“Um… I think we’re supposed to socialize with other people. You know what? We can try to mimic people… see? They talk, drink, gently intrude others’ conversation, ah… Ladies keep their eyes on other ladies’ dresses; gentlemen keep their eyes on this as well, but not with the same intention. It’s crazy, isn’t it?”

"Yeah... crazy..." He echoed, finding it hard not to let his own eyes stray to the neckline of her dress. The soft silver fabric contrasted nicely with the peachy tones of the skin underneath, making the shadows playing across her delicate clavicle and the curve of her cleavage even more pronounced. Suddenly his throat felt very dry. He coughed a little and forced himself to look away. If only he had a drink or something to eat, anything to hide his flushed cheeks.

“Let’s start drinking something. I think it’s too antipathetic to keep our hands free…”

"Oh thank merlin, yes... I mean..." His cheeks turned into tomatoes as he stuttered quickly, "... Y...Yes, that sounds...uh... dandy." Wow, could he be any more socially inept? Her sliding her arm into his and dragging him towards the bar did little to help the problem, in fact, the closeness made him so flustered that he nearly tripped and dragged them both to the floor. Adding alcohol to this would likely just make things worse, especially considering he was a lightweight for his size, but he was willing to try it. Maybe it would let him loosen up a bit.

"Uh... um... what's... good?" He asked the bartender, not really certain what to order. Then he saw a selection of wines and sighed in relief. Wine was simple, he learned a lot about it growing up with an Italian mother, but liquor wasn't normally in his repartee. "Never mind... I will take a glass of merlot" Taking a sip and swishing it around in his mouth like he learned from his mum, Sid nodded in appreciation "Good year. I will take a bottle... U..unless you would rather something other than wine?" He added hastily to Una, realizing how presumptuous he was being.

"Oh thank merlin, yes... I mean... Y...Yes, that sounds...uh... dandy."

For a moment Una thought she should have been boring him to dead for all the enthusiasm he showed at the mention of drinking. But that didn't make sense.... right? They had a good time a week before and the night was only beginning, he couldn't be that desperate to get rid of her yet. Then he got a little nervous when she grabbed his arm and she loosed her hand a little, feeling awkward. Maybe she just shouldn't have done that.

Once in the bar, she stood by his side a step away, though, wary. Suddenly Sid got really confident, tasting the wine with so property and ordering a whole bottle of it that Una looked at him blushing. That was strange... well, maybe he just really really enjoyed a good wine. But the old Sid came back quickly.

“U..unless you would rather something other than wine?”

“No... no, absolutely... wine sounds really... nice.” She said uncertain, almost stuttering for so many minutes only watching and thinking. Silly of her. Una shook her head and smiled, trying to come back to her old self too. At least her old self with him, a little more comfortable and sure. “A bottle and two glasses.” She confirmed, nodding to the bartender.

“No... no, absolutely... wine sounds really... nice.”

Oh merlin, this was horribly awkward. It was nothing like their dinner date the other night and Sid kinda regretted coming. Not because of her... If he could do anything else with her, like a movie date or something, he would be happy. It was being stuck in a place like this, looking silly in front of people he didn't know or didn't like... that was what he regretted. When he accepted the wine, he noted that his hand was shaking as he poured both of them a glass. Great, she probably thought he was a wimp for being so stressed out about a silly dance.

They stood there for what seemed like a long time, sipping their wine, in silence. He waited patiently for it to affect him, rocking back and forth on his heels, until he couldn't stand it any longer. They had to get out of here before this entire date was ruined. Taking one more drink, for courage, he turned to her and finally broke the silence "... Wanna get out of here? I know of a place nearby that is a bit more... um... interesting? At least for people like us..."

Una didn't really notice his shaking hands, she was too airy trying to think about something to break the ice. It was good to be with Sid, more than she expected some weeks ago, but be with him in the front of so many people was definitely strange. She took the glass, looked around vacantly, but each pair of eyes that she only felt staring at her was so full of judgmental tone that she retracted behind the wine; sipping it sheepishly. Naturally, that could be only an impression and the truth was that no one was actually seeing her, still she felt as she was bothering people, standing there so quietly and idly.

Her eyes turned to Sid, that seemed to be more retracted than her. She hoped at the beginning that maybe he could help her on that. Wrong thought – he was as frightened as she was with unknown people. Then he suddenly took another drink and turned to her.

"... Wanna get out of here? I know of a place nearby that is a bit more... um... interesting? At least for people like us..."

“Shouldn't we...” try? Really? No, he was so right. For the sake of everyone involved. Una shook her head and grabbed his arm again, forgetting how uncomfortable he got when she first did that. “Never mind, let's go Sid.” She said, raising her head and looking at his eyes for a second, what made she laugh about how silly they both were. Lovingly silly. She wouldn't feel so good doing something that would genuinely make her feel better if she were with someone sociable and confident. With no more words, she pulled him away, even not knowing if she was heading the right direction to where he suggested to take her.

"But of course you can, m'lady Alethea."

Oh, he was one of those over-polite wizards; and she quietly held a laugh behind her glass when Dorian called her m’lady again. Pretty charming on the first time, but it wouldn’t work for the whole night. Her eyes rolled to his while a remaining hint of grin still played on her lips. “Then you should call me just Alethea, please.” She whispered to him with discretion, not wanting to interfere on Sissel’s explanation.

"It's a transfiguration-aided enchantment process or something, a bit more complex then when they train post owls. The Menagerie rarely makes more rabbit-top-hats, I think this chap was a rescue from some bloke who pulled an 'illusionist' stunt and performed actual magic in front of muggles as a stage magician. As for keeping my head warm, he is warm and fuzzy,  but I hope he doesn't keep it steaming warm if you catch my drift."

“Oh, gross…” she wrinkled her nose in a humorous way. “Feed him well, Sissel, I wish the best for your head!” With all about the rabbit, ah… clean, and with half of her glass empty; Alethea was able to find the pet a little more cute. But she still didn’t want to put her hand on it. Instead, she took another sip of her drink.

“So, everyone here is from Level Nine, right? And I assume I can’t ask about your work… well, work is the less pleasant subject to have in a beautiful night like this, anyway.” Or something she was trying to forget, between the walls of the Ministry. Oh, so hard… “So tell me something good about you guys; I don’t really know any of you very well.” She said with an open smile on her face. Some could have chills when dealing with Unspeakables, but Thea found then quite interesting. By the end she looked at Francis, noticing he was a little away and, with curiosity, she looked around but without a hint to find out where was his focus. Nothing of her business anyway.

“Then you should call me just Alethea, please.”

Her smile was tolerant, and not just a disguise for worse feelings, for which Dorian was deeply grateful. "As you wish, Alethea, and thanks for telling me", he whispered back under his breath. It was a seldom occurrence that people were so nice to him when he made a fool of himself, so his hopes for these social Ministry gatherings were getting higher by the minute.

As Alethea responded to Sissel, Dorian flagged down a waiter and tipped him a galleon to tell the bartender that he was asking for his finest whiskey: the stash Dorian had specifically asked him to order, and took a scotch from his tray in the meantime.

“So tell me something good about you guys; I don’t really know any of you very well.”

Dorian mulled over what to say and what not to, and settled for the highlights: "Well, I recently came back from a decade of travel and research, and was so fortunate as to keep working with trying to understand the magic that our world possesses."  It was difficult not being able to tell everyone everything about his work, especially seeing as how proud he was.