Clarbelle sat on a bench staring at the list of supplys she needed, "There's so many." She whined looking around Diagon Alley, "I knew I should have asked mom and dad to come..." She pouted huffing and crossing her arms. "But then again I'm not little anymore." She spoke determindly.

She jumped suddenly as a small owl cooed beside her. "Gremmy..." She muttered irritated. "You really choose bad times to visit me." She sighed reaching her hand out and stroking her owls feathers.

Rufus Howard strolled carefree down Diagon Alley. This was his first time here, alone. He pulled out his Hogwarts list and read it again. He smiled. Putting it away again he checked that he still had his money bag, and continued walking.

He noticed a little way ahead of him a girl sitting alone on a bench, she seemed to be talking to an owl. Rufus smiled and decided to make conversation. After all he didn't like silence that much ao someone to talk to would be nice.

'Hi, can I sit here, or is that space for the owl?'

Clarelle laughed gently and nervously, "Oh no please by all means." She smiled sending a glare to Gremmy.

'Great now it looks like I talk to animals.' She sighed, "I'm loosing it..." She murmured softly to herself before smiling at the boy who sat beside her.

Rufus sat down and smiled.

'Rufus Howard. How do you do? I talk to my owl sometimes, when he won't hand over a letter!' Rufus smiled and and dug deep in one of his pockets.

'Chocolate frog?'

Clarelle smiled gently and nodded, "Please and thank you." She chimmed in a sing song voice. "My names Clarelle Smith." She beamed, "But please call me Cal."

She giggled as Gremmy ruffled his feathers, "Don't mind him. He's used to it just being him and me." She smiled petting her owl. "He's really testy." She said simply.

Rufus reached out to stroke Gremmy, but the owl hopped along the bench away from him.

'I see what you mean!' Rufus smiled. 'So tell me about yourself. Family? Going to Hogwarts this year? What house to you want to be in?'

"You like playing twenty questions huh?" She giggled, "I live with my mother and father, but they are never home because my mom travels as a singer and my father works in the minesty, and we all know how busy it's been there as of late." She sighed, "As for my house... I'm not sure which one I would like, I guess I'm just happy to be here instead of my stuffy old house and yet this is my first year attending." She admitted blushing.

She thought for a moment before blushing further, "I'm sorry how rude of me, what about you? Any sibblings?" She bit her cheek nervously watching Gremmy eye up Rufus. "You might wanna watch your ears." She spoke honestly. "He has a tendency to bite them..." She gave another nervous laugh.

Rufus place his hands over his ears in mock horror.

'I'm an only child. My parents got it right first time with me. My father is in the money bussiness, he trades with the Goblins. My mother does the odd jobs for him. Contacting Goblins and other traders. Mother mainly stays at home for me though, keeping an eye on the House Elves. I could be in any house myself. My mother was a muggle born and was in Hufflepuff, while my father was a Ravenclaw. Fathers' parents were a Gryffindor and a Slytherin. So it's pot luck for me. I can't wait to go!'

When Rufus finally stopped talking he saw that Gremmy was edging towards him.

'Is he usaully a menace to the public?'

Gremmy ruffled his feather, obviously upset by the comment.

Cal laughed, "No no he's really not. He's just warry of everyone." She smiled patting Rufus head, "Dont' worry I'll protect you." She spoke mockingly with a giggle as she picked Gremmy up and placed him on her shoulder. "Now you play nice." She scolded then turned smiling to Rufus, "See?" She mused.

Rufus looked at Gremmy.

Gremmy narrowed his eyes at his rival. Rufus frowned.

"Wanna piece of me Dufus?" Rufus glared at the owl.

"It's Rufus feather face." Gremmy the owl gave Rufus some rude wing gestures, and Rufus returned them.

Rufus suddenly came out of his daydream and realised he was sitting in the middle of Diagon Alley. Quickly dropping his hand and hoping no one had noticed his hand gesture to the owl, he smiled at Cal.

