Though not as busy as September usually was, Diagon Alley was still bustling with people doing their evening shopping after work, hurrying to catch the shops before they closed. There were yet others who were taking a stroll through the main street. It was easy to deduce, then, who would notice the man with the black and white hair casually strolling with hands in his coat pockets as a fluffy kneazle ran ahead of him.

It was an idea that Arc had come up with, serving the purpose of having him getting out of the house more and giving his familiar some exercise. Rustle didn't go out so much anymore now that they lived in a flat, a lot lazier than he used to be. He figured it would be something good for the both of them.

Heads turned, feet stopped, as people watched the two pass by. Rustle, undeterred by the gazes affixed on him, paused to sniff at a set of dusty cauldrons stacked outside Potage's Cauldron Shop. Arc stopped to wait for him patiently, pulling his scarf a little closer around his neck to keep the cold out.

It was raining and stormy. Andromeda was shopping in Diagon Alley. She carried a big black umbrella. The rain was bouncing off the top of it. Up ahead she saw a big ginger cat. No it was too big to be a cat. A kneazle? It was sniffing a pile of cauldrons. Andromeda looked up to see if it belonged to someone nearby. She saw a wizard watching it. He had his scarf round his face and had black and white hair. She had not seen that face for a while. Despite the weather she had picked up almost everything she needed. It was all in her bag on her shoulder. She would be polite and say hello.

"Hello." Andromeda waved. She lifted the umbrella a bit so he could see her. "Hollingbury? Arcturus Hollingbury?" She lifted the umbrella higher over them both. "It's Andromeda Gamp. Cepheus' sister?" She stared at him. He did not recognise her? "... We were in the DA?" No? "Uhm. We went on a date in Hogsmeade once when I was in fourth year." Was she that easy to forget? "Hang on." She closed her eyes tight and her face changed. She was trying to look like when she was at school.

"Come on, Rustle," Arc said to his familiar, as he turned his collar up to prevent any of the dripping water from the tiny awning out the front of Potage's. "I'd like to make it home quick-- oh!" He hadn't expected a woman to approach him; he hoped that exclamation didn't imply anything other than surprise.

She knows your name?! Quick, try and remember! He was already trying. After the war and finishing his NEWTs, he'd tried to put Hogwarts behind him - a place he still dearly loved, but with memories he hoped to leave behind for good. Andromeda Gamp? That name did not ring a bell. Her face had become part of the blur of faces that hadn't been his close friends over the decade.

"We went on a date in Hogsmeade once when I was in fourth year." Oh yes I DO know her. His mind immediately and unhelpfully found all the related memories. Arcturus physically cringed, unable to stop himself.

"I remember now. You...you can stop changing your face," he said, giving an awkward and apologetic laugh, trying to compose his mind and push the awkward memories aside at the same time. But while he felt somewhat embarrassed that the past had caught up, there was a tiny core of pleasant surprise that someone still remembered him. What do you say in this kind of situation, though?

A meow from Rustle interrupted his thoughts; he looked down to see the kneazle sniffing her ankles, emboldened by the lack of rain around them. The furball's calm demeanour reassured him a little, though of what he wasn't quite sure. He smiled, a better one now that he wasn't floundering for memories. "Thanks for the umbrella, I forgot mine and didn't realise it was going to rain. How have you been? It's been a long while and I've been busy with work."

Andromeda opened her eyes quickly. Her face faded back to normal.
"It has not stopped raining all week it feels." Andromeda replied. She was a little grumpy because it was so grey. "I have been great. Our paths have not crossed much have they? I know you became a healer. I was in St Mungo's last year. Came off bad in a duel. You know I am an auror, yeah?" She looked at Arcturus carefully to see if he remembered. He seemed pretty forgetful. Perhaps she was easy to forget.

She looked down to the big ginger cat sniffing her boots. He was taking his cat for a walk? "Is this your cat?" She asked. "He's lovely. Can I?" She bent her knees a bit. Her hand reached down.

"Yeah, I still remember you're an auror. I just don't usually see aurors on my floor, unless one of you swallowed a potion by accident." Arc looked up at her umbrella. The light above allowed him to see the raindrops hitting and sliding off the fabric. "Duels aren't exactly my forte."

"Can I?" He looked back down. "Oh, sure, go ahead."

Rustle meowed again, and deigned to purr a little even for her. He could hear the feline over the sound of the rain. "So, uh, I assume you haven't gotten into any bad fights lately?" he asked. How did one even do this small talk thing? "I hope not. Really, how have you been all these years?"

"Wow he has lovely fur." Andromeda said. The kneazle was nice to pet. She stood up again. "Not lately. It was April last year. I have burns right across here." She slid her hand over her stomach. "Growing collection!" She grinned at him. "All of us get them. You cannot fight dark wizards without taking a knock. They come off worse though." Andromeda laughed. "I have been training and working. Being an auror kind of swallows your whole life if you let it. I go out. I do stuff. I sound so boring." She frowned. "I am sorry. What happened to us?" She put a hand to her forehead and rolled her eyes. "You not married or anything?"

Arc still winced in sympathy when she mentioned her burns, even if he knew it was part of her job. He had to chuckle at her comment on being an auror, though. "Well, I stay in and do stuff. You're probably better off."

