Chapter Text
To say Regulus had made some questionable choices in his life would be at best an understatement. It was a fair assessment that he hadn’t entirely thought through blackmailing his father into aiding him with the emancipation paperwork, even though it further splintered his parents’ already strained marriage.
He’d thought through the fact that he was at an all-girl’s boarding school even less. Once he’d attained his status as émancipé, he’d started his transition. It had been foolish to think he ever could have kept it secret, truly, especially because he was in the spotlight enough with figure skating that the fact that he’d swapped to skating as a male didn’t go uncommented upon in the news.
It took months for his scheme to unravel, but in the end, even Orion couldn’t be held by blackmail for too long, no matter how good the material Regulus had on him was.
Regulus tried to live on his own for all of two more months, working with an online school to try and finish his bac . In the end, though, he was forced to admit defeat. It wasn’t at all a tough choice when faced with how deeply into depression he’d spiraled while all on his own. He made the choice on the first of June, and before reaching out to Sirius, he went through the necessary steps to switch to the UK. By July first, he’d declared his intent to compete using his British citizenship, and through the late summer and early fall, he went through the harrowing process of qualifying to compete for the UK.
He was terrified to reach out to the brother he hadn’t spoken with since Sirius had left the family three years earlier. It took him months of splitting his time between the UK and France before he finally managed it. He didn’t really expect a bad reaction, but he certainly wasn’t sure how to expect a warm reception, given that Sirius had seemed finished with all of the family.
When the line finally connected and his brother answered the phone, Regulus nearly forgot how to speak. “Sirius?” he croaked, tentative and full of audible fear.
“Reg? Regulus?” Sirius asked in return, his shock audible. “Reg, are you okay?”
“I–I,” Regulus stalled out for a moment. “J’ai besoin de– I need–help.”
“You need help? What kind of help? I can be in Paris today,” Sirius seemed to be moving, and Regulus couldn’t fight back the tears that welled up at the immediate willingness to help him.
“Non, non. I need… I need to get out of Paris. Please. S'il te plaît?”
“Won’t our parents have some issues with that?” Sirius asked, and Regulus laughed, the sound bordering on truly hysterical as it triggered sobbing.
“J’suis émancipé. I thought I could–I needed–please. Can I stay with you?”
“Of course. Of course, you can–I can book you a ticket, you can be here today, Reg.”
“J’ai un billet,” Regulus mumbled.
“Then you get on your train and you come here. I’ll meet you at the station, d’acc?”
“J’suis d’acc,” Regulus confirmed around painful sobs. “I–I know, peu de chances … mais, is there… a figure skating coach?”
Sirius gave a startled bark of a laugh. “I’ll ask around, I promise, Reg. You okay to get to the train?”
“Ouais. J’suis–” Regulus hesitated, biting back the urge to outright lie to his brother. “I don’t know how to be alone.”
“What happened to your school?” Sirius asked.
“J’suis pas une fille,” Regulus mumbled. Sirius was silent for a long moment.
“Oh. Oh, you’re out,” Sirius realized after a long moment.
“Tu devrais vraiment me chercher sur Google,” Regulus said by way of confirmation.
“I’ll… Google you. You know most people don’t just Google their family, right?”
“Mais, notre p–”
“Our parents are not a good benchmark of anything, they’re cousins .”
“Second cousins.”
“That’s still cousins, Reg.”
“I have to go. You’ll meet me?” It wasn’t worth fighting about, because even though the distinction did matter to Regulus, it never had to Sirius.
“I’ll meet you, I promise. I love you, kid.”
“Je t’aime, aussi,” Regulus sounded nearly embarrassed. He ended the call a moment later, to finish packing up his sparse belongings and to head for the train that would take him to his brother.
Sirius was waiting as promised, but it took a long moment of Regulus heading for him for him to actually recognize him. “Oh, Reg,” Sirius murmured, before reaching out to pull him in for a tight hug. “You look like you.”
The sentiment cut deeply into Regulus’ heart, because it was the first positive reaction to his radical shift in appearance that he’d had. “Merci,” Regulus murmured, muffled slightly against Sirius’ shoulder. “Merci pour tout,” Regulus added.
Sirius made a soft, pained sound. “You’re my brother, Reg. Always. Anything. Anything I can do. And I have good news already, I already found you a figure skating coach. That seemed pretty important, since apparently you’re competing for the UK, in the ISU European Championships, as a man.” Sirius’ tone was a blatant invitation for Regulus to start talking, and Regulus visibly balked in response.
