[Hogs Head] &WatchTheMinutesPass

[brieanna]

It was another day like any other day for Brieanna, with the exception that she had just got off from work with not a clue of what to do. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a french braid that ended at the middle of her back and a few strands were left down beside her cheeks that had a wavy curl to it. Anyway, she was dressed down in a white blouse, black dress pants and black heeled boots. Watching as the trees passed her by on her walk to the village, she noticed how clear the sky was which wasn't a surprise. It was usually nice out and it just happened to be a warm day.

Brie never liked dressing this way but she had to for work, if it were her choice, she would have been in jeans and a t-shirt. Brieanna decided that she was going to go down to the Hogs Head and grab a drink. Stepping out into the sunlight, she raised her hand to shield it from getting into her eyes till they got adjusted. Eventually they did as she walked down the cobblestone streets of London. She apparated from an alley, this was so that people wouldn't see her. Appearing in Hogsmeade, she walked out from the alley next to the Three Broomsticks. Making her way through the endless crowds of people roaming the streets and in every shop. Ugh, what a nightmare.

However, Brieanna kept walking and doing a bit of window shopping just to pass the time away. Going through each window, she came to a hault at the Hogs Head. The thought of a fire whiskey sounded nice, with that in mind, she decided she would go in and get one. Placing her hand on the handle of the door, Brieanna gave a gentle push down and pushed open the door. Upon entering, the smell of smoke and mold filled the air around her, it wasn't much of a place, for now it suited her mood. Walking further into the pub, the young woman approached the bar and scanned the glasses behind the counter.

Not exactly sure what she wanted at the moment, except an alcoholic beverage. Glancing over at the empty stool beside her, she slid upon it and at that time, her eyes fell upon the scotch bottle. Brieanna sat there not even paying much mind to what was going on around her, turning her head toward the bartender waiting for them, she finally decided to just go with a Fire whiskey. All Brieanna could do was sit there with her hands over her face rubbing gently, lifting her head and folding her hands under her chin, she waited patiently.

[Warren Hubbles]

There had been a steady stream of customers that afternoon, nothing that was going to make the profits of the inn soar sky high but enough for Warren to be able to keep it open if anything. It was when he was pulling a pint for one of the local warlocks who’s beard was almost down by his feet did Warren notice a young lady walk into the pub and for the slightest of moments his attention wondered to her although he was soon brought back to earth when he felt the cold tickle of ale running over the rim of the glass and over his hands.

After receiving payment from the old warlock and watching him shuffle away Warren noticed that the witch was now sitting down on one of the many bar stools and was gazing thoughtfully at the array of spirits and other drinks that where behind the bar. From many years of experience he had learnt to always give a consumer room, there was no point pushing them for an answer and on a lack luster day such as today it was not like the bar was swarming with alcohol fuelled wizards and witches shouting orders at him from every direction.

Wipping the ale off his hand on the back of his jeans Warren slowly made his way over to the auburn haired witch and gave her a small toothy grin as she propped her head up on her hands at the bar, a tell tale sign she was waiting.

“What can I do for you then love?”

His voice was light and jovial and Warren leant against the bar a few feet away from the witch, refusing to look away from her. He always liked to guess what type of drinks customers would buy, most of the locals he knew the drinks off by heart and how they liked them but when new people turned up and sat down on the bar stools in front of him it provided Warren with some light entertainment.

[brieanna]

After a countless effort to make a decision on something to drink, she had given up on even trying to decide and went with the most popular drink, Fire whiskey. While waiting for the bartender as he had seemed to be busy with other clientel, Brieanna watched the man as he scurried around with his head cut off. She couldn't believe that with a place like this and so busy that there was only one person to tend to the customers. People shouting from behind her had made her turn to see who they were and why they were yelling, but of course she should have figured they were wanting drinks.

Brieanna felt sort of out of place and the reason for that was one, the way she was dress. Secondly, she hasn't been here in a long time. She moved to France to work at their Ministry and help them with the hardcore Criminals that seemed to be escaping, she was pretty much a hitwizard. That was until she came back here and she decided to become an Auror instead. So she was kind of new again and not many people recognized her except for a few that knew her from school. While sitting there, Brieanna rested her head upon her hands noticing the man walking her way with a smile upon his face.

Smiling in return, she looked up at him and folded her arms down onto the countertop. Brushing a few strands from her face with her fingers, she couldn't wipe the smile from her lips. Brieanna noticed that the man was looking at her, making her wonder what he was thinking about. She didn't remove her eyes from him, but when she felt her heart race, she pulled out of the semi trance and asked "Could I get a fire whiskey please?" Leaning back in her chair, she felt a bump from behind, Brieanna turned her head noticing that another man had bumped into her, whom was intoxicated to the brim. All she could do was smile and turned back to the bartender and chuckled. "Wow, it seems quite busy, is it always this extreme? Or is it just on certain days?" she inquired.

