Liam was bored. The customers in his shop today were few and far between and short of actually making an effort to organize all the junk in the other side of his bookstore, he didn't have a thing to do.  And after making a quick sweep of the store, making sure there were no troublemakers in sight, Liam went outside, leaving the door to the shop open and sat down on his newly acquired bench.

He'd found it in a flea market, something that was quite fascinating to him, as he'd never really found much to be excited about in the muggle world... unless it was a book, or something to do with books.  And movies, he loved going to the movie theater on occasion, but he always felt like an outsider going by himself.

He had one of his favorite books with him and he sat with one leg up and balanced on the knee of his other leg, his mind so entrenched in his book that even if some drop-dead gorgeous human being stopped by and said hello, he probably wouldn't even notice.  And that was saying something with Liam's penchant for harmless flirting.  He wasn't looking for THE ONE, and he probably never would.  He'd grown up reading fairy tales and for some reason, the love at first sight thing stuck. 

After a few pages though, the warmth of the day began getting to him and he closed his book and set it down on the bench beside him.  He looked around the Alley and noticed a couple with a small child not too far away.  He smiled and pulled his wand out of the holster in his sleeve and began producing colored bubbles.  The child he'd noticed began to pull on his mother's hand to get her attention and once he'd achieved this he pulled her closer to Liam. 

Liam noticed that the first child was soon joined by another, and then another until there was a small group of about eight gathered around the bench in front of his shop.  And while he was a tad uncomfortable with the group gathering around, he couldn't help but enjoy the attention from the children who were quite obviously enjoying the bubbles.

He began to get a little creative. He began to make the bubbles bigger and all different colors.  Then, with a wink in the kids' direction, he began to shape them like dragons, unicorns, griffins, etc.  All kinds of magical creatures. After a few minutes, all nervousness disappeared as he focused on what he was doing, he even forgot that their was a crowd watching him, for if he would of stopped to think about it, he'd most likely stop and retreat inside his store.

Hester was walking in Diagon Alley. She was on a late lunch break. She had to get out of the office. She needed a few things too. She saw the group of children. Hester slowed down. Bubbles floated over her head. She decided to check it out. There was a wizard making animals out of bubbles with his wand. That was why the kids were there. It was cute she guessed. She did not have kids. She had nephews and nieces. They would enjoy it. A big bubble flew at her face. Hester jumped as it burst on her nose. The crowd clapped as he finished an animal. Hester joined in. This was a cute way to forget about work. She was sure she recognised the wizard though.[1]

1.	They can know each other if you like Angel!

The crowd that had gathered around him started clapping and he looked up, almost forgetting that the little people in front of him had adult people with them. He had been enjoying the delighted faces of the kids that were watching him that he completely forgot what he was doing and where he was doing it.  He scanned the crowd of adults and not one of them stood out except he thought he recognized one of them.  She didn't look to belong to any of the children present and yet she looked like she had been enjoying herself as well.

"All right, show's over kids." he said with a smile and a wink to one of the little girls as he made one more bubble, a pink gryphon fly straight towards her and then swooped it around her head before popping.  He put his wand in his arm holster and stood up, amid groans of disappointment from the small humans.  He walked carefully through the dispersing crowd before reaching the witch he though he knew, "Hello." he said.  He didn't know what else to say, he was severely out of practice in talking to anyone, other than his few close friends.

"You look familiar."

"So do you." Hester said. "Maybe the sunshine is too bright and you need a drink in your hand?" She suggested. "Or maybe we need a desk between us." She rubbed her chin. She frowned. "No I think it might be the drink. I think we have mutual friends." She offered her hand. "Hester, Hester Iravani." He was handsome! She wished she could remember where she knew him from. But she did not mind getting to know him again. She really needed some friends who did not work in the Ministry.

"Name's Liam." he said as he stood up and shook her hand gently with a smile on his face.  "I'm not sure which mutual friends we have, I pretty much only have one good friend and he's a Storm." he said, inwardly groaning at his horrible attempt at a joke.  In fact, Johann Storm was probably the only person he could have a decent conversation with that wasn't about books, his shop, the oddities in it, or books. 

He was lucky that he'd been charmed by so many children coming to watch his impromptu bubble display that he wasn't feeling as anxious as he usually did when meeting people he didn't know.

