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Post by Molly Prewett on Aug 13, 2008 15:44:51 GMT -5
Molly was taking bobby pins out of her hair as she stepped inside the Three Broomsticks, stepping to her left to avoid a young couple leaving. They were probably students at the school, she imagined, though it was fairly late in the evening, and they should be getting back to the school.
Molly herself was just getting off work. She truly hated the afternoon shift. It was their slowest time, just before the dinner rush came in. Today hadn't been terribly slow, and she still had energy enough to not want to go home. She was still dressed sharply in her uniform of black and white robes.
She stepped up to the bar and took a seat on one of the stools, asking for a butterbeer, and not paying a lot of attention to the others around her. She felt safe enough in the Three Broomsticks to not keep her guard up so much.
She gave a bright smile when the dink was placed in front of her, and said thank you, figuring she would just enjoy the drink before she went home.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Aug 13, 2008 15:58:05 GMT -5
Arthur Weasley walked into the pub, along with his friend, Ted Tonks. Usually, he preferred to stay close to London, where he lived and worked, but Ted had convinced him to come to Hogsmeade for a few drinks while he waited to meet his girfriend, Andromeda.
Arthur was an easygoing guy, but he had to admit to being just a little bit jealous of Ted. It wasn't that he had a thing for Andromeda or anything, although she was quite a catch. But the way Ted's face lit up when he talked about her... he wanted someone who could make him feel like that. He had a lot of friends, and yet sometimes, he was still a little lonely.
But as always, Arthur pushed these thoughts out of his mind as he walked into the pub with Ted. Looking around, he felt his troubles begin to fade. It had been a few years since he'd been to the Three Broomsticks, and he'd forgotten just how nice the place really was. It was brighter and cheerier than the Leaky Cauldron. And now that he thought of it, the butterbeers were better here, too.
Turning to Ted, he asked, "So, should we go to the bar, d'you think? Or get a table somewhere?" As he glanced toward the bar, he caught a glimpse of red hair that caught his eye, but then quickly focused his attention back on his friend.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Aug 13, 2008 16:06:36 GMT -5
Ted sighed, looking around the place before he answered Arthur's question. His eyes completely passed over the girl at the bar... or any other girl there, for that matter. He really did only have eyes for Andromeda.
"A table sounds so much more comfortable," He said. He nodded to an empty one in the corner. "Andi will still find us, he added, addressing the only reason he might have chosen the bar. "Let's just order our drinks first."
He hadn't seen Andi at the Ministry all day, though he was sure she had been working. He had been pretty busy himself, and he wondered what it said about him that he actually missed her. He had fallen pretty hard for the girl.
He glanced at Arthur and made his way to the bar. "What do you want?"
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Aug 13, 2008 19:49:45 GMT -5
Arthur followed him to the bar, allowing his eyes to wander over to the redhead he'd spotted earlier. If only she'd turn around so he could see her face! "Oh, I think I'll just have a butterbeer," he replied. "They still have them on draft, right?"
He looked at Ted and shrugged. "Thanks for inviting me out tonight, Ted," he said. "I really haven't been getting out much lately. The changeover in the Ministry's been making things pretty hectic. We've also had a lot of incidents lately. And I guess, being in London, there really aren't a lot of places for a wizard to go except the Leaky Cauldron... it gets a bit old, y'know?"
Trying to be subtle, he turned his head towards the redhead, trying to get a look at her face. Unfortunately, he did this just as his butterbeer was being placed in front of him, and the movement caused the glass to tip over, spilling butterbeer all over himself and the bartop. He watched in horror as the liquid spread across the bar, soaking the sleeve of the redhaired girl.
Slick, real slick, Arthur, he thought.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Aug 13, 2008 20:22:52 GMT -5
Ted made a slight face at Arthur. "Of course the Leaky Couldron gets old," he said. "It's a dive of a place," he added. He himself wasn't much of a fan of London. He liked Hogsmeade Village so much better, but perhaps he was biased. It was close to home, close to Andi.
He waved off the thanks, though. "Personally, I don't think you get out of the Ministry enough. That place is going to make you go gray in the hair before you're twentyfive."
Turning to the bartender just after Arthur ordered his butterbeer, he asked for a water. He wasn't entirely sure what he and Andi would be doing later, and honestly, water suited him fine for now.
What happened next was amusing Ted to now end. While Arthur seemed to have a look of horror on his face, Ted was watching the interaction, or what was soon to be an interaction, and trying not to laugh. Before the girl could turn her head to look at them, he picked up a handful of napkins and shoved them into Arthur's hands.
