Author's Note:
Alright, here we go.
Of all people to walk through the door of the shop, Sirius Black was the last one I would expect.
I hated...no, 'hate' was not a strong enough word to use. I loathed Sirius Black with a passion. He was the most pompous, conceited, pusillanimous, antagonizing git I had ever had the misfortune of meeting. He had terrorized me throughout our years at Hogwarts together. How I relished the year of peace after he had graduated with all of his prat-like friends. Well, Remus Lupin wasn't that bad. He was very sweet to me after Black had 'accidentally' poured frog spawn into my morning pumpkin juice. He had gladly rushed me up to the hospital wing after noticing the projectile vomit and bad rash that had resulted from an allergic reaction.
Black hadn't changed that much since I had last saw him. I had been sixteen, with bad acne and a mouth full of orthodontia. He had been seventeen, the school womanizer, making the girls swoon even after he had accepted his diploma from Professor Dumbledore.
"Excuse me?"
I jumped, nearly upsetting an inkwell. An annoyed-looking customer huffed loudly when I finally came out of my reminiscing. She dumped the pile of spell books onto the counter with a loud crash.
"Sorry, ma'am. I'll just ring these up for you," I answered quickly. I added up the price of the books.
"That'll be 56 galleons, ma'am," I said, not really paying attention to the woman's look of indignation at the price. I was too busy following Black around the store with my eyes. He was walking around a bookshelves, inspecting the hardcovers with great interest.
The customer shoved the gold under my nose and flounced out of the shop. I whispered the password to our cash box and deposited the money.
Suddenly, Black half-turned in my general direction and I dropped to all fours behind the counter. I was going to avoid all contact with the boy who singlehandedly ruined four years of my life.
I probably should have picked a more inconspicuous shop to work at. Flourish and Blott's was basically the only wizard bookstore in London. I should have been expecting a reunion. I just didn't think that someone as unintelligent as Black would even know what a book was, let alone have the brain capacity to figure out how to buy one. Plus, I was not really thinking about Sirius Black when I was looking for a job to pay for Healer school.
I scrunched myself against the counter, glad that today was not a busy one.
The door to the shop jingled. I dared to sneak a peek around the corner to see if Prat-Boy had left.
Great Merlin, Remus Lupin had just walked into the shop.
"Bollocks," I muttered under my breath.
"Moony, I am in need of your assistance," Black announced. I scowled horribly at the sound of his voice. I could almost hear that same voice taunting me as I struggled to throw off the Atlas Charm he had placed on me. It had been my third day at Hogwarts and I had accidentally knocked his Potions essay into the fire. The charm had caused me to be flattened against the floor, with what seemed like the weight of the world crashing down on me. It was named after the Titan in Greek mythology, Atlas, whose fate was to hold up the sky for all eternity.
Merlin, how I loathed that man-child. Against my better judgment, I strained to hear the quiet conversation that seemed to be taking place in the Romance section of the store.
"I cannot believe you are getting a book for your girlfriend," Lupin was saying.
Girlfriend?
"She's not my girlfriend. She's just a casual friend who casually spends the night at my flat sometimes."
Charming. I heard Lupin cough out a laugh.
"What about this one, Moony?" Black asked.
"Confessions of a Galleon Digger? Sirius, what the hell?" Lupin said loudly. I covered my mouth to conceal the laugh that had bubbled to my lips.
"I think Maggie will love this!" Black said indignantly.
"Isn't her name Maddie?" asked Lupin.
"Sod off," Black retorted, "This is pointless. I'm going to the Leaky Cauldron."
I heard loud footsteps, followed by the slamming of the door. I let out a breath of relief. He was finally gone.
I suddenly jumped when the bell on the counter rang sharply. Oh Merlin, Lupin was at the counter.
I pulled myself up, red-faced and embarrassed. He was engrossed in the back of a book on vampires that was our newest addition to the store. I cleared my throat, trying to calm myself down. Adrenaline was still cursing through my veins from the almost-encounter with Black. I didn't know why I had been so worried. He wouldn't have even recognized me.
"Just that for you, sir?" I asked.
Lupin looked up and smiled at me. "Yes, this is it."
I rang up the book, noticing how he was staring at me suspiciously.
"Do I know you?" he asked as I wrapped the book up carefully. I paused for a moment, wondering I should tell him the truth.
"I was at Hogwarts. A year behind you," I said finally, wrapping a piece of twine around the book.
He continued to stare at me, as though trying to match a name the face.
"Remy Collins! I didn't recognize you at first!" he exclaimed. "Merlin, you look different!"
I blushed again. I knew how different I looked. People usually looked different after losing fifty pounds.
"Yes, well..." I trailed off, not really wanting to go down memory lane.
"Can I ask why you were cowering behind the counter?" Lupin asked in a light, teasing tone.
"I wasn't cowering!" I protested.
He laughed at my expression. He gazed at me for a moment. Suddenly, his face changed as though a light bulb had just been turned on.
"Remy Collins...Now I know why you were hiding," Lupin said quietly, his eyes sad.
"I wasn't," I said again, but this time it was weaker.
"I'm so sorry, Remy, for not stopping him. I was stupid to let him treat you that way," Lupin said, reaching out a hand to touch mine. I jumped at the contact.
"You were nice to me. I remember that," I answered, trying to make his sad eyes go away.
He sighed, and squeezed my hand.
"Sirius was such an ass to you," he said.
I nodded solemnly, "That'll be fifteen galleons, sir."
Lupin laughed loudly at the randomness of my statement.
"I never really got to know you, Remy Collins, and I'm sorry for that," Lupin said, searching in his pockets for the gold. He pushed over the money and took the book from me.
"It was really good to see you, Remy. Take care," he said, backing out of the store. He smiled at me and then the door swung shut behind him.
I let out the breath that I hadn't realized I had been holding. I lay my head on the counter and closed my eyes. The store door jangled again and I didn't even bother lifting my head.
"Remy?"
Oh shit, Lupin was back. My head shot up instantly.
"Do you want to go to this wedding on Friday with me? Not as a date or anything...but as a peace offering?" he asked shyly.
I blushed yet again.
"Of course, Lup-Remus. I would love that," I said truthfully. His face split into a huge grin.
"Great...How about I meet you at the Leaky Cauldron at four-thirty this Friday?" Remus suggested.
"Sounds good. Thanks for inviting me, Remus," I answered.
He left the shop once more, and I checked the clock on the wall. Fifteen more minutes until my shift ended.
Again, I lay my head down, hoping that the whole situation had been a bad dream. I couldn't believe that Sirius Black had been in the store. I couldn't believe I was now going to a wedding with Remus Lupin. I couldn't believe how hungry I was at that moment. I couldn't believe any of it.
The rest of my shift went by in a blur. The manager, Winston, came in at five o'clock on the dot, his grey hair frizzy from the humid June air. He growled a hello in my direction, and deposited himself in the armchair behind the counter. I gathered my purse from the back room, waved goodbye to Winston, who had already started to doze off.
Diagon Alley only had a few shoppers darting around the street, packages tucked underneath their arms and wary expressions clouding their faces. As soon as I was clear, I turned on the spot and Apparated to my little flat right on the Thames.
Author's Note:
So it wasn't as long as I had wanted it to be, but oh well. I am excited about this story. Which is weird, because I almost never get excited. But I had a decent amount of stuff planned for it (muhaha)
Please review! I always enjoy feedback :)
