June 4, 1887 - Dervish and Banges

The Coming Out Ball at Hogwarts just days ago had sparked a new fear in Melody. She had entered every summer for the past seven years with the distinct knowledge that there was more to come. There would be new spells to learn and potions to try. She always embarked for the summer faithful that she would return in September to become even greater. However, now that she had graduated and returned to her family's home, it was unlikely that she would ever step foot within the magnificent castle again for anything other than a ball of some kind. It was too daunting a prospect to face.

After a long morning of trailing after her mother in and out of various shops, Melody was given the rest of the afternoon to herself. The season was nearing its height of activity and it would likely be months before the debutante was afforded such an opportunity again. Mrs. Bradley, her chaperone, and she soon headed off to Whizzhard books with the promise to be home before supper. It was unlikely that the shop carried the books on transfiguration that Melody was after, but she had to stsrt somewhere. And if she happened to get distrscted reading a different tome altogether, who could fault her?

The pair decided to impulsively stop in on Dervish and Banges on their way home. Penelope's birthday was in a few weeks and Melody didn't want to be caught without a gift like she had a year prior. Perhaps the youngest Finch would like a new bow for her violin? Within minutes of wandering through the store, a puzzlebox on one of the back shelves caught her attention. Forgetting all about her quest for the musical tool, Melody examined the box in fascination. These Chinese boxes had intrigued her immensely during her lessons at school, but she had never been afforded the opportunity to explore on her own. Melody handled the small wooden box with extreme care as she took in the different clues. A shift here, a hidden button there, one last click, and the box sprang open.

As did a curse.

A startled shout drew the attention of her chaperone and the shop keeper.  Melody's hand was fused to the box where she had opened it and her finger tips were starting to blacken. "Well don't just stand there!! Get help!" She snapped at the two stunned parties. It was moments like these that made Melody curse being unable to take every class available to her.

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*will edit in location

  

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beautiful set by mj

Ben had fallen into a habit of what could charitably be called 'scavenging' during his cursebreaking trips. What it probably actually amounted to was a bit of light smuggling, but it was harmless of the whole. He'd pick up a few things that it looked like no one was likely to miss from whatever tomb or crypt or temple he'd been sent to scout, then when he returned to England he'd make a stop by Dervish & Banges to sell whatever the shop owner was willing to buy. Whatever they didn't take, he'd cart off to Burgin & Burkes, then the remnants would go to the local pawn shop. It wasn't much, but it was nice supplemental income for his cursebreaking, and Ben certainly wasn't going to complain about extra money for a few posh accessories and some nicer-than-usual booze once in a while.

He had just returned from his latest escapade with a small satchel of treasures, and was about to spread them out on the countertop, when there was a bit of a hubbub in the store. The shopkeeper immediately ran to deal with it, but Ben considered it none of his business at all — at least not until he recognized the item in the girl's hand as a trinket he had brought back from his very last trip. Well then. This probably spelled the end of this little business venture. Hopefully Burgin & Burkes had room on the shelves for his current load of goods.

Reuben would have been quite content to slip out the door during the commotion and just never show his face here again, except that the shopkeep turned around and fixed him with a panicked look. It seemed that when the poor girl said get help, the store tender felt that help out to be Ben. Merlin.

Pulling out his wand and hoping this actually was something that fell within his (relatively small) realm of expertise, Ben took a few steps towards the girl. "What'd you do?" he asked, eyeing the wooden box. It certainly hadn't done that when he'd touched it.

  

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MJ made this <3

Calmly, or as calmly as one could when their hand was turning black, Melody sifted through what she remembered of ancient runes. Nonw of the texts they studied at school ever went over this type of curse, but there had to have been something worth remembering. The longer she futilely thought about it the further the curse progressed. By the time the shop keeper summoned some random patron to help, the blackness covered up to her first knuckle.

"What do you mean what did I do? It's a puzzlebox. I solved the puzzle." Wasn't that obvious? The hidden compartment typically held some sort of secret or treasure, Melody hardly could've predicted to have a curse billow out at her. Nothing about the box warned of the hidden magic inside. Even if it had, it was unlikely Melody would've heeded the warning. She was far too intrigued by the puzzle for her own good.

