RP: Hen Night!

[shh_rita]

Date: June 2, 2005
Characters: Gilderoy Lockhart, Rita Skeeter, Madam Rosmerta, Daphne Greengrass, Hermione Granger, Romilda Vane, Su Li, Andromeda Tonks, anyone else who comes.
Location: Five Alarm
Status: Semi-private (any gal who was invited/can think of a reason to come is welcome)
Summary: The ladies of Stoatshead send Gilderoy off to married

Comments

[shh_su]

Su smiled as she walked to the Five Alarm. She was looking forward to tonight's party. There had been a pre-wedding ladies luncheon for her sister-in-law, too, and it had been a delightful affair, with the two families bonding over tea. This would presumably be a bit fancier, so Su had dressed up in a pretty blue halter dress, and brought a bottle of nice champagne as a gift.

She arrived at the pub slightly early, but decided to go in anyway. She was somewhat startled by the crudeness of the balloons. Then Su caught site of some of the other decorations and promptly turned scarlet. What kind of party was this? Su was about to beat a hasty retreat to the door when she saw a woman coming towards her with a bright smile. Damn. Can't escape now.

[shh_rita]

Ah, the first guest. A girl Rita didn't know at all. Who looked rather embarrassed by the decorations. Well, that wouldn't do, would it? Rita approached with a smile.

"Hello," she said. "I'm Rita." She extended a hand. "Thankyou for coming. Gilderoy's not here yet, but he should be soon. Which of the names I didn't know might you be?"

[shh_su]

Ah, introductions. Thank Merlin for a reliable way of covering embarrassment. "Hello, I'm Su Li." Su shook the offered hand with a smile. "I wasn't sure if I should come with a gift or not, so I brought some champagne. Is there a table for presents?" Su looked around hopefully, shuddering slightly as a piece of confetti fluttered into her view.

[shh_rita]

Su Li? She said the name as two very distinct syllables. Was she the girl Gilderoy had called 'Sulie'? Rita chuckled. "Pleasure to meet you. It seems I may have written your name wrong on the owl. Gilderoy is a little phonetically challenged, when it comes to names."

She looked around. She hadn't exactly expected anyone to bring presents, but there was - rather conveniently, actually; perhaps Rosmerta had put it there - a small round table near the bar.

"You can put the gift over there, if you like. And feel free to get yourself a drink. Rosmerta's providing all the drinks for the night on the house."

[shh_vector]

The evenings were long and cool, and Seti decided, like she often did, to walk to her destination in town rather than Apparate over. She smiled or murmured a greeting to those residents of Stoatshill that she passed, and before long reached the entrance of the Five Alarm.

She'd just reached for the door when she heard a small crack of Apparation nearby and turned to look, smiling in delight when she beheld a familiar face.

"Andromeda!" she cried, walking immediately over and giving the woman a hug. "I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?"

[shh_andromeda]

Andromeda had taken about an hour to get ready. Fifteen minutes to get dressed and do her hair and forty five minutes to mentally prepare herself. She hadn't been to a hen night in ages, but she hadn't been to one for Gilderoy Lockhart which that alone said it was going to be an interesting night.

So when time the party was going to start rolled around, she Apparated to the Five Alarm in time to see Seti just about to walk in. "Oh my god! Seti!" she cried out giving her a tight hug. "It has been ages hasn't it! I'm doing really well. How about you? Where've you been? How's Alastor?"

[shh_vector]

It was a struggle, but Seti kept the smile on her face. "Ahh, well..." She glanced toward the door and then back at her friend. "Why don't we go inside and get a drink, maybe find a table and we can get caught up there?" Without waiting for more than an answering smile, Seti drew her arm through the other woman's and led her to the door. "Besides, I think I need a stiff drink, all things considered. Who knows what we're going to find in there."

She grinned and pushed open the door, motioning Andy in first and hoping that her attempts to smooth over an awkward subject had worked.

[shh_andromeda]

Andy knew what a brush off sounded like and that was definitely a brush off. Something had gone wrong. Had it been her time away? Was the pain in her eyes the reason behind her disappearance and that was why she didn't want to talk about it? Or was it her mentioning of Alastor? "I could go for a stiff drink too," she replied letting herself be steered inside.

[shh_minerva]

When Minerva had received the invitation to a "hen party" for Gilderoy Lockart given by, of all people, Rita Skeeter, Minerva was quite certain she'd been transported to some sort of peculiar alternate reality. Then again, 'alternate reality' seemed to be the way of things since the war, and even before it had ended, so she'd restricted herself to a single raised eyebrow and had marked the date on her desk calendar.

