Call her crazy, but she didn't think a llama belonged in a magical petting zoo. Emily watched it watch her.... it had a shaggy face, and head, and back. It was all shag. It's long neck was, unsettling in an odd way. Or perhaps it was more just the general appearance of the beast. Something about the ears maybe? Or the way it showed its teeth from time to time.

Perhaps she'd save her knuts for the winged horses... the llama didn't seem deserving of her feed.

Hearing a familiar voice behind her, Emily couldn't help but smile. "Stranger things have happened," she mused, turning to face Rusty. Go figure a petting zoo wasn't exactly the place she wanted to see people from work. Emily had an image to uphold, petting fluffy stuff just didn't seem to fit in with that perception.

And oh! Lookit that! He had his little human with him. She was quite cute. "Hi," she said, to the pair of them, collectively.

"Might have to take one in for questioning." Rusty said with a tiny twitch of a smile. This just really wasn't even close to being the sort of arena he ever would have expected to come across tough-as-nails Emily Browne. Perhaps he should've watched for a while to see if she spontaneously hugged the thing or something.

Would've been a sight to see.

Lola's eyes got big and wary and she stopped tugging her dad's arm and looked up at the lady.

"................................................. .............................................hi."

Rustin smiled a little and glanced down at her. He ruffled her hair slightly with his free hand, the other being clung to almost to the point where circulation was at risk.

"This is my little lady."

".... who're YOU?" Lola wanted to know. She pressed her face against her dad's arm and continued to hang off it. Suddenly emboldened she added, "Are the llamas food?" For something BIGGER and all that. "Because, llamas aren't even magic." And maybe because the lady was with that llama there, she knew things about what they were for and why they were there and stuff.

Emily chuckled,"My llama's a little rusty, so I doubt an interrogation would be fruitful." Heh, though it would be one of the more interesting interrogations for sure.

His little lady. If she was the type of girl to watch chick-flicks and gush over sensitive men, then she'd have been moved to tears. But she wasn't, though she did think it sweet. He was a softy.

Spending time with the twins, hadn't, by any means, prepared her for talking to small children. It was all unfamiliar territory, but she wasn't about to speak baby-talk at the girl, she looked old enough to hold her own conversation.
"It's nice to meet you Lola, I'm Emily," she started, figuring surnames would be lost on the girl, "I sort of work with your dad," she added. Though, really, that wasn't quite true. Their departments did liaise though, so it counted for something.

Are the llama's food? "You know, I think you're onto something," she mused, looking around to see if they had a dragon for petting purposes. Now THAT would be a petting zoo she could spend hours at. "Or maybe it's here as a test, or to throw people off?"

"Oh you seemed to be communing with it well enough when we got here." Rusty pointed out casually. Why, she'd practically gone all llama zen.

Emily. Lola nodded once. Okay. If she worked with her dad then that was okay. She stepped out of the shelter of her dad's arm and let his hand go to adjust her bow, which he'd mussed just before but Lola didn't seem too concerned with that.

"There are dragons at Gringotts." She said with conviction. "We could ride the llamas to Gringotts and then the dragons could eat them." They could. Lola was nodding again, seriously. She was having quite the flight of fancy imagining riding a whole lot of llamas down Diagon Alley, right on into the bank, and then she supposed they would get off the llamas so that the dragons didn't eat them by accident when they ate the llamas.

Probably the llamas would poop. Then there would be poop in Gringotts but it wouldn't matter because the dragons wouldn't go all hungry and even with poop on the floors it would be a very good thing to do for dragons.

Not so much for llamas. Lola reached out to TOUCH the llama.

"Lolly here's some knuts. Get some food from the dispensers and then you can feed the creatures."

.... and fatten them up for dragons? Okay. Lola took the knuts and then skipped over to the nearest feed dispenser thingy.

Precocious six year old temporarily diverted, Rusty turned his attention back to Emily and smiled a little. "So, petting zoo. Not a place I ever imagined seeing you in."

