It Was Always You

[Rina Moore]

Rina's shift was long but the girl with coloured hair managed it with a smile, admittedly wishing she could convince the owner to hire someone during the school holidays. There were always a bunch of newly graduated witches and wizards coming in to drink their days away while they pondered over what to do with their lives. It left the already busy bar that much busier and Rina was admittedly sinking behind on her tasks. She was just glad her regulars were patient and didn't mind too much as long as she gave them a quick cheeky comment about how they were looking good or flirted with them a bit, as if she had never flirted with a patron before. Admittedly she did this often and not for genuine interest in people, instead out of covering her own skin but the young adult gave a go at it as she worked, talking with everybody that came up to the bar to order. While her feet were sore and she was getting weary, she knew it would all be worth it because one day she would have her own tattoo parlour but for now she had her own gun and was an apprentice. It was enough for now but only for how. The heavily tattoo'd girl with the colourful hair knew it was never something her parents would approve of with their strict lifestyle and expectations she clearly could not nor would not attempt to fulfill. She was happy in her life but could only imagine what some might think of her now as she was so visibly different. Looking up to the next customer Rina smiled and said, "What can I get you, stranger?" She looked him over and coyly smiled. He looked familiar but not enough to keep her from acting this way.

 

[Marcel Haynes]

For the first time in forever the young eighteen year old didn't need to be in bed early in order to wake up properly to get ready for lessons without fearing that he had overslept, and to be honest, it felt great not having to care about that any longer. To celebrate the fact that he managed to graduate, the former prefect went to a bar in his hometown, though he also needed a drink because his friend wasn't there to celebrate it with him and he felt lonely without having Avie around anymore. So after telling his father that he would go to the bar and that he didn't have to stay up, Marcel made his way down to the crowded space most people would go to on a rather cold autumn night like today. Marcel opened the door and felt the warmth on his face upon entering the bar. He smiled weakly and walked straight toward the bar and leaned against it, looking at their menu and order himself a beer without looking at the bartender. If he did, he might have recognized her, although she too, had changed a lot over the years.

 

[Rina Moore]

The witch smiled, although she was a little irritated that the patron hadn't bothered to look up and make small talk. It was what got her tips, after all. Even though people were hesitant to give tips it still went a long way when done because she was good at her job and maybe because it covered her own drinks later in the evening too. "Coming right up," she said. "Do you want that in a glass or is bottle okay?" Rina smiled, not noticing the familiar face that she was currently looking at because her mind was zooming, while she poured a few other pints too. It made the work bearable knowing that with and without magic she could multitask to the highest degree. Her parents would call this a waste of her education but preparing libations for people was hardly a career for her anyway. She had higher goals of opening a tattoo parlour of her own as she had practiced several on herself and other people as an apprentice.

 

[Marcel Haynes]

Marcel looked up at the bartender, ''Bottle, please.'' and smiled weakly at the woman. Still leaning on the bar, the former prefect watched the woman as she was doing her job because he could swear that he knew her from somewhere now that he got a better look of her face, though he couldn't place a name nor a memory at the bartender's face. Slightly irritated by the fact that he couldn't remember why she looked so familiar Marcel glanced around in the crowded room hoping that someone he could recognized had just walked in, but much to his surpise, he didn't know a single person in the bar. Turning his head back to the bartender because she was probably the only one here that would actually talk to him, he opened his mouth. ''Has it been this crowded the whole night?'' Marcel asked hoping that the woman was up for some small talk.

 

[Rina Moore]

The tattoo'd woman managed a smile as she grabbed a bottle and flicked the lid off against the opener and put it on the bar ahead of her. She had barely noticed that he was watching her as she went about her work until he spoke again. Quiet as he seemed to be, perhaps shy even, Rina did indulge him. "All the new graduates are coming in droves," she explained with a nod before she typed into the cash register and told him the cost of the drink, waiting for the money while she smiled at him. "Are you one of them too?" She couldn't help but wonder if she recognized him from somewhere, perhaps her alma mater, or if he was just new in town but either way she was busy multitasking as they spoke. Pouring a pint of stout for a regular who waited patiently as he watched the two of them talking. She knew he would make a comment about it like he always did. He seemed more hopeful for Rina to settle down then her own parents did but his heart was in the right place.

