Pen sees daylight for once
Who: Pen, anyone around
What: Dinner at the Leaky
Where: Leaky
When: April 19th, 1999
Rating: Gen
Status: Open

Penelope's boss had sent her home. In her first year on the job as an Unspeakable, she had put in more hours than any of the senior witches and wizards, and he appeared worried about her. She had looked at him quizzically trying to figure out his concern but when she got to the pub and took a look in the long mirror that lined behind the bar, she understood suddenly. She had deep purple bags under her eyes, her skin looked yellow and yet pale at the same time, and her hair - despite her best maitenence spells - was flat and shiny in a completely unattractive way. Pulling a rubber band out of her bag, she threw her hair up in a messy bun and tried to put a perky smile on when the tender came over. "Burger and fries?" she asked, and then added, "and a cider, please," feeling self conscious. It was rare for her to be out this early and even more rare for her to have a drink in public, but during daylight felt even stranger.

Looking around the pub she waved at a girl she'd known in school - a Ravenclaw a year below her - and let her mind wander. She was currently working on deciphering some of Professor Dumbledore's papers from when he was a child - he'd written in his fifth year about a room in Hogwarts filled with toilets, but there was no record of the room and Pen certainly couldn't recall one - and it had all been stumping her greatly. It wasn't often she came up against a subject she couldn't tackle, but the mind of Albus Dumbledore was certainly one of them. Biting her lip as she grew anxious again on the topic, she was relieved when her drink arrived snapping her from her thoughts.

Thanking the tender and taking a long pull of the tart cider, Pen felt herself relaxing. Maybe being sent home early wasn't the end of the world?