Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Oct 20, 2008 5:59:00 GMT -5
Nathan followed suit and looked down at the boy to see what it was he wanted to eat. Not only was Cooper blushing from Brittany's compliment, he was hiding again because she'd spoken directly to him. "Out you come," Nathan grumbled, hauling Cooper back into view. He immediately latched himself onto Nathan's already full hand and was intent on not letting go. The groundskeeper noticed that the librarian had offered to hold some of the bags for them and he didn't really want to pawn his stuff onto her, but it seemed like he would have to.
"Oh," Nathan answered, lifting his arm up (taking Cooper with it) so she could take the bags from him, "Thank you very much." He could tell his cheeks had flared up again and he cursed his pale skin for being so...pale.
"Daddy, I want chicken fingers and a ride," Cooper said, looking up at Nathan from his side. Raising a curious eyebrow, Nathan couldn't help but smile. "A ride too? Jeez, you're spoiled," Nathan joked, twinging a bit at the truthfulness of it. With his free hand, the man hoisted his son up onto his back where the little blond boy hooked himself on tightly. Turning to face Brittany, Cooper took a chance and spoke to her. "Do you want chicken fingers too?" the young boy asked eagerly.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Oct 20, 2008 7:35:32 GMT -5
"No problem," Brittany mentioned as she relieved him of some of the bags he had been hauling.
She watched as the boy and his father interacted, having noticed the boy grip on to his father once more after she spoke to him. Smiling slightly as she saw Nathan try to nudge him out of his side, she already felt partial towards Cooper. He was just too cute. Cooper looked a near clone of his father, having just the same slight bashfulness about him. She had noticed the flush of color in Nathan’s cheeks flare up once again. He seemed just as shy as his son, except for the fact that Nathan didn’t hide when Brittany spoke to him. Which was always a plus.
Brittany would have never guessed that the man walking beside her could have been a father if he had just been out in Diagon Alley alone. He was young, yes, but there were other factors besides that as well. The easy-going, charm that he seemed to enthuse was not a popular characteristic of a parent. But what did she know about parenthood anyways?
As Cooper addressed her, she turned her full attention towards him and left behind her random thoughts. She thought about his question for around half a second before agreeing, "Chicken fingers sound great. Oh, and then can we have some ice cream too?"
Brittany couldn't resist. She pushed the bags that she was carrying for Nathan on to her wrist and interlaced her fingers accordingly. With teasing eyes, she looked from Cooper to Nathan excitedly. Ice cream was a favorite of hers, so she wasn't fully joking. After all, desserts were not a laughing matter. "Please?" Brittany asked, looking up at Nathan and hoping that Cooper would join in with her.
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Cooper Lee
Wizard
Son of Hogwarts Staff Member
Posts: 40
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Post by Cooper Lee on Oct 20, 2008 18:44:42 GMT -5
It was in that moment, right then, that Cooper decided he was going to like Brittany. He grinned over at her as she vouched for him and he playfully nuzzled into his dad's shoulder. His little hands tapped repeatedly on Nathan's chest, irritating him into caving. "Please, Papa," Cooper begged, knowing the cutesy name was going to help Nathan give in faster. Wide, hopeful eyes begged silently with a sweet little grin. Cooper was just too good at this.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Oct 20, 2008 18:52:27 GMT -5
Nathan could feel his resistance breaking down and when Brittany looked at him too, there was nothing left in him to fight with. He sighed a defeated sigh, rolling his eyes and laughing to himself at the pair of them teaming up on him. Cooper had that effect on people. He could bend them to his will with a flash of his cute little grin. Nathan should have been immune to it, but he was the one who had the most difficulty with it.
"Alright, alright. Chicken fingers and ice cream it is," he told them. Nathan's hand reached behind him and tickled Cooper's leg. "You munchkin," he grumbled playfully.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Oct 20, 2008 19:08:33 GMT -5
Brittany raised her hands in celebration, her soprano voice shimmering with laughter. The man had truly been left defenseless against the tactics of Cooper. Plus, the fact that Brittany had egged him on probably didn't help. Still, Cooper had put up an irresistable fight. Those wide eyes paired with a darling smile and, not to mention, the baby voice that he had used were a tough bid. It had been over before the first lip was pouted.
She watched as Nathan caved to Cooper's tactics. Looking to Cooper she held up her hand for a high five in congratulations, "Good job!"
