(1939-08-30) A Sheep in a Shoppe
Details for A Sheep in a Shoppe
Summary: Customers come into Quills and Other Thrills Stationery Shoppe, and someone brings a sheep!
Date: 1939-08-30
Location: Quills and Other Thrills Stationery Shoppe
Related:
Characters
EliseMadelineGabrielTerrance

The inside of this shop is bright and airy thanks to the large windows that face the alley. Besides the shingle swaying over the door, the window itself has been painted with the name of the store in bright silver, so no one can miss it. Neatly kept, the shop sells stationery and all things stationery-related. There's everything from fine parchment to translucent sheets of rice paper, vellum, papyrus sheets, and even watercolor paper with a small supply of the translucent paints nearby. There is every conceivable color of ink to be found in bottles large and small, and quills made from feathers ranging from modest raven feathers to opulent ostrich plumes with golden nibs. There are even some quills that will write what you think at them, no hands required. Blotters, dictionaries, thesauruses, diaries and journals, calenders, and in one corner an elegant writing desk of tiger maple and ebony are all for sale. Things are spotlessly clean, but somehow cheerful, likely due to the demeanor of the store's proprietor, Tristan Harper (who seems determined to live happy lives in spite of the unfortunate curse and the very recent death of his brother).

Right now the shop is a bit quiet. There are no customers, and Mr. Harper is probably somewhere in the back, doing whatever things one does with inventory that isn't on display. In the corner where the gorgeous writing desk sits, is Elise, perched on the bench and swinging her feet. Her toes barely brush the floor. She appears to be very carefully writing something, and referring to a scrap sheet of parchment paper. She's dressed in a black robe, and her hair has been braided and pinned to her head - very pretty, but also quite somber. Somewhere a clock ticks away the seconds.

"Just a few things, Mads," Perry is saying as the door to the shop open, and a wizard dressed neatly in a suit steps in - leading a sheep.

"Fiiiiiine," Madeline sighs dramatically. "I'll just wander around and look at the, umm… stuff. And the things. And what not," she offers, turning in a full circle. Her gaze sweeps right over Elise without noticing her - I mean, with her all funny and all, who'd know it was her?

Almost immediately after the door finishes closing behind Terrence it bang open again and Gabriel pops in through it. "Hi everybody!" He's not really paying attention to who exactly is here but instead he goes straight to Elise,"I hear you can buy ink that write in rainbow colors here! Do you have it? How do you make it? What makes it change colors? Is it a spell or a potion? Or both? and how much does it cost? I think I want some no matter how much it is! As long as its under a sickle a pot. Mom and Dad did not give me a lot of spending money this time around. Said I had too much candy last time I was here." Finally he runs out of air and the gasp allows the opportunity for someone else to get a word in edgewise…

Terrance slowly pushed into the stationery shop, his chocolate eyes dancing along the many forms of parchment and the many colors of ink. As he walked towards some of the ink, he glanced to the side catching sight of Maddie and Elise, offering a light nod to them both.

Elise turns around at the sound of the door opening. For a second her eyes jsut widen in astonishment at the sight of a sheep in her shop. Her mouth drops open in a surprised 'O'. And then just as Mr. Harper comes out from the back to greet Perry, Elise says, "Madeline, hello!" She nods at Terrance when he comes in, too, and her father greets them all politely. Gabriel's approach leaves her speechless for a second or two. "Ah…" she says. "The rainbow ink is.." she stands up and starts to lead him to the appropriate shelf. "Right here," she tells him. And there is a very small pot for one sickle, though nothing less. "I'm not sure how it's made," she says. She looks questioningly toward her father, who says he doesn't know - they order it from a supplier.

"Oh! Elise, Gabriel, hello!" Madeline greets her friends happy. "This is Bethie," she gestures to the sheep. "Isn't she great? Oh - and this is my uncle Perry, too."

"Gee, thanks Mads," the girl's uncle adds as he's introduced as an after thought.

"The ink can really write in rainbows? Is there a sample? Can I try it?" she asks with eager excitement. "If you figure it out, will you make me some, too?" she adds in an eager tone, towards Gabriel.

As the door opens behind him, Terrance takes a small side step, watching at Gabriel moved directly to Elise posing the many questions. He could not help but laugh lightly at the inquisitive nature before turning his attention back toward the ink, looking specifically for a crimson and a gold color, as well as a healthy amount of plain black.

Gabriel's eyes fix on the small bottle of rainbow ink. Off-handedly he says, "Hi Maddie…" and then in a low voice, mostly muttering to himself, "Hmmm… Which book in the library might have a recipe for this? This is too small an amount to last all year. And if there's spells involved I wonder if one of the professors would be willing to teach me?" And off he goes. Seems someone fond an extracurricular project, again.

