Ginny showed up for work the next evening trying not to act like she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. She had never had worked in a place like this before, and she didn't particularly like it. She didn't know why she asked for the job in the first place, but it was something new, and she thought she would like working with James Wilkinson.

 On her first evening, James pointed out multiple bottles on the shelves, explaining what each one was. Ginny listened closely and tried to remember each one, but she kept forgetting which was which and had to either look closely at the labels or ask James. She didn't feel comfortable asking for so much help, so she mostly did it all herself. She had a feeling she served the wrong thing a few times, but no one said anything.

 Ginny overheard a few customers ask who 'the new one' was, and James would reply, "New bartender. Stan just hired her yesterday."

 When they were finally closing up for the night, Ginny asked, "So, how did I do?"

 "Not bad. But I have to ask you, Ginny, have you ever had any of these drinks before? Ever?"

 She shook her head. "I don't think I have. It makes me feel silly, because you said you don't drink any of them, but you know what they all are."

 "Well, I've been working here for years. I was barely out of high school when Stan took me in. He figured it wouldn't look good if he had someone that young serving up alcohol when I wasn't even old enough to legally drink yet, so I worked in the kitchen for a few years."

 "You have a kitchen?"

 "Uh, yeah, of course we do. And you suddenly sound very excited. What's on your mind?"

 "I can cook. Do you think Stan would let me work in the kitchen instead of at the bar?"

 "Well, if you can come in tomorrow and prove you can cook, then yeah, I think he would. We're dangerously short on employees, so I think we're gonna need as much help as we can get. Even Stan can't argue with that."

~~~~~~

 "What is she doing in my kitchen?" Stan demanded the next day.

 "Shh. Come on, man, you want to scare away the customers? She told me she can cook, and she's hoping you'll let her work in the kitchen instead of at the bar."

 "Well, why should I?"

 "Because she really struggled last night, and I felt bad for her. When I mentioned I've worked in the kitchen, she said she can cook. She's perfectly happy in there, and she seems much more at home in there than she was out here."

 Stan didn't seem to have a reply to that, which actually surprised James.

 "Well, if she can actually cook," Stan said gruffly, "I guess I may as well let her stay in there."

 "I haven't heard one complaint about the food," James said. "Therefore, she must be doing all right."

 "All right, all right." Stan held up his hands in defeat. "I really don't want to keep having these wars of words with you. She can work here. I think she's all right."

 James nodded. "I think she'll be pretty happy to hear that. Why don't you cover for me here while I go tell her the good news?"

 He left the bar and went back to the kitchen, where Ginny was looking through the cookbook which always sat up on the shelf.

 "You guys really need more people working here," she said. "You weren't kidding when you said you were understaffed."

 "Believe me, I know. But we have taken one step in the right direction. Ginny Weasley, you are officially hired."

 A smile crept across her face. "Seriously? That's great! Thank you, James. Does that mean I can clean up this kitchen and make it a little neater?"

 "Please, feel free to. I still haven't managed to find the time to do it myself. I have to get back up front, but keep up the good work. I haven't heard one complaint about your cooking."

~~~~~~

 By the end of her first week, Ginny had managed to clean up the kitchen and make it look at lot more respectable, but she seemed to know better than to challenge Stan about the menu because nothing on it changed.

 "Where the hell did you find that woman?" Kevin, the other bartender, asked James. "She's quite the master with that kitchen."

 "Mistress," James corrected. "She just showed up here last week, and was interested in a job. I don't know where she learned to cook, but even Stan seemed kind of impressed with her."

 Kevin whistled. "If that's true, then she deserves everyone's respect. You think Stan will agree to hire a couple of extra people around here now? Maybe if you talk to him, it'll actually work."

 James shrugged. "Maybe. Things might actually be looking up for once."