[Warren Hubbles]

Now that was not the drink he had been expecting, in Warren’s old fashioned mind he never saw fire whisky as a female drink although his own younger cousin had seemed to taken a shine to it and when ever Warren watched Girty throw a glass back he never thought anything more on it. With another small grin Warren nodded his head at her request and picked up a clean whisky glass and bottle of Ogden’s Old Firewhisky and poured it into the glass. The honey coloured liquid slowly trickled in until it was three quarters full.

The stimulating smell it gave off made Warren’s mouth water and it took him a lot of restrain from picking up the bottle and just taking a swig out of it. Luckily for whoever was the next person to order the drink he managed to reframe and placed the bottle back down in its resting place and turned to look at the woman just as one of the locals stumbled backwards into her.

“Oh I would not say this is busy. You should have seen it the other night...” He placed the glass down on the counter in front of the witch and looked at her straight in the eyes. “…you could not move without knocking someone glass over but I shall tell you something, it did the old bank balance good.”

Warren gave a small chuckle and wondered over towards another customer who was shouting loudly in the want of another round of drinks for his group of friends. Warren was half tempted to refuse to serve the man the alcohol was strong on his breath and it took him three attempts to say goblin which would normally be a good sign that he had had to much. So although he should be a responsible land lord Warren had to think about making enough for a living and by the looks of some of the wizards friends they would not last out much longer then the first few sips.

Pocketing the profits Warren found himself wondering over towards the woman again simply standing there to pass the time seeing as she had no company and other then the rowdy lot on the other side of the bar he too was alone. The noise of the other people in the pub or maybe even the woman’s beauty had however lead to something that Warren very rarely forgot to do…get the money out of the consumer.

(Oh dear me…I would like to apologise for the lameness of this post…very sorry!)

[brieanna]

Sure it wasn't the kind of drink that she was wanting, it was just unfortunate that she couldn't decide. Out of the many spirits that were set out neatly across the back of the bar, it shouldn't have been a difficult decision. Brieanna sat there watching him pour her drink in a sparkling glass, the light flickered through it catching her eyes making them glimmer. It wasn't unusual for her to get bumped, so it didn't really phase her any when the man shuffled backwards into her. At least he apologized for it and resumed his consumption of alcohol.

Hearing the bartender begin to talk about the pub, she listened and raised her eyebrow in questioning about the other night. Before she was able to ask, he was already beginning to explain what happened. "Oh, I see. So you have to deal with all these people and no one here to help you? It's just you?" she asked, smiling as she took the glass into her hand and lifted it to her lips taking a small sip. "I must say, that's a lot to handle for just one person." she grinned cheekily. Hearing one of the guys become impatient, Brieanna watched as he slipped away to service him.

Putting her hand in her dress pant pocket, she pulled out the money for her drink and placed a bit more for any other drinks that she would probably buy later. Glancing up to place the money on the counter, she noticed the bartender coming toward her again. Watching him strode over, she smiled lightly "I never did get your name." she said brushing the few strands the fell back into her face behind her ear. "I'm Brieanna by the way, Brieanna Karece." she would have mentioned what she did, but she quickly realized that it would have been a bad idea. Once again, before the conversation got started, a few more people shouted for drinks.

Brieanna sighed and lowered her head. "Do you want some help? So that you're not so overwhelmed?" she offered. It wasn't everyday she offered to serve people drinks, but she has done it before. Picking her glass up, she chugged the whiskey down like it was nothing and set it down as she swallowed the last bit. "Let me give you a hand."

[Warren Hubbles]

Warren did not quite know what she was hinting at when she inquired if he had to deal with everyone at the pub by himself. It could have been taken in many ways, a complaint that he was not organised enough to get anyone else to help him, a compliment that he was able to keep a busy pub like this running without anyone else or even to the extreme to ask him if he was in fact lonely. It was this slight confusion of him reading too much into something getting himself all tangled up that he did not respond to her question but as they stood only a few meters apart, her money glistening on the counter in the dim light that filled the room when the man finally managed to come up with an answer.

“I manage, I guess that is the best way for it. My cousin sometimes helps when he has nothing better to do, my girlfriend comes up from Plymouth every now and again but it is a fair journey to make regularly.”

He had not mean to start gibbering on about his personal life to a compete stranger and stray away from her actually question but there it was, he had said it. At the mention of her name and the introductions being made Warren snapped himself out of the little dream world he had so easily fallen into and looked at Brieanna and gave her a wide smile, he was about to introduce himself when more shouts came from the far side of the bar. Giving Brie and apologetic smile Warren wondered over to the younger individuals who had entered but while completing their order he purposely wondered over to the bottle of vodka that was closest to Brie.

“I am Warren by the way.” He said over his shoulder only to see her throw the drink back down and place the empty glass on the counter. Lost for words for a moment or too Warren had to gather his thoughts and gave a rather distracted response. “erm….yeah…if you want…you do not have to…I…er…”

With a few blinks at Brieanna Warren used the shouting teenagers after their drinks as an excuse to disappear once again in a vain attempt to try and gather himself together once again.