Lost & Found ~ A George Weasley Love Story

11 ~ Her Night

Friday, 31 July / Saturday 1 August 1998
Diagon Alley, London

Aino entered the Leaky Cauldron. She tried to find familiar faces but could not recognise anyone. Although, the place was so crowded, she could not see all the people. Aino decided to head to the counter and down a drink or two before dancing.

"One shot of firewhiskey, please", Aino assumed to meet the eyes of a familiar bartender but instead she was face to face with a strange man. This man was much younger than Tom, about her age if she had to guess. He had dark eyes and light brown slicked back hair. Overall, he looked quite nice in his all-black outfit.

The stranger shot her a cheeky smile, "Will come right away, sweetie."

Aino ignored his flirt thinking he was only being nice to her. However, she was too curious not to ask about the absence of the bar owner, "Where's Tom?"

The man turned back to her, a shot glass in one hand and a bottle of firewhiskey in the other. "He's having a break, will be back soon", he poured the drink spilling it a bit, cursing under his breath. "Apologies, I'm not the best at making drinks, I normally only work as a doorman here."

Aino let out a small laugh, "That's totally fine." His statement explained why she had not seen him before. Last time Aino had partied there, they had not entered through the door with Kiira. She grabbed the glass and downed it with a sneer. She would never get used to that taste and once again found herself missing salmiakki vodka. Despite the taste she put the glass back down and heard herself ordering another one.

The young man chuckled picking the glass and pouring the liquid more carefully this time. "What's your deal for the evening?"

"Dancing", Aino immediately answered. "I just need to drink a bit more before that."

"I see. Haven't seen you here before. Can I be inquisitive and ask are you new here in London?" The man passed her the refilled shot glass.

"How come? Do you recognise everyone you have let on in this bar?" Aino raised her eyebrows to the man. The first shot had already hit, and she hated herself for how the alcohol affected to her comments. In deep down she knew she was not responsible for anyone, but it somehow still made her feel guilty.

The brunette before Aino seemed to scan her face for a couple of seconds too long, "I would remember you."

The conversation made Aino uncomfortable yet again and the young man seemed to sense it.

"My apologies, that took a wrong turn", he had formed a smile that at least seemed genuine. He reached his hand over the table for Aino to take.

Aino sighed and grabbed his hand for a shake.

"Graham Montague, it's nice to meet you."

"Aino Kalla."

~

After the initial awkwardness, the conversation with Graham Montague continued rather smoothly to Aino's surprise. The young wizard told her how he ended up working in the Leaky Cauldron and that he did not have any big plans for the future. Aino thought it was totally fine to take time to find oneself. That was something she was doing too.

Downing the fourth drink of the night, Aino had finally decided to head to the dancefloor. She said her goodbyes to Mr. Montague even though she had a feeling this would not be the last time of her hearing from him.

The song: Tragedy by Bee Gees

A splash of happiness went through Aino as she saw dozens of young witches and wizards dancing their heart out. The difference compared to the night about a month ago was enormous.