[Hogshead] just one more

[healy]

Lucy walked down the streets of Hgosmeade, her carpet bag in tow behind her. It had rained earlier that day so the ministry employee was glad for her decision to wear boots. The mud was thick , though she was thankful that it was not the soupy puddles that caused one to slip and fall, ruining one's total outfit.

Day one of Lucy's trek to Hogwarts had gone over well. Apparating on time and now she was just getting to the doors of her home away from home. Lucy had stayed at the Hogs Head many times before. Many times when she was still a Hogwarts student, needed a place to sleep the night away, and many times as a ministry employee in the education department.

Lucy's superiors decided that it was time to check out Hogwarts. They had been all over Hubbles back about this and that, but once the newspapers got a hold of the story of Hogwarts basically crumbling, they began to get worried, not to mention pressure from their investors. It was decided that the hard working, sweet talking Lucille Colby would be set to make sure all was well at the school.

Lucy pushed open the door to the Hogs Head and stepped in, her bag scooting in before the door closed. She walked up to the counter and smiled. "Room for one please" she said to the man behind the counter. "Not sure how long." Lucy said, telling the truth, for she wasn't sure how long this job would take her. It would all depend what she would encounter during her first walk through of the school.

The man took her bag and gave her a key to her room. Courtney placed it into her jacket and wandered around downstairs. Soon she found herself at the bar. She scooted onto the bar stool and waited patiently for the bartender. Finally getting his attention with a smile. Lucy ordered her favorite drink, a Spotted Dragon, firewhiskey and raspberry juice on the rocks. She sat at the bar, thinking about the job and the amount of work she had to do. Before she knew it the drink was gone.

"Just one more." She told herself and signaled for the bartender.

[Warren Hubbles]

For the Hogshead it had been a very quiet night, only a few of the normal regulars sat in the dark corners sipping on there ales muttering in incoherent tones about how it was ‘not like the old times’. Looking out of one of the gloomy windows the weather outside matched that of the mood of the pub, it was dark and miserable to be honest with weather like this it was no wonder the customers where lacking. So with no one needing refills Warren busied himself whistling a merry little tune while he made sure all the spirit bottles had their labels facing forwards…yes that was how bored he was. Finally he heard the door open once more and then sounds of a woman talking to Jamie, it seemed like he would be getting a bit more income tonight, however trying to act like he was desperately waiting for people to enter Warren carried on whistling and picked up an empty glass and absentmindedly began giving it a clean.

After an appropriate amount of time had passed Warren wondered over, took her order and once the drink and money had been exchanged he wondered back over to the same glass and once more began cleaning it. Oh what a thrilling life he led, he got to whistle to himself as old men bickered in a corner about who was a better Quidditch player James Goss or Phil Ford…Warren did not have a clue who either of them were.

That was when the woman at the bar muttered something to him once again and he figured she wanted another drink. Wondering over he swept the empty glass up with a smile and fixed her another drink making a mental note that he would need to get more Fire Whisky.

“I have yet to meet a person who could drink seven of these in a row.” Warren slid the drink over, leaning on the counter as he met the gray-blue eyes of the woman. “By the time they get to their sixth either their mouths are on fire or their bladder is bursting.” The barman gave a small chuckle as he continued to look over at the mysterious woman. He had no idea who she was and considering there was nothing else for him to do he thought he might as well make a bit of small talk. “But then is this when you prove me wrong and drink eight?”

[Shayla Kane]

Shayla was pretty much dead on her feet. Her shift had just ended and today made it one of those days that she would give anything to have a normal job like a secretary of something. Then she could sit behind the desk and just answer the phones or file things away. No she had to go and be an auror and work 70 hour shifts and have wands thrust in her face, and psycho wizards telling her they were going to blow her up just because she had to haul them in.

After she was told she could go home Shayla didn't wait around for someone to change her mind. She grabbed her coast and bolted out the door, poor Bryan from the apparition department was nearly knocked on his keister by Shayla. She didn't even spare him a look simply yelled out "Sorry Bryan" as she skidded to a halt in front of the lifts. Pressing the button she heard them rattling down to her the doors opened a few memos zoomed out of them and Shayla literally jumped in.

Pressing the button to take her to the Atrium Shayla bolted out of the lift and straight to the fireplace. Right now she wanted a drink and a good time so when she entered the fire place she said Hogshead. In no time at all she managed to appear in Hogsmeade village right in the heart of the fireplace of the Hogshead. Stepping out Shayla took a deep breath and could smell the alcohol clinging to the air. It did her heart good.

