Make Me Laugh | Shawn

[Deleted]

Hogsmeade was such a pleasant little town. With its quaint atmosphere and friendly citizenry, it was a wonder all of a Europe didn't try to live in the little town. Of course, it was always bustling with people so they were making a valiant effort. Bella had specifically picked a Saturday morning that Hogwarts students would be in town. She loved to watch them and their fascination at the beautiful town. It was thrilling to see a young teenager's eyes light up when they looked into the windows of Honeyduke's. Bella smiled at the thought.

She herself had a particular fancy for Zonko's Joke Shop. The gag gifts were cheap and a little childish but they carried a charm to them that Bella very much enjoyed. She placed a few items in her basket and continued browsing. The shop wasn't too crowded yet as students continued pouring into the village, but it would soon fill up with grinning, trickster third years. Maybe even some older students.

Bella looked up and down one particular shelf before settling on a pair of chattering teeth. Matty would love them. She reached for the toy, but found that she was a few inches too short, her fingertips just out of reach of the teeth. She stood back, pouting, and looked around for someone tall.

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

Many things changed in Shawn's life but now that he was working at Hogwarts one thing did go back to how it used to. Every free Saturday unless he had something more pressing to do he spend at Hogsmeade. He always loved the little village since he was a third year. Being a muggle-born Shawn hadn't spent much time in places with magical stores. His first experience was his visit to Diagon alley but that was rushed and filled with trying to get everything he needed for school in one day. With hogsmeade he could actually take his time and enjoy it when he was younger. Plenty of students probably thought Shawn was always there to check up on them but that was hardly true.

Shawn normally joined the students as they came over and he normally got the biggest laughs from the third years. For some this was their first look at Hogsmeade and he could remember that feeling well. Wonderful little shops and places to eat or get a drink. Other places to avoid when you were younger too like the little tea shops which were just to girly for boys to go near when they're this young. All the stores had their own little charm to them, probably to help draw in the students to spend whatever money they had. Shawn never had much growing up, he spent most of his time window shopping or being with friends.

One such store he had spent plenty of time in the Zonko's joke shop. What little money he ever did have normally got spent here and it's where he was headed today while he enjoyed the sights of the other shops and stands he walked past. Walking into the store he was met with both the familiar smell of the shop and the memories that came with it. He could say he came here to see what to expect to see in his classroom later but he really only came her for himself. Shawn watched as a woman struggled to get something from the top shelve, he smiled but he kept himself from the rude laugh that wanted to follow. He wouldn't be laughing at her, just the sight as he decided to lend a hand now that she had stopped trying to reach whatever she was reaching for. Walking over he smiled and spoke. "Yes, the top shelve, the enemy to all goblins and short people a like." Okay he made his joke, time to be helpful. "Did you want me to get it? I could give you a boost if you wanted to do it yourself?" Okay, no he wasn't done with the jokes but that's just who he was.

@bellamy

[Deleted]

It was as if Merlin himself had heard Bella's silent plea. Suddenly, a much taller person was standing beside her, making a joke about her plight. She tilted her head slightly and smiled at the man. "I knew my mother never should've slept with that goblin," she replied good-naturedly, laughing a little at her own bad joke. She looked back up at the shelf, where the chattering teeth sat quietly, taunting her as she mulled over whether or not to ask for help from the stranger. Deciding that her cat was more important than her pride, she nodded. "It's for Matty," she explained. "He's my cat. And as much as I would love to get it myself, there's a reason I was built close to the ground." She laughed again. In truth, she was terrified of heights, and she was not about to let a man she didn't know pick her up in order to reach some novelty toy.

"I'd really appreciate it," she said sincerely, once again looking up at the toy. The things she did to make her Maturin happy. She could picture him now, curled up in her overstuffed office chair at the casino, snoozing in the tiny sliver of sunlight that snuck into her office. He was such a spoiled little thing, and she loved him for it. He would love his new toy, she knew, if she could only get to it. She turned to look at the man. He was strikingly familiar. Bellamy rarely forgot a face - she was terrible with names, but faces were her specialty. She was certain she had seen this man before on one of her weekly trips to Hogsmeade. Might as well introduce herself; she would forget his name in twenty minutes anyway. "I'm Bellamy, by the way. Or Bella. Or Bells. Or some of the bookies call me Miss Boss Man. You can just pick your poison," she said with another laugh and a small smile.

