Take a Walk on the Wild Side (Andre)

Once a week André liked to visit a pub. He'd visited many in his lifetime and it was great to sit at the bar, read a newspaper or chat with some friends, depending on who was around. Every now and then he made a new acquaintance and he felt his life was all the more richer for it. Having come from a family that liked to socialise among only those of their standards and to throw money at problems, André had found that in life it wasn't about how much gold or influence you had, it was about the experiences you'd had along the way and the people you met. Would he remember everyone? Merlin, no! His memory wasn't that spectacular, but was he a better person for all those meetings? You betcha! Not all of his experiences had been positive, you couldn't go through life expecting everything to be coming up roses, but he'd given life his best go and he was still kicking, he was still striving to do not necessarily was 'right' but what felt right by him.

Tonight's little tipple was just at the Hollow Tree Inn. It was a place he'd been coming to a little more frequently in the more recent months after dear Tristan's heart shattering demise, and he felt like he had some kind of duty to look out for the lad's family. André had met his father at the funeral, introduced himself and joined Jim for a drink at the old Hollow before. It was a lovely little community here, a mix of magical and muggle, and André hand wanted to move here many moons ago, but he and Em had chosen another little path in life, somewhere a little more quiet with a few more muggles and André could look back on that decision and remain happy with it.

Tonight the bar was quiet but most places were on a Sunday evening. Quite often it would be a Sunday night that André ventured out on. He would have Dorcas over during the afternoon, and over the past year and a bit, Dorian had joined them too. Beautiful River and her wonderful husband Bert had had a couple of Sunday lunches with them and in their place their daughter came. It was sorrowful to think of so many young lives gone, Ariel missing out on having her mother and father present through her entire life, but André hoped that they could help support and guide her through life, they were doing their best, especially Dorian who thought the absolute world of that child. He'd lost his love but into his life came another. Into all their lives. André hadn't failed to notice how Dorcas and Geralina dotted on the sweet little lamb and he and Em would support Dorian in any way that he needed to raise Ariel. And of course there was Julian. He seemed nice enough, he joined them for the occasional Sunday but André wasn't completely sold, however he did truly believe he adored his sister and that he only wanted the best for Ariel, André just feared that perhaps Julian's version of what was best for Ariel might differ from what was actually best for her.

André stood up to the bar and ordered himself a pint of the local beer they had on tap. While the tender poured the rich aroma of hops and malt into the glass, André looked about the establishment. Very quiet, but there was an unfamiliar face, just down the bar, that looked a little lost in the world. Perhaps André was just self-projecting a smidge, but he believed that the gentleman a little farther down could do with a chat and if not, then no harm, no foul.

Paying for his pint in the typical muggle currency, André proceeded to move his way down the bar, taking his pint with him, stopping a little way from the other gentleman. "Mind if I join you?" He asked, looking intrigued at the man, a small smile as he took in the long appearance and the long, brown hair of the stranger to match, "You look like a man with a story to tell." And stories were always worth telling, especially with a drink and a friendly ear wiling to listen to joys and troubles alike.

Tag: Thomas Ambrose Bellamy
Words: 722
Notes: <3
Outfit: White shirt, navy blue jumper, light jacket, navy blue trousers

André chuckled at the seemingly young man. Just the one? The lad barely looked old enough to have more than one story, but looks could be deceiving. In these trying times it was hard to come across someone with only the one story. The most common themes these days were loss; heartbreak. It was devastating an entire generation, multiple generations in fact, but it was something that couldn't be avoided right now. André hoped that those that were directly involved were staying safe, were getting through it all with minimal scarring, both physically and mentally speaking. There was a lot to lose hope over but so much more to gain by fighting for what was right. Tonight, however, André was not fighting, not unless he absolutely had to. He was wiser in his older age, or so he liked to think, and had learnt long ago that some fights were not worth fighting. There were many battles in life and you had to pick yours wisely. It was okay to lose one here and there, but some were extremely important to win.

The young man was spot on but it wasn't all that difficult to realise that André was indeed drinking alone this evening. André nodded and smiled, "Indeed I am." He said, neither bothered by the statement of the young man nor the idea that he was drinking alone. He'd done it many times before and he'd do it many times again, "And how about yourself this evening? Not wining and dining any fine young ladies tonight?" It was a Sunday but the fellow before André seemed to be quite attractive, André thought. He had a very nice ... look, about him. André wasn't sure completely. He could see what young women might see in the young man but he was no expert in these things. Em was the one that liked to look over young men and day dream about what their grandchildren might be like should Dorcas procreate with the gentleman in question. André simply 'hmm'ed in response more often than not and allowed her to get on with it, not sure that Dorcas would ever be ready to have children of her own.

Tag: Thomas Ambrose Bellamy
Words: 366
Notes: <3
Outfit: White shirt, navy blue jumper, light jacket, navy blue trousers

Saturday night with a young lady. Now that was more like it. This type of fellow couldn't be single, at least not for long. André had a hunch that he was right about the chap, that he was quite the attractive sort to women and could get himself a date any time he pleased. Perhaps it was true love, perhaps it was just a single date. Perhaps it was good terms, perhaps they would never see one another again. No matter what, it seemed like a good thing. It seemed so positive in a world of negativity and it was rare to come by positive things these days. André tried his best to look for the good in the world, and when he couldn't find anything, he looked to his wife. She was the most pure human being that he knew and he was still honoured to this day that she was his wife. She'd put up with him for decades and there wasn't a day go by that he wasn't thankful for her. Just like any couple they had their little tiffs, but there was never anything big enough to blow them apart and he would not of had it any other way.

