Anya skipped into the quill shop. She wanted one of the scrapbook things she heard about. She... also wanted to buy some sparkly ink. It made homework so much more... tolerable.

She walked around the shop before stopping in front of the scrapbook display.

Oooh! They had Gryffindor ones! How fun!

Hogsmeade wasn't as exciting to go to by herself, but Matt wasn't there to walk around with her. Stella had to go it alone, although she hoped she might run into people she knew so at least she wasn't really there by herself. Not really. For now she was occupied with thinking of more Christmas presents, since at least now it was closer to the holidays. She didn't figure anyone would think her silly for thinking about them now, and there were a few little things she could find here at Hogsmeade for her family. She planned on stopping at Honeydukes before she headed back to the castle to get a few treats for her little brother as well as some chocolate for herself, but first she decided to investigate the quill shop. Perhaps she could find something for Talia there.

Stepping into the shop, she smiled at the cats inside, stepping carefully so as to avoid colliding with any of them. She wasn't against petting them, but first she wanted to see what she could find. And she noticed a younger girl over by the scrapbooks as she angled herself toward the stationery sets. "Looking for something to save all your Hogwarts memories into?," she asked the other girl, just to break the ice. She didn't want to just stand there in the shop ignoring one of the only other people inside, after all. Maybe a silver set?, she thought idly, glancing back at the stationery as she waited to see if she'd get a response. Her sister might like that.

Anya smiled as she looked over the scrapbooks. "Yeah." she said flipping through one. "I don't want to forget something or lose something."

She looked up at the voice. It was an older girl. An upperclassman of some kind. Probably as close to graduating as she was to being a new student.

"Do you have one?" she asked.

Alex always liked looking in the quill shop whenever he came to Hogsmeade. Everything in here was so cool and there were so many awesome inks and stuff he could use on his sketches...if only he had a limitless supply of galleons! Sigh. He took out his money bag and counted how much spending money he had...not much. It looked like he was only going to be able to buy some new ink, not a sketchbook like he'd been eyeing...

If there was one thing that Dale had wanted to bring to Hogwarts with him, it had been his journal. That thing was amazing for keeping a record of every single day, and Dale attributed his brilliant memory for the most useless facts to that thing. Unfortunately, it did hold some information he wouldn't want getting into the wrong hands, so he'd left it behind.

But it was not a diary. No way. NUH UH. Not a diary.

So now, with the option of buying a new one, Dale was gonna go straight ahead and do just that. He pushed through the door of the stationary type shop and shut it carefully behind him. At once, there was a cat at his feet. Dale bent down to pet its head and paused. He couldn't quite believe how DIFFERENT his surroundings kept getting. First Hogwarts, then this.

Eyeing the journals, Dale headed straight for them and unfortunately did not see the other boy who appeared to be counting his money. After a slight stumble into said boy, Dale looked up properly and looked apologetic.

"Oh, sorry dude, wasn't paying attention," he explained. Hm. Did this boy look familiar? Maybe he'd seen him in the common room or something.

Alex gasped as someone walked in to him, probably due to his ridiculous height, and two galleons fell out of his hands and started rolling rolling rollingggg away. With another gasp he fell to the floor and threw his hand over the two escaping coins, catching them JUST before they rolled under a nearby display. Whew! Just in time!

He stood up, dusted himself off and then put his coins safely back in to his bag. "No worries," Alex said with a smile, turning to the person who had walked right in to him. "Caught the runaway money, that's all that matters," he said with a chuckle.

Ah. Okay. Good. The boy was not mad at him. Dale saw this as a success and immediately relaxed. No point getting worked up.

Smiling back, Dale responded with, "Don't you just hate runaway money. Bit of an inconvenience."

Yeah, just a bit. Heh. Dale paused, now wondering if this might be a good time to add a first name to his so far non-existent litany of friends. Um. Yeah. Probably.

"I'm Dale, by the way," he introduced himself. "Hufflepuff."

A brilliant way to work out if he HAD seen this other boy in the common room.

"Yeah, plus I'm saving for a sketchbook so I need every bit I can get," Alex explained with a chuckle. Although...now that he thought about it...he had that coupon...maybe that would knock the price down enough for him to afford one!

He was shaken out of his thoughts however when the boy introduced himself. He smiled and replied, "Hi, I'm Alex...Alex Greingoth. I'm also a Hufflepuff. What year are you?" he asked. He looked like he was only a year or two younger than him...although Alex was awful at estimating ages.

