| Details for Pure Blood, Blue Drinks, and Blackcurrant Tea |
| Summary: | After Rescuing Madeline from an ill-advised and decidedly un-escorted trip to Knockturn Alley, Silas and Elizabeth watch her until a grown-up can arrive. Talk of bloody purity occurs without any spilled. Eventually, another inquisitive Ravenclaw joins the party, and Eilona and Madeline celebrate the new year. |
| Date: | January 1, 1939 |
| Location: | Sweet Temptations, Diagon Alley |
| Related: | This is a partial log. More to come. Will also attach to connected logs once they are posted. |
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This shop is both a malt shop as well and bakery and sweetshop. Polished hardwood floors and walls painted a soft ivory give the room a welcoming and calm air. Green plants and flowers are placed in planters throughout the room and landscape paintings of the countryside cover parts of the walls. Two counters run across opposite sides of the room leaving the center area open for seating. The tables are set up for groups of two or four, the tables polished wood and the cushioned chairs made to match. The counter to the right is the malt counter, its wood polished to a high shine and cushiony bar stools lined up in front, provides a place for patrons to sample all manner of drinks that fizz, foam and steam. On the left is another counter dedicated to candy and pastries. The candies sit in elegant glass jars atop the counter with plates of every kind of pastry or cake you can imagine. There are both muggle and wizard flavors for everything sold here. A large board hangs over the front wall across from the door with a neatly organized menu of what is for sale at each counter.
Hand in hand, Elizabeth leads the younger girl into Diagon Alley proper, her pale eyes glancing around as she searches for where her Uncle would be. A tea shop, or in the very least Sweet Sensations, should be it. Her free hand reaches up to push open the door, allowing Madeline to enter first.
Madeline skips her way in, all cheer and energy, despite everything that had just happened on Knockturn. Maybe she hadn't really realized the trouble? Maybe she simply prefered to put it from her mind. "Do you think Variel will join us later?" the girl asks. Her cheer dampens a little as she adds, "He is friends with some perfectly horrible people, isn't he?"
Silas followed close behind, not making a point of being stealthy, either. As they walked away from that scene, they might have even seen him brandish his cane like a wand at the man, and make some sort of comment about experience outside of school.
But as he'd promised Variel, who he at least valued as a good acquaintance, and who also was partly responsible for making his clothing look fabulous. So he followed both, cane still at the ready, until they made it to the shop.
Even then, he follows them inside, a stickler for detail… the cane only touching the floor and making that sound again once he crosses the threshold. And then he speaks up, "We're not all horrible, I promise you."
The younger girl skips inside, her hand released so that she can roam if she wished. Elizabeth blinks once as the questions are asked, and after a moment her expression softens with a small, sad smile. "I hope so, but if he hadn't left with us I'm not sure." Before she has a chance to answer further, her gaze looks up Silas, his cane clicking on the floor as he follows them inside. Elizabeth gives him a thankful look, until she looks back to Madeline. Taking a step towards her, she kneels down so that they're eye level. "She was, but I wish to make it clear to you that that isn't the way a lady acts. A true lady would never belittle others, nor are we going to lower herself to her level by talking bad about her in turn, okay? If we did that, we will only be stooping to her level and proving to her that she's right."
"Of course not," Madeline replies, seeming puzzled by Silas's response. "I'm Variel's friend, too, and so is Elizabeth, and I sure don't think /we're/ perfectly horrible." But then Elizabeth is kneeling in front of her and the girl bites her lip, nodding uncertainly.
"But it's right to stand up for someone. You shouldn't ever let somebody call names, it isn't it right." She looks between Elizabeth and Silas before asking, "You mean… you don't think I should call them horrible, even when they're being dreadfully mean?"
Sighing, Silas actually moves closer to the two, leaning up against a wall, "Sadly, she wasn't being mean. In her own way. She was acting as she's been raised, and by her beliefs. It's wrong. It's inappropriate, but it's also a part of the world we live in, and worrying over it doesn't change anything at all."
He shrugs, "Sometimes, though… even if a person is wrong, simply standing up to them only further proves them right, in their own minds. Someone like her… you're not going to change her mind with a hands-to-hips diatribe."
