Monday Afternoons. (OPEN)

[Haru Miho]

It was the usual Monday afternoon; while the rest of the school was distracted by the assortment of food at lunch, Haru was making his way through the secret passage to Hogmeades and stopping by Hog's Head for a drink. Of course, most would prefer the Three Broomsticks but as surprising as it might be- money was tight these days in the Miho family. The company wasn't doing so well as of late. Haru didn't adjust to these new changes so easily. He was a spender- a very bad spender at that. His pockets were usually overflowing with galleons and sickles but recently, they were light and awkwardly hollow. To make things worse, sixth-year-itus was dawning in on Haru which meant that he tended to spend more when he was skipping classes and having free time to just enjoy himself.


It wasn't hard to skip class either, which made skipping- and basically flunking his sixth year- all the more tempting. The professors and staff of Hogwarts was completely oblivious to everything. He could hardly believe that THIS was the safest place in the Wizarding World.

He tipped the rum into his mouth, taking a gulp. The taste on his tongue was sweet and slightly bitter. Leaning back in his chair, he eyed the girl on the other end of the room with interest. She wasn't quite clear with his horrid eye vision (he refused to wear his glasses and was too lazy to wear contacts). All he could make out of her, was that she was alone, and she had long hair... maybe? He was unsure. The alcohol wasn't helping much to clear his vision either.

Haru felt his chair wobble underneath him as he tipped back further. He suddenly lost his balance and he toppled over, the bottle spilling all across the floor. Ah blast- that was 19 sickles! >[


[OPEN]

[Desideria Tapia]

Oh, how she hated dealings in dingy places. The Hogs Head was one of the worst; the place was filthy, the glasses were caked with grime, and not to mention the shadiness of the people who sat around waiting for their own dealings or trying to drink their sorrows away. The only good thing about this pub-- well, two good things-- were the drinks (which had an enhanced aged flavor) and no one really cared about your dealings as long as you didn't interfere with theirs. It was perfect for the market she was involving herself in again, but it had to be done. No one would understand just how much prices had sky rocketed on particular potions ingredients and the woman was merely making a deal by contacting an old comrade of hers.

This was the least of her worries, for years she'd been dealing with this man and he'd never once dared to double-cross her. Besides that, he was great at evading authorities when they were after him for his dealings.

As long as Desideria was able to gain what she needed and it was deemed safe enough for the use in her class, what should it matter where and how it was obtained? Her senses had never failed her before and she wasn't about to let them now.

They made their business deals, bargained and bickered, settled, traded, drank, and he left. Just like old times. Ordering one more before she had to return to Hogwarts (her classes being canceled for the afternoon so she could obtain much needed ingredients), Desideria's head snapped in the direction of the crash as every other head in the pub did.

Immediately she narrowed her dark eyes, suspicion setting in. Wasn't that...? Surely it couldn't be. A Hogwarts student? Had he followed her? Watched her business deal? Than again, did it matter? With the situations as tight as they were, would she be technically justified?

[Haru Miho]

Luckily for Professor Tapia, Haru was completely clueless about her business in the Hog's Head. He had been too preoccupied sipping his drink and staring at the girl across the room. He hadn't even noticed her presence in the room until he stood up to brush himself off. His eyes caught the Potions Professor standing by the doorway for a brief second but it was enough to make his heart skip a beat. He did a double take. Yeah, that was definately her. He'd heard too many jokes about her *ehem* bee stings being made by the other sixth year Slytherin boys to not recognize her- even in such horrible lighting.

Buggering hell! A Professor! OF ALL PLACES?! WHY HERE? =_= He ducked under the table, not sure whether or not she'd actually seen him... That was dumb- who HADN'T seen him? He wasn't thinking quite straight at this point. If all else fails, he could always use his charm to ease his way out of whatever the punishment was. That worked just about 99.999% of the time.

He slowly peered up from under the table, half expecting her to be gone.

[Victoria Simone Valsh]

She had been sitting in the Hog's Head drinking a Fire Whiskey. Her feet were propped up on the seat in front of her as she tipped the glass against her lips. The burning liquid made it's way down her throat. And why was Victoria, the 5th year kiss up, sitting in the Hog's Head in the middle of the day? There were three reasons. One, her potions class had been cancelled. Two, she was sick of the grounds. And three, she knew that the Three Broomsticks wouldn't serve her Fire Whiskey. She set the glass down on the table and looked around the bar, licking the remnants of the liquid off her lips.

There were only about a dozen people in the bar, most of them making shady business deals in the bar. She saw another Hogwarts student on the opposite of the bar. So she wasn't the only one that had snuck out of the castle... He wasn't that bad looking. She smiled at him and took another gulp of her fire whiskey. His chair tipped over and she started to laugh but as soon as he ducked under the table, she looked around, trying to find why he was so scared. She looked at the doorway and immediately sunk back in her chair. Professor Tapia, her potions professor, was standing in the doorway and Victoria had no way out of the bar.... How was she going to get out without getting caught....

[Desideria Tapia]

Remaining seated in her seat...( which may as well be located near the doorway) Desideria's eyes remained attached to the area of the figure that ducked beneath the table after one shocked glance her way. Well, that proved to her he didn't have the faintest clue what she was doing there. For all he knew she needed a pick-me-up after receiving news of her non-existent sister's death and she'd stopped down to bring her spirits up. It was nothing that she'd canceled her classes, they were all right on schedule and one play date wouldn't hurt any chances for the end of the year examinations. And she'd offered herself up for any appointments later that evening in the case a student was highly terrified of having missed a class, and that poor soul who was.

