If Only I Were Ignorant

"Alyss! Get over here already!" A moderately overweight middle-aged man called over to one of his waitresses perturbed that she was walking so slowly on one of his busiest days. It was the first day of the annual Hogsmeade field trip for Hogwarts and the man would not tolerate one of his waitresses working at anything less than 100 percent.

"I'm sorry. I'm here." The girl's muscles ached only slightly. Her arms had grown accustomed to carrying several heavy orders and her legs to standing all day. Her red hair was kept shoulder-length so she could tie it back. Two small blue clips adorned with miniature static Swedish Short-Snout held any stray hairs out of her face as she rushed about the slightly over-priced inn.

"Take these over to table twelve. I know it's Janet's table but she took a break fifteen minutes ago and hasn't come back." The man looked more exasperated than upset by Janet's absence. She was known to take a break or two throughout the day, but not for so long.

"Okay. Did you send one of the elves to find her?" Alyss asked only slightly concerned about Janet's whereabouts.

"Yeah, but it hasn't come back either. If it weren't so busy I'd go out and hunt them down myself." The man sighed and all the years of stress seemed to appear all at once on his worn face.

"Excuse me!"

That was Alyss' cue to get back to work so she picked up table twelve's order and, after offering up a weak smile, walked away.

~~~

Another waitress, more slight of frame and newer than Alyss, only took a second to gauge the interaction between Alyss and their boss before heading on her way to give drinks to the first table and seat the group that just entered. She turned to the three men, dressed entirely in black, and smiled. She didn't like the feeling she received from them. It was a sick, gut-tightening feeling of foreboding that made her want to run from them as fast as her legs could move her.

"Party of three?"

They nodded in acknowledgement though none of them looked at her. The hoods of their cloaks stayed up until they seemed satisfied that the area was secured. Upon removing them the waitress' intestines tied themselves into even more painful knots.

"Follow me and I'll bring you to your table." Her smile wavered when all three men stared at her expectantly. She swallowed her fear knowing that one of the only tables open was a four-seater in Alyss' area. The knots slowly loosened as the group seated themselves and focused their attention on the menus. The waitress could only feel relief at the fact that she didn't have to serve them.

~~~

Alyss' light, but bright, green eyes followed Kim as the woman unloaded another group on to one of her tables. Alyss' body tensed as she felt anger burn through her. She wished to release the burn on to Kim, but instead turned to the patrons before her and forced a smile as she placed the check lightly before them. After expelling one of the several pleasantries she spewed at each customer she served she made her way over to the table in the farthest corner of her territory.

As she made her way over to the table she could feel her stomach tighten and her body tense with a mix of fear, anger, and excitement, though she had trouble distinguishing them through her varying states of apathy. She took a deep breath a few steps away from the table in order to calm herself so she could pass for cheery.

"Hello gentlemen. My name is Alyss and I will be your waitress this evening. Can I start you off with something to drink?" Her smile faltered as her heart fluttered and her lungs failed for just long enough for her to take in the man before her in his entirety, no distractions. All her systems started up once they were satisfied that they had registered this miraculous combination of Eros and Ares sitting before her. She was the only one who saw him this way. Others would swear he was more of a combination between Hades and Shiva.

Alyss tried to make her eyes to share their time equally between all three men. They refused and lingered on him any chance they received. They roamed over his face analyzing every detail as her brain and heart discussed the possible stories behind each scar. Below the neatly kept black hair that never seamed to stray from it's proper place was a scar that intrigued her the most. It ran right along his hairline and turned sharply away to hide beneath his hair as if someone tried to outline his face with a knife and was startled. She scrutinized it wondering if that was exactly what happened.

"Hello? Did you hear me?"

Alyss looked at the man who sat across from her dark eyed god, startled. "I'm so sorry. What did you ask?" She could feel embarrassment fill her cheeks with heat and hoped that they were already red from the general heat in the establishment.

Each of the laughs that assaulted her was distinctly different and her ears listened for the one that belonged to the enticingly beautiful man beside her.

"We are ready to order." The blonde unscathed man read off his order as Alyss wrote every last detail down in shorthand. She turned toward the third man but he seemed to be reconsidering his order.

"Are you ready at least, Sullivan?" The blonde man questioned her dream come to life.

She smiled as she saw how quickly his head moved when she turned. He had been looking at her as well. It only took a second looking at the menu for him to make his countenance cold. He couldn't deal with foolish daydreaming wenches now.

"Red currant rum and roast beef with mashed potatoes." The order poured out of his mouth smooth and sensual to her ears. He handed his menu to her trying not to flirt just to tease her.

She savored his voice by repeating his order back to him just so he would agree with her then turned to the third man. He was delaying her and she silently thanked him for it. Being this close to Sullivan, even though he was only in her peripheral vision was better than serving others and trying to catch glimpses of him. The man figured out his order much faster than she would have preferred, but she was reminded that she still had a job to do.

Alyss collected the other two menus and walked away. She could hear their laughter and it caused her to lower her head in embarrassment even though the smile on her face stretched her muscles to the point of pain.

The lingering effects of meeting him were enough to carry her through the rest of her shift. The news that neither Janet nor the elf sent to find her ever returned barely fazed her consciously as she left at the end of the day. Subconsciously the fear that had arisen when the dark group came in grew exponentially.