8th June, 1889 — Podmore Zoo, Irvingly
Amelia Evans

It was a little known fact about Konstantin Fisk that, on a sunny weekend, he loved nothing more than getting out of Bartonburg for the fresher air of Irvingly with his beagle in tow. The fact that his family seldom came to the smaller village had a considerable amount to do with it, as did the reduced possibility of bumping into work colleagues out of hours. Ambitious he might be, but a glutton for punishment he was not and he could only stomach the intrigue of office politics for so many days of the week.

The market was particularly busy this week – a shame, he rather fancied sampling some of the early summer chutneys – but the zoo was ideal, even if the cacophony of sound was making Brian’s ears twitch. To him it was soothing, more a hum, but incessant tugging on the lead in his hand grew more insistent with each new paddock they passed until finally Brian took him by surprise and pulled free, fleeing towards the nearest bushes.

“Bugger,” he muttered to himself as he took off after him. His athleticism was definitely questionable after years of desk work but Kons kept him in sight as best he could, jumping over a fence with considerably less grace than his dog had.

Where on earth was he?

From behind an oak that must have been as old as Hogwarts itself Konstantin heard increasingly agitated barks and hurriedly followed the sound, finding his beagle sat on the chest of a young woman. He stared, eyes wide, utterly uselessly.

  

June 8th, 1889 - Podmore Zoological Gardens

As loud as the zoo could be during the week-ends, Amelia enjoyed it. Today she wasn't working but had decided to take a stroll with Penny trotting along in tow and Pascal nestled in her bag. The rumble of the Maine Coon purring against her side was rather soothing and she was content to simply stroll along all day. She thought about potentially going to the market later to pick up an iced treat. She knew Penny would like it - Pascal would continue to snooze as he did.

It was only a matter of time however that something would disturb her peace. It was when she was strolling around in the gardens that the commotion started. First, the cat started fidgeting in her bag. As Amelia peered into the bag, she saw the face of an animal that wanted to get out. The witch's brow furrowed as she contemplated what could make the cat act so strange. Before she could finish her contemplation, a barking came from behind her and the cat leaped out of the bag and up a nearby oak tree. Penny darted towards the other dog in attempts to protect her mistress but was thwarted by a nearby rose bush. Caught in the tangle yet seemingly unharmed, the Australian Shepherd had no choice but to watch from the rose bush as her mistress was taken down by a very enthusiastic beagle.

Amelia had herded overly enthusiastic Mooncalves, but at least she had been able to prep for it. Now she was splayed in a most ungraceful way in the garden path with Pascal meowing up a storm, Penny whining, a very happy beagle snuffling at her face, and her wand a few yards away from her. She attempted to calm the beagle down by sitting up, but the animal's paws were firmly on her chest. Her next plan was to try and shuffle towards her wand; perhaps she'd be able to gently levitate the dog off her chest so she could dust herself off.

That was when her attention was drawn to a man standing just beyond the spot where her wand lay. His expression conveyed exactly what she felt: dumbfounded and unable to comprehend what his eyes were seeing. "Does this one happen to be yours?" she managed to get out between being happily licked on the face by the dog.

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Konstantin Fisk

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   Elladora Black

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“Yes!” Konstantin blurted, hurrying forward to wrap his hands carefully around the dog’s waist and lift him off the poor woman. He wasn’t especially heavy buy Kons knew from experience that he was persistent and he tucked his fidgeting dog under his arm, wrapped the leash around his wrist and offered her his other hand.

“I am so terribly sorry,” he said emphatically, glancing over his shoulder to reassure himself they had not acquired an audience. For himself he didn’t mind, it was his fault Brian remained such a ridiculous creature after all, but he had no wish to bruise her pride over something that was certainly not her doing. Young ladies were very particular like that and he rather admired them for it: would that his little sister could attain such standards for herself!

