Chapter 3
“Hey, Remus? Yeah, it’s James. Could you come to take a look at my computer again, I can’t connect to the internet. Oh, you're in the area! That's great! Wow, 3 minutes? Yeah. All right, thanks mate!” James hung up and grinned. It was all going according to plan.
–
The door swung open, and James hurriedly rushed towards Remus, who was in his usual IT uniform. “Hey, Moony! Would you like some tea? Please, sit. No need to get started immediately.” A young man with a freshly done tattoo sat in the waiting room, which James completely disregarded, while curiously watching James while he lead Remus away from the computer, and sat him down in his office.
“Thanks, Prongs, I’ll have some tea, it was a rather rainy ride here, and my hands are freezing,” said Remus. He gave James an appreciative smile as James swept around his office, looking for all the supplies. Remus minded his own, and only looked up when James placed a cup in front of him, asking if he took sugar.
“No, thank you,” Remus replied. After wiping his hands on a rag, James clapped his hands together and took a seat on the other side of his desk in front of Remus. He sipped on his own tea before making conversation,
“So, what are your thoughts on…”
–
Sirius was nearly done cleaning his workstation, he had just given a young man a sick tattoo, a large dragon- something he called a Hungarian Horntail- spread out across his upper back.
“They've got to catch me if they want me to hang, ‘cause I'm back on the track…” Sirius mumbled the lyrics of the current song blaring over his speakers, while he finally finished sanitizing everything. He started to head out the door, and over to his previous client.
“All right, Charlie, let me just put you in our system-” Sirius cut himself off, looking around for James. “If only our receptionist were here… Hold on let me go catch-”
It wasn't him who cut himself off this time, but rather Charlie.
“James?”
Sirius looked at him oddly, “Yeah, do you know something?”
The redhead fidgeted, looking uncomfortable, “Uh, yeah, I think he went to his office?”
“Thanks, mate, I’ll be right back, and as soon as we check you in, I promise you can go!” said Sirius sheepishly, before running to the backrooms. He jogged to a stop once he reached the office three doors down from his. The door was open just a crack, and he could see James sitting down at his desk, speaking to an unknown figure Sirius couldn't identify from his position behind the door. Sirius was about to knock but halted when he heard his name.
“So, what are your thoughts on Sirius?” James asked. Sirius was shocked, it was unlike James to talk about him without his knowledge. But what came next was even more shocking to Sirius.
“Uh, yeah, he seems cool? Why?” The voice was unmistakable. Remus.
“Oh you know, just wondering, he thinks you're pretty cool as well,” James said nonchalantly. Sirius cringed, James was not nearly as good of a wingman as Sirius was.
“I’ll be sure to tell him thanks if I see hi-” Remus started.
“Would you go out with him?” James cut off, leaning forward in his seat. Sirius suppressed a groan.
“He’s a fit bloke and all, but no, of course not. Isn’t-” Remus stammered. Sirius grimaced, and couldn't bear to hear anymore, so he dashed back to the waiting room, warding his eyes from tears. Stupid James. Stupid James wanting to help everyone because of his stupidly big heart.
“Hey, Charlie, James seems to be busy at the moment, so I’ll just get you started,” Sirius put on his best smile, cursing his voice for wavering. He sat behind James’ computer and began searching for their files.
“Yeah, uh, thanks,” Charlie said tentatively, inching over to the desk, “You good, Sirius?” Sirius snapped his head up so quickly, he nearly got whiplash.
“What? Yes, of course,” said Sirius hurriedly, placing his gaze back onto the computer. Why wasn't anything working? Oh, the Wi-Fi wasn’t on, no wonder he couldn't connect to the internet. “Weasley, right?”
He waved goodbye to Charlie after finishing up with his registration. His brother, who Sirius later learned was named Percy, along with his boyfriend, Oliver had come to pick him up. He seemed well-rounded, and quite the clever kid. It was only until 3 minutes into their small talk that they had figured out they had gone to the same boarding school. Sirius dragged himself back to his office and massaged his temples as he went to figure out his schedule for the rest of the day. He sighed in relief as he saw he had no clients for the rest of the day, and considered speeding to his bleak weekend which consisted of one highlight, brunch with Marlene and Dorcas tomorrow at 12. Well, until then, he would sulk for the next 17 hours and 23 minutes.
–
“He’s a fit bloke and all, but no, of course not. Isn’t he with the famous Gilderoy Lockhart?” Remus replied, he was many things, but among those things did not lie a homewrecker.
James looked as if he were about to throw up. “Oh, God no!”
“Really? Lockhart seemed pretty intent on flirting with Sirius…” Remus didn't let his stomach bubble with hope, if Sirius rejected Gilderoy Lockhart, he was sure to get his heart broken.
“That creep has been flirting with Sirius for ages, never taking a hint,” James said, annoyed at the thought, rolling his eyes for added effect.
“Oh.” Remus couldn't think of anything else to say, and he was mostly concentrated on not imagining a future with Sirius because he was sure it would end with him isolating himself for two months and eating far too much junk food. “Well… let's take a look at that computer, shall we?”
James stood and Remus took that as a signal to follow him out. James logged onto his computer and scratched his chin, furrowing his dark eyebrows. “Huh, it seems to be working fine now, I wonder why that is,” James looked immensely confused, and Remus snickered to himself.
“Well, I’ll be off now, if everything is working okay,” Remus said, already heading out the door.
“Yeah… Bye Remus,” James said distractedly, seeming preoccupied trying to figure out what had changed.
As Remus walked to the bus stop, he slowly smiled to himself. Although he didn't end up fixing anything, he felt more satisfied walking away from a job than he had in a while.