A/N: Uploading before I chicken out.
Ah, my first fan fiction! Hi, I'm Alex. Nice to meet you. -tips hat-
Just so you know, this completely disregards the epilogue.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
"So it says here on your resume that you have a primary school education?"
"Yes, sir."
"You didn't complete any schooling after that?"
"No, sir."
"I see."
The stern employer's words were laced heavily with disapproval. Harry bit his lip, sending worried looks at his near-blank resume.
He wondered what he was even doing there, feeling like an idiot. Maybe I should just go back and continue my auror training. That would be so much easier, he thought. But then he grimaced, thinking of what exactly he'd be going back to. A seemingly endless amount of owls carrying letters of praise and howlers alike tapping on his window at all hours, his friends hounding him to "just do something with your life, Harry", and people trying to kill him whenever he left his house.
Maybe easier wasn't the best word to describe it.
"Mr. Potter?"
Harry snapped his head up. "I'm sorry. Were you saying something?"
The man shook his head. "Mr. Potter, with this...resume," he began, sounding slightly hesitant to even refer to the resume on his desk as such, "I really don't know why I should hire you. This is what I expect to see from teenagers looking for their first job. You're a grown man, Mr. Potter. If I may ask, what have you been doing up to this point if you weren't in school?"
Wondering how the hell I was going to defeat Voldemort and finally doing so after seven years of shit. "Um, well. I have been...um...Dedicating myself to...religion."
The man raised a single brown eyebrow. "Interesting. What religion, if you don't mind saying?"
Shit, shit, shit. "Um. Buddhism."
"Buddhism?" he asked incredulously.
"Yes, sir," Harry replied, deciding he might as well go with it. It couldn't possibly make things worse.
"You're telling me you've spent these past years of your life studying Buddhism?"
Harry gave a sharp nod. "Yes. I was, um, planning to become a monk."
"A monk."
Harry nodded again, mentally berating himself for picking such an outlandish lie. "After I, um, left school, I felt like my life had no meaning. A few years later, I found something about Buddhism, and became really...fascinated with it. Once I started getting deeper into it, I decided that I wanted to become a monk when I got older."
"And what happened?"
"I realized that I wouldn't be able to handle it."
"After all those years?"
"Yes, sir."
The employer's only reply was another shake of his head as he scribbled something down on a small notepad. Harry strained his neck to see what he was writing, but frowned when he saw that he couldn't read the man's messy handwriting.
"Mr. Potter, I probably shouldn't hire you," he said with a sigh. "You barely have an education, you've no experience and, quite frankly, I think you're a bit crazy."
Harry winced.
"But I feel like you'd be a good worker. I don't know what it is about you, but you seem like someone determined who'll get things done rather than sit around wondering what the hell to do all the time while other people do your job for you."
Harry didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or simply scoff at that statement. He decided to keep his mouth shut. The man had no idea.
"You're hired."
Harry smiled gratefully, giving a slight bow of his head. "Thank you. I appreciate you giving me a chance."
"You better not screw up," he replied sternly. "I took a risk hiring you. It's going to reflect on me if you mess this up."
"Yes, yes. I understand," Harry replied quickly.
"Good. Be here Monday morning. Welcome to Tesco."
A/N: Thanks for reading. :P Please review, whether it's negative or positive. :D