Quite what her mother had been thinking by purchasing her tickets to The Gondoliers Marlena had no idea. She had never, to the best of her knowledge, expressed any interest in the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, nor indeed in musical theatre in general, and yet she had been presented with the gift at Christmas and her response had as a matter of form been positive. Thankfully her mother had also assumed she would want company and thus her friends had been roped into proceedings, which in Febby’s case was a balm and Begonia’s had been the usual blend of torture and delight.

After bidding the other two goodnight Marlena opted to enjoy the chilly night air after what felt like weeks in the theatre and walk the ten minutes between the Savoy and Charring Cross Road. Being around Begonia always required a cooling off before she returned home and she never felt entirely comfortable apparating in the streets of London – one never did know if they were being watched after all.

The pub was surprisingly active for the time of night but Marlena paid it no mind: after walking through some of the less salubrious streets of London nothing in the Leaky Cauldron was especially noteworthy. Parched from her walk she bought herself a drink, all the better to help her sleep after that racket, and knocked it back as she approached the backdoor, doubting anybody in the place would take it upon themselves to reproach her for being unladylike when even necking gin she was still the best behaved person in the place.

And outside the backdoor too apparently.

"It's no worse than what I've just seen at the Savoy." She pointed at the wall as she thumbed away a splash of gin at the corner of her mouth. "Is it acting up? Everything seems to be at the moment."

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MJ: still raising the graphics bar as of 2022