December 08th, 1888 (Hogsmeade Weekend) — High Street, Hogsmeade

The holiday season meant that High Street was already crowded with enthusiastic shoppers, and the addition of Hogwarts students made it even more so. Aria was among the numbers, grateful for the day outside the castle—and especially the common room. The house elves had gone a little too far with their winter glee, rekindling the fire even when it wasn't that chilly outside and replacing their beds' light blankets with heavier quilts. It had all resulted in sleepless, sweaty nights, and a day of crisp air was a welcome one.

Until, at least, she realized she could hardly get into a shop—Honeyduke's specifically, she noted with a scowl—without having to wait in a line outside. She had walked no more than three steps outside the line with she felt a tugging on her cloak's hood, causing her to twirl around, her mouth down-turned into a deep frown.

"Don't touch me," she barked, instinctively smoothing her hair. She was surprised to find that there was no obvious culprit—only a handful of wide-eyed people.

— Open to 1 person in Hogsmeade! Also open to Cyrus Westerman —

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Ace was on the look out for one Hogwarts student in particular. Jolie was the one he had promised to speak with this Hogsmeade weekend. It was her first year to be able to participate, and that was a big deal. The last few had been met with too much paperwork for him to have enough time to visit.

With the crowds making it hard to get by, Ace could hardly notice each person he passed by. If they didn’t look like Jolie, he wasn’t interested. Due to the chaos, he felt rushed and frazzled. This lead to the first blonde that looked slightly familiar to become associated with being Jolie. As he was about to try and get her attention, he was pushed forward by another busy person. His hand that was reaching to gently touch her shoulder had seemed to freeze where it was as he gazed at the girl in shock. Not Jolie.

Oh no, but he did know her. Why this again? Just another miss understanding that was ready to unfold. He hadn’t seen the person who had angered her this time, but he knew how she was when angered. He hadn’t even noticed that he had rolled his eyes at that thought.

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Magic by MJ!

There were few who didn't annoy Aria, but to her surprise the face she was met with was one that had been a source of a headache before. He didn't look all too threatening—(he actually looked frazzled, really, she noticed)—but it didn't stop her scowl from deepening. She took a step towards him, making sure to keep a healthy, safe distance between them, and lowered her voice.

"Are you following me, then? Even into the school year?" she asked, brows knitted together.

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And thus the assumptions began. Did she really think the world revolved around her? As if he had a deep need to know were the yelling girl was on a constant basis. "No. I was actually looking for a different blonde. My sister, if you must know. Well… one of them."

As the thought reoccurred to him, he took another glance around. Why couldn’t Jolie be a red head like him and the rest of their sisters? Then it would be easier to spot her in a crowd. "It’s as if this place is more crowded than London." He muttered. Likely because London was bigger and thus had more space.

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Magic by MJ!

"Typical," she scoffed, averting her gaze to make it seem like she wasn't intending for him to hear. There was always something—or in this came, someone—inconveniencing her when she was trying to enjoy what little alone time being a Hogwarts student offered.

"I don't suppose your sister usually dresses like this," she said with a self-deprecatory glance down at her worn dress. It wasn't tattered, but it wasn't new; since the family survived solely on her mother's income, new dresses only came when altering old ones became impossible. (And seeing that this gentleman looked, erm, more well-off than her family, she doubted his sister was the type to be caught dead in her outfit.)

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Typical? How was this typical at all? But he knew that if he asked, she would only shout at him. It was what he did best. Crossing his arms, he tried to think of how to even try to respond to anything she said.

Looking at the dress that he hadn't even glanced at, he shrugged. "I don't stare at women's clothing. Personally, I'm assuming that doing so would be rather rude." He stated bluntly when he looked back at her. He hadn't even really been paying attention. He was sure that Jolie was shorter than her as well. Personally, he saw blonde at thought 'Jolie' in the chaos of the holiday shoppers.

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Magic by MJ!

Aria rolled her eyes. Even if he was polite enough not to stare, no one could be blind to what another person wore! It would be similar to ignoring their face, their eyes—or their hair color.

