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“Please wait!” Lily calls towards the closing lift door as she stumbles though the main doors of the building into the entrance hall.
She wanted to be here early, at least fifteen minutes before her scheduled interview, but today of all days she had overslept a little. Maybe she shouldn't have stayed up so late to do some more research.
Then, in her haste to get ready on time still, she had poured her coffee down her new blouse which meant she had to change and is without any caffeine this morning. Which is not exactly ideal when you have an important interview and try to impress people so they will let you work on their project.
And on top of that her bus had been late.
So she's cutting it close right now. She's not too late yet, but not having to wait for the lift would do wonders for her anxiety.
The lift doors do indeed stop and reopen when a hand from inside the cabin darts out to keep them open for her. With a sigh of relieve Lily hurries across the entrance hall and steps into the elevator.
“Thank you!” She beams a bit breathless at the tall, bespectacled guy in front of her as the lift doors close behind her. With a little jolt the lift sets into motion.
“No problem,” the guy smiles back at her, one hand going to his already messy, dark hair. He has a nice smile that lights up his whole face, including his hazel eyes.
“Where can we let you out?” a second guy asks her, the only other person in the lift. He's tall as well, even a little taller than the first one, with equally dark hair, only that his is longer and falls with a casual grace around his handsome face instead of sticking up in all directions. Lily can't help but notice the striking light grey of his eyes.
She tries not to stare though and looks past him at the board on the side of the cabin that has all the buttons for the different floors of the building. The button for the ninth floor is already lighting up. “Oh, same as you, it seems.”
Marauders Inc., situated in an old brick building just outside of the main buzz of London. She can't wait to meet the founders, James Potter and Sirius Black, who seem to be real geniuses in their fields, potions and plants respectively. From her research Lily knows they should be around her age but it's hard to believe that. In the two years they have run their little company they have already come up with a potion that revolutionized the treatment of werewolves, making it possible for them to keep their conscious minds during their transformation.
While it was a groundbreaking discovery is seems they are not done yet with their work on it, trying to get the potion to perform even better, reducing intake times and even trying to advance the flavour component. Lily is kind of impressed by that. A lot of people would have left it at that and moved on. People tend to think werewolves should be happy there is a possibility for their condition to be more endurable at all, no one should care about the taste.
Their newest project though is what makes Lily really eager to work with them. Their research on a dragon pox potion that would reduce the possibility of death in older patients. The death rate in that age group compared to younger ones is something that has fascinated Lily for a while now. It's one of the magical mysteries she feels compelled to dissect until she understands every little part of it, and then find a solution.
And Marauders Inc. seems to be exactly the right place to let her do all she wants. Now she only has to get to her interview in time and impress the founders somehow.
But since Lily is having a day she shouldn't be surprised when the next disaster finds her.
The lift suddenly stops with a jolt, far away from the ninth floor. Glasses Guy frowns and turns around, pushing the button again. Nothing happens.
Tall, Dark and Handsome sighs. “Again?”
“Seems like it.” Glasses Guy gives her an apologetic smile. “Old building. Comes with the territory, I guess.”
He pulls out his wand and with a wave of it a big silvery dog stands in the middle of the lift cabin. “We're stuck in the lift again, Moony. Can you get Mundungus to take a look at it? Thanks!” The dog patronus tilts its head to the side, wags its tail, and then vanishes though the ceiling.
“Well, this will take a while,” Tall, Dark and Handsome says and lifts the cardboard tray he's carrying. It holds four to-go cups. “Can I offer you a coffee while we wait? Just not that one in the front, it's an abomination.”
“It's not,” Glasses Guy protests and plucks said cup from the tray.
Tall, Dark and Handsome raises an eyebrow at him. “Four pumps of vanilla, three pumps of hazelnut. Love, that's asking for a medical condition.”
Glasses Guy just grins and takes a big gulp from his cup.
Tall, Dark and Handsome rolls his eyes and turns back to Lily. “Anyway, there is a Dirty Chai, black coffee, and something that's more milk and sugar than anything else.”
“I'll take the Chai, if that's no trouble,” Lily says and takes the cup gratefully as Glasses Guy passes it on.
“None at all,” he says with a wink. “Just means Peter will have to go out and get his own coffee later.”
“He'll survive,” Tall, Dark and Handsome says and picks up one of he remaining two cups before setting the tray down on the floor. He pulls his wand out of the back pocket of his jeans and flicks it at the cup left on the tray to keep the coffee warm while they wait. “So, you said you were heading to the Marauders floor?”
*
By the time the lift starts to move again Lily's chai is gone. They have talked for at least half an hour about everything from Lily's potion portfolio to views on werewolf rights to her half-kneazel, Sprout, and she feels a lot more relaxed. The guys are really charming and funny and interesting and Lily wouldn't mind seeing more of them. Since they work for Marauders Inc. too she really hopes she can get the job, even if she's horribly late for her interview now.
The lift finally stops again on the ninth floor and the doors open with a ding. A sandy-haired guy greets them on the other side with a smile. “You really have the worst kind of luck with that thing.”
“I wouldn't say that.” Glasses Guy grins at her. Lily can feel a small blush rising to her cheeks.
“Here,” Tall, Dark and Handsome says to the sandy-haired guy and hands him the last remaining cup from the tray. “Peter's got donated for a good cause.” He nods his head into her direction and that's when sandy-haired guy notices her too.
“Hi, I'm Lily Evans,” she says and shakes his hand. “Sorry, I'm really late for my interview. If you could possibly point me into the right direction, that would be really nice.”
He looks at her, then at her two lift companions. “Well,” he says with a smile and points at them. “That would be the direction, I guess.”
Confused Lily looks at Glasses Guy who holds out his hand for her to shake, a broad grin on his lips. “James Potter. Really nice to meet you, Miss Evans.”
Lily takes his hand automatically and shakes it. Her brain needs a second to catch up on what he just said. Her eyes go wide and she looks over to Tall, Dark and Handsome. James chuckles. “That absolute disaster of a human would be my partner, Sirius Black.”
“Charmed,” Sirius says with a grin and shakes her hand as well. Lily just stares at them.
“So, Miss Evans, when can you start?”