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Post by Molly Prewett on Aug 13, 2008 20:32:15 GMT -5
Molly was lost in her own world as she slowly sipped on her butterbeer. For a moment, she had completely forgotten where she was, even as the two guys approached the bar.
One had ordered a butterbeer, like her, and the other... and this was the part that pulled her out of her thoughts... had simply asked for a water. Strange, she thought, to come here for a water, but who was she to judge?
The red haired one finally succeeded in making her turn her face to him when she felt the drink soaking into her robe sleeve. She met his eyes, then glanced at the blonde one (who refused to look at her), and back at the one who she assumed had spilled the drink, given the look on his face.
She gave a half smile to show that she wasn't angry. Mistakes happen, right? "Don't even worry about it," she started off. "Can I... have those?" she asked, gesturing to the napkins Ted had shoved towards him.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Aug 13, 2008 21:56:36 GMT -5
Arthur stood, frozen in place, as he stared at her. She was pretty... beautiful even. The sight of her made him breathless, as if someone had just knocked the wind out of him. He couldn't look away, and he couldn't seem to find his tongue.
He barely even noticed when Ted shoved the napkins in his hand, and it took a minute for him to realize that the woman was talking to him and pointing at the thing he was somehow holding in his hand. "Oh... oh, right.... of course," he said, handing her the huge wad of napkins that he didn't remember picking up.
"I'm dreadfully sorry... so very clumsy of me... your robes aren't ruined, are they?"
Never mind the fact that his entire lap was soaked with butterbeer. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he'd ruined the sleeve of her robe with his clumsiness.
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Post by Molly Prewett on Aug 13, 2008 23:20:06 GMT -5
Molly smiled a little more, not sure what to do while he stared at her. She bit her bottom lip, ready to ask for the napkins again just about the time he seeed to realize she needed them and handed them over.
"It's nothing a simple cleaning spell won't fix," she assured him. She took half of the napkins, and handed back the other half. "I think you could use these too," she added. She felt bad for him. How embarrassing to not only spill your drink on a complete stranger, but all over yourself too. His friend didn't look like he was being much help at all. "I could fix that for you..." she offered, gesturing towards his lap in what she hoped was a completely innocent way.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Aug 13, 2008 23:22:54 GMT -5
Ted took a deep breath, forcing himself not to laugh at the situation. But Arthur's face was priceless.
The girl was a real peach about it, though, and for Arthur's sake, he was glad. It wouldn't have done any good for any of them had she been angry about it.
Before Arthur could respond to her, Ted turned to her and nodded. "We'd really appreciate if you could. We're meeting up with someone from work later, and we're both sh*te at cleaning spells," he said quickly, gesturing between him and Arthur.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Aug 13, 2008 23:37:47 GMT -5
Arthur couldn't tear his eyes off of the girl. "i... I... er... yeah... I mean, um... right... what he said..." he stammered. Oh, Merlin. He was blowing it... making a right arse out of himself. It was like his tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth and everything that came out sounded like he had a mouth full of cotton candy.
He cleared his throat and tore his eyes away from her for a split second. "I mean, yeah... if you could do that, it'd be, um... great..."
Yep, he was crashing and burning, that was certain. This had to go down in history as one of the most awkward encounters ever.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Aug 13, 2008 23:43:45 GMT -5
Ted rolled his eyes. He loved Arthur dearly, like any good friend, but he was not making a great first impression here. Which was why, of course, he had stepped in. He fully expected that Arthur would have refused her help, and that would have been the end of the conversation.
He took another sip of his water, but looked up when Arthur's words seemed to come out a little easier, and tried to judge the look on the girl's face. She was decidedly unreadable.
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Post by Molly Prewett on Aug 13, 2008 23:48:41 GMT -5
"Okay, yeah," Molly said, blushing a little. She already thought she was making a fool out of herself to two complete strangers, but she couldn't really back out now. She pulled out her wand, and aimed it at her sleeve first, just to make sure it would work. The last thing she needed was to set this guy's lap on fire. And he was already staring at her like she was insane.
When she produced a dry, clean sleeve, she smiled triumphantly. "All right, your turn," she said, turning her wand to Arthur and thankfully getting the same result.
"You wanna try that on the bar?" the man behind the counter asked her, raising an eyebrow.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Aug 14, 2008 0:07:28 GMT -5
Arthur, still holding the rest of the napkins in his hand, snapped into attention at the bartender's words. "No, no, don't be silly... I can clean that," he said, tearing his eyes from the girl and focusing on the wet bartop. He immediately began soaking up the spilled butterbeer until it was dry. "There," he said to the bartender. "I do apologize for my clumsiness."
