((and all))

"Maybe I can do an article about muggle fashions even. I kept thinking well if I wanna do so many things how can I? And then it hit me." Zoe beamed. Callista seemed to think it was a good idea. She listen with interest to Callista's explanations. "I never really gave it all that thought but I think yer right. As a muggle born I think doing things by hand sometimes is the better way. There are times I even forget to do things with magic. Maybe ye can get more out of the fabrics and textiles by learning more than just the magic way. I think it's brilliant. There's a lot of good things about the muggle world too. Maybe one day we can balance both worlds in the right way."

"Aye his knowledge of the muggle world is pretty nonexistent." Zoe thought on Callista's musings. "Aye, it was me. He said he needed to go to the owl post. Then when he came to the pet shop, he had nothing with him and was acting odd. That's when he asked to borrow yer phone. Maybe that's why he was frantically wanting to talk to his granddad? He got bad news or something from his family. It seems odd he suddenly wanted to talk to his granddad to me... and then changed his mind again."

"It is odd," said Callista as they reached the quill shop. "I sent his grandfather a message and said that I was a school friend of his and I thought Blade needed to talk to him. It was nosey of me, but it felt like the right thing to do. Because if that's the only way Blade has to get hold of him, and the phone doesn't work very well for all four weeks and three weekends every month, I don't want whatever's going on to get so bad his grandfather can't fix it before he works up the nerve to call."

She opened the door, changing the subject now that they were in a public and more crowded location. "You write that article. Where do you think you'd like to work? The Quibbler, the Prophet, Witch Weekly, or some other periodical that I don't know?"

"I don't understand if he has so little knowledge of muggle things, why would his grandfather even have a phone?" Zoe asked. "It's really strange. Aww that was sweet of ye. Maybe that's why he said he needed to buy an owl? Maybe he's gonna send a letter instead? Poor guy," Zoe said.

"Well I saw an advert saying the Quibbler had internship openings coming this fall which makes me think they'd have those same openings next fall too. So I was kinda thinking of them or Witch Weekly. They tend to have more open topics than the Prophet to me." She took a sniff. "Mmh, I love the smell of paper!"

Now that they were actually looking at Blade they could tell something was off. It was like Blade was lost. It was a feeling that Toru knew all to well. Since Sauvage and Fade were both busy making Christmas plans, Toru decided to see if Blade were up to telling them what happened. "W-Would you take m-me to s-see the s-shrieking shack?" Blade knew with as skittish as Toru was, they probably wouldn't want to go to the most notoriously haunted place in Britain alone.

Blade's brow rose. Did Toru really want to go to the shrieking shack? It didn't sound like somewhere the skittish Hufflepuff would ever wish to venture to. Of course he had no reason to suspect that there was another motive Toru would make such a request. "I guess we can go there, but it'd probably be better to wait until after your tea party. You've only got about an hour."

"I'm s-sure w-we could b-be quick..." They said softly and linked their arm with Blade's. It didn't seem Toru would take no for an answer.

Blade looked more like a deer in headlights as Toru linked their arm around Blade's the younger Hufflepuff wasn't particularly assertive. He looked over a Niamh as he was dragged out of the shop.

Niamh took the basket from Blade, and watched as he filed reams of parchment into his basket. Biting her lip to stop herself from asking why, she put a small amount of parchment in her own basket. It all kind of made sense once he explained about composing music as a little business venture. "You any good at composing fiddle music by any chance? I've been looking for something which might be a new challenge to learn to play." She picked up a couple of jars of colour changing ink and added them to her basket, before heading to the till to pay. She didn't spot Blade almost being dragged from the store, as her attention was caught by a fancy-looking quill on the shelf behind the till, and she added that to her purchase as a little gift for a friend.

Paddy smiled at Toru, "well you did a fantastic job, sauvage must be a fantastic teacher!" She followed everyone to the quill shop and set about gathering up some ink and a new quill.

