Chapter 3
“We’re not allowed to switch seats.”
Lily sighed as she took her seat. James had gotten to class before her and there were still several other empty seats, so she had assumed that was the case. “Why not?”
“I dunno. I’m sorry, she didn’t give me a reason, just said this was our assigned seating for the rest of the year. I’m really sorry-”
“You can stop apologizing. It’s whatever. You were irresponsible and late on the first day, so now I have to suffer through sitting next to you,” Lily said, a sarcastic smile on her lips. “Just don’t talk to me, okay?”
James nodded and did exactly that.
~~~~
Remus wasn’t sure what to do. Three of the lights had gone out at the parlor and he had no idea how to fix it. He didn’t have the number for an electrician. He didn’t have a number to call anyone, actually. Lily was in class, his mother was at work, and he needed to open soon.
After running through his options, Remus sighed and crossed the street to the flower shop. The girl at the counter smiled at him, “Is there anything I can help you with?”
Remus nodded, picking at the edges of his jumper. “Do you have the number for an electrician by any chance?”
“Oh, yeah, probably. Oi, Sirius, someone’s looking for the electrician’s phone number,” she yelled into the back room.
Sirius came out a minute later with a notepad, pulling out the pen that had been holding his hair up in a bun. Remus wondered how he managed to look so effortlessly pretty while doing it.
It was strange to see Sirius in a flower shop. He didn’t quite look like he belonged there. He had always been the most rebellious boy in school and still kept up the appearance of a rebel. His hair reached his shoulders and he had several different piercings. While he didn’t have any visible tattoos, Remus imagined he had to have at least a few that were hidden by his clothing. Sirius almost always had on black nail polish, smudged eyeliner, and 10 or more rings on his fingers. He wore chains and leather jackets, for fucks sake, the guy rode a motorcycle everywhere he went.
Sirius was the last person you would expect to own a lovely little flower shop, much like no one would expect Remus to be a tattoo artist.
“What do you need an electrician for?” Sirius asked, scribbling something down, presumably the electrician’s number, on the notepad and ripping out the page.
“A couple of lights just went out.” Remus took the paper.
“Well, Arthur’s on vacation right now, so he won’t be able to help you. That’ll be nice for future reference, though,” Sirius nodded at the paper, a smirk tugging at his lips. “I can help you with the lights. I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to do much, but it’s probably better than nothing, right?”
Remus hesitated, unsure if he wanted to accept Sirius's help. From what he remembered, the guy was incredibly loud and disruptive, the complete opposite of Remus. He wasn’t sure if he could handle spending more than five minutes in his company.
Unfortunately, Sirius was right. He was mostly open after dark and he wouldn't be able to actually do anything if the lights were out and he couldn't see. Remus frowned.
“If it’s not too much trouble, that would be great,” he said, tucking the piece of paper into the back pocket of his jeans.
“It’s no trouble at all. I was on break anyway.” Sirius shrugged, following Remus out of the shop.
Remus showed him the lights and sat back while Sirius took one apart to inspect it. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Remus spoke up, “Well? Can you fix it?”
“Dunno yet. I’ll try my best. You have a stool I can use? Or a pair of 7 inch heels? I’ll only wear them if they match my outfit, though. Just so you know.”
Remus let out an annoyed sigh, going into the back to get a stool. “Does anyone actually find you funny?”
Sirius laughed and shook his head, “Nah, not really. That’s okay, though. I think I’m funny.”
“You’re not.”
“You know, you probably shouldn’t be insulting the guy doing you a favor.” Sirius glanced down at Remus, hair falling into his face.
“Fair enough.”
They fell into silence again as Sirius pulled wires down from the ceiling, attempting to figure out what was wrong. Remus watched him, not sure what he was supposed to do.
“Why did you decide to open a flower shop?”
“I like flowers. Why?”
Remus shrugged even though Sirius wasn’t looking at him. “It doesn’t really match your… I don’t know, vibe, I guess?”
“I suppose not, but it's a form of rebellion. In it's own way.” He thought about elaborating, but decided to change the subject instead. “Why did you open a tattoo parlor? You don’t seem like the rebellious type.”
“I’m not. It wasn’t a rebellious decision at all, actually. My mom was surprised, but supportive. I just like art and think tattoos are cool.”
“It’s a pretty badass job. Though, if you had asked me in high school, you would probably be the last person I’d guess would open up a tattoo parlor.”
