Chapter 2 – What do You Want to Talk to Me for?
Sirius lived just half a kilometre from Hogwarts, so the boys walked there. The houses in the neighbourhood were huge and impressive and when they stopped in front of a magnificent white house, Remus' eyes widened.
"Welcome to Grimmauld Place," said Sirius.
Remus was speechless as they walked up the driveway towards the beautiful building. Sirius opened the door and kicked off his shoes as he got inside.
"Mrs. Harris! I'm home and I brought company."
A plump black woman came out from the kitchen, wiping her hands in her apron. "Oh, hello darlings!" She stopped, noticing Remus. "Oh, and you brought home a new friend? I haven't seen you before, luv."
"It's Remus, a new student at the school," said James. "He's great."
Remus smiled at the woman. "Hello, madam. Nice to meet you."
"Padfoot!" called Sirius and slapped his knees.
The sound of claws against the wooden floor could be heard as something sped in their direction. A few seconds later a large black dog crashed into Sirius. It was not exactly a show dog. At least it was not a breed Remus recognised. It was shaggy, had long legs and a long tongue, which it now used to happily lick his master and friends' faces. It nearly knocked Remus over in excitement.
"Good old Padfoot," said James, ruffling the dog's fur. "Always behaves as if he hasn't seen us in a year."
Remus scratched the dog behind the ear and it seemed to almost go into a trance.
"You have the magic touch," grinned Sirius and got back up. "Well. Let's go to my room."
"Can I use the bathroom first?" asked Remus. Sirius nodded, pointing in the direction of the closest one.
The bathroom was as lavish as the rest of the house. White marble with golden handles to the cupboards and a golden faucet. There was a giant tub as well as a shower stall. And Remus was sure there were several other bathrooms like this in the house. He went over to the sink and washed his hands thoroughly and then pulled out a tube of hand sanitizer.
When he came back out again Sirius said, "Let's take you on a tour of the house, just so you won't get lost in the future."
He opened the door into a large parlour with comfortable chairs and couches and wide windows with an excellent view to the beautifully kept garden. On a couch below one of the windows a slim boy was sitting curled up with a book. Lounging on the carpet at the boy's feet was a very ugly cat with a short, crooked face and threadbare coat. It looked very old.
Padfoot bounded through the door, spotted the cat and sprinted in its direction. The cat let out a yowl and frantically jumped onto the headrest of the couch, close to the boy, where it stood, hissing and spitting at the dog, its sparse fur standing on end.
The boy pulled the cat into his arms, holding it for protection and, looking furious, screamed at Sirius, "GET THAT BLASTED BEAST OUT OF HERE! IT'S SCARING THE LIFE OUT OF KREACHER!"
"I'm surprised that old rag of a cat isn't scaring Padfoot instead," Sirius said as he went over to grab the dog's collar.
Remus had to restrain himself from staring at the boy too bluntly. He was unmistakably Sirius' little brother, with his raven-black hair and finely carved face. Unlike Sirius, however, he was quite small and slight. His eyes were a darker grey and he did not have the charisma that radiated from his brother. In Remus' eyes, however, he was even more attractive than Sirius. There was something about him that drew Remus to him like a magnet. Something that begged to be explored. Remus shook his head and tried instead to look at Sirius who was still tugging at Padfoot to get him away from the hissing cat.
"You know he hates it and still you don't take care to keep it away from him!" cried Regulus, staring furiously at his brother and petting the cat to calm it. "You have no respect for him at all! Or me!"
"Try to be less of a drama queen, will you?" said Sirius. He patted the top of the dog's head. "There, there Padfoot," he said in a soothing voice, clearly making fun of his brother. "Don't let that nasty cat claw your beautiful nose. You might catch whatever Kreacher is having and grow ugly."
"Shut up!" screamed Regulus. That bloody mutt IS ugly! And at least Kreacher doesn't eat rotten things or roll himself in filth and animal carcasses! Kreacher could catch something from HIM!"
"I think rolling in filth would actually improve Kreacher's appearance," said Sirius.
"Are they always this... friendly?" asked Remus nervously and looked at James who just stood with his hands in his pockets, watching the two bickering.
"Not all the time, but often. It's quite amusing to watch, actually," said James.
Sirius seemed to get tired of arguing and changed the subject. "I've brought home a new friend. This is Remus, a new student at the school."
Regulus looked at Remus for a moment, his expression impossible to read, then looked back at his brother. "So? What's that got to do with me?"
"Just thought I would introduce him to your charm," said Sirius.
Remus said, "Hi, Regulus," and waved nervously.
