first day
James
One thing James Potter did not expect when he decided to join business school was ending up here.
Standing in front of Cloud Nine, he thinks about turning around, going back, but that place had drained him. Plus, he still has another two years if he wants to return.
Well, James thinks, what do I have to lose?
He had been driving home to visit his parents when he saw the 'Hiring' flyer, so naturally, he thought, Why not? His mum will just have to wait.
He begins walking aimlessly around the store, if he's going to be working here, he's going to want to know the layout.
He passes a worker stocking products, and starts asking about the interview. "Excuse me, hi do-"
"Washrooms are in the back," the man mumbles, pointing towards the washroom.
James huffs out a laugh. "Um, sorry, I actually saw the hiring sign posted out front..." he trails off.
The man turns around with a groan, and James notices that he has dark brown hair with a streak of green, what seems like at least five piercings, and a neck tattoo that looks similar to a bite mark.
"Nice glasses." He nods at James with a chuckle. James furrows his eyebrows - his glasses are very nice, thank you very much. "Head over to costumer service, Marlene will help you out." He continues, looking James up and down before walking away with a grimace.
"Who's Marle-" he starts, but the man is already gone.
Rude, James thinks.
He shakes himself before wandering around the labyrinth that is Cloud Nine, looking for customer service.
He does eventually find it, after looking for what could be hours. When he does, he sees a blonde woman behind the counter who he can only assume is Marlene.
"Hi!" He calls, attempting to get her attention.
"Hi?"
James adjusts his glasses "Are you Marlene?"
She squints at him. "Who's asking?"
"James." He smiles at her. "James Potter."
"How'd you know my name? You stalking me?" She questions suspiciously.
James' eyes widen. "No! No, not at all! I was just-"
"Relax, I was teasing." She laughs. "Yeah, I'm Marlene; what's this about, then?"
"Oh." James shifts his weight. "I saw that you were hiring and-"
"Follow me." She interrupts, coming out from behind the desk and walking further into the store.
James looks around, not knowing what to do, when a man with long black hair looks up from his magazine and gestures towards Marlene. "Well? Follow her!"
"Following!" James calls back, smiling at the other man, who laughs at him.
James struggles to catch up with Marlene, who is surprisingly fast.
"Bloody hell, you're fast." James struggles to catch his breath as they arrive at the 'Employees Only' section.
"Right, so," Marlene continues. "Just head on down the hallway to your right and it'll be the fifth door to your left, that's the managers office."
"Wait - now?" James gapes at her.
"Yes, now!" Marlene gestures for him to go.
"Okay!" He says, hurrying through the doors.
When he walks in, there's a hallway branching off in three directions, forward, right, and left.
Recalling Marlene's words, he moves towards the right, palms sweaty, and counts the doors to his left.
One, two, three, four, fi-
Was it four or five?
Neither doors have a label, for whatever reason.
Fuck it, he thinks, opening the fourth door.
When he does, he's met with the man from earlier, as well as another blond man, making out.
"Shit, sorry!" James calls out, covering his eyes and turning away.
"This who you were talking about?" One of the voices calls out with a laugh.
Assuming it's safe to look now, James slowly turns back around.
The man from earlier, turns back around. "Yeah." He laughs.
"Rather pathetic looking, isn't he?" The blond man grimaces. James notes that he also has similar piercings and tattoos.
Huffing out a laugh, the brunet turns towards James "Guess you're looking for Regulus?" he asks.
"I-um," James stutters, looking between the two with wide eyes.
"What? You a homophobe?" The blond man raises an eyebrow.
James shakes his head rapidly, even more taken aback. "No! No, it's not like that! I-I'm not - I'm bi myself! I'm not a homophobe, I swear!"
"Good." He squints at him.
James takes a breath in. "Is Regulus the manager?"
"Make sure you call him Reggie, he loves that." The blond says. "But yeah."
"Don't knock either, he finds it unfriendly," the other man adds. "And make sure you make lots of small talk. Get him real chatty."
"Chatty, right." James nods, making mental notes. "Sorry, I didn't get your names?"
"Evan," the blond says, then gestures towards the other man. "This here's Barty."
"I'll just - leave you to it, then." James walks backwards, causing him to run into a wall.
