Ice Cream Overload (Aimee and Gene)

Aimee walked down the entirely new Diagon Alley, she had never been here before and she looked like one of the mant new first year students to Hogwarts walking around double taking at everything. There had never been a street like this up in Scotland!

Her eyes settled on the large building up ahead, Gringotts Bank and wondered if her parents had their account in there, after all, it was the safest place to keep treasures and money, turning her head to one side she saw a brightly coloured shop, an ice cream bar.

Grinning she walked inside it and gawped at all of the flavours.
There was no way she could choose!

Biting her lip she bought a cotton candy flavoured icecream and then a bubblegum flavoured one, sitting down in a booth overlooking the street outside Aimee people watched for a while.

Gene hummed a tune as he walked down Diagon Alley, looking around to see if there was anything new. Oh wait!
It was a SOMEONE.

"I believe your new around here. I come down to Diagon Alley more often than eating." He chuckled.

"Name's Gene. I teach History of Magic in Hogwarts. You are..?"

Actually, Gene had his other hand on his wand. He was careful that it was not that gang that they fought in the Leaky Cauldron...

Aimee jerked her head up and blushed a little bit when she saw a man she had never met before standing next to her booth, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear she gestured for him to sit down.

"It's nice to meet you Gene, I'm Aimee Cooper."

Her faint Scottish accent coming through when she spoke Aimee held out her hand for him to shake.

"I don't have a job yet, I'm just doing a bit of house hunting here."

Gene extended his other hand and smiled warmly.

"Your accent... My guess? Hmm... Scottish?" Gene smiled, gripping his wand so ever tightly.

"You must forgive me, I read body language a lot. May I?" But Gene sat down anyway.

"A house! Ahh... That is a very important thing! Anyway, have you heard of the battle in the Leaky Cauldron recently? Dangerous area to live in." Gene threw his first test at her. Was she one of the innocent? Or was she not?

Aimee nodded her head at Gene when he guessed that her accent was Scottish, however faint it was now it always seemed to get picked up on, not that she minded like it was just an observation.

"You're right! I am from Scotland, Glasgow actually."

Smiling at Gene as he took a seat Aimee took another spoonful of her ice cream and popped it in her mouth grinning at the lovely taste.

"Battle? In the Leaky Cauldron? That's the pub down there right?"

She asked her eyebrows knitted together in confusion and worry, if there were attacks here maybe she shouldn't find a house after all.

"No I hadn't heard of that...maybe I shouldn't stay here after all..."

"Yep... Very fierce..." Gene looked into her eyes. No pupil dilation. Good, she wasn't lying.

"I figure there are other estates around the area. Much safer. And I figure the ministry got give us new protection. What do you think of the current Ministry anyway?" Gene asked, smiling.

Aimee tilted her head to one side with a wry smile, boy this man was strange. Coming out of nowhere and asking her questions about politics that was one of the main areas you should never ask questions about in case it sparked a fight or something...

"I don't really have an opinion on the current Ministry, but, I do think that we would have done better under Persephone Jamerson than Silver, I don't know why maybe it's just the girl power side of me talking."

Scooping up some more of her ice cream she was about to eat it herself but then she turned the spoon towards Gene to see if he would like it.

"Want some?"

Gene's smile faltered as he read off her face that she was getting suspicious of this affair.

"Nevermind. I'll cut to the point. I am just curious, if you were one of those people who attacked muggles and my fellow friends in the Leaky Cauldron that day. Well?" He smiled, pulling out his wand and placing his overcoat over it so that the passer-bys won't see it.

"No thank you. I think I prefer chocolate." He said, smiling with his wand still aimed at the girl.

Aimee's eyes widened as she saw the wand pointed at her from under his cloak and she felt panic building up inside her she knew this guy was weird and now she had confirmation of this fact...oh my god I'm going to die she thought.

"No...n-n-no I'm not I told you I'm only here house hunting!"

She stuttered beginning to feel tears prick the corners of her eyes.

"Please...don't hurt me..."

Gene's eyes widened.

DEFINITELY INNOCENT.

"Ah... Don't cry please." He placed his wand back into the pocket.

"I guess, I owe you an explanation."

"I am a member of an Order, who is to maintain peace in the Wizarding world. However, recently, there has been a fierce fight in the Leaky Cauldron, with huge casualties in innocent lives. I was just seeing if you were one of them." Gene said, dropping his neutral front, and giving that warm smile that helped made many of his friends.

"Actually, how about this. As an apology, buy anything in this ice cream parlour today. My treat."

Aimee felt hot tears roll down her cheeks even after he put his wand away, there was nothing stopping him getting it back out again afterwards now was there? Sniffling and trying to stop herself from sobbing Aimee took another spoonful of ice cream and ate it.

"Oh...I see."

She whispered trying not to show him that her voice was dangerously near cracking with nervousness despite his now friendly smile.

"N-n-no it's fine...I have my own ice cream."

Aimee took another bite of her ice cream and looked at the table wondering if she should leave before he could try and pull his wand out again.

Gene suddenly felt sorry for the girl.

"I'm so sorry if I had to ruin your visit. Anyway, are you planning to teach in Hogwarts? I will help you if you like!" Gene said, and he took out a book from his bag.

"Take this, it is about some of the best houses in the area."

"Oh yes! You're from Scotland? How is it there?"

Aimee relaxed a little bit and stopped crying, wiping her eyes she smiled softly at Gene and finished her cotton candy flavoured ice cream with a flourish.

"I was going to apply for Healer but they already have one so...I'm just going to have to wait for a spell to see if it opens up, if not I'm sure there will be a job at St Mungos open soon."

