Winter Blues (Open)

With the colder weather, the snow and the upcoming holiday, people were either packing up to go back home or traveling to Hogsmeade to do some Christmas shopping. Eventually, though, they all ended up at the Three Broomsticks. He stood behind the counter of the inn, cleaning glasses and mugs with a small towel as a group of kids in his year walked in, surely spending their last day at school together before making their way to their respective countries. It was hectic, something Peter didn't have the energy for at the current moment.

Keeping his eyes on his work and only glancing up briefly at the people in the inn, he thought how lonely it would be once they were all gone and done with their shopping. He had chosen to stay back, as he did every winter break. No need to spend a bad Christmas time with his family. They were quite a show every year. It was always the same routine, Peter would stay back until he could no longer put it off. He would arrive on the early morning of Christmas Eve, only giving himself enough time to spend with his sister and mother. Then, as it was tradition, they would all dine and his father would ask something he already knew the answer to, and Peter would reply sarcastically, setting forth the last family argument of the year. The very same night, Peter would call a friend and crash at the home for the night, only to get on a train back to Hogwarts the morning after.

Holidays at his home were never joyous, so Peter dreaded work when the only conversations he had were with his boss. As the crowd of kids settled down at a table, Peter watched as the waitress, a girl in her mid twenties, walked up to them. They weren't very nice kids, from what Peter remembered, so he turned his attention back to the glasses he was cleaning, waiting for something fun to happen.

Fun came in the form of a girl; Victoria Newbury. Peter was fairly good at recognizing voices, and that voice was definitely hers. First of all, nobody really said 'Hi, Peter!' When greeting him. It was usually just a 'What's up?' or 'Man, why are you working so late?' or 'Can I get a butterbeer, like right now?'. Not many were as friendly toward servers and bartenders and such.

Looking up from what he was cleaning, Peter saw the girl's smile and one instantly appeared on his face. Honestly, smiling was contagious. He wondered if it was actually cold enough to be wearing all that stuff she was now taking off or if she was just one of those girls who liked to dress fashionably even during winter. As she asked for a butterbeer, Peter left his spot and walked to the kitchen to prepare one for her. Making them was easy, not his favorite task as he wasn't a fan of the drink but if that's what she wanted then he'd make it for her. He walked back to her with a mug of the warm drink, placing it before her. "Here you go." Whatever Peter had said about Victoria not being pretty enough, he had been so wrong. So incredibly wrong.

The warmest place? Maybe in temperature terms because his boss wasn't exactly the best one around. Still, he didn't say anything, keeping most of his thoughts to himself. She was probably the only to ever say the word 'famished' as a personal adjective, so Peter couldn't help but smirk when she said so. "Of course they're in. This place has been crazy the past few days!" he informed her, the smirk never leaving his face. "What would you like to eat?" he took out a hand-sized notepad to write down what she wanted.