Diagon Alley, as it turned out, didn't so much change in the few years that the brunette was re-assigned overseas. The same shops ever since she was an ickle 11 year old were still standing proud around, albeit with minor additions and tweaks.

It was too nostalgic.

So as a nod to nostalgia, Beatrice went into Florean's and ordered her usual vanilla ice cream. She had half an hour before she had to pick up Tamlin.

Truth be told, Sophie COULD have left her two youngest kids with Calen that day. She COULD have. But did she?

Nope. Of course not.

So with Mackenzie on her back in a nice baby sling, she held onto little Scarlett's hand and struggled led her daughter around the streets of Diagon Alley.

...

Okay, Scarlett was the one doing the leading here, who was she kidding? That was probably why they ended up in Florean Fortescue's instead of... anywhere that didn't sell food that could potentially ruin her children's teeth.

WELL. This brunette wasn't going to protest, because she fancied a bit of ice cream herself. BUT did she really or was that just her willingness to please her little 4 year-old?

UmmmMMMmMMmm.............. Probably both.

No matter, it was clearly ice cream time now! Sophie stepped into the shop just as her daughter pulled away from her grip and ran off to the counter, bumping into someone's legs on her way. "Sorry, ice cream!" Sophie heard her say as she continued to run without looking back.

Facepalm.

"I'm so sorry..." Sophie said to whomever it was her daughter had slammed into that day, always keeping an eye on... right, whose mini-me was Scarlett? She didn't have any idea.

She was enjoying her ice cream, as usual, but she would have enjoyed it more if Tamlin was here. He would have probably insisted on getting seconds and being the doting mother that she was, she would have easily relented. Anything to make him happy, really. That was the entire sentiment. But today she had had a lot of work stuff to take care of, being it her official "coming back" to the British Ministry after being assigned abroad for years. It was actually a pleasant surprise that she was able to settle everything before the sun came down and had this little moment with herself.

A half hour more to see her son. Not long now.

Just then, a small figure bumped on her legs and the ex-Ravenclaw reflexively reached her hand out to make sure the kid did not fall. But no falling whatsoever and the little girl, unfazed, continued on her way. Beatrice chuckled softly then looked up to the direction of the apologizing woman, who must have been the girl's mother.

...

GASP. "Sophie!" Dear Merlin, it was her, right? Which meant... "Was that Scarlett?" It wasn't frequent but she and the Mordaunts exchanged letters throughout the years if only to talk about the birth of babies and such. Then came another gasp from her because at this point she had vacated her seat to give her friend a hug and came face-to-face with another babe. "Holy hippogriffs, is this Mackenzie?"

When the person right in front of her said her name, Sophie's gaze darted form her daughter to... "BEEZUS!" The brunette shouted exclaimed, quickly covering her mouth with one hand and giving an apologetic look and shrug at those around them. Woopsie. Loud much? She couldn't help it, though, she hadn't seen her good friend in AGES!

Before Sophie could say anything else, the former Ravenclaw was asking if that had been Scarlett, making Sophie let out a chuckle as she hugged her friend back. "Yeah, she just turned four last week!" Madness, if you asked her. Sophie would never have thought time could go by this quickly. And yep, that was her youngest on her back. "Kenzie here is... nearly two!" She said, holding onto her friend's arm as a warning for her to get ready for the next part. "The twins are eight. EIGHT!!" The former Hufflepuff flails her hands in front of her BECAUSE! She still couldn't believe she had children who were eight years-old, alright. Was she that old? Apparently so.

MERLIN!

Anyways. "So you're back now!? For good?? Have you moved in anywhere yet? Do you need help with anything? How's Tamlin!?" Sophie had ZERO CHILL because BEEZUS WAS BACK IN TOWN, EVERYONE!!!! "You have to come over for dinner and a playdate for the kids some time soon!! Mordred will love to see you!" She said, wishing she could let her husband know RIGHT NOW that their friend was standing right THERE IN FRONT OF HERRRRR! This was SO EXCITING!!

...

OHMERLIN, WHERE WAS SCARLETT NOW? Oh, there she was by the counter blabbing away with some random stranger. Okay, good.

This was Sophie, all right.

Beezus Beatrice's mouth was now set in a perpetual wide smile as she took in the barrage of information from her long-time friend. She had been so busy with moving in and work and Tamlin that she barely had time to let her friends know that she was back. She should've have done it earlier because merlin, she missed the other woman, as well as the kids.

ESPECIALLY the kids.