'He's got "Die Rufus Die" written all over his face!'

Cal placed a hand over her mouth pretending she hadn't seen the glazed look over Rufus eyes as she stiffend a giggle. "I suppose he has." She rub her nose against Gremmy's beak and he coo's happily.

"We called him Gremmy cuz he was like a Gremlin." She smiled.

Selene was strolling trough Diagon Alley hoping to find something to do. When she rounded a corner she saw the boy she had met earlier in the day. She slowly and calmly walked over. "Hey, Rufus." She said in a clam and girly like voice.

Rufus raised an eyebrow. 'That's an understatement!'

Rufus checked his watch. 'Do you want to do the shopping for our school supplies?'

"Umm sure." Cal smiled gently looking up to see the new girl. "Hello." She smiled sweetly as she nudged Rufus imply he should introduce them.

Jordan walked down Diagon Alley with Lily. The two were shopping for anything and everything, and they were coming up short. "I'm so bored. I've been here how many times and I'm bored!" Jordan said, a little frustrated.

She enjoyed Diagon Alley and the things in it, but when you've been there for days on end, it got quite boring. Watching the people pass she saw a small group of kids their age or around their age. Grabbing her petite friends hand, Jordan dragged her over.

Avoiding the owl sitting on one of the girls shoulder, she smiled. "Hi, I'm Jordan and this is Lily. And I'm terribly bored, so can we hang out with you?"

Cal laughed, "I don't see a problem with it." She smiled, "My names Clarelle but please call me Cal." She beamed, "And this is Gremmy, please don't mind him." She stiffened a giggle as Gremmy fluffed his feathers and hoot'd.

Lily laughed at Jordan's boredom. "Yeah, I'm bored too," She said as they walked by the many shops. Suddenly, Jordan grabbed Lily's hand and dragged her over to a group of people that looked about their age.

Lily smiled shyly as Jordan introdued them both." Hi, I'm Lily, as you already know," She said, giving Jordan a look, before giggling slightly. They were bored, and Lily was pretty sure that when Jordan was desperate she had to sociliaze, just like Lily was before her parents died.

"Hi, Cal, Gremmy," She said to the girl and her owl, who gave a happy little hoot. Lily laughed, and put her finger out to pet him gently, when the arrogant little owl snapped at her finger. "Ow," Lily said, laughing. Pretty violent owl.

"Hi Cal. Hi bird. Sorry allergic." Jordan said, looking at the bird. She got all puffy and gross when she got to close to birds, and it wasn't fun to look like a pink ball. And of course it made her throat swell up so she couldn't either.

She smiled at the rest of the group, trying to not seem insane, but to be friendly. "So what's everyone elses name?"

"Well the quiet one is Rufus." Cal laughed as she petted gremmy. "Calm down now and be nice." She scolled.

Lily nodded, cradling her slightly stinging finger. Not really knowing what to say, she stayed quiet.

((OOC: Sorry, I've been posting all afternoon, and I've lost a lot of ideas...so I guess my muse died...so forgive me for the horrible posts!))

'Hi Selene!' Rufus got up and put as much distance between him and Gremmy. 'Watch the owl, it's Pychotic.'

'Yeah I'm Rufus.' Rufus gave a small mock wave and smiled. 'You don't want to know what that bird has been doing.' He winked at Cal.

Selene looked down at the girl he was sitting with. "Hello, I'm Selene. Selene Beckinsale." She said holding out her hand.

She looked the girl over. She looks sweet. She said to herself. At the moment she really wished she had another butterbeer.

Lily laughed at Rufus. It looked like he was sort of scared of the owl. "Aww, he's not that bad, Rufus," Lily called to him, laughing. She always had a soft spot for cute animals, even if they were slightly vicious. Lily used to own a chihuahua, you do the math.

Chihuahuas are these tiny little dogs that are very cute, but also very vicious and yappy. Lily's was named Shadow, but he died a few years ago. He got pretty annoying sometimes, but Lily still loved him.

