we play to win [freya, jeremy]

It was another day of counting down the minutes until the clock on the wall announced it was quitting time. Well, it technically announced it was.. another word that rhymed with quitting and was more indicative of a visit to the loo, but it was an old wonky clock that had somehow become an endearing, sometimes annoying bit around the office. Sometimes the days flew by where he and Jere couldn't get the mail out fast enough and someone was always irate about a missing package, but today felt like it had lasted eons. He had even visited Matilda and sat on the edge of her desk, chatting, snacking on a lemon bar that her wife had made, and still had 7 more hours to waste. It didn't help the fact that tonight was their monthly trivia night at a local muggle pub and Danny was looking forward to it. 

It had been an ongoing thing since they had all left Hogwarts - him, Jeremy and Freya - with the occasional drop in of some of their other friends. And Danny still had troubles remembering to bring his muggle money, but luckily he had remember his sock full of muggle coins and was all set to go. It didn't really matter that he was rubbish at trivia, but he was more the group morale booster. Cheering on Freya, high fiving with Jeremy when they managed to get an answer right, and occasionally suggesting an answer that he was pretty sure was right and often wasn't. He had more fun looking at the other teams and betting on who their biggest competition was, but he was often wrong on that too. Don't even bring up that one time three old ladies were the dark horse and ended up winning first place. Danny had been so sure they were going to come in last place. Little granny trivia sharks still annoyed him, but also made him smile. He was tempted to find those grannies and convince them to join Team Freya and the Dingleberries.

Changing into dark jeans and a jumper that was relatively clean, Danny grabbed his sock of muggle coins, stuffed his wand into his pocket, and swiped his short dirty blonde hair to the side before pushing Jeremy out the door and down toward the nearby pub to meet Freya. Entering the pub's dark interior, Christmas lights strung from the ceiling even though it was the middle of June, every surface had a slightly tacky surface, almost as if you'd never want to see what this place looked like with the lights fully on. But the food was quick, the beer delicious, and the trivia was always fun. He got a round of beers paying from the Sock, brought them back to a table that Jeremy claimed and then called out "Trickyy!! Over 'ere!" when he saw their friend at the door.

@Freya Trickett @Jeremy Edwards

Jeremy had been looking forward to this all month and as the days grew closer his excitement grew more ridiculous. He'd been planning their victory dance for the last two weeks and he'd nearly perfected it until he broke the coffee table back at their flat. Then he moved on to working on their team uniforms. Jeremy didn't have a lot going for him these days. He was mostly broke, mostly hungry, and never slept enough. His socks never matched and he didn't know it but most everyone at work thought he was a joke, and not in a nice way. He lived for this night. For muggle trivia. He could drink lots of cheap beer, they had good food, and he wasn't the only person in the room that didn't know all of the answers. It was like everything Hogwarts should have been, if they hadn't been trying to not get killed for seven years instead.

He rushed home after work, changed out of his ridiculous wizards uniform and into something a bit more comfortable. A pair of dark slacks, some Technicolor sneakers, and the jersey he'd been waiting five days to unveil. Jeremy had been a part of the Quidditch team at Hogwarts, he'd been pretty good all things considered, but nothing compared to the pride he had when he pulled the neon pink jersey over his shoulders. It had their team name on it and their names on the back. "Freya & the Dingleberries" had been a joke at first, a way to get the announcer to say something stupid they could laugh at, but now Jeremy was fully committed to it. On the back were all of their nicknames (Willy, Eddy, and Tricky) along with their #s (Jere was DB#1, Danny DB#2, and Freya was just #1) and honestly Jeremy was impressed with how good they had come out. He'd bribed Matilda with pot-brownies and some less than professional mirror pics to get her to help him acquire them and it had been worth it.

Getting pushed out the door Jere led the way to the pub and tossed the other wizard his surprise jersey on the way. When they entered the cramped dark place he went about securing a table as Danny went to get the beers. Taking a seat, and then deciding he wanted a different seat, Jeremy played a solo game of musical chairs until his best mate returned. "Oi Trickyyyy~" He called in a sing song voice with Danny as Freya arrived, a giant smile on his freckled face.

