messin' with the kid

[Nathan Lee]

"Stubborn kid," Nathan muttered to himself as he leaned on the wall of a shop. Cooper had insisted he could use the washroom on his own and nearly threw a hissy fit when Nathan wasn't going to let him. However, the groundskeeper had caved and now found himself waiting for his son to hurry up and get out of the bathroom. Laden with bags full of things for Cooper, Nathan sighed and rolled his eyes. While he was a little ticked off at Cooper for the way he'd acted, he couldn't really stay mad. He saw so much of himself in Cooper, it was a little frightening. Nathan knew he would have done the same thing at Cooper's age.

When the boy finally came trotting out of the shop, his hands were dripping wet.
"No paper towel?" Nathan chuckled. Cooper glared up at his dad, walked up to his and proceeded to dry his hands on Nathan's pants.
"Thanks, buddy," laughed Nathan, "Where to now?" Cooper looked around him, contemplating for a moment and then took off into the crowd.
"Cooper!" Nathan yelled, racing after his son, quickly losing site of him.

Nathan pushed his way through the crowd and eventually spotted a little blond head with a mischievous grin on it. Cooper stood outside the Quidditch store and Nathan shot him a glare, but sighed and caught him to his son.
"What am I gonna do with you, huh?" the man questioned his son in a sarcastic tone. All Cooper did was grin and walk into the store.

[closed]

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany sat on a bench just between Flourish and Blotts and the quidditch store, sifting through the bag placed on her lap. The day had not gone as she had hoped. She had planned to go run some errands and be back to the school by mid-afternoon. Yet here it was, mid-afternoon and she still sat in Diagon Alley. Giving up on finding the scroll that she could have sworn she put in her bag that morning, she slammed her bag shut. Frustration itched through her and she ran her hands, routinely, through her hair almost therapeutically. Exhaling, she tried to focus on something positive but nothing seemed to make her fingers stop twitching with anxiety. Lately it seemed almost impossible for her to have a good day. The past week had been nothing but downs from missing lunch to losing her wand. Silently she pleaded for just one break. It was quite tiring to be on edge so much.

Out of the blue, her attention was turned towards a small boy pushing through the crowded street. He ran directly to the window of the quidditch shop just beside her and pressed his nose against the glass. The woman bit back a laugh as she watched an exasperated man carrying multiple shopping bags, with a look of frustration on his face, follow after him. In his rush, one of the bags he was holding fell on to the cobblestone street. Instinctively, Brittany stood and went to gather the bag before it could be trampled. The man had been too caught up in catching the boy to notice.

Holding her ground, she heard the man say, "What am I gonna do with you, huh?" It seemed like he was trying to be stern but the boy was apparently not catching on. All he did was smile and then run into the store.

"Excuse me," Brittany called out quietly to the man standing in front of the quidditch shop. Approaching the man, she smiled kindly and offered him the bag that she had rescued, "I think you dropped this in the rush."

[Nathan Lee]

Nathan had been too distracted with chasing after Cooper to notice that he'd dropped anything. Shaking his head, he started after his son into the shop but stopped when he heard a soft voice behind him.
"What?" Nathan questioned, slightly out of it at the sudden distraction. He turned to see who was speaking to him and stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes had widened slightly before he'd noticed what he was doing and he felt his cheeks flush a deep red.

"Oh...uhh, thanks," the groundskeeper replied politely with a smile. The woman who was holding out the dropped bag was shockingly pretty but she also seemed very familiar. Did she work at Hogwarts? Taking the bag, Nathan added it back into the jumble in his other hand. He flashed her another smile and extended his free hand to introduce himself.
"My name's Nathan," the man told her, "You work at Hogwarts, don't you?"

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany, not always the most observant person, had not noticed the hesitation on the man's part. Of course, she had caught the coloring of his cheeks but had written it off as merely embaressment from dropping the bag. The woman had never thought of her self as a person to, excuse the cliche, take someone's breath away. The concept hadn't ever wrapped around her mind especially since she paid so little attention to her appearence. For instance, her hair was windblown and fell around her shoulders in a messy shamble while her clothes had been the first things that she had laid her hands on. After all, she was only supposed to have been in Diagon Alley for an hour or two and had not even considered the thought of running into anyone.

It had taken her aback that he had recognized her from Hogwarts. At once she flipped through multiple images in her mind trying desperately to figure out if she had seen him before. Kicking her self for having confined her self to the library so often, she was fairly sure that she had not seen the man around before. "I should probably stop calling him 'the man.' After all, he did say his name. Nathan, right." Brittany thought to her self, cutting of the random stream of thoughts that had taken over her mind in the past few seconds.

"Hello, I'm Brittany," She accecpted his hand and went on to answer his question, "Yes, I do actually. I'm the librarian at the school."

