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Zacharias Smith, Pain In The Arse (godchaser) wrote in the_8th_floor,
@ 2011-09-02 20:42:00

Who: Hannah and Zacharias
Where: The Leakey
What: birthdayish things!
When: Evening on the 2nd

He'd been in Knockturn first and when that got old, he stumbled to the Leakey. Most of the waitresses there knew him and would tuck him in a room, and goddamn, he didn't feel like going home. He'd ordered two rounds and - well, maybe not the third. Maybe. Depends on who came over. It hadn't been a bad birthday by any means. He'd gotten gifts from his fellow Hufflepuffs, his cousin, and Pansy. It worked out. And, he was drunk now!

He grinned as the waitress came over. "'Nother one," he said, knocking at his glass, not registering who was standing in front of him.

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sunny_grace
2011-09-03 02:11 am UTC (link)

"Zacharias?" Hannah tilted her head, trying to catch his eye. "Having a good birthday are you?" She grinned, grabbing his empty glass. "What were you having? Still want something strong or maybe a little less?" She wasn't sure how long he had been drinking, but he seemed pretty far gone already.

"Will you be here a bit longer?" she asked, leaning against the bar. "My shift will be over in a couple of minutes and I could share a birthday drink with you. Although I don't think I'll be able to catch up to you now." She grinned, teasing just a little. She wasn't a big drinker as it was, but it was Zacharias' birthday so that called for her to let loose a little.

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godchaser
2011-09-03 07:43 am UTC (link)

"I dunno. Something strong," he replied. Hannah. He liked Hannah. Cheerful little girl, but nice. She seemed to like him, for whatever reason.

"'m here to stay," he said, shrugging apologetically at her. "But yea, have a drink with me. I'll even buy."

It may have been his birthday, but Zacharias definitely had the Galleons to spend. And he didn't mind spending them.

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sunny_grace
2011-09-03 08:18 am UTC (link)

"Right, strong it'll be," she said, turning around to fill his glass with some Firewhiskey. While it wasn't the strongest drink she could have poured him, she figured it would be good enough in his state.

"One Firewhiskey for the birthday boy," she said, setting the glass back down in front of him. "And there's no need to buy a drink, I think I'll be fine buying mine." She gave him a wink and grabbed a wet rag to wipe down the counter.

"So tell me, can you remember the things you've done already on your birthday? And more importantly, who have you been drinking with?" Hannah didn't like the thought of Zacharias drinking by himself, especially on his birthday. She glanced around the bar to see if he had other friends around, but it only had the usual late night customers.

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godchaser
2011-09-07 02:09 am UTC (link)

"Was just an offer," Zacharias muttered, but didn't push it. She wanted to buy her own beer, taht was fine by her.

He watched her as she wiped the counter. It was almost hypnotic. He was very glad he was spending the night.

"Just by m'self," he said to her, to no-one in particular, to the rag on the counter. "Practice, then I slept for a bit, now I'm here. Well, I was other places first. Can't watch the stars tonight, I'll be here. Pansy got me a telescope. Oh, you, HanAbbyAbbot - it's just, like, a figure of speech, them dancing, y'know?"

He had been really drunk when he wrote that. Hell, he was really drunk now.

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sunny_grace
2011-09-07 02:16 am UTC (link)

Hannah glanced up and grinned, wondering how sloshed he actually was. She couldn't help but giggle as he went on, throwing the rag back into the bucket and washing her hands. "No stars tonight? Just dancing planets?" She blushed when he brought that up. She thought she had been cute and witty with her journal remarks but she had only come off looking stupid. Oh well, she had been seen as worse.

"A figure of speech huh? Too bad, I was hoping I would be able to see these dancing planets!" Shirley walked over, telling Hannah she was off for tonight and she would take over. Hannah smiled her thanks and pulled her apron off, walking around to the other side of the counter, taking a seat by Zacharias.

"Strange to be on the other side," she said as Shirley poured her her own Firewhiskey. "Happy Birthday Zacharias!" she said, raising her glass in a toast.

