The next morning, I was exhausted. There were so many things I had to do, and I hoped Vieira would remember more of them. Sure enough, she was already downstairs brewing me a fresh coffee. "I have a list of everything we talked about last night, if it's not too presumptuous of me," she said.
"Vieira, how do you always know exactly what I need?" I asked gratefully, taking both the coffee and the list. Glancing at it, I saw a mention of more employees—that had to be my first priority, before the two of us worked ourselves to the bone.
Before even finishing my coffee, I made a sign to hang in the front window. Help wanted. I really had no idea how to hire people; Tom had always taken care of that.
Really, I would be stranded if it wasn't for my queen—and only—bartender. Vieira hesitated for a minute before saying, "If you'd like, I can write up something for the Daily Prophet, to advertise the job openings more publicly. It's how I got this job the last time Tom was hiring."
"Vieira, I think you're in charge of this hiring business, if you wouldn't mind. I have no bloody clue what I'm doing with any of it."
"I'll get it all ready—applications, owls, everything—but you have to do the final interviews, Hannah."
"I owe you big time. Thank you," I gushed.
I hung my sign in the window and walked outside to check how it looked. My jaw dropped at what had been done to my building. I would recognize George's products anywhere, and I was certain this paint was his. Flashing several different colors across the old bricks was the message, "Watch your back, thief."
The only thing that saved Tom's wicked family from my temper was the knowledge that George always had a backup plan for things like this—at his father's urging—so that vandalism on important buildings could be removed quickly without drawing the attention of Muggles.
Unfortunately, wizards and witches had already started to trickle into the Leaky Cauldron. Unable to leave myself, I sent Vieira to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes to fetch whatever information and materials I would need. I had to get rid of the threat emblazoned on the front of my tavern.
And the fight for the Leaky Cauldron begins!
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