walk slow | [montse]

June 2003

Even though he'd told his aunt a hundred times he didn't want to be set up she had gone and done it anyway. He'd told her no, tried to fight it, but really he was just going through the motions because honestly they both knew how badly he needed this. You spent the last ten years trying to find a date on your own, it's my turn now. She'd told him over lunch (which she'd tricked him into attending with the promise of Quidditch tickets) and damn that truth hurt. He knew she was right but he wasn't really trying to think about exactly how right she was. He had a good life, he had a nice apartment, he had friends, they did trivia and partied on the weekends, it wasn't like he was lonely, but there was definitely something missing. Jeremy had been striking out with girls for years now so he wondered if he was doing something wrong.

And that thought was definitely something he wished he had wondered silently.

Not long after he'd said it his aunt was whisking him away to get his hair cut (which he absolutely put a stop to) and to buy a decent pair of slacks that weren't beaten up tattered jeans or swimming trunks with hibiscus flowers on them. She gave him plenty of advice, and he tried to soak it up, but after spending an entire afternoon with his over bearing Aunt he was having a hard time paying attention. Eventually she slipped him the address of a witch she thought he'd be just perfect for and if he wasn't so tired Jeremy might have thought it was odd she had the girl already picked out, the address already written down, almost like she'd been angling for this from the beginning.

He spent two days after that trying to decide on something for them to do, wanting to plan some big epic date, before realizing he had very little money and no clue what witches actually liked. Eventually he settled on something a bit simpler, but hoped it wouldn't disappoint. He owled Montserrat Fábregas and did his very best to write legibly, asking if she would like to meet him for coffee and a walk through the London Street Fair, that was happening downtown over the weekend. He left it open ended (so she could cancel at anytime), but made sure to put a specific date and time (so he would look like he knew what he was doing even when he didn't) and told her he'd be the red head in a button down shirt with bearded dragons on it.

When the day finally came he did more than he normally would have to leave the house. Showered, shaved, and wearing a new pair of black jeans (he could only meet his aunt so far) Jeremy slipped on his neon pink tennis shoes and made sure to duck out before any of his roommates could ask him where he was going and why he needed to smell good to go there. Apparating to Diagon Alley and then exiting out through the Leaky Cauldron Jeremy headed toward the street fair that was clearly marked by hanging lanterns and flags, the smells of all sorts of strange and deliciously greasy foods cooking, and a live band. The street fair was the best place to get custom art work, random collectors items, and organic fruit (not that he paid much attention to the last thing). Jeremy hung outside of the coffee shop where he said he'd meet her and waited, he wasn't going to order without her. He tried to stay calm but he was a bundle of nerves and the longer he waited the more he patted down his wild mane of hair in hopes that it wasn't looking too crazy and would scare her off.

@Montserrat Fábregas

Ever since Joan had finally put his woes of a broken heart behind him and had found himself another girl, one he promised was the one that he intended to marry, attention shifted to the young witch who knew she was a little too busy to go out to bars and pick up someone the way Joan did so effortlessly. However, it was hard to argue with a woman like her mother, especially one that knew just how to say things in a way that had you agreeing to something you specifically said you would not do. Montserrat had no qualms about meeting new people but the last few times she had been set up on blind dates by her relatives, mostly her grandmother who somehow knew every single man in Barcelona and intended to set her up with every one of them, they had ended in disasters one way or another.

“He isn’t Spanish, it’s a nice English boy this time who's probably just as busy as you are, so I won’t take no for an answer,” her mother had stated rather boldly and that had been the end of that part of the conversation. Her mother had gone on to tell her that while catching up with an old friend the topic of her nephew had somehow come up which in one way or another ended up with the two witches deciding to play matchmaker and set them up. Montserrat was fully convinced that her mother didn’t have ulterior motives but she figured that indulging her mother this one time would do no harm. At least she could meet someone new.

After returning home from her brief visit to Spain, Montserrat waited, somewhat eagerly, to hear from this Jeremy she had been told would contact her. After the first day, however, the young witch decided that he must have changed his mind or might have gone on another blind date and found someone to his liking. Good for him, she considered, though a small part of her would have wished that he might have owled her anyway just to say so. Of course, her slight disappointment was short-lived before she received an owl from a Jeremy Edwards, inviting her out for coffee and the fair over the weekend. Considering his suggested time coincided with the time she had off, Montserrat saw it as a symbol of fate; how could he have known? Surely, this indicated that it was meant to be and she’d be foolish to think otherwise.

Montserrat was unsure of what to expect but took his clothing choice as an indication that casual wear was acceptable. Settling on a cream-colored jumpsuit and some sandals the witch tried to arrive on time, but somehow managed to miss it by a few minutes as she became distracted by one of the many organic fruits stands on her way to the coffee shop. Looking around, her eyes finally settled on red hair, a surprising amount of it, and she waved, assuming that it must be Jeremy.

