[the leaky cauldron] Free to live, free to roam [tag; Oighrig]

It was one of those famed London summer days where everything was grey and sad. The sky was filled with grey blurry clouds; no sun or blue sky visible. It hadn’t started raining quite yet, but the threat was there, looming over them. The mood of the Muggles out on the street seemed to reflect the weather; everyone kept their heads down and walked briskly along as if any moment it would start pouring down! Merlin’s beard Sebastian wished it was possible to do weather magic; just a wave of the wand and make all those dreary, ugly clouds disappear. He absolutely hated rain; it ruined his clothes, his hair and everything else. And no one looked good when the world looked like it was a black and white movie. Depressing really. He glanced up at the sky defiantly daring it to start raining on him! He would have raised his fist in the air towards it if it wouldn’t have made him look like an absolutely crazy person. He loved London, he really did, but sometimes he entertained the idea of cheating on London with Paris, or maybe Rome as well!

He sighed as he continued to run through the park. What a boring day! His father had gotten him some modelling jobs over the summer, but today there was nothing to do so he had decided to go for a run; like he often did. There was something freeing about running through the green lush park; feeling the wind in your hair and breathing in fresh air. He missed having someone to run with though; he couldn’t get properly motivated to put all his effort into running when he was alone. He missed some adrenaline! He wore a pair of grey jogging pants that weren’t too baggy; firmly believing that baggy clothes were for the ugly people out there. He had a standard plain white t-shirt on, again, not baggy but fit very firmly to his lean muscular body. It was much easier to run when you dressed more form fitting as well. He had left his jewellery and bracelets at home and hadn’t bothered putting on make-up or even product in his brown hair. It wasn’t like he was going to meet up with someone; he was just going for a run.

Trying to think of what to do for the rest of the day he ran on autopilot; not really paying attention to where he was running. He exited the park and ran on pavement for a while, dodging through the people on the streets. Suddenly he felt a little drop on his shoulder and startled came to a stop. Standing there it suddenly started pouring down. “Shiiit,” he muttered and fervently looked around for a place to escape. As it turned out he was close to The Leaky Cauldron and went sprinting towards the door; letting himself in. His hair was dripping wet, and his clothes were fairly wet as well. His hands rested on his knees, his hair falling in front of his eyes, as he slumped over trying to catch his breath after the long run and final sprint at the end.

@Oighrig Jardine

School would be starting once again and it would be Oighrig’s final year at Hogwarts. She had restocked her supplies early, in order to avoid the chaos that would appear one the week before school would start, and was spending some free time at the leaky cauldron. She was by herself this time and despite Soracha acting as a sort of caretaker Oighrig was at the age where she needed to focus on her own life and care for herself. She had a bit of money left over from doing some shady business in Knockturn Alley earlier in the day selling some potions. She was surprised how many people would buy her potions for a cheap profit and though she figured since her own stock of potions was small she wasn’t hurting the local business very much and she guaranteed results with her potions anyways. Still it was a way to a means if she couldn’t get a profession or a position in the ministry she could always try and live off her own potions.

It was a rather gloomy day, she could even smell that it would rain in a little while, which was quite common for the area and despite not having a reason to stay in the area she decided to stay away from her home. It only fueled her anger and sadness seeing the rose bushes in the backyard flourishing as a reminder of a past that she could no longer ever return to. She couldn’t take the pain and found she was in tears almost every other day at home. Her escape was leaving that place and finding herself surrounded by people where she found it easier to be stronger and fake a smile if needed. Oighrig even toyed with the idea of running away from home and just living off the land possibly even dropping out of Hogwarts, but she knew her parents would much rather her at least complete her education. Was there anything there left for her back at school though? Her closest friends were already graduated or she hadn’t seen them in the previous year.  Could she survive though? That’s the question that was holding her back from even attempting to act out her actions. For now though she would go about her life as if she was returning to Hogwarts and hopefully it would stay that way.

