Avalee smiled. She was reading a letter from one of her muggle friends. They missed each other. She didn't really have a lot of friends, and had caused a bit of drama that was hard to get off her conscience.
But she was trying to be happy. She had good grades in all of her classes, especially potions, which had become a favorite. She was getting along well with her roommate.
All was well. She had two glasses in front of her, one firewhiskey, and one cold lemonade.
She was dressed for the cold weather, snow blowing in the air. A ravenclaw scarf, a gray shirt, a red skirt, with black leggings.
General pub sounds were in the air, and the fire was blazing. She saw drunk pupils, and drunk teachers, and cozy couples in booths along the wall. The door opened and an ice blast ran through the pub.
Stacey glanced up from her post at the end of the bar to see who had entered. It was just another student. The place was filled with them now, from third years to seventh. Everyone wanted to celebrate the end of term. For her, though, she had other reasons to be happy.
Tonight was her last night working the night shift of the Three Broomsticks. She had given her two week notice, and was ready to leave. Randy, the large owner, would have to find someone else or work the shift himself, which was unlikely, since he was usually passed out drunk in the rooms above the bar.
She had her own reasons for quitting, reasons that only three other people knew about so far. Aiden, her mother, and her father. Well, probably Jonathan, too. He knew everything, and spied in on her head move often than not. But he couldn`t really count. Stacey hadn`t seen him for a while, though. Not since that night she and Rhyme had fought him.
She was rather cheerful tonight, and she was refilling drinks quickly, simply "forgetting" every now and then to make people pay. She wanted to enjoy herself on her last night, and that meant that she had to have happy costumers.
Unfortunatly, Avalee had happened to wander into the pub. Stacey had kept a respectful distance, not sure how the girl thought about her now. She wasn`t avoiding her, or anything, at least that`s what she told herself. Because even under the circumstances she was in, she still felt insecure about what had happened between the younger girl and Aiden.
The bell hooked to the top of the door to the bar rung softly as Sky pushed her way through to get out of the cold. It wasn't snowing, but the wind was extremely bitter to the skin. She looked around as she wiped off her boots on the small worn out carpet infront of the door. There were a lot of people here.
Must be the place to celebrate end of term. Sky thought with a small smile.
Sky looked around for a place to sit, undoing her Gryffindor scarf as she did so, so that it hung down around her neck. Ah, now she could breathe. She finally found a table in the back by the wall near some sixth year Ravenclaws and sat down, not even bothering to remove her black coat. She was freezing.
Stacey looked up as the bell rang, and a grin stretched across her face as she saw Sky.
"Hey," She said, standing up and walking over to the table her friend sat in. "How are you?" She hadn`t talked to Sky in a while. A long while, in fact. they had kind of lost touch for a while.
((Shortness. XP ))
((=P))
Sky raised her brows when she heard a familiar voice. She smiled when she saw Stacey approach her table. It had been quite awhile since she spoke to Stacey. Probably not since graduation, which was a long time ago.
"Hey!" Sky replied. "I'm fine. How about you?" She motioned for Stacey to sit down, though by the look of this place, she might not have the time.
Stacey shook her head.
"Sorry, I can`t sit. But my shift ends in..... fifteen minutes. And I`m happy to say that this is my last night. Do you think you can hang around until then?" She asked. "If you come up to the bar we can talk until I get off. These people need to learn to stand up and get their own drinks, anyway." She smiled and motioned to the bar.
Avalee saw Stacey glare at her from across the pub. She sighed. Things hadn't really been resolved there. All that stupid juvenile drama. She knew it was ridiculous, and she was filled with regret. She wished Stacey knew that.
She stayed in her seat, true Avalee was scared of Stacey, although she would never admit it, aloud.
She sat up straighter in her chair.
"Oh, sure. Yeah, I can stay." Sky stood up and headed for the bar, picking a seat that was away from the drunks. Sky pretty much had all the time in the world. There wouldn't be any classes tomorrow. She looked around absently and saw Avalee, a girl she didn't know very well, but recognized right away.
Stacey moved behind the bar, pulling her hair up into a ponytail, glancing over at Avalee again. She sighed, knowing that even though it was her last day she needed to be nice.
"Do you need anything else?" She managed to say in Avalee`s direction and in a civilized tone. She didn`t like the fact that she still felt angry at Avalee. She was just a girl, and it had been a mistake and a lack of judgement. Nothing more. It had been over before it had started, really, and Stacey had made it clear that Aiden was hers. But she still felt hatred for the girl. She just didn`t understand why. She knew full well that Avalee was scared of her. Not only was it shouting at her from her mind, but it was obvious from the way she held herself and acted around Stacey.
