Color, color everywhere.

It wasn't like the storefront of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was ever bland, but today the management had gone all out. Streamers of every color and size hung from the rafters, most changing color and/or size on a regular basis and several squirming of their own volition like giant snakes. A cauldron near the back created colored bubbles the size of a child's head, many of which made it to the skylight of the multi-floor shop before popping with loud bangs and raining confetti down on the floor. Through the open door in the very back, a curious onlooker could spy cake, drinks, non-vomiting treats, and a table cloth that seemed almost to be alive.

Teddy loved the entire display. Even the many, many signs advertising various party products couldn't spoil the mood as he ran in, leading a cluster of first-years who'd wandered back to London on this, the last day of their Spring Break. His birthday.

"Uncle George!" he called up, standing in the middle of the main store with his hand cupped around his mouth. "This is awesome! You are so cool!"

An explosion sounded from somewhere in the upper levels, followed by the sounds of multiple kazoos and a cloud of violet smoke. Teddy took that as either "Thank you," "You're welcome," "Happy Birthday," or possibly all three. He laughed, then turned back to face his friends...and was suddenly struck with a bout of self-consciousness. It was all a bit flashy, wasn't it? What if they thought he was showing off?

Chuckling awkwardly, he rubbed his neck under his current long turquoise braid and shifted awkwardly in his sneakers. "Well, guys...here we are."

Even if his holiday time with Ted had considerably lifted his spirits, Roland Dylanis was never the type to want to stick out from a crowd. As such, he chose to try and blend in with the rest of his classmates as they followed Ted to the Diagon Alley shop owned by his uncles. When they emerged into the back court where the party proper would begin, Ted cued up an explosion of light and sound, which surprised everyone, needless to say. Rou briefly tensed up from the surprise, but he quickly regained his composure. As the rest of his classmates began to disperse to enjoy the party, Rou sidled over to Ted's side.

"Hey," he said quietly, a small smile on his face showing that he was glad to be around his friend, even if Rou wasn't the type to be amongst crowds that often.

Aoife had never been to a birthday party, well not a magical one. She had been invited, along with the rest of the class, to Cillian Flannigan's birthday party. It did not end well.

'Oh well, he only invited me to be nice anyway...Lupin isn't inviting me to be nice, is he?' Aoife began to wonder. 'Well, only one way to find out! But maybe I shouldn't ask him that...I know!'

Aoife made her way through the small crowd, it was a bit hard to move around while carrying a warm to the touch present with almost living wrapping paper.  While looking at everything the party had to offer, she gazed at the color changing streamers and the cauldron that let out large bubbles.

'I hope that's a drink. I'm thristy.' Aoife thought, looking closer at the cauldron before she remembered what she had to do. She reluctantly left the cauldron and went over to Lupin and Rou, who didn't seem to want to move from their spot.

"Hi Lupin! Hi Rou!" She said before holding up her present. It was well wrapped with red wrapping paper that had gold dragons flying on the surface. One dragon was even taking a nap on the top near the golden bow. "Do you guys know where I should put this?"

If Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had a pest control problem, said pest control problem was spread out over the course of a year by one individual pest, err, varment, err, rodent, err...

Heavenly cashews and walnuts

It didn't take much dayage of time of Dotty remaining in animagus form to turn her buzzed out shrunken squirrel mind to craving nuts, rather than being worried about how she had finally ditched the dementors at the WBA Club Treehouse in squirrel form, or how she had gotten back, whether it had been the portkey from Black Chie--chim---? Black Chimichangas to Knockturn, or had it been the Lazy Crovie Kelpie's pork-key and if so, how had then to there been gotten to in backwater parts of Scotland she knew nothing about?

Regardless, once again this grey furred petr-petero-'flying squirrel'-nomi was back to huddling around the neighborhood of rooftops for daily scrappings, getting to that point in the long term transformation of an animagus that makes them think of how simple life is when you just have how far your four paws can carry you to worry about. Or whatever appendages your personal animal shape-form gave you.

Currently, the daily scrappings involved being chased by a cat through an area of wet paint, so Dotty the squirrel had tri-color skunk stripes down her back from heart shaped fur patches to tail, currently currently having a breather on top of the giant headed shop with the rabbit that appeared and disappeared every time the hat came down. Such was the case that this was no longer an unusual and frightening sight for the squirrel.

In fact, something about the Diagon joke shop kept bringing Dotty back, ever since the first  drunken bender night where she had tried robbing the place...or had she chickened out? Tough to say, but whether for the atmosphere or interior heat or possibility of swagging a quick knut, in the manifesting of squirrel soaked memories the little trick to sneak through the pipe in the back storeroom was a familiar one.

Thus, sneaking along like a sneaky...well, squirrel, the figure of tri-striped Dotty found the inside of the shop to have more hullabaloo than last warranted. But that was forgotten as, given the aforementioned nut craving, she slunk along the back of shelves towards the 'Muggle Magic' section, full body investigating a tipped can that promised nuts on the outside. And clearly it had been deprived of nuts and not, say, more factually at some point been stuffed with spring loaded snakes.

How Dotty had managed to get trapped inside the can, cover sealed up and everything, was, well, another story.