“I’m surprised you remember me from high school at all. You were always so obnoxious, I didn’t think you took notice of anyone but yourself.” Remus laughed lightly before remembering what Sirius had said earlier. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be insulting you while you’re trying to help me-“
“No, you’re right. I was an asshole in high school. I’m just trying not to be one now,” Sirius said as the light flickered back to life. A smile lit up his face as he jumped off the stool. “Hey! There we go. Hopefully it’s the same problem for the other ones, because I don’t think I’ll be able to do anything about it if not.”
~~~~
“Good morning.”
While James had followed through on not talking to Lily for the most part, he still greeted her every time she walked in. She never replied, but it was a habit of his and she hadn’t told him to stop, so he hadn’t.
“Morning,” she replied, putting her bag down and getting ready to start class. James couldn’t stop the smile that spread over his face. He knew it didn’t mean anything, but it made him irrationally happy. “What?” Lily glanced over at him, raising one eyebrow.
“Nothing,” he said quickly, but a small smile stayed on his face the rest of class.
They continued like that, greeting each other at the beginning of class and not talking outside of it, for a week before James decided to push his luck.
“How was your weekend?” he asked cautiously, ready for Lily to tell him to shut up.
She didn’t. Instead, she said, “Fine. I spent most of it at the library.”
James bit back the urge to call her a nerd and nodded. “Cool.”
It wasn’t much, but it was progress.
~~~~
Sirius was lying upside down on their couch eating popcorn and watching a barbie movie when James came home. He choked on his popcorn as the door opened and fell off the couch, slamming his head on the floor.
James watched from the doorway as Sirius sat up coughing, scrambling to turn off the movie and pretend like he had meant to do all of that. He laughed softly, kicking his shoes off before joining Sirius on the coach. “I’m not going to judge you for watching barbie movies, Sirius. I’ve seen you do weirder shit.”
Sirius relaxed and sat back down on the couch, this time the right way around. Although it had been years since he lived with his biological family, his go to reaction was still to hide whenever he was caught doing something they wouldn’t have liked. He turned the movie back on and pulled a blanket over the two of them. “How was your day?”
“Pretty good, actually,” James said, a smile lighting up his face. “Lily said good morning back to me and actually answered me when I asked her how her weekend was.”
“What did she say?”
“Just that she spent it at the library.”
Sirius raised his eyebrows, snorting a little, “Wow, you’re awfully excited over the fact that Lily spent her weekend at the library.”
James threw a piece of popcorn at him, shaking his head. “I’m just glad she’s tolerating me. It’s not like we’re friends, but she doesn’t seem to hate me as much anymore.”
“Nice, dude. I talked to her friend today.”
“Cute tattoo parlor boy?”
Sirius nodded. “Some of his lights went out. He told me I wasn’t funny.”
“Smart guy.” James laughed at Sirius’s pout. “What’s he like? He went to high school with us, right? Didn’t really talk to anyone?”
“Mhm. He’s nice enough. Dunno why he didn’t have more friends, though. He’s a little awkward, but he seems like the type of guy who could get along with anyone.”
“Maybe he’s just not much of a talker?” James suggested.
“That’s what I thought, but he was asking me questions and stuff when he didn’t have to.”
“He probably just couldn’t help himself. I mean, you’re so mysterious and intriguing, how could anyone pass up the opportunity to ask you questions?”
“You’re such a fucking idiot.”
~~~~
“The wiring in this building is pretty fucked up. It’s been years since it was done, so it’s not up to code at all. You’ll have to ask Arthur to redo all of it when he gets back. I can fix the lights temporarily, but it’s not a permanent solution,” Sirius said, attempting to avoid getting electrocuted while trying to fix another one of Remus’s lights. It was a much harder task when it was 8 p.m. and there was no natural light to help Sirius see what he was doing.
“How much do you think that’ll cost?”
“Dunno. Probably a lot. He might give you a discount though since you're a new business. I can talk to him about it, if you like.”
“That would be great, please do. I’m not making any money off this place yet, so I don’t know how I’ll be able to afford getting the whole place rewired.” Remus groaned at the thought.
“Yeah, it took me a while to start making any profit off my place, too.”
Remus was quickly starting to realize how much being friends with Sirius would benefit him. Sirius had already run a small business for a couple of years and clearly knew a lot more than him. He knew the people around here and had already formed connections with them. Plus, he was fixing Remus's lights for free, so he couldn't be all that bad.
“How did you learn to fix lights like that?”
“I lived in a pretty big house when I was younger. It took everyone a while to notice when things were broken and I didn’t wanna get blamed for it, so I just learned how to fix a lot of things.” Sirius shrugged. “What about you?”
“Hm?”
“Where did you grow up?”
