A break from it all [Open]

[FELIX FAIRBOURNE]

Fourteen days it had been since Felix had a drink of the alcoholic nature, and although he didn't require alcohol to function, it was nice to relax with a drink and not worry for an hour or two. In a stressful, time-consuming job like being a professor at Hogwarts, fourteen days without a drink or two is a little too long to function without going mad.

Usually, when Hogwarts professors – and, illegally, some students too – wanted a drink, they would retreat to either the Three Broomsticks or – if they were feeling a little less happy and hospitable – the Hogs Head. Both were perfectly nice pubs, but Felix hadn't left the area around Hogwarts for many months, and decided to travel a little further afield for his long, sought-after drink.

Twisting around in the middle of Hogsmeade high street, Felix disapparated and then appeared almost instantly in Diagon Alley. It was early evening, around four o’ clock and the shops were slowly beginning to quieten down for closing time. There were mothers and fathers rushing around, buying the weekly shop, and there were individual witches, wizards and all other forms of creatures wandering around, doing their shopping.

Turning on his heel, Felix walked back towards the walled entrance and tapped on a few of the bricks with his wand, causing them to deform and fold backwards, allowing him entry into the famous Leaky Cauldron. It was a lot louder in there, but he didn't mind that – the indiscernible hubbub of a pub can help to drown out annoying, distracting thoughts about pointless matters that did not concern him at that moment.

Felix walked over to the bar and sat down, sitting apart from the others already there. He ordered a large firewhiskey, his favourite, and summoned a copy of the Daily Prophet that was just out of reach to his left. Flipping it open and taking a small sip of his drink, Felix sighed contentedly – this was just what the doctor ordered to take his mind of school matters.

[FALLON SUZETTE ARCHIBALD]

Fallon needed a break - there was only so much time she could spend at the office before she began to lose her cool. The normally meticulous and calculating brunette had practically felt steam coming out of her ears at the very thought of the office right now. Walking through the streets of London, she pulled her trench tightly around her thin frame, turning up the lapels so her face would be guarded against the raging wind that howled around her.

Without a second thought, she ducked into the Leaky Cauldron. Perhaps it was sheer instinct leading her now, but she figured this might be exactly what she needed. She stood in the doorway for a few seconds until someone barked at her to shut the door or get the hell out. Immediately, she took a step forward and the door slammed behind her. Merlin, she had forgotten how crass some people could be. Fixing a few of her stray hairs, she made her way right up to the bar, trying to assert herself as the modern and powerful woman that she knew herself to be, ”A cosmo.”

”A what?”

”Cosmo.”

”Sorry, lass. We don’t make ‘em like that anymore.”

Fallon stared down the bartender, running her hands through her slightly curled and tussled hair, ”You mean to tell me that you don’t have anything for a bloody cosmo?” She breathed, putting her elbows onto the slightly sticky bar. They had to be kidding her. She reached one hand forward, placing it on the forearm of the bartender as she looked him over. Deep seated in her eyes was a hatred that he could only imagine. Her words didn’t give any indication that she was more than mildly disenchanted with the turn of events, but her eyes...those dangerous eyes, ”I’ll have whatever he’s having.” She breathed and nodded her head toward the gentleman that was to her right. It looked like a tall glass of firewhiskey and right now - with the level of annoyance she was experiencing - that would do just fine.

She watched the man pouring her the drink and her eyes slowly slid right again, ”Anything worth reading? I’d imagine not today or we’d have heard about it alright, hmm?” She slid into the stool that was two down from him and the bartender slid her drink across the gap between them, ”That’s a pretty tall glass. Rough day at the office, too?” She was cold, everyone knew that, but Fallon was capable of having a conversation when she warranted it appropriate. And - since neither of them looked like the normal crowd at a place like this - she didn’t mind the chit-chat.

