Snake Eyes

If he was being honest, and Christian had a tendency toward the kind of obnoxious honesty that arose from never holding anything back, he would say that he was a bit irritated at having to trek all over Diagon Alley with Selwyn.

He didn't dislike being in the Wizarding shopping centre, mind. Anything that got him away from the backwater they called a home was brilliant as far as Christian was concerned. And it wasn't exactly that he disliked Selwyn being there. More the way he'd been fobbed off onto his brother like an old shirt their dad didn't know what to do with. "Oh here, Selwyn, you'll get better use out of this than me." He could practically hear the words.

So far, he'd done all he could to show his displeasure, which was mostly dragging his feet, speaking in monosyllables and refusing to help in any way, shape or form. And, contrary to the way he'd assumed his brother would react (in a spectacularly explosive fashion), Selwyn had barely even noticed.

In fact, right now, he was up the front of the apothecary organising Christian's potions kit for next year while Christian himself picked up almost everything in the shop. Except, of course, the things with warning labels because he might be annoyed but he wasn't stupid. He rolled back his sleeve and plunged his hand into a vat of snake eyes. Slimy.

Jack had sort of gotten over the fact that Goose and Sunny were not normal children, were independent little creatures who could never be tamed. They certainly did not appear wild, but they didn’t really enjoy being dragged along. It used to freak her out when Sunny disappeared, but now it was almost more unnerving to see them stick near her. She had finally gotten it through their heads to check in with her, and Kip’s little bracelet charm had really helped. One tug on the threads of either of the woven bracelets on her hand activated the bracelet on the matching child’s hand and dragged them through time and space back to her. And only Kip could get the bracelets off.

Goose had informed her he was off to the apothecary and Jack swore to be right after him – she had been stopped by a friend from the Ministry and was trying her best not to get roped up in a new bill concerning werewolves’ access to Wolfsbane. Goose was in no mood to wait, instead turning to his redheaded partner in crime, who was busy trying to stuff a cat into her rainboots, which she had been refusing to take off all week, despite the dry weather.

“You have to let it go, it’s not yours,” Goose said.

“Yeah, but I’d be a better owner,” Sunny responded, almost sounding bored.

Goose grinned. “I know where there are kittens.”

Sunny dropped the cat immediately, a straight face pulling her lips across her cheeks. “Show me.”


Goose’s favorite little section of the apothecary was probably best not visited by kids under the age of twelve, and yet he always found his way there. Picked creatures, lizards and tadpoles, newts and birds curled up in odd colored liquid. His scientific little mind loved the intrigue of these horrific jars, though Jack had not let him purchase any yet – for the exact reason that was happening now.

“WHO WOULD DO THAT?!”

“Sunny, shhh-“

“WHO DID THIS?”

The largest creature was a pickled newborn kitten. Goose tried explaining that the kitten was certainly born prematurely and dead, not killed or taken for this purpose, but Sunny was too busy reeling backwards from the sight. He immediately dropped his mischievous attitude for one of regret, truly sorry to hurt the feelings of his only real friend. The ten year old was incredibly protective of Sunny, who had always stood up for him and made him feel cared for, even though she was younger than him by two years. Her distress was enough to distress him.

That and he didn’t want to get thrown out.

He glanced up and spotted an attendant coming their way. “Go,” he hissed, immediately dipping around the shelves and strolling as casually as he could away.

Sunny tore herself away, though she had half a mind to demand an explanation for the kitten from the attendant, and hurried away. She began to weave through the shop, looking for her adopted… brother-cousin-whatever and barely laid her eyes on someone about Goose’s height, immediately bee-lining towards him, eyes turned to the side to look for that attendant.

“You’re going to get us kicked out of all of Diagon!” she hissed, standing petulantly next to the boy, crossing her arms. “This is just like-“ she turned to address Goose, only to find she wasn’t talking to Goose. Confusion morphed her expression. “Oh. Sorry, I thought…”

Hey, new friend. Got him now. “Hi!” She smiled brightly, her smile giving explanation towards her name, as her entire being seemed to light up from inside.

Christian had, of course, heard the screaming.  He'd started toward the noise more for the entertainment value than any real curiosity.  It was a young, feminine voice.  She'd obviously just seen something particularly gross.

It was things like this that prevented Christian from any great fondness for the female of the species.  Sure, they said they could do anything a boy could, and maybe they even wanted to, but they still screamed at spiders.

Just as Christian was coming to the conclusion that whatever had gone down was over and done with, he was accosted by a small girl.

"Um," he began, but she was already talking over him before he could get any further. And what started as berating turned just as suddenly into sweetness. Just like the girls at school, when their mums were looking.

"Do I know you?" Christian asked.

Sunny was sort of used to the look the boy was giving her, that uncertain surprise. It mostly came from adults who were surprised to be accosted by someone so well spoken for her young age and short stature. And then there was that unshakable optimism, optimism beyond the happy nature of a child, nurtured by something deeper.

"Probably not," she said, shrugging. "Don't think so." She wiped her hands on her pants, just in case, and reached out a hand, something she always saw her aunt do. Jack had told her that a handshake was one of the best ways to say hello, and that she always tried to be strong when she did it. Sunny tried to make hers warm, like holding hands.

"I'm Sunny."

Grace in deed as well as form, Christian. It seemed to Christian incredibly unfair that his conscience should sound like his mother. You may not like her but you have no right to snub her. Accident of birth makes you superior to nobody.

He copied the girl's action, as he had just had his own hand in a jar of snake eyes, and shook. It was firm, like his father had taught him, but quicker than he'd have got away with if his father were actually here. Nothing against the girl, but Christian didn't like shaking hands.

"Christian," he replied, omitting his surname because she might look young, she might even be young, but lots of people kept track of who the professors up at Hogwarts were.

"Did you hear that person screeching just now?"

He met her with a firm handshake and she matched it to a degree less, smiling as she squeezed. He pulled away before she did, something she was used to, but she let it roll off her back, as she was prone to do.

"Hi Christian," she chirped, dropping her hands to her side. She did not often meet kids her own age, as Jack didn't know many kids, so it was always exciting to meet someone that could be a new friend - not that she had ever had a problem making a friend because of an age difference.

He mentioned screeching and, unaware of how loud she had been, she wheeled around as though she would find a sign pointing at the culprit. "Screeching? What were they screeching about?"

As the girl spun round, a crooked smile painted itself across Christian's face. Although she was clearly much younger than him, she was smart enough and he wasn't sure whether he ought to consider her a friend or a baby.

For the moment, he decided to let her keep him company, but if they ran into anyone more interesting, she would definitely be regulated to the baby category. He had a reputation to uphold, after all.

"Oh, you know," he shrugged, "the usual things. How gross the potions ingredients are or something. I wasn't paying that much attention because my eardrums were busy being shattered."

"I'm surprised you didn't hear as well."

Christian spoke and Sunny's eyebrows scrunched together in thought, her eyes scanning the rows and aisles of strange things, his words sinking into her mind as she considered them.

"The ingredients gross? They're not gross. Some of them are a bit..." She reached for the word. "Not mean. Cruel! Some are cr-..."

Her eyes fell on Goose, who was approaching slowly, eyes cast behind him, and that was when she realized it. It was probably her voice that the boy had heard, when she was freaking out over the pickled kitten. She blinked, deciding maybe she didn't have to clear up the confusion.

She waved down Goose, going with a distracted excuse, and turned back to Christian. "This is my brother-cousin-thing. Goose. Goose!" She reached forward, grabbing his arm as he neared, pulling him in front of her. "This is my friend Christian."