“Owwwa”  A chubby finger poked the window, leaving a greasy smudge before the toddler committed and pressed both hands against the window. “Ma! Owwwwa!” Dark eyes stared through the grubby glass at the gorgeous feathery birds inside Eeylops Owl Emporium. Since being able to talk, Katrine Elliot only seemed to stop when it was time to sleep and even then intelligible noises were gurgled quietly in her dreams. The young child had wrapped her mouth around a wide array or words but ‘owl’ was one that still evaded her.

“Owwwall.” Maya Elliot was crouched down beside her daughter, mouthing the words, emphasising the ‘L’ sound at the end. She’d long since passed the embarrassment of being out in public talking baby talk and looking like a general idiot. It was quite possible that with their regular long pauses at this particular window, the emporium staff had come to expect a pair of grubby hands pressed against the glass.

Little Katrine’s fascination never lasted long and when she pulled herself away from the window, she looked up at her mother.
“Eyecream?” Big brown eyes looked excited at the sudden thought that had popped into her head and Maya pursed her lips.
“I don’t think I’ve got enough change, sweetie. Let mommy see.”
Now Maya turned her gaze off her little girl for a mere couple of moments while she dug into her pocket for her coin purse to see if she had enough silver sickles for their Saturday ice cream treat.

It had only taken a couple of moments for Katrine to run off and vanish into the crowd.

Upon glancing back to where her daughter had been, Maya’s face turned ashen and she sprang up to her feet. “Katrine?” her voice was quiet at first, scanning around for a little girl with curly dark hair pulled into pigtails. “Katrine? Oh Merlin!” Her voice grew louder as she took a few steps away from the window.

Heart now beating at ten to the dozen, Maya began to shout. “Katrine! KATRINE!”

It was beginning to look like Christmas and then some in Diagon Alley. It reminded him well of the quaint shops, the scents and sounds of home back in America. Children and adult alike, peering into windows, the little ones pressing, drilling their parents for the brightest, shiny, best gifts possible. However, it was likely they'd recieve one of the gifts, the rest being something opposite entirely. Merrick chuckled at those thoughts - after all, his folks had done just that when he was little, hadn't they?

His attention was soon drawn to a mother's cry for her daughter. Katrine, it seemed, had run off. Shame, that. However, Merrick saw the mess of pigtails coming by, the wizard stopped and stooped. "Miss Katrine? I do believe you ought to stop running. Your poor mother is worried," he drawled, smiling gently enough. The little girl blinked, aiming a finger back in Maya's direction. "Mama?" A nod. "Yes. 'Mama'. Let's go find her, hm?"

It took a few minutes of encouraging Katrine to walk forward without too much distraction back to Maya. Once arrived, Merrick smiled warmly. "Miss Mother, I presume?" Merrick responded with a gentle smile. "Search and rescue complete."

Panicking was the only thing Maya’s heart wanted to do when Katrine didn’t come running unsteadily through a crowd of legs, answering her mother’s call. A world of terrible possibilities swarmed through her mind, failing to help calm the witch as she pushed through the crowd in the direction she was certain her little girl had gone for ice-cream. No passerby stopped to offer their help. People looked at the young witch as if she’d lost her mind rather than her daughter and carried on walking by.

The torture ceased when a tall figure cut through the crowd with the dark haired little girl at his heels. Suddenly not giving a care for the crowd around them, Maya pushed through a group of witches and wizard to kneel and grab the child.

"Miss Mother, I presume?" An American drawl hit hear eyes as Maya gripped a fidgeting Katrine close to her chest.

She didn’t acknowledge the man for a moment. Instead she grabbed her daughter’s shoulders and held her at a distance to look into her eyes. “Don’t’ you ever, ever run away from Mama.” Katrine looked like she might cry from being told off and Maya scooped her up, holding her close as she stood and looked at the saviour of her sanity and daughter.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” She took a breath and shook her head. “I looked away for a second.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Merrick's head nodded respectively enough, pleased to have helped diffuse said situation.

“I looked away for a second.”

A second gone, the damage's done, his mind remarked a bit cheerful in that corner of his creepy, crawly mind.

"Not at all an issue -- see the need, fill the need, hm?" Merrick remarked at last, a soft, semi-sincere smile put on his features. "Besides, I'm sure my mother would be proud to know she raised a proper son to take care of a matter that could have ended rather tragically and all." Extending a hand to Maya, Merrick continued that smile to ensure he didn't seem the least bit a problem. As if he would really cause a hiccup here as it were - Diagon was far too busy and more importantly, it was the Christmas season, was it not? Why cause damage to an already frazzled mother and eager, wriggling child?

"Calvin Merrick, ma'am. Again, my pleasure to ensure the safety of you and your child, miss."

A pause as a mixture of feigned and semi-genuine concern entered his conversation.

"Are you sure you and the little missus are going to be all right? I do believe she was asking for some ..... what was it? Oh yes. 'Eyecream?' "