"No, no, no!" Inebriated hands seized an arm on the edge of the dancefloor. "You've come allll the way out here, you're not going back to join the wall!"

Although it was just over a week since the Leaky Cauldron had come tumbling down in rather dramatic scenes, the Diagon Alley throng was still as strong as ever on a Saturday night. Calaveras was perhaps even experiencing an increase in patrons given how busy it felt on a Saturday.

It had been a while, but he had promised. They had missed that drink in summer, finally caught up with it later and today it was Liam's birthday. There was never a better excuse to go out on a Saturday and have some fun. Books were company at the best of times, Johann could accept that wholeheartedly, but sometimes there was nothing better than to waggle limbs in time to music amongst friends and an army of strangers. It had led to a most fortunate ending in September, after all.

However, the birthday boy seemed none too keen. He had scrubbed up well (not that Johann had ever imagined Liam Darrow might not, he had certainly received the best of both from his parents) but he suffered a social shyness that was not entirely fitting of his flirtatious approaches from behind his shop counter. Alcohol was helping loosen up the former Ravenclaw, at least he thought it was. It was certainly helping the linguist if nothing else.

Clutching at Liam's wrist with both hands, just firmly enough to convey he was serious without being too pushy, Johann pulled Liam's arm over his shoulder and dragged the book merchant right into the middle of the Calaveras dancing. All he had to do was get started and they'd never get him to sit down, he was sure of it. One flash of that charming grin of his and he'd be surrounded by pretty witches!

"Come on, birthday boy! There's nothing academic to this!" He shouted over the music, finally releasing Liam's arm as he turned back to dance with him.

---

Join them as a friend or stranger! They've had a few

Sometimes it was fun to vanish. Got to be familiar with different places. Andromeda had elected for red hair tonight and a different nose. Drinking made it harder to keep the metamorph change. Familiar faces caught her eye. Darrow was a few years older than her at Hogwarts. Ran a bookshop last she heard. Storm worked on level five. He and Warrington were tight. Company was better to dance with. She had danced with these two before.
"Boys!" They were both taller up close. "Happy birthday!" She let her nose fade back to her usual one so they could recognise her. She grasped a hand from each of them. "Dance with me!"

As he let his friend drag him out to the dance floor, Liam tried valiantly to remember why he had agreed to let Johann take him out for his birthday.  He wasn't really sure where the other man was going to take him, but here he was, now in the middle of the dance floor and yes, he felt good after the few drinks he'd had, but he was no where near ready to be the center of attention at all.  Even if that attention wasn't directed at him.  Being in the middle of the dance floor was not somewhere Liam wanted to be, it would take a few more drinks before he was ready for this.

"Joh, I don't think I'm ready for this." he said half-heartedly.  He was feeling the effects of the last drink and while the music was good and he was with a friend, he really didn't know what he was doing.  "There is a reason I don't leave my place much mate... this isn't for me." He knew he was fighting a losing battle, that Johann wasn't going to let him leave, but he had to at least try.

"Joh, I don't think I'm ready for this." Liam protested as best he could over the music. Johann released his arm with a dramatic roll of the eyes. Liam was almost cowering in on himself, as if Johann had dragged him out onto the floor to get him to dance for the rest of the room. He threw his arms around his friend's shoulders, keen for him not to get away.

"Nonsense! You've just got to get dancing!"
"There is a reason I don't leave my place much mate… this isn't for me."
"Oh come on!"

Honestly, how he managed to make such wallflower friends he did not know. At least he'd managed to get Liam in the place, the likes of Arcturus would have needed to be hexed and carried in.

The whine in response was good natured, cajoling. He wanted to Liam to enjoy his night, but to try something different and see if he could break out of routine.

"It's your birthday!" 
"Boys! Happy birthday!"

It took a second to recognise Auror Gamp with her red hair. Johann had met her both in and out of work, and had to admit her metamorphmagus abilities really did throw his ability to recognise her consistently. It was an incredibly useful trait to have on Level 2.

"Andromeda!" Johann exclaimed, throwing his arms out towards her in attempt at a hug, mostly because he had drunk a fair amount now and felt overly friendly to anyone he half-knew or better. Before he could, she caught his hand with frightening precision. Even though she was half his size, he was sure she would have no trouble pinning him to the floor if he needed arresting.

"Dance with me!"
"See, Gamp knows how to do it-" Johann suddenly realised that Andromeda had also clasped one of Liam's hands and the demand was to them both. "Best do as the good auror says, Liam," he shouted over the music and winked at Liam. Whereas Andromeda was not his type, as far as he knew, she was a single lady.