At least he didn't make fun of her mishearing him. This boy was not mean, but nice. She decided to give all her knowledge and experience to him so he wouldn't be taken advantage of. She herself was too nice. Though she learnt better. "I bet the very loud sound of the flobberworms made me not here," Her sense of humor had made an appearance. Please, laugh or smile or something. "Already thanked you but thank you again," She gave him a board grin and a flip of her hair.

Cassia started walking towards the nifflers motioning to Forrest to walk along, "Oh, they are very interesting."She told him as she searched for their cage. "They are attracted to shiny objects," Cool, huh! "Last year, we went treasure hunting with them," Might as well give him an idea of that he'd have to do and learn once he became third-year.

Finding the nifflers' cage, Cassia stepped closer, putting a foot between her and the cage. She had her watch on her and feared that they'd somehow snatch it. Though they were caged. Still, better safe than sorry. She liked this watch. "They can dig very deep," But she couldn't remember how deep. Her memory wasn't that impressive.

Oh, ha ha. So amusing. Emily gave Rusty a flat look to communicate her appreciation for his comment.

But bless. Emily grinned at the idea of feeding said llama to a Gringotts dragon. Though, she had a feeling the petting zoo person wouldn't be too thrilled, and the llama wouldn't be too impressed either. Speaking of, Emily turned to check on it, its beady eyes and tall ears still observing them. Strange animal... "It's an interesting idea, but I don't think the llama likes the sound of it." Go figure, she wouldn't be all too impressed with people discussing her demise either.

Smiling as Rusty sent Lola to get some feed, Emily fiddled with her bag strap. She had hoped he wouldn't mention or emphasis the whole petting zoo part, but no such luck. "What can I say, I like to remain as unpredictable as possible..." surprising people was half the fun. Sue her if petting zoos were such fun. Minus flobberworms and llamas.

Forrest was getting bolder, see? He was TALKING to her, SMILING at her, and more importantly, he was still with her. So he had actually listened to her advice. Plus, he realised that she was a nice girl to hang out with, so he LAUGHED again at her sense of humour and AGAIN when she flipped her hair like that.

"You're welcome." Hehe.

Okay, time for fun! Forrest followed her curiously and happily as he listened to her. He was, basically, copying her every movement: he looked at her when she looked at him, he looked at the cages she was looking at the same time--he even managed to turn his head simultaneously with her. He didn't want to miss a thing, and he figured he would ensure that only by copying her, since she was the knowledgeable one.

"Like gold and silver or anything shiny like metals?" A treasure hunting! That sounded so much fun! His face shone with excitement, and he wished he was a third year already. His question was answered though when she removed her watch. He didn't believe the watch to be silver... right?

Anyways, back to FUN. He narrowed his eyes, stepped a few centimetres short of the bars and gave them a looooong, thoughtful look.

"They're cu--cooooool!" He exclaimed, eyes still on the creatures. He had refrained from using the word 'cute' because it was girly. He then glanced back at her with a grin. "I wonder whether pirates had some."

SEE SEE! He laughed. She still was funny though and hadn't lost that trait due to certain changes that had occurred lately. Good to know she had a tighter grip on herself and feelings. At least she managed to turn it off at times, or push it to the back of her mind. Now can she ruffle Forrest's hair again? And maybe pinch his cheeks? He'd probably mind. No kid liked to be treated like one. She knew that very well. So she thought better and refrained from squeezing him in a hug.

Cassia tilted her head at the creatures, and took in the little details about them. They pretty much looked like the ones back at school. Different sizes that's all. She nodded as Forrest's question, "Mhhmm. Or anything that might catch the light and reflect it," And as she said that, she unclasped her watch and shoved it into her pocket. Juuuust to be safe.

She glanced at him as he stood there watching them with such passion. She was glad he enjoyed this better than the flobberworms. She wouldn't have wanted to suggest seeing something more boring.

"They are!" She responded his excitement channeling to her tone. The snake only needed a nudge to get all excited, dramatic and squeaky. And the other way around. She paused upon hearing his question seriously thinking about it and considering it.