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godchaser
2011-09-07 02:28 am UTC (link)

Zacharias had no idea what she was talking about. They just went across the sky. Lyra actually danced, fleeing - crap, he couldn't remember right now. Zeus? "They all flee Zeus," he muttered to himself as Hannah moved to the other side of the bar.

"Can't see anything in the London fog," he said dully. He wondered if she was being nice, of if she actually liked Astronomy. He wondered why he'd never bothered to ask before now. "Happy Birthday to me," he said clinking glasses with her and taking a long drink.

"No! It was the Maenads and Zeus saved her!" Zacharias said, remembering.

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sunny_grace
2011-09-07 02:47 am UTC (link)

Hannah really had no idea what Zacharias was saying, but nodded her head. Was it actual information or was he just rambling about things?

"Maenads and Zeus..." she repeated, wondering if they were connected to the planets he always talked about. "Tell me more about that," she said, leaning back in her chair. "How are old Greek gods associated with the planets? Or stars?" Yeah, she wasn't very good at Astrology. She found it fascinating, but didn't particularly care for the classes back at school.

She took a rather large gulp of her drink, knowing that she had quite a lot to catch up to Zacharias. She didn't want to be as drunk as he was, but still have enough to enjoy and not feel completely stupid for being the sober one.

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godchaser
2011-09-07 03:04 am UTC (link)

"Lyra actually dances, she's a musician," he said, matter of factly, finishing his drink and signalling for two more. She might have said she'd pay for her own, but they were going on his tab.

He looked at her curiously for a moment, was she being nice, or did she actually want to know? He could tell her of the works of Hesiod and Pherecydes, and the later works of Pseudo-Eratosthenes, Aratus and Hyginus, but if she was just being nice to him on his birthday, he wouldn't bother. "Cos the Greeks saw 'em first," he settled on, though that wasn't true and he instantly regretted saying it. "Well, they wrote 'em all down and stuff and like, Jupiter was the Babylonians first, y'know? But theirs are just the ones that survived, I guess. Back then stars and planets were semi deities, y'know? Like Lyra. She was saved from the Maenads by Zeus and stuck in the sky. Only the dragon and the bears are circumpolar most everywhere though. Walkin' or runnin' forever. And somewhere up there is really god."

He had a feeling he wasn't making much sense to her.

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sunny_grace
2011-09-07 03:20 am UTC (link)

Hannah tried to make sense of what he was saying, but she didn't know much of the Greek stories, other than the more popular ones. And even then she wasn't sure if she was getting the real story or the "Disney-fied" version. Still, she leaned her elbow against the counter, propping her head up and looking at him.

"Soo...there are stories behind the names of the planets and stars? That would be cool if they were real..." She took another sip, looking at the new glass Shirley brought over for the two.

"But I don't know any of the names you're saying. I know Zeus, that one is easy. The King of the Gods." She nodded her head as if she knew what she was talking about.

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godchaser
2011-09-07 03:37 am UTC (link)

"Well, they're not just stories, that's the thing," Zacharias said excitedly, squinting so Hannah was in focus. "They're the direct personification of the person or deity that the represent. Or so the greeks said. We know a little better now, but sometimes I gotta think that maybe the greeks had it all wrong about gods and stuff, but maybe they weren't too far off the mark, y'know?"

He squinted at her some more, still trying to figure out if she was serious or not. "Poser," he settled for. "Odin could take him."

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sunny_grace
2011-09-07 04:34 am UTC (link)

"If not gods, what do you think they were?" Her first glass was done and she was feeling rather warm. She grinned, thinking about if the Greek gods had been real. "I think it would have been rather interesting," she said, her voice a little dreamy. "If the gods really did exist. Aphrodite, Apollo, Hera..." Those were the main gods that she knew about.

"What about those pictures you see in the sky?" she asked. "The ones people can see in the stars? I could never see them, save for that big spoon one." She was probably embarrassing herself, especially to someone who knew so much about it.

"Odin? Is that a Greek god as well?" The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. "And why would you say that about Zeus? Be careful of he could smite you you know." Another serious head nod and a sip of her new drink.

