Asher had been dragged out of a comfortable position in the backyard with a book and a bottle of butterbeer when his mother announced that he would be coming with the girls and their father to Diagon Alley.  Why she had decided that they needed to go in the middle of summer was beyond him, but maybe, just maybe he could get some time to himself for a change.  He loved all four of his sisters, don't get him wrong, but being cooped up with them all summer long was a bit annoying and he needed some time to himself.

When they got to Diagon Alley, his father automatically dispatched him to look after his younger two sisters while he took the older two to get supplies for Aya for when she went back to school.  Ariel wasn't quite old enough to go yet, but she was determined to do all the work her sister was doing to be ready for when she was accepted into Beauxbatons.  Ava and Abby were excited to spend some time with their brother since he'd been in school for so long without coming home to visit on breaks.  They were almost used to it, but still young enough that they missed him terribly when he was gone.

He did something his mother would not like, he took them to the Magical Menagerie to look at all the animals, something they weren't allowed to do because they would always come home pining for another pet.  Asher just smiled as he listened to his two youngest sisters exclaim over all the new animals and which one they wanted more, or what they would be able to take to school when they finally got to go.

Half an hour later, Asher met up wtih his father outside the bookstore and they traded, now Asher was stuck with the older two while his father took the youngest to get new robes.  Since both of his older sisters were book lovers it made sense for him to take them into the bookstore where he could keep an eye on them, but also have a moment of peace to himself.  He watched as both of them made a beeline for the new book section, while he just perused the shelves, waiting to see if something caught his eye.  He knew that if either of his sisters needed him that they would find him.

He found a book that caught his eye and then spotted a chair between two bookshelves and sat down in it.  He could see his sisters from where he was sitting and even though he held the book in his hand, he did not open it.  He was bored.  He wished some of his friends were in the Alley today, he could probably get his dad to let him go have some fun without any tag-a-longs, but it was a long shot.  There was the school trip, and some of his friends had already graduated from Hogwarts and were working now, or looking for work.  He was just plain bored and would most likely talk to anyone this point, he looked over at his sisters again, or anyone over the age of 12.

Erin was not the one to be normally found in a bookstore.  She usually had something better to do with her time.  Whether that was homework, quidditch, or her job she had very little free time.  Her staff however did appreciate the fact that it was summer which meant she was supposed to take something resembling the form of vacation.  Even so, the titles under her arm Nutrition for the Busy Witch and Not Letting the Sun Damage Your Skin Whilst Flying implied that her professionalism had not yet completely left her at this point.  Still, she had time.  She noticed one of her upperclassman.  For the first time in her life, Erin was nervous and did not know why.  She had seen him a number of times before, but suddenly he became more interesting that some books that she did not even want to read.  In a rather abnormal occurrence for her, she actually wished she dressed a bit better.  Outside of work Erin very rarely wore flashy clothes.  Maybe it was because she wore them all the time, but she typically wore either standard Slytherin robes, standard keeper robes, or standard black robes when not trying to earn money.  Today, she was wearing standard black robes. 

Still, Erin had no clue what was wrong with her.  She was silently waiting for him to approach her, but then realized how stupid that was.  They had absolutely no reason to talk.  Still, Erin's curiosity got the better of her.  She walked up to the young man, clearly lacking confidence.

"Hey" Erin greeted, her masterful eloquence failed to appease the gods of English.  She knew she needed to work on this, because outside of professional situations, her words failed her more often than not.  Not the least of which was her essays.  Still, Erin needed to say something else, and probably do something else other than besides look at her shoe.  It was black, it was not that interesting.

"So, how's it going?" she asked.   This time, her eloquence failed to please Shakespeare.  Still, Erin was having a hard time thinking, which was not that unusual for her, but she had an easy time thinking about the boy in front of her.  Which was extremely unusual.  She had no clue why she was so focused.  Erin knew that usually took potions or extreme situations to bring that out of her, yet for some reason she felt as though she could look at the young man for a long period of time. 

As she waited for the young man to respond, she suddenly remembered how self-conscious she was, and inwardly cursed herself for not wearing any makeup as well as having her hair down.  Though she did not get along well with her sisters, she really wished one of them was there right now so she could talk to them.  As she waited for the young man to respond, she wondered what she could do to impress him.  It suddenly felt important for some reason.

Max had a day off from his summer internship at the National Museum of Wizarding History. It had been a busy few weeks, especially after they had found those artefacts missing. He had been interviewed countless times by Aurors and investigators alike, and all that attention had him grown weary of going to work. Something he thought would never had happened. He loved his summer job - being surrounded by all that old magic all day long was something of a dream come true to him. But he needed a break, and his supervisors had been kind enough to give him one.

