Lillian nodded at her mother, who had now begun browsing books for herself, and pointed to the door, asking for permission to go outside. Her mother didn't take long to agree and then continued browsing, now venturing further away from the door. She followed Bubba outside, and was immediately greeted by a warm gust of wind, blowing her hair back from her face. She gathered her hair up, almost as if she was going to tie them in a ponytail, and then let them fall back down. Spotting a bench, she wordlessly moved over to it, looking back to check if Bubba was following.

"I don't like violence either, and I think my first impulse is to just walk away. Just because someone wants a fight, doesn't mean I have to give it to them," she said with a shrug. "Most of the time it's not worth it, and when it is, then yes I'll be throwing hands, as you put it," she said with a laugh.

"Don't expect me to know anything about James Bond. I never watched the movies. The difference between me and James Bond is that one of us has a lot of enemies." She'd never really made friends all that easily, and the same went for enemies. She wondered if she just never really made any relationships easily. Even if she did, she didn't mind it, knowing it was her decision.

"All right, I'll give it to you. It's okay advice, although I'll never follow it." She said it jokingly but that was true. She could become an emotional mess sometimes, and she highly expected herself to behave that way when she was fighting someone. Maybe she could get into dueling to learn how to keep her emotions under control.

@Bubba McGarry

After briefly waiting at the door while Lillian talked to her mother to get permission to head outside, he followed her out the door. The gust of wind that greeted them was oddly pleasant in the warm summer air. He used his free hand to casually brush his hair back into position before following her to the bench. He placed his bag of books next to it before sitting down next to Lillian.

He admired her positivity, even if he thought it was a bit naive. He got along with most people but he knew that some people wouldn't let you just walk away. He wasn't a violent person and of course, when he could avoid it he always did. He remembered back in his muggle school the few times he got into scrapes with the bullies. It was a matter of defending yourself, not winning, but you never got the chance to just walk away, they wouldn't let you.

I get what you're saying he said as he leaned back on the bench and let the sun wash across his face, it was very warm and relaxing. The problem is some people won't let you walk away he said in a more serious tone than he'd been using when they were talking thus far. I get along with most people but there are some people that don't want to get along and you just have to do what you can to protect yourself and get out of there. He looked up and down the street to see if his father was there, he doubted he would be, he hadn't been in the shop for that long.

He laughed when she talked about James Bond having enemies but not her. He'd only seen a couple of the movies, and even then just recently. His parents had been fairly protective so he was sheltered from movies with violence in them. Bubba had always been good at making friends, probably one of the benefits of being so charming. I dunno from the couple of I've seen James Bond doesn't leave many people behind to be enemies he said as he chuckled before adding except maybe angry husbands. Then he got more serious again and continued I don't have many enemies either, but the ones I do have I chose well. I don't sweat the small stuff, you have to really wrong me to become an enemy.

He took a deep breath and just relaxed for a moment, enjoying some relative silence. The breeze rattled signs and shutters and there was a low din of talking from people walking through the alley and it drifted from the shops as well. It was a nice change, no trains or cars or anything else, just the sound of people. That's what Bubba really liked about Diagon Alley, it was just so simpler. There was no outside drama, it was just people going about their business.

Bubba broke out of his reverie and sat up a bit, so, he began, looking over at Lillian, Tell me about your family, I'm assuming that was your mom in there.

@Lillian Ward

Lillian leaned back on the bench when he spoke of defending himself but only shrugged in response. She knew what he was saying made sense, but she didn't have any experiences of her own to talk about. "It's hard enough making friends, let alone enemies," she said finally. "Some people just dislike you for no reason, but they usually don't act on it, I think. And the ones that do are just pretty easy to anger, I guess. I'll just duck my head and walk away, I don't know." She spoke haltingly, clearly uncertain. Right now, she didn't have much of an idea of what she was saying, and wasn't confident or quick-thinking enough to act like she did. "I guess I'll just have to call you to help me fight people, since I'll likely be running away." She laughed at herself, trying to make light of what had been a serious topic. It was a habit of hers: start laughing nervously and shift the focus when talking about something she wasn't quite sure of.

Thankfully, he asked about her family, which shifted the subject entirely. She didn't mind talking about her family, but there wasn't really much to talk about. "A Muggle father, a witch mother, and two siblings, Jacob and Aria, both wizards. That's pretty much it," she said lightly. Figuring he was probably expecting more of a description, she continued. "I don't really know most of my maternal relatives. They didn't like that my mother married a Muggle, and I think my father's side thinks she's slightly strange, although she's never given them reason to think so."

She suddenly remembered that he only spoke of his mother in the past tense and stopped abruptly, wondering if it was okay to ask about her. She was curious, since his mother had been the sole wizard parent, just like her own. She wondered if other wizard families disliked their children marrying Muggles, or if it was just her own that was that shallow. "What was your mother like?" There, she'd said it. She hoped it wasn't too direct, and so she added hastily. "You don't have to answer that. I'm just curious about other families like mine." She hoped it was clear that she meant halfbloods. She was pretty sure it was, but, then again, she was always worried that her words might be taken the wrong way.

