Ready for the Weekend (Three Broomsticks)

[Effie Thornheart]

Three Broomsticks Inn, December 13, 1991 8:30PM
Outfit: https://lijing-shop.com/cdn/shop/product...1626795319

Effie entered the Three Broomsticks late Friday evening, a gust of wind blowing in from behind her, "shut the door" a chorus of drunk shouts rang out. Quickly doing as they said, Effie let out a little sigh and unbuttoned her black cape coat. Her nose and cheeks were pink from the crisp winters air and she was thankful for the sudden warmth of the Three Broomsticks. Giving Rosmerta a wave, the witch continued to an empty booth tucked away in a corner in the back. It had been a stressful week, on top of having to care for all the students that came down ill, were injured, were faking ill or had tried to magically induce illness, she had also been tasked by Madame Pomfrey to assist her with her research on finding better ways to regrow bone. All week her days had been busy and full of children and then she would be researching late into the night. This meant she had been having very little sleep and she was getting cranky having nearly lost her patience at a few students today. She decided a change in environment was needed, so here she was. Letting out yet another sigh, the blonde plopped down onto the bench facing the bar and entrance, threw her book bag to the wall and shrugged off her coat, leaving it lying behind her. She was wearing a white turtle neck top and black trousers with black boots that stopped just before her knees. Breathing in deeply she began pulling out heavy books, parchment paper, a quill and some ink from her book bag and placed them neatly in front of her. School hours were done and it was Friday evening but here she was still working, 'oh well, at least its interesting...sometimes', she thought to herself about the research. 

Rosmerta had made her way to Effie, giving her a big smile.
"How's it going Effie?"
"Oh you know Rosmerta, another day, another Galleon. How are you?
"I'm doing just fine, what can I get you?"
"Just my usual."
"You sure you don't want something stronger? Might help you with your research" Rosmerta said with a laugh.
"Tempting but I'll just take the hot coco for now. Maybe I'll take you up on your offer later." Effie replied with a smile.
Rosmerta nodded and left the booth to get Effies order.

Opening up a book Effie began to neatly take notes about ingredients that promote bone growth. Taking a break when Rosmerta returned with her mug of hot cocoa, the tired witch set aside her books and note taking equipment. Rosmerta clunked down her hot coco and rushed back to the bar as a little grapple began to take place between two wizards. Effie surveyed the situation and thought 'there's certainly a different type of crowd here later in the evening compared to the day.' After ensuring Rosmerta was handling the situation alright Effie returned her attention to her hot coco, bringing it up close to her face and inhaling deeply, savoring the sweet scent. Then she took a small sip and let out a satisfied sigh. She loved hot coco, anything chocolate actually, and Rosmerta always made an especially good batch of hot coco. She took one last sip and then returned her attention to her books and notes.

[Jacob King]

// Jacob's outfit, Carrie's outfit, Freya's outfit //

"Mum, Daddy, look!" a blonde haired 9-year old girl exclaimed, sounding amused as she pointed at a large lush Christmas tree near the Three Broomstick Inn. It was beautifully decorated with a great vatiety of glittery and magically enhanced items in blue, gold, and silver. A gas powered street lamp along with several nearby lanterns cast a cosy light on it.
"Oh my," said the father as  they kept walking along the street and he watched a group of nifflers of all ages climbing all over it and stuffing their pouches full of so-called treasures. "I hope no one decided to decorate that the muggle way as it'll all soon be gone," he added. You never knew about folks living here where magic could be used freely, they might not appreciate the fun in doing some things without it.
"This must be their favourite time of the year," the mother stated as she spotted one baby niffler attempting to tear off the star at the top despite of it being much larger than the animal itself, and another unwrapping a tinfoil covered piece of chocolate, then disgarding the sweet down onto the snowy ground.
"We would need two Christmas trees if we ha a niffler, wouldn't we?" the girl chuckled at the marauding furballs.
"I think they would still treat both as their own," Jacob guessed, "which is one of the many many reasons why we will never give into your brother's pestering about adopting a niffler."

"How about a cat?" the child took every chance to ask for a pet herself as well.
"No, Freya, not even a cat. At least not yet," Carrie answered, giving her a little half-hug as they walked. "Your wish is more reasonable, but we are still too busy for any pets to be happy in our home."
"Oh..." Freya síghed, but could not stay disappointed for more than a second in this magical little village.