Running a finger over one of the silver quills with the stationery sets, Stella wondered again if her sister would like it. They really were pretty, and she imagined she'd need pretty stationery at some point. Actually, she was tempted to buy a set for herself as well, but maybe that could wait. Most of her free money was going toward Matt's gift, if Talia managed to locate it in time, anyway, and she still needed some for her next stop. Her attention shifted again as the girl she'd spoken to had responded, though, the stationery forgotten for the time being.

"That makes sense," she said with a nod, before giving her a smile as she'd looked up from the scrapbook. "In fact, I don't have one. At least, I don't have one here at Hogwarts with me. I save my memories in other ways," she continued, glancing down at her hand and realizing the ring there probably was the only Ravenclaw-ish thing on her at the moment and even that had a bit of Slytherin on it. Oh well, she thought, returning her attention to the younger girl. "I'm Stella, by the way."

For a moment or two, Dale let his eyes drift away from the boy before him and over to other inhabitants of the shop. Girls. So many girls.

Okay, only two, but still... so many.

Anyway, yes. On with the show. Erm... conversation. Whatever.

Greingoth. That name rang a bell.

... no, couldn't place it.

"Oh, I'm a fourth year. Just turned fifteen recently. But this is my first year here," he added. Just in case, you know, it mattered. "What about you?"

As he spoke, Dale picked up a journal from a nearby shelf and flipped through the pages as though he were browsing through a good book. It had... potential.

Ajournal, was what Sarah needed. She had already finshed her old one. She looked at the display. She finally opted for a hot pink journal. She went over to pay when the scrapbooks caught her eye. The gryffinodr lion stared back at her menacely. She HAD to get it. She was going to buy it for her birthday present. Alhtough February was still a while off.

"Fifth year," Alex replied, following Dale's actions by picking up a nearby sketchbook on display and looking at it. He was awful at mental math but he was hoping that coupon would knock the price down enough for him to afford it.

"Oh really? Were you homeschooled?" he asked, hoping that the boy didn't think he was prying or being nosy, he was just curious. And looking to make conversation.

Anya looked at the older girl. "Other ways?" she asked. Anya couldn't help her interest being peeked. "Like... a shoebox? Or... photo album?" Those were the only way that she was aware of for keeping things.

"Anya Phillips." she said holding out her hand toward the older girl. "Do you come here often?" she asked. "Because I was trying to think of a fun ink to get..." And she didn't really know the difference between the metallic and the sparkly colors. Well, she knew what the words meant... she was more interested in which would make taking notes more enjoyable.

Hmm... maybe neon was the way to go instead? Who would fall asleep in front of fun neon colors?

Oddly, probably because she'd gotten a bit lost in her thoughts again, Stella hadn't really expected the younger girl to have questioned her comment about saving her memories in ways other than a scrapbook. Maybe it was because she didn't really have an answer that made much sense, since she'd more been thinking about the memories that weren't tangible. Although her promise ring was very tangible. She need to give some sort of answer, though. "Something like that," she said, nodding slightly. She did have a journal of sorts, where she could write her memories down if she liked. She rarely actually used it, in any case. Plus, she had the photos from that one Potions lesson, when she'd snuck up on Matt by the Willow when he'd been playing his keyboard. She had a feeling that wasn't what was being asked about, however.

At least there was the distraction of introductions, and she smiled again as she stepped forward to take Anya's outstretched hand. "Stella Gardiner," she replied, just because she'd gotten the other girl's full name. "It's nice to meet you, Anya." Yet another younger student to add to her list of acquaintances. She shurgged at the next question, though. "Not exactly. I just came in because I thought i could find a gift for my sister," she explained, taking a step or two toward the inks anyway. She could still maybe help. "I'd think brightly colored ink would be fun. Or sparkle ink. Basic is too normal, and the metallics are a bit more elegant." That was her opinion, at least, even if she'd been looking at silver stationery for Talia. "Do you have a favorite color?" That could make things fun, too.

"Cool," Dale nodded. Fifth year. Not too bad as guessing the ages of his peers went. The boy had of course been hoping to find a friend close to him in age, and this might work.

Ahhhhh yes. His schooling. "Yeah. My dad taught me some stuff and my brother taught me a lot. They suggested I come here this year and see if I like it," Dale explained. He left out the part where Jake's EXTREMELY mixed feelings about the place made him very apprehensive about coming here. "Plus, having two, like, eight year old brothers doesn't really constitute having a social life," he added with a smile.

