i believe in dreaming • {wini}

“Gwendolyn, where are you going!” A frown pulled at the lips of the skinny boy as he watched his little sister dash to the opposite side of the cafe. As he had been the one to request to leave the house, his parents had cleverly placed him on big brother duty, and he was now cursing the fact that he wasn’t more of a homebody. He felt like they were punishing him for a crime he hadn’t committed. More than anything else, Vyn adored his siblings. But they could all be such pains. As he tried to maintain a careful eye on Gwen, he secured Colwyn’s presence beside him by keeping a tight grip on the younger boy’s shirt collar. Out of duty to the troublemakers that were with him, Mervyn had chosen to visit the ‘critter café’ in Hogsmeade, Sugar and Spice. He’d been sure that the youngest Pryces would find it fascinating, but he had not anticipated this much excitement.

Thankfully, Deryn, who had disappeared the moment they’d stepped foot inside the store, was now at his side again, offering to take Colwyn off of his hands so that he could follow Gwen. Relief took over his expression and he offered her a look of sheer gratitude before releasing their brother. Then, as he watched the two skip off together, realisation hit. Deryn had deliberately left him to put up with Gwendolyn – excitable, hyper Gwen, who was probably bouncing off the walls because she was so overwhelmed and happy. Merlin, he wouldn’t be surprised if he found her crying. The boy shook his head, a small smile tugging at his lips in spite of himself. With a sigh, he began to walk around in search of the girl.

Finally, he spied a familiar head of hair near the unicorn foals, leaning over the railings and just centimetres away from falling in. The boy instantly jogged over to where she was, jostling shoulders and casting insincere apologies behind him as he manoeuvred through the throng of people. As soon as he was close, he rested his hands on her sides and quickly pulled her down, placing her on the ground. “Gwen,” he scolded lightly, “you have to be more careful than that. What if you got hurt?” Her only response was a very dramatic pout and big watery eyes. Mervyn crossed his arms and gave her a stern look, but this only further upset her, and he watched helplessly as her lower lip began to tremble.

He sighed again. “You can still see the unicorns,” he offered, turning her around to face the foals. She’d already begun to sniffle, however, and a slightly panicked Mervyn tried to raise her higher to give her a better look. This seemed to appease her somewhat, though she was visibly dejected, and insisted that she wanted to play with them. Merlin, why was she still like this at nine years old? The trials of being the big brother, he thought to himself. In that same moment, he caught sight of one of his classmates and figuring that she would have a better idea of how to help Gwen, he called her over: “Hey, Wini! Can you come here for a minute?”

Winifred Gwartney visited Sugar and Spice, the critter cafe in Hogsmeade, so often that she practically lived there. She greeted many of the employees by name, most of them knew of her penchant for visiting the unicorns foals in the paddock, and she would have stayed on forever if only she had that many sickles. As it was, she knew she only have two silver coins in her pocket, the very last of her allowance, and she had already spent an hour here. She sighed forlornly, knowing she'd have to tear herself away soon. She glanced down unhappily at the token that counted the time and kept track of how much she would owe for admission. The Hufflepuff wished for a timeturner just so she could stay longer.

For an active girl who was always a whirlwind of activity, Wini could sit and watch the unicorns for hours. Literally hours. The paddock, though popular with visitors, was like her sanctuary. It gave her a chance to think and clear her head. The chit and chat from other people oohhing and awwing at the foals were a pleasant hum in the background for her. For Wini, unicorns were the personification of everything magical and coming from a muggle family even though she was a halfblood, the fact that magic even existed and she had it was still a wonder to her. The blonde, dressed in a simple light blue dress, leaned against the fence, her arms resting on the top rung, her chin resting on her hands.

When she heard her name, she stood straighter and glanced around until her eyes landed on a fellow third year, Mervyn. She smiled in greeting and walked over to him as he requested, curiosity shining in her eyes. "Hi Mervyn," she said as she got closer. "How's it going?" Wini then noticed the younger girl he had with him and that she seemed upset. A sister perhaps? They did resemble each other. Wini smiled gently at her too, her instinct to make everyone happy kicking in. She glanced at the unicorns and then back at the younger girl, figuring she was somewhere around her brother Steffan's age. "Do you like unicorns?" Wini asked her, her brown eyes flicking to Mervyn, before refocusing on her. She leaned closer and lowered her voice into a whisper. "They're my favorite animal, but don't tell him, alright?" she said with a nod in the Gryffindor's direction.

