i get so uptight (julian)

[Lily Potter]

Lily wandered into Wiseacres without paying much attention to the other people in the shop. She needed a birthday present for her mum, and was racking her brains to think of something to buy. Chocolates seemed unimaginative, and quidditch things were too obvious - not to mention that Lily didn't really feel that she knew enough about quidditch to get her mum something good. She didn't have much money left either, and was hoping that wandering round the shops in Diagon Alley would give her some inspiration. She'd avoided Flourish and Blotts, not because her mum didn't like books, but because if Lily went in there she'd end up getting completely distracted and looking for things for herself. She had more hopes for Wiseacres, which sold quite a big range of things. Surely there would be something there that would catch her eye.

Her mind busy, she walked slowly along the shelves, scanning the items and absentmindedly twisting one of her two braids around her wrist. The trouble was, she wanted to get something nice and personal, not just something stupid for the sake of buying a present. But anything that looked promising was out of her price range and she began to feel discouraged. Maybe it would have to be chocolates after all. Perhaps she could persuade one of her brothers or cousins to Apparate her to Hogsmeade and she could go to Honeydukes. 

She barely noticed the boy in front of her until she almost bumped into him, stopping just in time.

"Oh gosh! Sorry!" she said automatically, stepping back and going red, before realising that he was someone she knew. Julian... something-or-other, in her year but in Slytherin. She didn't know him very well, but he'd never seemed that nice. Nervously, she took another step back, wishing she could sink into the floor. Now she looked like some sort of clumsy idiot.

[Julian Delaire]

Julian eyed the row of magical trinkets in front of him with critical scrutiny, as if suspicious of their very existence. They were an utterly absurd line of objects, ranging from magical pop-out snow globes to tiny windmills that spun glitter, as if that was something anyone would ever find useful. Granted, he wasn't exactly here to find useful items, he was here to find a present for one of his cousins who had a birthday coming up and, for some reason, adored dumb magical trinkets.

Shaking his head, he moved down the aisle, hoping to find something at least somewhat practical that was also not ridiculously expensive, like that beautiful gold-plated jewelry box he'd seen in a different aisle which he'd been tempted to buy for his cousin if not for the fact that he had no job and his only source of income was his mom's salary. He had half a mind to give up and go back to Quality Quidditch Supplies to just buy some random Quidditch knick-knack that his Quidditch-playing cousins would surely ooh and aah over, but he was stopped from this train of thought by a girl almost bumping into him.

"It's fine," he said cautiously, staring at her -- she had such distinctively red hair it wasn't hard to place her as Lily Potter, daughter of Harry and Ginny Potter, and a Ravenclaw in his year. "Lily, right?" he said, keeping his voice casual as if he didn't very well know her name -- as if everyone didn't. She seemed rather shy from the impression he'd gathered of her over the years, and if she had been as loud and obnoxious as some of her other family members he might have been ruder, but she hadn't done anything specifically to annoy him. Certainly a nicer Ravenclaw than that other redhead Caleb was always going on about.