Crinchley’s… more like Creeper’s, Aileen thought, warily eyeing the sign painted on the side of the store. She opened the door with care (Merlin knew who had touched that handle), her back stiff and her lips pinched, and stepped into the potions shop.

She coughed delicately as the door swung closed behind her and peered around in distaste. A few other people were browsing the cramped space but she didn’t pay much attention to them, eyes landing on the bottles littered on shelves, crates, dingy window sills, any surface at all, really. She walked in a bit farther, but was forced to duck under a pipe hanging from the ceiling. Aileen straightened again, then sighed. It would be tough to discern any kind of organizational system in here. This place was nothing like Slug and Jiggers!

Sidestepping a woman covered in rags who smelled strangely of sulfur, Aileen guarded her purse with one hand and regretted, perhaps for the first time in her life, her choice of fashionable and expensive robes. A million questions ran through her mind as she bent to inspect a dusty label on one bottle filled with gurgling, violet liquid. Why did Slug and Jiggers have to be out of stock of the things she needed to take to Egypt tomorrow? Why hadn’t the potions experts and others on her team collected their supplies, or been in a position to get these materials themselves? Of course, the discovery had been sudden, and they had to act fast to claim the site of the excavation before any other crews did. Still, she couldn’t help but resent the teammates who were making her run all over town (and shady alleys) looking for rare ingredients and potions. She was prepared. She had everything she needed. She didn’t see why-

Aileen sneezed, causing some of the dust to lift from the bottles and the woman in rags to sneer at her from over a jar of frog’s feet. She dabbed at her nose with a handkerchief and stuck that same nose in the air for a moment, trying to ignore the chills running down her spine. None of these bottles were labeled properly. She glanced at the front counter, though she wasn’t sure asking for help in a place like this would be a good idea.

Turning, she then took a few hesitant steps towards another cluster of jars and glanced at the list in her hand. The only thing keeping her in this shop was the knowledge that they probably couldn’t find the special items (at least at a good price) in Egypt. Specific potions were required to protect artifacts, guard against curses, and to understand the alchemy from ancient times. If she failed to get these items now, the other crews hovering on the edge of the excavation would start to encroach on her territory. Aileen just couldn’t let that happen.

Powdered Asphodel, the first item on the list read. She squinted at a jar of green flakes and wondered if the first letter printed on it was a lowercase ‘a’ or an ‘o’…

"I'll be by for it Thursday.  Chances are good I'll need another couple boomslang skins by then."   Cináed stepped out of the back room, followed closely Crinchley.  The scraggly old witch ran her fingers through a small pile of golden coins in her hand with a particularly hag-like grin on her face.  Just on the backside of the counter,  Cináed turned and took the wrinkly, dry, scaly hand and bent over it in what could be perceived as a genial gesture had his lips come close to the backside of her hand.  But, of course, even he had standards.  And, the simple impression of something along the lines of gentlemanly behavior seemed enough for the hag. 

"Any time, my dear lad.  I always try to keep a good supply of blood on hand for my loyal customers."

Business settled,  Cináed turned, eager to be on his way to more worthwhile endeavors.  He'd just rounded the end of the counter when something - or rather someone - quite out of place caught his eye.  He watched her, taking in the clean, carefully fitted robes, the styled blond hair and the rather innocent looking face.  Someone was, clearly, quite lost.  Whether she knew it or not. 

His eyebrows lifted and glanced appraisingly around the shop.  A dark-cloaked wizard in the back corner was was watching the young woman with a particularly hungry expression.   Cináed didn't recognize her from the Ministry - unless she proved to be muggleborn, he saw no reason why her foolish naivity should lead her to ill-fate.  He, after all, considered himself a strong proponent of wizarding rights. 

Casting a pointed glance at the cloaked figure,  Cináed crossed the room towards the young woman.  "A little out of place, are we?" he asked, eying the jar that had so firmly captured the woman's attention.  "I don't know what you're looking for, but that might not be it.  This place has a reputation for ... mislabeling jars.  That stuff has a tendency to explode."

Cinaed reached out and took the  jar off the counter and turned it in his long fingers.  Gingerly turning the jar over in his hands, he looked at the label upside down.  "Besides, I think that was something Crinchley's grandmother originally stocked."

Aileen let out an irritated huff as it turned out she just couldn’t read the shaky, spiky handwriting scrawled across the jar. When a voice sounded right next to her she started, then pursed her lips. A large man with long hair and a beard looked at her and then at the jar she held.