"Come on, let's have a look at them," Wini said as she turned back toward the foals and leaned against the fence. "We can't play with them," the Hufflepuff said, looking down at the younger girl, the respect for the foals in her voice rang with a hint of steel. "But I brought some food they seem to like. If we leave it here for them and be patient, they might come closer," Wini explained as she showed the girl the bag of oats and then piled some on a flat part of the fence, demonstrating how to do it. She glanced over at Mervyn and smiled. "You too," she said, offering the bag to him.

“Not so well,” he admitted, a sheepish smile forming on his lips. He gestured to the little girl before him, also keeping a loose grip on the sleeve of her shirt to prevent her from taking off again. “This is my sister, Gwen. She’s very excited about the unicorns.” Gwen was truly the epitome of a stereotypical girl, obsessed with all things frilly, pinky, fluffy, and cute. Thinking about it, he figured that the foals had probably captured her heart from the moment they’d entered the café. Looking down at her disgruntled expression, he rested his other hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Before he could speak to her, his yearmate chimed in, probably because his eyes had definitely screamed ‘help me.’  Relieved that Wini was helping, Vyn’s shoulders relaxed and he quietly listened, curious as to what she was going to say.

Gwendolyn was providing the blonde with the majority of her attention, torn between listening completely to what Wini had to tell her and staring wistfully at the unicorns ahead. However, Wini had managed to obtain all of her focus by the end of the talk, and Gwen’s eyes lit up as she nodded excitedly to indicate that she would indeed keep Wini’s secret. Clearly, she was pleased to find someone whose favourite animal was the same as hers. Impressed, Mervyn stared at Wini with a look of amazement.

“Wow, you’re really good with her,” he commented, crossing his arms and allowing the Hufflepuff to lead his sister closer to the fence. He watched them carefully, giving a low chuckle at Gwendolyn’s eagerness to rest the oats down for the foals. She really did revert into her five year old self in situations like this one. When Wini offered the bag to him, Vyn placed a hand on the back of his head, ready to decline. He noticed Gwen’s large optics on him, though, peering with expectancy. He sighed and grinned at Winifred before removing some oats from the bag. Kneeling beside his sister, he placed the oats down carefully. Once she looked pleased, he clapped his hands a few times to remove any excess food, then returned to his standing position.

“So, Wini,” he started, keeping an eye on Gwen. “Do you have any younger sisters or brothers?” Now that his own appeared to be a little more calm than she was moments ago, he took the opportunity to glance up at the blonde. “I mean, it seems like it.” His eyes flicked to Gwendolyn again, referencing how easily Wini had been able to deal with her. “Thanks, by the way. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t come over.” He offered his yearmate a smile.

The Hufflepuff tilted her head in question at his 'not so well,' but then noticed the direction of his gaze and smiled knowingly. Younger siblings, she shook her head with a small roll of her eyes in a show of solidarity. She'd been there loads of times. "Gwen, I"m Wini," the blonde said. "You have a very pretty name, you know," she added. A few years ago Wini would have grimaced and mentioned that she hated her name. It wasn't as pretty as her sister's names like Lysanora or Llewella, but she was sort of starting to like it. Wini smiled at the Gryffindor's obvious affection for his sister. The only thing her older brothers did was tease her, mess up her hair, or make her muck out the grossest stalls at the farm. Ew.

Wini was happy to see that little Gwen was less close to crying than she had been a few minutes ago and she glanced over at Mervyn with a look of both relief and amusement. "I have a brother just about her age, and another sister even younger," the Hufflepuff said with a nice smile as he complimented her. She held back a grin, biting her lip, at his reluctance to take oats as well and she shook her head. "Come on," she encouraged, "you have to feed them too." Then she shared a triumphant smile with Gwen when he gave in, softly nudging the younger girl with her elbow.

