Fic: Hairway to Heaven for Sky_Blue44
Title: Hairway to Heaven
Author: imnotjkr
Recipient: Sky_Blue44
Rating: PG
Contents or warnings (highlight to view): * none *
Word count: 1,151
Summary: How Dolores Umbridge led to true love, without even being present OR the one where Sirius owns a hairdressers.
Notes: Sorry for the terrible pun, I got it from this list. There are no excuses. This is a no Voldemort AU. I hope you like it, sky_blue44
“Oh, bugger off,” Sirius said, shoving his best friend of many years off the pavement.
James Potter grinned at him. “Well, I’m just saying, use it or lose it. It’s been months since your last date.”
“It’s not been that long,” Sirius said, deliberately not thinking about how long it actually had been since his last shag, let alone last date.
“Whatever you say, it was just a suggestion.” James pulled his jacket tighter around him and gave an ironic salute. “See you later,” he said, and ducked into an alleyway to apparate to work, while Sirius fumbled with the keys to unlock his door, taking, as he always did, a few moments to breathe in the joy of having his own shop. And really, what blind date could possible match up to this?
It had taken everything to build this place up, and every last scrap of gold from his Uncle Alphard, but it had been worth it. Even when he’d had to spend a few months kipping on a mattress in the back room. He’d done his training the muggle way, after getting the bug for it during a summer working as a dogsbody at a beauty salon in Godric’s Hollow, to pay his own way with the Potters after his parents kicked him out. Well, partly that and partly because he couldn’t imagine anything that would irritate his mother more and now here he was. If Walburga could see him now.
It was still just him most days, with a girl who rented a chair a couple of days a week, so he was completely run off his feet but he was still making just enough to get by. Not that he could afford to get complacent. What James had said was certainly true. There had been the odd one night stand, sure, but nothing that required more effort, not since Hogwarts. He did occasionally get moments of wistfulness, when he had to say goodbye to young Harry and the rapidly growing Potter Spawn #2, due any day now, or to Peter and Jen, as loved up as any couple could be.
But he loved this, he thought as he started to set up for the day. He loved the creativity and the design, but he also loved the companionship, the chatting, the noise and hub-bub of the awkward teens and over-worked professionals and gentle retirees who would stay and chat forever if they could. And he loved knowing that this was his; that he had built this on his own, in spite of, rather than because of his family name and connections and that… This was wonderful.
His introspection was broken by the jingling bell over the door, as his first customer arrived, and then there was barely time to think. It was just after four, just as the lunchtime rush had slowed down but before the burst of the after-work crowd, that Sirius finally had the time to grab his sandwich, and even that was quickly interrupted.
“Hello?” a gentle voice called from the door.
Stuffing the last third of his sandwich into his mouth in one go, Sirius rushed out to the front, only to immediately regret it. The man standing at the doorway was by no means the most handsome man Sirius had ever seen. He was a bit too skinny for his frame, his clothes were worn and patched and frayed and his hair liberally streaked with premature grey. And yet there was something about him, something that seemed to drain Sirius of all confidence and leave him to panic about the fact that his mouth was full of food and there were probably patches of dye of his arm and why couldn’t he be wearing his nice jeans today?
Swallowing the sandwich as quickly as possible, he brushed a hand over his mouth to wipe away crumbs and then ran his hand through his hair in an effort to make it do something good.
“Hello, Remus! How’s my favourite customer?”
Remus smiled gently at him, like he thought Sirius was joking, and Sirius felt it like a punch in the gut. “Alright, thank you. In need of a haircut.”
“Well you’ve come to the right place,” Sirius said, taking his coat and helping him to the chair. “Same as usual?”
Remus nodded, and helped himself to one of the parenting magazines Sirius had started getting in large supply around the same time Remus had started coming to the shop.
Remus worked at Harry’s nursery, and had started getting his haircut at Sirius’ following a recommendation from James. The fact that Remus was so good with Harry and had endeared himself so quickly to Sirius’ friends had not helped Sirius’ infatuation whatsoever. Not even the fact that Remus barely said two words to him at a time and didn’t seem to pay a jot of attention to him for most of his visit had done anything to curb him unprofessional feelings. To be fair though, Sirius had always seen that as more of a challenge.
“How are things at the nursery?” Sirius asked, charming the scissors and comb to begin to work on Remus’ hair.
“Same as always,” Remus responded, without looking up.
“And what have you been up to since I last saw you?”
“Nothing much.”
It was normally about this time that Sirius started monologue-ing. After all, if he couldn’t get any response, he might as well keep himself entertained. It was only because he had seen Remus tense that he looked over his shoulder to see the page.
“Oh, Merlin, is that that Umbridge women? What a piece of work!” It exploded out of his mouth before he even had a chance to think about it. Most people who knew him would hardly describe him shooting his mouth off as unusual, but he at least tried to keep politics out of the shop, if for no other reason than he didn’t expect it to be the best thing for business. He panicked. What if Remus had taken offence? What if Remus agreed with her policies? He was just about to try and take it back when Remus spoke.
