Albus sat at the counter inside of the warm, crowded pub. The noise level was the same, firewhiskey removed the restrains most people had on their minds, normally, letting their thoughts flow out at a high rate.
In front of him, was a mountain of bottles, most his. Changing between burping and hiccuping, he drank the last part of his butterbeer, and sat it down at the counter. Looking around dizzily, his mind wavered as he had problems holding his balance on top of the tall bar stool.
" ONE... Bhutterbheer... " He said, holding a galleon up, aiming slowly for the bartenders hand.
Albus was dhrunk.
Stacey rolled her eyes and closed her fingers around her galleon. Her shift had just started, and she came in seeing a tipsy Albus wavering on his stool.
"Albus, how many of these are yours?" She asked slowly and clearly. She waved her hand and all of the empty bottles were swept from the room and to the garbage. The floor swept itself, and everything was straightened. Her boss didn`t really care what the place looked like, but she did. She pulled her hair back, away from her face, and prepared herself for a long night.
Albus looked up, and smiled.
" Hejjo!!!!!!!!! " He exclaimed, whilst he clumsily climbed over the counter and embraced Stacey.
" Twu tjirds!" whispered Al, giggling. Looking at all he'd drunk, he laughed.
Struggling to keep balance on the hardwood floor, he sat down, tired and stinking of alcohol.
Stacey sighed and patted Albus on the shoulder. Albus reeked worse than a lot of her normal people.
"Come on, Albus, drink this." She set a small glass in front of him. It was lemon water, ice cold, and tasted absolutely disgusting after alcohol. She leaned against the counter, sipping on her own butterbeer. She wasn`t allowed to get drunk while she was working, obviously, but she could have one or two.
Albus took the glass and sipped. " EWWWW! " He nearly shouted, as he threw the glass away, breaking it.
" Why arh yhou fheeding me tis cowsit? " Aggravated, he laid down tired on the floor from exhaustion, it was impossible to stay awake, at least in the state he was in now.
Slowly, he fell asleep, in the chatter of the pub.
(( You fast-forward it to the end of your shift, waking me up :p :D ))
((Hyper, much?))
Stacey wiped off the counter, putting the loose strands of hair behind her ear. The light coming in the windows was lighter now, and she knew that morning was coming. She had ushered everyone out, except the sleeping Albus.
"Good morning, little bird. Sing your sweet song. Good morning, morning bird. Wake to you little song." She sank with a grin. Her tone was perfect, but loud. Loud enough to wake up someone who would have a killer hangover.
The light hit his eyes, and his head hurt like hell. Slowly opening his eyes, song hit his ears.
" The f are you singing about.....? " Slowly getting up and the floor, he sat, eyes half closed, rubbing his eyes. " What happened? " He asked confused, as he looked around, tousling his hair, whilst yawning.
Head throbbing, he looked up at Stacey, only glimpsing her outline through half closed eyes.
(( Not at all!!!! :D :) ))
((You sure?))
Stacey smiled, turning to wipe off of the tables.
"Oh, just a little song." She replied, knowing that Albus wasn`t all the way there yet. "I find that if fits to sing when you`re trying to wake someone up." She finished the last table and walked back behind the counter, pulling off her apron that marked her as staff.
(( You reply fast :D :D :D :D :D :D :D I luffs dat. ))
Albus got up, sighing.
" When did you start working here? " His voice was rusty, dry and talking made a rattling sound deep down in Albus' chest.
Finding himself a glass, he filled it with water from behind the counter. The water bottles was surprisingly completely full, as free water didn't seem to tempt the customers at the Three Broomsticks.
Slowly sipping the ice cold water, he put the glass back on the counter again, sighing.
Stacey poured herself a glass of water.
"About a month ago, actually. I guess I forgot to tell you the last time I saw you. Never relly saw reason to, I guess." She took a larg egulp of the water, grimmacing as the water hurt her teeth.
