"I still don't think he likes me very much."

"I'm gonna go crazy if I don't get out of here."

Nicole was muttering to herself as she watered her mum's plants in the backyard, wondering just how much longer the summer could really last. After all, it was nearly July, so... Well. That meant two more months. Merlin, save her.

It was so stifling. Her mother feared just about everything, as far as Nicole could tell, but the worst thing was her mum's theory that Nicole would one day run into the rest of her family and choose to betray her for them. From what the Hufflepuff knew, though, the rest of the family was kind of rubbish and awful. So the odds were quite slim, as far as she could tell.

Shrugging tiredly, she moved to the twist the faucet off. The water slowed to a drip before completely stopping. And, suddenly, she had an idea. Because the next thought in her mind was about how much easier this task would've been if she could use magic already. Which reminded her: Hogwarts.

Of course! It was brilliant.

"Mummy," she started as soon as she ran inside. It was best to play into her softer side by going for the more charming greeting. But she didn't want to sound like she was still just a little girl. "Mum, I need to pick up supplies for next school year. Can you drop me off at Diagon Alley on your way to work?"

And it took a while. Nicole had to make it clear that she was about to write her friends from school - the nice ones who were definitely non-threatening and just polite - to ensure that she wouldn't be wandering on her own. Gosh, she wasn't sure she'd ever lied before. It felt kind of gross, but she was too excited. And she ended up getting what she wanted, as well, which made it seem that much more appealing.

So, despite knowing it was the wrong way to go about it, she was in Diagon Alley a couple hours later, and was absolutely thrilled. She made her way to the pet shop first, eyeing the owls longingly. But it made her a bit sad, so she wandered off instead, aiming vaguely towards the ice cream parlour. She'd have to pick up a few books and things before heading back to avoid suspicion, and then would later need another excuse to pick up her real supplies. But perhaps she could ask the shop owners, since they might know from previous years or from placing the orders.

Oh well. She was clever enough, right? She'd figure it out.

Originally, he hadn't been meant to be in Diagonal Alley alone. He was supposed to be there with friends, like any other kid was supposed to be. Aside from those who came with their parent or guardian, of course.

However, much to his dismay, Jonathan Finch-Fletchley found himself alone in the Alley, standing near the ice cream parlor. He had been told the group was going to meet there, but it had been almost an hour and no one had shown up. If the meeting had been a joke, it was a cruel one.

Still, Jonathan had waited for them for almost an hour, making him look like even more of an idiot. He supposed he deserved it for waiting as long as he had. He had been prepared to leave when a familiar figure caught his attention. Jonathan felt himself squint to get a clearer view of the figure, taking a step forward off the wall he'd been leaning against to get closer.

As he took a couple of steps forward he managed to recognize the girl that seemed to be heading toward the parlor. "...Nicole?" He blurted, still debating in his head whether or not to call out to her.

Nicole wasn't sure, at first, if she'd really heard right. Someone who knew her here? Who-?

She turned, blinking at the other Hufflepuff. Things hadn't really improved very much since their conversation a the Quidditch pitch, but she really hadn't meant to insult him or to talk about his brother. But yet, here he was. Trying to greet her, sort of. Jonathan almost looked surprised at himself, but she was so pleased that he wasn't upset, for one, and had chosen to talk to her, for another. She couldn't help the smile that broke out across her face.

"Jonathan," she greeted brightly, backtracking enough that she stood in front of him. "What are you doing here?"

He's kind of hopes his meek call would be drowned out by, well, pretty much anything else so he could just blend into the background and disappear, but that hadn't been the case. He hadn't wanted Nicole to actually notice him, but not because he didn't like her or anything, because he did, but he felt like he could have done something else to call her attention besides accidentally blurt her name.

He wasn't even exactly sure how he'd continue the conversation once she'd noticed him. They hadn't really spoken much since the time in the Quidditch stadium at Hogwarts. Thankfully, she'd come back to him with a question, which meant he didn't have to come up with some kind of conversation topic.

He opened his mouth to speak, but then realized how lame he'd sound if he told her the truth. But what else was he supposed to tell her? "Er.. I'm supposed to be meeting up with some friends." There. That was good, he didn't sound lame but he was still telling the truth. But if she asked when they were supposed to show up, well.. he'd have to improvise somehow.

Or come to terms with the fact that he couldn't lie and tell her.

"What are you doing here?" He echoed her question.

Oh. He had plans. She'd been up on her toes a little bit, excitement getting the better of her, but her heels touched down again. "That sounds fun," she said anyway. She hadn't the luxury of meeting friends - not during the summer, anyway. But that was her mother's fault, not Jonathan's. So her smile stayed put.

"Well," she hesitated, reaching up to tug at one of her braids. "I kind of told my mum that I needed school supplies. But that's obviously not true. I just-- I wanted to get out of the house."

Her cheeks burned, but she half-smiled. Those two boys from her year would probably find it funny, given they all tried so hard to behave until they just didn't anymore. "So I have until mum gets off of work to come up with something vaguely school related. I was thinking about going to a shop or two and asking what my year usually needs."

Nicole shrugged a little over-dramatically. She was talking too much. "Did you and your friends have something specific planned?"