Monkey Business

[Annabelle Scrimgeour]

Bella had very low expectations for this Christmas season, but surprisingly it wasn't as bad as she'd thought it would be. She'd felt guilty upon the realization that she hadn't even thought of her family—including Araminta—but didn't feel as bad when she realized her sister hadn't contacted her in months.

During her off-time from work, Bella either stayed in the warmth of the Stone household or gathered the courage to venture into the busy streets of Diagon Alley. Store-bought gifts were becoming more common with every holiday season, so she wasn't all that surprised to see many shoppers out and about with bows and gift wrapping in their arms.

There was, however, one thing that caught her eye for a bit longer than a single moment. It was a creature—a monkey, more specifically—that looked far too familiar. The monkey from Mexico, she thought, remembering the creature for when she'd confronted Mr. Crouch about him in the Hogsmeade shop. What in Merlin's name was it doing here, and in the arms of a... pregnant woman? The welcome witch attempted to subtly follow the woman, but her subtle attempts turned out to be less than so when Bella found herself face-to-face with the blonde after the sea of people dissipated for a moment.

"Oh," she said in surprise, noticing that the woman was staring straight at her. "I - I'm sorry; I don't mean to stare. I was only curious about your... pet," she assured, giving the shorter woman a friendly smile.

@'Alphonsine Maxine'/@'Demelza McGonagall'

  

[Alphonsine Maxine]

Stares were something she had long gotten used to. She was a mess, her hair slicked back with oils and a fair collection of dirt. It wasn't like she could bathe. She didn't even have a place to sleep. Even then, it wasn't that she stood out that way but rather the fact she could no longer hide her pregnancy nor could she afford clothes that would. She was barely able to feed herself let alone aquire new clothing. 

No one would hire her - she wasn't married and they didn't want the scandle - so she had no steady income. She'd known she was a witch for over six months and still didn't have a wand. Her only saving graces were the monkey could find its own food and that people were occasionally kind enough to give her food or coin.

This was different. This girl was staring at her... intently. To the point she was being followed and starting to get uncomfortable. After a few moments, she spun around, coming face to face with the dark haired, well dressed woman. "You follow me," Ally stated, her accent strong though her English had far improved. Well she supposed she could count that as her second blessing. 

As the other, younger girl, stammered a reply she found she could understand all the girl said. "Interested in the monkey? Why?" While she meant to return the monkey, she'd grown attatched to it, the half a year she'd known it.

  

[Annabelle Scrimgeour]

Upon closer inspection, the woman looked as if she'd been sleeping on the stress. Unmarried and pregnant, she thought with horror, her mind flashing to herself in the she situation as if it was one of her greatest fears. Nevertheless, Bella, a girl who too had been brought up in a low-income situation where prostitution seemed like an inevitable end unless she managed to get an education (which luckily she did, even at the expense of losing her loving family), felt sympathy for her.

"Er - I just thought I'd seen that monkey before. Wherever did you get it from?" she asked curiously, trying to hold small talk instead of seeming too suspicious. Unfortunately she'd managed to do just that by following the other woman, but perhaps she could come off as more friendly than skeptical.

  

[Alphonsine Maxine]

It was a nightmare. If a rich girl got pregnant she was shipped off to distant family and could come back once she had the child like nothing ever happened. She got kicked out with no money to her name. And what was worse about the whole thing was unless Reuben was willing to help her, her child was bound to suffer the same fate she was. It line would die its first winter's night - though the fact it would be born in doing was nice but it didn't solve how she'd care for it if he didn't. 

She reconized the monkey? That alone was enough for the girl's face to light up, a wide smile appearing. Three months in the magical world and finally she might get somewhere. "A man owns monkey.  I must find him. Ben. You help?"

  

[Annabelle Scrimgeour]

Ben. Wasn't that similar to the name of Mr. Crouch? It wasn't Roman—no, it was... Reuben? Ben? Were they two in the same? With raised brows, Bella started at the woman and her monkey curiously. "This 'Ben' of yours," she began curiously, "Is he around my height? Dark-haired? A man of wealth, perhaps?" she asked. That was probably the description of many men, to be honest, but it was all she really knew about him.

  

[Alphonsine Maxine]

Was he this woman's height? It had been a while, but she shifted closer for a second, eyes tuned to the woman measuring her height against Annabelle's before nodding. She was close enough if her memory didn't lie. "Height, yes. Hair... dark? Brown. Some light. Much wealthy. Buys much wine." She chuckled at the memory, though her vision of it was tinted with kisses - not that she need to tell her that. "Do you know him?"