((OOC: Chihuahua is pronnounced chawawa, just so you know. I have one, and it's true, they are pretty vicious and loud! But cute ))

Selene took a glance at the owl. "He actually looks quite interesting." She said. She thought about the owls she had seen on the train. They were amazing creatures , but they scared her a little. After all, she had never seen an owl before then. Thats what happens when your parents make you live away from the wild and all the animals.

((OOC: I love Chihuahuas'. They are so cute and tiny!))

'Don't trust the owl, I've got one, he's nice. That is evil. It tried to eat my ears!' Rufus wagged a finger at it and yelped in mock fear when Gremmy went for it. 'It wants me dead! Tell them Cal. The owl is evil.' Rufus spread his hands out and held a creepy face. Well he tried, but it wasn't long before he burst out laughing.

'So we're bored. We're in Diagon Alley. With out parents. What shall we do? I know a place where they'll do a good deal on owls. Trade your old one for a new one.' Rufus looked pointedly at Cal. 'You could have a pretty one, that has more social skills than ripping off body parts.'

Lily laughed at Selene.

'Don't trust the owl, I've got one, he's nice. That is evil. It tried to eat my ears! It wants me dead! Tell them Cal. The owl is evil. So we're bored. We're in Diagon Alley. With out parents. What shall we do? I know a place where they'll do a good deal on owls. Trade your old one for a new one. You could have a pretty one, that has more social skills than ripping off body parts.' Rufus said, making faces at the owl and laughing.

Lily laughed with him, and agreed with him completely. "Yes, he is pretty vicious," She said, this time not trying to pet the owl. She rather liked having ten fingers, and had a certain dream of keeping all ten of them all of her life. Not too much to ask for, and having an owl bite your fingers off isn't a girls idea of a dream.

Cal shook her head smiling as she watched the three converse. 'Interesting.' She mused. She gently stroked Gremmys feathers again, giggling at the thought of Gremmy being in a bad mood. 'To think...' "he's in a good mood..." She murmured.

"I like Gremmy." She spoke honestly, "He's just picky abotu who he likes is all. I mean he didn't even like me for the first year I had him."

She thought back, "And then... One day he came back with an hurt wing and I spent two months by his side helping him heal. I even helped him why again." She smiled, "He's loved me ever since."

Lily laughed at Cals' story. Her dog had been somewhat like that, he snapped at you unless you petted him for awhile. Well, he snapped, barked then got mad and started to chase his tail. That was cute. Lily missed her dog, but missed her parents more. Musing this over i her head, Lily sat down on the ground, her feet getting slightly sore.

"Yeah, I used to have a dog like that, he growled at you unless you petted him," Lily said, giggling.

'Is my owl the ony normal creature on this earth?' Rufus sat on the floor and watched the girls talking about their pets.

Lily laughed. "No, my owl Dero is pretty sane," She said, still sitting on the ground. The slight wind blew her hair all in her face, and Lily pushed it out of her eyes.

Speaking of owls, Lily was supposed to owl someone. Grinning to herself, Lily thought that it could wait. She wasn't used to this owl post thing, she was used to emails and and telephones. Sadly remembering her old life, Lily blinked trying to get her mind off of something that made her so depressed.

'As much as I love Red, he's my owl. I do love the muggle idea of emailing. Has anyone here heard of that. Mothers muggle born, so I get the best of both worlds.'

Lily laughed, he had read her mind. "Yes, you read my mind! I was just thinking about that, I was on mine all the time, my mother had to disconnect the internet," Lily said, laughing at the memory. Her mother did have to disconnect it, because Lily had stayed up two days and two nights emailing anyone and everyone. Lily did not know what she would do without the computer.

"I'm only allowed to email family. Untill these last few days mother and father didn't really let me mix with other kids." Rufus sighed.

((OOC: Is that you saying that or your character? Lol, you need to use quotation marks!))