Remus was caught slightly off-guard by the question. It was a fairly normal one, but he wasn’t used to talking to people besides Lily, who already knew everything about him. He hadn't been asked about himself very often. “Uh, just a tiny house with my mum, not too far away from here. Lily was my neighbor.”
“Ah, so you lived near Snape, too?”
Remus hesitated before answering slowly, “Yes…?”
“You never talked to him much.”
“He didn’t really like me.”
“Did he really like anyone besides Lily?” Remus laughed softly and Sirius rephrased what he actually wanted to say. “You never talked to anyone, though.”
“There was never anyone I wanted to talk to.”
“So do you actually want to talk to me now, or are you just trying to fill up what would otherwise be awkward silence?” Sirius stopped his work for a minute to look down at Remus from the stool. It was hard to see what expression he wore in the dimly lit space, but Remus could see the small smile on his lips.
Remus thought for a moment. He wasn’t sure. Originally, it had been the latter, but it was nice to talk to someone new for once. He felt slightly guilty for it, knowing the disdain his best friend held for Sirius and James. “A little bit of both, I guess.”
Sirius seemed satisfied with the answer and continued fiddling with the wires in the light. “So, you don’t have any siblings?”
Remus shook his head, forgetting that Sirius wasn’t looking at him. “Nah, just me. Do you?”
“Yeah, I have two brothers. Regulus is my younger brother, but I haven’t seen him since high school. James isn’t my biological brother, but I consider him more of my family than anyone else.” Sirius didn’t elaborate and Remus didn’t pry. The light flickered on a moment later and Sirius hopped back down, once again several inches shorter than Remus. “Are you actually any good at tattoos, or did I just waste my time fixing lights for a guy who’s going to go out of business soon?”
Remus was caught off-guard again by the change in subject. He shrugged before saying, “I dunno. I think I'm pretty good at art, but not many people come by here.”
“Show me something you’ve done.”
Remus thought for a minute before pulling up the sleeve of his jumper, revealing an intricate tattoo of the phases of the moon on his forearm. Sirius had to stop himself from reaching out and running his fingers over it.
“You did that yourself?”
Remus nodded and pulled his sleeve down. He walked into the back, leaving Sirius confused for a minute before emerging with a book, a small smile on his face as he handed it to him.
Sirius flipped through the pages, looking at the various tattoos Remus had given his friends and at the detailed drawings he'd made. He couldn’t help the smile that bloomed on his face when he found a few accurate drawings of various flowers.
“You’re gonna be fine, mate,” Sirius said, looking up at Remus again. He looked like he wanted to say more, but the bell chimed, alerting Remus that he had a customer. “I should probably head home, but if you ever need any flowers for reference or something, you can come by anytime. And also for any electrical issues, obviously.”
~~~~
The next few weeks of class went over well. Mrs. Loinatra was focused on outlining the details of the course and spent a week explaining their first project. It was fairly simple, just creating a small cup.
James and Lily hadn’t talked much, outside of greetings and asking about one another’s weekends and such. They weren’t friends by any means, but they could tolerate each other.
The room was silent as everyone started working on their own block of clay. About halfway through the class, James stole a glance at Lily’s cup.
He stifled a laugh. It was stupid and immature, but he just couldn’t help it. He may have grown a lot responsibility wise, but he still had the humor of a middle schooler.
Lily glared at him and he couldn’t stop himself from giggling. He sounded like a child, but he couldn’t shut himself up. Lily was knuckle deep in a piece of clay and had clearly tried to wipe her face because there was clay smeared along her cheeks, forehead, and hair.
She looked simultaneously ridiculous and adorable, despite the death stare she was giving him. “What the hell are you laughing at?”
James managed to compose himself long enough to say, “I’m sorry, it’s stupid.”
“Come on, asshole. Just spit it out.”
James took a deep breath and pointed at her clay, “it just- it just looks like you’re fingering the clay and I-” he broke off in another fit of giggles. Lily stared at him, absolutely dumbstruck.
“You’re such a dumbass.” She shook her head in disbelief before looking down at her clay. In all fairness, that is what it looked like. She glanced over at James, who couldn’t seem to stop giggling and let out a soft laugh of her own.
His smile only grew wider. “Did you just laugh at something I said? Did I make Lily Evans laugh?”
Lily shook her head. “I was laughing at you, not with you. There’s a difference, not that I expect you to be able to understand a complicated concept like that.
James pretended to clutch his chest, careful to avoid getting clay on his shirt. “I’m hurt. I can’t believe you could ever say something so mean to me, Evans.”
“Shut up, Potter."