 

[Marcel Haynes]

Marcel nodded and smiled thankfully when the bartender put his beer in front of him, and raised the bottle before he drank from it. He chuckled after hearing the reason as to why the bar more crowded than usual and took another sip from the bottle before he answered. ''Yeah..'' the former Hufflepuff said soflty, looking away from the woman for a moment because it reminded him of his friend again. He missed Avie a lot, missed the enthusiasm he radiated at times when Marcel felt like he needed it the most since his friend always knew how to cheer him up. Noticing that he was drifting away the former Hufflepuff turned back to the bartender and smiled. ''What about you? You one of us, too?'' he asked because he could swear that he knew the woman from somewhere, and so the conversation wouldn't drop dead.

 

[Rina Moore]

Rina pushed a strand of very pink hair behind her ear as she nodded, pleased with herself for guessing correctly though in their small town she should have recognized him anyway. There was a fairly small but close wizarding community here and yet she knew most people barely recognized her from the child she had been with her dark hair, subtle smile and very, very frilly dresses. She was the visual representation of a flipped switch over the years and it caused some strain with her family who hardly approved of her choices and in no way appreciated her apprenticeship. "Na, I graduated last year from Hogwarts Scotland," she said with a shrug. "Let me guess..." Rina continued, "You were a... Ravenclaw?" She gave him a smile because she felt sure that most of the Ravenclaws tended to be more shy which had been the case although she was the antithesis of that in her own house. She was weird and had a lot of potential as her parents put it. Utterly wasted, apparently. Still she had kept them out of her life for many years even when she had begun to tattoo herself and her friends in secret at Hogwarts.

 

[Marcel Haynes]

It was killing him. He recognized her from somewhere, that much he knew for sure. He just couldn't think about where he recognized the bartender from. It wasn't school, as she graduated from the other Hogwarts school. It wasn't probably wasn't his winter break job at his father's comicbook shop neither, as she didn't look like the type of people that would usually walk into the shop. Drinking from his beer again, Marcel continued to wonder where he could remember her from until she tried to guess the house he was in. Whilst smirking widely, he shook his head, ''Nope,'' The former Prefect said. ''I was a Hufflepuff.'' Although he might as well have been sorted into Ravenclaw House as he spent most of his time in the books, trying to discover something that would help Avie and him in finding that damned Room of Requirement, which apparently was unable to find as he hadn't found the room in his last semester at Hogwarts. ''My turn.'' Marcel said before taking another sip from the bottle. ''You were... a... Slytherin?'' he guessed.

 

[Rina Moore]

Disappointed that she had guessed incorrectly the woman took note of his house but she no longer judged people much on their houses. Still Rina nearly guffawed at the bar patron when he suggested that she might have been a Slytherin. There was nothing wrong with the house it was just not hers. So instead of sounding too incredulous in her response she said, "I used to have a friend, Marcel, who always told me I should be a Slytherin but nope." She was happily sorted into Ravenclaw which was good for her because the forced friend had teased her about it so much that at the time it had actually put a sour taste in her mouth about the house for the first few years education. "I'm actually a 'claw alumni," the bartender said with a smile and shrugged her shoulders as she handled drinks for other people.

 

[Marcel Haynes]

Marcel jerked his head to the woman behind the bar when she told him that she used to have a friend named Marcel. ''Did he.'' the boy said, leaning in closer to have a better look at the bartender. Ignoring the fact that he had guessed her house wrong. His mind was racing at what she told him, as he used to have a friend back when he was younger whom he always teased with that. Whilst sipping from his bottle, Marcel kept leaning back and forth, wondering if the woman serving drinks was really the person he thought she was. He hadn't seen Rina in what seemed like forever, come to think about it, so honestly couldn't remember what she looked like anymore. Putting the bottle back on the bar, the former prefect opened his mouth, ''What about this Marcel guy, which house was he sorted in?'' Marcel asked just to be sure that it was really who he thought it was.

