high hopes for a living. [cordelia]

June 2003

Lounging in his plastic lawn chair on the stoop of his apartment building Jeremy was soaking up as much summer weather as he could. It was finally starting to get warm and although the sunshine was spotty Jeremy was dressed like he was in the Bahamas. With a pair of blindingly bright blue swim trunks and a tie-dye tank top the red head looked extremely out of place on the tiny concrete stoop. Their building was not exactly in the most glamorous of neighborhoods and it definitely did not have a pool but Jeremy liked to be ready for anything just in case. He'd been sitting in his plastic lawn chair for so long that the backs of his legs were starting to get little lines from where the strips were sticking to his skin but he could not have been bothered.

It was Saturday, which meant they had the day off, and Jeremy legitimately lived all week for Saturday. He slept in, he ate junk food, he got high, made some sickles, and then he usually took a nap and started the whole routine over again. He was due for a nap any time now, which was good because there were dark clouds rolling in from the east that were threatening to rain all over his one wizard parade.


Jeremy had a bag of crisps half demolished and sitting on the concrete slab next to him, a glass of some sort of fizzy beverage on the other side, and his one-hitter resting comfortably on his beer gut. Thanks to the paper thin walls of the building he was enjoying listening  to a recap of last night’s Quidditch match on the ground floor tenants Wizard’s Wireless. It was a perfect day really, nothing much to do but sit around, and to make it even better he was potentially going to make some rent money. Not that he ever spent the rent money on actual adult things, no that would be far too responsible. There were better things to buy like pool noodles and squirt guns. There was a literal sickle collection jar on the counter in the apartment with a duct tape label on it for “summer funds”. Not that you could find it, between all of the dirty dishes and packaged processed food wrappers (they weren’t really big on eating ‘organic’ around here).

Saturdays were the busiest when it came to his side gig but it was never stressful, not like working at the Ministry. Mostly he just sat around all day and waited for people to pop in for a smoke and a bag and then they were on their way. He usually got funny stories and a buzz out of the deal, on top of the sickles, so it was totally worth it.

@Cordelia Leighton

Intellectually, Cordelia had known Jeremy Edwards knew Michael Corner since the January interviews. She had run past both of them at Hogwarts, after all, and interviewed both for the maintenance strike. Still, when she realized that Michael had the same dealer as her, and presumably had for a while, AND that their mutual dealer was the guy Michael was always complaining about from work - that had put Cordelia on the ground laughing for a good few minutes.

Since that discovery, the couple had consolidated their separate visits to Edwards’ place into something of one big shop. It was easier buying from a wizard, anyway. Cordelia had some close calls with Muggle suppliers before being introduced to Jeremy. Plus, her conversations with him always gave her some fun ideas for another list-article. She hated writing them, but they did well with young witches, apparently.

Turning the corner into the residential block, it was easy to spot Edwards in his bright outfit and summer get up. Were those swimming trousers? Cordelia made a mental note to move forward the article on proper Muggle swimwear. She was dressed for moving through the muggle world - a camisole dress paired with strappy sandals. As a style editor, she had to look like she knew what was “in” for wizards and Muggles, despite how little she cared for this trend.

“‘Lo, Jeremy!” Cordelia waved as she approached the man. Her purse, heavy with sickles - she had to stock up for her trip next week! - jingled as she made her way over. “How’re things?”

Brushing some crumbs off of his shirt as he saw Cordelia approaching Jeremy gave her a big grin. He thought she might be around today, it was about that time. He heard the sound of beautiful pieces of metal clinking around in her bag and that made him even more excited to see her. Not that he would of minded if she just stopped by to hang out, of course, but he didn't think that was why she was really around. He supposed that was the sentence of a drug dealer. He was everyone's friend, when he had product, but when there was a drought it was usually a different (and much lonelier) story. Luckily this year they were in the midst of a bumper crop and Jeremy was reaping all the benefits. "Hiya!" He replied to her eagerly as he patted down his man of curly wild red hair. "Well I have to admit they are pretty awesome." Jeremy always had a knack for looking on the bright side. He was one bounced check away from eviction, he hadn't had a girl friend in... well ever, and if he didn't start eating vegetables he probably would legitimately get scurvy, but he didn't dwell on any of that. Instead he focused on the good things.