“A little out of place, are we?”

Aileen stood up even straighter (if that was possible), immediately feeling defensive. She narrowed her eyes, about to make a smart retort, when he went on, explaining the store’s reputation for mislabeling jars. He remarked on the explosions and she warily set the jar back down on the counter. It was obvious that this place was poorly organized, but she was appeased somewhat by the man’s recognition of this.

Watching him pick up the jar and turn it over in his hand, she wondered if he worked at Crinchley's and who he was. She thought she’d glimpsed someone his build exiting the back room a moment ago, but her attention had been on the incomprehensible array of jars. Aileen was torn between telling him she was perfectly fine on her own, thank you, and letting him help, if that’s what he was doing.

He made an amusing comment about Crinchley’s grandmother and the pinched expression on her face softened to one of neutrality. She took a quick glance at the counter, finding a stooped old hag surveying the shop with a sharp gaze.

“That would explain the illegible handwriting,” she commented dryly. Hesitating for a moment, she then unfolded the small, crisp piece of parchment in her hand and showed it to the man.

“I’m looking for these items,” she finally smiled at him, demeanor switching as quickly as it took to cast Lumos.  Now that it seemed there was a possibility of getting some assistance, Aileen decided it was in her best interest to be pleasant.

“You don’t work here, do you?” Aileen asked the man, curious.

"Oh, come now, love, there's no need for that," Cinaed said, conversationally.  The little huff, the defensive stance were hardly lost on him, but he found the stance amusing rather than the challenge it might have initially intended to be.  "I was merely stating facts, not criticizing." 

She was a cute thing, there was no denying that.  And, they'd already established, not without spunk and perhaps a small degree of foolish courage.  Of course, her actual worth as a witch had yet to be determined.  But, standing in this dark, dusty shop, she did bare some resemblance to a regal, elegant swan striding along in a flock of gobbling turkeys.  And, Knockturn Alley had its share of trophy hunters.     

Cinaed looked down at the woman, his eyebrows lifted, curious whether she was going to tell him to bugger off.  It was obvious she was considering such a thing but hadn't so far.  He wasn't sure whether he'd oblige if she did make such a request.  Of course, watching her come to whatever fate she'd resigned herself could prove amusing.  But, reason appeared to get the best of her.

"Aye, it probably does," Cinaed agreed as he took the piece of parchment.  He read through the list and nodded.  "Seems straightforward - I believe they have most of this in stock.  Oh, no, I don't work here," he said, shaking his head.  "But, being as devoted a customer as I am does have its perks." 

He turned and weaved back towards the counter once more, beckoning the woman to follow.  Once at the counter, he shooed a short, older witch out of the way before ducking under the counter.  "Celestia, my darling, one more thing."  The withered hag stepped out from the back room with an eager grin on her face.  "This young lady has a few things she needs to purchase.  Do me a favor and help her out, won't you?"  He handed the hag the piece of parchment, again gesturing for Aileen forward. 

When he called her ‘love’ she immediately thought of Felix and almost smiled. Men these days and their affectionate nicknames. If she were in a better mood she would have laughed, but instead, Aileen just smirked at him as he explained that he was merely stating facts.

Her rim-rod straight posture relaxed slightly when the man read over the parchment and seemed to recognize the potions listed on it. Aileen had been angry because she’d been sent out to do menial tasks, but it was also vexing to admit that she didn’t know much about potions. She knew more about ancient salves and remedies than the modern ones, so it was a relief that the only person in the store who seemed willing to help her knew what he was doing.

He told her he didn’t work here and Aileen’s thoughts quickly turned suspicious. She wasn’t exactly a paradigm of goodness, so she didn’t expect others to be unless they had a motive. She wondered what sort of person frequented this shop. The usual Knockturn residents were more than a little shady!

It was possible that he was just being friendly, but either way, she would be extra careful when she went back to Diagon Alley later. As she thought this, her attention on Cináed, she completely missed the look a cloaked wizard gave her as he brushed past to leave the shop.

He gestured her forward and she managed a polite greeting to Celestia, the hag, whose name and image couldn’t be more mismatched. Partly to be sociable, and partly to avoid looking at the hag’s toothless grin, she shot a bright smile at the man, who was acting like a gentleman. Insincere or not, he had manners.

“Thank you. I’m Aileen Reid, by the way,” she said, a little too formally.

