Wrong Number

Nicole held still, wondering what he was doing as he started to lean. She didn't think he would try anything as they were in a public place but that was the first thing to cross her mind. Julian also didn't seem to be that way at all actually, which was more than she could say for some of the men she had trained and had been stationed alongside of. The witch blinked as he kissed her softly on the cheek. Nicole reached to touch the area that still tingled with the touch of his lips and breath, but started when she'd nearly grazed his chin and dropped her hand for the moment.

A smile crossed her face at the entirety of it all: the kiss and acceptance of both parts of her bet. "Indeed," Nicole chuckled, realizing the same. While he searched for parchment and pen the witch took this time to caress the outer perimeter of where his lips had been on her cheek. Once he found said items however her hand shot back down to her lap. She was beginning to like Julian a great deal. He was certainly a cut above the other 'gentlemen' she had been around socially and managed to pleasantly catch her off-guard. The latter was something not many adults, man or woman, could manage with her.

Nicole would have guessed it was the experience as an auror, but that couldn't be the case could it? Brian certainly did not catch her by pleasant surprise once they had settled into married life. A chuckle escaped her at the sudden revelation: she had married an auror, and now she was on... was this a date? she wondered... Well, she was on an evening out with one at any rate.

Nicole laughed at Julian's tease, shaking her head. She paused in her reply as their waiter arrived, deposited their drinks, and was off again. "I'd like to think both this... date, or whatever you prefer to call it, goes well and that I'm not too much a sore loser. At least when I'm sober I'm not a sore loser, far as I'm concerned," Nicole returned, half-joking at the last comment as she reached for her ale. She didn't want to force this as a date on the wizard's shoulders if that wasn't how he saw it, thus decided it was best to leave that open-ended.

"And don't count your hippogriffs before they hatch - The Harpies might just be the ones mopping the floor with the Dragons," she chuckled competitively, with a wide grin.

Julian accepted his drink from the waiter and took a long sip, emptying half the glass. He'd been thirsty, apparently, and the drink he'd just had reminded him how very hungry he really was. His stomach gave a very audible grumble, which he laughed off with a faint blush.

"Food can't come quickly enough, apparently," he said sheepishly, setting his drink back down. As to her comment about this being a date or not...well, the question had crossed his mind as well. Taking into consideration the fact that Nicole was responding pretty deceptively to his attempts at flirtation, Julian figured they might as well make it an official date. If she didn't object to the term, why should he?

"We're kind of making a habit of eating out, aren't we? Given that neither of us seem to be expert cooks, that's probably for the best," Julian said with a laugh.

"Although, this time...no kids around, the alcohol's flowing, food will be out in a few minutes, and I've got a beautiful woman sitting beside me, laughing at all my terrible jokes...I certainly wouldn't object to the term 'date'. What's that old phrase you Americans sometimes use?....'if the shoe fits, wear it'?" Julian chuckled slightly and did the old stretch-and-slip-the-arm-around-the-shoulders bit to Nicole for comedic effect, although he did leave his arm there as long as she didn't object. At the moment, she didn't seem to mind.

"Now, as far as the game is concerned....I never did say that I wasn't a sore loser." Julian smirked, but it was basically true. Being the younger brother to the obvious favourite child Bastian had left Julian a little tetchy about losing, but he wasn't the type to get out of sorts about a quidditch match.

Nicole did her best not to laugh as Julian's stomach sounded its demand for food. To hopefully keep her mouth shut the witch also decided to take a drink, though a chuckle had left her lips and echoed a bit in the glass. She soon wasn't one to be laughing: not quite as audible, Nicole felt her own stomach growl at being kept waiting. "So it seems," she smirked, glancing in the direction the waiter had taken off.

A second laugh escaped the woman. "A little bit," she agreed. "If it's not over an open fire or in a microwave I'm pretty much hopeless," Nicole confessed, biting her lip. Her mother had tried when she was little to give her cooking lessons, and her stepmother thereafter. They told her it would be a crucial skill once she struck out on her own. And men typically sought a woman that knew how to cook from what she'd been told time after time. Nicole just never got on very well with certain kitchen appliances.

The witch nodded in agreement: there were certain elements present, or missing in the case of Shelly, that made it seem date-like. A smile twisted itself onto her face as Julian went along with using the term, though felt another layer of color rest itself upon her cheeks as he called her beautiful. Normally the people she heard it from weren't even half with it, and so she had generally brushed it off. This time was decidedly, and pleasantly, different.

"That's the one," Nicole chuckled at the expression. From the corner of her eye she saw him stretch. Although she knew it was a possibility, the witch hadn't quite expected him to wrap his arm around her. Managing to refrain from jumping a mile high when Julian did, the woman silently thanked Merlin or any entity that desired to listen. Nicole leaned slightly into the contact, genuinely enjoying it and not minding one little bit. Now that she was very near to Julian she managed to catch a scent she had thought was vaguely familiar yet equally curious. It didn't seem to be a kind of soap, though she could be wrong. Whatever it was that he used it had Nicole's approval.

Brown-blonde eyebrows quirked themselves curiously, and a little warily, at Julian when he mentioned he was a sore loser. Nicole wondered just how sore 'sore' was, and if the smirk was good or bad from her side of things. "Just remember it's their fault, not mine," she half-joked, pointing to the television. She wasn't quite sure what else to say. The witch wanted to add a comment about possibly cheering him up - a blatant flirt but what the hey? - yet held it back for now.

"Whereabouts in Germany are you from? Nicole asked curiously as she spotted the waiter approach with their food.

Julian spotted the waiter returning with their food as well, his eyes lighting up. He hadn't eaten since breakfast, obviously a mistake. As the waiter set their food down he murmured his thanks and dug in, giving himself a bit of time to organise his thoughts before answering Nicole.

"Don't worry, I won't blame you. You'd be a welcome distraction from my misery, if anything," he joked, as soon as he was sure he could reply without talking with food in his mouth. "You see, I'm from Dresden. I meant the hometown boy comment rather literally -- although I did move around my fair share when I was younger," he admitted with a shrug.