"I think I can," Blade said, "It's the same music for piano."

Nimah didn't seem to notice that Blade was being dragged away either. So the boy was being stolen by a second year.

Toru moved with him out the door and began walking down the street. It was actually very exciting they had successively been assertive enough to get him outside. "A-Are you okay?" They slowly removed their arm and held their arms behind their back. "Everyone h-has said s-something is u-up."

Blade was annoyed at "everyone." They should keep their noses out of other people's business. "Nothing I can't handle," he said. "Are you looking forward to your party?"

Niamh added her purchases to her bag and waved to Paddy as she passed with am armful of ink and a quill tucked behind her ear. "So which shop do you want to look at next?" she asked Blade, turning to .... where he had been but wasn't now. "Where'd he disappear to?" she said to herself, walking back round to the parchment displays in case he'd needed even more parchment than he'd thought.

Toru frowned and looked up at him. "What's n-nothing y-you can handle?" Thry looked up at Blade seriously. "Y-You're my best friend. I w-want t-to help if something's w-wrong."

(( -giggles- He'll catch up soon hopefully))

Blade shook his head. "Focus on your party. I know you've been looking forward to it. I think you look like a little china doll. Casllita seemed very excited for your look. Lo-something she called it." He gave a vague shrug because he wasn't into fashion like that. Sure, he liked to look smart but names of things wasn't something he paid attention to. "Anyway, I'm sure you'll have a great time. Then you can shop and explore Hogsmede. First time coming right? Mine too."

(OOC; sorry for disappearing so suddenly. work got pretty busy. Let's just pretend Lorcan happily chatted with Blade and Zoe about music. xD And with Toru about the big fearsome cats xd )

before arriving at Hogsmeade (because I like a little story xd )

SPOILER (click to toggle)

Lorcan knew he was running late. He couldn't decide whether he should bring a jacket or not, so he ended up wearing it half-heartedly over his plaid shirt. As his father always insisted on blending in with the muggles on the island, Lorcan was used to their style. He had checked his outfit back in the dormitory and was content with it. It reminded him of the lazy summers he spend at the rough beach. He sighed deeply while he was walking over the earthy way to Hogsmeade, breathing in the fresh air.

Elizabeth rushed back from the Owlery, where she had just sent off one of the school owls with a letter to London. It was a good thing she knew a dirt-repelling spell as the Owlery was rather dirty and you always had to watch your head. She strolled out to the path to the magical village of Hogsmeade where she spotted a boy walking there very casually. Too casually for her taste. As she hasn't seen him at the trip to the beach, she was wondering if he was maybe a Muggle wandering beyond the powerful magical boundaries. She knew it wasn't her responsibility, but as Head Girl, wasn't she required to report unusual sightings on school grounds? She decided to follow him quietly for a while before he curiosity finally got her. "Hello!", she greeted the boy with a smile once she walked next to him. "Ah, thank Merlin, I thought I was the only one running late to Hogsmeade. Good to see one of the Head Girls is late as well.", Lorcan said and chuckled. Elizabeth seemed confused and blushed slightly, being glad she only said 'Hello'. "It would seem so.", she replied and nodded. "Let's go there together, Elizabeth Covington?", Lorcan inquired and gained a confused look, then he laughed. "Don't tell me you've forgotten about me. Well, then it's been some years. Your father and my mother used to work in the same office at the Ministry a long time ago. Does the name Lorcan Tierney sound familiar to you? You might add 'William' for a middle name." "Ooooh now I remember you! Sorry about that. It's been years. We have only met at some early pureblood parties and then you suddenly disappeared. I wondered what happened and wanted to sent you an owl, but my father forbid it. ", Elizabeth said. Still, she was a bit confused why one of her old friends dressed like this, but it did suit him in a strange way. "I don't know the circumstances as well, but let's catch up on what I know for sure...", he replied and the two slowly walked to Hogsmeade village.