"If they weren't Muggles they might have had," And that somehow reminded her of herself and closest friends starting a pirating team. They were first years! "Though, they must have used them on land, I don't think nifflers swim," They were never told about this. She glanced at the machine while digging in her pocket to retrieve the coins she had. Her tips for the day at the Leaky!

Astrid held on tight to whoever the dude was and shivered. Do you see that horn on the unicorn's head? Yes? It was pointing at her, with the unicorn's eyes completely staring at them. That either meant 'hey you're pretty' or 'shut the heck up I have a horn and you don't'. As always, Astrid had thought of the latter because of her phobia for unicorns. "Fiiiiiine," she said and let go of the person before looking up at the dude's face.

O________________o

"YOU!" she said. Of all the people to hug, it was Tag? That person from Hogwarts who had called her 'weird girl' or whatever that name was; Astrid didn't want to remember. Before saying anything else, the zookeeper girl came over to them. Uh-oh. Were they in trouble? "Sorry, ma'am," the brunette said, her bottom lip quivering a bit. "I'm scared. Can I hug you instead?" Mister Tag Leprecorn wouldn't let her hug him. Astrid didn't need the woman's permission so she hugged the zookeeper lady and clinged to her. Save me.

Awwwww, she looked sad.

Rozanna hadn't come over to tell them off or anything, because she was a COOL zookeeper, it was just a friendly reminder. Because she didn't want the luffly animals getting an earache. "Err," Before Rozanna could give the girl any form of comfort, she was already being hugged. Well, that was abrupt. "Sure." She exchanged a look with the boy and then the girl, and then finally looked back at the boy with JUDGY eyes.

"Has this boy upset you?"

Because she had had her fair share of boys upsetting HER. Rozanna carried on hugging the girl. SISTAS OVER MISTAS.

But she soon softened her judging eyes when she realized that this was completely out of her job role. She let go of the girl and patted her on the shoulder. Yessss, she would help, but.... boundaries!

Forrest nodded to show he understood, and held onto bars. They didn't look like they were dangerous, plus his mentor Cassia hadn't warned him yet, so he figured they were safe to be that close.

He craned his neck aaaaall the way back to eye her suspiciously. "How do you know, though? They're clever. They might as well be wizards in disguise. They dealt with witches, after all." Tut tut, Cassia. It didn't suit her level of knowledge to accuse pirates of being muggles.

"If this is all nifflers have, shall we see other animals?" They were still cool. He just didn't want to miss other animals.

The llamas were so cute to Wade. Team Windy were finally at the cage as Wade now began petting the closest one through the cage. Mm, fluffy. He used his hand that was holding Indy's to wrap around her shoulder, getting closer as they watched them. "Same here," Wade agreed. He wanted to ride them, but first to hug them, maybe even feed them too.

Wade then heard a lady's voice, directed towards them. His head turned while still stroking the llama along with holding onto Indy. Aww. Wade's brows furrowed in dissapointment. Well.. I guess we're still allowed to touch them, oh, and feed them too? Wade glanced his head down at Indy. "You want to feed them, Indy?" He smiled softly at her, he didn't mind paying so they both could.

Festival?

Sounded pretty cool.

Fun and games?

Yeah, sure.

Petting zoo?

WOAH YES SIGN ME UP PLEASE.

Tobias had come to the festival to check out all the regular shenanigans and tomfoolery, but had been caught up with all kinds of excitement when he heard about the petting zoo. It had been FOREVER since he'd been close to an animal, unless you counted walking past the Menagerie and staring longingly inside. Last time he'd seen an animal was Care of Magical Creatures when the ITTY BITTY BABY COW had been born. Truebie or something.

The Hufflepuff may be nearly thirteen, but he was still a total kid, and ANIMALS brought out his oh-please-oh-please-let-me-hug-it side. Toby strolled to the petting zoo, absently wondering why he'd even bothered bringing a skateboard with him if he could only ride it between the train stations. Diagon Alley was too cobbled so now he had to deal with it strapped to his bag, which was now ALSO weighed down with new books.

