Charles Devon Robards was a fine, upstanding citizen. He obeyed the laws, never got intoxicated, and voted. He had a boring job at the Ministry of Magic, like your average wizard, and never colored outside the lines. He had a bubbly personality, flamboyant some might say, but the bubbles hid a darkness that chilled the young adult to the bone. Since the murder of his father, Charlie had been paranoid. He never truly got over the mourning process and he still lived at home with his widowed mother. Things were certainly not working out the way that he had planned them.

Charlie could hear his father’s lessons as if they were yesterday as he walked down the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley. ”If you don’t want to be seen, stick to the crowds, not the shadows. And if you think you’re being followed, look all around you, not just left to right, but also front and back and up and down. A skilled tracker will follow you by the air, because most people don’t look up.” Charlie did that now, he looked up. It wasn’t because of his tutelage though, he did it for one reason and one reason only: to send up a silent prayer.

He had stopped in the middle of the street, staring down into the darkness that awaited him. This would be a first for the wizard; he’d never even considered stepping into Knockturn Alley. He took a deep breath and stepped into the creepy alleyway. He pulled his cloak around his shoulders a bit tighter, not out of chill, but out of comfort. He walked slowly down the alley, totally unsure of what to do. Everyone looked so creepy and all the wares were disgusting, or certainly dark magic. His eyes scanned the crowd constantly, looking for someone he would recognize, or just a friendly face.

Then his eyes landed on a rather handsome fellow. Pushing his way through the crowd, ignoring the squawking people, he finally reached his intended target. If he couldn’t have a friendly face, at least he could have a cute one. “Hi there!” He said in his usual colorful manner and then he stopped, dumbstruck. What did you say to someone you’ve never met in one of the most renown dark spots in all of Britain?

Mackenzie MacDonald was a loner at best.  He didn't particularly like people, and people didn't like him, and he liked it that way.  No one to get in his way.  His friends were the exception, but he knew he wouldn't find any in Knockturn Alley.  He had completed a deal with a client for smuggling drugs, and he had already been pre-paid, a pouch of galleons jingling around in his large pocket.  He just wanted to get out of there, not wanting trouble, even though he was usually good at evading it.  Running into a strangely happy and outgoing man in crime boulevard was included under "Trouble" in his mind.  "Hello, sir," He said politely.  "Excuse me," He continued to walk along, ignoring his odd confronter, hoping against hope that the man wouldn't drag him back to have a conversation about a new spell or unicorns or whatever he didn't care about at the time.

Charlie was temporarily sidetracked by a wheelbarrow of dead tarantulas crossing the street, and took his eyes away from the individual standing before him. A gagging noise issued forth from deep within his gut and his face twisted to a grimace. Knockturn was nasty. Even evil people should be… attractive? Wasn’t that the whole point of being ‘bad’? People liked bad guys because they were dark and dangerous, not because they were ugly and smelly… Smelly… there were tons of smells permeating the air and not one of them was pleasant.

Actually, that was a lie. The man standing in front of him smelled just fine, at least by Charlie’s standards. He fixed a smile back upon his face that didn’t seem to last very long. The man tried to excuse himself, though he did it with manners, which Charlie took to be an invitation. “WAIT!” He called out as the man turned to walk away. Not only was he determined to get some answers, but he was also a little (okay… a lot) scared being in a strange place that he knew bad people were located all alone. And the worst part was that no one even knew where he was, so if he disappeared… well… he didn’t even want to think about that.

Oh, here we go again. Mackenzie really didn't want to turn around to face the random stranger, but he felt that he would be chased down if he left.  He was sure that almost everyone in the criminal corner of the wizarding world had heard the maniac scream to him, and he didn't want attention drawn to him.  Well, he wasn't a maniac so much as he was desperate for whatever reason.  Mack built up a little bit of Gryffindor courage, not wanting to go back but knowing he would have to.  He sighed, returning to the man.  It took quite a bit of control not to be irritable and rude, especially when the young man he faced looked at him the way he did.  Was that a look of … delight?  He really hoped not.  "Um, sir, you see, I am quite busy at this moment.  I have important business to attend to," he said, which was a partial lie; he had business to attend to, but not urgently or important enough to call it such a thing.  He just wanted to get away, being semi antisocial what with all his crimes.  He really wanted to say, "Nice seein' ya, but I gotta go!" but he knew a pattern would emerge if he did so.  He also didn't want to make an enemy out of the guy by leaving him in the dust like a plastic bag blowing in the wind.  He suppressed yet another sigh and said, "Well, I have some time to spare." He looked at his wrist, noticing he had no watch, so he played it off like he was fixing the cuff links on his coat.  This could get interesting…

The Hufflepuff graduate was not about to give up. He was very stubborn and almost always got what he wanted, and right now, he wanted the company of this nice gentleman. The guy was trying to get away, yet again, and Charlie could feel his confidence slipping, there was no way he could keep trying to get this guy to stay if he was so intent on scurrying away. He knew that the clientele of Knockturn could be a bit squirrely; he didn’t know that they would run off like squirrels too.