Once they arrived there, the usual crowd of witches and wizards was strolling through the streets, window shopping. Lorcan suddenly saw a flash of bright, red hair, which obviously belonged to Blade (), a boy he knew from the shop booths they had in the Great Hall. From what he knew about Blade, the boy was gifted at making music as well. However, he seemed a bit...unsettled. Was it because the smaller Hufflepuff, Toru (), was walking next to him? Innerly, Lorcan shook his head. Why should Toru be unpleasant company? The small conversation they had about cats and personal fears had been quite becalming as the younger student had a soft voice. So, instead of disturbing Blade and Toru, Lorcan went straight to the window of Honeydukes to appear interested. Elizabeth had not noticed anything about this, her mind was still trying to put together what Lorcan told her on their way down here. "Do you want to get anything special?", he suddenly asked her. Elizabeth seemed indecisive. "I was playing with the thought of getting an owl. It's pretty annoying to rely on the school owls. But I'm not sure as every new animal is a new responsibility and should be handled with great care and love.", she replied, "and I already have two snakes." Lorcan chuckled. "Staying true to your house, huh? Well, it's up to you. Personally, I could use some new feathers and fresh parchment.", he said, suggesting the quill shop. "Sounds fine. Studying takes up an awful amount of parchment and ink.", Elizabeth agreed and the two entered the quill shop.

The smaller Hufflepuff puffed their cheeks in frustration. If Blade wasn't going to tell them they might hVe to wait until he was ready. "P-Promise you'll t-tell me when y-you're ready." They huffed softly before smiling. "I'm n-nervous about the p-party..." It was a little nerve wracking wearing all these frills and being called a China doll. "D-Do I look silly?"

Fade returned with his ink finding only Sauvage remained where he had left the group. Not thinking much of it, he paid for the bottle and laughed as Sauvage tried to shake the pigments together. “Cool, right? They’ve only got it to work with black and blue. I’m looking forward to a purple and red myself.” Just for fun he grimaced slightly and made his hair twist from purple into red, wore it half and half for a minute, and then exhaled having it revert back to it’s usual bluish pigments.

“Leaping toadstools, hmm… Well if you get me a picture of one I can try and carve a stamp out of some rubber. Like how they used to make old ink prints. But in reverse I guess...” He wasn’t sure if she would have any idea what he was talking about, but would be more than happy to show her when he got the correct supplies. On their way out he held the door for a Slytherin girl he recognized () but who’s name escaped him, and one of her friends. Back out on the street Fade took a deep breath of fresh air and glanced up and down the way. “OK, so where to next?” Chase leapt from the ground back up onto the boys shoulders and meowed encouragingly at them. It was just about a perfect day and Fade didn't mind spending time outdoors, but he also wouldn't mind a bit of shopping. So long as he was spending time with Sauvage.

Zoe saw Lorcan and Elizabeth arrive in the quill shop. "Hey," she said brightly.

Blade shrugged. "We'll see," he said evasively. "Why? You shouldn't be. Your friend Callista is there. You'll have a good time and you got all dressed up. No, you don't look silly. You can pull it off. The doll comment wasn't an insult, Ru. I couldn't pull it off, even if I wanted to--which I don't. But you have to admit, I'd look terrible... especially with hairy legs."

They sighed gently. "I-i told you my s-secret." They moved to gently tuck some curls behind their ear. "They m-make stockings f-for that." They said softly with a small smile. Toru gave a small wave to Lorcan when they saw him. "Y-You should c-come. Might help y-you relax?" They said to Blade.

Blade looked at Toru with confusion. "I'm not sure how that would affect the party. Just be yourself and you'll be fine." He crinkled his nose. "I'll leave the dresses and stockings to you. I prefer to wear my trousers." He shook his head. "Callista didn't invite me for starters. I'm not overly social to begin with. I think i'd be more stressed in that setting. And besides, I am relaxed." He'd taken the calming potion after all.