Jonas had no idea who had sent out the party invitations.

That had been his line for two straight days, and he had stuck to it religiously.  When the fancy envelopes had first come through the Owl Post, hand-addressed to each and every Auror and Auror Trainee, he had expressed bewildered bemusement like many of his colleagues.  When the topic had come up in the Break Room with Roh, Holt, and Bailey, he had sworn three times -- and nearly had to swear on an Unbreakable Vow, which would have been awkward -- that he'd known nothing about it, though he was vaguely amused by whoever did.  And when Tamis had summoned him and Ed Pratt into her office, staring icily at them for just long enough to make the hair on the back of his neck stand on end before inquiring as to why she, along with all of her employees, had just received an invitation to a party at the Sword & Chant celebrating her own apparent engagement to Archer Radley, he had somehow managed to keep a straight face.

All in all, Jonas was rather impressed with himself.  Even if he might have jumped in a bit too quickly to point out that whoever had written the invitations (probably Bailey based on the evidence, as Pratt had helpfully speculated) had taken care to use a Quick-Quotes Quill to disguise their handwriting, and not a Muggle computer.

Still, he was only the slightest bit nervous to see what this night might entail.  The best pranks were the sort with little build-up and no opportunity for retaliation, and he'd very quickly realized that there was an entire evening prime for retaliation here.  All in all, though, even if the Radley & Raynor Engagement Party brought consequences that had not been previously anticipated -- rather  unfairly, he would argue, since he and Ed Pratt had both claimed repeatedly that they had no idea who had sent out the invitations -- the night would likely prove to be well worth it anyway.

The moment that it had been clear that the Aurors would be arriving in force, the regulars of the Sword & Chant had begun to empty out.  No one seemed to want to be around once there were a crimson robe or two present, and several of their colleagues had come straight from work.  Slowly but surely, the plan was, they'd take over the pub, and hopefully this time no one would spend twelve hours locked in the loo or be found unconscious in a fish pond come the next morning.[1]

"Here.  Cheers, mate," Jonas said with a lopsided smile, passing over the second mug full of beer that he'd requested from the bar.  The alcohol at the Sword & Chant was not great -- among magical establishments, that honor had belonged solely to The Black Chimaera -- but it was tolerable, and he only made a slight face as he took a sip of the dark, slightly hoppy porter that he'd brought for himself.  Looking thoughtful, he turned to lean against the counter, resting his elbows on the surface behind him.

"What do you think the chances are that the next round's on the Ministry, eh?  We could always call it a working bonus," he suggested cheerfully, looking entirely too amused by the suggestion.  "Bet they've never had better working security than this."

1.	Although knowing the history of Nights Out and The Auror Office, the odds were fairly high.

Whoever had come up with the idea to throw a surprise fake engagement party was brilliant. Chalmers had a pretty good idea who it was, though.  Despite hearing them swear up and down it wasn’t them, it was likely Trevelyan and Pratt. When they went into Tamis’ office, Chalmers may have lurked around to hear as they again said they had no part in it.  Oh, to have been a fly on that wall.  It definitely would have been something to see Tamis with her angry face on.  He was fairly certain that Raynor and Radley weren’t engaged (though everyone knew they were dating), but it would still be entertaining to get everyone together for the “surprise”.

When Chalmers Holt entered the Sword & Chant, there were a fair amount of people there already.  This was going to be his first outing with the auror crew since coming back from his big long assignment.  And it most likely would be a night to remember, as most of the auror outings tended to be.  Spotting Jonas, the younger auror headed towards him at the bar. 

“Thanks.” Chalmers said upon receiving the mug that Jonas had apparently decided to order for him. Not that he was going to complain. “I certainly wouldn’t mind that. It’s the least they could do while we’re celebrating such a momentous occasion.”

He laughed at that.  There may be some people who would arrive, not knowing that Raynor and Radley weren’t REALLY engaged.  But Chalmers was glad that he knew the truth.  It definitely made the entire thing that much more enjoyable.  Especially for when the “happy couple” finally showed up.  If they did, that is.

“So, any word on when our supposed couple of honor is to arrive?” Chalmers asked after taking a drink from his mug.

Neville entered the charming pub still in his crimson robes from work, though a little dressed down. He headed to the bar with a smile. He hadn't really caught onto the fact that the party wasn't real, or the fact that Archer and Tamis weren't actually engaged (at least not yet) He had been focused enough on other cases, the explosion at Godric's Hollow was still keeping him busy, that he never thought to question the invitation when it arrived.

