Chapter Text
A Torrid Affair: The Sequel
Rita Skeeter
People Magazine
Oh readers… Where do we begin?
Just when we thought this drama with Regulus Black and James Potter couldn’t get any juicier, they prove us wrong yet again. In case you missed it, I’ll rehash everything that has happened in the past week regarding Black and Potter.
Black was seen clubbing with his friend group at a nearby nightclub in France, where his ancestral home is located. Towards the end of the night, eyewitnesses saw Black kissing his close friend, Barty Crouch Jr., which you can see in the pictures here. Many think that this is Black moving on from Potter, as there is a wide variety of people who believe that Potter and Black’s entire relationship was fake. I will not disclose my own personal opinion at this time; we’ll save that for another time.
Days later, Potter posted a video of an unreleased song titled ‘Catacombs’, which you can view on his Instagram. The song itself is extremely cryptic, the standout lyrics that fans have speculated being about Black are: “ I'd been practicing stitching your memory into something I could live without.” as well as, “ I thought you'd figure it out, There's a lot of things I figured you'd know by now, But I guess everybody just sold you out, Into something they could quiet down.” A lot of fans think the song is about Regulus, feeding into their fan theory that their relationship wasn’t a PR scheme and this is Potter’s way of apologizing.
Again, I have no opinion on the matter at this time.
And if that wasn’t enough, we were fed yet another song by Black two days following Potter’s. Though he didn’t title it, fans have chosen a name for themselves, choosing to call it, ‘To Be So Lonely.” Some of the most noted lyrics that fans especially loved were, “ Don't call me baby again, You got your reasons, I know that you're tryna be friends, I know you mean it.” as well as, “ I just hope you see me in a little better light, Do you think it's easy being of the jealous kind? 'Cause I miss the shape of your lips, You'll win, it's just a trick, And this is it, so I'm sorry.” Fans are thinking that these lyrics are specifically aimed at Potter and his relationship with Lily Evans. I can’t help but feel sorry for Evans and her role smack in the middle of all of this.
But what do you think, readers? Is this still a PR scheme or something more? Are these boys being unfair to Lily? Are there new albums brewing for the both of them? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
***
“Come on, Reg, it’ll do you some good to get out of the house.” Sirius says, his eyes twinkling as he drags Regulus out of the backseat of the car.
“I just don’t want to meet your weirdo friends. I don’t understand why you and I can’t just hang out.” Regulus says, scowling as Sirius wraps an arm around his shoulders and tugs him towards the large house standing before them.
“Because James invited us to hang out at his house and I think you’ll have a good time.”
Accepting defeat, Regulus goes quiet and follows Sirius to the front door of the large house before them. Sirius doesn’t bother knocking, choosing to go right for the door and pulling it open while yelling, “Hope everyone’s decent!”
Regulus shoots his brother a horrified look. “They allow you to speak like that?”
“Calm down, Reg.” Sirius nudges him. “They’re different. You’ll see.”
Loud footsteps race down a hallway, a head of messy black hair appearing seconds later. “Sirius, hey!” he says before barreling into Regulus’s brother with so much force that they both stumble backwards a few steps.
They separate seconds later, the boy’s gaze switching over to Regulus and suddenly he can’t breathe. “Hey, sorry. I get too excited sometimes.” the boy says, stepping forward with a wide grin that lights up his tanned face. “I’m James. You’re Regulus, right?” James holds his hand out, looking expectantly at Regulus’s hand.
He’s very formal for a 13-year-old, Regulus thinks to himself while shaking James’s hand.
“Hi.” Regulus mumbles before wrenching his hand away, his cheeks burning.
He knows that he isn’t like everyone else. While the boys in his class all talk about girls, he’s never been like that. He’s only ever felt that feeling that others talk about for boys.
And he’s feeling it tenfold now. Every symptom he’s ever heard talked about regarding a crush; pounding heart, sweaty palms, hot cheeks, he’s feeling it all.
“Here, I’ll take both of your coats. You can follow me.” James says, reaching out and pulling at the sleeves of Regulus’s coat with a grin.
Allowing this, Regulus shrugs out of the coat and watches as James folds it over his arm, reaching out and yanking the coat from Sirius’s hands and grinning as he walks to a door and hanging their coats inside of it.
A sort of warm, tingly feeling starts from his fingers and travels all the way down to his toes. Sirius walks ahead of them, already chatting to no one in particular. “Hey, is Remus here yet?”
