Aisles

Chapter 5

Friday, October 18th

It would have been nice to say that the week went fast but that would have been a lie - it was agonisingly slow. Remus sat through lectures, and found himself drinking so much black coffee in a desperate attempt to stop his head hitting the desk in exhaustion. Sirius' return to work meant he could spend more time on university assignments, and he was grateful for that - although he was also grateful for the influx of money that had come from picking up the extra shifts.

Remus hadn't realised he was so worried about money until that worry was slightly eased. However, he was now obsessively checking his balance, cutting financial corners and being extra frugal to try and keep himself in this state of 'financial comfortability' (which was really just relative comfortability - it's not like Remus suddenly had hundreds of disposable income, it was more that he could afford to buy a cup of coffee on the way to class occasionally and also could take an Uber when he got too shit-faced).

Remus wondered how James and Sirius could afford their apartment. James had explained that he had worked at the shop throughout his degree, and was currently taking time to realise what he wanted to do with his life before he moved on. Remus assumed Sirius would be similar (minus the degree) but an apartment like that in London would have extortionate rent. Remus had only been able to afford to live alone without roommates through months of work, and his flat was about the size of their kitchen.

Remus reflected back on the last month of working in the shop. He had gotten along well with Lily (but she was so friendly that he reckoned there were few who wouldn't), James was nice enough, even nicer now that he wasn't preoccupied with worrying about Sirius, and Marlene had been really welcoming (he reckoned she was glad to have someone who hadn't grown up with the other three as she enjoyed a good gossip and that was slightly awkward considering the others were literal childhood friends). True to Lily's word, Frank was a mysterious man who popped in and out - even Marlene knew very little about him. Remus reckoned that was Frank's intention.

Sirius, on the other hand... Well, Remus couldn't help but feel very skittish and anxious around him. He'd gotten over some initial nerves, now that he was used to the fact that Sirius had absolutely zero imperfections and accepted the level of inferiority he felt when standing next to him, but he still found himself on edge, worried that Sirius would find him boring or weird or something.

To Remus' knowledge, Sirius never texted Mary. A strange part of him was glad. He didn't want to find that Sirius would choose Mary over him. Because, to be honest, that would very likely happen. Mary was outgoing and funny, she was unpredictable and spontaneous. He wouldn't want to lose his best friend and... new friend. If he could call Sirius a friend.

After closing on Friday, the whole group met up at a local bar with even Frank and Alice. Marlene suggested that Remus invite Mary (the two had hit it off at the party) and she was already out with Dorcas and Gideon so brought them along. In the end, the rather large group squeezed into a booth together at the back of the bar with a round of drinks bought by James. Remus sipped his second rum and coke as he noticed the lights around him starting to blur a bit.

Lily and James were dancing on the dance floor, arms lifted in the hair, cheeks flushed with drink. Remus watched as James dramatically bent her into a dip and kissed her like something out of a movie, the two of them laughing as he lifted her back up.

"Ah, secret's out, then," Remus hadn't noticed how close Sirius was sat to him until he had spoken. He had to lean in to Remus' ear to speak, the music being too loud, and Remus involuntarily shivered at the feeling of his breath on his neck. "They've got to keep it quiet from the high-ups, you know,"

"Lily and James? How long have they been together?" Remus said, shifting slightly under Sirius' gaze.

"Ah, since last year of school. James has been in love with her since he was twelve and saw her across the room at the inter-school dance, though, the sappy git," Sirius grinned fondly.