𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚎𝚏 // 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

“I don’t really have much spare time anymore. But bird watching have always been something that intrigues me. But that is quite predictable. I have always been the tame one” he shrugged and laughed softly. 

mundungus paused, his hands atop the spectacles. with eyes closed, he shook his head and hoped. “fuck. bird watching.” sure, he’d been the one to mention it but he’d offered it mostly as a joke. “please tell me it ain’t the feathered kind. then again, not sure what i should be hoping for here really. a better hobby?” dun looked up, meeting amos square in the eye. “need to get ‘ya laid, mate.”

finally, he was kissing her. the liquor on his tongue tasted sweet, and all at once she knew she would never get sick of kissing him. gripping his face, she savours the kiss for a little while longer before pulling away from him. “you’re trouble.”

fucking merlin. he’d been waiting for that, and thankfully reality had not disappointed. once she’d pulled away, dun took the time to bend down, set the expensive bottle of whisky down and save it from the mischief her touch ignited in his mind. “hmmm, ‘ya,” he mumbled softly, drawing up close to her lips again. “but the best kind.” 

“Sometimes I don’t even understand my job. So you are not the only one” he said and chuckled, shaking his head. It was the truth after all. He may love his job, it may be a perfect fit. But sometimes it did confuse him. “Oh? You have anything to tell or show me, Dun?” Amos asked, arching one of his eyebrows. 

dun gave a half-nod of his head— a quiet understanding with amos. with a snicker, mundungus shook his head, “nah, nothin’ particular. ‘less you took up some bird watchin’, ‘course.” another laugh as he settled back against the counter, arms crossed.

‘my collection was taken.’ she corrected, her father most likely taking whatever he could for the items. she straightened herself, looking around her first before following the man towards the back of the store. “i’ve been a collector since a young age, so your chances are high that even if it isn’t a piece of mine, I’ll most likely be able to take it off your hands.” she looked around again, suspicious as ever, before her eyes landed back on him. “depends on the item. I can provide a list, obviously some are more valuable and rare than others so– the item will dictate the fee. I will allow extra for hours spent looking, travel–” she waved her hand around in the air, a sense of nonchalance about it. “– whatever you need to get my collection back. Perhaps we should start with 30 galleons for the uh, spiky piece.”

“my mistake,” gus responded, a slight part of him worried in her correction that he’d been the one to go and nab it. then again, if he mused for a second, he didn’t remember going for anything quite so brutal. now that he knew there was a market for it, he might have to reconsider his grabs. “started a collection of my own once. went for snowglobes. ‘ya know, those christmas-y sorta snow shakers?” big difference from whatever she’d started. besides, not like his collection was much of anything anymore. the years had done some damage. “that sounds like a reasonable proposition. you, me, work out an hourly and think we’re on ‘ta something. the spikey piece, though—” mundungus played it up with the tilt of his head. a false considering. “been some interest the other day. reckon i can do 35.”

his gaze sent shivers down her spine, she can’t remember the last time she’d felt so giddy around anyone but.. well, his name would only drag her into despair. this was exactly what drew her out tonight. a distraction. “hmm, tha’s a hard one.. why don’t you just tell me?” 

at the suggestion of just telling her, mundungus remained quiet in those first few moments, his tongue wetting his lips. then, he gave a slight shake of his head. “nah, don’t think so,” he started, his face slowing drawing towards hers. when his mouth was nearly on hers, he mumbled softly, “think i’ll just show ‘ya.” and then he captured her lips, hand on the wall falling to tangle in her hair.

He knew that the other could take care of himself, that all his friends could. But Amos had always been someone who cared a little too much. He felt entitled to knowing what was going on in the lives of his loved ones, that way he can keep them safe and protect them. “I will never understand your profession. Too much thinking” he chuckled. 

mundungus answered first with a one-two-hit of the shrug of his shoulder and then the shake of his head. for him, what he did was mere second nature. the hard shite had always been sitting down for exams, the essays, the dullness of normalcy. “honestly, mate, don’t get your shite neither. guess we even then,” he chuckled back. “while i’m at it, yea, you got any interest in some spectacles?”

confused for only a second, she quickly bolts after him, tugging him into a small side street a few blocks away. huffing, she crosses her arms over her chest. “you’re crazy!” but her stone cold expression wouldn’t last, not with him smiling like that. letting out a laugh and shaking her head at him. “so, wha’s the plan now robin hood?”

mundungus was probably down the next street before the bartender could even notice the missing bottle. still, the short dash had his heart racing, even still after octavia ushered him into a nearby alley. “maybe,” he nodded, agreeing with a smile plastered to his lips. he moved closer towards her, his chest still rising and falling from the run. “honestly? didn’t ‘ave much of a plan. had a hope, though.” another step closer, until he stood in front of her, his free hand braced against the wall behind her. “two truths. one lie,” he started, head tilted just slightly as he looked her, gaze heavy with want. “you’re damn gorgeous. i paid for this bottle. and, i’m going ‘ta kiss ‘ya.”