Barty stifles a laugh as Evan smirks at him. "Door's over there, mate."
Still slightly shaken, James walks out of the room, blinking.
"Jesus." James laughs under his breath.
Not even hired yet, and James is feeling very overwhelmed.
Shaking himself, James opens the fifth door, recalling Evan's advice on not knocking, and sees a man with short black hair talking on the phone.
"No, Lupin, you're not-" the man stops. "The shipment has been delayed five times. Just get to it, as soon as possible." He slams down the receiver in frustration.
"Um, hi," James says, suddenly all too aware of his own being. "I'm here for-"
"I didn't hear you come in." Regulus interrupts, squinting at him. "Did you knock?"
"Oh, I just thought that-" he stops himself. "Never mind, sorry. I'll knock next time. I'm here for the job interview, Marlene said to come here."
"Right, okay." He gestures for him to sit.
James does so, and reaches over to shake his hand. "I'm James Potter."
"Regulus." He returns the handshake. "Alright Potter, let's hear it."
James blinks at him.
Hear what?
He realizes that he probably should've been more prepared prior, but too late for that now.
"Alright well," he starts. "I'm 26, I went to business school for two and a half years before dropping out. I like to think I'm a good leader, though one can never really be sure-" he stops short, noticing that Regulus is writing this down. "What's that? What're you writing?"
Regulus shrugs. "Keep talking, Potter."
"Sure, okay, well, I like working with other people and getting to know my coworkers. I've worked in retail before, so this won't be my first. What else?" James thinks. "Oh! I'm a feminist." James smiles at Regulus.
"You got a resumé?" Regulus asks, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow.
James shakes his head. This interview had been very last minute, so he hadn't had time to prepare anything prior.
Regulus sighs. "Okay, yeah sure. When can you start?"
"That's it?" James blinks at him
"I can take it back."
"No! Thank you! I can start right away."
Regulus nods, looking down at his notes. "Grab a vest, Barty'll help you."
James grimaces, remembering the earlier interaction. "He's sort of - occupied..." he trails off.
"Jesus, again?" Regulus huffs out a laugh, looking at James. "I swear, if he wasn't my best friend, I'd have fired him ages ago." He stands up.
"Wha- Where're you going?" James stutters.
"To get Barty? Where else?" He furrows his eyebrows and walks out the door.
"Wait, for me, Reggie!" James calls out, smiling sheepishly as he walks out after him.
"Don't call me that, Potter!" Regulus calls back.
"Evan told me to!"
"I'm gonna fucking kill those two," Regulus mumbles under his breath.
"So I'm guessing you also don't like small talk..?" he trails off, assuming that the couple had been lying.
"Ding, ding, ding!" Regulus muses before opening the door and crossing his arms at the two of them, as James stands behind him with his hands behind his back.
"One more time, Barty, and I swear to god, I will fire you," Regulus threatens.
"You said that last time." Barty rolls his eyes.
"And the time before that." Evan adds.
"Well," Regulus scoffs. "Now I have your replacement so, I can actually fire you."
"Shit." Barty shoots James a glare.
"Fucking snitch," Evan says under his breath.
"I did not snitch!" James gapes at him.
"Really?" Evan muses.
"Really."
"Suureee-"
"All of you shut up. You're a bunch of children." Regulus interrupts.
"You hired us." Barty shrugs.
Regulus runs a hand through his hair, clearly annoyed. "Just - show Potter around." Then promptly walks out.
"I'm not showing you around," Barty says. "Find Sirius."
"Wha-I-"
He gets cut off by Evan dragging him out of the room.
Remus
Remus loves Regulus, really, he does, but he's such a pain in the ass sometimes. Regulus forgets that Remus could easily fire him.
Remus is the district manager, meaning he takes after multiple stores, not just theirs. It's a hard job, but it pays well.
"It's been delayed five times," Remus mocks as he and Dorcas get in the truck, Remus in the drivers seat. "Bloody idiot."
Dorcas snorts next to him. "I like it when you're grumpy."
"Yeah, well, good news, because unless Reg calms the fuck down, I'm always gonna be grumpy," Remus grumbles as he puts the truck into reverse and pulls out of the garage. "We're missing like ten meetings because of him!" He whines.