“A piece of work? She’s nothing less than vile.” His voice was full of emotion, especially compared to the passive neutral tone he normally took with Sirius. “Her discriminatory, prejudiced and fear-driven legislation is forcing people who have a hard enough time being able to be part of society back into the criminal world just to be able to eat, and causing problems that she then turns round and blames them for. And she clearly enjoys nothing more than rubbing her power in their faces, forcing them to dance to her tune while she -“ Sirius could see in the mirror how flushed his cheeks were with emotion but, the moment their eyes met, Remus trailed off and the flush seemed more from embarrassment than passion. He looked like he wanted to duck his head, but wasn’t sure he should with the scissors so close to his ear. “Sorry, I shouldn’t bore you with me going on like that.”
“Bore me?” Sirius exclaimed incredulously. “I think that’s the most you’ve said to me in the whole time we’ve known each other. Besides, it’s not like I don’t agree with you.”
“But still-“
“And you look so hot when you’re ranting.” It took Remus’ jaw dropping for Sirius to realise that he’d said that out loud. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said that, that’s completely unprofessional, I didn’t mean to … I shouldn’t have put you in… I’m really sorry.”
By the time he was halfway through his jabbering, Remus had begun to smile. “That’s - That’s OK. I mean, that’s the nicest things anyone’s said to me in a while.”
“Really?”
“Really,” Remus affirmed.
They probably could have soppily stared into each other’s eyes for a while longer were it not for the scissors taking that moment to nudge Sirius to remind him that they had now finished their work.
Sirius jumped. “Sorry, sorry you’re done now. Let me just-“ He swept his wand, vanishing all the trimmed pieces off hair. “There you go, all ready.”
Remus smiled, and paid and seemed just ready to walk out, when Sirius finally got the courage to ask, “And would you like to go to dinner some time?”
The forty-seven seconds he spent waiting for Remus to answer that question, he would later tell people, were the longest forty-seven seconds of his life. Remus tended to roll his eyes at the dramatics.
“Yes,” Remus said, still back to carefully neutral, but with enough of an awkward smile that Sirius hoped Remus was at least half as nervous and excited as he was. “That would be … that would be really nice.”
“Here’s my Floo address,” Sirius said, scribbling it down on a piece of parchment and handing it over. “Give me a call and we’ll organise dinner.”
He waited a whole thirty seconds after Remus had left before pulling his old two-way mirror out of drawer and calling James.
Author: imnotjkr
Recipient: Sky_Blue44
Rating: PG
Contents or warnings (highlight to view): * none *
Word count: 1,151
Summary: How Dolores Umbridge led to true love, without even being present OR the one where Sirius owns a hairdressers.
Notes: Sorry for the terrible pun, I got it from this list. There are no excuses. This is a no Voldemort AU. I hope you like it, sky_blue44
“Oh, bugger off,” Sirius said, shoving his best friend of many years off the pavement.
James Potter grinned at him. “Well, I’m just saying, use it or lose it. It’s been months since your last date.”
“It’s not been that long,” Sirius said, deliberately not thinking about how long it actually had been since his last shag, let alone last date.
“Whatever you say, it was just a suggestion.” James pulled his jacket tighter around him and gave an ironic salute. “See you later,” he said, and ducked into an alleyway to apparate to work, while Sirius fumbled with the keys to unlock his door, taking, as he always did, a few moments to breathe in the joy of having his own shop. And really, what blind date could possible match up to this?
It had taken everything to build this place up, and every last scrap of gold from his Uncle Alphard, but it had been worth it. Even when he’d had to spend a few months kipping on a mattress in the back room. He’d done his training the muggle way, after getting the bug for it during a summer working as a dogsbody at a beauty salon in Godric’s Hollow, to pay his own way with the Potters after his parents kicked him out. Well, partly that and partly because he couldn’t imagine anything that would irritate his mother more and now here he was. If Walburga could see him now.
It was still just him most days, with a girl who rented a chair a couple of days a week, so he was completely run off his feet but he was still making just enough to get by. Not that he could afford to get complacent. What James had said was certainly true. There had been the odd one night stand, sure, but nothing that required more effort, not since Hogwarts. He did occasionally get moments of wistfulness, when he had to say goodbye to young Harry and the rapidly growing Potter Spawn #2, due any day now, or to Peter and Jen, as loved up as any couple could be.
But he loved this, he thought as he started to set up for the day. He loved the creativity and the design, but he also loved the companionship, the chatting, the noise and hub-bub of the awkward teens and over-worked professionals and gentle retirees who would stay and chat forever if they could. And he loved knowing that this was his; that he had built this on his own, in spite of, rather than because of his family name and connections and that… This was wonderful.
His introspection was broken by the jingling bell over the door, as his first customer arrived, and then there was barely time to think. It was just after four, just as the lunchtime rush had slowed down but before the burst of the after-work crowd, that Sirius finally had the time to grab his sandwich, and even that was quickly interrupted.
