SPOILER!!: Minions

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemon

Alice hopped into the Hog's Head. Yes, her gramps had told her to stay away from the place, but Mama Selina Selina could protect them ickles from the oldies. So there was no problem with her coming, yeah? She spotted Selina and a couple others at a table and skipped over to them, beaming at everyone before turning to Selina and saluting. "Cap'n. Present and ready for duty." Hehe. It was also a feat that the lioness was managing to keep a straight face. A very good straight face, mind you. She had to look down to hide a tiny smile before looking back up at Selina.

"Do they sell ice cream here?

Straightface.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl

This was where Selina had told Penelope to meet her, right? Interesting place. It seemed a lot different from the Three Broomsticks, but not really in a bad way. She actually kinda liked it a bit, in a weird way.

But anyway.

She entered and quickly spotted the group of students, Selina among them. They must all be meeting here too. The second year walked over to them and stood next to Alice. "Hey," she said to all who were present. Was this the entire group? Or were more people coming?

And yes, DID they sell ice cream here? That would be nice to have right now.

Oh, but it looked like their meeting was starting? And it was about finding Mortimer. That didn't really surprise Penelope.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LilFox06

Anya, clutching Jake's hand, entered into the Hog's Head. Why couldn't they have met somewhere safer?

Like a dark alley?

She'd heard the stories. And... really... dusty mugs didn't really appeal to her at all.

AND EWWW! Was that a SPIDER?! She carefully stepped over something... of unknown origin on the ground. She ever-so-lovingly pushed Jake out of the way so that he wouldn't step in whatever that was.

Heh.

Whatever was going on better be worth this.

"Capt'n." she greeted. "I brought Jake." In case she couldn't tell.

Guess who?

Gideon wasn't sure who the young man who came up behind Selina was but she obviously knew him. And he wasn't a student, that was for sure, though he looked vaguely familiar like he had seen him once or twice before. Wait...wasn't he the former Gryffindor captain? The one before he had joined the team. That would make him Selina's friend Simon and Gideon relaxed. No one to worry about.

His attention returned to those of the younger variety in the vacinity. More and more of those Gryffindors who had been at try-outs and on the team the term before started showing up. Had Selina asked them all into the mix to help with the search for the bat? Who better to trust he supposed. First Alice...then Penelope and finally Anya.

SPOILER!!: Vivi

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

And he said he wasn't a creeper. Vivi grinned as Vickers tried to be all sneaky in his all-black clothing and furtive looks. She was not fooled. And she was thrilled he bothered to dress up. That was a good sport, that was.

"No, it's MEEEE," Vivi peeled back her mustache and gave Vickers an exaggerated wink. Look, see? Incognito!Genevieve. She quickly smoothed the mustache back down and gestured to the booth. "I don't need to know how to shave, although... this disguise would be much better if the mustache was real. Will you teach me how to shave?"



"No... Vick has to be Lestrade. You're going to be Mary, obviously." Obviously. Didn't he know his canon? Mary was Watson's One True Love (except she totally died and then he had another OTL, but whatevs). Plus he couldn't be a conspirator just because he had an awesome hat.

Although... he did have the hat. SO CONFUSING.

"Vick is the counterbalance to Sherlock and Watson's wild flights of logical whimsy. Or Lestrade is, and Vick is to Selina and I. Watson and I." Vivi's eyebrows climbed way up her forehead at all the circular conversation. "Maybe nobody better be Lestrade."



"LESTRADE!" Vivi waved her mustache at the girl, which hadn't really reattached properly after the last removal. No, no. No one was Lestrade. Vivi waved Kurumi into a seat and tried not to be disappointed that the girl hadn't worn a costume. Didn't she knoooooow better?

"Sit over by Mary-not-Lestrade, please. Have to save room for Watson."



"Watson, thank Merlin you found us. I was afraid you wouldn't recognize us in our disguises." Vivi struggled to unstick her mustache from her fingers and reapply it to her face, but without success. Stupid... sticky thing. She should have tried a sticking charm, but that might have removed all the skin from her face or something. And she'd look bad with no skin.

Vivi leaned back. "Munchkins? Merlin, I thought I was doing well to bring Vick, and you've brought an army." Case in point... the minions were arriving.



Two little minions (cute, by the way), and one very... large one. Vivi held down her mustache as she peered up at the boy...man... person who was pouncing on Watson. That was not polite behavior, was it? Should she kick him? Throw a shoe?

"Your minions aren't little, Watson. But... anyway... everyone here?" Vivi attempted to extricate herself from the booth, putting a hand on Watson's shoulder and a hand on Vickers'. "Welcome to the first meeting of the Hogsmeade Irregulars. We have our very first case to solve... the search for Mortimer. I'm sorry to say that our suspect pool is quite large, and so we're going to have to resort to extreme measures."

"Mary?!" Gideon remarked hearing Vivi's name for him after explaining Vickers would be Lestrade if anyone would be the inspector. He could easily be the counterbalance between them himselfSure he knew Miss Mary Morstan was Watson's wife as he was Selina aka Watson's boyfriend but did he have to take her name and position in the whole charade? "Can we at least settle on Morstan? I already have enough girlish nicknames thank ye."

Cue minor glare sent the Ravenclaw's way when she used the feminine to mention him to Kurumi.

Though Hogsmeade Irregulars did sound appropriate.

There was a logical and almost calculated reason as to why Dash never hung out with Ravenclaws back when he had attended Hogwarts. Sure, hanging out with people who were almost as smart as you may have seemed like a great idea at first but Ravenclaws had that pushy 'I'm always right' side to them which didn't sit well with the Slytherin. Most of the time they had no clue what was even going on but they suffered from their hubris just as bad, if not WORSE than the Slytherins.

