A Moment of Your Time? (Dahlia/Saren)

"If you want to see how most of the students act, go down Billywig Boulevard on a Friday night," Saren said, just a hint of annoyance tainting his voice. "They use their magic, all right." The magic was thrown around in away that was the exact opposite of being a studious student. "I run a shop, as well, so I rarely have the time to join in."

"Down, boy," Dahlia said. "If I wanted to know about partying I wouldn't have come up to the school." Well, maybe she did want to know, but she could do that later. She tucked Billywig Boulevard into the back of her mind.

"I know Hogwarts has gotten a reputation as a party school, but people are bored of all that now. I'm looking for what's next. I only wanted to know if you considered yourself typical or... above all that."

Saren smiled, "If there's one thing I'm not, it's typical. Of course, the higher in the years you get, the more serious the students are, in general." At least when they had to be, anyway. He did think he was above a lot of things, but it was typically a bad idea to just come out with that. It tended to annoy people.

"So what year are you, Mr. Atypical?" Dahlia asked. She wasn't at all familiar with university grading systems. She knew all about Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, and they went by years, but she couldn't have even come up with how many years a university had, let alone that each year had a name.

"I'm a senior, which is year four, the last year. I'll be here another year, though, I had to drop down to part time when I got the shop," Saren said as they took a turn down a corridor. He didn't have anywhere particular in mind, but walking was better than sitting around in the common room. Well, they'd find something interesting.

"So you know the school pretty well," Dahlia said. Fourth years at least knew how things were done, and quite a few of them considered school their home by then. "And you have a shop? Is it in that little town across the water, or the Muggle town next to it?" She'd been to neither yet. She figured it would be better to get what she needed from inside the school before everyone knew she was around.

"I don't usually go into Owlton, I own the potions shop," Saren said. To be honest, he avoided the muggle town when he could, though sometimes it was unavoidable. He did wander into the club every now and then when he was interested in more social drinking. It was good for people watching, at least.

"Ooh, I dabble in potions myself," Dahlia said. She more than dabbled in it. If the position had been open when she'd gone into teaching she'd have taken it rather than Arithmancy. Oh well, she held her own in whatever she did. "So you're studying Defense, but own a potions shop," she went on. "Going to be an Auror?"

"I haven't entirely decided yet," Saren said. "For now I'm happy with the shop. You should come down, I brew all my own, you know." He looked over at her and half-smiled. Auror was a career he considered from time to time, but he wasn't sure if he was suited for it. He rather thought he would prefer a research position, though.

"Maybe I will," Dahlia said. "Just to see how they stand up." The current potions professor at Hogwarts was good, but she rarely met anyone whose potions approached hers in quality. Of course, she could afford to be select about her ingredients, and that made a great deal of difference.

"If you're not impressed, then I'll owe you...oh, something or other," Saren said with a shrug of one shoulder. "A discount, a drink, there are options." He thought his potions were of high quality, he took pride in his work and didn't try to half-do anything. Besides, with less financial help from his parents each year, he needed the shop to be a success to keep on living.

"What tempation," Dahlia said. "A discount when I can make my own, or a drink." She'd begun to think he was flirting, but he'd gone back into complete carelessness. She wasn't a woman who felt the need to prove herself to every and any man. "Back to the university then," she said. "Do quite a few students own shops?"

"Not particularly, it's a big investment at first. There are a lot of students who have jobs in town, though," Saren said. "Even in the muggle one, you'll see them." He couldn't imagine working for muggles, having to hide everything, then go off and exchange any money before they can even use it.

Dahlia gave a little smile she didn't feel. She really wasn't into Muggles. She'd had enough bad experiences for two lifetimes, and was perfectly happy avoiding the creatures. It was why she'd joined up in the first place.

"So why aren't you studying potions?" she asked. "Do you know everything?" No one knew everything.

"Potions is included in the defense major," Saren explained. "Each major has multiple subjects included. My classes are all potions, defense against the dark arts, and history, usually history of magic." He wasn't even sure which topic was his favorite and he'd considered staying on to complete multiple degrees.