Along for the ride

[Lucas Woodlock]

Lucas was still along long way from being at Hogwarts himself, at least that's how it felt. Luckily for for him there was someone who could give him minute for minute account of all the goings on at the school. Lucas always liked when his cousin James came to visit, the Herbology professor would always tell him what was going on and keep him up to date on his little sort of cousin Olivia, he was yet to meet the girl but there weren't far off in age so it would surely happen at some point.

James was out of the school for the weekend and would be visiting Obsidian harbour to stock up for the rest of the semester and beyond. He had graciously asked if Lucas wanted to go with him and the boy had been thrilled by the idea. He had only been to the harbour a few times, without school supplies to buy he had little reason to do so on a regular basis but he did love the place. While his cousin ventured off to various shops for his supplies Lucas was able to roam free, thanks to James beng less overbearing than his aunt and Lucas' mother. Lucas walked up and rhe harbour streets looking inside the various shops dreamibg of the day he would be able to start shopping in them.

 

[Missouri Svajone]

Missouri Svajone and her older brother Marzen were both still too young to attend Hogwarts school itself, but for them their magical journey started early when their mother sent them to New Zealand to stay with a tutor before hand. It wasn't too bad, well not for Missouri, she enjoyed learning about all the things she would be able to do in a few years (and all the things you're not allowed to do). For her brother it was harder. He was now the responsible one, and at eleven years old that must have put a strain on her brother's shoulders.

Marzen was heading out for the weekend and visiting the shops in the harbour, looking at all the things he'd be buying soon, and all the things she'd be buying a year later. This was Missouri's first time at Obsidian Harbour and the noises and colours that filled her senses made her almost feel magical herself, which of course she was, but even more so than usual. Missouri found herself wondering into an old bookshelf while her brother looked at gross smelling ingredients from a place called an Apothecary. She looked dreamily out through the glass window and found herself face to face with a boy outside. She smiled and giggled, waving a small hand.​

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[Lucas Woodlock]

Lucas looked on in envy at the Hogwarts students who were shopping around in preparation for going back to school and even some of the kids who were shopping for starting at the school in September. Lucas was gutted that he had to wait another year before he could even think about doing the same. He must have walked up and down the streets a few times, he had some ice cream from the parlour, poked his nose in the joke shop. It was only after investigating every item in the shop that his lack of money forced him to leave and go else where.

Even the bookshop served as a destination, Lucas wasn't much a reader but books full of different types of magic still had a certain allure to him. Though he suspected that once he was in school they would become as boring as every other book he came across. So far the only shop he hadn't looked in was the apothecary, in all honesty he didn't think there was anything in there to interest him but he had a lot of time to kill before his cousin would be ready to take him home so he headed that way. He thought the best thing to do would be to look in the window of the shop just to get an idea of what he would be walking into but he didn't see much of the shop itself. As he looked through the window he met the gaze of a young girl inside. The girl smiled at him and he couldn't be sure because he couldn't hear he but he suspected that she might have giggled. When she waved Lucas looked behind him and to the side to make sure she wasn't looking at someone else. She wasn't, satisfied it was him she was waving at he waved back and smiled at her. She was pretty and looked to be about his age. Maybe there was something in the shop to interest him after all.

 

[Missouri Svajone]

Missy watched the boy turn to look behind him and then return her wave. This made her laugh more and she put her hand to the glass. The boy was around her age, and seeing as he was down the magical street she assumed he was also magical, like her. He was interesting to look at, and one of the first people of the wizarding world she'd sort of met. Wanting to actually talk to this boy she decided to make her way to the door of the shop.

Well she would have done if she hadn't got distracted by the tonne of books surrounding her. All of them were inviting her to come over, and one book entitled "Flesh Eating Trees of The World" really caught her eye. But after what should have a ten second trip, took two minutes, Missouri had finally opened the door and stepped back out into the relatively noisy high-street. "Er Hi!" she said, her lithuanian accent coming on thick. She kept an eye out for her brother, who was a few shops down, but he must have been pretty immersed in the gross potion stuff for him to have not noticed she'd gone.​

 

[Lucas Woodlock]

Lucas smiled as the girl inside the store began to laugh. Clearly he found his behaviour amusing, he would have to ask her what he had done that was so funny because the boy couldn't put his finger on it by himself. The girl inside held her hand up to the class and Lucas did the same, it seemed like the right thing to do in the moment. He watched on as the girl removed her hand and appeared to make her way towards the door only to get distracted by the many books on the shelves inside. Lucas laughed to himself, clearly she was a lot more interested in books than he was. He already knew something about her and they hadn't even spoken yet.

The girl was distracted by the books inside the shop window for a couple of minutes but Lucas remained in place because he simply couldn't take his eyes off the girl inside. He wanted to talk to her so he made his way over towards the door, she seemed to have had the same idea as before he could get over to open the door the girl had stepped outside and greeted him, he smiled at her slightly awkward greeting. "Err, hi," He returned the greeting with a broad smile.