Taking a closer look at him for the first time, her dark brown eyes were met with jade green ones set into a lightly tanned face. Brittany grinned back at him sheepishly and confessed, "I don't believe I've seen you around before. Occupational hazard."

[Nathan Lee]

"Brittany," Nathan repeated softly when she said her name, just to make it stick in his mind. He grinned his crooked grin at her when she seemed a little embarrassed that she didn't know who he was. He hadn't really expected her to; the only time he'd ever really been around the castle was when he was chasing Cooper somewhere. Now that she'd told him where it was she worked, Nathan could remember seeing her once or twice when Coop had thought it funny to hide in the tall shelves.

"I'm not really in the castle much," he told her to make her feel better for not recognizing him, "I'm the new..ish groundskeeper. You might have seen this around, though." Just as he'd spoken, Cooper came back out of the shop, looking excited.

[Cooper Lee]

"Daddy, Daddy!" Cooper jumped around his father excitedly, "Daddy can I get a broom? Please, please, please, please?" He bounced all over the place, tugging on Nathan's arm to pull him into the store until he noticed his dad was talking to someone. He didn't know who she was and he stopped dead in his tracks, shrinking into his hiding place just behind Nathan's hip.
"Hi," he said to the woman in a small voice, just poking his blond head out.

[Nathan Lee]

"Oh come on, you knucklehead," Nathan laughed at his son who'd crouched behind him again. He thought it was pretty cute when Cooper got all shy the way he did around new people, especially because he made it seem like such a big deal to meet people, but he warmed to them pretty quickly. Nathan's hand rested on Cooper's shoulder and he gently nudged his son out from behind him.

"This is my son, Cooper," the groundskeeper introduced, "If there's anything out of place in the library, it's probably because of him." He grinned down at his son and nudged him playfully.

[Brittany Garland]

The woman was relieved when Nathan announced that he hadn't been in the castle a lot, happy that she wasn't supposed to have recognized him. Brittany made a mental note to try and be a bit more social throughout the castle. It had just felt so weird to be so close in age to the students yet a, sort of, authority figure. Sure she was just the librarian and about as much control as the portraits hanging on the walls but it was that middle space that was the most awkward. You couldn't exactly hang out with the students, but walking into the staff chambers was almost like swimming in a pool of sharks. Of course, she couldn't truthfully put it that way since she had barely met a few of the professors.

"I didn't really show up until the end of the year, so I guess you could say that I'm new as well," Brittany replied. Even though she had been there as a student, it was still a new environment than when she had been there. So technically it was different, which could possibly qualify as new. Clarification was not needed at the moment anyhow.

Hurriedly, the blonde boy from earlier ran out of the store and cut off their conversation. The young woman smiled widely down at the boy who had swiftly disappeared behind Nathan's hip. He had been so excited when he had rushed out of the store and it had evaporated just as quickly as he had shown up when he laid eyes on her. Only when Nathan's introduction started did she comprehend that the boy had been yelling 'daddy' when he came out of the store. Although her face didn't falter, Brittany's curiosity peaked at the fact that Nathan didn't look much older than her self. Not wasting a second thought over it, she knelt down to the young boy's level and smiled kindly at him.

"Hello Cooper, my name's Brittany," she introduced her self and asked, "Did I hear you say something about a broom?"

[Cooper Lee]

Fighting against his dad's hand, Cooper tried with all his might to stay in his hiding spot but Nathan wasn't having any of that. Reluctantly, Cooper hopped out of hid hiding place and looked at the woman, who said her name was Brittany, when she bent down to his level. The little boy smiled back at Brittany when she smiled at him and felt a little more comfortable. She seemed friendly enough and Cooper could tell that his dad was going to try and be her friend.

"I want my very own broom," Cooper informed Brittany with a grin, his mind whirling with all the things he could do if he had one, "Can I get one, Daddy?" His wide, hopeful green eyes looked up to his dad, trying to look as cute as he could to make his dad buy him what he wanted.

[Nathan Lee]

Nathan's brown furrowed as he frowned down at the boy and shook his head.
"I don't think you're quite big enough for that just yet, buddy," the man explained to his son. He knew Cooper was going to make a fuss over it, but the thought of him on a broom was...not something Nathan wanted to contemplate.

"Here, I'll tell you what," Nathan offered, "You go in there and find the robes of your favourite team and we'll get them, okay?" Cooper seemed to like that idea and quickly took off back into the shop. Nathan smiled as he watched the boy go before he turned his attention back to Brittany. He flashed her a smile too.
"Sorry about him," the man laughed, "He's got a lot of energy."

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany waved goodbye as the boy conceded to his dad and retreated back into the store. Pulling her self back up to her regular height, she couldn't help but laugh at the defeated face Cooper made during his exit. If she remembered correctly, her first broom had been around when she was eleven because that had been when she had first started playing quidditch. She had loved flying more than anything which is what had motivated her to join Gryffindor's team in the first place. Her broom currently sat in the corner of her room collecting dust, having not been riden since the end of her seventh year. Quite sad really.