Unfortunately no sooner had he moved his head that Brian began to get ideas again – although truthfully, and when he recalled this moment, Konstantin would put more of the blame on the increasingly voluble cat. The beagle sprang free of his arms as though he were a bloody diving board, pulling him utterly off balance in the name of attacking something in the rose bushes, and Kons found himself tripping over the young lady’s feet and hurtling to the ground next to her.

Startled he managed only to hope he did not look half as much of a prat as he felt.

  

June 8th, 1889 - Podmore Zoological Gardens

The man finally seemed to gather his wits about him and finally move to lift the animal off of her. She wasn't particularly annoyed at the dog, he was merely being a dog. A very energetic one at that. She gave a sigh of relief, taking a moment to brush the dirt off of her dress (had she worn her work clothes she might not have minded too much, but this was one of her better dresses that she'd selected for the day). She made to grasp the man's hand, grateful for the assist in gathering her composure.

”Really, sir that’s quite alri - agh!”

One moment the witch had made contact with his hand, the next her foot had caught against his and she was falling backwards at gravity’s mercy once again. She hit the ground again, tucking inwards instinctively. Dust had kicked up from the path, lodging in her throat making her cough as she struggled to sit up.

She braced herself on the ground with one hand whilst attempting in a wild last effort to appear ladylike (really, that time for that had past, hadn’t it?) and cover her coughs with the other hand. It was unfortunate that her gasping should distract her, for without them she would have realized sooner that her hand was not in fact on the ground, but placed against his chest.

When she did finally notice (for it was only a matter of time that she realize her hand was placed on something soft and not , she squeaked, her mortification turning her cheeks a furious shade of pink. ”I am so sorry,” she managed to get out. It was around this time that she gave into the urge to hide her face behind her hands.

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Elladora Black

  

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Konstantin couldn’t help himself. It had been brewing since the moment his feet went from under him and when he caught sight of the young lady’s mortification – at least what he could see of it from behind her hands – he burst out laughing with aplomb, still lying on the ground for the moment as he didn’t fully trust himself to get up successfully at present. He glanced towards her as he finally sat up, still chuckling at the situation but trying his best to behave with more sobriety for the sake of her feelings.

“No, please, I’m the one who ought to be sorry,” Konstantin said with an unusually broad smile. He brushed down the back of his coat as best he could as he glanced towards the dogs cavorting around. They were certainly yapping up a storm between them but Konstantin didn’t think they were likely to descend into a scrap – in fact Brian was sniffing around quite aggressively and was showing no sign of intending to run away again…curious. Apparently he had decided to listen at last.

“I do believe we may be safe to try again,” he pushed himself off the ground and to his feet swiftly, balancing for a moment before straightening up, arms spread away from his body theatrically as he glanced back over his shoulder with a grin. “So far, so good.” He turned, holding out his hand. “Your turn. I promise I shall not drop you this time.”

  

June 8th, 1889 - Podmore Zoological Gardens

What she thought would happen and what did were two separate events where both possibilities caused her minor anxiety. Her heart lurched at what she expected; with Barnabas it was possible she would have slapped him and quite literally struck him dumb. Then, perhaps they'd have argued with Amelia angry at him yet again, leaving her in near tears not for the first time. So when the witch heard the hearty tenor of someone laughing it was enough for her to peep through her fingers, praying that it was him and not on-lookers.

Her relief that it was him was equally matched by her mortification as she heard his voice again, and she found herself observing his movements as he got up with as equal energy as his laugh. Though he had some dust on his back, he looked in perfect health. She could still see he was attempting to repress laughter, but the grin he flashed at her as he offered her his hand encouraged her to lower her hands from her face and don a tentative smile.

She narrowed her eyes, her smile growing despite the flush of embarrassment still in her cheeks. "Are you quite sure?" she ventured, feeling emboldened by his light-heartedness as she grasped his hand, quirking an eyebrow up at him. Sure enough, Amelia was soon steady on her feet and released her hand from his strong grip. She widened her smile, catching his eyes briefly as she voiced her thanks. To avoid the flush creeping further into her cheeks, she averted her eyes and set upon brushing the dust from her skirts again. It took her a while to collect herself and realize she'd previously had an animal with her that was not currently present at the moment.

