Who: Bill and Andromeda What: Random encounters lead to... Where:The Humble Eel, a pub, wizarding London When: Sunday evening Rating: TBD
Bill hoped, as he took a deep breath, that the Eel was still in existence. It was a pub that his mother had told him about once...sort of, that was, by muttering under her breath late one night after Arthur had come home late from an Order meeting. The fact that it had once been a place for such plans had made it the first pub Bill went to when he was old enough to see over the bar. It also had the advantage of being an Apparate-in only establishment.
He blinked and he was there. His elbow bumped a coat rack and he heard the house elf behind him grumble.
"Cork!" Bill said with more joy than it warranted. "You're still here?"
"Yes, Master Bill. And you are still wearing same coat." The elf's nostrils twitched as if he longed to sniff. He held out a narrow finger at arm's length. "Cork will hang it up. Master Bill will not want it to get dirti..." The elf dragged out the last syllable until Bill shrugged his coat off and hung it over Cork's arm. Much more quickly, he scampered off with it, into a distant door.
Not good enough for the coat rack, huh? Bill's mouth twitched as he walked down the hall.
And then he saw.
Once, the Eel had been only viewed through a thin haze of smoke, with clusters of angry goblins playing cards and drunk wizards wobbling darts and spells at the dartboard in the corner. On a good night, old recordings would play on a Victrola in the corner. On a bad night, the music was live. Bill still got shudders thinking of those nights.
But now...now the Eel was clean. The floors were swept and tiny candles floated in the air over small bistro tables. A witch waited the bar, her uniform spotless and neat, and she smiled as she poured small shots of butterbeer, then pushed them over to a couple sitting hand and hand, gazing into one another's eyes. But worst of all, the only goblins in the corner were wearing ties. Fleur would love this place.
Bill felt his eye twitch as he turned around to look for the house elf and his jacket.
Then he reminded himself. He hadn't yet announced himself to the family. A stiff drink--or four--were needed before that.
With a sigh, he settled himself at the far end of the bar, as far away as possible for the couple and raised his hand to the bartender. "I'll start with a White Rat Whiskey. Neat."