***

Mordred pocketed the piece of parchment that Ethan owled him days before as he eyed the lone street of Hogsmeade that lead to Hogwarts. The former Slytherin closed his tired eyes and shook his head knowing full well that Ethan won’t be there on time. Kid is usually not late, but Mordred did consider that his cousin might be dead tired from all the lectures and homeworks. He was once a Hogwartians and he knows about these things. Deciding that he should make this trip a useful one, Mordred made his way inside the Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop and looked at the inks for sale.

The former Slytherin wore a grin on his face as the memory of him purchasing a stationary set for a good old friend flooded his brain. He didn’t know what to pick at that time, and was thankful that a Gryffindor girl named Ari, approached him to help him out. Mordred however wondered what happened to her. He never saw her again after that…

Truth be told, Simon was a little bit nervous about meeting Ethan's cousin by himself. What if he made a complete fool of himself in front of the really cool Mordred guy? He'd feel terrible about it for days. However, luckily, he'd received Ethan's note that informed him that he'd catch up to him and Mordred later and the note also included some information about Ethan's pretty special friend (Josette) . As he was about to leave, Simon gave his friend a nudge and then headed out the door.

After asking several people for directions to the Quill shop, Simon found it quite quickly and wrote down the name. Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. It'd be important to remember it later. Opening the door, he stepped in from the frigid weather and rubbed his hands together to warm up. He spotted Mordred immediately, remembering the photo of the boy that Ethan had shared with him a week or two ago.

Time to be brave.

He approached the boy with a kind grin on his face. Hi! Excuse me, you're Mordred, right?" he asked as he held his hand out for a handshake. "I'm one of Ethan's friends. I'm Simon. Ethan's on his way." He omitted the part about the girl. He'd subtly drop it into the conversation later. Heh. "So I hear you work with dragons? That's awesome!"

Mordred pressed his lips as he examined the bottle of inks before him and decided on which one to get. He’s currently working on a book, detailing his dragon adventures, and taking down notes and drawings of the different species that he’ll come across in the future. The former Slytherin, still undecided on what to get, moved towards the journals section. “Yes, yes. I’ll be needing one soon…” Mordred got one from the shelf and examined it carefully.

He didn’t realize that someone already entered the shop, and was actually talking to him. Mordred did a double take and eyed the boy’s outstretched hand. Was Ethan that talkative? Did his cousin actually told this boy everything about him? The boy, who goes by the name Simon, knew his name…and that he knows about his love for dragons. “I…see.” The 21-year old returned the gesture and shook the boy’s cold hand. Mordred also took notice of the bloody weather. It seemed that the weather in Hogsmeade is colder now compared to Russia. Which is…very odd. “Ethan’s on his way?” Mordred’s eyes narrowed and towered over the boy. “What’s keeping him?” Because it is unusual of Ethan to be late.

And yes. Dragons. Mordred tilted his head in curiosity. “Yes, It's my second year studying dragons back in St. Petersburg.” He said as he wondered what else Ethan told this boy. Merlin knows what else he told the whole school. “…and yes, I work part-time for the Russian Dragon Reserve as well.” Mordred smirked at the boy and returned the journal he was holding back up the shelf. “Are you into dragons as well, Simon?” Simon’s his name right? If there was one thing Mordred’s not good at…it would be remembering names. Heh.

Well, he was just a bucket of sunshines and rainbows, thought Simon as he disappeared off into his own thoughts for a bit. Suddenly, he was brought back to the present when Mordred asked him what was keeping Ethan.

Well long story short....

"Ethan stayed out pretty late last night exploring the castle. He gave me a letter to say give him a nudge and head on out ahead of him to meet you. He didn't want to keep you waiting," explained Simon, remembering when he poked his friend and got several grunts in response. He didn't want Mordred to be mad with Ethan. That was the last thing that Simon wanted.