Working at the bank had been going fine. Freya knew she'd gotten into the job because of nepotism, mostly, and she knew she was probably exactly average as an employee. She barely made any mistakes but barely did anything impressive either. It wasn't exactly her dream job, but what even would be? Freya spent her nights and weekends socialising at parties or getting brunch with other friends, or even going on the odd date with a cute boy. Her life was pretty good, so no complaints.

When she entered the pub, the others called out in unison and she couldn't help but crack a grin. "Hey guys," Freya called in response, making a beeline for their table. They were here most Friday nights; the layout of the pub was comfy to her now. The blonde even made eye contact with a few of the muggles in booths and behind the bar, nodding and smiling to ones she recognised.

“D’you guys know if anyone else is coming tonight?” she asked, dropping her bag unceremoniously onto the sticky floor. “Ari said that she and Prop might drop in,” she added hopefully, casting an amused-but-somehow-still-apologetic glance at Jeremy. It had been a long time since then, but Jeremy had been pretty sullen the first few times Ari had brought Prosper along to one of these, and she and Danny still gave him shit for it sometimes. Of course, Freya’s teasing was a bit more sympathetic.

The blonde reached up and took out her ponytail, slipping the elastic onto her wrist before shaking her curls out. Friday nights meant that Gringotts-Freya was dead for the week and it was time for weekend-Freya to live. She took a seat, rifling through her bag for an envelope she’d brought from work. “Anyone need any?” she asked, sliding out a few muggle money notes from the envelope. When a few of their friends came, the group could get quite large, and most wizards didn’t keep muggle money on them. It was handy that she worked at the bank.

It seemed that one of the others had already bought a drink for her, though, so she took a quick sip as she got comfy. "How's everyone's weeks been?" she asked brightly.

It wasn't hard to miss Freya. Her blonde shiny hair stuck out even in the dark pub and Danny had a wide, happy smile on his face to greet her. He had thrown an arm around her as he said hello, squeezing her a bit, before sliding over one of the tall pints in her direction. Danny glanced at Jeremy when Freya asked if anyone else was coming and gave a little shrug as he gulped down some beer. He had to get his brain juices flowing and he always performed better at trivia when he had a few beers in him. It wasn't like he could get any worse at trivia anyway.

"You reminded Keela and Greg about tonight right?" Danny said to his roommate, assuming that Jere had done the invites. He was like the team secretary after all. Team uniforms (which were wicked) and invitations clearly fell under secretary duties. Meanwhile, as El Presidente, Danny was in charge of leading the group to victory. It was a good thing he couldn't get voted out of this imaginary office because it's not like he had been living up to his fake duties thus far.

When Tricky mentioned Ari and her French boytoy, Danny's eyes slid to Jeremy, a grin turning up his lips. "Yes, 'opefully ze French boy comes to help us," Danny said, mocking Prop's accent in a terrible French impression, holding an imaginary cigarette between two fingers as French people do. He assumed, anyway, it's not like he knew a ton of Frenchies.

Danny blinked a few times as Freya let down her hair, her curls falling to her shoulders before he shifted in his seat and looked down at her money envelope. He proudly held up his old ratty sock, smiling widely. "I'm all good!" he claimed, as if he had just pulled out the best show and tell item ever. Merlin knew he was proud of himself for at least remembering to bring money at all, let alone the right money. But it was beers and food so it hadn't been that difficult. "What kind of food do you guys want? Can we get the nachos?" Danny said, his second question more of a statement. He loved the nachos here and he ordered them every week despite some others need for 'variety'.

"Ours has been good!" he said with a glance to Jeremy as if waiting for him to confirm. "We managed to fix a raining office yesterday." They had only fixed the raining office after they had flooded it, but she didn't need to know that. "And! Did you hear we got employee of the month?"  He was almost positive he had already told Freya about their awards, but it never hurt to humblebrag a bit.

The blonde laughed freely at Danny’s impression, but mostly because it was so terrible rather than anything else. She really liked Prosper, he was charming and confident and – far more importantly – she’d heard lots of good things from Ari. They seemed really solid, actually, and Freya was expecting an invite to be maid of honour any day now…

“Not too warm for it?” she asked amusedly, giving both of their tops a look in turn. Freya was surprised it hadn’t been the first thing the other two had commented on; usually she got berated if she forgot her team jersey. It was warm tonight, though. The pub was dark and dingy, so it certainly didn’t feel sunny in here, but it was summer after all. The sun hadn’t even properly set yet; it wouldn’t until after nine pm. She took another, longer, sip of her drink and set it back down on the tabletop with two hands.

