summer pints - OPEN

[Walden Conall Macnair]

There's nothing better than a nice cold pint in a good pub in a hot Summer. Or at least, there would be nothing better. In the Hog's Head, pints weren't exactly ice-cold, more luke-warm. Lukewarm like the weather, because hot Summer's didn't come often in Scotland. Which explained why the Hog's Head didn't have one of those fancy beer gardens Walden liked so much. What was the point in staying in grotty pubs in the Summer? Or in Scotland at all? Summer was supposed to be all about sweat and ice-cubes and girls in miniskirts. There was none of those things in Hogsmeade today. In fact if Walden Macnair had realised accompanying his dad on a business trip today was not going to be to London as he suspected, but in his native Scotland, he wouldn't have bothered coming along.

His dad, it turned out, had been roped into inspecting some injured Aethenon foals that were being kept at Hogwarts for the upcoming year's COMC classes. Walden was in no mood to go back to school two months early, and had instead slunk off to get pissed as possible in the Hog's Head until his dad came to collect him again. Or preferably forgot about him and left Walden to his own devices to apparate home when he felt like it. Not that he could really get into trouble for being drunk or staying out late anymore. Not that he ever really did. But how he was of age - 17, a man in the Wizarding World, he could do whatever he felt like! And it was a bit of a downer to have all those possibilities and end up back in the Hog's Head drinking lukewarm Butterbeer. Still, being up near the castle did make him feel nostalgic in a way. He didn't know whether he'd bother returning for seventh year. Not that another year of rule-breaking and nose-breaking with his partner in crime Mulciber didn't appeal, but Walden doubted that he'd suit NEWTs very much.

Still, it gave him something to mull over. Walden bet that he looked very intelligent and deep mulling that over whilst he finished his pint. Maybe he'd attract some deep intelligista type older women doing some shopping in Hogsmeade. It'd certainly make the afternoon pass faster. Walden gestured for another pint to the disgruntled looking barman and stretched back, surveying the highstreet for anyone he could drag in to enjoy the pleasure of the great Walden Macnair's company, preferably whilst paying for his drinks.

[giovannella]

He hadn't thought that being in Hogwarts over the summer would be so boring, in face when his parents had asked him f he would mind helping them to move a few 'delicate plants' from their greenhouses to Hogwarts greenhouse number three Andrew had jumped at the chance. Not because he really cared about helping his parents with their plants (he was notoriously bad with them) but because he had thought that being in a huge castle all on his own would be fun, and he had planned to break into the restricted section of the school library to borrow a few books. The restricted section was locked and warded. He would know, after spending two hours with his father as they moved the 'delicate plants'; which happened to be 30 pots of newly planted devils snare so everytime Andrew had bent down o pick up a pot he had had to suffer through the plants wrapping their branches around his neck until he had taken it inside where his herbology professor would untangle him and coo at the small saplings of evil as is they were newborn babies.

It was finished now though and Andrew was left with a red neck and no restricted books to read over the next two months for his troubles. Not only that but his father dumped 20 galleons in his hand and asked him if he would "mind making your own way back kid I have a few more things to sort out with your profressor before I head back" He minded! Of course he minded! Not only did that leave him with the walk into Hogsmeade but it left him with the walk home after to. 'because Merlin forbid the DeVerdes ever act like a normal family and connect their fireplace to the floo network!'

Grumbling under his breath Andrew sent the building behind him a baleful glare as if the century's old building was to blame for his current bad mood. With his dark gray robes hanging open Andrew stepping through the gates of Hogwarts into the connecting town with only one place in min; Hog's Head.
The dirty little pub was not a favourite of Drew's but he always made it a point to go in. He wasn't sure why, maybe it was just to make sure they would still serve him, maybe it was a silent act of rebellion because both his parents had not only taken his freedom away when they had first heard of his first ever night out in a pub but they had forbidden him to step foot in the establishment.