Elizabeth dips her chin with a small but firm nod. "Of course, you should always stand up for yourself, because despite what people like that think, we are not lesser beings. But when you encounter people like that, they are wanting you to react. They want you to get mad. So we must keep this in mind. Calling them names to their face makes us mean too, and we don't want to be like that. We have to be better." Turning her head, she glances at Silas as he approaches. "That too. They are raised with those beliefs and don't know any better." Elizabeth turns her pale eyes back to Madeline, expression softening. "You are a great person, so everyone should see how good you are."
"It's /never/ right to call someone a novelty, though. A /thing/. Elizabeth isn't a thing, she's a person. A really great one!" The child seems confused by the two older students. "And… and maybe it isn't about making her change her mind. I bet it made Elizabeth feel loads better to have someone stand up for her, right?" She looks hopeful there. "And- and maybe someone /else/ is listening, and… and maybe they change /their/ mind. Right? But I guess I'll try and watch what words I'm using when I stand up for people, and try not to get too mad - it's awful hard, though."
Silas shakes his head again, looking directly to Madeline, after a quick nod to Elizabeth, "Madeline." He used her first name specifically… since he already explained some of the importance of it, "You need to understand something, very important, about pure-bloods. I'm rare, in that while I value my lineage and purity and all that, I don't see people like you as beneath me. By having this conversation, I'm lowered in their eyes. I don't care. Variel doesn't care. They do. And because they do, they can't think of you, or Elizabeth, as something like them. If they did, their attitudes would be shown for the foolishness they are."
He finds a chair now to sit down, even if it's not someplace designed for it, "It's not right, but it's going to happen. And how you react will have an impact… but never if it's an explosion like that."
"No, it isn't. It's never right. And yes, I feel better that someone stood up for me." Elizabeth reassures him, straightening and using a hand to lightly rub at the younger girl's head. Then as the hand is withdrawn, she uses it to push back the hood of her cloak as she turns to glance at Silas, watching, listening. "And I appreciate the understanding. You set yourself apart because of this, or at least because you treat someone else as a person." She really did appreciate it. Silas now holds a level of respect from her now. When he mentions Variel though hurt flickers in her pale eyes as she looks away. "Maybe. But if he did, he could have helped Madeline find her uncle as he originally intended."
"I didn't /explode/," the girl protests, looking rather disheartened. "All I did- I just said that Elizabeth's a person. Right? That's all I said." She looks between the two students again, obviously confused and a little distressed. And Elizabeth's words about Variel have her looking down at the floor. Variel is /nice/ to her. But…
Silas nods at Elizabeth, "I thank you. It is hard-won, but I see no logic in equating blood to power. There are too many examples against it." Mixing it, on the other hand, not a proper venue for such a conversation here, so he turns it, "Variel is as good as they come. But he's also 16, and in the vice of a young woman who knows just how much power she wields over him. I should know… there is one who has just as much power over me." He looks to Madeline with a smile, "Be happy you get to be spared for a few more years until things like that start to really matter to you."
But he also sighs, "You got angry. And that informed your words. Someone like Rashley… should be in my House, I would think. You can't get angry with them, or at least let them see it. We'll twist it all around and turn it back on you, and it's effectiveness will fly away."
As she watches the older boy, listening as he meets her gaze, something flickers in her eyes. Something akin to pain while color touches her cheeks. "You think… there might be something there then?" she asks softly, hesitant to get an answer. Lia was gorgeous, but she didn't think the older girl had that much sway over Variel. Was she wrong? Her hands unconsciously curl closed at her sides, unsure which hurt more. That it was because of her blood, or because he choose another girl. "No, you didn't explode. And you stood up for someone else. That shows who you are inside." Elizabeth says softly, trying to reassure Madeline with a small smile.
"Of course I got angry," the girl mutters quietly. Variel didn't get angry, though. And maybe he /should have done/. That was part of what bothered her so. Madeline lets out a sigh, adding, "We should order some drinks. I had this drink in Hogsmeade - it was blue colored, and it smoked and it sparked and it made me tingly all over. I don't know what it was called. Do you think they have it here?"
