The Back Room

Audriana had something of a reputation for being proud. After spending so long on her own and taking care of herself, she didn't see what was wrong with it. Some folks thought it was a flaw, of course, considering there was a joke murmured whenever she left Grimmauld Place or even a get together. Her nose was so high, they said, that she could have drowned in a rainstorm. So it wasn't surprising that she liked to think she was actually in charge of the goings on of the back room of the Leaky Cauldron on Thursday evenings. But she had very little say in things, unfortunately for her. Everyone else, however, was probably pretty lucky. Especially since they were going behind Oliver's back.

Nobody had brought themselves to tell him that the group was already planning for when those who agreed with him and wanted to work with him came back to Grimmauld and had come up with nothing. And yes, it was a risk for certain Order members to be at those meetings, where anyone who was interested could wander in and be a part of it. But it had to be done if things were going to change, and Oliver couldn't be informed that they were considering trying to get some things done before his time was up.

Ben sauntered in behind her, and although he had been sure to wear long sleeves as of late, it wasn't lost on Audriana that he did so to cover up his dark mark. In situations like this one, it was best to keep it quiet unless they needed him. Hopefully, though, he could bring up the idea he had been talking about with a few of the group members. If everything went according to plan, they could have the Death Eaters doing a lot of their work for them. But it would take some help, so Audriana had to hope that the people who wanted to be involved would be creative and willing to put their ideas out there.

So the dark-haired man sat down beside her, and he passed her a look - something of a mix between anxious and prepared - just as the first person arrived.

Curiosity was what drove Selwyn to enter the back room. He wasn't sure what he thought of Audriana's notions, despite his defence of her in front of Oliver, but he was curious enough to want to hear more.

Therefore, it was deeply inconvenient that he was the third person to arrive. It was difficult to remain inconspicuous when there was no crowd to blend into.

Although, it would allow him to establish himself as a founding member of this group and if Selwyn couldn't convert that into leverage, he wasn't the wizard he thought he was.

"I'd have thought you'd be sick of sidekicks, Aud," he said as he sat opposite them both, sipping the stout he'd secured before he came back here.

Ben's eyebrow lifted at the suggestion that he was something of Audriana's assistant, mostly because he was surprised she could come off as more intimidating as he could. Not that he had been trying, really. But he was definitely the one with more control over how things were going to go. He was the one with the idea, and the connections. Audriana just fancied herself the one who would make the decisions. It would be up to Ben, though, whether or not the idea was voiced, and up to people like the man who had just walked in whether or not it actually happened.

But Ben tried to appear somewhat friendly - especially since he would have to show his hand sooner than he had wanted to, and hope to convince them that he was on their side. So a smile worked its way onto his features, and Ben held out his right hand - clearly not risking anything with his left.

"Ben Pierson," he offered. "I don't think the guy with the plan is actually considered a sidekick in most stories, is he?"

((Selwyn & Ben would've been on the Quidditch team at the same time, so they'd know eachother))

If there was one thing Selwyn was going to do before he died it was instil the ability to laugh at oneself in the wizarding population.

"Relax, Pierson, I was just baiting her," he replied, taking another sip of beer.

"Besides, you're always a sidekick, aren't you?"

He smiled, knowing this would rile the other man.  Selwyn had heard about Bentley being some high flying businessman now, and he was so keen to make it clear who came up with the idea.  This was all beginning to feel like they were back in school.

Gabby knew that it would very much seem like he should not be at Audriana's meeting. Half of him came because he liked Aud. She was an interesting woman, and she was definitely nice to look at. But he definitely did not like the Ministry. Gabby had long had issues with the Ministry of Magic, mostly because of the strict rules they had on magical creatures... and, you know, on criminals as well. But it was sort of nice to know that he had not been the only one to be irritated.

He had run it through Jack, and they all thought it a good idea. Kip, even though he was the one with a passion for Ministry reform, was going to stick with Oliver's side of things to try and see if he could find out some internal information before helping the radicals blow up the Ministry - or whatever the plan was.

However, Kip had lent Remy to Gabby. Yuri would have gone, except he could not stand Short, the third. Remy, however, would be of help. The mad Frenchman was always up for reform.

Gabby stepped into the back room, flanked immediately by Remy who was bouncing up and done with excitement. Gabby's feet stumbled towards Aud almost immediately and he scooped up one of her hands, pressing it. "Glad to be here," he said. He released her and indicated Remy. "My esteemed colleague, Remy Dumay." Remy grinned his crooked smile and saluted. Gabby turned, taking in the group around him. "It's a party, now."

