Weekends are not meant to be boring

"Well I'm sure you know how my dad can get at times. Especially since I'm the only girl and the youngest in the family." said Alice rolling her eyes. She never really knew Neville as anything else but her dad and it was strange thinking that he was young and carefree once. "I can't even imagine him being reckless and foolish, not even once."

She laughed when James mentioned that she shouldn't be here in the first place. Sure that might have been true, but she had no other choice. Leaving Hogwarts at least for a few hours was a necessity. Sometimes she felt like she would do mad at that place. "That might be true. But you of all people should understand James. And you can't even imagine how the girl's dorm can get. If I had to sit through one more gossip session with those girls I would have gone mad. It's just a few hours. What my dad doesn't know can't hurt him" she said with a giggle and a wink.

After a few strange glances from James, she felt like she needed to explain herself. Her situation with Andrei was rather strange by itself. She didn't know how to describe it even if she wanted to. But with all of the attention turned to her, Alice thought she had to at least give a reason she knew the guy. "Andrei has been helping me in my Defense against the dark arts class and in dueling as well. I was terribly clumsy before, just no good. But I think I'm getting a lot better now, or at least I'm improving" she said with a grin and flashed Andrei a grateful smile.

Andrei had no idea who the man sitting in front of him was until Alice addressed him as James. Obviously, it could be no other than James Potter. Of course, that made complete sense now. The Potters and the Longbottoms have been family friends for ages and this man did fit the age category and the profile description of Harry's son. He couldn't help but feel a bit unease. He had never been surrounded by some many members of the Order before, potential or current.

"Do you mind if I steal her away for just a bit James?", he asked as he took her hand and led her to the room behind the bar. "I didn't know you could come here. I would think you were grounded or something like that after everything that happened", said Andrei curiously. She did tell him her parents were terribly angry at her and perhaps breaking another school rule wasn't the best idea. She was getting more rebellious each day which meant his plan was slowly working.

"And I would appreciate a heads up if you're gonna introduce me to your whole family and extended family friends", he said with a chuckle talking about James. It seems that wherever she went, there would be some of her relatives watching over her.

She squirmed when Andrei suddenly took her hand and pulled her towards the bar. "Sorry I'll be right back" she said as she gave James an apologetic smile. They entered an empty room behind the bar and now at least finally had some privacy. "I pretty much am. Not that my parents have defined me being grounded per say. But they are not talking to me, at all. So I'm pretty sure that means they are not very pleased with the whole situation. But I am done talking about this, really. I am just tired of worrying and carrying all the time" she said with a deep sigh.

"I had to leave Hogwarts, everything there was driving me crazy. And I figured this was the place where I could go" said Alice. She wasn't going to admit the fact that she actually came here hoping to see him in the first place. "Trust me, I did not want this to happen. It's not my plan to introduce you to my family, it's your fault for getting a job here in the first place. Besides, you're not quite the meet my parents over dinner type" she said with a chuckle.

"Oh I need you to help me go buy some things, I just remembered. Robes and a few potions. I figured you knew more about them than me" said Alice pulling out her little bag of coins she had gotten from her first day of work.

"What is that supposed to mean", asked Andrei with a whole hearted laugh teasingly. He knew exactly what she meant by those words and he had to agree. With his last name and family history, he wasn't usually the parent's favorite person. Unless you count the purebloods who couldn't get enough of him honestly. For them, he was everything they were looking for in an aspiring son in law. Sometimes they would even force him on dates with their daughters. But for a family like Longbottom, he was the furthers from perfect one can be.

He stared at the bad of coins strangely. He knew her parents were well of, but that bag seemed a bit too much for pocket money. "Let me see", he said taking the bag out of her hand and opening it. One thing was for sure, she didn't get this from her parents. Especially now that they were mad at her. "Alice, where did you get this?", he asked with a serious tone of voice. Something made him become suspicious in this situation. It just didn't seem right.

"What do you need potions for?", he asked curiously. He could understand new robes. Even though her robes were just fine as they are, girls are known to by clothes in excessive manner. But potions not so much. He didn't understand why would she need potions at all.

"I didn't mean it like that" she said with a chuckle rolling her eyes. She hoped Andrei didn't get upset by her words but the smirk on his face told her that he wasn't at all. "I am just saying. We're friends, doesn't mean I have to meet your parents. And look at it that way, they wouldn't exactly like me would they?" she said making her point. If the situation was reverse, he would have done and thought the same thing.

She stared at him and rolled her eyes at his question. She knew he would be nosy and ask things about her business. As she couldn't tell him that she got it from her job, she had to do the next best things, to lie. "Pocket money silly. You really don't think that a girl like me has her money hidden away somewhere? For times like these when parents are unavailable or not in the best mood. And I wanted some more potions similar to the ones you had. For dueling, basic healing potions and stuff like that." she said trying to sound as convincing as possible. "So what do you say will you come with me?" she asked again.

"Well you're right about that", said Andrei with a nod. His family only appreciated other purebloods who were considered the same rank as them. But even if a family was pureblood, if it had some of it's family in the Order, then they might as well be muggle borns for them. Perhaps even worse, traitors of their own race. His parents always had a very radical view on the world. Not that Andrei disagreed with it, he just found that people only need guidance to come back to normal. Like Alice for example, that's all she needs, a little mentoring.

"Yeah I guess", he said, although he was still a bit skeptical about the whole thing. Maybe she was telling the truth, maybe she was just a girl who wanted to go shopping. Surely there were plenty of cases like that. Even though he didn't enjoy shopping all that much, he figured he should help her with the potions part of it. He didn't want her to get poisoned or something. "Only if you promise to go back to school now. Your dad will freak out on me if he sees you here", he warned her.

"Alright, alright" she said rolling her eyes. He was right though, she didn't need any more trouble with her dad and she was sure he wouldn't appreciate her sneaking out of Hogwarts. Perhaps this job would even help Andrei get along with her family better. It would make things a lot easier for the both of them. Right now, every time she would see him she felt like she had to hide it or go behind her parents back. And it wasn't a wonderful feeling at all.

"Fine I'm leaving. But don't let my dad push you around too much. I know how he can be sometimes. And thanks for the butterbeer" she said with a smile. Trying to avoid the awkward goodbye part, she just walked to the door. With another glance and a smile at him, she opened the door and her figure soon faded in the distance.