on the edge ; logan

[DEAN A. SIMMS]

How long had it been since Dean had been able to leave the castle and simply relax over a refreshing firewhiskey? Too long, that was the answer. For the first few months of his teaching post at Hogwarts, Dean had been locked up in the dungeons of the school, sweating over a cauldron and trying to keep his temper as first years destroyed their's. It wasn't an easy job, but someone had to do it. Had to teach the first years bloody Potions.

But not today. That afternoon Dean sat infront of the bar of the Hog's Head, his favourite pub outside of Knockturn Alley for the simple reason it was on the edge of town and away from most of the students. They preferred the more homely atmosphere of the Leaky Cauldron, but here Dean could get a hard drink and simply relish in the peace and quiet. Raising his firewhiskey to his lips with a steady hand, Dean took a quick swig and them slammed it down on the bar infront of him. "Keep 'em coming," Dean hissed over to the bartender, who was busy cleaning the glasses and simply made eye contact with Dean in response to his request.

[LOGAN J. SULLIVAN]

Being the Minister of Magic came with a great deal of responsibility, one of which involved pretending to know everyone who waves at you and seems to know you. It's rude not to know people. For Logan it was a matter of preserving his image, and he moved quietly through the crowded streets of Hogsmeade on a sunny afternoon. It was a school day, so the streets were not littered with students for once; only adults and the local villagers rushing about their daily business. Nodding his head in respect at those that offered him a smile or a wave, Logan finally made it to the Hog's Head, where his close friend Ted worked as the bartender. He enjoyed coming to this pub to discuss current happenings with his friends on his breaks from Ministry work.

Sliding into a stool at the bar, Logan sat for a few moments until his attention was distracted by a low hissing voice to his left. Quickly shifting his head to see who the voice had emerged from, Logan observed a man a little younger than him ordering more drinks of what appeared to be firewhiskey from Ted. Raising his eyebrows at Ted when the man looked back at his drink, Logan finally turned his head back to the man who seemed distantly familiar, as though nothing but a dream. "You'll get much better service if you don't hiss at him," Logan informed the man next to him when Ted was out of ear shot, adding a small wink to show he meant no offence by his words. He often ran into less than friendly people, and knowing how to handle them was just a part of his job. Without having to ask, a glass of scotch was pushed across the bar by Ted, and Logan smiled at his friend for remembering his usual - always. After a brief exchange of talk, with Ted promising to return and talk when he wasn't busy, Logan took a sip from his scotch then tilted his head back at the man next to him. "Say, do I know you from somewhere? You look - familiar,"[/b] Logan informed him with a light smile. He was sure he knew the man, but couldn't place it.

[DEAN A. SIMMS]

The man behind the bar had just shuffled away from Dean when someone addressed him from the seat next to him. He hadn't even heard them sit down, and he turned his head sharply to lock his eyes on to the man. Narrowing his eyes at the friendly suggestion the man had given him, he nodded his head as though he agreed with it, though really he was just wishing for the man to stop talking to him. When he did so, Dean quickly returned his gaze to the firewhiskey before him, and quickly took another deep drink from the glass. He had come here for the peace and quiet, but no, there the man went again, talking to him as though they were friends.

Dean's head snapped back to the man next to him, and he raised an eyebrow curiously when he suggested that they knew each other. Shifting his body a little so the light from the only window near them could hit the man directly, Dean let a smirk assault his features. The Minister of Magic himself. Amused that the man - Sullivan he believed he was called - thought Dean would have mixed with him at any point, he twirled his glass around between his hands before chuckling quietly. "I doubt it - I'm not the type to make company with - you lot," Dean remarked, referring to the Ministry in general before he lowered his head a little. Sullivan. He was sure he had heard the name somewhere other than the newspapers, but he really didn't want to remember where, or take the energy in doing so, so Dean simply turned back to his drink and stared down at the swirling liquid before his eyes, willing Sullivan to leave.

[LOGAN J. SULLIVAN]

It didn't take long for Logan to sense that the man next to him was rather reluctant to talk to him. Raising his eyebrows when the man referred to him as "that lot", Logan let out a rather nervous chuckle. He knew the man was referring to the Ministry, and his body tensed up a little fearing that he was one of the Ministry-haters he had never had the pleasure of meeting. "The world would be in a far worse state if it wasn't for us lot,"[/b] Logan remarked thoughtfully, tilting his head a little and offering a smile to the man, though he knew he would far from accept it.

Upon observing the man's features for a few more moments, everything clicked into place as Logan realised where he knew the man from. Shifting his weight and taking a drink from his scotch first, Logan let a large grin appear on his face. "Well if it isn't Dean Simms,"[/b] Logan remarked, the very name causing memories of fights in the school hallways and pranks played on each other. A little house rivalry had never been a bad thing, and Dean hadn't changed much. "How have you been? What are you up to these days?"[/b] Logan directed towards his old arch rival, a grin still on his face as he realised the irony of bonding with him now.

[DEAN A. SIMMS]

Dean found his upper lip curling a little when Sullivan informed him the world would be worse without the Ministry. For all he had seen, they did nothing but destroy things and mess everything up even worse. Imposing laws, arresting anyone that matched their definition of 'dangerous' (which seemed to change everyday). They had done nothing good in Dean's eyes. Sneering for a few moments in the man's direction, Dean finally finished off his drink of firewhiskey and was about to complain to the bartender about there not being another, when the man next to him addressed him by his entire name. He was shocked that the Minister of Magic of all people knew who he was, and quickly turned his head to face him.

Narrowing his eyes as Sullivan began to list off questions as though they were best friends, Dean studied his face more carefully. So he knew him. The only people that knew him these days were his fellow Death Eaters, or those he had gone to school with. Even his teaching staff around him at the school had no idea who he really was. "You must be from Hogwarts then-" Dean began, then froze as he realised who he was talking to. A rather amused chuckle passed across his lips as he leaned a little over the bar and watched as the bartender returned and set another firewhiskey before him. Nodding his head quickly at the man behind the bar, Dean finally turned back to look at Logan Sullivan with a smirk. "If it isn't my favourite Gryffindor. Turns out I liked that school more than I thought, I'm the Potions master there now," Dean informed Logan, starting on his second firewhiskey, still shaking his head in disbelief that he hadn't recognised Logan. "And you, Minister of Magic, eh, you've - stayed the same," Dean added, before taking a drink from his glass and smirking to himself.

[LOGAN J. SULLIVAN]

The change in Dean's face when he realised who he was talking to brought an amused smile to Logan's lips. He seemed a little shocked that Logan had remembered him, but then again they had spent many hours fighting in the school - so it was fair enough that they would. They've been quite a few years apart, but that hadn't stopped them from getting at each other's throats every time they met. Logan had found Dean deluded, and Dean had probably seen him as arrogant.

"And my favourite Slytherin,"[/b] Logan remarked with a light chuckle, before he took another sip from his butterbeer and watched as Dean did the same from his far more alcoholic drink. The Gryffindor graduate raised his eyebrows, a little surprised when Dean told him he was now the Potions master up at the castle. He hadn't expected the younger Slytherin to have stayed on at the school, considering all the times he had destroyed it in pranks and vandalised it with hateful messages. But things changed, maybe Dean had changed with the time. "Oh I'm much the same, the man you loved to hate,"[/b] Logan commented with a light smile. It seemed that there wasn't so much of an age difference between them now. "And from the state of the wizarding world at the moment - seems the public love to hate me too,"[/b] the man continued, burying his face in his butterbeer mug as he took a deep drink and then set it down with a light clink on the table before him. "But I'm sure you know all about that."[/b]