[Hogsmeade] Bumper Cars [Jonah; open]

[Archibald Nish]

A new term had started and already Archibald was as busy as ever - if not more so. Some stranger the normal things had been occuring around the castle and Archi was the one it fell to to clean up afterwards. What the dwarf couldn't understand was why people couldn't simply keep away from attacking suits of armour and such. Rolling his eyes at the thought, Archi pushed his Fedora hat up with a short index finger as he walked down the streets of Hogsmeade.

With everything that had been going on, it became even more important tht Archi's stokes were kept full - if not fulle then normal. Mr Nish was the type of man to me over prepared for evrything, leaving nothing to chance. It could definitely be said about the healer that he was meticulous that way, a fact he was most proud of. After all, he wasn't asked to train half the younglings in St Mungo's simply because he had a knack for his job, it had to be noted.

But all this was detracting him from his true purpose for his Hogsmeade visit. There was a witch called Alberta, she was a herbilist and she often helped Archi when he needed it. Of course, he knew her from when he attended Hogwarts so she was one of the few that called him by his second name, Gaius, which was something very refreshing from all the Nish he heard at school. Not that he was complaining, mind, for the 4 foot 5 tall man it was refreshing to not be called very much else.

Coming out of Alberta's herb store, Archi adjusted his coat hung over his arm and began the long walk bak to the castle, his brown paper bag of goods hung in the crook of his arm. Arch began digging in the bag to make sure he had everything he had asked for when he suddenly bumped into something - or rather someone. It knocked the poor man clean off his feet and he fell back, landing flat on his bottom, his bag ripping along the side.

"Sorry," Archibald growled as he sat on the floor, looking at his bag. Then he looked up at the tall someone he had walked up to. "Didn't see you there."

[jonah]

It had been a while since Jonah had been to Hogsmeade. In the past year, since his graduation from Hogwarts, Jonah found his free time had diminished significantly. Working as an assistant healer at St. Mungo's was practically a full time job, though Jonah wouldn't trade it in for anything else. He loved his job. Today though, he had finally found a free spot in his schedule to make a trip to Hogsmeade for some quick shopping. Ryann, Jonah's best friend of six years, would be soon celebrating a birthday, and Jonah knew exactly what he wanted to buy for her.

Apparating with a slightly off-balanced landing (Jonah was still in the process of perfecting the skill that somehow gave him such great difficulty), he appeared in the small village located just outside of the Hogwarts grounds. Coming back to Hogsmeade always made him reminiscent of his seven years at Hogwarts. So many memories. He pushed all nostalgic thoughts away though and set off on his mission.

Anyone who knew Ryann knew that there was one thing that the strong-willed Gryffindor liked best: sweets. Jonah would find everything he needed for her at Honeydukes, and perhaps even a treat for himself. Marching rather determinedly (he learned to keep a brisk pace from his experience at St. Mungo's), he set off toward the candy store, past The Three Broomsticks and across from the post office. However, before Jonah could reach his destination, an unexpected collision left him spinning in a totally different direction.

He regained his balance, having almost tumbled to the ground, and quickly searched for the cause of his clumsiness. Sitting on the ground, there was a short man, appearing somewhat apologetic. Jonah gave a reciprocated look of sympathy, realizing that it was just as much his own fault, even if the man was the one apologizing.

"No need to apolog.... Mr. Nish?" Jonah hurried to try to help the man to his feet, grabbing the scattered contents of the ripped bag and thrusting them into Archibald's arms. Jonah realized that the person had had just run into was the healer from Hogwarts, someone whom Jonah had always admired for his skill. Perhaps the older ma wouldn't know Jonah, but then again, it had only bee a year since Jonah had graduated; perhaps he would.

"Just as much my fault as it was yours," he added, reaching for his wand to instinctively cast a cleansing charm which would remove all of the dirt and dust from Archibald. Jonah decided against it though, pocketing his wand again and hoping that Archibald might remember him from Hogwarts.

[Archibald Nish]

Sitting on the ground, the some what grouchy man felt that he wasn't very much in the mood for standng up. It was true that he didn't have far to go but still, he was on the floor and he was perfectly happy staying there. However, the person who he had bumped into clearly didn't think the ground was the place of the healer to be sitting. The young mand helped Archi to his feet and Archi could not refuse the help.

