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_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.

[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_lily]

Both Remus and Lily drank to his toast as well. "I think I could live without Magic, it would be kind of an inconvenience, but is possible," Lily stated, taking a drink of water following their toast. "I guess we'll find out how long wizards can last without magic."

Remus shrugged, "It'll just make us grateful for what we have when it comes back. What a grand day that will be."

"I'll have a decent couch." Lily murmured.

[tt_james]

"Oh! Remus!" James exclaimed, remembered Lil's note from earlier, "Let's prove our non-magical worth and fix Lil's couch, hey? And we can even help you finish moving your stuff around, right? We don't need magic for that."

He nodded his head as if to say the matter was solved.

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.

[tt_lily]

"But James... the legs are broke on one side and the middle is all saggy..." Lily said. Her couch was in a sad state of affairs. "I won't say no to further help though. My bookcase is the in the middle of the room and Leo isn't too pleased with everything. I think he knows the magic is out too."

Remus' head moved between the pair. "Right. Moving furniture. Tomorrow... if we're sober then?"

[tt_ginny]

"Its more like they're thinking the Muggle stuff can't be that hard and try to do things they don't have a ruddy clue about," she laughed, enjoying the fact that she could talk to Lisa about anything.

Ginny tossed back the shot and chuckled as Lisa ran off. The whiskey burned a warm trail down her throat, but the nice thing about whiskey was - by the time you felt that, you just didn't care anymore and that's exactly the escape Ginny was looking for.

She glanced over to where Remus was sitting, a ghost of a smile on her lips as she watched him with his friends. It was so nice to see him being not so serious for once. Ginny shrugged at Lisa. "Not your fault, love. You don't hand out drinks with the precaution 'don't be a dumb ass'."

[tt_remus]

Remus excused himself briefly from his friends and went over to the bar to greet Ginny. "Hello Ginny. How are you?" He felt a bit awkward. "Would you like to join us? I don't want to tear you away from your conversation here, but you're welcome to join." He bit his lip, hoping he wasn't sounding foolish. Maybe he shouldn't sound so rushed. Give her time to respond.

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_james]

"Right but that's what tools are for, aren't they? We can talk to Sirius, borrow a hammer and some nails," he shrugged - clearly he had it under control, even if he was pretty sure he'd never seen a hammer, in person, in his entire life.

"I don't plan to be sober then," he shook his head with a smile and then took another long drink of his beer. "I think we're going to need at least another couple of pitches, what do you say? My treat this round."

[tt_lily]

Lily watched as Remus excused himself, a bit confused until she saw where he was headed. She got a grin on her face and nodded to James. "Sure. I'll get the following round then... I think there is more involved than hammer and nails, James. But we can try." At least he was trying to cope without magic.

[tt_ginny]

She nearly jumped in her seat when Remus' voice came from just beside her, since she'd just been watching him. Hey, she wasn't dead, and he was a good looking bloke, plus he was her friend in a way. That funny way a former professor could be a friend.

"Hello Remus. I'm recovering from a murderous day at the med center. How are you?" Ginny replied, turning in her seat to look at him. She arched an eyebrow, leaning to look past him over to the collection of tables. "Lisa and I were just commiserating. I'd love to join you... and your friends."

[tt_remus]

Remus smiled, internally he was doing backflips. "Well, come on. You're welcome to as well, Lisa. If you aren't busy." Remus really didn't know what to do with himself. Did he just walk over to the table? Let her lead?

What would James say. Merlin. Alive. What was James going to do once he was fully liquored up? Lily he didn't have to worry about.

[tt_james]

James also watched where Remus headed with a sly smile and took the moment to kiss Lily on the cheek, wrapping his arm a bit tighter around her.

"Well, maybe you'll like the look of me working with my hands," he muttered to her, keeping his voice down for the innuendo joke.

[tt_lily]

"I don't know... remember... I have memories of us being married..." she teased him. "Of course... I do remember this one particular time after you had been a major git..." she trailed off, then casually grabbed her glass to take a drink. It was an appropriate pause of course.

[tt_james]

James' eyes went wide. "Well, if that's the sort of story we used to have, soemday you might just be Mrs. Potter again," he said, joking, before he realized quite what words were coming out of his mouth.

Shaking his head and looking to her, he pursed his lips and breathed out, "I mean, well, Um. You know what I mean." He looked away uncomfortably and reached to take a drink.