Lame Dealings

Ducky typically liked taking the Hogsmeade weekends as what they were - an opportunity to go have some childish fun with friends.Typically, his friends would go and destroy the village, filling their pockets with sweets and tricks, before making their way to the shrieking shack. At about that time, Ducky would pull out a bottle of vodka, some Sugar and Spice... and the real party would start. If he had his way, he ended up returning to the castle at the crack of dawn, trousers falling down, shirt completely ruined.

That was the way it was supposed to be.

But Cain had owled him last minute and begged him to come to Diagon with him. Ducky reluctantly found a seventeen year old the apparate him to the Diagon, and he set about finding his half brother, sunglasses helping him blend into the crowd with ease.

Ducky ducked (ha) down Knockturn, certain he would find his brother down there. That he did. Cain was talking to two very seedy looking witches, a lost look of innocence on his face as usual. Ducky waited for the witches to walk on before Ducky hurried over to Cain, pulling him into a stoney alcove.

"What the hell, Cain? What were you goin' on about in your letter?"

Cain's expression was concerned - typical. Such a lost look. "Sorry, Jo, I just... I need help bumming these packets off. I'm in deep with a dealer type, you know, mate?"

Ducky looked down at the packets in Cain's hands - a good dozen or so.

"Sugar?"

Cain shook his head. "Spice. A special blend with muggle pharmaceuticals. Wicked potent, and real expensive."

Ducky grimaced. "How expensive?"

Cain chewed on his lip. "25 galleons."

"25 galleons!" Ducky exclaimed. "We have to get rid of six dollars worth of drugs?"

Cain reached up and rubbed his head. "Actually, mate... each one is worth 25 galleons. I have a good half dozen."

Ducky blanched, covering his face. "Shit."

"We're f*cked, aren't we?"

Ducky's hands slipped off of his face, staring at Cain - the lovable idiot. "Nah, mate. We can do this. C'mon - I know some people."

And they hurried onto the street of Diagon, pushing through crowds. Thank Merlin no one else from school came to Diagon. He needed to stay focused.

((25 galleons is about $120, btw.)

Ellery had thought that seeing her aunt today would have put her in a better mood than what she had been. She had woken up early, tracked down her old friend Lily, and convinced Lily to apparate her to Diagon so that she could meet her aunt at Fleurish. Aunt Lorinda, the woman who swore to Ellery's parents that she was going to be a witch. The woman who spent the summer before Ellery's first year teaching her most of the things the children at Hogwarts knew from growing up in wizarding families. The woman who always checked up on her, always paid for her school supplies, and always cared. Ellery looked up into the blue eyes of her father's sister and thought about how grateful she was for this woman.

Ellery's eyes dropped back to the coffee resting between her palms, warming her hands. She thought of her 11th birthday. Both of her parents were muggles, and up until then she didn't even know the term muggle. She had walked outside their front door that morning, planning on getting birthday breakfast with her mother, and a big, beautiful brown owl landed in front of her. Ellery remembered it's golden eyes locking with her's for a moment before flying off and leaving a letter where it had landed. Before Ellery could even grasp for it, her mother had picked it up with wide eyes. That was the day everything changed.

Ellery took a deep breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Her coffee was in a to-go cup, but she could feel that she'd barely drank anything. Although they were surrounded by bright and happy flowers, Ellery felt dreary.

"Thinking about your mother, Ellie?" Ellery's big brown eyes looked up to meet the blue eyes of her aunt. Her aunt had blue eyes that reminded Ellery of winter, and light brown hair that was wavy today. If anyone looked at them, they probably wouldn't even guess that the two were related. Ellery's features were half-Puerto Rican, with her dark hair and brown eyes. Her mother was Puerto Rican, and from the states. She assumed one of the many reasons her father couldn't stand her was because she inherited a lot from her mother.

Ellery rolled her eyes and dropped them to her coffee again. "What are you, a mind reader?"

"Nope. I'm just your aunt."

Ellery scowled. She listened to Lorinda sigh. "I know you miss her, Ellie. But you have to stop blaming yourself. She's not going to come back." The silence after must have made Lorinda uncomfortable because Ellery could hear her fumbling with her things. A coin purse was placed next to Ellery's right hand that still clutched her coffee. She looked up to her aunt waiting for an explanation. Lorinda stood. "Maybe some shopping will be the therapy you need for the bad mood you've been in since the new year." Ellery knew her aunt meant well, but that last comment stung.

She sipped her coffee as Aunt Lorinda left Fleurish. The coffee wasn't nearly as hot as before, but it wasn't lukewarm either. She took a long drink of it before getting up, putting the coin purse into her jacket pocket and leaving Fluerish herself, coffee in hand.

