| Details for Afternoon at the Cauldron |
| Summary: | A handful of friends and new acquaintances chat at the Leaky Cauldron. |
| Date: | 26 February, 1939 |
| Location: | The Leaky Cauldron |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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In the lull between lunch time and the evening rush, the Leaky Cauldron can be a quiet place, not quite full but not quite empty. It is Bailey's favorite time to visit, when she can feel like she's around people, but not overwhelmed by a huge crowd. Feeling a bit more daring than usual, she takes a stool at the bar instead of her usual quiet table to herself. "Hey, Mick," she gives the Cauldron's thick-set owner a restrained smile. "Can I get a brandy?"
Clover is off work earlier than she planned today, which means she has a few spare hours to herself. Slipping in from the Muggle side, she pulls her hood back from her hair and looks about, waving to one or two people that she might know on her way to the bar. Smiling at the tender as well, she'll let Bailey put in her order before she puts her own in. "Just some tea for me today, please. I have a busy night ahead of me."
Bailey's ears perk with a glimmer of familiarity in the voice beside her. She glances over, taking a moment trying to place the face. Eyes like Clover's are quite memorable, and it triggers something in her mind. "Healer…Weaver, isn't it?" She offers the same restrained smile to Clover that she gave Mick, ducking her head just slightly as she cautiously puts herself out there to a relative stranger.
Clover raises her brows as she is addressed and turns to Bailey with a smile. "Ah, Ms Potter, good to see you." She gesturse to the empty stool next to her, and moves her belongings off of it. "And how are you feeling?" She asks, before realizing what she's said and laughs. "I'm sorry, I my mind hasn't left work yet. How are you?"
Bailey chuckles softly, her shyness fading a bit. Seeing the invitation, she moves down a stool to sit beside Clover. "I'm fine. I'm feeling fine as well, thank you. I wasn't sure you'd remember me. How are you? Other than being unable to leave work behind." She giving a shrugging grin.
"I do remember the consults I do, it's rare I am dragged out of my potions room." Clover jokes as she recieves her tea and goes about the meticulas process of adding her milk and sugar. "Oh I am doing well, I have a wee son that is keeping me on my toes at home, and a rambunctious nephew egging him on. I swear those two will plot against me one day."
Bailey brightens at the talk of children. "Motherhood is an amazing thing. To be a Healer on top of that…you're a remarkable woman. How do you find the energy for all of it?" She gives Mick a grateful nod as her brandy is set before her.
"Well I have a very doting mother who is more than happy to make sure he is well taken care of, and a few girls at home who look after the house, and the meals and Tristan. It helps that my husband has more money than he'll ever need, other wise this might be more of a chore." Though at the energy question, Clover has to think about it for a moment. "Well to be honest, work exhilerates me. I enjoy helping people, making them better or ridding them of the toxins the injest. I'm usually able to ride that high for a few more hours after I get home, but once my head hits my pillow, I am out."
Bailey nods after a sip of her brandy. "Mmmhmm. I know the feeling. In a sense, anyhow. I never know what to do with myself if I'm not working. It's fantastic that you have such a rewarding job. I know I appreciate it. Those potion variants you gave to Healer Rowle did wonders for my pain."
The Cauldron's floo was a good way to get around - especially when the healers have told you not to apparate for a while. So it was that the fire briefly flared, disgorging an auror, with the faint mark of newly healing skin, pink and lightly gleaming from the healing salve she'd applied. She takes a step forward, brushing ash from her robes, and moves towards the bar to lean against it. At her wordless nod, a firewhiskey is placed in front of her.
"Potions are what I do best. It's why I never boethered to focus on anything further." Clover lightly sips her tea, not even fliching at the sound of the floo, since it is something she is quite used to. "Both my husband and I work too hard, however when we do take a break it is equally as rewarding as the work has been. Granted I know he would rather I bet at home, but I don't think he'd like me after I have been cooped up in the house all day."