Nish looked at the young man he had bumped into with a mixture amazement and bemusement as he pushed Archi's purchased vials and bags into his arms. "Merlin's beard," Archi said as Jonah mended his bag and gave it back to him, "Huckson. Jonah Huckson. How are you?" Archi quickly dumpe his armful into the newly mended bag and took Jonah's hand firmly in his own, giving it a firm shake.

It had been at least a year since Archibald had seen Jonah and it had clearly done the boy good. He'd really turned into a fine young man since he'd seen him last but Archi wasn't the sentimental tpe who'd say such things aloud. Archi then bent down and picked up his coat, which had landed itself on the ground somehow. Pulling out his wand, Archi held out the coat and gave his wand a quick wave. It was clean instantly.

Turning back to Jonah, Archi's small hand rubbed his stubbly chin. "What have you been doing to keep yourself busy then?" Archi asked, most curious, "Last I heard, Debiaha said you'd taken an position at St Mungo's. She may only be a floor manager but I'm sure you've spoken to the old bird?" It had been a long time since Archi had been to St Mungo's but he still kept in touch with those he had befriended there; it was very important to him to do so.

[jonah]

He did remember! Jonah did his best to conceal the excitement of Mr Nish remembering him. A large grin covered his face as he happily shook Archibald's hand, an inner sense of accomplishment swelling within Jonah. Sure enough, the smallest sense that another person had made good judgement of Jonah left him swimming in his own pool of inward pride. It was sad how easily Jonah found himself at the whim of emotion based on others' actions and reactions toward him. Then again, it was all covered well, deep beneath his friendly manner and charming smile.

"I'm doing well," Jonah said, still happy that his presence at Hogwarts had left at least some sort of mark on the elder healer's memory. "And yourself? Hogwarts treating you alright?"

Jonah released an inward sigh whenever Archibald himself took the liberty of removing all of the dirt from his coat. Always needing perfection and order, something that dictated much of Jonah's doings. His attention was drawn back to the topic of conversation though whenever Archibald had questioned his work at St Mungo's. Jonah let out a small laugh at the mention of Debiaha. "I think she's the witch who informed me of the tear in my healing robes which was embarrassingly evident for the entire floor on my first day of training." Jonah's face reddened a bit, but he was able to smile about the incident which was now safely tucked away in his past. "But on a more positive note, I am loving my training there so far. It's unbelievable how much there is to learn beyond Hogwarts. I'd never have guessed."

Jonah's eyes were averted to his watch where he noted how much time he had left to finish his task of buying a birthday gift for Ryann. As much as he was often in a rush to get things accomplished, he couldn't help but take advantage of his odd run-in with Mr Nish. Jonah would have done most anything to get an hour or two alone with the man, just to be able to glean from his obvious wealth of healing wisdom. "You on your way somewhere?" Jonah's curiosity got the best of him. Perhaps Archibald had more important things to do anyways though. It was only expected that Hogwarts and his duties were keeping him busy. Probably even busier than Jonah seemed to be on a normal occasion.

[Archibald Nish]

Over the few years that Archi had been at Hogwarts he had formed attachments to a few students. From these students Archi expected nothing but hearing from then or even about them was always a treat. It left the healer happy and smiling - an odd thing for him, to be sure - to know that they were doing something with their lives because invariably they would be doing something. Take this young Ravenclaw graduate for example, here he was barely a year out of school and already interning at one of the best magical hospitals in the world - according to Archi, that was. So it was such a delight for this healer to see Jonah again.

Archi nodded his head, a little more vigorously then he miht usually have done. "I am very well thank you," Archi informed the young healer. "And Hogwarts is a little changed since you left: for me at least I've become much busier since the new year began but ..." the dwarf shrugged "such things are unavoidable it would seem." It certainly showed up on the records, how busy he had become. When reflecting back to past years it showed that there were many more injuries in the current term then had been in past years upto the same point in time. Archibald was a little worried but not enough to confront the headmaster about just yet.

In his experience, whenever Debiaha was brought up there were always laughs involved, this particular example Jonah gave being no exception. Archi couldn't help but laugh at the symmetry within his own experience to Jonah's. "That's Debiaha for you," Archibald guffawed. "I had a similar experience but mine involved toilet paper I stood on that had been attached to a woman's shoe. Debiaha saw me trying to get it off and instantly layed into me, as only the rampaging bat out of hell can do." Archi remember how embarrassed he was to have the tall, large woman shout down her long nose at him for not being more careful what he dragged where. An insident he wasn't likely to forget any time soon.