Ellery was miserable. She had decided against doing quidditch this year, which in all honestly must have been the only place she really acquired friends. Now she was consistently bored and alone. No, not bored. She had discovered a love for reading. She had been filling her mind with muggle books, secretly wishing that she was never born with magic so that her family didn't turn out the way it was. So Ellery wasn't bored, per se. She was just lonely. And although she was okay with time to herself, she was beginning to feel like a speck of dust within Hogwarts. The walls felt too close together and the amount of students sometimes made her want to escape. What really appealed to her sometimes was the idea of just flying away.

Ellery just wanted to fly.

She pulled out the coin purse and surveyed it with her eyes. She assumed that Lorinda had put enough money for a few clothes shopping trips, but all Ellery could think of was a new broom. The sudden whimsical urge to let the sky take all of her problems away made Ellery smile for the first time that day. She made a hard turn and purposefully strode through Diagon Alley, eyes aglow with a goal in mind. So focused, Ellery would probably miss any familiar face in the crowd unless she ran right into them.

And so they went about their work. Man, Ducky sometimes wished his professors could see him doing this stuff. If there was a subject for putting food on the table, he would have Outstandings every time. The boy had no focus when it came to reading, couldn't be bothered to even really try in class, and his common sense was seriously lacking in anything tied to academia. Sit him in front of ingredients, the book, and directions and he would still manage to fail at brewing a potion. But give him some pills, a crowd, and a deadline, and he worked magic.

If only they could see him... thought that would be the last thing he needed. Professors seeing him like this.

Honestly, it would be highly inconvenient for him to be seen by anyone from school. Sure, everyone had heard the rumors about Cain, had assumed that Ducky probably dealt every now and then, that he was just as criminal as his brother. But they had never seen it - so they didn't hold it against him. And the few students they sold too would never say a word out of fear of their dirty little secret getting out as well.

Within ten minutes, Ducky had pawned off two of the packets to a friend of his who was always partying. It still wasn't enough though. He paused in the middle of the street, thinking to himself. "Right - I'll find someone than you come and bring in the stuff, right?" Anything to make Cain feel like he was contributing.

Ducky put his head down and plunged into the throng of people pushing this way and that way. All was fine, until he knocked into someone deep in the thick of the crowd. Ducky was much too focused on his task at hand to be pleasant, so he withdrew, snarling, "Watch it, you-"

He had to stop.

It was Ellery Dixon.

Shit.

Diagon Alley was always pretty busy, but Ellery was normally a master at weaving in and out of people.

That is... usually.

In the middle of a bulkier crowd at Diagon, Ellery's vision suddenly blurred and her body was slammed into by another. Instinctively trying not to hit the ground, she reached out her arms to catch anyone for balance. So while her hands grasped the clothing of the person who ran into her, her coffee spilled over both of them (luckily it was no longer hot and just a nice warm at this point). While all this happened physically, Ellery's gasp reflected what her mind was saying, 'oh-sh*t-oh-sh*t-oh-sh*t.' Once she found her balance, her ears recognized the harsh tone of the man who ran into her.

Ellery's big brown eyes met their own reflection in Ducky's sunglasses.

The expression that began as surprise quickly changed to something caught between confusion and anger. Of all the people to see this weekend, on a crappy day, it would be the most obnoxious person she had ever had the chance of knowing.

"What the bloody hell?" she greeted him with. "Shouldn't you be at Hogsmeade quacking it up with your little squad, Duck?" Ellery did intentionally just make a pun, but she was angry about it. An angry pun - more mockery than pun-nery.

Her eyes darted to her hands still clutching his shirt from when she had to balance herself. Ellery scowled and snatched her hands away. She began to wipe the coffee off that had spilled on her jacket. What a day.

And that was it - cover blown. Ducky knew he could talk his way out of Ellery realizing anything, but it would throw their business dealings off for the rest of the day. He and Cain would have to find a new venue to pawn off the packets and it was going to be all wonky with Ellery till she finally dropped it - she wasn't exactly the sort of person who let things go. Especially not where he was concerned. He just needed to find an excuse quick.

She was already yelling at him - yeah, big surprise there - her jacket now dripping with coffee. "I'm sorry - sorry about that." He flicked his own hands free of the brown droplets that had spattered all over him as well, reaching out as though he was going to help wipe off her jacket, but he dropped his hands - he'd rather keep them after all.