Julian took another big gulp of his drink, nearly finishing it off. Their eagle-eyed waiter spotted this and came by with a refill without having to ask; either they were getting excellent service tonight, or he came to the pub too often. It was probably a bit of both. Just as long as the bartender didn't take notice of them, it didn't matter too much to Julian. He murmured his thanks and took a sip of his fresh pint, contemplating his current situation.

He had no intention of getting into his rather recent bar fight, or the reason he'd been in a mood to brawl in the first place. Such discussions had no place on a first date, and she'd find out soon enough when she met Violet, anyway. That would definitely take a little explaining to do, although he wasn't worried about whether or not Nicole would like her. He'd already mentioned his daughter and his tense relationship with her mother very briefly, so it was only explaining the sudden custody shift that had him guessing. Julian didn't want Nicole thinking he was some kind of monster for taking his daughter away from her mother or something. Actually meeting Violet would probably help, though -- he was sure Vi and Shelly would hit it off right away, although he wondered if he could say the same for their pets.

Smiling at that mental image, he looked at Nicole and turned the question back onto her. "What about you? You said New York, right? If I remember correctly..." Julian closed his eyes briefly, concentrating on the memory, "the place from that story. The headless horseman. You know the one! Erm...it's on the tip of my tongue..." He shook his head and laughed helplessly, unable to produce the name of the town.

Nicole murmured her thanks in time with Julian as the food was brought over and also dug in. A vague thought crossed her mind along the lines of if only it would be feasible to eat and not give up the comfortable position they had been in. She brushed it away moments after it cropped up: there would be plenty of time for that later. There was a measure of reassured relief in her posture and she chuckled with her mouth closed at his joking remark. Apparently she could've gotten away with the comment she had held back. Ah well. Always next time.

The witch nodded with enlightenment as he spoke, hurrying to finish her mouthful of food. "I thought that may have been the case but I didn't want to assume," she replied, reaching for her glass of ale. The piece of beef in her shepherd's pie was long gone yet she could still feel the piping hot piece of meat on her tongue. As she returned the glass to the table it was approximately half full.

"Mm," Nicole murmured, nodding her confirmation as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. A partial laugh escaped her as Julian mentioned the headless horseman, and hurriedly swallowed. "Sleepy Hollow," she answered. "It's a nice and quiet little town. Or it was. A lot can happen in seven years."

"That was it," Julian replied, snapping his fingers, "Sleepy Hollow. Appropriate name for a quiet little town," he remarked, taking another large mouthful of his pie. Honestly, he didn't miss out much by not being a good cook, since he knew all the best places to eat. It was just a little more expensive, was all, but he felt like the price was made up for by not having to eat alone at his flat.

He smiled briefly at Nicole, happy just to be in her company. Even if they hadn't called it a date, it'd still have been an improvement upon his night. It was a lucky stroke of coincidence that they'd run into each other the previous day -- a lucky streak he hoped would continue.

"So, what did you mean, it used to be a quiet town? What happened seven years ago?" Julian asked once he'd swallowed his food. He took another sip of his beer and checked the television out of the corner of his eye to make sure the game hadn't started. The countdown displayed on the corner of the screen told him they had about five minutes til it started -- plenty of time to finish eating, judging by the speed with which he was managing to devour his food. His plate was already half empty.

As Julian smiled at her, Nicole returned the expression in kind. When they had decided to have a planned evening out, Nicole hadn't yet had dinner plans for what would have been tonight. Many aspects of her and Shelly's lives may have a schedule around it, but food was always much more lax than the rest. Shelly was in good hands with Lori, a skilled cook in her own right, and The Leaky Cauldron was one of several excellent places to eat. Nicole's raising Shelly made sure she didn't eat alone, but truthfully the witch was glad to be dining with a fellow adult this evening. Such things didn't happen often enough between her job, stepchild, and her personality sort of played a part in things too.

Nicole swallowed a mouthful of shepherd's pie, the action audible for even Julian to hear as it nearly went down the wrong way. She gestured for a moment's pause before answering his questions, and buried her nose in her ale. When she emerged it was empty, and eyed the waiter in silent request for a refill whether or not the wizard noticed. "I... I only meant that I haven't been back in seven years, and a place can change a lot when you're not there to see it yourself," she replied truthfully despite feeling and sounding verbally disarmed.

Once the waiter had deposited her drink and left again, the woman attempted to continue. "Seven years ago..." Nicole began by echoing Julian's last few words. She paused, remembering quite a bit in the form of brief snippets about her flight from the United States. "I left America and came here. Bittersweet memory if there ever was one..." she answered as simply as possible. The witch did not feel comfortable discussing her past, especially when this was supposed to be a pleasant occasion.

Making her fork chase after a clump of mashed potatoes, Nicole tried to find a way to change the topic without making it seem like she was trying to hide her past from Julian. "What is Dresden like?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh, right. Obviously," Julian replied, blushing. He realised now that it had been a stupid question, and wondered if her slightly strained tone meant she thought so too. Mercifully, she continued talking as though he hadn't just made an ass of himself, for which he was grateful. Julian still needed a few mouthfuls of steak and kidney pie washed down with his beer to recover, although the blush did finally fade from his cheeks.

"I know what you mean," he replied with a wistful smile. "I do miss Germany. Dresden is a beautiful city. And it does seem safer in these days, with all of the attacks on Muggleborns..." Julian shook his head, thinking of Calixta's family and unable to accept that things like that were happening more and more often. It just seemed so horrible and wrong. He couldn't understand how someone could have such an extreme view that they would attack and potentially kill an innocent child for no other reason than their parentage.

"I'm sure you've heard all about that attack in Ireland? The Harpers? Such a sad story. My brother's dating one of them -- she wasn't attacked, she's the sister of the wizard whose family was. It's absolutely mad, the whole thing, but it seems like people are finally waking up to where all this pureblood mania is going to lead us. Magic siphoning, can you imagine? Apparently it's been going on with Muggleborns for awhile now but since they attacked a half-blood family it's all over the news. No one cares about us mudbloods losing our magic," Julian scoffed, surprised at his own bitterness as well as his admission to Nicole of his real blood status. It had just popped out of his mouth before he'd even thought about it.he dearly hoped he hadn't put his foot in his mouth again, so soon after doing it the first time.

