Keep Calm and Just Drink (Open)

Subject: Keep Calm and Just Drink (Open) Sat Sep 25, 2021 5:04 pm

"Come on Josie, you know I'm sorry."

The woman in question was currently storming into the Leaky Cauldron, her cheeks a dark red and tears in her eyes, making more than one patron glance at her and the male following her steps though they clearly didn't get involved. It was usual for the Cauldron to be the centre of a breakup or an argument between a couple.

"No Jay, I told you, I specifically told you... You know what... no. I'm not doing this again." Josie spun on her heel and dug her wand into the man's chest, eyes narrowed. "I gave you a chance and you blew it. I warned you that I wasn't going to put up with your bullshit and I meant it. Get the fuck away from me and stay away. I never want to see you again." She hissed through clenched teeth, grinding them together as she stared down the much taller man.

It's not like they had been in a relationship, Jay had been a friend, a very good one but more than once had gotten handsy with her and she had warned him away, more times than she could count and today had been the final straw. She didn't want to be looking over her shoulder whenever they went out for drinks with their group of friends to see if he was trying to get grabby with her.

"Just get the hell away from me and never contact me again. I'm done with you." She took a deep breath as she watched him splutter and then storm out from the pub, clearly knowing he lost. Huffing, Josie collapsed by the bar and flagged Tom down, a wry smile on her face. "Give me a glass of whatever strong alcohol you have."

"Coming right up lass." The man easily fixed her a drink, passing it along to her and taking the money she set out for him. Grabbing the glass, Josie downed around half of it in one go, shuddering as the alcohol slid down her throat, giving her a pleasant burn. With a sigh, she plopped her elbow up to prop her chin in her hand, eyes hooded as they glanced about the pub. For once, she was glad that she chose the Leaky and not the actual Alley to have the confrontation, at least in the Leaky no-one would care whereas had she done it in the Alley, the news about her argument would, no doubt, be in the paper the next morning. She didn't need that sort of thing in her life.

It was bad enough that she had been questioned many times by reporters about the happenings in the US, she didn't need them poking their noses into other things in her life.

Subject: Re: Keep Calm and Just Drink (Open) Tue Sep 28, 2021 11:18 am

Azalea

The Newbury family had returned to England shortly after the conversation Jake and Azalea had had at the palace. There was no packing to speak off as they had been living on borrowed clothes, hygiene products and accommodations. Azalea doubted the staff would notice or object if she took back the closet full of designer, bespoke pieces but she had no desire to test that out. As it was, she had rummaged through the drawers until she found what she had been wearing on the fruitful day when she had arrived in Versailles - blood and tear free and almost looking like new. She had repeated the same process with Jake and the Children's clothes and shoes.

The Lord Clement had been kind enough to see them off at the palace's west driveway while Jacques had offered to drive them to the airport. Jake had politely declined and they had taken a chauffeur instead. Jacques had tasked the garage manger to drive them and throughout the journey, Azalea caught the man sneaking furtive looks her way.

Returning to England should have felt like home, and it did, until the little family stepped into their front door to find a huge bouquet of flowers sitting on the dining table. The card attached read "Welcome home, my Azalea. It's goo to have you in teh country again."

Jake had barely managed to contain his fury as he hurried the children up to their rooms, Azalea moving to discard the bouquet as soon as she had found the use of her hands. She and Jake had spoken at length about the kind of home intrusion Joshua Murray could easily get away with but in the end, they kept coming back t the same realization.

They were no longer under the protection of the Clements. And no one could protect them from the Murray heir here.

Both of them had slept badly that night, waking up every other hour to check on the children who, on the contrary, were sound asleep in their beds.

Since then, thing had calmed down. No surprises had arrived over the next week and life had resumed. Azana had contacted her university to finalize her thesis, The witch had also penned a note of sincerest thanks to the former headmaster for his years of service though she doubted it would mean much given his predicament and then the world shifted around Ivan's first year at the school.

they had one together as a family to Diagon Alley, Ivan almost hyper with glee at Flourish and Blotts with all the books he could buy. He had picked out the ones form his school list, additional tomes for background reading and a few just for fun, as the eleven year old put it. the day had ended with the whole family eating sundaes for dinner.

The children had been nearly asleep when Jake and Azalea carried them in, which was a good thing because another large bouquet of flowers awaited them, this time in the lounge. The card attached simply stated "The best of luck for your viva tomorrow, though I will see to it that you do not need any."

