The bartender looked up as he heard his bell ring indicating a customer. It was late on a Wednesday so he was surprised, he had been thinking of closing up early. When he saw the man who entered his eyes widened. The man slouched on the stool and put his head in his hands.
"Tough day sir?" the bartender knew the man's name but thought it best not to mention that.
"Just the usual Tom" the man looked up and smiled grimly "life's always tough"
"True that" Tom looked at him speculatively and pulled out a shot of tequila. "Here, makes life less tough for a bit" he pushed the glass towards the other man.
The man stared at it "I don't really get drunk on weekdays"
"Exceptions" Tom shrugged. "plus in my experience, a drink or two doesn't get you drunk"
The man nodded slowly and looked up at Tom "Exceptions" he swallowed quickly, shuddering as the alcohol made its way through his body. He grinned at Tom and motioned for another one "hit me"
"Done dear?"
The blond looked up from behind the counter and smiled at the speaker "just about Tom, just have to check the locks and stuff"
"Well hurry up, you need to get home sometime tonight" Tom grinned at the young girl. He had hired her a year back and hadn't regretted his decision once. She was incredibly hardworking and loyal. She was a sweet little thing and knew how to work the bar and had quite swiftly learned how to manage the lodging he kept so meticulously. The lodge was a good one but it attracted every type of witch or wizard that ever existed. It was a tricky business, one that Tom was proud to say he had maintained for decades. She was one of the few he had hired that showed promise to perhaps one day take over the whole management.
She laughed "Go to sleep Tom, I'll lock up"
He narrowed her eyes "soon"
"Soon" she affirmed eyes twinkling. She watched him leave and then gave the empty bar a look over. Tom had kicked out the last of the patrons a few minutes back so all she had to do was the tidying and locking up. She flicked her wand, turning out all the candles at once. Making her swiftly through the familiar darkness she fumbled for the main keys. Tom had insisted on a muggle locking system as well as a wizarding one. "Keeps out the best of wizards" he had insisted "they can't figure out a simple bolt to save their lives"
And on certain nights it felt like she couldn't either. The lock seemed to jam on all the worse nights possible. Today was no exception, it was late and she had worked two shifts plus worked on the last months' accounts of the bar. She cricked her neck to the side as she finally shut the irritating door.
"Closing early?"
She turned out slightly startled. It took her a few moments to locate the speaker. It was the man who had been coming for the past few weeks, getting drunk while talking nonsense to Tom. That was the problem with Tom. He loved chatting with customers and had a knack of getting them completely wasted. In some cases he got them addicted such as with the man in front of her. Though seeing as he was leaning on the opposite wall smoking a muggle cigarette she had a feeling drinking was probably the less worrisome of his problems.
She raised a thin eyebrow "it's three in the morning"
He blew out some smoke "that would explain the lack of people on the streets" he paused looking at her before asking "I don't suppose you'd open the place up for me now? My job is probably the worse thing since the war itself, blood-sucking cooperation. I could use the buzz right now"
"I would not," she said promptly "if you want a place to crash the night receptionist is at the front desk, he'll fix you up with a room"
"I meant the bar" the man drawled "I do have my own place you know"
"Funny you never go there then," she remarked dryly "seeing as you practically live here"
He smiled "you notice me then?"
"I help clean your puke off the floor most nights, kinda hard to miss an old war hero passed out on the floor every night" she frowned.
He brightened at her comment "you know who I am?"
"well I went to school with you for a good seven years, I would hope so" she replied leaning on the door, not even understanding why she was giving up some well-deserved rest to talk to a random drunk. Granted he wasn't drunk at the moment, he wasn't completely sober either but he wouldn't be passing out anytime soon. And it had been a long time since she had met anyone near her age to talk to. The few who she did meet were boring as hell and this man wasn't half bad.
"We studied together?" he narrowed his eyes and leaned forward as he blew out another puff of smoke "I know you?"
She coughed as the smoke hit her directly on the face "damn it! Are you trying to kill me too?"
"Kill you?" he looked surprised
"With that damn deathtrap you're sticking in your mouth!" she exclaimed. If there was one thing she couldn't stand it was muggle cigarettes, those things were a nuisance and she had even had them banned from the bar. It had taken a lot of convincing but Tom could never say no to her. And even he had admitted he liked his bar without that smoky smell.
"My smoke?" he asked chuckling slightly "it won't kill you!"
"No just damage my lungs to an irreparable state" she scowled "it will kill you though at the rate you're going through them, that's your second one in the last five minutes!"
He smiled at her wryly "it won't kill me for years, and I like them, they're very …" he paused as though looking for the right word "comforting, tough job remember? It's my only companion"
"Comforting!" she asked incredulously
He nodded lighting his third one "very, anyway back to the main conversation at hand, who are you?"
She shook her head in disbelief "you seriously don't know me?"
He shook his head making her notice the way the light shone off his dirty brown hair. He was kind of cute she thought dryly, if only he wasn't so messed up. Better yet if only he could remember who she was.
"Typical Gryffindor" she muttered
"Excuse me?" he asked sharply
She raised her defiantly "I said Typical Gryffindor, so full of yourself and so bloody self-absorbed that no one even falls on your radar unless they're as damn full of themselves as you are!"
He stared at her in utter disbelief but before he could comment she turned and stalked off "now if excuse me, I have better things to than listen to a whiny man thinking his life sucks because of a dead-end job he could just quit if he hated it that much!"
He watched stunned as she disapparated. Who the hell was this girl?
So, I just realized this chapter has issues and I think this update will correct it! Please let me know how you like it! :) ~ Reliyc