Nicole smiled and nodded, glad Julian accepted the change of subject. Of course, with as much pride as he held for the Quidditch team it seemed only natural he would be a bit of a patriot. Nicole herself was proud to be American even if she didn't live there anymore, and likely would never return. The witch's pupils turned to pinpricks when he mentioned the attacks on muggleborns. For a single fleeting moment Nicole almost feared he had done some research on her... but then she paused. There was recently another attack, hadn't there? And this one had been different. She had vaguely remembered reading it in the news.

She nodded grimly as Julian continued. The Harpers, that was the name. Yes, she had heard what had happened, and it was a terrible shame. "Oh, I can do more than imagine, unfortunately..." Nicole muttered grimly. The witch blinked at what she had said, and the last snippet of what Julian had said. He was a muggleborn? Nicole had personally put her money on half-blood with the way he seemed to be solidly between both worlds, with a slight slant of preference toward the magical. She smiled slowly, wondering if he meant to let slip such a thing or if it had been by accident. Not that the woman cared about bloodstatus. "You're in good company. Me, too," she admitted in as best German as she could manage despite her limited knowledge. "I have heard about the Harpers. It's outright terrible, no matter what origins people come from. I'd personally like to see the people responsible siphoned... and then shot... and see how they like it..." It took quite a bit of willpower for Nicole to not crack her knuckles at the thought of possible vengeance.

Once more her eyebrows furrowed as she thought. The expression wasn't angry, merely... tactical. Julian had mentioned the siphoning and revealed his status in the world was much like hers. Should she perhaps bite the bullet so to speak and divulge? Nicole abandoned what little leftovers there were of her shepherd's pie and scooted a little closer to Julian. "You seem like someone I might be able to trust with this... There's something about me you ought to know, I suppose," she said, sighing heavily. "A reason why I use guns, instead of my wand. Perhaps you already know or have guessed, but it's not merely just my background and an obsession with them.

"Twenty years ago... most of my magic was siphoned. In Sleepy Hollow, when I was twelve. My muggle parents were killed, and my two brothers - also magical - had their magic siphoned. My brothers lived... but things weren't the same again. All but a faint trace of magic was siphoned from me, again, four years ago. I can still do some magic, but it's very tiring." To say Nicole was nervous about Julian's possible reaction to all of this information was an understatement. It showed as she fidgeted with the glass of ale, index fingers tapping away nervously on the glass. She didn't want to ruin the moment and didn't want him to lose interest in her for what was really a trivial matter in her opinion. But if she didn't mention it now, when the topic had already surfaced, Nicole doubted she would ever have gotten the courage to bring it up until the very last minute.

For a moment, Nicole's expression had Julian worried that he'd made a terrible mistake. But as she began to explain what punishment she found suitable for those responsible for the ongoing attacks, he smiled faintly, both relieved that she agreed with him, and amused at her penchant for violence. The amusement didn't last long, however, as she confessed to having survived not one but two attacks. And losing her parents so young? No wonder the thought of magic siphoning made her violent.

"Nicole, I'm so sorry," he said simply, aching to give her a hug, but holding back lest she mistake the gesture for pity, which he assumed she probably didn't want or need. "I hardly even know where to start. People die from these attacks, and you survived it twice?" Julian managed to look horrified and impressed simultaneously.

"Little did I know, when I said you were a survivor..." He shook his head; perhaps he might have disbelieved her story if it wasn't for the fact that Nicole definitely did not come off as the lying type. Having spent most of his life as an orphan himself, he knew how that weighed upon a heart, and realised that might explain why they just seemed to connect on some undefinable level.

"I had no idea. Honestly I hadn't really noticed that you've never done magic in front of me, and I did assume the affinity for firearms was a holdover from your military days. I probably never would have guessed, mostly because I'm still in shock that this happened for the first time twenty years ago? I can't believe that this has been going on for so long, and it's only now just making the news. It can't simply be that it wasn't a concern until they started attacking halfbloods. Surely the powers that be don't think so little of our kind!" He'd all but abandoned his dinner now; there were only a few crumbs left anyway. The waiter came by and took their plates while Julian sat there for a moment, stunned by this new information.

"Someone has to stop this. The Ministry clearly isn't going to do anything, they've been hiding these attacks for as long as they could get away with it. This whole situation is even worse than I ever imagined," he said grimly, finishing off his third drink.

A faint smile crossed Nicole's features, a bit of relief seeping through as he almost seemed impressed rather than possibly annoyed she hadn't said anything sooner. Her nod to confirm Julian had heard her right was grim. Although she didn't want or need pity she did reach for the wizard's hand. "It's alright. I try not to dwell on the past. Less painful that way," she said softly. In hopes to try and bring the mood back up Nicole added, "The here and now is much more pleasant."

"It partially is. My father was a military man and taught me to shoot when I was eleven. Came in handy when we were attacked," Nicole explained further. A slight smirk overcame her features. "Managed to wound one. Despite not having magic my brothers fought them off when they rounded on me. Add that to five years of military service and firearms just become second nature.

"My... 'condition' if you will is also why Shelly's so great with magic... I've had to teach her a lot of things early on. Particularly how to reverse magically shrunken packages..." Nicole emphasized, wondering if Julian remembered her alarm when Shelly had produced the tiny box and specified the clerk taught her how to make the items 'big' again. "If something ever happened to me..." Nicole promptly aborted the thought and shook her head. A first date was no time for that kind of talk.

A look of guilt crossed Nicole's face as Julian polished off a third pint of ale. "I'm sorry if I killed the mood... For what its worth, the attack four years ago was by an enemy of mine you could say so it wasn't entirely random as most of the attacks seem to be," she said, taking a gulp of her drink before resting her other hand on Julian's arm.

"Why don't we talk about something else for a while? It's almost game time," Nicole suggested, smirking as she nodded toward the television.

