The Hog's Head

Anyone watching them now and not seen them on the verge of fighting before hand would simply have seen two old friends uniting over a drink after not seeing each other for a while. With Cazz's hand burrowed into her hair to Alex's casual leaning against the bar, there was nothing really to indicate that they had been enemies for two years up until this point. That of course, was excluding anyone who could see Alexandra's eyes. For her, the eyes were truly a window into the soul and her soul was bitter-sweet now. Of all the places to see her friend again, this would not have been her chosen time and place.
"What better time to start then now I guess...?" the lilt at the end revealed the cautious hope within her, a slight smile gracing her face as her lips drew into a crooked grin. But if the Death Eater turned out to go bad once more, it would break her to the point of extreme change, not only in actions, but in thought and personality.

Her hand paused on it's way to deliver more alcohol to her mouth at Cazz's last sentence. Even though they seemed to be on very good terms to the casual observer, Alexandra had a long way to go before she trusted Cazz as much as she had when she was eight years old. Looking back up at her friend, weariness showed, aging her by decades in a moment. Despite her outer appearance not changing much, her bearing and poise had left her.
"I really want to believe you Cazz. I promise." she nearly seemed to be begging. "But I can't dismiss the last two years easily no matter how hard I try... In a few months though if you ask the same question, if you really are sincere as you say, then my answer will be different." it ended on an almost confident note.

"Ha... Yeah."
It was a dry laugh almost as if it was something she had been giving to much thought too and time ran out to soon. Knowing she had way more then a few months to go with her. One action can ruin one whole relationship. Though a whole series of other could some what build up the completely broken foundation that the two had at the moment. Though it may even take longer to get a grip on what had happened in the last two years. Caz drew small drawings into the bar table. Her eyes sliding closed as if she was painting a canvas under the lids of her eyes.
"I am very regretful we had to meet on terms such as this..."
Her eyes slowly opened looking over at her. Emotions started to leave her once more looking more withdrawn from the world then before she left Hogwarts early. It was undersanble that Alexandra needed time most likely space as well to figure out if she even ever wanted to see Cazz again. Though she would understand if she wanted nothing to do with her.... After all the name she made for herself in these past two years did not make things easier for her to get away from it.
"I understand... Take your time no pressure coming from me."

A gentle smile emerged on her face though the tired look did not go away. Looking at Cazz more closely she could see how the recent events had weighed down her friend as well, changed her and forced her to adapt. Even though her friend had not fundamentally changed from the passionate girl she knew before, but there would be some things that would be different and it would take a while to grow used to these changes.
"Thank you Cazz..." she reached across the bar top and tentatively squeezed the blonde's hand before quickly withdrawing it, unsure of what new boundaries had been made while she was gone. She was still not able to proceed with great ease, although this was not entirely the fault of Cazz at all. It was mostly down to the fact she had little to no contact with her friends once she joined the Order, decreasing her social aptitude dramatically.

"So what triggered this? Was it just the Graces or..?"

Smiling a little back at her some life coming back in to her eyes. Thoughts were swirling around in her head as she looked back down at the bar.
"Um... Well as always I saw something... And you know. That shapes most of my thoughts... And you know a little thing called regret... I just want to change..." taking a drink she ordered another beer thinking about what she was thinking about.

When Alexandra walked into the familiar pub, there was no interest in the 'new-comer' as she walked brusquely to the bar-tender, asking for a room for the night. Having managed to hide her face completely in shadow and bundle her dark hair into her hood, the raven-haired girl haggled over the price and eventually settled for something that seemed to be average price. To be honest, she would pay a hundred galleons just to have a place to stay that the Ministry would not look for her at. Alexandra had barely managed to contact Ouriel and tell him to head to Hogsmede before being forced to apparate out from a bakery in London.
'Room 11.' she grazed his mind gently before striding up the old wooden stair-case.

A few minutes later, she was face-down in the cotton sheets with one hand buried in the feathers of Ouriel's back. There was little to nothing she thought she could do for the Order. Of all the people to be left un-captured, why did it have to be her with her incompetent experience?

The thought. It helped stopper up her feelings of doubt for a moment. If Misery were still alive perhaps Cazz had helped after all! Eagerly grabbing on that strand of communication between herself and the vampire, Alexandra let Ouriel grumble for a moment about her dropping her shields before he made sure that nothing would start invading her mind.

'Misery! How are you?' a note of desperation tinged her thought. She hoped against all hope that this would be one friend at least that she would not fail.

Spoiler:

Quite well, as I am sure you can tell. There were no disturbances to the link, thankfully. But dare I notice, things seem a bit off on your side.

She saw- no not quite saw, but had the impression of seeing Misery in relatively good form. It could be described as feeling the sight of Misery in the front of her brain. As irritating a description as it was, it was sadly accurate for anyone who wanted to hear something they could relate to and understand.

'They are not. The Ministry has captured the Order.' she herself tried to send images of the duelling in the Ministry through to Misery but since she never had tried before, it was probably a failure. It was a bit of a relief to tell someone who really understood how dire the situation was. Ouriel was great, but human emotions were odd to him and that did not help much.
'I'm in Hogsmede now, I'm trying to contact Eirina to see Sorrow.'

Spoiler:

I'm, uh.. sorry to hear that. And Sorrow, well, that's... good, I guess,

Spoiler:

...Ena?

'What is it Misery?' she had a feeling this brief conversation was drawing to an end and was grasping at straws to continue it for as long as she could. Alexandra had been devoid of friendship and simple kindness for too long.