"It`s nice to see you. Haven`t seen a lot of people after graduation."
" Yeah, the only ones I've seen is you, and Jessie. " Albus said quietly, slowly waking up.
Filling his glass yet once again with water, he drank it all, softening his soar throat up. Looking down at his hands, he moved his fingers slowly, amused by the movement.
" Want to ditch this place since you're done with work? "
Stacey shook her head and grinned sadly.
"I`m not done with work yet. I have to stay until four." She looked out the window, trying to caculate the angle of the sun from inside the dismal building.
" Loooseeeerrr " He smiled faintly, as he looked over to Stacey.
" So much has happened! It's just weird to think how different we were couple o'years ago..! " Remembering old memories, he snickered, he'd been stupid back then. His eyes wandered around the walls, out the windows, this place brought such a nostalgic tone to Albus, he had problems drowning in the faint memories.
Stacey grinned again.
"Four is in about three minutes." She said, satisfied with her time reading. Astronomy had been one of her best subjects.
"And yes, so much has happened." She sighed. She had gotten married, moved into a house with Aiden, and had gotten a job. Things were very different, indeed.
(May I join this?)
((No. She`s having a moment, and Albus is like a brother. She doesn`t get to see him that often, and she`d just about kill you if you walked into her bar at four in the morning.))
" IT'S FOUR ALREADY??!?!?! I thought it was 12 PM or something... "
Yawning, he searched for a clock, and right behind him he found one. " Time goes incredibly fast when you're drunk! " Chuckling lightly he fished his wand out from his pocket, and pointed it at himself. " Scourgify! " The foul odors disappeared, the grease left his hair, and his clothes tidied themselves.
" Where should we go? " He asked as the clock inched closer to four.
((http://www.youtub e.com/watch?v=ushnjcnSZtQ&feature=channel ))
((Youtube doesn`t work on my computer. I don`t have the flashplayer, and it takes way to long to download.))
Stacey shrugged, finishing her water. "I don`t know, where`s there to go at four in the morning?" She asked, pointing her finger at herself and mentally doing the same spell that Albus just did. He was close enough to her to be able to absorb his power. Their powers combined gave her enough to not need a wand, and she didn`t have to say the spells out loud anymore, either.
" Take a walk? " Albus suggested, thinking of taking a walk inside the school grounds.
(( It's two HP fans who walk around asking for their horcruxes :D :D " Have you seen my horcrux? Without it, I cannot be immortal! " :P ))
((Look up Harry Potter and Ooh, Something Shiney.))
Stacey nodded.
"Sure." She agreed. A walk sounded nice after being cramped in this dank place. It didn`t exactly smell nice, and it was cramped after a while.
" Then follow me retard! " Albus said snickering while he walked out of the door.
It was dark outside, and a red sun was rising from the tall mountains. Heading for the school grounds, he smiled, as his head throbbed.
" I'm stupid. "
Stacey laughed and followed Albus out the door. The air that hit her was fresh, and she took a deep breath of it.
"Yeah, you are, but it`s okay." She teased, pushing his shoulder lightly.
" But the thing is that you're dumber than me " He said, smiling.
" Then you're super stupid! " Albus said, as they approached the school gates.
Stacey rolled her eyes.
"Albus, are you sure that you`re not still drunk?" She asked teasingly, messing his hair up with her hand.
"Because if you`re calling me stupid, you have to be pretty stupid."
" H A N G O V E R " Albus exclaimed, walking into school grounds.
" How much did I actually drink tonight? " He asked curiously
Stacey tilred her head, thinking.
"Easily twelve mugs." She replied, trying to count the empty mugs that had been in front of Albus last night.
" Oh." Albus said surprised.
" Well, I can't remember a s.hit.! It's all foggy. Did I embarrass myself more than usual? "
Stacey grinned suddenly, her eyes flashing green.
"No more than usual." She teased. They were getting close to the trees, and were soon under their cool shade.
