A trip to Diagon Alley without a stop at Sugarplum's was impossible. As usual, Adi would be stocking up on his sweets. He would get lots and lots of chocolate frogs, of course. They were still one of his passions. But first...

He'd get some gumballs!

Why not nom on a few while getting the sweets? Adi rummaged through his pockets for some coins. If he recalled right, two knuts equaled one Gumball. A pity muggle money was not accepted because he easily found some of that. Hmmm... where were those wizarding coins?

It was natural for the hand holding now, but the new environment made her a bit nervous, and extremely blushy. Why was he doing this to her? All she could do was giggle. But what did it mean? The whole girlfriend thing got shrugged off, kind of. She was overthinking it, and Cornelius was just Cornelius. Whatever this was she liked it. She was happy.

OH MERLIN, Cornelius. What was this PDA? She giggled even more. Scrunching up her nose, nose kisses felt weird. Like they were on your nose. Her face was even redder if that was possible. Like her eyes? Or red like her face probably was or felt like it was. "Either one." Said grinning up at him. She took the knuts. Wait, what? "What are you missing?" She blinked quite confused looking at him. What was he missing? Was there something she was missing?

She was cute. What with the red in her cheeks and that little giggle that made his fingers itch to tickle her. It was weird. Extremely weird because he found himself thinking about her. Not deliberately, but like...she snuck up in his thoughts. At one moment he would be thinking about a Golden Snitch and then he found himself thinking how it matched Katerina's locks.

It was ODD. Extremely ODD.

What was going on?

Anywhooo. There was something missing. Yes. "Well, Miss Katerina, I am missing," he glanced around him again, making sure they were the only one's there and no pesky shopkeeper was lurking around. Cornelius leaned towards her and whispered, "A good luck kiss."

He'd fail miserably without one, you hear?

The summer had definitely not started off on a positive note, but then there hadn’t exactly been much that Brooklyn could have done about it. No matter how good she was at potions, she couldn’t keep her grandfather from dying, and she couldn’t get out of having to go back to California for the funeral. There hadn’t even been the desire to try to argue with her parents about it. Instead, she had merely sent off a couple of owls to certain people letting them know where she was going to be, and she had tried to make the best out of a bad situation. Namely, she had made sure to bring entertainment with her, both in the form of books and her violin and ballet slippers. Her family had tried to make it seem more like a vacation with a trip to the Grand Canyon, but she was glad to be back in London. Back where she preferred to be.

She’d let her mother know that she was headed to Diagon Alley to do some shopping, but that had been it. She had left and made her way to the alley, wishing she was seventeen already so she’d be able to do magic outside of school. She still had a month or so until then, though, so she’d had to take Muggle transportation and then get into the alley the usual way. Through the Leaky Cauldron, and then she had headed for the sweetshop. She needed more sugar quills, but as she’d stepped into the shop, she saw a familiar person struggling near the gumball machines. “Is it really worth the trouble?,” she asked idly, watching the older boy.

Time to check out another shop he hadn't had the pleasure of exploring. He opened the door and noticed it was like Honeyduke's in Hogsmeade expect obviously different but still had the same concept of selling candies. He walked through exploring the shelves till he saw a gumball machine. Man he hadn't seen these since he was a kid.

He was keen on having some gum because why not? It was sort of cheap. He placed his galleon in the machine till he realized it got stuck. Welp that didn't go as planned.

UGH. Her cheeks were red, she was sure of it. She could feel the heat in her cheeks. Her blue eyes looked him over, the urge to poke him was real. Hehe. She did it she poked him right in the side. She let out even a louder giggle when she did. Poke poke poke. She just wanted a gumball and now, but Curly was distracting her. So more pokes were happening.

Hmmm She looked at him for a minute, Missing, something? Well now she was officially confused. Her jaw dropped. A good luck kiss? She blinked rapidly, What? Hmmmm she looked put at him, then around the shop. With her luck her brother or mother, or dad even would walk in. The coast was clear. Okay she could do this. She made a quiet little squeal and flailed.

Standing up on her tiptoes, their height difference was already at the tiptoe kiss standing up. She kissed him. A quick one. Whispering "Good luck." as she stood flat footed in front of him.

Juliette was SO EXCITED to be walking through the doorway into Sugarplum's because her stash of pumpkin pastries was running low at the house, so she had to make sure her stash was full for the remaining weeks of summer. As she passed by the tower of black baskets, she picked one up for herself then made her way down the aisle where her pastries were out. She filled up her basket to the point where it looked like she was preparing for a pumpkin pastry shortage -- but really, what if one day every candy stores had no pumpkin pastries in stock?? Tragic thought.

