[MP – Landshut] O'zapft is (Sam)

Naturally Sam didn't mind undressing in front of Louise at all, at least not under normal circumstances. He wouldn't have minded in a shop changing room either, so long as they replaced the charm so nobody could accidentally walk in. No, it was what the undressing was likely to lead to that he refused to think of while they were in public. After all, they were both professors now and it would be horribly embarrassing to read about "Professors caught misbehaving together in shop changing room". He could just imagine the look on Minerva's face...

For a moment it seemed as if Louise was actually planning to stay in the changing room though, but then at the last minute he was saved by either the shop owner or the elderly couple, who had apparently realised she was also in there. "We must remember to use a sound cancelling charm next time" he whispered as she left.

As he wriggled out of the tight trousers and hung them over a peg on the wall he heard Louise talking to the shop assistant. "I can still hear you, you know!" he called as he pulled on the lighter pair. Already he could tell these were better - more comfortable, fitting better and, as he fastened the buttons, they were actually more flattering than he'd imagined. He actually stood in front of the mirror for a moment, then swapped the brighter waistcoat for the one he'd tried on first. Yes, that actually looked quite nice, he decided. Sam pulled the curtain back, the brighter waistcoat still over one arm.

"Who says I can't put an outfit together for myself?" he asked, though it was quite true that Louise had actually picked out most of the items for him "I don't think I need to try the other trousers, these ones are comfortable and they look fine with the first waistcoat..." Sam grinned. It was so far away from his usual style he thought vaguely that he should feel self-conscious, but actually he felt rather fine, particularly given how Louise was dressed. Then he noticed how she was looking at him and he did feel a little shy. He covered the feeling by grabbing the trousers he hadn't tried on and holding them in front of himself. "You don't prefer these?" he asked, hoping she would say no "I'm happy with what I've got on...and I'm having this as well!" he added, gesturing to the second waistcoat.

This part had actually been fun, but now Sam was eager to pay so they could get out and explore the rest of the stalls and entertainments.

Louise did not think that anything would get back to Hogwarts if they misbehaved in this shop far away in Bavaria, Germany. In fact, she did not even think about whether or not anything would get out. She wanted to be with Sam. Wanted to assist him, finding an outfit and, while she wasn’t sure what exactly would happen if she stayed in the changing room with him, she did not actually plan to do anything inappropriate.

She nodded as Sam spoke of a sound cancelling charm but, truth be told, she wasn’t convinced that was needed. What did it matter if someone overheard them? It was not like they were committing a crime in the changing room. They were just two adults having a good time picking an outfit and, maybe, they were flirting a little, maybe they were even doing a little more than just flirting.

When she was outside of the changing room with the curtain between her and Sam, he said that he could still hear her. Louise smirked - something she knew he couldn’t see now - and remained silent, allowing him to wonder if she had moved away or why she was not responding.

“Oh, I know you can pick an outfit for yourself…” Louise said, suppressing an amused chuckle, “sometimes I just think it’s better if you don’t.”

She tilted her head to watch him as he held out the other trousers in front of himself and, while Louise liked shopping just like the average woman, she was ready to just accept Sam’s current choice and move on. After all, they hadn’t come here to shop but to enjoy the Oktoberfest.

Louise nodded approvingly as Sam said he wanted to have both waistcoats. That was quite a satisfactory choice. She offered her fiancé a smile and nodded. “Good plan,” she acknowledged. “Now we should pay, you need to change into your new outfit and then we can finally join the crowd and enjoy the Oktoberfest.” She paused for a moment, “or do you think you need a hat or something to match your outfit?”

Sam raised his eyebrows and pretended to be offended by what Louise had just said, though really he was hiding his amusement. He was well aware that his normal taste in clothing was somewhat eccentric, even for a wizard, and had long since gotten used to hearing comments and getting sidelong glances from strangers. A couple of times during his first year of teaching he'd confiscated notes passed in his classroom that had turned out to be unflattering caricatures of his flamboyant robes, but after he'd graded them on artistic merit and displayed them on the door of his office, most students quickly realised there was no fun to be had there and some now even defended his dressing style. Either way, Sam remained peculiarly unconcerned. In many ways he was unsure and self-conscious even now, but criticism of his wardrobe choices simply washed over him.

"Well I'm wearing most of it already" he pointed out with a grin. There were newcomers in the shop now, two young men had walked in together and were picking out items, holding them up against each other and chatting animatedly.

"A hat..?" Sam shook his head. He didn't particularly like hats at the best of times and besides, he was eager to get out there and explore the festival. They'd probably been in here for half an hour or so by now and it probably wasn't too early to sample one or two of the beers. "No, I'm happy with this...we look like we belong together now, don't you think?" He decided not to bother to change out of the clothes, pay, and then change back again but rather approached the sales assistant and gestured to himself and the second waistcoat. evidently she'd understood enough of what was going on that she added up the total, wrote it on a scrap of parchment and showed him the total in galleons and sickles.

