Disclaimer: I don't own
A/N: Well, I'm back. Sorry for the wait. Review please?
Moving was hard. We had to pack up every detail of Stan's room, which took less than an hour, than Merlin for magic yet, that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was picking out furniture. I liked it of course. I loved picking out different colors to paint the rooms. I even imagined the most perfect curtains to fit the front window, Mum promised to try and make them for me.
The problem was money. Oh of course, we could buy the black leather couch… if we didn't want any other furniture. We could always get the perfect shower curtain…if we wanted to starve for the next week and a half. All that we had put in the condo in the condo where we now lived was a big mattress in the master bedroom and 2 different cereals. Eventually we got a rug we found in the junk shop, it had just been unjinxed, turns out someone had made it fly. We were donated a couch my mother had in her garage. It was covered in stains and the fabric was torn in several places. My idea of not eating anywhere but the kitchen was soon useless. Stan and I ate on the couch every night, facing towards each other.
Lunch was a different story entirely. Between going to my Mother's for lunch and going to Mum's, Stan and I were kept well fed and happy. Stan and I, however, had no romantic notions as the days passed. Living together in complete confinement had me so wary of what we were doing. Mum couldn't even interrupt us. What if one day we took things to far? My face felt hot with just the thought. My favorite time of the day was when I got home from work. Stan was already asleep on the bed and I would cuddle in close to him. One day at the end of March, I told myself I needed a coffee table. Who doesn't have a coffee table? Some might wonder, Brooke why are you concerned about putting furniture in your condo? I could even imagine after everything was furnished that eventually we would be able to a housewarming party. We could invite Al and his family and Mum and Mother. I even imagined Stan's father coming and there would be a big apology right in the living room. But in that daydream there was always a coffee table. That's how I began my day.
The weather had become increasingly cool and I thanked Merlin that Stan slept only in his boxers. I found Stan, in his 'pajamas', in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal standing up and reading the Daily Prophet. My heart started to accelerate but I told it to stop. I mean I fell asleep in his arms every night, why would I get nervous just looking at him? He refused to meet my gaze and I knew I would have to pick out the table alone. Stan liked picking out furniture with me the first week we had moved in together but now he cowered at the mention of a duvet. Avoiding me seemed to be the trick for him to weasel out of helping me.
I apparated to Diagon Alley and proceeded to the faithful junk shop. Although it was in the wilder part of the alley, the junk shop had been my friend throughout the renovations. I had gotten two lamps, a rug, and a dresser all from there. The owner Jacob now treated me like a queen when I came into the nearly deserted store. Jacob was a kooky old man with big glasses and white whiskers. His white hair lay matted to the top of his head and an apron always stretched across his expanding waist.
"Brooke. Back again all ready?" He said with a smile and led to the back of the shop that kept the mismatched furniture.
"Yes, this time in search of a coffee table. Well, Jake, riddle me this. Why is it all men, you being the exception, hate shopping?" I said with a chuckle. He smiled as well, showing off his teeth, I could spy a gray tooth in the front. He closed his mouth quickly noticing my stare.
"We aren't good at it so we steer clear. You know us men, we never want to admit defeat," He responded casually. He showed me the two tables he had now. Jake had no inventory but instead he had a system where a person couldn't donate their "worthless" junk to the shop. Admittedly the shop did have some rather junky things, but some was good quality. I took my time peering at the table before deciding that neither would be good. One wobbled and the other was a hideous green color.
"You could always charm it off," Jake responded. But I shook my head.
"I'll check back next week. Bye Jake," I said as I exited the store. I began walking down Diagon Alley and suddenly felt self-conscious. What if people were staring at me?" I hugged my arms together across my chest and continued to walk forward at an accelerated pace, suddenly aware of my short skirt and flimsy t-shirt. This was definitely not my favorite part of Diagon Alley.
"Miss!" I heard someone call out from behind. My hammered and I began to run at full pace, fishing for my wand in my pocket. "Miss!" The person called after me again and I heard footfalls came closer to me. I felt a hand grip my should as my struggling hands found my wand.
"Tarantallegra!" I yelled screaming the first curse that came to mind. The body that was next to me suddenly began in a wild dance. I turned around to see who it was. Was it the bulky man I had seen outside of the shop? Was it the woman with white blonde hair and sharp chin who stared at me coldly as I entered? The dancing person next to me was neither of these people. Instead it looked to be a woman about my age. She looked so silly doing a strange dance. Her blonde hair danced wildly around her as she bobbed up and down and her bubble skirt was trashing all over the place.
"Can you make it stop?" She said warily as she jumped around and I said the counter curse. There was no way this woman would try to hurt me. She fell to her knees on the ground.
"Sorry…" I said trailing off. I noticed what she had held in her hand. My cherry red purse was dangling off of her fingers. Although the bobbing had stopped, the woman seemed to be shivering uncontrollably.
"You left this in the store over there. The man told me to give it to you," She said as the shivering slowed. She looked like she was going to be sick. I didn't know that my Dancing Feet Jinx would work so well. She deposited my handbag to me.