This time Julian did put his arm back around Nicole, taking her hand resting on his arm as a cue. He had to agree -- the present was much preferable to anything in either of their pasts, apparently. As Nicole got into further detail about the attack, an eyebrow shot up -- the whole thing really explained a lot about her personality. He wondered what it said about his own that he really liked Nicole -- a further example of how misery loved company, perhaps, except that he felt anything but miserable when he was with her.

"Remind me never to piss you or your brothers off, ja?" Julian joked, hoping it wasn't out of line. "And yes, I do remember that -- that's fairly ironic, don't you think? They tried to stamp the magic out of you, but it's only ended up being passed along to someone else, in a way. Sort of a silver lining to an otherwise horrible situation, if you think about it. So no, you didn't kill the mood -- I'm glad you told me. It's actually kinda nice -- that you trust me, I mean," he said honestly, torn between feeling he should reciprocate, and realising she wanted to change the conversation.

"We're going to have to have a little conversation about your enemies later though, because that is a whole new level of malicious, right there. No wonder why you live in the middle of the woods in Nowheresville, England! What did you, kill someone?" he joked, laughing in disbelief. "It would be oddly fitting if I chose to date a woman who was on the run. I guess I kind of am, too, although no one's out to siphon me -- at least, not yet, anyway. If I win the custody case, I think my ex-wife might change that." Julian shook his his head, and then glanced up, realising the game had just begun.

"And that's my cue to stop blabbering on about my ex, I'm sure you don't want to hear it," he said, sitting up a bit so he could see the television better. The bartender magnified the volume, and the screen magically expanded so that it could be seen over the heads of those patrons standing while watching the game. Within the first five seconds, Dresden got possession of the quaffle, and scored three times before a minute had passed.

"Ahh, this doesn't look well for you!", Julian joked, nudging Nicole in the ribs. Just then, there was a resounding crack as a Beater for the Harpies took a retaliatory whack at a bludger, sending it spinning dizzily towards one of the Chasers for the Dragons. Diederich swerved wildly, but it still caught him on the ribs, sending him sprawling on his broom. He managed to hang on with one hand and climb back on before another bludger could be sent his way, which was lucky as he was roughly fifty feet in the air when it happened.

"Hmm, does that count?" Julian asked, nonetheless puckering up comically.

Nicole smiled at his joke, contemplating her ale for a moment. Now didn't seem the right time to bring more doom and gloom upon the conversation in regards to her brothers. She leaned against Julian a little and gave a small chuckle. "It is ironic. Shelly's mother was a muggle. Almost as if magic were destined to stay in the family," she replied with a small shrug. The witch wasn't even quite sure if there was such a thing as destiny. She supposed now that there had to be. Otherwise why would she still be here, or just about any other thing, if not for at least some measure of destiny?

It actually felt good to get that off her chest. Nicole had personally feared Julian might ask her to do something that would require magic, and just her luck it would be something she couldn't manage. She was even more grateful that Julian's attitude about it all was open-minded. And the sympathy was sweet, too, she had to admit. A vibrant pink tinge splashed across her cheeks as the wizard mentioned a definite talk about her enemies later, and once again Nicole reached towards her glass. If only Julian knew just how right he was even though he was only joking, though it had been in self-defense.

Her interest piqued when Julian mentioned he was in a custody case with his ex-wife. Nicole assumed it was about the daughter he'd mentioned. Simple human curiosity couldn't help but wonder what the intricacies of the situation were. Yet at the same time the witch didn't want to pry. "I don't mind. Hope things go for the best with your case," Nicole murmured in offering, shrugging as he brushed off the topic of his ex as soon as it came up. When the screen expanded and the volume went up it was her assumption that perhaps it wasn't a lack of interest in the topic but rather the game that made him temporarily drop the subject.

When Julian sat up straighter Nicole did the same. Emerald eyes blinked, impressed at the Dragons' swift three goals. "It's still early yet," Nicole chuckled. To her immense surprise and relief Nicole did not jump when Julian nudged her in the ribs.

The sudden deafening crack caught Nicole's attention, and in a way she almost wished they were at the stadium itself so she could see for sure whether it was one of the Harpies or the Dragons that had hit the bludger. On the other hand she liked being right where she was better: it was more private than a stadium box and more comfortable. Sure enough, though: the bludger had sailed right for one of the Dragons (confirming it had been a Harpy responsible) and knocked him mostly off his broom. The wizard continued to hold on by a hand and clambered back on. Although Nicole liked matches which featured aggressive play she didn’t want to see anyone fatally injured.

A laugh that was very nearly a giggle escaped Nicole at Julian’s antics. ”Yes, I think that counts,” she replied playfully. Placing a tentative hand on Julian's shoulder, Nicole gave what she thought was a gentle tug to urge him closer so that she could reach. Or that was the reason she'd told herself was why, despite having been able to kiss him just fine by stretching a little.

Julian found that little tidbit about Shelly very interesting, making a mental note to file it away for later. It was probably just coincidence, but a similar situation had occurred with himself and Bastian. Although Bastian's father was a wizard, all Julian knew about his father was that he was a Muggle, and probably dead. As their mother was a Muggle as well, Julian had gotten lucky, as it were, to be a wizard at all. He'd already spent his life playing second fiddle to his big brother; he couldn't imagine how much worse it would have been if he didn't have any magic.

And yet that was the reality facing Nicole now -- being tugged into this world where her parents hadn't belonged, only to be violently rejected. He'd already known she was one tough cookie, but the inner strength required to take all of it in stride and raise her niece in a world she couldn't fully participate in? Nicole wasn't simply a survivor, she took no prisoners. Julian already had a high level of respect for her, but now he almost had to wonder why she'd even bother hanging around a guy like him in the first place. The woman was simply extraordinary, and everything about her signalled that.

There was no doubt about it: Nicole was beautiful, but it wasn't just that. Anyone could be beautiful -- it was, after all, just an accident of nature -- but it was her personality that pulled him in. It was the way she contradicted herself in ways that made perfect sense -- lethal with a gun but gentle and loving with Shelly. It was the way she jumped at sudden movements and yet invited him closer with a challenge in her beautiful green eyes and a smirk on her lips. It was the way she had such a sad, tragic past and the most contagious laugh he'd ever heard. If Julian wasn't careful, he could see himself falling for her, hard, and he wasn't sure whether or not that would be a mistake. Somehow not knowing just made him like him more, in that perverse way that people insist on wanting all the wrong things. But liking Nicole couldn't be all that wrong -- surely not.

