Complete the following ten scenarios as open threads. Character accounts can be combined. Threads must have at least ten posts, and at least three must be your own.

#2. Find a purse of 10 galleons

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May 26, 1895 — The Leaky Cauldron, Evening

It was the end of the night, and the dining room had mostly cleared out of people except for staff and a late arrival who was spending the night in one of the rooms upstairs. Ara was sweeping the floor towards the back of the room with all the enthusiasm of someone who was ready to be done with the work day and go home. Soon.

She was pushing her broom under a table against the wall when she hit something more substantial than food crumbs. Frowning, Ara gave a few probing pokes before she got a good angle on it to push the thing out. Crouching down, Ara held out her hand to catch whatever it was and her eyes widened when her fingers closed around the unmistakable shape of a purse. She didn't know how much was in it without opening it, but she could feel coins through the leather, and it was heavier than she expected when she picked it up.

The front door opening loudly behind her made Ara straighten up, shoving the purse into the pocket of her dress without even thinking about it, and quickly going back to sweeping the floor, hoping that whoever had entered wasn't the purse's owner, returning to search for their lost property.

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Sometimes Reg felt like he might lose his head if he wasn’t attached, but today it was Felix who’d lost something – his purse. They’d been everywhere today, Hogsmeade to London, chasing down a story that wound up being anything but newsworthy, and well, the day had been wasted, but at least it had been wasted together. It wasn’t until they had gotten home did Felix realize his purse wasn’t in his pocket, and after tearing their flat apart they decided to retrace their steps – Felix heading to Hogsmeade while Reg went to London.

Reg wasn’t even sure the Leaky Cauldron would still be open by the time he got there, but the lights were on, and that was good enough; they’d eaten lunch here, although he couldn’t recall who had paid the bill. Pushing the front door open, Reg glanced around the place, finding that it had thinned out considerably in comparison to the lunch rush. A few employees seemed to be deep in conversation, outside of one girl who was sweeping half-heartedly like she had somewhere better to be. Reg didn’t blame her.

“Hi,” he said, clearing his throat. “Do you uh, have a lost and found?” Not that Reg expected to find it there, but he really didn’t want to have someone help him look for it.

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Ara did her best to keep her face neutral. Here we go. "Nothing formal, really, but sometimes people drop things off behind the bar that they find." She headed toward the bar, waving down the barkeep as she did, hoping she was the very picture of nonchalance. "What'd you lose?"

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The following 1 user Likes Arabella Russell's post:1 user Likes Arabella Russell's post
   Reginald Alderton

Reg blinked at her, unsure if she was annoyed to be helping him or annoyed that he was interrupting her so that she couldn’t head home right away. His hand came up to sheepishly rub the back of his neck.

“Mm,” he hummed, “A coin purse. Black… or maybe brown?” He paused because he didn’t really know what color the thing was now that he thought about it; it could be blue for all he knew. Or green, since Felix had been a Slytherin. “I think it has a little brass button on the front of it, but that might’ve popped off a while ago, so maybe not.”

Reg glanced at her again. “I think I might’ve left it near the back booth. Or the hearth. Or maybe I was holding it at the bar…” He laughed awkwardly. “Sorry, that’s probably not helpful. It’s a coin purse.”

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Ara raised her eyebrows. "Is it yours?" She assumed he'd know what his own coin purse looked like. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as she thought.

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Reg blinked at her because he hadn’t been expecting that question. He gave her a sheepish look before dragging a hand through his hair. “Alright, so I guess that did sound a bit like any coin purse that’s ever existed.” He rocked back on his heels. “No, my friend lost it and he didn’t exactly give me a detailed description of it.” Reg gestured vaguely next to him, like that might conjure Felix who could better describe what color it was.

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"Ah, I see." Ara didn't feel too bad about this--this man didn't look like he was suffering to her--but if it wasn't even his money, that was another thing altogether.

They reached the bar and Ara leaned against it to address the bartender, "Hey, [Name], did anyone find a coin purse and turn it in?" The bartender said he didn't think so, but he went to look, anyway. Ara turned back to the man. "When was your friend here?" she asked.

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It was disappointing to hear that no one had seen it, although Felix wasn’t entirely sure when he’d lost it, so it might not be here at all.

“Oh, uh, lunch. We came in for lunch, maybe a half past twelve?” Reg shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he spoke. “Felix had the barley stew but he kept trying to steal my roll, and then I wound up dropping it on the floor by accident so neither of us got it, if that helps to jog anything.” He left out how Felix had almost tipped his entire bowl over when Reg had decided to rub his ankle with his foot.

He gave her a small, apologetic smile. “We left in a bit of a rush. He keeps everything in that same little purse. Coins, bits of string, scribbled notes, little bits of paper he swears he’ll remember what they mean.” They were reporters, after all

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"Oof," Ara said sympathetically. That was rough. But didn't sound like anything anyone would die if they didn't have it. She was at least saved from a true moral dilemma. "Unfortunately, it looks like you're out of luck."

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Reg’s mouth twisted into a small smile. “Yeah. Though I don’t really think luck’s ever really been mine to begin with.” He patted his empty pockets like Felix’s wallet was magically going to appear, although he gave a short shake of his head when it didn’t. “Thanks uh… for your help.” He smiled, something half crooked, before he stepped toward the door.

Hopefully Felix was having better luck.

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