"I'm really sorry. I thought you were a thug or something," I said sheepishly and the woman looked unimpressed. "Let me buy you a tea," I said forcefully. I steered her to the nearest parlor. When we sat down she kept looking over her shoulder. "What's the matter?"
"You see," She started with a phrase I later learned to be her catchphrase. "I left my stand over their by the Junk Shop all alone. I thought I would only be gone for a few seconds, you see. I guess it doesn't really matter, it's only paper," She said in a friendly manner. It surprised me how pleasant she sounded. I couldn't imagine how her voice had sounded scary to me before.
"What do you do with your stand?" I said trying to return the kindness, but it only sounded like I was letting out a fart and trying to cover it up. She seemed unfazed though.
"I've been recruiting, you see. I just received a camp from my uncle. He used to teach children, younger than Hogwarts age, how to fly brooms in the summer. I used to help him out. But he had just passed away. It's quite sad. He fell in a river. Drowned, you see. So now I have a camp but obviously I can't run it myself. Uncle himself had employees but they died too, the Death Eaters got them. The war was so horrible. So I'm looking for people who want to be hired. Of course nobody has come over to me to ask. I saw other vendors calling people over but I didn't want to be too pushy. No one has even visited me." She said after our tea was sat down.
Something about the way she talked made me want to laugh. Her voice was high pitched and friendly. Then it hit me. A camp? Teaching people to fly? It would be like teaching Abby but ten times better. Elation filled me. Maybe she could- but my thoughts were cut off by the woman's voice. "I have already forgotten your name. What was it?"
"I hadn't told you it yet. I'm Brooke Flintwood. What's your name?" I asked her.
"Amelia, you see. I don't want to tell you my last name though. Some people make assumptions about us Lovegood's, you see. Aw nuts." She said dreamily and I gaped. The Lovegood's? As in Xenophilius, the new owner of The Quibbler? As in Luna Lovegood, fearless leader in Dumbledore's Army? My mouth opened in an 'O'. But I admit she did seem kind of wacky. "Luna's only my second cousin, you see. We look nothing alike. She is much prettier." She sipped her tea.
"Your pretty!" I jumped to say. It was true after all. She had dirty blonde hair and dark brown eyes. Why would she put herself down like that?
"I wasn't fishing for a compliment, I was just saying that Luna is very pretty." She stated. I finished my tea, as did Amelia but still we sat in silence. "We are going to be good friends I can tell," She said and I couldn't help but smile. "I'll go over to the booth and get you the papers. I know you want to help me with the camp and it would be good to have a friend working with me." She smiled a friendly smile. Her whole face lit up with she smiled, like a candle in a dark room.
"I didn't mention any-" I started to say but stopped. She must have read my mind or something. I would never doubt a Lovegood, I knew. She did seem oddly familiar to me though. Maybe she was a physic? I glanced at the clock; it was already past 12. "You can come over to my house tonight for dinner and you can tell me then. I have to get going soon though. I'm expected for lunch." Amelia accepted easily and I gave her my address reminding her it was in a muggle neighborhood so as to act inconspicuous.
"Goodbye friend," I heard Amelia say as I disapparated.
I bounded through the house to find Stan. He was in the bedroom trying to fold laundry with magic. I stayed by the door and stayed silent to watch him for just a few more seconds. He was cursing a lot and he seemed to be avoiding any of my bras and panties, he accidentally touched a frilly pair and took his hand away in a jerk. The clothes he did manage to fold were actually pretty decent.
"Hey," I said and he jumped half a mile back with a guilty look in his eye.
"I didn't touch them!" He said defensively with his hands up. I laughed and sat down on the bed.
"I made a friend!" I said excitedly. Stan smiled genuine this time.
"That's great! You should invite her to dinner." He began folding again and I helped him. He didn't have to kill himself over his hand brushing my delicates now.
"I did. Tonight. Hope that's ok," I said sheepishly. What if we went to Mum's for dinner? Personally I just wanted to brag to Amelia that I had the greatest house in the whole world. No one else except Mum, Abby and Mother had been over.
"That's great. We'd better get going though. You're Mother will be expecting us," He said and he moved aside so we could dissaparate.
"Um… one more thing," I felt guilty to tell him my plan.
Of course since Amelia told me about her camp I had been excited. A real job! I knew it was only in the summer but I bet they had work all year round, right? I would quit Bill's Steaks in a second just to be able to have that job. I couldn't help but think the flexible schedule would be good when we had kids- Oh Merlin, did I just think that? Stan stayed silent while my eyebrows furrowed over and over again. I could suddenly sense his anxiousness.
"It's not something bad!"I said and I could tell Stan's mind was going through thousands of scenarios. "Amelia, my friend," Saying that word gave me a tingle, "She own a camp and during the summer kids come and learn how to fly brooms and she kind of, not really, offered me a job there so I was-" But I was cut off by Stan.
"Brilliant! You need to take it! Merlin! You need to get this job! Just think of how happy you'll be doing something you love. You're always so good with kids and you were great with Abby." He hugged me and I fell into his embrace. I looked over Stan's shoulder as he pulled me closer. The clock read 1.
"We are so late," I mumbled into his ears.
"I don't care," He whispered as he pushed his lips against mine.
