"Ye look perfect," Zoe insisted.

"Oh," Blade replied. "Well enjoy your party." It sounded lame to him, but what else could he really say? He was glad he didn't have to dress up, that was one thing. Blade had no interest in loose leaves at all. He drank tea, yes but that was the end of it to him.

Zoe giggled at Jona eating the ink. "Then my shopping is best if it stays with me, where it's safe."

Blade was suprised at Jona's reaction to seeing Toru. Were they that good of friends? Maybe he wasn't really Toru's best friend after all. Anger filled him like hot water and he clenched his hands as he squeezed to calm himself down. Jona was like that with Zoe. It was good Toru had other friends. Blade certainly wasn't a great friend. At least he didn't think he was a good friend at all. In fact he didn't think anyone other than Toru and Nimah really liked him that much. He sighed inwardly as he just walked outside for fresh air, setting the shopping basket down. He leaned against the shop wall looking like Jona would say--"cool." He summoned a calming potion from the school and waited a few moments before one appeared at him. He downed the thing in a second and put the vial in his pocket. Maybe he should finish his shopping alone, go back to the castle and slip into some corner where he wouldn't be found? Nah... then everyone would wonder where he was and make a fuss. "Well Mavis, I see you are asleep," he said to the owl as he peeked into her cage.

Zoe watched as Blade stepped outside to wait for them. Then Toru handed her a beautiful painting. "Oh Toru, it's gorgeous." She hugged them. "Thank ye. Looking forward to the tea party?"

"Oh, don't worry, Toru. I won't actually eat any ink." He innocently looked around the room full of candy. "Probably." Then he swallowed hard and smiled sheepishly. He noticed Blade leaving the candy shop, but figured that Jona should be the last one to talk to him, since they seemed to always get on each other's nerves. Besides, it seemed obvious that the guy needed some space and he was not going to get that here. "Ooh!" Jona ran across the room where something caught his eye.

"Toru-chan, you look amazing!" Callista smiled. "Just like I knew you would. That colour suits you better than it ever did me." She took a deep breath. "I couldn't leave Sabrina on campus, but she's on harness and she's being really good today, so try not to get too nervous, okay? Do you want to see my new owl?"

"I doubt ink tastes good," Zoe replied. "What do ye see Jona?" When Callista offered to show her owl to Toru, it reminded her she should make the same offer. "Ye can see mine too if ye want. Blade might show ye his too. I do nee know."

Blade was now calm and watched as people walked past him.

"We got the coolest owls in the place," Callista said, grinning at Zoe and Toru. "I couldn't believe they had a Verreaux owl from Africa. Camilla is going to be jealous! Though I picked him because I thought he liked me and not just because he was cool. I'm thinking I'll call him Naoto. Blade's Mavis is also an eagle-owl, but a Eurasian one, and Zoe found the cutest barn owl. They have a really great selection, but I think the ones we picked out were the best."

She petted the owl and gave him a treat. "Look, he looks like he's got pink eyeshadow on. It's so cool."

Sabrina made an aggrieved noise, so Callista paused to scritch her ears and also give her a treat.

Sabrina was not sure about the wisdom of keeping that entirely too huge bird. Also, Callista was not supposed to like any other animal almost as much as she liked Sabrina.

(OOC: catching up after a couple of busy days)

Paddy paid for her pet treats along with a couple of toys for Snowden and Remus and put them into her bag. Before she left the pet shop, she stopped to have a discussion with the sales clerk, and handed over some more money before heading for Honeydukes. That particular purchase wouldn't be suitable to carry around with her, so she'd arranged to collect it on her way back to Hogwarts. Looking around before she entered Honeydukes, she realised Niamh and Blade had taken even longer than she had - she hated being the last one in a shop, so she was quite relieved that at least two others were behind her.

Once in Honeydukes, she headed straight for the chocolates - it was the perfect gift for her Uncle, and also something she knew was handy for the days after the full moon. As Toru approached, Paddy did a double take - the Hufflepuff looked totally different, "Wow, hey Toru!" she said, "I love the makeup - you'll have to give me some lessons, as I can never get the hang of that stuff."

--

Niamh was so engrossed in looking around the pet shop she hadn't realised almost everyone had already left for Honeydukes. Gathering up her pet supplies, including another decorative item for her fish tank, she quickly paid for them before dashing out of the shop and almost knocking Blade over. "I got a bit carried away," she said with a blush as they made their way to Honeydukes.

