Modern No-Magic AU Drarry

Chapter Twenty

Squinting at the receipt for an Uber order in his hand, Harry adjusted his glasses.

"Need help, old man?" Ginny asked, dumping a heavy box up onto the bench next to him.

Harry quickly shuffled out of the way, not looking up from the tiny piece of paper. "No, I'm good. Eight coffees. Easy."

After glancing at the receipt, Ginny raised an eyebrow. "That's a four." As Harry frowned and held it closer to his face, Ginny turned away and laughed, walking to the back room.

A couple of seconds later was the sound of something tearing and hundreds of tiny things clattering to the floor, accompanied by Ginny's exclamation, "Oh, Jesus Christ, Colin."

Harry rushed around the corner and immediately his eyes widened.

A tiny boy stood in the middle of the back room, a limp paper bag in his arms. The last coffee beans dropped to the floor, hardly making a noise as they joined the massive pile that had spread across the entire floor.

Her jaw tight and sporting a glare that could kill, Ginny closed her eyes. "Hold the bag at the bottom, Colin, how many times do I have to tell you. Hold the bag-" she lifted her foot, coffee beans tumbling away from where they had it buried. "At-" stepping down, they crunch beneath her feet. "The bottom." Snatching away the empty paper bag, Ginny was scowling.

Colin looked as though he was about to cry.

"Now I have to clean this shit." Ginny said crossly, discarding the bag into the dry sink with disgust.

Harry tried to take a step forward to help, only to have coffee beans crunch beneath his feet. "Ginny, I can-"

"Nope." Ginny said simply, looking around for the broom. "Take the kid with you and go serve. I think I heard the bell ring."

"Yep." Harry quickly said, eager to not get on Ginny's bad side, especially when she's already angry. He took a glance at the screen above the door which showed camera footage of the customer room and then felt himself gulp. "Actually, I really can clean if you want me to. I'm okay with cleaning."

"Harry, what the fuck is your problem?" Ginny demanded before looking up at the screen. She sighed. "You're gonna have to stop avoiding them, you know."

"What? I'm not avoiding them. I just..." he anxiously watched the video of Ron and Hermione swaddled in jackets and scarves, peering around the shop, no doubt looking for him. "I just haven't seen them in a while, is all."

"Yeah. Because you've been avoiding them."

Harry turned around, eyebrows furrowed. "Because I had been locked in my room for weeks, actually."

They glared at each other and Harry was reminded of one of the reasons they broke up just before Harry graduated high school. They were both incredibly stubborn, neither of them ever backed down when they got into arguments.

"Harry?" Hermione's voice came.

Sighing, Harry rubbed his face as he slowly turned around, not wanting Ginny to think she won the standoff. He walked out into the serving area and tried to make sure his smile was genuine. "Hey, guys."

A relieved smile came onto Hermione's face. "Oh, thank god. How are you, Harry?"

He shrugged, placing his hands up on the bench between them. "Could be better. You?"

"'Bout the same." Ron nodded, pressing his lips together in a smile.

Harry tried to figure out what was different about them. There was something, but he couldn't put his finger on it.