I hate Wednesdays so much. I have no time AT ALL. Here, have this fragment, hope you enjoy it!
Mathilda stepped out of the fireplace and into the Three Broomsticks. A mop raced up to her and started pushing aggressively around her feet, where she was tracking soot onto the floor. She stepped backwards in a hurry to avoid her shoes getting dampened, and bashed her head against the bricks over the fireplace. She yelped and pressed one hand against the back of her head. Thank goodness Mother had cast a Lightening Charm on her trunk and case.
"Oh, hello dear!" Rosemerta peered round a door on the other side of the room. She was a plump middle-aged woman with big hair. "You're a little late, aren't you?" She flicked her wand dismissively at the mop and it fell to the floor motionless.
"Sorry." Mathilda took a cautious step back into the room, and began to peel off her protective apron.
"That's all right, quite all right. You've missed the other one, though."
Mathilda frowned. "The other one?" she repeated.
Rosemerta rolled her eyes so violently that her irises virtually disappeared. "Why does Stanley make plans and then tell absolutely no-one about them?" That seemed a rhetorical question, so Mathilda stayed quiet and waited for some sort of explanation. "Oh bless, you're a quiet one. Nervous?"
"A bit." She wished that she hadn't packed her wand. It would have been nice to have it to squeeze.
"You'll be absolutely fine, everyone's nervous on their first day! I remember mine still, and that was a while ago, let me tell you!" She laughed. Mathilda's nervous smile widened in response to the friendly sound. "Right then, off you go. Do you know where to go?"
Mathilda hesitated, then nodded. She shifted her trunk to the same hand as her case and withdrew the map Father had drawn for her. She pressed her thumb against the seal on it, and unfolded.
"Turn left outside the pub!" it squeaked. It was Jez's voice. Now Mathilda wanted to cry.
But that extra reminder of home had jogged her memory:
"My apron!" She held it out towards Rosemerta. "Can you send it home again?"
"Not a problem. Now, shoo, you hurry up now." She shepherded Mathilda out of the pub and gave her a quick hug.
"T-thanks," Mathilda said, taken aback. People who weren't her parents didn't really hug her. Jez did, but only when her father couldn't see.
All opinions welcome!
xIlbx