His eyes widened with excitement as Mordred began speaking about his work with dragons. He was studying dragons in Russia? That was doubly cool. Simon had always wanted to explore the world as a child and hoped one day that he'd get to visit St. Petersburg and Moscow. Maybe if he studied dragonology, perhaps he too would do the same thing as Mordred. "Yep, I am. And yes, I'm Simon," he re-affirmed. "I've always been intrigued by dragons since I was quite young. Care of Magical Creatures is one of my favourite classes. I'm quite envious that your year got to watch an actual dragon grow for a term. That must've been so interesting!

Cinnamon wasn't sure why she was in this shop. She really didn't need anything there. It was just fun to go look around, see what they had or see who she may run into.

As she started looking around at the items she thought to herself that maybe she could use a new sketch book and quills and ink.

Cinna looked around there wasn't that many people in here. It was so nice and quiet unlike the other loud and busy shops. So she wander over to the front corner first where the quills were.

…explored the castle? All day?

Well, that’s something Mordred will not do. He’d rather be outdoors sketching away, or spend time with the magical creatures back in the Barn, or be in the Dueling Arena practising his spells. The former Slytherin’s brows furrowed. He’s not mad…but his interest definitely piqued. His innate auror instincts went to work as he sliced the information Simon told him. Mordred took note, or at least sense that Ethan did not get caught wandering the halls of Hogwarts that late. The 21-year old nodded, clearly impressed. “Maybe he is a Slytherin after all.” Professor Hecate Lafay—his old Head of House and Mama Snake always told them not to get caught, and it’s something that Mordred would like to pass down to Ethan soon. He had been wandering, so he better not get into trouble. “Would you know how he’s doing in class?” The former Slytherin crossed his arms across his chest. Ethan should at least get something inside his head and not waste his time wandering, yeah?

…talkative Ethan.

Even his fourth year in Hogwarts was spilled to this boy! Well, at least it was the good stuff, yeah? Mordred uncrossed his arms and jammed his hands inside his pockets as he looked outside the store. A grin slowly formed on his face as the memory of Professor Williamson teaching them how to take care of a baby dragon came to mind. He really ought to pay the man a visit real soon. “Dragons are the most magical beings out there.” Mordred confirmed this with a nod. “They have always been a wonder to man, and it still is.” And the 21-year old thinks that keeping their mystery hidden will always, always make them special. “Keep that attitude up, and you just might end up in one of the Reserves across Europe. I have a friend who’s currently in Romania. She’s a Dragon Hatchling Specialist.” And Kurumi is one of the Gryffindors that he looks up to, even if Sierra hates her to no end simply because they both liked Dragons. “Do you want to specialize in Dragons in the future?” he asked Simon. It might be a little too early to decide, but then again if Simon’s heart was into it, Mordred could be looking at a possible protégé.

He needed more ink.
And parchment.

Jun had been writing a whole lot lately that he didn't even notice he was running low on things. That was until he was trying to do some homework and ran out of ink. Sure, he could've asked to borrow some but he felt like he was bothering people if he did. The boy walked along the streets of Hogsmeade, bundled up more than usual because it was just colder this term. Walking into the shop, the first thing he looked for was ink. Though parchment would be good too but he could rip some out of his journal. The few pages that were left anyway.

Maybe he'll even send Kai some parchment to write his raps on.

Charlotte walked down the street of Hogsmeade in her purple coat, looking around for things she needed. There was no one to hang out with today so she just figured a walk in Hogsmeade would be nice for her. And, honestly, any time she got the chance to wear her puprle coat, she would. It was her new favorite article of clothing and she made sure everyone noticed it.

Passing by Scrivenshaft's, Char remembered that she actually need more ink for her quills. Now that she was actually doing homework, she tended to run out of ink faster and decided now was as good a time as any to get it. Walking into the building though, she saw someone who looked familiar but not at the same time -- he'd dyed his hair again. Right. "Um...Jun?" She was still standing by the entrance and wanted to make sure she didn't scare him on accident. "Hey." Because they were going to work things out now, right? She'd just have to keep reminding herself no to be weird and make things awkward.