Silas was about to answer Elizabeth when Madeline asked her question, and he blinks. "Tell me it doesn't make you breath mist, and snowflakes, please." Random, but apparently important enough for the question to be asked.
Shaking it off, however, he looks back at Elizabeth, "If there is, he's a fool. Because it'll be a game to one such as her." He frowns at her then, since there is philosophy warring with kindness and honesty inside his brain at the moment. "I think Variel is confused, to be honest."
The topic of the the blue drink is a pleasant turn, earning a small smile and a chuckle pulled from her lips. "I'm not sure what that would be called, but it sounds good. Hopefully they have it here." Blue is her favorite color after all. And the effects sound amusing as well. Elizabeth turns her head to give Silas a small glance, watching his frown. She softly presses her lips together. "Maybe. But I've never forced him to make a choice, nor would I ever wish for him to ever decide against something that isn't who he is."
Madeline's brow furrows in confusion. "Snowflakes? No. Should it have done?"
She's doing her best to ignore the talk of choices. She doesn't /want/ to talk about Variel right now. Sure, he talked to Niles for her, but what about standing up for Elizabeth? What about being such good friends with Lucretia Black?
"We should go ask if they have it," she encourages Elizabeth. "We can split one, if you like. I bet they'd put it in two glasses if we asked."
At the answer to the blue drink, Silas relaxes, "No… it's an alcoholic beverage that can really mess with a person. And it's foul. So." He smiles, and then nods at Elizabeth, "Understand that, even without asking, you're asking quite a bit of him. No matter his own feelings on the matter, there is family to consider, and the repercussions if they are at all concerned. You recall the mess that occurred between Abbot and Denholm." A mixed and a pure, together against familial wishes.
Then he's all smiles again, "Or you could both get one, and one for me as well, my treat."
Elizabeth quickly turns on the sole of her foot, turning towards Silas to fully face him, eyes narrowed behind the frames of her glasses. "Do you really think that I never realized that? That the thought never occurred to me that if I ever had a relationship with a pure-blood that he would have to choose between myself and everything that he's been? Everything he should be?" Her voice is stern, though there's still hurt in her pale eyes. "I know better than you do, and I will never be selfish enough to ever ask a boy to choose me over their family, over their bloodline. And that's much more than other girls would ask." All she has is a selfless love. Elizabeth exhales a small breath as she turns her gaze back to Madeline. "We should get our drinks. All of us."
Madeline is frozen in the face of Elizabeth's tirade - even if it isn't meant for her. She shifts where she stands uncomfortably, her toe dragging on the ground. When her voice softens, she moves over to Elizabeth, slipping her hand into hers, and trying her best for a reassuring smile. "Yes, I think that's a good idea," she agrees.
Silas doesn't seem to be phased by the emotion behind her statement, although he's at least kind in the look he gives her back, "I don't know you, Dweedle. We don't exactly run in the same crowds. So I can't assume what I don't know. I can merely ask… because there are plenty who wouldn't consider what their desires might do to others. There's a young Hufflepuff girl in your year who got to learn that the hard way, even if the circumstances were different. So forgive me if I don't simply assume you've taken the time to consider." He leans back in his pilfered chair, before standing, "Please… let me. You two… find us a table, perhaps?"
"No, you don't. Which is why I give you the benefit of the doubt and tell you that part of who I am." Elizabeth says in a quieter voice, shared just with Silas without glancing at him. "Because whoever he is, he's much more important than I am." A hand lightly pats at Madeline's head again. "Come on, let's get a table. It'll give us a chance to maybe eye some candy as well." she smiles, a sparkle in her eye as she gives the younger girl a conspiratorial wink. Candy lovers and all.
"You know, I brought home /aaaaall/ this wizarding candy for Christmas," Madeline confides in Elizabeth in an eager voice as they move off to find a table. "And I've been sharing it with my family. My father /loved/ the fizzing whizbees, but my mother got rather upset about them. I think they're great! Don't you?"