We're... we're friends, right?

Spoiler:

Actually, I'm a bad friend. I'm sorry - I lied.

I am... not okay, strictly speaking. In fact I may be in a bit of... in rather bit of trouble. But it's okay, I mean, it's not like anything horrible is going to happen to me - I'm tough and all that, there was something off about the cheerfulness she 'felt'. But if... if something does happen...

'We are friends and will remain friends, I promise.' she vowed fervently. If Misery was about to say her 'final words', there was no way that she was going to let her give up that easily. Alexanda would see Sorrow, she would save the Order and she would not fail her friends. She had given up on friendships too much in the past and it was coming back to haunt her far too often. Gone was the pre-pubescent assurance that she would always be well-loved and cared for and Alexandra wanted badly to have it back.

'Nothing is going to happen! I'm going to get you out of there soon!'

It's okay. Misery might have sounded content. I trust you. Just let me...

Spoiler:

Just let me say something. There is... I care about someone deeply. I only realized recently, and I never thought... I never thought to say it. But I want them to know.

She was rather taken aback by such a request, having never thought Misery to be much the romantic type, but Alexandra was willing to tell the person of her friend's affections if need be. At least to satisfy Misery, she doubted she would ever be able to play the role of the cupid but that was beside the matter at hand.
Feeling Alexandra slacken her grip, Ouriel slipped out from under her grasp for the moment and shook his coat and walked about the room, withdrawn from her mind and busy with peering into the defences around the area.

'And who would this lucky fellow be?' a small hint of amusement filtered through. If she were in a better mood, she would be teasing Misery quite a bit more and commenting about how Hunter was gone from their lives already but even to be of a lighter mind now was a feat in itself.

The question rang inside Misery's mind, making her wish she had not brought up the subject at all - or yet?
The lucky part, I'd note to reconsider. And, well.. it's not strictly... ah, hell, I'm not a good romantic, you know that, Misery paused, then continued softly. I am unsure how or when, but... I think I love-

Spoiler:

There was an awkward pause on Alexandra's end and she did her best to muffle the feelings that she felt at her friend's words. As much as she was flattered by her friend's affections towards her, this was not the greatest of times to tell her. Maybe after a slow day at work and a nice cup of tea, but with her running from the Ministry and Misery still trapped by the Death Eaters, Alexandra could not help but feel weary. She barely managed not to hit her head repeatedly against the mattress beneath her in self-loathing as for what she was about to do to her close friend and blearily wondering why now of all the times. Perhaps delaying her answer would be wisest... This of course was coming from a person who had little experience with matters of the heart when it came to anyone but Earl.

'Misery...' she murmured her friend's name gently, thinking their link was still intact and not realizing how Misery had broken off suddenly. 'How long ago did you realize?'

There was a dead silence. No presence remained in her mind any more of Misery nor of anything other than her near unconscious mental connection with Ouriel. As the emptiness stayed unfilled for at least a minute, Alexandra hesitantly raised her shields once more and returned to the dusty room in the Hog's Head. The Griffin had finished browsing around and sat ramrod straight on a creaky table, next to a cracked vase filled with withered flowers. Shaking her head minutely, he flew onto the bed next to her and settled down, preparing to go to sleep once she sent her patronus to the Headmistress.
'You humans are bizarre...' he murmured, rather bemused by her sudden changes of mood throughout her conversation with Misery.
Rolling her eyes, Alexandra ignored his comment and waved her wand smoothly through the air, resulting in a glimmering, silver dragon. Speaking a quick message of what had happened, the corporeal dragon glided through the wall and imaginably flew towards Hogwarts.

She huffed after realizing that she would have to wait in the room until the Headmistress replied. Sleepless days and nights lay ahead before her.

{Oh, she broke the link:3 Therefore the may/may not hear spoiler.}

(Ah, point that. I shall edit)

Nadya sat cross-legged outside near the hog's head, on a nice quiet street. She silently kept her eyes out for anything more suspicious than her.

"Jesse wait up," James moaned through a pile of shopping bags, and neat little packages. He trudge behind this long haired fiery red head woman named Jesse. She had a stout demeanor, as if nothing in the world pleased her, so once again she went on a shopping spree as if she had the philosopher's stone to burn.

"Hurry up you nincompoop!" she yelled slipping into Hog's head to take a long needed break after hours of shopping with that oaf.

(*jaw drops*)

Nadya mutters under her breath as an irritable pair passed by her and headed into costco the Hog's Head. She sat there for a moment, then, noticing how much extra baggage they carried, she followed them in discreetly, taking a seat at the bar.

James dropped all the packages on the table, and slump into a chair. He did not even care that a few slipped underneath a table, his body was so tired of walking. Jessie on the other hand still full of life, muttered something under her breath something about James and a toad.

"Here go pay for our drinks," Jessie commanded throwing several bronze coins at him, as she continued to fix her long flowing hair.

(But where's Meowth? XD)

Nadya glanced over at the pair as the lady through some coins at him. Nadya glanced down at the items that had fallen earlier. Some of it could be of value, and although Nadya doubted it, she was going to keep an eye on them nonetheless.

(lurking in the shadow)

As he came back with Lemon tea, and Irish coffee, he sat back down, handing Jessie the coffee. "So where to next?" he said in a low whisper.

She laughed, "Where else to get what we came for?"

That was not the answer he liked. They were beaten a hundred times by that boy, and still had very few things to show for it, but practice makes perfect James guess. "Right." he nodded his agreement, taking his sip of Lemon Tea.