I ran around the house as I saw Amelia come up the steps to the front porch. It wasn't well furnished; what if she thought it was ugly? What if she didn't like the food I made? I spent hours on it. It was roast beef, corn and home made mashed potatoes. The doorbell rang and I jumped even though I had been expecting it.
"Please answer the door," I said hurriedly. Stan slowly got up from the couch and went to open the door. I shivered. This was the first time I had played hostess. With Hunter we never had company, over a year together and no one came over. I smoothed the tablecloth and started cutting the roast beef. This would be the first time eating on the new kitchen table. Stan's voice came from around the bend and I hurriedly washed my hands.
"Brooke!" I heard Amelia scream in her dreamy voice. Before I could even turn around I was wrapped in a huge hug. I couldn't help but laugh and Stan turned away awkwardly.
"Um hi," I said to Amelia who had just released me.
"I was so confused. I thought I had gotten the wrong house when the tall man answered the door but he say that he's your boyfriend. I thought at first he must surely be a drug dealer or a murderer and he would kill me. He might have just been saying that he was your boyfriend, you see. So I said in the scariest voice I could manage and I said, 'Really. Then what store did Brooke go into when she was at Diagon Alley?' I knew of course. So your boyfriend answers 'The Junk Shop, looking for a coffee table.' But of course I'm still suspicious so I kept questioning him until I saw you. Are you sure he's not keeping you prisoner?" She said happily and took a place at the kitchen table. I laughed but Stan just looked uneasy.
"I'm hope not. I don't think I am a prisoner. Stan is not keeping me captive if that's what you mean," I said giggling but the same expression remained on Amelia's face.
"But if you rearrange all of those in a random order then it says 'I am captive. Stan is keeping me prisoner,'" Amelia said unimpressed. I laughed again but Stan looked shocked.
"Come here, Stan." I said to him and he came over rather unwillingly. I put a quick yet passionate peck on his lips. Stan brightened up immediately but turned red.
"Brooke!" he said appalled. Amelia laughed.
"I was joking. I do that sometimes, you know," Amelia said and we all burst out into laughter. I put the food out and it was surprisingly good. Amelia and Stan both complimented me over and over and I couldn't help but blush.
"Amelia, what about you. Do you have a boyfriend?" I asked her. She swallowed her food and spoke.
"I'm already married. Newly wed, you see." She said and I gaped at her. She just seemed so… single. If anything I would have thought she would only have a boyfriend. Already married, wow. Stan seemed to be thinking along the same lines.
"Tell me about him," I said eagerly.
"He's really nice. I didn't go to Hogwarts, you know. I was home schooled. I didn't have many…any friends. So when I turned 17, I was so lonely. I was helping out with my uncle at the camp and along comes Paul. Paul was real nice to everyone and the kids; he worked there in the summer with me. He worked there two years before he even talked to me. So one day, a few years later, I am about to go to sleep and I hear a knock on my door and there is Paul. He was kneeling down on one knee. Of course we had only talked a few times before but we knew it was meant to be. We were only married a few weeks ago. We had been engaged long time and then we finally had a nice little ceremony. My uncle died a few days afterward. It was quite sad," She said and took a sip of my homemade lemonade. She said this dreamily.
"You'd only talked a few times before he proposed?" I gaped. I thought that kind of thing had passed. Didn't that only happen in the olden days?
"Yes, but we were engaged for almost three years. We had tons of time then. We are best friends now. Now that we're married it's ten times better because every night we get to have hot-"
"Whoa!" Stan and I both said trying to stop her.
"-Chocolate together during the middle of the night. Sometimes we both can't sleep. What?" Amelia asked as Stan and I broke out into a fit of giggles. Only when I had passed out dessert did we talk about the job.
"How much will I be paid if I work there?" I asked her shyly. Amelia however seemed unfazed by the question.
"You see, we don't only work in the summer. We have to recruit throughout the year and do seminars so you will be paid monthly. It's approximately 6000 galleons a year." She said simply. 6000 galleons! I couldn't believe it. I made half of that at Bill's Steaks. I was so quitting tonight.
"What's the work schedule?" I asked and watched as Stan got a brain freeze. His face twisted up and he sucked in his breath. "Put your thumb to the top of your mouth," I told him and he obeyed. Within seconds his pained expression faded away.
"You would work all summer you know. It's a day camp so it's from 9 to 4 from Monday to Friday. There aren't any real restrictions. You just need to be educated. Are you a sex offender?" She asked me. I stifled a laugh.
"No, I am not a sex offender." I said while failing to keep a straight face.
"So do you want the job?" She said and scooped up the rest of her ice cream.
"Yes. Merlin yes."
Quitting was easy. I walked through Bill's Steaks, not in uniform of course, stalked up to Bill and simply said 'I quit'. I was expecting a plea of some sort but none came. In fact Bill even went, as far as to insult me but I was too euphoric to take much notice.
"You weren't really that good of a waitress, kid," He told me. The jerk. But what did it matter now? I was on top of the world. I was living with my boyfriend, I got a new job I was bound to love and I was getting paid loads to do it. Everything I'd ever wanted came true.