A/N : I'm so sorry about this delay! I just lost my flash disk, which is full of my data, and my computer was re-installed. Means, I lost ALL of it! My songs, my home works, my stories, everything! Huueeee… I think I'm gonna cry again… I'm so sorry, guys.
But, hey! Don't worry! I won't drop this story, though I kinda desperate after I lost my precious little flash disk… Ah, anyway, here you go! Chapter 4 of 'Superstar' only for you, readers! Have a nice read!
Warning : Slash! Riddle/Remus and a bit of Sirius/Remus (finally!) For you who don't like slash, please hit the back button and read another slash-free-fics.
Disclaimer : Anything you recognize or familiar with doesn't belong to me. It all belongs to JK. Rowling, the richest woman on planet earth.
Riddle threw the music magazine he had read, making the three figures that stood in front of his desk flinched. The magazine itself was landing next to Bellatrix Lestrange's feet. The head producer of 'Voldemort' groaned in frustration, eyeing 'The Marauders' and their manager with angry eyes.
"How did this happen!?" He said with malice in each word.
James, Remus, and Lily stood there in silence, not able to speak. They were too scared and afraid to speak a single word. Shut their mouth up seemed the best solution they could get. However, what Riddle wants is what Riddle gets, and he wants them to answer his question.
Riddle slammed his fist with anger on the table, making James, Remus, and Lily jumped in surprise. Their face got even paler then before.
"I asked you, how did this happen?!" yelled the producer. His face was red in madness. "Sirius debut single places number one on the chart!! It should be your song, not his! Yours!!!" Riddle screamed in frustration.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Riddle." Lily said, finally. "We tried to catch up with the deadline, but James just…"
"SHUT UP!!" The blue-eyed man snapped at Lily, shutting the red haired effectively. "There's no excuse for all of you! I give you the longest deadline I ever gave, but you didn't use it well!"
James lifted his head and looked at Riddle. "I… I'll finish it tomo…"
Before James could finish his word, Riddle spoke, "Tonight. I want it finish by midnight. If you don't, then you're out of the business!"
With his last word, Riddle rose from his chair and walked toward the door. Before he left the office, he spoke to Bellatrix, "Make sure that tonight by twelve p.m. I'll be at 'The Marauders' studio and get the recording team ready about twelve. Two days later, I want to have a gala dinner at 'Three Broomsticks' for the launching. Make sure that this gala dinner will be better than Lucius."
Bellatrix wrote everything Riddle had said on her notebook with a smirk playing on her face. She was so happy to see 'The Marauders' and its manager cowering in fear. Their faces were never been that pale before and it amused Bellatrix to see that. Wish she brought her camera to snap photos of their pale faces. It would sell well on the internet and the media.
"Remember. Tonight!" Riddle growled before he slammed the door shut, leaving James, Remus, and Lily behind.
"Boring."
Sirius muttered lazily as he tossed another magazine to a table before him. The black haired boy was yawning hugely and messing up his glossy black hair. He eyed a man with platinum hair from the corner of his eyes curiosity. The man, Lucius Malfoy, was pouring a hot water into his teacup. Calmly, Lucius poured two spoons of sugar and stirred it gently.
"And what you're doing is boring too." Sirius mumbled. He slung one of his legs to the armchair and grabbed another magazine to read. "Don't you have anything for me to do?" The grey eyed asked. His eyes darted from pages to pages as if he read something. There's nothing really caught his attention. Even the magazine was full with boring subject too. Everything was about him, him, and him. Well, it was great to read that, but Sirius had read ten or more articles like that, boasting about his debut album.
"Get yourself busy, Sirius." Lucius replied calmly. A small smile played on his pale face.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "It's easy for you to say…" He muttered under his breath.
"Write a song for your second album." Lucius said easily. He sipped his afternoon tea and flipped the afternoon newspaper.
"I have that wrote down about two weeks ago."
"Go out, then. Meet someone. Your fans, perhaps."
"You know that I don't really like them. I hate everything about them, their screeching, their screaming, and their… ugh. Everything."