Smirking to himself as he practically charged down the cobbled street Andrew thought of the expression his sister would probably be wearing right now if she could read his thoughts. He was glad she couldn't because his main thought right now just happened to be 'Drink! They had better still have some of that brandy. The stuff that burns your nose hair if you brave a sniff' Pushing his way though a group of chatting women Drew's eye light up at the sight of the gloomy looking bar. As always the front windows where dirty but not dirty enough to stop the dim light from inside fighting its way out in a few places.

Ignoring the shouts of annoyance off the women the soon the be seventh year Ravenclaw slipping into the bar as an obviously drunk customer stumbled out 'Perfect timing' Slipping in as the door started to close Drew took a courtesy look around the pub. He recognized only one person who could he in his age group. Feeling no need to sit alone if there was a possibility of conversation Drew moved with the stealth of someone used to moving between the gaps between tables groaning under the weight of beverage. And he was, used to it that is. Just not usually in this place, not unless he was desperate anyway.

Approaching the lone figure Drew nodded a greeting to the guy behind the counter as the lead his usual drink in the seat he had been heading to though inside he was frowning 'I don't come in here that often do I?'
"Hello" He offered as he took the seat to the still unknown mans right.

Comment: Ok?

[Walden Conall Macnair]

Walden wasn't usually a pessimistic type of guy. There were a lot of those mopey types in Slytherin, but he liked to keep his hopes up. Life is good for him most of the time after all, simple (he's a simple bloke, to put it mildly). But even so, halfway through his refilled pint even Walden was beginning to look a bit glum. It seemed his hopes at finding an older woman, glamorous enough to be interested in a fine catch like him, not too glamorous to drink in the Hog's Head, was nothing more than a fantasy. At least this afternoon. It was hard to see out the windows of the pub (I mean really, for how quiet it always was Wally would have thought that the barman would have cleaned up a bit. Or at least hired a nice looking barmaid to take care of that end of things) but even if he squinted he could see that Hogsmeade was slim-pickin's this afternoon. Nearly two pints of butterbeer in, and nobody interesting in sight. In fact he had taken to watching one of the only other Hog's Head patrons, a rather fat balding man sitting on a stool at the bar, and betting with himself how long it would take for him to pass out.

In the end he even lost this bet, as the balding man finished his firewhiskey, promptly dropped the glass with a sickening crunch on the bar, and stumbled out, knocking over a moth-eaten coat stand of punters' long gone on his way out the door. Walden chuckled. If only Mulciber was here, then at least he might have made some money out of that bet, or a few laughs. But that just made him marginally more grumpy, because Mulci was hundreds of miles away in bloody boring Wales. Walden didn't even have an owl with him to try to contact his mate, although he wasn't sure if Mulci would bother coming the whole way up to Scotland just to have a boring afternoon pint with him. There had to be somebody about though. He was going mad not speaking; he never knew how the nerdy ones at school managed that. Class to class, never a word. Hardly a life, was it? Walden was just mulling this over in fact, when a voice disturbed him.

Lowering his glass, Wally nodded cautiously at the boy, recognising him only belatedly through the dim as Drew DeVerde. Wally's thought processes were never the fastest, but he could place DeVerde, firstly as a lad in the year below him, and secondly as a Ravenclaw. "Right" Wally returned belatedly,neither pushing out the seat at his table for the boy nor complaining when he took it. Well he was bored, and whilst he recognised DeVerde he didn't know him all that well, apart from his house and year. And on those counts there was nothing major to hold against him. On Wally's derision-scale according to house, Ravenclaw was fairly low. Slytherins were lowest obviously, as his own house, then Ravenclaws, because the majority of them could be alright even if there were a load of boring overly-studious ones. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were tied joint first, because each were insufferable in their own particular way. After a long pause of putting these thoughts in order while looking listlessly out the window just to the left of his new drinking partner, Wally offered him a typical Slytherin greeting.

In that he grunted disinterestly "DeVerde aye?"

