Boys Will Be Bugs

Chapter 73: Yellow Eyes

By the end of his first shift, Remus was feeling very tired. He tried to hide it from Selene, so that she didn't say I-told-you-so and decided against letting him continue working there, so he made sure to look as upbeat as he had when he'd first arrived. He must have done a good enough job, because by the end of the evening, Selene was willing to offer him a (possibly) permanent place there.

"But the second it becomes too overwhelming to keep up along with Hogwarts, you're done," she warned. "And don't lie to me just so you can stay, because I know when you're lying." Remus doubted it, but he agreed anyway.

"I get paid tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, you get paid tomorrow, you greedy little thing." She lightly smacked him with a magazine. "Go back to school, get some rest. You need it."

"Alright." He made for the stairs towards her flat, and turned around. "Thanks for letting me work here."

"Yeah, yeah, just don't make me regret it." He waved goodbye and let himself into her flat to reach the fireplace. He couldn't wait to tell his friends all about it.

They were all waiting for him in the common room when he returned, sitting around in chairs. They were all there, including Lily and Marlene and Jethro and Myfanwy, all waiting for him to tell them what his first shift was like. As much as he wanted to tell them, all he could think of doing right now was flop down onto the sofa and fall asleep. That simply wasn't an option though.

"How was it, then?" asked James.

"You look a wreck," observed Peter.

"You smell like smoke."

"Did you smoke?!"

"Did you get paid?"

"How much?" Remus answered their questions as best he could, insisting that he did not get paid but confirming that he did, in fact, smoke an entire cigarette which his friends thought was incredibly cool of him. The admiration he received was certainly a bonus of working in the pub, and he took advantage of it as much as possible, outlining in detail all the drinks he got to serve and all the tips he was given, including some money, a bag of crisps and a few unused cigarettes which he passed around to Sirius, James and Peter when the other Gryffindors had left the four of them alone. They sat in front of the fireplace and lit them up using the dying embers in the grate. They absolutely weren't allowed to smoke in the common room, but James kept the smoke from dissipating across the room with magic, and since everyone else had left for bed by now, save for a few older kids who didn't care at all, no one bothered them. Peter wasn't too keen on how the cigarette tasted, and James took some time to get the hang of it– he coughed and spluttered a lot before he was able to take a hit without choking, but eventually he began to enjoy it. Sirius was more like Remus, he took to smoking pretty quickly, with little fuss, and puffed on the end like he was accustomed to it..

"My dad says smoking's best after dinner," remarked Remus, forgetting about the fact that he was supposed to dislike smoking after seeing what it was doing to his dad, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Smoking had always been a comforting presence in his life growing up because of his aunt. How many times had he found her outside in the evening, blowing smoke rings at the sky and asking her for advice or just joking around with her? More times than he could count, and the cigarette had always been the denominator. It was nice sitting around with his friends, feeling incredibly grown up. They even got a head nod from a seventh year who was heading upstairs, something that was unheard of for a fourth year to receive. Sirius watched the smoke swirl in front of him and appeared far more relaxed than Remus had ever seen him before.

Remus was exhausted by the time they went upstairs. Their cigarettes had all burnt out and it was getting on ten thirty, so they decided to call it a night. He wanted to go to sleep as soon as he'd put his pyjamas on, but he remembered his promise to Sirius, and he picked out a new book to start reading. It was Alice in Wonderland, the book he'd given Sirius so long ago now. He knew that Sirius had definitely read this book, but Sirius wanted him to read it out loud anyway, so he obliged.