She nodded at the mention of nachos, and smiled when Danny mentioned work. “You guys are so lucky to work together,” Freya said emphatically, glancing between them. They worked together, lived together, drank together. Like an old married couple or something. Freya had Erika, but the younger Trickett spent a lot more time pushing paper these days than she did going on adventures with her cousin. She’d kill to go to work with a friend. “Tell me again,” she told Danny with a bright grin.

Jeremy purposefully looked away when Freya brought up Ariana and that French guy. Yes he knew his name, no he wouldn't say it out loud. Jeremy had no reason to be jealous but that hadn't stopped him before and it wouldn't now. He'd built up the almost (but never really) relationship that Ariana and him had once had so he had to hate Prosper on principal. Even if he was actually kind of cool, which was soo much worse than if he had been a prat. Turning back to the conversation after avoiding their glances for a moment Jeremy laughed way too loudly at Danny's impression of Prosper. "Maybe you need the help," he said rubbing his hands together like he was some great athlete warming up, "But not me!" He really did need all the help he could get though. Both when it came to trivia and witches.

And he'd forgotten his muggle money yet again. Jeremy hung his head low in mock shame and then gave Freya a puppy dog look coupled with a grin. "I may need to borrow some of those..." he said softly. He'd pay her back of course, if he remembered. "Too warm for what? The jerseys?" Jeremy asked, leaning back in his chair to put the neon pink on full display. "Never!" And he meant it. He took a big gulp of his beer and set it back down on the table loudly. "By the way, dingleberries look good on ya!" He teased, howling with laughter.

"Nachoooos~" Jeremy said with a fake groan. They always got the nachos, and they always would! "I'm game." He finished taking more gulps of his beer. Maybe later he'd slow down but for now he had to get this party going. He was way too sober and sober Jeremy remembered he was supposed to drop off a last minute package on Matilda's desk, and pay the rent, and make sure the water was turned off in the bathroom sink. Tispy Jeremy didn't need to worry about any of those things.

"Yeah it was great!" He replied to Danny's telling of what happened at work today and he nodded along. He wasn't planning to bring up how the rain started either, it was a better story this way, and then his best mate brought up the Trophies and Jeremy was beaming again. Freya had probably heard them talk about them seventeen times since the ceremony they'd thrown for themselves but they just kept telling her. And she just kept listening. She was a good friend like that, always putting up with their shenanigans. "Well it was a tough race, it really was. A lot of good hustle in the workplace these days. But when it came down to it we were simply the best." He said matter-of-factly, putting on his big boy serious tone of voice for as long as he could. "Employees of the month, right here~!" He said, announcing it to anyone who had the misfortune of sitting at a table too close to theirs this evening.

"No worries," Freya said, dealing out some muggle notes. She felt like she was doing something illicit sometimes, when she exchanged money in this pub, on a sticky table, between two worlds. “Oh yeah?” she asked, amused as she switched her attention between the boys again. She smiled at Jeremy’s retelling as if she hadn’t heard it a hundred times – not all of them internally consistent, mind you. “Very good, boys… I don’t think I’d ever get employee of the month,” she added with another laugh. She wasn’t even sure if Gringotts did that, anyway. Her department certainly didn’t.

Freya glanced over at the bar, just wondering if… “Ahhh, he’s on,” she whined, retracting into her seat a little. She’d caught sight of some blonde curls atop a handsome man’s head. “Must be back from his holiday,” she added, plopping her chin into her hands and trying not to look. Duncan – Hot Duncan, as she called him in her head – had flirted with Freya on and off for ages before eventually asking her out right in front of everyone a couple of months ago. She’d said yes of course, when she’d been able to speak, but after just two dates, Freya had had to cut it off.

