Wrong Place, Wrong Time (Open to Anyone)

There was a strange feeling that stirred in the girl's chest as she wandered about the darkened streets of Knockturn Alley. She knew she shouldn't have been here. Lord knows, if her parents ever found out where she was right now, she'd be in a whole heap of trouble like she'd never seen in her life. Unfortunately for them, and probably a little unfortunately for her too, the young Ravenclaw was a curious girl, always looking for knowledge as much as she could. These searches for knowledge, had, in the past brought her to particularly dark places- and this time was no different.

She'd heard a rumor during the school year, it was last year, her third year, that there was a place- Mr. Mulpepper's Apothecary- where some of the finest potions ingredients could be found- but that the place was probably a little bit more than shady. Faith wasn't all that sure that she was bothered by the idea of places being shady. After all the things she'd started to discover over the last few years... she wasn't sure anything was really all that shocking. That, and despite the young lady's timid, fearful nature, she couldn't help but be attracted to the taboo. The more someone urged her not to learn about something, the more she wanted to learn it.

Perhaps it was her major flaw- that overly-curious nature of hers.

In any case, she'd snuck away one afternoon. Actually, it was less sneaking, and more walking right out of the class as if nothing was wrong with the situation whatsoever. The thing was, her parents, as usual, had left for their various business trips. They went on those trips quite often, and each time, Faith was sure to slip out of the house, to visit various libraries. Once, she'd even gone to a muggle library, just to see what sorts of things were there. That particular trip had almost ended in disaster... she would just have to be careful this time, she thought to herself as she pushed open the door to the store.

She avoided the gaze of those inside, her naturally timid nature making her feel as if maybe it was a better idea for her to just turn around and walk right back out. The people here were scary. But then again, everyone was scary, and so was everything. What was scarier, however, was the thought of living without knowledge. She needed it, she thrived on it. A little gasp escaped her lips. The wares here really were just as good as she'd heard- questionable, but good. She wondered if any of the professors at Hogwarts had ever gotten their stock here.

"Hmmmm...."

Again, Brice was wandering around the Knockturn Alley after a while walking in the Diagon Alley. It was rare to find someone he knew there, since mostly they were good-hearted people who thought that place was as dark as most thought. A couple Gryffindors wandered just to feel courageous, Slytherins were rarely seen, but are known to walk there sometimes, Huffle Puffs are the rarest to be seen, and Ravenclaws were always in search of knowledge. He always went well with Ravenclaw students, although even the smartest of them could be tricked by a little persuasion. He found it funny how they just switched from side to side with a bit of talking. He did respect them, occasionally, though. They weren't the most unsociable. He remembered that he barely found people as enemies because of his charisma, and most of his friends were Gryffindors. He always took off the house rivalry as a small obstacle that he didn't have to deal with at Durmstrang, but it didn't matter. He decided to see who was around.

And stopped.

There was a girl there, looking at a shop. She didn't seem very comfortable with the people around, but Brice had learned that maybe these creepy-looking people weren't that bad. Easier to trick, actually. She seemed younger than him, about the age of his sister. Since he was looking to make some acquaintances, he approached her.

"What do you think? Pretty good things, ain't it?"

As it had turned out, the rumors must have been true. This place was chock-full of some of the finest specimens she'd ever layed her eyes on. Just now, she'd busied herself at a rack full of some vials full of various smaller ingredients. Here were the beadiest beetle's eyes she'd ever seen- and there! That must have been the finest centaur's hair! Oh! And this had to be some of the whispiest spirit dust she'd seen in quite some time too. Was that stardust over there? It couldn't be... it was so hard to get a hold of stardust these days.

The young lady's eyes had lit up, glimmering brightly as she perused the wares- until she was interrupted, the sound of a male's voice cracking into her silence rather suddenly. A small peep of surprise and fear left her lips- it was actually quite mouselike in tone. The noise was one many had heard her make several times; a noise that had earned her nickname- Mouse. Usually she didn't mind the nickname... but sometimes... she wasn't too sure about it. Right now, she didn't really care about the nickname. Right now, she was more interested in making sure that she didn't knock anything over in her surprise.

As soon as she was certain that the bottles had all lined up properly, she turned to face the individual. Her own face was a shade of beet red, and her hands quickly moved to fold in front of herself as politely as she could- but they seemed to be wringing together more than anything else. "Y...yes sir, they are, aren't they?" She nearly kicked herself in the shins. Sir?? He couldn't have been much more than maybe a year or two older than herself. 'Come on Faith, don't be so awkward...' she thought to herself rather irritably.

He couldn't help but let out a large smile. Brice tried not to laugh at the sound she just made. But... Sir? Really? I mean, he was tall, and fairly strong, but still... it was easily noticeable that he was an adolescent. He didn't take it as an offense though, noticing how red her face was. Not like he'd feel offended anyway. He tried to keep his friendly smile on to try and make her more comfortable. He'd probably get scared if someone just said something right behind him in a creepy and empty looking alley. He decided to break the silence with a light-hearted joke, and bowed.

"No need to call me sir, ma'am. You can just call me Brice Volkov."

