A Lovely Day at Hogsmeade ((Ivy))

[Charles Driscoll H7]

Charles shifted from one foot to another waiting for Ivy to make her appearance. He was very much excited about their trip today; for one thing he was still a third year and had only been to Hogsmeade once before, and also because Ivy was a nice person to spend time with though she was rather shy. Charles was hoping he could get her to open up a little and he thought Hogsmeade was just the right place for both of them to get to know each other a bit more. He'd been thinking about the people he considered friends ever since his conversation with Mary in the Lounge, and though he wasn't sure about whether he was willing to tell anyone other than Mary about his family he knew it had been a relief to finally find someone he was able to talk to about just anything. His friendship with Ivy had not reached that stage yet, but he thought it was time for them to get a little closer. What was a friend for if not to confide in and share secrets with?

Charles suddenly remembered that he had to make sure he had everything in his back- pack for the trip. He was supposed to get Professor Foxcroft a set of new quills and parchment from the fancy quill shop at Hogsmeade. He pulled his money about of the pocket on the outside of the bag and counted it carefully. He also made sure he had the film of the set of pictures he wanted blown up, some were from the last Quidditch match and other random pictures of people in the Great hall and the Courtyard and other parts of the school. Charles developed all his pictures himself to save money but he didn't know how to change their size. Yes, he had both. And today he wasn't going to have worry about money, thanks to Professor Foxcroft.

((Not very good, but I've been away for a while and I need a bit to get back into the game and stuff.))

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy checked that she had some money in her purse today. She had to make sure she did for this Hogsmeade trip, because she was actually going on it. Charles Driscoll was going to keep her company, and she didn't want to let him down by not having much money to spend herself. Not that she really wanted much. She got by enough anyway. She pulled on a pale yellow top with three quarter length sleeves, with the old, rather worn out jeans she was already wearing and tied her Hufflepuff jumper around her waist. Not strictly uniform, but it would do. Nobody would be likely to reprimand her for it, and it would at least mean she felt a bit more herself while she was out in the village. It was a nice day to be going out, Ivy reflected, as she gathered everything together and made her way down to the Great Hall, where everyone was lined up waiting.

Ivy looked around for Charles for a while, wondering if he was there yet. she wasn't exactly early. She was slightly before the time they'd said they were going to... ah! There he was. Ivy waved at Charles to try and get his attention and let him know she was coming. She arrived at the spot where he was standing a few minutes later, after having found her way through to him through the small crowd. She smiled at him as she arrived, greeting him with "Hallo" and stood in the line impatiently. Hopefully they wouldn't have to wait too long. Apparently Professor McGonagall had to check them all off against a list or something. Ivy was sure she only did it with the third years, because they were always the most eager to get out of the school. Although the Hogwarts ground were beautiful. She looked at Charles, trying to think of something to say, but couldn't really think of anything. She didn't know him all that well, and she didn't know what he was interested in. She talked about Quidditch a lot to Nokomis; Nokomis was on the Quidditch team. But what did Charles do? Ivy could talk to him about work... but if she did that he might think she was boring. And she wasn't sure he knew much about horses, and that wasn't very relevant at the moment either. Was he musical? Ivy didn't know. There was a lot she didn't know about him. She would have to endeavour to find out at least something that would allow her to make some conversation, especially as they had a few hours in Hogsmeade ahead of them.

((I know this post isn't much good either, but I am pretty busy as well at the moment. Good to have a post though. )

[Charles Driscoll H7]

Charles saw Ivy waving at him and ran up to her with a grin on his face. She had chosen to wear her house colours like Charles, only she had her jumper tied around her waist while he had his on; Charles was small and skinny and the slightest wind made him feel cold. It was nice to be out of his uniform, it made him feel like he really was on vacation even if he was wearing yellow and black. Charles didn’t really take much notice of girls and their clothes yet, but he could see that Ivy was one of those of people who didn’t make a great deal of their appearance, and he liked that about her; growing up with Samantha had made him wary around girls who spent too much time in front of the mirror. They met half-way and Charles stood behind her so McGonagall could check their names on her list and they could get into one of the carriages.

