I was in no such way, forced to create this rp, and certainly not by Eirina <3 (Open as the great outdoors!)

Eirina, for the first in a long time, walked into the Leaky Cauldron. It almost seemed new to her, even though the place hadn't changed a bit in the past thousands of years. It was always old, always dirty...she wiped her hand on her dress after opening the door. There were always the same mix of both normal and very suspicious looking people. Yep, it sure had been a long time, but it would never feel like it.

She had a small folder in her hand with a few papers inside. She was prepared for an interview, and she had made her way to the Leaky Cauldron for the interview, at the request of the man that she was about to question. Or so she thought she was, but she couldn't find him. She was late! She knew that she was, and for him to not have been here...that was pretty bad. Not a good way to start off an interview. But she'd give him a few more moments to show up, just in case.

What Eirina, however, didn't realize was that she was in fact early, by an hour, although in her mind she believed that she was late by 15 minutes. She had mixed up her times really quickly, and the man that she was looking to interview was simply on time, however on time would be in the next hour.

As Eirina looked around, trying to find the man whom she wished to speak with, she quickly noticed Dein. She was a little apprehensive, but she figure she should talk to him, not as her nephew, but as a past student. It was sketchy that he was in the Leaky Cauldron, seeing that he was fresh out of school. Most of the people who hung out and roomed here were either old, well into their years, or someone of suspicious character. Never someone so young as Dein.

Eirina walked over to Dein, sitting perfectly across from him. Her appointment wasn't here yet, so she had plenty of time to kill. Even more, if he decided to never show up. Eirina was quick to get mad at the thought, the nerve of someone to drag her all the way out here to not even show up! That would be ridiculous. 

She turned back to Dein as she straightened out her thoughts. Eirina did one quick look around the room again, as if to further her next point when she spoke. Dein was clearly a fish out of water in this place. Or so he was to her eyes, at least.

"You do realize you're the youngest in this room? Why are you at a place like this?"

"Everything's my business! I make it so."

She half joked, but was half serious. In theory, not very much was her business, only herself and the welfare of her students. However, in order to keep such students healthy and to keep her business clean and unkempt, Eirina had to mind other people's businesses because it was their business that affected hers. That's how it always was. She hated it at times, because schools were so political, but that's just the way it had to be run.

"But in all honesty, you are my business, just as much as anyone else is. Especially because you are a former student, and even more so now that I'm your family."

Was she used to having family? No. Did she know how to go about it? No. Did she know...well, anything? Not really. Eirina continued to throw the words around as if they weren't true, like she was acting or telling someone else's story. It wasn't quite her's yet, and she had no idea how to handle it. Not as Eirina. Her concern, about Dein's living arrangements, were heavily based off of Eirina's concern for any student that she would have found in this situation. She found it no trouble to try to pick them up or help them out, but she already new that Dein wasn't going to accept anything of hers. That wasn't like him, and that certainly wasn't like his mother, if he were to take after her in any bit.

Eirina wasn't really fazed by what Dein had first said. She wasn't expecting to discuss the matter, and she sure as ever didn't expect him to want to, either. If anything, not in such a public place like this. And certainly not on her terms. However, it was his attitude that got to her, and quickly. His next comment only set her off.

"You need to drop that attitude that you have there. It's absolutely disrespectful to your elders and your peers, and you'll gain no respect in acting like that. It's petty and childish, and I'll have none of it. You may think that you're all grown up, but you have a lot to learn. Doing 'fine' on your own doesn't last long, and certainly not with that kind of attitude. With no respect, you won't be able to get a good job, not one that you want at least. I've made sure that every student was taught better then that, and for you to so blatantly throw it away is plain ignorance."

She couldn't believe that he was raised to regrade muggleborns so effortlessly. It was like they were pests, just some kind of creature that everyone degraded as if they weren't worth anything. Eirina hated that. They were people, just like anybody and everybody else. There was even a Muggle Studies class that was required at Hogwarts, to prevent this sort of thinking! Eirina couldn't help but be absolutely furious and fuming on the inside, and clearly off-put and displeased on the out. Not once through her speech did she yell, or call out, or draw the attention of those around them, but she made it clear that she was not happy.

Phoenix apparated just outside the door of the Leaky Cauldron and brushed the feather off his shirt, muttering "Damn birds" in the process.  After deeming that he was presentable, Phoenix walked in to the bar with a smile on his face.  School was over, he had finished, and (most likely) didn't need to go back.

