What A Night! (Lucia and Briony)

Briony opened the door to the Leaky Cauldron and smiled slightly, she was very glad that it was empty because she couldn't be doing withannoying questions about just how the school was getting on and about the attacks, it was just too aggravating.

Walking up to the bar Briony smirked and placed some money on the counter, enough for a few drinks and got a glass of firewhiskey with a smirk, chucking it back with a grin.

"Much better than the pub we were just in, at least our feet don't stick to the floor eh?"

Briony grinned at Lucia: "So, you got anything planned? Anything fun?"

Lucia sighed relieved when she saw that the bar was completely empty with exception of the barman, of course. The two of them sat down on a table and Lucia grinned.

"Way better, indeed," she said, "And as for the shoes, I'm glad I'm wearing boots," she commented dryly.

Then she took a swing at the glass from the barman.

"Well, I don't really know yet. I usually just play things out as I go along, though I am planning to get some gardening done, as well as catching up with the animals residing in said garden," Lucia said with a smile.

There were so many animals in her home that she didn't even know the number. Of course, she knew every single one there, and if she sat down to count them, she would probably succeed. Problem was: she didn't bother. She then sighed.

"How about you? Are you leaving to Venice like you told me and Sofia?" Lucia asked kindly with a smile.

Briony found it a little odd that Lucia so openly talked about conversing with animals, she didn't mind of course but she was a little taken aback by it all the same, she never really talked about her powers, she supposed because she didn't want a counter attack to be formed against them.

"Gardening hm? Something I've never really taken a liking to, I hope that you have fun doing that, what sorts of animals do you have in your garden?"

Easily, Briony could see Lucia as being the type to be surrounded by pets all the time, but she was proved wrong on so many occassions by her.

At the mention of Venice Briony smiled slightly:

"Ah not yet, Richard has been busy...maybe another time." she smiled, stroking her thumb across the glass, her husband and her seemed to be growing further and further apart.

"Yes, I do like gardening. Not too much of it all at once though. That gets exhausting," she said with a grin.

Then she shrugged. She had so many different creatures at her estate.

"Well, foxes tends to be hanging around, as well as many wolves and the neighbor dogs. Ducks are in the pond, cats are everywhere and well... Of course, I live only among wizards and witches or others who knows of magic, due to some other creatures that tends to show up, like my phoenix, Sana," Lucia said with a smile.

But the creatures that were most unnatural wasn't the phoenix hanging around, it was the Common Welsh Green living in the mountain right next to her home. She smiled at the thought of the green dragon. No one in the neighborhood dared to walk on that mountain anymore, knowing that a dragon inhabited it. Lucia, however, was a different matter entirely. She loved dragons.

However, she wished there was a griffin near her too, but she had only ever seen one in her life, the one that had saved her life.

Then Lucia frowned. Briony seemed to not want to talk about Richard. She bit her lip, but then sighed.

"Yes, probably," she said slowly.

She didn't want to pry, but she felt the need to say what she said next anyways.

"Briony, if there's ever something bothering you, then please tell me about it. I'm not a healer for no reason," she said with a soft smile.

Briony nodded her head and listened to all the different types of animals that there was in the garden that Lucia had, it seemed a lot more popular than her own, but that was probably because Medusa kept scaring off all of the wildlife from the estate.

"It must be nice to have so much company around you, I don't think any of the animals that used to live on my estate can stomach being there any more." she grinned.

Swirling her drink slightly Briony felt the need to elaborate on her last comment, she didn't want to be seen as an enemy to animals or anything: "Personally I think it's Medusa who scares them off."

When Lucia said that she would be able to help her if she desired it, Briony smiled tiredly and massaged her temples, once again she found herself regretting ever taking this job.

"Thank you Lucia, I don't think it's a matter that can be healed so easily however, it's...it's more complicates than that I fear, there are things weighing my mind down at the moment, things Ive not told anyone."