Scooting closer to Gwen and placing her own oats down as well, Wini nodded in response to Mervyn's question before standing back up and taking a step back. "Yes, loads of them. There are 10 of us altogether, but I have three younger than me. I'm sure you would have handled her fine. You're much nicer to her than my older brothers are to me," she said with a tinkling laugh and a big smile. "Is it just you and Gwen then?" she asked him in turn.

But then from the corner of her eye she saw one of the foals moving closer and she gasped softly and found herself grasping Mervyn's arm in excitement before blushing with apology and releasing him. She stepped toward his sister and laid a gentle hand on Gwen's shoulder. "Gwen, look!" she said, wonder obvious in her voice as she looked across the paddock. Both foals were as golden as the sun and would be for the next four years or so until their coats transformed into the snowy white that was the mark of adulthood. "That's Dior," she whispered, naming the male foal as he walked forward, wary but brave. Wini was near holding her breath as he came closer, her chest squeezing with excitement and awe. She didn't get this luxury very often. Dior lifted his nose to sniff the air and then came even closer to the trio and Wini moved instinctively closer to the fence.

"He must like you," she added with a smile in Gwen's direction. "He doesn't come out this far for just anyone." And it was then that he reached the oats, leaned down to sniff them, and then ate them happily, snickering. Wini smiled radiantly glancing up at Mervyn to share a look of amazement before glancing back and taking in her fill of Dior. She felt warm and happy, as if enveloped in the warmth of the sun. All because of the magical creature in front of her. "He's aboslutely amazing," she whispered, more to herself than to Gwen or Mervyn. 

Wini had answered his question and Vyn had to tug on his ear to ensure that he’d heard her correctly. “Ten?” His eyes widened slightly, his tone incredulous. She had nine siblings, and Mervyn could barely deal with his three. He loved them dearly, though, and judging from the way Winifred was handling Gwen, he assumed that she felt the same way about her own brothers and sisters. He imagined things like family dinners must have been fun, though he also guessed that arguments probably occurred much more frequently at her house than they did at his. Again, the boy appeared to be quite impressed as if dealing with nine siblings was the biggest feat one could accomplish.

“That’s mental,” he stated, his tone a mixture of incredulous and amused. Still, he realised that his words could be misunderstood. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I just mean your house must always be alive,” he clarified, a thoughtful expression on his face. Vyn wondered what his life would be like with six extra siblings in the house. Hectic, he settled on, but he couldn’t help but think that it would also probably be a never-ending adventure, and loads of fun.

In reply to her question, he shook his head. “I’ve got two others,” he told her, turning to search the crowd for them. Despite squinting his eyes and standing a bit taller, he couldn’t catch even a glimpse of them. They were completely out of sight, and Mervyn made a mental note to find and collect them later, or brace himself to suffer the wrath of Meredith and Parry Pryce. “I don’t know where they went, but Deryn’s a first year and Colwyn’s six.” He stopped and remembered her mention of a sister. “How old is your younger sister?” he asked, absently wondering if she was near Colywin’s age.

Gwendolyn’s gasp grabbed his attention and the Gryffindor glanced up to see the colt nearing their side of the fence. His gaze flickered towards Wini to see if she’d notice his sister’s excitement, but she was just as distracted by the sight of the walking foal. Mervyn’s eyes were alight with good-natured amusement as he watched Wini’s awestruck face. Much like Gwendolyn, she was completely in love with the creatures ahead of them, as evident by her wide eyes. He smiled quietly to himself, letting the two girls have their moment.

His sister looked pleased, and that was enough to bring some relief and happiness to Vyn. While he liked animals, there were none he found himself gravitating towards or absolutely needing to see. He’d come here with the purposes of letting his siblings have some fun and getting out of the house. Both Gwen and Wini’s tangible fascination was contagious though, and Mervyn found himself paying more attention to the foal than he usually would have. He noticed its cautious steps and the way he paused for the shortest moment before chowing down. Vyn laughed softly.

“Yeah,” he agreed, speaking to Wini, though he hadn’t really meant to voice this thought out loud. Gwen instantly turned to him, grinning toothily, before swinging towards Winifred.

