Post by jennifer on Dec 20, 2010 15:16:03 GMT -8
Friday, July 22, 2011
[ 1:13 p.m. ]
Wearing a white t-shirt with the logo of her favorite band and a green plaid print pair of shorts, Jennifer Herado found herself wandering the streets of Diagon Alley for the first time in ages. It had certainly changed. Naturally, she'd known it would have. After all, she hadn't been dead when news of its destruction had hit the headlines of the Daily Prophet a few years ago, but reading about its destruction and, later, its rebuilding was one thing. Seeing it was a whole different thing. Parts seemed just as familiar as days gone by, but the absence of Ollivander's Wand Shop along with other shops she had perused during her school days for hangouts during long summers away from the wizarding school made her feel a little melancholy.
It was weird being back, Jennifer thought. When she had left in summer of 2009, she would have laughed if you'd told her she would be back here only two years later. When she had left, she'd been a younger girl with much bigger hopes and dreams than reality had left Jennifer willing to let go of. After being given Nikki as her charge, she had found herself having to give up on the big party lifestyle she'd always imagined herself in as a Quidditch player, had given up her rise to fame she'd always dreamed of. "Watch for it, Charlie. In a few years, it'll be my picture on the cover of Quidditch Weekly," she had told her then boyfriend whimsically as they sat at a parlor in the very spot she was standing in. Now, it was some potions shop.
Charlie... she thought. I wonder what happened to him. However, she pushed the thought away. It was silly to wonder that. It didn't matter. Two years had passed. He had likely changed, moved on. It was what she had wanted when she had broken it off with him when offered the position with the Wimborne Wasps. She hadn't wanted to have to think of someone waiting around for her or to have someone to tie her down when she had had so many plans. There had been times when she'd regretted it, but those times had been far and few between, mainly on lonely nights after having partied it up and watched other friends go home to someone or the rare mornings when she had woken up to find her one-night guest had left her.
Still, she did wonder what had ever happened to him. He had been a Ravenclaw with plenty of brains to carry him far in this life no matter what he took a notion to do. She had always fancied him a high-up person in some firm or business, but who knew. Not her, that was who. Maybe some girl who didn't appreciate him as much as she could, she thought with a brief pang of jealousy that, again, she shoved away. It didn't matter anymore. That was two years ago. Still, he was probably one of the few guys who could look at her as who she was and not a member of a Quidditch team.
With a sigh, she looked around, looking a little relieved to find a small bar and grill still in its place. Mel's was an old haunt of hers and her former friends. So much for them, though. They were long gone after she had realized they were using her resume to impress girls. Still, she was glad. Her team mates hadn't been too bad. She couldn't complain. She had hardly been lonely. After a moment, she headed across the way to Mel's, heading for the bar counter and picking up the menu. She smiled slightly as she realized how little the menu had changed. There was Jeff's favorite...fish and chips. Her favorite, also. Then, good ol' James' grilled ham and cheese. Josh's shepherd's pie.
"What can I get you?" a bartender asked bluntly. Unfortunately, it seemed forty-year-old women with no other option now worked here. The lady looked none too friendly.
"Oh...Fish and chips...two pieces... No, three. And a chocolate milkshake. You do still make those, yes?" she browsed through the menu, nodding as she saw the milkshake on the back panel. Once the lady had gone off three steps to yell back to "Bob" what she wanted, Jennifer set the menu back in its slot. Now, she just had to wait and admire the scenery.