Who: Agatha Timms and Fredrick Catchlove
What: Activists in the Park?
Where: Hyde Park
When: RIGHT NOW PEOPLE



"How sad is it that this creature, this creature that actually eats and kills insects that are harmful to humans, is endangered to be extinct?"

Agatha bit her tongue, hands holding up the poster of a rather fierce looking Greater Horseshoe Bat. In the middle of Hyde Park, she tried to attract the attention of the passing muggles with her colorful posters and her yelling. Yelling because performing a sonorus spell on her throat would attract too much attention, and therefore costing her fees and fines that she simply could not afford.

It didn't bother her much, though. Many animal activists in the muggle world had to do it the same way, right? And muggle animals were just as important as magical animals, so, she had to do what she had to. It was just that no one seemed to actually care.

Frowning, Agatha jumped down from the picnic table top to start packing up her posters and signs. Piles of paper (ugh, that took forever to figure out how to print out) were stacked on the table, held down by rocks, but a gust of wind managed to ruin her system and sent a neon green pile flying across the lawn.

"Shit!"

Fredrick had found that walking through a park helped kill time and cure a bad day. It was like a little bit of wilderness (ableit pruned and watered to look perfect to a passerby) right in the middle of a bustling metropolitan area. Sort of. Really, though, Fredrick just liked the fresh air after a stuffy day of classes. He swore that if closed his eyes and breathed in deeply enough, it was almost like being stuck out in the wilderness somewhere. Especially if he forgot his jacket, giving him goosebumps all over.

He heard some shouting coming down one of the more frequently traveled paths, so he followed it until the dirt trail flowed into a brick walkway in the middle of the park. There he saw some girl--well, woman more like it, he realized as he walked closer. She'd just finished shouting by time he got there and was already busy packing up her papers.

Then the wind came. It was moments like these when a little part of Fredrick wondered whether there wasn't maybe just a teeny bit of magical good luck in him. A crooked smile appeared on his face as he rushed forward, wanting to be the first bloke to help the good looking girl pick up her scattered papers. "Whoopsie daisy," he said, gathering them up as quickly as he could.

Agatha looked up at the voice from her bent down position, eying the man for a moment before stamping her foot down on some of the fliers ready to go--flying. While she had no qualms about the muggle world, the lack of wand use drove her mad when it came to situations like this. Agatha really was a girl that would stubbornly push through the most annoying of circumstances just to prove that she could, but it seemed like every time she ventured out of Diagon Alley and into muggle London, she ended up in a sticky situation that could be solved with just a flick of her wand.

Watching some more of her fliers make it down a nearby pathway (and have them just be ignored by passerbys, lovely), Agatha stood and clenched the pile she'd saved, crossing through the grass toward the stranger who felt like a random act of kindness. Unfortunately you didn't see that much, these days.

"Thanks," she said, her boot heels digging into the ground beneath her. Why she decided to take Smeth's word for what the muggle women these days were wearing, she did not know. Rainbow striped shirt with these high-waisted...bell-bottoms, she felt rather ridiculous. Her hand went out for the fliers he'd collected. "You can keep one, if you like."

Fredrick's eyes started at the heel of her shoe, followed up the whole length of her legs, across her torso, skimming over her breasts, staying a second too long at her neck, and then finally flickering towards her eyes. By time he made it to the top, he was embarrassingly red and couldn't believe he'd done such an obvious thing. Very not smooth.

"Er, no problem," he said, heaving himself up with a small intake of breath. His shoes were all muddy now, but no bother. He went to look down at the flyer, but instead found himself glancing at her clothes. He didn't think they seemed that ridiculous--in fact, they seemed great. Just the type of clothes a girl he'd fancy would wear. Wonderful. This walk was turning out to have been a great idea.

"Animal rights, huh?" He smiled at her, as warm and as friendly as he could. "I must say, you don't normally see activists fighting for the rights of bats. It's usually something more flash--beluga whales, timber wolves, you know."

Were all men as stupid as she believed them to be?

Agatha's lips pursed as she watched this bloke's eyes roam across her body, and if he hadn't just helped her out--no, that was a lie, she would've smacked him either way...if they hadn't been in such a public place, she would have had no problem in letting him know that she was not some piece of meat that he could drool over like--

--he knew something about animals.

Maybe she could let him slide this one time.