"Sorry, Ellery, I just-"

And suddenly, Cain was at his side, looking slightly eager, slightly piqued. "Hey, who's this?" He looked at Ellery. "Are you looking to buy-"

Ducky whipped around and smacked the back of his hand against his half brother's chest, causing a deep gasp out of Cain. Ducky immediately put his hands on Cain's shoulders and walked him away, waiting until he was a good few feet away from Ellery to growl, "Not her - I go to school with her."

"Look, Jo-"

"No, no, look - you take the rest of the packets," he tipped them into his brother's hand, "-and I'll find you, okay?"

"J-"

"No, Cain!"

Cain stared at Ducky for a long moment, obviously hurt a bit by Ducky's harsh tone. But he dropped his gaze and shuffled his feet, sighing. "Okay. Right. Whatever." He turned and hurried down the street, hands plunged deep into his pockets. Ducky swallowed hard and turned around to look at Ellery, smiling cheekily at the Gryffindor girl. "Sorry 'bout that, babe. I'm too popular for my own good, you know?"

Ellery flinched back a bit when his hands looked like they were beginning to reach toward her. She did not need any help to wipe the coffee away from the culprit of the crime. Her gaze didn't soften even a little at his apologies. She wiped her hands on her jean-covered thighs to get the sweet, now-cold liquid off her fingers.

Her eyes snapped up to the figure now at Ducky's side. Her face evened out, a little surprised at the unfamiliar face. She looked him up and down as he started speaking, not even bothering to try introducing herself - but he was on to the next sentence anyway. He had a long face, big ears, and the kind of eyebrows that always look concerned. She looked to Ducky and back to the new face when Ducky turned to smack him right in the chest.

Ellery's eyebrows raised. She felt like that wasn't the usual, playfully obnoxious Ducky she was used to, and something about concerned-horse-man told her he wasn't expecting that.

She stood stock still as Ducky walked him forcefully away, too. "What..." she murmured out loud. Ellery was confused, to say the least. She tried to focus her ears to listen to what they were saying, but with the crowd-noise all she could hear was that Ducky was a little more heated about their conversation than concerned-horse-man. Then concerned-horse-man and Ducky stood there a moment before concerned-horse-man shuffled off, and not very happily.

Ellery patiently waited and stared at Ducky when he turned around. Her gaze hardened when he called her babe. She was quiet for a moment after he spoke. She looked to where concerned-horse-man meandered and back to Ducky. What came to Ellery next was a strong sense of curiosity.

The eyebrows on her face lifted and her eyes might have sparkled. She started taking a couple of lazy steps toward the direction the stranger had gone as if she might chase after him. "My, Duck, you do have some interesting friends," she said, sending a glance toward him. "But I'm curious, babe." She threw the word at him.

Ellery moved to pick up her pace a bit. "I sure want to know what he was going to ask I was looking for."

This girl wasn't buying that this was just some guy. If there was someone out there who could get on Ducky Baker's nerves, she wanted to be friends with him.

He had been hoping that his jibe would be enough to distract her from realizing what was going on. Typically all he really had to do was give her a cheeky smirk to get her so distracted - secretly because she was in love with him, of course - but because she was usually so worked up every time that he did something arrogant. It really only took a quick assumption from him of how wonderful he was, and Ellery was irritated and raring to prove him wrong. It was sort of interesting, really, that he could get her so worked up so quickly.

Deeply rooted sexual repression.

That's what it all came down to.

The joking smile slipped right off his face, his mask dropping into the dusty street. Instinctively, he reached out and caught her arm at the wrist, his face suddenly serious, suddenly very unlike Ducky Baker. One shake of the head. His eyes boring into hers.

"No, Ellery. No."

Ellery faced Ducky straight on when his hand caught her wrist. She gave a small pout at first. Her curiosity was on fire. Who was the concerned-horse-man? Why was he so concerned? How did he know Ducky? And where in the heck did he run off to? She was suddenly hyper-aware of her wand in her boot. Maybe she could cast a quick little something and run off to meet her new best friend.

But maybe not.

A change had happened to Ducky in the quick moment between when he grabbed her wrist and made eye contact. His words paralyzed her. Not because she was keen on listening to listening to his demands, but because she had never seen him so serious. Ducky was always smiling, running, laughing - something - and his upbeat personality made her cringe. But whoever that kid was, he made Ducky different. He made him serious.

In that moment, Ellery found Ducky attractive.

She swallowed, disengaging her eyes from his brown eyes for a moment. That second she looked away gave her enough time to gather her damn senses. Ellery stared back into his eyes then. "Why, Duck?" She put her other hand on Ducky's hand softly, as a reassurance that she wouldn't chase after concerned-horse-man. Her hand went to pull his hand off her wrist. Ellery was a little concerned. "Who is he?"