This time, Jake hadn't been furious, he had simply put Ivan to bed as Azalea did the same for Adrienne, then retreats to his home office. He spoke to his Auror colleagues a long time trying to locate a breach in the home's wards but after two hours, he returned to bed without a solution.

The flowers had been thrown out into the trash once again.

Though their promise held. Azalea had no problem with her dissertation and made her way out of the university building successful. The processing of her Masters degree would take a few months but she was officially done with this level of her education. Which finally enabled the brunette to accept the position of Deputy Headmistress somewhat guilt free. The paperwork went through in record time and soon, Azalea found herself making another trip to Diagon Alley to restock her potion and gardening supplies.

It was a quick trip really, the witch simply ordered her materials and goods and asked for them to be shipped to either Hogwarts or the home, her card making quick world of the payment process. Finally, she ended up back at the Leaky Cauldron, a small ginger ale in her hand and pouring over some notes for the year's Potions syllabus to get ahead of the game.

The witch couldn't concentrate or long though, as a very loud and public spectacle was going on. A break up, she would guess as she closed her file and looked up to see a petty redhead telling a man in no uncertain terms to eff off. The brunette considered helping but it didn't look like the familiar looking witch needed any help. In the end, the man scampered away and his ex joined Azalea at the bar, two seats away.

"Tough day?" the older witch smiled, raising her glass towards the redhead. Try as she might, Azalea could't recall where she had seen the witch before but a nagging feeling told her she definitely had. "To freedom," she added with a warm smile, raising her ginger ale in a light toast as the girl donned her scotch.

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Subject: Re: Keep Calm and Just Drink (Open) Tue Sep 28, 2021 1:27 pm

Her nerves were beyond frayed, still not really believing that her friend, someone she considered close, could've done that to her. The many times she had been firm with him on where to put his hands and yet he still tried his hardest to get her to comply with him. Like hell, she was letting him stay in her life. She did make a note to hopefully get a restraining order against him and she hoped that with her Quidditch fame, it would go through but that could wait. For now, she just wanted to drink her anger away.

As it stood, it took Josie a good few minutes to notice that someone else was sat not even two seats away from her at the bar, though the woman in question seemed to be drinking something else compared to her scotch. She seemed somewhat familiar, what with her beautiful brown hair yet she couldn't place the gorgeous brunette. Ah well, it's not like it mattered who the woman was. As long as she got a drinking buddy out of it.

"You can say that," She chuckled softly, raising her own glass. "To freedom." She hummed, drinking the rest of her scotch and flagging the male behind the counter down to get another which he gave her with a fond shake of his head. She had been here so many times, mostly just for a meal with her friends but once or twice she had come for a drink.

"Who the hell needs friends if all they're going to do is try and get into your pants?" She questioned out loud, not really expecting an answer from the woman. It was more of a rhetorical question.

Subject: Re: Keep Calm and Just Drink (Open) Wed Sep 29, 2021 1:02 pm

"You can say that,"

The American witch nodded sympathetically. It wasn't at all difficult to imagine the redhead beside her getting too many untoward passes on a regular basis. "You know what they say, best way to lose ten stones is to get rid of the ex." She laughed softly, not that her new drinking buddy needed to lose any weight. In fact, she appeared in the peak of physical health.

"I'm Azalea," she introduced herself when they had toasted to the girl's newfound freedom. "And... I apologize if this is rude but I can't help feeling I've seen you somewhere... Do you do any modelling per chance?" Perhaps she had seen the young woman in a newspaper or magazine. Unfortunately, Azalea never really looked through the lifestyles section, her time with the papers was scanning for international news and then passing The Prophet to Jake for the Sports Sectio-

"Oh, do you play Quidditch by any chance? I may have seen a picture of you in The Prophet."

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Subject: Re: Keep Calm and Just Drink (Open) Wed Sep 29, 2021 7:04 pm

"...I wish he was an ex." The woman laughed softly, shaking her head in such a way that it made the locks framing her face bounce slightly. Her plump lips were pulled down in a sad frown and she stared mulishly at her drink, tapping a fingernail against the rim. Had he been an ex then she probably wouldn't have felt that betrayed. "He was a friend... a very good friend." And he had ruined it with his actions. Really, why were men like that?

"Josie." She replied in kind to Azalea's introduction, softly smiling at the woman, blinking her eyes and blushing just a tiny bit at her question of whether she did modelling. Oh, how that would've made her parents day alas she was into Quidditch more than anything girly like modelling not that they had complained about her having a Quidditch career.

"Oh, do you play Quidditch by any chance? I may have seen a picture of you in The Prophet."

