The Wentworth siblings had been given free reign of Hogsmeade while their Parents took in the sights and sound of the Wizarding village. Henry was used to the magical world of Hogsmeade while Angelica still seemed to be impressed by everything magical even after sixteen years of observing the wizarding world. Peyton always just assumed that she did it for their fathers sake but it was entirely possible that even after all these years magic still fascinated her. Afterall she had spent her entire life thinking magic was only fairy tale.

Peyton was responsible for taking care of his little sister while their parents went glavanting. Although Helena was fourteen he still kept her close. At the beginning of August the visiting students from Beauxbatons, Durmstrang and Salem Institute had arrived and Peyton was a little nervous about how many people were hanging around the usually quiet town. His sister was a mousy little girl that rarely talked and didn't really have many friends and like any protective big brother, he wanted to make sure she was safe.

He smiled over at her as she inspected a set of no flame fireworks that were better known for at Weasley Wheezes. He supposed it was only a matter of time before Zonko's tried to make something to compete with the famous joke shop in Diagon, "See anything you like?"

Parker had an uneventful day planned out for her.  This didn't surprise her in the least; nor did it bum her out.  She just took stock of the situation she was in.  A new place, new faces, new trouble to get into: Parker was going to have some fun, dammit.  So, wandering around Hogsmeade, going into every shop and pub, though she had already explored every nook and cranny days before, she searched.  Searched for what?  She didn't know, but she would know when she saw it.

Nothing.

Parker huffed in annoyance, pinning her curly bangs to the side and stopping in front of Zonko's Joke Shop.  Maybe if she can't find something to do, she'll just have to make something happen.  With a wicked smile she entered, eyes scanning the numerous products for something worthy.  It had been too dull back with her Salem peers.  Parker was going to do them all a favor by causing much-awaited for raucous.  Hmm, what should it be? she pondered, imagining every scenario pass through as she came upon different items.  She didn't want to do anything too catastrophic, for fear of not being eligible as a Tetra-Wizard Tournament Champion.  Just something fun enough to cause an exciting ripple in an otherwise disappointing week and a half.

Her eyes caught sight of something unexpected: a Hogwarts student.  Well, it wasn't really unexpected since she was the foreigner in hindsight.  Do kids around here usually hang out at Hogsmeade at all hours of the day?  Well, things were a bit different over here than back in Illinois, she figured.  In her hometown they wouldn't spend their free time in the depths of some shop (unless it was a grandfather's arsenal).  They would usually run around with a group of people: go exploring, play some sports, cause trouble; the usual.  Parker didn't have a choice over here.  She was under the umbrella of authority and lacked in complete freedom.  If it were up to her she would probably be knee-deep in all sorts of questionable fun.  So what was his excuse?

Clearing her throat rather harshly, she crossed her arms and looked pointedly at the tall dark-haired boy.

Zonko's! Now this made the trip for Mace right here without the school term abroad actually starting. Some of the spots along Hogsmeade (mom referred to it as "Oldtown") were still famous overseas. Sure, the Weasley joint had gotten acclaim in latter years and almost bought it out but every prankster worth his rubber turkey (or did they not do that here?) should pay respects to the original.

For example, check out this overlooked standby. Whereas the Weasley types made you blow up your tongue using a toffee, Zonko's had a perfectly reasonable Inflatable Tongue, fake but incredibly lifelike that you could control the size of just by blowing into it.

Mace had to try one out before confirming he had the money for it. One blow and the tongue expanded to knock a packet of Dungbombs over on the shelf. Whoops. At least they didn't go off.

You could always notice your fellow classmates quicker than discerning the foreign ones. Parker was looking to go off like a prepped Whizzing Worm. And in the crossfire, as Mace inhaled another swell from the ballooning tongue, looked to be a local.

"Watch out man!," Mace said across the shop. "Firecracker at 6 o'clock!"

Peyton had been bugging Helena with a rubber spider when he heard Parker clear her throat at him. He looked up at the young girl quizzically. He didn't recognize her but she did seem to be a bit older than him so there was still a possiblity that she went to Hogwarts. However it was more likely that she was from one of the visiting schools. Judging by the way she was dressed though he was leaning more towards her being from Salem than one of the other schools. He had seen some of the girls from Beaubatons and they all seemed to be prim and proper when it came to even their casual clothing and none of the girls he had seen from Durmstrang were so fair looking.