As she gently pulled him closer, his breath hitched in his throat and he stared at her for a moment, mesmerised. She seemed to be making her interest pretty clear, and it seemed that now was the time to either man up or make a complete ass of himself. Julian had always had a thing for taking unnecessary risks.

Completely forgetting about the game for the moment, he went for broke and closed the space between them, kissing her very softly on the lips. It hardly seemed appropriate given the joking nature of the bet, but he didn't care. There was no way he could be reading her signals that wrongly -- was there?

Nicole felt more than saw Julian close the gap between them. Immediately her heart began to drum itself rapidly against her ribcage. She was just trying to go along with the playful bet and kiss him as per their terms, right? Well, yes... but at the same time Nicole was interested in him. Why else would she suggest the additional clause of further dates with Julian if she wasn't? The witch did not toy with peoples' hearts - it was one of many things upon her list of 'Thou Shalt Not's.

She completely forgot about the game as their lips met, shocked by the softness Julian employed. Of all things she had expected something similar to the exchange they had given each other upon the cheek. This was a fair bit different, but not unpleasant. Not at all. Without much thought Nicole responded to the kiss in kind and blindly smoothed out the bit of robes she had disturbed at his shoulder.

When the kiss ended Nicole lingered, attempting to search Julian's eyes. A million thoughts zipped through her mind. Most were the rational ones but there were some that were anything but. The witch decided she would need to be careful lest she fall for the wizard before her. It was almost startling to note the similarities between them, practically kindred spirits when it came to both heritage and romance... although Julian had yet to be told that little side-story. He was charming and polite, comical and serious as the situation called for it, and seemed to enjoy having fun just about as much as she did. On top of it all Julian was rather handsome in her opinion. If she wasn't careful, Nicole could see herself falling quite solidly for Julian. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with that, but she'd learned from her first marriage how something that seemed like heaven could quickly fall into hell. Nicole couldn't help but wonder why Julian would be interested in a woman like her, who in regards to magic was comparable to a squib, when he clearly had a preference (like her) for the magical world.

Deciding it was about time one of them said something the witch opened her mouth to do just that but found she couldn't think of anything. Her first thought was 'wow' but decided against saying that: she wasn't exactly a schoolgirl participating in her very first kiss. "Well played," Nicole managed, slightly breathless. It sounded better than just 'wow' to her, and could easily be used as a dual reference to both the match and her opinion of Julian's kissing. Even without that thought the witch smiled.

An emerald eye glanced back to the game. The Harpies had scored a couple of goals during their momentary lapse of concentration on the match. Although none seemed to have been knocked off their brooms between then and now Nicole gave Julian a second kiss for the sheer pleasure and fun of doing so.

"So... what do you like to do when you don't have work?" Nicole asked, casting about for something that could be discussed during the game that wasn't too deep. Vaguely the woman recalled a list of likes from yesterday's outing he had rattled off. Unfortunately she couldn't remember everything he had said, other than something about a car that ran on magic.

Julian chuckled quietly, massaging his jaw as if to commemorate the notable lack of a punch which had been Nicole's response. That went well, he thought, now allowing a grin to overspread his features. The second kiss sealed the deal for him, though -- there was no mistaking it, she definitely liked him. Unfortunately, she was sitting right next to him, so he had no opportunity to punch the air victoriously as was his desire, but hell, that could wait til later. 

"Thanks," Julian finally said in response to her comment. "You're not a bad kisser yourself...but I'm not sure, maybe could use further study on that..." he joked, smirking.

"I suppose you could add 'kissing you' to the list of things I like to do when I'm not at work....or when I am at work, hey, I'm fine with you stopping by," he teased. He followed Nicole's eye and remembered that there was a match on, which they were purportedly watching -- oops! 

"Let's see...what do I like to do outside of work...hmmm..." Julian said, thinking out loud as he was also busy trying to get caught up on the game at the same time. It looked like the Harpies had finally gotten possession, along with a few goals, but the golden snitch was nowhere in sight and it was still anyone's game. 

"Well, I think I did mention that I play the bass guitar, and pretend I can sing...I like watching quidditch, but I don't really play anymore. I don't have a whole lot of time, is the problem -- I loved doing all sorts of sports when I was younger, Muggle and magical. I was quite a good footballer, actually," he admitted, and then realised there were some cultural differences. "Soccer," he amended with a smirk, checking the game again. The Harpies and the Dragons were fairly evenly well-matched, he had to admit...although he wouldn't out loud, anyway.

It seemed that a Beater on the Dragons agreed with Julian's assessment, because he decided to step things up a bit and sent a Chaser on the Harpies clear off her broom. The poor girl never saw it coming, but at least she was flying low enough that she managed to tuck and roll into the grass pretty gracefully. The crowd booed loudly -- the Harpies were the home team -- but it hadn't been any sort of violation, and so the game continued on while the woman, Cooper, clambered back onto her broom to the cheers of the stadium.

Julian just looked over slyly at Nicole. "Oh hey...first real knock-out of the game...would you look at that," he bragged, taking a nice long sip of his beer.

Nicole quietly chuckled at his joke and pressed her smiling lips together almost as if to stifle the giddy butterfly feeling in her stomach. ”Thanks,” the woman murmured, genuinely glad he thought so. ”And I doubt your ‘study’ will leave you disappointed,” the woman replied flirtingly. Whether any further kisses during the game would be quite like that first, Nicole wasn’t sure. Would she mind if they were? Of course not! But would she be disappointed if they weren’t? Not necessarily. Things were still new and there was plenty of time.

