Disclaimer: Don't shoot me! I'm only borrowing it! Honest!

A/n: Well...please don't shoot me for not updating sooner! I had it ready a couple of weeks ago but my poor beta reader bigkihap has been very busy just lately. This chapter is not edited for said reason, but when i do get the edited chapter back, i shall re-post it. Anyway, i hope i haven't dissapointed anyone in this chapter. Please review and tell me your thoughts! They are greatly appreciated! Oh and I appologise for being evil and leaving the last chapter at a crucial moment. BUT, I just couldn't help myself! lol!I'm glad you all liked the stripping competition lol! It was my favorate bit!

Thank you to Quill of Minerva, Alesia G, esb, Margo Wulfric, Always Hopeful,Lethal Lunacy, 'Tis a Gift To Be Free, Emutet,xrazorbladeromancex, foci,Leta McGotor, miss mcGonagle, minni and SherbertKitty for your reviews! Youguys are the best!

Bex

Chapter 6

The Unusual Drinking Competition Part 2

"The winner of round five is…Albus!" Severus announced to a pub full of cheering supporters. Albus breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the last potion had paid off quite well and over half the supporters in the crowd were in his favour. I just hope it stays that way, he thought with determination. Rolanda walked swiftly over to Severus and whispered in his ear.

"My turn at presenting,"

"Thank you," he whispered back and touched her cheek gently. Severus walked over to the bar and picked up the next set of glasses and a misty pink potion then took it over to the round table where the brothers were currently sitting opposite each other. Albus looked up in surprise as Severus appeared next to him instead of Rolanda.

"Oh swapping over are you?" he asked politely as he stared up at the weary looking man. Severus gave him a quick nod then walked back to the bar.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Rolanda shouted to the noisy punters. "In round six, we have what is called a Tipping Toe potion, or more commonly known as a dancing potion for the inadequate."

The crowd in the pub quietened down quite a bit, half expecting the landlord and the headmaster to have dancing disabilities, as Rolanda presented the misty pink potion to them all. Aberforth noticed that Rolanda, like Severus, had a gift of keeping an audience holding onto every word that she said without to much effort. Of course it does help that she was a famous Quidditch player until that unfortunate accident, Aberforth thought sadly as he watched the petite witch bounce over to the table and show the audience the misty pink potion. Aberforth was bought back to reality as he realised Rolanda was talking to them.

"So gentlemen, all you have to do is think of the best dance you know, and show it to us. You shall have a minute to comply with," she told both Albus and Aberforth as they nodded with understanding. "Ready? GO!"

Albus decided to go first and picked up the glass to drink the potion. Standing up, Albus walked over to Sheila the bar lady and offered to dance with her. She blushed and accepted his offer then walked around the bar. Albus sped off into a very fast waltz with her around the room. He made a few fancy turns around the round table and the flipped Sheila over his arm and caught her as she turned back into his arms. The crowd in the pub cheered as the potion subsided and Albus walked Sheila back to the bar, kissing her on the hand as he went. Walking back over to the table and sitting down, Albus looked expectantly at his brother as if to say 'Beat that, punk.' Aberforth raised his eyebrows and drank his potion. He stood up and walked to a clear space near the door. Aberforth bent down and started to spin around on his hands and eventually spinning around on his back. The crowd started to cheer and clap as Aberforth began to spin so fast that he almost span onto his head. Poppy and Minerva started whistling and cheering on Aberforth along with the mad crowd. Ending the break-dancing with a quick pose for the cheering crowd, Aberforth got up and walked back over to his chair. Albus glared at him from the other side of the table. All the strangers in the pub quickly wrote down who their favourite was and soon Severus, Rolanda and Sheila whizzed around the tables quickly collecting the parchment to count. Five minutes later, Rolanda stood up to announce the winner.

"And, the winner of round six is...Aberforth!" she shouted and the audience stood up and cheered Aberforth on. Albus stared coolly at his brother as Severus set out the next set of glasses and poured a milky grey potion into them. Aberforth sat smugly and waved at everyone. Rolanda had to set off a firework in order to calm the mad audience in the pub. It instantly worked as several people screamed with surprise and others looked alarmed.

