At the end of a long day at the Ministry, Chris decided that it would be a good idea to head off for a quick drink before heading back to his home for the night. He figured that he deserved it after having a rather long day of research. Despite the resources available to him, it often became a tedious process to research the spells. If any new spells were made, it was even more tedious to research it, develop its effects, and everything. Despite the tedious nature, he still liked the whole research aspect. After all, learning about different things was always an enjoyable experience.

After heading up to the Atrium of the Ministry, Chris apparated from the building. Picturing Diagon Alley in his mind, he was instantly transported to the alley way. He smiled when his foot stepped on the muggle road right outside of the pub. Looking around, he wondered if Diagon Alley was ever not bustling with people at every turn. The only difference now, was that school was in session. Therefore, there shouldn't be any students lurking around. But, who knew what the kids at Hogwarts could be capable of anyway? Since he was coming from his job, he was wearing his black robes and he was carrying his shoulder bag, which he used to help keep himself more organized when possible.

Nevertheless, Chris turned on his heel and headed down the roadway to the Leaky Cauldron. It only took him a few minutes to enter the fine establishment. Taking a seat at an empty table, he pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet from his bag. He had been pretty busy all day, so he didn't have too much time to do anything else. This was, essentially, his first free moment all day. Suddenly, a waitress approached him. "Get me a Firewhisky," he said to the waitress. After the woman ran off, he flipped open the Daily Prophet, scanning the headlines.

Grace sat in the Leaky Cauldron after grabbing a bite to eat deeply engrossed in the reading material that Bombay had given to her on her most recent visit in preparation for her upcoming attempt to retake the portion of Herbology NEWT she had missed. He was quite insistent about her attention to detail in their lessons and preparation. She wax grateful for his high standards as she was sure anything she encountered in the exam would be tame in comparison. But it didn't make her preparation any less stressful, especially on top of her auror training sessions and paperwork.

Raking a hand through her rusty hair, Grace almost considered ordering a drink to get her through the rest of the rather dry text. She took a deep breath and tried to dive back into the paragraph she was reading. But after several minutes went by, she realized she was rereading the same lines over and over again.

Chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully, Grace lifted her head and glanced around,  hoping to find some inspiration for further studying. It occurred to her that she might be all studied out. She might have to tell Bombay that she could fit no more knowledge in her brain. She highly doubted he would buy that...

In looking around, Grace's gaze fell on a familiar figure who had taken a seat not too far away. He asked for a Firewhiskey and went about reading his Daily Prophet.

Deciding a quick hello couldn't hurt, she called out, "Hey Christopher!"

After graduating from Hogwarts, Chris noticed a very surprising tidbit of information. The Hogwarts Professors liked to pile on work during their NEWT years, which he had assumed was designed to get all of the students ready for the hard work that their given professions would potentially give during the day. However, all of that failed to match in comparison to what he had to do as an unspeakable. Perhaps it was his job, considering that he was working with spells. Yet, he highly doubted that only his job had a lot of work to accomplish during the day. So, it was relatively frequently that he became tired by the end of the day. Thankfully, that didn't happen on that day. He consumed an extra coffee earlier in the day, which managed to do its job for him.

Frequently, Chris found himself rather continuously looking for more time to finish his work in the office. He never liked to leave his work unfinished for the day, if he could possibly help it. So, he always worked hard during the day, to try to finish up any assignments for the day. This was a likely contributor to his fatigue during the day. It was having times like now, where he could just sit and unwind from the day. This was why he always loved to have this time to relax a bit, to sit back with the Prophet and to have a little drink.

Chris flipped a page in his copy of the Daily Prophet. Not being able to read the paper all of the time, it was a wonder to him all of the news that he was apparently missing that was happening all around him. It seemed like the wizarding Britain was always making headlines by something happening. Right when he was about to start reading the first headline on the new page in front of him, he heard his name being called out. Setting the paper down on the table, he looked around to those close by him, since the voice sounded kind of close.

He spotted the figure of a girl sitting not too far away, that was apparently reading up on something herself. It took him a minute to fully recognize the girl. After all, it had been two years since he had seen her at Hogwarts. Despite that time frame, Grace was still recognizable. "Oh, hi Grace. What brings you to these parts?" he called out to her.

Grace turned in her chair so that she was facing him and and could talk more readily and listen to him. But she still pointed to her books and told him with a quirky smile, "Studying. Even though I finished Hogwarts in June, I'm trying to make up my Herbology NEWT. I ended up missing part of the test..."

Grace trailed off, as she almost started to add something but decided against it. There was no need to talk about unpleasant things when meeting up with a former classmate after a while. Besides, though they did go to school together, Grace didn't claim to know Chris all that well and she figured he felt the same.

She forged on. "I actually stopped over here to grab something to eat before I either head back home or stop by the office to see if I can run an errand or transcribe something for some of the Aurors." She ventured a grin. "What about you? What are you up to these days?"

Chris placed the copy of the Daily Prophet in his bag, so he would be able to talk to Grace more readily. The waitress delivered the Firewhisky to him at the table, and then left again. Turning back to Grace, he smiled and nodded at what she said. "It's a good thing, then, that they're letting you make up your Herbology NEWT exam," he responded to her.

Listening to Grace talk, Chris noticed that she had trailed off from what she said. Despite their years in Hogwarts, he wasn't that close to Grace, but she wasn't a complete stranger either. That was the most important part.

He nodded to what she said about what she was doing. Indeed, working with the Aurors must be an interesting venture. "I hope that you're enjoying your work with the Aurors," he smiled, "I've been training as an Unspeakable, for the spell experimentation sector. So, I have way more than my share of research every day."

