Rovers was pretty packed, or so Heather felt, she couldn’t say she frequented the place, given her age. The Irish-themed pub in Diagon was one to host bands on the regular, and that Saturday was hosting Send No Crows, who were gigging up and down the country that summer. For that reason, it was actually the second time Heather and several of her friends had seen the band in London, and why she was also wearing one of their t-shirts to see them tonight.

“Think we can get into Death & Co. after this?” Heather asked the others, clustered together around a couple of standing tables to the left of the stage. A guy with a hurdy-gurdy had finished performing some folk songs which seemed strangely familiar to Heather without putting her finger on why, and the band were now setting up. The pub was loud with conversation and laughter, the door opening and closing to the Alley, and a haze of magical smoke hung over their heads in a blue cloud.

“Do you like my nails?” She asked, rather proud of them. They were painted white with tiny black crows painted on. “Ivy did them, she’s wicked at them now. We followed this how-to in Witch Weekly.”

Summer was disappearing quickly and Zeta still had so much she wanted to do. In Zeta's increasingly tempestuous mind, it felt like youth was slipping away. Home life had been as rocky, Zeta and her parents quarreling more than they ever had in the past. Her temper was ever ready, her parent's reasonable standards like shackles. Perhaps to mutual relief, Zeta spent as much time as she could manage in London at Theta's or friends' house.

Heather's manicure was stunning.  "They're terrific!" she gushed.  "How'd she get them so tiny?"

Zeta's own crow ensemble was centered around her earrings, one long black feature hanging from each ear. They were made of leather, dyed black and stamped with the right texture.

Osha was excited to hear the band - she kept getting distracted from her own group, gaze darting intermittently in the direction of the wixes setting up. But then Heather started talking about her nails, and Osha's attention was drawn back to the standing tables with a smile.

              "They're terrific!"
"Oh, they're wicked aren't they?" she spoke at the same time as Zeta, admiring the tiny crows.

She was carrying a crow tote but otherwise dressed like she normally would when going out with friends. Ma had pinned a yellow Gerbera to her dress, and helped get her curls under control with a silk scarf. Osha was practically an adult but she found herself spending more and more of her holidays with her mother at Floribunders.

It was nice to get out and have a different kind of good time.

"I think they'd kick our arses out at Death & Co," she mused, fiddling with the strap of her bag. "But I heard Calaveras is easy. I mean -" Osha quickly looked at Zeta, sheepish, "- if you[1] want to investigate, not just for fun."

1.	31st March - News of the World

“Think we can get into Death & Co. after this?”
“I think they’d kick our arses out at Death & Co. But I heard Calaveras is easy…. if you want to investigate, not just for fun.”

Ambrose missed out on admiring Heather’s fingernails, not that he felt compelled to look. He had heard the girls mention Death & Co.
“I’ve been for drinks there,” he interrupted, “Death & Co. I mean,” he hastily added on reading their expressions. “I’ve not been to Calaveras yet. Not since it reopened anyway.”

He got into places because he was often with older company from work. Over summer he’d enjoyed getting to hang out with his old school friends on an evening, but he did feel rather grown up in comparison to them now.

Ambrose had adopted a style of many Beast Handlers, investing in a leather jacket which was beginning to look well loved, over a sleeveless t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He was sporting a bit of a tan from working outdoors, and his arms had sprouted biceps girls liked to squeeze if they saw them. His chin meanwhile was still home to the odd zit amongst new blonde-ginger stubble.

“What’s so bad about it again?”

Sam had nervously walked down the streets leading to Rovers Fancy, her heart was racing a bit, it was her first time out at a bar like this, she was hoping she wasn't dressed poorly, the heels were already feeling like a very bad idea over the cobblestones of Diagon, the place was beautiful, but sometimes she wished they actually constructed the place normally, not all weird jutting out cobbles or weirdly placed stones for the floors.

She had planned to come originally as she enjoyed the band, she didn't often get the chance to go to see bands live, but when she'd received an invitation from Ambrose, it drew her attention even more, if something went wrong with him or whatever, she still had the music and the bar she could go to.

It only occured as she entered the place and moved over to where she saw the beast handler that...she was a few years older then him and she presumed friends, unless he was just...very smooth. Had she been tricked into babysitting students? She recognized one girl as the shopkeeper of Floriblunders, so it wasn't all random people!

