Snow Storm - D.M , H.G

36. The last hoorah

Draco flooed to the Leaky Cauldron, where the men would be meeting up for the evening. Inside he found Harry, Blaise, Gregory, and Kole (who Astoria was now apparently trying to push into a friendship with the groom), all sitting at a table waiting for the guest of honor. With a flourish of his wand, he removed the soot from him, and approached them.

"There he is!" Harry exclaimed, standing.

"Finally dragged yourself away from your witch, I see," Blaise added, chuckling lowly to himself.

Draco smirked at his tall dark friend. "You'd have trouble dragging yourself away too," Draco replied shamelessly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay, everyone knows you two like to shag like rabbits. That's why you're in this mess," he reminded them.

The men busted each other's chops for a while longer before they migrated to the first venue of the night. It was a simple pub, but in the muggle part of London, where the high profile attendees would not draw attention. They got a table, ordered a large pitcher of beer, and some food for the table.

Meanwhile, Hermione arrived at Harry and Ginny's to find the group of girls waiting for her. Ginny, Luna, Fleur, and Astoria were all sitting around the living room, drinks in hand, chatting. When she walked in, their attention turned to her, "Finally!" Ginny said, enthusiastically, but quietly so she wouldn't scare poor James, whom she was holding. "Sorry, I couldn't find anything to wear." Hermione grinned as she entered the room, finding a seat. Well, it wasn't a lie at least. Ginny gave her a knowing smile, "Well, you look amazing," she said, to which Hermione grinned back.

Fleur stood up, "I vill get you a drink," she offered, her accent wasn't as thick as it had been when they had first met, but still very evident. Before Hermione could offer to get her own drink, Fleur had gone to the kitchen to get her one already.

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" Hermione asked as Fleur returned, handing Hermione a flute of sparkling juice. She suspected the rest of them had champagne, which she was fine with. Fleur took her seat again, on the floor in front of her she had a little bouncy seat with her sleeping two month old daughter, Victoire.

"Some games, some food, and later, a surprise," Ginny answered with a grin. Hermione wondered if that surprise came in the form of a male stripper, but she didn't ask.

"Well, let me hold that baby, and you can set up the first game," Hermione requested, eager to hold the little guy. He was awake, pulling at Ginny's hair, but she wasn't sure how much longer he would be both awake and happy.

Back in the dark London pub, the men had all had a few drinks, and took turns between shooting pool and playing darts. So far it was casual, fun, and free of any sort of drama. After Goyle scratched on the eight-ball (swearing loudly and nearly breaking the pool stick before Blaise calmed him down, the group moved back to their table. With a fresh pitcher of beer in front of them, they each refilled their pints, and Blaise withdrew a simple pack of playing cards.

"Alright, lads, I assume we all know the game." He set to shuffling the deck, and when he was satisfied, he spread the cards in a circle, face down, around the pitcher. "Kings. Ace is waterfall, Two to you, three to me, four to the floor, five to the guys, six... Fuck the sixes its just us guys tonight. Seven to heaven, eight pick a mate, nine bust a rhyme, ten categories, jacks never have I ever, queen is question master, and king gets to make a rule that lasts the rest of the game. Any questions?"

He looked around the table, a thick but neat ebony eyebrow raised.

"I'm sorry, what?" Harry asked, and they all began to laugh. Harry had never been granted the privilege of a normal youth. Something as trivial as a drinking game was not something he was experienced with.