A dark storm flitted across her tan face, the clouds rolling in through her eyes. Just how dare a student be off of grounds when it clearly was not a Hogsmeade weekend, and at the Hogs Head Tavern at that? Just wait until the Head Mistress heard about this one. Oh, bugger that poor boy and the punishment that would be awaiting him. Too bad Annemarie took off not long ago, this was just the thing she loved to tack into her schedule...

Setting her glass down hard on the table with a resounding thunk, Desideria stomped off in the direction of the boy peeking out as if playing a childish game with her. Drinking was no game...unless there were cards involved, she rather liked card games, but this was neither here nor there.

Reaching around the table, the rather plump woman tried to grab the collar of the boy, angered by the mere thought of his presence. "Just what do you think you're doing? Cutting class, sitting in this dingy pub, and with a bit booze in your 'and and on your breath?" He'd better have a damn good explanation. Sure, she'd been having her own drink, but she was stable enough to take care of this.

[Haru Miho]

Perhaps she would mistaken him for just another drunk but legal fool that's had one too many drinks again. The sixteen year old looked a few years beyond his actual age anyway. He could pass for maybe 18 or 19? In recent years, he had grown out of his precious baby face quite a bit and now held the features of a young man. Of course, Haru still walked with the same swagger and had the same amount of sexy charm (haha)- he didn't lose that one bit growing up.

She began to walk his way. Shit, oh shit. Bloody hell, this is just my luck!... .. oh look, I found a sickle! He had been slightly distracted by his new discovery but this intervention didn't last long. The Professor grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up. Haru coughed dramatically and tried to pry her hands off of him. He stepped back a little and had no clue how to answer her questions. He coughed a little more, trying to think of a good excuse. He really didn't feel like having to scrub trophies or having to clean up the dung from the various magical creatures. Ugh! He shuddered at the very thought of it.

"Professor, " Haru inserted a small cough here. It was very annoyingly convincing. " I can explain, I swear," cough, "You see, I got up this morning and as usual, I went to breakfast. I sat down and the owls flooded in for me. I must have received about thirty or so letters but only one stood out." He coughed again, rubbing his neck, and he had no idea where he was going with this story. " Anyway, it was a black one, with an elaborate red seal. I tore it open and pulled out the letter." His face darkened and he paused for a moment. "I received news of my grandmother's death and my parents told me to come see my adopted cousin today at the Hog's Head. Now, you see, I've never actually met her, but the letter said it was urgent news regarding my family's company. I am the heir, you know." He eyed the Ravenclaw girl across he room, noticing she was watching him. Haru blinked, hoping she would somehow miraculously know what he was thinking and that he needed her to comeover and help him convince the Potions professor somehow, that he had a very good reason for being here today.

[Oliver Hartley]

Who knew that sixth years had so much trouble staying in school? Another sixth year, this time, Oliver, was skipping school and decided to go to the Hog's Head, as well. The Gryffindor was in the bathroom, doing his business while the commotion started outside. He flushed. Twice. He considered whether or not he wanted to wash his hands. Deciding that sanitation for the common good was more important than his natural laziness, he turned on the faucet. Proceeded to rinse his hands with apple scented soap, and then dried his hands.

As he pushed open the swinging doors of the bathroom and walked out into the hall, he heard a familiar screech of a Professor. He stopped dead in his tracks.

Sh*t. He thought, quickly thinking of what to do. He peeked behind a wall and observed the situation and broke down the plan. He remembered seeing this boy in his classes-- a fellow sixth year. Adopted cousin? Little bugger... He needed a way out of this situation, maybe they could get out together? With his wand, he conjured a crappy, fake, brown mustache and put it on. He looked ridiculous, but perhaps he could pull it off too. The mustache was very itchy, and it poked the sides of his nostrils-- causing him to want to sneeze.

He walked grandly with his hands in the air, if he were going to embrace the Slytherin boy.

"Cousin!" he said flamboyantly, walking over to the pair. "I'm so sorry that I'm late! Had to go to the loo and couldn't find any toilet paper! Heard the news about ol' Grandma? So tragic...." he sighed, as if in thought of his supposed Japanese grandmother.

[Haru Miho]

Cousin!

Haru snapped his head back at the Gryffindor Boy, in confusion. Cousin? What was this kid talking about?... Oh... cousin! He straightened out and grinned widely at the boy with the mustache. Ugh, what was with the fake mustache anyway?! It looked like one of those shitty ones that you could buy at the muggle dollar store or the ones that came in the policeman costumes they sold at Halloween. Haru would have laughed if he was in any other situation. "YOU'RE LATE! It's fine, I understand. Yes, yes, I was devastated when I heard about our dear Obaasan." He sighed with a solemn face. To be honest, his Grandma had passed away two years ago and Haru really couldn't care less. It was sad of course, but he hadn't spent much time with the old woman and she was just any other stranger out there.

"She was a great woman, so caring." He paused for a moment, sadness in his eyes, and looked up at Oliver, "H-hey, do you remember when she used to knit us all hats for New Year's and she would threaten to hit all of us if we didn't wear them? She was so caring... Oh, and whenever we would sit at the table with her for dinner, she would threaten to take out her bamboo stick if we didn't finish all of the food." He chuckled, "she was always looking out for us. I remember the way she would tell us crazy stories about her having affairs with Emperor Komei and Takeshi Kaneshiro... I... I just miss her so much..." A tear rolled down his cheek, along with a small sniffle that accompanied it.

Haru shook his head and smiled, "I'm sorry, I'm getting a bit carried away with that. You must be... Edna?" He had to rake his head for unisex names; Edna was the first that he found. "I'm sure you already know about me. You know, the one grandma always talks about- Haru." He grinned with a bit of arrogance, at the other boy, noticing that his mustache was falling crooked. "Oh and by the way..." He pointed at his own upper lip. "You should probably shave that. I don't think the stache fits you, mate." This was Haru... trying to be nice.