A/N: Zayhad and I are back with another collaboration :) As usual we plan on posting every Thursday. Zayhad will be making a piece of art once in a while when she feels inspired. It's good to be back and we hope you'll like the fic. Lots of smut in this one ;)

Disclaimer: Characters belong to J. K. Rowling

Chapter 1 – Welcome to South Carolina

Sirius Black checked his watch. It said 3:15 p.m. and the flight was supposed to be in at three. He walked around in circles as he kept checking the screens for updates on his brother's plane. Two weeks earlier he had received an e-mail from Regulus saying that he would like to come to the States and live with him for a few months and Sirius had happily replied yes. He had not seen him for five years so he was actually rather nervous. He took a gulp of his Coke and turned to his best friend. "He should be here any minute now!"

"I still don't get why you've barely said a word about you brother for the past five years," said the messy-haired young man standing next to Sirius, "and then suddenly you're acting as if he means the world to you and you're all excited about him coming." James emptied the last of his Cheetos bag's content into his palm before jamming the crumbs into his mouth.

"Well… I guess I felt bad about leaving him behind with our horrid parents, so I didn't like to think or talk about him," said Sirius, scratching his neck. "Also, he never answered my mails. Not one. And now out of the blue he writes me." Sirius shot his arms out to the sides, looking puzzled. "Can you believe it?"

"Maybe he was pissed at you for leaving," said James, rummaging in his pockets for coins to buy another bag of chips from the vending machine. "Were you very close?"

"We were when we were little," said Sirius, looking a bit sad by the thought. "He was a sweet kid, but he changed as he grew older, turning into a right little snob like our parents. When I moved over here to live with your family I wrote him every week, but I never got an answer back so eventually I stopped writing. I think the last time I wrote was two years ago when I started college. Just to let him know where I lived now and everything. And I'm glad I did, because now he's coming here to stay with me!"

"Ain't that him over yonder?" asked James suddenly, pointing over Sirius' shoulder. "He looks a bit like you when we first met."

Sirius turned his head and spotted a handsome boy with a slender frame coming out from gate 12. Sirius waved excitedly and hurried over to him. "Reggie?"

The boy raised his eyebrows. "Yes. Why are you looking so surprised? You knew I was coming in now."

"Of course, but I haven't seen you in five years!" beamed Sirius and enveloped his brother in a bone-crushing embrace. "You got long hair!" he said, taking a step back, looking at Regulus' dark hair, falling in waves a bit past his shoulders. "I would never have expected that!" he grinned. "Is it some sort of teenage rebellion against the old bats?"

Regulus looked surprised for a second. "No. They aren't loving it, but they allowed it because Rabastan Lestrange has long hair and says it's in. You know that family are big shots in the fashion industry." He ran his fingers through a lock. "I usually keep it above the shoulders, though, but I haven't had a haircut since…"

"Since what?"

"Oh, nothing," Regulus said quickly. "Just for a while."

James stepped forward and stuck out his hand. "Welcome to South Carolina," he smiled.

Regulus studied him for a moment before giving his hand a quick shake. "Sirius, you really ought to tell your chauffeur to keep his hair neat. It reflects badly on you."

"Chauffeur?" Sirius looked at his brother in bafflement and then laughed. "This is James Potter! My best mate. And roommate. I live with three blokes: James, Peter, and Remus; and we don't have a chauffeur or any other kind of servant. We all help each other out around the flat."

James looked very offended and drew back his hand, stuffing it into his pocket as they headed for the exit.

"Not even a house keeper?" asked Regulus, looking thoroughly shocked.

Sirius shook his head. "No housekeeper. You're not in high society any longer, so you'll have to get used to that."

o0o0o

"I thought you said your brother was eighteen, Sirius," said James when they were on their way in the car.

"He is."

"Really?" said James, turning in his seat to cast a glance at Regulus in the back. "He doesn't look older than fourteen. He doesn't look like he even started shaving yet."

Regulus' face turned red. "Put a sock in it, will you? You're just offended because I thought you were the chauffeur."

Sirius snickered, eying his brother in the rearview mirror. "He always looked young for his age. Don't worry, Reggie, a few months away from Mum's skirts will make you grow into a man."

o0o0o

They pulled into the parking lot in front of a large apartment building and Sirius got out of the car, pulling Regulus' two large suitcases from the trunk. "Bloody hell – did you bring all your belongings?"

A skinny young man of about 20 met them at the door. He had light brown hair, amber eyes, and a kind face. "Hey," he smiled at Regulus. "Welcome to our home. I'm Remus."

Regulus eyed the young man and shook his hand. "Regulus. But you know that, I'm sure. You have an interesting name. Does your family have a tradition with old Roman names? Ours use stars and constellations."

