Looking for a pet, or two

Sam was standing at the corner of the road to Hogwarts, and the main road of Hogsmeade, shivering a little as he waited for Nikki, a fifth year from Gryffindor he'd met in the common room, to meet him here in Hogsmeade. They were planning on looking for a pet for Sam, last year his cat, Sacha, had died of old age in the castle, and'd been buried in a little plot under the beech tree next to the lake, her favourite place to sit in summer.

As he stood there he shivered again, winter was approaching, and Hogsmeade always seemed to be cold to him, maybe they could get some butterbeer after as well, or meet some friends and hang out, but the main aim was to get a cat

Nikki saw Samuel from a distance and grinned. She began to ran up, but stopped behind him and tapped him on his shoulder. He was a fellow Gryffindor, and since Nikki didn't seem to have much to do, she wanted to help him find a new pet as well as hang out. "Hello Samuel," Nikki smiled and said cheerily. She hoped she gave him just a little fright, because she liked people having mini jumps of some sought because of her...made her feel like she achieved something.

She was in skinny jeans, pink converse shoes, grey singlet and black cardigan with her hair in a pony tail. She wasn't sure what to wear and was running kind of late and just put a bunch of random clothes together, though it looks like she's about to go and do some laundry and she's wearing that because all her good clothes are in the wash.

Andrew had slipped off from Hogwarts and had already investigated Honeydukes. Robert had sent him double the extra allowance since Halloween was coming, and Andrew had spend a fair amount buying candy. He liked Robert having access to Andrew's Gringott's account because Robert was generous, and it was his guess that his distant guardian knew nothing about Andrew having given Robert access to his account in order to cover his expenses.

Andrew had stuffed the candy in his backpack and then had just stepped out when he saw a pair of fellow Gryffindors in the village. He recognized Sam, but he hadn't really met the Gryffindor girl. He didn't remember of seeing her in any of his classes but then again, he wasn't exactly the sort who would be noticed by older classmates generally. He walked over to them. "Hey, Guys. What brings you here?" he asked.

Sam turned around and saw Nikki behind him. "Hello," he said with a broad grin on his face, "Nice to see you, thanks for agreeing to join me, i probably should have just met you at the common room huh, we could've walked from there," he said with a chuckle. "Oh well, we're here now, and that's what's important. How are you?" He asked.

He then looked up as he heard a voice and some footsteps. "Hey Andrew," he said, waving to the younger boy. "How's it going?" he asked, "Frog with you?" he asked, chuckling as he did so. "Nikki, this is Andrew, in case you've not met, and Andrew, this is Nikki," he said smiling and doing all the necessary hand gestures as he introduced them. "Nikki and i were just heading down to Hogwarts to hang out, i'm looking to buy a new pet," he told him with a big grin. "Care to join us," he asked.

"Hi, Nikki," Andrew smiled, "And yeah, Sam. Frog's in my pocket." He opened the pocket on his denim jacket to take out the little green frog and hand him to Sam. "What sort of a pet are you looking for?" Andrew had never known of Hogsmeade to be a real mecca for buying a pet. Maybe they could just find something that would fill the bill. "By the way,I was just in Honeydukes. Anybody for a licorice wand?" He motioned to his backpack that had a healthy restocking in it of Honeydukes favorites for himself and his friends. "Help yourselves. There's plenty. I have a grown up who sends me money every week. He's kind of generous. He says he doesn't have any problem in sending me a 'healthy candy allowance', as he calls it. You guys would like him. He's pretty cool, really. "

Andrew opened the pack and drew out a red licorice wand and motioned for his friends to help themselves to anything they found inside of interest. He had purchased a bit of everything, and he was always more than anxious to share.

Sam grinned and took frog in his hands, giving him a quick stroke and smiling when he ribbited, before giving him back to Andrew. "At the moment, just an owl, but i think a rat would be pretty cool too," he told Andrew with a thoughtful grin on his face. When Andrew offered them some sweets, Sam could've sworn his eyes would've literally lit up. "Thanks," he said, grabbing on of the licourice wands and pulling a bit off with his mouth. "God i love these," he said with a grin, listening to Andrew speak. "Sounds pretty awesome man, i wish ((Checks app. Do i have parents? I do, so they're just stingy i suppose)) my parents would give that to me. My mum's a bit of a health freak really, but she's fun too, i just don't think she likes me eating too many sweets." he told them, as they walked down the main road of Hogsmeade.

"If its an owl you want, just ask an owl to work for you. They're very intelligent, and they love flying. Feed them well, treat them with kindness, and they'll be your friend for life. Its a pretty simple contract arrangement really...." He stopped speaking. He'd just revealed to Sam and Nikki that he had always been able to speak to animals. That had been something his father had never approved of. Dennis Diamond had never appreciated his son's gifts and had often beaten him for them and had tried to brainwash Andrew when he was little into believing he was just a squib.

In fact, he had had to ask Professor Wilson, when Andrew had first come to Hogwarts, if there had been a mistake in bringing him to the school. What was the point in training a squib, after all? He had had to describe to Wilson in the privacy of Wilson's office about the incidents of accidental magic he'd often had when his father had angered him. How his father would shout at him in a drunken slurr for him to "take it outside, Boy!" and "Don't break the bloody windows out again, ya Squib!" Andrew had run, countless times, to the woods and had taken refuge there. That was where he had learned he couldtalk with the animals. any times, they were more caretakers for him than any human had ever been.

But how would these Gryffindors react? Would they think he was nutters for talking about just making a contract with an owl? As creatures went, Andrew had always found them some of the most reliable and some of the most devoted. Once an owl became one's friend, he was a fierce friend and a protector if necessary for life. Katherine had been pleased this summer at his understanding of owls and often let Andrew fly them for her. She would send Andrew a dozen owls if he merely asked, he was sure.