1982 | Remus Lupin

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

"I'll see you later, Penny!" Romy called, pulling her hair from the tight scrunchie and letting it fall down. She always seemed to get a headache whenever her hair had been up for too long and considering it had been up since six in the morning, she was glad for it to be down.

It was currently two, and she had just gotten off work since they had opened - she would have stayed longer but Shirley insisted she go, and that she and Penny had everything under control. Penny had started at twelve, though much like she always did, came in half an hour early and spent it talking to Charles.

Remus had come in at nine, had one cup of coffee and left. He spent the entire time drinking it at the counter talking to Romy who was busy cleaning up, but she didn't mind the company. He had been there so much over the past few weeks that he was now a café regular and Penny even knew him by name, as did Shirley and Charles.

He didn't like Charles that much, but Romy had a feeling that it was because of her.

The warm air hit Romy as soon as she stepped outside, with her canvas bag with her so that she could stop by the markets. The girl she had met there, Valerie, had stopped by just days ago to the café and like Romy promised, got a free coffee. They talked about bands for at least fifteen minutes before Charles shouted at Romy to get back to work.

Valerie was nice, and although Romy didn't know her all that well - she considered her a friend, or close to one anyway.

She didn't want to go home, especially in the summer weather that would soon disappear, and she was basking in it. Having to work indoors and watch tourists and city folk have fun outside and bask in the sunshine was a punishment that Romy hated, but the fact that she had the afternoon off to do whatever she liked was bliss.

She decided to go to the park just around the corner from the café. She hadn't been in the longest time, but she loved the walk, especially in the warm air. She could always go shopping afterword's, too, which was a plus since she hadn't been able to go shopping since her day off just a few weeks ago.

She wasn't allowed to wear anything other than black to the café, seeing as it was the most presentable uniform it looked like everyone was near enough wearing the same thing. Well, that's what Charles said - Romy thought that was complete bullshit considering she always had her apron on anyway.

Regardless, though, as much as she considered going home to change she was far too lazy to walk all the way back. The black of her dress made her even warmer but part of her felt like that was a good thing. It was a lot different from her school years...when she'd go to Hogsmeade and snow would always layer the ground with a blanket of white and she'd have to bundle up no matter the season - it was nice to finally wear what she wanted to.

She walked through the gate of the park, passing families that were enjoying picnics and toddlers squealing excitedly as they played. It was always nice to see people enjoying their days out, and Romy was happy to have some fresh air. She passed the joggers who she always saw occasionally, and the muggle school kids enjoying the summer holidays.

Her eyes caught sight of a small ice cream stall just up ahead and she rummaged through her bag for her purse. She hadn't had ice cream in the longest time, and the park stall always had the best chocolate ice cream she had ever tasted. She could remember when she'd get ice cream almost every day, it wasn't a long time ago - maybe just a few months when she'd take a walk in the park every single day just to keep her mind on anything but the war.

After she got her job and started picking up as many shifts as she could, she didn't have a lot of time to come back.

"Romy!" a grin spread over her lips at the sight of Russel, the man behind the ice cream stall. The fact that he remembered her warmed her heart, "It's been too long, far too long!"