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

"Can't fault someone for having a good time." Shawn said with a small laugh as he doubted she was actually half goblin, she may have been short but she was far taller than anyone he had ever met with Goblin ancestry. "For someone who's part Goblin you're pretty tall, every other one I've met was about a foot shorter if not more." Shawn hadn't met many half goblins there was one when he was in school in Ravenclaw but they never did get along. Especially after he made a friendly joke about being short. Shawn pretty much avoided him after that point. "Also from past experience they would have punched me in the lower half of my body for talking about their height." Shawn laughed once more and the woman explained who the toy was for before stating she was built closer to the ground for a reason.

Shawn reached for the teeth and handed them to the woman as she said she'd appreciated it. "Anytime. What's the point of being tall if I can't use it to reach high up things." Shawn explained with a smile as he was always happy to reach things or put up some banner or sign. He wasn't giant or half giant tall but tall enough to be of use to a shorter person in need. She introduced herself and while most of the names seemed pretty normal the last one of boss lady was a new one. Still it just sounded like she ran sometime of business. "I'll have to go with Bells, it's got a nice ring to it." Shawn smirked at the awful joke but he found it funny enough to say anyway. "I'm Shawn, I don't really have anything short for that and it's a pleasure to meet you."

@bellamy

[Deleted]

"What if I told you my mother was part-giant? That kind of evens things out a bit," she quipped back, giggling. The mental image of a giant getting it on with a goblin was funny enough, but the fact that her mother was actually a few inches shorter than Bella made it even funnier. She had obviously gotten what little height she had from her father, but he was long out of the picture. It was almost impossible to remember what he even looked like. But that was a sob story for another time. Sizing the man up and down, she grinned and said, "Be careful. I haven't decided if I want to punch you or not. I may have to go get a couple of phone books to stand on first."

As she reached for the novelty toy, she almost dropped it as the man spoke his terrible pun. Needless to say, she fumbled with the teeth for a moment before finally getting a good grip on them. She placed them in her basket, where they wouldn't have to face any more of her clumsiness. "Now I'm definitely going to punch you," she said jokingly, a smile on her face. "That was so bad it was good." When Shawn introduced himself, Bella's face lit up. Now she knew where she'd seen his face before. "Oh! You teach at Hogwarts, don't you? Charms, I think?" she asked.

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

"It also raises a lot more questions." Shawn said with a quick laugh, he wasn't even sure what the combination of goblin and giant ancestry would create. Would it be giant sized goblins or goblin sized giants? He dwelled on that thought for longer than a normal person probably would have. Shawn was sure she was kidding but still he couldn't help but think about it for a few seconds. The woman commented how he needed to be careful as she hadn't decided if she was going to hit him or not yet and Shawn just laughed a little. "It wouldn't be the first time I got punched for something I said and it probably won't be the last."

The fact that she nearly dropped the toy around the same time he made a a terrible pun about her nickname probably wasn't just a coincidence. Something Shawn was sure of as she made a comment about how she was going to have to punch him for how bad it was that it was actually good. "As long as it was still good in the end." Shawn replied with a smile, he was all about making people happy even if the jokes might have been terrible. "You'd be surprised how often I hear that about things I've said though," Shawn added. As he introduced himself she seemed to realize who he might have been, even if she did get what he taught wrong. "Transfiguration actually but I can see why you got confused, all this natural charm would throw anyone off." Shawn replied with a laugh as he could never seriously be that full of himself.

@bellamy

[Deleted]

It was difficult not to smile around Shawn. He seemed to have a retort for almost everything. It was a great skill to have. Bella's cheeks would beg to differ from smiling so much, but it was a great feeling to be so happy. There was too much misery in the world at the moment. With all the death and devastation, it was nice to smile and laugh with a near stranger in the middle of a joke shop. The rest of the world seemed to melt away.

Bella snorted at his latest quip, nearly doubling over with laughter. Man, he was good. "Of course you teach Transfiguration. How else could you keep your head small enough to fit all of that ego in?" Bella placed her basket on the ground, her arms sagging in relief from the lack of weight. She had a feeling she would be here awhile, getting to know her new acquaintance. "So how are things at the school? Graduation is coming up soon, right? I bet you're looking forward to a summer off from -" She almost brought up the kidnappings that happened the previous year, but that was still a touchy subject for many. Instead she redirected her statement to a safer topic. "- from those crazy students."