 

[Rina Moore]

As Rina was asked about Marcel she couldn't help but think that was odd but more then that she could barely remember anything about him as it had been years since they had seen one another and she had thought him to be boring and a little too perfect. Every so often her parents would say short little quips about how well he was doing and what his parents had reported back to hers. She was also pestered as to why they hadn't spoken in so long either but she thought of him as more annoying than Carter, this was certain. It didn't help either that since they had last seen one another she had cut her hair radically shorter, dyed it and gotten more tattoos than one might ever expect. The trajectory for her life was different then anyone expected as she had snuck around for so long but now she gave up sneaking and just wanted to enjoy herself so she shrugged and said, "A Hufflepuff too, I think." She smiled politely at him then left his side briefly to give another patron a drink though out of the corner of her eyes she did still see the young graduate drinking.

 

[Marcel Haynes]

Marcel and Rina were supposed to be friends when they were younger, but as they were two completely different persons they often clashed when their parents weren't around. He wanted to follow the rules that and she thought of them as subjective, unlike her brother Carter with whom the former prefect used to be pretty tight with even though the boy was a year or two younger than him and Rina. The last time he had seen Rina and her brother was two weeks before Marcel, Marcellus back then, would attend Hogwarts New Zealand as an eleven year old. Marcel took once last look at the bartender before opening his mouth, he was convinced that it really was her after she told him that ''Marcel'' was a Hufflepuff also. ''It's hard to recognize you with pink hair,'' He said. Hopefully not mistaken because he wanted to know how she was doing after haven not spoken to each other for seven years. ''Can't believe your parents gave you permission to do that -- come to think about it, they probably didn't.'' With a grin on his face he waited for the bartender to turn towards him again, drinking the last of his beer so he could order another one.

 

[Rina Moore]

Rina was enjoying this conversation with the new graduate, not at all realizing that after all this time they actually would run into one another like this and certainly not realizing that the young boy she had mentioned as a little tidbit of information would be standing there in front of her. It was so strange to her that as the man standing before her began to speak to her like they knew one another that it didn't actually occur to her that this was Marcel. "I'm sorry?" she asked, turning back to him and searching his face whilst wondering if he had several drinks before coming to her bar. Then it came to her like a slap in the face as he mentioned her parents. She was utterly gobsmacked with her mouth hung open wide. "Merlin's saggy left b@ll, it can't be you!" Rina wished now more than ever that she had more people working with her so she could leave the counter to talk with the younger man who still seemed like such a boy to her as she had not seen him at all. "You're all grown up," she said, looking him over. She was not going to say that she was impressed with how he had changed but she could really appreciate it as anyone might be able to.

 

[Marcel Haynes]

Marcel grinned when Rina realized who he was and laughed at her comment. ''I bet mom and dad don't approve of this language either.'' he said, finding it funny how much the girl had changed not only in looks but in character as well, as he remembered that she wouldn't dare use foul language in the presence of her parents. As the two were looking at each other, Marcel tried to remember why he hadn't stayed in contact with her whilst attending Hogwarts because he had done so with her brother, though that might have been because he and Carter were hanging around together a lot when their parents weren't around to force him to play with Rina instead. He still wondered what their parents thought would happen if they forced their children to be around each other all the time. Perhaps they wanted them to boyfriend and girlfriend once they were all grown up, which to be honest didn't sound anything like his father, or maybe their parents wanted the two to marry? Whatever it was, he couldn't picture Rina as his girlfriend or wife. She had told him countless times what she thought about him back when they were younger, and it wasn't anything positive. ''Did you expect me to still be little Marcellus?'' the former prefect replied, shaking his head and smiling widely. ''Could say the same about you, though. You don't look too bad yourself.'' he said and winked at her.