Elise's father looks dubiously at the sheep. "I'm sorry," he says, giving Madeline and her uncle an apologetic smile. "But would you mind please taking the sheep outside? You can tether her to the large flower pot - there's a decorative ring handle on the side." Mr. Harper regretfully shakes his head at Maddie's request for a sample.

Elise gives Madeline a little smile. "It really can," she promises. "My sister wrote her wedding invitations in it. It's beautiful. There's a sample somewhere…" she runs behind the counter and comes back a moment later with the invitation, on cloud-white paper, written all in rainbow ink. Lovely! The inks that Terrance is looking for are arranged neatly by color and quality on the shelf nearby where she and Gabe and Maddie are standing. "I'm sorry, but I don't know," Elise says to Gabriel. "We don't actually make any of our things, we just sell them." She shrugs.

"Hello all." Terrance said softly as he walked beside them, his hand reaching to take two small things of the red and gold and then a large amount of the black. "Excited to be heading back to school?" he posed with a slight smile, his eyes moving towards the parchment.

"Awww, but Bethie's such a good little sheep!" Madeline protests.

Perry glances at his niece and rolls his eyes, than looks back to Mister Harper. "Of course. Won't be a minute." He slips outside to tie the sheep up - complete with a sticking charm.

"You know," Madeline says to Gabriel and Elise in a conspiratorial tone. "I talked to someone who said there's a potion on page 267 of edition 7 of the year three potions book we might want to have a look at." She grins broadly at her two friends. When a voice speaks up from behind her, though, she clamps her mouth shut, and tries not to look guilty as she looks towards Terrance. "Erm - hello, Green."

"Hello Green. Coming back to hogwarts is always exciting. Even more because I couldn't go visit my Grandpa in the Colonies this year so I was bored allllllllllll summer." Gabriel takes a hold of the small pot of rainbow ink and makes it disappear into one of the pockets of his robes, after making sure it won't easily come open in there. When his hand comes out its holding the sickle necessary to pay for it but he freezes in the middle of handing it to Elise. "Potion? What potion? What does it do? Why do you think we need to take a look at it? There's so much to learn in our own books I really haven't looked at the 7th year books. Doe sit make us giants? Or make us fly? Or maybe it makes us itty-bitty, like microbes and bacteria! Ooo, we could go bacteria hunting without a microscope." His voice is pitched as low as Maddie's but the words are running a mile-a-minute as usual.

Elise hands Gabriel the wedding invitation with the rainbow ink. "Hello," she greets Terrance. She's seen him around of course, though they're far enough apart in years that they don't really hang out. She blinks at Madeline. "What kind of potion?" she asks curiously, practically at the same time as Gabriel. She holds out her hand for the sickle. "Will it let us turn into something else?" she asks. "I've always wondered what it would be like to be a unicorn."

"No, no. It's third year, but we need the seventh edition of the book, or it might not be there, or maybe it won't be on the right page. It's, umm, about changing colors so it might be just what you need, Gabriel," Madeline supplies, without offering to tell what she had in mind for the potion.

Because it wasn't ink she'd been planning on.

As the invitation is handed over, Madeline cranes her neck. "That is pretty!" she breaths. "Uncle Perry, can I-"

"Nope," come the immediate answer, as the man re-enters the room.

"But I didn't even finish asking!" Madeline complains.

"No, no. It's third year, but we need the seventh edition of the book, or it might not be there, or maybe it won't be on the right page. It's, umm, about changing colors so it might be just what you need, Gabriel," Madeline supplies, without offering to tell what she had in mind for the potion.

Because it wasn't ink she'd been planning on.

As the invitation is handed over, Madeline cranes her neck. "That is pretty!" she breaths. "Uncle Perry, can I-"

"Nope," come the immediate answer, as the man re-enters the room.

"But I didn't even finish asking!" Madeline complains.

Gabriel hands the invitation over to Madeline for a closer inspection. With his other hand he finishes the transfer of money from himself to Elise then turns his attention to Terrance. Cons: 6th year. Pros: Not a Snake. He smiles at the older boy in a friendly way but doesn't answer his question, instead waiting to see how Mad handles it, since its her 'secret' anyway.

Elise raises her eyebrows curiously at Madeline. "What's it change the color of?" she asks. "Hair? Eyes? Clothes?" She accepts the money from Gabriel. "Dad!" she calls. When he looks up she tosses it underhand toward him. "For the ink!" she says as it sails through the air. Mr. Harper watches it sail past him without even trying to catch it, and then sends his daughter a stern look. "Oops," she says meekly. "Sorry."