Good thing about being tall?

You could reach the high shelves without asking for help. Pretty sure the employees were already too busy with other people and supplies. Reaching up for the green ink, Jun grabbed it and kept looking for other inks. Maybe black for school stuff and all. Oh, and he needed a new journal. Definitely needed that. Messy red hair passed by the shelves; Jun should've worn a hat today. But instead had earmuffs on for some reason. When looking at the journals, his head tilted up at the sound of his name.

Oh.

Giving her a small smile, he returned the greeting. "Hi," he said, grabbing a journal and examining it. Nah, this one wasn't sturdy enough for his nonsense. Which a certain someone didn't like him calling it that.

Okay, so, was that it? She said hi to him...but was she supposed to go and have a whole conversation with him? Or would he just prefer it if she just left him alone??

Charlotte hated having to ask herself a million and one questions when it came to talking to him. This entire situation was all her fault because she sucked but still, she didn't like second guessing herself every time she needed to decide whether or not to speak to someone who used to be her best friend.

"So..um, how are you?" Maybe that was a loaded question but she figured it was better then 'how's being bipolar going?'

Someone had walked into the building just then, forcing her to move away from the doorway and near him. Char looked around at different colored inks while waiting for his reply. It wasn't like she didn't need ink anyway.

Why were they in here? This was a school store and school meant work, but now that he was dating he had to do what she wanted or at least that's what Luc told him to do. His brown eyes glanced around the boring shop and he wondered if he could annoy the others in here some how. Maybe set off a dungbomb, that could be fun.

His grin grew at the thought of everyone freaking out about it. He did have some with him, he always carried a little supply in his pocket. "So what are you looking for in here?" He figured maybe it wouldn't be nice to set a dungbomb off with Cinna right there.

As Mordred got right down to the nitty gritty details of how Ethan was doing in class, Simon paused for a second. He knew only a little, but he didn't take it into his hands to be Ethan's minder. "I believe he's doing well. He's always one of the first to complete his homework," he replied becoming more serious as homework was a serious topic. Yes, sir. After all, Ethan was one of the top point getters for Slytherin. So was Cutty. Simon was slacking a little. He needed to pick up his game more to catch up to his two mates.

Now they were getting into the juicy stuff! Dragons had been brought up and Simon could've sworn that he saw Mordred smile a little. Smiling was good.. That was a better sign. He nodded. Then a smile broke across Simon's face. A really genuine smile. Really? If he kept it up, he could be working with dragons? "Merlin, that would be brilliant. A dragon hatching specialist? Awesome," he said trying to remain as calm as possible at the idea. He had four more years of schooling to go here at Hogwarts before he could do that. Simon hoped that perhaps one day he too could meet Mordred's cool friend who was a dragon hatching specialist because their job sounded amazing.


Now was he looking at becoming a dragon specialist? He thought so, but then again Cutty's suggestion of looking into the career of a Healer sounded cool too. Simon thought it'd be best to research both for now until he got some actually hands-on experience in the field. "Yes, I am. I've always enjoyed working with magical creatures and I've done a lot of reading up on dragons outside the Hogwarts' curriculum," he explained. Yep, he had done some of the research; however, there was always more to do. "However, I don't know what kind of specialist I'd like to be yet." He had figured that he could decide that later. "How did you decide what speciality you wanted to enter into?"

You know what was coming up soon? NEWTS. And what did NEWTS mean? Studying. For three hours a week. With the study master. Who was crazy when she studied. No one would mention how much she studied.

But, what Tag needed to do was stock up on school supplies and what not so that he could even begin to try and study. The boy went around the shop trying to figure out just what he needed to buy. It was essential he get the right products and nothing more. Then he found himself staring upon the section made out for journals.

Tag should be rewarded just for coming here. It was a miracle.

