you think i'm crazy? well, that's nothing [ANGELO]

[Siobhan Finnigan]

Siobhan pushed the door of the ice-cream parlour open, shaking her hair back at the same time. Damn, but it was so hot right now. The heat was getting unbearable after she had spent the whole day in the Alley shopping. At home, where there was less people and more space, the weather was bearable, but after spending the morning in the crowded Alley, she was ready to drop dead of exhaustion. She was just happy, though, that none of her siblings had to be given the grand tour this time - both Patty and Meghan were off somewhere with their friends. Thinking of her siblings made her suddenly remember that she hadn't visited Cara in her shop yet - that was one thing she had to do, or well, all three of them had to do, before they left. She made a mental note of this fact as she quickly looked over the place to see if there were any free tables - there were none.

Deciding that she'd worry about finding a place to sit later, she walked up to the counter and began looking through the flavours. She decided quickly that she didn't have the stomach just then for anything really exotic, and settled on plain chocolate, while looking in her pockets for her money. In another two minutes, the lady at the counter had her cone ready. She took the cone from her hands, smiled her thanks and set the money down on the counter, almost immediately beginning to eat it.

As she licked the cone, she began to survey the place more closely, to see if there was anyone she knew or any vacant seats she could occupy. If not, she decided, she'd just walk through the alley while eating. But really, it wasn't such a good idea, she thought again. She'd come in here for a respite from the heat, and going out there again would just mean having to face the heat again, and possibly her ice-cream melting and making a mess. So she kept looking, until her eyes fell on a table with only one occupant - a boy who she recognised vaguely as being in the year above her at school. Without bothering to do any further observation, she walked up to the table and asked the boy, "Hey, is this seat taken?"

(OOC: Hope this is okay with you, lovely!)

[Angelo Cremona]

Angelo had casually been eyeing the stream of customers trickling in through the front door of the ice cream shop, one hand clutching this summer's special offer (interestingly called Contemporary Hag at Dover) while his other hand drummed its pale fingers atop a Cooling Charmed-box of everyday rocky road - Anthony's favourite. Angelo preferred the more interesting flavours himself, and if they had a quirky name, then even more so. He was currently chewing through a green globule supposed to be representing the Hag's warts, he believed, and was pleasantly surprised to find melted marshmallow inside.

He was in the process of chewing through it excitedly when his eye caught on a rather decent-looking girl shaking her hair as she came through the front door. He thought he'd seen her around from school - younger, definitely, and from a different house - and his head tilted a little to the side as he studied her walking to the counter and getting her order. Angelo knew that this girl was from a pack of siblings, but he'd never really talked to her before. He idly debated the pros and cons of inviting her to his table while licking at another interesting patch in his ice cream.

He was rather delighted when she saw him first, negating the task of asking her himself. Grin broadening as she came closer and asked if the seat in front of him was taken, he gestured to the chair while shaking his head. "Be my guest."

She was much prettier close up, he decided. Well, his afternoon had already been wasted - the trip to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes had turned up a bust in both the item he'd been looking for and the girl he'd been keeping an eye on - so he figured something might as well come from this trip. "I've seen you around at Hogwarts before. You're somewhere in fifth year, aren't you?" he started conversationally. He paused to look contrite. "Actually, that shouldn't be first, I apologise." He smiled again. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Angelo, and you are?"

[Siobhan Finnigan]

She noted his expression as he allowed her to sit there. He looked positively delighted, she thought. Well, good for him - she was probably pleasing him by asking to sit there. She slid into the seat, looking at the ice-cream he was clutching in his hand. It was one of the weirder flavours; she hadn't asked to try any that day because she was in a hurry and didn't feel like it. She wondered what he'd say if she asked him for a taste. Was there any wrong meaning he could wrangle out of 'can I have a taste of that, please'? She surely hoped not. Anyway, she thought, she didn't even know him that well - asking for some would be out of the blue and pretty weird. Oh, well. She'd probably ask the lady at the counter for some later. Right now, she had someone to talk to.

In response to his first question, she nodded. She wasn't exactly the type of person to keep to herself, so he'd probably seen her in school sometime. Maybe she was infamous for something she'd done in class - who knew? "Yeah, you probably have. And yes, I'm going into fifth year - you? All I know is that you look my age or older but I know you aren't in my year because I think I'd notice you then. So - sixth or seventh?" she asked, quite bluntly. Then again, politeness had never really been her thing. Hopefully he wasn't one of those types who took offence at the smallest thing and took off.

Some of her hair had fallen over her face as she was sitting down, and she blew it away with an annoyed sigh. She liked her hair, she really did, but sometimes it got in the way so badly. And on a hot day like this, it was especially annoying. More than once today, she'd contemplated chopping it off almost immediately after she got home. She knew that was probably not a good idea, though. Looking more closely at her wrist, she noticed that she had a rubber-band around it - she'd probably put it on while leaving and forgotten that she had it. Because had she remembered, she'd have tied her hair up long ago. Sighing, she pushed all her hair to one side of her head and began fashioning it into a braid. She was rubbish at doing it, but at least it would keep all her hair away from her face, she thought.

