Amortentia Dolorosa

A wizarding band at a wizarding club was a rare enough venture for Roddy, but to hit one in London, by himself was a rarity, indeed. Lucky was out of town, on some venture with his asshole brother, and as sometimes happened in such times, he was bored witless. None of the cousins could be convinced to set foot on English soil for entirely frivolous reasons, so he was all alone.

But, that could be repaired. That could almost always be repaired, and failing that, he'd probably have started a fight by trying. It was the little things that made life worth living, he reflected, knocking back another overpriced shot of blackberry brandy.

And the band would be pretty awesome. They were the first wizarding band to really embrace the up and coming punk ideal, and they were doing it without electric instruments -- all fiddles and drums and upright bass. Even if he didn't get jizz in every shadow of the pub, it would still be a night to remember.

Andrya had thought that coming to the club was a good idea. At least at first.

Usually good music and drinks meant that she could find some talkative souls from whom she could get information. But apparently the English were different, because so far she had not heard a single topic of interest. Heck, she usually got more useful information out of muggles at the café she used to work at back in Bulgaria than she was getting from these wizards!

She was getting quite frustrated, and she sipped her drink as she tried to decide whether she should just leave. She scanned the crowd and a flash of red drew her attention. Maybe I'll stay and have some fun. It would be a refreshing change to enjoy a good band, and some alcohol without thinking of business. The young man seemed to be alone, as she was, so he could make good company for such an evening. Andrya made her way through the crowd and approached him.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like we both made the same mistake. We came here alone," she said with a warm smile.

"Sure it's a mistake that I'm alone, but that's why I'm here," Roddy laughed, flipping nearly three feet of candy-apple red hair back over one shoulder, as he turned to face the girl. His green eyes glittered with both the drink and some strange air of otherness.

"Make this one cherry," he told the bartender, "and two of them, this time."

He scooped both shotglasses into the palm of one hand, without spilling a drop, and held out his hand in offering, while the other hand slid over his leather-clad thigh, in an entirely other sort of offering. "A little brandy, and you'll forget the fools you wish were here. Come drink wi' me, lass."

The girl wasn't all that pretty, compared to his cousins, but if she was bold enough to start, he was cheap enough to finish.

She sat down beside him and accepted the drink with a thankful nod.

"It seems like my night will be pleasant after all," she said before she drank the shot.

Before speaking again, she looked the young man over, clearly showing that she was giving his unspoken offer some consideration. She wasn't yet sure wether she would accept that specific offer or not, but there was plenty of time to make a decision. It all depended on how the evening unfolded.

Then she held out her hand. "Perhaps I should introduce myself. I'm Andrya Scova."

Roddy draped his hand into Andrya's, with a smart curtsy, and then knocked back the shot on the way up, smacking the glass onto the bar.

"I answer to Roddy, I do, and if you're a sweet thing, Andrya, I'll come when you call," he purred, with a lush grin.

The opulent sexuality slid away, like a dropcloth, as his eyes shot left to light upon the stage, where it looked like the band was setting up. At that angle, he was just some guy in a bar. "So, you a Rabbits fan, or is this the first you've heard 'em?"

An odd look crossed his face for a moment, like he'd forgotten something, and then he was back on, all red leather and candy, like a secret promise of extravagance.

The fleeting change in Roddy's demeanour did not escape Andrya's watchful eye, but she decided not to ponder about it just yet. After all, he could have been thinking about something unimportant for all she knew. However, if this were to happen again, then she would get curious and investigate the matter.

She also looked towards the stage, taking in every detail she could. "I have heard them play before, and have found that it's the only band I like. All other music just seems to make it hard for me to think."

She was about to add something else, but she caught herself in time and avoided the foolish mistake of bringing up her past. She turned towards the bar to order two more shots, but her movement was a little too abrupt, and she hoped that Roddy had not noticed it.

He turned his head and opened his mouth to point out that Sgt. Pepper was probably right up her alley, and then remembered that the Beatles were a muggle band.

"I've been waiting for this sort of thing to make it into our world. Every now and again those greasy muggle bograts have a good idea," he said, instead. And it was more often, in fact, than he was prepared to admit, with the mark still so fresh on his arm.

It really wasn't so much that he hated muggles. They just needed to be smacked back into line -- needed to acknowledge that there were greater forces in the universe, that were no longer going to sit by and watch them blow everything worthwhile to pieces. But, Loyalists were another matter. Muggle or blood, they'd taken Auntie's kingdom, and they were going to pay -- and without the Ministy to come in and clean up after the raids, they'd finally have to take notice. It was a solid plan.

The girl's abrupt turn might've been because she was holding an empty glass, or it might've been his imagination. Either way, it was hardly as relevant than the pair of shots she turned back with -- one of which, he cheerfully accepted, knocking it against her glass, and knocking it back.

"Gob fliuch agus bás in Eirinn," he toasted, unthinking.

She followed suit and drank the shot, then she set the empty glass on the counter.

