A girl's night out

[b_lavender]

Date: April 9
Time: evening
Location: Diagon Alley
Characters Involved: Hannah Abbott, Lavender Brown
Rating: PG

Comments

[about_abbott]

Hannah had just finished the last of the paperwork necessary to ship out this week's viewer orders. She had already picked up the things she had at the Diagon Alley store and was going to head on to Hogsmeade before going home. As she exited the back to head out through the front of the pub, she knew her plans were going to change when she heard someone call her name.

An exhausted look upon her face, she turned in the direction of the voice. A small, but tired smile, crept onto her features as recognition of the voice dawned with the scanning of Hannah's eyes. "Lavender, it is so good to see you."

[b_lavender]

"It's good to see you, too!" Lavender replied. She noticed that Hannah seemed a bit tired and wondered if perhaps tonight wasn't the best night to hang out. "Do you have anything going on? I was just passing by and thought you might want to have some fun."

Lavender ran through a list of options in her head. They could get drinks, but they were already in a bar so that seemed a little obvious. They could also go eat at a restaurant or go to one of their flats to chat. Lavender didn't want to suggest anything until Hannah confirmed she was free, though, so she waited for a response.

[about_abbott]

"I was just about to head home, put on some pajamas and flop down in front of the telly," Hannah replied truthfully. And while she'd been looking forward to a night of nothing, she could just as easily be persuaded to do something relaxing with a friend.

"Really, I'm up for anything as long as it doesn't require hanging around here." It wasn't that Hannah didn't enjoy Finnigan's, she just didn't want to wind up spending her time off being bombarded by customers who recognized her as the spark behind rental and purchase agreements.

[b_lavender]

"Good idea. Have you had dinner yet? We could stop at a restaurant and get something to eat," Lavender suggested. She couldn't help grinning at Hannah. The idea of having dinner with a friend was so appealing at that moment that she was almost bouncing on her feet. Lavender had always been a social person so it wasn't too surprising.

"If you don't mind, I know this great little place just around the corner from the Leaky Cauldron in muggle London," she said. Lavender often stopped at this particular restaurant on her way home if she wasn't up for cooking, something she was not very good at doing.

[about_abbott]

At the mention of food, Hannah realized that going home and relaxing would have meant picking though a few small easily available snacks until she drove herself insane and ruined her relaxation by having to cook.

"A meal that I don't have to prepare," Hannah looked toward the exit as if pondering the idea before turning her attention back to Lavender. "Now that is something I could embrace with enthusiasm right now." Of course, she didn't have her cards with her so they couldn't enjoy a bit of divination. Then again, they needed to do a bit of catching up before they delved any further into their core common interest.

[b_lavender]

Lavender almost squealed in delight. "Yes!" she said enthusiastically. "Can we leave right now 'cause I am positively starving."

She began to make her way out of Finnigan's, looking back to see that Hannah was following along the way. It was nice to leave the loud and crowded pub. Outside it was crisp and cool, the perfect temperature. Lavender could see a few stars as the two women made their way towards the Leaky Cauldron, which reminded her of Divination.

"Done any Tarot lately?" Lavender asked, hoping for some conversation.

[about_abbott]

Hannah followed Lavender out into the beautiful evening. It wasn't quite late, but the sun was on its way down allowing for a peacful serenity to cover the alley as many of the shops had just barely closed for the night leaving the streets almost barren.

"Not lately," Hannah replied to the question. "It seems there's always something else to do." When she was home, Hannah often looked over at where her deck sat on the shelf in her room. "I wish there was some way to set aside time to do some readings. There just never seems to be a viable avenue."

[b_lavender]

"Sometimes when the shop is slow, I pull out my deck and do a reading," Lavender said in return. "Otherwise, though, it seems I have a million things to do."

They passed through the Leaky Cauldron where many were eating and drinking, out into muggle London. "The restaurant is just around the corner," Lavender said. She led Hannah down a block and there it was. It was small, inexpensive, but also homey. Lavender liked to call it one of London's treasures.