For a few moments, she blinked at the male, or rather, at Brice, as he'd introduced himself. Her fingers continued to wring together as she considered him very carefully. Her eyes seemed to be going over his features slowly, taking in his appearance- she was recording his face, for her own memory. This was a little process she usually went through when meeting someone new; that way, she'd never come across as rude by forgetting a name. Then again, she'd never really forgotten a name before... nor anything else, for that matter.

As he bowed, both of her brows raised slightly. He was very polite, which was rather nice, she thought. Not a lot of people were very polite these days, but she couldn't figure out why that would ever be a thing. Manners, in her honest opinion, were some of the most important things there were. "It's..." She stammered, and her cheeks stayed flushed. The stutter was a source of constant embarrassment for her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Brice."

"M...my name is Faith. Faith O'Leary." She found herself chewing her lip. Part of her hoped very much that he might not recognize the family name- as her father worked at the Ministry. If he knew where she was... oh boy.

He let out an internal sigh. He thought she'd instantly recognize his surname, because of his father, a famous quidditch player. Why he didn't want her to? Sometimes he might be a secretly dark and evil freak, but he puts that aside sometimes, mainly when he has been in or near the Diagon Alley, since the place just makes him feel better about everything.

First thing he noticed was her examining him, just like he did with other people. He didn't, since some people found it umcorfotable and Brice didn't want to make matters worse. He just let her finish and then listened carefully. Not sure why, since he had a nearly photographic memory that he was proud of, but also had it's downsides. Still...

"Hmmm... your name...."

Leaving a couple dramatic seconds in, he finished it with a smile.

"Is really pretty. Faith is a nice name for someone, at least in my way of seeing it. What would be EVERYTHING if there was no faith in doing whatever?"

It was good for both of them- she didn't recognize his surname, and he hadn't seemed to recognize hers. Faith let out a little sigh of relief, immediately feeling much better. Bit by bit, her shoulders relaxed rather visibly. His voice wasn't an intrusive or unpleasant one, instead, it was one that had a strange alluring quality to it. A small smile of her own managed to make it onto her lips- he wasn't nearly as scary as many of the other people were.

"T...thank you." She finally quit fiddling with her hands, getting less and less fidgety the more she relaxed. He seemed intelligent to boot- a trait that she appreciated quite a bit, as she herself was quite the intellectual type. "Your name... it's a strong one." Her eyes flicked around the room for a moment. "...Is... is this a place you come to often?" She couldn't help it- she was curious, both about him, and about the shop itself. After all, she wasn't really from around these parts.

Instead, as her voice might suggest, she was from Ireland, which wasn't too far away, if you traveled through the Floo network, which is exactly what she had done. Floo powder was a very efficient mode of transport- and it was one of the reasons she'd gone to the area in the first place. She was nearly out.

Strong one... Well, that surely wasn't what he expected, nor relied on, ever. He barely cared about his physical form, but somehow he was still in great shape for no apparent reason. He decided to leave that quiet. As soon as he had seen her smile Brice knew she was starting to get less nervous. That was good. But by her second question, he pondered. Did he go there a lot? Well... Maybe. He couldn't decide.But... No, he didn't. He just kept walking in the Diago Alley most of the time.

"Not really. I've been here some times, so I know my way around but I usually stick to the Diagon Alley. More people to talk with there. And I'm risking my way here by saying this, but you shouldn't be scared of most people here. They're just misunderstood. I'll show it to you."

He leaned in so he could be seen by the shop owner and waved to him.

"Hey, Daven!"

The man replied with another wave and an yellow smile, which were the opposite of Brice's white ones.

"Oy, Daydreamer! Came to shop or just wandering' about again? Pretty girl yer got there, ey?"

That was Brice's turn to blush.

The girl winced visibly as the second voice came- clearly she was scared out of her wits, all over again. It wasn't that the man was inherently frightening, it was something more along the lines of, everything and everyone was very scary, no matter who they were- until she got to know them a bit better. That was the problem with a girl like her, really. Scared of her own shadow, and too nervous to function properly at times. Luckily, however, it seemed the other individual- Brice- seemed to only be trying to be helpful at the moment, and so, all over again, she found herself relaxing as he introduced the second male.

Her eyes flicked to look at him as he spoke- his voice was far more jolty than Brice's was, but there was still a pleasant quality to it nonetheless. So his name was Daven... it was a nice enough name. Unfortunately, she still hadn't completely gained her wits yet, and so when she tried to greet him, what came out was a slightly mumbled mess of syllables. The young lady furrowed her brow, clearly irritated at herself for messing up on her speech so badly. She cleared her throat very quietly and tried again.

"...H...Hello, Mister Daven." She lifted up her own hand, attempting to wave. "Your wares are of very good quality here... I- I'm very impressed."

Awkward. Good thing Faith didn't really seem to mind about what Daven said, and Brice wouldn't complain at all. She still seemed to struggle to talk, though, but nothing a bit of help wouldn't fix. He suddenly started daydreaming like a zombie, staring into the nothingness. During his awkward daydream, he realized she was probably a Ravenclaw student, because of her curiosity plus the fact she came there and just looked at the wares. He wondered in what house he'd be sorted into, but he was pretty sure it would be Slytherin. He woke up and saw David with his smile looking at him. Brice was about to intervene the moment Raven said:

"That's why we call 'im Daydreamer. Boy can't stay focused if his life depended on it."

"That's a lie, Daven. You know that I'm able to do it for the Patronus charm."