Billie seemed pleased with the revelation, and Gideon breathed a sigh of relief. This had been a risk, but evidently one that had payed off, at least so far. He felt suitably abashed at Miss Robins' criticism regarding the way he'd introduced her, and it showed on his face, but he doubted he would feel comfortable calling her Gus regardless of how well this meeting went. He was already anticipating that he'd be interrogated by Billie later on that day regarding how he'd made the Quidditch player's acquaintance, and thought referring to her so familiarly would only further excite the girl's curiosity on that front. He wouldn't have any satisfactory answers, of course, because he really didn't know Augusta Robins at all. Hopefully Billie didn't think he was trying to hide something... though the truth, that he had written to her out of the blue and proposed they meet at a park, honestly sounded like the sort of story he might have created if he had been trying to hide something.
"Maybe you can ask her about Quidditch at Hogwarts," Gideon suggested, finding it easier to direct the conversation through Billie than to address Miss Robins directly. He had two distinct social personalities that he was used to wearing: one, which had become more and more disused since he'd taken Billie under his roof, when he was drinking or gambling or flirting with the sorts of women who didn't much care about their reputation — in the sorts of circumstances, in short, where there were no expectations regarding the proper way to behave; and a second which he used when attending dinners and parties and meeting people who were recurring figures in wizarding society, where he played by the rules and was reserved and respectable. Augusta Robins, at least as he currently perceived her, existed in a sort of grey area between those two categories, and as a result he wasn't sure how he ought to interact with her. Had she come into the shop for a wand, he would have had no trouble whatsoever, but in a casual conversation, he was a bit at a loss.
"I assume that's where you started playing?" he asked Miss Robins, because it would probably seem strange if he only talked to Billie from here on out.
"Maybe you can ask her about Quidditch at Hogwarts," Gideon suggested, finding it easier to direct the conversation through Billie than to address Miss Robins directly. He had two distinct social personalities that he was used to wearing: one, which had become more and more disused since he'd taken Billie under his roof, when he was drinking or gambling or flirting with the sorts of women who didn't much care about their reputation — in the sorts of circumstances, in short, where there were no expectations regarding the proper way to behave; and a second which he used when attending dinners and parties and meeting people who were recurring figures in wizarding society, where he played by the rules and was reserved and respectable. Augusta Robins, at least as he currently perceived her, existed in a sort of grey area between those two categories, and as a result he wasn't sure how he ought to interact with her. Had she come into the shop for a wand, he would have had no trouble whatsoever, but in a casual conversation, he was a bit at a loss.
"I assume that's where you started playing?" he asked Miss Robins, because it would probably seem strange if he only talked to Billie from here on out.