Hello dear reader,

This story, published a few years ago, was originally written from the different points of view of the characters. However, after a recent review jolted me into action pointing out the story ended abruptly (being entirely my fault, as I never actually published a final chapter), I decided to review it and realized I never quite liked how it was written. I've spent the last couple of weeks changing the story to a narrative style, fixing grammatical errors and improving the overall writing. I'm hoping to have the last chapter, which I'm currently working on, posted by the end of this week (October 9 or 10, 2020). If you are reading this afterwards, the last chapter should be ready for you 😊

The titles of the story, of the chapters, and the short lyrics at the beginning of each chapter are the titles of The Beatles' songs or songs by other artists that the Beatles have performed. They are a huge part of my musical taste and very special to me.

Suggestions, constructive criticism, etc., are always appreciated. I would love to know what you think of the story, so don't be shy about leaving a review if you wish to do so. As always, anything other than the original characters/ settings, or otherwise cited, belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.

Ooh, then I suddenly see you

Ooh, did I tell you I need you

Every single day of my life

"C'mon mate! You can't miss dinner again; Hermione will be furious!"

"I'll be there next week, Ron" Harry said, without looking at his best friend.

"That is what you said last week"

"I can't tonight"

"Why not? She won't be there, you know?"

Harry sighed and continued to read the first of a pile of memos on his desk, barely absorbing any of the words in front of him. He knew Hermione wouldn't bring Ginny this time, and yet, he still didn't want to go. As happy as he was for his two best friends, being around them painfully reminded Harry of what he used to have with Ginny. When he finally did look up, Ron was leaning against the wall, staring him down with an intense look.

"I just can't" Harry said, looking down at his desk again.

Ron exhaled, opened his mouth to say something, changed his mind and simply left. Harry jumped slightly at the sound of the door being slammed, and looked up again. The room was empty now, as him and Ron had been the only ones staying late; the other aurors were either already gone, or still out in the field. After defeating Voldemort, he had joined the aurors with Ron and, unlike Hermione and Ginny, did not return to Hogwarts for our last year. The year following his victory had been a great one; he was back with Ginny, Hermione and Ron were finally together, and he no longer had the weight of being the Chosen One pressing on his shoulders. Then, things began to change. His relationship with Ginny slowly faded as the months passed, even though they both tried to keep it alive, but when she was offered the chance to play seeker for a very famous team in Ireland, a year after finishing school, they decided to face the reality and end things between them.

At first, the news of their breakup shook Hermione and the other Weasley's. In an attempt to bring them back together, Hermione would constantly mention Harry in her letters to Ginny, and mention Ginny anytime Harry was around. After a couple of months, she had invited Harry for her weekly Thursday night dinner with Ron, as she often did, but had failed to mention she had also invited Ginny. When he arrived at the Leaky Caldron and saw Ginny, he could tell by the look of surprise on her face she did not know he would be there. The result was an uncomfortably awkward dinner, in which Ron sat mainly in silence, ears red, looking at the table or at Hermione who did much of the talking. After that night, Harry declined three invitations for Thursday's night dinners, even though he knew Hermione would not be foolish enough to try the same approach again.

Harry finally gave up on finishing his report and began to organize his belongings, promising himself he would come in earlier in the morning to work on the report. After cleaning up his area and packing his bag, he looked at the clock and was shocked to see it was almost eight o'clock. He was no longer hungry, as thoughts of Ginny and their past had his stomach turning. Try as he may, he could not tell what had gone wrong between them. He had madly fallen in love with her during his sixth year, missed her greatly during the time he was traveling with his best friends, and gotten back together with her as soon as he saw her after the battle… and they were no longer together. It just didn't make any sense.

To make matters worse, his mood was progressively deteriorating and he couldn't say why. He missed Ginny, yes, but it wasn't just that. Something was wrong, or missing, or both and if he couldn't figure out what soon, he would lose my mind. As he strolled towards the lift, he momentarily contemplated meeting his friends for dinner; perhaps it would make him feel better. Then again, Ron was clearly mad at him and he didn't want to deal with that right now.

She was chatting with her best friend Ava, another one of the servers, when she saw him come in. They had never met, but he was the most famous wizard alive. She lost track of what Ava was saying as she watched him look around for somewhere to sit, deciding on a table at the very back, almost hidden from sight. He sat with his back to the room around him and even from a distance she could tell something wasn't right.

"Hey, are you even listening?" Ava's voice cut through.

"Yes Ava"

"What did I just say?"

"Something fascinating, but I have to go take an order" She replied, walked towards Harry and leaving Ava behind with a hurt expression.

