Emmeline smirked. "I don't think any sort of alcohol is more me," she admitted easily enough. She'd rather avoid it at all costs in the future now if it was going to make her act the way she had. It clearly wasn't something for her.

"And I'm not sure," she ended up saying again, feeling as if she'd admitted to not knowing things far more often than she normally would, "I've just always been drawn to them. And they seem to have a liking for me as well." Her smirk turned to a smile at the mention of being an owl magician.

"Perhaps," she said with a shrug, "Though that sounds like a waste of attaining NEWTs. I'll likely find myself working in the ministry with creatures some how. It'd be a shame to waste the money spent to keep me in school." She was pretty well set on making something of herself. She had to what with all the sacrifices that had been made on account of her.

---

  

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#LovelyLadySet

Charles scoffed. There was alcohol for everyone; whether they knew it or not, "Of course there is. You cannot base your entire opinion on alcohol on one drink!" He toyed with her.

Her smile though was particularly sweet and it gave him a brief moment of butterflies in his stomach. Of course, these two could never work. After all, as she had said on more than one occasion, she was still a student which put him as at least ten years her senior. Not that those kinds of relationships were out of the ordinary. Just not for his kind of social standing. Betrothals and forming marriages like this were typically reserved to the upper class. He was free to do as he pleased; not for any kind of financial or social security but for himself.

And maybe that, then, is what he wanted.

"Not a waste at all if you enjoy it. And the Ministry?" Maybe he could help, he thought, "I know a few people in that department if you'd like me to speak for you. I can't promise much though, Miss Woodcroft."

---

  

Emmeline grimaced at the talk of alcohol. She really wasn't sure she wanted it to be a part of her life in the slightest. At least, not for a good long while. It could ruin lives. She'd seen it be the downfall of her father. Though it was alcohol with a combination of gambling that had ruined him and, as a result, the family. To say she was getting bitter was an understatement.

Settling onto the bench next to him, she felt an odd sense of comfort. She was comfortable next to him, which was odd. She still didn't understand it. She didn't even know him enough for it to make sense. As far as they were concerned they were strangers of entirely different points in their lives.

"Yeah, I'm thinking the Ministry," she continued, "I thought perhaps a healer but that would be dealing with the things creatures cause and not the creatures themselves. Which is the exact opposite of what I want to do." Who knew, maybe she'd go on to become the Care of Magical Creatures professor. She thought she'd quite enjoy that.

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#LovelyLadySet

Coleman nodded. She had a good sense of drive and ideas for her future and he admired that. A person without a purpose wasn't something he dared think about. He'd seen first hand the kinds of people that produced and on more than one occasion, had he been made to dispose of them.

"I understand. I'll see what I can do within the Ministry. I don't want to be the one who stops you fulfilling your dreams," he spoke softly, turning to look toward the park.

He felt like he'd known her a long time though the truth was, it had barely been twenty-four hours. It felt like it had come straight out of one of those fairy tale stories his sister read.

"It is a nice evening. And it's a shame you've got some things to do. It would have been nice to get to know a but more though you need to get that stuff delivered." His gaze stayed focused on the distance, not wanting his clear disappointment that she'd soon be leaving be evident.

---

  

Emmeline blushed as he said he'd see what he could do within the Ministry to help her. She shook her head slightly as she turned to look at him. "You don't need to do that," she said softly, "I've got a year left of school. A lot could change in a year." Hell, she was proof a lot could change in less than twenty-four hours.

She watched him as he looked out to the distance and spoke. She blushed more, still unsure why he seemed so interested in her. He almost sounded sad that they couldn't sit there together longer.

Looking away, she glanced to the bag and slowly stood up with a sigh. "I suppose there's nothing really preventing you from walking along with me," she said once she'd stood up and got the bag situated on her shoulder but paused to add, "But not because I need you to." She almost went on to add because she wanted him to buy the thought of admitting such was almost embarrassing, not wanting to look like some silly schoolgirl with a crush.

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#LovelyLadySet

"A lot can change, but I'd hope your dreams remain yours," Coleman said quietly.

He looked at her as she stood up and gave her a light-hearted smile. He was about to say his goodbyes when she suggested he could come with her.

Smirking a little, Charles stood up, "Of course you don't need me. You made that very clear," He teased, gesturing for her to start walking.

Once they were walking and on their way, Charles found himself watching her. She looked a lot different to last night. Really different. This was the first chance he'd had where he could truly take her in; the slight curls of her hair, the soft brown hues of her eyes. It was... different.

"Where is it you need to go?" Charles asked, hands in his pockets.

---

  

Emmeline nodded in regards to dreams. Those were hers, the one constant thing she had in her life. They progressively got bigger. Originally it had simply been to be named Head Girl but now she was looking past that all thanks to a night spent drinking too much alcohol. Change was weird.

They walked in relative silence for a time before he spoke. She glanced up at him as she walked. "A shop on High Street," she answered, "Just have to drop it off then head home for dinner." It likely wouldn't be anything special and chances were her father wouldn't be at the table even.

