Oh. {Grace}

[Luna Lovegood]

{Shall we say this takes place in the Christmas holidays? My bad, it's fairly long, I had to describe the shop. And she's fun to post. }



Woops.
Overslept. Again.
Eyeing the large green bird at her bedside with a very mild expression of confusion, Luna poked her toes out one by one from underneath the corners of her heavy duvet. "Oh." Cold. Every morning in the months of winter she would test the air before stepping out of bed; one day, she suspected, the climates would change. Winter would be sunny and hot, while summer would sprinkle snow over the villages and towns, flecking the people with cold melting dandruff. She was just waiting for that time. Luckily for the rest of the world today it was still winter, otherwise Luna supposed everyone might be a little confused. She knew the muggles would go crazy if something so extraordinary and unexpected woke them up in the morning. Of course she doubted the switch would come at any point in her lifetime, but it didn't hurt to check now and then.

"Oh."

For a moment she thought she had repeated her most overused word, if it was even enough to be classified as a word, but it took her a second to realise the sound did not come from her own mouth. Luna turned to the source of the syllable as the rest of her body followed her toes from underneath the shelter of the sheets. Her gaze only had to travel over half of her bedroom until it locked onto another pair of sleepy eyes. The Little Corella cockatoo that was perched on the top of an old hatstand blinked twice before repeating the phrase several times.

"Oh. Oh. Oh." It paused, as if deep in thought. "Oh."

"Hush, you. You need to learn some new words." Luna beamed at the creature. She gently rubbed a thumb against the cockatoo's soft front feathers as she stumbled lightly on her way to the wardrobe. "I'm actually rather late this time. Must be the windows, I'm sure they're getting thicker... less and less sunlight seems to come through every morning I wake!" The cockatoo did not reply.

~

Twenty minutes later Luna opened her front door with a satisfied smile, allowing a quick gust of icy air to scratch at her cheeks for a moment before tugging a large furry hat over her head, leaving only her milky-blue eyes in clear view. She would only be in the wind's way for a minute or two and yet her body was encased in a thick velvet outer robe which hung heavy over her pale blue 'Monday' material. The hat also served as a delicious furry scarf. It was her own creation, as were most of her garments, and one of her winter favourites - she had even designed a collection for her shop in the house colours of Hogwarts, in case any shivering students wandered in, needy of a hat-scarf-combo.

Closing and locking her door took just a moment, and then Luna stepped around her house and walked along to the side of it. She eyed the world as she moved; although she had expected to see snow Diagon Alley was in fact just a block of ice. The streets were slippery and shone beautifully, dangerous to a careless walker. A glance to the top of the street told Luna that the wizards assigned to casting safety spells on the ice were making their way steadily through the shops, and she was reassured that none of her potential customers would be harmed by the ice.

Slipping beneath an impressive stone archway Luna flicked her slender wand absently, pausing only for a second to make sure the words 'Twisty Boots' could be seen clearly on the head of the archway. Every morning she charmed the words into the old stone, and each night she removed the fading letters. Luna was now in the very small dead-end alley. A small case of steps took up most of the space, twisting down into the ground. Luna trotted absently down these, flicking her wand as she went, casting her own versions of the safety charm on the ice that lined each step. Once at the bottom of the steps she began fumbling with her set of keys - there were over ninety attached to the large purple keyring - until finally coming to the correct one.

It was only now that Luna noticed a tall dark-haired girl, clearly waiting for Luna to open her shop, stood just a little way away on the underground platform.

"Oh." The ex-Ravenclaw's brow creased ever so slightly. It was barely seven; she wasn't very accustomed to customers this early, and only opened the shop at this time to feed the animals inside before they became hungry. The crease disappeared as quickly as it came however, and to replace it Luna smiled brightly at the girl beside her. "Good morning!" Her voice was bright and chirpy enough to be awkward at such an early hour. Pushing the door to her underground shop open, Luna beckoned the younger girl in.

Although Luna didn't stop to observe the vibrant atmosphere that buzzed around her shop, having spent endless days getting used to it, the vivid aura was impossible to miss. The shop was small and split into three rooms which were divided with large white archways. The first room seemed to be alive; every inch of wall space was taken up by a shelf, and none of the shelves seemed to be made from the same tree, or even from wood. On some the shelves were hundreds of trinkets - some magical, some muggle, most created and spelled by Luna herself. One entire wall of shelves was devoted to rows of tiny boxes, each box completely different than the one next to it. Some shivered, some hummed, some buzzed, some twitched, some glittered and sparkled while some faded in and out of sight as if terribly shy.

