s house on the coast, and he’s been planning renovations next summer for ages. It wouldn’t be right to disrupt his plans, but he did offer this summer, and well… we don’t want anything massive,” Sirius said looking to Remus with a soft (disgusting) lovesick smile. “Just to have our loved ones together and get married in the place we fell in love. So six months is plenty of time to plan a wedding, right?”
“I wouldn’t know, I think weddings are stupid and marriage is a sham,” Regulus sniffed.
“Amazing tact there, Reggie,” Sirius muttered. “Telling someone who just announced their engagement you think marriage is a scam. When your time is right, you’ll understand.” Sirius paused. “Or maybe not.”
“The time will never be right,” Regulus scoffed. “I am never getting married. But kudos to you, happy for you to spend the rest of your lives together per a legal agreement when we all know you would have done it anyway.”
“Regulus,” Sirius said putting a hand to his chest. “I think that’s the closest thing to I’m so happy for you you’ve ever said.”
“I already told you I’m happy for you, idiot. I will do all the best man things and walk you down the aisle or whatever. But I will complain the entire time.”
Sirius genuinely looked like he was about to tear up, and Remus patted his hand in comfort. “Regulus!” Sirius said with a sniffle. “I love you too.”
“Oh, Jesus… yes, whatever, I love you.”
Sirius beamed. “Let’s make a toast!”
Regulus rolled his eyes, but he clinked their glasses together anyway.
This wedding was going to be a nightmare.
“James Potter!”
“Sirius Black!”
They collided in the airport like long-lost lovers, James spinning Sirius around, grinning so widely his face hurt.
“I’ve missed you so much!” Sirius exclaimed, grinning just as brightly. “You made it!”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, my best friends are getting married! Hi Rem!” James only let go of Sirius to envelop Remus in a tight hug. “I can’t believe this,” he said, looking between the two of them.
“You helped me plan the proposal,” Remus pointed out, but he was smiling too as James let him go.
“Yeah! But this is different, it’s happening. It’s really happening! I’m so happy for you guys I could die.”
“Please don’t die,” Remus said dryly. “Peter does not want to be my best man, he would crack under the pressure and I don’t have a backup. I think he almost had an aneurysm when I asked him to be in the wedding party alone.”
“Ah, that’s our Pete,” James said fondly. “Is he here already?”
“You’re one of the last people to arrive. Except for Regulus, of course. He’s getting here tomorrow. Then we have two weeks of fun and vacationing before the wedding,” Sirius said, throwing an arm around James’ shoulder as they headed towards the baggage claim.
“For you maybe,” Remus muttered. “I’ll be stressing the entire time, there’s so much to do.”
“And we’ve got it under control,” Sirius assured his fiancé. “The real problem, is whether or not Regulus will kill James in that time, lack of backup best men and all.”
“Is that going to be a problem?” Remus said eyeing James. “I thought after he went to New York you two might be on better footing.
“Ah…” James said. New York. “No, we’re fine. Trust me, everything will be perfect just as you desire.”
See, that was a bit of a thing—New York. James didn’t know why it was a thing, in fact, he’d agonized over what could have possibly gone so wrong.
Regulus had come to New York last summer. When James had heard he’d told Sirius that Regulus was free to stay with him. It was the kind thing to do, and Regulus had agreed (though probably just for money reasons.) They’d had two weeks where James genuinely thought they were making headway and then…
Then, James had no idea what had happened. Things went very wrong and any hopes of being on good terms with Regulus were extinguished. James hadn’t seen Regulus since, but he was determined to be civilized for Sirius’ sake.
James had always wanted to be friends with Regulus, it was the other man that made it difficult. And… to be honest, Regulus wasn’t very likable. He was mean, bordering on cruel sometimes. He always expected the worse, and his pessimism sucked the light out of everything. James hated the way Regulus hated everything and almost everyone. He didn’t hate Regulus exactly. To an extent, James understood why he was the way he was, but that did not make it any easier for them to get along. They were just too different, and those few weeks in New York had been a fluke. Sometimes James thought he’d dreamed it, because how on earth had they lived in the same house for two weeks? How were they expected to live in the same house now? James knew he had to talk to Regulus and at least, come up with some sort of truce because he was not letting their history make waves when Sirius and Remus’ wedding was the most important thing right now.
“Are you sure?” Remus asked suspiciously.
“Yes,” James said, hoping he could reassure his friends. “I swear it on my life.”
“You might want to make Regulus swear too,” Sirius sighed. “He was already threatening homicide over the prospect of you being my best man instead of him.”
“If it comes down to it, I will,” James said firmly.
“And uh…” Remus grimaced as they stopped at the baggage claim, looking at James hesitantly. “What about Lily? Will there be any problems with her and Cissa being here?”
“No,” James said quickly. “Of course not, you know Lily and I are on good terms.”
“I know,” Remus said. “I’m just checking, I want to make sure everything goes perfectly.”
“I know you do, Moony,” James said fondly. “I would never do anything to jeopardize it. Me and Lily are good, we’ve been divorced for like four years now and we’re still friends. And you know I think her and Cissa are great together.” Much better than James and Lily had been together, but he didn’t say that.
