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No one ever said medical school was easy.
Even Sirius’ mother, the late and not-so-great Walburga Black, had been honest about that – but she’d also said it’d be worth the reward. “When you’re a doctor, everyone will respect you. No one will remember your teenage indiscretions,” she’d said, with a smile full of venom and a knife-sharp gaze.
He’d wanted to tell her to go fuck herself.
Instead, he’d nodded and bit his tongue.
He wouldn’t have before. Before James and Lily died, before Harry was ripped from him and shipped off to his reprehensible relatives, before he was almost convicted of their murder, and before it turned out Peter was the real murderer. But after, he had no one and nowhere else to go to. At twenty-two, down and broken, all he had was the mother he hated.
At twenty-nine, she was gone, and he was better – save for the stomach full of nerves as he faced down his first clerkship.
“It’s never as bad as you think,” a lilting voice said from behind him.
To Sirius’ credit, he only jumped out of his skin a little. He looked over his shoulder, blinking at the fair-haired man in scrubs.
“Pardon me?”
“Whatever you’re here for, it’s not as bad as you think,” he repeated. When Sirius still didn’t understand, the stranger added, “The anxiety. It’s written all over your face.”
Sirius exhaled. “Damn.”
“It’s alright,” the stranger replied, grinning. He grabbed the door, holding it open for both of them. “Where are you headed?”
“Family medicine. First day, first rotation.”
A quiet snicker escaped the stranger. “That time, hm? Well, I’ll let you in on a secret: that you’re this nervous is a good sign. It means you care. Just be nice to the patients and the residents and you’ll do fine.”
Warmth spread through his chest. “Thanks.” The stranger nodded at him, picking up his pace as if to leave. The warmth faded. “Hey! Wait. I’m Sirius, I didn’t tell you that.”
The stranger paused. “Remus. I’m a nurse in pediatrics. Swing by if you ever want to get lunch.”
With a wink, Remus was off and Sirius was smiling in his wake.