Drinking alone is a sign of... needing to make new friends

Still nursing a slight hangover from the night before, Oliver slid into a booth in a far corner of the pub where it was darkest, although the bit of light there was gave him a headache. Oh well. Best cure for a hangover was to keep drinking. Within his first fifteen minutes of being in the bar, he'd already downed two firewhiskeys and started on a third.

There was something comforting about the feel of the night, although it couldn't quite reach him through the stale air of the dingy establishment.

"Here's to... not having a hangover," Oliver tipped his glass at the empty seat across from him. He had to get all of this behavior out of his system before he started his new job (blech) being the new librarian (blech) at Hogwarts.

Sofia, having shopped thoughout the day at Hogsmeade, fancied a drink before apparating home for the evening. She walked into the Hog's Head, that being the closest establishment or else she would have gone to The Three Broomsticks, and ordered a drink off the bartender.

The bar's decor had little to be desired and Sofia didn't have to wonder long as to why she had never been here before. It was a seedy looking place, she had no doubt.

Looking around for a place to sit and enjoy her drink, she noticed a man sitting by himself. Not normally one to go and join a stranger, at night, she decided that no real harm could come of it.

Walking over, she smiled politely. "Do you mind if I join you? Awfully lonely and depressing drinking alone," she stated.

"No more lonely and depressing than drinking with a stranger," Oliver said to the new arrival. "But feel free to take a seat."

He took another swig of his Firewhiskey. "What brings you here?" he asked. She didn't seem like the type of person to normally frequent this pub. She looked like she belonged in the Three Broomsticks. It was happier and cleaner than the Hog's Head. Shinier too.

She was far too shiny (for lack of a better word) for this place, so he could only assume she was here for one of three things- 1) she was a prostitute looking for easy money from him, in which case she would be sorely disappointed because Oliver wasn't into that sort of thing, but she didn't look like a prostitute (too shiny, remember?). 2) She was a hardcore alcoholic and she knew that the barman at the Hog's Head was less likely to cut her off when she was falling down drunk, but that was still probably not it (still too shiny). Or 3) it was convenient for her to relax and have a drink.

It was most likely the third one, although it didn't really matter to Oliver. A drink was a drink and company was company.

Sofia blinked at his statement, but then nodded in agreement. "I suppose you're right," she replied, gently smiling as he offered her a seat.

She took a sip from her Vodka, as she was partial to the Russian beverage, and looked at him when he asked her about her presence in the pub. Sofia wasn't at all surprised by his question. She was dressed in quite vibrant red dress and a jacket to keep her warm, and didn't look at all like she belonged there, but she answered his question nonetheless.

"I was just doing some late night shopping and fancied a quick drink. As this was the closest place to where I was at the time, I ended up here," she answered, her response mirroring the fact that her life was really void of anything super exciting. She should fabled that she was in fact an Auror undercover, or something, to make her seem less... suburban.

"And you?" she asked, reversing his question on to him.

Oliver shrugged. "It's dark, the booze is cheap, and there's fewer underage witches throwing themselves at whichever poor sod is dumb enough to buy them a drink."

He had to take pause for a moment to look more closely at her, just in case she turned out to be one of those underage witches. She didn't appear to be, but kids these days were looking older than they really were so it was much harder to tell. Still, she was on her own and that was enough to give her a pass in his book. Underage witches didn't go anywhere without a gaggle of giggling friends surrounding them.

He deemed her old enough, then signaled for another round of drinks. "Oliver Hudson," he extended his hand across the table to the woman.

Sofia stifled a laugh. His response was rather amusing.

"Fair enough," she replied, still with a smile on her face. This man was interesting, she'd admit to that. Sofia had had the pleasure of meeting some rather despicable men in the past, and was wise not to have history repeat itself. It was safer to be guarded than let her emotions run away with her.

Shaking his extended hand with her own, she said, "Sofia Hunter."

Sofia raised her eyebrow at the gesture to the bartender but didn't question it, instead she asked him another question. "And what is it that you do, Mr Hudson?"

The grumpy bartender unceremoniously plunked two glasses on their table, each containing their drink of choice, and wandered away, muttering something about goats. "Charming man, he is," Oliver commented sarcastically, transferring the last of his glass to the fresh one. "It's a wonder that he isn't married."

She had to ask what he did for a living, didn't she? His recent career change definitely left something to be desired in his eyes, but it was work and it was close to home. And his sister didn't have to worry about him coming home with a limb missing. "I'm the Head of the Literature Awareness and Loan Task Force up at the school," he jerked his head in the direction of Hogwarts. "And you?"

