It Isn't Your Diamonds That I'm After [open][1]

[Samuel Burke]

Fresh from another successful evening of work, Sam emerged from Knockturn Alley, and brushed grave dirt from his sleeves. It was an unfortunately untidy side career he indulged in, but it paid well. Dig 'em up, strip any valuables (gold tooth here, jewellery, and if the stiff was fresh enough, take the heart for a very specific clientèle), take out the stiff, swipe some grave dirt (useful for potions), and refill the grave. What he did with the bodies was a grim little secret, but it served his principal's purpose well. Afterwards, a quick trip to the S.T.V. often paid well. Dead man's blood was a potent poison to vampires, and providing it to them meant they had plenty to use against their enemies.

He adjusted his cloak, and made his way down the street, thinking longingly of the top shelf firewhiskey they stocked in the Leaky Cauldron. He had top galleon this evening, so no drinking what he strongly suspected was Spanish anti-freeze with grape juice added. He was sure his liver would thank him for it. Being a gregarious sort (despite his clandestine activities) he'd buy a drink for anyone friendly enough to strike up a conversation, and fall in love with anyone who could drink at his pace. It looked like it was going to be a fine evening.

[Daisy Ollivander]

Daisy had closed up shop for the evening and decided that a nice stroll would be absolutely lovely. And thus it was that she locked up her shop to keep her little ones safe, and headed off down Diagon Alley. There were quite a few people still on the street heading here and there, home from work, off to the pub, wherever really. And it was then that Daisy wondered if the ice cream parlour was still open, goodness could she use a cone...

And so it was that she headed off down the lane not really watching where she was going. Before long she would run into a man she didn't personally know. Literally. Not watching where she was going and right into him she would walk. "Oh! I'm sorry I didn't er... See you there..." She finished rather lamely after recoiling rather comically and nigh falling on her little rear end. But after a little bit of a stumble, she caught her footing and surveyed the man she had walked right into before biting her lip a little shyly. Why couldn't it have been someone she knew for Merlin's sake? At least they would have understood her clumsiness... Ah well, one could only wait and see what would happen next.

[Samuel Burke]

Sam gripped the young woman's arm as she crashed into him, preventing her from falling. Once the shock had worn off, he got a good look at her, and had to smile. It wasn't every day he walked straight into a pretty young woman, but he certainly wasn't about to complain about it. "Not to worry, darlin'," he said cheerfully, his Scottish accent gentle as he spoke. "No harm done, at least not to me. My own fault for not looking where I'm going. Are you okay?"

He was suddenly self conscious of how he looked. His hair was a mess (as usual), he had been to the graveyard so he probably wasn't as fragrant or clean as he should have been... Damn. As first impressions went, he was lacking. Seeing as he was on his way to the pub anyway, he bowed to her with a grin. "I'm Sam. Can I buy you a drink as an apology for being rude enough to walk into you?"

[Daisy Ollivander]

She felt her arm grasped by the man she had ran so carelessly into. Oh she was imediately thankful that he didn't seem to be one of those dark unsavory types. Then again Daisy had had her fair share of run ins with them too that didn't turn out too badly... But in any case he didn't seem to be one of them. She turned a slight shade of pink around the cheeks as he spoke. She had to admit, she liked his accent quite a bit. She bit her lip lightly as she looked up at him through those long lashes. Oh Daisy, now was not the time to act the shy schoolgirl.

She shook her head a little bit trying to clear her jumbled senses. What was her problem... She didn't look the best herself. Bags under the eyes from lack of sleep, a slightly haggared look to her... Concern had gotten the better of the little shopkeeper, she had worried herself sick over a certain Auror who had been captured some long time back. But she knew she had to get out of the shop and her home before she went absolutely mad. She smiled at his words and shook her head a little. "No harm... You saved me from an untimely meeting with the ground afterall."

She had gotten a good look at him and did have a passing wonder at his rather ragged appearance. But she wasn't one to judge. Not at all. She merely smiled at him still and gave another shy smile at his grinning bow. "A pleasure Sam... My name is Daisy... And it really wasn't you're rudeness, afterall I'm fairly certain I had at least half the fault in that blunder, but I think I would enjoy joining you for a drink. I think the ice cream parlour is likely long closed by now..." A rather silly little sad look was given at this, but it turned into one of those small smiles once again as she accepted his invitation.

[Samuel Burke]

He didn't recognise her. That was a good sign. It meant she wasn't on his master's side, and was less likely to have heard his reputation as something of a faithless romantic. An ex-girlfriend had coined that one, and he couldn't fault the description. His heart longed to fall in love ... over, and over, and over again. That wouldn't happen this time. Oh no! He would be careful, and not rush into things. Besides, this was just a drink, and he could always do with more drinking buddies!

