Chapter Text
“I’m not exactly qualified…” Sirius says. The butler is kind of terrifying.
He’s so… butler-y.
Reminds him of his childhood home in the worst way possible.
“We’ve had qualified nannies that completely dropped the ball in every way. So, we might as well give it a shot!” The butler leads him inside.
The house is gorgeous on the outside, but inside it’s even more beautiful.
Bigger than his childhood home… but somehow also more warm.
Bigger and better, it seems.
“So, Mr. Lupin is a playwright. He’s written some of the biggest stage productions in New York.”
“That’s impressive. Is he English too?” The butler laughs.
His English accent is incredibly strong, Sirius would guess the north of England. He traveled there a lot as a child.
“Yes he is. So, Mr. Sirius Black, right?” The butler asks. Sirius grimaces.
“Uh… that’s my legal name. But I’ve gone by Potter for years, if you wouldn’t mind.”
The butler smiles and nods. “Are you married?” Sirius laughs and shakes his head.
“No, no. Not at all. More like… adopted. It’s complicated. What’s your name?” Sirius asks. He suddenly feels awful. He’s been having a conversation with this man for five minutes and hasn’t even asked. The butler looks surprised by this.
“I’m Peter.” He says simply.
“Okay, Peter. Nice to meet you. Please call me, Sirius.” Peter nods his head and motions toward the couch.
“The children are a with a family friend, they’ll be back soon. Mr. Lupin is in his study. I’ll let him know you’re here for the interview.”
Sirius is about ninety percent sure this interview is just a formality before they hire someone who actually knows what they’re doing.
Besides the fact that he’s never nannied before, his most recent job on his application is a receptionist job.
That he was just fired from.
Because his ex boyfriend is a piece of shit.
And also his former boss.
It’s great.
“Mr. Potter.” A new voice says. It’s deep and his accent is more posh sounding than Peter’s.
Sirius stands up and is met with quite possibly the most attractive man he’s ever seen.
Not possibly.
Definitely.
He is definitely the most attractive man he’s ever seen. He’s taller than Sirius. At Sirius’s five foot six, it’s not exactly uncommon for a man to be taller than him.
But Mr. Lupin must be at least six foot three.
Sirius unfortunately stopped growing when he was fifteen.
Or maybe not so unfortunately right now.
“Hi, Mr. Lupin.” Sirius says. His voice sounding like someone else. “It’s nice to meet you.” Mr. Lupin smiles and nods.
“Likewise, Mr. Potter. It’s nice to meet the man behind the emails.” Mr. Lupin’s voice is deep but soft.
He’s seriously attractive but the accent makes it all much worse.
He’s greying a bit, but still has a full head of hair.
Sirius is dying to know how old he is, he’ll have to google it after he leaves.
“Take a seat.” Sirius does, Mr. Lupin follows. “I was interested in why you chose to apply for this job.” Sirius nods.
After looking at his resume, he’s probably pretty confused on why this man who has like 2 years of babysitting experience would suddenly want to be a nanny.
“I’ve always loved kids.” Sirius says. “I used to babysit a lot when I was younger.”
“Younger?” Mr. Lupin asks, smiling a bit. Sirius blushes.
He probably seems like a stupid kid to Mr. Lupin.
Mr. Lupin who’s a real grown-up and established in his career.
Three kids… presumably a wife.
Probably? Right? It would just complete the picture.
And here’s Sirius, twenty-five, nothing to his name.
An ex who took all of his college years and then some and then told him he wasn’t marriage material.
“I babysat a lot in high school and even through college.”
“Yes, I see you have a degree in business management. And you’re considering nanny positions?” Mr. Lupin says, eyeing the resume. Sirius shrugs. Mostly any open position.
Anything that gets him out of his lease with Connor.
Sharing an apartment with your ex who cheated on you?
Not great.
“To be completely transparent with you, Mr. Lupin, business management was what my parents wanted for me… they funded my school so I just… did what they wanted.” Mr. Lupin nods. “To clarify though, I am very much interested in this job. I think I can bring a unique perspective for the children.” Mr. Lupin smiles and nods.
“I don’t disagree. I did a background check and found out you’re a New York native. I did some… research.”
Right.
So this is the point where he’s either going to pity him or misjudge him completely.
Except…
“I have to say, after meeting you, learning about your parent’s work is very… strange.”
“Strange?”
“Well… their public outrage of the LGBTQ+ community and funding conversion therapy camps… doesn’t really seem to match you.”
Huh.
“It doesn’t. At all. I… that’s why I don’t go by my birth name anymore. I want nothing to do with them.”
“Okay then.” He says, and then jots something down. “So, tell me more about what your approach might be. Say one of the children come to you with a problem?” Mr. Lupin asks.
“Well, it would obviously depend on the problem and which child.“ Mr. Lupin smiles.
“True. Say, Deanna, my youngest, comes to you and says someone is bullying her at school.” Sirius thinks for a moment.
“Well, of course my first instinct is to comfort her. Make sure she’s okay. Then I’ll ask her who, and what happened. If I deem the situation severe enough, I would talk to her teacher.”
“What would deem it severe enough?” Mr. Lupin asks. He’s looking at him—through him.
“If it’s been a continuous problem or if it’s just something that happened once. What exactly is being said. That sort of thing.” Mr. Lupin nods and shares a meaningful look with Peter.
“And say… Lukas, my son, say he comes home and says he was suspended or got in a fight, something like that.”
“Well, again, assess him and make sure he’s okay.” Mr. Lupin and Peter share another look. “Then I would ask him to explain what happened.” Mr. Lupin raises his eyebrows at that.
“Not call the school first?” Sirius shrugs.
“I have someone who has first hand knowledge of the situation. I’d want to hear his side first.”
Sirius isn’t sure if that’s the right answer or not.
Mr. Lupin and Peter have now had an entire conversation with just their eyes.
After a few moments, Mr. Lupin nods and then stands up.
Oh.
The interview is over already?
“I’d like to hire you on a trial basis.” He says.
And what?
“A trial basis?” Mr. Lupin nods.
“Well, the children can be… tricky. And I know that better than anyone. They don’t respond to trained nannies. Lukas, my son— he acts out at school. It’s a mess, really. And I can’t do it alone.”
So… his son is acting out.
That could mean a lot of things.
Fighting?
Bad grades?
Making nannies cry?
Sirius stands up too.
He’s doing it alone?
“Alone?” Sirius asks, feeling brave.
“My ex wife… well, she wasn’t able to be the mother they needed.. She tried her best. We divorced after my youngest daughter was born.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
Even though Sirius’s probably never been less sorry in his life.
“She passed away a few years ago, she was never super present, but that really solidified that me and Pete were on our own here.” He gestures toward Peter, and that’s incredibly interesting.
Because his parents would never consider the butler to be anything but that.
A butler.
A servant.
“When would you like me to start?” Sirius asks. “And what time?” Mr. Lupin smiles.
“If you’re alright with it, I’d like you to stay here. It would make it a lot easier to care for the children. You’d still have weekends off to do whatever you’d like. Is that alright with you?”
“Moving into a gorgeous house? Oh no… sounds horrible.” Sirius says, grinning.
Mr. Lupin laughs and nods.
“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Potter.”
Sirius can’t wait to go home and pack all of his things.
He is not going to fuck this up.