A close encounter in The Alley ((Auron))

[Celia Richmond]

It was the day after Celia had recieved the letter from Hogwarts, informing her of the supplies she would need for the up-and-coming new year in September. She decided that she would go to Diagon Alley as soon as possible to get the dreary process out of the way. Luckily it was a sunny day in the middle of August, so she was up for it, and she got up early so she could have her afternoon free.

Having woken up and gotten out of bed, Celia went to have her breakfast-cornflakes with milk and a glass of orange juice-and then got dressed-she put on a strappy turquoise top, with an almost knee-length black skirt and a pair of black boots almost up to the skirt. She then picked up her purse with her money in, and some floo powder. She sprinkled some into the fireplace in her bedroom, and shouted "Diagon Alley."

Within seconds, Celia found herself emerging from the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron-a perfect result. She had done this trip a number of times before, coming every year to buy supplies. Celia left the inn, and walked past the cauldron shop, apothacery, Eeylops Owl Emporium and various other shops until she came to Flourish and Blotts. Here she bought the books she needed for the coming year, which included the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5, and Defensive Magical Theory.

Leaving the shop, laden with numerous heavy textbooks, she decided to go next door to the stationary shop, She needed some new quills and ink, and here was just the place. She bought a set of different coloured sparking quills, and pots of black, blue and red ink.

When she was walking down the alley, making her way to the ice cream parlour across the way, she, not paying much attention to her surroundings, accidentally crashed into a boy, that seemed slightly familiar to her...

"Oops...sorry about that...so sorry...I was in a world of my own...my apologies..." She bent down, helping him pick up his books that he had dropped in the encounter. She happened to notice that they were all books that she had used last year at school, and so he must be a student at Hogwarts.

Once they had all been picked up, Celia couldn't help but ask him "I couldn't help noticing, but, do you go to Hogwarts? It's just that the books you're carrying are the same ones that I had last year, so I just fingured that you probably do..."

[atla]

Auron was so happy to finally be home. He could sleep in and there were no classes or homework to worry about. Auron woke up one day at 12:00 in the afternoon to an owl pecking as window. "Go away!' He said half asleep not really knowing what it was. After another minute he gave up and got out of bed and opened his window. The owl carried a letter from Hogwarts with a list of school supplies; the owl dropped it on the floor then flew off. Auron looked down at the letter to see the Hogwarts symbol and sighed. "It’s that time already." Auron toke the letter down stairs and left it on a table in the kitchen and went on with his normal day thinking he'll just wait till the last day to get it all.

The next day he was shaken out of bed by his mom, she told him to get up because he was going to go to Diagon alley as they went to work so it wouldn't be like last year. Before Auron knew it he was standing in Diagon alley still feeling half asleep. "They could have told me this before I stayed up most of the night." He said sighing then yawned. Auron slowly made his way from shop to shop picking up things he needed for the next school year. He went down the list in the order it was in picking the stuff up. Auron Finally was done and still had some money left which he was glad, he could use it and his parents probably wouldn't find out, they had a thing about him spending any money on anything not for school.

He stood outside of an ice cream parlor and pulled out his list and checked off anything he had, He was on the last item, checked it off then got hit by something and the few books he was carrying fell to the ground. He looked over to see it was a girl, she was apologizing as she bent down to pick up the books that fell. Auron bent down and picked up the last book that was on the ground. "Don't worry about it I should have known it wasn't the brightest idea to stand in the middle of the alley." Auron said Brushing off the one book he picked up.

"Ya I go to Hogwarts. Last year… That would make you a fifth year now right?" He said looking at the girl. "Well anyway I'm Auron Hughes, Ravenclaw and I guess you can already tell that I'm fourth year."

[Celia Richmond]

"Yeah...I'm going into 5th year in September. I'm Celia, by the way. Celia Richmond...also in Ravenclaw..." Celia was always pleased to meet fellow Ravenclaws...they were generally intelligent-Ravenclaw only took the best when it came to intelligence, even if the Ravenclaws she met were younger than her.

"And you're right...standing in the middle of the alley isn't the most intelligent thing to do...call yourself a Ravenclaw" Celia smiled at her joke...she didn't mean it to be offensive...just a bit of fun. She was always telling herself to lighten up, forget her worries, get out more. Something, although she had quite a few friends, didn't do much.