Lucia smiled. "Yes, it is a joy to have so many creatures around you. Seriously, the time passes so quickly. But it can also be extremely annoying when it comes to pooping and stuff like that," she laughed.

Then she cocked her head. "Medusa? Your pet, hopefully, and not the Gorgon, I presume," she said humorously, "What creature is that?"

Taking a sip of the drink, she let the fiery taste flow down her throat with a content smile. She then sighed and looked at Briony.

"I get that. I'm not saying that by telling me your problems, I will fix you. I'm just saying that if you want to, I'll stand by your side and try to help you get through whatever it is. But I also understand if it is too personal for you to talk openly about to me. I get that. But I still want you to know that I wouldn't tell a soul. This because I know a thing or two about being betrayed," Lucia explained.

Then she took another sip.

"Oh, and Briony? By all means, stop me if I get too personal. I tend to do that," Lucia said with an innocent smile.

Briony chuckled lightly when Lucian mentioned the problem of having pets, she too thought that this would have been a big downside but didn't care to mention it in case it was thought too tasteless.

When talk turned to Medusa again Briony smirked:

"Medusa is my python, truly beautiful, but I wouldn't take her to your garden, there would be no creatures in it by the end of the day."

Listening closely to Lucian Briony thought about a few of the things that she said to her, it was something that she never understood personally, people being nice to her, trusting her, but then again they never truly know what she is.

Briony nodded her head slightly to show that she had taken in this information and she sighed slightly:

"How do you think I came about this job?" she asked looking into Lucia's face.

Waving a dismissive hand Briony said: "Believe me nobody has dared get personal with me for years its a welcome change."

Lucia looked interested at Briony. "Python? I love reptiles," she said with a grin.

"But you're probably right. Not the best idea to drag her into my garden," Lucia then said thoughtfully.

Lucia was a bit taken aback by the question Briony asked her. She sighed softly and thought about it.

"Well, I think you pretty much stumbled upon it, and before you knew it, you were headmistress. I know that you were the Head of Slytherin before, and I'm guessing you got annoyed by the previous head or something, and you decided to take matters into your own hands," Lucia said slowly.

She felt that Briony was a person who pretty much wanted to destroy people sitting high up on the chain of command if they couldn't handle their job welly. So she supposed it had something to do with the previous head of Hogwarts.

Then she smiled. "Then I'll keep nagging until you tell me, because I wouldn't ask if I didn't care. I'm not a fake. So, whatever you want to tell me, please do. I just want to be there for the few people I actually do care about," Lucia said softly.

Briony nodded her head with a small sly smile on her lips, she was never in Hogwarts, but if she was she would for sure be one of the Slytherins, and she loved snakes, they were so exotic and interesting.

"Maybe you will have to come and see her one day, but don't let her size frighten you, she wont squish you."

Chuckling a little Lucia wasn't exactly wrong in her explaination of how she thought Briony had come upon the job of being the Headmistress, she had come about it because she was tired of the old Headmaster indeed.

"I killed the previous Headmaster myself to get this job, he was an idiot, things would have gone badly with him in charge, he only cared about women and how much gel he had on his hair."

Rolling her eyes a little Briony smiled softly showing that even though she was being a bit flippant about this situation, that she truly did care that someone was being interested enough in her to ask:

"I am regretting doing what I did, not the action in itself, but because I feel it would have been a greater punishment to keep the guy in this job. It's hard having a German defector for your husband...very hard." she said softly, getting to the root of her sadness.

"Oh, I'd absolutely love to! Not only am I a fan of snakes, but a snake named 'Medusa'? I have to see that one," Lucia said chuckling.

To say that Lucia was surprised when she heard Briony tell her how she had killed the previous headmaster would be somewhat of a lie. Sure, it wasn't what she had expected, but it wasn't words that she couldn't have imagined the headmistress to say. And Lucia didn't mind. She knew of the value in a human's life, but this only applied for herself. It had to be serious for her to use the killing curse. Sure, she would do so to save someone's life, but she couldn't kill easily. The one she had killed haunted her every night.