HE was wanting to go see the nifflers, but HELLO WINGED HORSES. That was something he'd never seen before. Tobias approached them in wonder, and soon became aware that he was heading towards a group of girls at the same time.

Then ONE of the girls shouted something about inhuman decency, and Tobias couldn't help himself. He giggled.

Realising what he'd done, Tobias clamped his lips shut and turned his gaze onto the horses, suddenly uncharacteristically shy. He was worried that they would think he was doing MEAN laughing, when he so totally WASN'T. He was nice.

And he also wanted moar friends, so he took a teeny step closer, all casual like.

As she considered herself somehow responsible for Forrest around the creatures, the nifflers at least, since she suggested to come and see them, Cassia paid attention to Forrest as he got closer to the bar. Was anything on him shiny and might simulate the nifflers. Seeing that nothing was catching the light, she turned back to digging into her pockets.

Finding some coins, and looked around, and went up to the closest machine bringing some food to the creatures.

Walking back to Forrest, she tossed what she brought to the nifflers and watched them gobble it quickly. Though she took a step back and lightly pulled Forrest,too. "If you feed a niffler, they trust you and go perch themselves on your shoulder," That's how they got them to treasure-hunt for them. Oh, sounded that he was interested in Pirates. "I do think that there are wizards who are pirates," HER FRIENDS AND HER? No? They didn't count? They actually built a boat in first year and sailed across the lake. West was the captain. though they kinda stopped after that. "Do you like Pirates?" Obviously he did.

Well, they watched them and fed them. So yeah, that was it. "You can feed them, too, if you like," She opened her palm revealing the remaining of what she got from the machine. "Hmmm...." She murmerred looking around at the other cages. "I suppose we can go take a look at the porlocks. Though they're hairy," And short. But she didn't say that. The boy was short, it might be taken personally.

Forrest retreated as she had signalled him to, but he didn't understand why. Was it because of the food? He shrugged to himself. She clearly knew better than he did, so... He would follow her anywhere right now.

He nodded, never looking away from the nifflers, at the information she gave. So she was also a good student to remember all these. "I wish we could pet them," he said, but he wasn't going to stick his hand inside any time soon. He knew from the muggle zoos that it was forbidden. Plus, they weren't that petteble. He would like to go on treasure hunt with them, though.

Well, GOOD that she thought so! "Sure I do!" He eyed her again as if daring her to say she didn't. "Do you?" She would lose some important coolness points if she didn't.

He got half of the niffler food and threw it as best as he could through the bars, and looked expectantly back at her. "Okay." So they could pet porlocks? He smiled. "What are they?"

Tag was paying very close attention. One minute Tag was being held onto by Astrid and the next, it seemed the lady in charge of this petting zoo, had came striding over to their side. Trying his hardest Tag wiggled some more from the person's grip but they just wouldn't let go. This was getting really awkward.

"So-sorry, M'am." Tag apologized in a strained voice. LET GO OF HIM!"Its just.... UNICORNS!" He still managed to say over excitedly.

At long last Astrid had let go of Tag and had continued to hug the lady in charge. Well, at least she wasn't clinging onto him. Was Tag to blame here? No! It was unicorns! Who didn't want to see unicorns?! He was just overwhelmed with joy! "No. Its unicorns though. She hates them, and I love them and she needs to learn to love them, she's just already naturally scared. So, no. I haven't upset her." At least that's what it looked like in his eyes. Tag continued to roll his eyes at Astrid.

Fern turned around at the sound of Tallulah's voice and stuck out her tongue. Then she returned her attention to the winged horse and stood on tiptoes to scratch its neck. When her cousin asked a question, the 11-year-old rolled her eyes dramatically.

"That's stupid," she answered softly, "Abraxans are way too big to race. Unless, well, maybe if you're a half giant or someone cast an Engorgio charm on you or something. But I don't know what race you'd enter, and anyway, you know we only raise-"

Fern was cut off by someone yelling, and she immediately pulled her hand out and turned around. Her immediate inclination was to warn about the dangers of being loud around unfamiliar horses, but then the person's actual words sunk in.

