hey, you ! we can turn it up :: [ LOUIS ]

[Elysia Rose-Hall]

Her black-booted feet made thumping noises on the cobblestone path, but it was muffled by the sound of chatter from the people around her. Diagon Alley had a fair number of witches and wizards today, due to the brilliant weather and the fact that most students were probably bored at home by this time so they'd come out to see friends and catch up with ice creams or Butterbeer. Elysia wasn't here for socialising today, though, so she didn't really try to look around her if there was anyone she knew.

Using her right hand to shift her heavy brown hair from one side of her head to another, her left hand pushed open the wooden door leading into quite possibly her favourite store in the Alley: Flourish and Blott's. As expected at this time in the afternoon, there weren't too many customers, most of them out enjoying the sun or grabbing a bite. It was just how she liked it.

Her necklaces (two, one with a silver snake flattened on a pendant with an inscription, and the other with a round black stone as big as a Galleon laid in stainless steel) clinked together softly in the quiet shop as she headed for the section on astronomy to see if there was anything new she ought to read. Idly playing with the chunky ring on her right index finger, she paused at a shelf on divination, peering at some titles.

[Louis Weasley]

Book shops were not usually where Louis spent sunny days in his summer holidays. Not that he didn't like reading. Contrary to many people's expectations, he quite enjoyed a good book, especially if it contained any combination of guns, space ships, car chases, robots and explosions. However, he tended to leave the hanging out in bookshops to people like Roxanne and Lily.

Sometimes, though, needs must. He had essays to write, and they needed books. Well, to be specific, he had one particular book he needed for one particular Muggle Studies essay - the only kind he would ever bother doing this early in the holidays. On arriving in Diagon Alley and seeing how nice a day it was, he had considered changing his plans and simply going for ice cream instead, but had held himself to his resolution to be organised, and made his way to the bookshop.

He knew exactly where the Muggle Studies section was, and wandered down an aisle in that direction. Rounding a stack of bookshelves, he had to do a sudden swerve round a figure standing looking at the books. He was about to apologise and move on when he recognised her, and promptly stopped with a cheerful grin.

"Oh, hey!"

[Elysia Rose-Hall]

The brunette was in the middle of deciding which title sounded more interesting (The Universe According to Copernicus, Galileo, and Other Notable Squibs in the Muggle World or Centaurs and Stars: A Guide to Astrology by a man who claimed to have studied the centaur way of star-gazing) when she noticed out of the corner of her someone wildly swerving in their path and coming towards her. She looked up to see who it was that couldn't walk straight in a quiet book shop, and smiled when she was met with a familiar face.

Louis Weasley was a Hufflepuff in her year, and they'd been friends pretty much since she'd first come to Hogwarts. It was back in the old days when she'd been chatty and open that they'd struck up a conversation outside the Charms classroom. Their different houses didn't prevent their friendship from forming; it was more around the time that she'd spent more of her hours in her own Common Room or in the library that she and Louis had gotten a bit distant. But they were still good friends, and Louis was one of Elysia's favourite people at school, really. It may have had something to do with that ever-cheerful grin that he was greeting her with now.

Smiling back at him warmly, she replied, "Hey yourself." She opened her arms for a hug - because even though she wasn't much into touchy-feely, she knew it would come from Louis eventually so she might as well initiate it - and rolled her eyes teasingly. "So what exactly is the great Louis Weasley doing in Flourish and Blott's on such a brilliant, sunny day?"

[Louis Weasley]

Louis considered it an achievement that he'd got to the point with Elysia that she went for a hug before he did - he knew it wasn't her natural way of greeting people, but he'd trained her well. Without hesitating, he threw his arms around her and gave her an enthusiastic squeeze, before loosening his grip and ruffling her hair affectionately. Different houses meant little to Louis - of course, Hufflepuff held a special place in his heart, but he had friends and relatives in each house. Elysia was someone he hadn't seen quite as much of recently as he had in their earlier Hogwarts years, but he was pleased that she still seemed to value the friendship.

"Hey," he protested in mock reproach, belied by the fact that he was still grinning. "Sometimes I do actually read books you know..." He imparted this piece of information as if telling her an important secret. "Even in the summer. Actually, I'm looking for a couple of books for a Muggle Studies essay. And I am planning on having ice cream after this. Maybe also beer," he added, as an afterthought, since he still tended to forget that he could legally walk into any wizarding place and legally buy alcohol.

"How about you?" he finished, glancing at the shelf beside them to see what had caught her interest. Astrology, apparently. Not a subject Louis had ever had a huge amount of interest in, but given his love amounting to obsession with Muggle Studies, he wasn't about to start judging anyone for what they liked.

[Elysia Rose-Hall]

"Louis," she scolded lightly as they stepped out of the hug, one hand flying back to her hair in an attempt to get it to behave again. She pouted a little at him, before using the same hand to quickly mess up his hair, too. "Hey, I can't be the only one in here to have messy hair," she preempted, shaking a warning finger at him. Her irritated look was displaced with the slight grin that appeared, showing that she was just joking around. Not that she was really worried that Louis would take it the wrong way - they'd been friends since she first came to Hogwarts.

Her smile widened at Louis' reproachful voice. "Wow, you really do learn something new everyday," she teased back. The conspiratorial tone his words took had her leaning a little closer, keeping with the secretive charade. Her eyes went round in mock shock. "Oh Merlin, really? Are you feeling a little hot? Maybe the summer heat has finally gotten to you." She pressed the back of her hand on his forehead, seeming to be checking his temperature.

Elysia's eyebrows furrowed a little as she turned over the thought of ice cream and beer. Did they really go together? She'd had ice cream before, but didn't make a point of going out of her way to have some, she supposed; as for alcohol, she'd never really tried it, aside from that one sip from when her ex-boyfriend had talked her into trying it for 'the sake of experience'. "Beer and ice cream... together?" she clarified, a bit mystified by this choice of afternoon tea.

Waving a casual hand over the books (not that she needed to, as Louis eyed the spines of the books with casual interest), she answered, "Nothing much, really. Just thought I'd check out if there was something new in the astronomy section, and maybe get my father something. I think he's down to two magical books and then he'll be out." She shrugged. "He likes reading about magic."