Was she really going to see him again? After this long would it be this easy?

  

[Annabelle Scrimgeour]

Much wealthy. Buys much wine. Annabelle couldn't help but let out a giggle as she nodded to the other girl. It didn't seem too out of character for the somewhat odd man she'd met on two occasions. She hoped that it was the right person—she didn't want to disappoint this.... awful English-speaking, somewhat pregnant, dirt-covered, monkey-holding woman? She wondered what Mr. Crouch's story behind this woman would be if he was the one she was looking for!

"I think I've met him on one occasion or another. I don't know where he lives," she admitted. Perhaps he should slip and fall; he might just appear out of nowhere! "How ever did you come in possession of his Ignatius?" That was his name, right? "I think Mr. Crouch got him from Mexico."

  

[Alphonsine Maxine]

Her smile fell as the woman confessed that she did not know where Ben lived. Boy that had only gotten her hopes up hadn't it? Would this girl be able to help her no farther than maybe offering a name? Did she even know his name? She was able to offer a last name - one she had thought she had seen on papers left in the pub. She'd struggled to read them. She was far better at spoken English than written - frankly, she had struggled with written French.

"Where did it come from? He left it. I gave him a tour of my city. Ben left in hurry," she stumbled, trying her hardest to convey the twisted truth in the new tongue. It was some what true. There had been a point when they'd left her house, but it wasn't the core. He had left in hurry though, when he finally left.

  

[Annabelle Scrimgeour]

Oh dear. It did seem that this Ben—whether or not he was really Mr. Reuben Crouch—definitely had some skeletons hiding in his closet, and it seemed this woman was one of them! With a cock of her brow, she contemplated whether she would be nosy and press deeper into the matter or simply offer her assistance contacting him. She wasn't really sure, to be honest, whether that would cause him more trouble than good (and she didn't need any more enemies at this point!).

"The Crouch family," she said, shifting uncomfortably as she attempted to figure out the best course of action, "is a prominent family here in Britain. Perhaps - er - you should try the Ministry? His brothers work there," she offered with a shrug. "What is it exactly that you need of him?" she asked tentatively, eyeing he bump on the woman's stomach. "Perhaps someone else might be able to help." If it didn't have anything to do with her immoral behavior, that was.

  

[Alphonsine Maxine]

At least Ally had enough sense of the culture to make off if she was just returning his monkey rather that bidding desperately on him and his family being merciful enough on her to allow her some redemption in societies eyes – though that would only happen if he married her, and then he be burdened by her pregnancy and her past class his whole life, they both would. Unless he sent her off. Or played her off as a lost relative whose husband passed away. When she made her way to England she hadn’t imagined it would take her so long to find one person. Maybe a month or two at most, not five.
 
She perked up at the word Ministry. It was one she knew well by this point. The woman who had first shown her into the magical world here had mentioned it as well and she had seen it all throughout the papers and heard it in many conversations. Talk had died off lately, but it had been huge a few weeks before. An election of some sort. “That would be good,” she stated with a nod. A brother would be far quicker than stumbling around for who knows how many more months – something she could barely afford. She was barely cutting it as it was. She hadn’t been full in months which couldn’t follow well for the child.
 
She narrowed her eyes as the woman asked what she needed, and she ran through the options as it was. The younger girl, Alphonsine was starting to think, didn’t believe her cover story on the monkey even though it was in fact, quite true. Even though he had left the monkey, Rueben Crouch was in a far better place to care for another living thing that she was. Basically, she had two options, one, push through with what she was already saying – a story that was become less and less believable every day as she showed more and more. What husband would let his wife travel off like this for months to return another man’s monkey? It just sounded bad. The other option was to come clean to the girl with the truth. The second would either make the woman more likely to help her, or she would flee the very instant. “Can you help?” she challenged in return.

  

[Annabelle Scrimgeour]

This is where she was about to draw the line.

"I - um - don't think it would be best if I led him to you," she explained, tugging at the fabric of her dress. "I'm not sure he'd like if I—" Well, it seemed there was no really polite way to explain her predicament, but at the same time she didn't want to seem rude. Besides, she didn't really know the woman or her circumstances, but she could only assume from appearances. "Besides, I don't know my way around the Ministry. They have welcome witches and the like—they'd surely be able to help."

@'Demelza McGonagall'