It was pretty sunny outside today, which earned a frown from Isla as she noticed her ice cream melting much faster than she would've liked it to. She took an even bigger bite, pausing only to enjoy the little bite of chocolate frog that was mixed into the ice cream. The fountain gave off a few random sprays, and Isla laughed lightly as the water startled some little old lady just walking down the alley and minding her own business. It was probably rude to laugh, but she couldn't help it at all!

There were so many people around that she hadn't really noticed the other girl who'd joined her on the bench. When she heard a very soft whisper of a question, she paused mid-bite and glanced over. "There's three scoops in here," she said, launching into conversation almost as if she'd known this girl her whole life. "I'm on the first scoop now--chocolate frog. The second scoop is jelly slug, and the third scoop is supposed to be a surprise."

She only halfway regretted that decision. "I just hope it's not Bertie Bott's flavored," she said, and then she dove into another bite.

"Yeah, you know him." She grinned even bigger now. "He talks about you lots at home, I'm pretty sure you have ended up in one of his songs he's been playing too." Augie rolled her eyes on that one, the boy was being ridiculous, but he would never tell the girl that. So that is why Augie was going to do it for him. You are very welcome twin brother!

Darn though, she didn't know the editor, well that was alright Augie was going to go there either way. "I'm trying to get information on an old editor from there. I need to figure out where he is now, he might be family." Could be a relative, could be her father, she wasn't fully sure just yet, but she was going to find out. She made it out she didn't care when Juanma wanted to, but she did want to know. She didn't believe it was the guy they found in the photo he was too old, but the name, she found two of those last names right here in London, so she was checking them both out.

"Well Juanma is going to love knowing that. I'm pretty sure he has convinced himself that you do have one and he is just a good friend." Augie laughed, he was going to kill her for just putting that information out in the open, but oh well Merlin knew he wouldn't do it himself.

She couldn't help but smile as he spoke about his vacation, it sounded so fun and exciting. Even the muggle stuff made her jealous of him, she would have loved to go on vacation this summer, but with her mom expecting there was no way they would be going anywhere. "That sounds amazing, I'll be putting that on my list of places I want to travel to. Your parents are muggles? That is pretty cool, my great grandparents were, so I got to learn many muggle things. My mum even still drives a car, she says it keeps her close to her muggle side of the family." Though Chloe wasn't sure if she even had any muggle relatives anymore with most of them gone. "I can apparate, it's the best. Doesn't take long to get here from Germany anymore, which is great." It didn't take to long before because of the floo at her aunt's house, but this was even better.

"Yeah a new sister. She'll be number five. I swear my parents are trying to create a small quidditch team or something." She didn't understand why they needed another baby, but she wasn't going to ask either. "Gunnar is moving out for Uni and a new one moving in." Weird wasn't it? Chloe would never understand, but she was just focused on seventh year and getting the heck out of the house after that.

She giggled more when the water got him too, "Got to really watch this thing, it's tricky at times." Chloe loved water so getting wet wasn't that big of a deal, but she'd rather not get fully soaked while trying to hangout and possibly see people today. "Hopefully that will change this year. I need a way for scouts to see me. I got some German ones at home with my U17 team, but I want to play for the British teams I think. I mean either would be amazing, but being over here more often I think I'd like to start my career here."

Ivy had convinced her mum and dad to let her walk around Diagon Alley on her own for awhile. She was clearly VERY grown-up and mature now, being eleven years old and a soon-to-be Hogwarts student. She didn't NEED to constantly be escorted by an adult.

Of course, she was almost positive her mum, at the very least, was probably hidden somewhere to watch over her. Aurors were so paranoid ridiculously suspicious over everything, in Ivy's opinion...but at the same time, it was a little bit comforting. Because she didn't realize just how big Diagon Alley seemed without an adult to help her navigate through. So though she'd never admit it out loud, it was nice to have the illusion of being on her own, while still having someone to fall back on if she did need help.

But now to her first order of business - checking out this creepy fountain.

She'd seen it dozens of times, but now she wanted to really study it. Why didn't someone make it look nicer with magic? How long did it take before it started spitting water at her for not putting in a coin? Was there anything living in there?

She stood right by the edge of the fountain, not taking a seat just yet, and watched it like a hawk, trying not to get distracted by all the people wandering about.

Finn wasn't super crazy about being in tight, enclosed, crowded spaces so his mum had allowed him to step outside the Leaky while she grabbed them some lunch so long as he didn't wander down the alley too far. Technically speaking, she'd wanted him to be visible from the windows of the eatery but... those were just as crowded as the insides and he wasn't about to sit there either. It wasn't really his fault if she couldn't see him cause people were blocking the window, was it?