For a moment she thought about what Roddy had said about the muggles sometimes having good ideas. She couldn't deny the truth of that. She had lived in the Muggle world long enough to know first hand that some things in the wizarding world would not be the same without slight muggle influence. It could easily be compared to travelers bringing foreign influences to their home country. Even knowing that both worlds were somehow connected, she still despised the muggles.

But sometimes that hate was lessened by the people around her. It was confusing how she could feel like killing the whole muggle population one minute and then meet someone that could temporarily make her feel like the muggles -although they are a nuisance- could be tolerable.

She suddenly realized that she was spacing out, and she brought herself back to reality.

"I'm sorry, I think my mind was elsewhere for a short moment. What was the meaning of what you said earlier? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that language," she asked with a curious gleam in her eyes.

Roddy eyed the girl, curiously, suddenly recalling that he was in an English club, surrounded by English wizards. He rubbed his left wrist, idly, reassuring himself that the scalpel was still there. His accent was thick enough that it was unlikely there was anyone who'd heard him who didn't know, but it wasn't one of those things to admit in a room a hundred years behind the times.

"A wet mouth, from the drinking, and a death in Ireland," he replied, faint antagonism stiffening the edges of his smile. "Same as I'd wish to anyone."

He leaned back against the bar, both elbows on the rail. Nothing to do but look nonchalant and hope she was too foreign to know the difference.

"I've never been to Ireland. Is it pretty?" she asked softly.

As soon as the words left her mouth, she glanced at the empty glass she had set on the counter earlier.

"Que es extraño, I didn't drink that much and yet I'm starting to sound like a silly school girl! Either those shots and the few drinks I had before meeting you are stronger than I thought, or I just can't hold my liquor like I used to."

"It's beautiful. Rolling hills, rivers, and the occasional ruined castles -- blue skies and good folk. And better beer. Much better beer." Roddy gestured broadly, painting the panorama in the empty air, with his fingers. "Of course, I live near the border, so people keep trying to blow up my lovely, rolling, green hills. Irresponsible Muggles and English national politics. Technically, Irish national politics. But, if the English would get the hell of my island, we'd stop having this problem, we would."

"But, there I go, bringing ugly politics to a lovely party." He shook his head. "Spain?" he asked, changing the subject, just a bit.

Andrya nodded.

"My mother is, or I should say was, from Spain. They have their fair share of political problems there too, but I don't know many details about that. I try to keep away from all that politics stuff, I'm never going to go back to Spain anyway. And now that I have finally left my father's homeland, I won't go back there either."

She had said all this with clearly discernable anger in her expression, but this dissipated and she smiled again.

"I think I shall visit Ireland someday. You make it sound like such a good place to be, even with the troubles."

"Ring me up, if you do, and I'll give you a tour of the ruins of Castle Lick," he offered, and then considered the sentence. "That sounds a lot dirtier than I meant it to. There's a place -- it used to be a castle, now it's a few heaps of stones. In its day, it was known as Castle Lick. Oddly, that really wasn't an innuendo."

He shrugged and ordered a drink with more fluid in it -- a strawberry daiquiri. "Now, if I'd said, 'I'll give you the tour of Castle Lick and put the second verb to use', that would have been an innuendo."

"Yes, it sure would have been," she said with a laugh. It took her a few seconds to get the laughter under control.

"Wow, you have a talent. The last time I laughed like this, I was still in school."

She got herself another drink and proposed a toast.

"To good times, past, present and future."

"To time! May it always be both good and plentiful!" he toasted back.

He took a swig of his drink as the band started to play. Back by the bar, they weren't deafening.

"Since you were in school? You say that like it's been a notable span, you do." Rodolphus considered the lass, sceptically. "What are you, then, twenty? Twenty-two? You don't look a day older than my best, and he's just twenty."

Andrya took a sip of her drink, then glanced at the band, and finally replaced a strand of hair as she turned back to Roddy. She was taking her time before answering the question.

"I've been told a few times that I look younger than my age, but I never believed it. I'm twenty-four."

She took another sip and smiled.

"So how about you? I'm going to guess..." she took a moment to combine what she saw and heard so far. "Nineteen?"

"I'd never have known it, to see you," Roddy offered, with a grin. "And you're almost right about me. Eighteen, I am, and just."

He sipped his drink and crossed his ankles, still leaning against the bar. "Young, dumb, and other obvious sentiments, if you catch my meaning."

"So, where did you go to school? I went to Hogwarts, but I'm told Beaxbatons might've been better suited to my charming personality," he joked. Vanity, vanity, but obvious and relatively accurate vanity.

"I went to Durmstrang. Those were the best years of my life, but only because I had a good friend that helped me forget about what awaited me outside of school."

She finished the rest of her glass in one shot, and ordered another one.
What am I doing? Careful Andrya, don't say anything else that will invite questions about that part of your past. Talking about school is fine. Family life is not
When she got her drink, she smiled.

"And Beauxbatons, really? Aren't they all prudes? Of course that may just be a stereotype. But if they are indeed as prudish as I am lead to believe, then Beauxbatons may be right for you in one way, but so wrong in all other ways. At least that's how it appears to me."