So, naturally, Max made his way to Flourish & Blotts. This was his favourite place in Diagon Alley, and when he visited the wizarding street with his mother and brother, they always had to drag him away from the store. The books stapled up to the roof and the shelves filled to the rim with stories and textbooks gave Max a sense of belonging and adventure. Adventure without having to actually get your hands dirty.

He didn’t know how much of this Saturday he had spent in the bookstore. At the same time Max wasn’t one for caring about time. He was sitting in an armchair, somewhat in the back, and books were laying all around him, his notepad and quill in his knees. Sphinxes and Pyramids: The Daily Life of Medieval Egyptian Warlocks was lain out on the small table next to him, and he was scribbling notes as something caught his attention.

“So, how’s it going?”

Max looked up, dropping the notebook and quill in the same movement. As he scrambled to catch the quill before it left any ink marks on the floor, he looked at the two teenagers enacting. The boy he recognised - he was in Max’s year. Slytherin. He couldn’t remember the name though. Not that he could remember the name of most of his classmates. The girl, however, he did not recognise at all. She looked younger. Definitely not in Max’s year.

There he was, sitting in a chair in the bookstore completely bored out of his mind and wishing for someone to come along and relieve him of his boredom, and now he had two people to talk to that weren't related to him and were over the age of 12.  He recognized the boy, sort of, they were in the same year he knew, but couldn't quite place his name.  The girl looked younger and he wasn't exactly sure what her name was either.  Then again, he didn't socialize too much at school unless he had to, so that explained a lot.

He turned to her first, "Hello," he turned to look at where his sisters were, both of them with their heads together over a new book, "It's going okay, I'm stuck babysitting though." As if she heard him, the elder of the two girls looked up and fixed him with a glare before returning to the book.  "But I guess it's to be expected when one has four sisters and only one parent came to the Alley with us today."  He turned his gaze back to her, "I'm Asher, I'm sorry, but I don't know your name."

He looked at the other person that had made themselves known to him and said, "Hello, Max isn't it." He'd seen the other boy around school and wasn't entirely sure that he went by Max, but he had heard some other students calling him that, or at least he thought he had.  "You're a Raven aren't you?"

As the young man responded to her queries, Erin felt slightly jealous.  He actually got along with his family.  Her family could probably write the script of a soap opera if they were so inclined, but none of them were actually that talented.  She knew he was an upper classman, so she decided to see if he knew her sister.

"I'm Erin.  I think Bellatrix is in your year - I'm her sister," Erin responded, feeling slightly dejected that she did not know who she was.  Erin kind of wondered what was the point of being on the quidditch team and magazines if the people you did not want to recognize you did and the people you wanted to recognize you did not.  Her thoughts never stayed in one place for long though. 

"Pleasure to meet you Asher.   It seems like you get along will with them at any rate," Erin smiled genuinely and offered her hand.  Another young man approached them, but Erin wondered if the man was half vampire.  Though he was out in broad daylight, is pale complexion reminded Erin way too much of the last one she met.  Still, she somehow managed to fell back into a professional manner.  Though she wondered if she should buy garlic.

"Erin Dark, pleasure to meet you," she greeted, and offered her hand to the other young man.

"So I'm here to pick up some books to hopefully manage my time better.  What brings you here today?" Erin asked the Ravenclaw, not really thinking about it.

Max beckoned himself forward with a small inaudible sigh. He had planned to spend another couple of hours in solitude, jotting down remarks and questions to keep investigating. But, by his usual clumsiness, he had made the two people from his school take notice of him. And not only take notice and pass by, as most did in the corridors at Hogwarts, but they actually struck up a conversation.

He came forward, still clutching the quill in his hand, and nodded in response to Asher’s question about the name.

“Raven?” he answered to the second question, and for a moment he was confused until it hit him. “Ravenclaw! Yes!”

This wasn’t his forte. Talking to people he didn’t know was something Max was very bad at. His brother, Jameson, would’ve jumped at the opportunity of finding classmates in Diagon Alley in the middle of the summer, but him and Max were like night and day. That was at least what his father used to say.

It took a second for Max to realise that the girl had spoken to him as well, and was standing there with her hand stretched out. He awkwardly shook it, and met her eyes with a confused look.

“Maximus”, he greeted, and dropped her hand as soon as he felt was acceptable. The girl kept going, launching yet another question. “Erhm… Just some light reading”

He cocked his head in the direction of the armchair, surrounded by heavy volumes. Light wasn’t a word many would’ve used.