The Ice Queen (Dustin)

[Angela Merciano S7]

Angela sat in her study; her mind wandering off as she stared out of the large window behind her desk. One thing that Angela had always loved about the Merciano manor was the breathtaking landscape that surrounded the estate. Since the manor was located in Liverpool, Mr. Merciano’s estate was on a very large stretch of land with a beautiful lake surrounding the place. The grounds around the castle-like structure were well kept by a team of professional landscapers that worked around the clock to keep the place looking prim, neat, and beautiful. The peace of the Merciano residence always brought Angela some peace of mind when she needed it. Especially now. The task Angela had been given was becoming an even bigger part of her subconscious every day. In almost every aspect of her grandfather’s plan, everything was going perfectly. She kept a very close eye on Dustin Hemingway at all times and she tried very hard to milk information about his family out of him. She’d even been able to intercept a little conversation between Dustin and his younger brother Vincent.

Sadly though, the boy knew nothing. This didn’t really surprise Angela much considering the poor stupid child had no idea what was going on in his family most of the time, but the fact that he knew nothing still disappointed Angela. What she really wanted to see was someone like Damara walk into that shop. Damara was Dustin’s sister and she was the best key to finding out what they did with her mother. Damara was trusted with the most top secret information of the Entourage because of her mother’s trust in her, but because of her temper and thirst to be praised, she was an easy target. Angela was sure that the moment Damara Hemingway came to visit the Quidditch shop, Angela would have everything she needed to complete the task she’d been given. But in the meantime, She’d just have to deal with Dustin.

It wasn’t like Dustin was unbearable or aggravating in any way (though she pretended she thought he was) but he was just the kind of boy Angela couldn’t spend far too much time with alone. He was too charming, too confident—he was the instant-death poison in Angela’s foolproof plan. He was Angela’s true Achilles’ heel. Cool it Angela. She thought to herself as she stared mindlessly outside of her window. You’re a Merciano. You’re not allowed to have weaknesses. Angela tapped her fingers on the table impatiently. She had to go back to work pretty soon, and she definitely was not looking forward to that. She would have to see Dustin pretty soon, and she’d have to face his charming friendliness toward her no matter how bitter her words to him were. She’d been working at the Quidditch shop for just over a month now, and he’d already invented a clever nickname for her—The Ice Queen. Angela cringed every time he called her as such, but she knew she loved it. She would never admit it though, because admitting she loved the nickname would be admitting her weakness; and that could never be done. He may be charming and handsome, but underneath all that charm there was nothing more than a dirty, filthy Hemingway. Dustin was the enemy, and nothing more.

Taking one last furious look out of her window, Angela got up and walked to her fireplace with a bag of floo powder crushed in her hand. She had to go back to work again. Back to the broomsticks she adored, the kind boss she took far too much advantage of, back to her secret mission, and the Hemingway boy she was developing a dangerous soft spot for. When she arrived at the shop, she found that Dustin hadn’t arrived yet. This wasn’t all too much of a surprise considering it was nine in the morning and Dustin rarely ever showed up on time because of the early hour he was required to be at work. With nothing else to do but open up shop, she sighed and walked to the front to open the door to the costumers. It seemed she was the only one there. She went to the counter and noticed a small note that looked like it had been left by an owl of some sort. It was addressed to “Dustin and Ava”. She opened it and groaned. According to the note, not only would Angela and Dustin be on their own today, but they had to work even after closing to clean up the back cupboard that hadn’t been touched since Angela’s first day. An entire day with Dustin Hemingway. Aren’t I lucky. Angela muttered bitterly to herself just as she heard the loud crack in the back of the room to signify Dustin had finally arrived. She rolled her eyes. “Morning Dustin. Nice of you to join in. Hope you had a pleasant sleep and a very filling breakfast, ‘cuz we’re stuck here allll day. Boss left a note.” Angela said, handing him the note she’d found on the desk. This was going to be one trying day.

[Dustin Hemingway]

Dustin was having one of the most wonderful dreams of his life and just like that it was gone. Where once was a beautiful Ava in his dream it was now a dark room with light breaking through the blinds and the screaming of Damara from what sounded like the kitchen. “Girl needs to chill out.” He muttered as he rolled around in his bed and pulled the pillow over his head to block the screaming. After ten minutes of trying to get back to the wonderful dream he was having the screaming from Damara finally won and he force himself out of bed. Dustin thought about getting ready but decided to see what she was yelling so much about, probably something unimportant he thought. Dustin didn't even bother to change, he was still wearing the same pants he had worn yesterday and fell asleep in so it didn't seem like such a big deal to him. “What the hell is you problem?” Dustin said lazily as he entered the kitchen to see Damara yelling at a crying House-elf. Her eyes full of fire turned to Dustin as she stared at him for a few second. “This little whelp just broke Mothers favorite plate!” She hissed at him then turned back to the House-elf, it's poor huge eyes were full of tears and looking right at Dustin.

“Don't listen to her Bitsy.” Dustin said with a smirk as he walked up to the little thing and patted her head. “She's just mad she can't do magic outside of Hogwarts, while I on the other hand..” Dustin paused as he felt his pockets and his wand wasn't in any of them. It would make sense he always put it on his nightstand when he went to sleep. “Well Bitsy do me a favor and please go get my...” Dustin stopped talking again as the house-elf snapped her fingers and was gone then reappeared with his wand in hand. “Your a good elf you know that.” Dustin said with a smirk as he toke his wand out of her hand. Dustin was always nice to the House-elves just like his father used to be, Damara on the other hand toke after their mother and yelled at them when things went wrong. Dustin walked past Damara with a smirk on his face and he could tell she only got madder at him. “Reparo.” Dustin muttered while doing the hand movements and watched as plate pieces joined each other and the cracks disappeared slowly. The House-elf hopped in her spot then grabbed the plate ranning off probably in fear of Damara. “And that's how we grown ups fix a plate.” Dustin said still with a smirk as he did a slight bow. “You think your so cool!” She yelled at Dustin as he just laughed and headed back to his room to get ready for work.

“My dear sister I don't think I am, I know I am.” He said as he made his way back to his room and laughed slightly. “Piss off Damara, check.” He thought to himself with a small laugh as if he had a check list for his mornings. As soon as he entered his room he stared right back at the bed like it was calling for him. “Sorry dream Ava, the real thing is waiting for me.” He muttered to himself then realized how weird he must have looked just then but luckily no one was watching him. After a quick shower and changing into a new set of clothes he was ready to go and it actually looked like he was going to be on time for once in his life. Dustin opened the door and walked out almost tripping over his little brother who was standing right outside his door with a plate full of food. “Oh! Your wake already for a change.” Vincent said in his normal soft tone then laughed slightly. “Now what is that suppose to mean, I'm a perfect employee. I work hard, I'm never lazy and I'm always on...” Dustin said but couldn't hold back from laughing anymore and just burst out right then. “I guess I couldn't say that with a straight face.” He said after he was done laughing then looked back down to Vincent, who was still laughing and almost dropping the plate full of food. “So I guess that's for me? Dustin said with a smirk and as he said that Vincent pushed the plate to him and nodded.

Dustin plans were ruined for getting to work on time as he soon found himself back in the kitchen eating with Vincent. It didn't bother him to much, he was always late and no one seemed to mind as long as it wasn't too late. He looked at the clock and he was already fifteen minutes late now so he finished eating what was left and exited the kitchen but not before tickling Vincent. Dustin just smiled as he made his way to the fire place as he thought about how his relationship with his brother was almost the opposite of him and his sister. He picked up a hand full of Floo powder and threw it into the fire and watched it turn green. “Another day, another attempt.” He muttered to himself before stepping into the fire. The spinning was something he never got used to with Floo travel, it always left him slightly dizzy when he walked out of the fireplace on the other end.

He stumbled out of the fireplace slightly but regained his balance easily. He soon heard Ava's voice from up front start talking to him, he just made his way up front just in time as she passed him a note from Mr. Thurston. “The breakfast was okay but I'd only give three stars.” He said with a smirk as he opened the note and glanced over it. “As for the sleep, well I won't go into details but the dream differently made it to my top ten.” Dustin said as he put down the note and smiled to Ava. “Well I shouldn't have to go into details, you were there after all my little ice queen.” Dustin said with a laugh as he finished talking, he really did like the nickname he had come up with for Ava even if she seemed to hate it. “Sooo.. want to just lock the doors and call it a day? I won't tell if you won't.” He said with a smirk as he started to walk up front and looked out the window into Diagon alley.

[Angela Merciano S7]

Angela rolled her eyes and just as always; held back a smile after hearing that Dustin had been dreaming about her. It was a typical Dustin thing to say afterall. The second he arrived at the shop and he was already trying to charm to skirt off of her. "Honestly, it's nice to hear you have been dreaming of me Dustin. Might as well get all your insane fantasies out in your sleep so you don't bother trying to pursue them in real life." Angela said with a teasing smile as she counted out the change left in the register for the moment. It was basically just a tedious task Angela performed far more often than necessary to avoid making eye contact with Dustin. Eye contact during weak moments was not a smart idea. Once eyes were met, then the blushing would start and the cold glare would begin to melt away and pretty soon, the situation would be out of her control. Angela definitely couldn't handle being out of the postition of control.

"And you know how much I hate that nickname of yours. I've told you a million times that just because I may be the only girl on thebplanet that doesn't worship the ground you walk on does not mean that I am a so-called ice queen." Angela protested, though she had already given Dustin this argument many times before. Of course he still continued to call he this anyway. It was all part of the fun for him. Angela's protests were probably the only reasons Dustin even continued with the aggravating yet lovable nickname.