"Hi, may I take your order?"

"Tea please" He said, without looking up.

She walked back to where Ava stood and began to prepare the tea. Ava resumed her story as if she had never been interrupted, but her friend still wasn't paying her any attention. Something about Harry's posture and tone of voice had her worried, although she couldn't figure out why. She didn't know him, so why did it even matter? When his tea was ready, she walked back to his table, noticing on her way there how a gentleman from a crowded table was looking at Harry's back with particular interest.

"Here is your tea" She said, placing the hot beverage in front of him.

"Thanks"

She nodded and turned to leave, nearly running into someone. The man, the same she had just seen staring at Harry, apologized while trying to see past her, but I didn't move.

"May I help you sir?"

"I wish to see the man behind you. That's Harry Potter, isn't it?"

"Pardon me sir, but no. That is my brother, Robert"

"Are you sure? It looked a lot like Potter" The man said, still trying to see past her.

"Quite positive. I'm afraid they do resemble each other"

"Oh" He said, still blocking her way.

"Please excuse me sir, but I have other people to serve, and my brother is rather indisposed"

"Thank you for my tea, sister" Harry said in a rough voice, playing along.

She nodded at Harry, and then turned to face the man blocking her way. After apologizing again, he finally walked back to his table and sat down with his friends. They continued to stare at Harry's back for a few more minutes, before finishing their drinks and leaving. She continued to serve the other patrons, and when she returned to pick Harry's tea cup, he was already gone. The rest of her shift went uneventfully and it was approaching ten thirty when she finally headed out of the café. Carefully closing the door behind her, she tapped the nob twice with her wand and locked it. The street was dark and empty, as many of the business were already closed, and the cold winter wind was blowing hard.

"Hi" a male voice said from behind her.

She jumped at the sound of his voice and, wand still in hand, turned to face the man.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you" He said.

The man took a step forward into the circle of light casted by the lamp floating above them and she could finally see his face. It was Harry Potter.

"It's ok" She said while putting her wand away, heart still pounding.

"I wanted to thank you for what you did today"

"Oh that? It was nothing" She said with a small smile.

"I happen to think it was. I can't go anywhere anymore without people asking me for autographs, or about all that happened over two years ago… I didn't mind it, but now I wish people would leave me alone. I just want to be able to enjoy a mug of tea, without having to discuss Voldemort"

She shivered at the Dark Lord's Name. Even now, after he had been killed, his name still conveyed fear.

"I understand. I will tell my uncle about it and we can place some spells at the table you sat today, so that you can have some privacy any time you wish to stop by"

"You don't have to do that"

"I know, but I want to"

"Thank you"

"You already said that" She said, smiling again. "Have you… uh, been out here this whole time?"

She couldn't tell for sure when he had left, as she had been busy with other people, but she remembered having looked at the clock before taking his tea and that had been at least two hours ago. For a while Harry didn't respond, he simply stared at his feet, kicking the snow around him absentmindedly.

"Yes" He finally whispered. "It was unexpectedly comforting to just sit and watch the snow fall"

"Mr. Potter, is ev…"

"Harry, please call me Harry"

"Harry… are you okay?"

"Yes, I am fine"

She wasn't convinced, but it was none of her business so she simply nodded. All around them the snow was falling harder and the wind blowing faster.

"I have to go now" She said, feeling guilty. He looked like he needed someone to talk to, and here she was, walking away.

"Have a good night"

"You too"

With one last look at him, she turned on the spot and apparated home. Harry stood still for a little longer, looking at the place where she had just been. What was it about her that fascinated him so much? Why was he feeling worse now that she was gone? At first, it had sounded like a good idea to wait for her to come out; now, he felt a little stupid about it. In fact, he wasn't even sure why he had done so in the first place. Of course, he had wanted to thank her but why didn't he just do it before leaving the café earlier? Or left a note with his payment? Why, indeed, had he waited so long in the cold weather? He wasn't sure.

And when she asked me if he was ok, he had lied. He hadn't been truly okay in a long time. I need to see her again, he thought, soon. And as he walked away a more upsetting thought struck him: I didn't even ask her name. Getting home and ready for bed, he hoped so finally get some rest but sleep did not come easily to him that night, as he continued to think about her. She was faintly familiar, yet a complete stranger. He spent an unreasonable amount of time thinking about whether or not to go see her again, even though he had made a decision the minute she apparated away from him.

The alarm went off too soon and he climbed out of bed with a groan and slowly walked to the loo. He took a long, warm shower in the hopes it would help him fully wake up and by the time he sat down at the table to eat breakfast, he felt somewhat more alert. Halfway watching as Kreacher placed some food and the daily prophet on the table, he didn't even realize he was talking until the elf placed a tiny hand on his arm.