It's then that Silas does something that is more symbolic than anything else, but it should clear up any lingering doubts Elizabeth might have. With his right hand, he reaches out, and places two fingers on her wrist, before pulling it away a moment later, and going to get their drinks. He's a pure-blood. One openly vocal about the importance of not mixing his line… but he's also not afraid to touch someone of mixed blood. Sure, he showed that with the affectionate hair-tousle of Madeline in the Alleyway, but he's also big on symbology.
So without another word, he heads to the counter, to buy a few drinks.
The two fingers reach out to touch her wrist, earning a small enough of a pause for her to glance back at Silas before he heads to the counter. A silent exchange, perhaps one is never meant for words, or words can never really be adequate enough. Still, Elizabeth silently wonders to herself, but doesn't say a thing as she watches him for a pause, before her attention returns to Madeline. The young girl finds a table before she does. She couldn't help but smile some. Maybe it's Maddie's eagerness or happiness that is a little catching. "Yes, very much. Though this is a secret between you and me, okay?"
"So which ones aren't a secret, then?" Madeline asks eagerly - resting her elbows on the table, and her head in her hands. "The chocolate frogs? The Every Flavor Beans? The exploding chocoballs?" Her smile widens as she adds, "You know, Jocunda Sykes gave me a chocolate frog with her card in it? And she'd signed it for me! 'Keep dreaming!' Isn't that nice of her? She's the one that flew all the way across the Atlantic on a /broom/."
It takes him a few moments, but Silas does come back, four drinks in-hand. The two blue… somethings that Madeline had mentioned, odd concoctions at that, a tall cocoa for Silas, and of all things, a small pot of tea. The last is set in front of an empty chair at the table before he takes his own seat. He looks to Madeline, "You said your uncle was going to meet you for tea… thought I would get ahead of that for you." He taps the pot, "Love these things… never gets cool."
"Candy in general. Or the fact that I have a sweet tooth. For some reason it doesn't go with the whole 'serious, isolated bookworm' thing I have going on for me." Elizabeth murmurs, her smile growing is anything of an indication that she is being playful. In her own quiet way. "That's rather impressive. Are you collecting the chocolate frog cards now?" she asks. "I think you can get allot of autographs with them too. They'll be even more special then." Silas returns to the table, with drinks. Looking up at the boy, she gives him a small but appreciative smile. "Thank you."
"Well - I only have two," the girl admits. "The other was Rowena Ravenclaw - so at least it was someone I knew!" Madeline beams at Silas as he returns with the drinks, adding happily, "Oh, thank you Meliflua! That's very nice of you. I'm sure he'll be along very soon."
Silas returns the thanks from both with a smile, before taking a sip from his cup. Bliss. With all of the acting like an adult he'd done this holiday, it was fun to return to some of the basics. And then he's grinning, spreading into a light laugh, "You can call me Silas here, Madeline. I know it's confusing… but there are certain… forms to keep with. I've given you permission now… just… keep it to when we're just a few people. Out on the streets, like before, is when you keep to the formal." In other words, when it's not a bunch of pure-bloods witnessing it.
"Two is still a collection." Elizabeth replies, her small hand wrapping around the bottom of her drink as she pulls the blue concoction closer. She glances from Madeline to Silas, quietly watching him a pause. Then after a longer moment a small smile touches her lips. "I think I like you like this. Smiling. You look more relaxed." She's states this easily, and honestly, before she takes a drink from the straw in her blue glass.
"Do you like it?" Madeline asks Elizabeth eagerly. She doesn't bother with the straw herself - she tilts the glass and drinks from it directly, letting out a happy sound and giving as little shiver as she feels the tingle from the sparks running through her. Then she opens her mouth to experimentally try blowing those snowflakes - nothing. Ah well, can't have everything.
"I'll try to remember, Silas," Madeline promises - though it'll probably be hard. "Do /you/ collect the chocolate frog cards?" she asks him curiously.
There's a rueful sound that emits from Silas as Elizabeth complements his smile, and he nods, "I always smile. Always. It's rare to find me in any other form. But… it's not always the same smile." He grins, shaking his head, and takes another sip, "Be glad for the Houses you were sorted into. I was raised ready for it… but it's not always fun." Another sip, and then he's looking at Madeline, "I probably have a stack of them somewhere. Collecting them was never my thing, though."
