Scoping and Scouting [Tag: Mary]

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

Derek strode through Hogsmeade with a vague grin. Ah, there was the bar which had been the haunt of Hogwarts students in his time: cozy enough place with a more than satisfying Butterbeer. Striding up towards the place, he stopped suddenly at the Ministry notice on the door. He frowned. This could not possibly be the bar mentioned in the Daily Prophet recently. Letting out a small huff of disappointment, he turned away from the cordoned off zone to look up and down the street again. He supposed he would have to go to the Hog's Head if he wanted a drink- no, it was still fulfilling its reputation as a locale for the disreputable the last he had heard of it.

Jamming his hands into the pockets of his jeans, Derek continued to look around him. If one of Hogsmeade's most famous bars had been closed down, he really did not know how much the rest of the town had changed either. Maybe even Hogwarts itself had moved on. Derek shifted his weight as he watched some of the people passing by. Perhaps someone native here would be of help. His blue eyes flicked from one face to the other, not lingering on any one for too long for fear of being rude.

Although his allocation to help out at Hogwarts until the Head Nurse finished her leave now seemed more daunting than he had thought, Derek would try to make the best of it. Eyes lighting up and lips turning up into a slight smile, he realized that this was the first time he had been back to Hogwarts since he had graduated. It should be fun to see it from a different perspective. Taking this to be his tonic of courage, Derek called out to a woman with wild brown hair.

"Excuse me, would you happen to know if there is a good apothecary nearby?" his quick strides made up the distance between them quickly. Derek stopped abruptly when neared her but proceeded to add with a rueful grin. "And maybe a nice place for a drink too... The Three Broomsticks seems to be out of the question."

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

Mary turned out of habit, not sure to whom the man was calling. Oh, he meant her! Mussy brown hair and a little stubble, she wasn't sure if he was too preoccupied to care about his appearance, or went for the look on purpose.
"Sure!" She smiled easily. "Apothecary, um..." She held a finger to her lower lip as she spun in place, searching. "There!" She pointed. "As for a drink, you can either brave The Hog's Head, or Honeydukes. It's a sweets shoppe, but they have butterbeer at least. Haven't bothered to ask for anything stronger. And it shouldn't be too crowded, Hogwarts hasn't let the kids down here. I figure they're too close to summer to do so. Sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I?" She stuck her hands in her pockets.

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

He ran a hand through his hair in a sort of nervous gesture. This was not quite as difficult to get his bearings as he had thought it may be. It seemed that Derek was fortunate enough that people in Hogsmeade were as courteous as he remembered. Hmm, this woman had a nice smile. Derek tilted his head towards where the woman had pointed and his rueful expression smoothed out into a satisfied grin. It was good to know he did not have to go to Diagon Alley to buy his supplies. While it was nice to see his mother, they would distract each other from working.

"No, no! I'm glad you're not annoyed at some stranger stopping you in the street. Thanks," he saw that she was about as sort of embarrassed as he was. Derek felt even more awkward about having put her on the spot. "Uhm. Can I buy you a Butterbeer there? I'm just trying to get to know the place and people here. I'm going to stand-in as a healer at Hogwarts you see." The thought had not even entered his head that he may have been telling the woman a bit more than most would tell a stranger.

"Oh yeah. I'm Derek by the way." he stuck a hand out to shake.

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

He ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up even more, and smiled. Cutie.
"Oh, uh, sure!" Was he just being friendly, or trying to hit on her? She shook his hand. "I'm Mary, very pleased to meet you, Derek." She turned towards Honeydukes and started walking, not dropping his hand. "I hope everything's alright up at Hogwarts, that they need a stand-in Healer." Her eyes flicked towards the castle, not visible from this point in the town.

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

"Oh, the school seems to be in good shape. I'm just helping out while the things in the Daily Prophet get straightened out." He was quite sure that the claims in the newspaper were erroneous. No self-respecting healer would take advantage of their patients.

His eyes followed those of Mary's, up towards the castle which he would be working at indefinitely. It would be far more restful to work at that was for sure, but Derek could not help but wonder why he had been allocated to there. Surely the emergency response units in St Mungo's had more need of him. No matter. He would be sure to work hard and maybe get into contact with the Head Nurse to see what sort of injuries and ailments were common. Hmm, actually, that wasn't a bad idea.

Odd. She still hadn't let go of his hand. Derek shrugged to himself as they started towards the candy shop Mary had recommended. He wasn't lost in the town but he supposed that she thought him to be. Letting himself be led to the place, he chattered idly.
"I used to be a Hufflepuff there myself. It's been a while since I've been back here though..."

The sweet-scented air enveloped them once they passed through the door. Derek inhaled deeply. Yes, it was definitely still as good as he remembered it to be.