Hearing his next question, she smiled slightly. So he was that type of guy - interesting. Se was glad he hadn't tried to 'put the moves' on her - whatever that meant - as soon as she sat down. But who knew where this would go? "Siobhan Finnigan," she said, tying her braid up and offering her hand to him. "Nice to meet you, Angelo..." She trailed off, realising he hadn't told her his last name. He didn't bear much resemblance to anyone she did know, so he probably wasn't a sibling of one of her friends.

[Angelo Cremona]

Blue eyes casually watched the brunette as her eyes flicked to the ice cream he was holding on to, and he smirked. If she was a good friend of his, he'd offer her a lick of the ice cream, but as she was a bit of a stranger - Hogwarts acquaintance aside - and he didn't want to run her off. He desperately needed his entertainment for the day, and she just might provide that before the sun went down. Angelo was feeling a bit fidgety, like he'd drank two cups of caffeine and hadn't had the chance to work it off (technically true, he'd had two cups of coffee before leaving for Diagon Alley this morning to give him some much needed courage and loss of inhibition to talk to that girl at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes). If this girl sitting across him was either lucky or terribly unfortunate, she might be the target of some pent-up flirtation.

His tongue poked at his ice cream while he listened to the girl. She was only a year below him, nothing to terrible to flirt with, right? He smiled widely. "Yep, you guessed right - well, half right. I'm in sixth year. Okay, my turn to guess. Let me think... Are you in Slytherin?" A smirk graced Angelo's face. "I think I've seen you coming from the dungeons for breakfast sometimes." Those were the times when he kept an eye out for this rather pretty Slytherin girl from the year above him, hoping for a quick chat or even a glimpse. He'd long since figured out that she was not an early bird, and had resigned himself to not see her much during school. Which was fine, there were plenty of other girls around.

His smirk remained on his face as he watched with some interest as the girl in front of him tied up her hair. She really was a bit of a looker in that unselfconscious kind of way. He idly wondered if that was a Slytherin trait. As for that female ability of braiding their own hair - well. Colour Angelo impressed, because his hair, as evidenced today and every other day, was simply everywhere and completely not given much importance. Sure, he liked running his hand through his hair and preferred not to look like Albert Einstein, but sometimes it just couldn't be helped. He was absolutely lacking in the hair-keeping department.

Angelo figured he liked her better like this, with her hair out of her face. It wasn't tied tight or too neatly, and there were wisps coming out already, but she looked more relaxed and casual and he liked her face. "Pleasure to meet you, Siobhan," he replied, smirk turning into a smile as he reached for her hand with his left, his right burdened with the Contemporary Hag at Dover (but Merlin, he loved the ice cream name). "I'm Angelo Cremona. How are your holidays going so far?"

[Siobhan Finnigan]

She observed that the boy seemed to be studying her, and wondered if he was thinking what she was thinking. God, he smirked an awful lot, didn't he? It was almost as if he thought he was superior to everyone else in the room. At least, that was the impression Siobhan got from serial smirkers most of the time. For a moment, she began doubting her decision to sit with him; she knew far too many people who considered themselves above others, and it was suffice to say she didn't like any of them. They annoyed the hell out of her, and they also made her envious of them - if only she could have that level of self-confidence! Still, this boy fascinated her, and she found his company interesting - so far, anyway. So what was the harm in remaining seated there?

As he mentioned having seen her before, Siobhan felt her cheeks grow slightly warm. She didn't know people actually observed her - not unless she was actively doing something to be observed. Fighting to keep the blush off her face - it wouldn't do to show this boy that she was being at least slightly charmed by him, because she knew he was just having a bit of fun with her - she answered evenly, "Yeah, I'm Slytherin, and that's probably me you saw. I know, it's kind of hard not to notice me." She smirked right back at the boy this time. It would do her good to appear self-assured and confident in front of him; he probably wouldn't like her very much if he knew what she was really like. "And your house?" she asked. "I'd have pegged you for a Slytherin, but I've never seen you around there, so clearly you aren't."

She noticed that the boy was still studying her in that slightly unsettling manner. Suddenly, a doubt popped into her head. What if he thought she was deliberately trying to be flirtatious by fiddling with her hair in front of him? She definitely wasn't, and she could vouch for that. But if he assumed that, he'd probably think she was trying to catch his attention, and write her off as desperate. And for some reason, she didn't want him to write her off. It was nice, she felt, to get some actual attention from a boy. It wasn't something she was used to. Hoping that he hadn't misinterpreted her behaviour, she took his hand and shook it, saying, "Cremona? So are you Italian?" The name sounded vaguely Italian to her, but the boy in front of her did not look it at all. "Oh, and as for my holidays..." She sighed. "You'd think that being one of seven siblings would make for an enjoyable holiday. But it clearly doesn't when the oldest four don't even live with you anymore. You would not believe how bored I've been getting at home.'