Closed Rising to the Occasion

[Simon Thorne]

Simon could feel himself sweating under his button down shirt and jacket even though the weather was still rather cold. He felt like he had been at this for months when it had only in fact been a few weeks of knocking on doors and looking for jobs. After graduation he had managed to secure a place to live with Sydney and as liberating as it was to finally be on his own, the meager savings he had build up before getting effectively kicked out of his house was quickly running out and he needed to find a steady job and fast. But it seemed like the options for him were more limited than he had expected. A few people said they would get back to him but he wasn't about to hold his breath. He had heard about a book shop that could possibly need a hand but it was proving to be harder to find than he expected. With a heavy sigh Simon looked up to the sky and for a moment had to realize how miserable he would be if he had managed to please his father and end up with some kind of office job surrounded by all the dull kinds of people he grew up with. He would take his flat with Sydney and counting his galleons any day. He turned to the building he was standing in front of to regain is bearings but froze when he realized he was finally in front of the shop he was looking for. He let out a breathy laugh and quickly went inside. The interior of the shop stopped him dead in his tracks. There were stacks and stacks of books, shelves overflowing, and not a single rhyme or reason to their placement. Simon noticed a man with dark hair behind the counter and went up to him. "Do you own this shop?" he asked, sounding alarmed. He know he was there to ask for a job but he felt like he was mere seconds from asking if he knew what the hell he was doing.

 

[Barnaby Crabapple]

Barnaby had never been happier to be back in his shop in his life. He was glad whatever brief stint of insanity that had come over him to convince himself to be a professor had passed and now he could spent all day surrounded by his books and absolutely zero children. The shop was gloriously quiet today, which was good since Barnaby had been up far too late last night reading, and he now sat perched at the desk that served as the shop counter, resting his head in his hands as he tried convince himself to remain conscious for at least a few more hours. Being able to keep his own hours was both a blessing and a curse when an 11am early lunch time nap called to him.

He glanced up when the bell on the door chimed, grimacing and squinting at the noise, frowning when he saw some boy had managed to find his way into the shop. "Yes, what of it," he groused, moving to shuffle some papers to make himself look busy. Maybe if he shuffled enough the kid would go away.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon let out a small laugh when the man behind the counter confirmed that he was in fact the owner. "Sorry I had to check because honestly you could have fooled me." he said. His apology was unsurprisingly insincere as he took a few more steps inside the shop and wrinkled his nose when he spotted a particularly neglected section. "Have you ever dusted before?" he asked rhetorically since the answer was obviously no. He ducked his head to read some of the titles and laughed again. "And you have classics and....poetry next to each other." he scoffed and turned back to the man. How did he expect anyone to find anything in here? Simon was no expert when it came to owning a business and knew next to nothing about running a shop but he was certain he could probably do better than his.

 

[Barnaby Crabapple]

Barnaby raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the boy pouncing about the shop, narrowing his eyes. Here he was thinking he'd left annoying children behind at Hogwarts. "If you don't like it, the door's over there," Barnaby said pointedly, jabbing his wand at it so the door swung open. "Don't let it hit you on the way out." He paused for beat, squinting at his book sections before back at the obstinate boy. "They're meant to be like that. Poetry and Classics have plenty of crossover, it's just easier to be able to transition between the two," he said defensively, jabbing his wand back at the door again for good measure and flinching when the door slammed itself shut, possibly in indignation at the kid's attitude or Barnaby's repeated jabbing, he wasn't sure.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon had nearly a hundred other things he wanted to point out in the shop that needed to be fixed or changed when he remembered he was supposed to be looking for a job. He ignored the shopkeeper’s comment about finding the door. He scanned the shelf he was looking at and found a stray volume on herbology tucked away and hidden near the bottom. He grabbed it before walking towards the counter, trying to look pleasant and reasonable. “What if I could help you?” he suggested and held up the book he found. “I highly doubt that was supposed to be there.” Simon added with a raised eyebrow, and merely glanced over his shoulder as the door shut close.

 

[Barnaby Crabapple]

Barnaby scoffed at the boy's suggestion that he could help, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. "I don't need any help, the shop's fine," he said dismissively. He didn't know how some weaselly British kid was convinced he'd be such a treasure to have anyway. And besides, Barnaby was done with talking to anyone under the age of 30 since he'd left Hogwarts. "I know where all the books are and that's what matters. More people who can find them means more people will buy them and that causes all sorts of problems," Barnaby said, pushing himself to his feet to pace sourly. "You start moving things around and I'll never find anything."

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon gave the man an incredulous look when he said he didn't need help. "Obviously you run a thriving business." he said and wasn't sure if he had meant it to sound as sarcastic as it ended up coming out. Either way he decided to persist. He needed a job and this man clearly needed the help. "I can start tomorrow." he said as if he was doing the man a favor and not the other way around. "And I'm cheap!" he added in a desperate attempt to seem appealing. "Well not that cheep." he added when he remembered how much his portion of the rent was. "But cheaper than most. And you say that people buying things is...a problem. But what if I dealt with all that. So you could do....well what ever it is that you...do here."