"So, what are you hungry for? They have soup, sandwiches, anything really," she explained as she opened the door to the quaint interior.

[about_abbott]

Hannah didn't carry her deck around just for the fun of it. When Lavender had found her fiddling with a deck at the pub, Hannah had intentionally brought it with her as a time filler. Other than that she really only played with it when she was alone at the house with nothing better to do. "I usually give mine a work through in the evenings after dinner at the house," she shared with Lavender as they exited the smelly establishment back into the night air they'd left behind a few minutes ago

[b_lavender]

Lavender couldn't wait to sink her teeth into a delicious sandwich. She hadn't eaten anything since lunch and her stomach was protesting its emptiness. Lavender found a vacant table for two near the front of the restaurant and sat down, waiting for Hannah to join her.

"The soup here is to die for, but I think I'm in more of a sandwich mood," Lavender said, smiling back.

Just then, a waitress appeared at their table and asked for their order. "I'll have a ham sandwich, please," Lavender said. The waitress then turned to Hannah to ask what she would like.

[about_abbott]

Hannah ate a fairly decent lunch at the pub so she was good to go as far as hunger went. She was certain that a bowl of soup would satisfy any craving other than her before bed muffin habit.

"I'll have a bowl of potato soup with some bread please," Hannah ordered when the waitress appeared seemingly as soon as they sat. The glass of water the waitress brought was enough of a drink to keep her satisfied.

"So tell me, do you read for anything in particular or just invent scenarios?" She was interested in how Lavender practiced with her cards.

[b_lavender]

"Well, sometimes I do readings for a question I have like how I should handle a certain situation," Lavender replied.

Lavender, as of late, had been using her Tarot cards to predict how things with Ron would go. Unfortunately, she kept getting different answers and interpretations. Basically, Lavender's conclusion was that their future together was foggy and most likely there was not a future at all. That was the only problem with using Tarot, sometimes Lavender wished she didn't believe in it so much.

"What about you?" Lavender asked, bringing herself back to the present. "Do you read Tarot often?"

[about_abbott]

Hannah gave a knowing nod. She did that at times. Though her mind always seemed to read what she wanted into the cards not necessarily what the cards themselves were trying to tell her. This was the exact same mistake that Ron had made of the reading she'd done for him.

"I try not to read for myself. Brings more disappointment and false hope than just waiting to see what unfolds on its own." Though she wonder whether she'd have saved herself the heartache of being bounced back and forth had she asked about Dean. Then again, had she allowed even the slightest bias into her mind they might not be where they were now.

[b_lavender]

Lavender thought over what Hannah said. "You're right, I really shouldn't do Tarot for myself."

She began to think about how Hannah had done Tarot for a living. The idea of using her talents at Tarot as a business had never crossed Lavender's mind. She should have thought of it sooner.

"Do you miss doing readings for others?" Lavender asked. She was curious to know if Hannah planned on ever starting her business up again.

[about_abbott]

Before Hannah could answer Lavender's question the waitress returned with a basket of bread and a promise that the rest of their order would be out soon.

"Sometimes I miss it," she admitted reaching for a piece of the bread. "My previous customers," she was careful not to say Muggles least the waitress or someone at a nearby table hear the word and wonder what they were talking about, "were much better clients than our contemporaries. They were always willing to believe what was told by either myself or the cards. A lot less skeptic than others we know."

[b_lavender]

"I know what you mean," Lavender said, rolling her eyes. "When we were in school, people thought Parvati and I were insane for believing in Professor Trelawney and Divination. Of course, we thought everyone else was mad for not believing in it."

Lavender grabbed a piece of bread after Hannah had and began to nibble on it. "So, do you plan on reading for others again? Even if it's just for fun, you would still be doing something you love, right?" she asked. Lavender could tell that Hannah really enjoyed Tarot and that it had a deeper meaning for her.