"Right, now I have your attention," Rolanda said in a commanding voice. "For round seven, Severus has concocted a potion to make you turn into the best piece of furniture you can think of. It will last for a minute, so gentlemen if you please, on your marks get set GO!"

Aberforth took up his drink and drank it as fast as he could. He screwed his face up trying to think of the best piece of furniture to turn into. Once he had decided, Aberforth stood up and changed into a mahogany cloak stand with six hooks. The feet of the cloak stand moved as Aberforth tried to walk towards the crowd. Someone stood up and placed a green hat on top but Aberforth soon flung it off in a different direction to the owner. Albus looked half amused at his brother, picked up his drink, and drank it just as fast as Aberforth had. Thinking fast, Albus decided to turn himself into a big pink couch. Albus wheeled himself around the table shouting "Weeeeee!" Aberforth turned around and found his brother had tuned into a loveseat and pointed to laugh at him.

"Excuse me, but at least I look comfortable and attractive." Albus said through the seat's cushions. In return, Aberforth ran and bounced on the loveseat but Albus was too quick for him. Albus stood ready and when Aberforth jumped into the middle of the seat, Albus flipped his cushions so Aberforth landed onto the floor.

"Authorised personnel only," laughed Albus as he watched his brother climb off the floor. A second later, both men had changed back into themselves as the audience cheered in delight and scribbled down their favourite. Aberforth looked disgruntled as Albus grinned back at him with a know-it-all expression he used whenever Aberforth lost at anything. With a good feeling that he had won the round Albus congratulated himself on a job well done. Putting his best expression that would annoy his brother, Albus sat back into his chair and waited for the results to confirm his suspicions. Rolanda walked swiftly over to the round wooden table and called for quiet. The crowd died down, not wanting a repeat of the last time that Rolanda had tried to get their attention.

"And the winner of round seven is...Aberforth!" she announced the cheering crowd. Albus felt the bottom of his stomach fall out and disappear as his brother threw both fists into the air in victory. Aberforth had overtaken him from the lead spot. Quickly regaining his determined posture Albus sat and smiled at his brother. Minerva and Poppy bounced in their seats as Aberforth was announced as the winner.

"Oh my gosh, Aberforth is in the lead!" Minerva gushed and squeezed Poppys' hand in excitement. Poppy grinned at her friend and glanced over at Albus who had sunk slightly into his chair. Her grin soon slipped from her face and turned into a frown as Albus sighed and looked down then slipped back behind his mask. It seemed only Poppy saw what he really felt behind the half-moon glasses and long beard for a slight second. From despair to determination, Poppy wondered what really went throughout the headmasters' mind as he slipped out of the lead and into defeat. Minerva obviously had not noticed, as she was too busy cheering Aberforth on.

Why are you really doing this, Albus? Poppy thought and made a mental note to ask Minerva to pay him a visit tomorrow morning. They were, after all, best friends. Once Severus had prepared the next round of glasses and placed them onto the table, Rolanda stood up to face the crowd.

"Now, they had a potion to make them speak a different language, but now we have a potion to make them speak with a different voice." Rolanda indicated to the headmaster and the landlord sitting at the wooden round table with a pitch-black potion in front of them. The audience whistled and cheered in approval as she held up a glass for them to see. Rolanda put the glass back down in front of Albus. "You shall have thirty seconds to comply with, GO!"

Aberforth picked up his glass and put it to his mouth to drink. He knew just the voices he wanted to re-enact as he transfigured two rags from the bar into Zippy and Bungle from a muggle television series called 'Rainbow' he saw in the seventies. Ducking down behind the bar, Aberforth held his hand with Zippy up and turned him around slowly so that he was facing the audience.

"Hello everyone! Today we are going to be playing with our balls," he said in a high-pitched muffled voice. He made one of his fingers waggle to make Zippy wave at the laughing audience. "Aren't we Bungle?"

Aberforth put his other hand on the bar with Bungle attached to it.

"Yes, I love to play with balls! But I like to play with other people!" he said in a children's voice and made Bungle nod in agreement. "Can we play with Jane and Freddie?"

"Oh yes! Jane, Freddie!"

