I sat down on a comfy chair in the tea shop.

A waitress came by to take my order.

"Just a regular tea," I told her quietly.

She nodded and stalked off.

"Marlene?" asked a familiar voice.

"Peter?" I said, looking up to see his mousey face. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm- er- visiting my mum," said Peter, looking down at his shoes. "She hasn't been very well lately."

I smiled at him sympathetically. "I'm sure she'll get much better. The Healers here are absolutely wonderful."

Peter nodded. "Thanks. Why are you here, though?"

"Just checking on my dad," I said briefly.

Peter didn't press the matter.

He sat down in the chair opposite to me. "They have a nice tea shop, for a hospital."

"They do," I said. "Hey, have you met Susan?"

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Who's Susan?"

"The talking elevator," I said with a sigh.

Peter's eyes widened. "The elevator... talks?"

"Yup."

"I should go see that then," said Peter with a glint in his eyes. "James and Sirius would die of laughter."

I grinned. "They would. Sirius once peed his pants because he laughed too much."

Peter snickered. "See you around, Marlene," he said.

"See ya, Pete," I said back with a wave.

Peter got up and walked over to the elevator to chat with it, supposedly.

I caught a glimpse of his face before he re-entered the elevator to go down.

He looked... different.

Not the regular and jovial Pete.

Guess it was just the war doing this to us.

Everyone felt horrible in times like these.

The waitress brought me my tea and I gave her 5 sickles.

She squinted at me. "It's only 2 sickles, ma'am." She was a stalky woman with puffy brown hair and a bright glint of youth in her blue eyes. Her thick Welsh accent seemed kind and genuine.

"It's alright, you can have the rest," I told her. "Thanks."

She looked taken aback, as if she didn't get this kind of treatment from other customers. "Alright, thanks."

I nodded and sipped my tea quietly for another while.

Life maybe wasn't the best at times like these. 

But I guess we could hold out for just a little longer.