He considered this idea further as he walked over to the fountain, wondering if this could somehow get him into trouble. Mummy did tend to overreact when she couldn't find him immediately.

The lanky brunette took a seat just a little ways away from the girl who was staring so hard into the fountain her eyeballs might fall out. Ew. That was a gross thought. His eyes kept darting between her and the door to the Leaky, waiting for his mum to come charging out for him. In the meantime, he adjusted his plaid shirt, making sure all the buttons were still buttoned.

So Ivy was starting to think there might be some flaws in her experiment/study.

First, she actually wasn't sure how much time had passed, since she didn't usually wear a watch. She did have one that she'd asked her parents to buy her a few years ago because she thought it was pretty, but she hadn't actually worn it all that much and so had forgotten to wear it today too.

Second, watching the fountain was actually quite boring. It acted like an ordinary fountain most of the time, and the more she looked at the creepy statues, the more she got used to them and their creepiness. So there wasn't a ton of interesting things about it really.

And third, everything and everyone else was far more interesting in comparison. Not to mention kinda adding a bunch of different variables that she couldn't control or factor in.

Every so often, some people threw in a coin or two on their way past. Did that affect the internal "timer" of the fountain to determine if it spit water at someone else? Or did someone else sitting on the edge of the fountain, like that boy over there was doing now, affect it at all? Were there two internal timers counting down? How did it know-

Water from the fountain sprayed her shirt sleeve right then, startling her. "Eep!"

But then, "Cool!"

Her experiment worked!! Kinda. Not really.

Blinks.

Was she just??

As if on cue, the fountain sprayed him on the neck (good shot tbh). The boy yelped in surprise, his hand shooting to his damp neck. "What the...?" Had she done that? His cheeks flushed red and he averted his gaze, a nervous tickle rising in his tummy.

Still no sign of his mother, his eyes landed on the girl again. "How'd you um.... get it to do that?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

It was pretty sunny outside today, which earned a frown from Isla as she noticed her ice cream melting much faster than she would've liked it to. She took an even bigger bite, pausing only to enjoy the little bite of chocolate frog that was mixed into the ice cream. The fountain gave off a few random sprays, and Isla laughed lightly as the water startled some little old lady just walking down the alley and minding her own business. It was probably rude to laugh, but she couldn't help it at all!

There were so many people around that she hadn't really noticed the other girl who'd joined her on the bench. When she heard a very soft whisper of a question, she paused mid-bite and glanced over. "There's three scoops in here," she said, launching into conversation almost as if she'd known this girl her whole life. "I'm on the first scoop now--chocolate frog. The second scoop is jelly slug, and the third scoop is supposed to be a surprise."

She only halfway regretted that decision. "I just hope it's not Bertie Bott's flavored," she said, and then she dove into another bite.

So..........Miyu had many thoughts cross her mind as the girl explained her ice cream choice. One: why would anyone want three whole scoops? That was entirely too much ice cream, especially for a child. Miyu could barely eat ONE scoop...granted, she was very small. And she had never eaten that much.

Two: why on earth would she have paired chocolate with JELLY SLUG? Did that even GO at ALL? Miyu didn't think so, but she wouldn't voice this aloud. In fact, she wouldn't voice any of these thoughts aloud because it would be very rude; if Miyu was one thing....it wasn't rude.

And, third: .....who would order a SURPRISE FLAVOR? Miyu would never. She couldn't handle surprises. Not at all.

But, she nodded, politely. "That would be very unfortunate for you. Would that mean it could potentially be any flavor, then? If it was Bertie Bott's, I mean."

Ohhhh, it had sprayed the boy too?? Interesting, very interesting. She ought to write that down.

...y'know, if she had notes, which she didn't.

Yet another flaw in this plan. Merlin's beard. She needed to not let her excitement about exploring Diagon Alley on her own make her forget these important details.

Anyway.

"It does it on its own! Isn't it neat?" Ivy grinned. "I think it does it when people don't drop in a coin. I'm not sure how long it waits before doing that though." It seemed like it hadn't waited as long to spray him as it had her, but she couldn't say that for certain. But if it DID vary the amount of time between different people...that was even MORE interesting!!

Isla hadn't noticed that the girl seemed to be in a deep train of thought. She was busy scooping up the last of the chocolate frog flavor and revealing the jelly slug layer all at the same time. She looked up at the girl and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess it could be Bertie Botts, which means it could taste like vomit or grass or something." Eww. The thought alone just turned her stomach. "I hope not, though. I'm kind of hoping for another candy-type flavor."