"I don't know too many people who went to Beauxbatons, but I've heard they're a wild bunch, they are, once they're not representing the school in public." Roddy shrugged. "Durmstrang, though. I know a lot more by way of there. London's been thick with 'em, these last years. There's few as have a dull thing to say of the place, but it wouldn't have been my bag. Not at all, at all."

He paused as a particularly good line floated by, in the music.

"Hogwarts did me well, it did. Maybe I didn't end in the best house for my talents, but certainly I got the house with the most enjoyable folk to be had."

They weren't all good. They weren't even mostly people he liked, but for all the hell they gave him, no one ever tried to make him stop doing as he wished. He shuddered to imagine the reception he'd have received in Ravenclaw.

"Yes, in my opinion more goes on in this area than back home, so I am not surprised that so many from Durmstrang would visit. That is part of the reason why I came to London. Although I haven't been very lucky, nothing much has happened since I arrived."

She was frankly starting to find London a bit dull.

"Hopefully I can meet other interesting people in the next few days, otherwise I don't know what I'll do with myself. I've never dealt well with boredom."

She might have to get out of London if things got too boring, but to go where? No, she was better off staying in London a while longer and wait to see what would happen.

"Which House were you in at Hogwarts? A few days ago I talked with someone who studied there, so I know a little about the Houses and what kind of students are sorted in them. Though I can't figure out which House would have suited me best..."

"Not so much going on in Vilinus, these days? For the best, sure it is. I've heard what passes for exciting around there," Roddy laughed.

"I was in Slytherin. You know, old 'we're not evil; we're just not telling you everything' house. The Gryffindors were barbaric, the Ravenclaws were uptight or just loopy, and the Hufflepuffs were steadfast and unshakeable, but not a whole lot of fun at parties. There was really nothing worth saying about folks who didn't have the sense to enjoy the finer things in life, like we did." For just a moment, he sounded like his asshole brother.

"But, if you're really that bored, I'm pretty sure times like these are why Auntie invented whiskey and Merlin invented potions grenades..." He tucked his hair back behind his ear, like he wasn't saying anything in the least bit unexpected or revolutionary.

"I think I would have definitely liked Slytherin. The 'not telling you everything' part seems to describe me well. But the 'not evil' part? That would depend on who you ask," she said with a smile.

"And I'm not quite sure what I would do with potions grenades, but I have to agree that alcohol fixes a lot of things."

Andrya turned to get another drink, but hesitated, not sure what she should choose next. Instead she looked at the band, a soft smile appearing as she thought about the last time she had seen them.

"Ah, see, I don't know that I should be breathing your air, if you're evil," Roddy joked. "It might be catching, and I couldn't be catching the evil, now, sure I couldn't."

He eyed her over the top of his glass, as he took a drink. "I suppose it depends on what kind of evil you are, though. There's a difference between corrupting the youth and senseless murder, there is. ... Though, I am the one who brought up explosives, so I might not have what to say on that."

"You will not catch evil from me, I assure you." she said with a laugh.

"It was mostly my classmates that would call me evil. When someone would get on my nerves, I would threaten to reveal their darkest secrets. And I wasn't bluffing, I really knew their secrets. No matter how hard they tried, they never figured out how I learned the things they were hiding. I would also curse anyone who didn't care about having their secrets exposed."

Andrya wasn't sure what to say after that, so she looked at the band again and just listened for a moment.

Roddy laughed himself stupid, and nearly spilled his drink. "I'll have to introduce you to my dear Severus. You sound like just the kind of girl he'd take to, you do."

Recovering his balance, he eyed his glass suspiciously, and began to think that maybe he shouldn't have started drinking until the afternoon. Too late now, he thought.

For a few minutes, he just leaned on the bar and listened to the music, singing along, to a few lines he knew. "Do you dance?" he asked, at last.

Dancing sounded like a great idea, however there was just one problem.

Andrya fought back a blush as she answered. "I don't really know how to dance," she admitted.

After a quick look at the wizards that were already dancing, she convinced herself that it didn't look too difficult.

"But I am willing to learn, if you are ready to teach me."

"That's the best part! You just learn a few moves and then make it up as you go along." Roddy smacked his glass onto the bar, grabbed Andrya's hand, and spun out, in front of her, backing toward the dance floor.

"The most complicated thing you'll have to do is follow my hands." He bent her wrist to the four directions. "Forward, back, left, right. If I pick up my arm, like this, I'll spin you under it. Just follow the direction my hand turns. It's easy."

As if to prove the point, he lifted his arm and spun them both out and back, in opposite directions.

"It's an easy beat. Step-two, step-two." He led her through a square of double-steps. "And just swing your hips, when you step."

Andrya followed the lead, though a bit clumsily at first. But once she adjusted to the rythm, it became much easier.

"Had I known dancing was this much fun, I would have learned earlier!"

As she spoke, she lost focus on what she was doing, taking a wrong step that almost made her trip. But she corrected her step in time and managed not to fall.

"I guess I should be a bit more careful," she said with a laugh.

