The gang's all here - Night at the pub

[tt_lily]

Date: 18 April, 2002
Characters: Lily, Remus, James, Harry(?), Lisa (?), others
Setting: The World's End Pub
Content: Gen
Status: Open: Public

Lily checked her watch after James' last message and grabbed a quick shower before she headed over to the pub. As she got dressed in jeans and top, she thought about how this would be the first time all of them got together - her, James, Sirius, and Remus - since they all arrived. Not to mention throwing in Harry. What a time this would be.

Hurriedly, although she was still a few minutes early for the time she wanted to leave, she finished getting ready (deciding to leave her hair down) and left. Knowing it would take a bit longer than normal to get there, she arrived a full fifteen minutes early. Better to be fashionably early. At least that's what she told herself.

Remus arrived at the pub a few minutes before Lily had so he took the honors of finding them a large enough table (he ended up moving some together). He'd went ahead and ordered a couple pitchers of the local brew to start the night off with a bang.

Upon seeing his friend, he stood and gave her a hug. "You'll have to forgive me if I get rowdy tonight."

Lily rolled her eyes. "You're tame compared to James and Sirius. If Sirius makes it."

Comments

[tt_james]

James jogged up the front steps of the World's End, a slight sheen across his forehead as he opened the door to see Remus and Lily already at a good sized table. He shot a wave and a wink to Lisa as he crossed the room, sliding into a seat next to Lily and putting an arm around her.

"Sorry, forgot how long it takes to walk places," he said matter-of-factly before leaning down to give Lily and kiss on the cheek. "Padfoot's not gonna make it," he announced, "I guess he and Cecilia Proudfoot are stuck on Austrailia without magic and on the opposite end from the new settlement. They're hiking," he shook his head as if to say hiking? seriously?

[tt_remus]

Remus grinned, "Looking at plants and such too, no less." He was sad that Sirius couldn't make it, but figured that was the odds of his job too. You couldn't predict solar flares nor where your job would take you. At least he was with a nice enough woman though. Could be worse. He could have been with that one Slytherin girl from fifth year who both fancied him and hated him at the same time.

"How've you been, mate? I went ahead and got some pitchers but I figured you'd want something else too."

[tt_james]

James laughed and leaned forward to pour himself a pint of the beer, "Thanks, mate," he grinned. "Been alright, cursing the very existence of solar flairs, of course. Lily, what was it like not having magic growing up? I've never even considered it."

Leaning back again he put his arm back around Lil and took a long pull of his beer with his free hand. Shaking his head to looked to Remus, "And you? Have you ever thought about it?"

[tt_lily]

Lily couldn't help but look odd. "Well... I don't know. It was normal for me because I didn't know magic existed. Obviously I had some moments where it showed through, but it was just life. It wasn't until after Hogwarts I could use it on a daily basis and make life easier. Which, in fact, made life loads easier. I can't give you an exact answer."

Remus pondered her line of thought. "I can see that. You can't miss what you don't have. However, growing up with magical parents, it would seem an atrocity not to have it. I mean, Mum could cook and do twelve other things at once if she needed to. I can't imagine her wasting so much time by doing things one at a time. Merlin, that makes us wizards sound so spoiled," he finished with a chuckle.

[tt_james]

James hook his head listening to their stories, a wide look in his eyes. "I just don't even know what that feels like, though I do agree with you, Moony," he lifted his glass toward his friend, "we are very spoiled and I don't want it any other way."

He took his toasted sip. "That's not to say there's anything wrong with not being magical but it's like... suddenly waking up one morning a different religion than you've always been, or speaking a different language, and everyone's look at like you like you should know what's going on when you don't even understand the words coming out of your own mouth." He shrugged.

[tt_ginny]

Without magic, the days had suddenly gotten much longer and harder. Ginny couldn't understand how Muggles dealt with everything without magic. The med center was packed with accidents of all sorts. There didn't seem to be an end of ridiculous things magical people tried when there wasn't any magic.

At least potions were still working, which was a very happy thing as far as she was concerned, since Pepper Ups were something she considered vital now. That and the World's End. Ginny was far too tired to cook after a long day at the medical center and having to walk everywhere.

She trudged up the steps of the pub, pushing open the door to find Remus and his friends had pushed together a few tables towards the back. Gin lifted a hand in greeting but headed to the bar, not wanting to bother them.

[tt_lisa]

"Ginny!" Lisa exclaimed over the din of the crowd with a tired sound. "How are you doing?" It turned out running a pub the muggle way - as much as she was her mother's daughter and her mother would laugh at her for saying so - was exhausting.