How anyone ever managed to get Liam to leave his shop, Elliot would forever wonder. But, for now, she just enjoyed seeing him out and at least having the opportunity to socialize a little bit. She had that usual upward slant in her mouth as she watched in amusement at Johann's getting Liam away from the drinks and onto the actual dance floor.

"Best do as the good auror says, Liam," she heard Johann say, referring to this much shorter woman who seemed just as eager to help. She was nearly on the verge of laughing out loud at the sight of this. Liam was so hesitant about all this, somehow it made it all the more amusing. She realized that she needed more entertainment in her life.

"He's right, you know. Just go with it!" Elliot said, adding her two bits into the attempt at getting the man just a little further out of his cozy little shell. Her crooked smile spread wider into a full one. "Maybe I'll join in if things get good enough out there."

That's because, for the moment, she was fine just watching what might come of this. The music went on, as did the dancing, and the activity of it all kept her smiling. Eventually, as she remained sitting where she was, she felt her foot or head bobbing to the beat.

Elliot tried to enthuse Liam to dance too, though she wasn't putting up a very good show herself, Johann thought as Andromeda drew both wizards into a dance, despite Liam's protests. The beat of the music was too pleasing to move to, to be sat down.
"Maybe I'll join in if things get good enough out there." Blair suggested, and Johann shook his head with a smile to match hers.

Despite Auror Gamp's canny grip, Johann spun himself round, wriggling free and landed the witch's hand on Liam's shoulder instead. He shot his friend a suggestive look and grin and danced round them over to Flourish and Blott's esteemed manager.

"Elllllliott!" Johann called, blue eyes bright and mischievous. He addressed her stool, "May I have this dance? Yes? Most kind." He reached out, clasping one of her hands to tug gently. He didn't haul a lady, despite how much he'd had to drink. Elliot Blair wouldn't take to being hauled like he'd had to do to Liam to get him out there to dance with Andromeda.

"Dance with me, come onnn, I'll make it fun." He reached for her other hand, stepping backwards into the crowd with a happy smile, full of encouragement. The trick to dancing was to get started, and then forget yourself. The hard part was stepping out. Johann would be the first to confirm he was not the most graceful dancer, but it was considerably better than his attempts to sing.

"Elllllliott!" The witch couldn't help but chuckle at the sound of Johann's voice as he called out for her.  "May I have this dance? Yes? Most kind." The laugh died abruptly, but the smile on her face was still there.

"What? No, I don't dance," she said quickly, putting her hands up as if  to defend herself from something, but he made use of the action and took hold of one of them and tugged gently. Weak to resist because of her laughter and partly because maybe she did want to dance a little, the gentle tug was enough to get her up off the stool and onto her feet. "Johann, no. I'm awful at dancing."

"Dance with me, come onnn, I'll make it fun," as he took hold of her other hand and brought her onto the dance floor. Elliot heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes now finally letting the man bring her out onto the dance floor. "Usually, when someone says that they'll make it fun, it also means that they'll make me look like an idiot!"

Looking around at the decent crowd of people dancing Elliot looked up at the man and shrugged. "Well?" She felt excitement in being amongst others with such energy and enjoyment about them, but also feeling that usual awkwardness that comes when trying to get accustomed to something different. Giving a sad, little help me expression she did start to try and start dancing, shifting side to side on her feet, giving her hips something of a swaying motion.

"… make me look like an idiot!"
"Nooooo!" Johann protested, "If anyone is going to look like and idiot, it'll be meee!" It was a little awkward at first, Johann tried not to think too much on how he'd acquired introverted friends that he felt obliged to drag out on his more extroverted adventures. Still, one night in many months was alright, wasn't it? He'd have tea and meet quietly and sensibly the rest of the time.

"That's it, stop worrying about what you're doing. It's not about up there," he reached out and touched Elliot's head as gently as an inebriated wizard could, "but what feels alright." He grasped her hand with his beneath, trying to be a gentleman despite his sometimes ridiculous dance moves to the rhythm. He tugged her closer a moment, lifting their hands above her head as if to spin her, grinning.

"Don't worry about everyone else," he assured her, "i don't care if you stare resolutely at my nose or something, even. Or if not, there's plenty more to drink until you feel you can. It's Liams biiiirthday!" Despite himself, and because of how much he'd had to drink, he attempted to pull Elliot into a big hug on the dance floor, bumping into Andromeda and Liam as he did.