Then the guy turned back to him and decided to stay. That was the first step. “Well thanks, I mean, if you really have somewhere to be, I suppose I could follow you. I won’t take up too much of your time, I swear. I just understand that Knockturn Alley is the kind of place one goes when they need information of the unsavory variety.” He said, winking at the guy. He wasn’t sure if the man would take the wink as seductive or just as a hint to the illegal nature of his questioning. Either way would make Charlie happy.

Now, he wants to follow me.  Great, he thought. "Well… no, I'll stay here and talk instead," He said, not wanting this random man to be following him around, cutting into his business.  So he stayed.  And the kid winked at him.  He smiled, hoping he wouldn't notice Mack was faking it.  "Yes, definetly," He agreed.  He just hoped that this guy wasn't going to ask him to go out for drinks or dinner or something.  He seemed straightforward, but when he said it would be quick he thought just the opposite of what the man had promised.  He said, "Well, what is it?" In the coolest and calmest tone he could, the question meant to be kind.  He stared intently, awaiting an answer.

“Here?” Charlie asked, looking around frantically. “I really don’t want to talk about what I need here. What if people are listening?” he finished in a whisper. The son of the former head of the DoMLE skulking down Knockturn Alley was bad enough, he didn’t need a reputation. “Would you like to go somewhere a little more private to talk? I’ll buy you a drink,” He said with a grin.

Beyond the man’s attractiveness, Charlie was intrigued by his sheer antisocial personality. He wasn’t used to people not opening up and chatting amicably with him, and the lack of proper conversation made Charlie all the more interested in Mackenzie. He stuck his hand out for the man to shake and offered up his name, “I’m Charlie, nice to meet you.” Hopefully the dude wouldn’t be a prude and would accept his offer for drinks and would at least give him a fake name to call him by. 

Mackenzie really just wanted to say, "Who cares?  It's Knockturn Alley!  Death Eaters used to walk through here, for god's sake!" But maybe this guy didn't want what he thought he did, which was some kind of deal.  He wondered if he knew he was a smuggler, which would not be good for business.  A guy the likes of him would probably inform the authorities of this if he found out.  He kept his composure, saying, "Yes, a drink would be nice."

He shook the man's hand, out of sheer politeness, his hand shake was firm and controlled, much like himself.  The kid he was speaking to was quite obviously talking with a random stranger who didn't want to do the same, and yet he introduced himself, calling himself Charlie.  This was why Mackenzie prepared a nickname.  "Call me Z," he said.  His name was pronounced, Muh-Ken-Zee, so he used the last syllable as a name to tell strangers or suspicious vendors.  "Or, if you'd like," he said, feeling a bit rude, "My real name is Mackenzie."  Wondering where exactly they would be getting this drink, not wanting to be poisoned by a shady figure, he asked, "Where will we be having this drink that you speak of?"

Now that he had the man’s attention, he wasn’t sure exactly what to do with it. He called himself Z, and then edited it to Mackenzie, but Charlie liked Z better, it sounded more mysterious and smoldering. He didn’t come to the creepiest part of magical London to make friends, or to make idle chitchat with random strangers, yet here he was, offering to buy a random criminal drinks. “Well I dunno…” he said, lifting his arm to ruffle his hair, “I don’t really know this area. Maybe I can just ask you here and we can go for drinks on our personal time?” He asked with a shy smile on his face.

He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them, and realized that everyone around them seemed to be tied up in their own business. I guess Knockturn wasn’t a place you wanted to be caught spying on other people’s conversations. Steeling his resolve, Charlie took a deep breath and just jumped right in, “I’m a good guy, really.” For some reason he felt the need to prove himself to the guy in front of him, “The issue is that I’m not really okay. I keep having these horrible nightmares about when my papa got killed, and I just feel like my life is spiraling out of control.” He took a sharp breath and continued, “And I heard rumors that there might be someone in Knockturn that could supply me with something to help me get better. I have money, not a whole lot, but I just got a job and I can start paying if someone could just help me,” he finished.

