[eyelops] stretching our wings [Zachary]

Éilís was thankful to finally be home. For the last five months, she had been trapped like everyone else at Hogwarts in the castle due to the activation of the school's protective dome. Éilís hadn't been prepared for this; despite all the reading she had done about Hogwarts history, she had never heard of an ancient defensive magic that protected the school from attack. While she understood why the founders had wanted to protect the castle and the students, she felt that their plan had backfired a bit: surely it had not been their intention to trap students inside without resources, surely they had not known of the dark magic residing within the castle itself that had summoned terrifying creatures that attacked the student body, and surely, surely they had not expected it to be so difficult for the dome to be removed. When she had been suddenly awoken at the beginning of the month and told to pack her things for an immediate journey home, she could hardly believe it. She had honestly expected that the dome at Hogwarts would never be lifted, or, if it could be, that the student body would have been practically destroyed by the time the Ministry officials were able to break through.

And yet here she was, shopping in Diagon Alley's small and dark apothecary with Teagan, her caretaker of sorts. The time in the dome had depleted nearly everyone's ingredient supplies, especially after the invasion of the dark creatures, when huge stores of emergency potions had been concocted, both to save lives and to fight. Éilís filled her bag with what she thought she might need for the coming semester and felt around for her coin purse. She went up to the counter to pay and sadly emptied all but two sickles out onto the counter. So much for that new book on Brazilian tropical plants she had been hoping to buy. Maybe next year. Careful not to let Teagan see her disappointment (why stress her or encourage her to offer money?), Éilís tapped her gently on the arm to let her know that she was ready to leave.

The two headed out into the street, walking toward Eyelops. Éilís didn't have an owl herself, but Teagan wanted to restock her supply of owl treats. Éilís was thankful that Teagan had her pet; though she hadn't been able to write the whole last term, she hoped the dome would be staying down and that the pair could resume their regular correspondence. She had missed Teagan's updates and advice terribly. As they entered the shop, Éilís wandered off toward the cages, hearing the rustling of the delivery owls' wings. She looked in at an oriental bay owl. She had never been to Asia. As she pondered the owl's unique features, she dreamed of flying with it across the world. Breaking eventually out of her daydream, she turned and looked idly around the shop, wondering if Teagan was finished yet. She suddenly spotted a fellow fourth-year, Zachary Faulkner, and her heart began to race. She shouldn't have been surprised to see another Hogwarts student here. Obviously, everyone else was on break as well, enjoying their newfound freedom. She didn't know the boy well; they had maybe chatted once since the dome had gone up (or, at least, Zachary had chatted at her). Éilís quickly turned away, hoping he hadn't seen her. Where had Teagan got to? She didn't have the energy right now to deal with an awkward encounter.

She stared intently at the cage, no longer really seeing the owl, and instead letting her worrying take over. Maybe if she could just slip out of the shop, wait for Teagan outside, she could avoid talking to anyone. Yes, that would be best; Teagan would know where to look for her, though she would probably chastise her for constantly avoiding other people. She turned toward the door, and started to take a few steps before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Tensing up, she looked back to see who was stopping her.

@Zachary Faulkner

Zachary was also grateful to be out of Hogwarts.  He hoped that the staff would successfully rebuild the school, as he had trouble figuring out the confusing Ravenclaw riddles to get in the common room.  He often had to ask someone else for help.  He missed his family dearly, especially his mother's side.  He usually visited his relatives in Japan during break.  Once he heard that the students were able to go back home, he was filled with joy.  He packed his things, which included items ranging from Hufflepuff scarves to owl pellets.  Zachary does not and has never owned an owl.  He put his treasured cat Luna into a small cage.  She is small with shiny black fur everywhere except her belly, sides, and arms.  She has OCD and licks that fur off.  Her eyes are an amber color and she has a white spot on her chest.  He put some towels in the cage as she often urinated on herself while traveling.  He was ecstatic to go back home!

