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.

“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.

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.”

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.

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”