A playful push with her shoulder was Nicole’s reply to Julian’s teasing. ”I’ll keep that in mind,” she murmured in kind, though was also half-serious. The woman had actually been considering his comments from yesterday about her becoming an auror. Nicole’s only problem with the job would be performing necessary magic. It would be one thing if she wanted a desk job, but Nicole was more of the type that fought on the front line. Perhaps the day she visited the auror offices Nicole would pay Julian a visit... and hope Vinzent Whatshisface wouldn’t also be in the same room. The last encounter with all three of them in close proximity had been interesting to say the least.

Nicole nodded as Julian rehashed a few things for her, filing them away to memory. She didn’t recall the part about sports participation. A blink of surprise met the word ‘football’ at first and the woman attempted to imagine Julian in the protective gear used in the sport she knew by that name. However, once he clarified everything made sense and she grinned. America seemed to be the one of the few places that called the sport Soccer. The curious side of Nicole had always wondered why. Right now the answer was very low on her list of priorities.

As she watched the match it seemed as though both teams were about even. Out of unconscious reflex Nicole occasionally would tilt her head with a jerk or her arm would twitch as though she too was an active participant in the game. The embarrassment after these inadvertent actions tended to prevent it from happening again for several minutes until she calmed down and reabsorbed herself into the game. Blindly she reached for her drink and realized it felt quite full: a waiter had brought her over a third glass. Or Nicole was fairly certain it was her third. It could have been her fourth with the way the woman had been drinking when talk shifted to her past before the game had started.

She took a sip just as Cooper was knocked clean off her broom. Nicole blinked, impressed that one of the Dragons had managed such a feat without the Chaser even noticing. She was unconcerned about the fall due to the low altitude the Harpy had been at, smiling a little when the woman took the fall with grace. It vaguely reminded Nicole of various things, though most notably her father’s attempts to cure her of a slight fear of heights. ”C’mon, get back up there...” the witch muttered good naturedly as a side-camera focused on Cooper. With a half grin Nicole watched as Cooper climbed back on her broom and went back to the game.

The corners of Nicole’s mouth twitched at Julian’s brag. ”Yes, I see. Impressive,” she replied lightly, reaching to make a quick mark on the paper for each of the single times thus far a player had been knocked off their broom. With a bit of mischief Nicole shifted to better be able to reach Julian and gave him a kiss on the cheek, seeing as he was currently drinking.

Not to be outplayed by her opponent, one of the Harpy Beaters launched a bludger at the Beater for the Dragons that had knocked Cooper off her broom. She then zoomed after the second bludger, intending to try and aim for the Dragons’ Keeper if she got to it in time.

Julian smiled slightly at Nicole's kiss, but otherwise continued drinking and keeping his eyes on the game. Things were definitely heating up -- both on the television and off -- but he was trying to pace himself a bit. Nicole wasn't the type of girl he'd just take home and leave it at that one night -- he actually wanted to get to know her, for once. Most women he met were pretty one-dimensional, but there was just something about Nicole that left him wanting more. Julian didn't want to ruin it by making his usual mistakes.

He put his arm around Nicole's shoulders lightly as he finished his drink and watched the game. In a matter of mere seconds, the Keeper for the Dragons was also knocked off his broom, allowing the Harpies to score twice before he got settled back on safely. Julian groaned in disappointment, before realising it was Nicole's turn for a kiss. Grinning, he turned and gave it to her on the lips, not quite as forceful before, but still plenty flirtatious.

"Yup, that definitely helps take away the sting of disappointment," he chuckled, pulling back. "Anyway, so what about you? Any hobbies not immediately related to firearms?" Julian teased, sticking his tongue out.

Nicole caught Julian’s smile out of the corner of her eye as she returned her attention to the game. It made her smile a little as well. She had to admit: the wizard needn’t try very hard to coax a smile out of her. Such a personality made her wonder what possessed Julian to take a job with Zolnerowich, his polar opposite in her mind, but decided that question was better left to sometime down the road. On one hand she wanted to know more, yet at the same time she knew that some things were simply and strictly confidential until the right time.

The witch shifted slightly as Julian’s arm draped itself lightly around her shoulders. Nicole kept to her drink, though was decidedly a bit slower on finishing it off. Mostly this was due to her being absorbed by the game. A smile crept onto the woman’s face as the Keeper for the Dragons was hit full-force with the bludger. Truthfully she would have had the same expression had it been a Dragon to knock the Harpies’ Keeper off her broom. When it came to Quidditch, Nicole held very few extreme loyalties. And even then, if the Falcons were having a bad year she would gladly side with the team most likely to win the Quidditch World Cup or any other ultimate goal they were playing for.

She tried not to chuckle too much at Julian’s groan of disappointment. It wasn’t that she delighted in the aspect of the game that caused it but rather how the utterance had sounded. Nicole couldn’t quite explain it even to herself. A final ‘hm’ of a chuckle escaped Nicole as Julian’s lips met hers. She wasted no time meeting the kiss head-on or reciprocating in kind, smiling slightly as she did so.

”Yes, actually, as a matter of fact I do,” Nicole replied playfully, giving Julian a nudge to the ribs with her elbow. ”Let’s see... which ones haven’t I mentioned?” she pondered aloud, lightheartedly miming deep thought.

”I think I know my way pretty well around a toolbox: I like tinkering with things either to fix or improve them. I enjoy sky diving and bungee jumping. There’s fishing, too... Driving, which you know. I like music but I don’t know how to play... or at least not very well. I know two songs on harmonica and assume I can sing, but that’s about it...” Nicole listed, blushing a little about the music bit.

”I’m also qualified to operate muggle aircraft... but I find stunt flying on a broom more exciting,” Nicole added, fairly certain that was something she hadn't even touched upon.

Julian arched an eyebrow, impressed. Her list of hobbies was fairly in line with the impression of Nicole he'd gotten thus far, but that didn't make them any less interesting to him. His eyes drifted back towards her, although he could still see the game in his peripheral vision.

"Adrenaline junkie, hm? Why am I not surprised?" Casually, he flipped his hand up, gently pushing a stray piece of hair behind Nicole's ear. It was even silkier to the touch than it looked. Amused by this, Julian started playing with her hair by twirling a lock around his fingers as he spoke.

