9 AM
Raining

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Mark walked into the pub, shaking his hair dry with his hand. It was raining cats and dogs out there, and he was wet. Mark took off his coat, and draped it on one of the hooks by a booth. He sat down, placing his satchel next to him. A waitress walked to him, a bored expression on her face. "What can I get you." She asked bluntly, her introduction missing. There was no good morning, and no I'm so and so.

"Uh, coffee. Three sugars?" He asked kindly, with a smile. The lady didn't even reply as she turned on her heel, walking to the back of the pub. Mark sat there, his leg bouncing, and his hands folded on the table. Julie had something to do today, so it was a perfect day to meet this new supplier. And this had been one of the few pubs he hadn't been barred from.

Rushing on wet cobblestones was never a good idea.  A fact Forest was reminded of when one of his feet slipped out from under him.  His arms came up in an instinctive effort to catch his balance, heavy leather bag swinging awkwardly in one hand.  He recovered with a curse, and with a foot sunk in a puddle.  He cursed again, shaking his foot to try to get some of the excess water out of his shoe.

Once inside, Forest paused.  For a moment he was occupied with the business of moving in out of the rain.  He pushed the hood of his cloak back and shook his soaked foot again, glancing around.  The pub was hardly full.  In fact, based on the few occupants of the tables, he felt fairly certain which table he was going to.  Shaking his foot one more time, Forest straightened his shoulders and moved away from the door.

“Mr. Hunter?”  Forest stopped beside the booth, waiting for confirmation before extending his hand.  “Good morning, I’m Forest Montgomery.  Do-“  He broke off at the appearance of a waitress, smiling politely as she settled a cup in front of the man.  “Uh, tea, please?” he said when she turned a disinterested expression in his direction.

Mark said a quick word of thanks to the waitress, then stood up to take the man's hand. "That's me. Call me Mark. And you're Forest, right?" Mark offered a smile, as he shook the hand. He sat back down, and attempted to sip the piping hot coffee. "Won't you take a seat, Mr. Forest." Mark said, gesturing across the booth.

He was excited to meet this new supplier. His last supplier had disappeared completely off the map, and Mark hadn't  heard from him for weeks. When Mark would receive his new copy of the Daily Prophet, he would see that his old supplier had been arrested and sent to Azkaban for murdering some old hag.

 “Mark, yes.  Pleasure to meet you.”  Forest smiled at having chosen the correct table the first time.  “Thank you.”  Seating himself opposite the slightly older man, Forest placed his leather satchel on the booth next to him.

He waited a beat before speaking again, uncertain what sort of customer Mark Hunter would be.  Some of his clients preferred a bit of chit chat first, they liked the impression that they knew Forest.  Knew who he was, what he wanted in life and what sort of man he was.  They liked that feeling of trust.  Other clients wanted their transactions to be strictly business.  Forest didn’t really care one way or another, but it was a tricky line to walk with new (or potential) clients.  He didn’t want to appear stand-offish to someone who would like the feeling of a personal relationship, nor did he want to get too chatty with someone who’d prefer to get straight to negotiating rates.

“So, I understand that you’re looking for some particular ingredients, and my name was referred as a supplier?”  Stating the obvious, but at least it was a place to start.  “I’m not sure who provided my name to you, so forgive me if I’m repeating any information they may have already given you.  I mainly deal with flora – plants,” he clarified.  Mark looked intelligent enough, and if he was looking to brew a potion himself hopefully he knew what flora was.  Still, better safe than sorry.  “I can guarantee almost any flora request you give me.  If you’re also hoping to order something outside of that category I don’t restrict my orders.  If it’s an item I can’t procure I will let you know as soon as I’m able – usually well in advance of the completion of the rest of your order.”

“So, I understand that you’re looking for some particular ingredients, and my name was referred as a supplier?”

Mark folded his hands in front of him. "Yeah, some of them are pretty tough. Like, could you get your hands on Knotgrass?" He asked. He knew that was sometimes tricky to get, and it wouldn't be a deal breaker if he couldn't get it, but he would be impressed if Forest could. Mark knew Forest dealt with flora, but some plants were quite hard to get. But this was a potion ingredients supplier. Odds are he'd be more than capable.

"Now, I need to ask you something, and you will not be penalized if you answer yes." Mark withdrew his wand, setting it on the table, symbolizing that he wasn't going to attack. "Are you part of the Ministry?" Mark leaned in. "I need to know now, before we continue." He wouldn't be able to deal with a spy. Mark already felt like he was taking risks by just leaving his apartment.[1]

1.	SO SO SORRY it took so long to reply! I've been sick, but I'm feeling better finally!!

Forest smiled slightly as he nodded.  “I can get Knotgrass, although it does take a bit of time.  Normally no more than two weeks, but as you can imagine sometimes there is a bit of fluctuation on these things.”  Knotgrass was the perfect sort of request from a potential new client.  Domestically grown, it meant he didn’t have to leave the country to find it.  It was tricky to locate but not impossible.  With a bit of luck he’d be able to fill Mr. Hunters request ahead of schedule and land himself a regular customer.

He watched as Mark set his wand on the table.  Between the prelude to his question and the symbol of disarming himself, he was about to be asked a loaded question.  Forest studied Mark’s expression, contemplating the various reasons why he’d be asked about his involvement with the Ministry.  After a momentary hesitation, Forest drew his own wand, placing the pale blonde wood on the table carefully.  “No,” he said simply.  “My involvement with the Ministry is minimal at best.  I am well aware of the restrictions and limitations they have placed on various items that are invaluable to brewing potions – more than a few of those restrictions apply to plants they have deemed hazardous.  My-“

He broke off when the waitress reappeared with his tea.  Waiting until she had set the cup on the table and moved away, Forest absently squeezed the lemon into his tea.  “My opinion is that the Ministry’s restrictions are put in place to protect people who don’t know how to handle temperamental items.  I recognize the risk of handling such items and I assume that anyone who requests something knows how to handle it.  Therefore I don’t see any reason to deny a client an item just because the Ministry doesn’t want it in the public’s hands.”

Mark sighed in relief as he took his wand back and placed it back in it's holder. He stirred his coffee and then replied, saying, "Okay. Great. Well, it seems like this will work out for the best for the both of us." Mark smiled. "Now, let's talk you as a supplier. There's a lot of suppliers out there. Why should I go with you?" He folded his hands in front of him.

Hopefully, this guys had a good enough self confidence to get him a good answer. He didn't want to deal with someone who couldn't talk themselves up. "I need complete confidence that I can trust you and that you can supply what  I need." Mark explained, trying to fill in the conversation.