And of course, Angela wasn't surprised at all when Dustin made a suggestion to just close up shop and go on a break. Dustin was just sonlazy sometimes. Angela could never understand how he managed to keep a job at that shop so damn long.Part from his amazing salesman tactics, he did more harm than good for their poor boss. He was almost always late, took very frequent brakes the second Thurston was gone, and he was always flirting with the female costumers. Of course, this worked out to the store's benefit in the end, but Angela never particularly liked it to begin with; though she could never quite figure out why. "And I'm not closing up shop. Did you not learn anything from the last time you decided to take a little brake or do you just want to get fired?" After counting the very last galleon in the register, Angela was forced to look up at Dustin. She rolled her eyes and sighed. We'll take an extended lunch break, but would you take care of the kid eying or firebolts? You know I can't stand the brats." Angela muttered as a ten year old boy entered the shop and started oggling the broom display.

[Dustin Hemingway]

Dustin just smiled as he listened to Ava while looking out the shop window. There wasn't many people out in the Alley at the moment but it was still early so not a lot of people would be out there anyway. With a yawn Dustin stretched then turned back to Ava who was busy counting all the money in the register, a very dull task that Dustin didn't care the least for. “You would think dreaming about you would get it out of my system wouldn't you?” He asked as he walked up one of the aisle and looked at everything. “But it just makes me want the real thing more.” He said answering his own question with a smirk while reorganizing some of the merchandise. “Then again I'm sure the real thing is much better then some dream.” Dustin added still with a smirk on his face and he looked over a box which held a Snitch in it. The idea of letting it out passed through his head for a second but he then put the box back down. He didn't feel like spending the whole day trying to catch it inside the shop. It was surprisingly hard catching a Snitch in a small shop then in a giant field.

He just laughed as Ava started to protest about the nickname he had created for her yet again. Dustin had thought of it a few weeks back after another run of being shot down by Ava when he asked her for a date or something along those lines. “Well that's not the only reason I call you that, sure it's part of it but I've got other reasons.” Dustin said with a smirk as he walked around the broomstick displays, it was one of his favorite parts of the shop. Something about looking at them just made Dustin want to be outside flying each and everyone of them. “I really think we need to be closed today, these brooms look like they all need testing for.. safety reasons of course.” Dustin said with a laugh as he finally forced his way away from the display and back to the counter where Ava stood.

Dustin laughed as Ava gave the answer he was sure they would, that they wouldn't be closing up shop and reminded him of the last time he tried it. “Well it wasn't all bad, you were there so it made it all worth it.” Dustin said with a smirk as she finally looked up at him after finishing counting all the money in the register. She seemed to count it a lot but that's probably what your suppose to do, Dustin always left that to Thurston it seemed rather boring to him even though he knew it was an important part of running a shop. Dustin wasn't even paying attention to the young customer as he came in till Ava pointed him, he was more focus on Ava. Dustin sighed slightly and turned around and looked over to the brooms where the boy stood. He couldn't have been more then ten, probably heading to Hogwarts once summer was over. “Well if I must go to work and be torn from your side, I guess I must.” Dustin said with a smirk as he looked back to Ava then walked over to the young boy.

“Well you've got an eye for the Firebolt, don't you?” He asked as he looked down at the boy, the boy didn't say anything he just looked back at Dustin slightly shocked. “It's okay your...” Dustin paused as the door opened and a lady probably in he mid-thirty's walked in and looked around till her eyes locked onto the boy. “Tommy! How many times have I told you about running off?” She said in a stern voice as the boy just walked up to her looking a little embarrassed. “Lets go.” She said looking down to the boy then looked up to Dustin. “Sorry about all this.” She said and Dustin just laughed slightly as he smiled back at the lady. “Don't worry, we didn't mind looking after your little brother.” He said smiling as the lady seemed to blush slightly, which was the reaction Dustin was expecting. “He's my son.” She said in a giggly voice and Dustin just laughed. “Really? You seem way to young, well when your ready for a broom remember to come back anytime.” Dustin said with a smile as the lady pushed her son out while still a little red in the face. “And Dustin saves the day again.” He said with a smirk as he turned back to Ava.

[Angela Merciano S7]

Betrayal.

She hated the word and everything about it. The word was like a taboo in the Merciano household. Everybody liked to pretend like it never happened if they could help it, but it was always there; lingering in the back of their minds like a monster ready to pounce. The vow made it easy to tell who was betraying their family. The moment they made an act against the Cavalieri, their bodies were forced to go back to Hector-Miguel and they just died. There was no rhyme or reason to the matter. Well, other than the magic of the Unbreakable Vow of course. Angela had seen it once before. It was a very painful thing to watch—almost like the Dementor’s kiss. The making of the vow was a beautiful ceremony though. The breaking of it was the thought that still made Angela cringe as she thought about it. For the first time in her life, Angela felt thankful that she hadn’t yet made the vow. Would these rebel feelings for her enemy cause her to do the same as the many traitors that came before her grandfather for one reason or another? Angela didn’t even want to fathom the consequences that would have resulted if Angela even accepted one date from the Hemingway boy.

And just as thoughts of shameful betrayal whirled through Angela’s subconscious, her body betrayed her in its own way as she listened to Dustin’s flattery. ”But it just makes me want the real thing more.” He said, making Angela’s pale cheeks flush pink. Angela cursed the warm feeling in her cheeks and looked down quickly. She had only just counted all the money in the register. Without answering him, she walked briskly over to a shelf full of Quidditch instruction books and started rearranging them by letter—anything not to face Dustin after that foolish lapse of self-control. Angela scoffed, glad to hear that Dustin had changed the topic to brooms. Perhaps he hadn’t noticed? Angela could only hope. “I’m sure even Thruston would have your head if he found out you took one of his precious brooms. Knowing you, you’d end up putting it back in the wrong place and Thurston would figure you out in a heartbeat.” Angela said, her back still facing him as she continued to rearrange the books.

She doubted Dustin heard most of what she was saying, because moments later, he was helping out that little boy. Angela stole a glance behind her, glad that the warm feeling in her cheeks was slowly starting to disappear. She still didn’t want to face him though. There was no way even someone as thick headed as Dustin could have missed that obvious lapse. It couldn’t be that terrible a reaction could it? He’d probably just made some sarcastic comment about the Ice Queen finally melting into a normal human being or something and everything would be back to normal—hopefully.

Angela pretended not to listen as Dustin flirted shamelessly with the woman who was probably twice his age. She looked tired; almost like she was wearing very expensive face cream to try to get rid of the lines, wrinkles, and dark patches that came with raising a child. The result made her look like she was maybe in her early thirties, but from the age of the boy and amount of makeup on the woman’s face, she’d say her true age was about thirty-eight. Dustin really had no boundaries, it seemed. Once the woman was gone, Angela felt it was safe to turn around. Plus it had only taken her about thirty seconds to alphabetize the books since she’d already taken care of that less than a week ago. “Always so humble. You’re lucky you’re a good salesman. Otherwise you would have been kicked outta here ages ago, I’m sure.” She said, rolling her eyes. She crossed her fingers behind her back. Please don’t say he noticed that.. She prayed.

[Dustin Hemingway]

Dustin saw that look on her face the very moment it appeared and just smiled, finally some sign from Ava that he was starting to make some headway with her. Sure it wasn't much but that quick blushing from her then walking off in a hurry gave it away all to well to Dustin. He had learned over his life how to read someones face pretty well or at lest the face's of women. It was a required skill for the life Dustin lead or else most attempts with woman would end in failure. He laugh slightly to himself as she reorganized the books and he knew she was just avoiding him for the time being. Dustin wanted to say something from the moment he saw her face change but his attention was required else where sadly. As he dealt with the young boy his mind was mostly focused on Ava and the small bit of emotion that had finally flashed in her face. Even while talking to the boys mother his thoughts were still trained on Ava and what he should say next.

He was quite relieved once the lady and the young boy had finally left, now his attention can go back to something that really mattered, Ava. As he turned back to her and she finally looked at him, he was slightly depressed that now her face was back to normal and he had missed most of her reaction. He just laughed as she mocked him slightly, same old Ava it appeared. Dustin walked closer to her and stood in the next Aisle to Ava and looked over the just waist high display to where she was. “I'm nothing if not humble.” He said with a smirk as he looked at Ava then to the books behind her. “Well I'm glad I'm such a good salesman and was allowed to stick around. If I wasn't I wouldn't have gotten to see that beautiful face you made just a few minutes ago.” Dustin said with a smile as he looked back to Ava.

Either she was going to look away or walk off those two were the most likely of opinions. Dustin thought with a smirk as he turned around and looked around the store, a waiting her reaction or response. Whatever happened Dustin had to admit Ava was making work a lot more interesting and not just because she was beautiful. Something about her just stuck out to Dustin that he couldn't quite figure out, whatever it was it was much more then just her looks. “I'll just have to be an even better salesman then before, that way I'll be around even longer. That should give me enough time to at lest see that expression again.” Dustin said with a smirk as he walked away from Ava, but the reason why he did he couldn't quite explain. He'd much rather be closer to her but something told him just to head into the back of the shop, probably some subconscious thought of walking away being all cool. Whatever the reason was he gave into it and headed for the door to the back.

Dustin stopped before he made it to the door and turned to Ava again. “Even a couple more years in this place waiting would be worth it, just for that beautiful face you made.” Dustin said with one last smirk as he walked into the storage room and looked around. He cursed himself quietly for coming back here when he really should have stayed by Ava to see her reaction. He shrugged as he realized going back up front so soon would just make him look stupid, he was stuck with a choice he made. The last thing Dustin was in the mood for was cleaning back here so he just walked around aimlessly in the back just killing time the best he could and thinking about Ava, the girl seemed to be all he thought about lately.

[Angela Merciano S7]

Angela cursed her face and its actions for the clear traitor it was. Up until then, Angela had done a very good job of hiding her rebelling feelings for her enemy for a very long time. How could it possibly be that now, when she was finally getting so close to achieving her goal and finding where her mother was, that her feelings could actually get in the way of her goal? Even though Mr. Merciano loved Angela the very most out of all his grandchildren, he still couldn't deny her clear weaknesses. No one could. It was important to know all of your family’s weaknesses as well as your enemy’s. Angela’s little sister Isabella for example, had her innocence as her only weakness. The girl was keen and brilliant, but she just didn’t see the need for her family to kill and steal like they did quite often. Angela’s mother was quite the same.