So she danced with Liam and Johann found a girl to dance with. She wondered where Balfour was in that case. Liam seemed nervous to dance. Andromeda tried to convince him it was fun. Then Johann smacked into them. He was drunk.

"Heyyy!" Andromeda yelled over the music. She glared at him. Then she shrugged. He was not going to knock her over. "Swap?" She offered Elliot.

Liam did his best to try and enjoy himself, but it wasn't working. He wanted nothing more than to go back home and curl up with a good book, a tumbler of good scotch, and a fire.  But his friends weren't letting him get out of celebrating his birthday, so when he heard Andromeda say "Swap," he hatched a plan.  He moved away from his current partner and grabbed Johann's hand with a cheeky smile. "Hello, having fun yet. I am sort of glad you pulled me out of my routine for one night."

Elliot couldn't help but laugh at Johann's antics, momentarily losing her own balance and almost smacking into him in the process. Thankfully, she got her footing just as quickly and found herself laughing again at how stupid all of them must have looked there in the middle of the dance floor.

She watched as Liam abandoned his current dance partner while she was getting back into the swing of the music around them. Helped that it was a tune and rhythm she liked. She gave a good natured wave to him.

"Hey, Liam. Happy birthday."

Though she was here to celebrate his birthday, she couldn't really say she knew him too well. True, they'd encountered each other at the end of the day at Diagon on occasion, but the man was a little more than elusive. At least she remembered his name! It was only because they found out that they both managed books that they had even struck up conversation on those few occasions. Okay, so he was more of an acquaintance. But it was something, right? Elliot was certainly surprised when she'd found out that an actual party was being held for him.

Andromeda protest loud enough over the music for Johann to hear.
"Sorrrryyyyyyy!" He exclaimed letting go of Elliot with one arm to wrap it around Andromeda's shoulders below him in a sort of attempt to hug the auror. Had he been sober he wouldn't have dared - Gamp could bite a leg off.

"Swap?" There was hardly enough time to react as he dropped his arm and Liam seized it instead.
"Oh!" He exclaimed, not against this swap, but not anticipating it. "Oh swaaap." He reiterated over the music and waved Elliot forlornly with the free hand which was returned with a good-natured wave.
"Hey, Liam. Happy birthday."
"Can't deny the birthday boy a dance, can I?" He asked her.

"Hello, having fun yet. I am sort of glad you pulled me out of my routine for one night." Liam spoke as Johann swung round to face his friend. There was once a time in summer where they might have even thought about being more, but circumstances hadn't worked out on Johann's side and he was glad enough to keep a quiet friend, and drag him out on a birthday.

"Am I having fun yet?" He asked, far too loudly, "Of course! More to the point though - are you?" He glanced over at the girls, "Come on, don't be shy we're all friends."

"No you are not!" Andromeda stuck her tongue out at Johann. Ok so she did not mean swap like that. What the hell it did not matter. Andromeda wanted to dance. She did not care who with. Sort of. She grabbed Elliot by the hands.
"Andromeda. You are?" Someone tried to squeeze past Elliot. Andromeda pulled her out the way before they spilled drink all over. "Idiot, get out of here before I hex you." Andromeda yelled. "Twit. You ok? How do you know those two?"

Elliot was shifting between having fun and feeling awkward. This new girl grabbed at her hands, dancing in her own way as well as helping to keep the two of them out of the way of drunks and crazies. Elliot's crooked smile was quite large across her face at this point.

"Andromeda. You are?" Ah, finally, a name. Andromeda, like the constellation? Interesting...

"Elliot Blair. I'm the manager at Flourish and Blotts."

From the sound of it the music picked up and everyone around them was trying to keep up with the rhythm. People were practically falling over themselves, probably because they were drunk whilst dancing or attempting to move around. The feelings of fun and awkward continued to dominate Elliot.

"Joh's a regular at the store," Elliot started, looking back towards Andromeda. "I know Liam because our shops are close to each other. We've met up now and then, so we're, at least, acquainted."

At her speaking of them she brought her eyes up to the two men. From the looks of it Joh was enjoying himself far more than everyone else. As for Liam, she wasn't quite sure.

"I knew I knew your face." Andromeda smiled at Elliot. She definitely was not Liam's date. She did not look it really. "Do you come to Calaveras lots?" She asked. It was not easy to ask questions and dance. Andromeda liked to dance. People were interesting too. Hard choice. "Let's get a drink. Leave them to it."