Chapter 18: Night Out
"So, are you really sneaking around the halls of Hogwarts just to spend time with Severus?" Ali asked with a mischievous sparkle in her green eyes.
The two were seated near the window of a small café in London, having dropped Alinora's overnight bag off at Sara's flat. They had decided that they needed to refuel a bit before an afternoon of shopping. The waiter had just finished taking their orders and they were simply relaxing with their drinks.
Sara looked at her in silence for a moment before smiling broadly. "No," she said with a wink, "I refuse to sneak around like that. You should know that by now! No, I was simply… exaggerating slightly," she continued, "but he is quite determined that his reputation not be improved by any hint of my existence."
"Well, that's just a bit obnoxious of him, isn't it? But quite in character, just the same," she added, rolling her eyes slightly.
"True, but I knew that going into the relationship and he certainly hasn't let me down over the years! But I really don't want to discuss him today. There will be no further discussions of the men in our lives, only outrageous conversation about any handsome ones we run into while we're out. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Ali said, nodding her head in amusement. "Nothing serious; today is for fun only. And just in time, as I think that's our lunch," she finished, spying their waiter approaching with a tray of food.
"So, the plan after lunch is for shopping, right? We both need to acquire something new, something different from what we normally wear, for tonight."
"Exactly. You need to get something that's not black…"
"And you need something that actually covers you up," Sara teased.
"If you insist." Alinora stuck out her tongue, and picked up her fork to begin eating. "Better get going, we have a lot to do this afternoon!"
The afternoon and early evening passed quickly. The two had done the necessary shopping; each acquiring an outfit approved of by the other, and then had a leisurely dinner before returning to Sara's to get ready for the evening ahead.
Alinora, generally a fast dresser, was ready first. She was wearing a sleek, black pantsuit. The top had spaghetti straps and was form fitting around her breasts before flaring out slightly just below. Her pregnancy, barely more than the suggestion of a bulge, was well hidden.
Sara appeared a little later, twirling around to flare out the skirt of the short, red dress she was wearing. Sara wore black constantly, so the red was an amazing change and quite a visual shock. Ali whistled appreciatively.
"You need to wear red more often," she said, smiling. "So, are we ready now?" At Sara's nod, she continued, "Where are we heading tonight? Same old, same old?"
"Of course! What's a Girl's Night without a trip to Reg's Hott Spott? Things should just be heating up there… Are you sure you're up to the disguise charms? We're likely to run into more people who know us there. We could always go someplace else."
"I'll be fine. Those sorts of charms I could do in my sleep and I haven't seen Reg in ages!"
Sara gave her a considering look before breaking into a wide grin. "Well then, grab your stuff and let's head out! I'm in the mood for some serious dance therapy!"
By the time the two had reached the club, located in the middle of a highly populated muggle area, there was a line, stretching down the street, of people waiting to get in.
Sara briefly considered whether being unrecognizable would hinder their ability to gain entrance to a place they'd once been known as regulars, but pushed the concern aside as Alinora walked confidently past the line and up to the bouncer at the door.
"Phil! It's been ages! How are you? Is Reg in tonight? I swore we'd stop by when we were in town and I'd hate to miss him again! I'm beginning to think the man never leaves Greece anymore, despite supposedly living in London…" Ali talked quickly, gripping the bouncer's arm lightly, before leaning in conspiratorially for her last comment.
It wasn't common knowledge, outside the club staff and Reg's close friends, that he had a second home on the coast of Greece and, with that one comment, Alinora marked them as "Important Patrons", whether Phil could remember them or not.
With a rumbling, "Reg is in the private parlor tonight," he lifted the velvet rope and let the two women pass.
"Thanks, luv!" Sara called over her shoulder as they entered the darkness of the club.
After handing their wraps to the coat check girl and collecting their tickets, the two headed for the dance floor. There's a trick to being able to clear a little room for yourself on a crowded dance floor, that can take a while to pick up, but once you have it you never forget and the two easily entrenched themselves into the midst of the sweaty mass of bodies and joined the dance.
When time came for a break, they grabbed a drink, did a quick magical touch-up to clear away the worst of their dance induced dishevelment and headed off to look for Reg. He might not know who they were, but he was too good a friend not to check up on.
