Hearts Burst Into Fire

Aaron stood motionless in the busy Diagon Alley. He ignored everything and everyone around him and stared at the empty building. He knew he was being annoying to everyone, and his only wish was to be able to see himself standing still in the middle of Diagon Alley with his hand on his chin and very deep in thought.

He had just been given his license to make wands, and now all he needed was a building in which to see them from. He had already been making a few, that way he could get started right away. He had excellent ideas that would make for a great shop and mostly cater to a younger audience. He was, after all, in it for the profit.

A lot of wizards discriminated with who they sold to which just did not make any sense to him. They were shop owners, their main goal should be to get profit. But then again he did not understand most of the wizarding world, especially the group he was currently in. The thought made him reach down and touch where the dark mark was. He sighed, but then he grinned. It would all be worth it in the end.

The building in front of him was his. It was a dump, a real dump, but he would be able to fix it up real nice. He was very thorough in everything he did which was why he was standing in the middle of the sidewalk looking at the front of the building. His vision was coming to life, even if at an incredibly slow time.

Zara was walking calmly down Diagon Alley, she had money she needed to put away into her vault, potion ingredients to get, and she needed new robes, hers were getting downright ratty, but she wasn't paying much attention. She hadn't been her old self ever since the man who had made her heart beat a million times faster, and her hands shake and tingle, had disappeared off the face of the planet. Left her in the dust, and taken her heart along with it. Her entire will to get money and grow as a person was stolen away from her. Her need to keep her appearance perfect and sexy was gone, and today she was dressed in a simple robe, and jeans and a t-shirt.

In her downhearted state, she wasn't paying much attention, when her body collided with something in the middle of the road. She fell backwards and landed hard on her back, the air getting knocked out of her. People cursed and jumped out of the way, and Zara lay there, stunned for a moment, horribly aware that her dark mark was showing so badly some people were staring and pointing at her, and still she didn't have the energy to get up. She just wanted to lay on the street and die, right there, her face was burning, and her will to stand up disappeared completely. But then she realized there had to be something she had run into, there was no one in front of her when she had been walking.

Slowly, Zara opened her eyes and looked up, and saw the most handsome man she had ever seen in her entire life. Her breath was literally knocked out of her again, for completely different reasons, and she stared at him, eyes wide, mind blown, as she felt her face getting redder, and her hand immediately went and hid her Dark Mark from view, pulling herself into a sitting position she stared up at him. "Sorry.. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.."

Aaron was holding his hands out in front of him and imagining where he was going to put the sign and then wondering what he was going to call the place. Then, out of nowhere, he felt someone bump into him. He stumbled a bit, but he stood on his feet and began to look around for the culprit. At first, he was angry, but then he realized he was standing in the middle of the street. He actually wondered how he went this far without being ran over by some business man who had no sense of direction.

As he was looking for the person, he spotted her quickly. He could only chuckle as he looked at her laying on his back with her eyes closed, apparently giving up on her life. Then his grin faded as everyone around her began to stop and look in horror for whatever reason. He squinted his eyes and he walked up to get a better look and then he realized just who had bumped into him.

He recognized her from the Manor, he believed her name was Zara, but he was unsure. They had not spoken and he was not even sure if she recognized him. All he knew was that she was a very pretty woman, but she could have been prettier. From the way she was dressed, Aaron could tell she had not even tried that morning when she had woken up.

Quickly he went into action and he crouched down in front of her with his eyebrows raised and a smirk growing across his face. "I have to ask..." He said softly, reaching down and grasping her forearm so that the mark was covered and he could pull her up. Gently, he pulled her to her feet and he stood upright grinning at her. "Were you really just walking fast without regard for anyone or is this some lame attempt to get my attention?" He was only joking, but also being a little flirty.

Zara was pretty sure her heat could just stop right then. On the day she hadn't bothered, on the day she just wanted to blend in, and hide, she just happened to run into the handsome stranger from the Death Eater Meeting. She hadn't paid any attention to him, like, at all. her mind had been so far away by that point, she pretty much had just wanted to be there for two seconds, and then go home again. So she hadn't paid attention, but now.. she recognized him slightly, and when he helped pull her up, she could feel his arm covering her Dark Mark. "Dammit.." she whispered and glanced around at the people who were still staring.

