Fireside

Jack was not prepared for this year.

He had finally finished packing and was ready to start his move to Hogwarts, where he was going to be the new Charms Professor. It was the night before he was checking out of The Leaky Cauldron, where he's been frequenting because he hasn't been able to find a stable job in months. He's worked in just about every place he could, and he was able to afford a home for at least a little bit, until he subsequently lost the job and home, to where he would return to The Leaky Cauldron. He hasn't had a stable job in a little under a year, but at the worst, his new job would last him about nine months, so that was a positive.

Taking a deep breath, Jack slipped out of his room in The Leaky Cauldron quietly and took the stairs down to the pub two at a time, landing softly and silently on the soles of his feet until he landed at the base of the stairs, his momentum pushing him into a normal walk from the stairs, and he sat himself down at a table by himself in the corner of the place, his usual chair and table thankfully untouched.

From there, Jack pulled a small pocketbook out of his pants, and began to flip through it, his eyes scanning the information that was scribbled onto the pages in haste when Jack first started out as a Dragon Keeper. He was still terrified of Dragons at this point in time, but he couldn't get over their beauty and grace when doing anything, and his interest in them hasn't diminished in the slightest.

She arrived at work with rush. As always, she was late. She changed her clothes quickly and in the next moment rushed toward the table where he was sitting a guy.
This job has long worked mechanically. She walked to the table, asking guests what they want, bring it, charge. It has become a ritual. Never really doesn't pay attention to the people who come. She isn't interested in it, and most of this people was poor in her opinion.

She went to the table moving strand of hair behind her ear. "Welcome, are you ready to order?" She murmured classical sentence never taking her eyes from small notebooks in which she wrote the order. The boy was silent for a while, and she visibly upset looked up at him. He looked familiar. She knew she was saw him before, but she did not know where. She shook her head. Probably imagining. This is a boring place, and one can easily imagine things. She was supposed to accept another job, but as a member of the DE this job was great for her. There are a lot of gossips - Every day have heard rumors, but some useful information too. Only because of that she was compelled to stay here to work.

Jack looked up, his head jerking up in the direction of Beatris' voice, it catching him off guard, as he completely forgot about the fact that this was a sit down restaurant, too. Jack opened his mouth to say something as he stared at Tris, her look of annoyance at his silence stabbing into him like a knife. It would be a lie to say that Jack hadn't noticed her before as a waitress the whenever he frequented here. It wasn't like she was a bad-looking woman. Plus, she looked familiar.

It took Jack a moment before he realized that he had just been opening and closing his mouth, with not a single sound escaping past his lips as he did so. Closing his mouth for a final time, he shook his head quickly, his face slowly turning a light shade of pink. But, Jack couldn't stay silent. He wanted to at least keep the cute waitress around him long enough to get her name or something.

"Oh wait, uh, can I, uh, get uh- just uh- just water, please."

F***in idiot.

He used to be able to talk to girls so fluidly. It was a gift, almost. But now he could barely handle a normal conversation with anyone he deemed attractive. He looked up at her, and he couldn't help but feel bad. Maybe she got a lot of creepy people talking to her, trying to get her to go out with them or something. Maybe he shouldn't ask her for her name.

"W-what's your name, by the way?"

Oops. Jack cursed his idiocy. But he couldn't deny that he was also curious as to if he knew her at all. She did seem familiar. Maybe she went to Hogwarts? Who knew.

She picked up pen to her lips gently nibbling her top to refrain from laughing. Is this guy retarded or what? He looked as if he was scared to death, or as someone who has some kind of  seizure or something. He was opening and closing his mouth without any sense, and she wondered if he has any health problems for which remains without a voice sometimes.

Finally he spoke, he just wanted the water. Great, so she stood for nothing. Actually, if he doesn't  act so distraught, he would even be cute. She shook her head, forcing those thoughts. She smiled almost cold, fearing that anything more sparked a new strange reaction to him. "Of course, your water comes in a minute," she turned and started to walk towards the bar when his next question twitched her.

Why does he ask her for a name? Does he investigate members of the Death Eaters? Did he recognize her? Maybe she should change her look before coming to work. However, she decided that she won't say her name. At least not her right name. However, she was sorry for him. Obviously he is for some reason took a lot of courage to get her name. Does she look like a monster? Maybe she forgot to put on makeup this morning? She decided to tell him her middle name. That name  anyway no one knows. It is a name that is used only by her mother during anger. Yes, it will be safe if she say to him middle name, as long as he can not connect her with Beatris Greyback.

"Sophie. My name is Sophie. Is that all, sir? "She looked at him, trying to stay indifferent. Perhaps he has no particular reason why he asks for the name.

Basically Jack shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning. The humiliation that he was dealing with right now was enough to kill a man. Probably. He smile certainly didn't help Jacks nervousness. He looked down at his book, his face getting just a little bit darker red as she answered him. He didn't remember meeting a Sophie ever, in Hogwarts at least. There was a Sophie Granger, if he remembered correctly, but he had talked to her once and never again, so Jack didn't really care for her.

"Yeah, yeah, that's all. Thanks."

Jack sheepishly kept his head down as he reached to scratch his neck with his scarred hand. It was the result of his last time dragon keeping, which took him to St. Mungos for a while, and took his friend to his grave. The scar wrapped around his right hand, and up his forearm and, although she didn't see, went up his shoulder and onto his back and side. The scar was a result of coming straight in contact with fire that the loose dragon had coughed out.

