Kiera only had so long before her mother tired of chatting with friends over their butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks before she realized her daughter was missing.

Gone.

She was gone. Missing was too strong of a word for what Kiera had done. She simply mumbled something half-convincing about visiting the loo to her mother and the other witches she had fallen into conversation with about who even cares what, and quickly rushed through the front door. She wasn't going to do anything bad, she never did. Usually.

The slight and spindly ten year-old darted around a rather large wizard with a heavy brown coat and had stopped under the awning of what she hoped was the joke shop. She'd love to her get hands on something to torment her neighbor Harry with. She rolled her grey eyes thinking of his last bad choice of dipping her braid into the inkwell. They'd see who was laughing next!

Convinced that she was clear of Elise's watchful sight, and after Kiera pulled her eyes from all of the older Hogwarts students running about, she slipped into the store. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the store compared to the bright autumn sunshine outside, she only gave herself a second to dwell on how much she envied those older boys and girls. Her mother and father only shook their heads when she had spent all summer writing letters to the school's Headmaster, the Board of Governors and anyone else she could catch the name of who was even related to the school--all in the efforts to see if they would let her come early.

But no, she would start next September. Hmpf!

She knew that she shouldn't complain so much but she just HAD to sometimes.

Looking around at all of the AMAZING toys, tricks and thingamabobs, Kier scampered off into the aisles, pieces of her blonde hair flying free from her braid as she went.