He turned back to the girl and felt his mouth go dry again. Why couldn't he talk when he looked at her? But he was determined not to freeze up this time. He'd force himself to talk... and hopefully it would make sense. "And I, er... I apologize to you, too. And, um, thanks... for cleaning me up. I just... I froze. Could... maybe... we start again? My name is Arthur." Wiping his hand on his pant leg, he held it out to her in introduction.
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Post by Molly Prewett on Aug 14, 2008 2:14:22 GMT -5
Molly smiled and shook her head, making her look still like an innocent girl... not little certainly, but the kind of girl you wanted to hug and protect. Indeed, she had sort of been treated that way most of her life. Where some girls she knew fought constantly with their siblings, she was blessed with two wonderful brothers that usually did hug her and protect her from the world.
"I already told you not to worry about it. No harm done. Really."
She watched him wipe his hand, watched the boy behind him roll his eyes, and extended her own to take his. In a split second assessment, she decided she didn't really like Arthur's friend. He seemed somewhat pompous and self righteous. But she liked Arthur. He was sweet... in a clumsy, bashful sort of way.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Arthur. My name's Molly."
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Post by Ted Tonks on Aug 14, 2008 3:14:02 GMT -5
Ted was trying not to say anything, giving Arthur some time to save himself without his interference, but when introductions were made, he knew it would be rude not to introduce himself.
He nodded. "Molly, I'm Ted," he said, shaking her hand. Finally, he turned to Arthur. "I'm going to hit the loo. Be back in a minute."
It was as good of an excuse as any, he reasoned, and then he didn't have to worry about intrudng on their conversation, however much longer it lasted.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Aug 14, 2008 14:51:24 GMT -5
Arthur nearly panicked again when Ted started to walk away. He couldn't leave him alone... he was already making an arse of himself, but without Ted as backup, he was sure he'd just make things even worse!
Biting down on his lower lip, he turned back to look at the girl. Molly. His lips curved into a smile as he looked at her, even as his normally pale face flushed bright red. "Er... it's nice to meet you, Molly...." He awkwardly stuck his hands in his robe pockets and tried to think of what to say.
"Er.... come here often?" he asked.
Merlin... could be be any more cliche?
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Post by Molly Prewett on Aug 14, 2008 20:04:57 GMT -5
Molly just stared at him blankly for a second, as if she was mentally going over the possible outcomes depending on how she reacted.
She finally just laughed, though there wasn't a lot of humor in it. In about three seconds flat, Arthur had gone from being oddly endearing to just another guy trying to pick up on her, albeit more clumsy than most. It wouldn't have been so bad had he not used a line like that.
She turned back to her butterbeer and shrugged. "Not really," she said, still not wanting to be mean and completely throw him off. Maybe she'd just back out of conversation now, and let it die.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Aug 14, 2008 21:06:04 GMT -5
Arthur sighed. He was losing her, he could feel it. However much she had tolerated his presence before, his stupid attempt at a pickup line had put that tolerance to a test. "I.. I'm sorry, that was lame. I'm afraid I'm not very good at this... at talking to girls. Especially pretty ones, that I've already embarrassed myself in front of... Maybe I should just go and leave you to enjoy your drink in peace."
What could he do to salvage the conversation? Or had it been ruined from the very start? Maybe he was just meant to be a lonely bachelor, while the good-looking, clever guys like Ted got all the women. He felt a little like a bug squashed under someone's shoe.
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Post by Molly Prewett on Aug 14, 2008 21:33:16 GMT -5
She turned back to him, listening patiently as he struggled through his words. He seemed nice enough, really, and maybe she discounted him too quickly. Working as a waitress had made her tired of the pick up lines and everything, even at such an upscale restaurant as the one she worked. And he wasn't as smooth or sharp as the guys she was used to, but he wasn't as creepy or rude, either, and she liked that about him. Looking at him told her that he didn't really catch a lot of breaks, especially if he usually hung out with... what was his name? Ted.
"Wait," she said. "Don't go. It's sort of sad that I'm drinking by myself, really. It'd be nice if you helped me not to look like such a sorry case."
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Aug 14, 2008 21:42:52 GMT -5
"You?" Arthur said incredulously. "You don't look like a sorry case at all. I'm the sorry one... Spilling drinks all over myself, tripping over my own words... You're a very patient woman to have tolerated me this long. I'm sure if I left you here, someone much more clever and charming would come along to sweep you off your feet."
His words were coming easier now, but his throat still felt dry and his breathing was shallow. Still, he kept talking, probably digging himself in deeper with each word. "I would love to be the one to sweep you off your feet, Molly, but I'd probably just drop you."
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