Scarlett was four? "Oh, goodness, remind me to get her a late birthday present." She'd missed A LOT, she knew. It was high time she made up for that. Plus more playmates for her Tamlin! He was going to be so excited! Where did Scarlett go, by the way? ...Oh, there she was. Merlin, she was practically Sophie's mini-me!

...And Mackenzie was two? Ugh, the sweet coddle. And WHAT...what? She squeezed her friend's arm in return, her brown eyes widening slightly. The twins were eight?! When did that happen? They were still babies last time she saw them. "Eight?! Holy hippogriffs, Sophie. What are you and Mordred doing? Building a Quidditch team?" She teased, pulling the mother of a soon-to-be Mordaunt Quidditch team to sit.

Keeping an eye on Scarlett as well, the brunette laughed at her friend's onslaught of more questions. "Yes, I'm back! With Tamlin, of course." A small squeal might have escaped her at the proclamation. "It's so hard being a single mother, Soph, mainly because Tamlin is so curious at everything now and I just want to spend all the time with him but then there's work..." She could totally use some help. "He's off to a private babysitter right now, one my Aunt recommended. Asking you totally slipped my mind but in the future, would you mind watching him some time?" Tamlin was pretty well-behaved anyway...for the most part.

Also, dinner...more Mordaunt madness goodness. "Yes to dinners and playdates. Absolutely yes."

Sophie smiled at the birthday gift comment, waving a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it, honestly." She said, keeping an eye on her little girl who was clearly making new friends over there at the counter.

Her friend's next remark made Sophie laugh out loud in amusement. "Don't say that, I'm not sure Mordred would be able to cope." She laughed some more. "If it was up to me, though..." The brunette trailed off, giving Beezus a playful look before shaking her head. "No, I'm only joking. We have our hands pretty full now." Like, VERY MUCH full. Beezus needed to spend some time with Noah and Scarlett more specifically to realise what Sophie really meant.

Imagine if Mordred and herself ended up having MORE kids like Noah and Scarlett? There would probably be no house left one day. ........Literally.

Taking a seat, Sophie couldn't stop smiling brightly at the other woman as she listened to all of her news. The squeal that followed the mention of Tamlin made Sophie's heart super happy. Families being formed was literally Sophie's most favourite THING in the WORLD. Her expression grew slightly more serious as she listened intently and nodded as Beezus continued. Her eyebrows shot up as her friend asked if she would mind watching Tamlin for her some time. "Absolutely, you don't need to ask twice! Honestly, just let me know whenever you need a break or if you have things to do. I'm staying home at the moment with the kids anyway, and what's one more when there are four there already." She chuckled, watching as Scarlett now moved on from one person to another, apparently carrying on full conversations about Merlin knew what.

Beezus accepted her invite for dinner and playdate, so Sophie was obviously smiling brightly again. "Perfect! Just tell me when you're free and what day works best for you!" EEEEEEEEEEEP, she couldn't wait for it already!

And a thought suddenly crossed her mind. "Is Tamlin okay with animals?" Poker face.

Not that they owned a zoo or anything. Only... they kind of did.

It was a beautiful day outside today, perfect for ice cream. Which this unfortunately means that everyone was sitting outside in the outdoor seating. EVERYONE, literally everyone. This was a small disappointment for Phoenix. At least if he was outside he could see the pretty girls walk by, and also enjoy his ice cream.

He would just have to settle for being indoors, and watching the girls who came in to buy ice cream. If he spotted a really cute one maybe he would buy the ice cream for her. You know, that was as good conversation starter. Either way he didn’t mind, he had his ice cream and somewhere to sit down and watch out. What more could a 15 year old dude ask for.

Of course Sophie was going to say she didn't have to worry about the gift, pfft. Beezus didn't push it but she made a mental note to do just that once she had the time. Tamlin would love it too, shopping for toys to give to his friends.

Her thoughts of what gifts to get for the Mordaunt kids faded when she heard what Sophie said next. Snort!giggle. Merlin, they were quite the pair (plus two kids in tow), weren't they? 30 something women and they were joking about that. She was fairly certain Mordred would have shushed and given them both a look had he been there, that brooding bloke. "Maybe when 'kenzie is a bit older?" She suggested more teasingly.

As always, she still couldn't help but be amazed at some of her friends who had big families. Taking care of one baby was no easy feat, even much more, say, three of them. She was in awe with them, with Sophie.

And now her friend was even volunteering to watch Tamlin sometime, even when she already had four of her own. She reached out to take one of her friend's hand. "Thank you, Soph. I'm truly grateful for that. Tamlin needs to socialize more with kids his age and I would be very comfortable if those kids are your kids." Because you know, even if they had their own quirks, she was confident that her son and the Mordaunts will be great friends. Just like her and their parents. And if they didn't, well... a parent could only hope.

