A Morning Romp

[leilanimejia]

Winter had snuck up on Leilani Mejia as she trudged through the heavy snow. Her black ugg boots, jeans, t-shirt, and black down jacket were not keeping out the cold weather that had overcome Hogsmeade. Leilani mumbled angrily under her breath as melted snow began to fill her boots and make her socks wet. She needed to find some place warm… and fast, she realized as more of the infernal snow began to fall.

Looking around in pure disbelief she scanned shop after shop. The Hog’s Head? Ew! Too old and grimy for the likes of her. Madame Puddifoot’s? Without a friend or a male companion? Too embarrassing. The three broomsticks almost missed her scan of the area if she hadn’t seen the merry Christmas lights dancing on the roof. Like a moth to the flame Leilani drew closer. It looked as if someone had charmed the red and green lights to dance around and spell out things like… Merry Christmas… Welcome… and the like.

Opening the door a burst of warmth came over her. The place was completely empty. No one even seemed to be at the bar. The bell at the door summoning new arrivals tinkled softly as she entered. Crossing to the fireplace she took of her uggs one by one and put them next to the fire place, hanging the wet socks on a hook just over the mantle.

The place didn’t seem to be closed, she examined with interest, but not a thing seemed to move except a broom in the corner, sweeping and going about its own business. She scraped one of the bar stools against the floor and took a seat, looking at all the bottles and things in front of her. Christmas was coming, and there were present to buy, but there was no money to be had. She couldn’t buy her parents presents with the money they sent her. That would be preposterous.

[cienabarboza]

The last spell had taken a lot out of her. It had already been about a week and Ciena was already more tired than she had been in a while. Escaping the wrath of mother and grandparents had been easy, but the emotional scars that had been left were still trying on her life.

The Three Broomsticks was hard work. Rosmerta hadn’t been lying when she had told Ciena that she was too old for the duty of taking care of it. Ciena, herself, felt that she had aged a great deal since she had taken over for her dear aunt, but, still, she felt it her duty to take care of the place as if it were her own.

The first couple days Ciena worked on the inside. Never having cleaned anything in her life, she was proud of her work, for The Three Broomsticks looked the cleanest it had been in a while. The brooms swept, the feather dusters dusted, and Ciena tended to the fires and the cobwebs on the ceiling. The next couple days she had worked on the outside, finishing this very day. The red and green fairies were easy to charm, however, it took a good deal of concentration to charm them into patterns that spelled out their Christmas greeting.

It was about seven in the morning when Ciena trudged up the stairs to the third floor, where her room sat empty and unused. Her things were still packed in her black traveling bag in the corner. The only thing that inhabited the place was the big dusty four-poster that sat in the middle of the floor. Ciena flopped backwards onto the bed, raising quite a bit of dust in doing so. She closed her eyes allowing the warmth of the place to close in around her, as she listened to the gentle sweeping of the broom downstairs and the natural creaking of the wooden place.

The bell that tinkled didn’t stir Ciena in the least, however, the scraping of bar stool on wooden floor did. Ciena sat straight up and let out a little groan, had she really forgotten to put up the closed sign? Dusting herself off, Ciena trudged down the stairs in a huff, ready to kick whoever it was out of the place.

Expecting to see a big burly man seated inside, Ciena was surprised to see a young girl, quite possibly a student sitting quietly at the bar. Her wet things were around the fire that Ciena had conjured earlier that morning. The girl seemed small in the shadows, and she could feel the cold emulating off of her.

Walking behind the bar she tapped the young girl on the shoulder, “We’re closed,” Ciena said softly, so as not to startle the girl. She brushed her black curls to the side and waited for her response.

((Im not on a lot. But I'd be happy to RP with you ))

[leilanimejia]

Lei looked up at the bottles of drinks before her. Three large shelves were before her containing everything from butterbeer to a lime green, lethal looking ale. A sudden creepy feeling caused Leilani to turn around and scan the room for someone else there, but of course; there wasn’t anyone to be found. She shivered a little, trying to shake off the feeling of someone watching her, when she looked to indeed be alone.

The whisper came out of nowhere. It seemed to come from a woman who had now appeared behind the bar. “Oh!” Leilani cried in surprise, practically falling off her bar stool. “I’m sorry I didn’t see you there,” she said with an embarrassed smile. The woman didn’t seem to be that much older than her, thick black curls were set daintily and purposefully around her face.

Looking to the front door, Leilani cocked an eyebrow, “There wasn’t a closed sign.” Leilani was a little appalled at her own audacity, but had glanced out the window and was reminded that she was not about to remove herself from such a convenient position. The snowstorm was raging outside, and she there was no way for her to get back to the castle without a severe case of pneumonia.

“I won’t bother you,” Leilani started, almost pleadingly, “It’s just… It’s just, it was so cold outside… and I had nowhere to go for the moment. This was just the most suitable place for my situation.” Leilani felt herself babbling and finally decided to get to the point.

She let out a sigh, “Look, I’ll just be here until the snow storm subsides. I’ll do anything for the time being. Just don’t send me back out there,” Lei pleaded. The woman looked unmovable, so Leilani lifted herself off the stool and moved towards her things by the fire. Back to the cold abyss, she guessed.

[cienabarboza]

Ciena jumped back in surprise, for she had not meant to scare the girl in the first place and the girls’ startled cry had startled her herself. Ciena leaned over the bar taking a good look at the girl, a student from the school most likely, but out so early, why?

Her green eyes widened at the girls’ remark, perfectly arched eyebrows raising a little to reveal that she wasn’t at all amused by the comment. “I forgot to put it up there,” Ciena said in a deadly, soft whisper, “See, it’s very early in the morning and those Christmas decoration and the cleaning of this dirty place has taken me the whole night until this very moment.” Ciena felt her voice raise a little and felt her hair begin to lighten to its angry blonde. Her sleeplessness was definitely getting the better of her.

The girls’ rude statement had changed to pleading as she watched the girls’ gaze to the outside raging snowstorm. Ciena took a rag out and began absentmindedly wiping at the bar, choosing to ignore the girls’ pleas after the angry retort.

Ciena crossed to the window and waved her wand to reveal a scarlet closed sign. Continuing to listen, but feigning to be uninterested a light came on in Ciena’s head. The girls’ plea had hit a nail on the head.

Swirling around face to face with the girl that had interrupted her quiet time, a devilish smile crossed her face. “Did you say anything?” Her hair began to settle back to black as she turned on the charm. “I do need some help around here. It’s hard to do all this work all by myself.” She blinked her eyelashes.

“I’m sorry for being terse with you. I just haven’t gotten sleep in the last week. And I’ve just been offered a job up at the school for extra cash,” she poured on the pity party. She really didn’t need the extra money, but Ciena did have a thirst for learning and couldn’t stay away from some sort of study for long.