"Got an Employee of the Month trophy at work." He said, nodding with confidence he had absolutely not earned. She probably knew all about how great of an employee Jeremy was because of Michael but that didn't stop him from tooting his own horn. "Danny got one too." Sure they had bought them for themselves and awarded them to each other, but that wasn't the point. He sat forward a little in his lawn chair and felt the plastic straps stuck to his back end pinching the skin. Cringing he lifted his butt off the chair awkwardly and then reset, nothing could ruin his good mood. Lifting the bag of crisps off the porch he held them up to her. They were the amazing cheesy kind that left dust all over your fingertips and everything you touched. They were Jeremy's favorite.

"How about you? What's going on?" He asked, enjoying the polite chit chat before they got down to business. Jeremy was lazy and not the brightest wizard in the broom-closet but he did know enough not to deal drugs right out on the porch for all the neighbors to see. Not that they hadn't already figured out what they did for extra sickles. All sorts of random people showed up, and odd hours, staying for a few minutes before leaving with bulging pockets. It didn't take a genius to put it all together. Even still, these sorts of things demanded some semblance of privacy so once they'd finished with the small talk he'd invite her up to the apartment for the transaction.

Did she feel bad that she only saw Jeremy when it was time to stock up? A little, but not enough to invite him for drinks, just yet. At the end of the day, she didn’t really know Jeremy Edwards beyond this. He was friendly enough, though, and if Michael took her to a work dinner or something, that was someone to chat to already. Not that she was expecting to be his plus one for anything coming up, or anything at all. Where had that thought come from?

She shook it from her mind as Jeremy shook the cheesy crisp bag at her. “Congratulations to you and Danny, then.” Michael had mentioned something about some joke the two of them we’re doing, right? “Michael mentioned it, I’m happy for you two.” Cordelia gently pushed the crisps away from her. “Thanks, no thanks.”

What was going on? It didn’t hurt to tell, plus she was so excited - “Going to America in a couple weeks for work, it’ll be wicked. Want a souvenir?” There was of course the allowance for housing in the advance from her boss, but since she was staying with Oliver there would be plenty left over for gifts, Cordelia figured. Plus, it couldn’t hurt to give a little back to Jeremy for all the good he provided her. “Shall I tell you more on the walk up?”

"Oh thanks, we worked really hard for it." He said with another bright grin. They had done very little besides make messes, deliver mail that probably should of been delivering itself, and show up late for most shifts but for the two of them it was progress. They were already further along in 'being contributing members of society' than Jeremy's father had already expected. He'd even gotten a pat on the back at the last family dinner. Sure it came with a 'glad you didn't get fired yet' but Jeremy took that in strides too.

When she passed on the chips Jeremy shrugged it off and rolled the bag loudly to a close. He tucked on the ground up against the leg of the lawn chair he was sitting in and then bounced back to look at her with an excited expression. "No way really?" He was so happy for her. "A trip across the pond... ah that's the dream." He said with a sigh as he looked off into the distance. Jeremy would probably never make enough to afford a trip out of the puddle of a neighborhood he lived in, let alone across the world. He nodded sharply when she offered gifts, he couldn't pass that up. "A magnet! No, wait, a t-shirt with some funny slogan on it! No, wait a hat from that sport they play.... what do you call it..."

He pushed off of his lawn chair and the bag of crisps quickly unraveled but he was too distracted to notice. He held the front door to the vestibule he'd propped open with one of his old lawn shoes for her and then lead them up the stairs. "You know the one with the stick and the bases and the dudes smacking each other on the butt all the time." Being a wizard and from another side of the world Jeremy could take a while to think of the word 'baseball'. Hopefully she would put him out of his misery soon enough.

When they reached his landing he unlocked about seven locks, latches, and chains before heading inside. "Be back in a jiff~" He said in a sing song voice as he wiggled his butt and skipped to the first room on the left of them, it was his castle. They shared the apartment with way too many other wizards so he never left the goods sitting out. It wasn't that he didn't trust them because they were untrustworthy. He didn't trust them because they were all a bunch of stoners. They'd smoke away all the profits if he left the bud unattended. Rummaging through some things in his room gave her some time to take a good look at her surroundings (and possibly regret some life choices for being here in the first place).

He returned to her, tripping over some discarded clothes and the top half of a board game they'd started a never finished about three months ago on his way back through the "living area". It was a narrow room with two couches, a recliner they'd trash picked, and a couple bean bag chairs jammed inside. There was a coffee table in the middle, nonsense everywhere, and a strange smell coming from the futon in the corner. Jere held the box off to show her and then took a seat at the sofa and set it on the table to begin divvying up her normal order. "You need extra for the states?" He asked, wondering if she was buying travel goodies too.