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godchaser
2011-09-07 04:47 am UTC (link)

He had to laugh at her lack of knowledge. She clearly hadn't done very well in Astronomy. Still, she was talking about it and that was always nice. "Spoon? You mean Plough? Or Little Bear? One of 'ems a spoon?" Now he was confused.

"And I dunno. The Greek gods aren't real, but the stars have to be there for a reason. Magic teaches us that things have purposes, so what are the purposes of the stars? Unless something - or someone - put 'em there for us to divine from."

He never talked about this sober, ever, and he had to be in the just right mood to do it drunk. Lucky for Hannah, he was in the just right drunk mood.

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sunny_grace
2011-09-07 05:01 am UTC (link)

She tried to think of the one she was talking about and lifted her finger to draw the shape in the air. "It's like a square spoon," she said. "At least I think so? I know there's a big one and a little one with a handle...a spoon, right?" She looked over at Zacharias, wondering if he would know what she was trying to describe.

She thought about it for a reason and shrugged. "It's hard to say what put them out there. There are so many different religions and thoughts that any of them could be right, don't you think? Although Greek mythology always seemed cool." Hannah had always had all of these interests in things, but had never actually taken initiative to learn more about them. At least she was getting a mini lesson with Zacharias now!

"Stars are beautiful," she said, pointing at Zacharias with her glass in her hand. "But you can never see them very well. Where are good places to see them?"

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godchaser
2011-09-07 05:14 am UTC (link)

"Oh, that's Little Bear. Polaris. He points to Polaris. Most important constellation in the sky. Then there's Big Bear - Plough. Then Draco, and they're the circumpolar ones, though during some seasons, some constellations, like Lyra, will appear circumpolar for a time. Little Bear was once part of Draco's wings." He thought of his classmate Draco and laughed. Malfoy with wings. It was amusing.

He quieted at her next question. "Someone who set up the stars as a way to call us home, I think," Zacharias said, though softly. He didn't answer her final question.

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sunny_grace
2011-09-07 05:27 am UTC (link)

"Draco?" Hannah seemed to read Justin's mind and giggled. "Draco is named after a star formation? Was he an animal too?" She giggled again. Draco had always intimidated her in school (along with the other Slytherin students), but it seemed rather funny to bring it up in conversation now.

Hannah didn't quite notice his change of demeanor when he spoke and made a face. "But a way to call us home how? When we die?" She shook her head, taking a sip. She knew she should slow down a bit as she didn't think Zacharias would appreciate her puking on him for his birthday. She signaled for a glass of water, deciding she would slow down at this drink. Maybe order another and nurse it a little longer.

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godchaser
2011-09-07 05:44 am UTC (link)

"All the Blacks are," Zacharias said. "It's like, their thing. Draco is the dragon. But Sirius is the dog star - brighter than polaris even, wonder why none of 'em are named that - and Regulus is a star, Andromeda is both a star and a galaxy, Bellatrix is a star ... I don't think Narcissa is a star. No, she's not. But most of 'em are, I guess."

He shrugged, ordering another drink as she ordered water. "Call us home, call us too him, maybe he's tracin' the way home and we've got to find it before we die or we'll always be stuck here and we'll never know, not a one of us, what's out there and what comes next." he was almost whispering at this point, his voice tense and low.

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sunny_grace
2011-09-08 07:51 pm UTC (link)

"I never knew that," Hannah said, a little distantly. She was trying to think of who those names were...she only really knew Sirius and Bellatrix and it was from rumors and the battle. She had no reason to know them, but found it interesting about their names. She laughed, almost giving off a small snort.

"It seems likely that the Black family would name themselves after stars. With the connotation you give between gods and astronomy, it doesn't seem surprising that they would relate themselves to them." She sipped on her water feeling a little dizzy. She had drunk those two drinks a little too fast.

"Kind of like God?" Hannah asked. She had never been very religious, but she knew a little about Christianity. Her father had been Episcopalian, but they only went to church on the big holidays.

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