(( Sowiez, I'm going to bed! Or, I'm to tired to RP more atleast! :) It's 4AM here :) ))
Albus smiled as his eyes flashed around.
It'd been a while since he'd been in the school grounds the last time, but the memories was clear as water.
" It's such a long time since I've been here! " He remarked, feeling a joyful emotion struggling to top his hangover, failing miserably.
This hangover was a f*****
Stacey nodded in agreement, running her hand over the trees as she passed them. She used to be in the forest all the time, and now it felt like she was coming home.
"I used to love this place. It was never crouded in here. Everyone was scared to be here." She smiled. This was supposed to be off-limits to students, but a if the teachers found the more powerful and mature ones, they usually didn`t freak.
((How old is Albus?))
(( Dunno, don't really care, since it's really confusing with the ages, since you jumped forth. :) ))
Albus nodded, as he passed a particular tree he could remember better than the rest. Touching it, memories streamed, as he remembered his and Jessie's first kiss.
Building up his mental walls, he didn't want to spill his thoughts to Stacey. " I remember I was trying to be cool by taking one step at a time into the forest, with audience " Albus remarked chuckling, he'd been such a fool then.
Stacey grinned. She hadn`t seen his thoughts, and she didn`t try to. Ever since they had first met and that... incident had happened, she made sure to block out his thoughts. She felt obligated to, after forcing answers out of him. That hadn`t been right, and she regretted it, but people made mistakes.
"Yeah, I remember that." She replied. "I think I was about a mile further into the trees that day. You guys were really loud." She teased.
Albus laughed, " Well, I gained some galleons that day, since they bet that I wouldn't dare to go deeper in. " He grinned happily, remembering all the memories in this dark forest.
" Well, you have to admit it is a great training place! "
"The best." She agreed. She had learned a lot about her powers her, and had comfort in familiar area. There was little of the forest that she hadn`t been in.
"Have I ever shown you the fireproof clearing?"
" A clearing that's fireproof?! It's rare enough with a clearing in this forest! " Albus exclaimed.
" Can you show it to me?" He asked whilst he smiled.
Stayed smiled and nodded, gently hitting his arm before dashing off in a certain direction. She knew exactly how to get there, of course.
"Come on." She said happily, now weaving through the trees at a full sprint.
Albus followed quickly, spurting.
Forming ice skates down at his feet, a road of ice opened before his feet, as he quickly gained speed, and surpassed Stacey.
" L o s e r "
Stacey grinned and rolled her eyes, shooting a stream of heat if front of her-- and Albus. The ice melted quickly, the ice becoming water and seeping into the ground.
"Who`s the loser now?" She asked, suddenly appearing right in front of her friend, and not moving.
" Not me! " Albus shouted behind her, as he'd teleported himself right behind her. A small ice shard was floating mid air, it was his source of transportation. Make something of ice, and teleport there.
Again, he disappeared, as he made hundreds of different ice shards all around the small area.
Stacey sighed and heat exploded through the area.
"You know, if you take about five steps south, you`ll be in the clearing." She said loudly, knowing that he would hear her. "And I know how to transport, too." She added in a soft undertone.
Albus snickered, as he rebuilt his empire of icy islands. ((haha))
Then, he teleported to the clearing, and being as childish as he had been created, he created a castle of ice.
Standing at the top of a tower, he enormous snowball, right at Stacey.
( I'm tired, OKAY?!?!?! I lieks being randoms =) ))
"Albus, dear," Stacey chided, "You should know by now that you can`t throw snow at me, and make it hit. First, I can see when you`re going to try and attack me, and second, my biggest power is fire." She snapped her fingers and flames danced around the large clearing.
Albus sweared, regretting for a brief second that he'd given up his water and wind powers. But, as he thought at what he'd gained, he forgot his former powers, and focused on the one he had in his hands now.
