this can't get out (andrea)

Hector wondered where the draught was coming from.

He sat in the room above Borgin & Burkes. His elbow was propped onto the handsome oak desk and the back of his fingers rested against his cheek, as he gazed over a stack of papers with an ever-deepening brow. It was the sort of tedious work he seldom enjoyed, so he had the aid of a wine bottle to see him through into the evening.

But there was this blasted breeze chilling his ankles.

When a mind is unwilling to do a task, it invents problems. His problem was the breeze. So, annoyed, he pushed backwards in his chair and stood, marching from the desk to investigate the windows. They seemed entirely shut. And, when he went downstairs, all of those were too. However...

The door was wide open. He'd forgotten to lock it.

Hector picked up his wand and uttered: "Lumos." The shop was bathed in sudden, glaring light. No one was there, but he thought he'd heard a rustle from the streets beyond and whipped his neck to that direction.

@Andrea Herrera

Andrea had stood inside borgin and buries for a moment looking around at the artifacts as she searched for hector. She jumped a bit and spun around at the bright light, with her hand to her chest in surprise. Why was he looking outside, "I believe you sre looking for me? Pardon my intrusion. The door was unlocked, I thought you were still open." She gave him a small smile, "Hello hector."

@Hector Burke

Hector started too. He was squinting around on the seemingly desolate streets, when her voice sounded almost right beside him. Now her face was half illuminated by stark wand light. He lowered it slightly, gazing at her, flummoxed.

"We're not," he answered shortly, swallowing a dry throat. It would appear he'd been gaping at her whilst still in surprise. "I mean, we're not supposed to be," he corrected, regretting being short with her, "I'd left the door open by accident. Must have forgotten. I was upstairs..."

He smiled awkwardly.

"Let's start again. Good evening, Miss Herrera. Mind you don't touch anything: and I don't mean that to be cantankerous, I mean that some of the objects may reach right back at you."

@Andrea Herrera

Andrea frowned a bit, "My apologies. I did not know. I can return tomorrow if it would be more convenient for you." She giggled a bit st his warning, "I do not scare easily, Mr Burke." And it was true. A dream was quite fearless nost of the time, "What is that?" She asked looking st s giant black wardrobe

@Hector Burke

"No, no..."

Nox he commanded by his thoughts, and the wand light turned off. Now there was just the soft, amber glow of the lamps on the walls. He watched her side profile carefully, as she turned her attention to something. Tearing his eyes away, his went to the wardrobe in question.

"Actually, that in itself if nothing of importance. But inside is a cabinet of great historical significance. At one time, the cabinet acted as a portal of sorts to its sister - another cabinet. That one is in possession of the Ministry, however. The one I have had been stripped completely of its powers after the second wizarding war, but it still holds a lot of our British wizarding history."

He was looking back at her again.

"Perhaps it would be easier if I consulted my lists to see if anything takes your interest. I... was actually in the process of going through the stock myself. Perhaps if you would join me upstairs, we can look together?"

It wasn't the usual proposal he had for customers, that was certain.

@Andrea Herrera

Andrea listened as he explained the wardrobe and nodded. She reached out, without concern to his warning, and stroked the wood, "Its a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, that's for sure." She smiled a bit as he offered to show her his inventory, "That sounds lovely. We've never really gotten to spend time together just us." She added that last part more to herself than to him, "Lead the way, mr burke."

@Hector Burke

He hesitated then. It would be the first time they had really been alone together. He probably wouldn't have thought much of it if she were just another customer, or another woman, but now he felt a sense of foreboding sweep over him.

Is this wrong?

Why would it be wrong, if we are merely just going upstairs and doing as I said.

But it's her...

Hector forced himself to smile and retain his gentlemanly countenance. "Be careful of the steps, won't you?" Moving towards the staircase, perhaps she realised quickly what he meant. They were rather steep. Once at the top, he entered a door to where he'd abandoned the desk. It was covered with parchment and a half-empty bottle of wine.

"I needed a little pick-me-up with the dull work, you understand," he breathed defensively, eyeing her.

"Would you... care for a glass?"

@Andrea Herrera

She made sure to be extra careful going up the stairs and was thankful she had decided on a more casual outfit that evening. Instead of one of her beautiful gowns she had on a knee length peplum skirt and a black blouse with a pair of knee high boots.

She looked around the room and smiled a bit to herself then looked over at him, "I would love one, actually." She leaned slightly against the edge of his desk and smiled at him, "So this inventory list of yours. Is it a rather dangerous inventory?"