"So...buying supplies, eh? Best to get the job done early, I always say," Celia smiled at Auron. She liked to appear friendly with people when she first met them properly...she didn't want to seem to miserable. "I still have a few things to get though...I need to get some stuff for my cat, and I could do with an ice cream..." Celia loved ice cream...it reminded her of her childhood, summer days...sitting, playing in the garden with an ice cream in her hand-Chocolate, with raspberry ripple was her favourite. Closely followed by toffee and mint choc chip, but she would try any flavours available.

"Sorry....I'm rambling again! Anyway, speaking of ice cream, do you fancy some? This parlour here is quite good...amd I owe you for bumping into you! Sorry about that..." Celia was always glad when she had an excuse to offer someone ice cream. She found it a nice gesture, even when she hardly knew the person, and it meant she could have some herself.

[atla]

Auron looked at her as she introduced herself then he smiled. "Well it’s nice to meet you, just wish it started off a little better." He said then going back to listening to her make a joke but Auron toke it seriously for a second but soon realized it was a joke and laughed a little. Auron then made a some what embarrassed smile when she saw him with his supplies and said it was best to get it done early. "Well to tell you the truth it wasn't really my idea, my mom found the Supply list and woke me up." He said making a small laugh thinking what today would have been like if he hadn't come to Diagon alley. Probably just sleep in, watch T.V. and walk around Kingston looking for something to do.

At the end of thinking that he was kind of glad they made him come today, it was better then doing nothing. Soon the conversation turned to ice cream which he was kind of thinking about getting some after he checked everything off his list. Soon she offered to buy him some ice cream for bumping into him which was nice of her Auron thought. "Well I was thinking about getting some earlier so that sounds great and you don't have to buy me anything." He said not wanting her to use any of her own money on him when he could buy it himself.

"I got enough to get myself some ice cream so I should be fine." He said knowing he had enough, he just wished his parents left him with a bit more so he could get a few more things then some ice cream and probably something else.

[Celia Richmond]

Celia smiled at Auron as he blushed. "Yeah...I'm sorry about that...I should have been more careful..." Celia was never normally that clumsy. It was just that day...the hot weather always took her mind off things, which was never a good thing while walking down a busy street. "But hey, let's not worry about that at the moment, it's all in the past." Celia Smiled at him, with what she liked to call her 'friendly smile'.

"Ah right...my mum's the same. Always telling me to get things done as soon as possible. I've actually started to agree with her now...it's good advice...although it did used to bug me quite a bit. And also, I know that if I didn't come today, she'd go on and on about it until I did..." Celia loved her mother, and admired her greatly. They had been through a lot, and it was surprising how well Celia's mother had coped through it all. And to look after 2 daughters on her own for the past 6 years or so single-handed after her husband had abused them all,scarring them for life...it was phenomenal!

"Well...if you're sure you have enough...it's only a couple of sickles...I did bring quite a bit of money with me..." Celia liked being generous and kind as much as possible. If she ever lent anyone money, she didn't expect to be payed back, unless it was a relatively large amount of money.

"Well, if you want to buy your own, then we could at least sit together while we're eating, if you don't mind...just as friends, like..." Celia was actually getting quite annoyed with herself...she had met this guy about 2 minutes ago, and she was already offering him ice cream...yes, only as a nice gesture, but still. And it seemed as if she wasn't letting him talk much...but oh well...

[atla]

"Well it is easier to just get it out of the way but I still would have waited till the end of summer to get everything done but that’s just because I'm lazy during the summer and sleep in for most of it." Auron said smiling back at her. "I just wish she told she was making me go before I stayed up most of the night." Auron Thought he might have gone to sleep earlier if he knew but he still probably would have just stayed up like he did anyway. Auron looked over at the Ice cream parlor thinking about what type of ice cream to get till Celia started talking again. "No I'm sure I have enough, I was able to get more then I really needed from my parents. They're always worried about me spending money on anything not for school."

