Adelaide, you're making a scene.

[Timothy Benton]

"I hope ya do," He said with a grin and a rather bold wink. The line moved up again and Timothy's grin grew even wider. If only he had enough money to buy himself both a pastry and a drink! That would have been quite a luxury, he was certain. Then again, if he actually had that amount of money he probably wouldn't need to be working as a stableman. He might have been able to get a job working in a shop on High Street and then perhaps one day, he could move up to the middle class and live in Barntonburg, rather than the slums.

It was hopeless however. Being expelled from Hogwarts would haunt him for the rest of his meager life, and he had come to accept that fact.

"Ya should come by this weekend sometime too - after all we are neighbors. We could have a lil picnic on my front porch," His front porch was built rather shoddily and consisted of wood that was so rough it could give someone splinters by just looking at it. It was old and a bit moldy, but it was better than nothing. The landlord had held it together with magic, since he couldn't afford a lawsuit from a tenant's second floor staircase falling through.

  

[Alice Cooper]

Alice shot him a look when he winked at her. She wondered if women often slapped him for his crass behavior. If she wasn't so timid, or concerned with propriety quite as much, she probably would give him a good one across the cheek. But, Alice was much too ladylike for that, besides, something told her that a slap would only intrigue a man like Timothy Benton more than before.

It seemed that her chance for meeting a gentleman that was more than a friend was over. Alice assumed that people did that in school, in their younger years, and Alice had spent entirely too much of her time in the library for that. Timothy Benton was nothing more than a friend, he was not the marrying sort.

She was surprised by his invitation, for she didn't get invited much of anywhere, especially by males. That was excluding the bedroom, but Alice hardly trusted such requests. She curtsied to him, a black curl falling in front of her ear. She didn't have the money to put her hair in any elaborate fashion involving combs and pins. She simply tied it up in a loose bun, and it almost always came out. "That sounds lovely," she said shyly. It was then that the line moved up to her turn, she turned around for a moment and ordered a roll. While they wrapped it in paper, Alice scrounged through her purse and placed a single coin on the counter.

  

[Timothy Benton]

Timothy was slapped often, and his charms worked just as many times. It was always a 50/50 chance that he took, but he took the risk anyway. After all, he had a 50 percent chance that he would get at least a kiss out of it - if not more. He had been slapped so many times that he was used to it. Sure it stung a little, but his pride was hardly ever wounded by it. Usually, he could see it coming, but was unable to stop himself from pushing them to take a swing at him.

Alice's acceptance to his invitation brightened his already cheerful mood. He hoped she would take him up on it, rather than just agreeing so that he would leave her alone. That had happened before, but he'd learned to discern when he should expect to be stood up or not. It would be harder for her to stand him up since they lived next to each other.

She placed her order and was served, and then it was his turn. He ordered his hot chocolate and handed over the coins in his pocket. Now without any money at all, Timothy took a sip of his new purchase. It was completely worth it. After a dip of his hat with his free hand at Alice, the stableman slipped out the door and headed toward Wellingtonshire.