It was the day after she officially joined the crew at Hogwarts, but she had yet to begin teaching. Though, she supposed it really didn’t affect her too much as she was a new professor who hadn’t even started professor-ing yet. The best part of the first day of spring? It was absolutely beautiful out! It was going to be a great second semester, she just knew it! And no, it wasn’t because she was a seer and was constantly obsessing over the various foretelling methods. Her overwhelming excitement about teaching was pushing her forward as she prepared her first lesson. A great start for kicking off the semester? Obviously, taking a nice walk through Hogsmeade was in order. She found her feet walking her towards the small candy shop, her sweet tooth getting the better of her. 

Humming a tune to herself, she nearly danced her way to the shop, wondering what new treats she would discover. It was quite a quiet day in Hogsmeade which was kind of sad, but she wouldn’t allow it to damper her mood. Smiling, she plucked up a flower growing in the cracks of the ground, planting it in her hair before continuing to her destination. It really was just an absolutely wonderful day out and she was getting so thrilled. Kahina was so excited that she had been hired as the Divination professor, knowing that it wasn’t luck, but fate, that brought her there. Now, it was up to her to follow the fates. Just as it would have it, she was stuck listening to the music in her head that she hadn’t even seen the bloke up ahead, her bag hitting into him and falling off her arm. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, sighing from her clumsy side while she reached down to grab her bag before the contents spilled out. “Excuse me, excuse me. My fault,” she continued before finally looking up to see who she had damaged with her accident-prone-ness.

@dylan

Since Dylan didn’t have what one would call a typical job, he didn’t have weekends of like most people. Obviously, the dragons didn’t give a damn whether or not it was Monday through Friday, or nine to five, hence why he found himself busy with work just as much on the weekends as he was during the week. He had finished for the day, at least, and was taking advantage of it by stopping by Hogsmeade, planning on perhaps going into Honeydukes before getting a drink or four at the Three Broomsticks.

He had just been examining the deep burn on his arm, something that he was used to by now, as he walked, hardly realizing that he was quickly approaching someone. If he ever thought a dragon would kill him—and it could always happen even though he confidence told him otherwise, then it would clearly be the bitch he was working with currently. A day couldn’t go by without him gaining some new injury from the beast.

Moments later he was getting hit by a woman’s bag, and Dylan hadn’t even noticed that there had been anyone else on the street. Although the item hit one of his many burns, he was hardly fazed by it, far too used to injuries to even notice when they were agitated by any outside forces, “My fault completely,” he stated, grinning widely. The woman was probably one of the most brightly dressed that he’d seen in quite a while, with all the yellow, but he couldn’t miss how attractive she was—and clearly confident, “No harm, no foul,” Dylan added.

She had spent years preparing to be the Divination professor, wanting to instill knowledge into the young minds, giving people a different look on foretelling the future. Too many frauds had taken over, tarnishing the name of this aged magic that more than just humans could possess. The future was so delicate, though even centaurs had a way of predicting future events. It had really been all too exciting for Kahina, anxiously awaiting the end of Spring Break. With the castle being quiet, she found herself desperate to find something to do besides speaking to the ghosts and the portraits of the school. She supposed she would sound rather crazy if she told any muggle that she had nice talks with portraits, the thought causing a small laugh to escape her as she continued to her destination.

“Oh no, it’s mine. I’m much too clumsy for it to not have been my fault,” she admitted with a bright smile as she straightened up again. It was a surprise to see him quite a few inches taller than him, not really seeing that too much anymore. She was rather tall and to find blokes taller than her was quite difficult to do nowadays. “No harm? You have burns all over your arms!” she exclaimed, looking down at his arm and realizing she must have hit one, eyes widening. “Clearly, we have very different definitions of harm,” Kahina stated, raising an eyebrow at the bloke.

He might have to frequent Hogsmeade more often if bints that looked like her were walking around, he mused, smiling in response to her statement. Of course, it wasn’t exactly close to where he found himself often, but as he did like mixing up where he went, it didn’t seem like a horrible idea. Staying in the same area got bloody boring, after all, and who had the time to waste to be bored? “I was distracted,” he stated, though he was bloody glad he was as this was far more worthwhile than buying any candy from Honeydukes, “so I suppose it was both of our faults,” Dylan added, smirking slightly.

Dylan chuckled under his breath at the expression on her face when she noticed the burns on his arms. It wasn’t exactly an uncommon one, after all, “My definition differs from most people,” he replied, glad that he was lucky enough to run into someone that was actually good to look at, though it wasn’t as if he tried to pick up random women in the middle of the day in the middle of the street… often, at least, “I’m a dragon keeper,” Dylan explained, feeling like he might as well tell her that, as having burns all over the visible skin of his arms—though he also had several burns on his back and chest as well, was a rather curious matter, “I promise your bag did no lasting damage,” he added, grinning.