When you start Hogwarts, it seems great, like you have absolutely nothing to worry about and it will all be magic and fun the whole time. They skate over the details like OWLs and NEWTs, the most stressful sets of exams ever. Little first years don't know what's going to hit them. Like it had hit Bliss. Multiple times. The Christmas holidays, for example, were supposed to be relaxed and enjoyable family times, but Bliss' had been jam packed with studying. Studying being the reason that she was out of the house and not studying for once. With all the work she had been doing, she raced through all the supplies she had and now she was out of ink and parchment and her quills ... they weren't looking to great anymore. All of that she needed to stock up on.

She was being so quick about it, in fact, that she hadn't even noticed a certain blond also in the shop.

Instead, she was piling her arms full of the parchment and quills she needed, only briefly noticing how ... unstable the things were in her arms. Bliss only made it two or three steps towards the ink before the things on the top of the pile toppled to the ground. She could now feel eyes on her and she rushed to pick the things up, only to drop more things in the process. With an annoyed huff, a stressed out Bliss dropped to the floor and just sat staring at the ridiculous stationary that had defeated her.

…what…really?

Mordred blinked at Simon’s response. Ethan’s actually one of the first few students to complete their homeworks? The former Slytherin could not believe his ears. For a moment there, Mordred spaced out. How could a hyper-active child, like Ethan, could be contained in a dull room doing homework? How is that even possible? The former Slytherin tilted his head, a hint of surprise on his face. “Is that so? Hmm.” Mordred was not 100 percent satisfied with this because knowing his cousin, that feat is just…close to impossible. The 21-year old nodded, and waved his worry out of his mind. He will know if Ethan’s slacking, but he better be doing well.

“I guess you can say that.” Mordred replied as he fixed his serious eyes on Simon. “Since dragon eggs are rare to find, utmost care are given to them to make sure that they hatch properly.” They did cover the basics back in Hogwarts, but he knew that there’s more to it than what Professor Williamson demonstrated to them. With that thought in mind, he made a mental note to owl Kurumi ASAP about the eggs he rescued recently in Wadi Doan. If only the former Gryffndor Prefect was around…

“That’s understandable, Simon. You’re just in your third year. You have a lot of time to think over it.” Mordred grinned at the boy and picked another journal from the shelf and examined it. Meeh, too big. “How?” The man simply shrugged. “You go for the specialization where you know you’ll never get tired of doing.” He said as he flipped the blank pages of the journal. “We’ve got lots of specialists in Russia. We have the Hatchling Specialist, Researchers, Tamers, Trackers, and Riders.” Mordred placed the journal back and got another one. The former Slytherin however looked up from the notebook, then to the boy when he heard his explanation. “Let’s see what you’ve got then. What kind of dragon have you looked up?” He wanted to know.

Tag continued glancing about on the shelves for the notebooks and journals, trying to figure out which one would do him best for his studying and note taking and what not. The blonde, though, did hear some noises, but thought nothing of it, thinking that whoever was in the shop, was, as well, riffling through all the products to see which was best.

Ok. Now the blonde could hear a real mess happening. What in the world was going on? Oh. Wow. Either A. Bliss' feet had gave out, or B. all of those products had caused her trouble. Sighing Tag went over to her and looked down at her, "I'm almost certain students can't work at Hogsmeade, but, shouldn't the shopkeeper be the one inspecting if her or his shop's floor is clean enough?" Tag said slightly teasingly. Honestly.

He got on his knees and stared upon the entire mess. He wasn't sure what was Bliss' so the boy simply stacked the parchments up in a neat pile again and just held it. Was this her's or was it from the shelf? Did she need help with anything else?

Bliss was just sat there staring at the stupid mess she'd made so intently, that she almost didn't notice someone come up in front of her. Her eyes moved upwards and she had to do a double take. This couldn't be happening. Tag was coming to her rescue? He's wasn't ignoring her or standing on her while she was down? Though, she didn't really think he'd do the latter. Out of all the people in the Wizarding World. Him?

Don't get her wrong, she didn't mind Tag, but they hadn't properly talked in nearly two years, so this came .. as a surprise to say the least.

