milliways_bar | (no subject)

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The door opens, and the chatter on the other side of the door is almost similar to the chatter within the bar itself. (He'd been in the Great Hall.)

A young boy of sixteen lingers by the woodwork, staring with wide eyes. They're familiar eyes, for those who knew his father (and, as Albus knows very well, there is hardly a wizard or witch who hasn't heard of his father) - or better yet, his grandmother - and the jet-black, slightly messy hair is a another characteristic that bears a striking resemblance to the Boy Who Lived.

But on closer inspection, one can spot the differences. This young boy does not wear glasses. And he does not have the same air of confidence the Potters tend to have. (No Potter, for example, would hesitate by the doorside, contemplating slipping back out as if he'd never stepped in at all.)

Whether one recognizes the boy or not, the unmistakable 'I've never been here before, what is this place?' look is a familiar one for any regular patron of the bar.

[ooc: I meant to do this weeks ago, but did not get a chance. :( I really wanted to stick him in though, so here goes! This can totally be used for car keys, by the way! Should make it easier for some to tag. ;)

It is also subject to slowtime.

tiny!tag: albus potter]

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Yes! And they are ready and willing for challenges.

Library-themed challenges. But still.

She points to her left.

"You open that one -" and then quickly over to her right. "And I'll open this one?"

Well, it's an improvement from no challenges at all!

He glances to the door she's gesturing at, then to the one to her right, and nods.

"All right," he says, shifting to get to it.

This is true.

They're working their way up. Slowly but surely.

She curls her fingers around the doorknob, twisting slightly and glancing back over her shoulder with a grin, "On three then?"

And the countdown begins.

He does the same too, following her motions quite precisely.

"One. Two ..."

"Three!"

She turns the handle the rest of the way, and tugs the door toward her, blinking in an entirely unimpressed manner at the brooms that don't so much look back at her as they sit there and don't do much of anything.

"Closet," she informs him dully, before letting out a quiet laugh.

"- toilet," he reports, as he finishes opening his door. He wrinkles his nose.

"A not entirely clean one either, unfortunately."

She snorts - possibly unladylike, but hey - and makes her way back over to his side, eyes crinkled and looking a fair bit amused with their overall misfortune.

"Wow, we suck at this."

"Or the bar isn't helping."

He frowns.

"There must be a - um. Library entrance door. Usually library entrances look a little more ..."

Uh.

"Impressive?"

'Like in Beauty and the Beast,' she wants to say. But has some doubts as to whether or not he'd have any idea what she was talking about. Leaning a bit more toward the 'not' than anything else, really.

"Unless it's hidden."

Okay, maybe the spy idea is infecting her brain just a bit. But the theme song is stuck in her head now. She can't help it.

"Then it would probably look like a bookshelf or something. And you'd have to pull a secret lever."

"Oh. A sort of trap-door," he puts in.

He knows this game! He's even been victim of it a couple of times.

He glances around them.

The walls are perfectly bookshelf-free.

"There aren't any bookshelves," he says disappointedly.

"This would be a lot cooler if it would just cooperate."

Not that life works like that.

But still.

She tugs, a bit half-heartedly, at another - remarkable nondescript, really, and certainly not at all bookshelf-related - doorknob.

"That's it," he says immediately, peering over her shoulder - and leaning in a lot closer than he might normally do.

"Look! It's a whole ... look at all of those books."

She lets out a gleeful noise - bouncing a bit on her toes before sweeping him into an utterly joyful hug that breaks itself off almost as soon as it gets there, spinning around to blink in an awed manner.

It's huge.

Like bigger than Beauty and the Beast huge.

"That's so awesome."

"How does it fit into this Bar?" he wonders aloud - after properly turning a whole new shade of crimson.

"It's ... bloody brilliant."

And immediately, he's walking towards the nearest shelf to touch the spines and peer at all of the offered knowledge.

It's a nerd's paradise. Truly.

She's glancing around herself, one half of her mind occupied with taking in the lay of the land, while the other half is looking for one of those rolling ladders to swing on. Not that she would do that (while someone else was here) of course.

Just - checking.

"Magic?"

A laugh.

"Maybe they have a book on it," she breathes incredulously. "Not that I'd even know where to start looking."

"Me either."

He may now be looking for a catalogue.

"But um. Magic. That's the only explanation for this."

He pauses.

"It's really quiet here."

"It is."

She grins, letting her own fingers wander over the edge of one of the shelves.

"It's kind of nice, actually."

He nods in agreement.

"Sometimes," he starts, "at school, I'd go to the library ... just to spend a bit of time in the quiet."

That makes him a huge loser, doesn't it?

Alexis doesn't think so!

She smiles.

"If the library at my school was half this nice, I'd probably do the same thing."

The library tends to be something of a glorified study hall. Where people check their Facebooks and waste time during their free periods.

Darn those time-wasters and people who don't respect the library!

"You should come to my school one day," he says, offering before he realizes he's really offering.

(And then blushing slightly when he does.)

"I mean - the library. You could um. See it. It's like this one, but ... still quite a bit different."

Seriously. Hooligans.

"Really?"

She blinks.

And then blinks again - incredulously. Smile that tugs up just this side of giddy and bouncing again.

"I mean, I - wow. Really? Just - that would be - really awesome. I'd be - wow."

He grins bashfully, glancing down at the rather nicely polished marble flooring. He nods at it, too.

"Mmhmm. You'd ... I mean, I know we only met today, but I know you'd appreciate it more than ... pretty much everyone at Hogwarts."

He looks up and smiles at her this time.

He invited her to the library at Hogwarts.

There is no way possible - no really, she's decided - that there is anyplace in the cosmos that is at all cooler than Milliways. No way. Because really. Library at Hogwarts - heck, obscenely large library of their own. She may or may not squeak gleefully.

Okay. Breathe, Castle.

"That would be amazing," she manages, pretty much coherently. "Completely amazing."

"I'm glad you think so," he says, admittedly rather excited himself about the idea.

(And really, did he sort of unofficially ask a girl out on a date-but-not-date of sorts?

Wow. That's a first, Albus!)

"I mean, I've never been to anybody else's anywhere before."

She smiles, her own cheeks slightly flushed and tugging a bit at the end of her hair.

"But that would certainly be worth the trip."