“Hello?” a gentle voice called from the door.
Stuffing the last third of his sandwich into his mouth in one go, Sirius rushed out to the front, only to immediately regret it. The man standing at the doorway was by no means the most handsome man Sirius had ever seen. He was a bit too skinny for his frame, his clothes were worn and patched and frayed and his hair liberally streaked with premature grey. And yet there was something about him, something that seemed to drain Sirius of all confidence and leave him to panic about the fact that his mouth was full of food and there were probably patches of dye of his arm and why couldn’t he be wearing his nice jeans today?
Swallowing the sandwich as quickly as possible, he brushed a hand over his mouth to wipe away crumbs and then ran his hand through his hair in an effort to make it do something good.
“Hello, Remus! How’s my favourite customer?”
Remus smiled gently at him, like he thought Sirius was joking, and Sirius felt it like a punch in the gut. “Alright, thank you. In need of a haircut.”
“Well you’ve come to the right place,” Sirius said, taking his coat and helping him to the chair. “Same as usual?”
Remus nodded, and helped himself to one of the parenting magazines Sirius had started getting in large supply around the same time Remus had started coming to the shop.
Remus worked at Harry’s nursery, and had started getting his haircut at Sirius’ following a recommendation from James. The fact that Remus was so good with Harry and had endeared himself so quickly to Sirius’ friends had not helped Sirius’ infatuation whatsoever. Not even the fact that Remus barely said two words to him at a time and didn’t seem to pay a jot of attention to him for most of his visit had done anything to curb him unprofessional feelings. To be fair though, Sirius had always seen that as more of a challenge.
“How are things at the nursery?” Sirius asked, charming the scissors and comb to begin to work on Remus’ hair.
“Same as always,” Remus responded, without looking up.
“And what have you been up to since I last saw you?”
“Nothing much.”
It was normally about this time that Sirius started monologue-ing. After all, if he couldn’t get any response, he might as well keep himself entertained. It was only because he had seen Remus tense that he looked over his shoulder to see the page.
“Oh, Merlin, is that that Umbridge women? What a piece of work!” It exploded out of his mouth before he even had a chance to think about it. Most people who knew him would hardly describe him shooting his mouth off as unusual, but he at least tried to keep politics out of the shop, if for no other reason than he didn’t expect it to be the best thing for business. He panicked. What if Remus had taken offence? What if Remus agreed with her policies? He was just about to try and take it back when Remus spoke.
“A piece of work? She’s nothing less than vile.” His voice was full of emotion, especially compared to the passive neutral tone he normally took with Sirius. “Her discriminatory, prejudiced and fear-driven legislation is forcing people who have a hard enough time being able to be part of society back into the criminal world just to be able to eat, and causing problems that she then turns round and blames them for. And she clearly enjoys nothing more than rubbing her power in their faces, forcing them to dance to her tune while she -“ Sirius could see in the mirror how flushed his cheeks were with emotion but, the moment their eyes met, Remus trailed off and the flush seemed more from embarrassment than passion. He looked like he wanted to duck his head, but wasn’t sure he should with the scissors so close to his ear. “Sorry, I shouldn’t bore you with me going on like that.”
“Bore me?” Sirius exclaimed incredulously. “I think that’s the most you’ve said to me in the whole time we’ve known each other. Besides, it’s not like I don’t agree with you.”
“But still-“
“And you look so hot when you’re ranting.” It took Remus’ jaw dropping for Sirius to realise that he’d said that out loud. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said that, that’s completely unprofessional, I didn’t mean to … I shouldn’t have put you in… I’m really sorry.”
By the time he was halfway through his jabbering, Remus had begun to smile. “That’s - That’s OK. I mean, that’s the nicest things anyone’s said to me in a while.”
“Really?”
“Really,” Remus affirmed.
They probably could have soppily stared into each other’s eyes for a while longer were it not for the scissors taking that moment to nudge Sirius to remind him that they had now finished their work.
Sirius jumped. “Sorry, sorry you’re done now. Let me just-“ He swept his wand, vanishing all the trimmed pieces off hair. “There you go, all ready.”
Remus smiled, and paid and seemed just ready to walk out, when Sirius finally got the courage to ask, “And would you like to go to dinner some time?”
The forty-seven seconds he spent waiting for Remus to answer that question, he would later tell people, were the longest forty-seven seconds of his life. Remus tended to roll his eyes at the dramatics.
“Yes,” Remus said, still back to carefully neutral, but with enough of an awkward smile that Sirius hoped Remus was at least half as nervous and excited as he was. “That would be … that would be really nice.”
“Here’s my Floo address,” Sirius said, scribbling it down on a piece of parchment and handing it over. “Give me a call and we’ll organise dinner.”
He waited a whole thirty seconds after Remus had left before pulling his old two-way mirror out of drawer and calling James.