Roddy laughed and lifted Andrya by the waist, spinning in a circle before he set her back down. "Figured to give your feet a moment's rest," he offered, with a grin.

The music was good -- loud and just on the edge of cacophonous -- and he had a fine lass to dance with, even if she was a bit clumsy. It could have been better, but this was better than he'd expected for the night. He wished Lucius was here, all the same. Lucius and maybe that crazy girl he was dating. These things were always better when you knew people -- when there were people to show the girl off to. Arrogant whoredom was so much less fun without an audience, it was.

But, all in all, it was better than he'd figured for a weekend alone.

He spun Andrya out and back, then kissed her hand with a devilish look in his eye. "Tell me, lass, are you much of a troublemaker?"

Andrya realized that she was once again blushing, and momentarily wondered what it was about dancing that made her react like that. Because she really wasn't the kind of person who blushed easily.

She didn't think about that very long, however, as the mention of trouble got all her attention.

"Well, I spent a good deal of time with a friend who could easily be described as the incarnation of trouble, so I've taken quite a liking to troublemaking."

Though she had not been able to cause trouble recently.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, nothing that would bring too much down on us -- or on the band. I like them." Roddy shrugged, still keeping the rhythm. "I was thinking of maybe making a dramatic exit, when we choose to leave. Something that'll get the Ministry climbing all over the place, and finding nothing at all to bother with."

He laughed, ducking under her arm, and spinning her back to meet him. "We'll start a riot in the back lot. A nice panic that even the muggles can see -- and see cause for. And we'll be gone before anyone sees much of anything, we will. Just another apparition in the crowd."

"Yes, it would be a shame to get the band in trouble. The friend that I mentionned just a moment ago likes them too. Says that they're better on stage than they are in bed."

As she spun again, Andrya rolled her eyes and laughed. "Qué estoy diciendo? I probably shouldn't have mentionned that part."

"Sometimes, I think I know too many things for my own good. All that knowledge makes me want to gossip, I end up saying something crazy, and then I wonder why I try to know about so many random topics. But then I remember that knowing things is good, and I stop worrying about the occasional thing that I let slip."

"Oh, but I'm afraid that I am sounding quite like an idiot at the moment, aren't I?"

No but really! What was in those drinks?

"Well, you may have just cured my urge to give them a go round. Of course, they're good enough on stage that anything else they do would have to be less good than that, it would." Roddy laughed, taking a moment to unfold the Spanish. He wasn't very good at Spanish, but the words were pretty simple, this time. "And why do you say such things? Because you know I'm not the kind of person who will take them wrong. Smart girl."

He smiled wickedly and pulled her just a little bit closer. Not enough to seem overbearing, but just that inch needed to make a point. "But, of course, you would be with wild friends like that."

"Do you know, I know a man who tells stories of a world in which no wizard will ever again need to apologise for being peculiar? I think it's a right fine idea to start that now."

Usually Andrya would be on her guard when this close to someone. But, even thought she barely knew Roddy, she felt comfortable around him, and this translated into trust.

"Does this man think it is achievable? That we could one day live in a world like that? That world he speaks of, it seems so perfect, it's the kind of place I have only seen in my dreams. Just to imagine for a moment that such freedom could be real, it makes my heart race."

"This man has great hopes, he does, and I think he has the power to make it real, if enough people believe in his way." Roddy didn't tend to talk politics, much, but when he did, he spoke with the same lust and lure that coloured his talk of everything else. "He talks of a world in which the muggles stay within the limits of their power and ours -- a world in which one man can no longer push a button and destroy the worlds of both muggles and wizards. There was talk, when I was young, of muggles who could do that. The President of America, the Soviet Premier, the Prime Minister of Cuba -- it was on the Muggle wireless. Everyone wondered when someone would get tired and push a button, they did."

He shook his head. "The muggles destroyed an entire city in Japan, thirty years ago. Just one bomb, and everyone died. All the muggles and all the wizards. And most of them died slow."

"Now, where," he asked, cocking his head, "should there be a world in which the muggles could destroy an entire city of wizards? Not here, that's what I say. And this man, he says it, too. We'll use what they can give us and make a better world, in which we don't have to fear them and hide from them."

"This man can teach us how to get there, he can. He just needs to turn enough heads and change enough minds, so the Ministry comes to see things our way -- and I know some of them already do." He smiled beneficently. "And if England and Ireland become a haven for Wizard-kind, how long until we spread that betterment to the whole of Europe, and then the world?"

"He must be an exceptional man. Creating paradise sounds impossible, but it seems like he's well on his way to succeeding. This all makes perfect sense. Any wizard who does not understand is a fool."

"I remember those things you are talking about. The constant threat that one of those nations would unleash their weapons of mass-destruction on each other, the thought that so many lives could be ended in a moment. There is no reason why muggles should have created those weapons in the first place. This plan would help them as much as it would help us. As you said we would be free and not have to hide anymore, we wouldn't have to worry about rejection. And as long as they kept in line, they wouldn't have to fear each other anymore. Life could go one peacefully for everyone involved."