After a brief moment of thought, Phoenix walked up to the bar and took a seat, paying little attention to who was sitting a few seats down.  He ordered a water, and turned to face the almost empty tavern, looking into the dark corners and at the dimly lit tables.  Pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his right pocket and a lighter from the other, Phoenix turned back to the bar and plopped them down in front of his freshly brought water.
"Ta, love" He said to the waitress with a smile.

Eirina had always been quick to assume, but that wasn't really something she knew or saw of herself. What she knew was that she wanted to stop a situation before it happened. Aka assuming things, many of which she shouldn't, but Eirina simply didn't see it like that.

As Dein spoke, Eirina understood exactly what he was talking about. Lacetta. And that was an entirely different matter at hand, and she wondered if he could even recognize that. Though she'd be sure that he recognized that in a second. She couldn't allow him to simply say something of that magnitude, and associate it with something that Eirina saw as unrelated. Not only that, but she knew it would be bad. To her knowledge, Lacetta had been a good ways away from Hogwarts and the common places around London, and it was probably better that way. Not that Eirina had ill feelings toward Lacetta, she had loved the kind girl, but for Lacetta's and the schools reputation, it was best that she were ways away for a little while. And now, it was apparent to Eirina that it may be best for Dein, too.

"Listen. That has absolutely nothing to do with this, it's an entirely different matter. It's best that she'd be far away, for both of your sakes, and for the schools. I'm not talking about this matter any further, and neither should you."

Eirina almost wanted to tell Dein to get over her. She was/is a staff member, and he was a student, even if they were the same age they were in two completely different positions. Dein was no longer at the school, and Eirina hoped that she would be back at the school by the beginning of the fall semester. And the Prophet would surely be all over the two of them, and Eirina would prefer for everything to die down and to go back to normal. These stories were terrible, and she was getting tired of them spreading.

(Eirina will acknowledge Phoenix in her next post, NO WORRIES!! <3)

(Oh stop, don't make me blush :3)

Phoenix took a sip of his water and set it down back on the wet ring he had picked it up from.  He tugged his cigarette package open and took one out, tapping it lightly on each end.  Slowly rotating the cigarette and examining the tobacco inside.  Switching his eyes from the cigarette to his lighter, Phoenix reached out and picked it up, flicking it once, but with no flame to acknowledge his efforts. When the bartender heard the flint scratch, he looked over at Phoenix;

"Try to smoke as little as possible in here, and for heavens sake PLEASE use the ash tray"  The bartender said, shaking his head ever so slightly before waving his wand at the pile of dishes in the sink.


Phoenix nodded his head and put the cigarette in his mouth, flicking the lighter once more, and lighting it.

"It appears to me that you're voicing your own fears. She's an adult, and she can handle herself. Now if you'll excuse me..."

She did everything, quite literally, that she could think to hold back her anger. She told herself about a million things. That he was trying to unnerve her, and she shouldn't give him the satisfaction of doing so. That he was psychotic, and could only be pitied. Eirina tried everything that she could think of to convince herself not to get so outwardly angry with the boy that she caused a scene. That wasn't in her agenda.

Eirina did still pity, though. She feared that he had gone to far in some childish game of love. She did believe that he was voicing his own fears, and although Eirina herself wasn't scared of it before, she was a little more nervous now. But she comforted herself with knowing that Lacetta was quite capable, and an adult, and that it was out of her jurisdiction.

From across the room, she could spot two figures. The closest being Phoenix, another past student of hers who she was now a bit nervous seeing here, at the Leaky Cauldron, much like she had felt toward Dein. And smoking too! 

"You're not stressed out enough in life to smoke yet, give it a few more years!"

She spoke to Phoenix as she slowly walked by, long enough for him to reply to her as she made her way to the farthest figure that she recognized, that being of the man who she was to interview. He didn't look like anything special at first glance, but perhaps he was a great wizard and would make a wonderful professor for the school, just in case any professor had found somewhere better suited for him or herself and his or her talents, which was surprisingly quite frequent. Eirina was always sure to have a backup plan.

Phoenix jumped when he heard someone behind him speak, he span in his bar stool and looked up at the woman.  With a smile he stood on his feet and put his smoke out in the ash tray.