“Oh,” Regulus genuinely hadn’t expected a coach to happen so quickly. “Tu es le meilleur,” Regulus declared.
“Nah. I just skate a lot, and I’m very good at being persuasive when I have to be. Are we talking about the fact that you waited months to ask about staying with me? Or that you didn’t tell me you were competing in the UK to start with?”
“Bah, ‘ockey ,” Regulus made a face, and Sirius laughed just as he’d hoped he would.
“Yeah, yeah, I know, we’re so beneath you. I watched your most recent competitions, Reg. You’re even better than you were before. C’mon. Please, talk to me about this.”
“I am myself, now. I don’t know what else to say. Can we leave it for now? I didn’t– I don’t know how to talk about the rest, not now.”
Sirius was silent for a long moment, as he contemplated the request. “Yeah. Congrats on that, by the way. How’d you get our father to agree?”
“...pas par des moyens légaux,” Regulus answered.
“Well, we stick to discussing illegal stuff when we’re at our flat, huh?” Sirius asked, cheerfully, as he finally started walking Regulus out of St. Pancras.
“Notre?” Regulus’ heart was beating so fast he was getting dizzy, but his brother was grinning, and his arm was around Regulus’ shoulder.
“Well, you’re going to live with me, aren’t you? So, it’s not mine, it’s ours,” Sirius reasoned. Regulus fell quiet as Sirius guided him through the tube, too preoccupied to even pay attention to where they were going. Trains were familiar enough, at least.
Sirius at least waited until they were at his flat before he began the interrogation. “Can I ask what made you need to get out of Paris? Why you switched to the UK?” Sirius asked, and Regulus hesitated.
“J’suis pas en difficulté,” Regulus said, quickly. “I… I tried, to be on my own. But I have never…” Regulus searched for the words for a long moment. “I do not know how to live on my own, with no one. I was…”
“Lonely?” Sirius suggested, sympathetically. “I can’t even imagine, Reg. I was never on my own, not really. Even when I moved into my flat, I still saw people regularly.”
“...Depressed?” Regulus proposed, instead of lonely, and Sirius hesitated.
“Yeah? How bad, lapin?” Sirius looked immensely concerned. Regulus shifted uncomfortably as he contemplated how to answer. “Did you think about hurting yourself?”
After a long moment, Regulus nodded. Sirius exhaled forcefully. “Did you try to hurt yourself?” Sirius followed up, and Regulus hesitated.
“Pas mal,” Regulus answered. “Clairement, je vis.”
“Okay,” Sirius murmured. “I… think we should try and get you in, to talk to someone, about that. And if you start feeling like that now that you’re not alone, I want you to tell me, okay?”
Regulus nodded immediately. “Je promets.”
“Okay. Good. Now. Illegal stuff. I want details,” Sirius was clearly doing his best to force his tone into something cheerful. Regulus huffed.
“If I share details with you , I risk the whole world knowing,” Regulus teased.
“What? No, I can keep a secret!” Sirius’ protest was accompanied by a broad grin.
“You have kept one secret in my entire life,” Regulus replied.
“That you know about.”
“Well, those are all I care about. Is it enough to say that I… blackmailed our father?”
“Well, I suppose, but there are at least eight things that I can think of that you could’ve used for that.”
“I did not use just one.”
“Did you leave any as back up?”
“Mais oui,” Regulus looked extremely unimpressed.
“So… what happened that you ended up all alone?” Sirius asked, and Regulus huffed.
“Believe it or not, I do not like our father.”
“Ah, fair. No friends?”
“J’ai des amis, mais… Evan et Barty…”
“Still with their parents,” Sirius nodded. “How’s that going? You guys just friends?” Sirius raised an eyebrow. Regulus flushed, deeply, and avoided his brother’s eyes. “I’ve seen some interesting videos, now. You kiss both of them. I’m just saying, I know you were raised in France, but that is not how friends kiss.”
“Nous ne sommes que des amis. We tried dating, but I–I didn’t like it. They are dating.”
“How long ago did you decide to be ‘just friends’?”
“Sirius!” Regulus protested.
“Big brother rights, I get to know about your dating life, c’mon, kid, share!”