But, he was no longer in the parlor. The bartender told them that he'd gone to check on the live performance taking place in yet another part of the club so, with a smile for his help, they headed off towards the band.
Most weekends Reg would have some group in to perform for those that preferred something different to dance to. When they were getting started, The Sirens had played there on numerous occasions, and they had visited a couple of times, when their schedules permitted, after their popularity had taken off. Tonight's group wasn't anyone Ali had heard of, but they had a good Latin sound and they were fast paced enough to make dancing almost compulsive.
Sara led the way across the dance floor, doing a modified form of a conga line- modified in that they were the only two doing it. Others were quick to join on though, so their journey took a bit longer than it normally would, as they twisted their way around the dancers on the floor. She managed to end the line near the corner where Reg was meeting with some of his managers. Not wanting to barge in, they found a spot nearby to watch the band.
"They're pretty good," Ali shouted in Sara's ear.
Leaning closer, Sara yelled back, "I agree, but Reg has always had good taste in picking bands, so I'm not all that surprised. So," she said, giving Ali a mischievous look, "when are you going to be getting back to performing? I can't believe you've only done one show since September. I know you're 'taking a break', but aren't you going into withdraw by now?"
"A bit, I'll admit. I enjoy singing on stage. The energy of the crowd is amazing, but it's also been nice to have a bit of a break too, and with everything else that's happened…" her voice trailed off as her expression darkened slightly, but it quickly returned to a smile. "Maybe I will have to resort to dancing on tabletops to get that need to perform out of my system!"
The music had stopped during their conversation and they'd automatically lowered their voices to compensate. Neither had heard anyone approach nor realized anyone was near them until they heard a familiar voice behind them saying, "We don't tend to provide tables for dancers here, but if it would truly make you happy…"
Spinning around, Alinora smiled happily at Reg and just stopped short of giving him a hug as she remembered that he wouldn't know who she was.
"No need to find a table for me," Sara responded smoothly, giving Ali a chance to recover, "the dance floor is fine! And Ali here prefers the stage to a table, but we didn't figure singing was on the agenda for the evening."
"You sing, do you?" Reg asked, turning to look consideringly at Alinora before giving her a puzzled look as if he couldn't quite place the face.
Alinora hid her smirk well before responding, "Yes, I have been known to perform in public a time or two…" Sara poked her.
Reg still looked as though he couldn't quite figure out if he should know them or not, their instant rapport was confusing him, but he was also a good businessman and known for having made good decisions when it came to his club. He stared at her for a moment, before smiling, cocking his head to the side and giving her a wide grin, "Well now, if you'd like to borrow my stage for a song, you're welcome to. We're about to have an intermission, but I'm sure they," he said, gesturing to the dancers, "would love to hear more. If you think you're up to it…"
Sara covered her grin with her hand as Ali simply gestured for Reg to lead the way to the stage.
Preceding her out onto the stage, Reg grabbed the mic and cleared his throat to attract the attention of the dancers, some of whom had been heading for the door. "Ladies and Gentlemen, there's been a slight change in the line up. While our main act is taking a well deserved break before their next set, we have a guest performer. Let me know what you think and maybe we'll have her back later." With that he returned the microphone to the stand, and left the stage.
While he'd been talking, Ali had had a quick discussion with the backup band to decide what they all knew and could perform. With that settled she turned to face the audience and, with a strangely nervous stomach, picked up the mic. "Hello all! I'm happy to be here and I hope you enjoy the performance." Gesturing to the band that she was ready, they immediately started the decided upon song.
They'd gone with the Latin theme that had been already started and, after a brief lag while the audience tried to figure out what they thought of the situation, things heated up quickly.
Alinora had always enjoyed performing to a crowd. While not an incredibly public person in her private life, when she got on stage she couldn't imagine anything she wanted to do more than make the audience happy and get them enthused about her music. She easily slipped back into that feeling and happily soaked up the enthusiastic response of the people on the dance floor.
The song was about over, and the last instrumental break was playing, when Alinora felt the search. Something was looking around the area and she had a sinking feeling that she knew what its target was. Without hesitation, she moved to pick up a hand drum lying close by and began a version of her shielding spell, meant to strengthen and work with the ones she'd put into place earlier that day.