Fern stared at the girl. Then she whipped her head to the side and was about to glower at the giggling boy who had suddenly appeared, but he looked sorry already, so she returned her attention back to the girl.

"Free them?" she hissed, hands balled into fists, "And then what? Can't you tell these horses are already well taken care of? Look at how nicely groomed they are. Their coats are shining, and their manes and tails are untangled and clean. Their eyes are clear, and I bet if we checked their hooves, they would be good too. And you want to take them where? Out in front of the muggles? Winged horses? And Abraxans? Even ignoring the wings, regular horses aren't this big. Clydsedales are big, and even they aren't this huge. And horses don't just go walking through London everyday, you know. So what are you going to do, if you can even get them out of fair, cast a Disillusionment Charm?"

And no, Fern wasn't going to let the girl know how super cute her dress was, because she was ANGRY.

"Well this was definitely not an encounter I could've predicted." But really, none of them had been so far, had they? "You like Creatures?" He guessed. Rusty didn't mind them himself, but it clearly wasn't a supreme area of interest or he'd have gone that way with his career. He still intended to get Lola a pet though, once they had somewhere to live of course.

"You're here alone?" He asked, not looking around for anyone else but instead keeping his gaze politely on Emily. He could see Lola in his peripheral vision though, waiting impatiently for her turn at the feed dispenser.

"Good, my mission has been a success then," she chuckled. Festivals were cool though, with the exception of the crowds and people invading her personal space, that was lame. "Who doesn't?" she asked, eyebrow raised. Because seriously, how could anyone not like creatures? They were so entertaining and far better company than people most of the time. "I can't admit to liking llamas, but the others are pretty cool." Again, minus the flobberworms.

Rusty's next words didn't strike her as being rude or impolite, but rather it made it clear to her that she didn't have a social life, and people knew about it. "Usually am," she replied. Mmm..

Tallulah leant against the side of the enclosure, listening to her explain why Tallulah was so silly. "Right... Of course." Doesn't explain why they don't just HAVE one as a PET, though!

What in the--???

The stranger's outburst startled Tallulah nearly as much as it Fern, though to her cousin's credit, SHE - the CHILD - recovered much more quickly. "... Inhuman decency? What?" She didn't have any space to question the statement further, because Fern was already on the defence. Rubbing the back of her head, Tallulah watched between the two girls while Fern ranted about how letting the horses go were a terrible idea. She nodded, lightly, in agreement.

Well...

This is fun.

Tallulah gazed around, putting her hand into the enclosure to stroke one of the abraxans; looking up when she heard a giggle. Finding the source of the giggle, the boy stood just a little away from them, Tallulah grinned in his direction.

Rusty smiled at her quip and cast his eyes over towards Lola to check on her. Always on his radar and all that. She had the feed but had got distracted eyeing up some bigger kids, but she seemed happy enough for now so Rusty let her be and looked at Emily again. Who didn't like creatures? Lola's mother for one, at least anything that had a smell. Rusty didn't say so though. "The llamas do seem just a tad out of place." He agreed.

"I noticed." He had. Really. "I like that. Means you don't need anyone." But it surely got a little lonely didn't it? Another glance towards Lola. "Well you're welcome to keep us company if you don't mind a precocious six year old choosing where to go and what to do at the fest." Rusty wouldn't mind her company either, but the offer was exactly as casual as his delivery. She could suit herself and he was sure that she would. Nothing hinged on it after all.

Hitching her bag up higher on her shoulder, Emily took a moment to survey the scene, like Rusty, she too glanced over at Lola for a moment. "Just a bit," she agreed. She was certain the shaggy beast would likely spit on her if she gave it a chance, there was something rather unpleasant about its mouth.

"Your the first person who thinks that's a good thing," she remarked. Even with the whole independent thing, which was a good thing, the only people who had supported or influenced this notion of not needing anyone had been her parents, and they were hardly mother and father of the year material. "I was taught if I couldn't look after myself, then I wasn't worth looking after. Go figure... independence and not needing anyone becomes habit after a while."

