A local bar
09.00 PM




A sweet promotion. Everybody needed it. River just got his today. His grandfather was happy and his mother said that she was proud of him. He thought everything would go smoothly. Oh Merlin, he was very wrong. His first day of work was disastrous. Alexander Belisario wasn't going easy on him. River needed time to adjust, but no time was given to him. He was thrown straight into his first mission. He did his job, but he almost got hurt in the process. Being an Auror wasn't as glamorous as some people thought. Now he had a light headache to deal with.

River didn't want to go home. He knew that his grandfather would ask him about his day and he couldn't face his mother either. Things didn't go according to plan and he was getting frustrated. So somehow, instead of going home, River ended up in a local bar. Not to get drunk, mind you. His family didn't allow him to drink alcoholic beverages. He ordered tea.

The bar was quiet empty, maybe that was why the atmosphere was pretty relaxing, even for River. There were only a few men inside the room and they were busy with each other. River sipped his tea silently. His eyes wandered around the room, but then he spotted a particular person.

It was only Tuesday. Rubbing his eyes, he sighed to himself. Fiona was off doing something for work (she seemed to try and do that quite a bit, little buggar), and Jason had had a long day at the hospital. He’d been able to con his mother into watching Aidan while he was at work, and she had said that she would owl him if they needed any help. He was due to pick him up soon, but for now—Jason just wanted a little drink to take the edge off the day.

Who knew that one Doxy could bite someone into St. Mungo’s? Jason had thought that was nearly impossible, considering it was a simple jinx to get them to stop (or even an attack with the hand/back of a book). Nevertheless, that had been just one more bizarre thing turning up at work, and it hadn’t stopped there. Needless to say, he felt he deserved a few drinks. Perhaps after, his mum would have a nice steaming plate of potatoes waiting for him. His stomach grumbled in appreciation at that thought.

Two drinks in, and Jason had lost track of time. He had been conversing with a couple of regulars about the football season—he could just imagine the look he would have gotten had he asked about ‘quidditch scores.’ One of the lads was an Irish fellow, who got right on with Jason. Clapping the man on the back, Jason excused himself, picking up his pint and wandering over to a table. If he got away from the bar, perhaps he wouldn’t drink too much.

Settling down in the booth, Jason thought about where Fiona might be. He didn’t worry about her as much; he had helped hire the extra set of eyes, after all. He just didn’t want another surprise waiting for him at home (especially with him not there). A bit agitated all of a sudden, he talked himself down mentally and took another deep gulp. That helped ease his anxiety a little. Running a hand over his scratchy cheek, Jason sighed and smiled, glancing back out around the room, watching a couple of the regulars making jokes and laughing over their mugs. This was one of his favorite atmospheres.

Still wearing his grandfather's old glasses, River rubbed his chin. The man was definitely Jason Marren. He was considered as a good family friend. River's grandfather liked to talk about him and often invited him to dinner. When they first met, River was only eight-years old, Jason was twenty. River didn't mind him. Jason was smart and well-mannered, River liked to listen to his stories. But these days, with his mother condition and everything, they didn’t have a lot of time to interact.

River suddenly remembered something, he opened his bag and sighed in relieve. He quietly took out a gift bag and approached Jason. River put the small paper bag in front of the older man. It contained homemade cookies that his mother had made and it had a red ribbon as a decoration.

He said with a calm tone, “Grandfather told me that you're too busy to come to dinner last night.” Indeed, last night, they had had dinner to celebrate River’s promotion. It was natural for Markus Doyle to invite Jason Marren, but he didn’t make it. River understood, though.  Jason had a wife and a little baby to take care of.

Smirking to himself as he watched one bar patron who had all ready had a little too much to drink try to make a fairly straight walk to the door, Jason shook his head in sympathy. He used to be a regular—and it wasn’t a bad gig either. Everyone knew your name, what you liked, and always wanted to know how things were going. The only thing was, they wanted the same treatment. After a while, everyone realizes they all have a little something wrong with them.