“See! Vyn likes them too! They’re his favourite too!” she declared, a triumphant look on her face.

Mervyn, slightly embarrassed by her little outburst but not wanting it to show, simply rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I never said that.” His eyes flicked to Wini and he gave her a smile. “But I’ll admit they’re not that bad.”

Wini met Vyn's surprised gaze with a great, big smile and nodded, amusement twinkling in her eyes. She was used to this kind of reaction honestly. It wasn't until she came here and was around so many others that she realized families as big as hers weren't the norm. How was she supposed to know that not everyone had nine other siblings? She laughed a little and nodded in agreement, waving away his explanation with a smile. "It is a little crazy," she admitted with a happy smile, but then shrugged. It was the only thing she'd even known. "4 sisters, 5 brothers. Llewella, Crystin, Rhys, Elias, Aeron, Lysanora, Owain, Steffan, and Emlyn," she said, rattling off the list with pride and pleasure. "Oh and me of course. I'm right in between Lysanora and Owain."

"It is always very busy," she said, looking Mervyn's way, thinking of her family home fondly. "There's always something that needs to be done with the sheep and Mum always has something delicious cooking in the kitchen. It's loud and you have to be quick about getting seconds at the table, but--" she shrugged and smiled with a happy sigh. "--I wouldn't change it for anything. I like my big family."

Wini followed his gaze as he looked over the crowd and peered around in a similar fashion. "Hey, my middle name is Deryn," she remarked at the happy coincidence. "I want to meet your Deryn. Is she a Gryffindor too?" The blonde glanced down at Gwen for a second and then back to Vyn as he asked about his sister. "Emlyn is.. seven now," she said, her brown eyes flicking up to the blue sky as she remembered her sister's age. "There's two years between me and Owain and Steffan and Emlyn soooo Owain is probably Deryn's age and Steffan around Gwen's age," Wini said as she counted the years out in her head.

Vyn's agreement and Gwen's notice of it had Wini turning toward the Gryffindor, studying him for a moment before Gwen's excitedness turned her attention away. She smiled down at little Gwen with a nod, "You're right," she told Gwen with a glance in Vyn's direction, amused at his denial. "Let's keep this between us though, alright? Otherwise all the boys will want to come visit the unicorns and there'll be no space left for us. Pinky promise?" Wini said as she stuck out her pinky and shook on it with the little girl.

When the Hufflepuff glanced back at the unicorns, Dior had returned to the back of the paddock with the other foal Shimmer. Both were grazing in the shade beneath a large tree. He must have been unamused by Gwen's outburst and Wini sighed. At least she had gotten that close this once, but still not close enough to touch. With a glance in Gwen's direction, she thought quickly to distract Mervyn's sister. She didn't want to backpedal into tears again so she thought of the next best thing. With perfect timing too. "Have you ever held a hedgehog?" she asked Gwen. "If your brother says its okay, Duke over there--" motioning to one of the employees who had just come from the cafe with two hedgehogs in his arms, "--usually lets you hold one if you're very nice." Wini glanced at Vyn for his approval before watching Gwen scamper over to Duke in excitement.

Wini smiled softly as she crossed an arm in front of her and touched the ends of her blonde hair with the other. She glanced at Mervyn and grinned. "I'm guessing you weren't the one who wanted to see the unicorns?" Wini asked. She had another remark on the tip of her tongue when her runic token caught her eye. "Oh sheep's wool! I have to go soon. I've only got two sickles today and my two hours are almost up," Wini explained, holding up her token to show him with a wistful sigh. She didn't want to go so soon and she was a little envious of little Gwen holding the hedgehog over there with Duke, but she also knew she couldn't afford to stay any longer.

This was the worst part, but she smiled nonetheless and shrugged lightly. "I should probably just get a job here or something," she remarked with a light laugh.

“Sheep?” The interest in his tone was completely genuine. By now, Wini had a good amount of Vyn’s attention – the part of it that wasn’t focused on Gwendolyn. He was starting to get the impression that the blonde’s home life was much more interesting than his. Vyn’s days consisted primarily of looking after his younger siblings, playing with Deryn in the yard, and getting as much practice on his training broom that he possibly could. While it was fun, in retrospect, it seemed pretty simple. Easy.

He was trying to conjure up the image of Wini and nine other people who looked like her running around a wooden dinner table, trying to get their hands of whatever food was left. His own family soon replaced them, and Vyn remembered a younger Colwyn attempting to climb on the table for some more pudding. The thought evoked a laugh from him and he nodded in agreement. “I like my family too.” In response to her comment, he smiled, his thoughts wandering to Deryn, the firecracker. He hoped she and Colwyn weren’t getting into too much trouble. Nodding, he refocused on the conversation. “Yeah, she’s a lion.” He spoke with pride in his voice. Anyone who knew him knew he was glad to be a Gryffindor. He hadn’t really entered Hogwarts being partial to any house; he just knew he wasn’t a huge Slytherin fan. But he had to admit that Gryffindor was a good fit. A perfect one.

Brown eyes flickered to Gwen who had his classmate’s finger locked with hers in a pinky promise. He was waiting to be asked to leave, but of course, Gwen barely said a word before scurrying over to the hedgehog. Vyn just shook his head. No respect. He wasn’t too bothered, though. In fact, he was sort of relieved that she’d found a new distraction. At least it meant she’d stay still for a bit. Once Gwen was beside Duke, Mervyn redirected his attention to the blonde, looking amused.

“No, it was all me. Unicorns are my passion.” He tried to speak with conviction, but it wasn’t long before his features squashed into a grimace. Then, he laughed softly, shaking his shoulders as if a chill had just shimmied down his spine. “Yeah, you’re right. She was very excited to see them.”

At Wini’s exclamation, he raised an eyebrow, curious as to what the problem was. When she held up her token, Vyn’s instant reaction was to shove a hand in his trouser pocket in search for spare coins. Though he and Wini were not exactly close, she’d been a huge help to him and had saved him from the trouble of dealing with Gwendolyn’s tears. He wanted to return the favour in some way and was glad that the opportunity had popped up so soon. Pulling out a sickle, he held it out to her. “For looking after Gwen,” he explained.

Wini smiled back at the Gryffindor when he agreed on her sentiment about family. "I just wish my family could attend Hogwarts like yours," she added, hearing the pride in his voice when he spoke of his sister. "They're muggles though." Wini fervently tried not to frown as she said it, but that first year when the Carrows were spreading such venom about muggles always loomed over her when she spoke the word. "I bet my brother Owain would get along great with Deryn. That is, if she doesn't mind getting her hair tugged every once in a while." Wini grinned, her brown eyes sparkling with amusement and fondness at recalling her younger brother's antics.

As the blonde watched the younger girl scamper off to see the hedgehog, she tilted her head toward Vyn and asked, "what house do you think she'll be in? Gryffindor too?" She knew houses sometimes ran in the family and the whole process of sorting had always kind of amazed her. A hat that could read your thoughts? Thoughts that you hadn't even thought of yourself yet? Amazing.

The Hufflepuff flicked her eyes to Vyn's as he spoke about his 'passion for unicorns' and the face he pulled after saying that made her burst into giggles. "I'll have to make you a glittery unicorn jumper to match the one that I have then," she teased with a smile. She didn't actually have a glittery unicorn sweater but if she ever found one, she would save all of her sickles for that. Even if she only wore it to bed so the other Hufflepuff girls didn't tease her about it. She didn't think she would be outgrowing unicorns anytime soon.

"Oh! Are you sure?" Wini asked, surprised at his offer, her eyes wide. She hadn't been expecting him to offer her the silver coin and to think that she might get to spend more time where she was pleased her. Except she wasn't sure if it was the polite thing to not take it and go on her way. She looked at him with questioning eyes and waited for his response, smiling brightly from ear to ear when he insisted. "Thank you so much, Vyn. That's so kind of you," she said, her affectionate nature showing as she touched her hand to his forearm for a moment.

Sliding Vyn's sickle into her pocket to rest against her own two, she tilted her head toward the hedgehog as she looked at him. "Have you ever held a hedgehog?" She waited a moment and then easily looped her arm through his and tugged at him gently just like she would have done with Marin. "Come on, you'll love it!"