“Yeah, everyone’s here. Last time I saw Remus, he was in the kitchen with Lily and Pete.” James says, still occupied in the coat closet.
“Sweet.” Sirius says before making a beeline down the hallway that James emerged from.
Regulus lingers, not totally sure what to do. He’ll also admit to himself that he wants to stick around the boy that seems to be emitting pure rays of sunshine from his very being. James spots him, his smile growing even bigger. “Hey. Sorry, I’ll show you around. Forgot you don’t know your way around yet.”
Regulus follows James down the hallway, trying to keep his expression neutral even though his mouth seems to want to stay in an eternal smile. As they begin walking down the hall, they’re accosted by a girl with long, red hair. Her face lights up when she spots James, her feet moving faster as she quickly reaches out to intertwine their hands.
“I was wondering where you went. One second you were right beside me and the next you were gone.” she says, her pretty face flushed as James beams at her.
“Yeah, sorry, I heard Sirius.” James says bashfully, his cheeks tinged pink as he avoids her eyes.
And all the tingling and fuzzy feelings that’d been fluttering around Regulus’s stomach seconds before are replaced with pure dread. His smile drops, his heart going cold. Of course, James has a girlfriend. Why wouldn’t he? He’s perfect.
The two of them seem to remember Regulus’s presence at the same time. James jumps in first. “Oh! Lily, this is Sirius’s younger brother, Regulus. Regulus, this is my girlfriend and co-star, Lily Evans.” he says, gesturing between the two of them.
Lily beams at Regulus, her hand sticking out towards him. “Hi, Regulus. It’s nice to meet you.”
He takes her hand, shaking it once before letting go. “Likewise,” he mutters.
And all the excitement he’d felt upon arrival is gone in one fell swoop as James and Lily start chatting with each other, walking ahead of him and leaving Regulus alone in the entryway.
How stupid of me to think this would be anything.
“Regulus! Where are you?” Sirius’s yell comes from rooms away.
He debates ignoring it and going right back out the front door, his coat be damned.
“Regulus!”
“Regulus, wake up.” Narcissa’s voice startles him out of his dreams.
With a gasp, he sits up in his bed, hand raking through his curls agitatedly. He blinks a few times, remembering that he’s in his bedroom in his estate at 18 years old, not in James Potter’s house at 12. “What, Cissa?”
“I’ve got an idea.” she says while sitting down on the edge of his bed, her white-blonde hair pulled into a twist at the back of her head, some strands falling out around her face.
“Happy days. I’m just dying to hear this one.” Regulus mutters darkly.
She lightly hits his arm. “I know you’re still unhappy with me, but this is a wise career move.”
Regulus raises an eyebrow. “Alright, go on, then.”
“A concert.”
They sit there for a moment, Regulus waiting for her to continue. “Alright?”
She huffs. “A one-night event. We’ll fly back to NYC today and you’ll perform tomorrow night. It’s an exclusive sneak peek of the album that you’re working on. You’ll perform 3 to 4 songs, all of them unreleased. If we market this right, which we will, it will get the press talking about your music and not your personal life. That’s what we want.”
Regulus tilts his head from side to side, his eyebrows furrowing in thought. It’s not a bad idea. An exclusive concert with only unreleased music would be a sought-after event, sure to get Rita Skeeter to write about something other than his relationship status.
“Tomorrow night?” he says, his tone carefully neutral.
Narcissa nods. “I’ve already booked our flight. We’ll be in New York by 5 tonight.”
“Any song suggestions?” Regulus asks, his lips twitching slightly.
Narcissa grins back. “Favorite Crime and To Be So Lonely for one. But I was thinking… what if you wrote a new song? One specifically for this concert. One that will get the media talking, and get them on your side of things.”
Regulus shifts, sitting up in his bed. “What are you thinking?”
“The internet thinks you’re the homewrecker. So embrace it. Write about your experience with all of this. Write from your perspective.” she says, her gaze intense as it bores into Regulus’s.
“Write about… the truth?” Regulus asks.
“Whatever that means to you, Reg. This concert is your chance to tell your side of the story. No more cryptic Instagram posts and speculative and nosy cunt journalists guessing what happened.” Narcissa spits, her mouth pulled back into a snarl. “This will be your opportunity to get the world back on your side. No more death threats. No more trolls. Just the truth.”
