Chapter 1
The golden walls gleamed in the early morning sunlight as Harry began taking down the chairs from where they rested atop the tables. The morning routine was soothing in a way. Set up chairs, wipe down the constellation designed tables, stock the sugar. He smiled to himself as freshly brewed coffee filled the air.
His green eyes lit up with happiness as he heard the timer ring from the kitchen at the back of the shop. He passed Ron, who was writing the drink specials on the chalk board, on his way back. He grabbed his succulent patterned oven mitts and pulled out the fresh cinnamon rolls.
As he set them aside to cool before icing them, he saw a well manicured hand reach out from behind him trying to snag one.
“Pansy, just because you walk Hermione to work in the mornings doesn’t mean you can steal the merchandise.” Harry slapped her hand away.
He saw her own green eyes flash in amusement even as her deep red lips pouted.
“Darling, do you want me to starve? I have at least five fittings to do today. Wherever will I find the time to eat if not for your delectable rolls?”
Harry struggled to maintain a straight face at her blatant attempts at manipulation. “Don’t you have a cafe right next door to your place? We’ve been there. They have decent sandwiches.”
“Decent? Decent! Don’t I deserve the best? And you are the very best.” Pansy purred as she inched her hand towards the rolls once again.
He grabbed a dish towel and snapped it at her, finally breaking into laughter. “Go on.” He pointed to a box on the other side of the counter. “I already boxed you up some treats. You minx.”
She squealed and pounced on the gleaming white pastry box. “I swear to God, Harry. You are the reason I have gone up a dress size. I’m not complaining mind. Curves are all the rage right now.” She mumbled while chewing.
“I’m sure Hermione isn’t complaining either.” Harry winked before grabbing the icing bowl and getting to work.
“Mmmm, she definitely is not.” Hermione came up behind Pansy, wrapping her arms around the other woman’s waist, and pressed a kiss to her neck. “Love, as much as I enjoy having you stay and distract me, you’ll be late if you don’t go. Don’t forget the new tshirts for the shop though, please!”
Pansy twisted in Hermione’s arms and brushed their lips together in a light kiss. “All my talents and I’m designing T-shirt’s for a coffee shop. It must be love.”
Harry watched happily as his best friend melted at that. Her face went soft and her deep brown eyes practically glowed with love.
“Mmmm, cinnamon.” Hermione licked her lips and dipped her head to kiss Pansy once more. “I love you. I’ll see you tonight.”
Pansy gathered up her box of rolls and waved goodbye. Harry could hear her and Ron calling out to each other. He smiled softly at his best friend as he began cleaning up the kitchen. He still had several pastries to make but he didn’t like clutter everywhere. He wiped down the marble countertops then began to pull out the ingredients for the breakfast croissants he planned for the day. He wanted them warm and fresh for the early morning customers.
Hermione stayed out of his way while she munched on a cinnamon roll that she had stolen while his back was turned. “Have you thought about the menu for the Fifth Year Anniversary Bash, yet?”
Harry paused in his measuring. “I have. I know I want to do a birthday style cake. Five tiers. Different flavor profiles. I want a mix of sweet and savory pies as well. I’m not sure about cookies or sandwiches yet. I want to sit down with you and Ron this week or next and make sure we are all on the same page for the menu, advertising, favors…. Basically all the things.”
Hermione nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll look at our schedules and see what day works best. What flavors are you thinking for the cake?”
He could feel the blood rush to his cheeks. “Actually…. I’m going to do each tier based on each of our favorite flavors.”
Hermione cocked her head and furrowed her brow. “Harry, there’s only three of us. What about the other two tiers?”
Harry didn’t reply right away. He finished adding the ingredients to the bowl in front of him before he turned to face her. “There’s five of us. Pansy and Luna work just as hard helping make this place our dream. They deserve to be on the cake.”
Her eyes filled with tears. She tackled him in a tight hug. “I love you, Harry James. You’re absolutely right. They do deserve it.”
He hugged back just as tight. “I love you too, Hermione Jean.”
“Oi! We are opening soon; I’m not seeing the sausage croissants. And I’m being left out of the group hug! What are we hugging about?” Ron wrapped his long arms around them both as the shorter two laughed and wiped at their faces.