@Hector Burke

Giving a simple wave of his wand, he ensured the door to the shop was shut, locked and the shutters were part way down. He didn't want any other stragglers barging their way in - not that Andrea had done - it was just an honest mistake.

Turning back to focus his attention onto the room, he saw her perched at the edge of his desk. A slight flush crept up his neck. He was doing a good job of keeping his eyes level with hers, but there was a stiffness in his expression that suggested he wanted to look lower down. Fearing the urge, he glanced away. To the wine.

"Very good," he said, clearing his throat. A quick swish of his wand made two glasses zoom together, and the wine pour out in equal measures between them.

"Some of it is, yes," he said, crossing the room and taking the seat behind his desk. He summoned another chair beside him, and gestured to it for her to sit. "If you please, Miss Herrera." He took up his glass. "Anyway - not all of it is dangerous. Whatever enchantments, or curses, were placed on some of these trinkets have since been removed. Only some of them, however. Usually it has been by order of the Ministry..."

@Andrea Herrera

Andrew met his eyes as he poured the wine and felt herself bite softly at her lower lip. Her expression matched his for a moment before she came back to reality and accepted the glass of wine from him, "Thank you, Hector." She sat in the seat he presented her and took a sip, "This is wonderful. You must have quite the wine collection." She said as she swirled the glass a bit. She nodded as she listened to him speak, "Do you have anything I might be interested in? Perhaps a necklace or something?"

@Hector Burke

The room usually had a musty sort of scent to it that, try as he might, he couldn't air out. At the moment all he could smell, however, was her perfume. It was flowery, powdery: a mature scent, but certainly not something his Grandmother would wear. He felt a warmth in his chest whenever he took a breath in.

"A necklace..." he wondered, now going over the papers with one hand, as the other was secured around his glass. "Sapphire, that sounds - oh, no. Not that one. That's definitely cursed." He chuckled nervously, after seeing the word adultery. "I know there are a few pieces of jewellery that claimed to amplify your magical ability, but they only gave witches and wizards nasty injuries. Some of those have been stripped of their enchantment, and they're quite beautiful pieces. I know there was a gold bangle... that would suit you quite well, I think..."

@Andrea Herrera

Andrea watched as he milled about his inventory list and sipped at the glass of wine. He was rather adorable while lost in his work. Wait. No. That was wrong. She shouldn't think him adorable. He was engaged, and she was being courted by his cousin. She could not think hector Burke adorable. But damn it, she did. "Let's definitely find out that isn't gonna harm me. But a bangle sounds nice. I do love bracelets. They usually compliment my tiara nicely." She said not knowing if that sounded Braggy or not. She hadn't even noticed she had already drank her whole glass of wine, "I must have been thirsty." She said in an attempt at a joke

@Hector Burke

"Oh, it won't. I prefer to keep the stock in its original state, but the Ministry have made sure to reduce these things to muggle-like objects since the end of the war..."

He sounded rather bitter. And he had every right to be, he thought. These things weren't worth so much without their magic! No matter how horrible that magic might be...

Hector peeked over the top of one of the lists at her, and chuckled. "Well. We can't have that. Drink as much as you like, Miss Herrera. There's certainly plenty." Lowering the paper, he picked up his own glass and quirked his eyebrows at her as he took a sip. "I don't drink too often, but when Ptolemy and I get together it always gets to a rather raucous affair."

@Andrea Herrera

Andrea nodded emoathsizing with his frustration towards the ministry messing with his things. She would be frustrated too if she were in his shoes. She giggled a bit at his suggestion to drink as she like, "You wouldn't want that. I'm known to drink grown men under the table. You would get rather sloppy trying to keep up." She said with a look that she couldn't quite label, but it was devilish and borderline flirtatious.

@Hector Burke

Perhaps it was due to him already being three glasses down, but he didn't take offence to her blatantly flirting with him. On the contrary, he rather enjoyed it.

"Yet I will always endeavour to be a gentleman towards you, Miss Herrera. No matter how horrendously drunk I could get when rising to your challenge..."

He didn't believe for a second that she, a slim and slight woman, could outdrink fully grown men. She had sounded rather confident, though.

"If I were ever sloppy in front of you, I would never forgive myself."

@Andrea Herrera

"You always have been one of the more polite men I've encountered here. Alongside cassius." She said blushing a bit as she thought of her gentleman caller but then refocused on hector. She raised an eyebrow and sipped her glass again, "I believe you would still be as charming and endearing as you are now. Just with a bit of alcohol."

@Hector Burke