"Why a Hit Wizard?" she asked as they continued on their way, turning questions to him instead of about herself.

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#LovelyLadySet

"Then I suppose I could walk you home again, too. Pennyworth, isn't it?" Charles teased a little. He looked briefly down at her hand before shrugging off any thoughts. He barely knew her and whatever this was, it was not proper.

Connections happened, sure - but Charles was not the type to give into them. Not easily. She was nice and that was all he needed to know.

Her question did take him a little by surprise and it took a short while for him to answer. Once he did, his tone was fairly dismissive, "Couldn't be an auror."

Charles didn't really fancy explaining how he was more inclined to beat someone up than arrest them. Temperament, apparently.

---

  

Emmeline nodded in response to both of his own responses. She was surprisingly fine with him walking her home. Last night she'd been almost adamant about him not seeing her home. She'd made a fool of herself then and it only added to the confusion as to why he felt the desire to stick around her.

His tone, however, said far more than his words when he answered her and she knew better than to push further with that. And no matter how confused she was with the situation, she didn't really want to anger him.

"This is the shop," she said as they came up to one, "I'll be right back." She offered him a quick smile then before slipping inside to the shop to deliver her mom's work. She was only gone a few minutes before she came back out.

"That's that," she said once she had come up next to him again.

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#LovelyLadySet

Charles looked up at the shop and nodded, leaning against a nearby pole as he waited. In the few moments she was gone, Charles found himself thinking in last night and how different she was.

It angered him a little. She seemed like such a sweet girl and whoever turned her into the crying mess he'd found herself in should be ashamed. No, Charles surmised, they needed to pay for that. But he wasn't going to act on these feelings. It wasn't proper.

Once she returned, he smiled softly and began walking toward Pennyworth alongside her, "Then it's to dinner, Miss Woodcroft."

This whole experience was somewhat bizarre though most comfortable for him. He felt at peace around her and maybe it was because he felt obligated to ensure her safety or there was something else.

Whatever it was, Charles was content.

---

  

Emmeline nodded. To dinner. For her anyways. He'd see her to her home as he said he would then would surely be on his way. This...whatever it was, would be over then. She doubted she'd him again. He claimed interest but surely he hadn't meant it. He was a man with a career after all. She was a student with a year still left of school.

"I'm sure you can see me as far as you did last night," she did, eyes forward and trying to avoid looking at him, "I imagine you've plenty to do and I've already taken up much of your time." She hated to think of it but the realization that this was likely the last time seeing him hurt.

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#LovelyLadySet

"Not at all, Miss Woodcroft. My time is yours as long as you'd welcome it," He said. He did actually have to be somewhere but that could wait. The wizard he had been sent to deal with wasn't particularly in a rush to run away.

Thinking for a moment, Charles said with a casual tone; as if to play off his words, "Though I should eat before I do some work." He hinted. He didn't want to invite himself into her home for dinner.

Instead, he'd infer his invitation and hope she did it for him.

---

  

His words has her blushing again. Emmeline didn't know what to think of Charlie. While she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, she was fearful to do so. Clearly, she hadn't had the best of luck with men and she almost wondered if she was simply a horrible judge of character.

She stopped dead in her tracks at his next comment though, turning to look at him with wide eyes. "Are you looking for an invitation to dinner at my home, Mr-" she paused, realizing she didn't even know what his last name was, just that he was Charlie but that felt far too informal, "I don't even know your last name."

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#LovelyLadySet

"If you're offering, Miss Woodcroft." He grinned and gestured for them to continue. He wasn't about to give her his last name, oh no. That would imply they were more than they were. He would wait for that. He couldn't lie, either, but he knew how to avoid his name. He could claim his job meant he had to he secretive about his identity.

Though quickly he realised, as he walked to the road they were in yesterday - and his eyes glanced over to the bench - that he needed to say something.

"Charles." Surname or first name, it was formal enough for now.

"We're almost at yours. Which house is it? I'd much rather walk you all the way home this time."

---

  

Emmeline raised a brow at his words. He clearly like evading questions if they touched too close to home. Why his last name was an issue, however, she didn't know.

"Well I can't very well invite you into my home for dinner without a name," she said as she paused at the very spot they'd said goodbye the night before, "Charlie is surely short for Charles so whether that's your first or your surname I need more than that if you're too come to dinner."

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#LovelyLadySet

Charles sighed a little. She was very persistent but perhaps she was right. He looked around briefly and then to the floor before locking eyes with hers once again.

Telling his last name to her wasn’t the issue; it was the formality and familiarity that came with a surname that was the issue for him. Sticking to Charlie he was fine with. It was casual; it was a nickname. It inferred nothing. Charles was a stretch and he thought it was enough for her. Clearly it wasn’t and he could have left her to go home and get food elsewhere but he didn’t particularly want to. All things considered, he didn’t know why this was such an issue for him though alas, it was.

“Caulfield,” He said coldly before smiling, “which would now suggest I’m to be invited for dinner? I’m quite hungry.”

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