The audience clapped and cheered as the landlord stood up to take a bow. Albus looked in determination at his glass and downed the lot in three gulps. Standing up, Albus walked over to the bar and transfigured the same two rags that Aberforth had transfigured into Punch, Judy and a dog. Having seen performers act out Punch and Judy numerous times in London, Albus had a good idea of how to act them out. Before crouching down behind the bar, Albus looked around for a plastic bottle of some sort. Waiting for silence, Albus put his hand on top of the bar with Judy holding a small frying pan full of sausages.

"Oh I just love sausages! Punch, can you pass me the plate?" Albus said in a squeaky voice as he made Judy bend over. The dog crept around Judy as the puppet bend over and took the sausages from the frying pan. Albus quickly turned Judy round to see the dog pinching the sausages. "Come back here with my sausages you naughty, naughty boy!"

Albus made the dog run to the end of the bar while Judy tried to pan the dog with the frying pan.

"Woof!" replied the dog. Leaving the dog at the end, Albus quickly slipped his hand into Punch and made him appear at the end of the bar with a bottle.

"That's the way to do it!" Albus said in a gruff voice as he hit the dog with the bottle. The crowd laughed and cheered Albus on as he stood up and smiled. After transfiguring the puppets into rags again, Albus made his way to the wooden table, well award of the loud scritch-scratch noise that filled the pub once again. Poppy looked over to Minerva who had already written Aberforth on her piece of parchment, and decided to write Albus on hers.

"Who did you like the most?" Minerva asked her friend with interest.

"I thought Albus did a brilliant job with Punch and Judy," Poppy replied as Severus whipped round to collect their answers.

"Hmm I never really was a fan of Punch and Judy. Although I do wonder what Aberforth acted out," Minerva told Poppy, as she looked dreamily at the man in question.

Once the votes had been collected and counted, Rolanda made her way to the round wooden table to get everyone's attention. Most people complied but other still felt the need to talk so Rolanda had to speak loudly until the minority had died down.

"The winner of round eight is...Aberforth!"

The crowd cheered and whistled at their landlord while Albus slumped back into his chair. Pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a deep breath, Albus sat back up again and stared around the room at Aberforth's happy supporters. Looking closely in the corner, he saw a witch dressed in black looking at him with concern. Albus felt that her knew that face and racked his brain for where he had seen her before. Suddenly it dawned on Albus that Rolanda could have told Minerva and Poppy about the competition. Oh no, I'm going to fail in front of Minerva again. Albus thought sadly. Poppy stared back as Albus gave her a wink. Her eyes widened as she realised that herself and Minerva had been rumbled.

"Oh bother," Poppy said out loud and Minerva looked at her questioningly. "Were rumbled, Min."

Minerva looked up in surprise and saw Albus smiling and waving at them. She could not help but smile and wave back. Seeing Minerva and Poppy gave him newfound determination to win the competition. If only I can win the next two rounds and make it a draw,

Albus watched Severus place the next glass with an orange coloured potion in down in front of him. Giving the potion master a slight smile, Albus wondered what this latest potion could be as Rolanda gathered the attention of the audience.

"The next potion was designed to make you a better singer. However, with a few charms, we have been able to make it so that they person can only sing opera." Rolanda explained to the laughing crowd. "What ever the person speaks shall be sung in opera. All the gentlemen have to do is decide what sort of operatic voice they prefer and, hold an operatic conversation for thirty seconds. GO!"

Both the Albus and Aberforth picked up the orange coloured potion and drank it all.

Albus cleared his throat and began to sing in a high-pitched ladies voice "Soo, my dear brother, how are yooou?"

"I have nevvver beeen better, old booy!" replied Aberforth in a deep male baritone voice.

"Would yoooou like a glassss of firewiskeeey?" Albus gestured to the bar.

"Why, my dear lady, Yes I wooould! Allow meeee to pay," Aberforth started to pull his pouch out of his pocket and let it jiggle as the audience fell into hysterics.