"Do you actually like those meetings though? It's just full of assholes like Albus trying to cut down hours." Dorcas side-eyes him.
Remus sighs. "No, but still."
Sirius
"Hey, Pete?" Sirius calls out, peeking inside the pharmacy.
"Just wait one sec!" He calls back.
"Waiting!" Sirius muses.
Sirius had gotten this job the day before, despite the fact that the manager is his own brother, and immediately fit in. So far, he has a good grasp on who he likes and hates, and has written down a list and put it in his jacket pocket, in alphabetical order of course.
Likes:
Lily
Marlene
Mary
Pandora
Peter
Regulus
Dislikes:
Barty
Evan
Mulicber
Snape
Admittedly, Barty and Evan aren't as terrible as some of the others, they're just somewhat - well, batshit crazy.
"I'm back!" Peter says, as he comes into view. "Sorry, for the wait, mate. Bloody district manager's taking forever to get the vaccines. Delayed five times - can you believe that? Should be coming today though."
"Jesus, that is a lot of times." Sirius nods.
"What's this about, then?" Peter smiles at him.
"I'm bored." He drapes over the desk dramatically.
Peter hums. "Wanna do this vaccination for me?"
Perking up, Sirius stands up. "Really?"
"God, no." Peter grimaces, before turning around and walking towards the patient.
Okay, rude.
Scoffing in disbelief, he turns around to come face-to-face with the man from earlier.
"Jesus! Give a guy a little warning there!" Sirius calls out, holding a hand over his heart.
The man moves back. "Right, sorry. Are you Sirius?"
"Er, yeah, I am." He squints at him, trying to figure out where he would fit on his list.
"Perfect!" The man cheers. "I'm James! Todays my first day, and Barty told me you'd help me, sooo," he trails off.
Sirius sighs. "Yeah, I can do that, just hold on, would you?"
"Sure." He shrugs.
Sirius moves behind the counter, and scans through the shelfs, attempting to look professional. He has no clue what he's looking at, but James doesn't have to know that.
Glancing over his shoulder, he sees James examining him, as if trying to figure out what he's doing.
Sirius opens a folder, scans it, and nods to himself, despite being utterly confused.
What even is Bradycardia?
Shutting the folder, he makes his way back to James.
"Right, now that that's taken care of." He slaps James on the back. "Let's get going, shall we? You'll need a vest, so we'll grab one while we make our rounds. Oh, also, did you clock in? I forgot one time, and I didn't get paid for a whole 9 hour shift - despite the fact that Reggie saw-"
"Regulus." James interrupts.
"Huh?" Sirius asks.
"He doesn't like being called Reggie." He shifts his weight.
"Right..." Sirius squints at James.
"So, that's Lily and Mary." Sirius points towards where Lily and Mary are talking in electronics. "Sweetest people you'll meet, they balance each other out, Lily's responsible, Mary's.... not."
"Right okay." James nods. "Who're they?" He points to Snape and Mulciber.
Sirius groans. "Ugh, stay away from them trust me. I'm convinced they're in some sort of a cult."
"Freaky." James turns back to Sirius. "And Regulus is your brother?"
Sirius sighs. "Yup, little shit hired his friends before me."
James nods. "Yeah, he's terrible."
Sirius whips his head around to look at him. "Dude, no. That's my brother, man."
"Right, sorry."
"Come on," Sirius says. "We gotta finish the tour."
They make their way over to housewares and Sirius finishes introducing everyone.
"Okay, so you've met Marlene...." he trails off "Who else? Right! So there's Pandora, she's great, but her boyfriend Xeno's kind of... how do I put this? Insane."
"He work here too?" James asks as they walk around the store.
"Nah. I assume you've met Barty and Evan?"
"Yeah.." James hesitates. "I sort of - walked in on them."
"What?!" Sirius screams, causing heads to turn.
"Oh shit, is that not public knowledge?" James' eyes widen.
"No! But-shit, I mean, it makes sense. They're both insane." Sirius blinks. "And don't say public knowledge again, you sound cocky."
"How does that sound.." he trails off. "You know what? Never mind. Don't tell anyone I told you."
"Don't worry mate, you're good." Sirius pats him on the back, still a little taken aback. "Oh! There's also Pete, love him. Come on, let's go see what he's doing!" Sirius jumps up, rushing towards the pharmacy.
