The Three Broomsticks (Extra)

For if the Three Broomsticks is in use by other characters.

Macnair opened the door to let Andromeda in then walked in just before her, leading her to a table slightly off center. He waved over Madam Rosemerta and ordered them both butterbeers. As she walked off he turned to face Andromeda again, waiting to see if she would protest him ordering or accept it in stride.

Andromeda accepted him ordering her food without much protest; after all, pureblood women were supposed to be submissive and all that other crap. She would have ordered a butterbeer anyway, so she was not overly bothered. "Thank you," she said with a polite smile as Madam Rosemerta delivered their two butterbeers. "And two orders of fish and chips please," she added, deciding that Walden wasn't the only person who'd be ordering food today. Fish and chips were her favorite; she maybe ate them once or twice a year during a Hogsmeade visit.

He raised his eyebrows when she ordered for him, honestly unable to believe she just did that. Blinking he looked over her shoulder as the door opened, noticing a group of younger Ravenclaws walk in and head over to one of the large group booths. Looking back to his 'date' he figured he should make some sort of small talk, even if she had already irritated him beyond belief. "So Andromeda, tell me something interesting about you."

Andromeda smiled innocently. Granted, ordering your date's meal was probably not of Bella's list of things to do to find yourself a husband, but then would Bella ever actually follow her list? Her dress was short without being whorish, she let him order drinks and pick the table... Andromeda thought about Walden's question carefully, trying to formulate the ideal answer. "I've considered working toward becoming a Potions Master after graduation," she said. It was a good response; it showed ambition and intelligence, while letting Walden know that it wasn't her definitive path in life and that she would be open to a different future. She wasn't going to say her favorite color or some other trivial matter. "What is something I don't know about you, Walden?" she asked.

Violet wandered in, a couple beat up books in her arms, a couple more tucked in her shoulder bag. She glanced around quickly for a vacant table, excited when she realized the one in the back corner was open. On her way there, she spotted Walden and Andromeda sitting together, and couldn't help the smirk growing on her face at the very idea of Walden on a proper date. She figured she would at least say hello, since she hadn't seen Andromeda since they had met in the ice cream shop, and she liked being friendly when she could. As she approached though, she caught the tail end of their conversation, and couldn't help herself from volunteering an answer for him. "His middle name is Alford, but he gets this ridiculous grumpy look on his face if you call him that, don't you, Alford?" She said with a grin, looking at him for a second before facing Andromeda again. "I won't interrupt any longer, just wanted to say hi again." She gave a little sort of wave and moved away as their food arrived, slinking between tables and heading back toward the little corner she liked so well to pull out her books, spread them across the table, order a shepherd's pie, and get to work.

He saw Vi walking over and a small smile graced his lips, "Why hello Emily, it's good to see you." He let out a low growl and kicked her foot when she mentioned his middle name. "Fine then Isis if that's how we're going to play things." As she walked away he watched her before turning back to Andromeda. "You two met over the summer in Fortescue's didn't you? I seem to recall seeing the two of you in there."

Andromeda watched the interaction between Walden and Vi with a polite smile plastered to her face. In reality, she was pondering the relationship that must exist between the two of them. They were fairly close, but not in a brother-sister way if Andromeda was reading things right. Lovely for her. "Good to know," she said to Vi with a smile. "Alford's not too terrible enough of a name. And it's nice to see you again." Though it would much nicer when Andromeda was not in the middle of a husband procuring exercise, because date did not quite encompass all things this little get-together meant to Andromeda's family. "And yes, Vi and I did meet at Flortescue's." She remembered Walden lurking sketchily in the corner, never taking his eyes off Vi. This did not make Andromeda feel any better about the prospects of the date.

He nodded at her and turned to glance at Emily sitting on the side. Looking back to Andromeda he nodded to the waitress as she put down their food and tried not to look too disgusted at the fish. Ugh. He much preferred meat that still bled after it was cooked. He started eating his chips, wondering what he had to talk about with this rather attractive yet thoroughly boring girl in front of him. He knew that if it was Emily in front of him they would be caught up in rousing conversation and she would never have considered ordering for him.

Part of Andromeda wanted to eat her fish and chips slowly in order to savor each, delicious morsel; the other part wanted to scarf them down as quickly possible in order to escape the Three Broomsticks. She desperately wanted to stab something, out of frustration and boredom. Macnair was probably a decent gentleman when he wasn't busy glancing over at another table every few minutes. If he didn't want what she ordered, he should have spoke up in the first place; she wouldn't have been offended, and it would have given them something to banter about. "Excuse me for a moment," she said, politely standing up and heading to the bathroom. She hoped Vi would take her seat, giving Andy a good excuse to leave; she could not handle anymore of Walden Macnair's piss poor attitude.

Violet was dutifully going through her books, marking pages and scribbling notes down, taking a bite of her shepherd's pie every once in a while. She glanced over, feeling eyes on her, and saw that Walden was staring, and Andromeda was gone. She tilted her head at him in a questioning gesture, but getting no answer or explanation, she got up and moved toward his table. "Why do you keep looking at me? And where'd she go? I never thought I'd see you out on a date, this is so strange to me. It almost feels like blackmail, that you'd actually take some girl out and get dinner and stuff. Did you get her a flower? Did you let her take your arm and did you pull her chair out and stuff?" Violet laughed, shaking her head. "Anyway, stop looking over at me like an idiot and talk to the person you're supposed to be on a date with," she hissed, shaking her head more sternly now, as she turned to head back toward her homework and dinner.

