Between 7 and 8 a.m.[1]

Diagon Alley was not very busy at the moment he arrived back from his run.  He knew it wouldn't be a good idea to jog around the Alley because of the cobblestone streets, so he had woke up extra early and hailed a cab to take him to a nearby muggle park.  There he ran for at least an hour before deciding that was enough for today and began to head back.  He paid the driver when he was close enough, slipped down an abandoned alley way and apparated back to the Alley.  He knew his appearance wouldn't be the best right now, but he decided to take advantage of a less crowded Alley and look around.

Ace hadn't been in Diagon Alley since he graduated from Hogwarts almost ten years ago.  So he was curious to see what was new and what was still there from his school days.  He was interested in a few new shops, but saw that the ice cream shop was still there.  It had been one of his favorite places when he was a school kid, and he was glad it was still here. Standing in front of the bookstore, he thought for a moment before deciding to go in. 

He stopped near the shelves of the books on all manner of creatures, mostly to see if there were any new ones that he did not have.  He'd tried to buy the new ones as they hit the shelves, but it was hard to keep current when you are on a reserve with limited exposure to the world beyond the boundaries of the reserve. 

He turned around the corner and bumped into someone.  He didn't look up to see who it was, but he mumbled an apology and hoped that it would suffice as the book he held in his hands was beginning to catch his interest. Of course it would, it was on his favorite subject in the world.... dragons. He made his way distractedly towards the counter, briefly looked up to pay the cashier and then headed back out of the shop and found himself leaning against the outside of the shop, fascinated by his new book on dragons that all thoughts of who he had bumped into had left his mind.

1.	I hope the bookstore is open right now, if it isn't ... I'll have to change things.

"The early bird catches the worm. The early bird catches the worm." Josie told herself over and over. It was not convincing her head. She was not much of a jogger. She could do it if it meant chasing after Sandy Misslethorpe for a job. She was awake early to get supplies. She was writing articles. She needed to look something up. She had to pretend to look like she wanted to buy a book. Really she was writing a quote down. She could not afford to buy books. She was only paid for occasional articles. There she was writing down when someone pushed into her. When she picked herself up they were gone. But she got a look of them.  When she left the shop she saw him outside.
"Oi!" Josie said. "Look where you are goin' next time." She put her hands on her hips. "My wrinkly aunt!" Her mouth opened wide. "I know you. You were in Gryffindor too!" She pointed at him. "Josie, Josie Flint. I was the gobby one a few years below."

Ace barely registered that someone was talking to him until he reached a point in the book that was a fact he already knew.  He brushed his hair out of his eyes and closed the book as he looked up to see who was talking to him.  "Um... I'm sorry." he said.  He hadn't even known that he'd bumped into someone, so engrossed in his book that everything outside of the covers of the book didn't matter.

"Fellow Gryff huh? Well, it's been a few years..." he thought about it for a moment, "Flint, right?" He had friends in school, but since he spent 10 years in France after graduating, he didn't really remember most of them. Last names were all he could recall.

"Yeah Flint." Josie said. "You may have read some of my articles." She wriggled her shoulders proudly. He had not. She pushed on. "Ace were it?" She squinted. "I have not seen you around in ages. What you been doing? Why you in a book shop so early?" She asked. As if it was really unusual. As if she had not just been there too.

"I might remember the name." he said as he looked around the alley, it had changed alot since he had been here last.  "I don't read many articles from the paper, and I was looking to see if they had any new books on dragons." he told her.

"Dragons!" Josie exclaimed. "Do you like dragons then?" Josie knew about them from school. She knew they were dying a lot lately. The Ministry found a cure though. She looked at Ace. He did not have any face scars. He had stubble and dirty blonde hair. He looked a bit greasy. Blokes did in the morning. "You should have read the articles about the dragons then. They were all dying last year. It was horrible."

Ace wanted nothing more than to go home and shower and change after his morning run.  He didn't want to be rude, so he answered her questions as best he could. "Yeah, read about that, it was horrible.  Dragons are the best animals on the planet."  He started walking away from her slowly, "Nice to see you, but I should really get home.  Ta."

And with that he meandered back down the Alley towards his flat.