“Hello, you must be Jeremy!” she said enthusiastically as she came closer, giving him a dimpled smile, “I’m Montse,” she said, but maybe she didn’t have to, she was obviously bad at this, “Sorry I’m a little late, I got distracted by the fruit stands, I hope you haven't been waiting for too long, ” she pointed in their general direction, “did you see the strawberries back there?” she asked, probably a little more excited for the fruit than necessary, “They look so yummy this year!” she added before laughing, “Sorry, sorry, it’s been a while since I’ve been out of St. Mungo’s, want to go in there and get a seat? It’s starting to get a little crowded around here,” she observed.

No way.

No freaking way.

Jeremy's jaw crashed onto the paved stones beneath his sneakers when the witch in front of him introduced himself. He took a moment, a dumb founded look on his face, and tried to remember exactly how much he had smoked this morning. He swore to Merlin if one of his roommates laced the bowl with something funky he'd kill them. The red head blinked a few times, wondering if it was just his imagination getting away with him, but when she was still there he started to realize maybe this was real life. And internally he fought off the massive panic and pressure that was building. She was way to beautiful to be on a date with Jeremy Edwards, but here she was, blind date or not, here she was, and he was going to make it worth her while!

"Hello there!" He said, in a waaay weirder way then he meant to. Coughing and trying to cover it up by moving on quickly he continued. "Nope I just got here too." He told her, even though he'd been waiting five minutes he would have waited ten years for this. He smiled warmly at her when she mentioned the fruit stands, suddenly reconsidering his entire outlook on the fruit category of food. If she ate them, they must have been good. Jeremy forced himself to stop staring at her for a moment by looking inside the windows of the coffee shop they were outside of when she mentioned it. He would have to continuously remind himself not to gawk at her, and he knew it was going to be tough, but he was up to the challenge. Try as he might though he couldn't wipe the ridiculously excited smile off his face though. Despite his nerves, the veritable roller-coaster in his stomach, and his lack of game he thought they were off to a good start.

"Yeah we can grab a seat." Repeating her like a dolt he swallowed, smiled nervously, and then moved forward to open the door for her. He sucked in a breath and tried to remember all of the things Freya had told him to do and not to do on a first break. "St. Mungos you say?" Not at all a creepy way to ask her how you can one day stalk her... moving on. "Are you a medi-witch?" Smooth recovery. As they walked into the shop the hustle and bustle hit him but not nearly as hard as the smells of fresh beans, cinnamon, and a frothiness he could basically taste. Jeremy wasn't exactly a connoisseur of fine coffees but he was basically twelve years old so he always got exactly the same order. As he tried to not make a fool of himself asking about her job he subconsciously stuck his hand in his pockets, just to triple check he hadn't forgotten his sickles, and breathed a silent sigh of relief. Offering to pay for her coffee was on the list of things to do.

"Do you like working there?"

Montserrat smiled. She wasn’t sure if he was being sarcastic or not when he greeted her but she liked his energy, though she was still very apologetic for being late even if only by a few minutes. It was bad manners and she could only hope that he wouldn’t think badly of her for getting distracted by something as silly as food, “Oh good, the fair looks really fun, saw some of it on the way, thank you for inviting me,” she added, peaking into the café as he did to take a look at the sort of vibe the place had. It felt as if she were finally going to have a proper look around the more interesting parts of London and she had him to thank. He had really thought this through and she made a mental note to do the same should fate have them meeting again in the future or should he ever find himself in Barcelona.

“Great, do you come here often?” she asked as he opened the door for her, muttering a gracious thank you before walking into the door, her eyes trained on the menu as she considered every option. If he had been there often, he probably had a good idea of what was good but the condensed milk latte displayed on the menu also sounded pretty good. Montserrat was not much of a coffee drinker for no good reason apart from the fact that she had a tendency to overdo it on the sweetness when it came to it. But she figured she’d allow herself into indulge just a little, it was her day off after all, and all week she had been very diligent about keeping up with her exercise.

Her eyes turned back towards him when he mentioned St. Mungo’s, realizing then that her sentence early probably made it sound like she had had an extended medical stay at the place rather than it being her place of employment. She wasn’t really sure how much information her mother had given to her friend or directly to Jeremy. “Not a mediwitch exactly,” she said gently, hoping that her correction wouldn’t offend him, “I don’t think I’d have the talent for that sort of work, they deal with lots of emergency care, very high-stress situations," she added. It was true, Montserrat valued their work just as much as anyone else’s in St. Mungo’s. Even the cafeteria staff were essential in her mind. “I am actually a Healer, in the Maternity and Pediatrics ward, so if you ever find a—err—reason to be there, do come by anytime, it can get pretty dull on slower days,” she said, smiling nervously. Now that hadn’t sounded very smart, but she had said it so there was simply no taking it back now.

“But yes,” she continued quickly, “I do love it there, just finishing up my first year, busy but extremely exciting work. I’m so glad that you got me on my day off, I usually have a couple of shifts on the weekends as it tends to get quite active,” she added. She moved forward in line as they got closer to the register. “I heard you work at the Ministry?” she asked, hoping that he would enlighten her about what he did too, not that it mattered she was simply curious. 