"What can I get for you?" She pulled up her datapad to put in the order for Paul in the back. Paul who'd been in a freaking giggly mood all day watching her running like a mad woman.

[tt_ginny]

"Lisa! Are you a sight for sore eyes. And feet. And everything in between! What a day!" Ginny replied, sitting on the bar stool and leaning against the counter. "The med center is a zoo."

"A pint and a shot of whiskey. Not necessarily in that order," she sighed, leaning her chin on one hand. "Oh, and some chips, please. I could eat a hippogryph right now but can't make up my mind yet."

[tt_lisa]

"I can't imagine. Then again, maybe I can, as I imagine they're all coming from doing stupid drunken muggle things here, straight to you there!" She swiped a hand across her forehead, pushing her hair back. "Right up," she said, grabbing the shot first and letting Ginny have that while she pulled her pint.

Dropping that off, she put up a 'one second' hand and then ran down the pub to grab a couple of cocktails for a couple of giggling girls she'd been unfortunate enough to have been waiting on all night.

Making her way back to Ginny, she nodded at her, "Put your chips in, too," she said, and then "Sorry if you've had an influx thanks to the Pub," and sighed.

Hestia/Open!

[tt_hestia]

Oh Godric, this whole not being able to use magic thing was bringing back memories of the safe house and the Dursleys. And while they weren't exactly unpleasant memories, they weren't the type to make Hestia happy and cheerful. While her first instinct was to go ask Kingsley if she could come over, she felt like she had been taking advantage of that one too many times, heading out someplace where she could be distracted from her thoughts sounded like the next best idea.

So it was with some relief that she saw James' entry stating that there was going to be a gathering at the World's End pub. Slipping on jeans, a t-shirt, and sandals and deciding at the last minute to include a pair of pajamas in her bag (if her mood didn't improve or she didn't feel like heading home, she'd just sneak into Kingsley's house and spend the night), Hestia made the walk over.

Stepping in, she saw what she thought to be James sitting at a table. Not feeling exactly comfortable joining their group (Order membership notwithstanding), she made her way to the bar and debated what to order. Deciding on crisps and a pint, she waited for Lisa or Paul.

Re: Hestia/Open!

[tt_adrian]

Adrian looked up from his datapad, sitting at the end of the bar, to see a familiar face sitting not far from him. Smiling he set his datapad down, grabbed his pint, and scooted down to the seat next to her. "Ms Jones, good to see you again," he put out a hand in greeting. "Though I must admit, a part of me prefers to running into you on the beach," he smiled over his cup.

"Is it presumptuous to join?" He asked after he'd had a sip and set it back down.

Hestia/Adrian/Open!

[tt_hestia]

At Adrian's speaking, Hestia felt an actual smile break upon her face. "Speaking of the beach, didn't we have the discussion that it's Hestia, not this 'Ms. Jones' thing?" she said, before shaking his hand. At his mentioning preferring to see her at the beach, she laughed. "I can assure you that the preference is mutual."

"Feel free," Hestia responded with a wave of her hand. "How have you been?" At that moment, Lisa came by with a smile and Hestia put in her order of crisps and a pint. Lisa said that it would be coming up momentarily.

Re: Hestia/Adrian/Open!

[tt_adrian]

Adrian grinned at her chiding, "Of course, old habits and all, my mother would box my ears for calling someone the family isn't acquainted with by their first name," it seemed weird to have pureblood traditions - well, old fashioned, more than anything - around here.

"We'll have to do another day out there sometime, when things calm down," he whirled a finger around as if that explained what he meant.

"I've been alright, luckily I'm not much with a wand as it is, much prefer potions, and my current work hasn't been affected, so I'm lucky I'd say. And you?"

[tt_lily]

Remus nodded at Ginny's comment and went back to the table, sitting down a bit stiffly. "Erm. Ginny will be joining us. I hope you both don't mind, because she's joining us either way."

Lily had to stifle a laugh at Remus' experience. He seemed so... not Remus. "Right. She's nice, Remus. It'll be fun."

[tt_ginny]

With pint and a bowl of chips in hand, Ginny made her way over to the group, circling another rather loud group in the center of the pub. Those were going to give Lisa grey hairs, if anyone in the place was tonight.

She flashed a smile to both Lily and James as she sat down in the seat beside Remus' that was open since that put her close enough to talk to the others without raising her voice too much. "Thanks for the invite. How's everyone dealing with the Muggle-ness?"

