Despite what Matthew could have thought about the pub, truth was, today was a surprisingly calm day. ‘The Prince Albert’ had become quite popular amongst the locals, and that meant that every Friday, they had a group of men come over to watch the football and get drunk after a long week of hard work. If she was completely honest with herself (something that was considerably hard to do), Terrell –better known as Vivian or ‘Viv’ around these parts –could admit to herself that she didn’t particularly despise her job. Sure enough, it had been hard at first, but now…
Now, she almost liked it. She liked the locals, their jokes, the peace and familiarity between them, occasionally interrupted by a bar fight that Abe or herself quickly put an end to. It was frustrating not to be part of the magical world anymore, but if she thought about the muggle-borns now begging to eat on the streets, Terrell knew she could count herself as very, very lucky. And in the nights when she couldn’t sleep, too busy worrying about her friends, too busy hating on the madmen that had pushed her kind to prison, the streets or the run, Terrell could comfort herself by thinking she was only biding her time. Soon the chance to fight back would come.
It had to.
Meanwhile, she would pull her weight by cooking and serving tables. Not the most glamorous job in the world, but it was alright. It required so little thought that she often practiced advanced arithmancy in her head, or went through an alphabetical list of spells. She wouldn’t forgive herself if she forgot a thing.
“You certainly can, sir,” she replied to the voice behind her as she deposited a pint of beer on one of the tables, replying to the customer's appreciative smile with one of her own before turning.
Abruptly, the math inside her head came to a crashing halt. The pub’s background noise faded, replaced by a strange ringing in her ears. Later, Terrell would consider herself lucky for her self-control. Before she could react, her brain took the reins of her body, and as a result, no obvious hints of her surprise passed through her face. However, she knew her eyebrows had shot up, and so, for better measure, she turned away from the man’s familiar face. Her mind reeled. What was his name? What was his blood status? Had he recognized her? Should she call Abe?
“I… If you don’t mind waiting for a moment, I’ll show you which room you can occupy. Do you have any luggage you would like carried up?” she asked, trying her best not to sound as she felt: like her heart was going to jump right out of her chest.