Chapter 117: Job Hunting

"It's about time we look for a job." Lily said out of the blue. The two girls had just returned from the Potters' Manor after a game of Quidditch. It had been almost two weeks ever since they returned from Hogwarts upon graduation.

"Time certainly passes very fast when we're having fun." Stefanie commented. For the last two weeks, the group of young adults had been enjoying life to the maximum, with a quidditch game daily, movies, dining out, clubbing, and even the boys had attempted to learn to play some muggle sports like basketball and soccer, and shopping for the three girls. It was as if there was nothing to care about except having fun, even the thought of defeating Voldemort was out of their minds in the last few days.

"Yeah, and reality is about to hit us. It's a matter of time." Lily accioed her towel and a fresh set on clothes and underwear and headed into the bathroom.

"Let's talk after shower." Stefanie sat by her desk and started writing a short note to Arabella.

Dear Bell,

Let's meet up for dinner tonight. My place. The boys are out for their all boys outing later.

Stef and Lils.

"Writing to Bell?? Or Remus??" Lily teased as she toweled-dry her long auburn hair.

"Bell, of course. Why do I want to write to Remus when the last time I saw him was less than an hour ago??" Stefanie tied the parchment onto Tinklebell's leg. "For Arabella." Lily's owl flew out of the window and disappeared.

"That's difficult to say." Lily replied, brushing through her damp hair.

"Anyway I asked Bell if she would like to join us at dinner here tonight, just wait for her reply." With that, Stefanie disappeared into her bathroom.

Hmm.. what would be the job I want to work?? Auror?? Healer?? Or something totally different?? Will I be fit enough to pass the Auror's tests?? Physically demanding and long working hours. Or perhaps healer, I can heal people easier. It will be an easy job for me. Just brush up some of my skills. There's probably more than just that. Money will be a problem. I know Stef don't mind me staying with her and all, but I can't stay here forever. I needed to have a stable income and I don't think any of those jobs pay as high as I want it to be. So where can I find… Lily got out of her reverie as Tinklebell started poking her hand using her beak. "That's fast of you. Thank you so much." Lily patted her owl and untied the letter from Arabella. "Get some food out there. Bye." Tinklebell gave a friendly hoot and flew out of the window.

Hey dearies,

No problem. Will be there around 7. Afterall I'm taking muggle public transport.

Bell

"Stef, Bell says she'll be here at about seven." Lily called out, trying to overpower the sound of running water.

"Ok, coming out soon." Stefanie's muffled reply was accompanied with running water.

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"Are you suggesting that we are not going to party??" Sirius asked in disbelief. The three guys were gathered inside James' bedroom, celebrating to the fact that it would be an all-guys night for a change. "It's difficult to get away from those girls and get some peace tonight and you guys are intending to stay in!! Have you two been brainwashed by them?!?"

"No, we haven't. Full moon is tomorrow night and I certainly need some rest and not through-the-night partying." Remus said in a tired tone, partially exhausted due to the fact that it was about twenty-four hours to full moon, and also after a four-hour long quidditch game with the girls earlier that afternoon.

"Alright, that's acceptable. Then what about you, Prongs??" Sirius demanded.

"I really need to have a long peaceful night sleep. We had been partying every single night ever since we left Hogwarts. Spare me tonight." James yawned loudly and lain back on his armchair, with his eyes closed, slowly drifting into dreamland.

"Prongs, I insist that you wake up this very minute." Sirius said loudly.

"Just shut up, if not I'm going to use magic on you." James, with his eyes closed, walked towards his king-sized bed and jumped into it.

"Damn, how could my two best friend do this to me??" Sirius sat down onto the armchair, which James was on previously and sulked.

"Padfoot, why don't you spend this time thinking about your future, your job, what are you going to do about your life??" Remus was practically murmuring, but Sirius caught what he said clearly.

"Yeah, might as well." Sirius mumbled to himself. "Then what about you??" He turned and saw Remus, dozing off soundly on another posh armchair. "Fine." Think about my future. Jeez, I'm going to be auror. Fight baddies like Voldemort. Voldemort, I nearly forgot all about him!! And that bastard killed my mum!! I mean my aunt!! He closed his eyes as his thoughts wandered around. Yeah, auror and that's what I want to be.

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"Although the pay isn't that fantastic, at least it's really meaningful." Lily stated. The three girls were having their dinner together all by themselves. Mr. Black had stopped by to say hello before disappearing back to his den to continue his work, while no sign of Sirius had been spotted in the Black's Mansion.