He could handle it now that he was older. It was a simply thing to deal with.

Just blow off everything that they said. "Lost students would do me some good, less homework to mark, I really don't see your point." Dash announced once the extremely long winded speech was over. "So you might as well stop spitting out facts at me. You sound like a Hollingberry." Speaking of, the place was starting to fill up pretty quickly, with students - mostly Gryffindors which in itself was bothersome - but also a Hollingberry. "I enjoyed this place much more when students weren't even allowed to stare at the door to come inside." Hmm. Good times. He gazed at her for a few seconds, almost as if preparing to ask if she wanted to leave.

Letting out a fake sigh, Dash ran his hands through his hair. "Damn. Guess i'm missing out then." He smiled back, just because he could, and she sort of made him want to. A lot. Dropping his haze to her hand in his he nodded. "Basically then, you enjoy when I bleed?"

Okay. There were two things that went through Kurumi's mind when Selina called her Hollingberry. First was that Selina meant business because she almost NEVER called her by her last name unless Kurumi was either doing/saying something Selina didn't approve of ooooooor Kurumi was denying her cookies. All the other times it was typically Rumi or one of the other pet names Selina had for her.

Only she was distracted for a moment by Vivi calling her...

*blink blink*

Huh? "Lestrade?" Kurumi repeated, cocking her head to the side out of confusion. Was that...an insult in Latin or something? Vivi and Selina were hanging out a lot now, so maybe Selina was teaching some Latin to the Ravenclaw? Ravenclaws tended to like that sort of thing, right? Kurumi was a bit too distracted by a mustache being waved in her face to notice that the blonde was pointing to Gideon when she was telling her where to sit. "Why do you have a mustache?"

Because these sorts of questions really needed to be answered.

When a whole army of minions bunch of Gryffindor underclassmen showed up, Kurumi sort of continued to just stand there and stare.

Selina...had lost her mind. People from St. Mungos were going to show up any moment and cart her away....yes?

....even Simon was here..WAIT! SIMON WAS HERE?!

"Selina...please don't tell me you .... are trying to hire the Ministry too..." Because Kurumi was starting to actually piece together why she had been called her.

Once Selina tipped her bowler hat back, she finally got a decent look at Genevieve's face. Bloody hell, she was wearing a mustache. WHY DIDN'T SHE THINK OF THAT? A dumb mustache shirt... what was she thinking? It was childish, dumb at best. Genevieve, she had REAL inspiration, real girth. That mustache was perhaps the most handsome mustache she had ever seen. His name would be Jerry. Because no female mustache was THAT attractive. Honestly.

Ignoring what Sherlock said about her arrival, Selina reached out to touch her mustache, "Merlin Sherlock! Why didn't you tell me we were wearing mustaches? I would have dressed up for the occasion!" A bowler hat could only do so much. It was a simple hat, nothing more. The big city was just a dream for such a common hat.

The redhead turned to her boyfriend and smiled at his hat. What a splendid idea, really. And now her hat had company. Although, before she could comment on such a jolly hat, Vivi spoke up about him being Mary. Gideon tried to defend himself with an alternative nickname, but Selina was too busy laughing hysterical to even process what he was suggesting. "Oh MERLIN! Gideon, your codename is SO Mary. Done and done. Good call, Sherlock." What an amazing nickname. She rather liked that one more than Gertie, which was an all time favorite of hers.

Before she could even wait to be subjected to his moans and groans about his awful nickname, another voice came out of no where. What also came out of no where was one minute she could see and the next it was darkness. WHO HAD TURNED OUT THE LIGHTS? AND DID THEY HAVE A DEATH WISH-

...she knew that voice. It couldn't be... HE CAME? She pushed his hand out of the way and turned around to see Simon standing there in front of her. The redhead had written him a rather distraught letter about Mortimer and asked if he could use all of his Ministry resources to find the person and put them in jail. She also might have mentioned when they were meeting there today and at this place. AND HE CAME.

Her smile was so bright that she felt her cheeks were going to burst open. The redhead lunged at her old Captain and pulled him into a bone crushing hug, "SIMON!" She squeezed him harder, "You came! It's so good to see you! Oh Merlin, I've missed you!" And she did. She really did. Selina missed him and Carter most days. They were her captains. In her mind, the badge that she wore was not her own- she was just borrowing theirs.

Letting him go, she spun him around to meet everyone, "Guys, this is Simon. He is part of the big, bad law force. I thought he might be helpful in finding Mortimer." Because he could use force without getting in trouble. Or lie in the paperwork for the funeral home that he had used force and not a certain redhead...

And when Kurumi addressed the Simon issue, she smiled and nodded, "Smart right? Now even the LAW is on our side." Which was important of course.

That was when all of her ickle lions started to show up. The redhead nodded at Tag when he asked if she requested him. Yes, she did... in case her screaming at him across the Common Room was not clear enough. Merlin, that boy was too adorable for his own good. His cheeks were in danger of getting pinched. "Yeup, I requested you, Taggle. Take a seat." Code name, Cheek Pinch, was present.

Then Alice- codname The Biter- arrived. In usual Alice fashion, she inquired about the ice cream that Selina promised. She wasn't sure if they had ice cream here, but they could always ask. What was the harm in that? "I'll go ask in a second Alice. Welcome, by the way."

The wind brought in Penelope next or codename The Shark. The younger Gryffindor was REALLY growing on Selina. The redhead had liked her as a first year, but she was now very protective over the younger lion. After what they had talked about and after what had happened at try outs, Penelope was her little lion. And if ANYONE hurt her... she would hurt them. "Hey Penelope." Aww, cutiepie.

A rather loud voice broke her gaze with Penelope. The redhead did not even need to look to know that voice. It was Anya, codename the Little Spy. She smiled widely at the girl as she started to turn around to face her, "Anya, my little spy, you made it-" Keller was here? She did not remember inviting him. As much as he had changed her mind about him at try outs, she was not sure she was ready to be so openly accepting of this boy. She knew what he brought... drama. Lots of it. "Hello Jacob." No codename for him.

Brought an army? Hah. This was only some of her minions. If Genevieve wanted an army she had a few favors she could call in. Selina had done a few inside jobs for people in the past. People owed her a minion or two in the other houses. And if Momma Lion called in a favor, she got a minion. So she had PLENTY at her disposal. However, they wanted to keep this mission relatively small, so only a few ickle children were necessary this time. Unless of course Vivi felt that more were essential then she would get little children to help them. They were easy enough to bribe. Just tell them there was ice cream. That was how she got Alice to come and help with this whole mission. Code name, The Biter, was not so convinced until Selina had brought ice cream into the mix.

But Genevieve brought the group of people to order. They were the Hogesmeade Irregulars? SHE WANTED T-SHIRTS! However, all she did was listen. It was Sherlock's turn to unveil the plan. She was after all the one with the mustache.

He wasn't refuting her words because he knew that she was right. Obviously. Althea counted it as a battle won, but all the same, she had taken this whole 'you're the boss' thing on board. However, he got a scoff at this 'Hollingberry' business. She did not. At all. She wasn't gushing over some kendo thing or cookies, or trying to shove photos in his face, or being unnecessarily and annoyingly helpful, or unnecessarily and annoyingly annoying. Again, this was just because he knew she was right and... why were there so many students here? So many Gryffindors? "As did I." And likely the bartender felt the same way, by the looks of him. Althea hadn't seen Vickers little wave, she'd been fixated on looking at Dash, but she noted the boy now, lost in a sea of lions. That was a shame.

Still, she wasn't going to be driven out just because there were children here. It was a side effect of a Hogsmeade Weekend. And she and Dash weren't hiding their relationship anymore.

Even if it wasn't exactly shouted from the rooftops, and nobody cared anyhow, so what was the difference?

She leaned in closer, managing to block out much of their surroundings thanks to the pub being so dark and dingy and all. Back to smiling, and she watched him run his fingers through his hair, her own itching to do the same. Not too messy today, she noted. "And what do you suppose it is you're missing?" More than a hint of exactly what was in her expression. Promises were there.

"I rarely draw blood." She protested with a smile, purposely deflecting the question into banter. It wasn't really an answer since the true answer wavered between not needing to be said and possibly being admitted in private rather than in the middle of the Hogs Head.

Maybe there was a touch of Gryffindor in her after all, because Althea leaned forward and dropped a soft kiss on his lips. Right over that scar that had been partly her fault.

Well it was dark enough that surely nobody saw?

Stella hadn't missed the fact Matt had been surprised that she hadn't let go of his hand yet. She was too tuned into him to miss that, and besides, she also knew why he was surprised. Although she also chose not to tell him that it was because she was a tiny bit afraid to. Afraid that if she let go all that weirdness was going to come crashing down on her and she wouldn't know how to deal with it, along with the fact she was nervous just being in the Hog's Head. Seeing people she remembered, especially the few that she knew were still obviously students, just reminded her that she wasn't supposed to be there, oddly enough. Especially as she'd seen Anya coming in as well, along with a boy she didn't know. Actually, several people she didn't know, but were all students. She could tell they were students, and not just because they'd all joined the group that included Gideon, Vickers, and the mustache-wearing girl. They just looked like students, and that made her wonder why she'd always felt like she couldn't come here when she'd been one as well. However, she managed a nod as Matt had taken her suggestion and started leading her through the room to a table, before she just went back to looking around.

Professor Bentley with a man she assumed was her old Herbology professor's fiancé... More people she didn't recognize, and then she thought she caught a glimpse of another familiar figure seated at a table not far from the one Matt had chosen. "Is that...," she started to say as she'd taken the seat he'd held out for her, only to lean forward a bit as the woman had moved. It looked like Professor Schirmer, but then she was kissing... Professor Scabior? Now that was interesting, but she just shook her head as she returned her attention to her own boyfriend. "It doesn't matter," she finished. She wasn't going to try to understand what she'd just seen, and she was defin itely not goin g to draw attention to it in case her favorite former professor would rather keep things private. She wasn't sure she could blame her anyway. "So what do you want to do while we're here?," she asked Matt. "Besides getting a drink right now, of course. If we have the whole day to ourselves, where should we go next?"

So it was settled. he was right, and the students needed to get out. His eyes didn't wander over to the group again though. They were the same faces he was subjected to seeing everyday. Why pay them attention when he had a rare chance with much better company.

What would he be missing? Well, there could possibly be a list, not that he would ever admit it or even let his mind to linger on it. It just wasn't important. Althea could probably guess the possible list herself. And if the possible list was in fact a reality, cake would most likely be close to the top. The second thing if there were a list. Dash's voice dropped, lower. He wasn't exactly worried in anyone overhearing them, no one could, it was just an instinct. He was mostly, protecting himself. "A big chance of being happy." That....was that.

"I've noticed." Dash agreed. "Dragons prefer burning their opponents to a crisp rather than have them bleed to death." That was just how dragons worked, as everyone knew.

He had anticipated the kiss before it happened. It was sweet and short, but that didn't matter. What did matter was that it was out in the open. Sure out in the open in a dark dingy place, but still. "That was new." He smirked.

Oh.

Well.

Brownie points. And an appreciative smile. "Well. We'll see what we can do about finding you that chance then shall we?" And she was a quick worker, since he had the chance completely and utterly. Actually she was impressed he'd even said that much? That was a lot. And not something she was used to hearing. Good all round.

She laughed at the dragon quip. Proof of her good mood. Two years ago, had he come out with that, she'd have... well, she'd have crisped him.

"Seemed a good time for it, and a good place." It was hard not to be amused by the memory. Today. Somedays it still irritated her. Dash was really terrible at apologies. That much hadn't changed.

"Are we going to eat here?"

There definitely had been a strange vibe to this area, Matt wasn't sure that mere words would have been able to explain it but it hadn't mattered since he was more concerned by figuring out what exactly else him and Stella were going to do with the day since this was just supposed to be the day when it was an escape from the stress from school that had appeared only after a month at it; hopefully it wasn't about to return once they went back to their schools but he wasn't entirely surprised if it had happened. Hopefully there's going to be another opportunity to come back here, honestly even if I end up going by myself; there's no way I'm going to allow myself to just start getting annoyed by every little thing that presents itself to me because school is causing me to just be all stressed out. He had no problems with coming back by himself if his girlfriend was too busy to come back again, since there could have been more time here to just think about everything from life to what was to come in the future even if he hadn't any clue about it. As soon as Stella had started to talk however, he snapped out of his train of thought before frowning slightly at what she had said; it was almost like she either forgot what she was going to say or just decided to not tell him but either way it definitely made him wonder. "What?" He could help but turn his head slightly in the direction that he noticed her look and saw Professor Scabior with Professor Schirmer, now that was definitely strange; what exactly were they doing here together?

After that matter had been out of the way, it appeared that she had been reading his mind when it came to asking about what they were going to do for the rest of the day which had made him chuckle a little bit because it definitely amused him; almost like what happened when he met her at Kings Cross when the Hogwarts Express had returned to London from the end of term at Hogwarts. "I was just wondering about that actually, we could just walk around the main street and head into the shops that seem interesting since I can't seem to remember exactly what's here besides The Three Broomsticks." Obviously he'd remember that from the few times that he had gone over the four terms at the school but his brain had been taken over by all the new stuff he was learning so everything else about the wizarding village had just disappeared.

Hm. Yeah. Maybe. Though when he thought about it, Ellie shouldn't have been all that surprised about being appointed Quidditch Captain. She had been a little star for her first terms on the team. THAT was a badge she should have anticipated. "I agree." Louisa was quite deserving; she seemed to be a good role model and a big help to the younger kids, especially with the mindset Max had suggested to her at the beginning of the term. Louisa was surely a bundle of fun, if she had been following his advice.

Milton would be good? She really thought so? Max watched her for a long moment, wondering if she was being truthful or merely encouraging, and murmured, "I'll take your word for it." But if Milton even TRIED to talk down to Max, they were going to have problems.

Playing for one term and being named Captain did not mean he was better than Max. No way.

Ellie sounded surprised that Max thought Aidan would make a good Seeker, which made the seventh year tilt his head slightly in confusion. Aidan was certainly swift enough for it, so... why not? "Yeah." He did think so.

He offered a few nods to Ellie's lone comment about Emmaleigh and he left it at that. There wasn't much more to say, was there? Ellie's expressions and subtle tone made it clear that she was drawing her own conclusions on the matter - conclusions that probably had some truth, but probably not quite to the extent that Ellie might have been pondering. Ah, well. Whatever made her happy. "No one could ever take your place."

On the matter of the Headmistress, Max shook his head. "Nah, she's not like... SCARY scary... she's just... well, she has the kind of personality where you know it's not a good idea to make her mad, y'know? She seems nice enough, but if you upset her, she'll probably grow fangs and claws and shoot fire from her eyes." His tone was light and he was close to laughter; he was clearly joking, but there was some seriousness behind it. Truebridge wasn't scary on the SURFACE, but underneath... Max suspected that she was not one to cross.

He listened intently while she spoke, his pointer finger subconsciously tracing the etching on the table in front of him once more. He knew the Arrows often had practices that long, too, but... "Eight hours?" Yuck. His nose scrunched up just at the thought. And he thought long practices run by ELLIE had been bad. They had never come close to practicing for eight hours. He couldn't even imagine. That had to have been a rough change in pace. "Must be a lot of fun though, yeah? You're finally getting to do what you love all the time." As a PROFESSIONAL. Ellie Stone was going to be a household name soon enough.

"Wish I could be there, ESPECIALLY for your first match against the Arrows." That would be a fun one. Even though his mother had retired, he knew Ellie would be reunited with an old classmate, Becca Parker. He would love to see the dynamic of those two teams on the pitch. "Glad you get to see Treyen, though. That must be a nice change." He looked up from the table and smiled at her, curious to see if she would elaborate on the topic of her boyfriend. He knew they had some problems within the last while, but... they were good now, right?

He finally took a moment to let his eyes scan the surroundings, noting the presence of present and former professors. Though he had no problems with any of them, they made him a bit uncomfortable with their judgmental eyes. But... they actually didn't look like they were paying much attention to any of the surrounding students. Hm. Interesting.

Text Cut: Viv!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

The place was dingy, but not any more than Vivi expected. She paused in the door to straighten the fake mustache she wore - a particularly ugly, bushy thing that she figured Selina (plus Minions) would really appreciate. She briefly scuffed a bit at the dirt on the floor before making her way over to a corner table and taking a seat against the wall. No one sneaking up on her from there.

She flipped the collar of her jacket up to look even more mysterious. The other patrons got an eyeball - at least two professors in the place, plus Max with some girl she didn't recognize. Vivi put her finger against her grinning!mustache mouth to shush Max and co. She was incognito, in spite of her obviously bright blond hair and blue eyes.

"Speak of the devil - there's Genevieve Branxton," Max whispered to Ellie as the door of the pub opened and Vivi Branxton herself walked in... fairly undercover. Was that a mustache? He stifled laughter, and a smile settled on his face when she seemed to acknowledge him by hushing him with a finger to her lips. He gave her a firm nod of understanding. Okay, Vivi. Whatever you wanted.

Thomas slid down the ten sickles to the bar tender. Then he grabbed his butterbeer, and walked on over to his table. He looked at the three new people that walked in. They didn't look like they of age, yet they were still here. Espiecally the one with the mustache. The bright blonde hair did not go well with that mustache, and the fact that there hair is long, nothing like a male's hair. After a few sips of his butterbeer he made sure to keep an eye on them. He pulled out his wand just in case.

There were such a variety of people here... Sarah was quite entranced in her people watching. There were the HoM professor and the lady who taught the seminar involved a deep conversation... and Sarah, rather skilled at eavesdropping overheard him talk about how he hated Kurumi. He hated her beloved prefect? Sour grapes... Speaking of which there were a stream of fellow lions and other students coming in, and among them, Sarah noticed Kurumi. Hopefully Kurumi did not hear such hateful things about her. Penelope, Selina and Gideon were there too... and Anya, Alice and so much mroe yet Sarah did not stir. She quite liked remaining unobtrusive as possible. It helped when people watching
And there was her Head of House there too... oooh.. such an ideal time.. she hit a jackpot... two prefects, a quidditch captain, a seminar instructor, two professors... all under her very nose. She scribbkled some notes in her notebook. Why was her head of house here? Sarah thought it was to get dung for compost. And her HoM was probably romantically involved with the seminar instructor, had Sarah not seen them at that fancy hall for the PLimpy Soup thing. Then there was a woman crying - what was she crying about? So many questions... The thing that puzzled her the most was the fact that the group of students had dressed up. Gideon looked like a wanna-bee detective, yet the aim of being detective was to be incognito and not look detectivish... and then there was the girl wearing a mistauche... this was strange. An ideal setting for a future story..
Sarah looked down dejectedly at what she had written last... this reminded her about the joke about ablonde. A blonde walked into a library and said to the librarian that the book she had taken out had too many charecters and no plot. The library replied saying 'are you the one that took the phonebook?' Sarah needed to think of a plot, or else her story would resemble a phonebook.. too many characters and no plot.

Squirt... squirt... rub... rub...

Ah, the cleanliness! How lovely it was that her hands were now clean and protected. It was even lovelier since she was in a place that wasn't particularly clean. Maria looked towards her left... and then her right... and then smiled. Perfect! She cupped her hands and placed them close to her nose, taking a deep sniff of her palms. Oh the smell of honeysuckle infused with the antibacterial smell of the-

OOMPH!

Her green eyes snapped open and widened as the table wiggled violently. It wasn't the table that worried her the most, it was the product sitting on top of it. The table had managed to steady itself but the product, her precious bottle of hand sanitizer, did not manage to stay upright. It toppled over, spilling some of the antibacterial liquid all over the table. SQUEAK!

Maria sighed before looking up at the culprit. At least the man had a decency to apologise for his actions. And he called her 'ma'am'. How polite! "That's quite fine," It wasn't. What was she meant to do without her trusted hand sanitizer?! "Yes, yes, I'm fine. Are you alright? No bumps or bruises?"

Alice beamed at Selina. "Thaaaanks, Mama Selli— I mean, Selina." Whoops. Did she just start to call her Mama Sellie out loud? Probably not the best idea. OHYAY. Penelope was here, too. "Hey Nell," she greeted the girl. Her head looked considerably better. She was probably still recovering from that Quidditch injury, but it hadn't gotten worse. Good. She snuck a glance at Selina, and then quickly whispered to Penelope, "If we're good, Selina's going to give us ice cream." Yes. An incentive. Not that Alice wouldn't have helped if she wasn't getting ice cream. She would help Selina, with or without ice cream, any day.

But the ice cream was a bonus. And it was being offered. And it would be stupid to pass up free ice cream like that.

But. Never mind that. Her Kurumi-cookie was here, too! Alice dragged Penelope over to a couple of seats around the table near Kurumi and some blonde girl who was calling Gideon 'Mary.' Didn't she know he was named Gideon? Huh. Strange. BUT. Anyway. After Kurumi was finished talking to the blondie who didn't know Gideon's name, she caught her attention. "Mama Kurumi!" Yes. Kurumi didn't mind being a mama.. did she? "Why is Selina wearing that... funny.. THING?"

Because that was a very crucial detail.

Vivi relaxed a bit when it became apparent that the lurking non-student man person wasn't a danger. But MLE? Selina had invited a real Ministry person? Possible future co-worker? She repressed the urge to unstick her mustache again and stick it in her pocket in a poor attempt to appear to be a rational and mature person.

It was way too late for that. The Hogsmeade Irregulars were in session, so Vivi merely gave the man a sober nod before turning back to her table full of Gryffindors... and Vickers. Poor outnumbered-extremely-good-sport Vickers. He got bonus points for sticking this out, especially because ice cream wouldn't mollify him as well as it would all the little lion cubs.

"No sulking, Gert. If you don't want to be Mary, you can just be Code Name: Too Sulky for a Codename. TSFC for short." She stuck her tongue out at him, clearly well beyond trying to impress Future Coworker. She pointed again at the seat for Kurumi and ignored any additional questions about her mustache. If they didn't get the 'stache and the hats and the... oh MERLIN... where was the monocle?? If they didn't get it now, they never would.

"Right then. Now..." She gathered her thoughts, putting her elbow briefly to rest on the top of Vickers' head before she was ready to continue. "Right then. Where was I? Ah, yes. The suspect pool is large, and we have limited clues to go on right now. The bat was last seen in Diagon Alley. We've had no luck with the Ministry or Diagon's lost and found, so someone has clearly absconded with the bat. Absconded, little lion cubs, is a really excellent word that means stolen."

So the bat was missing, they didn't know who had it, and surely everyone here understood that time was running out to find it. Quidditch season was upon them! "Watson and I have decided that the only way to find the culprit is by drawing them out, which is why we've decided to hold an entrapment party." Wait for the gasps of delight and surprise. Wait... none? Anyone? "We're going to pretend to throw an exclusive event, entry only to those who can present a beater's bat at the door. We'll need all of you to act on our behalf because anyone who knows Watson is involved will figure out immediately what we're doing. Questions so far?"

Anya tilted her head to the side. Little spy? That sounded promising.

Wait. And who was this blonde person talking? Was she supposed to know who that was, because she certainly didn't.

Oh wait. Yes she did. "You threw a shoe at my boyfriend." She tightened a grip on his hand. Did she ever ask if that hurt? She couldn't remember now. She was too busy trying not to laugh at the time. Heh. Yeah, she certainly wasn't winning any girlfriend awards anytime soon.

"Wait. Does this mean we all get bats?" she asked looking to her Captain. Because, Selina should know that Anya was not to be trusted with one of those. "And why aren't we actually throwing an exclusive event. I like events." You know, as long as she was part of the 'exclusive'.

Tag was glancing around at his fellow friends. Selina was smart coming up with this idea. Though he found it kinda odd that the blonde was speaking and not the redhead, the one who so dearly missed Mortimer. He then nodded his head when the girl said something about a party, something like that.

"So it's a beater's bat party?" This sounded exciting. Tag liked it already. "Basically we have to check any one who wants to come in, we'd have to check their bat and see if its Mortimer?" That was it right? There better be food there. Especially pasta, and ice cream. Then Tag was definitely in.

The sight of Professor Schirmer with Professor Scabior had gotten Stella's attention quickly, but she also had just as quickly decided to give them their privacy. Whatever privacy they could get in the dingy bar filled with what looked like mostly students, although there were adults there too. More than just her and Matt, and Professor Bentley and her companion, at least. If nobody else questioned it, she certainly wasn't going to, but then it seemed her aborted question had gotten Matt's attention and she sighed a little as he'd responded. "Nothing, Matt. It's just still odd being back here, so things just seem different," she answered, trying desperately to get him to turn back to her and let the professors and former professors go back to their moment unnoticed. She'd be grateful if someone else did that to them, so it was only right they do that themselves. It just took more than her to really make that decision, especially since she'd been stupid enough to not think before she'd spoken earlier, and she couldn't get Matt's attention back by actually saying what it was that had gotten her notice. That would only destroy her current decision, and she definitely wasn't going to do that.

She was relieved, therefore, when he'd chuckled at her question about what they should do next while they were here in Hogsmeade. Even though it also made her curious about what exactly had amused him so much about the question. At least it had his attention back on her, which was all she'd wanted. Plus, it seemed like she'd gotten an answer to why he'd laughed as soon as he'd spoken, so she'd given him a smile. "I guess we just ended up wondering about the same thing, but that sounds nice," she replied. "We don't exactly have to do anything after all. We're just spending time together, and maybe seeing people we wouldn't be able to for a while otherwise." Like their friends who were still students here at Hogwarts. She'd seen a few of them here in the Hog's Head, but she knew there were others as well. Little Blue, that she'd done the DADA final with last term. Alyssa, if the girl had managed to stay at Hogwarts. She imagined the Puff would love to see Matt, at least, if she was around. She was perfectly happy with just wandering and experiencing just the feeling that Hogsmeade had, even though it had changed slightly from the way it felt when she'd known she was going back to Hogwarts after a visit. She was returning to London and WADA instead.

A slight frown remained on his brow as Stella had explained her sudden decision to stop talking, evidently there was still something that she wasn't going to tell him which definitely made Matt curious since he knew that there wasn't much that she had kept from him before so this definitely was a matter of curiosity. Maybe there's something going on that's not anything I need to know, but.. she should trust me enough to be able to know that whatever's wrong won't be mentioned to anyone else, unless she decided that she doesn't want to trust me anymore. But that doesn't make sense if we're still dating and living together, I just want some logical explanation to all this. He tried to shake off those thoughts since they had made about as much sense as flying into a Quidditch hoop which was an incredibly painful and stupid idea, also something that he had done when he attended school back home in Los Angeles but certain events had changed that. "Okay then. I know what you mean and things only seem different because they are honestly, not just with the fact that we're both going to university now and not at Hogwarts. Life has moved on and we just have to get used to how things are now." he replied, before considering how true his little blurb of a topic had actually been; things were different and not just with them. People had graduated after them, there were new things at Hogwarts evidently happening so everything was much different then what they had been through before.

Nodding ever so slightly at what she had said next, he couldn't help but smile at the idea of just getting to spend time with his girlfriend without having to worry about the interruptions from homework or just being too busy in general to be able to have the free time. "That seems to happen at times. It can be pretty amusing depending on what exactly the idea is." It was even funnier if they decided to speak it at the same time which had happened a couple times but at least it meant they wouldn't have disagreed on the idea, whatever it had been. "Exactly, I'm sure there's a lot of younger students wandering around the village that remember us; plus I'm sure that we'll end up finding people we know. And if not, then it's not a big deal; we just enjoy the day anyway." It was really going to be a good day, even if nothing had really happened.