A part of him now regretted gushing so much, afraid that he might have accidentally touched on a sore subject. Wini didn’t seem upset, but he knew she meant her words. He’d never tell Deryn, but a part of him had felt a little lost without her during his first two years at school. Wrapping an arm around Wini’s shoulder, he gave her a bright smile. “You can spend time with my family.” Though he was being sincere, there was a touch of mischief in his tone as he turned to look at Gwendolyn. “Nah, no one deserves that much torture.”

What house do you think she'll be in? Gryffindor too?

“I hope she will,” he stated, crossing his arms. And his hopes weren’t based solely on the fact that it was his favourite house. Gwen needed someone to look out for her, and it would be easier to keep an eye on the flighty girl if she was a lion, like him. Wini’s treatment had made him a little more receptive of the idea of his siblings fitting somewhere else, however, and as his big brown eyes flickered back and forth between the two girls, he shoved his hands back into his pockets and admitted, “I wouldn’t mind her being a Hufflepuff, though.” It sort of fit, anyway. Their mascot was a badger, and badgering Vyn seemed to be one of Gwen’s most liked hobbies.

He gave Winifred a horrified look, but couldn’t stop himself from joining in her laughter. With all of his pride, and his desire to constantly be thought of as ‘cool’, Mervyn Pryce would probably never be caught dead in a glittery unicorn jumper – or glittery anything, for that matter. “Actually, I think I’m fine,” he told her, waving a hand in declination. “Besides, Gwen would probably steal it.”

In response to her question, he nodded, dropping the sickle in her open palm and gently closing her fingers around it. “It’s yours,” he insisted, shrugging off her compliment. If anything, he should have been thanking her more. He didn’t even have to look at Gwen any more to know that she was enjoying herself; he could hear her soft squeals from where he stood.

On cue, Wini had looped her arm in his and was now tugging him towards his sister, and he was surprised at how easily they’d gone from being simple acquaintances to a friendlier pair.  Laughing quietly to himself, he followed behind her, amused by her high energy and enthusiasm. Gwen was still holding the creature when they got there and upon seeing Vyn and Wini, immediately held it up for them to hold. He glanced at Duke, who was smiling encouragingly, then at the blonde beside him, searching for an indication of what to do. “Do I just hold out my hands and let her drop him in?” he asked the blonde, eyeing the fluffy creature in Gwen’s palm. “Is he going to run off or something?”

The weight of his arm around her shoulders made her shimmer with camaraderie and she glanced up at the Gryffindor with bright eyes, wondering how she hadn't known how nice he was before just now. She reveled in the sincerity of his smile and his offer and it made her feel warmer, like she was basking in the light of the sun. "Ok," she agreed easily, liking the idea of having a Hogwarts family and a home family. She could picture herself hanging out with Vyn and Gwen, especially if it involved unicorns. She frowned in confusion at his added comment and then saw him looking at Gwen with that gleam in his eye and she would herself laughing again, the sound bright and happy, lighting up her brown eyes. "She's not so bad," she replied with a nudge to his side. "Plus that means you wouldn't have to take her to see the unicorns as often as she could come with me."

The blonde nodded thoughtfully as she looked at Gwen with Duke and the hedgehog. She probably would fit into Gryffindor and the odds were in her favor with both Vyn and his younger sister already there. But then he mentioned her own house and she glanced at the Gryffindor beside her with speculation and a small smile. "I'd look out for her," she offered, the truth of it ringing in her voice. She missed having her siblings here and she wouldn't mind in the least adopting Gwen as her own even if it was only pretend.

Wini laughed again at his expression and found herself smiling wide. "Are you sure?" she asked innocently though the amusement was still glittering in her eyes. "I could make one for Gwen too that way we'd be like triplets," she teased with a grin. Imagining Vyn in a glittery unicorn sweater was probably the funniest thing she had thought of all week and she couldn't have stopped the smile on her face from spreading even if she had wanted to.

His touch of his hand on hers sent tingles through her palm and she glanced down at her hand in wonder as she simply nodded. "Thank you," she said again with a soft smile. It was a small gesture, but because she had never had much, she truly appreciated it. She had just found another reason she didn't want to leave and was all the more thankful that she had another hour here.