"Thanks.. erm.. wait. .what?" She asked, her eyes flickering to his and realizing he was flirting with her. That was a change, specially dressed as she was, in little makeup, and no will to make herself look beautiful like she usually did. "I erm.. was walking, I'm sorry..." she said stammering, and feeling like an idiot woman who needed a good abusive husband to set her straight. Clearing her throat she squared her shoulders, and relaxed her forehead to make herself not appear to old, and try and give herself the beautiful look she usually acquired by hours in front of the mirror. "I may have wanted your attention, but there are better ways at doing that I assure you.. my mind has been... busy lately, and I wasn't paying attention." She tried to sound standoffish, but she knew that she sounded pathetic and tired, little sleep, to much drink last night, and no will to live, she was pretty pathetic.

Aaron smirked and placed his hands casually in his pockets and rocked back and forth as she stumbled over her words. She seemed, to say the least, a bit out of it and he wondered why that was. He could tell something was weighing on her mind, not only from the way she was acting but just her in general. She had given up completely at life, something Aaron never really understood. He was aware that life could get the best of people, he was just not aware of how. Life, to him, was easy. All it took was a little planning and some hard work.

He waved his hand quickly, smiling even broader than he had before. She did not have to explain herself to anyone, especially him. "All is forgiven. If anything I should be apologizing to you for knocking you over. So, with that said, I am sorry." He pulled his hands from his pants pockets and he crossed his arms, looking at the woman with intense eyes. "Let me make it up to you by buying you a drink?" He cocked an eyebrow as he asked the question, wondering if she would accept in her current state.

Zara couldn't help but smirk at him, and she crossed her arms over her chest. The way he looked at her... it was like he saw straight through her, and she felt... vulnerable, she hated the feeling, hated it with a passion, but the way he looked at her.. it wasn't... bad... how strange. She shook her head when he tried apologizing. "No.. it was me who ran into you.. though you were standing in the middle of the street." She said, raising an eyebrow at him before shaking her head, her hair falling about her shoulders. At least she was clean, she gave herself that, she hadn't given up so completely as to stop bathing or anything, no she was clean, she just wasn't.. up kept.

When he asked if he could get her a drink, she knew she should refuse, she was so... distraught, so caught up, but a drink sounded so nice right then. It might cure the horrible headache in her head, though he may just be talking about some soda.. but even then the caffeine would give her at least a little boost. "Actually.. sure... why not? I'm not doing anything really important.. and you did know me down." She said and let her hands fall to her sides, realizing that with them crossed like that she looked defensive, and that's the last thing she wanted, was for him to take her as the defensive type. It wasn't every day she found a man who flirted with her first, usually she started talking, and they followed along.. today? Well.. maybe it was her special day.. dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, robes, and her hair laying limply around her shoulders, no where near the beauty she could get to on a normal day, but still... she felt sort of pretty in a normal, natural way.

Aaron somewhat knew she was going to accept his offer. He still did not know what had brought her down so low, but he intended to find out before the day was out. He was always interested in seeing how people arrived at the bottom of the totem pole. He figured if he paid close attention and listened then he would not make the same mistake. He had never been that low, and he did not plan on getting there either.

That was not his only motive though. He had been looking at her closely and he had come to realize that she was quite the looker. She had not even tried to make herself look good, but Aaron could tell that she could very easily turn the attractiveness level up without even trying that hard. "Shall we then?" He said quickly, motioning for her to come with him. He walked slowly, in no real rush to get to the destination. He was more interested in discovering more about the woman.

"So, if you do not mind me asking, what was on your mind that made you run right into me in the first place?" He walked beside her, but also a little in front of her. The streets were busy that day so Aaron took the lead with authority. He was not a small fellow and he walked with such an air about him that most people just moved out of the way, but if anyone decided to get in the way he did not want them to bump Zara. "If you weren't just trying to get my attention then something must have been burdening you?"