Bailey gives Shelley's arrival an acknowledging glance, and even a nod as the woman nears them at the bar. "You're very fortunate to have that kind of freedom," she says to Clover. "But you've obviously worked hard to earn your place. Why did you decide to become a Healer? Was it the potions? Did you always have a knack for them?"
Shelley nods back to the two women beside her, fixing her eyes on Clover for a moment. She smiles at the pair, and slips onto the stool beside them, cupping her firewhiskey in one hand. She takes a sip - then lets out a relieved sigh. Life is always better with a little firewhiskey in your gut - and at least her stomach appears to have recovered from that damned splinching. Maybe the Healers will even let her start apparating again…
"I did, and I think working hard is extreamly important and I hope that I get to pass that on to my boy. I don't think it'll be a problem however." Clover says thoughtfully. When asked about her reasons behind her career choice she nods. "My sister was a sickly girl, and I spent a lot of time with her a Mungos when we were growing up, and I sort of took a shine to it."
"Well, bless you for it. Bless all Healers." Bailey lifts her glass in a little toast. Without consciously thinking about it, Bailey rubs her right shoulder. She glances to Shelley, who looks like she's had her own recent encounters with Healers. Still hesitant to break the ice, she does at least lift her glass again in Shelley's direction.
"I can get behind that," Shelley agrees, lifting her glass to Clover. "To Healers." She takes another sip of her drink, studying Clover for a moment. She doesn't look too familiar to her - she's probably in one of the wings where she hasn't spent quite as much time. "Where would we be without them?"
Well. She knows where she'd be.
Clover holds her hand and waves it a bit, attempting to be modest. "Please, I just do my job, I'm not some diety." She does however salute with her tea cup, smirking at the both of them. "Enough about me, I don't need my ego any larger than it already is. Tell me what you ladies do."
Bailey gives Shelley smile, glad to have the ice broken without needing to really do it herself. "I, for one, would be dead without Healers. So, deity or not, my gratitude knows no bounds." She drinks in honour of the Healers, nodding to Clover. "As for me, I work in security. I'm a guardwitch."
"As would I," Shelley agrees. "Earlier this week, as a matter of fact. Though there were several other times before that." Or she'd be insane - which was no more appealing.
"I'm an auror," she adds.
"Ah, well I can see why both of you my have visted the hosptial often." Clover responds with a grin. "I'm not down in trauma often, unless I am needed. I work up in Potion and Plant Poisoning, so it's rare that we get one of your sort in my office unless you're bringing me something to pick apart." Which by the sound of it, it is something she enjoys doing. "Either way, perhaps i should be thanking the both of you instead?"
"Actually, I've never been injured at this job. Mine is…an older injury." Bailey gives a one-shouldered shrug. "But if you're going to thank anyone, thank our Auror here. She's serving the public. Private security isn't quite so praiseworthy. Mostly I just follow people that want a visible security presence."
"Well. I like to think they're both laudible - Healers and Aurors, I mean. Though guardwitches serve an important role as well," Shelley adds, not to leave Bailey out. "I'm Shelley Prewett," she adds as introduction.
"Clover Weavher Macnair." She says brightly to Shelly, since Bailey already seemed to know who she was. "I however have been injured on the job, there were those early years where the potions got a little out of hand. Thankfully I was in the best place to have a potions accident. I'm a little more careful these days."
"Bailey Potter," she introduces herself, since everyone is getting chummy. "I think we'll all have our work cut out for us these days. Things are getting so tense lately." She winces apologetically, "Sorry to bring down the mood."
Shelley lets out a quiet snort.
Shelley lets out a quiet snort. "You don't need to bring /down/ the mood - mine just sort of lives there," she comments dryly, but smiles with a hint of humor, despite her words. "Nice to meet you both - Healer Macnair, Potter."