"I think we're supposed to..." James trails off, looking around.
"Come on!" Sirius urges.
"Coming!"
Peter
Once Peter is finished with his last patient, he has the rest of the day off to do as he pleases.
You see, this would be great. Except for the fact that he has maybe 20 patients left, and only one vaccine. They're a Cloud Nine, for fuck's sake, who even gets vaccinations done here?
"Alright, next!" Peter calls out from behind the desk and sees a man with sandy blond hair who smells - well, amazing. "You smell really good, mate."
"I've been told." The man shrugs in a way that's probably meant to be seen as nonchalant, but really only seems cocky.
"What cologne do you use?" Peter inquires.
The man looks around, confused. "I don't think you can..."
"Right, sorry. Got ahead of myself. Right, so name and birthday?" Peter corrects, getting ready to type in his computer.
The man straightens his suit. "Gilderoy Lockhart. I grew up in London, and lived with my parents, great folks, they make the best lemon squares," he rambles on and Peter rolls his eyes.
"Mate, I really just need your birthday and name, not your whole life story." Peter groans.
Gilderoy looks offended, as if he's never been told that before, and says. "Rude, okay. I'd like to speak with your manager."
Peter rolls his eyes, stifling a groan. "Oka-"
"Pete!" Sirius calls out, walking towards him with someone unfamiliar. "This is James! It's his first day!"
"Hi Sirius," he says, groaning. "James." he nods to James.
"Hey!" He calls back.
"Look, now's not a good time, could you get your brother?" Peter asks. "Mr. Lockhart here wants to speak with him."
Sirius barks out a laugh. "Ha! As if he'll come if I ask. Potter, you go!"
"Wha-me?" James looks between the two of them.
"Yes, you!" Sirius rushes him towards the back.
"Okay!"
Once James is out of view, Gilderoy crosses his arms.
"Might be awhile." Peter smiles at him.
"I can wait."
Bloody prick.
"Sooooo." Sirius drags on, batting his eyelashes at them. "Are we like, best friends now?"
Regulus
"Yes, we're on our way, holy fuck, Reg!" Remus calls out from the other side of the phone. "At this point, I think you care more than Pete."
"Oh, I definitely care more than Pettigrew." Regulus nods, adding an edge to his voice.
Remus huffs out a laugh. "I could fire you, you know?"
Regulus hums. "Then do it." He eggs on.
"I will." Remus says.
"I'm waiting."
"I can't do it now, dumbass! I need to file the paperwork." Regulus hears Dorcas laugh in the back.
"Right." Regulus muses. "Just get over here, Lupin." Then promptly hangs up.
Regulus hears a knock at his door and says, "Come in."
James peeks his head through the door with a smile and says, "I knocked!" before coming in fully.
"I heard." Regulus nods.
"A customer wanted to see you." James shifts his weight.
Regulus sighs. "Yeah, okay, let me guess, Sirius?"
"No, actually." James laughs. "Peter."
"Really?"
"Yup." James nods. "Believe it or not, I actually don't think he did anything, customer seemed like a dick."
"I believe you." Regulus groans, standing up and heading out the door.
"Hey, um, Regulus?" James asks from where he still stands in his office.
"Yeah, Potter?"
"Don't fire me." He winks.
Regulus rolls his eyes, but smiles nonetheless and walks away.
Sirius
"Oh! You-" Sirius is about to tell off Lockhart but cuts himself off when he catches sight of a man who seems about his age, with dirty blond hair and what might be the prettiest eyes ever standing near the cafe.
He's wearing a sweater that seems fit for maybe a 50 year old, yet he makes it work. He's pretty. And not movie-star pretty, he's the type of pretty you do double takes on after passing them in the store, pretty like an art museum. There's a quiet serenity about him, somehow managing to be both calming and intriguing, like a puzzle.
Shoving his hands into his leather jacket (that he's not allowed to wear), Sirius shoots Peter a quick bye, and makes his way over towards the man, who seems to be examining the menu.
"If I were you, I would go for the cookies." Sirius tells him, smiling at him.
"Thanks for the recommendation, but I already ordered the moon pies." The man laughs.
