Late morning


Raine Almasy stood before a great shelf of hangover potions in the quiet apothecary, grateful to have beaten the new year's morning crowd as she stared blankly at the gleaming bottles. Her brain was not working. Between the shots and Logorrhea from last night's party, she was ready to spend the rest of the day over a cup of coffee and the soothing sounds of absolutely nothing. However, always an early riser, she had thrown on the spare outfit she brought, and intended on being an adult.

Eventually. Right now, all she could do was stand here and wonder which of the hangover potions was going to help her feel human again. The sales assistant was leaving the redhead well alone - she probably had on a recognisable expression. The talk-t0-me-and-get-hexed expression. An Almasy speciality.

After some deliberation and several detours into regret, Raine selected an especially potent potion. She turned into the next aisle just then but didn't look up in time to avoid bumping into another patron, nearly dropping the bottle. "Sorry!" The witch groused, wrinkling her freckled nose in irritation.

There was a sound of shattered glass and the squelch of liquid underfoot. Though Raine had been able to keep her own Potion Bottle from falling, the patron she had bumped into hadn't been as lucky. The rather large and burly looking man was red in the face. He was obviously angry but may have also still been drunk from the night before, "why you little b-"

He reached for his wand but was cut short by another patron taking hold of his arm, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." The second man spoke in a posh sounding Londoners accent. He was dressed rather smartly, black pressed slacks and shiny dress shoes under a tailored travelling cloak. He wore a fedora that casts shadows on his face inside the already softly lit Apothecary. The only thing out of place about the man was the violently green drink he was holding in a hard plastic cup that looked like it was bought at the nearest Poundland.

With his back to Raine he added, "wouldn't be the smartest move to draw your wand on an Auror, now would it mate?" There was a flash of gold as the business man handed over some galleons for the stranger's troubles and shooed him away.

A nervous looking store clerk came over to clean up the mess as the business man turned fully to face Raine, "Drunk, hung over or clumsy? Which is it today Almasy?" Xavier tipped up his hat and gave his former classmate a roguish grin.

The halfwit she bumped into had to be at least twice as hungover as herself, if not outright drunk, and Raine had already found her wand when an unexpected voice stepped in to diffuse the situation. As she lived and breathe! Xavier Tawse in the flesh. When was the last time they'd even crossed paths? Spellspunk, with Fauna?

            "Drunk, hung over or clumsy? Which is it today Almasy?"

She slipped the wand back into the sleeve of her jacket, smirking. "Hung over, Tawse, but not hungover enough to excuse that..." her gaze lifted to the offensive item resting upon Xavier's head. "You can't wear fedoras. I'm sorry. It's illegal now. I would know."

Raine had to get on tiptoes to do it but she snatched the hat off by its rim and set it aside on one of the emptier shelves. "Only cretins and arseholes wear fedoras," she looked at him archly, daring the wizard to contradict this. And then her attention dropped to the cup in his hand. Strange. Maybe this was a dream and she was still sleeping.

Couldn't be. Tawse would be insufferable if he thought she would deign to dream of him.

"What are you drinking? It's not even noon yet."

"Oi!" He called out as she stole his hat but there was a smirk on his lips and a sparkle in his eye. Even if she was hung over and stealing one of his favourite hats, she was still a breath of fresh air after the early morning meeting he had to attend.

"I happen to look rather dashing in that hat, thank you very much."

He looked to his cup and purposely took a long sip, "Non-alcoholic." He tipped the cup as if toasting her, "Cook's specialty. Believe the muggles these days are calling them protein shakes." His Great Uncle, affectionately known as Cook, had begun making them for the youth who insisted on drinking himself to an early grave.

"Best cure for a hangover. You should try it." He offered her the cup though he doubted the Auror-in-training would ever drink anything he offered her. Especially given the unnatural greenness of said drink.

Dashing! In that hat! Raine snorted ungracefully, shaking her head at his misguided sense of attractiveness. Boys - or straight boys - never knew what looked good!

Tawse explained what the drink was, citing it as the best cure for a hangover. She accepted the cup and looked at the strange green liquid on the inside. You couldn't excuse Xavier of not wanting to try new things: at least he didn't do what other rich heirs did, collapsing into their comfort circles like melodramatic little sloths. The red head gave the cup a shake and wrinkled her nose.

She took a long sip before handing it back. "My mum's a muggleborn, Xav...." A teasing smile crossed her otherwise knackered expression. "I know what a protein shake is. Never saw one looking so much like Kappa vomit, though."

Growing up, so much of her life had been lived in muggle circles. Going to muggle shops, watching muggle movies. Her fencing tournaments and ballet lessons. It was different nowadays but she knew that world well enough.

"The actual best cure for a hangover -" Raine continued, nudging past him towards the counter to pay for her potion, "- is an English breakfast. A builder's breakfast. You know what that is or did they stick those silver spoons into your ears as well?"