She thought the fair looked fun and Jeremy mentally congratulated himself on choosing the right venue. It was this or a Gobstones convention so he was glad he'd chose the right thing. As they headed inside Jeremy shook his head at her but then it became more of a nod because he wasn't sure how to answer. He went to coffee shops often, if the cafeteria at the Ministry counted, but he wasn't like super into the espresso game or anything. "Not this one, but they are all kind of the same right?" He asked her. "Have you been here before?" He returned, just wanting to keep learning more things about her and talk about his silly self a little less. He knew he wasn't very impressive, and he wasn't super attractive, he didn't have abs like Greg or shiny hair like Danny, but he was funny and he hoped that would count for something.

As they moved forward in the little queue he found himself more and more impressed with her. She wasn't a mediwitch, but just the fact that she worked at St. Mungos was so respectable sounding. He considered telling her he had something that could help her deal with high-stress situations, but based on what little he'd learned so far he listened to his inner Freya voice telling him to leave the drugs out of the conversation for the time being. Especially offering to help her get high during her hospital work shift, that was anything but respectable. And just as Jeremy was really starting to worry about just how far out of his league Montserrat was she gave him a smile and all of his worries washed away. He felt like he was floating, nerves and anxiousness moving him forward. He probably shouldn't add any caffeine to this butterfly buzz he was already experiencing.

"Oh I totally will." He replied to her offer to visit her, though he had no idea how he would ever find an excuse to come see her at the Maternity and Pediatrics ward but damn it he wasn't going to try. Maybe he could make up a story about some fake younger cousin he was visiting. Or maybe he could get Danny to pretend to be an overgrown child with an aging disease... hmm that could work. Or maybe he could dress up as a clown to entertain the sick kids, silently he wondered if that would be more creepy than funny and then snapped back to reality.

"Yup at the ministry." Jeremy said, hoping it would sound more impressive than it actually was by his next words. "In the magical communications office." The young adult wizard was nothing more than a mail cart pusher and he didn't even take that seriously but in this moment he felt the need to pretend like he was a functioning adult. Of course, his order would soon push all of those gains away. Stepping up to the counter he began his order. "Double chocolate unicorn latte with extra sprinkles please." He said, ignoring the look the barista was giving him. The girl behind the register seemed to move her eyes from him to Montse, almost like she was assuming the frilly drink must have been for the witch beside him, and nodded, and then Jeremy crushed any saving grace she might have afforded him. "And whatever the lady would like." He waited for Montserrat to make her order as he stepped aside and gathered a few of the sugar packets to add to his coffee, not that it needed it, and continued the conversation when she joined him at the pick up counter.

"So what else do you like to do for fun?" The question was so textbook that it sounded nothing like him, and eternally he groaned, he hated the monkey dance of a first date because he was no good at it. Of course he wanted to know what she liked, who she was, all of that, but the interviewing process was so monotone. Luckily he hoped the next part of his plan would help with that.

“Never,” she confessed, most of her coffee experience was had at home or the cafeteria at St. Mungo’s but she liked to think that it was pretty decent even if it wasn’t what others might call gourmet. “But yes, I suppose they really are all the same,” she agreed, wondering if Jeremy was one of those deep thinkers that found the entire idea of fancy coffee and capitalism a sham and felt a little embarrassed by bringing up the subject to begin with. Montserrat had given into buying things because they looked nice or they were aggressively advertised, but she figured she could learn from someone like that, her mother would be proud that she was putting forth effort in being conscientious. She just hoped that he wouldn’t find her superficial or…boring.

“Magical communications office,” she repeated slowly as they moved forward, hoping that her accent had not gotten in the way of how she said it, Montserrat was still quite shy about speaking English even if she did it every day at work. And she certainly didn’t want Jeremy to laugh at her about it but if he did she wouldn’t blame him for it, she did need to practice using English in small talk rather than just in her work at St. Mungo’s. “That sounds pretty serious, what sort of things do you do there?” she asked, though she assumed the title was probably self-explanatory. Did he write official Ministry correspondence? Handled communication issues between employees like the HR office? Montserrat didn’t want to make assumptions. Montserrat smiled a little at his order, very pleased that he had not gotten something very serious like black coffee, or she might have had trouble keeping up with him.

“I’ll have the condensed milk latte, with sprinkles,” she added, thanking him with a smile. If he had gotten them they were probably going to be pretty good. It wasn’t the healthiest thing to order but she was supposed to enjoy herself and there was nothing more enjoyable than dessert. Even if it only happened once in a while for her. She moved over to the pickup counter with him, reaching for a few napkins on her way just in case.

