The bells on the door jingled as Leah entered the shop. A wizened, weak old man emerged room a low chair behind the counter, and a grin formed on his ancient face. His very pale silver eyes scanned the tall, gazing at her dark, shiny brown hair that was windswept and messy at the moment.
"My dear granddaughter, you changed your hair again."
"Ollivander, papa, you could great in a more polite way, such as 'how was your day.'" Leah grinned.
The old wandmaker shook his head and embraced her. "That is not my way, darling."
She laughed. "I know. Are you ready for lunch?" She took out her wand and handed it over. Ollivander took out a wand cleaning kit and got to work while she changed the sign on the door from open to closed. Out of her purse she pulled a box of cookies and some takeout sandwiches and set them down.
"How is your life? Any new boyfriends?"
"I'm working hard enough, dealing with all the serious injuries at St. Mungo's from the war. I don't have enough time to worry about finding a new boyfriend." She replied. Her eyes still twinkling. Outside, rain poured down with fierce November gusto.
"Six months after the battle of Hogwarts, and there's still so many injuries?"
"There are many long term patients. The spells the death eaters used were largely unknown to us, because they were newly invented. They need us to fill out tons of paperwork to help the Ministry identify these curses and help them with research.. Don't you read the paper?"
"I do not have any more will to read those papers. Half of what they tell you is fabricated. Anyway, the knowledge doesn't help save you."
"Well, anyway, there was another Death Eater attack. It was pretty nasty."
Silently, lost in thought, both of them munched on cookies from the tin. Leah winced when she once again saw how frail her grandfather was. Of course, his capture had seriously hindered his years, but it was always a shock to see him moving so slowly and painfully. Their weekly lunches –if cookies, plain sandwiches, and the occasional leftovers could be called that – had become the only time they saw each other. It was a pity, but in all honesty they'd never had a talkative relationship. It was a more silent connection.
"I've got the afternoon off, do you want to come shopping down Diagon Alley with me?"
"Sorry dear, I've got some wands to finish this afternoon. I'm very behind, you know. Run along, I'm sure you have plenty of things to do. You work too much." He allowed her to plant a kiss on his sunken cheek.
She felt bad for abandoning their lunch so soon. Guiltily, she slid her black pea coat on and left the warm shop, delving back into the cold winds and icy rain that was common to London.
It wasn't exactly the most ideal day for shopping, but Leah was hard-working and never had time. Besides, she's promised her good friend George Weasley to visit him at his shop. They had become close friends after his girlfriend, Angelina, had been attacked by Death Eaters and been in the hospital for a few weeks. Leah was the doctor, and since George never left her bedside, they became fast friends, Angelina and George had just started dating, but because of the circumstances they had already been quite serious. Leah remembered the prankster from Hogwarts, as well: he had been a year below her.
Keeping her head bowed against the infuriating wind, Leah hurried past little shops and with relief entered the colorful store that was Weasley's Wizarding Weezes.
"Well, look who decided to show up!" George Weasley looked up from the counter, a grin on his freckly face,
"Hey Georgey-boy. That's not a good way to great one of your customers. Freebies are accepted as a repayment." She said carelessly, smiling brightly, he cheeks flushed and her silver eyes twinkling.
"You are cheeky, Leah, cheeky. My brother, Charlie, moved back to town, and tonight's his first free night. We're all going out for drinks, care to join us?"
"Sure, why not, but who exactly do you mean by us?"
"Ron, Harry, Neville, Lee, Charlie, Angelina, me, Katie, and Alicia."
"Harry… Potter?"
"The one and only boy who lived. Please don't act star struck around him, though."
"I won't." she promised. She knew Ron and Angelina, and was good friends with Lee. "Can I bring a friend along?"
"Depends who." He joked.
"My best friend and roommate, Audrey."
"The more ladies the merrier1" more customers entered and George hesitated. "I better take care of these people. But it's at eleven, that muggle bar called Trivial."
"I've been there before. I'm going to look around; go help your customers."
"Love you, Leah." He blew her a mock kiss, and Leah grinned at him. She wandered around, rolling her eyes but marveling at all the crazy things the twins, and now George, had come up with. She didn't end up buying anything, but left to go pick up a few books, some potion ingredients she wanted for her private stock, food for her owl, and come groceries for herself.
Leah apperated to her small London flat, inside a wizard building. She dropped her bags onto the dark hardwood with a clunk and looked around her place with pride. She loved her place; the living room in front of her was cozy, with an exposed brick wall, a brown leather couch and arm chair around a glass table facing a TV (her roommate was muggleborn and Leah herself has been raised as a muggle), and a soft rug. Books, newspapers, and magazines ay in neat stacks around the room, a few green plants livened up the space, and fairy lights were strung around the top of the brick wall. Her small, modern kitchen had an island with four stools for eating, and down a short hallway were the two bedrooms and the bathroom.
A stack of unopened mail was waiting for her, but Leah was much too tired to deal with it. The previous night she'd worked a long night shift, and now she needed to nap, eat, and get dressed for the bar.
***
"Shit, shit shit!" Leah exclaimed when she woke. Ripping her covers off, she hurried to the washroom and hopped into the shower, turning up the water so the heat was almost unbearable. It was past nine already, somehow Leah had forgotten to set her alarm. No there would be no time for eating.