Professor McGonagall finally got to Charles and Ivy and Charles was glad it hadn’t been too long. He was still shifting from one foot to another, feeling restless and keen to embark on the trip. "Let's sit in one of the front carriages, they're never too crowded," said Charles, remembering that Ivy was never comfortable in a large group of people. He had to speak right in her ear so she could hear him, everyone was talking nineteen to the dozen and even though it was a small group they still made a lot of noise. Charles got into one of the carriages and took Ivy's hand to help her up. He wished everyone would just get into the carriages already, weren't they as excited as him to get there? He turned to Ivy his blue eyes sparkling with excitement as he thought of the day ahead of them. "So where do you want to go today? I need to go that fancy quill shop, can’t remember its name for the life of me at the minute, and to a small shop right beside it to develop some photographs, then maybe we could drink some butter beer or something. Boy, am I glad we finally have a trip to Hogsmeade, aren’t you? I wasn't sure they would let us go there after all that's been happening. Heard they have some clues as to where Julie is now. I hope that's true," said Charles, his happy mood undaunted by the mention of the kidnap. He had always felt sad and worried when it was mentioned just after it had happened, but quite a time had passed and the news was getting better now, until recently there had been no clue about what had happened to Julie but it seemed the Death Eaters hadn’t killed her or hurt her in anyway, which was a relief since they were people who had no mercy in their hearts at all.

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy smiled as they got clear of Professor McGonagall and emerged into the sunlight out of the door. She nodded as Charles suggested they head for the front carriages and attempted to keep pace with him. She was someone who was accustomed to walking fairly briskly, which was just as well, seeing as Charles seemed quite excited and was not dawdling. Everyone else seemed to be talking a lot, their faces animated with discussion about clothes, Quidditch, make up, boys. Mostly things Ivy wasn't all that knowledgable about. Well, she was knowledgable about Quidditch. But when it came to the rest of it, she really wasn't the person to ask. She gave Charles another smile, really because of the fact she wasn't sure whether he was saying anything to her over the din of the other students. She was only able to hear what he was saying once he had helped her into the carriage and she and sat down. He was saying something about needing to develop photographs, so she looked at him and smiled again as she responded. Smiling was something she did quite a lot when she was talking to new people. Maybe it was just to reassure them she was friendly and not about to eat them.

"I've never been to a wizard photography shop," Ivy told him, considering it, and wondering what it would be like. She'd only been inside her local Muggle one a few times, and there everything was done behind the scenes. She wondered how they used magic to get the pictures to move. Was it in whatever chemical they used to develop it or did they perform a charm on the photo. "I'd be interested to see how they do it," Ivy told Charles, "you know, when they get the pictures to move and everything. I thought it was great when I first saw people actually moving in the picture. I mean, there's the cinema, but where they actually move in the photographs?" It was something that she had always been rather fascinated by. She did like just to sit and look at things. Mind you, when she'd been little, she'd been good at getting the pictures to move by themselves, just using her mind. Although whether that had actually been magic or just her imagination it was hard for her to tell.
Ivy's face clouded slightly as she realised that Charles had been talking about the older Ravenclaw girl who had been kidnapped. It was scary that there were Death Eaters there. In Hogsmeade. She fiddled worriedly, interlocking her fingers together as she brooded about it. But at least they were getting to go to Hogsmeade. Charles was right that there might have been some doubt about it. Anyway, presumably, if they were being allowed to go, whoever had decided they could do must think it was safe.
"I don't like it..." Ivy said, "I do hope they find her soon... Julie Rosewood that is." She swung back in her seat as the carriage began to move, and smiled again as she enjoyed the prospect of a sunny afternoon in Hogsmeade, with some company. "But I'm glad we get to go to Hogsmeade," she said, for once voicing her thoughts, smiling at Charles again as she did so to show she was sincere in saying it.

[Charles Driscoll H7]

"Well, it’s not like the other large shops like Dervish and Banges and Honeydukes, it’s a small shop between the Shrieking Shack and Zonko's, it looks a bit like a cottage from the outside, that's only the decoration though, once you go inside you discover it's much bigger than you think. I just discovered it last time and was really excited when I found it, I – I like to take photographs a lot you see,"' said Charles his eyes shining at the mention of the shop. The owner of the shop was an elderly lady who didn’t work there much but just supervised the work of her younger employees but she had just happened to see some of Charles' pictures and compliment him on them. She had also made him pay less than he should have since it was his first time there and Charles had been ecstatic about that especially since he had to be very careful when spending money these days as he didn’t have as much of it as he had had before his relationship with his parents had reached a dead end and they'd been sending him next to no pocket money at all. "I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun over there. I don’t know how they do everything like blowing up photos and changing backgrounds and stuff, but the moving pictures, well I can show you how to do that any time you like. It's just a special potion you have to make and develop the pictures in, it takes a bit to get the knack of it, but it isn’t that different from developing photos like those in the muggle world," said Charles. He smiled suddenly. "Bet Snape would be surprised to see there is a Potion I can make perfectly the first time round. If he didn't treat everyone the same way I would begin to think I didn’t know how to make a first year potion the way he goes on," he continued.