Maybe this was a good time to... yes. Yes. He'd just go ahead. "So... so Hogwarts... Is it, like, a good place to be?" Dale tried to ask the question as though he was merely curious, but whether that showed or not he did not know.

Aww, it was a bummer that this older girl wasn't being very talkative? What if she had a cool magical memory saver?

Ehh... oh well.

"You have a pretty name." she said shaking the older girl's hand. Stella Gardiner. It sounded like... she gardened stars or something.

"Oh! Fun! I love present shopping!" She seriously did. Nothing beat picking out something that someone else would love. It was like sharing at it's absolute best! "How old is your sister?" she asked.

She nodded when the conversation turned to ink. "I was thinking about either sparkle or neon." she said. "Something to make my school notes more... exciting!" Anything to keep her from falling asleep while writing or revising.

"I like... umm... all colors." She didn't really have a favorite.

Alex laughed. "I know the feeling, my socialization primarily consists of my niece and nephew every summer, because I'm currently living at my sister's house," he explained to him. He wasn't about to go in to detail as to WHY he lived there, but it wasn't uncommon for siblings to sometimes live with their older grown up siblings, so he'd leave it at that.

"Yeah, I like it. I like it a LOT," he reassured the boy with a smile. "I mean, some crazy stuff tends to happen," he admitted--no need trying to act like the place was TOTALLY sane--"but if drama isn't your thing, it's pretty easy to stay under the radar," he explained. He'd done that for a good chunk of time, simply because he was a bit introverted and it took him a while to get used to...people. And talking to them.

"Ah, see... being with my brother means I'm away from a kajillion little kids," Dale smiled. He had to hand it to Cole and Dexter; they had a lot of friends.

A LOT of friends.

LOUD. FRIENDS.

Ah yes... the crazy stuff. "My brother told me about some of the weird stuff around this place. Mind you... he's trouble enough on his own. Thanks to him I have to worry about bearing the name Upstead," Dale smiled in a way that was halfway between a smirk and halfway between a grin. "So, other than the gravitating pull of about nine hundred cats, what brings you here?" Dale eyed the book in Alex's hand. "Sketchbook?"

Stella was starting to wonder if Anya had picked up on her reticence to really answer the question about how she made sure her memories wouldn't be forgotten. It was more that she'd just met the girl, and she didn't particularly feel like going into all of her personal details quite yet. Plus, it just felt like she'd be letting her down if she hadn't had a story like that she had her own Pensieve. Which she most definitely did not have. It was much easier just moving on to other topics, and she'd smiled as the younger girl had complimented her on her name. "Thank you," she replied simply, as Anya had shaken her hand. "You have a pretty name as well, in its own way."

The converesation had gone back to the shop they were in, it seemed, though, and she'd smiled again at the exuberant comment. "So do I. It's just a bit complicated deciding what the person might like, if you don't have ideas to begin with," she replied. She was still leaning toward the stationery set, for the time being for the gift she was actually looking for, but she didn't mind if Anya was curious if she could help. She'd tried to help with the ink situation, after all. "Talia's 21," she added, nodding as her suggestions about ink were starting to be mulled over. The gift for her sister could wait a bit longer. Both ideas were good. "It's too bad it doesn't seem like they have color-changing ink here," she thought aloud, looking over the options. There were color-changing quills, but ink would be more exciting in her opinion. Especially if Anya didn't have a favorite color. She could get all the colors at once.

Anya smiled. Her name wasn't really pretty... but it was foreign, so in it's own little way, it was pretty cool. And it meant "Grace," so that was pretty cool too.

"Well all girls like pretty things." she said. It was practically law. Of course, everyone had their differing opinions on "pretty," but stationary was pretty standard. "And clothes. And jewelry." Really, shopping for girls was a lot simpler than shopping for boys.

Although, 21 was considered grown up, she didn't know if grown up ladies liked cute things like girls did... she'd just go ahead and assume they did.

"Did she go to Hogwarts?" Anya asked. Because if she did, she could get her sister some Hogwarts themed stuff. Like a scarf! Her parents liked getting stuff with their old alma mater... so, same rules applied, right?

Anya blinked. "They make color-changing inks?" she asked. "How come that wasn't on the required list for school?!" Seriously. That seemed like something that was essential. She was so asking for one for Christmas now.

But in the mean time, she'd settle for one of the sparkly ones. She... just had to pick one.

