The Sun Will Set For You (Finley)

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It was Jess' day off and, as per usual, she was trying to tackle way too much in as little time as possible. She grabbed some ingredients for potions, some books, along with quite a few new quills, ink and and rolls of parchment. She was always practicing her writing, after all, and needed the tools to continue it. What was worse, she left her good bag at home so she was stuck with little flimsy bags from the stores she visited. Her bag at home had an undetectable extension charm on it, which would have made everything easier, but she was just going to have to deal with this now.

She was standing out of the way on Diagon Alley, trying to decide if she needed anything else before she went home, when one of the bags broke and all her writing equipment went rolling across the cobblestone road. Jess sighed in frustration as she noticed witches and wizards nearby rolling their eyes and shaking their heads at her in annoyance. She felt her face turn slightly red and moved to set her other bags down so she could start gathering anything that didn't break ... as well as the things that did. She wasn't going to cause people more problems than she already had by spilling all over.

@finley

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Finley had the day off as well and was headed to the Alley to do a little shopping of his own. He had made a decision last night that he was actually going to talk to Jess, instead of just let her walk by or help her with whatever clumsy issue she was having. Not that he thought she was clumsy... but she was kind of clumsy. Or rather, she had bad luck and things always fell apart around her. And yet, she somehow still managed to have that smile on her face. Amazing.

He saw her up ahead and lost all of his nerve. He went across the street, so that he could be even with her but the cobblestone walkway was in between. Them. Okay, okay. He could do this. Right when he looked up and was about to cross back to her side, he saw her bag rip and writing stuff went everywhere. He smiled, though, because that was his chance.

He started picking up the pieces and helping her father the stuff. He frowned at one of the broken ink bottles, but pick it up anyway.

@jessavette

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After setting down her other bags on the side of the alley, Jess started moving quickly, trying to pick everything up before it got lost in the shuffle of people walking down the street. She was entirely focused on the road, not even looking around at the people surrounding her. Then, she reached for a quill and noticed someone picking something up that was hers as well. She looked at the guy quickly and her mouth fell open slightly. It was him! How come he always found her like this and stepped in to help? She smiled quickly, checking to make sure everything was picked up as she moved closer to him. "Thank you for your help," she said softly.

@finley

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As she looked up he did too, but he had a hard time putting a smile on his face. His blood was pumping loudly in his ears, but he heard what she said. She was moving closer, too, picking things up along the way. He simply nodded at her thanks, helping gather the last of it before speaking. "My bag has room. Can I help you take it somewhere?" he offered. Wow, she had quite a few things with her. He wasn't going to worry about his own shopping. It could wait. Anything could wait, really, where Jess was involved.

@jessavette

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He slowly smiled when he looked up at her and Jess caught her breath a little. He was so handsome and she didn't know how to handle the fact that this man was always there for her. He had quite a bunch of her things and asked if he could help her take it somewhere. Jess blushed, "Well ... I was about to head home, if you don't mind that ..." She didn't know if he would, but she so appreciated his offer. "I have to get my other bags," Jess turned, glancing at them. She reached forward and touched his arm. "Sorry, I should grab those. I'll be right back." She started pushing through the little crowd, feeling a sudden rush to make sure she had everything she needed. It would be annoying to leave things behind.

@finley

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He shook his head, "I don't mind," he answered simply. She spoke about getting her other bags and then she touched his arm and his whole body froze, his eyes widening a little. He said she was sorry, and then moved away from him. He took a deep breath and put her stuff in his bag before standing to follow her. He tried to help her make sure they got everything. "Okay... I think we have it all," he finally said, after adding just a few more things to his bag. "I can take some of those," he offered, in reference to her other bags.

He tried really, really hard not to think about the fact that he was actually going to go to her home. A place he had never been before. A place that he was horrified to go to, in all honesty. That made all this more real. The fact that he was actually talking to her.

@jessavette

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Jess still felt a bit confused about why he wanted to help her so frequently. It was like he had a radar for when she could use help and always responded. She smiled when he said he didn't mind going to her house. She left to get her other bags and he was soon beside her again, saying he thought they had everything and offering to help her carry her things. A part of Jess wanted to show she could take care of herself ... but he was already helping her so what was another bag or two. She shrugged and offered two bags. "Do you want to help with these?" she asked.

She started walking home. Sure, she could apparate, but her place wasn't too far away and as a general rule she preferred walking. Then again, maybe he didn't want to walk. She turned to him, "Do you mind walking? It's only a few blocks away." Jess watched his expression. He might be one of those people that was too polite to say he didn't want to do something, so she was trying to watch for that.

@finley

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She asked if he wanted to help with two of the bags and he nodded, taking them, oddly careful not to brush fingers with hers. He was getting overwhelmed enough as it was. He followed her walking, and then she turned toward him and he stiffened a little again. "No, I don't mind. I like walking." he offered. He tried to be expressionless, and was sure that he was succeeding. He had gotten good at that.Especially when thinking about, talking about, or being around Jess.

