Deva walked into the Leaky Cauldron, and straight to the bar. She was feeling like complete trash. The days back at Hogwarts had been pretty rough. She didn't think it would be so hard to see all her friends again, and not being able to talk to them like she once did. Besides, she had never anticipated that so many of them would be at Hogwarts at all. She sighed and looked at the barman. "One gin and tonic please. Make it extra dry," she said tiredly. "Rough day?" the man asked. "Rough month is more like it," Deva replied with a small smile. The man smiled comfortingly and then gave her the drink. She paid him and took a sip.

She had a feeling that this would be more fun if she had someone to drink with, but she just needed to get out of Hogwarts and away from her friends that didn't know her anymore. It was starting to get so exhausting that Deva was feeling like giving up on it all. She really hoped she and Athena would come to a resolution soon. It was getting exhausting to keep everything from her friends, especially Alcyone. She really hoped everything would vanish soon, and she could go back to being herself.

But the truth was, she could never be herself again. She gave up on herself a long time ago. Too much had happened. She'd never be like she once used to. And she was okay with that. She could live with that. So she smiled slightly to herself, and barely noticed when someone walked up to the bar.

Tess was knew to this. Being a Healer she knew the side affects to drinking, but she figured being an adult, she would release her stress as any good hard working person would: a drink.

She noticed that no one really paid attention to what was going on, but rather minded their own business..or rather drink. She didn't mind that, considering that at St. Mungo's she ended up being in a rumor somehow. Honestly, it seemed as hard as someone wanted to avoid a rumor, or avoid drama you got more involved with it.

The reason she needed a drink was because of this very reason. She had recently heard a rumor, stating that she had slept her way up to be a healer. That made her madder than anything, enough that she had rushed to her office and until she locked the room did she let the tears fall. No one believed that at the age of twenty she had passed not only her W.O.M.B.A.Ts with flying colors, along with her O.W.Ls and her N.E.W.T.s and finished her residency in a year. Bloody hell just because of her looks or her demeanor, or something, something made them doubt.

To hell with them all, that was her motto. And with that she called it an early day and walked out of the damned hospital with her head held high. Now she was here and immediately walked towards the bar and sat on a stool.

"Want anything darling?" the bartender asked.

"Firewhiskey" she replied, not knowing much about drinks.

Deva looked to her right as a girl requested firewhiskey. She tilted her head slightly to the side. She had seen this girl before. But where? She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes slightly, trying to remember. She couldn't make a connection. Ach, how annoying! She inhaled again and all her thoughts drifted away like usual. She then drew forth memory by memory. It took a fairly short amount of time despite all the memories, because she knew it had to be when she was an Auror, and it was fairly recent. Two years ago. She had been a volunteer or something at the hospital. And then some years back. Deva knew her father. He had been an auror when she was. Deva smiled slightly and rose, walking over to the girl.

"Black, right?" she asked kindly, "I worked with your father."

Tess managed to take a big sip of firewhiskey before she was surprised by someone talking to her. She tried to act casual but a cough was emitted as she felt the burning from the drink. Her eyes watered and her cheeks reddened as she felt it working down her stomach warming up her whole body.

"Yes" she rasped out before clearing her throat with some difficulty. "I'm sorry, give me a minute"

The bartender took sympathy on her and gave her a drink of water. She sipped it and gave a sheepish smile at the woman before her. Ah yes she had seen her before, a while ago.

"Miss White" she said smiling.

Her father had worked alongside her and spoke good things about her, but skimming towards certain qualities feeling that Tess was too young to deal with.

"Nice seeing you again, care to take a drink with me?" She asked politely.

Deva smiled softly as the girl started coughing. She supposed she didn't drink too much alcohol, and honestly, that was nothing to be ashamed of. It is worse if you can take all the alcohol in the world, because that pretty much makes you an almost alcoholic. Deva smiled at the bartender when he gave Ms. Black a glass of water. She smiled when the woman returned her attention to her.

"Yes, that is right," she said, a bit surprised that she even remembered her.

She gave a kind smile to the woman and nodded. "I would like that very much," she said, her smile turning into a grin, "But I'd say we need to be on first name basis then. I'm Deva," she said, sticking out her hand.

Tess smiled as the women presented herself. She did have a strong aura about her. She smiled brightly and took her hand to shake it. Her father had nothing but good things to say about the woman, that she was brave, a leader by nature and going to go far in the ministry.

"Well then Deva, call me Tess" she grinned. "What brings you here?"

Deva smiled softly. "It's nice to meet you Tess," she said kindly.

She knew that Tess had only known her when she was an auror, but she supposed that even though she was a professor now, her auror part was still not shut down. She was still an auror, though not an active one. Some from the auror's office sent her messages of things to be aware of and how far the Ministry was willing to go in the war and stuff like that. People still consulted her, even though she was officially not an auror anymore, just undercover.

