Ivy waltzed into the Leaky with two women on her arm; one was Scottish Auror Constance Fallon, wearing the sort of expression one would don when going to the gallows, and the other was Auror Alexandra Eelanor, one of the coworkers whom Ivy hadn't socialized with nearly enough (probably because she had an introverted personality similar to Con's and Ivy only had so much time to spend cracking through BHL shells). She had been struck with the inspiration to kill two birds with one stone--meaning get two birds completely drunk and enabling them to get in touch with their inner socializer--at a Ministry meeting.

"And here we are!" exclaimed Ivy cheerfully. "This is called a pub. It's where people go when they want to relax. D'ye two know what the word means? Relax?" The Irishwoman joked with them as she sidled up to the bar, drew the tender's eye with a quick wave, and ordered three shots of firewhiskey. "Then again, I suppose ye would have to stop working to relax, and Maeve knows that Robards-with-the-stick-and-a-half-up-her-arse has no intention of letting any of us escape from Mount Parchmentwork any time soon."

Up went the glass and down went the drink.

"What's your name sir? I like to know who's working at the establishment before I get drunk off my arse. We're from Level 2. Brunette Hotties as they call us. And you are--Ojo the Lucky Munchkin Boy, eh?" She winked. She knew the man already and his name was certainly not Ojo the Lucky Munchkin Boy, but if she acted totally insane it was more likely that she would be able to force Alex and Con out of their comfort zones.

She had started the day by a nice round of criminal hunting in the morning, followed by a ministry meeting, followed by lunch with some fellow hit wizards, and her afternoon, like most of the people working on Level 2, had been devoted entirely to legalities. Her current behavior was not entirely a ruse. She really was in need of a stress reliever after work. Why not involve two quiet and grouchy young women in her escapades?

"Give me another one." She turned to the two with her refilled glass and declared. "Here's to work! The truth comes out when the spirit goes in, eh?" Clink clink. Drink.

Ivy was too Irish for her own good.

"Well girls, ye have to tell me. Why so quiet?"

Alexandra had spent the better half of the day trying to figure out just how Ivy had managed to convince her to go to the pub. Really- she knew how; Alexandra never said no to her co-workers, but still. Why? She was friendly enough. Perhaps a bit too edgy and always a bit quiet... but never unfriendly. Maybe a bit high strung. That had to be it. Her eyes drifted along the street as Ivy pulled her and Constance along- arm in arm. She knew what the intent was for the night and vaguely.. Alexandra wondered on the purpose.

Getting drunk meant endangering information. Countless times she'd been into a pub to get information out of someone who was drunk, and countless times.. it'd worked. So what if she got drunk? would there be someone waiting to get info out of them? Somewhere in the back of her mind, despite it all, she concluded to be careful. Or at least- start the evening out as such. She'd never drank in her life and in some way.. she wondered what it was like.

"I.. Know hat a pub is. And relax. I do it all the time." That was a lie, but an unimportant one. They entered, she smiled sheepishly at the crowd, and sat down at the bar. The shots came and she stared down at the liquid as if in just moments it'd jump to attack.

"Parchement isn't so bad. I mean.. the important stuff- it has to-" she followed suit with Ivy, and downed the liquid. Half expecting something that tasted like soda or apple juice, judging by the color.

It didn't. Fire Whiskey- she realized in just miliseconds why it was called such. In a sudden burst of noise that wasn't often heard from Alexandra, she coughed hard and held back any commentary on just how aweful the stuff tasted. Instead, she listened to Ivy accoste the man and said nothing; though there was the trace of a smile on her features. Another round came and she floowed after Ivy despite better judgement.

"To work." the comment was soft and this time.. she didn't cough up a lung in response to the liquid.


"Well girls, ye have to tell me. Why so quiet?"

"well-" She started to explain, but then stopped. Nervously her brown eyes leveled over their surroundings before, seeing the oppertunity with the empty glasses, she raised her hand, mimicking Ivy's orders. The shots came and she swallowed it back.

"Lets just enjoy the evening. No work." No work? From Alexandra? Surely the liquor was already beginning to take affect.

Drinking in public never worked out very well for Constance. She didn't ever go out with friends because she'd never really had any friends since graduation, so she was either out on a date or by herself. If the first scenario, she would inevitably get annoyed with the poor loon and pound them back to make spending time with him easier, or she would embarrass herself by trying to be womanly and pound them back to drown her shame all the faster. If she was by herself, she pounded them back so that she didn't look foolish sitting alone doing nothing. Either way, hours later she would end up very drunk, significantly poorer and usually without someone to help her home. She'd almost splinched herself on more than occasion from being too drunk.

She had tried to explain all this to Ivy when the woman first proposed this girls' night at the pub. As usual, Ivy had shot down every single excuse she tried. Eventually, Constance conceded (as she'd known she would from the beginning; there was no arguing with Ivy). Part of her thought it might have been sort of a nice change anyway. Ivy was the closest thing Con had to a girlfriend; there was always Will, she supposed, but he was always more worried about taking care of the Scotswoman than anything else. Besides, he was too busy ruling the world these days; she hardly ever saw him.

Alexandra was someone that Constance had known of for quite a long time without actually knowing her. The girl was a year younger than Constance herself, but like Con she'd gone right into the Ministry. Constance recalled being furious at Alexandra when she'd been accepted into the Auror training program a year after Con joined the department as a secretary. The Scotswoman had maintained a mild dislike for the girl since then, although it had dissipated substantially during Con's own training and afterward. There had been too many other things to focus on; and besides, Alexandra was good at her job and didn't bother anyone, which was enough to make Con a little more partial to her.

"This is called a pub."

"Oh, I know what a pub is, Ivy," Constance said, shaking her head. There was a small part of Constance that wanted to challenge Ivy to a drinking contest, just to see which of them could hold their liquor better. Ivy seemed the obvious choice, being older and taller, but Constance was a binge drinker; she did her best work all in the span of a few hours. It would certainly have been an interesting thing to behold, but Con would have felt bad leaving Alex to clean it all up without really knowing her.

She chuckled appreciatively at Ivy's jab at Sofia and the constant paperwork she was mucking the department up with. When her shot came, she picked it up and downed it in one smooth motion. She gave her head one quick shake, her dark hair bouncing with the movement, and signaled the bartender. She grinned cheekily at Ivy.

"I'm in fer a long night meself," she said. "How's about ye?"

"Parchment isn't so bad. I mean.. the important stuff- it has to-"

"Don't let it touch yer tongue," Constance said helpfully to Alex as she tried not to laugh at the girl's expression. "And dinna try to defend Robards. She isn't worth it. She's boggin' us down with all these fecking rules because she's scared to go out and actually ruffle any feathers. Bloody control freak is what she is..."

Con's scowl dripped off her face as her words faded and she stared ruefully at the shelves of glasses on the other side of the bar. Her second shot came and she downed it. Was it so hard to be sympathetic to Sofia? She was in a terribly difficult position. Con didn't know if she would have been able to handle it, should she have been made Head of the Department. Sofia was probably just doing the best that she could. Con fish-mouthed for a moment, trying to find the acceptable combination of words to express that verbally.

But she couldn't.

"Ach, nevermind. No work is right. No work and no work-related rants," she said, raising her glass to meet Ivy's.

"Well girls, ye have to tell me. Why so quiet?"

"I'm not quiet, Ivy; I just talk less than ye do," Constance said, winking at her friend.