The carriages had started moving and they weren't too far from their destination. Charles opened the drapes so they could look out of the window and golden rays from the sun shone into the carriage. Charles shielded his eyes as he sat down again to continue his conversation with Ivy. "Me too," he said fervently when Ivy said she hoped they found Julie soon. It was unbearable to think about what might happen to her if they didn’t find her before long. He questioned her once again about what she had said before, interested as always in anything to do with muggles and their world. "Oh, the cinema, that's the place where the moving pictures tell a story right? I've always wanted to watch one of those things, but I've never been in the muggle world before. So where do you live anyway? And what do your parents do?" said Charles, realising how little they knew about each other as he asked her about her family.

((I'm assuming he wouldn’t know about her father's death since we never did discuss that in any of the posts in the common room. I can change that if you would like.))

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy smiled as Charles talked more about the photograph shop. She hoped it would be interesting. Of course, they might just do everything behind the scenes, but anyway Charles had said he would show her the potion if she wanted. She looked at him with a smile on her face. By the sound of it he was more than an amateur photographer. He must be really into it, if he'd started developing them himself. Blinking as the bright sunshine poured through the window into her face and revealed the golden part of her hair, she sat up more in her seat so she wasn't lounging and thought happily that she would be getting to see it for herself.
"I'll have to see some of your photographs in that case," Ivy said. "If you do it a lot they must be really good." She grinned at what Charles was saying about Professor Snape, but didn't comment. She didn't like to make fun of her teachers much, even those who terrified her, but what Charles was saying was true. If the Potion wasn't absolutely perfect the Potions Professor wasn't happy. Most of the other teachers were content with Ivy trying her very hardest and in most cases succeeding to a fairly high standard.

Ivy glanced at Charles curiously as he said he had never been anywhere in the Muggle world before. Most Hufflepuffs she knew had at least entered it. She thought it did help to give a broader perspective to know that there were people who didn't do everything with the help of magic. Of course, she did all of the household chores at home without magic; she wouldn't be allowed to use it for a while yet. But she wasn't particularly worried about it. It wasn't her business. At least he seemed as though he was interested in it, so it would allow her to talk about it. She just hoped it wasn't polite interest.
"Yeah, they put things called films on at them. They record them on a tape, or more likely something a bit like a CD nowadays, and then show them at the cinema. It's a bit like a television, except it isn't broadcast live or anything." Ivy realised that he probably wouldn't know much about televisions either, but decided not to go off along that route. "I don't know how they do it. With the cartoons I think they take picture after picture and put them all together so it looks as though they're moving smoothly, and then record the sound over it. I don't know," Ivy admitted, blushing, because she really wasn't all that interesting going on about something she knew next to nothing about, "but I think it's something like that."

Charles had just asked Ivy a question that had made her heart sink. He'd asked about her family, and where she lived. Well, she could answer the latter fairly easily, but the fact was she didn't know enough about her own family to really answer the other. And she didn't want to spoil the day, especially not at this stage.
"I live in Taunton, in Somerset." Ivy told him. "A fairly standard place, in the Muggle world. Some of the countryside around there is beautiful though." She smiled as she thought of home, although it was a sad smile. Home was... complicated. It was empty for one thing. But there were still people there who Ivy cared about. Her neighbours, especially the Ashtons. And, as she had just said, some of Somerset was so beautiful. Anyway, it was her lot in life.
"As for what my parents do, well, my dad isn't around any more and I'm not sure what my mum does. My neighbours are all Muggles. One of them works for a mobile phone company - those are the things Muggles use to contact each other - and his wife works at the local John Lewis store. That's one of the big department stores in the Muggle world." Ivy smiled at Charles as best she could. They weren't exactly high profile jobs, but for now, Fanny was as close to a parent as she was about to get.

((No problem.))