Regulus runs it through his mind. This could be his only chance to control the narrative. To control his image to the public. This could be his chance to right his reputation.
“I’ll do it. And I’ll write a new song, too.” Regulus says, already stumbling out of bed to grab his song book.
Narcissa smirks. “Maybe add Dispose of Me to the set list, too. Just to really pull on everyone’s heartstrings.”
He smirks back. “I think I will.”
***
“He’s in New York.” Lily says, interrupting Peter’s story about the newest book he’s been writing.
James frowns, looking up from the sandwich he’s been eating. “Who?”
“Regulus. He just landed.” Lily says, her gaze focused on her phone.
“What?”James nearly falls out of his chair in his hurry to look at her screen.
She turns it towards him, a picture of Regulus, Narcissa, and Sirius all walking together through JFK with their suitcases.
“Holy shit.” James breathes, his heart pounding at the new pictures.
“They’ve got to be there for a reason.” Lily says, scrolling through pictures and reading various tweets. “It must be something for Regulus’s music. Look at what he just posted.”
She pulls up Regulus’s newest Instagram post, a minimal graphic with his name written on the top. It reads,
One Night Only with Regulus Black
Come hang with me for a one-night exclusive concert of four unreleased songs from my upcoming album.
8 p.m.
Irving Plaza
First come, first serve
James can hardly breathe. He has to go. He has to go right now.
“We need to get to New York.” he says, standing from his seat and grabbing his wallet.
“James, I’m not sure that Alice would–” Lily starts, but James cuts her off.
“I don’t care. I need to see him. I won’t try and do anything but I need to make sure he’s alright.” James says, throwing down some cash before grabbing his coat and rushing to the front door of the small cafe.
“James!” Lily calls out, but he doesn’t stop.
He hails a cab, patiently waiting for Lily and Peter to follow him before they all climb in and drive back to his parents’ house. He’s already booking them tickets to New York, finding the closest flight, which happens to be at 6 p.m. tonight.
“This is a horrible idea.” Lily groans, leaning her forehead on the window as they drive.
“Probably.” James allows, still staring at Regulus’s flyer for the concert.
“I don’t know why you’re all stressed, Lils.” Peter says from his spot between James and Lily.
“Because there is a very good chance that if we go to this concert that James will completely blow our cover and the internet will lose its collective shit, Peter.” Lily says, her tone strained.
“Lily,” James says, finally shutting his phone off and turning his body towards them. “I am not going to do anything rash. I just want to see him. I want to try and explain what happened, but I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize your image, okay? I promise.”
With a long sigh, she turns her gaze from the window over to James. “I trust you, James. We’ll go. But you need to promise me that you won’t do anything stupid while we’re there. If you thought things were bad before… you cannot even imagine what it will be like if you decide to make a scene at this concert.”
“I know–”
“No.” Lily sits up, her gaze hard as she sets her jaw. “You don’t know. This is your first scandal. I know you may think that it’s bad now but it is nothing compared to how they’ll treat you if you act a fool at this concert. And it’s not all you, either, James. They’ll rip me to shreds as well and everyone around you by proxy. I just need you to think this through, okay?”
James goes quiet. And all the anticipation of seeing Regulus, the excitement, the desperation, all goes away as he studies Lily’s expression. She looks beyond terrified. “Have they been nasty to you? Alice barely lets me look on social media these days.”
She sighs. “They haven’t been the kindest, James. It’s the internet, of course I’m getting hate. But sweetheart, it’s nothing compared to what Regulus is getting. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Just… take it easy. Please.”
He doesn’t respond for a long moment, both of them staring at each other. “I promise I’m not going to do anything. We’ll go to the concert, stay towards the back, and I’ll try to talk to him the day after. No funny business.”
The air between them is tense for a few more seconds before Lily slowly relaxes back into her seat. “Alright. We’ll go. I trust you.”
“It’s going to be fine.”
“Whatever you say.”
***
“You don’t have to go through with this, you know.” Dorcas’s voice cuts through the loud pounding in Regulus’s mind.
The cheering from the room over is so loud that his head is practically buzzing. He looks up from the notebook he’s been staring at for the past few minutes, completely lost in thought. “Yeah, right. If I back down now I think my reputation could never be saved.”