" But, you know that fire can't live without oxygen! " Albus bellowed from the top of the tower, as he clapped his hands, and all of the dancing flames were engulfed with cold ice.
Stacey moved her feet apart slightly, so she was balanced perfectly. She put one hand in front of the other, then swept them over the clearing. A heavy wind wiped around the clearing, and a hot rain added to it, the water falling everywhere except over Albus and Stacey herself. It was boiling hot, and she didn`t want to hurt him, after all.
"Come on, Albus. You can do better than that."
" THIS IS UNFAIR! You have several elements! " Albus shouted, as his castle was melting down to the ground.
As he landed on the ground, he realized, that since he had one element, and Stacey had several, his overall control would be better.
Raising his palms to chest hight, hundreds of icy shards appeared before him, all aiming at Stacey.
" Dodge this! " Albus exclaimed, as he laughed evily, and shot out all of the shards.
Stacey laughed and put one hand on her hip. The wind and rain stopped, but a strong flow of heat was radiating from her.
"And we`re close enough to the school where I can absorb the powers I don`t normally have." She grinned. Sometimes being able to absorb other people`s powers could be so much fun.
Albus cursed again, more loudly.
" Freaking omnipotent biatch! " Smiling, he knew he wasn't going to give up soon, hell would freeze before that happened.
With his palms still at chest hight, he resumed his conjuring. In front of him, liquid ice (YUP!) appeared. Manipulating it into a longsword, he charged right at Stacey, gripping the sword with both hands tightly.
Stacey sighed.
"When will you ever learn, Albus?" She asked, pushing her hands together and pulling them apart quickly. Pure energy exploded from her, but only a small amount. Only enough to push Albus backwards, not to hurt him otherwise. She did still like him, after all. He wasn`t completely annoying.
" Well, the only thing that I can learn is that y o u s u c k! " Albus laughed manically, as he jumped to the air and lifted his ice cold sword.
Devilishly clever as he was, Albus let his powers loose, as a cold gust spread through the forest. His sword grew in size, as he swung it down at Stacey, trying to get the darn woman to react, and try to hurt him so that he could defend himself and show her that he was better than her.
Albus smiled.
The air warmed to over a hundred degrees. The blade would melt, no matter how strong the bearer was. It had to. No ice could withstand that.
"Come on." She teased. "You used to taunt me all the time, and now it`s quite fun to be able to make it backfire to you."
Albus felt his sword melting out of his hands, as he sighed.
" Must I go Tae-Kwon-do on you? " He asked, as he went into the formal battle pose, rocking back and forth whilst waiting for her reply.
Stacey grinned.
"Not if you don`t want me to shove a knive through your leg." She grinned. "I`ve done martial arts before, my friend."
Albus suddenly sat down, tiredness reaching his feet. " But I'm much better! ! ! " He exclaimed childishly, as he folded his arms, grunting loudly.
Stacey sat down beside Albus.
"So? I absorb your power. If someone stronger than me tries to hit me, I`ll gain strenght in a split second." She tried to explain. "I gain power from everything. Thanks to Rhyme, I have a little bard magic, so even the trees give me power."
(( If you haven't read my FF, then go do itz :) It's terrible, I kkkknow. ))
" But, there is a limit to what you can gain! A power can not be omnipotent! " Albus said, quickly. " If I went all the way with my powers, using my hidden spells, body transformations, and even unleash the monster that lies inside of me, then you can't handle it all! "
Lowering his voice Albus continued, " I haven't shared this with anyone, but an apocalypse is coming. Slowly. And the monster inside of me is the thing that's going to stop the whole thing. But, it's not just me, there's more people that has the same abilities as I do, but they have different elements! So, my final conclusion is, THAT I OWN YOU ! " Albus smiled, whilst he winked at Stacey.
" I don't know why, but fate has been bad to me... "
(( I bet you don't get most of tis, I don't care, 'cause I'm tired :( ))
((REad mine.))