Sadly, by the time he figured out it was his wife, it was a little late. Chuckling at himself at the thought, he leaned his elbow on the table and set his head in his palm, rubbing his eyes gently. Fiona would probably brand him if he tried to make that joke. Well… running his thumb over the ring on his finger, he smirked again—he was all ready branded, he supposed. They had a great relationship, for all the poking and prodding and sarcasm swells they rode each day. How many other women would harass you back without taking your jokes too seriously?

Hearing something move closer, Jason lifted his head up and opened his mouth to respond automatically to one of the waitresses. He paused, and the breath left his parted lips as he saw a familiar face suddenly at his table. Glancing to the paper bag, he raised his eyebrows and finally looked back to River. He looked a little tired, some stress around the eyes, but otherwise he was calm as ever. “Oh… Thank you.” He would look into it later—other things were more pressing.

“Grandfather told me that you’re too busy to come to dinner last night.”

Pushing himself up, Jason grinned at River and held his hand out, grasping the younger man’s hand and shaking it. “Congratulations, Mr. Doyle.” Winking at the man, he let go of his hand and held it out to the booth seats. “I do apologize about last night.” As if that triggered a thought, Jason reached self consciously to his pockets, frowning slightly as he patted each of them before he found what he was looking for. “Ah!” Smiling once again, he pulled out the envelope that had seen better days (need he bring up the doxy issues again?).

Jason had a bad habit of putting everything he needed into any available pocket, which sometimes left him searching for what exactly he needed. On occasion (very rarely, he’d like to point out), he will even forget what he is searching for if he can’t find it after a couple minutes. Shrinking spells and necessary items for work were smart from an organizational viewpoint, but not when you were in the need of whatever you shrunk, and trying to finger through notes that even the best magnifying glass might have had trouble picking out words on.

Setting it down where he figured about where River would sit, Jason gave him a half grin. “Won’t you sit, share a drink?” He understood that River didn’t drink alcohol, but still wanted to share his company. “I’m interested in hearing how the promotion went.” Sitting back down, Jason leaned against the back of the booth. Better to have company than have a couple more drinks alone, in his opinion. After some time with River, he could go and pick up Aidan, and go and crash out at home.

River looked at the man's envelope in distaste and shook his head. Improperness.

“I’m interested in hearing how the promotion went.”

Bitting his lip, River sat on one of the available seats and shrugged. He sipped his tea. People were looking, but River decided not to care. "It went bad-" He paused for a moment, calculating something. River finally nodded and fixed his glasses. He looked at the man in the eyes, "Mr.Marren, I'll pretend that you wouldn't tell my grandfather about this." It might be nothing, but failing in front of his family was never an option for him. His family put a lot of weight on his shoulders and he didn't mind it at all. To make them proud was his responsibility.

River sighed in embarrassment, "It didn't go smoothly and I destroyed my co-worker's shelf, by accident, of course." He decided not to go for the details. River glanced at the liqueur in Jason's hand; maybe he needed them right now. "Being an Auror is not as glamorous as people might think."

"How about you? How's Aidan?"

Jason didn’t notice the look River gave the envelope. In his mind, he was being nice by giving the young man a congratulatory card—clearly he could do with a lesson in River’s cultural upbringing. He didn’t even think twice about the card, and was more relieved to have run into River to give it to him personally; he’d felt bad about missing the dinner with his family, and had hoped at least that it would alleviate the rudeness Jason thought might have come off. He liked the Doyle family very much, though, and wouldn’t have cancelled had there been any other option.

At least everyone was better today. A few potions, some rest, and both Aidan and Fiona came over the bout of nausea and vomiting they had had. Jason’s immune level was quite built up over the years of working in the hospital, and had luckily not been bedridden like poor little Aidan.

”It went bad-“

The smile that Jason had on his face turned into a confused frown. Normally, in Jason’s experience, a promotion was a good thing, something that gave more responsibility to be sure but that made the person feel quite improved in their career choice. It wasn’t a good sign if it went bad, though. Jason gave the younger man time to think through it—patience was a virtue.

