A large glass of Ogden's Old sat in front of the empty side of the booth Lavender was sitting in. She was sipping on her wine slowly. She wanted to be fully sober for this conversation, as it was sort of a new project for her, but she definitely wanted her partner to be sloshed. Her meeting with Ron was two-fold; Susan was a very good friend, one of her best, and she wanted to make sure that her ex-boyfriend was treating the Hufflepuff correctly. Susan was deliriously happy, so he'd been doing a good job thus far, but a well-aimed threat was always called for.

Secondly, Ronald Weasley had information that she desperately desired. All other avenues of information had dried up, so this was a last ditch effort to get what she wanted. Hopefully it worked. Percy Weasley's smug face flashed through her mind, and she frowned, taking another drink of her wine. She glanced up on the clock, raising an eyebrow. Well, he's still late. Some thing's never change.

Ron dressed quickly, trying to hurry for drinks with Lavender. He figured she wanted to interview him about the ongoing Quidditch season, and the last couple games before the winter break. As it sometimes did, practice had run late. He grabbed his duffle, shrank it and put it in his pocket. With his wand, he hurried outside and apparated to the Hog's Head. He thought it was weird this was where she wanted to interview him, but he shrugged it off.

"Hey, Lavender," he said as he walked up to the booth she was sitting in.

"Ron," she answered in greeting, waiting for him to get situated. She pointed to the glass in front of him. "I ordered you a drink, hope you don't mind. It's on me."

"Uh, no," Ron said with a surprised tone. "Thanks." He sat down and took a large sip, wincing as it burned his throat.

"So..." Lavender knew he needed to get at least three more glasses in him before he would spill anything. That meant filler talk. "How's Quidditch going for you?"

"It's great. I mean, we won one game. The others were really close." Not really, but it doesn't hurt to stretch the truth a bit. He sipped his drink again, the whisky going down more smoothly this time. "We play the Kenmare Kestrels this weekend, we have a really great chance at winning the match." He looked up at her, "So, was there anything specific you wanted to know about the season?"

He thinks you're interviewing him about Quidditch. Gods. Don't worry. Just ask him questions while he drinks. This might be a good thing. "Well, I guess about your teammates and how you're getting along with them? Maybe if you think you'll get to the cup?" She noticed that half his glass was gone, and not nearly as fast as she wanted it. "Go ahead and drink up, I'll order you another." Lavender rose her arm, signalling the barman.

Ron nodded, drinking the rest of his glass. He set it down in front of him and smiled at her thankfully. "My teammates and I get along great, we had some troubles after the ... Prophet article, but we are getting better. The alternates are training hard. We probably won't get to where we were too quickly, but we have high hopes."

"That's nice," Lavender said, grabbing the empty glass and handing it to the barman when he set a full one in front of the redhead. She pushed it across the table towards Ron with a large smile. "How are your... stats?" She knew absolutely nothing about Quidditch.

Ron took the glass thankfully, "They're pretty good. Average, I suppose with what we usually do. I suppose you read about our match this summer, the scrimmage with the Tutshill Tornadoes? That was an amazing game." He took a drink of his Ogden's Old.

"Yeah... it was... neat." Gods, and you used to humor him about this to get in his pants. Lavender watched Ron finish half of his drink before an idea formed in her head. She knew a way to get him to drink faster. "I suppose I wanted to talk to you about Susan, too. She's a very good friend of mine."

Ron rose his eyebrows. "Is she? I didn't know that." He took a large sip of his drink.

"Yeah. We were friends in school, and when I moved back, we started talking again. She's a very good friend." Lavender smirked lightly. "She talks about you all the time."

"Does she? I didn't know you two talked at all." Ron took another sip of his drink nervously. "Wait, what does she say?"

Bingo "This and that." Lavender could tell he was already looking extra thirsty, anxiousness about Susan and the prospect of talking about their relationship driving him to the whisky. Perfect. "I just want to make sure you're treating her right. Tending to all of her needs."

Tending to ... all of her needs? What do they talk about, Ron thought nervously. He gulped the rest of his drink nervously. "Yeah... I er... I'm... yeah."

Thinking that her night just got a lot easier, remembering how easily flustered Ron could get, she signaled for another glass of whisky for him. "I just needed to make sure, best friend privileges and all."

"Right." Ron traded his empty glass with the one the barman brought, taking a sip. "So, um... what have you been up to?" Anything to get them off the topic of Susan and him.

