Nothing was better than having people enjoy his jokes. "If its Jersey official, should we 'ave cows on em?" he elbowed Gaia, "get it, jersey cows?" He beamed at () Sam, "Excellent, we shall explore the town till they kick us out. An' 'ave ta pull us back by our robes. I 'eard Zonkos has some wonderful assortment o' troublemaking devices. An' there's a bookstore, place ta buy quills..." he bounced on his shoes clearly too excited to want to linger much longer. "Okay Gaia, I'll pick up some fake froggies for ya," he said winking. Offering his arm to Sam, he said, "Shall we 'ead off?" If any other friends arrived they would surely meet up at some point.

Aderyn ran down the steps, having stopped to pick up Emmy () on the way down the stairs. She'd caught up with the girl just outside the kitchens near the Hufflepuff common room entrance and now the two of them were coming down to meet the others together. She waved at , Magnus (), and Beth () as she caught up to them, buttoning her jacket as she came to a stop.

"Sorry! I got held up a moment. I'm here now! Are we all set to go?"

"Hi, Aderyn," Magnus said. "Gaia's gonna meet us up later. Sam 'n I were just about ta 'ead off an' explore all the shops in town. He offered his spare arm to Aderyn, "I can be ya manly escort. A lovely lady on each side." He smiled showing his pearly whites, "Okay, the old 'ead Mistriss at the children's 'ome read lots o' Victorian Romance novels. I'd nick 'em to 'ave something ta read. So I'm a man 'o the world." Yes, he was flirting with them. Both girls were pretty and his friends. They'd tell him to knock it off if it bothered them.

( ) [img align=left]http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac299/blissfuldaisies/Random/Hog_zpsirgm5ewn.png[/img]Gaia glared after Magnus... ugh... frogs she thought then turned to see Aderyn running her way "Finally! Yes, let's go! We need to get some things for the tower and I am sure we have regular holiday shopping to do."

Magnus burst out laughing, sure Gaia could probably beat him up. Actually every one of his females friends probably could. He'd forgotten that Aderyn was going with Gaia though. "Ah, right, ya and Gaia are gonna 'ead off together eh? I can still offer you all my manly prowess to town, keep you both safe lest a stray dementor whisks ya off."

Emmy walked with Aderyn to meet the others in the entrance hall, smiling at everyone. She stepped aside as Magnus took Aderyn's arm, frowning slightly and standing behind them all, feeling a bit awkward. She reached up and took Elfie down from her shoulder, stroking his tiny chest as he hooted softly in pleasure at her pets, as she watched the others talk.

"So... anyone know where the pet shop is?" she asked tentatively, as silence fell for a moment and she spoke up.

( ) Sam grabbed the edges of her cloak and did a clumsy approximation of a curtsy. "Thank you O' Magnus the Magnificent" she laughed, absurdly pleased as she took his proffered arm. "Tho' I suspect we're already too demented to save. So how far is it to this Hogsmeade place? I'm afraid I don't know where much of anything is around here"

Aderyn chuckled as Magnus () took her arm and glanced over at Emmy (), who had a look of displeasure on her face. Pulling away from Magnus, she smiled and took Emmy's arm instead.

"Thank you, Magnus, for your kind offer of escort, but I promised this lovely lady I'd walk down with her!"

Turning her attention to she nodded.

"I can't wait to go into Zonko's! I'd love to stop for a butterbeer, too."

Looking at Emmy she considered her best friend's words.

"I'm not sure where the pet shop is. I'm sure we'll find it, though!"

From the look Emmy gave and Aderyn's words he knew when he wasn't wanted. They wanted friend time. Understoond. "Meant no offense," he said, "Don't wanna over step me place. You gals 'ave a good time then, see ya later." "Come, Lady Sam 'O Nevada," he and Sam started walking towards the gates. Laughing at his new nickname he replied, "Not sure if it sounds like I'm a muggle magician or a giant. T'ain't that far. I 'ad to walk from 'Ogsmede when I was returned to 'Ogwarts. 'Bout 'alf an hour walk. I didn't get to explore though. Was apperated there an' escorted back ta the castle. My elf had apperated me to Saint Mungos, you see. But it'll be more fun ta explore the town since neither o' us 'ave been."

Aderyn stopped Magnus () a moment with a hand on his arm.

