and i am feeling so small {SCORPIUS}

[Chara Malfoy]

The heat and humidity of the summer was almost overbearing. Almost. But, to Ella, she would rather deal with that all year than freeze for most of it. Summer in England might be hot (when it wasn't raining), but it sure beat dealing with the cold. Ella found herself in Diagon Alley, wandering around with no particular thoughts on her mind. She had set out of the manor today in search for the perfect gift for Chloe for her birthday, but since arriving at the alley, she had yet to step foot in any shop. There was nothing stopping her from entering the shops, of course, except her goal of the day; that is to say, she had absolutely no idea what to get her cousin for her birthday. Sebastian would be easier - he liked girls and liquor. But Ella was determined to get her female cousin something special, something that no one else would think of.

Of course, being that no one else had thought of it yet, meant Ella hadn't either. Strange how that happened, it occurred to her as she stepped out of the way for a mother pulling her child along the cobblestone. Just in time, too, as the child's ice cream fell from it's seat atop the sugar cone and landed on the ground with a splat. And then came the crying and Ella hurried to get out of the way. She hated crying. She cried, yes, but even the she hated it. And she couldn't stand children's cries, either. Babies were the absolute worst, though. Loud, ear-piercing screams--

"Oh, sorry!" Ella said hurriedly, snapping her attention back to where she was walking. She gave the older man an apologetic smile and continued on her way. Distractions. Why was she so distracted? With a sigh, Ella stopped walking and found herself standing in front of the ice cream parlour. She frowned to herself.

She could go in, just to cool off. But then she would be freezing within a matter of seconds. The sweat on her body would dry so quickly and she'd be left shivering. It would take at least ten minutes back outside to thaw her. Then again, she was thirsty. She could go inside, get a drink and sip it outside. Just water, nothing else. Sip it outside, the water cooling her insides and the sun keeping her skin warm. It sounded like the perfect combination. Just water, no ice cream, under the sun. Ella could feel herself getting thirstier by the moment. She was about to step towards the parlour when she heard a familiar voice call her name.

---

((OOC: is this okay, Becca? i didn't really know what to write, so i just put down what popped into my head.))

[Scorpius Malfoy]

((OOC - Lmao, clearly Britain is suffering a massive heat wave in 2024. The average high in London in the summer is 21 degrees celsius/about 70 fahrenheit, and it's one of the warmest parts of the UK. (This is a reference to everyone who has mentioned the glorious summer weather, which is just about everyone, not only you, haha)))

Unlike his sister, Scorpius preferred cold weather over hot. And this, he thought irritably as he left the Leaky Cauldron and entered the sunlight in Diagon Alley, was ridiculous. It wasn't British summer weather at all, and other people could rejoice over the unusual heat all they liked (although typically for Britain, people were now moaning about it lasting so long, and the Prophet had, along with the Muggle newspapers, been direly warning of a drought) - Scorpius, for one, preferred the usual mild temperatures and rain. Of course, practising Quidditch in the rain was never the most fun, but in Scorpius's view, practising it in this weather was even worse. Not that he would swap his job for anything; he was doing what he loved, and still couldn't quite believe that it was actually happening.

He'd come to Diagon Alley to grab a few broomstick servicing bits and pieces from Quality Quidditch Supplies (he'd probably end up buying several other things there that he didn't strictly need; it was good to have enough money to do that sort of thing again) and wasn't really planning on lingering anywhere else, though he supposed he ought to be thinking about birthday presents for his cousins. The annoying thing about them being twins was that you had to buy two presents at once. Still he had a bit of time to think about it yet. Maybe he'd ask Roxie what he thought Chloe would want. Or Ella...

And as his sister came into his head, he was surprised to find that he was also looking at her; there was a familiar blonde head hovering around just outside Fortescue's. He hadn't seen her for a little while - not because he hadn't been making an effort, just because being a very new member of a Quidditch team was eating his time - so he quickened his pace, hoping she wouldn't disappear into the crowd. He certainly wasn't going to do anything as undignified as run after her. He was always a little surprised to see her by herself here, as if she still needed one of their parents or Chloe or someone to bring her to Diagon Alley - which of course was ridiculous and Scorpius knew it.

She didn't disappear, but she did move towards the ice cream parlour. Intending to catch her before she went in, Scorpius waited until he was near enough for her to hear him over the bustle of people, and called. "Hey, Ella!"

[Chara Malfoy]

((OOC: that's about what it gets to be in NY and i think it's pretty hot... anywhere from high 60s to mid 80s, which is about 18C to 30C. Maybe England has lower humidity than we do? idk!))

---

For how poised she had been moments before, Ella nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard her name being called down the alley. But she reacted smoothly; her heart skipped a beat and her breath caught in her throat, but covering up how she really felt was a specialty. So she merely turned her head to the side to see who had called her attention. Upon seeing her eldest brother, Ella couldn't stop the smile that broke out across her face. She hadn't seen him since school let out. They had spoken, of course, via owls; but it wasn't the same. With Scorpius not living at the manor anymore, Ella missed him a great deal.

