Closed Stocking Up

[Finn Madison]

Finn didn't much enjoy the crowds and noise of large shops, but visits were an unfortunately regular necessity. He was old enough now that Mum didn't make him to go for quick grocery shop trips with her, but Finn did find himself running out of art supplies frustratingly quickly, and that meant a trip to the craft store. Today he was out of a couple of shades of blue, and wanted to try and find some finer pointed brushes. So with a pocket full of pocket money, Finn followed Mum into the shop.

Going to the craft shop with Mum unfortunately meant a detour though, before Finn could get where he really wanted to go. It was pretty cool that Mum made her own clothes, but Finn didn't really know or care about different kinds of fabric. The fabric was on the way to the paint though, so they stopped here first, Finn dawdling impatiently while Mum searched through the different rolls of fabric. They were pretty, certainly, but Finn didn't know much about clothes or sewing. So he began to wander through the fabrics, idly looking around while making his way oh-so-subtly towards the paints he was after.

 

[Evan Eldridge]

As far Evan could tell, she had three decisions to make at the store today. The first decision was whether or not she was going to make a yellow pair of pants, or a purple pair, if she didn't decide then and there she didn't know when she would be able to work up the courage to come all the way back to the store again. But it was very important to Evan that she chose the right colour for her project.

The second decision she needed to make, was if she was going to spend the last of her pocket money on the unnecessarily large but ridiculously cute cactus buttons. That decision was going to be easy for Evan.. She grinned, and squeezed the packet of buttons as hard as she could without breaking it open. She wasn't going to put them down.

The third decision was one she hadn't anticipated before she'd arrived at the store. There was someone else here roughly her age, that was something she barely ever saw here, so she had to decide whether she was going to try and make a new friend or not. She knew that talking to someone would make her feel more comfortable, than being on her own. She saw the boy from one end of the aisle, and decided to just do what she does best - and talk.

"Hey, are you... going to make something cool?" She didn't know what to say and she felt awkward but she didn't care, she wasn't alone.

 

[Finn Madison]

One roll of fabric caught Finn's eye, a deep blue covered in suns and moons. He turned it over in his hand, wondering if he could ask Mum to make him a shirt out of this once she was done picking her own fabrics. Finn was pulled out of his thoughts by a voice, looking over in surprise to see where it had come from. A girl he didn't recognise. Finn didn't have a lot of friends, but he didn't mind talking to people when their paths crossed, so he shrugged amicably. "I can't sew, my mum does." He said, letting go of the fabric between his fingers. "I'm here for paints." The girl's haul of sewing supplies was impressive, and Finn glanced it over, curiosity piqued. He didn't get to talk to many other creative people. "What are you making?"

 

[Evan Eldridge]

"I'm making some pants for my friend, her parents don't let her wear bright colours and I wanted to surprise her when she next comes to my house, she can dress up if she wants to." Evan was looking forward to this, she loved seeing the look on peoples faces when they were wearing things she made especially for them.

"I'm Evan, by the way. What's your name?"

 

[Finn Madison]

Finn's take on this whole conversation turned from mild curiosity to horror and outrage in a split second. "They don't let her wear bright colours?!" He said, aghast. "That's horrible! What does she have to wear?" Finn tended to alternate between wanting to wear bright colours and no colours at all, but even when he didn't feel colourful he always wanted to have that choice. It seemed cruel to him to take away a person's options. "I'm Finn." He said when the girl introduced herself. "How old are you?"

 

[Evan Eldridge]

"Their whole thing is about being what they call proper and normal" she emphasized the words that felt yucky to her, making them sound as bad as they tasted. "They don't give her any choices in anything and since I get pocket money I wanted her to have something new. What's normal anyway?" She giggled slightly at the concept. Normal. Laughable!

"I just turned eleven yesterday. I noticed you eyeing up that fabric over there with the moons on it. If you ask me that'd make a pretty neat shirt."

 

[Finn Madison]

Finn pulled a face as Evan explained. "That sucks!" He protested. "Her parents shouldn't control stuff like that." He nodded in agreement, giggling a little at Evan's comment about normal people. "That's really cool of you." He smiled. "It's a good idea for a present." He stepped a side a little when Evan gestured to the fabric he had been eyeing, pleased that she thought the exact same thing he had. "I thought the same." He smiled. "I was gonna ask my mum to make me one."

 

[Evan Eldridge]

"Your mum sounds cool" Evan smiled. She still wasn't feeling all too great about being out on her own, but she was enjoying talking to Finn and she didn't want to face the anxiety of going up to the cashier just yet. She decided to try and keep the conversation going for as long as possible.

"Actually, come to think of it, there are some buttons over here that would suit it perfectly. If... you know, if you ever wanted to ask your mum to make it for you." She took a step to the left and grabbed a packet of buttons from the shelf, the buttons she had been eyeing up las time she was here, and they were just as shiny as she had remembered, perfect little golden circles shining like stars. The perfect detail.

"See?" She showed Finn. "Moon, sun, and these buttons can be the stars.What do you think?"