Smooth, clean, and fresh, she emerged from the shower. She picked out a matching black bra and panties set, and sat down to put on some black eyeliner, gold eye shadow, and mascara. As she was putting on blush, she as picking her outfit out in her head. A short, ruffled black dress with a thin gold belt, sheer tights, and chunky purple heels seemed just right. While she was rushing to eat some bread and goat cheese, she was drying her hair with her wand at the same time and almost broke her neck tripping over the carpet. So finally, long hair as straight as was possible in her short time span, Leah grabbed her coat and wrapped it around herself. She picked a warm white scarf, and picked up her sequined pink clutch.
She swirled on the spot, thinking of a tiny alley just outside the bar. Seconds later, she had apperated there and crept out onto the street. It was the popular area of London, and the streets were crowded, but nobody noticed her. She entered the bar and scanned it for familiar faces.
"Leah! Over here!" George called loudly from a table in the far corner. Smiling, Leah slowly made her way over and sat down in the last empty chair.
"Charlie, Leah. Leah, Charlie." Ron introduced them. Leah turned to stare into the eyes of the most gorgeous Weasley brother by far. He had the brightest blue eyes ever seen, and short red hair that was much darker then Ron or George's. He was all muscle, practically budging out of his neat black t-shirt. Several long scars were evident on his arms. Simply put, he was gorgeous.
"Hey." She did her best to smile her most dazzling smile. "How many drinks am I behind?"
"I bought everyone a tequila shot." He glanced around. "And now everyone is sipping their drinks so slow its killing me."
"They are unbelievably slow." She joked. "What do you say to a friendly drinking competition?"
"You're on! A four shot contest." He waved down the waitress with just a tiny movement of his tanned, freckled arm. Apparently, Leah wasn't the only one who had noticed his good looks. "Could we have eight shots of tequila, please?"
"For the table?"
"No." he glared menacingly at Leah. "Just for the two of us."
"Bring it on!" Leah said with a devilish grin. "Think you can out drink me?"
"Yeah, actually, I do. You're tiny, and I got all this weight."
"But I got a lot of experience, and that makes me better. George, Angelina, you're deciding who wins."
They agreed and watched as the waitress set down the shots and lime. Charlie never took his gaze off Leah and her strange, silvery-blue eyes. Her lips were thick and glossy, and looked suddenly so kissable Charlie had to blink rapidly to get that picture out of his head.
Angelina turned to face them. "Ready? Ok. One, two, three!"
Leah started right away, swinging back the first, second, third, forth shot right down. She slammed her last glass down on the table, her chest on fire. She really wanted to win.
"tie." George announced promptly. "You guys were drinking simultaneously."
"Fuck!" Charlie and Leah said together. Leah turned to him. "Lets go to the bar and have another competition. Are you up for a new one, dragon-tamer?" she sucked on a lime and then stood up.
"We are taking this to the bar!" he agreed, taking her small hand in his large one and leading her to the bar. "Slow pokes, you guys get drinking too." He called back to the rest of the table.
Leah lost the second contest, in which they saw who could drink a gin and tonic faster. But this time she didn't care in the slightest because she was sitting close to Charlie. Over Bloody Mary's they talked, got to know each other a bit better.
"So how come you moved back here?"
"The war sort of made me realize that I needed to be closer to my family, because it's so easy to loose them. I took a job taming dragons on a reserve in Scotland."
"That's sweet. My family is… well, I'm half-half, my mom was a witch. My dad was a muggle. I grew up like a muggle because my mom died when I was just a baby."
"Did you know you were a witch?"
"No, my dad never told me. He didn't like magi." She explained sadly. "He wasn't thrilled when I got my letter, but he put on a brave face and introduced me to my mum's dad. Sorry, I never talk about myself this much!" she giggled, leaning closer to Charlie. "What about you?"
"I like listening to you. You're interesting." He smiled charmingly. "What about me, anyway? I'm boring."
"Dragon Tamer and boring don't go together." She ran a finger over a tattoo of a dragon on his forearm.
"Girls are usually terrified of dragons." He sounded amused.
"I'm not a squeaky, giggly girl though. I work. I take care of myself. I'm not scared."
"You're great, you know that, right? Nobody has ever come that close to beating me in a drinking contest."
"Well, I bet in a two shot contest, right now, I could beat you."
"Oh yeah? If you win, I'll buy you another drink."
"We're raising the stakes, aren't we? What if you win?"
He leaned close to her, his eyes laughing. "You give me a kiss."
Leah pounded her fists against the counter. "You're going to loose." She ordered four shots and turned to face him. "Ready?"
"You're the one who's going to loose."
"I'm drunker then you, this really isn't fair." She complained, spilling a bit of her shot as she dragged it in front of her.
He grinned again. "I must say, I'm excited to win."
She glared at him. "Whatever. One, two, three!" she took her first shot and almost chocked. She forgot how much she hated gin. It was disgusting. Charlie was done way before she was. She finished and moved even closer to Charlie, planting a deep kiss on his lips. He drew her closer, deepening the kiss, parting her lips with his tongue. It was an amazing kiss, Charlie's strong hand on her waist, in her hair. Then –
"Yes! You're kissing!" It was George.