[tt_james]

James lit up when Remus and Ginny Weasley joined them. Not only had Remus brought a girl around, but it was the whiskey fan, AND they've saved him from his cock up with Lily.

"Whiskey girl! Welcome! I personally hate being a Muggle, but love Muggles, and that's an existential crisis that requires me to be far drunker than two pints of beer will get me. Thus we have more pitchers on the way. And how are you? How do you know our dear Moony?" He waggled his eyebrows at Remus just to make his friend blush.

[tt_lily]

Remus could have killed James right then and there. Hands down. In front of witnesses. It would only get worse and Remus knew it. He knew James would have a field day when it was learned where. He looked to Lily to lend him a hand.

Lily honestly had no idea where to go from there. She silently shrugged. "James... do you think you could get me a drink... maybe something... fruity?" Of course, she still had more than a glassful of her second drink. Not to mention her water. It was a lame attempt but she tried.

[tt_viktor]

To say Viktor needed a stiff drink after that meeting would be an understatement. It was a happy coincidence that Alicia had messaged him saying she was going to the pub, so he simply went straight there after it was over. If he could dream it being over. The League was in an uproar with the loss of magic. He might as well be talking to a wall.

Entering the pub, he was surprised to see so many people there, taking up just about all the tables. He scanned the crowd, only finding Alicia after a moment, seeing her with Ginny Weasley and some other people. He made his way through the crowd to the table, bowing his head before taking the seat beside Alicia, his arm draping around the back of her chair as he winked at Ginny in greeting.

"Haff all dink pub good idea today?" Viktor asked, clearly confused.

[tt_alicia]

With the pub being as crowded as it was, people moving and standing close to her wasn’t particularly unusual and Alicia paid it no attention while she enjoyed the light mood at the table. After a while, yet another person moved up behind her, only this time there was no doubt in her mind; Viktor was here. Looking up, she smiled at him, both in greeting and because she had been right. “Hey babe,” she told him as he sat down. “Yeah, you’re among Brits now, and with things being different from what they normally are, we seek out what we know.”

With a chuckle and a gentle, loving nudge of her shoulder, she held out her hand as she introduced the people around the table. “Viktor, this is James Potter, Lily Evans and Professor Lupin.”

[tt_viktor]

"Brit no alone. League committee haffink large fit," Viktor commented with a wry grin. "But dey on Three. Long vay from bother us."

He nodded to everyone as Alicia introduced him. The Potter name caught his attention, naturally, since he had met Harry during the Tri-Wizard though they had little interaction. At the time, Viktor had more things than some prophesied child to worry about. "Good it is, I met you all," he stated politely, pleased that the server had seen him sit and came over right away. He ordered a bottle of vodka and a glass.

[tt_lily]

"Nice to meet you," Lily said. "I noticed your accent, and pardon me for asking, but where are you from?" Lily blushed a bit, not wanting to sound so forward. She was curious though.

[tt_harry]

Harry was glad he'd mentioned to his mum that he might be late. He'd taken longer than he expected with Teddy, who had taken some coaxing to get to sleep. Finally the little boy was off to dreamland though and Harry made his way to the World's End, getting lost along the way. He managed to find it eventually and walked inside, looking around for an instant before he found them. His heart warmed at the sight of not just his parents and Remus, but Ginny at their table.

Grinning, Harry made his way over to the table. "All right, you lot?" He greeted, knicking a chip and crunching on it.

[tt_ginny]

After a good deal of laughter and some teasing between Remus, James, and Ginny over alcohol, Harry arrived, taking a seat near Lily across the table from her. She flashed a friendly smile, and pointed to his father. "Your dad is a bad influence, you know. He's practically dared me to out drink him."

When Lisa came by to get Viktor's order, Ginny waved to her, asking for more plates of chips. "He's underestimating the Weasley constitution for trouble, he is," she commented, nudging Remus' arm gently.

[tt_remus]

Remus grinned, "I remember drinking with James once where he drank himself sober. It was... odd. He'll give you a run for your money." He also remembered a competition between himself and James. He ended up sick in an alley and had a hangover for three days. He never understood how James could handle it all.

[tt_harry]

"Apparently that's one gene I didn't get from him," Harry mused, shaking his head with a grin. "I don't handle alcohol that well. I've only been pissed a few times. Once I ended up home, naked in my bath tub. Another time I ended up in a Muggle pub, singing karaoke to a song I'd never heard of." He admitted, laughing and turning a bright shade of pink as he realized he'd probably shared too much.