Pets and Problems (Open)

Humphrey's year at Hogwarts had been a mix of good and bad. On the plus side, he'd made a few friends in Hufflepuff like Anastasiya and Izzy, but the person he'd been closest to, Brooklyn, had all but disappeared from his life. He was worried about her, he missed her, and part of him wondered if the reason she wasn't talking to him was because her father had done something to her. Without having her to talk to and tease Hogwarts had begun to feel like the lonely place it had in his first year. Attempts to cheer him up were a nice gesture, but didn't really have much impact on him. When summer finally came it was a relief to be able to head back into the comfort of home.

Casey was the only one he told the full story to because he knew she would be the most understanding. She didn't press him about bucking up after falling into a bit of depression, or push him to talk more about his feelings. Instead, she'd just snuggled into him and watched some films, letting him know she was there for him. Humphrey smiled a little at the memory as he walked, letting his parents and sister lead the way in Diagon while his mind wandered. He really did have the best sister ever, and no matter what house she was sorted into having her at Hogwarts was going to help. Though, he really would be shocked if she was anything other than Hufflepuff with her cheery and caring disposition.

Humphrey was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a firm tug on his hand and he saw Casey him leading into Magical Menagerie, the pet shop here. "Come on Humphy, you have to help me pick out the perfect owl." she informed him. Looking back, he saw his parents give him a wave. "They said they'll meet us later for lunch, but we have work to do." she said firmly, dragging him into the pet store after pushing the door open. Casey may be a small girl but she was definitely stronger than she looked. The sounds of different animals assaulted his ears and his sister's eyes were wide as she took it all in, before grinning and starting to explore. Chuckling, Humphrey followed a bit behind her, having regained his freedom now she was distracted, and simply enjoyed observing. Finding the right animal was something you had to figure out for yourself.

Since his eyes were keeping tabs on his sister Humphrey hadn't been paying the best attention and tripped over somebody's foot before stumbling into some cages, empty thankfully. Well, at least Casey didn't see Humpty Dumpty have another fall, she would tease him to no end about it. Quickly getting up he organized the cages before looking at the person he tripped over. "Sorry about that, was busy keeping an eye on my little sister and wasn't paying attention. Are you alright?" he asked.

Humphrey was relieved to see that she hadn't fallen like he had, all of those cages could have rolled an ankle quite easily. To his surprise he actually thought he recognized her from Hufflepuff, and tried to place the name. It was eluding him though, and he held out his hand to her. "I'm used to getting more bumps and bruises than that, it's no problem." he assured her, before there was an awkward pause and he remembered his manners. "Sorry, Humphrey Williams, soon to be Hufflepuff third year. You're a Puff too, right?" he asked, wanting to be sure. Around his sister he was usually a lot more outgoing than on his own, and he felt the usual nerves he did around talking to people he didn't know well.

That was when his sister came around and looked at the two of them with a mischievous smirk, having heard the crash and correctly assuming it had been her brother. Like last year when he'd met that Slytherin girl, she started to get an evil plan to embarrass him. "Humphy, I thought you were supposed to help me with finding a pet not flirt with girls in shops." she said, shooting a wink in the other girl's direction.

Groaning and turning bright pink, he looked down at his shoes, wondering why he had to put up with things like this. It was turning into Madam Malkin's all over again. "For the last time, I do not flirt with the girls I meet in shops. I was trying to keep an eye on you, and managed to trip." Humphrey told her, giving her a glare before grumbling under his breath. There went his chances of making a new friend, he thought to himself.

Humphrey felt a little guilty for not even knowing she was in his class, but smiled a little. "Thought I'd seen you in classes before. Maybe we could be study partners or something when we get back?" he asked, knowing that it always made the work go faster with another person there. It was a lot easier than asking if she would be his friend because he only knew a few people, neither in his year since Brooklyn stopped talking to him.

Casey laughed a little as well and nudged her brother playfully. "Don't mind my brother, he can be grumpy when I tease him about girls." she told the other one. "I'm Casey, nice to meet you." she said cheerfully, giving her a wave. Why he was so touchy about things she would never understand.

When they were informed that she was looking for a pet too Humphrey thought it would be fun to search together. "If you want we can all browse together, maybe we'll have more luck with another person to help us find a nice one." he said, ignoring the jibe but relaxing some now that Casey was with him. Usually he sent his letters to Casey, but since she would be at Hogwarts he would need to send more to his mum.

Her agreement was a relief, and he felt more excited about the coming year knowing he wouldn't have to do all the work alone. Sure, Humphrey was a pretty good student, but he wanted to have more people he could talk to as well as a study partner. "Guess that's settled then, we can talk about details when we get our timetables and work." he said, knowing there wasn't much to do until then.

Why people would shorten a pretty name like that didn't make sense to Casey. "That's silly, it's a great name. Like the constellation, right?" she asked, figuring that was most likely where it came from. Sure it was long, but there were names just as long that didn't sound nearly as nice people always used.

Upon hearing the mention of a cat he wondered if that would change his sister's mind, but she was still interested in owls. "That would be cool, I hear there are even some kneazles around that are kind of similar to cats." Humphrey said, looking at the signs and finding them. "I think those are a few of them." he pointed out. When they got closer he could see the regular cats a short ways away.

Since that was settled Humphrey listened as his sister played connect the dots with the constellation being where her name came from. In the summer when they had camped out at young ages and wanted stories before bed their mother had told them different stories about how the stars or world came about, from other cultures too. They were always his favorites, and it seemed like Casey had taken to them as much as he had, that realization reminding him that he could be easier on her than he had been recently.

Thinking about more questions, Casey's eyes lit up. "So, are constellation names a habit in your family?" she asked, thinking that idea would be kind of cool. The only thing to watch for would be the superstitions about the names being bad luck, but that was only if you believed int hat sort of thing.

Humphrey observed her looking at the kneazles, and wasn't too shocked that she decided to stick with a standard cat. It was rather clear that she had her mind set on finding one if the look she had was any indication. "Have you decided what breed of cat?" he asked, thinking it might be a good idea to start moving over towards the regular ones.

While her big brother sorted that out her eyes had began to wander before locking onto what was a smaller owl than most, but looked quick and intelligent. It was only a few steps away so Casey left them to talk before walking closer and held out her hand slowly, beginning to stroke it when the bird remained calm. "Do you want to come home with me?" she asked the animal in a voice that was much quieter than usual. After a few hoots in reply she grinned and went back over to tug on Humphrey's sleeve. "I found my owl."

Dakota entered the pet shop because she didnt really have anything better to do  she wandered around the aisles and reached into cages to pet the animals. Dakota may be evil, but she had a soft spot for animals. They were just so pure and innocent, she loved them. As she turned a corner, she saw a few fellow classmates of hers and she smirked. Time to have some fun "Talking to the animals I see. Thats the first sign of insanity. Talking to something that cant talk back" she said before leaning down and picking up a black wolf pup "youre coming home with me" she said smiling at the pup before turning to the small groud "the difference between you and me? I am insane" she said before laughing and petting the pup behind its ears which it obviously liked as he tried to lick her hand. "Ares, cease" she said in a strong voice and the pup stopped