Rusty's offer was nice though, sweet even. Looking over at Lola once more, Emily hesitated. Though she'd have been content with passing the time herself, Rusty's company... and Lola's... would be appreciated, she actually enjoyed his presence. "Only if Lola has no objections," she decided. The girl was old enough to have opinions and make decisions, therefore she deserved enough respect to be asked. "I'd hate to intrude on daddy-daughter time." Truth.

Aww. They were so cute. Indy wanted one. "Hey you...." Indy beamed, reaching her hand forward to pet the Llama gently. It better not lick her though That wouldn't be to cool. She didn't want to get covered in Llama drool, because that would not be too cool. "He's so softt...." She thought he was a he anyway. She couldn't really tell. She liked him thoughl Llamas were totally her favorite animal now.

Aww. They couldn't ride them. Oh that was kind sad. But at least they wouldn't fall off in that chance. "Too bad..." She murmured with a little frown before smiling at her boyfriend again. "Oooh...that would be cool."

The question was could they pet them? Cassia couldn't think of any reason to not do so. First, it said on the sign Magical petting zoo. If they couldn't pet them, there wouldn't be the petting part, right? Also, the weren't dangerous. "I...think," She started debating whether to let the boy pet them on her watch. "...That it'd be okay if we did. They aren't dangerous you know." And as a proof she extended her arm in between the bars and bent her knees reaching for one of the nifflers. As long as the niffler doesn't latch to her arm and refuse to budge she wouldn't mind.

Actually...that was exactly what happened. Since she just fed them, they pretty much liked her or trusted her or whatever they really felt. She muttered under her breath as she tried to shake the niffler off her without hurting it. She wasn't a bully neither to humans nor to creatures. Not unless they deserved it of course. It took a bit but then she finally managed to wiggle her arm out of the nifflers grip. "Ehh..We probably could have before we fed them." Since her fed them, too, they were most likely to cling to him as well. And since he was smaller, it'd be harder.

Well, it was a rhetorical question, she had already guessed her liked pirates. Then he asked her and she found it necessary that she shared the story with him. "When I was a first year," She started feeling like her grandmother when the old woman told her lots and lots of stories about her long past life. "My friends and I built a small boat and went sailing in the lake," The school's one you know, "I was the navigator of the crew." She told him still looking at the nifflers. Then she slowly looked at him, she brought her fingers to her forehead, saluted then said, "Aye, mate. I do like them," Talk about dramatic. Wasn't she a good actress? Her family would pledge she was one.

After that little show, she chuckled switching back to her own self. Creepy, huh?

"Their cage is there," She pointed as she started walking towards them. "I wouldn't want to pet them, though," Why pet hairy creatures. She wasn't sure of their hygiene. And she didn't know much about them. They weren't that interesting. She wasn't even going to spend money on them and feed them. They were already fat anyway.

Forrest raised his eyebrows as if to say 'Oh?', and let her go petting first. He had to observe her first not to hurt the animals, see? He had figured that much that they were herbivores, thus they were much less dangerous than a dog.

Uh-oh.

He wanted it intently as a niffler loved her too much to let go. He couldn't decide whether it was a crisis at first, but soon enough he was laughing hard. It wasn't a malicious laugh though. And he wasn't petting them after seeing that. No way.

Oh look story time! Forrest LOVED stories, so he turned fully towards her and as his laughing had already stopped, listened in utter silence.

........."WOOOOW, that's so cooooool!" They had built a boat! "Was it wooden? How did you built it? Did you get help from someone older? Was it a sail boat?" Could he build one too, MAYBE? With Tobias, Asher and Charlie? Would they want to sail on lake too? It was JUST. SO. COOL!

"At your service, madam!" He copied her salute as he stood to attention, one hand flatly pressed on his side and all.

And thus, Cassia rose like 38308390 steps higher in his eyes. She was cool already. Now she was brilliant.

He followed her eagerly like a small puppy. His eyes fell on a hairy creatures cage and he started examining them from afar. "Why won't you pet them?" he asked. Were they dangerous? No? Please?