The blonde gathered her thoughts and meet his eyes, a faint smile on her lips. "You're right, but I thought I'd give them a hand .. and I must say, there isn't a speck of dust in sight," she replied with the same level of humour that he'd spoke with. "Not so good as a landing mat, though," she said and grimaced. She probably should offer up explanation as to why she was on the floor, but it could wait.

Instead, she just watched in a sort of daze as Tag pick up all the parchment that she'd dropped. After he'd finished, she picked up a couple of other items that she'd knocked from the shelves and looked back at him. "Thank you, Tag," she mumbled, reaching for the parchment. No need for him to hold onto it any longer than necessary. Now what? She didn't want this to get awkward .... but seriously.

Jun hummed to himself, like always. Just a random song he remembered was on his iPod when he used it. Picking up another journal and looking at it, Jun put it back and kept searching. Was it really this hard to pick one out? "Been better. I guess I'm now stressing over auditions I have during summer. Maybe it was a mistake getting into this program," His condition and the stress were making him sleepless again. But the potions helped for some time. "I like your purple coat," he grinned, picking up another journal.

"How about you? Been chowing down on candy?" That's basically what Char lived off of. Or the previous times he had cooked for them both and made her eat a real meal. "Question," he said, picking out another journal with the previous and showing them to her. "Which do you think looks better? The plain black or the blue one?"

Char really hated how much Jun stressed about this trainee program. She knew that in the long run, he'd be happy because it was what he'd always wanted but it wasn't good for him now and as much as she wished she could do something to keep him from stressing, he was as hard headed as she was and she knew there was nothing she could do. "That means the audition you just had went well though, right? That's good at least." She hadn't ever gotten the chance to ask him about it and had been wondering for a while. "Just make sure you take breaks, you have plenty of time to practice." She also hated how much he overworked himself.

In her head, Charlotte was cheering to herself because she'd gotten a compliment on her coat. "Thanks," she grinned and picked out purple ink.

She knew he'd never ask about Declan and she was okay with that because she wasn't really even sure what she'd say about him anyway. Dec was, after all, just her friend for now. "I don't think I'd ever stop munching on candy, Jun." Food just did not taste as good as candy did, everyone knew that, they were just in denial of it. "Otherwise, I'm doing well. Glad to be back here now. Home was good for about two seconds." Seconds...days. Same thing.

"Um...blue one? Kind of matches that hoodie you have, right?"

"Yeah, except I really sprained my ankle during those auditions. Looked terrible for days until I went to St. Mungos to get it fixed," Y'know, when he didn't scream at the pain of even getting up from the bed. but eventually he went and got a healer with a weird surname. Fanelli. Yeah, that name wouldn't really least Jun's head. Plus, he was nice; explained everything about his disorder in wizarding terms and gave him potions for them. Maybe Jun'll make him his regular healer. "I know. But practice keeps me distracted from things. Especially when I can't sleep," But he has been lately so Jun might tone it down. Just a little.

Jun smiled and nodded. It was her favorite color after all. "I know, that's why I made you food sometimes. Just to get a small break from candy," Because cavities were still a thing. Which was why he cut back, aside from the program and all. "So break was boring? That's a shame," Not like Jun did anything big during break. Auditions. Hospitals. Christmas. Finding out he was going to be a big brother. He nodded again. "I actually lost that hoodie somewhere. Don't remember where I put it last," Too bad. And it was his favorite too.

Was something wrong with Bliss? She probably had a million thoughts floating in her head, and if she did, Tag couldn't blame her. Last time they had talked, not really talked, but more so an awkward bump in, things were weird? Yes, weird. At least this time around, Tag would try to keep things slightly friendly, or at least, on the polite level.