“Harry being thoughtful and including our partners in the anniversary cake.”
Ron’s face softened even as he snapped his head around to gaze at Harry. “That is super thoughtful mate. Thank you.” Ron nuzzled the top of Harry’s head for a moment, messing up the already messy black hair before clapping his hands together. “Right. Hermione to the office with you. Harry back to work. We need yummy treats and I’m starving. Oh, Hermione here’s the front inventory list.” Ron handed off a clipboard to Hermione and shooed her away.
As Harry turned on the stand mixer, he thanked whoever was out there that he met his two best friends the first day of university. He couldn’t even imagine what his life would be like had he and Ron not met in the orientation line or if the two of them hadn’t saved Hermione from some brainless troll outside the women’s bathroom.
He focused on the filling the breakfast croissant and got them started in the oven. He knew most people in the area were used to hand pies but he liked to bring variety of tastes and techniques. He didn’t see why he couldn’t experiment and broaden some horizons.
He liked his routine in the kitchen. Bake, cool, icing or frosting if necessary, stock the case, and repeat. He heard Ron call out their five minute warning before opening and moved to put the cinnamon rolls in the case along side the cake donuts he had made earlier. “Croissants should be coming out in 15!” He called out as Ron passed him on his way to open the front door and flip their sign to open.
As he made his way back to the kitchen he heard the sounds of their early morning regulars already rushing in before they headed to work. He popped his head in to ask Hermione to play the “Good Morning” playlist the three of them spent hours perfecting. He glanced over his list of what he had planned to bake that day as well as what he needed to prepare for the next.
“Alright. Up next is biscuits and brownies once the croissants come out,” Harry muttered to himself. He grabbed the croissants and walked to the display case, filling it.
His day was slammed with him baking and rushing to fill the ever emptying display case. He waved to the regulars in the shop as he made his way back and forth. Towards the afternoon, he brought up a tray of chocolate chip cookies. As he rounded the corner, he spotted a tall man dressed in black walking up to the counter.
Harry froze. He took in the other man’s long black hair, strong nose, sharp jaw. He hadn’t ever seen the man before but with the university down the road it wasn’t rare to get a non local in the shop. However, none of them were as good looking as the man approaching the counter.
“Hermione, I think it’s time for your break.” Harry called out as he filled the case quickly.
She flicked her eyes from the man to Harry and back again. She shook her head in amusement and said, “I believe it might be. Thank you Harry. You’re so thoughtful!” She stressed the last word with a quirk of her lips.
They grinned as they passed each other. Harry kept the smile on his face as he greeted the other man.
“Hello there. I’m Harry! Welcome to The Owl Roost! What can I do for you?” Harry rested his hands on the counter and leaned towards the other man, looking up at him slightly. He knew exactly how bright his green eyes could be when glancing up and used it to his advantage any chance he got.
“Black coffee.” The man replied curtly.
“Just a black coffee? Sure I can’t tempt you to taste something sweet?” Harry purred.
“Just a black coffee.”
Harry sighed. “Not a problem! One black coffee coming right up!” He turned to pour the coffee in a mug and said over his shoulder, “Are you new in town? I’ve never seen you here before.”
The other man raised his eyebrow as he stared at Harry. “I am.”
Harry waited for the handsome man to say more but he never did. Silence filled the air. Harry chuckled, “Goodness, you love to talk about yourself don’t you. All these details are overwhelming.” He handed the coffee to him making sure their fingers overlapped slightly. “If you want cream and sugar let me know. I’ll take care of you.” Harry winked.
The taller man looked almost confused as he paid then walked away. Harry watched him sit at a table and pull out a stack of papers. He thought he was being subtle about watching the other man until Ron came up beside him and nudged him.
“Mate, you’re being creepy. Stop staring.”
“I’m not staring. He’s just… hot.”
“Harry, Harry, Harry. You haven’t taken your eyes off him since he walked in.” Ron smirked at him. “You made Hermione leave for a break when she had only been up here an hour helping with the afternoon rush. You winked at him.”
Harry cringed. “You saw that did you?”
