GRAND OPENING at Finnigan’s of Diagon Alley - Come Support Hogwarts Quidditch Programme

[safinnigan]

Date: Friday 1 June 2001
Time: evening
Location: Finnigan’s of Diagon Alley
Characters Involved: Seamus Finnigan, Charlotte Aurelius Finnigan, Open to Everyone
Rating: G

Comments

[fi_admin]

As Headmistress, Minerva felt it was her duty to be present at any function where Hogwarts was honoured, or in this case financially benefited. With the end of the school year rapidly approaching, she was quite literally almost buried under preparations for the N.E.W.T. and O.W.L. exams, as well as trying to arrange the various contracts for next year. She was inordinately pleased with her reorganisation of the school and the Quidditch programme, but Severus was presently being difficult - saying that he had to 'think about' signing off on Katie's contract offer for next year.

Wearing green dress-robes which complimented her tartan sash at her waist and band around her hat, with the Hogwarts crest proudly emblazoned on her chest. Arriving so precisely on-time as to reach the door just as it was being opened from within, Minerva swept regally into the building.

"Good evening, Mr Finnigan. It is most generous of you to benefit... Hogwarts... Quidditch.... Great Scot!" she exclaimed as her prepared speech died away on her lips.

[safinnigan]

Seamus had barely swung the door open when the Headmistress herself swept past him, her tartans flowing, into the pub proper. She was all business as usual, properly thanking him for sponsoring the fundraiser with her usual aplomb until she began to take in the scope of the pub and its most unusual and striking features: the viewers

[fi_admin]

"Well then, congratulations are certainly in order. Who created the projections, then? I have a good deal of respect for my Potions Master and his work, but he would be the first to admit he possess no talent for the visually appealing. Clearly whoever put together these images had a strong gift for aesthetics."

Minerva knew Severus had made the memorial for Albus, of course, and he had gone to a great deal of effort to make that as crisp as possible, but they were still merely glorified Pensieve projections. Those images were quite tame compared to the fantastic, crystal-clear view of the Quidditch field, complete with close-angle views of some of the most exciting plays

[safinnigan]

“Aye, Ma’am,” he nodded, smiling and quite inordinately pleased that the Headmistress had so astutely sized up his business plan. “’Twill definitely be two-fold, on top of me own pub, that is now. Well then, the images are from Q.U.A.C.K. Dean Thomas and meself have contracted to provide all sales and rentals of this and every other game from the British and Irish League.” He tried not to sound overly full of himself. Despite the huge number of orders they’d already received it was still a fledgling business in need of all the Irish luck he could muster. “The Professor will be providing the viewers, ma’am, and fine ones they are as ye can see for yourself. His part in the venture is vital to its success. Right, ‘tis grateful we are that he’s agreed to assist us.” And help make all of them breathe easier financially

[stebbinsthescot]

Stephen had no reservations whatsoever on arriving near to the start of the event. He might have been there even earlier, but he'd actually spent a good while deciding what to wear. In the end he'd settled on his Magpies jersey, a new and well-fitting pair of jeans, and one of his nicer sets of trainers. Nowhere was there evidence of his former house which he'd been so proud of leading to victory only a few days ago-- but after that journal entry he'd made, he figured any more outright celebration of that fact would just look like grandstanding.

Speaking of celebration... He scanned the as-yet thin crowd of the place for Katie as he walked through the door. No sign of her yet, though his eyes were caught immediately afterward by the screens. Having grown up around televisions, he felt no surprise at the mere fact that the screens existed-- but the images on them were far more impressive than anything he'd seen, even in the most up-to-date muggle technology.

Right, he thought as he shook himself out of his shock. If Katie wasn'

[about_abbott]

The other evening, Hannah had dressed in her professional garb. With a premier crowd and the whos who of the Quidditch world, she had known there would be quite a few orders. Had she truely known how many she would have had more quills in hand. Instead, she ended up taking down a few contacts to talk with later in the week. Of course, Seamus had been more than happy with the amount of orders placed.

But tonight? Tonight, Hannah wanted nothing more than to observe the crowd. She needed to get a feel for how the general public felt about the screens and begin formulating a plan for a possible rental program. Hannah also thought about catered parties, but she knew that for the moment that was more than they were ready to take on so she filed the idea in the back of her mind for now.

Sitting at the bar in her Kestrel's jersey, Hannah waited for her drink to be served before she could turn around on her stool and pay full attention to the early crowd.