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Oct 20, 2008 19:31:08 GMT -5
Nathan shot Brittany a glare when she went for a high five with Cooper, but it was a playful one. He flashed her his lopsided grin as he heard Cooper reach his hand out and smack hers. He also heard a "yes!" from behind him and he felt Cooper doing a little happy dance on his back. The groundskeeper laughed again and glanced sideways at Brittany and smiled again, his eyes just looking the woman over. As he walked, he kept his gaze on her and nearly tripped over his own feet. Catching himself though, Nathan made sure his eyes were facing straight ahead as he walked.
"So what brings you to the Alley?" Nathan asked, genuinely curious about it.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Oct 20, 2008 19:54:32 GMT -5
Brittany lowered her hand as Cooper high-fived her palm. The happy dance being performed by Cooper on Nathan's back was a sight to see. The enthusiasm emanated from the boy as he realized his victory. It was quite a site to witness. Looking back at Nathan, she caught the glare that he threw at her and only smirked. It served him right for trying to deprive a small child from the wonders of ice cream. Scrunching up her nose at the man, she playfully shoved his shoulder. It was then that his scowl faded into the crooked smile. That smile was enough to stop her teasing in it's tracks.
Just as she was about to say something the man walking next to her tripped. At that point she lost her self-conciousness. Laughter came forth from her lips before she could even think twice. Although she had been facing forward, she had seen out of the corner of her eye that he had been looking at her. She resisted the urge to turn and look at him as well. Just as he tripped, Brittany was sure that he would flush red and was a bit disappointed that she hadn't predicted correctly.
At Nathan's question, the young woman composed her self and answered, "I was running a few errands this morning. I was only supposed to be in town for an hour or so, hence my appearence." Brittany took a moment to motion down towards her clothes, then continued, "However, I got delayed and was actually pretty annoyed when I first saw you. I'm surprised that you didn't notice."
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 1, 2009 14:58:08 GMT -5
Nathan's eyes automatically looked over her as she looked down at her attire. He didn't think she looked that bad, to be honest but he wasn't sure if he should tell her that. Unfortunately, Nathan heard his own voice speaking before his brain had a chance to filter. "I think you look just fine," he blurted out, grinding his teeth the moment the words were out of his mouth. As she continued speaking, informing him that he had actually annoyed her, Nathan's cheeks turned that hateful shade of pink that kept giving him away.
"I guess I was a little...distracted," he confessed quietly, not prepared to tell her what had distracted him so much. This time, he didn't hear himself blurt it out and he was thankful that once, his mouth decided to pay attention to his brain. Hitching Cooper higher onto his back, he felt the boy nuzzle into his neck and giggle mischievously. He knew his son had caught on and was silently making fun of him.
"I'm sorry," the groundskeeper apologize sincerely, "I didn't mean to disrupt your plan."
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 2, 2009 1:45:36 GMT -5
Brittany could feel the blood flood to her cheeks at Nathan's compliment. Unconciously, she tucked a stand of hair behind her ear. Anxious habit. Surprisingly, this actually made her feel better. She suddenly wasn't as worried about her appearence as before. Keeping her eyes focused on the cobblestones, she focused particularly on not tripping at the moment.
"Thanks..." Brittany muttered as they walked through the bustling street.
It was a funny thing how situations could change in an instant. When Nathan spoke next, she wanted to just go bury herself underground. A horrible, guilty feeling rocked through her as she realized how wrongly she had worded what she had said. He had thought that they had annoyed her and disrupted her plan. An awkward silence settled over them as he apologized to her for doing absolutely nothing wrong. It was her own fault that she had been annoyed, just like it was now. If anything, Cooper and Nathan had only made the day a billion times better because they had distracted her from the crappy day that she was having. There was especially no way that anyone could stay upset when they looked at Cooper's adorable face.
"Good going you nimwit," Brittany thought to herself harshly. How could she be such a blunderhead?
She wished desperately for a time turner so that she could take back even bringing the subject up. "Nathan..." Brittany instictively reached over and put her hand on his arm trying to bring him to a stop. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I had a list of things that I needed to do at the castle and only realized mid-way through town that I had left it at the castle. So the day became absolutely pointless and I was annoyed with myself."