 

[Rina Moore]

Rina shrugged as her parents were brought up again. It had been a long time since she had really cared about what they thought because she knew a long time ago that she had already disappointed them so utterly completely that she had to stop caring. It really was the only option. She looked Marcel over again, admittedly surprised that her image of him in her mind's eye was completely off. She knew logically he couldn't be eleven anymore but she still pictured him as this annoying little kid. "Not really but... you have a beard now. That's crack up," she said although she knew she couldn't say much as everything about her was different from when he had last seen her. With her coloured hair, a body covered in tattoos and a rather low cut top and a short skirt to match, she was nothing like the prim and proper girl he had last seen. "Listen, my shift ends in a couple hours.. Did you want to catch up after?" she asked, as the bar got busier because she wanted to give her full attention to this conversation as it was so strange to her but she also had to work and avoid getting into trouble with her customers and her boss.

 

[Marcel Haynes]

Marcel chuckled when she mentioned the beard, and rubbed his face while thinking about his facial hair. He thought it looked good on him, that it made him look a few years older - not that he needed to look younger but still. Marcel nodded his head when Rina asked him if he wanted to catch up after her shift ended. Of course he wanted to catch up with her after so much time not having seen each other. ''Sure,'' he replied, ''So long as the alcohol keeps flowing I'm all good on waiting.'' He gestured at his empty beer bottle hoping she would get the hint. He wondered how much she had changed over the past years since she had drastically altered her appearance, not that he was complaining though, he liked her much better like this. As he was given another beer by the bartender he smiled and turned away from her to talk with a man who was talking to another about magical creatures, and while doing so he waited patiently for her shift to end.

 

[Rina Moore]

Rina was easily distracted throughout the rest of her shift, stealing glances towards little Marcellus all grown up. Every time their gaze would meet she would blush and a couple of times the older regulars seemed to suggest that they would take care of him if ever he gave her any trouble. If only they knew how much trouble he had given her since the day they had met. This was different though - everything felt so different even in that brief conversation so when she was finished work she took her black apron off, collected her small tips for the night and went to fix her make up for the briefest of moments before she poured herself a drink. The night was ending and with it the crowd was dispersing but at least she could be able to talk to Marcel. So as to not surprise him she put a hand on his back before taking a seat across from him. She leaned forward and just looked into his eyes for a moment. She was absolutely amazed that this was the boy she had detested and been somehow jealous of. "This feels so strange," she said. Rina had put parts of her life into boxes - she had done this for years and years. It was how she had kept her tattoos a secret from her parents when she had actually cared about their opinions on it. Marcel was in a similar box as her parents were but this ripped him out so unceremoniously that she felt a little unsure of how she should feel about it. "I have so many questions for you that I don't know where to start," she admitted while she took a sip of her beer. Maybe he would know what to do or say because she was at a loss just looking at him now.

 

[Marcel Haynes]

Marcel was happily eating from the bowl of peanuts he had ordered while waiting for Rina's shift to end when he looked up to the woman's face as she sat down on the seat opposite him. He smiled and pushed the bowl towards her so she could get some it she wanted to. He couldn't help to agree with Rina that this indeed felt strange. Seeing her again for the first time in what felt like forever opened up some feelings he thought he had for her back when they were younger. ''Well,'' he began before taking a sip of beer, ''You can begin with asking me how my life has been ever since I went to Hogwarts New Zealand.'' Marcel told Rina with a smile on his face. ''Because I'm pretty sure that we lost contact with each other the moment I went to school.'' To be honest Marcel had not even thought about Rina once while attending Hogwarts, as he had been busy running around the school trying to find the Room of Requirement with Avie or studying for his classes. ''And after that I have some questions for you too if you don't mind.'' He mostly wanted to know what she had been up to in her teenage years but also wanted to know things like how her brother and parents were doing because he hadn't seen them in ages too, and at the thought of the woman's parents Marcel wondered whether both his mother and father and hers still talked to each other from time to time as he had never heard his father mention her parents after the divorce of his own anymore.

 

[Rina Moore]

Rina chuckled at Marcel's suggestion. It was obvious but it worked because there was so much she wanted to know about his life these days especially since they had taken a turn away from one another. He was sure he would want to ask her how she had ever changed from sweet little Riri with her comically conservative clothes to this woman she had become but for now she said, "Well are you going to tell me?" The girl briefly touched his hand and shook her head, still amazed that this was real because it felt like a fallacy.


OOC: Next post will be better. Sorry for delay!