Regulus gave no response. Instead he turned his attention back to his book, hoping they would go away if he stopped paying attention to them. Sirius always dragged people home, and Regulus never liked any of them. They were loud and crude, stupid boys who thought that their home was oh so cool, and stupid girls fawning over his brother as though he were some kind of movie star.
Sirius turned to his friends and put a finger to his head, doing a circular movement and rolling his eyes. "Let's go play some video games or something," he said, still having a hold on Padfoot's collar so the dog would not run back at the cat.
The hallway leading to the stairs with expensive paintings on the tall walls, and the grand winding staircase was impressive. On top of the stairs there was another long hallway with at least ten rooms leading up to it. "This is my room," announced Sirius and opened the fourth door on the left
They went inside and Remus looked around. The room was huge. Almost as big as Remus' whole house. Padfoot followed them in and lay down on an expensive looking carpet, even though he had a luxurious dog bed in the corner. Sirius went to sit down in an armchair and James and Peter slumped down on a sofa, leaving Remus standing, still stunned by the surroundings.
"So what do you want to do?" asked James.
"Nintendo?" suggested Peter.
"I was thinking we should let Remus decide. Why don't you tell him what you've got, Sirius?"
"Well," said Sirius. "I have all the consoles there is. PlayStation, Xbox, Wii, you name it. We also have a bowling alley in the basement and out back we have an ATV track, so you can just pick whatever you want. We also have two swimming pools. In- and outdoors."
"I... I don't know what to say," said Remus. He had never had this many options.
"I suggest ATVs then," said Sirius. "I'm in the mood for getting dirty. Maybe I'll give my brother a hug afterwards."
"You can borrow some clothes if you don't want your uniform to get dirty," said James, noticing the hesitant look on Remus' face.
"That would be nice," said Remus and smiled gratefully. He was pretty sure his mother would not approve of this, but it sounded like a lot of fun.
o0o0o
The ATV track was quite large and designed with little hills and mud pits.
Sirius handed Remus a helmet and strapped his own on with a grin. "Ever driven an ATV?" Remus shook his head. "It's rather simple," Sirius continued. He showed Remus the breaks and gas handle. "Just don't go too fast until you learn to steer it properly," he said and hopped onto his own ATV.
They drove around for a good hour, Remus trying his best to get comfortable on his vehicle. Afterwards they sat down at the bank next to the track and chatted a bit.
"So… what do your parents do for a living? They must have good jobs, having all these things at your house."
"They run the family business, Black Ltd. My father inherited it from his father who inherited it from his father and so on. My mother has a top position in it, so they both work a lot and are away most of the time. They're on a business trip right now. They probably spend a third of the year on those. Actually, I prefer it that way," said Sirius. "I hate them. And Regulus doesn't exactly have a great relationship with then either. All we do when they are home is fight or ignore each other."
"Oh..." said Remus and felt a little bad for mentioning them. "Your brother, is he... I mean why didn't we ask him to come along? It's a pity just to sit inside on such a beautiful day. Maybe he would have liked to join?" Truth be told Remus was intrigued by the younger brother and would like to get to know him a bit.
All three of the others laughed. "I guarantee you he wouldn't have liked to join," said Sirius. "He doesn't like to do anything dirty or rough. And he doesn't like spending time with anybody but that damn excuse for a cat."
"I just thought he might have liked some company," said Remus. "Is he always like this or is he just having a bad day because of what happened at school?"
"He's not right in the head, Remus. I mean, I love him because he's my brother, but he's a nutter. You don't have to be scared of him or anything. He's not a bad person, just... Well, if people left him alone, he wouldn't cause any trouble. That just isn't possible in the human society, you know?"
"I understand... He just looked a little lonely," Remus said.
"Let's get back," said Sirius. "I'm sure Mrs. Harris has dinner ready by now."
o0o0o
"Where have you boys been?" said Mrs. Harris. "Dinner is ready! Quick - change into some clean clothes and come sit down! Your brother is already waiting at the table."
Regulus had wanted to just get some food and eat it somewhere else, but Mrs. Harris had insisted that he sit down at the table and be a little social for once, so he sat there in a sulk when the others came in.
Remus sat down across from Regulus. "Hello," he smiled but got no response.
Sirius just shook his head and sat down as well. "I see you got Mrs. Harris to prepare your own personal plate again," Sirius pointed out. "Why don't you try and eat what the rest of us are eating, for once?"
"And fill my body with junk?" replied Regulus.
"Don't let Mrs. Harris hear you call her food junk or she'll slap you upside the head."
"I'm not criticising Mrs. Harris' food, but some of the things that you ask her to make for you is junk. Look at those hot wings," said Regulus, pointing at Sirius' plate. "Loads of saturated fat. It will clog your veins up."