"It's good to hear you're enjoying it," Archi spoke the words as though far away, "that was probably the best time of my life, where everything was new and fresh ... of course I wasn't stared at half as much but that's just me." Being the height he was, Archi was used to being gawked at and on the odd occation, though it was rare, he would also be questioned about it. He didn't mind the questions but the staring! Like they'd never seen a short person before.

Moving along swiftly, Jonah asked Archi if he had to be somewhere. Pulling a funny pocket watch out of his top pocket, Archi looked at the many arms and dials on the face of the clock and shook his head. "I was heading back to Hogwarts for a lack of anything else to do. And what about yourself? Any particular reason you've left the comforts of London to grace us with your presence?"

[jonah]

The word 'busy' was perhaps a relative term, but Jonah knew fair well what the elder healer was talking about when he referenced the unavoidableness of life getting busier with each passing day. A downward spiral perhaps, but Jonah chose to think of it as an ongoing challenge rather than an untamable force the slowly took over every aspect of life. He gave a nod of agreement and then listened with a grin as Archibald told of one of his first encounters with Debiaha. "I guess that trumps my experience," he commented with a chuckle.

When Archibald mentioned his own times at St Mungo's Jonah wondered what it would be like now if Archibald were still there. Surely he'd quite enjoy getting to work alongside someone as experienced as Mr Nish, but then again, there were plenty of other well-known healers at St Mungo's. Jonah was simply a bit hesitant to make the connections necessary to open himself up to the process of learning from those more experienced than him. He knew though that if he were to succeed, he'd eventually have to break free from his box of shyness and let his determination to be great at his job prevail and allow for greater opportunities. Perhaps his accidental encounter with Archibald was more fateful than Jonah had realized; an opportunity to exercise his boldness and see what benefits it might have.

"Oh..." he began, ready to answer Archibald's question about his purpose of coming into Hogsmeade. "... I um. Well, I came to buy a birthday present for a friend. But..." The courage: did he have it? It wasn't like he was going to ask for any huge favor. Just ask him already! A voice from within Jonah spoke loudly on the matter. "... perhaps you'd join me for a quick cup of coffee? Maybe a sandwich or something?" Jonah felt an odd sort of pressure released from his chest. It was silly how such trivial things could cause so much anxiety. "I guess I'd just love to hear more about your career as a healer. Get some inside tips perhaps..." Jonah shrugged, flashing an amiable smile toward the smaller man. Surely Archibald wouldn't mind, unless of course he really did have a lot to do.

[Archibald Nish]

“Debiaha is lots of fun once you know how to get to her playful side,” Archi said with a slight shrug of his shoulders, looking up at the young healer. “In my experience it’s vodka and Tabasco sauce that does the trick for her, though she’ll never admit it of course.” Archi wasn’t about to share that story, about why he’d gotten the woman drunk. That was a tale for another day, for another occasion, for a meeting that wasn’t so unpredictable and so unplanned. Usually Archi liked to plan everything but even his being out of the castle was unplanned.

Jonah’s evasion of his question led Archi to believe that either the boy was still nervous of being around him or he had not expected such a question. “Go on, Huckson,” Archi barked in his gravely voice, “spit it out. I know the pull of Hogsmeade is great but there’s got to be more to it then ‘oh’.” Jonah explained how he was getting a birthday present for a friend and the thought crossed the dwarf’s mind that there were shops in London. He didn’t say anything, it wasn’t in his nature, but thought about his own years after Hogwarts.

He had wanted to stay as close to them as possible so worked in Hogsmeade before turning to Healing as a career. Few people knew that and Archi was happy for that as few people knew him then and fewer accepted him then. The next question that came from Jonah was a little bit of a surprise to the ex-Ravenclaw. The newly graduated ex-Ravenclaw continued to explain his reasons for wanting to have a cup of coffee and Archi just stared at the young man, an intense frown on his face, eyes narrowed, and lips pursed slightly. This was Archibald’s thinking face: whenever Archi was running many thoughts through his mind all at once this was the face he wore.

Jonah stopped talking and Archi cleared his throat with a cough. “That sounds like a good idea,” Archi said, in his controlled manner. “I am rather thirsty but I’m sure you’ll permit me to courtesy of paying,” Archi insisted. He knew how much of a toll a simple lunch could have on your pocket and having enough gold he saw no reason not to. The only problem that Archi could think of was deciding where to go. He was rubbish at choosing and knew it. Looking around the street at all the shops around them, Archi asked, “where did you have a mind to go?”