Andrya sighed. "But I know how people, muggles and wizards alike, can be stubborn. I realize that changing people's minds is difficult, and I have no doubt that achieving this perfect world means that certain measures may be necessary. But it would be worth it in the end, of that I have no doubt."

She had always thought that she would have to get used to this world, but there was a brighter outlook now.

Wow, finally meeting someone interesting, soon causing a little chaos, and now the promise of a better world? This just might be the best night I have ever had!

"A political statement, then. We'll make a political statement on our way out, later." Roddy's teasing smile was lopsided, the right side pulled up just a bit higher than the left. With a whoop of laughter, he lifted Andrya by the waist and spun around, before setting her back on her feet, with a moment's pause to be sure she was stable, before he let go. He held out his hands, inviting her back to the dance.

"We've had to take some notable measures, we have, but in times like these, it's sometimes the way things have to go. Some of those notable measures were even entertaining, if you like that sort of thing." He pretended innocence.

"I wonder if Christo would be the kind to find those measures entertaining? Whatever they are."

When she realized that she had been thinking out loud, Andrya nodded her head towards the band.

"Christo is the friend who told me about the band's skills in bed. He's also the troublemaker I spent some time with. I'm actually surprised that he's not in London. He usually follows the band."

Andrya got lost in thoughts, imagining how funny it would be if the two would meet. And, miraculously, she was able to keep steady on her feet and did not miss a beat even if her thoughts were partially elsewhere.

"Damn shame your friend didn't make it up, tonight. It's so hard to find a man who knows how to have fun, these dark days. Everyone's afraid, and no one wants to stop." He shook his head, sadly.

"So, you're just friends wi' this lad, or do you keep him for more than just his trouble-making skills? Not that it's mine to know, but I like to be aware I'm poaching, when I choose to do it."

"Yes, fear is powerful. I find that people are less willing to talk, and that's bad news for me since I spend most of my time eavesdropping on conversations."

"Christo and I are just friends. He flirts with me but then again he flirts with almost anyone. He's fun to hang out with, whenever he stays in one place long enough."

"Eavesdropping, hmmm? I'd wager you hear all kinds of interesting things." Roddy grinned. "Any juicy local gossip you want to pass along? Or better yet, any misinformation you'd like to feed into the rumour mill? I know some people who just can't seem to stop talking, if you catch my drift."

"Drink me, drink me," he sang along, "the potions master cried / but not what's in the bottle, said the sparkle in his eyes..."

"Sorry, I love that line. I've got a friend who tries to sink into the couch, every time this song comes on. He's just got no patience for the affairs of rabbits in winter." He shrugged and failed to look at all contrite. "And sure, your friend flirts with everything standing, but does he follow through? They say that nice boys don't try, but I've always been called a nice boy... well, that or a filthy Irish catamite. All the same, I suppose," he finished with a grin.

"Yes, usually what I hear is very interesting. However I have the impression that I'm not spending my time in the right places, I have heard very little since I arrived in London.

“And yes, Christo follows through. In fact, I heard a few people talking about him a few days before I actually met him. Those people offered more details than I needed to know, but Christo and I didn’t exactly hit it off at first, so I tried using this knowledge to annoy him. It didn’t work.”

“And your friend, does he dislike all of the band’s songs, or is it just that particular song that rubs him the wrong way?”

"Well, perhaps I'll meet your Christo, some year. Strange as strange gets, it's stranger for Lestranges, especially when it comes to strangers." Roddy shrugged, idly, a slight sparkle in his eye.

"And said and done, for all I know and try not to be in London, I don't know that I'm sure what the right places for rich gossip would be. Probably those wojus rich pureblood parties Lucky always ends up having to go to. I'm really quite bookish, and most of my rioting's been back home or in Wiltshire." He pondered, for a moment, gazing sightlessly at Andrya's shirt. "There's a few pubs that bleed rumour up around the school, though. My brother's developed a fondness for one. Likes to go talk goats with the owner. My brother's a goat farmer, you see."

And Babs will kill you, if he ever hears word you said that... Not that it makes it less true...

"And Severus... well, dear Sev's just a little off the toll road when it comes to anything even slightly perverse. Never even imagines the things people will do, given half a moment to stop thinking. This song sets him off, because my cousins take the piss out of him about it, all the time, since they learned he's studying to be a potions master. They're like that, my cousins are." He laughed.

Andrya laughed at the word play, even though she had not completely understood it. Even though she sounded like english was easy for her, it was still a third language and so there were times when she got lost. But she rarely would admit that.

"I doubt that I would be welcome at a pureblood party, so I will have to go check out that pub someday. That area is Hogsmeade, isn't it?" She was fairly sure that it was, but it was safer to ask. Just in case.

"The saying that opposites attract must be truer than I thought. Because you and Severus seem to be completely different, yet I can easily see from the way you speak of him that the friendship runs deep." She smiled "And if he and I ever become friends, he would be as safe with me as with your cousins. Teasing is too much fun, I wouldn't be able to help myself."

"That it is. It's called the Hog's Head. It's a grubby little place, it is, and not too many students go there."