"That's why I fight for them," she said with a lift of her chin. Agatha knew she could take the easy way out and spend her time informing the world about those popularly endangered animals (honestly, she felt like it was all a sham, with the way people corralled behind pandas and what not--she knew it wasn't, but--), but there were hundreds upon hundreds of endangered species in the world. Why should she waste her energy repeating the same things thousands of other people were, when she could use her voice to help a not-so-popular animal. It just made sense.

"There are actually a lot of benefits to having bats around," she noted, holding the fliers to her chest to--avoid further wanderings of his eyes. "Their waste is excellent fertilizer."

Really, he was getting a hold of himself. Right this instant, in fact. Fredrick forced his eyes to look into hers and imagined how pissed off he'd be if he found some stranger off the streets looking at his sisters like that. Jesus, did he feel like a perv. He tried to give her an apologetic smile.

"Yeah, all a Panda can do is, what? Chew bamboo? Besides, bats have echolocation and I'm sure there's plenty we can learn from them," he said, sincerely, trying his hardest to make up for acting like such a prick earlier. Hell, what did he know about bats specifically? He was a Philosophy major for chrissake.

"I'll keep one of these," he folded up one of the flyers and put it in his jacket pocket, "You should stop by Oxford sometime if you have a chance--that's where a lot of the first animal activism writings originated from. I'm sure there's some original copies floating around somewhere. Or if you're looking for something in the neighborhood, there's an Animal Liberation meeting not too far from here--but I bet you already know about that, Activist," he teased.

"Agatha," she nearly blurted. Agatha pursed her lips in confusion at her lips' refusal to wait for her mind to catch up. He hadn't asked her name, he'd just--not called her it. And had talked about animals and the history of her cause and he was a university student, which Agatha had always been quite interested and impressed in. The fact that muggles continued their education instead of thrusting their young out into the world as if they were ready had always boggled her mind, "My name--is Agatha."

Why did she sound dumbfounded and desperate? Not desperate, just quick to respond. To questions he didn't ask. Shaking her head, Agatha pushed a hand through her hair and looked across the park to compose herself. Maybe it was just the shock that someone had actually stopped to talk to her; she'd been here for a good three hours with not one person stopping by to listen to her. Could be that she was finally in front of an audience. Before looking back up at him.

"Of course I did," she said with a big nod, hoping her face was convincing enough; Animal Liberation meeting? Agatha gestured greatly back toward her posters and stuff, "That's why I was packing up."

Not that she knew how to get there, or if she'd even be allowed in. But, she was a smart Ravenclaw, "Are you heading over there? What's the best way to take?"

Oh. She actually wanted to go to the meeting? As in physically be there? Fredrick panicked for a tiny split second. Sure, he knew where it was. He’d been invited a few times by friends. But he had never actually gone (the whole supposed arson thing was a little unnerving, plus strict vegetarians made him a bit uncomfortable). Still, though, this was far too good of an opportunity to pass up. Besides, if he walked her there, maybe she’d forgive him for how much of a prick he’d been earlier by checking her out so obviously.

“Er, it’s not too far from here. I mean, of course I’m going. Might be a fifteen, twenty minute walk?” Fredrick smiled at her. “D’you think you can stand my company for so long, Activist Agatha?” he teased.

“Oh, er, I’m Fredrick!” What a dork.

Agatha did not like that her lips had twisted up into a smile at his teasing, at his giving of his name, at--him. Ugh. She'd never been one to get stupid over a pretty face, but this bloke's---Fredrick's face was one of the prettiest she'd seen in a while. Agatha couldn't even deny it to herself (she'd deny it outloud, but), and that was annoying. She definitely hadn't come out here to meet a boy...if that's what you could call it. Well! He had looked her over, that meant he should be receptive of any sort of--positive--reactions.

Bloody hell, was she rubbish at this--boy business.

"If you can keep your eyes on my face, I think we're good," she said, eyebrows going high in amusement. Agatha couldn't even recall the last time she was in any sort of 'situation' with a boy; what...end of seventh year? With Jugson? Who..was now married. Agatha hated thinking back toward her exes because two of them were married, one was in a serious relationship; it was almost as if she was the good luck charm they needed to date and dump before they found their one true love.

That was more than annoying.

Anyway, Fredrick was a muggle, and if she wanted, she could literally disappear out of his world, so--what was the harm? Not sure why her mind was thinking up excuses for her to stay around this bloke, Agatha shrugged toward her poster boards.

"Pick up some of those and let's get going."