Stacey winced. Albus had no idea what she had been through.
"Do you know how hard it is for me to go through the day? When I worked at the Ministry, I couldn`t stand it. I had the worst headaches every day, and when I came back to school, I could hardly move. There are bad side effects, but I`m getting better. Rhyme has helped me a lot. His powers hurt, because they are different. I`ve been spending some time with him, helping him out, and it`s been tough. Sometimes it feels like I`m being electricuted, other times it feels like I`ll be immoble forever." She said softly.
"Sometimes I hate the powers that I have. I wish I could be normal. Unfortunatly, my father has made that impossible. His brother, my uncle, is the one that`s been trying to invade my mind. It takes the strongest sheilds I can muster to keep him out, and even then he can reach my dreams. You don`t know how tough it is for me to keep all of my monsters in the dark. It`s really hard sometimes, especially when I`m mad."
" Well, what can you really do? I know for sure, that you'll turn happy, and get rid of your uncle. Someone like you pull through it. You're like Ginny. I can't see you losing it all. Even how tough it is, you'll pull through and have a good life afterwards, that, I do not doubt one second. " Albus smiled kindly, whilst he looked over at Stacey.
" That hangover sure did go over quickly after you beat some sense into me! " Albus exclaimed laughing.
" Who would've thought that Invade-your mind-Stacey would actually become somewhat of a strong woman! "
(Can I please join this??)
(( Too late. ))
Stacey laughed.
"Albus, I can`t believe how awesome you are." She was grinning again. "You`re strong, too, but you don`t have anywhere for you`re strengt to go. You`re lucky that way. You don`t have anything forced upon you." Her smile turned into a frown and she looked to the ground, her eyes darkening slightly to a more chocolate-colored brown.
"I really am sorry." She knew that he would know what she meant, but would he awknowledge it?
Albus smiled.
" You have fortune hidden in bad fortune! You are lucky, that you have something to push you! I am lazy. And things have always fallen into my hands, most of the time. I could've been much stronger if I'd worked harder, but I don't see a personal goal in it, as I already have strong enough powers! " Chuckling lightly, he realized that talking to Stacey brought out his deeper side. After all, they were a bit like siblings.
" And it's nothing to be sorry for! We all have our mistakes! Seriously, don't you think I've done stupid mistakes? Ha! " Albus giggled, as he looked up at the dark blue sky, the roof of his world. A warm feeling spread from his stomach, as he realized how fortunate he'd been in his life.
Stacey rolled her eyes, smiling.
"Albus, if I hadn`t been pushed by everything, I would have been crushed under my own power. If your powers suddenly exploded, you would have to deal with it, or die." Her eyes locked on his again, her irises a serious grey. "And it came with so many disabilities, too. Sometimes I wish that I didn`t have any decent powers at all."
" But one day, you'll thank God himself that you're as gifted as you are ! " Albus said sincerely.
" Can you think of a Stacey without the powers you withhold today? I sure as hell can't! " He stated, as he made a small ice cube in his hand, and put it into his mouth. His throat became moist, as he gently sucked on the hard piece of ice.
" It's like thinking about me without my blue skin! " Albus said, drawing comparisons.
Stacey couldn`t help but smile. Albus could always make her grin, whether purposely or not.
"Yeah, but if you didn`t have blue skin, you might be halfway, normal, so it`s kinda hard to tell." She tilted her head, her eyes lightening again to a sweet brown.
But she also couldn`t help and think of how she would be without all of her powers. Without fire, she knew that she would be lost. She didn`t know where she`d be. But what if she couldn`t absorb everything? She would still be more powerful than most people her age. By now, she was at least twice as powerful as a normal student, of not more. Rhyme was the one outlire.
" Well, we are actually talking about me, so it's hard to know ! " Albus said, chuckling loudly.
It was impossible for him not to be in a good mood when he was with Stacey, they knew how to bring out the best of each other, even though sometimes they fought seriously.