There wasn't anything in particular that she was looking for in Honeydukes, so she was more than happy just to browse the shelves and see if anything caught her eye. While she was looking at the Pepper Imp display, she turned and realised Blade had vanished. Gathering up a couple of things, she took them to the clerk to pay, before heading outside. "You sure you're ok?" she said to Blade, carefully slipping the Pepper Imps into his jacket pocket, "I know you didn't want to talk about it, but you don't quite seem like 'you' today."

"We sure did! I'm excited about my owl too," Zoe said. She did wish she could've helped Jona with getting one but maybe she can talk to his uncles.

"S'll right," Blade said not really even noticing the second collision today. He'd mildly wondered what Paddy bought but didn't say anything.

Since taking the calming potion, Blade felt a little better so when Nimah came outside he gave her a small smile. "Yeah just needed the fresh air. 'Sides, it was getting crowded in the shop and since I wasn't buying anything it seemed silly for me to linger. I think Sauvage is making tea and delivering it to China. Think we should leave a message here with the clerk that we moved on?"

Paddy found a couple of extra chocolates that she thought Magnus might appreciate.... and speaking of Magnus, she wondered where he was, given that she hadn't spotted him yet.

--

"True, but what about what you've got in the basket?" Niamh replied, pointing to the shopping basket Blade had by his feet. "Sure, I've got the sweets I wanted, where'dyou want to look next?"

Magnus was lost inside the bookshop have a good time looking at books and forgot to continue his quest to find his friends.

"Huh?" Blade asked, "I left the basket inside." He saw a basket beside him but it hadn't been his. "No idea. I'll take it back in side so they can restock the stuff. I didn't get anything. Well we were mentioning the quill shop. I need some quills, inks and parchment. Wanna go there?"

Niamh giggled, Blade seemed even cuter when he was confused, "the quill shop sounds good, I need more ink and parchment too." She didn't mention the Pepper Imps she'd put in his pocket - she was sure he'd find them later on.

--

Paddy paid for her sweets and headed out of Honeydukes. Looking down the street, she spotted the bookstore and had a feeling maybe Magnus would be inside. Even if he wasn't, she wanted to browse some Potions books anyway, so it was a good a reason as any to head that way.

He nodded to Nimah. "All right." Then he took the basket back inside, used his wand to set all the items back in their spot and simply said to the clerk and handed it to the clerk. "If a French girl comes in, tell her we went to the quill shop."

Then he said to the others, "gonna move along. You're welcome to join if you want." He really wasn't sure if Callista, Zoe or Jona would really want to hang around with him. Paddy had slipped away. Toru he was sure had plans as well so best to let everyone know if anyone wanted to splinter off. Besides, he hated delays. He hadn't noticed the pepper imps.

Magnus had a pile of books beside him and was happily looking through them to decide which ones wanted to come with him.

(and everyone else)

Paddy wandered into the book shop and spotted Magnus happily sitting amongst a pile of books. She decided to not interrupt him yet, and went to browse through the shelves.

--

Niamh waited for Blade to take the basket & items back into Honeydukes. She hoped that by the time they went back to Hogwarts that he might at least be a little more like himself. Whatever was in that parcel seemed to have really affected him. "I wonder if they've got any colour changing ink," she said as they headed for the quill shop, "writing in black is getting a bit boring."

((and all))
Fade was curious about what Sauvage had bought, but didn’t have to wait long to see. Chase trotted over enthusiastically to investigate what she had for him. In classic Chase style the cat swatted the morsel out of Sauvage’s hand and devoured it hastily. Fade scoffed. “Chase, you’re rude.” He frowned down at the cat who contentedly ignored him, small purr sounds audible between crunching. Fade rolled his eyes. “Duno why I bring him.” He knew exactly why he brought him, mostly for moral support, but was often embarrassed by the cat’s uncouth actions. Fade offered his hand to Sauvage. “So, to the Quill shop then?” Chase looked up, licking his lips, expecting more.

Jona had bolted from the group to look at a winter display of a cotton candy cloud floating with glacial snowflakes falling gently from the sugar floss. "It looks amazing! I swear I had a dream about this stuff when I was six." Jona turned back to Zoe, his eyes glittering with wonder and a giddy smile curling his lips. He didn't need money to enjoy this shop. Simply being there fueled him with creativity and fantasy.

Sauvage was caught off guard by the little paw swatting away the food, but laughed with relief when she saw Chase eat the biscuit off the ground. "You say zat, but some'ow I sink you and Chase are birds of a feazer." She smirked, offering a playful attitude that she rarely showed to anyone but Fade, and took his hand gratefully. "To Screevenshaft's eet eez."

As the walked up to the front door, Sauvage managed to see another couple wandering over as well. "Oh! What a coincidonce!" Sauvage greeted Blade and Niamh from a distance, standing in the entrance to the quill shop then ducked inside with Fade.

