Baxter was spending the week before going to Egypt with his father. It had been weird, to spend so much time one on one with his biological father- but he found that he was enjoying it, and as awful as the whole MacDuff incidents had been- he was glad for them, they had given him his father back. It had only been a few days, but already his dad had been making an impact on Baxter's life- including his first real haircut since he had been a toddler. Always the boy had kept his hair long- because his mother wanted him to- yet the day after school let out, his father talked him into cutting it all off. Admittedly, Baxter liked it.

His father was even giving Baxter some spending money and letting him go to Diagon on his own for part of the day. Now that MacDuff was no longer a threat, it was safe to be in the streets- and his dad wanted him to go out, socialize, and have fun. Baxter didn't have much fun without some pushing, but his father had insisted- claiming he'd meet Baxter for a late lunch and that they would go out to the field near his grandparent's house and he'd help him learn to fly better and play some quidditch.

At the moment, however, it was mid morning- just after ten, to be more precise- and Baxter had already made one purchase with his money. It was a book from Flourish and Blotts about Egypt. He had read it before from the Hogwarts library, but had wanted to buy it to take with him to Egypt so that he could be better prepared for their tour. Baxter had also purchased a new journal for the experience. This was going to be a big summer- and as much as he hated to admit it, since he thought of Divination as bunk- he could feel it.

The book and journal were tucked carefully into a paper bag. Leaving Flourish and Blotts he went to one of the cafes in Diagon, ordering a lemonade and sitting out front of the shop in one of the cafe seats. His lemonade was sitting to his left, and within moments the book he had purchased was opened in front of him. A highlighter was marking passages or notes he found important.

Baxter looked up when a shadow fell across the page. "Can I help you?" he asked the young girl- tone slightly annoyed.

Bethany wasn't the type to strike up conversation with strangers. In fact, seeing her do so usually meant one of three things; she was in trouble, she was bored out of her mind, or as it were today, she wanted away from the foster 'rents. When her foster mum had taken her to one of the cafes for a quick brunch and coffee, Bethany had turned up her nose.

She wasn't hungry and she hated hot drinks during the summer.

So as soon as her hand wasn't being held, she'd snuck away. Of course, after her adventure in Knockturn the day before, Bethany wasn't going to stray too, too far this time. She'd had enough fright for the week. Rather, she decided to make up an excuse to be away from the talk of piano lessons and cleaning her room.

She stood off to the side of the cafe, watching the crowd for a moment before picking out her next victim. A young boy, though older than her, had just sat down outside, lemonade and book in hand. Outside was good and a book always meant easy conversation, even for anti-social girls like Beth. Her victim chosen, she told her foster mum she'd be outside talking to a friend and shuffled her way outside.

She trotted up to him just as he was highlighting parts of his book. She kept silent until he noticed her, lifting his head and using an annoyed tone towards her.

She smiled brightly in response. "Whatcha readin'?" Her tone was cute, in a creepy little kid sort of way. It spelled out disaster for the boy as it was obvious she wouldn't leave him alone now that he'd spoken to her.

As far as Bethany was concerned, he was trapped.

Baxter eyed the young girl who had so curiously inquired as to what he was reading. Typically, Baxter would ignore the question and go back to reading, but his father had been trying to encourage him to be more social. His father had told him that yes, it was good to be serious- but that he also needed time to himself, and time to make friends. Baxter knew that this was coming from his father's regrets of taking life and his job too seriously, and was going to try to do better because of it. Baxter didn't really have "friends", and was hoping the trip to Egypt might help him make a couple among his classmates.

So instead of running her off, Baxter rested the book on the table and looked at her- offering a very slight smile. "I'm reading a book about Egypt," he told her. "A lot of Hogwarts students are taking a trip to Egypt over the summer, and I wanted to read more about the landmarks and the culture before going on the trip."

Baxter wasn't sure how old the girl was. She was either going to be a second year, or hadn't yet started Hogwarts. "My name is Baxter, by the way," he said. "You can sit down if you'd like," it was rude to leave her standing, after all. "What's your name?" he asked. Hopefully he was doing this whole socializing thing correctly. It was awkward to actually try to converse with someone rather than trying to lecture or correct them. At least if he had to get some practice it would be with someone who didn't really know him well.

Egypt? A trip to Egypt? Gah! Why hadn't she'd been born one year earlier! That would've been her, too! She hid her new found disappointment with a carefully placed smile. "Wow, you're lucky. I wish I could've gone, but I don't start until September." She shrugged gently at this, brushing away her disappointment to listen to what the boy had next to say.

The boy introduced himself as Baxter, offered her a seat, then asked her name. She smiled and accepted the offer, glancing through the shop window at her foster mum and noting that she was still standing in line, waiting for an order. Beth was in the clear. She sat down politely and redirected her gaze to him again.

"Thank you." She started, "My name's Bethany. It's nice to meet you, Baxter." Then she leaned back and relaxed a bit. "So you're going to Egypt soon? Do you think you'll see the pyramids and tombs they've found there?" She'd read plenty about both in books, both from the library and her foster parents' collection. Ancient artifacts, evil curses, weird languages... it had all been so fascinating. The fact that this boy (Baxter, she reminded herself) was reading up on just that meant conversation would be easier.

Ah, so she was younger than a first year. "There will be a trip next summer, too," he assured her. "And at least you will be there for the tournament next year- that will be exciting." Baxter had a feeling the kids who started Hogwarts the year after the tournament were going to be incredibly disappointed. He hoped that the tournament was going to be worth it and be interesting.

The girl sat down and introduced herself as Bethany. Then began to ask about pyramids and tombs and he couldn't help the slight smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth. He hoped that one day his baby sister would be so inquisitive. It was a good sign when someone asked questions- because without questions then there would be no answers.

"We're going to see the pyramids and tombs," he told her. "And also a lot of wizarding places. Like Temple of the Muses, a tour of the Egyptian ministry, the wizarding school over there and a few museums. It should be very interesting- I'm sure that I will learn a lot. There are also wizarding beaches, which will be interesting to see if they are any different from a Muggle beach." He had never been to a wizard beach before, so he was definitely excited about that.

"I'm hoping while we're in Egypt that we might get to see or meet a real live Sphinx. I've heard they're really interesting." Not that he knew much about them- he didn't remember talking about them much in his creatures class. "But I'm sure the whole trip is going to be a lot of fun and very interesting." Fun, heh, that was a foreign concept to Baxter for the most part.

"Last year they went to the Amazon," he told Bethany. "But my parents wouldn't let me go- they said I was too young. But they let first years go, so next summer there might be an even more exciting destination..."

"So, are you looking forward to Hogwarts?" Baxter asked.