"Umm, what's up?" He knew it sounded stupid but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what the girl wanted. It wasn't that weird to be teasing his little sister was it? Wasn't that what little sisters were for? Teasing and protecting from stupid boys.

When Mace called out to him Peyton ducked. It wasn't really that strange considering they were in a joke shop that did happen to stock firecrackers. However when he realized the clearly American boy was actually refering to the girl instead of a real physical firecracker he straightened up with a furious blush, "You uh, both from Salem then?" He directed the question more to the girl than the boy. It was obvious from Mace's accent alone that he was American,

Parker rolled her eyes at Mace's comment, the edges of her mouth twitching into an involuntary smile as her cheeks heated up.  She could recognize that voice anywhere.  Watching in amusement as the Hogwarts boy ducked reflexively, she let out a slight scoff before strolling up to him.  "Aww, Mace, you ruined my sneak attack, though I am very much flattered to be compared to a small cardboard container filled with explosive powder and lit by a fuse." she drawled sarcastically, eyes locked on the Hogwarts boy and forcing herself not to look at Mace.

"It's much like the Welcome To Salem initiation.  Although I'm considered the foreigner here; when it comes to Salem, there really are no limitations."

She stopped in front of the boy, standing confidently even though she was significantly shorter.  "What I was going to do is ask what you're doing here when there's so much trouble to get into out there.  If not under the constant supervision of my teachers I'd be raising hell at every turn.  But, as it turns out, I want to compete, so I have to put on my good-girl shoes." she said with a sigh, then added, "They do not fit well." with a wicked smile.

"Well, you could be compared to an actual cracker baked out of fire, a ember rectangle you would feed a salamander." Inflatable Tongue tucked aside, Mace joined the little gathering, hands in pockets. Parker looking to do something wild was nothing new. Could count the number of spots in Salem's Peak back home that had "Parker Alerts" during the school year on one hand.

At least you could say she was direct. Poor boy, agitated as he seemed over a simple firecracker pun, would think the arrival of the Salem dragodirigible was a signal of the apocalypse. If so Parker could be War and Mace could be Sloth. Wait, that was a Sin.

"Mace Steinbeck," came the introduction. "And that's Parker speak for 'What do you do for fun around here?' " Mace was interested now too. Having paid homage to Zonko's, and the knowledge that it was a comfortable distance from the host school made him content.

He noticed the girl by the other guy, a slight resemblance, so he concluded that must be his sister. "Before we begin, can I interest either of you with a pygmy puff?"

Peyton was in trouble, and it had nothing to do with the trouble Parker was insinuating they should get into. Had it just been him and the Salem girl he'd likely just politely decline and walk away. He had gotten into enough trouble in the past school year that he didn't need to get into any over the summer. Though Helena was thankfully oblivious to it all, there was unrest in the Wentworth household. Over the Christmas break Peyton had discovered his father's deep dark secret and hadn't exactly been on speaking terms with him since. Going back home after school only seemed to be making the matters worse. While Peyton was coming across as a cool older brother that wanted to spend a lot of free time with his sister he was simply using Helena as an excuse not to be around his dad.

However now Mace was included in the equation and the continued blush on Peyton's cheeks had nothing to do with his previous embarrassment. He didn't want to look like a pussy in front of the attractive older boy and so he was readying himself to face the impending disaster head on.

"Umm well, not sure really, lot of kids here like sneaking out to the Shrieking Shack to find out if it's really haunted. Apparently one of the Headmaster's of Hogwarts was murdered there so yeah," He ended rather lamely, running a hand through his dark brown hair. His cool grey blue eyes never left Parker. He was afraid to look at Mace for fear of his blush getting worse.

As Mace interrupted to ask if either of them wanted a pigmy puff he turned his gaze almost immediately to the older boy wondering if he was actually serious or if all Americans were just weird. Helena perked up beside him and looked up at her brother pleadingly. Peyton held up his hands in front of him and shrugged, "Hey if you want one take it, but don't come crying to me if Dad makes you give it back. You know how weird he is about pets."

Helena seemed to be contemplating it for a long while before getting a large smile on her face. She nodded and held her hand out to Mace. Peyton smirked at the older boy, "She doesn't really talk much."

Parker smirked at Mace.  "Is 'Pygmy Puff' supposed to be a euphemism?  Because tempting as that sounds, I have a boyfriend, and although I've done a lot of questionable things in my eighteen years; cheating will never be one of them." she said flatly with a hint of humor, "Otherwise I've been itching for a green one if it's available.  Bright green." she added a little more seriously and looked back at the taller British lad.

