Petals of Oleander

Chapter 15: Queenie and Fawna

As we walked down the stairs, Dad was unusually chatty.

"Do you know what's interesting, my love?" He asked. 

"What?" 

"Jellyfish are made of 95% water. Did you know that?" He laughed

"No, I hadn't heard of tha-"

"AND, they don't have brains!" He laughed again.

As we neared the bottom of the stairs I could faintly hear Poppa and Kreature speaking in sharp tones. I tried to listen, but Dad was getting louder and louder as we got closer to the door of the study. 

"They just float around aimlessly all day, and THEY ARE SCIENTIFICALLY CLASSIFIED AS PLANTS! BRILLIANT! HOW FUNNY IS THAT?" He was practically yelling until we were halfway down the hall to the front door. 

"YEs, er, quite funny." I replied. If this day got any stranger I would not be surprised if a team of scientists came over and classified us as clinically insane. 

Finally, we arrived at Three Broomsticks and took a small booth in the corner. 

"So, tell me, how are you enjoying being back in London?" Dad asked as he unfolded a menu and handed it to me. 

"It's good to be at home. I do get slightly bored from time to time, but I'm doing my best to stay busy." I replied. 

"That's something I had noticed, yes." Dad nodded "Actually, I was wondering if you might be interested in doing a bit of shopping after we eat. We could pick up some art supplies, or maybe a new book or two." 

"Yes, I'd like that a lot." I smiled. 

I ordered a mushroom pie and we ate happily, discussing plans for the rest of the summer, as well as the coming school year. After supper, as promised, we browsed a few shops and I got new paints, canvases, a book on magical gender equality, and seeds and gardening supplies (I've always wanted to grow a garden).  

As we walked back, Dad stopped and looked at me. 

"I've just had an idea. Maybe what you need is a new pet to look after!" 

"I've already got Mr. TipToe." I replied 

"Well yes, but what does he do other than lay around and croak at you for crickets all day?" He asked. 

"Not much, honestly" I laughed.

"That settles it, then. What you need is a puppy!"

"A puppy?" I raised an eyebrow at him. 

"Yes! There's a pet shop just round the corner." Dad rubbed his hands together excitedly, making me wonder who this puppy was really for. 

As we walked down the road, I saw a group of darkly dressed, blonde haired figures in the distance.

"Oh no." I groaned. 

"What is it?" Dad asked, then followed my gaze "Oh." 

My heart raced as the group got closer and closer, until finally,

"Ah, Elowen Black in the flesh." Draco sneered. 

"Good evening Draco, Lucius, and Narcissa." Dad nodded pleasantly at them. 

"So this is the famous Miss Black, is it?" Lucious peered down at me. 

"Hello, Mr. Malfoy. How are you?" I tried to meet his eyes but they seemed to pierce straight through to my soul. 

"I'm well, thank you." He replied dismissively "Will you be teaching again this coming year, Remus?" 

"Yes, looking forward to it." Dad said. 

"Hm." He replied. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Elowen." Narcissa gave me a weary smile. That woman always looked exhausted. 

"You as well." I smiled back. "I suppose I'll see you at school then, Draco." 

"Suppose you will." He said sharply. 

Dad gave Lucious a parting handshake and we were on our way.

"You and Draco seemed awfully short with one another, are you not friends?" Dad asked as soon as they were out of earshot. 

"He's not really the friend type." I said. 

"That makes sense."

Soon we made it to the pet shop and were greeted with the scent of dandruff, kibble, and pee as we entered. 

I walked over to the first pen full of puppies and peered over the side to see them howling and climbing all over one another. Dad chuckled.

"They're going to stab each other's eyes out." I said. 

"This is how they play! It's all in good fun." He continued smiling over them. 

"Oh." I sighed, still worried for their safety. 

"What do you think? Are any standing out to you?" Dad asked. 

"Maybe we should take a look at all the pens." I offered. 

The next pen we saw was the same story. A bunch of hyperactive little puppies screaming and trying to escape. I winced as one tipped onto its back after trying to claw up the side, and walked over to a smaller square enclosure. 

This one was a lot quieter, as it was filled with teeny kittens. Most of them were sleeping, one was playing with a stuffed fish, and another was staring up at us with emerald green eyes, I gasped and scooped that one up into my arms. 

"I should have guessed you'd be a cat person" Dad chuckled as I cooed at the black cat in my arms. 

"Does it have to be a puppy?" I asked.

"Not at all. In fact, I think that kitten suits you much better, the two of you look just alike."

I laughed, I hadn't noticed that we were practically twins with our black hair and green eyes. The shop keeper came over and handed me an adoption certificate,

"Would you like to take her home?" She asked. 

"Oh she's a girl!" I squealed excitedly, "Yes! I would love to keep her. What is she called?"

"She doesn't have a name just yet, I suppose she was waiting for you to name her." The woman's eyes wrinkled as she smiled. 

"That's lovely. I think I'll call her..... Queenie!" I announced. 

"I think that's perfect. You go ahead and fill out that certificate, I'm going to pick out a puppy for Poppa. I think the he really needs one. Er, Poppa, that is." Dad said, confirming my earlier suspicions. 

I filled out the paper, putting myself as her official owner. It felt like a very grown up thing to do. Dad came over with a light brown puppy with a pink nose and white spots all down its back. It looked like a baby deer. 

"What do you think of her?" Dad held her up.

"She's beautiful. I just hope she doesn't get too roudy and knock something in the house onto herself and become smushed." 

Dad laughed and held the puppy close to his chest. "You worry too much, dear Elowen. What shall we name her?"

"Fawna, of course, because she looks like a baby deer... and after me." I replied.

"Brilliant!"

Dad filled out Fawna's card and gave the woman some money and we headed home.