Skating on Thin Ice

[Alexandre Fontaine]

Ugh. Alex hated winter. Much more than he even hated other things, which was saying something. Not only had he had to go to Hogsmeade to pick up his new robes, which was far too close to his sister to be comfortable, the pavements were all icy.

Not that that bothered him. No, he had a perfect sense of balance, but some idiots didn’t seem to be able to cope. Cousin Annie or whatever she was called had never been able to go anywhere without injuring herself, and everyone else here seemed to be having the same issue. He had been raised in Italy for merlin’s sake, and he was managing fine!

Alex was just about to cross the road when another imbecile slipped, right into him. Out of instinct more than anything else, he grabbed them and hauled them rather roughly back into a standing position. “Be more careful!” He barked rather crossly.

[Elsbeth Lupin]

I feel like I'm stealing all of your open threads, sorry. xP

Despite the icy conditions, Elsbeth had to get out of the house. Her attempts at seducing her husband had yet to come to fruition. It had been far too long since she'd been with a man, and she was getting antsy. She couldn't remember the last time this had been an issue. So much for married life. She'd had more sex when she'd been single. As the weeks stretched on, she'd become rather high-strung. Before she'd

With little aim other than to burn some energy off, the blonde had scurried her way down the High Street. She had been doing relatively well maintaining her footing, until a rather handsome and undoubtedly handsome gentleman passed by her. Without even a moment's hesitation, she tossed herself at him, feigning a slip on the ice.

"Oh! How clumsy of me," She attempted to sound embarrassed, but was distracted by the thought that she didn't mind the roughness of the moment, "The walk is far more icy than I had realized! I am so terribly lucky that you were here to catch me, sir."

  

[Alexandre Fontaine]

Alex quite plainly looked her up and down, brow creased. She was certainly pretty, but obviously didn’t have an abundance of brain cells if she couldn’t even manage to walk down an icy street without accosting some innocent man going about his own everyday business. There again, she was pretty.

“You should be more careful.” He repeated rather briskly, raising one eyebrow. “I would be a shame to see your head cracked on the pavement.” Alex added rather gruffly.

[Elsbeth Lupin]

"A very great shame indeed," She agreed with a coy smile, "Thank you from saving me from such a fate. Though, I think..." Elsbeth winced as she took a step forward — toward him — "I may have twisted my ankle." How terribly silly of her to have done so.

If only she'd thought to unclasp her fur-lined robe to reveal her low-cut (but not low enough to suggest prostitution) dress. If there was one good thing that having children had given her, it was curves and a pleasantly ample bosom.

  

[Alexandre Fontaine]

She was pretty much throwing herself at him, which if nothing else stroked his ego- not something that even normally needed fuelling. Frankly, considering how logical and detached he was usually, it was rather alarming that he would be so easily won over, but his pride had always been his stumbling block, right from a young age.

“Well,” He replied gruffly, though he was secretly liking the attention. “It would be remiss of me to not help you.” He said, offering out his arm. “Are you in need of the hospital?”

[Elsbeth Lupin]

She took his arm gratefully, "Oh no, I don't believe it is as dire as all that." The hospital had treated her for certain ailments during her previous occupation several years back. She would not like to revisit it and spark old memories - not with the new life she had built up.

"I just need to rest it for a few moments. Weak ankles, unfortunately." She smiled modestly, as if admitting to such a thing was embarrassing.

  

[Alexandre Fontaine]

“Everyone has their minor flaws.” Alex replied rather non-committally. He was sure the lady’s ankles were rather lovely but it was hardly proper to say so- well, they probably shouldn’t have been discussing ankles at all. There again, he often wondered how there were enough topics deemed ‘proper’ for his grandmother to talk half as much as she did. Maybe it was a talent- not one that ran in the family, it seemed, given his own inability to string together more than fivish words in a way that his grandmother approved of.

“Would you like to find a bench?” He offered, managing for once to see past his own immediate preoccupations. “Or perhaps I should escort you home?”

[Elsbeth Lupin]

A bench would have been just fine, but since he'd offered...

"Would you mind taking me home?" She asked with wide, innocent blue eyes, "It isn't far - and I would be mortified if I were to run into someone I know sitting upon a bench with a twisted ankle. They would tease me for days." After a moment's pause, she added, "I would hate to impose. You weren't going anywhere too terribly important, I hope?"

  

[Alexandre Fontaine]

“Nothing so urgent it cannot be delayed.” He assured her with a small smile. He couldn’t remember what it was he had come out for anyway now, and it was hardly like anything in his life was so urgent anyway. “Besides, I can hardly leave you here.” Alex added in his best ‘heroic’ tone that frankly just made him sound a bit like a pompous twat.

“Where is it you live?” He asked as an afterthought, rather forgetting that that was an important detail.

[Elsbeth Lupin]

Elsbeth flashed him one of her best smiles. She couldn't quite be certain, but she had a feeling that perhaps this fellow had caught on to her. Either way - at this point - she believed that she was winning and winning was all that mattered.

"Just up the road there - on Sapphire Way," She motioned in the direction that they ought to head, "It is incredibly chivalric of you to escort me, sir. Do you live nearby as well?" Are you as rich as I think you are? Are we neighbors? He clearly did not recognize her. If all went well, she wouldn't be opposed to being neighbors, so long as there was some distance there. She would have hated for him to get ideas.

  

[Alexandre Fontaine]

“It is no trouble.” He replied as he helped the lady in the direction she pointed. It certainly wasn’t too far for Alex to consider it much of an effort, otherwise he might have not agreed. Luckily Hogsmeade (well, the bits he bothered with) were rather compact in scale. He had no clue how large the slums were, but was hardly going to concern himself with that.

“No, actually- I live in Bloomsbury, London.” The fashionableness of the address (courtesy of Uncle John, however) never failed to touch a note of pride. As did the pricetag.

[Elsbeth Lupin]

Bloomsbury, London! Why, he was far wealthier than she'd imagined! It was a pity she was already married, or she would have gone after him in a heart beat. The fact that she was a mother and basically did not have very many good familial connections was irrelevant. He would have married her for her cleverness and beauty, and not cared a lick about the rest. Then again, she had promised her current husband that she would kill him... he did have it coming, didn't he?

"Oh, what a lovely place," She replied with impressed politeness, "I have several friends that live there." Not. Elsbeth had no friends, but he didn't need to know that.

  

[Alexandre Fontaine]

“I see you share my taste for the finer things in life.” Alex commented. He frankly wouldn’t have known if she had friends there because Alex really made a point of not talking to his neighbours, or to people much in general. He could, however, appreciate luxury very well. Unfortunately for him he was rather (read: very) inclined towards laziness.

“Do you visit London much? I find Diagon Alley certainly isn’t as convenient as Hogsmeade, but it does have it’s charm.”