Roddy laughed at 'opposites attract'. "My Severus, he saved my life. We'd never have met if he didn't take that little pity on me. He's as close to me as one of my cousins, he is."

He opened his mouth to rhapsodise about Sev's beauty and kindness, but shut his mouth with a snap, and shook his head. The adorations still showed around his eyes, though. "He's really kind of an ass, he is, but never to me. If you ever meet him, I hope you can take a few sharp observations, if you start on him, because he'll fire right back, he will. Got quite a mouth on him, and no real sense of when to stop using it."

Giggling, he rolled his eyed, dramatically. "'Course it's not like he ever puts it to really good use, or I'd never let him out of my sight, I'd not."

Andrya was starting to get a pretty good mental picture of this Severus, at least when it came to personality. The physical image was still just blurry. She did assume that he was very close to Roddy's age, though she had the impression that he was a bit younger. But at this point she wasn't sure why she thought so.

"He definitely sounds like the sort of guy I can easily become friends with. Verbal sparring, whether the argument or the teasing kind, is so much fun when the other person participates."

Although she was very curious to know how Severus had saved Roddy's life, she convinced herself not to ask. It wasn't her place to know, and anyway asking straight out would be nowhere near as satisfying as putting the pieces together on her own.

"Out of curiosity, what kind of political statement are you thinking we should do when the time comes? Or maybe you'd rather make it a surprise?"

"Well, you know, I was thinking we might do a little bit of simultaneous casting. I know a spell -- and it took me a good long while to learn it -- that'll put a sign in the sky, of that man's order. So, if I do that, and you apparate us out, we'll be clear before anyone can see what's happened." Roddy grinned. "And I like the idea of being out of the way, but close enough to watch, I do. Well, at least until the Aurors show up. Then we should probably actually leave."

It wasn't any fun if you didn't get to watch the riot, but it was even less fun if you got caught and interrogated by the Ministry. He was not looking forward to spending a month in lockup for scaring the Muggles. His skill with a wand wasn't good enough to do this alone and get away with it, too.

"I don't think I've ever met an Auror, but best not to meet one in those circumstances, that's for sure. We'll watch the panic from a safe distance, and we'll be on our way before the risk of getting caught gets too great."

"Just make sure to stay real close when I apparate us out," she added with a flirtatious smile. "It wouldn't do any good if you accidentally got splinched."

Now why would she let him have all the fun? It was a wonder that she hadn't tried to flirt before now.

"Knowing what I've worked with, it shouldn't be too hard to stay close to you, lass." Roddy grinned impertinently. "Besides, I wouldn't like to lose anything important to splinching, I'd not. Auntie only knows what parts I could lose that I might have a use for, later."

She was political, pretty, and bold. This one, he aimed to keep a day or two, and maybe introduce to some of the 'right people'.

"Don't suspect you'd want me losing anything important, either, with that look on you, I don't."

"Of course I don't want you to lose anything. Even if sometimes one can learn to live without, every body part has its use. Though imagination is required to find the usefulness of some."

"Also it would be partially my fault if you did lose something. I wouldn't want to get Severus angry at me before I even meet him. And I'm sure you have other friends who would not be impressed with me should I cause you harm, even unintentionally."

"And I do want to make a good impression should I ever meet someone you know."

"Anticipating meeting my people, then? You're forward thinking lass with well ordered priorities, you are," Roddy laughed. "I can't say Severus would be too upset at seeing me lose the parts I like the best, though. Anything else might get him a wee bit riled, but the capital Breakfast, he'd be glad to see me without.

"But, I promise you I'm more than imaginative enough to get by without it." He grinned wickedly, but stopped short of actually proposing any imaginative pastimes.

"You're the only interesting person I've met here, and you showed me that I can put my nose in politics and not be bored beyond belief. It just makes sense that I would try to meet people you know."

"And if for some reason you decide to disappear out of my life after tonight, I'll find your friends by my own means. Seeing as I have his name, shouldn't be hard to find Severus. And I've got enough information to start looking for your brother and one other friend of yours as well."

"You don't know what you got yourself into, hanging out with a professional eavesdropper. The things I can do with random bits of conversation..." she said with a teasing smile. "You'll never completely get rid of me."

Oh, she would leave him alone if he ever asked. But if he chose to take that last line seriously, she'd lead him on for a little bit before admitting that she was kidding. Though she highly doubted that he would fall for it. Not easy to fool that one.

Roddy lifted her chin with one knuckle and looked into her eyes with a dangerously warm smile. "And what makes you imagine I'd want to be rid of you so quickly? You flatter me so, calling me the only interesting political idealist you've met. My brother might feed you to Finnegan, out of spite, just for that, but Finney's pretty easygoing when it comes to pretty lasses, he is.

"Besides, if you're as bright as you seem, there's a whole world more I could do with you than just the obvious choices."

She had the potential to be dangerous, and he recognised it, but he was at an age where, as bright as he was, his brain wasn't the only part of his body doing the thinking. And she really could be useful and probably a good deal of fun.

Andrya gave him a smile that held the same intensity as his.