"Certainly not the same smile. This one is better." Elizabeth easily agrees. Though on his comment on houses, she gently rolls her slender shoulder. "I believe that houses define certain prominent attributes of a person, but doesn't define them as a person. But I can relate. Surprising or not, it's difficult to be part of Ravenclaw as well. We're believed to be interested in the mind and only just." Her smile grows some, "Oh, if you're never really one to collect the chocolate frog cards, perhaps Madeline would like to have them?"
"But you don't have to," Madeline says promptly. "I mean if you like them."
Looking to Elizabeth, she furrows her brow, adding, "It always sounds like my Uncle Perry /reeeeally/ liked being a Ravenclaw. And I sure love being a Gryffindor! I wouldn't have it any other way."
"That's just because you don't know any better, sprout," come a voice from behind Madeline as her Uncle joins them. "Ravenclaw's best." The man gives a nod to the two students adding, "I hope I'm not interrupting,"
Silas offers a chuckle, "I'm proud of my House. It's just that it means having to deal with the politics. I'm good at it." Sometimes too good. Enough that it scares him at times. "But I also get to be one of the ones with a Title. Even if it is just 'The Nice One'. I'll take it." He looks over at Elizabeth, "I always thought it was wit, learning, and wisdom… not bookishness. Although there are always those who take the House traits to an extreme."
As to the cards, "I'll see if I still have them. If I do, certainly… you'll likely be a better keeper for them anyhow. Just don't be surprised if Adelaide hasn't enjoyed a few in the process." This is offered with a slight grin.
Then there was the adult voice. Silas slowly stands, smiling, acknowledging the newcomer, "Hardly, sir. You must be Miss Evan's uncle. Please, join us." He points to the waiting teapot, "I hope you don't mind the Ahmad Blackcurrant. It's a personal favorite of mine."
Elizabeth chuckles softly, like a bell. "And wit is also a trait that Slytherin shares as well. Though some don't remember this more often than not." They always remember the house's dark past. Her attention however is pulled towards Uncle Perry. "No, not interrupting anything terribly important. We just wanted to stay with Madeline while waiting for you to arrive. Hopefully Madeline will know better than to wander to some parts of the alley in the future." She gives the younger girl a pointed glance, even though the small smile still tugs at her lips. And of course, Silas is a perfect gentleman.
"Please, sit," Perry quickly reassures Silas, before taking a seat himself. "That's very kind of you. I can't say that I've tried it before - I look fowards to it."
And then Elizabeth speaks. Madeline goes from smiling at her Uncle - to looking at the other girl with a hint of horror. Why did she go and /say/ that! She looks back up at her Uncle again, a look of trepidation in her features.
"And which part of the alley is /that/, Madeline Gloria Evans?" her uncle asks sternly.
"I, umm, well I'm not sure," she fibs. "This woman startled me, and I ran off from her - and then I found Elizabeth and Variel and Silas - umm, Meliflua. And they brought me here. Well, Variel didn't."
Silas chuckles, nodding his head at the older man. Sitting down just as Elizabeth explains the situation. He closes his eyes for a second, and actually has to stopper the laugh that dares to emit… he's the eldest here, after all, other than the uncle. Must be a good example. Snerk.
"Your niece was quite safe, sir. I assure you. Both Dweedle and I here made certain of it." This he punctuates with a touch to the decorative cane at his side.
"It's nothing to be concerned over, I assure you." Elizabeth easily reassures Madeline's Uncle Perry, alongside Silas, just as the last of her blue fuzzy drink is finished. She does note the boy's reaction out of the corner of her eye but is careful to not respond or give herself away. "Indeed, Meliflua was very generous as well." He had bought them drinks after all.
Eilona Rosenberg enters the store hesitantly, glancing behind her. She eyes the group at the table curiously for several moments, recognizing a couple of them from school. And then the sweets catch her attention! She stares at them, wide-eyed, for two or three minutes, appearing to pay no attention at all to the conversation with Madeline's uncle, and buys a piece of candy.