Randomly, Albus jumped on a completely other topic, as his curiosity about the topic had been pirked lately.
" Are you expecting? " Albus asked, whilst he snickered.
Stacey had been smiling at the ground, but when ALbus asked her the question-- that question-- her eyes were instantly on his againm wide and electric green. They flushed pink as she blushed.
"I-- no. I mean... no." She stammered, looking down at the ground and pulling up grass nervously. No one had actually asked her that question. Yeah, she had been asked if she wanted to have kids... someday. But not if she was expecting. Coming from Albus, she knew he was curious, but also wanted her reaction. She cleared her throat after a minute, then slowly looked back to the boy who felt like her brother.
"Not... yet. I... I`m not trying, but, just... someday." Her cheeks were bright pink, and her eyes matched.
Albus laughed cheerily at her embarrassment.
" I'm just kidding with you! " Albus shouted, as he couldn't stop laughing.
Laying down on the ground, he heaved for air, as he had laughed himself several years extra of his life.
(( Bad formulation :/ ))
Stacey threwthe grass she had riped up at Albus.
"I hate you sometimes. You know?" She teased, making sure that the grass landed right on his face.
((Yay! Short post!))
" I like grass! " Albus opened his mouth, and caught most of it in his mouth as he started to chow the foul tasting green straws.
" It's really tasteful! And LOTS of good fibers! " Starting to laugh, he put up his thump, as an approval for eating grass.
"Everybody that doesn't eat grass, is such LOSERS! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! " Albus bellowed as he swallowed the grass in his mouth, burping in 'delight', all to tease Stacey.
Stacey laughed and sent a spout of water right into his laughing mouth.
"I though you might need something to wash down those delicious green fibers." She said innocently, batting her eyelashes.
" Of course! " Albus mumbled, as the water fell right into his open mouth, making him gurgle.
Sitting up, he asked. " Are you trying to drown me, beach? "
Stacey kept up her innocent appearance.
"Why no, Albus, dear." She said in a high voice, then sighed.
"Short people: last to get rained on, first to drown." She said, a happy grin flashing across her face.
(( I didn't understand that :( Explain to me ploxzorz? :D ))
((Fixed.))
(( OOOH!!! I gotz it ;) ))
Albus laughed at her joke, grinning cheerfully.
" You know what the Irish man said when lightning was flashing over the sky, and he stood in window? " He asked.
Impersonating an Ire, " Oh noes, those photographers have come again! " Albus laughed, as his smile stretched from ear to ear.
Stacey snorted.
"Okay, Albus. Whatever you say." She said, staring off into the trees. The darkness under them looked cold, and it was nice out here in the sun.
" Why didn't you laugh at my brilliant joke?!?! " Albus asked, his smile never fainting.
" It was marvelous! " He exclaimed, looking her in the eyes.
Stacey had to laugh. She just had to. His expression was the real reason, though.
"Fine, I`m laughing." She said as she giggled, her eyes flashing blue.
" Good! 'Cause you have a good reason, too! " Albus chuckled at his own stupidity. His throat was dry, and his head was heavy.
" I'm soooo tired! " Albus said, as he struggled to keep his eye lids open. Sleep was so tempting.
Stacey laughed again.
"Well, if you hadn`t drank two dozen butterbeers last night, maybe you might not have a hangover." She teased.
Stacey's words swept past him, in his ears it was only distant sounds he heard.
Grunting, Albus slowly laid down, and sighed. " Good night Stacey.... "
Stacey rolled her eyes once more and stood up to stand over Albus.
"Hey, you. Wake up." She lifted her hand threatening over his face.
(( =( ))
Albus ignored her, still lying still.
" I don't wanna! " He mumbled grumpily.
Stacey sighed and dropped her hands to her sides.
"Okay, then." She said cheerfully before sitting on Albus`s stomach. She didn`t weigh much. What weight she did have came from her strong muscles.