Make New Friends, Keep the Old (CLOSED)

Julia giggled to herself as Danny walked away and turned to her book again. He is so adorable she thought, and so handsome. Thank gosh you wore your best perfume today. She continued where she left off, though she was not really paying attention to the text. Romeo was talking to Juliet about how he would see her again, it wasn't a very interesting portion; and Julia always hated long monologues because she could never stay focused on them. She usually skimmed the long parts.

Julia looked out the window, noticing dark clouds were beginning to form above the alley- another storm must have been rolling in. The sun was still shining brightly in the sky, it had to be about noon now, their conversation must have been longer than it seemed. Flipping the page, Julia carried on with her reading, but she was distracted again by a teenage couple who had come in to the cafe. Now that she had a good look around the store, it seemed like most of the customers were in couples, except for an old woman who sat by herself in the corner, shaking and talking to herself. Ah, Diagon Alley's finest drunkard.

Julia snapped out of her daze when Danny came back. Reaching into her bag, Julia handed Danny the money to cover her drink. "Why thank you sir." Julia gently squeezed the lemon over her water, once the lemon was near dry, she put it in her water and took a sip. With a grin, Julia replied "I told you, aren't you glad you found me?" She said sarcastically with a slight chuckle.

Danny took the money that she had given him and graciously handed it back to her. "Please, it's on me," he said with a smile, moving his hand back to his drink to take another sip. He had to say, he was very curious about this woman. A woman that read Shakespeare in a random wizarding cafe in Diagon Alley was rare these days, if not on the verge of being impossible. He set the drink back down on the table and looked back up at her, a grin forming on his face. "Yeah, I guess I am glad," he said calmly, another flirtatious spike in his tone.

Out of the blue, he heard a random shrieking from the other side of the room, Danny immediately turning his head to the source. Oh, it was just that drunkard. He groaned and began to rub his eyes with what almost appeared to be embarrassment. God, would she seriously just leave Diagon and get drunk somewhere else? He looked again towards the woman and saw two men grabbing her underneath the arms and essentially dragging her out of the store, much to the amusement and horror of some of the patrons. "I can't tell you the amount of times that woman has shown up to the Cauldron," he said, shifting his body back towards Julia "and got so drunk that she thought she was on Mars. I'm surprised her liver is even functional at this point."

Julia left the money sitting on the table- she refused to let someone pay for her, this wasn't the 00s anymore, Julia was perfectly capable of paying for herself. If it had been a problem, then perhaps she would be more opted to put the money back in her bag. But she had enough money on her to pay for everyone in the cafe, and then some. So there was no reason for him to be paying. "I do insist you let me pay for myself. I hate having people paying for me when I'm capable of doing so for myself." She said honestly. But she couldn't help but blush at Danny's innuendo.

Julia was startled as she heard the random shrieking from the woman in the corner."Oh my God can't that woman just go somewhere that is no where near civilization?" She said, a bit irritated at the drunk. "Thank goodness they're taking her out. She's always a nuisance wherever she goes." She slowly took a sip of her water, watching the workers escort her reluctant body out. She laughed at Danny's remark. "She thought she was on Mars? I really wish she would go there and bother the aliens." As the woman left, the cafe was extremely silent, even with the couple of teens making out in the other corner who were trying to be discreet- it wasn't working.

Julia grimaced and turned back to Danny. "Soooo what brings you to Diagon Alley on a fine day like today?" She smiled invitingly.

[This isn't the 00s anymore? I see what you did there...]

Danny was glad that the workers had managed to get her out safely, he wondered if they were going to take her to the Ministry or something for public indecency. It'd definitely send her a message, that would be for sure. He looked back at Julia and smiled "But then all the cool martians would be annoyed out of their mind, I couldn't put someone like her there!" he joked, laughing alongside her. He looked over to where Julia had been looking at the time and noticed the two teens kissing. Well, you only did live once after all...but in public? Ehh, he didn't really care, and he turned back around.

He nodded his head at her insistence and pocketed the money that she had given him. He would give it back to her later when she wouldn't be looking, he had offered to get her a drink after all, yet he wouldn't argue with her. He looked back into her eyes and shrugged. "I come to the alley a lot these days," he said calmly, a grin forming on his face "looking for some interesting people to talk to, such as yourself." He leaned a little bit onto his shoulder on the table, adjusting his weight a little to give himself more of a relaxed look. "Now that you brought that question up," he said "what brings you here on this fine day?"

Swallowing a gulp of water, Julia began, "That's true. I do feel bad for her, she must have some reason for drinking so much. Maybe she's alone?" She wondered. She always had a big heart, and felt sympathy for everybody. She couldn't bear being mean to people when she didn't have a reason to. "But hopefully she'll learn and cut back on the alcohol. That much can't possibly be doing any good for her fragile body." She noticed Danny following her stare at the teenagers, and shied away, blushing again. She tried to hide her red face by sipping her drink and playing with her hair. Julia was always embarrassed when she blushed; she felt so vulnerable like that.

"Erm, well I come here often as well. I live by myself, and I hate being alone. I'm comforted even sitting near people, which is why I'm always around here. And this happens to be my favorite coffee shop; I love sitting and reading here, it's usually a lot quieter though. Not many interesting people come along here" She smiled at Danny and looked out the window again as she heard very faint thunder in the distance.

Danny nodded his head. "I know how that feels," he said calmly, putting on a comforting smile "I live alone as well and I know how it is to try and be close to someone...anyone for that matter." Some cold memories flooded back into his mind, which he promptly shut back into his head. He didn't need a pity trip right now, and he wasn't going to let his own past change the mood. He kept himself in a relaxed position and said "Is it safe to say that I may be one of those interesting people?" He wasn't sure if she was completely interested in him, but it seemed sort of clear to him. Perhaps this would be the answer to that...see how things would go.

