Words: 1160

Description: Stolen flowers elicit questions from the store owner.

Story:

Remus knew he shouldn't do it. He knew he should stop stealing those flowers, but he didn't have enough money to buy them and he hated to leave the flowers at his mother's grave wilted. It was the one thing she was adamant about when visiting relatives. She would always say that they should never leave a wilting flower. 

He was just trying to honor that, honest. It had been three years since she died. He visited her grave every week, and his father would always buy her flowers and he would pick them up on his way to the graveyard. 

He would switch out the dying ones with the fresh and sit awhile, telling her about his week. He never told her the truth though. He always felt that she would be ashamed of him, so he made up extravagant stories. 

In reality, he wasn't doing to well. His father died the year before and his money was drying up fast. He couldn't hold a job and he was borderline homeless. He was stuck doing jobs he hated just to work up enough cash to pay his rent. He didn't want her to know all of that. He wanted her to think of him as the son with the bright future that he was when she died, not the man he was now.

The store owner, the gorgeous store owner, had started to notice the disappearance of some of his flowers. Remus knew he was pretty close to catching on to him. Remus didn't know what he would do. He couldn't go to jail, he didn't want to start down that path, but he couldn't stop. 

If nothing else, he needed the flowers. 

It was one such day that he was on his way to the graveyard. He stopped by the flower shop as always and was browsing through the flowers when someone tapped him on the shoulder. 

As anyone would with a guilty conscience, Remus jumped and whirled around. It was the store owner. He had his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and his black hair was in a bun on the top of his head. Remus always thought he looked a bit too punk rock to be owning a flower shop, but to each their own.

"Whatcha doin'?" The man asked, raising an eyebrow. Remus felt the blood rush to his ears and he stared for a second, forgetting how to speak. 

"I uh...well, um..."

"I believe that these...are your favorite?" The man asked, grabbing a handful of daisies. Remus closed his eyes. They were the flowers he grabbed the most often. 

"Listen, I--"

"So who's the lucky girl than, huh? Who could be worth stealing my flowers every week?"

Remus wouldn't have minded if a sniper in a faraway tree were to take him out in that very moment. He wouldn't have minded at all.

The man sighed. "You know, I've been covering the cost for a few weeks now. I've known it was you, and, well...maybe if I knew who got the flowers it would make me feel less...I don't know, guilty? Let's just say it would help ease my conscience if I knew."

Remus was shocked. The man wasn't going to turn him in? Well, Remus thought, he didn't say that yet. Remus could still be a goner. 

Anytime now, Mr. Sniper, he thought.

In truth, Sirius had been so lenient with the man because he saw something there. Something familiar. He could see it in the mysterious thief's eyes that he was going through it, he used to see that look in his own eyes every time he looked in the mirror. And judging by the man's wardrobe (Sirius didn't like to judge), the man didn't have a lot of money to work with. So Sirius had let it slide. 

But he couldn't ignore that it kept happening every week. And he didn't want to admit that he was a bit biased as well. The man sure was a looker in his book.

The man sighed. "Fine." He started walking, and Sirius grumbled something and swung the Open sign to Closed and quickly locked the door behind him. He hurried to catch up with the man's long strides. 

As they walked, Sirius tried to figure out why he was putting himself through this torture. He was really hoping it wasn't a girl the man was bringing flowers too. Okay, fine, he thought, I am biased. 

"So what's your name, than?" Sirius asked. 

"Remus," the man answered, pausing in his speed walking to glance at him. 

"Well, I'm Sirius."

"I'm...serious too?" Remus said, confused. 

Sirius instinctively corrected him. "No, no not serious. My name is Sirius, like the star." 

Remus blushed again. "Oh. Sorry."

Sirius waved him off. "Don't worry about it. People mess it up all the time. It's a weird name."

"I think it's pretty cool, rather," Remus said quietly, ears turning a darker red. 

Sirius smiled to himself. But then he remembered that they were on their way to deliver stolen flowers to Remus's girlfriend and that Sirius didn't have a chance here. 

They walked in silence for awhile and when Sirius came out of his jumbled thoughts, he realized where they were. He hadn't realized before what direction they were walking in.

"Why are we in a..." Realization dawned on him as Remus left him where he was standing and walked through rows and rows of headstones. 

Sirius followed behind at a distance and watched as Remus stopped at a headstone that read 'Lyall Lupin & Hope Lupin (Howell)'. Sirius recognized the wilting daisies that Remus reached down and removed. 

He looked sadly at Sirius, who stepped forward and laid down the fresh flowers. Remus sat down in front of the headstone. 

Sirius felt very awkward to say the least and he cautiously sat down next to Remus. "My mum and dad," Remus said, nodding his head at the headstone.

Sirius only nodded. 

The two sat in silence for awhile. Sirius knew he should leave, but he couldn't bring himself to. He had spent the last twenty minutes trying to figure out how to phrase his question. 

As Remus stood, Sirius followed. "Hey, listen, why don't you come back to the shop with me?" Sirius offered. 

Remus gave him an incredulous look. Sirius figured it was now or never. "Well, it's just that I was thinking...well, do you want a job? I mean, you can work for me at the flower shop and, I don't know, you could pay off the flowers that way. And I would like having you around, too."

Remus looked understandably shocked. "You would--but I stole from you and, and you would...you would offer me a job?"

"Well...yeah."

Remus eyes watered and he smiled. Sirius thought his eyes were beautiful. "Thank you so much, I don't know how I could ever repay you."

Sirius shrugged, leading the way back to the flower shop. 

"Don't worry about all that right now, Remus."

+++

Please request: