By the time that Dora had arrived to The Three Broomsticks, it was packed full of practically every one of her professors. It almost defeated the purpose of leaving the school in the first place, but she had IMPORTANT people to see, so she ignored all of them, eyes scanning the building for her most favorite Slytherin female.

"Taryn!" She beamed when she spotted the girl and quickly went over, taking up a seat across from her. "I'm so glad to see you. I hope you're hear to take me away to somewhere much much better." It wouldn't be that hard to find a place really.

"No problem." The pumpkin juice was cheap and nothing between friends. Auggie took another sip of his butterbeer and listened to Kurumi talk. It had been only since summer that they last talked but it still seemed like forever ago. August decided right then that they needed to send more owls.

Sheltering, yeah. "Ah-huh. I agree. Beuxbatons may have been worse at that then Hogwarts. All the fine food and the blasted silk uniforms. It's madness to think that you get those things handed to you on the outside." Not to mention the helpful Professors and the theoretical guarantee of safety the Castle walls gave you.

August took his tobogon hat off when she asked about his studies. "It's going. We obviously haven't gotten very far, it being only my first semester but it's mostly Runes and stuff right now. My Professor seems nice so far, although my Runes Professor seems to want everyone to fail." He wasn't though. He had learned Runes as best as he could at Hogwarts and had an excellent teacher in France, he wasn't going to let this professor get in his way of his career.

"How are the dragons. I really want to come see them...if that's allowed?" He looked at her with a grin. Would she sneak him in even if it weren't allowed?

Ten minutes, but still. Elise'd known all along that this was going to happen. They were late and lateness was never a good thing, no matter how much Chris might try to convince her otherwise. His hand in her left and Minnie's gift in her right, she dragged Chris behind her as she practically ran all the way from the castle to the Three Broomsticks.

"I told you we were going to be late," she said quietly, still a little bit flustered. Elise hated being late for things, probably thanks to all the Quidditch training and professors who locked the doors once classes began. Minnie was probably going to have their heads and grill them over why they were so late.

Nudging the door open with her shoulder, she bit her lip nervously as she went in and tried to search for Minnie and Ryan among the people already there. It wasn't really that hard, since she already had a small pile of presents on her table. Her cheeks still pink from all that running, she slid the box in front of the birthday girl and smiled.

"Happy birthday to you," she sang softly before turning around to make sure that Chris was okay. He should be, since he was probably only running one third of what Elise was and she was still alive.

It was interesting how people just didn't realize how little she cared about the salary at Hogwarts, which really wasn't much to begin with. No she didn't need it. She was at Hogwarts to try to instill certain values in the children..to pass on some seemingly forgotten British social conduct. The pay was but a stipen.

She didn't care.

"I think I know what you mean. It's how I feel about warm butterbeer..and chamomile tea." She smiled thinking about it.

"Considering the food prepared taste like it was prepared for residents of Azkaban?' Yuck.

Sophia raised her eyebrows at him but she didn't exactly say anything. Did the BoG know that they were elected to serve the school? It was just like politicians..you hire them and then they act like you work for them. They always had it twisted.

He just needed to get her food because he was barkeep or Hops..whichever she preferred to call him.

Walking into the Three Broomsticks, Gid had his hand in Becca's he was still having a hard time believing that they were finally married. It had been a year since they'd gotten together and now they were married! "Are you hungry love or do you want to just get a drink?" he asked as he made his way around tables to an empty booth. Hmm, bad weekend to pick apparently with students having a Hogsmeade weekend.

Well, they'd just returned to England and had wanted to go up to Hogsmeade since neither one of them had been there in years.

Looking around as they walked into the pub, Becca realised that it was a Hogsmeade weekend and made a face at Gid. "Just get a drink. I'd rather not be here with so many kids around." Not that she didn't like them, she just got a little bored of being surrounded by so many kids all at once. "I'll make a meal for us tonight, might take it into the garden." she sat down with him and nudged him with her shoulder gently.

"I'll go get the drinks then." giving her a smile at the nudge, he headed to the bar and came back shortly with their usuals. They'd both chosen to come back to Britain after so many years away for the both of them. It felt weird being back here again but he was looking forward to the new chapter in his life, especially with her by his side now. Torie being a huge part of their lives now too kept them on their toes quite often but he was relieved she'd taken and retired from law enforcement. The last year had been really bad and so much had happened it was a relief not to have to worry about her in that position any longer.

Sitting back down with her his arm went behind her as he passed her her drink. "A nice quiet dinner sounds like a good way to settle in for our first night in the place."

Nodding, she sat back in the chair and looked around. It was not how she remembered the place, but hey, it still felt like a little slice of home. She leant against the table as she wondered what they'd need to buy for the house if anything and only looked up as Gid came to sit back down. "Thanks." Nodding, she looked down into the glass. "I agree. We should talk about decorating, too."

"Definitely. At least the place is finally ready to move into." Merlin, the house had been so rundown after so many years of being empty. He'd started it ages ago, but it took longer being he'd not lived around here. And mainly having done it all himself. "We should definitely put a hot tub in the garden here as well." Heh, they used it a lot in Italy so it only made sense. "And we should invite Dan over too soon so they can see the place."

Settling back in the seat he reached for his own drink. "Wow, this place has changed a lot."

"Yup. I'm glad you kept hold of it." she leant into his embrace and smirked at the mention of the hot tub. "I knew you were going to suggest that." she shook her head and took a sip of her drink. "Yup. Dan's got a good sense of style, and Willow sets him right where he doesn't, so... Nothing has to be pink like it would be if I let you be in charge of decorating." she grinned at him.

"I know. Has it changed since you were last here, or since you were last here?"

Minnie had just sat down at one of the chairs as someone covered her eyes from behind. Ryan. The blonde couldnt help but smile when she felt his cold hands on her face. His voice sent shivers down her spine and the smile that had crept onto her face grew.

She placed her hands on his to remove them and turn around. Only seconds later the blonde's blue eyes met the most beautiful green ones she had ever seen. One day, she would get lost in them if she didnt wasnt careful enough.“Thank you Mister Myles“, the girl beamed up at her boyfriend,“you're looking very handsome as well.“ As usual he looked absolutely breathtaking. No one could rock these curls as perfectly as he did. Patting the free seat next to her Minnie smiled at the Gryffindor boy.“Come on then,join me.“




Minnie wondered if she should order some butterbeers already or wait for the rest of her party peeps. Now that she was an adult it didnt feel the same to order it. How sad. But then again she could be the boss now. Her and Chris were the only adults of the clique. How cool was that?

Just as the blonde wanted to go and order some pints she heard a familiar voice. Turning her head into the direction it came from, the blonde grinned as she saw Nash approaching with four pies. „Oh my god you really brought pies for us“, she squealed,“you crazy boy you.“ Fastly, the Slytherin rushed to help her friend. How did he even carry them all the way from Hogwarts? He must be crazy.

After she sat two of the pies down on the table Minnie gestured for Nash to sit down at one of the free seats. „I am so happy you found the way down here“, she nodded,“you didnt get lost, i hope?“ When you were knew Hogwarts and Hogsmeade could be really tricky. So many branches. „You two know each other right?“, Minnie asked pointed back and forth between Ryan and Nash. If they didnt they would get to know each other now. The girl was sure they would get along, after all they all shared the love for some good old pie.





Minnie had plopped down on her seat again as she heard someone sing happy birthday really loud. Oh my god, thats sounded like Melanie. What was she doing? Everyone kept looking into the direction the voice was coming from. The blonde just shook her head in disbelief and started laughing really loud. Only this girl. Melanie was seriously crazy and Minnie loved her for it. The M and Ms.Hehe. „Come here“, the Slytherin waved her friend over as soon as she was in reach,“ come here you crazy girl.“

Getting up from her seat the not so adult like 17 year old hugged her friend and giggled at her change of lyrics.“Now that was a very lovely arrival of yours“, she chuckled.

Oh god. Even more presents. This day was getting better and better. Minnie loved presents. As she unwrapped the presents Melanie gave her, a huge grin spread on her face. This was so exciting.“Oh wow Melo“, the Slytherin beamed,“ thats amazing. Even my fave colour!“ Now if this wasnt amazing. A girl could never have enough handbags. Especially not blue ones. „I am gonna have it sit on my bed“, she said pointing at the teddy. It would sit right next to the one Ryan gave her. They all needed names. Was it okay for adults to have teddies sit on their beds? Pffff who cared about that. Minnie didnt feel very adult like anyway. „Can you believe i am off age now?“, she laughed,“ out of all people i am off age. Thats so weird.“ But also good. In some ways.

"Mmm, me too." he said nodding. He hadn't wanted to but then was glad he had because otherwise they'd be looking for a place to live right then somewhere in Britain. Snickering he shrugged "Well, I know you use it plenty as much as I do."

"HEY!" he exclaimed nudging her gently "No, that's only for Norah to choose not me." Blowing a raspberry he shook his head. "Unlike Warren I'm not a faerie." Looking around him he thought a little "I'd say both. Each time I come up here it seems something changes and new shops appear but the old ones never leave."

She smiled at him fondly when he said he was glad too. It was interesting talking about old memories from the house and what it had looked like when he was a kid. "Mhmm, I'd never deny that I do." she winked at him.

"What?! You like pink!" she nudged him again, but smirked at the Warren comment. "Maybe not, but you are a ballerina." she nudged him gently again and took another sip of her drink, but nodded at his response. "I know. Makes you wonder where people get the money from." Not that they were short on money, her job had paid well and they had saved a lot. Plus she was planning on still getting some income from doing some work on the side.

Grinning at her he lifted his eyebrows a grin on his face. Snorting he shook his head "Yeah, only when Norah wants an opinion of if it looks pretty on her. Nothing more." Shaking his head he blew another raspberry "Uh huh, ballerina because I can do flips and you can't. Got it." he said with laughter filling his voice. She could do stuff he couldn't though too, and had thoroughly enjoyed training with her for the last year.

Shaking his head he shrugged "I assume each time the place switched owners they came in with their own ideas."

She nodded, pretending to agree with him. "Mhmm, of course. I've seen your pink tshirts, shirts, shorts, shoes and socks." she grinned at him. Looking outraged at his accusation, she put her drink down and looked at him. "Excuse me! I can do flips! I just... might not always remember my name afterwards." Mhmm!

"Probably. It's the way of the world." she shrugged too, reaching over to his drink and looking at it. "This looks different." she held it up to the light.

Bursting into laughter he shook his head "I do not have pink tshirts, shirts, shorts, socks, shoes, trousers, or anything else. Unless you decided to go have a little fun with my wardrobe." he said his voice completely filled with laughter. Snorting his head dropped back to the seat behind him, "Oh yes, I forgot, and I might have had helped a little with that last time."

Watching as she picked up his drink he lifted an eyebrow "Different?" he asked it didn't taste any different!

She smirked at his comment about her having fun with his wardrobe and looked down at his clothes he was currently wearing. "Who says I didn't?" Heh, that had been fun, going through all his stuff and turning it pink so he'd unpack and go O___________O. When he snorted, she raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. "Really? I mean... I wouldn't know. I don't really remember." He had dropped her pretty hard. She hadn't even been able to remember her name.

"Mhmm." she narrowed her eyes and stared at it closely for a moment. "Maybe it's just me being overcautious." Putting down his drink, she eyed it again and pulled a face.

Oh dear. Hops wanted Sophia to call him by his formal name? Did that mean he was in trouble as well? Alistaire gulped, wishing he'd stuck to just not using a name at all.

But when the man turned to Ali, his demeanor brightened considerably. Firth was taken aback, if only ever so slightly. "Oh, righ', yes. Sounds good!" he said, refraining from the use of the term 'Hops' anyways.



But back to his conversation with Sophia. Warm butterbeer and.. "Chamomile tea? Are yeh a tea drinker?" he asked with enthusiasm? There seemed to be several on staff, which was good. That coffee stuff... he'd never understood its appeal. "I make my own teas, actually. Mos'ly herbal stuff from wha' I cin find around. Peyton's had it and she didn' die, so it can't be all tha' bad!"

Ah yes. The food. "I feel bad fer the students. I mean, I have a small kitchen in my hut, so I cin fix myself somethin' if the meal was jus' too much to bear in th' Great Hall." Which he'd had to resort to several times this year already. "But the students can' really do tha' too well. I doubt little Toddles wants hundreds o' students invadin' th' kitchen every day."