Marissa Merciano was one of the Cavalieri’s strongest players. She had to be; when Hector-Miguel passed into the next world he would leave Angela’s father in charge and Marissa would be second in command. But her love over her children and her real family had always surpassed her love for the Cavalieri. Angela knew that weakness had been her undoing when she was kidnapped. As for Angela’s weakness—well that one was obvious. That weakness was showing itself right now as Angela stood in a corner blushing while attempting to reorganize Quidditch books. She just couldn’t stand her ground in front of any charming, handsome man who told her she was beautiful.

This was the part that confused Angela the most. If her grandfather knew Angela was like this, why would he put her in “the lion’s den” of all missions? Did he really have that much trust in his granddaughter that she’d be able to surpass these emotions and get the job done? Angela didn’t want to betray that unbelievable trust her grandfather as well as her father had in her. She wouldn’t. She would just have to suppress every single emotion she felt for that rotten, filthy Dustin Hemingway until she was free of him and able to go home and tell her mother how hard it had been to get her back. She sighed as she dealt with the consequences of that one blasted look. She sighed. “Well, don’t get used to it. I probably just put too much blush on this morning.” Angela pointed out, cold and composed as she always was. She hoped that Dustin wouldn’t take advantage of this moment and let it get to his head—that was something she wasn’t all too sure she’d be able to live with for too long. She continued to unnecessarily move the books around on the shelf, still not able to face him. What a coward she was shaping up to be.

When Dustin finally disappeared into the storage room, she felt the sudden urge to help him out in there. She knew he was the worst cleaner on the face of the planet, so he probably wouldn’t be making much progress in there. But she made an effort to hold herself back. She needed her space. She definitely didn’t want her body or her expressions to betray her composure any more than it had already done. So she continued working at the front of the store doing tedious tasks that really didn’t need to be done and attempting to sell people some brooms and other Quidditch supplies. She was a decent saleswoman and most of the costumers merely paid attention to her so long because she was beautiful, but she was not nearly as good as Dustin was. At the thought of this, Angela sighed and returned to the register. The day had gone by quickly it seemed, it was already way passed time for their lunch break. Angela was surprised Dustin hadn’t come out to complain about his hunger by now. She figured she’d better go in and let him know what time it was.

Angela looked around the room, which was just as dusty and disorganized as it was about three or four hours ago when Dustin disappeared into it. She shook her head, unable to hold back a small smirk. This smirk wasn’t too terrible, as it was cocky and confident. Better yet, the smirk showed absolutely no signs of her attraction toward Dustin. This was typical “Ice Queen” behavior, to sneer at Dustin’s faults and shortcomings. “I see you’ve been busy all this time. It’s two thirty by the way, which you obviously haven’t noticed. And I did promise an extended lunch break, so what do you say we both be back around four?” That should be enough time for you to fill that never-ending black hole you call a stomach.” Angela said with a small chuckle at her own joke. She wondered what she was going to do for all that time. Usually, their lunch break was only long enough for them to go across the street to the pastry shop, grab a bite, have a short chat with the waitress, and go back to the shop for work. It would probably be a bit too suspicious if she picked up some items for her father in Knockturn Alley with Dustin around, so she figured maybe she’d just go home to lunch and see what was going on at the house.

[Dustin Hemingway]

“This sucks.” Dustin said thinking out loud as he walked around the back of the shop and looked around at all the stuff Thurston had crammed back here. Old brooms that no one would ever want to buy, defected Quidditch equipment that people had returned and plus the stock of everything they carried up front. “Why the hell does he keep all this.” He said to himself again thinking out loud as he referred to the old brooms and broken equipment. Dustin kept walking around noticing that it wasn't really Thurston's need to keep almost everything that he was frustrated with. It had to be his latest failed attempt with Ava. Dustin was expecting her to blush again or at lest smile but there was nether of those in her face. Instead she just calmly said it was just her make up and Dustin hadn't really seen anything, which Dustin knew was a lie. Something was there on her face for sure but it wasn't make up.

Dustin walked up to the chair he had in the back and sat down with a sigh as he got comfortable. This month of being with Ava and trying his hardest and yet he still was barely even getting a smile. The whole ice queen title really was starting to fit her even more. He just shrugged and sighed one last time as he closed his eyes and thought to himself. “Maybe I'm just going about this all wrong. No, I just need to try even harder and she should at lest start to crack a little.” He thought to himself as he laid back and relaxed with his eyes still closed. “Should I clean?” He asked himself out loud as he opened his eyes and looked around the dusty room. The answer in his head was yes but his body didn't want to get up and he toke his bodies advise and just sat still and looked around the shop.

He sat there for most of the day it seemed thinking to himself about many different things. Ava was on top of that list of things but among the others were his Quidditch career, when did that plan on taking off. Sure working here wasn't all that bad but he didn't plan on doing this the rest of his life, he just had to wait and see. If things came down to it he could use some of his families connections but he was avoiding that the best he could. He wanted to rely on them as little as possible, this was his career and he wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. He was snapped out of his thoughts as he could hear Ava's voice as she talked to a customer, once or twice he felt like going back up front and helping her out. Those feelings seemed to pass quite quickly as he realized that would mean he would have to get up.

Dustin finally got up from the chair and yawned then looked around the room, with a shrug he decide he should at lest try to clean so didn't look like he had just spent part of the day in a chair relaxing. Dustin had just started to organize things as he heard the door open and watched as Ava walked though the door with a smile on her face that Dustin knew all to well. Dustin just laughed as she poked fun of him as he was relieved he had gotten up when he did, he didn't want to think about what some of the things she would said had he still been sitting in that chair on the verge of falling asleep. “Well I'm glad to see you could join me, ice queen.” He said with a smirk as he put down the old broom he had in his hand that he was just about to put away. “Anyway I like to pace myself.” Dustin said with a slight laugh as he walked closer to Ava, he was slightly shocked to hear that it was past two already. Normally his stomach would tell him it was lunch time but he guessed that eating breakfast for a change must of messed that up.

“Really that's the time? I guess time really does fly when your having fun, or just daydreaming.” He said with a smirk, as she talked about lunch Dustin thought of something that he really should have realized at the beginning of the day. “Wait a minute... why are you making all the rules?” He said in a teasing tone and smiling at Ava. “I've been here longer, I should be the one making the rules.” Dustin said with a laugh which turned into a smirk. “My first rule is that we go get something to eat together my second is that you pick what to eat.” Dustin said with a laugh as he tried to sound all serious. “Hmm... with this kind of power I could have a lot of fun.” He said with a smirk as he thought to himself out loud. It seemed odd to Dustin that he could feel totally frustrated with Ava and then next time he saw her, he was in a good mood as normal.

[Angela Merciano S7]

Angela smirked as Dustin attempted to make up a good excuse as to why the storage room seemed to miraculously still be a mess even after more than three hours of him being in there supposedly cleaning. She wondered what he had done for all that time, then cursed herself for even wondering in the first place. It was none of her business to wonder whether or not he was sleeping or just sitting talking to himself the entire time. Now, if he was in there talking to one of the Entourage in there for all that time, then it became her business. Angela sighed at the predicament she had managed to get herself in. She glanced quickly at her reflection on the shiny metal surface of one of the broom handles in the closet. Even after a month of being a blonde, Angela still wasn't used to her new look. She was much paler too, but that was simply because she was working so much she barely got a chance to get much sun this summer.

And then Dustin made that offer once again. Dustin asked Angela out almost daily in various different ways, but Angela's immediate response was always a cold, stern 'no'. But Angela had been working with Dustin for more than a month now and apart from the small hint every once and awhile, she was no closer to finding her mother than she was when she first started a month ago. Perhaps she was going about this all wrong. The ice queen needed to warm up; but only a bit. Getting closer to Dustin was the last thing her raging emotions could afford right about now, but she knew she needed to get closer to him if she even wanted the slightest hope of seeing her mother again. She rolled her eyes but smiled in spite of herself. "Fine." She said simply."We'll go to our usual place. I'm in the mood for some cheesecake." Angela added, picking up her purse from the shelf near the storage room door. "But this isn't a date. You keep that in mind." She smirked as she started walking to the door, not bothering to look if Dustin was following or not. She already knew he was.

When Angela arrived to the now familiar pastry shop, she inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh aromas of the shop. Angela had always been rather obsessed with scents in a way. She adored anything that smelled good, really. At home, she had an entire shelf full of various little bottles of expensive and sweet smelling perfumes. Usually, she used the same bottle every day until it ran out and then moved on to the next. Her current scent smelled like pure summer. It was sweet, almost fruity, but not obnoxiously fruity to a point where she smelled like sickening cotton candy. The scent was light and tasteful, and thanks to one of her special spells, the scent stayed on her skin emitting the sweet smell for the entire day. The pastry shop had a very different scent to it, one that made Angela’s senses tingle almost as much as her expensive perfume collection she had at home.

The pastry shop smelled like cookies, pastries, and chocolate. She could also smell a hint of vanilla in the air, and that was when her hunger started to kick in. It wasn’t uncommon for Angela to just decide she wanted cheesecake for lunch, but it didn’t happen all too much within the month she’d worked with Dustin. She loved all sorts of pastries, but she only treated herself to a small slice of cake when she knew she was in a good mood. She wasn’t quite sure why, but she was in one of those moods today, despite her earlier slip-up. The rage and murderously vengeful thoughts for the Hemingways was pushed to the back of her mind, giving way to the simple desire to treat her taste buds to a nice slice of cheesecake. She smiled. After looking around, Angela noticed that the familiar waitress Lisa wasn’t working today. So she’d deal without the sarcastic comic relief she’d learned to get used to. Besides, Lisa was Italian, so naturally Angela had grown fond of the waitress from the pastry shop.