She was measuring some ingredients on her scales and balancing out some of them to prepare for some quick potions she could make on the fly if needed. A sniffling potion and a hiccupping potion were the two she would be able to sell off to some kids for a few sickles if needed. She looked up from her actions though when she heard the tingle of the bell that indicated that someone had entered the premises. It wasn’t like she was interested in who was entering the bar or anything it was just something that she did on accident. Oighrig was half expecting to drop her head back down and continue with her actions when she realized she recognized the person in the doorway. They never really talked or anything in fact she only knew his name and house, but outside that he was a mystery to her. She decided she needed a good distraction from her thoughts and quickly packed away her things and got up. She approached the rather wet student and said, “Hello Sebastian.” She saw that he was slumped over and trying to catch his breath and she dug into her bag and pulled out a small vial with a potion in it. “Here this will help,” she said attempting to hand him the vile that contained a revitalizing potion that would bring energy back plus help with his labored breathing. “We should probably get you dried off before you catch a cold or anything as we don’t want that pretty face to be overcome with a fever now do we?” she gave him a sly smile as she pulled out her wand and asked, “May I?” If he agreed to it she would cast the hot-air charm to dry off his clothing if he didn’t agree to it she would simply put her wand back away.

Why did he have to be so unlucky to end up outside in the rain while running? The weather gods hated him, he had no other explanation for it. Nevermind that he should have seen it coming when he had looked at the sky earlier; it wasn’t exactly hard to predict rain would come on a day like this, but he refused to acknowledge that it was his own stupidity that had landed him soaked in this dump. Yes, he did not approve of The Leaky Cauldron; it was a tragedy this place was the one place you had to go through to get to Diagon Alley. He reached for his wand that hung on a sort of armband underneath his pants around his left leg; it would have been a tragedy if he had it in his pockets and it fell out while running, this way it was at least safe, going without it was not an option. Before he lift the leg of his pants he heard his name and caught off guard he looked up.

“Oighrig?” He was visibly confused for a second before his brain kicked in and he registered that he was in fact in The Leaky Cauldron and it wasn’t unlikely to bump into someone from Hogwarts. He knew the Ravenclaw girl; or at least knew of her. They were in the same year after all and if he remembered correctly she was rather a wiz at potions; a class he also enjoyed and was good at. She held out a vial for him and he hesitated a second; his paranoia kicking in. She wasn’t trying to poison him, was she? No, that was stupid. The liquid didn’t look like any poison he knew about, he took it from her and smelled the liquid before pouring it down his throat. Right away he could feel a warmth spreading through his body; slowing down his fast paced heart, calming down the straining muscles in his legs and calming down his laboured breathing. “Thanks,” He straightened and a grin decorated his face.

Studying her curiously his head tilted a little to the side; he crossed his arms as he leaned a little against the wall. He was trying to remember what he actually knew about her, but somehow he was coming up blank. When she pointed the wand at him he almost instinctively went for his own wand, it was creepy getting a wand pointed at you; even if it was for a helpful spell. Her words distracted him though. Smug smile on his lips he answered, “So you think my face is pretty?”  His voice was light and teasing. “Go ahead,” he acknowledged her help and mentally prepared himself for some magic help. The hot-air charm worked like a charm and his clothes were dry once again.
Running a hand through his hair he pushed back from the wall and stood in front of her. “What’s a pretty girl like you doing in a…. “place” like this?” He asked, it was obvious that he thought this place wasn’t somewhere he would be for a planned visit or anything. He walked over to the table and held out a chair for her, beckoning for her to sit down so he could help her into the chair and take a seat opposite side; a pretty girl was worth having to sit down in a place like this.   

His response to her pretty face line was to say the least expected. The rumors she had heard of him made him come off as a playboy though she never really put too much stock in the gossip mil before. Still she couldn’t help but give a small chuckle before responding, “That’s subjective, but take it as you wish.” If she was honest with herself he did have a nice charm to himself and she could understand why some of the other students would throw themselves at him, but for her she wasn’t about to let just a cute face win her over. Oighrig was a girl of substance and preferred people who might have a bit more to them than basic beauty. She did know he was a lover of potions so that would be a bonus towards her favor, but since the two never really talked before she was unsure of any other common ground they had. This might be a good of time as any to get to know a new face though.

Maybe it wasn’t the wisest of things to go and point a wand at total strangers. It probably wasn’t the most tactical thing Oighrig had done, but what did it matter she felt she wasn’t a very threatening person. There was also the fact there were a few witnesses in their location so even if she was about to curse Sebastian it’s not like she would get away with it. Frankly she just didn’t care at this moment about what others thought of her as she was already in a weird headspace to begin with. Though she was glad he didn’t take her approach at being helpful too negatively though which was a nice surprise for the young witch. In a way this was a test to see how willing he was to trust someone whom he vaguely knew. She pocketed her wand and made a small comment, “Good, though next time don’t be as trusting of strangers.” She gave him a coy smile before taking her vial back from him and stuffing it back in her bag.

