( joe keery. cismale. he/him. ) REMUS LUPIN was last seen leaving diagon alley. i remember the TWENTY year old from school, i think they were a GRYFFINDOR. but now theyâre working as a SHOP ASSISTANT. when people see them they say theyâre reminded of threadbare sweaters that still do the job, hushed laughter in the middle of the night, weary bones on a too soft bed, the silence of a forest before a storm, and the warmth of a mug of steaming hot chocolate. itâs probably because their loyalties lie with the ORDER OF THE PHOENIX.
general
name: remus john lupin
nickname(s): moony
age: twenty
blood status: half-blood
birthday: march 10th
occupation: shop assistant, rarely stays at one job for too long.
place of birth: london, england
current place of living: london, england, moves around a lot.
fears: being outed as a werewolf, being truly alone
aspirations:Â see the end of the war, stay together with his friends, just live peacefully without worrying about people figuring out he is a werewolf.
favourites
book: the mysterious mr. quin - agatha christie
drink: hot chocolate
food: shepherdâs pie
song: ten years gone - led zeppelin
subject in school: defense against the dark arts, arithmancy
âI mean Iâm just grateful that half my job is out in the field tooâ Alice mused with a little laugh. She was grateful that she got to be out in the field so much. Of course it came with the paper work too. But she could manage that part. âOh donât tempt meâ She mused, having picked up the actual parchment she needed now. âIâm a stationary addict, and really need no excuse to buy a ton moreâ
Now there was something to grab Remusâ attention. âField work too, sounds exciting,â he replied with a grin. He never could pass up a bit of adventure. All the same, field work with the wizarding world as it was couldnât have been easy, but he knew it was a battle that needed to be fought regardless. Remus nodded and waved Alice along behind him as he walked to a cluttered desk to tally up and note her total. âWhat do you do?â
lily had known the moment she claimed things to have been quiet at the leaky it sounded ridiculous; the place was by definition the very opposite of quiet. there was chaos and then there was managable disorder. most of the time it could go from a calmer than usual night to mayhem in just seconds though, and lily was happy she had managed to escape before tom could take back letting her get off her shift early.
the redhead shrugged her shoulders, âmaybe i did,â she teased, if being devious was the way in which lily would get to take care of her friends then devious was what she would be, âit worked though, didnât it, lupin?â lily quipped cheerfully, her spirits bright and impossible to damper as he stated his demands, she rolled her eyes but nodded nonetheless, âif it makes you feel better iâll let you help, but really remus, youâre not imposing when youâre being invited, i want to have you over for dinner,â lily insisted, a smile somehow brimming with warmth and kindness, yet also somehow equally stern, reaching her eyes.
Remus looked back to Lily with a nod, âIt did,â he admitted in defeat. Heâd always found Lily to match him and his friends in mischief, though she was much more subtle and therefore less likely to get caught. It felt a little like cheating to have your own skillset turned against you, but when it was used for things like being invited over for your favorite dinner, it was hard to complain.Â
He nodded as she acquiesced as if theyâd negotiated more serious terms. Truthfully, Remus knew he could drop in on his friends more or less whenever and theyâd invite him in with open arms. But that was sort of it. Heâd always felt like his friends did more for him than he could ever do for them, Lily very much included. âI know, I know,â he replied simply, waving away her words. He paused for a moment, considering explaining and then continued on, deciding not to bring the conversation down. âSo what timeâs dinner?â
Amelia offered him a light smile in return for his comment. She was glad that he didnât seem too bothered by her question. Sheâd always hated taking attention away from others, not necessarily needing it herself. So when she was forced to draw the attention to herself, like in scenarios like these, she always felt like she had to turn it away from herself as quickly as possible. When Remus pointed her into the direction of the feathers, she was about to thank him and continue her search for the things on her list on her own, but she had to admit it was nice to have a bit of human interaction outside of work.Â
âWhite noise?â She could barely believe how someone could ever listen to screams and have it be tolerable in the first place, let alone âgoodâ. âHonestly, divination has never been my thing, Iâm starting to realise that thatâs a good thing.â She half-joked. âYeah, Iâm definitely just going to stick to those. Thank you for your help.â Amelia smiled.
