Extended Family

Chapter 52: A Welcome Inn

Takes place after chapter 30

Ron yawned, blinking slowly and stretching his arms.  He looked to the side of the bed and found it empty, much like most mornings.  He always felt a touch of jealousy at that.  However, it only lasted a moment before evaporating.  He knew full well the demands of running a tavern/eatery/inn like the Leaky Cauldron.  In fact, things have gotten much better lately with them able to hire more help to cover all the different hours.  He shuddered to think how Tom ran the place with mostly just him for the longest time.

He sat up in the bed, rubbing his face.  He used to enjoy lying in bed until the last moment, something that he did from as a small child well into his Hogwarts years.  Now he found himself willingly getting up early.  He was loath to lie in bed alone these days and when he and Hannah could laze about in bed, he took full advantage of it.  Now, he would rather be up and spend time with Hannah in the Cauldron proper if he had the choice.

Living in the owner's suite had its benefits.  The commute was only a few flights of stairs and it was a very comfortable suite.  After the morning cleaning rituals, he changed into comfortable working clothes and wandered down the stairs, stifling a yawn.  He walked onto the main floor and nodded amiably at a few of the customers that had stayed overnight, the other early morning risers.

"Morning!"  Hannah smiled at him when he appeared.  She leaned over the counter to give him a kiss and she set a plate on the surface.

"Morning!" he replied happily.  "You joining me today?"

"I'll have my second cup of coffee with you," she said and leaned comfortably on the counter, watching him eat.  "I was starving when I woke up so couldn't wait."

"No problem," he said after swallowing some eggs.  "How's the morning work?"

"Good.  We had enough stuff done last night; we don't have a lot to prep for lunch.  Light breakfast crowd today so been able to plow through a lot.  No new reservations for the rooms tonight so we're good there.  Honestly, I can probably get caught up on paperwork for a bit."

"Hey, that's great.  You can finally take it a little easier."

She smiled.  "Not sure if I remember how," she laughed.  "Oh here's a list of the little things that could do a bit of fixing up."

Ron looked over the list.  "No problem.  I'll get right on it after I finish breakfast.  Probably can finish before lunch honestly."

"No need to rush on my account," Hannah smiled warmly.

"Who's rushing?" Ron smiled as he ate.  "Don't want to cut our time short."

"You're a terrible flatterer," Hannah said and kissed him.

-0-

"Oh you really did get it all done," Hannah praised when Ron showed up at the bar again at noon.  "I thought the wall would take a while to do."

"I thought so too but I found a solution in my workbook.  Instead of just replacing the wood, I put in some stone behind the wall and then stuck a new piece to it.  That way it'll be more reinforced."

"Oh, good idea!"

"I thought so!  Might need to go back later to smooth it out some more but I think it'll work great.  Might do that for most of the repairs going forward."  He looked at the bags she put on the counter top.  "Did you pack my lunch up into little portions to make me work at it?"