"Not really," smiled Remus, his eyes quickly running up and down the boy. "I reckon my mama just liked Remus. I like your name. It's very special, like your brother's."

"Pete!" called Sirius. "Turn off the TV and get your arse out here and say hello to my brother!"

A short, stout boy with straw-colored hair came out from the living room. He had clearly been eating something because he wiped a greasy hand on his pants before holding it out to greet Regulus.

Regulus wrinkled his nose, eying the greasy hand in distaste. "I think I'll pass," he said, not taking the hand.

"I'm Peter," smiled Peter, not seeming bothered by Regulus' reaction.

"So this is everyone," smiled Sirius, putting an arm around his brother's shoulders. "I'll show you to your room. You must be tired after the long journey so I'm guessing you'd like a rest before dinner. And you're lucky because it's Remus' turn to cook tonight. He's by far the best cook of us."

Regulus was not impressed with his room; no more than the he was with the rest of the apartment. "It's very small. How big are your rooms?"

"Not much bigger, and this is the only one that's available. It used to be our study room but we turned it into a bedroom so you could have your own space."

"I suppose it will have to do, then," Regulus sighed and put his backpack down. "Blimey, it's so bloody hot and humid here! I can barely breathe."

"Well, this is South Carolina, not South England. You'll get used to it. I'll be in to wake you up in an hour or two for dinner," said Sirius. "And Reggie? It's good to have you here. I've missed you."

Regulus shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He had never been good with emotional talk. "You too," he mumbled.

o0o0o

"He seems nice," said Remus, sitting down with a book and some papers. He was trying to get some studying done before dinner, and from the looks of it, Peter had been doing the same until something on the TV had caught his attention.

"Yeah?" grinned James and winked. He had noticed how Remus' eyes had travelled up and down their guest. "So is he a hottie or a nottie?"

"What do you mean?" asked Remus and blushed a little as he stared at his book.

"You know what I mean," said James, waggling his eyebrows.

"Of course Remus thinks he's a hottie," grinned Sirius, running a hand through his short hair as he came back to the living room. "He's devilishly handsome – it's a family thing."

o0o0o

Regulus was close to unconscious when Sirius came in a couple of hours later. He had finally managed to fall asleep despite the heat. At first he didn't know where he was. "What the..." He sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Who... Sirius? What are you doing here?"

"Er… you're in my flat, remember?" Sirius grinned, leaning against the doorframe. "Dinner's ready if you would like some. Remus made lasagna so you're in for a treat."

Regulus hummed grumpily and got up to get dressed. He was still very tired but he supposed he might as well have a quick bite before going back to bed.

The others were already seated around the dining table in the living room when Regulus came in.

"We usually just sit on the couch and watch TV but since it's your first night here we thought we'd make it a little special and eat at the dining table," explained Sirius.

"I think we should use it more often," said Remus and sent the salad bowl around.

Regulus raised an eyebrow. Eating in front of the TV? "How uncivilized. I must say that sounds very disrespectful."

"Disrespectful?" asked James.

"To the cook. And the other diners," Regulus explained.

James and Peter laughed. Sirius rolled his eyes. He could just hear this coming out of his mother's mouth. And quite hypocritically so, since she herself, in fact, showed no respect to servants or anyone else below har status. "We like watching TV while we eat," said Sirius and slabbed a large piece of lasagna onto his plate.

"Well, we do have the dining table and it's gonna be a bit cramped around the TV with the five of us now," said Remus.

"But I like watching TV," moped Peter.

Regulus sent Peter a disapproving look, then poured himself another glass of water. "So all of you study at the university?"

"Yup. Remus and Peter major in English, me and Sirius in Chemistry," said James.

"Sirius and I," corrected Regulus.

"Huh?"

"It's Sirius and I, not me and Sirius," said Regulus. "It's called correct grammar. It's clear that you are not the one majoring in English."

"Whatever, Mr. perfect," said James, rolling his eyes.

"I knew that," said Peter, looking proud.

"Well, you should, since it's your major," said Sirius. "You can't expect Remus to save your arse all the time."

Regulus eyed Peter again. Was he a dimwit or something? Regulus pushed his plate away with his food only half eaten.

"You don't like it?" asked Remus a little nervously.

"It's so hot here," Regulus complained. "How can any of you have an appetite in this heat?"

James laughed. "This is nothing. It's only April. Just you wait till June and you'll get hot!"

Regulus groaned. "Don't you have some sort of cooling system?"

"Pete, crack open a window, will you?" said Sirius, nodding towards Peter, who grunted and got to his feet and opened the window behind him to let in some air.