"Moon pies, huh? I never cared for them much." Still smiling, Sirius introduces himself. "Do you know your way around, Moony?"
"Moony?" The man raised an eyebrow at him.
"You know - moon pies, Moony." Sirius fidgets, feeling very squeamish.
The man laughs. "Well, I do now. And yes, I know my way around."
"Well Moony," Sirius says, grinning slyly. "I would really like to show you around."
Moony hums. "Hard pass."
"Suit yourself." Sirius shrugs.
"You work here?" He asks as he pays for his order, shooting the waitress a quick thanks. "Haven't seen you around."
"Started yesterday." Sirius grins at him. "Waiting for the bloody district manager to get here, prick's taking forever."
"Yeah, I bet."
"Lupin, fucking finally!" Sirius turns to see Regulus and James walking towards them. "Did you bring the vaccines? And take that jacket off, Sirius."
"Dorcas brought them to the warehouse." The man, Lupin, rolls his eyes.
"Oh fuck me..." Sirius trails off, eyes wide with surprise.
The man shrugs, walking away.
Well, shit.
"Jacket, Sirius!" Regulus calls out as he keeps walking and James comes to a stop beside him.
"You alright, mate? You look like you've seen a ghost." James laughs.
Regulus
"Okay, what seems to be the issue?" Regulus asks, looking towards Gilderoy.
"This" – He points vigorously at Peter, who grimaces – "man here, is being rude."
"Regulus, I was telling him that he needed to tell me his birthday and name, not about his mom's lemon squares." Peter, ever the mature one, sticks his tongue out at Gilderoy, who rears back with a grimace.
"Okay, just" – Regulus pulls Peter away to the side – "apologize and give him his vaccine. Be the bigger person."
When Peter begins to protest, Regulus gives him a stern look, causing him to turn around and grit out an apology to Gilderoy. "I'm - sorry." He grimaces as if the word gives him actual pain.
"No." Gilderoy shrugs.
"No?" Regulus scoffs. Regulus is usually good at tolerating people but Lockhart just seems like a stubborn asshole at this point. "Listen, mate, you either accept his apology and get your shot done, or get the fuck out of the store."
Gilderoy looks between the two before storming off. "You just lost a very loyal costumer!"
"We'll survive!" Regulus calls back.
Peter raises an eyebrow at him. "What happened to being the bigger person?"
"Shut up."
Dorcas
After dropping off the vaccines to the warehouse, Dorcas wanders around the store for who knows how long after somehow having managed to lose her phone.
"Attention shoppers!" Marlene's voice booms over the speakers. "If you've lost an iPhone 11, then come to customer service or I'm keeping it."
Laughing to herself, Dorcas makes her way towards costumer service.
When she gets there, she sees Marlene smiling at her.
"You a thief now, McKinnon?" Dorcas raises an eyebrow at her.
"Part-time." She shrugs.
Dorcas hums. "Of course."
Marlene tosses Dorcas her phone. "Reg's finally hired his brother."
"Has he?" Dorcas asks, putting her phone in her pocket. "Took him long enough."
Marlene snorts. "Tell me about it."
"I saw another guy, brown hair, glasses, he work here too now?"
"Yup, that's Potter. He's stalking me." Marlene shrugs with a smile.
"Is he now?" Dorcas raises an eyebrow.
Marlene nods. "You know, I-"
"Marlene," Mary's voice interrupts her, causing Marlene to laugh to herself.
"Yes, Mary?"
The other girl comes into view, a bounce in her step as she taps the counter restlessly, seemingly not noticing Dorcas. "Help me convince Lils to prank Snape, pleaseeee?"
Dorcas raises an eyebrow at Marlene, who shrugs innocently. "I'm not sure what you're talking about Mary, I have no interest in pranking my fellow coworkers."
Mary makes a confused face. "But yesterday you-"
"No interest!" Marlene interrupts with a raised finger, nodding slightly to Dorcas, as if she can't see her.
"You do realize I can see you, McKinnon?" Dorcas smiles.
Marlene and Mary smile innocently at her.
"I was just joking." Mary shrugs.
"Sure you were." Dorcas muses before walking away.
Who is she to stop them?
Mary
"So..." Mary hesitates. "You will help me, right?"
"Yes, I'll bloody help you idiot!" Marlene laughs.