Zachary was wearing some muggle clothing.  He had a button up short sleeved shirt.  It was navy blue with pictures of rubber ducks on it.  He had large cargo shorts with a belt that was hanging on by faith.  He wore grey socks that went up to his knees, and black sandals that appeared to be a size or two larger than his actual shoe size.  He stands over Éilís by only a couple inches, and his bangs of dark brown hair were like curtains over his forehead.  He had a pair of square black glasses hung over his shirt, and a rucksack filled to the brim with odd items both magical and muggle.  Despite having two magical parents, he lived in a muggle town near London.

Zachary smiled when he saw Éilís's face as she turned around.  He took a moment to look at some beautiful domestic short hair cats, forgetting about Éilís.  He quickly snapped back into reality.  "Hello Éilís!  Remember me?  I think we talked once.  I forget where.  Was it that one Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw Transfiguration class?  Gah I hate Transfiguration.  I wonder how that got started.  Maybe...." he continued to ramble on and on about Transfiguration until he noticed that Éilís was no longer interested.  "Sorry about that.  Anyway, cool to see you here!  You are the third student I saw today.  My brother Lucas is in Ollivander's and I saw a Gryffindor student near Madam Malkin's."  Zachary realized he was rambling on again, and his usually pale cheeks started to burst with red.  "Sorry again.  You don't seem to be happy.  Can I help?  Ice cream always cheers me up!  Want to go get some?"

Éilís' turned around and her worst fear was confirmed: Zachary was standing behind her, his hand still on her arm, beaming down at her like seeing her was the greatest gift on Earth. Apparently, he had noticed her from across the shop, too. Éilís' eyes slid down over Zachary's strange appearance: a gaudy shirt, shorts that surely weren't keeping him warm in the February wind, and a strange combination of tall socks and sandals. Was he trying to attract attention, or did he just not realize how strange he would look to a muggle? Éilís decided it must be the second; she couldn't imagine why anyone would want to be stared at, especially for such an embarassing show of ignorance about the muggle world.

She looked back up at the sound of her name. Transfiguration class? Yes, she disliked it too. Éilís gave a nervous little nod as Zachary dove into a speech about the origins of the subject. Unsure what to say, she just let the boy talk. She didn't know how to escape without seeming rude; she didn't want to hurt the boy's feelings, but she could feel her pulse hammering as anxiety threatened to take over. Breathe, she reminded herself. Zachary trailed off, apparently having exhausted the subject of reasons why Transfiguration should be dropped from the curriculum. Éilís sensed the pause, knowing she should say something. She started to open her mouth, planning to offer something about her distaste for the subject, but before she could get the words out, the boy was off again. Apparently, he was happy to take charge of the interaction, and Éilís wasn't going to stop him.

As Zachary took off again, Éilís glanced beyond him and saw Teagan approaching. Perfect, an excuse to leave. "This is Teagan O'Gowan," Éilís explained quietly as the older woman approached, smiling down at her companion. All the sense of relief that Éilís had felt at Teagan's return instantly melted away when Zachary spoke again: Ice cream always cheers me up. Want to go get some? There was no escape now. Éilís could practically feel the excitement radiating off her caretaker, totally oblivious to the fact that what would 'cheer Éilís up' the most right now would be to finish shopping and get home. Éilís knew Teagan worried about her social life, but she wished she wouldn't. Éilís was happy enough to spend time alone, indeed, much happier than she was to go off on a forced social outing with a boy that she barely knew. But Teagan was already expressing her excitement, making up some excuse about needing to buy a new quill.

Resigning herself, Éilís turned back to Zachary. "Shall we go, then?" Maybe the boy would keep up his monologue through their whole ridiculous outing: ice cream in February? At least the boy was kind, she could see that much. He was obviously taking pity on her, doing his best to cheer her up. Éilís tightened her scarf and followed Zachary out into the windy street, hoping he knew where they were going and that it was close by. "Did you have a place in mind?" she asked quietly.