“Yeah, but she did cheat on you,” Sirius pointed out.
Remus winced, shooting Sirius a pointed look. He instantly looked apologetic. “I mean- shit, sorry… I was just saying.”
“I know she cheated,” James said simply, swallowing down the knot in his throat at that. “But I’ve forgiven her for that, and our relationship was already basically over. It was the last push we needed, and I’m grateful it happened. We would have been stuck in limbo forever if she hadn’t.”
“James…” Remus said softly. “You’re too good of a man, you know that? Truly.”
“Aw, Remus,” James said. “Don’t give me a big head. I love you guys, and I know this trip is going to be amazing.”
Remus shook his head, but there was a smile on his face, and Sirius hugged James suddenly, probably as an apology for bringing up the infidelity.
This wedding was going to be perfect even if James had to sell his soul to make it so.
James had spent a lot of summers at Alphard Black’s coastal home. It was full of good memories, of sunlit days and laughter. James understood exactly why Sirius and Remus had chosen to have their wedding here, the walls were practically painted with love and happiness. Sirius had recounted the story a million times of how they’d been painting the guest room the first time Remus had kissed him.
James remembered vividly watching them step into the living room, covered in blue paint.
“Oh my god, did you guys finally fuck!” he’d exclaimed. Sirius had turned bright red, and Remus had tried to hit James with a paintbrush. James had just been delighted the two had realized they were head over heels for each other.
What a wonderful place, truly. It felt like a second home.
Birds were singing, and the waves were roaring in the distance as they pulled into the driveway.
Alphard was on the porch as soon as he heard the sound of the car, pulling James into a tight hug and insisting on helping him with his bags.
“I read your new book,” he smiled warmly. “It was incredible. Your parents have been here since yesterday and we’ve discussed it at length. We’re all so proud of you, James.”
“Oh, god,” James said his face heating. “I’m still not sure how I feel about you guys reading those, but thank you.”
“Well, there were a few scenes we all admitted to skipping. Not because of your talent of course, just because someone who knew you when you were twelve doesn’t need to be reading… that.”
James groaned in embarrassment, and Sirius laughed. “James is in his thirties, he’s allowed to write about sex if he pleases.”
“But my parents do not need to read it,” James mumbled.
“Come on, come on,” Alphard urged. “Come inside, get unpacked. Dinner will be ready soon and we all expect to hear about how the American life is treating you.”
“Haven’t lost my accent yet,” James grinned.
“Does that help you get dates over there?” Sirius asked curiously.
“Not that it would matter to you, since you are getting married in two weeks,” Remus scolded.
“I’m not asking for me!” Sirius squawked in protest. “I’m just curious if it’s true Americans think British accents are hot. Oh my god, James. Do your students thirst after you?”
“Some,” James admitted as they headed inside. “But I do not date twenty-year-olds.”
“Those poor college students,” Sirius lamented.
Alphard shook his head. “Up the stairs, boys. Sorry, James, sleeping arrangements are a little mixed up this summer with so many people here. You’ll have to share with someone, but you’ll get the blue room.”
“Ah, the room Remus finally made a move in!” James smiled. Remus scoffed, but Sirius grinned at the memory. “Who am I sharing with?”
“Well, it was supposed to be Peter, but since he’s such a light sleeper I moved him in with Mary since he complained about you always getting up in the middle of the night. “So you’ll share with Regulus instead. I thought that was a bad idea at first, but your mother reminded me he stayed with you for a few weeks last summer. So I figured it was fine, right?”
Oh Jesus fucking Christ.
Okay, this would fine. The truce would have to come sooner rather than later.
James swallowed and Alphard turned on him. “That won’t be a problem, will it?” he prompted again.
“Nope!” James said quickly, hoping he didn’t sound too panicked. “That’s fine. He did stay with me and everyone survived.” James’ dignity hadn’t, but that was a story he hadn’t relayed to anyone. “But I’m not breaking that news to him.”
Alphard chuckled at that. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Maybe you can even bond.”
“Maybe,” James said, hoping it didn’t sound as weak as it sounded in his own ears.
He dropped his stuff in his room, and they left him alone to unpack.
The blue bedroom was big, and the two beds were spaced far enough apart. This was fine. James would just avoid it except for sleeping. Regulus couldn’t fight with James if he was asleep.
There was a large desk in the corner which James knew would be perfect for writing. It was a good room.
This was just fine. Regulus probably wouldn’t attempt to kill James in his sleep. (Probably. Hopefully.)
James unpacked and then headed downstairs, greeting his parents with hugs and kisses. He even smiled at Narcissa and hugged Lily, aware that they were being watched unsubtly. James hoped this proved to everyone that he was on good terms with the couple, and the entire divorce and cheating scandal were in the past.
He was asked about work and New York over dinner, and the atmosphere was warm and excited for the upcoming wedding. Mostly, he just sat there happy to listen to his friends gush over wedding planning.
James went to bed that night, happy to be back in a place he loved so much with his friends and family. If the empty bed filled him with dread, well that was a problem for tomorrow.