Drink With Me to Days Gone By | Irina

[Deleted]

It would be the first time Dmitri had seen his little sister since she graduated. He still couldn't help but be angry at the circumstances surrounding her early graduation, but it was far beyond his control. He wanted to track down the murderers - the real murderers, not the make-believe terrorist cell the media was spouting - and take care of them himself. But, for now, he would just enjoy his time with Irina. He had already promised to buy her first drink, or several, as he imagined a drunk Irina would be quite entertaining. He sat in a private booth at the Leaky Cauldron, picking at the skin around his fingernails and sipping on his butterbeer. He stuck a finger in his mouth, chewing intently on the nail while he waited for his sister to arrive. He looked around the corner of the booth at the front door, waiting for her to enter.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina was pretty excited to be going out with her big brother Dmitri. She had seen him at graduation of course, but they had been around her entire family, and with four children and two former professional Quidditch players it was hard to get a word in edgewise. He had written her on her eighteenth birthday, declaring that now that she was legal, he was to buy her her first drink. She was a little nervous, as she had not really drank at all before now. It wasn’t as if their parents were insanely strict on not allowing their children to drink; they had always been of the mind that if they were properly introduced to alcohol, like a glass of wine with dinner, that binge drinking would not be a problem later on in life. It was a mindset of many parents Irina knew, but she had never been interested in it. She did however, want to have a drink with her big brother, and catch up with him on his life. She knew from running into Dan a few days ago that he was now Dmitri’s teammate on the Arrows, but she didn’t know if he had been told of their dinner plans in two days time. She’d keep that information to herself for now - she had no idea how that was going to go anyway.

She entered the Leaky Cauldron, searching intently for the dark curly hair of her big brother. She finally spotted him in a private booth, gnawing away at one of his fingernails. He had always had that bad habit, despite the number of times Irina had smacked his hand away when he did it in front of her. A wide smile spread across her face as she bounded over to him. “Greetings brother,” she said happily,, planting a kiss on his cheek before taking the seat across from him. “You look well, though you’re chewing your nail again,” she commented, her tone only slightly reprimanding his little habit.

@dmitri

[Deleted]

Dmitri's eyes lit up when he finally saw Irina enter the pub. He rose to his feet to greet her only to sit down again when she rushed over to him. He smiled as she kissed him on the cheek and watched with that same smile on his face as she sat down across from him. The smile turned into a grin as she scolded him for biting her nails. He made a dramatic show of shoving his fingers in his mouth and chewing on them, making loud gnawing sounds.

"You know, Little Mouse, that's not the best way to talk to someone who's about to buy your first drink," he teased. Waving the waitress over, he smiled at the man. Smiling seemed to be the thing to do today. "Two firewhiskeys, please," he said. He watched as the scribbled the order down and took it to the bartender. While he waited for their drinks to be finished, he propped his head up on his fists and studied Irina. It was hard to imagine her as anything other than a student, let alone a cursebreaker, even if she was still training. "So, how have you been, dear? All of this graduating has happened so fast."

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina giggled at Dmitri’s nickname for her, wrinkling her nose at the gnawing sounds. “You’re so gross Dimi,” she told him, using the nickname she used sparingly on him. Her brother wasn’t too fond of nicknames, but she knew as long as she didn’t use one ALL the time he wouldn’t get mad at her for it. “Firewhiskey?” she repeated, knowing the name of the drink he had ordered for them. Some of her fellow seventh years had celebrated their graduation by downing shots of firewhiskey at the Hogs Head Pub post ceremony. They had not looked too happy the next morning on the train ride home, so Irina had been relieved she had decided not to partake in it. Besides, this was far better to share this special moment with her big brother. Since he had moved out and started his Quidditch career, Irina had had precious few moments with Dmitri, just the two of them. Her brother hadn’t exactly taken it well when news of her relationship with Dan had come to light, but he had seemed to at least begrudgingly accept it by Christmastime. She didn’t know how much Dan had shared with her big brother since they were on the same professional team, but this time she’d make sure that Dan was the one to verbally tell him anything that would end up happening between the two of them. If they were to get back together, there’d be no secrets this time, especially from Dmitri.

“I’ve been well, just did orientation last week at Gringotts. My mentors name is Karen, she’s a lovely woman. I think I’ll get on with her quite well,” Irina began, folding her hands in front of her. “They said the training shouldn’t take too long, just a month or two, but if any big raiding jobs come in and our mentors get assigned them, we can go along,” she said, her eyes glinting in anticipation. She would be ecstatic if Karen got a raid assignment before her training was over; she couldn’t wait to get out there and travel!

The bartender arrived with their drinks and Irina studied it carefully. “To a prosperous year, for both of us,” she toasted, lifting her glass up to clink her brothers. “Oh and I erm...I ran into Daniel for the first time since he left after training last week,” she added very quickly before gulping down some of her firewhiskey. The drink burned a little and she coughed after taking a sip. “Interesting,” she managed to get out before coughing again.

@dmitri

[Deleted]

A hearty laugh escaped Dmitri's lips as Irina wrinkled her nose. He pointed a knowing finger at her before tapping her nose. "Careful, Little Mouse, if you keep making faces like that it'll stick," he teased. He leaned back in his seat, craning his neck to see if their drinks were on the way. He saw no sign of the waitress, so he turned his attention back to his sister. He nodded excitedly as she repeated the drink back to him. "You'll like it, I promise," he said. He wasn't much of a drinker himself, but he did enjoy the occasional firewhiskey with friends, or his sister in this case. Something about the way it lightly burn the back of his throat with every swallow and the delicious hint of cinnamon that tickled his throat made the drink that much more appealing. Plus, he couldn't wait to see Irina's expression when she first tried to drink it. It could be a little strong for newbies.

