Albus had always had a passion for books. Flourish and Blott's was one of his favorite places to come to even as a kid. Not much could beat settling down with a good book to read. He'd lost track of the number of times he'd stayed up all night to finish a good story.

Looking around, he eventually found a very interesting book. It was about the rise and fall of dark wizards. Some he had heard of, like Voldemort and Grindelwald, but others he hadn't. Being the history lover that he was, Albus found it immensely interesting. He heard the bells ring, which he guessed was from the door. He thought about seeing who had come in, but decided he would just sit and enjoy his book.

Victoria had dreamt of her dragon, Cyreen, last night. They had been flying through the mountains, running from Bronn and his gang. She woke up missing her terribly, though she knew she was safe with Craig.

She'd decided to walk around Diagon Alley, hoping to find something to pull her out of her gloom. She passed the bookshop and smiled. Tess was always the bookworm, but she thought a look around couldn't hurt. She wandered through the healing section, grabbing a book on burn spells for Tess. Never knew if she would need to patch Victoria up if she ever went back to her old job.

After looking through the dragon section, deciding she would come back to it later, she wandered over to the darker books. She had been thinking a lot about Bronn's betrayal and was curious to learn about what the German wizards believed in.

She turned a corner and noticed a man looking enthralled in his reading. Murmering, "I'll come back later," she tried to tiptoe away so as not to disturb him.

The book was good, and he almost didn't hear the soft murmur. So, other people did come to book shops after all, that was good to see. Not many people read much these days, it had always disappointed him a bit. Books could teach you so much if you let them.

Managing to pull himself out of his book, he looked up. It was a woman about his age with brown hair, and he noticed that she was pretty instantly. Albus was generally the quieter type, but he was trying to make more friends and be more talkative. He decided he should go ahead and talk to her.

"Hello, come to find a good book? I didn't quite catch what you murmured, but you are welcome to stay." Albus told her. Company was a good thing to have, he could always read about dark wizards later.

Victoria smiled lightly at the friendly man in the chair. "Thank you." She picked a book off the shelf about German wizarding history and took a seat near him.

She held out her hand. "I'm Victoria, by the way." After they exchanged names she looked down at his book. "What are you reading?"

Victoria had never been known for her bookishness, but she did like people. And maybe making a new friend was just the thing she needed.

Albus smiled and shook Victoria's hand. "Albus Fenwick, nice to meet you Victoria. Well, it's a book on the dark wizards throughout history. Pretty interesting, really, a lot of them most people don't know about." He noticed that she'd picked a book off the shelf. "What about you?"

Making friends had never been his strong suit, it was an area he needed to work on. Normally he was a pretty shy person, and he was trying get better at making friends. It would be nice to have people in his life who he could trust. Right now, the only people he had were the characters from his books.

Victoria was surprised, happily so, to hear he was reading about dark wizards. Maybe he was just the person to talk to.

"I was actually looking for...well...I'm not sure what I was looking for." She didn't know how it would sound. Hi! I need to learn about dark German wizards so I can maybe kill my ex lover if he comes after me. Yeah. That would go over well.

"I...I need to learn about dark German wizards." She kept her eyes on the book in her lap. She knew it probably sounded terrible, but it was true.

She was clearly surprised that he was reading about dark wizards. He was a history teacher though, so if she knew that maybe it wouldn't be so odd."I'd love to help you find whatever you are looking for. Books have always been a passion of mine."

"Dark German wizards, well can't say that I'm not a bit surprised. But hey, I'm sure you have a good reason. The book I'm reading has more of an overall view of dark wizards, let's look at the shelves here." Albus mumbled said to himself. Standing up, he started to peruse the books. Eventually he found what he was looking for, Dark Wizards by Nationality, if any book could tell her specifically about German dark wizards this one could. He handed it to her. "That's a place to start, hopefully it helps you out."

Victoria smiled at Albus. It wasn't the average person to simply help a stranger. Especially when looking for this kind of information. "Thank you," she said when given the book.

Taking a seat back in the chair, she got comfortable. There was still plenty of daylight left and if she didn't get all of her shopping done yet there was always tomorrow.

She looked back at Albus and tilted her head. "So what do you do? Other than sit around a book store all day?" Victoria couldn't help sliding into her usual smirk.

He smiled back warmly at her. "You're welcome Victoria, happy to help." Albus had always been helpful, probably one of the reasons he was a Hufflepuff while at Hogwarts.

While she was sitting down, he began to browse the books again. There was a biography on Grindelwald that looked interesting, and he took it off the shelf. Albus nestled into his comfortable corner.

"Normally I avoid book stores, they gobble me up for hours sometimes." he admitted, chuckling a bit. I work at Hogwarts actually, History of Magic teacher. Most people don't like the subject, but it was always one of my favorites. History can teach us so much if we let it." Some people said that history was just a bunch of boring facts, but it was so much more than that. "What about you?"

Victoria smiled at Albus' talk of getting lost in a bookstore. Just like Tess. Her best friend would probably live in a book store if she could. Victoria wouldn't call herself a bookworm, but she did like to read when she found a book that kept her attention.

Her ears pricked up when he mentioned he worked at Hogwarts. "I actually was just hired there. I'm going to be the new Councillor and Head of Hufflepuff. Maybe you could introduce me to some other faculty members. Give me the scoop on everyone." She winked at him playfully.

At his mention of most people's hatred of history she nodded. "I know I loved it. Not in the 'I have to memorize everything' way, but I'm muggle born. So it was all really exciting for my young mind." Even if it seemed like she was the only one in the class, she loved it.