“I really love to cook,” she said with a smile, “I’ve spent most of my time off work trying new recipes and the like, baking is not my forte but I think I have the potential to get better at it. I also like to do boring stuff like exercise, take dance classes, and read books,” she laughed a little, hoping that her hobbies were not as boring to him as they sounded to her. Montserrat had never truly excelled at anything in particular and sort of just went along with a schedule depending on her mood. “I like art and sometimes I collect postcards and little trinkets, so ill probably be looking for those at the fair,” she said enthusiastically. “But really, I’m not that picky, I like trying new things,” she shrugged it off, not wanting to pass judgment on anything he might say before he had the opportunity to say it. “What about you?” she asked in return, thanking the woman at the counter when their drinks had been delivered as she turned around to look for a spot in the corner.

“There are some free seats over there,” she nodded in the direction of the corner, “Those look okay to you?” she asked, listening closely as she moved in their direction.

He had wanted it to sound serious when he'd told her where he worked in the ministry but now that she was asking questions he was internally panicking. It wasn't a serious job, certainly not something to be proud of. He was a two year entry level lackey with zero hopes of moving up the ladder any time soon. (Not that he was really trying or anything) but he didn't want her to know that either. First dates were so hard. Jeremy felt like he was being a schmuck, trying to pretend to be someone he wasn't. He wanted to impress her, wanted her to like him, but what if she ended up liking this boosted up version of him instead. He needed to calm down. He needed to tone his fake seriousness down and get back to his regularly scheduled nonsense self. "It's really not." He said, giving her a nervous chuckle as he resigned to try to be himself. "I push a mail cart. It's pretty rad though, my best mate Danny works in the department too so it's usually pretty fun."

When she ordered her drink he debated whether or not he should tell her about the fact that they raced their mail carts or accidentally set things on fire sometimes. It was daily shenanigans really, he thought they were amusing. She added sprinkles onto her drink though and that had his smile bursting at the seams. He was so happy she hadn't ordered one of those thin mint low fat, skim milk, no sugar, decaf, hold the happiness type drinks he saw witches order so often. "Sometimes we race our mail carts while we make deliveries." He decided to tell her, a bit of pride on his face as he finished the little story. "I always win, of course." He grinned at her and then they moved on to finding seats and learning more about each other.

"That doesn't sound boring at all." Jeremy replied when she'd finished telling him about some of her interests. When he could find a decently clean pan in the kitchen he shared with too many other young wizards he liked to bake too. His brownies were probably a little bit different than hers though, not that she'd really given him a vibe either way about how she might of felt about getting high. The idea that she liked to try new things made him smile, she seemed to warm and welcoming to be a real person. And she was friendly. And she was freaking gorgeous. AND she was in minute ten of a first date with the likes of Jeremy Edwards. He was pretty sure he was still asleep, but he was going to live this dream to it's full potential. "I like baking too." He started as she found them some seats and he nodded. "Yeah looks good."

"But I'll bet your way better at it than I am." Jere finished the thought with a little chuckle and held her seat out for her (check that off the Freya 'how to be a good date' list) before taking his own seat and a sip of his scalding hot sugar rush. He gasped at the hotness of it, biting his lip as a little chocolate liquid rolled down his chin. He wiped it off on his arm and started blowing on the coffee instead. "Always been pretty interested in Herbology, not really as a job or anything but I have a little garden growing on my balcony." He set his cup down and reached into his pocket to produce a little flask he'd brought along for fun. He looked around, since drinking in public at a place that wasn't a bar was sort of frowned on, and showed it to her secretively. "Would you like a little extra in your coffee?" He asked, thinking the idea of getting a little buzzed for the street fair sounded like so much fun. And it would certainly take some of the pressure of of the date. "It's amaretto, nothing too hard." He said giving her a mischievously little grin. This was the real Jeremy, always finding a way to get into trouble.

“Well I love getting mail so I’m sure you are greatly appreciated at the Ministry, delivering important packages and things like that,” she replied encouragingly. Montserrat wondered if he might have started his career a little later than most or if he was, in fact, younger than her. For some reason, the young witch often found herself on dates with men that were slightly younger, normally by a year or two. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that liked being relied on and experience had taught her that older men, like her brother Joan, who were often so caught up in themselves that they often ignored everyone else around them. “Imagine if there was no one to push the mail carts,” she added as an afterthought. What he did for a living didn’t really matter to her and it probably wouldn’t matter to her parents, her choice in career had been something chosen for the sake of helping others, not economical gain.

His little antics at work made her smile though, it sounded like so much fun to spend time with friends at work goofing around. Montserrat, too, had a few laughs with colleagues at work, they had a lot of inside jokes at the office, did silly things when no one was around but nothing sounded like fun at racing a mail cart around. “That sounds pretty fun,” she noted with a dimpled smile, “I sneak candy to the little kids sometimes or do silly things with my coworkers but racing mail carts certainly sounds much more fun,” she quipped. Some of the people at her job took themselves way too seriously, it sounded like at Jeremy’s job, they were way more laid back and she liked it. It sounded like a very fun environment to be in day in and out.