He could still remember the party they had thrown him when he had gotten engaged to Hannah. There were several Aurors that had been in their year or the year above at Hogwarts and even those, like Archer and Cyrus who had been Hufflepuffs like Hannah or Vivian and Adelebert who were Gryffindors like him. It had been a fun night and he was looking forward to returning the favour to another happy couple (despite his own failed engagement)

"Evenin." He nodded to both Jonas and Chalmers before turning to the bartender, "Pint of beer and a shot of firewhiskey." He downed the shot as soon as it was delivered and holding his pint, he turned back to his fellow aurors, "Raynor and Radley not here yet? You think they'd be the first to arrive, this being their party and all."

Eddie knew one thing.

Whoever had sent out these engagement party invitations was a genius.

Of course the suspicion had been directed at he and Jonas. They’d quite definitely been behind Radley’s 40th birthday. And soon they would no doubt also be behind Radley’s 50th birthday party. But were they behind this? Both had denied such connections to such a brilliant idea when they’d been summoned to the dragon’s keep to explain themselves and own up before Raynor decided what to do with them. They continued to deny such engagement with the plans this evening.

It was quite obviously something Bailey had cooked up; maybe he’d heard something going on between Tamis and Archer. Whatever he’d heard, Eddie had made sure to congratulate his superior on her new engagement. He had, however, resisted the urge to ask her if she’d be becoming Mrs Radley or keeping her own name. That was a question for a later time. Like tonight! After beer!

Eddie was leaning against the bar beside Jonas when Longbottom approached and asked about the loved up couple. Pratt grinned before taking a long gulp of beer.

“Well it’s their debut, ‘ent it? The guv’ probably wants to look all woman like.” Then a smirk twisted his lips. “Or they’re celebrating in private if ye know what I mean, lads.” A wink and a nod later and another gulp of beer was taken.

An engagement party.

If Cooper had any guess in the matter, it would be that this was some type of prank. Although rumors were a dime a dozen that the Dragon Lady and Archer were dating, when the pretty and formal envelopes had arrived the Auror had came close to choking on the coffee he’d been busy swallowing –and, after a second to consider that he was, little by little, starting to feel normal again (though he still had a long stretch to go through), the werewolf had simply shook his head and rolled his eyes. This entire situation had prank all written over it. His thoughts were confirmed not much later when he witnessed Jonas and Ed getting summoned in to Raynor’s office. If Tamis was of the idea that they were behind the entire situation, then Cooper agreed –though perhaps the fact that they were still both walking around with a head on their shoulders should have dissuaded him from such conceptions.

As the evening in question rolled about, the Auror found that he had to convince himself to attend the soirée. Even if he was now able to chuckle every now and again, even if hints of smiles had started to tease his face and even if his dreams about Bella’s death had went from being nightly to bi-nightly, he was still in no partying mood. Even the promise of alcohol held no true sway, as the werewolf had all too quickly reminded himself that he could easily go to Le Masquerade to conquer such desires –and in the meantime, continue to try and calm his curiosity. Two birds with one stone. It was only the reminder that he could not indeed be certain this was all a hoax –although he was sure there was not a chance in hell that Tamis was getting engaged to anyone-, that convinced him to attend.

And the first thing he did when he arrived, was stalk to the bar and order the best whiskey in the house. As he grabbed the glass and downed it in one sip, the acid tasting alcohol sloshed down his throat and made him gasp, eyes popping open and then screwing together in annoyance. “That’s the best whiskey in the house?” He complained, before turning towards the four Aurors next to him. “Sod it, whoever thought up this prank should have chosen a better venue,” If anything, the fact that the supposed Engagement Party was being held here seemed a clear indication that it was indeed a joke. “Gimme a pint,” He shot towards the bartend, before letting his eyes fall on Jonas and then on Ed. “Because this is a prank, right?” He reached out for the mug of beer he’d been handed and took a sip, feeling the cold liquid cool his throat. “No way the Dragon Lady and Archer are engaged, and I’ll bet all of you a round of vodka that they aren’t.” There, that would make people start confessing. Vodka had always worked with Bella. And, sod, he’d only managed three minutes without remembering her. “That always worked with the wife,” He found himself chanting out, his voice soft and joyful, though very fake.

Well, three minutes was the new sodding record.

Adrianna did not, for the sake of her life, understand why an engagement party had to be thrown. She was more used to such things being family affairs. Having your colleagues - which she suspected were not exactly saintly - throw it for you was suspicious, and even moreso considering that it was the Head of the Office and whoever Archer Radley was because she didn't really know if she could recognise his face.