“i doubt that.” she smiles, taking down the rest of her drink in one go before pushing herself off the stool. “i reckon tha’s exactly what i need.” she didn’t wait for him, simply making her towards the door, hand on handle, she turns. “ya comin’ or not?”

mundungus only took once glance back at the bar. a quick survey to see if that little bartender was watching. noticing his back turned, occupied by another customer, gus took the opening to reach over the bar and nab the bottle of ogden’s. liquor in hand, gus dashed after her. “go!” he called, a chuckle laced in his voice. his hand pushed against the door, helping to open until the chill air hit his face.

“Oh poor you” he said and pouted, just messing with him before he tilted his head to the side and smiled. “Yeah I wanna know. I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t wanna know” he told the other. “Unless it’s like.. super secret. Because if that’s the case maybe you should.. you know.. stay quiet?”

mundungus shook his head. “nothing secret. well, mean secret ‘nough. not all that interested in having come pounding, lookin’ for there stuffs.” last thing he needed was some granny stumbling in here, purse at the ready to be swung. be bad for business. “just finished unpacking my latest grab. might not look much but, lemme tell ‘ya these spectacles here’ll go for a pretty price to the right buyer.”

she were sure, outside of knockturn alley, that this was a stretch but she had to ask. her father would throw them to anyone with interest and these were just the sort of places that her items would arise if they did. “anything that may fit the bill— it was quite a large and rare collection.” she paused, ocean eyes hooded by long lashes looked over the man. “perhaps you’d be interested in keeping an eye out for anything that— may catch my interest? for a fee, of course.”

“ah, so ‘ya lost something then?” he asked, shortly thereafter indicating with the nudge of his head that she should follow him towards the back. “like i said, this one’s spikey. could be what you’re looking for but ‘course you’d know better than me, wouldn’t ‘ya?” navigating the rows, bypassing towers of worn books and a rack of brooms both new and old, mundungus considered her offer. it was the fee bit that got him. “might be able to manage that,” he said, casting a quick glance back at her, trying not to seem so keen. “what kind of rate we talkin’?”

“I always worry about you, Dun” he said and shrugged before he smiled as he looked at his friend, clasping his hands together. “Okay well that is a relief for sure. Because I am tired of always taking care of your fresh wounds” rolling his eyes again, he then chuckled. “But what were you doing before I interrupted you?”

“yea, well you’re not exactly the sexy healer i had in mind either, mate,” dun joked, landing a solid pat on his friend’s back before the attention returned back to his latest haul. “sure ‘ya want to know?” gus questioned, looking over at amos as he set the draught down and finished pulling out the last of the items: two crystal balls and a pair of re-visibility spectacles. “don’t want to implicate ‘ya,” he joked.

a genuine laugh was a rarity from octavia, but right now, he brought that out of her. had she been a little smarter, she would’ve taken note of that. “’m startin’ to get a bit woozy fr’m it. your liver seems stronger than mine.”

“nah, pro’ly just more damaged. beyond help, really.” mundungus finished off his glass before setting it down atop the counter, his fingerprints faint but smudged all across the surface. “’ya know what i ‘ear’s good for that? fresh air.”

delicate fingers traced the rim of an old silver goblet that sat dishevelled among a graveyard of clutter. she wasn’t accustom to gracing such places with her presence and she felt as though anyone seeing her in such a store would have to take a second look– nevertheless, she made her way to the front counter, ruby read robes almost fluid in motion around her ankles as she walked. her brow raised when graced with a wink from the older man, yet she offered him the same sickly smile she’d give anyone else. “wondering whether you’d happen to have come into the possession of some ancient uh–” she cleared her throat quickly, before throwing the smile back on her features. “– torture devices?” a strange request but given that her father had begun selling off whatever he could get his hands on, regardless of them being his or otherwise, she figured this place was as good as any to ask.

mundungus wore the surprise on his face without filter. “now that’s a request i don’t get everyday.” it was mostly second-hand cauldrons, a few muggle items, and trunks. trunks were high on the list. he set the daisyroot draught down on a nearby table, knocking a few quills off in the process. “can’t say i know all that much ‘bout—” dun raised his hand, giving it a flourish to say what he couldn’t yet find the words for. “— all that, but i think i remember somethin’ with spikes come in a few days ‘go.”

Rolling his eyes when he heard Dun’s words, he then sighed. “Stop it” he nudged him, shaking his head. “I was actually just curious to see what you were doing. You know me, always the curious kind” clasping his hands together, Amos studied his friend before he looked around them. “Kinda what friends do, ya know? Check in on each other to make sure that nothing bad have happened”

“look at you,” mundungus started, nudging amos in return, “worrying ‘bout me. lucky for you, here i am: one piece, un-detained, not even a single scratch.” this time. easier when his haul didn’t include dangerous plants or creatures. he still couldn’t look at a venomous tentacula without wincing.