The cultural differences were extremely jarring for Freya, but most importantly, she’d found it absolutely impossible to lie to him. How did wizards ever date muggles?? She’d almost broken the international statute of secrecy thirty times on the first date, and all they’d done was have a couple of drinks in a (different) bar and then make out outside her building. The second date, though, he’d taken her to a “movie” and that had really been the end of it. She’d felt too guilty to continue, so she’d made up a dumb excuse to not continue seeing him and then just hoped he’d quit his job or something. Danny and Jeremy had been adverse to the idea of switching to a different pub.

“Is he looking?” she asked, making sure she didn’t look. By now, most of the staff knew the three and some of their friends by name. They'd been coming here for a year and a half now, most Friday nights.

Freya's laugh only made him smile more and he could feel himself winding up, especially with the help of a few beers, as if he was going to be putting on a stage comedy show. Merlin knew he wasn't that much help with the trivia questions unless he used his 'surveillance' skills. Although somone had told him that was 'cheating,' probably one of the grans after they realized he had taken a few too many trips to the loo, slowly coincidentally as he passed their table. He just called it strategy and he played to win!

Danny ordered the nachos with a wide smile and a "Hey Gwen, how the hell are ya?" to the waitress who came over to their table. "And another round on that guy," he added pointing at Jeremy, chuckling as his friend realized he had forgotten his money. Again. He never could figure out how they managed to pay rent, on time or like ever. Good thing their land lady was a customer and was at least a little laid back as long as they didn't delay rent too long.

You guys are so lucky to work together. Danny shook his head and leaned into Freya, stage-whispering behind his hand. "Someone has to do it. This guy is such a loner," Danny said dead pan with a nod toward Jeremy, his eyes widening comically.

The award story again? Well, of course he would acquiesce if the kind lady asked. Danny leaned forward as Jeremy retold the long arduous battle for Employee of the Month, throwing in his own comments like "Very tough competition!" and "There are these two chicks, gotta be Ravenclaws, who were gunning for us!" and ending with a much louder "We're the best employees everrrr!" as he glanced around the bar his arms outstretched as if expecting the muggles to start applauding. A few did look over with curiosity or sidelong glances before he flopped back down into the booth, jostling the table a bit, his hand going to secure his beer before he took another large gulp.

Freya's joke about never getting an award was met with a shake of his head. "Hey now, don't say that. What's your bosses name again? We can owl him and give him a talking to. What's his name again? Proddy? Grubber? Grunthook? C'mon help me out here," he said looking at Freya.

The nachos arrived moments later and Danny's eyes widened as he licked his lips and dug in, immediately going for the center most cheesiest chip. He was just in the middle of trying to drag a clump of nachos to his plate as he heard Freya's complaint, his eyes sliding up and around the bar. "Who we talkin' about?" he asked a moment before he caught on as Freya sunk in her seat. "Ooooh lover boy is working tonight? Should I call him over here for a little chat?" Danny asked with a devilish glint in his eye as he shoved some chips into his mouth, the cheese and crunch of the chip all melting together.

She was nearly hiding under the table and Danny gave her a knowing look. "He's not right now, but I can make that happen if that's what you're aiming for," he said as he slowly sat up straighter and opened his mouth as if he was about to do one of his usual attention-grabbing stunts.

“Danny!” Freya protested, smacking him on the arm. She huffed. "It's Grubnump by the way," she muttered under her breath. The blonde straightened up again, not wanting to draw even more attention to herself. After a beat, Freya leaned forward, peeking out from behind Danny to check the bar again. Yep, that was definitely him, she thought, even though she could only see the back of him. Her gaze slid from the back of his head down his back. Uh, yep! definitely Hot Duncan.

Freya sat back in her seat, reaching for her drink again. “It’s not a laughing matter,” she said mock-seriously. Even this was playful, though. “That’s the love of my life over there, you know, slipping away from me…” Freya sighed, sliding the nachos over to herself. She started eating them, then talking through a full mouth. “Simply because I don’t understand telly-phones and I can’t lie to save my life!” Very dramatic, really.

She swallowed her mouthful and washed it down with the remains of her drink. By now, there was already another round waiting for them, so she swapped out her empty glass for a full one. “Maybe... we should have some shots,” she said slowly, her eyebrows going up like she’d just realised the earth was a sphere.

"Hey I heard that!~" He said, giving danny a scowl for good measure before grinning again and nodding along to the plan to get Freya a trophy. They all needed to be employee of the month. Jeremy made a mental note to try to convince Matilda to help them get one made for Freya this week, but he'd probably forget.