Lilyanya was hearing whispers about the ministry splitting down the middle. She heard that the ones who split off wanted to work with the muggles. Taking a deep breath she dressed with care that night. She heard of where they met for meetings from a reliable source. So wore her darkest clothing pairing it with her black cloak and gloves effectively making her seem invisible.

Anya made her way out of the house and began walking quickly towards her destination. She kept to the shadows as she passed certain places and didn't stop for anything. Stopped across the street from the Leaky cauldron she straighten her back and pressed forward. She walked in and heading to the back room of the pub. Anya wondered who all was going to be there but she put down her hood before she opening the door.

Walking in she looked at some of the people there as she said, "I want to hear what you have to say about the Ministry."

(OOC: JACK. THE GIF. <3)

Ben passed Selwyn a disapproving frown, having taken a moment to recall where he knew the man. School, then. It hadn't been too long, really, but a lot had happened to the businessman, and face-to-name recognition had gotten slower.

As for Audriana, she looked up at Gabby's entrance, glad to see him. The fact that he had brought someone along only helped make things easier, she hoped. If Ben's idea was going to work, they were going to need some people who were willing to take risks, and something told her that Gabby might actually be interested in something like that. She offered a smile and a greeting in Remy's direction, scooting her chair forward so they could pass behind her if they needed to in order to sit down.

When the door opened and a dark-haired woman walked in, Ben's eyebrows lifted, surprised to see someone they hadn't expected. So word had gotten around, then. That was good, he decided optimistically. "Come on in, then," he offered, gesturing towards one of the chairs. "We're definitely looking for some folks to consider helping us. Name's Ben," he added, holding out a hand. "And this is Audriana," he pointed towards the brunette. Supposing the others may wish to introduce themselves, he shifted in his chair to get more comfortable.

A man held the door open for her and Destrey got ready to do what Destrey did best. As she raised her eyes to look up at him from beneath her improbably lengthened lashes the last thing she'd expected was to be looking coquettishly into the eyes of her brother.  

She'd fallen out of touch with everyone except Shylock after graduation and she hardly expected Monroe to turn up to a place like this.  It might mar his pristine reputation or something.  Although when she thought about it, Monroe never could bear to keep out of other people's business.

Regardless, even Destrey wasn't weird enough to flirt with her own brother, so she rearranged her face into something more bored while he smirked at her discomfort.

"May I, Madam?" he asked offering his elbow, as though he'd accompany her into the room.  Always the perfect gentleman, was Monroe.

"Bite me."

Destrey shoved past into the room to see what this was all about.  She recognised a handful of people by their faces, if not their names.  Monroe probably knew each and every one of them already.

"Hello, Bentley," she purred.  He'd only been a couple of years ahead of her at school.  "Are you sure you're in the right room?"

Anya looked at the man who said for her to take a seat and nodded. "My name's Anya," She said taking his hand and shaking it, then nodded at the woman named Audriana. She took off her cloak draping it over the back of her chair before sitting. She crossed her legs in front of her as her attention was caught at the woman and the man that entered behind them. She knew that her brother would be arriving after he took care of a few things at home. She only wondered how long he would take, hoping that he wouldn't be so late that the meeting would started already.

Ben offered a nod when Anya gave her name, and couldn't quite help himself when Destrey walked in. All of his old classmates seemed to want in on the meeting. He didn't find that he minded, really, but he nearly laughed at her greeting. It wasn't that he was laughing at her, exactly. She couldn't have known that he was engaged, after all. It was pretty recent, and he didn't say much about it if he could help it. His personal life was not something he made known to everyone, to say the least.

"Hello, Des," he offered with a smile. "I'm quite sure this is the place, yeah. You'll find I've got something of a plan and need help with it, actually." Looking up, he lifted his hand in a sort of wave that was directed at Monroe.

"Well!" Audriana began, clapping her hands together once so she could clasp them together and set them atop the table. "Should we get started? If anyone is wondering, we have an idea about how to get the Death Eaters to get the Ministry on edge. Anyone who might have ties in the Ministry or with the Death Eaters, like Ben has, should feel free to sort of step in and give suggestions. Ben?" she added, glancing towards the man in question.

"The Death Eaters definitely don't want the Muggles to stay, but if we can convince them that the Ministry is trying to make a new law to allow them to integrate, they might take offense and go against the Ministry. This might upset the folks up top that would stop the actual law - or whatever it takes, really - from being successful. Might give us a little timeframe to sneak it through. The problem is that we would need to forge a document that someone on the Wizengamot can find, and that I can use to give to one of the reporters at the Prophet. If she writes an article about a member of the Wizengamot trying to push something through, the Death Eaters will see it, and I can ensure they think it's real. But it's going to take some help and finessing from you guys if it's going to work."