While she waited for a reply, Stacey cleaned an empty glass and filled it with butterbeer for Sky.
"Thanks." Sky said. She searched her pocket for some gold and layed a some galleons and sickles on the table, though the drink itself probably only cost ten sickles. She lightly sipped the butterbeer and felt her body warm up almost automatically. "Just what I needed." She said with a grin.
"I'm good." She said is a absentminded tone. Sigh. All she wanted was a peaceful drink, maybe a pleasant conversation with an acquaintance, or maybe one of her few friends.
She knew she had messed up everything. She knew that it would take a long time, if even at all to rectify the situation. What did Stacey need to be ok again? An apology? No, Avalee was scared that Stacey might hurt her, she did bring knives just about everywhere with her.
Stacey had to bite her lip to keep herself from giggling at Avalee`s thoughts. Trying to distract herself, she pushed all but one of the galleons back to sky and got her change. Why were her friends always trying to pay her extra? She got payed more than enough., and she always rejected the extra change. Sky was one of the only ones who persisted in tipping her so much.
And why was Avalee so scared of her? It wasn`t like she had actually threatened to hurt the poor girl. Yeah, she had a temper as bad as any wild animal, but she controled herself. Avalee was still sitting there without injury, after all.
"You sure?" She asked again, this time looking directly at the girl and raising an eyebrow. It was true, she did carry knives everywhere, but that was because of Jonathan and his people, not her. She also had a gun now, but no one knew that except Aiden, who also had one.
Avalee sat at a long table, Enough room for nine people besides herself, yet she was alone. The pub wasn't full, but it wasn't empty either. She took of the butterbeer and felt the warmth fill her. The sweet taste still on her lips she smiled, a memory of a muggle boyfriend drifting into her mind. Memories, only distant thoughts, no happy memories of late. She sighed.
A gust of cold wind blew in as the door opened.
Alexis walked into the bar, her body shivering with the cold wind seemed to bite at her skin. The hood from her jacket was up, blocking most of the wind away from her face. She carried a guitar case in her hand, planning to play outside but the cold quickly robbed her of enthusiasm. Her nose was red as she closed the door behind her and sighed, relieved to be inside and out of the freezing weather.
Her green eyes scanned the bar, noticing Sky and Avalee first. She already knew Stacey worked here, being her stepbrother's wife. However, she barely ever talked to her or Aiden lately. It wasn't until then she noticed Stacey at Avalee's table.
Alexis slowly walked over to the booth, hearing Stacey's question go unanswered. She sensed tention between the two girls, although she had no idea why.
"Hey guys." Alexis greeted them both casually, hoping she wasn't interrupting anything.
When the door opened and the little bell jingled, Stacey looked up to see who had come in. It was kind of automatic now that she`d been working here for almost eight months now. She smiled a little as a greeting to Alexis, just like she did for all of her costumers, but when she came closer her grin grew.
"Hi, can I get you anything?" She asked, nodding towards the guitar case. Aiden played, and she knew that Alexis played, but she hadn`t ever heard either of them sing. "You can set that up and sing if you want, too." She guessed that she had planned on playing outside, but it was absolutely bitter outside.
Sky turned her head automatically to see who had entered the bar and grinned when she saw Alexis and her guitar case. It was neat to see somebody else played guitar. Sky wondered what she played. She took another sip of her butterbeer and pushed back the money that Stacey had given back, shaking her head.
Alexis smiled.. She used to sing in front of family members and at a local hangout in her old muggle town so she the idea of continuing that here would be great. She missed those days and a part of her wanted it back, she just didn't realize it would be here at Hogwarts.
"Actually, the sounds really cool." Alexis said, looking at her solid black acoustic guitar case.
"Where should I set up at?"
She looked around the bar, glancing at the few people she didn't know. Alexis sat the case down and looked at Sky, who was looking at her. Her gaze turned curious as she took a few steps toward her, but hesitated, waiting for Stacey's answer.
"Do you play, too?" She asked a moment later.
Stacey waved over to the empty corner where there was a step up to a small platform.
"Up there, if you want, but anywhere`s fine." She replied, moving so she was behind the bar again. "Sure you don`t want anything to drink?" She asked, lifting up another clean glass and looking at Alexis questioningly. Seeing something shiney out of the corner of her eye, she looked down in front of Sky. Seeing the change, she rolled her eyes with a smile and pushed it back towards her.