She mirrored his body language with pursed lips, her arms crossing over her chest. "But you stare at their hair," she challenged, brows raised. "Or are you so polite that all ladies are completely invisible to you?" She almost snickered at the thought, but maintained her composure.

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Raising an eyebrow, he looked around the crowd of rushed shoppers and then looked back to her as if to say ‘are you so stupid as to not notice all of these people’. But alas, he was too polite to say that out loud.

"Not stare. But she is my only blonde sibling. How about you try finding someone among this chaos without being trampled over." He challenged back. That’s when he heard a sudden shuffle behind him as if someone was shoving those behind him out of the way. He turned around just in time to be crashed into by the person in question. "Ace! Finally! I thought you forgot about me!"

Suddenly, there was a drastic change in Ace’s composure as he looked toward his little sister. A bright smile appeared on his face as he hugged the happier blonde back. "I’ve been looking everywhere for you." Looking back at Miss WhateverHerNameIs, his smile lessened a bit. And Jolie noticed, looking between the two of them with slight confusion.

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Magic by MJ!

Aria actually scoffed. "Try to not be trampled over!" she barked. "As if I can control the thoughtlessness of bumbling giants," she said, her eyes scanning up and down his taller-than-average form. Then his sister had to come, of course, causing her to cross her arms over her chest and roll her eyes. She could go now, right?

"Don't even ask," she said, regarding the blonde with nothing other than a dismissive wave. "I was just preparing to bid him farewell." Forever, hopefully.

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The nerve of the older girl, she actually scoffed. Was she raised in a barn? No matter how kind his parents were, they would certainly not allow that. Well... Avril was simply a troubled young woman who decided that listening to authority was something to simply not do. And thus, furthering the belief that this young woman and Avril were quite similar. "Well, that is my point." He muttered. Though he was sure she was trying to refer to him. He wasn't that tall. Some men were six foot, if not more! Sure, that wasn't much of a difference, but he certainly noticed when almost being knocked down in a chaotic crowd.

"It would be quite rude to not introduce you... though it seems you have failed to introduce yourself to me anyway. Perhaps manners are not your top priority, but they are high on the list of priorities to me." And he certainly did not appreciate that tone she had used to his little sister.

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Magic by MJ!

Two-faced as ever, he was! Under that facade of helpfulness was a man—no, a boy—who didn't know how to leave well enough alone. She waved off the offer, glancing at the younger blonde.

"No need to. We share a class or two." Not that she knew the girl's name, but learning it would require going through stiff, forcibly-polite introductions by ginger here. "I ought to be off, anyways. I ought to be within sight of my appointed chaperon."

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True, he was partially doing this to be annoying. It was a little funny to make her frustrated and flustered in what to say next. It also made her have to think more and more of how to stay clever. Perhaps it was being a Ravenclaw, or perhaps it was just his boredom and own frustration in life that lead him to challenge her mentally. That's all it was, right?

Looking at Jolie briefly, he raised an eyebrow as if to say 'we'll discuss this later'. To which he earned a confused shrug. It wasn't as if he could really expect his siblings to know all of their peers. Especially by name. But still, he was curious about this mystery girl. Perhaps Jolie could send word more about who she is while at school. Even if that was weird, the whole situation was weird. "It would be quite rude if I simply left you on your own. I will happily see to it that you arrive to your chaperone safely." Perhaps the person responsible for this stubborn girl will address her by name. He was simply curious... and stubborn. And he could see from the corner of his eye that Jolie was raising an eyebrow at him, and he knew that he would need to inform her of the other encounters with the young lady at another time.

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Magic by MJ!

It had been a long time since Aria experienced true conflict with someone she wasn't related to. She was usually far too non-confrontational to survive a conversation long enough to reach her breaking point, and too worried about other people's opinions of her to fight with the students she saw regularly at school.

With him, however, she was less worried and getting a little impatient, so she abruptly shook her head.

"No. No thank you," she said, taking in a deep breath of air in place of words she'd likely regret later. "I might cause more suspicion to be seen with a man I'm not related to. Goodbye." And before he could get another word out, she scurried off back into the crowd.

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