"Well, I know just how to lighten it up." Clover says, semeing uneffected by the lowering of the mood. She must still be riding on that Healer High she spoke of earlier. Pulling out her purse, she grabs a few photos of her son, playing with another boy who is slightly older. "That is my nephew Donovan, and my son Tristan. They're just adorable." Babies, pushes away all the bad moods, at least for females.
Bailey's lips part in an open-mouthed smile. "Awwwww!" She reaches for the pictures to coo over the playing babies. "They are precious. I swear, I think I'm over wanting children, and then someone shows me a photograph of a baby, and I'm back at square one." She smirks, chuckling silently.
Shelley looks at the photos with a polite smile, passing them back to Clover, after Bailey has passed them to her. "They're both darling," she agrees. "They must be a joy."
"It's nature really. Granted I have to pass by the nursey every day, so it's hard to not think of babies. But I think just one more will be be fine for me. One little girl that'll wrap her father around her finger and there will be nothing he can do about it." Clover says with a bit of pride. "They're a handful honestly. I love them to bits, but they are going to have the run of the manor with in months."
Bailey sighs wistfully. "I remember how it was when my brother was born. He certainly was a handful. An unstoppable little force of nature. Well, congratulations on your beautiful baby, Miss Weaver-Macnair. You and your husband are very fortunate."
"Nieces and nephews are a joy - that I can attest to. Of course, my favorite thing is that I can send them back when I'm done," Shelley remarks with a dry tone. "I spoil them rotten while I have them, of course."
"Indeed, I do that to little Donny all the time, and my poor parents spoil him as well. He's going to be a terror when he's older." Clover carefully puts the pictures back in her purse, so they are ready for the next time she has to lift the mood. "I had expected to have children when I was a bit younger, but I suppose it is better late than never."
"I think it's good to wait to become a parent," Bailey says approvingly. "You've got a lot more wisdom to impart than if you'd hurried to have children."
"It's not something I plan on," Shelley remarks, but then shrugs her shoulders. "Who knows, though…? Certainly not I."
"I know I am a little wiser, but there is the worrythat he will have more energy than I will, than of course when they're teenagers they're going to start raiding my kitchens. I guess that's what's so great about Hogwarts, nine months out of the year I'll have food."
Bailey chuckles. "My parents certainly appreciated it. I think my sister was the only one they might have considered an 'easy' child. She was always fairly mellow." She takes a sip of her drink to pause for thought. "I think I may be with Ms. Prewett, when it come to having children. I don't foresee it being a realistic possibility any time soon. I'll just have to hope to become an auntie soon."
"I certainly wasn't," Shelley remarks with dry amusement. "Though I was outside most of the time - not causing trouble around the house. I was always getting bumps, bruises, and broken bones, even back then."
"Well I didn't for see it until I met my husband, and even then we waited a few years before we tried. Not that it took much for it to happen, but it helps I know my way around fertility potions." Clover says with a sly smile as she esips her tea. "Either way, it ended for the best. Though I don't remember if I was a 'good' child or not. Ivy was the handful."
Bailey chuckles at Shelley. "You have a long history of injury, hm?" She turns her smirk to Clover, adding, "'Ivy' and 'Clover'? I'm sensing a theme, here."
"You have nooo idea," Shelley responds wryly. "Let's just say the career choice was a surprise to no one. Though my poor mother has a hard time with it."
Clover chuckles out a laugh and shakes her head. "Can you tell that my mother is a herbologist? She always used to tease my father that if she had a son, he would have been named Herb or Basil. Thankfully for him she only had girls."
Bailey gets a good chuckle from both ladies, her shy smile giving way to a proper grin. "Basil…I rather like Basil. The name and the seasoning. I'm not so sure about Herb, though."
"I can't say my mother had a theme when she named us - but I know my parents were hoping for a boy. Why else name their daughter, 'Shelley'?" the woman asks in a wry tone.
"Basil isn't bad, but Herb would have been horrible." Clover says with a smirk though she'll think over Shelley's name before she responds. "Perhaps she was fond of the sea? Honestly I just found the name I liked best for Tristan, you should have seen the list of names his mother wanted us to use."
