June 17th, 1889 — Orpington Way, North Bartonburg

Bragi’s second property, Number Four Orpington Way in North Bartonburg, had been let. Mr Wilson, a property manager Bragi’s father had hired for him, had handled the finding, initial showings and paperwork for the new tenant, and now Bragi was finally meeting him to hand over the keys. The tenant was Mr Mundungus MacFusty; the oddest name he’d ever heard. Mr Wilson asserted he was a professional Quidditch player from a prominent family up North, and Bragi knew naught more about him than that.

The young Dane walked through the late morning, doffing his hat at a few neighbours he’d come to know since moving here from Denmark. It was a bright day, but chilly. Bragi had not his coat, but did wear a long scarf in pale blue. When he reached Number Four Orpington Way, he leaned on the stone wall by the steps as he awaited Mr MacFusty. Taking the keys out of his pocket, he threw them in the air and caught them deftly, reflective. Today was a big day for the burgeoning Landlord.

Mundungus MacFusty

  

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Una had come home to visit for the summer. Three nights with his sister in the family home had been more than enough for Munny to decide that he definitely needed his own place. And so he had set about doing so and had settled on a nice property in North Bartonburg. Munny was glad that his familys.. less than stellar reputation had not blocked him from getting the place. Then again, he was also a known name in his own right. Not that he was less than stellar himself but whatever.

He was supposed to be settling in today and getting the keys for the place. Though what the point of them was when anyone could use an unlocking spell, he had no idea. The man he was supposed to be meeting had a weird name - Bragi. Foreign, more than likely. The property manager hadn't told him much nor had Munny been especially interested in knowing. "Ever thought of becoming a seeker?" Munny asked as the man caught the keys that had previously been seemingly thrown into the air.

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Obviously this was not Mundungus MacFusty, for he pictured him to be a gruff trout not a handsome young lion with a jaw like an anvil. Furthermore, this was one of the tallest gentlemen he'd ever seen, and that startled Bragi to distraction.

He blinked, paused, then found his grace and replied; "I played a little at Beauxbatons. How about you?" he dared return. "You look like a Keeper." With limbs that long he could swing at a Quaffle from half a world away.

  

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The other man seemed to be a bit caught unawares and Munny could not help but be amused at the idea of his approach not being noticed, at tall and athletically built as he was. "I'm a Beater, actually," Munny said. "With my build and strength, I'm afraid I would be a waste as a keeper." He wasn't here to talk about his career and his school days as a Gryffindor Beater though. "I'm Mundungus MacFusty, I'm meant to be meeting the owner of the property I'll now be renting. Are you him?"

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Bragi wasn't the type who blushed — when he was embarrassed he instead grew paler than he already was, and thus he went as white as a sheet as he discovered this was the man he was supposed to be meeting.

He cursed himself for being overly distracted by peoples' appearance. Nobody ever noticed his appearance; probably because he didn't have a jawline like Mundungus MacFusty's.

"Bragi Holm", he introduced himself, standing up straight from his post and offering a handshake. He opened the front door for Mundungus — "please —" he offered politely, inviting him to go in first.

  

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"Are you all right?" Munny asked when the man seemed to pale. Then again, he was pale to begin with so maybe that was just his default appearance. Mister Holm looked like an elfin creature, in Munny's opinion, all pale skin, blue eyes and fiery red hair.

He shook the mans hand and made his way into the building. "I gotta admit. I wasn't expecting my landlord to be a man that looks to be about my own age though I don't recall you in the halls of Hogwarts," he said, as he waited for the redhead to join him.

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"Oh — yes", he replied hesitantly when asked if he was alright, realising he must appear anxious. Bragi chewed his lower lip briefly as they headed into the house, before realising he must not have spoken clearly when he said he'd played Quidditch at Beauxbatons — either that or Mr MacFusty wasn’t all that aware of schools outside Hogwarts, and thus didn’t know what Beauxbatons was. Perfectly probable, Bragi supposed. Great Britain was oft a world of its own, and quite right too.

”I… didn’t expect you to be so young either”, he admitted as they headed through into the front parlour. As the tall man followed, Bragi finally realised why the workers had magically heightened the doorframes.

”I didn’t go to Hogwarts, no, I attended Beauxbatons. A school across the Channel.”

  

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"I hope that isn't a problem. I have a blossoming Quidditch career so I can pay," Munny said, hoping his age wasn't going to be a dealbreaking factor. Mister Holm didn't seem to be inclined to stop him from renting though.