Lavender grinned. He was avoiding the subject she'd brought up. "I've been writing for the Hogsmeade Herald and working at your brother's shoppe, actually," she said, taking a small drink from her wine. "I've been keeping busy." More busy, now that she had a story in her head and was still trying to get the information for said article.

She knew Ron wasn't quite drunk enough to talk about Percy. She needed at least one whole glass, and a ten minute wait, before he'd be loose lipped. "I was in Versailles with you," she finally said, thinking that talking about that night might bring up some bad memories for him. It did for her. She was already itching with the desire to drain her glass, but fought it off. She might feel guilty about goading him like this, but if she got her story, she'd get over it.

Besides, he had dumped her unceremoniously for Hermione Granger. She still owed him a little for that. This, in her eyes, would make them even.

"Oh?" Ron nodded uneasily, not too thankful for the subject change. It was still something he didn't want to talk about. "I forgot about that, you were injured right? Was that you, or was that someone else? I never remember these..." he trailed off, taking a sip of his drink.

"Yeah," Lavender said, her eyes darkening just a little bit. "Two scars on my back." Her eyes grew a bit devious. "Want to see?" She didn't wait for him to answer, but turned her back to him and lifted the hem of her sweater, flashing enough skin along her back to show him the scars, along with a large patch of her lacy bra. Drink your drink, you arse. I'm on a schedule here.

"That's... those are ... awful." He averted his eyes when he saw her bra. One of Susan's friends was showing him her bra. His ex-girlfriend was showing him her bra. He flushed, his hands fiddling with the glass. He took another deep swallow.

Hearing his reflexive swallowing, Lavender smirked to herself before lowering the sweater. She'd have to apologize to Susan for slightly flashing her boyfriend later. Maybe take her out for dancing, buy her a new pair of shoes. Turning back to Ron, she grinned brightly, taking a bit of evil pleasure in the blush on his cheeks. "They don't hurt too much right now, and Justin doesn't seem to mind them."

It looked like he had finished his third glass, and was well on his way to giving her what she wanted. "So what's been going on with you? How about your family?"

Ron fiddled with the empty glass in his hands, his eyes avoiding hers. "We've been good. Couple weddings, not too much excitement."

"Ah," Lavender said, knowing it wouldn't be that easy. "I've talked to Ginny about a few things," she lied. Anything for a story. "Some of them she wasn't so happy about." She would be ruined and fail if she was wrong. It was very possible Ginny Weasley had been ecstatic that her brother had reappeared after six years. Gods, don't get this wrong! This is your last chance!

"Gin's still angry too? I don't blame her, the prat deserves it." Ron's shoulders shook a bit as he hiccuped. "Stupid prat."

"Yeah." Inwardly dancing, Lavender leaned forward. "It was horrible, what he did to you. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. And going there," she said, deliberately baiting him, pulling the information from him.

"I know, right," Ron said animatedly, suddenly happy to be talking to Lavender. At least someone was agreeing with him. "Six years, six years, right?"

"Yes, yes, and being where he was," she goaded again. She needed a place to start. Where had Percy Weasley been during those six years?

"Under that stupid assumed name," Ron finished for her. "Stupid pillock. Idiot. Prat."

"Stubborn arse," she echoed. He was under an assumed name? Why would be need to be under an assumed name? Keep going! See what else you can get! "It's utterly ridiculous. It must have been hot where he was," she said, mentally wincing if she was wrong and Ron called her on it.

"I mean what is even in Bulgaria? I don't know, do you know?" He pushed his glass away and looked up at Lavender confused, "Wait, what? Hot there? No."

Fuck! She grinned, rolling her eyes a bit for effect. "You have to remember how bad I am with geography." She reached beside her, grabbing her coat and her bag. She had a place to start now, which was a very good place, considering where she'd been as of yesterday. "Thanks, Ron. You've been a lifesaver. Really. Are you going to be alright seeing yourself home?"

"Yeah," Ron said agreeing with her. He did remember. He got up to his feet after she suddenly stood. "I'm alright. Hey, when is the article going to run?"

"What article?" She saw the confusion on his face. "Oh!" She winced. "You know, now that I've thought about it, I think it might be better for someone else to do the whole quidditch thing. I'll definitely give them your answers, though. You'll be in the papers either way, Ron, promise. I'll make sure to tell Susan to say thank you in a special way!" She waved before rushing out the door. She had some research to do and an owl to send.

Ron shrugged to himself as she left. He managed to get his coat on and out the door before apparating to his flat.

All those questions for nothing. A shame, but at least I got a few drinks out of it.


Summary: Lavender coaxes the information she wants out of Ron. Liquid courage? Ha.