“Do you? Or are you just saying that?” she teased lightly when he talked about how he liked to bake, “I’ll make something for you sometime, we could trade recipes,” she continued, bringing the drink to her lips slowly, sighing in contentment at the taste. She would have to come back here, she decided, it was much better than anything that she had ever tasted before.  Montserrat wondered what sort of recipes and baked goods he was interested in but if his drink choice was any indication, he probably took his baked good full of sugary goodness.

“How’s the drink?” she asked, watching as he tried to take a sip so quickly than face the aftermath of the heat. She took the top off of her drink, blowing gently on the steam as it rose before taking another quiet sip from it. “Mine is so good, great choice in location by the way,” she complimented his choice before nodding in conjunction as he spoke. “Really? I grow things sometimes too, mostly herbs for cooking, I don’t think I’d be any good at raising anything fancy, what sorts of things do you grow?” she asked, curious to know who much of a green thumb he actually had. It wasn’t common to hear about guys who did baking or had a garden so she was certainly intrigued. But she didn’t have much time to think about it too much when he secretively showed her the flask he produced from his pocket.

She was taken aback, not in a bad way but certainly curious. “Are you trying to get us in trouble?” she asked suspiciously though there was no malice in her voice. Pausing for a moment before she nodded, pushing the drink in his direction with a smile. “I can live a little if you can handle it,” she challenged him. This wasn’t what she was expecting but it certainly wasn’t an unwelcome change of pace.

He'd never thought of his job they way she was describing it and in all honestly it made him feel special. He beamed at her, bright eyes and dimpled cheeks, and chose to only think of it this way from now on. At least until Monday came and he was back to groaning about the grind. It was nice of her to think so highly of his job especially since pretty much no one else seemed to. Jeremy wasn't really changed by the opinions of others, at least not when it was his dad or Greg downing on his lack of career, but he certainly liked her opinions. "Never thought of it that way." He said through a smile and and little chuckle. "The ministry would probably stop working all together wouldn't it." He was joking of course, not really so crazy as to think he was really the one holding the whole thing together, but with everything going on he could of been. "Maybe I should ask for a raise." He waggled his eye brows at her playfully.

For a split second he thought she might think badly about his work place shenanigans but then when she smiled instead he breathed easy. He wanted her to like him, of course, but also he hoped she would like having fun too. Jeremy couldn't live a meek existence. His brain wasn't wired for it. And if she was the type of witch who only liked quiet and mature things well then he wouldn't want to waste anymore of her time. "Oh I love candy." He declared after she'd finished telling him about sneaking candy to the children. His small talk game was on fire. Jeremy was becoming more and more relaxed with her. She was gorgeous, and that still freaked him out, but the more they spoke, the more he just said what was on his mind. Thinking before he spoke wasn't really his thing, he wasn't any good at it.

"No no I do." Chuckling he battled her question with a few nods. "Nothing fancy, but I can make a pretty mean brownie." Jeremy wasn't kidding either. He wasn't great at cooking but his fudge brownies rarely lasted more than a few hours in the apartment. Though.. that probably had a lot to do with the wizards he lived with and the munchies the brownies brought on. It was a viscous cycle really. "That'd be rad, we can have a bake off!" The wizard loved turning anything he could into a game and even though he probably had no hope of winning said bake off he still wanted to do it. Especially if it meant he could see her again. "I will wear my lucky apron, so you better come prepared." Teasing her with a few more laughs he took another sip of his coffee, it was cooling off thankfully.

Jeremy followed her lead and blew on the drink a little bit more. It was a good excuse to stare at her for a moment and to remind himself to blink because he wasn't dreaming. This was crazy. How was he here right now? She laughed at his jokes. She thought his job was cool. It was unreal. "Oh it's delicioso~, yours?" He replied dramatically, holding his hand up like he was a chef approving of something. "In my experience you can't go wrong with sprinkles." Jeremy smiled as the conversation moved onto his tree-house (that was what he called it) and he took half a moment to consider whether or not to tell her what he was really growing up there. He wasn't really trying to find out she was the daughter of an Auror or something, not while the coffee was still hot and the conversation was going so well, but he didn't really like lying either. He chose to gloss over it, be vague, until he could feel her out a little bit more. He was a trusting guy, but it wasn't just himself at stake if she did happen to take offense to his side job. He wasn't the only one that relied on those plants or that rent money. "Mostly herbs, nothing crazy. Every time I try to grow anything magical they end up trying to eat my roommates." He shrugged, both hands lifted up beside him to emphasize the point.

Instead of telling her the full truth about his herbology projects straight away he tested the waters first. Offering her the flask he nearly frowned when she asked if he was trying to get them into trouble. Jeremy was a teenager at hard, he'd been able to buy alchohol legally for years now but he still found ways to do it illegally. It was for the thrill, for the risk. He lived in the moment and moments like these were great. He gave her a little wink, trying to be playful and flirty but probably looking weird instead, and kept smiling until she answered.