Taryn had grown bored quickly and had pulled a magazine out of the bag of things she'd brought for Dora. She didn't mind waiting, after all, Dora had to walk to Hogsmeade and Taryn didn't. She'd been reading about a new charm for nail polish when she heard her name.

"Dora!" YAY! Taryn grinned and put away the magazine. Dora could have it later. First, it was catch up time. "Aww now, what's wrong with Hogwarts? I thought you liked it there!"

Ryan grinned at Minnie before sitting down, only then remembering that she had she would sit in his lap. But before he could remind her, the other guests arrived and she was lost in introductions and thank-you's.

He nodded his head when Minnie asked if him and Nash knew each other, having met the lad before. Ryan was a bit jealous of Nash because his family owned a pie making business, and everyone knew he, Ryan, was a serious pie fanatic. But luckily, he had been wiling to share his wealth in pies and even brought some for Minnie as a gift. How thoughtful. And tasty. His eyes wandered over to the pies that now sat at the table, and inhaled the waft coming from them.

Suddenly, his senses were distracted as he heard loud singing. Turning around to face the noise, he noticed Mel walking over to the group, making heads turn because of her singing. He chuckled at her as she approached; he loved how she wasn't shy about singing, which was very good.
"Hey Mel," he said in reply to her greeting and gestured at all the free seats.

And then another guest arrived, or it seemed, two. Ryan looked up once again, only to notice his best friend and his new girlfriend, Elise. He gave them a somber look but didn't say anything. A second later, though, he thought it might be a bit rude and since he didn't want Chris giving him dirty looks, Ryan decided to say something. "Hey guys," he said with a small wave, his greeting directed more to Chris than Elise. Better than nothing, he thought. Was that everyone? He couldn't remember who else was attending.

In search for an answer to this, he looked at Minnie. "Is that everyone, babe?" he asked her, catching her free hand and holding on to it. She looked very pretty indeed and he couldn't keep his eyes off her, which was no surprise, of course.

Jory was enjoying the weather. It was mighty cold outside but he liked the cold weather. Really, he did. Sunny weather was passable, though.

He entered the Three Broomsticks, deciding to take a break and have something to eat and drink before heading out again. The Puffer was out alone today once again. Well, he was always was. But that was no problem.

"Think I'll have a seat while I decide what to buy,'' Jory thought, looking around. There were many familiar faces. And there was Ronnie. She wasn't paying attention so Jory made his way carefully over to her. Sort of like sneaking up on her.

"Mind if I drop in?'' Jory asked with a grin.

Kurumi nearly choked on her pumpkin juice. "Wait...silk? You wore silk uniforms?" she asked while trying not to crack up. For some reason she found the thought of August wearing silk so funny. Maybe it was because she had been there when he had had his bare chest painted for the pep rally or something. You know, when all of the Gryffindor boy were trying to be all manly and tough.

Runes. Yeah. Not a subject she had been fond of - especially after seeing the professor being eaten before he had answered her question - but she had received an O on her NEWT so she really couldn't complain about things much. "I'm sure you'll do fine," she smile encouragingly. "Can't be anymore frightening than Lafay, right?" Or maybe that was just her.

OH DRAGONS!

"They are fantastic! I actually hatched and raised a Chinese Fireball that I named Seraphia to adolescence where she had to move to the reservation because she was too big to keep in the nursery. This term I get to start breeding studies instead of just hatchery. Mostly just been DNA analysis so far. Comparing helices and the like to find the best possible matches out of the teenage dragons for possible hybrid breeding. I am personally hoping that Seraphia is a match with this one male Antipodean Opaleye."

Minnie was still laughing about Melanie as she noticed Elise and Chris approached. Aww where they holding hands? That was really adorable. The blonde was so happy that everything had worked out and they all got back to being friends. Maybe they could go on a double date or holiday at some point. That would be cute.

The girl got up from her seat and hugged Elise and Chris, gladly that didnt feel awkward at least not to her. „Thank you sooooo much“, she beamed at the two. Unwrapping her present she noticed the how cold Ryan's reaction to their arrival was. Was he okay? The blonde glanced at her boyfriend and raised an eyebrow quickly. They needed to talk about that later.