Her mother was going to kill her if she was permanently maimed by a stupid box. Already, Melody could hear her distraught shouts about her diminishing prospects. "Do you even know what you're doing? Shouldn't we get someone from the ministry?" The box was starting to grow warm against her hand. Surely that couldn't be a good sign.

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beautiful set by mj

"Oh," Ben said lamely when she explained that she'd opened the box. It certainly didn't sound very impressive, but it did sound much better than it opens? or what's a puzzlebox? Neither, he was certain, would endear him to the storekeeper. If he was going to salvage this little side-gig, he needed to at least look as though he knew what he was doing. He didn't think he'd ever even heard of a puzzlebox, but if he had he certainly didn't remember anything useful about them.

If she had opened it, though, that simplified things significantly. A curse that was triggered by who-knew-what and involved transfiguring the box as well as causing some sort of damage to the victim was far more complicated than a curse that simple activated when the box was opened. This was the magical equivalent of a Muggle spring-snake, which was easy to anticipate and not much more difficult to defeat once sprung. Usually.

He couldn't help but roll his eyes as the woman asked if he knew what he was doing. He answered with a spell, which halted the progress of the black through her fingertips, at least for the moment. "Yeah, I do," he answered, sticking his wand between his teeth for a moment so that he could use both hands to gingerly prod at the edges of the box near where her fingers were. "Does this hurt?" he asked through clenched teeth as he poked lightly at one of her stuck fingertips.

  

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MJ made this <3

All of her schooling to become a proper lady, and still Melody couldn't help but shoot him an annoyed glare at his 'oh'. Mother was truly going to kill her after she returned home sans fingers, all because some fool thought himself capable of freeing her. At least her chaperone was here to witness this. Mother could scarcely believe Melody to be a liar with the trusted word of Mrs. Bradley.

As the darkening of her fingers ceased its progression, she couldn't help but think maybe he did know what he was doing. After all, she hadn't been able to stop it herself - not that she could've as the box had cursed her dominant hand and her left was utterly useless at wand work. Melody would be horrified if this permanently altered her hand. Especially after finally being granted permission to use magic outside of school.

"No, more stings than hurts. My hand is very warm too." She offered, her tone far less skeptical now that he'd done something to alter the curse. "Have you dealt with such a curse before?"

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beautiful set by mj

"Something like it," Ben answered. It was mostly the truth, although it was vague. He took his wand out of his teeth in order to continue. "A lot of curses have the same structure, but they're all a little different," he explained. If one really wanted to get into the weeds on this sort of thing, there were different recurring themes that tended to be found in curses from certain parts of the world. Gringott's cursebreakers, Ben had heard, actually took a course in that sort of thing so that they could be better prepared when they went in to a temple or tomb. Working freelance gave Ben a little more flexibility, so he skipped all that academic crap and flew by the seat of his pants. It may have been more dangerous, but he hadn't died yet, so.

"Alright, I'm going to try to detach it," he said, looking up to meet her eyes for a moment. "It might hurt a little. Or a lot. Can you handle that?"

  

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MJ made this <3

Curse breaking was a rather interesting profession now that Melody was being forced to consider it. While having the freedom to travel to various countries at will was quite the luxury, the breaker needed to be courageous and quick thinking. She fit only one of those descriptions as the sorting hat took immediate note of. She would do what she needed to do to survive a situation, but outside of unexpected need, Melody was never the sort - and would never be the sort - to voluntarily risk herself. "Interesting." She commented as she watched his hands. Somehow, Melody doubted he cared much about her sudden interest in his current doings.

Pain had never been her strong suit, but if it kept her from having to deal with her screeching mother it was definitely worth it. "Yes. I can handle it so long as you're certain my fingers won't detach with it." The box was uncomfortably warm against her hand, she would be glad to see it go.

