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Shopping was probably the best thing to do during school holidays. Rosalia Rossellini had been in various places already to get new clothes, accessories, make up, souvenirs and also school supplies. She knew exactly what kind of face she had to make to get some money from daddy and she used this knowledge frequently, of course. Who wouldn't? The girl had high standards, after all. She wanted the latest fashion and all the good things.

After having been to various locations within Italy and France, the Italian witch had decided that it was time to travel to London. She had considered taking a friend or relative but hey, she was of age now! No need to go with anyone unless she wanted to and today the girl did not want to take anyone. She wanted to go on this adventure alone. It gave her the opportunity to spice the recount up some more when she got the chance to share it with her friends.

Reaching London or, more precisely, Diagon Alley, Rosalia overheard excited chatter. A giant pumpkin? Well, that sounded like fun and not like anything that any of her friends had seen in France, Italy or any country that was in the Beauxbatons area. Or maybe there were giant pumpkins but it was only her who had never heard of any before? Either way, Rosalia was in no hurry to spend her money. She could as well take a look at this peculiar sight first.

It didn't take her long to figure out where she had to go. People were rushing in a certain direction, talking about the pumpkin and how it still seemed to grow. Rosalia checked her bag if she had really her camera in there. She needed a photo with the pumpkin, an evidence that it existed and that she had seen it. As her fingers found the hard case of the camera, the girl smiled. This was good. Naturally the seventeen year old had put on make up and wore a dress that nicely accented her figure. She was prepared.

The crowd that was standing in front of the pumpkin obscured it so much that the Papillonlisse frowned briefly. Then she squeezed herself through the mass of people, pushing some out of her. "Scusi! Errr... Sorry, I'm so sorry," she said and offered smiles to all the people got past.

Having reached the top line, she stared at the pumpkin in awe for a moment. Then she looked around for someone she could possibly ask to take a photo of her. She turned to a young man, offering her most charming smile. The brunette put a strand of hair behind her ear and made a step towards him.

"It's impressive, isn't it?" she acknowledged the giant pumpkin. "Nobody will believe me that anything like this exists," she added with a soft chuckle. Her Italian accent was clearly audible and yet Rosalia was quite pleased with herself. She felt quite certain that she had found the right words to say what she wanted to say and that was good enough for the moment. Besides she had heard that accents came across as cute sometimes.

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"Bigger than that?" Rosalia looked at the young man feeling rather astonished. "I think it's already huge and I haven't seen a pumpkin as big as this before." Then she shrugged and smiled. "Well, I'm sure you got around much than I did."

The thought of whether or not the pumpkin was hollow had not occurred to Rosalia and maybe nobody knew it yet. It was definitely interesting to find out if it was. How would it be inside a giant pumpkin? The girl wondered if light would shine through it but doubted it because it was probably too thick. But how would it be inside then? Just dark? It would definitely smell intensely, be humid and... Well, she didn't know. Maybe it would feel like a big beast swallowed you. The girl wondered if it was possible to get in there to find it out and was definitely willing to try it herself.

"Lots of soup for sure," Rosa said, grinning. "Shall we examine it further?" She was eager to get closer to the pumpkin and to get away from the crowd that would just be a hindrance if she asked the young man to take a photo of her.

"Do you think it was magically enlarged?" the seventh year asked thoughtfully. If it had been enlarged simply because of the use of 'engorgio' that made the whole thing a lot less fascinating. She shrugged the thought off and wondered if her new acquaintance would be willing to take her picture now or if she needed a longer conversation with him to make him willing to do so. For the moment being the girl decided against asking him. There would still be time for that later.

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Rosalia was not the shy kind of girl but she wouldn't have dared to address the man by the pumpkin and ask to get inside of it herself. However, she quite liked that her new acquaintance was not afraid to do so and she stepped yet a little closer to him to make sure that they belonged together for now.

When the man said that he wanted to go in with his friend and looked at the guy who was with, Rosalia frowned slightly. She wanted to get in as well! Before she could voice anything along the lines of that though her new friend mentioned her as well and a beaming smile spread across the girl's face. This was so cool! He was even willing to pay an insane amount of money for this little experience and Rosalia looked at him curiously. He hadn't come off as particularly wealthy to her at first glance but now that she looked a little more closely she realised that he was wearing rather expensive clothes and well, his whole demeanor gave him away.

"Thank you," Rosalia muttered as she went past the rope barrier with the two men. The entrance to the pumpkin was small and Rosalia hesitated a split second before going in first as her new friend had asked her to. It wasn't easy to get through the hole but once she was inside the pumpkin there was enough room. "This is so cool..." she said, looking at the hole and expecting her comrade to get in. Her voice sounded hollow inside the pumpkin and echoed faintly. The smell was intense, almost uncomfortably intense if she was honest. It was quite dark so she could hardly see where she was going as she made a further step inside.

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"Yes..." Rosalia agreed. The pumpkin did feel bigger from the inside but that did not mean that she felt any more comfortable about it. In fact, the girl felt slightly claustrophobic being inside the pumpkin. Although she had really wanted to get inside the pumpkin in the first place, she now wanted nothing more than get out of it. The smell was starting to make her feel sick. The dampness was taking her breath and the darkness made her uncomfortable as well. She was here with a man she didn't know and it was actually feeling awkward now.

"I think I'll go out now," Rosa said quietly, flinching at the odd sound of her own voice.

As she made her way towards the hole though, she slipped on the soggy ground and fell. "Damn!" she exclaimed, her voice echoing back a few times. She didn't wait if her companion would offer her a hand but quickly got to her feet again.

"I'll see you outside" she muttered and added under her breath 'or not'. Graciously she climbed out of the pumpkin and put a few steps between herself and the giant orange thing. The air outside felt so refreshing that the girl immediately felt better.

[out]

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