Christ, she was short. He was a good foot taller than her at least. The poor girl must be developing a terrible creak in her neck staring up at him like she was. "Ah, our arses are bound to hit the earth sooner or later!" he joked. "Get a few drinks in me and I'll be on my backside in no time." He grinned, showing he was only (half) joking.

Keeping his damaged right hand out of view, he offered her his arm. "Lovely to meet you, Daisy. Now let's get ourselves to the Leaky Cauldron before all the good seats are taken, yeah?" He had to laugh at her disappointment. Not in a cruel way. Her sad face was kind of cute. "Ah, Florean always closes up early these days. I try to pop by on my lunch break from work when I can, but it's a bit of a trek from the Ministry to Diagon Alley during lunch hour."

[Daisy Ollivander]

She also didn't recognize him. Not really well. There was something vaguely familiar about this one though... Perhaps she had seen him before and not known it... But where? Curiouser and curiouser... But no she had no clue of his background, no clue that he was not the gentleman he portrayed himself to be. But that would mean little in the way of romance for the young woman. For her heart belonged very much to another. Or at least she thought it did... Very confused she was... But she was not faithless in the least. At this point, she felt the same way. He was a new friend to make, nothing more and certainly nothing less.

Tall people were not foreign to Daisy. She was typically at least a foot shorter than most. And yes, she had a permenant creak in her neck for sure. At his joke, a bubbly giggle rose from her lips, seeming to well up from somewhere deep within her. Oh it felt good to laugh! Laughter was needed in dark times such as these! "Isn't that the truth! Some more often than others!" That happy grin remained on her lips as she tilted her head curiously. She was certainly curious about this one. He seemed a happy sort but where did he come from? "Ah do you drink much? I honestly haven't drank much stronger than butterbeer, only once and that... Was interesting." She turned slightly pink as she remembered a new years eve party a few years ago. Oh goodness...

Daisy did not see his hand, and yet once again she wouldn't have judged him surely. She might have asked about it, but only out of concern, never out of judgement. Her heart was too good, too pure, too gentle for that. But she nodded quickly at that and took his arm gently, grinning just a bit at his laughter at the playful sad face she gave. "Yes... I'm finding that as well, wait... You like ice cream as well? Oh well well why haven't we run into eachother earlier?" Once again the playfulness was back, yet that was all it was... Playfulness. She blinked a couple of times up at him as he spoke of the trek it would be from the ministry to here. "The Ministry! You work at the Ministry... That's why you looked vaguely familiar. I must have seen you when I... When I've stopped in there." She bit her lip a little and hurried through that statement before shutting up quickly. She knew the dangers of talking to the wrong people about the wrong things, but surely he wasn't the wrong person! Surely...

[Samuel Burke]

Sam grinned at her question. Did he drink much? He was well acquainted with all sorts of drinks, but favoured firewhiskey. Truth be told he would drink anything with alcoholic content, which had resulted in a rather embarrassing weekend when he had treated absinthe the same way most teenagers treat lemonade. He had ended up in Saint Mungo's, babbling about how his shoes were filthy conspirators, while Healers tried to pump his stomach.

"I'm something of a connoisseur when it comes to alcohol," he admitted. "I know, it's an awful stereotype for a Scotsman to be a heavy drinker, but have you met that Irish bloke what runs the bookshop, Bernard Blotts? He drinks like a fish! I once tried a drinking contest with him, and he drank me under the table." Sam shuddered, remembering the shame he felt that an Irishman had beaten him at his own game. That was okay, though. He had gotten his revenge by feeding a pack of lies to Rita Skeeter about Bernard losing the shop and needing to work at the burger joint.

He escorted her to the pub, finding her to be rather pleasant company. "What's not to love about ice cream? Florean does the best ice cream in all of Britain. I especially enjoy that rum and raisin flavour he does. Get it in one of the cinnamon and chocolate cones, and you'll be in ice cream heaven!" he enthused. When asked why they hadn't run into each other before, he shrugged. "It's a big city, I suppose. That's most likely why. Plus that, I'm an Obliviator at the Ministry. We don't usually keep regular 9-5 hours, you know? We get summoned whenever the Statute of Secrecy is threatened."

He took careful note of her saying she popped into the Ministry, and filed it under "for later investigation". He was always on the lookout for people who were useful to him in various ways, and the most talented and gifted would be groomed for service to his master. Even if she was of no use to him or his master, it was always nice to have more friends.

