Closed Shopping Disaster

[Malachi Ryu]

Malachi hadn't thought this through. In his defence, he'd expected his mother to be with him, but something had come up - an emergency, she called it. Everything was an emergency to her. Well, right now, Malachi was having an emergency, and he would very much have appreciated her assistance. The string that had been binding his first-year books together had snapped, sending them crashing to the cobbled ground, which in turn had frightened his new pet owl and set her off screeching and flapping in her cage. Malachi shoved the bag containing his school robes under his armpit and tried to gather up the books one-handed, dropping the box that held his wand in the process.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava was feeling overwhelmed by everything that had happened over the break. Between what was going on with her father and what had happened with Vader, Ava had never felt so alone and vulnerable. She was feeling particularly gloomy as she shuffled through Obsidian Harbor. She had wanted Vader to help her buy a pet, but that wasn't going to happen now and she didnt want to go without him. She sighed, when she was pulled out of her reverie by screeching. She looked over to see a young boy struggling with his things. She gasped, worries momentarily forgotten, and rushed over. She picked up his wand and quickly gathered his books for him. "Goodness!" She gave him a bright smile. "You sure are carrying an awful lot. Let me help you," she offered, acting much cheerier than she felt.

 

[Malachi Ryu]

Malachi could barely see his saviour over the top of the enormous bird cage in his arms. "Oh - thank you. Thank you," he wheezed, setting the cage on the ground for a moment to flex his aching fingers. Finally he looked up at the girl - and blushed. She had the most beautiful hair he had ever seen. "Thanks. The string broke, and... Um. Oh! My owl! Do you know how to get her to calm down?" he gabbled. The unnamed bird was still writhing around angrily behind the bars. "I've got to get back to the floo fireplace..."

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled. "You're more than welcome. Here," she reached into her pocket, pulling out the owl treats her dad had given her. She wasn't buying an owl anyway now. She scooted closer, calmly cooing and shushing the bird, smiling as the owl finally seemed to settle and took the offered treat from her. Ava giggled again and smiled up at the boy. "Your owl is really pretty. Have you named him? Her?" She smiled and pushed up to her feet, taking the broken string and tying his books back together.

 

[Malachi Ryu]

Malachi brushed a stray feather from his coat and watched as the girl crouched down and offered his owl a treat. She was a lot better with her than Malachi. And she's really really pretty, a little voice in the back of his head pointed out helpfully. "Um. Her. Not yet. What's your name?"

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava smiled and tucked his things under her arm. "Avaria Lockwood. But everyone calls me Ava. What's your name?" She picked up his owl. "I can walk you to that floo if youd like. It's a lot to carry on your own." She remembered how grateful she had been to have her papa with her when she'd done her shopping.

 

[Malachi Ryu]

"OK, I'll call her Ava," said Malachi, before he had time to think it through. He cringed internally. "Um. I'm Kai. Are you sure? Actually that would be really helpful. It's ages away, though - are you sure?"

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled. "Aw, that's so sweet of you, thank you." She smiled brightly at him. "I dont mind at all! Lead the way." She motioned for him to continue on, skipping next to him happily, glad for the distraction. "Its nice to meet you, Kai! Are you coming to Hogwarts this year?"

 

[Malachi Ryu]

Malachi ducked his head and picked up the bird cage, glad for a reason to stop looking at Ava's face. "OK. It's this way," he said. He tried not to glance at her too often as they set off down the street towards the harbour. "Yeah, do you go there?" The bouncing in his peripheral vision finally made him look. "Do you skip everywhere?" he asked, not unkindly. She was the most amazing person he'd ever met.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava nodded. "Yep! I'm in Ravenclaw." She shrugged as he asked if she skipped everywhere. "If I can. It's harder with all the stairs at school. I just get so much energy built up, it helps to keep me from exploding." She explained solemnly. "Maybe I'll see you at school. That could be fun! I'd offer to help you study but my grades are terrible," she giggled again.

 

[Malachi Ryu]

It was much easier to walk now that Malachi was only carrying half as much. He frowned suddenly, "But... you're in Ravenclaw," he said. He thought all Ravenclaws were supposed to be geniuses.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled. "Yeah, I know. I think it's because I'm an artist. Ravenclaw is for wisdom, cleverness, and wit. That doesn't always mean perfect grades, you know," She sounded a lot surer of that than she felt. "Maybe I'll make you something once you're in school. I can paint your owl, or if you tell me where you live I can find out what nature is in that area or something," She mused aloud.

 

[Malachi Ryu]

"Oh," Malachi said, nodding. He had suddenly remembered that he wasn't supposed to talk to strangers. Ava was a stranger, wasn't she? But she was very kind and only a few years older than him. She probably didn't count. He had just satisfied himself that she wasn't dangerous when out of nowhere she asked where he lived. "I probably shouldn't tell you. I'm not supposed to talk to strangers. But you can paint my owl," he added quickly. "Do you paint a lot of... birds?"

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled. "That makes sense! I live in New Zealand, but I think it would be fun to go to like... Paris or something," She thought out loud. "I do! I like to paint animals," She told him, skipping along next to him. He was easy to talk to. "And your Ava is a really pretty owl, I'll start something right away," She told him, nodding decisively. "How much farther are we going?" She asked, looking around.

 

[Malachi Ryu]

"Oh. Yeah. I live in New Zealand," said Malachi, feeling stupid. He'd thought Ava was asking for his street address. "Cool. And then you can give it to me when I see you at Hogwarts!" He nearly dropped his bags, and paused for a second to adjust his grip. "Oh, the fireplace is in the Leaky Cauldron. I can probably carry everything from here, though. Do you want to go?"

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava giggled. "I can definitely do that," She told him, readjusting his things in her arms. "Oh, no, I'll walk you all the way there," She gave him a bright smile, pleased for the distraction. "It's been really nice meeting you," She told him sincerely, "I want to make sure you make it home okay. Okay?" She chirped happily.