But what was she doing here? She couldn't really tell Tess that she was sick of pretending to be Deva, when her real name was Haley, and she was currently working at a place that held all her previous friends, and she couldn't tell them who she was, not even her best friend? But she could tell a person she had just learned the first name of? No. She sighed.

"Hard day at work, really," she said, and that wasn't exactly lying. It had been a hard day at her job.

She gave her a puzzled look. "How about you? You seem pretty tired," she said softly.

Tess raised her brow at her comment. She wasn't that skeptical really, after all she was there because it was a long day for her as well. Except she was emotionally strained. for her not so much physically.

"Still doing the Auror job or..are you at something new?" she asked.

She hadn't heard much about Deva from her father still working at the Ministry as an Auror.

"Me? I'm trying to do something similar, and trying to forget"She chuckled half-heartedly and took another sip feeling the burn but it wasn't so strong as the first time.

Deva shook her head. "No, I quit," she said softly, "I was a threat to the office, so I left, despite some protests."

This was no secret, so she supposed it was okay to say so. Everyone at the office knew that Deva had an enemy that would most likely stop at nothing to kill her, but she never told them who or anything of the like. She just quit her job one day, not wanting to be a danger to the others. She was kept in the loop, but off the radar so that the man wishing to kill her would leave the office. Hogwarts was the only safe place for her, actually, with all its barriers, especially now in war time.

"I work as DaDA professor at Hogwarts now," she said with a soft smile.

She nodded at what Tess said. "I see. I suppose it'd be rude of me to ask what your were trying to forget, but I'm gonna ask either way," she said, grinning, "So, what are you trying to forget? And don't worry. You may say that is none of my business. I won't pry it out of you," she said kindly.

She looked at the bottle of firewhiskey and finished her gin and tonic, requesting the same. Firewhiskey was without a doubt the most wonderful drink in the world. She sighed as she took a swing from the bottle, giving a smile at Tess when she didn't cough this time.

"It's eerie how quickly one gets used to it," she remarked.

Tess tilted her head a bit confused. That explained why she hadn't heard of Deva before from her father's lips for a few years. He said she was probably going to be head auror if she kept her reputation up. But her face lit up as she heard that she was a Professor at Hogwarts.

"Oh! I loved DADA as a student" she remembered those years fondly.

She laughed softly at Deva's curiosity and shrugged.

"It's not a big deal really. Being a Healer, it's stressful, and it's not just because of the job. There's the hierarchy, the gossip, the gossip is the worst. Recently they've taken away two patients simply because of my age. It turned out someone had spread a rumor that I earned my residency on my back"

She turned red in anger and took a long swing of her drink. Bastards.

Deva beamed at Tess' reaction, going from a small frown to a big smile. DaDA was often one of the subjects at school that many people took, due to its reputation. Besides, there weren't many people who didn't want to know how to defend themselves. Especially now.

"Yeah, I figured that it was the only post that suited me at Hogwarts so I was really happy to take it. Oh, and I'm also Head of Gryffindor," she added thoughtfully.

She listened as Tess explained her situation. She looked bloody angry at the people who thought that sleeping with the bosses were the way she had gone. Deva wondered how she could light the mood, knowing that saying she was sorry on Tess' behalf wouldn't do anything for her. So, she grinned wickedly and looked deep into Tess eyes.

"You didn't, right?" she asked with big eyes, looking completely shocked, so much so that Tess would have to be pretty drunk already to not see that she was joking.

Tess wrinkled her nose at first, but with the brightness of her eyes, she knew it was a joke. A bubble of laughter began to rise and she felt her cheeks flush at the laughter she was keeping in. A giggle burst out and soon she was laughing at Deva.

She shook her head and grinned.

"Thanks" she said simply.

Simply having someone to talk to, and see that it wasn't as big of a deal as she expected was refreshing. She smiled softly and played with the rim of her glass.

"I needed laughter"

Deva gave a big smile to Tess. "I'm glad I could be of help. I'm sure everything gets rather stressful in a profession of healing. I mean, sure, the auror office can get seriously busy, but healing... Healing is such an advanced art of magic, and it's amazing just to be one. You should be really proud of yourself because you managed it so quickly," she said happily.

She took a sip from her drink and looked around the bar. It wasn't particularly full, but it was still a few people, some of them looking very drunk and ready to leave for the night. She hoped they wouldn't come asking for trouble, because she'd kick them to the next century if they did so. She hated when people got so drunk that they didn't even know what they were doing. She sighed and turned back to Tess.

"Some people shouldn't be allowed to drink," she said softly.

"But where are you working? At St. Mungos? If so, what department?" Deva asked curiously.

Tess nodded as she observed the people around them. People looked absolutely drunk out of their mind, and she shook her head seeing others have lost their coordination. She never wanted to be that drunk that out of control.