[FELIX FAIRBOURNE]

Felix flicked his paper once or twice to get a better look at a specific article in the paper, and shuffled on his seat to get more comfortable whilst he read. It was about the recent influx of immigrants to the UK, but it was a specific kind of immigrant – non-wizards. They were flocking to the country after the recent laws that were passed – with mixed reception – allowed non-wizards equality in all manners of life, from education to employment. Previously, the British Ministry of Magic were just as against non-wizards, such as vampires or werewolves, to be allowed certain jobs, and they were sneered at or even insulted in the streets by some, so the sudden change of attitude was a shock to many, and an unwelcome one for some.

Felix, however, was firmly on the side of equality, no matter what race you are part of. On the other side of the coin, he was wary about certain races being allowed the same freedom in specific areas, such as schooling for werewolf children, or vampire healers. He wasn’t against them being included, but certain measures must be implanted to make sure everyone is as safe – relatively speaking – as they were already. Felix took a sip of his drink and continued read about a certain old witch living in London itself who had decided to camp outside the hidden entrance to the Ministry – concealed as a traditional, British, muggle telephone box. She was protested against the recent laws, and had to be stupefied to prevent breaching the international statute of secrecy to passing muggles. Deeply engrossed in the article, which was now going off on a tangent, Felix did not notice the woman that had entered the pub and approached the bar.

The woman, who was wearing a trench coat, had the look of someone who could be exceptionally innocent and charming, but also vicious within a split second. She also had the look of someone he had met before, but he couldn’t pin-point where. Still, he took a moment to look at her face and look her quickly up and down, something he did with almost everyone he met, just in case. She attempted to order something, but the barman did not know, or couldn’t do, what she asked for. Surprisingly, the woman was quite aggressive, but if she had had a bad day, he could understand being a bit snappy. She had the look of someone who had a well-to-do job, and dressed like she had adequate finances.

Eventually, she slipped onto a stool and ordered what Felix was having. Felix looked at her and smiled as she sat down. “Good choice.” He said. Felix looked down at his paper, flipped it back to the front cover and noticed that it was from two days ago. “Old news, really. Then again, isn’t everything we read in the papers?” Felix chuckled and placed it back down on the sticky bar, looking at the woman as the barman supplied her own firewhiskey. “Rough day? Somewhat, but nothing exceptional. I assume you have, then.” Felix looked her up and down once again. “Ministry worker?” He said, taking a stab at where he knew her from. “My name is Felix, by the way. Felix Fairbourne. What’s yours?” He extended his hand for the woman to shake in greeting.

[NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM]

Walking cheerily down the stairs from the flat above the leaky cauldron the familiar face pulled at his collar as the staff gave him a knowing look. Whenever he came to visit his wife during term time it was for a little bit of ... reconnecting so to speak. It was good to be married, after the war Neville had never considered that one day he would have someone that really accepted him. He still idolised himself against his friend and ex colleague, Harry Potter. Growing up together at Hogwarts left a lasting impression on the boy who had been too timid to even see his Potions Professor as anything less than his own personal nightmare. After the battle he had found his lions roar, he had found himself and he was more than  comfortable in his own skin. For the first time in his life he felt like he did not need to apologise for simply existing. Getting married after then had not been his priority. He wanted to work on getting the grades he felt his parents would have been proud of him achieving, and he did.

When he married Hannah, née Abbott it had been the single happiest day of his life. Retreating with her to St Mungos so she could 'meet' his parents as husband and wife has been incredibly emotional, but he remembered just how well she had coped with them. They were obviously oblivious to everything around them apart from being near each other. The staff only had an issue with them when the other was too far away. It made him smile to know that even though their minds had been completely shattered by Lestrange ... their hearts still called to each other.

