A quiet drink

Hades, cane in hand wondered in the bar for a little pick me up before going into Diagon Alley to pick up a few things. He made his way over to the bar. "I'll have a firewhiskey please mate." He said to the bartender dropping a few knuts on the bar. He slowly glanced around the room, it was a quiet pub today hardly anyone was there. Noticing there was no one there he sat on one of the bar seats and waited for his drink. He began to think of the lessons he should be planning and wondered what the new first years would be like.

Two firewhiskey's later someone tapped him on the shoulder. "Yes?" He asked turning to see who had stopped his train of thought.

Briony slowly walked into the Leaky she didn't really know what she had let herself in for becoming a Professor at Hogwarts, of course it was something that she had always dreamed of doing but now that she was so close to achieving her dreams she didn't know if she would be able to complete them. Like so many think before they take that leap.

As she took a seat at the bar she smiled a small smile and tapped Hades gently on the shoulder, of course they had met before, she had an interview with him in order to get the positions at Hogwarts and she thought it might be a good chance to get to know the man better.

"Hello Hades." Briony muttered quietly

He turned to see one of the professors he had interviewed a while ago. He tried to think of her name but nothing sprung to mind so he took a wild guess and said "Briony, right?" He asked before taking another swig of his drink. "You all sorted for the new term? Those kids can be tricky, you just need to be firm with them, show them who's boss." He said giving her a little tip.


He nodded over to the back door leading to the alleyway and Diagon Alley. "So you just passing through or did you just come in for a drink?"

Briony smiled, at least he remembered her name, it was a good thing. It meant that she had at least made a good impression upon the Headmaster which would lead to a more happy working environment, she probably would have been a little hurt had he not remembered her.

Swiftly she took a seat next to him with a gracious smile, ordering a butterbeer from the bartender and sipping it gently. She looked carefully at the headmaster, trying to get the measure of him, to the eye he seemed like a very upright nice man but Briony had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't as nice as he seemed. He was a Malfoy after all.

"I'm intending to have a drink, I would say, I'm intending to have a good indulge before I have to go to Hogwarts but that wouldn't be very professional." Briony smiled "Oh yes, I expect that they would be very tricky but I'm sure I can handle them!"

Hades looked on at the beer pumps his mind elsewhere as she sat down and ordered a butterbeer. He listened briefly as she talked to him, but his mind was elsewhere, with the order.

"Yes thats usually the best way to start off the school year." He said downing the rest of his drink and ordering another one. He tapped his hand on the bar and pointed at his drink when the barman looked over. "I know i wouldn't of hired you otherwise. Teaching is not for the weak. Those kids need to be shown what is right and wrong, and we're the ones to show them." He said finally looking over to her, his face serious. "What are your opinions on the ministry?" He asked wondering whether he could trust her or not. He watched her face for any emotions that could give her away.

Briony drank the rest of her drink and listened to Hades talk, she liked the way he spoke he seemed to have a sort of eloquence to his speech that lots of people didn't have these days. She nodded occasionally to let him know she was still listening.

Her ears perked up when she heard him ask what she thought of the Ministry, her eyes narrowed, she wasn't sure this was the right place and the right situation to be discussing that, after all she didn't know what side Hades was on...what if he was light and told the Ministry of her beliefs? No way. Too risky.

"I don't believe this is the right place to discuss it, I wouldn't trust my inner beliefs to even my most personal friend after all, you don't know who you can trust these days. What would you have said, had I asked it of you?"

Briony finished her butterbeer and ordered another.

He laughed at her answer, she was different. Most people would have fallen for that trick and told him exactly what they thought. but not her. "I would have said exactly the same as you. There are not many people who think like us Briony, people like us need to stick together." He said bringing his laughter to an end as he said that last sentence.

"Tom. Is there a spare room in the back?" He asked gesturing for Tom to come closer so he wouldn't be over heard. "Do you mind if we go somewhere a little quieter?" He asked quietening his voice. "You never know who's going to be listening." He said scanning the room slowly with his eyes.

Briony smirked, she knew that he would understand her point of view, she thought that he was that type of man and that he wouldn't have wanted to tell her either. After all, what were they to each other really? Only co-workers, there was no trust there.

As she heard him ask Tom for another room she laughed a little, he sure seemed determined to know her perception on things...maybe she should be wary, was he trying to get her to trust him, so that she would tell him her plans then use the privacy of that room to kill her? She shook her head, surely it wouldn't be good to distrust the man even if she had reason too. It might cause offence.

Tome showed them to the empty room and Briony took out her wand and performed silencing charms on the room, she didn't want anyone eavesdropping at the door. She perched on the window sill so the light shone around her casting a shadow on the floor.

