wounds behind me • open

[thomas elijah bradford]

&. but i won't let tomorrow find me.

thomas loved going into diagon alley for his new school supplies, especially since he had been granted permission to run off on his own at the beginning of his fifth year. now he would go off with the somewhat large amount of money his parents would give him and buy the essentials for the school year and then the little novelty items and such that would help to entertain him for the term. tommy first stopped by madam malkin's to grab a couple new ties and a set of robes. he and his brother, joseph, had been messing around with some spells that past summer and managed to burn all of tom's ravenclaw ties, some of joe's shoes, and a good portion of a tree in the backyard. mama and papa bradford weren't too happy with that, but didn't complain too much when thomas had asked for a little bit of extra money so that he could replace the clothes.

after exiting madam malkin's, he made a few more stops around the alley, such as purchasing a good leather bound book of blank parchment paper that was charmed to never fall apart. he would need that for the handful of newt classes he was taking this term. he worked himself to death when it came to schoolwork, but it gave him a good reputation and set up a good path for him in the way of future careers. he stopped by zonko's joke shop to get a mock snitch that exploded into a mess of pudding when grasped with dragon hide gloves, which most of the quidditch gloves at hogwarts were made out of. as he went to leave the store, he ran into joseph, who was looking at the fanged frisbees and nose-biting teacups. "remind me to never play catch or have tea with you." thomas said as he passed his brother, nudging him in the side before pushing through the door back into the alley.

thomas finally entered flourish and blott's, instantly met with the fresh smell of leather and old book pages. he glanced around the store to notice that pretty much all of the attendants were helping out other families, particularly ones that had first or second years going to hogwarts for the term. tommy smiled at pretty much anyone he made eye contact with while he showed himself around the store. he'd been there enough to know his way around, which made it easier for him to find the needed books for his more advanced classes. after gathering all of the books and paying for them, he went outside to the nearby ice cream shop and bought a simple cup of chocolate ice cream. he then sat outside at one of the tables and began to look over one of his new spellbooks to try and see if he could learn anything before term started and get ahead of everyone else.

[chianti lyra malfoy]

Chianti was quite content being out of the Malfoy Manor for once. She had journeyed to Diagon Alley with her auntie, Narcissa, clinging to her aunt's hand as they navigated their way through the bustling streets. The reason as to why they were in Diagon Alley focused more on getting some supplies for the house, which wasn't something that interested Chianti in the least. She was more keen on peering into the shops or getting some ice cream to eat. "Aunt Cissy," Chianti tugged on her aunt's robes which Narcissa patiently ignored. Making a face at her aunt who had went over to peer more closely at some candle holders, Chianti turned away from Narcissa to look about her surroundings. Catching the ice cream stand nearby, Chianti brightened at the sight. Watching as the colorful assortments of ice cream were scooped into cups or cones for customers, Chianti found herself straying away from her aunt and towards the frozen treats before her. Finding herself in front of the counter, Chianti tiptoed to peer over at the different flavors that were subjected before her. The shopkeeper caught sight of a customer and greeted her with a warm smile, asking what kind of ice cream she would like. The young white blonde haired girl looked up into the eyes of Florean, the shop owner. "Strawberry please! With sprinkles" replied the female Malfoy with a wide smile. She leaned against the counter of the ice cream palor, reaching into her pockets to find any loose change. Luckily she had just enough to get the ice cream. After paying for her ice cream, Chianti placed her spoon into the treat and took a bite. As she indulged in her sugary goodness, Chianti found herself lost. Blinking the eleven year old then turned in one direction before someone ran into her resulting in her to bump into the nearby table nearby.

"Geez..." groaned Chianti as she rubbed her shoulder before pulling herself together. She checked to see if her ice cream was okay, only to see that most of it had fallen to the ground from that particular episode. Pouting, the young girl simply let out a sigh. It was better to fall against a table rather than fall on the ground, so looking at it in that point of view, Chianti was rather grateful for the break to the fall. It then occurred to the Malfoy that she had bumped into a table that was already occupied. Standing up straight, the young girl turned to face who was at the table in which she had accidentally collided into. She came face to face with an older teenage boy with dark hair. He looked friendly enough, though Chianti knew her manners in situations such as these. After all, she had most likely disturbed him.

"I-I'm sorry...!" she told the boy in an apologetic manner. "I didn't mean to intrude on you!" she told him while wondering at the same time whether this boy would be attending Hogwarts soon as well. He looked much older than she though, so Chianti highly doubted that she would see him much if he were a Hogwarts student. "It just seems so crowded here more than usual. I suppose bumping into people is quite common today..." said Chianti in a sheepish manner. Looking about, Chianti's soft grey eyes scanned the area in search of her auntie. Where had she gone to? Perhaps it wasn't such a wise idea to wander away, especially at a peak where last minute school shopping was taking place. The much sadder note was the fact that Chianti had dropped her ice cream which made her straying away rather pointless now. She wondered if it was punishment for not staying by her aunt's side.