When the nachos got to the table it was like Jeremy went into a trance. They were covered with cheese and honestly it was the only way he ever ate vegetables, smothered in greasy cheesy goodness. His stomach rumbled loudly as he tried, and failed, to fight Danny for the top of the pile. Everyone knew that was where the most cheese was. Honestly how hard was it to layer the toppings, not just drop them all on the top? Never the less he scooped a bit onto his plate and began to dig in. He heard them talking about someone in between crunches and he immediately began looking around. Jeremy had never been very stealthy. "Who we lookin' at?" He asked, mouth full of cheesy goodness, and then his eyes locked onto the muggle they were looking at.

"Oh the Dunkman!" He said, a little bit louder than he should have. He turned back and covered his mouth before he spit out little pieces of chips while laughing. Rolling his eyes at Danny he didn't believe a word the other guy was saying. He had about as much luck with the ladies as Jeremy did, and Jere still didn't believe that whole Freya and the Prefects Bathtub story but he let Danny live in his fantasy world. He was a good friend like that.

Shots? Did Freya say shots? "Oh should we now~" he wiggled his eyebrows at her playfully. He knew exactly why she wanted to have shots. And he wouldn't deny her that. "Well you want me to just call him over here? Or like, do you want like ... some alone time ?"

Danny laughed as Freya smacked him and he leaned back against the bench, glancing between the muggle and his friend. "The love of your life?! Well then what the hell are ya doing sitting here?" Danny asked incredulously, his eyes going wide, a bit of sarcasm tipping his hand. "I mean, the guy totally comes off with 'still lives with his mum and overcompensating for something' vibe, but hey no judgements! If that's what you're into go with it," he said with a grin as he slapped Jeremy's hand away from the nacho pile he wanted and snagged it onto his plate triumphantly.

Did someone say SHOT?! "Hell yes! Shots, pronto! Let's goooo, dingleberries!" Danny shouted, banging his fists on the table for emphasis, before glancing apologetically at Freya when some of the beer from her pint spilled a little. He proceeded to wave an arm in the air to catch Gwen's attention and then pantomime to her by pointing at himself then Jere then Freya and then mime the act of clicking shot glasses and throwing them back. He looked at her with a smile and a nod, hoping she caught that. Gwen just hollered back, "You order up here, Danny!" Danny gave his friends a sheepish grin before he loped off to the bar and brought back not three but six shot glasses filled with amber liquid.

"For milady," he said as he passed a shot glass to Jeremy then another to Freya, careful not to spill any of the precious liquid. "A few Moaning Myrtles to get this night started off right," Danny said laughing at his own joke as he raised his shot glass. "By the way, Duncan said hello while I was up there," Danny added, trying to keep a straight face with this bold-faced lie.

Honestly, Duncan did not have the vibe of someone who still-lived-with-his-mum-and-was-overcompensating-for-something at all. "He has a six pack," she whined. She knew because she'd felt it through his shirt that one time they'd made out outside her building when he dropped her off at home. He hadn't asked to come upstairs, but Freya thought at the time that if she offered, he'd say yes. The amount of magical stuff she and Finn had in their apartment was way too much to be able to do any sort of quick fix on though, and that was the main reason it didn't happen.

"Absolutely not," Freya answered, like Jeremy had just suggested they all quit their jobs and move to Australia. She meant that she'd wanted someone else to go up to the bar and get shots. Not that she wanted them to get Hot Duncan to come over here. "Legend," she commented as Danny went up to the bar to get some shots. An easy smile returned to her face.

Soon enough, the shots were in front of them. "Mhmm," she replied, resisting the urge to inquire about whether Duncan had been saying hello to Danny... or to her. She clinked her glass against the others and drank it, tapping the empty glass lightly on the table when she was done.

"Ughh it was so awkward guys," Freya told them, resisting the urge to look back at the bar, "I had to make up this stuff - like I babbled, obviously - but it was something like how I like him but I think it's more friend vibes on my side and..." She sighed a big sigh. "Tragic." Freya's love life was often a topic of conversation in this group. The boys always teased her when she recounted stories about how awkward or awful a date was, or how she'd dropped a massive bag of galleons one time when a hot (human!) guy had talked to her at work, and they backed her up if she recounted stories about men being assholes.