"So, what is all this for? You wanting me to join something..." Briony asked cautiously not putting her wand away

He followed Tom into the back room Briony trailing behind him. "This room shall do Tom. A bottle of your finest firewhiskey would be appreciated." He said shooing him out the door. He watched Brionys face, watching to see what she was thinking.

"Well that depends." He said taking a seat by the fire. Making sure not to crease his robes. He knew she never trusted her, he didn't trust her either. He trusted no one and thats what made him so great. She had the potential to be great too, a little push in the right direction would do her some good.

"On whether you care to tell me your views on the ministry. Views on these things can be the difference between greatness and weakness. I know you have the potential Briony, it just depends which side you decide to dedicate your self." He said pulling out his wand. "Incendio." He said pointing his wand at the fire and watching it burst into flames.

"So what are your view? Enlighten me." He said wrapping his cloak around his legs.

Briony lifted her knees up so that she could hug them to her chest as she sat in the window sill, she debated for a while about if she should tell Hades what her loyalties were. She knew that if he decided to attack her afterwards that she could put up a mighty good fight and was sure she could get away. After making sure she covered all possible exits she looked directly into his eyes and cooly began to talk.

"I see no reason why I should tell you, but tell you I will. I think the Ministry is a load of...to put it mildly a load of nonsense. I don't see what the big deal is about keeping our identity secret from Muggles. We were given power greater than them for one reason...to govern and rule over them. It is where Wizardkind belong."

Briony looked intently at Hades wondering how he would react. Her wand arm tensed just in case he made an attack, voice coming out in a mere whisper.

"And yourself?"

Hades smiled when he heard her opinion, she had the makings of a brilliant witch. He thought for a second then reached into his pocket and brought back out his wand. Just then Tom decided to enter the room, silence filled the room as they watched him leave the bottle on the table in front of him. "Thanks Tom that will be all." He said leaning forward to pour himself and Briony a drink. He took his time drawing out his answer for as long as he could, waiting to see if she would react.

"What would you say if knew of a group of people who think just like you? A group that has decided to act upon their desires rather than sit back and let the muggles walk around like they own the place?" He said standing and walking closer to her to give her her drink.

"Would that be something that would interest you? Or would you rather sit back and let them walk all over us?" He asked moving back to sit in the chair. He looked into her eyes, it was the easiest way to reach the mind. If she agreed he would make a meeting for her induction, if she decided no he would simply wipe her mind of this whole conversation. He was skilled at magic that contained the mind, he was after all professor of Occlumency.

As Briony continued to look at Hades the smile on his face gave his own side away, he thought like her that Muggles should be put in their place, a place below their own. She wondered why he had wanted to tell her this and her own face broke into a smile when she heard that she had been right and that Hades did in fact want her to join something.

This group however she did not mind joining, she did not dwell on the persecution of Death Eaters for one moment, she would not be implicated after all she had no dark mark, this organisation was not the Death Eaters. She smirked at Hades chucking back the drink that he had poured for her.

"I would like to join, it sounds like my kind of group." Briony paused for a little, smiled again and added "Not to sound conceited but if you expect me to bow down and worship the boss figure it isn't going to happen, if the guy has some sense he'll know what a good deal he's getting by me joining. If there's one thing I insist on...it's respect."

"We'll see about that. We're having a meeting in a few days. A little induction shall we say. Then you can decide whether or not you want to join. You may change your mind." He said downing the rest of his drink. He filled his glass once more and lifted the bottle up signaling to her to see if she wanted a refill.

"We don't bow down to anyone. The only people doing the bowing will be the muggles, its where they belong. However we do expect you to respect your leaders." He said pulling his wand out and replacing the bottle of firewhiskey with a new one. "Respect is the one thing we are fighting for, we should rule this world. If you believe as we do then you'll get plenty of respect. But now is the time for fighting not worrying about being respected, we need to show the muggles who are their leaders." He said explaining how they worked.

"I will owl you with the details of the meeting when it is planned. We tend to do things spontaneously, that way we are less likely to get caught." He said filling his glass again. "And we all know what can happen then." He said imagining the war it would case.

Briony took the bottle from Hades and poured her own shot, she handed it back to him and perched on a table cross legged, so she was comfortable. Although gracefully put she did not like the way she was coming across juvenile for expressing her views. She glared lightly at Hades.

A meeting? She thought. Wow these guys are sure having delusions of grandeur I bet they only have like two members. Briony sighed and rested her head on her hand this all sounded like too much hassle if you asked her but she supposed it was worth it to get the cause she wanted. However something niggled at her mind, she wondered what they would make her do as an 'initiation' and she hoped it wouldn't be something cringy like playing strip poker.

"Why does the organisation have to hide? You are not Death Eaters, you have nothing to fear, it is only they who are being hunted. If you keep quiet about the nature of the meeting then there is no reason you cannot speak about it openly?"