"Well, I've been on a plane once, but I certainly didn't jump out of it. Never went bungee jumping, either. Although perhaps those are things I should try one day...I don't think I'd ever learn to fly a plane, though. I have to agree with your preference for brooms, they're a lot simpler and therefore to me, safer. Too much could go wrong with a plane, and I have to admit, I prefer staying in control. Auror thing, probably -- constant vigilance!" he joked, turning back to the game.

It was getting dirtier and dirtier by the minute, quite literally. One of the Beaters for the Harpies accidentally knocked a Dragon in the face with their bat, making the poor girl clap her hands to her face in an attempt to stop the blood gushing from her nose. The move was predictably bad on a broomstick, and she took a crash landing ten feet from the ground, and not as gracefully as Cooper had managed her fall some minutes earlier. This time, Julian actually stood up and started yelling at the television in German, along with a fair number of other patrons.

Nicole laughed. "I suppose I am, now that you mention it. Fishing is pretty calm, though. I enjoy movies, too, when I have the time," she added with a smirk. The woman tensed just a little when Julian seemed to reach for her face. As she felt a few loose strands of hair shift at his touch Nicole relaxed again. Her eyes closed to fully take in the soon-to-be memory, prevent the moving hairs from any possibility of stabbing her in the eyes, and to suppress the tingling sensation that ran down her spine as the hair was tucked behind her ear.

Opening her eyes again, Nicole glanced without concern in the general direction of Julian's hand. So long as he didn't grab and yank on the semi-blond tresses the witch didn't mind. Vaguely she wondered what it was about her hair that had caught the wizard's attention. Living with it every day, Nicole didn’t realize anything special about it.

The thought vanished as Julian continued, Nicole listening to every word intently. She had to laugh a bit on his comments about planes. ”Well, if you do want to try either I have extra equipment and know some good places,” the woman chuckled. ”My flight training started in the military, but I still fly for fun when I can get someone to either lend me a vehicle or transfigure something into one. Brooms are simpler, but...” Nicole shrugged and grinned. ”What can I say? Sometimes I feel like doing something different.” The witch nodded and laughed a little at the auror remark. ”Nothing wrong with that.” In all honesty, Nicole had to admit that the phrase ‘constant vigilance’ could probably be applied to her with little to no problem at all. But that was another topic for another time, as the witch once again focused on the game.

Nicole watched intently as the match seemed to escalate to literal and metaphorically dirty play. Emerald eyes narrowed as a Harpy seemed to accidentally strike a female player for the Dragons in the face with their beater’s bat. But was it truly an accident? It was hard to tell, even with a small screen set up with a replay loop. The amount of blood plus the none-too-graceful fall made Nicole wince a little in sympathy for the girl. She started a little when Julian stood, though wasn’t exactly surprised at the amount of yelling now going on in the pub. Nicole decided to stand as well: if not to join in on the yelling then to not get in the way. The only thing was that with many others standing it sort of hindered her view of the game.

Merlin, how Nicole hated being short!

Not to be deterred Nicole climbed onto the seat she had been sitting on. She smirked a little, finding some amusement in the fact that as she stood in the seat she now was a couple of inches taller than Julian. Nicole’s attention to this detail didn’t last long as she returned almost all focus to the game. The witch was curious if the Dragon player in question would continue to play after medi-wizards saw to her, or if she would be removed from the match.

Julian groaned as the Dragon player who's gotten hit, Jessica Braun, was taken out of the game due to the massive amounts of blood she was losing. He was genuinely concerned for the young witch, not just upset that she was getting replaced with one of the Dragons' second-string fliers. Raking a hand through his hair in frustration, he turned slightly towards Nicole and realised she'd gotten up, too, to see the telly. The sight got a chuckle out of him, and he wrapped his arms around her waist securely and picked her up off of the chair, placing her carefully back on the floor.

"Nice try, sweetheart, but game play is suspended at the moment so there's nothing to see. You're intimidating enough already without towering over me, too," he joked, releasing his hold on her. "I guess now is as good a time as any to take a bathroom break, or to order a pitcher...hmmm..." he trailed off, noting the long line forming outside the bathroom. Apparently everyone else had the same idea he did.

"Aaaaaall right, more beer it is, then! I'll be right back," he told her, dashing to the bar quickly while it had cleared out somewhat. Unluckily, he found himself faced with the very same bartender who'd broken up his fight earlier on in the week.

"Not you again," the bartender groaned, recognising Julian's face. His name tag read simply "Billy," and he did not look pleased.

"Oh come on, I'm on a date, see?" Julian said, gesturing back towards Nicole. "I'm not trying to start any trouble and besides, I didn't last time. Those guys were bigger than me and I was outnumbered, they were picking on me!"

"Yeah yeah, save it. You and your brother are a pair of troublemakers. Just take it and get out of here," Billy grumbled, handing up a full pitcher from behind the counter. Julian smiled halfheartedly and shoved some gold across the counter at him.

"Thanks a lot, lad." Billy just shook his head and moved onto the next customer, so Julian made his way back to the table just in time as the game continued. "Sorry about that," he mumbled, embarrassed, as he poured a glass first for Nicole and then for himself.

"Anyway, so what were you saying? Gonna teach me how to fly?" he asked, sipping the foam from his beer.

Once again Julian caught Nicole off guard as he lifted her off the chair. The witch clung to her date until her feet were returned to the floor. She pouted playfully at her lost height advantage, which was instantly noticeable. "I wasn't towering. I was... surveying the pub," Nicole returned mischievously while trying to appear as though she didn't notice she'd been taller than him with the aid of the chair. The attempt hadn't been serious and thus blatantly failed. "It was nice being taller than someone for a change, actually. Even if only for a couple minutes," Nicole chuckled good-naturedly, giving Julian a hug before letting go of him.

She had been about to offer that she could get the pitcher while he went to the bathroom, and visit the ladies room once he got back. However, the lines to the bathrooms were rather long. A nod and a murmured 'okay' left the witch as Julian strode up to the bar. She wondered if the bartender working tonight was the same one Julian had had problems with a few nights ago. With simple curiosity Nicole watched Julian, and the subsequent interactions with the bartender. The latter certainly didn't seem very pleased. The text on the name tag was much too small from this distance, save for the distinct 'B'. She tried to think of the list of bartenders that worked here that she knew. Billy, the owner's son, was the only one that seemed to fit the description. Sure enough: after scrutinizing the bartender's appearance there was no mistaking that it was indeed Billy.

