Finding Home
(the sequel to "No Better Mistake")
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, or any other related characters from the world of Harry Potter. I also don't own the setting, plot lines, relationships, etc. ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH HARRY POTTER BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING, not me.
NOTES:
Here comes the main OC of the story (based on a guy I know by the same name). Hope you like him, because he's throughout this one, and the third!
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6
Remus' first, second, third, and onward days at his new job all seemed to meld together into one long, comfortable afternoon. From the initial morning that he approached the shop, found Doris' note and key under her doormat ("High security here," he'd muttered to himself as he unlocked the front door), he had become basically the main employee of the shop by the first few weeks he'd worked. It hadn't taken him any time at all to begin to recognize the "regulars" Doris had mentioned to him, but during his downtime (which he had a lot of), he attempted to clean and re-organize the shop, hoping, by modernizing it a little, he could bring in a few more shoppers. His strategy seemed to be working somewhat; he'd chosen a few of his favorite novels to display in the windows, and they, as well as his friendly attitude toward whoever entered, seemed to be doing the trick. By his first few weeks there, Doris had happily told him that he'd helped her make more money there in that time than in the last three months, and so Remus sat, rather happily one Thursday afternoon, behind his desk and re-reading Sirius' birthday gift from last year.
The past month has brought several new, easy routines to Remus and Sirius' lives. Nights were spent trying to improve their cooking skills—which usually ended in going over to Lily and James', burnt food, or fits of laughter on their worn-out couch—and falling into bed at night, cuddling, or sometimes making love until they fell asleep in each other's arms. After only a few hours they were forced to wake, trying again to cook and then Apparating off to their separate jobs to start over. Sirius seemed to be finding more comfort in his internship, and he was becoming less and less reluctant to dress up—at some point, Remus stopped having to pick out the clothes that matched for him, though Sirius still insisted, every morning that he wore and had Remus do up, a tie. Only on the weekends did he still go without shaving, or wear anything other than button-downs, slacks, or suits. Although they were both accustomed to seeing Sirius in the traditional Hogwarts uniform, it was still slightly jarring to see Sirius, looking as formal as a funeral, go off to work everyday. As if to compensate, Remus felt himself going the opposite direction in terms of his appearance. By the end of June, with another full moon approaching, he was in desperate need of a haircut, but since sleeping usually became an issue around this time of month, he couldn't be bothered to do much about it.
Sitting behind the desk, Remus' thoughts were not completely within the novel he was reading for about the tenth time. His mind was, instead, embarrassingly absorbed in the actions of himself and Sirius earlier that morning. Sirius had gotten home late the night before, coming into the house, and up to their bedroom to find Remus already passed out on their bed. Sirius had kindly snuggled down beside him to sleep, but the following morning had seen the repercussions of Remus' early bedtime. Sirius had pulled a still-groggy Remus into an already hot, steaming shower and there, he had proceeded to wake up him extremely quickly. They had spent so much time in the scalding water, in fact, that they were both nearly late to leave—Remus, as a result, not even realizing that the crumpled pair of jeans he'd pulled on from the closet were Sirius' until he was walking into the shop. As a result, the legs he propped up on the counter were encased in denim cuffed several times over, but his tattered cardigan, which was his own, still hung largely around his bony torso in the somewhat drafty shop.
Remus heard the door chimes go off, breaking him instantly from his daydream, but he was not upset when he saw who had entered. The two he had seen on his first day were, indeed, regular customers at the shop—the boy, at least, came in every day, to sit for hours, reading books with a cup of coffee from the chocolate shop next door, usually buying at least one or two new things before Remus closed for the night. He had introduced himself the first week as Matthew, and now, spotting Remus in the corner, he made his way over to the desk, slipping narrowly in between the still-towering columns of books.
Setting down his book, Remus was glad that Matt, a very studious boy who had left Hogwarts a few years before him, couldn't read his thoughts. As they were both so frequently in the store, they had begun to develop something of a friendship—Matt seemed extremely interested in what Remus was doing in a small town like this, and was more than happy to sit with him for several hours, discussing their favorite authors and their general lives. He was quite good-looking, in his own way (though he was no Sirius Black, Remus thought ruefully as he surveyed him), with springy, chestnut-colored curls and brown eyes of a similar hue. It was remarkable how, like James, Matt could wear dark-framed glasses, but, in Remus' humble opinion, look much less like the prat as Sirius often teased James of being. Maybe it was because he wasn't constantly pushing them up on his nose that that they looked more a part of his face, or maybe it was just the absence of James' constant hair-musing. Perhaps as a result of the heat earlier in the month, it was already beginning to cool off outside, and Matt, who, like Remus, was used to the temperature in the shop, wore jeans and a slightly unbuttoned plaid shirt. As always, he carried a notepad and several pens with him—he had told Remus, the first week they met, that he was an aspiring writer, and the reason he came every day to read was to get new ideas for the novel he was working on.