[thomas elijah bradford]

&. but i won't let tomorrow find me.

thomas was suddenly thrilled that he was taking the newt course of defense against the dark arts as he pored over the pages of the advanced spell book. there were different forms of advanced protection charms and curses and hexes and everything that he could possibly think of. there was one particular one that he was interested in, the impediment jinx. the effects of it immobilizing and possibly throwing people back a noticeable distance were all so fascinating to thomas, as he was always looking for ways to further his dueling skills. he had half a mind to pull out his wand and practice the jinx on the moth that had landed across the table from him. but, as he reached down and rested a finger on his wand within his bag, he knew it was a bad idea. hesitantly, he removed his hand from the bag and went to scoop up the last bit of his ice cream. he had always loved the little shop here, ever since his parents had first brought him, joseph, and olivia here.

feeling a bit thirsty, thomas pulled a plastic water bottle from his bag and took a deep drink from it before going back to fantasizing about the impediment curse. he'd definitely begin to practice the use of it when he got home. he maybe could even recruit joseph to be his little practice dummy. no, his mom would get really mad if someth - bam. the table rocked slightly as something small and blonde ran into it from the side. tommy's first instinct was to grab the table just in case it knocked over, which would have resulted in it crushing his bag and ruining several of the new items he'd bought. after securing the table, he glanced back over at what had caused the impact. it was a young girl, either in her first year of hogwarts or would be soon. she had a scoop or so of strawberry ice cream on the ground in front of her. she immediately began apologizing to him, to which he just gave a playful chuckle. "hey, hey. it's fine. nothing happened, see? i'm fine and so is my stuff." he flashed a quick smile and lifted his book to show that it was still in good condition. glancing back down at the pink mess on the floor, he gave a slight frown. "you have added a bit of color to my shoes though. my little sister will love that." he said, still using a little playful voice as he motioned to a couple of dots of ice cream on his right shoe.

looking around, there didn't seem to be anyone rushing to claim the young child. he was curious as to who she might belong to. "where's your mum, eh?" he asked, looking back at his book for a second. there was a picture of an angry mermaid on it, with beady black eyes and spear that seemed ready to attack. "this right here is my mum. frightening, isn't she?" he said, still in a joking manner. tommy leaned back over to his bag and pulled out a chocolate frog. he slid the box across the table towards the small child. "here. have this, since your ice cream met such a tragic end." he gave her a smile. still, nobody was coming to say that the young girl belong to them or anything, which left thomas a bit confused. "um. why don't you sit until your mum or whoever gets here? don't want you bumping into the wrong kind of person, eh?" he offered, nodding towards the empty chair across from him. "i'm thomas, by the way. but you can call me tommy, if you want. a lot of people do." introductions were always weird for him.

[chianti lyra malfoy]

Indeed, there was no sign of her aunt. Perhaps she had went into a shop of some sort. If worse came to worse, Chianti was sure that her aunt would try to find her. Though, Chianti wasn't so sure if she wanted to be found considering the fact that she would most likely get scolding along with the scenario of being found. The thought alone made her shudder.

Chianti felt a surge of relief rush through her when the boy had forgiven her collision with his table. She glanced up at him when he indicated that he and his things were perfectly fine. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips from this piece of news, returning his smile. Following his eyes towards the ground, Chianti saw that her fallen ice cream had added a few splotches of pink here and there upon his shoes. From his comment, Chianti could tell that he didn't seem to mind this as much as she thought. Giggling at the joke that he had made about his shoes, she gave him a wide smile. "It'll be a new fashion trend you know? They're always changing them anyway so this weeks one would be ice cream splotched shoes, on the right side only" the young blonde told him in a matter-of-fact tone before erupting into fits of giggles. She was even more so relieved that the person she had bumped into was a friendly sort, rather than the complete opposite. "Your little sister would love that, would she? Well...In that case, I'm glad my ice cream could give her something satisfying" nodded Chianti with a grin, her tone of voice also taking on a more playful note as she relaxed in his presence. Her grin softened to a more polite smile as she handed him the spare clean napkins that came with her ice cream. "Just in case the new fashion trend doesn't suit your fancy" she told him in a partially joking manner.

At his inquiry, Chianti tilted her head to the side before smiling at him in a reassuring manner. "My mum's at home! Though...My aunt is somewhere around here..." her voice trailed off as she looked at the picture in the book that the boy was indicating at. Her eyes met those of the beady black mermaid whom appeared to be angry, though that didn't stop Chianti from laughing. This resulted in the moving picture of the mermaid to scowl at her and attempt to prod its spear in her general direction. "That's your mum? Oh yes, she is quite frightening. I must admit that I'd rather not meet her anytime soon, especially if she has that oh-so-friendly spear in her hands" commented the younger girl as she let out another giggle. It then came to her notice that the book the boy was holding was a higher level textbook from Hogwarts. So he was attending Hogwarts. For some reason that added to Chianti's excitement.

As the older teen slid a Chocolate Frog towards her, Chianti's eyes lit up in joy. After all, it was difficult for eleven year olds to say no to candy let alone Chocolate Frogs. "Thank you!" she told him in a jubilant manner as she carefully tore at the wrapper that held the Frog. When he offered for her to sit down, Chianti blinked and nodded her head in a cheerful manner, "Okie dokie," she piped, taking the empty seat across from him and taking a bite from her Chocolate Frog. When he introduced himself, Chianti found herself smiling happily at him. "Tommy, eh? Nice to meet you, Tommy!" she greeted with a slight wave of her hand. It was a new experience for her as she hadn't really met anyone outside from those people whom her family introduced her to. [color=red"My name is Chianti"

[/color]introduced the younger girl with a cheery smile. "Were you shopping for school supplies?" she inquired in a curious manner.[/blockquote][/size][/size]