Briony looked at Hades in puzzlement

"Surely you wouldn't give your members a brand like the Death Eaters did? It's what's making them so easy to catch."

"We don't like nosey people sticking in their nose when its not needed. It's our business no one else's, we stick together with no one to get in our way." He explained then went on. "Were not hiding we are doing this right under the order of Phoenix's noses, just because we don't brag about what we are doing does not make us afraid. It makes us smart. It allows us to do what we need to do without interruption." He explained further trying to make sure she got the importance of what they were doing.

"Of course we have a brand. It's a little insulting though to be compared to those stupid death eaters, those idiots didn't know what they were doing they made so many mistakes it was laughable. We're clever than them our mark only shows when we command you. That way no one can prove you're one of us if you ever get caught." He said unknowingly touching his arm when talking of the mark.

"We have many groups around the world and ours is just getting started. It will all be explained at the meeting." He said drinking the last of his drink again before settling his glass on the table in front of him.

Briony nodded, of course she understood everything that he was saying and the more that he spoke the more she was sure that she wanted to give this thing a go, a draw back was the more he spoke the more she found herself getting annoyed with him and she wondered if she would have to work with him much. Perhaps he was just like this when he got passionate about his beliefs, who knows?

Briony took another glass full of firewhiskey and took it in with little gulps smiling as it warmed her from the inside out, she was normally very cold and as she noticed Hades touching his arm she clicked on to the fact that must be where the mark was hidden. Briony thought that they at least sounded a lot more organised than the Death Eaters.

"I see." Briony muttered drinking the rest of her shot "Well I will see if I still feel like joining after this 'initiation' you have planned for me."

She was more curious than anything else about what she could be faced with and who exactly the head of this organization is. Hoping to perhaps leave this subject she looks carefully at the cane that Hades carried.

"Why do you have that cane?" She asked quietly

"Indeed we will." He said repositioning his cane besides him. If she doesn't we can simple wipe this from her memory he thought. He didn't allow outsiders to know about the order and he was sure Geoffrey didn't either.

She paused for a second, thinking, he thought about the order and what signing up would mean. He didn't care what she thought of him and his beliefs. Hell he didn't care if she joined them, he could easily wipe her memory if she didn't. But once she was a member there was no turning back. It just would be good to have more people on their side.

He smiled when she asked about his cane. He slowly lifted it up and examined it. It had the head of a silver snake as the handle with its body wrapped around the black cane. He wondered whether he should tell her or not but deciding she wouldn't tell anyone he replied. "It belonged to my father. He gave it to me before he died. It has been in the Malfoy family for generations. I believe my grandfather Lucius had it first." He said trying to remember what his father had told him.

Briony smiled at him, she sat cross legged on the floor by the fire warming herself, she tried to get her hands to be more than freezing in temperature for Briony hated being so cold all of the time it annoyed her and made her feel constantly grumpy. Rubbing her hands together in front of the flames she knew how silly she must look to Hades who was probably toasty warm.

"I have something like that too, it's not nearly as practical however."

Briony reached down into her top and pulled out a small silvery green locket with an engraved snake upon it she loved it dearly after all it was a momento of her grandmother, she had been the only person in her family that she liked but that might have been because she was young and stupid.

"This was my great great grandmothers, but we like to keep things in our family it's the only reason it's lasted so long. Books as well, we always had lots of books."

She supposed she best tell him why she was kneeling on the floor next to the fire, she cautiously reached out to touch his hand, her ice cold skin touching his own.

"Cold hands you see."

He watched as she moved closer to him and sat on the floor by the fire. Usually he kept himself to himself but now all that would have to change if he was going to being running the Order with Geoff. He needed to speak to people to make sure he was making the right choice by allowing them in. He preferred to work with kids, they're more vulnerable and easy to read. Geoff dealt with finding the adults as he trusted people more than he did.

He froze as she placed her hands o his, he wasn't used to being touched without blowing their heads off after. Her hands felt freezing on his warm skin. "Here why don't you try this." He said pulling his wand back out of his robes and casting a non verbal spell that heated the air around her. "Is that any better?" He asked not used to helping people, but they were on the same side now so it didn't matter too much.

"May i see?" He asked he loved to see family heirloom's, anything about how far wizard kind went back and he was onto it quicker than a flash. "It's good to have something past down from generations it just shows how pure your blood really is, but that doesn't matter at the minute anyone which magic is of a high status." He said absent mindedly rubbing his thumb over the snakes head.

"Oh i have books and parchments back from the 1700's, some are so old the pages break when you turn them too quickly." He said remembering when his father told him off once for touching one of them and accidently tearing off one of the corners. "So what type of books do you have, any worth while?" He asked wondering whether he could learn anything new to help with the order.