Zachary was so happy that Éilís had said yes.  The largest smile grew slowly on his face, and the corners of his lips seemed like they would be reaching up on his face forever.  Before leaving, Zachary really wanted to get some food for his cat, Luna.  He walked outside for a couple seconds and grabbed a purple piece of fabric.  He walked back inside with it and a small black, nearly bald, cat walked on the end of it.  She kept screaming, "RAAARRRHH" every few seconds.  Zachary looked back at Éilís, "This is my cat, Luna.  Don't worry about the screams, she always does that.  It's just how she meows.  I think it is a symptom of OCD.  I never knew cats could have it, too!  Did you?  I wonder when the first diagnosis was..."  Zachary continued to ramble on about OCD and then stopped after realizing that he was again.  He went up to the counter and fiddled around in his overflowing rucksack for some money.  He payed in knuts, obviously annoying the staff, and shoved the food into his rucksack.  He walked back over and responded to Éilís.

"Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour of course!  Did you hear she was murdered, Florean?  My dad told me.  He was a Hufflepuff too!  So was his father, and his father, and his father, and so on.  My mum was in Slytherin.  She told me cool stories about the dungeons....."  Again, Zachary rambled on.  He never tried to ramble on, but he always did it when he wanted to make a friend.  Zachary thought back on when he rambled on in front of the cutest boy in his year, and again his cheeks filled with red.  "Anyway, what flavor do you want?  My favorite is mint, but that's a muggle flavor.  I want to try a more magical one.  Maybe butterbeer, or granny smith!  I never saw those in the muggle shops.  We can talk about it on the way there, let's go!"  Zachary thought about his cat for a moment, and realized he was no longer holding the leash.  Luna was next to a cage with another cat inside of it, they were both hissing.  His smile turned into pure shock, "Oh my flobberworms!"  He ran over to get his cat, and then ran right back.  "Let's go!"

Zachary walked out onto the street, he looked back and Éilís was following him.  He shivered, "It's so cold out here, let me warm up."  He reached into his rucksack and pulled out a Hufflepuff scarf.  Along the way, he dropped his owl pellets.  He quickly picked up the pellets and walked over to the ice cream shop, while putting his scarf back on.  They both stepped inside, and Zachary walked up.  "One mint waffle cone please, 3 scoops.  You?"  He looked at Éilís before saying that last word, waiting for her response.

Well, at least Zachary was happy. Watching his face light up like that was a bit staggering; Éilís hadn't expected him to be so easily pleased. Relieved that she hadn't scared him with her moment of panic, Éilís quietly observed Zachary's fluttering in and out of the store with the wild-looking cat that seemed to fit in with his personality perfectly. Éilís couldn't believe how different the two of them were; Zachary seemed to have no inhibitions, talked constantly, and was full of energy. She was completely baffled as to why he had taken an interest in her, but she wasn't going to be rude and shake him off, not when he was being so kind. Maybe Teagan was right. Maybe she could use a few more friends.

"You can do this," Éilís muttered to herself as the boy returned from the counter to join her again. He was suddenly talking about his family history at Hogwarts. Éilís felt a faint twinge of envy as he described how far back his magic went. She knew it wasn't his fault, that he couldn't know why the topic was a sensitive one for her, but she felt herself closing off again. She prayed he wouldn't ask about her family; she wasn't sure if she would be able to keep the bitterness out of her tone if she had to talk about her introduction to the magical world and the damage it had done to her family.

Zachary ran off to gather his pet, and they started heading down the alley toward Fortescue's. Éilís had actually never been to the shop, but Zachary seemed confident that it was the best place to go. She was thankful to find that, as they stepped inside, a pleasant warmth hit her skin and started to relax her tensed muscles that had strained against the cold and the unknown. Éilís couldn't help smiling a little as Zachary ordered a decidedly muggle flavor: mint. Maybe he wouldn't mind her background too much, after all. Éilís looked down into the case and tried to pick something out that wouldn't make her look foolish (what would he think if she accidentally ordered a flavor that froze her tongue or made her breathe snowflakes?). "One scoop of toasted marshmallow, please," Éilís told the smiling woman behind the counter. "In a cup," she added. Éilís handed over one sickle and dropped her change into her small coin purse, hoping Zachary wouldn't notice how empty it now was.