"Hey Remus," he said, grinning at him as he took his usual seat across the desk. Remus smiled back at him. As unpleasant as it was to be disturbed from his daydreams of Sirius, covered in soap, and the thought of the barely-concealed bruises he'd left under Sirius' collar, he could hardly argue over the intrusion. "How are you?"
"Fine, thanks," said Remus politely, accepting the cup of tea the other boy extended toward him. Matt was also a "regular" next door, and once he'd learned that Remus greatly enjoyed his tea, he would often bring a cup along with him. "How's the book coming?"
"Oh," Matt waved a hand, rolling his eyes, as if writing a novel were the least of his concerns, despite the fact that it was his one, and only job. "It's coming, you know. I've hit something of a block. I'm not really sure where to take this character next."
"Mmm," said Remus, taking a sip of his hot tea instead of responding. He liked Matt very much, and he enjoyed the company, but he had to admit that he was sometimes a bit hard to understand, especially when he'd told Remus that the reason for his current unemployment was because a job might "stifle his creative flow". Though he hadn't expressed it, he was a bit shocked that Matt wasn't currently in his job position, as he seemed to have an awful lot of free time to hang about. "Can't help you there, I suppose."
"What are you reading?" asked Matt suddenly, taking the book off the counter where Remus had left it. He flipped through the pages, interested, and Remus blushed as he watched him pause on the book's back cover, obviously reading the message Sirius had inscribed to him there. It had been nearly a year prior, during the time that they were still "just friends", that Remus had found the words, untidily scrawled: "Moony, hope your birthday is fantastic. You deserve all the best… You're the greatest friend I've ever known, and I would hate to ever lose you. Padfoot".
"You're—'Moony'?"
"Just a weird nickname," Remus said hastily.
"Who is Padfoot, then?" Matt asked, intrigued, staring over the book to look at Remus, who was still blushing.
"My friend," he said shortly, looking back down at his tea to avoid the other's gaze, and stirring it with a finger. "You know, Sirius. My roommate."
Much like at Hogwarts, Remus and Sirius, though they hadn't had a real discussion about it, typically chose to remain somewhat non-descriptive about their relationship. Unless they were confident about who they were speaking too, Remus chose to take a path of assumed relationships, simply offering as little detail as possible. He hadn't hidden from Matt that he had a male roommate (they frequently discussed Remus' friends, in fact), and he hadn't pretended like he had any sort of female partner—he just chose, as always, to omit certain details of his relationship with Sirius, who, truthfully, was both his friend and roommate. The idea of discussing Sirius as his boyfriend, and consequently, talking about his sexuality, was embarrassing to him, and so, as Matt grinned at him again, he chose to keep his gaze averted.
"I see," he said illusively, closing the novel again and setting it back down, "he sounds like a nice guy, Sirius." Matt didn't know the real lengths of their relationship—from the intimate details to the fact that Sirius illegally transformed into a dog to aid Remus' shift into a werewolf monthly, but still, he seemed to have gotten the general idea of Sirius' character. It had taken Remus several years to admit to his closest friends much of his secrets, and he wasn't about to change that way of thinking for someone he still barely knew, though Matt had told him an awful lot about himself. However, the talk of Sirius sent Remus' mind, once again, back on his daydreams, and he struggled to keep a grin off his face.
"He is," said Remus, forcing his mind to remain on the conversation they were having, and not slip back again into images from that morning. "He's a great friend—good roommate, too… Expect we're both dreadful at cooking anything."
Matt laughed, "I'm quite a good cook, you know," he said, "we should hang out sometime, outside of here. I could teach you a few things."
Something in his tone made Remus blush, and for a reason he couldn't understand, he quickly adjusted his legs so that they were back under the desk. For a second, he had suddenly felt like the too-long jeans were a banner to display his secrets, because the way Matt was looking at him was showing him that he knew something Remus didn't. There was no way Matt could know the real level of his friendship with Sirius—or that he would even care—but in typical fashion, Remus didn't feel like he trusted him enough to really let him in on it. Instead, he quickly changed the subject back to Matt's book, which he was happy enough to go on about for the next hour or so, leaving Remus to zone in and out of his daydreams until he had to close up the shop for the evening.
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Love that image of him in Sirius' jeans... So what do you think of this flirty fella? and the upcoming story #3? :D