Pour That Drink Up to the Top {OPEN}

The first year of Declan's owning The Leaky had gone surprisingly well - sure, when school started, sales inevitably went down. But that was a given, and after working at the Cauldron for nearing ten years, he knew the ins and outs without problem. It was almost sad that he had only been in charge of the Leaky for a year considering how long he had been around. But it also made sense, given his personality and everything that had happened. Starting five years ago, no amount of money could convince him to change his situation.

Well, until this year. His time would be split between teaching at Hogwarts - which, really, he thought was a bit mental - and working at The Leaky. But before he left, one thing had to be done: a first year anniversary party. Anyone who came in that day would be given one drink without charge to go with whatever they ordered. Probably not the most obvious choice, considering how much alcohol could cost, but with the profits they had made that past year, it wouldn't even make a dent. That, more than even his being in management for a whole year, was a beautiful thought.

Turning around at the sound of his name, Declan offered a smile at the man who walked through the door. The darker haired man knew just about all the regulars, so seeing Oliver walk in was no surprise. "Been a year, I heard." Oliver offered by way of topic starter.

"That it has," Declan returned, pouring up Oliver's usual drink. The glass find to have much alcohol to it, but that was how the younger man liked it. "On the house, mate," he added, tossing a smile as he moved to greet the next person. In time he would return to talk, but first he had to say hello to everyone else who came by.

It was his third day at The Leaky Cauldron. He was returning from Diagon Alley, carrying a bunch of bags as usual. He still remembers the first time he visited that place. It was few days before Bastien went to Hogwarts. Even now, after so many years, he would felt some kind of excitement while walking these streets.

He quickly went through the bar, climbed to the second floor and went straight to his room. He put the bags in the bottom of the bed. He stood there for a moment, realising it was too quite. He looked at the picture above the bed. Middle-aged man called Frederico was sleeping. But then again, it wasn't that strange, since he was practicing a monologue in Spanish all night.

After he changed his close he returned to the bar. He was wearing dark jeans and black t-shirt. He sat at the table nearby the stairs, looking for menu even though he know what he want.
Behind the bar stood a man in the thirties. Chris never saw him before but from the stories that he heard, he concluded it was the owner. It wasn't strange that Chris never saw him before because he spent all the free time in Diagon Alley.
When he finished the conversation with some man, Chris waved.
"One butterbeer please."

For a man nearing thirty years old, Declan felt that his life had passed extraordinarily quickly. Sure, in the moment everything felt very slow and oftentimes painful. But looking back, the years had gone more rapidly than even the man himself could believe -- though Declan supposed it was more complicated for his parents who assuredly thought he had grown up too quickly. As he cleared the counter of a pair of empty beer mugs and wiped down the area with his towel, someone sat down a few seats away and waved the owner over.

"Ello," Declan greeted, throwing the towel back into the bucket that held the sanitized water needed for keeping everything clean. "D'you want anything else with that? There's no charge for your first drink. Well, not today anyway," he clarified good-naturedly.

Even before the man could answer, Declan had turned to pick up a cold mug from the freezer box. His eyes jumped from where he was pouring the draft to the patron. He looked familiar, but Declan chalked that up to the man staying in one of the rooms upstairs. His manager must have booked it out. Once the glass was full, it was set atop a couple square napkins which took the place of a coaster. "No sandwich or anything?"

He was tired a little, well a lot, but he couldn't sleep, it was too early for that. He was thinking about some stupid stuff, such as weather and so on. He wasn't that busy these days so he had a time to think, which wasn't good at all. He's not a tip of person who likes free time. He loves being busy, no time to think about problems, and he had a lot of them.

When the owner approached him, Christian realized that he has already met him before, but that was impossible cause he never forgets the people he meet. But he was more than sure that he has already seen him somewhere.
Christian has nodded in greeting.

"I would have come earlier if I knew it." he smiled "If that's the case, than give me one glass of rum please."
What's the better way to relax than rum? Christian noted the owner's accent, probably Irish. Christian has never been to Ireland, but had always wanted to visit it.

He took a sip of butterbeer, thinking about what he ate today. He shortly realize that he is more than hungry so he decided to eat something too.

"I guess I could use a sandwich."

Declan let out a pleased laugh at the other man's words, nodding before pulling out one of the shorter glasses meant for the harder alcohol. Butterbeer, of course, wasn't much of a kick for most anyone besides perhaps house elves. Tilting the stoppered jar, Declan started out low and lifted his hand in true bartender fashion until the latch clicked and stopped the liquor. He set the drink down in front of the man and leaned on his forearms across the bar from him.