Stella was observant enough to tell that there might have been an argument brewing about her returning the compliment about her own name and applying it to Anya. In the same respect, she wasn't lying when she'd said she thought it was pretty, but then perhaps Anya thought of her own name like Risa did. She still didn't quite understand why her best friend didn't like being named Clarise, but then she'd also never asked. It was easier to just refer to her as Risa, as she'd done since she was seven. The anticipated argument from the Gryffindor hadn't happened, though, so she chose not to ask for it. Instead, she merely grinned at the comment about girls liking pretty things. And jewelry. That was certainly something that applied to herself, although the meaning behind said jewelry meant more.

"She did," she confirmed, as Anya had asked if her sister had gone to Hogwarts. "I think she has enough house themed things, though. I'd get her something related to film noir, but that isn't really available here in Hogsmeade." She couldn't exactly do the same as she'd done about Matt's Christmas present, either. She couldn't ask her own sister to buy her own present, which was why she'd gone toward the thought of the stationery set. It was elegant, pretty, and could be used for just about anything. The reaction to her comment about the inks was entirely more amusing, moreso than a younger student helping her buy a gift for Talia, and she'd found herself smiling again. "I think so. I think you might be able to find some in Diagon Alley, although I've never looked. It's certainly an interesting idea, in any case, and I think Hogwarts likes keeping things consistent." Considering the black robes, and ther rest of the uniform. That was why uniqueness was so important. However it could be managed, and she found herself hoping that Anya could figure out her way to make things amusing for herself. At least she had Oberon to amuse her when she was bored while studying.

Edina walked down the stairs from her room holding one of her favorite cats...wait did she really have a favorite...of course not...she loved them all equally...she smiled at that thought and petted Jazz's head softly knowing that would make the cat purr instantly. Two other cats, Joey and Rolz, followed behind the woman stretching as they walked.

When she reached the bottom stair, she was surprised at all of the students in her shop...was it already that time for the students to come visit...she placed Jazz on the floor beside her and spoke up,

"Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Scriveshaft's Quill Shop, the feather in Hogsmeade's hat..." she said with pride at the feather part...she had made that up all by herself and was proud of the tagline, "Let me know if you need anything at all...o...and welcome to Hogsmeade as well..." she said with a smile as she hurried towards the counter at the front of the store. The three cats trailing behind her rubbing occasionally on a student's leg. Once close to the counter, all three of them joined their other cat cohorts on the cat towers on each side of the counter.

"Oh! She likes those old black and white movies?" Anya asked. And yes, Anya had heard a thing or two about the movies that we made over a century ago.

She nodded. There wasn't any muggle stuff at all. "You could try an owl order." the Gryffindor suggested.

Or maybe a stationary set! And that's when Anya realized what the older girl had been looking at. Whoops. She was a little slow in the uptake.

"I'll have to look next time I'm in Diagon Alley." she said happily. Now she had something exciting to look forward to! In the meantime, she hoped the sparkly inks would be entertaining enough.

Oh! And there was the shopkeeper too! That was excellent timing. She reached down and pet one of the cats as it walked by. "There sure are a lot of cats here..." she commented. Yeah. She just now noticed that.

That certainly wasn't expected. Stella had actually regretted mentioning Talia's odd little predilection during the discussion of possible gifts, but it appeared Anya, for all her youth, at least knew a bit of what was being talked about. It was an interesting little discovery, but Stella merely smiled. "She does. In fact, she's currently studying Wizarding law in university. I think she wants to be a private detective," she replied, laughing a little as she concluded. It wasn't that she thought it funny that her sister wanted to go into that as a career, not exactly. It was more amusing that Anya had gotten that fact from her. Besides, she knew most people would likely think her crazy for wanting to be an actress.

"I could," she added, nodding slightly at the sugestion of using owl order for her sister's gift. "If I knew exactly where to look, and I'm not sure if school owls should be used for owl order services anyway." She certainly couldn't use her cat to send out an order, and, speaking of cats... there were three more. Along with the shopkeeper, who got a smile from her as she'd passed. She could ask about the stationery sets in a moment. After she'd finished her conversation, and besides, they were discussing merchandise. There couldn't be many complaints with that, and the smile came back as Anya seemed happy about the idea of color-changing ink. "That sounds like a plan," she replied, "or perhaps you could ask the shopkeeper here if she could get you some." She was half-tempted to ask the cats. Although none of them looked like kneazles exactly, so maybe they wouldn't know enough to put in an order for ink. They didn't bother her in any case. "There are, " she agreed, as the Gryffindor had commented on the animals. "They remind me of my cat, back at school."

But they had things to buy. The cats could wait for a while, although she wanted to go over and pet them now.