"I'm a Chaser for the Harpies," She told the other woman, wincing at the mention of her picture in the Prophet. That had been a nightmare of an interview she had with the Prophet and she had not done one with them since, not for their lack of trying though. The woman that interviewed her certainly didn't know what she had been doing. "That article certainly wasn't the best..." She huffed with an eye-roll.

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Keep Calm and Just Drink (Open) S1BczGA

The beautiful avatar and signature had been made by Lola @TDA.

Subject: Re: Keep Calm and Just Drink (Open) Thu Sep 30, 2021 12:48 pm

The older witch listened as her fellow patron admitted that the guy was a friend, key word "was". She seemed genuinely distraught and Azalea gathered there was no room for reconciliation in that friendship. Not everyone was as lucky as her and a certain Frenchman, able to stay fast friends despite a drunken mishap.

"Well Josie, it's a pleasure,' she smiled more warmly at the upset girl. Azalea's protective instinct had never really gone away and right now, it felt like this girl could use a friend.

"I'm a Chaser for the Harpies,"

"Oh," the witch intoned, realization downing now on where she had seen the flair face before. It may have been the Prophet too but Azalea had a clearer memory of Jacques Clement showing her pictures of Kiranjeet and her team on his phone.

"I think I know someone on the team," she ventured a guess. "Your Seeker is seeing a good friend of mine. He's shown me some pictures of you guys in action and I must say, you look really good up in the skies." Azalea herself had no sports skills whatsoever and had always admired people who could fly a broomstick.

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Subject: Re: Keep Calm and Just Drink (Open) Thu Sep 30, 2021 2:17 pm

Had it been just a one-night fling, Josie wouldn't have blown her top like that with him but as it stood, he somehow got it into his head that Josie liked him back. As it stood, she made it a personal goal to not go for guys who only thought with their dick and Jay, unfortunately for him, always thought with his dick. She wasn't putting up with that.

"It's a pleasure for me too Azalea." The younger witch beamed at the older one. "Are you here drinking your sorrows away as well or nah?" She questioned, gently swishing her glass around making the ice in it clink against each other. Tom always made her the best drinks, especially when she was in a bad mood.

Josie blinked twice when Azalea revealed that she knew someone on the team and as soon as she said it was the Seeker, Josie brightened up considerably. "Kiranjeet and Jacques? You know them?" She never would've thought that she'd meet a friend of Jacques, especially in the pub then again you never really know who you will meet. She flushed at the genuine compliment from the other about her flying. "I love it. There's just something freeing about being in the skies and just flying around, even if it is during a match." She grinned lightly. Even without her parent's encouragement, she didn't doubt that she'd still join Quidditch, it was always something she loved watching and as soon as she was old enough, she loved just getting on a broom and zipping around the skies.

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Chaser for Holyhead Harpies || 23 || Single || Profile
Keep Calm and Just Drink (Open) S1BczGA

The beautiful avatar and signature had been made by Lola @TDA.

Subject: Re: Keep Calm and Just Drink (Open) Thu Sep 30, 2021 2:59 pm

"Are you here drinking your sorrows away as well or nah?"

The petite brunette let out a light laugh. "Nothing quite as bad," she confirmed with a soft shake of her head, sending a portion of her shining brown hair cascading down a shoulder. "I was doing some last minute shopping at Diagon Alley, my son starts Hogwarts in September." Her soft brown eyes sparkled at the admission, revealing the pride and joy she felt at Ivan's accomplishment. "I just stopped for a drink, my car is parked out in a No-Mag, London underground nearby."

As she revealed she may know the Seeker, Josie's eyes lit up with recognition of their own. She correctly identified Jacques and Kiranjeet, asking if Azalea knew them.

"Well, I'll be honest, I haven't met Kiranjeet but Jacques is a good friend," she confessed, taking a sip of her ginger ale. "Positively besotted with her. Would you like to meet him sometime?"

Should Josie indicate a yes, Azalea would continue. "He always comes down to Hogwarts to watch the Quiditch matches. Mi- The Clement Ward is studying there and she plays Quididtch so he always comes to cheer her on. If you'd like to drop by too, I can arrange that for you," she offered sickeningly, sure that Jacques would not mind. If he hung around Kirajeet's practices, he was even bound to recognize Josie.

"Besides, I'm sure our teams would be ecstatic to see a celebrity like you show up to encourage them," she added. Azalea s also certain that the Chaser's beauty would catch many of the older students eye.