Angela asked the cheerful Italian looking old man (probably Lisa’s father) behind the counter for a slice of cake. “Cheesecake fragola, per favore.” Angela asked politely, not even noticing she was speaking in perfect flowing Italian, and not English. The man smiled and nodded. Moments later, he returned with her order. “Ecco a voi. Gustare!” He said, smiling at her. She reached into her purse to pay him, but he waved her off. “Gratis per te, amore mio. E per il vostro fidanzato troppo.” He said, looking toward Dustin with a wink. Angela blushed again slightly. She merely shook her head, not bothering to correct him for some reason. “Grazie.” She said politely, as she carried her food to the nearest table. She knew Dustin didn’t understand a word of her conversation, and she was glad for it. She’d always found it rather dumb of the Hemingways to refuse to learn their enemies’ language. They’d picked up a bit of slight Spanish, but it was still easy to communicate secret conversations without the Hemingways’ knowledge. “So what are you getting? He said it was free for us, by the way. So help yourself.” She told him as she picked up a small fork to enjoy her meal.

Translation:[/color]
“Cheesecake fragola, per favore.“ :: strawberry cheesecake, please.
“Ecco a voi. Gustare!” :: Here you are, my dear. Enjoy!
“Gratis per te, amore mio. E per il vostro fidanzato troppo.” :: Free for you, my love. And for your boyfriend as well.
“Grazie.” :: Thank you.

[Dustin Hemingway]

Dustin smiled as something surprising happened, Ava said yes to going to get something to eat together. After a full month of her saying no there finally was a yes coming out of her lips, Dustin's smile slowly turned into a smirk as she said this wasn't a date and made her way out of the back of the shop. “So I take it we won't be holding hands there?” Dustin said still with his smirk as he followed Ava out the door. “Well there goes my goal for the day.” He said laughingly as he kept following her right out the shop door and watched her walk toward the pastry shop. Seeing as how he was last to leave the shop it seemed like it was going to be his job to lock the door. He just watched as she kept walking and Dustin watched her for a couple more second then pulled out his wand and pointed to the lock. “Colloportus.” Dustin said doing the proper wand movements as he heard the door click and with that Dustin turned to follow her into the pastry shop.

As he made his way to the store he looked around the alley. He could hardly believe it was actually past two, it felt like it was closer to twelve to him. The Alley did seem surprisingly more busy then usual, luckily the bulk of the the people seemed to pass the Quidditch shop. Dustin laughed slightly as he turned back to the shop just when someone tried to open the door. “You'll just have to come back later.” Dustin thought with a laugh as the young boy then walked off and Dustin continued to follow Ava. As Dustin entered the shop the first thing he noticed as normal was the smell, it was like fresh cookies and other pastry's but the smell of cookies was his favorite. His mother used to actually cook when he was little and his father was still around, the smell of cookies always made him remember those times when he was little. Now she was to busy for anything but running The Entourage.

He stood behind Ava as she placed her order and was a little shocked that she said it in Italian, something he wasn't much expecting. His family had forbid the learning of the language as a sign of pride or some nonsense like that and even if they didn't forbid it he wouldn't have learned it anyway. This would probably be one of the few time he regretted not learning the language, as he didn't understand anything Ava or the man behind the counter said. The only two words Dustin could make out was cheesecake and amore , which he knew meant love. Then the man looked over to Dustin and it seemed like he winked, now he was really confused on what they were talking about. He watched as Ava got her food then sat down, she then informed him that the food was apparently free for them. “Well if it's free then I guess he can wink at me all he wants.” He said in a low tone so only Ava could hear him then he laughed, he didn't want to ruin the free food if the man heard him.

“Free you say, sir on any other day I would say that you would regret that decision. Lucky for you I ate breakfast so just some of the freshest cookies you've got, Chocolate chip if possible .” He said with a smile as the man just nodded, thinking about when he was little made him have a weird craving for some cookies. Dustin thought to a second to himself as the man soon returned with a plate with five or six cookies on it. “Thank you.” He said with a smile as he pulled out some Sickles from his pocket and put them on the table and the man started to shack his hand in protest but Dustin had already left the counter and walked toward the table where Ava sat. “You said the food was free, you never said I couldn't tip.” Dustin said looking back to the man smiling then toke a seat a crossed from Ava, he didn't bother to look back again to see if he toke the tip or not.

“Well I just wanted to eat together to be with you but I'll take free food as a bonus.” Dustin said with a smirk as he bit one of the cookies and laughed silently to himself. Cookies for lunch, yet another food he had been told was not right for lunch and yet it seemed totally acceptable to him much was the same for ice cream and many other thinks. He would just have to add that to the list of stuff his mother was wrong about, it would be quite a big list if it actually existed. “I'll pick somewhere fancy next time and we can see if we get free food there.” He said with a laugh as he then finished off the rest of his first cookie. “So I've been thinking about something, lets not go back to work.” Dustin said with a smile as he looked at Ava. “I know this wonderful little fair going on and if we leave now, it shouldn't be to packed.” He added laughed slightly as he knew what he said wasn't entirely true, it would probably be packed even now.

[Angela Merciano S7]

God damnit Angela, can’t you do anything right? Angela cursed to herself after realizing she was in fact speaking Italian. English, Spanish, as well as Italian were three languages that came very naturally to Angela. She spoke each one fluently like it was second nature. There were many times when she even mixed the three together without even noticing she was doing it. But this had to be the absolute worst time to slip up. To any smart Entourage member, the fact that this strange blonde haired girl knew Italian should have made it obvious as to where she had come from. She prayed Dustin wouldn’t make that connection, though she doubted he would. Now, if this was Damara or any other member of the Hemingway family, Angela’s entire cover would have been blown and she’d be exposed. That would have been the end of her. But Dustin was so very vulnerable in a way that he didn’t even know. While his charm and natural ability to attract the opposite sex did come in handy, it also handicapped him from realizing even the most obvious of treacheries. Angela stopped dead mid-thought. It was at this moment that everything became clear to Angela.

The reason it had been her who needed to spy on the eldest Hemingway boy was because she was the best form of Kryptonite for him. She was beautiful and obviously very hard to acquire—an easy distraction. There was a bigger plan going on here than finding her mother, though that was obviously part of it. Perhaps they were trying to smuggle money from some business nearby or something needed doing in Diagon Alley. Usually, they wouldn’t need Angela to carry out the deed. But not even Dustin Hemingway was that stupid. Without some sort of distraction, he would most definitely know when there was something Cavalieri-related going on right under his nose. But it was because of Dustin’s little weakness that he probably wouldn’t pick up on the possibility of foul play in the form of his beautiful coworker or his favorite dessert place. It was also because of this weakness that he wasn’t realizing a Cavalieri operation that was going on right under his nose. But what were they up to? Angela took a minute to think to herself. Then it hit her, and she felt like such an idiot for not having noticed it before.

The pastry shop. There were very few Italian owned shops in Diagon Alley that didn’t have some sort of affiliation with the Cavalieri gang. How couldn’t she have seen it before? She looked up at the old, kind looking Italian man and he winked at her. She nodded slightly before going back into her cheesecake. It all made sense to her now. They were probably using the pastry shop to smuggle in money or drugs or gems or something into England without the government hearing word of it. Now she realized why those assigned to check on her would always walk in with some sort of pastry in their hands from the shop across the street. Angela wanted to smack her head against the wall to punish herself for being so blind while one of her family’s brilliant operations were going on right under her very nose. And of course the baker and his daughter (did Lisa know about the plan at all? She didn’t seem like she did.) always seemed so attached to her. They were keeping a constant watchful eye on Angela’s progress. She sighed. Suddenly, she didn’t feel quite so comfortable here anymore.

Angela knew the man was probably some lap dog that desperately needed money and so was called in to make the Cavalieri vow. He probably wasn’t all too bright or important, or Angela would have seen him around the house. This meant that he probably wouldn’t pick up on the feelings Angela was starting to feel for the Hemingway boy. But she still didn’t want to risk being here any longer. She didn’t like the feeling of being watched, that anything she said or did could be reported back to her father and grandfather. She only barely noticed Dustin tipping the old man. She frowned only slightly, not really listening to his suggestions about some fancy restaurant or something he’d said along those lines. What she did catch though, was his suggestion to not return to work. “No Dustin, I really do think we need to go back. An extended lunch break is more than enough time to relax.” She said calmly, tracing lines of strawberry sauce around the plate to keep her hands busy.

“I can’t lose this job. I need the money.” Angela lied, hoping it would work. She knew it would. The good thing about being born into a family that committed and had to cover many serious criminal acts on a weekly basis was that you were practically born with the ability to lie very well. The only person who was ever able to catch Angela in a lie was her mother, but that was simply because she was the one who taught Angela to lie in the first place. She needed to if she wanted to protect her family’s secret. There had been many times in her life where the Ministry would get some tip-off and come knocking at the Merciano door in search of information or something of the like and the entire family had to work hard to make everything look like some cruel accusation. Many Cavalieri members littered the cells of Azkaban, but there was not Merciano who had managed to get themselves caught in almost a century, and they were quite proud of that fact. “Hey, lets get out of here. Go for a walk?” Angela said suddenly in a bit of a rushed tone.

[Dustin Hemingway]

“Yeah I figured that's what you would say.” Dustin said with a sigh as he looked right at Ava, something seemed to have bothered her a second ago. He didn't know what be he saw the slight look on her face that she was upset about something. It only lasted a second so Dustin didn't bother to worry about it much as she seemed to be back to herself in no time. He looked down to his plate of cookies and ate another one then smiled up to Ava. “I guess your right, gramps is still a little mad about last time we closed the shop anyway.” He said with a laugh as he remembered it, that was the first time he ever thought he might have gotten fired for something. Dustin had gotten in trouble before for things in the past but Thurston had never gotten that mad.

It was almost a full week of boring work and cleaning before Thurston even let him out in the front of the shop, the storage room seemed to be his punishment. It wasn't all to bad and Thurston had cooled off pretty quickly, If Dustin had to guess he bet Thurston was just showing off in front of Ava or something of that nature. Dustin had a slight fear of losing his job during that time for a couple reasons, if he lost it there would be another reason gone that kept him from taking a bigger role in The Entourage. His job and future Quidditch career were the two things that kept him from being constantly encouraged or forced to take a larger role. Also if he was fired he wouldn't have any reason to be around Ava constantly and that just couldn't happen, not yet at lest.