"Ummm - don't think it changes the color of clothes - I mean it's a potion," Madeline explains. "And I haven't even read it yet, just that a friend told me it might be interesting, but she did say it was for changing colors, and here's Gabriel wanting color changing ink, so it might be just the thing. So we should look at it."

Terrance gave a light laugh as the kids discussed a possible potion for changing colors, though in honesty was slightly impressed at the younger years knowing of that kind of potion. "A neat little bit of potion that is." he said with a nod.

Gabriel grins at Terrance before changing the topic by turning to Maddie and asking, "Why do you have a sheep with you? I didn't even know you could walk a sheep like a dog. Is she a magic sheep?"

"Well, maybe you could pour it on the clothes," Elise says with a shrug. "Like a dye or something." Gabe's question to Maddie piques her interest. A magic sheep would be very neat!

"Uncle Perry said he found it wandering around the streets of London and he couldn't very well leave her there so we've been taking her with!" Madeline explains brightly. "I guess I'll bring her to the farm later." That's what her uncle told her anyways, and she doesn't see any reason to doubt it.

Smiling Terrance nods, "Very kind of you and your uncle." he said before turning his attention from the younger students and back to the many types of parchment available, knowing he would need plain parchment, but also others for messages to friends, the team and of course girls.

Gabriel looks a bit disappointed that its not a magical sheep but then shrugs and changes tack again, "So what did you two do with your summer. I usually go visit my grandfather in the USA but my parent were worried about all the stuff that's going on with the Muggle so they decided I should stay here for the summer and it was soooo boring."

"Aw, that was nice," Elise chimes up. "I've always wanted a lamb of my own - but Mum and Dad say there's no reason for it." She sighs a bit. Gabriel gets an envious look - just for a second, before she looks down. "My uncle died," she murmurs. "The curse got him." She glances toward her father, who's busy being a shopkeeper.

When Terrance turns his back to study the parchments, Maddie draws her two friends along, a little bit further away from the older student so she can confide her dastardly scheme! …that is, until Elise speaks, and Madeline turns to look at her friend with shocked horror. "Oh, he didn't! Oh no, I'm so sorry, Elise!" she exclaims, tears welling up into her eyes. "It almost happened to my uncle, you know, we were there - at Sweet Temptations - and he got hauled off to St. Mungo's and we didn't know for almost a week if he was gonna be alright or not and… and… gosh I'm sorry, Elise."

Hearing Madeline's words, Perry's form stiffens. He glances towards the girl, his expression awkward and uncertain, then simply turns back to his shopping without comment. It's not something he prefers to talk about, himself, if he can avoid it.

As the girl speaks about the loss of her uncle, Terrance gives a light frown though stays quite on the subject. His attention stayed on the thick parchment, assuming this was a situation best suited for friends.

Gabriel goes quiet for a moment then, very uncomfortably, says, "I'm sorry Elise. What curse was that? And what happened to your uncle Maddie?"

Impulsively, Elise throws her arms around Maddie. "We've got to be strong for Luci," she says quietly into her friend's ear. Luci is her cousin, the dead man's daughter - a Hufflepuff, Luci is bubbly, social girl who likes dressing up her hairless cat and eating cupcakes. The death of her father, though… Elise looks up at Gabe. "The Harper family curse," she whispers. She glances back at her father, again. "You know… we all die in — in embarrassing ways." She drops her eyes. She doesn't want to talk about it.

Madeline returns the hug fiercely. "'course. 'course we well, Elise," she promises. "Just like we were for Chastity," Maddie's dorm-mate who'd lost her mum at the Sykes Gala, at Christmas. "That's what we pirates do - right? That's what we're /for/." Madeline gives Gabriel as lightly worried look through teary eyes. Oh, poor Elise and Luci! If she'd really lost her uncle…!

She sniffles then explains for Gabriel, "Didn't you hear about it? That… that horrible smoke at Sweet Temptations that made people… made people catch on fire." Her gaze flicks to uncle, then down towards the floor - hugging Elise all the while.

Gabriel seems to grow even more uncomfortable. The young boy might be good with the academic aspects of sickness but it seems he has some more growing to do when handling the emotional side of this. "I'm sorry Maddie, Elise… I have to go. Good day Green." He dashes out of the store just like he came in but with a very different flavor to his urgency.

Glanced to the side at the two girls hugging, a soft frown slipping on his lips. then he heard the departure of Gabriel, offering him a light nod "Have a good day, Gabriel. See you on the train." he added quickly before picking up a bit more pieces of parchment of different styles.