Lucius rolled his eyes and sighed. He knew his cousin antics, but he never knew that it would be this annoying. "Just… find yourself an activity or something. Go to Broadway, music store, restaurant, cafe, I don't care! As long as you stop bugging me and my afternoon tea!" snapped Lucius Malfoy angrily. He huffed before he return back to his reading, leaving a baffled Sirius.
Sirius groaned as he threw himself on the plush sofa. "I hate theater, I hate drama, I hate fan girls, and I hate people… Heck, I hate everything in this world! LUCIUS!!" Sirius jolted up from his laying position, surprising a certain producer. "I'm bored to death!!!!!" whined the singer.
"JUST SHUT YOUR MOUTH UP SO I CAN ENJOY MY TEA, OR ANNOYED SOMEONE ELSE!!" Lucius yelled in frustration. He turned the page of his newspaper in anger and muttered something like 'insufferable brat'.
Sirius sat there, watching Lucius with furrowed eyebrows. He pouted and huffed in aggravation. Sirius looked away to the large window with his stunning grey eyes and soon fascinated by the skyscrapers. Sirius looked down to the street below and found the long lines of cars in the street, caught in the traffic jam. He then darted his eyes up to the sky. It already turned from blue to orange and red, ready to greet the moon and the stars. The scenery made him sighed. It was a beautiful day. Too bad he spent his time indoor, first in his penthouse and second in Lucius's office.
A huge billboard caught his attention. Sirius fixed his eyes on the billboard, and then he was smiling. There was a huge image of him, holding a guitar with a cover album of his CD and cassette beside it. It was an advertisement billboard of his album, 'State of Shock'. Watching his ad made Sirius's mind drifted away to a certain golden haired boy with a stunning golden eyes. Remus Lupin. 'The Marauders'. 'Voldemort'.
Hey.
Sirius smirked. It's time to pay 'The Marauders' a visit, Sirius thought.
James was busy examining his latest composition for 'No Wings', the last song to arrange for the album. James had arranged half part of the song and he was getting to the last part when he suddenly lost any ideas. James blinked several times to clear his mind. He tried to focus on the music sheet before him, but unfortunately, he couldn't. He just sat there and stared at the sheet in with a blank expression.
"James?" Remus called him. The golden haired man was eyeing his best friend with concern. "James, are you alright? It's okay if you can't finish this."
James shook his head. "No. I'm fine. I can do this." He gave Remus reassuring smile before he concentrated to the sheet. Unfortunately, his headache was getting worse than before, making James feels a little bit dizzy.
"Honey, you look pale." Lily spoke worriedly. "You don't need to push yourself. Besides, you haven't recovered from your fever."
James was having fever for two weeks. His temperature was so high, about 39 to 40 degrees. For that reason, he had to stay at hospital for a week and spent another week in his house. The doctor said that James shouldn't think something important, because it would affect James's health once again. That's why Lily and Remus never bothered James about their album until Riddle called them to his office to talk with them about the album.
"You need to rest, James." Remus said. He placed his arm around James's shoulder and pulled him up with his other hand. "Forget about this for awhile and take a good sleep." Again, Remus spoke as he ushered James toward the long sofa.
"I can't, Rem!" James released himself from Remus's grip. "You heard what Riddle had said. We have to finish these songs before midnight or we're out of this business!"
"James, don't…"
Remus was going to say something, but then he heard someone knocking at the door. He looked at Lily and James with confusion. They had the same expression Remus wore –confusion and a tad of fear. James glanced at the nearby clock and frowned. It was six hours before midnight.
"That can't be Riddle, right?" James whispered, looking back at Remus.
"I'll go checking it." said Remus as he walked toward the door. He was curious –afraid also- when his hand reached the doorknob. He took a deep breath and counted to three before he turned the knob. Remus was ready to face Riddle. He was ready from any possibility. However, he didn't ready for this one.
"Hi." Sirius greeted Remus, grinning.
Remus stood there, dumbfounded.
"What are you doing here?" Lily yelled to the raven-haired boy. "You shouldn't be here! This is a private studio."