"Sure thing," he nodded, writing out a note on his pad, and turned to extend his hand and stick it on the list of orders for the kitchen. Looking back at the patron, he stood up straighter. "You're staying here, right? I wasn't sure. I don't think we've met, which is why I ask." Extending a hand, he added, "I'm Declan Arryn, the owner."

Glancing around at the pub, he was pleased to see that it was actually more busy than usual. "It's the one year anniversary of my taking over the pub, which is why we've got all these folks. And the free drink, of course," he added with a good-natured smile.

Christian was always well tolerated to the alcohol, he loved rum and wine. He could handle few glasses of rum. While Declan was pouring a drink, Chris drank his butterbeer and put empty glass down on the bar.

"I've been here three days and I will certainly stay for a few more." they shook hands. "Christian O'Sullivan, nice to meet you." he nodded while he was absently shaking his glass of rum in hand.

Christian glanced over his shoulder.There were more people than usual, although these days the bar was generally fuller than before. He remembers how this place used to be empty and dead. He was a bit scared when he come her first time. Now it was decorated and actually looked like a place that people would come to.

"You've done really good job here. It's definitely better than with the previous owner," he laughed.

Several seconds have passed before he finally connected the name with the face.
"Hey, when you say Declan Arryn, you think Declan Arryn who played for Gryffindor?" Christian looked at him interested. Even though he had never met him, he was crazy about quidditch so he know who Declan was.

Declan smiled in return for Christian's introduction, following the other man's gaze when he turned to look at the rest of the pub. His smile turned into a pleased grin as Christian spoke again, ducking his head in a sort of embarrassment mixed with pride.

"Thanks, mate. I've been trying. Worked here for years, and I definitely remember those days. I just wanted it to pick up steam and be like it was when I was a kid. I always remembered how much I loved being in here, and I'm just glad to see it back to what I think of as normal."

Blinking in surprise, Declan looked at Christian with raised eyebrows. "Uh, yeah. That's me. I was Keeper for most of my time at Hogwarts. How old are you, if you don't mind my asking? I'm trying to figure how far ahead of you I was, you know, in years."

He took a sip of rum, enjoying the taste. He couldn't remember the last time he drank rum, or any kind of alcohol. He didn't like to drink it because he would remember his father who is alcoholic, but he loved it.
"I liked this place too. It was a little scary for a kid like me at first, but i loved it. I'm really glad it's back." he closed his eyes for a moment, remembering good old days.

Christian couldn't resist laugh on Declan's reaction. "Yes, I know. I was totally crazy about quidditch, all though i was never good at it." he remembered his first and the only time he tried to play it with his friends. He woke up in the hospital next morning with few broken ribs. "No, no, it's okay. I'm 24 so it's normal that you don't remember me. And even if we met you wouldn't recognize me, cause I changed a lot." he said that a little faster than usual, but he had that thing, fast talking when he was explaining something.

Declan, though not typically skilled when it came to interactions after everything, inevitably got on with men more than women. So while he often would not have been so talkative with the people that came in, something about Christian struck him as genuine and interesting. Nodding, he replied, "I definitely understand that feeling. First year I was just dreadful. And now that I'm not still playing, I almost always have the matches on."

He gestured to the screens around, which had been added over the years as more and more of his patrons became aware of Muggle technology and found it worth utilizing for broadcasting the Quidditch teams. But then Christian spoke again and drew Declan's attention away from the equipment.

"Ah. I'm twenty-nine, now. So I'm old," he jested. "But really, I would've been nearly graduated when you were a - what, a second year, then? Yeah, I'll admit I was a bit preoccupied those last two years. Just wanted to graduate, but at the same time wasn't quite sure I wanted to leave."

Christian wasn't that talkative either. He was polite to the strangers but always tried to avoid conversation, especially if it includes sharing his private informations. However, talking to Declan wasn't that hard. It was actually kind a relaxing. He actually enjoyed talking to another person, maybe cause in these few days his only friend was Frederico, the portrait in his room (although the man was spiking Spanish so Christian didn’t understood a word). It was nice talking to someone who is actually alive.

Chris followed his gaze to the screen “I noticed that, it’s cool. I always loved Muggle technology, though it might be cause I was raised in Muggle world. Anyway, it’s very practical, I never really understood why we don’t use it more often.” Indeed, Chris had some of Muggle technology in his office, he finds it very useful for his work. He took another sip then looked at Declan.
“Yeah, it was same to me. Graduation is probably my happiest memory but in the same time...you know. I was quite scared because I wasn't so sure what’s next to me. Didn't really had a plan.” He nodded, he knew exactly what Declan meant. “You probably knew my brother, he’s 26 now. He played for Slytherin, so you played against each other. I don’t believe you were friends, he wasn't that friendly.”