“Around a year ago,” Regulus admitted, after a moment. Sirius’ eyebrows went up so far that Regulus briefly wondered if it hurt.
“You were seen kissing them very recently. With tongue .”
“ Sirius !”
“You were in public, Reg. I just found the bloggers following your skating career.”
“Why does it matter?”
“I just want to know if I need to be overly protective.”
“No, definitely non,” Regulus’ tone was firm. “Evan et Barty… ce sont de parfaits messieurs.”
“Glad to hear it. You still a virgin?” Sirius asked, and Regulus’ eyes flew wide. After a moment of gaping in horror at his brother, he whacked his shoulder. “Hey! No hitting, house rule!”
“Then do not be rude!” Regulus replied, firmly. “Or I will hit you!”
“Alright, alright, fair enough,” Sirius grinned, and Regulus narrowed his eyes, contemplating if he wanted to risk committing too much violence so immediately after Sirius had done him such a large favor. “So, it’s not much, but we can decorate it however you want, if you’re finished hitting me, I figured you could check out your room.”
“...I am done. For now,” Regulus declared, after a moment considering it.
“You’re very violent, huh? Must be how short you are,” Sirius teased, and Regulus sniffed in offense.
“I am a very respectable 169 centimètres,” Regulus protested.
“Yeah, I bet you are, but bud, that’s short. ”
“Ce n’est pas de ma faute,” Regulus frowned at his brother. “So be nice. You can be mean about things that I can control.”
“Okay, okay,” Sirius held up his hands in a gesture of peace. “I wasn’t actually trying to be mean, I’m sorry.”
“J’suis… délicat. About my height,” Regulus admitted, and Sirius softened.
“I’m sorry I teased, truly, Reg,” Sirius’ apology was so heartfelt that despite his usual poise, Regulus’ eyes stung with tears. “Hey. Hey, ça va?”
“Ouais. J'sais pas…” Regulus flapped a hand. “I do not know that anyone has ever meant an apology before, sauf toi. Désolé,” Regulus’ embarrassment was back in full force. “J’suis fatigué.”
Sirius’ expression was still almost disgustingly soft. If Regulus wasn’t feeling so exhausted, he probably would have made fun of his brother for it.
“Well, come on. This room is mine, that room has guitars and paints, which you’re welcome to use, and this is the spare room,” Sirius said. “Which is now your room, so we can change it almost however you want.” Regulus didn’t dislike the room on sight, which was something of a surprise, because he and his brother had always had diverging tastes, but the neutral, monochrome color palette that Sirius had decorated in was actually rather soothing.
“It’s lovely,” Regulus admitted.
“Effie, James' mum, helped me. She helped with the sitting room too,” Sirius admitted.
“Ah, ça a du sens,” Regulus nodded.
“Think you can call it home?” Sirius asked, and Regulus dropped his bags so that he could wrap his arms tightly around his brother.
“Mais oui, parce que tu es là,” Regulus whispered, and the sound that Sirius made was outright alarming, but he returned the hug just as tightly.
“Yeah. Yeah, I know how that feels, bud,” Sirius whispered after a long moment. “I’m really glad you called, Reg. I’m proud as fuck of you for managing like you did, but I’m… so glad you knew you could call me when things got hard. Even if I still want to know more about how it happened.”
“J’savais pas,” Regulus admitted. “I hoped.”
“Well, I hope you know, now. I’ve got your back, Reg.”
“I know, now,” he assured his brother.
“Good. You get unpacked, settle in. I figure we can go out for dinner, so you can see some of the neighborhood. D’acc?”
“J’suis d’acc,” Regulus confirmed, with a nod. “Merci beaucoup, Sirius.”
“Pas de problème, Regulus,” despite the fact that he’d have doubted anyone else, Regulus truly believed that Sirius meant that Regulus hadn’t caused any problems.
It had been almost a decade since Regulus had last been in London longer than it took to pass through it to Sheffield. The city was unfamiliar, and yet, felt oddly safe in a way that Paris had taken years to be.
“Where are we?” Regulus asked, as they left the flat.
“This is the beautiful Camden Town,” Sirius answered with a sweeping gesture to try and encompass the neighborhood. “I figure we’ll head for the markets, there should be something even you’ll eat.”
“J’suis pas picky,” Regulus mumbled, but he wasn’t even looking at his brother or where he was going, as he tried to take in as much of the city as possible.
