[THD]Back to School Shopping [Jaspar]

Theo was getting ready for school and things were looking quite exciting for him. They had done all his shopping already and they would be picking up his robes today. There was an influx of people at the shop they went to that it was too busy for them to get him fitted then. They set up an appointment today and they would just look around at the other shops to celebrate Theo’s acceptance to Beuxbatons. Still despite all this the most interesting thing about this trip was the news he got that he would get to see his cousin Jaspar on the trip. Why Jaspar was in Chatoeil he didn’t know, but it was still going to be fun to see his cousin after all these years. He could ask him so many questions about what he learned in school and the classes and maybe even get some insight on which house he may be sorted into. Oh how exciting it would be if they ended up in the same house!

When they arrived at the shop Theo was taken to the back for some quick measuring and then he was allowed to look around the shop while they finished up his robes. He looked around and found himself interested in a positively pointed hat. He grabbed it off the mannequin it was on and placed it on his head. It fell past his face and he couldn’t see a thing, but the inside of the cap. He laughed at how foolish he probably looked and decided to play a little pretend. He raised his arms up and stiffened them pretending to be what muggles called a zombie. “Grrraaahh,” Theo moan as he blindly walked around the shop trying not to laugh at the silliness he was portraying. Still he was surprised at how long it took before he ran into something or in this case someone. He felt the bump of flesh and fell forward on top of the person. The hat fell off in the collision and Theo noticed it was his cousin Jaspar. “Jaspar,” Theo shouted in glee.

Bending and reaching out to snatch at the falling hat Jaspar came within inches of saving it before it fell to the ground only to fumble it and watch it bounce gingerly off of the stone floors of the hat shop. "Awh man." He said slowly, staring at it as the sunlight coming in from the windows cast obstructed shadows across the floor. Hearing the voice of the one who'd been running around the shop like a zombie Jaspar couldn't help but chuckle at his cousin. "What's up Theo." He said softly, a smile on his angled face. "I like your head gear choice." Looking down for a moment he scooped up the particularly pointed hat and turned it back over to his family member graciously.

He turned to look toward the window and the sunlight that was shining in through the window made him smile. He could feel the warmth of the French summer on his skin, even inside of the shop. Outside it was loud, the bustling street was as busy as ever with many people choosing to shop in this particular wizarding district for their back to school needs. There was a cool breeze moving through the village and Jaspar could see the flags and strung up lanterns swaying in the wind from it. The rolling hills in the distance were covered with lavender, fully in bloom and as purple as ever. Jaspar missed France even though he had only been gone a couple of weeks. He missed the scenery, the beauty of it, but mostly he missed moments like this with people he knew and trusted.

"You got any lunch plans?"

Theo chucked at his cousin’s reaction to the hat he picked. “Well it was either that or a floral bonnet and I don’t think it fits my coloring,” Theo joked. He took the hat back from his cousin and placed it back on the mannequin before returning to his cousin. He watched his cousin look outside the window and Theo tilted his head in confusion. What was he looking at he thought it was only some simple scenery and whizzing wizard and witches. Was it really that interesting? Then he asked Theo if he had lunch plans to which he responded, “Nope it’s a free day let me just ask real quickly.” Theo went to his parents and asked if he could hang with his cousin while they continued their shopping to which they agreed.

“Alright where do you want to go then,” Theo asked his cousin once he got permission from his parents. “I know they are holding a few events nearby so which would you like to pick,” asked Theo. He could remember there was also a nice café near-by so maybe they could get a quick drink or even something to munch on before enjoying the beautiful day they had before them. Theo was just excited to be a part of something more interesting than being alone at home. As soon as they were outside of the shop though Theo began his barrage of questions, "So what is school like? What are the houses like? What house do you think I will be sorted into? Is it true the horses will bite you if you get too close to them?"

Jaspar couldn't help but laugh at his little cousin's response even if he had no idea what he meant by fitting with his coloring. The older wizard could barely match two socks let alone make fashionable decisions so the comment went completely over his head. "Okay.." He said with a shrug when Theo said he wanted to go but had to ask his parents first. Jaspar gave his aunt and uncle a quick wave before moving on to check out the wizard's watches in the display. They had all kinds of new features this year like owl hoots for alarms, directions to the closest floo locations, reminders that didn't howl at you, and potions conversion tables and he had been saving up for one. He still didn't have nearly enough to cover it but Jaspar could continue to dream. One day when he finally got one he could even dictate his letters to Eilis to it and it would transcribe them. Jaspar was amazed by the progress magical technology had been making in just the last few years alone. He was excited to see it catching up with the muggle technology he was so unashamed to be obsessed with. He peered through the glass until his cousin returned and then nodded and followed him out of the storefront.

"Maybe to the pie place? I hear they've got the autumn line up early?" Jaspar loved apple and pumpkin pie the most, even more than the summer cherry pie, so he was excited to get his hands on some. "You like pie right cuz?" He asked as his hands slipped into his pockets casually. Around family, someone who already liked him and he didn't have to fret about, Jaspar was cool as a cucumber. There weren't many people in this world he felt like a normal person around. Usually he was so anxious he could barely string words together to form sentences but it was different with the cousin he'd grown up with. And soon Theo began rattling off questions and the pair fell into their normal routine.