Now that he was fully dry though she was able to really take in his appearance. He was a good few inches taller than her with very dark hair. Her mouth slightly puckered wondering if maybe the poor lighting in this establishment caused a change in his appearance or if it just didn’t do him justice. She made a mental note to see if she could get him in some more natural or intense light to really examine what people saw in his appearance later. From what she could see though he was a bit visually pleasing so she figured that at the bare minimum he could prove an easy distraction from her thoughts.

He began to ask his own questions and she arched an eyebrow at calling her a pretty girl. Was he trying to tease her back or was he flirting? Sebastian then began to walk towards a table and offered her a seat. Chivalry was something that was very dead in both the muggle world and wizarding world. Generally it was only used by people who wanted something so she grew a bit suspicious of his actions. Was this his way of taking a bit of a jab at her for pointing her wand at him without much warning? She headed over to him and took the seat though if not a bit hesitantly, though she hadn’t been hurt physically or emotionally by another student before she had her guard up none the less. Once seated she placed her bag on her lap just in case she needed to use a potion or two as a distraction or even as a defensive mechanism should she need to make a hasty retreat. She kept calm though and answered his previous question, “I just finished buying my school supplies before the main crowd of first years show up and crowd the streets of Diagon Alley among other things.” This was partially true as she did indeed go shopping, but the main reason for her being in the Leaky Cauldron was her avoidance of her own home. She felt her eyes look down as her mind began to return to the rose bushes in the garden out back of her home signifying her parent’s graves. Oighrig had to shake her head to try and stop the thoughts from flooding into her mind and she put on a fake smile. She needed to distract herself and she had someone in front of her who could do that. “What about you? This doesn’t feel like your sort of scene.” She could have guessed from his appearance earlier that he most likely wasn’t here by choice, but rather convenience still she needed to continue a conversation if she wanted to suppress her thoughts.

Sebastian noticed the arching eyebrow and hesitation when he offered to help her into her chair and made a mental note of it. Well, it was understandable with everything they had been through during years past at Hogwarts that everyone was a little more on edge then they would normally be; he was a little paranoid himself and taking control back on the situation made him calm down. When she was taking the lead he didn’t know what would happen, he didn’t know her well enough, but if he was the one directing things he could better control everything. Although his flirting was purely for selfish reasons he still meant it, although it was more of a reflex now a days than anything else. He was extremely curious about what she was carrying in that bag of hers though, the way she pointedly had placed it on her lap instead of on the floor or another chair. He wondered what she had in there; supplies judging from her answer, but books and other supplies for the school year wasn’t going to help her much, or did she have something valuable in there? Hmm, he decided he would just let it go.

“I should probably buy my own supplies,” he shrugged, leaning back against his chair, his smile not dropping from his face. “I live pretty close by so I keep telling myself I have time another day.” Which was true; he wasn’t the most organised person, although he was very tidy. Besides, he was doing fun stuff like modelling this summer; he didn’t want to think about school and his final year yet. He chuckled at her last comment and pulled his hand through his hair again; if that showed off his muscled arms; it was only a bonus and maybe a little intentional. He was proud of his body and his looks; he spent a lot of time making sure he looked good after all. “I was taking a run and it started raining,” he explained grimacing a little at the nasty surprise he had gotten when it started raining. “I saw this place and just ran for it. It was faster than trying to get my wand out, and luckily I ran into a pretty girl that saved me,” He grinned at her, leaning forward on his elbows.

He could tell she wasn’t exactly responding to his flirting in the best way, but he was nothing if not consistent. It was interesting to him the different reactions he got when he flirted with different people. Some girls, and guys for that sake, just melted right away by compliments; usually because they weren’t used to it or had read too many romance novels. Others were suspicious, and then there were those who got angry or annoyed. It was all very fascinating. Flirting was his weapon against awkwardness and the best way he knew to get to know someone. A playful atmosphere was always better for talking he felt.

“Can I get you a drink?” He asked getting up; he needed to get some water for himself. This place probably had okay water, right? He tried not to think about the germs that probably were crawling all over this place and concentrated on Oighrig instead. Either he could buy her a drink along with his own, or just get some water for himself. Luckily he had had the frame of mind to take some money with him when he left the flat; just to be on the safe side.

Oighrig couldn’t help but be amused by Sebastian and his antics. Flirtation was just refined flattery after all so she wondered what he wanted from her from this exchange. If she had to guess it was just a form of company from her as he did strike her as the type who loved attention. That’s why she decided to take him up on his offer when he pulled her to the table. Though she was in some sense skeptical of his nature to try and flatter her she wasn’t doing anything truly productive right now and could use the distraction herself. It certainly would keep her mind off some of the more grim sides of her life and history which would be a bonus to talking to him.