"Yeah, I know." Sirius replied casually as he entered the studio. His shoulder brushed against Remus's shoulder as he passed. "I just want to see how you guys are doing. We haven't seen each other since gala dinner two months ago. I miss you all." Sirius added and gave his best puppy-dog eyes.
"Yeah, yeah." James muttered. "Keep that nonsense for someone who actually believes."
"Whatever." muttered Sirius who was waving his right hand easily. He was walking around the studio. His eyes wandered around the room. "You guys need to call a house keeper to clean this place." He spoke as his finger traced the windowsill. The dust from the windowsill covered his once clean finger.
"It's none of your business, Black!" snapped the red head beauty.
Even though Lily, James, and even Remus gave him a hateful look and deathly glare, Sirius kept walking around to investigate their studio and threw nasty comments. Surely, Black didn't even care about them.
"Will you just leave, please?!" James groaned in frustration when he heard Sirius's comment about their taste of arranging songs. Sirius said that they don't have taste –even skill. Sirius also said that he was surprise with the success of 'The Marauders'. "Leave now before I kick your ass out!"
"Hey, I just came here and you want me to get out, now? I thought you miss me." Sirius retorted, pouting. He was chuckling when he saw James fuming in anger, ready to explode. He walked away from the angry bespectacled man toward the glass table. The music sheets that spread on the table caught his attention. With his eyebrows furrowed, Sirius extended his hand to reach some of those sheets.
"Hey!" Remus walked over to the table, slightly panic. "You shouldn't read that!"
It was too late. Sirius was reading 'No Wings', the song that hadn't finished.
"Give me that!" Remus growled in anger as he snatched the sheets from Sirius's hands. His face was reddening in anger toward the black beauty.
Looking down at Remus, Sirius smirked. "Interesting title for a song." He said. "'No Wings'… What do you want to tell us with the song, hm?" Sirius asked.
"Umm…" Remus was backing away from Sirius, hands still holding the sheets in a vise grip. "I can't…" His golden eyes looked anywhere except Sirius's burning grey eyes. Something in those eyes made Remus gone nervous and blushing.
"Is it about an angel, who falls from heaven?" whispered Sirius as he walked closer toward the golden one.
"Black, please…" Remus kept walking backward. He didn't realize that the wall was coming nearer until he felt the wall against his back.
Sirius smirked. He reached out and cupped Remus flush cheek. The grey-eyed man drew his face closer to the nervous man before him and whispered softly and seductively, "I wish, the angel is beautiful like you."
Remus's heartbeat stopped for a second and he found himself drowning in Sirius's grey orbs, completely oblivious with his surrounding. Remus was panting. He breathed harmonically with his pounding hearth as Sirius's face came closer and closer. So close that Remus could feel the other man's warm breathe. Remus closed his eyes and opened his mouth absentmindedly, inviting Sirius to ravish his mouth.
Then Remus heard someone entered the room, and second later he felt a strong hand grabbed his waist. His reddened face met with a warm body and a very familiar aftershave. So much familiar. Remus opened his eyes and looked up tentatively. He found that Riddle's strong hands held him. Anger visibly displayed on the producer's face.
"What do you think you're doing, Black!?" hissed the producer in anger. His blue eyes sparkled in danger and hatred.
Sirius cackled. "I just want to say hi." He replied.
"Get out, now." Riddle said.
"Hey, I just came here and you…"
"I said GET OUT, NOW!!" roared the angry producer, startling Sirius.
"Okay, okay…" Sirius sighed in defeat. He wouldn't –and couldn't- fight Riddle. Lucius told him how Riddle could change personality from a charming man into the most evil person on earth in seconds. "I'm out of here." Sirius muttered. He casually walked to the door. When the raven-haired walked pass the piano, he stopped abruptly. He played some notes on the piano and then left.
"Are you okay?" Riddle asked Remus with his voice filled with concern and bit of jealousy.