"School is okay, you will like it." He answered honestly with another shrug. Jaspar didn't get on very well with most of his classmates but he refused to complain about it. He had a few friends and that was enough for him. And he always had Cosimo, his over protective bully. "Houses are fine, what have you heard about them?" Jaspar thought for a moment and then answered another one of his cousins questions. "Maybe Papilonlisse? There is no bad house though." And then he laughed and thought instantly of Emilia and the night they had snuck out to the staples so she could teach him to ride. They had ended up falling asleep hiding from an adult but all in all it was a good night. Jaspar led them toward the shop with pies and he smelt them cooling before he could even see them.

"Only if you rush them, if you're nice I think they pick up on that..."

Theo followed his cousin in glee. It was fun hanging with his older cousin as he always seemed so relaxed when they were together. Theo never had any siblings, but if he did he would think of Jaspar as an older brother. Then Jaspar suggested they try some pie Theo bounced up and down like a rabbit in heat before exclaiming, “I love pie! “ To make things even better he knew they local pie place had made some fresh pumpkin pie when they past the shop on their way to the clothing store. He could vividly remember the aroma of the pie wafting in the air when someone left the building. It was a heavenly smell and he couldn’t wait to go. He even saved up some of his allowance up just for their pie should they have time to stop.

Now came the answering of Theo’s questions and this is what he was most excited to hear about. He did figure that would be Jaspar’s answer for how school was like as he never saw Jaspar as a person who liked sitting down in classes. That being said Theo wasn’t one who was able to sit down very long either, but if the subject interested him he would be able to focus so hopefully the classes will be interesting enough for him. Jaspar asked Theo what he was told about the houses to which Theo responded, “Well I was told the moons were snobby. The Belle’s were tree huggers and that the butterflies were air-heads, but I don’t think that person favored Beuxbatons.” This was true as it seemed like the person either didn’t graduate or just hated most people or was trying to scare Theo off. This wasn’t going to be possible as Theo knew he could get a fairly unobjective opinion from his cousin.

“So you think I would be a butterfly?” Theo questioned Jaspar. He was unsure how he felt about this as he was sort of hoping he would be in the same house as his cousin. “Do you think we will still have the same friendship if we are in different houses,” Theo asked his cousin pitifully thinking about how sad it would be to be separated from his favorite cousin. He did lift his spirits in response to his horse question that they were fairly friendly creatures. He had to know though so he asked, “Have you gotten to ride them yet?”

As they headed toward the pie palace Jaspar smiled down at his cousins eager questions, it was weird to think that he was about to be an upperclassman while his cousin was a first year. Jaspar still thought of himself as a little kid, still remembered his first year like it had just happened. The reality of growing up was still lost on him though as they continued their conversation. Chuckling at the very narrow descriptions of the house Jaspar shook his head. Locks of long blond hair fell into his face until he swept them to the side and spoke up. "Not all of the moons are, you will meet some nice ones. My friend Anne is an Ombrelune, she is cool." Jaspar liked being able to say 'my friend...' out loud, it gave him a reassuring feeling he wasn't totally used to but Anne had never not been his friend. Not really. The two had bonded almost instantly over their love of science and logic. "Pretty sure I'm not a tree hugger?" He questioned with a soft smile before finishing the thought. "The Papilonlisse's are very creative and imaginative, these are good traits to have."

Jaspar hoped that he wasn't ruining all of Theo's hopes about school. He though the butterfly house would make him happy, not the other way around, but Jaspar could relate. "Before I was sorted I hoped to be placed in Ombrelune with Anne." He confessed, the words rolling off easily even though he'd never told another soul about it. Jaspar had always been under the impression that the smartest students were in Ombrelune and when he didn't make the cut it had almost crushed him. Soon enough however he learned it had nothing to do with his intelligence level but rather how far he was willing to go to use his intelligence. "It is possible, would you disagree?" Jaspar returned his cousins Question about houses with another question before they reached the door of the pie palace. It looked like a little castle, like something out of a Cinderella story book, and thus the giant pumpkin sitting out side was not out of place. "Of course we will still be friends, houses are just where you sleep."

Little flags rippled in the wind from each of the towers of the palace, each with a picture of a different kind of pie printed on them. The smells from the palace made Jaspar's stomach rumble as he turned toward the pumpkin, distracted. Turning his cousin toward it as well Jaspar reached out and pointed at the sign hanging from the carved out door of the giant pumpkin. "Look it says we can go inside." The French words clearly said they were welcome inside and Jaspar wasted no time moving toward it. "I rode one of the horses in the Derby actually, did not do very well though." Climbing into the pumpkin and waiting for his cousin to follow Jaspar looked around at the inner lining of a massive fruit. "Did you know that Pumpkins are technically fruits, not vegetables, not a lot of people know that." He pondered allowed as he trampled through the inside of the pumpkin door and into the hallowed cavern. After they were both inside Jaspar was remiss to hear the door closing behind them and an alarm going off.

"All hail the Pumpkin King!" A magical voice rang out, it turns out they were on the wrong end of an elaborate sales demonstration. "Buy a pie and save the trapped wizards!" Jaspar groaned at the thought, his face turning as red as a tomato, as he heard people laughing and moving about outside of the shell. He ran his hand through his hair, getting the sticky pumpkin goo he'd transferred from running his palm along the wall all into his hair. It stuck straight up but Jaspar had no idea. "I guess were not going to get that pie after all."

Leaning against the wall and not caring exactly how sticky his back side was getting Jaspar resigned to spending a few hours trapped in the pumpkin.

[[out]]