Lily looked at him. "Oh, that probably wouldn't of ben any fun. Were your parents scared that you would accidently tell some muggles that you were a wizard? I think my mom thought that about me, because she never told me I was magic," She mused thoughtfully.

(((OOC - Sorry I missed of the speech marks.)))
((((OOC - fixed it!))))

((OOC: It's okay...lol))

Cal smiled gently watching the two converse. "I wouldn't say Gremmy isn't sane..." She whispered gently. "He's just grumpy... All the time..." She laughed.

"My mom is a muggle and my father is halfblooded." Cal shrugged, "Although I don't know much about Muggle's." She sighed, "Although I am sure they are fascinating. They always seem to have such odd ways of doing things... Like a Mi-croo-wave, I heard some put LIVE ANIMALS in them! It’s absolutely dreadful!" She shivered at the thought, “I also hear their pictures don’t move, how horribly boring.” She sighed in a ‘hum ha’ way.

Matthew was bored. Beyond bored. Incredibly bored. He would have rather been running up and down the streets, or doing anything except sitting out in front of a shop, waiting for his dad to finish up inside. He wasn't inside with his dad because it was an animal shop...he probably would have had to be dragged out with magic.

It was then that he saw a part in the crowd...and standing a little over four feet, it wasn't like he could see over the heads of even wizards and witches that weren't wearing pointy hats.

So, he was able to notice the most beautiful creature near the bench that wasn't too far from where he was on the opposite side of the street.

Matthew was told to stay put...but, he wasn't wandering too far, and it wouldn't be the first time such a thing had happened...he found himself dodging the crowd to get over to the magnificent creature.

When he got there, he smiled and couldn't help but exclaim, "That's an awesome looking owl, there!"

He was probably interrupting a conversation, which was something he tried not to do...in fact, he usually had trouble approaching a large group of kids, let alone speaking to them. But when it came to animals...he couldn't help it.

Cal smiled, "Why thank you." Gremmy seemed to give Matthew a shift glance. "wow... You're lucky he didn't swarm you!" Cal laughed petting Gremmy.

"He must be happy you called him an 'amazing looking owl'" She giggled as Gremmy ruffed his feathers proudly. "My names Clarelle, but please call me Cal, what's your name?" Cal flashed Matthew a friendly grin.

"Ah...so the owl's a 'he', then...what's his name?" Matthew smiled, and noticed when said creature ruffled its feathers, "Mighty proud fellow, I take it."

Matthew blinked, then grinned sheepishly as he realized he hadn't even introduced himself. "Pleasure! I'm Matthew Bristow...but just 'Matt' is fine...or 'Matthew'...actually, it doesn't really matter..."

He laughed lightly as he spoke, "I live in a muggle neighborhood, even though dad's a wizard, so we can't rightly keep an owl in the house...imagine what the surrounding muggles would say!"
He thought a moment, then spoke again, looking at the owl, "Can I pet him?"

Cal looked nervously between Matthew and Gremmy. "His names Gremmy, he's not very social, but you can try." Cal spoke gently holding her arm out, her fingertips just an inch from Matthews chest.

Slowly Gremmy began to hop up Cals arm reaching her fingertips looking up at Matthew, eyeing him.

"Play nice." Cal warned.

Matthew smiled brightly, then chuckled, "Thanks! Wouldn't be the first time I got bitten...even injured animals sometimes don't realize you're just trying to help them when you touch them. Dad jokes that he's going to start taking me to a vet instead of a doctor if it keeps up."

He turned his attention to the owl with a smile as he spoke softly, "Hullo, there, Gremmy. Mind if I pet you? You can stop me any time you wish...just leave me with my fingers." He winked at the owl, and slowly reached up, showing his hand to the bird, first, before slowly moving it again, "You'll like this...trust me. I haven't any owl treats, but this can be just as good."

Carefully and slowly, he reached out, then gently touched the feathers so he could scratch the owl's head, between the top of the skull and the area between its eyes. Most birds, he found, enjoyed it, "Soft and preened feathers...your owner must take real good care of you. I can see why, though..."