"I don't even need that translation charm" he said to Louise as he received fourteen knuts change, "can you ask her if we could have a bag for my other clothes though? I'm not sure I want to use a shrinking charm on them" he shrugged. Even now, several years after the virus that had swept through Hogwarts, there were still a few spells that still eluded the Seer.

Although Sam did his best to give the impression to feel offended, Louise knew that he wasn’t really upset by her comment. He was quite confident when it came to his dressing style and probably aware that she accepted it even if she often thought that his attire wasn’t really pretty.

“That’s true, of course,” she agreed. He was indeed wearing everything already and the price tags could easily be removed from his new clothes. Louise looked at him, her head tilted slightly to the side as she took in his current outfit. Then she nodded approvingly. “Yes, that should do,” she said, smiling at him.

He didn’t want a hat and, since Louise hadn’t been too serious about it either, she didn’t comment on it any more. His attire was quite suitable for the occasion now and that was fine.

While Sam paid for his clothes, Louise watched the two young men who had just arrived and were chatting animatedly. She tried to understand what they were saying but their strong Bavarian dialect made it difficult to follow.

She nodded when Sam proudly said that he didn’t even need a translation charm and that he had managed to pay for his clothes basically wordlessly. “Oh, I do not have to ask her,” Louise said and opened her handbag. She always carried a spare tote bag in her handbag which she now retrieved and offered it to Sam. It was a simple bag of blue grey colour and quite inconspicuous over all. “This should work just fine, right?” She asked, thinking that the clothes should fit in easily.

To begin with Sam had come in here to make Louise happy so they would be dressed alike, but now as he caught sight of them together in a mirror, he decided it had definitely been worth it. Whether they would wear the outfits again was another matter - though he supposed that it would cause some amusement at the Hogwarts staff Christmas party in a few months' time. Speaking of which, he was impressed that Louise already had a bag for him to use.

"You're a natural professor, you know that?" Sam said with a grin "always prepared for everything." He shook out the clothes he'd arrived in and quickly folded them, dropping them into the bag. Sam wasn't naturally tidy but if he was going to be carrying this he wanted it to be as neat as possible. Besides, if the clothes weren't creased he wouldn't need to use a cleaning charm when they got back to Hogwarts. Finally, he folded the second new waistcoat and placed it at the top of the bag, patting it fondly as he did so.

One of the young men held up an identical pair of trousers to the tight ones Sam had tried earlier and said something to Sam and Louise as he gestured to his friend. It occurred to Sam that they were probably more than just friends, and even though he had no idea what they were saying, it was easy to guess. "You should get him to try those on" he said, offering a thumbs up as he spoke. Then he turned back to Louise "Shall we go before they want our opinion on anything else?" he asked with his back to the pair, grinning as he spoke. What do you feel like first? Is it still too early to sample some Bavarian beer?"

It probably was still rather early by any normal reckoning, but somehow different rules seemed to apply at festivals.

Louise laughed softly as Sam complimented her and said that she was a natural professor, being always prepared for everything. “Why thank you,” she responded lightly as she watched him folding the clothes he had arrived in and putting them into the bag she had offered to him.

It was amusing that the young couple that had come in after them apparently wanted company choosing their clothes and she grinned as Sam told one of the boys that his friend should try the kind of tight trousers that Sam had tried earlier.

“Yes please,” Louise said, linking her arm into his, “let’s go. I’m thirsty by now and while this might be fun to observe I think a cool beer and maybe a pretzel are a good choice now. And, no, it’s definitely not too early for a beer. I’d assume that we have to catch up with the crowd already.” She chuckled softly and, as they walked outside, glanced back over her shoulder into the shop. The two young men were animatedly discussing the outfit and apparently disagreeing on something. It was probably really good not to be dragged into a fight there.

As they stepped out on the street, a happy smile spread across Louise’s face. “Now we fit in perfectly well, don’t you think?” It was a rhetorical question, really. She knew that they looked like a real Bavarian couple now.

[out]

As Louise took his arm Sam leaned against her for a moment, tempted to steal a kiss but deciding they had better wait until they were out of the shop. Behind them, an animated conversation about trousers was taking place. Louise was right, it was definitely time to leave.

It occurred to him as they reached the door that the young men had probably been sampling the beer already. That would account for their loud behaviour and the fact they were asking total strangers for their opinions on clothing. He made a mental note to stick to lighter beers until they'd eaten something as well. Louise was probably right that they were the only two people from Hogwarts here today, but nonetheless Sam had no wish to be seen in public having drunk too much.

He glanced down at their outfits as he followed Louise out of the shop. They did look good, as well as fitting in with the rest of the festival. He suspected he was going to spend the rest of the day not having a clue what was going on while everyone spoke to them in German, but suddenly that seemed like a lot of fun. "Pretzels sound perfect - there's a stall just over there" he said, indicating a brightly-decorated stand piled high with freshly-baked good, variously sprinkled with salt and being sold with or without accompanying dips. As for the beer, it wasn't going to be a problem to find - there were stalls and beer tents everywhere one looked.

"Shall we?" he asked as they approached the stall.

[out]