Her tone was quiet and apologetic matching her large brown eyes. "You've defintely made my day so much better than it would have been because you actually took my mind off of the bad morning that I had." Brittany explained honestly, her hand still softly placed across his forearm.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 2, 2009 13:39:30 GMT -5
Nathan nearly jumped right out of his skin when he felt Brittany's touch on his arm. His head snapped to the side as he looked at her until he felt the smile break onto his face. He'd actually made her day better? Nathan couldn't remember the last time he'd truly brightened someone's day, but apparently he had here and he wasn't about to complain. Instead, Nathan stood there with a dumb grin on his face until he felt a tiny foot kick him in the back. He reached behind him and squeezed Cooper's leg.
Letting his eyes meet hers, Nathan was suddenly lost in them. He hadn't really noticed before how beautiful they were and it took him a moment to reel himself back in. He stuttered to find words and remember how to put a sentence together but in the mean time, Nathan hadn't noticed they'd reached the pub. The groundskeeper snapped back into reality just in time to step out of the way of the door that flew open. He grabbed it before it closed, holding it open for Brittany and he set Cooper down. "Well, I...I-I'm glad I could...help," he strung together finally with a nervous chuckle.
Cooper looked up at the adults with a frown, glancing from his dad to Brittany and back to his dad. He recognized the goofy look his dad had on his face and the young boy rolled his eyes. Cooper tugged on Nathan's sleeve to make him look down and when he did, the boy made kissing noises at him before he ran off into the pub and hid in one of the booths.
Nathan went rigid as he watched Cooper take off, his eyes narrowing as he followed. He sighed, shaking his head before turning to Brittany to explain. "Cooper thinks I need a girlfriend," he told her quietly, stopping her before she walked into the pub. He needed to tell her this before they went in to track down Cooper.
"We...lost his mom, my wife, a couple years ago," Nathan explained softly, not letting himself look at Brittany as he spoke, "And he thinks I'm lonely, so he's like that with every woman I meet. I'm sorry to just...dump that on you like this but he's just..." The groundskeeper trailed off at the end with a sigh, his hand coming up and pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. Nathan had never been this forward with his past before, so it was new to him. He didn't know how to explain Cooper's behaviour. "I'm sorry," Nathan apologized again, "Just...when he does that, it's really best to just ignore it." He hated to be so blunt, but it was the truth.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 2, 2009 14:28:10 GMT -5
At the sight of Nathan's smile coming back to his features, she exhaled a sigh of relief silently. Brittany still wanted to kick her self, but at the moment he was staring at her and her mind seemed to take a wrong turn. Her mind started to reboot as he jumped out of the way of the restaurant door and took Cooper off his shoulders. Her hand had dropped from his arm and she stood looking at him for a moment longer then found her self looking away too soon at the sound of Cooper's kissing noises. Brittany couldn't help but laugh at the boy's reaction to the scene.
Nathan's next comments sent her mind threw a loop and it took Brittany a moment to remember that Cooper was waiting for them inside. However, as she began to walk in he had stopped her. Curiously, she looked up into his defenseless face as he told her Cooper's reasoning. Her heart sunk into her stomach. The little boy was without a mother and Nathan was raising him all by himself. It wasn't easy raising children on your own, she had seen it first hand with her own father. But their loss only a few years back, she couldn't imagine it.
"Nathan...I'm so sorry." Brittany replied quietly.
As he finished their private conversation so bluntly, she felt her self reaching out for his face. It was weird, but she had the sudden urge to touch his cheek. Catching her self before she got too far, she caught his wrist just as he was turning from her. "You don't have to explain for Cooper. He's terrific and hilarious. Plus, he stopped my mind from wondering off."
Brittany bit down on her bottom lip wishing she could snatch her last words back. Elaboration probably wouldn't be a good thing. Even though she would probably tell him if he asked. A pathetic, half-smile graced her face and her eyes moved to Nathan's cautiously.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 2, 2009 14:41:34 GMT -5
Nathan could tell from her reaction that she wished she hadn't said anything. He glanced quickly down at his wrist and noticed her hand on it. It brought a small smile back to his lips and he just shook his head. "Just don't worry about it," he told her softly, hoping she'd realize he meant all of it. When people apologized for him losing his wife, it only made it worse. When they treated him differently because of it, it made it harder to not cry and he was barely keeping it together as it was. "Let's just get lunch, alright?" he suggested, steering the conversation away from the raw subject.