Once there was enough pastries in her basket to make her happy, she began her journey towards the register until she saw Colton standing by the gumball machines. She had never really talked to him much at Hogwarts, but she did have classes with him. Acquaintances, that's what they were, right? "Hey, Colton," she chirped as she walked over to him. "Enjoying yo -- did you break the machine?" She gave a puzzled look towards the coin accepter, which looked jammed.

As Colt was trying to get the coin out of the machine, he looked over and saw a girl was standing there. Greeattt making a fool out of himself trying to get this stupid coin out of the machine. He looked at her in detail and saw it was Juliette. He beamed and greeted her with a nod. Wait a minute did she say Colton? No one ever said his full name besides his mother. He was just taken aback. "Hi to you too Juliette and nah I didn't break the machine. It was just really hungry for my galleon it seems.." He said trying to get it out but it wasn't working. "By the way just use my nickname Colt. If you use Colton you sound like my mother which usually means trouble." The only time his mother used his full name was when he was in deep trouble.

"I mean if you wanna have a go and get it out..." he offered. Wait a minute there was an easily solution for this. "Unless we can use our wands.." he suggested with a shrug.

SPOILER!!: Brooklyn! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverTiger

The summer had definitely not started off on a positive note, but then there hadn’t exactly been much that Brooklyn could have done about it. No matter how good she was at potions, she couldn’t keep her grandfather from dying, and she couldn’t get out of having to go back to California for the funeral. There hadn’t even been the desire to try to argue with her parents about it. Instead, she had merely sent off a couple of owls to certain people letting them know where she was going to be, and she had tried to make the best out of a bad situation. Namely, she had made sure to bring entertainment with her, both in the form of books and her violin and ballet slippers. Her family had tried to make it seem more like a vacation with a trip to the Grand Canyon, but she was glad to be back in London. Back where she preferred to be.

She’d let her mother know that she was headed to Diagon Alley to do some shopping, but that had been it. She had left and made her way to the alley, wishing she was seventeen already so she’d be able to do magic outside of school. She still had a month or so until then, though, so she’d had to take Muggle transportation and then get into the alley the usual way. Through the Leaky Cauldron, and then she had headed for the sweetshop. She needed more sugar quills, but as she’d stepped into the shop, she saw a familiar person struggling near the gumball machines. “Is it really worth the trouble?,” she asked idly, watching the older boy.

No luck so far in finding the coins. Adi was highly amused that he had more muggle money right now... or at least seemed to be finding more of those. Ah well. He would eventually find the money he needed. He didn't turn when he heard the voice, being too caught up in his actions. "Sweets are always worth whatever trouble.'' Was it him or was that voice famili-

''Aha! Got it!''

The guy fished out the coins in triumphant. Success! Only then did he turn to face the person behind him.

"Brooklyn!'' What a surprise! A good one too, in Adi's opinion even though the girl never did seem to like him. And gosh! She had certainly grown up. She'd be a seventh year soon of he calculated correctly. "What's up? I hope you're doing well. You know, I've actually missed you.'' Mhmm.

Cornelius was deeply concentrated, calculating if kicking the gumball machine would shift his odds, that when Kat's finger dug into him, he jumped. "Katerina!" He let out a laugh, for the first time in a few days a happy sound. He caught her finger and pretended to bite. "Imma bite them off," he teased.

Letting go of her finger he noted his request had stumped her. He smirked. M'hhhm. He needed a good luck kiss. At this point he didn't care if his parents would walk in. They'd soon have another male heir so whatever he did shouldn't matter.

#Rebel

Annnnd he was DEADED. Just the same as every time Katerina kissed him. His heart did this little hammer jab thing, and then his stomach got weird bursts of energy, and he couldn't help the big smile that crossed his face.

"Thank you, m'lady," he said sort of in a daze as he stuck the knuts into the machine and gave the thing a twist.

Come onnnn PINK!

.................................................. .......He got red.

-_____________-

She wasn’t getting what she came for by standing there waiting on a response. In fact, Brooklyn had started getting rather bored waiting to see if Adi would respond, not to mention a bit annoyed by the idea that she was being ignored. It wasn’t as if she bothered to just say things without there being a reason to do so. She wasn’t a Gryffindor, even if she knew at least a couple of those fairly well. Nor was she a Hufflepuff, and the older boy certainly wasn’t acting like one at the moment. Until he’d spoken, although she still felt like she was basically being dismissed. Especially as the comment had been followed b y a cry of triumph that she hardly cared about.