Animals? The brunette blinked only once. "Okay with animals?" Scoff, followed by a head shake. "He's not okay with animals, Soph. He's CRAZY about them." Merlin, if her son could stay at the Magical Menagerie for the whole day he would. It was only a matter of time before he would be bringing every critter home. "He's already asked me to get him a dragon's egg for his 7th birthday!"

Kamryn had wanted to eat outside and possibly people watch, see if she could find any of her friends, Ansel, Maeve, Anahera, Cameron, Chase! Anyone would do! But sadly there was no seats outside and so she headed inside to buy some ice cream..

She pushed her hair behind her shoulder as she concentrated on the menu, she would see who was around later but right now there were more important thing to focus on..

Like what kind of Sunday did she want..

Hmmmmm

Quote:

Originally Posted by MunchyBubbles

Kamryn had wanted to eat outside and possibly people watch, see if she could find any of her friends, Ansel, Maeve, Anahera, Cameron, Chase! Anyone would do! But sadly there was no seats outside and so she headed inside to buy some ice cream..

She pushed her hair behind her shoulder as she concentrated on the menu, she would see who was around later but right now there were more important thing to focus on..

Like what kind of Sunday did she want..

Hmmmmm

Phoenix was less interested in his ice cream, as more people came in. None of which he knew. They seemed to be old kids too. That drew him back to his ice cream that had already started to melt. It was probably a good thing that he wasn’t outside after all. The ice cream definitely would be melted by now.

Out of the corner of his eye he seen the door open up again, this time he finally seen someone he knew. Kam. He had to admit that seeing her bought a grin to his face. He had no idea why. Captain oblivious clearly. Maybe.They were friends? Not that Phe had that many but he did consider her a friend.

He waved over at her. Not seeming like he was overly excited to see her or was actually waiting on someone he knew to pop into the shop. He waited for a bit to walk over to see her. Really he was coming up with a reason to get up and walk over to her.

Realizing that he did in fact need a napkin. The melted ice cream was all over his hand. He got up and headed past her. ”Hey Kam. How’s your summer been so far?” With a grin, he waited for answer as he grabbed a napkin to wipe his hand.

Sophie couldn't help but laugh out loud at Beezus' suggestion of 'maybe when Kenzie is a bit older.' "That'll probably give Mordred a heart attack. I don't want to be a young widow, you know?" She joked, fixing the baby carrier on her back.

The former Hufflepuff's warm smile reached her eyes when her friend took her hand and thanked her. The comment about her feeling comfortable knowing Tamlin would be socialising with her kids made her heart super happy. "No, no need to thank me! The kids will love it and so will I!" She added truthfully. "I'm sure Tamlin is a lovely child, having been raised by you!" Sophie finished with a nod. If he was the troublemaker type... well, Sophie had now grown used to looking after those too, so it would be fine.

NOT that a troublemaker couldn't be a lovely child, but that wasn't what she meant.

ANYWAY.

Sophie raised her eyebrows, already starting to think of a plan now that Beezus said Tamlin wasn't okay with animals when... the other women finished her train of thought saying her child was crazy about creatures. "Oh, good! I'm glad! We have um... a few pets." To say the least, hehe. "Mordred breeds owls now and our llamas seem to um... come in pairs." Male and female too, which was probably why they constantly had baby llamas and alpacas everywhere. Beezus' next remark about Tamlin's wishes made Sophie crack up again. "Oh, Merlin, he'll definitely get along with our Noah, then. Oh, and remember Ella's daughter, Cecelia!? She's nine this year and she's also crazy about dragons. I'll see if Ella can bring them along whenever you come over too! It'll be great to have a reunion!" And now Sophie was already daydreaming about gathering ALL of their Hogwarts friends for a big dinner one day so they could all catch up and introduce their own kids to each other and eeeeeeeep, that'd be brilliant!

Kam looked over as she thought she saw someone waving at her and she grinned as she saw Phoenix standing there, she waved back at him happily as she waited in line, her blue eyes sparkling a bit.

She considered him a friend and it was nice to see a familiar face around here! So far she hasn’t seen anyone she knew.

Her grin grew wider as he got up and walked past her and she pushed her hair behind her shoulders as she looked at him. “Hey Phoenix, it’s been all right actually, how about yours? Up to anything fun? ” She asked him as she scooted up in line just a bit.