[stebbinsthescot]

In his search, Stephen walked right up to the bar and planted both hands on it, leaning over a bit to search for Seamus. But there was no sign of him-- maybe he was in the loo.

Stephen's attention was caught next by a familiar head of blonde hair. "Hannah Abbott!" he exclaimed with a smile, though as he looked her up and down his expression changed to a challenging smirk. "The Kestrels? Really?"

[about_abbott]

Hannah was turned toward the door, the opposite direction from which Stephen approached. Her focus was on the patrons entering the bar for the first time so she could guage their reations. She was watching one couple in particular who had just entered the pub. It was quite obvious that she'd only come to the opening at his request. She stood to pull the small notebook out of her pocket so she could write a quick note about making an into to Quidditch area for those who weren't too keen on the sport.

About the time she finished her note, Hannah heard someone call her name. When she turned, she saw someone she hadn't seen in quite awhile. While it wasn't Ernie or Justin, whom she terribly missed, it was another of her housemates. "Stephen," she replied with honest enthusiasm, both because it was her job and she was excited to see someone she'd practically lived with for seven years.

Then he mentioned her jersey. With a quick look down, Hannah remembered the day she bought it. "You mean this," she brushed the comment off. "

[beautesolitaire]

Charlotte was helping by making sure that the bowls stayed full of salty snacks like pretzels and crisps. She stayed clear of Beven in the kitchen and helped at the bar and serving as she could. She did her best on getting orders in. She wanted to help out as much as possible, but found Seamus urging her to take a break every 15 minutes. She was pregnant, not dead. She was wearing simple gard, aka something that she wouldn't care if it got stained. Socrates was laying out of the way in front of the fireplace, just watching all the strangers that came in

[safinnigan]

Seamus captured Char’s hand on her way back from taking a few drinks to a table. He slipped an arm around her thickening waist and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. It was the prerogative of the owner to be affectionate to his new pregnant bride and he intended to take full advantage.

“Char, love,” he said as he brushed a lock of hair back from her forehead, “you’ve no need to be waiting on tables, then Sweetheart. ‘Twood be best if you picked a right proper spot at the bar and held court there, love. Right, you’re the prettiest lass here, love. Don’t give the older gents too much to appreciate.” He winked and laughed at her. He wanted her to sit, to enjoy herself, not to work too hard or tire herself out.

“Well then, keep our only son Socrates out from under the customer’s feet and yourself from too much work and the night’ll be perfect for your Seamus.”

[beautesolitaire]

"He might not be our only son soon." she mumbled to him as she kissed his cheek in return. She was glad that it seemed to be going so well. She wasn't overdoing it, "I am fine, mon amour. If I get tired, I will rest." she assured him before she placed a kiss on his neck lightly before she went to pick up the next tray of drinks

[safinnigan]

While he was pleased with her kisses, Seamus watched as his defiant independent wife delivered another tray of drinks and chatted with the customers before acquiescing to his wishes that she keep Socrates from bothering anyone and stay off her feet.

Not their only son? Seamus would be delighted if their baby was a boy, but he’d be just as happy if it was a girl. He was more concerned with making sure it was healthy - and the mother with it! Once she was settled at the bar with her tea he was free to check on the kitchen and make sure all the customers received their orders promptly. One less worry was a blessing on this hectic opening night.

[arthurs_molly]

When Molly had seen the flier for the Grand Opening of Finnigan's, she had immediately marked the date on the calendar, seeing as it was a perfect opportunity for her to regain some sense of a social life, something she hadn't had much of as of late. True, she had attended the Ministry and Hogwarts functions at the one-year anniversary of Voldemort's defeat, but as she had been confined to the Burrow for so many years due to war and her children, she was finding it a bit more difficult than she had originally imagined to get back into a some sort of social loop. The fact that Finnigan's was also going to be honouring the Hogwarts Quidditch Programme had also made this particular catch her eye, as it gave her a legitimate reason to at least try to get Arthur out of the house with her as well.

So, with the prospect of making new friends and meeting up with familiar faces, she entered Finnigan's, wearing the same dress she had worn to the Hogwarts Ball, and after glancing swiftly about the room to see if she recognized anyone, she made

[subtle_simmer]

He could not have been Head of Slytherin house for nearly two decades without being instantly drawn to certain shades of green.