Remus nodded, raising his eyebrows in agreement. It was hard to imagine for him as well, especially since heâd heard the screeching himself. There were certainly plenty of eccentrics in that circle, and they kept ending up in the shop when he was working. âHonestly, you have no idea. Although Iâm not sure itâs surprising. Iâm sure you remember divination at Hogwarts,â he added with a chuckle. He hadnât taken it, but of course had classmates who did and their predictions never failed to amuse. âI can wrap those up for you,â he added, nodding to the quills. âCheaper in the long run if you buy a couple. Or if youâre looking for anything else..?â
Alice wasnât very good when it came to shopping. Or well she was. She just got distracted by pretty things and ended up buying a lot more than she had intended on buying. It was worse when she came to this particular kind of shop since she adored stationary. Alice was going to have to be very careful to make sure she didnât go over board and spend a ton of money in this shop. âOoh. Lovelyâ She murmured, as she moved towards the stair case and headed up to the second floor.
She was just after bog standard paper, and Alice kept reminding herself to not get too distracted. âYeahâŠ.â She mused with a little smile as she came to where Remus was. âI tend to write essays at work for my case notes so I go through a lot of paperâ
âAh, got to love a desk job,â Remus replied conversationally. He was very sure heâd never make it with a desk job. Just the thought of being stuck in one place for that long made him ache. Even when heâd do homework, he always ended up on his feet somehow. âThereâs quills and inks on this wall over here too if you need those as well.â Remus nodded to a display a few shelves over. âWaxes too if you need to seal your work.â
âyeah, tom let me go a few minutes early, it was pretty quiet tonight,â she said as she climbed the stairs with quick steps lily reached the top and joined him at the railing, mimicking his position as she folded her arms together. âat least, you know, as quiet as the leaky ever actually gets,â lily laughed. her place of work was never quiet by any standards that would be considered quiet anywhere else. the pub was always bustling with life and joy as people ate and drank to their heartsâ desire.
âhow are things going around here?â lily asked, looking around, her gaze falling on the knick knacks on the table and the redhead grinned warmly. âwhy donât you come over for dinner tonight? iâm making a shepherdâs pie,â lily coaxed softly, bumping her elbow against remusâs lightly.Â
Remus laughed at the thought of the Leaky Cauldron ever being quiet. He was pretty sure the only time it came even close to quiet was when the sensible people had gone to bed and the not so sensible ones had fallen asleep in their chairs. As for him... He took a second to look over the shop before answering her question. It certainly wasnât what he had envisioned for his life, but it wasnât so terrible in the end. And the ease of his job allowed him to take time off for the war efforts if needed. Remus shrugged. âAlright. You know, I manage.â
âOh, I-â He had been ready to refuse her offer, never one to want to inconvenience his friends. In small ways, sure, heâd drop in on Lily at work or ask Peter to send an owl for him, but home matters were a different issue. Even though they knew his circumstances, at times it grated at his pride. And then she mentioned shepherdâs pie. Remus squinted at her as she bumped his elbow. âYou did that on purpose, Evans.â He looked away with a small smile. âIâll help you clean up.âÂ
She felt somewhat bad for changing her mind and with that, keeping the other from continuing whatever heâd been doing, only to show her the new quills. Amelia really didnât like being kept from her job whenever someone else came in to ask unnecessary questions or just wanted to fill their own time with small talk. âSorry.â A soft apologetic chuckle slipped her lips as she walked up the stairs. When she made it up to the loft on the second floor, she glanced around to see if she could spot something else she needed, so she wouldât have to ask for it again later.Â
Amelia followed him towards the display and and nodded at his words, to show she was actually listening to all the options. Though, as his tone changed, Amelia raised a brow. It quickly became clear why he seemed slightly hesitant. âEh â yeah, no, just a plain old, very normal quill for me.â She quickly assured him. âWhat do people even do with those? I mean â screaming? First of all, that sounds absolutely awful, and secondly⊠Why would you want to hear screaming while writing or taking notes?âÂ
âOh no,â he assured her, waving her apology away. âThis is what they pay me for.â Remus was used to interruptions anyway, since his days at Hogwarts had been filled with them. It was easy for him to turn his attention from one thing to another without losing too much focus. He found it amusing that his friends, in some of their least studious moments, had taught him something that seven years of schooling hadnât. Remus pointed out the perfectly mundane quills, white feathers amongst seemingly every color and style imaginable.Â
âIâm honestly not sure,â He added, âThere were a few people in earlier today looking at them. They said it might be good white noise for divination or something? To get you âin the right frame of mindâ,â Remus shrugged, making quotations in the air with his fingers. To each their own, and frankly, not even the strangest thing heâd seen during his relatively short employment.
There was only one slight disadvantage of being an auror, and that was all of the notes she made. Alice was a note taking person. She adored taking notes, and took a lot of pride in her case files. They were pretty and colour coded. It took a long time, and meant she went through a lot of pieces of parchment. That was why she was heading to the shop to restock on the parchment. She was running a little low, and wanted to get some new. It would be horrible if she ran out of parchment in the middle of an important case.