"No offense taken! You have fun - we'll catch up with you in the village!"

Emmy smiled as Aderyn looped her arm through her own, feeling a bit better now.

Emmy gave Magnus a look of concern as he clearly assumed she didn't want him around. She hadn't meant any offense, she'd just been feeling a bit disappointed because she thought Aderyn was about to whisked away without her.

"Magnus, no, don't be silly," she said hastily, "you weren't overstepping anything."

She watched them walk away with a sigh and looked at Aderyn.

"Shall we go, then? We can go to the pet shop if we can find it, and Dervish and Bangs for you, and we can all go to Zonko's and then get some butterbeer?"

He looked back and called after, "Tis okay, best mates an' all, need ta 'ave time." He'd never had any friends least of all a best friend--but he understood they needed time together. He was very popular with the younger girls at the orphanage as he was willing to let them dress him up being one of the older children, so he had seen some of their bonds.

"Just don't go pulling any rabbits out of hats, Or my Owl will leave me flat for you." Sam said, waving to the other girls as they headed out the gates. "See y'all there!" The road was wide and well cobbled, and smoke rising from chimneys in the distance promised warm shops to browse through.
"I'll hav'ta try that butter beer everyone talks about, I've had root beer back home, which is a lot more like sarsaparilla than beer, but I've never heard of butter beer. Have you ever tried it? She asked Magnus as they walked toward the wizard town.

"Root beer?" He asked with a raise of his eyebrow, "is it made from roots? Do you get tipsy? Yeah, I tired it before. When the Lees were visitin' their relation in Saint Mungo they visited me. Didn't know at the time that Stella and Bartleby wanted to adopt me, so when their relation was cleared to leave they didn't come back. The healer looking after me brought me some butterbeer to try an' cheer me up. They came back a week later to get their son, which they then told me was me. Best day o' me life. That feeling o' pure happiness wrapped around ya in a hug--that's what I say butterbeer tastes like. O' course I didn't touch it till that day so might just be me."

"Yep." Sam replied. "Sassafras root. But it's mostly sugar. Won't get you tipsy, but it'll wire you like a double-shot of espresso. Ma always complained that it must have been invented by a muggle, 'cause only they could take something medicinal, and somehow make it bad for you"

Paddy glanced at her watch and realised she was late - checking up on her Barn Owl this morning had taken longer than she'd realised. Grabbing her scarf and permission slip from her case, she ran down to the gates and handed her slip to Miss Kain.

Spotting Magnus and Sam strolling down the road, she jogged to catch up with them. "Mind if I walk with you guys?" she asked, "I've not got a clue where Hogsmede is".

"Never 'eard o' it, maybe its an American drink? You'll 'ave to tell me if it compares when ya try Butterbeer, eh?" Then Paddy came jogging and out of breath to their sides. "'Not at all," Magnus said smiling, "Sam 'n I are 'eaded there you see." He winked pretending it was completely coincidental that they were all going to Hogsmede. "I reckon every one'll go to Honeydukes or Zonkos first. I was thinkin' o suggestin' we try J. Pippin Potions first or Tomes and Scrolls. I love me a good book store. Where you do you lovely women wish to go?" He puffed his chest out a little trying to make his thin body look muscular

Sam looked around as Paddy came jogging up. "Yeah, the more the merrier" she smiled at Paddy, secretly envying the other girl's warm looking fur.
"I trust your judgment Magnus. A crowded candy store doesn't sound like my first choice.... I wasn't able to bring any books other than the ones I'd need for school, and I need all the help with potions as I can get..., so both of those sound great! What sounds good to you Paddy?"

"I'll go with wherever you want to go first" she replied to Magnus and Sam, "I'm hoping to see every shop, but I don't mind what order. I think you're right with Honeydukes, I don't really want to have to fight my way through a crowd to see what they have for sale."

She looked at Sam and realised that the girl must be cold. "Here, take these" she said, handing over a pair of Gryffindor-house-coloured knitted gloves for them both, "I put a heating charm on them before I left the common room, so they should keep your paws.... er hands nice and warm."

Aderyn nodded at Emmy ().

"Sounds like a plan! We can go and paint the town red, or however muggles say it."

Looking over at and Beth (), Aderyn gestured to the road down from the castle.

"Shall we?"