[Charles Driscoll H7]

"Sure, I can show you some of them. In fact, if they can get them done today, which I think they will be, I'll show you the ones I've taken this week," said Charles. He was feeling a bit more confident about showing people his pictures after he had shown Mary some of them. He looked away dropping his eyes from Ivy's for a second. He had a little secret he wasn't going to tell her right now. It was a surprise for her. Charles' had taken some photographs of Ivy and her owl Gilbert. He'd been delighted when Mary had liked the photographs he'd taken of her in Weinig Zug and was pleased he could give someone something they liked so much. Giving girls gifts was always such a problem. He never knew what to get them and things like perfume and jewelry were expensive and you never knew whether they would like them anyway. Plus, people always liked pictures of their pets however badly they were taken. Charles hadn’t exactly taken the pictures behind Ivy's back, that was impossible of course, but he taken them a long time back and he wasn't sure she'd even remember that he had. Also some of them were just of Gilbert in the Owlery and she hadn’t been there when he taken them. He had looked away because he wasn't all that good at hiding secrets. Well exciting ones he wasn't. A sad secret like his relationship with his family was usually very well hidden. He listened with interest to Ivy try to tell him a bit about movies and cartoons. He knew what those were; Liz had told him about them. She didn’t draw them herself but she'd said some people liked drawing them and he thought he understood how if they moved they could tell a story too. The muggle world was so interesting – if only some wizards and witched weren't so narrow-minded to the extent that they couldn’t see that.

Charles had been watching Ivy as she talked and he saw the change in her demeanour at the mention of her family. "I'm sorry to hear about that," he said when he heard about her father. Funny how much people were getting divorced and separated these days. Of course, in his case his parents were both together and yet he wouldn’t call his family a happy one. Not that Ivy needed to hear that right now. She hadn’t asked him the question back so he said nothing of his own family. He never enjoyed talking about them anyway so he didn’t mind not having to bring them into their conversation. It was strange that she didn’t know what her mother did, but he wasn't going to probe into matters she didn’t feel like talking about which was quite evident. Her eyes lit up as talked of her neighbours and Charles was glad to see the momentary gloom in her eyes had vanished. It seemed he wasn't the only one who got on better with his neighbours than his own family. The coach suddenly came to stop and Charles jumped up out of his seat and opened the door of the carriage.

"Come on, we're here!" he said excitedly, moving away from the carriages and into the rays of the ebullient sun so he could feel their warmth. Charles didn’t think Ivy had anywhere specific she wanted to go as she hadn’t said anything when he asked her, so with a little bounce in his step he led the way to the photography shop. "Come on in, they're really friendly," he said, pushing open the large wooden door of the shop and waiting her to follow him. He took her to a place so they could sit down while they waited for the photographs to be developed then went and handed his rolls of film to an assistant at the shop. "So, how's the music coming on? I like some of the muggle music I've heard, though not all. The piano's a wonderful instrument though, and it seems most muggle composers were way better than magical ones," he said, remembering Ivy telling him she liked playing the piano.

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy stepped down from the carriage after Charles and had to move swiftly to keep up with him. He seemed very keen to get to the photography shop. She smiled as they moved into the streets of Hogsmeade in the early afternoon sunshine, allowing Charles to lead the way. She wouldn't have noticed the shop had he not been leading her - it seemed like quite a narrow space, not really looking like a shop at all. There wasn't much there to invite you into the shop, save for the comfortable large door, unlocked, and a name plaque above the wall proclaiming it to be a photography shop. There was no huge front to the shop like Zonko's next door had, but it all seemed like a very cosy front. Ivy stepped in after Charles, who seemed to be hanging back for her, despite her eagerness. A bell rang as she stepped through the door, presumably to alert the assistant to their presence, as she appeared a few seconds later. Ivy glanced around the shop, which seemed a good deal larger than the front would have led her to believe, remembering that Charles had said something about that.

Ivy sat down in one of the surprisingly comfy chairs provided by the establishment, watching as Charles handed his film to the assistant. They seemed to know him quite well. Ivy presumed he must be really into photography and come here very often. He soon returned and asked her about her music. Ivy had to think back for a while to the last time she had played the piano. Her life had been so taken up with other things - the death of her father, Quidditch, work and revision, that she had hardly found any time to go looking for a piano. There must be one somewhere in Hogwarts, but Ivy hadn't played it since Easter. "Well, it's all right," Ivy said. "I haven't had much time for it recently." Ivy smiled as he moved on to talking about composers. That was something she could easily talk about. "I don't really know many wizard composers," Ivy admitted, "but I do love some of the Muggle ones. Beethoven especially, Chopin, some of the Russian ones - like Tchaikovsky. Do you know any of them?" Ivy asked, looking at Charles anxiously.