It was a sunny day and Pavel understood why Filip had chosen Floreans for their meeting under the radar. Ice cream would make it bearable as they talked team stuff in preparation for their next game in the world cup against Portugal. He had a feeling that Cynthia though would be difficult as per her usual. Stepping into Floreans the 28 year old beater for the England National Team ventured over to the counter to buy himself a cone with a scoop each of chocolate frog, jelly slug and strawberry. Turning from the counter Pavel took a small yummy tasting bite of his cone before he walked over to sit down at a corner table.

Pavel would have chosen to sit in the outdoors considering the beautiful sunny weather but he hoped that sitting inside would give him and the rest of the team privacy from nosy prophet reporters or fans.

ICE CREAM.

I mean, who can really go wrong with ice cream? Even if you were one of those weirdo's that like corned beef ice cream or something like that, it was STILL ice cream. Those were Torii's exact thoughts as she made her way toward the indoor seating area. She still hadn't ordered her ice cream yet, but she'd make her way up there soon.

She'd had a pretty decent summer, but she was kind of glad school would be starting soon. Ever since her parents died, and she had to make her way from America all the way across the pond, she hadn't enjoyed summers as much as she thought she would. Also, she was determined to make more friends to his year at Hogwarts. She'd made some last year, but even she had to admit she'd been so bitter about the move that she hadn't opened up to new friends as much as she thought she should.

So everything was going to be alright for her. It was just going to keep getting better and better!

Ice cream. He needed ice cream. It had been a long day of walking around and he felt hungry but not for real food. Rather the good stuff. After looking around he grabbed a table waiting a few minutes to see if he would know anyone walking in so he wouldn’t have to sit alone. It was one of those things that Got old after a while and he was not in the mood for isolation this afternoon. But he needed to make it look like he wasn’t desperate for friends.

One of the things Kam loved about heading into Diagon, was that there was so many people about. Things at her house were quiet, most of her siblings were gone, though she did have her closest sibling Chase there for awhile.

But normally it was just her, her parents worked and so she was left to her own devices. Which was lovely for a day or so.. getting to sleep in was amazing, but after lounging around the house and baking as much as she could..

She was lonely, she missed her friends and her boyfriend and so.. she headed into Diagon to see if she could happen to see one, or five.. she wasn’t needy at all!

She stepped into Floreans and looked around, intent on getting some ice cream and perhaps people watch for a bit. She smoothed back her light brown ponytail, making sure it looked neat and the floo here hadn’t disrupted it!

Patrick looked up he noticed a girl that he swore he recognized the girl smoothing her hair from Hogwarts. But he wasn’t exactly sure how to ask if she did indeed goes to Hogwarts.

He looked up again mouth slightly open trying to figure out the best way to ask. Finally deciding that directly was the only way to actually ask. He stood, ”uh, excuse me. You go to Hogwarts don’t you...?” wow he was so smooth. He thought he recognized her as one of his classmates who was in his year...but now felt as if he was all wrong

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

ICE CREAM.

I mean, who can really go wrong with ice cream? Even if you were one of those weirdo's that like corned beef ice cream or something like that, it was STILL ice cream. Those were Torii's exact thoughts as she made her way toward the indoor seating area. She still hadn't ordered her ice cream yet, but she'd make her way up there soon.

She'd had a pretty decent summer, but she was kind of glad school would be starting soon. Ever since her parents died, and she had to make her way from America all the way across the pond, she hadn't enjoyed summers as much as she thought she would. Also, she was determined to make more friends to his year at Hogwarts. She'd made some last year, but even she had to admit she'd been so bitter about the move that she hadn't opened up to new friends as much as she thought she should.

So everything was going to be alright for her. It was just going to keep getting better and better!

Nettie was always in the alley this summer. It was far better than the alternative - going back to her house where you could cut the tension with a knife. She'd soooo been looking forward to a relaxing summer at home, focusing on her Quidditch, and yet she'd now found herself actively avoiding her parents and reading up on subjects she had always wanted to learn about, and just never had the time. Like kanji. Eiji was a good tutor and all, but it was also interesting trying to read it on her own. Since he was in Japan, she really had no choice and it made her feel comforted, like he was there with her which she knew she shouldn't feel but UGH. Teenage angst.

She was getting sick of ice cream, so instead of going to order, she walked in and tried to find a place to do her reading. Except the place was PACKED and there wasn't any empty table in sight. SIGH. She looked around and spotted Torii, the Slytherin she always had been bumping in to last term, and headed her way.

"Hey Torii! Mind if I sit?" she asked her, before going ahead and just...doing it anyways. Because she'd definitely say yes, right?