“If you do forget anything I can let you borrow some stuff if you need to,” Oighrig said half-heartedly before adding, “For a price of course.” She gave him a small smirk thinking of all the things she could probably make him do if he agreed to such things. Oighrig always wanted someone to be a willing test subject to some of her more creative potions after all, but doing so without getting the teachers involved was always something difficult for the girl. She knew what she did wasn’t probably the most legal of things, but she knew how to tip-toe the line between right and wrong when it came to her potions. Still she would have to wait till she could have the leverage over him if she did want to use him for such deeds.

There he went again with showing himself off to Oighrig in a feeble attempt to make her grow a form of attraction to him. It was almost comical really how silly he was being. Sure some other people would probably fall for such things, but Oighrig wasn’t the type to fall for people so easily. She smiled at him and had to say in a poignant manner, “If this is how you win other girls over you might want to try other tactics.” Oighrig did have to admit to herself that he did have a very nice physique though and he certainly had his charm as an individual of course, but it wasn’t the look that would attract her. No if he really wanted to prove his worth as a match for her he would have to be both vulnerable and show his soft side to her while also of course showing his brilliance. One could call Oighrig a person who has high standards, but if she felt someone didn’t meet those standards what was the point in pursuing a relationship with them?

“As for a drink though,” She gave him a coy smile before adding, “Let’s see if you can guess what I may like. Surprise me.” This was a test and despite her knowing there was almost no way he could pass the test she wondered how he would handle it. She was toying with the boy as she needed a form of entertainment herself now. If his was to flirt with others and have them swoon over his body hers was to test their mental prowess and ability to do things on a whim. That’s why she loved hanging out with @Jeremy Edwards  when she could as he made everything entertaining with his almost illogical choices. Everything he did was a surprise and it fueled Oighrig’s mind as she would try, and fail, to guess what he would do next. If all else fails she will learn something more about Sebastian from this encounter and possibly find an interesting toy to play with in the process.

“Sounds kinky,” he chuckled at her remark that he could borrow from her for a price. He didn’t really think it sounded kinky; it was just his way of brushing it to the side without really answering. Everything had a price of course, but some were easier to pay than others. He guessed it had something to do with potions, he had noticed rather off-hand her special interest in the subject. He could understand the interest; potions had its charm and he was good at it himself, but he didn’t do much experimenting just because he wasn’t willing to mess up his good looks. One ingredient in at the wrong time and the thing could blow up on him; he wanted to live off his looks so he wasn’t going to let anything jeopardise that; although he was more than willing to coerce someone else to pay the price.

“Oh, it’s not about winning someone over; it’s about temptation,” His grin widened and gave him a sort of devilish look about him, it was a joke though. “But, I’m not trying to seduce you Ms. Jardine,” he tilted his head slightly as he studied her face. It was true; he wasn’t trying to seduce her at all, just being himself. He was messing a little with her to see her reactions and she was getting back at him obviously; it was extremely entertaining to him. He liked women who knew how to stand up for themselves; headstrong and a little bit twisted. Sebastian couldn’t help but think that the rain that had chased him here was a good thing now; the day had been rather boring and this was far from boring. Let the mind games begin, he chuckled softly at his own thoughts.

Guessing wasn’t his forte to be honest. He didn’t know her well enough to even try a good guess of what drink she might prefer. But he wasn’t going throw in the towel just because she was trying to mess with him; so he shrugged and straightened up, winking at her he turned and went over to the bar. He got water for himself and another drink that looked like lemonade, but was fizzing slightly. It was a Tongue Tying Lemon Squash; he didn’t know if she had ever had one before, but he thought the tongue tying part was rather appropriate as she had basically tried to do that to him earlier. Without actually telling her what it was he put it down in front of her with a coy smile reflecting her own and sat back down in his own chair. Taking a sip of his own water he studied her curiously.

“Done any good potions experiments lately?” He asked when he put his glass back down on the table; leaning back against the chair and stretching his legs out, crossing them at the ankle.

Kinky? That was an interesting way of putting things that’s for sure. Not one she would personally use for her own purposes outside of maybe a joke, but if that’s what he thought she wanted it wasn’t like she was going to correct him frankly. So long as he didn’t act upon this misconception she wasn’t about to correct the fellow. She gave a small smirk to him in a silent response as she analyzed the boy’s behaviors and mannerisms. He was interesting to say the least even if he didn’t volunteer to be a test subject for her potions his lifestyle choice and personality alone could make for an interesting study alone. She would have to keep a closer eye out on him from now on.