[Daisy Ollivander]

Daisy had no clue... She honestly didn't drink much at all. Since the last time, she had all but sworn it off. But sure enough that was last year and she had the attention span and memory of a hamster. That and she was quite competitve. If Sam so much as hinted at a contest, she would be all in. She smiled and nodded slowly as she listened to him speak, allowing that bubbly laugh to issue forth once more and she shook her head a little bit and shrugged a little. "Oh everyone is their own person despite their backgrounds and stereotypes associated to them. But I suppose there is likely a reason behind every stereotype hmm?" She watched him almost intently while she thought over what else she had heard him say. "Bernard? Yes I suppose I've heard him talk of drinking once or twice... And I think he came into my shop after drinking a few... I couldn't be sure." She shrugged a little and laughed again. Oh she liked to laugh! It made her feel happy and light.

She walked at his side holding his arm lightly as they moved through the evening crowd. She liked talking to him. He had an easy manner about him. It was quite nice indeed. "Right? Florean does indeed do very well at his craft! I do wonder about what he puts in it to make it so wonderful though! He must do something special..." She got a dreamy look to her as she thought about this. "That does sound so delicious. Too bad he's closed up shop already or I would say we should take a detour! Ah well perhaps at lunch time one of these times. I'd love to meet you there. That is... If you wanted." She shook her head a little, why the heck was she feeling all shy school girl all of a sudden? Ah well she shook it off, visibly shaking her head a little as if to clear it. She felt very awkward for a moment, getting a strong urge to shift into her husky form. Then again, information that people didn't need... There weren't a whole lot of people who connected her with her animagus form, and she liked it that way most of the time. "That's true... This is a large city to be sure." She suddenly looked at him in some shock. "You're an Obliviator? Oh goodness isn't that dangerous?" She tilted her head a little at this, some concern crossing her eyes at that. "I don't get out of my shop very often either, and my apartment is right above the shop. So I don't leave more than I really have to..." She smiled sheepishly at that, she was a bit of a homebody really.

Before long, however, they reached the Leaky Cauldren and she looked to him with a smile. "Well... Shall we?" She knew the pub would be absolutely packed. It was evening, afterwork hours, and everyone would be in. She knew there would at least be a lot of the other shopkeepers and ministry workers and such. But who else would be around? Curiosity rose within her, but she soon drew herself back to her current company, flashing him one of her brightest smiles. She had no clue what went on behind those dark eyes, but she was sure it was good. Right?

[Samuel Burke]

Sam wondered if a sweet little thing like Daisy was even capable of handling more than a thimble of ale, but he decided not to make assumptions based on appearance. After all, he relied on the very same thing to make sure people viewed him a certain way, and he was full of hidden depths. She might well be the same. "Aye, like the stereotype of English people loving afternoon tea and buttered scones?" he asked, dark eyes twinkling with mischief. "Do you take breaks for afternoon tea, Daisy? I'll be very disappointed if you don't." She had such a nice laugh. Sam had to smile every time she giggled.

He sniggered, and said, "Believe me, love, if Bernard came into your shop out of his heid on booze, you'd remember. He stinks of booze and fags, and gets very shouty and Irish when he's had a few!" His relationship with Bernard was that of two Celts with a mutual camaraderie based on nationalities, tempered with an attitude of I-can-drink-more-than-you that often drove them to extreme competitiveness and new heights of spiteful vengeance.

He grinned, and said softly, "Aye, that sounds nice. First ice cream's on me, okay?" He wasn't one to pass up the opportunity for a lunchtime spent with a pretty young lady whose laugh made him smile. "Should have a free lunchtime hour on Thursday, if that suits you?"

He shrugged, dismissing the danger. "Not really? We get called in after a dangerous or big event, like that time a Common Welsh Green nested on top of the city hall in Birmingham, or when we hosted the Quidditch World Cup, modify memories for Muggles, and that's it." He made a face, recalling that particular incident with the dragon in Birmingham. Dragon tamers had to be summoned to deal with it, all while he and the rest of his team had to scramble around, wiping CCTV tapes, confiscating the few mobile phones that had footage, wiping memories, and ultimately had to release a statement claiming the dragon had been a publicity stunt for a new movie. He had gone home that night with a migraine from the sheer stress of it!

"Ah, nothing wrong with liking the comforts of home! Besides, it's getting to be a big, bad, scary world these days. Sometimes, home just feels like the safest place, you know what I mean?" he asked, sympathising with her desire for home. Personally, he had counted down the days til he was of age so he could move out of his parents' home and escape them for good. Anywhere they were not was his home.

He released her arm, pulled open the door to the bar, and bowed to her. "After you, milady!" he said, affecting a mock posh accent. He raised his head to grin at her, inky black eyes looking harmless.