Andromeda's questions threw him off entirely, though. "Um, I'm sorry?" he asked. "What happened to us? And no, I'm not married." That was a very off-the-wall question. "Why do you ask?"

He caught sight of Rustle patiently sitting at their shoes, looking up at him as if expecting something. Great, now I have a kneazle being judgemental. Not that it's any different from any other day, but this isn't a great time. Arc focused on Andromeda instead, pointedly ignoring the feline.

"Everyone I meet our age seems to be." Andromeda explained. She shrugged. It was possibly her perception. They were young still. Why would anyone get married at their age? "Married, kids. Or near enough." She twisted the umbrella in her hand. She had to hold it higher because he was taller. "Did you think I was being very forward?" She asked. "I did not mean it like that!" She laughed at the misunderstanding. "We went on a date once! I was 14. You were sweet, Arcturus. It was half a lifetime ago!" She had not forgotten.

"Oh fair enough. Um no, I just--" This was getting more awkward. "I-- yes, I remember we dated." He felt the heat rush to his cheeks and looked away, somewhat mortified at how this was turning out.

And yet somehow a tickle of...amusement? Warmth? Something? was making him feel that he should really be contributing a lot more. She remembered him. It would be nice to give back. He was grateful, that was it. Awkwardly so, but he was starting to expect it.

"Look, um..." He looked up at the umbrella, the rain still pattering down on it heavily, before looking back down at her. "It's damp and cold out here, and I know a small café nearby where we can dry off. Also allows pets. Has good tea and coffee, I don't know what you fancy but there might be something there for you. So...shall we?" He reached out a hand, an offer to take the umbrella from her since she had to hold it up high to make sure she wasn't poking him in the eye.

Andromeda smiled at Arcturus. It sounded like he had been confused by her. Her laughter eased off. She did not want to sound like she was mocking him. It was nice to see him. She was curious how he was. She checked the time. She could pick up the rest another day.

"That sounds like a good idea. I would love to." He offered to take her umbrella. She looked up and realised it was only an inch above his head. She let him take it. "Good idea also." She said. She put her hand round his elbow. That would keep them walking close enough to share the umbrella. "Were you walking your kneazle?" She asked.

"Yes, he doesn't mind the rain as much as most cats would." Though Rustle was content to run alongside their feet still under the shelter of the umbrella; the kneazle had a limit for how much rain he could tolerate, probably. "It's odd, I know, but he doesn't walk outside as much as he used to, and neither do I."

With their footwear making sounds against the wet uneven cobblestone, Arc found the place he was looking for quickly enough - a discrete tiny place that had a name obscured by sheets of rain and one he didn't glance at often. After his meeting with Balfour he had solely avoided Alohomocha, but this place - which looked to soon close down, sadly - was a blessing. And allowed pets. He stood aside to let her in first, then slipped through and slid her umbrella into the stand to drip dry. Rustle sat down immediately once in and began to lick his fur.

The shopkeeper, a thin old man with eyebrows as long as Rustle's fur, waited expectantly. "Hot chocolate please," Arc said, following it up with, "er, and you?" at Andromeda.

"The same please." Andromeda said. Her eyes had looked over the menu above them before she answered. "I can never consume enough chocolate when I am chasing dementors so often." She had been out Tuesday night in London helping Elliot. "Have you managed to avoid running into one?" She asked Arcturus as they waited.

"Er." Arc hadn't gone out much at night, which put a dampener on his spirits - he enjoyed taking walks out at night - but due to the dementors, he'd been avoiding those walks. "I I hope I don't ever meet one. It's been a while since I had to face them." She would know exactly what he was talking about.

The shopkeeper returned with the mugs; Arc took both out of courtesy to a nearby table. Rustle got to one of the bowls of water set aside for pets while his owner sat down at the table. For an awkward moment he glanced at the wood surface, and then remembered the conversation they were on. "How about you? With the dementors, I mean. Is the situation with dementors getting any better? I hope you're holding up fine with them around."

"It does not get easier." Andromeda told Arcturus. She shook her head sadly. "Sometimes it feels like it is." Andromeda sighed. "I feel like I saw more dementors over Christmas than I saw my family." She lowered her voice. "Some people would say I was lucky!" She grinned.

"It is really hard when it is someone I know. Sometimes I do not think it is chance. Do you know what I mean?"

Andromeda's words hit a little closer to home than she probably would have expected, but it wasn't the painful sort. No, it was a truth that was always sad due to how it was always out of anyone's control. All anyone could do was their best.

"Yes, I know what you mean." He took a sip from his mug as he considered what else to say next. "It's good to see you so resilient. Luck has something to do with it, surely, but I bet you're a good Auror as well. If it weren't for you, some people might be...worse off."

It was a good thing Andromeda didn't mind the occasional awkward pause. Words had to line up in his head when it wasn't a topic he was truly knowledgeable about. But that was part of the process, wasn't it? Besides, he was wondering why she was around at this time, and maybe now was a good time to change the topic. "Were you doing something in Diagon?" he asked curiously. "I may not go out that much, but it's not every day I get to see an old friend in the alley."