He knew he was babbling, to an animal, and in front of a group of other kids...but, he never cared if someone mocked him for his love of animals, so he didn't see a reason to start. Plus, he had learned (the hard way) that most animals will calm down for a moment or two if he spoke to them softly, and moved slowly, before touching them. It didn't always work, but when it did, he had one less bite or scratch to clean out.

Cals cocked her head to the side and watched, "Wow..." She whispered admiringly in pure aw. "He's never let anyone touch him like that upon first meeting." Her voice was hushed not wanting to ruin the rare moment.

She watched Matthew for any kind of reaction to Gremmys actions. He seemed rather calm as if he and Gremmy were in their own world.

"You like animals a lot huh?" She asked gently smiling, happy that Gremmy hadn't nipped at Matthew yet.

Gremmy had always been a fickle little owl and Cal had always put up with her bitter little pet. She was almost jealous; she blushed getting ahead of herself. Drumming her fingers she smiled softly, maybe Gremmy getting along with others was a better thing.

Rufus eyed Matt and Gremmy wearily. Impressed he nodded at Matt. 'That thing hates me. Tried rabbing my fingers and my ears!'

Lily watched, cocking her head to the side gently as Mattew petted Gremmy. Once Rufus said how the owl had trip to bite his fingers and ears off, Lily dcided to put her two cents in.

"He bit my finger, also," Lily said, looking up at the boy from her perch on the cold cobblestones. She smiled slightly. "I'm Lily Montez, nice to meet you," Lily said.

'I can't wait for you to meet Red, he's the sofest owl going, unless his on a mission to save the world.'

Lily looked at Rufus as he made his statement. 'I can't wait for you to meet Red, he's the sofest owl going, unless his on a mission to save the world.'

Lily laughed, pushing her hair out of her eyes. Leaning forward, she rested her head in her cupped hands, and waited for someone to say something. Lily was getting kind of bored on the topic of owls.

"What house do you guys want to be in?" Lily asked, randomly. She already knew Jordan's choice, but didn't mention that.

Loli had been passing by in diagon alley after seeing her crush on "chore duty". Diagon was quiet and still. Loli could see her breath as she passed by the oh so suttle people. She saw a group of people nearby and decided to slip in near by unnoticably. That way she wouldn't be lonely. It really wasn't hard, being short gave you that privelege. She sat in a chair and cuddled up next to her legs. It was still cold. "I wonder what hogwarts would really be like?" she mumbled to herself. She began to daydream of the castle and descriptions she had read about.

Matthew finished petting the owl, and pulled back as he realized that some of the other kids had said something. He grinned sheepishly, "Huh? Oh! Nice to meet you, too! I'm Matt...um, you probably already heard me say so, though, huh...?"

He looked at Rufus, "You have a owl, too? Wicked! I like all kinds of animals...bring them into the house all the time. My brother always loves that, but my mum always throws a right fit. I don't get to handle owls much, though...unless they're from dad's friends. He works with magical animals...I keep saying that at least I don't find any of them to bring into the house."

He shifted a bit during the lull in the conversation. He was never good at coming up with topics, so he was glad when a question was presented to them from Lily.

Matthew considered that, "Hmm...well, dad was in Gryffindor......actually, I haven't given it much thought. I suppose Gryffindor, then, since dad was in it. What about you? And everyone else, of course..." He settled down a bit, finding a seat on the ground near the bench.

'I've heard so many horror stories about Slytherin. But it all comes down to the fact that I'm a bit of everything. I've got all four houses in my blood and it shows. I'd like to think I'm not scared of much. So that's the brave bit. I hope I'm clever, or dad'll kill me! He was a Ravenclaw. I'm a friendly guy so that's mothers bit (Hufflepuff) and well I don't really like losing at things so I'll take that as my bit of Slytherin, which was my grandpa.'