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

"Mmm? Oh, I didn't give that article much mind." She shook her head a little. "Maybe some student made something up and sold it to the Prophet for pocket money. I figure they just need something exciting to print to sell papers. Every paper does it to an extent, even the muggle ones." She grinned at the bright colours and sugary scent in the sweet shoppe, having a seat at the bar in the back. "I was a Ravenclaw myself. Remind me, Hufflepuff traits are... hard-working?" She smiled at him, imagining a younger version with a yellow and black striped tie. Cutie.

((Should we move to Honeydukes, or stay in this thread?))

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

(Stay in this thread please!)

It seemed best to smile and nod in agreement though Derek could not honestly say whether he knew enough to agree or disagree. Most of his news on the wizarding world came from reading a few headlines in the Daily Prophet though really most of his information came from hearing fellow-healers gossip in the tea room. After a gruelling twelve hour procedure, the last thing they wanted to talk about was what the meaning of life was. As for muggle newspapers... He really had no clue. The only things close to muggle newspapers and tabloids he read were medical journals. Muggles came up with a remarkable amount of effective procedures even without magic. Some of his own practices had been modified as a result of research by muggle doctors - at least for non-magic related ailments.

He trailed after Mary, dodging between people in the bustling store, muttering apologies whenever he bumped into someone. At last, they came to the bar section of Honeydukes. Derek carefully slipped his hand from hers before they were seated. A Ravenclaw? Interesting, she did not seem to be as domineering as the stereotype was but who was he to judge? Besides, he did not feel at as much of a loss this way as she seemed nice enough and without an ego that needed soothing. Shifting on his seat to get more comfortable, Derek met her eyes briefly before shrugging abashedly.

"Not as hard-working as Ravenclaws though I think. Most of my friends spent more time on the Quidditch pitch than the library." Derek looked around to see if the shop had started to employ waiting staff since his last visit. Seeing that they had not, he supposed it was only fair that he go and buy them some Butterbeers to make good on his earlier offer.
"Here, I'll be right back with our drinks." he grinned then slid out of his seat briefly to buy some Butterbeers. It fortunately did not take too long as the Hogwarts students that typically frequented the place were preparing for exams and such.

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

Mary laughed. Most of the Ravenclaws in her year hadn't been so hardworking as interested. Probably reading about stuff that was never taught in class.

"Thank you." She hadn't been sure whether his offer to buy her a drink was genuine, or if it was more an offer to go get a drink with him. She'd made that mistake before and wound up disappointed.

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

"No problem!"

He slid the drink carefully across the table to Mary then proceeded to sip from his own. As the Butterbeer swept over his tongue, Derek gave a quite hum of appreciation before letting it slide down his throat. The warm that spread outward from where the alcohol lingered drew a lazy smile to his features. It had been a while since he had the time and desire to drink - even in small quantities - but Derek was glad that he had invited Mary along for one. This was a great chance to catch up with the news on Hogsmeade and Hogwarts while also making some interesting new acquaintances. Whether or not Mary had been a typical Ravenclaw, Derek was positive that it would be fun getting to know her.

"So what have you been doing since you left Hogwarts?" Derek scanned her quickly. She didn't seem like a bartender or shop-keeper but she didn't scream bureaucracy either. Oh, maybe she hadn't decided what her passions were yet. He hurried to add an addendum to his question, grimacing in embarrassment.
"Not that you have to have chosen something to do but I mean- Well, what do you do for fun and what do you work as and..." he flushed and rubbed his temples before looking at her again, composing himself and straightening his posture.
"I'm sorry, I need to stop going on like that." Derek grinned sheepishly.

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

She took a sip of the sweet beverage mildly surprised, she hadn't had it in a while and had sort of forgotten just how sweet it was.
"You're fine, you're fine." She grinned and waved at him as he bumbled over his words. Cutie. "Right now I'm helping a friend of mine run a bar for wizards and muggles. Getting the hang of mixed drinks. For fun I mostly try to find space in my flat for all my books. But I usually end up stopped halfway through, sitting on the floor reading." She grinned. "And keeping an eye on my owlet, I just got him a few months ago and he's a troublemaker." She took another sip. "What about you, what do you do when you're not Healing?"

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

He nodded in appreciation: it was always this way around new people unless he was working with them. It was just that talking to people was often more complicated in his mind's eye than it was in real life. Luckily everyone around him was generally quite lenient and knew he did not mean to cause offense. Derek knew himself to be very fortunate that way and as a result he sometimes became even more self-conscious. He never wanted the next time he spoke to be the first time he made someone horribly irritated with him. It was one thing to bear it at work - he was working for the good of his patients after all - but outside of healing, he didn't know what would make them better.

Derek tilted his head to the side as he absorbed her words. Ah so she was a bartender. That was only fair though, appearances could be very deceiving. At the same time though, she definitely kept to her Ravenclaw spirit with her reading. Perhaps she would find it more restful in a library... Nah, Mary had probably thought of it before.