"Do you want to sit?" Éilís asked, hoping the boy would agree. It was just too cold to head back out. She moved toward a table by the window, where she would have the best view of the parchment shop where Teagan was supposedly shopping. As soon as she saw the woman come out of the store, she would be able to excuse herself. As she walked, she took a small taste of her treat, and was pleased to find that though it felt cold in her mouth, her stomach warmed as she swallowed. She felt more comfortable as she took a second bite. Was it some feature of the ice cream, or was she really going to relax enough to enjoy this encounter?

Zachary noticed the flavor chosen by Éilís.  He himself absolutely hated toasted marshmallow, but didn't say anything which was unusual for him.  He watched Éilís pick a seat next to the window, and he excitedly followed her.  Before sitting down, he realized that he had forgotten to get his cat some ice cream.  Although cats are carnivores, Luna ate anything that was put in front of her with joy.  He walked back up to the counter and ordered two scoops of chocolate ice cream in a bowl.  He raced back over to the table and lifted his cat onto the surface.

Zachary looked out of the window for a moment and saw his great-grandmother, Akari Jung.  She came to visit him once Hogwarts was let out, as he usually visited her during break.  She was looking good for her early hundreds, and was shopping around for a new broomstick.

Before placing the bowl down, Luna walked over to Éilís and screamed in her face."Luna!" Zachary screamed as he pulled the cat to the other side of the table.  He placed the bowl of chocolate ice cream down and she ate away happily.  Zachary tried to start a conversation with Éilís, "Are your parents here?  My great-grandmother came to visit me.  I hope she can find her way around, her English is terrible."  He again rambled on and on until eventually coming to an end.  He scarfed down a whole scoop of ice cream in one bite, or at least tried to.  The scoop fell out of his mouth onto the table before being eaten by Luna, who already finished her bowl.

Zachary's cheeks turned red and he continued to eat his cone.

Zachary followed Éilís to the table she had indicated, but didn't sit down when she did. Looking up, confused, she saw that Zachary had turned back to the counter and was ordering a second ice cream. Was he expecting someone else? Surely he wasn't planning to eat five scoops of ice cream alone. To her surprise, he set the bowl of chocolate ice cream down on their table and placed Luna up on the table with their food. Éilís supposed this wasn't that strange. Cats liked milk, right? She wasn't sure about having the cat up on the table, though. She liked cats fine, but she didn't want hair in her own ice cream. Oh well, clearly Zachary was attached to his pet and the cat wasn't doing any harm, really.

Éilís noticed Zachary looking out the window and followed his gaze. He was watching an elderly woman walking by the shop, and she wondered if she was with Zachary. Before she could ask, though, Luna let out a howl. Whipping her head back around to face the cat, she was face-to-face with the absurd creature for a moment before Zachary pulled her back toward the dish he had bought for her. Wondering what she could have done to upset the creature, she looked nervously at Zachary. Once again, before she could think of the right words to say, Zachary was rambling again.

Her stomach clenched as Zachary asked about her parents. She hoped he would just keep talking, let the question slip by without an answer, but he paused after a moment to take an enormous mouthful of his ice cream. "No, I'm here with Teagan. You met her earlier," Éilís replied after a moment. She knew he probably wouldn't be satisfied with such an evasive answer, but she was saved when Zachary dropped his mouthful of ice cream onto the table. Hoping that this was a result of clumsiness rather than confusion at her answer, Éilís stood up quickly. "I'll grab you a napkin," she told him kindly and walked up to the counter. She'd noticed his embarrassment and felt sympathetic. She knew how it felt to be watched at the wrong moment. She returned to the table and gave her companion a gentle smile as she handed him the paper napkin, though Luna had already cleaned up most of the mess for him.

