Harry Potter and the Time Fluke

Chaos

Agreeing readily with the suggestion, Harry and Tom took off on their exciting journey. Many odd things with absolutely no use were seen—like the teapot with three spouts. Tom had quickly dismissed the ineffective pottery, and completely ignored Harry's valid point that it was much easier to fill three cups at once when there were three pathways for the tea to travel. They stopped in a menagerie briefly and had a couple conversations with the snakes—surreptitiously, of course, so the owner wouldn't notice—that ended with Tom purchasing a new type of treat for Nagini. Harry wasn't completely sure if Nagini would like them, and Tom was doubtful as well, but the other reptiles they'd met swore by the goodies.

Before they knew it, lunchtime rolled around and, with growling stomachs, they trudged up the hill to the popular bar.

The Three Broomsticks was just as crowded as Harry expected it to be. It was lunchtime, on a Saturday, and the pub had to cater to its usual customers along with the swarm of Hogwarts students. It was teeming with people, and Harry and Tom had to wade through the thick throng of standing and sitting patrons to reach the small table where Abraxas and Dmitry were located.

Tom gracefully slid into the booth and Harry claimed the spot next to him. "Where's Orion?" he asked at what he felt like was a near-yell to be heard over the rambunctious din.

Abraxas shrugged and swished a long lock of his hair over his shoulder. "Off somewhere. Probably with a girl. I think he's trying to sleep with the whole of the upper-years before this one is out." He frowned pensively. "I've no idea why. I just hope it doesn't end in another riot."

"I don't particularly care either way, as long as there are enough heartbroken women for me to console," Dmitry put with a cocky grin.

Abraxas grimaced, then turned to Dmitry with a sweet smile. "Thank you, Dmitry, for volunteering to buy and retrieve our butterbeers. Be sure to get five. Orion should be here... sometime... eventually..."

Harry sniggered at the wholly aghast expression on Dmitry's face. The Russian looked to the bar and the dense crowd separating their table from it and back to Abraxas. "No, no thank you. Not me. No way. Can't we just, I don't know, signal to Madame Tahlia, or something?"

"Not if you want to drink anything within the next hour or so," Harry pointed out as a sudden surge of customers mobbed the bar. "I wish the Hog's Head was of the same quality as this place. We could have gone there..." He didn't know why Aberforth didn't put more of an effort into keeping his bar clean. He'd probably receive a much higher profit if he did.

"Ugh, that place is disgusting. It definitely lives up to its namesake." Abraxas wrinkled his nose. "I think I might buy it once my father dies and leaves me with the Malfoy fortune. There's definitely money to be made there, and it's obvious the owner doesn't realize just what a gem he has. He'll probably sell once I flash, what, a thousand galleons? I bet that's more than he makes in a year," Abraxas finished with a snort.

Dmitry gave a short laugh. "Put me down as co-owner and we can give him two thousand, in case he decides to act the part of a greedy bugger."

Abraxas raised a single perfect eyebrow. "I might consider it, if you would get up and go buy me a drink."

Harry and Tom laughed at Dmitry's hurt look. "Yes, Dmitry, I'm feeling rather parched myself," Harry stated cheerily. "So off you go. Chop, chop. You don't want to be forced to wait because they've temporarily gone through their stock, do you?"

Dmitry opened his mouth to respond when a colossal blast rocked the pub, shaking long-settled dust from the rafters down into now-forgotten meals. It froze everyone within The Three Broomsticks, shocking them to their very core. But when the shouts of fright and terror-filled screams began echoing down High Street into the small establishment, it was like someone hit play again.