“Sure you’re not. I have trouble believing you just outgrew your pickiness.”
“Bien, I did .”
“Hmm. We’ll see. How are you not flat on your face, right now?” Sirius asked, as Regulus managed to navigate a crowded, cracked pavement without hesitation–or glancing away from the other side of the street.
"Réflexes," Regulus answered. “J’peux lire en marchant.”
“What, like, read books while walking?” Sirius laughed incredulously. “That shouldn’t surprise me. Now I’m picturing you with your little sash and beret, reading while you walk.”
“Ne parle pas de ça, s'il te plaît,” Regulus requested, and Sirius winced slightly.
“Of course, désolé,” Sirius soothed, and it was again so genuine that Regulus’ heart skipped a beat. “I didn’t see a violin among your belongings,” Sirius added, and Regulus faltered.
“I sold it,” Regulus admitted. “I… um. I made some choices.”
“We’ll get you another,” Sirius said, immediately. “Money is not a problem.”
“Non?” Regulus raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“Uncle Alphard likes me,” Sirius shrugged. “I get the sense he’s living vicariously through me. I imagine he’d like to see you, too. You went out of the family with an even bigger bang than I did.”
“Not big enough for you to hear about it,” Regulus huffed.
“Oh, I live with my head buried in the sand,” Sirius dismissed. “I’m sure he heard all about it. He kept me updated on you for the last three years. Well. Except for when you make the international news, of course. Junior Worlds champion, then European and Worlds, before deciding to switch to the UK,” Sirius’ tone was back to teasing. Regulus flushed, ducking his head out of flustered embarrassment. “Obviously, you already qualified for the men’s singles, so there’s not like… any concern about you not competing this winter, but your coach is making sure everything is squared away,” Sirius added, and Regulus’ breath caught painfully before he turned to wrap his brother in a tight hug.
Sirius laughed, and shifted so that he could pick Regulus up and spin him around. “What’s this for, huh?”
“The best! You are the best!” Regulus declared, before enthusiastically kissing his brother’s cheek. “J’suis désolé that I don’t want to talk about it yet,” Regulus added.
“We both know I’ve never been good at being patient, but I’ll try and respect that. Will you do me a favor in return, though?” Sirius asked, and Regulus immediately was on the defensive. “I want to pull a prank on my friends with you.”
It was such an utterly Sirius thing to say, to put on the same level, to declare the debt inconsequential immediately, and Regulus had never adored his brother more. “Bien sur! What prank?” Regulus asked, and Sirius’ eyes sparkled as he laid out a very simple plan; pretend that Regulus spoke no English, until they could find the funniest moment to reveal that he’d understood everything all along.
Regulus was on board in a heartbeat.
As he settled in, he came to the conclusion that he didn’t mind having to move to London at all, even if he’d miss France.
His brother didn’t even make him wait a single, full day before getting him back on the ice.
—
James was no stranger to the absolute rage that figure skaters could contain in their usually relatively tiny bodies. Sharing a rink often resulted in tension, from both sides. But this was, in his living memory, the first time a figure skater had ever gone past passive aggressive into downright aggressive.
James had to grant that he, as a hockey player, often left the ice in a different condition than a figure skater did with all of their spins and their horrifying, potentially lethal toepicks. He assumed that was what he was currently being yelled at. He wasn’t entirely sure, however, because he was currently being yelled at in French.
Admittedly, he wasn’t at all unhappy with that reality, because this particular figure skater looked how he imagined an angel probably would. His eyes were a flashing, brilliant silver. His face was pale, but his cheeks and lips were a beautiful rosy pink. His dark curls were currently being tousled by a hand that alternated between waving around and playing with his hair, as though he was trying to sooth himself. Yes, James was quite happy to stand and get yelled at, because it meant he had an excuse to gape at someone that he usually wouldn’t allow himself to take a second look at, for the feelings his appearance inspired.
If Regulus Black disliked anything about the UK, it was that he now shared the ice with hockey players during open skate times. He’d had a much more private experience while still in Paris. However, everything else had been significantly more miserable. So, even if he had to share, it was a significant upgrade.
Admittedly, though, he’d been excited to get to the ice and start skating so that he could escape his life for a little bit. Tragically, he arrived to find someone had already entirely destroyed the ice. The hockey player had all but gouged out a ring from the center of the ice, having clearly skated in circles for quite some time, and likely at top speed.