It wasn’t as if she had actually wanted a gumball. She’d just stopped in for her sugar quills and lemon drops, but she’d raised an eyebrow when he had finally looked up and seen her. “Adi.” He got a point for not trying to give her a nickname, but it wasn’t going to count for much. She had answered his question with a shrug, as well. “As good as I can be.” She wasn’t telling him about things. Not her family things, nor other things that were still a bit confusing. He wasn’t a friend. She hadn’t exactly missed him, either.

Junia wasn't supposed to eat too many sweets as her parents were very concerned with the wellbeing of her teeth and the way she tended to get a little loopy after having too much sugar. Luckily for her, her parents weren't around and she had some left over money after buying supplies, just enough to stalk up on some secret sweets for the new school year. So after purchasing a large bag of said sweets, the twelve year old made her way towards the exit. That is, until she spotted the gumball machines.

That was one thing she'd forgotten to get on her candy purchasing spree and she couldn't very well leave out gum! That wouldn't be fair at all and Princess Junia Botros was all about equal opportunities for sweets.

Dora, too, had been doing her annual back to school shopping... for her CANDY. Most important part of the shopping, that is! So as she was heading for the door... she noticed a certain someone beeline for the gumballs. Heh. Having spent time at their house visiting with Rula... Dora knew Junia was not allowed so much candy. HEHEH.

"JUNIA BOTROS DON'T YOU DO IIIIT!" Dora shouted dramatically as she crept up behind the younger girl. Her giggles couldn't be suppressed for much longer... COME ON GIRL! HEHEHEHE.

HEHEHEEHEHhehhehhehehHEHEHE!!

UH-OH.

Junia froze and then casually backed away from the gumball machine, doing a slow turn towards whoever it was that had caught her. Her expression changed immediately from fear to one of angelic innocence. A smile graced her features and then...Dora. "DORA!" Rula's friend. Junia knew her and knew that she was no longer in any kind of immediate trouble, which was a relief.

"What brings you to Diagon Alley?" Also, they could just forget the giant bag of sweets the younger girl was holding, yes?

Wink-wink-nudge-nudge.

That. Was. Great.

Dora erupted into snort!giggles at the sight of Junia being startled. Maybe it was rude of the older girl to do... but it sure was hilarious.

And she saw the bag. HA! "What's in the bag, Juuuunia? Candy? Loads of it? " Because, if it was, a bargain had to be struck. The bargain for Dora's silence, of course. Hehe. Circling around the younger girl, Dora smiled sickly sweet at her and giggled.

"Me? What am I doing here? Ohhhh just some light shopping. Waiting for Sam. You know her, yeah? She went on holiday with you and that other girl. She lives with me. She's also my best friend. " Had Junia caught on to the fact that Dora was asking for a bribe? Candy in return for her silence. Yep. Them was the terms!

Rooney was lucky that his parents went out together and got all of their books on the first day of summer, so that he didn't have to do any of that stuff anymore. The only thing he needed to get was some new robes in late August. He'd grown a whole lot and Mum probably wouldn't have enough ready for his first week back at school. And he'd begged for new coloured stitching on the inside. With her now catering for Ilvermorny robes, she was struggling to keep up with a demand for her own children's ones and so he was going to grab some a little later.

After he'd gotten some sweets, maybe looked at a few books, picked up some notebooks and thought about visiting Liv.

He needed to get flowers before he dared go visit her. Boyfriend privileges or not...he could not walk through her door without flowers for both her and her mother. Miss Marilyn would eat him alive. Or so he hoped not, because he had very high hopes for his relationship and his career.

Shoving two knuts into a machine, Rooney waited for his gumball.

Sneakily making her way into the shop, Tim looked around for a bit. The blonde had managed to send Barb back to her parents and get time for herself. She didn't mind her little sister tagging along and asking millions of questions; Tim was up for it. But their parents were here too and she should spend time with them. They could teach Barb more things than Tim could herself at the moment. Maybe except for her dad. He had gone to school in America. Grabbing some chocolate and walking along another aisle, she hadn't decided on what to add to her list next. Would it be licorice wands? Ice mice? Or maybe some Berty Bott's? It was usually hard for Tim to choose.

Stumbling upon the gum ball machine, the girl made a small queue and waited behind a boy. She quickly checked her pocket and made her she had enough for at least three gum balls today.

..... Where was his gumball?