And who in their right minds would send her an engagement invitation anyway? If she thought a bit too hard about it, her mind would eventually slip to her memories of the times she had with Wei Long, including their own engagement. Even now she was doing it. She shut her eyes tightly to blank them out as she stood outside the Sword & Chant, and then stepped in.

The atmosphere was different from the Leaky Cauldron, but she didn't give a damn. She went up to the bar and immediately got herself a glass of rum. She leaned against the bar next to the Aurors she did recognise - including Cooper Evans - and caught him just saying "Sod it, whoever thought up this prank should have chosen a better venue. Because this is a prank, right?"

She opened her mouth to say something, but it didn't come because she swallowed her first mouthful of rum the wrong way down and started violently coughing instead. Stopping it was a futile effort.

Sam was leaning against the bar, firewhisky in hand. He had figured it was likely to be a prank that someone was throwing Radley and Raynor an engagement party, but figured he'd go along with it. " Oh, this takes me back. I remember when me and Laura got engaged.  I think half the Auror office didn't believe it wasn't a prank." Sam said. "Then again, I suppose the fact that they had planned a prank announcement of our engagement didn't help. The look on their faces when they realised it was no longer a prank, though..." Sam smiled at the memory.

"You reckon it's a prank?" Jonas asked, looking momentarily flummoxed.  He'd positioned himself so that he could keep an eye on the door, to watch out for the arrival of the happy couple.  A succession of precautions had already been instated for tonight; he'd decided, for instance, that he was only ordering things that came out of a tap that he could watch the bartender pull himself.

"I dunno," he said, after taking a long sip of beer.  "I mean, wouldn't Arch be on a tear trying to find the culprits already?  And you have to admit, he's getting on in the years," he added cheerfully.  The entire office had been invited to Archer's surprise fortieth birthday party[1] the spring before.  "Possible he set the whole thing up himself so that he'd have a chance to propose, innit?  I couldn't blame if he wants to settle down.  His biological clock has got to be ticking."

The entire office had come out tonight -- even Evans, whom Jonas was pleased to see, and the transfer from last spring, Adrianna Xin, whom he still hadn't had much of a chance to work with yet.  And of course, there was Sam Harcroft.  The serious Senior Auror didn't usually participate in office shenanigans, but he'd had more of a sense of humor as of late.

"You alright, Xin?  Here, have a beer," Jonas said, signaling to the bartender.  Evans had gotten that look about him again.  Maybe engagements and weddings hadn't been the best premise for a night out tonight, but with Valentine's Day coming up and their epic plan for it already in motion, no one had really stopped to think it through.

"How long ago was that, Harcroft?" he asked, flashing the elder Auror a quick smile.  Best to move on and change the subject, at least until the 'happy couple' arrived.  "Before me time, yeah?  Must've been a different world in the office back then.  What d'you reckon the old guard Aurors were like?"

1.	Well, sort of.

"Before you were born, I think. But You can actualyl look at what things are like today to get a good idea. There were troublemakers- I was actually one of them- There were the more serious Aurors, There were ass-kissers. Paperwork was actually harder in those days- if you think it's fustrating to fill out several forms in triplicate, then try doing it when you need to use owls to send the form in- they skimped on training the birds[1], so every so often, a bird would fly headlong into either the stack of reports you need to write, or the one syou have already written. The predictable result occured. That and with so many owls flying about... " Sam said, clearly thinking about how things used to be.

1.	think Pigwidgeon

"You were a troublemaker?" Neville asked with a smile and an air of disbelief, "I don't buy it."

At the mention of Owl messengers, Neville thought back to the Owlery at Hogwarts. He didn't own an owl himself but his Gran was insistent on regular reports on how he was doing. She made it abundantly clear that she'd rather hear from him about any poor grades than from his Professors. Needless to say it was a daunting task for the Gryffindor to trek up to the tower and pick out an Owl just to send off a letter that could possibly get a Howler in return. The expression, 'watch your step' was a bit of an understatement. He couldn't imagine the state the Ministry was in when there were flocks of Owls everywhere.

He made a small scoff of disgust, "feel bad for the blokes responsible for cleaning that up." It wasn't very often Neville thought of what the Auror office had been like in the old days. It brought up too many questions, ones he should have been able to ask as a boy but never got the chance to. After being inducted into the Corps. he didn't have the balls to ask any of the Seniors if they knew his parents and what it was like back in the days when they worked there. He had even found himself sitting in his cubicle letting his mind wander, wondering which ones had belonged to them.