"The Shrieking Shack, eh?" she asks with slight interest.  A teacher murdered there.  Supposed to be haunted.  A mischievous smile curled her lips thinking about the possible adventure.  "Looks like I know what I'm gonna do tomorrow,"

She looked at the little girl beside the Brit briefly.  "I'm Parker; here for the Tournament.  He, as you heard, is Mace.  You a Hogwarts student, then?" she said disinterestedly, distracting herself with a barrel of multicolored pellets.  She knew what they were: you throw them and it creates an entire rainforest.  Some were moss, some were thick trees, some were carnivorous plants.  It was a good low-key prank to get away with back at school.  Just chuck them in the Teacher's Lounge and go on your merry way.  She was debating whether or not to pull something like that back with her own classmates or wait until they were to attend Hogwarts--after she gets a good handle on the layout of the campus, that is.

"S'not a euphemism, they're small, fuzzy ball-shaped creatures," Mace replied straight faced. When Parker requested bright green he said "Sure, got some back on the dirigible. How about it?" he said to the locals, "Got loads of them, can pick your favorite color."

"So you've got a haunted house within spitting distance of the school? Must be killer at Halloween. But yeah, we're Salem's students here to kick your patooties in the tournament, so no offense, thanks for having us." He looked to Parker's contemplative purchase. "Those are fun. Heard the Weasley blokes came up with a permanent but portable swamp version."

Mace looked the local boy in the face. "Got a favorite prank then? Dungbombs are always a classic, I'm all for the oldie goodies."

The colour was finally ebbing from Peyton's cheeks only to be replaced by a momentary scowl. The girl had a boyfriend, which only made things more complicated for the current trio of teenagers. Had she been single Peyton could have focused his energy in trying to be friendly - possibly flirty - with her to dodge his attraction to Mace. However if he were to try that now he'd only come across as a jerk, which would once again make him look bad in front of Mace. It made him wonder how the guys in school made the whole teenage hormone thing look so easy. He smirked lightly at the thought of asking Razzy to explain it to him someday.

Peyton looked almost disappointed at Parker's suggestion to check out the Shrieking Shack the following day. If they weren't going to go on a mini field trip now, how was he going to pull off spending more time with Mace in the here and now? He'd have to figure something out, but his mind was fuzzing over. He hated the confused sick feeling he got every time he got a new crush, it was so disorienting.

"Umm name's Peyton, and we're both Hogwarts students. This is my sister Helena."

At the mention of her name Helena turned to Mace again, with her hand still open, "Purple please."

Peyton chuckled softly wondering what their father would say about her bringing a pet into the house. Their dad had always been rather weird about them having animals but then Peyton supposed that had something to do with their estranged grandfather owning one of the biggest menagerie chains in the Wizarding World. After what he had learned over the Christmas break Peyton wasn't so sure he wanted to know what his father had against animals or their connection to the family business.

"Uhh I'm not really one for pranks, I've kinda been in the dog house lately, fist fighting and poor grades, if I don't improve they'll kick me from the Quidditch team. Quidditch is my life, I can't get kicked again." Peyton raised his eyes to match Mace's, "What about you?"

Parker's interest in the Hogwarts boy Peyton rose learning he loved Quidditch. "Don't bother asking Mace about these things.  He's as lazy as they come.  Doesn't make any sense with a build like that," she said with a roll of her eyes, looking from Mace back to Peyton.

"It's safe to say you're the first one I've met since skipping across the pond.  Though I haven't played much Quidditch, since Quodpot is Salem's thing, it's still a sport, and any sport is good enough for me." she scoffed with a thought, "Except for those sissies who say Cheer-leading is a sport.  What kind of joke is that?" she spouted with cynicism.

"Now give me a bat with explosives and I'm good to go.  No pom-poms or twirling about in frilly skirts for me."

Parker leaned against a couple barrels and crossed her arms casually, finding this encounter more and more entertaining.

Mace made a mental note about purple as Parker deemed it fit to answer a question for him. "Selective focus is what I think Coach Jimmy calls it, makes it sound like some medical condition. Only had to defend my being on the team once. Though come game day I'm a hard driving, hard tossing kind of guy."

