An Affair to Remember (Fred Weasley)

42) Diagon Alley

When Adrienne apparated to Diagon Alley for her first day of work, she made two promises to herself: Work as relentlessly as possible and keep away from the joke shop. She knew it was risky because the nursery was only a five minute walk from the joke shop but she didn't have any other choice.

Noah had signed the divorce papers two days ago, making their separation official. Draco had insisted on throwing a party but Adrienne had to stop him because it would come across as distasteful. Instead, him, Adrienne and Marlene stayed at home, sipping on glasses of champagne as they laughed and talked amongst each other, celebrating the beginning to a new life for Adrienne.

She would be lying if she said she wasn't scared, she was bloody terrified but she needed a job to keep her stable and she needed to learn how to support herself if she was going to be independant. Her parents had refused to help her so she was on her own.

"Good Morning Mrs. Longbottom" Adrienne greeted as she entered the nursery. The stern, old lady glanced at Adrienne and gave her a welcoming smile, "Good Morning Adrienne, I'm glad to have you on board with us" she spoke, a hint of kindness in her voice.

The Longbottom nursery was a vast, magnificent greenhouse that contained magical plants of almost every type imaginable. It smelled invitingly of rain, earth and a mix of various scents of leaves, flowers and mud. It was a sunny little place, one which lifted Adrienne's spirits immensely.

Augusta Longbottom, the grandmother of Neville Longbottom was a woman not to be messed with. She conducted a small interview only to learn that Adrienne was very well versed in matters of Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, making her an excellent asset to the staff. Once Mrs. Longbottom was done throwing question after question at her, Adrienne set to work.

Her salary was just enough for a room in the Leaky Cauldron where she would live until she found a better job. She still had her cabin, The Arcanus Lodge, it rightfully belonged to her. But she decided not to stay in it because she wanted to face the world on her own. Although the cabin still welcomed guests, being its owner now became only a part time job, and a very rare one at that. She hadn't had a single guest since almost six months, the last one being a group of old witches the year before in November.

Working in Longbottom's nursery became a routine. She would wake up at 7 AM and eat Breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron. She would head to work by 8 and since she took a double shift, she only got back home at 8 in the evening. Sometimes she would meet up with Draco and Marlene for drinks and sometimes she'd go shopping in the quaint little stores that Diagon Alley had to offer. 

She even met Neville Longbottom a couple of times, a lovely man who was currently the Herbology Professor at Hogwarts. He became a good friend of hers apart from her colleagues at the greenhouse.

But one thing remained, she stayed away from the joke shop. And it seemed as if luck was on her side because she never came across any of the Weasleys. Sometimes her gaze would linger on the red building and she would wonder what Fred and George were up to in there, most undoubtedly hard at work.

She missed them terribly but she knew she had to move on, being so close yet so far away from them was a difficult task but she had brought this upon herself. She had obliviated them, and for good reason too. She intended to keep it that way.

--

MARCH

The last week of March was coming to a close and Adrienne hadn't heard a peep from neither her parents nor the Davis family. Gossip about her separation from Noah had ensued in the pure-blood circles and any witch or wizard that belonged to that group always threw her dirty looks whenever they saw her.