Zachary took the napkin happily and wiped away the remaining ice cream.  "Thank you so much!"  He continued to scarf down his ice cream while reaching into his rucksack.  He poured out a lot of interesting things onto the table.  An alarm clock, a piece of bacon with a hint of white fuzz, a small llama sculpture, and then a slightly crinkled envelope.  Finally, he found what he was looking for.  He pulled out a small Slytherin sweater and grabbed Luna.  He shoved the cat through the sweater while she screamed and eventually drew blood.

"It's cold outside Luna!  With those bald spots how do you think you are to keep warm?"  The cat was eventually shoved into the sweater and Zachary shoved the rest of the items back into his rucksack, except for the envelope.  "I'll be right back!" he said excitedly.  He ran out and gave the envelope to his great-grandmother.  It was a list of common English phrases so she could get around.

Zachary walked back into the shop and put Luna back on her leash.  He sat back down at the table and noticed he hadn't eaten his cone.  He shoved roughly half of it in his mouth and after a large gulp tried again to make conversation.  "We're your parents in Ravenclaw too?"  He noticed the nervous and tense expression on her face.  His cheeks burst with red.  "Sorry.  Are you muggleborn?  That sounds cool.  Very unique, not too many of them.  Not as rare as a pureblood though.  My father is pureblood, and then he married my mum.  She's halfblood."  He shoved some more cone into his mouth and waited for a response.

Éilís smiled gently at Zachary's thanks. Apparently, he had already moved on past his embarrassing moment, so Éilís decided to as well. They fell into a silent patch, and Zachary used the time to eat his ice cream at an alarming rate. Éilís took a few more spoonfuls of her own ice cream, enjoying the toasty feeling the ice cream gave her. It tasted like marshmallow, but smelled of a campfire. Enjoying the sensation, she watched Zachary contentedly as he emptied his bag out onto their table and sifted through its strange contents. What on earth did the boy need with a muggle animal figurine? She watched the boy and his cat skeptically as he forced a sweater over the cat's body. Éilís wasn't sure about that cat. She didn't want to offend Zachary, but she felt their interaction would have been a lot less stressful and frantic without Zachary trying to care for the neurotic cat. Then again, maybe that was just Zachary, and things would be stressful and frantic no matter what they spent their time doing.

"Uh, okay," Éilís replied, confused, as Zachary flew out of the restaurant after his great-grandmother. She watched as he handed her a letter and wondered if Zachary was supposed to be accompanying the woman, who looked a bit lost. Had he abandoned the elderly woman to sit with Éilís? She felt both guilty for distracting Zachary and a bit disapproving. If the woman needed his help, Zachary should probably be out there with her.

When Zachary returned, however, Éilís had no more time to consider the matter. The boy was back on the subject of her lineage, and a fresh wave of discomfort hit Éilís. He had asked her directly about her parents, and she could see no way to avoid the topic. The color drained from her face and Éilís looked nervously out the window, hoping to see Teagan coming to save her, but the only two she saw near the parchment shop were a mother and daughter, looking in at a set of color-changing inks. Zachary didn't seem to sense her reluctance to discuss the topic, and charged ahead anyway: Are you muggleborn? She stared at him, surprised at how directly he was taking the subject. She always considered the topic of blood status to be rather delicate, even among wizards who had nothing to be ashamed of. After the war, many members of the magical community had seemed to take the apologetic, 'let's pretend that didn't happen and that we're all equal' attitude.

Zachary was watching her, waiting for a response. Éilís wasn't sure what to say. There was no point lying; it didn't seem like Zachary would be angry to hear that she was from a muggle family. She probably didn't have to worry about him dismissing her for her background. But all the same, the prejudices were there among the magical community. Lowered expectations, or pity. She wasn't interested in either. She looked back out at the witch in the street, and wondered how life might have been for her if she had a magical family, like most everyone else around her. But that wasn't the case, and there was no changing it; Éilís' mother didn't even know that she was a witch. Éilís would never be able to really connect with her, let alone walk down Diagon Alley, casually looking at the window displays of magical shops.