Inside the box Minnie found the most beautiful bracelet and a reaallllyyyyy lovely scarf. Her friends were so good at picking stuff for her, it was impressive.

Holding up the bracelet, she turned to her boyfriend for a moment.“Can you help me putting it on?“, the girl smiled and held out her wrist.

„Come on and sit down“, Minnie nodded towards Chris and Elise,“we'll order drinks soon. What about ice tea for you Elise?“ Of course the Slytherin respected the fact that the younger girl didnt want to drink butterbeer or firewhiskey. There really wasnt a must, she had invited them to have a good time together no matter what the drinks were.“By the way you look really lovely today, Elise“, Minnie smiled and nodded. She really meant it, Chris did have a good taste after all.

As the blonde noticed Ryan reaching for her hand she turned her attention towards him again and intertwined their fingers.“Mmhh?“, she asked. But before he could answer she remembered his question.“Oh no Peyton and Bliss are still missing“, she nodded,“ and i am not sure if Lewis will come.“ But the two girls agreed on coming. Maybe they were just running late. „But we can already or something if you want to?“, Minnie smiled at her boyfriend. Man how did she get so lucky again?

Walking fairly fast, without getting in front of Elise, Christopher kept quiet as she went on about how she knew they were going to be late. He didn't quite understand why she was freaking out so much. So what if they were late? Minnie would understand! This was Minerva after all. He could have told Elise to calm down but he knew her well enough to know that that wouldn't have helped her much at all. She would freak about them being late and Chris would just quietly laugh from behind. It was a system he was perfectly fine with.

Once they arrived, Chris waved at everyone with his semi-free hand that was holding his gift for Minnie. He was the absolute worst at choosing gifts but he was almost positive Minnie would like this one. It wasn't like the first gift he had ever given her but that was okay, right? Maybe he could give her a really amazing gift again in a few years. He beamed at everyone, recognizing Melanie and wondering who the other guy was.

'HE. HAS. PIE.' Chris quickly decided to become really good friends with this guy. Pie clearly meant life-long friendship.

After saying his hellos to everyone, he made his way towards the birthday girl and Ryan. At first, Chris thought he had noticed something weird about Ryan's reaction but thought maybe he had just imagined it? Surely him being with Elise wasn't going to be that big of a deal, right? Yes, Chris had made a massive deal when Ryan and Minnie started going out but Ryan wasn't like that, right? Plus, it was a completely different situation. COMPLETELY different. "Mate," he said with a simple smile and a nod. Today was going to be fine. Drinks and friends and girlfriends and no arguing. It was fine.

Facing Minnie now, he let go of Elise's hand and wrapped his arms tight around one of his bestest friends ever. He couldn't have been happier that things were fine and normal and not weird at all between them. That period had been one of the worst ever and he was happy to be done with it. "Happy Happy Happy Birthdaaaay!!!!!" Chris practically yelled, trying to move away from her ear as he said it, and then handed her the gift bag. "You're welcome," he said before Minnie had even gotten a chance to open it, and burst out laughing.

Then, at the sound of the word "drinks," Chris perked up and looked around the room. Were he and Minnie the only ones of age? He began trying to figure out what he was going to have to drink but then remembered the promise he had made Elise a while back. Stepping back so that he was right next to Elise again, linking his fingers with her, he smiled at Minnie and decided keeping his promise was best. "Iced tea is good for me. Do you want me to help you get them?"

Birthday girls didn't need to be ordering drinks or carrying them. Nope. Birthday people were meant to sit and do nothing. It was a rule.

Ronnie had been staring off and hadn't noticed Jory walk up to her until he spoke... which caused her to jump and nearly fall out of her seat. "Ahhh! Oh! H-hi, Jory!" she said with a laugh as she re-positioned herself. "Sorry. You just startled me there." she said with a sheepish smile. She then stood up and gave her bestie a hug.

"Go ahead, sit sit! I was hoping to run into you here at some point." she said, smiling. She then remembered she had been about to go and order. "Oh hey, I'm gonna go order. Want me to get you anything?" she said as she slowly stood out of her chair. Her father had sent a ton of spending money for Hogsmeade so she had plenty to spend and she loved sharing with her friends.