"Sorry, but our air conditioner is broken and we haven't gotten around to getting it fixed yet," Remus explained.

"What?" said Regulus. "How am I going to get a whole night's sleep, then? You must get it fixed immediately. Isn't there a caretaker in this place?"

"It's night, Regulus," said Sirius. "The caretaker isn't at disposal around the clock. And tomorrow is his day off, I think. Do you think you could survive until Wednesday?"

"Lousy service this building has," commented Regulus. "It's very humid here, and I'm your guest. Things such as this should be in order. That's the least you could do when it's so hot. I've heard of the famous Southern hospitality, but I haven't experienced it yet."

"Stop it, Reggie!" said Sirius and put his fork down hard, making his glass and plate jump. "The lads have welcomed you with open arms and in return you've just been rude! It's not that hot and there's a nice breeze outside, so open a bloody window!"

"We'll get it fixed quickly," Remus said, trying to smoothen things out.

"You can have our floor fan," said James in a none too friendly tone. "Since there's no ceiling fan in your room."

Regulus sighed dramatically. "Well, I suppose that will have to do for now, then."

"It will have to do!" said Sirius.

"So, Regulus," said Remus, looking at the teen. "How long do you plan on staying? And did you have any plans on what you'd wanna do on your visit?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"I haven't decided anything yet," said Regulus. "Just needed to get a bit away from home and experience something new. Also, I have not seen my brother for many years. Not since he abandoned our family."

Remus bit his knuckle, fearing he had struck a nerve with the brothers.

"I didn't abandon the family," Sirius growled, narrowing his eyes at his brother. "I left because I had no other choice. They were killing me. I had to get away."

"I never saw anyone holding a knife to your throat," said Regulus dryly.

"No, but they didn't exactly make home life pleasant," said Sirius, looking pointedly at his brother. "Or did you forget how Dad used to smack me around and how Mum screamed at me around the clock?"

"Oh, get over it. Most children get smacked around a bit. It's called discipline. You just didn't like the fact that you couldn't behave the way you pleased."

"Easy now, guys," said Remus and tried to smile. "Just be happy that you're together again and can enjoy a few months together, right?"

"I think I'll get started on the dishes," said James and quickly collected the plates. Peter joined him, grabbing the rest of the dishes, and followed James to the kitchen.

Remus sat looking at the two brothers for a moment, feeling a little bad for Sirius. He had been looking so much forward to seeing his brother.

"I'll go find that fan for your room," said Sirius and left.

Regulus stayed seated. He wasn't keen on following his brother right now. That left just him and Remus and an awkward silence.

"Sirius has really been looking forward to seeing you," said Remus and took a sip of water. "He hasn't talked about anything else the past two weeks."

"Oh..." said Regulus, a little surprised. Sirius had written him from time to time, yes, but Regulus had thought it was more due to a guilty conscience than missing him. "Well... I think I'll turn in. Thanks for a lovely dinner."

He found Sirius plugging in the fan in his room. "I'm... I'm just tired from the trip," was the best apology he could muster. "Long flight. Horrible neighbor on the plane."

"It's fine," said Sirius, turning on the fan and making it face the bed. "There. Now you shouldn't get too hot and if it gets too cold you just turn it off on this button." He looked at his brother for a moment. "Well... sleep well. There's food in the fridge so you just help yourself if you get hungry."

Regulus nodded and climbed into bed. It was rather small and not as comfortable as his own at Grimmauld Place or at the boarding school, but he didn't have the energy to complain any more tonight.

o0o0o

Remus sat in the living room to do a bit of his proof-reading work that he was behind on when Sirius came back out. He looked up and smiled. "He settled in?"

Sirius slumped down beside him and nodded with a sigh.

"He's probably just tired from the trip," said Remus. "I don't think he meant the things he said so harshly. You know how grumpy you can get when you're exhausted."

"Perhaps. But he used to lecture me on how to behave back then as well. Said it was my own fault they were giving me such a hard time. As if I would ever suck up to them like him, acting like a bloody little angel."

Remus put his pencil down and eyed Sirius with a concerned look. "Did you two always have such a strained relationship or was it just the last couple of years? You seemed so happy he was coming so I just assumed you two were close."

"We were when we were younger. He idolized me, but when he grew older he started copying our parents more and more. The last couple of years we fought a lot. We still had some good moments, though."

"Well, maybe you can have that back now, since your parents ain't around," smiled Remus. "And he did choose to come and see you, after all, so maybe he's ready to start over?"

"Hopefully. They've been poisoning his mind for eighteen years now. It can only have a good effect on him being away from them and the other snobs at Eton."

Remus put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Just give him a few days to settle in and I'm sure he'll come 'round."