As she heard the question, her eyes brightened and a smile appeared in her face when speaking of her job/career.

"I do work in St. Mungos currently" she said softy "And right now they've given me the position of Pediatrics within St. Mungos. "

She traced the rim of her glass absentmindedly as she though about how Pediatrics was seen as the lowest hierarchal wing in St. Mungos.

Deva gave a smile to what she was saying. Pediatrics? That sounded fairly interesting. That was the care of children, if she wasn't completely mistaken. She didn't know why, but she knew that no matter what the reason, Deva had always respected people who worked with children.

"Do you like it there?" she asked curiously, taking another sip.

Tess seemed to think a bit about her job, and didn't seem to appreciate it as much as Deva did. But maybe Deva was just mistaken. Hence the question. Deva either wanted to hear how wonderful it was and voice in on what must be wonderful, or hear the horrible job and throw in arguments for why it had to be the best job in the world. Honestly, it was way better than the job of an auror. Sure, it was dutiful and stuff, but being an auror, especially the kind of auror Deva had been, changed you, took away a part of you. In Deva's case, it had robbed her of her identity.

Despite all that crap that she usually got from her job, she couldn't deny that she enjoyed it more than anything.

"I love my job" she began to say softly. "I love working with children, they are the kindest little things just wanting to get better or get over the check up and I comfort them and work with them. And I love dealing with pregnant witches, the excitement is just contagious and you enjoy seeing them experience it."

She took a little sip of her drink and smiled brightly.

"Those are the reasons I take the crap" She explained. "I worked so hard for it, that now I push through them not caring about what they say. It's worth it, I just keep telling myself that."

She grinned and it was her turn to ask her a question.

"How do you like your job?" she asked curiously. "And why give up your old one?"

Deva smiled when Tess explained how much she loved her job and what it was about it. Deva could imagine how much fun it had to be to get to deliver new life and help children through the first week, or however long the baby was supposed to stay at a hospital once born. And then there were the sick youngsters. It must be such a thrill to be able to help them and send them back out to their lives.

"I absolutely get why one would love such a job. After all, children are our future. I love them myself," Deva said with a smile. She loved seeing children running all over the place. The only thing she knew was that she wouldn't be the first to have them herself. Especially not with the way her life was going now.

"Well, I sure am glad you haven't quit it. You seem like a person who will do what was necessary and follow through with the things you want," Deva said bluntly.

She then sighed and thought of her job. She loved it, she truly did. More than she had anticipated too. She had always wanted a job at Hogwarts, ever since she had been there herself, but her last year of school had simply changed everything for her. And she was glad she had realized the danger back then, not pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher, but rather taken a strong post in the auror office, and now being a teacher, as well as the leader of the Order of the Phoenix. That thought always gave her butterflies; she had to have done something right.

"I love being a teacher at Hogwarts. It is amazing, and I never thought I'd feel so happy with it. After having been an auror for several years, I imagined going at the pace of a professor would be rather boring, but it has definitely proved me wrong," she explained happily.

She frowned slightly. "I guess it was because it was too much sometimes. The heavy missions and situations that I was very often put it bore down on me, I suppose," Deva said calmly. However, this was a lie, and she wouldn't be surprised if Tess understood that it was a lie; she hadn't really tried to convince her. But the truth was confidential. No one got to know why she quit, no one at the auror's office, no one who'd ask. It was too risky.

She sighed as she looked at the clock and downed the rest of her drink. "I ought to go back now, actually. It's getting late, and it's an early school day tomorrow," she said, giving Tess a soft smile, rising from the stool.

"I'm really glad I met someone as strong and fierce as you, Tess. And I really hope we'll meet again, although, hopefully not at the hospital," Deva said, laughing a bit.

Tess smiled as Deva approved of her job, someone like her made her swell with pride. She loved children too, and she found herself imagining a life full of children, and if not her own at least with others.

But at the mention of her not being able to handle the job because of the tough situation. Deva was known to be the very best Aurors in their prime, and the fact that she suddenly couldn't handle the missions was foreign to her. Especially since her father was a former Auror and it was damn hard for him to quit. Still she let out a soft smile and nodded.

"Yes I suppose it can be hard" she said tentatively.

She was a terrible liar. But seeing that Deva was leaving, she smiled and got up.

"I should be going too, I need a good night's sleep" she said smiling. "It was nice meeting you, it really was"

The tone in which Tess agreed made Deva see that her lie had been poor. Though it had been a test as well. Her lie wouldn't have been seen through by some ordinary sod. She smiled slightly, feeling her pulse beat in victory. Tess would hear from her. And the Order.

Deva nodded at her last statement. "I believe you do," she said warmly. A healer was no poor addition to the Order. It was a necessity. Sure, they had someone, but too many healers was never a downside.

She gave a wave and then left the bar with a "You'll be hearing from me, Tess."