"I work at Hogwarts," she clarified in case Josie was wondering how Azalea could make all this happen. "I can get you clearance should you need it."

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Subject: Re: Keep Calm and Just Drink (Open) Thu Sep 30, 2021 3:15 pm

"I was doing some last minute shopping at Diagon Alley, my son starts Hogwarts in September."

At that, Josie blinked and looked closely at Azalea, a confused look appearing in her eyes. "You have a son? But.. you look to be in your mid-twenties..." She smiled abashedly, feeling foolish for thinking the other woman was closer to her in age and not much older but seeing as she had a son at Hogwarts age that would mean Azalea was somewhere around the late-twenties to early-thirties. Huh, guess one shouldn't assume how old someone is just from looking at them. "You look positively joyful at that fact." She told the other witch softly, a small smile on her lips. That must be the look of motherhood that she heard about.

"Just as she is positively besotted with him," Josie chuckled, fondly remembering the few times she caught Kiranjeet just gushing about Jacques or just lighting up whenever he was in the room with her. It made her smile at seeing her friend so happy with someone who clearly loved her as much as she loved him. At the offer of meeting him, Josie gave Azalea a long look as she pondered on her answer. She would love to meet her friends' partner though she had seen him on the odd occasion when he came to see Kiranjeet she had not properly met him to call him a friend, he was more of an acquaintance to her than anything else.

"I'd like to meet him one day." She admitted shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear that fell into her face. "I mean I know of him and I see him all the time around Kiranjeet but I've never properly met him so it would be nice you know..." Apart from her Quidditch teammates, Josie didn't have as many friends as she would like and adding another one would be nice.

She bit her lip as she wondered on that offer, she had always wanted to see Hogwarts anyway and with Azalea's offer, it would mean that at least she'd have a reason for visiting the castle. "I heard amazing things about Hogwarts and the Quidditch matches especially... I'd be nice to see another magical school. I'm from Ilvermorny so seeing Hogwarts would be lovely." She heard the stories of course but she knew that stories rarely held up to the real thing.

"Are you sure?" She looked at the other woman. "I'd love to visit Hogwarts." And it would be nice to hopefully encourage futuer Quidditch players to join a Professional team, no matter their skill in the moment.

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Chaser for Holyhead Harpies || 23 || Single || Profile
Keep Calm and Just Drink (Open) S1BczGA

The beautiful avatar and signature had been made by Lola @TDA.

Subject: Re: Keep Calm and Just Drink (Open) Thu Sep 30, 2021 3:46 pm

"You have a son?"

The older witch looked down at her drink, slightly embarrassed at being mistaken for someone nearly a decade younger. "I have four kids actually," she confessed, meeting the redhead's gaze once again. "A girl, a boy, another girl and my youngest is... only three." Her voice wavered at the last bit but her smile remained fixed in place. No matter what, Ethan would always be her son.

"I'd like to meet him one day." She admitted shyly. Azalea understood the girl's hesitance though, and hurried to reassure her.

"Believe me, you have nothing to worry about with Jacques," she spoke, putting her bottle down on the counter. Tom would come take it away in a minute. "Jacques is the most gentlemanly person I know. He will make you feel so at home, you won't even realize you're meeting someone famous. He's really humble and down to earth, I promise." This much was absolutely the truth, Azalea had never known the Frenchman to act like the royalty he was.

"I'd love to visit Hogwarts."

"That's settled then," the brunette confirmed with a grin. "As soon as I return to the castle, I'll make sure you get an invite to the first match of the season," she concurred as Tom made his way to them, a glass of very expensive looking Champaign on a silver tray in his hand.

"Oh no more for me, Tom," Azalea waved at her bottle but the barkeep placed the silver tray between Josie and herself.

"A drink for the lady," he spoke stiffly, clearly not used to such froofy nonsense.

"Looks like a fan of yours recognized you," Azalea pointed out to Josie but Tom shook his head.

"This is for you, Miss Harrington."

"For m-" Her blood ran cold as she examined the glistening flute of pink champagne, instinctively knowing it was top shelf and not served here. It had been imported from elsewhere.

'Who sent it?" she asked, trying not to let the panic show in her gaze.

"The gentleman over th-" Tom stopped, gesturing to the dark empty corner to the right. "That's odd, he was right there a minute ago."

Hands shaking, Azalea reached for the simple card folded on the tray beside the drink. Slowly she opened it just enough to read the words printed in neat, unidentifiable script.

"My Azalea, congratulation on accepting the position of Deputy Headmistress. You will do a fine job, I will ensure it so."

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