She knew it was late in the day, but she did also work. Sheâd actually left the office a little early herself so she could head there. She looked up as she heard a voice and she moved into the shop. âHeyâ She murmured with a smile. âOh. Iâm just hear for some parchmentâÂ
âWell, youâre in luck,â Remus replied, pulling his wand out to tidy up the area heâd been working at a little so there was more room to stand. The boxes on the shelves slid back into place and Remus stacked the excess to take down before he was done for the day. âItâs up here, I just restocked it.â He paused to allow time for the witch to climb the stairs and stood back to allow her more room.
He was always being told to engage with their patrons more. That it made it more likely that theyâd come back or something. Personally, Remus was more likely to visit a place where the employees didnât trap him in small talk for the entirety of his visit. âSo... Writing a.. paper... huh?â Because, Merlin, he hated small talk. Remus grimaced at himself and resisted the urge to throw himself over the railing.
Whenever she could avoid it, Amelia preferred to stay away from the busier shops in Diagon Alley. Before she hadnât cared about the endless attempts at unnecessary small talk too much, not even when people she only vaguely knew would ask questions regarding her personal life that were absolutely none of their business. It wasnât really anything she couldnât handle. However, after the news of her parents deaths had travelled through the wizarding community very quickly, walking through Diagon Alley had been pretty much a nightmare. The overload of false sympathy and pitiful looks, let alone the handful of grins shot her way, it was all too much.Â
So, now whenever she needed anything, she attempted to avoid anyoneâs gaze as she made her way to the smaller, lesser known shops in the area. The brunette made her way into one of the more familiar shops, glancing around to make sure there werenât too many people inside. Amelia remembered coming to the store quite often with her parents as she went shopping with her parents as a little girl. A light smile accompanied the memories before she heard a vaguely familiar voice calling out. She glanced up at the source of the voice, shaking her head lightly at the otherâs question. âI think Iâll be able to find most things.â Amelia assured the other. âOh â maybe, do you know if you got the new load of quills came in already?âÂ
Remus offered the woman a smile as he recognized her, careful to keep it from becoming pitying. He knew how those felt, and had, of course, heard of the attack on her family. He doubted there was anyone in the magical community who hadnât heard. News traveled fast in their small community from the start, but with the war brewing, it seemed like everyone knew someone who had been personally affected. âAlright,â he replied, giving her a small wave and beginning to turn back to the stock when she asked about the quills.
âUm, weâve gotten a few in recently.â Remus waved her along to follow him and continued along the second floor loft. âThereâs just plain old quills, self-inking quills, self-spelling quills.â He paused near the display and waited for Amelia to catch up. âUh, also,â he hesitated with a grimace, which he quickly tried to cover just in case these were the quills she had been asking about. âQuills that seem to scream quietly when you write with them?â He shook his head in spite of himself.Â
lily escaped out the back of the leaky cauldron, slipping through the concealed entrance to diagon alley with laughter still falling from her lips from a joke told by a patron as she left for her own lunch break. red hair whipping around her in the wind as she stepped onto the cobbled street. the magic felt like it was dwindling sometimes, with the war and every older member of the order reminding her to stay vigilant and stay alert at all times. but this, stepping out into diagon alley for the thirty minutes she had before she got back to work she still felt like the excited eleven year old who entered into this world of magic nine years earlier.