“Fuck your reputation. We’ll escape society and live in the woods somewhere.” Dorcas says before taking the notebook from his hands and intertwining her fingers with his.
Regulus cracks a smile, finally meeting her eyes. She’s pulled out all the stops; her braids have silver adornments woven into them, and she’s wearing a periwinkle silk dress that looks like water when she moves, her feet wrapped up into silver heels. Regulus feels underdressed in his black jeans and oversized T-shirt.
“I appreciate the offer, but there is literally no way I’m going to back down now.” Regulus says, squeezing her hand before letting it go.
He slowly pulls himself to his feet and checks his watch. Five minutes until 8. He should get backstage.
“Alright, but just remember that I’m here. I’ll be backstage with everyone else the whole time.” Dorcas says, following closely behind him as he leaves his dressing room.
“I know.” Regulus says, cringing when his tone comes out harsher than intended. “Thanks, Cas. I love you, but I need to do this.”
She concedes, nodding as they approach the backstage area. Sirius stands there with all of Regulus’s friends; the sight of it settling the horrid nerves still bouncing around Regulus’s mind. Sirius spots him, stopping mid-sentence to ditch Barty and meet Regulus halfway, his hands settling on Regulus’s shoulders. “You ready?”
Shrugging, Regulus attempts a smile. “As I’ll ever be.”
Sirius smirks. “You’re going to crush it. And if Rita Skeeter writes one more hateful word about you, we’ll hunt her down and cut off her hair while she sleeps.”
“You’re evil.” Regulus tries to keep a straight face, but the mental image of a bald Rita Skeeter is too good.
Sirius laughs with him. “Well, I am a Black.”
Rolling his eyes, Regulus reaches up to gently squeeze Sirius around his middle before stepping away. A stage manager approaches him to let him know that he’s got thirty seconds, which he spends double checking his microphone and going over the order of songs he’ll sing. He’s going to sing Favorite Crime, then To Be So Lonely, then Dispose of Me, and finish up with the new song he only finalized about an hour ago.
Evan and Barty both slap his back supportively, Pandora sneaking in a kiss on his cheek before he’s being pushed on stage to sing his most vulnerable songs yet.
His hand that holds his microphone shakes a bit as he slowly walks out onto the stage, wincing when the volume of cheers goes up tenfold. He sends a small grin out into the black abyss of people, walking to the stool set up in front of his band. He nods at them before settling on the stool, adjusting his microphone in the stand before casting a nervous gaze at the crowd.
“Hello,” he greets, his smile growing when cheers answer him. “Um, I’m Regulus Black. Thank you all for coming to my show. Tonight I am going to be performing four of my unreleased songs. I hope you all enjoy.”
He takes a deep breath, reaching for his guitar leaning against the stool and strumming a few times before beginning to sing. The immediate response from the crowd is slightly overwhelming, and he’s shocked to find that the crowd sings with him. He won’t admit it, but his eyes well up slightly when the crowd screams the bridge at him, never missing a single word. The song ends with an overwhelming amount of screams, and he has to take a minute to compose himself.
“I wasn’t expecting you all to know the words. Um, thank you for that. You guys sounded great.” Regulus smiles, finally feeling relaxed and extremely touched by the response to his song.
With a shaky breath, he starts plucking out the starting chords of To Be So Lonely , laughing when a girl releases a scream so loud that people walking down the street could likely hear it. The initial anxiety of performing has worn off, and he allows his facial muscles to relax as he sings a bit louder, smiling when the crowd sings back. He actually laughs when they scream the lyrics, “I’m just an arrogant son of a bitch who can’t admit when he’s sorry” with him. He finishes the song with a wide smile, thanking the audience and the band before clearing his throat for the third song.
He segues into Dispose of Me, shaking his head when he hears screams and gasps. He never posted this one and he can’t believe how silent the room gets as the room lights up with flashlights swaying back and forth. He can finally see everyone’s faces lit by the hundreds of flashlights in the crowd. He smiles at every person he makes eye contact with, scanning around the room all the way to the back.
And then he sees him.
He stumbles over a lyric, the breath punching out of him when his eyes meet James’s. It’s the first time they’ve seen each other in over two months.
If it isn’t enough that James is here, he also seems to have brought Lily Evans with him. To watch Regulus perform the songs he’s written about both of them.