Rooney looked confused at the lack of movement from the machine, giving it a nudge from the front with his shoulder. He even tried to twist the pully a few times, but received no ounce of luck at all. This clearly wasn't his day and this machine was not his friend anymore. "Didn't want the bloody gum anyway.." He muttered, stuffing his hands back into his pockets and stepping aside for the next person to be ROBBED by the machine.

Tim was away in her own little world while waiting her turn. She wasn't in any rush to head back to her parents. She looked over to the boy, whose back of he head was oddly familiar to her. His gum ball hadn't come down yet. Raising a brow as he stepped away, Tim moved up and inserted her two knuts into the slot. Turning the knob the amount of times needed, and waited.

Still waiting...

"..what is up with this thing?" Tim thought out loud to herself. The blonde examined the machine and let out a long sigh. Looking around, she made sure no one else was looking in their direction. Especially not the shopkeeper. Stepping back a little, she gave the machine on hard hit and watched the two gum balls fall down. Oh! It worked! Picking them up, she handed one to the boy. 'I believe this is yours,'

Wes was wandering around the candy shop, trying to find things that his little brother would like. The little tyke had grown up so much since Wes has saw him and he was feeling a bit sad st missing it all.

In fact this was the first day he had left home!

He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he looked st the gumball machine and tilted his head.. would Phe like that?

Maybe?

He rustled around in his pockets for a few knuts and stuck them in then turned the dial!

Ohh there was a blue one coming! Perfect! Phe loved blue.

Tallyn was only here because she needed a change in scenery. Plus there was nothing wrong with coming to DA for a bit of early shopping before all the tiny first years took over the place. Yeah, that wasn't something she was looking forward to really. It wasn't so much the kids themselves that she didn't like as she actually enjoyed children it was more the chaos of them running around and being just...everywhere.

So today she was here to get what she needed. And it just so happened that candy was on the list. Okay, it wasn't but it was now. Who really passed up candy? Not her.

With her candy purchases finished and bags put away into her backpack she was just about ready to leave when she spotted someone she knew. "Hey Wes!," she called out walking towards the taller boy.

At least he wasn't the only one that the gumball machines had conned out of money, hmpf. Rooney had the right mind to go and speak to someone who worked here, because this was completely disgraceful and needed to be fixed. But just as he was about to step away, the girl that had gone after him was giving the machine an absolute shove...how ridiculous was it that she thought she could take on the machine of robbery?! With a gasp at the sudden appearance of the gumballs, Rooney grinned. "Score! Thanks!" Although..he wasn't quite sure why he was thanking her, because he had paid for this gumball.

And she was doing the machine beating.

And she was a girl.

This was confusing.

Wes was putting two more knuts into the machine to turn it when he heard a familiar voice that made him close his eyes for a moment. He took a breath and slowly turned to see Tallyn standing there, one of his closest friends and the girl he currently had a crush on..

But nothing could be done about it.. she was dating someone.. so..

"Hey Tal, how's it going?"" He asked her with a warm smile as he stuck the gum balls in his pocket before looking at her. "Summer going okay?"

Tallyn stepped out of the way of anyone that would be coming in or out of the shop to lean against the wall near the gumball machine. Not only would she be out of the way but she'd be able to talk to one of her closest friends for a little bit.

"Good, things are going good." There were no complaints coming from her. So far the summer was calm and nice with lots of time for her to work on her art. "It is. Lot's of free time to focus on my art while enjoying the outdoors." Two things she loved to do. "How's your summer going? How's that baby brother of yours, getting big?" Tal asked smiling softly at Wes. See she remembered things. Like him being really excited to have a little brother and how he had wanted to go home and spend time with the little one.

Wes smiled a bit as Tallyn leaned on the wall next to the gumball machine and he himself mirrored her position on the other side of it. Leaning against the wall and smiling at her.

"Yeah? " That made him happy, even though he liked her, he was just glad she was happy. Wasn't that what feelings were all about? "I'm glad to hear it. " He said as he brought his hand up to gently rub at his neck for a moment. "Have you come up with any interesting drawings lately?" He asked curiously. He loved her work, she was so talented.

"My summer is all right. " Though not without its drama, his poor aunt and cousin, they had been through the ringer and it wasn't over yet. He only hoped the entire family could get through this next year. And that Az wouldn't be shuffled around too much.

However as she brought up Phe a smile crossed over his face. "Yes! He's walking and saying my name and climbing over everything! He's so cute! And so big!" He said with a happy smile. "This is actually the first time I've been away from him all summer. "