James looked at the plainly cooked chicken breast on Regulus' plate. "Well, at least ours taste of something. Do you actually enjoy your food, Regulus, or do you just eat to stay alive?"
Regulus' eyes narrowed. "Healthy food tastes just fine!"
"Whatever you say," said Sirius and took a bite of a chicken wing, making sure to let everyone know how much he enjoyed it.
Regulus ate quickly without speaking, hoping that Mrs. Harris would let him leave once he was finished. Not that he had much hope. She seemed to be under the impression that becoming a little more social would be good for him.
"I have an idea," said Sirius suddenly. "Since it's bloody hot for this time of year, we should have a pool party on Saturday." He looked around at the others. "What do you lads think?"
"Brilliant idea!" said James and Peter in unison. "A late September pool party!" continued James. "You free Saturday, Remus?"
Remus snapped out of his thoughts and turned his head to look at James. "Yeah, I should be. I don't have work until the week after." He hoped his mother would not make a fuss over letting him go.
"Brilliant!" beamed James. "Who should we invite? A big party or just a select few?" he asked the others.
"I want a big party," said Sirius determinedly. "You can try and invite Evans, James. She might actually turn up if Remus is here." He sent him a smirk. "I'm sure Remus wouldn't mind being your wingman."
Remus shook his head quickly and then turned to Regulus. "Will you be joining as well?"
Regulus, who had been just about to put a brussel sprout into his mouth, eyed Remus in surprise and lowered his fork. "Are you taking the Mickey? I would rather die than fraternise with a hoard of loud, drunken teens, splashing around in the same shallow water and sweating under the sun. No. I shall spend my Saturday in my room."
"Oh... I see," said Remus, feeling a bit taken aback by Regulus' words. He had hoped to get the chance to talk to him a bit more if he attended the party.
"Remember to put up a sign that says: Do not enter unless soaked with hand sanitizer," grinned Sirius and dipped another hot wing in blue cheese sauce.
"I would very much advice against anyone trying to force their way into my room, sanitized or not," said Regulus drily. "It is my private place."
"I doubt anyone would want to enter your room with that monster you call a cat guarding your privacy," said Sirius, pointing his fork at Regulus.
Regulus sent his brother a poisonous gaze and stuffed the last two sprouts into his mouth. He would rather get away than retort. He cast a glance towards the kitchen door, but just as he got up and headed for the hall, Mrs. Harris appeared in the doorway.
"Regulus Black," she said, hands on her hips. "Where do you think you're going? The guests are still seated so you should not leave the table yet."
"They're not my guests! And I've already been sitting there for fifteen minutes!" said Regulus, showing no intention to move back to the table.
"They are house guests and you should be on your best behaviour, Regulus." She then turned to Sirius. "Have you been teasing your brother again?"
Sirius shrugged. "Maybe a little..."
"Shame on you," she scolded. "You should know better."
"Just let him go," sighed Sirius. "We're almost done, anyway."
Regulus turned on his heal and hurried out the dining room before Mrs. Harris got a chance to stop him. He ran up the stairs to his room, closed and locked the door, and sat down in a chair by the window, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths. He focused on his breathing for a few minutes until most of the stress had left his body. They just didn't get it. Any of them. They had no idea how uncomfortable it made him to be forced to sit there at the table so close to other people, especially Sirius' friends (whom he despised) and even worse, a stranger.
o0o0o
Remus said goodbye a good hour later. James and Peter were going to stay for a bit longer but Remus thought it best that he got home before dark. And, not living in this neighbourhood, he had quite some way to go.
He got home just as the streetlights were lit and he closed the door slowly, taking off his jacket and shoes. He could hear the TV running in the living room and guessed his parents were in there. Usually his father fell asleep in front of the TV after a hard day's work, but his mother was no doubt still awake, waiting anxiously for him.
"Remus!" she said as she jumped up from her chair. "You have been away for so long!"
"I texted you and told you I went home with a couple of friends after school," said Remus.
"But it's nearly nine o'clock, Remus. You should have been home in bed by now. You've just been ill!" She felt his forehead. "Well, at least you don't have a fever," she said, seeming to calm down.
Remus sat down next to her. "Don't worry, Mum. I've had a great day."
"Well, I'm glad," she smiled. "Tell me about your new friends. Are they nice?"
"They really are," nodded Remus. "We went to a bloke named Sirius' house. It's huge! Like a palace with a swimming pool and everything." He hesitated a little before speaking again. "They invited me to a pool party on Saturday. Can I go?"
"Oh..." said his mother, a little less enthusiastic. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Remus..."
"Party? Are you going to party?" asked Mr. Lupin, having just woken up.