And then his smile grew ten-fold.

He'd thought she was about to say no but then she slide her cup across the table and Jeremy fell in love reached for it. "Oh I can handle it." Jeremy played back, loving the challenge. "You're looking at the reigning champion of dares right here." Jeremy bragged as he popped off the lids of both of their coffees and poured an equal amount from the flask into it with a look on his face that could only be described as giddy. He did his best to hide what he was doing, managing to look ridiculously suspicious as he did, and then screwed the lid back on the flask. "Never met a dare I didn't complete." Most of which he was especially proud of, like the number of marshmallows he could fit into his mouth, and the high dive into the Black Lake even though he'd belly flopped, which also earned him the record for the biggest black and blue mark that summer. Of course there were some he was less proud of, he'd make sure not to mention those to her. Replacing the lids he pushed her beverage back toward her and held his up with glee.

"Cheers."

Montserrat would have further encouraged him to look into getting a raise at work if he had not waggled his eyebrows playfully at her which only made her laugh a little. She wasn’t sure what sort of wage someone in his department at the Ministry received but he seemed pleased, relaxed even at work, and there was nothing that could beat that. As she had recently written to Wini, doing work that made you happy was much more rewarding than for the sake of a title or money. Montserrat had always felt an affinity for helping others so it seemed natural to follow her heart into a career as a healer.

But she wondered why Jeremy had taken an interest in the Ministry above all other options, but that was a question she could hold onto for a little while longer, she liked the pace of the small talk, it was much less intimidating than the usual questions she got on a first date. It made her feel comfortable and certainly much more willing to talk.

“Same,” she retorted, “But I am obligated to tell the kids that too much candy isn’t good for their teeth,” she added. It was hard for her to be so strict with the little kids, though, as she knew how difficult and scary meeting a stranger for procedures and physical examinations could be. It was just done for the sake of cheering up. And it made her job a little easier, especially with the kids that were harder to win over. “I love brownies!” she responded delighted, it had been one of her favorite treats to eat growing up but she had never exactly made them to her liking. It probably didn’t help that she felt obligated to make them at least a little healthy, throwing in things like avocado and abstaining from the nuts, grains, gluten, and dairy whenever she could.

The one time she had used coconut flour they had turned out alright, but still, nothing could beat a fudgy, delicious brownie. “Sounds like a date!” she confirmed, hoping that he did not misinterpret her words and made him feel forced to meet her again or anything like that. But she hoped he would want to, just the thought of a bake-off sounded like a lot of fun and the perfect way to destress after a long week at work. “You better bring it, I won’t go easy on you!” she threatened lightly.

She laughed a little at his phrasing, wondering if he knew that she spoke Spanish but could only assume he did if their relatives were friends. “Amazing, who knew condensed milk could taste so good!” she retorted, nodding in agreement with his statement about the sprinkles. “Oh, you have roommates! But yes those magical herbs are quite scary, be careful,” she said, though she was certainly curious to know more about them. “I used to have a roommate last year but she got a boyfriend and moved out on her own, now I live by myself in a smaller place but it does its job,” she explained. “Are you close?” she asked further.

Montserrat and her roommate had not been super close but that was because they were both in very rigorous healing programs. But they did occasionally hang out, sometimes even hosted small get-togethers or went out to clubs when they had the time. It had been nice to have some company, someone to talk to in the morning or run ideas by when writing an owl just seemed like too much work.  But she had considered it again lately, especially since the rent went up a little and she didn’t want to ask her parents for a little more money to cover it. They would have readily agreed but she felt bad.

“Reigning champion of dares, huh?” she question, an eyebrow raised in mock suspicion as she watched him pour what was in the flask into their drinks. “Now I know ill have to come up with some good ones to see just how true that is,” she challenged. But she admired his determination, even if dares tended to be a little silly sometimes. Raising her cup up to his when he returned it to her, she smiled, “Cheers,” she replied and took a generous sip. “It—actually goes quite well with the drink,” she said in approval. “Do you want to take these to go while we look around the fair or want to stick around a bit longer?” she asked, excited to see where the rest of the afternoon would take them.

Sounds like a date, Jeremy felt his cheeks grow hot at the words, and he used his coffee cup to block his face from her view. His broad smile reached to his eyes, and his curved lips were peeking out from the sides of the warm drink as he sipped. "Oh, I will." He told her between sips, loving the bold challenge she had just giving him and chuckling. Jeremy absolutely loved a dare, a reason to show off, and get ridiculous.

Moving on with another grin, he set down his cup but kept his hands wrapped around it, to keep them occupied. "Yeah, we're pretty close, we came up together in Hogwarts." Jeremy wondered if he would sound stupid if he told her he'd grown up with Danny and Greg in the Gryffindor house, moved out to London with them, and now still worked with Danny at the ministry. He shrugged, not realizing how codependent that might sound to her, and spoke again. "We were all in the same house at Hogwarts, and now we live together. It's pretty fun though, having the same people around all the time, they are a bunch of jokers though. Especially Danny, we work together in the mailroom." Jeremy tried to remember not to talk too much about himself and return the conversation to her. "You went to... Beauxbatons?" He asked slowly as he assumed.