A grin spread across Fade’s face. “Yeah, guess you know me too well.” Chase got away with acting how Fade could only imagine himself behaving around others. When they arrived outside the shop, Fade flashed a peace sign toward Blade () and Nimah () before allowing himself to be pulled inside. The scent of fresh parchment was comforting and he took a deep breath of it. Releasing Sauvage’s hand, Fade gravitated toward a table littered with different quills. He had more than enough but if there was something new it would be fun to test it out.

Different shaped points could be as diverse as paintbrushes in the line weight and quality they produced. It was endless amounts of fun for Fade to sit and combine different tips and inks to discover a favorite result combination. It was lucky there didn’t appear to be any new quills at the trial station or he may have lingered all day. After drawing a few lines, just for fun on the butcher paper rolled out over the table, Fade set down the quill and wandered over to see what Sauvage had found. “Anything cool over here?”

Magnus had no clue Paddy found him yet so he kept looking, content in his own world.

“If they don’t,” Blade said joining Nimah, “you could always just buy ten jars of different colours. Then just line them up and use them at your leisure.”

“Maybe it was nee a dream?” Zoe said, “Maybe ye saw them somewhere and didn’t realise?” She smiled at his enthusiasm.

“Looks like Fade and Sauvage are here,” Blade said mildly as he gave a small wave. He didn’t know the Ravenclaw boy really and if he was honest today wasn’t the day he wanted to meet people. Oh well. It would be fine.

Nimah and Blade entered the shop. He picked up two baskets and handed one to Nimah. “Have fun at the tea shop?” he asked the couple as he spotted parchment on sale. ‘Thank Merlin,’ he thought seeing the sale. And the parchment was good stuff too. He selected a large amount—far more than one would need as a typical student nearing the end of the term. Then he wandered over the quills and started looking for some suitable ones.

Toru admired their owls and tried their best to ignore Sabrina since she was being good today and they were working very hard in trying not to freak when they saw a cat. It was getting harder and harder to avoid the fourballs since everyone in the school seemed to have one as a pet. So best make peace with them, at least not have as bad of a reaction. "They a-are very good o-owls, I have my own b-back at the castle."

Paddy complimented their makeup and they blushed. "I-I had my o-own help.**" Jona had already bounded off with Zoe to look at a beautiful candy fixture. Toru was never found of sweets, though they ate some to be polite when offered they rarely bought for themselves. Where had Blade gone off to? They thought to themselves since the redhead all but vanished.

(**If Sauvage wants to take credit for makeup lessons by all means. I was gonna say older Hufflepuff girls, but if you want credit by all means.)

Zoe thought she saw Toru looking for Blade as she paid for her sweets. She slipped up to the younger student and said, "he was just here saying he was going to the quill shop. He's really out of sorts today. I think whatever happened at the owl office spooked him. He didn't even come out with a parcel and if it was that small surely the owls could have delivered it."

(( Sauvage will totally take credit for helping Toru. She is def into that kind of stuff.))

Jona started at Zoe wide-eyed, as if he'd never really seen her before. Suddenly he threw his hands up to his hair, always finally getting used to the buzzed sides that pricked his fingers. "Ohnygosh you're right! I wonder how many things I've forgotten to remember about my wizarding past." He followed her to the register then looked to Zoe, as if she'd have an answer.

Sauvage smiled when Fade ran off to test quills. Meanwhile, she leaned over a glass box containing metal knobs with designs for placing wax seals on letters. "They are so elegant," she said to Fade when he came up behind her. "Find a new quill?" @/Raven She smiled and looked up at Niahm and Blade as they entered. "Oh, yes, I 'ad a wonderful time at Madame Puddifoot's. We bought a tea - what kind deed you grab again?" She turned to ask Fade. She had actually forgotten about her initial reason for going over there to be to gather tea for the Hufflepuff occasion. Sauvage noted the abundance of parchment that Blade grabbed, but said nothing. He had probably been prodded by questions enough as it is - especially considering he i not one to handle that very easily to begin with.

"Your makeup is very on point," Callista told Toru. "I might have a talk with Sauvage myself at some point."

At this point she noticed the cotton candy cloud. "Look, how beautiful!" She wandered over to watch it. It was like a beautiful winter day, except improved by being pink. She didn't quite resist the temptation to steal a snowflake or two and taste them.

Noticing that Jona was also entranced, she slipped him a small bag of sweets. "This is for you," she said quietly. "You don't owe me, don't worry. I think we got off on the wrong foot a few weeks ago, so you can just consider this an apology? I'm not sure what I said or did, but feel free to tell me sometime if you want, just so I know not to do it again."