Her gaze traveled down to the girl's journal, and she was honestly curious as to what the girl was up to. Isla had never just wrote things down for fun, so she wondered if the girl was doing some kind of summer school work or something. "That's a pretty journal," she said, hoping that comment would kind of open the girl up to telling her more about her writings. The fountain gave another random spray, and Isla watched as a group if kids about her brother's age ran into the water laughing. "I'm Isla, by the way," she added, not really getting the 'stranger danger' feel from the girl.

-----

Isla happened to noticed her mom gesturing to her from across the street. She nodded toward her and turned back to the girl. "Looks like it's time to go! Nice meeting you!" she said, and then she tossed the remainder of her ice cream come into the bin and headed toward her mom.

Minjae unbuttoned the buttons on the sleeves of his dress shirt and rolled them up while he listened to Chloe talk about her family. So both her parents were magical but her great grandparents came from a muggle family so that would make Chloe a halfblood right? Or a pureblood? He was still trying to figure out how heritage worked. ”I know what you mean” he said , nodding his head after she told him that her mother still drove a car to keep in touch with her muggle side. ”I told my parents about the ways we could transport but my father told me to continue using the chauffeur to drive me around until i’m at least off age” This was totally the same thing!

But family aside, the moment she confirmed that she could apparate,Minjae’s eyes went HUGE and a broad smile was forming on his face. ”You can?! How long did it take before you got it? Is splinching real or is that just a scare-tactic? Is it difficult to learn? HAVE YOU EVER LANDED IN THE OCEAN???” He.had.questions!

Had someone asked him two years ago if he wanted children later in life he would have flat out said no. However, with the Muggle Studies assignment last school year he had found out that he did not want no kids he wanted at least two now. Five was too much even for him and his future wife whoever she may be! ”What is Gunnar going to study at Uni?” he asked. He wasn’t a friend of the former Head Boy but he was mildly interested what someone with that title wanted to do after Hogwarts.

Minjae nodded as he stared at the fountain as it splashed water yet again at the place he had just sat. ”Someone told me in my first year that the fountain grabs you with creepy tentacles if you put your hand in the water” he said as he eyed the fountain suspiciously. ”Do you think that’s true?” he asked.

Once again, the Hufflepuff was completely lost when she mentioned the U17 team. ”What is U17?” he asked feeling a bit embarrassed that he did not know. There was so much about the magical world he still did not know even after four years at Hogwarts. Then again they didn’t exactly teach about U17 did they? Wait….had it been mentioned while he skipped classes to spend time gaming in the technology room? WAS THIS GOING TO BE ON HIS O.W.LS?!

She wondered what it would be like to have someone drive you around everywhere. They had never had to go without and had plenty at their home, but Chloe would never say they were rich enough for big houses and people driving them places. This interested her about Minjae, because she felt you would never realize he was living this type of way at school. Most rich kids had a snobby side, but she had never seen that out of him. "I want to learn to drive. I do lots on the muggle side to help keep the traditions for mum." She actually really enjoyed the history of family trees and muggle things.

All his questions made her laugh, "You'll learn at school when you are at the age. It is hard, but as long as you listen and concentrate you will do fine." She didn't know what to say about the splinching, she didn't want to scare him. "I am lucky not to have ever done it, but a classmate did. If you are careful and really concentrate it will be okay. If you do splinch a healer is right there." So no deaths or anything.

When talk went to her older brother she never knew what to say, Gunnar was such a private person and she knew studies weren't all that private, but she still didn't like talking about things that weren't hers to talk about. "Oh I'm not fully sure he knows completely, he is going to uni though, moved out last month." She still was a little sad he left so quickly, but she knew him and Al was looking forward to it.

Turning to the water, she was happy for the change in subject, "I've never seen it do that before, but I haven't really tried to put my hand in either." Did it really do that? No, she had been here many of times and had never seen that, but she never really paid much attention either. Her curiosity started to grab her and soon she was leaning closer to look inside.

Once he asked about U17 though her focus was fully on that, "It is a summer league that you can tryout for. Not everyone makes it, it's more for people that really want to play professionally and want to have that higher competition then the school can give, though the school hasn't really given lately." She was still hoping this term she could play for claws again.

A stroll was never just a stroll with Lucien and as his heavy heeled boots scuffed up the cobbled stones he ran a hand exquisitely through his dark curls. Pausing somewhere near the fountain but still shrouded enough in shadow to not be blinded by the light, he removed the mirror previously purchased to inspect his reflection as well as use it to gauge the surroundings. He supposed it proved worthy enough to serve a purpose and swiftly pocketed the mirror again.