"Oh, bring it on!" He told her with another chuckle and a sharp nod. Jeremy needed to impress her, he wanted to impress her, and he hoped this would be the way to do it. The redhead beamed from across the table, hoping she'd come up with something as exciting as it was doable for him to woo her with. The Gryffindor had boundless bravery when it came to simple tasks; he could not be stopped. Sipping on his now even better coffee, he felt it start to pump through his veins. His hands were a little less nervous, but the anxiousness had been replaced with a little bit of tingling. He could feel it on the tips of his ears and down the back of his neck as the alcohol began to do its job. He was even starting to feel a little bit more comfortable, confident even, even though he was pretty sure he was still dreaming because the unbelievably gorgeous witch across the table was smiling at him.

Jeremy gave her question a second of thought before he pushed away from the table a little. His chair squeaked unceremoniously across the tiled floor, and he cringed at it. "Yeah, let's go for a walk. Maybe we go get some of those fruits you were talking about?" He offered or were they vegetables, the wizard couldn't remember. "There is a live band too, not too far down the road. And I'll have to win you some sort of stuffed animal, of course." He joked with her and gave her a little wiggle of his eyebrows. Jeremy had the best intentions, only goodness in his heart, but he was a bit of a goof. It was a miracle anyone took him seriously, not that he gave them any reason to. Still, though, he wanted her to have a good time, and he was willing to do whatever it took. Turning to head back out onto the street, the wizard gave her another smile and held the door for her again. "But first we have to talk about the serious stuff:" He said quietly before pausing and building up what he was about to say with some theatrics.

"Are you a Pygmy Puff or a Kneazle sort of witch?"

Montserrat listened with intrigue, leaning forward to rest her face on her propped up arm as he told her the story about the people he had grown up with and how they still lived together. It made her a little nostalgic for Beauxbatons, especially for the people she had grown close to while staying in the dormitories. Montserrat had unfortunately lost contact with several of them, though she did know that some had chosen to stay in Paris or other parts of France. Though in the end, her closest friends had all chosen a variety of pursuits and careers, the idea that they could have lived together stuck with her, and made her smile a little. “I’m jealous,” she announced playfully, “That sounds great! I heard living with your closest friends can be a bit tough but if you’ve been doing it this long, you all must get along really well,” she added, taking another sip from her coffee.

“I did,” she replied with a curt nod, “Have you ever visited France? I loved it there, I even had the chance to meet some very lovely people, you’ve just reminded me of how much I miss them and how I ought to owl them,” she said appreciatively. Montserrat was not sure if she could go as far as working and living with the same person but she figured that had something to do with her at times difficult personality. From what she could tell, Jeremy seemed easy-going, not the sort to get easily upset or discouraged—his whole aura seemed completely positive and she liked that. Montserrat knew from personal experience that people who didn’t allow the small, insignificant difficulties in life bring them down were worth treasuring. There had been only a few people in her life that had overwhelmed her with their air of optimism.

Montserrat would now have to come up with some very interesting dares to pose to her date but would give herself some time to think them through, they had only started their date, after all, and there was plenty of time for all the embarrassing stuff later. Unless, of course, he sent her home for being too boring. “The strawberries? Sure, I wonder if they’ve got the courgettes they usually have during the summer,” she wondered, mostly to herself as she discreetly moved her seat back to make the least amount of noise possible then stood up, grabbing her drink as she followed behind him. “What sort of band is it?” she wondered, though she felt as if she could vaguely hear some music from where they were standing. The thought of him getting her a stuffed animal was endearing, “I’ll add them to my collection!” she promised, stopping for a moment when he noted that he had a very serious question. She had absolutely no indication or idea of what he was about to say and that thought alone made her a little nervous.

Regardless she looked up at him expectantly, his question making her laugh a little. He was a bit silly but if anything, it was certainly working on her. “That’s a very difficult question—can I choose both?” she shrugged lightly, “I do have a cat though, so I suppose if I must choose…” she paused for a moment, “A Kneazle, how did I do? Is that the magic word?” she answered, taking another sip from her coffee as she walked next to him.

Jeremy shrugged because he wasn't sure if he'd exactly call living with Danny and Greg easy, it was a struggle at times, but in reality, he wouldn't want to live anywhere else right now. He'd known them forever, and even if they did steal his stuff and eat his cereal sometimes, he trusted them. And also there was no way he made enough sickles to get a place on his own, especially not at London prices. He supposed he could move out of the city and commute to work, but the idea of being awake enough to apparate or floo that early in the morning was laughable. Jeremy was usually half asleep until eleven am at least. Like a zombie delivering packages as he used his mail cart to keep him upright.

