Closing Time (Verity/Jamie)

[Verity Bromley]

Verity felt like if she kept standing, she might actually collapse. Her face was pale from the lack of sleep and increase of stress over the past week. She looked like a mess. The last customers were gone for the night and Verity walked over to the door. She flipped the open sign to Closed and breathed a sigh of relief. She had made it through another night...barely. She turned around and headed to the back, waving back and forth slightly as she walked. She debated whether or not she should just stay the night at the Three Broomsticks instead of walking all the way back to school.

[jamie]

Hogsmeade was quiet at that time of night and Jamie took advantage of it. He had been walking around the town for a while when he came across the Three Broomsticks. He could see the light was still on even though the sign said they were closed. A small grin spread across his lips as placed his hand on the doorknob and pushed the door open. The bells jingled lightly as he stepped in. He couldn't see her, but her sweet scent filled the air. She always smelled good, like lilacs.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity was sitting at her desk in the back with her head slumped over. She was so close to falling asleep when she heard those blasted bells on the door jingle. She lifted her head as much as she could and managed to yell a weak. "We're Closed!" She must have forgotten to lock the door like she always did. Who could possibly want to come in at this time of night? She sat up and pushed her hair out of her face. With one deep breath in and out, Verity stood up and made her way over to see who it was. Her wand was grasped firmly in her hand...just in case.

[jamie]

Jamie saw the wand first. “Whoa!” He said holding his hands up innocently. “Don’t shoot!” He joked. When the rest of Verity came into view he let his eyes trail over her. Her hair wasn’t in the neat, smooth curls he was used to seeing but rather messy and wild. Aside from her unruly hair and smudged make up she looked put together nicely. As if she had gotten dressed up earlier. “You look nice.” He mused with a smirk. “Hot date, huh?” He joked, although secretly he was going insane with curiosity. What if she did have a hot date?

[Verity Bromley]

Verity lowered both her wand and shoulders as she breathed out a sigh of relief that the intruder was not a serial killer, but only Jamie. She rolled her eyes. “As a matter of fact, I did.” She said attempting to sound icy, but she couldn’t resist that smile that spread across her lips. She had been at the Lake with Leo and it had been amazing. The memory flashed across her mind, forcing her smile to spread into a grin.

[jamie]

As a matter of fact, I did. Those words combined with the expression on Verity's face sent Jamie from curious to slightly jealous. He hadn't really expected her to say yes. She looked so happy and that only made it worse. "Good." He said finally. "Good for you." He had to force himself to exhale. The thought of someone else all over her was enough to make him go insane. "What's his name?" Jamie asked tightly. It was all he could do to keep from sending himself into a jealous rage.

[Verity Bromley]

((lol i think you mean What's his name...))

"Why do you care?" Verity asked defensively. She didn't owe anything to him. That one time they were together was a mixture of exhaustion, a temporary lapse of judgement, and all the dust they must have inhaled. It was a mistake, it meant nothing. Her smile faded. She answered him anyways to shut him up, if nothing else. "His name is Leo." She said with a sigh. "What are you doing here, anyways?" Verity asked eyeing him suspiciously.

[jamie]

Leo. Jamie immediately racked his brain to remember if he knew any Leos. He couldn’t think of any, but that didn’t make it any better. He couldn’t get the image of someone else holding her in their arms as he did out of his head. He was almost too far in thought to hear her question immediately. He unclenched his fists. “I was headed back to the castle and I saw the lights on in here.” He said with a shrug. “It’s late.” He said before clenching his mouth shut. It was the only way he could keep from blurting out a serious of questions. What did he look like? What house was he in? Did he know him? What’s so special about him?

[Verity Bromley]

"Yeah, I know." Verity said remember how tired she was. "I was just closing up." She turned her head and looked back at the office she had emerged from. She still had to finish out the numbers, but at least everything was already cleaned up. Verity turned her to look at Jamie just in time to see the tension in his face and fists. She looked at him suspiciously. He had a funny look on his face. "Why are you acting so weird?" She asked looking at him quizzically.

[jamie]

Jamie blinked. “I’m not acting like anything.” He said defensively. He took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. “Is there anything I can do to help you close up?” He asked, his voice calm. He didn’t want to fight. Well, not with Verity at least. But perhaps with that other bloke…

[Verity Bromley]

Verity was taken a back by his defensiveness. Maybe it was just her exhaustion, but he seemed on edge to her. She muttered a slow Ohhhkaaayyy... before turning around to go back into the office. "No, I'm almost done." She called from inside the office. "You should head up to the castle. It's late. You don't want to be caught out after curfew." She said raising her eyebrows, even though he couldn't see. It dawned on her that she could write him up for it now.

[jamie]

Jamie rolled his eyes and followed her to the back. "What are you going to do, write me up?" He joked. He wouldn't put it past her to do so , but then again he didn't really expect her to do it. He leaned on the door post, not wanting to disturb her humble office...which resembles a storage closet more than anything.

[Verity Bromley]

"Maybe I will." Verity challenged. She really should, she thought. It serves him right for being out late anyways. Verity sat in her chair, went through the last receipts, and placed them in the safe before turning off her desk light. "You never really did say why you are here." She pointed out. She didn't understand why it was so important for him to be out right now, especially if that meant getting house points docked.