"Master seems tired" He observed.

"Rough night" Harry replied, before taking a gulp of pumpkin juice.

Harry made to the Ministry with enough time to spare and immediately began to work on the unfinished report from the day before. The remainder of his morning routine went by in a blur and before he knew it, he was sitting in his, Ron next to him animatedly talking about the new broom Nimbus was about to unveil. He tried his best to listen, nodding every now and then but his brain seemed to refuse paying attention to anything other than her. The day went by agonizingly slow, as if someone had bewitched time to move at half its normal speed, but the time to leave eventually came about. He accompanied Ron to Quality Quidditch Supplies and for the good part of an hour, forgot about her entirely as they both admired the new Nimbus, which they both ended up buying with a few other things. Afterwards, they agreed on stopping by the Leaky Cauldron and grabbing a bite to eat. They ran into a few friends from Hogwarts and stayed longer than either had anticipated, but it worked out perfectly in the end. They left about the same time he had stopped by the café in the previous night and he hoped she would be there again today, working the same shift. A few minutes later, he walked into the café and was pleased to find his table empty. He sat down and was soon approached by a witch with short brown hair and beautiful brown eyes.

"Hi, my name is Ava, what can I get you?"

"Just tea please" He said.

"I'll be right back"

He nodded and immediately proceeded to scan the room, looking for her. To his displeasure, she was nowhere to be found.

"Excuse me Mr. Potter, may we have a word?"

He had been so focused on scanning the room he had failed to notice the wizard approach him. Turning to face the man, he noticed he had the same shade of blond as hers.

"My name is Paul" The man said, extending his hand "I wanted to introduce myself and to let you know this table has been protected with enchantments, to ensure your privacy"

"Thank you very much sir" He replied, taking his hand "I apologize for the inconvenience"

"Not at all"

"Please have a sit" Harry said and he obliged.

They spent a few minutes talking about non important things and sipping on tea. Paul assured Harry several times that his table would always be ready and vacant, and that his staff would not bother him. Harry wanted to ask him about her, but wasn't sure on how to approach the subject. It was a long time before the man finally mentioned her.

"I've always admired my niece, Chloe's got a good heart and she's very determined. I will have you know she owled me the moment she got home last night, so that I could make the arrangements for your table first thing this morning"

Chloe, the name fits her perfectly, he thought.

"She also told me about keeping a gentleman away from you last night. Between her and Ava, you chose the right place to hide, Mr. Potter" He joked.

Harry gave the man a small chuckle and they continued to talk until Paul realized the servers were closing the café. He jumped from his seat and shaking Harry's hand, excused himself. Harry left a few minutes later, trying to pay but being told by Paul the tea was on him, and apparated home feeling much lighter than the night before. Without realizing, he fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, one word floating in his head: Chloe.

Harry woke up on Saturday with every intention of stopping by the café again, but before he could even make it to the kitchen for breakfast, Kreacher handed him an official looking letter that changed his entire weekend, he was assigned a mission, with Ron and a handful of other aurors, that would last two days and was to leave immediately. By the time he returned home on Sunday night, extremely tired, it was too late to go anywhere so he took a quick shower and went to bed. He tried not to get upset over two missed opportunities to see her, repeating to himself that he had the entire week ahead.

Every day that week he stopped by the café for tea, always at the same time, but she was never there. Paul was around for some of those days and he grew to enjoy their talks. To keep Hermione from jinxing him, Harry went out for dinner with her and Ron on Thursday and in the end, he was glad he did. He hadn't realized just how much he missed being around his two best friends, without any worries, until they were all got together. On Friday, after an excruciating day at work, he stopped by the café again, to no signs of her. He sat reading a long memo from the Minister, sipping on his tea ever so often, when a voice interrupted his reading.

"She will be here tomorrow night"

Harry looked up from the memo to find Ava watching at him.

"I'm sorry?"

"Chloe, you have been looking for her" It wasn't a question, and her tone of voice had a hint of amusement "I've seen how you always scan the room when you come in, and how you try not to look disappointed when you realize she isn't here."

"That obvious?" Harry asked, feeling his cheeks warm as blood rushed to them.

"Only for those who care to be observant" She said with a grin "She usually works here only on weekends, unless her uncle needs her to help out. Her shift will start at six in the afternoon tomorrow and she stays till closing"

"Thanks" He said, truly appreciative of the information.

"For what?" She replied, winking at me as she took my cup away.