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Post by Hepsy Hoggarth on Jan 2, 2007 21:18:55 GMT
It was only 10 o'clock in the morning but Hepsy had already been up for six hours. That was the problem with having Muggle parents and living so far away from London; she had to spend a lot of time travelling in the holidays if she wanted to shop in Diagon Alley or visit her friends. Hepsy had caught the quarter past 5 train from Hull Station and had slept for most of the four hours that it took to get to Kings Cross. After six years of making such journeys she'd easily found Diagon Alley and now she was stood outside Gringotts, having just been inside and changed her Muggle money into Wizarding coins.
Now Hepsy was happy, happy to be very close to returning to Hogwarts and happy at the prospect of seeing her friends again. She was so happy at these thoughts that she half-skipped into Flourish and Blotts, and careered straight into someone whose head was hidden behind a huge stack of books that they were carrying. The books went flying and Hepsy, who immediately became flustered, didn't look at the person before getting down onto her knees and beginning to pick the books up.
"I-I'm so, so, so, sooo, s-sorry, I-I didn't mean..." She jabbered helplessly before looking up and seeing who the person was.
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Post by lilyprice on Jan 3, 2007 15:40:39 GMT
Lily had come to Diagon Alley early in the day in the hope that she wouldn't be spotted buying lots of books. On the whole, she didn't care what other people thought of her but she found her intelligence, particularly her love of non-fiction books, to be more than just a little embarrassing.
She'd been the first person into Flourish and Blotts that morning, having been stood outside waiting for it to open for a few minutes, but because she'd taken so long in deliberating over which books she should buy the shop now had several other people in it.
Lily was just walking to the counter, arms full with a tall stack of books, when someone bumped into her. As the books went flying she looked down on the smaller person with a disgruntled look upon her face. But this expression didn't stay for long as she realised that it was Hepsy.
"Heps!" She cried, just as the Hufflepuff looked up. She knelt down and enveloped her friend in a hug. "How are you? I haven't seen you all Summer." She asked, letting go of Hepsy.
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Post by Hepsy Hoggarth on Jan 6, 2007 10:04:37 GMT
Hepsy hardly had time to register who the person was before she was being hugged by Lily. She instinctively wrapped her arms around her friend for a moment before Lily let go and spoke.
"Oh, I had such an amazing time." She gushed, sounding just like the girly sort of person that she despised. "He's so wonderful..." She smiled and then blushed, "Sorry, I sound like such a loser." Hepsy was still kneeling down on the floor and so she continued to gather the books up when she had finished speaking, looking at each of the titles she realised with a small smile that she'd caught Lily at a time when she didn't want to be seen.
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Post by lilyprice on Jan 13, 2007 16:06:20 GMT
Lily's smile stayed in place but she raised an eyebrow quizzically as her friend babbled about someone in a way that was very much unlike her. Hepsy sounded girly, Hepsy was gushing, Hepsy had clearly met someone. Lily didn’t stand up but neither did she move to pick the books up, she just continued to watch her Hufflepuff friend. Of course, it was in Hepsy’s nature to be friendly and to like people but Lily had never seen her quite like this before.
It was Lily’s turn to blush a little when she realised that Hepsy was reading the titles of the books that she had been about to pay for. She took them from her friend’s hands and nodded at her.
“Thanks. You sound strange Heps, so...so…strange. You want to go chat somewhere?” She asked with a smile.
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Post by Hepsy Hoggarth on Feb 12, 2007 16:07:15 GMT
Hepsy mentally cursed herself for sounding like such an idiotic school girl and her cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red.
"I can't help it..." she smiled back at her friend and got to her feet, "I'm just really happy I s'pose." Hepsy sauntered off down the aisle between the rows of shelves, when she reached the end she turned around to call to her friend, "I've just got to find some books, I'll meet you at the door in a few minutes and then we can go for a drink somewhere." After waving to Lily, Hepsy disppeared from view around the corner, going in search of the books that she wanted.
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Post by lilyprice on Feb 12, 2007 18:44:14 GMT
Lily tried to wave after her Hufflepuff friend but couldn't really manage it due to the stack of books that she was again holding with both hands. Resting her chin on the top of the pile Lily cautiously got to her feet, not wanting to drop anything again. She carefully made her way over to the counter and stood at the back of the fairly short queue. After several minutes she found herself at the front and looking at the lady who was behind the counter.
"I'd like to pay for these please." she explained.
(((OOC: should I include what the woman behind the counter says or should I ask the NPC account to do it?)))
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Post by Hepsy Hoggarth on Feb 12, 2007 19:07:53 GMT
(((You should PM the NPC account or admin and ask.
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Post by Non-Player Characters on Feb 12, 2007 21:52:25 GMT
Katie struggled to stifle a yawn as she served yet another customer. She'd never known the shop to be so busy quite early in the morning before. Although she'd only been working at Flourish and Blotts for a few months, so she knew nothing of the rush of customers that came through the door in the days leading up to the start of a new school year at Hogwarts.
When a teenage witch plonked a larger than usual stack of books on the counter in front of her Katie groaned inwardly. It wasn't that she was lazy, she just avoided work if it was possible.
She tapped each book in turn with her wand, muttering a spell under her breath, and numbers made of a light purple smoke floated above the books as she did so, the amount rising with each tap of her wand.
As she tapped the last book Katie stopped murmuring and pointed at the amount that was now floating in the air. "That much please." She muttered, unable to read the numbers herself as they were facing the customer
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Post by lilyprice on Feb 13, 2007 13:14:43 GMT
Lily tried not to feel too guilty as the young woman behind the counter tapped each book with her wand and the amount grew steadily larger. Her family were by no means poor but they weren't exactly rich either, the only thing that stopped Lily from deciding not to buy the books was the thought of her mother, who was always telling her that she could spend an endless amount of money on books if she wanted to.
She dug her hand deep into her pocket and pulled out a selection of coins. It took her a few moments to figure out which ones she needed, sure she'd been using this currency for a fair few years now but her mind was still in Muggle mode, after spending the Summer holiday with her non-magical parents. She handed the coins over and was about to take the books from the counter when she had an idea.
"Er, I was wondering if I could possibly leave the books behind the counter? It's just I still have some things to do and they're awkward to carry." She smiled at the woman, whose name badge read Katie. "Please?"
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Post by Non-Player Characters on Feb 13, 2007 14:26:45 GMT
Katie examined the features of the girl who stood before as she waited for the payment, and she knew that the girl was having a fight with her concience. Katie had seen that look before on plenty of other students, although that was when she'd worked at Honeydukes and this was the first time she'd seen it at Flourish and Blotts.
For a moment the red-haired witch was softened, it wasn't that long since she herself had been a Hogwart's student, worrying about money and her parents. She smiled as the girl before her struggled a little with the Wizarding world's currency, Katie remembered that too; no matter how many years she'd used it for, even just a short stay with her parents could boggle her mind a little upon her return from pounds and pennies.
"Sure. We close at five though so be back for them before then." She took the money and placed it in the correct slots. Then called out, "Next please!" In the direction of the lengthening queue.
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