The winter in London had so far been frosty but rather snowless, as usual. Unlike a year ago when it had been unusually very cold and had even inconvininetly massive snowfall at one point. This year Jacob had arranged himself a very long Christmas holiday by taking annual leave and some of the remaining parental leave at the same time, so he could have a little family vacation to Hogsmeade. Here was lots and lots of snow and above all a chance for also his youngest child to enjoy spending a longer time in the wizarding society. All autumn she had felt sad that her brother got to live at Hogwarts whilst she was stuck in a muggle school, though she'd tried not to show it much. Sure next week was still a school week but as all academic parts of the term were over her teacher had okayed her missing that week.
"There'll be lots of wonderful things under the tree on Christmas," Jacob still offered a cheerful reminder.
"And Hunter will be home!" Freya added fondly, hugging her father.
"And Hunter will be home, that is indeed the best of all," the man confirmed as he gently wrapped an arm around her and patted her beanie covered head.
"And didn't he say hes made a gifts for us at Hogwarts?" Carrie pondered, thinking back on all the letters the boy had sent home during the autumn term.
"Yeh, so this Christmas morning ought to be especially memorable," Jacob stated. "But now, how about some warm drinks at Three Broomsticks?"

The young family left the cold behind and as the women folk approached the bar, Jacob took a quick glance around and frowned. The place did seem somewhat calm and there were still many empty tables and one empty booth but clearly the direction was undesireable.
"Should we go to a coffee house instead?" he questioned as he too arrived at the bar. The question was posed more at his spouce who also now looked around, but answered by the Inn owner behind the bar.
"Oh, don't worry. It usually doesn't get too restless until a bit later in the evening," Madame Rosmerta assured with a warm smile at the man, then looked down at Freya who'd been completely focused on the drink and snack options written on the chalk board, listing the most popular ones. "Any specific cravings, little lady?"
"Do you have any muggle drinks at all?" Freya asked, looking up at the woman, "All those sound strange."
"Certainly we do. Almost anything. How about tea or hot cocoa?" Rosmerta suggested, "We can still add some magical joy into it," she winkd at the child.

Jacob took anothe look around, still considering. It had been a very long time since he last visited this particular business, and he couldn't be sure if the woman just wanted to make a sale to obvious non-locals. After all day in a crowded train, it would be nice to enjoy a family moment with good food and drinks. But he gave in as Freya was already happily and curiously accepting Rosmerta's hot chocolate suggestion.
"Okay then," Jacob spoke up. "We'll have that...and a slice of Treacle tart?" he looked down at Freya who nodded eagerly in response. "As for me...A slice of the same for me, with a cup of peach-mango tea."
"For me the same tea, and a couple of cinnamon doughnuts," Carrie finished.
As Jacob paid for the order, Freya rushed to find in her opinion the best seating, heading straight to the only free booth. Carrie followed her, distracted by her purse from where she dug out some hand wipes.

[Effie Thornheart]

A blonde little girl whizzed by Effie catching her attention. She looked up from her books and notes at the new people who had entered the establishment. Recognition dawned on her as she saw Freya and Carrie, it was unusual to see them here. Carrie and Freya were dressed in winter gear, appropriate for the weather.  It had been a while since Effie had last seen the Kings, probably not since Effie’s parents last Christmas party, she couldn’t quite recall. She had of course seen Hunter, their son, here and there at Hogwarts. The young woman used to babysit for the family as a teenager on her holidays and had thoroughly enjoyed her time with the happy children. The children’s parents, Carrie, and Jacob were lovely people to that she enjoyed spending time with, they had always treated her well. Her parents both spoke highly of Carrie and Jacob, and would hade been so horrified if Effie didn’t invite them to join her. Quickly she moved her books to the side and raised her hand, waving towards Carrie and Freya, she hadn’t seen Jacob yet. “Carrie! Freya! Hello!” she called out to them from her booth. She had a lot of work to do but she did have the weekend free to do it, a little bit of procrastination to catch up with old friends was alright she figured. Afterall it wasn’t often the Kings were in this neck of the woods.

