At last… the weekend had arrived!
The work week had dragged on for what felt like forever, and Emma was exhausted from it. Ordinarily – especially in the colder months – she would snuggle up on her couch with Rosie and a good book for the night, and she was perfectly content with that. But with the weather finally beginning to warm up she was feeling a little stir-crazy, and that was saying a lot for the homebody of a brunette.
And, what was more – Minko the Magnificent had planned a stop in Hogsmeade! Emma had heard loads about the traveling caravan and – despite being a month shy of twenty years old – couldn’t wait to explore it. The way she saw it, anyone who considered themselves “too old” or “too cool” to enjoy a carnival was nothing but a huge party-pooper. Wasn’t that the whole point of a carnival, anyways? To remind you that you’re never too old to have fun, even if it is a little cheesy?
Yeesh. She just didn’t understand how uptight some people could be.
Emma had considered trying to round up a group of her friends to go all together, but ultimately scrapped the idea: it was too difficult to try to coordinate and keep track of everyone, and everyone would want to see different things in any case. Furthermore, she had reasoned, she didn’t see how there was any way she wouldn’t run into at least one person she knew with an event this popular. So, she had decided to go alone.
The brunette meandered from booth to booth, admiring all of the trinkets on display as she happily munched away at what could only be described as a towering cloud of cotton candy. It was probably turning her tongue and teeth (and probably her lips) blue, but the brunette honestly didn’t care. She was at a carnival, for crying out loud!
What she was most interested in, however, was the petting zoo. She hadn’t been able to find any clear signage for it, though, so she figured she would have to ask one of the vendors. They had to have at least some idea of the setup, right?
She had been about to duck inside a tent festooned with colorful silken scarves when her ears pricked at the sound of her name being called, though in a voice that was not immediately recognizable. Perplexed, the Slytherin alumna slowly turned and scanned the crowd for the source, frowning slightly. Had she been hearing things? Or had someone actually called— oh!
The nineteen-year-old couldn’t help but grin at the familiar face practically bounding towards her.
“Gianna! Hi!” Emma called back brightly, flagging down the older girl as she approached. Gianna’s comment on the sheer number of people elicited a chuckle from the Slytherin alumna.
“For sure… nearly got trampled by a horde of eight-year-olds screeching about life-size balloon animals earlier.” She shook her head in disbelief, a good-natured smile forming on her lips. “Absolute madness, I tell you. Definitely saw my life flash before my eyes.”
The girls hadn’t crossed paths much in school, but in a relatively small environment like Hogwarts you generally at least knew of almost everyone who had been within two years above or below you, regardless of House differences. That was the category that she and Gianna had fallen into: not exactly close friends, but certainly friendly acquaintances despite being in Slytherin and Hufflepuff, respectively. So Emma was mildly surprised when the older girl linked arms with her as if they were the former, but beamed and returned the gesture all the same.
“Petting zoo? Uh, absolutely!” she declared with a giggle. “I was just about to go looking for it, actually… I’m a total sucker for animals, especially the babies. Not exactly sure where it is, though…”
She stood on tiptoe and craned her head to the right, searching for any kind of signage over the throng of people. At 5’7” she certainly wasn’t short, but wasn’t quite tall enough to have a good vantage point either. Dropping back down to flat-foot with a small hmph of indignation, she pushed out her lower lip in a pout. Well, that hadn’t been very helpful.
But just then, a little girl no older than six in a bright yellow dress about thirty feet away caught her eye. She was tugging on her frazzled father’s hand, and her excited voice carried enough over the crowd that Emma was able to discern two words: baby goats. Her father nodded, and the pair set off down the path to the right.
Bingo!
“Ooh, wait! I think it might be this way… shall we?” Starting off down the path after the girl and her father, the tempting aroma of salty, buttery, popcorn-y deliciousness assaulted her senses almost immediately. Mmm… salty was the best. Once she finished her cotton candy, popcorn was next on the list! She had planned to eat enough junk food today that a potential stomachache later would be well worth it.
“So!” she began congenially, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “How are things? What’re you up to these days?”
Emma had been about to take another bite of cotton candy but paused, gave Gianna a sidelong glance, and offered her the sugary deliciousness.
“Want some? And if you say no… I don’t believe you.” She grinned playfully before sticking out her tongue out a bit. “I think this shade of blue compliments my eyes nicely, don’t you think?”
