RP: A man walks into a bar

[shh_ron]

Date: November 29, 2004
Characters: Ron Weasley, Seamus Finnigan, Hermione Granger
Location: Five Alarm pub
Status: Private
Summary: Ron catches up with an old friend
Completion: Complete

Comments

[shh_seamus]

Seamus handed the man across from him his drink and then walked down the bar, surveying the room to make sure everything was in order. The pub was only mildly busy, which Seamus was thankful for. After Katie's party, he didn't really fancy seeing a busy pub for quite a while.

He leaned against the counter of the bar, propping himself up on his elbows and cradling his face in his hands as he waited to once again be summoned for more alcohol.

There was a loud crack outside the pub, and Seamus tilted his head towards the door, waiting for whoever had just apparated to come in. A tall, lanky figure with red hair opened the door and walked in, and Seamus grinned as he realized it was Ron.

Seamus gave him a large smile as he watched him walk to the bar, and he moved out from behind the counter as he got closer, walking to him and giving him a hug.

"See, now that it's not so busy in here I can give you a proper greeting." He grinned as he pulled away from Ron and walked back to the bar.

"What can I get you tonight?"

[shh_ron]

Ron was pleased when Seamus came out from behind the bar and hugged him. The two had done their share of rough-housing over six years as dorm mates, typical teenage stuff, but now they were grown, they would relate a bit differently to each other. Returning the hug, Ron enjoyed the feeling of Seamus' hands against his back. He tucked that thought into the back of his mind, perhaps to revisit later.

"Hello to you too, mate," he said, taking a seat at the bar as Seamus resumed his bartender position. "I think I'll try some Muggle alcohol. What's good? I didn't really get drunk at Katie's party. I could stand to get drunker."

[shh_seamus]

Seamus grinned. He loved it when people let him pick their alcohol for them. Especially when they gave him as much free reign as Ron did. Ron wanted drunk...Seamus would show him drunk.

He could handle it.

He turned around and reached up, grabbing a bottle of Hennessy Cognac off the top shelf. He pulled out a glass from under the bar, placing it on the counter in front of him.

He talked to Ron as he poured the liquor into the glass. "Now, you might want to sip this. Believe me, it burns as it goes down, but it'll also warm you up." He grinned, pushing the glass in front of Ron.

"Drinky drinky."

[shh_ron]

"Hennessy KOG-nack," Ron said, looking at the bottle. "So this stuff is good?"

He took the glass from Seamus, put it to his lips and took a tiny sip. The liquor was a thick, caramel color and Seamus had been right; it not only burned as it went down, it gave him a very warm feeling. This would be a good drink for a cold winter evening.

"You're right. It is good stuff," he said finally. "Thanks. So tell me about yourself. It's been a long time, mate."

[shh_seamus]

Seamus laughed slightly as Ron sounded out the name on the bottle, and he raised an eyebrow at him as he pulled the bottle out of his hands and put it back up on the shelf.

Ron seemed mildly surprised as he swallowed the liquor, and it made Seamus's grin grow wider.

"About myself?" He thought for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to sum up the past seven years.

"I stayed in Ireland for a while after Hogwarts, till I got injured in January 2001...after that I stayed in London for about a year and a half. Traveled for a while before I came to Stoats. That was back in June." He nodded, not wanting to really delve too much into his past. He glanced back up at Ron.

"So what about you? Where the hell have you been for the past seven years?"

[shh_ron]

"Sorry to hear you were injured," said Ron honestly. "Too many people got hurt or died in this war." He took a bigger sip of his drink, which made him feel even warmer.

"I, er..I was traveling with Harry and Hermione," he said finally. He wouldn't tell Seamus any more than he absolutely had to.

[shh_seamus]

He shrugged. "It wasn't anything too bad. I was actually kind of happy about it. I got to reconnect with a few old friends. Including your sister. I actually ran into her yesterday at the hospital. She looks great."

Seamus nodded, not wanting to bring up anything if Ron didn't want to. "That sounds like it could have been...interesting." He smiled, glancing around the room.

[shh_ron]

"So where'd you reconnect with all those people?" Ron asked. "St. Mungo's? Hope you weren't there too long. That place is creepy." He shuddered, remembering when his dad was there years ago after being bitten by Voldemort's snake. "Oh, you saw Gin there too? I've not seen much of her since I got back. I reckon she's, uh, busy."

It seemed that Seamus might have been tempted to ask Ron to elaborate on his whereabouts during the war. But it was better that he didn't. Ron hadn't been pressed yet about that, and he really didn't want to be. "Erm, interesting, yeah. That would be a good description."