Stella knew at the sight of the frown still on Matt's face that she wasn't going to get away with her excuse. She wasn't going to answer his unasked question either, at least not right now, but she knew the question was going to be asked soon enough. All she had to do was hope that it wouldn't hurt him to know that she'd decided to basically lie to him over something that was really kind of silly. She just didn't want to do anything that would hurt her former favorite professor, either, so therefore it had to be played carefully. And she was grateful when he'd at least seemed to accept the idea that she wouldn't tell him yet, responding only to what she'd actually said. They could deal with the rest later, once they weren't in the pub. Possibly even after they'd gotten all the way home, since that would be even safer. "But can't you say that we've moved along as well? We aren't exactly the same people we were three years ago, four years ago," she mused aloud. She knew she wasn't the same girl who had fought hard to get away from Beauxbatons and the bad memories that were there. She was much stronger now, and not in the least because she had Matt now. "Things change, and we can't try to stop them even if we want to," she added. Before realizing that her words could be taken kind of wrong, especially if he was still dwelling on her earlier backpedaling and misreading that. "I never want us to change, though. Don't ever think that," she concluded, reaching across the table to take his hand again. At least, she didn't want their relationship to change, since she knew they'd get older and everything, and learn more. Especially with them both in university, in their own ways.

She'd given him a curious look as he'd semi-brushed off the amusing idea that they'd thought alike yet again, however. It really was interesting, even if she didn't know why it happened when it did. "It's usually not on anything really important, though, which is a bit odd. If you think about it." Just the little things, not that she really thought this trip was inconsequential. Nothing she ever got to do with Matt was really inconsequential, especially as quite a few of the things they'd done together had ended up going in completely different directions than she'd expected. She'd enjoyed every single one of the surprises, though. Which only meant she'd likely end up enjoying whatever happened right now, and she nodded at his words. "You really think so?," she asked. She hoped someone remembered her, but then she'd only know if she really did run into anyone she'd spoken to while she'd been at Hogwarts. Besides those here in the Hog's Head, who all seemed too occupied to have been people watching to notice her. "I know I'm already enjoying this," she concluded. Either way, getting time to spend with Matt without worrying about class assignments or other school-related issues was nice.

It seemed while he protested Mary, Kurumi was taken back by Lestrade. Was it the gender-swapping? Or perhaps she just wasn't that familiar with the Sherlock Holmes stories. It wasn't like that had been a requirement for this little get-together, it just so happened that the trio of them were somewhat knowledgable. At least he and Vivi were.

Oh no oh no...now Selina was on him about the blasted nickname from Watson's wife. Ugg it was worse then Giddy but her words made it clear he wasn't going to escape it now that it was known to her. Gideon still sent a narrow-eyed look her way to show his displeasure at the whole situation. The full strength of it would only be shown when some of their housemates werent around to bear witness. There was no telling how upset she could make him or Vivi could for that matter with the use of the name.

See....it could get worse. What was with the two girls double-teaming him? Did he really seem like he needed to be picked on especially when Vickers got off scot-free? Hmpf...Gideon just looked away as Vivi stuck her tongue out at him, his arms already crossed at the table. This was for Selina...had it been anything else he might have been tempted to leave at the moment."Ye do know the bats presented could ALL not belong to the owners? Either borrowed or stolen to attend or a nice duplication spell could allow more in that dont actually have one? " Hey what else could he say...people were shifty...especially Slytherins.


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Simon watched as the group he had been defacto initiated into grew one by one with more younger students. Gryffindors by the looks of them if he wasn't mistaken despite them not wearing robes outside of the school. It felt weird to be around the future generations that came after even though he'd only been out of school for little over 3 years. Ah to have been that young once too. The banter between the group making it all the more fun.

But first, he felt his hand being pushed away as Selina responded to his action, stepping once backwards so she could turn to look at him. Simon hadn't expected the crushing hug however. Boy had she gotten strong since he last seen her. Must be all the flying and practicing and playing going on. "Of course...I had the time and you gave me the excuse to come visit." Not that he really needed a reason when he had nothing much better to do on a free day but hang around his empty flat. He really needed a life at the moment."And I missed you too."

He let himself be spun around, offering a weak wave at the unfamiliar persons. "Hello." Hearing Kurumi's reaction to his presence, he couldn't help chuckle. "Not hired exactly," he said adding his own two cent to Kurumi's question. "Here more as just a friend." Simon doubted many aurors went looking for missing bats. Quidditch captains and former quidditch captains did however in this case.

Simon listened as the so-called meeting was brought to order, settling down into a chair to look less conspicious while he was standing. He nodded in understanding of what was brought to them as point of reference. He himself had double-checked the ministry items. "Guess that part is out of my hands." Hogsmeade he could visit...Hogwarts required official business and permission.

"Hmm." Was his only response. He had said it. But he hadn't really meant to say it. It was a spur of the moment, almost kind of excited sort of thing. So Dash sat silently, analyzing what he had said in his head, just as much as he was analyzing Althea's reaction. He had to watch....what he said. It wasn't something that she needed to know, so him saying it was unnecessary.

Yes. Unneeded.

Althea's laugh brought him out of his head.

Good place, Hogs Head yes. Good time? Well he was just happy they were off in a corner. "It was probably just because I'm such an amazing person." He noted, large smirk on his face. "I mean, a couple years ago today I swallowed my pride apologized to you and made sure that you didn't go dancing off into the streets. And now? Now i've done absolutely nothing, but you get to see my face so that should be enough." Hmm. His face made him amazing.

As for food, "No. It's the Hogs Head. I wouldn't even want their rats to eat their food." Alright, he was being harsh. The Hogs Head didn't even have food to begin with! "We can go somewhere when you are hungry." Anywhere. "Are you now?"