"I agree. I think it's really suitable since you already have the gift of a healer. Besides I think Aurors are really physically demanding. I don't think I'm up to it even." Stefanie admitted. "At least you can be a healer, I can't think of any job that a telekinetic can do."

"I think you can be a fashion designer or image consultant or something like that. If not you can be a healer as well, this kind of skills can be trained." Arabella said encouragingly.

"I supposed so. Really confused and kind of lost. What about yourself??" Stefanie asked.

"I was thinking of being a teacher, but someone suggested that I should be a model, the muggle world model thing." Arabella confessed. "Though I don't think I'm anywhere near that good."

"Wow, I think you'll make a brilliant model." Lily was supportive. "You've got the height, the looks to kill, the figure other girls will die for, and your legs look gorgeous."

"If I don't know you well, I would think you're lesbian for studying me in that manner." Arabella joked.

"Lil's right about this." Stefanie agreed. "I think you'll make a great supermodel, just look at those around, you're definitely better than most of them."

"Thanks for the support. Being a model is not as simple as it sounds. Anyway teaching is a more feasible job for me." Arabella pointed out. "So how are you two going to hunt for a job??"

"You know when I was young, I wanted to be a journalist, or editor or writer, somewhere in that field. But after I know I was a witch, that little childhood ambition of mine kind of faded."

"You can write for the Daily Prophet, or Witch Weekly, or one of those mags around." Stefanie suggested.

"Freelancing sounds like a good idea but when it round down to income, that's not stable." Lily stated.

"I think I probably would find a job in the writing industry, or perhaps on the fashion side. Maybe I can flip through the Daily Prophet Classified Jobs this weekend to check out for any available jobs." Stefanie said. "Meanwhile, let's have a nice simple dinner." The three ladies continued their dinner with typical chat and gossip.

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"So what have you guys been up to last night??" Lily asked. The guys had popped by the Black's Mansion for lunch.

"Don't remind me about that." Sirius grumbled rather loudly. "I'm hungry." He went straight to the kitchens, all prepared for lunch.

"I don't know about those two. I was sleeping rather soundly, in fact I think peacefully is the word." James definitely looked more refreshed today than in the last few days.

"Yeah, how is that so??" Lily asked as she walked towards the kitchens.

"At least I woke up naturally this morning, unlike the last don't know how many days, I was at the near heart-attack stage." James placed both his hands on Lily's shoulders as he tagged along towards the dining hall. Ever since they were 'neighbors' after Graduation, Lily had always woke James up by jumping onto him, giving him the shock of his life.

"Stef always wake me up at those wee hours, like nine in the morning when the world is still sleeping." Lily defended. "So naturally we'll go and look for you guys afterwards."

"Hey, nine in the morning is not that early. At least most of the population does wake up at that time." Stefanie intervened.

"Nine is considered quite late. Our classes used to start at nine." Remus added in a tired manner. It was a full moon tonight and he was going to floo home after lunch to rest and prepare for his transformation in the night. "Anyway James is a infamous sound sleeper. First to sleep and last to wake."

"I'm still growing, I need my precious sleep." James yawned loudly.

"If you yawn any longer, who knows what is going to fly into that big mouth of yours." Lily pushed James' jaws up in attempt to shut his mouth.

"Lunch is served!!" Sirius called out from the dining hall.

"Let's go. The smell is making me hungry." James ushered Lily to walk faster. The two couples sat down at the two sides of the lengthy dining table while Sirius already settled for the middle seat.

"So what did you do last night??" Stefanie asked Sirius as she helped herself with a heap of mashed potatoes and brown sauce.

"I manted o mmm.. some vocal bwulb.." Sirius started, his mouth was full of food mixture.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, I can't catch a thing." Stefanie rolled her eyes at her brother.

"I was saying I wanted to go to some local club. But our James here wanted to sleep and Remus was too tired." Sirius complained. "And the worst thing of all was that I wasted my night sleeping on James' couch and not even on a normal bed!!" The rest laughed at Sirius' complaint, especially in the slight whiny tone he used.

"Anyway yesterday we were talking about looking for a job." Lily nodded at Stefanie.

"That's right. We had been having fun for some time. The world is waiting for us to do something." Stefanie added. "Isn't that's the reason why we are here together in the first place??"