Éilís turned back to Zachary. "Yes, I'm muggleborn," she replied, trying to keep the bitterness out of her tone. It's not his fault, she reminded herself. But still. He would never understand. As 'cool' as he might find her background, being unique had never done her any favors. She looked back out the window, but the mother and daughter had moved on and were no longer in sight. She stared blankly out at a group of wizards moving by, praying that Teagan would come to get her soon. This whole trip was exhausting her.

Zachary knew that the topic had made her uncomfortable, and his usual jumpy tone and smile on his face quickly changed.  "I'm really sorry, I forgot that is such a sensitive subject."  He glanced back out the window and saw his great-grandmother holding a broomstick.  He wanted to help her around, but she insisted that he spend time with Éilís.  He didn't want to tell Éilís what his great-grandmother had told him when he handed over the letter.  He didn't want to tell her how much it had hurt him.  Nevertheless, he wanted to make some more friends.  He didn't seem to realize that Éilís wasn't very fond of the outing.

While Zachary was lost in his thoughts, Luna had made her way over to the other side of the table, and she jumped on Éilís's lap.  Her amber eyes shot at Éilís's while she silently meowed endlessly.  Zachary realized this and he quickly grabbed her.  While in Zachary's hands, she made some frightening sounds as if she is in pain.  "Don't worry about her, that's just how she talks."  Zachary thought about all the times people thought she was stressed or in pain due to the bald spots and screaming coming from the cat.  He wished she didn't have OCD, but there was no cure.

Zachary, having finished his ice cream, was bored.  He knew he needed a new Herbology book, as Luna coughed up a wet hairball on page 4.  He had a fair amount of money to spend.  His mother has a good job in the ministry, and his father works as a magizoologist.  He looked over to Éilís, "Want to head over to Flourish and Blotts?"  He waited for a response.

Zachary's reply seemed softer, like perhaps he had regretted bringing up the topic. His apology bounced around in Éilís' mind. He had forgotten? Éilís found, once again, that she wasn't sure how to respond. She supposed that if you grew up as a half-blood, you didn't have to think much about blood status. You were protected from prejudice, but not raised to believe that you were elite. Even so, he was at Hogwarts during the reign of Snape and the Carrows. She had heard a bit about what it had like to be at Hogwarts during that time, and found it hard to believe that someone who had lived through that could treat lineage as a casual subject. But Zachary seemed like the kind of boy who let his enthusiasm and optimism rule him. She felt again a twinge of envy, wishing that she could feel that carefree sometimes. But he wasn't realistic, and it certainly wasn't doing any good to pretend that the past was in the past. At least Éilís was always prepared now, on her guard and ready to deal with the prejudices she had felt against her. No, it was better, in the end, to have a grasp on reality, even if it meant that she would have to remember the ugly truths.

Zachary turned the subject back to Luna, who had been whining as the pair sat in thought. Apparently the boy wanted to keep the conversation going. With a bit of effort, Éilís refocused on the present, watching Zachary try to soothe the anxious animal. "Oh, I'm glad she's okay," Éilís replied. The cat really did seem upset about something, but Zachary wasn't worried, so she would try not to be. Trying to turn the topic back toward Zachary, she asked, "Was your grandmother around a lot growing up?" Hopefully, Zachary would have a long story to share, and she would be spared sharing any personal anecdotes herself.

At Zachary's suggestion, Éilís hesitated. The boy really seemed genuine in his offer to continue talking with her, but she wasn't really sure if it was out of pity, actual interest, or just a love of talking. As much as she loved the bookstore, she had no more money to spend. Besides, Teagan might come looking for her soon, and she hated to cause her concern by disappearing from their agreed meeting place. "I'll walk over with you, but I should probably get back to Teagan soon. I don't want to worry her," Éilís conceded. She hoped that this answer wouldn't disappoint Zachary too much, but she was craving some time alone to recollect her thoughts.