"He sounded like a douche. I guess he deserved what he got," Lucia said honestly.

She then nodded when Briony explained how she would've loved to keep the man in his position. Then Lucia frowned. Of course. It must be quite a toll for Briony to be the headmistress of a school in war when the one she loved was German. Lucia sighed.

"I couldn't possibly ever understand how that must be like, Briony," she said lowly.

She pondered what she would ask next, and then sighed again.

"You should tell someone about this. Not necessarily me - though I'd love to hear it and help if possible - but someone whom you trust beyond anything," Lucia said calmly.

She didn't add that if that person was Richard, she should probably solve the problem with him. She felt that that would be way too personal.

Briony nodded slightly when Lucia said that the guy had deserved what he had gotten, he did in fact, deserve more than what he got, and she didn't want to add the fact he had only gotten the position as Headmaster because of his family connections.

"You could say he deserved it, but you could also say that it wasn't my job to give it to him, then again that a whole new can of worms each killer is faced with."

Smiling a small gentle smile Briony nodded once more, staring into her empty glass and looking at the dregs of the alcohol as if they were something that held all the answers.

"I don't tell him much about this, it would upset him greatly and there is nothing that he can do about it, so why make him guilty?"

Briony chuckled softly and placed the glass back down on the bar, realising that there has been nobody in her life besides Richard that she wholly trusted, although, Lucia, she did trust a little.

"The only one I trust completely is Richard, and I won't speak of this to him,"

Lucia nodded, understanding what Briony was talking about. To kill someone wasn't an easy job. Maybe in the heat of the moment, but it got more difficult over time.

She then nodded. "I guess it must be hard to tell this to Richard, yes. I don't quite understand why, but that probably has something to do with the fact that I don't love anyone as strongly as you love Richard. But I do know that when I still had a family, I did everything to make sure they didn't feel sad or guilty," she said.

She could to some extent understand why Briony wouldn't tell Richard now. She then sighed.

"Well, should you want to talk to me, you know where to find me. Well, out of my three places," she said with a grin.

She figured it was time to change the subject. So she looked around, feeling much more comfortable in the Leaky Cauldron than in Knockturn Alley. She didn't mind being there occasionally, but she didn't love the place. She looked up at the bar, seeing some muffins there.

"Could you throw over some of those muffins?" she asked the man.

He nodded and came over with six. Lucia smiled. She picked up one and took a bite.

"Well, they're considerably better than what we ate earlier," she said with a grin.

Briony nodded slightly, she didn't want to tell Richard about this because he was the only thing close to a family that she had and she didn't want to lose him when he was the only thing that she had left.

"I guess that might be a good idea, perhaps in the future, I will just hope that they will get more preoccupied with the war as opposed to worrying about Richard."

Chuckling softly Briony thought about how many offices that Lucia had, there was at least 4 she was pretty sure, that was more than her by far.

"You have so many offices now, youve taken on a lot of responsibility Lucia, I thank you for taking some of the problems onto yourself, if it's ever too much then just tell me."

When Lucia asked for some muffins, Briony gave her normal swift smile and she took one off the pile, a blueberry one and ate a small bite just to test it and see.

"Mmm indeed, much nicer."

"Indeed," Lucia said, "And I also hope, though I don't see much light in the tunnel, that the war will soon be over."

She sighed. So many people had suffered and died. One of which lay in the infirmary, trying to recover. She then chuckled slightly.

"Four jobs takes its toll, but I couldn't let one of them go. They're far too interesting. However, I know when I'm exhausting myself too much for me to take, and should the day come when I reach that limit, I shall most certainly tell you," Lucia said, feeling lighter.

She found it humorous that she had four jobs in Hogwarts, all of which on different floors, but the shortcuts were more than helpful.

Lucia nodded. "But I have to ask though, what can possibly be so wrong with the minds in Knockturn Alley that they don't understand that some washing is needed," she said, shaking her head exasperatedly.