"Oh, Penny!" she exclaimed, spotting the two dogs in the rosebush. While the gentleman's adorable pup was happily yipping, clearly overjoyed at the new friend, Penny – pleased as she was to be socializing with her new friend – was still stuck where she was. The poor australian shepherd had abandoned her fruitless attempt to escape her predicament and settled upon giving her mistress the most harrassed of looks.

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Elladora Black

  

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Quite what she thought he was going to do was beyond Konstantin. It was his fault – or rather, that of his idiotic beagle with whom he would be having strong words once he got home – and yet it was she that looked as nervous as a jaybird, as though he would berate her for what had happened rather than offer his assistance. Perhaps she truly was injured? Or else in some other distress because though Konstantin understood that young ladies that were not his sisters were prone to more delicate emotions it wasn’t as though her embarrassment had been public as such…

And then, like the sun coming out on a gloomy day, she smiled and Konstantin found himself smiling back like a fool. She was dusty and blushing and made him feel as though he trip over his feet again at any moment.

Oh Merlin, he was in trouble now.

He followed her attention dumbly and spotted an unfamiliar canine – presumably Penny – trapped in the hedge. Behind her Brian was yapping away and Konstantin had a funny feeling he wasn’t the only man who had seen something he liked that afternoon, though at least he had the decorum not to sniff the young lady. Still, his dog seemed to be moving things along at a much more rapid pace, to the extent that Kons leapt over the hedge to shoo Brian away before the young lady could see anything.

“I think she’s quite alright, just a little bit indignant,” he chuckled nervously, reaching down to part the gap with one hand, the other firmly – very firmly – holding onto Brian’s collar. “Can you pull her out?”

Brian barked again and Kons shot him a withering look. Little beast.

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   Amelia Evans

June 8th, 1889 - Podmore Zoological Gardens

Amelia hurried towards the bush where Penny sat patiently, the other man's dog right behind her and yapping away. She paused, smiling down at the dog and reaching out to pat the him on the head, hoping that bit of attention would suffice until she could retrieve her own animal. What a cutie! Animals were always her weakness, so she didn't mind being distracted in such a fashion. Thankfully though, the man vaulted with surprising ease over the hedge to come to her aid. She gave him another grateful smile.

It appeared he was right - the dog didn't look injured at all, just resigned to her state at the moment, her ears pricked forward and staring up at the two humans in front of her. She let out another laugh, partly because of the look on Penny's face and partly out of relief that the dog was alright. Amelia knelt down on the ground, not minding the fact she was kneeling in dirt yet again. The man was courteous enough to lend help in both restraining his own dog and making it slightly easier for her to reach the dog.

"Thank you so much, sir," she breathed, peering into the hedge to determine a plan of attack. Rolling up her sleeves, she gingerly reached into the hedge, fiddling with Penny's collar and managing to unhook it from the bushes. Unfortunately for her, the dog seemed to sense her anticipation and lept forward the moment she was free. With a yelp of surprise, Amelia was pushed back as yet another animal - her own this time - took her down.

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Elladora Black

  

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Oh Merlin, they weren’t having much luck were they?! Konstantin had to stop himself from laughing at the sheer absurdity of the moment, and wondered how it was that his family could possibly think he had no sense of humour. Or perhaps it was just that they would have been too amused whereas he had a healthy sense of concern for the young lady mingled in.

“I think these two have been more than enough trouble,” he said, pulling out his wand and conjuring a trail of dog treats to lure both the beagle and the Australian shepherd to the side of the clearing. He flicked his wand again and both their leashes extended and wrapped around the nearest tree – they had plenty of give but for now, consumed with their treats, neither of them were going anywhere. “One would think they’d never seen another human or dog in their lives,” he chuckled, offering her his hand for the second time.