Kahina pegged the bloke as not being too different in age from her which made her wonder if he had been at Hogwarts about the same time she was. It was always curious to her to hear about who people were when they were in school and how they had changed, or remained the same. Though, perhaps he simply looked good for his age when in fact he was in his forties or fifties. The professor wondered if it were appropriate to ask someone’s age upon meeting them for curiosity’s sake, realizing it probably wasn’t. “Distracted by what?” she asked, just as curious about that answer as she would be about someone’s age just for the sole purpose of wondering if they attended Hogwarts at the same time. “I guess I can agree to that,” she agreed, grinning as she concurred that they were both at fault.

“Well, I’ll say,” she said exasperatedly. “Suddenly, my battle wound of a paper cut from yesterday looks meek,” Kahina grinned, holding up her finger proudly, laughing lightly. “A dragon keeper, really? How fascinating!” she exclaimed excitedly, having never met anyone who was a dragon keeper before. “What do you do besides…keep dragons?” she asked inquisitively, switching her bag to the other arm. “Oh! Where are my manners? I’m Kahina, by the way,” she introduced, extending out her slender hand in his direction.

At her question, he gestured at the deep burn on his arm, which had been what he’d been distracted by when they had collided. It was hardly the worst burn he had ever received, but it wasn’t minor either—which always made him have to contemplate just how important it was to get it treated, or leave it be. For the most part, he always decided to let it heal on its own, and he certainly couldn’t remember the last time that he ever willingly went to St. Mungo’s to get any injuries treated, “Trying to determine just how much this dragon hates me,” he stated, grinning. He certainly hadn’t had this much trouble with a creature in quite a while, but he always appreciated a challenge.

Dylan was used to every reaction under the sun when it came to people learning about his profession, not that he ever got tired of talking about it. He was especially not going to complain about talking about his job with an attractive bint that he was also finding incredibly amusing, as she lifted up a finger to show off a paper cut. He chuckled under his breath, “Arguably, I’d say a paper cut hurts a hell of a lot more,” he answered, shrugging. There were a hell of a lot more irritating, at least, always in the most inconvenient bloody spots, “Just train them, really. Different people find themselves in need of dragons, and they can’t just bring a wild one, say, into Gringotts and expect it to do anything but burn the place down,” Dylan explained, also knowing that some dragon keepers had some questionable methods that he tried to stray away from. After all, he had seen how some of the dragons were treated when he worked at Gringotts, and certainly had wanted to come up with other means of training them that weren’t as cruel to the animals. It made the process a bit more challenging, but he found that it worked pretty dam well, if not better than the alternative methods, “Dylan,” he said, accepting her hand. Her name was certainly unique, but it seemed to fit her as far as he was already able to tell, “So, Kahina, where did you get your battle wound?” Dylan asked, actually finding himself quite curious as to where she worked. Normally most witches were easily placed into different categories, particularly ones that worked at the Ministry; but he couldn’t figure out what she did.

This chance encounter was proving to be quite the positive occurrence, bumping into a decent bloke. Though, Kahina thought every person she met was decent, to an extent. It really hadn’t mattered how sour a person was to her, she would still be convinced that they had some good in them somewhere. She supposed the only example she could think of that didn’t really display an ounce of goodness would have been Voldemort, but even he had goodness at some point in his life. Perhaps he just didn’t have anyone believing in that goodness, she had mused many times before. There was nothing to be done about that now, though, she supposed.

The bloke had so many scars and burns on him that Kahina found herself wanting to ask about every one, curiosity always getting the better of her. Her mouth remained shut as she tried to convince herself to not ask too many questions. Perhaps at their next meeting she would let her curiosity free and ask about his other scars. “Oh, I’m sure that’s just their way of giving their love,” she grinned, her eyes quickly surveying his other marks. “I’d say they all love you very much,” she winked at him, grinning.

“Oh, finally someone understands the struggle,” she laughed, following his determination that a paper cut actually does hurt. “Would you ever have a pet dragon? Do you have a pet dragon?” Her mouth was itching to ask more questions but thankfully, she paused before things got too crazy. She wouldn’t want to scare away her new friend before he even realized that they were friends now…and before she knew his name, she supposed. Soon, that problem was solved at least, learning that his name was Dylan, son of the sea. When he asked about her battle wound, a sincere look of disappointment spread across her features as she let out a deep sigh. “You see, Dylan, it was my first day at Hogwarts and I had a stack of paperwork this high,” she started, spreading her hands apart to indicate a lot of paper work. “And I was trying to balance it with my books and my drink…and when I turned the corner, I nearly walked into a ghost so I obviously had to rush out of the way. Walking into a ghost is just rude, even though it’s possible. I wouldn’t like it if people walked through me. Anyways, so my papers went flying and I tried to gather them before they all fell, and there you have it. The papers attacked. I lived to tell the tale,” she stated, allowing her sincere expression to turn into a wide expression of enjoyment.

