{three broomsticks} cold bitter wind [Skylar]

Despite her constant studying, Hogsmeade visits weren't something that she was willing to give up on. Not that she hadn't skipped one, or two, but she tried not to. This Hogsmeade trip she almost didn't go; it's not that she wanted to stay behind to study or anything, but she really thought it was depressing of her to continue to go alone. In the end of the day the thought of staying in an empty common room was even more depressing, so she put on her clothes and left for Hogsmeade.

It was a deceivingly bright day; the sun blinded her, but it was freezing outside. The wind whipped ferociously, making it difficult to walk even, and Penny felt like she was walking uphill the whole time. She was starting to regret this; she had dressed warmly, but evidently not warmly enough. She wished that she was wearing gloves and a scarf. Penny was dressed instead in her standard weekend clothes; jeans, a sweatshirt, and a coat over it. All black, save the jeans.

Penny decided that she needed to get out of the wind as fast as possible, and walked fast to the Three Broomsticks. At this point the wind was really picking up, and she had trouble opening the door. The moment she walked in she closed her eyes, taking in the warmth. Best idea I've had all day. Penny looked around and noticed that she wasn't the only one who had the brilliant idea of escaping the cutting cold; the bar was packed and noisier than usual. Penny managed to find a seat on the bar, and quickly ordered a butterbeer.

Drink in hand, and warming up, Penny started to feel awkward about sitting all alone here; she knew that the other Hogwarts students would all be in their little pack of friends, laughing and joking together. These thoughts left a bitter taste in Penny's mind, and she frowned, her mood crashing down. Penny looked at the people sitting immediately to the sides of her; to the left was a middle aged witch, but to her right was another Hogwarts student, and she seemed to be alone, as well!

Maybe this is an opportunity thought Penny. She couldn't recognize the student, but she thought she might have been a Hufflepuff. Penny wasn't about to start a conversation; she wouldn't know how to go about it, so she just sat there, sipping at her butterbeer, trying to look relaxed, and open to conversation. In her head, however, she was chanting Please talk to me please talk to me please talk to me, which she knew was totally stupid, because it's not like the girl could hear what was going on in her own head! And honestly, it could be that the girl wasn't striking a conversation because she thought Penny was waiting for someone. But what if she was waiting for someone? There's only one way to find out, Penny bit her lip and turned to the girl.

"Hi. Um, I'm Penny. What're you drinking?" Penny tried to manage a smile, but it just came out as a grimace, as she was so worried that she had made a fool out of herself; what if this girl didn't even want to be spoken to?!

Skylar Wright was finally of age!

Seventeen couldn't have come fast enough in the young witch's mind as she put on a light jacket over her plaid shirt. Now she could apparate where she wanted, not have that bloody magical underage tracker on her, and the best thing in her mind...legally buying firewhiskey. Sky figured her friends and boyfriend had forgotten she had a birthday this week. Which she wasn't angry about because it had been pretty busy with Quidditch and exams coming up before the winter holiday. At least her father remembered, and had even sent her an Action Comics #23 with an Superman cover. It was very rare and Sky couldn't stop gushing over it. She almost shared it with Egan, but she decided to keep it to herself for a bit. After protecting it with a spell and putting it in a comic book cover that was see through, Sky had slipped it into her bag and wrote her father back right away, thanking him for the wonderful gift.

Now she was on her way to The Three Broomsticks, excited to get her own glass of whiskey. Sure Tess and Egan had already had their share of all kinds of whiskey and vodkas that weren't allowed for underage witches and wizards. But Sky was never one to pertain to such foolhardiness. Sure at the Upperclassmen party she had a couple of drinks, but that was about it for the five foot one girl never had been able to hold her liquor. Which she was okay with. Being Captain of the Quidditch team meant hard work, not goofing off until the last minute. Her friends were probably off snogging each other anyways. There had been a lot of drama with Tess, Egan, and Jack. Sky was thankful she had Alex in situations like that one, where he was a constant thing in her life and she never had anything to worry about. It was just wonderful to be in a relationship with a sweet boy, even more when they had made plans to spend the winter holiday together.

Sky was both nervous and excited about being at his place, in his room, without having to worry about any interruptions.

Biting her bottom lip, the seventeen year old opened the door to The Three Broomsticks to find that it was quite packed. Looking around for any sight of her friends, and even at one point climbing up on a table to see over the much taller walls of bodies, Sky eventually made her way to the bar alone. No sight of any of them in the pub so it looked like she was going to be enjoying her firewhiskey by herself. Pulling herself up onto the bar stool (being short was no fun!), Sky ordered her fire whiskey and then stared at the glass once it was brought to her. Well this was it., celebrating her coming of age by herself. Before she could pick up a glass someone next to her spoke, causing Sky to turn to see a girl around her age smiling at her in an odd sort of way. She looked familiar, this Penny, but Sky wasn't sure if she had met the girl before. Giving her a warm smile, Sky held out her hand to shake the girl's own.

"I'm Skylar Wright, sixth year Hufflepuff." Maybe she'll make a new friend to celebrate her coming of age with her. "I'm drinking firewhiskey because I just turned seventeen. I think my friends forgot about my birthday." Chuckling slightly, Sky put her small hand over the glass and brought it to her lips, sniffing it a bit before taking a deep breath and looking back at Penny. "Care to join me?"

It worked! The girl was answering her, and she seemed nice, too! If it were Penny with whom someone tried to strike a random conversation, she would be at loss as to why a random person was talking to her, but she knew that she was just being silly, and that normal, social people conversed with strangers all the time.

Skylar.... the name ringed a bell, but Penny couldn't figure out from where. She thought it a bit strange that this girl's friends had forgotten about her birthday, especially her seventeenth, but then again it's not like Penny had many friends to forget about her birthday, so what would she know? Penny looked at her empty glass and gestured to the barmaid, "One firewhisky, please!"

Penny turned to Skylar, "I'd be delighted to join you, thank you. Happy birthday! Tell you the truth I've also been of age for about a year now, but I haven't had the chance yet to do something that I wasn't otherwise allowed to do when underage. I mean, there were those potion ingredients, but that hardly counts!" This wasn't so hard! Finding common ground, this was the key to conversation! The barmaid put the drink in front of Penny, and she examined it. It was a short glass, with three cubes of ice in it, and a deep amber coloured liquid. She knew what firewhisky was, but she had never had the chance to taste it. It's not she was against drinking (though she thought drinking in excess was stupid, and served no purpose whatsoever), she just never had anyone to drink with, save for some wine with her parents.

Feeling bolstered by her success at engaging in conversation, Penny lifted her glass, "To being of age!" she said, smiling at Skylar. She took a sip of the firewhisky, and immediately felt an intense warmth shoot down her throat, and spread out, filling her chest. It was so warm that it almost burned too hot, but it was altogether pleasant.