-Outfit-

A day off had quickly become a rare occurrence for Unspeakable-in-Training, Flannery Breckinridge. What with the Direwolves case taking up most of her work -- and sometimes free -- time. Just thinking of it made her blood pressure rise. Especially when a certain complete jerkwad kept coming around and making her life difficult. But today was going to be absolutely stress free. Wearing an utterly gorgeous sundress she'd recently purchased with hard-earned money, she was determined to have the best outing ever. And Diagon Alley would serve as the perfect backdrop to it.

It wasn't long of course before she found herself within Flourish and Blotts. It had to be her favorite shop within the alley by far. Never truly noisy, save for when Hogwarts was on the eve of starting up again for the year, she always managed to gravitate to it even if it was the further thing from her mind. Talk about having an irresistible pull. Nodding to the familiar face of the sales clerk she slipped off into the store, looking forward to loosing herself amongst the shelves as usual. Whether or not she would end up buying something was up in the air. A lot of the interesting tomes were already in her possession, some of them from before even setting foot in Britain. Nevertheless her keen eyes were on the lookout for something -- anything -- new.

Her stroll slowed once she got to the Astronomy section. Recently having discovered her interest in the subject, she'd been making an extra effort to collect select works that garnered her fancy. Being so focused on Potions as she was meant little attention was paid to anything she deemed superfluous. Though now with how burnt out she was becoming thanks to all the Direwolf hooplah the young American witch certainly could use a little escape into areas of study she was less affiliated with.

Reaching up to run her fingers across a row of books she read the titles silently, noting how each successive one sounded better than those before it. Hmm. This was going to take awhile. Some closer inspection was definitely needed. Plucking one of the books from where it was wedged between two others she flipped it open, eyes scanning the pages quickly as she turned them. Speed reading was a talent she'd developed at a young age and still used to great effect. Furrowing her brow she then shut the book, sliding it back to its former position. She then grabbed another and repeated the same action, totally focused on rooting out "the right one".

Dorian had been walking down Diagon Alley the whole morning looking if any new shops had sprung up in the year he'd been away. He guessed he'd always have a soft spot for the shops here, after all, this was the first magical place he'd ever been to after he'd got his letter from Hogwarts. All the traditional shops were there, of course; Eeyloop's, Ollivander's, Madam Malkin's, and of course that Weasley shop that actually had some good stuff even though Dorian wasn't at school anymore.

That was another thing Dorian loved about the middle of summer instead the end, so that every shop wasn't stuffed to bursting point with students and half their families, though those times did at least always make him recall pushing through those crowds with his awed Muggle parents in tow. Remembering those old days and how happy he'd been made Dorian's heart soar, and he'd always been proud how his parents had taken the news that there exists a whole other world and that magic existed as well.

It was these thoughts that swirled through his mind as he walked back into the main street after visiting Knockturn Alley. Dorian was in a really good mood now, and having the Sun hit him again after the shade made him warm as well as satisfied, and as he loosened his tie and slung his jacket over his shoulder he passed by a shop that exuded the lovely smell of parchment and ink and above all BOOKS! Dorian stopped dead in his tracks and checked the sign of the shop: Flourish and Blotts.

Oh, he thought, now THAT brings me back! It was this exact bookstore whence had come Dorian's first set of books about the magical world, and he'd devoured pretty much all of them before starting the school year. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in there... Certainly not the past couple of years, at least. The last time he at least remembered was right before his seventh year, and he was sad that he most likely wasn't going to come here next year. He'd been right, too....
Heck, he thought, this one's for nostalgia! And he opened the door and went in.

It was still early enough to be almost empty, but he still went further back into the shop to be alone. Being among the stacks of so many books made him quite giddy, and he remembered how he used to hide in the Library at Hogwarts and decided to try it again. Dorian picked a book about the alchemical connotations between planets and substances, looked around to check that he was alone, and then climbed to the top of the bookcases, and there he lied back and began to read.