“You wouldn't lose your job as long as I'm around, trust me.” Dustin said with a slight laugh then just smiled as he looked over to Ava. “Even if you did something wrong I'd be the first to be blamed, that's just how it is. The beautiful girl is allowed to get away with everything.” He added as he looked down to his plate to find just two cookies left, he was confused. He didn't remember eating that many but it seemed he must have, there was no other explanation. He just shrugged to himself as he ate another leaving him one last cookie sitting on the plate all by it's self. “Anyway if you need money, why did you pick working here anyway?” Dustin said as he finally looked up to her with and smiled. “I'm sure you'd make much more money as a fashion model.” he added as his smile turned to a smirk.

Surprisingly to him she asked if they could get out of the pastry shop and go for a walk, Dustin just smiled and finished his last cookie on his plate before he stood up. “I guess so, this place is giving me weird vibes lately.” he said with a laugh as he looked over to the man behind the counter who hadn't seemed to stop looking at the both of them the whole time they were sitting down. He might have tried his best to hide it but it just wasn't good enough to go unnoticed by Dustin and it was starting to get annoying to him. Dustin just thought the guy was being creepy nothing much too it, there were plenty of creepy people in this world and he was just another one of them. What made it worse was when Dustin would catch him doing it he would look away all suddenly and move around quickly which was a dead give away.

Dustin finally made his way to the door and held it open, pretty sure that Ava would be right behind him. She seemed like she wanted out of the pastry shop in a hurry, which he found odd seeing as this place was her idea anyway. Dustin just thought she had gotten fed up with the man behind the counter like he had. “So why do you need money so bad anyway? If you don't mind me asking.” Dustin said as she walked out the door and closed it after she had walked through, he was glad to finally be out of there now. "Some dark secret your not telling me?" Dustin said with a laugh then it turned in to a smirk as he wondered.

[Angela Merciano S7]

Angela simply could not believe the conclusion she had only just come to. What she couldn’t believe even more, was that she had only just figured it out. This proved a lot, and Angela didn’t like the conclusions she was coming to. Suddenly, she wasn’t quite looking forward to going home to the Manor. Angela wasn’t surprised that her grandfather hadn’t told her the real reason for her being in Diagon Alley. Hector-Miguel Merciano loved to test people, to see how far they would go for their family and test their abilities. This was all a test. He wanted to see how long it would take Angela to figure out that there was an operation going on right in front of her eyes. But it took her an entire month to figure it out. The reason Angela was put in the Quidditch shop was to be a distraction. In the end, she was the one that ended up being distracted. She didn’t like this revelation at all. Angela hated weakness and everything to do with it. When one was weak in any way, shape or form, they made room for those against them to strike. In the short time, Dustin Hemingway had changed drastically from a target to a distraction, a weakness. Dustin was her weakness. Your weakness is a Hemingway. How pathetic. Angela thought to herself, actually disgusted with the thought of it, as the words passed through her mind in a variation of orders.

Angela sighed as she walked with Dustin by her side. She didn’t dare look back at the pastry shop or the old man who owned it. She’d gotten herself into this mess, and now she couldn’t honestly find a way out. She was stuck here, inflicting pain on herself by spending time with Dustin and trying so hard not to give in to his charms that it literally hurt her. And she was doing all of this; suffering as she resisted—all for her family. This was only the beginning. Her family was going to continue to test her, to see how far she would push herself for those she loved and devoted herself to. It was sad how often Angela was now beginning to feel thankful that she hadn’t made the Unbreakable Cavalieri vow just yet. Angela wondered at what point the power of the vow would have killed her. Would she be dead from disobedience by now? Or would the vow have given her a chance to get her act together and focus on her mission? Technically, she hadn’t gone against any orders. Nowhere in the vow did it say that a Cavalieri member wasn’t permitted to consort with a Hemingway…in fact, her grandfather had actually encouraged it. Knowing this, Angela didn’t feel quite so disgusted with herself. But then again, with these feelings that were slowly starting to brew in her chest, Angela knew it was only a matter of time before she ended up doing something she would regret.

Angela cringed inwardly as Dustin asked his questions. Thinking on her feet, Angela tried to remember back to the sheet of paper she’d been given with the information of her double identity—Ava Jackson. It only took her a second, considering she studied that sheet of paper intently every day to make sure she didn’t make any mistakes when people asked her questions like this. “Well, modeling isn’t a passion of mine. Quidditch is. Always has been.” Angela said, truthfully. This was true for both Ava and Angela. There was no feeing quite like that of flying on a broom in Angela’s opinion. She loved it. While Angela’s eyes did tend to widen at the sight of a nice diamond or gem, nothing could compare to the look in her eyes when she spotted a high quality Quidditch broom.

“And I like to support myself. Trust me, my family comes from very good money, but I don’t like depending on them.” Yet another fact that was true for both Angela and Ava. She really needed to stop dropping so many hints like this. When Dustin asked if she was keeping any secrets from him, she tried her best to keep her calm. Without giving away any more hints, Angela smirked up at Dustin. “Of course I have a dark secret. Everyone does. But if I told you mine, I’m afraid I’d have to kill you.” Angela said, chuckling to herself slightly because she knew that there really was a bit of truth in that statement now that she thought of it. If Dustin did find out about the plan before it was executed, the Cavalieri would probably try to arrange to have him killed. It wasn’t all too much of a pleasant thought, but it was a truthful one. Angela couldn’t help but be glad Dustin was still blissfully unaware of the situation he had been put in.

[Dustin Hemingway]

“Well there isn't a law that says you can't do both.” Dustin said with a smirk as he walked next to Ava down the Alley, it was still just as busy as before maybe even slightly more. “You could always be a model who happens to play Quidditch or a Quidditch player who happens to be a model.” He said laughing slightly then smiled over to Ava. “The real trick would be to do both at the same time, that would definitely spice up some of those team posters.” Dustin added with a smirk and kept up with Ava, he wasn't actually sure where they were walking to but he guessed it wasn't that really that important. “Actually when I finally get accepted by one of the teams I've been aiming to join I'll see if I can get you an audition too. Well that is if your any good.” Dustin said in a teasing tone and he looked around the alley a quick second, he couldn't help but get the feeling like he was being watched. Dustin couldn't see anyone who seemed to be watching him or out of place but he just couldn't shake that feeling.

Dustin just smiled as she explained why she needed money, they seemed to have more in common then he had first thought. “Yeah me too but I guess I have this job as more of a way to avoid my family at lest till I get into Quidditch full time.” Dustin said as he relaxed as they walked, the feeling still hadn't gone away and Dustin was still keeping an eye out but wasn't trying to make it seem too obvious to anyone. He was sure someone was watching him now and he didn't care for it much. Dustin just laughed as she said she had a dark secret but if she told him he would have to kill him. “Really? To be honest that just makes me want to know more?” Dustin said with a smirk as he looked over to Ava, he wondered what she could be hiding if she was hiding anything at all and not just lying. “Me, I try not to keep too many secrets aside from the ones I need to keep.” Dustin said with a smile and looked forward as he lied through his teeth, most of his life was one huge lie.

He wasn't the simple kid he led Thurston to believe, what a trusting old man it almost made Dustin feel bad about lying to him but it had to be done. It was for his families protection and for Thurston's too. “My life is an open book, just some of the chapters are edited for varies reasons.” He said lying yet again with a smile. Dustin liked being as honest as possible it saved him from the headache of remembering all the lies but with his past that just wasn't possible. “Your right, I guess we all have something to hide.” Dustin said with a laugh as he looked into one of the shops that sold mostly candies and other snacks as they pasted it. It was full of customers, that was what the Quidditch shop would probably look like once they returned from lunch. That thought made Dustin want to return to work even less.

“Um... Mr. Hemingway, sir?” Said a voice from behind them, it was a meek voice it sounded almost like it was scared or nervous. “Hmm?” Dustin let out as he turned around to see a thin middle-aged man who did look quite nervous as he was staring right at the ground and messing with his hands. “I..we... what I mean to say is...um... can we talk, please?” The man finally got out after what seemed like a minute of him butchering his sentence. “It's about-” The man was cut off as Dustin started speaking. “Hey look! Wow I can't believe this shop as those sweets.” Dustin said trying his best to cut off the man, he had a good feeling what this was about and didn't want the man saying more then he should have. “Ava why don't you stay out here while I go get us some.” Dustin said as he glanced at the man hoping he got the point and walked passed him, he could hear the man following right behind him and through the door.

Dustin made it seem like nothing as he spoke to the man not even facing him, he kept looking at the candies and other snacks. “Why the hell are you here?” Dustin said in a calm low tone still not even looking at the man. “Well I.. you may not know this but I..well..” The man said still nervous and fiddling with his hand. “Get to the point, I'm busy.” Dustin muttered in the same low tone looking down at the candies still, the man was taking far to long for Dustin's comfort. “Yes, well.. I borrowed some money from... you know, and I promise I can pay it back. I just need more time, please just one more week.” The man said quickly finally getting to his point, Dustin just sighed. He remembered where he had seen this man before, he was a known gambler but also owned a very useful shop in Hogsmeade. He was normally good about paying The Entourage back or working out some other deal to pay them back but he must have gotten too deep in the hole this time. “I'll talk to my mother, now go and never talk to me in public again.” Dustin said as he picked up a couple of random candies then headed the register. “Thank..thank you.” The man said then rushed out of the store, Dustin was glad he was finally gone.

“How did he even know I would be here?” He thought to himself as he paid for the sweets, he sighed as he thought of what just happened. “Such an idiot also, I swear.” He thought as he made it outside and looked for Ava, finding her still waiting outside. “Sorry about all that, he was a friend of the family well sort of.” Dustin said with a laugh then smiled, hoping Ava wasn't to suspicious about that had just happened. “Well anyway, I got you some candy if you want. If not I'll eat them.” He added smiling, he didn't even know what candies he had gotten he just grabbed a hand full, paid for them and left.