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beautiful set by mj

Certain was a strong word when dealing with curses. They were all different, after all, and responded to counter-curses in slightly different ways; that was why he wasn't exactly sure whether the level of pain she'd experience when it was removed would be minor or exaggerated. He did think it would work, because he'd performed the same spell when he'd accidentally gotten his hand glued to a temple wall on one of his first ventures out as a cursebreaker, but... well, that had been a simpler spell, so there really was no saying.

"Fairly certain," Ben said smoothly. It was mostly a joke, but he delivered it with a straight face as he continued to survey the edge of the box where it adjoined her skin. He didn't give her time to respond, either, but muttered a spell which made the tips of her fingers glow white instead of black — and then wrenched the box away.

It did separate from her fingers, and then the wooden bits immediately fell apart. That might have been because he'd broken the spell, or only a mechanical effect of whatever she'd done to open it, but either way the wooden pieces clattered to the floor, leaving Ben with a small glass sphere in his hand.

"Huh," he said, turning his attention back to the girl with slightly raised brows. "I guess this is yours now. Or, I dunno — maybe he'll make you buy it. I don't work here," he said, with a vague shoulder shrug in the direction of the shopkeeper.

  

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MJ made this <3

Before she could once again doubt his abilities, the apparent curse breaker had the box painfully separating from her fingertips. "Ow," she muttered as she carefully took her hand back to examine the formally blackened fingertips. It didn't appear that she had any lasting damage, for which she was immensely grateful. Melody wouldn't even have to tell her mother unless Mrs. Bradley deemed it necessary. With any luck, she would be able to convince the elder woman not to.

The glass sphere was both a surprise and not. The puzzle wouldn't have served a purpose if there was nothing inside, though Melody had been somewhat convinced that the curse was her prize. "This is more along the lines of what I was expecting." She proudly stated. The sphere itself was perfectly clear and symmetrical; the more she examined it, the more it felt somewhat eerie to look at.

"I'll be sure to compensate the clerk. Thank you for your help, Mister..." She faltered as she realized they had never exchanged names. It was then that she was more grateful than she had been that he hadn't removed her fingers with the box. He likely wouldn't have stuck around if he had and she wouldn't have been able to get justice for her maimed hand.

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beautiful set by mj

Reuben though it would be rather lousy of the clerk to make her pay for an item that might have disfigured her, had he not been on hand to help, but as he'd said earlier, he didn't work here — and, judging by her apparel, she probably wasn't hurting for the cash to pay for it. This was the first time Ben had really looked at her as a person and not merely as a problem he'd have to deal with before either selling the rest of his wares of heading out, and he thought she had that imperceptible something that rich girls always did.

"Ben Crouch," he said, flashing a grin. Rich girls were his type, after all — he liked to go to the parties rich people threw (better booze), and it helped to have a half-dozen rich girls who were on the best of terms with him, as a way of easing his entry into crowds he didn't really rightfully belong in. "And you are...?"

  

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MJ made this <3

Now that Melody wasn't so consumed by the sphere or her potentially mained hand, she actually found that her savior was rather handsome. Crouch definitely wasn't a last name she was overly familiar with, but he couldn't have been too far beneath her based upon his appearance. She didn't even need to glance at her chaperone to know the bitter older woman was shaking her head though. If Mrs. Bradley had it her way, Melody would only socialize with people above her and the people beneath her social standing wouldn't exist.

His smile was definitely among his best features and it didn't take her long to return it. "Melody Finch. Thank you again, Mr. Crouch. I can't imagine what we would've done had the curse caused any permanent damage." Other than panic that was. Someone would've summoned for help from the ministry she hoped.

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beautiful set by mj

"My pleasure," Ben said with a gratuitous grin. Really, it was his pleasure to have the thing solved, because he knew what he would have done if there had been any permanent damage. Stopped selling wares at this store, for a start, and then possibly have been investigated by some crony from the Ministry if the damage had been severe enough. Most certainly gotten a lecture from one or both of his older brothers, and possibly endangered his job. This was a happy ending for everyone, at least for the moment.

"Maybe I'll see you around," he added with a slightly flirtatious air. Because she was kind of cute, but mostly just because Ben was Ben.

  

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MJ made this <3