Like the new silk shirt Remus was wearing, for example, which was a splendid compliment to the new silvery-grey robes he had bought for himself. Not that they were shouting anything from rooftops, but this was the first time they had gone anywhere in the Wizarding public 'together' without at least one or two others of their household 'in tow'.

Severus had even told Draco he was bringing a 'date', in an effort to get the boy to both show up at the event and, more importantly, behave himself

[arthurs_molly]

Molly had been lost in her own thoughts when Severus had greeted her, but she immediately offered him a smile, grateful to have someone to talk to, as she still felt slightly out of place.

"Good evening, Severus." She said, returning his greeting before she took a sip of her drink to muse over his question for a moment. The viewers were certainly interesting devices, but she had found herself wondering what Arthur thought of them, as he had always been interested in Quidditch.

"I think the viewers are interesting, and I'm sure that Mr Finnigan is right, when there are Quidditch buffs out there like my sons that might not be able to make it to matches between their favorite teams."

[subtle_simmer]

"That is Mr Finnigan's opinion as well," Severus agreed with a nod. "He has arranged some method of retrieval and storage of the requisite information to make the viewers... useful. Though, for those who do not follow Quidditch, there have been other uses suggested.

"Replays of historical events of family memorabilia, for example. I suspect he is being a bit optimistic."

Glancing about the room, he noticed Coach Stebbins and his expression turnt sour. To lose to Hufflepuff was not sitting well with him, even now.

"Besides," he said dryly, "There are some things one would rather not watch in replays."

[sightlesswolf]

June had not known what to expect tonight. Oh, she had known she wanted to go; for one thing, Seamus and Charlotte were both friends and she absolutely wanted to support them, and for another, anything with the word 'Quidditch' on it was guaranteed to get her attention! But all the exciting words on the poster only mystified her and - as they were no doubt intended to do - piqued her curiosity something fierce.

The place was a pub, which suggested casual dress, and Quidditch hardly equated itself with 'fancy' in her mind either. But on the other hand, it was an event, a grand opening, and she didn't want to disrespect her friends by turning up in denims. Besides, she'd had little enough chance to dress up in a while. Carrie had bullied her into going shopping a few times during their enforced family time, so she had a few new things to trot out. The dress she chose was summery and not too fancy, suitable for June the month and June the girl. When she spotted the number of people wearing jerseys in the crowd, she sighed

[prof_stargazer]

Stella had been feeling extremely overworked lately- between the usual end of term and getting her O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. classes ready for their exams, she'd had little time outside of school recently. When she'd heard about Seamus's new pub, it seemed the perfect opportunity to get out of the castle for the evening.

Plus, her curiosity had been peaked the previous day- Severus, of all people, had asked her if she was attending the opening. When she asked him why he wanted to know, he had responded very vaguely, which only cemented Stella's resolve to go to the event. She couldn't figure out why he, of all people, would be encouraging people to attend.

She figured since it was a pub, she could dress a little more casually- she had donned a nice pair of denims and a black, off-the-shoulder blouse. The pub seemed to be drawing a crowd already, and in her glancing at the crowd Stella ran straight into June Connors

[sightlesswolf]

"No worries, Profes- er, Stella. It's nice not to be the one running into people for once!" June offered a rueful grin, tugging at her skirt. "And thanks, though I feel a bit overdressed at the moment. You look really nice, too, that scarf's lovely!"

The look on Stella's face when she saw the viewers matched pretty well with June's reaction, so the younger woman could completely sympathize. She shook her head. "I can only assume that's what we're all here to see and admire," she answered wryly. "Can't imagine it'll be that hard. They're incredible, aren't they? Better than television!"

[beautesolitaire]

After taking her break, Charlotte wandered over to June and Stella. The dark-haired woman looked familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place a name. Socrates stuck with her, following her around the bar, only stopping occasionally to sniff a shoe or knee. His tail wagged when he smelled June, he wasn't so upset around her anymore, he remembered that she wasn't a threat, even if she did smell like it. He nosed her hand for pets.

"I am sure zat mon Seamus will be 'appy to 'ear all zese accolades for his viewers. 'e 'as already begged me to put one upstairs in ze 'ouse and I told 'im no." she chuckled, "Merci to both of you." she said with a bright smile.

"For coming. It means a lot to my 'usband to know zat he 'as so many supporters and friends."

That they had such friends. It still wasn't easy for her to think of Seamus' friend in the same way to her. Socrates just nosed June insistently.