Briony grinned slightly, she knew that she had made some bad choices in staff in the past, however, she was able to say that most of the staff at Hogwarts now she was happy with, and the ones that she wasn't so enamoured with, she could tolerate.

"I'm glad that you think that way, some people would say that I would be overworking them to the point of exhaustion, although, I'm happy you're not at that point just yet."

Shrugging her shoulders slightly, Briony picked some bits off her muffin and ate them, she was getting a little bit hungry and her head was beginning to pound, but she didn't think that she had any hangover potions with her.

"Well, they might be specialists in the Dark Arts, but they certainly do need to look at some cleaning spells I agree, maybe they just can't get the staff, after all, who would want to work there?"

The exasperated manner in which Lucia had said her last statement made Briony chuckle softly and she stared at the bar;

"Hmm...I was just thinking..."

Lucia grinned. "If I should get to that point, you should slap me in the face and yell at me that I chose so many jobs myself," she said, snickering.

She made an agreeing sound to what Briony said about the cleaning spells. Then she laughed.

"You got that right. I wouldn't work there if my life depended on it," Lucia said meaningfully. Then she frowned. "Or maybe I would. I mean, I'd get the places good and cleaned up easily," she said with a wink.

Lucia raised an eyebrow. "What were you thinking?" she asked curiously.

She looked from Briony to the bar, and could honestly say that she had no idea of what Briony was thinking.

"Briony, I'm no Sherlock Holmes, what are you thinking?" she asked again, very suspicious this time.

Unable to hold back a chuckle Briony grinned lightly and thought about actually having to do that, she thought that in most circumstances she would find it enjoyable, but she wouldn't like to think about slapping one of her closest confidants in the face.

"Well maybe I'll just chuck water at you instead, it will be less painful."

Knowing exactly what Lucian meant Briony nodded in agreement: "You wouldn't want to work there as it is now, but if you cleaned it up and made it better it might actually be a pleasant, or more likely, half decent place to work."

Briony snapped out of a little daze that she was in and blinked a few times, wow, she really was getting tired, but she just focused her attention back on the conversation and offered up what she was thinking to Lucia:

"I was wondering what your syllabus is for DADA and if I can get some sentinent creatures in for you and the class to talk with..."

Lucia chuckled. "Less painful, indeed," she said.

Then she nodded. "I agree, it would probably be okay to work there once everything got better on the tracks and all," she said calmly.

The thought of Knockturn Alley as it was now actually got Lucia a bit queasy. She was, after all, a nurse and was very clean when it came to food herself.

She then thought about her syllabus.

"Well, I was thinking of capturing some grindylows and telling them more about them and stuff. I was also considering telling them more about the spectral dogs and spirits. But if you have anything in mind, someone who can speak for themselves and about their culture, it would be awesome," Lucia said with a smile.

"As for spells, I'm considering learning them the Patronus Charm and some more offensive spells, because, honestly, we are at war, and should they get into combat, some slice and dice 'em spells wouldn't be bad to know," Lucia added seriously.

Briony nodded her head slightly and thought how much worse it must be for Lucia to see places like that, Briony was used to it after all, she had been in some real dives in her time, but she didn't know whether Lucia had ever seen something so dire.

Listening to the syllabus that Lucia was going to be teaching and she nodded her head slightly, thinking about what could fit in with what she was teaching.

"That sounds like a very detailed plan, I'm glad that you've thought it through so much, I mean, DADA is a very important subject, especially now."

Briony folded her hands together and she smirked slightly at the thought of what she was about to suggest:

"What's the most dangerous creature you would ever allow in your classroom, I have to know that first before I say anything more, and if you'd be willing to hold a night class."

Lucia nodded in agreement. DADA really was important now. And just the thought made Lucia frown and go serious. She took the task as professor very seriously, but the DADA position was something she took as seriously as life and death situations. In the end, it could actually come down to that.