"Sounds like you live a fun life! You get to read and talk to lots of people too." Derek's eyes lit up at the chance to talk about Quidditch and his occasional experimenting.
"I'm a huge Quidditch fan and have been since I was a lad," he began gesticulating unconsciously as he became more and more animated. "Been rooting for the Montrose Magpies for a while really! They've got some brilliant formations with their chasers and beaters. I also love experimenting with potions and magic in my spare time, it's given me a couple of handy short-cuts from doing that!"

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

"Oh, yeah?" Mary nodded. "I don't follow any particular Quidditch team, I just love watching all the aerial acrobatics." She liked flying well enough, but never took a real, keen interest in Quidditch. "What sort of shortcuts have you found by messing about?" She had quite the respect for people who had both the knowledge and imagination to invent new spells or potions. She always got along just fine with what she knew, but figured the possible complications or side-effects of making up a potion or spell made her too nervous to try.

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

"Just a couple of tricks when dealing with curses and bad physical damage..." Derek opened his mouth, about to then go into his experiments with charms, herbology and some interesting techniques employed by Muggles but he stopped. The last time he'd launched into a discussion about that, he'd received blank looks and silence in return. From then on he realized he should only really talk about it when people reassured him that they wanted to know out of more than politeness. So he simply shook his head and chuckled, "But I'm afraid I'd bore you with the details."

Besides, he'd wanted to find out more about Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and Mary herself. Derek was positive that she would be less likely to glide away from the healer and Quidditch fanatic - in other words, himself - if she actually was interested in their conversation. Mary seemed far too kind to actually do that, but the last thing he wanted to do was bore her to death.
"Do you bar-tend here?" he waved a hand around the sweet shop. A bit abrupt but, well, he was not especially gifted in the art of conversation and subtle redirection.

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

Mary smiled as he changed the subject. Was he shy about showing off? "Maybe you could tell me the details some other time." She took a sip of butterbeer. "No, I work at a bar called Deja Vu, it's in the muggle world since it's wizard and muggle friendly. I imagine the muggles see it as a very niche bar, rather, um, eclectic? No that's not the word... Not avant-garde..." Words raced through her head as she tried to find the right descriptor. "It's like... kind of like a theme bar, trendy, experimental, really out there, you know?" She took another sip of butterbeer and grinned at Derek, nervously twirling some hair in her fingers. Way to live up to your Hogwarts house, can't even come up with the right word to describe your job.

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

His simply leaned back in his seat and gulp a bit of beer. Derek had to say it was much easier to listen to other people talk about their lives than for him to be forced to ponder what would or would not make someone wish they were deaf to his enthusiastic rants. Luckily, he had enough Quidditch pals at the Leaky Cauldron so that he was not alone in his loud debates over the scale of terrible to dismal that the Haileybury Hammers were on.

This bar that Mary worked at - Deja Vu - seemed intriguing. Maybe sometime he would stop by there instead of heading to the Leaky Cauldron after work- That is, if his new schedule allowed. Derek still had yet to even meet the Headmistress of Hogwarts after all.

His clear blue eyes trailed down to Mary's hand that was twisting strands of hair this way and that for a moment before moving back up to make eye-contact. Derek endeavored to reassure her that he understood what she meant.
"Edgy maybe? Sounds like a fun place to be on a weekend." he grinned, taking another draft of his Butterbeer.

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

"Yeah, edgy's a good word." Mary nodded. "It's pretty fun to interact with the muggles, try their drinks and such. I've been slowly learning about muggle sports, cricket, football, American football. I imagine it's harder for guys to interact with muggles, though, because you have to keep up the Statute of Secrecy, come up with some reason why you don't know everything they do. For girls, you can just say it never interested you." She shrugged, smiling. "You're more than welcome to stop by, though."

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

"It sounds like a fun place. I'll be sure to look it up when I have time." Derek's nod tossed some of his hair into his eyes which he brushed away with slight impatience. It was time to get a haircut. Having his vision obscured was a potential hazard he would be unprofessional to... His thoughts somehow drifted elsewhere.

Those sports had such odd names. Why would you name a sport after an insect? Did she repeat herself twice when she mentioned football - creative name there too - and if she did, why was one specifically for one nationality? 'Quidditch' was far easier to yell at the top of your lungs waving the banner of your favorite team for. His eyes clouded over slightly as he tried to figure out exactly which team that would be for him. There were so many fantastic teams on the field now... Derek blinked and smiled as he mentally chastised himself for letting himself become so easily distracted.