Taking the book from Gene Aimee smiled shyly and opened it up looking at all the advice about houses around here, she spotted a few that would do and a very nice flat, she could check them out later maybe.

"Thank you Gene, I'll be sure to use this."

Aimee grinned and immediately perked up at the mention of Scotland.

"Oh it's beautiful there! So much space and fresh air, where abouts are you from Gene?"

"I am from Switzerland, but I moved to England when I was a kid. It was a bit of a bad choice, family wise." Gene shrugged, his mind drifting to the scene when the Death Eaters rammed into his house and killed his parents.

"Sigh... Is peace that hard to come by..." Gene's voice trailed off as he stared into the sky.

"Switzerland really?"

Aimee smiled and tilted her head to one side thinking if she knew anything about Switzerland, she didn't really so she decided to go with the only thing she can remember.

"That's the place with the nice chocolate right?"

Looking at him as he looked up at the sky Aimee smiled, it seemed like he was a very unpredictable man and it would be a challenge to try and work him out.

"It is...because peace comes differently to each person."

Gene looked at her and gave a small smile.

"My parents were killed by Death Eaters. I figure my peace is the most difficult to come by. It comes through, to quote Bismarck, blood and iron."

He shook his head, and sighed.

"Yes, Swiss chocolate is rather famous, and hang on..." Gene took out a box of Swiss chocolate for her.

"Luckily for you, I got a sweet tooth." He winked and ordered a vanilla ice cream.

Aimee looked at Gene and she felt like they could maybe understand each other, the loss of someone so close to each other must create some sort of bond they could relate too.

"That must have been an awful time for you, I can relate just a little bit...I just lost my twin, a couple of months ago."

Smiling lightly as he held the box of chocolates up for her she took them with a grin and opened the box, choosing a nice looking one she popped it into her mouth and ate it happily.

"I have a sweet tooth too...especially for muffins..."

"I am terribly sorry for your loss... I know how it feels..." Gene smiled lightly, his fist clenching slightly.

"Anyway, try to get your house near the Ministry, you'll be a lot safer. Any nice ones yet?" Gene said, moving his chair beside the lady, and peeping at the open book.

"Muffins? Eh? There are ice cream muffins for sale here you know!?" Gene stood up and went to the counter, and paid for a dozen.

"Here! Eat! For some reason, I still feel sorry for that shock just now." He said spologetically.

She saw that his fist clenched and Aimee reached her hand over to take his hand in her own and unclenched his fingers for him and she wound her fingers with his own smiling gently up at him.

"Oh well I don't really know where abouts the Ministry is...could you show me?"

Aimee opened the map at the back of the book and showed it to Gene, hoping that he would pick her a good place, that was in her price range too. She was glad that she had worn one of her more conservative tops today, it was a grey strap top and she wore her black skinny jeans.

"Oh no! You can't!"

She flapped her hands in the air as he went and bought her some more ice cream muffins.

"Please don't worry...I'm fine."

"The Ministry of Magic is... Well... There's a lot of ways to it. I'll show you next time. That's a nice estate! Cheap and it looks pleasant too!" Gene jabbed his finger at a house, which looked a bit like an apartment, which boasted a garden.

"Don't complain... Just EAT. Don't make me feed you." Gene pushed the brownies towards her, and he placed one in his mouth.

"NICE! WOW! I NEVER HAD THIS BEFORE!" Gene's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh really? Wow that does look nice! And it's in my price budget too that's going to be one of the places that I'm going to see when I view my options."

Aimee looked carefully at the pictures and she smiled, she really liked the look of the house and the fact it had a garden would remind her of the scenery at home, she wouldn't get so homesick any more.

"Ok Ok! I'm eating!"

Aimee picked up one of the brownies and popped it in her mouth her eyes widening as she tasted it, it was lovely!

"It's beautiful! They taste so good!"

"Ah... Not bad... It reminds me of the time when I was little and Mom would make things like this." Gene said, sighing forlornly.

"Anyway, the Ministry has a real man in charge, I spoke to the Minister, trust me. Hey, this house is near mine!" He gasped, pointing at a small house that had an emphasis on natural beauty and being cosy.

"Hey, you been to HoneyDukes yet?"

Aimee tilted her head to one side again she didn't like it when anyone was sad let alone someone that she cared about but then again she didn't know why she liked this guy he was just someone she could relate to.

"Hey Gene."

She giggled putting a glob of ice cream on his nose giggling lightly.

"Really? Should I put that one on my list too? It's a bit more expensive but it's a house not a flat so it's worth it!"

Aimee shook her head, she didn't even know what Honeydukes was.

"Nope not yet, what is it?"

"Trust me, it is really nice! There is a village spirit there! Everyone looks out for each other! Here!" Gene took out a photograph showing what looked like fifty people in a group photo.

"That's everyone in the town, excluding children." Gene said happily.

"HoneyDukes is in Diagon Alley. They sell all the things for people with a sweet tooth. Chocolate frogs and more!" Gene said excitedly.

"Tell you what, I think I can get you a discount for that house. Just look it up okay?"

"Aw it sounds really tight knit! That's just the type of community that I'm looking for because it's exactly like my one at home...I won't feel so homesick now."

Looking at the photo that Gene showed her Aimee smiled tracing the faces of some of the people there.

"It'll be nice to have a friendly face about."

Aimee grinned nodding at Gene, her smile widened when she heard the mention of sweet shops, she loved sweets and wanted to try some of the more unusual ones.

"Oh I'll have to make that my next stop then!! I love chocolate frogs! What's your favourite sweet?"