He smirked as she sat down opposite him, leaning back in his chair, "I'm wondering what you're working on over there. And this is absolute rubbish for blackmail, I'm taking her out on parental orders." There was no way he would ever buy a girl a flower anyway, even if it was someone he wanted to be taking out. Namely because any girl he wanted to be taking out wouldn't be the type of girl to fawn over a boring flower as a gift anyway. As she started to leave he reached out to the side and grabbed her wrist, hissing to her, "Don't leave. This girl is as dull as ditchwater. Stay?"

"Well wonder away, because it's not important to you right now. And no, I'm not staying, because parental orders or not, you've asked her out, you're on a date, and I'm not going to be sitting here as the reason it ends when she gets back!" she hissed right back to him, jerking her wrist free from his hand with a stern look. And also Violet would like a flower and hereby vows to change Walden's mind about them, and their effectiveness, in the future. "Now suck it up and be a man, Alford. Try conversation. Merlin knows you need practice at it anyway." She quickly moved back to her own table, spreading her books out further and moving her shepherd's pie toward her, disappointed to find it almost cold as she took a few more bites of it, hoping Walden wasn't looking at her anymore, but having the sneaking suspicion that he probably was.

Andromeda emerged from the bathroom, watching Vi return to her table. Lovely, more time with the socially awkward nincompoop. She sat down with a smile and took a bite of her fish and chips. "How are your classes going this term?" Andromeda asked because maybe Macnair would be able to talk about academics with some semblance of pleasure. "I think Potions might be my favorite class this term."

Macnair shrugged when she mentioned potions, "I have a few friends who are very interested in potions. Personally I prefer ancient runes. It's always been my class of choice, that and I enjoy doing my own private research." He picked up another piece of fish, "So what sort of potions are you working on? I know Emily is working on manipulating pain potions. Are you doing a project as well?"

"Lovely," Andromeda said, glancing down at her watch. "I'm working on a potion that imitates the effects of the Imperius Curse. But I must be going; I have another social engagement to attend to." And with that, Andromeda stood up and left the Three Broomsticks, hoping that the awkward turtle would find his balls and ask Vi out because the poor girl really deserved much more than that idiot had to offer.

Violet looked up, watching as Andromeda stalked off looking peeved. She couldn't help laughing, and scribbled quickly on a piece of paper, ripping it out and chucking it right at Walden's head. She waited until he looked at her, pointed at the door and mouthed 'go after her and say you're sorry, idiot'. Then she went back to her homework, ignoring him again.

Macnair watched her leave then felt the paper hit his head. Shooting a glare at her, he opened the paper and read it before glaring at her again, shaking his head when she mouthed at him. Picking up the paper he dropped the requisite number of galleons on the table, transferred the fish over to Andromeda's abandoned plate and moved himself and the chips over to Vi's table. "Hello. So what are you working on?"

Violet didn't bother looking up when he came over, having expected him to do so at his earliest opportunity. "Hi. Homework," she answered simply, not bothering to move her books out of his way either. "Want this?" she asked, indicating the half-eaten, now-cold, shepherd's pie. "It's cold because of you, anyway." Glancing up at him with a little smirk, she pushed it toward him and picked up her quill again. "Promise I don't have cooties. So, I'm supposing your date went horribly? That's unfortunate. Looks like you'll be alone forever now, because a girl like that will never let any of her dear pureblood friends date you either."

He rolled his eyes, pulled out his wand and cast a warming charm on the pie before tucking in, using his free hand to steal one of her books and flip it open. "I don't really care." Flipping through the book he grinned, "Transfiguration? No wonder you're in such a mood. Want some help with it?" He took another bite of pie and leaned over to see what exactly she was writing about.

Violet snatched her book back, glaring at him for mentioning her being in 'such a mood'. She was quiet at first, skimming over the book in front of her until she looked up at him with a sigh. "Yeah. But don't think we're doing talking about your disaster date, because I definitely want to laugh at you for it. I figured Andromeda was sort of your type anyway, right? Pureblood, all that regal and better-than-you stuff..." She gave him a look, then turned back down to her book.

He let her take the book and sat back, waiting for her to admit defeat. Sure enough it only took a minute before she sighed. When she talked about his 'type' he rolled his eyes, "That's my parents' type. I don't have a type particularly. Whatever catches my fancy in the moment." Primarily because he wasn't all that interested in a real relationship right now or even a casual one. Reaching out he slid out one of the book she wasn't using and before she could take it back again he stopped her, "You have to give me something to read, I don't have any of my own books here."

"Well aren't you so wonderfully fickle and diverse," she told him with an eyeroll and a grin. Pouting at him slightly, she gave him a look when he took her book. "And whose fault is that? Not mine." Despite the argument, she didn't move to take her book back, letting him continue to read it if he wanted. "So why'd you take her out if you didn't even like her? That's just stupid. But if not her, what does catch your fancy, Walden Macnanir? Besides stealing my food and books, that is..."

He looked up when she spoke again, wishing she would drop the date but knowing from experience that she would keep asking questions until she was satisfied. "I took her out to see if there was anything there worth pursuing. And right at this moment nothing is catching my fancy." Leaning forward across the book he tried to read her essay upside down, "So which essay are you working on for transfig? Which level are you at?"

Violet tilted her head at him, giving him a slightly stern sort of look. "Nothing can't catch your fancy. I mean, something always has to catch your fancy. Maybe you really like quidditch girls, or maybe you really like the herbology girls, but there's always something." She shrugged, turning her essay around so he'd stop looking like a creeper leaning across the table like that. "It's an essay on turning animals into inanimate objects and back again. A little complicated because if it's not done right, they could sort of die..." Violet chews on her lip, having been too nervous to try the charm yet, just concentrating on nailing the essay for now.