[Angela Merciano S7]

Angela smirked at Dustin’s imaginings about a Quidditch team filled with beautiful models. Of course he would want to mix his two favorite things in the world to make his perfect fantasy. She rolled her eyes and actually laughed a bit at the thought of trying to take attractive pictures while at the same time focusing on a Quidditch game. Just the thought of this seemed stupid and downright pointless. She picked up on Dustin’s little jab about her Quidditch skill. To be honest, Dustin really had never seen her play. She knew he was at a professional level, but Angela was pretty close to that anyway. She was raised to have the best of everything. The best brooms, the best tutors and teachers, and the best practice spaces and equipment. It was no wonder Angela was so confident about the way she played. “Please Dustin. I don’t want you to see me play Quidditch. I might hurt that ‘unbreakable’ pride of yours.” She told him with a confident smirk, imagining flying circles around a professional-level Quidditch player.

Dustin’s next slightly bitter comment sent Angela into Cavalieri-mode. Throughout her studies of the Hemingway family, Angela had learned that Dustin had no real passion for his family. He had been described as “the spoiled brat oldest son who cares nothing for his family and affairs.” Dustin’s lesson had been accompanied by many taunts from her father about Benjamin Hemingway’s failure to raise his own son into greatness. Now, Angela sort of understood why Dustin wanted nothing to do with the Entourage. It wasn’t that he didn’t care for his family, it was that he didn’t want to be buried into this mess of lies, crime, and murder. Angela couldn’t help it now. Even though she hadn’t even made the Unbreakable Vow yet, she knew it was too late to try to become like Dustin and just fade into the background of society away from her family. She hadn’t made the official vow, but she had already made a promise to support and protect her family no matter what stood in her way. She needed to remember why she was putting herself through this. When Angela grew up to be married and with children, she would tell her daughters and sons about the ultimate temptation she had overcome just before officially making herself a member of sheer royalty amongst Italian and Spaniard blood.

Angela nodded, still deep in thought. She was hearing and comprehending every word he spoke, but after each one of those words she stopped to evaluate. She had to, otherwise she’d just find herself becoming buried in those words and gasping for the clean fresh air of clear thinking just like she frequently had to do. She then noticed that Dustin seemed cautious now. He was suspicious. She tried to find a way to tell the stupid baker to stop making the boy uncomfortable, but they were far from him already. She kept an eye out as well while at the same time trying to maintain the same air of pleasant conversation as before. “Now Dustin I knew you were insane but I didn’t seriously think you had a death wish. And sometimes keeping a few innocent secrets isn‘t far too much of a bad thing. Sometimes it’s a necessity.” She said honestly. It was the truth. If Angela had to continue to speak to him every day, he had to understand that she had secrets that needed to be kept.

Angela whipped around a bit too quickly at the sound of someone’s voice. It was then that she noticed the small meek looking man who was twiddling his thumbs nervously as he spoke to Dustin. It didn’t take Angela long to recognize the man. He was on the list of the Entourage’s known associates. She couldn’t quite place the man’s name, but she knew she’d thumbed through his profile a few times on one of the days she was in her grandfather’s office. Angela couldn’t help but glare coldly at the man. She was now in full Cavalieri-mode, all attraction to Dustin forgotten as she stared the man down. Angela glanced in Dustin’s direction as his calm expression turned almost nervous. He made a quick stupid excuse and a second later, Angela was left waiting outside some sweet shop for Dustin to return. She rolled her eyes. Even if Angela hadn’t been trained as a spy since she learned the meaning of the word Cavalieri, she would have known there was something fishy going on. She wasn’t an idiot.

Angela drew her wand and said a useful little listening spell and a moment later, her head was flooded with the sounds of everything that was going on in the three or four stores around her. The problem with hearing everything though, was that it was difficult to focus on just one thing going on…plus all those sounds at once tended to give her a headache. Angela tried hard to focus on the sweet shop in front of her. “Why the hell are you…” Said Dustin, though the rest of his sentence was blocked by some loud child whining about not being able to buy his favorite candy. She cringed. Oh how she hated small children sometimes. “I borrowed…money from…more time…” Angela snarled outwardly as that screaming child continued to block her signal. She actually managed to scare a middle aged witch who was passing her on the street as she did this. The woman eyed Angela nervously but continued to walk. As the old man practically sprinted out of the store, Angela rolled her eyes. The conversation hadn’t been useful to her at all. It was just some lowly old man who owed those slime balls some money. That was nothing of interest to her. Angela quickly drew her wand and reversed the hearing spell. She was able to stash it back into her pocket just before Dustin casually exited the store with some sweets. Angela eyed the sweets. He had apparently purchased two disgusting looking orange lollipops with what seemed to be a variation of bugs and insects inside the hard candy. She looked up at Dustin with amused suspicion. She glanced at the sticker. “Bug bites. Hmm…interesting. I’m just going to assume this is one of those chapters you have to ‘edit for various reasons.’ We should probably get back to the shop though, it’s just past three thirty.” Angela said with an amused smirk. He really needed to work on hiding his secrets better.

[Dustin Hemingway]

Dustin just laughed as Ava teased back about how her playing might hurt his pride. He had never seen Ava play before but doubted that she could hurt his pride in anyway. There was always that small chance that she was telling the truth but till he got to see her play for himself he wasn't going to give it that much thought. “Funny thing about having 'Unbreakable' pride, as you put it.” He said pausing to look over to Ava and smile. “It's unbreakable.” He finished with a slight laugh, making fun of himself never really bothered him. If you can't laugh about yourself then who can you laugh about. “But anytime your ready to hop on a broom and give me a challenge, I'm more then ready.” He said laughing as he looked forward, down the alley. “Hell we could even place bets on who wins, not money of course maybe something more fun.” Dustin added as he looked around, maybe this feeling of being followed came from not knowing where they were going. Dustin just couldn't tell and he didn't like it one bit.

“Death wish?” Dustin ask with a slight laugh as he looked to Ava. “No, no death wish. Just a desire to know you better, even if it might kill me.” He added with a slight smirk as he looked over to Ava. He slowly started to wonder what she could be hiding, if she was hiding anything at all. “Wait... your not a werewolf are you?” He said trying to hold back from laughing as he messed with her slightly. “That might put a major cramp in this relationship, at lest for one or two nights a month.” Dustin added finally laughing as he couldn't hold it in anymore. He was sure any secret she had didn't involve her being a werewolf, but still teasing her was always fun. “Don't worry, I'll always see past your fluffy exterior to the beautiful girl inside on those nights.” He couldn't help but add that last part as he said it while laughing at the same time.

Dustin couldn't believe this, someone finding him and being stupid enough to talk to him in public. He had nothing to do with The Entourage besides bloodlines. It had happened before not a lot but it's happened, he thought as stood in the candy store. Ava was outside waiting and he was sure she must have thought this was weird, hell anyone would have thought this was odd. Dustin was just confused as to how the man could find where he worked and yet be so stupid at the same time. He stood at the register thinking to himself for awhile longer as the man was finally gone. He slightly debated not asking his mom to give him more time, as a form of payback for being so stupid but that thought soon passed. He wasn't all to bad of a man from what he remembered, he was useful to the Entourage and just to dumb to stay away from them. Also he was panicked, who knows what his mother would have done if he didn't pay on time and that's why he sought out Dustin. Dustin started to leave the store with a sigh as he decided to help the man, a smile and a few kind words to his mother would get the man one more week. After that it was his problem and his alone.

Dustin just smiled as he got outside and handed her the candy, he only looked down to see what he got when Ava said what they were. He had never tried them, they seemed slightly nasty to eat candy with bugs inside but now he was stuck with them and he had to pretend they were good. Dustin just laughed as she asked him what had happened just then and if it was something he had to lie about. “Yeah, I might have to hide my love for candy with bugs inside of them.” He said with a smirk as he messed with her knowing full well what she was asking about. “It's second to my love for a beautiful girl in a two foot area around me.” Dustin added still smirking slightly as he looked at Ava. “I guess your right we should head back.” Dustin said then paused slightly as he realized what he said. “I think that's the first time I've ever wanted to go back to work, I blame you for this.” He said in a teasing tone and pointed slightly at her.

Dustin slightly turned around looking back in the detraction of the Quidditch shop, it wasn't Ava's fault he wanted to get back to work. He just didn't want to risk something like what just happened again so soon. Sure there was a zero chance of it happening again so soon but Dustin still didn't care for those odds. “I'm thinking of calling this chapter 'Falling for the Ice Queen' what do you thing?” He said as he smiled back to Ava then slowly started to walk forward toward the shop, waiting slightly for Ava to follow him. “Maybe if I'm lucky I can call the next chapter, 'My melting Queen'.” He said with a slight laugh as he now looked forward. He still didn't want to return to work but he also didn't feel like sticking around in the alley much longer. He did find relief in knowing the day was coming to an end in a few hours till he remembered Mr. Thurston's note. Dustin sighed as he remembered that they had to clean up the storage room after work, at lest he would be with Ava but still he didn't feel like cleaning or working for that matter.

[Angela Merciano S7]

Angela merely smirked, teasing Dustin. “Oh you think it’s unbreakable now, but just wait. When you see little me flying circles around you, that pride of yours will definitely be shaken, even if it won’t break all the way.” She said playfully, punching him lightly as they walked. “And we’ll see about that. I still say you’d be better off not risking it, but if you insist, maybe I can give you some time for a good Quidditch lesson from a pro.” She bragged playfully. Her mood changed as he made a comment about wanting to get to know her better. This was one of the many things she was afraid of. She couldn’t give too much of herself away, no matter how much he pushed to know more about her. She had to remain a mystery to him always. If not for her benefit, then she’d have to do this for Dustin’s. If he learned too much about the plan before it was completed, he could honestly be killed. The crazy guy didn’t know it yet, but he was pretty much doomed at this point. “It just might kill you.” She mumbled under her breath, pretty sure he couldn’t hear her.