 

[Finn Madison]

Finn couldn't help a small smile when Evan said his mum was cool. Not many people got to choose their mums, and though he had only been small when Maria had adopted him, Finn was pretty comfortable he had done a good job finding a cool mum. "Yeah, she is." He said happily, glancing through the aisles to where he could half-see mum poring over fabrics.

Finn listened with interest when Evan mentioned buttons, peering over to see the ones she had picked out. "Oh!" He said, looking them over curiously. "I like them." He nodded when she said they could be the stars on the shirt. "That's perfect!" Finn smiled. "You're really good at this."

 

[Evan Eldridge]

Evan beamed when Finn complimented her- she was never able to contain her pride when it came to this kind of thing. Piecing together the perfect outfit was what Evan was good at, and she especially loved doing it for others.

"I've always loved this kind of thing.. I started when I was younger making teddy bear coats and hats out of my old clothing. But now that I've got pocket money I can buy brand new fabric, I want to make something for my friend before I leave for...." Evan trailed off and caught herself before she said Hogwarts... "um, boarding school." She wished more than anything she could talk about her big secret.

 

[Finn Madison]

Finn smiled as he listened to Evan, thinking about how similarly he had behaved when he was younger, painting on just about anything he could get his hands on, sometimes including toys and clothes and pieces of furniture. Something about how Evan mentioned her school distracted him though, and he glanced back at Mum before raising one eyebrow at Evan. Maybe there was a delicate way he could ask about this without giving anything away, just in case. "Oh, I'm going to boarding school soon too." He said slowly. "Did you... get a letter from your school recently? Mentioning a train to school in September?"

 

[Evan Eldridge]

There's no way he's talking about the same school.... what are the chances? Evan thought to herself. What Finn had said had made it sound like he knew what she was talking about.. and that would be too much of a coincidence!

Evan looked around carefully and peered through the shelves to make sure there wasn't anybody in the next aisle over. Knowing no one was around was one thing, but just to be extra careful she leaned in a little closer to Finn and spoke barely above a whisper. She decided to say something only someone in her position might understand, after all if they weren't talking about the same place, she would probably never see him again anyway. Her heart was pounding...

"I never even knew it existed until the owl came."

 

[Finn Madison]

This conversation had turned out far more intriguing than Finn had first expected. He leaned closer when the girl did, enjoying the conspiratorial double-talk. This would certainly be an exciting way to meet a new classmate. And a new classmate she certainly was, as the mention of an owl left no more doubt. Finn's mouth split into a grin, and he nodded in agreement. "I knew." He whispered back. "My mum works at the school, actually. It must be crazy hearing about it for the first time..." Finn added, wondering what it was like having your whole life turned upside down by a discovery like this.

 

[Evan Eldridge]

Evan's head was almost spinning from excitement as a thousand questions ran through her mind. She wanted to ask Finn all about Hogwarts, his mother, magic, and... What else is there to know? She wanted to know everything!

"This is unbelievable!" She tried to whisper, but in her excitement it was more of a squeak. "Hey, I really gotta get this stuff home but... Is there some way we can stay in touch until school starts? I was really worried that I was going to be alone without any friends and... well" Evan trailed off, not quite sure how to let Finn know that she would like to be friends.

 

[Finn Madison]

Finn couldn't help grinning at the sight of the clear enthusiasm on Evan's face. He knew some people didn't know magic existed before they came to Hogwarts, but he had never expected to meet anyone like that. Where to even start?! He nodded quickly when she asked if there was a way they could stay in touch. "My mum has an owl." Finn said quickly, pausing for a long moment before he realised that wasn't really enough information at all. "I can use it to send you letters, like the one that brought you the Hogwarts one, and it'll bring your letters back to me." He pulled a marker from his pocket, and held both the marker and the back of his hand out to Evan. "Write down your name and where you live, and I'll send you an owl as soon as I get home."

 

[Evan Eldridge]

Evan was teetering back and forth on the tips of her toes out of excitement. Within one week, she had gone from not knowing magic existed, to finding out that she had magical abilities, to coincidentally meeting a future classmate in a store she had been visiting her entire life. Were there really witches and wizards just, everywhere? She could barely believe it. The idea that she had been walking past magical people all of her life. An entire hidden world, just beyond her reach, but not for much longer.

Evan took the pen her right hand and Finn's hand in her left, and scribbled her name and address. She could hardly wait- almost as much as receiving the letter she had thoroughly enjoyed briefly meeting an owl, and could not wait to start a new life where owls replaced standard snail-mail.

"I still can't believe any of this is real," she laughed, handing Finn's pen back to him. "I barely even believed in magic as a kid. I can't imagine what it must be like to have grown up around it."

 

[Finn Madison]

Finn took his pen back with a smile and glanced down at the information on his hand, making a mental note that he couldn't let it get smudged. He giggled softly at Evan's comment, shrugging quietly. "I can't imagine what it's like not to have magic." He said with a smile. "How do you... do anything?" Finn shrugged with a small laugh. "I'll write to you though, I dunno if I can answer every question but I'll try." He smiled, glad to have made a new friend before school had even begun.