Sofia was about to thank the bartender when he placed the drinks in front of them, but didn't get a chance to, as he walked away muttering under his breath.

"I am as shocked as you are. He's clearly quite a catch," she smirked and downed the remaining liquid from her glass, before wrapping her fingers around the new glass. Sofia traced her finger through the condensation on the cool surface as she listened to the man describe, and describe was a good word for it, his work.

She laughed, "Ah, very clever. Sounds much more fascinating and dangerous than being a Librarian. Don't worry, I won't let anyone else in on the secret," she winked.

"I guess we'll be seeing each other again then, what with me working at Hogwarts this year as well," she said, taking a sip of the Vodka, enjoying the sensation of the burn as it slid down her throat.

"I'm the new Flying Professor, and I've, stupidly I might add, signed up for being a casual relief teacher if the time arises."

"And here I took you to be a Hufflepuff," Olver said jokingly, although she was most likely a Ravenclaw, if he had to have another guess. Hufflepuffs would have been bamboozled by his twisting of his job description, and even if one of them figured out what he'd meant, they would have been too polite to say something about it.

He'd at least been correct about one thing- her being the new Flying Professor meant that she wasn't underage. "Yes, I'm a librarian, at my sister's insistence. She wanted me in a 'less dangerous, more secure job," he scoffed. "Clearly she never ventured into the Restricted Section. I swear one of the books tried to take a chunk out of my arm during sixth year."

Sofia smirked, "No no, A Ravenclaw at heart. I have always had an ability to solve riddles and the like, but it was rather clever. I will admit that."

She glanced at him, he didn't seem to be that much older than she. "How long have you been out of Hogwarts? I don't seem to remember you, which is strange, as I don't often forget a face," she blushed slightly at she though, and never a face like yours, but took a drink to disguise the blush as a flushed face from the alcohol.

"I never had a reason to go into the restricted section, though my curiosity was always captured whenever I went into the Library. I suppose I'll have to get you to give me a tour when we start at Hogwarts."

Her curiosity was spiked again, "Less dangerous job? What were you doing before?" She asked.

Oliver nodded. Right again. She was a Ravenclaw. "That would be because I was a Ravenclaw too," he said.

"Why, Miss Hunter, you should be ashamed of yourself!" Oliver pretended to be horrified, channeling his mother a bit, when she was acting dignified. "It is impolite to ask a wizard's age. I suppose next you'll want to know how much I weigh!"

He supposed that the firewhiskey was making him more animated than he usually was, but he supposed that four straight nights of being around his sister had put him at ease enough that he could act as carefree as he was. "I got out of Hogwarts and went straight to Romania to study and train dragons. Did that for 13 years, and I've got the scars to prove it," he rolled up his sleeve to show her a burn on the back of his forearm. "Got that one trying to get a Welsh Greenback egg away from a Chinese Fireball who mistakenly thought it was the mother."

He rolled his sleeve back down. He didn't really have a good reason for telling all of this to a perfect stranger, but he continued to babble anyway. "I only came back because Mum got sick, and Kelsey insisted that I get a normal job. I suppose she's hoping that I last at least until Mum's gone, but you only live once, you know?" he shrugged and returned to his glass.

At his mention of being in Ravenclaw, Sofia racked her brains, trying to think if she remembered him. He wouldn't have been anymore than five years ahead of her, and he did look slightly familiar. She'd place him soon enough, she was sure of it.

Sofia couldn't help but smile at his mock horrified expression. "I do apologise, but I would hazard a guess and say no more than 90kgs," she winked again.

Listening to his story about his past job, she was intrigued. Sofia always wanted to have a exciting job, but she supposed that some people would consider being a professional Quidditch player exciting. She just found it tiring and stressful.

Her ears pricked at the mention of being a dragon trainer for 13 years, so that would place him at around about thirty if he left straight out of school and therefore, make him three years her senior. Three years wasn't that much of an age gap, she mused, but shook the thought from her brain. What happened to keeping her emotions under control?

Looking at his burn, she cringed for him. That would have hurt. Sofia had had some near misses with Bludgers, but nothing that had lasting damage like that burn seem to have.

She nodded, "I haven't done anything quite as exciting as Dragon Training. I actually only just retired from Puddlemere United. It was just too much to handle. When to wake, when to sleep, what to eat, etc. I was going half mad. Hopefully this new position can challenge the brain cells just a little bit," she looked at him. "I am serious about that Restricted section though. Sounds fascinating."

