Irma left the castle on one of her weekly excursions to the Hogshead for a pint or two and some pleasure reading. It was her way of de-stressing and taking some time for herself outside of the castle—and the extremely loud children it contained. She had been asked once why she preferred to frequent the Hogshead rather than the Three Broomsticks, and her answer was simple: Rosemerta’s place was too loud.
Rosemerta had a habit of constantly pestering her to no end about getting out and dating. Aberforth, on the other hand, would simply leave her be—something that the extremely private librarian greatly appreciated.
She was about to enter the pub when all of a sudden, the door flew open and knocked her book out of her hands and into a nearby mud puddle. Before she could do anything but stare in horror as her book sank into the mud, none other than Mundungus Fletcher came flying out of the doorway and landed squarely on top of it, dashing any hope she might have had of salvaging the book.
Aberforth stalked out, anger written across his face. “And stay out you thieving little weasel!” he shouted, before noticing Irma for the first time. Something akin to embarrassment flashed in his eyes.
“Madam Pince! I beg your pardon, I didn’t see you there.”
Irma stared at him with disbelief written across her sharp features. “You didn’t see me? That’s all you have to say? You clearly didn’t bloody see me, you old goat! Otherwise your efforts with that scum Fletcher wouldn’t have knocked my favourite book out of my hands and gotten ruined in the process!”
Irma stared at him, waiting for a response.
Aberforth’s eyes widened, “I’m sorr—”
Irma huffed, “Oh don’t bother with an apology now. You ruined a book that I can’t replace and you have completely ruined my night.” At that, Irma stalked off to the castle, wanting only to be in her rooms away from everyone.
Aberforth ran his hand over his face. It seemed he had a few owls to send if he had any hope of getting his favourite patron to return.
Some weeks later, an owl dropped a parcel on Irma’s desk with a small thud. After checking it for ill intent, she carefully unwrapped it and was shocked to see a brand new copy of the book she had lost weeks prior. Not only that, but it was a first edition! With trembling hands, she picked up the note and read the few lines it contained.
Your table misses you, Madam Pince. Hopefully this will be reason enough to get you to come back.
-A.D.-
Irma smiled gently. It looked like she was going out tonight after all.