Munny chuckled at himself when Mister Holm repeated that he had gone to Beauxbatons. "Right. You said that. Sorry, got a bit distracted there." He did hope Mister Holm would think he meant by re-observing the home but really, it was that red hair. Apparently even on a pretty boy, red hair was a distracting factor for him.

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This feeling was something tantamount to awkwardness, and he supposed that was probably precisely what it was. For both young chaps (mainly Bragi) had bumped into some misunderstandings and hesitances. But Mr MacFusty was right… despite their youth, they were both adults, capable of paying their way. One was a professional Quidditch player, and the other a Landlord. They weren’t boys.

And so Bragi (still feeling very much like a boy) felt determined to return to some social graces, and answered with confidence; ”it’s not a problem at all. I find your profession fascinating. In fact the very first person I met in this country was a Quidditch player — Mr Tristan Michaud, have you heard of him?”

“Distraction” was probably the word of the day. For even though both were already acquainted with Number Four Orpington Way, the purpose of this afternoon was to formally hand over the keys, not to chinwag. That wasn’t stopping them, though.

  

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Munny actually laughed at mention of Michaud, the sound a warm sort of rumble. "Heard of him? I dare say I have. I even shared a room with him during our Hogwarts days though he left school before I did." It had been during that whole half-breed ban hoopla where people had needed birth papers and the like.

"Seems you're attracting Quidditch players to your presence left and right. Are you sure you don't want to go into it professionally?" He couldn't resist teasing for what were the odds that the young man would come into the acquaintance of two Quidditch players, both of Gryffindor, in the same month?

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Bragi blinked at his new tenant, surprised at discovering the two Quidditch players in his acquaintance has been dormitory mates at Hogwarts. But he supposed he shouldn’t be too surprised, for the wizarding world was not enormous, and the Quidditch world was smaller still. So he smiled, though felt a little bashful at the word attracted, for whatever reason. ”Well, it’s nice to have something to fall back on should my property endeavours fail”, he quipped.

And speaking of which, the young Dane finally tore his eyes from the towering fellow and regarded the front parlour into which they’d stepped. Number Four Orpington Way was a handsome home indeed, being in the more affluent northern streets of Bartonburg. The door frames had been magically elongated to account for Mr MacFusty’s unusual height, the floors a dark wood and the walls pale blue. He led the way into the kitchen, which was furnished with utilities and had a large wooden table onto which he placed the keys.

”The rest of the rooms are unfurnished as you know, but the previous owners have recently alerted me to some furnishings in storage they’d be happy to provide for a low price. What say you, sir; is this of interest?”

  

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Munny chuckled at Mister Holm's quip, feeling quite at ease with the other man. Then again, he was the easygoing sort and tended to be at ease with pretty much anyone he came across. The home was good enough for Munny and he figured it would be good enough for any guests he would find himself entertaining which would mostly be other Quidditch folk.

"I'd certainly be interested. I'll need a bed because one of my cousins laid claim to mine as soon as I announced I was venturing into my own residence." Uncommon for a MacFusty to venture out of the Hebrides for a residence but Munny had never been entirely conventional - just like any other MacFusty. No one could ever accuse any of them of conforming to the norm.

  

"Well then, I'll send an owl to Mr and Mrs Beaumont straight after this", Bragi replied brightly, referring to the house's previous owners who'd moved out to start a family in Irvingly. He was sure Mr MacFusty would probably prefer to choose his own furniture at some point, but to begin with some secondhand bits and pieces would probably do the trick; especially if he didn't even have a bed.

"I should probably leave you to it", the young landlord realised after a pause. He had very much enjoyed chatting to his new tenant, but imagined Mr MacFusty probably wanted him out of his hair as soon as possible so he could settle in.

  

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"Excellent," Munny said, hoping this furniture wouldn't be too feminine. Not that he wouldn't rock a floral couch if he had to. He would just rather not.

"Feel free to pop in to visit!" Munny offered as the other man seemed ready to leave. Munny was ready to get settled in and start putting his own touches around the place.
 

/wrap?

  

Bragi smiled warmly, privately hoping Mr MacFusty's gesture had not been an empty one. He hadn't imagined he'd get on this well with his first tenant — nor found one so close in age.

"Until next time, then", the young landlord said brightly, and shook his hand. "Welcome home", he could not help but add before he left.

-wrap!-

  

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