He shook the bad thoughts and took a swig of his pint, turning his focus to the present, "You reckon this whole thing really is a prank then?" Neville echoed Jonas. It honestly hadn't come to mind that the festivities could be false.

As Cooper let his pint of beer lay back down on the uneven surface, the raucous sound of coughing hit his ears and he turned his eyes to watch Adrianna spasm. With a cocked eyebrow, he wondered exactly what type of Auror had trouble swallowing alcohol, then debated patting her on her back or applying the Heimlich –if only to further distract himself from the line of thought involving vodka and Bella-, and then decided instead to simply watch the show and enjoy the fact that it was somebody else making the odd sounds this evening –Cooper was certain the only reason why he still hadn’t been teased about crying and then screaming at the top of his lungs in the middle of the office was because people were aware of the reasoning.  As the woman continued to heave in air, the werewolf selfishly accepted the fact that, at the very least, he was no longer the only one present to have done something at least vaguely embarrassing. Of course, then again, most of his comrades had, at one point or another, been at the wrong end of a prank –so he assumed that simply made the selection larger.

While Cooper considered another sip of beer, his ears perked up at the slightly older sound: Samuel Harcroft was the only Senior Auror as yet present at the Supposed Engagement Party, and as thus the one voice able to comment on things long past and allow them all to gain insight to what the Corps had been like before their time. Coop’s lips twitched in the faintest indication of a smirk, as his fingers curled around his brew and he let it wash down any lingering thoughts of Bella. Cooper watched as Jonas signaled for a beer for Adrianna, and was relieved he hadn’t been the only one to notice her predicament –otherwise, he would have eventually been obligated to do something to help her, if the coughing hadn’t stopped.

The conversation, however, remained on Samuel’s words and reminiscence, as Jonas wondered about the Corps back in the day, and Callen –who Cooper suddenly realized was sipping a beer at his side- spoke up. “Yourselves?” The werewolf took a long sip of beer, for his voice had sounded rusty at the attempt of a joke. “Don’t count yourself out, Callen,” His lips just barely twitched and the ring to his voice was just a pitch too high to be considered realistically joyous, but at least he’d tried and that was yet another step forward tonight. Perhaps this prank –because he was still certain this was a prank, if not at all aware of who had orchestrated it- would have a positive effect on him after all.

Lost as he was in congratulating himself for the baby steps he was taking towards recovery, Cooper realized he’d missed a bit of the conversation when he heard Neville repeat the question of the hour; the Auror snorted –actually snorted like a pig and for an instant he was embarrassed until he realized it was the closest to laughter he’d managed in quite awhile. Well, damn it, he would have to sodding hug whoever had been behind this evening. “Of course it is, Longbottom,” He managed to make himself roll his eyes, as he finished off his beer and signaled for another. “They never would have held the engagement party here.”

Adrianna finally cleared out the rum from her breathing passage and smiled at Jonas' offer. "Thanks for the offer, Jonas, but I'm good," she said, lifting her glass of rum. She was always inclined to call them by their first names.

She listened to the other Aurors, her expression slowly morphing into one of bewilderment. What prank? Why a prank? What kind of person would do such a thing? The Head of the Auror Office was nice enough. She didn't know much about Archer, though - he was one of those faces she saw regularly around the office, but never spoken to. There were so many people to meet, and she'd come as a complete fish out of water.

She turned her head away from the chatting Aurors briefly, sighing quietly to herself. Suddenly she felt a little unsure of why she had come in the first place. Yes, there was alcohol, but surely she wasn't that easy to bribe over? Ugh, Shaozu had warned her over the dangers of taking to drink...she should have heeded his words.

"Sorry, Shaozu," she murmured under her breath, but she was next to several Aurors and they could have heard her for all she knew.

When Archer had seen the invitations he didn’t know who to kill first: Eddie or Jonas.   It had almost come down to the flip of a galleon, but then he’d tried to have Tamis help him smoke them out.  But, they were better at keeping this secret than they had ever been about his birthday. 

It just meant that he was going to spite everyone.  And to spite them: he would have a damn good time.  Whoever was involved probably expected to piss him off.  However, as long as his mother or any other assorted family member didn’t show up, he could enjoy himself.

There were perks; he’d tried to explain them to Tamis: free alcohol, no one would be pissed at them, and they could play it off since clearly they had no idea what was going on.  He’d gotten angry at his birthday, but now he could just be happy with some free booze. 

And revenge. 