Auron laughed for a second after Celia stopped talking. "Sure we can sit together, that sounds fine." Auron said adding "and yes just as friends." Auron slowly turned walking over to the ice cream parlor and got to the door first and held it open for Celia. He could feel the air from inside and it was a lot colder but it was an ice cream parlor so it figures it would be somewhat cold inside. "After you." He said holding the door open looking over to Celia.

[Celia Richmond]

"Normally I'm the same...not getting up until about 10, then lazing round the house all day, unless I have something to do. I actually got myself prepared for today though...I made sure that I was up early and stuff. And yeah, it does seem pretty mean of your mum to get you up early, without letting you know..." Celia often went to bed later than she planned, taking longer over things than she had anticipated, and then losing track of time, until before she knew it, it was 11pm, and she was too tired to do anything else.

"Ok then-if you're perfectly sure, then that's fine. Now, which one to choose..." There was a wide selection of flavours at this place...it had all of the standard ones-vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, mint choc chip etc., but it also had some strange flavours-pumpkin pie and chocolate frog, to name a couple. There was a grand total of about 50 different types-too much choice.

Celia smiled at him as he opened the door to the parlour for him. "Thanks" She said, as she walked through the door. "sounds great" She smiled at his acceptance of sitting with her for the ice cream. "Now, which one to have..." She finally decided on a double scoop-one tongue-twisting-toffee (basically frozen toffee with a bit of cream), and one chocoberry mix (Chocolate, with bits of strawberry and raspberry in it). She then stood by the door, and waited for Auron.

[atla]

"No problem." Auron said as Celia went in and he followed her then stopped to look at all the different kinds of flavors. He hadn't been here much and bought anything from here even less. Auron looked down the list till his saw chocolate cookie dough and his mind was made up. He got two scoops of Chocolate cookie dough then paid for it at the counter. He had even more then he thought he would after he was done paying for the ice cream which he was happy to see. He turned around toward the door to see Celia waiting for him.

Auron walked up to where she was standing and opened the door again holding it open for her. "After you again." He said doing a little bow like some kind of butler, waiting for Celia to go through the door. After she was through the door Auron looked around for somewhere to sit that didn't have people already there. "Where to sit...?” He thought to himself out loud. He then saw a table that was empty and close by so he slowly started to walk toward it then sat down when he made it there.

"So do you have anything planned for the summer?" Auron asked her, kind of hoping there was someone like him who didn't have anything planned at all.

[Celia Richmond]

Celia smiled as Auron bowed, while he was holding the door for her. "Thanks, again", she said, noticing that he had a double scoop of what looked like chocolate cookie dough. She looked around for a spare table, when she heard Auron wondering himself where to sit, and then saw him heading for a nearby table. She followed him, and sat down opposite him.

"Well, I'm not sure, actually...no plans are made as yet..." Celia replied, in answer to his question about her plans for the holidays. "I may end up going away somewhere, with my mum and sister, and I'll try to meet up with friends and stuff...that's all. How about you?"

She took a bite out of the chocolate ice cream, and found that it was really nice...it was a flavour that she'd never tried before, but she was sure to try again. "How's your ice cream, then?" She asked, after she had swallowed the last bit of that bite, and noticed that he had also taken a bite out of his.

[atla]

Auron listen to her and was glad in a way that she didn't have any plans besides seeing friends. For awhile he thought he was the only one who didn't have huge plans for the summer then she asked him what he was going to do this summer. "Well my parents aren't going to home as much like all my other summers." He said taking a bite out of his ice cream. "They didn't get the summer off from work this time so I'm only going to see them on weekends and when they get home from work and when they leave." He said still a little sad that they weren't going to be home like normal but he knew it could be a lot worse.

He kept thinking about this summer till she asked him how his ice cream was then he snapped out of it. "Huh, o ya the ice cream it’s great anything with cookie dough is my favorite." He said smiling looking over at her then taking another bite of ice cream then closing his eyes cause of brain freeze. "I just wish they had Brain freeze free ice cream." He said as the brain freeze went away. "I'm kind of glad you ran into me now. I won't have gotten ice cream if you didn't." He said laughing. "Or have met you." he added when he stopped laughing.

