Wandering around Digaon Alley (Adeline, Humphrey, Casey)

Humphrey and Casey had finished up at the Menagerie, but had asked if they could pick up their owl on the way home so they wouldn't have to deal with it while grabbing some food with their parents. Her owl was a little smaller than some, yet looked to have a lot of speed. She'd told him that the bird was perfect, and he knew better than to argue with her when she got her mind set on something. Trying to be responsible, he made sure she listened when the shopkeeper explained how to properly take care of her new pet.

So now they were on their way to meet up with their parents, and Humphrey was a tad nervous because Casey was the one who'd been told where to meet up. She claimed she was paying attention and knew what she was about, so he simply walked at her side with his hand ready to grab her arm if she tried to dart off to a distracting shop. Good kid, but once she got distracted there was no telling what she would do. "You positive you have everything on your list?" he asked again, wanting to make sure that they wouldn't need to take a second trip back. Their parents were busy, and it really would be an inconvenience for them to make another one even though they would be kind about it.

"Humphy, I already told you I have everything and you checked twice to make sure." Casey told him with a roll of her eyes. That was when her eyes lit up and she moved to the other side of the alley, having seen a girl in a red dress walking along appearing to be browsing the shops. "You have a beautiful dress." she said, cocking her head to the side for a moment before righting herself. "Just lovely."

Hurrying after her, having just missed the grab of her elbow, Humphrey let out a sigh of relief when she was just talking to an older girl about a dress. "Casey, you can't just run off like that in the alley, we could get separated." he told her seriously, before turning to the blonde girl. Placing a hand on her shoulder in case she got any other ideas, he smiled sheepishly. "I hope my sister didn't bother you too much, I'm Humphrey." he said, running a finger through his slightly shaggy hair.

Casey beamed when she actually replied instead of ignoring or shooing her away because she was busy. Her favorite colors were red and purple, and for once she actually thought a dress looked nice. Usually she loathed them, but the fact she wasn't the one wearing it right now probably had something to do with it. "Do you always like to dress up so fancy?" she asked curiously, thinking it probably took a lot of work. Whenever there was something she had to dress up for her mum always did the difficult work.

Humphrey was thankful the older girl was laid back about it all, and gave Casey a nudge when both of them had introduced themselves and she hadn't. She introduced herself and then was quiet, surprising him slightly and he smiled. "Thank you Miss Adeline. Red is her favorite color and sometimes my sister can't help herself." he said before ruffling her hair just a little. Older brother's rights, in his opinion. "Looking for anything in particular today?" he asked.

When her hair got ruffled Casey went about putting it back out of the way before pinching his side lightly. If he was going to play the older brother card than she had the right to be annoying. "You know, if you could find me a pretty dress like that I might actually put up with wearing them. Mum would probably approve I'm sure." she hinted, making him raise an eyebrow at her.

"Me, shopping for dresses? Not mum?" Humphrey asked, not liking where this was going. If his classmates found out he would never leave this down, and he automatically scanned the area for fellow puffs who would know him. "I don't know anything about dresses, but...I mean..." he said, seeing her turn the big blue eyes on him.

"Yes, but you always manage to find a pretty girl when we go shopping. So you must know something." Casey argued, not going to let him out of this easily.

Humphrey immediately felt the blood rise to his cheeks. "Will you stop spreading silly rumors like that?" he asked, knowing it was futile. Eventually, he caved, not wanting for her to go into details. "For a sweet kid, you can be evil. Fine. Didn't mean to ignore you." he said, turning back to the other girl with an awkward chuckle.

Thinking about the answer she'd received Casey shrugged but figured she knew what she was talking about. "If you say so. Most of the time I'm busy playing out in the woods or hanging out with my husky Alice so I don't worry about it." she explained, figuring she could share something about herself as well. Her family had told her she was a pretty girl, but she assumed they were slightly biased.

At the mention of her house color he nodded, putting the pieces together. "Well, red clothing with yellow hair does fit in with Gryffindor, I'd imagine." Humphrey said with a chuckle. "Hufflepuff for me, though I'm not big on wearing a lot of black." he admitted. That was too gloomy for his personal tastes, though the yellow wasn't so bad. "Makes sense, there is always something new to discover if you look hard enough here."

When she asked her question Casey nodded and pinched Humphrey lightly again, causing him to nod too before looking at the cobblestones. "Definitely. I bet Humphrey thinks so too and that's why he was annoyed." she informed her with a giggle. "He actually always finds me the most interesting things, if he works I have a feeling he can figure it out." Casey told her in a quieter voice after leaning in her direction so Humphrey wouldn't hear. "Just don't tell him that." she said with her mischievous grin.

"How many siblings do you have?" Humphrey asked, always wondering what it would be like to have more. Having the older girl explain things to Humphrey would help more than his protestations about it, and he was grateful. "Thank you, glad somebody understands. It's not my fault there have been way more girls than guys in most of the years." he remarked.

This entire encounter had been almost surreal for Casey, a girl who enjoyed dressing up who wasn't her mom that was actually...nice. She didn't seem all uppity or giggling at everything, and it definitely gave her something to consider. "If we wind up in the same house could you maybe teach me a few things?" she asked, not wanting to appear pushy with that question. After all, they hardly knew each other when you thought about it.

"He's been infected by cooties since last year, you see. All because he needed robes that properly fight him." Casey informed Adeline, pronouncing it like a terrible disease. Thankfully, the girl's conspiracy was able to cheer her back up instantly. When she was called smart and the other girl started laughing some giggles of her own rise up. Casey couldn't help it, always enjoying finding a way to tease him so long as it wasn't mean. "Much appreciated." she whispered, before resuming her position by her brother.

Looking at the shop for a moment before turning back to Adeline, she thought it over. Casey was excited about things, but she wanted to hear things from a girl's side to see if it was different. "Well, I've only really heard about Hogwarts from my brother, dad, and books. Wanted to hear about it from another girl. I know at least Humphrey, here, leaves some things out." she said, biting her lip due to her nerves. She turned her head to the side to give Humphrey a stare for good measure to let him know she wasn't mad, but that she was serious. "Perhaps that's enough time to help?" she asked hopefully.

When there was no surprise at the revelation Casey decided in return for the help, if she did, that she could teach her about cooties. Smiling, she looked around at the shops before noticing a clock. Her eyes widened, and she knew they were going to have a hard time explaining why they were running late to meet their parents for lunch. "Umm, Humphrey....we're going to be late for lunch." she said, internally groaning. That would mean extra chores probably if she knew her mum. "Sorry, but we promised our parents not to be too long before eating with them. See you at Hogwarts?"