“I suppose I ought to introduce myself as our dogs seem determined to keep us here – Konstantin Fisk,” he inclined his head. “At your service any time you should be knocked to the ground by his ridiculous hound.”

  

June 8th, 1889 - Podmore Zoological Gardens

As embarrassing as this position was, Amelia couldn't help but giggle again. Penny was smart as they come, but when it came to deferring to Amelia, her judgement was otherwise lacking for some strange reason. She gave the dog a hearty pat before her giggles turned to laughs as Penny was easily distracted by a trail of treats that had magically appeared. "She never seems to act this way unless there's excessive excitement to be had," Amelia responded, clearly amused at the two dogs' distractions. The witch gave another sigh of relief as leashes were conjured to at least prevent the animals from taking down another unsuspecting human being.

He reached out a hand again, and Amelia took it willingly this time, hoping she would not have another stroke of luck and tug him down with her again. "I suppose so," she responded breathlessly, gathering her composure before bobbing a curtsey. "Amelia Evans, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Fisk." She said, cheeks flushing again as she realized that her adventures today happened to involve a not unfortunate looking man. "At your service for providing a distraction should your dog ever need one, apparently!" She stole a glance at the dogs again, hoping they'd get on well enough.

  

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All things considered Konstantin could think of worse ways to meet new people than in discovering a shared trait of having disobedient animals. He was hardly in a position to judge her discipline skills when he own seemed so lacking – although all things considered he doubted she held a position in the Ministry that might be slightly contrary to the fact that he couldn’t keep one animal under control.

Who on earth was this woman from their little community that he had never seen before? He visited Irvingly often enough, and even strolled around the park on occasion, and in a village that contained so few people – most of them muggles who avoided their section like the plague – somehow he had never spotted Miss Evans. It was a terrible shame but he considered himself lucky to have met her today at all.

Charming young ladies were tricky to come by in his line of work!

“I’m sure Brian would be delighted to take you up on that,” he said, before immediately being overcome by the unique sensation of having said something mortifyingly stupid in front of somebody one finds attractive. He grimaced to himself as he looked towards the dogs who were happily nudging each other’s noses. “I think he might be enamoured.”

  

June 8th, 1889 - Podmore Zoological Gardens

Amelia's gaze followed his as she turned towards their two dogs who were indeed, enjoying each other's company already. Penny's tailless rear end was waggling happily as she sniffed at the beagle. She smiled, turning back towards Mr. Fisk as she laughed again. "Seeing as I work here, I'm sure Brian will know where to find me, if not know how to find my dog!" She knew Penny would be happy to see another dog around. While many people brought their animals to the zoo, one would figure it'd be easy for the Australian Shepherd to make friends, but many didn't want their own precious animals cavorting about with random animals. Mr. Fisk obviously didn't see any problem with this, which gave the witch enormous relief. He was a kind gentleman, "I should be happy to make his acquaintance once more if he'd forgive the state of me in my work uniform!" Working with Mooncalves was not exactly clean work. They could be enthusiastic little buggers.

Not soon after she'd responded, Amelia heard a distinct meow behind her. Pascal was sitting on the branch of the tree, looking down at the pair, his head cocked to one side. "Pascal!" Amelia exclaimed, flustered that she'd forgotten the 2nd of her animals in the rush to get Penny free. The cat eyed the pair of dogs with suspicion and meowed indignantly once more. "Err...Mr. Fisk, meet my other pet, Pascal." Amelia said, flushing again slightly – Merlin how many times could one blush in a situation like this?

  

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Ah, so she worked here! That would explain why he had missed her on his walks as he tended to keep to the areas that were less populated by families and courting couples and those were generally where the magizoologists tended to congregate in case of questions. Or at least that was Konstantin’s understanding – for all he knew she sold concessions from the bandstand, though he doubted it very much given the menagerie that was gathering around her. She simply had to be something to do with the animals, or else she was being severely wasted and if there was one thing Konstantin Fisk hated it was an ineffective workplace.

That was something he kept very tightly to his chest though. It tended to make most people snort.