“Mr.Marren, I’ll pretend that you wouldn’t tell my grandfather about this.”

Concerned now, Jason frowned in thought but nodded his assent to keep what River confided in him a secret. He could understand that families dealt with things differently, and that sometimes it was easier to put on a front than delve into feelings.

“It didn’t go smoothly and I destroyed my co-worker’s shelf, by accident, of course… Being an Auror is not as glamorous as people might think.”

Thinking a moment, Jason rested his elbows on the table, leaving the pint of alcohol alone for now. Rubbing his hand over his mouth and chin in thought, he waved a hand dismissively before giving his two cents on the matter. “Whether it went smooth or not, River, the fact that they gave you the promotion after is enough to tell me that you are valued and felt to be competent enough to handle the title. We all make mistakes in our work…  just important to go beyond the mistake and use it to help make us better at what we do.”

“How about you? How’s Aidan?”

Thinking about his quickly growing little boy, Jason couldn’t suppress a grin. Glancing down at the drink, he bit his lower lip and let out a laugh. “Aidan is good. He just got over a little stomach bug. I’m doing well myself, working hard. Making mistakes and learning through them.” His eyes now turned back to River and he gave the younger man a smile. “Aside from the promotion, then, how are you doing?” Tapping the side of his mug, Jason winked. “Sounds like you could use one.”

Jason winked. “Sounds like you could use one.”

River eyed Jason's mug warily. He didn't understand why people risked their health with alcohol. There was no point in drinking alcoholic beverages, aside from getting an annoying headache afterward. That's what his family had told him since he was twelve and he took it to the heart. He only drink wine at dinner parties. Oh wait, he put a spell on his glass so people would think he drink wine.  Merlin, no wonder people thought of him as boring. The happy go lucky Frank Pratt must be mental to wanted to be friends with him.

Yet, this time River thought differently. The way Jason gulped his drink and smiled afterward made him wonder. It was like a child playing with fire matches, Ravenclaws were known for their curiosity after all. River narrowed his eyes. He had a bad day, he wanted to feel better. Maybe he could use one. River called the bartender and ordered a drink.

He didn't know how to, so instead of sipping his drink, River gulped everything at once. River shut his eyes, the flavor was too strong for him, obviously. He started to cough and covered his mouth with one hand. "Merlin-"

"That was awful."

River did seem a little uptight today. Jason wished he had some calming potion on him or something to help take the edge off whatever was wrong. As River seemed to consult himself on the idea of a pint, Jason picked his glass up and took another gulp, close to needing his third. That wasn’t abnormal for the Irishman, though. He could probably still fly a broom straight with that little in his system. That wasn’t a good sign, necessarily, but it was him. Very few could drink Jason under the table, and other than his family, only Fiona had been able to on occasion.

When River put in an order, Jason smiled and put one in as well. He planned to toast with River and enjoy the young man’s pint; it would be the first one Jason could remember him having, anyway. The good thing about drinking, in Jason’s opinion, was the way it made things easier to deal with. It loosened you up, made you smile and enjoyable, as long as you didn’t have too much. There was a very fine line between pleasantly tipsy and completely trashed, in Jason’s opinion.

“Merlin-”

Jason would probably respond much the same if he had sucked back that much alcohol at once. Watching River’s face, Jason’s eyebrows were halfway up his forehead and his eyes wide. He wasn’t sure if he was impressed or worried the boy might get sick. Biting on his lower lip to keep from laughing, he couldn’t stop the ends of his mouth from peeking upwards into a small smile.

“That was awful.”

Lifting his new mug off the table, Jason’s face finally went back to normal. An eyebrow rose and he chuckled before inclining his head and mug towards River in a toast. “Was that your first one?” Taking a sip to finish the toast, he set it back down on the table. “Slamming them back gets easier the more you drink, but is hard to do right off the bat… Also, since you don’t drink, ah…” Running a hand over his mouth, Jason grinned. “You’re going to feel it soon. It can help take the edge off a tough day, though.”