March 25th, 1888 — The Three Broomsticks

"Mister Barnabas Skeeter is quite easily the least offensive of these group of men. However, this Witch Weekly reporter cannot forget the stance that the man originally held on female dueling. Being quite the advocate for making female sanctioned dueling illegal, he changed his tune once the Wizenmagot made their decision. Was it a change of heart or was Mister Skeeter simply trying to save face? Either way, a young lady must beware of a man who is so fickle in his opinions!" — Witch Weekly, 5 Bachelors to Stay Away From

Barnabas would never admit to being an avid reader of the ladies gossip magazine. He burned every issue that didn't contain anything about himself promptly after reading it. The ones that did mention him were kept in a locked, fire-proof box stuffed safely into the back of his wardrobe. He'd purchased about thirty copies of the ones that referenced him being a hero and had put that in another locked box - this time in his lockbox at Gringott's. When he'd seen this particular article however, he'd been shocked — and if he were being totally honest — a tiny bit destroyed to see his face included in the list of Bachelors to Stay Away From. They had grouped him in with the likes of Howell Merick and Jude Wright! It made no sense! D:<

Unable to contain himself, he marched into The Three Broomsticks for breakfast that morning and ordered his usual. He hadn't brought the magazine with him, of course, but the article was seared into his brain. He was sat at his usual table, in the corner furthest from the door but near the window that faced north. He sat and ate his meal in fuming silence. The tension rolled off of him in waves. Unbeknownst to him, he had begun to mumble about it - even going so far as to recite the cursed paragraph to himself.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore! He slammed his mug of coffee down (brought from home of course, as they didn't serve his special brew here, despite his insistent suggestions that they do so) on the table so hard that it splashed onto the table cloth and the vibration clattered the other dishes on the table. He whirled to those sitting at the table nearest him and demanded heatedly, "Would you believe an accusation that said I am fickle?! Fickle! Of all things!"

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Tuni had gotten an early start for the day, with plenty of errands to run. Truly, she'd hardly had any sleep due to her mind continually spinning with thoughts and hadn't seen any point if lying about in bed. Besides, there was plenty that needed done and getting it done early would help her to beat the rush. She wasn't exactly in the mood to be overly social anyways so the less exposure to others was probably for the best.

With a handful of things already accomplished, Tuni and her maid had gone into the Three Broomsticks to enjoy a cup of tea and to rest their feet for a time before continuing on. The two women had been sitting in companionable silence when they jumped at the sudden sound of a mug crashing into a table and the tinkling of china clattering about. Tuni couldn't help but giggle lightly at the look on her maid's face, almost as though she were about to faint, when the man at the table next to theirs turned rather abruptly to them and asked a question.

"I can't say for sure," she responded, looking to him an realizing just who he was. Of course she'd run into one of the five men Witch Weekly was warning young women about. "Are you fickle?" she asked, raising a brow at him as she turned his question back to him.

  

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"Of course not," He shot back heatedly, "I'm the furthest thing from it, I can assure you, madam!" Logically speaking, he knew that this woman likely didn't work for Witch Weekly — perhaps hadn't even read the article that mentioned him — but he couldn't stop himself from railing against her as if she had been the very witch who had written that awful nonsense about him!

He barely paused to take a breath before he ranted on, "My opinions are solid and only changed when proven wrong - a trait that should have put me in the 'eligible' category not the 'stay away from' category! It's not like I cling to ideas and beliefs just because they are mine. Lesser men are stubborn and don't admit it when they're wrong. That is most certainly not what I was doing when it came to dueling and I'll have you know that I am all for women's dueling... and not just to save face!"

  

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Tuni stared back at the gentleman clearly upset for being named in such a fashion in the magazine. She slowly even raised her hands up in the air in front of her almost as if showing she was unarmed and, therefore, not a threat. Whether it would register to the man or not, she didn't know as he was quite passionate in what he was saying. She wasn't even sure if he was aware of his surroundings any longer as he went on his tirade.

She did eventually use her wand to move a glass of water over to him once he had finished. "You may need that," she said with a teasing sort of smile, "And I must agree, clearly they put you in the wrong category. Any man who feels so passionately about something and that is able to admit he was wrong would surely make a lovely husband for a young lady."

She sipped on her tea then though continued to watch him with somewhat of a raised brow. Her maid, on the other hand, was still staring at him as if he had three heads or something. "Though, I wouldn't put much stock into what is read in that rubbish of a magazine," she continued after setting her tea back down, "They like to exaggerate things and I wouldn't put it passed them to print completely fabricated articles simply to stir up dramatics." Much like what he had just done, though she'd never say such a thing out loud. At least, not to him.

  

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His cheeks were flushed from his rant and though his throat didn't feel dry (Barnabas talked quite a bit), he accepted the glass of water and took a polite sip. Her body language indicated that she meant no harm. At first, he thought she might be patronizing him. As she continued however, he found himself to be soothed. Of course he would make a lovely husband. It was an anomaly that he was not already one!

"Thank you," His voice was terse, but sincere, "I don't normally read such nonsense of course, only an acquaintance mentioned that I'd been featured in poor fashion and suggested I ought to read it. I'd rather know what's being said about me than be ignorant of it." He happened a glance at her companion, who was looking at him with a look akin to horror. His rant hadn't been that terrible, had it? Not exactly proper decorum, but not the worst thing he could have done. He quickly broke the eye contact and unsure of what else to do, sipped at the water again.

  

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Tuni simply nodded in response to his thanks of her offered water but noticed his quickly averted gaze. She looked to her maid then and saw what it was that had caused him to look away and gave the woman a look of her own which quickly caused the timid brunette to glance down at her lap. Tuni, however, couldn't help her own little smirk as she turned her attentions back to Mr. Skeeter.