"You're going to be the Councillor, that's great Victoria. Head of Hufflepuff, I used to be one myself. Got picked on a bit for it, but it was either that or Ravenclaw for me." He was bookish, and wouldn't hurt a fly if he could help it. Though he did join The Order of the Phoenix, he wanted the war to end as soon as possible. "I just started working there as well actually, but everybody is really nice. One of the teachers, Tessa, has her kids with her on some days. They are soo adorable."

"Yea, I am a big fan of all the wars, revolutions, that type of thing. I like reading about Muggle History as well, I'm a halfblood so I tried to learn a bit about both." History had always interested him immensely, there was so many things to learn about. "I especially like the ancient history though, the early civilations are really cool to learn about."

Victoria smiled. It was interesting meeting an adult who had been a Hufflepuff. It really put into perspective the kind of students she would be in charge of. When he mentioned Tessa she thought she recognized the name from the list of Tess's friends. "That's cute that she gets to have them at the school. What do they do all day when she's in lessons?"

When Albus started going into all of the details, her head began to spin. She laughed a little. "Well I don't know about all that, but I'm sure it's good when you get into it. I always loved hearing about the things that were different than the muggle world. Strategies and stuff are similar. But the manner with which they go about things in the wizarding world is a lot different." It had taken her a while to get used to the ease with which things could be done with magic. Yet some wizards didn't use general electricity, which she thought was rather bizarre.

Seeing Tessa's children around was the favorite part of his day. He loved kids, always had. Starting a family of his own was something he had always looked forward to. "They opened up a nursery in the hospital wing. So one of the other teachers can look after them depending on the time of the lessons."

"Yea, I'm a bit nerdy that way. Oh, I love seeing all the differences as well. In a lot of ways the wizarding world has stayed the same while Muggles have progressed. Their technology they use to compensate for the lack of magic is really quite ingenious. I have to admit that if more wizards used electricity it would be much easier." That was one Muggle invention that had a myriad of uses.

Victoria wondered if she would be asked to watch the children. She nervously envisioned them running around like wild heathens while she cried in the corner. Being the younger of two girls, she had never really been around children. Sure, she imagined having them one day, but...you need two to tango. And with her past, and whatever her and Alec were...who knew when that would happen.

"Yeah!" she exclaimed, happy to find someone who shared her opinion. "And computers!! I don't get many chances to get on one, really, but they're wonderfully handy." Mostly she used them for research into the muggle world when visiting her parents or sister. It always made her think of the hours spent in the Hogwarts library for classes.

She moved to tuck her legs under her, getting more comfortable in the cushioned chair. "What else do you do for fun? Besides reading." She smiled at the likelihood that she would meet another bookie like Tess.

"I've only read about computers, but they sound so useful. It would be so convenient to use that...internet I think they call it, to look up different things. You can even get full books sent to this pad thing, and read them. I believe they call it a tindle or something like that. No...that's not right." Albus never remembered their names for things. "If I had a television I would be watching so many documentaries on their televisions as well." he admitted, a bit embarrassed about it. That was who he was though.

"Well, I love music. Singing, dancing when nobody's watching me, because my dance moves are horrible, and playing acoustic guitar. I've written a couple of my own songs. I also love to read poetry, and write it as well. What about you, what do you do for fun?" Albus asked her.

Victoria laughed out loud at Albus' enthusiasm. "I think you mean a Kindle." Her sister, Kathleen, had one for her schooling, but Victoria had never really wanted one. "I prefer the real book to one of those. I only read certain books, but when I do, I love the smell of them. And physically having them."

He and Tess must be friends, she thought. Victoria could imagine her friend sitting on the floor with popcorn, enthralled in a documentary. Since they live with electricity, it probably happened when she wasn't home.

As Albus listed off his hobbies, Victoria felt like she was a bobble head, trying to keep up with it all. What she got from it was that he was someone in tune with his emotional side. Not a bad thing to have in a friend, especially since Victoria was a firm believer in showing ones emotions.

"Well...before coming back to London, I worked as a dragonologist. I have a...well I wouldn't say she's a pet. More of a close friend, named Cyreen. She's an Opaleye." She sighed. It had been at least a month since the last time she saw her, but she knew she was well taken care of. "And I also love singing." One of the men at camp had brought a guitar and they served as the camp entertainment.

He didn't mind the correction at all, they had such funny names for certain things. "Ah, yes, that's it." One of the disadvantages of living at Hogwarts was not having electricity, but it was a good job and Albus knew he was lucky to have it. "You have an excellent point, I do love having the physical book in my hand. Definitely one of my favorite smells."

Victoria was trying to keep up, but he did have a lot of hobbies. Everything was just so interesting to him. Journaling had always been something he had done as well, it helped him to cope with the loss of his girlfriend. It had been hard to stay open after that, but he had managed it.

"That must have been an amazing job. They're just so...majestic." She was obviously close to Cyreen, it was tough to lose a friend, even if it was an animal. "Sadly I have a terrible singing voice, that's why I learned how to play an instrument. Music is a magic beyond anything we can do, I always listen to some when I'm a bit down. Most of the time it cheers me up too."

"Yeah, when they're not burning holes in your cloths." Victoria smirked. Dragons were amazing. And intelligent. But it wasn't always day dreams and flying. Someone had to wash them, and feed them. And she had worked with training some of the younger ones, so had been privy to many burns when they didn't behave.

She nodded at his description of music. It was magical. "Well as long as you still enjoy it, then who cares if you're good or not. Though I guess people that hear you would care. But then, who cares what they think!"

Victoria got the vibe that Albus was one of those people that held back from most things. She hated seeing people like that. Like Tess and her medical career. Victoria firmly believed in following ones heart.