Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 222: Unruly Customers
When James walked inside the Leaky Cauldron, the first thing he noticed was how quiet the place was. At least compared to what he was used to seeing.
'I shouldn't be surprised… the entire alley is like this.' It was going to take a long time before things returned to normal, and that could only happen after Voldemort was gone for good.
He spotted Andromeda sitting at the bar, next to a boy with short brown hair, whom he assumed was Ted Tonks.
As Harry Potter, he had only seen the man one time before he was killed by Death Eaters, just a bit before his grandson was born.
'Truly a tragic fate.' He heard noises coming from the other side of the room and saw a group of middle-aged men occupying the table in the corner.
Other than Andromeda, Tonks, and the owner, Tom, who was behind the bar, those men were the only clients in the entire tavern.
Even from this distance and with a quick passing glance, James could tell that those men were some type of bounty hunters.
There was always something about the way they behaved, moved, and dressed that gave it away immediately.
James went directly to the bar. Andromeda and Tonks turned around when they heard someone approaching.
"James." Andromeda greeted him. "It's been two hours already?"
"Not quite. I just finished my business a bit earlier than expected. Don't worry about me, I'll just get something to drink, and I can wait for you to finish speaking with…" His eyes moved to the boy. "Mister Tonks."
"Please, just call me Ted." He extended his hand for a shake. "I already know you're James Potter, even if Andy didn't talk so much about you."
"Do I talk a lot about James?" Andromeda looked surprised to hear that.
"You do." Ted pointed. "Honestly… if he wasn't already engaged to your sister, I would get worried."
James sighed and turned to the man behind the bar. "Hello, Tom. Butterbeer, please."
"Right away." Tom brought him a glass, and he started drinking it.
Tom walked out while carrying a large tray with big beer jars for the table in the corner.
Things were quiet for a bit. James was minding his business while Andromeda and her boyfriend continued their conversation.
But not even five minutes later, James started noticing that the men at the table were not only getting louder but also making some nasty comments.
He managed to pick up a few of them and realized that they were talking about Andromeda while giving her some lustful glares.
Both Andromeda and Ted were well aware of what they were saying, and it was visibly making them uncomfortable.
"Maybe we should go somewhere else," Andromeda suggested.
"Or I could go and tell them something." Ted was clearly furious.
"Absolutely not." Andromeda grabbed his robes and furrowed her eyebrows.
"Sorry about that." Tom looked at them with an apologetic expression. "They have been coming here often and always get a bit… 'unruly' after a few drinks. But you shouldn't get involved with them." He said it softly so as to avoid being heard by the men.
"Who are they?" It was James who asked.
Tom looked at him. "Hit wizards… dangerous people. The Ministry hired them to keep an eye on the alley, but all they do is drink and fool around… I don't know what to do." He knew that confronting those men would just make things worse.
"Mmm… as I thought." James murmured.
He then noted that one of the men, a very large individual with a completely shaven head and an ugly smirk on his face, was now walking directly towards them.
"Hey there." The man licked his lips as he approached. His eyes were locked on Andromeda, completely ignoring anyone else present. "What's your name?"
Andromeda frowned. "That's none of your business. Just leave us alone."
"Sir, I don't want trouble in my tavern." Tom tried to intervene.
"Trouble? Have you forgotten why we are here? Hmph! We are the ones protecting this place!" The man huffed with annoyance at Tom before turning his attention back to Andromeda. "My friends and I were just wondering why a woman like you was sitting next to this loser." He pointed at Ted. "Why don't you come keep us company? We'll buy you as many drinks as you want, hehe." His fingers moved playfully as he went to touch her hair.
Ted immediately snapped the hand away. "Don't touch her!"
"Haha! At least you have some spirit." The man looked mostly amused at Ted's behavior, as he didn't feel any threat from the Hogwarts student.
The men sitting at the corner seemed to agree as they also burst into laughter.
James sighed. "I can already see where this is going. I just wanted to relax a bit." He wasn't exactly in a good mood after what he had to do to those Death Eaters before coming here.
And now this.
The hit wizard glared at James for a second. "Don't meddle in this, boy. Unless you wanna get hu—" His eyes opened wide when he saw James pulling something from his robes.
It was a large bag that made a clinking noise as he slammed it on the table.
It became immediately obvious what was inside the bag, since some of the gold coins began to fall onto the table from how full it was.
"Gold!" the hit wizard exclaimed.
"Merlin!" Tom stared at the bag with pure shock. There was a fortune in there.
"Tom…" James pushed the bag to the owner. "This should cover the repairs."
"Repairs?" Tom looked confused. "But I have already repaired the tavern."
It was not easy to replace all the things that couldn't be fixed with magic, and he had to use much of his savings, but the Leaky Cauldron was looking brand new once more. All that was missing was the clients.
However, the true meaning of James's words became apparent when he placed the palm of his hand on the chest of the large bald man, who now looked as confused as Tom.
"What are you d—"
James activated his magic so quickly that no one had time to understand what happened until it was already done.
The large hit wizard was propelled backwards with the speed of a cannonball and crashed against the table where his companions had been sitting, sending pieces of furniture and broken glass everywhere.
A.N: - Remember to comment, vote, and/or leave a review if you have the time. Those things help me a lot and I would really appreciate it.
You can Support me on P@treon if you like and get 20 advanced chapters. You can also find characters images to view for free in Collections/Invincible Stage Images
-patreon.com/Kriogenix
For donations and commissions, go to ko-fi.com/kriogenix