"Yeah." Remus forced a smile. His cheeks were showing an attractive shade of red from his latest encounter with Sirius Black. Remus remembered how close their lips were. Remus believed that Sirius won't hesitate if Riddle never come. Imagining Sirius kissing him made Remus's stomach churned.
"He hasn't kissed you yet?"
Remus shook his head. "No. Thanks for saving me, anyway."
Riddle lowered his head and captured Remus's soft lips with his own. They hold the kiss for a minute before they separate.
"Have you finished the songs, James?" asked the producer coldly. His cold demeanor had return.
"In a minute, please." James said. The bespectacled man snatched the music sheets from Remus's hand and brought them to the piano. James's fingers hovered above the keyboard with his eyes closed. When he opened his eyes, he wrote something on the music sheets. Less than a minute later, James had finished the song.
"I'm done." James said as he handed the music sheets to Riddle. "The first composition will be our single." It was 'No Wings'.
"Good. Now, get prepare for the recording." said Riddle. He then walked toward the door and exited the studio.
"'No Wings'?!!" screamed Lily and Remus in unison. "Are you mad?!"
"No. Why?"
"You haven't finished that song, James!" said Remus in pure panic.
"Nah." James said, easily. He flashed his most charming smile. "I finally made it in the last minute!" He raised his two thumbs, happy.
"Oh, no…!" Remus scowled. "You finished that when Riddle asked you about our songs?"
James nodded enthusiastically like a child when they see a huge lollipop as huge as their head.
"You hurriedly finished that song? You finished that without even think and put whatever chord that crossed your mind??" Lily spoke in a pure horror.
"Well…" James muttered with his hand rubbing his head. "I didn't put any chord in random. I heard that."
"… heard…?"
"Yeah. Sirius actually told –well, played- how to end it. He played it on the piano before he left."
"… really?"
James rolled his eyes, annoyed. "Will you guys stop that? It makes me feel like I'm the only sane person here. Hey! Snap that dumb look off your face Lily! And Remus, I know that Sirius Black is gorgeous, but please don't droll like that."
Remus quickly snapped his jaw close. He tried to wipe any trace of saliva from the corner of his mouth, but he found none. His face got even redder when he saw James laughing hysterically.
"Boys, time to go to the recording studio." Lily said, grabbing James and Remus's coats and handing those pieces of clothing to their owner. "We don't want to see an angry Riddle again. Once in a whole life is enough for me…"
Thus, they went to the recording studio.
Half month later…
Sirius Black opened his white curtains in his penthouse, revealing a marvelous scene of magnificent skyscrapers. The sun was high on the sky. Sirius was overslept again. Well, he didn't bother at all. His stoic father wasn't around to lecture him about the advantage of waking up early. "Bollocks…" Sirius muttered as he remembered one of his father's advice. He yawned and snuggled deeper in his sweater. It was a cold morning in late autumn.
Sirius watched the scenery played before him with a small smile playing on his face. The same buildings, same streets, same traffic jam, and same billbo…
Wait. He didn't remember that billboard before…
Sirius narrowed his eyes. Sure, he never saw that billboard before. That new billboard stood next to his old billboard. It was a simple square billboard. What caught Sirius Black was what the billboard advertised.
It said 'New album from 'The Marauders', NO WINGS, in store now!'
To be continued.
A/N : Weehee!! Finally finished… I thought I never make it, but hey! I did it! Yay me! The battle between Sirius and 'Marauders' will begin in next chapters and the love between Sirius and Remus will bloom soon! So, keep reading this, and keep reviewing!
Notes : I'm gonna use this notes to put some explanation of each chapter (like the previous chapter where I explained about French chords, Neapolitan chord, and bla-bla-bla). And I got few notes about this chapter. It's about Sirius and 'The Marauders' single titles. I took it from 'Dragon Voice' (read too much manga before you sleep will make you think about that certain manga over and over again…), both 'No Wings' and 'State of Shock'. 'Dragon Voice' itself was made by Yuriko Nishiyama. Soo… yeah. Those songs belong to Yuriko Nishiyama and her 'Beatmen'. Perhaps, next time I'm gonna use something from 'Gravitation'. Hmm…