She could sense the search flowing around the area, but it didn't seem to be noticing her or Sara as of yet, assuming one of them was the target. She finished up her spell in time to complete the end of the song, but was happy to leave the stage after, refusing Reg's offer of another turn on stage.
"Are you sure you won't take another turn? The crowd loved you," he said, trying to be convincing.
Ali could tell that her smile was strained, but she was firm in her refusal. "I came here to dance, you know. But I do appreciate the offer. Maybe another night."
"Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me."
With another forced smile, Ali turned away to find Sara, who was standing nearby with a concerned expression.
Seeing Ali was now free, she hurried over, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, led her into a secluded corner and sat her down at an empty table.
"Are you okay?" she asked, noticing Ali start to shake slightly. "Hold on, let me get our coats." Taking the ticket Alinora handed her, she soon returned with their coats.
Ali wrapped her's tightly around her shivering form and willed herself to warm up and calm down. It worked slightly; she was a bit warmer now.
"Now, what happened? I felt… something, but I couldn't tell what it was."
"There was some sort of seeking, I think someone was looking for me," Ali replied, a bit of fear and confusion showing in her expression. "I don't think they were looking specifically here, it was more that they just happened to be looking in this direction when I was here. They didn't find me though, thank goodness."
"Are you sure?"
"Almost positive."
"Well, just to be safe, I think we should be moving on. No reason to press our luck tonight."
Sara stood up and gathered up her possessions. Ali slowly did the same and the two were soon headed towards the exit.
"Do you want to be heading back now, or are you up to one more stop? I'd originally planned to end the night with a stop at that all-night café that serves the wonderful chocolate items…"
Alinora shook off the lingering sense of fear that the spell had given her and pulled up a smile for Sara. "That actually sounds really wonderful. I think a stop there is definitely in order!"
They turned to catch a cab and, as Ali's back was turned, Sara quickly sprinkled some dried herbs she'd had stashed in her bag over their path and whispered a quick charm. Ali may be sure she hadn't been discovered, but Sara had promised to make sure nothing happened to her this evening and she wasn't going to go back on that. Breaking their trail at the club was just a safe precaution.
A cab slowed by the edge of the street and the women hurried to get in and out of the cold. As they gave the driver directions, Ali grinned mischievously. "So, does that amazingly good looking guy still work the over night shift there…?"
"Oh, yes. Why do you think I made the suggestion?" Sara winked.
"Just checking. Sounds like a nice close to the evening."
It was mid afternoon before Alinora Apparated back to their flat. When she appeared, she found George silently working on a project and no sign of the twins. Why doesn't it surprise me that he'd get Molly to take care of them with me away? She thought to herself with a grin.
Walking quietly, she came up behind him and kissed him lightly on the side of his neck.
"Welcome home, Ali," George said, turning to pull her down for a hug. "Did you guys have a good time last night?"
"It was… quite eventful," she replied with a slight smile, "but a lot of fun, just the same. Things go okay around here?" she asked, finally looking around in pleased surprise as she noticed the spotless living area. "Wow! You've been busy."
"I had a bit of help," he replied, smiling. "But I have something to show you out back. Drop your bag and come with me."
They exited the house and entered the winter barren fenced back yard. Other than a basically unused potting shed at the far end of the yard, Ali couldn't see any reason for George to bring her out. That didn't stop him though and, taking her arm, he led her to the shed and opened the door for her to enter in before him.
Stepping into the shed, Alinora stopped short in surprise as she stared around her. It was like she'd stepped back in time, to her last year at Hogwarts and her first "real" date with George. Around her stretched a grassy landscape with a small waterfall and pool close by. George gently pushed her forward so he could enter as well, and she slowly took off her coat as she explored the new space.
"How…?" she turned to look at her husband in pleased surprise.
"I've been working on this for months, but it was taking forever to get the spells to work correctly. Charlie was over yesterday and, between the two of us, we got things working. You like it? I know you've missed having the water nearby…"
"Of course I like it! I love it!" she cried happily, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him soundly.
Backing up, and smiling seductively, Ali started unbuttoning her shirt. "Care to try it out?"
"Well, if you insist…"