In retrospect, it was an embarrassing loss of control. However, in the moment, Regulus had felt nothing except blinding rage as he’d joined the hockey player on the ice, and very deliberately and aggressively cornered him in order to give him a piece of his mind. Extensively, with several choice insults that were absolutely undeserved. He’d gone on to start insulting the hockey player’s very likely lovely mother when a hand landed on his shoulder and he startled magnificently.
Thankfully, it was just his brother. “Tu peux arrêter de crier, il ne comprend pas un mot que tu dis,” Sirius said, and both Regulus and the random hockey player startled again. “I see you’ve met my brother,” Sirius added, to the hockey player, and Regulus would have hit himself if it wasn’t obvious, because of course his brother knew the hockey player–they were even wearing matching hoodies, for the same team.
“Uh. I don’t know if this constitutes ‘meeting’ exactly,” the hockey player replied, but it was with a warm, brilliant grin.
“Regulus, c’est James,” Sirius introduced. “Prongs, this is Regulus. He doesn’t speak English, so forgive the rant in French.”
“Oh,” Regulus’ expression shifted to something almost apologetic, before he put on his most charming smile. “Enchanté, James. J'ai tellement entendu parler de toi. Sirius a oublié de me dire que tu étais si beau,” Regulus winked, and Sirius made an offended sound, putting a hand squarely on Regulus’ chest to shove him back almost a meter, simply because Regulus didn’t bother resisting the shove.
“No!” Sirius scolded, and James laughed, even though it was clear he truly hadn’t understood.
“What? Was he still scolding me?”
“No,” Sirius admitted, after a moment. “Regulus… Comportes-tu, s'il te plaît,” Sirius requested.
“Quelle? Il est très beau. S'il ne m'avait pas agacé avant, j'aurais commencé à flirter,” Regulus replied, and Sirius exhaled forcefully.
“...Was he flirting with me?” James asked as he picked up on the cognate, his cheeks flushing at the mere idea.
“Unfortunately,” Sirius admitted. “He said he would’ve flirted with you first, if you hadn’t annoyed him. James a une petite amie, Regulus.”
“Oh,” Regulus’ disappointment didn’t even have to be forced. Of course the cute hockey player had a girlfriend. “Chanceux pour elle.”
“So no flirting,” Sirius said, forcefully. “Pas de flirt.”
“J'suis pas d'acc avec ça,” Regulus replied sweetly, with another wink for James, but he did pat his brother’s shoulder on the way by, as he decided to try and practice on the part of the ice that James hadn’t thoroughly scored.
“He was flirting with me?” James repeated to Sirius when Regulus had left, and Sirius sighed dramatically.
“He’s… the worst. He’ll probably flirt with anyone. Someone taught him to flirt when he was like, twelve, and he never stopped.”
“So… is he… visiting?” James asked, as casually as he could, because discussing his family was something Sirius never did if he could help it, especially since he’d left his parents’ house three years previous.
“No,” Sirius murmured, after a long moment. “No, he lives with me now. I’ll–I don’t know what he wants to share, but I was his only option. He’s finishing up school online, in France, but he’s–” Sirius exhaled, and shook his head again. “Let’s not talk about that. It’s enough that he’s here, and here to stay, right?”
“Sure,” James agreed, as gently as he could. “So what was he yelling at me about?”
“Um. Things I really don’t want to say, because I adore your mum. He was very upset about the ice, though. Which, to be fair, Prongs, you did a number on it.”
“Yeah, yeah. Open skate is almost over and no one else was here,” James dismissed. “Come on. Let’s see if we can make him yell at me again.”
“No, no, no, I will not participate in intentionally upsetting him. He’ll put hair remover in my shampoo or something.”
“So he really is your brother,” James teased, and Sirius huffed. He shoved James lightly before turning to find his brother, currently idly looping around the ice in lazy circles.
“Regulus, tu veux de la musique?” Sirius called and Regulus paused, with a brilliant smile.
“Où?” Regulus asked, as he pulled his mobile from a vest pocket. Sirius snorted, but talked him through finding the aux cord.
James expected something classical, as figure skaters generally tended towards. The upbeat music that filtered through the speakers instead was entirely unexpected. Sirius’ immediate reaction once the lyrics started was also entirely unexpected.