“I would find you interesting even without the political idealism. And did I say that you were going to get rid of me for sure? I was merely stating what options I had in the eventuality that you did. One has to be prepared for anything, you know.”

“And your brother should be prepared for a fight should he ever try to feed me to anyone. I‘m not pet food,” she said with a teasing tone.

Roddy nearly crumpled to the floor in a bout of laughter, at the image of Finnegan in a collar and leash. " A pet..." he wheezed. "Finnegan's one of my cousins."

He giggled between words as he tried to get back onto a less ... pointed subject. "Hope for the --" snicker "--for the best, expect --" giggle "--the worst, and be p--" snrk "--prepared for any eventuality.

"... You are just too much fun, for any one man. And I'm too glad I got to you first, I am."

Fair dazzled by her wit and sense, he leaned in to try to steal a kiss.

Good things always happen to those who wait. she thought happily.

But Andrya suddenly pulled back, cursing under her breath and bringing a hand to the side of her neck.

"Sorry, someone cast a stinging hex on me, and I intend to find out who," she said as she scanned the room.

She saw a familiar face grinning at her from across the room. The man raised his glass at her.

"Christo! Hijo de..." she stopped her insult halfway and rolled her eyes. A second later, when she looked back at where she had seen her friend, he wasn't there anymore. "Figures that he would slip away the first chance he got. He cast that hex just to piss me off, and he knows it's dangerous to piss me off."

The annoyance she felt because of the hex dissipated quickly, and with a grin she pulled Roddy closer and gave him the kiss he was trying to get earlier.

Roddy's eyes widened as he unexpectedly got the interrupted kiss. He might even have squeaked in a completely undignified manner.

"You going to let your man, there, just do that? If you want to go give him a bit of a roughing, I'll wait right here, I will." He grinned lopsidedly. "Of course, if you want to forget all about him and start some trouble of our own, I could be convinced that's a strictly brilliant plan."

Strictly brilliant? He'd been spending too much time with Sev...

With an alluring smile, he wrapped his fingers around one side of her waist, resting his palm on her hip.

"He's long gone by now, so running after him would be useless."

"But I'll get him back later, when I have plenty of time on my hands," she said with a too innocent look.

Then she grinned. "And we have a perfect end of evening planned you and I. So yes, of course I want to cause some trouble."

"I'd bloody bet mine own bonny bottom he'll pay in blood and tears, yeah. Sure makes me glad I'm on your good side, yet, it does."

He cocked his hip and drew his wand from some unfathomable place in his clothing, absently twisting it into a lock of his hair as he muttered a few lilting snarls that sounded nothing at all like Latin. His hair drew back, braiding itself loosely down his back as his quick fingers replaced the wand in its improbable and nearly invisible sheath. His hair was one of the few things he could charm without thinking, and the whole affair took mere seconds.

"So, are you having a great deal of fun here, or will we go out with a crash and a bang and catch two pints in a questionable place, while the pubs are still lit?"

"I think you know me a bit too well now," she said with a smile. "And yes, it is wise to stay on my good side."

She kneeled down and it looked like she was fixing her boot, but when she came back up, she was holding her wand, which she then proceeded to hide in her sleeve.

"I think it would be time for our grand exit. And a change of scenery will be most welcome."

Roddy wrapped his left arm around Andrya's waist, pulling her close, and his wand appeared in his right hand, again. He looked down into the narrow space between them, focusing his thoughts.

"In the name of the master, who gives us the power to do what is right, in pursuit of peace and a just world for all wizards..."

He raised his wand high. "Morsmordre!" he hissed.

"For Lord Voldemort and the good of us all," he shouted, glancing down, expectantly, into Andrya's eyes. Go, go, go!

The moment Roddy silently told her to go, she apparated them out. They reappeared in an alley, not too far from there.

Andrya leaned on a wall and looked in the general direction of the commotion they'd just caused. The view wasn't great, but it was better than nothing.

"So many people afraid of a man who makes so much sense, no puedo entender lo" she whispered to no one in particular.

"So where were you thinking we should go for those pints?" she asked with a smile.

"There's some dingy little place a few blocks over. Muggle place. Exactly the sort of place they'd never look for the likes of us," Roddy laughed.

His eyes widened as he peered around the edge of the building. "It's getting riotous, over there. D'you think we've overshot your man's expectations for the evening? He didn't seem to have the sense for all-out havoc."

He flicked his wand, before putting it away, and his hair unwound itself, falling loose to the tops of his thighs. With a step toward the street, he held out his hand.

"They're afraid of him, because they know we're not afraid to kill and die for what we believe."

"He definitely didn't expect a riot to break out tonight, but if he's still around he's enjoying every moment of it. If he hadn't seen me, I think he would have caused a ruckus himself."

She took his hand with a smile.

"When even part of those who are afraid realize that hard work and sacrifice is necessary to make things progress, it will be a bright day indeed. But for now I'll stop thinking about them. Let's go enjoy some drinking."