@Bubba McGarry

Bubba laughed at the idea of being her button man. If she thought he'd be good at fighting her battles for her she was going to be sadly disappointed. Bubba had enough trouble fighting his own physical battles. He preferred to talk and use his wit to defuse situations. Still, as he had said, some people hadn't been mollified by that. They were few and far between but he could at best hold his own in a fist fight. He hadn't been in a wizard's duel yet and he was trying to hold off on that. Still, worst comes to worst he could just set their robes on fire and run like hell the other way. I mean if you're not much of a fighter just remember, you only have to outrun the slowest person you're hanging out with.

He was surprised by how he had managed to meet someone with such a similar family to his - witch muggle and mother father - when she mentioned she had a sister that was a wizard that gave him pause. It made him think of his own sister - something he always tried very hard not to do. His conversation with George towards the end of last year had really helped him. He wasn't over it by any stretch of the imagination. It was still a very painful memory, but he had at least managed to stop blaming himself some of the time, which was genuine progress.

It's kinda funny Bubba began, he always struggled to talk about his family, especially his mother (he still didn't ever mention his sister), but it was only fair since he'd asked Lillian. I didn't meet many people at Hogwarts with a family like mine but just randomly in Diagon Alley I bump into you - literally, he added with a laugh at the thought. My dad married late, he was about 40 when he met my mother. We're from America originally, my dad's a politician, he was on the City Council back in Boston. He was holding a campaign event at a bar my mom worked at and he happened to see her magic up a spill when no one was looking. He paused, he'd heard his dad tell this story a hundred times but this is the first time he'd ever told it himself.

Most muggles probably would've been freaked out and bolted, but my dad was, I dunno, taken with her, he said with a shrug, he was still amazed that his dad hadn't run away, he didn't know what he would've done in the situation. So they dated for a couple of years before they decided to get married. A year later they had me. When I was five we had to move to Ireland because my grandfather on my mother's side, he paused again, he wasn't really sure how to explain to his grandfather because he wasn't quite sure himself. My grandfather went on a trip to Kenya and... we never found out what he saw but he wasn't the same. He trailed off, he really wasn't sure what more to say, it was just sad. My mom was an only child so we moved to Ireland to take care of him.

It was fine for a few years, until... he paused for a long moment this time, he thought of his sister again. He knew it'd be healthy to talk about it, but he wasn't ready. Especially not with her, she was nice, and he liked her, but he had only just met her. He pulled himself out of it and continued, The uh... the day I got my letter, my mother - tears welled up in his eyes as he talked. My mother had a massive heart attack and... yeah. She's gone.

He looked down and said nothing for a few minutes. It had been a year and he'd gotten used to her not being around anymore but it was still incredibly hard. He missed her a lot and wished she was still around so he could share his experiences in the magical world with her. Finally, he pulled himself together enough to continue.

Anyway, he continued briskly, we had the funeral about a week before term started last year. My dad takes care of my grandfather now. There's not much we can do but Saint Mungo's makes some potion that makes him better for a few weeks, and then it wears off so we have to take him back in. That's where my dad is now.

@Lillian Ward

Lillian shifted awkwardly as he spoke, not quite knowing how to respond. "I'm sorry all that happened," she said carefully. "I've never really gone through something like that. I can't imagine what it would be like." She knew that those were just the textbook words you were supposed to say when someone was telling you about their bad past, but she hoped it wouldn't sound like it. She did feel for him; she was just a bit awkward and not that good at conversation.

"I don't know all that much about how my parents met or anything. I think they don't wanna tell us about the bad parts. Ari's the one that told me that my mom's side doesn't really like us." Her voice was low, not feeling right about sharing her own experiences when he was sharing his worse ones.

"I'm sure your mother would've been proud to know you were accepted into Hogwarts." Finally finding the right words, she spoke more confidently now. "I'm glad the first person I met has a family similar to mine. Eased my worries a whole lot." She didn't really know if their families could be called similar, when his family had certainly gone through more hardship. If he meant lineage, he was right, but other than that, they seemed to be drastically different.

@Bubba McGarry

"It's ok," he said as he took a deep breath and looked up into the sky, "Pray you never have to go through it until you're much older." He said as he searched for the right words, he didn't want to exactly crush her soul but didn't want to sugarcoat anything either. "I'd lost grandparents and that was sad but we got through it but losing mom was.." he gulped and tried to hold back a few tears, he was not going to be a debbie downer.

"Still," he said in an abrupt shift in tone trying to mask him being on the verge of getting weepy, "My dad said the universe never gives you more than you can handle so, we handled it. It hurts but it hurts a little less every day."

He decided it was time for a change in topic, not only was it awkward as hell talking about this but he just didn't really want to. He liked to let these thoughts fester and come to the fore of his mind when he was trying to fall asleep. Well, his mind did at least, it was one of the reasons he asked that boy hunter for a draught of peace. It was also the reason that next time Bubba saw Hunter it was going to be hands on sight.

Finally he found a suitable topic switch and so he did, making his voice more casual than he was feeling but he was ready, if not eager, to move on. "So, what's the thing you're most excited to see or do once you're at Hogwarts?" He asked.

@Lillian Ward