"Why I never!" Oliver once again channeled his mother's tone of voice as Sofia had a guess at his weight.

At her cringe, he grinned. He loved to show off his battle scars. "That's nothing, I've got a near perfect impression of a Norwegian Ridgeback's jaw on my shoulder and I'm missing two toes on my left foot," he held the leg in question out to the side of the table and gave his foot a small wiggle for emphasis.

"Urgh, Puddlemere? Really? Might as well have joined the Cannons," he said in partial distaste, although he was mostly joking. It was her choice who to play for and who to support, although Puddlemere United was not high on his list. "'Fraid I can't comment much on local Quidditch though since I haven't seen a match since I was still in Hogwarts. I'd've gone to some in Romania but they're a bit too hardcore there. It's painful to watch."

He thought about taking her around the restricted section, but it didn't really sound like much fun to him. All of the really dangerous books had been removed, much to Oliver's disappointment, although there were still a few that would nip at you if you turned to a chapter that you shouldn't have been reading or that would scream at you if you tried to tear out a page. He grinned to himself at the thought of bringing those out for a laugh when exam time rolled around. The seventh years wouldn't know what hit them.

"Tell you what, when school starts up again, I'll race you around the pitch. If you win, I'll take you on a tour of the Restricted section, but if I win, we're going on a hunt for the Chamber of Secrets. Sound fair?"

Sofia felt her mouth drop as he described his wounds. "That's dreadful!" she exclaimed. "I've only just met you and I'm glad that you're no longer doing that job!"

She smiled, "Oh please. We finished third on the league ladder last premiership. Third. And where did the Cannons' finish, hmm?" She grinned. "We're so much better than the Cannons," she reiterated. She may have been a tad biased in her response, but she didn't care. Besides, the only reason they finished third was because of that blasted Wronski Feint from the Arrows' Seeker in the semi finals.

Sofia nodded, knowing full well that the Romanians were hard at the game and went to any means possible to win. She had gone and done some training sessions with the side... Never again.

A grin split Sofia's face. "Oh, you're on. Restricted section, here I come," she winked. How could this Librarian seriously think that he could outfly the Flying Professor. It would be darn-right embarrassing if he did thought. She had better not let that happen. Her pride wouldn't be able to hack it. Then again, the hunt for the Chamber of Secrets did sound fascinating to her. Perhaps she wouldn't mind winning or losing this little wager.

"I don't know why you're so confident," Oliver mock-scoffed. "I'll have you know that I was Captain of my pee-wee Quidditch team when I was 8," he said proudly.

He looked down into his glass. He didn't feel very drunk, but he was on his fifth firewhiskey, and he was sure that if he tried to stand, he'd be very wobbly. Ah well. That's what you get for curing a hangover with more drinking.

He noticed a drenched piece of napkin floating at the top of his glass. How did that get there? Was it snowing bits of napkin? He looked around, confused, then fished it out of his glass. He tossed the little bugger onto the floor, cursing it for trying to ruin his drink.

Remembering that he was not drinking alone tonight, he looked back across the table. "Sorry, what were we talking about?"

Sofia laughed, "Oh, well, I won't go easy on you then, Mr Pee-Wee captain," she said, smiling. Sofia, though she had never been captain of a team before, had played ever since her third year at Hogwarts when she was granted a place on the Ravenclaw team.

Sofia looked at him noting that he was getting exceedingly drunk by the minute. She predicted that he wouldn't be able to remember this conversation when he was sober, but if he was to be working at Hogwarts, she would remind him.

"Quidditch," he reminded him, "But, I fear we have exhausted that conversation. You wouldn't happen to have any conversation topic starters per chance?" she asked the man opposite her. "Weather is always fail proof."

"Sweetheart, this is England. Rain is the weather," Oliver said putting down his empty glass.

The bartender started to come over to refill it, but Oliver waved him away. He'd had enough for the night, he thought. "Let's talk about you then. What did you do after Hogwarts?" he asked. He could have left the topic up to her, but she seemed to have pretty crappy ideas. Weather? Really?

Sofia smiled softly. Obviously weather wasn't as fail proof as she thought. She didn't mind though; weather was dreadfully boring after all.

"Well, I was drafted into Puddlemere soon after graduated Hogwarts so that's all I really done since graduating. It's actually surreal being able to do what I want, eat whatever I want, without a trainer constantly on my back about things."