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

Shawn laughed as Bella mentioned the reason that of course he would be the transfiguration professor. He thought to himself for a moment on if she seriously thought he had a huge ego. Instead he decided with all her laughing that she was just having some fun as well. That he was fine with but he didn't like the idea of anyone thing he was full of himself. No, more often than not he was more than happy to look like a fool just for others amusement than be full of himself. "Oh no, that isn't the work of transfiguration. I've just learned to equally spread out my ego out of fear if it's all in my head I'd just float away from all the hot air." Shawn replied laughing as it was a funny image for a moment in his head as he spoke to the Bella.

Bella went on to ask how the school was and asked about graduation coming up with a momentary pause. It was natural, with all the things that had happened last year it was only normally to look for the right words to say. He had been there multiple times himself only normally it was with the students as he asked them about last year trying to avoid the dark events that happened. "Oh it's great, this is my first year teaching actually but it's far more fun than when I was a student. The only one who can get me in trouble anymore is the head mistress." Shawn laughed, it was just a joke but still a realization he had made sometime during his first or second week. "Granted it'd be worse than a detention obviously." Shawn added with another laugh. Bella brought up the summer vacation and while he enjoyed his new job he was also excited "I'm sure they're the ones looking forward to a break from me more than the other way around." Shawn answered jokingly but he wouldn't have been surprised if it was true of a few students. "What do you do for a living? Review joke shop items for cats?" 

@bellamy

[Deleted]

Bella listened to Shawn talk, laughing softly when appropriate and generally enjoying his company. She was impressed that a first year teacher such as himself hadn't gone running in the other direction with all the awful things going on at Hogwarts. Of course, Bella imagined she would've stayed, too, out of pride and to protect the remaining students. She smiled a little at the thought that things had certainly changed since she had been a students. She didn't remember kidnappings or deaths or any other sort of shenanigans. Her seven years had passed smoothly, something she almost regretted. It would've been nice to add a little spice to her schooling. Of course, she got plenty of that after she graduated.

She laughed aloud when Shawn asked her about her occupation. "As much as I would love to sit in a room and play with cat toys all day, it's a little difficult to make a career out of. I own the White Lotus casino. Work is just a little slow today, so I decided to take a trip to Hogsmeade to buy Matty a gift. He gets a little cranky if he doesn't have some fancy new toy to play with every other day. Of course, he'll be bored of it in five minutes and go back to playing with toilet paper rolls," she said, still laughing. Her cat was something else, that was for sure, but she loved him anyway.

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

Shawn listened on as Bella explained what she did for a living, he hadn't expected her to be running a casino. He didn't really know what to expect but that would definitely been the last thing he thought of. Shawn had also never owned a cat but he had known people who did and that sounded like a cat to him, easily bored of a toy and wanting a new one. "It's hard for me to imagine a casino being slow but it has to happen from time to time I suppose." Shawn said with a laugh as he just couldn't imagine a place like that ever lacking people aside from maybe the extreme hours of the day. "But if Matty gets gifts every time it's slow I can only imagine your cat loves slow days. Yet sometimes like you said the simplest toys can be the most fun." He paused to laugh at what he thought up next, "or he just likes being a jerk."

@bellamy

[Deleted]

Bella smiled. Slow may not have been the best word to use. Work was always chaotic, but no one had won any big money recently so there was no paperwork to do. She could easily leave the casino in Benji's capable hands and sneak out for a little while. She was happy that she had someone like Benji to take up the slack when she needed a break. Their friendship was one she treasured above all others, and she couldn't wait to get back and see him and her casino.

"First rule of being a cat lady," she said with a grin, holding up one finger to indicate her point, "all cats are jerks. They thrive on on driving us crazy. Rule number two," she held up a second finger, "it is in the kitty code that cats must love everything that is slow and lazy, just like them." With a giggle, Bella glanced down at her watch. Noticing the time, she frowned and looked back up at Shawn. "I hate to cut this short, but they'll be expecting me back at work. Men." She rolled her eyes and winked. "It was a pleasure meeting you Shawn." With a small wave, Bella made her way to the checkout line. She purchased Matty's new soon-to-be-forgotten toy and turned to face Shawn again. She offered another bright smile and left the store, disapparating as soon as she reached the outside.

shawn lesley ashcroft