Cordelia had to laugh, just a little, at Jeremy’s brainstorming. It might be a little mean, to laugh when she was going on an adventure Jeremy couldn’t access, but the way he was describing Muggle sports, sports that she had watched at her grandparents’ house growing up - how could she not laugh? “You mean baseball?” She mimed batting the eponymous ball across the lawn. “I think I can manage to bring you a hat and a magnet, if you want to get crazy.”

The inside of the building was warmer than the summer air, and even in such a light outfit Cordelia felt sweat trickle down her back as she followed Jeremy up the stairs. His apartment was a bit of a disaster, but nothing that Cordelia hadn’t seen before. Michael, ever vigilant about cleanliness, couldn’t stand the apartment, so more often than not now she was picking up for him, too. “It just smells like pot, babe,” she had chided him once, but hadn’t pushed it further.

She sat on the edge of one of couches as Jeremy darted into his room, returning soon with the box of treasure. “A little extra, that would be lovely,” Cordelia agreed, watching him weigh out the tiny little flowers. “An extra gram of the hybrid, maybe? And Michael’s normal order, I’m picking up for him today too.” She peeked over the lid, marvelling at the herbological display before her. “You growing anything new?”

Rolling out of bed with a huge yawn, Danny woke up from his nap that had really just been a whole day of sleeping, napping, and lounging around. A day of endless napping. Not brag or anything, but he was living the high life, he thought as he tripped over an overturned basket in his room with what looked like a banana tapped to the carpet. Hmm, wonder what that is, he mused as he ventured out in the apartment, shirtless and wearing only a pair of boxers that had charmed dancing poo emojis, his feet bare.

He was scratching an itch in the dingleberry region as he walked into the living room and it took him a few moments to realize there was a girl here. "What's up," Danny greeted with a smile as he blinked sleepily at her. Then glanced around wondering which of the roommates had scored. "Might not be the best place to sit, there," he mentioned off-hand as he noticed she was on the couch that he distinctly heard squeaking last night. But then he heard footsteps behind him and he glanced over his shoulder seeing Jere. "Oh, a customer?" he asked glancing between the two of them.

Feeling his stomach grumble, he saluted them smartly saying "Off to work" before heading into the kitchen to find something edible. Seeing that there were no bowls, clean or otherwise, in the cabinet, he spied a frisbee on the counter and poured some cereal into that followed by a splash of milk (that passed the sniff test) and then dug in. He was already a few spoonfuls, mouth full of mushy cereal, when something occurred to him. "Did you want some?" he asked, trying to be polite, holding up the frisbee-turned-cereal-bowl towards her. Then he slid his gaze to Jeremy and said, "Not you. You ate all of mine last time."

"Yes! Baseball that's the one!" He shot his fist up in the air like they'd won something when she figured out what he had been talking about. Jeremy got excited by everything, over excited mostly, and once he was on a roll there was no stopping him. "And a magnet?" He asked her with an incredulous and excited look as they ventured to his apartment. Man she was so cool, Michael was one lucky wizard. "I mean I won't say no." He told her with a bright grin as they got inside and he went off to find what he was in need of.

After taking his seat he started grabbing her a good mix of his favorite kinds. They were all already sorted and weighed in their own little baggies. Jeremy wasn't serious about much but he was serious about his drugs. He made sure to keep everything clean where he grew and dried them, he weighed them with a magical scale to be precise, and he kept them stored tight. No one was going to get sick off of his stuff, that was bad for business. So despite the utter disaster zone that was their apartment building, the wooden box in front of him on the table told an entirely different story.

"Been working on a new strain actually. It's a cross between Whirlin' Merlin and Cauldron Kush. It'll give you a tingly feeling and energy with no excessive munchies." It was something a few of his female clients had been asking about, wanting to get high without over eating snacks, and though he couldn't relate he could provide. "I'll throw some in there for you as a sample." He said grabbing one of the smaller baggies and adding it to the little pile he'd started for her and Michael just as Danny emerged from his room.