Derf wasn't entirely sure how fair it was to have asked Natalie to meet him here today, but seeing as they had sorta reconciled back at Hogwarts - though that had namely been Natalie concerned that he hated her, which...well...he only hated one person and she was nothing like that monster of a man - and it felt like the right thing to do before he departed for Australia. He had also taken a small side trip to Janus Galloglass before coming to the ice cream parlor and finding a table for the two of them. Thankfully he still had some galleons to spend - though it was more like sickles and knuts at this point.

Waiting with two bowls of ice cream - the flavor he had ordered was still her favorite, right? - he waited for Natalie to arrive.

Kamryn was about to focus on the menu when she heard a voice speak to her and she turned her head and smiled, almost instantly recognizing the Slytherin Quidditch Captain. With a former boyfriend in Slytherin and her current boyfriend also in Slytherin, she was well aware of who was who in that house.

“Yeah, I do. I’m a Hufflepuff, soon to be sixth year. ” She added for clarification.

“And you were the Quidditch Captain Yeah?” She asked with a smile. Though sadly his name escaped her at the moment.

He chuckled, "That makes me feel better. I swore you looked so familiar." he couldn't imagine how foolish he would have looked had she not. He wasn't as familiar with some of the Hufflepuff students but he recognized familiar faces. "I'm a soon to be sixth year too."

Then his smile faltered a bit, she knew him. Woah he felt so terrible now that he didn't remember her. "Oh yeah I'm the captain." he shrugged, "I'm Patrick." He trailed off hoping that she would fill him in on her name.

To ice cream or not to ice cream? That was the question. Torii shrugged to herself and took a seat at an empty table. With nothing else to do at the moment, she looked through her shopping bags. She'd just gotten half of her fifth year supplies bought, and she'd decided to just save the rest of the shopping for a later time. She was supposed to meet up with her aunt in a little while and hand over her supplies. After that, Torii could spend the rest of the day doing fun things!

Just when she was convinced there was nothing else left to do but go buy ice cream, she heard her name. Oh? Looking up, she saw Nettie, and almost braced herself in preparation of the girl bumping into her. Nettie somehow always managed to do that. However, she was safe this time, so she just nodded and moved her bags over. "Yeah, sure! What's up?" she asked, hoping to talk about anything but school.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Derf wasn't entirely sure how fair it was to have asked Natalie to meet him here today, but seeing as they had sorta reconciled back at Hogwarts - though that had namely been Natalie concerned that he hated her, which...well...he only hated one person and she was nothing like that monster of a man - and it felt like the right thing to do before he departed for Australia. He had also taken a small side trip to Janus Galloglass before coming to the ice cream parlor and finding a table for the two of them. Thankfully he still had some galleons to spend - though it was more like sickles and knuts at this point.

Waiting with two bowls of ice cream - the flavor he had ordered was still her favorite, right? - he waited for Natalie to arrive.

Natalie had actually been rather delighted to receive his invitation. Any time Derf wanted to be with her was further confirmation that he didn't actually hate her (even though she still believed he had every right to and was still slightly bewildered that he didn't). She had been in a good mood for the last good while, especially now that it was summer time and she was able to wear something other than her Hogwarts robes.

Sporting her new summer hair cut and some of her favorite denim shorts, Natalie made her way down Diagon Alley in search of her favorite blonde mop. Peering inside the window of the ice cream shop, she spotted him and smiled.

Once she was inside, she made her way over to the table where he was sitting. "You remembered," she said proudly as she sat down across the table from him, inspecting the bowl of strawberry ice cream he had gotten for her.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

To ice cream or not to ice cream? That was the question. Torii shrugged to herself and took a seat at an empty table. With nothing else to do at the moment, she looked through her shopping bags. She'd just gotten half of her fifth year supplies bought, and she'd decided to just save the rest of the shopping for a later time. She was supposed to meet up with her aunt in a little while and hand over her supplies. After that, Torii could spend the rest of the day doing fun things!

Just when she was convinced there was nothing else left to do but go buy ice cream, she heard her name. Oh? Looking up, she saw Nettie, and almost braced herself in preparation of the girl bumping into her. Nettie somehow always managed to do that. However, she was safe this time, so she just nodded and moved her bags over. "Yeah, sure! What's up?" she asked, hoping to talk about anything but school.

"Not much," Nettie said with a smile as she took a seat across from her. "Just relaxing after quidditch practice," she explained. She wondered if her athletic leggings and athletic top made that obvious, or if the older girl just thought she liked wearing workout clothes. Which WERE super comfy, by the way.

"How has your summer been so far?" she asked her. She felt like it was a given that it was better than HER summer, at least.