Grace ventured a small smile in Chris' direction. It was nice to see some of her older classmates outside of the walls of Hogwarts, now that she too was on the outside as well. He looked to be fairing well and though she knew that he could not go into too much detail about his work as an Unspeakable, she hoped he was enjoying it, albeit with lots of work, just as she was experiencing.

Nodding to his Firewhiskey, she posed, "Is that to help you make it through the day?" Grinning, she added, "Maybe I ought to try that sometime." After  another pause, she asked, "What else do you do in your spare time? Or is your research keeping you bogged down all of the time? I know for me, though I work a lot, I get to come home to my roommates and usually it's a lot more relaxed. Kinda feels like a little bit of Hogwarts came with us....except, I feel like an honorary Hufflepuff!"

Working in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry, Chris often felt like there was a natural sense of secrecy with whatever research occurred in the different sectors. Even the job title, unspeakable, says it all. He wasn't supposed to discuss what went on in those chambers with other people. Of course, he had to discuss those events with his fellow coworkers, whenever there was a need for interdepartmental work, between the different sectors. Heck, any research that he did would have to be approved by the head of the office, and therefore by the Minister of Magic as well. But, any other wizard or witch wasn't supposed to know. Especially in his case of being a trainee, he certainly had to watch around himself when he worked.

Chris couldn't help but grin at what she said. "Not quite. It's to help me wind down from the day. I'm sure that drinking when I'm supposed to be working would lead to rather ... interesting results," he responded with a laugh. Smiling, he nodded to what she said. "That's from the joy of living with your fellow year-mates. Anyway, my research doesn't keep me bogged down, all of the time, only when we are really near something discoverable or some new properties. I've taken an interest to sight-seeing around London. I want to expand to around England soon enough, and maybe Europe someday," he added.

Grace chuckled and glanced down at her own tame drink which had been left untouched on her table. Then she returned her gaze to his face as he spoke about his job. For all the secrecy and heavy work that seemed to be involved, it appeared that he enjoyed it. And that was all that mattered, really.

But it was nice to know that even with all the perceived demands, he still got out to enjoy other interests. "Sight-seeing London? Any good finds? You know, besides the usual landmarks and what not?" After a beat, she asked, "And where else in Europe? I admit I haven't traveled much myself." She frowned momentarily. "Which is a shame. Maybe I should have done that gap year bit that some people talked about. Can't very well bum around now that I'm in Auror Training."

Chris took a sip of the Firewhiskey that he ordered. Quite frankly, he wasn't a big drinker. However, he liked to enjoy an occasional drink every now and then. He glanced over at Grace. Considering the fact that the Magical Law Enforcement offices were always busy, and the Aurors always running around, it was good to see that Grace managed to escape the insanity from the Auror office. The Department of Mysteries was never bustling like then, even on the verge of a breakthrough.

"Well, between my work and everything, I haven't had the time just yet to expand too far. I visited Buckingham Palace last month. I recently went to Stonehendge as well," Chris commented, before adding, "I'd like to visit Italy, if possible, or even France. Unfortunately, I doubt that I'd be able to travel there for too long." He looked at Grace as she frowned from not getting the chance to travel herself. "I hear you, it could get very hard to do so once working. Going there for work wouldn't be the same, and probably wouldn't leave you with too much time for fun as it is."

"Stonehenge?" Grace repeated, her interest obviously piqued. "Was is eerily quiet and full of mystical energies?" Grace remembered that the Year Out Adventures often took trips through those kinds of places to explore their ties to the magical world as well as the muggle world. The thought of where they were going this year flitted through her mind. Thinking Chris might want to know about it, she offered, "You should get in touch with Professor Levartian. Maybe you can join some of the trips that the Hogwarts students sometimes go on during breaks or the summer. Often they're only a week or so. You can get to see your sites but not be taken away from work for too long."

Then she smirked. "And maybe, just maybe, a trip could help you with work," she added pointedly. "Whatever it is you happen to be doing."

After some silence, Grace ventured to ask, "What are you doing for Halloween coming up? Not working I hope?" She genuinely hoped that he wouldn't have to work on that crazy night. She rambled on, "Me and Fauna and our housemates are going to throw a party. If you end up not working, you should come over. You'll feel like you're back at Hogwart's for sure."

Chris nodded to Grace's question. "Yes, yes it was." Even though he noticed that his trip piqued her interest, he naturally had no idea as to why it did. Nevertheless, she had responded to him on that very issue not too long after he had thought about it. "Oh? I didn't know that they did that. How long has that been going on for?" he asked, knowing that she was probably the closest to knowing anything about it save for actual students in Hogwarts. Grace had just graduated from the school a few months ago. He graduated over a year ago. "It could be something to look into," he concurred. He had to remember to look into this idea.

He couldn't help, but to laugh at what Grace said to him. He typically liked to go on trips to relax from work, not to create more of it for him to do. While it was always possible that a trip could help with his work, he wasn't exactly about to start looking for answers while relaxing. "It is certainly always possible that could happen," emphasizing the word 'could.'

"On Halloween?" he asked, thinking for a moment, "I don't have any plans, no. I'm not working that night, nope. I will be working earlier on the day before Halloween, but definitely not on Halloween." He looked over at Grace as she invited him to a party that they were throwing on Halloween. A Halloween party. Indeed, the parties were always fun to go to. "So, a Halloween party, huh? I'll certainly come down then," he responded with a smile. Indeed, it was always good to catch up with other students that you went to school with.