she slipped off the street into a store, not just to get away, she wanted to say hi to remus as well if he was working, it wasnât just an escape from her thoughts and the busy street. the bell over the door plinged dutifully to announce her arrival and soon she could see her friend on the balcony if she tilted her head back. smiling warmly lily shook her head, âcanât i just say hi?â she questioned, voice bright despite the element of teasing in it, âjust tell me to bugger off if youâre too busy, remus.â
Remus smiled, feeling tension he wasnât aware he had relax from his shoulders as he leaned on the railing with folded arms. He waved a hand across the otherwise empty shop with a laugh, âOh, yes, much too busy.â It was easy to talk to Lily, and he enjoyed their banter. âI was just finishing up,â he added, nodding his head back toward the boxes of parchment stacked near the shelves before taking the stairs easily two at a time to lean against a table of assorted knick knacks near Lily. âBut it can wait. Itâs not as if it wonât be here tomorrow anyway.â
He found that he wasnât quite the same diligent worker as he was a diligent student. Most of his time was spent trying to find things to fill it as it didnât take a terrible amount of effort to keep up with the shop and its patrons, even when he was on his own. Remus wondered briefly if heâd be more present in a job actually suited for his skills but quickly shooed that thought away with a deep breath and a smile. âAre you off from the Leaky Cauldron already or...?â
Regulus pressed forward, the deep headache behind his left eye unrelenting as he strode through the bitter sleet. The sky above London was a roiling black bruise of dark clouds that sent the wind rattling at the windows like teeth. He clenched and unclenched his fists inside the leather of his gloves, recalling on loop the muggle woman who had begged him with tears in her rich brown eyes to strip the magic from her memory, who had gladly accepted one of his cigarettes and took her tea with no sugar and lots of milk. This morning, his mind reminded him belatedly, that was just this morning.Â
The sleet began to worsen and he felt the icy trickle of rain water slip down the back of his neck, without a thought he ducked into the nearest doorway which displayed an almost gratingly cheerful âopenâ sign. Reg sighed and let his wand slip from the holster from his forearm, a non-verbal drying charm leaving his hair bouncing, embarrassingly fluffy from the sudden lack of moisture. From the depths of the crowded shelving someone called out to him.Â
âBollocks.â He hissed under his breath before he could stop himself. Not you. There are four silhouettes that are immediately obvious to Reg even from afar, burned as they are into his frontal cortex by his own eyes from years of refining his probing stares across the Hogwarts courtyard. âJust looking.â He managed to grit out at a better volume, eyes tracking slowly up from Lupinâs feet to his quiff.Â
Well, this was exactly the sort of company Remus had hoped to avoid, but somehow worse. He was never sure what to make of Siriusâ brother. On one hand, Remus was acutely aware of the influences Regulus had had around him since he was a child and felt badly about his situation. But on the other, they were adults now and Regulusâ choices were his own. And he had certainly gotten the hang of looking perfectly dismissive. There had been a time when Regulusâ gaze would have made him feel small, like the other was taking account of all the roughness of Remusâ appearance.Â
His eyes flicked to Regulusâ fluffy hair in turn, and he produced his own wand before moving to charm the boxes of parchment to guide them back down the stairs and into the stockroom. Remus doubted Regulus had come to cause trouble when heâd come bursting in through the front door alone and Diagon Alley was packed with people just feet away, but these days, it was hard to say one way or another. He kept an eye on the other anyway as he maneuvered the stairs. âJust let me know,â he replied simply. Then after a beat, âRainâs picked back up?â
marlene was bored. and a bored marlene was never a good idea. so she had decided to go into shops at diagon alley and explore. it would keep her out of trouble and maybe she would find something interesting to buy. the idea is what lead her to the shop sheâs stepping into now, eyes wide with curiosity as she glances around. she doesnât think sheâs stepped into this shop before, with the way it was hidden. her mother usually dragged her to the higher end shops and itâs been a while since sheâs been exploring around diagon alley. her head swivels in the direction when she hears a voice and it takes her a second to place it. ânot really,â she answers, a huge smile spreading across her face as she steps to where she heard the voice. âi was just looking around and exploring. wasnât expecting to see anyone i knew, honestly,â she explains, and steps closer to remus. âanything interesting in here?â
Well, if there had to be company at all, at least it was pleasant. Remus returns her smile and moves to take the stairs down to the first level. âNeither was I,â he replies with an easy laugh. Remus scrunches his shoulders up in a shrug, shoving his hands into his pockets. In a low voice, as if his employer was in danger of hearing, he adds, âUh, depends on your definition of interesting, I guess. Supposedly thereâs an ancient witchâs head over there.â He nods to a display in the window where something grey and leathery brown and vaguely head shaped was set on a red cushion. âBut she couldnât have been very impressive for the price.â
Usually Remus tried to avoid the more popular stores in Diagon Alley when looking for employment. There was nothing quite like the quiet judgement and unasked questions when one of his old schoolmates ran into him, former prefect and diligent student with the OWLs and NEWTs to prove it, working in some shop dusting and restocking shelves. So he found himself in an odds and ends shop tucked into an alcove. It didnât seem to have any particular specialty like many of the other businesses, but Remus supposed that was what kept the clientele so regular. Always friends of the owner or a handful of younger witches and wizards who had been visiting the shop since they were children with their parents.Â
He was nearing the end of his shift though, and didnât mind the quiet. It would be nice if he could go the last while without any interruptions. And then the sound of the bell at the door drew Remus from his thoughts, and he cursed and hurried to finish restocking a wall of differently colored rolls of parchment. âJust a second,â he called. âLooking for anything in particular?â Dusting his hands on his robes, he walked to peer over the railing of the second floor loft to the individual below.