She sits down at a neighboring table, giving a brief smile to the older Ravenclaw girl whose name she can't quite remember, and pulls out paper and quill, as if intending to start writing.
"I'm fine, and my friends were with me, I just got startled is all," Madeline adds reassuringly, reaching over to pour some of the tea for her Uncle. "Do you think I could try a little?" she asks.
Perry gives her a slightly disbelieving look, then shrugs it off. "Fine, you scamp. Though you haven't introduced me to your friends, yet."
"Oh, well, this is Silas Meliflua - he's in Slytherin. Umm, sixth year, I think?" She looks to the older student for confirmation. "And this is Elizabeth Dweedle - she hosted the party, you remember?"
"Of course. It was just last night - and a pleasure to meet you both. Thank you for buying my niece a drink, Mister Meliflua. You did thank him, didn't you Maddie?"
"Of course I did!" The girl answers promptly, before asking a bit uncertainly, "Umm. Didn't I?" She looks to Silas for an answer on that.
Silas notes the odd little sprite coming in and flitting about, although after a moment he doesn't put much notice to it. After all, he's meet his obligation here, and has places to be. "You did, 'Maddie'," echoing the nickname given, without spite or ill intent. Even if she hadn't, he wouldn't give that away.
"However," he places hands on the table, and stands, "Now that I know there's someone here to get you home, Madeline, I am horrendously late for another engagement." A smile goes to Elizabeth, "Be well, have a grand New Year, and I will see you both at school." And then to Perry, "Sir."
The boy then finishes off his mug of cocoa, straightens out his robes, and grabs his cane, before offering another slight bow, and heading to the door.
"And I introduced myself at the pet shop. A few days ago." Elizabeth further clarifies. Though she isn't sure if it'll help his memory or not. Just after Silas rises to his feet to excuse himself, the young woman steadily rises to her feet as well, her hands brushing lightly at her cloak. "I'm afraid I must return to the shop as well. I think I have been out long enough that my father will worry." She gives Madeline a small smile. "Try not to have too many sweets. Not too hard mind you." Elizabeth sees Eilona nearby, noting her, even recalling that she's a Ravenclaw as well. "Stay safe, Madeline." she murmurs softer, offering another faint smile before she appears, silent as if she were in a library. Uncle Perry would be proud.
Eilona is tempted to talk to the older Ravenclaw, but it's clear that the youngest girl, a Gryffindor, if she remembers right, is at the center of this story. /Madeline/, she hears older girl say. Well, if she wanted to know what /really/ happened, there was no point listening to what Madeline would say in front of her uncle. She'd have to find out for herself.
Eilona looks up shyly at Madeline and waves. "I know you from school, don't I?" she asks.
"Ah yes, of course, Miss Dweedle. How forgetful of me," Perry apologizes, offering a smile. "To think I could forget a fellow Ravenclaw - no matter how briefly."
And then Eilona speaks, and Madeline glances her way - giggling. "Well, there's another, Uncle Perry. Gosh! This place is just full of Ravenclaws tonight! Goodbye Silas, goodbye Elizabeth, Happy New Year!" the girl adds as the pair leaves.
Towards Eilona she adds with a smile. "Of course you do. It's Madeline Evans. Remember? You can sit with us if you like - my Uncle's real nice. I mean, usually."
"Gee… thanks, Maddie. Usually."
Eilona laughs and puts away her quill and paper, moving to a seat next to Madeline. "Happy New Year! I'm just waiting for my grandparents. They had to stop at Gringotts, but I've never been here, so they said I could look at yummy things while I wait for them." She smiles at them. "Did you do anything fun to celebrate?"
"Oh, I went to Elizabeth's party," Madeline explains eagerly. And I wore these new robes my Uncle gave to me - aren't they great?" She holds out her arms, showing of her red robes with yellow trim. Yeeeah - total Gryffindor.
"I could turn them blue and bronze for you."
"Oh, hush!"
Eilona giggles. "Blue and bronze are beautiful, too." Then she gets a little more serious. "But I like your robes. My grandparents have a tradition where, every year, we go out in the country and shoot off magical fireworks, and then they always buy me a present. This year they got me this journal to write in." It's a small, bound book with faintly brownish paper. Eilona smiles at it happily.