"But don't girls have to know about muggle sports too?" his brow furrowed as he tried to figure this out. If a muggle posed as a witch or wizard at the Leaky Cauldron and pretended to know about Quidditch, they would be found out within two minutes if it was a game night, regardless of who they were or where they were from. Everyone knew about Quidditch. But perhaps the muggles did not have as popular and well-known a sport as the wizarding world did. This was definitely new to him. Derek came to Hogsmeade wanting to learn about the town and school nearby but was learning more about muggle culture. His interest prior to this was purely in their 'sciences' but he was beginning to revise his earlier thoughts. If they were as ingenious as to develop so rapidly without magic in healing, he was sure they were equally developed in their sports culture too.

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

Mary grinned as he brushed some hair out of his face, she could imagine the gears turning in his head as he processed this. Cutie "Well, there are loads of muggle sports, but for some reason girls aren't as expected to pay attention to them as guys are." She shrugged and took a sip of butterbeer. "It might have to do with more male sports-players than female sports-players in the past, or just the number of sports. There's over half-dozen that I hear about frequently." She counted on her fingers. Football, american football, cricket, basketball, golf, hockey, car racing, fighting, rugby, lacrosse... "About 10 sports, and almost all of them have loads of teams and professional players and players still in school... I'm glad I'm excused from having to keep up with all of it." She smiled.

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

His eyebrows rose steadily as she ticked off the sports on her fingers. No wonder Muggles had the capacity to create machines that could see the bones in a living body without dissection or magic. They must make up for the power of memorization where they lacked in magic. Though then again, Muggles did not have to memorize - and sometimes rediscover or even invent - spells and potion recipes to live on a day-to-day basis. It was at that moment when Derek could entirely understand Mary's thankfulness though he still thought the different interests by gender to be odd.

Slowly nodding he took another careful sip of his nearly finished Butterbeer. "To keep up with all of that, it's no wonder that you were a Ravenclaw." In order to pass as a Muggle without anyone becoming suspicious, Mary must have been a fast learner. Speaking of fast... Derek shot a quick look at the clock on the wall and grimaced. It was later than he'd thought. But then again, he had been spending the last hour or so chatting with a charming woman. It was a pity, but they could owl each other and meet for coffee or another Butterbeer some other time.

"Hey, I'm sorry Mary, but I've gotta run now. I've got to oversee my equipment delivery to Hogwarts." while he was very glad St Mungo's was letting him bring some familiar equipment to supplement, upgrade or replace Hogwarts' current collection, Derek did occasionally wish the bureaucracy could work with less paperwork. He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed that he had to leave so gracelessly. Still, his post office box number may be of use. Brightening up, he conjured some paper and a quill to jot down his post office number for letters. His mother didn't like owls in the house ever since his barn owl decided to answer nature's call in a potion she had been brewing.

"Here, that way we can keep in contact and meet up again for a coffee break." Derek grinned, pleased that he would be able to stay in touch. That is, if she didn't mind. If she didn't want to keep in touch, it would be a bit of a downer but he would be able to deal with it.

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

"Oh! Of course, sorry to keep you." Mary grinned sheepishly. Derek probably had loads of stuff he ought to be doing, getting ready to work at Hogwarts, and she was taking up all his time. He looked embarrassed to have to leave so suddenly. She gratefully accepted the piece of parchment, glancing at it. A muggle Post Office Box. She'd have to remember how to write an envelope. Maybe one of her brothers, or parents could help.
"It was very nice talking with you." She stood as well and held her arms out, offering a hug.

Healer Posts : 65 Stats : 26 Join date : 2013-05-18

Derek vanished the quill with another swift flick of his wand before deftly sliding the wand into his jeans pocket. Grinning in bemusement, he gave Mary a quick hug before stepping away again. Well now he was quite sure that she didn't think too badly of him for having to leave in such a manner. How lucky he was to have met Mary instead of a less understanding Hogsmeade resident. While Derek hadn't learnt about how Hogwarts had changed since he'd left, he had come out of their conversation with a potentially budding friendship, a new bar to visit - Deja Vu if he was right -, and having heard of the myriad of sports Muggles involved themselves in.

"Great to chat to you to. Keep in touch!" he smiled and then hastily straightened himself and walked out of Honeydukes. The smell of the sweet shop noticeably faded from his senses as he left to his slight disappointment. Maybe he should have gotten some chocolate frogs and toffee for the go... No, he was in a hurry and it wouldn't be professional of him to eat as soon as he entered Hogwarts anyways. Maybe next week if he had become accustomed to how the school operated by then...

Posts : 821 Stats : 271 Join date : 2011-06-22

Mary grinned and sat back down as Derek hurried off. She hoped she hadn't monopolized the conversation, but he had seemed interested in what she was saying. She'd have to get stamps, and remember how to write an envelope to write him a letter.

She sat in thought, sipping her butterbeer until it was finished. She left it on the counter and wandered around the shop, getting a few treats before heading home.

» Black, Mary
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