 

[Missouri Svajone]

Missouri, After greeting the boy she shoved her hands in her back pockets and shuffled on the spot. Not only would this be the first magical person (her own age) she'd talked to, but also one of the first boys she'd ever talked to in New Zealand, which to be fair wasn't that difficult because she'd only been here for two weeks, before her brother, Marzen, had decided it was time to look around their new world. It took her a while to think of what to say, having to translate everything in her head before speaking was a task she was finding difficult to adjust to.

Looking at the boy, she smiled again almost unsure of herself. She didn't really know how people introduced themselves properly, so she just stuck a hand out and hoped for the best. "I'm-uh-I'm Missouri." He appeared to be friendly enough, and Missouri, being a ten year old wasn't very cautious and hoped to make a new friend. Being respectful of the boy, she took a peek over his shoulder to make sure her older brother wasn't heading her way.​

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[Lucas Woodlock]

Lucas almost didn't know what to say to the girl after they said hello. He had not socialized outside of his family up to this point. He could tell by her accent that the girl wasn't from New Zealand but if she was here to shop in Obsidian harbour maybe that meant she would be at Hogwarts when he was. That would good, if he could make friends with someone he would be at school with before he went. He smiled at her as she introduced herself, her accent coming across as thick as her nerves.

The boy looked around the street wondering what his cousin would think if he appeared and saw him talking to a girl. He'd probably talk to him about what it was like when he was Lucas' age or what it was like the first time he met his wife. Whenever James talked about his wife Lucas just didn't understand what he was talking about or what he meant when he said he loved her. The whole thing sounded weird. Snapping his attention back to the girl in front of him he wondered how long had passed since she told him her name, she must have thought he was a weirdo for not speaking. "Hi, I'm Lucas,"

 

[Missouri Svajone]

Missouri had no idea how to respond. She had always just had friends, never had to actively make them and like so many things today, this was another first. Another of many firsts she thought as she looked into Lucas' face.They were still standing outside the bookshop, "Flourish and Bolts" and she tried hard to ignore the tempting call of the books and maintain a conversation, something she had always found difficult. "So um Lucas, what are you doing here all alone in Obsidian Harbour?" She blushed at her own question but still genuinely curious as to why a young boy was allowed to roam the streets appearing to be alone. She herself should have been with Marzen, but he was busy, and now so was she. The high street was full of adults and two kids alone probably drew suspicion. ​

 

[Lucas Woodlock]

Lucas couldn't help but wonder if the girl would rather be inside the book shop rather than out talking to him. Surely not, he was far more interesting than some books right? Lucas shook his head in an attempt to shake some of the doubtful thoughts out his head. The girl had seen him and come out of the shop to speak to him in the first place, uf he couldn't hold her attention now he was in trouble when it came to Hogwarts. "Me? Oh I'm here with my older cousin, he's a Professor at Hogwarts and he needed some supplies for the new semester so I tagged along, supposedly I can't follow him where he went so I decided to have a look around, I'm making a mental wish list for when I do my own school shopping," Lucas was well aware that he was now rambling but he didn't care, if he and this girl ended up being friends then she would need to know that he rambled from time to time. "What about you? Surely your not here alone?" He asked, from her accent he'd guess she wasn't local but pointing that out may come across as a little rude so he'd let her bring it up herself.

 

[Missouri Svajone]

His uncle was a professor? That must be awesome. She held his gaze for a few moments as he continued to talk, some of the words not making sense to her, but she let it slide over her, nodding along as if she understood what a "mental wish list" was. "Me? I'm here with my brother, we are staying with men who look after magical kids, foster carers you could say. We move from Lithuania. But my Brother is at the potion shop looking at herbs and spices and the like. What does your professor uncle do? He sounds very cool." She noticed that her english had become somewhat jolty as she grew more nervous. about what, she wasn't sure. She herself had a magical uncle, but they never talked to that side of the family, her and her brother only discovering them when her brother, Marzen, got the letter telling him he was magical.

 

[Lucas Woodlock]

Lucad listened intently as the girl explained her situation, living with a foster family who looked after magical kids didn't sound ideal but it was better than staying in the leaky cauldron for a month as he knew some students did when they were new to the area. Lucas smiled at the girl, if she was staying in New Zealand while her brother was at Hogwarts next year maybe he would get to see her again before their sorting. He thought about sorting for a moment and how he hoped he was in his cousin's old house even though his parents would be mortified.

The girl seemed rather interested in the fact that James wasa Professor, Lucas had to admit it was a pretty cool job even if he had essentially never left school. "He teaches Herbology at Hogwarts so no doubt you'll see him around school when it's our turn," Lucas couldn't wait until he was at Hogwarts, even if it would be weird to be taught by his own cousin.