WHO: Rose Granger-Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy WHEN: February 11th, afternoon WHERE: Diagon Alley WHAT: Rose gets a new pet. Scorpius loses his wallet. RATING/STATUS: PG/In Progress
This was the best idea Rose had ever had. Which was saying something, because Rose? Rose was a Ravenclaw. And an Unspeakable. And a genius. And sure, she'd had a lot of terrible ideas in her time- the thing with the squid and the ice cubes came to mind- but this was not one. This was a great idea. Pets were well-known to promote self-esteem, good mood, and a sense of responsibility, and Rose knew that she needed those things. She'd forget to feed herself, sure, but would she forget to feed another creature? Surely not. She'd babysat in her time and never once accidentally not fed the kids. And they weren't even her kids! And this was her pet. There was nothing that could go wrong.
Besides, nifflers were just so cute. And he'd been a bargain at the price!
"I think I'll call you Samson," she informed the little guy as she walked out of the pet shop with him, holding him up so that she could look him in the eye. It was polite to meet a person's- or a niffler's, she was sure- gaze when you were speaking to them. Very important, that. Mum had told her countless times. So what if she couldn't also watch where she was going while doing so and she nearly walked into a woman with a very impressive hat? "Or Fuzzy. I don't know. What do you think?"
The niffler squeaked, which was adorable, and which she took to mean that he had no real preference. She continued walking, chattering to her new little friend in this manner, right up until the moment when she tripped over a curb and went sprawling, losing her hold on poor little Samson-or-Fuzzy. The creature, frightened by its sudden flight through the air, scurried off, weaving around peoples' feet while Rose scrambled to her own and ran after him. Unfortunately, he was tricksy, and she lost sight of him quickly.