“Non, non, non! Regulus! Tu es le pire! No!” Sirius cried, immediately heading to turn off the music. In the face of Regulus’ delighted laughter, however, Sirius’ firm expression wavered. Or it would’ve, until Regulus switched the songs. “Non! Pour la famille, peu importe la langue, d'accord? Merde!”
“What’s going on?” James asked, while Regulus switched the music to something Sirius didn’t immediately veto.
“Your mother would be horrified by those songs,” Sirius sighed, rubbing his eyes.
“Vis un peu, Sirius. Tu es trop sérieux,” Regulus said, as he twirled away from Sirius, to go back to the lazy circles he was using to travel around the rink
“I am living! You’re obnoxious!” Sirius replied, but it was soft and clearly not intended for Regulus to hear. “I love this kid, Prongs, but I think he’s on a quest to make me lose my mind,” Sirius confessed in a whisper.
“What were the songs about?”
“They were both explicitly about sex. First ‘with your neighbor’, then he switched to ‘with your friend’,” Sirius sighed. “I’m not a prude, right, Prongs?”
James tried not to laugh. He wasn’t successful.
“You’re not a prude, I promise,” James finally wheezed. Sirius heaved a relieved sigh.
“Thank goodness, I was starting to doubt it,” Sirius looked genuinely relieved. Both of them startled when Regulus abruptly picked up speed. James couldn’t quite help his gape as Regulus completed a jump with seemingly zero effort, but Sirius’ reaction was even more extreme.
“I’m going to lose my entire goddamn mind,” Sirius shrieked, as he watched his brother. “Don’t–do not tell me that I just saw what I think I saw. You–that was impossible!”
“J’parle pas anglais, Sirius,” Regulus called back with a grin.
“Un quatre-A! C’est impossible!” Sirius was still shrieking, and Regulus’ grin widened. Holding a finger to his lips, he cocked his eyebrow, and Sirius, wordlessly this time, shrieked again.
“C'est mon secret pour l'instant,” Regulus informed them. “N'en parle à personne.”
“Don’t tell anyone,” Sirius repeated in English.
“I don’t even know what I’m not telling anyone,” James replied cheerfully. “It’s cool that you know enough to support your brother, Pads,” he added. Sirius’ expression shifted to a cheerful smile.
“Brat never shut up when we were younger,” Sirius was just as cheerful as James. “There’s only so many times you can watch someone practice before it starts getting into your memory.” Sirius and James both missed the intensely thoughtful look on Regulus’ face in response to that comment, largely because Regulus repeated the jump that Sirius had just shrieked about, and the entire outrage started all over again.
Regulus had to be dragged off the ice when open skate ended, and he complained the entire way, in rapid-fire, petulant French.
“Goodness, Reg, if I knew you were like this, I would’ve sent you alone,” Sirius grumbled.
“Sirius,” Regulus outright whined, a pout on his face. “Tu sais que je ne peux pas comprendre quand tu utilises l'anglais.”
“Yeah, I know you don’t understand English, that’s why I use it,” Sirius retorted. “C’est pourquoi je l'utilise.” Regulus’ pout increased, and James laughed.
“Oh, mate,” James started, to Sirius. “He’s cute .”
“You better mean that like you’d discuss a puppy, Prongs,” Sirius warned.
“Nah, you know how I mean it,” James shook his head, and laughed when Sirius punched his arm hard enough that he’d likely have a bruise. “What, he is!”
“You are a taken man, Mr. Potter!” Sirius protested. “And he’s barely seventeen.”
James snorted as he put on his skate guards. He paused for a second to take in Regulus with his sparkly green skate guards and green fuzzy socks. “I’m taken. Doesn’t mean I’m blind. And I’m only eighteen. Not all of us are ancient nineteen year olds with inflated senses of our own importance.”
“Just… ugh. Behave. Both of you. Regulus, tiens-toi bien.”
“Quoi? Je n’ai fait rien!” Regulus protested immediately.
“Jusque là,” Sirius muttered. “Prongs, want to grab brunch with us?”
“Sure,” James agreed immediately. “Regulus, you’re a brilliant skater.”
Regulus immediately looked to Sirius for a translation.
“Nah, you two figure out the language gap yourselves,” Sirius declared. “Devinez-le vous-mêmes.”
Regulus frowned at him for a moment before pulling out his mobile and holding it up to James. “Répète,” Regulus requested.
