Roger waited outside of a large building located across the way from Quality Quidditch Supplies. It was a place that he had been very familiar with and felt an odd, comforting sense watching a group of kids press their noses against the window and talking excitedly about the newest brooms. The time was nearing one in the afternoon; Madam Malkin had assured Roger after his second visit to double-check the time of completion, that two-thirty he gather up his robes and be free from errands.

The feeble rays of sunlight peeking through the clouds offered little respite from the cold in the air. Still, that did not detract the many shoppers wandering the cramped street, their arms ladened with bags and packages. Setting off toward the direction of Gringott's, Roger's gaze swept the busy street and took in the sights; in the last ten years so many new businesses had opened up, mostly due to economic prosperity in the wizarding world. So funny to think while the muggle world scrambled to find solution to the money woes that an entire world flourished under their noses. Stopping in front of a sweet shop, Roger looked up at the sign and felt an odd pang of nostalgia. Thirteen years ago this would have been Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Roger's mind wandered and lingered on those unpleasant memories. Sure, the current business had been successful since it moved some years prior, but it would never feel quite right to Roger.

With a sigh, Roger looked away from the shop and recognized a familiar face heading toward him. Tilting his head curiously to the side, he recognized her as Arianna, the waitress from the Three Broomsticks.

"Fancy seeing you again!" He called to her as she moved closer.

Making her way down the street Anna went through her to do list mentally one more time as she walked.  The most important thing on her list had been finding something suitable to wear the next evening to meet her parents.  She had finally settled on the blue robe from Madam Malkin's and she was quite certain she would at least be spared commentary on her wardrobe.  Looking ahead she spotted a familiar face for the second time that day.

Fancy seeing you again!

"Once is a coincidence," she said with a playful grin, "but I think meeting twice in one day should be considered fate, Mr. Davies."

Conversation was always a good distraction.  She could ignore the impending doom of seeing her parents for a bit and just enjoy the city for a little while.  Besides, Roger had always seemed like an interesting bloke, but there was only so much one could talk about with all the bustle at the Three Broomsticks.

"How are the robe repairs coming?" she asked.  "I trust Madam Malkin won't keep them hostage too much longer."

"Once is a coincidence, but I think meeting twice in one day should be considered fate, Mr. Davies."

“Or stalking,” Roger shot back, returning her grin. “Granted you’d have to be mental to try that on a dreary day like today.” He said, casting a glance upward at the overcast skies. Only three more months and the sun would start shining in – if they were lucky. Shoving his hands in his pockets as the cold seeped through his gloves, Roger smiled ruefully to Arianna’s question. “I am not sure, but I went back to check on my robes and I think Madam Malkin has been replaced by a tiger. So, I figured I would come back sometime in the afternoon.”  Of course Roger was exaggerating his meeting, but this version of the story seemed a bit more accurate to the shop owner’s  temperament today. “I owe you for sticking up for me. Cheers for that.”

A walking pile of boxes tottered past Roger and Arianna, shuffling on the uneven cobblestones and nearly plowing into a couple gazing in the window of the sweet shop. Once the boxes angled itself toward the doorway a stooped over, elderly witch was revealed, hoisting all of the boxed burden. For a moment, Roger thought to remind her a wand might make this take easier, but then thought against it; he wasn’t having the best of luck with shop owners today.

“So,” returning his attention back to Arianna and surveying her; she looked fairly cozy in her robes, scarf and gloves. “What brought you out today? No, more importantly why are you still out? It is well past noon, which is perfect napping time.” Roger wanting nothing more than to be at home, curled up in his bed instead of killing time.

It seemed to be a typical day in Diagon Alley.  The shops might change, but the general bustle never did, especially on a weekend.  In spite of all her traveling when she was younger and seeing Wizarding communities throughout Europe, it was still London and Diagon Alley that felt like home.  It was simply that not all homecomings were particularly joyous.

“What brought you out today? No, more importantly why are you still out? It is well past noon, which is perfect napping time.”

"Well, to answer the first, I received an invitation to dinner with my parents," she confided.  "Seeing as relations have been...well...strained, I suppose, for about fifteen years, I thought I might find something my mother would deem appropriate attire."

By appropriate she had of course meant fashion from the Magical community.  Somehow she had imagined her usual jeans and sweaters would be a bit frowned upon.  Her parents were purists to their very core and that meant anything Muggle or anything that even appeared to be Muggle would be frowned upon.  As much as she wanted to remind her parents she was not under their thumbs any longer, she didn't want to start arguing the very moment she arrived.

"To answer the second, and certainly more important questions, I don't come to London terribly often," she continued.  "So, I tend to check as many items off my to do list at once.  My shift at the Three Broomsticks doesn't start for a few more hours, so I thought I'd spare myself a trip here next weekend."

"Well, to answer the first, I received an invitation to dinner with my parents," ...  "Seeing as relations have been...well...strained, I suppose, for about fifteen years, I thought I might find something my mother would deem appropriate attire."