Once they couldn’t spook them out, they had to plan.  It became evident that they wouldn’t be able to get anyone with booze – that was too easy to detect.  A shot in his honor wouldn’t even work – because why would the ‘groom-to-be’ buy drinks for anyone? 

So, they were going to do something different. 

They just had to spin it the right way.  Tamis could never be too happy about these things, and it was most of their colleagues so she wore her work robes, buttoned up high, and he left them at the office, only in his casual clothes. 

This was going to work, Archer thought with a huge grin as they walked toward the door.  “Ready for our party?” he asked her, with a smirk before slinking his arm around her shoulder – Merlin, that would just make her stand up straighter and potentially be irritated for real. 

The plan was definitely coming together. 

...And he pushed the door open to the pub, just waiting for the ridiculousness of whatever was behind the door.

Whilst his coworkers were chatting, Adelebert Hughes was sitting in a corner,  drinking a glass of ginger ale through a straw. And of course, he was knitting busily—the object was incredibly small and tubular—it looked like a sweater for someone’s finger, but it was much too long to be for a finger. In his bag of yarn, there were at least twenty different odd yarn creations just like the one he was knitting—all in different colors, and some with little baubles dangling off. They each had two different letters knit into them—one for each person he worked with. All of these had to be done before the happy couple arrived---

He finished his creation and finished the rest of his drink—when the last of it had slurped up the straw, Archer opened the door.

Bertie lept out of his seat and ran towards the couple, his bag flapping behind him dramatically.

“Congratulations to the happy couple!” He dug into the bag and pulled out two matching yarn things. “Wand cozies! Yours will sparkle whenever you’re near each other!” And indeed, Tamis and Archer’s gifts were sparkling gloriously. Bertie threw the wand cozies at their face and proceeded to run to each auror, handing them their own wand cozies, with their own initials on each.[1] Anybody who knew him, knew that he wasn't inebriated. Adelebert didn't drink, this was how he always was.

“I even made one for myself! You see, you put it on like this—“ He held up his own wand and put a baby-pink cozy on his own wand. The baubles dangling off it were in the shape of teapots and flowers. “Aren’t they lovely?!” He beamed at everybody, obviously proud of himself and his strange invention. This wouldn’t have been the first time Bertie made cozies for random objects—his entire desk was full of things with cozies on it. Even his desk and chair legs had cozies.

Honestly, it had only been a matter of time before he made some for everybody else.

1.	You folks can pick the colors and baubles for your wand cozies

Brett had been approaching her training with renewed vigor and a newfound respect since her conversation with Auror Trevelyan at the end of November. She'd been putting forth more effort into not screwing things up, smarting off to her trainers, and keeping her personal life out of the way of work. She'd been busting her ass, but it hadn't been a perfect transition. Habits were hard to break, and she was still struggling with the harsh realities of what being an auror was really all about. When she'd receieved the invitation to the engagement party, she'd been pleased, thinking perhaps her being invited was a way of showing some support and belief in her capabilities. The distraction couldn't be at a more opportune time, either. She needed the chance to socialize with her coworkers and relax around them a little. She hadn't turned into Dion or anything- but she'd been far less fun since she had decided to take things seriously.

First order of business was making sure that she didn't overdo it with the drinks. Brett getting drunk would be a bad thing. A very bad thing. When she'd arrived, though, Brett had been quick to notice she was the only trainee in attendance thus far. One drink to loosen up would be alright, she decided, as she approached the bar and ordered herself a cold beer. (None of the hard stuff, not right off the bat.)

She settled in on the edge of the group, occupying a stool and shifting her gaze from the gathered aurors to the doors. Fauna had told Brett she was going to come, and frankly she couldn't wait for her to friend to make an appearance. Brett would like to have someone to talk to who didn't totally outrank her.

She had just taken a long drink from her mug when the couple of the hour arrived. Brett watched as Auror Hughes approached them first, and snorted a bit when he proudly produced the sparkling wand cozies. She shook her head a bit and went to take a drink from her mug, and moments later a knitted item was being thrust in her direction. She took the wand cozy from Adelebert's hand and inspected it with an arched brow.

Brett sat down her drink and extracted her wand, tucking the cozy down on top of it. The cozy was in Gryffindor colors, with a lightning bolt pattern knitted into it, and the charms hanging off of hers looked like thunder clouds. She smirked a little. Brett knew she was never going to live down that tattoo she had gotten. "Thanks," she said with true enthusiasm, waving her wand at him to show she had equipped the cozy before she put it away again. It was thoughtful of Auror Hughes to have included the trainees in his gift giving. Unconventional, perhaps, but it amused her.