"Hi, Alexis" She smiled up at the girl she didn't know that well, but liked anyway. "How are you doing?" She noticed the redness of the girls nose and dreading having to walk home. It was so cold here at this time of year, and it always seemed no matter how many coats, or how many socks she was wearing, she was perpetually cold.
At least the butterbeer and the roaring fire warmed her a bit. But the coldness from Stacey chilled her to the bone.
Old sayings about enemies ran through her mind, but she cleared it. She didn't want any of it to play on her face. Finals were over and the pub was warm, huzzah!!
Alexis nodded toward the small platform across the room. Her eyes sparkled lightly with the overhead lights as she turned back to Stacey, a small smile on her lips.
"Thanks." She said to her.
Alexis turned towards Avalee, looking at her smiling still.
"Hey. I'm good actually. Although, freezing still." She replied as her nose was still a light shade of pink from the cold winds.
"How about you?"
((Wow. Didn't mean to take your whole boldy thing. =[))
Sky laughed and pushed the coins back once more. "Seriously. It's a gift." Sky turned in her seat when Alexis asked her about playing. She nodded.
"Yeah. I play guitar too. Though I can't say I'm very good." She smiled bashfully. "We should play together sometime."
Stacey rolled her eyes with a smile and pushed half of the coins back, pocketing the others. She figured it was the only way to end that.
"You guys can play here, if you want. Seriously, the boss won`t care." She looked around the bar with her sweeping brown gaze, filling two butterbeers without needing to look at what she was doing. "Honestly, I don`t know what he`s going to do without me here. I do pretty much everything around here." She paused suddenly, realizing that she let it slip that she was no longer going to work at the bar.
Sky sighed and scooped the coins off of the table and dropped them into her pocket. She just couldn't win.
"I would, but I don't have my guitar." Sky raised a brow. "Why aren't you working at the bar anymore?"
Stacey looked down at the top of the bar, runnin gher hands over the smooth wood.
"Well, I`m not going to be working here anymore." She started. "Something came up and it`s not really too healthy for me to be around here so much. And working the late shift is kind of getting to me. I`m thinking about getting a job up at the school, though." She spoke quickly, hoping that they wouldn`t question further. It wasn`t like she was hiding the fact that she was pregnant, but she hadn`t planned on telling everyone in town and the school. If she said it in the Three Broomsticks, it was sure to get around pretty fast.
Sky's head tilted a little to the side, puzzled. It wasn't healthy for her to be here? She looked around the bar. Sure, some wizards were smoking, but it was generally smokeless. Was Stacey sick?
Sky dared not press further.
"Cool. Virgil just got a job there. And I'll be potions master next Fall."
Stacey couldn`t help but grin, her white teeth flashing in the dim lighting. *Tell you later.* She thought, pushing it into Sky`s mind while shielding from any others.
"Potions master, that`s really awesome." She said out loud. "I`m going for Charms or Trans. I`d like Defense, but I doubt I`ll get it." She moved her hands under the edge of the bar until she found two small glasses.
((Sky, if you wanna make a topic for you-probably-know-what, I join! >.<))
She smiled as the others talked. Avalee crossed her arms trying to stay warm in the bitter cold. She didn't speak, just listened. It was nice to be able to just sit and listen, and not feel as anxious as she usually was. The laughter of others was a little contagious.
Sky nodded. It must have been important if Stacey couldn't tell her here or outloud.
"I think you'd be the best person for the Defense Job, Stacey." She said. "You know a lot and have a lot of powers too. They need somebody who is knowledgable." Sky finished off her butterbeer and slid off of her seat.
"I'd better get going. I'm going to do some shopping before heading back."
((Alright. I will..o_o))
"Bye, Sky, it was nice to see you again." Avalee threw in, generically. She smiled. Did Skiy dislike her too, because of what Stacey had told her? Well she would have hated herself too in Stacey's position, or for that matter, Aiden's.
Sky had already pushed open the door, a cold breeze bursting through the space between the door and the frame. She turned and smiled.
"Bye Avalee. Nice to see you too." Sky didn't know the girl well, but she seemed like a good person from what she saw. "Maybe I'll see you in Potions." She said, exiting the bar with the bell ringing behind her. Sky would have to teach a lesson here soon.
"Ya, maybe." She smiled absentmindedly.
((Anyone still here?))