Éilís had brought up the topic about his grandmother, but he wasn't sure if she was referring to his great-grandmother or not.  He responded, "My grandmother lives quite near our house, so she was around a lot.  My great-grandmother, who is outside, wasn't around often at all.  My grandmother moved to England before having my mother, but my great-grandmother stayed in Japan.  I usually visit her during break, but since the dome was down she decided to visit me once we were let out."

He was happy that Éilís didn't seem to mind that Luna made her way onto her lap.  He was a bit disappointed that Éilís did not want to come with him to get a book, but he understood that Teagan needed to know where she was. Zachary saw his great-grandmother outside waving at him to come over.  He didn't want to due to the recent encounter.  She wanted him to marry Éilís, and she didn't understand that Zachary didn't like girls.  She has always screamed at him about it, and even tried to put an enchantment on him once that ended in him having a month long headache.  One time she tried to 'knock some sense' into him by smacking him with a book.  Even such a devout Buddhist can be the furthest from peaceful.

Zachary turned his head to Éilís and disappointingly said, "I have to go now.  I'm sure Teagan is ready anyway.  Maybe we can hang out some other time!"  He noticed that Luna had wiggled out of her sweater, and he squeezed the Slytherin sweater back onto her.  Zachary had annoyed the staff all of his first and second year to put the Sorting Hat on her.  They finally agreed to it, and she was announced Slytherin.  She screamed and hissed while he shoved it on her, and drew blood again.  His wrist was dripping with blood, and the most fearful face had grown on Zachary.  He gave the most ear piercing scream and reached for a napkin on the counter.  He nearly went into a panic attack.  After a few minutes of full-blown fear, he threw away the napkin and grabbed the leash attached to Luna.  He waved to Éilís and walked out to his great-grandmother.

Éilís blushed as Zachary corrected her mistake. "Oh, sorry," she muttered quickly before Zachary could finish his explanation of his family history. She had heard him say that before, and felt foolish. She hoped he didn't think that she was disinterested. She just had other things on her mind. "That's really sweet of her," she replied, hoping to recover his good opinion before he brushed her off. She even gave his cat a few hesitant strokes, even though she was a bit wary after seeing the cat scratch her owner multiple times in the short period that they had been together.

Éilís' heart sank as Zachary stood up to go. Clearly, she had hurt his feelings with her coldness and inattention. He had been so kind to her and she had owed him more. Before she could apologize, Zachary let out a cry of pain. Éilís saw that he was bleeding and that his cat was hissing at him. Zachary clearly adored the cat, but Éilís wasn't convinced that Luna returned the feelings. Unsure what to do, Éilís stood up, looking desperately around for a wizard who could mend his wounds, but Zachary had already grabbed the used napkin off the table and pressed it to his wrist. "Wait, we can get a rag, something cleaner -- " Éilís started to reply, concerned for her companion and wanting to take care of him as best she could, but Zachary had already thrown the napkin down on the table and darted out of the shop with his cat. She saw him join his great-grandmother out in the street and walk off into the crowd.

Trying to catch up with the frantic past few moments, Éilís put her coat and scarf back on and slung her bag over her shoulder. She wiped up the table as best she could and then wandered out into the street, looking for Teagan. She spotted her caretaker looking into the window of the bookshop and walked toward her, face turned down against the cold wind. She sighed as Teagan turned to face her, an expectant smile on her face. She would have to face the woman's disappointment the whole way back to Dublin. Éilís wished she could have done better with Zachary, that she would have something good to report, but she feared the boy wouldn't approach her again. Though it would be a relief to not have to deal with his spastic nature again, she hated to think that their last encounter might have ended with him upset. She resolved to send him a gift when they got back to school to make it up to him. Éilís reached Teagan, and nodded in response to the woman's inquiry about whether she was ready to go home. She would have the whole journey home to think about what the boy might like.

[thread complete]