SMILE » n. longbottom

lxxii

"EERIE"

Brooks was the one to step out first of the car's door, out onto the busy London street. He turned to knelt down to lend a hand to Alana, to help her out of the same door as well. She took his hand, as he pulled her up onto the curb.

Within the next second, the car sped off down the road, and Brooks was pulling her into the well-known-to-few building with a black exterior. They walked through the almost empty bar, and the owner eyed them suspiciously, sitting on the opposite side of the bar, "What brings you here?"

Alana responded, curious as to why the owner was now unbeknownst of Hogwarts' student's shopping prior to the school year. She stopped on her way to the entrance of Diagon Alley, and stared at the owner, "I'm doing some shopping for school. What do you mean?"

He hummed in response and added, "I would be careful if I were you. There have been some attacks..."

Alana stood back in shock, she looked at Brooks' hard expression that showed no hint as to what they could expect. She looked back and nodded, continuing her stride to the entrance of the alley. By the time the two of them had arrived to the brick wall, she asked: "Did you know?"

"Of course, but we do not need to worry," Brooks hummed out. "This outing has been planned."

Alana nodded, She should have expected her parents to plan out a day where no harm could possibly come to her. She walked through the opening as Brooks had triggered its unveiling. It was just as she expected: Diagon Alley had no traces of living beings, except for them. The two of them walked down the alley's street, as they both peered onto the storefronts of the shops. They were all desolate, empty, cold. Some were absolutely destroyed, with glass fallen onto the floor below, and darkened with ash from a previous fire. The ones that were left were only a select few.

Alana pulled out the parchment from her pocket, and looked at the list that had been provided as the essentials for the upcoming school year. The list included what books to get for your selection of N.E.W.T. classes, as well as the required Standard Book of Spells, for her year-level. She had chosen Potions, Arithmancy, and then Herbology as well.

The two made their way down the street, to Flourish and Blotts. The shop did not appear to lit from the inside, but Alana noticed that the door was slightly open. She pushed it open slightly, and entered. The shelves were no longer filled with books, and the place looked haunted from the darkness that lurked within it. Brooks walked in as well, shutting the door behind them.

She spoke, "It's a shame, I never thought they would do something like this." She walked through the hallway, looking for any book on the shelves, yet there were none. She sighed and called out, "I assume the situation will be handled by Dumbledore, anyways."

A voice hummed from the room next door, and she found to way to the door leading to it, and knocked. After a while, the door cracked open and a voice called out, "What do you want?"

"To buy some books and materials," she answered.

After a few seconds, the door opened more, "What exactly?"

"Standard Book of Spells, for the sixth-years, Advanced Potion-Making, and Flesh-Eating Trees of the World. Then just some ink, quills, and parchment, as much as any student would need," she read the paper and mind aloud. She looked up to the person from the other side of the door. "If you don't have that, I can understand."

The shopkeeper shook his head adamantly, "I'll see." He closed the door, and after a few minutes he had returned with all of the items. "15 Galleons."

"Isn't that a lot?" she asked innocently.

"Yes, but it's what I need," the shopkeeper ground out, with tired eyes and a cold voice. Alana sighed and pulled the coins from a bag. She handed it over, in exchange for all of the supplies that she needed for the year.

The two made their way back out the shop, then down back to the brick wall. As they passed a smaller alleyway, a colorful exterior shined amongst the gray and dull appearances of the surrounding buildings. From it's inside was the bustling of people, and shining lights. Alana stopped and yearned for more excitement for her time as Diagon Alley.

Brooks stopped behind her, and looked as well, he answered the question he had assumed that she would ask, "It's the Weasley twins' shop — Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."

"Let's go," she suggested, in a rather commanding way.

"Better not," he thought aloud, but corrected himself. "I mean, I'm a Slytherin, it would be best for me not to. But, it will be alright if you do ... I will wait for you and carry your things."

Alana nodded, and handed off the books and supplies to him, to which he huffed jokingly. She rolled her eyes slightly, and headed in through the colorful shop's front door. As she opened the door, cheers and hollers exited from the doorway, and the customers from the inside turned to look at the intruder.

Alana waved awkwardly, and closed the door behind her as quick as she could, after realizing that she had disturbed the environment of the habitat. "Sorry about that," she called out. And then the busyness and chaos continued.

Around, all the children were looking at and having fun with the tricks and toys lining the walls and shop floor. From the middle of the interior, the Weasley twins were standing up on the staircase, shouting, "Step up, step up. We've got Fainting Fancies, Nosebleed Nougats — and just in time for school —, Puking Pastilles."

The Hufflepuff girl made her way around the items, looking at almost each one and what effect it had on the unsuspecting students. Each had a bad outcome it seemed. Both of the Weasley twins were making their round around the building, managing what was happening in the building, such as offering a cauldron for a kid to puke in, offering smaller items, etc.

Alana stopped to look at the girls that were surrounding the pink fountain. They were whispering amongst each other, and grabbing the items from upon it to buy for themselves. She waited for the girls to clear for her to approach the front of the fountain, that was a pink flower that sprouted up to the ceiling. In the middle of the flower fountain was little pink bottles with gold caps and pink tassels attached to it, that read 'Love Potion' on the front of it.

"Sniff it," a voice said from behind her. Alana turned to see that it was Fred Weasley, and she in-turn looked at the bottle again. "It's supposed to smell like the things that you most desire. So, go ahead."

She looked between him and the bottle, and obliged. She brought it to her face and inhaled. From it came the aromas of dust, pine, and flowers. Alana stopped, and was confused, as it did not make sense to her.

"Well?" Fred questioned.

"I'm not sure what it means."

"Well, can't look into everything," Fred stated, and continued past her to a different part of the room. Alana set the bottle back where it was in the flower fountain display. She made her way around the store, until it bored her and she exited out the way she came in.

Out of the corner of her eye is Brooks, with all of her things beside him. "You ready?" she asked.

"Yep," Brooks said.  He turned away to the other side of him, and when he turned back to Alana, he had something in his hands: a cage with a brown fuzzy thing in it.

"What is that?" she walked closer.

"It's an owl," the head turned toward her. Two eyes stared out, with a small beak that was barely visible through the feathers of its face.