Stepping up to the bar she took a seat and waited for someone to take her order. Now that she was there she wished that she had thought to get in touch with Tyson her fiance. They hadn't seen each other in days due to Shayla's schedule, their wedding plans had been put on hold until she found some time and she was beginning to feel horribly about that. Deciding she would make it up to him later Shayla smiled at the girl behind the bar walked up to her and asked what she wanted.

"Ooh I'd love a whiskey sour please" Shayla hadn't had one of those in a while and she missed the way they tasted. The ones here at the Hogshead were usually especially delicious. Waiting for her drink Shay looked around the place trying to see if there was anyone else there she might know. At first she didn't think there would be but then she noticed a fellow ministry employee. A grin broke out on her face as she said "Lucille hi."

[healy]

Lucy waited for the bartender to approach. She had ordered her second drink rather unenthusiastically, knowing that if she wasn't careful she would find herself passing out over the counter and waking up with her face plastered to the wooden counter. The man approached Lucy and she smiled, acting politely. She would finish the drink ad then go up stairs and organize all the papers she had in her baggage in order to make her Hogwarts experience a little more organized itself.

However, the bartender must have noticed her quiet demeanor and started a conversation as he poured the second drink. Lucy smiled at the challenge. She knew that after five she would be done for, but she smirked anyway, sliding the drink over to her and picking it up. "Don't tempt me." She said, noticing the kinds eyes of the man. He looked rather familiar but she could not place him. Beside she thought it was better that she finished her drink and get upstairs or else she was likely to order another one.

Lucy took her first sip of her fresh drink, when she heard someone order a whiskey sour in the background noise. She didn't take any notice of the person behind the voice until she heard her name. Lucy was in the midst of a sip, when she looked up over her glass and saw the young face of a fellow employee. She smiled sweetly. "Miss Kane...or should I saw Mrs. White soon enough." Lucy said with a smile. Almost odne with her second drink, she was beginning to feel more social. "Meeting your Fiance?" Lucy said, twirling her little straw in her drink.

[Warren Hubbles]

It was always good when the bar was full and busy; most days you would find Warren perched on the bar stool reading the newspaper looking a bit too much like one of the customers. Tonight however he was thinking was going to be a bit of fun, defiantly with two women in front of him to playfully flirt with. With a cheeky grin Warren continued to lean on the bar counter and look at the older women when the other asked for a drink. With a small salute Warren stamped his heels together and marched off over to the collection of bottles and sweeping up a clean glass he started to whip up a Whiskey Sour.

But being the nosey devil he was Warren kept his ears open and listened to the conversation that was passing between the two women and with a wide grin Warren strut back over towards the younger blond haired women and handed over the drink. “Oh a wedding.” He said with a rather camp voice. “Who is the lucky man?”

It was the job of the barman to be a nosey so and so, he had to get the conversation flowing and make the place an attractive place as the one thing you can count on with the dark and gloomy Hogshead was that it would not be the furnishing’s that got you coming back every time. Warren knew he needed to make the place as attractive as possible and if that meant flirting with the customers then that is just what he would have to do…or even if it meant re-filling the drinks of people at the bar without them knowing, just like now with Lucille.

[Shayla Kane]

Shayla was waiting for her drink when Lucille turned to her. The two women didn't know each other well but they worked at the same place so it was simply proper etiquette to address her and maybe even get to know her a little bit since she didn't really have many female friends to speak of. She didn't' expect them to be bosom buddies at the end of this but then at least they could have a civilized conversation. Plus Shayla chose to sit next to her so it wasn't as if she could ignore her too much.

Shayla couldn't help looking around the place, it was in her nature to inspect her surroundings make sure everything was on the up and up, especially the Hogs Head which sometimes had a dodgy reputation. When she judged the place to be safe to her well-being she turned back to Lucille who was mentioning her upcoming engagement. Shayla immediately started to blush. The mention of being Mrs. White was something she had been thinking of a lot lately. How nice it would be once they were married. "Not Mrs White yet but hopefully soon."

The thought made her so happy but she had no words for it. It was still hard to believe that they found each other once again after so long and managed to reconnect and be together. As her drink was brought out to her the bartender asked her who the lucky man was. Again Shayla couldn't help but blush, "Oh well his name is Tyson White he's a writer for the Daily Prophet." She said the last bit with pride because she was proud of him. "How much do I owe you for the drink" she asked.