"I live pretty close too," he admitted. "The other direction," he said, nodding to the right. He rarely ever apparated home. He took the floo network from work, usually, to Diagon Alley and then walked. He preferred walking.

@jessavette

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This whole situation felt a bit surreal. He was actually talking to her, walking home with her even and Jess wasn't sure if she could believe that she was talking with him. Sure, he seemed to help her whenever she had a problem, but they didn't really ever talk with one another. So today was kind of a first and she liked it. She smiled at him when he said he didn't mind walking and then paused a moment, looking at him curiously. Up to this point he followed her, but if he was going to her house with her ... why shouldn't they walk together. "You wanna walk with me?" she invited with a smile, gesturing that he didn't have to stay behind her while they walked. 

Her head cocked to the side when he said he lived nearby as well. "Really?" her smile widened. "Like a five minute walk or ..." she trailed off, waiting for his response. It was interesting that they lived so near to one another and didn't know it. "I'm about five minutes away," she said, giving him the answer to her own question. 

@finley

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She called him out on not being beside her and he nodded before slowly making his way up until they were side by side. It was so strange, being on an even plane with her... it made his heart beat in his ears. She questions how close by he lived, saying she was about five minutes away. "I'd say about a twenty minute walk for me," he explained. "From where we left the alley. Must be nice living so close," he said. Five minutes, that was some prime real estate for a magical being. Though, it was a pretty standard place to live for a regular muggle londoner. It was hilarious to Fin how most muggles didn't know how close they really lived to some amazing, secret magical places. He liked that the wizarding community was secret. Aside from the safety parts of the argument, he just thought life was more entertaining that way, and few things entertained him.

@jessavette

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He moved forward, starting to walk with her and Jess felt a little better about the whole thing. Having his help was nice, but it was even better if he was actually with her while helping her. "Twenty minutes isn't bad," Jess commented. It meant that their houses were about twenty-five minutes apart ... which there was no point in thinking about because she didn't even know where he lived. She nodded when he said it must be nice living so close. "It is nice though. Especially since I work at the Daily Prophet. I can take a short walk to work every morning." She paused, realizing that she was telling him things he probably didn't care about. "Uhhh ... where do you work?" That was a good question to maybe get him talking, right?

@finley

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He nodded, agreeing that his commute into Diagon Alley wasn't bad at all. He also considered the fact that their homes weren't very far apart either... Something that he actually hadn't realized before. He worked at the Ministry, but often could report other places so it didn't really matter where he lived in proximity to work. Jess, however worked at the Prophet in Diagon, so it was convenient for her to be as close as she was.

"Walking is nice," he said with a nod. He preferred it to apparating, really. She asked where he worked and for a moment he was surprised she didn't know. But then he remembered that he was the one who was hyper aware of her... Not the other way around. "I'm an Obliviator for the Ministry," he answered, eyes straight ahead. "It's alright. Haven't decided if I want to make a career out of it," but his mind was on other things...

@jessavette

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He nodded as he commented that walking was nice. Jess quirked an eyebrow at him, her smile widening a bit. "I sure think so," she said in a semi-teasing voice. This whole situation just felt so surreal and she wasn't sure how to deal with it. The guy who helped her for years without even telling her his name was actually talking to her. Was she somehow making this up or something? 

He answered her question, explaining that he was an Obliviator and her eyes widened slightly in surprise. Really, she didn't know anything about him so she really shouldn't be surprised by what he decided to go into. His words just made her want to ask more questions though. "Well what made you decide to start there in the first place?" She asked curiously, looking over at him. It was interesting, but talking to him made her just want to get to know him better. 

@finley

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He looked over at her as she agreed that walking was nice and he found himself giving a small smirk. "It is," he agreed firmly, counteracting her teasing. He liked her playful attitude... He always had.

Then she asked why he went into the Ministry in the first place and he paused. The truth was Elaine had asked him to... But he didn't want to give that answer, for obvious reasons. "I wanted to work with a friend," he decided on. "Though, now we're in different departments so it really didn't do much," he chuckled. "I'm sure you've got plenty of friends at the Daily Prophet, Jess or at least you've made a lot of new ones?" he didn't even realize that he had used her name and maybe she didn't know his.

@jessavette

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He was smirking at her, agreeing again and Jess couldn’t help but giggle a little. She kind of liked having his attention, even though she didn’t really know him.

She nodded when he shared that he went there to work with a friend. That made complete sense to her, since work was always more fun when one was with friends. She smiled when he started asking her more questions again. ”I have lots of new friends. Most people from school didn’t really come to the Daily Prophet, but I still make time to see them and have fun with my new friends.” Jess quirked an eyebrow at him, ”Have you make new friends since yours isn’t with you anymore?” They we’re almost to her place now, but not close enough that Jess was going to say anything yet.

@finley