“A delight,” he replied drolly, looking at the less-than-amused feline and wondering how on earth this young lady had managed the impossible: namely having a cat being attached enough that it apparently came on walks with her. There had been a cat in the Fisk house when they were all children and the blasted thing had hated each and every one of them, done precisely what it wanted at all times, and always managed to get underfoot when they were going downstairs before looking amused if they stumbled.

He had a dog for a reason.

“With all these creatures flocking to you am I to assume you’re one of the magizoologists here? If not then I think we may have found your lost calling.”

  

June 8th, 1889 - Podmore Zoological Gardens

Peering up at the cat, Amelia became slightly worried - Pascal had always found a way to get up a tree, but there were a few times when the animal had experienced the unfortunate effects of gravity and ended up splayed on the ground. Normally she would take action to get the cat down, but the handsome man spoke again, and Amelia found herself rather surprised at his inquiry. She figured a gentleman of this standing would think the number of animals – and the bond she harbored with them – was rather weird and best to be avoided. Barnabas never voiced it straight to her, but Amelia knew he found her eccentricities and fondness for her animals to be....odd. And really whenever anyone outside of her profession showed interest, it caught her by surprise.

She smiled gratefully at him. "Apprentice," she responded, the words still stumbling over her lips. Despite knowing her position, it was seldom she voiced it aloud. Most children referred to her as 'That Dog Lady', which suited Amelia just fine. They were here to see the animals, after all - not her. "Although I used to work at the Beautiful Beast Boutique, if you've ever happened past there. I work at the Mooncalf Menagerie at ––" Before she could finish her sentence, the large Maine Coon's curiosity got the better of him and he became a blurry orange ball that landed on the ground in between the two, peering up at the man with his large blue eyes. The cat meowed, leaping up into Amelia's prepared outstretched arms. Once in them, however, he didn't sit still and twisted in her arms to look at Mr. Fisk once more. Apparently, in a curious mood, he reached out a large paw to tap the man on the arm.

  

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Before he could learn more the cat interrupted and all Kons’ previous beliefs about felines were confirmed. They were determined to make his life unpleasant and this particular specimen – huge and covered in more orange fluff than any animal had any right to be – already seemed to hate him. It was the sort of animal that would deliberately leave an unfortunate offering in his shoe, of that he was quite sure, or else drop dead rodents at his feet to display its prowess.

The paw tap was a devious move if ever he had seen one. Deliberately sweet but with hidden intent, Konstanin had worked around politicians for long enough to know the tactic well.

“I suspect he thinks I’m imposing on your time Miss Evans,” there was always the chance that someone might recognise his name, though less because of his achievements and more due to his brothers’ occasional bouts of notoriety and his sister’s auspicious marriage, but so far she seemed to be non-plussed which was an excellent sign. He inclined his head cordially, keeping out of reach of the cat. “I certainly don't want to hold you up and I apologise again for Brian's rambunctiousness.”

  

She had to laugh. "He must have taken a liking to you, Mr Fisk." she said before looking up to find the man introducing himself. For some reason she felt a flush in her cheeks, which told her she felt flustered. While Pascal was rather well behaved, Amelia thought it best if she get rid of the cat in her arms in order to do this introduction. Tactful he may be at times, but he added a rather significant weight to her arms at the moment that she didn't entirely trust to not knock her over.

The cat leaped gracefully from her arms and meandered towards Penny. Amelia watched after him for a few seconds before turning back to Mr. Fisk. "You have no reason to apologize, Mr. Fisk," she said, smiling. "Animals can get enthusiastic - in my profession, if one isn't aware of that fact, one's entire career is based upon very little." She hesitated. "However, I do have some more matters to attend to before the day is done, if you'll forgive me." She bobbed a curtsey again. "It's been a pleasure making your acquaintence, Mr. Fisk. I should think the menagerie would be delighted to host your presence again in the future!" And, if she was being honest with herself, Amelia wouldn't mind in the slightest either...

  

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