"You got any cheerleaders for Quidditch?" Mace began, with a new line of subject from Parker. "Though how about a mascot, that's even better. You got the dorms with the animal motifs, don't ya? Having a trained pet do tricks would be cool for halftime. Like the pewee teams back home in the younger halls, they've got the Fighting Phoenix for Phoenix Hall and Hippy the Peaceful Hippogriff for Hippogriff Hall. It's not a real phoenix though, one of those irish ones they managed to color change the feathers on."

"Though what's a strapping broom flyer such as yourself doing in a place like this if you think a prank's gonna give you more problems?"

Peyton turned his attention back to Parker when she started to talk about sports. He felt himself sigh, thankfully he had found a bunch of sport lovers. Perhaps finding something to do to prolong his time with Mace wouldn't be that hard afterall, "Can't say I know much about Quodpod but I definitely wouldn't be saying Cheerleading's a sport, no matter how competitive it gets." Peyton imaged that any other boy his age would be picturing Parker in a mini skirt and lycra top right about now but he couldn't even bring himself to fake it.

When Mace chimed in Peyton nodded along. He knew plenty of boys at Hogwarts that weren't into quidditch but if push came to shove they'd do their best out on the pitch. He imagined that's what happened with Sellaphix in the final game between Hufflepuff and Slytherin. From what he had heard everyone on the Hufflepuff team had just been thrown on at the last minute.

"Sounds like my kind of guy - uh player, I'll probably be trying out for captain this year." he shook his head slightly ready to chew on his foot some after having shoved it in his mouth so gracefully, "But no we don't have any cheerleaders or mascots, sometimes the students dress up, apparently the first year Slytherins were acting as cheerleaders in the last match of the season last year."

Peyton couldn't stop the blush from surfacing when Mace called him a strapping broom flyer, "I blame her," He nodded to his sister, "Besides there's not too many places to go in this town. There's here or Honeydukes and I'm not huge on sugar. The girls always hang out at Madame Puddifoots but it's far too frilly in there for us blokes."

Parker scoffed at the interaction between Mace and Peyton.  Boys and their ego.  Not that Parker didn't have an ego, of course, she knew how awesome she was.  "This has been fun and all, but I really need to get along with my plans," she said with a bored sigh, taking a handful of pellets from the bin and strode over to the register.

Once done purchasing her goodies, she turned back to the group saying "I'll be awaiting my puff, Mace Windu[1], don't keep me waiting too long," she said suggestively and ruffled Mace's hair while giving Peyton a wink as if to say 'I know what you're about,' and left the store.

She thought about Peyton's face-reddening at Mace's comment and shook her head with a smirk as she walked back to her school's camp.

Boys and their 'innocent' flirting with one another.  I wonder if Mace knew what he was stirring with that Hogwarts boy.  I can never tell with his inanimate face.

Later, she again thought of the possibility that Mace knew exactly what he was doing with Peyton.  Parker never had a problem with guessing someone's preference, but something about Mace had her always guessing.  He had never had a girlfriend in all her years she went to school with him or never seemed interested in anyone... could it be?

Before she set off her prank she couldn't tell if she'd be okay with it or... not.  Somehow the prank didn't bring much excitement for her as it usually would, her thoughts drifting back to the topic of Mace.

1.	Just a little nickname I thought of just now.  It doesn't have to become a thing, but Parker just wanted to make a few ripples.  Mace Windu=Star Wars character.

"Most national teams of Quodpot got their own cheerleaders. The Minnesota Mooncalves have the best looking ones, in my thoroughly unbiased opinion if I don't mention where I live. Some really stunning beauties. We have a distant neighbor who claims he got to go on a date with Sallyfield Hamilton, she's one of them, lucky stiff."

"Good luck getting the captaincy then, if you can. Our captains of each dorm team don't have to do much since Coach Jimmy schedules all of the practices."

His lips twitched into a grin when Peyton mentioned his little sister was the trouble. "Wait till you try a little sister times three. Some people may say I'm bad behind my back but that's nothing compared to the triplets when they get to planning. They're thoroughly bummed they aren't old enough to study abroad this year. They said they wanted to see me win."

Parker left with one last demand, and Mace nodded. "She comes and goes," he shrugged, "though frills wouldn't have been her type anyways, so your Puddifoots is out. Though I've built up some immunity I suppose. Merry, Sherry and Cherry used to have me at their tea parties and that's when they attack with the lacy shawl and bonnet."

Mace had no clue what Parker thought he was doing, or that he was doing anything wither party would consider flirtatious. He was having fun rambling, having found that the locals weren't going to be a bunch of dull squares if Peyton was any example.