“Regulus, you’re a brilliant skater,” James repeated, and Regulus watched the words appear on the screen.
“Oh, Merci!” Regulus replied, warmly, once he’d translated the sentiment.
“You’re welcome,” James’ grin was broad and sunny, and had Regulus’ smile growing instantly.
“I should not have interfered,” Sirius sighed. “You two were better off with a language barrier.” When Regulus translated Sirius’ words, the pout was back immediately.
“Sirius,” Regulus started, before pausing. “Je veux être gentil avec tes amis.”
“Tant que tu es juste gentil.”
“Quoi?”
“Don’t worry about it, ne t’en fais pas,” Sirius waved it away. “Right. Reg’s a vegetarian. Where’s that café Lily likes?”
“Oh. Yeah, that’s nearby. You’re vegetarian? Any reason why?” James asked, and Regulus hesitated over the answer for a moment.
“Personnellement, je n'aime pas manger des choses mortes, quand j'ai le choix.” James read the answer and nodded.
“Fair enough. Did you often not get a choice?”
Regulus laughed when he read the question. “J’suis français! La plupart d'entre nous mangeons notre viande alors qu'elle est à peine morte.”
“Oh, ew,” James replied, with a face. “Barely dead? That sounds horrible.”
“The French prefer their beef still mooing,” Sirius added, and Regulus laughed when the comment translated. “Shall we see if anyone else is up for brunch? Reg? How do you feel about meeting my friends?”
“Je veux être gentil avec tes amis,” Regulus repeated emphatically.
“Well, we’ll see if we can get past your bitch mode, then,” Sirius mumbled, but Regulus’ mobile picked him up. Sirius only laughed when Regulus whacked him in response to the insult, before he paused for a moment to type out a text.
“Is this what having siblings is like?” James wondered.
“Non, c'est spécial pour Sirius,” Regulus replied.
“Yes, Prongs, this is what having siblings is like,” Sirius ignored his brother’s response. Regulus’ pout grew.
In the end, it was just Remus and Lily who ended up meeting them at the café. Regulus looked incredibly bored by the displays of romantic affection that both couples went through.
“Regulus, this is Remus, and Lily,” Sirius introduced. “Remus is–”
“Ton petit ami, j’sais. Bonjour, Remus. Si tu blesses mon frère, je te ferai souhaiter que tu sois mort,” Regulus greeted cooly, and James, who had pulled out his mobile instead of sharing Regulus’, gave a choked off laugh of surprise. He showed Remus, who nodded seriously. Lily, however, outright laughed without even being shown the translation. Regulus’ expression shifted to a delighted expression as he turned to Lily. “Ah! Tu parles le français?"
“Un peu, un peu,” Lily waved it away. “J'ai étudié à l'école. Parles-tu anglais?”
"Non, je parle le français, le russe, et l’espagnol, seulement,” Regulus did a very convincing job of looking extremely sad.
“Et un peu d’arabe, aussi,” Sirius contributed.
“Un tout petit peu,” Regulus said emphatically.
“So you’re half English, but you didn't learn the language?” James asked, and without waiting for their phones, Lily translated the sentiment.
“Ça n'a jamais été important,” Regulus shrugged. “Je comprends la plupart des mots du patinage artistique, de quoi d'autre ai-je besoin?”
“The phone will have to do that one, if Sirius isn’t,” Lily commented before repeating it in French, and Regulus gave her a warm smile.
“Oh. You know figure skating words, that makes sense. I suppose you probably wouldn’t need much else, if you planned to stay in France,” James agreed, and they left that to the phone to translate, too. Regulus nodded. “Why didn’t you stay in France?” The question froze Regulus’ friendliness immediately, his expression falling neutral and just a little bit cold.
“Assez à propos de moi. Vous pouvez tous parler,” Regulus said.
“Right, okay,” Sirius winced. “Es-tu sûr que c'est bien de parler sans toi?”
“Ouais.”
“Okay, so. Reg’s obviously new in town. I think we need to have a party. Any takers on helping me plan?”
“You know we’re all always down for a party, Pads!” James replied, with enthusiasm that didn’t even appear to be forced.
Regulus carefully pretended not to have any idea what the group was discussing, even as they planned a ‘surprise’ party for him, an idea which his brother surely knew was going to get an overly dramatic response.
Regulus had never been one for surprises he wasn’t directly involved in planning.