"I actually find it to be rather humorous at times," she said in response, "I subscribe simply to see who they've decided to harass next. Most don't put much stock into what's there though, or at least they shouldn't. Just..do something overly chivalrous. A lot. They'll have to eat their words and I can almost promise they'll write something about how amazing you actually are."

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Barnabas knew he shouldn't care about what the woman's rag mag thought about him, but he couldn't help but have his ego bruised. He told himself it was because he didn't want anyone thinking such nonsense was true - it would severely hurt his chances at finding a wife this season. However, if he were being truthful, he simply couldn't handle being spoken about poorly.

"That's a rather clever idea," He said with genuine surprise, "If I am doing overly chivalrous things, surely they'll not be able to write anything bad about me." The logic was fairly sound. Sure, they might ignore it for a bit but eventually, they would have to say something, wouldn't they? If not, he might do things so heroic that even The Daily Prophet would write about it. It was a bit odd for such thoughtful advice to be coming from a woman, but he couldn't knock it.

  

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Tuni, though not typically a vain woman, couldn't help the beaming of pride she did at the mention of her idea being clever. She quite thought so but it was a bit exciting to be told as much by someone otherwise a complete stranger.

"Who knows, you may manage to find the perfect wife in the process," she said with a nod. After all, wasn't that the ultimate end goal? To be married off in wedded bliss?

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"One would hope so," He said in agreement. It was then that he took stock of her. She wasn't unpleasant to look at, though not quite to his tastes. A bit on the younger side, but her wit had proven that as unimportant. She dressed more simply than was in style — that meant cheaper tailoring bills.

After a beat, he added, "This may be unnecessary, but I feel as if I should introduce myself. Barnabas Skeeter, Head of the Dueling Commissions Office. I suppose a woman with such cleverness holds an equally intellectual position? A scholar perhaps? An author, even?"

  

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Tuni raised a brow in response when he began to introduce himself. Then..compliment her? If that's what it was. She wasn't entirely sure. But she supposed she could give him some points for an attempt at flattery.

"Not quite," she answered with a small shrug, "I do go over research for those out in the field. It's a bit of a freelance sort of thing I suppose. I go through their field notes and compile them into something that is actually readable." It sounded a bit lame when said out loud in such a way but she enjoyed what she did regardless of what others may think of it. "If I had the funds to do my own travelling and research, however, it would certainly be something that interests me."

She realized, a bit belatedly, that she hadn't actually introduced herself. She'd locked onto the tangent of what it was she did and her mind had focused solely on that. "Fortuna Lockhart," she added with a bit of a blush to her cheeks, "Research decoder extraordinaire at your service."

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It sounded impressive, albeit not entirely useful. If a woman had to hold a position of employment, it was better to have a useless one than one where she was needed immensely. It would be far too difficult for her to pull herself away from it in favor of her responsibilities at home --- such as household management and children minding, should she become a wife. Unless of course she already was one, though the silently judgy woman next to her and the lack of a ring on her left hand said otherwise.

He bowed his head chivalrously, "It is an incredible pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Lockhart." When he straightened, he was smiling charmingly, "I don't believe that I have ever met a research decoder. Why, I wish I had a quill just now. I'd ask for your signature on this napkin to carry about with me as proof that I hadn't made you up."

  

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Tuni couldn't help but to laugh lightly and shake her head at his attempt of a joke. She doubted he was fully sincere in the matter but it was nice to have an ego stroked from time to time. Not that a signature from her would ever be worth much of anything. Until she managed to travel the world and discover something unknown, she'd be a simply nobody with more time on her hands than she knew what to do with.

"I'm sure you could find a far more valuable signature elsewhere," she responded with a smile, "But thank you." She sipped on her tea briefly before looking back to him, her smile turning into something of a small smirk. "See, Witch Weekly clearly has you all wrong," she said, "You're not nearly as awful as they've tried making you seem."

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"Not nearly as awful? I'd hope I'm not awful at all," He continued to grin, despite feeling a bit miffed that she's still inadvertently called him awful. If he hadn't been so wound up about the offending article, he may have been able to just brush the mild offense off. Still, he was overly sensitive. She needn't know that she'd upset him. No, keep up the sense of humor. He'd made her laugh. She had a rather lovely laugh. And smile. He liked her smile.

Could he get her to do it again? "Although 'not nearly as awful' is a start in the right direction. I'd wager if we keep this up, Witch Weekly will have to publish a statement redacting their slander and informing all that I'm really not such a terrible gentleman after all. Tell me Miss Lockhart, are you willing to go on record that I'm 'not nearly as awful'?"

  

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Tuni hadn't really meant to insinuate that he was awful at all. But, she hardly knew the man. This was her first encounter of him and she hadn't known who he was in the slightest until the article had been published. It wasn't anything to go off of, of course, but the fact still stood that she didn't actually know him. Not that it really mattered in the grand scheme of things. She didn't really need, nor want, to get to know him. Men were nothing but trouble anyways.

"I don't know that I'd be a credible source," she said with a shrug, "After all, I have only just met you. But if they were to ask, I would certainly go on record to say that I found you quite genial and a pleasant conversationalist." Surely that would help some.

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"I'll take it."

He felt a bit dampened by her lack of returned flirtatiousness, but it was no matter. Women weren't supposed to be flirtatious anyhow. Barnabas was in search of a wife, not someone to enjoy conversation with. He glanced at the cranky, silent woman next to Miss Lockhart.

"I'll leave you to your meal. I appreciate your reassurances, Miss Lockhart. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance," One that he hoped to continue, he decided. Barnabas reached for his cane and stood from the table.

We can wrap it here or you can post once more?

  

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