A Perfectly Thankless Job

Eleanor Macmillan, the legitimate queen of sticking her nose wherever people would let her, had somehow managed to get a job. She was only fifteen, so food handling was out of the question, considering alcohol and lack of experience and everything else. But the Post Office? Melanie had laughed, which was fair, because it was 'so mundane. So Muggle.' And Amelia had rolled her eyes and made a few snide comments before agreeing to take the youngest sister to work for her first day. Later on, her parents determined, Eleanor could go on her own. But, 'for the first day, Peggy, we just want to make sure you're all sorted,' as her dad said.

Granted, she didn't know how Amelia, of all people, could help her get sorted. But oh well, I guess?

Anyway, off they went to the Post Office, and Merlin help her, but of all the people in the world she could have come across, it was obviously Julian. Who else would it be? It isn't like Eleanor was a lucky sort of person. And, true, he'd never bothered to look at her that way. He never would, she was certain. Had he ever even spoken to her for more than a meal or a Wizard's Chess match in the common room? Probably not.

But goodness if he wasn't the dearest thing. It was unfortunate, really, that he wanted people to like him - platonically or otherwise, in her opinion - but he didn't take her seriously as a friend. Nobody really did, but that was alright in the end. It allowed her to have an incredibly wide circle of acquaintances, and she supposed that such things might be more handy in the long run. After all, she tended to get on nerves. And that led to losing potential friendships. It would probably happen to real friends, too, in the end.

Still, she hated the idea that he'd see her next to her objectively beautiful, albeit absolutely bonkers, older sister. It would just reinforce what he already knew, though. So maybe it didn't matter at all. In the grand scheme of things, she knew she hardly mattered like other people could matter. So if nothing else, at least she could have a bit of fun whilst around.

With that in mind, she ignored the niggle of discomfort in her stomach as they walked in, and as they stopped in front of Julian, she bounced a little in her short heels. "Hi," she offered, her voice a bit higher than normal in an almost-sing-song kind of way. "I don't suppose you were expecting me? It's my first day."

Julian's parents had been very keen on him getting a job for the summer. He had optimistically considered this a sign that they thought him responsible and wanted to give him the freedom that he had proved himself worthy of. It was not until Jordyn snidely sang at him the thought that had wriggled into his mind and settled there comfortably as a sad, but understandable truth.

"They probably just want to get you out of the house, Julia."

Ah well. He was sure that was just Gordie taking it out on him because he was so obviously the favorite.

He was relatively new to the job but, since it was a pretty slow place to work, he already had the lazy confidence only a teenager working in the service industry could have. All certainty, no competency. Wide, dopey grins in front of the customers, and then nervous, fumbling fingers in the back room as he realized he had no idea what he was doing and had no answers for the waiting queue on the other side of the wall.

His manager, who seemed to spend most of her time vacationing rather than managing, had told him he was getting a new coworker, but he couldn't remember when to expect him or her.

Today. That was her start date.

Julian's mouth had gone a bit dry at the Aphrodite of a woman that had accompanied the little Macmillan in, but he had grown up quite a bit. He'd only openly stare once she had turned to leave and couldn't see just how desperate he looked. In the meantime, he had to play it cool.

"Lil Mac!" he said, throwing his arms wide and causing a perching owl to duck and screech indignantly at him. "I didn't know it was a fellow Gryffindor. Well, rock on." He tried to keep his eyes on Eleanor. "Lucky for you, I'm basically an expert... so..."

He leaned over and placed a hand on the counter, only to pin down the tail of the owl he had almost smacked, causing the owl to scoot away, turn, and nip him on his finger before flying off.

Smooth.

Did Julian even realize how obvious he was? Merlin's sake. First of all, Lil Mac? Sure, it was halfway clever. But she wasn't sure she wanted to be considered small and child-like. Not around him. But Eleanor supposed it probably didn't matter anyway. He was going into his final year and then he'd be up and gone to bigger and better things than just a Post Office and a little girl surrounded by crazy.

Of course, the greeting was punctuated by his inability to pay attention to her while Amelia was in the room. Figures. Maybe once the blonde went home he would just... forget.

"Well, that's perfect," she started, tone bright alongside her automatic smile. She did blink in surprised when he accidentally scared that owl off, though. "I've never had a job before, so-"

"Right," Amelia cut in, glancing down at her nails as one hand fell to her hip, "I'm gonna go. Take the floo home or something."

Eleanor rolled her lips together in mild, silent irritation, but she nodded. "Alright. I'll figure it out."

So then her sister turned, skirt spinning as she flounced out and off to whichever shop she had hoped to stop in at. No wonder she'd agreed and all but rushed Eleanor out of the house to get to work. Sighing gently, the 'redhead' looked back at Julian and tilted her head in a slightly embarrassed little smile.

"Sorry. Ignore her," she told him, hoping seriously that he would take it to heart. "What was it you were saying? That you'd show me the ropes or whatever?"

The goddess was harsh. There was something bored and distant in her, the closest comparison he could make was to a more vocal Molly Weasley, though it didn’t quite fit – unfortunately, Julian wasn’t quite popular enough to make a better comparison, so there he was. Eleanor seemed used to (and over) the act, but Julian had that vice (that so many men do) of admiring perceived strength in a woman way out of his league.

And Merlin, the elder Macmillan was out of his league.

But she was leaving (hate to see her go, love to- yeah, you get it) and Julian dragged his eyes back to the younger student, who had a grim apology written all of her face. “It’s fine,” he chirped. “Trust me, you’ll get more hostility in the customers here. But yes! I can help you out. Um.”

A small silence stretched between them. He had no idea what to do. Right. Awesome. Um.

“Why don’t I show you the sorting room,” he finally decided, pushing the door to the counter to let her through. “And we’ll make you up a name badge and all. First job, huh? Why here, then?”

Puzzled by his guarantee that she would have an array of disgruntled customers, Eleanor let her mouth twist to the side for a moment. But she smoothed herself out, giving him a significant look as he fell silent. When he spoke again, she very nearly jumped in surprise.

That didn't stop her from following his lead, though. She clasped her hands in front of her in an attempt to keep from brushing him as she moved behind the counter.

"Okay," she agreed easily, already forgetting her discomfort about Julian where Amelia was concerned. As for his questions, well.

Eleanor shrugged a little dramatically, swinging around to face him an inadvertently blocking his way to her side of the counter. "Nowhere else was going to consider me. Not without experience, and with how I am. It isn't like I know what I want to do. I mean," she went on, rambling more than she meant to, "it's easy for you. I'm too much of a klutz for most places, but Sanyu decided she'd give me a chance. So, yeah. First job. We'll see if I manage to do well enough for a recommendation next summer."