Jack scratched his neck and played with the pages of his book for a bit before he went back to looking at his book, his eyes going over the words but he didn't register a single thing because he was still beating himself up over the fact that he sounded like he had some sort of speech impediment when talking to the girl. Maybe he would try again once she came back with his water. No, he would try again. He will.

Beatris was relieved when she realized that he obviously will not continue to ask questions. She should get used to this, people are constantly asked her for the name, the majority of people are a lot older than she, for sure that they could be charged with attempted pedophilia. She went to the bar, dropped her notebook and poured water into a large glass.

From a distance, she looked at her confused guest. It is obvious that he was very nervous for some reason. There may be some personal problems? She rolled her eyes. Beatris Sophie Greyback,you are not a psychiatrist. It is not yours to worry about the problems of customers. She attacked herself in her thought. She added two ice cubes in a glass of water, quickly tied the hair in a ponytail and headed back to the nervous guests.

When she came, she carefully put the glass down on the table taking care not to spill water on his books. "Your water .. Can I do anything else for you?" She looked at him, waiting for an answer. She might gives him a strong drink on the house, acting as though he needed.

Jack nodded solemnly as she placed the tall glass in front of him, and he took a deep breath, his heart pounding so much harder than it probably should have been. Not probably, definitely. He looked up at "Sophie," swallowing whatever nervousness he had, and spoke;

"Would you, uh, be able to just, um, sit down and talk while on the clock?"

He threw the words out in one rapid breath, his eyes looking at her, then back at his his hands which were underneath the table, gripping onto his thighs as if he was holding on for dear life.Maybe he shouldn't have asked that. He should've thought that through, yeah. Dammit, he just asked an insanely stupid question and now he was probably going to be shamed for it. At least she seemed like she wouldn't do it to his face, as the very least. He could live with her talking behind his back, maybe.

"I mean, it's alright if you can't. I, uh, I understand work and everything, it can be a B****."

Once again, his words came out in a single breath, his words throwing themselves out of his mouth in quick succession, and he gave a nervous chuckle at the end of his sentence. He was going to die probably, he was going out on quite a few limbs right now wih what he was saying.

Tris is after a long time stay stunned. Her ears had heard the question, but the brain could not understand. What did he think he is? He was suspicious. She thought of what he wants from her. He could be a maniac, someone who wants to kill her or does something bad, or ... Well, there was no other solution why a complete stranger is in this way interested in her.

She has to refuse, that is for sure. Hell, she was scared of him, did not want to sit near him. In fact, right now is thinking she could say the boss she is ill and go home. "This .. it .. sir .. not exactly ..." she mused how to gently refuse. However, she looked around. Cafe is not empty, but not too full. If something suspicious would happens, someone will sure to notice. That is the verdict.

"I think I can sit for a while" at the end she said, hoping that she will not regret her decision. She pulled the chair across from him and sat down, making sure that there is a certain distance between them. What would she have to talk to him? He was a complete stranger!

Maybe he's investigating Death Eaters, contacted her little voice in head. She had to avoid that.
She crossed her legs and looked at him.

"What are you reading?" Blurted the question before she became aware that she spoke. Ordinary themes will keep them away from her life.

Wait, what?

Initially, Jack was rather confused that she accepted his offer. Did he actually have a chance to get somewhere with someone of the opposite gender? He shifted in his seat, sitting up a little bit straighter as she sat down, and he pinched himself underneath the table, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Jack was a loser like that.

Jack slid his small book to Beatris, the tattered leather rubbing against the wooden table of The Leaky Cauldron. A dark stain could be noticed in the bottom left corner of the book, near the binding, where Jack once spilled a cup of coffee and almost ruined his notes.

"It's just a small journal of the different dragons I transported while I was a Dragon Keeper. I thought it was a good idea to keep it so I could refer to it whenever I couldn't remember something about a certain dragon."

Within the small book was a great heap of scribbled drawings, notes, and diagrams of a large assortment of dragons that Jack dealt with during his short time in Egypt. As Jack spoke, his left hand instinctively touched his hairless right arm, before he pulled it back, pointing to the book that he put in front of Tris.

"You, uh, you can look through it if you want. As long as you can understand my handwriting."

Tris was watching him carefully. She noticed how he gently straightened after she sat down. She smiled angle lips to it. She was still nervous, but a little less.
She looked at the small leather book that he put in front of her. He will allow her to look at it?
She listened him telling her about dragons and his work with certainty what hadn't have while he was talking to her earlier. Obviously this is something that is important to him. She looked at him better. He did not look like someone who works with dragons. She took the book carefully in her hands. The book looked old and she's careful not to tear something.

While he talked to her, she noticed that he touched his right hand. It looked like it is hurt.
"What happened to your arm?" She could not stand not to ask. She regretted at the next moment. That may be something personal. She should not pry.

Carefully she flipped through a few pages of the book. What she saw was fascinating. A variety of descriptions, sketches and a lot of other things she does not understand  was neatly written. Data on many of the dragons which she is only heard, but also some completely unknown for her. "Wow, this is really great," looked at him approvingly. "It seems better than some books I read ... You should think about printing  a book, I'm sure it would be very successful," she laughed softly.