"Put it away dude." He told Danny as he came out in just his boxers and Jeremy covered his eyes. He couldn't help but move his eyes toward where Danny was suggesting some things had happened on the couch and see Cordy sitting there. He tried to hide his frown, but it pulled at his cheeks in a grossed out way and came right on through. "Uh... yeah... Greg is the worst." Whether something was Greg or not it would always be blamed on him, it was basically the only rule of the apartment. "Only one of the best customers." He said giving Cordy a little wink as he continued to sort out her order. He heard Danny announce what he was about to do and it didn't quite register until he was banging around in the kitchen and the sound of little tasty flakes cascading out of a box hit his ears.

"Hey don't touch my Golden Goblins!" He called out, turning around in the sofa and shouting over and Danny with full conviction. Turning back to Cordelia he did one more double count and then spoke. "Okay we have three gobstones of Black Cherry Bludgers, best Indica this side of Amsterdam." He pushed forward a thick baggie of tightly wound dark herb with little flecks of cherry red through out. "Know why they call it that?" He asked her, an eager smile on his ridiculous face, "Because it will knock-you-out." He threw a few pretend punches before laughing and continuing. "And then five gobstones of Juicy Dragon Fruit, for when you gotta' get things done." Having a little bit of Sativa and a little bit of Indica was the way to go, then you could get wild or get lazy, whenever the mood struck.

"And then there is a little bit of this hybrid beauty." He held up the bag of blue buds with a sense of pride that he rarely experienced outside of this craft. Jeremy had always been good at Herbology but this was when he really shined. He'd set up a whole grow area on their balcony, using some magical cloaking charms of course, and it was like his baby. "I'm calling it..." he waited a moment, for dramatic effect, before unveiling the name.

"The Kush Who Lived."

Her eyes grew wide as Jeremy talked up the new strain. “Oh, thank you!” Samples! It was such a small thing in her day but the prospect excited her. Plus, no munchies... it was tempting as hell- if he hadn’t offered, she would have paid for it on top of everything else.

 â€What's up,” came a voice, and she looked up to see - ah, right. Bachelor pad, wasn’t it. She looked away instinctively, like she was at home with her brothers - brother - offering a little wave with her eyes averted. Were those little… stools? On his boxers? “Hello,” she managed, processing the news about where she was sitting. “Uh, thanks, for the warning?” Cordy gingerly stoop up and shifted to the other couch, next to Jeremy.

She dared a peek when the stranger went into the kitchen and the risk of seeing surprise fruit had passed. Hm, he did have a nice butt. Not bad to look at, as long as she wasn’t being surprised. He and Jeremy had a banter going that didn’t involve her, but she didn’t mind a free compliment.

Oh, soggy cereal. What a treat. “Thanks, but no thanks, Mister…?” She left the blank hanging there, in case he wanted to introduce himself. He seemed familiar, but half of Wizarding Britain had been at school at the same time, so that was hardly surprising. “Appreciate the offer, though.”

Cordelia switched her attention back to the set of bags Jeremy was laying out for her. In another life, Jeremy would have made a great Herbologist by profession, but it was best for Cordelia that he had chosen this profession. Even if his naming schemes were a little on the nose-

”The Kush Who Lived.”

Cordelia stared at the little packet for a second blankly, then burst into hideous, uncontrollable laughter. “Hoo, Jere,” she wheezed, “You have outdone yourself with that one.” It wasn’t even that funny, but yet it was sending her completely out. “Merlins- fucking - beard- he might sue you for that one, Mr Potter will.” 

He glanced down at himself as Jere told him to 'put it away,' hoping he didn't forget to put on pants again, but seeing his boxers on he just shrugged. This was their flat, not a high rise office. What did he expect? Plus all of his shirts were currently in a dirty heap on this floor and needed washing. "Too late," he muttered quietly with a little smile as he shook more of Jeremy's Golden Goblins into his frisbee bowl and tucking the box back onto the pantry shelf as if he hadn't touched them at all.

"Mister Danny," he said with a waggle of his brows. "Hear that Jere? She called me Mister," Danny said on a laugh as he walked back through the living room. "My friends call me milord or Your Highness. You're welcome to call me that since you're 'one of the best customers.'" Danny grinned at her around a mouthful of cereal and then kept going down the hallways towards his room, still laughing to himself.

"Your Grace, Your Honor, Your Most Handsomest," he called out over his shoulder, all options he was going to insist his friends on calling him from now on. "Kush Who Lived is great though!" he told her before nudging the door to his room open and shuffling in before shutting it again, leaving Jeremy to do his 'business' transaction.

