For the Pairing Diversity Boot Camp Challenge. One of my favorite pairings that has nothing written for them :)
Prompt: eerie
Rosmerta flicked her wand and the last of the dishes began to clean themselves. She looked about at the empty bar and found that it was not as empty as she had first thought. The Dementors had been flying about the little town of Hogsmeade and were scaring away her customers. Most nights by this time she would give up hope that there would be anyone else to serve and she would close up The Three Broomsticks and head up to bed. But tonight it appeared that a former regular had come to haunt his favorite corner.
Kingsley sat with his hands folded staring out the window. He did not look up as she approached, her turquoise heels clicking loudly in the empty room. She set a glass of mead before him and sat down in the seat opposite him.
"Long time, no see, Kingsley," she greeted.
He merely grunted his thanks and continued to look out the frosty window. The fog was settling close to the ground and a cloaked figure could be seen gliding down the street toward the Shrieking Shack. It was an eerie sight and Rosmerta could not help but shiver.
Kingsley noticed and sent his Patronus to guard the door. The lynx swished its tail and paced back and forth. The atmosphere inside the bar brightened significantly even though they were only separated from the gloom outside by a few panes of glass.
She observed him quietly. His face was drawn and his jaw set. His dark eyes were wide and alert but there were lines around them that had not been there before. It had only been a few months since she had last seen him but he showed no indication that he was interested in her company. He never was much for words but his silence now was maddening. She needed him to say something. Anything.
"You've been busy," she accused.
"Yes," he responded and took a sip of his mead.
"Dumbledore's orders?"
He raised his eyebrows warningly.
"I'm not a fool, Kingsley."
He cracked a smile. "I know." He gestured to the seat beside him. "Come here."
She came around to the other side of the table and sat next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. She raised her wand and cast her own Patronus. Her smaller lynx joined his as it continued to pace by the door.
"Someone is supposed to stand guard in Hogsmeade tonight so I volunteered," he explained, putting his arm around her.
"You'll stay with me then?" Rosmerta asked.
"Of course."
They sat like that in silence for several minutes taking comfort in each other. Then she spoke once more, voicing the question that had been plaguing her mind for months now.
"Are we going to be okay?"
Kingsley sighed. "I don't know."
Another Dementor came gliding down the street and passed by the window. Rosmerta shivered again and leaned in closer to him. "Can't you lie to me just this once?" she whispered.
She knew his answer before he said it. It was the one thing she could depend on him for; brutal and devastating honesty. And even though she already knew it, she needed for him to say it out loud.
"No."