[Celia Richmond]

Celia smiled at Auron's comment about being glad they had met each other. She was also pleased-he seemed like a nice, friendly boy, who was polite, unlike a number of boys she knew, and this she told him. "Aww, thanks...it's been nice to meet you to. A pleasure, even. And it's the same with me-if I didn't meet anyone, then I probably wouldn't have got any ice cream...I would have just looked longingly, and ended up just getting the rest of the stuff I needed, and going home. So...thanks a lot." Celia listened as Auron said that he liked the ice cream. "Hmm...cookie dough is great. TO be honest, I don't know why I didn't take any...probably cos I thought at the time that the one with the berries would be healthier, and I've never had it before..."

She was pleased to hear that Auron also didn't have any plans...infact, it seemed as if he was going to end up being quite...lonely, in a word-his parents being at work for the mostpart. If he was anything like Celia, he wouldn't like being stuck at home all day, on his own, so she quickly thought of an idea. "Aww...well, hey, if you ever get bored, then maybe we could...meet up, or something? I'll probably be at home a lot, so, it probably wouldn't be a problem." Celia was always happy to be out of the house, for whatever reason, and she was always happy to be making new friends. So were her mum and sister, come to think of it-her mum was always pleased to know her daughters had friends, and her sister just wanted to be away from her as much as possible...

[atla]

Auron smiled “Well no problem you can run into me anytime.” Auron said laughing. “Yea I was just going to go down the list I have to see if I got everything I wanted to get today and maybe stop at the Weasleys’ joke shop. I always wanted one of those pygmy puffs, I just wish there was one in red or black.” He said laughing He also knew his cat would probably hurt it but deep down he still wanted one. Auron then toke another bite of ice cream and listened to her as she talked. "Well I probably will get bored at my house.” Auron said then started thing to himself. That wasn't really true he was already starting to get bored at home.

There was nothing to do and most of the muggle friends he had, had left for first part of the summer with there families to other places. “All the people I know around my house have gone off for most of the summer so I’ll be at Diagon alley and Hogsmeade a lot.” Auron said wishing deep down that the school year would start again, he loved Hogwarts. "So maybe we'll meet up sometime it sounds like fun." He said finishing off his ice cream. “So what stuff were you going to pick up before we ran into each other?”

(Sorry I've been a bit out of it and kind of forget about this post.)

[Celia Richmond]

((Don't worry-I've been kinda busy as it is, anyway))

"Aww...thanks. I was just about to do the same, actually. And yep, those pygmy puffs are cute-my sister would love one. Especially if it was pink..." Yep, Amy was a typical eight-year-old girl, when it came to colours. She loved pink, and her second favourite colour was purple, and Yellow was a close third. She wasn't too keen on blues and greens though (too boy-ish, apparently), and she wouldn't be seen dead with anything brown, black, or grey. So a pygmy puff would probably be the perfect thing to get her amused and hopefully calm her down, after the boisterous phase she'd been going through these past few weeks. "And maybe you could appeal to Fred & George to get black or red ones in. It's not only girls that'd like them, as you've just proved." Celia laughed at the thought of a boy coming into school on the first day with a bright pink pygmy puff...the amount of mickey-taking that would go on...so yeah, Celia agreed that black, red and even blue pygmy puffs would be a good idea.

"That's alright then-it's the same here really-Yeah, I'll be meeting up with some muggle friends, but I'll be coming here and to Hogsmeade quite a bit too, so I probably will end up seeing you again at some point..." Celia was pleased that there was someone else that was going to be around the whole time, as all of her friends were either away or busy at some point, so there was never a time when they could all meet up together. It was so long since she had met them all together, seeing as she was the only witch among them. They had all gone to local muggle schools-some to the comprehensive, a couple to the grammar-one even got into the highly prestigious private school, where Celia probably would have gone if she didn't go to Hogwarts, so she felt slightly guilty about leaving her there on her own. Well, due to regular letters, Celia knew that they had all made new friends, but she had not been replaced.

"Well, I'd actually already bought most of my stuff-I've got all the books and stationery I need, I think. But as I said earlier, I need to get some things for my cat, and I may just get a pygmy puff for my sister, if they're not too expensive. How about you-what do you still need?" It looked as if he didn't actually need much more, if anything-he had all the books, and she had seen a bag from the stationery shop and various other places. But hey ho, maybe he still needed to go to the menagerie and Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes, like herself.