"Oh, what a way to spend a night." He said with a smile, not yet having touched his beer, "If you'd rather, I can find another spot." He said, not wanting to impose himself on the gentleman's 'me night'. If the bloke had come out looking for a quiet drink then André was probably ruining the poor guy's entire evening! Well not ruining, he wasn't throwing beer over him by any means, or anything of the like, but he was disturbing him and André was more than happy to get his Newspaper, sit at a table and have his pint while he read the stories and did the puzzles for a couple of hours. There was no rushing back for him but he did like to sneak into bed when Em was all cosied up and see if she was in the mood for a little fun.

Tag: Thomas Ambrose Bellamy
Words: 351
Notes: <3 I had to stop there before I got queasy xD
Outfit: White shirt, navy blue jumper, light jacket, navy blue trousers

It was a lovely thing to be social. You learnt so many knew things along the way. People didn't know it but they were all teachers in their own way. André had had many conversations with many people in his life time and always learnt something new, be it about the world or whomever he was speaking with. Life was such a fascinating journey and André never wanted to take it for granted. He'd seen so many people lose their loved ones, and he'd even been unfortunate enough to lose people he loved, but that didn't mean life stopped, it never stopped, not really, you had to carry on and you had to keep pressing forward lest ye be lost to the demons of ones own mind. Being social was a lovely gift but it wasn't always endearing for others. André respected that greatly and so he would not force his company on anyone he thought would rather him scarper. This man, perhaps, seemed as though he might entertain an old bugger for a part of the evening and the idea that someone so young was willing to chat to someone as old as he was a lovely one. So often the young men of this day and age had better things to be doing, women to chase, battles to fight, but it was lovely to just be able to talk. Perhaps he could even pass on some wisdom, not that André really thought he had any such 'wisdom' but perhaps a little advice that might be handy.

The young man wondered about married life and André chuckled ever so gently, a soft smile gracing his lips that were now thinner than they had once been. "It's wonderful." He answered truthfully. Not many people got to wake up next to their loved ones and not many people ever had loved ones to start with. He'd found Em early on, still at school but they'd not dated until they were in their 20's, they'd married fast and they'd had so very long together, well over half their lives. "It's not the life for many, but for me it's ..." He sighed with a smile, not sure how he could possibly begin to explain what it was like being married to a woman that made him so incredibly happy. "I first knew I loved her when I was in my seventh year. A quidditch player grabbed her derrière and bam!" André splayed open his fingers, his hands held up at chest height. "She wasn't afraid of anyone or anything, especially not repercussions." He chuckled, still being able to vividly recall Em drawing back her first and slamming it into Roger Thomston's face. It was as though everything had slowed down and yet there was no way he could have avoided. People around had gasped before she'd even made contact. But André hadn't realised he was in love, he'd just thought it amusing, back then they were from different worlds but he'd learnt that that sort of thing truly didn't matter. "Have you ever found yourself in the clutches of love?" Perhaps the lad would have a tale of romance, perhaps he had nothing like that in his life, but he was still young, twenties, maybe thirties at a push, he had all the time in the world to fall in love.

Tag: Thomas Ambrose Bellamy
Words: 559
Notes: <3
Outfit: White shirt, navy blue jumper, light jacket, navy blue trousers

André took a sip of his drink, swallowing it down and chuckling at the young lad he was chatting away to, "Bingo-bango!" He said happily, recalling how fierce his wife had once been in their youth and how he thought he was lucky to have a woman like her even talk to him, let alone agree to go out on a date with him. Their history went far back, farther than the young man at the bar could possibly comprehend, but it was a wonderful life they'd had together even through the ups and downs. There was a horrid period right now, losing friends so fast, but André knew that there would be a silver lining. They were following the orders of Albus Dumbledore and that man was the smartest that André knew, and that was saying something, he'd known quite a few people in his lifetime! Although perhaps Albus wasn't quite the wisest person he knew, that had to be Em, and not just because she was his little dumpling, she was an incredibly bright and intuitive individual and if she trusted Albus, then he did too. André knew that he would be completely lost without Em and her input.

Everyone had a tale of love, although this fellow got right down to it; "infatuation". That was a shame. There were many times that infatuation could be confused with love, quite often it wasn't until quite some time had passed that people realised that they'd not been in love, not true love. André knew both sides of the coin. Emily was the absolute love of his life, of that he was certain, but there had been other women before he'd found his Em. A couple of times he'd thought he was in love but it had turned out wrong somehow. It wasn't until he was with Emily that he realised just what love truly was. His own tales of infatuation disguised as love seemed to be similar to that of the young man's. "Love is a mystery, my friend. It can take a life time to navigate but once you find the one, you'll know." He said, raising what remained in his glass. It was almost time for him to take his leave. One drink was plenty for him. Too much and he couldn't apparate home which meant the Knight bus, and he had found out long ago that his stomach did not fare well on travelling on the awful thing. Floo was obviously out of the question, if he was too tipsy to apparate then he usually couldn't navigate the network all that well. Having his final mouthful André then placed his glass back down, letting out a sigh and patting his hands on his lap.

Tag: Thomas Ambrose Bellamy
Words: 458
Notes: <3
Outfit: White shirt, navy blue jumper, light jacket, navy blue trousers