[shh_seamus]

He nodded in response to Ron's question about St Mungos. "A few months. They weren't sure how to treat me at first."

"And yeah, Ginny seems to be quite busy these days. If I could stand hospitals, I'd go visit her and Luna more often, but..." Seamus pulled a face and gave a fake shudder. "Creeps me out."

Seamus was beginning to get rather curious about where Ron had been off to, but he didn't want to pry anything out of him. That wasn't a good way to reconnect with an old friend.

"So where are you living? You staying somewhere with Harry and Hermione?"

[shh_ron]

Ron considered what Seamus had just told him. "Merlin, a few months? Must've been something really bad." He wondered if Seamus would tell him willingly about it, but perhaps now was not the right time.

But he perked up when Seamus mentioned Luna. "Luna Lovegood? She's at the hospital too?" Ron couldn't help smiling; he had some fond memories of Luna, particularly from his sixth year at school. It was good to know she was still around too. "I might need to visit there sometime myself."

Seamus wanted to know where Ron was living. Ron had no reason to distrust Seamus, given their long friendship and the other man's history in the war, but he didn't want to reveal everything yet. So he went with his planned, standard response. "Yeah, I'm living with them. We found a vacant house south of the river. What about you? Do you live near here?"

[shh_seamus]

Seamus shrugged. "Nah, it wasn't too bad. They were just confused as to what it might be. It ended up being a very advanced version of the Conjunctavitis curse. Not very pretty." He pulled a face, remembering how disgusting his eye had looked for about a month after he was hit with the curse.

"Yeah, she is. I haven't talked to her in so long, though. I need a bloody owl." He cracked a grin, looking back up at Ron.

"I'm over at River Place, actually. I really like it. Lot of old familiar faces."

[shh_ron]

Ron cringed when Seamus described the injury he'd received. "Sounds painful. Do you still have any problems with that?"

"You need an owl too?" Ron laughed. "I've still got Pig, but he's almost useless now. Too old and feeble. Not that he was ever much of a delivery owl, mind. Forget about packages; he can hardly carry a single parchment these days. You know," he said, leaning toward Seamus, "I saw some posters around town about doing manual labour in exchange for a new owl. Might check that out myself."

Ron didn't know about River Place. "So where is that? I'm still learning my way around. Who else is there?"

[shh_seamus]

"Eh..." He pointed to his right eye. "It goes blurry occasionally, and it tends to twitch a little when I'm uncomfortable. Bloody annoying, really." He shrugged, letting out a small sigh. "But I'm not blind in that eye anymore, so that's good

[shh_ron]

"Blurry and twitchy aren't so bad. Blind would be much worse," said Ron thoughtfully. "I'm glad the blindness was only temporary. It was Professor Grubbly-Plank who put up the posters. D'you remember her? She substituted for Hagrid for awhile. You know, bowtruckles?"

Ron was a bit jealous of Seamus' living situation. Not that he would trade living with Harry and Hermione for anything, but he was more sociable than either of them and they didn't have a lot of neighbors. "Sounds like a lark where you live. I remember Justin pretty well, and of course Alicia."

He sat back and thougt a moment. "A twerpy git from Hufflepuff? Do you mean that Smith fellow? I ran into him a few weeks ago. Still has that chip on his shoulder...more like a boulder, really."

[shh_seamus]

He nodded. "I might have to check that out, actually. It sounds like it could be really good."

Grinning, he turned around to grab the bottle of Hennessy, refilling Ron's glass. "Yeah, it's great. Although...it's a bit awkward." He cringed. "Two girls, slept with both in Hogwarts. One above me, one across from me." He laughed, moving down the bar to grab a pint glass and fix himself some water.

He raised the glass to his lips, taking a sip. "Yes! Smith...Zach? Yeah, I think that was his name. Still an obnoxious git, then?"

[shh_ron]

Ron didn't object when Seamus refilled his glass. He'd come here to get pissed, and whatever this alcohol was, it felt even better than it tasted. Now Ron was starting to feel very relaxed; not giddy, really, just enjoying everything around him. It was a nice way to feel.

"So you're living near two girls you had sex with at school?" he asked, taking a long gulp of his drink. "Blimey...do they know about each other?" Ron didn't want to think about two women acting territorial over one man. That would be ugly.

"Yeah, that's him, Zach Smith. Still an obnoxious git. I reckon some things never change." He took another long sip of his drink and slumped down a bit in his chair.