She gently walked over to the group and slid onto a seat gently with a weak smile at Ambrose.

"How do you do fellow kids?" She tried to hold back a giggle. "Its uh...good to see you again Ambrose." God she needed a drink.

Ace had been sitting at the bar for a while, he'd not come for any particular reason other than to drink and maybe enjoy himself a little.  Since he left the dragon reserve in France and coming back home to England, he realized he hadn't even made an effort to explore some.  He'd left as soon as he graduated Hogwarts and there were several new establishments he'd yet been in.

So here he was, Ace had heard there would be some band or group playing here tonight, but really he just came for the drinks and maybe meet someone he could flirt with, without getting a bloody nose or a black eye. He[1]had taken to wearing this outfit or something remarkably similar every day.  Ace hated normal wizard-wear and would avoid it at all costs. Besides, being one who worked with dragons, you had to wear clothes that could be replaced easily if they were to catch on fire.  He'd lost quite a few jackets that way.

He thought he saw a few people from the Ministry here, but as he rarely paid attention to any one but those that worked with him, he wasn't too sure.  So he turned around in the chair to face the people that were in the place and took a drink.

1.	That's what he looks like, just not with the frowny expression on his face.

A crowd of loosely connected school chums began to arrive and the little cluster expanded. Fellow Hufflepuff Osha Warrington looked beautiful as usual, and Ambrose had showed as well. It was harder for him to keep in the social circle since he'd left school early, but Zeta knew he was still well-liked.

Osha suggested they go to Calavaras, but not as patrons. "That would be wicked," she said. Then she explained to Ambrose.

"They have full moon parties," Zeta said with a sniff and eyebrows poised with implication. "It's gross. I'm surprised you haven't heard of it."

Ambrose was on Level Four, adjacent to the Werewolf Wing.

Then they were approached by a tall girl in black that Zeta didn't recognize and it wasn't clear to Zeta who in the group she was greeting. Ever keen to make all feel welcome, Zeta smiled. "Hey."

Out back...

A seventeen-year-old American witch calling herself 'Nemo' unironically wearing a conical hat with wide brim was smoking a black cigarette with some of the members of the night's band. From her perch on an empty gear crate, she was having a chat with the bassist called Tove. They'd become acquainted through some musical circles - Nemo had opened for them last year at Old Brick.

"Names are arbitrary in the first place," Nemo was saying through a puff of smoke. "And it's Jules Verne, not the fucking fish. The fish is cool, though."

"But you never tell anyone your real name?" Tove asked.

"And reveal the door to my soul? Nah," Nemo said with a winking smile. "And honestly, like, no one's asked."

Truly, no one had other than the job application form at Reducto Records. She'd been unquestionably mononymous for ages now.

“They have full moon parties, it's gross. I'm surprised you haven't heard of it.“

Ambrose’s featured flickered with confusion and then realisation.
“OH!” He suddenly straightened, “That place!” He had heard of it, but he’d forgotten the name along the way. Of course Zeta would know.

“How do you do fellow kids?” Ambrose was surprised by the arrival, but brightened into a grin on recognising Sam out of uniform. “Its uh...good to see you again Ambrose.”

“Hey!” Ambrose greeted, echoed by Zeta. “Wow, you look different!” He was all smiles, chipper about his invitation being taken up. He’d mentioned it to Sam the other day when he’d had to take the Knight Bus back home. He was still riding it on the regular while he worked on retaking his apparition license. The first attempt had him splinch his bum off, a story he’d recounted to his new friend over the summer.

“Out of uniform, like.” Ambrose qualified, too innocent a soul to mean anything worse. “Guys this is Sam, Sam this is my cousin Zeta, Osha, and Heather. Glad you could come, you been here before?”

“Two pints of dragon’s tail please,” Theta ordered at the bar. She dipped her hand into her purse to count out coins and one slid from her grip, falling to the floor.

“Damn it.” If the bar hadn’t been so busy she might have pulled her wand to summon it, but instead she landed her foot on the rolling coin and dipped down to retrieve it, her head almost colliding with Ace’s pint on the way back up.

“Sorry!” Theta exclaimed, glad he’d had the foresight not to let her head meet the drink. She was a little flustered for it, but perhaps more for the fact the wizard was one of the good looking types. “Someone must have hexed my coins,” she joked, smiling. “Almost ended up needing to buy you another.”