"The reason why we're here is clearly to defeat Voldemort." James said in a bitter tone. Afterall Voldemort had killed his father a few years back, as well as Stefanie's mother.

"Yes, we have to do something soon, or else more will suffer." Sirius added acidly. Stefanie's mother, had been a mother to him for so many years, her death had affected the two of them equally much.

"But right now, we just have to make sure our powers are in full force, and be prepared for any emergency." Stefanie added. "But we won't know when the day will come. Sooner or later we'll have to work."

"I had already decided I want to be an auror, I will make a trip down to the Ministry to register." James decided.

"Don't ever thought of doing it without me." Sirius added. "Moony, are you alright??"

"Yeah, it's just the time of the month." Remus looked distinctively pale, as he always had been on the day of transformation. "I don't think I could be an auror, though I definitely don't mind giving that a try."

"We'll all be supporting you, whether you get the job or not." Stefanie touched his hand gently.

"Thanks. I know you all will be there." Remus smiled gratefully. "Actually I had spoke to Dumbledore regarding this matter, he said that if I don't get a job out there, he can offer me a position in Hogwarts."

"That's sounds really good. But with Voldemort lurking around, I think the Ministry will need all the manpower they can get." James said as a matter-of-fact. "It's not very optimistic to see that Deatheaters are targeting aurors one by one."

"But this will protect us, right??" Lily touched the pendant that she had worn for the last few years.

"Yes, it is supposed to be. But I don't know if it will have any resistance on the Unforgivable Curses." Stefanie said softly. Remus reached out for her hand.

"You know what, now that we're here in front of the wonderful food, let's not waste the house elves effort and feast on them. Talk after lunch." Sirius said with suddenly cheerfulness.

"Sure thing, these bolognas taste great." James agreed and helped himself with another serving. "We should go for a nap after lunch and prepare for tonight's rendezvous."

"What a word you use. It makes us sounds like either pimps or trans or gays or something of that sort." Sirius told him.

"Actually I think you guys can have the ability to look pretty." Lily added teasingly.

"Yeah, just imagine them with long flowing hair." Stefanie added.

"A few dash of make-up."

"Some nice long dresses." Stefanie said.

"Short dresses would be nice, if they shave their legs. They can show off their nice, long, slender and smooth hair-less legs." Lily added. Both girls were laughing while the three guys gave the disgusted and horrified look.

"Then they wear those high stilettos or leather boots."

"And carry those teeny handbags."

"And sashay along the streets."

"I think that's enough. My appetite is disappearing." James winked his nose in disgust, at the thought of dressing like a girl.

"Mine had gone, in fact." Remus was barely eating as the two girls continued to talk and laugh at the expense of the three guys.

"That's not important enough to lose our appetite." Sirius was still eating away as though he had not heard the girls' conversation.

"I'm done." Lily put down her fork and spoon and wiped her mouth with her napkin and started drinking some sparkling orange juice off the goblet.

"So are you guys going back to rest now??" Stefanie asked, placing her arm over Remus supportively.

"I guess I better start making my way home." Remus stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow." He kissed Stefanie on her lips and lingered for a few seconds longer. "See you guys tonight."

"Bye."

"See you later."

"Take care." Remus went towards the fireplace, taking a handful of floo powder at the side and flooed back in a flash of green flames.

"You guys better get some rest as well. See you later for dinner." Lily told them.

"Don't start nagging." James pleaded and put his hands up in a surrendering manner.

"I'm not." Lily argued.

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"We'll be heading down to the Ministry today." James said. "To get an application for Auror training." It had been about a week since the last full moon and everything was back to normal.

"Well, do you think we should give auror a try as well?" Lily suggested. "They can reject us, at least we know we are not up to it."

"I still don't think you ladies can make it." Sirius pointed out. "It's better if you go for something less dangerous."

"I'm with Sirius for that. It's too dangerous. And it's really tough being an auror. At least let them go through it first and see how things go. But I'm sure it's going to be tough, and it is getting tougher with the happenings lately." Lily and Stefanie seemed to give Remus' words some thoughts.

"I think Rem has a point. Why don't we just wait for the next application? Perhaps if we go into different professions, we'll get more information about Voldemort than have all of us crowding around the Ministry." Stefanie said rationally.

"True, I guess. Well, then you guys can go get your application done soon." Lily shrugged. "It's fine with me."

"Yes, let's not delay any further!! We shall do it today!!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Sirius, we've already intended to go today." James rolled his eyes at the melodramatic Sirius.