38 - Coffee


"Can I get you something to drink, sir?" Harry asked from a little further away than was usual so he wouldn't startle his customer.

The man he addressed was alone, seated at one of the tables in front of the window and he seemed rather twitchy. His eyes had been darting around the bakery and were now focused completely on Harry.

"I, yes. Yes, I would like a coffee, just a plain coffee, yes, that is why I'm here. My name is Bud, by the way, and I feel like you should know that I'm friends with Nick." The man paused for a moment and then continued in a similar rush of words. "You do know Nick right? Because he might have mentioned, and well, we are friends, Nick and I, and he said that you two are friends so it seemed to me like I should come here and make sure that, well, that we are all friends, you see?"

The man, Bud, hadn't looked away from him for a moment during his monologue, Harry wasn't sure if the bloke had even blinked.

"Right," the wizard said, wondering what sort of person Nick had inflicted on him now. Not that Hank wasn't great, but it was the principle of the thing. And the captain showing up at his bakery had also initially been on Nick's account, even if the Grimm didn't know about it.

But while Nick could be a busybody, Bud was right and Harry wasn't about to pretend otherwise. "Nick and I are friends," he agreed simply, "And any friend of his is more than welcome here."

"Good, good, that's very good," Bud agreed, nodding along with his own words.

Harry smiled at the man, who wasn't even the strangest customer he'd had today. "I'll get you that drink. On the house even, for a new friend."

"Oh! Oh, really that's not necessary at all," the man protested, clearly gearing up for another well-meant rant.

Harry interrupted while he could. "I insist," he said, quietly but firmly. And with a nod he hurried back to the counter, making his escape while he had the chance.

Wesen sure were a strange lot, but at least nervous ramble was a clear improvement over outright fear. So he poured the drink and smiled cheerfully as he brought it to Bud. "There you go sir, please let me know if there's anything else you need."

The man stared back at him in stunned surprise as if Harry had transfigured a napkin into a Niffler right in front of him instead of just serving him a simple coffee.

"Yes, I-yes. I will definitely let you know," the man stammered out. "Thank you. For the coffee. Yes, thank you."

Harry wisely decided to leave the man to it. He nodded and went to brave the next customer, a polite smile already fixed on his face in a preparatory way that was not dissimilar to casting a Bubblehead charm before diving into unknown depths.

The wizard hadn't exactly received the most conventional of educations, and while Hogwarts was a brilliant magical school it didn't quite get you ready for a job in the Muggle World. But if nothing else, the Wizarding World had prepared Harry for the most important part of a job in the service industry: being able to face anyone from feckless politicians, gruff goblins, slanderous reporters and even the occasional fangirl, not to mention the necessity of being able to handle arguments that defied all logic without even flinching.

Sometimes a mother dragon guarding her egg seemed downright reasonable in comparison.


(Word Count: 600)