"I havvve never beeeen in the company of shuch geeentlemen beeefore!" Albus put his hands on his heart and batted his eyelashes. The potion ended as Aberforth was about to reply. Both men started to laugh along with the crowd at the previous conversation. The crowd rushed to write their favourite operatic singer on the parchment and some decided to help collect them up to hurry the process along. The two men waited patiently as the counting was finished. Rolanda walked swiftly into the middle of the room and this time she did not have to wait for silence.

"The winner of round nine is," she said slowly to gain effect, "ALBUS!"

A big 'YES!' resounded throughout the pub as the crowd cheered. Poppy stood up and clapped along with the rest of the supporters. Albus stood up to take a bow, feeling happy that he had won the round. Aberforth wiped the grin from his face and leant across the table.

"I'm still in the lead, old boy. Don't get too excited," he said quietly to his brother.

"Not for much longer," Albus retorted with a big grin as Severus slipped two glasses full of a purple potion with blue bubbles in front of them. "Thank you, Severus."

Severus nodded to both men and left. Rolanda called for quiet so she could announce the tenth round and the audience co-operated.

"The next potion is commonly known as a 'love potion'. But, with a few charms, we have managed to make the potion so that you can choose the person you wish to romance." Rolanda said to an excited audience. "All the gentlemen have to do is find a woman and, to put it bluntly, chat them up. The potion shall last for a minute. Are you ready? GO!"

Albus downed the potion and made straight for the corner. He knew exactly whom he was going to choose to 'chat up'. Out stretching his hand to Poppy, he said "Would you be so kind as to walk an old man to the bar? Perhaps I could buy you a drink?"

Aberforth looked at Poppy in surprise as she blushed red, but accepted the invitation. Rolanda looked at Severus and they both smirked as Poppy and Albus glided to the bar so everybody could see. Minerva took several pictures of Poppy and Albus and felt a little twang as Albus had asked Poppy and not her.

"I have not seen a pretty lady like you around these parts for sometime, please, enlighten me as to why you are here." said Albus as he flashed he a charming smile. Half the ladies in the pub gushed as Albus smiled as the men looked highly amused.

"I was passing and I saw a lovely little village. I thought I would stop and take a look around," Poppy said to Albus, trying to ignore the fact that a whole pub full of strangers was watching them.

"Well, my dear. In that case, please, let me be your tour guide. There are many delightful shops just down the road that are just begging to be entered." Albus said suggestively as he kissed Poppy's hand.

"Why, how thoughtful. Thank you, I shall accept." Poppy replied graciously. Albus smiled at the audience as they clapped and cheered. He returned Poppy to her seat and saw Minerva clapping at him in a beautiful dark blue dress. Albus winked then returned to his seat as Aberforth walked over to the flight instructor once again and held out his hand. Severus glared at him as the man clearly had something for Rolanda. Rolanda took the offer as Aberforth walked over to the round wooden table and offered her his seat.

"Oh thank you," she smiled graciously at him. "But where will you sit?"

"Oh don't worry about me, I can stand. I would prefer a pretty woman sit in my seat than an old man such as myself." Aberforth said gentlemanly.

"Well if you are sure," Rolanda replied pretending to be shy.

"Absolutely positive, now how is it that we keep on crossing each others' paths?" Aberforth questioned her politely. "Only I have seen you five times in the past two weeks, and each time we happen to come across one another. Perhaps it is fate?"

"I don't know, are the stars in the right place tonight?"

"For you my dear, I shall put them in the right place." Aberforth said with meaning as the crowd began to clap and cheer. Severus put his glare on full as Aberforth returned Rolanda to his side and kissed her hand. Rolanda noticed this and pulled his tie down so she could kiss him firmly on the lips.

"Stop glaring at him, he's not the one I'm interested in," she whispered in his ear. Severus raised his eyebrow.

"Whom are you interested in then?" he growled.

"You," Rolanda replied simply and smiled. Since they had several helpers from the audience, all Severus and Rolanda had to do was put the parchment in piles and count them up. Albus waited nervously and tapped his fingers on the table. Several minutes snailed by until finally Rolanda walked over to the wooden table to get the attention.

"The winner of the tenth round is...ALBUS!" she announced cheerfully as the crowd clapped happily. Albus felt his spirit rose with joy as the feeling of hope crept once more into his skin. "We now have a tie, ladies and gentlemen. We have to go into a round of sudden death. The person to win this round shall be the winner of the competition."