He had noticed that she looked out the window again and so he decided to look out as well. At first, he hadn't noticed the weather conditions and only looked at the people passing by, but the thunder was audible enough to give him reason to look up. Thunderstorm was passing by...how depressing. He pushed himself back up into an upright position and looked back at Julia. "So Julia," he said with a small smile "do you want to get out of here?" He hoped she didn't take that the wrong way, but the thunderstorms were pretty brutal here. Be better to leave earlier than the storm so they wouldn't get dowsed in the coming storm.

Julia nodded to him, glad that he understood. "I hate it, but I'm an adult, and I have to deal with it." She stated. She was so used to having everything handed to her. Always living with her parents when she wasn't living with other girls at Hogwarts, Julia was always with someone. And ever since she moved out of her parents' house, it was like a reality check. She needed a job and possibly a steady relationship. Or maybe even a roommate. Just someone to be there so she wasn't alone all of the time. Julia looked up at Danny and smiled, "Yes, you most certainly are. You definitely are different than others that I've met... in a good way, of course.

"I hope you feel the same, and that I'm not just a babbling moron" Julia laughed. She was always worried that she was bothering people around her. She wasn't insecure, just paranoid. She hated being bothersome or feeling like a burden. "That depends, where do you want to go?" Julia teased, but was also serious. She wasn't sure where they could go, except for the Leaky Cauldron, or her house, and she wasn't sure if it was too early to be bringing him home just yet. But she didn't trust the dainty cafe's infrastructure to handle the severe storms that often passed the area. They would go to a place that at least had a sturdy roof and windows. The thunder became more audible in the distance, and the dark clouds progressively became denser, though they still had probably another half hour before the storm actually began to hit. That was enough time to decide on a place to go.

Danny had a slight smile form on his mouth. Well, it was definitely a start, and now he would see where it would go. Perhaps things would begin to look up after all. He chuckled a second at Julia's statement and said "No, I find you very interesting as well. And I have to say as well, you are most certainly different than the others I have met." It was pretty true in all honestly, and hopefully this would actually be heading somewhere instead of the other direction he was worried about. No, she was a catch, and he just had to make sure he'd play his cards right for now.

Danny thought for a moment and took a deep breath. The truth was, he hadn't purchased a home yet in England, so he had to figure out another place as to where they could go. Leaky Cauldron was a bit of a place you didn't want to bring someone you were interested in to, it didn't exactly scream 'class' or 'elegance'. Yet he didn't want to intrude upon her privacy so shortly, that had just met after all. Ehh, who knows, perhaps that would just kick start thing. No thoughts really popped into his mind besides asking if her place was alright, yet he sort of had a sinking feeling about that. "Well, I guess we could head to the Cauldron," he said, casually, not really sure if that were the best decision. After all, a bunch of drunks gathered there anyway, often tearing their eyes out for an attractive woman to walk so, so they could try to 'smitten her' or something like that. Pathetic almost, at least go to a nightclub or something. "I wouldn't be sure if we should, or we could head to your place or something." Kinda eased that one in, smooth landing.

Julia laughed; if she didn't trust the cafe, why would she trust the Leaky Cauldron? It was leaky after all (ooc: HAH. Pun.). Maybe her house was the best idea. It's not like they were going to progress much anyways, Julia wasn't sure that he was that fond of her. "As much fun as hanging out with more drunks sounds, I think my house would be fine" She grinned. She wasn't sure that her house was much fun to begin with, but neither was sitting in a cafe, but Danny made that part enjoyable.

"We should go now, then. I don't want to get stuck in the rain- I didn't bring a coat" Julia grinned and got up from her seat. "I have a port key set up just outside of the Alley. It will take us right to my house" Julia lead Danny out of the cafe and to the small clearing past Diagon Alley. The port key was a tacky chicken decoration Julia's father bought her in attempt to be like a muggle. Julia despised the thing and only used it as a port key. "Hold on tight" She grinned and held on to the chicken, and was instantly transported outside of Julia's home.

The storm had gotten much closer, and lightning was flashing in the air every now and again. Hastily, Julia grabbed Danny and lead him to her front porch, unlocking the door and going inside. The house was dark, and with a flick of her wand, Julia turned on all the lights. "Well, this is my home" She smiled to Danny.

Spoiler:

Well, that was smoother than we he originally believed would happened. He smiled though, seeing that she was accepting of the idea and said in a cheery voice "Great, let's go!" He followed her at the pace she set and continued to do so until they reached the portkey...at least, he hoped it was a portkey and not just a key. "Uhh," he said, feeling like he should be chuckling. He was correct in his assumption that it was a portkey, quickly grabbing onto the chicken before she teleported them away.

Whether it was apparating or teleporting via portkey, he hated the feeling of squeezing through that little tube that he always felt when they jumped. But luckily, it wasn't that long and it instantly had them to her house. He raised his brow and looked on with a surprised look. No wonder she felt alone, the place was big enough to hold a family of 4 or maybe more. Before he could say anything though, she had grabbed him and pulled him inside, already enjoying the breeze of air conditioning once more. One of the negatives about the wizarding world after all was that you had zero technology.

He stepped inside with her and began to survey the place, taking in almost every little detail. It was a nice home, so he figured he may as well do a little bit more than just ogle at the place. "Very nice place you have," he said, doing a 360 turn in place to get a full view of the entrance area "I'm jealous I don't have a place like this." He turned towards Julia and smiled warmly. "Thank you for letting me into your home," he said courteously "I know we didn't have many options though when it came to a place to stay for a while.