"Scorp!" she exclaimed back, her attention now focused on the young man approaching her. She stepped away from the ice cream parlour and met her brother halfway, her long ponytail swaying back and forth. Without any hesitation, she flung her arms around him and gave him a good, tight hug. She missed him so much. When she pulled back, she beamed up at him. Both of Ella's brothers were extremely handsome, but as she didn't get to see Scorpius as much, she thought that he looked even more dashing than when she had last seen him.

Ella reached up to adjust the thin strap of her dress, which had fallen off of her shoulders. "Fancy seeing you here," she said, pleased that she had decided today to go gift shopping. It was just too bad that she couldn't convince Damien to join her. The three of them really needed to spend more time together. "What are you up to?"

[Scorpius Malfoy]

((OOC - Oh, really? Lol I think that temperature is the average high for the entire summer though. So it'll maybe get that high for a few days sprinkled throughout the summer. If we got those temperatures (and no rain) for more than about a week at a time, it would be called a heatwave. Two weeks and it would be a drought, haha. London is one of the hottest parts of the UK though, so I guess they have nicer summers than most of the rest of us...))

There had been a time when Scorpius would not have reacted very well to his little sister rushing up and hugging him in the middle of Diagon Alley. Not because he wasn't pleased to see her; he generally had been, even then, but hugs were something he gave occasionally, at meaningful moments, in private. Showing affection - or any kind of emotion - in public was something he had tended to avoid. It still went slightly against his natural inclinations, but he was a lot more relaxed about it, especially when it came from someone like his little sister. So there was only a split second of hesitation on his part before he hugged her back, just as tightly.

"Hey, you," he said with a smile as she pulled away. "How are you doing?" He tried not to be obvious about the fact that he was glancing her over, checking that she looked well and healthy. He tried not to do it at all, but there was always a niggling worry about her in the back of his mind that made him want to reassure himself. She looked okay, he thought, though it was a bit hard to tell, since she'd always been thin.

"Oh, I was just picking up a few Quidditch things," he said vaguely. "Nothing special. How about you?" He glanced around. "Is it just you, or...?" He had been meaning to make the effort to see her for a while - ever since her term finished, in fact. He hadn't yet, and felt a little guilty for that. If she wasn't doing anything special just now, though, maybe they could catch up. It would save him having to go to the Manor and have conversations with his father, which were still slightly stiff and awkward after everything that had happened last year. He felt guilty for that too - for wanting to avoid the Manor - but still. It would make it easier.

[Chara Malfoy]

((OOC: yup! our heatwaves are when there are a few days that are above normal - usually in the 90s F/32+ C. and droughts... not sure how long we go without rain before we call it a drought! lol.))

---

Ella barely noticed her brother's hesitation about her hug. They had all grown up in the same house, yet had turned out so differently when it came to physical affection. Ella wasn't as eager to show affection to her parents or grandparents in public, but her brothers were different. She didn't care who saw or what people would think; they were her brothers and she loved them.

"I'm doing alright," Ella told Scorpius, nodding as she spoke. She was doing alright, at least for now. The summer holidays had just begun and being at the manor hadn't begun to take it's toll yet. She was doing her best to stay positive and keep her mind active, as well as her body. This seemed to be helping in warding off boredom and bad thoughts. She was trying, she really was. But Scorpius didn't need to worry about her. "How are you?"

Quidditch things. It had slipped Ella's mind that Scorpius had managed to get a position on a team. She felt a little embarrassed, but covered it up well. "That's neat," she said enthusiastically. "Congratulations, by the way. I don't think I've told you yet! Are you liking it?" Ella nodded her head sadly, the tip of her ponytail tickling the skin on her back. "I'm by myself. Damien wouldn't come out."

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Scorpius looked closely at her as she answered, then nodded, accepting her words. Ella was as good at hiding things as he was, but he liked to think he could read her pretty well when he tried, and he thought she was telling the truth. 'Alright' wasn't as good as 'great', of course, but he knew what the holidays must be like for her. He doubted that Damien spent much time at the Manor when he could help it, which left Ella by herself. 'Alright' was about as good as he'd expect.

"Good." He smiled at her. "Good that you're doing alright, and good in answer to your question. It's weird knowing I'm not going back to school... but not bad weird. What have you been up to? In general, I mean, not just today."

His smile turned into a grin as she congratulated him. He didn't say much about it - at least not to people he was any less close with that Ella - but he was elated by the fact that he had got onto a team. He'd never quite believed it could happen until it did, and as he didn't really fancy the Ministry or teaching, and didn't quite have the grades for anything like Healing (even if he had wanted to do it, which he didn't), he'd been slightly gloomily imagining a life working behind the till at Ollivanders for the next ten years. Unlike Teddy, he wasn't really that interested in learning how to make the wands; the job had been a job, that was all. Playing professional Quidditch was his most secret dream come true, though.

"Thanks," he said happily. "I'm only a reserve at the moment, but yeah. It's great. Hard work," he added. "I mean, I'm in okay shape, but I'm not used to training these hours. I don't mind that though." That was another thing he would not have admitted to many people - and certainly nowhere he would risk Dominique Weasley hearing him. He suspected she must be finding just as hard work, as she was also new to it, but neither of them would ever let the other know that.

He shook his head in mock disapproval of his brother. "Well, that's not very nice of him. Still, it works out better for you in the end. You get to hang out with me instead of him..."