Index finger running the length of his nose until it settled between his brows, he closed his eyes for just a moment and appeared as though he were nursing a headache by the manner in which his finger circled his skin with a subtle amount of pressure. There was a bit of a dull pain but it was one he was well accustomed to. Years and years of perfecting the method had built up his tolerance for pain and this was hardly even a finger prick.

For the life of him, Hazen couldn’t remember where they had decided to have lunch. But that was no surprise, this was happening to him a lot lately. He either forgot things or he deliberately didn’t want to think about them at all - and he wasn’t sure why.

So, when Amaia had texted she was on her way - he had just replied back saying he’d wait for her at the fountain. Because that way he wouldn’t have to ask where they were meeting.

Running a hand through his hair, the former Slytherin, stood with his back to the fountain - people watching as he usually did. It was always interesting, and distracting -- like the guy who was looking at himself in the mirror. Vanity could be amusing at times.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samia

For the life of him, Hazen couldn’t remember where they had decided to have lunch. But that was no surprise, this was happening to him a lot lately. He either forgot things or he deliberately didn’t want to think about them at all - and he wasn’t sure why.

So, when Amaia had texted she was on her way - he had just replied back saying he’d wait for her at the fountain. Because that way he wouldn’t have to ask where they were meeting.

Running a hand through his hair, the former Slytherin, stood with his back to the fountain - people watching as he usually did. It was always interesting, and distracting -- like the guy who was looking at himself in the mirror. Vanity could be amusing at times.

Amaia, a working woman now, was running a bit late thanks to a last minute request from her supervisor on organizing some paperwork and then the dreaded request of 'get me a cup of coffee, doll' that almost always followed any visit to his office. She yearned for the days of working alongside Tala again, where she felt like an equal in the world of architectural design rather than some waitress at a pub, but that had not been how assignments had been handed out this time.

She was ready for this project to be over.

Slim fitting pantsuit in one of his favorite shades of hers to wear, the former Ravenclaw took to the streets of the Alley at a bit of a jog - enough of on that her neatly set hair came loose and left her looking more like herself and less a polished business woman - her face lit up when she saw his brooding self in silent judgement mode. And while she had debated taking it off because of things he had said that night, the ring remained dutifully on her finger.

Slips up beside him, though she suspected he sensed her presence several strides away, and wraps her arms around his middle with a kiss pressed against his shoulder. "...hi," whispers a bit breathlessly. "Sorry I'm late...he did it again."

Hazen’s eyes were still on the man with the peculiar mirror when he felt Amaia’s arms slip around him. At first, he nearly jumped - because he had been focusing a bit too hard, and he had nearly forgotten that he had been waiting for her. But he could recognise her scent, as well as her touch anywhere and in any state, so it was all good.

“No bother, I wasn’t waiting for too long” he assured, turning around to smile a bit at her. “Also, who did what again?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samia

Hazen’s eyes were still on the man with the peculiar mirror when he felt Amaia’s arms slip around him. At first, he nearly jumped - because he had been focusing a bit too hard, and he had nearly forgotten that he had been waiting for her. But he could recognise her scent, as well as her touch anywhere and in any state, so it was all good.

“No bother, I wasn’t waiting for too long” he assured, turning around to smile a bit at her. “Also, who did what again?"

She felt the slight tension in his shoulders, though she also felt the way he instantly relaxed under her touch. At least that hadn't changed and she pressed another kiss to his shoulder as her breathing steadied a bit more.

"My supervisor," sighs with an accompanying exasperated roll of the eyes. "Keeping me over. He also called me in today for an urgent meeting. He needs a dictionary because he clearly does not know the meaning of the word."

Frees her arms and slips a hand into his. "I'd ask how your work is going...but I know you can't tell me anything." Which was still beyond frustrations because she was a very curious creature. "So...instead...on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being utterly fascinating...how interesting has today's work been?"

KABOOM

Their entrance was met with a series of explosions cast as they rushed into the Alley looking for nothing but trouble. The pack of escapees were hardly polished fighters, no more than hooligans and low level criminals....save for one and his movements were obviously much more suave and precise compared to the rest who were acting like a pack of rabid dogs.

Rabid dogs who had found their prey [sweetpinkpixie & Samia]. The pack of escapees, who now had their wands drawn, were shooting all sorts of red and electric blue bolts of light towards

Few could make the Azkaban uniform look polished, but something about this man did and his greasy hair glanced towards an unknown yet familiar face [Lucien Rosier]. Ah yes...he was the spitting image of his father. He briefly nodded his head in acknowledgement before disappearing from sight entirely while the raging mob went about tearing up the area.

