Hermione had become excellent at pasting a real-enough looking smile on her face for the entirety of her shift. She certainly hadn't seen herself waiting tables to support herself, but she had never been one to back down from a challenge. When the last customer was out the door, forty minutes after The Leaky Cup was supposed to close, Hermione let the fake smile fall as she did the last bits of necessary work.

"You okay, Hermione?" Hermione didn't have to look up to know that Hannah had said it. The bright yellow blonde woman was the owner's daughter, and thankfully a really good waitress. She was a lot more energetic and bubbly than Hermione normally had patience for, especially after a double, but she didn't slow her work simply to talk, so Hermione never felt the need to complain.

"Yeah," Hermione sighed as she picked through the rags under the drink station for a clean one. "Lots of kids today. You'd think people wouldn't bring their toddlers to a pub."

"I know. Finish bussing the last table, and wipe down the rest, and I'll take care of the bar, yeah?" Hermione nodded in affirmation, and went through her tasks quickly. The last table, besides staying later than Hermione was happy with, had been at least neat. She cleared the glasses and plates easily, and hurried them back to the dish washer. Thankfully she didn't have to wash them by hand, only made sure they made it into the machine.

After that, wiping the tables was quick work, though a few were a little stickier than they should have been, if some of the day shift servers had done their job right. She lightly complained with Hannah, as the blonde did the side work at the bar. Despite her overly bubbly demeanor, Hermione felt a little bit better complaining with her, and it passed the time until they were ready to leave.

Hermione shrugged her coat onto her shoulders as Hannah was already at the door. She looked out the window as she waited for Hermione to reach the door before she unlocked it.

"Oh! Neville came to pick me up," she said, her cheery voice picked up half an octave. Hermione put a smile on her face. Not a work smile, but it wasn't a real smile either.

"That's sweet of him. Have you guys picked a date yet?" Hermione asked, conversationally. Hannah sighed a little dramatically.

"Not yet. We're waiting until Neville's done with his education program," Hannah told her as she unlocked the door, and then locked it again behind them. She prattled on a few more details Hermione didn't really listen to.

Hermione extracted herself from the conversation politely, and offered a wave to the man in the driver's seat of a running car twenty feet away. She turned towards where her own car was parked and nearly yelped in surprise. At first, she didn't recognise the figure leaning against her car, but she quickly recognised the bright red hair.

"Ginny!" Hermione smiled properly for the first time that day, and hurried over and kissed the girl. "You didn't need to wait for me."

"I had to make sure you were doing okay," Ginny said. "You didn't need to work so soon after your parent's-"

"I did. I always feel better throwing myself into work, you know that," Hermione told her. Ginny looked at her with a frown, but didn't argue.

"Well mum was being a pain, and I had to get out. I can stay with you tonight, yeah?" Ginny asked. Her frown turned into an adorable pout, and Hermione didn't have it in her to say no.

"Yeah, I think I can allow that."