"That sounds fun! I don't think I've ever seen magical fireworks. How're they different than the usual ones?" Madeline asks curiously, taking another drink from her cup of blue, sparking, smoking liquid. "This stuff is the /best/. Have you tried it yet? I still don't know what it's called!"
"I think they're safer. At least, the ones my grandma makes. They don't actually light anything on fire." Eilona looks at the drink suspiciously. "I don't. I shall have to find out if it's as delicious as you say." She orders the blue liquid and sips it thoughtfully. "Interesting flavor." She takes another, longer sip. "Although the smoke is… disconcerting." Eilona seems unaware that she's slipped in analysis mode, talking like a newspaper article.
The drink also makes it feel like tingles are running all over your body - which is what Madeline likes the most about it. "I think the smoke is great. I think /all/ of it is great," Madeline says eagerly.
"Maddie's a very /up/ person," Perry comments, before taking a sip of his tea. "You know Maddie, if you want (and I know you want) we can go out to the woods and try some of those fireworks before you go back to Hogwarts."
"Really?!"
"If I were to name this drink," Eilona continues, shivering slightly as it made her body tingle, "I would call it the /Blue Body Fizz/, or the /Starry Sparkle/." She finishes her 'story' about the drink with a grin."
"Oh, you should definitely come with us! We usually would have done it late last night, but…" she leans forward in a conspiratorial whisper as an older couple walk into the shop. "They both fell asleep at around eight. I didn't have the heart to wake them."
"If you don't have time, I'm sure Gran could make you some," Eilona adds hastily.
"Oh, could I?" Madeline asks eagerly. "That would be such fun! It'd be alright, wouldn't it Uncle Perry?"
"Of course, we'd have to ask your parents… but I don't see why not," Perry responds reassuringly. "Now… what did you say your name was, Miss? I'm Perry Evans - Madeline's Uncle."
"Eilona Rosenberg," she answered as professionally as she could, shaking his hand. "And these are my grandparents, Robert and Elizabeth Riverdale." She turned to face the older couple that was approaching them. "Is it all right if my friend Madeline and her uncle come watch your fireworks with us?"
Grandma Elizabeth looked surprised, but pleased. "Of course. We're just on our way there."
"A pleasure Miss Rosenberg - Mister and Missus Riverdale," Perry says politely, shaking hands. "Perry Evans." The formalities concluded, he adds towards Maddie, "I'll send Avi with a note to your parents." He pats his pockets until he finds quill, ink and parchment to write a quick note. Wouldn't do to have his brother and sister-in-law worried about their only flesh and blood.
Maddie nods to her Uncle, then smiles at Eilona's parents. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister and Mrs. Riverdale."
Grandpa Robert smiles. "You, too. So, how do you two know each other? Are you a Hogwarts student?" He hmms, noticing her new robes. "A Gryffindor, I take it? A good house. I was a Gryffindor, myself."
Madeline nods eagerly. "It's my first year! But Uncle Perry was Ravenclaw, like Eilona." Curiously, Madeline looks at Mrs Riverdale, asking, "Which house were you, ma'am?"
Perry, meanwhile, is folding up his little note, and steps outside to give it to his owl, Avi, who is soon off on his mission. ''
"I was a Hufflepuff," said Grandma Elizabeth kindly. "I enjoyed my time there."
"Well, we usually do side-along apparation, in pairs," said Robert, leading the group outside after Perry. "I'll take Eilona."
"Oh, I think Hufflepuff is lovely," Madeline says eagerly, before she hastily downs the last of her drink and runs to join her Uncle. He makes sure he gets very specific instructions on where they are headed, before the pair crack out of existance, to reappear out in the country.
The group arrives in the woods in a series of small pops. Elizabeth started fiddling with little sticks of different colors, while Robert engaged Perry in conversation. "We come out here every year, it's a wonderful little spot, we've been doing this every since I retired from my little store in Diagon Alley. What do you do for a living?"