"Headmistress! I had no idea you were here!" Phoenix started, placing his hands behind his back while trying to hide the slight nervous expression on his face, "How've you been since the end of school?" he asked, adjusting his right foot in to a more comfortable position.

Phoenix was never really nervous around the Headmistress, and he wasn't too sure why he was now, maybe it was because he was caught smoking, or even because it was his first time interacting with her as an adult, fresh out of schooling.  Or maybe he was just excited that he could finally drink in public without fear of getting in trouble.  After a moment of thinking of what Eirina had said about smoking, he nodded. 

"And you're right, Headmistress.... I really have no need for these" Phoenix mumbled, weakly holding up the cigarette pack, before a smile jumped to his face and he pulled out his wand, pointing it at the package.

"It's different, that's for sure. Waking up with nothing to do, and knowing that I can be whatever I want to be, do what I want to do, and go where I want to go without having to worry about school, or homework or anything like that. It's a good feeling, but still a bit odd." Phoenix replied truthfully, and with a flick of his wand, the box of cigarettes puffed in to smoke, re emerging as a small red toy car.

Seeing Eirina walk towards the man, he said something about seeing her later, and he then turned his attention to where she had been sitting previously.  Phoenix saw someone who looked quite familiar;

"Dein?" He said out loud.

(Nighty Night!)

"Hello, I'm Eirina Naer, the Headmistress."

Eirina smiled and stretched out her hand, waiting for the man to stand up, introduce himself, and shake her hand. But he didn't do that, in fact, he didn't do pretty much any of that. He continued to sit there and stare at Eirina, for long enough for her to think that she had the wrong guy, until he spoke.

"Oh, yeah! So what do you need to know?

Maybe he was nervous. Eirina over looked it for a minute, and took a seat. She pulled out the papers that she had in the folder, one of them being the man's job application. She had been interviewing people for a long time, and so it was practically like putting herself into autopilot at this point. She knew every question she'd ask, and what order she'd ask them in. She'd write down notes on the goods and bads of his answers, gracefully depart and head back to Hogwarts to review all of her candidates.

"I just have a few questions. First, what made you apply for this job?"

(Sorry I can't post on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays. I work 12 hour shifts and don't have time to do anything those days :( )

Phoenix raised an eyebrow when he heard Dein reply to him. "Just saying hi, no need to get snooty about it" he said, looking at Dein, the toy car still in hand.

Phoenix sat back in his chair at the bar and downed his water in 2 big gulps.  He put the car down on the table and waved his wand in slow circles above it, making the car drive in the same pattern he was moving his wand.  Phoenix tried not to listen to Eirina's conversation with the man to his right, but he heard a few words and had decided that the man was there for a job interview.

"Odd place for an interview" He muttered to himself, and ordered another drink, a firewhiskey this time.

Phoenix ignored Dein while he was walking away and chugged his firewhiskey, grimacing as the last few drops were falling down his throat.  He slammed the glass down on the bar and asked for another.  While he was waiting, Phoenix span in his chair and examined the thin crowd again, noticing a few more people had joined them since when he walked in.

The dingy window didn't cast much light onto the book in Eleonora's hands. It's grime coated glass let few shafts of the sunlight spill through, but barely enough to read by.

Why she had chosen this spot instead of out in the bright Diagon Alley was simple.  People often left you alone here if you looked busy. Out in the street it was more likely for someone to run into you. Here, though, Eleonora did not see anyone she recognized. That was not surprising. She knew precious few people these days. Part of her wished that wasn't the case, while the other part was content. On days like this, though, when she felt bad about being alone the majority of her time, she went out with a book in hand  and sat around a place where people congregated.  Just being around people, not having to physically interact, was usually enough to make her feel better. It was just nice to see other people living their lives while she lived hers.

She twirled her red hair around her fingers as she read about the mating habits of unicorns and sipped her drink. It was a little too strong for her and she could already feel her head getting hazy. It was a good feeling, though. It mixed well with the warm room and the murmur of conversation going on around her.

She put her book down and casually looked around again after hearing a glass hit the counter rather loudly.

When the bartender brought the next drink up to Phoenix, he was already starting to feel a slight buzz. He had never been much of a drinker, and slamming the firewhiskey had definitely made a slight impact on him. Phoenix nodded his thanks at the barman and picked his fresh drink up, sipping it this time instead of downing it quickly.

"No point in stopping now" He muttered, taking another sip of his whiskey.