His answer was even more fascinating than the last. The use of temptation was a very arbitrary way of getting what one wanted if not an effective one at times. It wasn’t a tactic or ploy she would personally use as she felt she had the temptation of that of a spoon. Still the fact he choose that form of manipulation was certainly an identity of his character. Though his grin gave him off as playing a game so she was unsure if this was truly his intention or not. If she was being honest his words almost felt like a line out of a movie. It was a bit corny sounding and caught her a bit off guard at first. She couldn’t help and raise an eyebrow in wonder at him. He was being at least entertaining to her and she wanted to dissect his actions and personality a bit more from this exchange.

As he left for the bar she took the time he was gone to collect her thoughts a bit more to understand the data she had collected on Sebastian so far. Nothing made sense about him and his actions and it was unprecedented on how he would fully react. He was an unknown for her and how she could perceive people and it was quite exciting to see how things would develop. Still she wasn’t about to be put fully off guard and pushed to show her true self to this new being of a person. When he returned he placed a yellow like drink in front of her without any indication of what it was. This was very suspicious and the fact he gave her a wink as he did so didn’t help her mind. There were too many people in the location for him to poison her so she knew it wouldn’t be dangerous, but still she decided to keep her guard up by not taking a drink just yet.

When he asked her if she had made any new potions lately she gave him a small frown. He should know potion ingredients were a lot harder to get when they weren’t in school unless someone was made of money and she lived a rather modest lifestyle overall. She gave him a cold look and said sarcastically, “Yes I have made a potion that could paralyze a troll if he only smells it.” She may have rolled her eyes after her blatant lie before adding, “The lack of some of the more rare and stronger potion ingredients are harder to come by and I lack the ability to galleons to afford some of them.” She then gave him a coy smile before realizing maybe that is how he could help her. They say two people have a better chance of getting more money and if he was willing he might be able to help her expenditure. Though how to convince him to do such a task? She quickly decided to fight fire with fire and try what he does best. She gently tipped her chin down and looked up at him and fluttered her eyes. She gave a small pout before asking, “Maybe you could help a girl out?”

Sebastian could see she didn’t trust the drink he had put in front of her, his eyes studying her reactions closely. Well this was more tense than he had planned, you never really knew how someone would respond to things. Personally he didn’t normally take life so seriously, he was cautious of course; if he hadn’t been before his years at Hogwarts the years spent there had at least made him that way. No one could go through all the stuff they had gone through without becoming a skeptic. “It’s not poison,” he told her, running his fingers on the rim of his own glass. “It’s one of the first drinks I ever tried when I visited this place for the first time as a kid; it was the most amazing thing I had ever tasted.” He smiled softly his eyes focused on his glass; having a small flashback from when he first had discovered he was a wizard and his parents had taken him to shop for his school stuff. Despite all the bad things that had happened while he was at Hogwarts; he wouldn’t want to give up his place in the wizarding world for anything. With a small barely noticeable shake of the head he wrenched his eyes off the glass of water and looked back up at her, grinning. “It’s called a Tongue Tying Lemon Squash; they do know how to name things around here,” he chuckled.

At first he was confused by her cold stare and sarcasm, but then it hit him; of course she wouldn’t have access to all the ingredients outside of Hogwarts. That was so obvious he was sure he still was a little exhausted from his run; although the potion had done the trick and honestly he had just not thought it through, but he wasn’t going to admit that to himself or anyone else. His mouth was parting to answer her back, but he stopped when she flashed him the coy smile. Curiously he leaned forward, his elbows against the table. She wanted help to get ingredients for her experiments? He was instantly curious as to how she planned to get it. He was from an upper class Muggle family, but he couldn’t exactly justify using money on potions ingredients to his parents unless it was school related. One of the reasons they had money was because his father was very strict about using the money they did have. They had put an allowance into his Gringotts vault, but it wasn’t enough to do any big purchases.

“Oh?” He arched an eyebrow at her. “How could I possibly say no to that face,” he grinned; appreciating her attempt to flirt to get her way. He respected a woman who was willing to play the game without actually lowering herself. At this point she probably had the upper hand, maybe, a little... He would never admit that to anyone. She had him hooked; he was intrigued enough to go along with almost anything. “What do you suggest?”

OOC: I've been itching to write all day so ended up writing this a little fast. haha. <33