[giovannella]

Settling himself back into the chair he now occupied Andrew ignored the other man while he inspected the glass in front of him critically. He wasn't paranoid but he hated getting his hands dirty and after picking up a couple of glasses in this place that hadn't been cleaned correctly he had become weary of picking up anything until he had inspected it. It was usually the same before he sat down, he liked to make sure he wasn't going to walk out with black or merlin forbid Brown marks on the seat of his pants. He thought it had something to do with what his mother called his 'OCD', whatever it was Andrew didn't like to be dirty nor did he like to be in a messy area. That was on thing that Andrew liked about this bar, even though it was sometimes a bit grimy and always dim it was clutter free. There was no rubbish or used glasses littering the rest of the pub and for that he was thankful, not that he would have done anything other than live if there was a mess.

'There is a smudge of some kind on the rim' Frowning at the offending mark Drew pulled out a crisp white tissue 'There Was' Rubbing the cloth over the offending mark he smirk to himself in satisfaction as the cloth reviled the now clean rim. Deming the glass acceptable he turned his attention to the liquid within. It was usual that a bar steward (especially the one who ran this place) would remember your preferred drink unless someone had told them it and that in itself was suspicious; not that he was paranoid he just knew that in some cases people really were out to get you.
Rolling his eyes Andrew turned his attention away from the amber liquid between him and the other guy and onto said man; he didn't want to seem any ruder than he was by ignoring the guy after sitting himself at the table without invitation.

"I'm afraid so." He offered, as he took in the other boys appearance, he knew this man about as much as he knew the guys friend, Hilary Mulciber; not very much at all. "You looking a bit forlorn Macnair" It was rude to point out but he had never been one to make an effort to stick to polite conversation. As far as he was concerned freedom of speech meant being able to say whatever you wanted. He employed this basic right often, to often if you were to ask his twin sister.

[Walden Conall Macnair]

Although Wally hadn't objected to sitting with DeVerde, in fact he had been looking forward to some semi-entertaining company, as he surveyed his potential new drinking partner across the table, he was beginning to regret it. Firstly, DeVerde let an awful long time pass without anything much of a conversation starter, and it unnerved Walden. Or rather, it pissed him off. You don't just sit down at someone's table and then fall into silence, it was plain rude. Then the Ravenclaw apparently took offence to his glass, picking at a smudge that Wally for one couldn't see. Perhaps it was something to do with the fact that he was nearly two pints ahead of DeVerde though. But all the same, if you were someone who was a nitpicker about cleanliness or service, the Hog's Head probably wasn't the best place for you to drink. Walden's personal opinion was that the dirt gave the drink a bit of a kick anyway. And as if to prove his point, as well as to fill the gap in conversation, he took an extra big gulp of his butterbeer, eyeing DeVerde's amber whiskey and deciding to change his choice of drink to whiskey pretty soon.

However, Walden had forgotten, in the midst of his indignance about DeVerde's presumed rudeness, that he was currently lacking in company, rude or not and as the saying goes, beggars can't be choosers. Still, Walden couldn't help but scoff at DeVerde's roundabout way of confirming identity "I'm afraid so" - What kinda way was that of introducing yourself! In fact Wally was intent on showing DeVerde the proper way of introducing oneself when he jumped the gun, having apparently realised who Walden was without the necessary introduction. Well, that had happened before, when one is as well known and respected as Walden Macnair (..although not quite as much as he would make out). Shrugging, Walden set his pint glass back on the table. Typical Ravenclaw, analysing peoples' expressions and making assumptions. Walden only examined expressions during sex, or to see if someone was ready to give up in a fight.

"Do I?" He offered gruffly, and then added, as way of what he hoped was an enigmatic and mysterious explanation. "Just a bit bored. Not much good company in Hogsmeade today eh?" Well, admittedly enigma and mystery weren't something typically associated with Walden Macnair and he wasn't exactly well practiced in either. Normally he wasn't one for taking initiative in making conversation either, not being well versed in the power of rhetoric to boot, but today, the mix of boredom and requiring a drinking parter, Walden decided to take this role upon himself. "Wouldn't thought the Hog's Head would usually be your choice of pub DeVerde? Missing school already?" There. That would do the trick, at least for enough talk to cover another pint, Walden hoped.