Angela laughed at the mention of him wondering out loud whether or not she was a werewolf or not. For a minute, it almost seemed like Dustin was wishing she secretly was a werewolf or something of the like so things in the romance department would be more interesting. What a joker Dustin was. He could make a light, happy environment no matter what was going on around him. He could probably have every mourner at a funeral on the floor laughing within ten minutes. She didn’t doubt he could do that for a second. He was very talented in his use of words. He always knew exactly what to say and when to say it. She shook her head. “Sorry to disappoint you Dustin, but no. I’m not a werewolf, so you can kill any sick wolf-like fantasies you probably have brewing in your head. She teased again as they approached the shop and Angela drew her wand to unlock the door. Her head was still throbbing from the hearing spell she had cast earlier, but she tried hard to swallow her pain and focus on all the other more important things she had to focus on. She rolled her eyes as Dustin uselessly attempted to change the subject and hide the truth from her. Of course, she already knew all of what was going on, so she didn’t question him any further than what he had already explained.

“You know Dustin, you really are a little flirt. Is there some kind of book you get all this stuff from, because if so, I’d really like to read it. I’m sure most of the stuff in it will probably sound familiar, but it might be an amusing read.” She said with a chuckle at his flirty comment. It’s second to my love for a beautiful girl in a two foot area around me. She shook her head. She wished Dustin wasn’t constantly so persistant. Maybe if he’d given up on her by now, her job as a Merciano daughter would have been so much easier. She also wished he would stop looking into her eyes like that. It was making her uncomfortable. It was extremely hard to keep a confident, smug expression when his eyes kept piercing into hers like that all the time. She smiled softly for probably the first time since she started working at the shop. “Well I guess I’m helping you out then. You’re lucky Thurston doesn’t fire you, otherwise you’d be doomed to go back to your family, which I’m sure is a terrible fate. You seem to try so hard to stay away from them.” She said playfully. She subtly hoped he would mention something that would be of use to her, but she didn’t think that would happen until one of his family members made an appearance at the shop.

It was when Dustin started to discuss what would be the next few chapters in the “book of his life” that Angela’s body betrayed her once more. Her cheeks flushed red again, making her curse herself for her paler skin tone. She’d managed to blush twice in one day?! How weak she was beginning to become around him. This was starting to become a serious problem. She looked down at the floor, glad they were back inside the shop and Angela could find some busy work to do to avoid looking at him. As he spoke, Angela made her way back to the cash register. She opened it up and counted through the various coins that were now in the register. There were many more in the register now than there had been in the morning when they’d first opened up shop. “I think it’s very sweet Dustin, but you know I don’t appreciate that name.” She said quickly, counting out loud to fill the silence in the air. “Thirteen…fourteen…fifteen...sixteen…” she mumbled to herself quickly. She tried to allow the moment pass, even though she knew she’d have to suffer a small comment from him. Thankfully though, a man in his twenties walked into the shop and asked for help. “I’ll take this one Dustin.” She said quickly, hoping to get away for a bit.

Angela took off to help the man and as the costumers flooded in, she knew they wouldn’t be able to get too much of a conversation going within the next two hours until they closed up shop. But of course, with the flood of afternoon costumers, the close of shop seemed to have come sooner rather than later. Before she knew it, it was six and the last costumer had made his way out. She sighed, glancing at the messy storage room. She walked inside to store the day’s money and noticed another note from Mr. Thurston on top of one of the boxes. No magic for this job! I want to see if you two can handle it on your own. Angela groaned. Dustin had been in the storage room earlier today, so he had obviously already seen this note. That meant she had no hope of disposing of it before he saw. As she turned around, she noticed Dustin Hemingway was already standing right behind her. She sighed. “Dustin, I’m pretty tired. I know Thurston’s note said no magic, but do you think we could just get this over with fast and say we worked without wands?” She asked as nicely as she could, praying he wouldn’t protest. But of course, she knew Dustin by now. He probably wouldn’t dare pass up an opportunity to be alone with her, so of course he’d probably want her to stay and do the job the old fashioned way. She sighed. Why me? She thought helplessly to herself, looking around the small room. Even though the place was small, it was a total mess. It could take at least an hour or two to get it all cleaned up. She groaned.

[Dustin Hemingway]

Dustin just laughed along with her as she started to tease him back about Quidditch, even hitting him playfully. “Quidditch lessons from a pro?” Dustin asked with a slight smirk as he looked over to her. “You mean to say you know a pro?” He said with a slight laugh as he teased her again, she did seem to be warming up at lest a little bit. Ava finally seemed to be having fun around Dustin even if she was just teasing him Dustin didn't really mind, it was all in good fun and they were having fun. “Oh wait did you mean your the pro?” Dustin said trying to hide his sarcasm at lest till he was ready for it to show. “That must be your secret then, behind that beautiful exterior is actually an Ex-Quidditch player looking for a normal life.” He added as he laughed slightly just imagining Ava being just that, it would almost be the opposite of Dustin. The boy pretending to live a normal life trying to become a professional Quidditch player. As they walked he thought he heard Ava say something but he couldn't make it out so he guessed it was just someone around them talking that Dustin picked up on.

He just laughed as Ava denied the possibility of her being a werewolf and told him to knock off any fantasies he had about it. “I was just thinking it would make life easier for the both of us.” He said with a smirk as they headed toward the shop, he could finally see it and sighed slightly. “It's just if you were a werewolf we wouldn't need any pets.” He said laughing slightly. “You want a puppy? Well just wait a couple weeks and you'll be one!” He said slightly louder just for dramatic affect. “Then again it might be hard to explain the love bites to the hospital when I go the next day.” Dustin said with a slight smirk as he watch Ava open the door and he followed her inside the store. He sighed again, being back at the store already. This was one of the last places he wanted to return to at the moment, the other place was back out in the Alley just in case that idiot was still hanging around.

“No there's no book sorry.” He said with a slight laugh as he then smiled toward her. “All my stuff comes from the heart and inspired by you... Wait did I say you.” He said with a slight laugh messing with her slightly. “I wonder why I would say something like that.” He said in a sarcastic tone then winked to Ava slightly. He noticed that she had on one of the first genuine smiles Dustin had ever seen on her face, he thought about making a comment about it but he just let it go and smiled as he looked back to her. Dustin just laughed as Ava brought up Thurston, he looked around the shop slightly as he thought about the old man. “Gramps couldn't fire me even if he wanted to, he's just to kind. He might put up a tough front but really inside he's just a big old teddy bear.” Dustin said with a laugh as he thought about Thurston. He was a wonderful old man and Dustin cared for him and never wanted to see him hurt that's why Dustin at lest attempted not to do to much damage in the store.

“As for losing this job, well I probably won't even tell them I lost it.” He said looking out the window his smile slightly fading as he watched the people walk by and his thoughts turned to his family. “I'd just leave and still come here to be around you.” Dustin said as his smile returned, he turned around and looked back to Ava. “Neither rain, nor snow, nor Werewolf bites, nor rejection shall keep Dustin from his Ice Queen.” He said with a smirk as he remembered some old Muggle saying, he wasn't quite sure how it really went but he changed it for his own propose and it seemed to fit very well. Dustin just smiled as she seemed to looked down for a second then headed off the register again and started counting the change. He had a feeling he knew what had just happened but he decided not to say anything his time. He was just going to relax and enjoy the moment.

Ava soon spoke as she counted the money and Dustin just laughed slightly. “Well you might not appreciate it but that doesn't mean you don't like it.” He said with a smirk as he started to walk closer to Ava who was now behind the counter. He was just about to say something as he got closer till the door opened and he noticed the man walking in, quickly Ava said she would take care of the man and walked over to him. Dustin just sighed as he leaned against the counter. “Jerk had to come in, probably doesn't even play Quidditch.” He muttered to himself as Ava started to help the man, just when Ava was being friendly customers had to come in and ruin it. He sighed again as more customer came in and it didn't look like it would stop, the only bright side was that one group of customers seemed to be young girls fresh out of Hogwarts. Or at lest they looked like they had just gotten out of Hogwarts. “I guess I'll help them then.” He thought to himself with a smirk as he started to talk to the group of girls and help them find things. By the time six rolled around all the customers had seemed to disappear, even the group of girls who he was helping were gone. All that was left of them was a paper one of them slipped to Dustin, with her name on it and it said to owl her later. He just smirked as he threw the paper away, for one the girl was utterly annoying. She would not shut up for one second and two, Dustin was still after someone far better then any of those girls.

He breathed with a sigh as he looked around for Ava who appeared to be in the storage room because she wasn't out in the front with him. Dustin made his way to the storage room, the room they would have to clean all night. Just the thought bugged him, then again he would be around Ava all night so there was a major bright side. Dustin walked into the storage room and was surprised to find that he was standing right behind Ava as soon as he entered the room. He was also surprised to see that Ava didn't even notice him yet, he could see she was looking at Thurston's note so she was probably distracted. He thought for a second as darker thoughts crept into his head, should he scare her and how bad. He could just say boo, that was always good for a laugh or maybe something with some magic too it. He stood there too long thinking it seemed as Ava soon turned around and saw Dustin standing there.

“You mind turning around again? I was trying to think of a way to scare you.” Dustin said with a laugh as he messed with her, he had lost his chance to scare her but it was probably all for the best. He just smiled as Ava asked if they could clean the room with magic and just lie to Thurston. Dustin would normally have said yes or have come up with this idea himself but if he said yes that would mean Ava would be gone that much sooner. That was something Dustin didn't plan on happening just yet, maybe half way through the cleaning but not yet at lest. “Oh dear, are you trying to tempt me to lie to our boss and not follow his orders at the same time?” He said with a smile as he looked to Ava, who was busy looking around the room. “What kind of employee do you think I am? I always do what our great boss says.” Dustin said with a laugh as he moved from behind Ava and walked to where the brooms were kept, the normal sweeping brooms. “Well lets get started Ice Queen?” He said with a smirk as he playfully tossed one of them towards Ava.