His shoulders slumped and it seemed like the effort it took to supply his little monologue drained the wizard of all his strength. His eyes met his shoes and he refused to look into the other man’s eyes, he didn’t want to see Mackenzie’s reaction.

"Um... yes," he said, resisting a smile.  "On our personal time, my time here is running thin."  That was his chance to get away from Charlie and never see him again, hopefully he would buy his horrible acting that sounded way too much like he was excited to get out of there.  "We can meet later in the Black Chimera or The Black Cauldron," he suggested. 

He really didn't care for people like Charlie who came to Knockturn so they could get whatever drug they wanted.  They seemed shallow, especially considering this particular man looked like he had no clue what a beer was, much less a pill or a pipe.  He must've been attached to his father, otherwise he would've accepted his death like a man, got over it, although Mack wasn't much better;  his criminal mind was inspired by his family's death.

 "Don't talk like that, you'll get over it, it just needs time," he said, trying to comfort the boy.  He knew what it felt like, and he didn't want what had happened to him to happen to someone else.  He knew he'd regret this, but he gave him a hug.  He probably needed it, but he worried this man had feelings for him that he would never have.  "Don't be embarrassed, it's fine, it's fine," he said in a soft tone. This doesn't look odd or anything, right? A sarcastic thought crossed his mind.  Oh, well. 

Charlie wasn’t sure why, but he was willing to take full advantage of the man’s kindness. First off, it was Knockturn Alley, people weren’t supposed to be nice, they were just supposed to give you what you wanted. If this guy wouldn’t give Charlie what he wanted, then Charlie would just have to distract himself with the boy. That was a fair trade, right?

The wizard leaned into the hug, taking in the scent of his fellow. It was a nice scent, one Charlie was sure he wouldn’t mind getting used to. Then he turned on the water works. He sniffled and let the tears fall onto the criminal’s shoulder. He wasn’t as upset as he was letting on, but people tended to be more sympathetic to distraught people. “I’m sorry…” He sniffled, “It’s not like me to cry on people, especially not cute strangers.” He said, pulling away from Mackenzie. He wiped the fake tears from his face and gave the wizard a shy smile.

“So… since you can’t help me, you promise you’ll have a drink with me later? Just one, I won’t make you stay if you don’t want to.” He said, hoping beyond hope that the wizard would say yes. “I mean, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go any further into Knockturn… It’s a little creepy, to be frank. Maybe we could meet at the Leaky Cauldron?”

Oh, boy, he thought.  Now he's crying.  Mack was horrible with this kind of stuff, if someone shed a tear, he was easily bargained with, a weakness, if you will, of sympathy.  He accepted the man's request although he was previouly thinking of running off when Charlie wasn't looking to escape his odd attachment to Mackenzie, saying, "Of course, are you sure you want to pay for them?" Man, he was a sucker for that shit.

This was a bit of a different experience.  Several things had happened that he never thought would occur-- orthat he would do as a result.  He was unpredictable even to himself, he was supposed to be an impolite, quick-witted, and hardened criminal with no care for others' emotions, but instead, he was a sympathetic fool with nice manners and reactions based on impulse rather than logic.  And this is what it got him into.  He hoped Jim would never hear about this, he'd laugh his head off in surprise and disbelief.  At that point, he was a little disgusted with, well, himself.  

But if that kid thought he was crying, he was dead wrong.  Mack was bad at that time, but not that bad.  He would get a drink with the man, have a little chat revealing no real personal information, and leave.  Hopefully, if he could pull it together and be what a criminal is supposed to be like, cold-hearted and antisocial.  Despite his seeping, sappy sympathy for the man, he would try not to fall into another trap like game led by bait into a cold, iron cage.

Charlie smiled at the criminal and gave him a quick hug. “Great! So I’ll see you tonight? Say nine o’clock? The Leaky Cauldron?” Charlie was truly excited. He couldn’t wait for their meeting. He had big plans for Z; plans the criminal would never see coming. “I don’t mind paying; I’m the one who invited you so it’s only right that I be the one to purchase the drinks. As long as you don’t go like super crazy and buy a million expensive drinks. That would be bad.”

“Anyway, I gotta go, I have some shopping to do before tonight. So I’ll see you there!” Charlie winked at the sexy criminal and turned on his heel. He maneuvered his way back through the alley to the brightness of Diagon beyond. He’d go get the things he needed, and then head home to freshen up for the night’s activities.