The Hufflepuff smiled in greeting at Duke and with a cheery 'hello' joined the group gathered around the hedgehog. She watched with anticipation as Gwen handed her brother the small animal and then smiled indulgently as he looked to her for direction. She took a step closer to Gwen and cupped her hand, gently picking him up from the underside. "This is Teazel," she told Vyn with a soft smile as she turned to bring the hedgehog closer to the Gryffindor. "He has spines all over his back, see?" She pointed to his back prickling with pokey little spines. "So make sure you scoop him up from the bottom because his underside is soft." She held the hedgehog out to him with an encouraging smile.

"Go on, your turn."

Wini’s knowledge on the animals in this place was super impressive, and Vyn watched as she took the critter from Gwen with the careful ease of someone who had done this millions of times. He wasn’t nearly as practised, just narrowly avoiding touching one of the spikes as Wini placed Teazel in his palms. The boy would never admit it, but he was kind of nervous. Merlin, what if he did something horrible like accidentally drop it? Luckily, that seemed unlikely. Once the animal was safely in his hands, Mervyn began to feel a little more comfortable, especially because it wasn’t scurrying around like he had expected it to. “This is kinda cool,” he admitted, eyes focused on the tiny thing. His brother would probably love this.

Oh. Colwyn.

“I should probably start looking for Deryn and Colwyn,” said Vyn, suddenly remembering that he had two other siblings on the loose. Gently and carefully, he eased the small animal back into Duke’s open hands, then turned to face Winifred. There was a flicker of disappointment in his eyes at leaving his new companion, especially after all of the help she’d given him, but he wasn’t selfish enough to ask her to join him on his search. He was sure she would be much more content staying here with the animals, and maybe she’d be able to get a closer look at the unicorns once Gwen was no longer around to scare them off.

Mervyn offered the girl a smile before giving a short wave. Gwendolyn’s goodbye was a little more dramatic; she engulfed Wini in a huge hug before moving to Vyn’s side. Her disappointment was much more apparent than his. With a nod, Mervyn grabbed hold of Gwen’s wrist so she couldn’t escape him for the second time that day.

He was about to head off to find his brother and sister, but before he left, he turned to Wini again. Although spending time with animals wasn’t exactly equivalent to a Quidditch match in his book of fun, Vyn had enjoyed his time here and Wini played a big role in that. It felt kind of… off, just saying goodbye. They were friends now, right? Or something close to it, he thought. ‘Acquaintance’ seemed too distant of a title to give her now. He smiled at the blonde again. “I’ll see you later?” he asked.

A soft smile played about her lips at Vyn held the little hedgehog named Teazel. She wasn't sure what it was that made her smile so. Maybe it was his hesitation in holding the little guy, or the way Gwen looked up at her big brother, or the tenor of his tone as he voiced his thoughts. Wini could only nod in agreement, her eyes on his face as she watched him grow more comfortable with Teazel. 

Deryn? Colwyn? "Oh, right," she agreed as soon as her brain caught up, recognizing the names of his siblings they had been talking about before. Wini smiled a thank you to Duke as the employee took back the hedgehog and turned, only to be surprised by a pair of small arms wrapping around her. Wini smiled wide as she looked down at the younger girl and returned the hug, saying, "it was very nice to meet you, Gwen." She wanted to say that they would surely hang out again but she wasn't sure if they would and didnt want to upset the girl with false promises. As she waved a goodbye to the siblings, she found herself secretly hoping that Gwen would be sorted into Hufflepuff. She missed having younger siblings to look out for. 

She was still watching them when Vyn turned and smiled at her. Wini was a bit dazed by that smile, so she only managed a nod and a stuttered "yeah, later" to him. When he finally disappeared back into the shop, Wini turned and inhaled a great deep breath, realizing she had been holding it. She still had half an hour thanks to Vyn's gifted sickle so she wandered back over to the unicorn paddock, leaned against the fence, and sighed in contentment. Her eyes were on the glinting gold unicorns toward the back of the paddock, but her thoughts were on a certain Gryffindor and the way he had smiled at her.