Eilona led Madeline a couple of steps away from the group. "These will be great. You watch; my gran's amazing." She gave Madeline a sly look. "What were you in trouble for earlier? Did you try to sneak in Knockturn Alley or something?"
"I work at the Ministry, Sir. Department of Misinformation," Perry explains. Yes - he lies to Muggles for a living.
Maddie lets the other girl lead her off, a bounce to her step, excited to see the fireworks - though at Eilona's question, a guilty expression creeps over her features. "Only meant to sneak a few steps in and see what it looks like down there. But this worm put her hand on my shoulder, and I got scared and I just… /bolted/! The wrong way. I guess it was lucky I ran into Elizabeth, and Silas, and Variel. Don't tell my Uncle - he'll get horribly cross, I know it."
Eilona laughs. "I like you, Maddie. But you should really know better than to sneak into a dangerous place like that," she pauses, and her eyes twinkle, "without a friend."
Madeline can't help but giggle at that. "You're right. Next time I'll be sure I drag Adam along." She smiles with mischief, then adds more seriously, "Adam's great - but, well. Dunno how much good he'd actually be. He's kinda… shy? Nervous? Lots of fun, but… well…" Not the sort you usually take on adventures!
"What sort of shop was it you had, sir?" Perry asks politely, while assisting the man with the colored sticks.
"Maybe the three of us can go together," says Eilona. "I'm always up for an adventure. Gives me something to write about." She grins broadly. "Writing runs in the family, you know. My mom is a great reporter."
"I mostly sold specialty clothing, the kind of thing you don't find at Madam Malkin's. Dragon leather, even the occasional invisibility cloak… it was always interesting," Robert answers.
"Invisibility cloaks? Does sound like it would have been. If you have any more of those lying around, do me a /huge/ favor… and never sell one to my niece," Perry suggests with a laugh.
"Yeah, we should," Madeline agrees brightly. "Your mum's a reporter? That's great! My parents are just farmers. Well - I mean. Not /just/ farmers - farming's really important, and my da' fought in the great war, you know, and we go game shooting together and deer stalking and such. But… still. Nothing as exciting as being a /reporter/."
"I eat food every day," says Eilona, "And it's got to come from /somewhere/. My gran always said you can't magic food into existence…" she looks thoughtful. "But isn't the food at Hogwarts conjured? Or does it come from somewhere?"
Before she can come up with any theories, the three adults manage to finish organizing the fireworks, and Elizabeth calls the two girls over. "Are you ready?" she asks, grinning.
The fireworks go off one by one, in a blaze of glory. They are all different colors, and one even looks like a phoenix, bursting into flame.
"It must come from somewhere…" Madeline muses quietly. "I mean, just like potion components gotta come from somewhere." But she's more than happy to leave the musing for later, as she runs over to her Uncle to see the fireworks. The girl bounces on her toes in excitement, letting out little squeals of delight at the colors and the shapes they make. "This is just great!"
Eilona laughs and claps her hands, cheering. Each explosion in the sky is triggered by a touch of Grandma Elizabeth's wand, and each color corresponds to the stick that flies up into the sky and explodes into hundreds of little lights.
Usually, the lights dissolve before they hit the ground, but one particularly low explosion leaves the little sparks fluttering onto the group's heads. They leave a warm, tickling sensation wherever they touch bare skin, and Eilona dances about, laughing and chasing them like fireflies.
Madeline does as well, clapping her hands over one, and then opening them to watch it fizzle out in her palm. "Wooooow," she whispers, before exclaiming excitedly, "How great would it be to set these off in the /great hall/?!" And he little sparkling magic lights bouncing about the room!
As the last of the fireworks goes off, Eilona laughs and agrees. "You should send some to the headmaster, Gran! Or even better, to Professor Dumbledore! He would love these."
Elizabeth shakes her head, amused, but not convinced that anyone would really use her fireworks.
"That was quite the display, this year, dear," said Robert, smiling proudly at her. "You really could sell them, if you wanted to."
"I'd buy one!" Madeline offers eagerly. "I mean. If they weren't too expensive. They're not too expensive, are they? I think it'd be great fun to have some!"