"Oh, it's completely fine." Brittany said lightly as he tried to apologize for the boy's antics. "Although, I don't think that's the last you'll hear on the broom subject. Flying is pretty irresistable." Even with the long time span in between the last time she flew and now, she could still remember the sensation she got when she lifted off the ground.

Brittany couldn't help but admire how Nathan had tried to at least make up for the fact that he couldn't get Cooper the broom. However, by the looks of his hands, it didn't seem like he could take much more shopping. Teasingly she observed, "A few more stores though, and I think you might have trouble walking."

[Nathan Lee]

Nathan chuckled softly at her comment about the broom. He knew all too well how Cooper could be when he really wanted something and Nathan knew this broom business wasn't going to die any time soon. He remembered the first time he rode a broom and knew he would have to cave sometime sooner than he hoped. Glancing over his shoulder quickly, the man made sure he could still see the little blonde head before he turned his attention back to Brittany.

Looking down at his hands, the groundskeeper realized just how much junk he was carrying. There was perhaps one bag that belonged to him, but the rest were definitely all Cooper's.
"Oh it's been worse," Nathan retorted with a shrug of his shoulders, "Soon, I'm gonna have to buy a mule." The second the words were out of his mouth, Nathan regretted it. A mule? Really? REALLY?! Nathan scolded himself silently. His cheeks flared a deep shake of pink once more as he fumbled for something else to say.

"We were actually going to stop for something to eat in a little bit...would you like to join us?" Nathan offered, with a smile, hoping to make up for the bad joke.

[Brittany Garland]

The woman couldn't help but laugh out loud at the lame joke Nathan had made. It was obvious that he had not thought that one out before he said it. Brittany could just picture a mule walking through Diagon Alley following behind the man standing before her. It was quite a mental image. Although she hardly thought that the people on the street would appreciate moving around a smelly mule. Catching the pink coloring of his cheeks she tried to bite back her chiming laugh. Biting down on her lower lip did the trick, but couldn't stop her from still smiling up at him.

Hearing his offer, she let up on her bite. Brittany surely didn't have anywhere to be. Although, it was now that her appearence came into mind and she worried about how she actually looked for getting lunch. Nervously, she tucked a stand of hair behind her ear as if this altered drastically how she looked. The clothes that she had just grabbed were muggle, a simple pair of jeans and a white button-down shirt. Even if they didn't eat in a restauraunt she still felt this need to look a bit more refined.

However, there was really nothing that she could do about it so she tried to stop thinking about it. "I'm actually pretty hungry. So I would love to join the two of you." Brittany responded, hoping that she didn't sound overly enthusiastic.

[Nathan Lee]

Nathan could see how much Brittany wanted to laugh at him, but he was extremely grateful she hadn't. It was good to make people laugh, but it was usually better when they laughed with you, not at you. Nathan had discovered that the hard way.

Glancing over his shoulder, Nathan spotted Cooper standing there, dancing around like he needed to use the washroom. He rolled his eyes and grinned back at Brittany.
"I guess that means I'm needed now," Nathan joked, choosing his words more carefully now. He excused himself, not really wanting to leave her standing there but he would only be a moment. Nathan paid for the dark blue robes Cooper had picked out and chuckled as the boy pulled them on over his clothes.

"One less bag to carry," Nathan joked once they were back outside again.

[Brittany Garland]

Brittany nodded as he excused him self to go into the store. Leaning against the frame of the building, she looked out over the crowd that Diagon Alley had that day. There were many more people than usual, overflowing the streets due to the upcoming train departure to Hogwarts. The next term was just days away from beginning and she couldn't help but a bit excited. The promise of new beginnings that the opening feast and new students brought was electrifying. She liked the fact that she was somewhat part of the future generations lives. Of course, she was just a librarian but maybe one day she would start studying to become more. Who knew, surely she didn't have a clue. It was all in the future and, lately, all she could think about was the present.

The young woman watched as Cooper slipped into his new wardrobe and showed mock amazement, "Wow Cooper, those robes are quite handsome on you."

She grinned at the young boy's enthusiasm over his new clothes. He was very eager to get them on as quickly as possible. Looking back towards Nathan, she acknowledged his comment with a small laugh. It was very true that he didn't need another bag to carry. The two seemed to have done some hardcore shopping for the day. The bags he held were from a wide variety of different stores throughout the Alley and Cooper seemed thrilled to just be out and about.

"So what is for lunch boys?" Brittany questioned the two of them, figuring that it would probably left up to Cooper to decide. She was up for anything and was just glad to not be eating the elves food for the millionth time this summer. The food at the school was great, but she was in need of some variety. Looking to Nathan, she extended her hand and offered, "If you want I could carry a couple of those."