Three Cheers! (Dustin/Ver)

[Verity Bromley]

Verity was wiping down the counter. The rush had died down early on for the most part. It was the middle of the week and she didn’t usually expect many people at this time. The weekends and Quidditch match days were her busiest times. Verity smiled at a couple that waved on their way out. She had been doing it all day, fake smiles, that fake sweet voice thanking them and reminding them to come again. She had been up to her eyeballs busy and she hadn’t had any time for herself. Not to mention any time for anyone else. She hadn’t seen Leo since that night at the Lake and she had been avoiding Jamie since the Prophet came out. Her other friends were just as busy as she was with N.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s just around the corner and she hardly saw them. As Verity went to clean off the recently vacated table, she began to realize how incredibly lonely she felt despite all the being who constantly surrounded her. She just needed a break.

[Dustin Richey]

Dustin plopped himself down in a chair in the Three Broomsticks. The bar was closing down people leaving and the place was emptier then he had ever seen it except the girl wiping down the counter who looked like she had had a long day. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to ask for a drink but he didn't want to make her more angry because that would just completly ruin his day.

He had a wonderful day with shopping for some new quidditch supplies then he went to have a drink with his best friend and that was wonderful because he hadn't seen Fredrick in years because they went to different schools but they'd grown up next to each other.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity glanced up as she heard the familiar scraping of the seat across the floor. And it was back again, that wide grin she had been forcing all day. She dropped her rag into a bin of dirty rags hidden under the bar and walked over to the guy. "Hello." She said more pleasantly than she felt. "Can I get you anything?" She tilted her head slightly to the side as she spoke. The guy didn't look much older than she was, he may have very well been the same age as her. This didn't surprise her. Hogsmeade was becoming a more popular hang out place for those Hogwarts students that were old enough to come. She had seen a few come in and out of the Three Broomsticks just that day.

[Dustin Richey]

The barmaid had come up and asked him what he wantd but he really wasn't in the mood for drinking. It would only make him have to use the bathroom and though he didn't doubt the cleanliness of the restrooms here he wasn't big on peeing on public. It made him feel uncomfortable and very exposed.

"Um." If he didn't buy a drink then maybe she'd kick him out so he was going to have to stall. "How was your day?"

Well that wasn't completely obvious.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity's hand had already reached for a clean glass under the bar. Her eyebrows shot up quizzically when he asked the question. It wasn't often she got asked such a simple question, especially by customers. "Hectic." Verity said carefully. She spent her morning studying for N.E.W.T.s and came in the early afternoon to finish closing up from last night's sales. "But not too bad." As crazy as it had been, she didn't have room to complain. At her previous school, O.W.L. and N.E.W.T preparation courses were required so she already knew what to expect for the most part and the Three Broomsticks had become a sort of escape for her. Verity's hand dropped to her side. Normally she would have just asked for a drink order a second time or suggest an item from the kitchen for him to eat, but it was nice to have a conversation once in a while...especially when she was feeling lonely. "How about you?"

[Dustin Richey]

The girl was obviously surprised that he'd asked her how her day was and that bugged Dustin a little because wasn't it common curtesy to ask it and when people didn't it that meant the human kind was sorely lacking.

"Hectic." She said carefully. Almost like she wasn't willing to actually say what she really felt as if he would judge her or something. "But not too bad."

Dustin wondered what would make her life hectic. Oh sure seventh years had to study for N.E.W.T.S. and she had this job but there was plenty of time for both in his life, although he considered hanging out with his friends more of a job, and so he thought maybe something more was going on in her life. He loved a good mystery and even if it probably wasn't any of his business he was planning to pry in but her echo of his question brought him up short.

"My day was fun. Exciting. The usual." He shrugged. It wouldn't be nice if he bragged about how his day had been when her's hadn't been all that awesome. "Why was your's chaos?"

[Verity Bromley]

Fun and exciting. That made Verity smile. Fun and exciting used to be the usual for her life, too. Although if she had looked more closely at it she might have realized that even though she had fun and thought she could do anything she wanted, she had nothing she wanted. Verity sighed. She could have given him a short, simple answer. She tried to save people from her boring, whining, complaints, but something pushed her to say more than Oh, you know...

Verity took a deep breath, "It's just that between N.E.W.T.s and this shop, there isn't much time for anything else." She kept it as short as she could. "One minute I'm trying to master Transfiguration and the next I'm welcomed by a rush of customers. It's...hectic." She repeated.