"Small world." Hester said. She did not explain. "Maybe we do not need mutual friends." She shrugged. "Do you charm bubbles on Diagon every day or did I catch a special occasion?" Hester asked. She would remember a cute man doing bubble shows for kids. Maybe. Not the bubbles but him.

Liam noticed that the kids and parents had all roamed off to finish what they had started before he began his impromptu bubble display.  "Oh no, I normally do not do that." he looked around and began to feel a tad uncomfortable with talking to her.  He knew that he had told Johann at one point that he'd try harder to talk to people besides him, so he took a deep breath and continued talking, even though he really wanted to retreat inside his shop.

"It was a nice day, and I've read my book before... so I improvised." He turned and picked up his book from the bench, "I didn't expect there to grow a crowd so fast."

"It was a good show." Hester said. She was not a kid. But it was nice. "It is a nice day." She shuffled her feet. She licked her lips. "I was on my way to get lunch. Do you want to join me?"

Liam looked back towards the door of his shop with an almost longing expression, but decided against going inside and thought he might want to actually talk to someone besides Johann.  "Sure, let me just change my shirt and lock up."  He went inside his shop and headed towards the stairs, "Feel free to look around, I'll be just a second." He assumed she had followed him inside.

He went up the stairs and did his usual look for the first shirt that was lying around.  He pulled off his other shirt and put on the new one quickly and went back downstairs.  "Alright, well, I don't go out very often, so I'll follow you." he said, trying to squash the feeling he was having at not wanting to do this.

Hester followed Liam inside the shop. Luckily Liam was quick. Hester was not super patient. Not when she was hungry.
"Ok. Follow me." Hester said. She smiled to herself.

Alohomocha was popular. Hester decided quickly not to take Liam to a Japanese place she knew. He did not look the sort. She might assume. She could ask him. She did not waste time now. She ordered a Caprese Salad and chilled Lumo Cappuccino. She turned to Liam. "What do you want?"

Liam looked over the menu for a moment and then shrugged, "Anything with caffeine and lots of sugar will do." he told the person behind the counter, "Surprise me."  He wasn't that hungry, so he didn't ask for any food. 

"So," he began, turning towards her, "Don't you work for the Ministry?  I think I have heard your name from a friend of mine."

Of course the friend was Johann and sometimes the context in which her name was used was less than friendly, but he wasn't about to tell her that.

"Should we find somewhere to sit, or..." he trailed off, unsure as to what she would like to do, after all, he hadn't ever really been in here, unless he was with Joh, but that wasn't very often.

Liam did not order food. Hester shrugged. She paid for his drink too.
"Yes I do." Hester said. "Which friend? Or was it negative?" She asked. She took her change. "Yes let us find somewhere to sit. Over there." Hester pointed to a table. It was by the wall. She walked over. She sat down facing the counter. "I am Head of International Co-operation." Hester said. "You own your own shop?" Hester asked. "It is days like this I wish I did too." She sighed. "How long have you had it? Is it all people say? That owning your own business is better?"

Liam followed her over and sat across the table from her.  "It was Johann Storm who I heard your name from. And I don't remember if it was positive or negative."  He took a look around the shop, "Yes, I own my own shop, it's the best thing I could of done with my money."

He leaned his elbows on the table, "I have a flat above that I get to from a staircase in the back, I'm always meeting interesting people, and the strange gadgets I have on the other side are always fun to look through."  He looked back at her, "and it just made sense for me to open a book store, I have a deep love for reading anything..." he got a wistful look in his eye.

"Your life is the shop?" Hester asked. What a different life. To live above where you worked. She got a look when he got changed. But not detail. "Gadgets and books. What sort of books?" Hester asked.

Their drinks arrived. Hester was still listening. "Who is the most interesting person you have met in your shop?" He said he was always meeting interesting people. He came across as shy right now.

"The most interesting person I've met..." He thought about that.  He'd never actually categorized customers when they came in, unless they were regulars who routinely asked him to find something rare or unusual for them.

"I don't know really, I guess I'd have to say the person who inspired the name for my shop.  They donated a bunch of  stuff from a deceased relative and there was a compass in the box that yelled at you when you started going in a different direction. Hence the name of my shop - The Yelling Compass."