((Not much good, I know, but my posting is a bit shaky at the moment and at least I'm able to write something. )

[Charles Driscoll H7]

Tchaikovsky… where had he heard that name? A memory flashed into his head, and Charles smiled for a second. It was a bittersweet moment for him. He remembered Samantha dancing in the terrace, with a look of exaggerated concentration on her face, not knowing that Charles was watching her. He was always amused by the way she danced. She was a good dancer, but somehow you always got the impression her heart was not into what she was doing. Then he had joined her and she had stopped, smiled when she saw him and started telling him about the Nutcracker Suite and its composer, mentioning laughingly that she much preferred dancing the part of the villain, the King of the Mice, than the part she was practising, that of a dancing snowflake. He had never realised Tchaikovsky was a muggle composer. "I know him, I like his music too. Don't know the other two though. You'll need to introduce to them sometime soon," he said, keen as always about learning more about the muggle world. Charles smiled again. He was so happy to be here today, doing something he enjoyed on his own, and with a friend to accompany him. Again he wished fervently she would like his little gift.

Charles opened his mouth to say something else when the assistant arrived. He handed Charles the photos with a small smile and Charles quickly found the ones he wanted and decided not to look at them because if he did he might change his mind about showing them to Ivy. He wondered which ones she would like as he went through them in his head. There were ones of her feeding and petting Gilbert, others of Gilbert with the other owls in the Owlery squabbling over food or just playing with each other, and finally ones with Gilbert on perched on Ivy's shoulder and on the crook of her arm. "I – you – take a look at these pictures, Ivy," he said in a shy voice, handing them to her.

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy watched Charles carefully as she waited for some response. He seemed to be recalling something; presumably what she'd said had brought some memory up. When he did comment she wasn't sure which composer he meant since he didn't mention a name, before saying that he didn't know two of the composers. Ivy smiled as he said she would have to introduce him to them. "Which one do you like?" she asked eagerly. "I'd be happy to introduce you to them, although unfortunately I'm not good enough to play all of their music. I can play some of it but I don't have much Chopin at home and music is terribly expensive now. My mother used to tell me how she'd bought most of it for a shilling at most. A bit of a luxury now, new music, what with the prices they charge. In pounds now of course." Ivy smiled uneasily, having carried on talking to disguise the small jolt she'd given herself when she thought of her mother at a time when she would actually talk to her. She used to care about her so much. Ivy found it hard to believe she could hate the wizarding world as much in the opposite direction. "Sometimes I think music has a power all of its own," she said, continuing on since she had a subject she could talk about and she didn't want to seem too shy to Charles. "It can make you feel happy or sad or it can make your heart beat faster and make you want to get up and dance or it can bring back memories of smells and sights and people. And it can be very soothing too. You can lose yourself in the music and not worry about other things for a while."

Ivy gave Charles a small smile, hoping he understood what she meant and didn't think she was weird. She was slightly startled when the assistant arrived with the photographs as she'd been thinking her own thoughts and hadn't noticed him approaching. She smiled at him as best she could in the time she had to arrange her jaw in the correct position. Ivy watched Charles as he sorted through his pictures. To her surprise he handed her a number of them. She probably looked slightly dumbfounded, but she hadn't been sure whether he'd want to show her his pictures. What had surprised her the most though, was that Charles had seemed shy. He never seemed shy in her opinion, he always seemed to have something he was happy to talk about. But when she looked down at the photos in her lap, she was more surprised, because they were unmistakeably pictures of Gilbert. Very good ones too. Ivy looked back to Charles with what for her was quite a big smile on her face. She examined each of the photographs carefully before she looked back at Charles again. "Wow," she said happily once she'd finished looking through them. "You're really good at taking photos. Thanks. Um... can I keep one of these? Only I don't have many photos of Gilbert and certainly none so good."

[Charles Driscoll H7]

She expressed her thoughts on music so simply and yet so powerfully – it made Charles keen to explore this world of classical music all the more. All he knew were the melodies he had heard when Samantha practised ballet when they were younger and had still been friends, and he wasn't too sure about the names or the composers though he did remember Tchaikovsky. Samantha had never been able to "lose" herself in her dancing though – perhaps that was why there had always been something lacking in her dancing despite her perseverance and long hours of practice. "I meant Tchaikovsky – I know his ballet the Nutcracker Suite – I loved that – though I understand he hated it," said Charles with a chuckle. It was funny about that – Charles was the same with some of his photos though he wouldn’t go to the extent of actually saying he hated them.