Zara followed after him and watched as the crowd split in front of him. He had an air of authority, and power that made her want to follow along after him, and bask in his glory. It was a kind of power that made everyone else seem like shadows, and the entire world centered on him when he turned and spoke to her. She frowned at his question, and then looked away from him, unsure how to answer it. "I have a lot on my mind.." She said carefully, her eyes darting along the shops they passed. "I have a pretty big hangover too.. if you can believe it..." She said with a glance towards him to see if he understood that she wanted a drink, badly, best way to cure a hangover was to drink more, wasn't it?

She sighed and looked at him. "It's nothing really you need to bother about.." she said, waving her hand to dismiss his questions. "I'm a woman.. and I'm not used to having feelings is all..." She frowned at her own words. "I mean..." She stopped, and thought over what she wanted to get across to him. "I had my first real relationship, and it ended in disaster.. and when you are someone like me.." She ran her hand over her arm where he had grabbed it earlier, where her Dark Mark was laying behind the sleeve of her robe. "You don't like people.. and when they come along.. it scares you.. and... when they leave.. it hurts all the more.. "She said simply, and then looked away from him, trying to hide how red her face was. "It's nothing that important to be honest... just something I'm not used too."

Aaron continued to walk and he listened to her intently. Listening was a great skill of his, mostly because he loved to learn. Soaking things in was terribly easy for him and he did not understand why people sought to live in their own heads instead of picking apart others. Life was a game of lessons and the easiest ways to learn those lessons was to see how other people failed. But he quickly realized what had brought her down so low: Love.

Love was the one thing in the world he could not understand. Love, no matter how perfect, always ended in heartbreak. Putting so much trust and faith in someone else was foolish to him because in the end, everyone died. Why put yourself, or someone else, through so much heart ache in the first place when the best case scenario is someone standing in front of the coffin of the one the loved most.

Love was pointless.

But he understood why she was so upset now. "Do a lot of people tell you that your biggest problems are not worth talking about?" He asked quickly, trying to make her feel better would be a task. "If it bothers you so greatly then of course I need to bother about it." He stopped quickly and turned on his heel to face her. "Nothing should ever bring you down like this, nothing. And if it does bring you down, then it is worth discussing and I do not mind it at all." He was serious and intense when he spoke to her like that. He needed to gain her trust somehow, for whatever reason, and letting her know he was truly intrigued by her emotions was a good way.

With that, he nodded his head and he continued onward. "Love and relationships are a foul game and if you are not careful you will end up in the worst place of you life, I understand that." He stopped at the door of the small bar he knew. It was quiet and usually not packed, perfect for them to get to talk a little bit. "But, the good news is, all of that is over with now. And, even if it is for one night, at least we can enjoy each others company for a bit."

Zara couldn't help but be taken aback when he spun around to face her, staring right into her eyes, she was brought up short and she couldn't help but stare at him. He could tell she was down.. why? Her robes were tattered, her hair wasn't perfect, her makeup was done hastily, and she definitely had an air of being well made up on a normal day. She knew she looked bad, but that bad? Wow.. she must be farther down then she thought she was. When he turned around again, she finally decided to answer him. "No one talks to me at all.. so on a normal day.. yeah, it's a bad thing to tell people what I'm thinking." She said speeding up to keep up with him as he walked down the road.

He was being truly nice to her, and she didn't understand why. She hadn't done anything for him, and that was people's motives right? You scratch my back I'll scratch yours.. but this guy.. he listened to her, wanted to talk to her? She was reminded so strongly of Matt that she wanted to spin around and walk away right there. Last time someone wanted to get close to her, she had been dropped on her ass, but this guy.. he wasn't trying anything with her, and she certainly hadn't had sex with him yet.. so maybe they could be... friends?

He spoke about the bad times being over with, and she stopped in front of the bar he had stopped at, and she looked up at him. "Sure.. lets have some fun okay? I'm.. not used to drinking casually or anything... so.. stop me before I get to drunk. "she said exaggerating just how long it took her to get drunk. She knew it would take ages to get him drunk, he was just so big and strong.. men like that could drink barrels and still be fine.. she'd be drunk long before him, and she didn't mind that at all.