"Nope, never have." The redhead responded to her question with a half-smile, he'd never really been anywhere, but maybe one day. "What do you love about it?" He asked her with interest, he already assumed if she liked it, then he would too, but the wizard was still curious.

As they moved outside of the coffee shop, he shrugged at her strawberries comments, having a minimal idea of what she was talking about but trying not to be too obvious about it. "Oh, not sure, some Wrock cover band, I think." He said with very little certainty. He should have read more about the event in the Daily Prophet, but he had gotten distracted by the moving photos and forgotten to keep reading. It was a recurring problem.

Jeremy smiled at her brightly when she laughed at his question; he hoped she would find it amusing. Her answer made him smirk, and he nodded." Oh, there was no wrong answer, well I mean I guess if you chose a pixie or something instead maybe." He chuckled a little and lead them out into the street fair. There were even more people here now than there had been before; they were crowded around booths and pop-up tables on either side of the street. Thankfully the middle of the lane was moving. They walked in between the bustle on the curbs, weaving around people who had stopped and other groups, and Jeremy sipped his beverage. "So where to first? The fruit?" He asked with a willingness in his voice. He was open to anything; honestly, he'd follow her around and just carry whatever she bought for the next few hours if that was what she wanted. He was having so much fun with her; he didn't want the date to end anytime soon.

"Ooh, look, they have face painting." He said without hesitation as he pointed at a group of children sitting as still as children could on stools waiting for witches to paint fun shapes on their faces. Jeremy was a kid at heart, he always would be, and he was nearly impossible to embarrass, so something like getting his face painted in public on a date with a cup of coffee and contraband in his hand sounded entirely exciting and not at all immature.

“I don’t know, really,” she confessed, not having a specific reason for liking the country apart from having many enjoyable memories from her time there. “The people, maybe? The atmosphere?” she tried, unsure of whether there was a suitable answer to the question at hand. “Did you like Hogsmeade? I heard it’s very popular with the students, probably for the same reason that Chatoeil is popular with us Beauxbatons graduates,” she offered. Montserrat had never been to Hogsmeade but had heard bits about it from her colleagues at work, many of whom had graduated from Hogwarts and had many fond things to say about the place.

“Great!” she responded to his comment, even though Montserrat had very little experience with British music and hardly listened to any of the local stations to really know what wizarding rock even sounded in comparison to what it sounded like in France or her home of Spain. She had always been a big fan of dancing but mostly classical things. Either way, she didn’t want Jeremy to get the idea that she knew nothing at all so she simply replied with enthusiasm glad that he hadn’t gone into significant detail about the band or how it was her favorite as it wasn’t a conversation she would be able to keep track of. Though now that she thought about it, it was probably written all over her face, her cluelessness.

“Let’s try the fair,” she suggested, already excited by the idea of him winning a stuffed toy for her. He had gone through the trouble of asking which only lead her to believe that he wanted to take her there. Montserrat appreciated his willingness to take the lead here, it made the entire thing that much more special to her, and in turn, she finally felt as if she could relax from the stresses of work that came with all the decision making she had to do all day. “We can always get the strawberries later, that way they don’t sit around all day,” she added as an explanation. Maybe it was a bit presumptuous for her to think that he’d want to spend that much time with her but it was an idea, “But if you’re busy or something, let me know, I can always come back around tomorrow,” she continued, not wanting to force him to stick around if he had something else going on.

She turned towards the face painting booth as they passed by it, turning to him to give him a dimpled smile before she reached out for his hand, and moved in that direction. “Do you think they’ll draw a unicorn for me? Or should I stick to something simple like a rainbow?” she asked, standing behind a couple of kids that only turned to look at them a little curiously as they waited in line. Taking a sip from her coffee, she turned to him again. “What are you going to get?” she asked, pointing in the direction of the designs that were available.

Jeremy liked her reasoning, it sounded good, but he made a mental note not to forget to buy her some strawberries before the day was out. It was for the best that they waited though, especially with the sun warming everything up, he doubted she wanted mushy strawberries. Jeremy nodded as they passed a few booths and when they came to the face painting he failed at containing his giddiness. Jeremy had never been the sort to pretend he was too cool or mature for things. He was who he was, and even if it didn't get him a lot of action with the witches, he was okay with that. He tried to remember that when he thought for a second she might think he was being childish at the idea of face painting.

The thought was chased off nearly as quickly as it had surfaced when she held out her hand and he gawked at the amazing dimpled smile on her tanned face. She was too pretty, ridiculously so, he felt so blessed to be on the other side of the gesture. He looped his fingers in with hers as they headed for the line and ignored the weird looks they adult pair got from the young children in line behind them. "Ooh a Unicorn, you should absolutely get that!" He said with an excited bounce on his heels. He smiled brightly at her before peering over at the little board of examples near the booth. He took a sip of his spiked coffee, swirling what was left in the cup around lazily as he began to muse out loud.

"Should I get a Dragon... or maybe a cauldron... or a snitch..." He turned back to look at her, eager and amused, "So many options!"