Her delight and apparent approval of the pictures made Charles' heart soar. He was so glad this had worked out and just as delighted himself that she actually thought they were good. "Take them all. I'm so glad you like them! I'm rather shy about showing my pictures to anyone, though I've been taking quite a few lately," he admitted excitedly. More and more frequently Charles had found himself thinking about his dream to become a professional photographer and now was one of those times. "I know some say it's too early to think about this, but have you ever thought about what you want to do when you grow up? Ever had a crazy dream you've never shared with anyone, but you know, wondered what it would be like to pursue?" he asked.

[Ivy Tunstall]

Ivy smiled at Charles' words. The photos were very good and she didn't have many photos of Gilbert. You couldn't ever have too many photos of your pets either; though it might easily seem so to other people whatever would keep you happy could only be good. "Wow, really?" Ivy asked as she looked again at a couple of the pictures which had caught her eye previously. You could look at good things properly once, but they always looked a bit different when you saw them the second time. As you noticed even more things you'd been blind to the first time. It was the same with music. "Thanks so much!" she said happily as she patted the photos back into a neat pile at their sides, taking one more glance at the top one before looking back to Charles properly. "Well nobody could possibly find fault with them," he said in response to his saying he was a little shy about showing the photos. "But I can understand that... I'm a bit shy experimenting with different ways of playing things if I think there's anyone else around... on the piano that is. But they're really good."

Ivy pondered over Charles' question carefully. Well crazy aspirations... yes. She wasn't sure it could be said to exactly apply to what she wanted to do when she was older though, in the way of an occupation or profession which she presumed was the way he'd meant it. "Hmm," she murmured, still thinking. "Hasn't everyone? It probably won't end up happening for me though but.... I haven't really got much idea what I want to do when I grow up to be honest with you. I know what I like doing so I don't know... I'll just focus on those things and hope something comes of it eventually. I mean I like Charms so... maybe something to do with that, but I'm not really sure what." Ivy smiled a little and looked out of the window where the sun shone strongly. It really was a lovely day. She was glad she'd come to Hogsmeade.

"Have you got all your photos?" she asked, remembering that Charles had mentioned another place they were obliged to visit. There weren't so many hours in the Hogsmeade trip today as usual, possibly because of all the horrible business with the other Ravenclaw, and it wouldn't do for them to not get everything that had to be done done. "I don't have to do anything today really; though I do have a present I need to buy. And then go to the post office since Gilbert's... well, a bit small to carry parcels." Ivy stood up from the chair she'd been sitting in and smiled at Charles. "Are you shy about crazy dreams?" she asked.

((I'm so sorry this isn't up to much but... meh. She seems extremely shy in this post so... please bear with me? ))

[Charles Driscoll H7]

"You're very welcome. Maybe sometime I'll show you some other pictures I took, and maybe I'll get a chance one day to hear you play," he said. He was genuinely curious about how Ivy played the piano – he'd loved her description of how music had a power of its own and felt that she loved it. Charles usually spoke with a lot of enthusiasm, his heart in his eyes, and yet the simple, quiet and humble manner in which Ivy talked and expressed herself really caught his attention. He found himself wondering how she played and how much of her soul she put into it. "I don’t think I'm a shy person by nature. But crazy dreams – well they're not something I'd share with anyone I think. I mean there are certain things you don’t tell anyone about unless you have some sort of connection with them or at least you think they'd understand you to some extent," he said and he turned his eyes away from her. Like my family. He looked back at her with a faraway look in his eyes and he told her something he hadn’t even told Mary. "Sometimes I dream about becoming a professional photographer. I've always wanted to travel, you know, to Venice, Peking, Istanbul, and all those exotic places, well at least I think they are though I know other people would find them less exciting, and get to know their different cultures and meet different people and take as many photographs as I can," he said. If there was one passion that matched his passion for photography it was his passion for meeting new people. He had no intimacy with his family and he was constantly looking for it away from them.

They had ample time to do all Ivy wanted and Charles decided he would leave Julius' shopping till just before they left; this wasn't the first time the professor had sent him on an errand and Charles knew exactly what he needed to do. "That's fine; I think we have just enough time to get the present. I can nip into Scrivenshaft's just before we leave; we're supposed to meet everyone there anyway. Do you know what you want to get?" he asked.

((Ivy, stop being such a worrier.))