Xavier raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes when she actually tried the drink he had offered her. He had to admit, he was expecting her to refuse. He gave a light chuckle when she vividly described the colour and took the drink back for himself.

With a smile still on his lips he mentally chided himself. He had actually forgotten that Raine was a half blood. Aside from Ayla, she had been one of the only half bloods he had associated with while still holding a lot of his ingrained purist views. Then again, when you were related to a witch like Ira Almasy is was hard to focus on any of the rest of the family. Then again, he imagined many felt the same way about him and his own uncle.

He followed her to the counter and gave her a sly grin again, "If I pretend I don't know what it is, will you let me take you out to breakfast?"

She placed a few coins down on the counter for the potion and unstoppered it right there and then.

           "If I pretend I don't know what it is...let me take you out to breakfast?"

Raine lifted the bottle, drinking the entire hangover potion in one go and then handing the empty vessel over for the sales assistant to dispose. Typical Xav - he always had an angle! But it wasn't an altogether unpleasant angle, especially now that her headache was beginning to abate. The redhead crossed her arms and looked at him with a dry smile.

"How about you let me take you to breakfast?" she suggested, largely because it was her who'd brought it up. "There's actually a place in Soho called The Breakfast Club. If you don't mind slumming it in muggle London?"

Xavier watched, impressed, as she downed the whole bottle before even leaving the shop. He was reminded suddenly of how much he enjoyed being around Raine (and also of the last time they had been out drinking together)

His sly grin turned to a genuine smile. He was half expecting her to turn down his offer, only because he was used to playfully flirting with the red head and having her repeatedly turn him down, "I think I can manage," He gave her a wink and led her out of the shop, though allowing her to take the lead once outside.

"So, what were you up to that necessitated such a potion?"

Thank Merlin for hangover potions and the prospect of big breakfasts. Raine was already feeling more like herself by the time they stepped back out on to the alley, which still appeared quite peaceful. Probably because everyone else was either asleep, hungover, or both.

          "So, what were you up to that necessitated such a potion?"

"What else?" she laughed, hands in the pockets of her jacket. "New Year's party, over at Carstairs' place." Raine nodded further down the street towards where Virgil's flat was - really she thought of it more as Nick and Ari's place, but she knew Xav was on familiar terms with former Slytherins. The idea of those two sharing a dorm made her glad she was sorted into Gryffindor.

It did seem odd that Tawse wasn't at last night's celebrations, though. She wrinkled her nose thoughtfully and looked over at him. "So what did you do to ring in 2012? You're Scottish, right? Did you have a Hogmanay, whatever that entails?"

Raine had never been to one, and hadn't joined in on the Hogmanay held by the Spectres. Her one visit to Feliks had been fine but she didn't feel comfortable there; everyone was so warm and huggy and happy. Not her scene, really.

Xavier nodded as he walked along with Raine, "Partying with Virgil? I imagine that was quite the riot." The last time he had been to a party with all of his former classmates had been for Figaro's birthday. The group had gone bar hopping and it made for a rather enjoyable night.

He shrugged, "Never got an invite." Although he had spent all of his years at Hogwarts sharing a dorm with Carstairs, he wasn't exactly close with Virgil. They had simply run in different circles while at school.

He let out a rye chuckle, "No. I mean, I am Scottish, I just don't really talk to that side of my family anymore." He neglected to mention the fact that he had no idea where that side of his family was anymore. He was sure Grandma Anna was dead, his mother too probably and Merlin on knew what Uncle Cinaed was up to.

He rubbed the back of his neck and added a little awkwardly, "I went to my Dad's place actually." He wasn't sure how much Raine knew about his tumultuous relationship he had with his father, "ended up having a drinking contest with Peyton. My sister was not happy about that. Especially when I made her bring him back to Nick."

She wrinkled her nose incredulously as Xav remarked that the party must have been quite the riot. Virgil wasn't exactly riot material - unless it was him the masses were keen on getting to the guillotine. But maybe he knew more about former Slytherins than she could claim; Gracie was more her speed back then, she and Alex always so full of mischievous and clever spells.

"I don't know if they invited people so much as they just expected word to get around," Raine shrugged. "I guess that hasn't changed from school." Problem being that Xav didn't run in the same circles anymore. He didn't work at the Ministry or on the alley even.

As they drew up to the wall at the end of the alley, she glanced at him curiously. She didn't know much about Xavier's family outside of what they did, professionally. Raine kept her distance from pureblood drama in spite of the fact that many of her friends were purebloods. It was toxic. And she would know, wouldn't she, with an aunt like Ira?

"Was the drinking competition connected to having to spend Christmas with your dad," she raised an eyebrow. "Or is it a Tawse family tradition?"