[[Player would like to apologise for falling off the world. I've been very sick, this last week, but I'm getting better, now. Sorry about the wait. ]]

"Indeed!" Roddy held her hand, tightly, as he watched the commotion down the way. "Quick and quiet 'til we're around the next corner, now. Don't want to get more eyes than we need."

He walked out into the street, moving a little quicker than the average evening stroller, but not so fast as to draw attention. "Don't run. Just stay close and look like you're just passing by. We're headed away from the panic and across the street."

[[Yesterday Andrya was holding me at wandpoint, promising to hex me into next century if my writer's block didn't go away. And by some sort of miracle, I think her threat scared the writer's block cause it is gone! So I'm back, and I'm very very sorry for the extended wait!]]

Andrya matched his step, even if she was tempted to slow down and take a peek at the scene again. When they were safely out of sight, she felt relieved. Until that moment she had not realized that she had been slightly nervous about the possibility of getting caught.

She was about to comment on said nervousness when she noticed a drunk man wobbling not too far from them, and he was leering at her.
"Keep your eyes to yourself if you don't want me to scoop them out with a spoon," she said as she pinned the idiot with a glare. Luckily for him he was wise enough to look away and keep going.

"How long do you think the Aurors will question people before giving up?"

Roddy tipped his head back, staring into the sky as he visualised the scene they'd just left. "Assume a crowd of eighty, ten Aurors, about fifteen per... No less than four hours to clear the scene. They'll be busy, tonight. I almost feel bad for anyone they decide to drag in -- mostly because I didn't recognise anyone in the crowd, tonight."

He giggled inanely and draped an arm across her shoulders. "Changing the face of history, one pub at a time."

[[Good to see you're back with us! Thought we'd lost you, there!]]

"One pub at a time? At that rythm it might take us a few lifetimes to completely change history," she kidded.

When they got to their destination, Andrya quickly looked around the room and chose a place for them in the right-hand corner, near the door. "Best angle to see who comes in without being them immediately noticing us," she explained.

"Drinks are on me, so get whatever you want," she said with a smile.

"It's sobering up time, if I expect to make it home in one piece." For Roddy, the excitement of the moment had given way to the survival skills that would keep him alive to do it again.

"Butterbeer and whatever she's having," he called across the room. "Oh, and put cherries in it!"

It was his signature drink, and one he only drank after a good night of chaos. Anyone who thought to search the surrounding area, in the days to come, would be able to tie this to ... not him, but the same suspicious fruity redhead, who had been seen near the scene of so many riots, of late. He was extremely noticeable, after all, but there was little proof he was generally responsible. One of these days, it would get him killed, but in the mean time, it was all fun and games.

Andrya settled on a Butterbeer as well. After all, she did have a few moments earlier where she had giggled and sounded like a schoolgirl, and she had not been drinking that much, so until she knew what had caused it, better be on the safe side.

"Cherries and butterbeer? Seems like a strange combination, what is the taste like?"

Roddy blinked. There was a small chance that he was, in fact, so drunk he'd misunderstood the question, but the chance was extremely small. "It tastes like butterbeer. With cherries."

He gazed across the table in perplexity for a long moment. "Easier answer: When the glass makes the table, I'll let you take the first sip, I will. Then you'll know."

Of course, he'd let her have the second sip, if she had the sense to ask, but it never hurt to put a drink down someone else, before you sullied your own stomach with it, after some shenanigans like they'd just had. His mother didn't raise a stupid child, and his cousins were excellent reminders of some of the finer points.

“Like Butterbeer and cherries, de verdad?” she said in a slight sarcastic tone while holding back a laugh. “Of course there is a bit of both in the taste, but it’s just that, a veces, when things are mixed the result has a unique taste. Maybe it’s not the case with Butterbeer con cerezas. Guess I will see when I try it.”

In day to day life she purposefully spoke entire sentences in Spanish, mostly when talking to herself or expressing something that she didn’t care if she got a reply to, but when she randomly changed words and expressions in mid-sentence like she was doing now, it was indicative that she was relaxed. Of course she was very much alert in case trouble arose, but that never stopped her from enjoying a calm moment.

Roddy grinned. "But, if it had a unique taste, it would be just as impossible to describe it, non?"

Their drinks arrived, and he pushed his across the table and dropped a few knuts on the floating tray, when it bumped him in the shoulder. "Impatient, yeah?"

He looked back across the table and dismissed the tray. The barkeep was probably light on service, tonight. "I think there ought to be candies that taste like this does. The only way it could be better is as a sugar-gummy."

Andrya thought for a second before nodding.

"Sí, unique would indeed be difficult to describe. Apparently I can't think of simple details like that tonight."

She reached for his drink and took a sip.

"You're right, the two tastes are distinct enough. Es sabroso though."

His Spanish wasn't great, but his Latin was good enough to figure out some words from context. "It is that, yeah."

"So, tell me, lass... Do you have to be home, tonight, or would you like to stay out and then sleep in?" Sometimes, he figured, it was good to get a handle on what was going on, before you did it. Most of the time, it was a waste, but this time, they'd be stuck in the pub a couple more hours, until the Aurors cleared the area, so it was worth knowing what he'd be looking forward to, after this.