"I guess we can ask your lady about that raise now, yea?"  one of the younger, cheekier members of staff asked. He just laughed it off, pushing on her shoulder gently as he finished his descent. "She's happy. She hasn't lost it Donna, don't push your luck." He called over his shoulder, jumping down the last two steps and winking at one of the barmaids, watching as she turned around with a grin on her face. He was an old man now, he couldn't believe how many years had past ... but every man loved to make a lady smile. "Pint of lime twist, mate." he called over to the barman. Another perk for being married to the landlady was the free drinks. He never got the buy the rounds of course ... his wife would have his head on the wall for letting that much money go down the drain.

He tucked his hands into the pockets of his trousers as he looked at the ...happy ... customers, rolling up onto the balls of his feet until the barman pushed his pint toward him. "Thanks" He said, picking it up and taking a sip to test it and nodding to the man when it met his standards. He took another look around before he finally noticed his colleague sitting with a rather well dressed woman. Normally he would leave the professor to his own devices but he rarely saw the man since the beginning of terms. Charms and Herbology may mix in class but outside the two hardly had a second to spare. Not to mention, he had been busy keeping the greenhouse alive during the harsh and bitterly cold winter that accompanied a very underwhelming summer. Making the decision to interrupt their discussion, Neville walked over slowly with a grin. He leaned on the bar beside Felix he sent a grin at the female and chuckled. "Very cosy over here aren't we?" 

[KAY DILLON]

Kay was exhausted, he really hoped these insane budget cuts in the ministry would stop soon. He was currently having to do the work of two full-time aurors and was having to do so much paperwork that he was lucky if he got chance to sleep between shifts. He had never been the kind to get to bed early, having always been a bit of a night owl but everyone had their limits. It didn’t help with the massive influx of refugees streaming in daily from Bulgaria, a large number of them had flooded the job market which of course also meant a large number could or wouldn’t get jobs so were turning to crime.

Most were petty criminals which usually wasn’t a big issue except the fact that the ministry had cut down on the number of Aurors employed. Kay rubbed at his eyes and glared at the forms in front of him, the only thing standing between him and getting off early for once was a stack of parchment. He scanned through the words he had written, making sure not to leave anything important out. Once he was satisfied he signed, grabbed his jacket and slipped the form onto the top of a pile of reports that would be signed off by the head of his department. For the first time in weeks he was managing to get out on time, which was a relief as the ministry had decided recently that it wouldn’t pay Aurors to work overtime, he wasn’t sure yet how that would help the ministry in the long run but expecting employees to work for less while being expected to work longer hours was a recipe for disaster. All that would happen was more ministry employees would support the notion to have the current minister step down from her office in favour of a candidate that was more ‘politically correct’.

Kay walked down the steps that took him down to the London underground. Most wizards sneered with distaste at the thought of having to use muggle transport but Kay actually enjoyed travelling from the ministry to Diagon Alley or his flat. He managed to find an open seat and leaned back, closing his eyes allowing himself to relax briefly before the train reached his stop. This was the reason he liked taking the underground, it gave him a chance to unwind a bit and not feel so uptight when walking through Diagon Alley. That was one thing no witch or wizard could do while apparating. The train reached his stop and he walked out once the doors opened allowing passengers to exit the train before it moved on to its next destination.

Kay walked through the station and up the stairs to the busy London walkway, for once he actually had the energy to stop by the Leaky Cauldron for a drink. He was not the sort to get heavily drunk but he did like to stop by the Leaky Cauldron or Three Broomsticks now and again for a drink after work. He entered the popular wizarding pub, smiled at one of the barmaids. “Fire Whisky” he said putting the correct amount on the counter. As he waited for his drink, he glanced around. He noticed three familiar faces. He grabbed his fire whisky when the barmaid placed it infront of him and walked over. “Hey Fallon” He said recognising the head of the department of International magical co-operation. “Evening Professor” he added to Professor Longbottom, sure he probably didn’t need to call his old Herbology Professor ‘professor’ anymore but it felt akward calling him Neville. He nodded at Felix, “Long time no see, you enjoying teaching?” he asked his former work colleague.