She didn’t often introduce herself by her first and last name, because Cullodena did it constantly and she saw the grating effect it could have on people (especially in her mother’s snooty tone of voice). However, it was almost like a security blanket she resorted to in completely unfamiliar situations. In the back of her mind she hoped that her name and status would act as a buffer, of sorts, against anyone she couldn't seem to figure out. Aileen glanced at the hag, who read over the list, started murmuring to herself, and briskly shambled into the back room again where the door swung shut behind her. Aileen’s eyebrows shot up and her mouth twitched. This was definitely not Slug and Jiggers!

Clutching the list between her long, wrinkled fingers and murmuring a few of the items on the list (or something that sounded roughly similar to some of the items), Celestia disappeared into the back of the store.  Cinaed smiled charmingly at the wizard at the head of the line in front of the counter who glared at him, making no efforts to hide his annoyance.  But, Cinaed wasn't interested in that particular wizard. 

Cinaed turned back to the woman, Aileen Reid as she had identified herself.  The woman was, clearly, adventurous - her current surroundings indicated that much.  Adventurous, but still out of place.  "Cinaed Tawse," he offered in return, following her lead and offering his full name.  "It's, of course, a pleasure to meet you." 

The wizard in front of the counter shifted impatiently and bashed on the bell several times.  Without diverting his attention from Aileen, he reached out and took hold of the bell, sliding it out of the wizard's reach. 

"I know it is none of my business, but, of course, that's always what makes it more intriguing, right?  What has a beautiful and dignified woman such as yourself lurking down this ally for potions you can't find up at Slug and Jiggers?  You aren't up to naughty business, are you?"  Cinaed smirked at Aileen.  "Is this business or pleasure?"

The wizard behind the counter gave a long winded, annoyed sigh and began tapping his foot, clearly annoyed by the obvious line cutting.  Without acknowledging the man, Cinaed turned and pushed himself up to sit on the counter, directly in front of the wizard, continuing to face Aileen.  "Is this your only stop in Knockturn?" he asked.

The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t figure out from where, exactly. Tawse… Tawse… perhaps he had been in Slytherin? If so, she couldn’t remember him, though he looked to be around her age, maybe a few years younger.

Aileen decided she’d think about it later, distracted by the ridiculous banging of the bell on the counter. When Cin reached over and moved it out of the impatient customer’s clutches, she smirked in amusement. Then she put on an innocent smile and shrugged at the waiting man, just because she could.

He asked her what she was doing in Knockturn Alley and she let out a chuckle at the way he’d phrased it. The line sounded like a variation of ‘what’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this’, but at least he put a creative twist on it.

"Is this business or pleasure?"

“Business,” she answered with a little sigh. “I actually checked Slug and Jiggers first, but most of their stock right now is for the new school year. Luckily, one of the clerks directed me towards Crinchley’s. I’d never heard of it before,” Aileen looked around in a way that probably came off as superior. It was a dusty, disorganized hole in the wall, in her opinion, but at least she was getting the things she needed and some decent conversation, too.

“I leave for Egypt tomorrow,” she told him after a pause. It couldn’t really hurt to hint at what she was up to, even if she didn’t give the full details. Aileen doubted he’d want to hear a lecture on the Cult of the Phoenix anyway. “I’m hoping to claim a few tombs before the other excavation groups do… there’s been a find near Cairo,” she explained. “Muggles stumbled upon it at first, didn’t know what they were doing, got hit with a few curses,” she waved her hand flippantly, not too concerned. Last she'd heard they were recovering well in St. Mungo's.

Cináed sat on the counter, blocking her view of the waiting wizard, which she didn’t mind. If only the man’s foot would stop tapping. Aileen wondered for a moment if the counter would bend underneath Cin’s weight, but apparently it was sturdier than it looked.

"Is this your only stop in Knockturn?" he asked.

“Today, yes. Though I might have to come back,” she mused. Sometimes Borgin and Burkes, as shady as it was, could identify strange items better than the scholars could- likely because those items were cursed. She smiled at him again, letting him interpret her comment however he wanted.

Celestia Crinchley soon emerged from the back room, carrying with her a bundle of supplies. When the hag saw Aileen she grinned that creepy grin and set the materials on the counter to ring them up. The wizard with the hyper foot cleared his throat, but Celestia simply put up her index finger in a sign that he should wait his turn.

“Excuse me!” Aileen told the wizard more cheerfully than was necessary, and began digging in her purse for the right coins. The price seemed right, from what her teammates had told her, though she'd have to trust Crinchley with the labeling!