He doesn’t allow himself to stumble for long, and covers it with a swift cough before continuing on. But he can’t take his eyes off of James now that he’s spotted him. He looks gorgeous, which isn’t surprising to anyone, though the dark circles under his eyes make him look older than he is. He’s biting his lip, his eyes wide and slightly sad as Regulus decides to say fuck it and stop looking at anyone but James.
This is bad. People are recording and they’ve definitely noticed James by now if not by Regulus’s incessant staring alone. But he can’t look away. He can’t do anything except sing his song to it’s subject.
When he finishes, the flashlights slowly go out, thus painting James in darkness once more. Regulus can’t see him anymore, but he continues looking out in the same direction, frozen to the spot for a few seconds before shaking himself out of it.
“Thank you. I just have one more song before wrapping this up. I just want to thank you all for being here. It means so much to have you guys here supporting me. This last song is one I just finished about an hour ago in the dressing room, so I apologize if it’s rusty.” Regulus says, grinning sheepishly as he swipes the handwritten piece of notebook paper out of his pocket. “These past couple of months have been… hard, to say the least. The only reason I got through it was because of you guys and the people I love most.”
Cheers grow loud again, all of them screaming lovely things at him and making him smile again.
“So, to finish up the night, I’ll be singing a brand new song called Because I Liked A Boy . I hope you enjoy.”
He plucks out some chords on his guitar, his initial anxiety coming back in full force now that he’s aware of who's standing at the back of the room. But he takes a deep breath and sings anyway.
I'm not catastrophizing
Everything's derailing
Was only tryna hold you close
While your heart was failing
The crowd is deathly silent, all of them seemingly aware how real this song is. He can feel the weight of the cameras on him, recording every word he sings. He embraces it, lifting his gaze from his instrument to look out in the direction of James and Lily.
All because I liked a boy
Fell so deeply into it
It was all so innocent
Dating boys with exes
No, I wouldn't recommend it
He hears gasps, murmurs, shushing, all of it mixed together. And even though this is all the most terrifying thing he’s ever done, he can’t help but feel sl;ightly vindicated. If everyone wants to paint him as the homewrecker, then so be it. That’s what he is.
I'm a homewrecker, I'm a slut
I got death threats filling up semi-trucks
Tell me who I am, guess I don't have a choice
All because I liked a boy
More people lift their phones in the air, trying to get the best angle of him airing out his dirty laundry. His gaze doesn’t waver and neither does his voice. He takes a huge lungful of air, preparing for the final few lines.
And all of this for what?
When everything went down, they'd already broken up
Please, tell me who I am, guess I don't have a choice
All because I liked a boy
A boy, a boy
All because I liked a boy
The room is silent for a few seconds before it erupts in ear-splitting applause and cheers. People are screaming things at him, telling him they’re on his side, that they love him, and it’s all so overwhelming that he can hardly breathe.
He stands, gesturing to his band and the crew before taking a bow. The screams vibrate the entire building and there are tears stinging his eyes. He casts one last glance in James’s direction before walking off the stage.
***
Lily stares at her reflection in the mirror, wiping away the condensation from her shower. James hasn’t said a word since they returned from Regulus’s concert, and Lily has no idea what to say to him.
Her auburn hair is plastered to her head, and she frowns at it. A dark, ugly feeling swims in her stomach the longer she stares at herself. She can’t help but feel disgusted. This entire situation; the fake dating, forcing James and Regulus apart, forcing James to lie to everyone, it all rubs her the wrong way.
And after hearing Regulus’s song… how could she live with herself after that?
With a sigh, she quickly dresses and exits the bathroom, glancing around the empty hotel room. She doesn’t expect to see James until the next day. She wouldn’t know what to say to him anyway.
Grabbing the remote, she turns the TV on, settling for some sitcom she watched years ago but can’t quite remember the plot of. She attempts to zone out, but her brain won’t let up.
She needs to do something. She’s not sure what she needs to do, but sitting here and doing nothing is driving her insane. Cursing herself and the scolding she’s undoubtedly going to receive for this, Lily pulls up Twitter and starts typing.
@LilyEvans
Had the pleasure of seeing @RegulusBlack perform live tonight. Congratulations to him. The songs he performed were beyond beautiful and really touched me. My personal favorite was his final song, the lyrics really spoke to me and the truth behind them. I encourage everyone to stream his music and support him at this time.
With shaking fingers, Lily posts it before turning her phone off.
She can deal with the backlash tomorrow.