She liked it when he forgot himself. It made her forget herself, and it was a nice change not to overthink everything. Aaaand there went the smirking. And he remembered what today was too. "Is that what you call it? Making sure I didn't 'go dancing off into the streets'. Mmm. I like your methods, Everett Scabior." And yes yes, blah blah. His face. She reached out and again brushed her thumb against his scar. There were better things in this Scabior than his face, but it didn't need saying.

"I'm hungry, and its crowded in here." Gryffindors everywhere. What was with that? And small ones even.

Apparently there had been no suspecting the thoughts that were running through his mind were potentially dangerous to the conversation but Matt definitely wasn't about to allow himself to consider that the was wonders about what exactly Stella was not telling him could have torn apart their relationship which wasn't going to happen. Not when he had gotten her to live with him and there was the promise ring to prove that he wasn't going anywhere. At least what was said had alleviated those evil thoughts since he just hadn't wanted to deal with that right now, today was supposed to be a day where nothing was going to bother them since they had enough of that the rest of the time thanks to school which had gotten to be pretty annoying after awhile. "Of course I can, we definitely have become new people from who we were when we first met and that seems forever ago now; I still remember our first meeting which had been pretty amusing when I look back at it now." He hadn't been the fifteen year old anymore that was missing being back home in LA but then there wasn't the reason that he wanted to go back to his old school since it had been a bad experience which made him consider Hogwarts home. "They do, but with change can always bring the positives as well as negatives; we have to take them both and just figure things out from there." Of course life had just given him as much troubles as it had good things and this whole relationship with his girlfriend had been the best thing that had come to him. "I won't think that because I know. I'm never going anywhere." He took her hand in his and just gave her a smile; those words had extinguished the earlier thoughts that something was wrong and now he felt much better than before since whatever wasn't being said wasn't a big deal.

Once she continued to speak about the whole fact they seemed to share the same ideas at times, he nodded while thinking about how to respond to a rather amusing yet somehow trivial point. "It is odd. But, I think that when it comes to important matters we both have our separate ways of thinking so sharing ideas when they're important doesn't have much of a chance of happening." Not that that was a problem, it was the reason he had gotten away with the surprises like when he met her over the summer at the train station and then they ended up going to Hawaii for her birthday which was really fun after not getting to see each other for a long time thanks to her being at the school for her last term while he was in France exploring the country. "Of course, I wouldn't just be saying that honestly." He had to think that there were still a few people around that would have remembered her at least, it hadn't been a big deal if people didn't remember him since he only cared about making this day awesome. "Well good, I think this is definitely better than just spending the day in the apartment; even though we could have just done that and it would have been fine too." It didn't matter where they went so as long as he got to spend time with her and that was what was happening here.

Yes, Louisa was a good choice for Head Girl. Even if not the best role model...she made her mistakes. But that only meant she'd be best for advice. And that was important in a Head Girl. To learn from mistakes and show the younger kids the right way to do things. And to be there when they needed her. And surely Louisa would be willing to help another student when she could. She was a good choice.

Just like Milton was for Captain.

Although, that didn't sound very convincing, Maximus. "Trust me," she said, hopefully reassuringly, eyeing her friend a bit. "I have faith in him." Therefore, Max should too. Even if Milton wouldn't be her first choice as Captain. That didn't mean he wouldn't be a good one.

Aidan as Seeker, hmmm? "That would be cute." Her lil' bro' following in her footsteps. First in house, then in Quidditch position. Such a proud sister, she'd be. "Let me know when you know." Though, she hoped to find out from her own brother, as well. "And let me know when your matches are." And she'll be there. Or, at least, try her best.

'No one could ever take her place'? Ellie laughed. 'Course they couldn't. She wouldn't budge from the position of being Max's Best Friend for anything. But that's not to say she wasn't a bit eager to see if someone might bypass her in importance. "Keep me up to date, okay?" On Emmaleigh. Their relationship. "How that flying thing goes, I mean." That wasn't what she meant. And Max probably knew it.

"Oh," she said again about the Headmistress. Someone not to cross. Someone that turned monstrous when her buttons were pushed. ...Sounded like another Lafay. Sounded like another reason to be glad to have graduated. "It's not like you see the Headmistress much, though, so...," she shrugged. As long as he didn't get sent to her office, he should be good.

"Eight hours," Ellie repeated, nodding. But her grin only widened. Especially because Max was wrinkling his nose like that. "I love it, though. It's what I wish practices could have been like at Hogwarts." Unfortunately, dumb things like classes and other teams' practices and homework got in the way. "And my teammates are all nice and really cool. I like how we all have the same devotion to it." Like at Hogwarts, people could be good enough and interested enough to make it on the team, but no one put in the extra practice like she had.

She laughed, "Honestly, I'm a little nervous to play Appleby..." They'd wanted her, too. She turned them down. Not to mention she knew former Arrows players. And...who knew how much support she'd have for that match. Most of the people she knew, if not already playing on a team, were Arrows fans. Including her. "But next year you'll just have plenty of making up to do." Heh.

"It is." Nice to see Treyen. Very nice. It was relieving to not yearn for him constantly. To be able to see him nearly whenever she couldn't stand not being with him. But...Max didn't want to hear about all that, right? He never seemed very comfortable on that topic. So, no, Ellie didn't elaborate beyond that it was 'nice' to get to see him often. Even if that should be a given.

Ellie leaned in to her friend more to better hear his whisper. Genevieve Branxton. That other new friend that Max didn't actually say a whole lot about. The redhead looked toward the door in time to figure out who Max was talking about.

...And she furrowed her eyebrows. A mustache? ...Did that girl have a mustache?

Nevermind, Ellie didn't feel like she was missing out on cool new people coming to Hogwarts. More, grateful that she was out of that loony bin.