Apples & Coffee, Remus Lupin

II

NOV. 1982

REMUS WIPED THE counter with a haggard dish rag. The sun had set and Joanna had left already; it was his job to close up shop. He sighed as he threw the rag in the black bin and started cleaning the coffee machine. He was disrupted by the door chiming.

    "We're clo-"

    He turned around and immediately stopped his words. Apple stood in the doorway, papers and overflowing folders in her hands. Her hair was held up by a clip and was threatening to spill out. Tortoise shell glasses sat loosely on her nose.

    "Oh, sorry. I didn't know you were-"

    "No, no!" he said quickly, "we're still open." He abandoned the coffee machine and walked up to the register that he had no idea how to work. Apple plopped down her papers and shed her jacket.

    "Hm, for a place that's supposed to be open, it is awfully dark," she hummed. Remus' cheeks went slightly red as he scrambled for an answer.

    "We're conserving energy, Joanna's idea," he nodded. Apple smiled and nodded back. "So, what would you like?"

    "I'll have a uh..." She looked up at the menu and shrugged. "A black coffee."

    Remus nodded and looked at the cash register in confusion. Joanna had explained how to work this foreign machine when he was hired about two weeks ago. Remus hadn't paid attention, and now look where he is! He gave up and just shrugged. "It's on the house."

    Apple opened her mouth to protest but then remembered the lack of money in her muggle bank account. "Thanks," she said sincerely and walked over to the papers waiting patiently for her. She sighed as she sat down and looked at the marked papers.

    She pushed her glasses back up her nose and started reading through the trial for the ten hundredth time. There was still no real motive for Black's crime. A lurking feeling in the back of her head told her that something was really wrong with the alleged events of that fateful night.

    "A black coffee for Apple," Remus announced as he held out the yellow mug for the woman to take. Apple smiled gratefully and took a sip.

    "How do you make it so well," she gasped. "Whenever I make it, it tastes like...like shit, really," she laughed.

    "I don't know, it's all about the machine. I guess I'm just good with my hands."

    Apple choked on her coffee. She was in a fit of coughing as Remus turned red and laughed at himself.

    "I didn't-"

    "No, no, it's fine. Good to know, I guess," she said as she recovered. Remus smiled and shook his head, his embarrassment slowly waning away.

    There was silence, and Apple looked back down at the papers in front of her - which now had little spots of coffee on it.

    "What're all those papers for?" he asked, not realizing how nosy he must sound.

    "Work," she said simply. She looked at him over her mug. His eyes were the type of brown that reminded her of chocolate. They were warm and cozy, everything about him was. "I have to review this trial...and if I'm being honest, something about it doesn't seem right."

    "How mysterious," he said, eyebrows raised. He looked over at the papers and instantly shrank back.

    The Trial of Sirius Black.

    The last thing he ever wanted to see or hear was that name. He couldn't even say it. It left a sour taste on his tongue. His breath got heavier as he remembered the events tied behind that name. James and Lily. Their deaths were his fault. He betrayed them. And nobody saw it coming.