Roger made a slight face, knowing all too well the feeling of obligation and nerve-wrecking preparation when called before the presence of family, especially when relations between the two were tepid at best. With this reasoning he nodded his head in agreement and pursed his lips musingly. "Yeah, I know what you mean." The words should have been more casual, but carried a hint of terseness to them and the corners of his lips betrayed the otherwise carefree expression.

"To answer the second, and certainly more important questions, I don't come to London terribly often," ...  "So, I tend to check as many items off my to do list at once.  My shift at the Three Broomsticks doesn't start for a few more hours, so I thought I'd spare myself a trip here next weekend."

"They actually let you free from the Broomsticks?" He smirked but there was nothing offensive in his voice. "And here I was under the impression you and Bethan were hexed to never walk out of the door." His attention turned away from Arianna and scanned over their visible patch of Diagon Alley. Despite preferring to hide in plain sight of muggles, Roger couldn't imagine his multi-weekly jaunts through this comfortable slice of wizarding world and found himself telling Arianna so.  After a short silence, he asked . "So, would you like any company?" Roger had always enjoyed Arianna's presence at the bar, and given the fact he only knew bits and pieces about her between scrapes of conversation delivered as she dropped off drinks, he felt this could be an opportune time to get to know one of his favorite waitresses. "I have about an hour left until I need to pick up my robes."

She got the impression that there was more to his agreement about family than he was letting on.  The last thing she was about to do however was prod for information.  If he wanted to talk about it, he would.  Having someone poking around in her family life wasn't exactly something she had ever responded well to or appreciated, she wasn't going to start making a habit of doing that to someone who might at a certain point be considered a friend.

"They actually let you free from the Broomsticks?  And here I was under the impression you and Bethan were hexed to never walk out of the door."

"They occasionally let us out for good behavior," she quipped with a smirk.  "I know it's difficult to believe...sometimes I feel like I do practically live there." 

The only time he ever saw her, after all, was when she was running drinks or food around the Three Broomsticks.  Her world had become relatively small since moving to Hogsmeade.  It was a nice change and it was a fresh start.  But at her age fresh starts were usually frowned upon.

"So, would you like any company?  I have about an hour left until I need to pick up my robes."

"That would be lovely," she said with a genuine smile.  "I'm actually done with my to do list and I was thinking of getting a cup of coffee somewhere to get me through the first part of my shift which is usually relatively quiet, but I'm open to suggestions."

Roger grinned in his classic charmingly boyish way at Arianna’s quip. “Well, you do a fine job in my opinion. They should let you out more often." Pausing for a moment, he gave a small laugh. "Or maybe not, then poor Bethan would be forced to put up with me all by herself, and Merlin knows she has enough on her hands without me. Besides, I'd miss my favorite waitress." Despite his default nature to be a flirt, Roger never flattered without necessity; Arianna was indeed his favorite waitress at the Three Broomsticks.

  "I'm actually done with my to do list and I was thinking of getting a cup of coffee somewhere to get me through the first part of my shift which is usually relatively quiet, but I'm open to suggestions."

Peering up in the sky, a slow smile spread across his lips. "You know, I think I could go for some tea. Coffee is..." Trailing off, his smile faltered a bit. Funny to think a top Quidditch player had to regulate when he could and couldn't drink coffee because the team's physician warned caffeine after a certain hour would interfere with his sleep cycle and cause poor performance. How oddly structured his life was and had always been since Hogwarts. It was enough to drive a person mad. "You know what, I think coffee is just fine." With a decisive nod, Roger offered his arm to Arianna. "So then, lead the way."

Anna felt an uncharacteristic blush creep into her cheeks at the compliment.  It had been a while since a man had truly done so...at least one who wasn't extremely intoxicated near the end of one of her shifts.  She had nearly forgotten what that felt like.  In the last year she had put up a bit of a wall between herself and members of the opposite sex.  It was a bit of self-preservation given the uncertainty of her life.

There was something that caused him pause when the discussion turned to caffeinated drinks.  She noted his smile faltered a bit.  The years of training and experience as a counselor caused her to be perhaps a bit more observant than most, but she said nothing for now.  It was often easy to only see one layer of a person when you only ever had experiences with them in one setting.  There was more to him then what she saw when he would frequent the Three Broomsticks.  He had more than one facet to his life, just as she had to hers.

She took his arm with a slightly shy smile, leading them down the street.  The coffee shop was just a short distance away, but it would seem like a lot further with the voice in the back of her mind told her to take care.  Her personal life was still...complicated and she could see she would have to be weary of his flirtatious nature.  At this point she felt completely out of practice where it came to men and how to not get carried away over a friendly cup of coffee.

"So, do you have any plans for the evening or can I count on seeing you at the Three Broomsticks?" she asked as they walked.  "You wouldn't want to disappoint your 'favorite waitress' after all."  There was a bit of teasing in her voice, an attempt to keep the mood light and not let her mind do it's usual job of running wild.  With a more sincere tone she added, "Since I'm off tomorrow I would miss seeing my favorite patron."