Rolanda looked back at Severus who walked until he was beside her.

"Unfortunately, we did not prepare an extra potion. But we do have an extra task at hand," he told the audience who were still going along with it. "The brothers must act out a paragraph out of their favourite book to a person or object. They shall have one minute to comply with, GO!"

Aberforth gave his brother a quick glance and pushed himself out of the chair. Walking swiftly over to his barmaid Sheila he recited a little something from a book that Albus had once read to him in the great wizarding libraries in Edinburgh. Clearing his throat, Aberforth leant over onto the counter and spoke softly.

"Never have trees in the autumn, the pink sky in the west, the bright flowers that sit proudly before the windowsill ever been able to describe the beauty that I see before me. When I look at you, I think of the beautiful songbirds, the delightful sound of the buzzing bees and the dragonflies the fly by from time to time. It is only then that when I see the beauty of the world, none can be compared to the beauty sitting before me upon my lap against the distant breeze."

Several 'aww's' from the audience told Aberforth that he had chosen the right extract and hoped that the audience would pick him. Albus sat and watched Aberforth recite that particular paragraph and remembered when he had read that to his dyslexic brother. He felt proud that Aberforth had remembered such an outing several years ago and that it had come in handy, even if they were neck and neck in a competition. Adjusting his glasses, Albus knew exactly the piece he was going to recite to Minerva for it was her favourite piece out of Shakespeare's sonnets. He stood up and walked over to the corner where Minerva was sitting.

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds of impassiveness. Love is not love, which alters when its alteration binds, or bends with the remover to remove. Oh no, it is an ever-fixing mark that looks on tempests." Albus said looking into her blue eyes, watching a smile cross her face in delight. Aberforth looked at his brother with a tinge of jealousy as he witnessed Minerva succumb to his charm as he remembered her poem. He had never thought that when he saw Poppy that Minerva would be with her too. The audience has obviously bought the paragraph, he thought sadly as they clapped loudly at the headmaster. For the last time, the crowd wrote down their verdict and handed it in to be counted. Albus walked back to his chair and waited with bated breath. He glanced at Aberforth, and then leant forward to congratulate him on remembering the extract.

"Well done for remembering," Albus whispered across the table and gave his brother a wink. No matter how hard he had tried, Aberforth just could not get the grasp of reading. So every now and then, Albus took him to libraries or to Hogwarts even to read pieces of stories. He was glad that Aberforth had remembered those times as his brother smiled back at him with a little pride.

"Although you thought I never listened, I always did." Aberforth replied softly. Rolanda stepped into the middle of the room for the last time and the audience died down instantly.

"The winner of the lightning round is," Rolanda said quietly, everybody just catching every word she said. "ALBUS!"

The crowd cheered and whistled at the headmaster as he stood up to take a bow. Some of the audience came up to shake both the landlord and the headmasters' hands and congratulated them on such a splendid show. Minerva walked up to Albus and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Well done, Albus." she said over the din and then turned to Aberforth to give him a kiss and a hug. Suddenly, Albus felt himself deflate a little as he watched his deputy with his brother. Albus realised that, no matter who would have won the competition, he still was not going to get Minerva back. Poppy walked up to him and congratulated him also on the good show.

"Thank you, Poppy. If you will excuse me, I have to return to the castle for I have some urgent ministry business I have to take care of," Albus replied calmly and walked over to Rolanda and Severus. "Thank you for doing this. It was much appreciated,"

"Oh no problem. We had lot's of fun doing it," Rolanda giggled and Albus smiled.

"Take the rest of the weekend off. I won't expect to see you tomorrow," he said to the happy couple.

"Thank you, Albus. In that case I shall be back at my 'retreat' if you need us," Severus replied smoothly and began to clear up the parchment. Albus walked over to the fire and glanced at the happy couple before muttering "Hogwarts, Headmasters Office."and grabbing a handful of Floo power from the dusty mantle piece.

Well...WHAT DO YOU THINK? I hope Aberforth's extract sounded ok,I wrote that myself asI was stuck as to what to give him.