Terrance glanced to the side at the two girls hugging, a soft frown slipping on his lips. then he heard the departure of Gabriel, offering hima light nod "Have a good day, Gabriel. See you on the train." he added quickly before picking up a bit more pieces of parchment of different styles.

"I've… got to… do something in the back," Elise murmurs. She releases Maddie after one last hug and gives the others a brave sort of smile. "I'll see you later." And off she goes.

"Yeah, okay Elise," Madeline answers quietly. She lets go of her friend - and watches her disappear into the back of the book shop. She'd had two friends here a moment ago - now she had neither. She toes at the floor, then hurries over to where her uncle was inspecting quills, hiding her face against him. He wraps one arm around her loosely, to reassure her.

Watching the girl run of to the back, and Maddie scurry to her uncle, Terrance's smile returned. Ink and parchment in hand, he then slowly made the way over to Perry and the shop owner, bowing his head lightly as he began to look for an elegant quill for his important notes, and in passing offered Maddie a smile.

Madeline gives Terrance a small smile, and waggles her fingers at him. She isn't much inclined to move from her position tucked against her uncle just now, though. After the attack, she's just wanted to spend all her time with him.

Terrance waves in return, before allowing his hand to move over a particularly beautiful eagle quill. It was a snow white, save the tip which was a seemingly polished black. The point of the quill held a bright golden tip. 'Wonderful' he said under his voice.

"I like that one," Maddie comments - pointing to one made from a parrot feather. It's red - fading out to blue. She lets her finger brush over it - all without moving away from her uncle. "But I'm sure it's too expensive," she adds with a quiet sigh.

"We bought your quills for school already, Mads," her uncle answers.

Glancing to the side at the quills that Maddie had pointed at, Terrance gave a smile and nod of agreement, "You have some good taste there, Maddie." he said with a smile running his hand along one of the feathers, glancing at the price seeing it was only ten sickles. He slid one from the grouping..not a horrible price for a splurge purchase.

"Not going to introduce me, Maddie?" the girl's uncle asks curiously, while still glancing at the quills.

The girl blushes, then gestures to the older boy. "This is Terrance Green - he's a Gryffindor, too," Madeline offers. "Green - this is my uncle Perry. He was a Ravenclaw, but I suppose that's okay."

"Hey," the man protests, giving Maddie a tap with the flat of his hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Mister Green," he adds towards the boy.

"You as well, Sir." Terrance responds respectively, offering her uncle a hand in greeting. "Quite the inquisitive niece you have." he then added with a smile.

Perry takes the hand, and lets out a snort of amusement. "That's putting it mildly. She'll be incorrigible this year - thanks to Auror Odori."

"I am /not/ incorrigible!" the girl protests.

"Yes you are, Maddie."

After giving the light shake in return, Terrance let his hands slide to his side. "Well, the Gryffindor house will make sure she doesn't step too far out of line." he said with a wide smile, as after all one's house was akin to one's family while at school.

"It's appreciated. She's a real handful," Perry responds warmly.

"I don't need help staying out of trouble! I'm the law!" Madeline asserts. She reaches into her pocket, pulling out a medal badge. It looks like a genuine auror's badge - same size and quality, with an eagle on top, and three crossed wands, flanked by the words 'honor' and 'duty.' Only where it should say 'auror,' it instead reads 'jr auror.' "See?"

Terrance glanced at the badge and gave a look of surprise and astonishment. "Well, that is quite the accomplishment, miss Jr. Auror." he said giving a slight bow. "I will have to watch not to cause problems when your around." he said slightly teasingly.

"See that you don't," Madeline says solemnly. "And if there's any law breaking at the school, I'll be sure to investigate it, so I can report it to Chief Worthington at the Auror's Office."

"Evil doers beware," Perry interjects.

Smiling, Terrance nodded. "Well I will be sure to be careful." he said, turnign to the owner, slipping out a fair amount of silver and copper to pay for the ink, parchment and two quills. Then before turning he took the Parrot quill and handed it to Maddie, "For your many investigations." he said with a smile.

As the quill is handed to her, Madeline's eyes go wide. She looks up at her uncle for permission, and he shrugs before nodding. She looks back to older Gryffindor all smiles. "Gee - thanks Terrance! You didn't have to go and do something like that!"

Terrance gave a nod and a shrug, "It was nothing." he said, adding a wave of his hand. Then he turned to Perry, "It was nice to meet you, Sir." and then glanced to Maddie, offering a play salute, "And I will see you on the train, Miss Jr. Auror." before turning to walk out of the store with his new purchase.

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