Oh hello there, nice to meet you ((Astoria))

Jess was walking through the weaving path of diagon alley, a smile on his face. He'd seen a boost in prosperity of the place recently, a much welcomed change for sure, but one he'd not been crossing his fingers for. He looked down and saw a pidgeon, its colouring fitting well with the greys of the alley, and made a clicking noise, managing to scare the bird away. "Ah well," he muttered, walking to a bench and sitting at it, so he could just enjoy the view

Astoria had needed to get out of the manor. With the children at school and Draco busy doing...something, work she assumed, but he never really told her anything in exact detail, she needed a distraction. Diagon Alley would do, she decided quickly one morning, after rising to find the house empty save for the house elves. She dressed quickly, as she did most mornings, in jeans and a bright blue blouse, adding a matching blue fashionable cloak over the top. She was a mother yes, and a wife, had been for many years, but she still liked to look nice and enjoyed the finer things, especially in clothing. She still looked young and silently thanked Merlin that her mother had also always looked a few years younger than her actual age. After fixing her hair, Astoria turned on the spot, her cloak swishing around her ankles and reappeared in Diagon Alley. She never would like to admit it, but when in a hurry Astoria's apperation skills took a hit and she tended to stumble where she appeared. Thankfully, this time, the Alley wasn't too crowded and it seemed few would notice her near tumble--Malfoy name and honor and all that at stake--except the man who was sitting on the bench that she had apperated quite near to. The rush of dizziness that hit soon after apperition came to her quickly--she had never quite gotten used to it--and she sat down almost immediately. Placing a hand to her forehead, she closed her eyes and spoke without looking at the man.

"You don't mind do you...me sitting here a moment?"

Jess looked up and saw the young lady disapparate in front of him, and noticed she looked rather off balance, and slightly out of place. "Please do," he said, standing and gesturing for her to sit at the bench. "Are you ok?" he asked looking into his cloak and retrieving a small vial. "Here, take this," he said, holding the vial out to her. "It'll calm your stomach, and stop your head spinning," he told her with a helpful smile.

Take something from a stranger to ingest? Astoria knew you just don't do that, she had taught her children that you don't accept things from strangers. Especially being a Malfoy--who know when someone might blame the family for the death of a great-grandfather or something and want to poison them? She briefly considered taking the vial. The man looked innocent enough, but those were usually the ones who had to be watched even more closely.

"I'll be okay in a second," she said rather quickly, "Thank you, though," she amended. She appreciated the offer, even if she wouldn't be accepting it. "I'm sorry to interrupt..." she wasn't sure if she was interrupting anything at all, but it felt like the right thing to say, even if she did leave the sentence dangling.

Jess grinned and closed the palm of his hand, opening it to reveal the vial was gone. "No worries, and you definitely weren't. All i was doing was sitting here and relaxing," he told her. He could certainly see why she'd chosen not to take the vial, if it were himself he certainly wouldn't particularly not in times like this, with as many enemies as he had... No thanks, he'd be fine as he was. But he felt it his duty to offer the help anyway.

"I don't believe we've met," he said, sticking his hand out to shake the newcomer's. "My name is Jess Potter," he said smiling a touch and nodding. "And you are?" He asked, hoping she'd reply. There were more than a few people he'd met in the past who were unwilling to respond to such questions, which was a rather big pain. Society really was destroying common courtesy he believed, but he knew he would forever try to maintain the standards taught to him by his elders.

Astoria smiled a little shakily, feeling better by the minute. She was glad she hadn't interrupted him. She understood the need for alone time and privacy, and hated to be intruded upon. She slid herself up into a straighter sitting position, going automatically into proper and prim--the way she had been raised--before reaching out a hand to shake his. Potter. She should have known someone who would be nice to a perfect stranger would be connected to that family. Astoria, unlike most of her family, didn't make assumptions based on name alone, but if she were seen actually sharing a bench and having a conversation with a Potter, the Malfoys would have gone ballistic. And there was no telling how he would react if she said her last name.

"Astoria," she said, quickly deciding to leave off the last name. She didn't like being called Mrs. Malfoy anyway as she consistently thought of Narcissa when she heard the term. "We haven't met, but its a pleasure," she replied, best to keep up appearances, after all. The family was suspected, but so far no connection between the Malfoys and the Dark Arts had been able to stick.

Jess nodded and shook her hand ((Excuse god mode)). "Pleasure to meet you," he said nodding, noticing she left her surname off. This wasn't the first time he'd met someone recently, who'd chosen to leave their surname unmentioned when they met. He was rather curious about this young lady, and decided he'd try and learn more about her.

"Sorry if i freaked you out with the potion," he said with a chuckle, "I swear i'm not some drugger," he said, raising his hands in mock defense, before lowering them and smiling. "Can i treat you to a coffee?" He asked, "Maybe a little bit of chocolate too, you look like you could use it," he said, referring to her earlier wobbles.

"No worries," she said with a smile, "I didn't think you were, but better safe than sorry, you know. You never know who might have it out for you these days." She said it in a joking way, but was entirely serious about her statement.

"I would love some coffee," she said enthusiastically, happy to have someone to talk to. She hadn't been looking forward to her day alone, even though that would have been okay too--anything to get her out of the Manor. "And chocolate," she said, "The apparition examiner passed me, but only just. I get into a hurry sometimes and I end up like this." She laughed at herself, because that was really all you could do when your apparition skills were less than stellar and it happened to be your primary mode of transportation.

Jess nodded, he knew she was right, but there was no further point on dwelling on his not-dangerous-potion-carrying-ness

"Sparks is a nice place," he said, gesturing down the alley to a semi concealed sign swinging in the breeze. "They do some really great coffee there. Or there's Florean's, he does a mean choclate combo," he said with a chuckle, thinking back from the days where he would make sure he had one of Florean's chocolate emergency packs under his bed at hogwarts.

He then laughed and shrugged. "Apparation is uncomfortable, but it's also handy, and beats a portkey," he said with a shrug, begining to walk down the alley with her, as both stores were in the same general direction. He would've asked her the 20 Questions he normally did, but he decided to give it a break, at least until they were coffeed up and relaxed... at least

"Florean's, please," she said quickly, having always had a soft spot for the ice cream shop, "If you don't mind there instead of Sparks, that is." She preferred the familiar and the known to other places, places that she hadn't been and wasn't sure would be as good. "My parents used to take my sister and me to Florean's whenever they thought we deserved a treat," she said, smiling at the memory.

"I'm normally able to at least pretend that I'm good at apparition," she said with small laugh, "But I got in a hurry today, wanting out of the house, and it got the best of me." She really could normally at least appear able and hide her horrible apparition skills, but today had been an off day.