The door opens from the muggle London side of the pub, and it's a good time to be here between lunch and dinner rushes. Graham enjoys being here about this time as it's not too crowded and still can find a good table to sit at and stuff. He will turn back to another who enters beside him walking arm in arm "What do you think? Warm drink?" he says giving a small grin he seems to be rather excited about something or lack of something as it's simply the two which walk through the door the other being his adopted sister. He will glance to the bar seeing a few familiar faces which get a nod in greeting and a wave.
Bailey gives Shelley a smirk. "I think Shelley is a lovely, feminine name…and I think I've got you beat for gender-neutral names." The sound of the door opening draws her eyes, as she tends to take note of everyone that comes and goes — professional habit. But look! People she knows! She waves to Graham and Rhyeline, offering a welcoming smile.
Rhyeline keeps close at Graham's side, reaching only just to his shoulder. Bundled up against the cold, she gives a small shiver as the Cauldron's warmth melts her pink, frost-nipped nose. Lifting her gaze to her adopted brother, she nods with a soft smile. "Yes… a- a cup of cocoa? Perhaps?" Pausing, she looks from Graham to the bar. Catching sight of Bailey, her young features brighten with- relief? Her usual looming twin shadows- her guardwitches- have vanished, but she seems pleased to encounter one who has spent long hours watching over her.
Shelley follows Bailey's eyes - offering a smile and a nod to the pair that enters. She takes another sip from her whiskey, before offering with a wry smile, "don't know about gender-neutral. I've yet to meet another girl named Shelley - only boys. But it's alright."
Graham will nod to his side and nods though he will give a small reassuring squeeze with his arm. "Of course anything that you'd like." It must be odd to be out without the following after so long but it's great of course. The auror will turn back to the bar as he begins forward towards the bar. "Afternoon, Shelley and Bailey." he greets them lightly each in turn he'll allow the other to sit down beside Shelley if she will and he'll be on her side.
Clover only knows the new arrivals in passing, but she does give them a polite nod and a smile before she refills her tea cup. "You have a point there, Bailey could go either way, however I think it works well for both." Clover smirks as she sets her cup down again and nods to Shelley, "I think I have seen a few, but I see so many names in a day it's hard to keep track."
"Rhyeline, Graham," Bailey says their names affectionately. "I guess it's no surprise that you know Ms. Prewett. Have you met Clover Weaver-Macnair? Clover, these are friends of mine. Rhyeline Diderot and Graham Cohen. If everyone is staying, perhaps we ought to take a table together?"
Rhyeline doesn't sit quite yet, not when Bailey has suggested taking a table together. Hands clasped behind her back, the little one's eyes shine with such shyness as she nods to Clover. Shelley is more familiar to her. The little one offers her a quiet smile before she glances up at Graham.
"Miss Diderot," Shelley greets the other woman as she comes to stand near her. She finishes off her whiskey, gesturing for whoever's behind the bar to refill it for her. "A table might not go amiss. I was thinking of ordering something to munch on - maybe something crusty bread with melty cheese.
The auror will turn and return a smile to Bailey, it's been a while since she's run into the other and it's good to see her again. Graham will turn to who she speaks with. "It's good to meet you." he will say to Clover a friendly smile given to her as well. "A table will be good, perhaps I can buy the food or next round." he will offer and turns to his side catching the look given by Rhyeline he will place a hand on her shoulder lightly "Looks like that table's free." he'll motion waiting for he others but he'll stick close to the other hoping to help with nerves leading towards said table.
"Yes I have met Miss Diderot before, on a number of occasions, it is good to see you again, and it's nice to meet you Mr. Cohen." When Bailey suggests getting a table, she shakes her head. "Sadly, I should get home to Tristian, if I'm quick I can be there before his nap his finished." Thank you for the company and I hope we do get the chance to talk again Ms Potter." She says as she gathers her things.