Briony smiled as Hades attempted to help her, she was touched that he would try but people had been trying to explain why her hands are so cold for years now and none of them had been able to say why, she thought it was just bad circulation but it wasn't. Maybe she was just cold blooded. Briony smiled a little more at this thought, it would be so ironic if she was, being Head of Slytherin and all.

"Thank you for trying Hades, I appreciate it."

She nodded kindly at him and folded her hands in her lap, looking up at him from the floor. She peered at the intricate carvings around the fireplace not noticing them before, Briony liked arts and literature so she loved noticing details like this, the knight on his horse and the slain dragon beside him. She supposed it was supposed to be St George but she couldn't be sure.

When she heard him ask about her books she gave a wink, she knew that there would be many things in them he could learn and they could help the order but it wouldn't be very good for her for other wizards to know her secrets...not good at all.

"Oh, just a few novels 1st editions, some spell books some rare dark arts manuscripts. But you're not getting your hands on them I'm afraid." She grinned "Far too precious, like you said, they are very delicate."

He couldn't understand why that hadn't worked. It always worked for him when he was cold and he didn't usually help people so he couldn't be sure whether it worked on others either. He placed his wand back into his robes pocket in defeat.

"Are your hands always that cold?" He asked still wondering why the spell hadn't worked. He laughed. "Are you a secret vampire and you didn't tell me?" He said giving a little snigger.

"Interesting isn't it?" He said seeing her admiring the fire place. "I have one just like it. It shows the tales of the four founders of Hogwarts and what they went through." He said picturing the intricate pictures carved into the marble sat in his living room.

He lifted one eyebrow when she answered his question about the books. "True, true i feel the same about mine, you'll just have to tell me about them, it could help with the order." He said imagining the spells that could be in them.

Briony chuckled and placed her hand back on Hades so that he could see that she wasn't lying, they were just as cold as they were before. She wished that she could answer his question but she herself didn't know, she hoped that she wasn't part vampire, she thought that she'd know if she had a sudden craving for blood. She sighed and stuffed her hands in her skirt pockets and sat back down on the floor.

"I don't know why it didn't work Hades, they are always that cold, always have been and always will be I think. Maybe if I read enough I'll be able to find out what it is."

Briony smiled gently and leaned forward to trace her fingers over the figures, she realised now what the carvings were, she could see the snake, the raven, the badger and the lion and it now made sense. She wondered what kind of house that Hades would live in, gazing at his face she tries to picture it but suddenly she drops her gaze thinking it would seem a little weird if she started to star at him.

"Maybe," Briony muttered "There are some things in those books that are personal and I'm afraid I can't teach you that magic but other things I will be happy to tell you...I hope you will understand."

Her hands felt just as cold as they had before when she placed them back over his and he couldn't think why, he hadn't heard of anyone else to feel like this. "Have you seen a healer about this?" He asked wondering whether this was normal or not.

He watched her lean over and trace the patterns of the fire place with her finger. "Beautiful isn't it? There are very few fire places like this and many of them are here in England." He said, he was full of facts about the wizarding world but he never got to share them often. She turned to star at him and he could help but wonder why. He lifted on eyebrow in question but she turned back.

"Of course i understand completely, spells belong to their families and their families only. I'm exactly the same with mine." He said pulling a piece of string from his robes.

Briony found Hades confusion funny, she knew how he felt after all she had felt the same about them for many years now however she had just gotten used to them, accepted them. They were her cold hands and she had to put up with them, at least she HAD hands. She nodded softly, as she recalled all the trips to the hospital she shuddered she hated hospitals, they made her feel uneasy.

"I have, many healers, they have never been able to help me. Maybe, it's a punishment for something that I've done."

Briony's face contorted with an evil smile as she remembered what she had done all those years ago, maybe it was as a result of that, a type of karma. Not much of a revenge cold hands for the rest of your days... shrugging it off Briony tried to smile again but she had the empty feeling inside of her once more.

"It is so beautiful, I love art. It's so magnificent to think that someone could make this themselves without magic, it's the only thing people can do well in the absence of our gifts. Tell me Hades, are you a man of art or a man of science and tangible things?"

"Huh." He said thinking that maybe they should have been able to help her. He hadn't know of the healers to have failed at something, but he didn't really speak to that many people. "I doubt that i would be in a worse condition than you if that were the case." He said thinking back to all the bad things he had done.

He listened as she talked about the art of the fire place, it truly was magnificent. "Im a man of many things Briony , I'm a man of history. The history of wizard kind is a very interesting thing to look at, it has changed so many times before." He explained. "But other than that i am a man of science, i like to know how things work, what makes them tick. It makes it that much easier to destroy." He continued. "What about yourself, we know you love art." He said wanting to get to know her more to see what she was like as a person as well as getting to know her beliefs.