Dmitri nodded thoughtfully, listening intently as Irina told him about her training. It was all Greek to him, but he was happy for his little sister. She had found her passion, and her excitement about it was contagious. He smiled as the bartender finally brought the two firewhiskeys to the table. He picked up his drink, raising it and tipping it at his sister as she toasted. He took a long swig, snorting and gagging on his drink as Irina casually mentioned that she had run into Daniel. Hell, he hadn't even seen the man since he joined the team. It took a lot of the enjoyment out of Irina's reaction to the drink, as his was similar, choking and coughing as the firewhiskey went down the wrong pipe. Once he finally got control of himself, he dabbed at his face with a napkin. "Oh?" he gasped out. "How did that go?"

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina reached out a hand, looking concerned as her brother choked on the firewhiskey. Perhaps her timing was a bit poor, but she felt like if she didn’t say anything soon it would burst out all wrong. At least this way she was still completely sober and knew how to respond to his question. “Drink water Dimi,” she instructed, her brain whirring with how to answer that question. She didn’t know if she was ready to tell him Dan had invited her out to dinner next week, but she’d see how the conversation went and weigh her options then. “It went...as well as it could have I guess?” she said, shrugging her shoulders while trying to look nonchalant. “It was very spontaneous, I didn’t even know he was back in the country so thank you for that heads up,” she began, giving him a very pointed look before continuing. “But he was with some of your teammates in Quality Quidditch Supplies and I had just finished my orientation for Cursebreaking and it just sort of...happened. I accidentally slapped him with a pair of Keeper gloves,” she told him, trying and failing to hide a giggle. Merlin that had been rather funny.

“But that’s all I want to talk about on the matter. Tonight is about you and me, not you me and your best friend slash my ex boyfriend,” she said firmly, taking another sip of the firewhiskey. It went down easier than the first sip, but it still left a burning sensation in her throat. “Do you drink this often?” she asked him curiously, staring down at the amber liquid. She didn’t know if she could handle much more of that sort of sensation in her throat; she didn’t know the first thing about alcohol but Magdalena had been a fan of wine, so she knew that that existed at least.

@dmitri

[Deleted]

Dmitri punched himself in the chest as he tried to get the firewhiskey back down the right tube. His whole chest burned, but he had at least stopped coughing. "Water is for quitters," he retorted huskily, wiping his mouth where a combination of spit and firewhiskey lingered. Looking from his wet hand to Irina, he grinned and wiped it on the front of his shirt.

The man raised his glass to his lips again, eyeing Irina over the rim as she spoke. He took a deep swig to keep himself from interrupting, as much as he wanted to. He loved both Irina and Dan to pieces, but their breakup had taken its toll on everyone. Dan had been a wreck, Irina had been a mess, and Dmitri had been caught in a fierce game of tug-of-war, trying to keep both of them happy. If they decided to get back together, he would support them, of course, but he wasn't sure if it was in their best interest. He wasn't sure if he should say anything, or even what he would say. He gave a crooked smile when she mentioned hitting him with Keeper gloves. Dmitri had smacked him around with his own gloves a time or two, but he couldn't really pull the amusement out of himself. It was too soon.

Irina quickly changed the subject, and Dmitri exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He took another sip of his drink, chuckling a bit at Irina's question. "Whenever the mood strikes me, usually with the team," he said casually, putting his now-empty glass back down on the table. "You get used to the burn." Finally letting himself smile, he waved the bartender back over and ordered another firewhiskey. "And a butterbeer for the weenie," he added, winking at Irina.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina recognized the look on her brothers’ face; he was trying to hide it, but he was a little concerned about the idea of her and Daniel reconnecting. Honestly, she couldn’t blame him. She knew how bad she had been after Dan had left, and she could only imagine the beginning of Dan’s time back at Durmstrang wasn’t a walk in the park. Dmitri, though they had both tried not to do so, had been put in the middle. She supposed it was inevitable, seeing as he was her big brother and Dan’s best friend, but she did hate to put that burden on his shoulders. “Dimi,” she said soothingly, reaching over and taking his hand in hers. “Don’t worry. If anything like that is going to happen again,” she started, though she already had a feeling that it would indeed happen again. “We’d take it slow. Well..slower than the first time around. I don’t want to mess this up, for anyone,” she reassured him, knowing he’d understand she meant the both of them.

Squeezing his hand, Irina released it and knocked back the rest of the firewhiskey. She made a face. “Bleh,” she said as Dmitri ordered their next round, relieved he had ordered her a butterbeer. “Cheers bro,” she said happily, taking a deep sip of the drink. Ah, that was the drink that she preferred, though this particular batch seemed to have a kick to it. “Is this the alcoholic version?” she asked interestedly, studying the mug in front of her as if it would have the answers. She took another sip. “I know The Three Broomsticks sometimes would give seventh years the alcoholic version if they were of age,” she added with a shrug. She had never gotten it as she had turned eighteen in April, and the landlady was not foolish enough to serve students who were underaged. The only place that they could have gotten away with that was Hogs Head, but Irina never really liked it in there.

@dmitri