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HUGO & MONICA

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3

.:. BETWEEN COFFEES AND INVITATIONS .:.

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"Are you okay?" said Hannah, running in Hugo and Monica's direction and making the coffee evaporate quickly with a wave of her wand. Hugo nodded, calming the lady, and then started paying attention in the situation presented in front of him: a wet pie, a half cup of coffee, a wide eyed girl staring at him and a half cup of coffee... I know I had already mentioned the cup of coffee, but I just wanted to emphasize the gravity this information had for Hugo. He took a deep breath and took these things to a table, taking extra care not to spill the rest of his coffee. He looked back and saw that the girl was still standing in the exact position as she was before, so he went back to her.

"Hi, are you alright?" he said, waving his hands in front of her face. Monica started blinking and then looked at him and, before she could say anything, he continued, "Did you get burned or hurt?" She shook her head and he smiled and went back to his table. He had barely touched his food when he heard the chair being pulled beside him.

"Could I apologise?" said the girl, sitting at the table.

"There is no need. It was nothing," he said and then took a look at his cup of coffee and could not hold back a sigh...

"But I want to. I had a bit to drink and got even more uncoordinated than usual... If it was not for Hannah, you could have gotten burnt... I'm sorry."

"It was an accident, I could have been more careful myself. Not to mention that I was the one holding the cup of coffee, wasn't I? Besides, nothing really happened, right?"

"I still think I owe you something." And then she handed him a cup full of a wonderfully smelling coffee.

"I believe now we reached an agreement," he laughed and then raised his hand to her, "Hugo."

"Monica," she said, shaking his hand, "Don't you think you are too young to be having so much caffeine?"

"Don't you think you are too young to be having alcohol at this time in the morning?" he said, smiling between a sip of his coffee and a bite of his sandwich.

"Maybe, but believe me when I say that I have my reasons," she said also taking a sip of her coffee. Then the waitress arrived with a plate and placed it in front of her, "Thanks," she turned back to Hugo and asked "Do you want one?"

"Brioches? No, thanks..." he said with a crooked smile.

"Your pie got wet with the coffee..." she tried to reason with him.

"And it got delicious... Don't look at me like that, it was going to get mixed in my stomach anyway."

She laughed and shrugged her shoulders, "So, what are you doing at Diagon Alley so early?"

"Helping at the family shop. Busy day. You?"

"Just got out of my shift at St. Mungo's".

"Shift? Are you a healer?" said Hugo, feeling dumb for imagining that she was his age.

"Almost. I still have another year until I can cast spells at other people and say that it is for their own good," she laughed. It was not easy to say if she was laughing because of the joke or if she was happy with the idea, but I believe we all would like to believe that it was the first option...

"Anyway, St. Mungo's is not just around the corner..."

"Yeah... But Leaky is the best wizard bar open at this hour..." she said, having a bit more coffee and eating, "And you? Where do you work?"

"Me? Well... Like I said, family shop," said Hugo, trying to hide that he was still at Hogwarts, and we can't judge him about it, can we? "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," he answered to her questioning look.

"Oh, yeah! Do you enjoy working there?" Monica could not say why she was curious, at that moment she would say that it was because of the drinks. Even though she was feeling a bit better already...

"I'm still not sure about what I like to do yet... So I help with what I can. At least I'm able to get a few bucks with it... Did you always want to be a healer?"

"Sort of. I'm Muggle-born actually, so I wanted to be a nurse. If you think that they are close enough then you could say that yes. But I also wanted to be a rock star!" she said, playing the air guitar.

"Really? And can you sing?" said Hugo, laughing.

"A bit... And I can handle a bass guitar." She looked at him playfully and asked, "Do you know what a bass guitar is?"

"Not really..." said Hugo, reddening a little.

"It's okay, you can unredden yourself because that's no crime," she laughed, "The wizard bands don't have it anyway... A shame. Maybe I can show you one someday!"

"Yep, maybe someday," he said, smiling and hoping that he hadn't made a fool of himself in front of her. "My mother also is Muggle-born, but she never was very into music, so I only know the classical wizard music... But never ever tried to play anything."

"Wizard music has its appeal, but I really rather like muggle music from the 1970's and 80's... The good old Rock 'n Roll..." She had a bit more of coffee and then continued, "Didn't you ever wanted to do anything as a child?"

"Well..." he said trying to remember, "There was the classical Quidditch player one," he laughed, "Then later I wanted to work with magical creatures, build houses, and also wanted to be a dentist like my Granddad, and I did also want to work with Muggle cars after having spent so many afternoons with my other Granddad working with his in the garage..." He smiled and said, "Guess that's it."

Monica laughed and said, "So many dreams as a child and now you have none left?"

"Yeah... That's life..." he started saying but then he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around just to find the old Henry Flint smiling strangely at him.

Let me explain just a little thing before I go on, because you are probably thinking that Henry Flint is an old guy when he is actually just two months older then Hugo. But that's how he likes to be called and how he refers to himself: the 'old Henry Flint'. So, that's how we will call him.

"Dear, Hugo! So glad I found you!" he pulled a chair and sat down between Hugo and Monica, "We will have a super party tonight! You cannot miss it!"

"I'm not really sure, man... I'm not a party person..." said Hugo, but in reality he believed his mother would not let him, but he would never admit that, like any other boy his age...

"Oh, dude! Don't say that! Cheer up! The tickets are super cheap and so will the drinks!" he said, taking tickets out of his pocket. Hugo laughed; he should have imagined that the old Henry Flint would be earning money somehow with this party, or else he would not be there advertising the party... "Come on, at least to help a friend to get some honest money."

"I don't know..."

"Oh, Hugo," said Monica taking part at the negotiation, "A party never hurts. Let's do it this way then, I'll have two tickets, please," she said handing the money and taking the tickets from the old Henry Flint who thanked them and strode to his next victim.

"Monica, you don't know this guy... I wouldn't really trust what he says it will be a 'super party'..."

"Don't be silly, a party is a party. And if it's not fun, then we just leave it early." She smiled, "Now I better go", she said as she stood up, "We will meet at the party tonight." She waved at him and then he saw that she had left one of the tickets on top of the table.

"She must be crazy if she really believes that I'll go to a party that the old Henry Flint finds super... He is crazy!" he thought, but he decided to take the ticket with him anyway. As soon as he finished his breakfast, he got his father's order and left, hoping that he was not late...

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A.N.: So, did you like it? I hope so! And I hope that you leave a message at that cute box down there! It's feeling lonely!

A.N.2: Now with a lovely beta-reader: Potterholic!