Ace looked up as he heard a female voice asking for drinks next to him and then took another drink.  He'd learned his lesson with the last black eye he'd gotten, he wasn't going to chat anyone up out of the blue anymore. 

But as she dropped a coin and went to go get it, Ace knew it would most likely end in disaster. He subtly moved his drink a little over so that when she stood back up she wouldn't knock it over.

"No problem gorgeous," Ace said before could stop himself.  "Although, I wouldn't mind having a pretty girl buy me another drink." he finished with a wink.  He had told himself that he wouldn't randomly flirt anymore, but it seemed like he couldn't stop himself.  Therefore, he figured he might as well just go with it.  "I'm Ace."

She was relieved Zeta thought it was a wicked idea for them to do some snooping later. Osha nodded along as she explained to Ambrose what the whole deal was with Calaveras. Luckily they didn't linger on the subject, because a familiar face came along to join their growing group.

            “How do you do fellow kids?”
      "“Guys this is Sam..."

"Oh yeah!" Osha exclaimed with a laugh after introduction, it finally hit her. "You were in Floriblunders recently right? Petals, I remember."

With the exception of lovey dovey secrets, florists were not sworn to confidentiality over their customers. She looked the witch up and down, as inconspicuously as she could. Didn't look any different from earlier this month; maybe Ambrose hadn't seen her for ages. Nice boots.

Osha slipped her hand through Zeta's arm, seeking that little hint of social comfort - it was silly but she hadn't expected strangers to join them tonight. It was different here, without her flowers around her. She smiled sweetly at Sam anyway.

Sam might of misheard what Ambrose was saying, she blinked briefly as she looked between the other girls at the table, they were all his cousins? She likely had misheard an extra S in there, but it was noisy so she'd keep herself quiet on the topic for now, although it wouldn't be the most extreme magical family in terms of connections.

"O-oh! Thank you!" She smiled at Ambrose as she was complimented by him, it brought a slight flush to her cheeks to be complimented so, she'd need to learn to get used to it, although she doubted she would.

She delicately crossed one leg over the other as she looked over at Osha, and gave a nervous nod towards her. "Yeah! Its been much more pleasant at home with the petals now, thank you!" She said enthusiastically as she leaned forwards at the table, it had become fun at home opening the window to let some wind in and have petals fly off the floor, she even liked to enchant the petals to hang around like the candles in the Hogwarts Great Hall.

"Oh uh, would anyone like a drink? I'll buy." She offered, she was the complete stranger here after all, it made sense to offer drinks first at the very least.

"Hey guys!" Greeted Meredith. Her birdcage earrings jangled as she came to a stop by the table. One hand clasped her bag strap. The other clasped Blake's hand as they had squeezed through the crowd. Her fingers were circled in rings as normal. She let go of her boyfriend's hand to hug and kiss her friends in turn. Giving each a compliment on their appearance.

"Anyone need a drink?" Meredith asked. Then got the feeling the girl she did not know had just asked the same. Was she Ambrose's girlfriend? "Hey. Meredith. This is Blake. Nice to meet you. You going to get drinks?" She smiled. Turned to Blake. "What did you want? Or do you want to come see?" She asked.

Contrary to popular belief, Blake did have other interests outside of Quidditch once the season had ended. The same focus and passion he had put into trying to win he had in turn put into his coursework so that he finished with decent grades (considerably better than his usual goal of straight A's). And then, he had even channeled that energy into a budding relationship with Meredith following the April visit to the museum. It turned out they had a lot of common interests that they were able to explore since school ended for the summer. Blake had been staying with his oldest brother Callum and though he did attend one quidditch camp, he was happy to let that obsession go for the rest of the vacation in lieu of some rest, relaxation and distraction.

And Meredith had been a lovely distraction. As they approached the group of their friends, Blake gave her hand a squeeze before she let go to greet everyone. He also flashed a warm smile for those he knew. He saw Ambrose and his eyes widened in surprise and he exclaimed, "Oh hey friend! Long time no see!" Blake then turned a friendly gaze to the others he may not have known well and echoed Meredith's greeting, "Nice to meet you."

When Meredith turned to him to ask about drinks, he grinned and responded, “Sure. I can come with and help carry them if you want. Unless you think they could fit in your handbag without spilling,” he teased.