The second room was similar, but two walls held racks and trays full of intricate homemade jewellery; again, all made by Luna herself, and all extremely odd but wonderfully weird. The third wall held a row of spinning coat hangers. With every turn a different colourful garment was presented with a flamboyant flourish.

The third and final room was where Luna ended up. This room was painted a deep red and contained two large armchairs, one large oak cabinet, and an awful lot of small furry animals. Luna tapped the cabinet once with her wand as she made her way through the creatures. The cabinet rattled a few times, and before long the sound of a pocketful of money erupted from it. This noise continued for just a moment before calming down - had Luna been of a more materialistic mind she would have wished the noise to continue on forever, as it represented the amount of money inside it. It was, in a sense, her cash register. Slipping past several oversized mice Luna crouched down and pushed an arm beneath one of the chairs. After a moment it reappeared; this time clutching the neck-scruff of a very large, very fluffy Blanc de Hotot rabbit. Luna held the rabbit, Yurril, in the crook of her arm as she glanced up at her customer with a knowing smile.
"How may we help you?"

[Grace Hunter H5]

{I hope the length can be excused if it seems a bit much. I had an awful lot of inspiration which wouldn't be content until I had it written down.}

The mist had spread thickly throughout the city of London overnight, thick like smoke, it lay like clouds at ground level over the deep, fluffy white snow. Staring dreamily out of her frosty window, Grace eye's flashed in happiness at the mass of fluffy cotton outside. It was early. So early that the night's shadow of darkness was still prominent, the dark starry sky splashed only occasionally with strikes of pink and orange as the sun's setting drew closer.

There was a clanging rattle followed by a dull thud as her families mail arrived. There was a delighted hoot from across Grace's bedroom, as her owl was woken by the sudden noise and bounced up and down in happiness at seeing Grace awake and dressed. “Morning Pebble, you adorable little fur ball!” Grace shouted as she slid from her perch on the windowsill, leaping over her bed in the middle of the room so as to reach her barn owl's cage, open his cage door and give him a long 'good morning' cuddle. It was after five minutes that Pebble's tiny yet sharp beak started to peck away at Grace's neck, as he grew more and irritated at the delay of his morning breakfast.

He loved her hugs, he thought to himself, but when they got in the way of his fill of food that came when the sun rose, then he had to let her know. It was just as odd this morning as it had been the past month. Grace had brought him back from his beloved castle, just to they could come back to a house covered in ridiculous decorations and a tree in the sitting room. My oh my, how stupid the tall folk could be. Grace had mentioned how it was the time of year to be with family, and if I was to continue chirruping and annoying the rest of the household then she wouldn't let me out to spread my wings when no one was in the house. That was another thing she was good for, letting me have my freedom. When we were at Hogwarts she loved to see my smile at all the time I was permitted to spend in the owlery. I had heard tales of how some owl's owners didn't treat them that great and how they had to always be delivering letters. Admittedly, I would never show Grace the mouse skeletons scattered amongst my straw filled nesting sleeping box thing, I knew she had a generous human nature who cared for all animals, but some things were worth telling a fib or two when it allowed me to have all the freedom I wanted and have a merry old time with the other owls up there. She really was lovely, and I loved her ever so much. This love for her was increased by a generous portion as, snapped out of my daydream of thoughts, Grace called me back to the present and I found myself on the kitchen table, a generous portion of seeds, fruit and nuts on a brightly coloured and decorated plate sat directly in front of me. I grinned from ear to ear and bounced up and down, looking up at her with the utmost love shining in my small brown eyes.

He was adorable when he got lost in thought, Grace thought as she held him out at arms length in front of her. His face wore a cute little blank expression, and his deep brown eyes looked slightly to the right, and stayed fixed there until he was brought back to reality. Her parents had left for work already, and as Grace tiptoed across the upstairs hallway with Pebble held close to her, his small head burrowed deep into her shoulder, she heard a series of muffled snores emitting themselves from Elias's bedroom which confirmed her beliefs that her brother was still fast asleep. Bless his cotton socks, she giggled, as she descended the spiral stairs to the kitchen.