Bailey nods, "I understand. Go look after your sweet little boy. I'm sure I'll see you soon." She gives Clover a soft smile and slides off of her stool, taking Graham's suggestion and leading the way to the table.
Rhyeline watches Clover as the healer excuses herself. Feeling Graham's hand upon her shoulder, she peeks back at him. Nodding, she looks to Bailey and follows to sit down beside her at the table. Once all are settled, the girl looks from one to another. At last, she folds her hands upon the surface of the table. Upon her left ring finger, she is wearing a ring of intricate silver filligree. It is set with a single emerald surrounded by glittering diamonds.
Shelley picks up her drink to follow after the group, nodding to the Healer as she heads home. She slips into a seat, not seeming to care who sits beside her as she slouches in her seat. If she notices the ring, she doesn't comment on it. "Cider and chips, Graham?" Shelley remarks casually, citing her friend's predictable order.
Not that she's any better with her firewhiskey.
Graham will sit lightly last of the group, he will look to Shelley as she speaks "Yes please, thanks mind if I pick up the tab?" he will ask her though he likely would do so anyways without permission. He looks to Bailey. "It's been a little while have you been?" he says interested. It appears as he looks back to Rhyeline and her hands on the table that he's heard this news when he met up with the other. It's new though and still sifting through all this he'll still wait the others to notice.
Bailey had been fairly relaxed with Shelley and Clover, but in the company of Rhyeline and Graham, she loosens up noticeably. She gives Graham a broad smile, nodding her head. "It has been a while. I've been well. What about-…" Her question drifts off, cut short when the green sparkle on Rhyeline's finger catches her eye. She gives the gamine woman a curious lift of her eyebrow.
Rhyeline slowly meets Shelley's gaze. Her fingers curl, hands closing, but the ring is still visible. A deep blush warms her fair cheeks as she gives a subtle nod. "He asked me… Yesterday." Looking a touch vulnerable and hesitant, she peeks over at Shelley and then up at Graham for reassurance before she looks to Shelley once more.
"Oh?" Shelley asks with curiousity, her gaze going to the ring now, then back to the woman. She offers her a friendly smile. "Well. Congratulations, Miss Diderot. What lovely news." She pushes herself up from her slouch, adding towards the others, "I'm going to go powder my nose. I'll be back shortly."
"I'm quite well thank you." Graham answers Bailey's half asked question though yikes lots has happened lately. Nope isn't the time for that thought hell only wait for his cider and a hot chocolate to be received setting it down infront of Rhyeline. He will take a drink from his cider catching the look. "It's okay little kitten, it's something people will notice and they will be happy for you." he will say to her placing his arm behind her resting on the back of her chair perhaps to help with his reassurance.
Bailey's jaw drops in surprise. "He…and you accepted? Of course you did, you've got the ring. I…wow." She stares at the ring, stunned. "Um…congratulations, Rhyeline. I wish you all the happiness you deserve, and more."
Rhyeline gathers her cup in both hands, appreciative of its warmth. She bows her head, blushing so deeply that even the tips of her ears are a bit pink. Biting her lower lip, she slowly peeks back up at Bailey. "Thank you…" she murmurs in a hushed tone- overcome with shyness. Graham's words draw her attention and seem to reassure her a bit. Nodding, she brings her cocoa to her lips and looks to Bailey.
Graham watches between Bailey and his adopted sister and takes another drink from his cider. "You should tell Bailey about how he asked and all that, I believe that's customary." he says though he'll turn and in an odd turn request to add a shot of whiskey to his cider. He will look back though his pleased smile still there.
Bailey finishes her brandy in one heavy gulp. "Ah…maybe next time? I…should probably get going. I've got an early shift tomorrow." She rises from the table, standing stiffly. Some new tension has ruined her relaxed posture. "Congratulation again. Graham, it was good to see you." With a tight smile, she nods to each them, and strides out through the rear door.