After all, it was her duty as the new Headmistress to attend a party in honor of a former school employee, wasn't it? Ostensible 'hen' party or no, Gilderoy certainly wasn't a hen even if he were an, er ... well, of that persuasion ... so it wouldn't be the sort of party she'd heard about, surely

[shh_rita]

Having greeted a few of the other guests, Rita turned. A few people seemed to be already in conversations, and that was wonderful. She'd leave them be for the time being, even though there were a few she did want to say hello to.

Looking around, she spotted Minerva McGonagall making her way toward the bar.

Merlin. There was someone she hadn't actually expected to come. But... well... Rita chuckled. It was going to be amusing when the stripper arrived and realised one of his old professors was in the crowd.

Rita approached. "Minerva! How lovely of you to come. Would you like a drink? I want to thank you for your help with the information I needed to find Gilderoy's father. The end result was quite surprising."

[shh_minerva]

Minerva swallowed a smile. "I was glad to have helped, Rita. And I rather expect the end result was.

"As for that drink, yes, I do think that might be a good idea. Considering. The cock confetti is rather clever, I must say, if a bit shocking." She winked, wondering how Rita would react to Minerva's use of the pithy Anglo-Saxon. "Scotch seems appropriate, don't you think?"

[shh_rita]

Rita was mildly surprised to hear Minerva swear, and felt her brow arch and her lips twitch. "It's a rather wonderful charm, isn't it? Caradoc Dearborn was rather amused when I paid him a visit to ask how to cast it. But responsible," she added with a smile. "He made me promise there would be no one underage here.

"Scotch is always appropriate, isn't it?"

When they reached the bar, she ordered Minerva one, and an electric-purple something for herself. She'd have to go easy, as the hostess, but there was no reason she couldn't enjoy herself.

When they were poured, she handed Minerva's to her, sipped her own from the rather garish straw. "Stella never had a hen night. How ironic that I should get to throw one for my brother instead."

[shh_daphne]

Daphne entered the pub glad that she wasn't the first guest there. She never knew what to do with herself when she was the first arrival. Her eyes widened when she noticed the way the pub was decorated and squeaked when she took a closer look at the confetti landing on her head.

Well... Mr. Lockhart would find it hilarious, and that was really what counted, she decided as she walked up to the bar and asked for a glass of white wine.

[shh_gilderoy]

Gilderoy took a deep breath. he really wasn't prepared for this.

From the moment he received the invitation, he was anxious about this so-called "party." Was it some sort of rite-of-passage that all men went through before they were married? Well, Rita was his sister, after all. So, it must have been some kind of ritual for Gilderoy to prove his manhood and worthiness before he was allowed to marry

[shh_daphne]

Daphne took a sip of her wine and turned around to look who was coming inside. She nearly dropped her glass when she saw Mr. Lockhart. Her eyes widened as she tried to imagine what he could possibly have been expecting! She had been so certain he would have known about this before hand.

Miss Skeeter was already on her way over to greet him. Hopefully she would get him sorted out quickly.

[shh_rita]

Rita heard a whisper and turned, to see Gilderoy in... Merlin, what was he wearing? Rita had known Gilderoy to be eccentric in his choice of dress, at times, but this? She hadn't expected the bad taste of the evening to extend to the bride to be's costume. Not before she got her hands on him, anyway.

She simply had to find out what had caused this fashion disaster.

"Gilderoy, darling!" she greeted him as she approached, and he looked around like a blind man trying to find her voice. What were those things over his eyes?

"Gilderoy..." She stepped right up to him and still he didn't seem to see her. Lifted a hand and pulled the goggles up from his eyes. "Right here, darling. What are you wearing? I have plenty of decorations for you!"

[shh_gilderoy]

"I'm ready, Rita. Where are they?" Gilderoy said. His voice was a bit shaky, but it still came out as something of a demand. "You just lead me to them, and I'll fight of as many of them as I must before..."

Something was wrong. There were far too many innocent witches in this establishment. Some of them might be hurt in the forthcoming battle.

That is, unless they were chicken-geese-witch animagi. "Don't... don't be alarmed, Rita. I'll take care of them. You just stay out of the way during the worst of it, okay?"

Gilderoy pulled the goggles back over his eyes and raised his wand. Was there some way of distinguishing the chickens from the innocents? Perhaps the ones who were chatting amongst themselves were the chickens. Or they could be the poor captive victims, held against their will, waiting for the groom-champion to come and save them.

"Tell me, my dear sister, which ones are the chickens?"