Then she started talking, thank goodness for no awkward silences or anything like that. And, actually, Tag hadn't expected Bliss to return her voice in a slightly comedic manner. It had surprised him, to say the least. "That's good. Now, if the shopkeeper comes here and asks why you're on the floor, you can just say you were inspecting it. Its in tip top shape." Seriously. Now for the rest of the shop, Tag highly doubted Bliss wanted to 'inspect' everything. "Definitely not a good landing mat. It should be cushioned or something. In case if someone falls onto it in the future again." Tag said. No injuries or anything of the sort.

Bliss had dropped her stuff by accident, so, seeing as Tag had been there, it had only been right and kind of him to help. It shouldn't seem that odd of a sight, Tag doing something like this. "You're welcome." The blonde said in reply, passing her the parchments as she stretched out her hands to him.

Was she going to stay on the floor forever?

Sigh. Of course he did. Why didn't he listen to anyone who told him to lay off of his ankle? She was pretty sure eeeeveryone told him not to overdo it but he did anyhow. At least he got through to the next round of auditions, that was something. "I'm glad you finally got it looked at. So, does that mean your ankle will be okay from now on?" Because then that would be one less thing for Jun to worry about which would make everyone happy. "Yeah, well, just be really careful." Otherwise there would be a room full of Jun's friends and family all waiting for him to get better and no one wanted to that..mostly because Char didn't want to be in a room with Lex...or Kai, for that matter. She was pretty sure he was still upset with her.

"I ate real food too, y'know?" Why was it that no one thought she actually ate? She would not be able to survive off of just candy. C'mon now, people! "I just eat at weird times is all." So people hardly ever saw her in the Great Hall eating with them.

Charlotte shrugged and nodded. "I didn't expect it to be anything great. I got to see my dad for once, which was really cool." Because she could exactly remember the last time she'd seen him. It had been sometime over the summer break but, honestly, he was never around much when she was home. His job took up all of his time. "Seriously? It was nice...why not get another?"

He nodded. "I just forgot to wear my ankle brace that day and some idiot purposely made me step wrong," That same gave that he had tripped for not staying still while waiting for their group audition to be up. Nasty one he was too. Someone should tie the boy down to a chair next time and not make the others nervous. They had enough of that already. "I try, but somehow being careful doesn't really work out for me so," Never did. Reason why back in Bergen, the doctors at the local hospital always asked, "What did you break this time?"

"Yeah, but rarely. You mostly feed of candy," Ate at weird times? Yeah, okay.

"This is why you always plan ahead for breaks. Or think of things to do," Gotta keep occupied and all since school was out of the way. And lots of free time. Well, for some people. Jun sighed. He didn't need to be reminded his favorite hoodie was now gone. He didn't even know why it was his favorite. Maybe because it was his house color and wore it most often than others? Maybe? "I asked for one for Christmas but I got a silver bracelet instead? Not that I mind. Maybe I'll find a new one over summer," And when they were cheaper in price too.

How in the world managed to forget his ankle brace on the day he actually needed it, she had no idea but she wasn't going to bother him about it any longer. She knew that if she continued telling him over and over that he needed to be careful and wear his brace and rest and yada yada yada, he'd get annoyed with her and not because it was her but because other people had given him that lecture before. Jun was an adult, he knew better already. "Mhmm. Maybe there's a spell or something that can keep you from hurting yourself so much." With all of the spells out there, surely there was one that could help Jun.

Okay, yes, she ate loads of candy but Charlotte always made sure to eat one real meal a day. Did that mean nothing to anyone anymore? Whatever. She would just drop it for now. This was already two people making comments about her eating habits, if another one did it within the next week, she'd give up candy just to prove a point. If she needed something to eat when stressed out she'd just...uh..eat carrots or something.

"I was kind of preoccupied." Honestly. She had planned to go to Korea to see Jun on the day of his audition and just hang out with his family for a bit but as she had told him before, she just didn't feel like that was his place. She didn't want to show up and have people not want her there so instead she stayed home, got to see her dad and pets...and the rest of her family. It really wasn't all that bad. "A silver bracelet? What kind?" She didn't really understand why they'd give him a bracelet but who was she to judge?