The wizards conversed briefly, and for a moment Nicole could've sworn she'd been referenced. A smirk crossed her face: one generally didn't get into barfights when out on a date. She could practically hear Julian making such an argument in some shape or form. In no time at all Julian returned with a pitcher in hand. "Not a problem," she said, glancing toward the bar and deciding not to broach the topic of Julian's barfight from the other night. Though she wasn't an expert at deciphering 'Julian-ese' the woman felt she knew enough about men in general to detect that the ordeal embarrassed him a little. Nicole accepted the glass of beer Julian poured for her with murmured thanks.

Nicole immediately sipped at the foam that topped her own glass of beer. It didn't matter what sort of beverage it was: if there was foam on the top the woman went after it first. Her only exception was the whipped cream atop hot chocolate which could in a way be considered foam. She chuckled and swallowed the sip she had taken. "If you'd like to learn how to fly a plane, I could show you. I know someone that could pilot for us if you want to go skydiving with me sometime.

"Or, if planes turn you off completely, I do own a racing broom," Nicole answered, keeping one eye on the resumed game and the other upon Julian.

Julian's eyebrows raced at the words "racing broom". He loved flying and hadn't had a good race in ages; it now occurred to him that Nicole might actually give him a good one.

I have to admit, flying a plane? Not too interested. I can drive a car and that's about it for me, I think. I'd go skydiving with toy, though, at least just the once. And frankly, my Firebolt Avenger has just been collecting dust in my closet, it'd be lovely to have a go sometime...if you're up for it," he smirked, setting down a half-emptied glass and refocusing on the game.

It seemed in next to no time at all, they were up to six knockouts, three for each team. The game had indeed gotten down and dirty, as promised. Julian didn't mind the kisses, but he was starting to get concerned for the well-being of the players when finally, the Golden Snitch was spotted. He groaned in disappointment; the Dragons were up sixty points, but the Seeker was clear across the quidditch pitch with little hope of reaching it in time.

Sure enough, the Harpies' seeker, caked in mud from that last knockout, snatched the Snitch out of the sky, effectively ending the game and winning it for the home team, the Harpies.

"He got LUCKY!" Julian insisted right away, turning to Nicole and then noticing his glass was empty again. "On the bright side, I'm glad I knew better than to bet on the outcome of the game," he added with a mischievous smile, ruffling Nicole's hair slightly. The Dragons were notorious for their aggressive tactics, but today simply had not been their day. In any case, watching the game with Nicole had improved his enjoyment significantly and, now he had another date with her, if she wanted to hold to their agreement.

Nicole shrugged, honestly not bothered by Julian's disinterest in planes. It would be rather boring if they didn't have any differences. She smiled at his willingness to at least go skydiving once. Because of his preference for control Nicole doubted he'd like the all-muggle version. Perhaps she could persuade Lori to enchant their parachutes with a few extra features...

That smile turned into a smirk and a sideways glance at Julian when talk turned to brooms. Was that another playful challenge she heard from him? Nicole being her usual self couldn't pass that up. "I think you'll find I'm more than up for it, whenever you are," she flirted. By sounds of it his model of broom was a bit newer than hers, but that wasn't stopping this witch - no way, no how!

The corners of Nicole’s mouth twitched despite already smiling as the game progressed. She had to admit that the Dragons were pretty good, though the Harpies were certainly doing their best to give it right back. A moderate concern crossed her mind for the players knocked off their brooms – six total since the game had resumed – but Nicole hoped they knew when to call it quits even when the pressure was on to continue and let a reserve play in their stead. At the same time however, seeing as no one was too grievously injured, the witch certainly didn’t mind the added half-dozen opportunities to kiss and be kissed. The last time she kissed someone this much... well, Nicole didn’t really want to think about that.

A blurred glitter of gold across the television screen caught Nicole’s eye. Had she been one of the players the witch would’ve noticed it about ten seconds too late. Immediately her emerald eyes sought out the Seekers to see which one had the best probability of ending the game. The Dragons were already up by sixty, but if the Harpies snagged it, then they’d ultimately win the match with that 150-point bonus. Nicole spotted the Harpies’ seeker zoom after the snitch approximately two seconds before Julian groaned. A moment later the Dragons’ seeker was coaxing every ounce of speed out of their broom as possible. There wouldn’t be enough time – Nicole saw it, Julian likely saw it, so surely even the seeker saw it – but the woman couldn’t help but give the seeker credit for at least trying. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, after all.

”Of course...” Nicole replied, unable to keep a slightly teasing tone from her voice. She had noticed his glass was empty not long before Julian himself realized it, and since he’d poured at least one glass for her (having long since lost the precise count) Nicole decided to return the favor and pour him a glass from the pitcher. A chuckle left the witch at the added remark. Not betting on the outcome had been a novel experience for her, and really their wager was definitely a win-win regardless which team won. She had been about to nod when Julian ruffled her hair, earning a sharp ”Wha?!” and a comical expression from her: Nicole peeking from under the arm whose hand was atop her head with one eye open and the other one squinted. Regardless of the exclamation she didn’t shy away from the hand. At the same time she wasn’t quite sure what she should, or could, do.

Not bothering to straighten her hair just yet (and quite frankly tempted to see what an unruly-haired Julian looked like now just for the heck of it) Nicole glanced at their record of knockouts. It didn’t take long to tally at least five, and at this she smirked. If Julian was willing, Nicole was all for sticking to her wager and going on another date with him in the near future. ”Speaking of bets, if you’re still agreeable to the idea it looks like we’ll have another date to plan sometime,” she said, trying out a blend of flirtation and mischief. This date was definitely fun, and she hoped it wouldn't end too promptly now that the game had ended. However... she was also curious as to what they would do together next, and if he really was interested in a second date for that matter.