"Remus wants to go to a pool party, but I don't know -"
"Oh, Hope, let the boy go and have some fun with his new friends. Parties don't make you ill."
"I promise I'll take good care of myself, Mum," said Remus eagerly. "If I get cold I'll put on some clothes and just watch the others swim."
Remus' father was always more understanding of Remus' need to have a somewhat normal life and not let his condition inhibit him too much.
"I'm not keen on going back to bed so I'll be careful."
o0o0o
The weather Saturday was a perfect 27 degrees Celsius and full sun. At three o'clock the pool area was swarming with students, some in the pool and some on the deck on sun chairs, enjoying beer, Breezers and cocktails.
Remus looked around to see if he could see anyone he knew. He spotted Sirius and James sitting by the pool. "Hello," he said, walking up to them.
"Hello, Remus," beamed Sirius and looked him up and down. "Why haven't you changed yet? Hurry up and get dressed!"
There were a couple of changing stalls by the side of the area. Just as Remus reached them, Lily emerged, dressed in a blue bikini. "Remus!" she squealed and threw her arms around his neck. "Good to see you here!"
"L-likewise," said Remus. "I didn't think you would come. You didn't seem that interested when James asked you earlier in the week."
"Well, I'm not here for James. There's a lot of other people, as you see. And I don't really have a problem with him, I just don't want to date him. He's too immature."
Remus cast a look over his shoulder to spot James and Sirius, now in the pool, splashing water at people walking by. "I see what you mean," he grinned. "But he's a really nice bloke, though. Showed me around the school and introduced me to the others. Invited me home after school. I wouldn't have made friends this fast on my own."
"Yes... Yes, I suppose he is," said Lily, watching James in the water.
"I better get changed or they'll drag me into the pool with my clothes on," said Remus.
o0o0o
Regulus sat in his room looking out the window from where he could see the pool area. He counted about fifty people. He was getting restless, tired of sitting inside on such a beautiful day; but if he went outside there was the risk of someone stumbling upon him, because some of the guests were moving around in the gardens as well. He sighed and threw himself on his bed, gazing up at the ceiling. This was his home too. It wasn't right that he had to hide up here. He decided to go down to sit on the west-facing terrace, which was the one farthest from the pool area. He got up, rubbed factor 70 sunblock onto every inch of skin that would be exposed to the sun, picked up his new book (A Hundred Light Years from the Sun) and went down the stairs.
Sirius was still playing with James when he spotted his brother by the door, walking towards the terrace. "Hey, Reggie! Why don't you join us for once?" he called, but to no surprise his brother ignored him.
Regulus sat down under a parasol, feet up and book in his lap. It was hard to concentrate with all the noise coming from the other side of the house. He groaned and got up to fish out his iPhone and a set of headphones from his pocket and put on some classical music.
Remus, who was sitting in a sun chair, had seen Regulus walk by as well, and couldn't stop thinking about him, so he decided that maybe he should give it a shot and go talk to him. He walked around to the other side of the house and found Regulus sitting on the terrace. "Hello?" Remus smiled and waved, trying to get his attention.
Regulus didn't register anything, with music in his ears and eyes on the pages. Remus waved a hand in front of the book, trying not to startle him.
Regulus, however, did get startled. He jumped in his seat while at the same time trying to get away, so it resulted in him falling off the sun chair. He scrambled to his feet as he pulled the headphones out of his ears, and backed away. "What are you doing sneaking up on me like that!" he yelled agitatedly, his heart still in his throat.
"S-sorry," said Remus, feeling like an idiot. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to say hello and ask how you were." He took a few steps back from the furious looking boy and gulped. "I'm really sorry, okay? I didn't think you were so far gone while reading, but I should have guessed. I know what it's like getting so caught up in a book that you don't notice what's going on around you."
"What do you want to talk to me for? Just because Sirius is my brother doesn't mean his friends are my friends. Why don't you to back to your party?" grumbled Regulus as he picked up his phone.
"I'm not much of a party person, and you seemed a little lonely so I thought I'd talk a bit with you," Remus said, shuffling his feet. "May I ask what you're reading?"
"I'm not lonely," said Regulus and snatched up the book, afraid the other boy would reach for it. "It's about distant galaxies. What do you care?"
"I just... I read a lot too and I always look for new interesting books. I don't know if we have this one at Ollivander's where I work sometimes, but maybe I could look, or at the library," said Remus, trying to make conversation. However, from the look on Regulus' face he could tell he had overstayed his welcome. "Well I better get back. Was nice to see you again."
A/N: To see Zayhad's illustration to the chapter go to deviantart dot com and look up Zayhad. She has a folder in her gallery with the story's name on it.