Spring break had only just begun, and already Jai was longing to get out of the house. He was home with his family, and his sister Lydie was gabbing endlessly about her trips to Hogsmeade, the gossip circulating around her group of friends, and every boy at Hogwarts, in detail. Jai had heard just about all he could take.  He knew that Lydie was just excited, but he felt as if his ears were about to fall off. So, Jai asked a friend to meet up at a nearby park and grabbed a bottle of spiced rum on his way out of the door.

He left without any real intentions for the night; he had the rum and he was meeting up with his drinking buddy at the park. It was very unlike Jai not to plan, but even Jai had to admit that it was very difficult to make a game plan for the night when alcohol was involved. Besides, Jai had initially planned on spending the night in, reading and relaxing by the fire. So anything he did now wasn't part of the plan.

When he reached the park, Jai sat down on a bench with a decent amount of lighting and popped off the lid of the rum. He took a long-anticipated gulp out of it and let the alcohol fire down his throat. Rum always made him get a little careless, but it was spring break-- what better time to be a bit reckless? He hadn't even thought to bring any cups!

Somehow leaving the Castle for the holiday may have been the lesser option.  Nicholas enjoyed being back in London, though in the one day he'd been back he'd already spent way too many galleons in Diagon.  But as much as he enjoyed being home, he preferred the magical world.  That and while he was technically an adult while in the magical world, he had yet to pass that line in the muggle world.  Which could be infuriating at times.   That and no one had told him whether he was allowed to use magic around his mother.  She wasn't a witch but she knew about magic by virtue of having a wizard for a son.

He was a little surprised when Jai got a hold of him and suggested a night out drinking. He didn't think his friend would be all that comfortable in a bar, and when he arrived at the park and saw the Hufflepuff take a swig from a bottle, it all made a bit more sense.  And Nicholas never turned down free alcohol, or cigs, or gillyweed, or well anything free.  "Getting started without me?"  Nicholas said in a put on pout.  "You think anyone would notice a bottle of firewhiskey zooming through the park? Eh, probably.  Too bad."  He held out his hand for the bottle as he took a seat on the bench.

The sensation of rum slowly spread throughout his body and Jai felt a little more relaxed. That was what was nice about alcohol -- it made him forget all of the things he was always worrying about so he could act like - I don't know, a normal person? Jai always felt like he was saying and doing the wrong thing when he was sober, constantly worrying about the aesthetics of the walls and shelves around him and sometimes the evenness in the number of words he spoke. When he was drinking, that all seemed to slip by the wayside. It was nice to get out of his head every once in a while. It seemed especially necessary now that he'd had to listen to his sisters jabber on and on all day, which had been excessively annoying and frustrating.

"Getting started without me?"

Nicholas showed up shortly after Jai's first drink. It was nice to see someone without a thick layer of makeup on (because apparently 13 was when that started happening, and Lydie had decided to give Fae a makeover as well. She'd tried to come near Jai with some lipstick, and that's exactly when he decided to leave). "Hey man," Jai said. He opened the bottle and took another quick drink and then passed the bottle over. "You took too long."

"You think anyone would notice a bottle of firewhiskey zooming through the park? Eh, probably. Too bad."

Jai was sure that someone would in fact notice a bottle of alcohol navigating its way around, but didn't really care as it was in pursuit of reaching Jai's throat. Firewhiskey was Jai's favorite and he wasn't going to say no. Maybe it was the alcohol, but more alcohol did not seem like a bad idea at all. "Definitely not," Jai said sternly, "Besides, even if they did - they get it." Everyone needed a little booze now and again. It made the annoying things in life (like prepubescent little sisters) a little less irritating. Took the edge off, as they say.

"So, what are we gonna get up to tonight?" Jai asked, leaning back on the bench. He looked up at the sky, admiring the twinkling stars.

Nicholas took the proffered bottle with a smile, "I don't know what you are talking about."  He tilted the bottle back taking a large mouthful of the rum.  Grimacing he handed the bottle back to Jai.  "I got here as quickly as I could.  Wasn't like I could just apparate into the middle of the park.  I had to walk part of the ways," he said with a laugh.  He'd thought about apparating into the middle of the park just cause he could, but having the Ministry show up if a muggle had seen him would have put a damper on the night before it got started.  And he didn't fancy a stay in Azkaban, or whatever they did to seventeen year old wizards who were just showing off.

"I'm pretty sure that emergency need for booze isn't an exception to the Statute of Secrecy...then again I never really paid attention in history of magic."  Though it certainly would be interesting to see what muggles thought about a bottle of whiskey flying around a park.  What would happen if it hit someone?  They'd probably be thrown into a hospital.  Would it hit people?  If the charms professor was anyone else, he'd ask if it was possible to keep a summoned object from colliding with people and things. 

Didn't matter though, because he wasn't about to summon any, despite a suddenly carefree Jai's assessment.  When did he become the responsible one.   He took the bottle back from Jai, taking another swig of the rum not  making near the face he made the first drink.  Nicholas needed to ensure that the night wouldn't be marred by any sudden bursts of responsible behavior.

"So, what are we gonna get up to tonight?"

"Wait"  Nicholas sputtered, "You don't have a plan for the evening."  Carefree and plan-less Jai.  "This was your idea." Laughing, he continued, "there's plenty of places that serve all manor of drinks in Diagon.  And someone's probably performing somewhere with all us students roaming the country."

It was shocking, but it just so happened to be true: Jai Patil did not have a plan for the evening. It was unusual for Jai to head in any sort of direction without a plan first, but it wasn't impossible. On such occasions, Jai embraced the spontaneous spirit of the evening and was able to (mostly) let things roll. Besides, when socializing, Jai felt more comfortable letting someone else take care of the plans. He figured anything he planned would be dreadfully boring to the rest of his friends. When he was alone, he had the things he liked to do and that's when he did them. He didn't always need friends along to do lame Jai things.

The only sure thing about tonight was that they were going to drink too much, as was always a bit more likely when hanging with Bevans, who had just taken a shot. When the bottle was returned to him, Jai sent another gulp of rum down his throat and felt a physical difference in his relaxation level. Before he could really think anything of it, Bevans had snatched the bottle back and was taking a second shot. Again, when it was back in his possession, Jai took another huge gulp. Now it was probably time to slow down a little.

"There's plenty of places that serve all manor of drinks in Diagon. And someone's probably performing somewhere with all us students roaming the country."

While considering these options, Jai plucked a rose from the bush next to him and promptly pricked his finger. His less-filtered state allowed him to shout a curse. "Whoops," Jai said. It didn't hurt too much, but he took another swig of alcohol anyway to help dull the pain. Carefully, Jai peeled the rest of the thorns off of the stem. "Let's find someone who needs this," Jai said with a little slur. What was that thing he had said about slowing down? Jai surreptitiously pushed the bottle in Bevans' direction.