Ushering her into the pub, Nathan crossed the room to find Cooper peeking out from the booth he'd ducked into. The man frowned at his son, making a point of flopping down rather heavily and set him bouncing off the seat. "I guess that means you don't want any ice cream later," Nathan taunted, threatening to take away his treat if he didn't smarten up. Cooper immediately snapped out of it, sitting properly in his seat and looking down. "I'm sorry, Daddy," he apologized sincerely and Nathan smiled at him. He gave the boy a playful nudge in the shoulder and winked at him. When Cooper saw Brittany coming, he quickly crawled under the table before Nathan could snatch him back.
"I wanna sit with Brittany," he told his dad, resting his chin in his hands with his elbows up on the table. Nathan frowned at him. "Elbows down," Nathan instructed and Cooper obeyed. Remembering Brittany still had half the bags he was carrying, Nathan stood up quickly to take them from her. "Thanks for the help," he told the woman with a smile and the nodded toward Cooper with a chuckle, "I'm sorry, you're stuck with him."
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 2, 2009 15:02:17 GMT -5
Brittany was glad he let the subject pass and stayed outside the pub for a moment more. She was trying to make sense of the hurricane that had attacked her head recently. Cooper had obviously been a toddler when his mother passed away, which made her want to hug him. Once again her thoughts wondered towards exactly how old Nathan was. He looked around her age but it seemed that he had been through so much more than she had in the past. Well, from one point of view. She shook her head and decided to follow Nathan's advice. She didn't worry about it.
As she walked through the restaurant, she spotted Nathan and Cooper in a booth. "No problem," Brittany replied as Nathan got up to take the bags that she was holding for him. At his next announcement she realized that Cooper was opposite his dad at the table. A bright smile crossed her face at the announcement that she was stuck with him. Without a second thought, she took a seat beside Cooper in the booth and told him, "I'm starving. How about you?"
Grabbing the menus from the end of the table, she passed them out to both of them, turning it to the kid's menu for Cooper. Looking back at her own she scanned through the different options. There wasn't really a need to since she had been there before and knew what she was going to get, but she did anyways. As the waiter came up to their table, she turned brightly towards him and answered, "I've have the grilled chicken sandwich and fries with a water please."
After she had ordered she turned to Cooper remembering his stroke of shyness at first. Kindly she asked him, "Chicken fingers right?"
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 2, 2009 15:20:43 GMT -5
Cooper shrank into the corner of the booth when the waiter came over and he looked up at Brittany as she ordered. Normally his dad would order for him, but Brittany had done it instead and she smiled at her with a nod. Finding his bravery, Cooper spoke up. "Yes, chicken fingers, please," he said politely, glancing sideways at his dad, "And fries." He grinned up at the waiter who smiled and wrote it all down before turning to Nathan.
"Hmm," he pondered momentarily, "Grilled chicken sounds good, actually. I'll have the same." He handed his menu over and picked up Cooper's and Brittany's as well to give back. Before the waiter could leave, Nathan spoke up again. "Oh, excuse me, do you have chocolate milk?" he asked, flashing his son a grin. Cooper smiled back happily, kicking his legs in excitement. The waiter nodded and told them he'd be back with their drinks in a moment and took off. "No bubbles," Nathan warned Cooper, knowing the boy would do it the moment his glass was placed in front of him. He frowned, crinkling his forehead in a way that reminded Nathan so much of Cooper's mother. He frowned back but said nothing.
"So how long have you been at Hogwarts?" Nathan asked her, only just remembering what it was that they'd had in common.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 2, 2009 15:37:47 GMT -5
Handing over the menu as the waiter left, she listened to the boys conversation. Brittany laughed at Cooper's excitement over the chocolate milk. She guessed that the fun in chocolate milk was blowing bubbles in it though because he stopped smiling after his dad warned him about it. She noticed Nathan's frown as well but shrugged it off as a response towards Cooper. When Nathan asked her about Hogwarts she easily supplied the answer.
"I've only been working there a couple of months. I graduated from the place just over three years ago." Brittany chuckled.
It was odd to think that she had been in school just three years ago. Sad really. Her time out of school had been pretty shifty. From traveling to coming back and all that was in between. She had done quite a bit in the few years, which made it even more weird to think that the time had gone by so fast. Everything seemed to happen so slow in school, but the second you stepped out side of the place the world was put on fast forward.
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