She withdrew the brightest coloured plate she could find, one from when she was four years old and had the typical 'I won't eat that unless it's presented on a plate of awesome colour' stage. Locating Pebble's food and poured a variety of each onto the plate, she turned on her heals and placed it in front of the adorable little object on the table. He was sure to be happy once he was aroused from his daydreaming; he always loved sitting on the table when nobody was home. It was after a few more seconds that Grace shook him slightly, laughing as he woke with a little shake and set off into a hyperactive and delighted mood, before carnivorously starting on his food.

She proceeded upstairs, listening to the excited, hungry hoots carrying themselves up the long, wooden spiral stairs. Grace knocked politely on her brothers bedroom door. She entered, “Eli, my loving brother, I enter your room this wonderful morning to make you aware that I shall be journeying into town and entering the magical town of Diagonal Alleyway. I will be back later, and I will bring you home something nice!” She left his room, closing shut the doors which instantly muffled his loud and obviously confused groans. The plan had only just arrived in her mind, but it seemed an appealing one. She loved the inspiration that these winter days supplied her with, and she could do with buying some nice things from Diagon Alley. There was also that shop, 'Twisted Shoe' run by Luna Lovegood, which Grace had naturally heard lots about in Hogwarts, all of which was good and made her have instant respect for the women, despite not having yet met her. Grace loved people who weren't afraid to raise their opinion, tell the truth for how it was and be who they wanted to be. The shop's unique style had been attracting her eye all throughout the Christmas holidays, and she had felt herself being drawn to the shop everytime she wandered past the narrow archway with its intricate writing. Today she was intent on entering the building and meeting Miss Lovegood, and perhaps inquiring if there were any positions available for someone to help out. She had been looking for a job lately, and if all went well she could be in for one which seemed ideal for her. Carrying on down the stairs, she found Pebbles hopping around the kitchen table, having turned over the large water jug he had moved onto swim in the large puddle, splash it over the walls and additionally overturned a bottle of tomato ketchup and spill it all over the kitchen floor's once shiny clean surface. Grace picked him up swiftly, telling him off but giggling silently as he half attempted to dry his fathers on her jumper. She placed him back in the cage, told him she wasn't angry with him and that she was away for a walk and would be back soon.

~

Her short walk to Diagon Alley had been as inspirational and wonderful as Grace had hoped. The thick, dense fog gave her the impression that she was walking cheerfully through the sky itself and in addition to half the buildings being covered in snow and not a person in sight, Grace was allowed to sing and skip her way cheerfully towards the brick wall which would grant her access to the beloved wizarding high street. Manoeuvring her way towards the archway had been another piece of additional adventure, as she slid and giggled loudly all the way down the street. She attracted a few early-morning stares from inside windows, but as she slid to a halt and held onto the wall beside the arch she disappeared from view and precariously descended down the steps. She turned left at the shop's entrance, and slowly made her way to some shelter just a short distance off. Expecting that she would have enough time before Miss Lovegood arrived, she slipped her hand into her handbag and withdrew her beloved sketchbook. She sat down and begun to sketch the side view of the shop. It truly had some unique archaeological aspects, and in addition drawing it from a side angle, Grace hoped she would have enough time to finish.

The final splash of water colour on paper had just fallen when a happy, dreamy voice sang it's way through winter air towards Grace. She quickly retrieved her things and bustled her way after Miss Lovegood, whom had already disappeared into her store. She could have remained quite content in the shop for eternity. It's radical strangeness in design, appearance, presence and items of which crammed every delicate shelf appealed so much to Grace that she had to mentally slap herself countless times in order to follow Miss Lovegood. She sure didn't want too create a bad impression by becoming lost in her own wonder. Turning into another one of the rooms, she seen Miss Lovegood standing there with an extremely cute and as equally cute rabbit held lovingly in her arms. Grace was about to reach out and cuddle him, but reminded herself not too. Miss Lovegood's dreamy voice seemed to give Grace some confidence, and she set off in a polite tone as to why she was here. “Hell there, my name is Grace Hunter and I am in sixth year at Hogwarts. I have heard wonderful things of you, and your store has been catching my eye for many days now. It is only today that I actually came here, and the thought occurred to me that you might be needing someone to work here on holidays. I could help around the shop, I'm great with animals and I'm very honest.” She finished the sentence with a smile and a shy look around the room, her eyes full with wonder as they took in all of the animals. She looked up at the rabbit once again and reached a hand forward to stroke it's delicate, soft white head.