Dylan supposed he was glad that she had ran into him, as this was far more interesting than anything he could have been doing in Honeydukes. He got along with most people, really, finding himself in conversations more often than not—as he was naturally relatively friendly. Of course, there had been that brief bit of time after returning to London that he’d hardly even spoken more than a few words a day, conversing when he had to and being rather rude in order to avoid any interactions. But he’d mourned the loss of his fiancé, and had slowly been acting more like himself as the years went on. He still was certain that relationships would never be for him after losing Luvinia, but he did enjoy an interesting conversation with a bint—and if it ended with a shag, that was all the better. This, however, more than likely would not end up that way; he didn’t usually choose to pursue random women he ran into on the street in the middle of the day, after all. No matter how attractive they were, he noted, stopping himself from looking her over again, “If that’s love, then yes, they certainly must love quite a lot,” he replied, grinning, noticing that she had looked over his other scars. Most people did find themselves rather curious about them, after all, and he was never offended by their questions—he did love his job, and talking about it. It wasn’t a touchy subject, after all, since every dragon keeper got burns. It wasn’t a sign of a poor job, just another day. A dragon keeper with no burns clearly wasn’t doing it right.

“The little bastard’s are a hell of a lot more irritating,” he stated, nodding. Paper cuts were always in the most inconvenient spots, after all. It was apparently just a fact when it came to the nuisances, “After working with them all day… I don’t think I’ll ever need a pet,” Dylan replied, chuckling. Even a dog sounded like a lot of work at this point, after spending all day with dragons. He raised his eyebrows as she brought up Hogwarts, not sure that he would have placed her there—but he supposed she was extroverted enough to be decent professor, assuming that was what she did. His grin widened as she concluded her story about the paper cuts, “Vicious papers,” Dylan replied, finding himself incredibly entertained by this conversation, “First day at Hogwarts, eh? Professor?” He’d be curious to see what position she taught, assuming she was a professor. Once again, he was finding that it was a difficult answer to peg.

Kahina surely hoped this bloke knew that they were friends now, as every chance occurrence she had turned into a friendship if she had anything to say about it. Immediately, Kahina could state that he certainly hadn’t been a Slytherin in school. The brunette typically found great amusement in trying to place people she met into one of the houses, and then finding out how accurate she had been. To her, it was always fantastic to see how accurate the sorting hat was, being so wonderfully capable of determining where students belonged with their personality and characteristics. At first thought, he really didn’t seem like a Hufflepuff in the slightest, though that was the last house she liked to rule out. From what she had known of dragons, she really couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to work with them. They were such dangerous creatures that were thought to be untrainable.

“Do you name the dragons?” she asked curiously, wondering just how attached he would get to the creatures. “Do you have a favorite and why?” Okay, those are enough questions, lovely, she thought to herself. Her eyes widened further in happiness at the topic of her new job, already so fascinated by the possibilities. “Yes sir,” she grinned happily. “You are looking at the new Divination professor, dead-set on teaching the beautiful minds, young and old, that it isn’t all a load of rubbish.”

It wasn’t at all uncommon for Dylan to be asked questions about his job. It seemed to be a topic that a lot of people found interesting, which he clearly understood. However, he found her questions to actually be amusing; as he was unsure that anyone had ever asked if he named the dragons before. Mostly, people did ask the same type of questions, not that he particularly minded. Dylan never had any problem talking about his work, as it clearly took up a large majority of his time, “I do,” he stated, nodding. It wasn’t so much as an attachment thing, though he supposed it was common to form a bit of an… understanding, at the very least. Really, it was just easier to have some kind of name to call them, “It’s a hell of a lot easier to have something to call them, I suppose,” Dylan explained, as it was a bit of a hard concept to explain. He wasn’t particularly creative with names, just saying the first one that came to mind, making it easier for him to talk to it—or himself, he supposed. His grin widened at her next question, certainly amused by this woman, “I don’t have a favorite breed, really—my favorites are just the ones that are the most challenging,” he continued, shrugging. Dylan realized that comment had the potential of coming off a bit cocky, but the truth of the matter was at this point, any dragon that wasn’t a challenge was a bit dull—like working a desk job, "which makes me sound like an ass, really. But I've been at it too long, I suppose," he added.

He raised an eyebrow, unsure that he would have pegged her as teaching divination. Dylan had only taken the class back at Hogwarts because he’d heard it was ridiculously easy to make shit up. Though, he supposed it was always possible that it wasn’t a load of rubbish, and it had simply been Trelawney who was rubbish, “Hell, if you were teaching Divination back when I was in school, I definitely would have paid more attention in class,” he replied, chuckling under his breath. He wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if Divination suddenly became quite popular at Hogwarts. Where the hell had bints like her been while he was being taught by a both of aging witches and wizards?