Lucia then tilted her head to the side. She was very curious about the creature Briony had in mind, and thought about it. How dangerous would she be willing to go? Vampire? Yes, she would. Werewolf? If not on full moon, definitely. But on full moon? Depending on the potion the werewolf took.

"The most dangerous creature I would allow, would have to have human intelligence, and not act solely on instinct, like a Gytrash would. But I would allow a vampire and a werewolf. The werewolf depending on full moon or not, of course, and which potion it in that case would take," Lucia said calmly.

She looked at Briony, wanting to know the creature. Sure, there were more scary creatures out there, but there were so many of them that had only animalistic instincts, and though Lucia could probably converse even with them, due to her own animalistic understanding, she would have to have several witches or wizards with her if she should go higher than vampires and werewolves.

Briony smirked lightly, although she did know a few vampires she had been contacted recently by another creature altogether and she wasn't sure that Lucia was going to want it in her classroom.

When she said that she would allow a vampire and a werewolf, Briony nodded her head slightly, she knew at least one vampire that might come along to the school, and she knew that Cain would have no problems in being the center of the class, but then she also had this other idea.

"Well, I believe then we might have some sort of lesson plan for when the students get older, because, I have recently been contacted by a creature, of sorts, and they although not volunteering for lessons wanted to know about a position at the school."

Tilting her head to one side, Briony said, quietly: "This creature is a bit more dangerous than either of those you mentioned, but, not to students, at least I'd hope not. How would you feel about forming a lesson around a Succubus?"

Lucia was listening intently to what Briony was saying. She was very curious as to what the creature was. When Briony said it was more dangerous, Lucia perked up. And then she said it was a succubus. Lucia's eyes widened.

"Woah, I did not see that one coming," she said, a grin slowly spreading on her face. She then shrugged. "I don't really know much about the demon race, but I guess it could be rather interesting to have her in one of the lessons. I would normally say that the second years should be allowed, but I don't think I can say that for sure. I will have to ask them, I think, if that isn't a problem," Lucia said calmly.

"But I don't see the problem in letting her into one of my classes, as long as you are sure she wouldn't do anything rash," Lucia said seriously.

She leaned back in the chair. She was rather intrigued by the very thought. A succubus.

"No, I think it would be great for the students to learn about them, but due to last years events, I think I want to make sure," Lucia said softly.

Briony wanted to make sure that her students knew about the dangers that were around them, and since there was a Succubus and probably an incubus around the school then they needed to know so they weren't hurt or by them in the future.

"I think that's a very good idea, it's going to be an interesting lesson if they agree to have her in their classroom, but I'll contact her when you have made up your minds."

When she had recieved the letter, Briony too had been rather surprised and she thought that someone was joking with her, only after a few letters did she come to believe the woman.

"I am sure that she wouldn't do anything rash to the students, she does however have her eyes on a certain member of staff, I'll have to check it's okay with him..."

Briony smiled lightly and nodded her head: "Very sensible indeed, and I believe Cain is eager to see you again." she smirked.

Lucia grinned. "Well, I hope it'll work out. Maybe we can arrange it for the last lesson of the year?" she suggested.

Lucia then raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? This just got interesting. A succubus having her eyes on some teacher, hm? Pretty cool," she said. "May I ask who?"

"Oh, I do miss Cain," Lucia said, though she had to admit she was surprised to hear so, "He's very kind, definitely my friend."

She smiled, remembering the centaur and how amazing he had been during the battle.

Briony smiled lightly and she thought that it would be a good amount of time to get everything sorted and see if there was a time that they would be able to meet up properly to discuss this, her and Raziel that is.

"That sounds like it should be possible, I'll look forward to sitting in on your lesson personally, just to see what it's like."

Chuckling, Briony tapped her nose, and wondered if Lucia would get the clue, she didn't think so though, it was something he didn't go flashing around:

"Hmmm...should I tell you? Or make you wait a little first, until she mentions him, which she probably will."

With a small nod, Briony thought about the centaur, he was different that much was certain. "I am sure that he will be glad to hear that."