"What about you two?" she asked, looking between each of them in turn. "Any lady friends I should know about? Anyone I need to vet?" Undoubtedly, Danny would regale her with stories about the numerous women in and out of his bedroom, but she was genuinely curious.

Jeremy loved these trivia nights. They had beer and banter and nachos. He mostly just got trashed and listened to Danny and Freya make jokes and he was totally fine with it. And he usually got free food out of the deal so honestly what wasn't to love. Of course, one day he actually would remember to bring his own money and they the drinks would be on him. One day. He countered Danny's hand smack by smacking back and piled a few more nachos onto his plate before settling in to watch them. He was leaning back in his chair, but firmly on the floor because when there were nachos in play it just wasn't worth the risk. He held the plate under his chin, just on top of his little beer gut, and watched them with interest as he popped chip after chip into his mouth.

He gave Danny another scowl "Takes one to know one." He retorted, as usual not realizing he was insulting himself as much as he was Danny, and then downed his shot with them. The harsh liquid burnt his throat but in the best ways and he was already starting to feel the tingle from the beers and overindulgence of nachos. It was going to be a good night indeed. Tapping the glass on the table with the Jeremy smiled brightly and settled in again to listen to her stories.

"Ouchhh." He responded to the idea of Duncan being put into the friend zone. "I feel for the Dunkinator, that's rough." And he down the rest of his beer and set the glass next to the other empty's. When she asked the question he perked up quickly. "Oh you know me, I got a few witches on the line," he absolutely didn't but a boy could dream. "But I'm not ready to settle down yet... It's Danny who needs some help in the love department." Flashing him a grin Jeremy chuckled.

"Yeah," Freya agreed with a sigh. She felt for the Dunkinator too. Would Hot Duncan still flirt with her at all? Make jokes? Tease? Or... would he avoid their table? The blonde seriously considered proposing to swap pubs again, though she knew the boys wouldn't have it. Gavin, the manager, had joked with the three of them a few weeks ago about screwing a tiny metal plaque with their quiz team name on it, onto their favourite table. She'd finally understood why there was a little bronze plaque on one of the booth tables that read "Scooby Gang 1997" on it.

When Jeremy made his claim about girls, she snorted, then grinned. Sometimes she wondered if the fact that everyone knew how ridiculous they were was something that they knew. Surely Jeremy didn't seriously believe that Freya believed him? No offense meant to her redheaded friend, of course. She was just sure that, if there actually were girls, she would have heard about it properly. She remembered vaguely the conversation she and Jeremy had had when he'd really had feelings for Ari, not long after their brunette friend had started dating Prosper.

"Oh yeah?" Freya asked, amused. She glanced at Danny, waiting for him to inevitably refute Jeremy's statement. "You and me both, Willy, - maybe we should go speed dating together, huh?" she teased, bumping her friend's shoulder gently with her own. They still had another shot each to drink, so Freya got busy dealing them out to the others.

He has a six pack. Danny rolled his eyes at her and playfully replied with, "Yeah, well I got an 8 pack and you don't hear me bragging about it." Even though, that was a lie and he was bragging about it anyway.

"Ooohhh, he got friendzoned because of the 'rules'. That's tough luck right there, Tricky." Willbond said with a sigh. The secrecy statue could really mess up one's plans for having a booty call. Then again, it's not like Danny was having loads of those opportunities. Speaking of, Danny grinned and glanced at Jeremy as Freya mentioned lady friends. Unfortunately though, his 'best friend' had to call him out like that.

"Woahhh woah! I'm doing quite well in the love department, thank you very much. Just the other day said she was going to set me up with her friend. We just need to set a date and time, but it'll work out," he said a little defensively, tough work trying to defend your man status and all. He gave Jeremy a knowing look though. "The only girls Jeremy has on the line are Gertie from Accounting who still wears braces and that chick from Muggle Liaison who won't give him the time of day."

He drank some more of his beer as he sat back in the booth and draped his arm across the backrest. "But speed dating, you say? I could be persuaded. Just don't get jealous when I walk out with lots of girls numbers, alright?"