[Jacob King]

Carrie turned her head to look as she registered the familiar voice.
"Effie! Hi. How have you been? It's beena long time," she responded, delighted to come across an old family friend. She paced after her daughter who had excitedly returned a "Hi!" and rushed over to Effie's booth and went to hug her favourite babysitter.
Jacob did not notice any of this as he was at the bar pouring himself and Carrie cup sof tea with milk and getting everyone napkins and spoons whilst lost in his thoughts about pets and Christmas presents. He hoped to avoid adopting any pets at all for quite some time yet, and felt a cat would nto really be much better when it came to Christmas trees. Sure they would not steal off it but would nontheless play with anything shiny they could reach and what with being cats they could reach all the same as any niffler.

[Effie Thornheart]

Effie grinned while Freya gave her a big hug, “I’ve been well, thank you, you’re more than welcome to join me.” She scooched over making room for Freya to sit next to her. Effie had always thought Freya was a sweet girl, both the King kids were actually, and they had been easy to babysit. Looking back to Carrie she asked curiously “no Jacob? What’s bringing you guys out to Hogsmeade? How have you been?” Effie hadn’t seen the family in some time, and she was frequently in Hogsmeade on her days off, so she assumed the family didn’t come here very often. Friends of her parents, Effie had met the Kings at the many social gatherings her parents held. Her parents were still big fans of throwing dinner parties however now that Effie was an adult, she wasn’t forced to attend every single one, in fact most of the time she wasn’t free to attend. She had no idea if the Kings still went to her parents parties although she was certain they would always have an open invitation to her parents. Her parents had always thought highly of the Kings.

[Jacob King]

"Thank you," Carrie sat on the opposite side of the booth table and set her handbag next to her. "We've all been fine. Jacob's here too, just finishing our order at the bar. He took us on a little family vacation here. Hunter joins us for the weekend and if there's any tickets left next week we will take Hogwarts Express back to London with him," she explained as she took off her scarf and coat.
"Effie, do you think I can go inside the castle when we take Hunter back on Sunday evening?" Freya asked as she removed her mittens, looking at the young woman as just now she realised maybe a staff member would know what her parents had not been sure of. Jacob would be picking the boy up from the gates tomorrow but there had not been any established plan for the return other than that he would not let th 11-year old walk back to school by himself late at night as he wasn't exactly familiar what this area was like at those times.

[Effie Thornheart]

“Oh, that sounds lovely!”, Effie exclaimed before taking a sip of her hot chocolate and then placing the drink back down on the table. Giving Freya a kind smile, she replied “I don’t see why not Freya. Your family would probably have to check in with the Headmaster or Deputy Headmistress, but I don’t see them having an issue with you coming in to pick your brother up. You might not get a full tour though. But do come by the hospital wing to say hi, I’ll make sure I have some candies for you. You must be excited to see your brother soon.” Some roaring laughter came from the back end of the bar, causing Effie to turn her head and look with a smile on her face as she took in a group of magical folk visiting and having a good time at a round table. Turning her attention back to Carrie she asked “How is Hunter doing with his first year? I’ve seen him in the hallways at Hogwarts and chatted with him briefly here and there, he’s looking well.”   

[Jacob King]

"Yes, according to his letters he's felt at home at Hogwarts even though we've always lived more of a muggle lifestyle for the most part. And we think we can expect his report card to be much better than any year in primary school. Occasionally we've worried he's so excited about Hogwarts and magical studies that he won't want to come home for Christmas, but in his latest letter he finally did admit he's missed us too. If there's still tickets left next week, we may take Hogwarts Express home with him," Carrie answered whilst Freya curiously eyed Effie's pile of books which she suspected were magic related, but she didn't want to interrupt adults talking.
"I hope he hasn't ended up in the hospital wing too often," Jacob joined the conversation as he approached the booth carrying the family's tray of goods. He was not overly concerned as he knew if there had been any serious injuries they would have received a letter from the staff.

[Effie Thornheart]

Effie gave Carrie a smile, amused that they had been concerned about their sons return home from Hogwarts. She found that was often the case with new students to Hogwarts. Hogwarts had a unique way of becoming a second home to its attendees, providing a sense of belonging and safety beyond just education. “Oh, I do recommend taking the Hogwarts Express if you are able. It’s such a fun time. Freya will adore it, I’m sure. Especially the Honeydukes Express, the trolley you can buy sweets from.”

Her smile widened as Jacob came to the booth, it had been a while since she had seen him just like the rest of the family. "Jacob! Hello!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with warmth and excitement, pausing for a moment, she added “You’ll be happy to know that he is not one of our frequent broom fliers. How have you been? How’s work?”