[Angela Merciano S7]

Angela rolled her eyes. She hadn’t been able to prove it to Dustin yet, but his prediction about her Quidditch skills were very much correct. Even though Angela was thin and had a pretty small build, she was a killer on the Quidditch pitch. She played a variety of positions, but no matter which position she was in, she was always very fierce. People knew not to mess with her, because she tended to get a bit vicious. But sadly, that was only one non-important little fact compared to the web of lies she had to tell everyday just to keep her much deeper secrets. She laughed quietly, once again trying almost desperately now not to show too much emotion. “Oh dear Dustin. I had no idea you were so sick minded. Love bites? I don’t know what kind of monster women you’ve been with, but you might want to check yourself for rabies...just to be sure.” She teased more, giggling a bit. Why on earth was he such an appealing drug to her? She knew she couldn’t have him, but she also knew at this point that she couldn’t stay away from him. Angela woke every morning actually somewhat hopeful to go to work, and she knew that was because of Dustin. She wondered what she would do after she acquired the information she needed. Would she continue to visit the shop just like Dustin promised he would on the rare occasion that Mr. Thurston did fire him? Angela prayed she wouldn’t be that weak.

Sighing slightly as she walked, she wondered what the future held in store for her. This was the first time Angela actually found herself wondering, rather than planning. As a child of Merciano blood and Cavalieri upbringing, you were taught to plan from birth. Angela had her whole future planned out. Go to school, get a good education, rid the world of all things Hemingway, get married, have children, and live a happy and peaceful life serving her family and the Cavalieri. Hopefully she’d be able to take over the famed seat of power eventually. But now, she was unsure. She’d be going back to school soon, and she wouldn’t work in the shop until the winter holidays. She would eventually have to tell Dustin, Mr. Thurston, as well as the Quidditch shop goodbye for a few months. Angela didn’t have a doubt that her feelings for Dustin would eventually disappear. She’d grow up, get married, and all she would have was amusing memories of almost doing the insane act of falling with the enemy. But what if one day she was faced with the choice to kill him? Could she do it? Would she be able to? For once, Angela didn’t know. For now though, she tried hard not to burden herself with such thoughts.

Angela continued to count through the coins as Dustin spoke about Thurston’s true kindness. Angela could see it. Mr. Thurston was a genuinely kind man. Any man who put up with Dustin Hemingway on a daily basis was definitely someone with a world of patience. Or perhaps he was just like every other human being on the face of the planet and simply fell for his charms too easily. And then he said the name again. Angela closed the register with a sharp snap of her hand and looked up at him. “Dustin, the name." She reminded him with a reproachful look. He merely smiled at her and Angela went about her business with the costumers.

As the store was closing up and Angela made her way to the storage room with the day’s money, she noticed a too-thin blonde girl slipping Dustin a piece of paper. Her eyes narrowed before she was even able to label these hostile feelings for the girl as jealousy about Dustin. After coming to conclusion that she was indeed getting jealous, she continued to walk into the shop with a look of only slight disgust on her face for even getting jealous in the first place. She jumped only slightly as she turned around to see Dustin. She prayed he would go for the “I’m tired” excuse, but she doubted he would. She pleaded with him, trying to use charms of her own to avoid the alone time in the cramped and crowded storage area. She pouted only slightly and let her eyes widen so they stared into his. But the effort didn’t help much, because all Dustin did was smirk and suggest they get to work. Angela turned around and grumbled. “Sure, when he wants to skip work in the middle of the day he’s fine with disobeying Thurston, but when it comes to trapping me in a closet with him he’s all for cleaning Thurston’s way.” She mumbled as she picked up a broom. She didn’t doubt that she heard her mumbling to herself, but she didn’t mind. She started to sweep the dusty floors. “Well if we’re cleaning then you better pick up a broom or some boxes and help out.” She said, giving him an almost playful glare.

And so they got to work. Angela swept and cleaned while Dustin organized all the old brooms and other supplies. They spoke a bit, but their conversation wasn’t all too deep or meaningful. Just the usual conversations they carried, really. Dustin said something incredibly flirtatious, Angela tried to resist liking what he was saying, Dustin responded to that by calling her his ice queen, and before she knew it Angela was burdened with the reminder of the terrible situation she’d managed to find herself in. Eventually, Angela was almost done organizing the boxes and Dustin was almost done taking inventory of the brooms. Their backs were turned to face one another until they both turned around at the same time to face each other. They looked at each other for a second and Dustin looked at her straight in the eye, his eyes boring into hers with a sort of addictive attraction that left it almost impossible for Angela to turn away. Their noses were mere centimeters apart and Angela could feel Dustin’s cool breath on her face. Her heart pounded as if it was going to rip out of her chest. “Damnit Angela what are you doing?! Turn around and get back to work. You have a mission to accomplish. Said the strong, Cavalieri voice inside of Angela‘s head. Usually, this was the side that usually dominated while she was with Dustin. But this time, Angela wasn’t so lucky. Another quieter weaker voice in Angela’s head replied with one simple sentence.

“But…I can’t.”

[Dustin Hemingway]

“Sick minded?” He asked with a smile on his face as he looked to Ava. “No I just keep an open mind.” Dustin said laughing slightly as he went back to looking forward. He liked to keep an open mind about pretty much anything and try most things at lest once but werewolf bites was probably where he would draw the line. “I won't lie I've had some pretty dangerous girlfriends but none of them have very come close to you.” Dustin said with a laugh, dangerous was probably an understatement when dealing with girls who were connected to The Entourage in some way. “Then again you rarely meet a girl with actual looks that could kill like yours.” He added with a smirk looked over to Ava, who was just as he had described her.

Dustin just smiled and laughed as she snapped at him about the name again. The Ice Queen was such a wonderful nickname and and part of it came from how much she seemed to hate it. He just got a kick out of how she always refused going by the nickname, if she had never let it show that it had bothered her he would have stopped calling her by it a long time ago. He just watched as she went of to help the man who had just entered and feel a slight ping of jealously. He wasn't jealous that she was talking to some other guy just that she wasn't talking to him at the moment. To be so close to someone you wanted and yet have nothing in return was a little annoying to Dustin but he didn't care how long it toke, one day Ava would be his.

He kept an eye out for Ava as he helped the group of girls, one of which kept going on and on about how she had just graduated and was now going to make it big doing something. He wasn't even paying attention enough to remember what she was going to do minutes after she said it, he was more focused on Ava. As he looked over to Ava every couple of times he couldn't help but notice that the girl was still talking. Dustin wasn't even trying to flirt with her anymore, he just wanted her to go away. After awhile the girls finally did leave but not before the most annoying of them all slipped him a paper that he didn't even bother to read yet, he just slipped it in his pocket and went about his day. He slowly helped other people till the day was gone and he was left alone up front.

Dustin just laughed as Ava asked to clean the room with magic, she should have known by now he wouldn't pass up this chance to be with her. He just laughed as he muttered to herself loud enough for him to hear, he knew she spoke that loud on purpose or she just didn't care. “You can blame yourself for this, if you weren't so beautiful I might just have allowed it.” He said with a smirk as he watched her pick up a broom and get ready to sweep. Ava soon turned to him and told him to start helping too and Dustin just laughed a little. “Well I was just hoping I could watch you sweep and rate your performance.” Dustin said with a laugh as he started making his way to the chair in the back and made it look like he was about to sit down, messing with Ava slightly. “Random question, you don't know any spells that make a french maids uniform by chance?” He said with a laugh as he made his way back up to Ava. “Well I guess I can help, but just because it will keep me closer to you.” He added with a smirk as he started to pick up random stuff left on the floor for what seemed like weeks.

“You never realize just how much junk you have till you start cleaning.” Dustin said as he picked up some boxes while Ava was aways off sweeping and cleaning. “Maybe if Thurston did this for himself he wouldn't keep all this useless stuff.” He added with a dry laugh as he picked up more old boxes, he was beginning to wish he had agreed to using magic now. They kept talking even though they were out of each others sight most the time as they cleaned different parts of the storage room, the shelves blocked them from seeing each other completely. Every now and then he could see her through the shelves. “I didn't know someone could be just as beautiful through four shelves full of junk but you seem to have pulled it off.” Dustin said with a laugh as he looked at her through the shelves as she just kept cleaning. “My Ice Queen can even make this junk look good around her.” He said with smiling as she finally moved off and Dustin went back to organizing boxes.

Slowly the place seemed to be getting cleaner and Dustin finished reorganizing some stuff by now and gone on to taking inventory of things, probably one of the most boring things to do in the whole store. Dustin was almost done as he noticed he had somehow made his way closer to Ava, weather this was an accident or somehow done subconsciously he didn't know or care. Dustin turned around to say something but Ava seemed to turn around just at the same time and he had completely forgotten what he was going to say in that moment. Instead of saying anything he just looked at her as she looked back at him and stared at her beauty once more. He kept staring at her for a second till his body seemed to move on his own, seeing as how he was stuck staring at her. He leaned in slowly all the while still staring into her eyes. This felt different from any other kiss, normally he was just focused on what would come next but now he was just focused on Ava. He could smell her perfume as their faces got closer, he didn't know if it was just because it was hers or the perfume it's self but it smelled wonderful.

Dustin couldn't help but close his eyes as their lips met finally, nothing was in his mind besides Ava. Nothing about what was next, or what he would say just the thought of Ava, just how soft her lips felt and how he felt kissing her. Normally he would have done something at this point if it was anyone else, grabbed her or held her tight but something about Ava made him want to take things slowly, he didn't want it to be over to quick and yet that's how it was. Before he knew it they were pulling away and Dustin was looking right back into Ava's beautiful face. He wanted to smirk and say something stupid like how he finally got her but he fought that urge and just stared back into he eyes. He wasn't going to ruin this moment if he could help it.