[out]

There was no mistaking the amount of pride he felt for his new hybrid strain. He'd spent nearly a year growing, pruning, enchanting, drying, cross-pollinating, and everything in between to get it to it's current perfection. Honestly he'd probably never spent so much time and devotion on anything else. Jeremy wasn't exactly the sort who was motivated to reach the top of the career ladder or even finish a book but this was different. This was his passion. He had always loved Herbology but he especially loved this aspect of it. And it showed.

He grinned with her as she laughed, loving the reaction and wanting her to keep laughing. Jeremy was always in it for the jokes too. He loved making people smile or laugh and if his jokes wouldn't do it he knew quite a few types of bud that might. He laughed with her when she said he might have to face a lawsuit and just shrugged his shoulders as he leaned toward her mischievously. "Well that's why we don't tell him." He said with a wiggle of his brows, not that he knew anyone who actually knew Harry Potter anymore. They'd grown up a few years apart in the same house but Jeremy was so far from celebrity status it wasn't even funny.

"No one is going to call you that!" He hollered down the hall at Danny just before he headed back into his room. Turning back to see her he put all of her items into a paper bag and held it out toward her. "So that'll be...." He looked up at the ceiling as he counted on his fingers, head bobbing to the side. "Double what it normally is!" He finally finished with another chuckle. She'd doubled the normal order, and he wasn't going to charge her for the sample, he knew she'd be back for more, so that made it easy.

Cordy managed to give 'Mister Danny' a wave before he retreated to his room, cereal and nice rear and all, in the middle of her laughing fit. It was such a dorky name, one that would probably go over poorly with anyone born before 1981, but for the poor bastards like her and Jere that were born into Potter's war, it was just the sort of dumb lampooning of the Chosen One they needed. Well, that she needed, anyway. She imagined him as she last saw The Boy Who Lived in person - standing idiotically in the Room, asking them to find a stupid crown - and imagined him finding out about Jeremy's strain. It was enough to set her cackling again. "My lips are sealed," she promised, zipping her lips and throwing away an imaginary key.

Her laughter eventually subsided enough to actually finish the transaction she came here for. "Oh, just double?" With the extra and this and that, Cordy almost expected a markup. She grinned. "You really are the best, Jeremy." Her purse was on the ground - she grabbed it and counted out the relevant coins, double-checking once when she lost count. "Right, that should be all of it, I think," Cordy declared at last, pushing the cash towards him. She took the little paper baggy gratefully and stuck it into her purse - the Undetectable Extension Charm did wonders to contain the smell. "Pleasure doing business with you, as always." She smiled - he had called her one of the best customers, and with the best rates in London, she was happy to be his good list.

She walked towards the door, then turned back and pointed at Jere. "Magnet and baseball cap." It was a reminder to herself and also to him, that she was reliable for more than just drug purchases. "Give it two weeks, I'll post them." Cordy gave a tiny wave, and bounced out of the apartment.

[[out]]

After he'd finished counting out the weights, doing some quick math (which he gave up on even quicker), and giving her a price Jeremy sat back on the couch. He settled into it easily, his butt print having been three years in the making, and waited. Jeremy smiled up at her as she reached for her purse and easily collected the coin he'd asked for. He liked dealing with Cordy and Michael because they always just paid, his prices were reasonable, maybe even better than, and they never tried to haggle. Customers who tried to needle down the price got on his nerves and that was typically a hard thing to do. He was running a business, he was selling something in demand, and he never prices gouged, so he expected the customers to apply the same amount of courtesy and generally not act like trolls.

"Thank you," he finished, double-counted quickly out of habit and not remotely because he didn't trust her. Sliding down in the sofa to lay a bit flatter he put the coins into his jean pockets and then returned to his normal slouching position. "Nice doing business," Jeremy said with another smile and watched as she got up from the sofa. "Yes please!" He called after her reminder for what sorts of trinkets he would like from the states. As she approached the door he stood up and gave her a wave ."Bon Voyage!" He said, trying to sound cooler than he was, and waited for her to shut the door behind before he stalked down the hallway to Danny's room.

"You had better not be eating my cereal again!" He yelled as he stomped his feet in the direction, ready for a fight. Jeremy would take back whatever was left, he didn't care that Danny had been eating it. He would not stand for such injustice.

[[end]]