“You mean, did I see you strike out horribly when asking our brand new customer if you could tempt him to taste something sweet. Not at all, mate.” Ron clapped a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Better luck next time, yeah?”
Hermione came around the corner at that moment. She wiggled her eyebrows at Harry. “Sooooo?”
Harry just shook his head and walked back towards the kitchen. He heard Ron explaining in great detail that Harry’sflirtations went unnoticed and Hermione giggling at the over the top hand motions.
“You both are the worst.” He called out over his shoulder with a laugh.
Harry danced around his kitchen mixing and baking, thoughts occasionally drifting to the unfairly attractive man in the front of the shop. Maybe he came on too strong? Not strong enough? Harry had never really had an issue pulling before but he did tend to avoid it at the shop. It could get awkward if a regular became an ex.
He heard the playlist shift to their closing time playlist as he was prepping pie dough for the next day. He wrapped several batches tightly in plastic wrap to place in the refrigerator
The trio went about their closing duties occasionally stopping to chat. Once they were finished they gathered in the kitchen to box up the leftover sweets.
Hermione leaned against the counter and pulled out her phone. “I was thinking next Thursday would be a good time to sit down and start planning out the anniversary bash. What do y’all think?”
Both men agreed that would work for them and after saying their goodbyes, the three went their separate ways.
Harry walked to the market needing to pick a few things up for dinner. He was testing the ripeness of the tomatoes when he felt someone run into his back.
“My apologies.”
The deep voice sent chills down Harry’s spine and he turned with a smile on his face.
“Oh, it’s you! Handsome Black Coffee Man.” He smirked at the other man and pointed to himself. “Harry. From The Owl Roost.”
“I remember.” He began to move around Harry toward the lemons but Harry shifted subtly.
“You know it’s customary to give someone your name when they introduce themselves.” Harry looked up at him expectantly.
The other man seemed confused again. “You want my name? Why?”
“Well, I can’t just keep calling you Handsome Black Coffee Man.” Harry laughed.
For a moment Harry was sure the other man was going to refuse to tell him his name. But he was delighted to be proven wrong.
“Severus.” The man said stiffly.
“Nice to meet you, Severus.” Harry said lowly. He brushed his hand down the other man’s arm. “What brought you to Birmingham?”
A woman passed them causing Severus to step closer to Harry. Their chests brushed against one another. Harry made no effort to put space between them.
“I’m not sure why you care.”
Harry leaned in slightly. “We like to get to know our regulars. It creates a more intimate experience.”
Severus tipped his head to the side. “I would not say one visit makes me a regular.”
“A man can dream can’t he? Plus once you taste my brownies you won’t be able to stay away.” Harry jiggled the box he held. “Here. Consider it a welcome to the neighborhood gift.”
Severus looked down at the box being offered to him then back up at those bright green eyes shining with amusement. He slowly reached his hand out to grasp the box. “What if I hate brownies?”
A hand flew to Harry’s chest as he gasped in horror. “Who hates brownies? Monsters. Monsters hate brownies. Are you a monster?”
“My students occasionally think so.” The taller man smirked.
Harry began to walk the stalls gathering up produce. “You’re a professor? What do you teach?”
“I attempt to teach History to foolish university students who can’t be bothered to show up on time most days.”
A burst of surprised laughter flew from Harry’s mouth. It was the most in one sentence the man had said so far. He enjoyed seeing the dry humor that was obviously hiding.
The two men chatted as they did their shopping together. Harry asked most of the questions trying to draw the other man out. Occasionally getting glimpses of his biting wit. After they had each paid, Harry turned and asked, “How would you feel about joining me for supper? I’m just up the road.” Harry hoped the other man would take him up on his offer. Not only was Severus handsome as hell but he was intelligent and witty.
Harry watched as Severus’ face became guarded and closed off. He couldn’t help but wonder what caused it.
“Thank you but no. I must be going.”
“Alright.” Harry said gently, worried he would spook the other man if he pressed. “Come back to the Roost and let me know how you liked those brownies! I hope you enjoy your evening!”
Severus nodded and walked away.
Harry watched him stroll down the street and hoped it wouldn’t be the last time they saw each other.