Dorian had been reading a little while when he heard the door open at the front of the shop, and started hearing steps moving towards the section he was hiding in. His natural curiosity made him look up from the book when the person rounded the corner and came into view. It was a young woman who entered his field of vision, and a vision she really was, clothed perfectly for such a beautiful summers day such as it was that day. She walked along the shelves and read the backs of some books, while pulling out and skimming some of the others.

While he was continuing to admire her, Dorian forgot that he was holding the book, and as he lent a bit more over the edge his hand slipped on the book, and it tumbled down and hit the floor with a loud SMACK!

Her careful skimming paid off. There were three, maybe four books she was now considering purchasing. Tucking them under her arm she continued to check out the rest. Hopefully by the time she decided to leave she wouldn't have ten plus books in her possession. She tended to go a little overboard, and it had become a little in-joke between her and the store clerk. She was going to exercise some restraint today, however. Or at least try some semblance of it anyway. Her reading time was severely shortened -- again, due to work. It would be a shame to buy a ton of new reads and then end up letting them sit in her library at home and collect cobwebs.

THUNK! The sound made her jump nearly out of her skin, the books tucked beneath her arm sliding down and onto the floor. Her hand clutched her chest, feeling her racing heart as her eyes darted around to find the source of the sudden intrusion. Flannery's brain had already made the connection before her gaze even fell on the cause -- why, a book of course! It had fallen from above, probably one of the shelves. Or... that fellow that was inexplicably perched on top of one of the towering cases. She blinked up at him, wondering just how long he'd been up there.

"You scared the daylights out of me..." Flannery sighed, letting her hand fall back down to her side as she fixed him with a friendly smile. Going over to his fallen book she picked it up, letting her eyes roam over the front cover. "Oh." She murmured softly, flipping the book over take a gander at the back cover. "This sounds like a good read." Remembering her manners she then flushed, stepping up to the ladder to climb it halfway -- enough to extend her hand and offer the gentleman his book back. "Sorry about that. I wasn't going to run away with it. Honest." The tone of voice she used was light and joking, not to mention filled to the brim with her definitively American accent.

"Do you climb up here to read often? I'm a little upset with myself for not coming up with the idea to do the same..."

"You scared the daylights out of me..."

The girl had a bit of a scared expression, but that faded thankfully fast. Dorian was glad she didn't think he was spying on her, seeing as his mismatched stare often gave that effect.
"Well, my dear, that wasn't my intention, I'm sorry I startled you." Dorian smiled down at her. "I mean, it's not like I'm Mr. Oogie Boogie!" He chuckled at his own joke, and then he remembered that she as a witch had probably no clue what he was talking about.
"That's the name of a Muggle fairytale monster, called the Boogeyman, but enough of talk of scaring people." He looked at her as she picked up the book and checked what it was about.

As she climbed up the ladder and reached it up to him, Dorian answered her: "Yeah, it was alright, but it didn't say all that much I hadn't heard about back in a school for alchemists I visited over in Italy. Now those were guys you'd easily think could give you gold out of nothing." Dorian had loved his conversations with the Patriarch and his thoughts on the Philosopher's Stone.

The girl had a lovely accent, he thought. There was too much British here back in London, which was no surprise, but traveling gave you an appreciation of other languages.
"Hehe, I didn't think you would run off with it, my dear, though if you want it and are a bit strapped for cash, I know this lovely little Concealment Charm." Dorian gave her a wink, and then jumped off the top, somersaulted, and landed crouching back down on the floor, looking up at the young woman.

"No, I don't hide up there very often. I don't even visit this store very often, but it's been a while, and that was my favorite hiding-place back at school, so I wanted to know if I still had it in me. You're very much welcome to use it as well, of course! I won't tell anyone if you don't." The wink came again, almost on it's own. It had been a while since Dorian had had a conversation of any length with a beautiful young woman without making a fool of himself. Maybe the trick was to start the whole encounter with being weird?

He held out his hand to help her back down the ladder. "My name is Dorian, by the way. Dorian Lagrange MacCullen. Lovely to make your acquaintance, Miss!"