* 𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.

biography.     statistics.     pinterest.     noxtms.

NOX HEIGHTS featuring @hoggleswart !

𝙷𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚂𝚃𝚈 𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚁  »  currently  not  accepting  !

𝙷𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚂𝚃𝚈 𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚁  »  currently  not  accepting  !

" now, it's been a long time since i myself was on a broom, but i seem to recall that those pre game jitters you're talking about aren't made any better by pouring alcohol into an empty stomach. " the truth is, theirs is a currently precarious position. to know a person but not really know them is one thing, for them to be your own flesh & blood was another : he's a stranger, she loves him to death. margaret is ONE thing and she wonders more often than she'd like to admit if forgiveness is ever in their future, but her children are another. the world had been cruel. she'd have made a good aunt, she thinks. that ( and not motherhood ) had always been what she was made for, especially after raising her little sister. she still could be, but it's a learning curve of knowing when to lecture and when to relent, when to smack his hand away - she bats at him, but it's as gentle as it comes - and when to offer without being asked. they might get there, eventually, and in the mean time ... well, she'll take the chances she's given. " can you behave ? "

"juice i can do," and here she gives the counter a tap of her knuckles as she turns and makes a beeline for the fridge, all these actions well rehearsed, by now. she grabs one of each out of the three options and lets the door shut with a thud behind her when she moves back to where she had been stood, lining them up for minette to choose from and giving a tight smile, "no, they can't. but half the battle is being prepared for it, and i already knew all that before i showed up this morning."

she manages patience. the previous customer - and all the ones that came before them - aren't actually this guys fault and she does still have a job to do, even if she's idly rethinking all of that, in this moment. her expression softens when he gets around to verbalising what he needs, half a relief that he isn't another thorn in her side and half influenced by his awkward charm. "in that case, i can take care of all of that for you," she crouches down, pulling a gillywater from the overstocked shelf beneath the counter and setting it down in front of him, "that's five sickles. you want to hand over the bottles?"

"the answer's still no, honey," sounding very much as if she wanted to call him something a whole lot worse, mary stood her ground behind the counter, hands on hips, until the wizard turned on his heel and stalked off again. she was sure he'd be back before the game kicked off to try his arm again, just as he had already, but it didn't matter how many times he asked - none of the booths were allowed to serve alcohol until five, and mary wasn't going to be the one to get ned's license revoked for the sake of ONE man. her mood had been sour to start with, a wicked combination of the nervous energy she had nowhere to store and the fact that she'd been answering the exact same question since they'd opened up the shutters. now she was barely holding the customer service persona together, evidenced in the way that the smile she flashes her next customer doesn't quite reach her eyes. "i hope you heard that, love. it's just food and non alcoholics for the minute. still want anything ?"

mary ought to nip this in the bud, show them to the door or withhold an order until they behave, but the truth is a rather simple and sad thing : they remind her of better times. pubs haunted with a group of boys that shared that same sort of cheeky smile, hours spent in the same sort of fashion - it's been a long while since mary has been caught up in the whirlwind of sirius black and his school chums, but she's familiar with his makings. a few years ago, it might've stung. for a long time, she might've taken a stance all too similar to ned's. now, however, names cleared & history rewritten all too late, mary can't bring herself to stop their fun. she shakes her head when they turn back to her, mock disappointment, but there's no denying her affection when she smiles and asks, " are you quite finished ? " she spares a glance across the bar to where ned looks lost and rageful as the rest of the bar drunkenly sings, unable to spare him all that much sympathy. " i think you've already managed to ruin the poor man's night. take it as a win, honey. "

it's been a little while since the lion & the snitch was so crowded, the current bustle no doubt thanks to the special trivia night that one of their youngest staffers had suggested. the run up to christmas is always quiet. mary had tried to explain this to ned, but his tendency to worry ( privately and silently, but worry nonetheless ) had gotten the better of him - he'd agreed, but she didn't think he ever expected the christmas karaoke that he was now being subjected to once they'd run out of general knowledge questions. mary ( dressed in her ugliest christmas sweater and sporting a pair of candy cane earrings ) was enjoying herself immensely, though she had taken it upon herself to lessen ned's suffering as much as possible. ergo - "do behave yourself tonight, honey," she tells tempest, setting down a fresh drink in front of them and then using her freed hand to give their shoulder a gentle squeeze. they're a rather familiar thorn in ned weasley's side, and though she's sure he'd usually take their words on the chin, she's not so sure he's currently in the place to do that, "we've enough trouble with the seven bad renditions of all i want for christmas we've already had, without you getting on his case."