Her supervisor. Of course.

While the man sounded harmless enough, Hazen wasn’t sure how long he could stop himself from slipping and maybe having a talk with the guy. Thankfully she soon changed the conversation though, because he was having ideas.

“My day-” he started, but stopped midway - because just then he heard the explosion. His immediate instinct was to put his arm around Amaia and reach for his wand. And then he didn’t even have the time to figure out WHAT had happened when he saw flashes of red and blue.

The thing in his chest? It seized, and he almost froze.

....

Quickly casting a shielding charm, the former Slytherin DUCKED - taking Amaia with him. Not really aiming properly, he then shouted: “Stupefy!”

Her big doe eyes were fully trained on Hazen and her focus solely on milking every word that came from his lips for even the slightest hint of what he did in Mysteries when she found herself initially disappointed. Was he purposefully being cheeky about even telling her a number on the scale of interesting? But such thoughts were purely naive as in the next breath Hazen was throwing his body against hers and then a series of explosions caused her ears to ring.

She screamed softly with surprise into his chest as everything swirled around her and streaks of bright light flew above them and almost seemed to graze his hair. "Hazen!?"

She hardly had time to think, fight or flight kicking in and a very VERY dangerous time at Hogwarts by the lake when the inferi had ascended from its depths had her muscles moving automatically. She rolled out a little from under Hazen's and pulled her wand from its holster in her pant leg and pointed it towards the source of all this chaos.

.............................were those...Azkaban uniforms?!

"Expelliarmus!"

The man's quick reflexes spared him and the woman the blight of the initial onslaught of incapacitating spells, some far more explosive than others, and the instead struck the wall and exterior of the surrounding shops. The man's Stupefy and her Expelliarmus were easily deflected, but lucky for them both that one stray spell from one of the escaped struck the three-tiered fountain dead on and sent it exploding into bits. Or perhaps not so luck as rubble rained down on the two as well and struck a few of their own stripped companions in their choreographed assault on the Alley.

The pain dissipated the moment his fingers left his skin, severing the connection and his message delivered.

Almost like clockwork the scene shifted and his hand moved from the mirror in his pocket to his wand holster as precautionary gesture. But his hand remained still, dark eyes narrowing on the scene as it unfolded and easily caught the acknowledging glance but reciprocated nothing. There was no need for it...just as there was no need for him to lift a finger to help the lovers caught in the fray.

This was all his cue to leave and rendezvous with Simone.

Fading back into the shadows where he stood, Lucien's lips curled into a nasty smirk as he walked away from the scene and vanished from sight.

They really couldn’t catch a break, could they?

His arms had gone around her, his body shielding her despite the charm. Letting out a series of curses, Hazen tried to be as composed as possible - even though his mind was on the verge of blanking.

Those faces struck something deep inside and his racing heart didn’t want to acknowledge it. This could not be happening.

“We need to get out of here” he quickly said in Amaia’s ear.

She didn't exactly scream but there was a very audible sound pulled from her lungs once the fountain exploded behind them and Hazen was using his body as a shield around her again. Toppling over, her shoulder struck the ground at a bit of an odd angle and she yelped while trying to keep hold of her wand.

"Shouldn't Law Enforcement be here by now?" she winced while trying to sit up, his tone in her ear sending a series of uncomfortable shivers through her. His urgency was palpable as was the tension surging through him like an electric current. Her glance towards his face was brief, she could hardly afford to take her eyes off the approaching back, but she saw the clouds forming over his piercing blues and it caused her heart to lurch in the most terrible of ways.

"STUPEFY!" she cried, sending off another couple of rounds. "Come on," grunts as she gripped the edge of the fountain and tried to pull both herself and him back to their feet.

"Incarcerous!" barked a man.

"Sectu---" wailed another before they were blasted back by the woman's Stupefy and landed with a SPLASH in the fountain. What was left of it anyway.

"Expulso! ExpulsoExpulsoExpulsoExpulso!" a third while aiming their wand at both targets as well as the ground and immediate area to try and prevent them from escaping.

Hazen's mind was not working.

Barely hearing what Amaia was saying, his eyes darted back at the men before back at her - as if she would understand who he had just seen. But of course, she wouldn't, she didn't know.

Before he could say anything though, he heard more explosions - waving his wand instinctively, he threw a few more hexes their way. "Take my hand -" he started, ready to apparate them out of there but then suddenly found himself being thrown to the nearest wall.

...

Absolutely everything hurt and his vision blurred, even then however, the panic, the worry for Amaia overtook everything. Calling out her name, he tried to see where she was - was she okay?! was she hurt too?

"AMAIA!"